Trapping the Gazelle

Chapter 13

A soft being sound intruded upon Kiera's sleep. She kept her eyes closed wanting to go back to sleep and return to her dream. The warm sun and smell of the salty air awoke her from that dream. Opening her eyes with a sigh of regret, she saw she a beach.

'Why am I on a beach?' Kiera thought perplexed as she heard the steady beep in the distance. 'What is that beeping sound?'

She turned her head trying to locate the sound and noticed Ryan sleeping next to her on a blanket. With a sigh of relief, Kiera smiled as she propped herself up on her right side and looked around. Something felt odd, she remembered standing in a kitchen, but could not remember why. In addition, the beach felt different to her. She ran her fingers though the sand. It felt warm and very real as it slipped through her fingers, but at the same time, it did not feel real. Then there was something else equally disturbing.

'There no one on this beach.' Kiera thought mystified as she scanned the empty beach.

She saw hotels behind them, but no people walking along the beach, playing in the water or the sounds of cars. Then she heard the steady being sound again. Not faint this time, but louder this time. With a shrug, she turned her attention back to Ryan. She jumped a bit. Ryan was staring at her with his china blue eyes.

"Well hello handsome. You startled me." Kiera said and Ryan did not answer her. He just stared at her, "Well we seem to be alone."

Ryan did not say a word, but gently pushed Kiera onto her back and rolled on top of her. Kiera felt his hardness pressing against between her legs. The beeping sound beeped louder as Ryan ran his hands up her arms slowly until he reached her hands. He interlocked his fingers through hers as he grinded his hips between her spread legs.

"Someone wants something." Kiera said breathlessly as she felt her heart beat faster. She let out a low moan as he rocked his hips against her once again.

"You know what I want, pet." Ryan said, but not in his voice. The voice had an English tone.

Kiera stared up in wide-eyed horror. She knew that voice. It was the voice of Raphael. She tried to push him off her, but Ryan tightened his hold and smiled wickedly at her. She moved her body side to side, arching her back, but he was too strong. She felt sweat dripping down her face as she struggled. She looked up and then discovered in disgust that it was not sweat, but Ryan's skin dripping down her face. Ryan's face melted like candle wax onto her. It dripped on her face and breast with a loud splat as it ran down her cheek.

The beeping sounds became erratic and loud. It thumped in to her ears as more skin dripped onto her. Kiera noticed everything going black around her as the being sound throbbed in her ears painfully. Just before the blackness swallowed her vision, she gazed in silent horror into empty eye sockets and a grinning skull.

Kiera opened her eyes and gasped out loudly. She sat up breathing heavy and sweating. She scanned the room with fearful eyes as she clutched the blankets tightly with trembling hands. Though her slightly blurred vision, she noticed she was in a small dimly lit room. The room appeared to be empty.

Kiera fell back onto the bed in exhaustion as she stared up at the ceiling, trying to think what just happened. The beeping sound still beeped erratically for a moment before calming down. She turned her head and saw that the sound came from a hospital monitor, designed to measure your heartbeat and pulse.

'What is going on?' Kiera thought as she looked down at herself. 'Where am I?'

She noticed she was wearing one of her nightgowns and looking down saw an object clipped to her finger emitting a dull red light. Wires ran form the object to the monitor positioned next to her bed. She also noticed an IV in the back of her hand. Following that line, she discovered it ran up to a plastic bag with clear liquid inside. The bag hung from a metal pole above her bed. Kiera closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath. She felt a sharp pain in her side and gasped out in pain. The monitor gave a sharp chirp as Kiera gritted her teeth against the pain that set her nerves on fire.

'How did I get here?' Kiera thought as the pain subsided, 'I remember being in the kitchen with Ryan and two other people.' Kiera thought hard closing her eyes tight, then opening them, 'It was Dragon and Sandra too. Then I'm on the beach...' Kiera shuttered at the memory.

As Kiera tried to think, she heard a soft click from the other side of the room and the familiar voice of Ryan calling out to her, "Kiera are you awake?" Kiera noticed a worried tone in his voice.

"Where am I?" Kiera breathed out, she swallowed. Her throat felt dry. She coughed a bit covered her mouth with her hand. For some unusual reason, she expected to cough up blood, but when she moved her hand, there was nothing.

"What is happening to me, Ryan." Kiera croaked. She felt extremely tired.

"Here drink this." Ryan said and Kiera felt the bed move as she was propped up into a semi-sitting position.

