The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (12 page)

Slightly mollified, Sam shrugged as he conceded, “I guess that does sound cool.”

I reiterated with a wide smile, “It’s
very
cool Sam! I can’t wait to see what you can do in the water.” I was able to coax an answering grin out of Sam as he started day dreaming about aquatic adventures, judging from the distant expression that glazed his eyes.
Hmmph! And everyone says that I’M easy to read.

Darting my eyes between the sergeant and the Doc, I demanded, “What else?” I became greedy for information over the possibilities of our pending transformations. The sergeant hunched down slightly so that he could look me straight in the eye before confiding, “We will all have the same eyes.”

Huh?
I thought, as I studied his slate gray eyes. Mine were a dark brown in color. Jamie had light green eyes and the Docs eyes were a pale blue. Watching me closely for my reaction, Sergeant Ramsey went on to explain, “We decided that all the test subjects in the project would be injected with some type of feline DNA, because all the big cats are physically superb in the animal kingdom. They’re all graceful, elusive, and cunning. We’re training you to be soldiers, so it makes sense to want all of our soldiers to be strong and stealthy. It just won’t do to have clumsy soldiers runnin’ about. However with the feline DNA, for some reason we all inherit the “cat eyes” regardless of the other animal DNAs we may possess.”

Silently, we watched the sergeant, the Doc, and Jamie all sink to their knees in front of the coffee table as they each simultaneously reached into their pants pockets to withdraw what looked like contact lens cases. Wordlessly, they each proceeded to remove the contacts they seemed to be wearing before once again climbing to their feet.

“Ouch!” the sergeant muttered as he struggled with the last one before complaining, “I hate these damn things!” Once it was successfully out, he rose to join the other two and they all moved closer to us, blinking their eyes before holding still and letting us gaze our fill at their strange but beautiful eyes. There was no other way to explain it, they really did indeed have “cat eyes”. Even though they still possessed the same natural eye color, they no longer had “whites” to their eyeballs. Looking at Dr. Duffy’s blue eyes, I noticed that his entire eyeball was the same pale blue color, and that the pupils were golden and oval-shaped. Definitely
not
human-looking eyes. I blinked my own eyes rapidly a few times, just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Three pairs of cat eyes calmly stared back.

Suddenly, I began to wonder if this was how Alice felt when she tumbled down the rabbit hole and discovered she was in Wonderland. Staring at the trio in front of me with their strange eyes, everything started feeling foreign and surreal. I started getting a muzzy feeling in my head and my vision started to cloud. Belatedly, I wondered if I was on the verge of passing out from the shock of it all. Shaking my head and reminding myself that I was
not
the fainting-type, I snapped out of my reverie and sank back onto the couch. My knees had grown shaky and I needed to sit for fear of collapsing. Sam and Gideon reclaimed their places on either side of me, and all three of us leaned forward to brace our arms on our knees as we continued to study the strangely beautiful cat eye anomaly.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I didn’t know where to begin. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to ask the main questions that were in the forefront of my mind because it could definitely be construed as prying. But I was deathly curious about the trio in front of me and how they came to be involved in the project. It was very clear to me that they were test subjects. How did they get that way? What did this mean for us?

What happens now?

Even though I was very open-minded about the cat eye phenomenon, still the only two words that kept popping up in my head were
strange
and
beautiful
. I knew it probably came across as incredibly rude but for the life of me, I just could
not
tear my gaze away from their peculiar peepers. I did give myself credit though for being able to finally clamp my gaping mouth shut so that I no longer looked like a frozen guppy.
Oh boy. Those eyes are definitely going to take some getting used to.
I tried to envision myself looking at my reflection in the mirror with my own startling set of cat eyes. The thought was a little frightening, but at the same time exhilarating.

I was on the verge of cackling maniacally…my excitement was that great. However, I did not want to alarm my little minions. I fully wanted them to form their own opinions without my influence. I knew in my heart that for myself, I was totally on board with the program and it was full speed ahead for me. But of course, I completely respected Sam and Gideon’s wishes and opinions. If they weren’t interested in pursuing the program any further, then I had no choice but to respect their decisions, regardless of how painful it would be to leave them behind. The thought saddened me and I refused to contemplate the possibility of a future without Sam and Gideon in it.

