by Jade White
“Is that all you’ve got?” he laughed, feeling his jaw break. “Are you this weak? This pathetic?”
Ryker felt his jaw harden, his teeth were bared and his breathing was heavy. “I won’t kill you. You don’t deserve my mercy. You can go back to your facility and rot there in defeat.”
Thirteen’s eyes narrowed. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? There can only be one winner, and you’re destined for a painful defeat, and an even more painful death…”
“I’ve got too much to live for,” Ryker retorted as A129’s face suddenly flashed in his face. Why her? Why not his mother or father? Why not revenge against those who had destroyed his life? That would come after his freedom… he would make sure they would suffer the way he did, traumatized for the rest of their miserable, human lives…
Then Thirteen’s hand shot out, grabbing Ryker’s face, smothering it in his claws. Ryker was momentarily blinded, and he struggled against the weretiger’s grasp. With one paw free, he wasted no time slashing at Ryker’s face, blinding him in one eye.
Ryker stumbled, seeing red in front of him, and he felt something warm ooze on his face. He couldn’t see in one eye. He snarled.
“There’s no one left to love you, and there’s no one left to love,” Thirteen hummed a song he had sung with Alexia as a child. They had made up songs in all those hours of confinement in the same room…
There was a sudden surge of strength in Ryker, and he heaved himself against the weight of the tiger, knocking his opponent over. X013 landed on the ground with a loud thud, breaking stone in the process. The weretiger found his bones breaking, crushed under the sudden weight of X014. He felt claws enter his chest, burrowing deep inside his flesh.
Caliban’s screams echoed throughout the forest.
*
One week later…
He heard the sounds of murmuring, murmurs that were distinctly human. There was little he could do; he couldn’t move. His body felt like lead, weighed down by something heavy. Was this what death was like? Shouldn’t it have felt lightweight? Like he was floating down a perpetual ray of brightness? Then he felt the pain, that stinging, stabbing, earthly pain. It was at that moment that he knew he was still alive…
He opened his eyes, surprised that he was in darkness. He felt something cold slithering on his body. He tried to move his head, but every minuscule movement hurt him.
“He’s awake,” he heard someone say.
He heard feet shuffling about, leaving him alone in the room.
“Ryker?” someone whispered.
He wondered if he was just hearing things.
He was not alone. His mouth felt dry, and he tried to lick his lips, but even his tongue felt dry, and his lips were cracked and bleeding. He was inside some chamber, specifically made to fit his body. The cold slithering things were wires and tubes. He slowly moved sideways, hoping it was where the voice had come from.
Inches away from him, he saw her. He saw the girl. She was surrounded by machines and tubes, and he saw blood trail out of her arm, moving its way into his body. Was he getting a transfusion from her? Wasn’t he supposed to be enjoying a victory over X013’s body? The last thing he remembered was standing over Thirteen, parts of his innards nestled bloodily in one hand…
And then he started remembering it, bit by bit, as he lay there nearly immobile, listening to the sounds the machines made. He had almost died, hadn’t he? He had shifted too fast, and his previous wounds hadn’t healed, and he fought with all he had, hell bent on seeing X013 dead. It was as if he stood in the way between him and Alexia. He had to see her again. See her again, like this? He was disoriented, nauseated. How long had he been asleep?
Ryker felt broken bones, torn muscles, and open wounds still healing. Was that why she was here? Was she another werebeing species? A werebear as well? She knew his name. How could she know his name? He looked back at her and saw her eyes looking at his. Those gray eyes he knew he couldn’t forget for the rest of his life.
Ryker.
He heard her voice again, and this time, he fought to focus on her, despite the pain that vibrated in his body. Was she really talking to him? He heard no other voice, except hers. They were alone, and he was probably left to heal while she gave him her blood. Suddenly, soft light filled the room, but despite this, Ryker found himself squeezing his eyes shut. The light was unbearable, and this, indeed, was no heaven.
There were other voices this time, a cacophony of different pitches and varying degrees of emotion. There was one soothing voice that stood out. His eyes drifted to it, and he saw the doctor that had caused him and the girl so much pain. Dr. Wallace, was it?
“We’ve been waiting for you to wake up,” Dr. Wallace said with a smile, as he looked down on his new favorite test subject.
The werebeing wasn’t enhanced, and yet… He had managed to defeat a weretiger that they had subjected to tests and various forms of training. Despite the fact that X013’s guts had spilled out, they had managed to save him. X013 was too expensive to let die, but they had to make it look like he had.
The ratings for the games had gone through the roof that day, and they had been careful to show that they were treating the winner as best as they could. Soon, publicity shows would start, and X014 would be given a plush home and other material gifts, if only for a little while. The public had to see he was enjoying his newfound fame…
Dr. Wallace saw the anger and confusion in X014’s eyes, but still he smiled, knowing X014’s DNA had to be studied and perhaps cloned, soon. He had thought of combining X014 and A129’s DNA for a new experiment, but he figured he wouldn’t live long enough to see that test subject grow up. This was now or never, and he would use Ryker Locklear until the boy’s body gave up.
