Quiver

2

My eyes never strayed from my brother, who despite being adopted and aside from the pack, was the closest thing to family that I ever had. I watched, full of anxiety as his body slowly healed. It had felt like it had been ages, but really it had only been thirty minutes. Just as the last bruise faded to his natural skin coloring, Cole groaned, rolling on the ground of his cell. I knew what was happening. His body was heating up, his head pounding, he felt too constricted in even his own skin, but unlike my change where I just burst into wolf form, Cole was feeling the burning rush of what felt like fire push through his veins. The serum would push him to remain human, but wolf genetics would push through I was sure and he'd eventually change.

I watched in torment as he rolled on the ground, slowly at first, but as the wolf's blood (I assumed that was what they inserted into him) began to eat through his human cells, changing them to a different, wolfish design, he began to thrash on the ground. I could see from in my plastic cage that his face was an unhealthy red and he was struggling with the change and the awful serum that seared through his body like fire. Anger boiled through me and I wanted nothing more than out of this stupid cage to help him. I slammed my fists into my prison and as his eyes began to go red, his nose and mouth began to leak with his blood, I screamed for them to help him or let me out. Of course, no one came and I was left to pace my cage, never looking away from Cole for more than I could bare -- which wasn't long at all.

His screams began to fill the air after an hour of thrashing and bleeding. I heard his bones pop, could smell the scent of wolf beginning to rise off him and could see the beginning of fur sprout through the pores of his skin. It was happening now. His body was reshaping, the wolf blood having ripped away part of his humanity so he could change to a beast, a wolf. The fire however...was still ripping through him, boiling him and it dragged his change out ever more. He was bleeding a lot. I worried he wouldn't survive.. he had to survive though...he was my brother. The only thing I had in this place.

My eyes stayed glued to Cole now, I never paced, I never beat at the plastic in a hopeless attempt to escape. No, now I merely watched in anxiety as Cole's bones snapped and he bled more, his fur began to sprout through thicker and I seen his facial bones break sickeningly slow and begin to reshape into a muzzle. His screams were a constant, horrifying song in my head and I had the always present thought that he wouldn't make it. I could see his bones grinding into a wolfish shape, reconstructing his body and his bleeding seemed to slow as more fur broke through and his clothes shredded off his body. It had been a long, aching process, but I could see he was almost there, could feel the presence of another wolf in my conscience. He was so close. Patchy fur splattered over most of his body, a tail, slightly hairless had grown, his hands were clawed and almost paws, his ears, though hairless were pointed atop his head... his hair was gone and his muzzle had begun forming while whines and growls replaced his agonized screams.

He was so damn close, all he needed was a little more energy and he'd make it there. He'd be a Lupus. I had stopped breathing long ago, praying for some miracle that Cole would be okay, but when he fell back to his side, heaving in deep lungfuls of air, I sucked in a sharp, ragged breath. No.. he was giving up.

No! My mind shouted and I slammed on the glass, eyes becoming watery as I watched his fur begin to recede and his bones begin to slide back.

"NO!" I screamed aloud, burning my throat with the intensity of it. "COLE! Don't give up!"

I watched him lift his head to glance at me, his hazel eyes filled with sorrow, but when he seen my fierce expression. He suddenly tried once more, the wolfy fur sprouting back through rapidly, his bones shifting even quicker than before and soon he erupted into a full blown wolf. His fur was an eerie shade of blackness, like it was derived from the shadows of the night and his once hazel eyes glowed yellow, but all too quickly he let out a howl of pain and his wolf body vanished as the human one came back.

I was relieved, but only for a second because as I gazed at Cole's human form, I seen he wasn't moving...at all. Not even to breathe. My panic spiked as the minutes began to pass and I felt myself become so panicky I was slamming myself into the plastic with a need that was driving me into insanity. I had to get to Cole, I had to see if he was okay. I was throwing myself into the plastic wall so roughly I felt it give slightly under my pressure and splinter in a tiny crack. I was about to rear back and throw myself again when suddenly two Jaecars appeared before me.

They looked at me with hatred and disgust in their eyes even after all these months of holding me captive. I was sure if it had been up to them I'd be dead, but Claire kept me alive to try and draw out my Lupus pack. She claimed she was going to kill us all, but I knew she didn't have enough Jaecars here for that.. or so I hoped. My lips curled into a snarl and I felt the need to shift along with the fire that warned me I couldn't. I growled loudly enough for the disgusting humans to hear through the plastic wall and I watched with satisfaction as they shivered, if only slightly. I probably would've attacked them as they came into my cell, but I'd just wasted all my energy throwing myself into my cage and worrying over Cole. I could do nothing, but back away as far as I could which certainly wasn't much and soon I was clasped in their rough hands, being dragged down the rows of cages, all which were empty aside from myself and Cole's.

I shuddered, hating the long hallway with the empty cages. The cages that were never used for long before they experimented on a Lupus and killed them or just in general chose to murder one. It was sickening and made my stomach roll as we approached the double doors, every instinct telling me Claire would be waiting and I'd hate it, but I'd have no choice.

My eyes fell to the floor, just watching the way it seemed to move beneath me and heard those double doors open and swing closed behind me. My eyes wanted to glance up, but I knew we weren't to our destination just yet. The guards dragged me a little bit further and then we reached it.. the room. The room that looked so much like an operating room. It smelled utterly sterile and everything was a dreaded white. It made me flinch to think I'd be lying on the cold table, strapped down and ripped open or injected and monitored like some freak when really they were the freaks.

Flinch I did in the next minute as the Jaecars tossed me onto the table and strapped me to the cool metal. I thrashed, but I was too weak to even break the chain straps. I flopped back uselessly and watched as the Jaecars gave me a cold glare before leaving me alone to wonder what new test would be done. I figured Claire would be just about out of tests. She'd already tried to fix the Lupus genes which failed, I had suffered a long week of burning in flames, but I was still wolf, she had tested silver on me and vampire venom, which was, painful as well, but it wasn't whatever kept me from shifting. Hell, she had done just about everything possible.. there wasn't much left to do...unless-

My thoughts ceased as she walked in. Her heels clicking and her ugly blonde hair a tell tale sign of just who it was. Claire. Her expression was blank and she didn't bother asking me anything, instead she motioned to the doctors who had followed her in to get to work. I flinched as I heard them rummaging around to gather their tools and glared at Claire.

"What are you gonna do?" I rasped, my voice croaky and almost lost from my screaming earlier.

"The same thing we always try to do, mutt. Fix you."

An icy chill spilled down my spine and suddenly -- something they hadn't done in a long time -- a mask was being placed over my mouth. I tried to fight it, but being strapped down and needing oxygen, I felt myself grow heavier and heavier with each inhale and exhale until I faded away to black.