t…
u
o
b
k a
n
i
h
t
e
m
A power of dominance surged and swelled in my body,
ake
m
t
and my vision blurred and turned red before my brain
I
could assess the situation. A door at the end of the corKelsey Aldersley ridor gleamed, and I, like a moth to the flame, took my
chance to escape. Guns sounded behind me as I crashed
Statement of Intention
through the door, still disorientated. Bursting out into
“The purpose of this short story is to emphasise the adthe cold air, I found that my location was not the middle
vance of genetics to a teenage audience.”
of a bustling city, but instead in the middle of a forest in
a makeshift hospital made of crisply-painted white shipBeast from Beauty (La Bête de la Belle)
ping containers. An older male burst through the doors
The common sounds of respirators and regulated beeps
with what I hoped was a tranquiliser gun, yelling: “Bella!
pounded on my eardrums to a steady rhythm. They were
You’re not finished yet!” Finished? Screw that! I fled into
the only noise inside my room I could hear, although a
the cover of darkness supplied by the forest, running as
hushed conversation echoed from outside. The female
fast as my legs could carry me.
was concerned: “She still hasn’t woken up yet.”
A male replied: “We may have to suspend her case and
I woke, collapsed by the shore of an L-shaped lake. My
work further on the mammalian test subjects.” They
throat, still raw, gravitated me towards the water. I
recessed down the hall.
chugged water into my body, stopping only to cough it
I moved to brush my hair off my face, only to find both
out of my lungs. I looked down into the gleaming mirror
my wrists were zip-tied to the bed. Damn. How long had
and screamed. My face was completely disfigured. They
I been here for? My throat was incredibly raw, silencing
had removed, replaced, and extended the bones in my
my potential screams. Had I thrown up? No, I would
face in order to morph it into a frightening scowl. My
have remembered. Maybe there had been tubes. They
nose had been completely removed, leaving only slits
might have pumped my stomach. That would explain
for me to breath through. My jaw was dislocated, permy hunger… I felt so weak, weaker than I usually felt
manently fixed in front of my face, my chin sticking out
in hospital. I must have come close to death this time.
where my nose would usually obstruct my field of viMaybe I had even succeeded and they brought me back.
sion. This, however, was not the most terrifying change.
I never quite understood the concept of saving someone
Patches of varying colours, shapes, and sizes of scales
like me. Either way, my latest attempt had taken all of my
held my face in place, stitches still crowding the edges.
strength out of me, so I decided to conserve my energy
The webbed spines rose from my head, resembling the
rather than bothering anyone.
comb of a rooster, were slick with mucus. My eyes, howWhen I woke up, the vertical blinds had been pulled and
ever, remained the same, and screamed from behind the
the sterile white turned into a midnight blue. The moon
demonic mask I wore.
must have been full, as I could see perfectly fine. I deFearing the worst, I stood up to survey the rest of my
cided I needed to see someone, and so I began twisting
body. The brown, green, and yellow patches of scales
my wrists in order to free my hands from the ties. Upon
became more uniform, forming neat, vertical lines down
clenching my fist, my fingernails scraped my wrist. Why
my body, forming ridges along my sternum and spine.
would they not cut my nails? Had they given up on me?
The scales traced lines down my torso and limbs, even
I knew the feeling… Painfully forcing a nail between the
being meticulously sewn onto my elongated fingers. My
tie on my right wrist, I sliced through the plastic with
bones seemed as though they had been stretched like
ease. Strange… I cut through the other tie and shifted to
elastic, yet still remained in place. My browned nails
the edge of the bed. My legs felt weird. Were my knees
jutted from my fingertips and were thick as steel, yet
facing the right way? Those drugs must be pretty strong…
remained uncurved. The elongating process had been
The machines began buzzing as I ripped and snipped the
replicated on my feet, resembling swim-fins. At least the
cords attached to my body.
nails were shorter there.
I staggered to the door, forcing it open with a crash, hitMy legs… They were shorter - shortened - my thighs
ting the hallway, denting the plasterboard. I rushed down
almost joining my torso, as my pelvis had been tilted,
the hall desperately, falling forward and… was running
presumably in order for me to be both bipedal and quadon all fours? I spotted the first person I had seen in God
rupedal. My calves had also been broken into two parts,
knows how long and growled at him. He reached for a
with an added joint, to form an extended ankle. My legs
handgun below his coat but we collided, his bones break
overall resembled haunches of a wolf or even - ironically
under my weight.
- the beast from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast”. However, there was no beauty in this beast’s life, and definitely
no happy ending.