Chapter 1
She sat at the back of her cage curled up in a tight shivering ball of flesh, but she wasn't shivering because of the cold metal that surrounded her. No it was because she was petrified of knowing that her time of walking, or well sitting on this very world was coming to an end. She tried desperately to block out the screams of fear and others pleads to be released from the metal walls that enclosed all their captives.
Her focus on blocking out all the noises was suddenly interrupted by the sound of her cage door being opened. Turning her attention to the opening of her cage, she stared at the men standing outside of her cage with eyes that screamed she'd given up trying to live, but she'll still fight to live. There were three men standing outside of her metal box. One was the doctor that everyone who had come and gone from this Hell hole called "The Dark Doctor". His eyes were so dark that they looked like the night sky. He was dressed in a white doctor's coat and he had pepper colored hair. The other two men were guards who were clothed in black military clothing. They held large black and silver coloured sniper rifles, ready to fire at any given moment. Out of all three men before her, it wasn't the men holding guns that scared her most it was the Dark Doctor reaching for her.
"Come here 324," He spoke in a dark raspy sounding voice. Flinching when he spoke she felt anger bubbling up inside her at being referred by a stupid number; that's how everyone kept here where referred to as…a number.
Pressing her back against the cold metal wall behind her as much as she could, she yelled, "Get away from me!" Her voice sounded raspy, weak and strained from the lack of use. Why use her voice when the only person she could talk to is herself? The Dark Doctor's facial expression darkened when she said this and she knew she should have just listened and gone with him, because before she could even blink his hand shot out and grabbed her arm in a rough tight grip. "I said come here you little brat!" He hissed as he pulled her out of her small cell and onto the hard ground. Lifting her up by her arm, she whimpered from the tight hold that he had on her arm. She knew that it would surely leave a bruise on her arm.
She stumbled along the hallway as she was pulled, tripping over her own feet. Glancing up at the many empty cages, she only saw a few Shapeshifters still sitting in the corners. It just showed on how many shifters had died, from either killing themselves, being shot in the head from trying to escape or dying as a lab rat because their body could no longer take the pain or was too weak to undergo all the experiments that they had to face. Even after so much death, the government still wanted to find out what made them shift and how they could make normal…Normal, not like herself, humans shift too.
The few Shifters that were still in their cage looked down upon her with pity in their eyes. They all wore white ragged cloths with the same thick metal band on their wrists. She despised that thing. It was the reason she couldn't shift, why they all couldn't shift. It's funny how they could figure out how to stop us from shifting, but not on the shifting itself.
As she stumbled down the hallway she didn't even struggle. She knew she would die today it was only a matter of time and when that time came she would welcome it with open arms, because with death came freedom and with freedom came peace. So she just allowed herself to be pulled down the hallway to where she would die. At the end of the hallway, they approached a door. Stopping in front of it one of the guards that stood behind her moved out in front to unlock and open it. As she was pulled into the room, she squinted at the brightness of the white painted room. Once her eyes got used to the light, she looked around. It was a pretty plain room, white walls, with white cabinets. In the middle of the room was a silver lab table bolted to the floor with a tray full of sharp tools and needles beside it. She also noticed a door just at the back of the room. She yelped when she was lifted up and thrown down onto the table. Before she even had a chance to wonder what was going on she was strapped down and a needle was injected into her neck. Within a matter of seconds she could feel her body begin to relax. A sedative, so that they could take off her bracelet without having to worry about her having the strength to shift. Just as she had predicted the one guard who had opened the door for them took off her bracelet with a special card that would scan the bracelet and unlock it from her arm, while the other locked the door back up. The Dark Doctor or DD, looked over a chart. ''Wow, I'm surprised you lasted this long," he said as he went over the information on the chart. She had been in this prison for a three and a half years, the longest a Shapeshifter ever lasted here. Setting the chart off to the side he took hold of a scalpel and placed the tip of the blade against the skin on her forearm and dug the tip of the blade into her skin. Gritting her teeth, she watched as he sliced the blade through her skin as if it where butter. As he continued to cut at her skin he watched as it let behind a trail of cut skin and a river of blood flowing out of it.
