The hybrid experiment.

The first thing Layla Ross noticed was the silence. Not the kind of silence that came with an empty room. This was deeper. Wrong. She lay perfectly still, staring at the white ceiling above her. Something was missing. She couldn't figure out what. Her lungs worked. She could feel air moving in and out of them. She could hear the faint hum of machinery somewhere nearby. But beneath all of it, there should have been another sound. A sound she'd never had to think about before. A heartbeat. Layla slowly raised a hand to her chest. She waited. Nothing. Her fingers pressed harder against her skin. Nothing. Her hand moved to her neck. She searched desperately for a pulse. Nothing. Her eyes widened. "What?." She checked again. Still nothing. Panic clawed its way up her throat. She sat up too quickly. The room spun. Layla gripped the edge of the metal bed until the dizziness passed. She looked around. White walls. White floor. Fluorescent lights. A metal table. Medical equipment. And restraints. Her wrists were marked with bruises. One restraint was still attached to the bed. The other had been ripped apart. Layla stared at it. She didn't remember breaking it. She didn't remember being restrained. She didn't remember— Blood. Her eyes dropped to her hands. They were covered in it. Layla froze. Dark red stains coated her palms and disappeared beneath her fingernails. She lifted one hand toward her face. The metallic smell reached her. Fresh. She stumbled off the bed. "Whose blood is this?" She whispered. She looked down at herself. A white hospital gown hung loosely around her body. There were dried bloodstains across the fabric. Needle marks covered her arms. Some were tiny. Others were surrounded by bruises. Layla touched one. Pain flashed through her head. A needle. A scream. Metal restraints. Someone shouting her name. She ripped her hand away. "No." Another memory. A corridor. Red emergency lights. A locked door. And Dr.Voss. Her stomach dropped. The glass wall opposite her suddenly became visible. Someone was standing behind it. Layla's breath caught. He stood perfectly still, wearing a white lab coat. Gray hair. Glasses. Hands clasped behind his back. Watching her. Layla knew that face. She had spent months looking at it across laboratory tables. Listening to that voice explain experiments. Trusting him. Until the night she'd discovered what was beneath his laboratory. "Voss." The man smiled. "Good morning, Layla." Her mouth went dry. "What did you do?" Voss stepped closer to the glass. "You've been unconscious for six days." "That wasn't my question." "I know, but I just thought you should know." Layla stared at him. "Open the door." "I don't really want to Layla." Her jaw tightened. "Open the damn door." Voss's smile barely changed. "I don't think you're in a position to make demands." Layla looked around the room. "Where am I?" "You should know where you are." "Well, I don't." "You've been in this facility before." "Not this room." Voss said nothing. Layla's eyes narrowed. "You moved me." "Precisely." "Why?" "Because you became difficult to contain." She stared at him. "What did you do to me?" Voss looked at her hands. "How do you feel?" Layla almost laughed. "You've got to be kidding me." "I'm serious." "I'm covered in blood, I have no heartbeat, I don't remember the last six days, and you want to know how I feel?" Voss studied her. "Interesting." Layla's anger flared. " What the f**k is interesting about that.Stop looking at me like that." "Like what?" "Like I'm a specimen." Voss's expression remained calm. "You always were an observant one." "And you always were a liar." For the first time, his smile disappeared. Layla stepped closer to the glass. "I trusted you." "Everybody does." "I worked for you." "I know." "You told me the work we were doing was groundbreaking." "Not was- is groundbreaking." "You told me the things beneath the laboratory weren't alive." Voss said nothing. Layla's voice became quieter. "I saw them." She remembered that night. The hidden door. The stairs. The smell. The cages. The bodies. The creatures moving in the darkness. She looked directly into Voss's eyes. "I saw what you were doing." "Yes." "You were keeping people down there." "Some were people." Layla's stomach turned. "Some?" Voss sighed. "You weren't supposed to find that room." "But I did." "Unfortunately." "And then you drugged me." Voss didn't deny it. "You dragged me down here." "You were becoming a liability." Layla's eyes filled with disbelief. "So you experimented on me." "Yes. I've made that painfully obvious, haven't I?" The simplicity of his answer hurt more than an excuse would have. Layla stepped backward. "You didn't even hesitate." "Would you have preferred I lie?" "You already did." Voss looked at her for a long moment. Then he said quietly, "I gave you an opportunity to be