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Chapter IX

"Stop! Stop!" you yelled as he raised the scalpel. "Y-you can't do this!"
"Oh, but I already have," he pointed out, calmly gesturing around the room.
You moved your eyes around, straining to see what damage he had done. Your eyes fell on the several other tables that lay in a row, all occupied by the other people he had kidnapped during the night to use as test subjects. Your jaw dropped at the sight of the motionless bodies to your right, all bloody and torn up from the inside out. There were even small children, still in their nice Sunday Church clothes, now stained with their own blood. Bloody organs and masses of tissue lay scattered haphazarly around the floor, sitting in pools of red. Some of the people didn't even look human anymore, they were so cut apart. There was no one you recognized, luckily, but they were innocent victims all the same.
"Y-you sick bastard!" you mumbled. Looking back up at him with frantic eyes, you thought to yourself, 'Is this how it's going to end for me? Dissected and cut up beyond recognition?'
He was shaking his head in dissatisfaction at his 'lab rats'. "Tsk-tsk... they were not much fun. Their bodies were too weak to live long enough through the dissection."
You just stared at him with a blank expression of shock.
"Although, yesterday," he continued, "yesterday was my lucky day! I had aquired my most desired test subjects!" He was way more excited about this than he needed to be.
You swallowed the lump that had risen in your throat. "S-subjects?!" you croaked. He gathered several more people, other than just you, to kill in his sick, twisted research?!
He moved out of the way, alowing you to look past him to your left and see two other tables, also with bright lights over them.
"No..." you hoarsely whispered.
He nodded, sickly proud of his findings. "I ran into both of them last night. They'll be fun to play with later; their bodies are much more durable than the others I've dealt with." He dissmissively waved his hand around in the air, a bit disgusted at the weakness of the human body.
Your shaking eyes rested on the two unconscious bodies of Crona and Kid. Crona's body had several cuts and bruises along his porcelain skin; and Kid...
"K-Kid..." you whispered, tears pricking in your eyes.
"Yes, he didn't put up at much of a fight as I hoped. He just seemed to surrender," Stein pursed his lips in disappointment and thought as he squinted through his round glasses at the young Shinigami's body. "Not too much will to carry on, I guess..." he thought out loud.
You stared at Kid's body, which lie limp on the table nearest to you. His frame seemed so weak and fragile; Soul was right... he looked awful. You could see his chest rise and fall with his shallow breathing, his pale skin stretching thinly over his ribcage as if it were to rip at any moment. Dark circles under his eyes contrasted with the white skin of his cheek bones, telling of his many sleepless nights.
Your chest tightened and began heaving with silent sobs. "Th- this... this is all my fault..." you murmured, hating yourself. Through this emotional pain, you realized you felt something for him... you loved him. And you were about to lose that if you didn't survive tonight.
More tears poured down your cheeks uncontrollably. In the corner of your eye, Stein twitched, the madness taking more control of his mind, body, and soul. "Let's wake him up, shall we?" he offered in a sarcastic tone. He stalked over to where Death the Kid's body lay, motionless, and you watched in horror, feeling helpless. Stein raised his palm and smashed it down onto Kid's bony chest, laughing madly as he sent powerful wavelengths through Kid's lithe form.
Kid's body convulsed in pain as he suddenly woke, his yellow eyes - drained of life - flung open. He helled hoarsely, his back reflexively trying to arch off the table, though the straps held him tight to the surface. He coughed up droplets of crimson blood, then dropped limply back onto the table, panting heavily. You observed through wide eyes, tears blurring your vision.
You couldn't stand to see him in such pain. "Kid!" you shrieked, trying to break free once more, lashing your arms and legs around, trying to loosen the cuffs that bound you.
Stein spun to face in your direction, a wicked grin still present on his face, his whole being distorted by the madness that gripped him. "What's this? Do you care about this Grim Reaper?" He spat out a meniacle laugh, looping around and attacking Kid with another wavelength.
Kid's body spasmed again, barely clinging on to his consciousness. More blood spilled from his dry, cracked lips, and his eyes halfway rolled into the back of his head. Again, you gaped in horror at the scene of his torture. Kid weakly coughed once and slowly blinked, becoming more aware of his surroundings.
Stein grinned at the sight of Kid awakening. "So nice to have you join us, Death the Kid," he greeted. He stepped over to his cart, filled with sharp, metal instruments for dissection. He lifted a scalpel and inspected the blade, which was covered in dried blood; he chuckled creepily. He walked back over to Kid, scalpel in hand. You quickly tried to think of something to stall the professor, something that would give you more time... but what?
"Wait, professor!" you called just as he was about to jab the blade into Kid's stomache.
"What is it now?' he grunted, ready to get on with it.
"Y- you should probably clean the blade first, don't you think?" you tried to persuade him. "If the blood on the scalpel infects Kid's blood, he might die sooner. You don't want that, do you?" You mentally crossed your fingers, hoping he would buy it.
He scowled down at the scalpel, then at you, contemplating. He couldn't argue with science. "Hmm..." he moaned, disgruntled. "Stay here, I'll be back." He walked out of the room, leaving you with only a short amount of time to think of an escape plan. You waited until the echoes of his footsteps faded away.
"Kid," you whispered. "Kid, can you hear me?"
His golden irises moved to meet yours, his expression not changing from the mixed emotions that already dwelled on his tired face.
"Kid, we need to get out of here!" you whispered even louder, frantic.
It seemed someone else was way ahead of you, though; a small voice came from another table. "Bloody needle," the voice softly spoke, shaking a little with fear. The sound of ripping fabric and steel shortly followed, and small pieces of metal debree scattered across the room, clinking around wherever they landed.
"Crona?!" you exclaimed in surprise, moving around a little in hope. "Have you been awake this whole time?" you asked, watching Crona's figure rise off the table next to Kid's and walk over to you.
He just looked at you, not saying a word, then helped you out of your clamps. You jumped up and hugged Crona tightly around the neck; he faltered back a few steps, almost losing his balance.
"Thank you, Crona!" you whispered in his ear, smiling, happy that he was okay; he only nodded his head in response. You rushed over to help Kid, who watched you with somewhat heartbroken eyes. "Kid, are you okay? What happened?" you asked as you unscrewed the bolts around his wrists and ankles.
"Alexus... I..."
Footsteps were clicking in the hall, the sound growing louder and louder. You gasped and glanced toward the door, then hurriedly turned back to Kid, loosening the last screw. Kid slowly rose, with barely any energy left in him.
"Come on, Kid! We have to hurry!" you urged in a low whisper, grabbing his hand and tugging him to a small window leading out of this dark room - which you guessed was the basement. You stepped on some piled-up old crates and barrels, crawling out first. You took Kid's hand and pulled him through after you, Crona following behind out into the yard.