The Prison of Deviants

Chapter 5: Theo on her Deathbed

I've come to my senses. I hear voices in the room but can't make out what they're saying, and my vision's still blurred.

I'm lying in bed, which is weird. In our cell, we only have mattresses to lie on... I guess this must be a prison-keeper's room, but why am I here?

My vision sharpens and I make out some people at the window. Rufus is arguing with Ronald, as well as Yelen and Annabelle. Shon is here too, but there's one more person, whom I don't recognise. He's a tall man in a black fur cloak, with an eyepatch and a scar on his face as if a beast has scratched him. He's blond and has the green eye of a cat rather than a human. He must be a feline.

"We can't leave her like this, she'll turn!" Rufus says.

"But there must be another way!" Yelen can barely hold her tears. "She's so young!"

"We can't have another beast rampaging in our district," Rufus argues. "It'll sully our name in the society's eyes!"

"Rufy, Yelen's right, there must be a chance," Ronald says. He turns to the eye-patched man: "Lord Vice-Warden, is there no way to cure her while she's in shape? There must be something!"

"Look, she's woken up!" Annabelle cries out, pointing at me.

They gather around me and ask how I feel. Yelen is shedding tears, while Shon's eyes express pity, and Annabelle watches me with more compassion than she's ever shown.

"W-What happened?" I mumble.

"You drank blood when you were newly-turned. I warned you!" Annabelle regains her usual attitude of scolding me whenever she has a chance. "It's my fault! One can't leave you alone for a minute!"

"Why? What's wrong with me?" I ask.

"Can't you see, Theo?" Yelen sniffles. "You're turning, like Kaleb!"

I stare at them, unable to understand what they mean. Kaleb? – I've got nothing of a bat! But then, I begin to make out black feathers on my hands and feet. I grasp the idea: I've never been infected by bat-vampires but birds, so I must be undergoing their bestial transformation – the raven.

"I'm turning into a raven?!" I hear my voice squeak like that of a corvid fledgeling. It's true, I'm turning into a beastly bird! I cry: "Save me! Someone!"

I look at them all, begging for help. Rufus, Yelen, Annabelle, Ronald... In all of their eyes, I read pity and sorrow. They can't help. None of them can, not even Shon, who saved me from that rampaging shark at the party.

I feel my heart throbbing. So, there's no way to reverse this transformation? I'll turn into a raven and be put to death like Kaleb from the legend?! It wasn't a legend, then... I didn't pay heed to the deviants' rules, mocking them for their "myths", and now, I'm receiving the punishment, turning into the next Kaleb.

"I don't want to die!" I squeak in my ravenous voice.

I sense how the feathers are spreading onto my body. I'm so helpless! I feel a lump in my throat. Tears gush from my eyes in a cascade. This is so pathetic...

I'm pathetic. I lived so well as a human, studying at a university and pursuing my dream of becoming an artist! I had friends, family... I was happy. And yet I kept whining over trivial matters like a brat! Now, locked in this prison, abandoned by my friends and even my family, and turning into a beast, I understand how pathetic I've been. It fills me with anger that my life will end here and all I can do is lie around waiting for it!

"Yes," I hear the vice-warden talking through his pager, "I'm in the Vampire District, Rufus de Corbet's office. Theo Sinclaire, eighteen. Yes! Yes... Alright, I'm waiting!" He turns off the pager and turns to Rufus and Ronald: "I've called for the Feline District to wake the warden. All we can do is wait now!"

Just as I've suspected, they're going to call the warden. I can see the horror on Annabelle's, Yelen's, and Shon's faces, while Rufus and Ronald nod at the vice-warden. I guess, for them, the inborn deviants, the warden's awakening isn't a rare occurrence. After all, they're prison-keepers, they've been here for a long time.

I feel feathers spreading through my body. It doesn't matter, though. In a short while, the warden, that feline beast, will arrive and put an end to my life. Then, Annabelle won't have to run after me anymore, worrying that I've done something stupid! I guess, my death will bring them all relief. Even to my family, who think their daughter and sister has turned into a beast!

It's so unfair! The true beasts – these inborn deviants – freely roam the earth. The arrogant ones like Rufus and Ronald even take up prison duty to abuse us, poor humans, who have turned into their monstrous kind! It's their fault that we, humans, get infected, and yet we end up locked away! We're no longer accepted by our fellow humans. What's worse, no matter how hard we, infected humans, may try, we'll never be integrated into the deviant society because they consider themselves on a higher level. The prisoners like Yelen and Annabelle try their best to gain the deviants' attention, but all they get are condescending looks!

The door creaks and opens, but the monstrous warden is nowhere to be seen. A tall blond guy enters, looking much like the vice-warden, save that he's younger and more handsome. His eyes are green too, with eyeballs like a cat's. I guess he's a feline too. The vice-warden's face shows surprise when he sees him instead of the warden we've been expecting. My friends look equally confused.

"Why are you_" the vice-warden begins.

"You don't need the warden here, Bob. You need a doctor!" the guy cuts his speech. His green eyes set on me. "She's the one, I gather?"

"Yeah," Bob, the vice-warden, answers. "But it's hopeless, Knut! She's already turning."

"Nah! I'll see for myself..." Knut, the blond guy, replies.

He approaches me and, to my embarrassment, pulls my blanket off to examine my body.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" I squeal at him, covering my chest with my feathered hands.

"Okay, now, Miss Sinclaire," he says, "I'm here to see if I can heal you, so if you value your life, you'll shut up and let me do my job!"

"Hey! Choose your words, you filthy bobcat!" I retort. There's no way I'll a some low-level deviant telling me to 'shut up' while they're undressing me in public!

He doesn't reply but continues to examine my body covered in a thin nightdress. I can't tell how much I'll withstand before I slap this guy!

"Yeah, it can be done..." He shrugs. "Good thing I was informed in time, Bob!" he turns to the vice-warden. "I can revert this."

"Really?" Bob asks, wide-eyed.

"She can be saved?" Hope twinkles in Yelen's eyes.

"I don't know, but I have to try!" Knut shrugs.

Sharp claws grow on his hands, emitting strange green liquid as if some plant medicine. His smile doesn't resemble a bobcat's, now that I think of it. It's more like the smile of a leopard before it plunges on its prey. He stabs his claws into my neck and my chest. I gurgle in pain as my mind goes black again.