The lights blurred into
one on continuous line as I ran down the hallway. My cheeks stung
from where Lilac had slashed me. Everything had worked out perfectly.
I couldn't have asked for anything more. I approached the hallway
where Raf was supposedly hiding.
I slowed down and whispered,
"Raf? You there?"
"Above you." I looked up and saw him,
claws buried in the ceiling.
"Hello," I said.
"Hey…please
tell me that's war paint on your face."
"No it's blood."
Raf gave an exasperated sigh and dislodged himself, landing on his
feet.
"What the heck did you say to her?"
"Nothin'…just
something about her wearing Hello Kitty underwear." Raf gave me a
quick smile, then asked "Now what?" Suddenly a distant haunting
howl, like one from an angry ghost, echoed through the hallways. We
both looked in the direction of the sound and saw shadows coming
around the corner some wolf some human. "Uh oh," Raf muttered.
"That my friend is an understatement…Let's move."….
Dr. Risa yawned irritably as she walked down to the
hallway. She had taken a small nap and had been awakened by a call
from the security room.
"This better be good" she thought to
herself. She rounded a corner and walked inside a small room crowded
with computer screens, tapes, wires and cables.
"What's going
on?" she demanded as she walked into the room. Dr. McKinney was
standing over the shoulder of security guard, who was watching the
monitors.
"Ah! Dr. Risa. Mort, here, says a disturbance was
caused in the mess hall, by your "dogs"," he explained. Dr.
Risa rolled her eyes. Why did she hire him? She was beginning to
realize, why PC hated him so much. McKinney referred to Raf and PC as
her dogs, because they only seemed to obey her and no one else.
"Show me the footage." She commanded. After watching the
spectacle Dr. McKinney asked with a sort of cocky tone "Should we
end this game now?"
Dr. Risa suddenly burst out laughing. Dr.
McKinney and the security guard we're taken aback by her reaction
to the footage.
"I'm sorry. Pardon me."
"This
spectacle is not over. PC and Raf are on hall C as we speak. Lilac
will most likely pursue them. What do you suggest we do?"
"Nothing
at the moment…I want to see how this little game will play out."
She said leaning forward watching the two experiments on screen…
We jogged down the
hallway, passing room after room, hoping not to meet face to face
with Lilac, the howls of transformed Erasers incessantly ringing in
our ears. My face felt like it had been painted as the blood from the
slash wounds coagulated on my skin. It was odd that no alarms had
gone off, since we were getting closer to off limits territory. As
residents of Lab 7 and agents of the School, we were allowed to
wander almost anywhere except for certain areas like Level 2. It was
the place where the Whitecoats kept the larger and more dangerous
experiments. We rounded a corner and skidded to a halt as we saw
Lilac at the end of the hallway with her pack which consisted of
Erasers of various types, three Jawz, two Wraiths, and two regular
Erasers. Lilac was the only one in human form.
"Hello boys,"
she said with a grin
"Uh oh," Raf said almost musically.
"Will you quit saying that," I said. Lilac began to verbally
taunt us, but instead of participating in banter. Raf and I,
pretended to listen and concoct a strategy to get through that army
of Erasers that blocked our path.
"Is there another way to
level 2?" Raf asked.
"I don't think so…We're in a tight
spot," I said, biting my thumb pensively.
"Ya, think."
"I
guess we will have to fight our way through."
"NO," Raf
whispered harshly. "I'm optimistic…but not suicidal."
"Than
what do you suggest," I replied between my teeth.
"We lure
them away than make our way back here."
"Sounds like it will
work, okay then …let's do it."
"Blood is good color on
you, PC… you should wear it more often," Lilac jeered as we
turned our attention back to her.
"Excuse me?" I said
sticking my finger in my ear and pretending to pick out wax. " I
couldn't hear you."
Lilac giggled "Very cute
PC…very…Normally your actions back in the mess hall would have
earned you a minor beating from me and my boys. But since you've
officially pissed me off…I have something special for you." As
soon as she had finished her sentence, I heard Lilac's bones
beginning to crack. It was a sickening sound. Then muscles began to
swell under Lilac's skin and her teeth began to look more like
organic knives. The change seemed to happen in the blink of an eye.
