Rise of the Black Cat: Just Rewards

Anna awoke and lay still for a while, the warmth and comfort of her bed shielding her slightly from the headache which kept her from opening her eyes. Quiet suffused the room, pierced only by the faint sound of singing birds, which seemed to be many miles away. Finally deciding to open her eyes, Anna stared blearily up at ceiling, feeling dizzy, sick, and definitely sorry for herself. She lay for a while longer in an attempt to still her unsettled stomach. Eventually, with a great effort, Anna managed to pull herself upright where she sat on the edge of the bed staring at the floor.
 This was one hell of a hangover. She suddenly sat up straight, blue eyes wide as the events of the night before all came flooding back in one huge rush. Falling back onto the duvet she ran her hands through her dirty blonde hair and tried to steady her frantic breaths. Well, maybe she was hungover, she reasoned. It certainly wouldn’t have made her feel better in combination with whatever sedatives she’d been given. Certainly not. Anna still felt sick, and her body at this moment decided it was time to end that state of affairs.
 She barely made it to the bathroom, a distance of mere feet, leaping to her door and across the cool, dark landing. Exiting the bathroom wiping her mouth after having brushed her teeth, she re-entered her room and slammed the door. She leaned against it, eyes closed, “Fuck.”
 What exactly had happened? So, she’d been on her way home from a night out, alone, which was stupid. But then had gotten through town and through the park unscathed….Right, yeah. And then, the guys in the van who darted me. Anna looked down at her leg, she was still dressed and could see the hole in her tights, as well as the small wound underneath, confirming that it had actually happened. The fact that she was dressed also stimulated another memory, of the two men who had been discussing her. They said they would re-dress her before sending her home. Surely her housemates would have noticed that?
 Anna slowly went out onto the landing and listened. There were sounds of activity downstairs, clinking cutlery, the low hubbub sounds of talking on a tv, laughter. She made her way carefully downstairs and into the kitchen.
 “OOhh, here she is!” Her housemates, Ben and Miranda were in there, making breakfast by the look of the bacon on the stovetop. Ben had leaped to his feet upon her entry, his loud cry making Anna flinch in pain. Her head was still extremely tender. His normally reserved expression was alight with humour and mischief, a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes. “Good night was it?”
 Anna sat down at the table and shrugged, helping herself to a slice of toast.
 “Or,” he began. “Night and day. Where the fuck have you been? We haven’t seen you since the other night when you left us in the club.” Anna stared at him. Could it have been that long? His face was serious now, tinged with concern, as was Miranda’s.
 “Really? I, er, don’t know.”
 “You don’t know? What were you roofied or something?
 “No. Nothing like that.” Could she tell them? Would they believe her? Probably not, as who would believe that she’d been kidnapped and probably experimented on. And the men had agreed that nothing had happened, at least, not what they wanted to happen, which is why they had let her go and brought her back.
 “You didn’t hear me come back though? Last night I mean?” Ben and Miranda both shook their heads. Miranda had her arms folded, an irritated expression on her face.
 “What?” She visibly bristled as Anna asked the question, turning back to the bacon she was cooking.
 Anna looked at Ben who shrugged quickly before jumping to his feet and leaving the room. Miranda turned back to her and dumped a bacon sandwich down in from of Anna with a noise which could only be described as a ‘harrumpf’, and with such force that the contents spilled on to the plate.
 “Oh, I get it,” Anna began airily, before Miranda spun on her, her face filled with anger.
 “No!” Anna stopped, slightly taken aback, as her friend continued. “You don’t swan in here after being fucking missing for a whole day and just sit there all innocent! I won’t let you!”
 “You won’t let me? Who are you, my mother?” Miranda appeared to calm down at this, sitting down in the seat opposite Anna. She sighed.
 “No, Anna. I’m just your friend. Who cares when you go missing for, like, a day. Especially after a night out when you stormed out of a club on your own. Oh yeah, and without your phone!” Anna picked at the bacon that littered her plate, taking a piece and putting it in her mouth, deliberately not looking at her angry friend. Miranda was admittedly calm now, but calm disappointment was always worse than harsh anger, especially when it came from a friend who was speaking the straight truth.
 Her arms folded tightly, Anna could only smile at her friend as she looked like a stern matron sitting opposite her.
 “Oh, yeah, laugh it off. It’s no big deal if you get raped or mugged or whatever”. Miranda stood up, scraping her chair back and turned to leave the room. “Don’t come crying to me when it does…”.
