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Hello, and welcome to the sixth installment of the A Slight Change series: New Discoveries. I know that it's been a while since the last chapter was posted, but, rest assured, this one is just as good! (I hope) And yes, it probably will seem a bit rushed, but I'm working on rewriting the entire thing. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy reading, and may the Schwartz be with you all!

I did one last set of chest compressions, then bent down to check for a pulse........ *bump*........ *bump*........ nothing. "Wait! There was a pulse! I know I'm not just hearing things!" I tried again ........ *bump*........ *bump*........ *bump*........ I pulled my head up to see if I could feel any breath come from her mouth. I didn't feel anything for such a long time I thought I was going to go insane. But then, I felt it.... I felt air hit my cheek! "Tera! You're going to be okay! I'm not going to let you die on me, not after all that we've been through." Even though we hadn't been through all that much, I didn't care. I felt another pulse of air hit my cheek. When I looked down at her chest, I could see it start to rise and fall. "She's gonna make it... I know that she's gonna make it." My eyes filled up with tears again as I pressed my forehead gently to hers. I didn't know if she could hear me or not, but I still tried to speak to her, "Tera, you're gonna be okay. I love you so much, and I'm so sorry for what I did to you."

I patiently waited for her to come to... and waited.... and waited. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes turned to hours... or so it seemed. In reality, it had only been about ten minutes before she started to make groaning sounds. "Uggghhh... Wha-what h-happened? Owwww... Why does it hurt to move my arm?"

"Tera! You're awake! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay! I was worried that I might've lost you." my emotions started coming out again as I tried to speak.

"M-Matt? What are you doing here? You got mad and ran out of here." I could tell she was still out of it by the way she spoke.

"I did Tera, but I realized how dumb I acted and came back" She started to get up, but I didn't let her. "Tera, you have to be still... You were shot. You need some time to recover."

"What? I was shot? But, why? The last thing I remembered were guards breaking down the door and they were yelling and-"

I put an index finger up to her lips to silence her, "Shhhhh... Tera, it's gonna be okay. You just need to rest right now. It was one of the guards that shot you, only he was trying to get me and missed. And I don't know why they attacked us, but I'm not going to wait to find out. As soon as you feel like you can move, we'll be on our way. But I don't want you to even think of moving until then, okay?"

She nodded in acknowledgment and pulled herself up slightly, her muzzle meeting my cheek with a wet smack. I smirked at her attempts to be affectionate even through her visible pain. As soon as she laid herself back down on my lap, I took to finishing what she started. My muzzle directed itself toward hers and met with little resistance. It had been so long since our last kiss that I thought I was going to try something then and there, but I decided that it'd better wait, at least until she healed. Instead I only continued my purging of her lips and this time met with no resistance. Her tongue found mine and mingled there until she began to get impatient and started to push herself up towards me, unsatisfied with my slow pace. She winced at the pain in her shoulder and slumped back into a submissive state.

I took my time to make sure that I showed Tera just how glad I was to have her in my arms, living and breathing. Though when I finally did release her from our make-out session I was panting heavily. I pulled myself up enough to were I could see her full face. Her eyes were closed and she was still breathing sporadically. But there was something else that I noticed about her that I hadn't noticed before. As I looked further down I saw that she was covered in blood. Now being a little more than somewhat fearful, I looked frantically for any signs of injury. To my relief I didn't find anything out of the ordinary, though I did get a stir out of Tera when I started pulling up her shirt.

It wasn't until I looked over her arms and saw my own that I realized where the source of the red mess. Those guards... the ones that attacked us... it was from those guys... I cringed at the thought of what I had done. "How could you do such a thing?" I asked myself, "There were at least seven people that you killed!" Of course I had never before had to deal with the mental repercussions of having murder on my conscience, so I was slightly awestruck. So, being one to not know how to deal well with new situations I just sat there, Tera still in my arms.

