Stolen Secret

by Piper Dow

  Kelly stared, her eyes round and her mouth open. What had come over him? For days he had barely spoken to them, had taken Joe's needling without retaliating. Clearly, Matt had issues with his dad.

  Joe glared at Matt and spat on the floor. He picked up his tray and went to the door of his cage. "Hey, I need to take a leak!"

  Mike returned and passed the collar wordlessly through the bars to Joe, waiting until Joe slid it around his neck and buckled it before opening the door. He slid the padlock through the loop, then stepped back and let Joe stalk to the bathroom before taking the empty tray from the bunk. He left the cage door open while he took the tray back to the cart near the elevator.

  "You guys through?" He waited for Kelly to collect the plates and bring the tray over. She slid it to him through the trapdoor.

  Mike hadn't gotten meaner during the past few days, but he hadn't gotten nicer, either. He rarely spoke to her. Once in a while Joe got him to talk, but mostly he just stalked around. Kelly had learned that Maria and Carl, the driver of the van who had abducted them, were brother and sister, both Karakal shifters like the cat Fred had turned into.

  Kelly wasn't positive, but she thought Mike might have been the other cat she had seen when she got out of the van. That cat had looked more like a mountain lion than a Karakal. "So, what's your Shadeform?" she asked before she chickened out.

  Mike fixed her with his eyes before letting them travel down her body and back to her face. He gave a soft snort before walking away without answering.

  Kelly shrugged and went to sit on the bench. Her foot tapped and she tried to stop it by pulling her legs up to sit criss crossed, but soon her fingers were tapping against her knees. She jumped up and paced along the side of the cell. She was bored. The first couple of days she had been too nervous and scared to be bored, but now she needed to siphon away some of this energy or she would wear a hole through the floor.

  Mike came back and tapped on the bathroom door. "Move it, or I'll use the remote!"

  Joe emerged from the bathroom and stalked back to his cage. Apparently the few minutes in the bathroom had done little to douse his temper. While Mike removed the collar, Kelly had an inspiration.

  "Hey, can you give me some paper and a pencil? Please, Mike, I'm going crazy just sitting here." When he narrowed his eyes at her, she took a step closer. "Please? What can it hurt?"

  His brow furrowed and he frowned, but then gave her a quick nod. He walked to Roger's desk and came back with a pad of paper and a pencil. He held them through the bars, holding them for a fraction longer than necessary when she tried to take them.

  "Don't make me regret this."

  Kelly shook her head, smiling. It was lined paper, but she didn't care. She took the pad back to the bench and sat cross legged again. She held the pencil loosely in her fingers and started with light lines, roughly laying out the proportions for Joe's face. She glanced up periodically as she worked, gauging her progress.

  "What you got there?" Joe moved to the side of his cage right behind her and peered over her shoulder. "Is that me?"

  Kelly peered into his face, unable to decide if his surprise was also displeasure. "I'm just trying to keep myself busy. Does it bother you? I could do Matt, instead, if you don't want me to draw you."

  Joe studied the lines she had drawn, then his eyes found hers. His cheeks flushed and he rubbed his hand over his beard. "Nah, that don't bother me. You go 'head."

  Kelly gave him a small smile and nodded, returning her attention to the drawing.

  Chapter thirty-four

  "Kelly, come on out, we've got to run some tests." Mike and Maria stood at the door of the cage. Maria held the collar in one hand and the remote in the other.

  Kelly grimaced, but put the paper and pencil down on the bench. She put the collar on before stepping out of the cage and waiting for Mike to slip the lock through the loop. She had been right about that plastic pole—it was there to make sure the captives obeyed. Mike had explained how it allowed them to get their points across with no risk to themselves, eagerly offering to demonstrate its electrifying powers. Kelly had declined his offer.

  She followed Maria to the lab and sat in the chair without prompting. Her arm resembled Joe's now, all covered in bruises. Most of hers were still shades of purple and red, though, where some of his were green and yellow from healing over time.

  "What's Mike's Shadeform?"

