The lights flared on overhead.
She looked around, and saw a bed at the far wall with someone lying on top of it. She didn’t need to see him to know who he was. “Jimmy?”
She moved to the side of the bed with only a few steps. She looked down at him, and couldn’t believe what she saw. His ankles and wrists were strapped to the sides of the bed. He looked asleep. He wore a hospital gown.
Everything made her thoughts flash with horror. How could they do this to him? Why would they do it? What the fuck are they doing to him? Gooseflesh flew down her arms, as her heart started an endless pounded inside her chest. She began to feel herself sweat. She felt totally scared. She felt absolutely horrified by all of it. “Jimmy?” She took his head into her hands, and tapped both cheeks with the tips of her fingers.
He looked up towards her voice. He had trouble seeing her with the lights on overhead, but he did manage to do it. He squinted. He winced. He didn’t need to see her to know who she was. He knew her scent. He could have followed her for hundreds of miles just by that alone. “Rachel?” He brought his head up some. It took some time for him to focus, but when he did, he couldn’t believe that it was really her.
“My God Jimmy, what are they doing to you?” She cupped his chin. “Why are they doing this?”
He didn’t fight her. “They’re waiting for me to change.” He looked into her eyes and loved the sight even more. “They want me for me.”
“What?”
“I’m changing Rachel. They’re waiting for it.”
She shook her head. He didn’t make any sense. They must have drugged him. “I’m getting you out of here.” She went for the straps that held his wrists first. She had to pull at it some to get the pin to release through the hole of the leather, but she did manage to get them off him. It didn’t take all that long really. With his right hand free, she went to the left.
It felt awesome, having his arm free. He lifted it up to his face, as she went for his ankles.
“I can’t believe they’re doing this to you.”
“They’re waiting for me to change,” he said again, now bringing his right hand up to his face and found himself staring at it oddly. Both of them didn’t seem to belong to him, and in fact, he couldn’t even feel them. Everything felt so odd. It all felt so weird to see and feel—everything.
“What are you talking about?” It took only moments for her to free his legs.
“I’m going to turn into a monster.” He moved his feet up, bringing his knees towards his pelvis. “I’m a wolf. They’re waiting for me to change into a wolf. They want me to change into this animal. They’re waiting for the wolf.”
With him now free, she went back to his shoulders, and stared into his eyes. He even struggled some to sit up. Seeing the haze over his eyes only confirmed to her that they must have given him something to keep him immobile. He acted drugged. What he said wasn’t making any sense, so it had to be the drugs talking. “Can you move?” She wrapped her left arm around his shoulders and placed her right hand on his arm.
“I don’t know.”
“Come on.” She pulled at his shoulders, and sat him up further.
He swung his legs around to the side of the bed. He struggled. He fought. He felt beyond weak, and it made him feel almost loose.
“Can you walk?” She watched him struggle with just the simplest of movements, and it made her wince.
“I think so.” His mind felt so numb that it was hard to think of anything at all. With his feet on the floor, he pulled himself up using the bed behind him some for support.
Seeing him wobble, now standing, she took his left arm and helped him stand to his feet. This is going to be tough. I’m going to have to help him. She wrapped her right arm around his waist to keep him steady. “Come on; lean on me if you have to.” So much was going on that she didn’t understand. She only knew that they had to go. They had to move fast. They had to run, and she was going to have to help him do it. She pulled him with everything she had just to move him away from the bed.
He did move. He still wobbled, but he did manage to make it to the center of the floor.
Together, they made it back to the doors. Reaching for the right door, it wouldn’t move. It seemed locked. Seeing a card-reader pad to the right of the doors, she once again used her card to open it.
This is a prison. The idea slammed her hard. Jimmy had been right after all. They kept Collins a prisoner, and now they were doing the same thing with him. None of the other labs had such a feature, and knowing that, it made her feel shocked. Everything was true. Everything that happened was real. It felt beyond terrifying, it just felt plain old wrong.
With the door unlocked, she opened it with her left hand, keeping her right under his arm. The wobbling seemed to lessen some now that he was standing still, but once they started moving again, it only came back again with full strength. It made him difficult to get through the door, but they did manage.
She pulled him out into the hallway, and once there, they moved slowly, building up their pace.
It felt difficult for him. His head spun as they moved faster. Every step that he made felt like a toothache. It felt nagging. It felt painful. He wobbled even more.
Reaching the first intersection, she stopped. She allowed him to balance himself, as she looked down all of the hallways before them, making sure that they were still alone.
Seeing no one there, she breathed. The area remained quiet.
They left the intersection, and turned down the left hallway and continued moving. They kept to the right side of the wall to allow him to use it for support as they moved.
Reaching the next intersection, they stopped again.
Again, the area seemed overly quiet.
Seeing it, she caught her breaths. When she felt ready again, they left the wall and stepped up their pace.
They headed down the left hallway and came to the double doors to labs.
There, she opened the door and went out into the offices, pulling him on. Soon, they came to the stairs to the lobby.
They were almost there. The next part was to make it to the front doors and make it past the guard that was behind the counter. Knowing that, she stopped at the railing of the stairs and stood him up.
