March 1st, XXXX,

The unfortunate prisoners of the National Institute of Mystic Health had given up counting their days since the capture by enemy troops. Not even bothered to count how many more have been taken and imprisoned. All they have remembered at the day we were forced to surrender and held captive was during cold days of Winter. When asked about their commanding officers, some were captured as well and held as hostages. Even, forced to partake in the NIMH's experiments as lab rats. All words written in documents, papers, the walls, all were in languages we couldn't understand but in our instinct, we knew it was either a classical or ancient language only the scientists and archaeologists understood.

As the caged ones have witnessed the unspeakable torture of experiments by scientists of NIMH to satisfy their scientific curiosity. As for the ones who hired the institute, the political leaders, they had different agendas.

It was unlikely to form a society or have a world that has magic and science coexist. But, who are we to begin with?

We are humans.

And some humans have basic emotions since birth. Two of them.

Curiosity.

Desire.

Scientists move with curiosity, to solve and placate their scientific imaginations.

Political leaders want to wear clothing or a god, and reign as one.

Scientists wanted to use us to see if we can become more than just mortal beings with their research based on mystical living organisms and their scientific technologies, as they call it "evolution". For the leaders, they wanted weapons. A living weapon who won't die easily and bring them victory by becoming their obedient undead with immense power. To have us obey to their needs, they camouflage themselves as benign human beings, insisting us to call them doctors, nurses, Father, or Mother.

Several men flinched as we heard the heels walking downstairs. A horrid woman with blond hair and a face of blooming youth smiled sweetly with her eyes glinting mischievously as she kept her arms slithered around her new favorite experiment, whose green eyes were dim.

"Commander Winford…!" some soldiers stood up, concerned.

Oh, yes. Jenner Winford. A promising military commander. It wasn't his life that was captive as hostage, but his son's. To keep his only bloodline safe, the commander had no choice but disgraced himself against his will to be one of us and also be one of few to be picked to see if the experiment has proven his stamina and strength superior. And this involved in placating this head scientist's daughter's selfish urge.

When taken to the "decorated" cage, the said man willingly sat on a wooden bunker without a word, far from the woman who pouted with a mock hurt on a face.

"...keep that promise, woman." He hissed.

"You've pleased me enough with your progress, of course I'll keep our promise…" she whispered, tone perky and flirtatious.

Unfit as a scientist, but was accompanied with two who were carrying wooden boxes of glass containers filled with amber shaded liquid.

"What will become of us when we have that..." I could hear one young man ask one scientist who was holding a syringe with a strange liquid.

A young man locked behind the bars next to mine, whose ash silver hair got longer and a heavy bag under his eyes that was glaring skeptically. I believe his name was Jonathan.

"Your days won't be numbered, that we promise." One scientist smiled.

"All of you are alive so far as we have lost many that have failed to conquer the sunlight." The second scientist added.

Jonathan continued to frown, but made no gesture of resistance. Not yet. No ounce of pain or vulnerability was shown to scientists when the needle of the syringe pierced through his skin as the injection was thrusted in his exhausted body.

Twenty Judains.

Eleven Vestalians.

Thirty-two nomads.

And so on, the captured soldiers, women, and children were injected with the same liquid.

Which meant, another week or a month of sleepless nights to suffer. I, too, have suffered these side effects for a long time, I couldn't blame their sleepless nights. Bodies twitching, veins of blood and pulses uncontrollably surfaces in unpredictable moments of fast heart beating. I was desensitized by the scent of copper belonging to a warm crimson fluid that has either released from all holes of their bodies or popped from the overly stimulated veins. Some would die, I was sure.

Then, my nocturnal golden eyes spotted Jonathan, whose head held high to the point of breaking his neck if jerking it back further. His bloodshot eyes are not blinking. Mouth slightly agape.

And I found myself having my breath hitched when it wasn't just him who faced up the unseen sky..

Our world began changing.


May 8th, XXXX,

It was a day of mourning. As Jonathan told me, Mr. Ages' two children died this early noon. He had witnessed his son and daughter burned to death by sunlight. The callous words of scientists' disregard of their death as "failures" drove him into emotional fury; he nearly bit one of them before being tased and taken to confinement not too far from our caged chambers. This has brought a paranoia of fear and anger within Jenner Winford, afraid of the same fate awaiting his son Racso.

"Those horrid monsters… they are no humans… once I got these chains break down, I will get rid of them…," Jenner seethed, then paled, "What if it's Racso's turn…."

"Commander…I overheard the children are in the camp far from the institute." Mr. Ages couldn't waste further time mourning his children.

Soon, the parents, the soldiers who had left their children behind, were growing scared and concerned. The enemy nations under the regime of tyrannical figures with blind belief of superior conquering all, would stop at almost nothing to achieve their goals even if it means sacrificing more they considered inferior.

