Chapter Text
You lean against the bars of your cell, fighting to keep your head up. You were tired, so very tired and cold, but you don’t dare go to sleep. The wound on your chest was oozing blood still, and you needed to stay awake and keep pressure on it, no matter how much every breath left you shivering in agony. Besides, asleep or awake, it didn’t matter. You were always aware of the pain in your chest. Pounding there like a second heartbeat.
At any rate, it wasn’t wise to sleep when your torturer was nearby.
In the dim light of the dungeon, you watch the heavily-robed woman mutter to herself as she examines her notes on a large table before going over to another with rusting lab equipment strewn on it. There was an operating table nearby as well, blood staining the leather restraints, but you refused to look at it.
“Twelve subjects have been implanted with Cadou. Six males, and six females, the only survivors of the group of foreigners that trespassed on our land. Five of the males have died except one who has begun the process of turning into a Lycan. One of the females is showing signs of becoming a Moroaică as well. The remaining five females are showing more favorable development.” She said out loud as if dictating to an invisible assistant.
Twelve subjects? That’s right, you think, glancing at the other cells. There were others down here with you. Some of them were dying. Some were dead. Some were like you, wishing they were. Maybe then the pain might stop.
Only a few of the others you knew, a part of the same study abroad program you had been a part of. The others might be students from the University of Bucharest who joined the group when you all decided to take a week off to go hiking. You couldn’t remember, finding it hard to think as you felt your skin become fever hot, especially in your hands.
You suppress a pained grin. You didn’t know if you even liked hiking when you signed up to go. At first, it had been enjoyable, but when you and the others went deep into the mountains, you found something waiting.
Glowing eyes and snarling teeth.
Ungodly creatures chased you and the others in the dark, herding you like sheep toward an unassuming-looking village. You could remember pounding on every door, trying to get help. But none of the pale faces you saw peer out of the windows offered you anything other than looks of contempt or pity as you watched most of your companions die.
Then everything went dark, and you were brought here. And then the robed woman cut you and the others she had taken open, putting those things inside of all of you. That’s when the pain started.
Over the past few days, the pain had gotten more bearable, enough that you no longer passed out as much. Maybe you were starting to heal. As soon as you could stand on your own two feet, you would escape. You and the others. That thought of tasting freedom, as hopeless as it might be, was the only thing to keep you going.
The woman came over to the cells to inspect your companions. The two she said were transforming had been moved out of the cells to some unseen room. The dead she left as they were. The remaining four women didn’t seem to intrigue her much either, and she was scowling with disappointment by the time she got to you.
“Subject name: Y/N L/N. Cadou affinity: Extremely favorable. Brain function…” The woman said to herself, glancing at your passport in one hand and scribbling notes with the other. She paused to meet your eyes, noticing for the first time she was being watched. Disturbingly, she smiled at you.
“Appears to be normal. No outward sign of the Cadou transforming her besides strange burn marks on the subject’s fingertips. Already I can tell she is an unfit vessel for Eva. But perhaps she might still have her uses.”
You try and fail to make sense of all that when the woman reaches for you. Too weak to do anything but hiss as your hand is removed from your gaping wound, you watch as the woman takes out a syringe from the folds of her robes.
No, you think, not more needles. What more did you have left for her to take? Please, please, you try to beg, but you force your mouth to keep shut. You might not have much left, but you were going to hold on to at least some of your dignity.
As if sensing your fear, the lights begin to flicker violently. Somewhere in the room, a radio hisses to life, a sad, static-full rendition of a lullaby playing.
Ladybird, ladybird fly away home,
Your house is on fire and your children are gone,
Your house is on fire,
Your children shall burn!
The robed woman looked around the room in surprise as if looking for the source of the disturbance. It had just been an electrical shortage, hadn’t it? But when her eyes land back on you, you feel she is pleased with you.
“Cadou seems to be mutating within her body successfully. Will now begin to determine the exact effects of the Cadou on the subject.”
With that, she presses the needle to your forearm. When you try to yank it away, her grip becomes tighter.
“Now, my child, this won’t hurt a bit.”
She didn’t lie. Compared to everything else she had put you through, the needle piercing your flesh was next to nothing. Still, you try and struggle, but it goes unnoticed by the woman as she draws a full vial of your blood. Standing, she takes it over to one of the tables.
Glasses clink, and liquids are poured. A microscope is focused, and the smell of musty powder fills the air. You hear the woman mutter something about hormones, but you are already starting to succumb to exhaustion and are only half-conscious.
Maybe you were dying. Finally.
“No…this…this can’t be right.” The woman gasps, sounding more surprised than upset.
She pours out more of your blood, adding various chemicals to perform her test again. When the same thing occurs, she turns back to you, smiling once more. It is the smile of a proud mother, you think, but it is this expression that frightens you more than anything.
“Subject may possess an anomaly from the others. Further testing is required. Perhaps a promising vessel after all…”
You hear no more. You welcome the black of sleep as it embraces you.