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Without saying a word, they took hold of my arms and escorted me back to the lab I had seen the night before.
Something new had been added, a double row of large animal cages, six on each side of the room, facing each other. Seven of those who were locked inside were strangers to me, but I knew the people in three of the cages—Cagin, Susie, and Rafe. The fourth was a pretty girl with dark blond hair and violet eyes. I frowned, thinking she looked familiar. Of course, Jennifer Something-or-other. She had come to the bookstore once or twice.
The last cage was empty, the door open. I knew it was for me.
I fought a losing battle as the two men dragged me toward the cage. They locked me inside and then left the room.
I stared at Rafe. He sat hunched over in the middle of his cage. He stared back at me, but said nothing. His face and neck were badly burned where the holy water had touched him. I felt his pain as if it was my own, wondered what drug they had used to subdue him.
This couldn't be happening. Any minute now I'd wake up in my own house in my own bed. Yet even as I told myself it was nothing but a nightmare, I registered the fact that the cages held two human men, three Werewolves, three Vampires, and three shape-shifters. The Vampires and Werewolves were bound with silver, which drained their Supernatural strength. Each group consisted of two males and one female, all between twenty and thirty years old.
Edna and Pearl were totally insane, I thought. Effectively testing something as radical as this would take years. You couldn't test a new drug on twelve people and call the results conclusive. And what about its effects on dogs and cats, on birds and fish and livestock? On the water supply and agriculture, the atmosphere itself?
I noticed that Cagin was holding Susie's hand through the bars, though she seemed unaware of it. I was surprised to see them there, since Rafe had told me that Cagin was taking Susie away from Oak Hollow.
The other prisoners sat in silence, their faces reflecting nothing of what they felt, if indeed they felt anything. Drugged, I thought, all the Supernatural creatures had been drugged to render them incapable of fighting back.
I tensed as the door to the lab opened and Edna and Pearl walked briskly into the room. In addition to their usual colorful skirts and sneakers, they wore lab coats, rubber gloves and hospital masks. The two men who had brought me into the lab earlier followed them inside. I fought down a rising tide of panic as Edna and Pearl moved around the room. Why had I never noticed that insane gleam in their eyes before? Hard to believe it had always been there and I had never seen it. I had been amused by their outrageous appearance and eccentric behavior and dismissed them as two slightly unconventional grandmothers. How could I have been so blind?
I couldn't help wondering where Travis was. I thought it odd that he wasn't there to watch the tests.
“We'll start with the shape-shifters,” Pearl decided. She picked up a small glass bottle, removed the cap, filled a nasty-looking syringe with dark green liquid, and moved toward the first cage.
One of the lab assistants unlocked the door. He grabbed hold of the shape-shifter inside and held him down while the second assistant extended the shifter's arm. Quickly and efficiently, Pearl injected the serum into his vein. The assistant locked the cage door, and then Pearl and her assistants moved to Jennifer's cage. She offered no resistance.
Cagin was next. He snarled when they opened the door. In spite of being drugged, he tried to put up a fight, but in his weakened state, he was no match for the two burly assistants who held him down while Edna administered the dose.
“The Werewolves next, I think,” Edna said, filling another syringe, “and then the Vampires. ”
Pearl looked at me. It was hard to read her expression behind the mask, but it seemed her eyes were sad. “And then the humans,” she murmured.
I could only watch in horror as Pearl and Edna moved from cage to cage, injecting the Werewolves. My stomach clenched when they opened the door to Susie's cage. She seemed unaware of what they were doing to her.
Rafe's gaze locked with mine when they opened his cage. Bound with silver chains, he was helpless to resist, but his eyes never left mine.
The other two Vampires were quickly inoculated.
I glanced at the shape-shifters. They sat as before, unmoving, and I wondered how long it would take to see what the serum's effects would be, if any.
Minutes passed and then the first Werewolf that had been injected howled with pain as he changed into a wolf and then quickly resumed his human form. He howled again and then, foaming at the mouth, he collapsed and lay still.
In moments, the second Werewolf let out a long wail that sent chills down my spine, and then he, too, collapsed.
I stared across the aisle at Susie. She lay on the floor of her cage, her teeth bared. She moaned piteously as her body convulsed.
In the cage beside hers, Cagin growled softly.
I glanced at the other two Vampires and then at Rafe. They didn't move, only sat there, unblinking. And then, one by one, they toppled sideways and lay still.
