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Description
“Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed the new tattoos on your arms. This is how the government decided how to separate humans, like me, and animal children such as you. The animal you’re mixed with is the animal that was tattooed onto your arm, which then in turn makes it that much easier for everyone to tell who’s who.” Dr. Conald said, nodding, as Josh and I both studied the tattoos we had on our shoulders as he spoke.

“So that’s what you meant by label,” I mumbled, tracing the outline of the coal black bat’s wings.

“Correct,” Dr. Conald said, grinning. “Now, it’s true that you two never really got along?”

My hand dropped from my shoulder, as did Josh’s. Josh gave Dr. Conald a suspicious look as he said accusingly, “Yeah…but what does that have to do with anything? And how did you know that?”

The doctor grinned, happy to be able to explain anything. “Well, that was part of the experiment, so we had to keep an eye on you two. But that part of the experiment is over now, so I can explain it to you.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, wondering what he was talking about. I guess I should have guessed right away that one of the doctors who experimented on unborn children was partly insane. It was basically a given.

Dr. Conald held his hand up to signal, ‘wait a second’, and then continued with his explanation. “Any kind of vampire bat feeds on small mammals, such as dogs and cats,” He eyed Josh for a second, and then continued with his speech. “Natural instinct for every mammal, even humans, is to keep away from such predators. That’s why Josh here never liked you.” He nodded, as if we were supposed to be satisfied with that.

I shifted my gaze to Josh and saw he was glaring at me. At least he had a reason to do that now.

“So you mean she could eat us at any moment or something?” Josh glared, ready to flee the room if I so much as moved.

“No, not exactly; she is still part human, meaning that she eats human food. For now,” Dr. Conald mumbled the last part so we couldn’t understand it.

“Then why aren’t…humans scared of me?” I asked, barely being able to choke the word ‘humans’ out. It felt so wrong.

“Ah, the question for the ages. Why aren’t humans scared of you? It’s mainly because most of us disregard our instinct completely and simply do what we want to, unlike Josh, where dogs rely heavily on their instincts. We seem more attracted to dangerous things than repelled by them.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He sighed and looked thoughtful for a minute. “I guess the best way to explain it is with an example. Such as, why do we like to go skydiving? Well, it’s because of the thrill, the rush, and the chance that we may not live. Strange how the human mind works, right?” He grinned, his blue eyes basically glowing.

I thought that over, as it actually seemed to make sense. Nodding to show that I understood, he continued with another explanation. Josh simply glowered at me from across the room the entire time Dr. Conald explained this.

“Now, this part might actually be a little upsetting to you two,” He told us as he grimaced.

“What do you mean, upsetting?” Josh continued, “Haven’t we been upset enough!? After all, you did just tell us that we’re basically half breeds.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but this has to be said today,” Dr. Conald replied

I bit my lip, bracing myself for bad news.

“Well, as we did start the experiment seventeen and a half years ago, some of our subjects have already aged to seventeen, but only a few are seventeen right now as at the beginning of the experiment we didn’t test on so many infants,” At this point he paused for a breath, “It seems that at that age your animal side, say, kicks in a little more and your physical appearance changes a bit, as does your actions. Sometimes it changes a lot; some times it changes a little, as it depends on if you’re only a small part of bat or dog, or a large part.” Dr. Conald waited for our reactions.

“What exactly do you mean, by our actions? And appearance? We have to act and look like animals, too?” I asked, grimacing at the thought of it.

“Well, somewhat. Mostly if affects your appearance, but some things in your personality will change. Like for example, Josh, if you feel threatened, then you’ll probably growl and such.”

“Great,” Josh said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“What about me?” I asked tentively.

The doctor hesitated for a moment, and then said, “You’ll probably need blood about once a week.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “And how exactly am I supposed to get blood once a week?”

Dr. Conald and Josh just looked at me for a minute.

“Well, that’s about all I can think of to tell you right now.” The doctor said, blatantly ignoring my question.

“Wait; one last question; can I go?” Josh asked.

The doctor shrugged. “Sure. You can go home if you want, as you’re not considered a danger or anything, and the same thing for you, Angel.”

Josh shot Angel a suspicious glance and mumbled, “Not dangerous, ha. Tell that to everyone at school,” then exited the room as quickly as possible to get away from me. I sighed; it was probably going to be like this for me wherever I went.

After Josh was a long ways away and I was about to leave, Dr. Conald hesitantly tapped me on the shoulder. “Yeah?” I answered, turning my head to look at him.

He slipped a card into the palm of my hand. “If you ever need a place to stay, just give me a call. We have a special station set up for the animal children that are or are about to turn seventeen and don’t exactly…erh…fit in, you know? Don’t tell anyone we spoke about this, though, as it’s a top secret station. Oh, and happy early birthday.” And then he was gone.

I pocketed the card inconspicuously, and then walked out of the room, wondering what my life was going to be like from then on.

