Fiction~~You Shall Know the Truth~~Ch. 4
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| You Shall
Know the Truth Chapter 4 |
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Truth's best ornament is nakedness.
– old proverb
Elias
tried to keep his gaze at counter height avoiding looking at the
half-naked bodies on the floor of his lab as best he could. He’d
thought his worst nightmare was witnessing the near rape of Gabriel,
but he’d grossly underestimated what the day would hold for him.
In this room where he’d worked for so many weeks, with Gabriel now
alive and the others entirely not, he thought he might collapse.
They’d
killed people. Actual human beings, terrible as they might have
been, were dead now because of them. He’d never seen anyone
killed before. Corpses he’d had to work with before to discover
cures, but they were always already in the lab. On tables,
prepped and cold, with everything set up properly to do an exacting
autopsy – that’s what he expected. Not like this.
There were dead bodies sprawled across the floor in unnatural angles
and poses in his lab.
And Gabriel was stealing their clothing.
Practical
as that might be, it was still macabre to watch. Seeing flaccid
limbs drop to the floor with heavy thuds as the other man pulled
sleeves free had Elias’ stomach sliding unpleasantly. Seeing
Gabriel destroy the clothing he acquired added confusion onto nausea
and made his head hurt. Two collars were ripped off, as were the
cuffs to two sets of the pants. Luckily one of the men had been
fairly fat, so at least the width of his clothes fit Gabriel’s larger
frame. They were a bit short, but they covered all the
distracting anatomy that had been his personal visual feast for so long.
Staring
as Gabriel worked the zipper of the pants he’d chosen, Elias’s eyes
focused. It wasn’t until he realized he was staring at the
partially open fly that realization hit: he’d never seen the man with
clothing on before. He wasn’t sure if it was better to have
things covered up, or if he actually missed seeing so much skin.
“Are you ready?” he whispered urgently. “We really need to go.”
“There are things to finish yet.” Gabriel said, dismissing him as he
concentrated on his clothing.
“We
need to go! We can’t stay here!” Forcing his still-trembling legs
to move, Elias went over to emphasize his point in a more physical
manner. Instead, he tripped over his own adrenaline-shaky
feet. He flailed wildly as his head tried to aim itself at the
floor.
Gabriel
stepped forward swiftly and caught him, holding him by the
shoulders. Jolting to a halt, his face was inches away from the
man’s partially buttoned shirt and smooth chest. He looked up,
trying to overcome his embarrassment to thank him properly.
“Watch your step.” Blue eyes examined Elias’ flushed, sweaty face.
Nose
to nose with his own fantasy, Elias swallowed carefully and tried to
ease his way out of Gabriel’s unintended near- embrace. Too many
false memories of this made him want Gabriel to tighten his grip and
hold him close. Pushing slightly on Gabriel’s chest, Elias’s hand
slipped on the slick strip of skin exposed by the unbuttoned
shirt. The feel of nipples underneath his palms startled him so
much that he stammered, jerking his hands back. He flushed,
trying to pull away without touching anything else that might tempt him
to start touching even more.
“S-sorry.” As the
holding continued, he took a deep breath and reached out with cautious
fingers. He couldn’t let himself indulge and touch too
much. Standing here, breathing in Gabriel’s smell every time he
inhaled, was arousing his body, and it shouldn’t! There were dead
bodies next to him! That should be a huge turn-off! It
should be enough to eradicate even the most potent dose of lust ever
created.
But it wasn’t.
He poked at one of
Gabriel’s arm, encouraging him to let go. Why was he still
holding him? He was staring. With a nervous shifting, Elias
moved his face until he was glaring at Gabriel’s chest. It felt a
little ridiculous. Was he going to end up drooling over the man’s
chest so often he’d know it more than his face?
“I’m
q-quite all right. You don’t need to hold on. I’ve got my balance
now.” His avoidance of the eyes above him ended as one shoulder
was released. His jaw was gripped tightly and his face forced
upwards. “What are you doing?!”
“What
if I wanted to hold on, little scientist?” Gabriel asked, a dark,
rather mocking grin on his face. “Would you deny me?”
Elias
stared, his heart starting to thump in his chest painfully. The arm
around his shoulder slid down until it clasped his waist, pulling him
in. As he tried not to panic, he was brought close, pressed against a
flat stomach and muscular thighs. Gabriel’s body surrounded him,
the slightly bitter tang of the man’s recent exertions covering him in
scent. Something started growing in size against his abdomen and
Elias’s eyes widened in shock before he castigated himself.
Gabriel wasn’t aroused by him. Adrenaline, the excitement of the
fight, being awake and free for the first time in weeks - they were all
perfectly capable of causing this reaction. Although having it
pressed against him so intimately was making him start to sweat even
more than the fight had.
