She wasn’t going to tell them that she drove around for two hours before finally going home; afraid that she might be followed. Or that she didn’t sleep that night; afraid someone might break into her crappy little apartment.
“I asked her if there was a problem and I told her that I was just gathering them to place out of the way. I even asked her if I should be doing something else with them. She seemed to buy my act and advised me that if I got any more I was to place them in her box and nowhere else; she would take care of them personally. I debated about just quitting and moving somewhere, but I just didn’t have the means to do any of that.”
Emma looked down at her hands. She desperately wanted Ryleigh to believe her. She knew that she was in a bad situation back then, but she just didn’t have any way of getting out of it. She had very little money and even fewer friends. She didn’t want to go to the police because she had no proof of what was said in the file. It would be her word against a large corporation and she knew the cops would never take her side.
“The next day when I went to work I never made it past security. The Security Guard told me that I was being escorted to Mr. Shaw that he needed to speak with me but I never made it there as soon as the guard got me out of the lobby I was injected with something. When I woke up I was strapped to a hospital bed in what I assumed was a lab.”
Dalton was grinding his teeth so hard he was sure they would turn to dust any moment. He knew Emma’s story was only going to get worse but he was already pissed. She had been played those monsters had given her a sense of security and ripped it right out from under her it was fucking cruel. He also couldn’t be more proud she was strong she had survived when many wouldn’t and she was still trying to make things right even if it meant exposing her hell. Damn he was falling for this woman faster and faster.
“They kept me pretty drugged but I would catch things here and there one time a Doctor came in and was speaking to a Tech he told him that my blood test had come back positive and the procedure was a go. Another time they were talking about how excited their benefactor was to have me. The next time I came to I knew I had been violated I was sore where I had never been sore before and when I urinated for the first time after that I knew my suspicions were correct. I was almost thankful that I hadn’t been able to remember what happened to me. I still don’t know if I absolutely want to know exactly want happened to me.” With a self-deprecating laugh, Emma quipped, “You know they say ignorance is bliss.”
Emma could tell Ryleigh Cash and Dalton pitied her by the way they were looking at her and she didn’t want that. She had survived and she would deal with what had happened in her way in her own time. She didn’t want anyone’s pity. She survived she got away by herself. No one came to her rescue she had done it herself. That had to count for something right.
Dalton moved closer to Emma but didn’t want to upset her he just wanted no needed to offer her strength. He was also a selfish man he needed to feel close to her to protect her even if it was just from her memories. He long to take her in his arms and assure her that nothing would ever harm her again but he knew that he couldn’t. The pain he felt from what she already revealed hit him square in the chest and he had to rub the ache away.
“The next couple of months or what I thought were months I was not administered drugs again but was kept strapped in that bed. I had to call for a bedpan and if they felt like it they came. I was fed exclusively on a feeding tube in my nose and whatever they were placing in my IV. The people that came into the room did not speak to me except for one. He was the one that liked to delay getting the bed pan most.”
Emma had to swallow hard to get rid of the bile that had been creeping up her throat she didn’t want to remember this part or that man but knew she needed to tell these people everything. Feeling the wetness on her cheek she wiped the tears she didn’t even know she shed from her face. Sensing the warmth of Dalton's body on her back gave her the courage she needed to continue. She certainly didn’t know him but felt he would protect her at least she hoped that was the case. Her mind wasn’t in the best place but she felt his goodness to her soul.
“I would hold it for a long as I could ultimately it never worked and he would then come in to clean the bed and me. The lights were kept on in the room at all times and there were no windows so I had absolutely no concept of time.”
A shiver ran up her spine at the memory. Being a foster kid Emma often felt vulnerable in her life but being kept in that room tied to a bed having absolutely no control over her circumstance proved she hadn’t even known the meaning of the word.
“The Tech was getting bolder with his touches stripping me naked and washing my body more with his hands than the washcloth Emma shivered remembering his touch and choked out that last bit of her humiliation he never wore gloves. I knew he was going to do more and was just testing the waters to see how much he could get away with. But as humiliating as it was the man like to talk.”
“He told me that I was part of a group of babies that were created by some man Dr. Franklin that were lost in the system. He kept on mentioning animal DNA all I could think is are these people nuts I am normal. But after all the time I spent there I started to believe his stories.” Emma looked down to her hands in her lap she needed a couple of minutes to collect her thoughts and emotions no way could she continue right away.
Chapter 15
Ryleigh gasped her pink complexion going pale but didn’t say anything else. Emma wasn’t sure if she was upset because of the situation Emma had been in or because of the information she just revealed. She also didn’t want to look at her too closely saying these things were hard enough.
She didn’t like making people uncomfortable and the very last thing she wanted was pity from anyone but Emma knew she needed to get her story over with not only for her own wellbeing but it seemed Ryleigh’s as well. Gripping the robe tighter cocooning herself in the only warmth and protection she would allow Emma continued to tell these strangers what happened to her.
