HUNTED-Chapter 425: Research Centre (5)

After finishing her meal that wasn’t poisoned, Octavius left her with aftercare instructions about not getting the wound wet until it healed. A plastic covering was placed over the bandaged area, and the mad scientist left without another word, though his eyes lingered on her. Once again, it was like she was some specimen he didn’t want to lose.

Alright, maybe being alone with him might be worse than Carter. At least Carter just downright hated her and would probably kill her if he could. Octavius looked ready to either dissect her or turn her into some sort of lab rat. That would be absolute torture.

After resting a little while on the bed, Keira mustered enough strength to get up and limp to the bathroom. She may have been stitched up, but there had been no painkillers given, so she felt every little fibre in her muscle tugging on the newly stitched-up wound. It took her longer than normal to get to the bathroom and then get undressed.

The shower was absolute heaven. Keira didn’t want to like it. She didn’t want to like anything about this place, but she couldn’t deny the shower pressure and heat were spot on. She remained in there longer than necessary, allowing her muscles to relax and steam to fog up the bathroom.

With her hair and body clean, Keira felt much better, ignoring the throbbing pain in her leg as she pressed the dryer button and warm air blew across her skin. She redressed into her cut-up trousers and top and returned to the bedroom only to pause at the new sets of clothing on the bed and a plastic water bottle placed on the white coffee table.

There were two sets of clothes, shorts and a top pyjama set in the same light-grey colour as her scrubs, and a new set of scrubs. Without a window or a clock to tell her the time, Keira could only presume it must be evening. Putting on shorts was going to be easier until her wound fully healed, so she grabbed the pyjama set and put them on in the bathroom.

It freaked her out a little that these belongings were left for her while she was showering.

She felt so defenceless in this glorified cell.

"Bathroom time is limited to twenty minutes." Carter leaned against the wall beside the door, his arms crossed as he watched Keira limp outside the bathroom. Delight glinted across his eyes as he looked at her leg. "If you run over again, I will be coming in whether you’re dressed or not."

"What if I was taking a dump?" Keira tilted her head to the side. It was probably the least Princess thing she’d ever said, but what did it matter while she was here with someone like him?

Carter scowled at her. "I’d still be coming inside. For your privacy, there isn’t a camera in the bathroom. Don’t take liberties."

Keira’s eyebrows shot up. She didn’t discover any cameras, but she didn’t completely wipe the idea clean from her mind. It was too humane. Nothing like what she’d grown up listening to about her mum’s time with the hunters. "I’m surprised there isn’t."

This only made Keira more suspicious. Were they trying to butter her up? Why? What is the purpose? There was a sense of trepidation clinging to her the longer she stayed in this room.

Carter didn’t say anything as she managed to sit down on the sofa and reach for the water. After spending so long in the shower, she was a little dehydrated, and because none of her other food or drinks had been poisoned, she was less suspicious of the water. But after taking a few sips and realising Carter hadn’t moved and was watching her intently, she glanced at the bottle again.

"Oh, you son of a b-" The room spun and she collapsed into a pair of muscular arms. Carter caught her and carried her to the bed, moving aside the covers and placing her gently underneath. The last thing she saw before darkness veiled her was Carter’s smirk.

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With a loud gasp, Keira shot upright from her sleep. The room was cast in darkness beside the line of light following along the bottom of the wall. With her sudden movement, the top line of light flickered on, followed by the main one.

Frantically, she searched the room and then down at her clothes, half expecting Carter to have done something to her. She was untouched, and the throbbing pain in her leg was gone. She felt rejuvenated.

Did they seriously not do anything to her besides drug her?

’Ember?’ She called out again. This time, she felt the growing connection between herself and her wolf.

’Who do we need to kill?’ Her wolf snarled, her voice clear. It was like nothing had happened, and the effects of the wolfsbane had disintegrated.

’Not sure yet. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about this situation.’ Keira pulled back the covers and removed the dressing, shifting to the side and discovering the bullet wound had completely healed. Her skin was spotless.

’That Carter guy was responsible for your wound. He’s first to die,’ Ember growled. She’d obviously been going through Keira’s memories.

Keira didn’t respond, her eyes fixing on the door that stood slightly ajar—the door she attempted to escape from before. Was this a trap?

’I don’t sense anything beyond it,’ Ember’s calm and confident voice resonated in Keira’s mind, easing some of the anxiousness coiling in her gut.

