Dangerous Games, Ghost Wolf [the reading list TXT] 📗

behind shields, to avoid the bullets from the intruders. Kyle flew in grabbing the attention of the soldiers. Using that distraction I ran to the three hiding behind my rock. 

“What are you waiting for!!?? An invitation!?” shocked into action they scrambled for their lines. Kyle kept the soldiers occupied while I climbed up. Once at the top, I kept to a defensive crouch waiting for Kyle who flew up to the hole and landed onto my shoulder. Now we were surrounded by the intruders and had soldiers shooting at us from below. "What's it gonna be? Us or them?" A voice spoke from the darkness to my immediate left. Kyle made noise in his throat shuffling his feathers. Narrowing my eyes I relaxed enough to show I wasn't fighting them. However that became a mistake as the mysterious person made a hand gesture and Kyle was pulled from my shoulder with a squawk and flurry of feathers and then hands wrapping around my throat and mouth a white cloth covering my airways. A sickly sweet smell filled my nose and the sound of Kyle fighting back faded into the darkness and the gunshots distant echos. All I could remember were eyes glowing in the dark.

Escape, Captured, Repeat

One thing I knew by heart was that the lab was where I'd been born, raised and escaped from. I know they've tried many times to produce humans with "superpowers" hence subject 0798 as they have called me. Tyler and I were born in the lab not as humans but as our animal forms, by animal mothers taken care of and taught by our mothers. At 4 months we exhibited high intelligence and an understanding of human words. Within a few weeks we began to discover the possibility to be human eventually changing into a human being. Finally they had created hybrids that could be used in war as a weapon or as a spy. One that would automatically win every battle because of the ability to blend in with nature. Once in our human forms they put Tyler and I together to see how we would react with one another. We were infants at the time but much more advanced infants. We still required motherly care, and as we got older we were taught how to read and write, world history, other languages and cultures, mathmatics and sciences. We had an average knowledge of the world but more than normal people. One may be educated in their countries customs and be classified smarter than their peers but would be classified dumber when it came to other countries customs and common knowledge. We learned more and exhibited more characteristics than a human being. We were beyond advanced for 10 year olds. Yes 10 year olds. We spent every minute of everyone hour of every day in that facility learning and being tested. Play time was training time, sparring time where we fought one another or against soldiers seperate or paired against small numbers or larger numbers. We were tested for everything every possibility every counter every imaginable way for one to stop us from being effective. Imagine being tortured, but fighting back at the same time whether hungry weakened, poisoned, dehydrated, sick, tired, hot, cold, injured, hiluscinating, blind, deaf, mute, sense of smell taken away, underwater, in the dark. It did not matter what it was we had to win or suffer worse. So getting to the point, being above ground for the first time in the dark while being shot at, and surrounded even then it shouldn't have happened. Neither of us should have been surprised or caught off guard. And yet we were easily knocked out. 

Trained as I was when I woke I kept my eyes closed, my breathing even, and my body limp. I focused on my sense of smell, hearing, and feel to determine where I was. It was dank, cold, wet, and air was flowing from somewhere to my left, the sound of dripping water sounded in the small cylinder shaped room, and my hands and feet where bound, and a gag in my mouth tasted of mildew. Great a sewer system, I was in an effing sewer system, and a small enclosed space that rebounded sound making stealth movement impossible. I stayed put a moment listening for breathing waiting and listening. Eventually I focused enough to hear soft and even breathing off to my right and the distant rumble of traffic farther away. The sound of voices speaking softly sounded to my left down another pipe. I kept my breathing even as I listened keeping myself calm. I was positive Kyle was the source of the breathing to my right so they hadn't separated us. That's good. 

"How long until they wake? We can't risk them escaping we have no idea how they were trained. We know nothing of them," American, Caucasian, southern accent, tired, wary, irritated. Who ever was speaking was not happy and beyond worried. 

"We don't know, all we know is they are not our enemy. Not yet at least," another voice, American, Caucasian, no accent, wary, nervous, tired. Everyone's on edge and it was gonna get worse. While I had been focusing and listening my hands worked at the rope around my wrists slowly and carfully pulling the ends out of the loops bit by bit. I was forced to stop when the voices got closer and the sound of footsteps echoed in the small space. A splash in front of me as one of the men stepped into the water and droplets landed on my pant leg. I was calm as could be which allowed me to keep up the facade. 

