Antone's POV

By the time me and Thayer made it to his office I couldn't hold my anger in anymore and snapped. I grabbed him by the collar and pushed him into the wall with my arm at his throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you tell him you love him? What you do to him is not love."

"He's the only one who can handle my treatment. He's the only one who won't die and will keep me satisfied. What I do may not be love to you but it is to me. He is mine. He belongs to me. I can do whatever I want to him." He said as he shoved me off of him.

"Plus," he continued, "it's not like you treat your guinea pigs humanely either. So you better back off."

"At least my test subjects live longer than your slaves and in better conditions." I countered

"Watch it, Antone. You don't want to bite the hand that fed you. Or, in this case, gave you a job. Did you already forget the run down, unappreciative place that you came from? From the look on your face, I guess you didn't. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to 19. His training may start tomorrow but I booked him a few fights in the arena for today."

"Why would you do that? He just got back after the experiment. He needs rest."

"The last thing he needs is rest. Trust me. They're dying to be set free."

"They're? What do you by that?"

"You'll see." Thayer said as he exited the room. But before he closed the door behind him he said "By the way, you'll be staying here from now on as 19's exclusive doctor. All the records are in his room."

When he closed the door I just stood there lost in thought. I was thinking about what Thayer does to that poor boy and what I did to him. I never thought that he would do this to a baby.

Once I got out of my own thoughts, I left the room that I was in and walked through the halls until I was in front of the door to 19's room. I wanted to speak to him but I knew that he would never trust me again. So preparing myself, I opened the door.

I was greeted with 19 snarling at me. I couldn't do anything but stand there in bewilderment. Not because he was snarling at me, but because of his eyes. Instead of having one eye red with gold flecks and the other eye blue with gold flecks, both of his eyes were gold.

"You are 19 right?" I whispered my thoughts

"Of course I'm 19! Who else would be here in chains waiting to rip you apart in the most painful way possible?!" He yelled while yanking on his chains

"I'm sorry. It's just, you seem so different. When I met you before, you were calmer."

"I'll show you calm. Right after I'm in my other form and ripping your heart out!"

As he struggled with his chains, I made my way over to the room connected to this one. In the room were shelves of record books. I started searching for something, anything, that could help clear my confusion.

"It doesn't make any sense." I said to myself as I looked through the many books. "I know I experimented on him but it shouldn't have caused this drastic of a change in him."

After a few minutes, I found something interesting. In one of the records Thayer mentions three people other than 19.

'In a short period of time I have found out something very intriguing. I have met the one who turns into a wolf who I have named Ferus for his wildness. The next one I met was the one who shifts into a panther who I have named Pernix because he is very agile. The last one I met was the one who I have named Avis because he shifts into an eagle. These people are a sort of protection. Protection for-

"Protection for what? And why does the entry end there? Furthermore, who are those people? As far as I know, Thayer doesn't have any friends by those names." I thought aloud as I flipped through the book.

I don't know how long I stood in the room reading the journals written by Thayer, I just know that by the time I was about to look into the medical records my legs were really tired. But when I looked at the journal I was confused because unlike the other journals that I have read through so far, this one has a title written on it. The title read 'Water'. Curious as to what the title had referred to I opened the book and took a look. As I read through the book, however, my curiosity was replaced with this feeling of disgust.

'Slave number 19 is now old enough to be aware or have a conscious. Although, he is developing at a far faster rate than a regular shifter. Whether it is because he has three animal forms or because of some other reason, that is not what is important right now. From today onwards, I am going to try methods of pain other than stabbing, burning, whipping, so on and so forth. I am going to try methods that involve water.

Today I am going to use the method of waterboarding. This method is quite interesting. You restrain the subject at an angle and put a cloth over all passageways of air while pouring water over it therefore giving the illusion of drowning. Not only does it install fear, it can seriously damage the subject. Brain damage, death, lung damage, and dry drowning. Number 19 survived it with no brain or lung damage. Just some broken bones.'

'This time, I am using a method called forced ingestion. It doesn't sound that bad but it's like getting intoxicated. Except, of course, this is forced. Again, he did not die. There wasn't any brain damage either.'

'The last thing I am doing with water is the water chamber. In the cell is freezing cold water. In the middle of the cell, is a metal plinth which the subject stands on. If the subject falls asleep, they will fall into the water. Again came out alive with nothing but the temperature of his body lowered for a short while.'

'After performing these over and over again I have come to the conclusion that physically, he needs something else in order for it to be effective. Mentally, however, is different story. He has developed a strong fear of water. Seeing it is no problem since he is always in darkness, but having it touch his body is what triggers a reaction. He also cannot drink water because his body will immediately reject it. This is where it gets interesting. Due to number 19 being unable to take in water and his "feeding times", it seems his body has adapted to his needs. His teeth are now sharp like a carnivore and what is water to him is now blood.'

That is all the book talked about. The method he used to torture him, how long he did it, how many times he did it, the results. It's all recorded in the book. I couldn't take anymore and dropped the book. I couldn't think about anything other than how 19 felt.

