Comatose IC

[Tenebrae16]

She was still staring out of the cracked glass window when the almost perfectly concealed iron door swung open from behind her. She turned to see a rather tall commanding looking woman enter with a food tray which she placed on the bed she had woken up from. Seraphine pulled her hands away from the glass window and picked away the glass fragments that had embedded themselves in her skin. As she did so she examined her hand. "Oh, my nails have grown too long....gotta cut them down..gotta cut them down." She said in a sing song voice, stretching her fingers which were now bent at a rather awkward angle with a thickened nail curved into a sharp point. She didn't seem to acknowledge how deformed and claw like her hands were now.

"Experiment 167, My name is Isobella, I've been the one taking care of you for the past-" The woman began, but was cut off by Seraphine crossing her arms and pouting, "No! No! I is called Seraphine and-oohh did you bring me sweets? I love sweets!" She said excitedly, her eyes darting towards the food tray which she skipped over happily to. As she was about to pick up a piece of food to stuff into her mouth, she caught her reflection against the reflective shiny metal surface of a wall. Slowly moving towards it, she touched the cool shiny surface.

A pale worn face stared back smiling at her to reveal several rows of rather sharp teeth, her hair had grown all the way to her knees having been quite long before she went to sleep. She didn't seem to acknowledge her deformed clawed hands or the large white wings that spread out behind her, ironically making her look like some angel. She only stared at herself, tilted her head and her smile disappeared. She studied herself for several seconds then giggled and turned to Isobella and said in a happy voice, "Look! Look! I've grown so tall! So very tall!"

Isobella was caught of guard be Seraphine, she had expected a fight, tears or even a suicide attempt, but not this, she had never expected this. She had not expected this bubbly, ridiculously childish girl who she had taken care off for the past 4 years. She struggled to pick up where she had left off, "...You...will be a good girl okay?" That wasn't what she had wanted to say, but it seemed she had to act like a reprimanding adult. "You will not fight or struggle or bother us when we do our little....experiments, understood?"

A strange look flashed over Seraphine's face, an emotional mix between hate and happiness. It was gone so quickly that Isobella wasn't sure if it had been there at all. "Okay! As long as...I get more sweets!" Seraphine said happily and Iso let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it would be easy with this experiment and she could relax a little, what she didn't see was Seraphine's claw hidden behind her back crossing fingers.

[Jackn Jill]

The room was still for a few minutes shortly after Ellie got back up on her feet. It was unnerving to say the least. There was some sort of discussion, argument, or debate that entailed her as the subject and for some odd reason she thought it was about 'What should we do now that she can't jump?'. Would this be the end for her? Would they gas the room right now and terminate this failed 'project' all because she couldn't jump?

Two minutes went by, nothing. Three, nothing. Four, nothing. Five, six, seven, nothing. Every minute of waiting was antagonizing. Ellie was expecting a beep, a buzz, anything to end the stillness of this room. It finally came after seventeen minutes in the form of a buzz and the word: Again.

Again? This was a rather hopeful word for the moment. It meant that either she is probably slowly adapting to her powers or the observers are just getting a laugh watching her fall so they want to see it again. The very idea of it was almost like a circus clown, who took only requests in his performance. That's what Ellie was right now. A circus clown.

Without further delay, she squatted her knees and thrusted herself upward. The only difference this time was that she landed on her feet. It only took seconds to hear a response, which sounded very familiar.

Again.

The voice hadn't changed at all since the first time. It turned out Ellie wasn't a circus clown, just a lab rat. Great.

Again Ellie jumped and the result was the same. Seconds after...

Again.

Ellie rolled her eyes at the very same request, but did what she was asked. She jumped, to put it simply.

Again.

This time an idea was spawned at the very back of her mind. It was somewhat serious but mainly sarcastic. They are going to literally jump me to death.

[DaPenguin]

The man jerked her roughly by her arm through the hallway. Rose was stumbling along, trying to keep up with his pace. He halted in front of a large pair of doors and stood her in the light. There were two women waiting there. Unlike the man who brought her here, they seemed kind. The man who had brought her was tall and broad with an contemptous expression toward her. He didn't seem to like Rose much.

One young woman shined a flashlight in her eyes and examined them. "Open your mouth, sweet pea."She instructed.

