Someone mumbles something and my eyes snap open. Only for me to groan and rub my face. It's always like this, all the time. I'm not sure whether it's a the new cat part of me or the fearful human part of me but every little sound wakes me up.

It hasn't been that long though since I've become a cat though, maybe half a day. I don't know how I know that, time has mostly been a blur here. A painful blur that smells horrid and is really dark. But I'm assuming my instincts are sharper, and thus, my internal clock.

Sighing, I get up and stretch. Particularly my back, I always feel I have to stretch it out. I generally feel I always have to stretch my limbs out, and that accursed tail, even if I've only been still for a few moments. Although when I'm laying down, I always just want to curl up. I never knew how conflicting those two instincts are until now, I thought ocelots were simple.

And I don't know what it is now, but I cannot stand that water. My throat is hoarse and raw from talking without drinking and my mouth has that dry disgusting feel to it. But still, the moment I taste the drug I cannot stop gagging until the liquid is out of me.

Which doesn't even make sense, animals have been drugged before. They don't know that whatever they're consuming will sedate them until it's already running through their systems, so I shouldn't be reacting like this. I just don't get it and I'm starting to stare longingly at the water.

"Lukas? You're still up?" I sigh and turn to Petra, who is pulling herself out of sleep. I smile, tiredly and my dry lips cracking apart, mainly so she feels better. Only for it to fall when I remember they can't see me.

"Cat naps I suppose, everything's waking me up all the time."

She yawns and her outline nods, pulling herself upright. "Does it feel weird? Or is it just like new limbs and stuff?"

Sighing again, I turn away from Petra. I know she can't see me as well, only if she super squints can she get a faint and blurry outline of me. I don't think the others have realized that I have enhanced sight yet, not when they aren't the sharpest right now. And I don't think I have fully realized how much I'm just... not thinking about things. I'm worried about Jesse and the others and I'm thinking about that, but I don't want to think about what's happened to me. I don't think I can handle it.

"It's strange, but I'm more worried about what's going to happen to you guys." I glance at Olivia's frail frame. "I'm scared that Olivia might not make it, not if it's the same for her as it was for me."

"What was it like?"

I scratch my head, maybe it's better I don't tell her. So she only has to experience the horrors once. "You know that feeling? The one where you really want to tear someone's throat out?"

"I'm usually the only one who gets that..."

"Yeah, so I got that feeling and the one where I would feel just fine if a Wither Storm was unleashed on all those people."

"Brutal."

"On the bright side," If there's any bright side for having your born title of 'human' turned into 'animal experiment'. "They sedate you right afterwards, so it's over when it's over. Lasts... I don't remember. Sedative."

I do remember, I could go in detail of how every minute felt like an hour of pure suffering, but I shouldn't. I know Petra doesn't scare easily, but she needs everything she has to get through this one. They all do.

That's when I hear it, the sound I've been dreading. Footsteps. Not just one or two, but a whole lot. I can't really tell, but there's not a not of time. We have to get the handcuffs back on before they realize we can get them off.

"Quick! Wake the others! Put the chains back on your legs and hands when I toss them to you."

She scrambles over and does what I hissed as I pick up the chains. The ones on the legs are longer than the hand ones. The piles are already separated, thank you foresight, and I toss the leg ones over to my friends.

"Those are the ankle chains, put them on!" The chains rattle as they mumble, and mine click on quickly. Advantages of being able to see then. I'm tossing the hand ones to them as I hear a their chains click together, the footsteps getting dangerously loud.

I grab mine and lock the first cuff on my right hand, before using the wall to hold the other cuff still to get my left hand in it. Using my right hand to click the chains right back on, making me trapped once again in them.

Someone else's click on, and the footsteps get so loud. There must be at least eight, if not more, probably more, definitely more. So loud, they must be just a few meters away. Almost there to slam open the door like they always do.

A small flash of relief goes through me when I hear the final clicks of their chains, right as the door bursts open. My eyes stinging, not that badly though, when the sudden light pierces the room.

"Congratulations!" Oh man, that was so painfully obviously forced. This guy sure is not a happy camper right now. "Our gracious leader has decided to upgrade your living quarters, provided you do a few things for him."

There was a cue in there somewhere, as they all march in and they use one of their VILE hands to touch my friends!

Instincts take over, a screech blasting through my mouth as I launch at the one grabbing Olivia. Biting for his throat but the man turns and my teeth dig into the soft flesh of his cheek. His blood seeping into my mouth, and my chained limbs have difficulty keeping me balanced.

