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Chapter 18

Quint flipped the lock and exited through the heavy lab door, rudely barging passed Dr Lida, barging her out of the way. Lida scowled over her shoulder at the man.

"Dr Lida, can I help you? Did I not make it clear that you were to resume your work immediately?" Dr Lane hissed as he exited the lab and came face to face with her glaring, piercing eyes.

"I heard… shouting," She said, her eyes softening and her voice meek.

"Yes, Mr Quint and I had a bit of a disagreement, but it is all taken care of now," Jacob smiled. "Shall we head over to Subject Two then? I am quite keen on seeing how she is reacting to the new drug," Dr Lane's voice was brimming with enthusiasm.

"Of course sir," Lida nodded sadly. She despised how Dr Lane treated Subject Two, or as she had begun to know her 'Eve'. Subject Two was just a young girl cursed with a condition she was born with, a disability, a disease. Out of everyone working in that heinous lab on the eighth floor Lida was the one I least resented, perhaps because she was the only human, the only one with a moral compass.

The moon shone its eerie white light over the frozen city. The temperature was dropping day by day as we fell deeper into winter's mitts. Quint's hands tightened around the handlebars on his motorcycle, the leather crunching beneath his grasp. He sped towards the suburbs; he hadn't been in such a neighbourhood since he was a boy. Before everything changed.

He remembered his little brick house with the blue door, and his mother standing at the window, watching him carefully as he ran and played in the enclosed garden. Quint shook his head; he would think no more of that. It was a different life, it was a different Quint.

He pulled onto Melbourne Street, and counted the house numbers as he edged up the road. 28. 29. 30. There, 31, he spotted the house that he had listed on the crunched up paper in his rear pocket. He hoped it was the correct address. He pulled up outside the residence and booted down the kickstand on his bike. Quint ripped off his helmet placing it under his arm as he shook out his hair as he narrowed his eyes on the little house. He climbed off the bike swiftly and stalked up to the front door. He knocked three times.

The door peaked open, its security chain refraining it from opening more than a slither. A surprised face peered between the gap.

"I suppose you're here for Vicky?" Tasha smiled mischievously.

"Yes, please," Quint said gruffly. Tasha closed the door abruptly, removed the latch and opened it up again, a little wider this time.

"Victoria it's for you!" Tasha turned and bellowed down the hall,

"Me?" I shouted back, confused. "I'll just be a second,"

"She's coming, would you like to come in?" Tasha smiled.

"Thanks, but no, it's just a flying visit," Quint explained in his most sociable voice he could manage. I emerged from down the hall.

"It's Quint," Tasha winked as we brushed passed each other. Tasha headed towards the living room back to her evening programme. Once the noise of the TV blared in the background I exited the house, closing the door slowly behind me. I wrapped my arms around my shivering body as I squared off against him. I was only dressed in a baggy t-shirt and Tasha's mint green polka-dot dressing gown. My bare toes curled up against the frosty concrete floor.

"Thought you'd find me eventually, there's no escaping you is there?" I sighed.

"I'm afraid not," Quint's rough voice spoke.

"What do you want now? I'm not going back there," My voice was fed up, I was tired of all this drama, I just wanted something stable.

"I know," Quint said. "Wanted to remind you tomorrow is full moon."

"The Gala," I huffed. It had already been pondering my mind whether to go or not, I wanted to have a fabulous night of champagne and cocktails with my friends, I loved a bit of glitz and glam. But I didn't love the idea of even being in the vicinity of Dr Loony Lane.

"Yes, the Gala. You must attend, you must undergo the change, taught the basics, after that, after tomorrow," He spoke slowly, "You can do as you wish, go where you want to go, you no longer have any obligation to stay, in fact I highly suggest you leave." I felt like my heart had jumped into my throat.

There was hesitation as I studied his face; in it I found nothing, either he was very good at masking his feelings, or he just didn't care at all. I thought about my next words very carefully as the air, time and space around us just seemed to freeze in the winter cold. Even though I'd fully planned what I was going to say the words just couldn't come out.

"Quint I-" I cut myself short mid sentence. No that wasn't right. I tried again. "I-" my voice croaked.

"Victoria-" Quint tried to speak, his voice quivering slightly, I knew what was coming but I interrupted him, not wanting to hear a word of it.

"Is this because of your father? The breeding?" I whispered harshly, my breath steaming in the street lights. That was not what I had planned to say at all. Quint nodded, it was a small slow nod, but still a nod. Something animalistic suddenly flipped inside of me. "You're what? Banishing me for my own good?" I hissed. At the time I was so disappointed in Quint, I wanted him to stand up to his father, not manoeuvre everything around him. I wish I'd known the sacrifices Quint had made for me, because everything could've been so different.

"Something along those lines, you're not safe here, around him, you should just go," Quint said confidently.

"You can't just shunt people out of your father's way Quint! You have to face him, confront him! Are you really going to live your life in your father's repulsive shadow?" Quint didn't answer me, or even acknowledge anything I'd said at all.

"I've arranged for your things to be dropped off tomorrow morning, including your animal… er... Monty. You'll have a car, so you can go wherever you want come Saturday morning, you just can't be here." Quint said, a small smile peeked out of the corners of his lips when he said Monty's name, it only made me feel even worse.

"This is not fair Quint!" I hissed as loud as I could without anyone over hearing us. "You try to kill me, turn me into a monster, steal my life, make me depend on you and your filthy Lycan family for help and guidance, and then you tell me to leave?!" I raged. "How am I suppose to survive, they are still hunting Lycan's, us! I don't know how to be a Lycan; I don't know how to stay safe, I just don't know what to do!" By this point warm trails of tears had already streamed down my face, my eyes were red and puffy, and my breath was short. I felt like a baby bird being thrown out of the nest before I'd even managed to hatch.

"You'll have to figure it out on your own," Quint whispered, his eyes focussed entirely on mine. My lip quivered as I tried to hold in a small sob.

"How am I supposed to do that Quint?" Quint opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. Instead he just gave me one last look before turning away. I called after him, but he didn't turn back, he just put on his helmet and climbed on his bike. He revved the engines hard before skidding away. I pulled my dressing gown sleeve down around my fist and wiped the tears from my face. Once I gathered myself I made my way back into the house. Tasha could tell by the tension in the air that things had gone badly; she made me a mug of hot cup of cocoa before bed.

"I'm going to hit the hay chick, need my beauty sleep for tomorrow, don't be up too late okay?" Tasha smiled, rubbing my forearm gently. She squeezed my shoulders and wished me goodnight. I stared into my cocoa for what must have been an age, because by time I came to my senses the rich chocolaty drink was stone cold. I emptied my cup into the sink and retreated to bed. I didn't feel sleepy, or even awake, I just felt numb.