|NYLA|
I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew that I was going to find something groundbreaking here, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined it would be like this.
The trail I followed had been suspicious from the start. Rogues were supposed to be unintelligent, rabid, self-standing.
It wasn't in their nature to come together once they realized they were in a tough spot and run towards the same direction that led to a haven.
A haven deep into the forest, protected by several magic locks. A haven that was actually a science lab in disguise and housed hundreds of werewolves being used as test subjects for illegal experiments.
I could see my people in agony. Locked in what seemed to be experiment cells, getting pumped with unknown substances.
Some were screaming in pain, others were unconscious, most were clawing at their solid glass walls with foamy mouths and a strong intent in their eyes to break out and attack me.
The gun in my hand felt heavy. It was my job to end the lives of rogues because they were dangerous. What I was seeing now was making me rethink all that I've known and believed.
I tucked the gun safely into a holster and kept on walking, too torn to make any decisions yet. I knew too little to let those trapped rogues out and too much about what they were capable of.
The strange part of all of this was that I hadn't seen any staff yet. No one was walking around the white hallways. There was no camera set up in the walls.
I went upstairs in the building, eager to know more about it. That was how I found myself inside a clean office. It was empty, except for the iron desk in the middle which was loaded with dozens of files.
I grabbed the first file and opened it.
[Subject #0578: Failed the test, but shows signs of sanity from time to time. Fur does not retract. Fangs are gone.]
There was a before and after picture of Subject #0578 at the bottom of the file. Who was once a handsome young man now looked like a deformed wolf creature.
"My goddess…" I dropped the file and covered my mouth.
I picked up my senses and speedily went through the other files. There were so many similar cases that the objective of this hidden lab was now clearer than ever—
They were creating rogues.
All their test subjects were once normal werewolves.
Meaning that all the rogues I had been killing for almost five years as the President of the Rogue Subjugation Association (RSA), believing they were mindless creatures who only knew how to harm innocent werewolves, were actually just victims of this terrible lab.
This was huge information. This discovery could change EVERYTHING.
I scrambled for my commlink in my pants and lifted it to my mouth to report to my team members who were still battling rogues a few kilometers away.
"Jax! Can you hear me?" I spoke into the commlink.
"Shhhh shhhh shhh."
The signal was bad. The signal was terrible!
"Jax, stop killing them. They're people! Tell everyone to round the rogues instead. They're victims, Jax. Can you hear me? Jax—huh!"
A sharp pain pierced through my chest. The commlink slipped from my grasp in an instant as the metallic taste of blood exploded inside my mouth.
I looked down at my body and saw the tip of a knife covered in blood protrude from my chest.
"Hah hah hah hah hah…" I struggled for air as my knees gave out and I crashed onto the white-tiled floor.
Blood pooled underneath me without delay.
'It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.'
My mind was blank with pain. It was my body that moved on its own, turning around to see the face of my attacker.
A second wave of intense pain erupted inside me this time. Right in my heart.
"Klaus…" The name escaped from my mouth in the form of a whisper.
"You shouldn't have come here, Nyla."
My mate, my best friend, the love of my life, spoke to me in the coldest voice I had ever heard him use.
"You should have just done what you always do: kill without thinking. You shouldn't have used your brain." Klaus bent down to my level.
His blue eyes were void of emotion, his expression blank—scary. It was horrifying to see someone who always wore a smile go completely apathetic.
"No… Don't tell me…"
It couldn't be that Klaus was aware of all of this. That he was a part of this madness. I wished it wasn't so.
But the blade in my chest said otherwise, so did my slowing breath.
"I'm not going to tell you anything. Even if I did, you won't get to use any of the info since you'll be dead soon." Klaus kicked back to his feet after picking up my comm link.
I tried to cough out, but I couldn't control my throat. It was also hard to speak.
All I could feel was pain; physically and emotionally.
Klaus turned on my commlink once again. The device which didn't have any signal seconds ago seemed to work completely fine in Klaus' hands.
"You guys! I just found Nyla's commlink in the middle of the forest. There's blood all over it and I can't seem to find her anywhere. Send help!" Klaus spoke with a perfectly-toned panicked voice.
Nothing was off about the concern and fear in his voice. But his expression, which the other party couldn't see, gave him away. It was simply sadistic.
I couldn't hear the exchange between Klaus and my team again. My eyelids were getting heavier to keep up. Breathing became even more hard and painful.
Klaus turned off the commlink and looked back at me.
"Bye-bye, Nyla. I wish you a nice time in the afterlife."
At last, Klaus gave me the face I was familiar with. The kind and gentle expression that I fell in love with. It only lasted for a second, though. It was replaced with that terrifying impassive one that I was unacquainted with.
'Why, Klaus? Why did you do this to me?' I thought.
Klaus didn't bother with me again, turning around and walking out of the office like I didn't exist.
The darkness came for me too quickly. The pain in my chest began to go numb. I stopped feeling.
I could only pray that someone would discover Klaus for who he truly was and destroy him, as well as this lab and everything going on here.
That would be the only fitting end that I would approve of.
Black dots painted my vision, and I let my eyes rest for eternity.