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  Our eyes connected one more time, her previously amber eyes, were now a dull brown. The last, stray tears flowing down her cheeks as her lips formed a small smile.

  “Farewell Makoto…love you.”

  I heard myself scream, as the ax dropped, disconnecting her head from the rest of her small body. My eyes trailed her head as it fell to the ground, rolling in an arch. It bumped into the glass, stopping in front of me. Lily’s dull, lifeless eyes staring straight into mine.

  Everything fell silent, as if my brain suddenly shut off. I stood there, staring at Lily’s head.

  I could remember all the good times we had shared, as well as the bad. I was the trickster, who always went around causing mischief and trouble, but she would always follow, taking the blame. If I broke something, she’d admit to breaking it. If I deserved to be punished, she would take my place and receive it. She was my shield, my strength and protector. She watched over me throughout the day, listened to me in the evenings as I shared my misery and sorrows, and soothed me to sleep when the nightmares consumed me at night. Now, here I was, staring at her lifeless eyes, her soul long gone. My best friend was no more, but a memory.

  I would have to live on without her warm hugs and snuggles, her lively laugh that made my heart blossom with joy and satisfaction. The one person I could always talk to and reveal my insecurities and fears. The girl I valued as a sister, was now one with the stars, but I couldn’t accept such fate.

  Had she known how much I loved her? How vital her existence was in mine? She was my light amongst the darkness, my air to breathe when I felt like I was suffocating. Why hadn’t I volunteered to take her place? To offer myself so she could live. If I did…would she still be here?

  I slammed my hand against the glass.

  “Comeback…” I choked. No answer was given, igniting a wave of anger within me.

  “You can’t leave me. You promised to always be by my side. Why aren’t you here? You lied!” I screamed. The pain was nothing compared to the heartache that consumed me. I screamed and thrashed against the glass, as I continued to sob, uncontrollably.

  “Lily!!! I’m…sorry.” I wailed, sliding to the ground, in defeat.

  I laid there crying my heart out, the pain never ceased. I curled into a ball, shutting the world around me out. Why did the gods take my Lily? Give her back…I beg you. I prayed over and over in my head. I knew such a wish would never become a reality.

  I heard a gentle voice echo in my head, the intrusion prompting me to open my eyes.

  “Fear not child. The gods have spoken. Embrace my power. Consume it, wield it, and mold it to your call. I am yours as you are mine. I will protect or destroy at your will. May the Starlight gods protect Thy child. Give you strength and a better future than my beautiful Lily. In stars, we trust.” The voice proclaimed.

  My eyes grew wide as I looked up at the phoenix, it’s wings spread out wide, rising up to the top of the ceiling. It performed an arch, before diving straight towards the glass – straight for me.

  I felt the impact as the Phoenix charged into me. My body arch up as I tried to scream, yet no sound left me. I was consumed by heat, a burning sensation that made my blood boil. The pain was the worst I had ever experienced, never enduring this with my two residing spirits. I could feel my body seize up as I tried to breathe, gasping for air. I couldn’t handle it anymore.

  To think just a moment ago, my one true friend told me to live and now she was dead. Would I be joining her in the stars?

  With that last thought, I felt my consciousness fade, my eyes rolling back as my world plunged into darkness.

  “In stars, we trust.” The last words I heard before my world went black.

  CHAPTER ONE

  14 cycles later…

  I lunged forward, a scream escaping my dry lips. My eyes dart side to side, searching for the culprit behind my sudden panic. I try to catch my breath, the frantic inhales and exhales the only sounds in the dark hollow cell. I let out a groan, closing my eyes shut. Another nightmare.

  I attempted to move forward, wincing at the sudden pain around my wrists. I looked over my shoulder, seeing the copper, rusted shackles binding me, the short chain extending to its maximum length from the silver concrete wall behind me.

  “Stupid piece of magically infused metal.” I muttered, glaring at the contraption with murderous intent.

  “If it didn’t nullify my magic, I’d burn it to a crisp.”

