{"sf1_id":576120,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Skyfall Chapter 20","author":"Abyssa","words":4915,"posted_at":"2013-08-14T07:33:00.000Z","tags":["Alien","Gore","Laboratory","Male","Transformation","Werewolf","Wolf","blood","experiment","prisoner"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/576120-skyfall-chapter-20","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/576120","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=576120\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"20\n  My\ndreams were filled with a strange darkness. Guilt overwhelmed me. Fleur had\ntried to protect me, and now she was in danger. \n  I had also killed someone. Had\nit been self defense? Maybe...but that still did not make it right. I struggled\nwith the realization that the wolf girl was dead. She seemed so young and full\nof life. Why did they want her dead? Were they done tormenting her? Perhaps she\nwas happier dead. I didn't know.\n  When I woke up, I was staring\nthrough the bars of my cell and watching a guard carry Fleur into the room. It\nwas Caliber. I slowly moved over to the bars and watched as he placed her in\nthe cell next to me. \n  I stared into my reflection in\nthe metal wall that blocked me from her and punched it with my fist as I\nsnarled. I was still wounded from the fight, and my arm leaked blood as I tore\nthe flesh open again from using the muscles. \n  Caliber stopped to watch me\nmomentarily as I continued to punch the metallic wall. My fist bloodied my reflection\nas I pounded into the wall, blurring the image of my tormented face. When my\nmuscles couldn't take it anymore, I finally stopped and turned to Caliber.\n  I couldn't see his eyes. I\nlooked at his quiet, stoic figure and gripped onto the bars and snarled. He\nglanced towards the door and then back at me.\n  \"WHAT?\" I yelled at him.\n  \"I'm so sorry, Decipher.\"\nCaliber said in a quiet voice. \"Soon you will be tested. Do what you must, no\nmatter how much it hurts.\" \n  I snarled again at him. I\ndidn't have the mind to ask him what he meant. All my thoughts burned with a\ndesire to kill Misha. He walked out of the room in silence.\n  A few moments later, I heard\nFleur stir beside me. I pressed my hands up against the metal wall. \"Fleur?\" I\ncalled out desperately. \"What did they do to you?\"\n  \"Two-fif-..Decipher?\" She asked\nin a tired voice.\n  \"I cannot thank you enough for\nwhat you did.\" I whispered. \"You shouldn't have. I cannot believe what I've\ndone to you.\"\n  \"What you've done to me? What\nabout what I've done to you?\" She let out a short laugh. I heard her shuffle\naround in the cell next to me. \"One who watches evil unfold without attempting\nto stop it is just as guilty as the one who performs the evil act. We all know\nthis, yet we stand by and watch anyway.\" She said quietly. \"You simply gave me\nthe courage to say enough. I've done terrible things, and I deserve whatever\nhappens.\" \n  \"I'll take you away from here,\nFleur!\" I yelled, staring into my desperate, violet eyes in the bloodied\nreflection. \"I don't care what you did before; none of that matters!\" \n  \"No, Decipher.\" Fleur's voice\nsighed. \"They will kill me.\" \n  \"No, Fleur! Don't think like\nthat.\" I begged. \"I won't let them!\"\n  \"They'll ask you to execute\nme.\"\n  That silenced me. My eyes\nglistened with sorrow as blinked rapidly in attempt to escape this nightmare. \n  \"If you refuse, they'll just\nfind another way to torture you until you listen to them. I'll end up dead one\nway or another, Decipher.\" She said, \"Please don't let them be the ones to kill\nme. I want to give you something. I can offer you a way out.\"\n  I shook my head. \"No....no....\" I\ncried as I fell to my knees, my hands dragging the blood down with me. \n  Time\ncontinued to pass. I was compliant in every way they asked. Fleur was kept in\nthe cell beside me, and I was glad that I never saw her dragged out to be\ntested. I would try to speak with her, but she became quiet. She only mentioned\nshe hated the waiting, and that she was ready. I begged her to try and escape\nwith me, but she said that she had lived far too long and was ready to go. She\nasked me to promise her I would do what was necessary.  \n  The day eventually came. Doctor\nHale and Misha Aras came to my cell together. The two men I despised more than\nanything else, standing above me and looking down on me as if I were below\nthem. \n  I wasn't below them. I would\nrise up.  \n  Misha opened Fleur's cell while\nHale instructed me to follow him out. My heart was having a difficult time\nbeating. It wasn't racing, but instead it had slowed down, as if it were\npumping lead throughout my body. \n  Fleur didn't seem to look much\ndifferent. She gave me a sad smile as Hale led us foreword. Calming my mind as\nwe walked was very difficult, but I knew I wouldn't be able to successfully\nhurt either of them. \n  I was led into the small arena\nonce again. The floor was clean and the white canvas waited to be painted with\nanother's life. Hale did not enter the room with us, only Misha.\n  Misha was scribbling some notes\ndown on his clipboard nonchalantly, as if Fleur's death would have no affect on\nhim. It shouldn't have still surprised me, but it did.  \n  After a few moments, he looked\nup and led Fleur to the center of the room. I stayed where I was and watched\nhim carefully. Fleur was looking at me with apologetic eyes.\n  \"Fleur. You will be executed\ntoday on account of your betrayal.\" He said, turning to me. \"Two-fifty-seven,\ndestroy her.\"\n  My muscles locked. Fleur was\nstaring at me with a smile. How could she be smiling? My body burned as my mind\nfought with it. I couldn't move, my emotions locked me into place. I briefly\nglanced at Misha, wishing I could tear into him instead. That's why he was\nstanding here, to make sure that I would obey. Even if I fought it, they would\nfigure something else out. I had to obey now if I had any hopes of escaping,\nbut this proved to me that it was possible to fight it.  Decipher. Fleur's voice echoed\nin my head, I'm a nymph. We have a\nspecial ability. \n  I stared at her with wide\neyes as my ears fell back. I didn't have the time to think about what a nymph\nwas.\n  \"What are you waiting for?\"\nMisha asked me, \"GO!\"\n  My body jerked at his\ncommand, but I needed to hear the rest of her message.   If we choose, we can give the power\nof our souls to whoever kills us. I can return to help you escape. You will\nhave my power at your hand; my real power! Her voice danced in my mind like\na butterfly I couldn't catch. I know I've\ndone terrible things, and this won't make up for all of them...but Decipher, let\nme help you. Misha looked like he was about to yell at me again when I\nturned to look at him. I whined softly as I realized I had to kill Fleur. Don't feel sorry for me, Decipher. You gave\nme an opportunity for redemption. Now, please...\n  I let out a howl and\ncharged at her before Misha could instruct me to again. When I reached her, I\nbit down into her neck and instantly crushed her windpipe to lessen her\nsuffering. \n  Do not worry, Hale will not know. The process is invisible to everyone\nexcept for us. We can only share this information as we die. Her voice was peaceful,\na calming melody in my tormented mind. He\nwill never find out.\n  She hardly struggled at my\ntouch, and her eyes began to glow with an incredible, golden light. The light\nwas as beautiful as when I had seen Kato transform, and my heart broke at the\nsight of it. The golden light surrounded my body as I gently let go of her\nneck, and I felt the warmth of her soul enter me. \nYou can fight the hypnosis, Decipher. It won't be hard. Her voice\nfaded from my mind as the warmth spread across me. Thank you.\n  I fell to me knees holding\nFleur's lifeless body, and gently laid her down. I slowly moved my hand over to\nclose her stormy eyes as her blood pooled onto the floor. My mouth was numb as\nher life dripped from my teeth. I stared at her in silence, forgetting\neverything else, and silently thanked her. \n  Misha walked over to me and put\nhis hand on my shoulder. \"Good work. Are you still with me?\" He asked. Even his\ntouch couldn't shake me after this. \n  I slowly sat up and moved away\nfrom his touch and nodded. \"I am fine.\" I whispered, looking away from Fleur's\nbody.\n  Hale entered the room not long\nafter, wearing his wicked grin. I forced my mind to stay calm as my body obeyed\ntheir commands. \n  \"Go back to your cell,\ntwo-fifty-seven.\" Hale said with a nod. \"Aras, go lock him up. Make sure the\nexam room is ready for me within an hour.\"\n  I\nwas placed inside my cell once again. Fleur's energy surrounded my mind with\npeace when I thought about her death. I took some time to reflect on the event.