#Renata Duerte

[self-proclaimed-chaotic-good]

Consequences of Curiosity | HAPtives and Reader (Oneshot)

Prompt: Fantasy

Fandom: The OA

Words: 2076

A/N: It’s been a while since I wrote for The OA and I’m missing that show so much right now. Some Elias Rahim x Reader around the end.

-

You had your theories of what happens after death, but most of them were seen as fantasies or a part of cultural beliefs. Working under Dr. Percy, you realized you were not the only one that wanted to conduct research on such a subject. Yet, you hadn’t realized what lengths he was willing to go to get answers.

He was paying you a generous amount, enough to keep you afloat and support your parents. He knew that. Which was why he threatened to take that money away and make sure that you’re blacklisted from every medical institution he knew if you said a word about the experiments he was conducting. You would have nothing. You would have to start from scratch or find another way to get by.

“It’s our experiment,” he would always emphasize.

You never agreed to any of this. You wanted to only look for those who had near death experiences and interview them, maybe even monitor them to see if there were any side effects. Kidnapping them and subjecting them to a rinse and repeat experiment of drugging them, killing them, monitoring their brain, before putting them back in their glass prison and waiting for them to wake up again, wasn’t what you had planned at all.

Seeing those five people trapped in a giant fish tank with only a thin mattress, pellet food, and a small stream that ran through all five cells for their water and even their bathroom. It was inhumane, and you couldn’t understand why Hap, as he insisted on being called, didn’t see it.

Hap had gone out to meet someone, leaving you alone with his captives. In all honesty with as, essentially, an accomplice, they were your captives as well. With him gone, you made sandwiches for them, similar to the one that Prairie had made for the others. No mayonnaise for Scott, you remembered.

You checked the time, making sure that he won’t be back any time soon, before switching the cameras to the looped feed you recorded when he wasn’t looking. Once you were sure that it was working, you climbed down the spiral stairs. The captives instantly cut off their conversation, turning to the stairs to see you with a plate. Prairie stood up and walked up to the glass wall, blue eyes watching your every move. You were amazed that she had gotten her sight back after her escape attempt, but it was also unnerving to feel her watching you. Like she could see all the things you’ve done, the good and bad.

“I’ve got some actual food,” you announced, dropping off a sandwich for each person. “You don’t have to eat it, but Hap’s not here and I doubt a sandwich would make a difference.”

They all stared at the sandwich skeptically before looking back at you. Only Prairie knelt down to pick up the sandwich, taking a bite out of it without a second thought.

“This is really good,” Prairie said, “Thank you.”

You gave her a small smile. “You’re welcome.”

You saw Homer frown, stooping down for his sandwich and biting into it as well. Rachel, then Renata followed, slowly relaxing when they realized how harmless it was. Scott ignored the sandwich, leaning against the glass wall to glare at you.

“How long are you gonna play good doc, bad doc, huh, Hap? Sending your assistant in to be nice before you kill us again?” Scott yelled at the camera.

“The cameras aren’t recording right now,” you told him, “We have a limited time until Hap gets back, but I want to help you guys.”

“And why the hell do you want to do that?”

“Because I never wanted any of this!” you said, waving at their glass prison, “He’s got something over me and I’m working to get that back and take him down. I’m close, but he keeps things under lock and key. I’m asking you to trust me on this, okay?”

Prairie placed a hand against the glass. “What do we have to do?”

“Really? You can’t trust them!” Scott shouted at her.

She shook her head. “I can feel it. There’s a reason why out of all people, they had ended up working with someone like Hap.”

“I know that there’s something that you’ve seen when you NDE’ed and Hap can see you do those movements. I’ve been making recordings to play on loop to prevent him from seeing too much, but I can only keep it up for so long. I can’t guarantee anything, but I’m going to gather all the data he’d collected, make some travel arrangements, and the next time he’s gone, we’ll have a small time frame to leave this place, turn in evidence against him, and we’ll be as far away as possible.”

Homer nodded. “It’s all we’ve got so far. What do you think, OA?”

Prairie, or the OA, frowned. “We need to try.”

Your plan would work, in theory, but Hap had been growing paranoid as time went on, omitting some details in the data he found. He believed that he and the others weren’t captor and captives, but research partners. His obsession with OA also grew, making you worried for her.

Everything had been turned upside down the day the sheriff came by to check on the cabin. Although, you didn’t get all the notes and data he made, you made due and hoped that whatever you memorized and wrote down, along with footage from some of the experiments and the cameras monitoring their glass prison, would be enough. So, you called the police and tipped them to check up on the cabin.

