by Jen L. Grey
“Smile.” The woman gave me a cold glare as she clicked something and a bright light flashed. “Good, it’s all done.” She waved her hand in Mac’s direction. “Ugh … Now be gone.”
The woman was hot as hell, and she knew it, which didn’t surprise me since she came off like a bitch.
“Alright, let’s go get you changed into your new clothes.” Mac grabbed my arm and tugged me back toward the door. Instead, he took the hallway to the right, which led to a dead end. There were two doors to the left and one to the right.
“Second on the left is the girls’ room. You’ll find some clothes laid out for you.” He yanked my arm back so he could look me in the eye. “If you are gone for too long, I will enter and finish dressing you myself. Do you understand?”
“How am I supposed to change with these things on me?” I shifted my wrists, making the handcuffs rattle.
“Aaron, get your ass in here and uncuff her.” Mac still kept his eyes locked on me. “Now listen here, we’re going to uncuff you, but your magic won’t work here. So don’t get any wise ideas because we can take you down easily.”
“If my magic doesn’t work, then yours doesn’t either.” He must think we’re all morons or something.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He lowered his head close to my ear.
His musky scent tinged with onions overpowered my sense of smell. I couldn’t stop myself from gagging.
“I’d be insulted if it wasn’t some half-breed gagging at me.” He leaned in closer so his scent hit me heavier. “But that’s a compliment coming from you.”
This guy was an arrogant piece of shit who needed to be taken down a few steps, but right now, I was the wrong person to do it.
“Why don’t you cut her a little slack?” Aaron stood behind me, and I could feel the click of the handcuffs unlocking. “She’s been riding in the back all day.”
“Are you getting soft?” Mac arched an eyebrow at him. “If so, we’re going to have a problem.”
“No, I’m not.” The guy sighed and pulled the cuffs off my aching wrists.
I didn’t know how bad my wrists were hurting until this moment. I pulled my hands in front of me and saw that they were rubbed raw. They looked similar to uncooked ground beef, which made me want to throw up.
“Awe, you must be delicate.” Mac laughed and grabbed one of my wrists right where it hurt.
The pain was excruciating. Except, the one thing I learned about bullies was if you react, it gives them the power that they seek. That was a hard lesson I learned back in middle and high school when everyone had a clique except for me. They’d taunt and make fun of me much like the coward ass standing in front of me now. The only difference was that he was physically abusing me as well. However, I forced my face into a mask of indifference.
Despite the pain radiating up my arm, I lifted my chin, biting back the tears. “Can I go get changed now?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He dropped my wrist and pointed to the door once more. “Go. Hurry.”
“There’s a bathroom inside.” Aaron caught my eye and nodded.
At least that was a small miracle. I hurried into the room, and it took my breath away. The place had lockers from floor to ceiling and a bench that sat right in front of them. On the bench, there was a worn brown outfit—a t-shirt and matching pair of shorts. A pair of uncomfortable-looking new leather shoes laid on the ground next to it. To the right side were a couple of bathroom stalls.
I hurried into one, relieving myself, and then hurried to the sink to wash my hands. My wrists looked worse in the well-lit room.
A loud pounding sounded on the door, followed by Mac’s voice. “If you aren’t out in two more minutes, I’m going to bust in there.”
That guy was a real pain in the ass. I rushed over to the brown clothes and removed my pajamas. When I picked the brown shirt up, a mothball smell filled my nostrils. Great, I’m going with the old lady smell.
I heard a few footsteps moving toward the door, so I quickly put the clothes on. I turned to head to the door but stopped short. I’d almost forgotten my phone. I reached into my pajama pocket and grabbed the phone. I searched for pockets in the shorts, but there weren’t any. Damnit, I’d have to deal with it. Luckily, I hadn’t removed my bra so I was able to stuff my phone inside it, making sure the phone rested right in my cleavage, unnoticeable. At least I was blessed with curves.
“I’ll give you to the count of ten, and if you aren’t out here, I’m coming in.” Mac’s voice was all growly.
Might as well go out on my own accord. As I passed by the mirror, I paused. My long, brown hair was in disarray, and my dark blue eyes looked black in the light. Of course, the fluorescent lights did wonders for my already pale skin, too. It was a good thing I didn’t give a crap about how I looked.
Right when I reached the door, it swung open.
“I told you …’ He stopped short of running into me.
“I had to pee.” I crossed my arms and stared at him.
“Then you need to learn to pee faster.” He grabbed the upper part of my arm, hauling me into the hallway. “From here on out, you’re on our timetable, not yours. Anyone who doesn’t abide by it pays the price.”
It was a good thing I believed in karma because it was going to come back and bite him in the ass one day. Hell, I was part vampire. Maybe I could help karma out.
“Did you hear what I said?” Mac jerked me against his chest.
“She’s a half-breed, not deaf.” Aaron’s shoulders tightened ever so slightly, but if I hadn’t seen it happening, I would’ve never known.
“You never can be sure about the tainted.” His warm breath hit me in the face. I could smell the onions he had earlier in the day. I wanted to throw up, but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
“Let’s get this over with so we can take her outside and get her assimilated with the other prisoners.” Aaron marched over to the door across the hall.
