Bound to Ashes [The Altered Sequence: Book 1]

4 • Contents Under Pressure

[Dev]

My head is killing me.

It's dark until I open my eyes, but it's so bright it hurts. I can hear my eyes throbbing inside my head and I clench them shut again.

A falling building must have crushed me before I blacked out, or something. My whole body, but mostly my shoulder and chest, throbs and threaten to put me under again. My muscles complain with every movement, even slight. I glance over at my left shoulder, but something's wrong— my arms hang over my head. I tug, but they're stuck. A thin plastic cord binds them, tied to a metal ring screwed into the wall behind me.

Images assail my mind. The human. A black form on the pile of pipes, pulling a tranquilizer pistol out of her jacket... Those eyes.

The darts that were sticking out of my chest and shoulder are gone. My jacket, too. I'm exposed. I try to pull my arms down, but it only makes the tingling worse. My hands won't budge.

"Shit." My voice sounds small in the empty white room. I'm alone save for the only feature in the room: a floor-to-ceiling mirror across from me.

How long has it been since I've actually looked at myself? And wow, do I look like hell. The only color in the room is my yellow eyes. Everything else is grey. Grey skin, faded clothes, chalky dust, white room. My pupils are hardly even visible, they're just slits, it's so bright....

Why the hell am I still alive? I thought the humans wanted us dead. They couldn't also want to... reclaim us, could they?

Oh, why did I even go there.... My chest is heaving with every shallow breath and I suddenly can't feel my extremities. I stare at the floor.

Chances are people from the labs died along with the rest. The papers said the Northern Alliance's biological warfare started it, and it spread out of control. Only a handful of survivors. I mean, logically, the Caduceus personnel aren't still strong in numbers and doing well enough to want us back. For tests... Or worse.

They said to us, back at Caduceus Technologies, if we were ever caught by the enemy to kill ourselves. That way their technology wouldn't fall into enemy hands. 'You are not special, you are replaceable.' But now is different. There's no such thing as the Northern Alliance anymore. Or Caduceus.

Whoever it is, they caught me. And probably caught the others. And that means I failed.

I yank on my hand restraints, but the cord is tight, they don't go anywhere. Maybe the sweat will let me slip out, but no luck. What the hell is this stuff made of...?

A click from the door makes me jump, I shuffle my feet under me and back against the wall. My helpful, overactive imagination provides a scenario: humans busting in, gun muzzles pressed against my head, shouting....

Guns. Firearms. Fire. No, only use that as a last resort.... I take a breath to ease the tightness.

The door opens slowly and a human emerges. One I haven't seen before. He's pretty young looking compared to the humans I've seen, though I can't guess how young. I guess he's just less worn-out looking. He has dark skin, a broad nose, and a tricky grin on his face that immediately sets me on edge.

"Hey," the human says, waving casually. He sticks one hand in the pocket of his jeans and scratches the back of his neck with the other.

That's it? 'Hey'? I'm about ready to rip this wall down to get away and he just walks in and says 'hey'?

"So you're awake, that's good!" He continues, smiling, even laughing a little to himself. "I'm Vinder, okay? Call me Vin, though."

He waits for me to say something, but I bet he knows it'll be a long time for that. So he crams his other hand in his other pocket and sways on the balls of his feet, looking all around the room and puffing air out his cheeks. "So," he says. "How're you doing? Any side-effects?"