What Memory Remains
Chapter 27: Roses and Thorns

“Mr. Krane?”

“Mr. Krane?”

“What is it?!”

“Your new patient is here.”

“Prep him for the procedure. I’ll be in soon.”

“Yes sir.”

The door closed, leaving the Director Robert Krane alone with his thoughts and a small diamond ring that he held in his palm. He turned it over many times in his hand, watching how the light danced on the metal except for one small portion that was scorched. He focused mainly on the small rose that was engraved on the inside of the ring. As he stared in the many facets of the diamond, he saw a reflection of his own self. In that reflection, he saw what he was now and how he used to be. How he had changed.

“But am I really that different than I was then?” he thought. “Even if things happened differently, I might still be where I am today. It was meant to be. It was destiny.”

In his mind, he saw himself those many years ago. A young, eager scientist with a naïve glow of hope and opportunity in his face. He was on his last year of school, majoring in Biology with an emphasis in Genetics as well as Magical Runes with an emphasis in Wards. The top of his class, his intellect and drive were envied and puzzled by most students. Most found it odd that he was interested in both science and magic as most “took a side” when it came to those subjects. Yet, the two were very much related in Robert’s case.

He was a dating a girl named Rose, and it was upon this relationship that caused Robert much joy and stress. She was the love of his life, and after being with her for two years he knew that she was the one. They often talked of what it would be like to get married, and he had saved money for the last year to buy her a ring. Upon this joyous fact was the antagonist and reason for Robert’s relentless studies.

Robert had an older brother named Holander who was extremely gifted with magic. For the first ten years of his life, he was in wonder of his very gifted older brother and looked up to him very much. That soon changed as Holander began to grow more and more distant, falling prey to the vanity of his own power. The relationship grew even more stale as Robert began getting more attention from academic achievements, no longer impressed by Holand’s magical obsession.

“What can you do, eh? Read books?! And that’s impressive??!” was something Holander would always say. It always seemed a competition for him, something that Robert didn’t understand. Yet, it made more sense as he got older. He remembered once how Holander was able to make everything in his room levitate at once, and called their father in to show him. Their father only scowled at the sight, looked at Holander with a disapproving stare, and mumbled something about magical nonsense.

Over time, Robert understood that his brother simply wanted their father’s approval, but the attempts fell on deaf ears. Feeling pity, he began to reach out more to Holander in his college years and they became very close. The reason for his studies of genetics was so he could come up with a solution for people like his family. Using genetic research, he could find a way for parents to choose whether their children had magical abilities or not, thus avoiding situations like his. Holander thought it foolish, as it was only a matter of his father not being an open-minded person. Yet, Holander still respected his younger brother’s decision to help. This good relationship though, would only last but so long.

Soon after meeting Rose, there was a strange disconnect that grew between him and his brother. Holander would act strange even at the simple mention of Rose, and Robert finally confronted him about it. As it turned out, Rose was a girl that Holander had always liked but had turned him down. He couldn’t understand why she liked Robert so much over him, especially with the enormous magical talents that Holander was capable of. Eventually, their dissention settled down and Robert thought all was well.

He would never forget the day he proposed to Rose. She was an actress in a play at their university and exceptionally good as she was the lead. When the play was over and right after everyone had taken their bow, he would give her a bouquet of roses and ask her to marry him. As Rose was the melodramatic sort, he knew she would love it.

Robert sat in front, and he was taken aback by how beautiful she was. It was a musical, and though he was not particularly fond of them, he thought she sounded like an angel descended from heaven to serenade him. The way she moved on stage and took on an entirely different persona, Robert couldn’t take his eyes off her for a second. The world was his oyster as he was just selected to start a new research program after his graduation, he had the perfect girl which he would soon have as his wife. The anticipation was killing him, and when the audience applauded he sprang into action.

He ran over to the stairs, and came over to her with his bouquet of red roses, her favorite kind. As she pined over them he picked one rose out in particular, and she noticed in astonishment that a silver ring was fitted on the stem. Robert slid the ring off, then placed the rose in her hand and got down on one knee. The rest happened in slow motion as she accepted his offer, and they embraced. Everyone remaining in the audience erupted in good cheer , and she was truly delighted at the rose engraving.

Just as he had the perfect moment in his life, there was a sudden change in the atmosphere like static electricity that made your hair stand on end. A high-pitched wining sound was followed by a flash of blue and then a loud crackling noise. The next thing he knew, he was very light-headed and laying on the ground. He heard people screaming, and there was an intense heat all around him.

