Shadows Ablaze

Chapter 25- Shyah

A burst of cold air kisses my exposed skin and pushes a chill deep into my bones. Rynn hangs over the body that's sprawled across the metal table in the center of the compact room. She yanks at one of the canines, using a needle to extract some liquid from the gums beneath it. I cringe, worried that the boy will wake up and bite her. But that won't happen, I know that. He's dead.

I reposition myself beside her, careful to stay out of her way, but making sure I always have a view of what she's doing. She narrates from time to time, but I'm not sure if the notion is for me or the two other scientists hovering against the back wall taking notes.

She gasps as she lifts the boy's arm. "Shyah, come look at this."

I take a step closer, looking down at the boy's arm. I don't notice anything at first, but then I see it. There is no hair covering his olive skin, not like there should be. It almost looks as if his skin has been dried, cracked. After a closer look, I notice that it's not dehydrated skin, it's tiny scales. Like a mix between a human and a reptile.

"Touch it," she whispers, bringing the arm closer to me. This feels so wrong. Like I'm in some terrible nightmare. Is this really what I signed up for?

I swallow hard, reaching out a single finger. I brush the boy's skin, cringing as I do. It's rough and hard and so inhuman.

"Isn't that incredible?" Rynn breathes, not even flitting an eye at me. And I'm glad she doesn't, otherwise she might catch my horrified expression. Incredible? This boy is somehow part snake. We did this to him and now he's dead. Even if he was some poor orphan kid, how does that make any of this okay? "And just look at these teeth! And the pupils." She pauses, eying the morphed human body. "The injection didn't kill him, though," she mutters to herself. "Why? Everyone else—"

"What was in the injection we gave those kids at the orphanage?" I interrupt, no longer able to hold it in.

"Immune support and vaccination," Rynn answers simply, offering me a soft smile that makes her already thin lips disappear into her face. "You know that, Shyah."

"You're telling me that it's a coincidence this boy had such an odd reaction only a day after we went for our visit?" My voice has risen louder than I intended it to, but I don't care. "How do you explain him changing into a freakin' snake overnight?" I know I shouldn't speak to her this way. She is my mentor and could kick me out of this shadowing program with a single word. But I have a feeling she won't.

"I don't know the answer to that. Maybe he encountered something on his way from Bandona to here?" Her skimpy eyebrows pull together as if she were questioning the possibilities, but her chocolate gaze doesn't display any emotion.

"Why are you lying to me?" I tilt my head to the side. "Why did you even agree to bring me on if you didn't want to mentor me?"

Her focus is tuned on me, but she doesn't reply as the seconds stretch into minutes. I begin to wonder if she'll even acknowledge my words. She releases a sigh. "Let's go on a walk."

She leads me out the door of the D wing and into the smoldering heat. We walk for a block in the direction of the suburbs, away from downtown. Thank goodness.

"I guess we're almost at your fourth week of shadowing anyways," she states, eyes tracing the buildings as we pass them.

"Huh?"

"I told you on your first day that if you stayed for four weeks, I would tell you everything about what is going on in the lab. So I guess it's time." She pauses, trying to decide where to start. "Have you heard of The Alterations?" Her voice carries to me through the smog.