Something yanks me back and I hiss before something gets shoved into my mouth. A ball gag of some kind, I close my mouth at all. The snarls now only pathetic weakened mews.

"Stupid cat! Pull another stunt like that and someone else pays. Which friend would you like to see die first?"

Reluctantly, I bow head in submission. Ears flattened and fur still standing on end. I wish I could hiss, or snarl, or claw their eyes out! But I can't let them hurt anyone. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't. I can't let this animal take over or my friends won't ever leave this place.

The smell and taste of the demon's blood though is very satisfying. If there's ever a chance to get this again then oh man am I taking it, as long as none of my friends get hurt because of it. I don't think I can ever get the smell out now. I just really want more of it.

They drag us all out into the hallway, and I check on my pride- teammates. Axel and Petra are grinning at me, eyes squinted as they try to handle all the light. Olivia has gone limp, eyes closed and everything as she just takes deep breaths.

My heart pounds in my chest as I realize what direction we're going. I forget my urge to slaughter everyone wearing black, and just try to breathe. Although soon, one of my friends might not be able to breathe. They might not live through what they're about to go through.

And out of all the times to be right! They all are going to be experimented on at the same time! I can't comfort all of them while not panicking at wherever I'm going too. What if Petra becomes a cave spider or something? She hates all spiders, becoming part of one might just drive her over the edge.

Yet I can't do a single thing about it. Not one thing. Nothing. Completely trapped and caged from doing anything helpful at all. I know exactly what torture my friends are about to go through and I can't do one thing to help them.

"So is this upgrade gonna involve more food?" I glance at Axel, who almost looks like a puppy asking for food. Could Axel become a wolf? I don't know, maybe not or maybe so. I wish they all remain human.

"We will never give you food, you have to earn it."

Petra fights weakly against her captor. "That's cruel! You've already weakened us so much and now you expect us to do things for you!"

Her man growls down at her, hitting her head. A hiss tries to come out of my mouth, but all that happened is a muffled strangled noise. I thrash lightly, but mainly fighting myself to get these impulses under control.

"It's incentive, and in most cases subjects will die unless weakened. Would you rather die or be starved?"

I jerk wildly, struggling from doing something I'm going to regret. These fools are making it hard though. How am I suppose to just sit still when he's making so many threats to my friends and I really want cut out his throat right now so he can't make any more.

The man dragging me grunts, hitting me on the head. My legs are about to do something, and I manage too stop whatever insane thing I was about to try. I don't bother though trying to stop the flood of muffled noises spewing from the ball gag.

"Seriously man? Can't control one weakened and sedated subject?" My body lurches wildly, always about to do something before I get a grip on it. I can't let myself do something that'll get my friends hurt, why can't all of me understand that?

"Hey!" My captor hits my head again, another wave of noises flying out of the ball gag. "He's a Tier 3! This one-"

"Has been drinking sedated water. Come on man, you're a collector. You should be better than this." For a moment, I let my guard down and smile. They think I've been drinking that drugged water, they should know never to assume.

Instincts take over and I scramble to catch up. Before I know it, I kick my legs up and rolling in front of the man. Twisting his arm as he tried to keep his grip on the chains. Strangled yowls burst forth as I jerk back. And his arm snaps beautifully.

Only for someone else to grab my chains, including the leg ones. I thrash madly as they lift me, my tail still dragging on the floor, in a worse situation now than I was only a few seconds ago. But it's all their fault if you think about it. I would have never have done that if I was never experimented on.

A slow sarcastic clap goes off, and now that I'm looking, we're in that horrible new hallway and I already don't like the reason why we've stopped.

"Way to go Subject 811, you are exceeding all of my expectations." That voice! It's that devil, that 'gracious leader' that deserves to have a Wither Storm chase him!

Impossibly, my mouth open wider and I spit out the ball gag. Snarls, hisses, growls, yowls, all of it floods from my mouth as I spasm in a frantic desperation to get out and tear the limbs right off this man!

"See what happens when the subjects are given something to fight for, so much more success. It's been fifteen hours since his transformation and there are no visible attempts of self harm or a mental disorder. What a success."

I screech louder, trying to throw these people off but my muscles feel so weak right now. A headache forming, and it calms the impulses so I can take back rational control of my body again.

"Hmm, take the prime subjects into their rooms. Use bindings 4 for Subjects 812 and 814 and use bindings 7 for Subject 813. And come on with Subject 811, I want to get a look at him as he's like this."

