Deadly desires: the Donna's obsession.

WARNING: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Before you dive in, a fair warning: this is a fast-paced, spine-chilling ride filled with morally gray characters, chilling experiments, and the haunting reality of what it takes to survive.

It contains graphic Sex/Explicit Content, moral Ambiguity/Unsettling Themes, graphic Gore/Violence, mature Themes/Disturbing Content and dark Humor/Uncomfortable Situation.

The first few chapters might be relieving but after…I won't say more.

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Beware of Graphic gore/Violence.

Thursday, September 5th.

Twelve Years ago,

Ten-year-old Scarlett lay curled up in the corner of a cage.

You heard that right. Not a cell, but a literal cage, as if she were some animal on display.

The cold metal bars dug into her frail body, her knees pressed to her chest.

The air was suffocating, thick with the coppery scent of blood and the sour stench of sweat.

Around her, rows of other cages stretched endlessly, each holding children just like her. Most of their eyes were hollow, luckily having already lost hope.

The rest?

They clung to it desperately, even though it only made the fall harder.

A rustling sound suddenly came from beside her, and she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Hey." a boy's hoarse whisper broke through the silence.

Her body stiffened, but she didn't answer.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice cracking, as if he hadn't spoken in days.

But she still didn't respond. She barely even moved.

He crawled closer, the dirt on his face streaked with tears and desperation. "I'm talking to you. Are you..."

Her eyes suddenly snapped open.

Before he could say another word, she launched herself at him.

Her small frame moved with the ferocity of a wild animal, a blur of sharp teeth and clawing hands.

Her jaws latched onto his throat.

"Aghhh!" The boy's scream tore through the silence.

She bit down harder, her teeth sinking deep into his flesh. His blood flooded her mouth, hot, metallic and intoxicating.

"Stop! Please!" he gasped, thrashing beneath her.

But she didn't stop. Her nails dug into his shoulders, pinning him down. Months of starvation had stripped her of all reasoning. She didn't see a boy. She saw meat.

How long had it even been?

Six. Seven months?

She wasn't even sure anymore.

She'd been kept alive by only the drugs pumped into her veins, keeping her just barely breathing while her stomach practically gnawed at itself.

She wasn't living, she was surviving.

Her jaws locked, her teeth scraping his vein, and she bit down again, tearing into his flesh.

"Ahhh..." the boy's scream broke into a gurgle as blood bubbled from his throat. His struggles weakened, his body twitching under her grip.

Around them, the other children watched. Some didn't react, their expressions dead, while others drooled with envy.

She didn't care of either. The hunger that roared at her veins, drowned everything else.

The boy's pulse began weakening, but she just kept sucking.

And then finally...his eyes rolled back as his body went limp. He was dead.

Still, she didn't stop. She tore a strip of flesh from his neck and chewed, swallowing greedily.

The metallic tang coated her tongue, and her primal instincts overrode any trace of humanity she once had...or thought she had.

Suddenly, a loud creak echoed through the room.

She froze, blood dripping from her lips, as the heavy metal door swung open.

Two burly guards entered, their faces expressionless.

One immediately pointed a thick finger at her. "You. Come with us."

She glanced up and locked eyes with him. Without hesitation, she rose to her feet.

The boy's lifeless body slumped to the ground, his mangled throat a mess of exposed flesh and bone.

The guard stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as he smirked, flashing his bright yellow teeth. "You've got some bite in you, huh?"

She tilted her head and smiled back, a wide, maniacal grin that made him falter for a split second. The blood that stained her teeth, glinted under the dim light, adding to the ominous vibe.

"You brat!" The second guard shoved her hard from behind, his boot slamming into her back. "What are you smiling about? Better keep that attitude when you meet the scientists."

Scarlett stumbled forward, catching herself on the bars of the cage.

But instead of crying out, she laughed. A low, unsettling sound that echoed in the tense silence, then as fast as she started, she stopped. "You don't have to tell me. I plan to."

For some reason, hearing her words, sent a chill down their spines. Why did it feel like they were talking to some sick bastard instead of a little girl? Had one of them finally lost it?

He shook his head. No, how could it be? How could he be getting chills from a little girl?

With a scowl, he kicked her again, harder this time.

She fell to her knees but still kept laughing.

Looking up at him, she clapped her hands. "Do it again, do it again."

He hesitated. Seems something was really wrong with her?

"Come on!" she goaded. "Is that all you've got?"

"Shut up and walk." the first guard growled, dragging her to her feet.

She pouted but complied, walking silently as they led her out of the cages, shutting it behind her.

They then led her up the creaking wooden stairs and into a blindingly bright hallway.

The stark white walls and sterile air were a sharp contrast to the filth she'd just been living in.

Men and women in clean, pressed lab coats bustled past, their faces blank and gazes cold. Armed guards stood at intervals, machine guns slung across their chests.

Scarlett didn't even bother looking around and just kept her head low, but the corners of her mouth twitched, her grin threatening to resurface.

After walking for what felt like ages, they stopped at a door marked Lab 12B.

The door hissed open and the metallic scent of blood immediately hit her like a punch.

