The Loyal Alone

Chapter Twelve

I don't remember waking up. I'm not sure I ever did. All I remember is a bright light being flicked on with a loud 'thrum' of electricity, and then, that was it and I was just awake somehow. There was nothing before the light. Just darkness, and then consciousness.

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they do, there is a man standing over me. He's wearing a green sweater with a white lab coat over it. His name tag says Dr. Ollinvard. His smile says creepy.

"Hello." He speaks loudly, his voice echoes in my head. "I am Dr. Olly. I am pleased to see you here today. It is a rare opportunity to have someone such as yourself in our institution. What's your name, miss?"

I look at him for a moment and move to sit up. But my arms are restrained. I move my feet, they are buckled down too.

"No good, I'm afraid." He shakes the chains strapped to my leather wrist constraints. "Won't be able to get out of these. Not unless I let you out."

It took me a long moment to understand that I was being held captive. My heart sunk to the back of my chest and it felt like I was melting into the table. This was it. I was captured. I tried to breathe, but nothing happened.

"Your name, darling?" He places thin cold fingers against my head and moves the hair from my face. "It's rude to not introduce yourself."

I shake against the chains, to no avail, breathing out only through my teeth as I exhale in a deep grunt trying to pull at the chains. It hurt in my wrists, rubbed against the skin in a raw way, wrapping my wrists in pain.

"Very well. I will call you Subject Four." He looks up around the room, "Johnson, could you bring me my medical kit," He says to someone else in the room.

There is another man, the gray-haired man who was fighting in the clearing with Ulric and Cole. He was still wearing a knit cap over his hair, his dark clothes looked rugged and military grade. I stilled when he wheeled a small white cart over with a small white tray. On it is a medical kit, with bandages, a clear solution that looked like alcohol. When I saw him, I recognized him immediately.

"Where are they?" I ask, lifting my head up from the table as far as I can and starring at him intensely. "Where are Cole and Ulric?"

The gray breaded man said nothing, and just stepped off to the side.

"So, you can talk," says Olly. He grabs his gloves and puts them on, he grabs a flash light and checks my eyes. "I hear that you cannot shift," he continues. "Is that true?"

"I can shift," I say, jerking myself towards him. "You better hope I don't," I threaten through a snarl.

"My men have been following you, they haven't seen you shift once. All my other females could, I was interested to see what made you different." He checks the other eye, but I look away from him, he seems content regardless. "But, it's good news to me, less variables in the experiments. I'm afraid, though, that it's not good for you." He places his hands on my restraints and tugs. "We may have to replace your restraints after all. I've had others escape with these, I cannot risk you doing the same, can I, Subject Four?"

I grit my teeth against the fear, I felt my heart seem to beat itself out of my chest and it is now in my throat. "Mira." I breathe out, "My name is Mira."

"You should have introduced yourself sooner," He tisked. "Once I place a name to a face it doesn't go away. Subject Four... Not a good nickname, but there's no possible way I'd be able to remember your correct name now." He turns away from me and sets his flash light on the tray. He picks up some cotton balls and pours solution on to them. "This may sting," he warns, and he places the cold cotton ball against my cheek, running it up my eye brow and over my fore head. He throws it away and in a glance, I see it come away pink with distilled blood. He grabs another, and it burns, but I let him do what he is doing, I can smell that it is just alcohol, it's not the worst thing he could be doing right now.