I looked away from the poor excuse of a man curled up in his fluids and stared silently in contemplation at his daughter.

'Something is off about this kid.'

Whilst sharing Jamie's POV, I saw all the things he saw. However, unlike the gullible little hamster, I had my fair share of human interactions, some good and some unfortunately bad.

Through the bad, I know the look in innocent eyes as they and their loved ones are tortured and killed. All of them show fear, disgust and then finally acceptance. The order may differ, but it's always there.

At first glance, her fear almost fooled me. However, the longer I looked, the more I noticed inconsistencies. Yes, there was fear, but it did not fluctuate even once. One could blame trauma, but this was different.

"You win, Jamie." Victor suddenly whispered in his corner, having stopped crying long enough to say some words. "If you are going to kill me, at least do it out of sight of my daughter, and when you are done, leave my books alone. That is all I ask."

His trembling hands pointed towards a small door at the back of the living room that blended with the dark burgundy wallpaper.

With my thoughts now interrupted, I looked back down at the man who had orchestrated a large amount of the pain and misery in my life. I had not seen him for years and expected to feel satisfaction once I reached this point, but all I felt was blue-balled at finding such a weak-willed man at the end of my rainbow.

'A fucking disappointment.'

"It's been a while, Victor," I sighed as I squatted down to his deformed face.

It took a moment for my words to register before shock replaced his gloom. He struggled to open his remaining swollen eye to confirm my presence and smiled once he saw me.

"Soldier Boy?" Victor said before sobbing as he reached for me. "I h-h-have not seen you since I r-r-retired. I know I hurt you, but please k-k-kill me. I c-c-can't stand the p-p-pain."

I swatted his hand aside and stood over his disabled body. This was no fun at all; if anything, it was making me angry. I had come all this way to find such a pitiful creature as my enemy, and it was both humbling and irritating.

Victor began crawling towards me, begging for me to listen to his final wish.

'I'll show you exactly what I think of your books.'

With a sneer, I kicked him from our end of the living room and through the study door. I watched in delight as his body rolled off his beloved bookcase and onto a beautiful Persian rug adorning the floor, damaging many of his books in the process. I decided to keep my promise of removing every single fucking bone in his body and began slowly walking towards the fucker to enact just that.

"Goodbye, Victor, you're a fucking let-down," I said, dissatisfied as he scrambled through all the books instead of fighting me like a real man.

Just as I was about to grab him by his neck, he looked up with a demented smile and a tablet in his mangled hands.

"Activate BABA YAGA protocol!!" Victor yelled whilst holding his only remaining thumb onto the screen. A look of victory filled his face as he was rewarded for his patience.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"THUMBPRINT RECOGNITION ACCEPTED. VOCE RECOGNITION ACCEPTED. BABA YAGA PROTOCOL ACTIVATED," a robotic voice responded throughout the home.

'Well, this just got interesting.'

I quickly stopped my attack and watched in anticipation as the house shook. In what felt like minutes but was, in reality, probably only seconds, a section of the floor disappeared to reveal a laboratory hidden underneath the living room floorboard.

'Now this is a fucking evil lair. Of course, an enemy of mine would never be ordinary.'

From my vantage point, I saw a meticulous lab with an operating table in the centre and an ominous orb releasing a blue mist.

I quickly recognised the orb as the V-Mist 2.0. A device I had requested be made when typical drugs began to bore me.

'Now, how did that get here.'

It was a straightforward device that could release a euphoric mist of severely diluted compound V.

The mist quickly covered the whole house, and once it touched my skin, it made me feel instantly energised.

'Ahhh, just what I needed.'

Interestingly, I noticed the mist seemed to pool around Dawn's figure and cause her to finally show signs of waking up. However, the effect was only temporary as she quickly settled back into my arms and into her deep sleep.

'That's something I'll have to deal with later. She has been asleep through too much commotion for it to be natural and not induced.'

~ What is going on, Sir? ~ Jamie suddenly questioned in fear, having reached my side during the uproar.

