Behold! A new chapter!

Again, nothing belongs to me.

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Chapter Thirteen: Gala

The sight that greeted me was not what I had expected. To be fair though, I didn't know what I expected.

But it definitely wasn't this.

'Take a seat.'

I was in what appeared to be a large dining room, with a massive table slightly off to the side. Sitting at one end of the table was the woman from before, Dr. O'Neill. Seated next to her was the man who was with her earlier, who had yet to be given a name.

Screw it. Might as well find out what they want.

I tucked my wings in, pulled out a chair and sat, glaring at them both.

'Now,' I said, trying to take control of the situation. 'Who are you and what the hell do you want?'

'I am Dr. Arya O'Neill, and this is my esteemed associate Dr. Luke Vincent.'

Why is everyone who kidnaps me a doctor? Is this part of the med school curriculum or something? Capture a human-avian hybrid and dissect it for extra credit?

'Great to meet you, but you didn't answer the second part of my question: what do you want?'

'Patience is a virtue. One that you have yet to learn apparently.'

'Do you have a name, creature?' Dr. Vincent asked me, examining me as though I was an insect pinned to a board.

'Yep.' I smirked. 'You may address me as "Mistress" or, if you prefer, "that girl who will kick your ass".'

'Let's try that again.' Dr. Vincent smiled unpleasantly. 'Do you have a name?'

'How about "Queen Prudence"? Is that less objectionable?'

He glared at me. I had a feeling he would have said something, probably a threat, if he wasn't interrupted by a door opening at the back of the room.

'I don't believe I've had the pleasure of making your acquaintance.' Bellatrix slammed the door behind her. I was immediately jealous of how badass she sounded.

The two doctors (whose claims to the title 'Doctor' were questionable) introduced themselves in the same manner that they had to me, and invited her to sit.

'I accept your invitation.' Bellatrix said haughtily, refusing to surrender what little control she had. She nodded in my direction as she sat across from me. 'Hello.'

I nodded back. 'Hello.' I returned.

We sat in silence for approximately forty seconds before two more doors opened, both of them on the left side of the room.

'Please, join us.' Dr. O'Neill gestured for Peter and Sirius to sit. 'Before you ask, I am Dr. Arya O'Neill, and I am your host.'

'Our very gracious host, I'm sure.' Peter muttered, taking a seat next to me while Sirius sat next to his cousin. They exchanged brief glares.

'Do not fret too much, I promise not to mortally wound you. I'm simply delighted to meet you all! You're all so special, so unique!'

'Oh, is that why Dr. Wanker over here kidnapped us?' Sirius jerked a thumb at Dr. Vincent, who shrugged as if to say, What? You're blaming me?

'My dear friend Dr. Vincent was kind enough to catch you for me when I discovered your location. I couldn't bear to let someone else get their hands on you. I've been waiting so long for people,' she paused, then nodded at me, 'and creatures like you to waltz into my life.'

'If by "waltz", you mean "be hauled unwillingly after being forcibly captured", then yeah, I agree.' Peter said quietly.

'How you got here is no matter, it's the fact that you are here! Now that Dr. Vincent and I have introduced ourselves, how about you? It's hardly fair, you knowing our names while we don't know yours, don't you think?'

'No.' Bellatrix snapped. 'Where is my sister? Where is Rodolphus? If they're dead...' she let the threat trail off threateningly, but I noticed her glance away, swallowing, trying to deny the possibility.

'I'm afraid they had more pressing matters to attend to.' Dr. O'Neill smiled in the most friendly, creepy way I could imagine.

Dr. Vincent was a bit more straightforward. 'They are not dead. May I?' he asked Dr. O'Neill, who sighed and nodded.

'If you must.' she replied, and handed him what seemed like a standard TV remote.

A large television screen unfolded from the wall. Bellatrix and Sirius turned around to see it.

'The girl is fine.' Dr. Vincent told us firmly. 'But you will not be allowed to see her in person.'

At the press of a button of the probably-not-as-standard-as-it-seemed TV remote, the television flickered to life, showing Narcissa in a room that looked very much like the one I had woken up in. She was staring straight at the camera, looking less terrified than when I had last seen her. She seemed to have moved on to resigned acceptance, which made my heart twist slightly. I'd seen that look before, on the faces of my Flock.

'She is our insurance, so to speak.' Dr. O'Neill said lightly. 'I know what some of you are capable of. Every time you take so much as one step out of line, she loses a finger.'

Bellatrix looked furious, but didn't speak, choosing to fume in silence.

'Why would you do that?' Sirius demanded. 'Narcissa's just a bloody kid, and you're... Merlin, you're a horrible person!'

Dr. O'Neill looked affronted. 'I'm being quite kind to her. I have no other use for her. Instead of killing her, I've chosen to keep her alive. You should be grateful.'

