by Jen L. Grey
“You hit the nail on the head.” My stomach rumbled with hunger. I couldn’t imagine what I’d be feeling right now if Deissy hadn’t snuck me some food at breakfast. “So, why are you encouraging me?”
“I wasn’t encouraging per se, just making an observation.” She stood and motioned for me to get up. “But I get your point and will drop it.”
“Thank you.” It was finally dinner time and I was ecstatic. “I hope they are having something good tonight.”
“It’s the same thing each morning and night, so don’t get your hopes up.” She snorted as we began our trek back to the others. “But damn, when you’re hungry, you don’t get picky.”
“Now that is a true statement.”
Within minutes, we were making our way along the dirt road to the cafeteria. As soon as the building came into view, I saw Jenee propped against the side of the building. When her eyes landed on me, a smirk filled her face. “I bet you’re awfully hungry. Try to leave some for the rest of us.”
Great, this was going to be a thrill. It was obvious she was out here waiting to gloat. I came closed to stopping in my tracks and run away, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything other than to draw her focus on me more. She clearly wanted me to fear her. The best thing I could do was keep my smart mouth shut and figure out a way to somehow yank her off her pedestal. The only problem was I might end up being the one who took the fall.
Chapter Seven
The next several days bled into weeks. Luckily, I had been able to stay under both Knox and Jenee’s radar.
“Come on girl.” Deissy hollered at me from the living room. “I’m starving.”
“Yeah, I’m hurrying.” I pulled my long hair back into a ponytail. On humid days like these, it helped to keep me cool. Luckily, the cotton fields were almost harvested, and soon we’d be moving on to vegetables that would grow during the fall and winter.
Our front door opened, but instead of the usual one guard, there was another one there beside him.
Deissy stumbled backward to get away from them.
“Don’t worry.” The taller, stout guard nodded at her, and his gaze landed on me. “We’re here for her, not you.”
“No, we need her help today.” Deissy bit her bottom lip and pointed to me. “We’re getting ready to plant vegetables.”
“She’ll be back to help out tomorrow.” He held his hand out, motioning for me to come with him.
“But we need her today.” Deissy’s voice quivered, and her hands shook.
“Are you wanting to go instead of her?” The guard’s tone was rough, and he glared at her.
Her face fell, and she closed her eyes. She barely shook her head no, but it was enough for him to have her answer. She glanced at me and frowned. “I’m so sorry.”
What the hell was going on? I had a feeling this was what she had alluded to before when I first came on.
“Alright, then come on, girl.” The guard growled the words as he focused on me. “I don’t have all day.”
I had a feeling there was no way to get out of this, so I might as well make the best of it. I headed toward the guard while Deissy refused to make eye contact with me the entire way.
The guard grasped my arm and dragged me outside.
“Hey, I’m going.” I jerked my arm out of his grasp and glared.
“You better be careful who you talk to that way.” The guard narrowed his dark beady eyes at me and grabbed my arm again. “Now let’s move.”
“I’ll keep up.” I yanked my arm away again and lifted my chin. Considering how hard he was holding and yanking me, I would have bruises where his fingers dug into my skin.
“Fine, but if you lag behind at all, I’ll be dragging your ass the rest of the way.” A cruel smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth.
Yeah, he was banking on it not happening. He spun around and took off.
Holy shit, he was fast. I pushed my legs hard before I got left behind.
We sped past Knox and two other men.
I heard my name but couldn’t stop. Hell, even if I wasn’t chasing the guard, I wouldn’t have stopped for that jackass.
Right when I was about to get left behind, the building came into view, and I renewed my energy.
When we reached the door, the guard turned my way and frowned more. “You did keep up, but you won't be able to later when they’re through with you. Then I’ll be able to drag you back home any way I enjoy.”
“Promises, promises.” I wanted to cover my mouth with my hands, but the words were already out there. No use trying to hide them now.
“You think you’re real smart, don’t ya?” The guard narrowed his eyes at me as he scanned his badge.
I bit my tongue so I didn’t make another smart ass comment. Running my mouth must be part of my DNA or something.
The door swung open, and I hurried inside after him. I needed to pay attention to everything inside on the chance I was ever able to break away.
He took ahold of my arm again. “You won’t get out of it in here.” His fingers dug into me harder than before.
Of course, ass hat. He made his way down the hallway that Aaron had brought me through. Within a few seconds, we were passing the badging office where the girl had taken a picture of me when I’d come through my first night.
Footsteps sounded from the other hallway where I had changed into my UPS uniform. A familiar sweet smell hit my nose. It was …
Aaron rounded the corner and abruptly stopped when he saw me with grouchy. “What’s going on?”
“What the hell do you mean?” Grouchy was, of course, a ray of sunshine. “I’m taking her to the doctor.”
Something flashed in Aaron’s eyes. “Don’t be a jackass, Brad.”
“Thankfully, I don’t have to take orders from you, only your dad.” He jerked me toward the hallway again.
“Dude, stop jerking her.” Aaron stepped in front of Brad.
