His hands cupped the side of my face, his blue eyes searching mine as he looked at me with that expression that showed me exactly how he felt about me, I would never be able to describe that look in a million years but it made my insides squirm and the hair on my arms to prickle. I pressed myself closer to him; his scent filled my lungs making my heart pick up double time. I smiled reassuringly and ran my hand over his chest, playing with the collar on his t-shirt. Our goodbye was like this everyday, no words spoken, he just seemed to prepare himself to leave me for a few hours, then we’d go our separate ways until dinner time.
Finally, he sighed and broke the intense wordless plea he was conveying through his eyes. Today’s worry was worse than normal because we were going to different places today. I was heading to the lab because they had something they wanted to test on me to do with my visions, and Sean was going with Roland and Charles to meet with some important people from the English government.
Apparently there was a division in their government that worked with the shifter council to do with the Organisation because both humans and shifters were affected, they had some sort of agreement to share information or something, it was all a little hush-hush but I guess Sean would find out more when he got there.
“So I’ll see you in a few hours. You stay with Jeremy, okay?” he instructed, looking at me sternly.
I nodded in confirmation. Sean liked Jeremy so I think that calmed him slightly that Jeremy was my personal scientist, I worked with him everyday. “Will do. Go to your meeting, you’re gonna be late if you don’t hurry.”
A frown crossed his forehead and I could feel the conflict inside him, he hated to leave me.
Everything would be easier once we were back in America; he would calm down more because most of the worry came from the fact that he didn’t know the people or places here very well so it magnified his concerns. The trouble was that we didn’t know how long we would be here for -
school started for me again in about eight weeks, but I didn’t really want to spend the whole summer here - for one thing it was damn cold in England!
“Love you, Tyler.” I smiled at the honesty in his voice. I never thought I would have anything even remotely like what I have with Sean, I never thought anyone would want me after what happened to me, but the way Sean somehow made me strong enough to deal with all of that stuff, he made everything better, cleaner, I didn’t feel dirty and used when Sean looked at me the way he was right now.
“You too. Now go!” I instructed, laughing and pushing him away from me.
He groaned and tightened his hold on me as his soft lips pressed against mine in a passionate kiss that made my stomach flutter with happiness, and then it was over. He broke the kiss, turned on his heel and walked out without another word, closing the door behind him. I tried not to focus on the dread and nervousness that he felt inside because he was leaving. Also, I probably wouldn’t have contact with him today either, the tests they were doing on me today should block me from Sean completely, well, that was the plan anyway - they wanted to test out some new drug on me or something and then test my abilities again. This was what was worrying Sean the most. He’d made me promise that my cellphone wasn’t to leave my hand the whole time. It funny how quickly you can get used to the constant contact with someone, once that connection was broken - well, if they could break it, that was one of the tests - it would be awfully quiet inside my head without Sean and his feelings barging their way in there. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it, I loved the fact that he was close to me even when he physically wasn’t.
I sighed and grabbed his hoodie that he’d left for me to wear today. It was middle of the summer here in London, but you wouldn’t know it, people were walking around in shorts and t-shirts but I was still cold! Glancing at my watch I saw that it was almost eight thirty, Jeremy would be here any minute to take me down to the lab where we spent most of our time lately. After pulling on the hoodie, I sat down on the little couch. I was in a waiting area of sorts; I knew this room well because of the last week.
After a couple of minutes the door opened and Jeremy walked in, smiling brightly at me. He was a lot younger than most of the scientists and council members that I saw on a daily basis. Jeremy was only twenty-four apparently, and was supposed to be some sort of genius. He was fairly small for a guy, only about five foot six, and was a little scrawny looking. His blond hair was messy and could certainly do with a good cut, and his brown eyes always looked excited and eager. He seemed to get just as excited by a DNA sample as a normal man would get excited about beer and football - but he was still a nice guy.
“Hey, you ready?” he asked, grinning happily.
