Days of Redemption (The Firsts Book 6) (10 page)

NINE

Kalia loved working with the Smalls.  Although the little supernaturals were genetically produced, she considered all of them hers, and she would die to protect them. 

She enjoyed caring for them and teaching them
.  No one in her village would ever have believed that the penultimate soldier of their generation would be happy with, and good at, working with babies and toddlers.  But after eight months with them, she didn’t want to do anything else.  She loved the mouthy, difficult brats.  And they loved her.

Their abilities varied widely, which made each day different
, usually a combination of frustrating and fascinating.  Luckily, her own ability to alter someone’s perception of reality had aided her in her work. 

More than anything, Kalia prayed that no one would take this away fro
m her.  She would fight to stay since she had to be here to protect them from anyone or anything that threatened them.  That was a daily danger here, since these special children had been created specifically to use and abuse for SRS’s mission to learn to control supernatural talents and magics. 

After dimming the lights for the night, she walked silently through the nursery one last time to make certain each child was resting comfortably.  She was on her way to get some dinner,
but only once she knew that her charges were fed and in bed.

There were days she didn’t get to eat or sleep, but that was in the call of duty.  The
Smalls came first.

As she passed the control desk that was posted in front of the elevators on each floor, an overweight
, middle-aged man who had been watching a television show on his computer monitor, looked up at her.  He smiled, his hand automatically going to his hair to smooth it down. 

“
Kal, what’s hanging?”

Turning her head as she rolled h
er eyes, Kalia then turned back with upturned lips, barely a smile, but she was trying. 
She wasn’t a smiler
.  Since she’d been raised a warrior, it had never come easily.  Except for when she was with the Smalls.

It was annoying that the kind little man found her attractive and was always too friendly.  She didn’t have the interest or the time, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings either.  That
, too, was still new to her, the expectation to be aware of other people’s feelings and to respond appropriately.  Marie had told her to just ignore his overly friendly words and actions and that he would eventually “get the clue” and stop trying.  That hadn’t happened yet, and it kind of pissed her off.  Still, she looked down at his smooth head that had once had hair and responded to his question.  “Just the moon.  Take care of my kids.”

Quickly, she entered the breezeway that led to the elevators and turned right instead to take the stairs. 
His bald head creeped her out
.  In her village, everyone had abundant hair.   It was beautiful to look at and satiny soft to touch.  She missed it.

Taking the stairs two at a time, she entered the cafeteria on the lower third floor.  This building had two levels above ground and four below.  The four below were where they housed the subjects and
did the experiments, which were the entire reason this monstrous society existed.

Kalia would have been gone months ago except for two things.   She wouldn’t leave the innocent children and other imprisoned
supernaturals, they needed her.   Also, the researchers had embedded a chip somewhere in her body and they could find her wherever she was. 

T
here was no place she could go that would be safe.  And she would never go home with that beacon inside of her, since she would lead these monsters to her village.

So she stayed until she could find a way to stop this
research facility forever. And she would, by the sake of the fates, someday kill those who thought it was okay to harm supernaturals just because they were different.

Lights were dimmed since it was after-hours.  The crew that cooked w
as gone, but Kalia knew how to access the food lockers.   “Residents,” meaning imprisoned subjects, were fed at certain intervals.  Because she was no longer caged, and allowed to work in the nursery, she usually didn’t fit into those intervals.  Busy making sure the children were fed and cared for, she often didn’t worry about herself.  But tonight, she was starved.  It wasn’t typical for her race to do without food, it triggered a hunger response that led to bad behavior and hunting. 

Luckily, the huge hunks of meat in one of the refrigerated units hit the spot.  She crawled up on a countertop, her legs swinging, and chewed on a plate piled high with something she thought was ham.
   When she was finished, she licked every finger, killed a full 2 liter bottle of cola, and a cake she knew had been kept for the staff. 

Tough, it was hers now.  Looking around at the empty, silent, barely
-lit room, she thought how nice it was when they were all gone.   Something was going to have to change, and soon.   Although she felt powerless, somehow, she was going to have to find help and torch this place.

Still licking her fingers, after she eliminated the evidence of her late night snack, Kalia headed back to her cage to sleep. 

They kept her in the main holding area on the lowest floor, so she bounced back down the stairs and pushed open the double doors to a big room lined all along three sides with cages.  Most were empty right now.

As she bounded towards her own, the door ajar as it always was these days, her eyes moved suddenly to the left.  The largest cage
had been empty, but tonight it held a huge man chained to the floor.  He was unconscious.

Kalia wandered over to look at him and dropped on her haunches to get as close as possible to the cage and to him.

Vampire.
  Highly unusual.  They were really hard to contain since they had the ability to use compulsion, were extremely strong, and could unlock any locking mechanism she’d ever seen.  This one was quite large.

“Hey, you, come here, please.”

Kalia turned quickly to the words spoken by an unfamiliar female voice.  It came from a cage along the back wall, near her own.  She approached slowly.  It was always sad to see new residents. 
New subjects
. 

The woman was striking.  Pale skinned, long dark hair pulled back with a piece of string or something.  She was clutching the bars as she waited for Kalia to come. 

A few feet from the cage, just out of reach, Kalia stopped.

“Hi,” the pretty woman said.  Kalia nodded, but didn’t say anything.  It wasn’t a good idea to get attached.  But
she wondered, what
was
she?  Kalia could usually tell, but not this one.  She read as human.

