The cage rattled. Alexa just sat still. A small space opened up and food was pushed through. It had steam coming off of it but looked dry and tasteless. Alexa, nonetheless, moved towards it. She could see through the window that they were experimenting on yet another kid.
On today’s lunch menu was dried ham, a rock-hard biscuit, and old milk. Alexa held the bread out to a faint cage on the left. A boy appeared and took the bread. She saw his wings lift a little . He opened his mouth and blew out some fire on the biscuit. He handed it back to her. Alexa thanked him when her fingers touched his.
See, like all the kids there, Alexa’s DNA was infused with feline DNA. The boy next to her had dragon DNA. The scientists also played around with certain superpowers. Dragon-boy had fire-power. Alexa could, with one touch, know everything about you or talk to you in your mind.
You could say I know Alexa really well. The truth is, I am Alexa.
} (-*-) {
The scientists came in while I was finishing my bread. They had the kid they were experimenting on dragged in by one of the wolf-men. He was thrown into the cage across from mine. The boy was obviously unconscious.
The scientists turned to me. My eyes widened and I shrank back. They opened the door and the wolf-man grabbed my foot and pulled me out. I decided to go with the flow. Last time I tried to fight back and I was stuck in solitary confinement for two weeks. I knew I was in trouble. Phoenix-girl behind me had telepathic abilities and had told me that they were going to test on me.
Dragon-boy stared after me forlornly. The wolf-man held my arm as he walked me to lab 13, the Feline lab.
“Hello, Alexa,” one of the scientists said. I didn’t look up. The nightgown I was wearing blew in the breeze of the fan.
“We know you would rather be at home but think of if this way: you are helping the human race!” I lifted my head to look her in the eye, but she had turned away. Instead, I glared at myself in the mirror. I looked like a girl angry at her parents for waking her up early. My so-brown-it’s-black hair was ruffled and my silver eyes stood out of my cocoa colored skin.
The wolf-man pushed me towards the room. The room was a place they tested your powers in. I didn’t like the room. The door closed and locked behind me. A wolf-man was inserted on the other side. The room was white with one one-way mirror.
“Okay, sweetie, show us how far you’ve come.”
I closed my eyes and breathed out. I opened them and reached towards the wolf-man. He looked at the window uncertainly and reached out to meet my fingers. As soon as I touched the tip of his middle finger, I know everything. His name, or shall I say number, was 7863. He was 27 years old and had never been out of the facility. He liked to torture us kids and his favorite color was scarlet. The color of blood.
I released his hand and backed away.
“Now, Alexa, what did you see?” I shook my head. I would not say those words out loud.
They threw me back in my cage. Dragon-boy gave me a curious look. I reached my hand out. He touched it. What did they do? he was wondering. Just checking my power. What’d you see? I pulled my hand back. We weren’t allowed to talk here, not out loud, but we could use our powers.
Phoenix-girl whispered in my mind. Do you want me to send a message? I nodded and moved to the corner of my cage. I could tell it was late although I hadn’t seen the real sky since I was four. I quickly stretched and curled into a ball, my tail draping itself over my eyes.
} (-*-) {
I was woken up early by clanging bars. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Dragon-boy’s hand was frantically reaching towards my cage. I touched it and recoiled. He looked at me through the bars, his eyes scared.
Dragon-boy told me we were running. This day came every few months when they would release all us experiments in the big building they called a gym with a “sky” roof and forest. They would let us hide for 3 minutes and then set new wolf-men on us. If we were caught…
They came to our cages and the wolf-man pulled us out. I saw Phoenix-girl being lined up with some other experiments. Her fire-colored wings were shaking.
We were filed into a line and led down a corridor with blacked out windows. Dragon-boy took my hand. We shared the same feeling of fear. Usually, Dragon-boy, Phoenix-girl and I would hide together high up in a tree. Since the training could go from anywhere between 3 hours to 3 weeks, we decided the best way to survive was together.
See, Phoenix-girl and I could hunt and Dragon-boy could cook and gather. We all could fight. I guess you could call them my friends. We finally reached the gym. I gazed around until I spotted the tallest tree. The branches we would hide in were slender but would hold us. Although Dragon-boy looked heavy, his bones were hollow like a bird’s.
The doors opened and everybody ran. Phoenix-girl sprinted over to us. I touched her hand and sent a picture to her of the tree. We ran to it. When we got to my tree, Dragon-boy and Phoenix-girl flew up. I dug my claws into the tree just as the three minute bell rang. I panicked and tried to pull myself up to the lowest branch. I heard footsteps fast approaching. I scurried up to a branch and hid inside a clump of leaves. The bushes rustled and a boy about my age came into the clearing below my branch. His ears were pointing out of black hair. His nose was twitching. I thought I was safe until he looked up.
His eyes were beautiful. They were blue with flecks of gold and a silver trim around the irises. His gaze was curious, looking exactly where I was at but somehow not seeing me.
I moved my hand about a quarter of an inch and the leaves twitched. His gaze fell onto the leaves and he smiled. My cover was blown so I ran down the branch. I almost made it to the trunk, too, and would have if the branch hadn’t snapped.
I felt myself drop. I screamed and reached out for the nub, which was all that was left behind. My ears were flat against my head and my claws dug into the wood. The boy moved underneath me, the smile plastered to his face. I pulled my legs up and scrabbled against the bark.
At this point in time, Phoenix-girl and Dragon-boy had noticed my absence. They must have looked down and seen me and the boy because next thing I know, they’re calling my name. Well, not my name, but my animal and gender.
“Cat-girl!”
I screamed one word in reply.
“Help!”
