Tiger, Tiger

Tiger, Tiger: Chapter 12 - Part 2

 A little extra chapter <3 Enjoy it! xoxo

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The next day, when I awoke once again, the others were waking too. I noticed, groggily, that a few of the scientists had filtered into the room and that Tom was not with them. My stomach twisted. How long had they been watching us sleeping? How vulnerable had I just allowed myself to be?

Each of the four scientists stopped in front of Sam and Jason’s shared space and the cubes of Alexander, another shifter boy and myself. The woman before me peered inside like I was a display behind glass at the museum and then unlocked the door, opening it wide for me to leave. My heart leapt. What was going on?

“Come on out, Alexis. Don’t be afraid,” she smiled, “I’m only here to help.”

The controller in her hand told me otherwise. “If you-” I began, before I spotted Sam leaving his cube and a look in his eye told me not to push it. He stood at least a head over the male scientist before him and yet he followed silently and obediently behind.

“If I what?” the woman asked, the same false smile still plastered across her face.

I swallowed any remark I had been about to make and shook my head. She smiled even more as I let my head drop and slunk quietly out of the door, stepping into place just behind Alexander. His hand brushed mine as he passed and my skin burned like fire. He turned with a startled expression and I let my hair fall across my face, embarrassed that he made me seem so fuzzy headed.

The floor tiles were cold under my feet as we passed out of the room. The hall we stepped into was painted the same stark white as the room we were kept in, but old pipes and girders lined the roof and walls like a skeleton creating patches of rust. A cold breeze sent a shiver up my spine as our movement echoed hollowly down the hallway.

I frowned as we were led into a small room within the maze of corridors. It was filled with running machines and a large window looking into another room lined with bleeping equipment was on the wall. Alexander’s eyes flickered across the room, taking in every detail, just as an Alpha should. I dug my nails into my palms just to stop myself trying to escape as the door locked firmly behind us.

“Line up against that wall there please,” one of the male scientists asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose. We silently followed his instructions and he smiled.

‘Don’t look so panicked, kiddo,’ Sam murmured into my mind reassuringly, ‘I’ve done this a million times before. All you do is run – that’s it. No needles, nothing, I swear.’

‘Ok,’ I nodded, biting my lip, ‘Thanks.’

“These,” the woman who had spoken to me earlier said, placing a folded pile with a pair of trainers on top into our hands, “are your exercise uniforms.” Exercise? Oh joy. As an animal it felt fun, but as a human, definitely not.

“Step into the cubicles on the far wall,” she continued, “and press the screen button. Then change into your uniforms and testing will begin shortly after.” She glanced over us all one more time, and then satisfied that there was no way for us to escape, she walked over to the other scientists and they began to fiddle with all kinds of wires and attachments.

Sam and Jason lead us to the far wall, stepping into two of the glass cubicles. The walls quickly turned black like the ones we had been kept in and I could tell that they knew this routine off by heart. The question of how long they had been here flared up once again in my mind. How long would we be here?

Alexander glanced at me for a split second as we pressed the button to bring up our screens and my heart beat rocketed even higher. I mentally slapped myself for being such a stupid, stupid girl with an uncontrollable response to his eyes and begrudgingly changed into the outfit I had been provided with. It was once again a plain white top, thankfully softer and tighter this time, with white jogging shorts and a pair of trainers that squeezed my toes. I kicked the first outfit against the back wall, angry that I had been put into this awful place.