Page 115 of Wicked Little Nightmare

Cam chuckled, biting at the top of my earlobe. "Yep." He ran his fingertip lightly over my throat before grabbing my hand and pressing a kiss into my palm.

“Everyone feeling good? Can we head out now?” Rose asked as she fiddled with her gun. “I really just want to get out of here. Anywhere. Just far, far from this place.”

I leaned across, taking it from her and pushing the safety on. “Yeah, Kyle, let’s hit the road. I’m starvin’.”

Thirty-Nine: Cam

We’d been driving for an hour in silence, and it was getting irritating. Sarah was wound so tight she could shit a diamond. She’d been going through the information on Kyle’s phone— the stuff he’d downloaded from the lab computer. Kyle was being a dick and refused to turn on any music, so all we were listening to was the sound of his obnoxious fucking breathing.

"Alright, spit it out," I drawled, meeting her gaze as she looked at me through the rearview. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

Sarah's jaw clenched. "This facility... it's not just a breeding ground. It's an assembly line for compliant killers."

Lakey perked up at that, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Ooh, do tell. I do love a good murder factory. The docs I read just said they were modifying them, not what they were for."

I snorted, but my amusement faded as Sarah laid out her theory. Words like "conditioning”, and "behavioralmodification" made my skin crawl. Flashes of white walls and sterile needles danced at the edges of my vision.

"Think about it," Sarah was saying, her voice steady but urgent. "The meticulous record-keeping, the genetic profiling. They're not just breeding the perfect bodies; they're engineering the perfect minds."

The van felt too small suddenly, closing in around me. I gripped the steering wheel tighter, knuckles white.

"Makes sense," Lakey chirped. "Can't have your pet assassins growing a conscience, can you?"

I wanted to tell her to shut up, but my throat was dry. The smell of antiseptic filled my nose, a phantom from another life.

Sarah's voice droned on, connecting dots I didn't want connected. "...selective breeding for certain traits, coupled with early indoctrination..."

A memory surfaced, digging into my brain, making me uncomfortable. Me, maybe six years old, strapped to a chair while men in white coats loomed over me. The sting of a needle, then blessed darkness.

"Cam?" Lakey's voice cut through the fog. "You okay, baby? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I blinked looking over at her with a wink, forcing a lazy grin. "Just admiring the view, sweetheart. Sarah's quite the detective, isn’t she?"

But inside, my mind was reeling. What if I wasn't the self-made monster I'd always believed? What if someone else had their fingers in my brain, molding me into their perfect monster? Maybe, if they’d have left me alone, I’d have been able to accomplish those short-term dreams I’d had as a child. Back when I was innocent, and blood hadn’t stained my hands.

The thought made me want to put my fist through something. Or someone.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, desperate to focus on anything else. "We storming the castle, or what?"

Sarah's eyes met mine again, determination blazing. "We need to debrief and rest. But yeah, eventually? We're going to destroy them. And that is where you two come in.” She smiled as if she’d just said the kindest thing in the world.

I bit back a retort and nodded instead, a familiar thrill of violence threading through me. At least that felt real, felt like me.

"Now you're speaking my language," Lakey purred, snuggling closer. Her warmth grounded me, bringing with it a sense of peace and pushing out the memories that were trying to fill in the gaps.

Whatever they'd done to me in that place, they couldn't touch this. Lakey was mine, and I was hers. Everything else could stay buried in the fucking dark, but I wouldn’t let those ghosts destroy us. I couldn’t.

Rose's voice cut through my dark thoughts, soft but edged with steel. "I... I think I remember a place like that. I mean, the one we just came from. Not clearly, but..." She trailed off, her eyes going distant.

I watched her, curiosity prickling under my skin. Rose was a mystery, all wide-eyed innocence one minute and kick-ass nut when triggered. Kind of reminded me of Lakey, if I'm being honest. Well, back when we were kids. Before I went to juvie. She was tough, but she still held an air of hope around her. After I was convicted, everything changed. It was like that small piece of her that still held the innocence of a child had died, and in its place, a cold-blooded killer stood.

"It's okay, Rose," Sarah murmured, reaching back to touch her arm. "Take your time."

Rose flinched at the contact, then seemed to force herself to relax. "There were... white walls. The smell of blood. And pain. So much pain."

Lakey tensed against me, her fingers digging into my thigh. I knew that look in her eyes – she was imagining all the ways she could make those responsible suffer.

"But that can't be right," Rose continued, her voice gaining strength. "I had a family. A real one. I remember... I remember my mom's laugh, my dad's stupid jokes. That has to be real. It has to be. Besides, babies don’t have memories, right? That’s what they say in those textbooks. No pain, no memories. Just a blank slate. Tabula Rasa."

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