Page 15 of Forged in Deception

Still, as her headlights lit up the edges of the highway, she could see cacti and late-blooming flowers, and overhead, the clear sky was dotted with stars. Despite the unpredictable weather, she couldn’t help but to love the beauty of northern Texas.

“Why do you call it a retreat, anyway? I thought you said you were testing DX8?” Axel asked.

“Sorry, habit. I know it’s kind of dumb,” she said, cracking a small smile. “Totally one of those annoying newspeak terminology things that Senera wants us to use.”

Axel smiled back at her, waiting for her to say more.

“Language matters. Calling it a ‘trial’ makes the important task of our patients sound impersonal and sterile,” Karlin said in a mocking tone. “Likewise, we prefer to use the term ‘patients’ rather than ‘subjects’. After all, we don’t want to make our patients feel like lab rats!”

“Right. The outdated term ‘subject’ would indeed evoke ideas of animal testing in the eyes of the public,” Axel said gravely. “And we at the Senera Pharmaceuticals Public Relations department know how well animal testing does in focus groups.”

She couldn’t help but to laugh, and as she did, she realized with a sinking feeling just how long it had been.

Axel actually seemed pretty fun to be around. Even if he was bossy and seemed to take way too much pleasure in stressing her out.

Either way, fun or not, she was going to have to trust him if they were going to hold Senera accountable, and that wasn’t going to be easy.

Her whole life, it had been basically just her and John. Their parents were still alive, but they weren’t any help. John had found Jesus in the military and tried his best to lean on his faith when times were tough. But Karlin didn’t trust his God.

She didn’t really trust anybody. She had been carrying everything on her shoulders for so many years, she’d sort of gotten used to it.

And now, it was all she knew.

CHAPTER

SEVEN

THE WOMAN

BEFORE

The floor of the hut felt familiar now. The whole room was, from the curved walls to the wooden spines that held up the thatched ceiling, piercing outward to form a perfect circle.

She knew many of the faces that shared the space with her, and she offered a serene smile to the new ones, the scared ones.

The mug in the woman’s hand seemed to fit her fingers perfectly, and the taste of its contents sliding down her throat no longer made her choke.

The Professor had told her that this would happen if she kept coming back, if she persevered.

Of course, he was gone now.

He was no longer beside her, no longer holding her hand, but that was all right.

She was ready.

The woman leaned back against the wall, feeling the coolness of the uneven stone pressing against the back of her head. Her eyes were closed now, but she could see more clearly than ever before.

She could see the molecules that made up the air, bobbing into her, dancing in a twisting show of a thousand colors. She reached out to touch one, but it was gone already, replaced with a smokey blackness.

The woman thought this was interesting. She wasn’t afraid anymore. The journey was safe, she could trust it now.

She had been waiting for what came next, though she didn’t know what exactly her prize was until it materialized from the dark.

It was a snake, green and smooth, with scales that sparkled with an inward light. Its eyes were white, and the woman looked into them without fear.

“Who are you?”

The woman’s mind spoke the question. She knew her lips would not move. No one else would see. This creature had come for her and her alone. The snake had come to touch her soul.

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