Young Writers Society

Serria

I had been awake for a while now, wishing that I had just had some strange dream, but all the images seem too real to be just a dream. Not only that, but the fact that I have been staring at a bright overhead light and and strapped to a table is a very clear indication that it was in fact, not a dream.

The memories of what they did to me-what is signed up for-come rushing back every couple of minutes. Me coming here, them running test, strapping me to tables and then injecting me with something.

Suddenly, the door to my right opens. Turning me head, a female doctor comes in with a clip-bored and looks right at me. "Will you let me out?" I ask simply, knowing what the answer already was.

"No, you have to get out by yourself. Have fun." She says dryly, "Oh, by the way, your a spy." and then she walks out of the room.

Looking at the ceiling agin, I actually notice an open vent. One that was obviously made for me to go through. Okay, so I was an animal that could fly. Closing my eyes, I thought of every bird I could.

Went I got to the falcon, I could feel my body start to shift. I could feel my bones break and then reform. What only took a minute, felt like hours. Hopping up, on my talons, I spread my wings and took off toward the vent. Flying was an amazing sensation. Finally exiting the vent system, I came upon a room with other people who were fighting. Wait a minute. I know these people! She thought as she watched the fight, unable to do anything.

Lon

I opened my eyes, the alarm blaring into my head. I screamed, my highly sensitive ears making it sound like a air horn blowing in my ears. The glass broke and I growled, falling forward till I was on all fours. My skin rippled, before fur grew. My hands and feet turned to paws with claws. My normal ears moved and stretched. My face stretched out to a muzzle, and my eyes turned black. My teeth sharpened and I howled, fully turned into a wolf. I fled out of the white room and saw a falcon fly. I followed it, feeling something familiar about it.

Stanley Durpar


I am in a room, empty except for me, the bed I am lying on, and a woman dressed in white who is anxiously tugging on my foot. I blink hard and rub my eyes, then struggle to a sitting position as it suddenly strikes me: I'm starving.
"Oh thank goodness." The woman, who I am assuming is a nurse or a scientist, straightens up from whatever she was doing to me. She wipes her hands on her coat, looking relieved. "You wouldn't wake up. We were about to move you to the medical ward."
"the medical ward," I repeat, confused. "Aren't we in a hospital?"
"Oh no," she replies. "You're about to begin your training. You're a spy."
I must look extremely blank or something, because the woman heaves a sigh. "As you're so far behind all the others, I'll just help you along a bit. We've altered you so that you have the ability to shift into a fox. You will ne-..."
"A fox!" For some reason, that is the only thing I register. "Why would you turn me into a fox? Why not something manly, like a wolf or a labrador or a pitbull or something?"
"It wasn't my decision to make," the scientist says with a shrug. "Now please do stop interrupting. We have set training up so that you can master your skill as quickly as possible. You will need to shift, and then go through that door."
I follow her finger to see a dog door randomly inserted in the opposite wall. It looks only big enough for a terrier. I can't even be a big fox? My stomach squeals loudly, distracting me. It could be worse; I could have been a pig or something.
"You must begin immediatly if you hope to catch up to your teammates." This causes me to whip my head back to Ms. Scientist so fast that my neck whiplashes. Teammates? What does she mean? And even more importantly...
"May I have something to eat before I... Turn into a, uh, fox?" I ask almost timidly. "I'm very hungry."
The woman gives me a look. "You can figure something out. Now get going."
With that, she leaves me alone in the room.
Instantly I head for the normal door, the one which the woman had just closed. It's locked. I look around. There must be some other way to escape. At first I think this is just a dream, but when I try to walk through the wall it is remains solid. Well, that didn't work. I keep looking. Maybe there's a window somewhere...
Suddenly, a loud scream comes from the wall with the dog door. It sounds like a little girl. My stomach twists. Surely they aren't experimenting on children! I race to the dog door and kneel down. I don't know why I am doing this; there is no way I can get my shoulders through this thing, much less the rest of me.
Another high, quivering scream. I need to help that girl! I need to get in!
Then something weird happens. I get this feeling like I'm falling, my ears start ringing like crazy, and everything abruptly goes dark. The thought floats through my head that perhaps I panicked and passed out, or maybe they poisoned me. But then I stand up and am instantly hit with a wave of sensory overload. The room, which before had been a bit too bright for comfort, now seems brighter and harsher than staring into the sun. I can hear footsteps all around me, marching around surrounding rooms, and muffled voices coming from two floors above me (which leads me to understand that I am in a building). The most intense are the smells. I can smell everything! Shoe leather, medicine, laundry detergent, body odor, blood, disinfectant, metal, paint; everything I can recognize in human form is multiplied a million times in this small, furry body. How animals can stand it I don't know.
Sneezing to clear the scents out of my nose - I could never sneeze on demand when I was a human - I push on the flap that stands between me and the girl. The cool plastic slides over my fur as I enter another room, this one dim and filled with junk. Dirt and hay are piled all over the floor, smelling incredibly strong as everything else does now. Cardboard is everywhere, rolled into large tubes, in boxes piled up, shredded and spread about the ground. This is so weird. Another odor hits my nose, one that I can't place but that makes my mouth water and my stomach wail. Remember, you're saving the girl, I need to remind myself. I listen for a scream.
I only have to wait a second before it comes again, deafeningly loud and right above my head. I look up in surprise: that's not a girl in danger. It's only a fox mating call. Sure enough, when I look up I see no frightened children, only a speaker. It emits another call as I stare at it. Weird.
Satisfied the danger is gone, I turn my attention to the delicious smell. Despite the hay and dirt and what I'm sure is cologne, I manage to pinpoint in one of the tubes. My ears automatically swivel, and I hear a tiny chewing sound. That's when I realize I'm stalking a mouse. I try to stop myself, but to no avail. The thing smells so good. I want it. I want to kill it, feel it's tiny bones crushed in my teeth, taste it's delicious warm body... I find myself crouched and creeping up on Mr. Mouse, then pouncing like the cat. The thing is in between my little black paws, and before I even register what I'm doing I put it in my mouth and start chewing it up. I realize that I am sitting in a room full of hay and cardboard eating a rodent whole, but it doesn't matter. What am I supposed to eat?
I just manage to finish the meal when there is a soft thunk! and a crackling sound behind me. I smell the smoke, see the shadows start to dance around the walls; I don't even need to turn around to know that the room has been set ablaze with me still in it.

