Chapter 27
Melissa waited, still uncertain of whether she believed Gabriel’s story. It seemed incredulous, implausible. Such stories were the works of science-fiction novelists, not reality. She stood with her arms folded across her chest in the living room while he grabbed flashlights from the kitchen. When he returned, he handed her one and kept the other for himself. He then directed her out of the living room and down the short hallway to the staircase that led to the garage. After opening one of the garage doors, they crossed the expansive property.
Devoid of the sun’s warmth, the air had grown much colder. The fall evening had darkened considerably. Melissa regretted leaving her coat behind as they ambled in the chilly autumn night. They walked several hundred feet from the house before Gabriel stopped at an unremarkable location in the grass. She watched as he used his foot and kicked over a large, rectangular patch of sod. Beneath the sod was a steel door flush against the ground.
Gabriel produced a ring with many keys on it from his pocket. After selecting the corresponding one, he opened the door. Anticipating a loud screech from the steel door, Melissa braced herself for the sound. But there was none; it released with a soft whooshing sound similar to a vacuumed seal being broken.
A concrete staircase was before them. Gabriel descended the steps first. Melissa followed. She was more than skeptical of what lay beyond.
Motion-activated overhead fixtures lit in succession as Gabriel and Melissa moved down deeper into the subterranean dwelling.
Once at the bottom of the steps, the laboratory was fully illuminated. Her eyes widened in disbelief. From the indiscernible patch of grass directly overhead, no one would have ever guessed at what resided beneath. She stood below seven-foot ceilings amply lit with bright fluorescent light fixtures. Thick concrete walls lined the impressive area. The single-level refuge appeared larger than her home. There were innumerable computers stationed along the walls. Rows of stainless-steel tables filled the interior portion of the space and held a variety of scientific equipment–all foreign to her. If she had not descended the steps, she would have difficulty believing she was underground. She had expected it to smell musty as a basement of a house might, but it did not. Instead, fresh air circulated through screened vents. Every surface was gleaming, strangely immaculate.
Viewing the entire facility, Melissa’s mind was dizzied, spinning with disjointed, incomplete thoughts. As her mind whirled and revolved faster and faster, she desperately wanted, needed to reach out and anchor herself to a coherent thought, something concrete, something that made sense. But opportunity to do so did not present itself. And somehow she knew the spiraling would gain momentum in the moments to come.
“Come on, I want to show you something,” Gabriel said to her as he took her by the hand and led her toward the far corner of the construct, toward a massive stainless-steel tank.
Staring at the cylindrical chamber Melissa gaped, “What is this thing?”
“This is where I was developed,” Gabriel said as shame burned plainly on his face.
Gabriel began turning a large, steel wheel affixed to the cistern. As he did so, a locking mechanism was disengaged, a portal began opening. As the small entryway expanded, Melissa could see inside.
She gasped and her hand reflexively covered her mouth. She felt her face twist into a tortured expression as she withdrew in confusion, in horror.
Before her in the reservoir, submerged in a thick, opaque fluid was a partially formed human being.
Alien-looking with bulbous stumps where limbs should have been, the creature immersed in the milky liquid had a small, curved torso atop which a bald head with eyes that peered out from its temples sat. The being resembled an adult-sized fetus in its eighth week of development.
She needed to look away but was held, compelled by curiosity, paralyzed by fear and revulsion. She was transfixed. As she watched, the rounded ends where limbs would be elongated. They continued to lengthen to form crude-looking arms.
Her mind spun even faster, dangerously, threatened to lose control.
Inhaling sharply, Melissa cried, “Gabriel! Did you see that?”
She looked to Gabriel as he regarded the form in the tank with shock and dread. A strange expression clouded his features. It was more than shock and dread. She saw pain, and understanding.
“I assumed the tank would be empty,” Gabriel whispered more to himself than her. He studied the vessel. “It was supposed to be empty.”
“Gabriel, what is all this? What is happening to that thing?” Melissa breathed, as a flood of tears spilled down her cheeks.
“This tank, it is like a womb of sorts. The milky substance inside was created by Dr. Terzini. It allows extremely rapid development; development unparalleled in humanity.”
“That creature in there, it is going to form into a human?” she asked as her eyes, moistened with emotion, searched his for an explanation that would make the horror of what she’d witnessed somehow acceptable.
“Yes, well, sort of. It’s not a creature in the sense that you’re saying it is. It’s already a human, created from human DNA.”
“Fine, but it’s been changed, dramatically,” Melissa exclaimed hearing her voice become shrill bordering on hysteria.
