Chapter 3. The Test Subject
Every time they lock me inside this tube, the dark memories of my past keep replaying in my mind. Although when I wake up, I forget the pain, when I'm left to rest like this, it becomes unbearable. Sometimes, I'm afraid to close my eyes because all I'll find is darkness, not peace. Especially when the silence brings me back to the first day I was taken here.
Maybe it was about… 25 years ago? I don't remember how old I was back then, but I was definitely forcibly taken by them. No, it's more accurate to say they bought me from my parents. I don't even know how my parents are now, I can no longer remember their faces. When I found out I was sold, I wasn't angry at all, because our financial condition was really bad back then.
My mother and father had to raise three children while living off a small plot of land owned by a wealthy merchant in our village. But now, it seems like I could provide a lot of money if I were still living with them. I also… miss my younger siblings, maybe one of them is now as old as Vinnie. I hope they didn't suffer the same pain I did, seeing and feeling the unimaginable torture every day.
The first day I was brought here, there were countless human and animal corpses piled together. If a little child saw such a sight, the first thing they would do is scream hysterically, as my friends did. I could only cry in silence, reassuring myself that I would survive. God granted that child's wish, but now, he lives as a monster controlled to kill others.
I saw them insert a lot of tubes connected to a huge tank, the children were unconscious, but their bodies moved as though nothing was happening. Some scientists took animal blood and placed it into a small glass dish, mixing it with human blood. They also added some liquid whose purpose I couldn't understand. Then, when they found that the two types of blood could merge and form a new organism, they began their experiments on me.
I rebelled. I didn't want to be a test subject, unsure of whether I'd survive or not, but they did everything they could to make me silent so the experiment could continue. When I woke up, I was already in a tank filled with gel, and tubes adorned my small, naked body.
"You've been bought, and your parents sold you. So don't expect us to release you, Kav." I don't remember who said that; too many faces I saw in a semi-conscious state every day.
I began to recognize someone's face when the experiment reached 50 percent success. The first face I remembered was Dr. Jhon, Vinnie's grandfather. Even though he was part of this insane experiment, he was the nicest of all the demons. Though Vinnie said that there is no good person who kills others, I was glad that the mass human experimentation would finally be stopped because there were a few successful samples. One of them was me.
After ten years in the tank, I was finally moved to a machine resembling a grill. This was where they perfected the 50 percent success rate into 99.9 percent. Yes, to get this satisfying result, they needed a long time. And during that time, I endured torture. In addition to injecting blood, nerves, and white wolf cells into my body, they also forced me to eat like a wolf. Hunting in the wild, killing, and surviving in the middle of the starving jungle king.
In the midst of the suffering, a little girl came into my life, bringing a little color. Vinnie always brought human food that was fit to consume, clothes, and things I hadn't seen in years while locked inside that suffocating tube. Her presence reduced my urge to hurt and kill others, and when I was with her, I felt like a normal human again. But when night came, I would revert to a bloodthirsty beast.
And since then, Vinnie's father and grandfather appointed her to be my keeper. They even dared to push their own descendant into a monster's den, where she could be devoured at any time. But strangely enough, Vinnie truly managed to tame every new creature that was created, including me.
"How old are you, Kav?" she asked back then, while handing me a piece of chocolate.
"Maybe around my early 20s?" I answered.
Vinnie studied me carefully, from my hair to my feet, before she said, "Don't lie, Kav. You look the same age as me, you know," she said, her lips slightly pouting.
"My body has been preserved since I came here, Vinnie. I just got freed from that suffocating tube," I replied, pointing to the tank filled with new components.
After ten long years, I could finally breathe in the Earth's oxygen again, feel the warmth of the earth, and the cool breeze of both morning and night. If they had kept me locked up any longer, I would have surely forgotten how to live as a human in this world.
"Why don't you escape, Kav? This place is not where you should be," she said, as if she understood the suffering we all endured.
"How?" I asked, and she responded with a look of hopelessness.
"I don't know. Ever since my memories returned, I've wanted to set you all free," she said, resigned.
At that time, I didn't understand what she meant by "memories." Didn't she only live once? Or maybe Vinnie had been in an accident? But… if that were the case, she must have been very small back then, and it seemed impossible for her to remember. Over time, I understood what the little girl meant, and I also learned why her grandfather ordered Vinnie to watch over all the new entities at such a young age.
Even after her grandfather died five years later, Vinnie remained trapped in this hellish world, which she desperately wanted to destroy. But in the end, she still worked here for the second time.
"Kav, it's been three hours. Don't you want to wake up?" Vinnie's voice suddenly woke me from that nightmare. Slowly, I opened my eyelids and saw her worried face staring at me.
"Are you worried?" I asked, teasing her.
"Ah, I regret waking you up," she replied.
I chuckled at her frustration; her sweet face looked even more attractive when she was angry.
"You know today is your assignment, right?" she said.
"Go, and never come back here again, Kav."
Hearing Vinnie's words, I felt a slight tightness in my chest.
"What about you? Will you follow me?"
"You won't die if I'm not with you, Kav."
After saying that, Vinnie stood up and walked out, leaving me behind, still confused.