Spoiler

Rawr, monster post is attacking tokyo! Sorry this is huge xD

Ree

I tried to pull my thoughts together, to get everything organized in my brain. Okay, so we have a cat-person, a human magnet, someone with alarming political skills, and me, the guy who can make shiny things move. Oh, and there's the person who can walk through walls, but now she's gone and left us here. Which leaves us with just one simple question... "...So what the heck are we supposed to do here?" Glass would shatter under the force of the walls - and anyways, I realized I was nearly exhausted. "Is there some sort of trigger or something? We're going to be made into pancakes in a minute, here!"

Ava

We stand their and hope someone can come up with a plan before we die. We all start to panic. I try to think of a plan, but nothing is coming to me. My powers will not be helpful her at all, unless no one moves. I pace back and forth and think. I walk right into the cat. “Sorry.” I say. Out of the corner of my eye I see a flashing button through the glass. I turn my head. My guess is that is is why the walls are closing. One of the scientist must have pushed it. I grad a knife of the floor and run to the wall. I try to force the knife through the glass, but I am not strong enough. “Vega, Ree help.” They run over. She carves a circle through the glass and Ree pushes out the glass. I run over to the cat. “Go press the button.” I say. The cat prances out of the hole and jumps on the flashing light. The walls stop moving. We all sigh in relief.

Arcadia

As we relax, thankful that we aren't being threatened for now, I pipe up, "Is it just us, or are there others?"

Ava shakes her head. "I don't know, but we should probably look for them and try to help them."

"What if there aren't any others though and we just run into more danger?" Ree asks. "It sounds really risky."

"Well, there was that girl that could move through walls," I shrug. "She's probably still out there somewhere."

"So? She looked fine to me. If something happened, we'd be the ones in trouble, not her," Ree insists.

Dharius

It has finally ended.

A damn good sensation got over my body when my last wound finally dissapeared. Ten tortures. Ten different things that should have killed me if I didn't possessed my self-healing ability. I survived fire, electricity, blades, and more.Now I can endure pain without moving much, because to be healed I must stay in an idle state. The more calm I am, the faster I'll recover.

But, what now? ... The testers told me to get outta here, but how will I do it? I notice there aren't any doors in the completely white room, just walls of glass. Could I break it? Lucky me, I'm not strapped anymore. I walk forward and hit the glass with my fist. Nothing. Harder. Even more harder. Nothing happens; a little pain appears on my knuckles, but it gets away in seconds. Nice.