Five minutes, at least, passed before she even moved. I could hear her voice echoing through my eardrums, but I didn't even try to respond in any way. "Matt... Matt? What's wrong Matt?" Her paw touched my cheek, but I could barely feel it. I was going numb from the thought of what I had done. "Matt... what's wrong? Why won't you say anything?" I felt her vaguely moving about in my lap, but I didn't care to look down to see what she was doing. The only thing going on in my mind was recapping exactly what happened. Every gruesome detail... every single claw mark... every single bite...

"I... killed them... all of them... dead... because of... me..." was all that I managed to stutter out before going silent again. It was my one and only thought. Their deaths were on my paws... my blood-covered paws...

My head was unceremoniously jerked to the side. I felt pain burning in my cheek. It was a wake-up call whatever it was. I stopped thinking about whatever it was I had been thinking about and thought solely on the pain spreading through the whole of the right side of my face. Then I heard a voice break the silence that had seemingly taken over the part of my mind still capable of cognitive thought, "Matt! Stop that this instant! It's not your fault! You only did what you had to do to save us!"

Then there was silence. That voice was Tera's, but I didn't hear her anymore. No, all that was left for me to hear was a soft whining noise. My eyes came back into focus as my head dropped down. There she was, laying in my lap, hunched over herself in the tightest ball I'd ever seen. She was shaking and crying, and it was watching her that must have snapped me out of my state of numbness. Without even thinking of herself and her physical state, she did what was needed to get me to come back to reality, and only after suffered the consequences.

I looked down at her hunched form. It was almost impossible to bare to see her like this, see her in such pain. As softly as possible I reached down to her uninjured shoulder and set my paw down on it. Half comforting, half trying to get her up I started rubbing lightly, massaging her tense muscles. She tried to shy away from my touch, but I persisted. "Tera, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Tera shuddered under me. "It hurts... my arm... it really hurts..." In the position she was in all that I could see of her was her back, and that was the first time I noticed it; through a hole in her robe was a corresponding hole in her shoulder. "So the bullet was an in-and-out. That means that she won't have to have surgery." Even if my knowledge in medical science wasn't the greatest, it sounded like something that was true. At least it was reassuring to think that it was true.

Kiss the wound.

I did a double-take. Not sure if I had heard something or not, I looked around. The only things that had changed were my position. No one else was saying anything.

Kiss the wound. You will find the answers to your questions when you do...

Once again, it felt like my head was filled with an ominous voice, booming to try and get my attention and hold it. I was sure that it couldn't have been any of the others around me, for the voice sounded nothing like any of them. But I couldn't help but wonder, "Is it possible to have a thought without thinking it?"

Deciding it be better to just not even think about the idea that I was going insane, my head found it's way to where my paw was on her shoulder, replacing it with my cheek, my muzzle pointing to the wound. "It's gonna be okay Tera. You're gonna be just fine... everything's gonna be fine." The scent of blood filled my nostrils, the wound being so close to my nose. And if by some strange impulsive need, as if being controlled from within the confines of my own head, my tongue left the confines of my muzzle and landed itself on the wound. Immediately came another shudder from Tera from something warm and wet touching such a sensitive area, but she did nothing more than sit there. The taste on my tongue was, to say the least, not to my liking. I could remember tasting my own blood after fights were I'd get a fist to the jaw, and could remember the salty and thick taste almost making me gag every time. This time wasn't as bad for some strange reason, but it was still an awkward moment nonetheless.

"Matt, what are you doing?" she asked, the initial shock of something pressing against her wound starting to fade. I didn't even answer, but instead just started to lap at it. It was beyond me why I was doing it, like there was someone controlling what I was doing. Though my actions were rewarded with something that I didn't expect. Instead of thinking that it would hurt to have anything touch her shoulder, it seemed that the opposite was happening. She started to relax on my lap and let out a deep sigh. It was almost enough to cause a moan to come from her lips, the presence of one barely making it's way up her vocal chords. "Please... whatever you're doing... don't stop... please." she managed to breathe out, seeming to have trouble even keeping her breathing at a normal rate.