Ryan placed a straw between her lips and Kiera too a small sip. As soon as the cool water touched her tongue, she felt thirsty. It took a shear amount of willpower keep herself from gulping down the water. She knew that doing so would only cause her to cough it back up. The water cooled and refreshed her.

After a few more sips of water, Kiera felt some of her strength return, "Where am I?" Kiera said quietly.

"You're in one of the medical lab rooms at your parent's facility." Ryan answered, "We brought you here after the incident."

"What incident?" Kiera asked, "I only remember us talking to the Director and Sandra, but I can't remember past that."

Kiera saw that Ryan was struggling with something emotional. He started to open his mouth to say something then he would shut it.

"Ryan you are scaring me. What happened in the kitchen?" Kiera repeated her question as she heard the monitor beep loudly.

Ryan took a deep breath and explained what had happened in the kitchen. Kiera's eyes widened in shock and disbelieve. 'Did I really cough up blood?' Kiera thought, 'What is happening to me?'

"You have been asleep for thirty six hours." Ryan continued, "That is probably why you feel so weak. Here let me put your glasses on, so you can see." Kiera saw him grab her glasses off the side counter and place them on her face.

"Does anyone know what happening to me?" Kiera asked. "Why have I been asleep for thirty six hours."

"Yes I believe I do." Kiera heard a voice from the entrance to the room.

Looking pass Ryan she saw Melissa standing in the doo frame with Kiera's parents. Kiera felt relieved to see her parents and Melissa.

"So what is wrong with me?" Kiera asked again and felt Ryan's hand on top of hers. It felt reassuring to know he was by her side.

"We know that you have genetic virus." Melissa answered.

"What does that mean?" Kiera said feeling shocked by the news.

"It means that some how you contacted a virus that is affecting your genes." Melissa explained, "We looked at your blood results and noticed that your protein levels are extremely low compared to your last blood sample in August."

"I don't understand how did I get this virus?" Kiera asked feeling confused.

"That we do not understand, my dear." Fiona spoke up and Kiera looked at her mom, "From what we have discovered so far."

"Then what do you know?" Kiera asked. She could sense they did know more. Melissa and Fiona kept glancing at each other, "Tell me."

"It also appears to be old in nature, but I'm positive that I have seen this virus structure before. I just can't figure out where." Melissa said frustrated.

"So what does this all mean?" Kiera asked as panic rose up in her. She felt Ryan's hand tighten around hers trying to comfort her.

"We are not sure." James said defeated, "The only option available to us it..."

Fiona interjected, "We are not using the bacterium on Kiera, and we must find another way." Kiera heard a shocked tone in her voice.

"Bacterium, what bacterium are you talking about?" Melissa asked turning to look at James and Fiona. Kiera saw her become interested in what they had to say.

"What if it can save her?" James said quietly, but Kiera heard the tone. It sounded as if she might die.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by save me?" Kiera inquired and her voice rose a bit. "Am I dying?"

"Dear, no one said that." Fiona answered, but Kiera knew she was lying. Kiera heard the unsure tone in her voice and saw how she glanced away when answering Kiera's question.

"You're lying to me." Kiera said feeling anger swell up in her, "Tell me the truth, am I dying."

"This is not a time for kid gloves, Fiona. Kiera is a grown woman and we have tell her the truth." James said with a stern voice.

"This is not the time, James." Fiona shot back.

"Someone answer my damn questions now!" Kiera shouted.

The effect froze everyone as Kiera stared defiantly at him or her. Melissa swallowed and looked at Kiera's parents, but Ryan answered her question.

"You are dying, Kiera." He said quietly in a choked voice, "The virus is destroying your body one cell at a time."

Kiera gasped in shock as the news, "I'm dying." She whispered barely audible, "How long do I have...?" Kiera could not force herself to ask the word 'live'.

No one spoke. Kiera saw them all look away, except for Ryan, "How long do I have to live." Kiera repeated the question emphasizing each syllable and forcing herself to ask. "Answer the damn question, it is my life not yours."

Fiona turned and ran from the room crying, Kiera could hear her sobbing as she ran out. James rushed after her wife. Kiera looked from Melissa to Ryan with a steely look.

"Kiera, we are not sure." Melissa answered walking over to Kiera and placed a hand on top of her other hand. "It would be a month or six. I am going to take the vials of blood back with me to my lab. There I can look through my database of ancient viruses."

"Do you think it will help me?" Kiera asked quietly feeling ashamed at her outburst. She knew she should not have lost her temper. Everyone had their world turned upside down and they all needed to take a moment and think about it.

