I pulled down my shirt and found that we were intact. We were both absolutely fine. Our cheeks weren't even pink. Gennaro, however, had lost a sleeve in his scuffle with Ben, and his bared arm was covered in small, shallow blisters. Also, his carefully slicked-back hair seemed to be smoking.
"That was a bit of an overreaction, don't you think?" Dr. Hudson asked dryly as he lifted his welder's mask.
"No, I don't think that it was an overreaction," I said, scrambling to my feet and helping Ben up. "But I still think you're a dick."
I moved closer, sort of pacing back and forth, as if I could find a way to sneak around Dr. Hudson.
Meanwhile, he was inspecting my face and hands with that sinister, gleeful expression. "No visible damage or distress. Pupils normal. But that could be a result of your interference, pulling your clothes over your face to protect yourself-not very helpful, I might add. I think we'll prepare for five seconds at medium intensity."
"What?" I cried as Dr. Hudson pulled his facial protection back into place.
A lot of things happened at once.
Dr. Gennaro shouted, "No!" And started smoking.
Ben scrambled under the bed-to find the stake, I guessed.
I grabbed the small fire extinguisher mounted on the wall and whacked the butt against the doorknob. But it didn't budge. That was one very strong doorknob.
"Ben!"
"I can't reach the stake!" Ben yelled.
I turned on Dr. Hudson, raising the fire extinguisher above my head. I didn't want to brain the good doctor, but I didn't feel he'd left me much choice. And he looked completely unconcerned about the fact that I was holding this giant can over his head. He was adjusting the knobs on the lamp like it was a camera and he was getting ready to take my picture. I was much more comfortable pointing a stake at his throat. I should not have let Ben take the stake from me like some horror movie "last girl." If the sunlamp didn't evaporate me, I would start carrying a spare stake in my sock or something.
Just then, there was a loud thump from the hallway and a woman's voice shouting curse words.
Dr. Hudson's head whipped toward the sound. Ben took advantage of his distraction and kicked out at the lamp of horrors, knocking it against the wall and smashing it.
Dr. Hudson frowned at Ben. "Well, that was rude."
The door flew open, and Jane came storming into the lab. Seeing my bloodstained shirt and Ben's whole "recently wrassled with an overcoiffed lab rat" look, she shot a poisonous glare Dr. Hudson's way. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I'm running some standard tests," Dr. Hudson said, all casual-like. Because that's what you'd expect of a sociopath who thinks evaporating someone in the name of research is OK.
"He wanted to try staking us," Ben said, climbing to his feet. "Just to see what would happen."
And because I was more than a little irritated with this whistling scientific tool, I held up my injured arm. "He burned me with silver, Jane. He burned me real bad."
"What?" Jane exclaimed, holding my arm up to take a closer look at the new, shiny pink skin. She sent another filthy glare at Dr. Hudson. "Are you insane? How could you?"
"You asked me to find the limits of the kids' abilities."
Jane swept the instruments off the tray and sent most of them bouncing off the wall. "Did I really have to specifically tell you that meant ‘without stabbing or burning them'?"
Dr. Hudson didn't reply, but given his expression, I would say yes.
"My methods might be a little invasive, but we can't stop now. We were just getting to the interesting bits. For all her additional strengths, Miss Keene has an acute anaphylactic reaction to even a weak concentration of silver. And Mr. Overby had a reaction to just a light secondhand misting. Their reaction to UV rays remains a question, because certain parties continue to interfere with the testing."
"Yes, pardon the hell out of us for not standing still while you try to give us a certain-death suntan," Ben shot back. "What makes you think you have the right to do something like that?"
Dr. Hudson whirled on Ben, practically screaming at us. "These tests fall under the purview of my position as chief science office with this Council office! I decide which protocols are reasonable and the level of acceptable consequences. Not you. You are the test subjects. You are expected to participate in these experiments cheerfully."
Gone was the Mr. Rogers of scary vampire medicine, replaced by a very cranky man in a picnic shirt who did not like having his authority questioned. But honestly, this version of Dr. Hudson was less creepy than the McDerpy persona.
Ben didn't have a chance to respond, even with his superspeed. Jane drew up to her full considerable height and got right up in Dr. Hudson's business. "And as your local Council representative and your boss, I approve all of your experiments. And your budget. And whether you get a Christmas bonus or not. And I'm telling you right now that you are not to do any sort of tests on my wards, Meagan Keene and Benjamin Overby, without my consent and supervision. Do you understand me?"