The room was dim, with only a single bulb hanging over a surgical bed and the soft beeping of a monitor being the only sound that cut through the silence.

On the bed lay a boy, no older than eight, his body a mangled wreck.

His hands had been cut off, ears sliced off, and one eye even missing. His toes were gone too, leaving only bloody stumps and all over his body was a patchwork of scars.

Chains held him to the bed, preventing any movement, though he only twitched now.

Wires were pierced his skin, some pumping a strange dark liquid into his veins, while others drew his blood out. A thick metal pipe was drilled deep into his skull from below, like a grotesque machine keeping him just barely alive.

Scarlett's eyes lingered on him, her grin fading into something colder, more calculating.

Three scientists, stood in the room, their eyes weary. They were all around forty, with eyes bloodshot from exhaustion but tinged with a bit of madness that couldn't be hidden.

One of them, stood near a table filled with experimenting equipments.

In one of the tubes, Scarlett caught sight of several severed toes floating in a murky liquid. The lady dropped a vial of blood into the test tube, watching intently as it swirled into an ominous shade of red.

The second scientist stood to the side, flipping through some papers. "The subject shows resilience." He muttered, then flipped another page and frowned. "But it seems the cellular decay is increasing."

"Increase input by 20%." The last scientist, standing beside the bed, a woman with dark hair, broke the silence, her eyes narrowing as she watched the boy convulse.

"Increasing input by 20%." repeated a robotic AI voice.

The boy's body arched as the machine's hum intensified, the heart rate monitor beginning to beep faster.

His pale face twisted in agony, veins bulging beneath his skin, as the clanking of chains echoed in the lab.

The woman frowned. "Increase input by 40%."

Again, the boy's body jerked violently, the chains rattling as he thrashed around.

His one eye snapped open, revealing a pure white iris covered in blood-red veins and filled with pain.

His body twitched uncontrollably. It felt like thousands of volts were surging through him, destroying him cell by cell before repairing itself and repeating the process again.

He screamed out in pain but not a single sound was heard in the lab, due to the noise prevention device placed over his mouth. The room was only filled with the relentless beeping of the monitor as the scientists watched without a hint of emotion.

"Increase blood output by 90%." the same lady ordered again, her voice calm, as if a child wasn't dying in front of her.

"Subject's blood output has reduced by 20%. Cells have reached their limit." The AI's voice echoed again.

The woman's eyes narrowed.,

She leaned forward slightly, staring straight at the boy.

The boy's one eye also stared back at her, his expression a mix of horror, fear and hatred.

"Fascinating," She finally muttered, her lips twitching upwards.

"Increase blood output by 30% and input by 95%" she commanded, straightening back as if deaf to whatever the AI had just said.

The beeping of the monitor turned even louder as the boy's eye turned bloodshot, dark veins popping out on his face.

Blood oozed from his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears as his body spasmed, his limbs jerking in all directions, but the clanking chains were the only sound of his torment.

Finally, he reached his peak as his body bucked up once, his eyes rolling back, before limply falling back on the bed with a dull thud.

At this point, the monitor's beeping sound stopped, turning into a flat line.

"Subject 2999 has reached his absolute limit. Cells 1% corrupted by PX-02 serum." the AI announced.

"Another failure." The male scientist muttered, jotting something down on his clipboard. He didn't even spare a glance at the lifeless body. To them, he was nothing more than another failed experiment, a number on their list.

"Well, it isn't technically a failure." The dark haired lady retorted. "We made progress, we can use the data." Her gaze flicked to the other female scientist. "Dispose it immediately."

The lady nodded, clicking a button on the wall.

Scarlett watched as a man in black overalls suddenly walked into the room.

He strode past her and the guards without a word, heading straight for the body.

He unchained him, before stuffing the corpse into a large black bag as if handling something no more significant than a pile of trash.

Zipping the bag shut, he slung it over his shoulder and turned to leave.

"Wait." Scarlett suddenly walked in front of him, blocking his path.

He paused, raising an eyebrow. "What's the problem, little girl? Are you trying to play hero or s..."

"Can I taste it?"

The room immediately went still.

The man blinked, a bit confused. "What did you just say?"

"I asked if I can taste the meat. These two uncles wanted to play with me but disrupted my meal." She pointed at the two guards, then rubbed her stomach. "And Scarlett still very hungry."

"Hahaha..." The dark haired lady immediately burst into laughter, wiping tears from her eyes. "Interesting. Really interesting."

Scarlett's tilted her head. Why was she laughing like some moron? Did she hear a joke or what?

After a while, the woman finally stopped and waved the man off. "Jeremy, you may go."

The man nodded, striding towards the door, but he couldn't help giving one last glance at the strange girl before finally walking out.

Once he was gone, the lady crouched in front of Scarlett, her cold eyes studying the blood smeared across her face.

"It's your turn now, test subject 3000." she hissed, a cruel smile curling at her lips. "Just my lucky number."

Scarlett tilted her head, her lips also curling into a grin, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Lucky for whom? You..." Her voice turned into a growl. "Or me?!"