N. Walters: Quinn's Quest

The doctor had confirmed Bethany’s fears. He’d mentioned it in passing the next day while he was drawing a vial of Bethany’s blood. He’d spoke about it as easily as one might talk about the weather. The doctor wanted Chrissten to get pregnant. He wanted to test her body during pregnancy and experiment on the baby once it was born. The conversation had turned Bethany’s blood to ice and she hadn’t felt warm since.

She feared that was her fate as well if she didn’t get out of here.

The clink of metal had Bethany scrambling out of bed and shoving her feet into the canvas sneakers she’d been given to wear. Both of them slept with their clothing on, such as it was. Loose cotton pants and pull-on tops. No laces, no drawstrings or zippers, nothing they might use as a weapon.

The sound of the locks being undone made Bethany cringe. Even though she couldn’t see him, she knew who was on the other side before the door opened. She could smell him—the anticipation, the testosterone, but most of all, the aggression. It was Brian, and he only had eyes for Chrissten.

“Good morning, mate.” The male stood about six-four and weighed about two-thirty. All of it muscle.

Chrissten bared her teeth at him. “What do you want, Brian?”

He smiled and there was nothing pleasant about it. “Now that’s no way to talk to your alpha.”

Chrissten snorted. “You’ll never be my anything.”

Bethany ignored their banter, every muscle in her body tensed. Ready to strike if an opportunity presented itself.

The doctor appeared at Brian’s side just inside the open door, seeming preoccupied and harried. Not an uncommon state for the good doctor. His mind was always on his latest experiments. “Enough talking. I need blood samples.”

Neither woman exactly relaxed, but some of the fear seeped out of Bethany. If the doctor only wanted a blood sample then maybe Brian would leave Chrissten alone. A second look in Brian’s eyes made that hope crumble. The doctor might only want a blood sample, but Brian wanted sex. Bethany could see it in his eyes as they devoured Chrissten.

The hairs on the back of Bethany’s neck rose and her skin began to tingle. Not now . She couldn’t allow her body to take control of her. She had to master the heat surging to her breasts and between her legs. This sexual needing was beyond her understanding.

Up until a year ago she’d never even been tempted to get serious about a man. Sure, she’d dated. Yes, she’d had sex. But it had been unfulfilling. She’d decided she simply wasn’t a sexual woman and men weren’t worth the effort.

Brian swung his head around and looked at her. He sniffed the air and smiled. Bethany took a step back, almost falling in her haste to get away from him. He couldn’t smell her arousal. Could he?

She recognized the look on his face and she didn’t want it aimed in her direction. She turned to the doctor. “I’ve given you enough blood to set up your own blood bank.” Bethany hated the quaver in her voice. Dr. Morton frowned at her retort. Brian’s smile sent terror flooding through her.

“I guess we’ll do this the hard way.” Brian stepped toward Bethany, but Dr. Morton stopped him.

“No. You can’t damage her. I need her today for more testing.”

Brian whirled around and growled at the doctor. His hands changed, morphing into claws. His jaw cracked and elongated. Fur began to sprout on his face and body.

Bethany blinked, not believing what she was seeing.

Before it went any further, the doctor raised his hand. She saw the gun in his hand as he fired. It wasn’t bullets, but a tranquilizer gun. The dart hit Brian in the chest. He ripped it from his skin but it was too late. Already he was starting to sway.

Bethany didn’t move, frozen in place by what she’d witnessed.

Chrissten, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate. She lunged at the doctor, jumping and rolling as he fired his tranq gun again. Bethany didn’t know what was in those things, but they were obviously potent.

Doctor Morton was a tall man, physically fit for a scientist who spent all his days and many of his nights in a lab. But Chrissten was quicker. She was motivated. Bethany knew how she felt and she’d only been here a few weeks. Chrissten had been here for what must seem like a lifetime.

The dart grazed her arm, nicking her skin but not embedding itself. Chrissten swore. Bethany knew her cellmate didn’t have much time. Even a scratch that small might be enough to knock Chrissten out.

But Chrissten wasn’t stopping. Hands extended, she lunged for the doctor. Claws burst out of her fingertips. She raked them over the doctor’s face. He fell back, screaming as he went down.

“Holy shit.” Bethany’s back was up against the wall. If she could manage it she’d sink into the concrete. She wasn’t seeing this. None of this was real. It couldn’t be. Claws didn’t really just burst from people’s fingers. Their mouths didn’t morph into elongated jaws with sharp teeth. That only happened in the movies. Maybe the doctor had given her some kind of nasty drug that was making her hallucinate.

But the scream and the blood were frighteningly real.

“Beth,” Chrissten whispered her name and stumbled as she extended her hand. It was a human hand again, the claws gone.

“What are you?” Bethany slid farther down the wall, putting some distance between them, her gaze going from Chrissten to Brian and back again. Chrissten blinked her eyes. Bethany knew the other woman was fading fast when she sank to the concrete floor and lowered her head, panting hard.

“The same as you.”

This was nuts. It wasn’t possible. Only she’d seen it with her own two eyes. Hadn’t she? She wasn’t sure. Not anymore. Nothing in her world made any sense.

“Beth?”

Whatever Chrissten was, Bethany knew she couldn’t leave the other woman behind. If they escaped, they went together. The open door beckoned and she knew they’d never get a better opportunity. She went to Chrissten, wrapped her arms around her and yanked her upright. “I still think you’re all crazy,” she told Chrissten as her feet hit the floor. There was no other word to describe the people who inhabited the loony bin she’d found herself in.

Doctor Morton moaned and rolled onto his side.

“Run, Beth.” Chrissten tried to push her away, but she wasn’t having any of it. Bethany pried the gun from the doctor’s hand and checked it. Empty. Two vials was its capacity. She tossed it aside.

Bethany rolled the doctor all the way into the cell, ignoring the blood on the side of his face and his pitiful moans. She felt not an ounce of remorse as she slammed the door shut. She didn’t have the keys to lock the deadbolts and didn’t have time to search for them. She had no idea how long the tranquilizer would keep Brian knocked out. She feared it wouldn’t be long enough.

Bethany yanked the single iron bar down until it fell firmly into place, securing the door. Hopefully that would hold their captors long enough to allow them to escape.

“Help me,” she ordered. Bethany half-carried, half-dragged Chrissten down a long corridor. Like the room they’d been kept in, it was pitted, rough concrete painted a depressing gray. Perfect for a movie set about a mad scientist and werewolves. She would have laughed at the absurdity of it all if she weren’t scared out of her mind.

Bethany had no idea where they were or if there was anyone else in the building with them. In the weeks she’d been held captive she’d only seen Brian and the doctor. But that didn’t mean they didn’t have other people helping them. On several occasions, even if she’d never seen them, she’d sensed another presence.

They stumbled through several doorways and Bethany knew they’d both have bruises from their mad dash. Not that she cared and knew Chrissten wouldn’t either. Whatever it took to escape here was worth it.