Rosaline reluctantly opened her mouth as another woman touched her back.
"She seems to be healthy."said the other woman, "She's skinny so she's going to need to catch up with her eating."
"I remember 11 was always a little on the underweight side."said the first nurse, "She's older now. She will be fine."
The second woman took notes and then left without another word. The man opened the door and pulled her inside by her arm. Rose could feel the formation of bruises beginning under the hold of his rough hand. "This is the cafeteria, 11." The man explained, "You get food over there."He pointed out a bar with food and people working at it then gestured to the tables, "And those are the people." There were only about a few people in the room. They were teens like her and they were eating food and chatting quietly.

"There are more to come but saying as I have no idea to what has been explained to you yet... Just try not to make any new friends. There will be those stronger than you and we believe there might of been a problem with some experiments."He said. A problem? Rose swallowed. She wondered if there was a problem with her. This man sure looked at her like she was a problem herself.

Rose nodded and moved forward, glancing around the white room. It was as plain as the rest of the place with dull picnic tables and lights that seemed to flicker every once in a while. People were staring at her. Perhaps they were wondering why she had paused in the middle of the cafeteria. She looked over her shoulder. The man was gone.

Fear crept into her gut. What had he meant? Would people hurt her if she tried to talk to them? No need to test the theory. Rose hurried over to the food bar and took her place on line, being careful to avoid eye contact.

[InsanitiesJack]

Step, step, step. His feet seemed to naturally arch, his entire leg structure making him feel at ease with a slunched posture - it felt like he was just one half-step away from falling forward, yet instead of the natural caution against falling on his face he'd expect, he felt like he'd simply continue loping forward. After a moment, he decided to test the theory. An arm came out to grasp him as he let himself fall forward, but almost instantly his entire body seemed to naturally push itself forward, his arms pressing themselves against the ground in a deceptively natural loping motion that had him moving even faster than before.

Several seconds passed, Jack watching as he loped forward along the ground, his muscles tensing and untensing according to an unknown instinct within his own body. He made a hopping motion, and felt the entire lower half of his body tense, then release in a single smooth movement, launching him straight through the twin doors that blocked his way from what he recognized as a cafeteria.

Instantly setting himself to a stop, his fingers and hands pressing themselves against the smooth, white floor with incredible ease, he straightened himself out, throwing his body upwards with a single flex of his muscles before balancing himself on two legs. He stretched his back upwards, making it arch backwards slightly as he looked through the room, his face a study in nonreaction and his body the perfect example of predatory stillness. "This is where I will be having lunch, huh?"

The words were without inflection, without tone, as he scanned through the crowd. What he saw... made a strange feeling go through him. A young girl; head bowed, eyes lowered, waiting for her turn patiently. The sight twisted his insides, somehow.

Several people seemed... tense. Angry, tense, a bit too excited. Just the mere sight of them made his entire body tense in preparation; they were fighters, and if they wanted a fight he would be ready. But for now... he snorted roughly, looking to the line. Should he cut to the front? It would establish dominance, make it clear that he was a leader, and the idea of... waiting... for his food... put a bad taste in his mouth.

Where had the idea come from anyway? Leadership? Why would he want to be leader? Because he was a leader. Because he was the prime example, and the rest would follow. He frowned, slightly, before finding that his feet had already started walking. He was coming up to the line; he could stop right there, behind the timid girl. No confrontation, no problems.

He bared his teeth in a scowl, passing her by rapidly as he shoved his way past the person in front, taking a tray and filling it quickly. His ears tilted backwards, and he turned his profile; a challenge.He was getting his food first, whether it was because he was impatient or arrogant or whatever the fuck his problem was.

Jack felt the hot anger under the surface bubbling up, waiting for something to provoke it, to allow him to use it. But he gave a slight snort, not waiting a moment before he turned to sit at an empty table.

There was something wrong with him. More than the physical changes, more than the fact that he was in this damned hellhole, there was something... wrong. The thought only served to make his rage all the hotter, but his face remained a careful tight-lipped glare.

