Crimson (The Silver Series Book 3)

CRIMSON

The Silver Series: Book 3

By Cheree L. Alsop

Copyright © 2012 by Cheree L.
Alsop
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be
reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the author except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review
. This ebook is
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respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s
imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or locales
is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition

Cover Design by Andy Hair

www.ChereeAlsop.com

To my husband, Michael Alsop.

Thank you for always believing that

Dreams truly do come true, for

Smoothing out the rough edges, and

Making these stories come to life.

To my family for their support;

To my children for making

Every day an adventure.

I love you!

Chapter 1

I was alive. The truth hit me with a cold
rush of fear and self-loathing. Pain flared through every cell of
my body and the world spun even with my eyes closed, but I didn’t
care. I remembered dying. I should have died, and they should still
be alive.

“
He’s waking up. Summon Dr.
Tannin,” a crisp female voice said.

Footsteps walked away on a tile floor, only
it didn’t sound like any footsteps I had ever heard before. The
sound was full and complete. I heard every millimeter of the
person’s shoes touch the tile and each contact gave its own
individual sound; together it made a complete symphony that echoed
off resonant walls and came back to my ears. I could tell by the
sound alone how far away the person was and the distance traveled
between each step.

I opened my eyes in shock. Blinding neon
lights glared down at me from a low ceiling, washing everything in
colors I recognized, but that looked different, fuller somehow,
highlighted with shades of gray and black I had never noticed
before.

Instruments beeped and lights suspended on
metal poles clicked on, blinding me. The world spun and I turned my
head to see a metal bar along the side of my bed and a pair of
shiny handcuffs attached to them. I followed the handcuff chain and
realized it was fastened around my wrist. My heart started to
race.

More of the sharp, full footsteps entered
the room. “Give him the sedative, quick,” a gruff voice
ordered.

Cold fluid entered an I.V. at my wrist and
spread with a knife-edged pain through my veins. I tried to yell,
but the fluid stole my ability to open my mouth or to do anything
more than breathe. I closed my eyes; tears leaked free and dripped
down my cheeks.

“
Did it work?” the gruff
voice asked.

“
I’m not sure, Doctor. He
just barely awoke.” The woman’s voice lowered. “He’s the only one
to wake up. What does that mean?”

“
We don’t know yet,” the
male voice replied.

A hand touched my face and I couldn’t turn
away. Fingers pried open my eyes, then the doctor gasped and
stepped back.

“
What is it?” the woman
asked.

“
Look at his
irises.”

Smaller fingers opened my eyelids; the
woman's eyes widened before she let go. “They’re red. What would
make that happen?”

“
There's no telling what
effects the fusion will have.” Dr. Tannin picked up a sheet of
paper and I could smell the day-old ink and the fibers that made up
the page. Concentrating, I could also smell the sap and green life
of the trees the fibers had come from. I forced myself to imagine
them, trees reaching for the blue sky, leaves drifting to the rich
loam, a breeze rushing past, tangling my black hair that was longer
than my mother liked. I tried to imagine myself there, to leave
behind the overwhelming pain and fear of the unknown things that
were being done to me.

I came back when Dr. Tannin said, “Begin the
test.”

A dial was turned and a jolt of electricity
ran through my body from electrodes on my chest, thighs, biceps,
and head. I tried to scream, but my jaw was locked from whatever
liquid they had put in my I.V. My back arched and my eyes flew
open. Two women in white watched me dispassionately as the doctor
made notes on his sheet of paper that was now attached to a
clipboard. He studied a monitor next to the bed that showed a
series of jumping lines while he toyed with a gold pen against his
bottom lip.

“
Interesting,” he said
without looking at me. “Do it again.”

Another jolt ran through my body. My tongue
caught between my teeth this time and when my jaw locked, I tasted
blood.

“
His mouth is bleeding,
Doctor,” one of the women said in a monotone voice.

“
He’ll heal,” the doctor
replied without looking. “Up the voltage and try it
again.”

By the time they were finished, I barely
felt the electricity. My nerves were frayed and raw; even the touch
of the sheet underneath me hurt.

Dr. Tannin barely glanced in my direction.
“We’ll try it without the sedative tomorrow in the control room.
Perhaps we’ll get faster results.”

“
Did it work, then,
Doctor?” one of the women asked as they walked with him to the
door. “Is he a werewolf?”

“
It seems like it,” Dr.
Tannin replied. “Tomorrow, we’ll know for sure.”

Their voices faded away down the hall. I
disregarded their words to the madness that jumbled my thoughts
from the electricity, and focused instead on my surroundings.

My eyes were the only things I could move
with the paralyzing hold of whatever they had given me. White
walls, a white ceiling, and stainless steel laboratory equipment
made up the contents of the room. It was as big as my parents’
home, but I seemed to be the only inhabitant. The smell of
sterilization liquid made my nose burn while another scent, deep
and iron-tinged, filled me with dread. It took me a moment to place
it as the smell of blood. The scent was as sharp and clear as the
sound of the footsteps earlier.

After about an hour of laying motionless
waiting for something to happen, I felt the hold of the substance
in my veins lessen. I flexed my arm against the handcuffs, but they
didn’t budge. Something held my legs down also. Between the
handcuffs and the I.V., I was helpless, a victim to their every
whim.