I look around me, what can I use to get out? And then I notice a vertical rectangle in the floor... A hatch, maybe. I approach to it and then touch it, searching for something to open the hatchway. But, as soon as my fingers get on it, the little trapdoor moves and reveals a hole.

"Good..." I croak.

I enter the hole and find myself in a narrow passage. But as I move, I notice a buzz..., it comes from both sides... Chainsaws? Damn, didn't they test me yet? But it seems it's the only way. I move slowly through the passage, and when I get closer to the chainsaws, all of them cut my arms. The pain is too much and blood sprinkles out of my body and I try not to scream, although I don't think someone would hear me.

Finally, I get away from the chainsaws and the good feeling of recovering runs all over my arms. It feels refreshing. I climb some stairs and finally escape from that horrible torture. A weird place up here. There is a group of people and... a cat? The rest of the chosen, maybe.

"Hmph. Who are you?" I groan.

Alli

I laugh when I appear on the other side of the enclosing wall. It looks like I've ended up back in the room we had all ended up in, but the moving wall is still behind me, and the others are still trapped. "Maybe I should go back and help them," I say to nobody, then turn around as a grinding creak sounds. The walls have stopped.

I sigh and start walking towards the wall, preparing to phase. As my hand begins to go through the wall, I stop, wondering why my fingers have just bent up against the wall instead of going through. I step back and try again - still no phase. I groan and slump against the wall. Looks like I won't be joining the others again right away. I slide to the floor and land in a cross-legged position, being careful of my wounds.

After taking a few minutes rest, I get up and begin exploring the room, finally seeing that only three of the walls had moved, leaving the wall with the door out of my reach. "Anyone out there?" I yell, my voice still slightly hoarse from the smoke. No reply. I sit down again, leaning up against the wall. Slowly, I lie down and close my eyes. Eventually, I find myself drifting off. I accept the calming darkness with relief.

I wake to the blaring white of the ceiling, feeling refreshed and energetic. I begin to sit up and feel a twinge in my side. I look down at the damage to see that the blood has dried and scabs are starting to form. I take this as a good sign, but still worry that it might get infected.

As I stand up, I notice a bright orange door on the far wall. Funny how they put in a door after I take a nap, instead of when I really needed to. I head towards it, flexing and stretching my muscles.

When I reach halfway, I stop and turn towards the inner wall as an idea comes to mind. I walk over to the wall and begin the phase in my hands. I press my fingers against the wall and smile when they go through. I pull them out and end the phase. I then head towards the orange door. I feel relieved when I find that for once, a door here isn't locked. I open it and step through into an equally orange room. I close the door and hear it lock behind me.

A loud and feminine voice blares from a loudspeaker. "It is preferred that you don't 'phase' out of the room in the next test, as we wish to examine some of your other abilities. You will be severely punished if you do 'phase'. Though, if you don't 'phase', we will reward you when everyone has finished their tests." I sigh, then grimace. I guess it would be best to do what they say.

A loud hissing sound erupts from the floor as it opens up into a metal grate. Water starts pouring out from those holes, slowly filling the room with it's icy fingers.

Stanley Durpar


I dart around wildly, desperate for escape. I can barely hear anything over the roar of the fire, which now takes up half the room, and the smoke blocks my nose. What to do, what to do! I stop a minute to think. They said they were trying to train me fast, so this must be some sort of test. Smelling or hearing is out of the question. I don't need any help learning to run or jump. What else?

As if in answer, my gaze falls upon a rope that's just lying on the ground. I pad over to it and drag it towards me with my paw. It becomes taut; it's attached to something. I follow the rope until I see the door it's attached to. I push on it hopefully. No luck. The smoke is becoming overwhelming, making me feel like I'm not getting any oxygen when I breathe. I cough to try and clear my lungs, but a paste seems to have settled over them both. Eyes watering, I look back at the rope. What do I do with the rope? Maybe I could pull it somehow? My mind is getting all foggy and I start losing my train of thought. I stare at the rope for a few moments before trying to wrap my paws around it; this doesn't work either. I sit down, coughing some more. What the heck am I even supposed to do? Do they just want to watch me fry into a small, black smear? How sadistic. I keep staring at the rope. It looks kind of like an elephant tail...

I don't realize that I've spaced off for like five minutes until the hacking starts again. This time I can't stop. I cough until my stomach convulses and I retch up this yellow liquid. I'm going to die, I realize. I look up at the cloud of grey smoke above me and beg please, please show me the way out! Looking over my shoulder, I gasp in shock to see the flames licking at my tail. I draw it under my stomach and try to concentrate.

