Through the Mist-Introduction

Through the Mist
INTRODUCTION

I stumbled, Dammit! I had to speed up to make up for the stumble; he was going to get me. I picked up my speed at the sound of gunfire and a shot whizzed by my head. I ducked and swerved off to the right, I could hear him coming closer. Another shot fired, but it wasn’t close enough to be heard passing me. I ran further than I have ever run before and I was suddenly out of breath. I ducked into a hollow tree, ran out the back of it and climbed up another.
I could hear him crashing through the brush beneath me and he knew I had stopped. I watched him as he paused below me to study the tracks, I dropped from the tree and landed on top of him, I screamed as the trigger was pulled and a bullet entered my left thigh.
I felt the prickle at the back of my neck, the one that said that enough commotion had been done, that I was changing. My eyes dilated as they grew larger and then shrank back down with new pupils in a thin line. Hair patterns were tattooing themselves on my arms and legs and the rest of my body. As soon as I was completely hair tattooed, my ears flexed painfully as they went from their normal shape to three times their size and tufted. They shrank back down to look like they were somewhat proportional to my face; the tattooed hair now was pushing through the skin in painful bursts, causing itching sensations and a burning that felt like actual fire. My fingers were in sudden agony as they grew larger to accommodate large retractable claws; my legs had grown awkward as they changed to something similar to a cat’s hind legs. Now I had shifted almost completely into that of a lynx and the final touch was my bones and organs adjusting so that I was a normal everyday lynx with an injured paw.
I hissed at the man as my head hit a stone on the ground from the impact of a kick of his boot. He laughed at me as I ran into the dark, stumbling, unaware of what was going on.
By the time he caught me, my wound would be healed, due to the lycanthrope disease in my blood. The change only occurred when it had to, in much commotion, or whenever I concentrated, truly one hundred percent willing it to happen. It was hard to control myself with the familiar thoughts of a lynx telling me to hunt, to eat, to sleep, when I was the one in control. It was confusing, and sometimes I let the lynx take over, so I could just be along for the ride and let my social life float away.
I let myself go as the blackness of my headache closed in on me. I couldn’t see anymore…. I couldn’t see.

CHAPTER ONE

“How are you feeling Ms. Loess?” A thin man in a white lab coat was looking at her concernedly.
“I’m feeling alright, how long have I been here?”
“About two days. They brought you in as a cat of sorts. You’re a were-cat?”
“Were-lynx,” she corrected groggily, her head swimming a bit.
“Not much difference there though, is there?” He smiled at her and move closer with her chart, “You do realize that at such an early age, this lycanthrope disease may be treatable?”
“I don’t want it treated; my lynx is a part of me now.”
“Okay, that’s fine Ms. Loess. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of that possibility.”
“Well, thank you doctor. Can you call me by my first name though, it would me kind of easier on me,” more like I’d then know my first name, heh, heh, she smiled at him.
“Okay, Animariah,” he grinned; great, now he’s flirting. She smiled back and waited for the rest of his report.
“You’ll be released today, but someone is here to see you first.”
He stepped out of the room and in walked the shooter of that night. I cringed and scooted as compact as I could so that I would be as far away from him as I could be.
“Why are you here!?” I spat at him.
He looked astounded, “I’m not Cael, and I thought you knew me… I’m Cael’s brother, Fore,” he held out his hand and I barely touched his and knew he was a vampire.
“Why do you even have the courage to come in here!? You and your brother almost killed me last night, now I don’t even know who I am and why I am here, all I know is I am were-lynx, everything else is hidden to me.”
“You don’t know who you are Animariah?”
“How do you know my name?”
“I am someone who can interpret minds, I am a vamp, remember… oh wait, you don’t remember, shit!” He had stubbed his toe coming closer to the bed. He sat down at the edge and cradled his foot in his hand, he had on big biker boots, I just now noticed how completely attractive he was with his short blonde hair, braids hung longer from it and his emerald eyes peeked through thick bangs. He had on a long black trench coat and a slim fitting black tee shirt, his jeans were black and he contrasted the outfit with a white tie and a pearly-white belt buckle.
He was very handsome and noticed that I was looking him over. I blushed and looked away as he chuckled softly.
“You took off after you were shot, and we tracked you, the blood got less and less before you healed completely. So we followed your tracks until we found you, you must have really hit your head, because even with you lycanthrope condition, you were out.”
He smiled at me, “I convinced my brother not to kill you, since you had out maneuvered him so well, you could train and be a good pet of his. Even though it is more likely you will just be my friend, under a pet’s name.”
The doctor came in a shot something in my I.V. saying something like, “She’ll be yours to take in a few minutes.”
My eyelids fluttered as the I.V. sent whatever it was to my brain. I was out before Fore had even stood up.

