ANTE BELLUM: XXIII –DEATH MEETS LIFE

RAMSEY BIANCHI

THE ANXIETY WAS KILLING ME. I hid inside a janitor's closet with Gwen, we were both having difficulties breathing- fearing if we breathe too loud the Lizard would hear us. I gripped the fire extinguisher in my hands, exhaling slowly through my mouth before inhaling, I repeated this until I felt my heart rhythm slow down, and I was feeling less anxious. But it all went through the window once we heard three loud bangs coming from the other side of the rolling security doors. Gwen and I flinched from the harsh blows, I let go of the extinguisher and search for her hand, we both grasped each other's hands tightly and waited for the worst.

Eventually, the security doors gave in, we heard it crash down against the ceramic floor. Gwen was shaking beside me, since my nerves were all over the place I felt her emotions as my own, I felt her fear, anxiety, worry, distress, and hope. I didn't dare ease her apprehension, since I could barely control my own. We hid there, listening to Gwen's mentor every step, which wasn't that difficult to locate. Our grip tighten- if that was even possible- as the footsteps neared our hiding spot, I closed my eyes and unknowingly held my breath, I was scared that my breathing was too loud due to the anxiety cooking in my chest.

Then everything stopped.

I kept my eyes close, afraid if I opened my eyes to find it staring directly at me through the door shutters, so I squeezed them tight. A long period of silence passed, so I opened my eyes and just what I feared the most- followed. A giant claw dug through the door's shutter and ripped the piece of wood from its hinges, frightened screams erupted from Gwen and my throat as we stared at the roaring lizard. While screaming, I reach out with both hands at the extinguisher and aim at him, a cloud of white powder hit the lizard straight in the face. Gwen used a makeshift flamethrower using a lighter and aerosol, which was kind of stupid since I was using an extinguisher, which canceled Gwen's fire.

"Dios!" I screamed, my Spanish roots taking effect. God!

The Lizard raised its menacing claw and I expected a hard blow, but instead of hitting me, he directed his hand towards a device stored in the closet with us. My scream slowly died once the Lizard took the device and left us, both Gwen and I stopped attacking with our horrible choice of weapon- well, probably my horrible choice of weapon. It's as if the movies taught me nothing.

"Is he gone, gone?" Gwen whispered to me, we both shared a fleeting glance before I slowly peek over where the door used to be and noticed we were alone. "Ramsey?"

I glanced at her and nodded. "Clear. Come on."

As we stepped out from our hiding spot, Gwen glanced around the place cautiously but didn't have time to dwell on it due to the serum being ready. "Antidote complete."

Gwen made her way to grab the serum whilst I checked around the place, hazel eyes register every inch of the lab filled with a thin cloud of white smoke. I let out a heavy sigh once I spotted no danger, but something was still off, I couldn't relax, and I felt extremely on edge. I felt danger, but I could feel it was dormant as if it was sleeping, but it was near. Furthermore, I sucked in a deep breath and tried to pinpoint where it was coming from, my immediate thought was that the emotions I was getting came from Dr. Connor, but I was wrong. The vibes I was getting were ancient, too powerful to belong to an animal.

A loud gasp made me flinch, I swiveled on my heels in Gwen's direction. "What? What is it?" She looked at me stunned, frowning, I approached the blonde teenager and followed her line of vision.

A teenage boy, around our same age, lay down on the ground, unconscious. The boy seemed fairly tall, more than the average height of men, he had blond unruly hair, and his face was chiseled. The boy wore a lab suit, gray sweatpants, and a stretch polyester/elastane sleeveless shirt. I took a step close to him and something inside me went off, everything about that boy screamed danger, and my body responded by spreading anxiety and goosebumps all over my body. "Him."

"You know him?" Gwen shot me a confused look.

I shook my head. "No, but..." I cautiously approached him, I extended a hand towards him. I crouch down, and my fingers hover over his exposed shoulder. "... his energy, something's off about it."

Gwen moved closer toward me, crouching a little to get a better look at the boy. "What'd you mean..." she trailed off, dark eyebrows knitted together as she tilted her head to the side as something sparked in her mind, recognition? "Hey... I think I know him." My fingers were close to touching his skin, but something screamed at me to get the hell away from that place, to not let him see me. Did I listen? Nope. "I think he's Dr. Connor's son. Finn, I think, is his name, but... but that's impossible."

"Something is really off about him," I mumbled.

Gwen leaned back, backing away. "Of course it is. He's supposed to be dead, Ramsey. Body mangled. Who the hell is this boy?"

But I wasn't even listening, his energy seemed to pull me towards him, like a magnet. After my fingers hovered for too long, I finally gave in to it and touched him, what happened next I can't possibly put into words. Something deep in my mind awoke, one second I was looking at Finn and the next I saw the whole universe before my very eyes. My physical body was in OsCorp, but my conscience was omnipresent, I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

"Ramsey!" Gwen's voice pulled me out of whatever trance I had fallen in, I blinked, and I was back at OsCorp but this time I was lying on the ground. Gwen hovered before me, big blue eyes staring into my hazel ones with worry. "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" I asked a little disoriented, Gwen help me sit up, and I froze when I realized I had woken him up. "Gwen, we have to go."