Schooling my features so that my face was once again as blank as a piece of paper, I stood up from the couch and pivoted so that I was facing both Gideon and Sam. I noted that both of their jaws were slack from the shock of all that we had seen. Granted, we had been dealt a lot of blows tonight, but I needed to know how they felt about this latest development.

“So….what do you guys think about everything? What do you want to do?” I had spoken in hushed tones so they’d know how pivotal this moment was. I studied them intently, trying to gauge their feelings. Both of them looked up to me as the leader of our little group, but I really wanted them to be honest with me in how
they
truly felt about it all. As I had mentioned previously, they were both highly influenced by
my
thoughts and feelings. It would kill me if they both had regrets later on down the road. I did not want them to feel any type of peer pressure to advance in the program simply because it was what I wanted for us.

Gideon cleared his throat and darted a quick look at Sam before answering me. “Count me in. I want to continue with the project.”

Internally, I was doing my little victory dance in celebration of Gideon’s announcement, but I knew I couldn’t let him off the hook that easily. I needed to be sure.

“Why?” I demanded. At his blank look, I repeated, “
Why
do you want to participate in the project?”

I could tell that Gideon was taken aback by me questioning his decision, and I watched his face flush as he floundered for an answer that he thought would satisfy me. “I don’t know. I guess because it feels like we’re real-life characters in one of my comic books and we’re being given super powers to do good deeds and fight evil. I feel like we’re about to embark on an awesome adventure and I don’t want to be left out. I’m not freaked out by the physical changes. I actually think they’re pretty cool.”

I had to clench my teeth to prevent the grin from slipping out. That totally sounded like a Gideon-like response. I was content with his answer and turned my blank stare onto my beloved Sam to see what his answer would be. Cocking my eyebrows at him in query, I asked him the same question.

There was a brief moment of silence as he contemplated his answer. With a thoughtful expression on his face, he looked at me and replied, “I’m already used to people giving me funny looks because I was forced to put up with it all the time at my high school. I agree with Gideon that the animal traits are awesome. I’m not concerned about that. What I’m worried about is us being separated. I want to continue in the program because the three of us aren’t just a team, we’re a family. Unlike what my own family did to me, I won’t ever abandon you two. We stick together, forever and always.” I sniffled as Sam’s heartfelt declaration brought tears to my eyes. He was such a sweetheart…I loved him to bits. I allowed an ecstatic smile to escape as I held my arms out to Sam, indicating I wanted a hug. He popped up from the couch like a jack in the box to accommodate me. Peeking at Gideon over Sam’s arm, I crooked my finger at him and ordered, “Get over here. Group hug.” We all laughed together as we danced around and hugged in a happy circle.

Finally, I turned around to address the other three who had silently watched the exchange between me, Sam, and Gideon. Beaming a beatific smile in their direction, I yelled, “We’re in! All the way baby!”

Jamie was crying her happy tears again as she gazed fondly at us, and Dr. Duffy was busy patting her back as he handed her a fresh Kleenex. Relief was evident on both their faces as they smiled back at me.

Sergeant Ramsey was standing with his arms crossed, and although he too was smiling, he leveled me with a serious expression as he ordered, “Your turn Teagan. Don’t think you’re exempt from that same question. Why do
you
want to take part in this project?”

I grinned at him before scoffing, “That’s such an easy question to answer, Sarge. You’ve mentioned in the past that for all intents and purposes, all three of us died. According to you, we even had funerals. In the beginning, I was ashamed that I had given up on my old life and quit so easily. Normally, I am
not
a quitter but due to past circumstances at the time of my “death” I just didn’t care anymore. Over the past six months I’ve made peace with myself and my actions that landed me here.”

