Mutations:
~ Chapter Thirty ~
So, perhaps so publicly pitting myself against my own kind wasn't my brightest idea, but I still stood for what I believed in.
Everyone now treated me like a ticking time bomb, fated to repeat my past behaviors. All that mattered to me, was that I knew that I wasn't the same person anymore.
And no matter what they whispered behind their fingers, I knew that they were watching the wrong Splice.
I distanced myself from Two, he hadn't tried to approach me since our fight. I couldn't help but lose sleep over it, wondering what horrible tales Veronica was whispering in his ear.
Speaking of the spawn; I hated her with every fiber of my being. I knew that she was behind it all, this was all her fault. Whatever she was planning, I was determined to throw a spanner in the works.
"So, are we going to discuss what happened yesterday, or continue this blissful silence?" Hayden asked in a condescending tone that made my teeth grit. I dragged my gaze away from the door and met her gaze evenly, "Some of the faculty are nervous they might have to put you down again."
My body bristled as my head snapped up her last softly spoken words, "They don't have to do that." I quickly assured her with a pleading gaze, please let her believe that I wasn't that same person. Hayden knew the reason of my attack, "I just didn't like how he tried to...establish dominance over me."
And that he was a lying user, being manipulated by that awful woman.
"I know that, but that show of defiance might not have been your best idea." Hayden shifted closer to me, her expression was stoic as she glanced towards the door and spoke under her breath, only so that I could hear, "These people intend on grooming Two to be the alpha of your pack, to be your leader. Your reluctance to accept him as that...may cause some controversy. You need to play nice."
My mouth went dry at the thought of isolation again. The last time, I was sent there for a whole week and I wasn't allowed to leave that room at all- except to shower. I even had my meals in there, and a small toilet beside a sink.
There was nothing I would love more, than to avoid that ever happening again.
"I can't trust him." I blurted without meaning to and my eyes skipped to the clock, "Eric said that I shouldn't trust Veronica, and he was right. She's up to something, I know she is."
Hayden was looking at me like I was speaking another language. I wondered if Eric had ever said the same to her, either way, it didn't matter now.
A knock on the door caught our attention as it slipped open, and if looks could kill then the man Hayden stared at should be ten feet under, because she was not impressed that we were interrupted.
"Sorry to intrude, Hayden." The man muttered giving me a nervous side glance, "But an emergency meeting has been issued, and your attendance is permitted."
He excused himself shortly after that and Hayden cast me a sidelong glance, "There goes my evening plans." She muttered rising from the couch bitterly and planting a hand on her hip, "This meeting will no doubt be about the action we take from here on forward now that you've shown dominant traits. I heard that all the big guys are circling up for this; for you."
"I'm sorry." I mumbled but felt something trickle through as an idea suddenly blossomed in my head, "Do you...would you mind if I stayed in here for a while? It's nice to be away from everyone."
Hayden gave the box shaped office a look of disagreement but nodded her head anyway, "Sure. I keep food in the second drawer." She sighed not looking up to fighting on the subject with me, "The farther away from trouble you are, the better."
I watched as she stepped out of and waited before I moved. I could see the vent, and although it was high up, I knew that I could reach it somehow. Determination buried itself deep into my bones as I ran towards the desk.
I don't even think I made a noise when one foot pressed against the black marble surface that I used to launch myself so unbelievably effortlessly towards the vent. All those years of training came in useful now, I was good at stealth, and my height helped.
A grunt so loud that it made me still left me when I crashed against the smooth wall, one knee crashed hard against the bookshelf that was an inch or two away from the vent.
It wobbled beneath my sudden weight and my eyes widened like saucers as I gasped in fear as my body went still as a statue, the last thing I needed was to draw even more attention to myself by dragging down half of Hayden's brand new office with me.
A whimper escaped me as my body trembled with the effort it took me to uphold myself, until I found a whisper of strength that allowed me to slide myself further onto of the bookcase that was worryingly unsteady.
I stared at the vent, narrowing my eyes at the protruding four screws that held it into the wall. I wasn't stupid. I reached forward and dug my fingers against the cool metal to rip it out and yelped when it almost toppled from my grasp to the floor.
I almost dropped myself when all four of the damned nails rattled to the floor! Why hadn't I thought of them before I decided my enhanced strength would be a good idea to use!?
"Six..."
The voice stilled me as I inhaled a faint whisper of a scent, I knew it would find me. Gripping the edges of the vents frame, I gritted my teeth in pain as I stretched my body towards it, poking my head through the cool frame, and awkwardly arching myself so that I could lean on my torso to push myself in.
But with my elbows inside the frame I was given leverage and bounced a little as I kicked myself off of the bookshelf, trying to ignore that loud rattling noise it made.
"Follow me..." The voice continued you, the voice pulling me forward with its need, "Follow me..."
My body trembled as I dragged myself into the icy cold vent, heaving my body across the sharp as knives frame that threatened to cut into my skin as I wasted so much as a second leaning on them.
The sharp bite made me want to cry out and my eyes moistened as I twisted onto my back and pulled in my feet, releasing the longest breath I had ever held with a pained groan as my body slumped in exhaustion.
