Ryker sleeps half the day away before meeting up with Sebastian to confront Mathew.

Want to read the whole arc at once?

<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>

Chapter 6: Mathew’s Secret

Written by: Ryker-Wolf

      I stumbled through the door of the sanitation lock into the main hall of Homestead. It had gotten late, no one was around, and all the lights had dimmed if not turned off altogether.

      I walked unsteadily towards the dorms, Andy’s hits had decided to make themselves known. I barely made it across the threshold of my room before I collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.

      I woke up the next day. My body ached. I groaned as I lifted myself off of the floor, feeling incredibly stiff. I yawned, crawling into my bed and groggily picking up my phone. There was a new message from mom.

      How are you doing?

      Ryker?

      Are you alright?!

      It’s getting late, I hope you’re just asleep

      I frowned. She’s usually not this concerned when I don’t reply.

            Just woke up. Is something wrong?

      Almost immediately, the dots pop up on my screen and she replies:

      NOPE. Just concerned about you!

            I’m fine, just really tired after yesterday’s exercises.

      You’ll get used to it I’m sure! How else are you going to grow big and strong? :)

      I smiled, She’s probably just worried about how I’m doing with the experiment. I rubbed the back of my neck, yawning again.

            Right! I’ve gotta go. Don’t worry too much! ;)

      Okie dokie!

      I set the phone back on the table as I started my morning routine, but before I even left my room my watch chimed with a message from Sebastian.

      Are we still on to check in with Mathew?

            Why wouldn’t I be?

      Because it’s past lunch and I haven’t heard from you all day?

      My eyes went wide I switched back to the clock function on my watch. Sure enough, it was afternoon already.

            Shoot! I’ll be down as soon as I can. I totally slept in after getting back from the other facility! :0

      Don’t worry. I’ll be chatting with Kai. Meet up with me in the main hall when you’re ready.

            Thanks! I’ll be there soon.

      I quickly ran downstairs and showered as fast as I could, making sure to bring my normal clothes in a bag so I wouldn’t have to run back upstairs to change. As soon as I had dried off and changed, I rushed to the main hall and caught up with Sebastian.

      He turned towards me and gasped, “Woah! Ryker, what happened to you? You look like a wreck!” Everything was still sore from yesterday, I even felt a few lumps during my shower. I thought I had hidden them pretty well, but there must’ve been something about the way I was postured or walking that gave it away.

      “It’s kind of a long story that we can talk about later.” I waved my hand dismissively. “I’m sorry I slept in so much.”

      “It’s no problem! It was a good chance to talk with a few of the other subjects here, get to know a few more people, you know?” I nodded.

      “I’ll meet up with you later then.” Kai called back to Sebastian as he pulled away towards the rec wing of the facility.

      We both waved good bye as we turned towards the door to the yard. If I was being honest, it was more like a prison yard with how dull it was, complete with camera’s and observation rooms scattered around above us.

      The sun shone bright against the concrete, forcing us to squint as we looked out across the yard. In the small field, we could spot the strangely iconic appearance of Mathew’s second generation form. His somewhat mismatched pieces made him look more scrawny than he actually was. From the waist up, his body largely resembled that of a Canadian goose, but the waist down was the furry hide of a beaver. The only thing avian about the lower half of his body were the talons sticking out of his legs.

      If he ever managed to take flight, it would be a miracle. He was alone, so we started to walk towards him, Sebastian slowing his pace for me. My tail was practically a log tied to my torso as I dragged it behind me. Sebastian looked to me with concern. I shook my head slowly. He nodded understanding that I’d talk about it after we’d confronted Mathew.

      We walked up to him, Sebastian taking the initiative. “Hey, Mathew?” Sebastian’s voice was stern and somewhat harsh.

      “Yeah?” Mathew turned towards us, “Woah! Ryker, you’re looking pretty rough. Are your instincts not fully connected yet?”

      I turned my head aside, “no, it’s not that. It was just a long day yesterday. Let’s leave it at that, alright, Mathew?”

      He gave a small nod. “So what brings you two over here?”

      Sebastian stepped forward. “Did you meet with you-know-who?”

