I wished I had just been killed. Death seemed like an easier option in my situation. Weeks had passed by, and I wasn't sure I was sane anymore. I doubted I would even be able to function in human society if I were ever granted the freedom I had always wanted.
What was left of me was just a shell of my former self. I had endured the constant pain of transforming painful days and nights without end. The pain of breaking bones is no joke, and their constant rearrangement could drive anyone mad. The sensation of fur sprouting all over my body, my fingers lengthening into deadly-looking claws, my hands turning into paws it became my new reality.
I got used to the pain of transforming, but I still couldn't transform at will. If my guess was right, it was because the number of different types of DNA implanted in us was too much. We lacked the strength to exert our will over them. This went on for a year. As the days passed, the transformations grew more extreme. Sometimes I woke up as a fully grown, emaciated lion. Other times a tiger or even a panther. I figured the emaciation was from the lack of food. We were barely given enough to survive. I grew so thin, anyone could count the bones in my body at a glance. I didn't know how many DNAs were implanted in us, but I was sure the random transformations were caused by each DNA fighting for dominance over my body.
We were tested weekly. Each time, we were led to the lab one by one, metal collars locked around our necks. I guessed they somehow suppressed the animal DNA in our bodies. The tests were meant to check if the ancient DNA had stopped remaining dormant but the results were always the same.
According to the guards I had been eavesdropping on, a human could only handle one animal DNA. Anymore than that, and the body would deteriorate and die. The only reason we were still alive was the medication they forced us to take. It kept us from dying but it wasn't permanent. Over time, our bodies developed resistance to the drug. Judging by the number of DNA strands I had in me, I should've died a hundred times over if not for it.
The final day of the experiment came. We were labeled as failures by the scientists just as they had expected. Once the verdict was given, the guards led us to the facility's garage and loaded us into a truck. We drove through a tunnel and out into the open.
The moment we emerged, I was assaulted by a flood of new scents. It seemed the collars didn't fully block our powers after all. The beasts inside me stirred, restless, wanting to escape the truck and run wild through the forest ahead. Judging by the reactions of the others even some of the guards I wasn't the only one. That made me wonder: maybe some of the guards had animal DNA, too.
We were driven further away from the facility. The forest looked breathtaking. After being locked away for so long, seeing the outside world again made me truly appreciate nature for the first time in my life. If I were ever given another chance, I would travel and explore. But deep down, I knew that wasn't going to happen. We were going to be disposed of.
They left us mentally scarred shadows of who we used to be. Beings controlled by animal instincts, labeled failures for life. And at the end of that tunnel, there was nothing but death waiting for us.
We got out of the truck. That's when it happened.
The guards raised their guns and started firing.
All hell broke loose. We scattered in every direction, like headless chickens desperate to survive. I tried to run deeper into the woods, but it seemed fate had other plans. A sharp pain struck the back of my head.
So this is it, I thought, as everything went dark. Regret flooded me—for not appreciating the life I had, for not living it to the fullest.
.......
I woke up in a dark space.
"Where am I?" I asked out loud. "Wait... I thought I was supposed to be dead. Is this the afterlife?"
"Not exactly," a voice replied from behind me.
I turned toward it and saw two men. They were so strikingly handsome they could cause a worldwide bloodbath among women and make all men despise them.
One wore a red kimono. His blood-red hair flowed down to his waist like liquid fire. His eyebrows were sharp as blades, his eyes glowed a deep crimson, and he wore a constant smile.
The other wore a black kimono and had jet-black hair. His eyes glowed black. I didn't know how someone could make black glow, but he did.
What stood out the most aside from their eyes was that the red-haired man had wisps of flame floating around his body, and the dark-haired one had shadowy tentacles writhing around him.