'Grateful?' Sirius spluttered. 'Grateful? It's your fault in the first place! Saying I should be grateful to you is like saying I should be grateful that the pigeon that shat on me didn't peck my eyes out!'

'And I suppose Rodolphus is "insurance" as well?' Bellatrix glared at the two doctors of questionable degrees. If looks could kill, we'd be on our way out right now. Maybe I could get Dr. O'Neill to give her laser eyes...

Dr. Vincent looked away while Dr. O'Neill smirked. 'Hardly.' she replied. 'Your actions have absolutely no effect on his condition, so if you don't care for the girl, I suppose you could do whatever you like.'

'What do you mean?' Bellatrix's glare intensified, a thing I hadn't thought possible. I thought I was good at glaring, but the vicious stares that collided in this room made me feel positively puny.

'Perhaps I should explain why you are all here.'

'Perhaps you should.' I snapped, finally able to get a word in.

'You are beings of extraordinary abilities.' Dr. O'Neill said. 'Four of you are "purebloods", made entirely of magical blood. What is it about you that grants you your powers? How far do these abilities extend? Does this magic protect you even when you're not consciously instructing it to? These are just some of the questions I will find answers for, all thanks to you.'

'I think you should explain yourself a little more.' Bellatrix growled.

'Why tell when you can show?' Dr. O'Neill's smirk widened as she picked up the TV remote. 'Or better yet, both!'

Dr. Vincent sighed and shifted in his seat as the television flicked from Narcissa staring at the camera to the man I recognised as the one who had transported me here, Hunter, leaning over an either unconscious of restrained Rodolphus, drawing blood out of his arm.

'I'd be very interested to see what would happen if magical blood were to be infused into an ordinary human.' Dr. O'Neill commented.

Dr. Vincent looked mildly disgusted. I wondered why.

'But that's for later. Can't have a perfect specimen dying too soon, can we?' she laughed, and Bellatrix glared. 'After all, we have so many more tests to run!'

'Let him go.' Bellatrix said. 'I'll do your stupid tests.'

'I don't think so. See, you and the other pureblood,' she gestured to Sirius, 'will be used for physical tests. I'd be very interested to see how your magic works? Do you think it increases your endurance? Your strength?'

'You only need one to do that. Let him go, and my sister.'

'I'm afraid I need your sister. And even if I were to set the other one free, I don't think he'd make it very far.'

'What do you mean by that?' Bellatrix's rage seemed to pulse through the room.

'I think I mentioned it earlier. We're going to see if a pureblood can endure more than a normal human without dying.'

'You - you bitch!' Bellatrix slammed her fist on the table. 'How dare you?'

Dr. Vincent seemed to be trying to ignore the argument. What was the big deal with him?

'Don't worry so much.' Dr. O'Neill waved a hand dismissively. 'You should be more concerned for yourself.'

'What about me?' Peter asked. 'Where do I fit into all of this?'

'You carry both non-magical and magical blood, am I correct?'

'Yeah,' Peter said quietly. He looked like he was trying to convince himself that it was all a dream.

'You will run the same test at the two purebloods.'

Peter broke her gaze and glanced at the floor. I decided to draw the attention off him.

'What do you want with me? You seem to have big ideas for all your magic tests, but what use am I to you?'

Dr. Vincent spoke, apparently over his discomfort. 'You are avian-human hybrid, but you have other mutations, seemingly from nowhere. Haven't you wondered why?'

'Well... no.' I said honestly. I'd never really given a crap.

'I have.' Dr. O'Neill said. 'And I'd love to see if the results can be replicated, possibly with another animal's genes.'

'What else've you got going on here, Dr. O'Neill?' I demanded sarcastically. 'The freaking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?'

She looked at me blankly while Dr. Vincent tried to hide a snicker.

'Turtles... what an interesting concept.' she murmured.

'Yes, isn't it just?' I rolled my eyes. Someone hadn't had a childhood, and it wasn't me. 'You know what else is an interesting concept? Letting us go.'

'You still haven't told me your names.' Dr. O'Neill said, and I sighed. She was unbelievably stubborn.

'Why bother? You already know.' Peter said. I straightened up.

'What?' I asked.

'I saw it in an office earlier.' Peter said. 'So you can stop lying now.'

Dr. O'Neill bristled. 'Take them.' she said, and suddenly we were surrounded. 'And don't even think about fighting. You know the consequences.'

Hands pulled at me, tugging me out of my chair. One hand snagged my wing, the sensitive bit, and I yelped, falling into the arms of one of my captors.

'No...' I growled. The others were faring just as well as I was, which made sense, since we all seemed to have made a silent agreement to play along with whatever she had in mind.

For now, anyway.