CHAPTER TWO

I opened my eyes to see a large alligator staring at me with unblinking eyes. I screamed, scooting back. It followed me, and I ran for the only high thing in the pen, the tree. Shimmying up as fast as I could, I made it to the top, alligator jaws continuously snapping below me. I huddled quietly in the branches, just barely out of the reach of the gators’ snapping jaws.
After about an hour of huddling, the gators were getting better and better at climbing. Finally I decided to try to swing up to the netted ceiling and see if I could get to the other side of the pen, where a trainer’s hammock was hanging. I leapt from the tree and grabbed the ceiling, and it bowed under my weight until I was almost in reach of the bigger gators.
I swung as far as I could and grabbed onto the netting furiously, I had almost missed it that time. I looked below me and broke into a sweat, the moat was below, and gators swam faster than humans did. I began to take small, cautious swings to get to the other side. I finally got to the opposite side of the enclosure where I found and swung into a trainer’s hammock. I rested cautiously, watching warily for anyone who might come and throw me back in. A gator stood on elongated back legs and climbed into the hammock with me. I screamed and backed away.
Its okay, I am human, a voice rang through my head calmly. I gulped.
His snout began to recede and his ears were beginning to protrude. He made grunts of pain as his bone structure returned to that of a human being. Skin hung loosely where the gator had been bigger than him, and he was still tinted green and scaly. His hands cracked and shifted into human hands and his transformation neared completion. He stood there in nothing for a brief second before he scooped up a pile of clothing that I hadn’t noticed before. His muscular body was beautiful, he had strong arms, and a defined six pack on his abdomen, and I can’t say I was looking, but he had a really fine ass.
He smiled and offered a hand after he had completely dressed. Part of me thought I knew him from somewhere, while the other part of me was unsure about him. I took his hand in my normal, firm handshake, and he grinned like he knew me.
“Who are you?” I asked him. The wheels in my mind were turning as fast as possible, trying to remember what was still locked behind the wall in my head. Nothing turned up, I frowned to myself.
“You don’t remember me?” He looked hurt by that.
“I don’t remember anything, after a recent run in with a vampire… oh! I can’t remember his name either! but anyway, I cant remember anything, I didn’t even remember my own name until the doctor told it to me.”
“Well, I’m Sham,” he said, his eyes on mine, “I hope you come to remember me in time.”
I Smiled,” I hope so too.”
I began to pace the wooden floor of the trainer’s hammock, it was braced with steel, not your regular, ordinary hammock now. He watched me pace, taking in every step.
“Why haven’t you got your lycanthropy treated yet, Ani?”
“Sham, the lynx is a part of me now, it’s a piece of me that I wouldn’t give up for anything.”
“Not even freedom?”
That question brought back memories, memories of a place called ‘The Agency,’ I had been there since I was little. My parents were dead. I glared at him silently. How could he possibly know that I was in it with the testing agency? How could he know that I had been stolen from my family as a child, to be tested on because of the lycanthrope gene? How could he know, other than the ankle band I was free of at the moment, he couldn’t know, unless…
“You bastard, you’re one of them! You’re one of them! Do you know how much pain you have caused!?”
I lunged at him and thrashed as he held me in his muscular arms and his musty scent washed over me.
“You’re one of them! You’re one of them…” I continued to repeat myself until I had calmed down in his arms, then I was sane again and I could breathe.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, “You are aren’t you?”
“I am what? You have been yelling for nearly fifteen minutes.”
“Are you from the testing agency?” I gasped as he let me go.
“Is that what you thought? No, no,” he took me into his arms again, gently this time, “I am not one of them. It’s okay, shh…”
I was sobbing by then, it was a memory that had come back to me while he was talking to me, I had jumped to conclusions, but what if he lied? What if this was just another testing stage?
Well then I’d be screwed, but what if this was genuine, and not a lie? Well then I’d be okay, I might even be able to escape this place and be free. But then the agency would always be after me until I died, thanks to my disease. What could I do?... I decided to stay in the were-gator’s arms and hope for the best.

CHAPTER THREE

He held onto me for a while before his eyes welled up with sadness and he had to call the guards. He whispered a few words to me before they came.
“I’m sorry,” and,” I will see you again, I promise.”
Then I was in the hands of two large jaguar-men. They were a cross between the jaguar and the human, with a cat’s head and a long tail.
They shoved me toward an empty cell with padded walls. Shit no, I’m in the loony bin now!?
I fought them and tried to shove them away before they sedated me and threw me into the room.
I landed on a cushioned floor, then all faded into darkness.

