He cannot be trusted.

I'm aware of that Karo, but we need answers.

A deep resonating growl filled her conscious, vibrating through her. A string plucked, it flowed and sent anger waves across her being. Well, Karo was certainly not shy about sharing his feelings. Rene could probably learn a thing or two about it from him. Not that she even knew what she was feeling right now. She everything was coursing through her. She knew she had overreacted to what Dr. Laurel said about Michael. She knew, logically, that she should get Michael's side of the story. She was also incredibly aware that she barely knew Michael. They had become surprising close over a short period of time. Yet, she hadn't told him everything about herself, so she had no right have expected something different from him when she didn't offer the same curtesy. So why did it feel like her insides were being pulled out and rearranged? Loyalty was always her pinnacle of friendship. She was the one who agreed with the novelty that a good friend comforts you when someone hurts you and a great friend gets a shovel. Were her and Michael even friends that something like that mattered? If not, then why did she care? Why did she break like that? Rene hardly ever cried until lately, which was another issue entirely. Sure, she had done it on occasion, but it was so useless that even when she cracked she would patch up the leaks quickly and move on. Yet this gut wrenching fissure that had formed refused to be just patched up. She wasn't emotionless. She wasn't the strong cold ice princess. She was just a crazy girl being bogged down by the emotions. Her server couldn't process. She choked on the thought. She couldn't crumble down. The wall had to hold.

"Start." Her voice cracked and croaked within her throat. It sounded worse than a frightened child, broken record, and nails on a chalkboard combined. Tremors ran across her nerves tugging at the frays pieces. Damn it.

Sweet calming cool swept through her fevered body. Together young one? Kai gently prodded.

Together...When had she become so accustomed to not being alone? When had she actually started to enjoy and rely on the people guarding her back? She supposed it was all Cassie's fault in the end. They would have to have a talk about friendship when this was all over. The thought gave her strength. Yes, when this was dealt with her and Cassie and even Danny would sit and talk about how Rene was expanding her social circle and they would tease her about her finally going soft.

"Start...start with what, what is this place? What is the asylum really?" Rene stuttered out.

Dr. Laurel smiled blue lines tracing the paths of his body's flow. He sat down on top of the desk, complete disregard for Miss Rachel and her order of things. Stuff slid and rolled off the sides clattering to the ground. Miss Rachel raised her eyes in surprise, but it was the only acknowledgement of the disrespect. Dr. Laurel carefully folded his legs to sit cross-legged. She wondered if those tubes ever got clogged up with all of his movement. It really couldn't be too hard to pinch them, now could it? Back-up plan note for later, they were probably important so stopping them would be beneficial. Now that was her, making plans and planning the game. At least, it was the her she wanted to always be. Karo's words found their way back to the surface. Humans were such fragile beings, both physically and mentally...perhaps that was true. She was fragile compared to some and strong compared to others. She was a contradiction of thoughts and emotions. She never really knew what to expect to find inside her own mind. It was worst then one of those Russian nesting dolls, and she couldn't ever seem to find the center doll. She was chaos and order, fighting internally in a way that could no one could call balanced like the dragons on her arms. She was lightning, something hot, destructive, bright, and quick to end. She was glass, breakable, fragile and able to be seen through more easily than she could ever admit to herself. Fulgurite, that's was what it was called, the lightning glass. Nothing like what was shone in movies, fulgurite was created when, by some rare occurrence in nature, lightning struck sand and discharged a heat high enough in the right minerals to fuse it into a structure. The structures could widely vary in appearance often branching out into little tree-like things. It was rough and rocky on the surface but smooth and hollow inside. Each was different, certainly not boring. They were considered something rare and to be valued. Petrified lightning that was another word for it. In a lot of ways it was similar to Rene, and in many others it was not.

"As I'm sure you are well aware, the asylum, as you so call it, is a bordering school for trouble youth that is certified and specializes in mental health illnesses." She could practically feel his words wrapping strings around her tighter and tighter. If she wasn't careful she would soon be a puppet dancing for his whims as well, but she couldn't keep pushing off answers, if what he said could even be considered that. "The goal of the asylum has always been to help those in need by guiding them to a better future where they can rejoin society."

Out of the corner of her eye, Rene could see Michael making puppet hands mocking the doctor. She turned unconsciously towards the distraction. Noticing her strayed gaze, Michael gave her a grin and made the two hands start kissing. His face was light up with childish amusement, but his eyes seemed haunted. He waited, continuing the mini puppet theater. So it was true, he did it on purpose to get her to react. Why though? Rene returned her attention to Dr. Laurel, Michael's hands slowly fell back to his side in sync with her rejection.

"That's not true." Lora spoke up resting one hand on her hip to where it barely graced the re-holstered firearm. "The things going on here are definitely not in these children's best interest."

