Pulling her keys out of her purse, Mara pressed the key fob, but she didn’t hear the familiar click the locks made when unlocking. Had she forgotten to lock her doors when she came in yesterday morning?
Mara checked the back seat before she got in, making sure someone wasn’t hiding there. When she saw no one, she got in her car and locked the doors. She’d worked seventeen long hours straight, and exhaustion threatened to take over. Thankfully, she didn’t have to be back into work until Saturday.
Traffic was light. Luckily, it didn’t get bad until eight o’clock in the morning. Which meant she had plenty of time to meet with the alpha and get to her house before the roads were flooded with cars. Music blared from her radio, and she turned it up another notch to keep from drifting off.
Suddenly, her car began to wobble. Her steering pulled to the left. She turned off the radio to listen to her car acting up. The moment the music stopped, she knew what had happened, she had a flat tire. She managed to get the car to the side of the road with no issues other than the wobbly tire.
“Son of a bitch!” She hit her palms against the steering wheel. She threw the car into park and pulled her phone from her purse to call AAA. When the screen didn’t come on, she remembered it was dead. She plugged the device in and sat back to wait for enough charge to make a call. Her eyelids drooped quickly.
Instead of waiting and falling asleep, she opened her door. There were no passing cars. No one to help her. At least walking around had her wide awake. Examining the tire, she kicked the flattened rubber.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” She growled while she went to the trunk for her jack and spare tire. Maybe she could get a start on it, so whoever came to help would get done faster.
She cursed under her breath and pulled out everything she needed. It had been a long time since she changed a tire herself. She hoped it was like riding a bike. Once you knew how you didn’t really forget. At least she didn’t have to change the tire in the dark.
Before she could jack the car up, she needed to bust the lug nuts loose. Placing the tire iron on the nut, she applied pressure with her foot, effectively making the nut move. Three of the five loosened with no problems. When she got to the fourth, her efforts were futile. It didn’t budge.
“Come on!” She jumped with all her weight onto the tire iron, but the nut didn’t budge. The issue with the lug nut had her so distracted, she hadn’t noticed that someone had pulled up behind her.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” a man asked as he walked over to her.
“I got it. I just can’t seem to get this lug nut loose.” She tried again, pressing her weight onto the tire iron.
“Here, let me help. I’m good at busting nuts.” He smiled at his own comment.
Noticing a familiar tone in his voice, she looked closer at his face. Suddenly an arm came around her from behind, and she felt a prick along her neck. Within seconds her body went limp, and she sagged.
“What have you done to me?” Her voice slurred, then everything went black.
Slowly Mara’s eyes fluttered open. The bright lights stung, forcing her to squint. The ice-cold metal beneath her sent chills down her back; she was on a lab table! She tried to sit up, but restraints prevented her from much movement. She turned her head to look around.
Immediately, she recognized the basement room at the hospital, where she previously saw a patient laying. She couldn’t see past the opaque plastic hanging from the ceiling.
“Help!” she screamed out.
“We’re helping,” Dr. Phenix said from beside her. She hadn’t even known he’d been in the room. “Helping us, but helping, nonetheless.” The syringe he’d stabbed into her IV line pushed fluids into her arm. The liquid ran up her vein, burning the whole way.
“Stop. What are… you… doing?” She could barely get out the words before she slipped back into unconsciousness.
Jerking awake, she opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings. The cold lab table had been replaced by a hospital bed. She recognized it as one of the locked rooms she’d seen earlier. She struggled against the restraints, and tried to get up. Her body felt completely immovable. Straps were running across her chest, arms, and legs.
“Fuck.” Twisting and tugging, she tried to loosen the restraints to no avail.
It is no use. We’re stuck here, for now, a purring voice said.
She looked around the room. No one was there. “Who said that? What’s going on?” She waited for a reply, but none came.
Checking out her condition, she noted monitor leads were attached to her chest; the wires ran out the pocket of her hospital gown. A blood pressure cuff wrapped around her left arm. Electrodes were on her temples, the wires stretched out behind her.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and voices drew closer and became louder. Deciding it would be best to act like she was still asleep, Mara closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. Maybe if they didn’t realize she was awake, she could find out more about what was going on.
The door opened, and two men walked into the room. She almost flinched when one ran his fingers through her long black hair.
“Man, she’s a beauty. Where did you find this one? She’s so much... more than the wolves you picked up before.” He continued to touch her hair. She didn’t recognize the voice. It wasn’t one she’d heard earlier.
“Actually, she’s not a wolf. I’m not exactly sure what she is. Her DNA is… different.” Dr. Phenix walked to the cabinets behind the hospital bed. “She’s one of the doctors on staff. Unfortunately, she found out a little more than she should have, so I decided to use her rather than kill her.”
He walked back to her bedside, and the blanket covering her arm moved, cooler air touching her skin. He continued, “She’s now officially part of the study. I must say, probably our best subject yet.” A coldness touched her, and the smell of rubbing alcohol reached her nose. He was preparing to give her a shot!
Her eyes popped open. “Stop! What the fuck are you doing? I haven’t given you permission to do any of this.” She tried to jerk away from him, but the straps made it impossible.
Dr. Phenix laughed. “Well, my dear. When you started snooping where you shouldn’t have, it gave me permission, in a way, to do whatever I please with you.”
She squirmed, trying to get out of his hold. She flinched when the needle pricked her arm, and warm fluid flowed into her vein.
“Now, we wait. When she’s out, I’ll proceed with the other injections.” Dr. Phenix put the syringe in a bio-hazard container on the wall. She drifted off and felt one of the restraints on her arm being released.
“Wake up! Wake up!” a hand shook her shoulder. “Come on, it’s been too long.” Mara heard a woman’s voice urging her awake.
Groggily she shook her head, her hair falling into her eyes. “What? What are you saying?” she asked quietly. “What do you mean it’s been too long?”
When she opened her eyes, she appeared to be in a cell. No... more like a cage. She must have been moved from the highest basement level to the lowest floor of the hospital, basement level two. The woman who shook her was next to her in a cell just like her own.