Chapter 2

Varian

I woke up for the umpteenth time, but this time the sharp noises were replaced with a dull ringing and my vision was blurred. I'd never been so happy.

I hated this white room that resembled a hospital and the blinding light that hurt my eyes the most. I hated everything here, especially the people.

They took me from my life and were making me a freak. I'd heard about stuff like this but my friends and I just laughed, none of us believing it. Boy did I believe it now.

The door opened, and a rush of air blew across my face as a man walked in, his brown eyes excited about my arrival. He was just as sick as the other scientist.

"Hello Varian. I hope you haven't experienced much pain." He said, holding a clipboard as he waited for me to talk.

"Go to hell. It's where you all belong." I snarled at him, not making a move to get up. It hurt too much to move and I knew this place was protected.

"You're the first male to accept the Red Virus. It's amazing, really. We've tried it on hundreds of people and you're only the second successful experiment. You should be proud." He said, ignoring my comment.

"I should be proud that you kidnapped me and are trying to make me a freak?" I snapped, wincing as the ringing started to sharpen.

"Careful Varian. I don't want to have to punish you." He said, a clear threat in his voice.

"You're one sick bastard and you don't even realize it." I snarled and yelled in pain as the ringing heightened to a throbbing banging noise right before I blacked out again.

Arcelia

"Varian isn't adjusting well. I thought maybe he'd adjust better if he met someone like him." He explained, an arm wrapped around me. Ever since yesterday, He tried to be more affectionate.

"Okay." I said and felt him squeeze me, pain shooting through me. Yesterday, I’d begged Him to stop hurting me, to tell me what I’d done wrong so I could improve on it. But He didn't. He just hit me and told me to stop crying. So I did.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, running His hand over the bruise on my eyes and I flinched slightly before nodding.

"I'm fine." I whispered and saw Him nod.

"Good. Let's make our way over to his room." He instructed and kept His arm around me as we walked over.

He opened the door and walked me in before leaving without a goodbye or a glance back, hurting me mentally.

I looked at the door for a few seconds before turning my attention to the boy on the floor. I shouldn't really be calling him a boy. He looked my age, but was most likely older.

I realized I was wrong when I said there was nothing special about him. There was. He was beautiful. He had thick lashes that covered his eyes and his black hair swept across his forehead, like feathers.

I crawled over to him, ignoring my own pain and sat in front of him, placing his head in my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair and noticed it felt like the feathers on a duck.

One time, the Lab had brought in several ducks. They’d wanted to examine their webbed feet to make an improvement on it. The lab coats had been trying to perfect the technique of webbed feet for a while and when they heard about the shipment of ducks, they immediately started on it. Ducks weren’t common anymore, just like any animal. They’d either gone out of existence or were struggling to survive on a severed thread.

They’d left the ducks in the room and I could hear them quacking. He’d told me that’s what ducks did when I’d asked Him about them. He said just like we talk, ducks quacked to communicate. I’d been intrigued by them.

That’s when I found myself inside the room, staring in awe at the collection of ducks. I stood there, watching them waddle and quack until He caught me. He gave me a stern warning before I had looked down. That’s when He sighed and told me to pick one.

I remember being so excited - He was letting me pick one of the ducks! I ended up choosing the black duck that had waddled the closest to me. He took it, hiding it under His lab coat. He brought the duck to me every time He visited until someone caught Him and they killed the duck.

But I could still remember how soft the duck’s feathers felt. They’d been as light as air and softer than anything I’d ever touched, even softer than my own face. That was what Varian’s hair felt like.

Ducky. That was his new name.

Suddenly he stirred and groaned softly as he fluttered open his eyes, looking lost. I gasped at how blue they were. His pupils were pitch black, standing out from the aura of blue that surrounded them. They represented what the color ‘blue’ was. I’d never seen anything so blue.

I wished my door was that blue.