Children, was that what they were? Nothing but naive little children that needed to be saved from the mad scientist.

"Keep going." Rene whispered, she could feel Lora stiffened next to her. "How is it you are helping them?"

A gentle tutting noise came from his lips. He reached up pulling long fingers through the electrified blue hair. Little bolts of lightning jumped and played with his fingers with each twitch of a follicle. His fingers danced in the tips before coming away with one of the little yellow zig-zags crackling on them. He twitched his fingers, moving the electricity an instrument to be tuned. Dr. Laurel smile flicking it at a piece of paper. A clean hole was seared through the document and into the floor. He gestured patiently with a nod of his head at it. Rene went over and picked up the singed file. Tattoo number ten was typed in bold as a sub-header under her name. Her skin crawled in warning.

Two sets of hands had started shaking in that office, for very different reasons. Rene's shook in fear. The one he had chosen wasn't even that bad. It's not like it was anywhere intimate. It was actually a rather mundane place to have a tattoo. Yet, all the thoughts of the times she had been striped to be searched and scrubbed down after an ink's appearance were barely concealed by the fog of her mind. The memories were scarcely planted, only a scant fresh layer of dirt kept them from her. She hadn't been able to bury them deep enough, not when it had kept happening. Still, she just needed to get it done and over with. She needed to not think, though that was barely possible most of the time. She took a deep breath and focused on the burning sensation from holding it. Out. She released it, counting her heart beats as she remained empty. One, two, three, four, five heartbeats. She crouched, down all eyes on her. It was worse than being examined by the doctors who usually did it. They had examined her with a scientific eye. It was cold and clinical. It was their job. They had purposefully created a distance between themselves and the patient. It made her feel, less like she had been put on display. It made it easier to write off and ignore. However, the electric blues, the shaking pale blue-spider tubed hands, and that carefully composed smile were not scientific. They were intense and invasive. Everything about him screamed desire for what was coming. This was not scientific. It was the prize pig come to slaughtering.

The gray sweat pants easily slid up to her knee revealing a white calf. Her leg was skinny, but decently toned from all the running she did. Pretty much were where all her protein went, sometimes she was surprised she took in enough to even maintain any muscle there. Laid out straight up and down the length of her right shin was a double axe. A long black staff connected the two different heads. The heads of the axe were shining obsidian black curved metal like two crescent moons. The crescents were connected to the staff by a silver triangle that went through the rod and out the other, forming an arrowhead-shaped poll that seemed to be razor sharp. Black spikes came off of the staff at both ends as well. It was a battle axe made for war. A weapon to slaughter those in its wake. A weapon that more likely than not could come off her skin. She dropped her pant leg abruptly.

A slow booming clap had filled the room. "My, that really is something. It's one thing to see a picture, but in person." He clapped hard. "Very impressive Miss Sparks."

"She's a human being, not some...test subject." Michael growled.

Dr. Laurel blinked at Michael, his eyes glowing straight through his lids. She wondered if that meant he could still see even with eyes closed. "I know that Mr. Prince. In fact, that is one of my favorite parts about Miss Sparks." He stood up, quickly gliding across the room with an unnatural grace compared to his body. He got right in Rene's face so suddenly she didn't have a chance to react. "Yes, she is something different. Human right down to that core of hers; however, she is not like any other human on the face of this planet. Special so special." He muttered to himself as he pulled away just as abruptly walking back to the desk.

Twitches of unease raced through her. She could feel the residue of his electricity licking at her trying to find out all her secrets. Rene crossed her arms across her chest digging her nails into her arms to feel something besides the great sense of uncontrol. He had gotten so close. He could have touched her and she wouldn't have been quick enough to stop him. It made her want to peel off her own skin, the abysmal thought of him touching her. This wasn't like other people touching her. Other people's touch made her uncomfortable and almost itching. She knew on some level that it was because of her mother. The one person she had trusted above all else, had decided to try and flay her. She had developed her aversion to touching soon after. She wasn't an idiot and could put two and two together. Touching became something too physical and emotional. It invited a level of trust, putting your fragile barrier that held your life together in someone else's hands. So no, she didn't like people touching her. But his touch, this man's touch, would be like all that and worst. The thought of his hands on her skin was like that of an uninvited seducer, looks of love and care while they tore you apart.

"Continuing." Rene snapped back to reality as Dr. Laurel cleared his throat. "I was not lying, Ms.Caboda. The goal of the asylum is to help the residents and the procedures done here are most certainly in their best interest. Take Miss Callaway for example," Rene hissed in a breath, Kristy. Kristy had said that he had gifted her. That he had made her special.

"You did that to her?" Michael shouted. "She was falling apart. Her mind was nothing but anger and insanity. Whatever was keeping that husk of a body moving despite being shredded, was not human anymore."

"Of course she was human. She was just improved. I made her special."

