CHAPTER 8: The Final Test

CHAPTER 8: The Final Test

The laboratory smelled of alcohol and fear. Fénix gripped the arms of the chair as Dr. Armitage raised the first syringe. The liquid inside glowed with a sickly green.

"Right eye first," the doctor announced. "For enhanced vision."

Fénix snorted.

"Great. Just what I needed. To better see how they torture me."

The needle penetrated his eyeball with a wet crunch. The pain was instant, electric, as if someone had stabbed a red-hot fork directly into his brain.

"FUCK!" Fénix arched against the restraints. "WEREN'T THERE ANY BETTER PILLS?!"

The doctor continued, unperturbed.

"Shoulder now. For the nervous system."

Click. Zas.

Fénix felt the liquid run through his veins like lava. His muscles contracted in violent spasms.

"Enid, I swear if I survive I'm going to...!"

"Spinal column," the doctor interrupted. "For neuromuscular integration."

The world exploded in white, and Fénix fell unconscious.

When he came to, he was in a padded cell. Sweat ran down his face mixed with blood. Something was throbbing inside his chest, something that wasn't human.

"Darem..." The name came to his mind like lightning. "I want another chance. I want to rip that elegant smile off his face. I want to feel his bones break under my..."

Enid's voice boomed over the speakers:

"Fénix, I hope you can hear me. Next, we will release primitive lycans to evaluate your new abilities."

The gates opened. Two hairy beasts with bloodshot eyes charged in.

Fénix felt something tear inside him.

His bones cracked. His skin burned as it stretched. When he opened his mouth to scream, only a roar came out.

The primitive lycans didn't even have time to attack. Fénix tore them apart like wet paper. Blood. Viscera. Broken bones.

But it wasn't enough.

He started pounding the padded walls. The metal dented under his claws.

The scientists, having gotten what they wanted, opted for the most logical choice: to put him to sleep. A tranquilizer dart pricked his neck.

"No..." Fénix thought as the darkness dragged him down. "Not yet..."

Upon waking, the first thing he saw was white light. Restraints. Enid watching him like a scientist observes a promising lab rat.

"Good morning, Uber Lycan," she said with a smile that made his blood boil. "How do you feel?"

Fénix bared his teeth.

"Like I've been through a meat grinder and sewn back together." He looked at his hands, human again. "How long did I last?"

"Long enough." Enid leaned over, placing a small vial on the bedside table. "Your reward."

Fénix looked at it suspiciously.

"What is it? Another round of disguised torture?"

Enid responded by kissing him. It was brief, calculated, but enough to make Fénix's heart skip a beat.

"A reminder," she whispered against his lips. "Of what you'll gain... if you behave."

In the depths of Berlin, Viktor watched the vampire breeding capsules. The bodies floated in red amniotic fluid, connected to tubes and machines.

Darem caressed a capsule with long, pale fingers.

"Fénix Rogers thinks he's strong," he murmured. "But when our new children awaken... he will understand what true power is."

Viktor smiled.

"Prepare everything. The hunt is about to begin."

On the outskirts of Berlin, an old car moved forward and, without realizing it, hit someone. The car screeched to a halt. The driver got out, staggering, drunk with fatigue and remorse.

"Just an accident," he murmured as he opened the trunk. "No one has to..."

Claws grabbed him before he could finish the sentence.

At Enid Corp, Fénix watched the moon through the bulletproof glass.

"Soon, Darem. Soon."

His nails lengthened involuntarily, scratching the window frame.