Once he finished with the first cut he moved to make the second, when a loud explosion was sound in the distance. Dropping the scalpel DD turned his attention to the door. "Go check it out, Drake!" he ordered. Several more explosions followed by many shouts and screams when Drake moved to unlock the door and step out. Just as he put the key in the door, something or someone slammed against the door. Both guards immediately raised their guns at the door, ready to fire at any moment. While the guards stood ready to fight whatever was on the other side of the door the doctor moved towards the back door she had noticed earlier. He quickly unlocked it and walked inside, leaving her behind and the two guards. "Hey! Where did that crazy ass doctor go?!" Drake yelled to his partner realizing that DD was gone now.
"I don't fucking know I'm more worried about what's trying to get in this roo-.." He was suddenly cut off when the door was violently smashed down. The solid metal door hit Drake as it fell to the ground. Pinned underneath it he tried to desperately get it off of him until there was a bang of a gun going off. She watched with wide eyes as he fell limp on the ground, blood pooling out of an open wound on his head.
The other guard started firing his gun at the entrance of the room until, he too fell to the ground after the same gun shot was heard. The same looking hole in his forehead pooling out blood into a puddle on the ground. A few older looking men and woman filed into the room, all dressed in white, two of them holding guns, and quickly stood guard at the door as a younger man started undoing the straps that held her captive on the table. "Come on kid! We're all getting out of here" he shouted has he lifted her carefully up off the table. Placing her on the ground she stood with shaky legs, the sedative making her feel like a thousand pounds.
She followed the group of fellow Shifters out of the room and into the hallways she had just walked…or well stumbled down merely twenty minutes ago. She followed as quickly as she could, having no idea where they we're taking her. The group soon broke into a run as a pair of double doors came into sight. With as much strength and energy she could muster up she ran behind them. With the adrenaline pumping through her veins it helped her to run a little faster and keep up with the group. She followed them as they all filed out of the door. Once on the other side of the door, she froze.
She was out, that's where that door led to…it led to her freedom. She was, for the first time in three and a half years, outside. She breathed in all the scents that the wind carried with it and looked up at the dark starry night sky. She smiled for the first time in what felt like ages. She felt happiness fill her as she looked up.
She quickly snapped back into focus when she saw the group running off into the woods in the distance. Forcing her legs to move she ran after them, but at this point she was so exhausted and with the sedative in her system she could only jog. She finally made it underneath the canopy of trees when she heard the sounds of gun fire and the roar of trucks coming from everywhere. She ducked behind a tree when she saw the headlights of a truck coming straight at her. She blinked her eyes, slightly blinded from bright light.
Once the truck had passed her hiding spot she quickly raced farther into the woods hoping to gain as much ground as possible away from her pursuers. She fell to the side when one of the guys of the group who had escaped ran in front of her. Freezing, she saw a large metal net launched at him. The net was right on target and slammed into him. She watched as he fell to the ground and the net lit up with electricity. She flinched when she heard him scream from pain before he fell silent. Willing herself to look away, she continued to run using the raspberry bushes as cover.
She ran alongside the edge of a steep hill. She ran until she was suddenly knocked off balance when the same net that got that man slammed into her side. Knocking her to the ground. It was slightly off target from hitting one of the bushes so it only managed to knock her down the hill and not wrap around herself.
She rolled down the hill trying desperately to grab hold of something to stop herself from sliding all the way down the hill. She gasped out a breath of pain as her head slammed against a large boulder sticking out of the ground. Stunned and seeing stars she let herself continue to roll down the hill until she finally came to a stop at the bottom. She sat for a few moments, until she to muster up enough strength. Slowly standing up she shook her head slightly trying to get rid of the stars she was seeing everywhere. Going to take a step forward, she felt her legs shake. She tried desperately to keep herself standing, but her legs just couldn't support the weight of her own body at the moment. Falling, she laid on the ground watching as a black like fog crept in from the corners of her eyes. Feeling her body become heavy, she closed her eyes and welcomed the warmth of sleep.