  Maria glanced at the cages, where Roger had joined Mike in the cage with Matt. "He's a gatomont. Think, mountain lion, panther, that size. Bigger size, bigger ego." She kept her voice soft while she readied the vials.

  "Hey, when you're good, you're good." Mike's sardonic comment floated from the cage, though he didn't change his alert posture.

  Maria rolled her eyes so Kelly could see her response but didn't reply. She motioned for Kelly to roll up her sleeve.

  "Hey, can we use the other arm this time? I like my bruises to be symmetrical." Kelly smiled to take the sting out of her words. She wasn't sure how many times Maria had drawn blood, but Kelly would have thought she'd be better at it by now.

  Maria grimaced and moved to Kelly's other arm. "I'm sorry. They only have these big needles. Roger said the regular size, the ones that a typical lab would use, might rupture some of the components he needs to analyze. It's just harder to get the bigger needles in the vein right."

  Kelly turned away while Maria put the rubber strap around her arm and wiped her skin with an alcohol swab. The sight of the blood pooling inside her skin the first time had cured her of the need to see what was happening. She watched Matt's face as Roger performed the same routine. Matt grit his teeth and stared at the end of the plastic cattle prod pole in Mike's hand.

  Kelly drew in a quick breath when the needle broke the skin, trying to keep her arm still. She closed her eyes. She was definitely going to have another bruise. She focused on her breaths, on how her feet felt in her shoes. A sudden image of Tyler flashed into her mind, whispering in her ear, "Focus on your feet, how they feel."

  She swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. They were supposed to have gone on that date last night. Surely Tyler would have heard about her abduction, Carl had said it was on the news. He wouldn't think she was just ghosting him, would he?

  She felt Maria cover the needle with a pad of gauze and press down while removing the needle, so she opened her eyes and moved her hand to hold the gauze in place. Her fingers touched the other woman's as Maria removed her hand. Lifting her eyes, Kelly examined Maria's face. She wasn't angry and mean, like Mike always seemed to be, yet she wasn't driven, like Roger. Why was she doing this, keeping people captive and using them for experiments?

  "Okay, that's that part." Maria slapped a piece of tape over the gauze and indicated for Kelly to pull her sleeve down. "Now, I need your other shoulder." She gestured for Kelly to push the other sleeve up past her elbow.

  Kelly frowned and turned confused eyes to Maria's. "Why? What is that?" She saw the syringe of highlighter green liquid in Maria's hand.

  Maria sighed. "Don't make me have to use the remote, okay? You seem like a nice kid, I don't want this to have to get ugly." She moved her other hand toward the remote sitting on the table.

  Kelly eased her other sleeve over her shoulder, her stomach quivering. She flinched at the sudden jab, then gasped at the burning she felt as whatever poison was in the syringe flowed into her body.

  "What is that?" she tried again. "Can't you at least tell me that?"

  Maria put the used syringe and the needle she's drawn Kelly's blood with into a sharps box on the wall. She cast a quick glance toward the cage, her lips pressed tight. "I told you, we're trying to avoid extinction. If we can genetically alter people's DNA to enable it to mutate, we can preserve our species."

  Kelly rubbed the spot Maria had injected, trying to ease the burning while she tried to process Maria's words. "So, is that something to weaken my immune system or something?"

  Maria shook her head but d
idn't elaborate. She motioned with a nod for Kelly to head back to the cage. Kelly did, passing Roger and his wheeled cart on the way. Mike stood waiting for her at the cage door. He undid the padlock on the collar and nudged her inside before letting her take it off.

  Kelly handed the collar back through the metal bars and crossed to sit next to Matt, drawing her knees up. An icy knot pressed on her chest. She swallowed back a sour taste, pressing her shaking hands together in her lap. She had somehow been able to deny the horror of what was happening to her these past few days, while they were taking from her but hadn't actually done anything that would permanently harm her. This, though—if they didn't change her, they might kill her, or maybe cause unrepairable damage. She wasn't ready to die. She didn't want to be diseased or crippled by something they injected her with.

  "Matt?" Her voice was little more than a whisper. "Did they inject you with anything?"

