A Tigers Stripes Never Change

Chapter 4

Cat

The hair on the back of my neck seemed to stay straight and tingly the whole time I walked. I was hyper aware of Andy walking behind me; I could feel his eyes on me. I thought about the reasons why we were here. What was the point of drugging us and letting us wander around the woods? Were we be being hunted? What was hunting us?

I don’t know how long I was lost in thought as we walked. Andy was silent behind me; maybe he was thinking about this too. I turned to look at him. He smiled brightly at me. I wasn’t sure if he was just happy to not be alone or if he was smiling to reassure me it will be okay or if he was just enjoying a nice stroll on a sunny day along the river. He seemed so at ease that it was making me a little nervous. I smiled a small smile back at him and turned back around.

I looked up ahead of us along the river. We were coming to a bend and the trees seemed a lot thicker in this area. It was hard to see anything past the bend. My anxiety began to creep up higher. Something felt ominous. Like somehow I knew that once we were past that bend and further into the dense woods something was gonna change. But I couldn’t tell if it was fear or anticipation. Maybe this was the way out? Did I recognize it? Is that why I’m anxious? Have I been here before?

My pace slowed as we neared the bend in the river. Andy came up beside me and I stopped; still staring at the bend; my anxiety growing more. I felt like a rubber band about to snap. I suddenly wanted to run and get far away from Andy as possible. I peeked at him out of the corner of eye. He was staring at the bend too; his mouth tight and jaw clenched. Did he feel it too?

“Anything look familiar?” I asked him. He looked around the trees, back where we came from, and then at the bend.

“Maybe?” He asked and looked around again. His eyebrows drew close together as he looked amongst us; thinking or trying to recognize something. “I feel like we should go that way,” he pointed at the bend and into the thickening trees.

My stomach knotted at the thought of going into the darker woods with Andy. I felt like I should’ve never let my presence known to him. I should’ve just let him run off without calling attention to myself. If I had found my way out and found someone I would’ve let them know there was another person in these woods. But here we are.

“You lead the way,” I said. “None of this looks remotely familiar to me.” I didn’t want him behind me anymore. I don’t know where this sudden deep distrust came from but I’ve decided to be a little more distant.

“Sure!” Andy replied happily. “But do you want to sit down and rest while we’re here? We’ve been walking forever already and who knows how much longer we’ll have to keep going.”

“I guess,” I said. “I’m kinda hungry so I guess we can look for something to eat and drink from the river.  There’s no animals here, have you noticed that?”

Andy looked around slowly and shrugged “maybe they’re hiding from us?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t seen a single living creature in this place aside from the birds in the tree tops since I woke up yesterday.”

Andy c****d his head to the side as he looked at me. It was a strange look that he gave me. It did not make the icky feeling I’ve been having about him any better. I took a deep breath in and wrinkled my nose at the scent that assaulted my airways. Gone was the sweet intoxicating scent I had smelled when we had first met. Now it was a sickly rotting scent like decay. I couldn’t tell if it was coming from him or a dead corpse nearby.

“What’s wrong?” He asked still looking at me with his head c****d.

“Nothing, just thought I…..heard something,” I lied.

“Maybe there’s fish in the river?” He asked straightening his head and nodding in that direction.

I shook my head as a reply and he frowned. I looked down at the forest floor trying to find mushroom or berries like I did last night, but it was just dirt, rocks, sticks, and some wild flowers.

“Do you want to keep going to see if there anything up that way?” Andy asked and pointed to the bend in the river.

Not really, I thought. But I knew we had too; what other options did we honestly have. I took a breath in and nodded. The smell of rot and decay seemed to diminish a bit as Andy took the lead. I caught a small trace of the sweet smell but then it was gone.

I followed Andy at a distance, scanning the ground for something edible. I hadn’t mentioned hearing the voice to Andy. Nor the dream about the man with the laser eyes and my suspicion of being drugged. I hadn’t seen a mark on his body anywhere that would suggest he was injected but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I kept trying to give Andy the benefit of the doubt because he hasn’t really done anything to make me not believe him. But I didn’t trust him. The longer I stayed with him the more uncomfortable I was becoming. I couldn’t put my finger on it though. I stopped looking for food and kept my eyes on Andy’s back. My distrust grew with every step we took and my stomach knotted.

Andy stopped ahead of me. I hadn’t realized I had slowed my pace way down either so it took a few seconds for me to catch up to him. I purposely gave a wide space between us when I stood beside him. He was staring off in the distance though; so I turned my head towards the direction he was looking. Several hundred yards away, there was a bright open spot. The sun poured through the clearing and you could see the grass wasn’t as long as it had been in the other clearing. There was a big brown structure further in the distance. It looked old; possibly abandoned but the fact that it was there made my heart jump. People!

Jack

I don’t know how long I was asleep this time, but I opened my eyes to find I was still on the floor. My mouth tasted like stomach acid and metal. I looked at the Tupperware still full of now grey meat and covered in flies. My stomach heaved again as I looked away.