Justin Strauss, one of the Judaian soldiers, has been gazing at each labeled experiment number and words next to most of the prisoners' room. According to soldiers who fought alongside him, one of the side effects he went through was constant headache. It would always come in an untimely moment when he couldn't focus on eating or drinking when those foreign languages caught his eyes.

At the time scientists left for their lunch hour, he whispered to Jonathan and pointed at the labeled words of foreign languages we were unable to understand.

Only, the difference was that we NOW understood them.

"To disable all cages, turn off all the lights." it said.

One sentence, and we all comprehended. To unlock every cage door, we had to use a power circuit breaker.

"It's risky… what if we're discovered…" one of the Judaian soldiers spoke.

"But unlike them, we have night vision…" Justin was first to retort, calm.

"And we need to plan carefully to find the perfect day and timing to shut down the power and leave all humans armless." Jonathan suggested.

Then, he turned and approached my cage. His steps are calm and steady, determined. He reached his hand out and grabbed my weakened one. No words exchanged, but I was able to tell he needed my assistance. He wanted me to leave NIMH for good.

And I gave him my answer, with a small nod.

With this miracle, or a curse, kept secret from scientists and political leaders, we began to concoct the plan to leave…to return home.


July 4th, XXXX

From the beginning, we knew in our communal spirit that the escaping plan won't go in entirely as we plan. There were some who were too upset with the scientists' horrid treatment towards their family that died because of their cruel curiosity. Sullivan has lost his wife and a daughter, so he decided to swear loyalty to Jenner Winford.

Hence why Jonathan never objected to the idea of killing scientists. He has predicted the worst of sparing their lives, fearing their continuation of research with more victims even after the end of war. What mattered to us most were the escape and prevention of the same fate to the future generations. So, I overlooked Jenner's first step to the descent to darkness.

"WHERE. IS. MY. SON." Jenner snarled, grabbing the head scientist's daughter by a collar, his other hand extended the claws.

"I don't know….!" The woman trembled in fear, her usual aura of arrogance no longer visible, "please, don't…! I have a child…! It's y-"

Before she could finish, Jenner waved his left hand to the right, his claws already sliced the women in pieces. Blood soaked the wall and his clothes but he did not care.

"That bitch… I've been tricked…!" Jenner's eyes glowed furiously.

"Commander…," Jonathan approached him, eyes eerily chill and unfeeling, "we must leave now… you'll find your son…"

Inhale, then exhaled, Jonathan's enraged commander found his composure.

"Fine…" His claws extended again and stabbed the already dead woman's stomach, possibly damaged her womb and instantly killed the growing life inside before retracting them and following the others.

In my past foolish thoughts, I believed it was the best option to keep this to myself. It was only a matter of time, this headquarters ended up with more casualties of scientists and the influential visitors. Jenner and his followers continued to permanently silence whoever attempted to drag us back. Though, it was a great loss to lose nine Vestalians. Four were sacrificed to be recaptured, three were burnt to death by the rising sun. Except two;

Mr. Ages and Jonathan Brisby.

In exhaustion, I couldn't continue to use my newfound strength. Justin kept his grip on the broadsword tight, refusing to use either claws, nor fangs to defend against the approaching guards.

"Incoming!" he exclaimed, engaging in strife against the NIMH guards.

Mr. Ages struggled with buttons attached on the screen, hissing in frustration. Jenner continued his purge against the guards in order to lessen the interference. I, then, noticed Jonathan was gazing up at the hole of the ceiling. A hole with a size just enough for him to enter with steps to climb in.

"Anybody! Get me up there…!" Jonathan cried out, pointing at the hole he has been paying attention to.

Switching with Brutus whose strength and height was enough to fend off the incoming guards, Justin rushed to his comrade and helped him up to the hole. It didn't take Jonathan a long time to enter as he climbed up deep as I could hear him use his claws to make a wider entrance for him to find a possible path outside.

Some jumped in surprise when they found the door sliding open, revealing Jonathan from the outside, in front of the escape entrance. Two guards were dropped unconscious as he was holding a card that presumably must have opened the door.

"Come out." He smiled, for the first time in months.

Witnessing the sun ignited a fear among us IM-Humans. However, Justin Strauss, his close friend, was first to step outside.

And along with Jonathan, he did not perish.

I, too, tried and found myself under the warm embrace of sunlight. It didn't give me pain, nor a death. It was Jonathan who made it possible for us to escape from the artificial hell of NIMH.

Jonathan Brisby.

A Hero to us IM-Humans and the war victims.

Horseman of Apocalypse to the war criminals.

One of the Founding Fathers of the Bund.

Eventually, a husband of a devoted woman and father of innocent children.