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[skinklegs]

"Let me go!" she cried, thrashing in vain against her restraints. Though her aching wrists throbbed and reddened with each unsuccessful tug she could swear she felt the ties giving way, and the poor stubborn girl refused to yield her efforts.

The pair of men leading her down the clean white halls seemed to pay no mind to her struggling, and were entirely deaf to her pleas to be let free. Despite all her efforts, the small, thin twelve-year-old was certainly no match for the strength of a full-grown man, never mind two. Eventually, her screams turned to sobs as they always did, and her face twisted as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Each day she spent in this place, feeling nothing but agony and helplessness, was slowly suffocating her spirit, killing her from the inside out. And she could feel it.

With one last futile pull on the ties bonding her wrists, she let her knees give out, and went limp in the doctors' grasp. Her bare, bruised feet dragged on the floor as they pulled her along, seemingly indifferent to her pain. She stayed as she was for the remainder of the walk, until she was suddenly jerked up and thrown onto the ground as if she were nothing more than a lifeless sack. Her eyes were shut tight. The metallic click of the door being sealed rung in her sensitive ears. The day was done, and she was alone there. At least, until tomorrow.

She grit her teeth and emitted a low, pathetic whine. Her body twitched and curled into a ball, wrists still bonded uncomfortably behind her back. It was dark, and cold, and she was entirely alone. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if she could do anything other than replay the memories of whatever horrors she had endured throughout the day, over and over in her mind. She could hear herself scream, and see the bright, blinding lights, though her cell was near pitch black.

Tired and drained of life, she rolled herself ever so slightly onto her side, and let her gaze drift slowly upward to the small, barred window filtering soft moonlight into her confines. Perhaps the only thing that kept her going now was the knowledge that somewhere, there was still an outside, and some possibility of escaping whatever hell this was.

[vulturous]

Meanwhile, across the declamatory ward for "a unique bunch of creatures", the troubled wolf-doe paced back and forth in her 6' by 6' cage. 'The metal bars are always cold.' She noted, shaking her head warily, being sure not to get her antlers caught in the bars above her like she had many times before. Even though they weren't yet too large for the cage, they continued to grow. Another year or so and she may be in a predicament with the cage she knew she wouldn't be moved from. After all, illegal funding only goes so far. Testing was more important than what came after, unless it prevented further testing.

Which, of course, too small of cages didn't. Her injuries caused by such might, but that was a possibility, not a definite outcome. Until it actually happened, the Overseer wouldn't care. The white-coated men didn't treat them all too well anyways; most ended up with more injuries by being taken back and forth from the testing labs to their wards. Mainly because many fought their restraints. Others had given up entirely, accepting of their fate. The ones that didn't fight were usually near death, sick, or truly that coward. Tayla was neither. She fought when she felt the need to, otherwise, she stayed low. It seemed to work, because she left with little bruises.

Hearing a girl's voice and the sound of a cell door swiftly closing, Tayla glanced up quickly. The Caretakers were soundlessly locking the cell and leaving as quickly as they had come. This was normal. The girl fought often, but she seemed different. Perhaps she was the same as always, though -- Tayla hardly looked towards the others unless she knew they weren't aware. The girl, however, was hardly seen outside of transportation to and from her cell. They kept her in a special place. Tayla decided she was the same after all.

"Well..." Tayla whispered to herself. Her medication had worn off, meaning more testing would come sometime soon. Not necessarily that day, but soon. Not that she had a sense of time anyways. There were no calendars, no clocks. Nothing of that sort here. The best means of knowing the date were by getting a look at the papers attached to the stand in front of each cage. The papers were kept up-to-date on the best test subjects since they were used often. The papers generally included the name, age, species, breed, physical description, general personality, genetic changes, and progress of the subject. Some didn't include the first two. Being nameless sort of showed the amount of worth an animal had.

