The Unseen

The Outer Darkness

Three siblings, triplets, had woken groggily to the cold sensation of metal. They blinked the sleepiness away, and looked about.

They were in a dark room, all in individual cages. And they weren't the only ones. As far as they could see, there were more and more cages.

A shivering, muttering figure caught the attention of one of the girls. Its knees were brought to its chest, and it rocked back and forth, eyes fixated upon the triplets.

"I'm Alexis," the girl told the figure. It shuddered, and looked away. Its mutterings became quicker, louder, and less understandable.

The other girl was greeted by a seemingly sane teenager with cat ears and paws instead of hands.

"I'm Amy," the triplet greeted. The cat-girl wept for Amy.

"I'm so sorry, Amy. Listen to me carefully, for I speak a warning." The cat-girl leaned closer, eyes sorrowful.

"By the time they are through with you, you won't even remember your name." Amy's mouth went dry, and her eyes widened in fear. Alexis, overhearing the news, broke into a cold sweat.

They boy did nothing, exhausted. He had reached consciousness before his sisters, and was worn out by his efforts to escape the small, confined cage. Vomit and blood were mixed by his feet.

"Andrew?" Alexis called, leaning in to look at him. He was slumped against the wall, nearly asleep.

"Andrew? What happened to you?" Amy cried, "Please answer, please answer!" Andrew shivered, and looked at his sisters.

"So small, so cramped..." he vomited once more.

"Oh, God..."

"...claustrophobia," Alexis finished, wheeling her cage closer to his. Amy did the same, reaching out to touch him.

"Don't, Amy," Alexis warned, "Andrew, I need you to close your eyes." Tears welled in her eyes.

"Focus on my voice. Imagine a field, a wide open field... Do you see it?" Andrew nodded, his sweat mixing with his tears.

"I'm here, Andrew. We're both here. There's nothing to be afraid of. We're all safe. Together." Somewhere, a door opened. Another cage was wheeled in by two lab workers in white coats, containing a boy with scales all over him. He shivered and wheezed weakly.

"Where should we put this one?"

"Eh. Anywhere. It won't last much longer, anyhow." One nodded, and moved the boy over by the triplets. The quiet crying of Andrew caught their attention as the scaly boy became silent and motionless.

"Ugh, what the hell's wrong with this one?" the mover asked his clipboard-carrying companion. He wrote down a note, and shrugged in reply.

"Eh. Let's take it to be examined. We'll just do some psychological test. Well, let's run a blood test, too." The other nodded, pulling Andrew away from her sisters.

"No!" he cried, desperately reaching for his sisters, "No! No! No!" His screams rose, became louder. He quickly began to yell more gibberish than words.

Then the door closed behind him, and all went quiet. The cat-girl lowered her head in sorrow.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the weeping girls, "He's gone."