[Tenebrae16]

"Good girl..." Isobella said, hesitating before reaching out to pat Seraphine gently on the head. The younger smiled and looked up at Iso with happy innocent eyes that reminded her of her own childhood from long ago. The girl may have been asleep for four years, but she didn't seem to have lost any of her childish tendencies, she could only assume her mind had returned to it's younger more innocent self to deal with the situation around her now. When she was brought in to take care of Seraphine while she slept, Iso had always felt there was something the others had been withholding from her about this experiment though she could not get a single clue from any of them. Right then, she thought maybe it was that Seraphine simply had the mind a child, which did not seem too troubling. Iso had not known that they had taken Seraphine from an asylum and perhaps it was best that she did not know. A small grumbling sound brought Iso out of her thoughts and she looked at Seraphine who was now lightly patting her stomach.

"Aw... Poor Hungry tummy... Can I have more sweets?" Seraphine asked looking up at Iso with pleading puppy eyes. Iso stood up and gestured for Seraphine to follow, Seraphine held onto her hand tightly like a child would with it's mother on the first day of kindergarten. Her sharp claws dug into Iso's skin, but Iso barely flinched as she led her down the hall to the canteen. She let out a sigh when Seraphine finally let go of er hand to stare at the canteen doors and waiting for Iso to do something. Looking down at Seraphine, Iso lowered herself so that she could stare the girl straight in the eye. Like a mother giving instructions to her 5 year old toddler, she said "This is the canteen, you can get food here if you behave, if you're extra good and don't cause trouble I'll get you some sweets later. Play nice with the other... "kids" in there, understood?"

Seraphine nodded slowly as if she was only just processing the words. Iso slowly stood up and held the door open for her. She dashed in excitedly and the door shut behind her. Iso hoped that the girl wouldn't get killed too soon, she was certainly an interesting experiment both in terms of power and attitude. She couldn't wait till more Tests and research could be conducted, she wanted to find out more. By being chosen to further continue to take care of this experiment, she thought that heaven was probably smiling down on her. Little did she know she had just been given pandora's box, only time would tell if her curiosity caused her to open it.

Seraphine skipped joyfully into the canteen, turning a few heads and earning herself some stares. Everyone seemed so gloomy, that was sad, she wanted people to be happy. Maybe there would be a way to cheer them up, but first she was hungry. Looking at the line her stomach growled, she was too impatient and hungry to wait. Glancing around she spotted an empty table with an angry looking guy sitting at it with his own plate of food. Not taking notice of his angry aura, she walked towards him and sat down across from him. Happily she introduced herself, "Hello! My name's Seraphine, what's your name? Are you sad about something cause you're sitting all alone."

[DaStormz]

Shay walked into the cafeteria slowly. Her body was still in pain from the experiments and she was trying not to move too fast. She took a deep breathe and looked around. People were sitting together, eating and talking. Some stood or sat alone. Shay swallowed and took a few steps forward.

Her head began aching and she inhaled sharply. For a moment, she saw the cafeteria tilt. Shay stumbled and caught her balance by a pillar. She sighed and guessed it was a side effect of one of their experiments, and sat down at a table at random. She rested her head on the table. She gripped the edges of it tightly, resting her arms on the table. Shay picked her head up when the pain seemed to lessen and gazed around idly.

-

James towered over most of the people in the cafeteria. He had medium length chestnut brown hair that hung down in his eyes. He sighed and brushed it out of his face and looked around with warm, cinnamon/chocolate brown eyes. James wore an ugly hospital outfit. He didn't even want to see it again. He had a muscular and built body, which was surprising for someone who had been in a coma for so long.

He moved to the cafe line and watched someone rudely brush past everyone. He rolled his eyes and looked down at a blonde girl there. She seemed familiar. He smiled kindly down at her. "Hi," he greeted softly. He noticed hair had fallen into her face and he brushed it away gently. "You seem familiar. I'm James."

[DaPenguin]

Rose watched an angry boy rapidly walk past her and up to the front of the line. The nerve of that kid. She narrowed her eyes. "Way to wait your turn!"She heard herself yell at the boy and covered her mouth. Rose shouldn't of yelled that. She shouldn't of been talking to anyone like that. However, some part of her had recklessly made her do it. Perhaps she didn't even know her personality.

