Chapter 11

Once more lying on her bed, having taken care of her needs with the assistance of the white-coats, Red Dragon glared angrily at the ceiling. She absolutely detested being stuck in one place, especially when there was nothing she could really do. She wished desperately that she could explore the lab, as there were many areas she had not seen, and she was certain she would be able to find many things that had been hidden from her, especially with her new senses. However, she was also mindful of the Headmaster's orders and had no wish to try his patience as much as she had done already. Even though he had not gone into specifics when he had mentioned 'consequences', Red Dragon was certain that they would be horrible to experience.

As her anger rose, she remembered the Headmaster's last orders to her, and resolved to think of a way to control her anger, certain that any sensation or expression of rage only made it easier for her to become lost in her inhuman instincts. Closing her eyes, she attempted to block out everything and focus solely on her breathing, hoping that bringing attention away from the cause of her anger would assist in calming her. For a while, it appeared to be working, as the tenseness and irritation she had been experiencing seemed to be fading.

Suddenly, a foreign emotion made itself known, a strong burst of excitement over new surroundings and frustration over having to stay in one place. Red Dragon was certain that these emotions belonged to the non-human part of her and that the creature that had provided that DNA sample was somehow sentient, despite only existing in DNA. Somehow, it was aware that it was bound to something else and seemed determined to communicate with her, its separate emotions appearing to be the only method it could use. She gritted her teeth as a sudden strong burst of energy surged through her. While before she had wanted to get out of bed, now she regretted that notion as it had obviously given the creature ideas. She went completely rigid, attempting to lock her muscles and hissing in pain as the movement set her shoulder aching. That hissing abruptly turned to loud, savage snarls as she gave voice to her frustrations over the unnecessary conflict she was now forced to deal with.

She was startled when the door was flung open, and the Headmaster marched into the room, looking supremely irritated. Clearly, her snarls had alerted the white-coats that there was something wrong, and they had decided to inform their Director. It was obvious that he had been interrupted in the middle of something, if the expression on his face was any indication. She suddenly released a sound that was almost a roar, as the energy thrumming through her seemed to increase in intensity. Desperately she attempted to gain control of her voice, intent on giving explanations to the Headmaster before he became angry with her interruption. Convulsing slightly, as the energy raced through her limbs, she finally managed to speak, distressed to find that she hissed and snarled after every word.

"That...creature...is...still...sentient...causing ...outbursts...of...energy...making...me...loose.. .control!"

The Headmaster stared down at her, finding her words unexpected and almost nonsensical. However difficult it was to believe that any creature could still be sentient after being reduced to a mere fragment of bone, the evidence demonstrated that it was evidently possible. It was clear that the girl was struggling against something, as she fought to make herself stay on her bed. He was impressed by her almost fierce obedience to his last orders, clearly she was still loyal to him, even if it seemed that she was no longer hypnotised. He was very astonished when she suddenly launched herself from the bed having seemingly lost her battle for control.

Red Dragon inwardly despaired as she lost the willpower to keep fighting against the outburst of energy, suddenly launching herself from her bed with a roar. Her claws once again made an appearance, and she would contemplate later how it was that they did not cause any pain as they rasped from her fingertips. Once again the creature made contact with her, a large amount of excitement, a great desire to see more of this new place with the completely new scents and images. She knew that if she did completely give in to the creature's desire, she might end up in a part of the laboratory with very delicate equipment or experiments, and feared that her own anger would cause her to destroy them. With an enormous effort, she wrenched herself away from the direction of the open door and channelled the energy burning through her veins into her strengthening aggression.

The Headmaster was intrigued as he observed the claws once again being revealed, and then became distinctly alarmed as she turned towards the open door to his left. If she escaped into the laboratory, he was horribly aware of the terrible amount of damage she could inflict with those claws on his more delicate experiments, especially with the aggression she was currently demonstrating. He was preparing himself to leap for the door and slam it shut, when she somehow managed to regain a small amount of control. It did not appear to be too significant, as her aggression and anger was as strong as ever, but it was enough. With a wrench that must have been painful, she tore herself away from the doorway and flung herself at the wall, attacking it with all of her strength. Punching, head-butting and clawing the wall, she showed no restraint as the room echoed to her howls of rage. The Headmaster frowned at this ferocious attack. If she rampaged in this fashion for too long, he had no doubt that she would acquire more injuries, as well as damaging her shoulder even further. This would cause him more delays to his plans, as he would have to wait for her to heal. This was dangerous as he knew he must make his move against Dinah Hunter soon; she was doubtless already preparing a plan of her own, even if she did believe what Red Dragon had written in her message. Hurriedly he called for more of his white-coats; he knew that two of them would not be enough.

