Chimera

Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Woods

Chapter Two

  We stopped running by a lake surrounded by gigantic trees. I sat down by one and the girl sat next to me. In the better lighting, I got a better look. She had shoulder length blonde hair and cat ears like mine. Along with the ears, the girl also had a tail and claws. After I thought we had suffered enough silence, I decided to break the ice.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl.

"Wendy Grey. You are?"

"I'm Gryphon Redding. I have a question. How did you end up at such a creepy place like Biogen?"

"About a month ago, I moved in and I was checking out the neighborhood when..," she paused and wiped her eyes, indicating it was a touchy subject "Crack. I was knocked out and I woke up strapped to a table. You know how the rest goes."

"Wow. I can't believe this guy is so crazy! I need to hit something.."

  My stomach growled loudly. I never did eat that steak. I stared greedily at the lake.

"You think there are any fish in that lake?"

  Wendy shrugged and I decided to find out myself.  I took off my jacket, shirt, and pants before diving into the lake. Blurry shapes darted past in the murky water. Before they could get away, I lunged after two and pierced them with my claws. I ran out of breath and swam back to shore while clutching two writhing fish.

"I hope you're hungry."

Wendy didn't respond but instead turned a deep shade of red. She covered her eyes with one hand and gave me my clothes with the other.

"Congrats on catching the fish...Can you put your clothes back on?"

I nodded and proceeded to get dressed.

" Help me collect tinder."

Wendy nodded and we started gathering sticks and leaves. After a while, both of our hands were full. I took two sticks out and put the rest into the fire pile.Next, I grabbed two rocks and struck them together. Sparks flew and a single one caught. I blew on it and within seconds a roaring fire was keeping us warm. The fish was cooking as we sat.

"I'm so hungry.." I said as I grabbed the stick that impaled the fish.

It was still a bit raw inside when I took a bite but my body was screaming at me to eat more. I happily complied and passed Wendy her fish. We ate in silence until Wendy spoke up.

"Thanks," she muttered "Thanks for saving me."

"Don't thank me.It was just the natural thing to do," I finished my food "No one should leave someone else in a situation like that."

Wendy actually laughed. It was a good sign after she was so morose.

"Most people wouldn't think that way,Gryphon."

" I'm not most people."

The fish was reduced to skeleton and the sun was setting. Only then did I realize how tired I was after the long day.

"I'm gonna hit the hay,Wendy.Goodnight."

My eyelids drooped but Wendy woke me before I even went to sleep.

"What if Biogen finds us? I don't want to go back!" She was crying her eyes out.

"Calm down,Wendy. Just wake me if anything happens."

I curled up by the fire and slept a dreamless sleep, to which i have no complaints because of what happened earlier, and felt relaxed.

  I woke up hours later. The sun went down and the plethora of stars took it's place. The embers left behind from the fire glowed dimly while Wendy slept next to me. She looked so peaceful that it would be impossible to tell she had endured a month of torture.I heard movement nearby and grabbed Benedict's gun. I fired off two quick rounds in the general area. Wendy jumped up and screamed. Judging from the rapid footsteps, someone, or something, was running for their lives.

"What's happening?Who's there?" She looked around frantically.

"Someone or someting has found us. We need to move now!"

Wendy looked at me like a confused animal.

"What do you mean 'now'? We just got here."

"What?" I sighed "It could be someone from Biogen running from here. If that is the case, Biogen knows our location. What if I can't scare away what comes next? We get captured or worse. Killed."

Wendy spread her hands in a placating gesture and followed me deeper into the forest. We had to create as much distance between us and Biogen and fast. I could hear too many things at once as we walked. Birds chirped and bugs clicked. It might have been fine if I didn't have extremely sensative cat ears. Eventually, I snapped and punched a tree. Multiple splinters lodged themselves into my knuckles.

"This sucks! Why us,huh?!" I was livid, yelling at an evil scientist that can't even hear me "What did we do to deserve to be a freak of nature for the rest of our lives?! I just want to be a normal teenager and do normal things.."

I sat at the base of the tree and started pulling splinters out of my hand with my teeth and lapping up any blood that came out with my tongue. Wendy sat down next to me and rested her head on my shoulders.

"Calm down," She said in a soothing voice "Assulting nature won't make anything any better. We should rest a bit. We've been walking for a while."

I nodded and started stroking her ears, forgetting she wasn't actually a cat. But, she was purring and it was calming me down.

"Gryphon? What do we do now? We can't turn back or we'll be captured. We can't keep running. There is only so much forest to hide in."

"Right now..," I took a breath to compose myself " Right now we survive. Live in the woods until we think of something better. I don't want to be experimented on anymore like a guinea pig. Or rather a guinea chimera."

Wendy giggled.

"If we work together," She started "We can beat anyone."

She looked up at me and I looked up at her. Our lips connected as we kissed deeply.

...Psh I wish...

Wendy gave me a peck on the cheek even though I hoped for the full on kiss. When you don't socialize much, you don't meet many girls who would willingly kiss you. But Wendy was different. We were both stuck on the same boat without a sail.

"Chimeras have to stick together,right?"

I nodded. We had to keep moving but doing anything else would ruin the mood. So we sat there cudled closely together. It was good to have company, but better to have company that understood your problems. If I didn't have Wendy, I would probably go into bouts of murderous rage. Rustling leaves broke the serene silence. Both of our ears pricked and we turned towards the source.

  "Look at you,Wendy. You got yourself a boyfriend," said a girl with curly light brown hair and piercing brown eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend," Wendy said while blushing.

Ouch...Right in the feelings.

"Go away, Usuri."

"Who is this, Wendy?" I asked as I reached for the gun.

"Usuri. She was one of the first chimeras. She's the Scientist's assistant."

Anger welled inside of me. She must of been with Dr.Quack when we were altered!

"The Professor still needs you two. I'm taking you back to Biogen so we will finally achieve dominion!"

"And you care why? You were changed too!"

She merely laughed.

"Oh come on? Can't you see it in my face?"

I looked closely. Usuri had the same manic smile, that same evil glint in her eyes as the Professor. Usuri was his daughter.