The thought sent a surge of fear up my
spine; with it ran a rush of adrenaline, but it was much stronger
and filled my limbs with a new strength I had never before
possessed. The surge diluted whatever was in my veins, and I was
able to regain control of my arms and legs. I flexed again and felt
the chain on the handcuff of my right wrist give slightly. I put
all my effort into that one cuff and pulled. The chain links
strained, then snapped. I pulled on my left wrist and it gave
easier this time. I yanked out the I.V., then broke the handcuffs
on my ankles.

I rose slowly and my legs shook, but held. I
stood unsteadily beside the bed and studied the door. The lights in
the room had been turned off and only an emergency light flickered
near the far end, but to my eyes there were shades of gray and
white instead of black, making it almost as clear as day. A little
red light blinked at the edge of my vision and I turned to see a
camera in the corner of the room. I hurried to the door and was
relieved to find it unlocked. I made my way down the hall away from
the doctor's scent and was about to turn up another hallway when an
alarm sounded above my head; I cringed as the shrieking siren cut
through my eardrums like knives.

A red light spun in the alarm, confusing my
vision with patterns of red, black, white, and gray. I closed my
eyes and fumbled along the hall, desperate to escape the alarm. I
found a door handle, but it was locked. Adrenaline surged through
my body and I forced the handle down, then pushed the door open and
stepped inside, shutting it firmly behind me.

“
Who’s there?” a voice
asked.

I spun in a crouch with my back to the door
and searched with my hands for anything I could use as a weapon
while my eyes fought off the lingering effects from the alarm
light.

“
I said, who’s there?” the
voice asked, stronger this time. Footsteps neared and I backed into
the corner. “Stay back,” I warned.

She stopped and my brain categorized her
scent without effort. A faint wisp of vanilla tangled with the
overwhelming antiseptic scent of the room. A hint of cinnamon was
almost lost in a wild, woody smell that seemed almost animal.

My eyes adjusted and I fought back a faint
smile at the way she regarded me, one hand on her hip and the other
holding what appeared to be an emesis basin in a threatening
manner.

“
Are you going to kill me
with that?” I asked dryly. “Because I can imagine better ways to
die, or at least more sanitary ones.”

A smile touched her lips, then it vanished
and she glared at me again. “What are you doing in my room?” She
tipped her head toward the door. “Are you the reason for the
alarm?”

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes
strangely distant, then motioned toward the other side of the room.
“You can hide in the closet. They shouldn’t check in here, unless
you broke the door.”

I rose and glanced at the handle that
dangled uselessly in its socket. “I kind-of did,” I said with an
apologetic shrug.

She nodded to herself as if coming to a
decision. “Fine, then we have to run.”

“
We?” I protested. “What do
you mean, we?”

“
You’re getting out of here
and you’re taking me with you,” she stated. She grabbed a few items
from the dresser by her bed, detached an I.V. I hadn’t noticed from
her wrist, and pulled her long dark hair back with a rubber
band.

“
What makes you think I’ll
take you?” I asked, some of my old defiance coming back.

“
Because you’re my only
hope of escape.” She said it bluntly, but there was an edge of
desperation to her voice that caught in my chest.

I sighed. “Fine.” A rush of footsteps
sounded down the hall and I ducked behind the door; my heart raced
as they pounded past and continued up the hallway.

“
Go now,” the girl
whispered, suddenly close to my ear. “Follow the way they went.”
She grabbed my arm when I opened the door and we ran up the hall
after them.

I followed the girl’s directions down one
hallway, a left, another left, then into a small room with a
computer.

“
This isn’t the exit,” I
hissed in a loud whisper.

“
We’ve got to find Gabe
first,” she said, motioning toward the computer. “Quick, search for
Gabe Locklow.”

I was about to ask her why she couldn’t do
it, then held my tongue and typed in the name. The file pulled up
with red letters across the top. “It says ‘deceased’,” I told
her.

Her face paled and she put a hand to her
mouth. “No. Oh, no,” she whispered.

“
Who was he?”

“
My fiancé,” she said in a
voice so quiet I shouldn’t have been able to hear it.

I tried to think of something comforting to
say, not one of my strong points, but another group of men rushed
down the hall. “We’ve got to go,” I said as gently as I could
considering the urgent situation.

She shook her head and leaned back against
the desk, her eyes distant. “No, not Gabe. Please not Gabe.”

I touched her arm. “They’re going to find us
if we stay here any longer.”

“
It doesn’t matter
anymore,” she said, her voice hollow. “Nothing matters.” Tears
filled up her eyes and she turned away.

Firm resolution filled my chest. “It does
matter. This is a horrible place and I’m not going to let you stay
here.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her back with me to the door.
She crouched beside me while another group of men ran by, then I
opened the door and pulled her out with me. “Which way?” I
whispered.

She didn’t seem to hear me the first time,
but when I repeated it she gestured vaguely down the hall. I pulled
her after me and we ran in a half-crouch past several more doors. I
turned left at the hallway and we ran to the end of the corridor.
The doors were all locked and the small window showing a brief
glimpse of a midnight sky had bars across it that didn't budge when
I tried to break them.