She turned, hearing a voice. "Hi," came a soft voice. Rose turned to a muscular boy with brown hair and the warmest eyes she had ever seen. They reminded her of cinnamon. Everything about him was so familiar. Or maybe she just really wanted some cinnamon right now. He brushed hair out of her face and she flinched a little. However, his smile was kind. She felt like she could trust this boy.
"You seem familiar. I'm James."He had said down to her. James sure was tall.

Rosaline found a smile was tugging at her lips. "I'm Rose."She told him rather quietly. His clothes weren't that great but they seemed atleast more like clothes. She was walking around in a thin cloth. It was the ugliest dress ever and she was freezing. She folded her arms self-consciously, shivering.

[DaStormz]

Shay clutched her head and let out a muffled cry. She buried her head into the table, getting God knows what germs. She really wanted to ask for help but she didn't know who to ask and she wasn't up to running around. She bit her lip hard and finally lifted her head after it seemed to fade. Her eyes dilated slightly and she blinked hard. They returned to their normal color.

-

James smiled at her. "That's a really pretty name, Rose. I like it." He saw her shiver and his smile fade. He hugged her gently to try to arm her up and quickly let go. "Sorry. I wanted to try warming you up," he explained sheepishly and moved forward in the lunch line.

In his mind, he found Rose really beautiful. She was like an angel. She was radiant and stunning. He couldn't find help but glance at her every few seconds. Each time he did he found her even more beautiful than before as if she had changed in those few seconds. He looked away shyly, blushing.

[InsanitiesJack]

"Hello! My name's Seraphine, what's your name? Are you sad about something cause you're sitting all alone."

Words that came from an open mouth; filled with teeth and beclawed hands scrabbling about the surface of the table. Jack felt his lips pulling back, his teeth being revealed, before he forcefully shoved them into stasis and contemplated the reaction. Those teeth... was that what made him so tense? No. It was the openness; the challenge behind the teeth, the way they seemed to dare him to fight. Why was he feeling this way? He'd certainly never felt as though a simple smile from a young girl was a challenge before.

But the girl before him... female, her scent was young, bird-like, with a hint of blood and pain. She'd eaten recently; still hungry, however, some kind of imbalance, a difference from what he'd smelled of the guards and his... caretaker. But, he realized, not so different from the other kids within the room. He frowned, keeping his lips closed.

"Something was done to me," he started, glancing through the room as he brought his hands up, showing off the absolute difference between his hands and a normal person's. "Not just to my body, but... I can't. Think. Right." And there was the problem. He was seeing challenges that weren't there; feeling arrogant when he wasn't powerful; feeling trapped and alone and so goddamn angry the bastards will howl in agony and~!

He slammed his own face into the table. Now was not the time to begin freaking out. Not when he had a potential pac- a potential ally. Ally. A potential ally. To. Recruit. He outlined the thoughts carefully, stressing each one as he tried to distance himself from what he'd been about to think. He would not think like that. That was not Him. That was not His Way of Thinking!

"I have to find Her." The words came out without prompting, but he merely settled into looking the girl in the eye, his emotions suddenly locked up and his expression analytical rather than angry or fearful.

That was the very crux of his mind. He Had to find Her. No matter what, he WOULD find her, and then...

He picked up his fork, stabbing it into the food beneath him. There was something odd about the little metal object, but he dismissed it. Everything was odd, why would the silverware be any different?

[DaPenguin]

Rose smiled back at James, "Thanks. I like yours too." The boy suddenly hugged her, catching her off guard. She blushed deeply. "Oh that's okay. Thank you." She needed a hug nonetheless. Hours of experimenting had freaked the hell out of her. She was still in pain from it. She moved forward in the lunch line as well. Rose took a tray and held it up. A lady piled some sort of weird casserole on it, a weird piece of meat, some corn and a milk carton. The woman reminded her of a lunch lady at her old school she remembered vaguely.

However, this woman was chubby and hunched over with gray hair pushed up messily in a hair net. She leaned over. There was a gross little mole above her lips and she smiled. Her smile was missing teeth and the teeth that were still there were as yellow as a banana. "If you're a good little button, you can get a Jell-O for dessert tonight." '

Rose thought the woman reminded her of a witch. "Oh.. Okay thanks."She mumbled and moved forward with her food. She paused and waited for James. Rose knew she shouldn't talk to anyone but he seemed friendly. The boy made her feel safe and at home in a way.

~~