Chapter 34: Day of Destiny

I slowly opened the door to Ms. Clare’s room and tiptoed inside. She was still asleep, so I figured I’d wake her up to prevent her from waking up late. Once I got close enough, I lightly shook her. “Psst, Ms. Clare,” I whispered, “It’s time to get up.” She didn’t respond so I tried again, this time she groaned slightly. “...no, Clarence…” She mumbled, “...not while Ferral’s here…” I looked at her confused, then I grabbed her right arm and bit down on it. “YEOWWW!!!” She yelled as she shot up, looking around the room for what bit her. When she saw me, she sighed and fell back on her pillow. “It’s too early for this, Ferral.” She groaned. “Oh I know,” I said sitting on the edge of her bed, “But I’m just so excited. Today’s fighting day.” She sat back up, rubbing her eyes, “Oh *yawn* right.” She rubbed her eyes and stretched before getting out of bed. “Just give me a minute to change.” She said. I nodded, “Okay. But can I ask something?” “Shoot.” “Why were you talking to Mr. Buck in your sleep?” Her face shot red and she looked away, “Never you mind that…j-just go wait in the living room.” I left and sat back down on the couch, having the T.V. on to see if Dr. Atlas would do another broadcast like before. Once Ms. Clare came out, she let out another yawn as she walked into the kitchen. “So, I’m guessing you haven’t had breakfast yet?” She asked. “No, I’ve already had some,” I answered, “Could barely sleep at all last night so I finished reading my book, did some last-minute training, and ate a big breakfast.” She looked at me with a somewhat shocked expression, “You did all that during the night up until now? Huh, either you must’ve been really quiet or I really am a heavy sleeper.” “Both. I would come to check up on you every once in a while to make sure you weren’t awake.” “Guess that explains the dream I had about some stray dog watching through the window of my room.” She made her morning coffee and sat next to me on the couch.

We sat in silence as we watched the TV. It was on the history channel talking about human evolution..…ironic. After a while, Ms. Clare put down her cup and looked at me with a slightly serious face. “Ferral…are you sure you wanna do this?” She asked. “Yes.” I responded. “But aren’t you afraid of what could happen? Not just to the others, but to you….you’re risking your own life.” I didn’t answer for a second but made a deep exhale, “No. The only thing that matters is keeping my friends safe and freeing those who are prisoners to the Organization.” I took a pause before continuing, “Mother told me to live. To laugh, love, and be free. I’ve done all those things already…so….if it comes down to it, I’ll sleep forever to keep everyone safe.” She looked down at her cup, not saying a word then looked back at me, “I see…then I guess your mind's made up already?” I nodded, “Yes.” She let out a long sigh, “Well, glad we got that out of the way. L-let’s change the subject….” She looked around until her eyes locked on the closet. “I actually have something for you.” She got up and walked over to the closet. She opened it and took out a small shopping bag. I got up to see what it was and when she handed me the bag, I opened it to find a black shirt with shorts. “Neat…..what are they?” “They're a custom compression shirt/shorts combo. I know a professional tailor who can make custom clothing, so I asked her if she could make them. Try them on.” I went to the bathroom to change, they were tight but fit nicely. Even matched the necklace Mr. Bose gave me. I walked out to show Ms. Clare, “So, how does it look?” She walked around me and then stepped back, “They looked good. How do you feel?” “Eh, a little tight but I like them. Thank you.” She smiled, “They’re supposed to be like that, to help circulation. Now do your little transform thing.” She told me. I looked at her confused, I didn’t want to ruin these clothes already. But she insisted, so I shrugged and transformed. However, the clothes didn’t rip or tear…they actually grew with me! “I told you, I had them custom-made with a special fiber so they wouldn’t tear apart on you. Pretty neat, huh?” “Yeah! Now if only I could get the rest of my clothes like this.” We laughed, sorta forgetting the danger that lay ahead.

It was eleven in the afternoon, and Ms. Clare and I waited patiently for Dr. Atlas’s broadcast. Mr. Buck called and said he’d be here to see us off but hasn’t come yet and the other said they’d be around at eleven-thirty. “I wonder what I’m going to do after this.” I told Ms. Clare. She smirked, “Well, I didn’t want to say anything but seeing as you’re still a little….“dense,” are you ever going to ask Leona out on a date?” I looked at her with a blank stare, “Why?” She was taken aback by my response, “I thought you liked her?” She asked. “I do.” Then it clicked in my mind what she meant and I laughed, “Silly Ms. Clare, I don’t like Leona like that. I mean sure, she’s really…REALLY pretty, but I view her more as an older sister.” “B-But what about her?” “The same way; the twins too. All four of us have expressed that there will be no romantic relationships between each other. We prefer the sibling bond.” Ms. Clare stood silent in confusion, “Huh, and this whole time I thought there was something. Wait, do you have family-like relationships with all of us?” I nodded, “Yep. Leona’s the older sister, Ezekiel and Belle are the younger siblings, and Mr. Buck is like my father.” “Then what am I? The mother?” My face became somber and I looked away for a second. “No, I only have one mother. I could never replace her…” “Then what am I to you?” Ms. Clare asked again. “Well, I read this book called “The Holy Bible,” and it talks about something called a “guardian angel.” They’re these people that protect you and look after you. You took me in, gave me protection, and looked after me. So, I view you as my guardian angel.” When I looked back at her, her eyes were filled with tears and she sniffled. “D-Did I say something wrong?!” I asked with concern. Then she hugged me really tight, crying quietly into my shoulder. I was confused, was she upset or happy? Once she finally let go, she looked at me with a smile. “I’m so glad I met you, Ferral.” She said in a shaky voice, “No one has filled my heart with more love and joy than you have. I’m proud to be your guardian angel…” She went back to hugging me, “I love you, Ferral.” I let that last line sink in. No one has ever told me they loved me before, it brought this warmth into my chest something I hadn’t felt since being with Mother. I hugged Ms. Clare back, tightly and not wanting to let go. Though she will never replace Mother, I’m happy to be with Ms. Clare.

