The Beast Within

Our eyes meet for the first time since I've had him trapped here. The black slits dilate for a moment, and the human shows through.

For half a second, we are two children-kidnapped from our home and morphed into something so inhuman that our creators themselves can't stand to look at us. In that blink, every mistake I've ever made rushes back to me, and I wonder how he ended up here as well. How old is he? Does he have a name, or has he forgotten that like so many others of our kind?

More importantly, is he as terrified as I am right now? Does the threat of instantaneous death make him forget that we are both one-third human, like it does to me? Somewhere, deep under the muscle and fur and claws and starvation and nightmares, we are still human.

Aren't we?

~~~~~

Sixteen-year-old Cani is a Dreck-- a genetically engineered mixture of human and animal. While constantly battling to maintain her fragile humanity, she's pitted against her own kind over and over in The Arena. Loss means death, but winning means more training and mistreatment. Escape isn't even an option. Where would she go?

When a new Dreck trader shows up at The Estate, offering Cani and her best friend Fell a new opportunity, the sun seems to be shining down on them for once.

Daylight never lasts forever, though, and even in the beauty of night, there are dangers. Cani can't escape the Arena. No one can.