I nodded, pushing myself up from the sofa. “Yep.” I followed him out of the room, frowning down at his bare, pasty white legs in his shorts. “Aren’t you cold? Seriously, you English people are strange!”
He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Tyler.” We made small talk as he led me to the third floor which was always his lab of choice. As we walked in, I sat on the chair in the middle of the room and waited for him to do his thing. On the table in front of me was all sorts of machinery, including the ECG machine, brainwave monitor, blood pressure cuff, and the various other things that I always had attached to me while he conducted his tests.
“So, what exactly are we doing today? How does this work?” I asked, picking up the little electrode pads and starting to stick them to my chest to help him out.
He smiled. “You know that drug that Sean said they injected him with when he went after your stepfather,” he started. I cringed as I thought about that day and what I’d seen and felt from Sean - he still hadn’t told me everything that went on that day but I knew he killed a lot of people, my stepfather included. “Well, I’m pretty sure I’ve worked out the right formula for it. We’ve been testing it on other shifters and it definitely does the same that Sean said, restricts the wolf, knocks you out and that kind of thing. I just want to test what happens on you because you’re human, I’ll only give you a small dose so you’ll stay awake and alert,” he explained.
I nodded; he’d explained most of that to me before. Apparently they’d gotten to the scene of an Organisation attack in time to take blood samples from some of the victims, it turns out that the shifters all had the same compound in their blood. They’d been working on it for months and finally had reconstructed the drug that the Organisation used and they believe it to be the same one that my stepfathers men injected Sean with in LA.
“Sean knows that he might now be able to contact you once I administer it, right?” he asked, eyeing me worriedly.
I laughed and pulled out the cellphone from my pocket, putting it on the table as he started attaching more of the devices to me. “Yep, gotta keep this handy at all times,” I confirmed, laughing.
“I’m so glad I’m not bonded. Sean is so whipped that it’s embarrassing,” he joked, dodging a slap that I aimed at his arm. “Hey, hey, violence against staff won’t be tolerated,” he stated, trying to look serious.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head, for a smart person sometimes he could be so silly. “Let’s just get on with it. I heard there’s fish and chips for lunch,” I suggested, grinning excitedly. That was one thing I had to give England credit for, their food was awesome and something I’d miss when we went home.
There was another half an hour of fiddling with wires, probes, pressing buttons and flicking switches, I was finally strapped up and ready to go. After turning on a video camera to record everything, he smiled reassuringly before stepping in front of the camera. “Ten milligrams of Neuro-inhibitor compound to be injected into test subject P2, Tyler Houston, human DNA only,”
Jeremy said into the camera. He picked up a syringe, turning to me and smiling apologetically as he rolled the sleeve of my hoodie up. “Ready?” he asked, moving the point closer to the crook of my arm.
I nodded and hissed through my teeth at the small prick of the needle. I watched as he p
ushed the liquid into my bloodstream. Almost instantly I felt a little woozy, like I wasn’t quite aware of everything that was going on around me. I was still in control of myself, but it just felt like I was a little weak and dopey - like when you first wake up from a heavy sleep.
He pulled back, tossing the needle into the little plastic tub. He turned back to look at me, his clipboard raised, his pen poised to start scribbling notes. “So, how do you feel?”
I shrugged, noticing that my movements felt kind of exaggerated and awkward. “Little strange, kind of heavy?” I offered, not really knowing how to describe it.
He nodded. “Like you’re not quite in control but you don’t feel out of control, right?” he asked. I nodded in confirmation, feeling as though my head bobbed a lot more violently than it probably did.
“Yeah, that’s what the shifters noticed too.” He scribbled on his pad as he sat on the desk next to me. “So, what I want you to do now is try and contact Sean,” he instructed.
“Okay,” I agreed. I closed my eyes and really concentrated on him, but I couldn’t feel him at all, I couldn’t get an answer even though I was calling him and calling him in my head, and I couldn’t even feel the worry that usually came off of him in droves. I shook my head after a few minutes and looked up at Jeremy. “Can’t.”