"Where either of them injured?" The American without the southern accent asked crouching in front of me. The bonds on my wrist fell away and my eyes snapped open. 

"Boo," I said causing him to stumble backwards into the water. Wrists unbound I'm able to change my form. Now in my wolf form im able to get my back feet out of the ankle bounds. Crouched and focused the two men have pulled weapons out. 

"Wow easy," the American said weapon out but pointed at the ground his southern friend had his gun steadily aimed at my head. Already having backed in front of Kyle I tickle his nose with my tail until his up and trying to shake the itch away. It took him a minute to focus and realize what was going on. 

"Aiden gun, put it down," the American said his eyes still on me but his hand out in front of Aiden. Kyle worked at his bounds while I kept the two Americans attention on me. "Alright let's just calm ourselves ok? We aren't going to hurt you," he said glancing to Aiden making sure he was putting his gun down. Usually I would have lunged at the unnamed American but right now he was keeping his buddy from shooting us. "Can you speak in that form?" He asked looking me in the eye. Kyle spoke up.

"No she can't neither can I," he said undoing his bounds. Both the men were surprised at how quickly he had undone the rope. Kyle transformed into his bird form shaking the rope off his talons before transforming back. 

"Ok look let's just put weapons away and chill," the American said as more voices echoed through the pipes. My fur stood on end and Kyle was tense, with more people coming we couldn't risk anything. Kyle touched the tip of my tail and feathers appeared as Kyle took off down the pipe system. I followed behind the two men racing after us. The sound of Aiden loading his gun echoed through the pipes. 

The sewer was horrendous, it smelled awful in my nose and the water was just a dark green and brown cold as fuck. Kyle landed on the concrete edges, folding his wings in, waiting for me to sniff my way out. Harder than it sounded even for me, as I sniffed the pipings walls and floor, then the air searching for the smell of fresh air or faded human scent. All I could smell was sewer, so we kept moving Kyle flying ahead and my ears flickering behind us listening to the sound of splashing getting closer. I kept moving splashing water as I went until we came to a complete drop off into a huge box with other sewer lines. Several stories tall, there were at least 20 pipes emptying here. Kyle flew upwards into another sewer line waiting for me. The only way I could get up there was climbing. Splashing behind me made me freeze. 

"Don't jump into that, look you do that and you end up drowning as the water sucks you down and into a full pipe system," Aiden and his friend stood at the end of the pipe, the unknown had a worried expression. Like he cared whether I drowned or not. Now that they were here though I was trapped. Transforming into my human form to climb down would take too long allowing them to get to me and grab me. Again out of many options, between the sewer below and them in front I had no where to go. I wasn't given much option to attack or give up as a dart struck me in the neck. At the edge of the pipe my vision shook and faded my footing uneven and my balance off. Then I was falling, Aidan and his friend watching me fall in shock and Kyles screech as he dove for me. Why... Explain to me why I've been knocked out three times in two days. What is this!? Irony? Karma? The hell! 

 

I woke soaked and coughing. All I knew was I couldn't breathe and I was choking on water. That's it! I keeled curling to my side coughing up more water, the sound of voices distant and close at the same time. I think it was the two Americans and Kyle? Maybe a girls voice? Someone put a hand under my head lifting it up. 

“Liddia! Liddy, can you hear me?” Kyle's voice echoed in my head as I heaved, still coughing up sewer water and shivering. How and the hell did I change shapes? I shouldn't be in human form, much less conscious after getting darted. 

“Abby! You could have gotten them killed! She was right on the edge of a fucking drain!” Aiden's voice echoed in the pipes. 

“Im sorry! But we couldn't loose them! Not when they know where we are!” the girls accent was oddly German. 

“That gives you no right to shoot her!” the American yelled. 

“Adam has a point, Abby,” Aiden said. I coughed more water up laying there trying to catch my breath. Kyle had my head in his lap his hand offer my forehead. Shakily sitting up Kyles hand in my back for support and one on my arm I glared at my attacker. She was definitely German, blonde hair and blue eyes as cold as ice. The three turned to us the dark tunnel behind them threatening to pull them in. 

“Are you ok?” Adam asked stepping forward a hand outstretched. I flinched a soft growl eliminating from my throat. Standing on my own I turned to