Mutations:
~ Chapter Thirty Three ~
My punishment began the next day.
No one told me but I knew as much because when I woke up; everybody was already gone, and only one person was sitting in the lounge.
Veronica sat with her ankles crossed, and a tablet in her manicured fingers. Long red waves swept over her shoulder, and a cold look on her focused features.
She looked like a monstrous queen.
"Good morning, Six." Veronica greeted placing her tablet on the table, "How about we talk?"
A horrible taste filled my mouth, it sounded more like a command rather than a request. And since I didn't have any choice in the matter, I sat down on the couch across from her.
Veronica didn't look like the type of woman who should be a Handler. She looked like a woman who wanted the world to kneel at her feet; Veronica wanted power.
"What do you want?" I asked gingerly, my body tense like a coiled cat. I tried to look more relaxed but something about Veronica rubbed me the wrong way, ever since I first laid eyes on her, "It's not like I can go anywhere. Hayden told me that I would be locked in here."
Veronica neither confirmed nor denied that, instead she smiled icily and laced her fingers together on her lap, "You don't like me very much, do you?" She guessed, not losing her smile but now it seemed understanding, "Of course you don't. You blame me for losing Eric. Yes?"
"Yes." I didn't know that it was true until Veronica asked me. A new-found pit of anger bubbled to life deep inside me, making me grind my teeth together, "You took him from me."
A sympathetic curve of her lips made my jaw twitch, "Loss does that to you, you need someone else to take the blame so that you don't find yourself responsible." Veronica nodded, thoughtfully, and I frowned, "And I am happy to carry the load if it eases your guilt."
"Why should I feel guilty?" I asked too quickly. Her brows quirked and I realized that I had fallen into her trap.
Veronica sighed deeply as she smoothed down her black skirt, "Because it was your own fault you lost him; you became too attached, Six." She had the nerve to say.
Too attached.
Veronica's lips pressing against Two's cheek, her hand sliding along his strong arm, referring to herself as Two's family. These were all the mental images that flashed through my mind as I forced myself not to launch from my seat and rip her perfect hair from her scalp.
Clearly, Veronica had not anticipated on anger being the primary emotion to arise from her words but it was what she got.
"Eric wasn't family; he was my Handler." I bit out, making her brows lower again, "Just like you're not Two's family."
Something flashed across Veronica's face as her eyes widened for a split second, "What makes you say that, Six?" She asked in a seemingly neutral tone but I could hear the demand behind her words.
"I don't know what you're up to," I began before I could stop myself, "But I always win games."
To say that Veronica was shocked would be an understatement; I had never seen her so surprised since I met her.
Those cherry red lips parted in surprise as her perfectly sculpted brows lowered in confusion, but I don't if it was because she didn't understand what I was saying, or if she did. I could hear the steady rhythm of her heart being disrupted by a startled jump, and she inhaled sharply.
"Six," Veronica said in a low voice once she recovered, keeping her gaze on mines, "Be very careful of what you're saying."
Careful. All I ever was is careful.
My entire life I have had no other choice than to be careful because these people, who surround me, could kill me without missing a beat. I had no choice but to act completely human, despite the fact that I wasn't: I was not human.
They wanted to me to show my animalistic side, but not act on it.
An understanding dawned on me; Zero. That's what happened to her, she acted in her true nature, and look at what happened to her. They locked her up.
The only reason that Zero was alive was so that they could run their ridiculous tests.
'Don't submit to her...' I jolted in surprise at Zero's ghostly whisper through my mind, 'Show strength...'
I forced myself to inhale deeply before meeting Veronica's cold jade gaze again, her posture had become defensive, and rightly so.
I felt my own composure become stoic the more I stared at her, "You're a liar and a manipulator." I stated with such confidence that it felt as if I were speaking about my day, "You don't want me, you want what you think I know."
"You're confused, Six." Veronica said with a small smile but I could see that her mind was reeling with surprise, "I don't know what you think you heard, but whatever it is, it's wrong."
If I could then I would have lashed out but I could feel Zero's presence in the back of my mind, doing everything she could to suppress my violent emotions.
Yes, she wanted me to relish in my anger, but I could feel her concern about my well being. Zero didn't want me to end up in the same place as her.
"I know more than you give me credit for." I stated as I rose from my seat, I could already feel my blood boiling from being lied to so shamelessly, "I hate liars. I don't know what you want from us, but I won't let them fall for it the way that they are."
At those words; the charade slipped for a mere moment. Veronica stared at me with a smirk that made me shudder a little but that didn't make her quickly wipe it away, instead she rose to her heeled feet with such grace that it made me take a step back.
"No one trusts you right now, Six. Not your temporary Handler, and not even your fellow Splices." Veronica delivered in a sickeningly sweet tone, like she was speaking to a deluded child, "What makes you think that anyone would listen to those crazy delusions you're having?"
