Raising The SSS-Risk Beast That Only Pretends To Be Tame Chapter 04

Raising The SSS-Risk Beast That Only Pretends To Be Tame Chapter 04

Early the next morning, I boarded the interstate rail back to my hometown.

Half an hour later, my device lit up.

A notification from the lab.

[URGENT NOTICE] Level 3 containment breach at Subject-17’s unit. All personnel remain in place, seal doors and windows, and await further instructions.

I stared at the screen, my fingers frozen stiff against my knees.

Level 3 containment breach.

In plain English: Seventeen was out. Walking the halls. No one knew if he’d made it past

containment yet.

[Subject-17 is a beast.]

[Girl, you’re in danger!]

[Girl, listen carefully. Do not bleed. If you bleed, he’ll track you by the smell.]

[His sense of smell is thirty thousand times stronger than a human’s. Three drops of blood, a twelve-mile radius, accuracy within three hundred feet.]

I looked down quickly at the finger he’d bitten.

The wound had already healed. Only two small scars remained.

No more bleeding.

Thank God.

An hour later, the red alert on my device turned green.

[NOTICE] Subject-17 has been recontained. Alert lifted. All personnel may resume normal

activities.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

[Seventeen’s back in his cage.]

[Crisis averted.]

[Girl, you’re the reason Seventeen snapped. You left, and he lost control. Whatever you do, don’t go

near him again.]

[Hopefully, with you gone, they can keep that monster locked up until he rots.]

Locked up until he rots?

A bitter taste bloomed in my chest.

I felt sorry for him. I couldn’t help it.

I got home. There were eight dishes on the table.

“Eat. Have more. You’re too thin.”

Mom sat across from me, her chopsticks never stopping as she piled food onto my plate until it was spilling over the edges.

I took a bite of the short ribs.

Sweet.

Seventeen would’ve loved that. The thought just popped into my head. I couldn’t stop it.

What the hell was wrong with me? One week. That’s all it was. One week, and I couldn’t get him out of my head!

He’s a monster. Stop it, Chloe. Just stop.

The next two months blurred by. My mind felt empty.

I started looking for work.

I ended up at another lab-an animal behavior institute this time. Mostly paperwork. Logging health data on the experimental animals.

The test subjects were all soft, cute little creatures. Mice. Guinea pigs. Rabbits.

On my first day, I stayed a little longer in the animal room than I needed to.

A white mouse was sitting in the corner of its cage. It tilted its head and looked at me.

The angle of that tilt.

Exactly like a certain monster.

I stood there in front of the cage. Staring. For a long time.

“You like them?”

I turned around.

A man in a white coat stood behind me. Early thirties. Tall. Broad shoulders. He wore silver

wireframed glasses.

“I’m Morgan Chase,” he said, extending a hand. “I work here. You’re the new one?”

“Chloe Hayes,” I said, shaking his hand.

Morgan was a mid-level researcher there. He studied animal behavior patterns.

He spoke slowly, methodically, with clear logic. Every now and then, he’d crack a joke-dry, perfectly timed.

He helped me a lot with my work. Showed me how to read data sheets, how to fill out experiment

reports.

Six months in, he transferred me to work as his recording secretary.

He also started walking me home after work.

My mom got to know him.

Every time I mentioned Morgan, she’d give me a thumbs-up.

“He’s a good one.”

“Mom-”

“Better than that other lab. That place turned you into a nervous wreck.”

I didn’t say anything.

I couldn’t forget Seventeen.

I checked the live chat every day. I told myself I was just keeping tabs. But really, I was worried

about him.

[His whole vibe has changed.]

[It’s bad. He killed three people. Just like that.]

{Three researchers. One got his neck twisted off. Another had his throat crushed. The third-never mind. Let’s just say it was ugly.]

[He’s grown. A whole head taller than before. His features have sharpened too. That face is lethal

now.]

[The prettier, the deadlier. What did I tell you?]

[The lab is upgrading his restraints. The old chains aren’t enough anymore. He can snap three alloy

locks with his bare hands now.]

[And they’re still trying to train him.]

[He’s still… calling for Chloe.]

[No way… he still remembers her?]

[Impossible. His brain already shed. He shouldn’t remember anything.]

[Then why is he saying her name?]

[Maybe in his dreams.]

I couldn’t watch anymore!