What was going on or why wasn't even on my mind at the time. All that I was concerned about was that she wasn't making it easily noticeable that she was hurting anymore. And for that, I was happy. The taste of blood in my mouth was starting to decimate greatly, like she wasn't even bleeding anymore. I continued my tongue's laps on her shoulder until she started giggling. That was the last thing I would have expected to come from her after being shot, yet there she was acting as though nothing had happened. My tongue went back into my mouth as I brought my head up, looking back to see if the damage was still as bad as it had been. As if by some miracle, the hole disappeared! Being in a state of both awe and excitement, I tugged gently at her uninjured shoulder with a paw, trying to bring her up so that he could see her. She lifted herself without any resistance and matched my gaze into her eyes with one of her own. I shifted my eyes to her shoulder and saw another amazing sight. The wound was almost completely healed, lest for just a small hole about as wide as the thickness of a pen. Without a second thought I dove my muzzle at the wound. Tera did nothing to resist, but only sat as if in a state of near-shock. The taste of blood barely hit my tongue as I pulled my head back after one lick and watched in awe as the wound sealed shut.

The only thing I could think of as an even partially feasible reason for what had just happened was that I was dreaming. So, with the mind-set that my last few hours or so had just been a dream, I felt as though I could do anything. Though a conflicting thought interrupted my near joyride into dreamworld. And to add to my undecided mind, Tera's voice came in through the cloud of confusion that had become my mind. "Matt... what did you do? My arm... doesn't hurt anymore... How could that happen? I thought you said I was shot?"

To say the least, my mind was in stupor. Trying to choose between the reality and the imagination, and having quite the trouble even figuring out the difference between the two. "I have absolutely no idea Tera... I have no idea whatsoever..." With all the conflicting thoughts going through my mind, one idea did come to mind that seemed to stick around long enough for some contemplation to go into it. "What if this is all just a dream? Every single bit of it. From when I woke however many days ago to now... What if it's all been just a dream?"

Again, my mental notes being taken were scattered about the recesses of my mind when I was presented with a paw waving frantically in my face. I woke from my temporary unconsciousness and focused my eyes to the paw. Following the curves from tip to face, my eyes traversed the arm up to a wonderful surprise; Tera's waiting gaze. Although there was a sense of confusion about her, she looked at me with a smile, so I could only guess that she was happy nevertheless. I gave a long breath, taking in her presence in it's entirety, and smiled back. "Tera? Is it just me, or has your life taken quite a big change too?"

Of course, in the presence of what could be considered danger and death, I was making joking comments. But Tera didn't seem to mind, giggling before placing a paw at the nape of my neck, pulling me in to kiss her. Our lips met again, or, as well as two muzzles could meet, and we held ourselves there, not wanting to go any further. She then pulled away and again went to looking at me with eyes full of both confusion and thankfulness. "I have no idea how you did that, but what I do know is that it's because of you, Matt. You've saved me so many times... I owe you so much..."

I could easily tell that she would go on as long as she could think of something else to compliment me on, so I swiftly silenced her again with a finger. "Tera, believe me, I do know. But right now, we have other things to worry about." I looked away from her for the first time since she woke and actually took in the rest of the scene surrounding me. There were the bodies of the slain men I'd taken out, but there were others there too. Alex, holding Johnny tight and sobbing softly, was seated nearby two of the guards. Justin, lying unconscious near an alternate wall, was being tended to, though it seemed more to be scrupulously groped over, by the young girl who had been discovered just minutes before. Now, since the excitement had somewhat died down, I could actually see her in more than just silhouettes and glimpses.

Black as obsidian, from head to toe. A long, slender tail was ragged behind her, twitching every other second. Lightly rounded ears rested atop a head of flowing auburn hair, accented by those very same piercing emerald green eyes. By a first glance it would be hard to distinguish just what exactly she had been changed into, but there was something that seemed to jump out at me, whispering exactly what she was in my ear... panther. Or, more so, panthress.