I refused to let the blood shimmering anger that burned inside me unleash but a small sweat was breaking out on my lower back as I tried to keep my emotions in check, "Eric would." I said in a small voice, the only person who would ever believe me. The one who convinced me.
Veronica's smile was little, and sympathetic, "And look how easy it was to get rid of him." She said with a small sigh.
Shock crashed through me at her bluntness but it wasn't a mistake, she meant to say that to me.
Veronica brushed back a loose strand of her devilish red hair and chuckled under her breath, "You think that you have the upper hand because you know a couple of shards of information but you know nothing, Subject Six." She said coolly, making me recoil.
"I know more than you think." I disagreed, clenching my hands by my side, "Call it intuition."
But Veronica was right; I didn't know enough. I knew barely anything in comparison to her, I needed to see Zero more so that she could fill in the blanks for me.
I needed to know more about what was going on and what Veronica was trying to achieve here, what her end game was and why she thought Eric was such an obstacle that she had him taken from me.
"Knowledge makes a human stupid," Veronica warned me on her way out, "Remember that."
I narrowed my eyes at her and cocked my head, "I'm not human, Veronica." I snapped barely able to keep myself from snarling at her, "I am genetically advanced to be better than you in every way physically possible; you remember that."
"What's going on here?"
We were so locked in our discussion that neither Veronica, or I heard the door slide open. I had to admit that I took some pleasure in seeing the surprise on Veronica's face at the sight of Two, Three and Five standing outside the door; watching us through the thick tension that filled the room.
Two was the one who spoke, and he stared directly at me. His body locked in place and a glare on his face that could slice me in half.
Five stood by his side with a frown, probably because the last thing he had heard was what I had said, and not Veronica's barely concealed threat.
"Why don't you ask me when you're done spying." I spat out through a chest heaving growl, and Two's icy blue eyes widened for a fraction of a second, "Until then; consider me out of your pack."
Two watched me wordlessly as I stormed back towards my room, and even Veronica's face was a perfectly painted picture of shock. Her eyes were narrowed in confusion probably wondering how this was happening.
How I knew, what she thought, was such a well kept secret. Three stepped forward with his usual scowl in place.
"What are you talking about, Six?" He demanded looking unsure and glancing in Two's general direction. I turned on my heels with a glower that would melt metal, "Veronica had Two spy on me, and has broken several of the Handler's Guidelines to make him do it!" I snapped glaring at both them.
Five rolled his eyes with a nervous laugh, "Are you just saying this as an excuse for snapping at Two?" He demanded making me flinch on the inside, but I landed my scathing glare on him.
"Thank's for the vote of confidence." I snarled making him still a little and I glared at him fiercely.
I was surprised when Three suddenly spoke, "She's not lying; I would know." He murmured, squinting at me thoughtfully before turning his gaze towards Two.
Two couldn't take that icy gaze off me, any other day, I would have blushed. I couldn't deny that I was attracted to him, but after seeing him the way he was with Veronica; something changed about the way I saw him.
"Right! That's enough!" Veronica snapped in a raised voice, "I think it's time you cool off, Six! I have had more than enough of your accusations; do you understand me?"
My gaze locked onto her with such anger burning in my gaze that it made me scared for what I might do if everyone wasn't in the room. Veronica was the real liar but I could see her trying to turn the tables onto me, let her.
"You'll get what's coming." I said in such a cold voice that even I was surprised, "And we'll be there to watch it happen."
Two broke out of whatever haze he was in and took a defensive step forward, "Is that a threat, Six?" He demanded with a low growl that made me want to walk away with my tail between my legs, "A threat to my Handler, the woman who done nothing but care for me?"
"It was a warning." I corrected, feeling my face burn hot with rage, "And I wasn't speaking to you."
Veronica looked completely calm but I wondered what was happening inside her head, I wondered if Zero could see.
Five held his hands up in mock surrender as he approached, "I think you need to calm down, Six." He frowned like he was genuinely worried for me and I glared at him, "Don't involve us in whatever is going on here, we won't be watching anything."
"What makes you think I was talking about you guys?" I snorted, meeting Veronica's gaze and her brows furrowed a little, "I was referring to me...and someone else. Someone I lost."
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A/N
I'm really sorry guys, I totally forgot to update this week! For some reason, I thought I already had but clearly, I was wrong! Just wanted to shout out that Mutations now ranks #14 in the Top 1000 Best Scifi Stories, which is incredible!
Thank you to each and every one of you who have stuck by me this far into the story, you are such amazingly dedicated readers and it means so much to me to have all your support and lovely comments!
You all are the reasons why the Splice's story continues!
- EmbracingYou