Hello gentle viewers! I know I should really be working on my other story but this story kept begging me to write it. I'm still coming up with ideas for this story and I need to figure out where it's really going so if any of you want to give me some ideas it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not sure how often I'm going to update this but I know for sure that I will be updating the next chapter as late as tomorrow.

Character description:

Name: Kayla

Age: 15

Hair: blonde with light brown streaks

Eyes: green/yellow eyes

Height: medium

Chimera: cat

Chapter 1

I laid in my cage, staring idly at the bars that prevented me from escaping. A bunch of stupid metal bars, I thought. Many times I had yanked and banged against them in frustration but all to no avail. I would be doing that now but I knew how pointless it was. Plus I was tired. Not physically. Emotionally. I was tired of this whole situation I had been in for nearly four months.

Four months, the words drifted through my mind. Has it really only been that long? It felt like much longer than that. I knew though that it was only about four months. I had been counting the days ever since I had been brought here.

Here happened to be Hell. Well, my version of it anyway. If sleeping every night in a metal cage while waiting for the next round of experiments for my captors to perform on me isn't Hell, then I don't know what is.

Four months ago I had been a normal girl…sort of. I may have been a homeless kid but I didn't mind much. I never knew my parents, only that they had abandoned me. They had been nice enough to leave me where someone would find me at least. Afterwards, I was moved from house to house, from family to family, being raised by a number of different people. Some were nice at first but fate seemed to have it in for me. Something always ended up going wrong and I'd get hurt again. I got sick of it, so I ran. I've been on my own ever since I decided that the only person I could trust was myself.

Things got better after that. I may not had had a home or a family to turn to but my life seemed brighter. I began to really smile for the first time in my life. I had met many interesting people along the way as I traveled from place to place. I saw that there were people in the world who could be kind, that not everyone wanted to hurt me. Even though I never stayed in one place for too long I learned to trust people again. I may not have always had a warm bed to sleep in or food to eat but I was happy.

That all went away when they took me.

I had been walking through Central one night, searching for a place to rest until morning when they appeared. I didn't know who they were, still didn't really know to this day. All I knew was that they had targeted me and they took me. It didn't matter if I was willing or not. I don't think they even saw me as human. I was just another test subject for them. During my stay here, they did numerous experiments on me. I'd cry, I'd scream, I'd beg. But they didn't care. They showed me the dark side that humanity had to offer and I had long since given up hope. Given up hope on escape. Given up hope that there was anything good left in this world. My long sought after happiness had been drowned out by my screams of agony. By all the torture. By all the sorrow…

Their experiments were never complete either. I was such a good little test subject. They had been researching for a long time to make what they called the perfect chimera. I wasn't a perfect blend of animal and human but I was extremely close. They blended me together with a cat. These crazy, twisted people blended me with a cat! I couldn't believe it when it had first happened shortly after coming here. But now I'd had grown used to it. The furry ears atop my head, the tail, the slit eyes that I couldn't see but knew were there, my sharper than average teeth, my seemingly boneless body able to contort and twist both flexibly and gracefully, my heightened senses, the nails that turned into claws. Yeah, I had pretty much gotten used to it. I'd never get used to this place though. It helped that I wasn't alone.

Another girl was here with me, her cage across from mine. We had become close friends during my stay here. She was the star experiment in this place. She had been blended even more perfectly with her animal counterpart than I had. Looking at her, you would never be able to tell that she was a chimera. She showed no physical signs of it, but trust me. She was half fox. If she wanted, she could take on the features of a fox, even turn into a fox just as I could turn into a cat. But unlike me, she could go out into public and live a normal life. That is, if they let her go first. However, that would never happen. She had it even worse than me here. The researchers loved to study her above all others. Even so, she never broke. She stayed determined. She swore that one day she would get us out of here. That was just like her, to never give up. She had such fire, even when my flame had been extinguished a long time ago. She's the only reason that I had remained sane through this ordeal.

"Kayla." she whispered to me.

"What is it, Serah?" I asked in a bored tone.

"So you are awake." she said. I glanced at her. She was poking her head between her own set of bars, watching me with concern in her rich, brown eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Just tired." I murmured, curling in on myself.

"Why don't you go to sleep?"

"…Don't want to have nightmares." I admitted. At times, my dreams could be as real as reality and none of my dreams were pleasant.

"Don't make me come through these bars and hug you." she threatened.

I smiled. How could it be that she could make me smile even in this place?

"That's my girl." she grinned.

