At Dawn, in the Forest

Chapter 5

"It's all right, Jack."

"But Sir, she-"

"I know what she did, but it's fine. I am sure she didn't mean to escape... And besides how many times I say we have to conduct an experiment to be absolutely sure we get the wanted results, Jack?" Both Jack and Dawn were confused, but it seemed Dawn connected the dots sooner than the sidekick of Dr. Willow. She knew what was about to happen and again she chanted the phrase over and over again in her head: keep your face straight, keep your face straight, keep your face straight.

"Uh, at least three times, Sir. But what... Oh, I see. Should I prepare the subject, Sir?" Jack asked with that awfully familiar smirk on his face. Dawn was sure he was some kind of sadist. He took far too much pleasure in her being in pain.

Roughly Dawn was placed on the chair, being strapped in. After Dr. Willow had prepared his tools and Jack had prepared her. The doctor addressed the young wolf. "It was my intention to wait a couple of days, but it seems you gave me no choice but to push the date... I am sure you didn't mean to, right my little wolf?" He tilted her chin, forcing her to meet his eye. "Did you mean it?"

Dawn felt trapped and she didn't know why. She felt stupid, that was for sure. She was reckless, the pain had made her blind to the seriousness of her situation. So like the stupid girl she was, she had to yet agree with this horrible man. "No, Sir. I-" Dawn halted herself. She hoped an explanation might halt the experiment, but she would almost reveal a secret she didn't dare to say to her own family, her love for trees. And besides Dr. Willow wouldn't fall for that.

"You what?"

"Nothing Sir."

Dr. Willow arched a brow, but let the matter be. Soon Dr. Klein entered the room as well and they finished the last preparations together. This time they would focus on her left leg, and her right arm. This for sure wasn't an experiment, it was a punishment.

After they were done, Dawn lay there unmoving in her own sweat and tears. She had tuned out the world, the pain was too much, but not enough to make her pass out. She tried to replay documentaries in her mind, but she didn't have the energy. 

Nature and trees were her last resort to give her strength and hope, and even that was hard to think about now. Her family was already non-existent in her mind. Thinking of them was anything but comforting. It made her only more homesick. It was self-protection. The side-effect of this was she could barely remember her own family's faces. Every time she tried, they were blurry and their voices sounded muffled. 

Another set of tears streamed down. 

This is why she didn't think of her family, it was almost as painful as these experiments that were conducted on her. It was just their names she knew, but her last name had disappeared from memory.

Dawn just lay there, all alone, wishing for help she knew that would never come. Slowly she felt the last bit of hope slither away. This was the most painful experience she had since her arrival and she couldn't endure it for any longer. Right there, at that moment, she had given up.