“The Tech undoubtedly liked to tell me I was just and animal and that no one would care what happened to me, it got him off, excited him. He would say I was created to be experiment and it was truly creepy. That my baby was the only thing that matter and once I had it he would be able to do whatever he wanted to me until another child was needed.”
Emma was never going to tell anyone how much detail the psycho went into about his plans for her. She had placed those things in a box buried deep within her psyche and she hoped they never saw the light of day again.
Ryleigh reached for Emma but she just couldn’t stand the thought of anyone touching her right at the moment. She needed to get through the next couple of minutes. She just needed to tell her story and Emma was afraid that if she allowed Ryleigh to touch and try and comfort her she would finally break.
Taking a deep breath but unable to look the woman in the eyes Emma said, “He was the first person to confirm that I was pregnant.”
Sucked into an abyss of sorts Emma started to remember the vile man his cold hard touch and his nasty smell. Emma didn’t think she would ever be able to be around whiskey in the future because he reeked of the drink. It seeped from his pores making a sickly-sweet odor that was mixed with his unwashed body that was imprinted in her mind making her gag from the memory. Emma wanted nothing more than to get up from the table and move away from the memories that were assaulting her but knew she was just too weak physically as well as mentally. Trying her best to dislodge the memory Emma took a couple of deep breaths and after a couple of unsuccessfully tries she was finally able to dislodge the huge lump in her throat and continued.
“The entire time I was held at the facility there were constantly people coming in and out to run tests and take vitals. But something must have happened about a month and a half ago because that creepy bastard became my only caregiver. He became much more openly bold with his abuse and more violent as well. I knew I needed to do something so I am ashamed
to say I started encouraging him,” Emma expressed in a sob. “It was my only chance to escape.”
Dalton had been standing at Emma’s back while she revealed what had happened to her but when she sobbed he couldn’t help his reaction he wanted to hold her take her into his arms and make everything better but he knew that was a bad idea. Sitting down on the exam table he offered her what little he could with his presences warmth and security needed a physical attachment he brought his hands up and rubbed her arms. She flinched at the initial contact but eventually her posture loosened.
Emma was exhausted and she wanted nothing more than to just curl into a ball and sleep. Revealing these things to these people had been harder than she had expected. She was in a room with people but she was still utterly alone once she gained the courage to ask them to stop she felt Dalton’s warm touch. She flinched at first whether it was because of the tingling sensation that came along with the touch or because she just hadn’t had gentleness in so long she wasn’t sure and certainly wasn’t ready to exam it maybe she wasn’t so alone after all? What she did know was that that simple act of kindness gave her the courage to continue.
On a choked sob, she continued not making eye contact with any of them. This part would be the hardest to get through. She had done things said things to that man to get him to do what she needed that she was ashamed of.
“I convinced him to free my legs and loosen the bonds to my hands, when he got on the bed and was undoing his pants that was my only chance, I knew I didn’t have much time so I hit him with the heel of my foot as hard as I could. I am pretty sure I broke his nose but him being knocked off the bed backward was what genuinely helped me.”
Emma could still remember the sound of his head hitting the cabinet and she was pretty sure she would remember it for the rest of her life. She couldn’t easily describe it but if she had to she would describe it like what a ripened melon sounded like hitting the floor.
Struggling to keep the bile from escaping the confines of her throat she gave the group the PG version. “The back of his head hit a low cabinet behind him knocking him out at least that was what I thought at the time. He had placed a knife on the bed before he got up on it and let me know that he planned to use it if I didn’t do what I had promised.”
Dalton was fuming and from the looks on Cash and Ryleigh’s faces they were fairing any better. When Cash made eye contact with him Dalton could see his fury. Emma changed in the next couple of seconds where before she was struggling to get the words out now she was robotic repeating what happened next without any emotion or feeling. Dalton wanted to scream.
“I had just enough slack to reach the knife and maneuver it into my hand, once there I started working on the restraints, I knew I didn’t have the luxury of time so I was less than careful with the knife that is where all the cuts came from on my right hand.” Emma looked down at her hands as if remembering what she had done to save herself and her baby.
Dalton’s hands had tightened on her arms when she revealed what had happened not painfully but enough so that Emma knew her story was getting to him and she felt sorry for him. She didn’t want to cause him any discomfort he had been so kind to her it wasn’t in her nature to cause pain. She secretly wished they just told her what she had told them was enough but knew deep down that wasn’t going to happen. Deciding she needed to get through the rest quickly, she carried on. Emma didn’t want to distress Dalton any more than she already had. He had shown her so much kindness and she didn’t want him to feel pity or pain for her at all. She was strong she would deal with everything that happened and she would move on for some farfetched reason she kind of hoped Dalton would be there to help her deal.
Shaking her head, she continued because she knew that her next statement would change the feelings of the people in the room and in turn that might change how they felt about her altogether. It was a risk she had to take. Emma didn’t think she was a bad person. She only did what she had to do to survive and she prayed these people would understand that.
