Blood Part 2/?

I don't actually remember writing this story...so if there's something glaring wrong...I'm soooo sorry...

The pain woke me up. It made sense, but it wasn't something I was particularly happy about.

Opening my eyes to a squint, I looked around me. If I was unlucky I would be in a creepy cellar somewhere waiting for ugly men in suits to come in and drag me into a lab with a nice and happily cold metal slab in its middle. If I was lucky, I was still under the hospital bed that had been so conveniently placed.

What I saw made me open my eyes properly and look around.

No cellar or anything similar to it, and no hospital. Where in the world was I now?

The door opened, as they do after you just manage to wake up. It's like everyone has an innate ability to show up into a room the moment you wake up...friend or foe. The giant squid walked in. To be completely fair, she didn't look much like a squid anymore, but then again I could understand how my drugged up mind had drawn the connection.

"Glad you're finally awake," she said. Her tone was a lot more welcoming than the professional hospital voice I remembered. Apparently the drugs made her seem more like an evil doctor...somehow I missed the drugs.

I tried to shift into a more comfortable position but the floor was making it difficult. I also realised, rather belatedly, that I was actually chained this time and not in the good way.

"Relax," she said. I looked at her, incredulous.

She sighed and took out a key from her pocket, holding it up as though trying to show that she wasn't about to attack me. I watched her approach and unlock my wrists. She immediately jumped back, as though afraid of what I'd do now that I was free. The faint smell of apples drifted in the air around me.

"I assume you're in pain," she said warily. I was tempted to say "nah duh" but that seemed a little childish, even for me.

"I'll just get you some pain meds, don't go anywhere, please," she said, backing towards the door.

There was something faintly pleading about the please that made me look at her in a new light. Perhaps there was more to this story than I originally thought, at the very least she seemed vaguely invested in my comfort and that was better than most other people already.

It took her about five minutes of my pain filled mind to come back with a syringe. Now you have to understand, I’ve been injected with all sorts of strange concoctions and to be honest, I’m surprised I’m still alive from them, but this is probably the first time I’ve ever been happy to see a syringe. The effect was almost instantaneous and I was now even more grateful for drugs than before, if that was even possible.

“I don’t suppose you want to talk?” she asked. I looked at the squid. I’d actually forgotten she was here, which is disconcerting given that I’ve been trained to be fully aware of my surroundings at all times. I blamed the drugs and generalised pain for my lapse in concentration.

She looked at me as though she was expecting a reply. I realised, once again belatedly, that she had actually asked me a question expecting a reply.

“I wasn’t lying when I was in the hospital,” she continued, “I actually do need to ask you some questions.”

Now really wasn’t a good time. In fact, if she’d just wait until I didn’t feel like every breath was a competition I would have been more than willing to answer her questions.

“El!”

The squid, apparently dubbed ‘El’, spun around to face the door. A bearded, kind of scruffy looking man was standing there.

“Leave her alone El, we can talk to her in a few days when she’s healed a bit more,” he said. Internally I was nodding enthusiastically. I was grateful for them saving me, and if they knew what I am, I’m doubly grateful that they’re saving me, so answering questions in repayment was probably the easiest thing I’d ever had to do.

“But...”

“Elaine! She’s just had surgery. She’s not physically capable of doing much more than just breathing at the moment,” the guy said, cutting in before the squid could protest. She nodded and pushed past him, not particularly gently either.

There was silence as the man watched me watch him. It was a nice mutual watching session.

“I doubt you’ll try to escape. From what I know, you lot have a strangely strong sense of honour, and given that all we’re asking for in repayment is a few questions answered, I’m hoping that you haven’t been so twisted by those bastards that you try to leave without answering them. For now, the best thing you can do is sleep, and if you heal as fast as you’re meant to, you’ll be fit to fight by the time you wake up.”

The man turned around and walked away, shutting the door gently behind him.

Most curious. He seemed to know more than he was letting on but to be completely honest he was right on both counts. I decided that now was not a good time to question the hand I had been dealt and drifted into a slightly troubled but revitalising sleep.

The sound of giggling woke me up.

From the sound of it, it was a child, and from the faint smell of apples, it was probably a relative of the squid. I dared to open my eyes and sure enough a mini squid was sitting next to me, her finger poised over my stomach.

She was about to touch it when she glanced up, presumably to check that I was still asleep. When she saw my eyes open she promptly fell back, wincing as she landed harder than she wanted to.

“Mica,” hissed someone from the door.

I noticed that this child looked old enough to perhaps be an older brother, but given that the little girl looked six, the boy was only ten or so.

It was comical to see his face contort into fear when he realised I was awake. He was fast though. I had to grant him that as he quickly stepped into the room and pulled his sister behind him. He edged backwards, forcing his sister through the door, his eyes never leaving me.

The moment he was out of sight, I shifted my body slightly, checking to see if I was still in half the pain I was in before my questionably long period of sleep. Thankfully my body’s generally faster than normal healing powers had me back to essentially full strength already.

I sat up, regretting the fast movement when the room around me swam slightly. Apparently I was a little further from full strength than I thought.

Testing my limits, I tried standing. This was obviously a bad idea and I had never been more grateful for the squid’s timely entry until then.

The faint smell of apples surrounded me as I essentially snuggled into her arms. Not the smartest way to come out, but definitely the comfiest.

“Good to see you up,” said a man’s voice. The same man as yesterday, complete with beard, was standing in the doorway. There was laughter in his eyes and if my guess was correct, he was laughing at the squid’s expense.

I put my feet onto the ground properly, the extra blood flow helping me finally stand up on my own. The fact that I could do that was probably more thanks to my faster healing ability than some strange blood characteristic.

I coughed slightly and then swallowed. That was a bad idea. I realised fairly quickly that swallowing when there’s nothing to actually swallow hurts. Before I could wallow in that thought, a cup was placed at my lips and pure heavenly water was sliding down my throat. That’s twice in two days. I must be going for a record.

“Better?” asked the squid. She sounded a mixture of amused, wry and, dare I say it, concerned.

“Infinitely,” I replied, glad my voice didn’t crack or croak or some other equally embarrassing and creepy noise.

“Then you can answer our questions,” said the man.

My stomach chose this wonderful time to make itself known to the world. I’d been ignoring it for about three days before the extremely fascinating hospital trip. Understandably, it must have been fairly upset with me.

“After food,” offered the squid. I smiled. The squid returned it and for a whole second I was swept away with how different she looked genuinely happy. I almost named her ‘El’ in my head, until the light dimmed back down in her eyes and her smile lost its power.

Squid it was.