\nShe had given me a gift. I wasn't sure what her energy would do, but I wouldn't\nwaste it. \n  I felt sad that Fleur had to\ndie, but she did not. She was happy to go and give me a way out, and that was\nwhat eventually brought me peace.  \n  \"It's almost time to let you\nout, Decipher.\" Hale's voice shook me out of my contemplation. I looked up at\nhim slowly. \n  \"There's one more test, of\ncourse. But it seems you already know what we're going to ask of you.\" He\nsighed. \"That takes a bit of the fun out of it.\"\n  I pulled my lips back and\nsnarled at him. I would obey, but I wasn't afraid to let him know I wasn't\nhappy. He probably preferred to see me miserable, anyway, so I let the growl\nhappen.\n  Hale opened the cell and\ngestured for me to walk out. My body obeyed him.\n  I felt like I was cursed.\nEveryone I had cared about was in danger because of me. Yet Misha, the only man\nI truly hated, was going to remain fine and living while they used my rage\ntowards him to their advantage. When I tried to think about what Hale was about\nto do, I did not feel anything. There was no fear or anger, only acceptance.\nFleur's death had shaken me in a way I never expected. \n  I was ready to face him.   \nHe says it's about time to let you out. My mind told me. If you can survive this, you'll be let\nout! One step closer, Decipher.\n  I didn't trust the thoughts\nthat chimed in my head, but somehow, I felt like they weren't all my own. I\nsent a silent prayer to the Goddess for the strength to endure whatever I was\nabout to feel.  \n  Hale led me into a room with a\nlarge cage. Not a cell, but a square cage that would hold me. The bars were\niron but shined with a strange kind of energy. Hale opened the door and shoved\nme inside.\n  \"You're going to transform for\nme today, alien.\" Hale said. \"I am done playing games.\"\n  I stepped inside the cage and\navoided the bars. I wondered what they did, but I was distracted by the sight\nof Fin. He came up beside Hale with a tray of medical tools. I caught a glimpse\nof his face and saw anger and pain etched across it. I wished I could apologize\nfor what I had done. Before I had the chance, Hale distracted me. \n  \"I won't even use any drugs\nthis time.\" Hale said as he circled around the cage. \"Now, transform.\"\n  The command startled me. How\ncould he expect me to just transform? My body obeyed his wishes, though, and I\nfell to my knees.\n  I didn't have the energy to\nstop the process. I yelled out in pain as my DNA became scrambled. My body and\nmind weren't synched together. Didn't he realize this was a horrible idea? I\nneeded time to focus!\n  I rolled around on the ground\nas chunks of flesh stripped off of my body. My markings were shining with a\nblinding green light as they etched themselves farther up my arm and onto my\nface and neck. I could feel them stinging in scattered spots as they reached\nthe markings around my eyes. \n  I turned and vomited blood,\nalong with chunks of my body. I was breaking apart, and my mind could not build\nmy original form back due to the pain and exhaustion. I began to feel my bones\ncracking inside of me as my body commanded itself to break down and reform.\n  I closed my eyes and tried to\nquiet my mind as my body struggled. I was going to die if I could not focus on\nmy original DNA, which felt ancient now. I focused on my original form...my\niridescent, slick skin...the taloned hands with four fingers...my face...\n  I vomited again, this time my\nteeth came out with it. I felt my tongue start to change shape as I expelled\nthe old DNA. My tongue tore in two and slithered around inside my mouth as\ntwisted teeth curved from my gums and began to vomit out the purplish, maroon\nblood of my original form. \n  My arms had shrunk down to\ntheir lean, agile form, with curved blades jutting from my elbow. I was\nsucceeding. I could hardly believe it as I took a moment to observe my\nglistening, green markings across my skin. \n\n  My eyes split apart and the\nimage of my internal scanner activated itself. The data was jumbled, and all I\nsaw was static and scrambled code. I used my external-vision eyes to look at\nHale, who was watching with a fascinated look. The sight of him caused me to\nhiss and let out a shrieking scream. The sound seemed to shake him.