by P. A Ross
I woke with my hands bound together and hooked to a chain that was fastened to the ceiling. My feet were off the floor and I was dangling in the middle of a cold dark grey cell. I shouldn't have expected anything else. I was back to where I was the last time the Turned and Hunters had captured me. I looked at my wrist to see my GPS watch had gone.
I tried to shake myself free, jerking my body up to try and break the chains, but it was no good. All I did was rattle them around and alert the guards outside to my recovery. They radioed through and within ten minutes, the door opened to the man who injected me, Bramel, and two armed guards.
Upon seeing the man who injected me again, I realised he was the doctor from my first set of tortures back in Leeds. He wore the same white coat and small round spectacles and had shaven white hair. He was back to finish the job he had started.
Bramel walked in front of me, and the two armed guards split either side of him and aimed. Behind, the doctor placed a box on the floor and opened it up, the light from the doorway providing enough illumination for them to work.
"We've a few more tests to run," Bramel said and smiled.
"You mean you want to torture me again."
"Well, they may be torture for you, but for us, they are vital experiments."
"Like seeing how much you can hurt me before I pass out."
"That is one such useful experiment. If that ability to control your pain can be replicated, then we can develop formulas and create stronger soldiers and stronger Turned. Even if we can't completely duplicate the vampire formula, we can least develop some of the beneficial effects. Speaking of which, I understand you appear to be immune to silver and daylight in your Dragan form. Our doctor would just like to confirm."
The doctor stepped to the side of Bramel, holding a knife and a torch. "This won't hurt too much."
I went to shake loose of the chains to try and fight my way out, even though I knew it was impossible. The soldiers pushed the barrels of their guns at me. "Keep still. Be a shame for my guards to have to shoot you. Won't kill you, of course, being a Dragan, but it will hurt a lot," Bramel said.
I stopped my struggle and gritted my teeth in preparation. The doctor flicked on the flashlight and pointed it at my bare skin. Of course, nothing happened due to my immunity. The doctor checked a couple of times on different parts of my skin. Bramel then held out his hand. "Just to double-check, light my hand."
The doctor flashed the light briefly across Bramel's palm and smoke rose up. Bramel snatched it back and placed it under his arm and gritted his teeth.
"Try the knife on him next. Might as well test it on me first," Bramel said and stretched out his hand.
"Are you sure?" the doctor asked.
"Just get on with it."
The doctor slowly placed the tip of the knife against one of Bramel's fingers and smoke rose up, and Bramel snatched his hand back again.
"That seems fine. Now test it on Harper."
The doctor placed it up against my jawline and looked me directly in the eye as he pushed the blade against my throat. No smoke rose, but I could feel its sharpness cutting into my skin. He then pulled the knife down an inch, scraping my flesh. No smoke rose from my skin and it rapidly healed itself from the cut.
"I can confirm that he is immune to both UV and silver. And from the healing of his skin, he is still in his Dragan form as well. So we have our confirmation that the formula transforms him into a Dragan. Also, it has given him immunity to what is normally the Dragan's weaknesses. He is the best of both worlds."
"We will continue with the tests as discussed," Bramel said.
"So more tortures then. I see you want more answers from me. I will not sell out my friends again," I shouted.
Bramel laughed. "You should be so lucky. There is no Carmella here to protect you this time. It was her idea to bring you over to our side. She wanted a little pet of her own and enjoyed the idea of turning you away from Thorn. I could have cared less about your defection. This time I'm not even interested in you answering questions. I know everything I need to know. Only your human body has the answers I now seek."
"You're going to take more samples until you get what you need."
Bramel shook his head, and the doctor packed away his things and stood next to him. "Unfortunately, for you, we no longer need any samples of skin tissue and blood," the doctor said.
I sighed and relaxed my muscles, and then I thought what he meant by 'unfortunately'. "Then what do you have planned?"
The doctor looked at Bramel, and Bramel nodded back at him. "Surface samples are no good. I need to open you up and find out how your body really works."
I tensed up and gritted my teeth. "I won't give in, no matter what you threaten me with. I won't reveal the secret."
"So you know the secret to your transformation?"
I looked away and kept my mouth shut.
"I doubt if you do. We already know the formula is encoded to your DNA. We have tried to replicate the idea and encode it to our soldiers DNA. But once again we were left with a pile of dead bubbling bones and flesh."
I stared up at him. "What! You mean there is something else?"
"There is another secret to your uniqueness. One that alludes us all. We have everything we need from your living tissue, and we have run all the experiments we can. I need to do a full internal examination to discover the key to your transformation. We can't perform the examination on your Dragan body as it would heal too quickly. Plus we know how Dragan bodies work, what we need to understand is how your hybrid body works with both Dragan and human DNA. Once you become human again, then your time is up," the doctor said and walked out of the room. The two armed guards followed after him, leaving Bramel stood in front of me.
My only hope was that Thorn was on her way, or else once I became human again, they were going to cut me into little pieces.
Bramel glared at me. "It is a shame. I would like to fight again when you were fully fit. But orders are orders."
