Chapter Eight
I throw one knife at the human at the back, a heavy-set man who's hiding behind a table. Stupid of him to peek out right when I barged into the room. The blade embeds itself in his throat and he gurgles as blood spurts from the wound. Delightful.
I launch myself at the other human, a female wearing a guard uniform. She wields two curved daggers and from the way she stands, she knows what she's doing. She grins as she meets my blows as if she's glad to be challenged. I'd be desperate for a fight too if I had to sit in a boring lab all day.
I easily manage to block her strikes, but I have to admit, for a human, she's pretty good. She's definitely not a mutant though; she's too slow for that. I stop myself from going to the offensive, instead deciding to draw out our fight, enjoying every second of it. This is why I do this job. The deep rush of adrenaline. The flashes of clarity. The way the world turns crystal sharp as I anticipate her every move and react to it. I could do this all day.
Something whizzes past my ear and embeds itself in the woman's throat. A knife.
"Hey, I was having fun here," I complain to the twins, then sheathe my weapons.
Four walks over and pulls the blade from the woman's flesh. "We don't have time for fun."
She's right, but this was supposed to be my kill. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Four wipes her knife on her white trousers, leaving bright red bloodstains. Why did the two girls insist on wearing white? It's so impractical on a night like this. There has to be a reason for it, but that story will have to wait for another day.
The lab isn't very big and looks almost exactly like the one where I confronted Grandma Doctor. My neck itches at the thought. She put a collar on me back then and almost killed me. That's not going to happen this time. Fitzroy is dead, so is my other creator. Gryphon and I murdered the Pack leaders. I killed a lot of Pack scientists at the blue house. We're exterminating them one by one like the rats that they are. Hopefully, this is their last lair we need to torch.
Ivy and Four start going through the shelves lining the walls of the lab. I leave them to it and instead take a closer look at the four long tables. They're wiped clean, but there is a scent to my right that seems familiar. I jump over one of the tables - walking around it seems lame - and follow the scent. A narrow drawer is half-open beneath the metal surface, revealing a dozen small flasks. I take one of them and give it a sniff. Yes, that's what I've been smelling.
It reminds me of something but I can't quite put my finger on what that is. Citrus mixed with something sharp that scratches at the back of my throat. I close my eyes and focus on the scent. Another lab...but not a Pack one. My own. Mixed with a different scent, one I smell every day. Bethany. And rubber, the smell of a protective suit.
I open my eyes again, now completely sure where I've come across this before. Bethany was trying to replicate a drug she'd found mentioned in Pack documents. She said it was given to all the clones, but didn't know what it was for. I never found out if she actually managed to successfully produce the substance, but the amber liquid in this little flask must be it.
I'm tempted to drop it and destroy them all, but this might be a part of the puzzle. No, I'm sure it is.
I pocket several of the flasks, then whistle, getting the twins' attention. "Ever seen or smelled this before?"
They come closer, covered in dust from looking through old folders. Yeah, those white clothes have to go.
Ivy gives it a sniff and shakes her head, but Four freezes, her eyes growing wide.
"Where did you find that?"
I point at the desk behind me. "A drawer. I recognised the scent. And so do you, don't you?"
She nods slowly. "Unfortunately."
"Did they give it to you?"
"I think so. It's all a bit blurry."
"At least you remember," Ivy says darkly. "I wish I could."
"You really don't," Four whispers and Ivy grows pale as they exchange a look. Did they just do their mind talk thing?
"Tell me, Four," I say as gently as I can. "What does it do?"
She shakes her head. "I don't want to talk about it."
"I need to know." I almost crush the little flask as I try to stay patient. Her pain is evident. If I were anyone but myself, I'd give her a hug.
Ivy takes her sister's hand. "Shall I tell her?"
Four gives her a grateful smile and nods.
"She's shown me what she can remember," Ivy explains. "And sometimes it's easier for us to let the other do the talking. It's hard to see the memory, but it was a lot harder to live through it."