  I smirked, a gentle voice echoed in my head.

  “I know you would Lily.” I replied.

  Lily was the phoenix spirit, whom I’d acquired due to the death of my best friend. It had taken me quite some time to accept her death, naming my newly acquired spirit in her honour after months of grieving.

  I scooted backwards, easing the pull of the shackles against my bruised wrists. As much as I wanted to heal these superficial wounds, I didn’t bother. The pain was a reminder that I had survived another day. Frankly, I was way too tired to call upon my angel spirit, Hope, to work her healing mojo on my sore aching body.

  I lifted my head up to lean back against the wall, taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart. I could feel the sweat dripping down the side of my face. I opened my blue eyes and stared at the mold filled ceiling. This can’t possibly be healthy to breathe in every day.

  I decided to distract myself from waking to another day in this torturous hellhole and the possibly life-threatening mold looming above me.

  “Let’s see…my name is Makoto Heart, but I’m referred to as experiment 555. I’m twenty-two cycles. I’ve been stuck in this hellhole for as long as I can recall. I don’t remember anything before I reached six cycles. Doesn’t really bother me…though, I ponder sometimes if I even had a childhood. I have long, brown hair, though it can sometimes change colour depending on my magic usage. My lips are naturally light red; my eyes are a bright turquoise blue. Oh, did I mention they changed colour too? My favourite colour is pink, and I like to swear a lot. Shit is my favourite word….is it weird for a swear word to be my favourite? I wonder if I’m weird…hmm, being weird isn’t bad though. Would I want to be normal? Nah, I would be dead if I was normal…so scratch that…” I ramble on, allowing my head to wobble from side to side.

  “What. Are. You. Doing?” A toneless voice asked. My demon spirit, Rose, was always the first to question my sanity. I wondered if she thought I was crazy or simply felt bad for me and our current situation.

  “I’m working on my social skills. In the event I finally get out of this hellhole and have no choice but to communicate with intellectual shifters. Oh, how about if I meet a pure human? I wouldn’t want to sound preposterous now, would I?” I explained, feeling a sense of pride.

  “At least her rambles keep us entertained…though, I don’t think you should be proud of that.” Hope pointed out, her smooth, melodic voice made my heart calm instantly.

  Hope was the calmest spirit I could ever ask for. Her voice was so soothing, each word that flowed out of her sounded like an angelic song. The Starlight gods were lucky if they had a group of angel spirits to sing them to sleep. Hmm, do the gods sleep? I guess they’re gods, they don’t have to…right? I was about to ask when another voice entered my now over crowded head.

  “I don’t know. Don’t ask me.”

  I pursed my lips out before frowning. I dropped my shoulders, feigning disappointment.

  “Aww. C’mon Lexi. Don’t be so mean to your loveable host. I bet you’re curious too.” I replied, a yawn escaping my lips.

  “Hmph. Maybe. Whatever.” I grinned, satisfied with her answer.

  My dragon, Lexi, wasn’t much for words. I hadn’t discovered her until I was sixteen.

  Long story short, I had gotten into a little disagreement with a guard during an expedition.

  Our leader, I like to refer to him as “The Owner,” since he has never once told us his actual name, ordered a few guards and myself to deal with a dishonest shifter. Apparently, he hadn’t complet
ed his end of whatever deal he made and the Owner was not impressed.

  As we arrived at the village, it didn’t take me long to pinpoint where our target was hiding. The other guards, however, didn’t believe a sixteen-cycles teenager could locate a shifter from such a far radius. I continued to argue my point, not understanding why it seemed out of the ordinary for me to determine where one lousy shifter was hiding, especially when his attempt at hiding seemed weak to me. Every shifter who possessed a fragment of magic carried an aura. Sense the aura, find the person you’re looking for. It was as simple as that.

  After wasting three hours searching aimlessly, I had tolerated enough, my patience withering to nothing. If no one was going to listen to me, I shouldn’t have been dragged here to begin with. I decided to sit at the beginning checkpoint, refusing to use my sense of detection to help such foolish bear shifters. That’s when the argument started, one of the bear shifters threatening to punish me if I didn’t cooperate.

