Shifters (Feline english version)

Chapter 29

While I was there feeling sorry for myself, I took the opportunity to review my condition. My huge bruise was still there but it didn't hurt anymore. Which meant that the internal damage was being repaired, that was the most important thing. Upon reflection, super regeneration or not, once the bruise was there, the blood had to clear itself. Maybe it was doing it a little faster for me, but given the size of it, I would look like a survivor of a plane crash for a few more days. If I survive, of course.

I set out to gently roll my shoulder back and forth and prepared myself for the pain that would result, but nothing more than a stiffness and a slight burning sensation. It was pretty good news, because my wound was still red and inflamed and I looked like I had been hit by a bus! I was hoping that these men, who were apparently just big arms, would not be more aware than that of our healing abilities and would expect me to be weak and diminished, which would be an advantage for me. It was also necessary to know how to make the most of it. Alone, I sincerely think I would have had a good chance of getting out of there, but there was absolutely no way I was going to abandon them.

Worth was in a bad shape and probably not even able to run. As for Cassie, I assumed they had drugged her, but I wasn't sure. Even assuming that I was right, I had no idea what effect and consequences this could have on an ordinary human. So there was only Adam left, who, for the little I had seen, didn't seem too badly hurt, at least physically. Nevertheless, he was a scared teenager who didn't know me and I doubted very much that there were big differences between metamorphic and human teenagers. Would he trust me given the natural aversion and fear of shapeshifters towards humans?

Anyway, we had no other choice. I needed his help to have a tiny chance to get everyone out of this mess alive. For the umpteenth time I tried to re-establish contact with Jude, without success. I didn't even feel him around anymore. To be honest, I could not feel the presence of almost any animals near the barn, except a few rodents. I understood, at the gradual decrease in luminosity from the few holes in the roof, that they were waiting for the night. I didn't know if I should be happy or worried about it.

Once it was completely dark, one of the two men took me out of my makeshift cell and knelt me down in the middle of the barn with the others. I noticed that we were all aligned as if we were being executed. The four men armed with guns who framed us, two in front and two behind, completed this idyllic and reassuring picture. Among them I found the ones who had brought us here, the young kid and the big guy. To my right, Worth closed one end of our line, while Adam, to my left, followed by Cassie, composed the other end. We all took a discreet look at each other, a little to reassure ourselves, a little to assess each other's condition. All except Cassie. On her knees, her hands handcuffed in front of her like us, her chin rested on her chest, absolutely motionless. She looked like a junkie in the middle of a trip.

- 'Good. What a lovely bunch we have here! And almost all for us, right, guys?'

I was so focused on Cassie's condition that I didn't hear him coming. The man with the ponytail, whose name I still didn't know, was standing in front of us, also armed with a rifle and dressed like a commando, completing the initial fear he was giving off. Especially since he wore the uniform so naturally that he was probably a real former commando. Our chances of survival had just dropped dramatically, as had my morale.

- 'Here are the rules, listen carefully! You will be taken into the woods separately before being released. We'll give you ten minutes' notice, then the hunt will begin. If at daybreak, you are still alive... you will be free.'

Given the big sardonic smile on his face, it had never happened before and he would make sure it didn't happen this time either.

- 'Very well. Metamorphs, we'll let you transform once you're in the forest. There is no risk of escaping by air, since apparently bird shapeshifters are rather rare. Don't even try to do it beforehand, otherwise you will be shot directly in the head. And if you refuse to change, it will be the same treatment.'