  Matt nodded without speaking. Kelly dropped her forehead onto her knees, her eyes burning. She pulled in a deep breath past the lump in her throat, fighting not to give in to the tears. What if that stuff gave her cancer? Or...she cast about in her mind for some other disease that chemical exposure might cause, but couldn't make her mind follow one thread of thought long enough to name any. What if she really didn't make it out of here?

  Kelly knew she should pray. She knew she should rally, that she needed to fight, not sink into the deep hole of darkness pulling her down. Instead, she went to sleep.

  MATT GROUND HIS TEETH, eying the plastic pole in Mike's hand. Mike held it loosely, almost carelessly, but Matt had no doubt that if he so much as flinched Mike would have those metal prongs against Matt's skin in a flash. Matt had seen a cattle prod used before, when his step-father was training his dogs. He had no desire to have one used on him.

  The needle Roger jabbed him with hurt. Matt peered into his face, noticing his eyes looked a little bloodshot. He didn't smell like booze, but that didn't always mean anything, did it? Matt had known plenty of people who drank but didn't reek of it like his mother and step-father.

  Roger didn't bother talking to him while he jabbed and stabbed and took what he needed from Matt. None of them did. Matt figured they probably didn't say anything to any of the people they took, but Kelly got them all talking, at least a little. Mike tried to intimidate her, with his creepy glances and mean attitude, but even he answered most of her questions. The only ones who talked to Matt were Kelly and Joe, but Matt wished Joe would keep his mouth shut.

  Roger got to his feet stiffly, bracing himself on one knee and pushing himself into standing. Matt resisted the urge to kick him, glancing at the cattle prod again. Seeing Matt's eyes flit to the tool in his hand, Mike grinned and gave it a little wiggle. Matt narrowed his eyes at him but refused to rise to his teasing. Mike laughed as he pulled the cage door closed on his way out.

  Matt closed his eyes. Seemed like he spent most of his time in this hole with his eyes closed, but it was one of the only ways to stay away from that pit of panic that being in a cage wanted to push him into. He heard the door open again, felt Kelly sit down next to him.

  She was trembling again. Matt respected her courage and how she kept trying to look at the bright side of things, even in here, but he knew how scared she was. He felt it, every time she sat next to him shaking, every time she flinched at something Mike said. She whispered a question, her voice breaking. He nodded his answer and heard her breath catch.

  She didn't say any more.

  He could tell when she fell asleep. Her muscles were still tense, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, but her breathing evened out. Matt opened his eyes and examined her. He knew she had spent the first couple of nights here caring for him, trying to make sure he didn't choke on his own vomit. She wouldn't sleep on the bunk, even though he had suggested it. He wasn't sure why the others hadn't moved one of them to the last cage after Mike killed the animal, but he was glad of it. It was a little easier, being in the cage with her, than it would be if he was alone.

  Now, he shifted a little closer and eased his arm around her shoulders. Careful not to wake her, he nestled her under his arm and waited. He closed his eyes again, trying to resist the drag of sleep until he was sure she was comfortable. He finally felt the weight of her head against his chest and let go of his hold on consciousness.

  "MATTIE, 'MEMBER I SAID I would tell you when to hide? I want you to do it right now, okay?" Lisa whispered, her face too close to his, her smile too-bright to try to hide the fact she was scared. "Make sure you pick a good spot!"

  Matt nodded and scrambled off the bed, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He didn't wait for Lisa to close her eyes. She had already started counting, facing the door. Yesterday, Matt had seen how the curtains came almost down to the floor in the corner near the dresser and put his boots poking out from under the curtain on the other side of the window. He liked how it almost looked like someone was behind the curtain already.

  Whenever Lisa came on weekends, she always told him he needed to, "be thinking ahead." Now he went to the window and flattened himself behind the curtain, squishing into the spot near the dresser.

  Shuffling noises trailed down the hallway toward the bedroom. Matt shivered and tried to make himself small. Tony only shuffled that much when he came home really late from work. Most of the time he was able to lift his gimpy leg enough when he walked so it barely even showed that he'd had a stroke, but when he smelled like that brown stuff in the bottle he sometimes drank it made his leg more tired. Matt wished it made his arms more tired.

