Warning: mention of suicide.
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The monotone buzzing sound of the Holter monitor echoed in the room as I lazily tried to open my heavy eyelids. Saying I was exhausted would completely be an understatement. It felt like life has been sucked out of my body and staying conscious more than a minute was a great achievement in itself.
The room I was held into was slightly different than the previous one, it was like a bedroom with no window. Rectification, a concrete vault furnished with a simple hospital bed and a small desk with a cheap aluminum chair. A metallic door was standing imposingly in the middle of the opposite wall where the bed was positioned and there was a camera on each corner of the room. It was, indeed, quite depressive. A buzzing sound came from the door before it opened signalling that I had an unwanted visitor.
"Byakko, finally awake as I can see!" a manly voice said.
I turned my head toward the voice and saw him, that Devil.
"F ... i ... ng ... b ... ch...!" I answered back having difficulty voicing my thoughts (Fucking bitch).
"I did not get a single word of what you were saying, little Byakko, but I came to see how you were doing and you are perfectly fine! That is, minus your speech... You probably have a speech impairment but your neurons should make new connections by themselves soon enough. Oh and by the way, call me Dr. Drake from now on." the madman said.
I wished I could punch that smirk off his face to make him pay for everything he did or worst, kick his crotch. That would give him a stronger aftertaste of the Y/L/N signature. However, deep down, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry because of the past events that all happened in the span of a few days.
"W ... w ... e ... ere...IIIIII?" I questioned him (Where am I?).
"Well, you really do sound horrible. Until then, I am happy to see that you're alive and I have high expectation from you, Byakko. Don't deceive us! If you try to escape, there is a fine punishment I'll have the pleasure to prepare. If you attack someone without permission, it will have the same result. If you kill me, someone else will take my place and trust me when I say this, there are worst people out there." the lunatic spoke and left without even answering my question.
I understood that if I wanted some answers, he wouldn't be the one to provide them.
As I got lost in my train of thoughts, I felt that there was something weird about me. It was hard to explain, I felt like I knew something changed but I couldn't identify what it was.
A second horrible buzzing sound resonated through the room as a short woman came in. Her name was Ms. Grande if I recall correctly. After looking closer, she was indeed beautiful. Her brown hair was silky and her deep brown orbs were captivating.
"Good afternoon, Byakko. Today, I will explain how our system functions and the goals you have to reach."
As she said the name Byakko, I glanced around to make sure there was nobody but us in the room. Unsurprisingly, there was no one else in here, so that meant the message was intended to me. Why would they call me this name? The pet naming was so juvenile but on reflection, it wasn't very surprising when you're under the charge of a lunatic named Drake.
Due to my incapacity to form a coherent sentence, it felt like this would be a long speech. I scooted back against my pillow in a more comfortable position.
"So let's begin. As you know, you will be named Byakko. You have been brought here to become a subject of our experiment. You are the 10th subject that survived even though..." the brown-eyed girl spoke glancing down at her notepad as I quirked my eyebrow.
"Well... You took more time than the others to wake up. However, since your vital signs are stable and everything seems fine, we might accelerate your training process because you're... Well, behind everyone else, so we will put you on a strict training program and a diet. You won't meet the others just yet because we want you to discover and control your powers. As Dr. Drake explained before your rebirth, your DNA has been fused with an animal's to gain new abilities such as strength, speed, night vision, etc. In your case, the animal you have been fused with was a Siberian tiger." the woman continued her monologue.
When she said tiger, I immediately thought about the old zoo I used to go and then, my old life. Everything changed so fast, it was unbelievable. My eyes began to water but I refused to let a single tear drop, so I lower my head. Even if it was really hard to contain myself from breaking in front of someone that was part of this terrible experiment, I had to stay strong but how long would I last? If I had to go through the injection of their damn serum again, I would be better off dead.
"Hey, are you ok?" the brunette asked me with worry in her voice.