Without waiting for Gwen's response, I jumped to my feet and pulled her along with me, I made a run out of the lab along with Gwen. Our feet carried us as fast as they could, and we made it out of the lab, leaving behind- whatever that thing is. I jabbed my thumb on the elevator's bottom, and my heart thudded inside my chest, making me sweat in fear.

"What the hell is happening?" I wheeze, and my eyes found Gwen who seemed as anxious as I was. "I don't understand... what..." Dr. Connor knows about your powers. Realization dawned on me. "Oh god." He needs you to bring back a spirit, and he needs you to do that.

"What?" Gwen took a step closer to me, begging me with her eyes to tell her what was going on.

I could only look at her with regret and guilt, if only I had listened to my reason, none of this would've happened. "I messed up, Gwen. I messed up big time."

"On the contrary," A male voice rings from behind Gwen, Finn stood by the lab looking full of energy, "You just gave mankind a chance for redemption."

He gives us a dark smirk that sends cold shivers down my spine, the elevator's door dings open, and without thinking I push Gwen inside the elevator. Finn flicked his hand and the door's seal closed, not giving me a chance to go in with her. I took in a sharp breath trying to keep my cool, I ball my hands into a fist and took a fighting stance.

"What are you?" I asked, my voice firm and eyes blazing with ferocity, I didn't dare let my emotions reflect in my eyes. "I know you're not human. Your energy is too strong, ancient even, not from this world."

Finn approached me and I tense up, he placed his hands behind his back and casually made his way over to me. "You almost had me figured out." He winked at me as he came to a stop. "Allow me to enlighten you, first, I am from this world. My energy, however, has evolved. That's why your feeble mind can't comprehend it, because it's not meant to be felt deeply, only fleetingly."

"I don't understand." I gave him a look that clearly told him that I didn't trust him, Finn kept smirking at me and started to slowly start to circle me while examining me. "There are too many blank spaces."

Finn breathed in deeply before exhaling, he seemed to be enjoying every second of being alive, he almost seemed like a baby who was only discovering the wonders of life. "I see you're not good with riddles, so I'll cut right into it." He stopped in front of me and looked at me dead seriously. "My name is Hayek, child of the Crow Goddess, Morrigan. In other words, The Witch of The Afterlife, known as Bloodline."

"Witches don't exist." I blurt out, but my words weren't as firm as I thought they would be, there was doubt and disbelief in them.

Finn or Hayek, whatever their name was, gave me a sarcastic look. "You don't believe that, do you?" I only swallowed. "You never did. Deep down in your bones, you've always known you were different from the rest, after all, you are a Walker."

"How did you...?"

He gave me a cynical smile. "Forgive me for remembering the name of the witch that imprison my soul inside a magical stockade." He spat the last words, his face went from sarcastic to vengeful in a split second. "I tend to take things personally."

"Why was I able to wake you up?" I asked, staring into his light blue eyes.

"It's simple," he shrugged, "every evil needs a counterpart." He took a step closer to me and I leaned back, he looked at me dead in the eyes. "You are mine, and I am yours."

There was something extremely dangerous in his eyes, I couldn't feel any other emotion that wasn't rage, revenge, and rancor. Whatever happened in the past I had a feeling that we were going to pay for it, my empath abilities told me that I had awakened a far greater danger than Dr. Connor, and the city, if not the world, will suffer because of it. What really unsettled me the most was that he and I were connected, he didn't have to tell me, I could feel that same pull I felt before waking him up, right now.

He raised his hand and I bit the inside of my cheek, he frowned slightly as he gently grabbed my jaw in his big hand. "You are more than just an empath, Ramsey. You are my counterpart, The Witch of Life."

His eyes glaze black, black mist pierce through his skin and seeped into my pores, I whimpered loudly, but the pain was fleeting. A felt a warmth spread to my body and an immense pressure at the back of my head like something was poking me from the back. The pressure soon turn into pain, a painful scream ripped through my vocal cords as I felt him dig something out from the back of my brain and force it into my subconscious.

"It all starts and ends with you, Ramsey."

My eyelids slide close, and the pain became too much to bear, forcing my body into slumber. I fell in Finn's arms, unable to hold my own, I don't know what he was doing to me and why I didn't fight back, but I was sure of one thing. I am no longer the same. Instead of falling into nothingness, I had a vision that had nothing to do with me.

I saw Dr. Connor visiting Hayek's grave, the scene flickered, and I saw Curtis digging up her tomb. I approached the scientist and saw him open up her casket to reveal bones, he reached out for something and took out a green gem, he held it up and the sunlight reflected on it causing it to glisten. The scene once again changed, he was in a lab, and a Korean woman stood by a cradle, I found myself approaching it and I recognize a male body that was slowly taking Finn's form. And then it dawns on her, Dr. Curtis used the stone to give life to a synthezoid that looks just like his deceased son.

I felt myself slipping into the unconscious and everything went dark.

🅷🅾🅻🅰

This is literally JUST
the beginning, next Act
will be all about the path
and Ramsey will have to
make an important decision.

But she won't be alone, help is
on its way.

Stay safe mis amores 🤍