In White Robes

Chapter 11 - Monster

Chaotically I was beating against the straps that kept me still. Screaming, not in agony or pain, but in anger. Anger that had not existed a moment before the needle entered my body.

No. It was not anger.

It was rage.

Pure, uncut rage.

The chair rocked with my weight, the straps impossibly stretching each time I lifted and fell in the chair. All I could hear were my angry screams, taking away the silence in the room and filling it with me.

Subconsciously I was moving to prevent Koko from operating with the needle. That was a mistake. Every time I struggled against his attempts to inject me with this odd liquid, the needle beneath my fur scraped muscle and what felt to be bone a moment later.

It wasn't like he was going to stop trying. The liquid was still flowing into me successfully, and he was just standing there, continuing to hold the needle, careless of how many times I thrashed in the chair.

"Told you," he said in a low voice.

That was when I finally got one of my arms loose of the straps, snapping each of them and freeing myself. With this rage covering my body, guiding me, I swiped at Koko's neck with my claws. The speed I could suddenly maintain was brand new, totally different from how I'd been before.

It felt like a brand new me.

Alas Koko was not fazed by my attack; he simply stepped back away from my swing, taking the needle with him. Still his face was devoid of emotion. He was not scared, nor was he surprised that I'd just broken free from the restraints.

He looked blankly at the syringe in his hand, now empty.

"Procedure complete," he spoke. "Well done."

I blacked out again. Not sure whether it was his speed or the way my anger filled my vision with blinding red so that I couldn't see what hit me, but I blacked out regardless.

Everything was just cold.

****

"Get up, please . . ." A whiny voice prodded at my sleep, trying to pull me from its warm confines but I wouldn't give in. Not yet . . . just ten more minutes . . . just to let the pain fall away.

Someone—Tabby—was shaking me, doing his best to try and get me up. It proved to be useless effort, fighting against this state I was in. It felt like cryostasis.

"20 . . . Kay . . ."

At the sound of my name, I finally woke up. The room was still dim, still comfortable, and Tabby was still himself. Alive. I wanted to smile at the sight of him. Suddenly I wanted to hug him.

But I felt nothing other than pain. My legs and arms ached, my head was pounding, I was so, so very cold.

"I tried to stop him," Tabby exclaimed, thrusting his head downward so it looked as though he were pouting. "I really did. But they must have put more into him. He's never been that strong."

What? What . . . ? I could merely mouth what I was trying to say. My face burned, preventing me from speaking as clearly as I would've liked to. This pain was vaguely familiar. This burning sensation.

"Are you trying to talk?" Tabby asked. I nodded, feeling my head brush up against the cold floor. I'd been laid out on the floor.

"What . . . ?" I said, this time slightly more audible to myself and hopefully Tabby as well. He must have heard me because he repeated himself.

"I said, Koko has never been that strong."

"But . . ." I stopped to cough. It hurt so bad to cough. "Who's They? What do you mean?"

"Don't you know what's going on here?" Tabby's eyes widened at my obliviousness. "They're changing us. We're here for a reason, Kay. I don't know what they're putting in our bodies, but the effect varies from person to person. You and I must have a similar condition, 'cause . . ."

Tabby pointed over beyond my sight. Carefully I leaned upward, following his gesture and meeting with the glass barrier. Both of our reflections laid in wait, shimmering on the surface of the barrier, but something was off.

From here I could see the unnatural shine in Tabby's irises—a beautifully dangerous red glow. But as for me?

My yellow eyes had been awakened in a brand new light. A horrifying new look. I sat there for what felt like decades, trying to piece together why I would look like this. Why I was changed.

Why I feared my glowing, blazing golden eyes.

Why Avery was gone.