Metamorphosis

Chapter 21

"Come on!" A male with bushy black hair exclaimed as he tugged on her hand, dragging her from her position on the floor and into a standing position.

"Roland..." Doreen's brown eyes were wide when she stared at him. Panic flooded her senses as he proceeded to drag her out of the room. "Mr. Baxter just said - "

"And they caught you eavesdropping on them," Roland's brown eyes narrowed at her, "and for that, they're planning to kill you."

"No..." Doreen tugged her hand free from his and stood where she was. "No, they can't!"

"Doreen!" He hissed and loomed over her. "I read their minds, I knew what they were going to do from the beginning... from the moment that I was a success and gained my powers." He placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking her into reality. "They're only using us, Doreen. Who do you think killed your parents?"

"I - " Doreen's eyes traveled to the ground in despair. "No... my parents worked for them!" She stared up at him angrily. "They couldn't have killed them!"

"They did," Roland pressed, "you heard what they said about Project Noble right? P.E.R.S.E.S.?" The girl nodded slowly. "When they're ready, they're gonna go public with this and kill everyone who lacks the metamorph gene, just like all of those people before me during trial and error." He leaned down to stare at her eyes. "They are going to create a whole new dystopia with your super serum and we cannot let that happen." The girl slowly nodded, finally digesting his words.

"So what are we gonna do?" She barely noticed that he had dragged them to her room and was already packing her a bag of necessities. She also just now noticed that he had his own backpack. He ignored her and continued putting more clothes in her bag. "Roland!" Doreen exclaimed and was thankful that none of the other agents or Mr. Baxter had found them yet. "What are we gonna do?" She repeated.

Roland took the picture frame from her shelf - the only picture Doreen ever had - and looked at it sadly. It was a picture of him, Doreen, and a male with gelled dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. They were smiling at the camera with Doreen in the middle and their hands up in a peace sign. He threw the picture frame into her bag and zipped it up. He turned around and threw it at her. Doreen caught it in time.

"We're gonna escape." Roland said with finality just as the door banged open.

Doreen gasped and sat upright, her eyes snapping open. Her heart beat was accelerating against her chest and she put a hand over it to calm it. Once it went back to a steady rhythm, she took in her surroundings. She was in the secret room inside the lab of the warehouse. She looked down, remembering that she had gone to sleep in her bed that night. She glanced at the small clock on her bedside table and saw that it was only 2:10 am. Doreen breathed a low sigh and fell back on her bed.

"It was only a dream..." she sighed and closed her eyes tight. Why did she have to remember that? Why those painful memories? Why?

She turned onto her side, seeing the picture frame that had made it with her during her and Roland's escape. The picture frame stood next to her small clock and she smiled sadly.

"Why?" She whispered and reached out a hand to touch the photograph. Her finger traced over Roland's face, then hers, and finally, David's. She shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. No, Doreen, she thought regretfully, they're in better places now. With that thought, she retracted her hand and slowly went back to sleep, a small tear escaping her eye and falling down her cheek.

XXX

Erick strode down the hallway of the 23rd floor of the BSIA building, a tray of food in his hands. It wasn't much, just bread, a bowl of miso soup, a plate of carrots and broccoli, and a plate with three pieces of fried chicken. He peered into room 2314 through the little glass window at the top and smirked. Andrew was sitting on his bed, his hands holding his head. He was dressed in a white long sleeve shirt, white pants, and white shoes. The blue eyed male can see the glint of the metal collar around his neck despite the odd angle.