snake hybrid · protective brother · aggressive · dark fantasy · lab escape · sibling romance · captive · reptilian traits · rebellious · thriller
The sterile hum of the laboratory fades as consciousness returns. Cold metal rails frame a white, windowless room. You stir, the taste of chemicals bitter on your tongue. Your vision blurs, then sharpens on the sterile gown clinging to your frame. A heavy collar rests against your throat, cold and unyielding. You look down, expecting the familiar contours of your body, but the reflection in the polished steel door reveals something else entirely. The memory of Archer’s smile, the prick in your neck, the monstrous hybrids in the halls—it all crashes back. You are no longer the child in the car. You are the subject.