At that moment, another thought seemed to come into my mind. Just why in the world was she hanging over him like that? It looked as though she was making a mental checklist about all that she was doing. Every poke, every prod, every reaction. And frankly, it was kind of creepy to watch. Yet, for some unknown reason, I couldn't quite look away. That is, until I had my face, once again, pulled away.

"Matt, how in the world am I supposed to keep your attention when you can't focus for more than two seconds?" Tera said, making sure that I both looked at her, and heard her. She was serious.

Though my attention was focused on her, I couldn't help but think about the others and how they needed help. "Tera, please don't be offended when I say this, but I think that there are others that need more help than you or I do." I motioned my head in the direction of the four others, two of each unconscious and the other two inspecting.

At first her expression was one of slight annoyance and disgust, but as she turned her head to see what it was I was directing her to, her mouth went agape. "Oh my gosh... Matt! Why didn't you tell me sooner! We have to help them!" she yelped, trying to crawl out of my lap and over to where Johnny and Alex where.

"Right. You help out those two, and I'll help out these two." I said calmly, not wanting to cause any more tension. Once Tera was up and clamoring her way over to her group, I swiftly arose and made my way to Justin and the girl of which I hadn't learned the name of. She was still checking him mechanically as I stooped down next to them. "Hey, is he gonna be okay?" I asked, my voice only whisper level.

Not even bothering to look up or stop her meticulous search, she began to speak, clearly more audible than I had. "Nothing broken. Large gash on the upper forehead area. Shouldn't need more than a few stitches. Bruised ribs, left shoulder, and right mid arm region. Currently unconscious and is in no need of immediate medical attention. But we should keep watch to make sure his state remains stable."

My gaze didn't falter, but instead turned to an inquisitive look. "Okay, so this girl's some kind of nurse or something..." I thought to myself. That explained why she was poking and prodding at Justin like he was some kind of new toy for a two-year-old. But, there were still a lot of things that I didn't know about her, and planned to find out.

"Matt, is Justin okay over there?"

I turned my attention over to where Johnny, Alex, and now Tera sat. I stuttered at first, trying to remember what I was told of Justin's current condition. But, as my memory failed me, a voice from nearby cut out above my stuttering noises. "Yeah, I be just find. Unless you'd like to call a splitting headache and pain every time I move fine..."

"Well now, great to hear! How 'bout Johnny? Is he okay?" I said, still trying to grasp the basics of what had been happening.

"Umm... He's alive, if that's what you mean. From what we can tell, it looks like he needs some serious help."

Alex said nothing, but merely kneeled and tried to hold back her tears. She was obviously failing as the sight of a pool under her face reflected the dim light coming from the flickering bulbs above her. It was hard to watch and remain straight-faced.

Be leery, an intrusion will make itself known soon.

Once again my mind was filled with the voice, having forgotten about it in the revelation of what miracle I could now control with a simple flick of my tongue. I couldn't help but ponder about it, my eyes growing dim as I thought harder. "Who are you? Why are you speaking to me, now of all times? Just what do you want?" Question upon question was asked, within my own thoughts at least, hoping for a reply. When I found no such thing, I wandered back into my right mind and the situation around me the same as it had been before.

Not two minutes of sitting, trying to revive Johnny as well as help Justin as much as possible, when the distinct pattern of footsteps could be heard emanating from the doorway. The shocked and panicked looks easily conveyed the general atmosphere around the room. It was obvious that everyone could hear the dull thuds of steps becoming louder and louder each passing second. Yet there was not a single movement from any of us. The swift steps, I decided, could only be made that fast if they were running. And, by the time I started to get up to prepare myself for another onslaught, the sound seemed to be so loud that my head was bursting with the flare of each precise touch of shoe to floor.

It had barely come to my attention, but I was solely alone in my actions. Tera, Alex, Justin, the new girl, Johnny... none of them were in any shape to fight. At least, in my mind. So I had to be the one that would protect everyone else. I had to be the one to make sure no one else was hurt.

"Everybody get down! Nobody move a muscle unless you wanna be filled with lead!"