“Take the railing.” She let go of his right arm and placed both of his hands onto the railing. “I have to see if the guard is still there.”
“I’ll be all right.” He took the railing into both hands, and used it to stand up straight. “Where would I go?” He chuckled and smiled. He started feeling better so he took a deep breath.
She made sure that he wasn’t going to fall first, and when he looked semi stable, she took a deep breath as well. She left him at the top of the stairs and slowly moved down them until she reached the first floor. All the while, she kept herself balanced. She took her time. She had to stay cautious. She looked to the counter as she moved, and at first, she saw no one there. When she reached counter, she could see that it was empty.
Thank God. The coast looked clear so she went back up the stairs and retook him by the right arm. “We’re safe.” She pulled him away from the railing, and placed his weight over her shoulders again. “Come on.”
Slowly, they went down them.
Slowly, they reached the bottom of the steps.
Slowly, they came to the tiled floor of the lobby.
He looked at the doors. They had only yards to go. They were now almost there.
“Well, well, well, look at what we have here.” a familiar voice came from behind them, just as they reached a foot or so to the doors.
Rachel turned, seeing Gary and two other uniformed men coming out from behind the counter and around it towards them. “Gary?” She gasped as her heart sank, and her eyes exploded with fear gripping her fast.
“What do you think you’re doing Rachel?” He asked with each of the other guards flanking him on both sides. He felt pleased with what he saw, but at the same time, he also felt disappointed. Why is s
he helping him? Why is she risking everything for him?
The three men approached them, with Gary staying in the center of the group. They showed her that they didn’t intend to let them make it to the doors. It just seemed obvious that they would stop them from going anywhere.
“You have no right keeping him here.” She watched them form around her and Jimmy.
Gary laughed. “We have every right to keep our pets.” He chuckled, and his mustache curled.
Rachel’s eyes widened. “How dare you call him that?” She felt Jimmy’s weight lessen some now that they were standing still.
Jimmy looked at each of the guards and could feel himself begin to strengthen. However, his mind’s numbness increased with each word he heard. Everything felt so far away. Their voices seemed lost in a fog. He felt like he was nothing more but a spectator watching everything from the stands.
“You don’t know what the hell he is, do you Rachel?” Gary stopped only inches from them, with the two other guards coming up behind them.
“I know that you have no right to do what you’re doing.” She turned her eyes to the others, watching them get closer. “I’m taking him home.”
“You’re not taking him anywhere.” Gary turned to the others. “Take him.”
The two men reached for each of Jimmy’s arms.
One of them, Reese, pushed Rachel away from him.
She struggled, but she wasn’t able to put up an effective fight. “You son of a bitch!” she screamed as she lost her grip.
“Don’t fight Rachel.” Jimmy didn’t recognize his own voice. His mind seemed to be fading fast. The eyes, which he felt before, watching him from a distance, were now there again, and they came from behind his own eyes. He could feel them getting stronger. He could feel them now stepping straight towards him. In his head, he kept hearing a strange voice saying over, and over again, remember. Remember him. Remember—remember—remember.
“Listen to him Rachel.” Gary grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the others. He grabbed her other arm and held her by the shoulders right in front of him.
She still faced Jimmy.
Three other guards came up behind Gary, and each of them walked towards his back and stopped.
“Take her downstairs and hold her there until I get down there.” He pushed her to the three of them.
They took her, with each one taking an arm, and the other one moving with them from behind her.
“Jimmy?” she called, feeling her feet sliding along the tiled floor.
They pulled her to the counter, and then pulled her behind it.
“Rachel?” Jimmy tried to reach out to her with a hollow arm, swinging it through the air, and grabbed at nothing.
Gary watched his reach, and laughed. He loved seeing it, and decided to strike him right then. He flung out with a right clenched fist, and struck his face. The bones of his hand cracked. The sound of bone against bone echoed throughout the glass.
Jimmy felt the impact against the left side of his face, and absorbed it completely. The shock of it all pushed his head back to the right. An instant pain flung through his face and wrapped around it to the back of his head. With it, the numbness that he felt only grew stronger. He began to feel himself falling away. The eyes watching from behind him came forward, almost pushing his aside.
Gary watched the strike. He felt his own pain rake his hand. He loved both of them.
“Jimmy!” Rachel screamed as she felt herself pulled across the lobby to a side door just to the left of the counter. Watching Gary’s punch only caused her fear for Jimmy to multiply by tenfold. “Jimmy! Let go of me you bastards!” They dragged her through the door. They then pulled down a set of stairs.
Jimmy heard her call. He turned and watched as they dragged her to the door. “Rachel, no!”
Gary took the chance to swing again, and this time, he went for the freak’s stomach.
The impact felt powerful, as Jimmy felt his knees instantly buckle beneath him, and he fell to the floor with all of the air in his lungs gushing out of him with one giant exhale of wind. Instantly, he gasped. His chest exploded. His abdomen clenched from the impact.
With his weight too great, the two men holding him let him fall to their feet.
Jimmy caught his breaths. “If you hurt her.” He pulled his lungs back together again as his voice went lower, almost moving into his chest. A slow ebbing sound flared through his throat.
