A/N: Sorry about the wait. Chapter two!
Quinn's POV
A scream rang out from down the hall; a scream as familiar as my own.
"SCOUT!" I hollered and crawled to the cage door. I began to rattle the door hoping that something, anything would come lose and I could get out.
Nothing did. The door to the room banged open and a lady stood in the doorway. Her brown hair was streaked with gray and her brown eyes watched my struggle with the door.
She strode over to my door and took out a key. Then, she clucked her tongue and two men entered. Well, maybe "men" isn't the right word. They were short, about five foot, but they looked terrible. Their skin was black, midnight black, and paneled in hard armor-like shells along their bodies.
Their arms ended not in hands, but in pincers and arched above each of their heads, was a stinger. Their chests were bare and they wore a pair of jeans and no shoes.
The real horror was their faces. They each had four eyes, two on either side of their faces. Their mouths were twitchy and tiny. They were bald with red tattoos on their head and chest.
"These are the Scorps," Dr. Hagen said.
"Creative…" I muttered under my breath. I internally smiled. Scout was rubbing off on me.
"Don't back sass me, young lady. I could kill you and scout in a single second," she threatened and the Scorps raised their stingers threateningly. I shivered. Their creepy faces were going to haunt me forever now.
I didn't answer her and a slow smile crept along her face. She knew the effect those words had on me. She unlocked my cage and gestured for me to follow her. I did under careful watch from the Scorps.
She led me down the hall into a small light brown room with two swivel-back chairs. The Scorps stood just outside the door, guarding.
"We won't kill your sister yet because we could use both of you. We have been having a shortage of…subjects to experiment on, and you could solve that problem." she began.
"And if I don't?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"If you don't want to, your sister is history. So, under penalty of your sister's life, do you agree to do anything for us and to serve us?" she asked me, openly smirking, as if she knew my answer. Which she did.
"Yes," I whispered. It was as if I had lost control of my voice and had unwilling said it. I was terrified that they would hurt Scout. A shudder ran through me, Scout scream echoing again and again in my eardrums. I couldn't let that happen to her. I'm responsible for her and if I have to join the bad guys to save her, I will. But this threat on our lives showed how truly desperate they were for followers and experiments. That small thought allowed me to give a weak smile.
"What are you smiling at?" she barked, disgruntled that her attempts to anger me were not working.
I didn't answer, but inside I thought that if they needed followers that badly, then it would be unlikely for them to kill us. Not many other mutants care about each other enough to join the scientists to protect them.
But if they did decide to kill me, I wasn't going down without a fight.
Scout's POV
I screamed again before restraining myself. I looked weak if I screamed and if I looked weak, I'd be an easier target.
I bit my lip as the fire from my arm spread through my body and it engulfed me. It felt like a million knives being driven into my body. Soon, the pain overwhelmed me and my vision faded to black.
I woke to someone slapping my face over and over again. Through bleary, half-closed eyes, I saw Charlotte desperately trying to awaken me. I blinked sluggishly and was about to straighten up when I heard angry voices. I stayed "asleep" to eavesdrop.
Marty and Warren were arguing in a corner. I caught a few snippets of what they were saying.
"…promised her nothing would happen to it. That's subject 25 for God's sake!" Marty was exclaiming, while Warren listened sourly. Aw...they cared about me, even if I was an 'it.' The next part was too low for me to hear, but I caught the next sentence.
"Look, if it doesn't awaken, there is always 26," Warren argued. I sat up fast at the mention of torturing Quinn. Almost immediately, Charlotte interrupted their conversation.
"She's awake!" she exclaimed and the two scientists looked relieved. At the look on their faces, I realized that they weren't done with me.
"You can rest for about two minutes while I prepare a batch for the wings and so Dr. Martha can prepare the tests," he said, as unkind and uncaring as ever. I leaned back in the chair with a sigh and turned to Charlotte.
"How long was I out?" I asked, knowing that she, unlike the others, would answer me.
"About a half-hour," she replied, avoiding my gaze. Wow, she changed in the hour we'd been here. Maybe she would fit in here. That's just what the world needs, another crazy scientist. Great.
Warren brought another full syringe up to me and I regarded him coldly.
"Wing," he barked and, unwilling, I complied. As he injected the fluid, I braced myself for the pain. It wasn't as bad as before and it was only my wings that hurt.
After the burning sensation died down, they continued to throb, but I gritted my teeth and didn't show it. Thank the Lord that I didn't pass out again.
Marty walked out from behind what looked a huge box. This machine seemed to be mostly made of metal that, considering the current context was probably fireproof. One of the walls, however, was made of glass with what appeared to be a door handle on it. Inside there were little holes all along the metal sides. The whole scary device was just large enough for a person to stand comfortably inside.
Why you would want to, I have no idea, but it sure was possible. And, considering my current company, that was a brand-new torture device to be used on, you guessed it, me.
Warren roughly grabbed my arm and began to drag me over to this magical device, but Marty stopped him.
"Test with smaller scale first. We don't want her charred to ashes," she exclaimed, hauling me back to the chair. He nodded with a clenched jaw. It was clear these two did not get along. Maybe they could argue the whole time and not get anything done until their lab time with me expired.
Apparently, luck wasn't on my side today. Heck, luck was never on my side any day. Warren went along with Marty's suggestion. I slumped back down into the chair as Warren grabbed a lighter from a side table. He held it to my hospital gown and it caught fire. As it slowly burnt to ashes around me, I didn't feel a thing. I felt like a freaking human candle.
Now, all I had on was a one-piece jumpsuit type-thing. It fitted tightly around my throat and was sleeveless for easy injections. The bottom was low cut shorts and the whole strangling contraption was made of flame-resistant, water-proof rubber. It clung to you and I despised it.
"It works," Warren openly smirking at Marty's back. His face returned to a hard line as Marty spun around from facing the box. He grasped my arm tightly and hauled me over to it. He not so gently placed me inside and slammed the door. He locked tightly.
Marty peered in the glass and watched me carefully; her eyes alight with excitement, and…what looked like malice.
"Do it!" she cried and Warren cocked his head to the side and threw the switch.
A/N: Cliffy, kinda. Review!