Fox Life

The people that came to catch Iris were, however, unprepared that she might dodge them. The firs time she did it, two men froze, staring at their empty hands likes something unbelievable had just happened.     

Iris laughed at them inside, but pretended like she was terrified and ran to stand as far away from the five men as possible, her hackles raised. Upon seeing her defensive posture, her opponents regained their footing and went for her again.     

It was simple to dodge their clumsy grabs, and Iris did just that. She wanted to feel the excitement rush through her after a narrow escape, but there was simply no challenge. Even her old self before she had played with Kyro would have found it easy to escape them.     

The problem which arose then was how she was supposed to get caught. If she just tripped, wouldn't it look a bit too suspicious? But those men were just so bad... They were hulking and scary looking dudes, probably incredibly strong too, but their agility… could use some improvement.     

"Iris!" Aunt Maddie shouted out, and Iris looked her way. The woman seemed at a loss as to what to do, her face pale as she squeezed the pencil in her hand for dear life.     

A hand appeared before Iris at that moment. She screamed out in shock, but it was too late. The man grabbed her tail when she turned to dash away. When he raised her up, she screamed at him, but he only grinned, showing her that he was missing a front tooth. His breath also smelled not that good.     

"Got her," he said, wafting his bad breath all over her. Iris coughed and tried to claw at his face, but he was too far away.     

Being held by the tail wasn't a comfortable matter, but Iris gritted her teeth and ignored the pain. She looked at her aunt for the last time before being carried out of the room, then watched where she was being carried.     

They passed a number of corridors before going into a cellar underneath the building. There was an old, hard to see door there. The bulky man opened it, and light blinded Iris.     

She squinted at what was before them. White walls, beeping machines, walls lined with glass cupboards full of vials. Two men in white lab coats were standing by a table and discussing something animatedly. The younger one, in his late twenties, was motioning wildly with his hands, his voice carrying over but he was too far for his words to be legible.     

In a few moments though, Iris could hear them, and a shiver ran down her back. The two were actually speaking about her! The man of the mansion had actually expected her to come and try to look for her aunt. The lab coats weren't too certain about it, but they were hoping it would succeed; they really wanted to get their hands on the best sample ever produced.     

The title of 'Best Sample' worried Iris, but she didn't think much of it. It was her plan to get inside and end everything in one fell swoop, so she had to be brave. A few derogatory comments shouldn't have any power over her.     

When the man carrying her came into the underground lab, the two men exclaimed in joy. Their eyes began to shine, and Iris didn't have to try hard to look perturbed and worried.     

She was then thrown into a cage. It was so small she couldn't even turn around or stand up. The iron bars dug into her sides, but she let it slide, focusing instead on the people around her. The guard who had caught her left straight away while the two scientists shifted her cage round and round, marveling at her.     

They discussed what experiment they should do first and even started an argument over it. The younger man wanted to test what it would take for her to turn human while the older one wanted to test her endurance. It didn't seem too bad until they pointed at syringes.     

Sudden fear almost stopped Iris' heart. In such a small cage, she couldn't move an inch. If they wanted to insert a needle in her skin, they'd have no trouble.     

But even as terror threatened to overwhelm her, Iris stayed still. It was all part of the plan. If she had to live through one experiment to end everything, she could certainly do that. White walls and men in lab coats did not scare her.     

Memories of her stay in the hospital during her sickness rose to the front of her mind. The pain she'd felt at that time was worse than anything. It had been inhumane. If they put her through that again…     

'I can do this!' she told herself, shutting down the chatter of the scientists. 'I came here with a purpose. I can do this.' She lowered her head to feel the loose collar around her neck.     

With evidence, they could shut down the whole operation. No government would allow an unsupervised lab to exist in their country, especially if someone threatened to go public with it.     

Forever seemed to pass before there was footsteps on the stairs again. Iris didn't recognize them, but she knew who would come.     

As expected, Chris Johnson showed up in a white coat. He didn't smile, but there was mockery on his face. "Your lover is gone, little pet. Now it's going to be just the two of us."     

'So the other lab coats don't count?' Iris rolled her eyes at him, then raised her head a little. It was a simple move, but all of what she had done that far hedged on it. If the man saw anything wrong, all their planning would go to waste.     

"We've got a lot to catch up on, so let's start. Fred, John, come."     

The two men jumped to his side, and with a little flutter of her heart, Iris smiled. It didn't seem like anyone had noticed the mini camera on her collar.