When the sheriff showed up, Hap gave you a look that you couldn’t quite decipher. He turned on rock music to drown out the yelling as he went to speak with the sheriff. You watched as they walked to the side of the cabin and partially out of view. You rushed over to the computer, making sure to bring up the feed of the basement, the sight of your newly made acquaintances made your heart hurt as they screamed and banged on the glass.

You forced yourself to walk away from the screen, jogging downstairs to make it look like you were busy. You nodded over at OA before turning to the rest of the notes that Hap had kept around the basement. If everything goes to plan, the sheriff will see the feed and Hap would finally be dealt with.

Just as you collected all the notes and tucked them into a briefcase, Hap came down the stairs. His eyes were cold as he looked at you before flickering over to his captives.

“Bring out Prairie and Homer,” he said, walking back up.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered as you opened their cells.

You reached out and gave OA a gentle squeeze on her arm. She sucked in a breath, not being used to skin contact. You snatched your hand away, apologizing again.

Everything that happened after that was like a strange dream. OA and Homer were to heal the sheriff’s wife so the sheriff could make a special arrangement with Hap that would allow him to continue his work. You stood by, Hap making sure you remained in his sights while he and the sheriff waited for OA and Homer to do the movements.

The lights flickered and like the time you had witnessed Scott being brought back to life, you watched as the woman was getting her energy back and began to move again. The sheriff gasped in disbelief, rushing over to the room to see her. Hap stood up, gripping hard on your arm as he dragged you with him, a gun held in his other hand.

He made you watch as he separated Homer and OA once again before they could even touch each other for the first time, then he shot the sheriff and his wife. Your heart fell when you realized that all your planning was for nothing, and now there were two people dead and two people heartbroken. Homer was thrown back in the glass prison while you scrambled to think of an escape plan with OA. Running in an area that you were unfamiliar with won’t do much, as he could catch up with you like he did with OA the last time. Then again, she was blind that time.

When Hap came back upstairs, you tried to jump him with a frying pan. He dodged out of the way, yanking the pan from you. He twirled it in his hand, before turning to you and swung at your head. All you could hear was OA’s screaming as you fell to the floor. Her screams became faint as he dragged her to the car. His footsteps came back a while later and he lifted you up and shoved you in the car with her.

OA’s soothing hands cradled your head on her lap as she cried, the car jerking around as Hap drove off. You wanted to wake up and assure her that you were fine, that you can still make an escape with her, but you couldn’t. You felt yourself slipping away. You failed.

-

“And that was the last thing you remembered?” Elias, the FBI trauma counselor asked.

You nodded slowly, wrapping your arms around your knees as you sat on the grass of a park a couple of blocks from the FBI building. Elias sat next to you, casually leaning back against a tree.

You had woken up in a hospital after having some kind of vision where OA was floating in the air, a bright light surrounding her, before falling quickly. Apparently, you still had the flashdrive of some of the footage you stole from Hap’s computer and the police had found it. You were promised to not be charged as a willing accomplice if you told them everything, but just as you were, they didn’t believe you. They had you talking to a trauma counselor, hoping that it could help clear your mind.

Elias Rahim was not what you expected from a trauma counselor that worked for the FBI. He was casual and he genuinely wanted to help you, listening closely to what you have to say without any bias. He helped you make sense of what happened and had not invalidated what you claimed to have experienced. It was easier to talk about it after each session. It took months for you to open up, but it was happening.

“Why were you curious about life after death?” he asked.

“Well… I guess because I’ve had a lot of relatives pass away and my parents… well, they’re not getting any younger. It’s like believing in heaven or the Land of the Dead. Knowing what’s beyond all of… this,” you waved your hands to your surroundings, “It’s comforting, I guess.”

Elias nodded. “I get it. Death is something we don’t have a say in, but the idea that life still continues in some other form is reassuring, right?”

You picked out a piece of grass and rolled it up with your fingers. “I… I had another dream,” you muttered.

Elias leaned in. “A dream?”

You nodded. “It was… it’s strange,” you said, laughing at it.

“Well, I want to know now.”

“You… you were on a stage, in front of hundreds of people,” you said, “You were rapping and people were shouting your lyrics back at you. It’s ridiculous, right?”

The corner of his lips turned up. “Could be because of that embarrassing story I told you about how I snuck into an Eminem concert,” he said.

You looked over at him, and he was giving you that strange look again. Like there was something that he wanted to tell me but couldn’t. He looked away, lifting up his sleeve to check the time.

“It’s time to head back now. See again at the same time next week?”

You nodded, dusting yourself off. The two of you walked back to the building where a family friend was waiting to pick you up.

“I’ll see you later, then,” you said to Elias.

He nodded, waving as you climbed into the car and drove off. He sighed. You were so close. He could tell that your other self wants you to remember, but your mind isn’t allowing it to take over. It can’t be rushed either. He would just have to wait, like he’s always done.