I felt stronger than I had since I woke up here, but not much. I looked around my surroundings for what felt like the first time. I thought it had been bigger when I was first brought here, but it seemed to have shrunk. A curtain hung in the middle of the cell. There was a cot on one side and probably one the other side since I could see the legs of the cots on both sides from my place on the floor. On my side of the curtain there was a table beside the cot that had medical stuff all over the place. Empty vials littered the trash bin. A tall pole stood on the other side of the cot. It has a bag of clear fluid attached. I followed the tubes all the way down to the floor. A single tube stretched across the floor to where I had been before I crawled over to the meat.

I stared at the tube. There was a needle attached to the end and liquid slowly dribbled out of it. Something was important about that but my head was still fuzzy and confused. I tried to remember what had happened.

I remember running through the forest when suddenly there was something in front of me. It wasn’t human….but it wasn’t really animal either; at least none like I had ever seen. Before I could even stop to get a look at it, it lunged at me with roar. It’s hideous mouth lunging for my throat. It landed on me and I buckled under its weight. Easily 500 hundred pounds of muscle. My tiger launched upwards trying to shake him off but he clung to me. I tried to run but his weight was too much and he stomped on my back leg, snapping it. A roar escaped me. Then suddenly the weight lifted off me and I turned to see where the beast had gone. But in its place was a man. He smiled at me before he lunged at me with something in his hand. A hot burning sensation erupted from the place he had struck me. What the hell was that? I turned to swipe at him, but I couldn’t move and I stumbled. My paws went numb and my vision started to blur. I tried to shift back but I couldn’t.

I fell to the ground. My whole body locked up. I couldn’t even twitch a whisker. I could still see though it was wavering. I fought against the drug in my system. I didn’t want to lose consciousness. The man stood naked in front me, staring at me with this creepy smile on his face.

“Boy look at you!” He exclaimed as he pulled on a pair of shorts that had been tied to his leg. “I’ve never seen such a beast before. You’re gonna be an excellent addition to my treatments!”

Fuck you asshole! I screamed at him in my head. I tried to focus my eyes on him to convey my thoughts, but it was like I was looking in the wrong end of a pair of binoculars. Everything looked really far away and my head was getting heavier and heavier.

Next thing I knew I was being tied to a chair. If a shifter is asleep in his animal form, they’ll eventually shift back to human so I must’ve been out for a while. I tried to shift back to my tiger but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even hear him. The room was bigger than what it is now as there wasn’t a curtain and only one cot. Machines lined the walls and there was a table with medical tools lined up on it. I felt so tired. I tried to push against my ropes. I knew I should’ve been able to pop them easily but I couldn’t budge. I had no strength or energy.

“Easy, friend,” said the man from behind me. “You don’t want to expend all your energy.

“Who the hell are you?” I whispered. It was all I could manage.

“Someone is who a big big fan of yours, well maybe not you specifically, but as a shifter.”

“So you kidnapped me because I’m a shifter?”

The man nodded as he walked around to the front and beamed a smile at me.

“What did you do to me? Why can’t I shift?”

“So you don’t get away,” he replied nonchalantly. “The serum I injected you with blocks your shift and weakens you so you can’t escape.”

“What are you gonna do to me?”

“Harvest your shifter genes.”

I lifted my head to get a better look at him. What the he’ll is he talking about? This doesn’t make sense. The man stood plainly in front of me. I could easily destroy him in either human or animal form. He obviously knew that since he drugged me with something. But he was not hiding what he was doing with me. Which made me think he didn’t feel I’d be able to stop him or report him when he was done with me.

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked.

“Not right away, but unfortunately no one has survived the surgery yet.”

“What are you?”

“I’m a shifter, like you but not born and bred. I’m self-made.” He smiled like he was a damn saint who cured cancer.

“Shifters are animals. Whatever you are is not an animal,” I replied louder than I’ve been able to before. His smile dropped from his face instantly.

“I’ve taken the strongest genes from different animals and put them together to create the ultimate shifter,” he said coldly. “I’m unlike any shifter alive and I’m going to keep harvesting the strongest genes until I’m the most powerful beast!”

So this is what a mad scientist looked like? The man was tall and thin, but muscular. His sandy blonde hair was messy and dirty; probably hadn’t bathed in a few days judging by his stench. It mixed with the fresh sweat from wrestling me from wherever I was to this little room. His blue eyes were oddly dark in the middle.

“You’re a freak,” I growled at him. “You’re not a shifter! You’re not an animal! You’re a f*****g monster! You’re the one who’s been behind the missing shifters in this area? Did you inject them with that poison too? What did you do to them you freak?”

I could feel my anger burn through my energy like a match to paper. As quick as it ignited it extinguished, leaving me wilted and spent. I took all the strength I had just to breathe. My head dropped to my chest.

“I guess I should’ve gotten a muzzle for you,” the man spat at me after a few long seconds of him breathing heavily. I had obviously upset him but I was too weak to look up at him or even smile.

