stopped to get a better look at her.
“Spare a coin, sir?” the woman begged. “Just one, to help save the life of a miserable woman.”
Having had his better look at her, he made his decision. From his studies, he knew she might have been pretty once, but she hadn’t cleaned herself in at least a week and had likely sold everything she had for some sort of drug. This was evident from the stench of the dirt and rot flowing from her mouth and body. He took notice of her position, her legs spread outward, and realized she likely had resorted to selling her body to pay for her drugs.
“I won’t give you a single coin,” the doctor said. She looked as though she was going to cry. He smiled. “I intend to give you a bed and a meal instead.”
She looked at him, and tears began to flow down her face.
“Thank you, sir. Thank you!”
“It is my pleasure to help those in need, miss. Now, please follow me.”
He waited for her to stand and grab the bag she had at her side. When she did, they began to walk nearly side by side. He led her through the park and down one of the adjacent alleyways. When he reached the other side, he turned right and walked down the street marked Lyons Boulevard. He soon made a right, two lefts, three and four blocks down, another right a block down, and finally, reached his home on Colossus Way.
“Here we are, my dear,” he said as he reached into his pocket for his keys.
She looked fearfully from him to the building and back at him as he put his key into the lock.
“Where are we now, sir?” she asked with great fear in her voice. “I’ve never been in this part of the city.”
“This is my humble domicile.” He smiled at her, and her fear began to disappear. “It isn’t much, but it is home, and I wouldn’t change it even for a palace. Now please come inside, and I shall get you something to eat and a warm bed.”
“I should like that very much.”
The doctor chuckled a slight bit as he opened the door to the building, and they entered.
3
The doctor’s home was larger inside than the woman had expected. It consisted of an open concept kitchen, dining, and living room; an in-home office, a downstairs powder room, and an upstairs that likely held a few standard-sized bedchambers and a bathroom. The most surprising thing about it was that it was completely updated. It had a woodburning fireplace and was lit by torchlight instead of electricity. This was a little shocking because of the high-quality look of the home, but with the expenses of electricity or personal generators, it wasn’t very surprising.
“Make yourself comfortable while I prepare tonight’s feast,” the doctor called as he put his briefcase down and built a fire. When it was lit, he moved into the kitchen to cook.
The woman moved slowly, carefully, through the living room until she found a leather chair and sat in it. It was the most comfortable she had been in at least a month. She didn’t realize it at first, but she unintentionally became drowsy and quickly fell asleep by the fire.
The doctor woke her up two hours later in a location she didn’t recognize.
4
She was too tired to take notice of the room she was in until she felt a shock run through her body. This shock brought her back to full consciousness, and her body tried to jerk but was unable to. She looked down at her body and saw that she was wearing some strange collar and was fully naked.
“Good evening, miss,” a slightly higher-pitched and more childish voice uttered from beside her. “Have any pleasant dreams?”
She turned her head and saw someone with features like the man who had been so kind to her before sitting beside her on the back side of a chair. This man wasn’t wearing a jacket or long-sleeve shirt on his upper body, only an undershirt. His entire visible body, other than his head, was covered in tattoos. He was also not wearing glasses and had long blond hair instead of short black hair.
“What is going on?” she asked nervously. The New Man smiled sinisterly and laughed. “Why have you done this?” she pleaded. When she asked this, he winced and covered his ears.
“Shut up now or I’ll gag you and commence my work now!”
She shut her mouth as fast as she possibly could.
“Now, normally, I like to play with my meal before I commence with it, but should you continue to bother me as you do, I will have no reason to have such fun.”
She still looked confused and terrified, even more so upon hearing this statement.
“Perhaps an explanation and introductions are needed. My name is Izac Killian, and from the look I had in your bag, you are Anna Woodlaine. Now that introductions are over, let me explain my purpose. You are here for donation and experimentation.”
“What? Where am I?”
“Our personal laboratory,” Izac bragged and waved his hand across his body to display the room.
Anna looked along its path and saw she was in what looked like an abandoned medical room.
“What kind of laboratory?”
“We are trying to grow Guardians and Silk Weavers.”
The look of confusion stayed on Anna’s face.
“Guardians come from the belief that great beasts guard the gateway into the afterlife. The Great Doorkeepers to The Lower World, in other words. Bones of these great beasts are rumored to have been discovered, and we have acquired their DNA. With this and his high and powerful intellect, I know that we can create one or even a thousand. And you may not know this, but spider silk is stronger than any armor we can produce in this day and age. So if we can find a way to mass-produce silk, then The Leader will reward us heavily for our products.”
“So why have you restrained me? What do you want with me?” Anna almost bleated.
“We need something from you in order to grow my lovely children. As you likely know, you women possess eggs that turn into life. Yet as you go through your life, you lose eggs. So it is best that they are taken when you are young.”
“You are going to—”
“Extract your eggs?” Izac now sounded pleased and excited. “No, not me. He will. But don’t worry about that yet. We still have a little playtime to do first.”
Anna looked extremely terrified, but Izac could also see a look of confusion on her face. All he did in response to this was smile in a sadistic way down at her.
“If you asked, I would have gladly sold them to you at a cheap price!” Anna cried in a total panic.
Izac laughed at this. Anna didn’t like the laugh that came from him; it reminded her of her abusive husband and the corrupt guards he worked with.
“Why buy them when we can take them by force? You are in no position to argue.”
“But you seemed so kind—”