“I d-don’t think…”
A
smooth, low murmur interrupted him. “I hear differently. I heard
everything as you examined my body. Everyone is always speaking
of your brilliance, Doctor Kerr, from the nurses to the lab technicians
so excited to be in your presence. Let’s not forget the guard who
speaks to you so sweetly in the halls. Which makes me wonder if
perhaps you know more about what was happening here than you seem
to? This could all be set up for my benefit.”
Elias’s
teeth gripped his bottom lip in nervous fear and he winced as he bit
too hard. He barely noticed the blood welling up from the cut as
Gabriel leaned towards him. What was the man doing? Elias
held his breath, frozen as it was licked from his lips with a sensuous
slide of tongue before he was released. Unable to move his head
even as his jaw was freed, Elias stared as Gabriel licked his own lips
with a small smile.
Gabriel’s voice was a velvet slide as he spoke. “Did you help plan
this?”
Elias’s
trapped eyes never left Gabriel’s face. God, he was so
beautiful. Something warmer than Elias had seen there before
shone through the blue of Gabriel’s eyes as he tapped Elias on the
nose. “Focus, little scientist. You planned this?”
“Your escape? I didn’t have time. I only just…”
“Not the escape. Me.”
“You?”
Elias looked up at him, still having a hard time focusing on anything
but the body pressed against his and holding him close. “I didn’t
plan for you at all,” he muttered, pushing lightly with trapped
arms. He didn’t want to be rude, but this was too intimate.
“You weren’t the plan. I love my work. That was supposed to be
enough. We need to go…”
One more tentative push and
the arm around his waist disappeared so quickly that his skin felt cold
through his thin dress shirt. Gabriel stared down at him as he
spoke in a strange, hollow voice. “You have thought of nothing
but me since I arrived, however you were not aware I existed before I
came to the lab.” There was a pause and then Gabriel’s lips twitched
just slightly. “Good. One should never rely on emotion.”
Elias stepped back, confused. What was he talking about? He…
“Take off your clothing.”
Elias
moved away, staring at him. “What? I… Wait, what are
you doing?!” Without another word, Gabriel’s large hands were on the
knot in his tie. He backed up, slapping at them. “Stop
that.”
“The tie must be removed.” The hands returned while Elias gaped.
“No
it ‘must’ not! You’re the one who needed new clothing! Mine
are just fine! I’m supposed to go back before they figure out
you’re gone! How can I do that if my clothes are lying around
d-dead bodies!”
Gabriel shook his head and slid two fingers under the tie at his neck,
slipping it open effortlessly.
“Stop it!”
A razor sharp nail ripped near the seam, shredding it to expose an
incredibly thin wafer inside the tie.
“This
is what is commonly known as a bug.” Elias stared at his ruined neck
ornament mutely and Gabriel gave an irritated sigh and spoke slowly.
“Also called a tracking device.”
Elias gave no indication that the words registered in his stunned mind.
“That was my favorite tie,” he whimpered. He reached out with one
finger and touched the remains.
“There
is a record of your every movement from the moment you get up to the
moment you sleep. Your clothing is littered with these. I
can hear them.” Gabriel scowled at the tie before tossing it on the
floor. “Take the rest off.”
Elias
finally acknowledged Gabriel’s lecture. “Littered with these?
Bugs?! But, my clothes… I don’t hear anything.”
Elias
looked down at the innocent looking piece of technology on the ground
and shook his head. This was crazy. First Gabriel was
awake, then guards had attacked them and now people were spying on him
with his clothes? Less than an hour ago he’d been ready to mourn
for the loss of his soul mate and now everything had changed; it was
too much.
“No, it must be something else. I would have known,” he said
weakly.
“You are nearly the most valuable person on the outpost. They’ve
been tracking you.”
“But…
“ He swallowed, still staring at his tie. The thought that
someone kept track of his movements made him feel more exposed than
he’d felt trying to sneak down the corridor. “That doesn’t make
any sense. I’m just a scientist…”
“Take off your clothes,” Gabriel menaced, stepping closer.
“I
told you, I can’t!” he snapped, frustrated and scared, eyes glued to
his tie and Gabriel’s bare feet next to it. He clutched at his lab coat
with both hands. “I need to stay here! If I leave, I can’t get
you off planet!”
“There is no way to avoid the fact that
they already know you’ve been in here. You cannot stay. The
clothing must come off. Now.”
“No!” Elias finally looked up and stepped back at the dark light in
Gabriel’s eyes.
“You will come with me. The clothing will stay.”
“With
you?” He wanted him to leave the lab? He wanted him to leave his
labcoat. Elias shook his head. “I’m s-sorry, but there’s
been a mistake here. I can’t go out into the wilds.”
“What makes you think you have a choice?”