  "What're you dooin' here?" His slur didn't hide his surprise as he pushed Matt's door open and found Lisa standing in front of him.

  "Leave him alone, Daddy." Matt peeked through the curtain. The fabric was so close to his nose, he could see Lisa standing in the light shining into the room from the hallway. Her hands were fisted on her hips. She looked brave, but Matt could hear the scared in her voice.

  "Who're you ta tell me what ta do?" He bellowed, but he didn't hit her. Matt knew he would have already hit Matt.

  "Daddy, please, leave him alone. He's just a little boy!"

  Matt's knees trembled. He pushed himself flatter against the wall, trying to stop their shaking. Lisa was five years older than him, but her father was still bigger than her.

  "You would try ta protect him, wouldn't you?" He leered into Lisa's face. His shoulders swayed, his leg struggling to support him. "Well, you won't always be here, will ya?"

  Matt heard him spit at her feet, watched him turn and shuffle back down the hall. Lisa reached forward and closed the door, then sat on the floor with her back against it. Matt could still see her by the moonlight coming through the window, though not as good. He heard her sniffling.

  He crept out from behind the curtain and sat against the door next to her. Lisa wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him against her, resting her cheek on the top of his head. Matt listened to her heart beat, strong and fast under his ear. He closed his eyes and pretended he was safe.

  Chapter thiry-five

  Kelly woke feeling stiff and sore. At some point during her nap she had shifted and rested her head on Matt's shoulder. She blinked her eyes, recognizing his shirt under her cheek but confused by the weight on the back of her head. She heard even breaths near her ear and realized he must have also fallen asleep against her, using her head as a pillow.

  She sat up carefully, trying to slide out of his embrace without jostling him awake. Gazing around the room, it took her a minute to remember the injection. Had there been something in that to put them to sleep? Kelly's mouth went dry. What else had they done?

  Her eyes fell on the pad of paper and pencil on the bench where she had been drawing Joe before they came in to do more tests. Unbidden, a plan unfolded in her mind, fully formed. She would sketch them. Hopefully she would be able to hide the sketches in her pocket and bring them with her when she escaped, but even if they found out and took them from her, drawing
them would help burn their features into her brain. Because she was going to escape, or die trying.

  She worked on the sketches anytime the others weren't near the cages. She pulled the second page free and placed it on top of Joe's sketch. She did a quick series of faces on that sheet, trying to catch the likenesses of Mike, Maria, Carl, and Roger. She moved the pencil quickly, glancing up at each noise she thought might be someone coming to the cage side of the room.

  There had also been that other woman that first night, but Kelly hadn't seen her since. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to recall her face. She sketched in the long hair, the full lips and almond shaped eyes. It was as good as she was going to get, unless she saw her again.

  The soft ding announcing the elevator sounded. Kelly quickly folded the page and slid it into the middle of the pad to hide it, then started shading a little on her drawing of Joe. She glanced up as Roger moved back to his desk.

  Maria rolled the cart they used to bring the food trays up out of the elevator. Kelly studied her face, only dropping her eyes when Maria looked up from the trays. Her fingers itched to return to the folded page—she needed to make Maria's eyes a little further apart on her sketch.

  "The soup is hot, so be careful," Maria said, carefully pushing the tray through the door. Styrofoam containers with plastic lids were accompanied by plastic spoons. Kelly set the pad and pencil aside and moved to pick up the tray. Maria gazed past her curiously at the pad, laying drawing side up. "What's that?"

  "Mike gave me a pad of paper so I'd have something to do," Kelly hedged. "I'm trying to draw Joe."

  Maria raised her eyebrows and glanced at the paper again, then lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Whatever floats your boat." She moved on to pass Joe his tray.

  Kelly brought the tray over and handed it to Matt, who was sitting with his back to the wall again. He was sleeping less than when they first came in, but Roger examined his eyes and pulse each morning and continued to give him whatever was in that cloudy water a couple of times a day. Matt took the tray from her and she sat next to him, reaching out for her container of soup. She peeled the lid off and found what looked like Italian wedding soup, warm and fragrant.