After all the events that happened last night, I don't know how I managed to fall asleep in my house. I was incredibly uncomfortable, but Damien was really helpful with making me feel a little bit more safe. I feel asleep with him sitting next to me but when I woke up, he was gone. I checked all the guest bedrooms too, he wasn't there. He must've left early in the morning.

I understood though, he had a woman to get back to.

I didn't want to leave my house because of what was happening but I couldn't risk my safety any more than I already have. There's a person possibly in here, I'm too scared to even check my basement, and there's an unclassified animal running around the streets. When did this city become so dangerous?

I quickly took a shower, this time keeping an eye out for anything and everything. Then I quickly got dressed for work. I wore black jeans, white sneakers and a white long sleeved shirt. I also washed my lab coat and wore that over it. I left my braids since they still looked neat. After that I quickly packed my stuff into my bag and grabbed my keys, making my way out.

In the afternoon I would get back, pack some stuff and sleep in a hotel. I have no one to go to. I drove out of my place and went to the gas station to get some coffee and add gas to my car. The hot drink made me feel so much better, though it did remind me of the equally hot kisses I received from those very cold lips.

Who is he?

Shaking my head, I put the coffee in a cup holder and drove out of the gas station after paying, heading to work.

I got to the building and walked straight to my lab as I always did. I was not in the mood to greet anyone or make any small talk. Today I had one agenda, to get samples from Sei. He's a pretty nice guy and I'm sure he'll be nice enough to let me cut a piece of his hair. How am I supposed to explain what I wanted to do with it though? I don't think there's enough words in simple English to explain all of that.

I stepped into the lab after scanning my key card, expecting to meet the familiar grey eyes with specks of red. Unfortunately, the metal wall was blocking me from seeing him. I wonder why they put it back down today.

I set everything up for work. I put a pair of scissors in my pocket and a tiny clear plastic packet for holding the hair. I then switched on the tablet and got ready to work. Damien took my laptop with him in the morning because I couldn't find it anywhere when I woke up. I wish he had the decency to tell me so I didn't have to search the place.

I pressed the button on the remote and the wall slid up, giving me a view of Sei. I looked over him and noticed that once again, his hair and skin had gone back to their original colour. His skin was no longer pale, it was back to being tanned and his hair was no longer blue-grey but was just a clear yinmin blue. His curls were once again loosened and his hair was shorter than yesterday.

Sei looked like he was asleep. There was a chain on his wrist this time and he was laying on his stomach, his back moving up and down slowly from his steady breathing. He was in a pair of grey shorts and socks today and he wore no shirt. He looked very comfortable and I didn't want to wake him up.

I wonder what food they give him.

Do they give him any food at all?

I'll have to ask him.

I lifted the glass wall as well, taking this as an opportunity to sneak up on him and just snip the hair sample off while he was still sleeping. I tip-toed closer to him, holding my breath in fear that he'd hear me. I slowly breathed out when I made it to his head. Great, now I need to pull the scissors out of my pocket without making any noise. Sounds easy enough.

I dug into my pocket, immediately stopping when I heard a small plastic packet in there making noise. Shoot! I forgot about that. My hand was already in there, might as well just pull it out anyways.

After a few seconds of trying to get the scissors out, I did it. All without waking Sei up. Now the hardest part was over, I could just snip snip and be on my way. I gently took one of his curls in my hand and placed the scissors against it. Quickly, I cut it off, a smile forming on my face.

A low growl made me look down and I shrieked when I saw his normally grey eyes, glowing bright red. He stared at his hair in my hand and got up from the bed, making me jump back. I just needed to be far enough where the chain would keep him restrained. I prepared to run off but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back to him, predatorial growls making my heart rate shoot up. He threw me on the bed underneath him and placed his chained up hand over my mouth just as I was about to scream.

"What do you think you're doing, human?" He growled angrily, making me drop his hair and the scissors.

"Don't you know that it's not a good idea to cut the mane of a lion? You're basically disrespecting me." He growled. In his anger, I couldn't help but notice his perfect grammar and punctuation. He didn't sound like the way Sei sounded yesterday. Also, why did he call me human?

"What should I do to you now that you've disrespected a whole king?" He asked me, removing his hand from my lips. He gave me a look that said 'I dare you to scream'.

"Sei—" I started, making him chuckle deeply. It felt like the ground shook at that one sound from his lips. I shut my mouth and waited for him to finish laughing.

"Sei..." He repeated the name softly, his smile fading. "Of course, a softie." With that, he let go of me, standing next to the bed because that was as far as his chain allowed him. "Take the hair sample but don't ever think of touching me without permission ever again. You will not like what I will do to you." He warned me. I quickly scrambled off his bed and picked up the hair, running out of his area and closing the glass wall.

That was shocking. I placed my hand over my heart, feeling if it was still in place. I didn't expect Sei to suddenly start acting like that. He seemed so nice yesterday. It's like his whole personality shifted.

I sat down on my my chair and put his hair into the bag, marking it as 'Subject MM2077's hair sample'. Only Damien knew that his name was Sei, so I couldn't write that on the plastic packet or it would confuse the other scientist who'll run the tests.

I took out my tablet and typed down everything else I had learnt. That he was more aggressive than yesterday and how his hair and skin colour changed for the second time.

