Codename: SSP-57

Chapter 8 (New Chapter)

  "Sam!" I tried to shake him again as soon as the door clicked shut behind the mad scientist, and this time he stirred.  

"Yea, I'm awake." he said, his voice no longer slurring. He opened his eyes, squinted at the brightness. He pulled one leg up to rest his arm on and leaned his head back against the bars, eyes closing. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"She's right. We can't try to escape until you shift for the first time. If we try to now and you start it mid-run, we won't get away," his eyes opened again, he gazed at me with sorrow before lowering his eyes to the floor. "I am sorry, I should have warned you-."

"Sam." He stopped mid sentence and stilled when I reached a hand to cup his cheek and direct his gaze back to my eyes. "You did try, if you had just told me before any of this happened I would have thought you were crazy." I paused until I saw him relent. His cheeks tinted pink, ever so slightly, probably the way I was leaning over his slouched form. I sat back and continued.

"I agree. If you say my first shift will be soon, then we will wait. I can take her, I heard the bar give slightly when she made me angry. And I can pick locks, so it will be no problem to break out. " I let out a shaky breath when I realized just what they meant by 'shifting.'

"O-okay." He took a deep breath, coming out of his silence. "Listen, when it starts, just let it take over, alright? It will be worse if you fight it. Do what she tells you."

"Why should I listen to that crazy bit-" An intense, deep ache that suddenly started all my body, cutting off my curse. I slumped on my hands and knees, head bent at the sudden start of it. Sam sucked in a breath, and the only door banged open, admitting Ariel back into the room, a bowl of popcorn in her hand closed cell phone in the other. 

Seeing her so excited for my pain made me angry, and I growled at her. Hearing myself growl, both out loud, and in my head solidified the realness of everything. I knew then that she needed to die. Before I could wonder at my sudden need to kill a person, another ripple of hot searing pain shot through me.

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As soon as the door shut, Emily called my name again. 

"Yea, I'm awake." I said to her peeling my eyelids open with effort, then quickly shutting them at the harsh brightness of the room. I pulled a leg up to rest my arm on, laying my throbbing head against the bars of our cage.

I had heard part of the rant of the old hag was spewing, starting at how I was such a success, and that my dad should be thanked. I couldn't stop myself from growling at that, though I kept it as quiet as I could. Emily had heard me, and squeezed my hand. It gave me comfort, even though we were away from him. 

  "She's right." I said after a few still moments. "We can't try to escape until you shift for the first time. If we try to now and you start it mid-run, we won't get away," I met her eyes, but had to lower mine to the floor at the intensity of them. "I am sorry, I should have warned you-."  

At the same time as she said my name her hand came to rest on my cheek, stunning me.

"You did try, if you had just told me before any of this happened I would have thought you were crazy." I didn't believe her at first but the sincerity of her eyes peering into mine, not letting me look away like he taught me to do so severely, had me giving in after a few moments. She knew when I did, as her expression changed to one that said "Good." Reading that, with her still sitting so near, I realized her deep blue gaze was beautiful. Then I realized what I had just thought, and I felt my cheeks redden.

Emily didn't seem to notice as she sat back, taking her palm and the warmth it gave him with her. "I agree. If you say my first shift will be soon, then we will wait. I can take her, I heard the bar give slightly when she made me angry. And I can pick locks, so it will be no problem to break out. " She let out a shaky breath, and I knew she was now realizing the extent of the situation, but she still held it together well. Some of her other friends, or even Brook and her minion wouldn't have kept their cool so well.

  "O-okay." Breathing deeply to get the shake of what she did to me out of my voice, and act more reassuring like her, like she did for me. I gave her some advice to help her though the shift, "Listen, when it starts, just let it take over, alright? It will be worse if you fight it. Do what she tells you."  

"Why should I listen to that crazy bit-" she had began speaking when she doubled over in obvious pain. The shift had begun.

Ariel chose that moment to return, as her wish was becoming a reality. She had a bowl of popcorn in one hand as the other slipped something into her pocket. She smelled of excitement, and Emily could tell too. He head snapped up, and she growled, a deep, menacing sound promising torment to come. Unable to stop myself, I shrank back on myself, recognizing a similar look on my father's face when he was on one of his sprees. Yellow eyes rimmed in a bright green showed the feral look of a wildcat. The look of a killer.

She doubled over yet again, the sound of her bones snapping, rearranging, her muffled sounds of distress and pain, made me remember dark nights and the smell of alcohol. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to push away the recollections, tried to still my trembling; I still needed to help get us out. But with those memories surfacing, the cold menacing eyes, and the knowledge that most of the other patients infused with the predatory genes were destructive and loved to wreak havoc. And I was in the same cage.

The sounds of agony came to a halt, and I looked to see the change complete. She was slumped, laying down and breathing hard. Short, slick black fur gleamed in the lights, and large rounded ears sat on top of a broad head. She gathered herself to stand, slowly and wobbling at first. Standing, powerful shoulders hunched, a long slender body that gave way to powerful legs with huge paws with claws scraping the cement beneath them, and a long sweeping tail that began to twitch in anger, her gaze directed at me. I froze, searching her gaze for signs of Emily, when I realized I was staring a fear sensing predator in the eyes. I quickly dropped my eyes and squeezed them shut, hugging myself. Another thunderous snarl rumbled through the room. This was it for me.