Chapter 4: What am I?

Even as I was forced to walk, my mind was on other things. Namely, how to escape with Sarah.

I was shoved into a little room. The light flickered on. It was small and empty, save a rectangular table on a corner, with all manner of chains and shackles hanging from the wall. I should have shuddered at its obvious use, but I didn't.

I still felt no fear. Angry, yes. Indignation, sure. But no worry. Except maybe a little for Sarah.

"Sit," he ordered and I obeyed tranquilly.

"You're very brave," he said in awe. I snorted.

"I have no reason to be scared," I said. "Why should I be afraid of someone like you?" I shook my head sadly. "You know, you all have the same problem. Bullies, rapists, people who attack children, and the rest of the list. All one problem, summed up in one word: Insecurity."

He growled and punched my face. "Shut up."

I looked back up at him with genuinely sad eyes. "You know I really feel sorry for you. Kidnapping and forcing young girls because you couldn't find someone of your own. And why not? Because no woman in her sane mind would ever appreciate a set like yours."

"Smart mouthed little bitch," he snarled, punching me over and over. "I own you, don't speak to me that way!" he shouted angrily.

I raised my head to meet his gaze, squinting through the blood that ran from cuts he opened on my eyebrows. I knew my eyes would be back and purple soon, but seeing him this livid was priceless. I smirked.

His anger dropped off his face and he looked at my legs. He then smirked too.

"What a hottie," he commented. "Even with all that blood you're still turning me the hell on."

He grabbed a fistfull if my hair, and my body tensed in fury. He buried his head in the crook of my neck.

All mockery or joke left me and I growled fiercely.

"So hot," I felt his dirty breath on my neck.

"Get your hands off me," I snarled in warning as my feral side rose within me.

"Aww, is that an order?" he chuckled, his left hand moving to grip my right thigh so tightly it hurt. And he tugged on my hair with his other hand. I felt my eyes change, but of course I couldn't see how. His lips crawled over to my ear lobe. "Make me," he whispered.

Without warning, I obeyed.

The links between my wrists snapped, and I threw a punch into his abdomen. He grunted and let go of my hair.

Well done, asshole, I thought.

My knee jerked up into his groin at full force. He stumbled back holding it and I pulled my knee up to my face before using my foot to shove him further away. He stumbled a bit more, then lunged at me to hit me. I ducked under his blows and rammed my shoulder into his midsection again, sending him reeling. I barely needed to brace myself before I roundhouse kicked him in the face.

He slumped on the floor, out cold.

I slowly bent down. With my superior strength I picked him up by the neck and pinned his limp body to the wall.

Wait, I didn't want to kill this man. I mean, I'm not a murderer.

My fingers squeezed harder. No! I shouldn't kill him!

Against my will, my hand tightened on his throat. I caught a glimpse of the reflection of my eyes through his glassy, half open eyelids.

They were glowing. A bright, unnatural yellow. A yellow I had seen before.

It was tapetum(eyeshine). I remembered studying that some mammals have it when there is a beam of light in darkness. I had seen it in foxes back in the orphanage's field.

How the hell did I have tapetum??!

I watched in disbelief as my fingers chocked the life out of my captor. His life slipped through my fingers, just like that.

I dropped the dead body to the ground. Still watching myself in his eyes, I saw my tapetum dim and fade into their natural honey brown.

My hands clapped over my mouth as I stared in horror at what I had done.

I killed a man.

I was a murderer.

I have a wild, evil side. And I am powerless to stop it. What kind of a monster am I?

I totally freaked out and panicked for a few minutes, then forcefully calmed myself.

I searched the man's pockets and found a phone, a knife, and some keys, one of which I used to get the handcuffs off properly.

I tapped the phone. There was a password.

Since I had no idea what it was, I just doodled about with the keys. Then I spotted the emergency button.

I tapped it. This was an emergency, right? I was acting in self defense, right? But I just killed a man.

I shook away the thought and hit call.

"911, what's your emergency?" A clipped female voice answered.

"I've been kidnapped," I told her.

"Alright miss I would like for you to calm down. Do not cut this call."

"Yes ma'am," I said.

"Are you alone?"

"No, several others were kidnapped as well. We were about twenty I think."

"Do you know where you are?"

"No. We were driven here in a small white truck. It had Fred's Fish written on it I think. We are in an empty, enclosed tarmac plot with a warehouse in the middle. It looks like woods all around."

"Did you see your kidnapper? Kidnappers?"

"Yes. Six men."

"Are they armed?"

"Yes, with pistols. They said if we didn't behave they would kill us. Said we were to be prostitutes for them."

"How did you obtain this phone?"

"I-" My throat went dry. "Uh, I- It belongs to one of them. He isolated me and I uh, overpowered him." I swallowed.

A brief silence met me, then she continued, "What is your name?"

"Heather, " I said immediately.

"Full name."

"Felix. Heather Felix," I said, using a random surname.

A longer silence. "Heather Felix?"

"Yes! Heather Felix."

"Very well. We will be there soon."

I sighed in relief. "You know where we are?"

"Yes miss. Thank you for your help."

I cut the call.

That was okay.

Right?

I sat still and waited for the cops to arrive.

And waited. And waited. Hours passed. This was taking way too long. According to the phone, the sun should be setting by now. I groaned. What was taking so long? I thought she said she knew where I was.

I sighed.

Suddenly, my sharp ears picked up a little noise outside the door. I snatched the boss's gun and aimed it at the door.

I was not mistaken. In a few seconds, the door cracked open and a man poked his head in. He instantly had his gun levelled at me.

"Drop the gun, child," he said lowly. "You don't know how to use it."

"Don't I, though?" I challenged. "Why don't you look to your boss," I added with a smirk.

He glanced at the corpse. Wrong move.

I was with him in a flash and swiped the weapon from his hand. Before he could react, I kicked the back of his knee, causing him to fall onto it. I then kicked his back and he fell flat on the floor. I shut the door quickly.

He crawled away from me in terror, most likely because he saw that I had killed his boss. But he contained it remarkably well.

"Are you gonna kill me?"

"Yes," I said to scare him.

"Do it then," he said, unfazed by his own request.

"Take out your phone," I ordered, and he obeyed.

"Put in the password, then give me."

He immediately began rapidly tapping the screen, and I knew I had made a mistake. Before I could do anything, the phone sailed through the air and I caught it.

On the screen was a timer. It was counting down two minutes.

I glared at him.

"What's this." I snapped.

He sighed. "The self-destruct mechanism of the warehouse. You killed the boss, I'm not getting paid. So nothing is left for me to live for. And why not drag you all to hell with me?"

"A bomb!?" I screamed.

He nodded calmly.

"Fuck you," I hissed and ran out of there. I found everyone else in the big room where we all were before. My eyes scanned the group for Sarah, my priority right now.

"Everybody out!" I screamed. " The building is going to self-destruct!!!"