The door of my lab opened, making me look up from the device in my hands. Two familiar voices were speaking in their deep and hushed tones, four pairs of shoes stepping inside slowly. It was Damien, Mr Hughes and his two bodyguards. Mr Hughes was in a white dress shirt and black khaki pants. His black hair was pushed back with gel, the grey roots by his hairline fully exposed.

He was handsome for his age, even with the wrinkles you could tell that he was a catch in his teenage years. He wasn't wearing his glasses and I finally saw the colour of his eyes. They were dark brown, close to appearing black. He was quite tall and lean too, his arms solid with pure muscle.

"Ms Rutherford," Mr Hughes greeted, making me stop staring like a creep and look up at him. I stood up from my chair and walked to them. "Good morning, I didn't expect to see you back so soon."

"I had to be here," he said, his eyes widened as he pointed at my laptop in Damien's hands. "That footage is scientific gold." He said cheerfully. He always seemed to get excited of these type of things, the dangerous parts of science. The unknown creatures and phenomenons. Just like me, I loved the danger. Though last night freaked me out on a level where I'd like to stay far away more than I would like to explore.

"It is a very big deal, sir. I agree." I said, nodding my head.

"What's a big deal?" Sei's voice cut in, making all of us turn around to face him. He was still laying on the bed with his eyes closed, his foot slowly moving back and forth to some tune only he could hear in his head.

Mr Hughes smiled even brighter when Sei spoke. "More scientific gold right here! He's finally speaking, maybe he'll finally answer my questions." He said, moving towards Sei's area. I don't think that's a good idea.

"Sir, I wouldn't advise that. He's pretty aggressive." I said, hoping he would leave Sei to calm down. He was probably still upset about the hair sample I took so I didn't want anyone else making him feel worse.

"Why did you murder all of those people? Where are the rest of the bodies?" Hughes asked. Sei opened his eyes and slowly observed the government official, his eyes having gone back to being grey. I wonder what caused them to be neon red in the first place. It must've been his anger.

"The rest of them?" He asked himself and then shrugged. "Search for them like you did the other three hundred."

"A total of seven thousand people went missing for the past four years."

"Fun fact, thirty percent of those bodies are caused by wild animal attacks." He said with a snort. He didn't seem to be hiding anything but he wasn't admitting to anything either.

"And the seventy percent?"

"Caused by humans. Kidnappers, rapists, cults, wars, you name the rest."

"What are you in that list?"

"A person who was at the wrong place at the wrong time apparently. So when are you going to let me go?"

"We aren't letting you go."

"You have no proof that I committed all these crimes."

"We aren't letting you go." Mr Hughes repeated. Hold on, I thought they had proof. Isn't that the whole reason why he's here? Did they just capture him and call him the killer when really, he was just at the wrong place at wrong time?

"Ask me why I'm asking." Sei said boredly. He was now playing with his hair, twisting it and wrapping some of the soft strands around his long fingers.

"Why are you asking when I'll let you go?" Mr Hughes said, looking at Sei suspiciously.

"Because if you don't do it soon, I'll have to walk out of this place by myself and burn it to the ground while I'm at it." He threatened, sitting up on his bed. His eyes snapped to me afterwards, catching me off guard.

"You'll need a lot to set this place on fire, kid." Mr Hughes said with a smile. He wasn't fazed at all and I could see that it made Sei angry that he wasn't.

"Want to bet?" Sei growled, making Mr Hughes shake his head and turn away from Sei. He motioned at me with his hands to get the metal wall down. I obeyed and picked up the remote, shutting the wall. It slowly and silently slid down, all of us quiet until it was completely closed. When it did fully close, Mr Hughes turned to us, still smiling.

"That conversation with him was going nowhere. I would like all that you have gathered on him so far." He said. I nodded and took my tablet and the hair samples, handing it to him. "Please run some tests on his hair. It's been changing colour and I'd like to know what causes that. Everything I've collected is in the tablet."

"Thank you. I'll have the device brought back to you first thing in the morning." He said.

"What are we going to do about the animal that's running loose around the area? It could be the cause of all the massive deaths. That would make sense too. A large predator like that is most likely carnivorous and must require a crazy amount of meat daily." Damien finally spoke. Mr Hughes nodded at him.

"I'll send a bunch of troops tonight to hunt it down. It should be inside the woods right by Ms Rutherford's neighborhood."

That sounds pretty fun. I would love to tag along if I could.

"Well, I hope you do capture it tonight. I'll be happy to do some research on it." Damien said. Mr Hughes nodded and with his smile, he said goodbye and left the lab with his bodyguards, leaving me alone with Damien.

"When does your shift end?" He asked me, looking towards the metal wall.

"In two hours time, unfortunately."

"Well, I'll come with you to get your stuff. The troops won't be there until late afternoon."

Oh come on, I'm not a child. I can get my stuff and make it to the hotel by myself with no problem.

The way I was looking at him must've spoken louder than my thoughts because he started shaking his head at me, his stern voice following afterwards. "Don't be stubborn. I'm coming with you. A man nearly had sex with you last night! A man you don't even know."

"I will be fine, okay? I'll just get straight home and pack. It will be less than twenty minutes then I will head straight to the hotel." I explained to him.

"Hotel? You aren't going to no hotel while I'm here." He said, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, where else must I go?"

"You'll be staying with my fiancé and I."

I'm sorry, what?