He grinned excitedly and scribbled on his pad again. “What about a premonition? Can you try and have one? Maybe see what you’re going to have for lunch?” he offered helpfully.
“Fish and chips,” I answered, laughing, already knowing the answer to that question because I’d been told this morning by Roland.
“Ha ha, come on be serious!” he instructed.
I sighed and closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing and letting my body relax as my mind drifted off, thinking about what I was having for lunch today. My mouth started to water at the thought of food, but I couldn’t actually ‘see’ anything at all. I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said, frowning a little. I didn’t actually like not being able to do things that I had gotten so used to doing in the last few months.
Jeremy made a little excited squeal as he scribbled on the pad again. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, my cellphone started vibrating, making a loud buzz against the table. Jeremy smiled and picked it up, passing it to me and he shook his head knowingly. I didn’t bother checking the caller ID before I answered it; I knew it would be Sean freaking out about not being able to ‘feel’ me.
“Sean, I’m fine,” I said into the phone.
“Baby, I don’t like this at all. Tell him to stop now and at least wait until I get back into the building so I can stop stressing out. I need to concentrate on this meeting and I can’t do that while I don’t know you’re safe,” he stated, his voice tight with stress and worry.
I shrugged, rubbing my hand over my face, my skin felt a little numb all over. “I can’t stop now.
It’s in my system now so you’ll just have to cope until the effects wear off,” I countered. “I’d better go, Sean. Don’t worry alright? Everything’s fine, just do your thing and I’ll see you later,” I cooed, trying to calm him down.
He groaned in frustration and I could just imagine him running his hand through his soft hair and shaking his head like he always did when he was stressed. “Fine, okay. I’ll see you later. Call me if you need me,” he conceded.
“I will. Bye, Sean.” I disconnected the call and pushed the cellphone back onto the table, looking up at Jeremy expectantly. “What now?” I asked.
He frowned, looking a little uncomfortable as he produced a small knife from his pocket. “Any chance we can test to see if you heal while you have the drug in your system?” he asked, wincing.
I smiled reassuringly. “Sure, just don’t tell Sean, okay? He likes you, I’d hate to see him go all protective wolf on your butt,” I joked, holding out my hand to him so he could cut me with the knife.
He nodded. “It’s definitely a good idea that we don’t tell Sean,” he agreed. He took hold of my hand and I noticed that his was shaking a little as he winced. I nodded in encouragement and he brought the knife down, making a little shallow cut on the tip of my index finger. I gritted my teeth against the small pain and watched, waiting for it to start closing itself like it usually did, but the blood continued to drip from the little cut. “Looks like the inhibitor stops all of your abilities. I’d like to test this one again, something bigger this time, but I don’t want to do that if you don’t want me to,”
he said, looking at me curiously as he passed me a wad of Kleenex for my finger.
I pressed the Kleenex to the little cut to staunch the blood flow as I nodded. “Sure what kind of thing? Nothing bad, right?” I asked, starting to worry that this was going to be really painful.
He chewed on his lip thoughtfully. “How about a cut on your arm or leg? Just a centimetre or two, I’d like to make sure this wasn’t just a one off,” he said, nodding at my finger.
I reluctantly agreed, knowing that Sean was going to be crazy mad. He didn’t mind them hurting him to test the healing ability, but he’d never once let them test it on me. Hopefully he wouldn’t find out. “Okay. Let’s go for the leg though, that way I don’t have to try and take off my hoodie without disturbing all of these electrodes and stuff,” I suggested.
Raising my leg, I put my foot on the table and then rolled up the leg of my jeans to expose my calf while Jeremy moved the camera closer to get a good shot of it. He frowned, moving towards me with the knife. I noticed that his hands were shaking a little; he obviously didn’t want to hurt me.
