Wincing at the painfully bright light above her, Vennie blinked her amber eyes open and immediately squinted, trying to protect her sensitive eyes from going blind.
"Vitals are shown to be normal, heartbeat slightly slower than normal, but that is to be expected. Stamina and strength abilities significantly weakened. Everything is how we expected." A voice said to her right, and Vennie tried to turn her body to face them, but found she couldn't.
Her eyes opened fully at that as she looked down at her body, eyes wide with horror, fear, and humiliation.
She was no longer wearing the clothes she had when attacking the research facility, but they had dressed her in a hospital gown. Her legs were bound to the sides of the metal surface she laid on, leaving them wide open and vulnerable. Her arms were tightly cuffed above her head to the end of the surface.
Normally, she would have been able to get out of this with ease using her super strength, but it seemed to be gone. Vennie felt her physical and mental strength gone as she lay there.
Eyeing the binds on her legs and glancing up at her arms, she was surprised to see the binds were stranger than normal: they were made of some sort of white metal rings with glowing yellow running through the center.
"So I see you've finally awoken." A voice remarked, tearing Vennie's gaze from the binds that held her on the table to the approaching scientist as he smirked at her, resting a hand on a tray that sat beside her head.
The table was filled with all sorts of experimentation knives, syringes, chemicals of all sorts, and scalpels of all sizes. And the bound girl knew that all of those were meant for her.
To confirm it, the scientist took a piece of cotton, pouring some rubbing alcohol on it before pressing it on Vennie's arm, ignoring her futile struggles to escape, smirking maliciously all the while.
"Being created by an independent scientist and…"gifted" to us by him, I thought it'd be best if we did some tests on you specifically that we were never able to do with your creator working with us. " He continued on smugly, his balding head basking brightly in the light before turning away from the table. "But, he was killed in that little battle you and your friends made.
"Now, what exactly are you made of, Venice?" He asked, referring to her real name as he turned back around, holding a syringe filled with some sort of clear liquid, flicking at it before searching her face for an answer.
The only answer he received was a well-aimed spit in his face.
Yelling in surprise, the scientist fell forward, dropping the syringe, which shattered into pieces, and right in Vennie's range. She abruptly swung at him, slamming her forehead into his head, causing the man to cry out in pain and stumble backwards.
Vennie would have reveled in causing him pain before scientists and guards came running at them, some holding her down while others shoved a gag into her mouth.
Recovered from the shock and pain of her attack, the main scientist turned back to the table she lay on, his face flushed with anger and embarrassment, shooing off anyone else he didn't deem necessary before backhanding Vennie, who let out an involuntary gasp of pain.
"Alf, are you in need of any assistance?" A scientist asked her tormenter, Alf, who shook his head, shooting a glare of hatred at the girl who caused the bleeding in his nose before turning back to the scientist.
"No. All I need are guards for now. And-" he paused, snickering as if remembering something. "Bring the gadget I prepared for her."
With that, the scientist nodded and left, leaving Vennie alone with Alf and some guards who held her down, leaving her with the ability to only give the men glares of pure, undeniable hatred.
He prepared another syringe, and before Vennie could do anything to stop him, he stabbed it into the part he had cleaned, letting the clear liquid flow into her bloodstream with a snicker.
Fighting off the men at the immense pain of the syringe, Vennie struggled with all her might, coming close to throwing them off when the syringe came out.
Then a new sort of pain filled her.
It seemed as if a dead weight filled her, her whole body being slowly compressed until she couldn't breathe anymore. The only thing Vennie now felt was panic. All she could do was fight to make herself seem as small as possible, crying out through the gag all under the gaze of Alf as he smirked down at her.
"You can let go now." Alf said, his voice filled with satisfaction as his test subject began fading into unconsciousness from the pain, only to be yanked back into reality as her breath shortened and wheezed. "Nothing she can do about it. Her mutations have weakened, and in this state, there is very little she can do."
He walked up to Vennie, actually laying his hand on her arm as if to be soothing, but his voice was full of sarcasm and patronizing. "There, there. Be a good little lab rat and I'll be gentle next time. But for now, the objects I ordered for you should be here any minute."