Red Dragon was very taken aback when her efforts to tear the wall to pieces were frustrated. She found herself struggling to move as at least six white-coats held on to her, fighting to restrain her. Snarling, she attempting to lash out at them with her claws, hoping to cause enough pain that they would let her go and she could make them pay for trying to stop her. However, she found herself unable to do this, as she was held too securely, her arms and legs held down by separate people, so that they could neutralise her struggles more easily. Her struggles growing weaker, she demonstrated what she felt in the only way she could, the room echoing once again with howls of anger and frustration. Thankfully, the loss of the unnatural energy seemed to release her from the influence of the creature, as she experienced a burst of disappointment before she regained control of herself. She abruptly sagged in the grip of the white-coats, completely spent; now wanting to regain her bed and never leave it.

She barely heard it when the Headmaster ordered the white-coats to release her, merely curling herself into a ball and closing her eyes, sobbing slightly at the pain that lanced through her shoulder and her throat, now very sore from the intensity of her howls. All she wanted now was something that would keep the pain away for longer and to sleep in her bed again, no matter how much she had hated staying in it earlier.

The Headmaster was very relieved that she had gained control, he would now be able to get on with his experiments, and hopefully he would be able to advance his plans within the next day or two. About to order his white-coats to put her back in bed and preparing himself to leave the room, he frowned as he realised that she was crying. The only time this ever happened was when she was in pain, which seemed to be the case now. He knew that if he did not deal with this pain, not only would it take her longer to heal, there was also a possibility that she could resent his lack of help and turn against him. She was no longer under his direct control, and he was not certain that even the amount of people he had hypnotised throughout the building would be enough to stop her from harming him if she viewed him as an enemy.

Gesturing for his white-coats to leave the room, he knelt next to where she was curled on the carpet, eyes still tightly shut. He placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, uncertain whether calling her would be enough. Wearily she opened her eyes, seeming to be surprised that the Headmaster was still there. Appearing to study her, the Headmaster suddenly demanded,

"Where are you in pain?"

Stunned for a few moments at the most unlikely of questions from the man who was kneeling at her side, she finally pulled herself together enough to choke out an answer.

"M-my s-shoulder g-got –j-jolted. A-and m-my t-throat h-hurts"

The headmaster nodded curtly at her answer, before repeating the action he had used earlier, putting her into her bed. This was another thing that surprised her; she had expected that he would order a white-coat to do what he had just done. In the end she reasoned that he knew she lacked the energy to get in bed herself, and it would take too long to track down a white-coat for their assistance. She scowled when she saw the Headmaster approaching with the medication he had given her before, hating its taste. She was almost tempted to knock the glass out of his hand as he brought it close enough for her to drink. The Headmaster must have captured her petulant expression, as he hissed warningly:

"Attempt to destroy your pain medication and I may leave you to endure it without anything to ease what you are experiencing now. I advise you not to test me on this"

Seeing that he meant what he said, Red Dragon reluctantly drank it, glaring angrily at the Headmaster while she was doing so and fantasising what she could do in retaliation. He seemed unfazed by her resentment and merely ordered,

"Stop glaring at me, it serves no purpose at all. I will have one of my staff bring you some water to sooth your throat. After you have finished you will sleep. The more you sleep, the quicker you will heal, and I will then allow you to leave your bed. I will soon be creating a room where you can safely release any more outbursts of energy from the creature"

Having finished relating his latest orders the Headmaster strode from the room. Red Dragon grumpily closed her eyes, half-heartedly hoping that she could find out where the Headmaster was making that medication and destroy all of it as soon as she was healed. She wouldn't do something like that when she still needed it, she wasn't that stupid...