Mutations:
~ Chapter One~
"Go forward. Take a left. Around the U bend, and then straight forward again, before taking a right. Then another left. Twist around the core, and then towards...the left again. He's there. I can feel him there."
A slow burn was working its way through my system, infiltrating my veins, and making me ache for the relief that I so desperately wanted. This wasn't enough.
This was never enough. It never will be, I wanted to go out again but I knew that my time was up now. The urge to be out there instead of just directing made me crave to actually move, but I had already had my hunting time.
"How did you know?"
Bottomless pits of black stared at me, well, they looked black but the reality was that they were just a very dark shade of brown. So dark, that they looked like they could swallow you up whole. Of course, that is impossible.
Well, not completely impossible. For example, snakes can swallow humans whole because of their unique jaws. I think I read somewhere that they can't really unhinge their jaws, like everyone thinks.
The truth is, that they have an elastic ligament in their jaws that can allow them to open wide. At least, that's what I read somewhere.
"Tracking." I answered simply, as I looked at the handcrafted maze before me. I knew exactly where the small pig was being held inside it, "I can smell the trail it left behind, it's fresh so it's easier to follow, even from here."
Feeling the familiar itch in the back of my throat, frustration gnawed at me, and I turned my face away. It was in my nature to hunt, and knowing that there was an available prey here made me want to pounce.
But, my Handler, was also here. And when he say's no, he means no. A low growl was prowling around my throat, but I knew better than to let it out. Instead, I swallowed it and acted like it never even existed.
"We should leave." The lean man spoke beside me, there was a familiar twinkle of curiosity in his near black eyes. Every day I could see a change in him; he was aging.
His thick dark hair was kept short, and wavy, but my eyesight noticed the silvering strands that were still unseen by the human eye. He was still in brilliant health, he said it was just stress, "You need to eat something soon."
The thought of food made me salivate in my mouth, I was always hungry. I was shamelessly the type of person who would happily do nothing but eat, all day, and have no physical change. My metabolism went through it like a breeze.
The few women who entered the compound, were always hassling me about it, telling me that I was lucky to have such fortune. That didn't mean that I wasn't on a strict diet, because I am.
"You made me miss lunch yesterday." I reminded him with a wince, missing the chance of eating food wasn't something I took lightly, or enjoyed.
He exhaled deeply, before looking down at me with an irritated look, "I made it up to you, didn't I?" He muttered dryly and he did, but a blueberry muffin doesn't make up for a whole meat fueled meal.
It just doesn't.
I shrugged, and muttered something that I knew he wouldn't be able to hear. A hand on my shoulder guided me back indoors, I took comfort in the touch as we stepped onto the smooth tile flooring.
Nothing about this place was at all boring. I mean, it's not like I didn't have any privacy because the architecture was mainly made from crystal clear glass, that seemed to never get smudged. Apparently, it was more about making a 'style statement' than anything personal.
Although, the technology was something amazing. It kept on developing over the years, getting even more advanced. Everything was touch sensitive now, all in high definition, and extremely secured.
Or maybe, that was just me. All in the sacred DNA, I suppose.
"You have to let me outside soon," I finally said, pressing myself away from the rush of bustling bodies that moved past me. somehow, everyone always sensed when I was coming, and they divided like the Red Sea, "I need to run or something!"
Eric muttered under his breath in disdain, casting me an annoyingly composed side look. I've never met anyone so calm, and collected. His personality had never changed like mine did. I've known him my entire life, he was my Handler.
He was probably the only person who truly cared about me. A Handler is the person who is dedicated to overseeing my progress, which was just a fancy way of saying 'to raise me'. Eric watched me, monitored my behavior, observed my progress...all among many other responsibilities, obviously.
And he was the only person who dared to come close to me.
Humans weren't very trusting of me. Not after what happened in the outhouse...
I'm not all human. It was never a big secret kept from me, I realized that I could do things that humans couldn't. Eric was the one who explained to me what I was; an illegally created experiment, from a classified scientific research project.
The man who created me was some kind of deranged maniac, apparently. But had a brain like no other, and a thing for wolves, it seemed. My DNA had been spliced, and I was the result of a mutation that occurred when wolf DNA was merged with human DNA, a crossbreed that had never been done before.
I didn't have a problem with it, until I began to feel more wolf than human.
As far as I knew, there are five more to my splice litter. Because I'm Subject Six, it was a wild guess but I couldn't be too far off. All I know, is that when I was bred, I possessed certain abilities similar to wolves.
I have heightened tracking senses, and enhanced physical abilities. I don't know everything though. I don't even know why I was created, but Eric says that I'm well developed for my age.
It didn't change the fact that I wasn't perceived as a person, though.
