Born Bad

by Sarah Noffke

  “Whoa now, Wolfy, I think we’ve seen enough,” Adelaide said, covering her eyes with her hands.

  “Relax. He won’t take off any more. This much unclothing just makes it easier,” Connor said. “Nice blush effect though.”

  “Shut it,” Adelaide said, pulling her hands away from her face.

  Before her Zephyr shifted to his werewolf form, the silver and black fur shooting into place at once. But it didn’t stop there. He shrunk suddenly, his pants dropping to the ground. And then staring out at the group was a silver wolf, its gray eyes blinking back at them.

  “That’s totally rad!” Kaleb said, bolting to a standing position.

  “Hell yes!” Rio said, still in his werewolf form. “I need to learn how to do that!”

  Zephyr answered with a long and loud howl.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Hunger and thirst aren’t factors in the dreamscape.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Lying his head on his arm, resting on the workstation, Drake snored, deep in sleep. Mika marched into the lab and slammed his palm down, using both his super speed and force. The metal table buckled under his force, denting deeply. Drake startled to a seated position, his eyes popping open with alarm.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Mika asked, fire in his voice.

  “I fell asleep, sir,” Drake stammered. “I’ve been working so many hours. I must have passed out.”

  Drake didn’t look like a man too exhausted to keep his head up. Actually, the old scientist looked better than he had in a long while, some of the wrinkles not as pronounced around his eyes. “You’re lying,” Mika said with a hiss.

  “Why would I lie about that? You’ve just caught me sleeping on the job,” Drake said, standing and slipping his hand into his pants pocket, keys jingling as he did. He turned, trudging for one of the locked rooms on the far wall.

  “Did you convert yourself to a Dream Traveler?” Mika said, knowing this had to be the case. Drake would have the capabilities to turn off the technology that prevented dream traveling inside of Olento Research. It all added up, but it didn’t explain everything, which he would learn now.

  Drake froze, the muscles of his back flexing with a new stress. He turned his head over his shoulder and gave a false smile at Mika. “You know I’d never do that, sir,” he said, his voice singsong. Yes, he was definitely up to something. “Now, I wanted to show you what I’ve been working on.” He turned back for the door, sliding a key into the lock. “I had Dream Travelers abducted, as you asked for. The first few showed the most progress of any of the subjects in Project Vampyyri thus far. However, they all eventually died from various complications. However, I figured out a key factor I was missing before and injected this subject with the serum.” Drake swung the door open to reveal a man chained to a metal bench. He was in his early twenties, his short black hair stuck up around his head. The man lifted his chin until his brown eyes were staring straight at Mika. The glow of his pale skin was a contrast to the dark room, which was absent of any light. The man’s expression remained neutral as he stared across the space, his elbows resting on his knees.

  “So he survived?” Mika said.

  “Not just survived, but he’s shown incredible progress,” Drake said.

  “Super powers? Strength? Anything we can use?” Mika asked.

  Drake toggled his head. “No, nothing like that, but it could come later, if the alien blood doesn’t overpower his system like it did with the other subjects,” he said.

  “You don’t understand what progress means,” Mika said, feeling the anger in him take the reins. He needed to hit something. The adrenaline in him needed out. It had been like this ever since he’d given himself super strength. However, the changes to his mental awareness started when Drake gave him increased speed.

  “How old do you think this gentleman is?” Drake asked.

  Mika studied the face that was watching him, a calm expression on the man’s face. He couldn’t access his thoughts, but that was fine because Mika was a master at telling things about people. “I’d say he’s twenty-two, born in the winter. He’s had orthodontics, judging by the shape of his mouth. And he’s not wearing contacts and has no visible scars or freckles and a body mass index to impress,” Mika said.

  “Very good observation. He actually was sixty-two before the injection. And furthermore, he was far-sighted, had a few age spots and crooked teeth. However, after the injection, this morning I opened his cell to find this person,” Drake said, his eyes actually fondly studying the man before him.

  “That is impressive,” Mika said, shutting the door, not okay with the strange expression the man in chains was giving him. It was a knowing look, like he could read Mika’s thoughts, feel his emotions. That would be in line with the Arcturian race. “If he is taking on the traits of the alien then we must be careful until he’s trained. This man could overpower us all.”

  Mika spied through the glass window at the man, whose expression had remained unchanged. He wasn’t beating at the chains or cursing Mika like the other men had. This subject was at peace in a way he’d never seen in others who underwent his experiments.

  “I’ll monitor him and start conditioning training pronto, but I don’t think he’ll be of use in catching a werewolf for a few weeks, if at all. This is just too new,” Drake said.

  “But I need the werewolves now!” Mika yelled, his voice seeking to rip out of his throat. “I have Rox, but I want those werewolves in my possession.”

  “Then you’ll be happy to know that you’re the weapon we are looking for to catch the werewolves. I found a way to copy Rox’s DNA and can assure you the procedure for making you resistant to outside forces will work,” Drake said, opening a refrigerated case on the other side of the room and withdrawing a bottle of liquid. The red fluid was thick and sludgy.

