2 days later.
"Please, I don't feel good. I wanna' throw up". Who am I kidding? These animals aren't letting me go. "Hang on. Let her go.", commands Kelly. "She's had enough for now. Let her rest, we'll pick up tomorrow.".
"But Kelly, with all due respect, the boss says-"
And that was the first time I came to understand what role this girl plays.
The poor sod must've soiled himself as Kelly's right arm immediately turned into some sort of silvery liquid and elongated in his direction, forming into a sort of tentacle and wrapping itself around his neck. The fact that he dropped his clipboard must've meant he understood and soon enough I find myself being released from the various types of shackles that hold me to the bed.
Holy fudgeballs. She's the other shifter that Chris must've been talking about the other day. Her being able to turn into other people and whatnot. She was the 'Chris' the other day as well, in the room with Tobias. It had to be her.
For the past 48 hours or so, I've had my blood taken, stuff being injected into me and, of course, forced to take various animal shapes. From which they would take more blood. Considering escaping is not an option as they've got me on a tight leash, sometime literally and sometimes figuratively. Plus, morphing would render me vulnerable during the shift itself.
"You alright?", Kelly helps me to my feet as the rest clears out. "Yeah. Thanks.". Remember, Steph, she's one of them. The last time you trusted one of them was what got you here in the first place.
"Come on. I think you need a walk.". Before I could say anything, the door to the lab whirs open and Kelly is leading me out. For the first time in a very long time, I'm actually outside of a building. Heck, being led out of the lab was a blessing but out of the entire structure itself? Wow.
"Aren't you afraid I might try to get away?". She shoots a glance at me that suggests I shouldn't even bother trying. Point taken. She's not afraid of taking me on and I'm pretty sure I don't stand a chance against a girl who could turn parts of herself into liquid.
I take my time to circle as much of the structure as I can but it's the size of a football field. Probably two. We both say nothing to each other for the whole time, Kelly occasionally slowing her pace down - watching me from a distance like a concerned parent would when they let their kids stroll around the park.
Just when I've gotten used to being outside, Kelly calls out and motions her head towards the lab. We make our way towards the building, nothing said between us. As soon as we're back inside I thank her and she smiles. "Hey Kelly?".
"Yeah?".
"I just wanted to say thanks again and...".
"Hmm?".
"It's nice to know I'm not the only one who can shapeshift.".
Almost immediately, her face changes, this time not in the sense that she's transforming but a shift in emotions. She fakes a smile and looks towards the floor before turning around, doors whirring shut behind her.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Chris' POV
"Are you fucking serious?!", Steph's father slams both his fists onto the dining table, silencing everyone seated around it. Everyone being Steph's mum, her sister, Lisa, and myself.
"Look, I couldn't be bothered about how you're feeling right now, Mr. Chapman. I'm sorry that this had to happen and believe me, if we all had a choice, none of this would be real.". I must've sounded confident enough because everyone, including Mr. Chapman, calmed down.
"So what do you suggest now?", Lisa asks, still refusing to make eye contact with me ever since I got here.
"Get everyone here. I mean everyone. All of Steph's friends from uni - don't worry, I know them, we're good people. We head to-"
"YOU KNOW THEM?!", screams Mrs. Chapman, "IT WAS ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS, HER FRIENDS, THAT...THAT TOBIAS GUY WHO TOOK HER!".
Mr. Chapman didn't waste any time in grabbing his wife's hand and doing his best to keep her level-headed.
"My mum's got a point. After all, you thought you knew Tobias. Heck, even Steph did. How could you be so sure that he's the only one working with whoever kidnapped her?", adds Lisa.
"You do not involve her friends. Or the police. Please, Christopher.", says Mr. Chapman as he leads his wife upstairs. "We'll figure something out but until then, please don't do anything to involve anyone else.".
"Alright, to a certain extent, your Dad is right but-".
"I'll help you out.", says Lisa. "It's true, Mum and Dad cannot get involved in this, she's my sister, you're her....".
"Friend. Just friends", I added.
"Yeah. Sure.".
"What's that supposed to mean?".
"I'm not stupid Chris, neither are Mum and Dad.".
"OK, can we just move on to other things, like rescuing your sister?".
"Sure. Where do we begin?".
___________________________________________________________________________________
Stephanie's POV
"Eat. You need a proper diet or else there's no point in running tests on you.", mutters Kelly as she takes a seat opposite me in the cafeteria and hands me a plate of mash potatoes, two slices of pizza and an apple.
