ROTPOTA – Chapter 1
"Get up mutant" the being in white yelled. I had heard someone call him by 'dav...' Something but to me he was the person in white. The one who got angry if I didn't do something when they asked. I heaved my body up off the edge my raggedy blanket falling off my body. The room was cold, it almost always was but you grow used to the temperature after a while. The little hatchway opened up along the clear plastic of the front of the cell. Breakfast. Today it was the funny looking and much less tasty squares, some mashed potatoes and part of a banana. Banana was a change usually it was just more square things. Quickly I looked both ways and seeing no-one I snatched the food. Sometimes if they saw my fingers they would hit them. I chewed my food slowly, saving the banana for last enjoying it and savouring the taste. Only once I tried saving food, I was beat for trying to save a cracker. You just took the food you were given and hoped it kept coming. Finishing what was on the plate I put it back on the ledge and sat down facing the glass.
My scar on my arm had started healing well now. The flesh was still pink but some of the hair had begun to grow back. It had become a clear red line where it had been cut. They always left scars, none of the ad been completely gone. I decided to leave it alone there was a chance I would make it worse, they never bandaged the wounds. Noise started to rattle up. More of the beings were coming, I shuffles up into the corner, pulling my cloth with me, fiddling with it waiting for them to come. Bright lights came on and I squinted against them, everything a bleach white harsh to even look at the floor. Peering past the light a being with short dark brown hair walked by rushing talking into a box. They didn't give a second glance towards me, sometimes that was a better option.
As the hours wore on more and more beings went by, rarely some people would stop and look at some screens, otherwise they carried on walking. My eyes had adjusted to the light and I was trying to count the wrinkles in my skin. They had taught me more numbers I was up to 34 now and getting closer to 100. Padding came up from the left hand side of my room, peering over I saw it was one being I could remember. But they were not nice being. I jumped onto the ledge and hid my face, fear running cold through my veins. I was still small and I could easily curl up onto the ledge, I little ball as I protected myself. The footsteps stopped. I curled up more. They tapped against the glass.
'I will not look- I will not look' I repeated to myself in my head.
"Move or I will hurt you" they roared, voice gruff and sharp as the needles they poked me with. Reluctantly I looked up the lights harsh. They looked down on me and looked away from the gaze curling in on myself. I shuffled to the glass and looked up. Eyes met eye but not with compassion. He had the pack with him, so I knew exactly what was about to happen. The door unlocked and slowly opened up. I was meant to walk out the door and the leash would be tied round me but I didn't want that pain again. I stayed where I was shoved into the corner.
"Move you rotten mutant!" yelled the being, angry. But I stayed, although shaking with fear at the thought of what they would do, tears starting to fall down my cheeks and into my fur. He stopped his feet and moved to grab me.
I pulled against them. Going up into the ledge pulling against them as they went pulling my arm. Wrestling against them but I was no match to them I was weaker. He dragged me along the floor, I scrabbled against him. Another one got involved. Wrapping a rope on my arms I kept on struggling. I didn't want to go, not again. A heavy blow went against my arm the pain overwhelming I could feel blood seeping on my skin. Another blow on my head and I stopped fighting as they dragged me against the floor. The word was covered in haze, in and out of conscious thoughts. I saw things go by but the pain was too much for my body to handle. I vaguely saw the beings go by but we went a different way to usual. But we went past more boxes. Like mine. More cages with others in, they looked different to beings who had entangled me in ropes. They looked like me, but they didn't. They were different from the beings in white they looked different from me. As if half of me and no being in them. But they were gone as soon as I had seen them. I blacked out again only feeling the pain of the ropes and the gashes. My eyes opened again when I was shoved onto a table. Beings around me started strapping my arms down as I fought against it but I was easily overpowered. Signing for them to stop but they paid to attention. A prick in my arm and I lost all my strength I kept yelling out a no hoping someone would understand but they just ignored me. My vision was going black at the edges and they carried on prodding as slowly lost conscious
My eyelid were too heavy to open. Everything ached especially my head, but I had to get up or I would get hit that was what happened. Slowly I gained the energy to move my eyelids the lights even harsher than usual, I brought my hand up and rubbed my eyes and noticed the bruising around my wrists from the ropes. They stung but it was easily overpowered by the pain coming from my shoulder and head. The next thing was to move and sit up properly so I could see what damage they had done. My body was like a tonne of bricks. Slowly I got up using what little strength I had in my arms and I sat up sloughed over hanging my head waiting for the world to stop spinning. As soon as it did the rest of the room looked the same apart from the floor which had a trail of blood on it. My body however was a different story. All scratched up and fur all mattered, now littered with bruises and little cuts. I would eventually count them. There was a larger cut on my right wrist but luckily it had stopped bleeding. My legs seemed to have escaped any damage but they ached from fighting. Each breath seemed to make my chest worse from the restraints and breathing had shortened. The worst damage was on my upper right arm that's where they had cut me. It was held by stitches that were itching. It was about as big as my middle finger. I touched the skin which I instantly regretted, it stung even more and the white pain shot up my arm. Next my left shoulder had a large and deep bleeding graze what would take a while to heal and even longer for parts of fur to return back to the skin. My had had obviously been hit, deep throbbing came from the side of my head and brushing my fingers gently against the wound I knew it was bad I would just have to sleep on the other side to not aggravate it.
I shuffled up close to the glass and I saw my reflection staring back at me. I ran my hands down my fur going onto my neck trying to make it all go the same way. I saw myself staring back. I was not a being in white. My skin was leathery on my face and darker than the beings. My nose as different, my head was a different shape, patchy fur covered parts of my body while others was just pale skin. But my build was like the beings so were my hands and my feet were half of theirs but they were a different shape. I slumped down my hand went to my ears. They were so big and looked like they didn't belong to my face. I looked away from my scrawny damaged body turning to stare at the corner. No matter how much they taught me I would never be like the beings that hurt me. I may have only been five but I could sign almost any word I could count I knew how to live even though I was a child. Somehow I wasn't a being. I was a thing – I was a….
I was like what I saw before I passed out. Covered in dark fur, wrinkly faces, hands and short legs but string bodies. But what were they? I couldn't be one of them, I was to scrawny, not enough fur on my body. Who was I? What was I? Unless I was neither. What if I had the intelligence of the beings who hurt me mixed with the creatures I saw in the boxes. Could I be? It must be what I was. But it didn't matter as long as I was in tis box being tested on I would be a mutant and nothing I would do could change my weakness.
Pulling my body up the shelf, I pulled my cloth to me covering my body up and something was underneath a little toy. A teddy bear a being had said once. One of the nicer beings gave it me after I had been cut and put to sleep. Cuddled the thing closer to my body and curled up into myself trying to forget the pain and go to sleep. As my eyes slowly closed the lights went out leaving me in complete darkness as I went into a dreamless sleep.