  I was rebellious in my teen cycles, so when someone other than the Owner told me to do something, I did the opposite; in this case, I refused. Anyways, the argument escalated, the guard dragged me to a bush and decided he wanted to “teach” me a lesson. Before he could even attempt to touch me, I apparently blacked out.

  I don’t remember much after that, everything was a blur. I heard from the other guards that I shifted fully into dragon form. I had to admit, I was impressed, but after hearing what Lexi did, I felt bad for the village.

  Lexi had gone on a little rampage, burning anything in sight, which included the whole village. Took the Owner himself to arrive on scene and de-escalate the situation; as in forcing me to calm down with the “obey me” mark.

  I glanced down to peer at the small circular symbol located just above my breasts, right in the center. It was a simple circle; inside had the initials BA in cursive. It was what allowed the Owner to have control over all the shifters in the facility. It was kind of like pledging allegiance to your master…by force. No shifter would stay obedient, just to be a test subject every day. I know I wouldn’t.

  Either way, two problems were solved that day; Lexi had killed our target and the guard who wanted to teach me a lesson, got his head chopped off. Quite gruesome, though he had it coming.

  That was my one and only opportunity outside these walls, but with all the cycles that had passed and our little operation happening in the early hours of the night, it didn’t look any different from the darkness that surrounded the facility every day. I still felt that I hadn’t experienced an ounce of freedom.

  My eyes began to close, drowsiness setting in. I prayed it wasn’t daylight yet. Just a few more minutes to rest before the notorious daily routine began. The next moment, I heard a click, followed by a loud creak. I groaned, slamming my head back against the wall. Why did my prayers always get ignored?

  “Hey Rose, you think I can induce a concussion in ten seconds?” I asked. I felt her nudge into my mind, an audible sigh followed.

  “Please…don’t tell me you’re actually serious? With how clumsy you are, I’m surprised you haven’t fallen to your demise, yet.” She pointed out. Ouch.

  “You know, sometimes you're so cruel.” I grumbled the thought. I could feel her concern for my wellbeing.

  “It’s your moments of stupidity that worry me. Plus, you seem to forget my demon nature. Cruelty is far from what I’m capable of. I’m simply nice to you. Also, you really need to work on that ‘I love talking out loud’ problem.” She argued. I could picture her rolling her eyes at me.

  “I didn’t say that out loud! Plus, it’s hard to practice that when I’m either being shocked multiple times or getting my blood drained out of me like the lovable lab rat I am.” I retorted.

  I was labelled as experiment 555 here in the facility. When I was younger, the experiments and trials had been scheduled once a week. As the cycles passed and I got older, they began to increase in frequency, going from once a week to whenever I was conscious. The Owner had changed our trial sessions to daily, stating his plans for us had altered. I didn’t believe his words, my heart telling me there was some underlying motive behind the lies.

  The lab sessions were like a blood bank, giving a significant portion of your blood to be tested. It happened so often, I gave up on even asking what vial fifteen was testing. Since shifters had a much faster healing rate, we could recover from the blood loss at a quicker pace. That wasn’t a beneficial trait in this case. It simply contributed to our suffering.

  I heard multiple sighs, clearly coming from more than one of my spirits.

  “And there she goes, talking out loud again.” Hope sang sweetly.

  “She has improved, though. It was worse before.” Lily pointed out.

  “Better than her sleep walking.” Lexi stated blankly.

  “You know…sometimes I hate all of you. Go away.” I mumbled out loud on purpose, shoving them out of my mind. Enough of “let's talk about Mako’s flaws” for today.

  “AND my sleep walking isn’t that bad!” I argued. Of course, I had to have the last word.

  Yes, I had a tiny little sleepwalking problem. That’s the main reason why I was chained to the wall every night. Didn’t matter what type of locked room I was in. If my wrists were free, I could free myself easily and go wherever my sleeping consciousness wanted to venture.

