At Dawn, in the Forest

Trigger warning: the use of violence is being mentioned in this chapter. Read at your own risk.

The next morning Dawn was grabbed out of bed while she was still sleeping. Disorientated by her awakening she didn’t notice how two men cuffed her hands behind her back and dragged her out of her cell.

Once fully awake in the corridor she snapped her head back and without a second thought she put her right leg forward putting her weight on it and pushed her full body to her left. Quickly she followed that up by balancing her body to the middle and striking for the other guy and pushing him into the wall on her right. They both grunted from the impact. Dawn was strong and she wouldn’t let her strength go to waste. She didn’t want to bother her time further with the two men on the ground and ran away.

Dawn had no idea where to go, all the hallways and corridors looked identical. She went left, right, right, left, and nowhere there was a window in sight, giving her the slightest indication of where in the building she was. When about five minutes had passed she heard an alarm going off and she knew it was because of her. Her window of time was closing and she had to move forward.

Turning around another corner she was met by a group of men in black uniforms. “Fuck,” She muttered under her breath. In a split second, she turned around again and ran as fast as she could, but as she made another turn she bumped into the chest of another man dressed in a black uniform.

Dawn’s instinct kicked in and immediately she stepped backward to kick him in his thigh. When he hunched forward she headbutted him and ran past him, only to be met with two other men, and behind her was a part of the previous group she had already met. They all had similar tasers in their hands which she saw during her capture.

A frustrated sigh escaped from Dawn’s lips. She knew it was futile, but she wouldn’t back down. If needed she would go down under while fighting, until her last breath on this fucked up earth.

The group charged at her from both sides. Dawn did her best to dodge the tasers and deliver kicks where she could. If only she could use her hands as well, she thought.

Dawn was able to keep the men away from her for a while, but in the end, someone managed to tase her in the neck and immediately she went down. The voltage on the tasers was high enough to get an adult werewolf on their knees. Another shock was delivered quickly after in her thigh, making her now immobile.

Ten minutes later she lay on an examination chair, bounded by strong straps. The room was similar totheroom, but the equipment was more high-tech here and more doctors were present. All of them were busy working on either computers or their tablets.

“I must say, Dawn, I was quite disappointed when I heard of your little escape attempt this morning. Dr. Willow always spoke so highly of you, how obedient you were,” Draven spoke as he entered.

Dawn knew she shouldn’t give into Draven’s tactics. She knew, like Dr. Willow, he would use her emotions and feelings against her and once again she had to try to remain stoic. So, she kept looking forward, trying to ignore the pain she felt.

She could hear Draven chuckle. His footsteps nearing her. “You know,” Draven grabbed Dawn’s chin in his hand and turned her face to his, “I at least expect the curtsy of my subjects to look at me when I am talking to them.”

Now it was Dawn who wanted to chuckle. It was almost hilarious to think that she ended up with the person who shared traits from both of her worst kidnappers, Jack, and Dr. Willow. It was Jack’s ego and Dr. Willow’s wickedness. How ironic, she thought.

“All right then, if you don’t want to behave like a normal human being, I will treat you like a true subject.” Draven snapped with his fingers and two doctors immediately came over with a blue IV back in their hands and medical equipment to put an IV into Dawn.

It took everything in Dawn’s power to not look at what the doctors were doing, to not show any ounce of anxiety or fear. She tried to be unbothered. The key word wastried. The moment everything was in place Draven spoke up again. “Let’s see how calm you can stay when this magical potion runs through your veins,” Just as he had spoken the words the blue liquid was already running through the tube into her arm, into her body. It only took a second to feel the effect of it. A scorching burn went through Dawn’s body as if she was being set on fire from within.

Her whole body tensed against the straps. She tried to keep her screams to herself, but she couldn’t. The pain was too intense. Then, she did something she barely did with Dr. Willow and Dr. Klein, begging. Dawn begged them to make it stop.

***

The following days Dawn went in and out of consciousness. She lay almost lifeless on her rubber mattress in her cell. The doctors had to give her a feeding tube to make sure she got her nutrients. Dawn had heard somewhere between her blackouts, that Draven wanted to keep her health up as best as possible. She had tried to stop them but it barely had any effect.

The tenth day after getting the IV Dawn was able to walk around again in her cell. She was still weak, but stable.

Four men entered her cell, one of them holding a familiar set of cuffs. She knew what was coming, but she couldn’t make it stop. Not in her state.

Grudgingly, she let her be taken away totheroom. Again she was bound by straps and again multiple doctors were busy working on their computers and tablets.

Draven shortly entered after her arrival.

“Subject 400185, how good to see you again. I hope you feel better after your last treatment. Let’s continue, shall we?” He spoke cheerfully.

Dawn took a deep breath in and out to prepare herself for what was to come.

“Make the incision,” Draven ordered.

A doctor walked up to Dawn and held a scalpel in his hand and without hesitation he made a cut in Dawn’s arm. It wasn’t too deep or too long or too painful, but pleasant was something different. A small hiss escaped from Dawn.

When he was done Drave ordered, “Set the timer.” Another doctor had taken a stopwatch and started it, and all of them observed Dawn’s cut where they all could see how it slowly healed. Dawn was amazed by the speed. Never so quickly her wounds had healed.

“Results?” Draven asked.

A doctor hurried her way to him with a tablet. “According to her previous records, this is a record time, even in her top health she didn’t heal this fast, Sir. The treatment is working.”

Draven hummed. “Yes, yes, but it’s not good enough, not fast enough. Take a couple of blood samples and see how it reacts to infectious diseases and cancer cells and start her on another treatment.”

Dawn’s eyes widened in horror. No way she could survive another IV bag. She struggled against the straps, trying to escape. Then abruptly she felt a hand pushing against her forehead. It was Draven. “Well, well, well, is this the scared pup Dr. Willow was talking about in his rapports? I am glad she finally came out to play. Don’t worry sweetheart. I promise you we will not kill you, at least not on purpose. We will take good care of you.” Then she could feel already the familiar burning feeling, shortly after followed by her screams of begging.