Chapter Forty Four

Ben's Point Of View

"Nalla, I don't want to do this." I sighed, rubbing my eyes to get the tiredness away.

It was about a week or so after Christmas and Nalla had dragged Sammi and I out in the hallway for an 'important meeting.' I thought it was a joke at first, but Nalla had informed us that Elisa talked to him.

Elisa said she saw Daniel. That goddamn bastard.

Then Elisa said we need to tell Lyla about our past and how exactly we got our ears and tails.

"Don't be a pussy." Sammi rolled his eyes. "How bad could it be?"

"Yeah because 'Hey Lyla! Surprise! We actually are test subjects made for military warfare! Now we are all in danger and probably have to hide for the rest of our lives!'" I argued with Sammi.

Her lips formed a tight line.

"It obviously wont go like that." Nalla intervened, trying to ease the air. "She'll understand."

Sammi gave Nalla a look.

"I think she will. After having a mental breakdown. But everyone needs one every once in a while." I tried to add to Nalla's lighthearted comment.

"Ben, shut up." Sammi held up her hand in front of my face. "You no longer have the mental age to talk to me."

I huffed and looked over at Nalla for help.

She smiled lightly.

Sammi cleared his throat.

"You two inform the babies and then we'll talk with Lyla when she gets back from work." Sammi stared at both of us with a serious aura.

"Got it." Nalla opened the door.

~~~~~

"Jameson, you don't have to cry. We'll do most of the talking." I rubbed his shoulder as silent tears fell from his cheeks. "If you have anything to add, we will all help you out with it. Lyla will understand. She understood everything so far."

"But what if she kicks us out?" Jameson asked with wide eyes. "Then what will we do? Go back to the pet store? I don't wanna go back there. I hated it there. Everyone was so mean to me."

"We won't get kicked out and we won't ever go back to the pet store. I promise." But even I felt like my words were a lie.

What if Lyla abandons us? Who would find us first? Death? Or Daniel?

"We're a family, remember?" I rubbed his head. "If someone hurts you, I hurt them. Someone says something mean, I defend you. No one can separate us. I would never let that happen."

"Thanks Ben." Jameson sniffed and snuggled against me.

~~~~

"I'm home!" Lyla called out from the doorway, shutting the door behind her.

"Lyla!" Elisa exclaimed and ran to her from the bay window.

But before she could hug her, Jameson beat her to it.

"I wanna hug her too Bunny Boy!" Elisa whined when Jameson swatted Elisa away from himself and Lyla.

"We just have to wait." Nick stood beside Elisa, also wanting a hug.

After everyone got their hugs and Nalla started to ease everyone into the much dreaded conversation.

"How was your first day?" Nalla hung up Lyla's coat and sat next to everyone on the couch.

"It was a little overwhelming and tiring, but everyone there was really nice to me. They helped me out when they could since they know that my arm isn't 100 percent healed yet." Lyla sighed as she stretched her arms above her head.

Two days ago, Elisa went to Lyla's work with her. That's where she discovered that he was abusing her and all of the other employees. Elisa fought her boss and made someone else call the cops. He was arrested for abuse and illegal drugs, which no one had known until he was investigated personally by Dylan. Dylan got a little happy with his fists when he found out about Lyla's abuser.

A nearby restaurant heard about the fired employees and offered to interview any and all of them if they wanted. Most of them moved away from the area and others vowed to never work at a restaurant again. But Lyla took the interview and was immediately hired.

Nalla, Sammi, and I also got jobs. Us three and Lyla had a talk about our financial status. Sammi offered that we should get jobs and let the other four stay home-they weren't ready to stay out in the world.

Nalla is a chef in training at a really fancy restaurant. Sammi is working at a music store with a huge variety of instruments and CDs. They both love their job. I'm working at a grocery store. I mostly restock the shelves. It gets a little boring at times, but when I know it's for Lyla and the boys, I don't mind the loneliness that comes with the job.

