One year after being abducted, Cinder's life was getting predictable, but that would change today; finishing his morning routine, Cinder followed Nick out.
These months passed in a blink of an eye; Cinder hadn't faced a real challenge in a long time. His body was no longer improving like before; he thought breaking out wasn't so far off into the future as he initially thought, after being led down an unfamiliar corridor. Cinder's mind started to wander about his past battles and how to improve; he no longer cared about gathering information since that night. Cinder's personality took a sharp turn since that day; for one, he no longer cared about his actions or the consequences. He would do anything to gain even a little bit of power; unlike before, every enemy he faced would not have an intact corpse; he even ate a security guard's head once. Cinder kept testing their bottom line this past year to see what he could get away with and surprisingly a lot, he was their " perfect Adam" so he had a lot of leeway; as long as Leylin kept getting support, Cinder wouldn't cross that line, for now.
Usually, Cinder would ask Nick where they were going, but he gave such questions no more thought anymore, would these questions help him gain more power? No, so why ask at all.
Finally reaching their destination, Cinder was left in a new spacious room but with no opponent.
"Where's my food?" Cinder said in annoyance.
"Today is a special day; the subject you're going to meet will be almost as unique as you, so please don't harm her; this is just a meet and greet session today."
"Meet and greet? Why are you wasting my time?"
"Trust me; this won't be a waste of time, now if you would please step in."
"Tch."
After five minutes of waiting in this spacious white room, the door finally opened to a girl who looked like she could be Cinder's long-lost sister. Her hair was snow-white with a beautiful set of red eyes with skin as pale as Cinder's. This girl was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl Cinder had ever seen in his life. You'd think he'd blush, but no, Cinder just eyed her with his cold, lifeless red eyes wondering if she was edible, seeing Cinder's look.
"No! You're not allowed! Understand."
Cinder just chuckled with amusement in his eyes, thinking to himself, 'What can you do human?'
(Intercom) "Play nice, Adam, and I'll give you a nice prize at the end of this."
"Fine." Cinder said while shrugging his shoulders.
Knowing there was no more fun to be had, Cinder quickly lost interest in the girl and closed his eyes out of boredom. Of course, this didn't mean Cinder was defenseless; with all the battle experience and enhancements, Cinder accumulated even if his eyes were closed, he could kill everyone in this room before they could even shout for help.
Seeing that Cinder no longer posed a threat to their new subject's life, Nick quickly left the room. Now with just the two of them, you'd think they'd start up a conversation, but no Cinder had no interest in this new subject, and the girl seemed to be the quiet type. No longer able to stand this dead silence, the girl spoke.
(New Subject) "Who are you?"
***
30 Minutes prior, in a room with the same design as Cinder's, was a 15-year-old girl standing across from a mirror; astonishment was plastered on her delicate face; she still couldn't comprehend what was happening to her. One day she was going to school, and the next, she was brought here forcibly against her will, going through painful and horrible experiments. After a week of staying in this terrible place, she finally met another subject, only to find out they weren't human, defending herself; she somehow managed to survive the encounter but couldn't remember how. That was a month ago; today was different, at least that's what the strange doctor said before dragging her here.
Now facing an unknown boy whose looks appeared to be god sent, she couldn't understand this feeling deep within herself telling her to approach him; after fighting this feeling back and forth, she couldn't stand it anymore and decided to ask his name.
"Who are you?"
Cinder opened his lifeless eyes that should scare any regular girl around her age, but for some reason, her feeling only intensified, feeling like she had reunited with a long-lost friend.
"Please tell me, who are you?"
***
Confusion was written across Cinder's face; why was this girl pleading him for his name, he thought, deciding to indulge her request, he spoke.
"Cinder."
The girl's eyes seemed to sparkle, which only furthered confused Cinder; after she repeated his name over and over again, making sure not to forget it, she spoke.
"My name is Alina; pleased to make your acquaintance."
Unlike Alina, Cinder felt no connection to her; ever since that night, all of Cinder's regular emotions vanished like the wind, so he couldn't understand why this girl was being cordial with him.
"Nice to meet you, Alina."
Cinder said before closing his eyes once more to this bizarre situation; Alina took this as an invitation to get closer to Cinder. Walking over to him, Alina started to walk around Cinder, etching every nook and cranny on Cinder in her mind; why she was doing this? Even Alina couldn't understand, but the closer she was to Cinder, the stronger this strange feeling got. Getting annoyed with her antics, Cinder opened his eyes, staring straight into Alina's, trying to understand what was wrong with her.
"What are you doing?" Cinder asked coldly.
"If I'm being honest, I don't know, but for some reason, I feel a strong connection to you. Don't you feel the same?"
"No."
Confused, Alina asked something she had never asked a boy in her entire life.
"Can I hold your hand?"
"Why?"
The more Cinder interacted with this girl, the more strange she seemed.
"Something's telling me to, maybe if I hold your hand, we'll understand why we're meeting today."
She has a point; there had to be a purpose for this meeting to occur, those doctors wanted something from them, and maybe this was it. Reluctantly Cinder grasped Alina's outstretched hand; feeling nothing at first, Cinder was about to retract his hand until.
*****
Bonus Chapters
25 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
50 power stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
100 power stones = 4 Bonus Chapters
Hope you enjoyed it.
From your author RogueErebus.