"So you do take orders from someone else?"
"I shouldn't have said that. But never mind, your body will go under the knife soon enough. Which I understand will be in the next 24 to 36 hours."
I tried to keep the image out of my mind of my body being cut apart, so I focused on keeping Bramel talking. Maybe I could get to the truth.
"So it was your boss that ordered Scarlett's murder?"
"That order never came from us. I would admit it if we had of done it out of revenge, else there would be no point of killing her. My boss did order your capture and your torture back in England. Even insisted we filmed the fight so they could watch it. Somebody else wanted Scarlett murdered and made it look like us."
"Who would want Scarlett murdered?"
Bramel sighed. "Is the truth really that hard to see? Who would gain from Scarlett being out of the picture? Who has never liked her? Who has the resources?"
"You mean Thorn had Scarlett murdered. Made it look like the Turned, to get Scarlett out of the picture and away from me forever."
"Of course. And before you say Thorn would never do such a thing, remember I have known her for much longer than you. She created me, and she created you, even if it was different. Her blood is in me as I am created from it. You have been created from her blood in this guise of the vampire formula. We are blood brothers."
I lunged forward but the chains held me back. "We are not brothers!"
"But we both have Thorn's blood."
"You desire her, don't you? But she has never repaid that affection."
"Who says she never repaid that affection? Did she ever outright say there has never been anything between us?"
"You're lying."
"Why would I need to lie? You know full well the Dragans have had difficulty conceiving more children. It made perfect sense for them to try and have babies with a Turned. We are part of them."
I shook in anger. I knew what he said was likely to be true. Although Thorn hadn't told me about Brame
l, she had said she had tried every possible way to reproduce their race.
I had no right to be angry considering how long ago this occurred, or any reason to be annoyed that she hadn't told me.
Bramel sniggered. "You know it to be true?"
"Yes, it must be true. But it makes no difference to me. She rejected you eventually."
"We, the Turned, have every right to be the equals of the Dragans. We were used by them for their petty war. We just want to have the same powers, to be treated equally. Once the Dragans had no more use for us, they started to kill us off. As a matter of survival, we went our own way and took control of our destiny."
"You haven't answered my question. Who is your boss? I thought you were the King of the Turned."
"I am the King of the Turned. Whoever said my boss was a Turned vampire?"
"Then who or should I say what?"
"I will tell you this. Their name is South," Bramel said. "I will leave you in your last hours to think about it."
Bramel then marched out of the room and pulled the door to, plunging me back into darkness.
My suspicions had been confirmed. There was somebody or something behind the Turned that even Bramel answered to. I remembered the last time they had captured me, I heard Bramel talking to someone on his phone. The conversation sounded like he was taking orders. But what good would this knowledge bring unless Thorn came to my rescue? As soon as I became human again, they would cut me open.
I waited in the dark for another hour, thinking through who could possibly be South and what they might be if not a Turned vampire. The door opened and in came two armed guards. One of them placed their gun against the wall, and the other one kept his aimed at me. The one without the gun walked up and pulled his fists up. He swung back and punched me in the face and then swung a left hook and a right hook. He took a step back and stared at me as my skin healed, and the blood absorbed into my face.
I flashed my fangs and eyes, and jumped at him, but the chains held me back.
"He is still Dragan," the guard said, clutching his hand.
"Let's go. We will be back in an hour little man for more," the guard with the gun said, and his colleague picked up his weapon, and they both left the cell and shut the door again.
I assumed they would be back every hour, testing me to see if my Dragan abilities still existed. As soon as my abilities disappeared, I would be prepped for surgery. Bramel said I had 24 to 36 hours before turning back to human again. I suspected it was closer to 48 hours from previous transformations, so I had longer than they realised. I gauged from the battle with Giles and the travelling to their base, it had been at least three hours. I had time to think of a plan, or for Thorn to find me.
Hopefully, elsewhere in the base, Giles was recovering from our fight and coming to rescue me. In the meantime, I would have to put up with the hourly beatings and look for an opportunity to escape.
They continued to come every hour, often different guards, seemingly taking turns to punch the Dragan. I sensed the feelings of revenge before I even saw them enter the prison cell. They pushed open the door and hit me in the face enough to create some wounds and then watched to see if I healed. They always left clutching their bruised hands, which made me smile.
On the fifth occasion, one of the guards put his gun down, and another covered him by standing aside and pointing his rifle. The guard smirked, rolled up the sleeves of his jacket and walked over.
He coiled back his fist. "This one is for my friends you killed at the warehouse. Patrick was my mentor."
The memory of Patrick, the man who had tortured me many times, fired the anger, and my fangs snapped out and eyes burnt blood red.
"He is still Dragan, no need to hit him, save your strength," the covering guard said.
"Are you kidding? Everyone else's got to hit him. Let's just make sure," the guard said and swung in a left hook. It didn't hurt much, as my Dragan abilities absorbed the punch. The man shook his hand, feeling the impact of my supernatural strength. The bruising on my face healed, and the blood soaked back in, leaving no marks on my Dragan skin.