* * *

In my dream I was running, running from the agents again. But this time gator-boy was there and he rescued me. Then Fore popped in and each took one of my arms and began to try to pull me to their side. I guessed that I would have to choose between them later on.
I woke up with sweat on my brow. The cell was incredibly hot. My arm ached where they had shoved the sedation needle into it and I guessed they had come in and sedated me a few other times as well. I stood slowly, and realized I was groggy. My head began to spin and it was like I was not in total control of my body. A man came into my cell with a syringe in hand and I backed away, I didn’t want to be sedated again.
I was backed into a corner when I decided on it. I shifted lynx and ran past them, dodging burly jaguar-man hands and the scrawny doctor’s blocking attempts. I scampered down the hall as fast as I could and ended up in the arms of a small child.
“Aw, daddy can I have it? It’s such a dear.”
I stopped struggling and purred, rubbing against her hands, maybe she could get me out. I played along with the little charade until the scrawny doctor stood beside the little girl; I hissed at him and curled tighter into the girl’s gentle arms. She hugged me closer to her as the man tried to pry me from her arms. I hissed and bit him. He screeched and ran for his office, quickly trying to recover his antidote for lycanthropy probably.
I hissed once more at him and then went back to “loving” the child. She giggled as I purred against her and licked her fingers.
The two jaguar men lifted me hastily from her and carried me away; I could hear her tears hit the floor.

* * *

I awoke outside, in a cool rainforest. It was… of course… raining and I was soaked to the bone. Chills ran up my spine and I shimmied up the nearest tree to get a look around. Above me I saw netting. So, I’m not free after all. I sat in the tree waiting out the rain. Everything around me was dense foliage and I couldn’t see past it.
My heart began to pound in my chest and I noticed the hair on my arms was sticking up. Behind me was a leopard, her coat was dabbed in crimson as if she had been shot with many tiny bullets.
She shifted in front of my eyes and I gasped to see small healing gashes covering her slender figure.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Then why aren’t you healing by now?”
“They alter our DNA while we are in here, through those nasty shots. It makes us unable to heal, or in some cases, it accelerated the healing process.”
“Why would they do that?”
“They are a section of the testing agency…”
“I knew it!”
“…but they are harsher here. They will not punish you with a mere beating, they will put you outside for a few days, trapped in human form, to fend against real animals without anything but yourself to guard yourself with. They will find your weaknesses and use them against you. They will give you the syringe full of that shit and then beat you for hours just to see if you heal or not. Get out of here if you can kid.”
“My name is Animariah, what’s yours?”
“Duske.”
“Nice to meet you Duske, and thank you for the warnings.”
“Nice to meet you as well. And as for the warnings, they were my pleasure friend. Have a safe trip, and do anything you can to get out of this place as fast as possible.”
My heart pounded in my chest, the agency! No it can’t be true! That’s when memories of the needles and the doctors, of the vampires, Fore and the evil one, Cael came back to me. All of it rushed back at me like a tidal wave, overtaking me enough that I slid from the tree and landed on the ground hard.

CHAPTER FOUR

I opened my eyes to see blackness, nothing more, a deep core of nothingness. Then I realized I was back in the padded cell, my head hurt and everything seemed to move too much for me.
I felt my way to the center of the room and curled up, my head hurt and I was having trouble staying awake.
Light sliced through the darkness as the door opened and the doctor walked in.
He had no needle in hand and that surprised me. My eyes darted to his pockets, no needles resided there. I still didn’t trust him.
He smiled at me and stepped aside to reveal Fore. I felt tears well up in my eyes as he scooped me up in a tight hug.
“I’m so sorry I haven’t been to visit.”
“Why am I in here?”
“Cael decided he didn’t like your strength being almost equal to his, and he sent you here.”
“I want out of here Fore, get me out of here.”
“Shh….shh… you know I can’t do that.”
“Why not?!”
“Because you belong to Baragon and I can’t just steal you.”
“I am a person I have rights. Why can’t you help me now Fore? Don’t you even care?”
“Yes, yes I care, I care a great deal. But I can’t go against Cael…”
“But I can,” came another voice. The doctor was on the ground in the hallway and the man who had been there in the alligator pen was standing over him.
“…Who are you?” Fore demanded.
“He is a friend of mine, one who is willing to risk his life for a friend.”
Fore looked hurt as he moved toward the door.
“fine then, let him save you.”
“Fore, no….” I fell to my knees and broke down crying, the boy from the pen came over to me, comforting me.
Fore was gone… really gone. Now I had to rely on the mysterious boy.
“What do I call you?”
“I didn’t give you my name? I’m Sham, and what shall I call you?”
“Animariah.”

* * *

We snuck into the hallway and I laughed at the doctor who had sedated me for so many years, lying there, now sedated.
Sham led well, like he knew the place. I began to wonder about him. As soon as we were out of the building, lights came on and alarms sounded. He pulled me into a cubby hole he must have dug while on his free time out there. He dragged a big rock over the top and we were pressed together.
I relaxed in his embrace as I had the day or so before, only this time memories flowed back of a relationship with him. He and I were more than friends, much more.
He kissed my forehead and leaned his chin on me. I huddled closer to him, seeking protection. Now I knew what the dream had meant, and we lay there as more and more memories came back to me in rushes.
As soon as the lights went off and the alarms receded, we uncovered the hole and ran for a break in the fence.