  “How do you know it’s safe? Have you tested it?” Mika asked.

  “No, not without your permission. I figured you wouldn’t want just anyone to have this skill, so I saved it for only you,” Drake said, and there was something behind the expression he was giving Mika.

  “How do I know it’s safe?” Mika repeated.

  “You don’t, but if you want to have resistance like Rox then you’ll have to try it for yourself,” Drake said, a teasing quality to his voice.

  Mika shook his head roughly. “I’m not yet desperate. So no, I won’t be taking an untested drug,” he said, thinking that soon he’d murder Drake. His restraints were waning. More and more he had the urge to rip the old man’s head off his shoulders and volley it across the room.

  “Your choice,” Drake said with a shrug. “Would you have me test it on a subject, then?”

  “Yes, have it tested on one of the monkeys,” Mika said, throwing a sharp finger at the cage of spider monkeys on the far side of the room.

  “As you wish, sir,” Drake said, a sneaking grin below his white and gray beard.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Someone who isn’t a complete idiot would recognize the value of dream travel time and get a fucking education during that time. Books are easily read in the dreamscape and should be.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  Trent shook his head. He was always doing that.

  “Say yes to the universe,” Adelaide said, spouting again another bit of philosophy she’d heard run through her head. She was like a bloody sage lately.

  “It’s risky,” he said, having just heard their entire strategy for breaking into Olento Research.

  “That’s fucking life. We can’t hide out here in the Institute forever, allowing Mika to get away with creating monsters,” Adelaide argued.

  “And no one gets hurt,” Zephyr chimed in. He and Adelaide had taken turns presenting the strategy, which relied on multiple factors all working together.

  “I’m trying to overlook the fact that your plan involves a national monument,” Trent said, threading his fingers into the dreads on the top o
f his head.

  “No one even cares about those things,” Adelaide said, waving him off.

  “We tried to avoid that, but this was the best way to get attention and ensure that the men can get away when the time comes,” Zephyr said, always the voice of reason to accompany Adelaide’s flippant nature.

  “And you’re sure that the desert is a safe place for the other diversion?” Trent asked him.

  The desert was Zephyr’s home, Adelaide knew. And he always got this nostalgic look about him at the mention of it, like he associated sand and cactus with his family.

  “There’s no one in that area for miles and miles,” Zephyr finally said, his attention returning to Trent.

  After a long deliberation Trent finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll give you the green light. But I want to be brought in when this is all over. Olento Research is a place responsible for sinister incidents and we need the place locked down properly,” he said.

  “Aye, aye, captain,” Adelaide said, saluting the head strategist, which earned her the look of disgust she’d been going for from Zephyr. The alpha then turned his attention to Rio and Clay, who sat at the back of the conference room.

  “Move out, men. It’s show time,” Zephyr said. “You all know what to do and I trust you’ll do it right.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Going too far into the past while dream traveling kills brain cells. If a Dream Traveler goes back in time to watch Christ walk on water then they will wake up a vegetable; if they wake up at all, that is.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  “Two reports from the clairvoyants?” Mika asked Haiku, who was vibrating with adrenaline. His director of security was the right type for the job. He enjoyed his job and the challenges that were constantly presenting themselves. Unlike Grant, the old director of security, Haiku wasn’t afraid of life and constantly focused on the potential of failure.

  “Yes, one in South Dakota and another in the Nevada desert,” Haiku said, his lips pursing at the completion of his statement.

  “But why?” Mika said, sliding his fingers over his mustache again and again. “This seems out of character for the Lucidites.”

  “But it may not involve the Lucidites,” Haiku argued. “One of the events involves Clay Morris, whom we don’t know is involved with the Lucidites yet. And Rio was our prisoner before. Maybe he didn’t return to the Lucidite Institute. You’ve said before that the wolf makes them irrational and can’t always be controlled.”

  “Yes, that’s what our research suggests,” Mika said, his fingers enjoying the smoothness of his slick mustache. “Okay, well, we can’t chance avoiding these events. I want you going after Rio and then send another team to the desert.”

  “How many men do you want me to leave at Olento Research?” Haiku said.

  Mika took a moment to think. He had his three werewolves, but more importantly he was the most powerful man in the world.

  “What if the Lucidites try to get into Olento Research while we’re gone?” Haiku added a moment later.

  “They can try but it won’t matter. We have surveillance and every precaution in place to prevent that. I actually invite them here because once they set foot in this facility then they’re never leaving it,” Mika said.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  “If a Dream Traveler goes into the future while dream traveling, then they can create splits in the folds of time. Most know them as déjà vu. They happen because some imbecile decided to spy on the future and created holes.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  The Lucidite helicopter flew through the air, hovering a safe distance from Mount Rushmore. Rio stared up at the helicopter he’d just climbed out of. At this late hour no tourists were visiting the monument, but that was kind of the point. He was standing on the top of Mount Rushmore. Being a Lucidite was freaking badass and just kept getting better. He waved off the helicopter, feeling the timing in his bones. Yes, he and the group had gone over the plan and the scheduling at length, but now that he was here, he knew it better by listening to the instincts of the wolf.