Referring to myself in the third person, I added in a deep sing-song voice, “Nevermore will Teagan Tyler dwell on the cruelties of her former life.”

I chuckled as Sam exclaimed, “Oh! Is that your last name?” I winked at him and nodded my head.

I turned my attention back to the sergeant and continued, “Of course it’s occurred to me that if you hadn’t intervened, undoubtedly all three of us would’ve died for sure. For whatever reason, out of the thousands of people who commit suicide on a daily basis, you had decided that us three were worth saving. That means something to me. Each of us woke up here with our lives being irrevocably changed forever. I can’t speak for the guys but I feel like I’ve been reborn. I’ve been given a second chance. We have an exciting new world of possibilities laid out at our feet if we have the courage to just reach out and take what you’re offering. Why the heck
wouldn’
t I want to grab on with both hands? Also, Gideon, Sam and I aren’t the same people we were a year ago, so it makes sense to look physically different than we were before. I actually welcome it. I’ll proudly exhibit my animal traits as proof of my rebirth.”

With admiration coating his voice, Dr. Duffy stated, “What a remarkable way of viewing the situation. You have such a unique way of looking at things, Teagan. You’re an exceptional young lady and we’re very lucky to have you in the group.”

We all watched as Sergeant Ramsey slung an arm around Dr. Duffy and Jamie, and the three of them stood there and beamed at us in satisfaction. Since I had been exposed to their unique cat eyes for the last twenty minutes now, I had to admit that they were definitely starting to grow on me. The longer I stared at them, the cooler they seemed to be and I couldn’t wait to get my next injections.

“What now?” Gideon wanted to know.

Before any of the others could intercede, I took control of the situation and calmly declared, “Now, we all sit back down and ask more questions that the military staff will be happy to answer.” I smiled sweetly at everyone before plopping back down on the couch. Pulling up my legs to make myself more comfortable on the couch, I waited, curious to see if the sergeant would indulge me by playing along. After all, I
did
have a bajillion more questions that needed answering.

Sam and Gideon dropped back down on either side of me and the rest copied our lead, making themselves comfortable. By this time, it was already almost 11pm and even though my eyelids felt heavy with exhaustion, I still wanted to continue our conversation. Darting looks between the three of us, Sergeant Ramsey inquired, “Okay. What do y’all wanna talk about next?”

Without hesitation I stated, “The cameras,” which was the exact same thing Gideon blurted out from beside me. I grinned not really surprised that his thoughts mirrored mine. Often times, we seemed to be in sync with each other in what we thought or felt. To clarify, I added, “We want to know who’s been watching us, how many people watch us on a daily basis, and is there ever a time when we’re
not
being watched?”

Sergeant Ramsey and Dr. Duffy exchanged amused glances with each other before he answered me. “To be quite blunt, everyone watches y’all. At the other barracks, we have TV monitors in the Mess Hall, Classrooms, Gym, etc… and at all times we’re playing the live feed from all the cameras here in the smaller barracks. We can all see what you’re up to, anytime we want.” I felt my mouth dropping open in shock at his casual matter of fact explanation.

Indignantly, I demanded, “We’re being watched by the other test subjects and all the other military staff
all the time?!
Isn’t that like, an invasion of privacy or something?” I couldn’t help being a little bit upset over the revelation. I figured it was just the other doctors and scientists, and possibly the other sergeants who were watching us.

“Relax,” Sergeant Ramsey continued. “Everybody who’s gone through the program has been shown on live camera feed also. The reason why we display the “up and comers” is to motivate the others to take the program more seriously. If they can see who’ll soon be joining their ranks, it might influence them to make better decisions and reassess their current views on the project. Quite honestly, these past six months is the very first time everybody has been obsessive about watching the live camera feeds in the smaller barracks. Nobody can take their eyes off of you three. It’s like Boot Camp Reality TV in here, and y’all are the celebrities of the show. For the very first time, we have the full attention of all the other potential test subjects and it’s all thanks to you.” The excitement in his voice was undeniable, yet it had the opposite effect on me. I was definitely troubled by the news.