Her world turned dark, and the voices in the room quieted as the blackness sucked her into its web, cloaking her in the void she feared.
She drifted in and out of consciousness to the sound of a beeping machine. Her eyes slid open into the darkened room. The machine hooked up to her beeped to the rhythm of her weak heartbeat. Bags of blood hung from a pole nearby, the line going into a port in her arm. She felt a prick in her other arm. Her eyes felt groggy again, and she was unable to keep them open. They slid closed.
“Which are you giving her now?” a man growled from nearby.
“The cougar,” a man answered from her other side. His raspy voice seeped down to her bones; wrapping around her and making her feel safe. A feeling she couldn’t understand.
The what? Her mind raced to process the information. Her tongue felt too heavy and thick to ask.
“Where are the other vials?” Asshole One growled again.
“I moved them to a secure location. We don’t want them tainted,” silky-voiced Asshole Two answered.
“Make sure you give her all of them except the bear. Boris plans to bite her himself. He thinks the DNA in his saliva will work faster.”
“That wasn’t the plan,” Asshole Two was quick to say.
“The plan changed. Just do as you’re told or you’ll be joining her,” Asshole One growled.
She heard his retreat and the click of the closing door. Her head lolled to the side because she was unable to hold it straight, and she moaned as the light dimmed, sucking her back into the dark void.
“Shit.” Asshole Two whispered into her ear. “You’re not supposed to be here. Fuck, you aren’t even twenty-four yet.”
She turned toward his voice, unable to open her eyes.
“Just hold on one more day, and I’ll get you out of here.” She felt his palm on her forehead and heard a low whistle like what she’d heard in the parking garage.
Darkness sucked her under, and all talking ceased. She never even saw the face of the man who promised to help her escape.
****
Pain radiated from her neck as a large body pressed down over her chest. Straps tore at her stomach and legs as she fought to get free. Her arms were strapped down by her sides. The only movement she had was in her fingers. She jerked at the confinement, and her eyes slid open. A large man was leaning down over her, his chest heavy on hers, his head buried deep in her neck. She screamed.
“Shut this bitch up,” the man growled around his teeth which were lodged in her neck.
A hand covered her mouth, and she turned her head to see another man in a white lab coat. He stared back at her, pity in his eyes. He shook his head as if trying to still her.
“Don’t move. It will only be worse.”
Her whole body jerked, trying to dislodge the man’s weight and his grip on her neck. She felt the tear of her skin, the ripping of her tendons, and an unbearable pain shot through her whole body as wet liquid ran down her neck. Bright white shot behind her eyes, leaving her gaze clouded and unfocused as tears slipped down her temples.
“Serves her right,” the asshole growled, lifting up off of her. “I’ll punish her for that when she’s done turning. She needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Boris,” she heard Asshole Two yell as he entered the room. “Stop. You weren’t scheduled to bite her until tomorrow. Are you trying to kill her?”
Her body grew weaker by the second. Her limbs went limp. She was dying. She knew it.
“Be mindful, boy,” was Boris’ only answer. “Patch her up. If she dies, so do you.”
Abigail welcomed the darkness this time as the pain engulfed her. She was ready for the numbing bliss. Her heart beat slowed as she waited for her death.
****
Voices faded in and out as feelings in her legs and arms started to return. Her eyelids still felt too heavy to open.
“You’re going to kill her,” a new voice announced as she felt another person at her neck. She felt the pull of the blood leaving her body as she slipped back into the darkness where time stood still.
Abigail pushed her way out of the gray haze toward the sound of the machine matching her heartbeat. Her weak body gained some strength as she fought to open her eyes. A palm rested on her forehead. An older man’s face was her only view.
