Ilya stayed quiet. Confusion was written all over his face.
How? He was sure he took a New York City subway. Did I sleep all the way to another state?
Then the looks the hybrid creatures gave him made his skin crawl. He hated being the center of attention. And mostly, he hated the way Pig and Beast waited for his reaction to the news.
A little smile tugged at their lips. They were enjoying it.
He sipped his tea, eyeing both mutants from the corners of his eyes.
Then he spoke, "Will the nuclear leak affect me too?"
That was the question that disturbed him the most. If he was in this mysterious town in Pennsylvania, then he was close enough to the location of the nuclear accident. And if the effects of the accident were still happening in this town, then he'd eventually turn into one of them.
Pig and Beast burst out laughing.
Chills ran through Ilya's body. His stomach churned. He left the teacup on the table in front of him and further curled upon himself, wrapping the blanket securely around him.
His suffering was merely a joke to them.
Ilya felt lonlier than ever. And trapped. He was surrounded by two beasts, not just the one he had been stuck with.
"No, boy." Pig wiped a tear from his eye, then ended his laugh with a sigh. "You don't have to worry about that."
A sigh of relief rattled the boy's chest.
But Pig added, "That's not how we turned like this."
He stopped to stare at his hands. Those hideous fingers. That thick skin. His huge belly.
"It was the Russians," he said with a heated breath filled with anger. "They did this to us."
Ilya's hand shook as he tugged at the blanket. Again with the Russians. And Ilya was one of them. He knew that he had to remain calm, especially in the presence of the beast. A slight change in his heartbeat might give away his secret. He had to be careful... or else.
When Pig got too overwhelmed by the memory of his transformation, Beast took it from there.
"People got sick," Beast said, but Ilya was too scared to look his way. "Doctors came to the rescue, claiming that we have all been exposed to nuclear radiation. They built this town in the middle of nowhere to treat us from radiation poisoning."
"But we shouldn't have trusted them," Pig said.
A dark aura surrounded him. Its dangerous energy frightened Ilya. He felt Greg's hate towards those people, towards his people. He was ashamed to be related to them in any way possible.
"They treated us like lab rats, filling our bodies with their filthy drugs." He stared at his mutilated hands. "By the time we figured it out." A heavy sigh broke Pig's voice. "It was too late."
Ilya lowered his head and felt sad for the beasts in this town. They were once normal, like him. They didn't choose this life. They were victims of mad scientists.
No wonder everyone in this town hates the Russians. Ilya sighed.
Ilya's stomach growled, interrupting the silence of despair.
"Good grief! You must be starving!" Pig blurted before trying to get up. "Lucky for you," he grunted, still struggling to get out of the couch. "I saved a few supplies from last month and made you something."
Supplies? Ilya wondered what Pig was talking about.
Even though Pig left the couch with difficulty, he didn't seem disabled by his weight. He was merely struggling to leave a confined sunken seat that didn't fit his big frame, yet he moved and walked better than most obese human beings.
Must be his pig's genes, Ilya figured.
Pig marched to the kitchen in a separate room, leaving Ilya all alone with Beast.
"Ahm."
Beast cleared his throat and leaned forward, causing Ilya to let out a little gasp.
Danger was all Ilya could think of. He was in danger once again, now that his body had recovered from diabetic shock. Who knew what kind of games Beast had in store for him?
"So...," Beast started. "There's something I need to do."
There it is. Ilya panicked. Another one of his games.
Ilya started shaking. His gaze never left his lap. He realized how peaceful the atmosphere was when Pig was around. He felt stupid for letting his guard down when he should have thought of a way to escape. He didn't realize that he was still in danger until he was left alone with Beast.
His breath hitched when Beast left his seat. He was standing tall and moving towards him. Ilya's heart was beating so fast that felt like it was seconds away from having a heart attack.
"It's OK." Beast squatted on sturdy legs in front of Ilya, raising his palms. "I'm just gonna check your blood sugar."
Without looking at him, Ilya felt Beast's piercing gaze. Ilya shrunk upon himself. Shoulders tensed. Head dipped. Breaths came out short and shaky.
Too close. Ilya shut his watery eyes when hot breaths fanned his neck. Too damn close.
"May I?" Beast said.
Ilya opened his eyes and saw Beast's hand reaching out while the other held an old medical device. Beast really just wanted a finger to prick in order to check Ilya's blood sugar level.
Ilya didn't understand.
"Why...," Ilya said in a faint little sound.
"Why what?" Beast asked.
Ilya finally raised his head and was able to look at Beast with tears in his eyes. That look was painful for Beast to watch. A hurtful scolding stare that reminded him of his horrible other nature.
Beast's hand dropped. A stinging pain penetrated his heart.
"Why are you being nice to me?" Ilya snapped with a tremor in his voice, "What's going on? What kind of sick game are you planning this time?"
Ilya was shaking with anger. The hot tears trapped in his eyes poured down during his hysteric outburst. It was a foreign feeling to him. He expressed sadness and fear, but rarely anger towards Beast.
Beast was taken aback.
"No, no." He quickly explained himself, pulling his palms up in peace, "It's not a game. I'm just trying to help."
Ilya gave him a dirty look. The person, or monster, in front of him could not be trusted. Beast was never to be trusted. That was how Ilya saw him, just a beast.
Billy knew that he had to show the kid that he wasn't the Beast anymore.
"Look at my eyes." He came closer, and that only pushed Ilya away, holding his breath from the sudden proximity. "Just look at them!"
Despite the crippling fear, Ilya stared at those eyes. Once he saw them, his eyebrows rose. His shoulders rested. His speedy heart rate slowed down. He breathed calmer the longer he stared at those warm eyes.
With big surprised eyes sparkling with what remained of his tears, Ilya said, "They're not yellow anymore."
"Exactly." Billy chuckled. "They're brown."
"But..." Ilya furrowed his brows. "How? Why?"
Billy sighed.
"I'm not the Beast you were with before. I'm Billy." He explained, "A completely different person stuck in the same body."
HOLY SHIT 😱😱😱
I did not see that coming!!!
OK. I did 😁 But what about you guys???
❣️IF YOU LIKED IT, PLEASE VOTE & COMMENT ❣️