Chapter 38

Beca's POV

Panting, I duck my head and ram into the creature's stomach. It hits the wall with a crunch as several of its ribs are broken. I smile at my small victory until it lifts me up and throws me across the room. I hit the floor, rolling several times before shifting into a crouching position. The large, black lycanthrope lunges at me, swiping with its claws. I dodge one but the other catches me in the side. A burning sensation lights up my stomach, making me gag. Damn lycanthrope. Their toxins aren't necessarily deadly, but sure as hell are painful.

Instead of going after it, I run toward the wall and it follows. The moment I reach it, I jump, somersaulting off and over the ugly wolf. My bare feet hit the ground with a slap and before the lycanthrope can do anything, I jump, wrapping my arms around it's thick neck. With all my strength, I squeeze, somehow holding on despite all the times it slams me into the wall. Its movements slow down until, with a strangled noise, it drops unconscious onto the floor.

I stand over the lycanthrope, knowing what comes next but not willing to do it. We go through this dance every time since these experiments started and I will continue to do so.

"Kill it," Dr. Fergus's voice demands, obviously impatient and annoyed with me. "If you don't, I'll have to do it, along with punishment for you. You know this. It would be so much easier if you just did what I say."

"Fuck you," I spit and am immediatly rewared with a shock from the electric collar they have chained around my neck.

"Now, now. That's not very nice. Guess I'm going to have to kill this freak myself." Dr. Fergus sighs and then starts talking to someone else, not bothering to shut the intercom off. "You know what, keep subject 4 in there. I want her to watch as I have you kill this creature."

"Yes sir," Theo's voice follows and I perk up. The door opens and Theo walks in. When his eyes meet mine, I know that I can't let him kill the lycanthrope. I've killed before, was made to kill. Theo isn't that kind of person and I don't think he could live with himself if he had to kill, even a mindless creature like this one.

Before Theo can shoot the lycanthrope with his gun, I lunge forward, letting my claws extend, and slice the creature's throat. Theo makes a strange sound in his throat and he nods to me subtly in thanks.

"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it? Take her back to her cell and let the nurses clean her up. She has another test tomorrow." The intercom beeps, signaling that it's off. Theo grabs my arm gently, keeping his face neutral. When we get to my room and the door is shut, he hugs me.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Why would he thank me for killing someone. Even if I made it to where he didn't have to, it's still not something to be thankful about.

"How's our champion?" Jessica asks when her and Ashley join us, interrupting Theo from answering my question.

"Better than last time, it looks like," Ashley comments, coming closer to me. I lift up my shirt till it's just underneath my bra. Bleeding claw marks cover my other scars, ones from my childhood and ones that I've slowly gained over time in this hell hole. Around the fresh wounds, black bubbles erupt, singeing my skin.

"Shit," I mutter, sucking in a deep breath.

"What is it?" Theo asks, leaning forward to inspect it. Ashley answers.

"Lycanthropes have toxins in their claws that can be fatal if it's administered in heavy doses. The black is a chemical that literally-"

"-burns," Jessica interrupts. "It will continue to burn until the skin around the wound is completely gone. Dr. Fergus gave us something to hopefully get rid of it."

"What the hell does he have that would do that?" I ask, not having heard anything capable of ridding my body of the toxins.

"I'm not sure. No one knows where he gets anything, even his experiments are a mystery."

"Even me?"

"Sort of," Ashley speaks up. "We know that he took you, though we are clueless as to where and how. The only thing about you that is a mystery is how you've survived this long."

"What do you mean?" Theo asks, stepping forward, his eyes lingering on my stomach.

"According to her charts that we've collected over the past year, all of the wounds she sustained should have killed her or at least wore her down. Instead, she's stronger than ever, not to add all that the wolfsbane is hiding." Wheels start turning and the only reason I can think for that is Chloe. That somehow being connected to her has kept me alive.

"How does he inject me with the wolfsbane?" Jessica and Ashley give each other a look before meeting my eyes. "What? Is it in the food or something?"

"No, when you were brought here, before they woke you up, they put a device in you that releases a dose of wolfsbane every day in to your system." Jessica tells me and I start trailing my hands down my body to find anything out of the ordinary.

"It's at the base of your head on the back of your neck," Ashley whispers.

"Is there a way you guys could stop it?" Theo asks and hope starts to rise to the surface. If they can do that, than my strength will come back and I could possibly break out of here.

"No. The device isn't monitored by any one machine. It's just a single device set on a timer. You're set to have it refilled soon."

"So if something were to happen to it, Dr. Fergus would have no idea?" I ask, not letting my hope of escape get squashed.

"The only ones who would know would be your caretakers," Jessica cheers, getting excited. "And that's us."

"You guys are forgetting something," Ashley sighs and I can feel the hope shrinking at the look on her face. "There's a possibility that the device has latched onto her spinal cord. If anything were to happen to it, it could paralyze Beca or at the worst, kill her." Heavy silence washes over us as we all think of the consequences.