Yes, I could understand that. I envied them for their unique connection, although I bet it also gave them a lot of pain and torture from the Pack.
"They took her to a lab and strapped her on a chair," Ivy said tonelessly, as if she was reading out a boring document and not recounting her sister's memory. "Then they injected her with this drug. She struggled against the bonds, but she got tired quickly. Then the pain started. Not on her body, in her mind. Her cat was torn from her. The connection between them frayed under the onslaught."
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" I interrupt. "The connection to her cat?"
"They changed us," Four whispers, not meeting my eyes. "They broke us and we can't remember."
"No, we made you better." I have my knives drawn and ready before I realise that the voice came from a speaker above the door. It's a man's voice, deep and threatening.
"I know him," Four mutters beneath her breath.
Instinctively, we've assembled in a triangle, facing out, our backs towards each other.
"Who are you?" I shout.
"Little K1, you're all grown up, and yet you still don't know how to behave. Don't worry, you're going to learn that soon enough."
Who the fuck does he think he is?
"How about you come show yourself and we can talk about this face to face?"
He laughs. "No, I'd rather not. I don't know how you've managed to disable K2, but I'm not taking any chances. I'm having my bears bring you to me instead. Try not to kill too many of them. They're so expensive to produce."
"Did he just say 'bears'?" Ivy asks loudly. "Is he talking about bear shifters? I'm pretty sure they don't exist."
"I hope they don't," I mutter. "If they do, we might be in trouble. Bears are big."
Footsteps approach the lab. I detach five poison darts from my collar and take them between my fingers, ready to throw. They're not as effective on shifters as they are on humans, but they will slow them down, maybe even make them drowsy.
The girls flank me, their own daggers at the ready. I love how we all fight with the same weapons. Maybe it's genetics, maybe it's the way we were trained, who knows, but it makes me feel closer to them.
Before the doors even open, I can smell them.
"They're not bears, they're mutants," I say just as they barge into the room. Six of them. Big, broad brutes wielding swords and axes almost as tall as I am. They're the same grunts I've fought before. The ones whose blood I like to drink.
I grin at the one running towards me. "Hello, darling. I'm going to enjoy sucking you dry." And then I let the darts fly. They're an improved formula, not the ones I had with me when I first attacked one of their kind. Those didn't have any effect. I hope these will. Bethany can usually be trusted with making excellent poisons.
Two of them hit the man at the front, and I've sent one each to three of the other brutes. It's an experiment; let's see if one is enough to bring them down.
Annoyingly, the man now lifting his sword and bringing it down towards me isn't affected by them at all. Shit. I was so sure they'd work. I arch back, crossing my knives in front of my chest to catch his blow. My arms shake as the sword meets my blades. He's fucking strong. Instead of deflecting and then retaliating as I'd planned, I let myself drop to the floor without warning. He stumbles, his balance lost. That's enough time for me to prick him in the ankle with two more darts before rolling out of his reach. Now
he finally wavers a little, his eyes turning glassy. He's still not collapsed on the floor like he should be though. I'm going to fire Bethany for this. Or at least halve her salary. She promised me a poison that would be potent enough to work on mutants. Maybe these are different ones, stronger ones. They smell the same, but they do seem a little bigger.
He runs at me again, stumbling, just about managing to catch himself, but now I have two others approaching me. They seem to be brothers, with wild beards and even wilder eyes. Their axes look a little too sharp for my liking. Time to change my strategy.
I take a deep breath and draw on my shifter power. Before, this would have given me some extra strength and the ability to semi-shift, but now, pure energy fills me. When it reaches my mind, it kicks me with the force of half a dozen cocktails. I might have a hangover after this.
I grin and launch myself into battle. When one of the bear-mutants touches my knives with his axe, I push back, surprising both him and me. I twist my hands and with it, his blade, giving me an opening to strike from the side. Annoyingly, his brother isn't waiting for us to finish our fight.
