Animal

.:7:.

The woman impatiently tapped her fingernails along the mahogany table, for once listening to the yells of profanity, snarls mixed between feral animal and crazed human, the beeping of medical equipment. Her office was, of course, sound proof, but she had left her office door open.

She was not ashamed to admit that these noises were familiar to her, comforting even. Although she would hate to fall asleep to the noises, she sometimes found it hard to be sympathetic when all she was doing was trying to make them better.

Over the sound of the snarls, she could hear the faint footsteps approaching at a quick pace. No, not one pair, but two. Her lips curled upward in a pleased smirk; it seems that her next patient had arrived.

The woman stood up and straightened her skirt out, then her matching top, and folded her hands in front of her. The click of her heels bounced off the walls the second she began walking around her desk and standing in front of it.

Her red lips parted to greet Herbert, the simpleton she had sent to fetch the patient. But instead of her expected result, was her head of research. He has sleeked back hair, a blue button up, and grey dress pants under his white lab coat. He was truly handsome, and if she hadn't been so dedicated to her work, she might have accepted his proposal to get drinks.

"Dr. Kingston, so good to see you," she hummed,  offering him one of her most pleasant smiles. Then her eyes moved to Herbert, a scruffy, pungent smelling man with a potbelly and hairs sticking out of his nose. Her smile turned cold and artificial, showing she would remain polite even when she was unhappy with the situation. "Ah, Herbert, nice to see you as well."

"M-m'am," he mumbled, ripping his head slightly. She refused to show her disgust towards this man. He had stringy hair arched over his mostly bald head, greasy and unwashed.

"I hope you received the patient," she drew out. She knew full well he had not, but she was going to take pleasure in making him feel her wrath. "I offered you five thousand dollars, you know. This one is one of our best results so far. We had a different type of chip never before used installed in her and the dog's head. I wish to see the result." She smiled more, her eyes boring into his horrific face.

"I-uh-well, I had some .. Complications?" It came out more as a question, only increasing her pent up rage.

"Oh?" The woman responded smoothly, stepping closer until she was staring down at him with a newly formed smirk on her lips. "What kind of complications?"

He swallowed hard. She could hear it, the lump he forced down his throat. His breathing increased. Her inner animal wished to claw out of her and take his heart as hers.

She was not an actual animal itself, but she has grown so used to being among them she felt like one. She's been considering getting the operation done on herself so she could be more powerful, more vicious and controlling.

"Well?" she whispered, dragging one of her long fingernails under his chin. Her eyes watched his every tiny movement, waiting for the exact second to be able to pounce like a cat on a mouse. "Herbert?"

Oh, how she wished she could rip his throat out. She ached to be able to do so, but she had a job to do and killing was an absolute no no.

"Sh-she got away," he squeaked out.

"See, was that so hard?" Dr. Kingston sneered, crossing his arms. "There. Now that's all out in the open." He glanced up at the woman, who had the calmest expression but was full of hot rage on the inside. 

"Herbert, you will not be paid. Leave." She flicked her wrist, indicating that the conversation was over.

Herbert, who seemed a bit more brave now that he wasn't getting his end of the deal, hissed, "I'm not being paid? I went five hundred miles away, with barely any recourses, to find a girl -"

She flashed her eyes to him and said in a low, but seemingly deadly voice, "You have the audacity to demand I pay you after you return completely empty handed?" she asked softly, her lips turned down in a slightly disappointed frown. "You did not bring me my cargo, therefore you do not get paid. Now leave or you'll never see any of our money again."

That made him leave.

Her cat-like eyes turned back to Dr. Kingston and she sighed, straightening her suit once more and walking closer to him. "They will not be happy."

"You are not happy," the scientist pointed out.

She almost smiled. "No, I am not happy. The reason I am not happy is because that idiot let a two million dollar patient slip through his hands." She crossed her arms and turned her head up to look at him. "Two million, Abel."

"I understand," he replied calmly, meeting her gaze. He was the only one who could do that without the fear of her burning glare, and he knew it. "Or have you forgotten I was the one who preformed that procedure on her seventeen years ago?"

She stiffened. "Of course I hadn't forgotten," she hissed, narrowing her eyes and stepping back slightly. "That chip costed a million on its own, not to mention the placement of it, and the recovery, the payment to-"

Abel put his hand on he shoulder, effectively stopping her from speaking. "Do not fear," he said. "We may not be able to track her, but that useless rat of ours did bring something back."

She blinked and cocked her head. Why had he waited to tell her this before she sent Herbert away?  "What?" she urged, eyeing him carefully.

Abel pulled out a plastic bag containing a bloody piece of torn shirt. "Part of her shirt. Her old body. It should have the same sent as well as the animal she formed with." He smiled and handed it to her.

The woman examined the bag in her hands, the blood making her grin slightly. Oh yes. If there was blood, which there was, that meant that they could use the Elites.

She raised her head and gave him a nod, passing back the bag. "Do not contaminate the contents. No chances can be at risk. The scent must stay pure." She paused when she turned around, and she smiled coldly at Abel. "Actually, go to the Training Compound and tell Henry that it's time for him to send out the Elites."

"Are you sure?" Abel questions, hesitating.

Her cruel grin only rose. "I'm sure. We need to catch Mckenzie Shane. She is going to be the turning point of this whole project."

Abel nodded and turned, leaving the room and shutting he door behind him. The woman wasn't able to contain her excited smile as she lifted her fingers to her lips as she became thoughtful.

"Oh you will run, my little pet," she murmured, her eyes staring off into space, "but you will not outfox the hounds."

-:-

The Woman's eyes above. (;

You'll find out who she is... Later. Mwah.