I was greeted by the scent of metal as I awoke from my sleep. I was in a dimly lit room that appeared to be made out of steel. I sat up fast, which was my big mistake. The room spun quickly and I felt like I was going to barf. I was in some kind of cell, that I was certain of. I was in a gray dress which was not what I had been in before. I remembered every detail of what had happened when I had been attacked. I had been on my night post outside of one of the hidden entrances to the camp. I had heard a noise and went to investigate. I had found nothing but someone came up behind me and then everything had gone black. My ears twitched nervously as I heard footsteps approaching outside of my door. I could sense that they weren’t human, their scent too plain to be that of a mutant. “What is so special about this mutant?” a female voice asked outside of my room. Her voice sounded kind, but that of a forced kindness, not a natural kindness. “Her blood is different and her animal half is more in sync with her human parts,” a male voice said. Unlike the woman, his voice sounded cold and cruel, like he wasn’t trying to hide his true nature. I made a mental plan as they continued. Maybe I could hide in the corner and when they opened the door, I could sprint. It was a good plan, but I had no clue where I was or what the layout of this place was; that was out of the question. “Just get her and we can study her some more,” the female said again, aggravation in her voice. I was about to decided what to do next, but before I had time to think, there was a hissing noise, like gas being released into the room. I could smell it, sleeping gas being released into my cell. I put my hand over my mouth and nose, hoping that it would help. I felt my brain begin to grow fuzzy, the room beginning to go out of focus. I felt my body go limp and I felt back onto the bed as the door to the room opened as the gas cleared. Everything went black as unconsciousness took over, the room and the people dissolving.

            I awoke in the room of a lab, the room smelling of chemicals and disinfectant. I was strapped to a table as people worked around me. The room still looked groggy but I could see people in coats all around me. “Kuro, your subject is awaking. Should we do anything?” the female voice from outside of my room said. “No, the anesthetic will keep her from causing trouble. Take her blood,” the one the woman called Kuro said. I felt a needle pierce my arm as the woman took blood. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even speak. I tried to move but I could only wiggle my fingers a little. “You would do best to not try moving,” the woman said, annoyance in her voice. I decided not to move, not that I could even if I wanted to. I felt needles repeatedly pierce my skin as they took my blood. After what seemed like hours, I felt the Anesthetic get stronger and I went under again, the darkness once again taking over.

            I awoke back in the room I had been in before. I sat up and, luckily, the room didn’t spin again. I stood up, grabbing the bed railing for balance as I got use to actually standing up. The room was grey, the walls clearly made of some type of steel. The dim light flickered as it tried to stay lite. There was then a loud screech as a loud voice spoke through the speakers. “All mutants are to report to the dining hall for lunch. Repeat, all mutants report to the dining hall,” the voice spoke then went off with a static click. My door swung open as many others began walking past my door. I stepped out into the hallway, confused about where to go. What was I supposed to do? I guess I would find out later because my stomach was telling me to follow everyone else to the dining hall. I began walking with the ground, the cold floor sending shivers up my spine. The dining hall was quiet simple: rows beyond rows of tables took up most of the middle of the room, the cooks stood behind metal counters as they passed out food. I didn’t know what else to do so I grabbed a tray and went along with the rest of the line. Food was placed on my tray, some of which I didn’t know what it was. I looked around the room for a place to sit, not exactly knowing where I could sit. I settled at an empty table, eating a piece of bread. I then looked up as two people walked up to me. One of them was male and had shaggy red hair, his ember eyes bright against his tanned skin. He was apparently an elemental because I saw no animal parts. The female, however, was part bat, the purple-black wings, even folded, shows behind her. Her eyes were black so I guessed she was almost, if not blind. “Hello newbie. What’s up?” the male asked as he sat down. The female sat down beside her, apparently nervous. “Um, hi,” I said quietly. They didn’t seem like a threat, though she still was on edge. This entire place put her on edge for obvious reasons. “What’s your name sweetie?” he asked with an all too familiar smile. She got that look from most of the guys at the camp who tried flirting with her. “Luna. My name is Luna,” I said. “It is nice to meet you Luna. I am Mika and this is Bella. I take it you are new,” he said. “Is it that obvious?” I asked. I probably looked like a lost puppy looking for its owner in this place. “Don’t worry. We can help you out. We have been here for a while,” Bella said shyly, eating her meal softly. “Thanks. Where are we anyway?” I asked. “Isn’t that the million dollar question? The exact location is kept from us, I guess to insure we don’t try to find a way to contact anyone and tell them where we are. If you want information on the facility, well that is easy. We are in an underground facility, somewhere in the desert. They basically kidnap any mutants that they can get their hands on,” Mika said, annoyance in his voice. “There have been a few who have escaped but most fail who attempt it. This place is made to keep us in here so it isn’t easy,” Bella said shyly. They obviously hadn’t met anyone like me before. I was the top of class in my training that my father had put me through when I was younger. Thinking of my dad made me a little sad. God only knew what he was thinking had happened, let alone how he was reacting. He was probably sending out search parties even though he probably knew something bad had happened. I hoped my brother could talk some sense into him so he wouldn’t act rash. My father had a level head about all matters except for two: my brother and I. He had been over protective over us ever since our mother had died, ambushed by humans when she got too close to the city on patrol one time. I then heard Mika saying something and snapped out of my thoughts. “Sorry, what did you say?” I asked quietly. “I asked if you were still with us. You looked like you were drifting off,” he said. “Sorry, I was having thoughts about something,” I said quietly. Mika was about to speak but a commotion broke out at the other end of the dining hall. Two guys were fighting, arguing and throwing punches over something idiotic probably. I watched as the guards who had been standing watch around the room ran up to them. They raised their guns and shot the two of them, tranq darts hitting them with a muffled thump. Both of their bodies fell to the ground, unconscious. The guards dragged them out of the dining hall and back towards the rooms. Everyone just went back to eating and talking quietly. “Does fighting go on a lot here or something?” I asked. Mika nodded. “When you have been here a while, you’ll have anger towards almost anyone you don’t have a friendship with. Most of that anger is towards the scientist but you can’t exactly take it out on them unless you want to die. They are like precious cargo in this place. If you try to attack them, you will get hit with more than tranq darts,” Mika said. I remembered the two people who had come and taken me from my cell as soon as I had woken up. My arm still stung where they had taken blood from me. “Would one of them happen to be named Kuro?” I asked, remembering what the woman had called the strange male who I still hadn’t seen. They both stiffened at my mention of his name. “Are you guys ok?” I asked, worry in my voice. “He is the head doctor. He only works on mutants when they have some value to him. Did he…work on you?” Bella asked, worry in her voice now. “When I woke up in my room, I heard footsteps and a woman and a man was talking outside of my room. They made sleeping gas enter my room and I passed out. I woke up in a lab and they were taking my blood. When they took all they needed, they made me pass out again,” I said. Worry was in both of their eyes. “He is cruel and abuses mutants, seeing us as nothing more than objects for him and his bitch wife to study so they can get profit from it. I heard someone say that he has the human government thinking he is trying to find a cure for us, which is the only reason he still has money to fund this facility. Of course, the humans probably wouldn’t care anyway because they are all selfish and scared of us because we are different,” Mika said, anger growing in his voice. I noticed that he was trembling and his hands were in fists. Bella gently stroked his arm. “Calm down Mika. It’s ok,” she said softly. She seemed to calm his temper; they were obviously best friends. There was then a buzzer sound and everyone stood up. “What is that?” I asked, confused. “It is the signal for us to go back to our cells. We have about five minutes to get back in and if we don’t make it, they release the hounds on us,” Mika said standing up with Bella. I stood up with them and threw my tray away. I had a feeling I didn’t want to meet the hounds. I followed them down the hall along with Mika, Bella, and the other mutants that were on my hallway. 

