16. Elliott #2
“You may be wondering if we’ve studied omegas for this reason.
The answer is yes, but the progress has been slow.
The good news is that recent research has shown that omega x’s seem to be able to have as many as two dozen offspring in their lifetimes, if not more.
Once our scientists can narrow down the key to their extreme fertility, we hope to use that information to help betas become more fertile.
In the past, we’ve lacked the ability to identify omega x’s for our studies.
But your arrival here has changed all that. ”
Mooneyham smiled at me as though I were an esteemed guest rather than the new lab rat.
Seriously, fertility was the ability they were focusing on?
As though reading my mind, Dr. Mooneyham said, “Your other abilities are important too, and will play an important part in future research. But your high fertility, as well as the ability to heal, will be the main focus for the present. Today, we will begin studying your heats.”
My mind began to race. Ben had recently attempted to heal me of having heats. What if it worked? What if I couldn’t go into heat and was no longer of use to Dr. Mooneyham and his team?
What was I going to do? I hadn’t even managed to connect with Ben yet. Without proof of any of my abilities, they might decide to get rid of me before I could.
David once told me that, as bonded mates, he and Maddox could sense things between them, particularly if it was important.
For instance, when government men came unannounced to the Angels’ ranch to examine David, Maddox sensed David’s distress from where he was working in the field and immediately ran to him.
Could it be the same between omega x’s? Could Ben and I possibly communicate telepathically as well as in our dreams?
I needed to try. I came here wanting to gather information, and I had, but I’d also delivered the missing key these betas had been waiting for, unintentionally accelerating the very process I had hoped to stop.
I had no doubts that they would kill me one way or another—the only question was, would it be sooner or later?
At this point, I couldn’t wait until I was sleeping to try to get in touch with him again.
The crushing realization of how stupidly impulsive I’d been brought tears to my eyes.
Misunderstanding the reason for them, the doctor said, “No need to be afraid. We won’t cause you pain unless absolutely necessary.”
I deserved any pain they gave me. I was a fool. But, before I gave myself over to his experiments, there was something I had to know.
Gathering all my courage, equally afraid of his reaction and the answer, I asked, “Dr. Mooneyham, would you please tell me…. Is my birth father still alive?”
The doctor’s expression didn’t change. Maybe he’d expected the question, or maybe he was just a cold bastard, I didn’t know, but waiting out the seconds ticking by before he answered physically hurt me.
“The last I heard, yes, Elliott. James Rittenhouse, your birth father, is alive.
The breath that I’d been holding ran out of me at once, making me slightly dizzy.
“Were you aware of the reason that he, an omega x, only gave birth to one child?” Mooneyham asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued in an annoyed tone, “He purposely chose not to because he was afraid of having more omega x’s. How selfish.”
“H-how do you know that? Did my father tell you?”
Dr. Mooneyham nodded.
Thinking about my dad, I sat sniffling and wiping my tears, Dr. Mooneyham shocked me by asking, “Would you like to meet with him?”
I froze, hand to my damp face, and stared open-mouthed at the doctor. “C-can I?”
The doctor nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. “If all goes well with this experiment, I’ll arrange it.”
“Dad’s here?” I bit my bottom lip to stop its trembling.
“Not in this facility, but close by.”
A phone notification on the doctor’s cell phone prompted him to check it. “Excellent,” he said, looking up at me with a smile. “They’re ready for you, Elliott.”
Weak from excitement at the thought of seeing my father again and with trepidation about what was to come, I followed Dr. Mooneyham through a different door than I had entered by and down a bright corridor.
Arriving at a set of double doors, he put one eye to a scanner on the wall and a green light flashed above the doors and they slid open.
The room inside was…completely red.
The walls, every piece of furniture, every pillow and lampshade…all of them a bright, agitating red.
“This, Elliott, is the red room.”
If I weren’t so terrified, I would have laughed. No kidding, dude.
“Do you want to know why it’s entirely red?”
The more I got to know the evil scientist standing before me—because that’s exactly what he was—the more certain I became that he enjoyed toying with me. He got off on instilling fear, and that didn’t bode well for me.
“Yes, sir,” I said, looking around the room at the red shelves, the red light-switches, the red ceiling fan and even the ceiling itself.
“The color red has a certain effect on the human psyche, did you know that? Just as certain shades of blue are proven to calm a person down, this particular shade of red produces anxiety, anger, and other extreme emotions. In omegas and alphas, it can also help to induce their heats and ruts. How do you feel in this room, Elliott?”
“Anxious,” I said truthfully.
Desperate to save myself, I began to repeat Ben’s name in my head.
Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben.
Then, Ben, do you hear me? It’s Elliott. I need your help. I’m in a facility about to be experimented on!
I paused, listening for a reply, but got none.
The double doors opened and Dr. Freedman walked in, looking early-morning-fresh and cheerful, as though he were going on a fun outing rather than participating in a cruel experiment. I couldn’t stop the shudder of revulsion that ran through me at seeing him like that.
“Good morning, Godrick,” Mooneyham said. He looked at his phone from which an alarm was sounding.