B E N E F A C T I O N

P R E P A R A T I O N

Over the past twelve moons I've learned to move when told, eat when told, shower when told, I did everything as told. So, when I was left in the new room alone, I stood there staring at the door, naked.

Suddenly the door gently opens and in walks a woman with long jet-black hair. Her lips are painted a deep red, her eyes are a bright golden color. She smiles sweetly at me as she steps in with a small briefcase. I stare at her but don't move a muscle as she walks over to the vanity and grabs the chair while sitting her briefcase down.

"Hello seven-seven-seven," She begins as she walks over and places the chair behind me. "I'm Tevilla and I'll be your closet companion and nurse through this new adventure.

Companion?

Nurse?

"I can sense your confusion, and rest assure that once I am done with your physical, you will be able to ask me as many questions as you would like." Tevilla says as moves to stand in front of me. "Now if you would be so kind as to take a seat, I will begin.

I do as I am told and sit on the plush cushion of the vanity chair. It's soft beneath my butt, and comfortable. Something I'm not use to. Tevilla moves over to her briefcase sitting on the vanity and opens it. When she comes back to me, she has a thermometer in her hand.

"Open." She says as she places the thermometer in my mouth. "Close...very good."

We both wait in silence as she stares down at a watch. A short time passes before she tells me to open again.

"Whew, you have a temp of a hundred and six. If you were still human, you'd be dead." Her words cause me to furrow my eyebrows. What does she mean if I was still human? I am human, well at least I feel like I am.

For an extended amount of time, Tevilla makes me do different poses, and reflex exercises. To my surprise I am quicker and more flexible than I was when I came here. I ever have acute hearing, smelling and vision, from what Tevilla tells me.

"Okay, the physical is done, now it's time for questions."

"Why am I here?" I immediately ask as I sit on the chair.

"Your parents wanted you to live behind the gates of the Kingdom. They desired to save you from a life of poverty, so that gifted you to us." Tevilla says as she sits down on the ground in front of me with a smile on her face. "You are one of three women who passed the yearlong program that has led you here. But you are by far the strongest."

A year.

It's been twelve moons. Twelve months. One full year.

"What do you mean by the strongest, and why did you insinuate that I am no longer human?"

"Because you are not Constance." I gasp loudly at the sound of my real name. Tears spill from my eyes on there on accord as I slap my hand over my mouth. Tevilla gives me a sympathetic smile, knowing what it does to me. Knowing that I haven't heard my real name in so long.  "I know this has been an overwhelming year, but you are free now. Well as free as you can be, and you're about to have a life that every human outside of these gates wishes they had."

"I don't want it." I cry out.

"Why Constance?"

"Because... I-I don't deserve this. My family may not have had much but we had more than most." Tevilla gets up on her knees and places her hands on mine. She looks deep into my eyes for a moment before she speaks.

"Constance, sweetheart. You....You are something special. Those drips that you received when you first got here was a DNA altering serum. They mixed with your blood, your tissue, your bone, and worked to make you a supernatural creature. I'm sure you saw some of the frail women around you while you were in the cells. They're bodies rejected the serum, but you...You not only accepted it, but you exceeded our expectation for any human. Not only did your DNA shift but it connected with the moon."