“Fine.” Mac loosened his grip but shoved me through the door.
If I hadn’t had good balance, I would have fallen flat on my face. I held onto the door handle and somehow stayed on my feet. The smell of chemicals hit my nose and burned my eyes.
“Well, what do we have here? Hmmm …” An older bald man was looking through a microscope. He sighed and then moved back from the lens. He picked up a recorder and started it. “Bring her over here for a second.”
“With pleasure.” Mac grabbed my arm and threw me into the table where the doctor sat.
The doctor put on rubber gloves. “Bring her head down so I can reach her face.”
Mac’s hand took hold of the back of my neck and shoved it downward.
“Let’s see what we’re working with.” He gripped my cheeks and squeezed them hard with his ice-cold fingers, causing my mouth to open. “She’s got a good pair of chompers. Something I wish I had.” He leaned into me and took a deep breath. “A very sweet floral scent. Must be vampire and fae.” He turned his cold eyes on Aaron. “Am I right, boy?”
“Another menace.” Mac pushed me into a seat next to the door. “Aaron says she’s part vampire and part fae.”
“Do you know which half is more powerful than the other?” The man reluctantly stood from his spot and picked up a pair of wireframe glasses that were sitting on the table. He put them on and shuffled his feet in my direction.
“I can’t tell that actually.” Aaron scowled. “I’ve been staring at her aura the whole time, and one doesn’t appear larger than the other. Usually, one color is brighter or more dominant.”
Mac strapped my arms and legs to the chair with a sick grin.
“Is this really necessary?” At this point, it wasn’t like I could do anything.
“Of course it is, freak.” Mac’s breath once again hit my nose.
Between the chemical smell and onions, my stomach lurched.
“Not to worry.” The guy had a strange smile, and his hands shook as he grabbed a needle off the table. “I�
��ll find out soon enough.”
There were a few drops of dried crusted blood on the needle. “That looks used.”
“So?” The older man shrugged, making his lab coat collar stick up around his neck. He had a pungent smell of chemicals; maybe even bleach, and the fly to his jeans was undone.
The last thing I wanted to see was an old man’s penis, but I couldn’t look away from the train wreck. I couldn’t look away. “I don’t want to get a disease or something.”
“That’s funny.” He chuckled, which made his belly jiggle. He glanced at Aaron and Mac. “This one is funny.”
“Get it done, please.” Mac tapped his fingers on his pants impatiently.
“Why don’t you go on? I can bring her out there.” Aaron nodded his head toward me. “I need to go check in about my schedule anyway.”
“You sure?” Mac had already taken a step back into the hallway.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Aaron ran his hands through his hair. “I got to take a nap on the way back here while you drove.”
“Well, then I’ll see you tomorrow, kid.” Mac saluted him and nodded to the old man. He was gone within seconds.
“Alright, let’s get this done.” He chuckled as he grabbed a clean needle, hooked it onto a plastic piece, brought it forward, and shoved it into my arm, making me wince.
“Aren’t you supposed to find a vein first?” These people were all off their rockers, but hell, at least he used a clean needle.
“If you were human, then maybe.” His strange smile reappeared as he dug around in my arm, causing excruciating pain. After a few sharp turns, blood finally started flowing into the purple tube. “Just a little bit more, and we can figure out the mystery of our half-breed here. Go ahead and take her out. I’ll send the results to your father.”
“Yeah, okay.” Aaron opened the door. “Come on, let’s go.”
Not bothering to say anything about my still flowing blood, I used the hand on my other arm to put pressure on it.
I was a lab animal, an experiment for the doctor’s research. I was afraid of what was going to happen next. My gut told me it was something completely different than I expected.
Chapter Four
Aaron’s and my footsteps sounded like scraping leather as we headed down the hallway back toward the badging place. These shoes were not broken in and didn’t allow me to walk my normal gait.
“You’re kind of different from the others.” Aaron cringed as if he couldn’t believe the words that had come out of his mouth.
If he was trying to get me to talk, I wasn’t going to fall for it. He was another one of those judgy people at school. Just because I was different, they had always made me a target.
This time, awkward silence descended around us. The door was now shut where they had my pictures taken earlier. When I glanced out the windows, I realized that night was already upon us.
We passed by and continued our trek until a large, steel door appeared on the left. There was a place by the door to scan a badge just like the other one outside. Similar to all the other times, he scanned, but it then opened a hidden compartment to the side, and he pressed a button. A camera slid out from behind the wall, and an electronic voice filled the air. “Please stand in front for a retinal scan.”
With him already in position, I watched the camera flicker, and a red laser shone out, hitting him right in the eye. “Identity verified. Welcome, Aaron Andrews.” The camera slid back into the wall, but the voice continued. “Please enter your password.” Another slot opened, and a keyboard slid out from the wall.
What other kinds of hidden things were in there?
He typed a few random letters in and pressed enter. As soon as it was done, the keyboard slid back in while the door clicked. “I’ll give you a quick tour before I leave.”
“Tour?” I could have guaranteed it would take all of ten minutes tops.