He realized I was there and yanked his head away, sending a ripple of pain through my whole body. I yelped and placed my head on my knees, taking deep breaths.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, but I couldn't reply just yet. After about a minute he spoke again.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."

I looked up, my eyes watery. It wasn't Varian that hurt me. It was Him. "I'm Arcelia." I said and saw him blink at my new voice a few times.

"What are you doing in here?" He questioned, looking at me suspiciously. He wasn't very trusting, was he?

"I'm supposed to help you adjust." I answered and he snorted.

"I'm not adjusting to this place. I'll be out soon enough." He said, his eyes flickering to mine before flashing with anger.

"Did someone hit you?"

My hand went to my eyes and I looked down, feeling ashamed. If I had just kept quiet while He tested on me I wouldn't have this bruise.

"Yes. I deserved it." I whispered, near tears at my mistake.

"You couldn't have done anything to deserve that." He growled.

"I wasn't quiet." I said. "If I was quiet I wouldn't have this."

"You weren't quiet?" He asked, looking confused and I didn't like that.

"I wasn't quiet when He ran the tests." I said, my voice barely audible.

It was silent before Varian quietly said, "Did someone abuse you?"

"No! I let Him!" I snapped, defending him.

"You let him? Then why are you so defensive?" He asked and I squirmed before replying. "I didn't like it."

"So he abused you. Who was it?" He asked, confusing me.

"Why do you care?" I snapped before covering my mouth and putting my head down. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so mean. I didn't mean it." I whimpered waiting for the hit.

He came over and I stiffened, tears leaking out of my eyelids. "I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered and I looked up at him to see pity on his face.

"They really messed you up." He said and I just stared at him in reply, the silence drawing on.

"I named you Ducky." I finally squeaked and watched him scrunch up his nose.

"What kind of a nickname is that?" He asked, sounding offended.

"Your hair reminds me of a duck." I said and he reached up touching his hair before groaning. I tensed, wondering if he was hurt.

"Stupid hair. You got me labeled as Ducky by this beautiful girl." He groaned making me giggle before I stopped. He said beautiful.

"Beautiful?" I asked and he smiled widely.

"Have you looked at yourself? You're one of the most beautiful girls I've seen." He said and I felt my cheeks get warm, startling me. He liked the face that I hated.

"You're beautiful too." I supplied and his face turned into a grimace.

"I'm a man. I'm not beautiful." He denied and I giggled again.

"You're the most beautiful man I've seen." I said and he groaned again.

"Stop it. You're turning me into a girl!" He yelled, before he titled his head.

“How old are you beautiful?” He asked, not realizing how the nickname affected me. Would he still call me beautiful if my face hadn’t been altered?

“How old are you?” I replied, not wanting to answer. In truth, I didn’t know. I knew how long I’d been in the Lab, but not how old I was when I’d arrived. I don’t think even the lab coats knew; they just gave an educated guess.

“I’m the joyful age of nineteen.” He started, his tone implying that the age of nineteen was anything but joyful. Seeing his face now, his bone structure and skin, I was more satisfied with my guess about him being around my age. His face didn’t have the youthful look that still whispered around my own, but it didn’t have hills of wrinkles like many of the lab coats had.

“Now you answer my question.” He said, a smile on his face to show he wasn’t threatening me. But it still sounded too much like a command. I was about to lie and reply with nineteen, but suddenly a lab coat entered.

"Ready to leave 14786?" He asked with a kind smile and I stood up.

"Her name's Arcelia." Varian snapped, his teasing tone turning hard in a second.

The lab coat blinked in surprise and nodded, pushing me forward and opening the door. We walked out and I glanced back at Varian's room before the lab coat started walking me in the opposite direction of my room.

I must've looked surprised because he explained why we were heading this way.

“The boss wants to run a few more tests on you. He said they weren’t anything major.”

My pulse quickened and I looked down, my eyes tearing up as they landed on one of the several burns I now had. He was going to hurt me again.

I quickly wiped the tears away, hardening my eyes right before we entered the Testing Room.