 Anna half stood up as she left, reaching out her arm, “Wait…” Miranda turned as she reached the door. She saw the strange look in Anna’s eye as she looked at her. She stepped towards her, placing her hands on the back of the chair she had just vacated.
 “What actually happened? Where were you?”
 Anna looked deeply into Miranda’s blue eyes, struggling internally with her emotions. She wanted to tell her, she really, truly did, but she knew she couldn’t, because, for a start, who would believe her? Who in their right mind would believe that she had been darted, bundled into a van, and then experimented on. Especially seeing as she had been set free without any further incident. She didn’t have a mark on her, apart from a small pinprick where she was darted. That could easily be put down to a splinter or anything else. No, she couldn’t tell Miranda, or anyone else, for that that matter. She’d gotten away with it, with her life and her sanity, and that would have to be enough for Anna.
 Anna shook her head, “No, nowhere. Just…with a guy. We fucked.” Miranda immediately turned and stormed out of the kitchen.
 “Fuck you, Anna. I’m fucking done.”
Anna sighed, pushed the bacon away from her and slumped onto the table with a solid thump of skull on wood. Well, that was one friendship totally ruined. How could that have been the best excuse she could come up with? She snorted with sudden humour. Oh, apart from the fact you’ve done it before, like, fucking dozens of times, because you’re a bit of a slut, Anna. That’s why.
 Climbing to her feet, Anna decided it was best to at least try and help her situation and cleared the table of plates, before washing them in the sink. Having returned the plates to the cupboard, she returned to her room, undressing for a shower. She remained in the shower for what seemed like an age, as she let the hot water scald away the events of the night before. But it could not wash away the tight knot that she carried in her stomach, which had formed as Miranda has stormed away thinking she was wasting her time, and treating her friendship with contempt.
 Dressing quickly in comfortable clothes, Anna packed her rucksack with her laptop and other work accoutrements before setting out for the library. Going out was fun, but she did also need to make some attempt to keep up with her university assignments, even if it was half-hearted at best. She saw Ben again as she entered the hallway, as he was also leaving the house.
 “Where are you going?” He looked up from tying his shoelaces and smiled. He indicated his own rucksack, which was lying open next to him, notes and papers spilling out on to the carpet.
 “I’m going to see a friend, we have a group project. What about you? Library?”
 “Yeah,” she responded quietly, adjusting the straps of her bag. “Gotta make some effort to keep up with it, we’re not all geniuses like you, you know.”
 Ben chuckled happily. “Well thanks, but it’s not all that.” He stood up and shouldered his bag, opening the door and indicating with his hand. Anna obliged and ducked under his arm as he held the door open, emerging into he sunlight squinting at the brightness of it. Ben shut the door firmly behind him and made straight for his bike that was chained to the iron railings, unlocking it deftly before mounting his bike.
 “Well,” he said as he settled his bag on his back. “See you later!” He suddenly sped off with a cheery wave, leaving Anna standing alone in the pleasant sunshine. She sighed again and set off for the psychological gloom of the library and mind numbing essay reading and preparation. Wow, what a fuck up I’ve made of today. And it’s only 12.30. Great.

The day had not improved once Anna had reached the library. She had been staring at a blank word document for over an hour, a beam of blinding sunlight shining onto her face, making her hot and uncomfortable. A long sigh slipped out of her mouth, as she considered whether to give in and go home again. She looked at the digital clock in the corner of the computer screen; it showed she’d only been in the library for an hour.
 An hour? Jesus, it feels like I’ve been in here all day! It doesn’t help that I feel like total shit, sick and achey. In fact, I think I might be…
 Anna jumped up suddenly and ran as fast as she could manage to the nearest bathroom, struggling to keep down the contents of her stomach. Just making it to a toilet, she once again found herself clutching the bowl as she violently threw up. She sat there for what seemed like an age, enjoying the cold porcelain on the side of her face as she rested it on the rim. Groaning she got to her feet and trudged over to the mirror and studied herself carefully, as a nagging pain in her eyes had been eating at the back of her mind. Had something happened to her? Was whatever they’d given her in that lab having an effect? She carefully examined her eyes, but there seemed to be nothing untoward about them, apart from, maybe, a little redness. But what grabbed attention was her hair.
 It was dirty blonde anyway, but it seemed Anna to suddenly be many shades blonder. It was almost white. Anna was definitely feeling different, however, aside from what could be potential physical changes. She had to leave.
 Before gathering up her possessions, Anna returned to the toilet bowl to fill it once more, throwing up until there was nothing left, and she hunched there dry heaving. She spat some bile into the bowl and flushed the vivid green/yellow content away with a grim expression.
