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[Some time later]

Ivy wakes up again, groggy, and still with lingering headache and a strange taste in her mouth. Everything feels fuzzy, but there is no longer a rag stuffed in her mouth, her limbs are free, and she feels warm.... soft... in a bed?

As she tentatively opens her eyes, it looks at first like she's in a hotel room. The walls are a neutral off-white, there is bookshelves lining the walls - empty, a wooden desk, an extra chair sitting before it, a minifridge, and then a door leading off to what she can only assume is the bathroom.

However, she's not alone. Sitting beside her bed is a man - his hair is long, and surprisingly shock-white considering that his face doesn't look that old. It's swept back in a messy ponytail, his grey-blue eyes watching you pretty intently. He's dressed in dark clothing - a vest, buttonup shirt beneath it with a tie, and dark slacks.

A smile crosses his face as he sees your eyes open.

"Welcome back, Miss Ferris. You had quite a scare there, I heard. My name is Dr. Duvert, and you're at one of Feral Labs' medical facilities offshore."

"Just rest easy" The french accent of the man's voice is soothing. "You were lucky, this time - but don't go wandering off in a strange country again. This time your kidnappers made a mistake, and someone saw something suspicious - reported it to the police. They were caught, and you were taken to our facility to recuperate. Unfortunately they stole your passport. We found your driver's liscence and are making communications with your embassy, but it will take at least a few days to get everything sorted out." He smiled, shifting his position in his seat.


"So until then, you're welcome to wander our facilities. We have a cafeteria within walking distance - it's the big building in the middle of this little 'apartment complex'. You're in duplex 49 for your stay here. The key is sitting on the bedside table." Indeed, he gestured to a table next to the bed with a standard hotel-looking key with a plastic keychain, the number 49 printed on it.

"We've taken the liberties to procure you some toiletries, they're in the bathroom - and a few extra changes of clothes along the lines of what we could tell of your fashion sense." He smiled warmly.

"And of course... we've given you an innoculation - there are some nasty tropical diseases that float around here." Indeed, there was a sore spot on her arm.

Sabin nodded. "That's right. We're on a private island facility. Feral Labs sponsored. You lucked out with the group that found you. He flashed her a grin.

Sabin didn't care if she bit the line or not, it would keep her quiet most likely until he left. He knew that at this point in time that people generally weren't around for long at all before finding out the truth behind the island.

"We're in the carribbean. The Bermuda triangle, technially." The man said with a laugh in his voice. "I could give you the coordinates, but I don't know what good that would do you." He gave her a bemused grin.

Sabin smiled again, rising to his feet and gestured to a panel on the wall. "You've got an intercom right there. If you need to get a hold of the doctors, just press 0 to get a hold of one of us."

He walked forward, patted her on the shoulder, and then with a wave, headed out the door. "You're welcomeRest up, and I do hope that you feel better."

Meeting Mr. Dragon Person/Welcome to the Island


When I stepped outside, the first thing I noticed was that the sun was setting. Is it really that late already? I guess it's about eight now. Jeesh, I slept in until like two!

I was a little nervous to leave the room, at first, because I had no idea what the place looked like, other than what I could see out my window. I mean, this was a medical facility, right? I don't like hospitals. But when I got outside, it was just a pretty little foresty place, with nice small apartment-y buildings all around. Not bad. I actually wouldn't mind staying in a place like this, you know? Like a time-share, or something. maybe I'll ask Dr. Duvert about that later...

What's that noise? Is someone coming?


Zach stretched his arms up behind his head, yawning. The summer heat was getting to him, and he was torn between basking in the sunlight and retreating to any place with the air conditioning on full blast. The afternoon was the worst, too, the humidity making things even more unbearable. He didn't wear a shirt or shoes any longer. His toes were extremely tough and calloused on the bottom from all the time he'd spent abusing them from extensive walking. His tail, wings, scales, horns, all of his vivid and visible changes, were quite open to being seen, given all he was wearing were pants with the belt looped above the base of his tail.

He stopped at a bench to sit down, his tail curled beside him.

I ducked nervously behind a tree when I heard the footsteps approaching. Who was coming? I didn't want to disturb anyone, and after yesterday's events, I was kind of wary around strangers.

The mystery person came out from behind the trees, yawned and sat down on a bench. It was a man! But not just any man...he looked like he was...a lizard or something! he had horns, and scales, and wings and even a tail! This was shocking. This was terrifying. This was...cool!

"Uh, excuse me, mr. dragon person.." I said shyly from the bushes.


