Page 23 of Last Hope
“To take the sample, merely a few seconds; studying his DNA, however, is a longer process. But we are going to try and force the transformation out of him somehow.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Crawford watched as the scientists stuck a needle into Savvy, extracting his bright red blood. He noticed how Savvy’s face had turned a sickly green color.
“Well, their species, so we’ve seen through studies, tend to go through the transformation from human to wolf because of sudden fright, bursts of anger, or pain. So, we plan on trying that to test out his abilities.”
Sudden fright or bursts of anger… “So, torture?” Terrance read between the lines. How else would you scare a child wolf, who already appeared to be terrified, into changing into his wolf form?
Taylor smiled cruelly and it made Crawford want to rip his lips from his face. “Indeed, we will begin with a few simple torture methods. Nothing too big considering yourattachmentto him. Sudden acts of violence might be able to, in simpler terms, surprise the wolf out of him.”
Terrance gave a stiff nod and stared at Savvy. The kid was staring back at him, his already round, green eyes widening further as if to saydon’t let them hurt me!
Terrance wished he could tell him he wouldn’t let them do anything to him, that he had his back. But he wasn’t Victoria. He couldn’t signal the boy with facial expressions or reassure him with soft brown eyes that everything was going to be okay. It wasn’t his style to provide false hope to his partners. So, Savvy was stuck with cold grey eyes to look at as they started to torture him. There was nothing Terrance could do. He couldn’t stop them yet, not without getting them both killed.
“Terrance, do something!”Victoria’s voice screamed in his ear.“Don’t let them torture him! Stop them before they hurt him!”Her voice came out as a static shriek, causing him to immediately and unintentionally reach for his ear and turn down the device. He turned his eyes to make sure Taylor didn’t notice. When Terrance was sure that he didn’t, he focused his attention on Savvy again.
One of the scientists had lifted up a small object that resembled a hammer. “They are going to break the bones of his fingers,” Taylor narrated their actions. “We want to test his healing process. If he heals quickly and changes into a wolf at the same time, well, then, he’s in perfect condition.”
Savvy’s eyes widened as he stared at Terrance and tears began to roll down his face. But he didn’t cry out. He bit his bottom lip, extracting blood from a wound he had created and waited for the pain to come.
Terrance didn’t dare make a move to stop them, though he wanted to. He had to wait; he had to wait while the scientists distracted themselves. He would take out Taylor first. He would then take out the scientists and therealplan could be set in motion.
The scientists bent over Savvy, one of them gripping his arm with a latex covered hand while the other raised the hammer over his head and brought it slamming down onto his fingers. The crack of his bones and his mangled cries were like a stab wound to Crawford’s side. He could see the way Savvy’s fingers twisted grotesquely and unevenly as they slammed it down yet again, causing his bones to jut out of place. Savvy cried out, and still there was no transformation.
“Extraordinary!” Taylor exclaimed, his red vampire eyes lighting up. He took a step forward to the table and that’s when Terrance found the perfect opportunity. He put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder, causing him to turn with a question on his raised brow. Terrance gripped him and slammed him against the wall, staring deeply into his crimson eyes.Forget my face, forget this visit, you will not remember. Forget…forget…
He blurred the images of Terrance Crawford from Taylor’s mind until he was nothing but mere fog. The vampire’s eyes dilated a mere moment before his eyelids fluttered violently and he fell to the floor. When he woke up, he would have a migraine, but that would be the least of his worries.
Terrance quickly turned to the other two men, who were still smashing Savvy’s fingers in with a hammer. He ran towards the one doing wielding the hammer and wrapped his forearm around the man’s neck, cutting off his airway.
Out of surprise, the hammer fell from his hand and to the floor, where it made a clattering sound around them. The second man made a move towards Terrance, but he stared deep into his eyes, just as he did with Taylor, blurring the exact same thoughts until he fell to the floor, unconscious.
“Make one wrong move and your fate will be the same as theirs.” Terrance pulled at the man’s neck. Terrance could sense the vampire in him. But he could also sense his fear; which meant that he had no ideawhatTerrance was and wouldn’t risk moving and getting killed. He pulled at the man’s collar, walking backwards until he came in contact with the wall. “And I have a few questions for you.” He grabbed the man and flipped him around so he was pushed up against the wall, Terrance’s forearm pressed tightly against his neck. He knew it did little damage, considering it was a vampire. But, in an instant, he channeled his powers and dug the truth from his eyes. “Tell me why you created the injectable vampire virus.”
The man’s eyes went wide, the black of his pupils swallowing his yellow iris. Terrance could practically see the internal battle in his eyes: to follow orders or tell the truth? Of course, the debate would last a simple three seconds before the truth would overpower him and he would tell him all of the laboratory’s dirty little secrets.
“B-because they needed it for the machine! They need it for their plan!”
He pressed his arm tighter against the vampire’s neck. “What plan?”
“They want to infect the human populous with the venom and turn them into vampires!”
Terrance didn’t break eye contact or else he’d lose control but he felt Savvy come to his side and say in a shaky voice, “But that would never work, would it? How can you go around injecting theentirepopulation with venom? For the venom to work it needs vampire blood in the system to balance it out or else it could kill the host. Your plan is futile.”
The vampire laughed. “You stupid fool!”
Annoyed, Terrance choked him harder. “You said something about a machine…elaborate!” he pulled the truth from his mind, willing it to come out from his lips.
The vampire opened his mouth to oblige to Crawford’s every demand but the words never came out. Instead, blood spurted from his opened mouth, splattering Terrance in the face, surprising him so much that, in an instant, he dropped the vampire and he crumpled to the floor, clutching at his chest where there was a giant knife protruding from it. When it had gotten there, Terrance didn’t know. He hadn’t even sensed it.
“He talked too much.” A musical voice came from behind them.
Both Terrance and Savvy whipped around in a rush and saw Azizi. Savvy was surprised into silence at Terrance’s side. A shocked, frightened silence.
“Terrance Crawford of the FBSI, I presume?” Azizi was smaller than Terrance had expected. Almost the same size as Burns, with a younger face, that of a twelve year old. He had soft, almost feminine features, with slanted cat-like dark eyes that mirrored his sister’s. His skin was dark, his hair even darker.
Terrance didn’t feel the need to reply.
“I was wondering when we’d make acquaintance.” Azizi smiled fully. “I’ve been so eager to meet you.”
