Dominance

Chapter 4: Codename Thunder-00382

From the inside, Sara realised it looked even more like a prison cell. There was just a grimy-looking toilet and what Sara assumed to be a bare steel frame for a bed that was thoroughly bolted to the floor. There was a harsh smell of recently applied chemicals in the air that caused her sinuses to itch when she breathed.

Someone else occupied the adjoining cage to her left. Human for the most part, except not quite. He paced back and forward along the bars hypnotically like a caged animal would. Unique blonde hair fell in long strands over his face and was rather unkempt looking. He wore blue generic-looking hospital pajama-looking attire. And, the most noticeable feature of all, was a long tail, just barely touching the floor as he walked.

It twitched irritably just like wild cats did on those boring nature shows. Long and thick like a tiger, but the colour was white with washed-out grey stripes and it had the hint of a tuft as it fluffed at the tip.

Sara clenched her teeth shut, closing her mouth which had been hanging agape as she took in his features. Yeah, no. Like hell she was staying in here.

Sara motioned to pull on the bars, taking a breath to demand someone let her out. But the moment she gripped at them an intense pain tore through her. A force like lightning shot through her hands and struck throughout the rest of her body. She was involuntarily thrown back onto the cold concrete floor. Sara awkwardly lay there gasping in shock as her body pulsated in agony.

"You shouldn't touch the bars. They're electrified." A smooth voice echoed from the cage next to her.

Sara tried to get up, but her burnt hands were stinging and her arms throbbed relentlessly in protest. No one outside of the cage even looked in her direction.

"With what? A billion volts?!" She groaned, her sarcasm leaking out easily in the presence of pain.

There was no reply, and when she turned her head to look, a curious gaze mimicked hers. She had assumed the cage on the opposite side was empty, but apparently not. From this low angle, she could see a figure now crawling out from underneath a harsh-looking mattress and frame.
She could not help but assume that she was seeing double. He looked exactly like her restless neighbour. Surely, they were twins, or clones, or some other crazy scientific explanation that made identical beings. 

She whipped her head back towards the first boy, just to make sure of herself. He had stopped pacing and was watching her. His stance was ridged, hands tightly grasping at the light fabric of his clothes, mouth agape, eyes wide. The hair that tumbled out the back of his shirt collar oddly defied gravity, sticking dramatically upright like a freighted alley cat. His strange but beautiful amber-rimmed, bright blue eyes watched Sara intensely. As his posture began to loosen she felt herself shrink as he raked those eyes over her.

He moved, edging forward as he regarded her, and Sara felt a shiver of fear. There were bars between them, yet Sara felt the need to back up to force even more space between them. He appeared offended by her retreat. His jaw tightened and lip curled up into an unhappy expression, which was accompanied by a narrowing icy glare and twitch of his tail. Sara's body automatically stiffened in response and her heart pulsated in hard exaggerated throbs.

"That's Twister-00248," the boy on the other side of her remarked, noticing the awkward prolonged staring.

Frightened by her reaction to Twister-with-a-lot-of-numbers's presence, Sara snapped her heard away and released a big breath she didn't realise she'd been holding.

The boy crouching closer to her smiled, revealing large canines. He pushed his fringe back out of his face and as his hair adjusted Sara got a glimpse of his slightly pointed ears.