Panting and out of breath, “Lily” began to fade away, her skin melting like molten lava had been poured over her head. She transformed into a creature I had only ever seen at a distance through the observation window above the Prize Pool.
She was a shifter!
She smirked at me as her skin stitched itself back together and reformed her face and original clothing. Her smile was sharp and could have cut. She turned on her heel and marched away.
Just when I thought I had a friend, someone on the outside to argue my case, my hopes were dashed and taken from me.
The guards followed on her heels but not up the stairs into the new supervisor’s quarters. They took their place outside the laboratory.
It had all been for show.
A scam.
I’d been manipulated.
Again.
I was angrier than I had ever been, not only for me, but for the creature fermenting in my belly.
I burst into tears, no doubt due to the emotional upheaval that occurred when a woman was with child.
I collapsed on the floor again.
Trayem.
He was my only hope.
But there was no way for me to send him a message, no way for him to come and rescue me.
I hadn’t wanted anything to do with Trayem before I discovered I was pregnant. Now I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than his kind and forgiving arms.
I luxuriated in that memory and wondered when—or if—I would ever see him again.
An indeterminate amount of time later—I guess it was a few hours, possibly half a day. The only time marker I had was the grogginess I felt when I awoke on the floor.
I slipped into a deep well of depression after “Lily” left my room. I’d been suckered into thinking she was my friend. I should have known right away that wasn’t the case.
Because it’d never been the case.
The only time she’d been kind to me or any of the other girls was after that first day of being claimed by a fighter. And she hadn’t done that because she cared about any of us. She did it because she didn’t want to lose her girls.
Her responsibility was to take care of us and that meant reducing the chances of suicide. A little kindness went a long way.
I shook my head at my own stupidity. Of course, it hadn’t been Lily.
From now on, I would suspect everyone. It wasn’t like I didn’t know there weren’t shifters in the galaxy. There were many in the prison alone.
And I still hadn’t figured a way to escape this place.
And no way to contact Trayem.
I was trapped and there was no way out.
I felt at my stomach. Was it protruding already? Was it turning a little bulbous and round? I thought it was. When I lifted up my shirt and looked closer, placing my hand to the surface, I could swear it was bulging a little…
But how was that possible with just a day or two having passed? It wasn’t. It was impossible. I must be imagining it.
Then I felt a thud.
I pulled my hand away immediately.
A kick?
After a couple of days?
Impossible…
The wall shimmered and Junic stepped in my cell.
Was this it? I wondered. Could this be my way out of here?
I needed her to make one slip up, a single mistake, and I could get out of there.
A gap for me to slip through and I could make it to Trayem.
Behind her stood two large guards with those shock rifles clasped tightly in their hands. Beyond them, the other scientists weren’t present. It was the first time I’d seen them all not working. The room seemed empty without them.
“Please take a seat,” Junic said. “I’m here to check on the baby and fix any complaints you might have.”
“Keep away from me, bitch,” I said, taking my own advice and edging further into the padded room.
I moved around the chair and kept it between us. It provided me with at least a little protection.
Junic reached into her pocket and removed a small device that fit in the palm of her hand. A tiny stunted needle protruded from the end. I realized it must have been the device she used to knock me unconscious before.
“We’re doing this with or without your help,” Junic said. “But it would be better for you if we did this peacefully. We’re only going to check things are okay.”
Over her shoulder, the shifter figure from earlier moved into place. Her hair was long and black and reached down to her ass. She could pick up raisins with an ass like that.
Another reason to hate her.
Beside her was another figure. An ugly dude with a round head and a single eye. He looked like a meatball with ears.
“What do you want me to do?” I said, eying Junic carefully.
“Get in the chair,” she said. “Then I’ll scan you. No one needs to get hurt and this doesn’t need to get ugly.”
I took a moment to think the situation over. What other choice did I have? There were enough of them to field a small soccer team and I was cornered in this damn padded room.
I did as she asked and climbed into the chair. I didn’t really want to be hit by another dose of whatever it was she had in that injection gun.
Junic relaxed and slipped the device back in her pocket. She reached into her other pocket and took out the pregnancy machine.
She raised the device to scan me head to toe.
My eyes flicked up to the guards, who remained standing ready with their shock rifles.
A thought occurred to me. If my health was so important to them, I doubted they would use them on me. I’d seen the kind of damage they could do to their victims. What would they do to an unborn baby?
That left the shifter girl and meatball head.
The shifter looked in good shape. I didn’t think I could take her one-on-one but I could slip past her.
She wouldn’t hesitate to tackle me to the ground. The
