[amanda784]

I will not be posting my character pictures here as I feel it would clutter my story. I will be posting a link later, but they can all be found in my important docs as well. I'll make a spot in my journal with a character list and story description, but until then I want to jump right in before my muse runs away again.  

~Damon~

"Damon," I heard one of the nurses whisper, "can you hear me?"

I groan in response. My lungs ache as if they have been working double-time the entire year. My head pounds as if blood can't get to my brain fast enough.

"You're... are you alive?" she asks.

I open my mouth to cuss her out for asking such a dumb question, but I can't seem to remember how to talk.

I feel a finger on my neck, searching for a pulse.

"Alright Damon," she says, "you have to be very still. They're trying to escape. They're being slaughtered."

I try to sit up, but I find myself unable to move or open my eyes.

Am I restrained? I wonder.

"I'm going to get you out of here," says the nurse, "but you have to act as if you're still dead."

Still dead?

My eyes snap open.

[amanda784]

~Angela~

I pause for a moment to stare into Damon's eyes. Once the purest ocean blue is now replaced with a yellow. It's not the normal yellow either. They almost seem to glow.

"If you're going to keep your eyes open, then you need to not blink," I snap at him. "Which I'm not sure how long you can keep them open for, but-"

I am immediately silence by the presence of a guard blocking our path.

"Dr. Angela," he says, "I thought this one was long dead. Why are we just now dumping the body?"

"We wanted to preserve him for testing," I say, "I'm taking him back to my lab at home. I've got 3 weeks vacation, but can't let anyone fuck up his autopsy so I'm working through my vacation."

I let out a nervous laugh and inwardly slap myself for it.

"Work is a bitch," the guard says simply, moving to the side, "Make sure you make time to rest though. I haven't seen anyone here work harder than you!"

"Aw thanks," I say quickly pushing Damon's limp body past the guard and out the door of the Tuun Mountains Research Facility.

One step closer to Damon's freedom... or somewhat freedom? Eh, at least I won't kill the boy in order to do research.

[amanda784]

~Damon~

I'm blinded by the sunlight as we leave the building.

"Where-" the word sounds more like what I imagine a mummy awaking from the dead would sound like.

Am I mummy?

Dr. Angela, whom I had at first assumed to be a nurse is staring down at me questioningly.

"Where are we going?" it's still raspy, but it doesn't sound like something that's still dead anymore.

"My house," says Angela, "They're taking blood and tissue samples before cremating experiments all because of an experiment escape. They are worried what the experiments abilities could accomplish if not properly restrained."

"Are you going to restrain me?" I ask.

"No," she answers, "but if you run or try to harm me I will tell them you are alive and you will be the most wanted man on this planet. You wouldn't last. Believe me."

"I don't know, I'm actually pretty good at-"

"Dammit Damon!" she yells as she loads me into the back of what looks like a large van, "I just watch thousands of experiments... er... kids get slaughtered! I can't take anymore death!"

She brings her voice down to a whisper, "just let me save you?"

I feel like it should have been a statement, but it was asked like a question. Still, I decide it's best not to make my decision yet. Am I worth saving if I'm dead?

[amanda784]

~Angela~

By the time we arrive to my home Damon is fast asleep. I imagine after a full weekend of being dead it would do that to you or does death count as sleep? If so, he's gotten enough sleep for the next week!

I look down at his sleeping body now lying on the bed in my guest bedroom. I can almost imagine the ocean blue eyes that used to be hiding under his eyelids. I wonder if he'll freak when he checks his reflection in a mirror. He's quite pale as well.

I still remember when Damon was first brought to us. He was one of the few kids that weren't brought as an orphan written out of the system. Damon was given up to us by his mother after she noticed odd happenings with all animal life around Damon. It seems Damon's had a knack for bringing things back from the dead.

His dog got hit by a car - Damon heals it. A cat catches and rips off a birds head - Somehow Damon reattaches the head and the bird lives.

We started placing different animals in the room with Damon, each one being dead a different number of days. For some reason, none of them came back to life.

Then, I had the weekend off. The president of TMRF (Tuun Mountains Research Facility) deemed Damon a failed experiment and ordered him to be killed. He was given a lethal injection and put in cold storage until my return Monday when I could do a full autopsy.

However, when I got there Damon's chest was moving up and down, which I know assume to be his breathing.

[amanda784]

~Damon~
I awake to the smell of bacon and coffee.

For a moment I don't know where I am, but like always, it doesn't strike me as odd. In TMRF all the rooms are different and you never seem to know where you are. I assume they do this to discourage escape.

I groggily pull myself into a sitting position and swing my legs over the bed. I go to stand, but as soon as I do I fall forward onto my face. I try to push my hands in front of me to break my fall, but somehow they aren't working properly.

My face connects with a wooden floor with a loud smacking sound and suddenly I remember.

"Damon!" I hear Dr. Angela's voice, followed by footsteps on wooden floor.

She enters the room and helps me into a sitting position.

"What were you thinking?" she asks me with a look of worry across her face.

"I was thinking breakfast smelled good," I answer, in a surprisingly normal voice given the raspy one I had just yesterday. Was it yesterday.

She smiles at me for a moment before the worried look returns to her face.

"Stay still. Your nose is bleeding and I'm pretty sure you broke it." she says.

Funny. I don't feel anything.

[amanda784]

~Angela~

I run to the kitchen and pull and ice pack from the freezer. I then wrap an old dish towel around it before running back to the guest room.

Damon doesn't even wince as I hold it against his clearly broken nose.

"So is there any bacon left?" he asks me.

