MARLOW
I make it back to my room before Rupert returns. My heart is still beating fast as I pull my clothes back on.
Seriously, why am I acting like this? That's the crucial question I should be asking myself. Why did I go there in the first place? To be honest, I can't come up with an answer that doesn't make me sound clinically insane. No matter how deep I dig, none of it makes any sense.
Hellooo!
I'm in this program for a completely different reason. He's a monster, an experimental subject, someone the world has already written off, while I'm supposed to be trying to build something with Rupert.
Or maybe I should finally tell Dr. Lee that what Rupert and I have going on clearly isn't going to work?
Damn it. What a dilemma.
Circling around the room, I keep second-guessing myself. Am I really going to make some stupid decision because I'm weirdly fascinated by a mutant who's locked up down here?
I let out a long sigh. Why is it that something keeps pulling me toward this man… or this monster? Who is he, really?
His appearance should be a turnoff, not something that attracts me.
That face covered in red streaks, those strange double fangs, those eyes burning with that deep purple color, and those massive swollen muscles I'd been kneading with my paws earlier, hard and springy beneath my touch, packed with primal strength that's weirdly exciting.
But at the same time, there's something in his face. Some kind of despair. Total defeat. Complete surrender to Fate. I can tell he has absolutely no hope left that his future will ever be happy.
In a strange way, that makes us similar.
For years, I never believed I'd become an omega either. Even now, sitting in a facility dedicated to making that happen, all I have is a tiny shred of hope that's slowly fading too, especially with how disastrous things are between Rupert and me.
The feeling of being trapped between decisions is killing me.
I even glance at my closet, thinking about starting to pack and leave this place immediately, because the probability of this program's success in my case is shrinking brutally fast.
I came here truly believing this was my last chance.
Was I fooling myself?
I glance at my reflection in the mirror and notice again that strange similarity between my face and Drax's.
That same look of fading hope. The feeling that we're both sliding farther and farther down a slope that eventually ends somewhere there's no coming back from.
◆◆◆
At seven in the morning, loud knocking on the door drags me awake. I stretch groggily in bed because, for real, I'm not used to being conscious at such an inhuman hour.
I hear Rupert moving around in his bedroom too.
Apparently the noise woke him up as well.
My bed is densely filled with small pillows that are now burying me, so before I manage to dig myself out of it, I hear his footsteps.
A moment later he steps out wearing… striped pajamas.
I don't want to be mean, but sexy is definitely not the first word that comes to mind.
"Who's pounding on doors this early?" he mutters. "Come in!"
The door opens, revealing an unremarkable-looking man in white scrubs.
"Good morning. I'm Reed Gutin. Dr. Lomax asked me to request that Mr. Marlow Nolan accompany us to one of the procedure rooms."
"What for?" I ask, feeling a slight chill run down my spine.
Reed hesitates for a second. He tilts his head, narrows his eyes, then speaks while shooting Rupert a strange sideways glance.
"Mutant Fenn Drax seems to have taken a liking to you. He requested that you be present during an unpleasant medical procedure. According to him, having you there would be comforting."
He says it with complete sincerity, but there's a cruel smile stretching across his face.
My heart immediately speeds up. Fuck.
This is… nice. He needs me? It’s at the same time touching and kinda tragic. He has to be painfully alone if a stranger he’s seen once or twice is his safe person.
But Rupert's eyebrows practically shoot up into his hairline.
"Fenn Drax? You mean that mutant whose weird abilities they're trying to replicate here?"
"The very same one. Yesterday he spotted Mr. Nolan in the hallway and decided he enjoys looking at him. Apparently that will help him endure the procedure."
Rupert is still staring with his mouth hanging open.
"I'll do it," I say before I can think twice. Why not? If I can help ease his pain, I will. He has suffered enough.
"Seriously?" Rupert asks. To my surprise, he doesn't sound particularly upset about the idea. "You're sure about that?"
"Yeah. They're putting that poor guy through some pretty awful experiments. If I can offer him a little support, why wouldn't I?"
"Huh. Okay. Weird situation, but sure," Rupert says with a shrug.
It's hard to read his reaction because there really isn't much of a bond between us. On top of that, I don't care enough to spend time analyzing his feelings about it.
I turn back to Reed. "Can you give me five minutes to use the bathroom first?"
"Sure," Reed says. "I'll wait in the hallway."
Then he leaves. He looks almost disappointed somehow. Maybe he was hoping Rupert would put on some dramatic jealousy show or something?
Once we're alone, I move to walk past Rupert toward the bathroom, but he suddenly grabs my wrist.
I immediately pull away. His touch certainly doesn't have a positive effect on me. It might even irritate me.
Rupert tilts his head slightly and squints at me.
"Okay, what's really going on here? You can tell me. Is this mutant making some kind of claim on you or something?"
I shrug and answer casually.
"Don't be ridiculous. The guy's suffering.
They treat him like an animal here. I watched one of the orderlies smash him across the face with a baton, and not lightly either.
I spoke up and asked if he really had to hit him, and I could tell the mutant appreciated it.
That's all this is. Basic human kindness," I blatantly lie.
Rupert nods slowly.
"Oh. I get it. You know, I read about him before I came here. The thing with those betas on Calsing Island and all that." A faint blush creeps onto Rupert's cheeks. "You know… how he was fucking them."
I shrug again, acting completely unaffected.
"That's none of my business. But if he's about to go through some horrible procedure, maybe I can help. The research they're doing on him could end up helping the people participating in this program too, so it seems worth it."
I walk past him wearing the same calm expression, as if this is nothing more than a simple favor. But it isn't that simple. Drax specifically asked for me. A tiny thread has started forming between us, and I have no idea where it might lead. Most likely it'll end in disaster for both of us.