Mutations:
~ Chapter Thirty One ~
The air down here was cold to the bone; like even warmth itself wanted to be rid of it.
Something unnerved me to my very soul, and I couldn't help but want to turn and leave at once but it was down here, whatever it was. The small hairs on the nape of my neck rose as I forced myself to move forward.
There was nothing but dark brick walls with bare bulbs against the ceilings, and a long corridor that stretched out ahead of me. It looked barren of any life, even my footsteps echoed as I took them.
Something bitter flooded through the air, and I noticed that here, the scent was thicker than ever. It smelled like a dying person; not in the death sense, but like someone who had given up to a greater force but intent on taking what it was owed.
It smelled pained, and brimming with the need of...justice? I couldn't tell. This scent was more complex than any other I had encountered.
"In here..." The voice spoke clearly in my mind now. Clear and cool...and soft, "I can feel you, sister."
By now I was trembling as I passed through an open doorway in shock, my eyes instantly finding the clear glass wall. Inside was the same grey brick walls but they were covered in... tally marks from white chalk and drawings.
My eyes skipped across the threadbare bed with the made covers, and the bookshelf that had been gathering dust over years, and the set of drawers.
And then there she was.
"I knew it would be you who would find me." She was sitting cross legged on the floor, staring at me intently. Her gaze reminded me of that of an owl; in a curious but all-knowing manner. It was kind of unnerving, "Those morons couldn't even hear me in their sleep, when they're most vulnerable."
Her hair was platinum blonde, almost white, and fell down her front like a smooth silk curtain that shaped her sweetheart shaped face. Her skin olive toned, and her eyes dark with mockery, and something that made my guard rise as I stepped out until I was stood in front of her cage.
"Who are you?" I demanded staring at what she lived in, I wondered if she grew up in there. Her smile pulled back into an almost sad smile.
"You didn't guess by now?" She asked in genuine surprise, I didn't know how to tell if it was exhaustion in her voice, or relief that I had found her.
The girl rose so quickly that I jerked in surprise as she pressed her hands against the glass, and slid down until she was sitting on her knees. Staring at me with a grin so wide that it looked like it hurt.
It didn't feel like it was me she was looking at, but rather something marvellous and angelic. But it was just me, and her eyes were lit up like I was something magnificent.
"I'm your sister, Six!" The girl laughed in disbelief ,and smiled again, "I'm Subject Zero."
I was so shocked by the girl's delusions that I didn't even know what to say, except; "That's not possible, Subject Zero was terminated." I stated without a doubt but the girl shook her head adamantly, "Subject Zero and Subject One are both dead; Zero...I heard a rumor."
"That's what they wanted you to believe!" The girl cried out, grabbing her mass amount of lock's, and turning her back to me, "Look; my coding! I am Subject Zero, and you are my sister, you are mine!"
Her hand slapped hard against the window with a growl, and I felt my pulse spike, "What happened to Subject One?" I knew what happened, but I wanted to hear Zero say it. Her wrist held the same identification marking as my own did.
"Subject One was weak." Zero shook her head, like the life she took barely even mattered, "And I was a pup, it was respectful that I ate her instead of letting her grow into a liability for the pack to have to acknowledge; for us to acknowledge."
My head was spinning, and I was afraid that I would faint, "You ate her?" I whispered unsure, and uncaring of whether she heard me. How could she be so cruel that she murdered one of our own?
"We were fighting. We were only pups, in the same pen." Zero went on to explain, desperate to try and make me understand, "I went for her throat- I needed to establish my dominance. How was I meant to know that she'd be so pathetic?"
I could see that Zero was getting beyond frustrated, her jaw was clenched as she stared at me like she wanted to punch me into understanding. But we had established what happened to our last Splice...now I had more questions to ask.
"You were raised in there?" I asked quietly stepping closer to the glass, even though I knew that it might not be the best idea.
Zero's smirk was mirthless as she rose to her feet; dressed in nothing but an oversized tank top and a pair of small athletic shorts, "Your Handler let that happen to you?"
Trying to wrap my head around everything I was seeing made a throbbing pain pulse behind my eyes: I didn't know whether to run, or stay.
Zero looked indifferent about her isolation, and stepped closer to the window, even though she was pretty much pressed against it and swept out her arms dramatically.
"My humble abode, ever since I offed One," Zero muttered, emotionless and devoid of any care about it, "I didn't get a Handler; I was forgotten, and brushed aside with no one but the doctors to perform all their experiments on me. I'm surprised they didn't do the same to you, Six."
