Together they left the room and wandered down the hall, Lucia keeping her eyes peeled for any servants. The strange decorations and construction of the house continued as they journeyed further into it, and occasionally both of them were shocked by some grotesque plant or bizarre painting. Some of the walls were spongy and slimy, but neither of them dared touch those.
"Salebra said this house was guarded," she whispered to her father. "But I don't see anyone. Do you think there are cameras?"
"There's an eye," remarked Clay, gesturing towards a small object in the corner. It was, indeed, an eye, though from human or animal Lucia couldn't tell. It was growing from a slimy portion of the wall. If it saw them, it did not give any indication of it, but merely blinked every few seconds.
"See what a creepy guy this is?" Lucia asked. Clay shrugged.
"You know artists," he said simply.
"Whatever," said Lucia, exasperated. They explored the corridor a bit further, and finally came to a set of stairs, leading down into the dark. "This must be it," she whispered. Despite herself, she began to quiver slightly as they made their way down. At the bottom was an iron door.
"It's locked," said Clay, pushing and pulling on the latch. "I guess that settles this little expedition."
"Or maybe not," said a voice behind them. Lucia almost screamed, and Clay nearly fainted. "Don't worry, it's just me, Salebra. I'm sorry if I startled you."
"What the hell happened to you?" asked Clay. Even in the dim light of the stairway, they could see that he had been terribly injured. His face, once smooth and handsome, was now burnt and peeling, as was most of his body.
"I suppose you could say I have been to hell," muttered Salebra bitterly. "The doctor is a very gifted man. He can sear the flesh from your bones and heal you afterward, though not until you have suffered enough."
"Dr. Mele did this to you?" burst Lucia. "Why didn't you just run away? Hell, why didn't you attack him?"
Salebra laughed, though weakly. "You should try it sometime."
"Well, I think I've seen enough," said Clay.
"No, you have not," snapped Salebra. "I will open the door, and then you will have seen enough."
"I, I really think I've seen enough," blurted Clay. "For God's sake, you're dying. Get to a hospital."
"I won't die," spat Salebra. "I never do. The doctor controls who lives and dies at this place." He pushed past Clay and put his hands on the door, keying in numbers on a small keypad. "I'll show you something worse than death." The door swung open.
A dim red light lit the way. Lucia realized that her father was clutching her with shaky hands, but she wrested free from his grasp and followed after Salebra. Reluctantly, he followed.
Inside the chamber were dozens of creatures, some of them chained to the floor, but others milling about, wandering or crawling about on awkward, crippled legs and arms. When these creatures saw them, they began to moan and cry, but Salebra merely kicked them aside when any tried to touch them. The stench was overpowering; the odor of human feces, vomit and other even more putrid odors assailed them at once. Worst of all was the stench of flesh and hair burning. Clay vomited at once, but Lucia somehow managed to hold on to her stomach.
She bent low to examine one of the creatures. It was shaped something like a human, but its legs and arms were put together wrong, so that the knees and elbows folded the wrong way. Its stomach was bloated, and its head was smaller than Lucia's fist. "What is this?" she asked. "Who is this?" she corrected herself.
"You asked Dr. Mele if he ever made mistakes. He admitted that. He didn't admit that he keeps them around for his personal pleasure." Salebra laughed. "I don't think he gives them names."
"Pleasure?" stammered Clay.
"But you haven't seen anything yet," said Salebra, waving for them to follow him. They proceeded deeper into the chamber, trying to avoid the flopping and writhing bodies around them. Lucia caught sight of one being whose body was long and tubular, like a snake or worm. It had a face, and when she went past it, it yelled maniacally.
At last they made their way to a series of cells, the contents of which were only visible through small feeding slots on the doors. "I ask you, Ms. Dawn, Mr. Dawn, to take a look in these cells. I find that I no longer can."
"Welcome to my gallery," said Dr. Mele, who had somehow approached them silently. Clay gasped, and Lucia suppressed a scream. The doctor smiled, his taut face quite demonic in the dim red light. "I am fortunate to have such guests, that seek all ways of honoring their hosts. I am glad you are so amicable. Tell me, do you like what you see? I understand that it is an acquired taste. Though you obviously enjoyed my petting zoo, the caged exhibits are so much more extravagant."
"Where is Carol?" demanded Clay.
"She's sleeping," shrugged the doctor. "Don't worry, Clay, there is little to be concerned about. Do you think I could present myself this calmly if I had hurt her? To be honest, the procedure is a long and tedious one, and it has been a long day for her."
"I can't believe I'm hearing and seeing this," exclaimed Lucia. "You're a maniac - a murderer!"
"I am no murderer," said Mele, sounding very offended. "In fact, I am the opposite. These works would never have survived without my special care."
"They'd be better off dead," cried Lucia.
"That may be, but it is a doctor's duty to save lives, not take them," explained Dr. Mele. "It has been my unique privilege to also give life, to make it and to fashion it. My works have won international prizes. On the catwalks of Paris you will see no model that I did not create. The time is long past when the simple virtues, the simple tastes, were enough to whet the appetite of the wealthy and artistic, Clay! You know that well. We have always sneered at what the common man desired, always reaching higher, for something better. Life, my friend, is what we make of it." Mele sighed blissfully. "But, you shall not remember this encounter. For sometimes the dream of beauty is a dream. You will awaken in your quarters, Clay, with your now expectant wife beside you." He nodded at Lucia. "Tomorrow, though, you shall remember, and I especially hope you will remember what I am about to tell you."
Lucia took a step backward, but Salebra clamped his hands on her shoulders. Surprisingly, he was quite strong, despite his thinness and wounds. "What are you doing?" she gasped.
Dr. Mele chuckled. "Why, nothing to you, of course. It is just that your mother did not appeal to my artistic tastes. Let us not quibble, especially when our time is so short. Your mother was unfit; indeed, I could barely even bring myself to collect a sample from such a sniveling and pathetic specimen. She is a carrier, nothing more. But you, dear Ms. Dawn, let us suppose that sometime during your stay here, I collected a sample from you? And let us say that I found the idea of inserting that into the embryo much more rewarding. The irony is enough to make me weep with joy."
"You mean that thing is mine?" croaked Lucia.
"An ambiguity," sighed Mele. "Is it your sister or your daughter? And you, of course, were the one who resented my art most of all. As for your mother's sample, a quick look at that exhibit will illustrate what I have in mind for that work."
Clay, who had stood dumbfounded since Dr. Mele had arrived, suddenly moved towards the cell, opening the feeding slot and staring inside. Lucia saw his shoulders stiffen and his knees weaken, but he managed to keep himself standing. "What is it?" he asked.
"Honestly, I do not know," said Mele. "It began as an experiment; a collage, if you will, of human life. Now, I just call it The Wall. I think you can see why, obviously. Let Ms. Dawn have a glimpse. Perhaps it will improve her mood."
Cautiously, and very reluctantly, Lucia took her father's place at the slot. The vision there, she convinced herself, could not have been real. It was, indeed, a wall, some of flesh and some of plant. It moved in places, where arms or feet pushed or made incomprehensible gestures. Hanging from long, drooping mounds of flesh were heads, some of them with working eyelids, though their mouths, when they were moving, made no sound. Suddenly, it went into a flurry of movement as a sprinkler system above came to life, spraying it with some thick, viscous greenish white substance. Somehow, from somewhere on it, a hideous shrieking began. She closed the slot.
"It is being fed," informed Mele. "Now, I do hate to rush things, but we really must be returning. Salebra, if you will?"
"Of course, Dr. Mele," bowed Salebra. Before either Lucia or Clay could react, he aimed a spray bottle at them and doused them in the face with some noxious smelling chemical. "Hell," as she had come to describe it in her mind, went black, and her last feeling was that of being caught and lifted up onto someone's shoulder.