Then it hits me. I don't have hands, but I have teeth. Of course! I snatch it up in my mouth, wincing at the bad taste. There is no way to breathe now, not that breathing is possible anyways. I start tugging and, surprisingly, it doesn't hurt my teeth as I thought it would. It actually feels pretty good, like I'm giving my jaw a good stretch.

Finally, the door lifts up, releasing a flash of light. I'm so surprised I drop the rope and close it again. Now I have to start all over. I pick it up again, this time very close to the spot where it's attached to the door, and start pulling. My whole body starts vibrating, my hind legs almost falling out from under me. The door swings up again and a blast of cool air blows over my chest. I let go of the rope, ducking my head under the door before it can close again. The edge slaps against my neck with a painful thud. crawling flat on my belly, I crawl my way to freedom.

"I did it!" I try to say but it comes out as a raspy yelp that sends me into another coughing fit. After I finish that, I sniff the new fresh air and find a scent I instinctively recognize as male human. So this is what I smell like... I follow it.

It only take a few steps before I turn a corner and see a rather odd sight. A tough-looking teenage boy is standing right in front of me, staring at two girls, a guy, and a fluffy golden cat. They are all looking back at him except the cat, who stands up and stares past the boy at me. Her eyes widen, her back arches, and her tail gets fuzzy as if I'm going to eat her or something. Do foxes eat cats? I can't help but wonder. Probably not; she's almost half my size.

I suddenly start coughing again. When the attack is over, I find myself staring over tough-boy's buzzshaved head. Huh? I look down to find me my normal, large self (in clothes at least.) I look back up to find everybody staring at me. Tough-boy, who is a good head shorter than me, turns and glowers up at me. I am a bit surprised at the intenseness of his gaze. A small flash of trepidation crosses his scowl when he finds me glaring right back. We stay like this a long, awkward moment.

"Erm..." I look towards the others, clearing my still-aching throat. "Hi. I'm Stanley."

Arcadia

Seeing a fox emerge from nowhere immediately makes me nervous. Instinctively, my back arches and my fur stands on end. As he shapes into a human, I relax, slowly sitting down and wrapping my tail around myself.

"Hi, I'm Stanley," the stranger says.

I take it as an opportunity to phase back into my normal self as well, glad to see that I'm not the only spy anymore. Everyone stares at me as I stand up and quietly extend my hand. "Uhhh, hi Stanley. I'm Arcadia. I guess you're a spy too," I smile at him.

Lon

I lose sight of the falcon as it flies away. growling at myself, i sniffed the air. Humans. I smell humans. Baring my fangs, I turned in the direction of them. I padded quietly through the blaring hall. I found the group.

"A w-w-Wolf?!" One of the humans screamed. I smiled and shifted back to my human form. I stood up stretching.

"Being on all fours hurts ny back," i say.

"Who are you?" A girl asked.

"My name is Leo, a spy you may call it," i explain.

Ava

Most of us are here. I do not remember most of these people, so I would not know if someone asked. “Being on all fours hurts say.” A guy says. I start to laugh.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Lei, a spy.” He says. I nod.

“Hey everyone I'm Stanley.” Another guy says.

“I'm Ava.” I say to them. “Can we get out of this room? I feel like I am waiting to die.” I say. The other nod. I know they feel the say way. We all walk out of the shattered glass. It feels much safer out here, but still we are being observed by people all the time. I just want to go home and not look back, but that is not possible. My head starts to throb and I grip it. It feel like I am being hit in the head with hammers. I stop for a second and lay my head against the wall. I close my eyes and pray the head aches go away.

Ree

I shoved the window away from the button, allowing Arcadia to jump in and press the button. The walls shuddered to a stop, and we all released breaths we hadn't been aware of holding.

Suddenly a trapdoor opened to admit a burly, half-shaved guy, pale as death. He looked tired and harried, but when he met my gaze, I barely suppressed the urge to step back. This guy looked tough - really tough. And he looked ready to punch me at any given moment. I realized a little late that I was taller than him, but I somehow got the feeling that height wouldn't give me any advantage with this guy.

"Who are you?" he demanded - a hint of a groan sounded in his voice. Was he okay?

Before I could answer, a silver fox skittered around a corner from a little door I hadn't noticed. Arcadia hissed, arching his back, and the new guy gave him a look. The fox started coughing, and as it did it grew into a huge guy with his own buzz cut.

"Erm..." he cleared his throat. "Hi. I'm Stanley."

