In the middle of the Pacific

Things are starting to change

( a picture of Cole above)

Mason's baseball bat smashed into the side of my head, splattering an intricate pattern of my blood on the walls. I tried to focus on something other than the pain echoing in my head, and found my thoughts wandering towards the men that were dressed all in black, the ones that had broken in and taken some of the girls and most of the boys out of this hell hole. I wondered if they would come again, if they would get me out before Mason tried to rip me apart.

I was tugged back into reality when Mason landed his final blow to my side, causing pain to shoot through the nerves on my torso, arm, and the side of my head. I fell to the ground, teetering on the edge of consciousness. I felt my body dragged out of my cell and down the corridor lined with cells. I was then dumped unceremoniously into Mason and Cole's torture chamber. On the way, I looked up with vision blurry from my tears to see Maddison looking at me sympathetically, almost as if she pitied me.

She hadn't figured out that when Mason was done with me, he'd move on to a new girl, and that girl would most likely be her or one of her neighbours; one of the newer, stronger girls. Unfortunately, Mason seemed to delight in making my life a personal hell, and tended to focus on me more than the others, mostly because he hated my guts. Eh, he needed to learn to piss and moan to someone who gave a rat's ass.

As I was forcefully strapped to the table, I glanced up to see Cole walk into the room. He headed straight over to the clean white bench and pulled his gloves on with a satisfying yet terrifying 'thwack'.

"Ah, Sophia, we have a little treat for you today," Cole murmured in an emotionless voice, stalking towards me. Despite myself, I cringed away, not wanting to hear what he would say next. "We have decided to activate all the serums that we have injected into you over the years. It should be marvelous, but excruciatingly painful." My mouth seemed to open of its own volition, and the snide comment that slipped out seemed to aggravate both Mason and Cole.

"Go to hell Cole. Oh wait, you can't really, seeing as we're already there."

He cringed, before leaning over me and snarling a reply, "I am going to enjoy the pain we'll be causing you, and it will be days before it starts to go away. Your bones are going to break and then rebuild themselves into something better; your blood is going to drain away before being replaced with something stronger; your organs are going to dissolve before being replaced with something incredible, and it will take days to be completed. And, assuming you don't die during the process, you will develop into my very own marvelous creation."

I heard the harsh screech of metal against glass as Cole stirred the violet contents of the very last vial that would ever be emptied into my bloodstream. The silver needle glittered menacingly in his gloved hand, before he strode towards me. He lined the needle up with a vein on the inside of my right forearm, before preparing to plunge it in.

"Father, stop!" Mason snapped, before striding towards his father. Cole looked up questioningly, moving the needle away from the crook of my elbow, which caused me to release the breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. "I want to be the one to do it. This little witch has caused me far too much trouble over the years, and I want to be the final stepping stone before she's completely in our power."

Cole hesitated, before nodding his head and handing Mason the syringe. Mason paced towards me, the syringe moving hypnotically in the air before him, almost like a metal snake. He came to stand over me, glaring down with a sinister smile gracing his thin lips. He hovered the tip of the needle above the crook of my elbow, before plunging it painfully into my vein, and then taking his sweet time adding its content to my body. I held in a scream, but couldn't stop the tears that swelled at the corners of my eyes.

Once he finally finished and roughly ripped the needle from my arm, Cole walked over with a cotton pad and pressed it onto the bleeding wound. When he spoke, I jumped a little from the loudness of his voice. "Everyone needs to leave right now. When the serums start to take effect, there's no telling how she'll react to the pain. When the pain leaves, she will be incredibly powerful and may even break out of her restraints. I will need to inject a chip into her, but that can't be done while she's human or while she's going through the transformation, and afterwards it will need to be shot into her from outside the room. Out. Now!"

Everyone hustled out of the room, leaving me completely alone for the first time in years. Well, almost completely; the cameras stationed all over the room kind of ruined the relaxing peace. The occasional clicks and whirs from the machines placed on the walls. After what felt like a few minutes, my stomach began to ache incredibly difficulty. A small headache developed behind my eyes, and my limbs started tingling.

Soon, my stomach began to feel as if acid was eating it from the inside-out. The headache turned into a pounding, aching migraine. The light tingling along my arms and legs began to feel as if lava was making its way along my nerves. I screamed and screamed, wondering when the end was coming, when I would burst into flames, when I would finally be able to leave this hell hole. Unfortunately, the pain continued on, becoming more and more prominent. And just when I thought it would end, it got worse.

It was never going to end.