The sun was falling.

Cricket was asleep, and he knew it. 

The moon was cracking.

Cricket was trying to wake up, but with no prevail.

The sky was turning black.

Cricket was frozen, and he couldn't break free of terror's hold. 

The wolves were howling.

Cricket was panicking, and he couldn't calm himself down. 

The teeth were flashing.

Cricket was angry, but he still couldn't move. 

The needles were piercing.

Cricket was in agony, but the pain was dull. 

The man was laughing.

Cricket was asleep, and he knew it. 

~

Cricket Davis sat up so abruptly that the uncomfortable cot below him skidded forward, throwing him backward until he slammed back-first onto the floor. The cot, still caught halfway underneath his legs, overbalanced and jerked upward at the other end; but Cricket hardly noticed it. He closed his eyes again and laid against the hard floor, trying to slow his breathing and his pounding heart. 

You're awake now, he assured himself silently, breathing evenly through his nose to calm himself down, a practice he'd taught himself a few years back when the nightmares had first started. Be calm, Cricket. It was just a dream. 

Slowly, Cricket pushed himself away from the cot, which fell to the floor with a bang, and sat up gingerly. Though the cot was a better choice than the floor, it still left Cricket sore and stiff, especially when he was already tense from dreams. Yawning, Cricket stretched his arms behind him and rolled his shoulders to wake himself up completely. 

When he lowered his arms back in front of him, Cricket couldn't help but stare at them. Every time he woke up, it was like he'd shifted into another freakish nightmare - except this time, he was the nightmarish part of the dream. Once, four years ago, Cricket had been human; but he was hardly that anymore. Now, he was a mixture of a man and a wolf - dark brown fur matted his whole body, growing longer and curling messily around his head and jaw. Sharp black claws tipped his hands, and pointed ears poked through his hair. A wolf-like nose helped him smell anything from far away, and a furry, useless tail flicked behind him impatiently. Long fangs jutted from both rows of teeth, occasionally slitting the inside of his lip if he wasn't careful. He was living a nightmare, and there was no waking up. He'd been forced to learn how to cope with it, because he truly was awake, no matter how much Cricket wished it wasn't. 

The worst part: His best friend, Ember Thompson, hadn't yet seen him like this. When the two kids were young, they were brought together to a lab that seemed to be inescapable. Since they were childish and weren't aware of how bad the doctors really were, the children complied to everything that was done to them. The older they grew, the more they realized that it was not right to test on humans, to change them into monsters and mutants. Five years ago, shortly before Cricket had been altered, the two of them had tried to escape together; but it had ended in horrible punishment and separation. Thankfully, their rooms were next to each other and the walls were poorly made, which allowed them to speak to each other freely. But it meant that Ember didn't know that Cricket was a monster now. 

When Cricket thought about this, fear rose in his chest. Just the night before, Ember had been ranting about another escape attempt. As badly as he wanted to get out of the horrid lab, Cricket knew that it was a suicide mission. If they were caught again, the leader of the scientists wouldn't be happy - and he knew what he would do to them this time. But another thing that caused him to be afraid was the fact that Ember didn't know how wretched of a beast he was. What would she do when she saw him? Would she abandon him and escape herself? 

Cricket shook his head at himself. He knew he was just being paranoid, because Ember had promised that she would never leave him, no matter what. She'd made him promise the same thing, and he'd gratefully done so. Ember was his best friend - he would never forsake her. He just hoped that she felt the same way. 

"You okay, Cricket?" Ember's voice asked from the other side of the wall, the one that was on Cricket's right. "I thought I heard a bang." 

Cricket scooted himself into the corner that connected the back wall and Ember's wall, leaning against it and resting his forearms on his knees. "I'm fine," he assured her with a small smile, even though he knew she couldn't see him. Usually when a loud noise was heard in either room, it was the door opening to reveal a scientist waiting to test on them - so of course Ember was worried. 

"Okay," Ember replied, and her voice was nearer to him, indicating that she too had moved to the corner of her room. "What do you think they'll bring us for breakfast this time?" 

"Probably nothing, like normal," Cricket sighed, resting the back of his head on the wall behind him and staring sadly at the ceiling. Only on special days did the two of them get breakfast, and though Cricket had never had anything fancy, he was sure that the meals they received were nothing of the sort. 

"You never know," Ember said hopefully, and Cricket could picture her suggestive shrug. "That nice woman might bring something this morning. What was her name again?" 