As Arcadia returned to her human shape and started greeting him, I turned and saw a wolf come skulking in.

"A wolf?" I cried, turning to it. Really? They were sicking animals on us now?

I could swear the wolf smiled at me, and then it shifted into a human. "Being on all fours hurts my back," he murmured. Ava laughed.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Leo - a spy, you may call it."

"I'm Ava. Can we get out of this room?" she added. "I feel like I am waiting to die." I nodded agreement along with most of the others and we set off out of the glass. I realized that I was walking next to the buzz-cut guy and smiled in a way that I sincerely hoped was friendly and not at all nervous.

"Hey," I said. "I'm Ree. What's your name?" He just grunted. "Um, alright, then..." I walked a little to the side until I was away from him - he seemed to be glaring at me without even looking in my direction.

I noticed that Ava was clutching at her head, leaning against a wall.

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

Vega

"You're probably just exhausted," I said to Ava. "I remember someone saying we'd have a hard time the first time we tried to use our powers. By the way, guys, I'm Vega Shep--whoa..."

I had felt funny ever since I strangled that doctor with his stethoscope, but this was quite a bit worse. The tiny red spots were back, marching across my field of vision in neat little lines. The floor felt weirdly tilted, and I kept listing to the left as I walked.

"Oh, crap," I muttered. I stopped walking, oscillating in place a little, and looked down at my hands. My palms were red, like one huge welt, but the color didn't seem to be fading.

"Iron," I exclaimed. "There's iron in blood! ...Sorry, people, still trying to figure out the whole magnetism thing..."

Alli

A very loud expletive echoes through the obnoxiously orange room. The icy water now touches my ankles. I frantically look around the room, looking for a way out, or a place where the water can escape - nothing. I feel the desperate urge to phase out through the walls, but put all my will power towards staying solid, slightly afraid of what the doctors might do to me if I don't obey.

The water chills me right through to the bone, it's deadly embrace growing every moment that I stand here doing nothing. "This is something I never thought I'd experience," I say to the water.

I focus on my new senses and feel the particles in the air, wondering if I have the ability to create fire. I heat up the air particles, seeing if it will make fire, but all that happens is the air warming up to an uncomfortably muggy level.

I let out a breath of air and try again, drawing into my memory of seeing fire trough this sense. I try to replicate the way the particles were bursting with lfe and energy, vibrating really fast. I almost laugh as fire explodes in the palm of my hand. I control it so that way it doesn't touch me. I enjoy the heat it radiates into my open hand.

Now for the tricky bit. I remove my hand, letting the fire float freely in a ball. I stretch the fire out across the water, leaving myself in a protective little bubble. I then boost the heat up as hot as I can. Boiling steam rises from the water, but it's not enough. The water is filling up faster than I can evaporate it.

I put out the flames and shake put my hands. The water now reaches to my mid-thighs and is rising even further. I wade to one of the walls and slump against it. i look down at my legs which are now a light shade of red from the cold water. I bite back a shiver and wrap my arms around myself.

"Think, Allie, think," I command myself, wracking my brain for a solution. I begin pacing around the room, dragging my kegs through the water which has now reached my waist.

After several moments, the water is now up to my chest and I am absolutely freezing. It's becoming a struggle - fighting off the cold and trying to think of a solution. My breathing creates a warm mist in the cold air that I am trying to keep warm with my abilities, but I know I can't keep doing it for much longer as my strength is fading.

As the water rises to my chin, an idea comes to mind. I switch to my other senses and focus on the water. Unlike fire, it is slow, and cool so I take things in a slightly different approach. Instead of trying to control a 'centre', I take on a more acute control.

I experiment with a small amount of water, pulling it up, and out of the rest of the pool. I then compress it, freezing its centre as a result. I then drop the water and focus on the rest of the rising mass. I then push the water away from me, bundling up against the other wall. Over there, it now reaches the ceiling while where I stand becomes dry. I then compress and freeze the water into a more manageable size.

I then look down and notice that the water is still rising, though it is back down to my feet again. I groan and focus on the area beneath the grate, feeling the objects making the water rise. I feel where the water is coming from then freeze the entrance. A loud, creaking groan escapes from under the grate and I give a satisfied nod.

I squeeze the water out of my skin-tight, black bodysuit and then blast myself with hot air, drying away the rest of the water. "Can I phase out now?" I shout out, hoping that someone is listening. I am acknowledged by a door opening on the other side of the room.


I wander out of the room and hear the door close behind me. I almost laughed in relief as I saw a whole group of the others walking towards me.