feral | sting eucliffe

LXI | AS

Episode 61: Anguis's Suffering!

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HE JUMPED, turning his head to the eerie guards that slowly opened the door. He'd only been here for a few years and they'd left him alone up until now. Of course, he went to the lessons like all the other kids, but he simply didn't have that 'spark'. However, the headmaster never gave up on him. He wasn't sure if he should be grateful or upset about that aspect.

Nikos blinked, watching them swing the cell door open. He was used to being obedient, trailing up to the door and letting them attach chains to his wrists and ankles before moving him along. His brows furrowed as they passed the mess hall and training area. Were they going to an area he didn't know? He wasn't sure.

His heart skipped a beat, seeing a corridor that he'd never ventured into. He never bothered after seeing one kid attempt to go inside there. Needless to say, he didn't see her anymore after that. A quick nudge to his back snapped him out of his daydream as he stumbled forward, nearly tripping on the cold stone-covered floor, scraping the bottom of his feet against it.

No kids were around. What were they planning to do to him? Worst case scenarios filled his head, but after another harsh jab to his back—one that would surely leave a nasty bruise—he stopped thinking and continued to walk, following orders. After a few sharp turns, he ended up in front of another cell door.

The guard on his right unlocked it before shoving him in, the guard on his left taking over. The right guard went away, going somewhere else for a brief moment as the other guard ushered him into the even colder room. Nikos became confused. There was a capsule in the middle of the room, filled with an odd bubbly cyan liquid.

On the right of the room, another capsule like that stood out. However, unlike the other two next to it, it held someone. Inside, a little girl. She didn't seem to be much younger than Nikos and seemed new, seeing that he'd never met her in the mess hall before. The guard let him look around and slightly adjust as the right guard prepared the machine.

Was this supposed to be his new room? He scrunched his nose in distaste, finding nothing to his liking. "It's more lit up than I prefer," He mumbled under his breath, but the guards caught nothing. Suddenly, he was shoved forward. The air was knocked out of his lungs as he was quickly strung up afterward, a cough escaping his lips.

The guard lifted him with a sickening grin. "Looks like you'll finally be useful." Nikos grew confused. Wasn't he always useful? He helped the headmaster organize the library and occasionally clean other cells. Wasn't that enough? His brows twisted and furrowed in confusion and all of a sudden, he was filled with a feeling of nothing, but cold.

His body was plunged into the vat of cyan liquid, feeling it swarm and coddle him uncomfortably. It was a shock of cold, shivers trailing up and down his spine at the horrifying feeling. A scream left his throat, looking to the left for any help. The guard who had been previously on his right now stood next to the headmaster, smiling.

The headmaster had a ghostly smirk as well, starting to speak. However, Nikos couldn't hear anything. The liquid-filled his ears and it felt like he was drowning. Yet, he was somehow able to breathe? It was something he never wanted to wish upon anyone else. The headmaster lifted a small metal box, speaking into it. 

"Testing day one, subjects B126 and D439," He mumbled into the little box, most likely a recorder of some sort. Nikos narrowed his eyes, able to read the headmaster's lips. D439 was his cell, so B126 must be the other girl. What could he mean by 'testing'?! He soon found out the meaning of the term, a painful shock filling his body.

Another scream left his lips, but there was no sound as he merely choked on the brightly colored liquid. Bubbles emitted from his mouth, his screams not making any sounds as the container he was turned from a vivid cyan to a dark blue before settling into a scary color of red. His head pounded as the pain drowned out, his eyes peering up to the girl's container.

Her h/c hair floated in the now f/c liquid, her dress flowing up slightly, but not revealing anything. A fang tattoo was visible on the side of her neck as he grew confused, nose twitching as he caught Lily's scent from feet away. He looked around, believing that she was there. However, the tank started hissing, drowsiness filling his body.

His figure fell limp, eyes slowly closing as he caught one last glimpse, seeing snake scales cover his arms and his canines poking out slightly. The top of the vat opened as the same guard from before lifted his unconscious form, swinging him over his shoulder before descending and dragging him back to his corresponding cell.

The headmaster typed some more, speaking into the recorder as the guard peered over his shoulder, a curious look on his face. The man smirked, "The snake was a match." He peered at the table before him, a diagram of both of the kids' DNA strands. Finally, the boy from cell D439 who seemed to have so much potential had turned out to be useful.

"However," The headmaster clicked his tongue, moving the images and staring at them studiously. "We'll have to repeat these tests constantly. It seems that his body might try to reject it, so we'll have to do this test every other day. Until then, we'll just have to wait until he fully accepts it as his ability. From then on, I want him on daily training for four hours."

He muttered under his breath, the guard slowly taking notes before nodding, bowing, and leaving the room. The headmaster's sickening smirk as he swiped, "This'll be absolutely wonderful, Anguis."