Hollow's Grove (The Preliminary Version)

Chapter Twenty Four: Freedom?

White was all I could see. My head was spinning. My right shoulder ached. I blinked a few times. As my vision came back to me I realized with great surprise that I was back in a cage. My arms and legs bound with heavy chains. I gulped. It looked as though the wolf hadn't been able to escape. Suddenly a cold feeling washed over me, Mary! My heartbeat quickened, the last time I had saw her was before I had fully changed.

She was running to the door. Maybe she had got out. Just then there came a cruel laugh. "Well, I am glad to see you're awake." I felt my stomach do a small flip, it was the mistress. I glanced up, and to my horror I found that she was smirking down at me. In her hands a clip board and a pen. Had she been taking notes on my transformation? She bent down and raised her eye brows at me. "You know, I am in complete amazement at the rate you turned."

I didn't say anything. I was too busy wondering what had happened to Mary. The mistress frowned when she noticed that I wasn't replying. "Answer me!" She cried, hitting the bars to the cage. I gave a small yelp. My ears were still quite sensitive. She gave a huff of frustration. "Listen, you explain to me why you can turn into your inner beast so fast, or you will never see Mary again." Those words made my blood turn to ice.

I glared up into the mistress' cold white eyes. "What, did you do to her?" I growled. She gave a small grin when she saw that she had a reaction from me. She pushed herself up, and walked away from the cage. I tried to follow her movements but my body was so tightly bound, I was having difficulty. I heard a door creak open and then some low whispering. Then the wolf within began to snarl as Marcus appeared, in his arms lay Mary.

"Mary!" I wailed. Her body looked pale, lifeless. "What did you do to her?" I yelled. Marcus just snickered, and shook his head. "Why should I tell you?" He chuckled darkly. The mistress came up behind Marcus, and shook her head, "How sad, the werewolf wants his eagle back." I froze, had the mistress just called Mary an eagle?

Was that the genetic code they had switched within Mary? "How could you do something so terrible to these poor kids?" I said, my eyes blazing. The mistress shook her head, "We had to. You see it's a project for a government agency. They believe that they can create super soldiers by enhancing human and animal DNA together. So we have done a ton of genetic remodifying. Some experiments worked and others, I am sorry to say failed."

I narrowed my eyes, "What do I have to do with this?" The mistress laughed, "Well I had never really believed in werewolves. But when Marcus had overheard you two discussing it, well he came and told me right away. So we had to watch the both of you to see if it were true. Yet, I had no idea that you would pull off an escape plan. So I sent the guards and now you are here, and boy, your transformation was stunning!"

This woman was sounding more and more like a lunatic as she explained everything to me. Marcus stood there holding Mary in front of me, his green eyes glistening. I don't know what came over me, but a feeling of rage spurred within me. Before I knew what was happening I had ripped off my chains. The both of them jumped back in shock as I grabbed the cage bars and yelled, "Give her back, and let me out!"

The mistress and Marcus looked at one another, their expressions fearful. "Tell me how you can turn so fast!" The mistress cried. I shook my head, "Not until you promise to let me and Mary go!" Suddenly there came a loud crash, the door had been kicked down. There were guards racing into the room, I suddenly realized that these were also some of the teens that I had been in class with. "So that's your game is it?" I snarled.

The mistress pushed past Marcus and walked right up to the cage. She stared into my eyes. "You have nowhere to go, and no one will ever believe you." I bit my lip, what she was saying was true. I had no evidence of what had been going on here. Well besides Mary, but I would never make her change into her animal form. I couldn't even bring myself to tell people I was a werewolf.

I had made the mistake of telling a few people while I was on the run, and oh how I regretted it. Snap, the click of the mistress' fingers brought me back into reality. "Now then, Tobias, stand down, tell me how you can change into your wolf so fast." Her eyes gleamed. I shook my head, "Never, for that is information between me and the wolf." I really hoped that she would buy my bluff.

She narrowed her eyes and frowned, than she backed away from me and coughed. "Well, I guess you've won then." I cocked my head, was she being serious? "Why should I trust you?" I growled. She smiled a coy smile, and reached into her lab coat left pocket. I gasped. In her hand she held a key. "Here, you're free." She looked over at Marcus, whose eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Leave the girl," she said. Then she turned and reached over and tossed the key into the cage. "Come everyone, let us leave them, they have won." I could see the confused expressions upon the entire group of guards as they turned around and left the room. Marcus put down Mary and just seemed to stare as he and the mistress left the room...