Chapter 8. Secrets Revealed

Judy's POV

Fuzziness was the first thing I saw when I woke up. I wasn't exactly sure where I was, but once my vision had fully cleared it was so bright I was nearly blinded. I moved to cover my eyes, only to find my arms strapped down.

"Um..what?" I whispered, looking down.

I discovered I was strapped down to some sort of examaination table. My heart beat instinctivley sped up. My nose twitched a little bit more, and my ears swiveled around a bit faster. Where was I? Who'd brought me here? And what were they gonna do with me?

I started examining my surroundings. The room I was in looked something like a hospital room would. Hosptials are usually pretty welcoming though. And let me tell you, there was nothing welcoming about this place. I turned my head to the right of me, noticing a large billboard. A lot like the one I'd seen in the hidden passage earlier. Only...something caught my attention.

This billboard had information about rabbit anatomy. Pictures and sketches of rabbits were scattered across the board. In the center of it all, a sketch of an unknown object rested. It was a bright red substance inside a jar.

"My most prized possession" An unknown voice suddenly spoke, startling me terribly.

I jerked my head in the direction of the voice. A figure stood in the darkness. I mentally braced myself, preparing to meet the animal I believed to be involved with all the murders and dissapearences of my family and friends. Possibly even Nick. Out of the darkness, emerged a...black fox. He honestly didn't look like most cliche` bad guys. In other words, he wasn't nearly as scary or intimidating as I'd expected him to be. Yes, a rabbit can say that about a fox.

"Who are you?" I asked. Might as well try and start off civil. Though it's clear he dosen't have good intentions.

"My name is Eric. Eric Wilde" He replied.

Wilde? Like...the same as Nicholas Wilde? Were they related somehow? Nick never told me about any family of his. Besides his mother of course. So who was this guy?

"I assume you know my brother. Nick? Last I checked you two were pretty...cozy afterall" Eric said casually.

Nick had a brother!? Why didn't he tell me!? I know everybody has secrets, but seriously! We were best friends! Maybe even...a little bit closer. So why wouldn't he tell me about him? Sure, it was evident he was into some shady stuff. But Nick had been too! Was it cause he became a cop? Was he afraid I'd try and put his brother in jail? Regardless of his reasoning I had every right to know.

"He never mentioned having any siblings. I always thought of him as an only child" I replied.

"He didn't? How surprising. After all he's done to help me, and with you being his partner, you'd think he would've told you by now" Sarcasm dripped from every word he spoke. "No matter. I'll tell you all about it."

"You see, when we were young we suffered so much mistreatment at the hands of the prey animals. They treated us like monsters. And as time went on it only got worse. As you know it's only in our nature to divide each other into two catergories, 'Prey and Predator.' And as preadators, we're seen as the threat. The ones whom should be feared and despised. So as you can imagine, life wasn't easy for us. We never knew our father. Our mother could barely afford to feed the three of us. So Nick and I took to the streets. Desperate to scrap in a few extra dollars. For me, this lifestyle quickly became a second nature to me. Crime became a daily thing. But Nick wasn't so keen on this way of living. He was slow to adjust, and at times hesitated to take action. He continued doing it, though, because like so many other preadtors it was the stereotype. Everyone already saw us as criminals, so why not be such? For many years, Nick and I worked side by side. Stealing, lying, and cheating our way through life. One day, everything changed."

Third Person POV

Flashback; Nick: Age 10 Eric: Age 12

"Nick! Will you hurry up?! The cops are gonna be here any minute!" Eric exclaimed.

"I'm trying. I just had to grab a few more things" Nick replied, quickly running up to his brother's side.

"Mom dosen't need the entire drug store. Just some flu meds should do it. Now lets bust a move before-" Eric was cutt off mid sentence as a light was suddnely shined directly in his face.

"Don't either of you kids move! I gotta gun and I ain't afraid to use it!"

A bunny, most likely the owner of the drug store, had come out of the back room and spotted the two brothers. Upon instinct, the two started running in the opposite direction. Gunshots rang out as the two were shot at by the enraged rabbit, whom was quick to pursue them.

"Come back here, you know good predators!" She shouted.

Eric was almost to the front door when he heard a large crash from behind him. He turned to check on his brother, only to find he'd knocked over a rack of...strange looking red liquid. Nick was pinned beneath the rack, struggling to get up. Eric rushed over lifting the rack up with all his might. The bunny was quickly approaching, gun aimed straight at them. Luckily, Nick slipped out just in time.

"Come on, bro! Let's get out of here!" Eric exclaimed. But something wasn't right

Nick had suddenly stopped moving, holding his head as though he were in pain. The rabbit who'd been chasing them had manuvered past the rack and ran straight for him. Eric quickly reached for his trusty hunting knife, planning to defend his brother. It soon became clear...Nick needed no protection.

When Nick awoke, his head was throbbing. He felt as though he'd been hit by a bus, two times over. He struggled to sit up, resting his paws on either side of him. When he did so his paws came incontact with some sort of fluid. Nick raised his paws up to inspect them. His eyes widened with horror at what he saw.

Blood. So...much...blood. Not only was it on his paws, but his shirt, pants, all over the floor even. Blood. What had happened to him? Nick looked around to examine his surroundings. He forever wished he hadn't.

The drug store floor was covered in a sea of red. Bodies lie scattered about in the room. Upon further examination, he realised they were police officers. They must've shown up to stop him and Eric. Eric!? Was he alright!?