"I think it might Kiera, but for right now you need to rest and recover your protein levels. That is what you need to concentrate on right now." Melissa instructed and then asked, "What bacterium was your father speaking of."

"You have to keep this confidential, Melissa. It is a top secret project." Kiera answered and watched Melissa carefully. Kiera felt Melissa moving her thumb slowly across the back Kiera's hand as if caressing it.

"I know what it means to work on top secret projects." Melissa smiled brightly.

"They are engineering a bacterium that can be genetically altered to affect ones DNA." Kiera said, "From what they told me, once the bacterium is engineered with the persons DNA it can help cure them of genetic disorders."

"So in other words, your dad thinks that the bacterium will cure you." Melissa said thoughtfully, "It does seem plausible, but you would be the patient zero. I see the hesitation to use you as a test subject."

"Do you think you can find a different approach?" Ryan piped in. Kiera heard his voice choked with emotion. Kiera squeezed his hand.

"I'm not sure. I am currently studying prehistoric viruses. The virus in Kiera shares a similar cell structure, but I can be sure until I get back to my lab." Melissa explained, "I might be able to find the same kind of virus or a close cousin of it."

"So the nose bleeds and coughing up blood could be related to this virus?" Kiera asked trying to understand more about her condition.

"They seem to be linked." James answered as he walked back into the room.

Kiera looked up at him, "How is Ma?" Kier asked, "I'm sorry for my outburst."

"It is alright Kiera. You have every right to be angry." James answered empathically, "You don't deserve this and it's not fair." Kiera noticed he looked tired and defeated.

"Do you think the bacterium will work?" Kiera asked quietly looking down at the sheets. She really did feel ashamed for her outburst. She had never felt so angry before and wondered if it had something to do with the virus affecting her body.

"I believe it can, but we should explore other options." James replied. "Do not concern yourself with that right now. You focus on recovering. I put a special solution in the IV bag." James pointed at the clear bag hanging on the hook. "It will replace your protein levels and I will put together something else to help you."

Kiera felt a tear run down her cheek as she cried, "Thank you Da."

"We will cure you, Kiera." James said with confidence, "This will not beat you."

"Well we will let you rest." Melissa announced, "Plus I have some work to do. I will keep in touch." She gently squeezed Kiera's hand and smiled.

"Thank you, Melissa." Kiera said emotionally, "It means a lot to me."

"It is nothing Kiera." Melissa said back, "It is the least I can do." With one last squeeze, Melissa let go and walked out of the room. James followed Melissa out of the room as well.

"Well this really puts a damper on things." Kiera said giving Ryan a weak smile.

"It certainly does." Ryan chuckled lightly.

Kiera knew Ryan was trying to be brave and bear all the weight of everything on his shoulders. She thought of telling him not to worry, but knew he would argue the point. Moreover, there was still the issue about who was assassinating Surge members.

"Ryan we need to find out who is killing members." Kiera said quietly as she looked at him.

"We can worry about that later, love." Ryan replied. "Why didn't you mention the hallucinations?"

"I didn't think they could be connected to this virus." Kiera replied.

"I see." Ryan said.

Kiera thought about speaking up, but again intuition told her it was not the time. With a deep sigh, Kiera thought about what this all meant to her. She knew she had to fight no matter what. She had gone through hell and back to be with Ryan. She would fight it head on and win. It troubled her that a virus had infected her.

'When did it happen?' Kiera thought, 'Did it happen in the cellar or earlier?'

"Would you like some more to drink?" Ryan asked.

"What?" Kiera said as she was still deep in thought.

"Do you want some more to drink?" Ryan repeated his question, "Are you doing okay right now?"

"Yes I would like some more to drink." Kiera answered him. "And yes I'm okay. I'm just trying to think about how I could have been infected by this virus." She took a few sips of water as Ryan held the straw to her lips.

"I think it would be best if you rest for now." Ryan replied, "Get some sleep and we will tackle this problem in the morning."

"Can you stay with me, until I fall asleep?" Kiera asked feeling like a girl afraid of the dark. "I don't want to be alone right now."

"Of course, love." Ryan said smiling, "I will share the bed with you."

Ryan kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bed with Kiera. It was a tight fit, but Kiera felt better. She moved slowly onto her left side and lied her head on Ryan's shoulder. She felt safe and secure lying against him and with his arm around her. Kiera did not think she could fall back to sleep, but the warmth of Ryan and his secure arms put Kiera at ease. She fell asleep instantly.