At eleven-forty, Leona and the twins knocked at the window and I let them in. “Sorry, we’re a little late.” Leona said. “Yeah, Belle wouldn’t get her ass up.” Ezekiel added. “I just wanted to finish the last episode of my show, we were gonna make it.” Belle said. Ms. Clare and I chuckled as we all sat down waiting the last twenty minutes for this broadcast. Mr. Buck had not shown up yet, but I know he will soon. Once twelve hit, the T.V. went to static and a voice started to stutter on the screen. “ATTENTION EXPERIMENT CITIZENS OF CENTRAL CITY, REPORT TO THE EDGE OF THE CITY TO AWAIT PICK UP. DESTINATION WILL BE DEVIL’S COVE.” The voice repeated that line over and over. Devil’s Cove is that abandoned island Mr. Bose told me about. Guess with there being no normal people to get hurt, it makes sense. The four of us got up and looked at one another. “Well, you heard him,” Leona said, “Let’s get going.” “I’ll drive you there,” Ms. Clare said, “Even though they said they won't have normal people like me around if they see you four they’d make an exception.” The four of us agreed and Ms. Clare drove us to the south end of the city. We were all in our transformed state, just like they said to be and once we got to the edge we saw armed guards from the facility waiting by the beach. “Guess this is where we go alone.” I told Ms. Clare. She nodded and the five of us got out of the car. We gave her one last goodbye before we started walking toward the guards. Ms. Clare stood by the car as we walked further away from her, then out of nowhere another car stopped next to her’s and Mr. Buck rushed out. We turned to see him waving, “SORRY, I OVERSLEPT!” He shouted, “GOODLUCK, MATES!” We laughed and waved back at him. Once we got toward the guards, we noticed boats behind them. One of them walked up to us, “You three follow me.” He told Leona and the twins. Then looked at me, “You, there’s a special boat waiting for you. Follow that guard to it.” He told me and pointed to another guard wearing sunglasses. The three looked at me with concern, but I smiled at them. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. See you guys on the island.” They looked at one another then nodded at me and we split ways. “Follow me, Failure.” The other guard said as I walked toward him. So we walked further away from the other boats, out of the site of Ms. Clare, Mr. Buck, and my friends. As we continued to walk, I noticed another boat all by itself, and in it was a man. Once we got closer, the guard went in the back of me and shoved me with his gun. “Keep walking till you reach that boat, and even think about running.” He ordered and I continued the walk alone.

Once I got closer I realized the man sitting cross-armed on the boat was Dr. Atlas! And as I stopped in front of the boat, he looked up at me and smiled. “Hello, Experiment 9320, ready for a little boat ride?” He said, gesturing me to sit down. I did and he started the boat, having it go forward and drive away from the land. “It was so hard to arrange this, you know.” He said, “They felt that I wouldn’t be safe, but I told them you wouldn’t hurt a fly….unfortunately.” “You want me to hurt you?” I asked. “You’re a weapon, I designed you to be such. So it’s not out of your mindset to harm those who have been deemed threats.” “You’re wrong. I’m much more than what you say I am.” “Ah yes, I saw you took up rugby as a hobby. Wouldn’t have been my first choice of sports, but oh well.” “So you have been watching me?” “My dear weapon, I've been watching you since the day you were created. You are a glorious piece of science and the next step in human evolution. A creature with never-ending evolution, and more destructive than any weapon man has created thus far…YOU are the next atom bomb.” “Is that all you see me as? Some tool to be used to hurt others?” “That is what you were designed for. The amalgamation of nature's strongest wolves combined with a human’s cognition. YOU ARE THE ULTIMATE WEAPON. The deadliest of them all.” We sat in silence for a while, nearing the island for this fight. “I’m going to put an end to this.” I told Dr. Atlas, “I’m going to free all the other experiments that have been locked away at that stupid facility.” He chuckled, “You will try. But I want you to know this, when you fail and are back with me…I’ll be sure to fix you to make sure this NEVER happens again. Since this is YOUR fault.” My eyes widened, but before I could say anything else, the boat stopped at the edge of Devil’s Cove. “Well, looks like this is where we part ways 9320.” I got up and walked onto the sand of the beach. It was pure black, unlike the light brown sand of Central City. “Try not to disappoint me,” Dr. Atlas said, his back turned. “I’ve been holding you in high regard, so please….put on a show.” He started the boat again and drove away, leaving me alone on the beach. I sighed, “Alright, this is it.”