Lucia awoke in the sleigh bed, quite weary but anxious, as soft orchestral music flowed in from hidden speakers. Suddenly, everything flushed back to her. What had happened? Soon, the door opened, and Carol gave her a long, hard look.
"You little bitch. Don't think you'll hear the end of this. I am so embarrassed. I don't even know where to begin. What were you doing in the doctor's lab? Oh my God, you activated the security system. Don't you realize you could have contaminated - and destroyed - countless upon countless potential lives with your presence there? Not to mention losing your own? The doctor and his ward, and his whole staff, will have to sanitize every last inch of that lab, now. Your father is lucky he didn't take brain damage from that fall."
"I don't remember him falling," said Lucia, trying her best to. "Mom - I don't care what you think, this man is a maniac. It's beyond words!" She remembered seeing the black door, and Salebra opening it for them. "Salebra let us in," she told her. "He knows everything, too!"
"Don't you dare lie to me," snapped Carol. "Now, get your things. We won't annoy the doctor or his ward any further. We're leaving."
"Ask Dad, he knows, too, he was there!" demanded Lucia.
"Your father won't be speaking to anyone," snapped Carol. "He slipped on something down there and nearly broke his skull. Thankfully, Dr. Mele was able to operate, and he should be fine."
Suddenly, Lucia realized what the doctor had done. "Mom," she said earnestly.
"Yes?" asked Carol, who had moved into the room and was gathering Lucia's things.
"I promise you I'm not lying. Go downstairs! See it for yourself. The man is a monster!"
Carol stopped packing and turned, slowly, to face Lucia. Her face was white with rage. Slowly, she moved towards her, placing her fingers around Lucia's neck. "Don't you ever make that kind of comment about Dr. Mele. I know you're too stupid to recognize genius, so just keep your mouth shut. You stupid little bitch, I'll send you away. Do you understand me? You're too old to be acting like this!" Her mother's fingernails were clawing into her neck.
"Yes," she said at last, fearful that her mother might kill her right there. Her eyes, red and wide, suggested she was quite capable.
An hour later, the Dawns left the house of Dr. Mele, though Carol had to drive their car. Clay slumped in the backseat, his head wrapped in a neat, tight bandage. He was sleeping.
Lucia rode beside her mother, her arms clenched. She had never been so angry, but then, maybe she had just dreamed up the whole thing. Even if she hadn't, who would listen to her? Who cared what the doctor did? He wasn't abducting anyone. He wasn't capturing innocent girls and torturing them.
Lucia tried once more to reason with her mother, but was told brutally to keep silent. Her mother flipped on the radio and blasted the car with classical music. It rang in Lucia's ears and made her head throb. Surprisingly, the doctor had been right. Seeing The Wall had made her feel better. The thought of her mother, in any form, being caught in that terrible genetic torture was enough to bring a smile to her face. What was even more fulfilling was the knowledge that the thing that was growing in her mother's body wasn't even hers. She would reveal that information when the time was right, and when there was evidence to back her up. That should be enough to destroy her mother. She wondered if Dr. Mele would allow her to visit his exhibit, if she presented herself the right way. Perhaps he would even teach her some of what he knew.
Smiling, Lucia thought of the future, imagining flashes of college and medical school, then finally, a genetics institute's art department. These thoughts were like the first real thoughts one had after a night of heavy dreaming.

part 1

part 2