Nick spun about, frantically searching for his brother. It didn't take him long to find him. Eric was standing near the rack he'd gotten pinned under earlier. He was holding a jar of something in his paws. Nick stumbled over to his side, looking down at his paws. It was a jar of the red liquid he'd gotten covered in when the rack fell down.

"W-What happened here?" Nick asked, his head still pounding. Making it hard to speak.

Eric looked up at him slowly, as though he were in his own little world. All it took to respond, was one word. "You."

Judy's POV

I couldn't believe my ears. Nick...had...murdered animals? Police officers included? And he NEVER told me? I'd never been so shocked to hear such a story in my life. Not even learning about my family's dissapearence has made me feel like this. I almost felt...betrayed. Hustled, once again. But in the most painful way possible.

Eric reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small jar. It held the very red liquid I'd seen on the sketches, and heard about in the story.

"This serum, is like no other. It has the ability to change a predator into something they could never dream of being. Unable to control their actions, they're sent into a blinding rage, and given a permanent thrist for blood. Now that you know the story you probably know that Nick has been having some troubles lately. His temper hasn't been the best, and he's been suffering from some...migraines. Why do you think that is, Hopps?" Eric asked.

"Cuase the serum is still in his system. Always has been" I quietly replied.

"And always will be. Though, it's effects aren't as severe once it's been brewing in one's body for a good 15 years. The thing about this serum though is that it has a very intresting side affect. Not only will the predator forever turn savage at some point in their lives, but they will be triggered by the first species they ever attacked. Do you remember what that was, Hopps?"

I tensed up as his words sunk in. Nick had first attacked the bunny in that drug store. Now...he was going after other rabbits. Including...me. I was one of his targets. Nick hated me. All this time that serum had been infesting his body, and it was telling him to kill me.

But he didn't.

"There's still a chance. We can help Nick. I can help Nick. You said the affects were'nt as intense as time went on, but they were still present. He could still kill, and he has. But never once, did Nicholas Wilde lay a paw on me. In fact, he protected me. Countless times. He's saved my life in the line of duty before. Just like I saved his! I can't find Nick anywhere and there's a reason. He's hiding himself from me, my family, friends, everyone I know! He's protecting us all as I speak! Nick might be savage right now, and some lives may have been lost, but I know for a fact he's still in there! We can still-" I was cut off from my hopeful speech by laughter.

Eric laughed like there was no tomorrow, even wiping a tear from his eye. "We? We? Where did you get that lunatic idea? I may have told you what made Nick the way he is now, but I didn't tell you that so you could HELP him. I told you that just to inform you of what's to come."

What did he mean? What was he planning on doing to Nick?

"You see, now that Nick has turned savage, I can finish my plan. I can prove to those worthless little cottontail friends and family of yours, and all of Zootopia, that predators were meant to be feared. And it's all gonna end with you. Once I've disposed of the rest of the Bunnyburrow, I can start injecting other murderous predators withe serum. Soon all prey will leave in terror for the rest of their pathetic lives. Until they're painfully ended. No need to get ahead of ourselves though. Why don't we start with some animals I'm certian you know."

Eric held up a remote, clicking one of the buttons on it. To the right of me, a metal wall slide up to reveal a glass cage. Inside that cage...were my parents and a bunch of my siblings.

"Mom! Dad!" I exclaimed, struggling against my restriants.

"Judith! Thank heavens you're ok!" Dad yelled back, pressing himself agains the glass.

"They haven't hurt you, have the bun-bun?" Mom asked.

"I'm fine! You need to get out of there! You're the ones who are gonna get hurt if you don't!"

Eric smirked with satisfaction. He glanced in the direction of the glass cage, his grin widening as another door inside it slid open. A pair of red eyes glared at my family from within, cuasing me to panic even more.

"Eric! Please! Let them go! I don't care what you do to me, just let them go!" I shouted, fighting with all my might to get free.

Some masked animals came into the room, holding me down so I couldn't move. Out of the darkness a very angry, and very savage, Nick slunk towards my parents. My mom screamed and clung to my dad with all her might. Most of my brothers and sisters had started crying, hiding behind both my parents.

"Nick! Don't do this!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

The growling fox suddenly froze, his ears pricking up at the sound of my voice. He recognized my voice. The real Nick was still in there!

"Nick! If you can hear me please, you have to fight it! You're not a monster! You're not an untrustworthy fox! You're a cop! You're my best friend! And...And I lov-" I was cut off by a hard slap acorss the face.

Eric had heard enough from me. He'd clawed me right across the check. Same way Gideon had when we were kids. Nick's ears went back down and he started growling again. My family had backed themselves into the corner, cowering with fear.

I myself had started crying, still shouting for them to run, fight back, do something. Anything! But it was pointless.

I yelped in pain as I felt a needle get plunged into my neck. I continued to struggle, but my body soon started to give way to whatever drug I'd been given. Eric had begun making his way out the main door, paws clapsed behind his back.

"Eric! Please d-don't do this! We can all s-still live in p-peace!" I stuttered out, getting weaker by the second.

Eric turned his head slightly, but didn't look at me. "Oh Judy, peace is dead. Just like everyone you love."

I cried out my protest for as long as I could. As my vision began to fade, I heard my mother's frantic screams and saw blood spatter across the glass cage."

A single tear ran down my cheek. "N-No." Then everything went black once more.