The room was almost empty, all grey paint and bare floor. At the center there was a metal table. Next to it was a small chair screwed into the floor. On the chair was a penguin, and behind it was a tall burly wolf, paws bearing down on the penguins shoulders.
Kowalski sat in the silence, his body experiencing the still quiet but his mind a chorus of panicked thoughts, all vying for attention. Where am I ? Where are my brothers? What are they going to do to me? What chemicals have they injected me with? Why am I here?
What is their plan? Am I the only one who has been kidnapped?...
There was a shrieking sound as the metal door to the room was dragged open and the pad of nimble feet could be heard. Kowalski also noted the clicking of long nails across the stone.
The scientist decided then and there he refused to be intimidated. Cold sweat coating his thin weak body, Vision hazy, as the wolf which was obviously the leader sat across from him.
Kowalski stared straight into coal black intelligent eyes. The wolf regarded him, smoothing down his fur and straightening thick rimmed glasses.
Kowalski had worked with a lot of smart people,and as the small wolf trapped him in his intelligent analytical gaze Kowalski refused to shrink in his seat. This guy was obviously the brains of the operation. This guy was in charge.
They stayed like that for almost half a minute. The tiny wolf staring at the scientist intensely with something akin to mirth in his eyes, twirling a piece of fur from his jawline in his paws round and round and round, and Kowalski staring back, straightening in his seat despite the momentous effort doing so required, pushing against the strong paws holding him down.
"Haha" the wolf laughed sharply, Throwing back his head violently and smiling brightly at Kowalski.
"So even as the smartest penguin in existence you are first a soldier-eh?!" laughed the wolf, leaning far back in his chair and paws folding together on his lap.
He had a faintly German accent, with Dutch undertones. Kowalski filed this away for later use.
The wolf's eyes turned expectant, dangerous.
Kowalski stared calmly back into those ebony eyes and spoke.
" My first duty is to my brothers, My research although vital, comes second" stated Kowalski.
Kowalski's voice was steady and calm. And his head upright.
It felt like Kowalski was in the sea back in antarctica, and the wolf was a leopard seal circling, teeth sharp and ready to bite at any moment.
"Your team must be missing you" stated the wolf. In the silence the swish of the burly wolf's tail was all that could be heard.
Kowalski didn't know how to respond to that clusterfuck of a sentence.
The wolf smiled menacingly.
"Do you know why you are here Kowalski?"
Kowalski looked away from the wolf's piercing eyes, at a spot to his right on the metal table, where there were scuff marks no doubt accrued over time from frequent use.
Kowalski knew the answer. It had all slotted into place immediately, his magnificent brain already knew exactly why he was here, he just wished it didn't.
This whole set up just reeked of modern slavery, and it was pretty obvious what a genius like Kowalski's days would be spent doing, what horrors he would be forced to create...
"I can see you already know, Dr Kowalski"
The word Dr was punctuated by an intense look and a flash of dark sinister eyes.
"Look at me, Penguin" demanded the wolf.
Kowalski's heart was hammering in his chest, and the world was tilting one way then the other like a drunken ship, he found himself taking many shallow breaths, and seeing not one wolf in front of him but two.
"I SAID LOOK AT ME!" Screamed the wolf.
Kowalski jolted in his seat, the wolf behind him clamping down on his shoulders even harder to keep him in his seat, Kowalski winced in pain as sharp claws dug into his body, and turned frightened blue eyes to his captor.
The small wolf seemed to gain satisfaction from Kowalski's reaction, and smiled a predetory smile, before pretending to examine his claws.
"You, are here" started the wolf, as if explaining to a stupid child.
"because, you are valuable"
Kowalski let out a deep breath, spiralling thoughts solidifying into a resolve he no longer believed he possessed. Kowalski would do nothing for this monster. The next words he almost missed, as he was thinking of ways to sabotage inventions to backfire on his captors, and possible escape methods...
The wolf grinned, until every one of his glinting white teeth were visible.
"Do you know the other reason you are here, my friend?"
Hissed the wolf, eyes glinting with malice. His next words made Kowalski's blood run cold.
"Because you just won't die" …
It all slotted into place like a ton of bricks… the strange pain, the feeling like his energy was being sapped from his very core. The delirium, the fainting… the fever…
"You BASTARD!" shouted Kowalski.
As the wolf lounged back in his chair regaly, examining his nails and smirking.
"You've been poisoning me all this time!" He shrieked, before dissolving into a coughing fit,held up only by the burly wolf's sharp claws.
"No…" said the wolf in a far away voice, yawning indulgently and stretching.
"Nathan has…"
Just as the leader spoke a sinister looking substance was injected into his neck, Kowalski was then allowed to slide down his seat onto the floor, where he lay like a dead fish.
There was a sound like gushing water in his ears, but through it he faintly heard instructions
"Take him to the lab Nathan…" He could do nothing as he was dragged roughly by the left flipper out the door and down a long bland corridor.
The last thing Kowalski saw or heard for a long time was a maniacal cackling, like that of an insane person, and another sentence spoken like an afterthought
"and give him something to drink, don't want him dying on us… just yet."
And black.
Hi, I'm back at it again with a new chapter! I hope you like this, if you did please review, constructive criticism is welcome and if you have any suggestions for the story please do not hesitate to drop me a PM. All the best, Sky x