N. Walters - Quinn's Quest

Bethany Morris squeezed her eyes shut and desperately tried to pretend she was lying in her single bed in her tiny one-bedroom apartment. She missed her fluffy pillow and the thick chocolate brown comforter. The thin blanket covering her was rough and scratchy against her skin. She tried to conjure the familiar room, but no matter how hard she struggled she could no longer summon the energy to believe shed ever see it again.

It had been two weeks since a plain white van had pulled up alongside her as shed crossed the parking lot of her apartment building. The two men had been on her before shed even had a chance to yell. Something had pricked her skin and shed blacked out. When shed come back to her senses, shed found herself locked away in a cold room with concrete walls.

Shed been in a hurry that fateful day, not paying attention to her surroundings even though she knew better. Any large city was dangerous for a single woman alone. Shed been running late for work and was trying to catch the bus, her mind focused solely on that goal.

That was another thing she didnt want to think about. What about her job? What would happen to her stuff when her rent wasnt paid in a couple days time? The furniture came with the place, but she had clothing and some jewelry. A laptop. An iPod. It wasnt much. But it was hers.

A tear seeped from beneath her eyelid and trickled down her temple. She ignored it. She tried to be brave, tried to keep up her hopes of escape, but it was getting harder and harder as each day passed.

Sure, some of the people she worked with at Daves Diner would miss her, but theyd probably assumed shed quit her job without notice. Shed only worked there for a few months. Not long enough to make real friends.

Bethany sniffed and rubbed her cheek against her pillow. Who was she trying to kid? She didnt make friends. Not real ones. Plenty of acquaintances, but she didnt let people get close to her. When she was in grade school, her mother moved them around a lot, dragging Bethany from city to city. Shed never really understood why.

To keep us safe, had been her mothers only reply whenever shed gotten up enough courage to ask. The question had only made her mother sad, so Bethany eventually stopped asking. When her mother died of cancer two years ago, Bethany was left alone. She had no idea who her father was. That was another mystery that only her mother had known the answer to. And shed never told.

Another tear trickled down her face.

Her entire life shed felt as though she was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. Shed thought about counseling but she had never found the time or the money. The sensation of being different had only gotten worse as shed grown older. The past year shed felt as though she didnt even know her own body.

The blanket covering her seemed heavy in spite of its thinness. She ignored the way the material aggravated her skin, making her want to scratch. Sometimes it almost felt as though something else was inside her, wanting to be released. But that was crazy. She ignored the prickling of her skin and the heat rushing through her body the same way she always did.

Thankfully, it had didnt happen often and only seemed to last for a short time before becoming manageable again.

A low sigh from the other side of the room reminded her she wasnt alone in the cell. Another woman shared this prison with her. She was glad not to be alone, but she wasnt too sure of the womans sanity.

Chrissten Lawton was around her age, tall with pale blue eyes and long blonde hair. She was also crazy.

She claimed to have been kept captive for more than a year and a half. Bethanys stomach knotted at the thought. She didnt think she could last that long. Shed find a way out or die trying.

The long captivity and whatever it was their captors had done had obviously made the other woman lose her grip on reality. Chrissten believed she was a werewolf, or rather a half-breed werewolf. And shed told Bethany that she was one too.

Bethany had been afraid of Chrissten the first few days shed been locked up with her, but when the other woman hadnt threatened any kind of physical violence, Bethany had gradually begun to relax.

She liked Chrissten. When she wasnt talking crazy. Werewolves. It was insane to think it, let alone say it.

Sure, Bethany was stronger than most women she knew. Shed never been sick a day in her life and had a keen sense of smell and superior vision. That was simply a product of luck and good genetics. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Her stomach growled, but she ignored it. Hunger was quickly becoming a way of life. Doctor Morton, one of the crazies whod kidnapped her, fed her and Chrissten enough to keep them alive and relatively healthy, but not near enough for them to stay strong. Bethany had a fast metabolism and needed a lot of food to keep her strength up. Chrissten was the same. The lack of energy kept them both lethargic, which was what the doctor wanted.

Are you awake? She kept her voice low, almost a whisper. If Chrissten was still sleeping, Bethany didnt want to wake her. Yet lying here thinking about her desperate situation wasnt getting her anywhere. If anything, it made her stomach hurt and her hands clammy.

At first Chrissten didnt answer. But Bethany felt a sudden alertness in the other woman.

Yes, Im awake.

Do you think well ever find a way out of here? Bethany was rapidly losing all sense of hope. After all, Chrissten was a smart woman. Taller than Bethany. Strong too. And shed been held for months and months without finding a way out.

Chrissten didnt answer. Which was, of course, an answer in itself.

Bethany turned her head away and continued to stare at the ceiling as she reviewed everything shed learned in the past two weeks.

They were being held captive by a man who considered himself a scientist but, in reality, he was a raving lunatic. According to Chrissten, his name was Dr. Phillip Morton and he was convinced she and Chrissten were half-breed werewolves. He wanted to test their blood, their genetics to find out how it differed from regular humans.

According to Chrissten, the doctors plan was to try to determine if there was a way to turn humans into werewolves. At the moment, the only way to create a half-breed werewolf was the old fashioned waythrough sex between a pureblood werewolf and a human. And, even then, it was a very rare thing for a child to be the result of such an encounter.

If the experiments succeeded, the doctor would get the power of a male werewolf for himself and the werewolves who were helping him would get more females to mate with and thereby repopulate their species.

Maybe thats where Chrissten got all her insane ideas. After months of being locked up, Bethany was afraid shed begin to believe all this crazy talk too.

Then there was the doctors sidekicka giant of a man called Brianwho seemed to be particularly enamored of Chrissten. This guy was the craziest of them all. Hed bought into the doctors theories. Brian believed he really was one of these pureblood werewolves. For real.

She knew Brian had raped Chrissten, and more than once. The other woman wouldnt talk about it, but shed been gone from their cell for several hours one day and had returned bruised and battered.

The doctor had confirmed Bethanys fears. Hed mentioned it in passing the next day while he was drawing a vial of Bethanys blood. Hed spoke about it as easily as one might talk about the weather. The doctor wanted Chrissten to get pregnant. He wanted to test her body during pregnancy and experiment on the baby once it was born. The conversation had turned Bethanys blood to ice and she hadnt felt warm since.