Nothing. Her heart stopped. No beats to count. Her brain screamed. Her blood pushed and slugged against a nonexistence pump. Kristy...Oh God poor Kristy.

Rene! Karo roared, the shock of hearing her name from Karo for the first time stuttered her back into being.

Thundering blood pounded in everywhere. She was surprised it didn't come bursting out of her, like the flood breaking down the gates.

"You know he's never going to finish the story darling if you keep interrupting."

Rene pinched her neck in her whip to see the familiar drawl. Scarlet was leaning against the door frame. Color had since returned to her and the Native American goddess looked ready to be worshiped again. Her hand was wrapped tightly around a collar. She flung Declan into the room ahead of her like he was no more than a pillow and deserved to be treated as such. Declan groaned as he sat up.

"I found him trying to get into the artillery room." Scarlet floated into the room. She sat gently in one of the empty chairs folding her legs, again human legs, very lady-like. She was acting like she was late for tea and apologizing for interrupting.

Lora went over and helped Declan to his feet. "You all right?"

He nodded, a new black-eye though was blooming over his face. Rene frowned, her world tossed and turned. So much pain. Still, he had been trying to do something. He had been trying to get them help so they could fight while she was here playing nice to get answers. She shifted upset.

"You called her special, Kristy I mean. I thought you said I was special." Rene cracked.

"Yes, that is true. You are special, rare even. Miss Callaway was gifted to be special." He paused pursing his lips. "Hm...how do I put this? Miss Callaway was made special." He waved a hand absentmindedly at Scarlet. "Miss Waskeshi was born special and you simply are special, now."

"You make it sound like I'm some sort of chosen one."

"On the contrary, to be chosen implies some sort of divine hand or process picking you. It makes you sound unique, one of a kind. Do you really think you are so special to have been the only one to have those dragons stained into your skin?" She couldn't breathe. He laughed the sound distant and distorted. "I must admit you are special as you have lived far longer than the last ink bearer. Though, that may have been partially may fault. Dismemberment was taking it just a tad too far. I was still fairly new to my field and I just didn't think the boy would bleed out so fast."

Kai...Karo...

The words ghosted through her mind. They were frighteningly weak thoughts. Names whispered by a child.

Body and mind must be ready before we can be freed, otherwise they will be torn apart. There was nothing we could do Young One.

But why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say there were others before me?

What was there to say Fledgling? Were we to tell you that with each breath you take death shall come for you? Who would that save? No one! You would simply have hidden away for the rest of your life. No, we did the right thing by omitting the truth. It is the way it has always been. We are beings of the beyond, beyond humanity's comprehension and it would have remained that way if for the mistakes of weaker minded humans.

We are myths and legends. The stories have been inspired by us, yet none are actually about us. Do you understand? We are not meant to part of the human's world, not so completely. It is why we need a human host. We are the guardians and protectors, the guides to balance for a world in constant flux.

Over her head, so in over her head. She had waded into deep waters and realized that she had gone under like three feet back. There was no way she could swim all the way back now and she was running out of air. Oh dear God help her.

"You're talking to them, aren't you?" His eyes shone as his hands reached out desperately. "I was waiting for them you know. I cut off the boy's legs where they had been on him to try and get them, but they moved. As I cut them off, the dragons actually moved to his arms. So I cut those off too, and then he stopped moving. I thought for sure I could have them then, the dragons would be mine, but instead they disappeared. The other ink though, that started sliding off the boy in globs. Giant inky blobs fell all over the floor mixing with his blood. That's where I got these you see." He tapped his tubes. "Well, part of what flows through me anyway. Of course, I had to tweak the formula a bit and if anything I improved it. Still, I thought if I had the ink the dragons would have to come to me and I was right. Because here you are giving them to me, with whom they belong."

"What the hell?" Michael gagged.

Declan struggled against Lora. "Why would you want those things anyway? How do you even know about them?"

"Simple really, I have always been a scientist in my soul. I always was looking into the dark and discovering things I shouldn't. I knew the truths that hide from human eyes. It fascinated me. These creatures were feats of evolution and magic. They were special. I wanted to be like them, just think of the scientific marvels that could occur if we could harness their gifts. Then one day, the tattoos appeared but not on me. They showed up on my younger brother. He was the youngest; he didn't deserve that kind of power and gifts. He didn't realize what a blessing he had received. I did. I knew about the dragons stories. I had been the one who did all the research when they first painted him. I was the one who went through centuries and millennium of vague lore to piece together the truth. Yet, my brother was the one who got to become a living weapon for humanity, no. I knew the truth, I had the scientific knowledge to use the darkness I found." He pointed at Scarlet who had pulled a file from somewhere and was doing her nails. "I will be the savior of the Earth. So no Miss Sparks you were not chosen, you are nothing but the delivery system."