Flames were licking at the curtains and all around the stage area. Many people were running for the exit, and it seemed that it was only him and two other people on stage.

“Rose?” He said, as he came to, and looked over. His heart dropped in his chest as saw his beloved fiancée lying on her side with smoke pluming from her body. Someone was tending to her, but he pushed them out of the way and held her hand in his.

“Rose!? Rose? Can you hear me??!”

“Hey…..” she whispered weakly, and smiled.

“What happened??” He demanded of the person next to him.

“I’m not sure….a bolt of lightning came flying through and hit her straight on, like they were aiming. It had to be a spell, the way it looked. Couldn’t tell who did it because of the commotion.”

“Let’s get you out of here,” he said, and reached down to pick her up.

“It’s too late, sweetie,” she said quietly, and put her hand to his face. “But it’s okay, its okay.”

“Wait, what? N-n-n-no. We have to get you --”

“ I’m dying, Robert. I can….feel it. Don’t be sad….you still…made me….the happiest….” she trailed off and began to spasm.

“No no no no no no.” He kept repeating to himself and hoisted her up and he wasn’t sure how he was able to do it, but he moved with unnatural speed and in less than a minute he had her outside and sat her down on in the grass as they waited for help.

“Baby?” He called, but now her eyes were closed and she wasn’t responding.

“No, you can’t die, baby. It’s just too soon, too soon, too…” He held her against his chest and rocked her while stroking her hair. The sky was lit yellow from the blazing fire inside that had now made its way out. The chirp of the cicadas seemed too peaceful for such a night.

When the medics arrived, it took three of them to pull him away so that they could load her in the carriage. They told him to let her go and tried to console him, but he only screamed in denial as tears poured down his face. As he sat in the cart with them and it pulled away, he noticed a lone figure in a cloak and hood standing at a distance and watching the fire. The stranger caught his eye and pulled the hood back just enough to reveal his face, and when Robert saw who the man was they had to commit him to the psych ward for the night because he went into such a rage.

Betrayed by his own brother in the more horrific way imaginable, he planned out the first murder of his life.

A tinge of emotion crept through Krane as he pondered all of these thoughts, but he shoved it deep down, into the pit where he kept many other things such as remorse, empathy, and love.

“Thank you, Rose. You’re always here to remind me,” he said quietly. He then kissed the ring, put it in his pocket and made his way towards his newest patient. The office he exited led him down a couple of smaller corridors and to a medium sized room with the Extraction machine. The new patient looked very apprehensive and suspicious.

“Hey, Doc what’s with the restraints? I don’t remember being told about this,” the patient said with annoyance.

“It’s a necessary part of the procedure, Mr….” He looked at the chart again for confirmation. “Williams. You DO want to be cured, don’t you?”

“More than anything, sir.”

“Well good, because that is EXACTLY what we’re going to do today.”

“Can you explain how it works?”

“You really want to know?” The young man barely nodded, and Krane thought for a moment what he would say.

“Let’s put it like this, Mr. Williams. We’re going to kill you.”

There was an awkward silence at first, then the young patient chuckled.

“Hahaha. That’s a good one, doc! You had me going there for a second. I almost thought…” His words dropped as he witnessed Krane retrieving a very large needle full of a dull brown liquid.

“What’s….”

“THAT, my dear boy is the chemical that will both cure you and kill you. We do have a way of extracting magic from your body, but we can only do it in a way that will end your life. The body can’t recover from the Extraction due to the sheer amont of stress it puts on the body. In the end, it serves a greater purpose.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” His voice quivered as he sensed how serious Krane was about everything.

“You see, my dear boy, I aim to wipe your kind off the face of this Earth. I’m going to do it by using your own powers against you.”

“How could you possibly…”

“Oh don’t worry you won’t be around to witness it , anyway. Charge up the extractor!” The hum of machinery kicked in and Krane leaned in to his patient with his needle at the ready.

“By the way, this is going to hurt…a lot.”

The patient screamed in agony as Krane inserted the needle into the spine, slowly injecting the chemical agent. Once the brown liquid settled for ten minutes, he would be able to start the extraction process. As he waited, he saw his brother’s face in the patient which fueled his hatred. They were all the same to him, a bunch of Mumblers that were always one step away from letting their own power get to their head. Seeing the patient lying there in agony, it reminded him of how he ended his brother.

