Not Just An Experiment

--Chapter Eighty-Four--

Zane's POV

In the morning I wake up early from the sound of chirping birds and fresh light. Most of my life has been spent inside of the lab, so waking up to fresh air is a new, pleasant experience.

I smile and stand up, breathing in the air deeply and enjoying the birds' songs.

I start to rub my face when I feel an unnatural bump under my fingertips. Sighing, I trace it from my forehead across my eye and down to my cheek.I release a breath, trying to be optimistic, as some would call it. I should be grateful to be alive right now.

My thoughts quickly turn to Kaira, and I wonder how she is doing. Guilt still gnaws at me, even though I had thought it would have been gone after I rescued Kaira.

But I didn't rescue her father.

I turn sober and sit back down, looking at the house, several meters away. I hear faint talking from inside, and I wonder whether I should just leave now.

Maybe I'll move to a different country. Start a new life. I ponder my options, and eventually come to terms with them. The worst part of that would be that Kaira wouldn't be with me. But she may not want me anyway.

I sigh. Max would obviously be the correct choice for her. He helped her as soon as he could. Didn't steal her from her family to be tested on. Didn't experiment on her. Didn't take her father away from his home to be experimented on as well. Didn't get her father killed.

I close my eyes and cover my face with my hands. No matter how much I've changed now, it can't erase my past. It can't change what I've done.

Tears seep from my eyes, and I start thinking about my past. On what would have been different if my parents hadn't sent me to the lab. If I hadn't become so involved in the work. If I had left the lab instead.

I know I should stop thinking about the past because I can't change it, but I can't help it. So much would be different if anything had been changed.

You would never have met Kaira if anything had been changed, The voice in my head tells me.

"Maybe I shouldn't have met her." I say quietly aloud, "She would have been safe with her family, then."