Lilac had transformed from her stocky, petite, human form to a
hulking she-wolf with snow white fur tipped with silver and a long
black stripe that traveled from the tip of her nose to her tail. I
swallowed hard and looked at Raf, who was either extremely impressed
or about to wet himself. This was a sight that very few people saw
and those unfortunate few who had never lived to tell the tale……
"Oh dear," is all I
managed to say. Lilac roared and the others in her pack joined her.
"GO!" I shouted. We turned and bolted back to where we had come
from and the Erasers gave chase. My mind was racing; I didn't know
how we were going to get back to that area. But first we needed to
survive. I heard the Erasers paws stomping the linoleum tiles.
"They're ganging on us!" Raf shouted. I pulled out a few
eggs from my hoodie and threw them back at them. The Erasers snarl as
the eggs pelted their angry faces. Raf joined in and threw more eggs.
After ten minutes of sprinting I was already beginning to tire…man
I'm out of shape.
"WE need to shake them," I muttered. Then
I remembered my ration of vegetable oil and began to sprinkle it
behind me and Raf filed suit. Three Erasers yelped in surprise as
they wiped out, and crashed into the wall as we rounded a corner. I
snuck a peek over my shoulder to count how many wolves we still had
to contend with. To my disappointment Lilac was still in the lead
with that morbid look her brother used to give me when he wanted to
rip me apart. The memory of my execution fluttered in my mind briefly
then disappeared, but it motivated me to keep up speed. Suddenly I
heard a whooshing noise coming very close to my ears. I looked and
saw a Wraith running beside me with a sly grin on its face. Another
Wratih was running next to Raf.
"Yoooouuu thhhhhiiiiiiiiink
yooooouuuuu..cannnnnn…ouuutttt...runnnnn usssssssssssssss?" the
one running next to me teased. I grabbed an egg, but before I could
throw it the Wraith had gotten hold of my hoodie and it didn't look
like he was going to let go. Raf was in the same situation. Thinking
quickly I let the projectile drop and purposefully tripped over it.
The Wraith and I tumbled forward and every Eraser in pursuit tripped
over us and crashed onto the floor. 7 experiment pileup on Hall D !
Everyone lied there dazed from impact. I heaved the Wraith off of me
and searched for Raf. He had managed to stay on his feet by burring
his claws into the wall, leaving claw marks that stretched for a few
feet.
" Are they unconscious?" Raf asked. Lilac let out
furcious bark and was beginning to rise. Acting like two spooked
deer, we ran back in the direction that lead to Level 2…leaving a
trail of vegetable oil in our wake.
Lilac groaned and forced
herself to her feet. "GET UP! YOU IDIOTS! They're getting away!"
The Erasers scrambled to comply and then dashed forward in an
instant. "NO! WAIT!" Lilac commanded, but it was too late, the
other Erasers were already sliding around in the vegetable oil,
whining and snarling in frustration at their inability to stand.
Lilac let out an irritated growl "WHY AM I SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!"
In a flash of rage she punched the wall leaving a gaping hole. She
glared at the Erasers sliding across the floor. Wondering how she was
going to catch up and also thinking with us when a thought entered
her mind that made her smile…..
"That was close," I
said as we continued our made dash through the hallways.
"I
agree", Raf said. I looked around seeing objects that looked
familiar, Level 2 was very close. We rounded a corner and skidded to
a halt as we were confronted with the three Jawz that made up the
brawn in Lilac's pack. They did hit the wall hard when they slipped
in the oil we had left behind, and were lying unconscious on the
floor. Raf and I began to tip toe around them, when suddenly one of
them opened their eyes and lashed out at me. Not quick enough to move
on the already slick tiles, I slid backward into the wall and hit my
head. "OW!" I shouted. No sooner had I said that, did I realize
my mistake as the three monstrous Erasers began to stir. Raf quickly
grabbed me by the shirt and took off. It took me a minute to get my
footing, no thanks to my greasy shoes, and then we were on the run
again. This time we didn't stop to take a break until we found that
door. Fortunately for us it wasn't very far.
The door was like
any other one in size and in shape, but seemed to look heavier and
thicker. When you spend as much time as I do behind closed doors you
tend to notice certain things. It had a small glass window with wire
cords interlaced inside, so you couldn't easily punch threw it
without seriously messing up your hand. "Level 2" was spray
painted on its front.
"Well… It's nice that they have the
sign in big letters," I commented as we approached.
"Danger!
Authorized Personnel ONLY," Raf said, reading a small yellow sign
next to the door. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, "Does
that mean anything to you?"
I looked at it briefly then
shrugged "Nope not a thing…you?"
