The Experiment

Chapter Two

I was silent as I rounded the corner, my bare feet making a soft padding noise as I maneuvered around the lab. I really didn't have too much time before the scientist raised the alarm that I was no longer in my quarters.

I had learned that the other creatures had been brought to the main lab so that some tests could be conducted, and I had made the decision to go and find them. I had asked multiple times to be allowed to meet the other creatures, each time I had been turned down.

The scientists had deemed that I was too unstable to be allowed anywhere near the others of my kind, but I had deemed that they were too senile to be allowed to make that decision for me.

And they were senile, all of them nearing their late 80's while I remained young. The scientists called it a benefit of the experiment; my aging having come to halt once my body had decided that it was at the optimal age, that is, when I turned 16. All of the other creature were older than me, their aging also having come to a rocking stop some years after their operation, however I had been informed that I was, and would probably remain, the youngest.

Despite our bodies no longer aging (I would say no longer changing, but that would be an outright lie since I still had all of the problems that a 16 year old would have, including acne) our minds sharpened at a rate quicker than the scientists had ever anticipated, or at least mine did. For all I knew the other creatures would permanently be stuck with quasi-adolecent brains.

My sharpened brain was the sole reason that I was walking barefoot down the ice-cold tiles, dodging under the florescent lights in an attempt to avoid the numerous cameras that were positioned so that there was as little blind spots as could be achieved. I stress as little as could be achieved, because there still were some blind spots, blind spots I had learned the location of in my 20 year stay (so far) at the Experiment's main head quarters.

It was an almost simple task to avoid detection while in the hallway, in fact the only way that I would be found out was if the scientists tried to get into my bathroom, where they would find an air vent pried from its dock and resting neatly on the ground. Well that way, and if one of the numerous doors that lined the hallway, doors that led to empty rooms, were to open. As they did now.

Freezing where I was, tucked against the wall with my arms held tight to my chest and my knees squeezed together, I watched as merely five feet away a door opened, the hinges catching it so that the wood hid me from sight from whoever had opened it.

"I always hate coming here." A male voice said from the other side of the door as the wood strained back, as if someone had pressed a considerable weight against it. "It always smells oddly good and my creatures always goes a little crazy." The man elaborated, his words tinged with an accent that made me think of open fields and the cowboys I had seen in the old westerns that my nurse loved.

A feminine laugh sounded, rupturing the trance I had been lulled into by the man's voice a small amount of panic set in. They couldn't close the door or else I would surely be seen but there was something about the man's voice that lulled the creature into a peaceful kind of impatience.

Looking back down the fall from which I had come I debated my chances of remaining unseen if I were to retrace my steps. That idea was soon scrapped when I remembered the next blind spot was only a couple of feet down and on the other side of the hall, there was no way that the people on the other side of the door wouldn't see me. I was trapped.

Panic was truly setting in now as the woman's laugh bled into words. "Come on, you love coming here, you always get excited." She joked with the male, a carefree tone to her voice as the door swayed slightly, causing all of my muscles to tighten.

There was no way that I was getting out of this without being seen unless they went back into the room, something that was unlikely.

There was a gruff laugh from the male before a tan hand wrapped around the jamb of the door. "Fine, I will confess my creature looks forward to these trips, now can we go? Or do I still need an armed escort?" The man asked, the last question shouted into the room from which he had come.

There were quick steps before someone stepped into my line a view. He was attractive, this strange man, with a square chin covered in a scruff of dark brown which became denser as it turned into a mane fit for a lion. Tan skin was stretched tight over razor sharp cheek bones that made me so jealous and eyes had yet to see me.

Knowing I couldn't go back the way I came and still achieve my ultimate goal I did something that I knew for sure was a bad idea. Stepping into sight of the cameras I waited two seconds before the intense piercing sounds of the alarms filled the air.

I knew as soon as the guards caught sight of me on the camera the alarms would sound, and that every available guard would attempt to find me. They were really hell bent on keeping me from meeting the other creatures.

As the piercing alarm sounded the man's head jerked around, his intense green eyes locking onto mine. The creature inside of me stirred but the human part of me had made up its mind and my feet were carrying me towards the man.

His face was just twisting into a look of pure shock by the time my bare feet blared past him, the scent of spice blaring back into my face and carrying me off into a trance. But I didn't slow my feet; I was more than determined to meet the others of the experiment and this interesting man was not going to stop me.

Behind me I heard the sound of boots as guards filled the hallway and started after me and I heard shouting. Confused on the shouting because I knew it wasn't at me, I glanced over my shoulder to see the man chasing after me, doing something that should have been impossible for a human- he was gaining on me.

I was too busy looking in shock over my shoulder to notice that the guards had done the smart thing and had sent someone around to barricade the way. Meaning that I came to a hard and sudden stop when I slammed into the chest of one of the guards, sending both of us crashing to the ground.

Recovering quickly I went to my feet and had barely taken a step before an arm wrapped around my chest and pulled me back into the heat of a muscled body. Shocks sprung down my back and around where the arm was wrapped around me, but they weren't painful, they felt how a sparkler looked, bright and warm, they felt like happiness.