I laughed, and reached out to touch the bars of the cage. If only these stupid bars weren't in the way. Then we could be free. The bars were situated so close together that when I changed to my other form I was still too big to squeeze through. Being half cat was no help at all. I didn't loathe what I had become. In fact, I thought it was kind of cool. But it didn't help me here at all.

Footsteps sounded, making one of my ears flick in the direction of the door at the end of the hallway. The footsteps came closer until the door opened. All the test subjects, be they animal or chimera, reacted in the same way. We all slunk back to the farthest recesses of our cages, not wanting to be the one to be chosen.

Two researchers and five guards made their way down the aisle lined with cages, looking for tonight's victim. I wanted to hiss at them but was scared to draw any unnecessary attention towards myself.

They stopped a couple cages away. The guards opened up the cage there and pulled out a young boy covered in reptilian scales. He fought against them but it was useless. He was carried away and all the people left.

A couple of hours passed and another pair of researchers came in, this time with double amount the guards. A few of the guards stopped by the empty cage belonging to the reptilian boy and carried it away. That could only mean one thing. The boy didn't make it.

I cringed further into the corner, putting my hands on my head over my ears and closing my eyes. I hate this place. I hate this place. I hate this place.

I heard the footsteps come closer and opened my eyes. The group was standing right outside my cage.

"This one." the man researcher said, pointing to Serah's cage.

"This one too." the woman researcher pointed to me.

Both of our cages were opened. Serah immediately began to thrash against the hands that held her. I summoned up some courage and followed her lead but nothing changed. We were still carried away, unsure of whether we'd be returning or not.

The ones with Serah went into one examination room while the ones holding me went into another room down the next hall. The guards took me to the table sitting in the middle of the room. They forcefully laid me down. I squirmed as I saw the man researcher readying a set of pointy surgical tools.

"No! Noooooooooooo!" I screamed. My body was going into overload, my heart beating rapidly as the adrenaline raced through my veins in terror. And I did what I always did when I was in an overly stressful situation. I switched.

That's what I call it. I don't know the correct term for it but my personality switches. One moment I'm me and then suddenly I'm like a completely different person.

I stopped squirming and stared the man in his eyes. I displayed my hatred and let the malice seep from my voice, "Let me go. Now."

"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" the researcher said, coming closer with his tools.

"I'll rip you to pieces." I threatened. "I'll cut you up so finely until there isn't a distinguishable part left of you."

He paid no mind to my warnings. He even teased me, "But you're not the one with the knife."

The guards were about strap me down when a loud noise shook the walls of the building.

"What was that?" one asked, all of them looking to each other.

I took advantage of the distraction and yanked my arms free. Without missing a beat, I did a back flip off of the table. The two guards, surprised, struggled to grab hold of me again. But I had been held back long enough. I'd be damned if I let them hold me again.

I dove under the table and jumped out from under it to the other side. I pounced on the researcher and brought him down. Grabbing one of his pointy scalpels, I pinned his hand to the floor. I grinned maliciously as he screamed in pain. I didn't have time to rip him to pieces like I had promised earlier because the guards had already recovered and were coming after me. I dodged one set of arms, the man stumbling past me, giving me the perfect opportunity to bring my leg down on his head to knock him out cold.

The remaining guard drew his gun but I was quicker. I lengthened my nails and clawed his eyes out. He shrilled in agony and held his bloody face, dropping his gun in the process. I picked up the weapon as the man fell to his knees. I pointed the gun directly at his head. I knew I would feel no remorse for what I was about to do.

Suddenly, I felt another shudder run through the building. My instincts were screaming for me to run. So that's what I did. I discarded the gun and sprinted out of the room in the blink of an eye. And not a moment too soon. The entire room collapsed behind me as I jumped into the hall. Dust clouded the space, causing me to cough and sneeze. Using the wall for support, I climbed up to a standing position. I looked around and was shocked to find that not only the room I had been in had completely caved in but a large section of hallway had too, blocking off the passage.

I took in a few deep calming breaths. I had switched back to normal and shock was setting in. Ever since I had come here the switches had begun. I didn't think it was because I was a chimera now but more because of the many ordeals I had been put through. Switching was my body's way of coping. I was still me when I switched but I became incredibly calm but angry at the same time. In that state, I was braver, fearless even. That side of me was practical and did what needed to be done without ever blinking an eye. The evidence of that could be seen at what I had almost done to that guard. I had never killed anyone, never even wanted to. Not even with how much I hated these people I couldn't bring myself to kill someone. But my other side was more than willing too. And I had no control over when I switched and what my other side did. And that terrified me more than I could say.