I can't help to smile at how childish he is. Then again, it could be the fact he hasn't eaten anything since he died. That's three days now without food.

"Yes," I say, "and eggs. Do you like cheese on your eggs or no?"

He nods his head as I help him back onto the guest bed.

"You stay here and I'll bring in a tray," I say.

He gives me a smile and eyes seem to glow a brighter yellow.

[amanda784]

~ Angela ~

I quickly place a heaping pile of eggs on a plate. I smother it with melted cheese and crumble some bacon on top.

"Do you take creamer or milk and sugar?" I yell down the hall.

"Black is fine," comes the answer from Damon.

As I enter the guest rooms Damon's eyes grow wide at the sight of food. His yellow eyes intensify making him look wild and unpredictable.

"Hungry?" I ask sarcastically as I set the tray in front of him.

He doesn't answer, but instead tears into the food.

I watch him with amusement.

"We need to talk," he says looking up from his tray.

[amanda784]

~ Damon ~

"What about the others?" I ask.

Angela looks at me, tears filling her eyes.

"I imagine the ones that escaped are hiding in the mountains and being hunted by doctors, nurses, and scientists."

I look down at my eggs. I don't deserve to live when everyone like me is dead or hunted.

"I have an idea though," says Angela, looking intently at me. "It would be dangerous."

"Anything," I answer, meaning it.

"Let's join the hunt," she answers.

I look at her and smile.

[amanda784]

~Angela~

Damon has gone from a handsome blonde-haired blue-eyed boy to a dangerous looking man with yellow eyes and dark black hair. He's unrecognizable.

I watch him stare into the mirror with a smile on his face.

"I think I like the black hair. When did you learn how to dye hair?" he asks me.

"I was young and rebellious once," I answer.

"And I would say you still are," he says, winking at me.

I can't help it. My whole face turns red.

[amanda784]

~Damon~

Angela hands me a lab coat asks mumbles about it keeping me safe. I doubt they would expect the dead kid of anything. I mean, they think I'm dead.

We each have a backpack with a flashlight, canteen of water, rope, and snacks. I think I had overlooked the fact we would be hiking mountains every day when I signed up for this mess.

The phone rings and interrupts my thoughts. Angela looks over at me with worry.

"It's my boss," she says.

[amanda784]

~ Angela ~

I answered the phone cautiously, but smoothly. I didn't want my boss to catch on that something might be wrong.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Angela. I hate to bother you on your vacation, but I figured I would call given I  have heard you'll be working through your vacation. Is it true you are joining the search?"

"Yes sir. As a doctor who I feel responsible for helping others and  I understand the effect the experiments could be to humanity."

"I couldn't have said it better myself. I will need a report on Experiment 223 once on Monday when you return to work."

"Will do," I said, and hung up the phone.

"Alright. We're in the clear. Let's go." I say to Damon and grab my bag. "I'll have to run tests when we get back..."

[amanda784]

~ Damon ~

We started the hunt on the southern-most part of the mountains. It was the last place the others would look given how far away it was. However, I believed that the strongest and smartest would head south for safety so that's where we started.

A mile-by-mile grid-map was laid on the hood of the car and an "X" placed in the first mile we checked. It took a full hour to do a small search and I quickly realized what a big job this was. I was surprised to see how skilled Dr. Angela was when it came to the outdoors. She knew how to search for signs of people, follow paths left by them, and find safe food and water. She was quite an amazing woman.

"So what did you mean by tests?" I asked.

"Blood tests," she answered, "I'm trying to make a medicine from your DNA to cure any illness. I think I have a fair chance given your ability to come back to life."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not much," she answered, "but the tissue samples might... Damon, I'll be quite frank with you. You may be out of the laboratory, but you're still going to have to be tested on to keep my boss happy and to keep the lie of you being dead. The consequences of not running tests... Well..."

"Don't worry," I answer, "you saved me, so I got you."

[amanda784]

Angela~

He believes and trusts. I have gained the boys trust.

I quickly pushed "send" and hoped Damon wouldn't be suspicious of my texting. None of the experiments were cooperating. This was the only way. It was a huge risks to release the most rebellious of the experiments, but also the only way to get them to cooperate. In reality, they all had a tracking chip in their right arm. So far I had received GPS coordinates for 3 from my superiors. This was so that the most rebellious of the bunch would have time to face the elements. Time to soften.

I cringed, reminding myself of what my boss, who is also my father,  had said: "Angela, they are not safe. They are essentially born to be lab rats. They may be the species human, but they can never have a normal life. They could destroy human life as we knew it OR with your help they could save it."

[amanda784]

~ Damon ~

Angela must have had a second nap on her phone because she let me hold the first one. She guided me up a path in the mountain.

"It's not far and it's a great place to camp out. There's a little cabin," said Angela.

"In the middle of no where?" I asked her.

"The laboratory owns a few safe houses. Mine us one of them."

Why would they need safe houses?" I ask.

"Just in case." It was a stern answer.

From that point on we walked in silence.

[amanda784]

~ Emma ~

I can still hear the sound of sirens ringing in my head. My little head screamed and ached as Mara grabbed my hand and pulled hard. She moved her hand to my mouth as guards rushed passed us. It didn't take Mara long to navigate our way out of the laboratory.

Tears fell from my face as she gripped my arm. I could feel bruises forming. Her hand could completely wrap around my forearm. I wasn't crying from the pain. I didn't want to leave. I don't understand why we are hiding. Mara says they were going to hurt us, but how could they hurt their little scientist?

Little Scientist. Every doctor in the laboratory called me that. At 8 years old I can mix up a cure for just about anything. I make potions. Dr. Angela always called me her little witch doctor. I miss her...