chapter 2: Motive for madness
#2 of A matter of change
I was a wolf. A fully grown wolf. The reflection that stared deep into my soul scorched my eyes and drew forth a single shining tear. I would have never recognised my self if it hadn't been for that one small thing. My eyes. My eyes hadn't changed a bit. They were still the deep dark brown eyes that I had been complimented on so many times. I knew that it had to be me behind the muzzle, teeth, ears, and fur. But I was still partly human, I think. My arms and legs were still like a human's, even if they were completely covered in fur. I threw off the blanket covering me and tried to get up again, this time no one held me down. I stood up beside the bed and looked down at myself. How could I be a wolf when I was standing upright on my back legs? It didn't make any sense. I quickly gave my body the once over. For some reason I was much stronger than before, I could feel it, and I could see it. I stared at my arms and chest in disbelief, I was ripped! I looked down at my long muscular legs and saw feet shaped paws at the end of them. It was then that something moving between my legs caught my eye. I turned my head sharply around and looked down my back, only to find at the end of my posterior, a long fury tail swishing from side to side. I almost jumped out of my skin!
"What on earth happened to me?!" I asked the crowd of doctors as they eyed me over. "What am I?"
"I think I might be able to answer this." A grizzled voice came from the door way as it opened. I had heard it before.
"Who are you? Do I know you?"
"My name is agent Memphis from the FBI. I have some questions I need to ask you, but first I need to ask everyone except you and your family to leave the room." My jaw dropped and I stood there gaping as the fleet of doctors left the room. What the hell did the FBI want with me I thought to myself? It didn't take me long to realise that it probably had something to do with my sudden and unexpected change in appearance.
"Hang on; you said you might be able to explain what happened to me!" I wanted some answers now.
"That's right." He said, with a clear presence of authority, straightening his tie and jacket. He had obviously been waiting a long time out in the corridor to speak to me. We stood their in silence for about a minute as we waited for the other one to talk.
"...WELL?!" I shouted. "Could you please explain to me why I was surrounded by doctors; stripped down to my boxers; in need of a serious haircut and have an extra limb?!" I turned around and wagged my tail in his face to emphasise the point.
"Alright, now there's no reason to get angry." He said very calmly. I swear if he didn't start talking I was going to try out my new claws on his face. "Now what I am about to say is not to leave this room, in fact, I was never here and none of this ever happened, alright?" he looked around at everyone in the room, who all simultaneously nodded their heads in acceptance. Everyone except me of course.
"Umm that's gonna be pretty hard for me isn't it? As soon as I leave the room I'll be hunted down and sent to the pound or something!" I wasn't trying to make light of the situation or anything, but I really felt that this was too impossible to take seriously. I kept expecting to wake up any moment, to find my mum throwing me out of bed and yelling at me to get ready for school. I looked over in her direction to see that this was all too much for her, as she broke down into tears once again. My father took hold of her and began whispering in her ear that everything was going to be alright. Guess these new ears of mine were more than for show, they actually worked really well.
"We'll come to that in a minute." That agent started talking again. "First of all you need to know what happened to you and who's responsible for your ermm...change." Finally I was about to get some answers. I calmed down and sat on the bed, listening intently to what he had to say.
"The group that abducted you call themselves 'The evolution.' They are a band of extremists who believe that by ridding the world of lesser beings and only letting the strong to survive, they are doing the work of god and thus purifying our society. They kidnap top scientists from countries around the world and force them to create chemical and biological weapons for their cause."
I was terrified at what he was saying, but still a little confused.
"Why haven't I ever heard about them on the news or anything? And what does this have to do with me?"
"The government have been trying to keep this under wraps for years now; whenever you hear about a chemical disaster or accident resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, you can guarantee they were behind it. And please be patient, I'm getting to you as fast as I can. Anyway, as I said they have hundreds of experts working on biological weapons for them. It was only a matter of time before they cracked the human genome and began working on creating their own 'super human' warriors. That's were you came in."
He looked deep into my eyes as I began to imagine what he was about to say next. "They needed a test subject. A human guinea pig if you will. Their first idea's for human modification obviously included infusing animal genes with a humans DNA to combine their properties to take advantage of their strengths. You were their first experiment, and as you can probably see they've combined your DNA with that of a grey wolf's."
"Thanks for stating the blatantly obvious. Is there anything or anyone who can change me back to normal? I mean, its great being buff and having my own insulation, and I have to say I look quite cool, but I can't live the rest of my life like this! What's gonna happen when I go back to school? What about in a couple of year's time when I have to apply for a job? They're gonna take one look at me and either call the police or chase me out of the building with a stick! What do I do?!"
"Look I'm sorry, but we have no idea how to turn you back to your previous form. Your genetic pattern isn't just a tapestry which can be unravelled. When we rescued you from 'the evolution's research centre, most of the scientists were shot by their captives, the rest escaped with their lives and their work. There's nothing we can do, except make sure that no one bothers you about your appearance and if you have trouble with anyone you are to refer them to us. We'll keep in contact." And with that he turned around and began walking towards the door.
"WAIT!" I shouted. I was still in shock from his story and the fact that there was no hope for me, but there was one last thing I had to ask him. "I have to know...Is there anyone else out there like me? Were there any other test subjects that went through the same change as me?" He stood there silently, his back turned to me so I was unable to see his face.
"Please tell me!"
"One of the scientists we captured claimed that there were two other experiments made, both the same age as you. A girl was combined with a fox, and another boy with a lion. We don't know what happened to them. They might have escaped during the raid, or..." He let out a deep sigh. "To be honest we just don't know. But after finding you, we can only hope for the best." He stood there in silence for a moment before he walked out of the door and out of my life forever.
He left me there, mouth open, tears welling up in my eyes. So many questions left unanswered, so little explained. How on earth was I supposed to carry on with my life as I am? My head was swimming, so much had happened. I couldn't make sense of any of it. It was then that the full force of reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I was going to be stuck like this, for the rest of my life, and there was nothing I could do about it. I lay back on the bed slowly, curled up into a ball, and cried myself to sleep. I felt my parents drag the blanket over my shivering body as I dreamt of things yet to come.