“Th-there
are real bugs out there! With legs! Why won’t you
understand? If I leave, I can’t get you off planet!! At
least here Devlin can-”
“You can trust no one here.”
Without another word, Gabriel came over and turned him none too gently,
picking him up from behind before he could reorient himself. As
Elias attempted to struggle, a quick hand undid his zipper and was
yanking pants down Elias’s legs as Gabriel held him up high enough for
them to hit the ground.
“Stop! Get your hands off of there!”
Elias
was blushing furiously as his pants were kicked in a heap and, without
letting him go, his lab coat soon suffered the same fate.
“Noooo! Not my coat!”
Gabriel
let Elias’s feet touch the floor only to pull at his shirt, buttons
flying as he pulled it off with a few swift tugs. Turning quick
as lightning and covering himself with his hands, Elias stood in his
socks and shoes. He made an abortive grab for his coat before Gabriel
pushed him back against the wall.
“That has more devices than the rest of them together.”
“But
it’s my labcoat. I need my labcoat!!” He would have been
too embarrassed to speak if it weren’t for the fact that his precious
labcoat had just been violated.
A head tilted to the side as his
pale, goose-pimpled skin was examined with a strange glance. “You
dressed with a tie, but no underwear.” Gabriel snorted in what might
have been a chuckle.
Elias blushed hotter. “It’s
night time! I’d already undressed for bed and I didn’t want
to… Just forget it. I need clothes. I need my coat!”
The
embarrassed scientist stared at the pitiful lump of discarded
clothing. He couldn’t believe Gabriel had done this to him!
Gabriel was…he was awful. Just awful. There was no
way he could be the one Elias was supposed to love. A person of
ordered sensibilities would never fall in love with such a boorish,
physically violent, rude…
Elias squeaked as Gabriel leaned down and threw him over his
shoulder. “W-what are you doing?!”
“Calm down. These need to go as well.”
The
blood was rushing to his head as he hung over Gabriel’s shoulder,
making it hard to regain his equilibrium. Socks and shoes were
rapidly discarded. He could swear he felt a palm pat his bottom a
moment before he was put back down. Scrabbling back, the smaller
man covered himself again, glaring in furious shock at the dictatorial,
perverted…jerk.
When Gabriel walked towards him again, he
left off covering himself and held up his fists up defensively.
“Don’t come near me! I don’t have any more clothes to take off!”
The
large man didn’t roll his eyes, but one eyebrow raised and Elias would
swear there was mockery in that look. He didn’t stop his
approach, either.
“I m-mean it! Stay away!” He
swung out wildly as Gabriel kept coming. The man only shifted to
the side and grabbed the flailing arm. It was shoved into
something and he was spun, his other arm yanked and pulled as
well. He ended facing Gabriel with a shirt on his body,
unbuttoned down the front. The collar dismantled, he recognized
it as one of the guard’s.
“This is from a dead man! I can’t –“
“You
require covering to go outside, and yours have too many transmitters to
clean quickly. The guards only have the standard amount of
tracers which I’ve already removed.” As he reached for Elias again, the
scientist held up his hands.
“Stop! I can do it myself! J-just give me the pants! For
the love of… I can do it!”
Gabriel
looked at him steadily and nodded, handing him a pair of pants with a
ragged hem, along with socks and rough, clunky shoes. Flushed and
humiliated, Elias shoved his legs in and recovered his meager dignity
as quickly as he could. By the time he was done, the medical kit,
the blanket, and the three guards’ stix had been gathered and his
self-appointed escort waited by the door. Elias held onto
the waistband of his pants to keep them from falling and cast a longing
glance at his coat.
“Which way to the exit?”
Elias flinched at the terse question. “Follow me, and –“
“I need directions.”
Elias
glared up at him, cheeks still pink. “Turn left after you leave
the lab, take the third right, then the second left again, and the exit
is the last door on the right at the end of the corridor. It’s
easier if you follow me and-“
“I have it now.” He stepped
up close to Elias and backed him against the wall again. “You
will be quiet from now until we have left the base.”
“You
don’t have to tell me that,” he protested hotly. He hated being
treated like he was an idiot. He was the one who’d freed Gabriel,
wasn’t he? There was no reason to act this way! “And I still
don’t think I should leave. I can’t get in touch with Devlin if
I’m not here.”
Gabriel’s eyes darkened. “Devlin? This is the second time you
have mentioned this name.”
Elias’
head hit the wall as Gabriel leaned towards him suddenly. “He’s a
g-guard here. If I can get to him, I think he can smuggle you onto a
shuttle, but-“
“We need no help.”
“Yes,
we do! You don’t understand. There’s no other way out of
here! This isn’t a populated planet; this lab is the only thing
on it! We need Devlin.”
“There are exactly one thousand eight hundred and seventy two people
here and I trust none of them to get us off this planet.”
