Free Inhuman by Danielle Q. Lee Page B

leave her alone!”
    Smirking, Meyers responded with a move of his own. Smacking Keanu’s hand away from his face, he stuck his face into Keanu’s and asked with a venomous tone. “Or what?”
    “Enough!” Agent Evans yelled, his brow furrowed in annoyance as he approached the circle of agents. “I’ve had enough of you two! Take her inside!”
    With my arm around Keanu’s shoulder, I hobbled back into the building. Weeping and bleeding, I was led back to my cell.
    “Get the medic to clean her up.” Agent Evans ordered a nearby agent. “Pretty stupid move, Miss Tiponi.” He added as he turned to me. Nodding my head in agreement, I winced as the entire right side of my face ached in protest.
    Keanu seated me on the cot and then sat down beside me, his arm still around me.
    A line of drool escaped my swollen lips as I quietly mumbled. “Jessica?”
    “She’ll be fine.” Leaning his hand against one of the walls and dropping his eyes to the floor, Agent Evans looked far more stressed than usual.
    “Agent Evans?” My voice was that of a meek child. “Is Jessica…like me?”
    Barely moving and not looking up, Agent Evans answered while still staring at the floor. “No.”
    Hesitating, unsure as to whether he’d tell me the truth, I finally decided to ask the one thing that would change everything for me and my future.
    “Am I…the only one?”
    Sensing the depth of my question, Keanu squeezed my shoulder gently.
    Sighing deeply, Agent Evans turned to face me. His eyes serious, he looked me square in the eyes as he responded. “Not anymore.”
    ***
    The medic dabbed my seeping wounds with a small piece of gauze, moist with antiseptic. Stinging as it cleansed the oozing cuts on my lips, cheek and forehead, I waited impatiently for him to finish.
    Agent Evans had left the room, refusing to elaborate on his last statement. What did he mean that I wasn’t the only one ‘anymore’?
    I decided to probe Keanu for information after this guy was done cleaning me up.
    Keanu leaned against the wall in my cell watching the medic like a watchdog. He’d always seemed protective of me, but suddenly he was extremely diligent about it.
    “Okay, that should do it.” Pulling off his gloves and throwing them in garbage along with the blood-soaked gauze, he nodded at Keanu as he knocked on the door for the guard to let him out.
    If Keanu hadn’t been parked so close to the mirror, I would’ve immediately rushed to it to see just how bad I looked.
    Inhaling and exhaling sharply, he rubbed his face with his hands. The stress on his face could be read like a road map. Dark circles under his eyes and an expression of worry etched on his face, I sensed something was up.
    “Just tell me what’s wrong.” I pushed him, tired of the games. “I can tell something is wrong.” Glancing at me momentarily, he appeared to be having some internal debate.
    Maybe he was deciding whether he should—or could—tell me some awful news. Maybe they were planning to kill me. Or worse, subject me to more horrid experiments.
    I suddenly had an awful vision.
    My dead body splayed upon a cold metal table in a morgue hidden deep in the belly of the military base. Masked agents slowly and methodically dissecting me. One piece at a time, cutting away the flesh and bagging it for testing.
    A specimen.
    To them, I was worth less than a dead frog preserved in formaldehyde, to be torn apart by immature biology students in high school.
    Shuddering, I pulled my knees into my chest, hoping it would erect some protective force field around me. Apparently sensing my distress, Keanu moved from the wall and sat beside me. With my head tucked down and with my hair shielding me like black satin curtains, I cried softly. I felt his large hand begin sliding up and down my back, comforting me.
    “Please…please tell me what’s going on.” My body wracked with sobs as I whimpered my plea. “Are they going…to kill me?”
    “I…don’t know.” His voice