Keeping her eyes on the cell almost directly across the room, Tayla squinted. There was a small window type opening in the girl's cell, but she may not of been tall enough to see out of it. Tayla looked around once more, yawned, and laid on her stomach. She made tapping noises with her nails on the metal below and hoped for some of the others to be awake. It was very tiring to do nothing; but the animals generally had little time awake between medication. This time was a blessing.

[skinklegs]

A thick, suffocating silence hung in the air around her as she fought hopelessly against sleep. She was utterly exhausted from the constant struggle against the chains and thick bands that bonded her limbs, and from the experiments themselves that seemed to go on endlessly each day. Though as much as she would have liked to close her eyes, she couldn't bring herself to fall into unconsciousness. Each night was invariably the same: Her eyes fell shut and she gradually fell into a deep, sound sleep, only awakening when she felt herself being pulled forcefully off the floor of her cell. They would take her, and the cycle would begin anew.

Her efforts were inevitably in vain, however, and each night she would eventually be consumed by exhaustion. This night was no different, for the most part. Her eyes shut tight and she fell asleep curled in a ball in the middle of her cold, dark cell. The only difference was what happened afterward. Typically, she would sleep through the night until those men came to bring her in for more tests. Though on this night her sound sleep was suddenly and sharply interrupted as strange, twisted images began to form in her subconscious. She was no stranger to nightmares, although, to her surprise, she hadn't experienced a proper nightmare in some time. It wouldn't have fazed her, but the visions rapidly changing and mutating in her mind's eye were unlike anything she had ever experienced. Strange, cryptic and disturbing at the least, and her calm, blank expression tightened in response.

The images were one thing, swirls and blotches and vaguely human-like faces painted and pulsing in black and red beneath her eyelids. There were soft, muffled noises, drowned and faint as if they were coming from underwater, and a high-pitched whine accompanying them. She could just barely make out whispers of familiar words, lost in a sea of unintelligible mumbles and pained groans. All of that would have been quite enough by itself, but there was... something else. Something she couldn't entirely place, but she could feel it. A sharp feeling of pain snaked through her skull, as if there were something quite literally in her mind, and it felt real.

In an instant, reality and consciousness flooded back to her. She awoke with a deep pulse of adrenaline, and her first reaction was to scream. A shrill, panicked cry escaped her as she attempted unsuccessfully to bring her still bonded hands up to her head. The feeling of fingers in her mind slowly receded, but she wasn't about to forget it. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Eyes wide with fear, she lay awake on the cold floor, chest heaving each time she gasped for breath. She could feel her heart pounding inside her. There would be no sleep tonight.


(there is an explanation for what just happened, but it will come in at a later date. C:)

[vulturous]

Tayla was jolted awake by a very high-pitched scream that made her ears perk quickly. Lifting her head suddenly, she realized she must of fallen asleep for a short while. "The scientists never came..." She murmured, surprised. There were few days like this. Regardless of her own circumstances, Tayla was more concerned about the scream that had awoken her.

Without even questioning her judgement, Tayla knew it was one of the human-creatures. No animal that she knew of could make that sound. She began to stretch, putting her front paws far out and arching her back like a cat. Her back cracked once, and she gave a sigh of satisfaction. Shaking her coat, she stepped forward.

For some reason, the situation lead the wolf-doe's mind to a memory from her late childhood... at first, the scene brought to her mind was blurred, but she knew immediately what it was: her first test. She remembered how her eyelids slowly lifted to reveal four scientists around her. She felt the cool, sterilized metal on her back and restraints on her limbs and neck. 'What's going on! Where am I!' She thought. She was just a puppy... Panic began to erupt and she thrashed as best she could, but before she knew it, she was being tranquilized. She had bruises the next day. She whimpered and cried more that day than any other day in this place.

The memory faded. It left her wondering what pained the girl: it wasn't her first test; she'd been through many. By now, the sleep had completely vanished from her body.

Tayla's curiosity egged her to stick her noise up into the air and let out a small whine. Maybe the human-girl would answer...