“My name is Lauren.  Do you work here?”

Kalia tilted her head and considered this creature, moved a little closer to see if she could pick up a scent.   But she couldn’t.

“No,” Kalia finally answered.  And then, “Yes. 
Sort of, but not.  I’m a resident, like you.”  She paused and then had to ask.  “What are you?”

Lauren wasn’t sure how to answer.  “I’m
human.  Is that what you’re asking?”

Kalia shook her head.  “It is.  But, they don’t imprison humans.  They don’t study you
r kind.  Why are you here?”

Swallowing, Lauren looked up into
Kalia’s amber eyes, unblinking.  “Oh, they’re not studying me.  I’m here because they want vengeance for something I did.”

Now Kalia was intrigued.  She moved closer.  “What?  What did you do?”

“Probably not wise of me to say anything.”

“Tell me you hurt them.”

Again, Lauren paused.   She looked over the newly arrived woman, who had a fierce beauty.

Dark skin
ned, flawless, the woman was taller than Lauren, with eyes the color of topaz, deep and mesmerizing.  Her hair reached her waist, straight, but very thick, with a straight cut bang that brought attention to her delicate features.  She was slim and very athletic, and wore little to cover the well-toned body.   Lauren looked into those eyes that glowed like liquid gold, and wondered what she was that she walked around freely.   She was pretty certain the beautiful black woman wasn’t human.   The woman’s last comment seemed to confirm her suspicion.

“Um, I did.  May I ask, if you don’t mind, what type of supernatural you are?”

“What makes you think I am not human?”

“You’re too lovely.   And I feel something different when I look into your eyes.  Also, that last statement…only a supernatural would ask that
so passionately.”

“Yes.  I am not human.”

“Why are you free?”

“They use me.  I work for them, because I can help others who are trapped here.”

“Do you mind my asking?”

“No.  May I present myself to
you.  I am Kalia, and I am Totem.  You have not heard of my race?”

“I haven’t.”

“We are linked with the universe through our animal half.  We are part human, but more than.  Each totem inhabits the spirit of human and animal, and we embody both human and animal traits.  I am woman, but my soul companion is cheetah.”

Lauren watched as Kalia moved closer. 
Their eyes met and stayed locked on each other.  Strangely, she could see it, the cheetah, in Kalia’s eyes, her regal face, the way she moved almost as if her feet barely touched the ground.  An elegance always present in the way a cat moved.  Kalia had it.

“You are beautiful,” Lauren said, leaning into the bars, her fingers caressing the cold metal.

Kalia reached Lauren’s cage and curled her warm fingers around Lauren’s.

“Thank you.  We are very sensual, too.”

Lauren felt her breath catch.  “I feel that.  Why did you say that you wished I had hurt them?”

“I’m every bit as imprisoned as you are.  They may not keep my cage locked, but I cannot go.  They chain me, too,
and sometimes, they play with me.”

Both women were
breathing hard now.

“Can you open other cages?”

Kalia’s eyes darkened.  “I cannot.  Your skin is soft, human.”

“Um…”  Lauren was at a loss for words.  Breaking her visual link with Kalia, she dropped her eyes.  “Kalia, that man in the other cage near the door, he’s a vampire.  He’s my friend.  Is he okay?”

Kalia shook her head.  “I can’t tell.  But he shouldn’t be so still.  Vampires can override their systems.  They can’t keep them here.  But he’s completely unconscious.  How long has he been that way?”

Gratefully, the sensual, sexual moment between them was waning.  Lauren had never been interested in women sexually, but
Kalia’s sensuality was off the charts and almost irresistible.

“I don’t know.  At least an hour since I awakened.”

“Something’s wrong then.  I will take another look.”

Kalia ran her fingers up Lauren’s fingers and around her wrists.  “You would be delicious.”

“Um, thank you, but I’m kind of with that big vampire.”

Nodding, Kalia began to walk away.  “He looks delicious too.”

Her mind fuzzy, her body sexually awakened, Lauren watched Kalia as she approached Bryn’s cage.  It was probably good she was behind a locked door right now.

Kalia dropped down and pushed a hand through the door
, could barely touch Bryn, but, with effort, her fingers brushed his forehead.   Lowering her head, her eyes closed, she reached into the air around her and tried to connect with the unconscious man.  A moment later she stood and looked over at Lauren.

“He’s out. 
Stone cold.  I hate to tell you, little human, but I think these beasts that run this place have a new weapon.   Your vampire may be as much a prisoner as we are.  All that remains now is to wait and see if he wakes.”

Fear struck Lauren.   “But he’s breathing?  He’s okay?”

Kalia nodded.  “He’s breathing.  Whether he’s okay, that remains to be seen.  I must go to my cage to sleep.  Do you need anything before I do?”

“The code for my lock?”

Kalia smiled, genuinely this time.  “When the time comes, we will go together, okay?”

The elegant cat-woman disappeared into a cage just down
from her own and Lauren couldn’t see her anymore.  With a last glance toward Bryn, she went to her cot and tried to sleep too.  She would need her strength and focus if she had a chance of snatching any opportunity to get out of this mess. 

Eyes closed, Lauren knew something else now, too.  Not only did she plan to get out of here and save Bryn, she would shut this place down and rescue these
supernaturals before she went.   Hell, she was enemy number one already, might as well thoroughly piss off one of the most powerful groups on the planet. 
Again.