  “You ready to do this, Wolfgang?” he said out loud to the wolf inside of him. It’s the name he’d adopted for the animal, whom he had appreciated from the beginning but now felt bonded to in the most beautiful way. And why shouldn’t the wolf have a name? It was a part of him, and separate. It was a unique animal with its own personality.

  Wolfgang answered with a low growl, one that sounded like a soft hum in Rio’s head.

  “Good,” he said, striding across the head of Abraham Lincoln to the boulders that lined the back of the monument. Most were locked into the mountain, but a few large ones looked like they could be persuaded to be separated from the earth. Even though the spotlight at the bottom of the rock that cast on the faces of the four presidents didn’t help Rio from his high place, he could still see fine thanks to the night vision of the wolf.

  He knelt down and secured his fingers around a boulder that was nearly wider than he was. A grunt spilled out of his mouth as he hunched backward, ripping the rock away from its resting place, displacing other small rocks as he did. He sucked in a giant breath as he heaved the boulder up and launched it straight above his head. Each step he took was deliberate as sweat poured down the side of his head. He hoped this worked, but the wolf knew it would. The Lucidites had picked a monument because the psychic energy around them was stronger. Pair that with a unique event like this and it was bound to show up on the radar at Olento Research.

  Rio smiled wide when he came to stand at the edge of old Abe’s head. There, looking up at him, was a guard he had seen before. The man with the black ponytail stood with his back to a white van. Beside him a dozen guards stood, one holding a floodlight that was pointed at Rio. It flashed on and he startled backward from the sudden brightness. Rio’s foot caught a rock and he nearly slipped, the six-hundred-pound boulder taking him off balance. The wolf growled heavily in his head and he threw his momentum forward, launching the rock over the side of the monument. It flew fifteen feet forward, easily clearing the presidents’ faces before tumbling downward. The guards scrambled away from the rock that exploded into a hundred pieces when it crashed into the scree, bringing down more rock with it. Rio laughed, heading back for another boulder, enjoying the sound of the men shuffling for safety below. He didn’t think any were hurt… yet. He just needed to keep up the distraction a little longer.

  “Enough!” the guard who was apparently named Haiku said. He was the one who had dropped the handkerchief that Connor found. The director of security at Olento Research and obviously a man without a soul. “Stop the show and come down here. You’re trapped. We will send up ropes.”

  The next boulder Rio went after was even larger than the last. Confidence and a new strength fueled by his vengeance ran through his blood. He didn’t even strain to carry the boulder to the side of the cliff. The men had moved behind the van now.

  “Why don’t you come and get me?” Rio said with a laugh and ran this time before launching the boulder over the front of Roosevelt’s head. This beat skipping rocks, one of Rio’s old pastimes. The boulder rocked the earth when it crashed into the ground, bringing trees and other boulders cascading toward the men barricaded behind the vehicle. The debris slammed into the van, crowding it under a pile of rocks and trees.

  “Good luck getting that van unstuck!” Rio screamed from overhead. Again he’d destroyed another of Olento Research’s vans. These numbskulls just never learned, he thought as the Lucidite helicopter rose from behind Mount Rushmore. Rio’s curly black hair whipped against his face, which adorned the largest grin yet. He waited until the rope ladder was thrown over the side to step forward, easily catching it with his giant hands. He made sure to turn and wave to the men on the ground, covered in dust and rock. It was never a good idea to be rude. The helicopter rose higher as it raced across the South Dakota sky.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “A real idiot will use dream travelin
g to try to make changes to events that have already happened or affect events that will happen. We can thank those assholes for earthquakes and a whole host of other natural disasters. That’s right, mess with time and the earth destroys itself. It’s called a built-in fail-safe. God thinks of everything.”

  - Dream Traveler Codex

  The Great Basin Desert wasn’t like any place Clay had ever seen. The cracked earth under his feet felt sturdy and also like it could give way under him. He stepped, feeling the unevenness with every stride. The Sierra Nevada Mountains stretched before him, but he only knew that using the night vision of the wolf.

  The helicopter had flown off to safety a half an hour ago. That left Clay the opportunity to fill himself with the emotions he needed to fuel his power. Still, it wouldn’t matter if Olento Research didn’t show up to witness. The way future events happened was confounding to him. Apparently, the act of doing something powerful in the future could trigger clairvoyance in the past. This was all a gamble and that didn’t feel right to him. But the Lucidites obviously knew what they were doing. And all he had to do was create a diversion. After everything, after all he’d been through, that was an easy cost for his potential freedom.

  Time was up. It was now that he was supposed to act. But no one was here to witness his power. What if this hadn’t worked? What if he was alone in the desert and it all had been for nothing. He closed his eyes, feeling the breathless feeling that accompanied panic. He could dream travel back to the Institute now and generate his body. He could abandon it all, and not risk damaging himself and the Earth.