Chapter 10 Chapter 10
"We always have choices," he replied. "Some are just harder than others."
I turned to the security guard with the syringe.
"Do it."
"Mia, no! No! Don't—!"
Alex's voice broke, and it was the most painful sound I'd ever heard.
The needle pierced my skin.The chemical burned through my veins like liquid fire.
My vision blurred, my legs buckled, and the last thing I heard before darkness swallowed me was Alex screaming my name—and the sound of my own heart breaking.
I woke up to white walls and sharp sterile smell of disinfectant .
For one disoriented moment, I thought I was back at the hospital, finishing a night shift.
Then I tried to move and realized my wrists were restrained. Soft restraints—the medical kind designed not to leave marks—but restraints nonetheless.
Panic flooded my system immediately.
The room was small, clinically clean, with a single window showing darkness outside. I had no
idea how long I'd been unconscious.
Hours? Days?
My mouth tasted like metal and regret. My head was pounding with the aftermath of whatever chemical they'd pumped into my system.
"You're awake," a female voice said. "Try not to struggle. The restraints are for your safety and
ours."
I turned my head to see a woman in a white coat standing near the door. She was middle-aged,
professionally dressed, with the kind of detached clinical expression I'd seen on doctors
delivering bad news.
She held a tablet and was making notes, studying me like I was an
interesting specimen rather than a person.
"Where am I?" I asked, my voice rough.
"A private medical facility," she replied. "You were brought in for observation and assessment.
I’m Dr. Sarah Mitchell. I'll be overseeing your care."
"What care," I repeated bitterly. "Is that what you call kidnapping now?"
She didn't even blink. "You came to a hotel room willingly. You engaged in corporate espionage.
Mr. Xiang exercised his right to detain someone who posed a security threat to his research.
Everything we're doing is perfectly legal within the parameters of our research permits."
"Research permits for human experimentation?" I pulled against the restraints, testing their
strength.
They held firm.
"I want a lawyer.
I want to make a phone call. I have rights—"
"You signed those rights away when you planted surveillance equipment," Dr. Mitchell interrupted calmly. "But let's not be adversarial. This doesn't have to be unpleasant.
We simply want to understand your unique genetic structure.
A few tests, some tissue samples, genetic sequencing. In exchange, you'll be provided with comfortable accommodations and compensation for your time."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then the accommodations become less comfortable. The testing continues regardless.
So I suggest cooperation."
She approached the bed, and I saw she was holding a syringe. My body tensed automatically,
remembering the burn of the sedative.
"Just a blood sample," she said, noticing my reaction. "Nothing that will harm you. I'm told your
metabolism processes substances unusually fast. We need baseline measurements to understand your physiology”.
"Don't touch me," I warned, and I felt the familiar pressure building beneath my skin. The Primal
form, trying to emerge. Trying to protect me. Dr. Mitchell paused.”Fascinating.
Your heart rate just spiked dramatically. Adrenaline levels are
off the charts. Are you attempting to transform?"
"Stay away from me," I said, my voice dropping to a growl.
She made a note on her tablet. "Noted. Subject displays defensive transformation responses
when threatened. Security, please prepare the inhibitor."
The door opened, and two guards entered. They moved with the same professional efficiency
as the ones from the hotel. One held what looked like a modified taser. The other had another
syringe.
"The inhibitor is a mild suppressant," Dr. Mitchell explained like she was teaching a class. "It
temporarily blocks the neurological pathways that trigger transformation in shapeshifters.
It won't harm you, but it will prevent you from shifting for approximately six hours. We've found it,
makes the initial assessment much smoother."
"I said,don't touch me!" I seized against the restraints hard enough that the bed frame groaned.
The guard with the taser didn't hesitate. I felt the electric shock slam through my body, every
muscle seizing, my scream caught in my throat. It lasted maybe three seconds, but it felt like
eternity. When it stopped, I was gasping, my body twitching with aftershocks.
"I apologize for that," Dr. Mitchell said, and she actually sounded sincere. "We'll avoid the taser
if you cooperate. The inhibitor is genuinely not harmful. I promise."
I couldn't fight them. Not restrained. Not outnumbered. Not without risking exposure of exactly
what I could do. So I lay still, trembling, as the guard injected the inhibitor into my arm. The
effect was immediate and horrible—like a vital part of me was suddenly muffled, wrapped in
cotton, pushed down somewhere I couldn't reach.
"There," Dr. Mitchell said gently. "That wasn't so bad. Now, let's get that blood sample."
She took four bottles. Labeled them. Documented everything in her tablet. The whole time, I
stared at the ceiling and counted my breaths, trying to stay calm, trying to think.
Alex was alive. He had to be alive. Mr. Xiang wouldn't have killed him after I
surrendered—there was no strategic advantage to it. He'd use Alex as leverage to keep me
compliant.
Which meant Alex was out there somewhere, looking for me. I just had to survive untile he found me.
"All done," Dr. Mitchell said, applying a bandage to my arm. "The restraints will be removed
once we've confirmed the inhibitor is working properly.
Someone will bring you food and water. I suggest you eat.
The genetic sequencing takes several hours, and you'll want your strength."
"What happens after the sequencing?" I asked.
She hesitated, just for a moment. "That depends on what we find. If your genetics are as unique
as Mr. Xiang suspects, there will be additional tests. But let's take this one step at a time."
She left, taking the guards with her.
The door locked with a heavy mechanical click.
I was alone in the white room with nothing but my thoughts and the horrible muffled feeling
where my Primal forms should be.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember Alex's voice, the sound of it in my earpiece before everything went wrong.
I Tried to hold onto that instead of the fear threatening to swallow my whole body.
Time passed strangely. I dozed in fits, jerking awake every time I heard footsteps in the hallway.
Eventually, someone brought food on a tray—something that smelled vaguely like chicken,
vegetables, water in a plastic cup.
They removed the restraints while I ate, but a guard stood in the doorway the entire time,watching.
I ate without tasting a thing, pushing down food my stomach didn't
want,only because I needed the energy
.
After the meal, they left me alone again. No restraints this time, but the door was locked and the
window was reinforced glass that wouldn't break no matter how hard I hit it.
I tested it anyway,using the small amount of strength I could access through the inhibitor's suppression.
The glass didn't even crack.
I was trapped.
Hours passed… or maybe minutes. The fluorescent lights stayed.