\n  I lost concentration and my\nbody was unable to keep transforming. I collapsed onto the floor of the cage\nwhile Hale walked over to me. I saw him walk right through the bars, as if they\ndidn't really exist, and then he stabbed a needle into me. As my blood leaked\nout, my real blood, I struggled weakly. Unfortunately, alien arms were weak and\nmy sharp claws were unable to strike. My eyes began to hurt and the world\nbecame blurry.\n  I heard Hale's voice, but I did\nnot understand him. I was on the verge of blacking out... I suddenly felt so\ndistant from my body, like I was waking up from this nightmare. I lost all\nfeeling shortly after.\n  I think I am dying.  \"Stay alive,\" was the next\ncommand I could comprehend. \"I'm not done with you yet.\"\n. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .\n  I\nfelt her eyes on me. I did not know where I was, or what I was, but I felt like\nnothing of my body remained. There was too much blood and smog clouding my\nvision, but something in my mind told me the Goddess was near.\n  I felt a strange feeling wash\nover me, as if I were somehow changing in a way that I could not comprehend.\nAll I knew was that I felt different. \n  A blurred shape moved in front\nof me...a guard's helmet. He removed his helmet, and the blurry shape of\nCaliber's face appeared in front of me.\n  Caliber placed a hand on whatever\nwas left of me, and the changing sensation intensified.\n \nYou survived! I heard his voice echo in my mind. Welcome home...\n   And then it was quiet, a silence louder than\nanything I have ever experienced. I entered complete emptiness; a void within\nmyself. \n  \n  A distant chirping sound summoned\nme from the void...birds? I pulled\nmyself back into the world as I cracked open my eyes and glanced at the\nsunlight shining into my eyes. The blinding white blurred my vision, as if I\nhad just entered a heavenly realm of light. Confused, I slowly sat up in the\ncomfortable, soft bed. My bed...I glanced up to see the window looking out\ntowards Skyfall.\n  Shocked, I jumped up only to see\nthat my form had completely rebuilt itself back into the half-wolf half-man it\nwas before. I felt perfectly fine except a bit sore. I touched my body all\nover, just to make sure I was actually alright. I wasn't sure what was real\nanymore. Had any of my life been real? \n  My transformation had felt like a\nquick, painful dream. Everything had happened so fast, and I don't think I\ncompleted the transformation. How could I have possibly had the strength to\nreform into this body?\n  I approached the window slowly\nand let the surreal, white sunlight wash over me. The jays were dancing in the\nair as they always did, but the world outside looked different now. The trees\nwere mostly barren of leaves except for the tall evergreen that towered high\ninto the sky. The leaves that remained were all kinds of earthy and warm tones,\nand something white and fluffy fell from the gray skies. The mountains of\nSkyfall were shrouded by thick mist and fog. \n  This had to be a dream. I closed\nmy eyes and tried to return to the waking world. I knelt down before the window.\n\n  \"Hello?\" I asked my reflection\nin the glass. \"Am I dead?\"\n  When I looked at my reflection,\nI saw that the black markings on my eyes had lines of blood around the edges. I\nthen looked down to study my arms. The markings had retreated back to their\noriginal place, but they too were scabbed and bloody, as if someone had burnt\nthem into my skin. I pressed down on them and felt a burning sensation. I\nglanced at my shoulder where the number \"two-fifty-seven\" was still etched into\nit. Strangely, the jagged scar across my forearm seemed fainter than before. \n  \"Goddess of Darkness?\" I asked,\nhalf expecting her to appear at any moment. \"Where are you?\" The room remained\nsilent aside from the chirping birds outside my window.  \n  I heard someone make a noise\nfrom the couch and jumped. When I looked over, I saw Kato stirring on the\ncouch. \n  \"Kato!\" I yelled, shaking his\nshoulder with my arm.\n  He jerked awake and grinned,\n\"Decipher!\" He yelled as he stood up. \"You're alright!\" He exclaimed as he\nwrapped his arms around me.\n  His touch triggered a panic in\nmy body, and I whimpered and pushed away from him and backed up several steps.\nThis felt suddenly less like a dream as my body associated his touch with\nhorrible things.\n  Kato's face became sad, \"Oh\ngods...I'm so sorry. I'm just...I'm so happy to see you.