He patted the boy’s arm as he stepped in to check on him. “Don’t go shifting on us now. The change may not work well with all your still healing internal injuries. We need you better tomorrow and on your best behavior. We’ll present you to the Head of State, who’s quite excited to meet you.”
Ryker wanted to say ‘over my dead body,’ but he couldn’t. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other doctor, the woman, who was kind to the girl across from him. She was whispering something in the girl’s ear, and the girl nodded, closing her eyes.
“Get some rest, Ryker Locklear,” Dr. Wallace said, injecting something into Ryker. Ryker felt his world grow dark and cold, the kind of place he didn’t want to be in.
CHAPTER 13
It was a quiet threat, one that involved the other werebeings in the facility being put to death in the event that Ryker did not comply with the government’s wishes. The public clamored for the somber, blond-haired and blue-eyed winner, the most ruggedly handsome werebeing they had seen yet. After all those public shows, Ryker was whisked off into the facility for further testing. Since the games, he hadn’t shifted again, and they didn’t even force him to shift.
He had been given a key to his new home, a home constantly under surveillance, and when he did get to rest, they would take him in the wee hours of the morning back to the laboratories that were underground.
Ryker had met the President, Magnus Caledon, along with his two sons and cabinet members. President Caledon instilled alarm in him, even if he said nothing at first. His presence was something to be reckoned with, and at some point during their meeting, he understood why Caledon had become one of those powerful men in the world -- if not the most powerful.
“Ryker Locklear,” Caledon began, meeting him, “it is beyond my pleasure to finally meet a werebear once more, after so many years.”
The president’s voice was almost soothing, hiding his true, sadistic nature. Only a ruthless man would keep young people in a facility like the one he had been subjected to. He hadn’t seen A129 since he had woken up to Dr. Wallace speaking to him. There was a part of him that wanted to see her; he had questions. He hadn’t been tortured as of late, but he was subjected to different tests that were tantamount to torture
. There were tissue samples needed, and he was forced to show his strength, recorded on camera; he was also made to threaten the other werebeings in the facility, part of their ‘training.’
There were talks among the scientists, hoping that there was another werebear in the crop of test subjects. Perhaps, some of the children were suppressed like Ryker had been.
It took all of Ryker’s will power not to kill the president upon meeting him. One swipe at his patrician face, and it would have all been over. Besides, Dr. Wallace never lied about his threats. When he wanted to hurt test subjects, he did so without remorse or fear. Ryker had been reminded of the torture he had inflicted on A129. It was all he knew about her. Those were the only times he saw her, inside a sterile room, her blood trailing into his body.
Her blood has special properties they could not clone, at least that was what he understood from the scientists who weren’t quite careful with their conversations. They had forgotten that Ryker could hear well, far better than many humans. He had heard of the words “termination” and “A129” in the same sentence. There was a death warrant out for her, and he could do nothing about it until that fateful morning, five months after he had won the games.
He had his own quarters in the facility and hadn’t been out in the world for weeks on end. It was stark white, with a few books (thankfully), and a decent bed, and it was quiet, too quiet for his liking. He knew he had become pale, knew the absence of sunlight was taking its toll on his body. How could A129 stand this? How could she still want to be alive?
Ryker heard someone outside of his quarters. In fact, he could smell who it was already. He said nothing when she entered and greeted him a good morning as he sat on a chair.
“I see we’re off to a bad start,” Dr. Delaney told him, taking a seat across him.
He saw she was holding a panic button in the event he shifted with her still inside the room. He almost scoffed at it. She was no threat. In fact, she was a softie at heart. He saw the concern in her eyes when it came to Alexia, almost as if she was her daughter. He had come to learn that Delaney was in charge of behavioral and ‘healing’ studies, whatever that was. So she was here to observe him again, observe how he spoke and moved.
“Don’t worry, no tests are scheduled for this morning,” she told him.
“And in the afternoon?” he spoke.
“We just need a few tissue samples from-“
“Which part of my body do you need this time?” Ryker snapped.
“I understand you’re having some difficulty adjusting to life-“
“This isn’t life,” he growled, his eyes narrowing. He saw Delaney’s pulse quicken. “We’re only alive because you still want to use us. When do you want to terminate us? Her?”
“Her?” Edith repeated. “Alexia, you mean?”
“Yes, the girl. Her death has been decided, hasn’t it?” Ryker asked Delaney. “And don’t try to screw me over. Your assistants may be scientists, but they’re idiots. When do you plan to kill her?”
“I don’t plan to kill her,” Delaney uttered. “Alexia is a special girl-“
“Because she’s still useful to you.”
“Her presence has given the facility a 30% increase in successful tests,” Delaney said carefully. She looked around, fearful of any listening devices or videos planted in the room.
“There’s none here,” Ryker told her. “I’ve worked for that mafia man long enough to know where to look and how to find it.”
Still, she looked distressed. “I don’t want her dead,” the words rushed out, “in fact, I want her safe and taken far away from here.”