"Still Dragan," he said and turned around, picked up his gun and walked out the cell. The other guard followed him and shut the door.
The guards arrived every hour and punched me in the face, kicked me in the ribs and waited for my body to heal, regardless if I showed them my Dragan features. They continued every hour, and I kept track of the time until my powers would run out.
On the twenty-first time, the guards followed the usual routine. One guard aimed his gun and the other punched me in the face and kicked me in the ribs for good measure. I gritted my teeth and stared down at the floor. I looked up into the guard's face.
"He doesn't seem to be healing," he said to the other guard with the rifle.
"Give it a few minutes. Maybe a couple more punches for good measure."
"Good idea," the attacking guard said and pulled back his right fist, pivoted in his body and unleashed his fist into my face.
The guard examined my face and put his hand against my chin and removed it, blood trickling between his fingers. He held his damaged fist. "You must have a face of steel. It hurts even when you are a human."
The other guard sided over to him and looked at the blood and squinted down into my face. He pulled out a torch and shone it into my eyes.
"Looks like the transformation has finished. This is the end of the road for you, boy. I will tell Bramel that he can start his experiments."
Chapter Twenty-One
The guards left in search of Bramel to tell him I was bleeding and therefore human again. Footsteps clattered up and down the corridor, and about twenty minutes later a group arrived.
Bramel walked in with his hands behind his back, followed by five guards and the doctor. The guards stood either side and shone their torches into my face. I blinked from the harsh light. Bramel bent down, grabbed my chin with his hand and twisted my head back to get a better look. The doctor walked to his side and stared at my face. Bramel flicked out one of his claws and scratched it down the side of my cheek. They both watched the blood trail flood out from my skin and not heal. Bramel then let go of my chin, and my head sagged.
"They are right. The boy's transformation has run its course. He can be prepped for surgery," the doctor said.
"You heard the man," Bramel said and looked at the guards and waved them forward.
"It's a bit earlier than I expected. I guess not bringing him back to full strength from his battle with the werewolves has foreshortened his transformation and weakened his hybrid abilities. You hoped this might happen," the doctor said to Bramel.
Three of the guards placed down their guns, and two provided covering fire. They unchained me and wrapped a zip tie around my wrists, which they had pulled behind my back. They then pushed me forward, with one of the armed guards at the front leading the way.
My legs were tired and un-used to walking after hanging in the cell for the last 24 hours. I stumbled a couple of times to my knees, but they hoisted me up and pushed me forward. The doctor and Bramel followed us through the white hospital corridors until we reached a shower block.
The white-tiled shower block was open planned with a row of six showers. The guards cut the zip tie and stripped my clothes. They switched on a shower and pushed me into the middle of the row. The water was warm and washed off the dirt and blood from the forest. One of the guards grabbed a brush and covered it in soap. He then set about scrubbing my body, forcing the dirt away and cleaning me up. The man was vigorous with the brush and it burnt my skin, leaving it red raw. All the while, two guards had guns aimed at me, and the doctor and Bramel watched uninterestedly.
"Don't get any crazy ideas that we've changed our mind. Just need you clean for the surgery. I don't want any unwanted bacteria spoiling my results," the doctor said.
"Turn around," the guard with the brush shouted. I complied and faced the wall, and he scrubbed down my back, pushing so hard my face
was pressed into the white-tiled wall. I watched the blood and dirt drain off my body and swirl down the drain.
Eventually, they switched off the shower and dragged me out. Two of the guards grabbed towels and violently rubbed me down. A guard handed over a green paper hospital gown and white paper slippers. I put them on. Then they pushed me out of the shower block and down the clean white corridors. The paper nightgown rubbed against my red raw skin, and my slippers scraped along the lino floor as we walked.
We arrived in a white hospital room with a single bed. The room reeked of antiseptic cleaner. They laid me down on crisp white sheets. The guards pulled up chrome bars either side with beige straps attached. They placed my arms and legs into the leather straps and pulled them tight.
The doctor and Bramel stood either side of the bed. There was a guard behind them and two posted outside the door. "You have a temporary stay of execution while I prep my team for surgery and prepare our equipment," the doctor said.
"Do I get a last meal? Or a last request?" I asked.
"No last meal. I need your system to be empty of food. I don't know about any last requests that'll be up to Bramel."
"And what do you have in mind as your last request?"
I stared at them. "How about you let me out of here, and I kill you both."
"How funny," the doctor said, and then opened the door to walk out of the room. As he went to leave, Giles walked through, but the doctor pushed him back outside and shut the door. Through a small window in the door, I saw them talking. The doctor appeared to be asking how he was feeling and giving him a little check over. The doctor walked away, and Giles opened the door. Bramel turned to Giles and nodded, and Giles returned the gesture and walked around to the side of the bed to look at me. His face was bruised and cut, but he had been cleaned up and dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.
"So he has transformed back to human? What happens next?" Giles asked.
"You know what happens next, as we have discussed this before. The plan hasn't changed. We cut him open to find the secrets. It can either make the Turned into proper Dragans, or we can make super soldiers."
