Unbecoming Humans

Chapter 32

We met Edwin and Ophelia in the hallway as we hurried back to our rooms.

"Practice is cancelled," I told them forcefully as we passed them going the opposite direction. They did an about face to follow us back the way they had come.

"What? Why?" Edwin whined.

"Because I said so." I wasn't about to explain. It turned out I didn't need to. Edwin and Ophelia gasped as they caught sight of Nima's battered face. That was all the explanation they needed. Nima leaned over to me as we half-jogged down the hallway.

"I knew you still cared," she whispered with a sly smile. The corner of my mouth twitched, but I didn't respond.

I was beginning to panic as the adrenaline wore off, and I realized what I had done. If I had killed Pi, Nima and I would almost certainly be killed as well. I wondered why there hadn't been an attendant by the practice rooms, especially when I was scheduled to be there. They never left me unattended during my "free time" activities since my deal with my mother.

We slowed our jog to a quick walk as we approached the residence hallway. We didn't want to look more suspicious than we already appeared. We staggered our entrances to our rooms. Traveling in groups was always a red flag around here.

I barricaded myself in my room, knowing that they would come for me if Pi wasn't dead and managed to regain consciousness. And then, I waited. I listened for anything out of the ordinary and jumped at every noise.

I worried more for Nima than for myself. She wore the obvious signs the fight on her face. There was no denying that she was involved. My knuckles were scraped and bruised from the wicked beating I had given Pi, but those were easier to hide. I hoped that she had the sense to barricade herself in her room as well.

I didn't go to dinner. I knew it was as good as admitting my guilt, but it was better than walking out into the open for them to take me. As night fell, I grew weary. My body was sore and exhausted from hours of being on alert. I gave up my watch post in the chair facing the door and lay down on my bed. Eventually, I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

I wasn't surprised to awake to the sounds of violent banging. What did surprise me, was that the sounds were coming from the direction of Nima's room. Shit! I was still barricaded in my in my room. It was meant to keep people in, but it prevented me from getting out, as well.

I started hurling the furniture piled against my door across the room. I could hear shouting in the hallway.

"Come out now and we will take it easy on you," came Zan's booming voice. It sounded like they were using a battering ram to break down the door. So, Nima had used a barricade. It brought a small smile to my lips. I started shoving the last piece of furniture - the dresser - out of the way. It was an antique that was considerably larger and heavier than me.

I had almost cleared the doorway when I heard crashing next door. They had finally breached Nima's room.

"Get off me," I heard Nima cry, followed by grunts of shuffling. It sounded like Nima was putting up a good fight, but heavily outnumbered. There was the thud of a body hitting the floor, and the scuffle ceased.

"Grab her, let's go," I heard Zan's gruff voice. I panicked as I heard them start dragging Nima down the hallway. I used the adrenaline spike to wrench the door open, knocking the dresser over as I did so. I burst out into the hallway.

Nima's captors were already at the end of the hallway dragging her limp body between them. I was entirely focused on Nima as I sprinted after them. I noticed a split second too late as Zan stepped out from Nima's bedroom and landed a haymaker punch square to my jaw. I was unconscious before I hit the floor.

I recognized the lab ceiling as I came to. I attempted to sit up, but the room started to spin.

"Relax, Aria," my mother's voice sounded from beside my bed. She had abandoned her fake mom voice for a dark tone of exasperation. "You don't want to cause yourself further injury. Your going to need your strength," she said cryptically.

"Where is Nima" I shouted. The effort made my head swim.

"You can dispense with the drama, Aria. It will gain you nothing. We still need her, so she is not dead. That is all you need know."

"I can't say for certain what is going to become of you, however," she continued. "You have made it abundantly clear that you are beyond control. We will have to postpone the wedding until your face heals." She poked abrasively at the sore spot on my jaw where Zan had decked me. "We can't have you looking like a boxer on your special day." Her voice held only dark malice.

"In the meantime, we have a treatment that we are going to try on you. We hope that it will make you more," she paused, searching for the right word, "suggestible to our wishes." A grotesque smile spread across her face. "All of the regular test subjects we have tried it on have perished. If you are lucky, your mutated genes will keep you alive." She paused for dramatic effect.

"Or, you will die." she said casually. "Either way, you have made yourself a liability to this project. You must be corrected." Mother waved a doctor over to my bed. "She's all yours," she said, standing from her chair and walking from the room.

The doctor picked up a syringe from the tray standing on the opposite side of the bed from where my mother had been sitting. I admired her long blonde hair and her slender figure. I would have found her attractive, if she were not about to do horrible things to me.

"I won't lie to you, your highness. This is going to hurt a lot," she said with a sadistic grin.

Happy birthday to me...