Creature (CENTURIES series: Book #7)

1

• Cover made by PaperBlanks - thank you, love •

Watching as we pulled up to the C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S facility, the car came to a stop. A man in a black suit stepped up and opened the door for me, even before I had the chance to unfasten my seatbelt.

"Thank you," I said as he offered me a hand. He gave me a brief nod and then he escorted me inside through all the security which had become a silent procedure by now.

Everything ran like clockwork inside the C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S building. Everything was so clinical, I was always afraid to step a toe out of line. I had been here a few times, but never gone below ground where I knew that all the... experiments took place. Nevertheless, I always felt clammy coming here. The aura of this place was horrid and made my skin crawl.

Today was the day I was meeting Charlie for the first time. The hour had finally come where the first Creature would be transferred into the real world, and the rest of the world were going crazy about it. Nobody knew where he was going, how he looked, or even which state he was going to be in. That was causing most of the country to panic, bringing out the worst of the conspirators.

Was it safe to let the 'monsters' out of their cages? Would they be the 'revolution' of a new world or the end of the one as we knew it?

C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S kept their cards close, so nobody really knew to what extend their research had come. Only vague reports every now and then had been doled out to the public to let them chew on their continuing progress. But never anything about the means they used to achieve said progress.

Naturally, that meant the world didn't know what to expect from these Creatures. To the public they were considered aliens or mutants – freaks of nature. Some people were curious and some were understandably scared. Were they dangerous?

I was finding out today.

"Ms Bloom," Mr Alan greeted me once I had gotten through security alive. "How are you? Prepared?"

I nodded and gave a professional smile. "As well as one can be."

"Did you read the file on him we gave you?"

"I skimmed it," I replied as we begun walking down a hall which at the end had an elevator. "I surveyed the important parts, but I prefer to get to know Charlie in person rather than off a sheet of paper."

Mr Alan raised a brow, but didn't comment on my choice of approach. "Right this way then."

We stepped into the elevator and rode it down, both silent. Finally, after what seemed like a long descend, the elevator doors opened and we stepped out. Mr Alan led the way and I followed.

"We've moved him from his cell to a more appropriate room, one where you may better converse," He told as we passed a couple of guards who manned their seemingly sporadic stations down the hall. "We have cameras on him at all times, so there'll be no need to be nervous."

"I'm not." I assured him. Scared, however...

"Good," He stopped up in front of a metal door where two guards stood guard, and after swiping a card through a machine and entering a code, he turned to me. "Are you ready to meet Charlie?"