Raf stared at the warning
and sucked on his lower lip "Nope… not a dang thing." I smiled
and looked for the door handle, which a keypad above it.
"Oh
Geez its one of those coded ones," I said.
"Come on, PC are
you going to let a coded lock get the better of you?" Raf asked
sarcastically and began to fiddle with the keypad.
"You only
get two tries. So I hope you know what you are doing, because if you
don't get it right the alarms will go off and the Whitecoats will
be all over us," I warned.
"I know," Raf said dismissively,
shooing me. I backed off and gave him some space to work. "You see,
you have to be smarter than the lock…" Raf punched in 789521
which if you looked at the keypad carefully formed the letter "J"
for Jeb. The lock beeped and a mechanized voice rang out, "Access
denied". Howling began to resonate through the hallways.
"Hurry
up," I muttered between my teeth.
"Patience," he retorted.
I eyed the corridors nervously as Raf began to brainstorm a random
series of numbers that would somehow work. I saw shadows stretching
towards our current position and slowly began to change my hands
claws, when the mechanized voice came on again and said "Access
granted". We hurried inside and shut the door hearing it lock
behind us……
So far our plan had
worked perfectly, Lilac and her pack played out their roles
flawlessly. Now it was time to put the next phase into action. What
that actually was I didn't know. But in any case, we were in Level
2 and that's what mattered. This level was well lit with shiny
spotless floors and bright fluorescent lights.
"How do you
expect to find Gozbud?" Raf asked.
"I don't know, but he
has to be in one of these cages if not then we are definitely
screwed," I replied.
We walked down a long corridor filled with
all sorts of exotic, grotesque and deadly creatures most of them were
Erasers combined with the parts of different experiments. . The
experiments didn't make any noise as we walked by the cages, but
their eyes followed our every move which made us nervous needless to
say. My personal favorite was Oryctolagus, lupus, which didn't look
that threatening in the form of large puffy rabbit, but when I
approached the cage, the rabbit exploded and when I say exploded I
mean literally exploded and in its place was a hideous creature that
resemble a hairless rabbit with wolfish teeth and other
characteristics. It would stay in this form for a few minutes then
revert back to its cute and cuddly self. Raf and I found the
exploding pat so amusing that we baited the creature into
transforming repeatedly. After messing with the fabulous exploding
wolf-rabbit, we continued looking for Gozbud.
"It's been
awfully quiet…we haven't met any opposition since we got here."
"Well, it's late in the afternoon most people are going home
at this point," I reasoned.
"PC? Raf?" We both turned
around.
"Gozbud, there you are," I said. He looked very tired
and disheveled, but other than that it didn't look like they had
done anything to him, which eased the pain of my guilt. Although he
had chains around his arms and legs, but they allowed him to move
around.
"What are you doing here?"
"We've come to get
you out of here." I said morphing one of my hands in a claw and
beginning to fiddle with the lock on the cage, "I'm sorry this
happened, Gozbud."
"It's alright; I know you didn't
intend to get me caught."
"Oh, but he did," I voice said. I
turned around and got my block knocked off by Lilac, falling to the
ground. Gozbud roared loudly and charged the bars sticking his snout
to bite Lilac, but she evaded him. Man! She hits hard. I struggled to
get to my feet seeing double. Before Lilac could strike again, Raf
attacked brutally slicing her with his claws. Lilac screamed in pain.
"My face! You miserable freak I'll tear your wings off!"
she snarled. Lilac grabbed Raf and threw him against the wall, before
turning on me and pinning me to the floor. I saw other members of
Lilac's pack beginning to arrive. Gozbud roared and gnashed his
teeth to intimidate them. But they didn't seem too scared. The Jawz
fell on Raf, two of them holding him up while one punched him
mercilessly in the stomach.
"Stop this, Lilac," I snarled.
She slapped me across the face "You are in no position to tell
me anything… As for you," Lilac said looking up at Gozbud. "It
was PC's intention for you to get caught."
"Shut up!
Witch!" Gozbud snapped. "He would never do anything like that."
"Oh really, Did he ever tell you, who killed your younger
brother, Lyle?" I felt a sudden rush of panic as well as
desperation. This revelation could ruin our friendship. Instantly I
transformed into my true body and unable to move my arms or legs I
strain and bit Lilac in the face. Furious she slapped me again and
then head butted me.
