Miraculous: Tales of the Unknown by Krystal McLaughlin

implied
it.”
    “I’m sorry if I offended
you.”
    “You would never
understand what it takes to be this,” she snaps.
    “What?” Her words leaves
me confused. I try to make sense of them, but find I
can’t.
    “She’ll learn,” the green
one says, shooting her a glare. “She only just turned.”
    “She won’t know as much,”
the blue adds.
    “I can tell.”
    “What do you mean? How was
I turned?” I ask. Fear trembles within me, but I ignore
it.
    “It’s complicated to
explain,” the blue ones says to me.
    “Well, make it less
complicated.”
    “We can’t,” the purple
creature interjects.
    “Try.”
    Silence fills the space
around us. I bite my lip, waiting for them to object, to call me
crazy or something. But they don’t. Instead, neither one of the
creatures speaks, but just stares at me. I begin to grow
uncomfortable, my stomach flipping with nerves.
    Finally the blue one says,
“Okay. Well, I guess it freezes your nerves, killing and
transferring them to the DNA we have. It takes a few days-sometimes
more, depending on who it is.”
    “Who it is?” I cut
in.
    “Yes, some people’s bodies
don’t understand what’s happening and rejects it.”
    “Meaning?” I
prompt.
    “They’ll die.”
    It bothers me how calmly
he spoke those words. It’s as if he doesn’t care if they die or
not. Like humans are just their pawns. It’s sickening.
    And, yet, I’m one of
them.
    I involuntarily shiver,
goose bumps rising on my flesh. How can I be one of these
creatures? I’m nothing like them-I don’t want to be anything even
remotely close to them. They’re monsters. I didn’t want to hear
another word, but the blue creature goes on, unaware of the hatred
that’s sparking inside me.
    “The subject is then
turned into one of us, scales sometimes growing on their flesh
immediately or developing slowly. Their bodies takes time to
develop everything we can do and the same looks as us, but it’s
done.”
    “Humans are just you’re
subjects?”
    “Usually, yes.”
    “That’s not right!” I
exclaim.
    “We need to live, little
one.”
    “Can’t you live in a
different way?”
    “No,” the purple one says,
bringing the worst blow. “We can’t nor won’t.”
    “We have to survive,” the
green one adds.
    “I got that part,” I
mutter.
    “Come see our
lab.”
    I start to object, but he
grabs a hold of me, making me stumble forward. I gasp as I quickly
grab the railing, afraid I’ll fall off. I close my eyes briefly,
only opening them when I feel a small jab in my rib
cage.
    “Watch it next time,” I
warn the green monster. “You promised I won’t fall off. You better
keep it.”
    “Just look.”
    I did as he said, but only
because I know I don’t have a choice. Small beeping machines line
the walls, flashing all kinds of colors. A much bigger machine
looms in the middle of the lab, with several of the monsters
swarming around it, pushing buttons before moving off to a smaller
one. I let my gaze roam upwards, taking in what’s directly across
from me. Metal doors line the walls; more of the monsters move
around over there, coming in and out of the rooms.
    “Can we move on?” I ask
faintly.
    “If we must.”
    “We must,” I
confirm.
    “Fine,” the blue one says.
He pulls away from the railing and steps backward onto a black
strip. He waits until we’re all on before pushing a red button and
the black strip moves us along, farther into the room. I got to see
new parts of the lab like metal tubes, and cots full with patents.
I sigh as I jerk my gaze away, gluing it on the black under my
feet.
    “Why are you showing me
this?”
    “Because you need to see
everything,” Blue replies.
    “What if I don’t want to
see it all?”
    “That’s too bad. You have
to in order to be able to save us.”
    “And if I don’t want to
save you?”
    “You have no
choice.”
    “Oh, I don’t?” I snap,
raising my eyebrows.
    “Not at all. You’re the
only one who can do