      “Who-Oh!” His eyes widened in recognition, “uh, no—”

      “What? How did you not meet with them?” Sebastian’s voice grew a little more annoyed.

      Mathew winced before quickly regaining his composure and stood tall like a soldier. “I didn’t visit them because my supervising officer, Douglas instructed me not to.”

      “And why was that?” Sebastian pressed.

      “Because, he told me not to. I didn’t ask questions. That is not my place.”

      Sebastian sighed, “you mean to tell me that you shirked you’re duties because someone else told you that they’d handle it?”

      There was a small pause in the conversation before Mathew replied, “Yes.”

      The dragon man scoffed, “Are you really such a blind follower that someone who commands even a little authority leaves you reset back to being an obedient soldier? I pity you.” He turned, leaving Mathew behind. “Come on, Ryker. Let’s go find Douglas.”

      I rushed after him, my back shooting with pain, both from last night’s confrontation and sleeping on the floor. “Hold up, Sebastian. Can we catch Douglas tomorrow? I’ve already lost half the day, and I’ve still got a class to get to with Fabito.”

      Sebastian squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. “Do you have time to tell me about how you got so bruised?”

      I sighed. “Well, it’s a bit of a story, so I’ll give you the cliff notes version.”

      We took a seat in the main hall as I began to recall the events of the previous day. “I got into something of a fight over at the other facility.”

      “And you lost?” He gestured over my body. My tail began to slowly curl up into my arms. I held it tight as I continued.

      “Well, not really. I wasn’t fighting back…” I then proceeded to recall the interactions with the ABC gang and Andy’s complete meltdown.

      I could see the rage building behind his eyes, but his posture softened, resisting the urge to burst out in anger. I gave a sad smile.

      Sebastian leaned back. I could see him furrow his brow, closing his eyes. When they opened, the rage had dissipated. The fire hadn’t gone out, but the embers still flickered in the furnace of his soul.

      He set his bag on the end table between us and pulled out old looking leather bound books and tomes. I opened my mouth to speak, but he shushed me.

      “That story. It makes me mad, just thinking about the horrible things that people are capable of even now.” He opened one of the tomes, revealing poetically worded diary entries written with an elegant calligraphy font. “On the days I start to feel so overwhelmed with emotion, any one emotion or all at once, I write it down in these. I wrote so often that I decided that I needed a vessel to match the words of my heart.” As he stared at the books and tomes and smiled to himself. “It eventually became a new hobby of mine to stain paper and even binding the pages into these books and tomes before you.”

      He pulled one more leather-bound book from his bag and handed to me. The cover was stamped with the impression of a double helix opening up into a paw print. I flipped through the yellow pages, every last one was blank. “When I found out that I was accepted to participate in the experiment, I decided to commemorate the announcement with a unique cover. Flip it over.”

      The back had a similar looking design to the front, except the pawprint was replaced by a human hand. Despite it being such a young item, it looked more aged on this side than the front. The leather looked faded from use and sunlight. The hide had become wrinkled. I turned over the book in my paws, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t find a seam between the two covers.

      “I aged the back. I thought that it would be my best and newest creation to write in.” He paused a moment. “But I realize that you need an outlet for your troubled thoughts the way making and writing in these books are for me. I don’t care if you don’t use it for writing your thoughts or stories or anything in it. I know that Fabito is set to teach you and a few others about tailoring, so…maybe this can be your special book of fashion and inspiration.”

      He grew quiet, beginning to load the other books into his bag once more. “Wait.” My voice was quiet. I couldn’t put any more energy into it, or it’d start breaking under the weight of my mounting tears. I quickly stepped over to him. He stood up in turn.

      “Thanks, Sebastian. I’ll make good use of it.” I pulled him into a short hug before pulling back and turning my attention to the doors of the rec wing. “Well,” I blinked away my swelling tears, “I should go. We’ll talk with Douglas tomorrow, yeah?”

      He silently nodded and waved goodbye as we parted.

      Before I opened the doors, I placed my new journal into my bag and took a deep breath. When I was ready, I swung the doors open and stepped inside.

      <<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>