Van Helsing Rising - Helen Scott Page 0,15

than the things in the other cages. But perhaps whatever the hell they gave me was a different formula than the others.

And yet, they hadn’t seemed to be able to keep a human normal after what they did to me still, so it could’ve had less to do with the formula and more to do with me. But I can’t be sure, because I’m sure as hell not anything special.

Suddenly, the door to the room opens again, and I scoot back into the corner of the cage. I hate that my body starts to tremble, but as an experiment I was tortured…and before the experiment, I was tortured in an entirely different way. Being prepared for pain seems like the smart move right now.

To my surprise, it’s the hazel-eyed guy again. The one who made me feel so strange when we looked at each other. He crouches down in front of me and runs a hand through his stylish hair, his face uncertain before his gaze meets mine again. I jerk my eyes away, breathing hard. I always thought the idea of being “lost in a guy’s eyes” was the kind of stuff for corney love song, but the actual feeling with him is more unsettling than romantic.

“Dani?”

I draw back even further.

“They call me Phoenix.”

I still say nothing.

“How would you feel about moving out of this cage into a room upstairs?”

This time I do look at him. He doesn’t look like he’s joking, but he has to be, right? No one gives a prisoner a room…

“You’ll have your own bathroom. You can take a shower. Sleep on a bed. You just have to stay in the room for now. Does that sound good?”

“I don’t know,” I say wearily. “What’s the catch?”

“Catch?” He lifts a brow. I try not to notice how gorgeous he is and completely fail.

“There’s always a catch.” I’d learned that one the hard way.

He sighs. “I don’t know what we’re going to do with you, but this is better than staying in a cage, right?”

The man has a point, so I slowly nod.

He unlocks the cage, and I climb out really slowly. Part of me is fully expecting a trap. Even though this guy gives off a “sweet boy-next-door” vibe, there’s also an underlying “who will murder you if you cross my path” thing. So, I’m not crazy enough to just trust his word.

“Good. See? Everything’s okay.”

The soothing way he says it tells me I probably look like a stray cat about to run for it, so I straighten my shoulders and try to stand like I’m not wearing the same clothes I’ve been wearing for weeks. I try to pretend that my hair isn’t a tangled mess, and that I don’t have bare feet.

He smiles. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”

I follow slowly behind him as he unlocks the door to the room where I’ve been being kept and leads me out into the hall. I’m kind of surprised by the feel of the place. It isn’t like the lab, with its cold surfaces and bright walls. It has a little more of a military feel, combined with a rigid household. I can’t decide if I like it or not.

We turn down a couple of halls, and I see the stairs at the end. My gaze moves all around the room, and I stiffen when I see a door leading to the outside. The man in front of me…continues toward the stairs. I only have one minute to decide what I’m going to do when I turn and race for the front door. I slam open the door and the scent of wind and rain flows all around me. It awakens something in my soul, but I don’t have time to enjoy it. I just keep running.

I hear the door slam open behind me. “Dani!” Phoenix shouts.

A flicker of guilt awakens inside of me, but I push the feeling down. Sure, Phoenix had been nice to me after a long time of no one giving a shit about me, but I’m still a prisoner with him. And the last thing I want is to be a prisoner again.

Up ahead, I realize there’s a massive gate surrounding the huge property. I switch directions, heading for some woods. Chances are the gate cuts through them, but maybe I can get lost in the trees.

Suddenly, something hard and heavy smashes into me from behind. I go rolling on the ground, and the places that prisoner bit me