The Quest for Onyx (Book 1)

Chapter 15

Bright lights shining in my face woke me up. I slowly open my eyes and look around. The cage has been placed on a stage. In front of us a red velvet curtain stretches from the floor of the stage to the ceiling where it is secured by a long metal bar.

I'm confused as to why we've been put on a stage when the front curtain suddenly opens and more bright lights blind us. I can hear the muttering of a bunch of voices talking at the same time. They must be an audience. An audience for what though?

I lift my hand to my face and try to shield my eyes from the blinding stage lights.

Tiny looks confused. "Why are we on a stage? This makes no sense."

"I don't know Tiny, I'm just as confused as you." I reply.

The overhead lights in the audience dim and a voice booms out of a speaker "Welcome to Silverclaw labs' special presentation! Without further ado here's your host, Doctor Rabies!!"

There is thunderous applause and then I see what must be the ugliest creature on the face of the earth come out of the curtains on the stage and bow to the crowd.

Dr. Rabies looks like a rat but there are some major differences. He has long sharp claws on his feet and at the end of his fingers, he has red fur around his neck, and his body is covered in black patchy fur. He looks ridiculous in his white lab coat. If you ask me I think he may have rabies.

He turns his head towards me and I see his blood red eyes are trained on me. He begins to speak in a scratchy voice "Thank you." He holds up a hand for silence "I have been searching for the perfect subject to test my research on. And after all these years I finally found the right one."

More applause follows.

He points to my cage "Essix is a fox warrior who hails from a small village outside of the Jade Desert. Fox warriors are renowned as some of the fiercest warriors in all of Orea." He takes a remote out of his lab coat pocket and pushes a button.

On the screen behind me footage begins to play of me fighting. But the strange thing about the footage is that it's footage of me fighting Night Crawlers.

"How did he get that?" I ask.

"I don't know." Tiny replies "But I've decided that this guy is a creep."

Dr. Rabies points at the screen. "As you can see Essix is an excellent fighter. But what if there was a way to improve upon her abilities?"

The audience is silent. They're all focusing intently on what Dr. Rabies is saying.

The screen changes to footage of me in the white room. "We used formula TX97 to improve her strength then we infused light crystals into her that allowed her wings to form." Dr. Rabies says while pointing at me.

The audience begins murmuring.

Dr. Rabies seems unphased by the voices and he just continues speaking. "This power increase along with the wings for added speed and maneuverability is great, but it is my next piece of research that is the most fascinating."

The footage switches to another scene from the white room. Except this time I don't seem like myself. My eyes are glowing bright green and it looks like I'm killing the guards.

I squeeze my eyes shut and look away. I can't believe I allowed myself to just kill people like that. Dr. Rabies will not do that to me again. That much I'm sure.

A strange hush has fallen over the crowd as they watch the carnage unfold on the screen. Some of them look scared others seem like they're enjoying the carnage.

Dr. Rabies smiles an ugly toothy smile. "I have a great treat for you ladies and gentlemen. Tonight Essix will be demonstrating the success of my research."

The spotlight flashes on me and the cage bars lift up. The audience is staring at me as Dr. Rabies holds up a remote control and presses a button. I know the collar has been activated. I can feel it.

"Essix can you please come out here so everyone can see you better?" Dr. Rabies says.

There's a brief burning sensation like my muscles got shocked by electricity. Then I start walking forward. I try to stop but my legs keep moving by themselves.

"Thank you Essix. Now why don't we show them how you can use that fancy sword of yours in a fight?" Dr. Rabies says.

My sword?! I can't move my head but I quickly glance down at my waist and see my sword belt is back. Then I see the guards coming onstage. Crap no! I can't do this again. I can't kill any more people for his thrill.

I hear his voice inside my head "Essix destroy them!"

I knew right then and there I had to resist.

"Essix no! Don't listen to him! You're stronger than he'll ever be you can fight him!" Tiny yells at me from inside the cage.

Tiny is right. I am stronger than him. I have to be fast. I can feel my control weakening. I quickly focus on home and other memories that make me happy. Childhood memories flash through my head. Then there's the one of Erin in my arms. Erin...

No! I will not be controlled! Erin told me that he knew I was strong. That I could do great things someday. I vowed that I wouldn't let him down. Slowly I raise my arm to my neck and tear off the collar.

The crowd gasps and begins yelling and they all make a beeline toward the exits. I seize the moment of surprise and chaos and grab my sword. I cut through the bars on the cage and Tiny scrambles out to me.

I kneel down. "Get on my back Tiny. Things are probably about to get wild."

He climbs up onto my back and wraps his arms around my neck. "What's the plan now?"

"The plan is that we escape." I say.

"How are we gonna do that?" Tiny asks.

I quickly look around. "Uhh let's start by exiting stage left." I say.

I run off of the stage and behind the main curtain. From the front of the stage I hear Dr. Rabies is furious.

"All security lockdown the exits immediately! We cannot allow Essix to escape!" He yells.

A groups of guards suddenly appears from behind the front curtain. They see me running towards them and they rush at me. But they're not stopping me. Not when I'm so close to freedom.

I use my speed to gain momentum. At the last second I push into the ground and flip over all of the guards' heads and land safely on the other side. When my feet touch the ground I don't stop running.

"Wow that was amazing!" Tiny exclaims.

"Thanks!" I say back.

Up ahead the corridor I've been running down ends in a big room. There's no other entrances in the room.

"Crap dead end." I say through gritted teeth.

Behind me in the hallway I can hear the shouts and heavy footsteps of the guards pursuing me. I wildly survey the room. The only thing on the walls are sliding glass doors that open onto balconies.

Wait...That's it!

I throw open one of the sliding glass doors and step out onto the balcony. I look over the rail and see that there's a steep drop below into the river. But there's no other way and I don't have a choice.

Tiny looks at me in disbelief  "You're not going to do what I think you are?!"

I can hear the guards are almost on top of us. It's now or never. Without answering I take a deep breath and I jump off of the balcony.

~~~~~~~~~

What's up fellow readers?!

Thank you for hanging with me while I edit this. It's going to take a while and I appreciate your patience. I hope it's not too confusing for you guys right now.

I'll catch you guys later, love you all!!

------ScarletApollo99
aka The Coolest Loser 😎