" It—." I tried another attack
anything to shut her up. I knew this was killing my image of begin
innocent. Overwhelmed by panic and fear, I began to change from cat
to human almost simultaneously trying to break free. But as you can
imagine these off and on transformations wore me out, to the point
where I couldn't transform into a cat anymore. So all I could do
was lay there and watch our friendship implode.
"It was PC and
his little partner over there that killed you brother. Impaled him
with a pole and stabbed him with glass."
"Gozbud! Don't
listen to her that isn't how it happ—," I felt her claws began
to burrow into the skin around my throat.
"Is this true?"
Gozbud said his voice trembling.
"No—ah!"
"Tell him
the truth PC…tell him…or your partner is dead." I saw a Jawz
wrap his claws around Raf's throat with a grin. Raf looked back me
and shook his head weakly.
"Lilac. Don't do this…please."
"Any favors you would have had from me are gone, PC…NOW TELL
HIM!" she snarled tightening her grip.
"It's true…I
killed him," I muttered, grimly.
"What was that? I didn't
catch it."
"I KILLED HIM!"…..
I knew this wouldn't work. I should have known better to think that we could actually get away with something this risky. Although this is the most fun I have had in a long time, even though I am currently getting the snot kicked out of me. I struggled against the Jawz, who were holding me and wishing that there was at least one shard of glass. With one spec of glass I could kill every Eraser here including Lilac. My injured wing added to the discomfort I was feeling. After the tenth punch in the stomach I was ready to puke, when they suddenly stopped. I had tuned out everything else that was going on around me hoping to dull the pain but once they stopped all the events around me were coming back into focus. "I KILLLED HIM!" PC shouted. Why did he say that? It was a lie and everyone present except for Gozbud knew the truth. Why? I felt a twinge of hatred deep inside, It was me…IT WAS ME! ….but I was too messed up to dwell on the feeling.
I
looked up at Gozbud, his eyes wide with disbelief, "So it's true
then?"
I wanted to explain everything to him, but when I felt
Lilac's grip tighten I lied again, "Yes, it's true." Gozbud
backed away from the bars and sat down. He looked so dejected it was
depressing.
Lilac sighed blissfully "I'm glad that is all
sorted out…wouldn't you agree PC?" It didn't matter what I
said to her, there were no words that could describe how low and how
angry I felt at that moment. "Gozbud, What do you think of you
friend now?" she asked getting to her feet, but to make sure I
didn't go anywhere she placed a heavy pawed foot on my chest.
"You
lied to me PC…and worst of all… it was to my face…TO MY FACE!"
Gozbud snapped, slapping his tail on the ground.
"Gozbud
please…I—."
"NO, I've heard enough from you. I was
wrong when I said that you hadn't changed. You have and for the
worst."
" Listen I—." Lilac rolled me over and kicked me
across the floor.
"That's enough out of you. Maybe you should
try shutting up for a change… I think its time I finish what my
brother started…only I'm going to do this really slow." I
looked up at her that psychotic look in her eyes gave me chills it
reminded me too much of Fox. When I saw Lilac's dripping fangs
appear out from under her lips I had had enough. Just as she was
about to put her foot down to keep me still, I grabbed it and snapped
it. Lilac howled in pain and fell back on her tail.
Angered by my
actions the Erasers all began to descend on my when someone shouted,
" STOP". The Erasers froze and turned there heads. Dr. Risa stood
a few feet away, with a pack of armed Wraiths behind her and an angry
scowl on her face. "This little game has gone on long enough. You
three collect Lilac and take her to back up to level 1, take her to
the clinic on hall C. MOVE NOW!" She shouted. The Jawz grudgingly
obeyed and carried Lilac away leaving Raf and I alone. "You two,"
Risa commanded to the Wraiths flanking her. " Take PC and Rafmire
to the clinic on hall B level 1. The rest of you clean up the mess
these two left behind and be quick about it."
" Whaaaaatttt
abbbbbooooutttt thhheeee reeeepptiiiiillllleeee?" one of the
Wraiths asked. Risa looked over at Gozbud calculatingly and said "He
looks in good shape a bit disheveled but fine. Don't concern
yourself. Just do what I have instructed." Wraiths forced as to our
feet. After all none of the injuries we had sustained prevented us
from walking. As they led us away I had a feeling that once the
Whitecoats had patched us up that I …in particular was going to be
in BIG trouble…
Our injuries weren't
very severe, so I wasn't surprised when they dropped me off at my
room, with two large bandages on my cheeks with stitches throbbing
under them…the cuts from Lilac's nails were deeper than I had
previously thought. As usual, I laid down on my bed letting as small
cloud of depression rain down on my head. Gozbud now knew what I had
done…not thanks to Lilac, for making me twist the facts. I was too
tired to be angry, though. I looked at the clock it was 12:00am.
