Welcome Back to Hell

The metal fence gate opened and I was pushed roughly through the gap. Stray endings of metal nicked the bare skin of my arms and I gritted my teeth as I was escorted back to the facility named DeadLock. My orange jumpsuit was rolled down to my waist, worn on top of a black t-shirt. I swear I resembled a bumble-bee. Wedged beneath two guards, with tree trunks for arms, we entered the large isolated white building. The inside walls were blank and expressionless; kinda like our so-called Carers', the people in blue scrubs who 'looked' after us, and the air smelled like bleach. I hated bleach.

 

The lovely receptionist Anna logged me in, her bristly eyebrows just stopping shy of her eyes. She gave me a look of disgust as she typed my name into her highly advanced computer, which I returned with a lip curl and a slight viewing of my fangs. B***h. Grant and Michael, the two blockheads with guns, kicked me forward on the back of my legs to get me moving again. I growled in response but complied; I was so ready to just bunk down for two weeks. Moving within the labyrinth of corridors, never taking a wrong turn, never not knowing our exact location, the three of us finely made it to the cells.

 

Noise was emitting from all directions instantly attacking my ears; I had gone too long without sound. Smirking at the familiar scene I made my way down the walkway all too pleased to be back. As I passed Cells the noise began to quieten down before stopping completely. All eyes were on me. I looked side to side, taking in faces �" new and old, noticing the absences and a final count of just how many kids were now here. Passing a cell three down from mine I almost froze in my boots; a girl no older than five sat on a bench, head bent with tears running down her cheeks. I watched with wide eyes as her right arm fell off, another immediately growing in its place. Damn Monkeys! Stuffing my hands into my pockets I maintained a casual look, ignoring the demand of tearing a few heads off of shoulders.

 

"Open number Fifty-One," Grant called.

 

A shrill bell rang; causing my ears to lie back against my head and I gritted my teeth. The gate elevated upwards, leaving a large enough gap for me to slip underneath, Michael kicked me down and through with his heavy combat boot and I stood on the other side with a death glare.

 

"Same time next month, gentlemen?" I asked with a snarl.

 

My only answer was the slam of the cell wall and the clicking of their boots fading away. Damn b******s.

 

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," a voice sing-songed from behind me, I turned to see a young girl sitting on the top bunk, her abnormal cat eyes drinking the sight of me in. "Jinx is back in DeadLock."

 

The girl's rabbit ears twitched on her head as she grinned at me from the top bed.

 

"Shove off my bunk, Twinkie," I growled, grabbing her legs and roughly pulling her off the bed and onto the floor with a thud. In an instant she was back on her feet, her face set in to a glare.

 

"Well that wasn't a very nice 'I'm home' gesture," she said, "how about a hug instead?"

 

I turned away from her out spread arms and climbed up onto my bed. "Don't tell me you've been sleeping up here while I've been out."

 

She blinked her large blue cat eyes at me, feigning innocence, "Your scent was beginning to fade, so I was just biding my time before it did."

 

"I just had to be celled with a feline that likes to mark her territory," groaning, I buried my head in my stiff concrete-like pillow.

 

"Oh please," Twinkie frowned, "you were given more cat-like properties than I was, so if anyone is the feline it's you. Besides, if you haven't noticed I also have rabbit ears," she clambered into the bunk beneath me and our cage fell silent.

 

I lay on my back; hands tucked behind my head and stared at the grey ceiling. The lumpy mattress beneath me was welcoming after the hard floor I had been sleeping on for the past two weeks. As the hours passed the block got quiet, save for the few snores radiating from various cells, still I watched the ceiling, sinking down into an easy sleep.

 

"Jinx?" Twinkie's girly voice spoke quietly from beneath me, "Welcome back to Hell."

 

My eyes hardened in the dark and I swiftly sat up, pulled off my boots and chucked them onto the concrete ground. The sound echoed off loudly, earning a few grunts from disturbed sleepers. Snuggling back down I turned on my side

and let sleep capture me.