“Melissa, I don’t know what alterations have been made to the DNA of the person growing in there. Terzini must somehow know that I am a failure. But I can tell you this: I am every bit as human as you are,” Gabriel emphasized every word as he spoke as if trying to punctuate their importance.
“Gabriel, I don’t feel so good. My head is spinning and I feel nauseous,” Melissa confessed.
The spinning, coupled with tremors that racked her body, shook her limbs violently.
“Let’s get out of here,” Gabriel said as he wrapped his arm around Melissa’s shoulders.
Melissa tensed at his touch. Typically, she would allow her body to meld into the contours of his. But now, inexplicably, her body resisted contact with his, repelled the comfort he offered.
He led her quickly across the vast underground research facility to the stairs that ascended to the earth above.
Once the steel door had been closed and locked and the rectangular piece of sod had been replaced, she walked with Gabriel, slowly, back to his house. Returning to the earth above, to reality, the cold air felt refreshing, cleansing. Stopping on the grass just before reaching the stone–edged border of the gravel driveway, she inhaled the crisp air, turning her eyes heavenward as she did so. She noticed how clouds had gathered and obscured the brilliance of the moon, shrouded the constellations in a murky mask.
“Melissa, I know you’re upset. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. I love you.”
“Gabriel, I am something other than hurt,” she said struggling to remain composed. “I am, I am, reeling, okay. I mean, I cannot begin to wrap my mind around everything I’ve heard and seen tonight. Here I thought we might experience a first tonight, together.
“Well I had a first all right! Boy was I wrong about what kind of first I would experience, though!” Melissa exclaimed, her voice laden with self-derision.
“This doesn’t have to change anything. It shouldn’t change how we feel about each other,” Gabriel said softly.
He took her trembling hand in his. It felt warm and soft, a sharp contrast to hers. He placed his other atop hers so her fingers were enveloped in the warmth of both of his hands.
“Please, Melissa. I can only imagine how confused you must feel, how betrayed.”
Gabriel placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. She watched as tears flowed freely down the breathtaking planes of his face. He continued.
“I am the same person you fell in love with; the same person who loves you despite what Terzini’s original intent was. You evoked feelings I was never meant to have. You Melissa.”
Melissa leaned in toward Gabriel allowing her hand to soften beneath his, above his beating heart. She rested her head on his
chest, allowed him to pull her close to him. The tension in her body relaxed as sobs escaped her lips. Gabriel held her as she wept unabashedly.
After agonizing moments passed, Melissa’s tears had run dry. She looked up into the face of the person she thought she loved. She did not feel anger or revulsion. She did not feel sadness or confusion.
“Please take me home, Gabriel,” she whispered.
Without protest, Gabriel released her from his embrace.
He walked with her wordlessly to the open garage door where his Ford Explorer waited.
He opened the passenger side door for her and climbed into the driver’s side before turning the key in the ignition.
Melissa glanced out the window as Gabriel directed the SUV out of the large garage. Clouds had assembled and thickened considerably, fortifying their alliance against the hazy Moon and stars. With each celestial body eclipsed by their charge, the substantial veils of vapors threatened precipitation as they drove away from Gabriel’s house.
Darkness fully shrouded the ornate structure where Gabriel lived. It no longer resembled the house they approached just hours ago. Instead, cloaked in shadows and blackness, it was arcane, ominous.
Melissa shivered and hugged herself. Responding immediately to her needs as he always did, Gabriel raised the temperature of the heating system.
She did not speak as he navigated the winding roads to Blackstone Drive. Silence prevailed until the Explorer turned in to her driveway.
Ranks of rainclouds sprayed the earth with a fine mist of water. The only sound emitted was the intermittent swiping of windshield wipers pushing drizzle from the glass.
Gabriel put the SUV into park and spoke, his voice strong and measured.
“Melissa, I love you. Nothing has changed. Please don’t end this, don’t end us.”
“I’m not ending us,” she said in a voice wavering with emotion. “I’m just really confused. I mean, I feel like I’m in a dream, like none of this is real and I’ll wake up tomorrow and everything will be fine again. But in my heart of hearts, I know that’s not true.” Melissa took a deep breath to compose herself then continued. “The way I feel about you has not changed. I just need a little time to process all of this.”
Gabriel could not meet her eyes. He seemed unable to speak, as if doing so would somehow undermine what she needed. Silently, Melissa turned Gabriel’s beautiful face toward hers. She leaned across the console of the Explorer and kissed him tenderly on his lips before leaving. He waited in the driveway until she disappeared into the house before driving away.