The lights in the linoleum-tiled lab room flick off as the last researcher leaves for the day, plunging the room into sudden darkness as the usual sounds of distress fade into a chorus of uneasy breathing. Amongst the wall of occupied cages, exactly three crates down and two crates up, Test Subject 101 shuffles closer to the wire door of its cage.
101 is just one of the hundreds of rabbits born and raised in the Starlight Cosmetics Testing Facility. Years of repeated chemical trauma had long since damaged its eyes and left its skin covered in scars and open sores. Ever since 101 could remember, its life has been a cycle of torment at the hands of the white-cloaked giants under blindingly bright lights and brief moments of reprise drenched in suffocating darkness.
From within the confines of the four walls of the room, 101 would sometimes catch a glimpse of a square of blue before the giants strapped it down to the cold, hard block in the middle of the room. Sometimes, the blue opening let through a breeze that carried the scent of something otherworldly and sweet, unlike the sharp chemicals it has known all its life.
101 didn't know what lies in that Beyond, but it did know that it couldn't stay put.
Recently an intruder has been disrupting the cycle by quietly entering after darkness to kill 101's struggling cagemates before whisking their bodies away. Unlike the sterile smell of the other giants, the shadowy figure of the intruder leaves behind the smell of something bitter and metallic, like poisoned blood. For some unknown reason, 101 was blessed (or perhaps cursed?) with intelligence beyond its fluffy peers, but the rabbit didn't need its advanced situational awareness to know that it was running out of time. Either it would be discarded by its captors when its body was too broken to use, or the intruder would get to 101 first.
After dark, 101 pawed frustratedly at the latch to its prison, trying to mimic the motion of its captors. 101 didn't have the strange, dexterous appendages that the giants possessed, but 101 persisted and battered at the latch with greater force and precision. Finally! A fateful click, and the door swings open.
101 tumbles out of its crate and smacks against the floor, a sharp pain shooting up its front foot upon impact. Limping slightly as it collects its wits, 101 relies on its nose in place of its failing vision to guide its slow exploration of the new space, one cautious foot in front of the other. Following the scent of familiar, comforting hay, 101 found that it could squeeze into a small, dark space behind some bags of rabbit feed. 101 knows that the giants come from somewhere beyond the walls, and 101 also knows exactly which wall moves to allow them through. The next giant that came through the walls from the beyond would be the key to its escape.
Suddenly 101 is scooped out of its hiding spot, and a bitter scent fills its nose. 101 frantically twists around and kicks its remaining free and functional limbs. How did this happen? 101 didn't even hear the giant come in!
"Looks like the next experiment volunteered itself. I have high hopes for you, so don't disappoint me." The giant simpers. 101 feels its stomach drop in fear and its limbs slowly go limp. In the face of monsters, there was nothing a rabbit-like 101 could do but accept its fate.
101 managed to catch a glimpse of something glowing in the dim light of the room in the giant's other hand. A smooth, round gemstone the size of 101's eye. The giant places the stone against 101's chest with a bruising pressure that only builds and builds.101 feels as the foreign object is forced past its fur, past its skin, and through the gaps of its fragile ribs. As the pain spears through its chest, 101 didn't even have the ability to scream.
When 101 finally comes to, to a burning heat in its chest that spreads through its veins like a corrosive acid with every slow pump of its heart. Distorted whispers faded into the back of its mind as it blinks its eyes open to a blurry world of dim darkness and... Another. Stupid. Cage.
101 can feel the line of a freshly healed scar cutting into its fur as it grooms itself to take stock of its wounds. Sniffing the air, 101 recognizes the scent of bitter, poisoned blood that seeps from every surface of its captor's den. It seems like 101 managed to jump from one hell into another.
A shadowy figure of the giant looms over 101 with a toothy smile. "Looks like you survived! Congratulations! You can understand me, can't you?" 101 attempts to play dumb. Maybe, if 101 wasn't interesting enough, the giant would leave it alone.
"Acknowledge me when I'm speaking to you, or I'll kill you where you stand for the disrespect," the giant instructs.
With no other choice, 101 "nods" in acknowledgment, per typical custom of the giants.
"Wonderful!" the giant cheers. "Well, more importantly, can you hear her?" 101 tilts its head in confusion.
"The voice of Magia," the giant clarifies. "She might sound like a whisper in your head. Perhaps her voice is muffled like she's speaking to you through a wall or from somewhere far away on a very windy day." For the first time, 101 becomes aware of the faint voice whispering nonsense into its mind. 101 nods again.
"Wonderful! It sounds like the transplant was successful. What you have inside you is a precious "gift" given nonconsensually through me, to you. Had your body not accepted the soulstone, I would've had to rip it back out and try again. You really live up to your label, 101. Out of one hundred and one thousand rabbits, you're the first success!"
101 couldn't believe its ears. What was its captor even talking about? Clearly, the giant was insane.
"Like a conch shell that holds memories of the ocean, the soulstone in your chest holds the magic and memories of its previous owner." The giant leans in until their face is barely a rabbit's foot away from the cage wire.
The giant lifts something out from the shadows, and 101's eyes zero in on what vaguely looks like a leather collar with another small stone fixed to it. "Let's make a deal. The previous owner didn't like me too much, so I'm hoping you and I can come to a more... mutually beneficial agreement, In exchange for your freedom, I want you to fill a new Blank with magic from the soulstone in your chest by this day every year. Don't worry about finding me. I'll find you. Does that sound agreeable?"
No. It sounded like a terrible deal, but once again, faced with no other viable options, 101 nods furiously in agreement.
"Good." With a clap of the giant's hands, the cage surrounding 101 turns to dust, and the two of them are suddenly transported to a bright and expansive field. 101 squeals in pain and confusion as the new and overwhelming environment assaults its senses. As quick as a striking viper, hands loop the collar around its neck, and the leather collar constricts until it is two hair widths away from choking.
"Welcome to your fate! A whole new life lies ahead of you. I hope it's an interesting one! It'll be more fun for me to watch after you eventually die."
The giant disappears a second later, leaving 101 alone in a brave new world.
YOU ARE READING
Cloverfield Magic
Novela JuvenilIssac Anderson and his parents move into a quaint little town to escape a troubled past, but Cloverfield is not what it seems. It's not long before Issac finds himself in the center of a century-old plot packed to the brim with eccentric spellcaster...