That was when my sadness turned into anger. How dare she asked if I was fine? Wasn't it obvious when I begged to be killed during that experiment? No, I wasn't fine and I certainly didn't want any of this, I wanted my life back! My old life sucked, it was lonely and cold but I wasn't an agonizing nightmare. Why did I have to be kidnapped, why not anyone else?
I raised my head still angry and meet her eyes filled with worry and compassion.
"I'm not saying that it will be easy because it will not. Hopefully, you will find another reason to live. The others did and I'm sure you will too." the woman said while putting her hand on my shoulder making my fury vanish.
"Wh..what is y ... yo ... urr ... n ... nam ... e?" I asked hesitantly.
She might be working for them but at least, she seemed to truly care.
"Ariana, it's nice to meet you." she answered with a genuine smile.
"All right, all right. Dry your tears, there is no place for this in here. Ms. Grande, you should step aside while I explain to Byakko what will be her future role." Dr. Drake rudely interrupted her as he came back in.
He truly was the scummiest trash out there. I would make sure he would regret getting out of his mother's womb and my word was my bond.
He took the aluminum chair near the desk and brought it closer to the bed to lazily straddle it.
"The first part of the program will be to control yourself. You will be given time to test your new abilities and figure out your limits. You will also take courses that will transform you into a better killer such as martial arts, workout sessions but also language courses, tactic classes and so on. For the second part, we might expose you to the other experiments but that is only if you manage to control yourself, we wouldn't want you to accidentally get yourself killed, right? If you are judged as being capable of interacting with the others, you will integrate a team and work with them to complete different missions. Finally, the third part will be alone to test your capacities and apply what you have learnt throughout the program and become our masterpiece, an assassin!" he said.
I was shocked, this man was totally out of his mind. He kidnapped me so I could be transformed into a hybrid and kill people? No one should have the power to execute someone else. There was probably plenty of hitmen around the world, so why bother doing this?
"I know what you must tell yourself that killing people is bad but we don't kill the good people, only the bad guys. There is a whole world that you are yet unaware of but remember it's for the best. You have been chosen to complete this task because you are special. I cannot tell you right now, but one day, you will understand." he tried to reassure me.
How could they believe that everyone involved in this project would comply with their desires in a heartbeat without a complaint or a fight? This was totally insane. I was not a killer nor I wanted to be.
"I see the hesitation in your eyes, Byakko. Don't you dare think that you can escape your fate? You will become an assassin whether you like it or not. Otherwise, we can simply dispose of you. You are, indeed, special but not essential. Do not worry, we wouldn't kill you in a cold-hearted manner, we have something else in reserve just for you. I'll make sure to send you back in that room and give you more serum. Who knows, maybe we could discover something interesting!" he coldly said with a smirk.
I felt a chill run down my spine at the mention of that room. Anyone would be a fool to go back in there, anything but that.
"Yes Byakko, fear! The strongest emotion of all, a primal feeling that every living being is subjected too. Use it to push your boundaries!" the man encouraged me. I look into his dark eyes, the look of a demon. He was emotionless, a manipulative evil person rotten to the core just like the devil.
"So what is your decision, Byakko?" Dr. Drake questioned me.
"I will." dryly answered.
"Great! Since you are a late bloomer, your training process will have to be a little bit harsher. We will start in a few hours. See you later, Byakko." the Devil said before leaving.
I was left speechless, whatever would happen next, it would be anything but good.
Ariana followed suit with a shy apologetic smile leaving me with my loneliness once again.
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A loud ringing woke me up in surprised as I noticed I wasn't in my bedroom anymore. Where was this place?
I stretched myself and took a good look around me. This place was pretty dark but the most shocking fact was that my surroundings was a tropical forest. The tall trees formed a closed canopy with only little light reaching the ground and a profusion of climbing plants was decorating the forest. The air was humid and heavy, it was too warm in here.
A projection of a digital chronometer appeared on the top of the dome. Whatever they planned, I would be timed. The numbers were indicating that I had 3 hours to accomplish something in there but what could it be?
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A/N: Hey! I hope you like this chapter! Don't forget to comment and I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Hoshi
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