Thanks so much to "It's a Christine" for beta-ing this chapter for me! ^_^

~Chapter Two: Ikuto

"You were dying when we found you. If we had come just a few minutes later you probably would've died. But we saved you. That what this place is for—Saving peoples' lives."

I went silent for a moment, then said, "So... I have amnesia? From almost dying?"

She shook her head. "No, we erased your memory. It would interfere with what we had to do to save you."

"What..? What did you have to do?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

I was pretty sure she wouldn't say anything more, so instead of questioning her I looked around at the room we were passing through. It was big, with a huge ceiling that I couldn't even see the top of. There were no people, but there were several long tables, and a counter with a kitchen behind it, so I figured it was some sort of cafeteria or something. There were stairs on one side of the room and on the other side was a set of double-doors, which the woman was heading towards. As I followed her, I started to think about what she'd said, and finally I asked, "How did I almost die?"

She looked down at her clipboard, her eyes scanning its contents. "Honestly, I'm not sure you want the details. Your case was particularly gruesome. Let's just say that somehow, you got involved in some dangerous business—Gangs and the like—And, well, you must have done something wrong, because they wanted you dead." I shuddered involuntarily, imagining all the different things 'gruesome' could mean.

She pushed open the double-doors, and what greeted me on the other side surprised me. The doors lead out of the laboratory, into some kind of garden. The grass was green and looked well-cared for, and flowers dotted the ground. The sudden bursts of color made my headache, which I had all but forgotten about, flare back up again after having only seen white for so long. She kept walking forward, apparently not following a particular path, and eventually we came up to a large yellow building, which had been partially hidden by trees.

There were several people around, but none of them were close enough for me to get a good look at. Suddenly I had a sick feeling in my stomach as my fear and confusion resurfaced, but the woman continued on into the building, and I hesitatingly followed. There were more people inside the big room, which was colorful but not so bright that it hurt my eyes. There were several things to lounge around on, like bean bags and couches, and I figured this place was some sort of lobby or loft. But I wasn't sure why only teenagers seemed to be here, or why I had been brought here in the first place.

My train of thought was broken when I heard a scream. Startled, I looked at the edge of the room, where the cry had come from. Some sort of wolf was viciously attacking a young girl, clawing and biting her. I blinked, shocked to see a wolf inside of this place, and looked around to see if anyone was going to help her. No one seemed to care, though, and the few that were watching just looked bored rather than scared. The girl screamed again as she tried to get up and run, but the wolf dove at her leg, snarling loudly, and the girl shrieked and tripped, blood pooling beneath her leg. I turned to the woman, but she wasn't paying attention as she scanned the rest of the room.

"H-hey... Why isn't anyone helping her?" I asked, looking over. The wolf was snarling as it circled the girl, waiting for her to get up. She looked over at where I had pointed for a second then sighed, a look of annoyance passing over her face. She shook her head and walked over to the fight, shouting something at the wolf, and its ears laid back flat on its head as it bared its teeth at her. For a second I thought it might attack her too, but it just growled before backing away, then circled around her to the front doors and left.

The woman walked back to me. "There. Happy? Come on, I need to find you a leader."

"But... What about that girl..?" I asked. She was clutching at her leg, tears streaming down her face, and a few people had gathered around her now that the wolf was gone.

"What, her? That was nothing. She'll be fine. Come on." She started walking again, and with one last uneasy glance at the girl I followed.

She lead me across the big room to a girl sitting in the corner, reading. The girl looked up as we approached, and an annoyed look appeared on her face. "Please don't tell me you want me to babysit her."

The woman shook her head. "No, not you. I'm looking for Ikuto."

The girl sighed. "I think he's on the roof right now."

The woman nodded. "Thanks." She turned around and walked out of the building, and I jogged to catch up to her. She walked around to the other side, where there were some stairs, and started to climb them.

"Wait, who's Ikuto?" I asked, confused. I was getting sick of her not telling me anything.

"He's going to be your... Guide, I suppose, until you get the hang of things. Which means that you will probably be joining his pack."

"Umm... Okay..." I mumbled. I still wanted to know more but she was never clear when she spoke to me and I didn't feel like trying anymore.

The stairs were slippery and I almost fell multiple times. I was amazed at how fast she was able to climb them without even stumbling. As I looked out absently at the trees, my thoughts drifted back to that wolf. Apparently that sort of thing was considered normal. How was that even possible? That girl had been screaming and bleeding, but no one had cared. If this was the sort of place I was going to have to be around, I wasn't sure I'd last very long.

When we reached the top, she strode across the roof over to a small section that was hidden from view when standing at the top of the stairs. A boy who looked like he was about 16 or 17 was laying there lazily, his eyes closed. The way he was lounging around somehow reminded me of a cat.

"Good, he's here. I have some things to take care of, so why don't you go talk to him? Tell him Sanjo sent you." Without waiting for my response, she turned around and went back down the stairs, leaving me to try to make friends. I scowled and looked back at the boy, then trudged over to him. He cracked one eyelid open as I approached, and a scowl appeared on his face.

"Um... Hi." I fidgeted with my hands, hoping that he would be nice.

"What do you want?" he said grouchily, glaring at me. I groaned inwardly. Obviously we were not going to get along.