"I don't know, Jamie. However, it comes just in time. I was getting fucking bored." I replied with a grin as I placed Dawn in the study. "Stay here with the kid and protect her. I'll deal with this."

Jamie nodded in response before positioning himself between Victor and Dawn like a protective hound.

"You will not get out of this alive, Soldier Boy," Victor said whilst laughing hysterically. "I knew your pride would bring me into my study, and now my weapon shall tear you apart piece by piece."

As he spoke, he awkwardly hobbled past me, past the lab in the floor and towards his daughter, who had begun convulsing from the blue mist.

"I had wanted more time to perfect my weapon. However, you have forced my hand, and for that, I shall take great pleasure in your death. Be joyful in knowing that in your final moments, you have witnessed history. Arise my child and bring my bidding upon this world," Victor screamed with vigour.

"ACTIVATION CODE RECOGNISED. SECONDARY CONTROL AUTHENTICATION, FACIAL ANALYSIS BEGINNING. AUTHENTICATION FAILED. ALL LIFEFORMS IN THE PERIMETER ARE NOW DESIGNATED AS ENEMY COMBATANTS. ESTABLISHING LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE TO ENSURE ANNIHILATION OF INTRUDERS," The robotic voice said as metal shutters covered all exits.

"W-W-What? No, that c-c-can't be right. Initiate override code 947036.." Victor stuttered before being rudely interrupted by a deformed green hand forcing itself through his throat like a knife through hot butter and lifting him into the air.

"OVERRIDE CODE INCORRECT. PLEASE INPUT THE CORRECT OVERRIDE CODE WITHIN TWO MINUTES. IN CASE OF FAILURE TO COMPLY, PROJECT BABA YAGA SHALL HAVE FULL AUTONOMY ACCORDING TO ORDER 66," the robotic voice stated whilst Victor gurgled to death in his own blood.

I could not see what had happened to Ana as Victor was in the way. However, I could see the gnarled green hand holding Victor up like a kebab.

I moved to the side to see the owner of that hand and nearly vomited at the sight. The abomination in front of me no longer resembled the cute child from before. Instead, her stunning dress was ripped apart on the floor, revealing her maggot-riddled form.

The mist had seemingly kickstarted a hulk-like process. However, unlike our friendly green giant, this was a Frankenstein-like monster made up of a disproportionate mismatch of rotten human and metallic pieces. The sickening part was that I could tell the human sections were from different people. The torso and left arm were from two Caucasian girls, while the right arm was an odd green shade, making it impossible to identify the original colour. Most disturbingly, the flesh of Ana had been partially or entirely stripped off to reveal cybernetic additions. I could see that the legs distinctly mimicked a chicken. Whilst the head reminded me of a fairytale witch with its wispy hair and metallic face. On the floor were the remnants of her skin that had fallen during the conversion.

'What the fuck did he do to his kid?'

The creature's bright red eyes were focused on Victor's struggling form and exhibited no desire or need.

'I may have gotten too cocky.'

"What the fuck, Jamie," I yelled towards the study. "Why is she moving."

~ I do not know, Master Ben ~ Jamie said in a panicked manner. ~ I no longer have control of her mind. However, I can still feel her presence, and she seems asleep. Whatever this is, it is not her. In fact, it does not have any mind I can detect. I am so sorry for my failure, Master Ben. ~

I paid no attention to his rambling and continuous apologies as the next thing she did freaked me out.

The body of Victor began to age rapidly as her right arm glowed a bright blue. During the entire process, the rotten pieces healed as if his life was being stolen to turn back time and repair the dying flesh.

'Is she on compound V?'

In seconds his body was mummified and slumped onto the floor like a puppet with cut strings, whilst hers was full of vigour and completely maggot free.

"THE TWO MINUTES HAVE PASSED. ORDER 66 INITIATED," the robotic voice suddenly stated.

Ana shook as if struck by lightning before turning her now blue eyes towards Jamie and stepping in his direction, her robotic chicken feet crushing Victor's skull like a watermelon in the process.

'Well fuck, I can't let this bitch touch them or me.'