Ryker looked suspiciously at her. “You’ve been experimenting on her for years on end. Why have you changed your mind?”
“I’ve never liked doing that to her. I was just doing my job, but being with children like her changed things for me. I had to keep it to myself, lest I attract their attention.”
So they kept tabs on her, threatened her if she ever stepped out of line… “When do they plan to terminate her?” he found himself asking.
“Tomorrow morning,” Delaney responded shakily. “Tomorrow is Alexia’s last day here. She’s never gone out of this facility, and she’ll die here… unless, unless you take her with you.”
Ryker’s eyes widened. “Take her? I can’t even get out of this room without ten men escorting me from laboratory to laboratory. How in the hell do you expect me to smuggle her out when I’m a moving target until I’m dead myself?”
Delaney quietly slid something on the table. Ryker looked down and saw it wasn’t a panic button. It was an electromagnetic scrambler, designed to look like a panic button that all researchers used when with werebears.
“These will work on most of the facility’s doors. It will give you about ten seconds each time as the doors settings reset after. I just need to know if you’re stealthy enough for this.”
Ryker stared, unable to ingest what was happening. She was aiding in their escape? Why?
“This is a test,” Ryker muttered. “After this, you’ll torture me and her.”
She shook her head. “I want to atone for all that I’ve done. I’ve put my life’s work here, and it brought death and pain to these children. Alexia is the last one I’ve cared for, even if I didn’t show it much. I want her safe, far away from the capital, far away from the regime. Can you get to Alaska? I’ve heard rumors from years and years ago that a colony of werebeings live there and are safe. Of course, Alaska is now a barren wasteland after the Civil War, but what if they’re still-”
“You’re relying on some old wives’ tale,” Ryker told her, having had heard of it back when he was a little boy. Raven and Philip had told him there could be werebears during bedtime stories.
“Just- just get her to safety, where they can’t touch her anymore.”
“Who else is in on this?” Ryker asked.
She shook her head, determined to say nothing. “Alexia isn’t a werebeing. She has DNA that can help with werebeings. It’s in her blood, no matter how crude the transfusion. Any werebeing will find themselves healing faster, without the need to shift. That’s what she does. I’m not sure if she can also talk to you without saying anything. Can she?” she asked him unsure of her theory.
He said nothing about hearing her voice in those long and painful tests. “What else can she do?”
Edith closed her eyes. “She has an ability to make the werebeing shift back into a human with a touch. That’s why we don’t put any werebeing in close contact with her. It’s as if her touch makes the werebeing recede into humanity. We’ve been given five months to clone her blood if possible, gather tissue samples from every organ in her body, and we can’t. Lately, we’ve had other younger and smaller children who exhibit the same prowess as she does, which is why they want her terminated. She hasn’t done anything significant for them lately. And when there are no remarkable results…” her voice trailed off.
Ryker understood, not saying anything.
“So, please,” Edith began in a soft voice, even softer than before, “please help me save her. Save yourselves. Then, maybe someday, we can put an end to this madness.”
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” Ryker told her. “You can’t expect us to topple down the law.”
“No, but it can start there,” Edith said with sudden conviction. “You were born a werebear for a reason; you’re not like the others who were forced to become werebeings -- you are rare, and you are something the regime wants to covet. Don’t allow it to happen. Alexia has suffered for too long, and this is the only window of opportunity I can give to you right now, while I’m still in the clear.
“The plan is to inject Alexia with a cocktail of chemicals to induce her into a coma, then they want to have her body preserved, cryogenically frozen without bringing her senses back, but it’s still death for her. Ryker, I rooted for you in the games-“
“You’re as sadistic as they are,” Ryker interrupted.
“You do know this is treason, doctor. How can I protect her? I barely know her. What if she decides to run away? What if, in the end, we’re both caught and killed?”
“Then don’t get caught and don’t get killed,” she said. “I have faith in you, no matter how short the time I’ve spent with you.”
“You experimented on me,” Ryker growled.
“I observed you. It is Dr. Wallace who approves and disapproves tests. He is the one who decides who gets to live and who gets to die. He’s the one who decides what to take and what to give here. They don’t call him the Angel of Death behind his back for nothing. Ryker, do this not just for me or her, but for yourself. Your arrival was a wakeup call to people.”
“A call to arms?” Ryker shook his head. “I was some two-bit thug for a guy who ran a syndicate. I’m not highly trained in combat or protecting the innocent. Those I try to protect, die.”
“You have to get to this guy,” Dr. Delaney said, writing down a name on a piece of paper. “He’s in Washington.”
“Washington? Dr. Delaney, you’re sending us on a suicide mission.”
“I’m sending you to someone who can help you because I can’t,” Edith said. “I can’t give you money or guarantee your safety. You’ll have to protect each other, and stay low.” She slipped something else on the table, and she eyed the electronic scrambler she had placed there. It had taken quite a while for this to come to fruition, and as long as they escaped, even at the cost of her life, it was all going to be worth it.