            As it turned out, Mika and Bella’s rooms were the two on both sides of my room. They smiled at me and waved good bye as they vanished into their rooms. I did the same as my door closed with a loud echoing click. I sat on my bed as the echoing of the rest of the steel doors clicked down the hallway. There was then a loud buzzer as howling echoed through the doors as howling was heard all throughout the building. I heard someone run past my door, panting loudly. The muffled sound of paws then ran paws my doors. I heard a thumping against my door as yelling was heard. Blood then trickled into my celled, the sound of a body being dragged heard out in the hallway. I sat on my stiff bed, worry running through me. The blood stopped flowing into my room since its source had been dragged away. How sick was this place? I had to get out and I had to do it soon. I couldn’t stay in this place. Mika and Bella were right. The people who worked here were insane and cruel. Then the worst thing I feared happened. One of the hounds, whatever beast was out there, started clawing at my door. Why was he trying to get it? I was inside my room so why was it trying to get in. I heard the guards outside moving around but they couldn’t get it away from my door. It growled and scratched until I actually saw the door start to bend underneath it. I stood up and backed up into the corner that was farthest from my door. Then I thought: No, I will not let this stupid mindless killing machine scare me. I walked until I was in the middle of my room, waiting for my door to break and let in the beast. It sounded like a loud boom when the beast finally got through, the entire cell door caving inward. The thing that I faced was massive and hairy. He had large teeth and its eyes were staring at me like I was an all you can eat mutant buffet. The men outside kept shooting darts at it but the beast was unaffected. It lunged at me and I met it with my claws. I felt it scratch my side and I let out a yelp. I clawed at it; my reflexes and claws the only thing keeping me alive. I clawed its stomach and it let out a doggish yelp. I was then able to kick it off of me, a loud thump heard as it hit the wall of my room. It was dazed so I jumped at the opportunity, literally. I got up and pounced on the beast, ignoring the burning pain in my side where he had clawed me. I was able to get at its throat as he began to rise and swiped my razor sharp nails across his throat. Blood poured out, though his was black instead of read. I stood there, black blood covering my claws and my own blood soaking my dress. The people outside of the room just stared at me, obviously surprised at what I did. I then felt my side go numb, not realizing how much blood I had lost. I then collapsed to the ground, going into unconsciousness as they rushed in, one of the guards picking me up and the others dragging the dead hound out of my room.