Shifters (Feline english version)

Chapter 25

I remained undecided for a moment, not knowing where to go. I was in a dimly lit, windowless corridor that seemed to finish with an elbow at each end. Other doors appeared at regular intervals. So I decided to look inside first, because like mine, they were all equipped with a small eyelet. The two rooms next to my cell were empty. The one on the right was a sort of storage room and the one on the left was an observation room in which the one-way-mirror was placed, as well as another in the opposite wall. When I saw this, my heart jumped in my chest: maybe there was another person in that cell? Maybe Cassie?

I approached the door at the left end of the corridor with hope as I held my breath. Unfortunately, it was empty. I decided not to let myself be discouraged and went to the last door of the corridor which turned out to be a kind of guard room. A man whose features I couldn't see was lying on a camp bed and seemed to be sleeping, with his gun at hand. I walked away as quietly and quickly as possible so as not to risk waking him up. It must have been nighttime, hence the dimmed lights and my forced nap.

I compelled myself to stop for a few seconds to reflect on what was next. Then I realized that this place was increasingly resembling a research lab, and that meant generally speaking, experiments on animals. So I stopped holding back my senses and let them spread out in search of presences that would certainly show me the direction to follow. I was very quickly assaulted by too many different signatures to be able to isolate them all. Then came very quickly more precise sensations of cold, fear and despair that covered absolutely everything else. Nevertheless, I tried to cope with all these sensations and tried to isolate one in particular to focus on it. I chose the one that appeared clearest and most coherent to my human mind and therefore moved in that direction.

I was careful, but my bare feet were banging softly, amplified by all the white tiles in the hallway. I tried to convince myself that it was my fear that amplified the sounds, that I wasn't that loud, but I couldn't help but be more and more terrified at the thought of finding myself face to face with a guard, especially without clothes and nothing to defend myself. I was too vulnerable. I had to find something to protect myself, a weapon, anything. Most importantly, I had to get out of here now, right away. It was a matter of life and death! I couldn't take it anymore with these bars and this cramped cage, I was dying slowly for too long, I had to get out. An animalistic rage invaded me and a deep rumble tried to come out of my chest.

It was at that moment that I realized that these thoughts and feelings did not belong to me, but were those of an animal. These emotions had just replaced mine so easily that, at first, I didn't realize it. What disturbed me the most was that I didn't notice it immediately. These emotions had merged with mine and almost forced me to do things that were unlike me. Like this compulsion to run away when I had come here for a specific and important purpose. It was that inhuman feeling, that animal growl rolling down my throat when it wasn't intended for that, that allowed me to regain control. I looked a little dazed around me. This unpleasant experience had at least made me realize that I was being silly. I wandered through the corridors at the mercy of the first guard or camera to come. It was already a damn miracle that I hadn't been spotted. My plan wasn't completely wrong, but I needed a quiet place to regain my senses, before I ended up right in the lion's den.

Now in a new corridor, just like the one I had just left, I found myself alone, standing in front of a door with an electronic card lock. Door that obviously opened to the outside, because I could see a fragment of the moon through the glass embedded in the upper part of the door, and a burst of hope flowed through me. At least I found a way out of here. All I had to do was hope that Jude had been able to follow me and that he had brought the cavalry with him.

Jude! Their damn sleeping pills, although not putting me to sleep for more than half an hour, must have at least affected my brain capacity, because I hadn't once thought about him since I had been there. Although I don't know exactly how the bond we had forged was supposed to work, I imagined that a conscious approach on my part could only make things easier. Well, I was hoping so. I was hoping that he was on my trail. Because everything I had experienced and felt in recent hours seemed so foggy that I was no longer sure of anything. I had difficulty getting out of my dazed thoughts to stare again at the lifesaving door and try to analyse my surroundings a little better. A task that was not obvious, however, because my brain seemed to be running in slow motion.