Dislodging the ever-present lump in her throat she continued, “After I got free I knew I needed to tie up the tech so I started looking around for more restraints. Having been in the room for so long I knew right where they were kept but it turned out I didn’t need them. The hit the tech took to the back of his head killed him and I’m sorry but I don’t feel a bit of shame about it I knew what he was planning to do to me.”
Emma didn’t get the response she was sure to come that that statement. None of these people looked disgusted by her actions and it surprised her. Shouldn’t they be a little repulsed that she just admitted to killing a man regardless of what he was about to do to her?
“Honey, no one here blames you for that creep’s death.” Dalton tried to console her but she needed to finish the story.
“He always wore scrubs so he didn’t have any pockets I took his badge and went out the door only to find another lab but this one had lockers in it. I searched the cabinets and found what I assumed were his car keys and wallet. I also found my purse in another locker but not my clothes using his badge the rest was actually pretty easy. I wasn’t even at Davis Defense but some office building, which surprised me. Using the techs keycard, I got out of the building there was only one car in the parking area so it was pretty easy to figure out which one was his I found the clothes I was wearing in his car.”
“I knew I couldn’t go home because these people had my address. But one of the foster families I had when I was very young went to their Uncle Frank’s cottage for vacation it was one of the few happy places I had so I still remembered where it was and I decided I would go there to hide out.”
Looking Ryleigh in the face for the first time in quite a while Emma said, “That brings me to now. Six months pregnant with someone baby maybe mine maybe not. I promise you that I mean you no harm,” she pleaded. “When Dalton asked me if I had heard of The Holly Group and mentioned you I knew I needed to take the chance and warn you even if you couldn’t help me. I couldn’t let those bastards at Davis Defense hurt another person if it is in my power to stop it. Please you need to understand I had no idea where you were only who.”
Dalton was still rubbing her arm and Cash and Ryleigh just looked stunned.
Ryleigh was the first to speak, “Emma I am so sorry for what has happened to you and I believe every word you have said. Davis Defense and Pandora are after the members of our group and me. What I am about to tell you is going to be hard for you to accept, there are people in this world, in this very room in fact that have the ability to change their physical form ‘Shifters’ as we refer to them. Turns out the legends and folklore hold more truth than fiction. Davis Defense and Pandora have been experimenting with Shifter DNA impregnating a human woman with the hopes of creating Shifter children of their own. To either exploit as a novelty child or pet or exploit in other ways. If my hunches are correct the Tech was telling you the truth you do have animal DNA and that baby, you are carrying could be a Shifter one that is able to actually change into an animal like Cash and Dalton but we won’t know anything until we can run some tests.”
Emma was floored she had hoped that these people would alleviate her fears but that wasn’t the case. All those months she refused to believe what the Tech had been telling her feeling that he was just a psychopath but now Ryleigh was confirming even her worst fears.
Chapter 16
“What do you mean shift, like Shifters in romance novels or werewolves? People don’t shift that is just fantasy.”
Emma tried to get up off the exam table but Dalton stopped her.
“Yes, honey people do shift, very particular people. I am one of them, and so is Cash.”
Dalton looked heartbroken or distraught. Emma wasn’t exactly sure, but he was telling her that Shifters existed. Did she just jump from one psycho to another? What the hell was going on! She didn’t want to believe any of this.
Emma was shaking her head. What kind of rabbit hole did she
fall into? Shit, wasn’t Ryleigh supposed to be a genius or something? Well fudge, people say there was a fine line between insanity and genius. Did she just change one prison for another? All Emma knew is it was time to go no matter how friendly these people were or how drawn she felt to Dalton. No way was she going to believe Shifters actually existed these people were crazy. She needed to get the hell out of crazy town. If she could just get her body to cooperate, she would run.
Cash must have seen what she planned and had other ideas because right before her eyes his face started to transform. No longer was he bald and clean-shaven but hair began to sprout and his eye took on an eerie glow. his nose was extending and turning into a snout and his blunt human teeth turned into fangs.
That was it; Emma had had enough. So, she did what any rational women would do in her situation, she passed out. Her last thought: oblivion was way better than reality.
Dalton was able to catch Emma as she fell back to the table, struggling against the protective instinct to go after Cash for causing Emma distress. He was pissed and his anger was raging within him, not to mention that of his bear. What surprised him was that before he was able to act on any of his heightened emotions, Ryleigh beat him to it.
“Damn it, Cash you could have killed her by scaring her that bad! Can’t you see how fragile she is at this moment? I didn’t even get to tell her about Dr. Franklin,” Ryleigh said as she rushed to the bed.
Ryleigh rushed around checking Emma’s vitals. She was happy to see no damaged was caused by Cash’s change. Emma’s vitals were still all over the place by because of her condition but no further physical damage had been done. But before she got the smelling salts she wanted to give the guys an update.
Dalton: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 2) Page 10
