Christian's POV
I woke up suddenly, tried to sit up and immediately regretted it. I hurt. Everywhere. And quite badly. After a couple breaths I slowly laid back down and looked around me. I was in a room. A bedroom to be more exact. No cage. In fact, weirdly enough, I was in a very comfortable bed.
Not that I was complaining but what the hell?
There was a knock at the door which made me jump and the whitecoat who had helped us escape, Oliver I think was his name, walked in.
"Ah I see you've finally woken up. I must say that I was beginning to think you wouldn't." He had a tray of breakfast food with him; eggs, bacon, freaking pancakes. I about jumped out of whoever's bed this was to devour it but I hesitated. I still had no idea what was happening. It could be another test, the food could be poisoned, bacon, screw it.
I sat up slowly, pain still present in my everything. Oliver handed me the food and I scarfed it down, watching him with the eyes of a hawk while I did.
Hey, eyes of a hawk. I could say that and be totally serious now. Cool!
"So," I said, "where exactly am I? Also, what happened? Also again, where are Maxene and Layla? Also once again, what is your secret to making pancakes so damn good?"
Oliver chuckled. "Well actually it the recipe of a friend of mine. She's been helping me to patch the three of you up." He paused for a second and his face got serious. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Why?"
"Just think."
Ok. Weird. But I played along. Maybe something important had happened that I'd missed. I closed my eyes and thought back.
"Uh... we were looking for an exit, I found some sort of sword staff thing, Richard found me, I..." remembering what I had become I hesitated. Should I even bring it up? It was probably a pretty important issue that should be immediately discussed with someone who might understand why my genes were now able to shift to those of a hulking wolf man.
So naturally I skipped over that part.
"Well I fought with him and then there was an explosion. That's it."
"Are you sure?" Oliver asked, clearly not convinced. He knew I was holding something back. "You look like you're not telling me everything."
I hesitated again, studying him. Could I really trust him?
Screw it, he brought me food.
"Alright I might have turned into an Eraser while fighting Richard. I don't know how it happened but somehow I just... my whole body changed." Oliver looked confused more than anything else.
Wait, was that not what he had been talking about?
Clearing his throat, he spoke again, trying not to sound shocked. "Oh. Yes, that... well that's something. Was there, um, anything else?"
"Like what?"
"Like the way you flashed back to your old home, heard your sister's voice," he said, starting to pry a bit now. How he knew that was beyond me and it must've showed because he said quickly, "You talk in your sleep."
"Oh. Right." I let out a breath. "I talked about my sister?"
"You seemed to think that Richard was your father and he was coming for your sister," Oliver said. "This isn't totally uncommon in cases of extreme trauma but considering the girls didn't flash back when you did is odd." He reached for a bag which made me nervous. "Inside here are some tests I'd like you to take. Nothing like the other whitecoats put you through. I believe it might be important to determine if you're healthy or not. You don't mind do you?"
So another experiment that somehow wouldn't be as bad as the other experiments I had endured? I looked through narrow eyes at Oliver for a minute. He seemed to actually be concerned. Maybe he really was trying to help.
"Yeah alright. Why not?"
"You think he's alright?" Layla asked Maxene with a hint of worry in her voice. "He's been out for like, a week."
"I'm sure he's fine Lay," Maxene replied. "He seems tough."
They were sitting in the living room of the safe house Oliver had picked out. It was a cozy little place that smelled of chocolate chip cookies and vetrinary medicine. A dark haired woman walked out from the kitchen with drinks in her hands, handing them off to the girls who smiled in appreciation.
"Are you two feeling alright? Are the stitches holding up alright?" she asked.
"Yes they are. Thank you so much Dr. Martinez," Layla said with a smile. This woman seemed to be a friend of Oliver's and she had given them temporary refuge, fixed their injuries and fed them real food. Layla trusted her, after reading her mind to be sure she wasn't secretly evil of course.
Her daughter Ella was understandably not sure what to make of four strangers suddenly living in her house but she was still friendly to her new guests. She had started to bond and become friends with Maxene and Layla, sharing with them all the wonders of being a teenage girl that they had never experienced before.
It was a wonderful experience they were having.
"How about yours Wonder?" Dr. Martinez asked Maxene.
Perhaps it was because of the recent traumatic events or maybe it was something else entirely, but something had caused Maxene to completely abandon using her real name. Instead she started calling herself Wonder. Layla didn't really mind. If it made her sister happy, it made her happy too.
"Hm? Oh right! Yeah, the stitches are holding up fine," Wonder said with a grin. "Thank you."
Oliver came out of the room they had laid Christian's unconscious body nearly a week ago followed by a limping Christian.
"Morning," Christian said looking around the house. "Right. First thing's first; where the hell are we?"
"Kingman, Arizona," Dr. Martinez said. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine strange lady, and yourself?"
"Oh yes, Christian this is Dr. Valencia Martinez," Oliver said motioning to the doctor. "She saved your life."
"Oh. Cool. Uh, thanks," Christian muttered, still not completely convinced he could trust her. "Those pancakes your creation?"
"Yes they are," Dr. Martinez said with a smile. "There's plenty left."
"Dibs!" Christian shouted quickly, moving rapidly towards the kitchen. "You let me know if you find anything alright Oliver?"
"Yes of course," Oliver said as he began to study a notebook and some pictures in front of him.