Waiting for Amber Skyy

Chapter 5

I was locked in my cage for what felt like a good week. I have no idea why, but probably due to the little incident with the wolf men. They gave me minimal food despite my growling stomach. Nearly every day I threw up even when there was nothing in me. As much as I wished they'd all go die in hell, I needed better supervision because they didn't care about me. I was their experiment, testing my metabolism and shit. They were going to do whatever they wanted to do on me, but I wasn't going to let that happen.

One time I pretended I was asleep while they brought a tin bowl of rotten food. Little did they know that when they opened my cage door that a ferocious me was going to attack them. Whatever was happening to me, I was slipping into a more feral side of myself, mixed with whatever else. There were two of them there, and I'm pretty sure one of them later died.

Good, they should be dead for what they're doing. I didn't care if I killed one of them; they have no right to treat me like I'm an animal... even if I have these freakishly additions. After what happened, realizing what I truly did and crying myself to sleep, I tried to focus on the real danger there. I had to at least try to stay sane despite my animalistic instincts. Every now and then I would jump at the littlest sounds and growl deeply, like a lion, and then I would curl into a ball and cry. I was scared of myself, of what I was capable of, and of what would become of me. Speaking of, the feathers on my back grew, and I had some control over them as well. They were like an extra pair of arms. As long as I didn't start singing a mating song to the white coats, I was fine.

Then something different happened.

The door to the storage room creaked open, and I heard wheels squeaking against the tile floor. I was half asleep when two people came in. One must have been female, because I could hear high heels clicking against the floor. The sound reminded me of an old teacher I had. That was another thing too. My memory was slowly creeping back into my mind. I had a dream once, and it was a recurring dream of an old teacher threatening to make me disappear. Well she was right about that then. The woman talked to the white coat while I silently listened to her chatter:

"Subject 4MB3R-001, am I correct?" the woman asked the man. 4MB3R. That was all I could catch from my experiment number. It wasn't my number, it was my name. It was now engraved in my mind that it was my only source of true memory.

"Y-Yes Director," stuttered the man. He was afraid of her, I could hear it through his voice. She must be the fat cat of this entire facility.

"Well then, according to these notes here... she... gets violent when agitated?" she asked in a concerning voice.

"Yes ma'am."

"But she's quiet and silent most of the time."

"Yes ma'am."

"And I bet she doesn't like experimented on, which I understand." Understand? I doubt that lady understands how it's like to be treated like a lab rat!

"Yes ma'am, but it's still developing." It. He calls me it despite the fact that she actually treats me more humanely in her words. "If you can see from the x-rays, its wings are slowly growing. We just recently tested its speed. You can't dispose of it now, we don't have enough information to see if it will fulfill its duty."

There was a pause as the man's coat swayed. As they talked, I slowly inched closer to try seeing who was there. Once I bent my head to catch a glimpse of the Director-woman, she spoke up harshly, "I know of your upkeep with this one, but it's going on longer than expected."

"But ma-"

"Get a dog to transfer her. She's under my supervision now." She walked away while her heels clacked against the floor. I bent down to at least catch the back of her before she left. The door opened and one of the werewolf guys walked in, blocking my view for just a second before she disappeared. She had long brown hair, that's all I could make out.

The werewolf lifted me onto a cart of some sort, and spun me around to be rolled out the same door. I clenched the bars to remain steady as he harshly pushed out the door and into a long hallway. There were a couple of coated men walking around, standing, talking to a colleague and what not. I took short glances at them as well as focusing on where I was going. None of them bothered to look at me. It was probably a normal thing, to see a freak like me to be rolled around. The hall seemed endless, until we came upon a large glass door. It slid open and was welcomed with a large computer room. I crouched as normal, everyday people glanced at me from their work desks. Their faces were different from the white coats: cold, arrogant, and down-right scary. I was a dog, an animal, a creature nobody wanted to see. I just wanted to curl into a ball and wish I had the power to be invisible.

Rolling past them, the dog paused at a large door. I stared at it while the wolf man behind me grabbed a handle and pulled. I was pushed through it and I couldn't believe my eyes. There were cages everywhere, in rows around the large room. There were various sizes of them, and I suspected to see different animals in them while I went past. Instead, I buried my face in my bare knees, not daring to look at the terrified yet curious eyes peering out at me.

Those weren't animals, those were kids, just like me.