\"\n  I began to shake. \"What is\nhappening?\" I said, panting. I wanted to embrace Kato; I truly had missed\nhim...but his touch reminded me to much of the bonds that held me back while\nMisha ran his hands across me. \n  \"Am I dead?\" I asked him.\n  \"No! No...Hale said you finally\ncooperated and he let you out. They had you in the medical center for a long\ntime, you were a bloody mess...almost entirely wrapped in bandages. I was so\nafraid you weren't going to pull through, but Caliber said you'd be okay.\" Kato\nsaid, \"They brought you here after a while. Hale said you needed to recover,\nbut he was done with you downstairs. I don't know why, or what else he has\nplanned for you, but he said I could spend time with you...\" Kato's voice became\nquiet.\n  I knew he had been by my side\nthe entire time, waiting for me to return to the waking world. I felt my\nstomach twist with guilt when I remembered Fleur. I tried to focus on the\nenergy she had given me, but I couldn't feel it. I hoped when the time came, I\nwould be able to use it. \n  I remembered the strange feeling\nof change and tried to scan my DNA. I felt more functional than I had ever been\nhere. Quickly, I activated my internal scanner and was able to view everything\naround me easily. When I looked at Kato, it even said \"Phoenix\" and described\nhis DNA and abilities to me. I blinked and returned my vision to normal.\n  \"Decipher?\" Kato asked.\n  \"Kato.\" I sighed. \"I...don't know\nwhat happened. They forced a transformation...and I thought I had died. I am\nstill unsure if I'm dead or not. I just...don't know what's going on.\" I said,\nrubbing my eyes as my brain tried to sort everything out. \"It's really good to\nsee you though, Kato.\" \n  Kato smiled at me. His smile\nsent a familiar warmth through me that felt so dreamlike; his smile was one I\ncould never hate. I carefully stepped closed to him and touched his hand\nbriefly before my body began to become afraid, at which point I slowly stepped\naway.\n  \"What...do I do now?\" I asked\nquietly. \"Kato, I want out.\" \n  Kato shushed me. \"Not here.\nWe'll go to the lookout point later today. If you run now, Hale has programmed\nyour body to surrender itself to the guards.\" His voice became hushed, \"We'll\nhave to plan this carefully. We only have one chance to leave, and that's the\nnight of the Eclipse.\"\n  I shuddered at the mention of an\neclipse as a blurred memory of Hale and Vladimir speaking entered my mind. I\nknew it wasn't a good time to ask about it though, so I remained quiet. \n  \"And...Misha.\" I whimpered\nquietly.\n  Kato's face looked extremely\nangry at the mention of him. \"I know. We'll figure something out.\" He said.\n\"Come on, Decipher, let's go get you some food.\"\n  Kato led me out the door and we\nheaded towards the dining hall. As we walked, I noticed that all my muscles\nfelt completely fine. I examined my arms and legs. No scars remained from the\nbasement, and the bonds were gone. I couldn't believe this was happening. I had\nbeen let out...but why? \n  I suppose I had expected Hale\nto let me out, and I had done two large tasks he had asked of me. I had killed\nFleur, and then transformed. I had even killed the werewolf girl. He had\nprobably gathered all the samples he needed from me when I had transformed, or\nmaybe my alien blood ended up being useless to him Perhaps I had gained some\ntrust through all of this...at least enough trust to be let out of the basement. He thinks I am completely under his\ncontrol. I realized. Maybe he\nbelieves whatever Reck did controls my thoughts, not just my body.\n  I walked down the familiar\nhallways and rode the elevator down into the main entrance. The sight was nostalgic\nbut made me sick at the same time. We entered the dining hall.\n  Kato told me to sit while he\nwent to get us food. I took a seat at an empty table and waited for him, trying\nto avoid eye contact with the curious people around me. Everything felt so\ndifferent, and I didn't recognize anyone else. \n  Kato returned to the table and\nslid a bowl of soup across the table. \"It's a little bland, I know,\" he said,\n\"but your stomach isn't used to eating, so this is better than eating a full\nmeal.\"\n  I nodded. I hardly cared what\nthe food tasted like. I carefully lapped at the bowl of warm soup while Kato\npicked at his food.\n  \"What does he want with me now?\"\nI asked after a few moments of silence.