 “Fuck.” Once again picking herself up, Anna left the library as fast as her frailty could allow, striding unsteadily into the mid-afternoon sun. She made straight for her house as she could feel her insides churning, but hoped desperately that she wasn’t sick again before she got there. But the pain in her eyes was quickly becoming more and more intense causing her to close them and shield them from the light. She stopped as the pain reached a new level of intensity, and ducked into a shadowy doorway, pulling out her phone. She held it up to her face and opened her eyes with difficulty as they had now become very sensitive to the sunlight
 “No fucking way,” she almost dropped her phone, such was her shock. Her pupils were no longer circular, but cat-like slits, surrounded by an iris of shocking, vivid green. He eyes had become someone else’s. Someone who lived in the dark, apparently. She leaned back into the alcove, and closed her new eyes, swearing under her breath.
 Whatever they had done to her on that operating table had most definitely worked, despite what the deeper voiced technician had said. The sickness, the eyes, the hair, she was changing. But into what? What had they done to her and what had they set out to do? What were they attempting to make?
 Maybe she was turning into some sort of mutant feline abomination, something that people would run from in terror, screaming. The fear or the unknown welled up inside of her and she found tears springing to her eyes. She sniffed hugely and wiped her eyes quickly, taking in huge gasps of air.
 “Come on,” she told herself firmly. “Keep it together. You’re fine.” Anna took one last deep and steadying breath, straightened her bag on her back and stepped back out into the bright sun. She forgot about her eyes and swore before pulling her sunglasses from her bag, quickly putting them on. They made it much easier for her to see. Her expression set in a grimace of pain and discomfort Anna continued on her way.

It took Anna quite a long time to get back to the house. She was struggling with aches and pains, as well as crippled with worry and fear over what might happen to her in the future. Finding herself at the front door, Anna dug into her pockets, and then her bag for her key, only to find she didn’t have it. She hammered on the door. And then she shouted through the letterbox. Ben was obviously still out of the house, at his friends house, but Miranda might still be in. If she was, she wasn’t going to let her in though. Not after what had happened earlier.
 More out of a desire to do something then any real ideas over how she was going to get into the house, Anna walked around the back of the street and entered the back yard. She tried knocking on the kitchen door, but there was still no answer. Anna stood in the yard and sighed. Looking around the drab concrete space, she found herself focusing on the small brick outhouse that joined onto the house just below her bedroom window.
 Moving over to the wall, Anna glanced at the small wooden table and chair that were the only items in the yard and visualised the jump needed to flip from the table onto the outhouse roof. Taking a breath, Anna stepped back as far as the brick wall would allow before springing into motion, leaping easily onto the table before somersaulting up onto the fragile slate roof.
 “Whoa.” Anna was amazed at herself. She wasn’t particularly strong, agile or athletic, but she had easily flipped up and over the adjoining space between the roof and the table. Carefully she turned and crouched as crept along the tiles, taking great care not to slip. Reaching the window, she cursed, knowing it was locked from the inside. Her hands, however, instantly searched her bag and pockets for two hairclips, which she drew out and prepared as lock picks. Anna found herself watching from outside of herself, as if she was looking at a T.V. screen showing someone picking a lock.
 The lock popped open and she quickly lifted the window and slipped into her room. She shut the window firmly and dropped her bag, running her hands through her hair and clutching her head. What the hell had just happened? She’d just performed an incredible feat of acrobatics, demonstrating new found strength and agility, followed immediately by an expert lock pick. What had they done in that lab?
 “Not that I’m complaining,” she muttered to herself.
 But she needed to check her eyes again, just to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Rushing to the bathroom and switching on the light, Anna leaned into the mirror and removed her sunglasses, revealing her green feline eyes. Cats could see in the dark though, right? Anna reached over and pressed the switch, flooding the room with darkness. But it wasn’t really dark at all, at least, not to Anna. She could tell that it was, due to the shadows and the absence of bright light, but it looked grey to her, and it was easy to discern objects.
 Turning the light back on, Anna noticed that her hair had now turned completely white. Not grey, or silver, or blue-grey, but totally without pigment. Like new snow, or fresh milk. It didn’t look dead, or like the hair of an elderly woman, but healthy and wholesome, merely without any colour or shade at all. She found it startling, but the more she took in her new hair colour, the more she found it was to her taste. For the first time in what felt like a long time, but in fact had only been a matter of hours, Anna could feel the aches, worries and sickness fading away. Smiling she had one last look at her new feline eyes, and turned to leave before another though occurred to her. How had she managed to jump onto the roof with such athleticism?
