Chapter 8 – Chap 8

The mournig was getting louder and louder, I could feel it, I was getting closer to Primal. As I roamed those dimly lit hallways,I noticed a symbol written on the wall, it was the name Jessica crossed out, the same symbol Cloe had tatooed on her back, this was most likely written by another Jessica clone, Cloe couldn’t read or write, so I asume the others couldn’t either and whoever made that drawing simply copied what they saw on their or on another one’s back without knowing what it meant.

I could tell I had finally arrived, I was in front of a door, and Primal was behind it. I spent a few seconds that felt like hours thinking about it, should I open the door? What if Primal killed me? Wasn’t it better for me to focus in finding my parents and Cloe? Then again, Primal was a clone, just like Cloe…and just like me. Like Cloe had said the day prior, it wasn’t evil, it just wanted to eat and survive. Well, I supose from here on out I should refer to Primal as a she, out of respect, she was as much of a victim as everyone else.

I slowly opened the door, and there she was, upon detecting my pressence, she almost immediately roaref at me. I instinctively screamed and closed my eyes, and I’d most likely be dead, if it weren’t for the wound that she had on one of her legs, wich made her unable to move, if she tried, she would receive a severe load of pain. That made me reconsider helping her, but…I just had to, she didn’t deserve what my parents had done to her.

“Alright…Take it easy, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Like if I could! I thought. I slowly aproached Primal, trying not to make any sudden moves, she maintained a defensive position, but she didn’t attack me, she probably knew doing so would involve moving, and that would hurt.

I inspected her wound, it looked like it was done with a weapon, something like a machete, like the one my parents were carrying earlier, Primal had most likely attacked them, so they fought back using the weapon, leaving her to die.

I inspected the room to see if there were any tools I could use to heal her, I only found a pair of scissors. I wondered what could I do for a bit, and then and idea came to me, I used the scissors to cut a piece of shirt, and used it to cover Primal’s wound.

“There, that won’t fully heal you, but it should make you feel better. I don’t know why I keep talking to you, you probably can’t understand me anyway…”

Primal slowly tried to stand up, it was a bit painful, but it was working. Once she was finally standing, she fiercely attacked me with her huge claw. I still don’t know how I managed to do it, but my survival instincts kicked in, and I jumped back. The claw still hit me, but it only managed to rip my shirt and leave a long scratch in the chest. I flinched, but I was fine, if I had reacted just a millisecond too late,however,things would’ve had gone far,far worse. I slowly walked away from Primal, she took a step forward,and another, and another… The wound had made her slower, but she was definitely still a threat, I had to run.

Two branching pathway stood before me, wich one was the best option, left or right? Primal was coming for me, I didn’t have much time to choose. After a split-second decision, I went for the left path, and what a decision it was! Waiting for me at the end of the hall…was a dead end.

There was no time left for me to turn back, Primal would catch me if I did, I had to hide in a room.

The room I hid in had a shelf full of books and a table. Dozens of papers were all over the table, some were even on the ground. I picked one up to inspect them, and discovered they were files, containing information on each and every Jessica Clone. Each file contained the clone’s date of birth , their number in relation to other clones, as well as their traits and characteristics, wich made them defective in my parents’ eyes.

After reading a bunch of files, I finally found hers…It had a photo of a baby, asleep in a fetal position inside some kind of capsule. That black hair and the missing eye gave it away…Cloe.

When I checked what her date of birth was, I couldn’t belive it…acording to that paper, she was…16 years old? Then, once I started to look at her other info, I understood. She was clone number 23, she was deemed defective because of incorrect color hair, missing body parts ( the eye) and…slow metabolism. Cloe was actually older than me by almost a year, but she grew up slower than other people, that’s why she still looked and behaved like a 7-year-old.

I heard loud footsepts approaching, it was Primal. I hid under the table, curled up into a ball and hopedfor the best. For a few seconds she stood there, in the middle of the room, trying to pinpoint my position with her senses of hearing and smell.

She then started walking again, walking towards the table, towards me. Then I realized, my scratch, the scratch I had on my chest because of Primal’s attack from earlier, it had started bleeding and Primal had smelt it. She was mere inches away from me, I was still curled up, under the table,with my eyes closed. I heard Primal’s screech, was this the end, was she about to slice me in half with her claw? I then heard something fall to the ground, it sounded like something heavy.

When I noticed death wasn’t coming and decided to open my eyes, I saw what had fallen down, or rather,who. Primal had been knocked out by my mother, using a stun gun.

“You have to be more careful!”

My mother approached me.

“Get away from me! What have you done with Cloe?”

“Who’s Cloe?”

I showed her Cloe’s file.

“Oh, that…specimen. Don’t worry, she’s not dead…yet.”

“IF YOU PUT YOUR DISGUSTING HANDS ON HER, I FUCKING SWEAR…”

“Alright, Jessica, take it easy! If you wish to see her, come with me.”

“You think I’m an idiot? I’m not coming with you!”

“Look, you have two options, you come with me by choice, you come with me by force.”

“You’re kidnapping me!”

She didn’t respond and pointed her stun gun at me. I had no choice, so I reluctantly agreed.

“Good girl.”

“Shut up! I’m only doing this for Cloe.”

“Anyway, you’ll have to help me with this…thing, we’re taking it with us too! Hurry up, your father’s waiting!”

I grabbed Primal by her arms and started dragging her along, my mother pointed her stun gun at me for the whole trip.

“I’m sorry…”

I whispered to her.