part of something extraordinary." Layla laughed bitterly. "You call this extraordinary?" She gestured toward herself. "You killed me." "You're still breathing, love." Voss moved closer to the glass. "I changed you." Layla's blood ran cold. "Changed me into what?" Voss smiled again. "That's what we're going to find out." Layla stared at him. "You don't know?" "I know enough." "Then tell me." "You're not ready." "I think I get to decide that." Voss ignored her. "Your body rejected the first series of treatments." Layla's face hardened. "Treatments." "That's what I called them." "You mean experiments." "Semantics." "How many?" Voss paused. "How many what?" "How many people did you do this to?" "I don't think it matters." Layla's voice shook. "How many?" "Thirty-seven." Her face went blank. Thirty-seven. "How many survived?" Voss looked at her. "I'm looking at her." Layla's stomach twisted. "So none of them survived." "Not successfully." "Successfully?" "You won't understand." "Then explain it." Voss stepped toward the glass. "Your blood accepted genetic material that should have literally destroyed you." Layla stared. "What genetic material?" He smiled. "Two different strains." She waited. Voss said nothing more. "Two what?" "You're asking the wrong questions, love" "Then give me the right one." His eyes gleamed. "What happens when two incompatible species are forced to coexist inside a single human body?" Layla stared at him. The room suddenly felt colder. "What did you put inside me?" Voss didn't answer. Instead, he looked toward the monitor beside him. Numbers flashed across the screen. Layla followed his gaze. Her eyes widened. Her name was displayed at the top. SUBJECT 038 — ROSS, LAYLA Her stomach dropped. "I'm not your subject." "You definitely are now." She slammed her fist against the glass. "Open this door!" Voss didn't flinch. "Layla." "Open it!" "You should be grateful." Her expression twisted. "Grateful?" "You are the first one who survived. Do you have any idea how insane that is?" "I don't care!" "You should." Her voice cracked. "I want to go home." For the first time, something almost sympathetic appeared in Voss's eyes. Almost. "You don't have a home to return to." Layla went still. "What did you do?" Voss didn't answer. "What did you do to my family?" "Nothing." "Then why can't I go home?" "Because they'll need to be kept safe." Layla stared at him. "From what?" Voss's eyes shifted toward the wall behind her. He didn't answer. Layla noticed. "What?" His attention remained fixed behind her. "Voss." Nothing. "What's wrong?" Then she heard it. Scratch. Layla slowly turned her head. The sound came from inside the wall. She looked back at Voss. His face had changed. The calm scientist was gone. He looked afraid. Scratch. Layla's breathing stopped. "What's in there?" Voss moved toward the control panel. "Step away from the wall." "What the f**k is it?" "Layla, listen to me." "You know what that is?" "Step away." She didn't move. Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. The sound was getting closer. Layla's memories came rushing back. The basement. The cages. The creatures. The scratching. She remembered one of them clawing at its enclosure while Voss watched. She remembered asking him what it was. He'd told her not to worry. He'd lied. Again. Layla backed away from the wall. "Oh my God,that's one of your creatures." Voss said nothing. "You brought it here." "Layla—" "You brought it here." "Yes." The scratching stopped. Silence. Layla stared at the wall. "What happens now?" Voss looked at her. And for the first time, there was no scientific curiosity in his eyes. Only fear. "It knows you're awake." Layla's blood ran cold. "What does that mean?" Voss stepped backward. "Stay away from the wall." A c***k appeared. Thin. Almost invisible. Then another. Layla stared. "Voss..." The wall bulged outward. Once. Twice. Something slammed against it. Layla jumped. "Open the door!" Voss rushed toward the controls. "I can't." "What?" "The system has locked the chamber." "Then unlock it!" "I'm trying!" The wall shook violently. Layla looked at Voss. "You said I was your greatest success." He stopped. Layla's voice dropped. "Then why are you scared?" Voss stared at her through the glass. Before he could answer— The wall exploded. Concrete and metal flew across the room. Layla screamed and threw herself backward. Something crawled through the opening. It was enormous. Pale skin. Long limbs. Black veins. Yellow eyes. The creature lifted its head. Its gaze locked onto Layla. And instead of attacking— It grimaced. Layla's blood ran cold. She had seen that smile before. In the basement. The night she discovered the truth. The night Voss decided she would become part of it. The creature lunged. Layla screamed. And somewhere behind the glass, Voss whispered the words she had been waiting to hear. "Run."