“Shall I do it?” I offered.
He looked at me gratefully. “Yeah, good idea, that way if it hurts too much then you can stop,” he agreed, passing me the knife.
Gritting my teeth so I didn’t make a sound, I brought the knife down to the side of my calf and made a two inch cut there. I whimpered and closed my eyes as it started to bleed but not too badly that I should worry about bleeding out or anything, besides, Jeremy wouldn’t let me get seriously hurt, Sean would kill him.
I felt Jeremy touching my leg, prodding at the skin around the cut, making the pain get worse. He was mumbling to himself as he scribbled on the clipboard before looking back at my leg again.
“Test subject’s wound isn’t healing itself like it normally would without the inhibitor. Her physical abilities as well as mental ones appear to be affected by the drug. Motor functions appear to be normal, subject is fully alert although comments that motor functions feel a little…..” he trailed off, looking up at me for the right word.
“Sluggish?” I offered, shrugging.
He smiled. “Sluggish. Good description,” he complimented. He looked back at my leg again.
“Know what I’d like to do? Wait until the substance is out of your system and then make this cut again to compare the healing times,” he said, chewing on his lip thoughtfully. I nodded and shrugged, not really caring what he did. I tried not to focus on the burning pain in my leg, or the trickle of blood I could feel running down my calf.
The wound eventually stopped bleeding; Jeremy said it was consistent with a normal human healing time. We did more tests all morning, testing my eye sight, memory, periodically we tested my ability to contact Sean or have a premonition but I couldn’t do it at all. Finally, after about four hours the drug seemed to be leaving my system. My muscles seemed to relax and my brain seemed to clear a little. The camera was firmly fixed on my leg as the skin slowly knitted itself back together again, the line of the cut fading to a light pink and then eventually disappearing altogether.
After that Sean popped back into my head and I couldn’t help but smile as his worry burst into my system again.
Jeremy turned off the camera and smiled at me. “That was awesome. I love my job,” he enthused.
I laughed and rolled my eyes. How one person got so excited over science was beyond me. “So, was that what you expected?” I asked curiously.
He nodded. “Yeah, you actua
lly respond the same to the drug as the shifter subjects. It takes the same amount of time to get out of your system as it did theirs, however they were injected with more than you because a shifters blood is different composition, they need more of the drug because their blood automatically fights it to get it out of their system. If I was to inject a shifter with the amount I shot you with then it’d be out of their system within about half an hour. If I was to shoot you with the same amount as what I gave them then you’d probably go into a coma or cardiac arrest. It’s all about the doses,” he answered, scribbling on his pad again.
“So they must have given Sean just a little then because he was only gone from my head for about twenty minutes,” I commented.
Jeremy frowned, looking at me curiously. “Why would they only give him enough for just a human? Surely they would give him a shifter’s dose,” he replied, looking confused. “Unless, Sean’s body can somehow fight the drug off quicker than normal shifters?” he pondered seemingly to himself.
I shrugged in response.
“Maybe I’ll ask Sean if he’d let me test the drug on him later,” Jeremy said, looking excited again.
He honestly was like a kid in a candy store with all this stuff.
“I’m sure he will,” I agreed. “Food time now?” I asked hopefully, rubbing my empty stomach.
He laughed and nodded. “Yeah come on, we’ll finish up with the paperwork later,” he suggested, pulling off his lab coat and throwing it over the back of his chair.
Sean came back a few hours later. He told me that the meeting with the government official had gone well; they were all cooperating together to try and find members of the Jefferson Organisation.
Apparently a train crash in Japan was being linked to them, so they were working on getting surveillance footage to help try and find the main key players for the Organisation. The one who was in charge was called Byron Jefferson; he was a direct descendant of Archibald Jefferson, the first and founding member of the Organisation. No one knew his whereabouts though, not even rumours of where he was. Sean, Roland and Charles came back looking fairly frustrated.