"Let's all take some time to think about this," Theo suggests. "It's better not to jump into anything."

"Not jump into anything?" I shout, startling them. "Y'all aren't the ones being tortured here. I am and I can't wait much longer before trying to escape. I'd rather risk dying than just sit on my ass and do nothing."

"I know that you have people out there who care about you, but they definitely wouldn't want you jumping into anything that puts your life at risk."

"I can't do this much longer," I get in Theo's face and poke him in the chest. "You don't understand. My mind literally can't take it anymore." Theo grabs my arms and sets my away from him. Sobbing, I grab my head, hating the constant pounding. The insanity is coming back and the longer I go without Chloe, the worse it gets. Last time, I wasn't able to fight it but now that I know what it does to those around me, I'm able to. Not for much longer though.

"What are you talking about?" Jessica asks, taking a step toward me. "Why don't you explain while we patch you up? The toxin is spreading." Glancing down at the black, the pain comes in full force and I now can smell the rotten scent of burning flesh. With a nod, I lay down on the mattress, letting the girls clean the wounds.

"Most werewolves have mates, which I'm sure y'all know. The serum that was injected into me before I was born, also contained that, except it's different for me. Stronger."

"How?" Ashley asks and I suck in a breath when they spread the cream over my burns.

"We can speak telepathically which is normal when werewolves are shifted. If we're separated for too long, I start to go crazy. It's happened before and the only way to truly stop it was to kill me."

"Are you sure this isn't just some crazy bond or all part of your imagination?" Theo asks and I chuckle.

"I would pass it off as that if it wasn't for the fact that my mate is a seer."

"A what?" Theo gapes. "Those actually exist? I thought all those psychic people were scams?"

"Most of them are," I hiss through the pain as they press gauze against the wounds. "But there are rare cases where the ones who showcase their gifts, are actually real. Most seers hide especially after the Salem Witch Trials." Theo runs his hands through his hair, trying to process everything. He wasn't raised in this world, never saw anything before this. It'll be a while and maybe never before he can listen to it without blinking. Ashley and Jessica on the other hand seem to be taking this very easy.

"How do you girls already know all about this?" I ask, turning my head to the side. They give each other another look and then smile at me.

"We've been on this job for awhile and Dr. Fergus doesn't hire just anybody to be a nurse," Jessica smiles smugly.

"We are both orphans and were raised in a nunnery until we turned 15. The day after our birthday, these men came and took us and several more girls." Ashley continues. "They brought us to a facility where they taught us everything to know about the supernatural including how to care for the injured."

"I didn't know there was such a thing," I ponder, wondering why I haven't asked them after being here for a year.

"Yeah. It's all really interesting and it's especially in your case. One person with the serum all thanks to that scientist who destroyed the rest." Jessica laughs, a happy gleam on her face.

"Can you tell me more about that? It just doesn't seem like a scientist would just up and do that."

"I can do you one better," Theo announces, a devilish smile on his face. "I can get you his file."

….

A little while later, as I pace my room waiting for Theo, I touch the base of my head. A little bump, almost not noticeable, rests there, taunting me. My power is sucked dry, all because of a little device.

How the hell did I let myself get here? Powerless to do anything, to get back to Chloe. She thinks I'm dead. Has she moved on? If- when I escape, will she want me back? I know that everything has changed, especially if I'm here much longer. How much has Chloe changed? How much have I?

The door suddenly opens, startling me out of my thoughts. Theo smiles at me, shutting the door behind him. In his hands, he holds a folder that looks too thin to actually have anything in it.

"Is that it?" I ask and he nods, handing the folder over. I instantly flip it open and have to blink twice. Almost everything is blacked out.

"Are you sure this is it?"

"Yeah. Why?" I show it to Theo and he instantly loses his grin. "Shit. I didn't realize- Is there any information that you can get from it?"

"Not much. His name is even blacked out."

"Oh, well I know that. The scientist's name was Richard Beale." Everything suddenly stops and a roaring sound takes place, overcoming everything else. Richard Beale? Chloe's father? She never really mentioned his name, always just calling him dad. Even if that's not her father, it still has to be someone related to her. It's too much of a coincidence not to be.

"Beca, are you okay?" Theo waves a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my trance.

"Yeah," I say absentmindedly, thumbing through the folder. I look through to list of serums that he destroyed until my eye catches on one. Serum #22- telepathy. The serum was taken from a woman who claimed to be psychic. After serious testing, she was proved to be true to her word and they discovered that she was able to read minds and feel others emotions just by looking at them.

Chloe can read minds and I wouldn't think much of it if it wasn't for the fact that she can also see the future and past in her dreams. Is it possible that her father was the scientist who destroyed the serums? Did he keep one and give it to his infant daughter?