"How long has she been this way?" Ahriman asks.
"Since they brought her in." Patheos replies.
"Do not worry too much. She will quiet down soon enough." I tell him.
The four of us are staring at the dark-haired girl that a few of our Zarit guards on duty here at the Domenici Corporation lab in Shanghai found for us. It is much easier in these modern times to take in humans off the streets without questions. To them the Zarit looks to be a form of law enforcement no matter the city or country. Runaway orphans are especially unnoticed by others as they have no one to care about their disappearance.
"She is rather untamed , isn't she?" Ahriman remarks as he glares at her in displeasure.
"Not as untamed as Kastiah." I comment switching my gaze to him.
Kastiah and Marissa are lying on "hospital beds" opposite each other with wires plugged into them and monitors observing their vitals. Our lab 'doctors' are pumping Marissa with doses of Kastiah's blood and watching along with us as her genetic chromosomes are altered. With each dosage of blood she screams and squirms in excruciating pain. She had to be tied down to the bed. Now that the change is becoming more apparent and increasing her strength we must change the restraints. I look to Patheos and he knows instantly what I want to say.
He takes a few strands of his own hair and simulates a few chains to tie her down with. As he enters the room and approaches Marissa, sensing his presence she looks in his direction and almost in an instant breaks free of the current bonds and tries to escape the room pass him. Simultaneously, Patheos walks behind her using his incredible speed grabs her with both arms wrapping the chains around her at an amazing pace.
"What should we do with her now?" Martheos asks.
"Well, I believe that we have learned everything that we needed to learn," Ahriman replies.
"Yes, I would agree. ….Kastiah's blood seems to act as an infection. Anyone that he changes will become exactly like him." I add.
"We should keep her and that other abomination under lock and key. We have yet to determine how to inhibit or reverse the effects of Kastiah's blood." Patheos says returning to the viewing room after chaining Marissa to the bed.
"That's what we must determine by keeping them here. Let's start by removing Kastiah from the room as he is no longer of any use here." I order.
Martheos follows up by contacting the Zarit standing outside of the 'lab' and having them escort Kastiah to another sealed room for the moment.
The following days we continue to observe Marissa alone and induce a number of tests to find any weaknesses, what her body desires the most, what sparks its cravings, what hinders it, what makes it thrive, etc. The Vampires that we hired to run the facility are analyzing the data collected twice and then twice more while communicating with Ahriman and Martheos.
"Her body seems to only survive on the blood of humans. She has amazing strength and her body is very resilient." One of the Vampires that examined her explains to them. "Whenever we attempt to pierce her skin it heals after 2 minutes. If the injury is too severe it will take longer to heal and a great amount of blood from a human or Vampire." he further explains.
"I see...so the innate craving of blood is indeed a weakness of theirs as well as being vulnerable to injuries. What about illnesses….diseases?" Ahriman probes him.
"While she does appear to be immune to illness and disease if she should bleed a human that is afflicted with an ailment such as drunkenness or drugs some of those effects will indeed afflict her for a short timeframe," he answers.
"Hmm…." Martheos begins, he rubs his chin with his left index finger and glances behind the doctor towards Marissa, who at this point has been weakened by the many blood tests and has yet to be fed to regain herself. "Looking at her now, she is very weak from the loss of blood."
"Should we feed her now?" the doctor asks curiously.
"Only a drop." Ahriman replies, "Let's see what effect only that one drop will have."
"Don't continue to torture the poor girl," I interrupt, "Give her at least a vial full of Vampire blood and see what it does."
"Vampire blood?" the doctor asks me cautiously, "...I fear that it will have an adverse effect as it did with Kastiah. She will become addicted and try to assault the vampires here if she were to get free again."
"Don't worry, Patheos is here," I say to him looking in Patheos' direction.
Following behind me, Martheos, Ahriman, and I leave the room and make our way to exit the building. As the car pulls up I wonder to myself, Can she still reproduce or is she similar to the Vampires and no longer has reproductive organs?
I will tell them to test for that. Just a few ultrasounds to see if they are nonexistent or not. I hear Ahriman invading my mind giving a solution to my question.
"I should have put up a wall," I mutter childishly, "So invasive," I add looking over at him and rolling my eyes.
"To be fair mother, you were a bit loud with your thoughts just now," Martheos adds, defending his father.
I breathe, "Ah, as old as I am and for as long as I have been with him I should know these little things about him. Yes, I was indeed loud." I respond as we arrive at the manor passing through the gates.