“Or you’ll what?” Gary chuckled. His strength built up with each passing moment, and with each swing. He loved his job, especially at times like this.
Jimmy picked his head up and looked the blonde haired bastard in the eyes. “I’ll tear you apart.” He smiled with his voice moving lower, but it sounded otherwise calm.
The smile sent a shiver down Gary’s spine. He could only answer the feeling with another need to swing, so he did, and went for the freak’s face again.
Again, the strike plowed directly into the left side of his face.
With no one now holding him, he fell to his right, allowing the impact to throw him to the floor.
Gary watched him fall.
The guard with Reese, Mattie Hawes didn’t like what he saw. He hated this part of his job. He didn’t agree with it. He hated their cruelty. “Gary, he’s down.” He bent down and took Jimmy by the shoulders. He meant to help him back up to his feet.
“Leave it down!” Gary shot back, watching the attempt. Sympathy wasn’t needed for such an animal. He didn’t deserve it. He deserved nothing. “Go and get the fucking prods!” He turned to Reese.
Reese smiled. He liked the idea of what was coming next. He left Matt, passed Gary, and headed to the back of the counter. He jogged to the security room under the stairs.
Gary watched him leave and turned his attention back to the thing on the floor. His hand hurt some; he needed to give it a rest, so this time—he swung with his right knee moving up.
The knee impacted directly to the bottom of Jimmy’s chin. It sent him backwards and he flailed to the floor. His bottom teeth came up into his cheeks, and it caused blood to ooze from everywhere inside his mouth.
Matt stood to his feet. “God damn it Gary!” His voice boomed as it carried all around them. “You know what Ross is going to say about abusing him?”
Gary laughed at that one. “Yeah right.” He kept his eyes fixed onto the freak. “Can’t you see that he’s resisting?” He smiled.
Mattie sighed.
“Just go and help Reese.” Gary nodded towards the counter. He was having way too much fun and didn’t care what Mattie thought. He could care less with what Ross ordered. This was his job. This was his reason for living. He just felt exhilarated with all of it. He couldn’t stop it. He didn’t want to. He had to keep going. He had to have the fucking thing suffer.
Jimmy tried to pick himself back up to his hands and knees. It took everything that he had to do it. His head rang strongly. He felt dizzy. He felt nauseous. His jaw flared with heat. Blood streamed out from his mouth and dropped to the floor beneath his face. The eyes watching him were now there. He could see them. He could feel them with him. He stepped aside, and didn’t see anything after that. All pain vanished. Everything else disappeared with them. He blacked out as the other one took his place.
Mattie left the front doors, and headed back to the counter.
Gary watched him leave and turned back to the freak. He watched him sit up to his knees. “Boy you don’t know enough to stay down, do you?” He smirked as he pulled his right arm back. He looked forward to the pain that his strike would cause him, and couldn’t wait to feel it again.
With all of his strength, he swung his fist forward.
His fist never reached his face.
A hand came up so quickly, that Gary felt his shoulder pop some as it was caught in midair.
The freak pulled himself up, and stood to his feet.
He held his right hand like a vise and squeezed. The force of it felt unbelievable. He�
�d never felt such a thing before and couldn’t believe how strong it was. The vise tightened as he tried to grab at the freak’s hand with his left. He looked at the freak’s face and saw something that only made his heart sink and the wind in his lungs to burst out into a scream of disbelief.
His face began to bubble and swim. His teeth grew out into long protruding fangs. A growl came rolling out from his throat. His face turned from white to an ashen black. A bright yellow color blared in his eyes.
“No fucking way!” Gary screamed. He couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t time. He was early. The full moon hadn’t come yet.
The freak squeezed. He stood up and pulled him off the floor.
His hand shattered. The sounds of his bones breaking echoed around him with a deep gurgling rawness. He screamed. He moaned. He stared. He gasped.
The freak pulled him forward and with one giant sweeping motion, tossed him backwards.
Gary flew through the air.
He hit the floor just to the left side of the stairs. His body bounced as his head slammed it hard. He felt nothing after that. He was unconscious before he even came to rest.
Mattie heard the screams behind him and turned just at the right side of the counter, and what he saw froze him where he stood.
He saw Gary being held by his right hand, with his left hand holding the arm that was holding him. He saw the man holding him begin to shake and quiver. He could see his skin begin to bubble all over his face and arms. It looked like a thousand tiny balloons covered all over his face. The growling and the snarling that he made, instantly flared around the glass. He couldn’t believe it. He’d never seen such a thing like this before, and he became instantly scared by all of it together.
Suddenly, he watched Gary tossed through the air towards his left. He watched as he struck the floor hard just past the stairs. The sound seemed incredible. It became an awesome experience. He sounded like he was nothing but a potato sack hitting a concrete floor. He then watched him stop moving as he slid towards the hallway that ran along the front of the building. Watching everything, he turned back to the man, or whatever he was, and watched him fall to his hands and knees to the floor.
A Werewolf's Saga Books 1, 2, & 3 (A Werewolf's Saga Boxed Sets) Page 23