Sweat glued my shirt to my back as I stared at the silver ceiling for a moment, catching my breath. I was lucky to have just enough space to twist around, and slam the vent door back in place.
I had to lie back before I fell back down. Trailing my fingers along my waist, I whimpered when I saw the blood drip from my fingertips, and quickly pulled my top up just in time to see the flesh stitch itself back together leaving nothing but a dark red line of where the cut was.
"Move, Six!" The voices' cry made its way through the vent, "I'm losing...strength..."
My nose twitched at the scent that I managed to pick up again, I rolled onto my stomach and began to crawl forward. My breathing was labored as I fought to keep track of the scent, tracking a beetle in the forest would be easier.
I felt like I had been crawling on my stomach for hours. I strained my every sense to pick it up again...the voice was seemed to be growing quieter in my head, like an echo of a faint echo.
I could feel the fatigue threatening to steal the last of my energy and a dull throb ricocheted through me. I don't think I even noticed how cold it had gotten but I guess that should have been what I expected; I mean I was crawling through the ventilation system. Although it was like an endless maze of steel that I was unable to sort my way through without the voice.
"Quiet..." My entire body stilled at the voice, it had vanished for a while and I had no choice but to find my own way through the endless labyrinth of vent circuits, "Quiet..."
I wanted to throttle something as I stilled in fear that someone might have heard my steady flow of rumbling. Soon, the silence grew so loud that all I could hear was my own heartbeat, and I heard something else. The low murmur of voices.
"It's is imperious that we control the situation now. The last thing we need is another rebelling Splice. We barely had time containing the first one, and now we have a second? I wonder if Ripper wanted his females to be so...so savage." No other than Cecilia Norm criticized, and I recognized her from my last home, "Six needs to be put in place, and I have the solution."
Females?
My breathing quickened as something cold slithered through me; she used a syllable, which means more than one. Could she be talking about the failed one? I strained myself to move forward to continue eavesdropping, feeling completely astonished and shameless as I done so.
"We can't do what I know you're suggesting, Cece." Ander laughed in surprise, like it was something he couldn't even believe was suggested, "Her human counterpart would never survive."
Cecilia looked totally unconvinced through the small slips of the vent door, "Seems like she's more animal than she is human anyway." Her bird like fingers were laced through together and her chin was held up, "And it might recover whatever suppressed memories she has in that little head, don't tell me that none of you don't want that. She might be the key to finding Ripper."
The oval table was occupied by faces I didn't even recognize, alongside those I did. Like the doctor who tried to drain me dry of my own blood, the Handlers, and even some old faces that I thought I had left behind but there they all were, sitting at that table.
"Six has mental functions that preform higher than any of the males; it is possible that those memories are buried by her natural instinct to protect her maker." Doctor Devani, one of the professors who performed the tests on me spoke, "Much more advanced than my team and I had ever hoped of. Which is also why she poses as a larger threat; her protective and primal instincts are sublime. Those memories will never be willingly given, even her human side cannot touch them."
Hayden didn't say a word. I could see her sitting at the end of the table, her eyes focused as she tried to think of something to say but nothing was coming out of her.
Veronica cleared her throat in a delicate matter, "Once she submits to Two, he can get her to talk." She stated confidently with a light in her eyes, "It will be in Six's nature to follow the command given to her by her alpha."
"In case you haven't noticed," Another woman drawled with great satisfaction, "Six is refusing to submit to your little wolf, Veronica. I would say that he has already failed, and that it is time that Six be extracted from the program and taken into the Silo for rehabilitation."
My stomach lurched at the way Hayden stilled and her head snapped up, "Absolutely not!" She called out in such an authoritative tone that it gained more than a few glances, "I highly doubt that things have reached to that extent!"
"Well, have you made any progress with Subject Six?" Cecilia suddenly demanded leaning forward to look over at Hayden, "All the other Splices are falling into formation perfectly, they are bonding with their Handlers and yet you have made zero progress; has she told you anything that may be of concern, does she know anything?"
No.
My insides twisted, I had only just told her my biggest worry: that Veronica was up to something, and the woman herself was in the room.
My jaw clenched shut painfully tight and it made my back teeth sting at how hard they were clamped together. I saw Hayden hesitate before sighing, and my eyes clamped shut in anticipation.
"No." Hayden gritted out, appearing seemingly not bothered by it, "She is still nervous around me."
She didn't tell. My eyes lingered on Hayden in a mixture of surprise, and shock before the scent caught my attention, pulling my attention away as I continued to crawl on my stomach in silence.
Doing nothing but focusing on what stole my attention; my hunger to find the scent only intensified the stronger it got. And the stronger it got, the colder the air became.
My senses numbed until I could focus on was the scent. Everything blurred into nothing, I don't even know how long I spent searching until I found something.
I dropped into a ventilation system that was so frosty that I shivered with every inch I moved and then somewhere deeper, where the very air was tinged with something awful and acidic.
And that was there I found it.
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A/N
Another update because I am feeling inspired and might be hitting my stride again. Things are about to get interesting too, if you want to find out what Six does...then I suggest you stick along for the ride!
What? Or, should I say who? Or Where?
Secrets are a girl's best friend!
- EmbracingYou