"It's not nice to go around dropping other people's valuable things. Oh well. I guess it's my fault since I forgot to take out some of the books." Thayer said as he walked into he room and picked up the book while he looked at it. "I remember this. Good times. You know, I still do this to him just for the fun of it. But there's one thing that happened to him that I didn't write down at the time. In animal form, he is warm blooded like he should be. However, in human from, he is cold blooded. I assume that this is due to the water torture though.

"How old was he when you did this to him?" I asked him shakily

"Lets see. He developed a conscious at two years old. So he was two. I remember because when I ran out of ways to torture him with water, I continued with poisons. However, I'm not done with the poisons though. There's just so many." He replied

"How could you do that to a baby? Didn't you care for him?"

"Care for him? I love him. He only knows what it means to be loved by me. But enough of this talk. Come and meet Ferus. He decided to grace us with his presence."

"Ferus? As in the person you wrote about in the journal?"

"Yeah. But now that I think about it, I never finished that entry because 19 got loose of his chains and attacked me. What a fun day that was."

"You mentioned three people being a protection for something. What are they a protection for?" I asked as I slowly composed myself

"For 19." He said as he stepped out of the records room and into the room that holds 19 with golden eyes. As soon as he sensed us he started struggling in the chains. Blood was dripping from where the chains wrapped around his body.

"Calm down Ferus. Or else I will restrain you in a way that will leave you completely immobile." Thayer threatened

"Do it. When you do I will be able to hurt you then. But just you wait. When I am released from these restraints, You are going to die. But not like my meals when I hunt. You are going to die slowly. I'll make you unable to move and remove your insides one by one until you die. I'm not even going to eat you. You wouldn't appeal to my tastes." He taunted Thayer.

All Thayer did was gag him, blindfold him, and tied him up with some chains then drag 19 behind him as he walked.

"19 has developed split personalities. A personality for each animal." Thayer said as he walked down the hall. "Apparently, my treatment was too much for his mind. He had emotions that grew stronger and stronger until he cast them off and they turned into different personalities. Ferus was made from his uncontrollable anger and violence. Pernix was made from his need to be left alone. He is usually pretty calm but his mood can change quickly. In other words, he's just a big cat. Then there's Avis. He was made from his hate of being restrained or held down. When these personalities are not dominant, he is a very instinctual human being."

"Hmmm. When he was telling us how he would kill you, he mentioned hunting. What did he mean by that if you don't let him go outside?" I asked

"He meant the fights. I won't bother explaining that one since you are about to witness for yourself. Just head straight and hang a left. The stairway to the observation floor is there." He said as he dragged 19 off somewhere else.

I followed Thayer's instructions and went up the stairway. When I opened the door, I saw dozens of people, men and women, standing near a huge window that stretched all around the whole floor. I walked up to the window and looked out of it to see what was so interesting and I was greeted with the sight of a maze like structure. It was all made of either metal or stone. It had walls, raised platforms, and other obstacles scattered about it.

As I finished looking at the maze, two doors on opposite ends opened. At one door, a shifter stood there with a look that changed from worried to smug. At the other door was Thayer with 19 in wolf form and on a leash. When the shifter started moving Thayer released 19 and both doors proceeded to close. The shifter was slowly but surely making his way through the maze. 19, who was still blindfolded, was also making his way through the maze, but he was going through it much smoother than the shifter. Sometimes, I would lose sight of him because his fur is pure black and he keeps to the walls. About half an hour in and nothing much had changed.

"It's about time, isn't it?" Someone whispered

"Yeah, it's about time."

"I wonder how it's going to go down this time."

"I wish I had a slave as good as Thayer's."

"I know. He makes so much money from his popularity."

Listening to them, my curiosity only grew. Turning my attention back to the maze I saw that 19 was behind the shifter. After walking on for a bit I assume the shifter heard something because he turned around and came face to face with a big, black, snarling wolf. The shifter screamed and started running through the maze blindly. 19 used the raised platforms to his advantage and continuously cut off the shifter's path until he was cornered at a dead end. The shifter was shaking and crying and begging for his life. It seemed that it didn't matter to 19 since he mercilessly tore into the shifter. His blood painted the dark wall red as 19 ate the shifter and left nothing. Not even the bones. The other people in the room were cheering and applauding. I, however, had no words for what I had just seen. I left the room and walked through the halls until I found Thayer with 19 still in wolf form and on a leash.

"Well? Did you enjoy it? What am I saying? Of course you enjoyed it." Thayer said

As I was walking towards them, 19 started growling and I decided that I would feel safer at a distance.

"He scares you, eh? Don't be. He's just an overgrown puppy. Anyway, what you saw is how I feed him. I put him and his food on separate ends of the maze. His food goes for the exit for a chance to live and 19 goes for the food. But of course it isn't the only reason. Thanks to this, 19 has racked up quite a few fans. They pay for anything. CD's, food cooked by him, anything." Thayer said as he walked to the door of 19's room and walked in.

