Shape Shifters

Gothic: Sorry you've had to wait a while for an update. I had writer's black, and lost the urge to write. Now here's my 2nd attempt at the 6th chapter of Shape Shifters. (Minus the A/N's of course!)  Following cmar's tips, I'm going to try and make things a bit better!

Kitty: I'll try and help her out, and as usual, she doesn't own it, so don't sue her.

Gothic: I can't own anything anyway. I'm as poor as a church mouse. Now on with the ficcie! Reviews back please! And this rewritten version has a completely different storyline, so be careful not to get lost! And as usual…. "talking"  {thinking}

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Jen awoke in the early hours of the next morning. Her head rung from where she'd hit her head on the skylight, and her body felt as if she'd fought to the death. Which, surprisingly enough, she had done.  Pushing her body up, she located herself to be in Trip's house. Trip's three-storey house, as three storeys were actually common in the year 3003, had been handed down to Trip from his late grandfather, who had been the first in his family to reach Earth. Trip had come along later on.

Jen's lithe body easily slid out of the bed she'd been placed in, and crept silently towards the door. The door, surprisingly enough, had been left unlocked, and her little hands carefully pushed the door open.

{This was easier than I thought. Now where was the exit again?}

Jen easily found her way to the back door, as she was on the ground floor.  Visions filled her mind as she stepped out of the again, unlocked door.

{Do they have no sense at all? All the doors are quite happily open and ready for me to walk out of.}

The visions that filled her mind were ones of hatred, pain, and above all, the hurt feelings of loneliness. The deep depressing feelings of being alone and trapped in that cold metal cell filled her with hatred for the world. But then again, there was the worse factor of the whole situation. 

A grey wild cat, with black and brown stripes, and a bushy tail, padded down the garden path, and slipped out of the gate.

Back inside, a major hunt was taking place in the desperation of finding Jen. No one knew where she was, although the security of the house told Trip that Jen had left the building. Trip and Lucas were searching the upstairs, Alyssa and Taylor took the second level, and Wes and Eric were on the ground floor. Katie was searching the attic, a.k.a.: Trip's bedroom, whilst Max and Danny wandered aimlessly from room to room, looking for the odd clues here and there.

"She's definitely been here in the kitchen. The back door's open and it wasn't before." Eric pushed the swaying door as he spoke.

"Well, where is she now? The back gate would still be open too, if she'd…gone…out…of…it.." Wes stopped in realisation. "Eric? She's gone out of the back gate, and is definitely missing.

"What, she just locked the back gate behind her? I don't think so. If the back door's swinging open quite happily, then the gate would be too, if she'd gone out of it."

The black striped wild cat suddenly slipped through the gate. Wes and Eric saw the cat, but didn't jump to any conclusions. 

"Hey, look at that Wes. A genuine wild cat. Don't get many of them even in our own time." The wild cat stopped at Eric, and curiously sniffed his legs.

{Well, well, well. Eric and Wes lurking in the garden. Three wild guesses as to why they're here.}

All the same, the cat rubbed her head against Eric legs, before going and purring around Wes' ankles.

" I think it's a 'she' cat. Would explain the affection." Wes stroked the cat, completely unaware of who, or even more precise, what this cat really was. 

Eric however, wasn't completely fooled by the cat's 'appearance'. Something was very different about this cat, and he wasn't sure exactly what it was.

As they turned to go back inside, the cat trotted alongside them, happy as ever.

{Wild cats do not associate with humans all that often. In fact, it's extraordinarily rare for them to. What's different about this cat?}

Eric was so busy thinking about this theory, that he wasn't really concentrating on where he was going. He tripped on the step and came crashing down onto the hard metal floor. The cat immediately jumped up onto his back, and meowed at Wes. 

"Hey, are you alright? Come on kitty, off Eric's back." Wes shooed the cat off, and helped Eric up. He had a spilt lip, and several cuts and grazes on his hands and knees.

"I'll be okay. Fighting Jen was worse." This remark earned the two a 'disgusted' meow from the cat.

{Maybe it is true..Maybe this cat is Jen… But that can't be right, she's human, not a cat…}

Eric's head rang all the more. The thought of the cat being Jen made him want to puke, seriously.  The cat had begun to meow continuously, scratching at the door. Wes let her in, and she ran for the stairs. Whilst Max and Danny, who had found their way down to the ground level, tended to Eric's spilt lip, Wes followed the cat upstairs.

{Oh no, please don't follow me up here Wes, please don't…}

The cat changed instantly into Jen, who ran for a cupboard that was big enough to take all of her. Thoughts ran through her head all the more. Memories, images, the sound of the scientists who changed her, mutated her, into the terrified cat that had fled from Wes.  The memories of that dark, dank cold cage they had locked her in rushed back in, and she hated the scientists who had changed her forever. She didn't hear the footsteps of Wes, as he located her to be inside the cupboard from the little 'moping' noises that appeared to come from behind the closed door.

