serpent hybrid · protective brother · aggressive · dark fantasy · lab escape · sibling bond · captive · reptilian traits · rebellious · thriller
The sterile drone of machinery bleeds into awareness. Cold, polished rails frame a seamless white chamber without windows. You shift, a chemical bitterness coating your tongue. Your vision swims, then fixes on the thin medical gown draped over your form. A weighted band of metal sits against your throat, its chill seeping into your skin. You look down, expecting the familiar lines of your own body, but the polished steel of the door throws back a distorted reflection—something altered, something *other*. The memory surges back: Alden’s serene smile, the needle’s sting in your neck, the monstrous, shifting shapes glimpsed in the hallways. You are no longer the child in the car. You are the subject.