A Poisoned Mind Read online

  Colonel Griffins shook their hands and returned to his office as they departed for the cafeteria.

  ********

  They worked late into the night as predicted, going well past midnight before Colonel Griffins decided to lift the quarantine. He felt satisfied with the results of the tests run on both Mack and Ricardo.

  Ricardo was cleared to go home after finding his infection had caused no harm to his system, and they flushed the remaining Exall blood out to leave him as good as new. Knowing he had Exall blood in his system by something as simple as his trip to the dentist chilled him to the bone, and he would remain on high alert for the rest of his life.

  Mack, on the other hand, remained missing while the Exall who looked like him waited in the padded room.

  "We have history knocking on our door, and we can't waste a second of this opportunity," Colonel Griffins said to his group of doctors, scientists, and psychologists that had come in after the quarantine. "You're all here because we need all hands on deck. We're each contributing to ground breaking research on our enemy. And since we don't know how long we have, or what will happen, I need everyone's urgent attention tonight."

  Colonel Griffins didn't need to deliver a motivational speech to his staff; they already understood the importance of the task ahead and were eager to get started on their analyses of the Exall.

  The Exall posing as Mack never spoke nor acknowledged the researchers touching him, probing him, and asking him questions. He stared forward, as if looking into space, with wide eyes and that coy grin that never left his face.

  "Sir, we believe that by sunrise, this Exall will no longer look human at all and will return to its original state as we know," Dr. McMillan informed Colonel Griffins. "The effects of the ingested human blood are slowly diminishing and will eventually wear off."

  Research continued, tests were run, and doctors of all fields worked together in trying to learn new information, but nothing could be found. Frustration grew and emotions flew as the doctors became impatient. Dr. McMillan's prediction came true as the Exall returned to its original, gray state as they were ordering breakfast at 7 a.m.

  With nowhere to turn from the stalls in research, the doctors started to pick and shave pieces of the Exall's skin, and drew numerous tubes of its black, tarry blood for further analysis. They've had plenty of opportunities to examine the blood, but it was always after having spilled out of a corpse. The skin they had never had a chance, considering how fast their bodies dissolved after death.

  The Exall, still refusing to speak, maintained its lifeless stare into nothingness. Through all the poking, cutting, and verbal harassment, the Exall seemed to either not feel pain or not care what the humans did to him.

  "We need answers on something," Colonel Griffins demanded from inside the padded room. "This is starting to feel like a waste of time having this body here when we can't get anything from it!"

  "Sir, I have a theory," Dr. Adrian Siva chimed in. Dr. Siva worked with the team as a psychologist to help with Crew members, but was called in this time to perform an assessment on the Exall. "He won't talk. And I think it's on purpose."

  "How do you figure?" Colonel Griffins asked.

  "I can't be certain, as reading him and his brain activity has proven impossible. However, I did spend the night reading up on historical analyses done by some impressive psychologists. While their research is also difficult to prove, it appears we have all been along the same train of thought."

  "Which is?"

  "Which is that these beings are not allowing any sort of information to be learned by your team as a means of frustrating you. Some of the old reports state that while the beings have a high level of intelligence and sophistication, they will use that same knowledge to deter you from your work. Essentially like a child poking fun at another for the sake of getting a reaction and nothing more."

  "Interesting. And no way of knowing for sure?"

  Dr. Siva gestured towards the Exall. The corners of its mouth curled up into cheesy grin, revealing a glimpse of its blackened teeth. "I think that says it all."

  "Listen up, asshole!" Colonel Griffins lunged towards the Exall, gripping his hands around its throat. "I'm sick of your shit. Start talking or I'll fucking kill you right here."

  Dr. Siva recoiled into the corner of the room, caught off guard by the outburst. "Sir!"

  Colonel Griffins tightened his grip on its throat and watched in amazement as nothing happened. The skin around the throat didn't change colors as one might expect. Exalls didn't breathe, so no harm was done. The colonel had never touched a live Exall before and it reminded him of squeezing cold Play-Doh between his fingers as a child. The Exall's black eyes stared at the colonel while maintaining its grin.

  Do you feel that Colonel Griffins? a voice inside his head questioned. You squeeze me, and I squeeze back. I can make you take your pistol and shoot yourself in the head. But you're too much fun.

  "Get out!" Colonel Griffins shouted. "Get the fuck out now!"

  Dr. Siva ran out of the room, oblivious to the fact that the colonel wasn't yelling at him to leave.

  Ahhhh, Colonel. I just ask you to remember this special moment between us.

  Colonel Griffins looked down at the Exall and could feel the voice coming from him in a telepathic way.

  I would never allow your people to learn a single thing about us. I'm alive. More alive than you've ever felt in your miserable life. It's such a shame you're going to let this grand opportunity slip away!

  Colonel Griffins felt the Exall's skin soften in his grip, turning softer than a handful of flour, and watched as the gray flesh slipped through his fingers like sand.

  Farewell, Colonel. Til next time!

  He looked at the pile of what looked like gray dirt spread across the floor, turning into dust and dissipating in the air. The clothes that he wore and the straight jacket lay in a pile at the Colonel's feet.

  "Jesus Christ," he whispered, staring at his hands with no more gray residue left on them.

  "Colonel! What happened?" Dr. Travers barged into the room.

  "It's fine, Dr. Travers, just blowing off some steam."

  "Where the hell is the Exall?" Dr. Travers stared at the pile of clothes.

  "Gone," Colonel Griffins shook his head. "He spoke to me, and told me we would never find anything from all of our tests. And then he vanished." Dr. Travers looked at the colonel in disbelief. "Right through my god damned fingers. All we have left are these damned clothes he was wearing." He gestured to the pile on the ground. "Who knows if we'll ever find the real Jeffries now!"

  Dr. Travers grabbed the clothes from the floor and hurried out of the room with them tucked under his arm.

  Colonel Griffins sat down in the old, wooden chair and closed his eyes.

  They're here and this time is going to be bad.

  A tear rolled down his cheek as the shock of his encounter started to wear off. The Exall had invaded his mind; he had felt it and never wanted to experience it again. Emotions flooded his heart in a mixture of sorrow, regret, and a bit of rage. He pictured Jonathon lying headless on the examination table, and all of his encounters with his former mentee blazed through his memory in hyper-speed. The colonel took a deep, mournful breath after realizing Gianna still had not been notified. The thought of her sitting at home, clueless, added to his grief and regret. To top it all, the opportunity of his career literally slipped through his fingers, causing a pit in his stomach that would never go away. He knew he should be dead after his encounter and would forever wonder why the Exall showed mercy on him.

  Followed Home

  I hope you enjoyed "A Poisoned Mind". This story is a spinoff from my first book, Followed Home. If you would like to read more, be sure to check out Followed Home, currently available on Amazon and BN.com.

  Every family has its secrets. When Kyle Wells and his friends take an annual trip to his family’s cabin deep in the Rocky Mountains, a string of events unravel to expose what his
family has kept hidden for decades.

  As an unexpected blizzard pounds the mountains, a friend begins to act different and seems a bit off after a strange encounter in the woods. In their rush for safety, mysterious beings known as Exalls, follow them back to the city where further chaos erupts. Finding himself in the midst of a battle against evil, Kyle learns of a disturbing truth kept secret by his own grandmother, Susan. He and his circle of friends turn to her as their last hope of survival.

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