Tortured

The edge of my vision turned red. My hands curled into fists, and I wished I was there in real time. My blood boiled with the need to rip the pumps and transfusion bags from the walls. To stop the supernatural DNA from reaching the babies in the tanks.

"If these critters don't tear each other apart, then they might be the best agents we've ever had. Purebred killing machines. Just like you wanted." The redhead smirked and tapped the glass of a tank in the middle row. The child inside twitched and the three men chuckled, as if being entertained by a fish in a tank at an exhibit.

"Well, boys," the Director wrapped his beefy arms around the two-scientist, startling both of them, "if Project Hybrid becomes a success, then I see a bright future for your team."

"Thank you very much, Sir. We're very glad for the opportunity." Sputtered the short, chubby man.

"Impress me, or you end up in the dumpster with the failed specimens." The Director's threat slid over the two men and they both paled with the realization their life was on the line.

"Yes... Yes, Sir." They both answered. But as they opened their mouths to keep talking, the sounds stretched and distorted. The surrounding walls melted. Everything in the lab blurred together, and the colors muddied until I was surrounded by black again.

Once more it pushed me through darkness and another wave of color and white blinded my sight.

The trip was much quicker this time, and I was thrown into another slice of history revolved around my creation.

Another white room. Alannah's presence weakened inside my conscious.

This time I was looking through a glass wall with a team of scientists all in white coats. I counted about five of them, but their faces and features were all blank for some reason. Instead of focusing on them, I turned to look through the glass into the room that held their attention.

Ten toddlers were in a sterile room with the closest thing to a caregiver we were ever given.

There were no bright, fun-colored toys scattered about the floor like you would find in a normal school. My eyes caught sight of the yellow fake weapons the children were playing with.

The color made me cringe.

"Ten of them survived the first round of injections. We shouldn't need to aid in supplicating the enhancements to their DNA anymore. They're almost three now and none have shown any signs of reacting to the dormant supe DNA." A distant voice said.

"No shifting, no spell casting, no attempts to eat one another?" I vaguely recognized the sound of the Director.

"Not at all. They're all incredible, though. That supe DNA gives them an extra umph I've never seen in a specimen before. Even at two years old, they weren't just walking; they were all jumping and running like much older children. They're intelligent, with astoundingly fast reflexes."

"I won't consider Project Hybrid a success unless these ten make it to age five." That voice was angering me more and more each time I heard it.

"We're sure they will. The five failures must have had weak human DNA that couldn't cope with the raw power of the supernatural DNA we spliced them with. But these ten, absolutely magnificent." The awe in their voice disgusted me.

"Hmm," I knew what he was going to say next before the words were through his lips. I knew which one of those toddlers was me. I could see my hair and my eyes on a face about to lose its innocence. Then he said, "Don't feed them for six hours and give them knives."

"Excuse me, Sir?"

"You heard me. None of the fake shit they're in there with now. Get them riled up and give them weapons."

I heard nothing else they said. They all faded away as the dream snatched my consciousness from the scene. What I could hear was screaming. Haunting, agonized screaming that turned into tortured howls..

As it yanked me through the memories, I kept my eyes open this time. I relived two decades' worth of violence and blood in seconds. Flashing repeatedly. The blood of my memories was darker than the shadows in my mind.

Alannah's presence vanished. The screaming stopped. I landed once more in a realm of black. When I looked down at the inky floor, I faced my reflection. It lifted from the ground and rose into the air until I was staring at myself in a dark mirror.

My hand reached out, and I saw a single tear slipping down the face of my reflection. I thought to wipe her tear away, but when my hand traced over my reflection, it rippled like the surface of a pond after tossing in a stone.

When the ripples subsided, there was a beast looking back at me. But she was familiar. This was the beast I knew. Deep down inside of my soul, she was at my very center. She always had been. And always would be.

A golden wolf with amber eyes. She would remain trapped within me forever, and there was nothing anyone could do to set her free. We were only a hybrid, after all.

Created to kill, and nothing more.

A wolfish grin spread over her maw, and I felt my lips tilt up in sync. As I lifted my hand to touch my face, I felt skin, but the other half of me was placing her paw on the glass mirror between us. My hand flew out to touch the frosty glass, and I gasped. Despite the cold, I could feel her warmth on the other side. She was me. And I was her. We were one and the same, but we would never meet again outside of this realm.

The golden wolf opened her jaw, and I shivered at the sight of her sharp teeth within. Her words came out in a beastly growl that made my skin sing with electrified power. "They wanted a killing machine." Her tone was almost a purr. "We'll give them a monster."

Then I fell through the floor of darkness.

Q