The Taint of Wolves

Paint it Red.

Chapter Ten: Paint it Red.

I felt the sluggish throb of persistent pain as I peeled my gritty eyes open.

My mouth tasted of copper and rot and my throat felt as if it was made of jagged stone, painfully dragging the sound of my groan up and out. I raised a heavy hand, blinking rapidly at the burning light. I probed my face, my groan dragging out longer.

'Where was I?"

My mind was hazy. Drugged.

I pinched my brow, clenching my eyes shut against the burning light. It felt as if my eyeballs were smarting, no - pulsating inside my skull.

I tried to listen instead. For the sound of Lux's lawn-mower snores or Muffin pattering around the kitchen. Lux and I always dissolved into messes on our drinking nights, but usually she blackened out the windows. She thought I had sensitive eyes.

Beep. Beep Beep.

Not Lux's clock.

A machine?

I peeled my eyes open again, wincing at the flood of light. For a second, I just blinked and rocked my thousand tonne head to the side. White walls.

The paint was immaculate.

Bile burned in my throat and I looked up again, seeing just burning lights and white ceiling.

No. No. No.

Panic swamped me, blasting through my fogginess like a shotgun shell to a skull. I lurched up, teeth gritted against the hot flash of pain. I fought against the constraints of my tightly tucked blankets, my breathing ragged. I threw my legs out first but when I put my weight on them, they crumpled under me.

My head knocked against the side-dresser and a vase of flowers shattered against the ground. Water pooled out and I blinked at the colourful tulips lying forlorn now on the white floor.

Flowers?

Muscles trembling, I pulled a shard of the vase towards me and then stood. I wore nothing but a night-gown that hung to my knobbly knees. My hair was greasy, slicked back into a braid.

The beeping monitor was going haywire and only then did I notice the needle in my arm, now after tearing its own path after my graceless fall from the bed.

The door opened.

A male stepped in, a hand on the weapon on his waist. His eyes fell on me instantly. "Miss Linden...?"

I ripped out the needle, rage building like a tempest and I whirled on the monitor, and hurled it at him. It shattered against him and he collapsed in a rain of plastic and wiring.

Need to get out.

White surrounded me. Consumed me.

I hobbled towards the door, aware of the blood soaking down my leg. I could feel the bandage, wrapped tight against my skin. Useless now. I yanked the walkie-talkie from the man as he groaned in pain. Still alive?

Another manufactured Ravi freak.

Whatever they had pumped into me was strong. I moved in ragged, parallel lines, staggering from wall to wall with a trail of blood following after me. Every slow step only made me feel my escape time ticking down.

The medical wing was surprisingly unguarded, save for nurses and the occasional guard. I was able to cut through the corridors, using shadows and turned backs to escape on silent feet. The walkie-talkie was enough to avoid the guards, but the static was grating on my senses.