\n  Kato looked up from his food and\nsighed, \"You just got out, Decipher. I don't know what Hale wants from you, but\ncan we just try and relax for a moment?\"\n  I took a moment to study Kato.\nHe was exhausted. His eyes were sunken and dull, but he didn't stop smiling at\nme. My lips twitched into a smile to match his. The expression felt so alien.\n  \"You're right.\" I sighed. \"I\njust can't believe how...okay I am.\"\n  \"Caliber said he helped you. I\nfigure it was some kind of miracle from the Goddess.\" Kato said. \"Are you really\nokay?\"\n  I nodded. \"I feel okay...More okay\nthan usual.\" I said, rubbing my head as I tried to focus on this moment instead\nof my haunting memories. \n  I looked at Kato, \"That stone\nyou gave me, it took me to her...she explained to me that I was no longer an\nalien, that she had accepted me here.\" I said, my mind straining as I tried to\nremember the details, \"But I feel like I wasn't truly accepted until I\ntransformed. I heard Caliber say 'welcome home' before I passed out...\"\n  Kato watched me as he tried to\nfigure out what I meant. \"I don't know.\" He said, \"Maybe you just had to prove\nyourself?\" \n  I nodded. \"She did tell me that\nthere was a life for me, if only I search for it.\" I stared off into space for\na moment, remembering Vladimir drinking my blood. Hale had mentioned it was as\nif it were fake...He said it took great power to change your life force. Blood\nmust be extremely symbolic and powerful here. The thoughts clicked in my head,\nand I looked back up at Kato, \"My blood. That's what is different!\"\n  \"What?\"\n  \"Hale wanted my blood, my alien\nblood! He said that my blood was fake...my blood in this body.\" My sentences were\njumbled as I pieced it together, \"Something must have happened, and when I\nreformed, I must have had real blood! Maybe that's why he let me out. I think\nthe Goddess gave me some kind of life force here, which made me less useful to\nHale!\"\n  Kato looked completely lost as\nhe stared at me. \n  Everything seemed to click at\nonce. Suddenly, I felt like I truly was out. I was out of the basement. I was\nalive, and as a bonus I was in top physical condition. I had slept through my\nrecovery, and now I needed to focus. I would be getting out with Kato. \n  \"Never mind.\" I said with a\nsmile. \"I just think I really do belong here now.\"\n  Kato smiled back at me.\n\"Alright.\" He laughed, \"I don't understand it, but as long as something brings\nyou peace...\"\n  For the first time I could\nremember, I actually had hope of leaving this place. This sign lifted my\nspirits. I took a few moments to feel my body again. \n  I felt alive. The destruction\nand pain that my body had experienced was gone. There would be more, but I had\nbeen given another chance. I no longer felt like this body was different from\nwho I truly was. I took a few seconds to twitch my ears and even flick my tail,\nthe tail I had hated since I had gotten here. Suddenly, it seemed like such a\nwonderful thing.\n  Kato stared at me as I tested\nout the motions of my body. His face was still puzzled, but he grinned at my\nexcitement. \"It's so good to have you back.\" He said. \"I'm really happy you're\nokay.\" \n  He must have been expecting my\nmental state of mind to be much worse, and honestly I was surprised it wasn't.\nBut I didn't ask questions. I gripped onto the sliver of happiness I felt, and\ndecided I wanted to spend time with Kato before Misha ruined my desire to want\nto be around anyone. I knew my mind would sink back sooner or later, but I had\ntruly missed Kato's smile and wanted to just enjoy it.\n  If this was a dream, I was going\nto enjoy it. I couldn't afford to guess at what was reality anymore. I had to\nfocus, or I would never make it out.  \n  \"Can we go now?\"  I asked with a swish of my tail.\n  Kato glanced around, \"Where?\" He\nwhispered. He looked like he didn't have the heart to tell me we couldn't\nescape yet, but I understood that. \n  \"The lookout point!\" I said. I\nwas suddenly extremely eager to use magic again. I couldn't waste this energy.\n  With a look of relief, Kato\nnodded, \"Absolutely.\" He said. \n  Finally, I walked outside the\ndoors of my prison and into the real world. \n  Home.  \n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/575328-skyfall-chapter-19.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/582243-skyfall-chapter-21.json"}