  Now that she considered it, Anna did feel good. Better than good, she felt amazingly fit, strong and healthy; which was amazing considering mere minutes ago she had been gripping the toilet bowl for dear life. Taking off her jumper and t-shirt, followed by her skinny jeans, Anna stood in her underwear in front of the mirror and looked herself over. She tried a few poses, showing off her biceps, which were not noticeably bigger, but definitely firmer. And her torso was now delicately muscled, showing, not a six pack, but well defined stomach muscles, similar to those in her legs which were now toned and more defined that they had been mere hours ago.
 All of the aching and the sickness must have been her body’s reaction to whatever drugs or serums she had been given, which had enhanced her figure and her eyes, along with bleaching her hair. That must have been a side effect of the experiment. The lockpicking, however, was still a complete mystery. She had never done it before, and knew she hadn’t been taught, but there it was.
 She sat on the toilet and pulled her t-shirt back over her head, shaking out her long hair as she did so. Reaching for her jeans, Anna had a sudden spike in her brain of something the two men had talked about when she was pretending to be unconscious. What had they said?
 “Something about…memory implants,” she murmured to herself. “Maybe that’s how I know it. They gave me some memories. Memories which include lockpicking. Hmm.”
Anna wondered. It sounded ridiculous, but it was what they’d said, and now she had the evidence. A skill that she hadn’t learned, hadn’t been taught, but could now perform perfectly. What else could they have implanted? They had also mentioned espionage. A new level of espionage, involving their company and no others, which must mean they were planning to use me as a spy of some sort, giving me abilities and skills to get their dirty work done.
 “Well,” Anna smirked. “They don’t know what they let go then, do they?” Smiling faintly, Anna re-dressed and exited the bathroom, her head buzzing with new thoughts and ideas. What else could she use these abilities for? What other abilities had she been implanted with?
 Sitting down on her bed, after drawing the curtains, as the sunlight was still too much for her eyes to take comfortably. She pulled her laptop towards her and turned it on. Instead of the regular start menu she was used to, the screen was bright blue and covered in error messages, it had crashed, probably irreparably. What else could possibly go wrong in a week? How was she supposed to finish her work now?
 She halfheartedly pressed a few buttons, not really expecting anything to happen, but it must have sparked the activation of another memory implant as suddenly her fingers were a blur over the keys. Soon her laptop was working perfectly again, perhaps with a few improvements that Anna had managed to code into its software. She grinned broadly at her new found technical expertise.
 “Wow.” She couldn’t believe her luck. Super strength, agility, acrobatics, lock picking and now computer programming and repair. What could she not do? But this company was clearly preparing her for some very serious work, hacking, theft, breaking and entering, maybe? Who knew, there was no way to find out. Or was there?
 A strange expression came over Anna face then, a curious expression full of guile. Her green eyes flashing, Anna grabbed her laptop and jumped up to shut and lock her door, she didn’t want anyone to see what she could do. Seated once more, Anna opened the laptop and pulled up her web browser. She knew exactly how to find the company, but she wouldn’t be using google searches. She needed to use the dark web, as this company was obviously not in the public eye, but she knew exactly what to. She first made herself untraceable to anyone else, before finding the traces of the company left in cyberspace and zeroing in. Her fingers typed frantically, but with purpose, she was closing in.
 A final firewall crumbled before her and she was in. Scanning pages and pages of data, she soon came upon what she was looking for; the files that pertained to the project of which she had been a subject. Her own file had been closed, merely displaying her biological information, her age, weight and such like. She quickly deleted all of the information there, leaving no traces that she had ever been in their labs.
 A quick search through the files located the technical side of the project, equipment and technology that would be given to successful subjects when they were given missions to complete. Anna’s eyes glittered with envy. The specifications of these items sounded like the stuff of science fiction; infra-red goggles, inflammable, high tech suits with in built grappling hooks and body enhancers, smoke grenades and EMP devices, quick hacking technology and high tech, miniaturised computers, hand sized for portability and functionality on the move.
 Anna could imagine herself bedecked in all of this equipment and more, a spy out for only herself, stealing desirable items, trading in information to the highest bidder. She was going to take this company for everything they had for what they had done to her. Not that she was complaining, she now felt incredible, both health and body wise, but also because of what she knew she was capable of.
Everyone was going to know exactly what she was capable of, and as she began to make her plans, she glanced once more into her mirror, seeing her beautiful green, feline eyes and shocking white hair. She smirked at her reflection, knowing how amazing she looked, but also at the idea that this company had provided her with everything she needed to destroy them.