Wings

Quindecim || Needles

Gasping, Cassidy leapt upwards- her body growing taunt but her hands staying pinned to the cold walls. Thrashing, her legs kicked out but she soon realized that they too were bound. Panic welled in her throat, and she found herself gaping for air. Shakily, she breathed.

In. Out. In. Out.

Breathing through her nose, she focused on the ceiling and tried to calm down- counting the tiles and making sense of her situation. Blinking her tears away, she noticed that her dress was gone, and in its place was the same pair of gray trousers and the same tank top she had worn the last time she was in the lab. Knees shaking, she noticed white hair tangled between her legs. Horror and hysterical welled in her body again, they had made her shift.

Focusing, her gold eyes glowed in the darkness and she analyzed the room. It wasn't very large, enough room for her to lay down but that was it. A door stood in front of her, tantalizingly out of reach and her feet kicked out- trying to touch it. Groaning, she felt the pull in her arms and wondered how long she'd been there. Her head thunked against the cool concrete wall, had Demos even notice she'd left? Was he looking for her?

Shaking her head she sat up straighter, she couldn't think of him. Not when she was in so much danger.

Freezing, she heard the tapping of shoes against the floor and felt her chest seize. Of course, he would want to see her- she'd been away for five years. Almost stopping breathing, she watched the door and tried very hard to be still. Without even a warning, the door was swung open, and Cassidy scrambled back to be able to miss the heavy doors' blow. And there he stood, the man she had tried to avoid since she left the facility, in all his glory. Smokey black hair stood perfectly quaffed on his head, eyes a starling slate gray that honed in on her form and cheekbones that could cut diamonds. Expression blank, she watched as his pale pink lips curled before forming into a warm smile.

She'd never been more afraid.

"Cass, how ya' been Doll?" Swallowing, she ignore him- eyes determinedly starring off into the distance. Crouching, his fingers dug into her cheeks as he forced her to look at him.

"Don't ignore me, Doll." God she wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to do anything other than be completely complacent. But she couldn't, he'd trained her to act as such. Slowly, she met his eyes and his smile brightened. Bile shifted in her stomach.

"Ethan." Fell from her dry lips, croaked. Shifting, she watched as his hand disappeared behind him before coming back with a water bottle. He held it to her lips, and she really didn't want to drink. Motor skills kicked in before she could stop them, and she sucked at the bottle- parched.

As she drank, she watched him. Watched as he stared at her, as his expression turned into one of childlike joy before he started to run his hands through her hair. A shuddering breath ran through her, but she didn't stop drinking even as the disgust ran through her.

"You really are gorgeous, ya' know that don'tcha?" Nodding, he yanked the bottle from her mouth. "But enough flattery, why can't you shift fully?" He demanded, and she wanted to scream at him.

Eyes running down her body, he leaned forward and hooked a finger through her collar. "This is a fun new accessory- ain't it Doll? I did nay' realize that your kind governed over each other." His eyes darkened as he growled, "Explain."

Coughing, Cassidy leaned back from him before beginning weakly. "After I escaped, I went back. They told me I almost ruined them, and put it on me. I can't-" She choked, her voice thick. "I can't shift because of you."

Eyes narrowing, he settled her with a dark look before tugging at her collar again. "It is nay' my fault, you're tha' one who.." He leaned in dramatically, face oh-so close to hers but she didn't look away- even when the tears welled in her eyes. "Fell. In. Love."

Scowling at him, eyes flashing a bright gold as she took in his unrestrained glee- she thrashed at her bonds growling at him, snapping at him with her teeth.

"Ah-ah-ah, Cass. If ya do tha' I'll 'ave ta' show ya' mine." Almost instantly, he leaned closer- mouth opening wide and she saw for the first time teeth.

Not normal teeth.

Teeth formed into points, into needles. Incisors hung low, grotesquely grown so far that she was surprised she hadn't noticed. A small whirring filled the air, and she watched with morbid fascination as they opened and two large needles- so large she could see the opening of the needle- jutted down. Air left her quickly and she looked up, looked into his eyes and saw no trace of the man she used to love.

But, of course. She already knew that. He laughed, head thrown back and adams apple bobbing.

"I look a bit like Dracula, eh Cass?" That was when she knew, with his joking- that he was calm. That he was expecting her to be completely incapacitated.

But he misjudged what she would be willing to do to be able to leave.

Inhaling deeply, she lifted her head back and allowed fear to completely overwhelm her- felt her body quake with it as she felt the trembling at the bottom of her stomach. Flickering, the light above her swung and the very bones of the facility started to quake, to shake, to topple. Eventually, the screech that she had begun left her- shattering glass. It shattered lights, it shattered everything in its shock wave path- including her shackles. It was loud, high pitched and rumbled against the floor. Satisfaction filled her as she watched Ethan hit the floor next to her, mouth foaming and eyes shaking in the back of his head. Relief hit her as she rubbed her wrists, pulling her body out of the room. He'd left the door unlocked, probably thinking she wouldn't even attempt to escape.

Bitterness filled her as she stared at the seizing man, even now- after seventeen years- he was still underestimating her. Vaguely, she toyed with the idea of kicking his prone body but thought better of it. Choosing instead to escape into the hallway, she pressed herself against the wall next to the door- looking out of it. Her eyes flickered across the room. There was no way on this earth she would stay here, in the room where she had been tortured- reduced to her basic humanity as he cackled from the side lines. No. She wouldn't allow that.

With a strength she didn't think she had, she pulled herself from the room, all her muscles screaming at her. They wouldn't come, she reminded herself, though what she had just done was an incapacitating cry for help from other angels- they would not come.

Weakly, she pushed against walls- noting she had to move quickly. Guards littered the floor, all in various stages of seizures as she pulled herself along. Feet moving clumsily, she almost fell on more than one, but followed the layout of the Facility- after all; she had escaped once before. And that wasn't all from luck.

She just hoped that she would be able to make it before she collapsed.