It was a foggy evening, and he had notified his brother that he wanted a word wit him. Holander knew that talking wasn’t the real reason Robert wanted to see him, but came anyway in hopes to put his little brother in his place. Which was exactly what Robert wanted. Unknown to Holander, Robert had placed various magical wards all around the building which would make him completely powerless.

“What brings a meeting this fine foggy night, little one?” Holander greeted him, that same uppity smirk on his face. Robert always hated it when Holander called him that, even more annoying with the fact that Robert was actually taller. The last time he’d seen it was when he was being taken away in the carriage with Rose.

“You….there are no words to describe what you are to me right now. I cannot find any that can express the depth of loathe I have for you right now. You are….you WERE my brother! AND YOU KIL--” He wanted to continue, but he felt his emotions overtaking him. Holander only stared with a mildly bored look.

“So what, you just called me here to express your feelings? Well, I have feelings too if we’re being that way about things! She was the only woman I ever cared about, and you took her from me!”

“You never had her, you delusional slime.”

“I was close….so close to her finally accepting me. Why would she want to be with you, anyway? You’re so…boring. Intellectual. When she could have had a man with real power.”

“Power that hasn’t been earned. Some stupid gift that you’re just BORN with, and you think that makes you special? You’re talking about that power? You’re good with using magic, but you’re just another babbler to me. A babbler who can’t even win over a girl with all his so-called power!”

“Shut up!”

“Make me.”

Holander’s pupils dilated , and he whispered arcane words to command magical forces and directed all his energy towards his own brother. Yet, the charge in the air fizzled out, and Holander looked puzzled.

“Haha. What’s wrong, human got your tongue?”

Holander tried again, but still had the same result.

“This is impossible! No ward has worked on me before!”

“That’s because I’m the best when it comes to wards. Dear brother, I came here to kill you, not talk. Let’s make this easier on both of us, shall we?”

Robert approached his brother, and was almost met by Holander’s fist but it was easily side-stepped. While Holander was off balance, Robert pulled out his hidden stun baton and pressed the electrified prongs against his brother’s chest. The pulse sent a jolt all throughout his body, and he collapsed to the floor. Unable to contain the satisfaction, Robert stood over his older brother with a wide smirk.

“Not so great now, are ya?” He pressed the baton against Holander’s groin and electrified him once more. “Stings, doesn’t it brother?! And yet still, you have hurt me deeper than anyone else ever has.”

The next three hours were more than horrific for Holander, as Robert strapped him to a table and prodded him with a scalpel and various other tools. At one point, right after he experimented with his brother’s nerve endings, Holander whispered something. Robert leaned in and heard ask “why?”, which was barely audible.

“Because…I want to find the source of magical energy and the lengths I have to go could not be performed without consent. No one would agree to the lengths I’m going here to find out what makes you Magi tick. So what better guinea pig for me than the one who hurt me the most. I don’t feel a single twinge of guilt.”

After finding the information he needed from experimenting with him, Robert shot his brother squarely in the head to put him out of his misery.

“Better than what you deserve,” he muttered.

Snapping back to reality, Robert saw that the ten minutes was up. So he flipped some various levers, and a device above his patient shone an intense , red hot light on to the patient. A whirring sound emitted, and after another five minutes Robert flipped the switch off. The red light faded, and Krane walked around to a machine near the patient and pulled out a large glass capsule that now had a glowing blue light inside.

The glow of the light made Krane’s eyes look even more wild and intense, and he turned to the patient, who was inevitably dying but now still cognizant.

“Mr. Williams, take a good look,” he motioned to the capsule he held. “This is the dawn of a new era for mankind! This is an energy cell, and it contains your own magical energy that I extracted from your body. A single one of these cells is enough to power machinery almost limitlessly! So to answer your question, THIS is how I’m going to wipe your kind out!”

Williams spat to the side, and glared at Krane with hatred.

“Oh, don’t be so angry! Your sacrifice is much appreciated! Your death will not be in vain, you’re serving a greater cause!”

“Scumbag,” William’s words trailed off , and he went completely limp.

Krane called for assistants to carry off the body, and he gazed into the captivating blue light as he made his way over to something that was partially covered by a tarp. He lifted the tarp, inserted the cell into some unseen machinery then put the tarp back down. As he made his way back to his office, he pulled out his engagement ring and kissed the engraved rose on the inside.

“My sweet Rose…you won’t have died in vain….”

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