“Why does it matter?” Brad growled out. “It won’t prevent the hell she’s going to feel tonight.”
“What’s going on here?” A man about the same height as Aaron seemed to appear out of thin air. “Is there a problem?”
“No, Warden Andrews.” Brad straightened his shoulders and nodded.
“Then why are you two staring at each other when that half-breed should already be with George and the doctor.” His brows furrowed, and his dark brown eyes examined me from head to toe. “Am I missing something?” It was so strange because I’d never pegged this guy as Aaron’s father. Aaron must have taken after his mother.
“No, sir.” Brad tugged me closer to him. “I was taking her when Aaron interrupted us.”
“Was there a problem?” The warden took on a parental glare.
“She’s still new.” Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t realize …”
“When did someone being new become an excuse?” His tone grew deeper, and his sweet smell grew overwhelming. “You know the new ones are a top priority. It only took us this long to get her back here because the doctor had gotten called away.”
Aaron glanced at the ground, avoiding his dad’s gaze.
“Take her.” The warden pointed down the hall where we were headed. “Now.”
“Okay.” Brad yanked me forward again, causing me to practically stumble over my feet.
For Aaron to stick his neck out on the line for me, this was probably going to be worse than I’d imagined. Not wanting to look back at him for fear of my arm being yanked off or getting him into more trouble, I forced my eyes forward, heading to a destiny I would rather have kept unknown.
The putrid smell of chemicals hit me again. It wasn’t long before I was being forced into the same room where my blood had been taken by that creepy doctor.
As we entered the room, I found the doctor from that night standing in front of a large metal bed. A wide grin filled his face when his eyes landed on me. “There she is. I’ve been looking forward to this.”
“This is the one you
were telling me about?” An older man who must have been George leaned against the wall. He was balding on top, but still in decent shape for his age. He raked his dark blue eyes over me and smelled of musk similar to that Mac guy.
“Yes, the specimen’s blood is very potent.” The doctor patted the table. “I need her on top of here.”
There were tubes hanging everywhere and two sets of rope that appeared to be for securing my hands and feet. My heart took off running, and there was no hiding my fear. I was frozen in place.
“See, you might not have been so willing to follow after me if you knew what you were rushing head-first into.” Brad’s dark chuckle filled my ears. “Stupid half-breeds.” He bent down, picking me up similar to a baby.
Realizing he had picked me up, I struggled against him, but he was freakishly strong. “Let me go.”
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” The more I struggled, the more he enjoyed it.
He was one of those sick pieces of shit who got pleasure from others’ pain—sadist.
The older man came over as Brad forced me down on the table, holding my hands next to the rope.
I bucked my legs trying to break free as the older man tied the rope around my wrists tightly. If I tugged at all, the material seemed to dig into my skin more.
As soon as both my hands were secure, Brad detained both of my legs, holding them steady while they were tied as well.
“Thank you.” George nodded at the guard. “Come back at the end of your shift so you can release her back into the wild.”
It was strange. I had despised the guy, but right now I wished more than anything that he would stay.
When the door shut, I had to come to grips with the fact that there was no preventing whatever was going to happen to me. “What are you guys going to do to me?”
“Aw … they all ask this same thing the first time.” The doctor sighed and shook his head. “It’s cute how they expect us to answer them.” With a dark smile spreading on his face, he chuckled, making his large beer belly jiggle.
“Ignore her and get on with it.” George made his way back up to my face. He reached his hand out, brushing my cheek with his fingers in a caress. I flinched, causing the doctor to chuckle again. “She is a pretty one.”
“If you go for the pasty pale kind of look.” The doctor walked over to a mass of tubes and grabbed them. Three long and large needles stuck out at the ends. “Alright, here we go.” He moved to where my feet were tied down and jammed one into my skin right above my ankle.
It felt like a knife stabbed me, but I refused to cry out.
“Do you mind moving?” The doctor arched an eyebrow at George.
“Oh, yes. Sorry.” He took several steps away, nearing the door, leaning against the wall once more. Though his eyes never wavered from mine.
The doctor handled the second needle now and made sure to show it to me before he jammed it into my arm. “I’m taking a much larger blood sample this time.”
“Good, we need to ramp up our analysis.” George sighed and shook his head. “These stupid sympathizers are gaining traction. I don’t think it’ll come to anything, of course. Still, the more we can learn, the better.”
“That’s your problem. I need to know more, especially this one.” The doctor huffed, wanting to focus on his research. He whined, “Remember, I had to help with clean up at the other site. I’m expecting a raise for all this trouble.”
“Of course, Doug.” Even though his words were affirmation, there was clear annoyance in them as well.
“Good, because I put my neck out, doing this shit.” He wielded the last needle and yanked my hair out of the way with his fingers.
“What are you doing?” It was one thing to jam a needle into my ankle and arm, but my head was a completely different thing.
“Oh, shut up.” As the words left his mouth, he stuck a needle deep into my scalp. He took a deep breath before continuing though winded. “… This will help me figure out how your brain works. Hope you don’t become brain damaged. The last one became a drooling buffoon.”