"Jen? Are you in there? We've already checked, but are you there?" Wes slowly pulled open the door. Jen kept her cool composure, and forced herself to look at Wes.

"What do you want?" Jen spoke in a dull, tired sounding voice that appeared to of changed slightly.

"I was chasing the kitty that dashed up here in fright. Then I found you in this handy nearby cupboard." Jen forced herself to laugh, in just the slightest way.

"And I was also gonna ask you to file your nails down a bit. They're rather on the sharp side." Jen studied the playful look on Wes' face. Would it hurt to tell him the truth?

{Well I'll have to try. Whether he'll hate me or not is undecided. I hope he'll take it okay.}

"Hey, my nails don't need filing down yet. Wait until I'm angry and ready to kick your sorry buts again." This earned her a disgruntled look from Wes.

"Well you did go mental on us. What did you think we were gonna do, have you locked up in that creepy cage again?" Wes studied Jen, and noted the sheepish look given in return.

"Well…yeah,sort..of. It was really in self defence, 'cause I naturally thought you were all just going to chuck me back in that metal cage."

"And in which century was this going to happen? The 21st Century?  Oh sorry, make that the 31st Century." Jen did smile at that, and gave a little giggle. She looked incredibly pale, as if she'd been starved for a long time. Also, she looked thinner, but her eyes shone with a feline glimmer.

"But if I told what they do to 'insane' people in there, well in my case 'supposedly insane', then you would definitely keep me away from that scientific hellhole." Her eyes took on a more defensive stare, and she focused on Wes confused eyes.

"What do you mean? What's so 'terrible' in there that you had to escape?" Wes noticed that Jen was finding it difficult to speak about it.

"Well, because they think we're never going to get out of there, the scientists who examine the physical abilities of each prisoner decided to conduct a few 'experiments'. "

"What kind of experiments? Do they take prisoners apart or something?" Wes looked severely confused and worried now. Had they hurt Jen?"

"Worse. The experiments involve removing an important part of human DNA, and then replacing that missing DNA with animal genes. If the experiment is successful, the human and animal genes merge together, changing the person, and giving them the ability to…to well.. 'Shape shift' into the animal their DNA has been merged with." Jen shuddered as she finished, and remembered the screams of the dying prisoners, and the scientists calling out 'next'.

"So what happened if the experiment went wrong?" Wes was clearly disgusted with the mere thought of innocent humans being changed and mutated against their own will.

"They.." Jen's voice became slightly tearful. "They..die. The part of their genes that is removed they need to live. The animal genes contain the DNA they need. But…if human genes reject animal genes, then…" A single tear ran down Jen's cheek. She wiped it away, unable to say anymore.

"Oh Jen." Wes hugged her, and she willingly let her head lie against Wes' shoulder.

{But then, have they done this to Jen? Has she suffered pain and misery in there?  Do people die? Does Alex know about this?}

The questions ran through Wes head, with little answers. The only way to get those answers would be to ask Jen. But did he really want to know?

"And what about you then? Have they done this to you?"  Wes felt sick to his stomach, but he had to know. Softly, Jen whispered into his ear, unwilling to speak aloud.

" Well, I didn't die. That's a start. It hurt a lot, but yes, they did play around with my genes a bit." Jen stepped back, and could only watch as a tear ran down Wes' face, the bleak expression speaking for him.  She hugged him again, letting him take in all of the things that were different about her. This wasn't much on the outside, but on the inside, a lot of things had changed dramatically.

"So, does Alex know about this? He seemed to be…well, highly involved in the development of the area." Wes was still stunned by everything going into his head.

"Alex? Well, he kinda….funds the experiments." Jen, who had been prepared for Wes next reaction, felt so sorry for him, having to go through listening to all these tales of torture and misery. " He's also involved in the studies, and interests of the mutation through altering genes."

If Wes had not been holding onto Jen, he would of most likely fallen backwards from shock.

Tears began in both their eyes.

They cried tears of pity, love and misery into each other, as they embraced all over again.

Neither of them noticed the snowy white owl resting on the window ledge of the nearby window, watching the two talk. The owl heard every word, and understood every word they said.

The snowy owl didn't look very happy, as it took off from the window, and cawed into the crisp midday air.

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Gothic: Whew, that took it out of me for the evening. I've updated my lookup! There's two new stories! One you could read, even if you're not a Beyblade fan! My poem, 'Empty', can be based upon any character you feel possible. If you don't fancy Beyblade, then you could use PR characters, or anyone else. Let me know what you think on my updated version of this chappie. If you preferred the old one, let me know.