{ i apologize for it being short. i expect better from myself tomorrow. }

[skinklegs]

Her heart was still pounding, breath coming quickly as she tried to reassure herself that it was nothing more than a dream. Though for all her inward whispers that all was well, she couldn't shake the sharp feeling of dread nagging at the back of her mind. That wasn't an ordinary nightmare, certainly. It was unlike any she'd ever experienced, anyway. Maybe the torture was starting to affect her in new ways, or maybe this was just part of what they called the "transformation." She was still unsure what they meant by such a thing, and it frightened her now more than ever.

Come to think of it, the scream she had let out on impulse just a few moments earlier was quite loud. Part of her doubted they would think anything of it. After all, pained cries couldn't have been uncommon in such a place. Still, what if they came to check on her? If they asked her about what happened? What was she supposed to say? Her eyes widened again and she stared blankly into the shadows of her cell. Holding her breath, she listened intently for the familiar sound of footsteps in the halls. A few long seconds passed in silence. To her relief, all seemed peaceful for the time being.

Just as she was about to relax, however, a soft noise nearby caught her attention. The whine of some animal, perhaps? That's certainly what it sounded like.

"Shh," she hissed through her teeth. "Quiet, someone'll hear."

How stupid she sounded, trying to reason with an animal. It probably wouldn't be able to understand her, anyway. For all she knew, speaking to it could serve to provoke it further. Though, it was impossible to tell with these very... interesting lab rats.

[vulturous]

After letting out her nearly inaudible whine, Tayla waited a few moments. The reply she got back wasn't what she had expected. She could understand the girl; since most animals here could speak and understand the most common languages. That was one of the first things the scientists made sure to include. If the animals were to obey and show that they could become something of a higher level, they needed to be able to communicate.

Tayla, however, was mostly quiet; a simple nod was all the people needed. Her throat was still a baby in the simplest of terms. Speaking back to the girl might be a little awkward: she might be too loud, or too low. She might say the wrong thing. After all, she didn't know this girl well enough to gauge a possible reaction.

The Caretakers hearing them was the last of her worries. She knew from being up late on some nights that the Caretakers either went home or to the lounges she had heard of. Neither of those places were within hearing distance. The biggest concern revolving around the humans might be the guards and the select few that stayed around to abuse the animals.

Taking all of this information into account, Tayla pondered for a moment or so. The most the girl could do within her cell was hurt herself or bring the Caretakers in if she really tried; otherwise, she'd merely wake a few others in the room. They wouldn't tell the Caretakers of the girls' possible conversation, though, since they all despised the place just as much, and if they didn't, they wouldn't be in the room anyways. They'd be in a special place unless they were assigned here for the sole purpose of detecting anything unusual.

Tayla cocked her head to one side and tried to speak. Her own voice still surprised her, but it was too quiet. She spoke a little louder. "You've got nothing to worry about. They won't come. They don't care enough to." Her voice was soft and feminine, with a hint of an accent. She probably picked it up from her own Caretaker. "Are you alright?"

[skinklegs]

(sorry for the late reply. things are getting in the way lately.)


A quizzical expression promptly forced its way into her features, and she stared curiously at the door sealing her inside her small, dark cell. Whatever she was expecting when she addressed the animal outside the door, it wasn't to receive an intelligent response. Not that it surprised her, exactly; not for more than a moment. Nothing was impossible in this place, so she'd learned. Besides that, she wasn't even sure the voice had come from the animal she'd previously scolded.

No, the voice itself didn't surprise her so much as what it said. "Alright," was it? What a ridiculous question.

"I haven't been alright in a damn long time," she breathed, her voice barely reaching above a quiet rasp. Her body twisted and pressed against her restraints once again, teeth gritting momentarily in frustration before continuing, a bit louder this time. "But I've been worse, I guess..."

It wasn't a complete lie, though she was still a bit shaken. She wouldn't admit to it, but having someone to speak to was a great comfort, even if she had no idea who this person - or creature - was. They seemed friendly enough, by the sound of it. Or maybe the exhaustion was starting to get to her.