"Opal," Cricket answered, remembering with a small smile the nicest doctor that came to see them every once and a while. Though her loyalty to the horrible cause was firm, she was a nice woman nonetheless. She had bright blue eyes, dull brown hair, and round cheeks that dimpled when she smiled. She was nicer to them than the rest of the doctors who saw to them. 

"Right," Ember said with a tone that sounded like she was smiling, but her tone fell a bit at her next words. "I wonder why she thinks experimenting on kids is okay." 

Cricket didn't reply to this, sighing through his nose and blinking wearily at the ceiling. Often times he wondered this too - what made people think it was all right to steal children from their families and make them superhuman beasts. Cricket didn't know why these people did these things, or how they did them, but he wished that someone would step up and stop them. 

Too many kids had gone through horrible things, all at the hands of these scientists. 

Cricket knew many adults that had grown up in this horrible place, or any of the other main labs that these doctors had. Cricket knew that there were several locations, but he and Ember had never been moved before. But several children often told the stories of how they grew up here, and all but two of them remained living in solitude. 

Stories had gone around the lab that two young adults had escaped, one eight years ago and the other two years after the first. Though Cricket admired them, as did every other prisoner, he wasn't quite sure if it was true or not. First of all, no one but them had managed to escape before then or since then, so how could it be true? Second, they apparently had been twin sisters, which was too coincidental to seem real. 

When Ember had mentioned them the night before, he'd questioned himself again - was it really true or not? Though a few of the prisoners claimed to have known one or both of the girls, how did Cricket know if they were telling the truth? 

"You're being too quiet," Cricket said suddenly, realizing that Ember hadn't spoken against since her last crestfallen sentence. "Is something wrong?" He made sure to keep his voice soft and low, because if he spoke to forcefully or loudly, a growl would lace his words. He didn't want her to hear that. 

"I'm okay," Ember replied after a short hesitation, and because of that pause did Cricket doubt her answer. 

"Did you have a nightmare?" he asked softly, tilting his head to the right and resting it on the wall beside him. Sometimes he liked to close his eyes and imagine that he was leaning on Ember's shoulder, resting his head against hers, like they used to do when they shared a room. 

"Yes," Ember answered quietly, her voice near to his head. 

"It's okay," Cricket assured her. "It was just a dream. And I had one too," he added supportively, clasping his fingers together in front of him. He felt his tail whisking across the floor beside him, and he tried to still it even though he'd learned that it seemed to have a mind of its own. 

"That's depressing," Ember said accusingly. "You should say something like 'Everything is going to be okay', or 'it wasn't real'. Something like that. 'I had one too' is only going to make me feel bad for you too." 

"I did say something like that!" Cricket protested, jerking his head away from the wall and turning to glare at it before realizing that it was just a wall. 

"No, you didn't, bonehead," Ember chided. "You said-" She stopped suddenly. "Wait, you did say something like that." 

"That's right," Cricket said with a triumphant grin. "You should listen more." Though he couldn't see her, he was happy that Ember was right there beside him whenever he needed her. It was torturous, not being able to see his best friend, to have to listen to her voice and only her voice for five years; but at least she was near him. 

Cricket heard Ember sigh, and it was followed by a short bonk near his head. He assumed that Ember had rested her head on the wall, so, hoping to feel closer to her, he did the same. Deep, longing sadness built up in his chest, and he fought it down by clenching his jaw. He missed Ember more than he could bear, and he wanted so badly to see her again; but he didn't want it to be under the "running for their lives" circumstance. He just wanted to stand in the same room as her, to see her, to hug her again. 

"Cricket," Ember said quietly, and though she couldn't see him, Cricket pricked his ears to listen. "We're going to get out of here today. I promise you, Cricket, we are." 

"I hope you're right, Ember," Cricket said softly, staring sadly at the closed metal door in the front of the room. 

He wanted to tell her that he doubted it would ever work, but he kept his mouth closed and hoped for the best.

~

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF FREE IS OFFICIALLY HERE!!

I'm so excited for this book!!

I have no idea where this idea came from, I just wanted to make some side characters that are just purely adorable. 

AND THEY ARE, EVEN THOUGH THEY CAN'T EVEN SEE EACH OTHER-

THAT MAKES ME SO SAD-

AHCK-

Thank you for reading!!!!

P3ac3!!!~~~~