Description
“Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed the new tattoos on your arms. This is how the government decided how to separate humans, like me, and animal children such as you. The animal you’re mixed with is the animal that was tattooed onto your arm, which then in turn makes it that much easier for everyone to tell who’s who.” Dr. Conald said, nodding, as Josh and I both studied the tattoos we had on our shoulders as he spoke.

“So that’s what you meant by label,” I mumbled, tracing the outline of the coal black bat’s wings.

“Correct,” Dr. Conald said, grinning. “Now, it’s true that you two never really got along?”

My hand dropped from my shoulder, as did Josh’s. Josh gave Dr. Conald a suspicious look as he said accusingly, “Yeah…but what does that have to do with anything? And how did you know that?”

The doctor grinned, happy to be able to explain anything. “Well, that was part of the experiment, so we had to keep an eye on you two. But that part of the experiment is over now, so I can explain it to you.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, wondering what he was talking about. I guess I should have guessed right away that one of the doctors who experimented on unborn children was partly insane. It was basically a given.

Dr. Conald held his hand up to signal, ‘wait a second’, and then continued with his explanation. “Any kind of vampire bat feeds on small mammals, such as dogs and cats,” He eyed Josh for a second, and then continued with his speech. “Natural instinct for every mammal, even humans, is to keep away from such predators. That’s why Josh here never liked you.” He nodded, as if we were supposed to be satisfied with that.

I shifted my gaze to Josh and saw he was glaring at me. At least he had a reason to do that now.

“So you mean she could eat us at any moment or something?” Josh glared, ready to flee the room if I so much as moved.

“No, not exactly; she is still part human, meaning that she eats human food. For now,” Dr. Conald mumbled the last part so we couldn’t understand it.

“Then why aren’t…humans scared of me?” I asked, barely being able to choke the word ‘humans’ out. It felt so wrong.

“Ah, the question for the ages. Why aren’t humans scared of you? It’s mainly because most of us disregard our instinct completely and simply do what we want to, unlike Josh, where dogs rely heavily on their instincts. We seem more attracted to dangerous things than repelled by them.”

“What do you mean by that?”

He sighed and looked thoughtful for a minute. “I guess the best way to explain it is with an example. Such as, why do we like to go skydiving? Well, it’s because of the thrill, the rush, and the chance that we may not live. Strange how the human mind works, right?” He grinned, his blue eyes basically glowing.

I thought that over, as it actually seemed to make sense. Nodding to show that I understood, he continued with another explanation. Josh simply glowered at me from across the room the entire time Dr. Conald explained this.

“Now, this part might actually be a little upsetting to you two,” He told us as he grimaced.

“What do you mean, upsetting?” Josh continued, “Haven’t we been upset enough!? After all, you did just tell us that we’re basically half breeds.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but this has to be said today,” Dr. Conald replied

I bit my lip, bracing myself for bad news.

“Well, as we did start the experiment seventeen and a half years ago, some of our subjects have already aged to seventeen, but only a few are seventeen right now as at the beginning of the experiment we didn’t test on so many infants,” At this point he paused for a breath, “It seems that at that age your animal side, say, kicks in a little more and your physical appearance changes a bit, as does your actions. Sometimes it changes a lot; some times it changes a little, as it depends on if you’re only a small part of bat or dog, or a large part.” Dr. Conald waited for our reactions.

“What exactly do you mean, by our actions? And appearance? We have to act and look like animals, too?” I asked, grimacing at the thought of it.

“Well, somewhat. Mostly if affects your appearance, but some things in your personality will change. Like for example, Josh, if you feel threatened, then you’ll probably growl and such.”

“Great,” Josh said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“What about me?” I asked tentively.

The doctor hesitated for a moment, and then said, “You’ll probably need blood about once a week.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “And how exactly am I supposed to get blood once a week?”

Dr. Conald and Josh just looked at me for a minute.

“Well, that’s about all I can think of to tell you right now.” The doctor said, blatantly ignoring my question.

“Wait; one last question; can I go?” Josh asked.

The doctor shrugged. “Sure. You can go home if you want, as you’re not considered a danger or anything, and the same thing for you, Angel.”

Josh shot Angel a suspicious glance and mumbled, “Not dangerous, ha. Tell that to everyone at school,” then exited the room as quickly as possible to get away from me. I sighed; it was probably going to be like this for me wherever I went.

After Josh was a long ways away and I was about to leave, Dr. Conald hesitantly tapped me on the shoulder. “Yeah?” I answered, turning my head to look at him.

He slipped a card into the palm of my hand. “If you ever need a place to stay, just give me a call. We have a special station set up for the animal children that are or are about to turn seventeen and don’t exactly…erh…fit in, you know? Don’t tell anyone we spoke about this, though, as it’s a top secret station. Oh, and happy early birthday.” And then he was gone.

I pocketed the card inconspicuously, and then walked out of the room, wondering what my life was going to be like from then on.