The voice seemed to get to me before I even saw anyone come in the door. "Damn... I should've grabbed one of their guns." The thought came to mind two seconds too late as a flow of armed men barged into the room, guns held prone and ready. One by one, twelve men entered the room. I knew for a fact there was no way I could take them all on. Each one of them carried what looked like a riot shield and some kind of rifle. They looked somewhat like AK-47's, but they didn't have the hand stock that was the customary style.

"You," came the same voice as before, revealing itself as a man pointing toward me, "get down now before we resort to other means of force." His words were hard and forced. It was easy to tell that he was glancing toward the slaughtered men surrounding the room, as well as the other men. One went so far as to cringe and mouth words of disgust to the man next to him.

Maybe it was just because I was still riding the rush of adrenaline from everything that had just happened, or maybe because I had finally lost my mind, I'm not entirely for sure, but I didn't move at all. I just stood and faced the man who spoke, my eyes becoming no more than slits of feral rage. "And just why would I do that? It's far too much fun to just kill you creatures before you have a chance to react."

"Oh shit!" Someone, at least, found my words intimidating. One of the men fell backward, doing his best to maneuver himself as far away from me as he could. That is, he would have, if he hadn't rand into another man coming into the room at the same time.

The demented sound of applause echoed into my ears like the rakes of fingernails on a chalkboard. Following each clap was a matching step of one more man entering the already crowding room. "Bravo, bravo! I applaud your fine, futile efforts of escape. But really, you should have just stayed in your cells. Now it seems that we'll have to hold more strenuous guard on all of you." The man's voice was equal to that of his appearance; dark, stern, maniacal...

You know what you must do...

That voice again. Blaring in my head like a freight train rolling down the tracks. My head twitched in response, trying to find a way to shake the reverberations from it out. "What do you want from me?" I asked, not intending it toward anyone but myself.

"What do I want? I'm sorry, but you must have us mistaken. It's not what I want, but what we want." He waved his way to the front of the line of men standing before me. As if by some strange understanding, his men lowered their guns and assumed more passive defensive stances.

My mouth opened, ready to speak, but I was denied the pleasure of retorting as the silhouette resumed his speech. "You see, all of you are the products of an experiment twenty years in the making. Each of you, as you were 'reborn' if to be called as much, became part of what is known as project ANTHRO. The simple analogy stands for Animalian Nanite Testing of Human Response Operations... Clever, isn't it? You wouldn't believe just how witty our scientists are when it comes to figuring out analogies for our projects. But, that can be further spoken of at a later time.

"You all may have found that you possess certain... skills not normally had by ordinary people. Of course, being living examples of animal people just might have come to a shock to all of you as well. But you shouldn't worry, because as long as you cooperate from now on, there will be no further occurrences of misconduct by my men on my part. In fact, you should be proud to be the newest additions to the project-"

I couldn't stand to hear another word coming from this guy. It was as if all that what I was slowly thinking could actually be reality and not just an elaborate dream was given a heavy dose of definition, and that wasn't something I was too fond of hearing. "Look, whoever you are, I really don't care what you have to say. I just want to leave here with my friends and be done with all your bullshit. So, if you don't mind, we'll just be leaving now."

As I turned back to Tera, I could tell that she was actually scared. Ever since I first saw her as she fell out of the crate I brought home just a few days ago until that moment I had never seen her this scared. And it made me worried.

"Ahh yes, Matthew Dylan Furr: twenty-two years old, five foot ten inches, one-hundred fifty seven pounds pre-transformation; currently the most advanced specimen; overly degenerate and highly aggressive under pressure. Did I get all that right, or did more than just your height and weight change as you did?" the mysterious man's voice seemed to continually fill my mind with fear and dread.

_This is Colonel Ranqurst. You will find that all that he says is true. He knows about all of you, and why you are all here. But you must escape from this place, for the consequences will be great if you fail to do so.

"Great. As if this wasn't bad enough, I've got voices in my head telling me stuff about people that I don't even know,"_

I thought as the echos faded from my mind. "Okay, Ranqurst, just why do you know so much about us?"

