3 Chapter 3

"Her screams echoed in the small white room. She had been screaming for hours but her screams, they never lost their volume. She was tied to another of their contraptions, her sister by her side, Charolette was already passed out on her side of the room, their experiment being a failure on her.

Lucky for them they had two identical specimens with which to conduct their experiment.

Clarissa kept screaming, the pain needing some means of expression as they tried to rip a part of her from her body.

Her demon.

The being tied to her soul since birth, the reason she was deemed so special. It was impossible to remove the demon but that did not stop them from trying. It was like clockwork these days. Every week they would try the same experiment with a few changes and the same results.

Well, it always felt the same to Clarissa. The pain was never explainable and she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy. It was as if someone severed her soul from her body with a heated knife and threw it towards the sun. but then again, this was far more painful than that.

She screamed a bit more, hearing Charolette's unconscious whimpers as she laid a few feet from her, recovering from her turn on the machine.

After a final wave of pain and a few enraged curses from the disappointed scientists, the machine was turned off.

It was over,

for now,

and then it would be worse than before."

***************

Clarissa woke slowly from her nightmare. It was nothing new. The memories she had of that place occupied her dreams every time she allowed herself to sleep. At least this one didn't make her scream anymore.

She felt a soft lap beneath her head and guessed that one of the girls had taken her off the floor. She had taken quite a beating from the huge creature. His black hair and purple eyes sent a chill through her and his human exterior did little to hide his beast from her.

She managed to open her eyes slowly, hearing the voices of her sisters around her but unable to understand what they spoke of.

"We need to hurry. They intend on having us out of their house before dawn," she recognized Sydanne's voice, watching her intently as she shoved clothes into suitcases. Clarissa's blood boiled as she viewed the bruises and cuts that were evident on Sydanne's skin. The bruises on her arms and shoulders were black and blue and the scrams on her arms were bleeding. Her once flawless face was marred by a deep cut from her temple to her cheek which was bleeding openly.

"But where will we go? We can't take the chance of being tracked," Geo was pacing the room they were in. Her injuries were minor and she only had bruises on her arms. Clarissa felt a bit happy that she wasn't hurt more.

"We need to leave now. I don't care where we go, just as long as we are far from these men," Clarissa realized she was laying on a bed with her head resting gently on Georgie's lap. She shifted slightly, drawing attention to herself as the girls realized she was awake.

She slowly sat up, her head feeling heavy and black dots clouding her vision.

"Clarissa?"

"You're awake."

"How do you feel?"

The questions kept coming as she stood up, stretching to test her injuries. She felt sore from working her human form over drive but the aches would fade soon. She smiled gently at her sisters, assessing them a bit more and then shaking her head.

"It seems we'll be on the run again," her words pricked their anxiety and they all looked at her worriedly. "We have to move fast. We created a window of opportunity when we escaped their surveillance," she reached into her mind a bit to find her demon pacing angrily in a corner. It was furious. Apparently not allowing it to lash out at the beast downstairs enraged it. Clarissa frowned, "We will have to move fast to get to the airport. My demon is not cooperating right now so we can't just jump dimensions that way. They've checked Dimension 13 for us countless times so they won't look there again for a while. We can hide in our safe house till I figure something out and while where there I'll find that demon who sold us this house and retrieve our cash," she sighed deeply, "That and I'll have to contact Charolette. I'll need her."

They all gasped at her last statement. The twins had had a silent agreement never to contact each other until Charolette was ready to come back.

She would be pissed.

The girls packed up everything they carried to the house in less than two hours and got dressed in various combat clothes, careful to each put on their skin tight bullet proof vests under their black clothes.

Clarissa was miffed at getting dooped but she only saw it as a sign. Someone up there must want them to stop running. It was time for them to fight their way out of this mess.

"It's time for you to leave," Calli came to get them, his frame draped over the door frame as he watched them lazily. He took in their attire and frowned to himself. They were definitely not normal girls and he felt his unhealthy need to solve mysteries kick in. He was curious about these women.

They said nothing to him and just nodded, their expressions blank as they picked up their luggage with ease, walking past him.

**********************

King looked out the living room window as a white viper sped through his drive way. It was the latest model and he was almost certain it belonged to his brother. The guy was obsessed.

He looked back at Hero who was still crying over his broken television and refusing to be consoled even when King told him they could replace it in an hour. King shook his head at how ridiculous he was being. Television was a trivial matter when they had a monster among them.

She made his skin boil.

And he would have ended the miserable creature's life right then and there if her sister hadn't been there, fighting him with a fearlessness that made him curious. It was as if her own life meant nothing to her. Her eyes told him she would end him and still sleep with a smile on her face, and he believed those eyes.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he realized that a red head, that was a dead ringer for that demon spawn he had fought earlier, was walking towards his front door with a purpose. Her movement was slow and concentrated as she walked up the steps, blood dripping from her temple as she cradled her arm.

A part of him wondered what happened to her but a bigger part of him wanted to throw her off his property. She had no right to be here.

"Clarissa! Clarissa! Open up! I need you!" her voice was strained and the sound of her pounding against his wooden door was faint, as if she barely had the strength to do it.

He took a couple deep breaths and moved slowly to the door, taking his sweet time to open it.

She paused when she saw him. Fear was evident as she bit her lip nervously.

Somehow, and much to his amusement, the creature mustered enough courage to glare at him as if he were an insect and ask rather proudly, "Where is my sister?"

He barely held in his growl he realized there were two of them. Two monsters who belonged in hell.

"Who's asking?" his own question made her glare even more and she was about to tell him to get the hell out of her way when a red blur passed him, jumping her and crushing her in a tight hug.

"Charolette? I can't believe you're here. I was going to call you," Clarissa took a good look at her and gasped, "What happened to you?"

"I got found. He is looking now. By himself. And he is so close to finding you. We have to leave. I'll get you somewhere safe and you and I will have to stay low for a bit. I don't plan on going back to that place any time soon."

King stood there silently, watching the interaction as both girls forgot he was there.

"We were just leaving. We need to go now. Are you ok to travel or do you need to rest?" Clarissa couldn't help teasing her sister despite their circumstance. She was so happy to see her other half.

"I have a few questions," King's voice drew their attention, "Who is he? What does he want with you and why do you have my brother's car?"

Both girls chose to ignore him, well at least Clarissa did.

"He is our problem. He doesn't want you and your brother is walking home." She smirked at him and winced as Clarissa dragged her inside.

She made her sit down and bandaged her wounds. The other girls welcomed her enthusiastically but said nothing else because the boys were all there and giving them their full attention. Except for King, who was still standing by the open door, and Hero, who was still lamenting the 'death' of his television, they were all curious and all wanted answers.

Clarissa worked fast and made Charolette go change into combat clothes before she double checked their luggage and were just about out the door.

But if they left the story wouldn't be interesting wouldn't it? Nope, and that's why a grey haired, overly muscled man was currently running up the drive way screaming for King to stop the girls from leaving.

Oh goodie.