Ever since we started our jobs a few days ago, Lyla seems more confident for our future. That cheers all of us up.

"Well I'm glad everyone was so nice to you." I rested my head on Lyla's shoulder. She held my hand and leaned her head on top of mine.

"Me too. I was really scared, but I'm not anymore." Lyla replied, rubbing my hand.

"If you ever get scared, I'll go with you and make sure no one dares to hurt you." Elisa added, twisting her tail lightly in her lap.

"Thanks guys." Lyla chuckled.

"Lyla," Sammi began. "Have you ever wondered about our past?"

We all were stiff as we watched Lyla, waiting for her answer.

"Yeah, I have." Lyla admitted. "But, if figured you guys would tell me about it if you wanted to."

"Now, you must know about our future for you to stay safe." Peter spoke the words we all despised.

Nick swallowed hard and looked away, not daring to look at Lyla.

Nalla rubbed Jameson's back when his lip trembled after he looked at Lyla's confused expression.

I took a deep breath and raised my head slowly from Lyla's shoulder.

"Stay safe?" Lyla frowned, looking over at Peter. "What do you mean?"

Peter opened his mouth to explain, but his eyebrows wavered. "I cant." Peter slouched over, putting this head in his hands. "Nalla.....?"

Lyla looked over at JNallain. I could tell she was getting worried.

"JiNallan?" Lyla's voice shook. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Lyla, we weren't born as hybrids." Nalla spoke after a long silence and a silent argument between hherim and Sammi. "We were created."

"Created?" Lyla questioned. "How?"

Nalla exchanged worried looks with me. I tried to give her confidence through my soft smile.

But Nalla couldn't find the words to continue.

I'll do it. They've done everything for me. Now I have to do the battle for them.

"We were all in a bad spot with money with our families." I spoke up and everyone immediately looked towards me with surprised faces, not expecting me to find the courage to talk. "There was this add asking for volunteers to donate their blood for a test across the country. They would take DNA samples and some simple tests over our body. They offered $5000 dollars for each session we went to." I paused, studying everyone's faces.

"We actually didn't know each other. Only Elisa and Nick knew each other because they went to school together. Luckily, it was only us seven that showed up for the testing. We met each other and talked and got to know each other." I smiled, remembering when we met each other. "The first session went really well. We received our money and helped our families."

Jameson started to cry, knowing the next part of the story.

"The next session wasn't good. It was horrible. We were strapped to these tables, unable to move. Our tables were all in the same room, in a straight line. This giant TV was above us. We were all hooked up to the devices and some liquid was being pumped into our system. Then the TV showed seven different murders." I stopped talking, swallowing back my tears.

"Those seven murders were our families. The organization we went to couldn't have anyone know about our little job we got for money. Our families were the only ones who knew about us." I wiped away my tears. "We were all just teenagers. Except, Jameson was 12. Elisa and Nick were 14."

We were all crying now, mourning our families, Lyla crying for us.

"They wanted to turn us into 100 percent animals, but something backfired and we were only part animal." I continued, forcing myself to go on. "They wanted us to be weapons for war. Human smart animals? That would be powerful if there was a wolf or bear fighting humans and listening to important conversations. We were only the test subjects of course. They kept us to do tests on us and see what went wrong and how they could improve."

I looked over at Elisa who had a single tear tracing her face, fighting to stay strong. "Elisa was the most successful test. She had the most cat-like attributes, so she was the one they tested and tortured the most." Elisa clenched her jaw and stared at the wall.

Nick held her clenched hand. Elisa didn't flinch.

"Elisa was the one who broke us out. She went crazy during one of his tests and the power went out, leaving all of our locks to our rooms powered off. She gathered us and we were free." I sighed. "Now, they found us. The company, they want us back. And since you know us, they will kill you if they find you."

I stopped talking. That was the story. No, that was the nightmare.

Lyla opened her mouth to speak, but the lights powered off.

Jameson whimpered and Lyla yelped slightly.

Then the windows broke and I could only see smoke.