𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

- ⧗ ZARIAH PETROVA ⧗ -

COLD WOOD PRESSED AGAINST THE PADS OF ZARIAH'S FEET as she walked down the long corridor. Her legs were bare, just the blue leotard and skirt covering her small body. It had been morning dance lessons when they'd come to take her away, dismissing her just as the girls were changing into their point shoes, leaving Zariah now barefoot.

Calmly, she followed in pursuit behind her mentor just a few steps ahead. Madame B. stood in her usual attire, perfect suit and polished heels completing her silhouette. Zariah found herself standing quite a bit shorter than her, having to strain her neck to look up at her pristine hairdo. A sudden feeling of wrongness flushed over her, that this wasn't how things should be, but she shook it off with a small shudder.

Madame B. paused at a metal door at the end of the hall, reaching for a keycard to open it. It swiped through the scanner, beeping in recognition, and the door swung open. The older woman grabbed the handle and gestured Zariah inside. With a deep breath, she obeyed, flinching as the door clicked shut behind her.

The stairwell was well lit, lights occupying the space under the metal handrail and illuminating their descent. This part of the school looked very different and Zariah had to suppress a shiver as she ventured further in. The walls were all a pristine white, the doors and lights the same. Everything about the environment sent a shiver down Zariah's spine.

Still, she held her head high as she stepped into the corridor and was lead away by Madame B.. There was no point in trying to avoid what was coming for her, that only made things worse. So however awful it may be, Zariah simply had to push through.

Even so, when they entered the next room, Zari felt her heart drop in her chest. It was the same glistening white, no windows and bright lights paneling the ceiling. At the centre of the room sat a hospital bed, four limb straps awaiting.

Inside the room, another group of people were there to meet Zariah. Two scientists in white coats, and as Madame B. closed the door, Zari noticed a certain general was present too. He stepped forwards, an unsettling grin on his face. "Good morning, Zariah."

The redhead raised her gaze to him. "Good morning, General."

"Another test for you today, hm?" He preened over her, a wild glint behind his glasses.

Zariah simply nodded in response before one of the scientists handed her a blue hospital gown. She received it slowly and then began to change herself out of her ballet attire. Before, she would turn away, but this routine had been completed so many times now that she didn't bother anymore. To her this wasn't new. Because she wasn't like the others. Because Zariah was different.

For as long as she could remember, she'd been taken down to this part of the school, a place where not many of the other girls ever ventured. Here, they'd do things to her that made her other training look like child's play.

She was never entirely sure just what their tests did. A lot where done to assess her abilities, monitoring the effects of every modification they made to her. Then, sometimes there were tests which would attempt to enhance her further. Those were the tests that Zariha disliked most. Those were the ones that hurt.

At first, their experiments had been small. They'd draw her blood and test it, inject it back in with refinements made. Then they began to grow, more and more tests with more and more consequences. A serum they claimed would improve her strength, a tonic that would increase her intelligence, wires to her brain that could heighten her senses. All of it combined to create their perfectly curated weapon.