Domination (A C.H.A.O.S. Novel) - By Jon Lewis Page 0,9

Scales? Protrusions? The start of a tail?”

“No.”

“What about your emotional state? Do you have extreme mood shifts?”

“Not really.”

“What about fits of crying? Hopelessness? Anger?”

“Sometimes,” Colt said. “The anger part anyway—like today when I thought a friend was in trouble. Something snapped, and the next thing I know I’m covered in blood, my knuckles are raw, and the Thule is lying there not moving.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“I don’t know,” Colt said. “Scared, I guess. I mean, what if something happens and I turn on someone I care about?”

“That’s certainly a fair question, though I wonder if it has more to do with the stress you’re under. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have the weight of the entire world on your shoulders. It can’t be easy.”

Colt averted his eyes. He knew Dr. Roth was talking about Project Betrayal and how because Colt had blood from a Thule coursing through his veins, people actually thought he was part of an ancient prophecy that would destroy the Thule and save humanity. Just thinking about it sounded laughable . . . and yet maybe it was true. Maybe this was the plan God had for him all along.

“I want you to be honest with me,” Colt said.

“I’ll do my best.”

“Do you think I’m turning into one of them?”

“The Thule?” Dr. Roth asked as he started chewing the inside of his cheek. “If it’s honesty you’re after, then I’d have to say that I have my doubts. After all, you’ve been carrying their DNA for the better part of ten years, and the only physical manifestation has been your eye color, right?”

“Yeah,” Colt said, which was the truth. What he didn’t say was that he had heard the Thule speak inside his mind.

“Still, you’re the first of your kind, which means we won’t know until it happens—if it happens. All we can do for now is watch and wait.”

“I was thinking that maybe they should lock me up just in case.”

“That might be a bit extreme—at least for now. But I appreciate the thought. It shows your character.” Dr. Roth walked over to a bank of drawers and pulled out a needle and syringe. “Would you mind if I took a blood sample?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You always have a choice.”

Colt closed his eyes and held out his arm, and Dr. Roth tied a piece of medical tubing just above his elbow. Colt had never been a fan of needles, and if Dr. Roth was going to stick him, then he didn’t want to watch.

“There we are,” the doctor said. “Now this may pinch.”

Colt felt something hit his arm, but there wasn’t any pain. When he opened his eyes, Dr. Roth was standing there looking at a needle that was bent at odd angles.

“That was unexpected,” the doctor said.

“What happened?”

“I’m not exactly sure.” Dr. Roth placed the needle into a disposal container. “Let’s try that again.” He slammed the second needle into Colt’s arm like he was trying to drive a nail through a board, and once again it crumpled.

: :

CHAPTER 7 : :

As Colt left the lab, he wondered if Dr. Roth had already filed his report and how long it would take before a team of Black Ops agents threw a bag over his head and stuffed him in the back of a van where they would whisk him away to a secret facility and experiment on him until they found a way to re-create his new armored skin.

He thought about what kind of gas they would use to knock him out, since they couldn’t exactly hit him with a dart; how long it would last; and whether or not he would be strong enough to break the bindings that would no doubt be wrapped around his wrists and ankles.

As he rounded a corner, he saw an armed DAA agent in winter camouflage, complete with a ski mask and goggles, and he stopped. The guard looked at him, and Colt felt like a piglet looking at the jaws of a wolf. He glanced over his shoulder to see if there was a second guard sneaking up behind him with the hood, but he couldn’t see anyone. His eyes went to the bushes and then the trees, knowing there had to be an agent with a smoke grenade or something that would knock him out.

It was freezing outside, and his nose started to run. He swiped at it with the back of his sleeve, and that’s when he saw