A grin passed the Colonel's lips as I asked. "So I see that you are just as exceptional as our scientists said that you would be. Telekinesis, enhanced strength, agility, and stamina, regenerative capabilities, superlative senses, everything. You are the perfect example of what we have been striving to accomplish. If I had any emotion to spare, it would almost bring a tear to my eye at just how happy I am to see my ideas becoming reality.

"And now, I'm afraid, you must all come with me. I also wouldn't suggest trying to make a break for it, because I don't plan on losing my prized possessions so easily." Ranqurst motioned toward me like I were a pet he was trying to coax a new trick out of me with a fresh dog treat. And, not to be a poor sport in the matter, turned to start walking back to him, an idea in mind.

"Prized possession? And just what is it about me that would make you think I'm really worth all of this trouble? I'm sure that you've heard about Dr. Stark and her little trek with the nanites. It sounds like she's just as powerful as me, if not more."

What are you doing? You must find a way out of this place. There is a great amount of deception amongst the truths this man tells.

Ranqurst scowled. "You cannot possibly tell me that you're that far out of the loop that you don't even know about that failure." I cocked my head to the side, only further showing I had no idea what he was talking about. He gave a sigh and continued, "That... woman... is the reason why we were so intent on finding you and your friends. You see, after she saw a glimpse of just what you could do, she made the choice to follow in her own experiment's footsteps. She used the nanites herself. But, she had a negative reaction to the changing in her genetic code. Instead of becoming something much like yourself, she became more... ancient. As well, she became even more unstable mentally. She turned away from all of our plans in order to follow her own sick ideals. That's why she came up with her big plan to create a world full of your kind-of her own army of super soldier slaves. But as for you-"

"Just hang on," I interrupted, "and tell me what you mean by 'our kind.' We're still human, not animals."

"Well," he started, "that would depend on the standards you hold as 'human.' You see, I meant no offense by saying like that, but we don't have any clear definitions for any kind of human-animal hybrids. All of you, as well as the others that have been transformed, are unclassified beings..."

He continued on, explaining about everything that Dr. Stark had been doing, along with his intentions for us. Apparently Dr. Stark had already taken over the entire facility where it all started, and was beginning to branch out into the city. Then Ranqurst moved on to explain the original plan, why such force was used to capture us... repeatedly, and why they really meant us no harm. At least, that's what he said. When I asked about why we were picked to be in the program, what he said only proved to haunt my thoughts more than anything else. "Coincidence has nothing to do with the selection. I'm sure that if you think about it, you'll be able to figure that out for yourself."

Shortly afterward, once my mind started working again and I could think about someone other than myself, I basically commanded that everyone else be helped out. Ranqurst was almost happy to oblige, of which was quite disturbing. He lead us out of the security room, and down the hallway, away from where I had come running not long ago. I was unnerved to let strangers with guns carry my friends off into the deep confines of a building I had no idea how to get out of, but I really had no other options. But one thing I made short work of, was to make sure that no one touched Tera. Then, she and I were told to wait in a room while the others were taken away...

* * * * *

"We're in a freakin' interrogation room! The only thing that's different is that it's got a bed instead of a table... like those sick freaks are just going to watch us sleep or something."

"Matt, please calm down. They said that we would only be here for a short time. And I'm sure that they wouldn't be... watching us... right?" It was easy to tell that Tera wasn't doing any good trying to convince herself nor me.

"Tera," I sagged my head in intuitive defeat, "I don't think that we're going to want to stay here much longer than we have to. There's definitely something strange going on here that we weren't told about. Some piece of the puzzle that we don't have..."

We spent the next four hours pacing, sitting, talking, and trying to catch an occasional wink of sleep. Nothing seemed to be able to diminish the fact that some impending climax was about to be reached in the little adventure we had become a part of. No matter what happened, at least I knew what I was going to do: I was going to fight, to protect both myself and Tera.

