Aida POV

My head feels fuzzy. I feel like I've been out in the sun all day and have had heat stroke. Or maybe it feels like someone hit me with something large over the head.

I try to open my eyes, but they feel heavy and sluggish. Okay, I'll try again. Nothing. This is not great. I can feel my fingers and toes moving, at least. I can also feel the steady rate of my chest rising and falling. Okay. Not catatonic. Again.

I try a third time and finally feel my heavy eyelids blinking lightly and opening ever so slowly.

I open my eyes all the way and adjust to the light above my head. I'm lying on a bed. A hospital bed. I don't recognise the room, though. I don't think I've been in this particular room before.

I try to sit up but there is something warm and heavy running along my left arm, stopping me from moving very far. I look down for the anchor source and see a series of lines going from an insert into a vein in my arm and out into three different bags.

A tell-tale red substance is trickling from my arm into the bags. That's odd. I haven't ever been expected to give blood to the drive due to the amount and type of medication I take daily.

My head is swimming, and I feel as though I may be sick. I lay back down on the pillow and the spinning subsides a little.

What's going on? And where are the nurses?

My questions are answered by a voice close by. "There are no nurses. Just that arsehole, Dr. Jasper."

That's odd. Did I ask that out loud? No one spoke out loud, though. Did they?

Have I developed voices in my head now? Great. Another diagnosis.

Again, the girl answers, "No. It's me. What's wrong with you? Don't you know the difference between a link and a regular conversation in your head?"

Link. Argent said something about link. What did he say again? That his pack use it as a communication in their minds.

This time the voice speaks out loud. The sound makes me jump, pulling at the cannula in my arm and making it sting a little.

"You know my brother?"

I turn my head towards the sound of the voice, and I see a dark-haired girl laying two beds over. She is small but has a strong build. Her long hair is matted and damp around her face. She too has a series of lines coming in and out of her arm.

"Hi, yes it's me over here? Can you see me? I'm Amalie. Argent is my brother. Have you never linked before or something?"

I stare at her. Her voice is identical to the one that was just in my head. She keeps looking at me, tilting her head. A frown pulls her brows down. She seems confused. Or impatient.

"I'm Aidalyn," I say and try to steady myself to continue. "Yes, I know your brother. Well, I met him today. And no, to the linking. I literally just heard about that from your brother today. Was I linking? Just now? Wow. Maybe I am a wolf after all. Shit.

Was that today? I think that it all happened today. Wait, what day is it? Do you know where we are?"

She stares at me. She starts to shake her head, still frowning. "That was a lot to take in just now. You were rambling. Yes, you were linking. I don't have time to ask about why you have never linked before; we have too much going on. We're in the lab. The dungeon of doom, as I call it. It's where Jasper conducts all his evil tests on me and the others like fucking rats."

What? I linked? And what? Tests? What on earth is she on about? "What do you mean tests?" I ask her. I try to face her better, but it's hard with my position on the bed. That sickly feeling won't let up either.

She waves the hand that is attached to the IV bags. "What do you call this, love? He is doing something to our blood. I don't know what. He never says anything other than that he's sorry. Sorry my ass." She slams her legs up and down on the bed, thrashing around. One of the stands holding a bag falls to the ground and makes a loud clanging sound. She immediately stops and looks terrified. "Quick, pretend to be out cold again or he will sedate us both. Please!"

She looks desperate from the scarce view I have of her. I don't have the slightest clue what's happening, but I hear footsteps coming from down the hall. I don't know why, but I trust her.

I do as she says and close my eyes. I try to remain still as the footsteps get louder and louder until they're right next to my bed.

A cold, rough hand brushes my cheek, and I try hard not to flinch. The hand disappears, and I hear the owner move a few steps away, touching the IV bags and the stands next to my bed.

The footsteps move over to Amalie's bed, and I open my eyes just a little to peek at the owner of the feet. They belong to Dr. Jasper.

He glances down at the fallen stand and looks at Amalie who is laying perfectly still. He checks her pulse and looks at the bags, then readjusts everything back into place. With a final look at her sleeping face, he turns towards me again, and I quickly shut my eyes. I feel him at the edge of my bed moments later, and his breath is close to my face.

"Just like Marina," he whispers. He brushes a hair off my forehead, lingering for a second, and then he's gone. The footsteps trail off until I can't hear them anymore. The sound of a door closing comes from down the hall.

"Pssst," Amalie calls to me. I fully open my eyes and look over at her. "Who's Marina?"

""I have no idea," I say, trying to lift my head.

Argh. This dizzy feeling won't stop.

"We need to get out of here. I don't like the look of this." Amalie motions to the blood bags. "You have to get out and get help. Find my brother."

I have no clue how I would actually do any of those things she has just said. I shake my head. "I can't. I'm full time here. I'm sentenced. It's not like I can just leave."

"What don't you get? This is not any regular treatment. This is barbaric. He's up to something." The look she's giving me is desperate. What am I missing?

"Amalie, what's going on? How long have you been here?" She turns her head to face me. Tears fall from her eyes on to the pillow under her head. "A week. I've been down here being poked and prodded for a whole week."

A week down here. What is he treating her for?

She continues before I can ask, "He said tonight is the last night. Aidalyn, he plans to kill us tonight."

My mouth drops open. What is she saying? Who? Dr. Jasper? No, he's a doctor. Maybe she's unwell. Unstable. Maybe she was too dangerous to be around others and that's why he kept her down here?

Amalie lifts up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal scars up and down her arm, as if she had read my mind and was showing me the evidence. I furrow my brow and ask, " Why would he kill us, Amalie? Why? It doesn't make any sense. Maybe you heard wrong? Have you had a breakdown—"

She interrupts me, vigorously shaking her head. "You don't get it. He's not what he seems. He's working with someone. I don't know who, but he speaks to them on the phone and gives them updates."

What the hell is she on about?

Before she can continue, we hear the door down the hall open again and the footsteps start towards us. We start the sleeping charade again and listen as Dr. Jasper speaks to someone on the phone, just like she said.

"They're both sedated. Amalie more and more heavily as the venom is taking over and her strength grows. I will increase the infusion now. Two hours and Aida will be completely drained, and Amalie will be complete."

He pauses and listens to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes, sir. Amalie will need time to recover from the process, but should she survive, tomorrow she will awaken as the first hybrid. Vampire and werewolf combined."

Again, he pauses.

"Yes, it's a shame, but Aida was very weak. She would never have been strong enough to mentally survive this. It's a shame she has to perish." Dr. Jasper's voice hitches at the last word. He continues the call and starts up the hallway again.

We lay there on the beds, speechless, each of us now aware of his intentions for us.

I turn to face Amalie as best I can, taking a breath "How do I get these out of my arm? I'm getting us out."

She smiles. It's the first time I've seen her smile. She looks like Argent.

"Let's do this."