“You’ll see.” He pushed open the door, and I diligently followed along. I needed to pretend to be cooperative so they would lower their guard around me. When I stepped outside, I paused. I had to be dreaming. The day couldn’t get any stranger.
There was grass everywhere with huge trees, and several yards away, there appeared to be a cornfield. This area didn’t have a prison feel but rather a farm.
A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I told you it’s different.” He pointed in the direction of the cornfield. “After the corn, there are gardens for any vegetable you can imagine.” He gently touched my arm and pulled me toward a dirt path.
“Aaron, what are you doing out here so late?” An older guard strolled over to us and glanced at Aaron’s hand on my arm.
He dropped his hand quickly. “We got a new one in, and I was showing her around.”
“I see that.” The man had to be in his fifties but was still lean and fit. His black shirt and pants molded to his body. “You gotta be careful with them.” He nodded his head in my direction as he narrowed his hazel eyes.
His salt and pepper hair made him more handsome in some ways. Well, everyone was hot so far except for the mad-scientist blood-taker. He was freaking disgusting and a bit scary.
“Don’t worry, Dennis. I know.” Aaron’s voice held a tone of superiority. “It’s not like I haven’t been raised on the war stories.”
“It’s one thing listening, and it’s a whole ‘nother thing living ‘em.” Dennis tucked his hands into his pockets. “But what do I know? I guess it doesn’t matter that I’ve worked here as long as your father.”
“Is there anything else you want?” Aaron took a few steps away toward the dirt road.
“No, it’s just I’ve never seen a guard giving a prisoner a guided tour before.” He shrugged and unlatched the walkie talkie from his pocket. “Aaron is heading your way with a new prisoner. Keep an eye on them, and shoot anyone who tries to attack him.”
His walkie talkie sprung to life. “Roger that.”
“I’ll be out in five minutes.” Aaron took another step away from me, creating some distance between us.
If he thought that was going to hurt my feelings, he had another think coming. I felt Dennis’s eyes on me every step of the way.
After a minute or two, the dirt road split off into two different paths. Aaron pointed to the right. “That one leads to the rest of the crops and a barn.” Then he pointed to the left. “That one takes you to the cabins and cafeteria. Let’s head that way.”
Some sleep sounded good to me. Instead of answering, I took off in that direction.
“Your duties are going to be in the cotton fields.” He sniffed and scratched his nose. “It’s a new division that is being started up. It’ll help out with clothing more than anything else.”
“You mean these fashionable brown outfits won’t be the standard going forward?” I had to look like a UPS driver.
“No, I’m sorry.” The corners of his mouth tilted slightly upward. “It’ll be all white clothing later on.”
A few small log buildings came into view. “The first set of cabins are the women’s area. There is a large break between them and then the men’s cabins. The cafeteria is right there.” He pointed at a larger building across the road.
There had to be at least a hundred cabins if not more in the women’s area. “How do you make sure no men sneak into a cabin?” They probably didn’t worry about that.
“There are a few guards in every section.” He pointed to the tree line where there were several platforms situated inside every few trees. “The last thing we want is half-breeds reproducing.”
That’s always good to hear. It had nothing to do with keeping unwanted advances and more to do with reproduction. But hey, I’d take it.
We walked between a few of the front cabins. They weren’t in bad condition, which kind of surprised me. All the wood was secured in place, and they seemed well taken care of.
After we passed about thirty of the cabins, Aaron stopped at the one that was numbered thirteen. “And this one is you
rs.”
“Lucky thirteen, huh.” I took a few steps toward it and looked it over. There was a small porch in the front with two rocking chairs on it. “Do I get a key?”
“Ha, that’s cute.” Aaron chuckled strangely and glanced at the ground. “We lock you up each night and unlock it in the morning so you can leave to do your chores.”
The news kept getting better and better. “What if I need to go to the bathroom?”
“There is one in each cabin. It’s a small bathroom with a standing shower.” Aaron pulled out a key and stuck it into the lock. “You have a roommate, so don’t be surprised. She should be around the same age as you, too. So maybe you’ll hit it off.” He opened the door.
Yeah, that’s what I should have been the most concerned about after everything that had happened in the past couple of days. At this point, I didn’t feel overwhelmed any longer. I was numb and decided that might wind up being a blessing.
When I stepped inside, a girl’s voice whispered, “Don’t come any closer.”
“Stop it, Deissy.” Aaron’s voice was stern. “I’m bringing in your new roommate.”
“Fine.” The girl tiptoed out from the shadows, and the first thing that hit me was her long, thick, rainbow hair. It was gorgeous.
She held her hand out to me. “I’m Deissy. What type of menace are you?”
“What?” Her actions were friendly, but not her words.
“Half-fae and half-vampire.” Aaron waved his hands toward the open door. “I gotta get going.”
I didn’t understand why he didn’t leave already. “Okay.”
He held up the key and held out his hand. “Give me your phone and get in the cabin.”
Shit, how did he know about the phone? I sighed, pulling it from my cleavage and handed it over before stepping into the small cabin.
“Uh … thanks. See ya around.” He closed the door and locked it.
“That’s odd.” Deissy stepped into the light and stole my breath away.
