Page 9 of Unchained

“When are you going to be done with me, huh?”

Dr. Leonetti tilted his head. “You don’t realize how difficult it is to get human subjects, do you? We paid a high price for you because of your age and physique. Which was a hundred times better than that of a junkie we could get off the street or a slave who’d been sold ten times over.” He snickered and stepped forward. “Don’t you see? I can’t let you go. Not when you’re so capable.”

Brooks bucked against his restraints. His shoulder blades banged against the metal at his back. A rumble of hate, red and violent, surged through him. He collected all the moisture in his mouth onto his tongue and hurled the gob into Leonetti’s face.

The doctor jerked back as Brooks’s saliva hit him just above his mouth. “Christ,” he wheezed. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped up the mess.

Brooks seethed. “Fuck you and your serum. I’ll never work for you.”

Dr. Leonetti’s expression was lethal. “You’re right—I own you,” he snarled, his voice hoarse with distaste. He popped the cap off the needle and plunged it into Brooks’s vein.

The cold liquid hit his bloodstream. Brooks dropped his head back on the metal, wanting to resist the pleasure that filled his body. As the drug traveled through him, it closed off the sounds of the room. The sweat on his brow decreased, but his breath became ragged.

No, no, no.

He couldn’t kill another innocent person.

Wouldn’t.

Every fiber in his muscles stretched, as if he’d just worked out for hours. His ligaments loosened, but at the same time his skin stiffened—protecting him from injuries. He coiled his hands into fists, and the tendons in his wrists pressed against the leather bands. His mind warred with his body.

Betrayed by his own flesh.

He inhaled deeply, riding the waves of the drug that disrupted his system only to bring it into a heightened state of focus. If he could remain connected with his mind, not get overrun by adrenaline, he could control where he directed his wrath. He opened and closed his hands rapidly, using his forearms to curl his hands up, putting more pressure on the restraints. They’d give. They fucking had to.

He peeled his eyelids open and scoured the room. He didn’t need a mirror to tell him his pupils were enlarged despite the bright lights. Not when his eyesight was improved tenfold. All his senses came on high alert.

“Keep him here until I get back.” Leonetti’s command followed by footsteps told him the doctor was stepping out. The rustling of keys reached his ears.

“You’re going to miss the show, doc!” he called. A laugh boomed from his chest. This time he’d get his revenge.

Eddie tented his fingers under his chin. “Don’t worry, thirty-six. We’ve got everything on camera.” He stood and approached the standing metal bed. The clank of a door reached Brooks’s ears. The doctor was gone, but Brooks could still save humanity from one sonofabitch. Tunneling all his strength into the muscles in his right hand, Brooks snapped the leather from its place at his side. The band dropped to the floor.

Eddie’s gaze followed the material. His face turned alabaster white. Terror shone in his small eyes. He jerked his head up to meet Brooks’s eyes and opened his mouth on a scream. Brooks jabbed his hand forward, grabbing Eddie by the throat. The man flapped and flailed, waving at the cameras, trying to get security’s attention.

It’d be too late.

Digging his fingertips into the fine tendons of Eddie’s neck, Brooks watched the man’s face turn as red as blood. Gasps hiccupped in his throat.

“Burn in hell, Eddie.” Brooks flicked his wrist to the side. The subtle motion exerted tremendous force on Eddie’s windpipe. His eyes bugged out of his head. Then he hung still.

Footsteps clapped in the hall.

They’re coming.

Brooks snapped open his hand. Eddie’s body dropped to the ground, and his head smacked against the floor. The lab’s metal door sprang open, and the window next to it revealed the pile of guards in the hall armed to take him down. Brooks yanked the strap from his still-confined wrist then removed the one at his waist. His body as rigid as a rod, he strode forward. His gaze landed on Dr. Leonetti with four guards surrounding him.

Concern wrinkled the doctor’s skin. He pushed his glasses up high on his nose and approached, hands outstretched. “C’mon, son. You don’t want to hurt any more people.”

Brooks’s muscles vibrated. The drug moved through his veins effortlessly now. Not a single cell in his body resisted. Not when the drug would aid him in killing every staff member in the hospital. Every person who’d been part of his imprisonment.

He smirked. “Come here, doc, and I won’t kill half your guards.” The words grated through his scratchy throat.

Dr. Leonetti stopped. He lifted his hand in the air and motioned with two fingers. The four guards charged forward. Brooks lunged and grabbed the first one by his throat and the buckle of his pants. He lifted him over his head and roared. The other guards stopped and aimed their tranquilizers. One dart smacked him in the chest. He threw the man into the group of guards, and another guard went down with him. Brooks ripped the dart from his flesh.

A faint tickle started in his legs, but it would take more than one dart to get him down. He shifted his focus back to the doctor—nothing else mattered but killing his torturer. He charged across the room. Rubber bullets rained down on his body. The doctor scrambled to the other side of the metal door. The bullets ricocheted off the glass window beside the door, splitting it into a web of cracks. Dr. Leonetti pushed the door shut. Brooks collided with the metal and banged his fists on the door, making it jump on the hinges. “Come out, you coward!”

Dr. Leonetti’s face filled the splintered window. Brooks’s chest heaved with unspent rage. The bullets had stopped, likely because they’d only break the glass further.

---