I see his axe coming down towards me from the corner of my eyes and I arch back until my head is almost touching the floor. While the axe cuts the air above me, a hair's breadth from my navel, I flip my knives and stab them into the man's ankles. He screams, and while I know he's going to heal far too soon, it makes him drop to his knees. The perfect height to cut his throat. I do it with my left hand while I stab at the brother with my right. That guy just doesn't get the message.
While one brother squeals - the one with the knife inside his cheek - I squeeze my blade deep into the other's throat. My new strength makes it easy to push through flesh and bone. I let go of the other knife for a second and focus on cutting off the bear's head. He'll heal otherwise and I really don't want to fight him again and again. When his head falls to the floor with a plonk, I kick it to the other side of the room. So satisfying.
The brother roars in anger and rips my blade from his face, leaving a deep gash that exposes the bone beneath. It's barely bleeding though. Those healing abilities really are amazing. I wish I had them.
He picks up his brother's axe, now wielding two of them. Fun. Now that's a real challenge.
The speakers send a second of static before the man's voice fills the room. "Hurry up, I don't have all day."
That's all the distraction I need. While the mutant bear-man listens to his master's words, I dive at him and stab my knife into his chest, twisting as it sinks in. I feel the moment when I reach his heart and his life expires. With the blade inside his heart, even he can't heal quick enough.
He collapses to the floor. I leave that knife in his chest and pick up the other one that he plucked from his cheek. I wipe it on my trousers, glad I'm not wearing white like the twins.
Around me, the sounds of blade meeting blade creates a rhythm, like a drumbeat that my body wants to dance to. Neither of the twins has shouted for help, so I'm assuming they can handle themselves. I need to get rid of my two bears fast though so that I can assist them, just in case. They may be miniature mes, but they're also smaller. Who knows how much fighting experience they really have.
I pull a knife from my boot and turn towards the fight. It's time to dance.
Chapter Nine
Four has a great form, but she lacks strength. She's fast though and able to keep out of reach of her opponents' blades while still being able to get in an occasional attack. Ivy is having a more difficult time. She could probably deal with one of the grunts, but right now, two of them are driving her into a corner of the room.
Not happening. I jump onto one of the tables and run along it before launching myself at one of the men. I land on his back, my daggers cutting into the fleshy part where his neck meets his shoulders. He screams like an animal and tries to shake me off. I'm tempted to whoop in delight as he buckles under me like a bull. I've always wanted to try bull riding. I saw that at a travelling fair a couple of years ago but didn't have the money to pay the fee. Now I have my own personal bull. I think I'm going to call him Felix.
I could easily finish him from here, but I'm enjoying the ride way too much. I let go of him with one hand, just like I'd seen the bull riders do it. That also gives me the chance to throw some poison darts at the man Ivy is fighting. That should make it a little easier for her. Not that I want to mollycoddle my sister, but I don't want her to get hurt either.
Felix is trying to grab me and pull me off his back, but a quick twist of the knives make his arms hang limply by his sides. He roars and this time, I can't help let out a happy cheer. Felix is a great bull. Maybe I should take him home and tame him. The girls could get their own and we could have little competitions.
"Kat, a little help over here!"
Four sounds as if she's in trouble. Urgh. I was having so much fun.
"Shall I kill you or do you want to be my bull?" I ask Felix.
"Kill me," he groans. How boring. I cut his throat, jump off his back and then sever his head from his body. Such a pity. He would have made a great pet.
Four is still fighting two of the grunts and she's no longer making it look as easy as she did before. Multiple thin gashes line her arms where she's not managed to completely evade them, but luckily, the wounds aren't deep. Probably shallow enough for her sister to lick them.
Just when I reach her, she slashes one of the brutes' neck and a fountain of blood rises into the air. Droplets land on my face and without thinking, I lick them from my lips. Sweet nectar fills my mouth. Oh yes. Beautiful.