 

                                                         xxxXXxxx

 

"C'mon Sleeping Beauties, wakey wakey eggs and bakey!"

I woke to the sound of metal rattling metal and my ears laid back in distaste, "Why can't you b******s just let me sleep?" Jumping down from my bunk I faced the opening gate and roughly pulled on my boots. Beside me Twinkie slid out of bed, rubbing her eyes wearily.

 

"You kids know the drill; breakfast is only served for half an hour then it's school time," Jack told us with a smirk. "Welcome back to the Facility by the way, Jinxie. Twinkie sure did miss you, isn't that right sweetheart?" laughing he moved on to wake up the next lot.

 

I growled and ducked beneath the gate fully intending to break that twenty-something idiot's neck. Raising my arm I was about to take the chance when a strong hand clasped my wrist tightly, preventing me from my chance. Scowling as Jack walked away Scott free I yanked my arm free and, sending a glare over my shoulder to Easton, my cell neighbour, stuffed my hands into my pockets and moved on. He silently moved behind me to the right, his boots clicking off the ground. Ahead of us two men were pushing a gurney from a cell, a small body lay on top in a body bag and I realised it had been the little girl with the re-growing arm. Closing my eyes I stalked past them, ignoring the scene just like the rest of us freaks.

 

"These f****n' experiments are getting ridiculous," Hunter growled somewhere from behind me.

 

I looked back at him, and he greeted me with his eyes.

 

The Monkeys had labelled him as a Stutter, someone who showed progress but at a slow rate. No one was too sure what experiment the Monkeys' had conducted on him since he was developing at snail pace; he still looked like the kid who had come here two years ago, but that would change soon enough. All we had to do was wait for the results.

 

"Jinx!" a small body landed on my back, wrapping their legs tightly around my waist.

 

I looked over my shoulder at Rodent, his little smile greeting me, "I missed you!"

 

Rodent was a small kid; he'd been a tester for a Size Maintaining Drug but thankfully hadn't suffered the pain of being the one who tested the early samples. He was still given them so the Monkeys' could see if the drugs had any long term effects, so far none had taken place.

 

"I'd get off her back if I were you, Ro," Easton told him walking ahead of us.

 

"We all know her bite is worse than her bark," Hunter told him, ruffling the rug-rats light hair.

 

I sighed and continued walking, "Just don't yank my tail," I mumbled back to him. The kid had a strange fascination with my non-human body part, for some reason he thought it would be like elastic and stretch. Oh how wrong he was.

 

"Earl and Hunter both told me that you were coming back today," he chatted brightly still clinging to my back like a baby monkey, "Twinkie was disappointed; she hoped you'd be in confinement for a little longer. You don't really have the best cell-mate do you, Jinx?"

 

I chuckled, "Too true, but she's not as bad as others. She's just territorial and likes things to be hers." I sensed him nod in agreement and felt him unlatch himself from my body.

 

"Well, I'm gonna go catch up with David. We're gonna see who can eat the most crap before being sick." I rolled my eyes as he ran off. Boys will be boys, even if they're mutated boys.

 

Our large crowd was herded into a spacious room late experiments had dubbed the Cafeteria; I sauntered over to my regular table knowing my usual crowd would follow. Guards stood at every exit monitoring our every move, a smart idea considering we consisted of life stages ranging from toddlers, children, pre-teens and teenagers. Fights weren't rare in this place.

 

I slouched in my chair assessing the hall for anything that looked out of place. Absent minded I noticed Easton sat to my right, Hunter placed himself opposite me and Twinkie wandered off to sit with other kids her age. She may be my cellmate but I didn't accept her company elsewhere, and she knew it.

 

"Valerie's missing," I said as a Carer placed cereal in front of us. He looked down at me disapprovingly but I ignored him and added milk to my cheerios before the jug was swiped.

 

"Ten days," Easton said digging in to his own breakfast.

