A large boot rolled me onto my back, and I cackled like a madman. Maybe I was. Maybe I'd finally cracked.
“You will shift. One way or another.”
Everything went black.
* * *
Whimpering.The sounds of someone pounding against a door. Screaming. Begging.
“Get up, Sloane…” Red's voice pierced the hazy state of my brain and I looked around. It was dark, wherever I was. After I bit someone yesterday, I was put in a solitary confinement cell. At least, I think it was yesterday. Without having daylight, it was a little difficult to keep track of what time of day it was. Maybe it'd been longer than a day. Or shorter. No, it had definitely been longer.
“Sloaney Baloney,” Kai whispered in my ear, but when my eyes flew open, as far as they could, nobody was there.
“K... where are you?” I rasped. My throat was so dry.
“They're hurting us,” he replied, a high-pitched whine filling the air.
“No,” I gasped, trying to get up.
“Help us, Sloane,” Red cried.
“Ahhhh!” I screamed in frustration. My body wasn't cooperating. My skin was prickling and my heartbeat thundered in my ears.
“No, no, don't touch me!” Red wailed. The panic in her voice broke me. They were going to hurt her again. A roar came from somewhere deep inside of me and my dragon burst from within, ready to kill the first being I encountered.
I could see better in the dark in this form. The room I was in was barely large enough to fit my huge body, though one whole wall was almost taken up by a massive door. A single mattress was on the floor, plus there was a bucket in the corner. That was the extent of it. Movement by the door caught my attention, and I saw two figures standing there, taking notes.
“Seems fueled by adrenaline,” one of them murmured to the other.
With a huff, I exhaled a huge stream of fire right at them. When the smoke dissipated, the door was still standing, with no hint of damage. Instead of the observers behind the door, I was just met with the smirking face of my father.
* * *
Time no longer existed.
I'd been in my dragon form for longer than ever before now, and attempting to shift back was painful. A scuffle of feet near the door drew my focus.
“Dragon. We're moving you to the lab. If you try anything, we'll fuck up your woman again. Maybe your boy toy too,” a man hollered through the door.
My tail thumped against the floor as I felt the anger and helplessness rising within me. Hours upon hours they’d made me watch while they did unspeakable things. Horrible things. And there was nothing I could do to make them stop. My brothers, my woman, all begging me to help them, to make the pain stop...
Failure. Failure. Failure. That's all I was.
If giving into what they asked would spare my family, I'd do it. The lock on the huge door clanged open and two men with shock poles stood there, dressed head to toe in flame-resistant suits.
“Move.”
Exiting the room, I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light difference. I lumbered down a long hallway, following them. I was massive in my dragon form, but this area was fully able to accommodate a beast of my size, which made me wonder if there were others here like me.
The heartbeats of the men before me pounded as we got closer to our destination. Every so often, they'd peek back at me. I'd want to shit myself too if a dragon was stalking me. It would be so easy to bite them in fucking half... But then who knew what the other sadistic fucks would do in retaliation to the people I loved.
We entered the same lab I’d been brought to after I first woke up here. A quick scan didn't show anyone I cared about, and I relaxed a fraction. Smart on their part not to taunt me before I was in that fucking cage.
A small gasp came from the other side of the room and I searched for the owner of such a tiny sound. My eyes landed on Annie. Gods, how had I forgotten about her?Maybe because you've been tortured for the past however many days?
She was sitting in front of a large easel, a paintbrush in her little hand. Her eyes were comically large as the men guided me into the transparent enclosure.
“Keep painting, girl,” someone barked, and Annie swiveled on her stool and focused back on her art. A woman placed a large pair of headphones over her ears. Why was the girl in here? This was no place for a child.