They begin to walk, and I glare at the devil. Which is when his words hit me. Mental disorder? Self harm? Oh my gosh, if people don't die in the 'transformation' then they also have to fight through mental illness! That's horrible! That's so horrible and I am really going to love it when this guy's bad luck catches up to him.

The devil, calmly as if I'm a thing, pinches my skin and lets go. "Hmm, this subject hasn't been drinking the water. Be careful, he's not sedated."

"Troew!" I snarl, struggling to get my vocal cords to conform to human speech. There's quite a few insults I want to lob at this despicable man.

"He's quite the talker for what he was earlier, perhaps he's a bit stronger than most other Tier 3s."

"Talking about a person as if they're a thing and aren't right in front of you is really rude." I'm sounding like Petra, or Jesse when he starts to get mad. And I basically confirmed what that devil just said. Or at least thinking on how to get out, that needs to be my prime focus all the time.

The man arches an eyebrow at me, as if I said something insensible right now. "I'm treating you exactly what you are. A piece of progress towards our goal. The goal which will save all of humankind."

"I didn't know that humankind needed saving." A growl bubbles from my chest, and it's amazing I was able to get that out at all.

My attention flickers away from him though when they open a dark gray door. A depressing stairwell that they carry me up. There was the gray cells, the pristine 'lab' hallway, and now we're going up some stairs. Where I can already hear faint machines humming, and I really don't want anything to do with this place. Like, this entire prison.

What am I saying? My friends are probably being injected with that torture right now and I'm worried about what's happening to me? I should be worried for Olivia! She was still limp last I saw her, maybe she'll have more strength then to fight through that misery.

And Axel and Petra, they can make it. I think. They're such strong people, but they've been starving in a vile smelling room in the dark. That wears on anyone, and plus, they've been worrying about Jesse. There's only so much you can do to someone before they start to break down.

Has Jesse been going through this treatment too? All by himself with no clue if it has been happening to us or not. That's just awful to go through, and I'm sure there have been plenty of threats made to him if he doesn't behave well. I imagine how hard it would be to control his animal when he can't even see us and only has what they tell him about how we're doing.

Shaking my head, I look back around at my surroundings. I cannot rely on my friends being wake even to look at this area. This is another pristine room, but they don't all look the same and different noises are coming from them. I'm hearing machines hiss and hum, something smashing together over and over again, and-

A shrill inhuman scream of anguish echoes in the hallway. I look at my captors, but they aren't fazed by it in the slightest or when the scream is cut off. How long have they being doing this to people? How many times has this happened for them to become immune to their consciousness?

My heart rate picks up as I'm hauled  into a room. As much as I don't like being carried around against my will, I think I prefer it more than being in one of these rooms. It hasn't even been a day since I last entered a torture chamber, aren't I allowed at least a day of rest before being forced to endure something else?

I instantly spot the chains hanging down from the ceiling and I instantly start thrashing again. I couldn't care less that I'm weak, I've got to get out of here. Right now. I need to leave now, before I get hurt. I just need to leave. I need to get out.

Then there's the prick on my neck, and I turn just in time to see the liquid seeping into me. Great, just great. My neck is going to be really sore if they keep shoving needles into it. Why can't they just do my arm or something? Or even better, be normal and not turn people into subjects for their weird animals experiments. That would be preferred.

I sigh, as feeling leaves most my body. There are still some sensations, but they feel so distant and more like knowing you're touching something in a dream. Thankfully, I can still see. I'll be able to warn my friends about this, provided they live.

Sighing again, I can't even shake my head to get these thoughts out. That's sad, sadder than when they undo the chains and I can't even attack them. I can't do a thing against these people who have made my life suck. Not even a glare when they bind my hands to the hanging chains.

The chains begin to drag me up, and I let my attention drift to the side. Where someone is pulling a crank or something, dragging me so I'm floating above the ground. My head droops, it's really heavy. So hard to keep it upright. Maybe I can actually go to sleep now, a real deep sleep where I won't wake up at every noise.

"Begin diagnoses."

****

Well, at least Lukas isn't eating people. Bright side right?

Okay so, I'm a bit curious right now. Petra, Olivia, and Axel are all going through the experiment. Do you think one of them is going to die? And if they don't die, what do you think they'll be warped into?

And whatever may your thoughts be, you'll have to wait another 5 days to know! See you all again then!