"I
guess I should get to bed," I muttered. No sooner had I said that,
there was another banging sound coming from the door. I turned my
head in the direction of the door. "GO AWAY!" I shouted.
"Is
that anyway to talk to your superiors?" the voice behind the door
said. I rolled my eyes and wandered lazily to the door. Dr. Risa
stood in the door way with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Oh it's you," I said, making sure to not sound completely
rude.
She gave me a quaint smile, "Are you going to let me in?"
I noticed that she didn't have a furry fanged escort with her, as
she walked passed me.
"You didn't come with an escort…that's
pretty bold Dr. Risa," I said closing the door.
"Shut up,
PC…I haven't wronged you in anyway so you have no reason to hurt
me."
"Yeah you're right."
"But I will admit you are
no pussy cat…on occasion."
"Cute. What do you want?" I
asked sitting back down on my bed.
"Your little charade has
caused quite a bit of damage."
"Well I was going to blow this
place sky high, but Raf said that that might be over doing it…by
the way how is he?"
"He's fine."
"Are you going to
report this incident to the School?" I braced myself I knew I was
in trouble I just didn't know how deep.
"No. What happens in
Lab 7 stays in Lab 7." Okay this is odd…cool but odd."But do to
these events," Risa continued, "…you have driven Lilac
completely berserk…you should have broken both of her feet. She
will stop at nothing to make sure you and Raf do not survive the
night. So, both will be transported in a few hours. Until that time
you will be confined to your room. Understand?"
I made a
saluting gesture, "Yes, Ma' am…Is that all?"
"No there
is one more thing I would like to discuss with you."
"What is
it?"
"I was watching you and Raf on Level 2…It appears that
you had some kind of relationship with the experiment, Gozbud." I
stiffened a little as she continued. "This gives me reason to
believe that you are some how connected with the Network, that I have
been hearing about lately…is this true?" I knew silence would
only prove that I was. I had to think of something and quick.
"Don't
you think that's stretching it a bit? How would I be able to
contact them?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"I don't know
how you do it. But I trust my gut, PC just like you. So I know for a
fact that you are connected in some way." NOT GOOD! "However,
like I said before, what happens in Lab 7 stays here. Besides, you
are no longer under my charge."
"Why are you telling me
this?"
"This is a dangerous game you are playing. I just
figured you should know that."
"I know what I'm doing," I
replied.
"That is debatable..." I flinched as Dr. Risa poked
one of my bandages.
"Some of my plans have worked," I said in
my defense.
"Yes, but half-baked plans will not work in the
School, PC. You are playing a game with Jeb, now and he is an
excellent player."
"So am I," I said sternly. I wasn't
going to let her scare me. I had to do this it was for the Network
and if Maximum Ride could win against Jeb than so could I.
"I
can see that you are determined to stay in the game…that is
amiable, best of luck to you, Purple Cat." Dr. Risa moved towards
the door and looked back at me and said, "I am ready to leave now."
I got up and opened the door for her and then watched walk down the
hall and out of sight. She is a strange one that woman …but during
our conversation…call me crazy, but I think she was actually
concerned.
The sun was beginning to rise when they took us to our transport. We were both shackled, standard procedure…for experiments of our caliber. Hey it beat being transferred in a cage. Our transport was a truck with a divider in the back, so that Raf and I couldn't see each other or talk. We were a bit on edge, because of what Dr. Risa had told us about Lilac. I expected her to appear any second, but thankfully she didn't. For some morbid reason I was already beginning to miss Lab 7. For I knew that our lives were about to get a whole lot more interesting. As the truck rolled away I looked out the tiny tinted window on my side of the divide. The sky was changing numerous colors as the night began to fade….
I was going to miss those boys. Whatever happened to them now was out of my hands. But I hope for the best, just as an owner gives their dog up for adoption. As I walked back to the compound with my army of Erasers at my side I saw a very odd sight. A falcon perched on the fence. I watched it momentarily, such a beautiful specimen. Then the bird let out a fierce cry and took off in flurry of feathers….