I no longer care about the fight. All I can think of is my hunger; the craving for the man's blood is overpowering me. From one second to the next, he's on the floor and I'm on top of him, my mouth latched onto this wound. I drink in the blood, swallowing gulps full of the sweet liquid. I've never tasted anything this good. He tries to fight me off but I'm way too strong for him. The world around me turns insignificant. I close my eyes and savour the taste. His blood is like catnip mixed with fresh cream, filling me with happiness. I curl up on top of his now lifeless body and drink my fill. When my thirst is mostly sated, I still don't stop, I just take it slower, lapping up his blood, not wanting to waste a single drop.
A purr rumbles from my chest. I've not been this happy in...forever? This is so much better than catnip. I extend and retract my claws - oh, I have claws now - while running my tongue over his wound to make sure it doesn't close. He's not quite dead yet, I can still hear his slow, weak heartbeat, but the loss of blood has made him unconscious. If I'm lucky, his healing powers will replenish his blood fast enough before he dies. He could be my never-ending fountain of food. I'd never have to buy food again. Free, nutritious, delicious sustenance.
I purr again. I'm living the dream.
"Kat, snap out of it."
There's always one party pooper. I ignore him and take another sip of blood. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
"She's totally stoned. Any idea what to do?"
"Get Gryphon, he'll know."
I let them talk, not caring in the slightest what their conversation is about. I'm all about the blood. Liquid catnip is the best invention ever.
"Kat?"
It's kind of Gryphon to join me.
"Want some blood?" I slur.
"No. We don't have time for this, there's more coming."
"More blood?"
He groans for some reason. "No, more people wanting to kill us. Can you fight?"
"No way," someone else says. "She's way too out of it. She's a liability."
I raise my head to glare at whoever said that. I'm not a-
My ears flick up as a new sound registers. Footsteps in the distance. Heavy breathing. Fast heartbeats. I count them, even though that's hard.
"Twenty," I mutter, realising that this might be important. Even more important than the yummy blood source I'm lying on.
"Fuck. You, little cat, go and tell Ryker that we need him. I'm not su
re if I can keep K2 under control if I have to fight.".
There's fear in his voice and that's enough to make me get up and shift. No, I think I shift first and then get up. It's all a bit fuzzy, but the sense of danger drives me forward, out of the lab and into the corridor. They're coming. Down the steps, through the doors. There they are. Twenty men that smell of sweet catnip. I want to drink them dry, but first I need to protect my family.
I sprint, my feet barely touching the ground, until I reach the first of them. They aim their weapons at me, but everything is in slow motion. Well, they are slow and I'm in motion. I'm fast. I dive beneath their blades, ripping out one throat after another. My claws disembowel and cut through flesh, while my jaws break bones with delightful cracks. One after the next, their heartbeats stop. Some start again before I get the chance to rip off their hands, but they don't have long enough to heal. Eventually, they'll all be dead.
A few of their blades nick my skin, but I don't even feel the pain. I'm stronger than any of them and so much faster. I'm a predator and they're my prey. They should realise that and lay down their weapons, but they're far too stupid. They weren't created to think. They were made to be my food source. Something about that thought strikes me as important, but I don't have the time to ponder on it. I have more lives to take, more throats to rip out, more blood to drink.
By the time my sisters join me, there are only two left. I turn and let them deal with the two men. Call it being nice and giving them the chance to have some fun. Instead, I run to the rest of my family. Gryphon is standing by the door to the lab, with my other sister closely behind him. She smells strange. I didn't realise that earlier, but there's something very off about her scent. It's like mine but twisted, as if someone took a beautiful melody and added dissonances and notes that don't belong. I rub against Gryphon's legs, encouraging him to give me a good head rub. He complies, but only strokes me in a small spot between my ears and not all over how I want it.
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