"But...I'm vegetarian.". She rolls her eyes at me, gets up and returns with a tray full of mash potatoes and two apples.
I've lost count on how long I've been held captive but the only sliver of good news is that I'm gradually being elevated from hostage to guest in this facility. She digs in to her lunch - quietly, and I do the same.
Soon enough, lunch is over and it's back to the lab again. Inside, Tobias is already waiting with a team of scientists and that creepy old guy is back as well. "How are you today, Stephanie?", his voice booms.
"Fine. Thanks.", was all I could manage.
"Good, good. Back to work again. Stephanie, darling, would you mind stepping inside?", he asks as he opens the door to a small chamber. Small enough to prevent me from standing fully erect and big enough for me to just fit in without having to contort myself.
"Why? What's that?". Before anyone could explain, I'm being forced into it by Kelly who whispers 'Just go with it'.
"Wait! Wait! What is this? What's going on?!", I scream as the doors shut. Great. Complete darkness.
A voice crackles inside the chamber, from what I'm presuming is a radio communication system. It's Tobias. "Steph, don't freak. It's just an X-Ray.".
Unsure of whether or not it was a two-way system, I decided to test my theory. "Hello? Can you hear me?!".
"Yes, we can, Steph. No need to shout.", echoes Tobias.
I slump down into a crouching position just in time for a faint yellow-ish glow to emanate from the corners of the chamber and a faint mechanical whirring noise begins to hum.
"Steph, as I said, this is just an X-Ray. We need to examine your skeletal structure and how it manages to do what it does when you shift. If you would, anytime you're ready, change into something of a canine species for us? Preferably something similar in size with your human body?".
"You guys make it sound like it's the most normal thing on Earth. Plus, I don't really have a choice, right?".
"Anytime now, Steph.".
Assholes. Oh well, here goes. Let's see, something canine and roughly my size? Erm...Female gray wolf it is.
I shut my eyes and regulate my breathing, at the same time mentally picturing the wolf in my head. Having taken this shape a couple of times, it wasn't long before the sickening crunching of my bones began to become audible. That should really interest them. Bones lengthening and shortening, tissue sliding and reshaping, fur and tail sprouting, face elongating and warping into a canine muzzle. In about 40 seconds, Stephanie Chapman had dissolved and was replaced by a light grey wolf. And a bunch of discarded clothing.
All was silent after my shift. Probably taking down more notes. Then the door sprang open.
"You can come out now.", Kelly's voice echoed as she poked her head inside the chamber.
Hang on, wouldn't they want me to change back first? And what about my clothes?
I tried to signal to my pile of clothes. Kelly got the message and reached in to grab them, before she tossed them onto a table halfway across the room.
Damn it! That's NOT what I meant Kelly!
I crawled out of the X-Ray chamber and stared at her and my clothes as intently as I possibly could. Obviously nothing was working as everyone was scrambling around the lab and joting down whatever the heck they needed to jot down.
Just then, out of nowhere, one of them forcefully grabbed my head and pinned me to the ground, followed by two others. Instincts kicked in and I began howling and writhing around before a sharp prick hit me in my hind legs and I spun around in time to see one of them collecting what must be a blood sample from me. No use struggling. Blood was drawn, antiseptic applied, small bandaid placed.
Idiots. Don't they know it'll fall off during a morph?
The rest of the day consisted of more or less the same thing. X-Rays, blood samples from a wolf, panther, hawk and a rabbit.
Once they were done, as everyone was packing up, Kelly led me towards a small changing room and tossed my clothes inside. "Alright. You're done for today, change back, put on some clothes and dinner will be ready. I'll be outside. 5 minutes.".
In I went as a rabbit and out I came as a girl.
True enough, dinner was indeed ready as I sat down in front of Kelly again. Mashed potatoes and a salad. "You must be hungry after all that morphing.", Kelly said as she took a sip of her soda.
"A little.".
"Well, then. Eat up.".
"Hey Kelly? Can I ask you something?".
"Yes?".
"I've always wanted to know about your....abilities.".
"What about them?".
"What's it like to turn into...liquid? Is that what you turn into?".
"Organic polymorphic material. Yes.".
"How? Do you..-"
"Sorry, I'm gonna' have to stop you there. It's nothing I have against you. I just don't want to talk about it.".
I nodded and continued on with dinner. With that done and out of the way, it was time for me to head back to my cell for the night.