"Matt, what are we gonna do? We've been here for who knows how long, and I'm starting to get worried about the others," her stomach growled loud enough so that it echoed through the room, "and I could go for some food too..."

"Yeah, food sounds good right now," I said. Actually, food was the last thing on my mind. I was too worried about everything else. The fact that our situation only seemed to be worsening was starting to get on my nerves. I turned to Tera, trying to best keep my composure and refrain from screaming out, and flatly said, "You know that we're going to have to get out of here, don't you?"

It was easy to tell that she was still fighting with herself over the idea. She stood, crossed her arms, then walked over to the corner of the room and hunched down to the floor. With her head held down, covering the white patch under her chin and neck, she was well hidden in the shadows cast in the corner. When she finally spoke, I couldn't even see that her mouth was moving. "I don't know. I really don't know. There's just a lot on my mind right now, and it's hard to try and think straight." She paused and started to shake before looking up at me with the same sepia eyes that caught my attention the first time I saw her. "Why can't we just be left alone?" she suddenly cried out, "Why is it that we're the ones that have to deal with this... this burden? I never asked for it! I didn't even want the job at that stupid lab..."

"Wait... 'Coincidence has nothing to do with the selection. I'm sure that if you think about it, you'll be able to figure that out for yourself.' " The words came back to my mind just as she said that. "I think that I might just have figured out what all we have in common; the one thing that makes us all unique..."

Tera crooked her head to the side and, in an almost sarcastic tone, asked, "Oh? And just what might that be pray tel?"

I didn't expect to hear sarcasm, so I stuttered before regaining my composure and remembering my reasoning. "Well, I think it all has to do with something that we all did. Do you remember if anything big happened for you about three months ago?"

She looked perplexed for a second, thinking before she spoke, "I think that's about when I was hired at the lab. Just where are you going with this?"

"Don't worry, it's all starting to make sense now." I started to pace back and forth in front of her. "Let me guess, that was your first job too, was it not?" She slowly nodded, still not quite following my train of thought. "Yep, that definitely proves it. You got your first job, I graduated from college, Johnny moved cross-country... It really is that simple." Tera leaned in slightly, expecting me to continue. "We were picked because of what happened to us approximately three months ago. Each of us, as far as I know, were going through a big change in our lives."

Tera's eyes grew as my epiphany made itself clear to her. "I think that you may just be right. I mean, that was the biggest thing that had every happened to me. It was the thing that was going to help me pay for..." She stopped before she could finish what I thought was going to be 'college' and started to cry.

Caught off guard of her unexpected move, I stepped back. But, as I once again regained my composure, I moved back in. "Tera, what's wrong?" I placed a paw on her shoulder, but as that did little good I pulled her into a hug. "Hey, what's wrong Tera? It's okay, you can tell me anything."

She said nothing for the longest time. She only stood there sobbing in my arms. "Ruined..." she whispered. I didn't move, I didn't even dare to breathe. What she said next was only audible because of the enhanced hearing I had acquired. "I can't live like this. I can't live as a freak for the rest of my life."

"Tera," I started, "don't think like tha-"

I was cut off with what I thought was a scream, but ended up being Tera shouting at the top of her voice. "What do you mean 'don't think like that'? How else am I going to think? Not everything is sunshine and rainbow unicorns like you seem to think! I actually had a life. I was on my way to becoming something! What were you doing with your life?" I tried to speak, but she cut through my voice again, "Nothing! That's what you were doing! Not a goddamn thing! I can guarantee that you were probably just sitting on your ass watching TV or something pointless like that!"

Her words cut right through me. It was impossible to hide the pain her words caused, but I didn't lash back at her. Instead I dropped back and lowered myself to the floor, admitting to my own defeat. "You're right."

While still visibly red in the cheeks, she cocked her head and stared down at me. "What did you say?"

"You're absolutely right. I'm going nowhere with my life. I'm in such a rut that not even something like this could likely get me out of... I'm a complete failure." In fact, I was telling myself the truth. What had I done with my life that was so uninspiring and pointless that I couldn't help but start to put myself through the beginning of a depression. My head sank further in my own ever-growing self-pity. "I deserve to be given this curse..."

