All he could make out was a dark, dimly lit room. The soft buzzing of the dim ceiling light was almost enough to drive Gavin to distraction. The smell of mold, mildew and rust filled his senses. He looked around in his dream, trying to make any kind of heads or tails of this place.
Veronica, are you there? He called out to his new companion, but silence was his response. Whatever was happening, Veronica did not seem to be with him.
He heard a muffled female scream in the distance. He gritted his teeth and looked around the room. He was seated on a metal chair that was positioned in the middle of the room. It was old, covered in brown rust with chains that hung off the arms and legs.
Obviously not a room I want to stay in. Gavin grimaced when he saw a table nearby that held various instruments covered with a dark, red liquid.
He swept his eyes over the rest of the room, and he saw a simple, singular door on the far end. He rose from the chair and crept towards the door as another muffled scream echoed around.
As he crept towards the door his foot kicked an object on the ground, hidden by the dim light, and sent it clattering a few feet away. Gavin cursed at the sudden loudness and looked down to see that it was a broken piece of pipe. He reached down to pick up the pipe and got a feel for its weight in his hands. Better than nothing I guess. But more importantly, where in the hell am I?
He put his ear to the door and couldn't hear anything. The metal was cool and wet to the flesh of his ear. He slowly opened it wide enough to see that the hallway had a few lights lit up, but no movement caught his eye. He left the room and shut the door behind him, careful not to make a sound as he walked down the barely lit hallway.
Okay, this is weird, he thought to himself.
Veronica, are you there?
Silence.
No cooling sensation, no whisper of words. Nothing from his partner.
Well, this just got even more strange. Gavin's attention was drawn to another sound.
A loud bang followed by another scream echoed down the hall. He was getting closer to the source.
Ahead of him the hallway had an opening to the left. He peered around the corner and saw a guard standing outside a single door. The screams came from the room ahead. He backed around the corner the way he came. He had to figure something out. Some way to get the guards attention to come this way.
He went back to the corner and checked to see if the guard was still alone. He stepped back into the shadows provided by the low light and smacked the pipe against the metal walls, causing a loud, echoing bang.
Sure enough, the guard came around the corner a few moments later with his rifle raised. The slick polished gunmetal shining in the dim light. He didn't notice Gavin in the shadows until it was too late. Gavin swung the pipe, hit the guard on the back of the head and he crumpled to the floor without much sound.
He reached down to grab the man's rifle and checked it. He recalled the brief lesson Erza gave him with the handgun. Granted this is a totally different weapon, but I'm sure I can manage somehow. It took him a minute, but he figured out how to check the ammo and thumb off the safety. He got a feel for the rifle as he raised it to his shoulder and started off down the hallway.
He opened the door, and his heart dropped. He saw red and his blood burned in fury. Hooked to chains from the ceiling were three females. Each of them dangled from the ceiling with their feet barely touching the floor. Their arms were raised above their heads by a slick metal chain. One with white fur, red fur, and brown fur. All 3 were beaten, and had blood pouring from all the wounds.
He knew them. It was Aria, Lyla, and Erza. Movement caught Gavin's eyes as someone came in from a side door and began taunting the victims. The man had short blonde hair, and three thin, long scars along the left side of his face from his temple down to his cheek.
"This has been so much fun, getting to know you girls. But I think playtime is over. We must send a message. That you disgusting shifters don't belong with normal humans." The man said as he cocked back a pistol and aimed for their heads.
Gavin screamed in fury and raised his rifle and pulled the trigger. He had to protect the females. He had to save them. He was expecting recoil and noise from using the firearm. Only the rifle didn't do anything. It wouldn't fire. Gavin tried again and again, but no bullets came out.
Bang.
Aria's cat-like head snapped back, then forward, blood trickled down her forehead.
"That's one," the man giggled with satisfaction. He was practically dancing with glee over the sight of her lifeless body as blood pooled at her feet.
Gavin growled in rage and indignation as he ran forward and tackled the man from behind. He struggled to beat the man and grab the gun from his hands. "How dare you attack them!" He shouted as he punched and slammed the man's hand down on the ground.
"Get off me kid," the man grunted and used his larger size to push or more correctly, throw Gavin off him. Guards rushed into the room and grabbed Gavin from behind.
"You seem to know these animals," the first man said in mock concern. "You can watch them die like animals." He said as he fired a second round and Lyla's head snapped back, blood pouring down her red fur.
"No! You bastard!" Gavin screamed and fought. He tried everything he could to get free and save at least one of them. As hard as he struggled, the guards kept him locked down, refusing to let him move so much as an inch.
Erza groaned and weakly raised her head to look at Gavin. "You failed us. You must get stronger." Her words were drowned out as the man's cackling laughter preceded a third round hitting her in the head and it too, fell forward, pouring blood down her bloodied white fur.
A primal rage settled over Gavin. He threw his head back and roared in pain, anger and loss as he felt that unfamiliar heat buildup in his body. His body grew and contorted in size and length. Black fur grew on his body, his arms elongated. His mouth hurt as a snout grew out.
He let out a baleful, mournful howl. It sounded like a banshee of death itself was in the room. The guards that held him down struggled as Gavin's body shifted and he shrugged off their holds.
"Oh, shut up, you disgusting animal," the man said before he pointed the gun and fired a fourth and final round between Gavin's eyes.
Gavin snarled in rage as time seemed to slow down. Pitch black darkness filled his vision again as the echo of the shot faded off. He was alone, once again in the vast abyss.
While Gavin was having this dream, Erza and Tessa stood outside his door.
As Erza stood in the hallway outside Gavin's hospital room, she watched Tessa storm out of the room and stand in front of her. Tessa's shoulders were tensed as she chewed on her bottom lip.
"He was only there because of his feelings for you. If he hadn't been with you that night, he wouldn't have gone and ended up hurt!" Tessa shouted and pointed her finger at Erza's face.
Erza bit her tongue to keep from lashing at the stupid twit. She took a step forward, closing the distance between them. "He refused to stay home. I tried to keep him there, told him it was probably nothing and that I'd be back shortly," Erza told her, trying to make her understand she was as pissed and worried about him as Tessa was. Tears threatened to break free from Erza's control as she struggled to hold back.
"Exactly. He's not the type to stay back when someone is in trouble. You know that!" Tessa snapped back; tears fell down her tired face. She angrily wiped at her face, her fear and worry plain to see.
"What would you have had me do; tie him up on the chair? Stun him unconscious. What?" Erza demanded, her voice rising as she pressed her. "You know how stubborn and determined he is. He would have gotten free somehow and still gone to the studio. At least this way, I could watch his back and he mine. I might not have made it out of there if it wasn't for him," she answered the girl. Tears filled her eyes, but Erza refused to let them fall.
Tessa seemed to have lost some of her anger when she looked at Erza. Erza was thin, like she hadn't eaten in a couple of days. There were deep bags under her eyes and her clothes and hair were a mess.
She waited a moment as she realized Erza had been genuinely afraid and worried about Gavin the last few days. She felt a pang of guilt at lashing out at Erza. The last few days, all she could do was think of blaming Erza, without Erza in the picture, Gavin would never have been at the studio and placed in that dangerous situation.
"You are right. About all of that with him. I'm sorry Erza, I was just so angry and worried something could have easily gone way worse," Tessa admitted and backed off; they both cared for the reckless idiot in their own ways.
"It's…" before Erza could say anything more, she was interrupted by a scream that came from Gavins' room.