Subject Nine Ch.1
Subject Nine
Ch.1
I have been transferred from one prison to another. Maximum lockdown is all I've ever known. They put me to sleep whenever I get transferred. I've never known sunlight or the smell of outside air. In truth no on but the prison guards and government knew about me. My name is Jed, but all my life I've been known as Subject Nine.
The tires screeched as the truck came to an abrupt stop. The noise of gunfire not too far away woke me up. My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the light. I looked around slowly, noticing the headless guards on the floor. My arms twitched as the smell of blood drifted across my nose.
One by one the bodies slid towards me. As they reached me, they were absorbed into me. I felt their final emotions flood into my mind. I screamed as fear and pain overwhelmed me.
"There he is! He's still contained."
"Thank... Oh god, look out!" My eyes focused on a wire fly through the air and cut my restraints. I fell to the floor, looking at the terrified guards. I crouched down and ran to the end of the prison van and out onto the road. The machine gun fire was deafening but I had heard worse. Suddenly the noise stopped and the guards fell. I looked around and saw the wire flying around.
It stopped spinning and began to curve and straighten out. Soon it took the shape of a person. Color filled in the emptiness as the wire stopped twisting. The result was a female fox standing over a dead guard. She was holding a whip of nine tails. She was smiling at me as if it had been years since we had met. I stared at her for a second until I realized that the bodies were sliding towards me. My eyes closed as the final emotions flooded into my mind. I opened my eyes and saw the woman walking towards me.
"Jed. It's been around ten years now, hasn't it." I looked at her confused. The only people I had ever met were scientists and guards. "I don't expect you to remember me, since the last visit I was in the cell next to yours. Do you remember the screaming and torture we went through?" I gripped my head as the memories came back to me.
The needles pierced my skin and my screams could be heard echoing throughout the room. One after another, the needles repeatedly stabbed into me, pulling blood samples and other types of data. Next to me was a young fur, her screams shrill against mine. The needles continuously stabbed into us. I glanced over, not being able to turn my head all the way. All I could see was white fur stained with blood. Suddenly a blindfold came over my eyes and water began to fill the tub. Our screams were muffled by water as it slowly filled up the tubs. The water was soaking into the blindfold and my eyes were forced shut. An electric current began to circulate through the water, it tingled at first then got stronger and began to hurt. My restraints began to burn as the electricity got stronger. The restraints broke in half as the tubs shattered. I looked to where the other tub was but no one was there. I stood up slowly as lab personal ran into the room.
"So you remember me now." The fox said smiling. I nodded my head and looked her over. She was about five feet, and five inches with white fur that had multiple red streaks going through it. I stared at her for a second then looked towards the city that was about five miles away. "You've been a hard person to find Jed. But your safe now. No more experiments and no more prisons." I looked at her in disbelief.
"You mean that's it. Is there a place where we can go."
"Of course. My name's Jenna by the way. Now get in the van, the back. Sorry." I nodded and jumped into the back of the van.
When we finally got to wherever it was, I jumped out into dim light. After a second of confusion I realized that we were underground.
"I was hoping that we would be above ground."
"I know and I'm sorry Jed but it's just not safe above ground. They have ways of tracking us above ground." I looked at her in disappointment. The smile on her face finally faltered. "Look, I'm not happy underground either, but they will find us above ground."
"I think that you don't know how much longer I've been locked away. I'm sure that since you have ten years of freedom on me that it's easier for you to be underground. Sunlight and fresh air is what I need. Not cold and dark sewers. And besides all that how did you find me? And why risk your life for me?"
"You're right, you have been kept in the prisons longer than I was. But you can't risk being captured again. And currently you are the only person that would have a military escort. Besides you're important, they want your power and we can't let them have it."
"So I was saved because of my power. Sorry if I don't feel thankful. And I'm out of here." I said as I walked up the ramp and into the light. When I walked out of the parking garage the light was bright, my eyes had no trouble adjusting to it however. I could hear Jenna's steps behind me as I got onto the sidewalk. A quick left down the corner, into a crowd of people and I was gone. I made my way to a bank, pushing past the people easily. Once I got in the security guard stepped in front of me.
"Sir, are you stupid? Those clothes are obviously a prisoner's. I'm going to have to..." He never had a chance to finish the sentence as a bullet crashed through the window and into his head. I turned around and ran through the door into a crowd of policemen. The police chief raised his gun and pointed it directly at me.
"Do you really want to go through with this? You know nothing about me. I could kill you with a stare. I suggest you get back in the car and leave." He dropped his gun and fell down. I looked around at the other policeman as they followed his lead. The block was empty except for the bodies sliding towards me. As I absorbed them, their fear and pain came over me. It was nothing, same for the pain, heart attacks didn't phase me to much. When I snapped out of it I could hear Jenna's footsteps behind me. I turned around in time to see her whip flailing towards me. The tails stopped short of me and rushed back to her. "Leave me alone. I don't need your help."
"It doesn't matter what you need. We need you to be safe, just like all of us need to be. Besides you saw how quickly they found you. You don't know how to mask your energies, they'll find you anywhere. We need to go somewhere safe. You have to follow me."
"No. I'd rather be traced my whole life than live underground." Jenna frowned at me knowing my decision was made. I walked back two steps, just in time to avoid one of the tails of the whip. I looked at the whip and saw that the tails were moving as if they were alive. She swung the whip and the tails spread out and around me. I took my chance and ran straight towards her, the tails turning to chase me. I stared into her emotionless eyes as a tail grabbed my foot. I was lifted up into the air as my other foot was grabbed. Two more went for my hands but I grabbed them and began to pull. The tails popped off with a sick ripping noise. She let out a shrill scream and the tails holding me let go. I fell to my feet frowning. "Just because I've been locked up all this time doesn't mean I'm weak." I was inches away from her and the tails had raised up like snakes but kept their distance. There was a pained look in her eyes, but I didn't let that bother me as I put my hands on either side of her head. I forced her to look me in the eyes as the pain from the ripped off tails amplified in her mind. The whip disappeared as she passed out. I caught her before she could hit the ground and lifted her up. Her whole body was shivering and she was cold to the touch. I quickly made my way to the parking garage that the van was in. I set her down next to the van and looked around the empty garage. I decided it was time for me to leave..