True to his word, the door swung open to reveal the scientist, carrying two packages. She handed them to Alf, gave Vennie a strangely sympathetic look as she struggled in her bonds as pain filled her while the drug wore off, then quickly took off, eager to get out of the same room as the balding scientist.
Alf took the packages, opening one to reveal some sort of ring, which was the same color as the bonds that held the girl to the table and glowed the same yellow in the center.
In his other hand… was a red dog collar.
A freaking dog collar.
He attached the band around Vennie's wrist, which immediately tightened so it fit like a glove. Satisfied with that, Alf forced her to tilt her head and placed the collar around her neck, snickering all the while.
"I was thinking that since you've been here, you were basically a dog, forced to do all of our tests on your mutations, lived in a cage, ate the food we gave you from a bowl, we might as well make it official, Venice." Alf said, letting go of her before pulling out another syringe and a remote.
"Now, just to ensure your compliance, I've created this band specifically for you." He said, pressing a button in the middle of it. Immediately, a painful zap of energy went through Vennie, causing her to cry out in pain as it shocked her before falling against the table, panting for breath.
Alf went to the same spot he had put a syringe in her earlier, this time, instead of putting fluids into her body, he drew blood from a vessel with the empty syringe, looking at the sanguine liquid with satisfaction before placing it in some sort of machine.
"It was quite odd, really, how you reacted to those liquids. They were to stir up your blood, your DNA, your mutations, to see how you work. What the good old Dr. Maine, the man who created you, did to make you so adapted, what he used to make you the way you are."
Vennie only managed a glare at him, before wrinkling her nose in disgust at the scientist and the musky scent of the collar he placed on her. She guessed it was actually worn by a dog; most definitely one of the test subjects the jerks here used.
The balding man laughed darkly at the look she had on her face before turning away and waving back at her. "Well, I guess I can leave you on your own for now." He then threw a glance at the soldiers who held her down, which she had forgotten about. "You can leave too, I guess. She will be under control now, I've ensured that."
Suddenly, a weight was lifted from Vennie as the guards quickly complied, following the man out of the room and compulsively wiping their hands on their jeans. The guards certainly didn't seem very eager to touch or be near a bio-engineered kid like her. But that really didn't surprise her; those who didn't expect her to be what she was and found out normally ran away, screaming about some crazy mutant or whatever.
The door then slammed shut, and the lights went off when nothing in the room moved, leaving her alone in the dark. With that, and the pain wearing off from her, Vennie finally shut her eyes, exhaustion taking over her beaten form as she let the warmth of unconsciousness overtake her.
It didn't even feel like a minute of sleep when the alarms blared, lights sprung to their normal painful brightness in her lids. Starting awake from it, Vennie turned her head to the door as scientists and guards slammed it open, rushed in with guns out, and looked around wildly, getting ready to do whatever they were doing.
"Two of the prisoners escaped with one intruder." One guard said hurriedly to a scientist as he trailed after her to the table's side. "We were assigned to guard this one in case the intruder went after her too."
The scientist glanced at the door, her eyes widening before preparing a syringe and some sort of syrup for Vennie, who was watching them attentively.
So there are intruders here? She wondered, relief and hope taking a hold on her. Maybe it's Liam? What if he escaped and is saving us right now? If so, then he better hurry or else I swear I'll punch him for being late. She thought, no longer able to think as the scientist suddenly walked up to her, taking the gag off, pinching Vennie's nose and shoving the syrup down her throat, forcing her to swallow.
Taking her hand from her nose, the scientist then rubbed rubbing alcohol on a spot on her arm and injected a needle in it, the effects working instantly as Vennie began to feel both nauseous and dizzy, her head reeling and the world becoming blurry as the drugs did their job.
But her other senses seemed to be doing better than, as she heard a door suddenly slam open, gun shots sounded, grunts and yells of pain before everything went silent except for footsteps as they made their way to her.
A blurry face came into view, the features undefined, but Vennie felt hands brush over her skin as they undid her binds somehow, literally ripping the collar off, and picked her up bridal-style before rushing out the door, speaking the whole time.