“One thousand…? That’s not right. There’s…”
Elias
took a deep breath as Gabriel braced a hand on either side of him and
glared. “You will not stay here. You will not speak of him
or anyone else here again. I will take care of this. Now
you will be silent!”
Before another word could emerge he
was up over Gabriel’s shoulder again. He yelped as he felt his
pants start to slide and grabbed at them, missing by a fraction of an
inch. He hissed as he felt them flump down, baring his bottom.
“My pants!”
Gabriel reached up and patted his backside again. His face flamed
as he smacked himself trying to get at the jerk’s hand.
“Let me go! For God’s sakes, my pants are falling off!”
“I will not let them fall,” Gabriel said. He laid his hand on
Elias’ bare skin and turned to walk from the room.
“Pull them back up!”
“No.”
Elias
reared up, trying to slide down into his pants, or smack Gabriel’s
head, or both. Gabriel kept walking. He opened the door and
Elias grew more frantic. His head hit the top of the metal
doorframe with a resounding thud on the way through.
“Keep
your head down.” Elias heard the smug words through the black and white
stars that swirled in front of his eyes and he clutched his head.
Elias made a small plaintive sound of distress. It really hurt!
“You whimpering?”
“No,
but I have a concussion!” Elias’s eyes teared as he
not-whimpered. Ow! His body swayed, cool circulated air
swirling over his bare bottom as Gabriel began to trot quickly through
the halls.
“P-p-put me down! I c-can walk!” His body was jostled as Gabriel
turned the corner and continued without a pause.
“This is more expedient. Now be quiet!” Gabriel whispered
harshly.
Realizing
that his loud whispers were carrying down the quiet hallways like a
shout, Elias bit his lip and slapped Gabriel on the bum in
protest. He wanted his pants back up! And why was Gabriel
keeping his hand there?! Jerk!
The shoulder driving
into his stomach was seriously making him sick, and hanging upside down
wasn’t helping. He prayed for a quick trip or the new clothing
they were wearing was going to smell a lot worse than dead men.
Ugh, corners.
Nauseous and nearly unconscious, Elias was
breathing in painful, ragged pants by the time Gabriel reached the
small door that led to the emergency stairs. The clothing
executioner shoved the door open after a quick inspection showed the
alarm was still disconnected and started climbing. Elias
tightened his stomach, trying to control how roughly he was being
bobbed on top of Gabriel’s shoulder. He hated to admit that the
man was right about anything, but he was going a lot faster on the
climb than Elias could have. And that was while he was holding
Elias. It was disturbing how strong he was. Maybe the
motion table and electrodes had done their job too well when keeping
his muscles from atrophying during his time on it.
They
reached the top with him gasping for breath, and the devil incarnate
barely in a sweat. Gabriel paused at the top of the
stairwell. He put Elias down, and the scientist groaned, backing
away from him with a stumble yanking up his pants. He tried to
rub the ache from his stomach.
“D-don’t do that again,”
he whispered, fuming and swallowing saliva quickly. He was not
going to throw up in front of this man.
“I’ll do what
needs to be done, as I always have.” Gabriel replied in a flat
voice. He looked at the large door in front of them with the
strangely old-fashioned manual crank. He put both hands on the
circular handle and began to pull, flexing with the strain as the wheel
slowly turned to undo the lock. It opened with a slow, almost
rusty screech of metal grinding. A dark half-moon slowly widened
in front of them like some dark mouth into hell.
Air blew
in from outside, humid and heavy with an exotic floral musk.
Elias shuddered. Real flowers mean real bugs. Dirt. Pollen.
Rotting leaves, slime molds and fungus.
It was a dark mouth into hell, a nightmare come to life.
He
looked at the stairwell to see if he could get down it before Gabriel
stopped him. He couldn’t go out there. It was
impossible. There had to be another way. He couldn’t.
Something rustled just outside the entrance, barely audible as Gabriel
paused before he continued pulling on the door.
“There’s
something out there.” Elias’ voice was a strained whisper of sound,
drowned out by the rusty hinges as Gabriel continued opening.
Light
glistened off something smooth and thick that seemed to slither at the
edge of the illumination pouring from their doorway out onto the rusted
stoop.
“G-Gabriel.” Throat dry, Elias tried to swallow as
he stared desperately into the black that grew bigger every
moment. “Stop. There’s something out there!”
His
body almost completely hidden by the door as he pulled it open, Gabriel
stopped and peered around to glare at him. “I told you to be
quiet.”
“No, you don’t understand. There’s
something- Aaaaaaaaaah!” Elias screamed as darkness poured
through the doorway at him. He tried to dodge, ducking, but it
followed, wrapping around his arms and legs. His torso was
covered with suffocating heaviness while he screamed again.
He could just barely hear Gabriel cursing furiously and yelling his
name as he was dragged out into the darkness.
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