 

I sat back and took in this new piece of information; she had been dead for ten days. I guessed it was due to the last experiment the Monkeys' had decided to use her for; to see if they could enhance skin to make it glow in the dark. A worthless experiment for the token of a life. Hunter watched me closely, trying to gauge an emotion from my face, but gave up when he realised I wasn't going to reveal anything.

 

"How was the cage?" Earl slid into a seat at the table and scooped up a bowl.

 

I tipped my head towards him, taking in his grey hair and wrinkled face, "Soundless."

 

He laughed and took a mouthful of cereal, "That's solitary confinement for you. I'm guessing you're going back next month?"

 

I shrugged, "I'm a usual, and I have to make monthly visits."

 

"Better watch out," he continued, "Twinkie has her eye on your bunk."

 

My left eye twitched with irritation, "Well then, the runt is gonna have to kill me for it."

 

Earl grinned, "I thought you'd say that."

 

Someone walking behind him bashed their tray into his head, "Sorry," they laughed, "didn't see you there, old man."

 

Beneath the table my fists clenched. Earl was born as an experiment; the Monkeys' wanted to know if they could reverse the process of aging so they had taken him as a baby and modified him to look older although currently he was only thirteen. Think The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Now they were trying to reverse his age and make him look young again, which they were nowhere near close enough to accomplish. So he was living his early teen years looking like a seventy year old man, but he still had the strength, stamina and energy as a kid which was something I guess. But the rug rats that made fun of him cause of this needed their f*****g heads smashed in with a bat.

 

"Hey!" I shouted at the little prick, standing from my seat.

 

The kid stopped instantly and turned to face me, recognising my profile all colour drained from his face. I grinned cruelly back at him. Oh yeah he knew what was coming.

 

"I'm sorry there, kiddo. I seemed to have missed what you said to Earl here," I snarled at the eleven year old, relishing in the fact that he found me terrifying.

Involuntarily he took several steps back, his body already shaking from fear.

 

"Now, now, where are you going? I just want to play," I said following him as he retreated.

 

The Cafeteria had fallen silent; all freaks were watching the show down.

"I-I-I d-d-don't w-want to play," he stuttered, eyes wide as I approached him more quickly.

 

"Oh won't you?" I asked, cocking my head to the side with a pleading face, "I'm part cat you know, and we kitties just love to play!"

 

I aimed and executed a perfect punch on his jaw and watched him sail through the air, hitting the wall. We may all be experiments but that didn't excuse ill treatment. I was never good at words so I spoke with the only way I knew how; by fighting. In the next second I pounced on him, piercing my fangs into his neck and scratching furiously at his jumpsuit with my extended claws. He yelped and tried to swat me away but I was latched on fast. He screamed for help as I pierced both my weapons deeper, proving who was stronger, who had to obey. After several minutes I sensed it was enough and dropped him, watching as he hit the floor with a satisfied smile. Spitting his blood out my mouth to the side I re-faced him, "Care to say anything else?"

 

He looked up at me as white as a sheet. Blue blood spilled out his neck, soaking the collar of his t-shirt and he shook as he waited for my next move. Hands back in my pockets I bent down to his size and leaned into his face, "Boo!"

 

He jumped up and ran for his table and I laughed at his attempt to escape. All of us kids lived in hell, we were born in here and we would most likely die here as well. There was no escape for any of us. DeadLock was a place where we were conducted in human experiments, it was unavoidable for us not to be a part of them. Everyone here was scared every moment of their lives, their minds not able to think of what waited for them in the future which was why I did what I did. I attacked, I fought, I injured �" to those that deserved it and to those who didn't. We had to be tough, we had to show no weakness and we couldn't cry no matter what.

 

Flipping my hair back over my shoulder I turned to head back to my table, but I was stunned with a stun-gun before I could take a step. My body staggered before I fell forward, landing hard onto the cold floor.

 

Then my world went black.