People Like Us (bxb)

-Terui’s POV-

My eyes opened groggily when I heard the loud groaning of a rusty door hinge. My head was pounding badly, and my body felt deathly lethargic and sore from sitting uncomfortably on a chair. It took me a while to register that my hands and legs were being chained but that was strangely not bothering me at the moment. The gears in my head had been shut down and I can’t even communicate with my wolf anymore. It was a strange sensation. What had even happened?

“Ah, don’t bother. The drug is still in your system, and we took quite a large amount of your blood.” The voice of a familiar lady spoke. Blood? Drug? The voice sounded near yet far away, it felt as if I was in a dream rather than reality. If I wasn’t trying my hardest to keep my heavy eyelids from closing. I would have just chalked it up as a dream. I caved in to my lethargy and my eyes drifted shut.

The next time I was awake. It seemed that whatever they had put into my body had worn off. I pulled my hand and sure enough, my hands and legs were chained to a white wall. Even though I can move it around, I can’t go more than two meters from the wall. There was a slight tingling feeling where the chains held my arm in place but I didn’t really think much about it.

My arms were pale and there was a huge dark bruise mark that lingered on my left forearm. Just how much blood did they take from me? As an Elder, taking just one or two liters of blood would not kill me, much less when I’m an immortal. The door clicked and swung open with a groan. A tall, lanky man dressed like a standard lab scientist walked in with a clipboard in hand.

“Oh. You’re awake.” He stated, slowly and emotionlessly. He took the pen from his lab coat and scribbled something down. I growled softly, being kept in here is definitely not in my taste. I stalked his movement as he walked closer and closer, unguarded.

What an idiot, I thought in my head. He was willingly walking closer and closer to me, just to die. If he thought that these chains can hold me, he thought wrong. As soon as he stepped within the two-meter range of the chains. I lunged, claws extended, and I went straight for his throat.

I definitely did not hold back. I hit the mark.

The scientist sighed and brushed off my hand like it was simply an ant crawling on his skin. There was barely even a scratch on his skin.

“A mere mutt wants to stand against me?” He questioned, unamused. “Know your place.”

He grabbed my collar, heaved me off the ground, and yanked me further forward. The chains rattled and strained against bare skin. I howled as a burning sensation dug into my skin. Silver. I struggled and writhed helplessly in mid-air, against his hold as the deadly poison started to corrode my skin.

The moment the scientist let go, I stumbled backward and sighed in relief when the silver chains finally loosened their hold on me. This man wasn’t human, but he wasn’t a werewolf either. He took a step forward and I involuntarily flinched. For the first time in my life, fear planted itself deep into my being. Every cell in me was screaming that this man is dangerous.

“Sir. John Tucker has returned.” Alice interrupted from behind the man.

“Oh? Did he do what I told him to do?” The scientist questioned slowly. Alice hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want to anger the scientist. God knows what he’ll do. “Answer me. Did he? Or did he not?”

“Negative. Sir. He failed.” Alice answered with a trembling voice.

“Is that so?” The scientist focused his gaze on Alice, each word said with an invisible threat lingering in the air. A shiver went down her spine and she clutched her fist tight.

“Yes. Sir. He’s…” Alice stuttered. She didn’t want to continue the report, it will surely spell the end for her.

“Speak, Alice. Don’t keep me waiting.”

“He’s collapsing, sir.” Alice blurted out, sweating profusely with tears welling up at the side of her eye. She silently sent a prayer up to heaven and prayed to be spared from the scientist’s horror for it will be worse than death.

“I see.” The scientist said. His face bearing no expression.

“…” It was not a good sign, Alice thought

“Yes. If that is the case. He will make the perfect test subject. After all, losing him would be a pity.” The scientist mumbled to himself and strode out of the room. Alice sighed in relief and trailed after him. She was spared.

John Tucker. Elder John! I realized. Was he captured as well? Unlikely. It seemed that he was in collaboration with the scientist. But why? Is he doing this out of fear? Or is there a reason to be helping this man out?

It has been about two days since I had been fully awake, according to the number of meals I’ve been getting. Alice had been the one to bring the food to me. But compared to her seductive self, she was just a scared puppy in this place. Constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure that the scientist isn’t behind her. Not that I can’t understand.

The scientist has visited me twice. Both times were to extract blood from me. And he was not gentle about it. He would stick the needle forcefully, extract large amounts of blood, leaving me weak and drained. Compared to a week ago, I am much paler right now and I definitely have lost some mass with the amount of blood they took from me daily.

The door slammed open. I flinched visibly at the sound. Elder John walked in confidently, an amused look in his eyes and an egoistic smirk on his lips. I had known Elder John from a war I participated in in the past. I am glad that he seems well but there was something weird about him I couldn’t put my hands on. He seemed to have gotten bigger and stronger over the years. I studied his face and that was when I realized something was wrong. He looked…young. It was as if…

“It is as if I obtained immortality, right?” Elder John interrupted my thoughts. “I knew you would notice, Immortal Elder Terui Knight.”

“…” I didn’t say anything, but I knew that it wasn’t immortality. Only one person can hold immortality, and I haven’t lost mine.

“Close, but not exactly.” Elder John mused. “Look at this body, don’t you think it’s perfect? Look at how strong I am.”

Elder John flexed his muscles and boast with a smirk. It is weird. As werewolves, in order to maintain our speed, we don’t develop extremely huge muscles like the ones Elder John has now. Our muscles usually become more toned, the more we train, resulting in explosive muscle strength. But it was different for him. Unlike the last time, I saw him. His muscles seem to be bigger than before and he is now at least a head taller than me, which should be impossible.

“Oh? you don’t believe me?” He teased but a glint of annoyance flashed in his eyes. In a blink of an eye, he dashed right in front of me and rammed his fist into my stomach. Blood surged up my throat and spurted out of my mouth. My body crashed into the white wall behind, the pain rendering my vision blur. I crashed down helplessly on the ground. I hissed when my body rolled over the chains, feeling the burn of silver on my skin. Large hands grabbed me by the head and lifted me up like a rag doll.

“By the way, all this is thanks to you.” Elder John mocked. “Thanks to you rejecting the white wolf, we were able to get to him and study his blood to help further develop werewolf’s gene. No one could find us. We hesitated when we realized you're his mate but you did us an amazing favour. It is amazing how with his blood, we can stabilize demonic wolves and put it under control.”

Demonic wolf? White wolf? Nathan? We? He has been aiming for this the whole time?

“But we needed another catalyst in order to retain the power of the demonic wolf. Which is where your blood comes into play!” Elder John smirked with a gleeful look in his eyes. My blood! “Thanks to you, now we can create pseudo-immortal werewolves who can wield the demon’s power. Now we don't have to worry about the backlash of wielding the demon's power. Of course, this can also be applied to other supernatural. You’d be surprised at how many people want this power. The power that doesn't require the blessing from any gods.”

“If you think it would work, you’re crazy!” I spat out with a gravelly voice. The silver in the chains was severely slowing down my ability to heal as a werewolf.

“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong.” Elder John chided. “It has already worked. I am the First.”