Lili’s eyes flashed open stinging with sweat that fell from her brow. She looked down to find her arms and legs bound to the edges of the cot with steel shackles, no easily cut nylon this time. Panic swelled inside her as she saw the bars that glinted and taunted her from the mirror and the door. Screaming with rage and kicking with all of her might, Lili began to push against the limits of her bonds, her wrists and ankles quickly becoming raw and drawing forth blood once again. The door flew open and two men in lab coats rushed in, one with a towel that he shoved over Lili’s mouth and nose and back she went into the darkness.

Harrison stretched out lazily as he awoke the next morning. A tray of oatmeal and some orange juice had already been set on a rolling cart beside his bed. He sat up hungrily and gulped down his breakfast. Kate came in to check on him a few minutes after he finished eating and was contentedly sitting on his bed, smiling at the memory of the girl he had seen the night before.

“We’re going to try something bigger today for your tests,” Kate said as she cleaned up his breakfast. “Oh really?!” Harrison asked excitedly, quickly sitting up and leaning towards Kate, all of his attention on her. “Yes, I’ll be back in a little while, we have someone we’d like you to spend some time with,” she replied as she opened the door and wheeled the cart out. Harrison lay back onto his cot and smiled up at the ceiling, his thoughts dancing with the idea of meeting the small girl in black once again.

Kate came back within the hour and ushered Harrison out of his room with two other scientists as an escort. They moved through the maze of hallways, turning this way and that, until they came to a door like all the others, but this one stood at the end of a long straight hallway.

Harrison entered a room that was dimly lit, but very spacious. Upon closer examination, he noticed that the room appeared less sterile and more comfortable with a wooden table with two chairs, a gigantic burgundy plush couch, a rug, and a bookcase with a few books that had fallen over. He walked the length of the room, examining everything, his curiosity was as big as his stomach that morning. Kate watched him from the doorway making notes on a clipboard.

By the time Harrison finished assessing the space, he looked up to see that Kate was gone and the door had closed. He walked back along the opposite wall and even in the dim light could make out his murky reflection in yet another wall sized mirror that ran the length of the room.

The door opened again, white light spilling into the space, which drew his attention away from the mirror and onto the scientists who walked in behind a small figure with its head hung in defeat. Harrison rushed forward to meet the girl again, the scientists quickly stepping out of the space and closing the door. Harrison pulled the girl to him in a big hug, but quickly received a sharp blow to the gut from her left elbow.

He staggered back, surprised that she would attack him. “Are you okay?” he asked gently as he moved forward towards her again, she shuffled further back towards the door. “What’s your name?” Harrison continued as he slowly moved towards her. Her face tilted up for the first time, her eyes gleaming with hatred.

Terrified Harrison took a step back, she wasn’t the same girl he had held in his arms the night before. Sensing his weakness, she moved forward in one swift motion, a sharp pain caught Harrison on the right side and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath. The door crashed open, causing Lili to fall to the floor in a heap. Lab coats swarmed the room, dragging Lili’s growling body out the door, and pulling Harrison onto a gurney.

As Harrison was rushed down the white hallway, he saw the girl struggling, snarling, and scratching at the four men it took to take her down. He saw as he winced in pain what she had stabbed him with, a small red glass object she was wielding against the scientists was splattering their lab coats with red as she cut her way through them to escape.

Suddenly Harrison’s gurney stopped as his two scientists rushed to block the girl as she tore away from her captors towards Harrison. She sliced through them, causing both lab coats to bend over in pain as she leapt over them and towards Harrison. Lili pushed off the edge of the gurney with her left hand and like a cat landed on her feet on the other side and kept running. Harrison pushed himself up onto his elbows, wondering where she was going to go, and why he still loved the little creature that had stabbed him only moments before.