I closed my eyes as tears burned from the pain. Did he make my brain bleed?
“Alright. That’s done. Let the fun begin.” He messed with the bags that the tubes were attached to, and something ice-cold began to seep inside me.
My head began to get woozy, and the walls began to spin. I’d never been drunk before no matter how many times I tried, but this is what I’d imagined it would feel like.
“And now it’s time to take all my samples.” The doctor slid a curtain that had been hanging off to the side, and behind it, there was a cylinder that had “One Liter” stamped on it.
I wanted to protest, but my lips wouldn’t move. “Bl …”
“Oh, yes, this is for your blood.” Doctor Doug’s face lit up as if he had a new pupil. “It looks excessive, and it is, but don’t worry your pretty little head … you half-breeds won’t die. Well … as long as we don’t take too much.”
“Shouldn’t she be out by now?” George frowned at me.
“I’m not sure why we bother … but yes, she should.” Doug hurried back to the other side where all my drips were hanging. He messed with them again, increasing the flow, and the coldness turned into ice in my veins.
My eyes grew heavy, and they began shutting on their own accord. No, I have to fight this.
“There we go.” Doug moved back to the other side of me, and I felt him messing with each of the tubes, I assumed to connect them to the container.
It was only a slight blessing that I had passed out before I felt more pain.
Voices surrounded me as my mind began to function again. I wanted to yell the words shut up, but my tongue weighed too much to lift.
“Lexy.” I heard my name pulling at my consciousness, but I didn’t want to go back. It was better here in the dark. At least here, no one could hurt me or cause me any more pain.
“So Brad couldn’t make it here?” George’s annoyed voice pulled me closer to the light. “What was so damn important for him to neglect this part of his job?”
“Mac brought someone in with their parents.” Aaron cleared his throat. “Brad was needed to take care of the extra liabilities.”
What the hell was an extra liability? Maybe I was hearing things.
“Yeah, Brad does have the best skillset for that sort of thing.” George’s tone went back to normal. “Well, get her up and gone already. Doug and I have some things to discuss before I head out.”
“Of course.” The ropes around my legs loosened first, followed by my arms. “I’ll make it fast.”
A warm arm went underneath my head, and another went under my knees. Soon, I was being lifted and carried out of the room. Immediately, I filled my lungs since the hall didn’t have as strong of an antiseptic smell.
“Put me durn.” I hated being carried, but I wasn’t sure my voice was understandable.
“Shhh, be quiet.” Aaron’s tone was only a whisper, but I could still hear it clear as day. “I’ll let you stand on your own feet once we get out of here.”
“Hey, Aaron.” Another voice suddenly sounded from nowhere. “Need me to get the door for you?”
“Yeah, thanks.” I heard a beep and the clicking of the door. “I appreciate it, Dennis.”
“No problem.” He cleared his throat and paused for a moment. “Be careful out there. We only have half the guards on duty since Mac needed assistance with the newbie and his parents.”
“Got it.” Aaron’s arms tightened around me. “I doubt she’s going to be an issue. She’s still out.”
“True, but I wanted to give you a heads up. You never know what might happen.”
Aaron started walking again, and soon the humid night air hit me. For some reason, that helped me come to my senses more easily.
“Are you okay?” Aaron’s voice was a little louder than it had been inside.
“Yeah.” The words finally came out audibly. “It’s not as if they took all my blo
od or anything.”
“I’m so sorry.” His words were filled with concern.
I must have been still dreaming. “No, why? You brought me here.” Even in my dream, I wasn’t going to let the bastard lie.
“What other choice did I have?” He huffed and rubbed his fingers against my arm. “You’re a half-breed. This is what we have to do. It’s my job.”
“Tell that shit to someone who believes it.” My life had been perfect until he showed up. “I didn’t know I was a supernatural until you … kidnapped me.”
“There’s no way you couldn’t know.” His words were strong but sounded more like he was trying to convince himself instead of me. “Your kind always manipulates and lies.”
Finally, I was able to open my eyes and found him looking at my face. “What would I gain by lying about that?” What kind of world did he live in?
“You’re trying to lure me in, compel me.” Aaron stopped moving, and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “That’s what all half-breeds do.”
“Yes, we all conspire together so that we can lure you in with our amazing stories of self-denial and destruction.” Now, I should be able to stand on my own. “Why don’t you let me down so I can take myself back to my cage … cabin? I’ve already gotten enough of your help. My life always takes a step in the wrong direction all on its own.”
“I’m doing my job.” He gently set me down and kept a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay now?”
The world was still spinning ever so slightly, but I’d be damned if I needed anything else from him. “Yup, I’m good.” I took off in the direction of the cabin but began to tilt over.
“No, you’re not.” Aaron yanked my arm, wrapping it around his waist. “Lean on me. I’ll get you there safe and sound.”
I wanted to laugh, to cry, and most of all, I wanted to hit him. If this was what he considered safe and sound, then I’d have hated to see his alternative.
Chapter Eight
Every step I took caused the world to spin, but I was slowly gaining some of my balance. Or at least, I tried to make myself believe it.
