Hybrid Aria by Jessica Hall
Chapter 52

Aria's POV

I watched and thought maybe whatever they gave her didn't work, I prayed to the Moon Goddess that whatever they injected her with was a failure. Only when I heard her scream, did my blood run cold, colder than ice. I could feel the blood leave my face and bile rose in my throat. And if that weren't enough, they then wheeled her in so we could listen to her agonised screams. She looked at me in panic, her fear radiating out of every pore in her body, making the room fill with her scent. She writhed in agony panting, as wave after wave of pain shot through her.

“Lily, focus on me, bub, focus on my voice,” I called out to her, tears running like a stream down my cheeks. I watched them close the doors, leaving her screaming in pain. They sat on the other side of the glass, notepads in hand scribbling whatever garbage they were writing on to the pads. Lily looked at me, her eyes begging me to stop the pain. That's when I heard her bones start snapping and moving, morphing, her eyes changed colour half blue, half yellow.

“Make it stop, make it stop, please Aria, make it stop. Daddy please.” Her voice taunting and tugging at the pieces of my heart. David, hearing her call him Daddy snapped. I could hear his shoulder break as he pulled against the restraints trying to get to her.

Blood dripping from her mouth as her face morphed. I will never forget the sound of her screams; they will forever haunt my memories burned into me forever. Her nails ripping from her nail beds, as her hands turned into paws, her claws going through the mesh, her screams getting louder as her spine rearranged itself, her clothes being torn to shreds, as she shifted right before our eyes. Werewolves aren't meant to shift before they are teenagers, Lily wasn't meant to endure this torture for many years, and now she was forced to shift, and all I could do was watch. Her blue and yellow eyes staring back at us pleading to make it stop. When the shift finished, she was left standing in the cage, not as Lily but that of her wolf. She was magnificent, her fur was an unnatural silver with black paws that kind of looked like socks. One side of her face black and the other silver. Werewolves weren't these colours; I knew whatever they did to her changed her, Werewolves didn't shift early to give their wolf time to create a bond with their human part. Just as the shift completed, she let out a mangled scream before passing out on her side, the floor drenched with her blood. “Lily, Lily, baby, wake up,” David called to her. She didn't wake.

“She is still alive, listen; I can hear her heart beating still and hear her breathing.” David listened before slumping against his restraints. I could see the scientist excitedly talking and writing notes before they walked away like they didn't just watch a child being tortured.

I looked at David, I had never seen this man cry before, and right now he was a sobbing mess. I just hoped Lily's wolf hasn't been permanently damaged from being forced to shift, and I hope this doesn't kill her. I knew only time would tell what impact this will have on her in the future assuming she has one.

The door opened again, I looked up and watched as they pulled Christine down from the wall she was braced on. “Please this is enough, you have done enough. Just let them go please” The man with the bulging eyes ignored us. Christine fell on the floor in a heap. He then did the same to Wendy. Wendy groaned when her body hit the floor. Christine, however, didn’t make a sound. I would have thought she was dead if not for her irregular heartbeat. I thought it was strange how fast her heart was beating, it sounded a lot like mine. More of a fast fluttering than an actual thumping beat.

Wendy dragged herself to a sitting position, leaning heavily against the wall. Another scientist walked in with Kade, they stopped in front of her before bending down. Forcing her eyelids open with their fingers and flashing a light in her eyes. She tried to push their hands away, but she was too weak.

“Interesting, the lower concentrate of her blood did nothing to this one,” Kade said to the other man.

The scientist wrote something while nodding his head. They walked to Christine and did the same. Only when they flashed the light in her eyes, they flicked between a burning ember before going back to normal when the light left.

“The higher concentrate and mutated version seem to work on her though. So, let's wake her up,” They all walked out. David and I looked at each other, and Wendy reached out for Christine's hand, trying to pull her towards herself.

“David, I need you to see if you can reach my hands,” David looked at our hands seeing they weren't far off touching. He stretched, his broken shoulder making a horrid noise as he pulled on it. His wrists dug into the metal braces, but it worked. He could reach just onto my wrist with his fingertips if I stretched far enough.

“What do you want me to do?”

"We need to get free before they come back, I have a bad feeling about whatever they have down to Christine.” He nodded looking at her crumpled body on the floor.

“What next then?”

“I need you to yank on my arm and pull my elbow out, then I need you to snap my thumb and slit my wrists” David looked at me like I was insane. Saying it out loud, it definitely sounds crazy. But I would heal quickly, I hoped. I just needed to get my hands out, then I could manoeuvre my arm out. David, realising what I was thinking, nodded his head.

“This is going to hurt.” I didn’t even have time to process his words before he grabbed my hand and ripped on it, my body being pulled further through the braces, my shoulder tearing as the metal cut into it, it worked though. I felt my elbow dislocate. I held my breath to stop from yelling out. Gritting my teeth through the sudden pain. If Lily could shift, I could at least break a few bones for her. David squeezed my fingers, not just my thumb, breaking all of them in his vice-like grip. I knew he didn’t mean to break all of them, but he didn’t have much choice; it was the only way to get enough strength to break my thumb. I couldn't help the shudder that ran through me, as I felt my thumb slide into my palm. I wanted to throw up. My entire right arm throbbing.

“You need to stretch Aria, cutting your wrists is going to be harder without my claws.” Tears ran down my cheeks as I stretched my arm as far as it would go, but it still wasn't enough for him to reach my wrist. I could feel my mangled fingers trying to heal, so closed my hand into a fist, forcing my thumb to remain in its position. I looked at Wendy on the floor.

“Wendy, Wendy,” She groaned before her head rolled to look up at me. “Can you stand?” she shook her head. “I need you to try. I need you to find something to cut my wrist with so I can get my arm out,” She looked around, but the room was bare besides the steel table and the mesh cage. She slumped back against the wall.

I looked at David. "What about my hand?” He nodded and stretched out again. I did the same, my fingers slipping back into their rightful position. I groaned knowing we would need to break them again. David's nails dug into my hand right at the base before my wrist. I hissed as he dug his nails in. He was straining so hard trying to get them to break my skin when suddenly his claws jutted out and went straight through my hand. I screamed, not expecting his claws to come through. He looked startled but relieved to see he was able to slightly shift.

"Break it again.” My blood was dripping on the floor. I had to be fast, I could feel my skin already trying to heal, although it was much slower than usual. David broke my fingers again and using my blood, I was able to make the braces slippery enough to get my hand all the way through, but not quick enough to pull my arm out when the door opened. I froze, leaving my hand just inside the wrist cuff.

Kade walked in before jamming a syringe into Christine's arm before quickly running out and shutting the door. He waited eagerly by the door peering in the small window with a triumphant grin on his face.

Christine gasped loudly like someone who just took a deep breath for the first time. Her eyes opened and they burned bright like embers of a flame. She turned her head to the side, a grow! escaping from her. I recognised the look on her face instantly, a look I was all too familiar with. The need to feed and Amber was directly in front of her.

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