Only some of Keira’s anxiety, though. Remaining on edge wasn’t entirely bad in such an unsettling place where everything was still unknown. The door was definitely left like that on purpose.

Tiptoeing to the door, she peered outside, blinking profusely at the bright light. Nobody was in the long corridor full of doors. Her room was the last one in the corridor. In the corner above her, there was a red blinking light beneath a camera.

They were watching.

She was allowed out.

Both Octavius and Carter spoke about her leaving the room previously. So what now? Was something going to pop out and try and chase her?

’Don’t be ridiculous,’ Ember snorted.

’Is it, though?’ Keira wasn’t quite so sure.

But she let her wild thoughts slide and expected some sort of instructions or annoying comments from Carter. There was none.

Instead of acting like some criminal thief and sneaking around, Keira straightened up and left the room, still expecting to be tackled or something. The difference now, however, was that she now had her wolf. Her senses were heightened, and her recovery was quicker.

Although Ember had only been with her, maybe a day? Had it been two days? Keira didn’t know in this place—she would have to learn how to transform into her wolf form and take control. In this situation, it was a priority.

The only thing that made her hesitate was that the mad scientist and Carter seemed to be waiting for her wolf’s return.

Internally shaking her head, Keira focused on the task at hand. There was no point worrying about stuff that hadn’t happened yet. She would find out in time what they wanted with her—besides her blood.

Curiously, Keira pressed one of the buttons on one of the doors. It slid open, revealing another bedroom. It wasn’t quite as lavish as Keira’s, the room smaller, the bed more of a ¾ size bed than a big double, and there was no TV. Although it didn’t look like it had been lived in, there was a faint scent that someone had recently been in there.

She left the room and checked another and another, noting they were all probably bedrooms. There were at least ten, and presumably all with the same layout.

At the end of the corridor, it led around a corner, which she followed, her body tense and ready for anything.

Anything but this…

Keira paused at the rows of white tables stacked full of people, sitting and eating, quietly bent over food trays, conversing with each other. Everyone wore the light grey scrubs Keira had been in previously. A few masked guards from before were scattered along the large hall by the walls, holding rifles.

"What…" Nobody had noticed her entrance.

Slowly, Keira walked up to the closest table and the person whose back had been to her. "Excuse me… Can you tell me what’s going on here?" She asked her.

The woman didn’t even look up, as though she wasn’t acknowledging her. Frowning, Keira moved onto someone across from her, and the man did the same. He was focused on his food. The teenager beside him ignored her by turning his head in the opposite direction and striking up a hushed conversation with the person beside him.

’Why is everyone ignoring me? Should I ask one of the guards?’Even as she thought that to her wolf, Keira glanced in their direction and thought better of it. She didn’t fancy being shot again.

None of this was making sense, though! There had to be at least forty to fifty werewolves in this hall and only eight guards? Sure, there were surveillance cameras and possibly more guards that could turn up, but surely they could win any fight and escape?

The more Keira assessed the werewolves, though, the more she realised there were new wounds, cuts and bruises at least somewhere on each werewolf. Nobody was younger than eighteen, which also brought to question why Chloe was their target and, when she had been younger, why Amerie and Keira had been if everyone in this facility had to at least have a werewolf.

Keira walked further along the same table and stopped when she saw a woman sitting alone, seeming to keep to herself a little. She would try again. Leaning onto the table with her hand so her face was in the woman’s line of sight, Keira asked once more, "What’s going on here? I’m new and…"

The woman, with one side of her brown hair shaved where a jagged scar was prominent, looked up and glared fiercely at Keira. Her dark brown eyes sliced through her. She didn’t say anything and returned to her breakfast of muesli cereal.

"Nevermind…" Keira sought a friendlier face and paused when one was looking right at her. He was the guy from before when she held a gun against the guard’s throat.

He waved her over, looking cautiously at the guards as he did so. He sat diagonally from the woman with the scar, and unlike others in this hall, he had no cuts or bruises. Maybe because he was also new?

"You’re the one who tried escaping yesterday… Badass," he whispered with a grin. The woman glared at them. "Look, line up and grab some food. Nobody will help you here."

Keira frowned. "Why not?"

The guy glanced in the guard’s direction. Two of them started to move towards them at the other end of the hall. Keira understood and stood immediately, looking for this line to receive some food. As soon as she started walking away, the guards returned to the wall.

’What the hell have we got ourselves into?’ Ember asked, whispering like others might hear her in the hall.

’We’re about to find out.’