The building rumbled again, threatening to collapse at any moment. I shook off the shock to deal with what was at hand. Like escaping! Escaping sounded like a good idea. I had no idea what was causing the cave ins but I could work with this.

I took off down the hall that wasn't blocked by the rubble. I was thankful that the side leading to Serah wasn't blocked off. Now I could find her and we could get out of here.

As I raced down the corridor, sirens began to wail. The lights flickered as the electricity began to fail. Then I was immersed in total darkness. I paused, attempting to use my other senses. My hearing was no good due to the shrieking sirens. I'd have to use my nose and smell her out.

I didn't have to. The emergency lights came on, casting everything in a red glow. My eyes quickly adjusted and I resumed my search for Serah.

I spotted her room when another boom shook the walls. I stopped, trying to keep my balance and not fall down. Then an even louder boom came about, followed by an explosion from one of the rooms between me and Serah's. The blast knocked me off my feet, sending me skidding on the floor.

My ears were ringing as I pried my eyes open. I was still in one piece at least. I sat up and immediately regretted it. My stomach clenched as the world spun. I held my head, willing my vision to right itself. The nausea passed after a minute and I was able to stand without wanting to puke.

I was covered in dust and was a bit banged up but that was no concern. But the wall of flames stretching across the length of the hallway? Yeah, that concerned me. There was no way past them. That meant I couldn't get to Serah's room. I could see the door to it plainly though. Which opened.

Something came tumbling out. I smiled as I realized what it was. Serah was wrestling with one of her guards. She knocked him to the floor and promptly bashed the guy's head into the hard surface, rendering him unconscious.

"Serah!" I cried, waving at her.

She looked up and saw me. She grinned, getting up and jogging towards me.

"There's my kitty!" she cheered. "Do you have something to do with all this ruckus?"

I laughed, "No, but it seems like someone is doing us a big favor."

The wall of flame was dying and soon we would be reunited. But life is cruel. It gives you a spark of hope and you blindly take it, making it all the more painful when everything comes crashing down.

In our case that was literal. The ceiling, already cracked, couldn't stay up any longer. It fell through, right between Serah and me, effectively snuffing out the flames and separating us. I jumped back to avoid the debris.

"Serah!" I yelled over the sirens. I scanned the rubble for a weak point, any place I could break through.

"Over here!" her voice came to me.

I hurried over to the side of the rubble where a small hole was. I looked through it and could see most of Serah's face on the other side.

"How are we going to move all of this?" I asked helplessly.

"I don't know." she said, looking around for anything that could be of use on her side. But she came up with nothing. "The other end of the hall is blocked too. I'm boxed in here."

"I have to get you out." I said.

"I-" she cut off as she looked behind her.

"What is it?" I asked, not liking this.

"Someone stepped out of one of the rooms." she spoke, almost too soft to hear. "And he's got friends."

"I'm getting you out of there." I said, pulling at the debris. There was so much of it though. There was no way…

She turned back to me, "Don't even try it."

"What?" I stopped in surprise.

"You'll just waist time trying to save me. Go. Get yourself out before this whole place comes down."

"I'm not leaving you." I said definitely.

"Get you're ass out of here! I won't have you die pointlessly. You know how I hate pointless things."

I heard shouts as the guards must have just noticed her. Serah looked behind her and back to me. She swiftly smiled, "I'll find you." Then she was gone. I could hear the sounds of fighting.

"Ser-" I was interrupted by another boom that had me stumbling all over the place. Then another explosion occurred somewhere on the other side of the rubble. Everything shifted and now even the small hole was gone.

"Serah!" I screamed. I wanted to pound against the obstruction, tear it away with my claws, but the ceiling above my head groaned. Time slowed down for the next couple of seconds. I weighed out my options. If I stood here I would be crushed. But then I would lose all chances of getting to Serah. If she was still alive. But I could see I didn't have enough time. And so, thought it pained me, I turned around and ran the other way.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as I ran down the hall, tears streaming down my face.

Everything was coming down, the ceiling, the walls, the entire building. I had to get out of here.

I found an empty office that was still in one piece. I rushed over to a window and tried to push it up. It wouldn't budge. Desperate, I grabbed the heaviest object I could find and hurled it into the window. The glass shattered and fresh air drafted in.

I jumped through the opening, avoiding the broken glass. I landed on the ground outside and didn't stop there. I raced off into the night.

So, if you haven't guessed by now this story starts out at the same time Ed and Al go to the fifth laboratory and that's why everything things all explodey. If you like this story so far please leave a review. If you think it's stupid leave a review.

In the next chapter Kayla meets some familiar faces so stay tuned!