"Go grab the last volume of records for me. I need to see where we are at." He ordered me.

Doing what he said I grabbed the last volume of records and brought it to him. He opened it and looked through it.

"Hmmm. We have done a lot of these already. How about we use Belladonna?" He asked as if he was ordering food at a restaurant.

He walked into another room that was connected to this one and came back out with what I assume is Belladonna. I saw 19 stiffen as he sniffed the air and then he started struggling more than before. Thayer took out a blow dart and shot one at 19. I was confused because it takes a large number of tranquilizer darts to put him down but I got my answer soon after when 19 started changing back to his human form. He got on his hands and feet and growled at Thayer with his wings stretched out behind him.

Thayer did something unexpected though. He tackled 19 and pinned his wings to the floor with nails. All 19 could do was scream in pain. While he was screaming, Thayer put the berries of the Belladonna into his mouth and covered it so he had no choice but to swallow them. Once it was swallowed, Thayer chained 19's torso, arms, and legs to the floor.

"You are going to stay here and take note of what happens because due to unforeseen circumstances, I have to take a trip somewhere." He said to me.

He turned his attention to 19 once he was through with me and walked over to talk to his face.

"I'll be gone for some time 19. Don't miss me too much." He said as he bent down to kiss him on the mouth. The kiss was heated right up until 19 bit Thayer's tongue. I could only tell because Thayer had blood running down the side of his mouth. But he looked happy about it.

"Thanks for the good bye present. I'll make sure I return it when I come back." He spoke with his voice full of lust and left.

1 Day Later

It has been only one day since Thayer gave 19 a poison called Belladonna. When I woke up, I noticed that he wasn't struggling much anymore. I walked over to him to see if he was awake and saw his eyed closed. I put my hand on his forehead but immediately withdrew it when his eyes opened. He looked like he wanted to struggle but couldn't due to his loss of strength.

"You have a fever. You need to rest." I told him

"Fever? What is...a...fever?" He asked me

"It's when your body starts to heat up and you lose strength. You need to rest in order for it to get better."

"There is... no such... thing... as rest. Always...alert."

"You don't need to be alert. I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help you."

"Help me...how?"

"By being your friend."

"Friend. That is... what Thayer...calls...you. What is...a friend?"

"A friend is a person who is nice and makes you feel safe."

"What is...nice?"

"It is the opposite of Thayer."

"Hmmm." I looked at him and he was lost in thought. I waited for his next question, eager to teach him more things.

"I cannot quite...grasp...the concept...nice. And I...do not know what...safe means." he said. I deflated at this thought because I was hoping that I was making some progress.

"However, your voice is...different than...Thayer's. I sense...the truth...in your words. Tell me. Anything. Your voice...is...appealing...to listen to."

At the sound of his words I was immediately inflated again. This means that I have a chance with him. A chance to help him. So I talked. I talked about what I looked like, what he looked like, anything that came to mind. He had stopped asking me questions so I assumed he was too tired to talk anymore, but when I looked down at him he was sleeping. I got up from my spot by his head and went over to my corner with a pillow and blanket and laid down to sleep.

1 Week Later

It has been a week since Thayer poisoned 19 and left. His fever isn't getting any better and he is starting to hallucinate. Every night, I stay up talking him to sleep so he should be getting enough sleep. But I guess that depends on how deep he actually sleeps. However, I don't think he ever goes into a deep sleep.

As lost as I was in my thoughts, I'm surprised that I heard 19 groan. I looked over at him to see him awake with unfocused eyes. 'He's having another hallucination.' I thought to myself.

Number 19's POV(hallucination)

I was in my room. I felt hot and really weak. I couldn't put any strength into anything. I was staring off into space when Thayer's face comes out of nowhere. Not wanting to see his face I groan.

"What? You're not delighted see me, my love?" He said

I defiantly kept silent knowing how much he hates it when I do so. But then, from behind him, he pulls out a bucket and before I can even get a sound out he dumps the water on me. Not liking the feel of it on my body, I immediately freeze up and start breathing heavily. He then decides to sit on my torso and touch all over my chest.

"Don't touch me." I said to him

"Why? You know you enjoy it when I touch you. When I remind you of your scars. When I remind you that you are mine." He said as he pressed his lips against mine.

I didn't like him touching me. It felt unpleasant. So I fought him as hard as I could in the state that I was in and I bit his tongue again but harder this time. When he pulled his face away from me, I saw the anger in his eyes because they burned brightly.

"You shouldn't have done that." He said lowly.

After he said that he poured bucket after bucket of water on me. When he stopped, I was cold and wet with water dripping off of me and my breaths coming out so fast that I could feel start to go unconscious.

"Now stay like that and think about what you have done." He said as he left the room.

Once again it was just me in the room. Chained to the floor. The only difference was that water was now dripping off of my body making it the only sound, beside my breathing, in this silent room.

DRIP

DROP

DRIP

DROP