Zach turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Mr. Dragon Person? Now that was a new one. 'What the hell are you!?' or 'Oh my god!' felt more like the standard way to address him. The tip of his tail gave a twitch.

"Er... yeah?" he asked, somewhat bemused. He squinted at the foliage. "Who's over there?"


I stepped out, a little bit embarrsed, but eager to get a better look at him. "My-my name's Ivy Ferris. Um...Dr. Duvert told me I'd be here for a few days until my embassy comes to find me. What are you here for?"


"Ah... hello Ivy. I'm Zach." He stood up slowly, holding out his right hand unsurely as though in a halfhearted offer to shake. Maybe it was just the heat, but the calmness to this whole conversation so far was quite new. He winced visibly at Duvert's name. Whatever shred of moral Zach had suspected the man of after he'd defended Zach had ultimately vanished from sight. The doctor was back to kidnapping more subjects.

"Apparently I'm here to be Dr. Duvert's hand-picked experiment," he gave her an odd, wistful grimace. A thought struck him as her words were re-evaluated in his mind - she didn't sound like she was aware of what was going on around here, and it was doubtful she'd understand what he'd just said. "Oh, no... I'm... I'm not the first islander you've met here, am I?"


I cocked my head, but took the hand that was offered. Meeting a dragon was way cool. "Experiment?" I asked. Then his last question clicked. "Uh, yeah, you are...why? Are there other dragon people here, too?" This island was starting to get a mystical appeal. Why hadn't the kind doctor told her about Zach?


"Yes, experiment... against my will." After breaking off the handshake, he motioned at the bench, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You should sit, this is going to be a little bit much to take in at one time. In fact, you probably won't believe me for a month. But it's better for you to know than to walk around believing Dr. Duvert's lies till you run into the next person."

He took a breath. "You're not going to be leaving this island. Ever, I think. You're a prisoner as much as the rest of us are. There's tons of people here, definitely over forty by now, and all of us are becoming animals. No one's exempt. By now they've already given you an injection... and you're going to turn into an animal yourself soon enough. I suggest you hope they picked a real animal, and not a predator. You do not want to be one of Dr. Duvert's obsessions. Believe me."

He closed his eyes. "No, I'm the only one... for now, I suppose. There's a winged snake and a komodo dragon, those are about the closest you get to this. So, uh, any questions?"


I gulped and took a deep breath. "S-so...I never get to go home?" Wow. I...this is terrible. But, there are other things bothering me.

"You mean, I'm turning into...an animal? And that doctor did this to me? This isn't what I had in mind when I went on vacation!!!"


He hesitated before giving her the answer. "No... never. And no one's managed to escape yet, either."

"You aren't turning into an animal yet... it sounds like you just got here. Give it about a month and you'll be growing fur, feathers, scales, or frankly an exoskeleton if you're particularly unlucky." He gave her a somewhat sympathetic grin, though it was obviously strained. "Don't feel bad about that. None of us expected... this." He made a wide gesture at the surroundings.


I sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to accept that. I mean, clearly this has been happening to you, and now it's happening to me, too. I guess I should find out what I'm going to turn into. Is there any way to find out before...it happens?" I realised I was trembling. I didn't know if that was from the shock of it all, or the fear that Imight turn into something really bad.


Zach shrugged lightly. "Don't accept it. Just know about it. There may not be a lot of hope... well, there isn't any hope, but maybe you can dredge some up. It's not too late for you. Even if some of us managed to leave... we'd probably just get experimented on by the government and be back to square one. You're still human. If you find a way to get off the island - take it."

"If you're desperate to know, use the intercom in your duplex. But... sometimes it's not worth knowing before it happens." All this initiation was pretty depressing, and the heat was now starting to get just a little too unbearable for his liking. He stretched his wings before folding them back in. "Uh, was nice meeting you, Ivy. I'm really sorry about all of this. If you have any doubts, go ahead ask some of the other 'locals'. Here's... here's hoping you get a mammal at least."

With a slow wave to the newcomer, he departed for his duplex. He needed air conditioning! What had possessed him to sit out in the sun on a day like this?


I was...surprised, to say the least. All in a matter of days, I'd been abducted, woken up on a strange island, and found out I was turning into an animal. "This is too much" I said to myself as Zach left. "Even for me." I decided to head back to my apartment since the day was almost over anyway, and I needed some sleep.

Maybe in the morning I'd try to find a doctor. Prehaps not Mr. Duvert, since he'd already lied to me, but another one. There must be more.

But for tonight, I rest.

The nekkie cat people

Watching Edward Scissorhands with another furry friend