Donnie's Ranting Mind: Stolen Love (1)

Chapter 8: Of Life and Loss

More hair had formed on Brandon's body. His fingernails were turning into claws. His nose had widened, and the nostrils were more flared and keen.

His ears had grown outwards and into a more cupped shape, picking up the slightest of sounds throughout the Foot Clan's lab. His eyes kept their color but became much rounder- much more cat-like.

He didn't feel he was 100% there, either; he felt like he was stuck in between somewhere and someplace else.

Everything that changed about him took not only his humanity- it also took his hope and mentality.

His mentality could not battle or even out the serum that he was being injected with. He was losing himself. His mind kept telling him to stay strong for Donnie's sake. But now...

Now Brandon wasn't sure Donnie was coming anymore.

He hated that he thought that, but he struggled to find reasons to believe Donnie would arrive.

It had been three days now, and if Donnie hadn't found him by now, why should he believe they wanted to find him?

The woman next to him watched him with a close eye. She, too, had started changing, for she had also tried to rebel. She, like Brandon, was stuck in between somewhere and someplace else.

"Dear, keep your head up," Zuzanna Kaminski said warmly to Brandon. The young man merely spared her a quick glance. "Keep your head up, dear. It will help keep some of your dignity."

Brandon looked at her. Her face had started to remind him of a panda bear- soft and round with dark patches around the eyes.

"Zuzanna..." Brandon whispered, tempted to drop his head again.

"Dear, listen to me. This 'Donnie' you keep thinking about? They will be here. I've heard you defend them, and I don't doubt they would just leave you like this- especially if they made you that gorgeous ring I see on your other hand," Zuzanna said.

"But... It's been nearly three days."

"I know, Brandon. But love makes one want everything perfect so they don't hurt the other," Zuzanna whispered.

"How do you know that?" Brandon asked after a moment. Zuzanna looked away from him and kept her gaze forward, a smile on her lips.

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"My Cepos and I were so in love when we were your age. I was 22 and he was 21 when we got engaged in 1989. We never married, for we didn't have time. By 1990 came around, I was pregnant with our twins. The wedding had to be put on standby, for we wanted to take time to raise our babies- a boy, Filip, and a girl, Zahra. We never thought of it, really.

"But then, four years ago, I... I was on a plane to Colorado when that 'threat from the sky' opened. I'll never forget the feeling I had when that plane crashed in Pennsylvania, and how afraid I was. I was scared that no one would find me, much less rescue me. But I had a feeling- a strong, strong feeling in my chest that I would be found, and I'd get to see my Cepos, my Filip, and my Zahra one day more.

"And you know what happened?" Zuzanna asked Brandon.

"What?" Brandon asked, intrigued.

"My Cepos was the one who found me. He heard that the plane crashed, hopped into an Uber, and found the crash site. He spent 34 non-stop hours looking through the rubble before he found me. He saved 21 lives that day, including my own."

"Wow," Brandon whispered.

"Do you know why he did it?" Zuzanna asked.

"Why?" Brandon responded.

"Because he loved me. I made sure he knew that I loved him, too, many times before I stepped on that plane. I don't doubt that you were thinking of your Donnie when these bigots brought us here?"

Brandon thought back to the moment he had been captured.

He was, in fact, thinking of Donnie.

He was thinking of the skills they had taught him, he was thinking of the nights he spent with them to learn the skills. He was thinking- hoping- that Donnie would see that he was in distress via the ring. He was hoping Donnie would be there because he knew that they loved him with a passion larger than life.

Brandon looked at Zuzanna.

"I was, Zuzanna. I was thinking about them," Brandon said.

"Don't worry, Brandon," Zuzanna smiled warmly. "They will protect you when you can't."

"Yeah, they will."

A loud, repeated thumping pounded in his head.

"What is that?" Brandon muttered, his eyes wide and panicky from the thumping. Zuzanna looked at him; she knew it was time for him to go back. She sighed deeply.

"It'll be okay, Brandon. Just open your eyes..."

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Brandon blinked and it was like everything changed in a matter of milliseconds. He was weak again, and could barely hold himself up; he once again relied on the restraints. The loud thumping was still pounding in his skull, in his bones, everywhere.

"Zuzanna!" Brandon called as loudly as he could- which wasn't much. "Zuzanna!"

He used all of his strength to lift his head and look to his left, where Zuzanna was perched. She was leaning against the restraints even more than Brandon was. He called out for her again.

She never responded.

"Brandon!" Logan snapped. Brandon looked at Logan with frustrated tears in his eyes. "She didn't make it. She died a half an hour ago..."

Brandon's face fell.

"No... I... I was just talking to her..." Brandon cried, his chin falling back to his chest in its exhaustion.

"You weren't- you've been in a comatose state for four hours, Bran," Logan said, a pained look on his face. "She's gone."

Brandon struggled to look back at Zuzanna.

"Zuzanna..." Brandon whispered.

He didn't realize that Logan's eyes had turned yellow- their irises slits; he didn't realize Logan's canine teeth were long fangs; he didn't realize that Logan's eyes never blinked.

He didn't realize that Logan had started to change as well.

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