"Don't worry, Vennie. I'm here now. You don't need to worry about them doing tests on you anymore. I found Hailey and Kaila, Milo escaped before things got too rough, even came back to save me when I was first captured right after the battle. We had to wait a bit, and I made Milo stay back, but I was able to save you guys, and now we're leaving. We're getting out of here." The voice said, which Vennie recognized as Liam's as her eyes fluttered shut, the drugs taking full effect now.
"Stay awake, we're gonna get through this, okay?" Were the last things she heard before fainting for who knew how many times that day.
The sounds of pounding footsteps, shouts, and gunfire woke her up as Vennie suddenly threw herself to her feet, only to fall against a wall groggily, her body feeling dizzy as black spots danced in her eyes.
Yet, now that she was on her feet, the sounds were gone. They were all in her head, wherever she was, it wasn't in the middle of a battle.
Blinking the darkness from her eyes, she looked up to inspect the room she was in. It was dark, with the lights turned off and it being night, yet she could make out the details well enough to tell that this was her own room in her own house. Which meant she really was safe and that it was Liam who got her out.
The room was painted navy blue, with wood floors. She kept very little, only a bed, a few books she could easily discard, anywhere, and a "borrowed" computer on the floor by the bed, charging.
She moved from the wall to the door, opening it as quietly as she could, before stepping out of her room and wandering around the small dark house.
Well, it was more like a cabin in the middle of the woods. But it still suited their needs pretty well.
In the living room lay Kaila and Hailey, sleeping on the couches curled up together, burrowed beneath heavy blankets since the lack of heaters made the place freezing. Vennie smiled; glad to know her friends were both safe and not too injured from the fight, only suffering from a couple scratches, cuts, and bruises between them.
Stepping into the kitchen, Vennie was about to open it and grab a soda and maybe some ibuprofen for her hurting head that had been pounding since she woke up. Most likely from all the tests they did on her. The memories came swirling back, making her remember all the horrid things the research facility did to her and her team, before their revolt and after.
She didn't even realize she was clenching the fridge handle until her hands began shaking rapidly. She quickly let go of the fridge, gasping for breath as she stared at her palms. With her strength, Vennie should have been able to easily break off the handle with the force she put on it.
So whatever they did to me lasted longer than I thought. She thought, turning away from the kitchen and silently striding from it, passing the room Liam and Milo shared before pausing in front of the door, opening it, and stepping out as fast as she could.
With that, Vennie ran from the house into the woods, which was barely illuminated by the slowly rising sun. But once again, she didn't care. One of the ups to being a bio-engineered teen was that her senses were better than any normal person's, so the dark wasn't too bad.
Finally, she stopped in front of a thick tree, panting for breath from the long run. Another sign whatever they did to her was still effective: her stamina was way low. She should be able to go like that for miles. That was only one.
Hurling all of her energy into one punch, Vennie slammed her fist into the bark, only to gasp in pain and clench it, staring at her bloody knuckles as the bark cut them. She also broke all her fingers on that one hand.
She silently sat down, staring at her hand as the wound slowly closed and her fingers popped back into place and healed. The process was most definitely slow, but at least her powers were coming back.
The tree also had a hole in it, though not as big as Vennie would have liked, it was a hole nonetheless. She only needed time, and her powers would come back. But for now, the sun was rising even higher. Everyone would be awake by now.
She stood, putting her hands into her pockets and slowly made her way back home, for now, not caring how worried they might be, if they ever checked if she was awake or not.
Maybe Vennie was being whiny, but she deserved it, didn't she? After being captured once again, tested on, and zapped, she needed some alone time.
But, looking at the cabin in the distance. She also knew that time was over. And she once again needed to take over for her team, as she had been doing for a while now.
Vennie let out a sigh, hurrying her steps towards the cabin and her friends to do what she needed: to lead again.
Yeah! A new chapter people! Please like, favorite, review so I know how people feel about this. And thank you to the people who have already favorited and followed me! It really helps to know that people enjoy it.