GREEN [complete]

CHAPTER 25: Sekam

Dylan nudged Sekam and whispered, "He wants to know if you're okay."

They jerked their thumb toward Mars, who wavered on the other side of them, leaning forwards to look at her. His static-colored eyes were near perfect circles, concern shaping his posture. Sekam didn't understand how he could care so much; she'd never met a mongrel that cared for anyone but himself and his master.

She flexed her hands behind her back, the metal cuffs nipping at her wrists. After what the humans were calling 'the incident in the lobby', they'd bound her hands. They were afraid of her. They had every right to be. Through bared teeth, she said, "I'm as okay as I'm going to be."

Bek shot a look back at her, warning her to keep quiet.

They were all clustered together in a too-small room, surrounded by a collection of security personnel that looked too well-trained to be in such a remote location. The room was broken by a large, steel desk, and a man in a wheelchair was positioned on the side opposite them. The man Bek called Cecil, and everyone else called Dr. Reddington.

Cecil released a sigh that could only have been rehearsed a dozen times and steepled his hands. "Rebekah, you cannot expect us to help these mongrels."

"We only—" Bek started.

"I am not a mongrel," Sekam finished for her.

Cecil looked over her, eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Then, to Bek, he said, "You can't even keep them under control."

Sekam bristled. Her ears flattened and her lips curled back, flashing as many of her pointed teeth as she could. "I am do not belong to her," she snarled, saliva flying off each furious word. She didn't belong to anyone. Her will was her own.

Although, perhaps if would have benefited her if it wasn't.

One of the security men jabbed Sekam in the side with a blunt object, and the sting of electricity coursed into her veins. Her muscles spasmed out of her control, each and every one of them trying to break free of their prison; break free of her skin. For a moment—a single, agonizing, beautiful moment—it worked.

Thick fur sprouted from her flesh and her bones warped and twisted. Her skin bulged and stretched to make way for the change. Through the pain, the mindless, senseless lack of control, Sekam felt it. She felt it for the first time in years, for the first time since the gods took it away from her. Her salvation. Her fur.

Then, the electric tendrils retreated and her fur abandoned her. She was left barren.

Panting. Gasping.

Very, very human.

"Sekam ..." Dylan said, their voice soft as she'd ever heard it. "What ... what was that?" They spoke for everyone in the room, all their eyes wide and round as Mars's had been.

Sekam didn't answer. She couldn't. She pressed her forehead against the cool tile, pressed her burning eyes tight, and screamed. She screamed for everything she'd lost and everything that'd been taken away from her. She screamed for the single glint of hope and happiness she'd felt when she thought she'd gotten it back. She screamed for when it was torn away from her. Her anger, her frustration, her humiliation. It all poured out of her, and everyone in the room was witness as Sekam screamed.

Timid fingertips found her shoulder, then an even more timid palm.

Mars awkwardly wrapped his left arms around her and scooted closer. He provided little comfort as her shoulders shook and her throat ran raw. Bek's voice blurred in the back of her mind, but Sekam didn't care to listen to her words. She'd had her fur for one brief, precious moment, and it had been ripped away from her all over again.

Sekam didn't know when she was hauled to her feet and dragged out of the room. She didn't know when she was led into a room and sat down on the edge of a bed. She didn't know when she was chained there and left alone. All she knew was that she needed to find her fur again. She needed to get it back.

As she choked on her own sobs, Sekam pushed her nails into her palm and ripped.