"Six! Are you listening to me?" Eric suddenly morphed in front of me. His face was drawn in a way that made a crease appear between his eyebrows, that normally meant he was annoyed, "This is important."
"Why don't I have a name?" I ignored his question, I had zoned out, and he wouldn't approve. It was probably something that I'd already heard before anyway, "You have a name."
"You do have a name. Six is your name." Eric immediately responded, swiftly, like he had many times before. But it wasn't a good enough answer. I rolled my eyes at him with a glower, "Six is a number, not a name! Everyone else has a name here." I scowled at him.
But Six was my name, and everyone knew it. The number '6' was printed on all my clothes, in bold and blue. And no one else had the identification code on them, it was only me that had that.
The small numbers were neatly inked in black on the nape of my neck, like a bar code. I've had it all my life, and I was very aware that it was there but at least I didn't have to look at it every day.
Sometimes, I forgot that I wasn't human.
"You're not normal in the eyes of most people here." Eric informed me, taking out his ID card so he could exit the arena used for tracking practice, "You had the name when you were given to me."
Instead of pushing him further, I clamped my mouth shut, and wondered why I was given to Eric. Why he was my Handler? I guess that, in this place, he was the closest thing to...'family' I had.
Since I wasn't born, but created, I don't have parents. So, all my loyalty was placed into Eric, he was the only person I trusted. And of course, Ariel, my medical advisor.
I wondered if the other Splices had names, I was sure that they existed here somewhere. I mean, I had no real evidence but I was intelligent, they taught me academic studies here.
And this institution was swarming with all kinds of different scents. Most of them belonged to humans, which made it easier to pin down the abnormal scents that sometimes lingered. The smell always made my hackles rise, and it would be stuck in my head all day.
I knew they existed. I couldn't be imagining them, or maybe I was...I had been given new drugs. Mood stabilizers to keep my temper tamed.
"Why have there been so many tests?" I finally asked, trying to ignore the fact that I felt like a package that had just been handed to him one day.
I know that Eric never meant it for me to feel this way...but sometimes it sounded like I was a thing, and not a person.
Eric kept a calm façade, as per usual, but I was a good observer when I needed to be. And since my question was a loud one, it noticeably gained attention, and I could see people reacting to it.
Some heads snapped up with a warning in their eyes. Like they all knew something that I didn't, which wasn't new, but it was damn annoying. What made it worse, is that Eric knew, and he wasn't telling me. I wondered how long this secret had been kept.
"You have to get these tests, their mandatory." Eric reminded, me as if I didn't know, and that bugged me, "You know this, Six." It sounded like he was scolding me, and it made me feel a sliver of regret.
Of course, I knew. My whole existence revolved around all kinds of tests. From physical, to psychological. It was just more thorough now, they kept poking at my head, and changing my daily routines to see what kind of reaction I'd have.
Then a few weeks ago, I was put into solitary for no reason. I only got to see Eric once a day! And, my physical appointments had been made more challenging, which I enjoyed, but now it was different.
Something was changing.
"You're lying to me."
The accusation was formed on my tongue, and was spoken so quick that I didn't even realize that it had been spoken at first. Usually, when I said something like that to Eric, it was meant in a playful manner.
Not this time though, my voice had taken a serious tone. It wasn't playful in the slightest, but instead sounded dangerously low.
Eric gave me a perceptive look, it was rare when I spoke to him like that. And I always apologized afterwards but today, it was like my tongue refused to.
Every day he looked like he was ready to fight in a battle and win a war, I guess it is sort of like that when I'm in a bad mood though. Right now, he looked ready to put me in my place for using that tone with him, with anyone else he was fine with it, anyone except him.
"Of course, I am," He deadpanned shamelessly as he swiped his key over the security lock that led to my room, "You aren't allowed to know everything, Six. There are some things that you just shouldn't know, yet."
"Yet?" I repeated with arched brows, but he just turned away which was the signal for the end of this topic. Any more questions would be ignored.
Clenching my jaw shut, I felt the familiar stitch of coldness run tread down my spine, as my anger spiked. I have the worst temper, and the stupid stabilizers done nothing to help it,
With no idea of what to do with it, there's only one way for me to keep calm; take a long run on the track. Better that way, then any other, because if I don't vent out my anger, then people get hurt.
Sometimes, I think, they forget that I am not human.
And when they do that, bad things tend to happen to people.
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A/N
Hi again, everyone!
Introducing Six; who is the main character of this story, if you have any questions about Splices, or if I haven't explained something clearly, let me know.
Also, although it says in the description that the story is based on a female character, I've saw some comments saying that it wasn't obvious. I just wanted to make it clear, (so no one gets confused later on,) that Subject Six is a female.
Hope you're all liking this so far!
- EmbracingYou
(Another edited chapter from the original, once again a couple of minor changes but none to serious.)