“But no worries,” he sighed. “I don’t think you’ll have much energy to say much else. I’m not stupid, I know you won’t understand me so yeah to you I’m a freak. But how come I didn’t get to be born this way? Hm? I always knew I wasn’t comfortable in this body; that I knew I was something meant to be more. Everyone told me I was crazy; I was a narcissist. They put me on pills and sent me to shrinks. Then you’re kind came out to the world and I knew….I knew that there had been a mistake and I knew I was supposed to be one of you. I tried to become one of you. But I learned there was no organic way I could. You have to be born a shifter. So I threw myself into my studies. I’ve always been a bit of a science nerd. I found a way to clone your genes and infuse them into mine. It’s been years of hard work and trial and error, but I get closer and closer to perfection. I need a few more genes. But tell me, is it true that there’s dragons?”

I didn’t respond. Not that I wanted too, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t lift my head. I felt him grab the front of my hair and pull my head up slowly to meet his gaze. His face was inches from me. How I longed to shift into my tiger and rip his face off. Bite his throat out. But all I could do was stare into hard, cold eyes like blue diamonds. I kept my face blank while he searched it for some answer I know wasn’t there.

“Well, I guess I didn’t need to ask that. Some of the others were very forthcoming with information. I’ve learned a great deal more than I did in a college classroom. Say, have you happened to have met your mate yet?”

I kept my face even. Honestly not sure if it’s on purpose or if I just can’t move my face. But I didn’t want him to know anything about me or shifters. I felt a pang of sadness for the shifters before me; from what I’ve heard - about 15 shifters have disappeared in the past 10 years since shifters came out and it sounds like this guy has been at it for about the same amount of time.

“You don’t have to answer that,” he said. “Not that it really matters anyway. But I am hypothesizing a new experiment. I think what my animal is missing is a mate.”

“What you’re missing…” I started to mumble but he slapped me hard across the face with his free hand; the other gripped firmly in my hair.

“Shut up,” the man said coldly. “I don’t need any more of your input. I suggest you stop moving about or you’ll lose the ability to even breathe.”

He let go of my hair and my head dropped to my chest. He moved away from me to one of the medical tables. I could hear him fumble around; metal clinking together, glass tapping the countertop. After a few minutes he was back in front of me holding a needle connected to a long tube in his hand. He grabbed my leg and pulled it out straight. I tried to will it not to move but I had no control.

“When I put this in, I can untie you and you will be able to lay down on the cot. You’ll be more comfortable,” the man said. “But don’t try to be cute and pull it out. You’ll bleed to death before you can even get to the door and you won’t be strong enough to break it.”

Without another word he plunged the needle into my calf. It felt like he set it on fire. I let out a howl of pain and kicked my leg out trying to get it out. The man slammed his fist into the side of my head.

“Cut it out you moron!” He yelled at me. “Are you trying to die? I literally just told you you’ll bleed out if that comes out.”

I slumped back into the chair. I couldn’t move if I wanted too. Whatever poison he had in the IV was taking over what strength I had. My whole body felt like I was being licked by fire as it spread through my veins, seizing my muscles. He caught my leg as it jolted up and held it tightly. With his other hand, he slapped medical tape over the needle to keep it in place.

After several painful minutes in the chair, the burning sensation began to ease up a bit. I was able to sit in the chair without writhing. The man stood close by watching me, waiting to move me to the cot. He lifted me up, trying not to strain under my weight. I tried to move my legs to walk but they could hardly budge. I remembered this fucker broke my leg and whatever was blocking my shift was blocking my healing. It hurt like hell and that pissed me off more.

“I’m gonna kill you, you know that right,” I whispered to him; his ear an inch from my mouth. “I’m going to rip your freak ass apart. You’re gonna pay for what you did to those other shifters. I. Will. End. You.”

With a heave the man tossed me on to the cot. I landed on it with a crash, half my body falling off the other side. I tried to stop myself but my damn arms won’t work. I laid there for a long moment before the man grabbed my legs and chucked them on the cot with the rest of me.

“I’ll bring you food in the morning,” the man said after he caught his breath. “There’s water on the stand next to the cot.”

“How thoughtful of you,” I mumbled. My stomach was twisting up from the commotion of being flung onto the cot mixed with whatever poison in me. I felt like I was going to be sick. I heard him pick up something metal and slam it next to me on the floor.

“If you’re gonna puke at least try to aim for the bucket. Otherwise you’ll be rolling around in your own sick. I’ll hose you off every now and then but when it gets hot in here the smell is dreadful.”

He had barely stepped away when I turned over and hurled my guts into the bucket. I wished I could’ve aimed for him but my vision was starting to blur. After a few purges, my stomach settled and I rolled back into the cot. My arm slung over my eyes as my head started to swim. I heard him shuffle around the room; he opened a cupboard then closed it, a can top cracked and spurt of air released as he opened a carbonated drink.

“Here, this will help settle your stomach and hopefully get rid of the taste. Don’t forget the water bottle here in case you need that too.” He handed me a warm ginger ale.

His voice was cold as he spoke. Clearly didn’t want me to think he was being hospitable. I knew he just wanted to keep me hydrated so he could do whatever surgery he had in mind. I didn’t bother responding to him and stayed still and quiet. I heard him walk across the floor, slide open the locks on the door, open it, then close and relock it on the outside.  I slipped into unconsciousness.