I expected to be struck or, at least be yelled at even more, but there was only silence. My ears could barely even pick up the sound of her heart beating. But, that silence remained that way for the next few hours.

Silence is unnerving. But break that with the sounds of hungry stomachs and you have a new problem altogether. Tera was sitting on the bed, and I was crouched in the opposite corner of the room. I thought that it might be best if I just let her go where she wanted and stick myself as far from her as possible.

Really the silence was okay. But every other minute or so came the sound of stomachs starting to digest themselves. I didn't think I was quite that hungry, but I didn't know if any of my usual feelings were the same anymore. The only thing that I could seem to get right was confusion. Yet, somehow I still had survived through all of this...

What are you still doing here you belligerent ingrate? You have to get out of here, and you have to do it now!

"Hey, would you just shut up already? I have enough on my plate without you yelling at me too." I said, yet to realize just where the voice came from other than the fact that it wasn't Tera's voice.

"I didn't say anything, so what are you talking about?" Tera said in an automatic response tone.

"No, Tera, I didn't mean you," I started, surprised that she was talking and not yelling, "I meant whoever else was yelling-"

Shut up and get a move on you pompous dolt! There won't be another chance for your escape, and you surely do not want to be trapped her forever, do you? Now, before I must speak again, you must make haste!

"There it was again! That stupid voice in my head... he won't shut up about 'you must run away' and some crap like that. It's starting to get on my nerves."

"Matt, please don't start going insane on me. I'm sorry about yelling at you... but this is no way to get back at me. Just please, I'll try to be civil if you do the same." She stood and looked over to me, still hunched in the same corner.

"I'm not trying to act insane or anything. I really can hear a voice in my head. It just keeps saying that we have to get out of here, that we have to or else we might face some dire consequences or something." I stood, but kept my distance from Tera. If I could hear voices in my head, how was I to be sure that I couldn't be controlled too?

You will face the consequences if you do not get out of here! They are coming to kill you as I say this! And not even you will be able to stop the barrage of men being sent!

"Oh joy... now the voice is telling me that we're gonna have a bunch of guys that are going to come in here to kill us. At least he's staying positive." The sarcasm came dripping from my voice.

"This isn't funny Matt... You're starting to scare me." Tera said. I could hear the shaking in her voice, so she must've been telling the truth. "If that's what a voice in your head is telling you... then maybe we might want to follow it? I don't know... I just think that it might be better to escape than to risk it..."

"Risk what? Some illusion of my own psychosis?" the words came out slightly stronger than I had intended. "Okay, I'll humor myself. Let's escape. I'll just kick open the door since it should be so easy..." I walked right up to the door, brought my foot up, and kicked forward as hard as I could at the spot right next to the handle. Through a mix of splinters and dust I fell face-first onto the cold linoleum floor. I looked back to see Tera staring wide-eyed at me, jaw hanging slightly agape. "Umm... I think that we might just want to sort of... start running..."

I couldn't believe the simplicity of it all. It was like it was all planned out. I stood up slowly, checking every single crevice for potential attack. When I saw that no such threat existed, I looked back, motioning for Tera to follow, and started walking swiftly.

"Matt, how are we going to get out of here? And what about the others? How are we going to get to them when we don't even know where they are?"

I paused. "I don't know, but we're going to just have to wing it from here on out. I don't think they'll be too happy that we broke their door..." And then, we started moving again.

* * * * *

"Sir, do you think that they will proceed according to plan?"

Two men stood opposite the direction the words came from. Both were hidden partially by shadow, but some obvious features could be seen. One man was heavily adorned with rankings and other military garb, the other was wearing a simple trench coat and heavy combat boots. The taller figure, the one in the trench coat, spoke out, his words echoing as though the acoustics in the room had been amplified ten-fold, "Oh yes, I do believe that they are going to do exactly as they are told..."