How it all burned down

Chapter Two

Ten years later
"Our world is dying- Global warming-" Elias sighed as he surfed through the channels. Everything was like this nowadays but it was getting worse lately. His wife joined him on the couch, letting out a loud sigh as she did.
"Why did we have children?" Althea muttered, but the words reached the ears of their four year old Aria. She got up from the table, taking her picture with her to present it to her mother, hoping that it would help her mood.
"Look mommy, I drew this for you" Althea took the image and looked it over before she handed it back to her.
"It could use some work" Aria's smile faded slightly before she headed back to her table.
"Encouragement will make her stronger" Elias chided.
"What will make her stronger is being hard on her" Althea argued right back before the room fell into silence once again "I'm going to take Kiera into work with me"
"Seriously?"
"There's things for her to do, she'll be fine" He nodded just as the doorbell rang.
"Katie is here" He announced and Aria smiled widely. Katie was her saving grace in that house, a chance to get a break away from her parents, more specifically her mother. Elias let her into the house and then he and Althea headed off to work. Althea worked in a lab near the city that looked into advancing human capabilities whilst Elias worked in an office negotiating various deals.
Althea balanced the one year old on her hip as she headed into her lab, only to be greeted by her lab assistants.
"Dr Ambrose, you can't bring an infant into the lab-"
"How many times have I told you John, this is my lab"
"Yes, but the chemicals-"
"Why do you think we've been working on this serum? Kiera is going to be strong and today we are going to find out if it'll work"
"It isn't ready for human tests yet!" Dr Walters argued.
"Especially not on an infant!" Dr Meyers added.
"She's old enough. This will toughen her up. She'll be strong" Althea placed Kiera down on the exam table before she reached for the needle that contained the serum.
"Don't do this Althea" John pleaded "It could kill her"
"Then the world will be a much easier place to handle" She bit before she injected Kiera in her arm, her wails quickly filling the room.
"Did it work?" Dr Meyers asked first.
"Only one way to find out. Silence!" Kiera's cries stopped completly and Althea smiled triumphantly "It works. Who knows what she'll be capable of when she's fully grown"
"She's a child-"
"A damn strong one"
"You don't know what you've just done. She could grow up to be sick and twisted. She could be a serial killer!" John argued as Althea just smiled and lifted Kiera into her arms.
"And?"
"You cold, heartless bitch"
"Sue me"
"I'll report you for this"
"Good luck with that" John grunted in anger before he stormed out of the lab "Any other objections?" The rest of her assistants stayed silent "Good, now run every test on her possible, let's see if we just made history" She smiled wickedly, leaving Kiera with them as she went to her office.

Elias moved off the elevator and made his way along the hallways towards his office.
"Lucius, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He smiled as he took a seat behind his desk.
"Have you seen the news lately?"
"What part of it?" Elias barely listened to the man as he opened up a file.
"Global warming, the world is dying just like Arthur said it would. If he was right about that, maybe he was right about Gelia too"
"Gelia?" Elias sat back in his chair and gave the man his full attention "That was a stupid game, it was never going to be a reality"
"Wasn't it? Why make pretend laws, a societal structure, what was the point in it all if we didn't make it true?"
"You're twenty eight years old and still believing in a fairy-tale" Elias laughed.
"We could have everything that we want in that world. The world is ending, don't you want to take what you deserve?"
"You've thought about this a lot lately?"
"We all have. None of us have gone to Arthur yet though"
"What's stopping you from getting the life that you want so badly?"
"You. You always believed in him, so when you go, we'll go"
"They sent you to try and encourage me to talk to Arthur" Lucius nodded, Elias sat forward "Well, when I think the world is really ending, then I'll talk to him" He nodded again.
"Then, I guess I'll see you around" Lucius stood from his chair and rebuttoned his suit jacket.
"See you around" Elias nodded, refocusing back on his file as the other man left his office.

Elias was sat on the couch when Althea joined him.
"Kiera had a mark on her arm"
"She was playing and nicked herself, she's fine" She shrugged.
"If you want to experiment on someone, do it to someone else"
"Do you want strong daughters?" She challenged.
"I wanted a son" He bit back.
"No one's perfect"
"That doesn't mean you can experiment on her. Do it to someone else" He bit.
"Or else what?"
"We've both been looking for an out"
"So why don't you take it?"
"Why don't you?" She challenged.
"Maybe I enjoy torturing you"
"And maybe I like torturing you more" Elias ignored her and picked up the TV remote, changing the channel.
"Riots are happening in the streets. It's like nothing anyone has seen before. Stay home. Don't go out. Looters are breaking into businesses and homes, lock your doors" The reporter urged as footage of the looters flashed onto the screen.
"We need supplies" Althea spoke up as the pair watched the images of cops trying to stop the violence.
"What we need is to stay home. This'll all be over by the morning"
"And if it's not? My lab has important projects stored there. I need to ensure they are properly stored"
"Then go tomorrow when this madness has all stopped" The pair slipped into silence once again as the horror filled their screen.