Skinwalker

Together, Annamarie and I stand at the station, waiting for the guards who are moving Levi. He’s been tucked away in an area my host isn’t familiar with which means I wouldn’t naturally happen upon him. Somewhere else, inside of this building, there are other stations like this one. Tucked away in areas I have no reason to go. There is medical, for the subhumans who have been subject to the vaccine or are genuinely injured or sick, and there is at least one other lab station. Levi was assigned to those technicians until today. He’s only coming here because we requested him.

When footsteps do begin to approach, I feel my heart race. How long has it been since I’ve seen him? Will he be okay? I know I shouldn’t expect him to be well taken care of, I should expect him to be in a similar condition to Cassandra.

The security guards that round the corner aren’t with Levi, they’re bringing Logan into the area. He isn’t fighting against them, but they shove him ahead of them every few steps. Bare feet slap against the floor every time he catches his balance. He’s shoved into the desk and Annamarie takes many steps backward, grabbing my arm and dragging me with her.

When Logan pushes away from the desk to stand up, I catch his gaze. The demon inside wants to play, that’s why my colleague has been getting unwelcoming vibes. I’ve noticed this before, with Catherine, Cassandra, and Tala. This place is bringing out the worst of them; it’s a cocktail for disaster.

With locked eyes, my breath escapes me at once and I’m curled over. There’s a pain in my head that can’t be described as a headache. It’s as intense as any I’ve felt during a transformation. Whatever is causing it, I can’t give in. I think only of my host and the job ahead of me. I fight through the electric shocks until the world becomes semi clear again.

“Are you okay?” Annamarie helps me to my feet, but I barley hear her or recognize the gesture because the battle inside of my head to control myself continues despite my efforts. If I don’t do something soon, this could become a lost cause. All at once I know what is happening to me and I recall exactly how to tame this animal.

It takes a moment for me to find the bracelets and when I do, I rip them from their container, tossing the glass box to the floor in a fit of fury and slap them on the man who is using my head as a playground. The moment the bracelets clamp around his wrists, my head is my own again.

“That’ll teach you,” I hiss angrily, meeting his feral eyes.

He lunges at me. Instinctively, I throw myself backward and into Annamarie, and we both hit the floor. The guards wrestle him to the ground and call for backup.

I check my composure before I stand and help Annamarie to her feet. Holding onto each other’s arms, we both look at the demi-demon who is on the ground.

“Have him sedated,” she orders.

When there are two more guards in the room, the four grab all his limbs, pick him up off the ground, and carry him into room four like a bag of flour. He doesn’t even struggle.

Annoyed, I pick up the red phone and dial a number I didn’t even know I knew.

“This is Brittany Allen, I need a sedative in room four for subject L.S.T-DD.” Meaning, Logan Soto, Telepath Demi-demon.

Movement pulls my attention across the space, and I let out a sigh I didn’t even realize I was holding as I place the phone back on the receiver.

“Levi,” I whisper to myself.

He must have heard me because he looks in my direction and then pauses, when he opens his mouth to say something one of the guards shoves him toward room one. He looks better than I could have anticipated.

“Are you okay?” Annamarie asks.

“I’m fine.”

To my surprise, Annamarie looks terrible, she’s about to burst into tears. “We’re fine,” I reassure her.

She pushes her thick framed glasses that are too big for her face up to wipe under her eyes. “I’m just shocked.” Then she puts her glasses back in place and squares her shoulders. “What happened to you?”

“He was in my head.”

“How did you know he was in your head?”

“Headache,” I answer unsure how she missed the headache that pulled me to the floor.

Her doe eyes are lost and confused, as if I was making that whole thing up. “Are you sure you’re okay, Brittany?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” How could she forget that?

Did he get into her brain and stir up her memories so she can’t remember? Does he get in her head often? What has he leeched out of her mind while he’s been here?

The explanation I need comes from my host far too late. Humans don’t feel it.

My skin cools my hands feel clammy. All at once I’m lightheaded and in search of a chair to sit on. I just sold myself out and I didn’t even realize it.

“Maybe you should take the rest of the day off?”

I look up at her and shake my head. “I want to do the mage’s intake.”

“I’ll have Logan sent back and we can try again tomorrow.”

Feeling some weight lift from my shoulders I agree, “Yeah, okay.”

Maybe she isn’t that smart, maybe she isn’t connecting the dots.

Straightening my clothes, I stand, regain my composure, and then grab the things I need to do a complete intake.

Anytime a new subhuman is brought in, the techs do an intake, even if they’re transferring from one department to the next. That way we know what their baseline is. It’s basically a head-to-toe assessment, like a patient would get at their doctors’ office for an annual physical.

Inside the room, I shut the door and the privacy curtain. At first, I can’t move. At first, this feels like a dream. Levi is right there; I can reach him for the first time in six days. It’s wrong that he’s strapped to the chair with the leather restraints. It disgusts me that he’s dressed in Genetics Incorporated’s clean white scrubs and socks. Overwhelmed with emotion, warm tears begin streaming from my eyes; I’ve never been so happy and so scared in my entire life.

Despite being alive, despite him having strength that Catherine did not, he’s been treated the same as her. His light brown hair is greasy, his face is thinner than it was, and there are bruises all over his body. Some are from the fight in the apartment, while others are from needle sticks. Have they just drawn blood from him or have the resumed the trial phases of the cure? It takes what feels like an eternity for the lead in my feet to disappear, but when it does, I move toward him, and my hands begin undoing the leather binding across his shoulders.

“I’m so sorry.” It’s a statement I whisper over and over until his arms are free.

“Stop,” he says.

I do as he says, frozen in midmotion as if I were on a television screen someone just paused. I anticipate the next words from his mouth, but nothing follows. That’s when I realize the hands that are working over his restraints are bony and begin to sprout freckles. I’m in the midst of losing my host which is what he wanted me to recognize.

With Levi, it’s wrong to be anyone other than myself. However, what’s best in this moment isn’t losing my host so before I lose too much of her, before it becomes noticeable over the camera behind me, I refocus.

Doing what my hosts mind recommends, I work my way down one of his arms, removing the binding, to assess his skin and his flexibility. When I get to his wrist strap, I notice a bracelet. My heart sinks. These are the same ones that are on Cassandra, and the same ones I slapped on Logan. His abilities are being suppressed, just as I had assumed.

“They don’t bother me.” His voice is scratchy, as if he hasn’t spoken in days.

Maybe because Levi isn’t accustomed to using his ability on a daily, or even weekly basis, he seems okay. His magic hasn’t poisoned his blood the way Cassandra’s has. How long until that changes, though? How long until I see spidery purple veins in his fingertips and eventually over his hands and up his arms? How long until his ability begins to punish him for these actions?

“Just get me the hell out of here.”

“I will,” I promise.

In the meantime, I need to keep up the charade. Today is not the day to break everyone out of here, but the day is growing closer.