Wolves & Aprons

YOU

Chapter Three

The next morning, Kimberly stood before the wrought-iron gates of Dr. Voss's mansion, her decision crystallized into something as hard and unforgiving as the metal bars before her. She had spent the night listening to her mother's labored breathing, watching Jamie work by the light of a flickering bulb they couldn't afford to replace, and seeing her father's shoulders bow under the weight of another rejection letter.

The gates opened at her approach, just as they had before.

Dr. Voss greeted her at the door with a smile that seemed genuinely pleased. "Miss Gary. I take it you've made your decision?"

"I accept your offer," Kimberly said, her voice steadier than she felt. "But I need to know exactly what I'm agreeing to."

"Of course. Come, let's discuss the details over coffee."

He led her to a breakfast room that overlooked the manicured gardens, where delicate china and silver gleamed on a table that could have fed her family for a month. Dr. Voss poured coffee from a pot that probably cost more than her father's monthly salary.

"Your primary duties will be maintaining the laboratory spaces," he began, settling across from her with the easy grace of a man accustomed to being obeyed. "The equipment is sensitive and requires specific cleaning protocols. I'll train you personally."

Kimberly nodded, though something in his tone made her stomach tighten. "And the discretion you mentioned?"

"Absolute. You'll sign a non-disclosure agreement, naturally. What you see here, what you hear, the people you might encounter – all of it stays within these walls." Dr. Voss's pale eyes fixed on her with uncomfortable intensity. "Can I trust you to understand the gravity of that responsibility?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Then we begin today." He slid an envelope across the table. "Your first week's salary, in advance. For your mother's treatments."

Kimberly's hands trembled as she opened the envelope. The stack of bills inside represented more money than she'd held in her entire life. Enough for her mother's medicine. Enough to fix the cottage roof. Enough to buy Jamie the textbooks he needed.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Thank me by proving worthy of my investment." Dr. Voss stood, his manner shifting from cordial to businesslike. "Follow me. Your real education begins now."

The laboratory seemed different in daylight – more sterile, more ominous. The machines hummed with a purposeful energy that raised the hair on Kimberly's arms. Dr. Voss handed her a set of specialized cleaning supplies and began explaining the protocols with scientific precision.

"The surfaces must be sterilized with this solution," he said, indicating a bottle filled with liquid that smelled like antiseptic and something else – something organic and disturbing. "The equipment was cleaned with distilled water only. And these cabinets..." He gestured to a series of locked metal cases along the far wall. "These you don't touch. Ever."

"What's in them?"

"Research materials. Specimens. Things that require careful handling." His smile was pleasant, but his eyes were cold. "Curiosity is a dangerous trait in this line of work, Miss Gary. I suggest you cultivate selective blindness."

For the first week, Kimberly followed his instructions to the letter. She cleaned the sterile surfaces, organized equipment she couldn't identify, and tried not to think about the sounds that sometimes came from behind the locked doors, soft, wet sounds that made her skin crawl.

The money was real, though. Her mother began treatments at a private clinic. Color returned to Elena's cheeks for the first time in months. Jamie enrolled in advanced courses at the technical college. Her father found steady work through connections Dr. Voss provided without being asked.

Everything was perfect.

Too perfect.

It was on the eighth day that Kimberly's selective blindness finally failed her.

She was cleaning the main laboratory when she heard voices from the adjoining room – Dr. Voss speaking in low, urgent tones with someone whose accent she couldn't place. The door was slightly ajar, offering a sliver of view into what she had assumed was another storage area.

What she saw made her stomach lurch.

The room was filled with cages. And the cages were filled with things that had once been human.

The creatures moved with jerky, unnatural motions, their bodies twisted into forms that defied anatomy. Elongated limbs, additional eyes that blinked in sequence, skin that rippled like water. They watched her through the gap in the door with intelligence that was unmistakably human, trapped in bodies that were decidedly not.

One of them – a woman, judging by the remains of a floral dress that hung in tatters – pressed her face against the cage bars. Her mouth opened in what might have been a plea for help, but the sound that emerged was a chittering, insectile noise that made Kimberly's blood freeze.

"Fascinating, aren't they?" Dr. Voss's voice came from directly behind her.

Kimberly spun around, her heart hammering against her ribs. "Dr. Voss, I—"

"You saw them." His tone was conversational, almost pleased. "I wondered when your curiosity would overcome your caution."

"What are they?" The words came out as a whisper.

"Test subjects. Volunteers, all of them, though I suppose their consent is debatable now." He stepped closer, and Kimberly caught that familiar scent of expensive cologne mixed with antiseptic. "People like you, Miss Gary. People desperate enough to accept help from strangers."

The truth hit her like a physical blow. "You lied to me."

"I told you I was working on genetic enhancement. I simply omitted some of the more... preliminary stages." Dr. Voss's smile was gentle, almost paternal. "Don't look so horrified. They volunteered for this, just as you did."

"I didn't volunteer to become a monster!"

"Didn't you?" He pulled out a tablet and showed her the screen. "Your signature, Miss Gary. Right there on the employment contract. Subsection forty-seven: 'Employee agrees to participate in experimental procedures as required for research advancement.'"

Kimberly stared at the contract she had signed without reading, desperate and blinded by the promise of salvation for her family. The legal language swam before her eyes, but the meaning was clear.

"You can't do this," she said. "I'll tell someone. I'll"

"Tell whom?" Dr. Voss's voice remained pleasant, reasonable. "The police who are funded by my research grants? The government officials who benefit from my campaign contributions? Your family, who are now completely dependent on the income I provide?"

The cage holding the woman in the floral dress rattled as its occupant threw herself against the bars, chittering frantically.

"Besides," Dr. Voss continued, "think of the greater good. The advancement of human evolution. The elimination of weakness, disease, mortality itself. Your sacrifice will serve a noble purpose."

"I won't do it." Kimberly backed toward the door, her cleaning supplies scattered, forgotten on the floor. "I quit. I'll find another way to help my family."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Dr. Voss pressed a button on his tablet, and the laboratory doors sealed with a soft electronic chime. "You see, Miss Gary, you know too much to simply walk away. And your transformation is scheduled for tonight."

The room filled with the scent of gas – something sweet and cloying that made Kimberly's vision blur. She stumbled toward the sealed door, pounding against the metal with fists that felt increasingly heavy.

"Don't fight it," Dr. Voss advised gently. "The sedative works better if you don't struggle."

As consciousness faded, Kimberly's last coherent thought was of her family – her mother finally healthy, Jamie pursuing his dreams, her father finding steady work. They would never know the price of their salvation.

When she woke, she was strapped to a steel table under blazing surgical lights. Dr. Voss leaned over her, his face obscured by a surgical mask, his eyes bright with scientific fascination.

"Welcome back, Miss Gary," he said, his voice slightly muffled. "Are you ready to become something extraordinary?"