My brows lowered in confusion, the more I looked at Zero, the more I believed that I knew her from somewhere. I could have sworn that this wasn't my first time meeting her but this was the first female that I had ever encountered of my kind; I couldn't help but he astonished by her mere existence.
I was...I was grateful, I think.
"Why would they do this to me?" I asked quietly, "Because of that time I attacked someone?"
Zero shook her head at me with a sigh, "You don't remember but I imprinted on you when we were young. I took you on as mine to raise, and protect when Ripper ran with us, he knew that we were special compared to the rest." She spoke of him like he was her idol, "You learned your aggression off me; you needed it to survive. But that human tainted you...Eric."
Zero spat out his name in a venomous tone, and glared at the very mention of him and I gasped a little, "Eric took care of me." I frowned not liking the way she spoke about him, and she snorted bitterly, "He stole you from me, I was supposed to look after you!" Zero growled threateningly.
"How do you know so much?" I demanded, Zero was like the endless waterfall of information, and I was thirsty to know more.
"No one was ever supposed to find me." Zero shrugged with a roll of her eyes, "But I knew that our bond was strong, I knew that you would find me when you finally got here."
My brows knitted together, "You were raised in isolation?" I asked in a quiet voice, what made them believe that was a good idea? Don't they know that wolves needed socialization? It made me worry for Zero, what had all this time in that box do her? "Without even a Handler..."
"I have company." Zero smirked darkly as her eyes flickered behind me, "All the other failed experiments are here too. All the creatures that came from the scientists trying to replicate Ripper's formula, trying to replicate us."
I swallowed to wet my dry throat but it done very little, I hadn't even noticed the rows of steel doors that were clamped shut behind numerous locks. The small windows were even laden with bars, and there was an awful metallic tang that came from them.
My feet moved despite myself, I should have known better than to look but I did it anyway. A hiss came from the first window, and my eyes widened when I saw something in the darkness dart up the side of the wall, a flicker of curled horns catching the dim lighting before it disappeared again.
Zero watched me investigate in mild amusement as she walked the length of her cage.
"Only the monsters are kept down here. You won't find anything that vaguely resembles humanity. The government wants to keep us as their dirty little secret, and it's not like we can say no." Zero drawled trailing her fingers along the glass with a sigh, "They tried to teach us how to be more humane but it didn't work, we inhibited our animalistic side because it keeps us alive."
Zero looked like she was a child who desperately wanted to impress me. Her gaze never wavered for a second as she watched me move from cell to cell.
I tried to distinguish what was inside of them, but it was too dark to see what was there. I don't think I wanted to know anyway. There was an awful putrid smell that reeked from one of them, and I have no intentions of discovering what it was.
Some smelled like rotting fruits that were left out in a summer's glare, whereas others smelled like overflowing trash cans. None of them had a nice scent to them at all, they shared one similar trait; they all smelled decayed.
"How did you manage to communicate with me?" I asked pointing a finger against my head, "I could hear you inside my thoughts, inside my head..."
Knowing that I wasn't going crazy, like I may or may not have feared, made my shoulders relax. I couldn't help but inhale deeply at the knowledge that I was going to be okay after all.
"That's what I do." Zero shrugged helplessly, like she couldn't be bothered explaining it, but expected me to know what she meant, "I know where Splices are; always. I can track you down even if I'm deaf, blind, and dumb. No matter what, I will always find you. Even from here."
"Like through smell?" I asked wondering if it was something we had in common. I didn't feel as let down as I thought I would when Zero shook her head, "By intuition. There's a reason I'm in here...I am more animal than the rest of you, it makes me a higher threat. Plus, I have other abilities that weren't accounted for." Her smile was wicked but she didn't elaborate.
Something about the sharp curve of her lips, and the mischievous darkness in her eyes made me nervous. I wanted to know what she was, I wanted to know how her voice made it through my thoughts like no one else could. When Zero was inside my head it felt like she was with me but it didn't feel that way with the guys.
"You need to leave now." Zero stated looking crestfallen but quickly hiding it, "They're coming here. Mandatory check-up, and they know that you're missing but don't worry. I will guide you back to where you need to go."
She stepped back from the glass, and I marveled at how pretty she was. I wished that I shared the same long legs that Zero had been blessed with, in comparison to her, I felt small and useless.
Zero had an unspecified knowledge buried deep in her cool gaze that reminded me of something deadly but she never showed any aggression against me.
"Don't tell the others about me, Six." Zero surprised me by saying, "All I need is you: us."
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