pressure points in my soles. I wanted to squirm away from her. I was ticklish down there.
“So, Jocelyn,” I said, trying to avert my attention from the way she was touching me. Still, I kept my eyes closed to shield myself from the blinding light. “What do you do exactly?”
“I’m a scientist,” she replied, “and a doctor. Depends on which day of the week it is, really.”
“A scientist and a doctor of what?”
My question was met with silence.
I blew out a sigh. Why was I even still bothering to attempt to get some serious answers out of these people? They were all as tight-lipped as each other.
Neither of us spoke for what felt like the next ten minutes. Then, to my surprise, her stool scraped and she switched off the horrid lamp.
I opened my eyes to see her standing by my head and looking me over with a gleam of contentment in her eyes. She clutched a pad of paper in one hand which was filled with scribbled notes, though she was holding it at such an angle that I couldn’t read them—no doubt a conscious move on her part.
“How old were you when you were half-turned?” she asked.
I felt bemused that still, nobody had bothered to ask my name.
“Seventeen,” I replied.
An unnerving smile formed on her thin lips, the satisfaction in her expression intensifying. “So young,” she said. “Good.”
Although curiosity burned inside me, I didn’t even bother to ask her why that was good.
She placed her notepad on a nearby table and settled her pen on top of it. “Right,” she said, straightening and rubbing her hands together. “We’re almost done. I need you to do just one last thing for me, all right?”
No, it’s not all right, but, of course, that was a rhetorical question, wasn’t it?
She reached into a drawer and pulled out a thin plastic tube. “Go to the bathroom and fill this with your urine.”
My lip curled. “I don’t need to pee.”
“No problem,” she said briskly, even as she planted the tube into my right hand. “We can fix that.” She moved over to a sink and, filling up a glass with water, returned and handed it to me. “Drink up.”
I raised the glass gingerly to my lips and began to drink. I was actually thirsty, so I didn’t object to topping up on water but… I hated being asked to fill up a tube of urine for anyone—even my doctor back home in New York—much less for these despicable hunters. Still, I had no choice.
I swallowed down three cupfuls until I felt the need to go. I spent as little time in the bathroom as possible doing the deed, and then returned to Jocelyn.
“Perfect!” she exclaimed, eyeing the tube of pee like it was liquid gold. “All right. I’ll escort you back to your room.”
She stowed my urine sample away in a drawer before leading me out of the lab. I was right in assuming that the place was locked from the inside too—Jocelyn had to plant her thumbprint onto a screen.
As we wound our way back to the courtyard, I muttered without even bothering to hide the irritation in my voice, “So are you satisfied with whatever tests you were doing?”
I’d said it out of annoyance rather than actually expecting a reply, but this time, she did choose to respond.
“Oh, more than satisfied,” she said, that unnerving smile of hers returning to her lips.
I cocked my head to one side, raising a brow, as if daring her to continue.
She cleared her throat, excitement gleaming in her irises. “Let’s just say… we were rather stupid to try to shoot you before.”
Ben
I tried to keep calm . River being absent from her cell didn’t necessarily mean that something bad had happened to her. It could simply be that the hunters had wanted to examine her.
Still, I couldn’t shake my nerves as I hurried out of the courtyard and went in search of her. I didn’t know where to start looking. She could be in any one of these buildings, and the longer I spent looking for her, the more time it was going to take for me to get someone here
“So, Jocelyn,” I said, trying to avert my attention from the way she was touching me. Still, I kept my eyes closed to shield myself from the blinding light. “What do you do exactly?”
“I’m a scientist,” she replied, “and a doctor. Depends on which day of the week it is, really.”
“A scientist and a doctor of what?”
My question was met with silence.
I blew out a sigh. Why was I even still bothering to attempt to get some serious answers out of these people? They were all as tight-lipped as each other.
Neither of us spoke for what felt like the next ten minutes. Then, to my surprise, her stool scraped and she switched off the horrid lamp.
I opened my eyes to see her standing by my head and looking me over with a gleam of contentment in her eyes. She clutched a pad of paper in one hand which was filled with scribbled notes, though she was holding it at such an angle that I couldn’t read them—no doubt a conscious move on her part.
“How old were you when you were half-turned?” she asked.
I felt bemused that still, nobody had bothered to ask my name.
“Seventeen,” I replied.
An unnerving smile formed on her thin lips, the satisfaction in her expression intensifying. “So young,” she said. “Good.”
Although curiosity burned inside me, I didn’t even bother to ask her why that was good.
She placed her notepad on a nearby table and settled her pen on top of it. “Right,” she said, straightening and rubbing her hands together. “We’re almost done. I need you to do just one last thing for me, all right?”
No, it’s not all right, but, of course, that was a rhetorical question, wasn’t it?
She reached into a drawer and pulled out a thin plastic tube. “Go to the bathroom and fill this with your urine.”
My lip curled. “I don’t need to pee.”
“No problem,” she said briskly, even as she planted the tube into my right hand. “We can fix that.” She moved over to a sink and, filling up a glass with water, returned and handed it to me. “Drink up.”
I raised the glass gingerly to my lips and began to drink. I was actually thirsty, so I didn’t object to topping up on water but… I hated being asked to fill up a tube of urine for anyone—even my doctor back home in New York—much less for these despicable hunters. Still, I had no choice.
I swallowed down three cupfuls until I felt the need to go. I spent as little time in the bathroom as possible doing the deed, and then returned to Jocelyn.
“Perfect!” she exclaimed, eyeing the tube of pee like it was liquid gold. “All right. I’ll escort you back to your room.”
She stowed my urine sample away in a drawer before leading me out of the lab. I was right in assuming that the place was locked from the inside too—Jocelyn had to plant her thumbprint onto a screen.
As we wound our way back to the courtyard, I muttered without even bothering to hide the irritation in my voice, “So are you satisfied with whatever tests you were doing?”
I’d said it out of annoyance rather than actually expecting a reply, but this time, she did choose to respond.
“Oh, more than satisfied,” she said, that unnerving smile of hers returning to her lips.
I cocked my head to one side, raising a brow, as if daring her to continue.
She cleared her throat, excitement gleaming in her irises. “Let’s just say… we were rather stupid to try to shoot you before.”
Ben
I tried to keep calm . River being absent from her cell didn’t necessarily mean that something bad had happened to her. It could simply be that the hunters had wanted to examine her.
Still, I couldn’t shake my nerves as I hurried out of the courtyard and went in search of her. I didn’t know where to start looking. She could be in any one of these buildings, and the longer I spent looking for her, the more time it was going to take for me to get someone here
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