The Beast Within

I am a weapon

Cold. Dark. Wet. Where am I? I don't remember. What happened? I don't remember. My name is Cadmus. I am a weapon.

The glass enclosing me seems to grow tighter. Smaller. Too small. What's happening to me?

The glass presses in on my shoulders. Why is everything shrinking?

A splitting pain rips through my shoulder blades. The glass presses against my chest. White spiderwebs split the black glass in front of my face. The smooth, icy shell shudders. My eyes are blasted with light. What just happened?

I struggle to my feet. The fluid runs out of my ears, a feeling I've never had before. I flinch from the sudden volume of the noise. Machines whir and beep around me. Men in white coats are standing around staring at me, mouths open in awe. Red liquid covers the floor. My nostrils flare. Iron. A deep, rumbling growl escapes my throat. Men are slumped against walls, shards of glass embedded deep in their skulls, in their throats, and in various other places.

I feel something strange on my back. I glance over my shoulder. The wings hadn't gained feeling yet; they were still new. So that's what that pain was. I attempt to move them. No response. My eyelids click again. The men surrounding me suddenly jump into action. Needles bend on my newly grown scales. One slams a pipe into my back. I spin, ripping it from his grasp. I now have a weapon. I am a weapon.

His head snaps to the side, and he drops lifeless to the floor. His neck is bent at an unnatural angle, and his blood adding to the pool at my feet. I flick the blood off the pipe and turn to another. He drops the syringe and turns to run. Before he could move a foot, he folds in half and falls. I rip the pipe out of his spine, and look for an exit. A net pins me to the floor. Electricity arcs between my fingers and boils the water in my eyes. I roar at the pain, a noise that sounds like a car crash.

"Hurry! Sedate him!" voices screech around me. A pinch behind my ear and I know nothing more. I am a weapon.