“Rafe. ” His name whispered past my lips. He didn't seem to be breathing.
I watched with mounting horror as Pearl injected the two human males, and then one of her assistants unlocked the door of my cage. I stared at the needle in Pearl's hand, more frightened than I had ever been in my life.
I screamed, “No! Let me go!” when the two men grabbed me. Though there was little room in the cage to maneuver, I kicked and bucked for all I was worth in an effort to free myself, but I was no match for their greater strength.
Terrified and helpless, I stared up at Pearl. The needle in her hand looked huge and deadly. “Please,” I begged, “please don't do this. ”
“I'm sorry, dear,” she said, and jabbed the needle into my vein.
I watched the sickly green liquid disappear into my arm. A burning sensation shot through me, and I went limp as the two men released me. My blood felt like it was on fire, my body felt heavy, numb. Helpless, I could only lie there, wondering if I was going to die like a lab rat in a cage.
As from far away, I heard Edna's voice. “It's obvious the formula doesn't work on the Werewolves. ”
Pearl picked up a long stick and poked Susie with it. She didn't move. “Perhaps it was too strong, or we used too much. ”
“Yes, perhaps,” Edna murmured thoughtfully. “We'll have to change the dosage and round up more subjects. ”
“Yes, dear, I think you're right,” Pearl agreed. Removing her mask and gloves, she tossed them on a table.
“I didn't expect the results on the others to take so long,” Edna said. She peered into the cages that held the two human males. Like me, they lay unmoving and unresponsive when she poked at them.
“Why don't we go have dinner while we're waiting?” Pearl suggested.
“We might miss something. ”
“Nonsense! The cameras are recording,” Pearl said, glancing up at one of the monitors mounted on the wall. “We can watch from the kitchen. ”
“You're right, as always,” Edna said with a smile. She peeled off her gloves and removed her mask.
“Let's go, dear,” Pearl said. “Travis should be back by now. ”
Unable to move, I lay there for what seemed like forever, only gradually becoming aware that some of the others were moving.
And then I heard Rafe's voice. “Kathy? Kathy! Are you all right? Dammit, answer me!”
With a great deal of effort, I managed to roll over so I could face him. “You're alive. ”
He grunted softly.
“Are you still a Vampire?” Even as I asked the question, I wondered if I wanted him to be cured. I had fallen in love with a Vampire. Would I feel the same about him; would he be the same man, if he were human?
“I don't know. ” Head cocked to one side, he touched his elbow to one of the silver bars that imprisoned him and qui
ckly jerked away. “I'd say so. ”
I was relieved and disappointed, but mainly glad that he was still alive, still my Rafe.
“Can you move?” he asked.
“I think so. ” I sat up cautiously. The world spun around me for a few seconds before righting itself. So I could sit up. Big deal. I was still locked inside a steel cage.
Moving carefully, Rafe sat up. “Dammit. ” He closed his eyes for several minutes. I could almost see him conquering the pain the silver caused him, feel the effort it cost him to gather his power and focus his energy. He stared at the lock on the door of my cage.
I held my breath, afraid to move or speak for fear of distracting him, even though I wasn't sure exactly what he was doing.
Several long moments passed into eternity and then, miraculously, the padlock fell open.
“Find the keys,” Rafe said. “Hurry!”
I found a set on the counter, near several bottles of serum. Grabbing the keys, I opened Rafe's cage. Moving cautiously, careful to avoid touching the bars, he crab-walked out of the cage. It took me several tries to find the key to the shackles that bound his hands and feet. My stomach churned when I saw the angry red burns at his wrists and ankles.
But there was no time to do anything about them now. I quickly unlocked the other cages. The two male Werewolves were dead. Susie lay unmoving. Her face was pale and sheened with perspiration, but she was still breathing.
As soon as I unlocked the door to Cagin's cage, he scrambled out and drew Susie into his arms. I freed the other two Vampires, then removed their restraints. I had the feeling they were both very young in the life.
“What now?” I asked when the last cage had been opened.
“We need to gather up everything we can find,” Rafe said. He pointed at the two human men. “You two, gather up all these bottles and anything else you can find. ”
Without a word of argument, the two men quickly found a couple of empty wooden crates and began filling them with bottles of serum, along with the contents of the drawers and cupboards.
It took only a few minutes.
“Cagin,” Rafe said, “take everybody to my house. Kathy, go with him. ”