  It had been a bad habit when I was younger. I’d be in my room when I fell asleep, to waking up in the Owner’s room at daylight. I don’t think he minded much in the beginning, but once Elaine came into the picture, when I was seven-cycles, it was easier to chain me with the magic restricting shackles of death. I could hear a set of footsteps approaching.

  “Concussion in five seconds.” I whispered as I mentally prepared myself. Rose came back, her voice irritated.

  “It won't work for Starlight’s sake! Don’t you try it. None of us want to deal with that split personality of yours today.” Her voice was firm and commanding.

  Oh, right. Guess she had a point. No triggering my split personality with a head injury, darn it.

  My split personality was completely different than having my spirits. Spirits simply had the ability to take control of your body with the host’s permission. My split, however, was her own entity. If she was summoned, I would be asleep, giving her full control to rain havoc as she pleased.

  You guys are no fun. I straightened my back as I crossed my legs.

  “555, are you talking to yourself again? Honestly, I don’t see what the boss sees in you.”

  A voice emerged from the darkness, a shadow appearing in front of the cell bars.

  Within seconds, the guard became visible, his large plump figure coming into view as the dim dungeon lights flashed on.

  All the guards were shifters with bear spirits. I didn’t know what made them more special than the vast selection of potential shifters who could take the role of guarding us, but the Owner had specifically chosen their race. Maybe they were easier to control?

  The guard looks like the other guards: tall, ugly and round bellied. Bear shifters weren’t all round bellied. With a fast metabolism and strength, their usual body characteristic was big, built, bulky and ripped, at least that’s what I’d learned from research in the facility’s library. I guess with all the alcoholic drinks they indulged in daily, I wasn’t really surprised they had beer bellies. Alcohol was one of the few rewards they received for “appropriate” guarding. Appropriate included beating and raping if necessary.

  He had dull, brown eyes, dark tanned skin and you could practically see his hairy chest through his thin uniform shirt. It clearly didn’t fit his large, broad chest, but I guess he thought it made him look attractive.

  His eyes raked over my body, his lips forming a smirk. I rolled my eyes. Savage beast acts like he has never seen breasts before.

  I was wearing a simple brown dress, long enough to cover my round butt, but not doing much justice to cover my big breasts. I was skinny but I had been blessed w
ith the big chest, nice buttock combo.

  “Oh please, you love me.” I replied, putting on my best fake smile, batting my eyes innocently. It was his turn to roll his eyes.

  “Let’s get this over with, little fox. Make sure you eat your breakfast this time. You and I both know how upset the Owner gets when you don’t eat.” He stated, unlocking the gate, sliding it open.

  “I don’t see the point. I’m just going to vomit it out later. Such a waste of food.” I mumbled, shaking my head.

  “Well, I like my head attached to my body, my eyes safely in my sockets, and my penis attached to my groin. So, just follow the rules and eat. I don’t want to experience anything the previous guards received for disobeying his orders.” He argued back, approaching me with the keys to the annoying shackles.

  How could I possibly forget? The rule of thumb was still the same, even after fourteen cycles. Do what you’re told and nothing bad will happen to you. The simple reminder was enough to send shivers down my spine.

  He grabbed my wrists, yanking me up. I hissed from the onset of pain as I wobbled to my feet. He must have noticed me grimacing cause he let go, giving me a moment to stabilize myself. I rubbed at my wrists, assessing them quickly. Ugh, these are pretty bad. I made my way out of the cell, the guard right behind me.

  “I’ll tell the healers to make you an ointment for those wrists. Should have changed your chains a while ago.” He muttered.

  “HAH.” I laughed out loud by accident. Did he feel sorry for me? Doubtful.

  “Aww, aren’t you consider –” My words were cut short as a loud crashing sound echoed through the facility, the ground shook as small amounts of dust fell from the ceiling.

  “What the fuck was that?” I yelled. Another blast erupted, causing the walls to shake again. It literally felt like an earthquake. I leaned against the wall as I tried to keep upright.