Chapter 21

They left the room and hurried down the corridor, no longer trying to hide or be quiet. They were trying every door they could. If they could not open a door, or there was no lock, they would move on, with the intention of returning to that room later. Ariel was getting more and more frustrated as they either came across empty rooms or locked doors. They moved further and further into the building and the shouting was just getting louder.

When they finally came to a room that was not only unlocked, but had people in it, there was a tense moment as they entered to see two people standing over an unconsious girl. She could not be any older than the three who stood in the doorway. Before anyone could make a sound, Jole surged forward and as he lept through the air, transformed and tackled the man closest to them. Jane and Ariel ruched into the room and closed the door as the other man screamed for help.

Jole struggled on the floor with the man he tackled and Jane shifted quickly. Her wolf, while just as big as the others she had seem, was almost entirly silveer, save for a single stripe of black that ran down her left side. She tackled the other hand, her paws slapping into his neck as they hit the ground. Ariel ran to the girl, checking her breathing. It was shallow and her skin was cold and damp. Another look and Ariel could see a puncture wound in her neck and her stomach dropped. She had a feeling she knew what it was, and as Jane and Jole shifted back, Ariel stepped away.

"What are you doing?" Jole stepped over to the girl on the table and Ariel shook her head. 

"Silver." She replied, Jane and Jole both looking to her.

"What?" Jane asked, looking from Ariel to the girl and back.

"Liquid silver." Ariel replied. "They must be injecting it into them and then cutting them open to see what it does to them. They was using us as experiments. They are using us to better kill out kind." Ariel felt like she was going to vomit, but also as if she wanted to burn this entire place to the ground. Silver was deadly to them, and these people were using it on them. On children, Their children. It would seem that her thoughts had been accurate. Once they saw them as wolves, they no longer saw them as people.

"We have to go." Ariel said, turning to leave.

"We can't leave her!" Jole began to protest, but Jane vut in before Ariel could.

"She's already dead." Jane replied to him. "Silver is deadly. We can recover from wolvesbane, but not from silver. It's a death sentance. She is still breathing, but not for long." Jane cast a sad glance at the girl before following Ariel.

Because of how often they all transformed, they had all gotten quite used to being nude around one another. They changed as often as they could, reveling in the freedom they got from having this side to them. So as they ran down the hall, opening every door, it did not matter that two of them were now completly unclothed.

The next door they made it through had been one they had been looking for. Inside was a hastily constructed prison filled with people. Jane wasted no time in getting to work on the lock.

"How did you guys get in here? One of the girls behind the bars asked.

"We came looking for those who were missing. We stayed for everyone taken." Ariel replied, making it purposfully cryptic. They had not known how many were in this place, and she didn't want to tell them they had only come for two people.

"Those who can change, do so. If you don't know what that is, watch the others. Go that way down the hall until you get to the stairs. Get out and run. Don't stop. Leave town and keep running. We have to get out of here." Ariel explained, Jole whisteling to them from the doorway. Company was comming.

"Wait, what's happening?" The girl asked. Ariel reached through the bars and gently took her hand.

"Freedom. We are all going to leave. We are running away." Her words affected each of them differently. Some had already changed when she told them too. Others were freaked out, but seeing the wolves seemed to spark something in them.

"The changed should clear the way for those who can't yet. But no matter, what. Just get out of town." Ariel told them Jane pulling the door open. They both stepped aside and the changed wolves surged forward, racing out the door and down the corridor in the firection Ariel had pointed. There were growls and howls, barks and yips. They were drawing the attention of the whole place. It was going to get chaotic.

As much as Ariel wanted to stay with them, to help guid them out and get them to safty, they had more places to check and more floors to clear. They had to get out as many as they could.