As we walked into the restaurant, a girl ran into the restaurant. Ben let go of his arm from my shoulder. She put her arms around his neck and took a step back. She pinned her curly red hair behind her ears. She looked only a few years older than me. Her skin was tanned, but I could see the thick freckles on her cheeks. The same cluster of freckles spread across her neck and arms. Her white sundress makes it all even more obvious. When I saw her feet, I glanced down and tried not to let myself gasp. They look like monkey's feet. Her toes stretch out like fingers and thumbs.

"Diana, this is Jane," Ben said.

He touched me with his elbow, and I felt guilty for staring at him. The feeling didn't last long, as Jane's jaw dropped when we made eye contact.

"Wow, that's cool," she said. "I overheard that you're coming early, but I don't know if it's true." "Greg wanted to see Diana sooner," Ben said.

Somehow, Jane's lips bloomed with a larger smile.

"Is he going to buy her?" She asked, then hugged me tightly in her arms. She smells of coconut. She let out a scream that I thought was only in a novel. "I would love to have another girl here. It's all men who don't play. ”

"She's still alive?" Ben asked.

"Unfortunately," Jane whispered. "The longer she lives, the more arrogant she becomes."

The door on the other side of the room opened, and two vague figures entered. Their arms are filled with metal containers. They sat on a table covered with white cloth. They opened the lid and a strong smell filled my nose. My stomach growled, and I realized that I hadn't eaten today. The two servants hurried out of the room.

Jane grabbed a plate from the table. She had her back to me, which made me look at her feet again.

"Great, it's dinner," she said as she poured some food onto the plate.

"How long has she been here?" I whispered to Ben.

He shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. "She's been here since I came here."

Ben scooped the food onto the plate, but instead of handing me the spoon, he filled my plate with food. Before I could speak, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to a table. Jane was already eating at the big round table. I sat next to her, Ben sat next to me. We all ate in silence until the door opened again.

"Hey, Ben is here," one man said.

I looked up and saw two men walking towards the table. They pulled out a table and sat across from us. At first glance, they seem normal.

One of the men appeared to be of the same age as Ben. His hair was cut short and his skin was tanned. The corners of his mouth curled into a wicked smile. His dark eyes seemed to borrow mine. I made eye contact with him and then shoved a forkful of food into my mouth. His smile grew wider, and a dimple appeared on his cheek.

"A friend? ," he said. His voice was thick and sounded like he was from somewhere in Europe.

"This is Diana," Ben said. "She's Winnie's."

These words give me goosebumps. I had to bite my lip to keep my body from shaking.

"Dr. Alexander might buy her," Jane said.

"Oh," said another. He looked to be in his thirties, with black hair combed through. "He's still worrying about new subjects?"

"Matt, don't be rude," Jane said. "I'm not," he said. "I'm just pointing it out."

"Well, I think you're right," Ben said. "He won't want her."

I looked over to Ben and saw him raise an eyebrow. It's a silent signal to follow his story. This must have been his plan. He's going to make me look completely unwelcome.

Matt snickered. They ate in silence until the door was pushed open again. I was the only one looking up. A woman walked in briskly. Her thick blonde hair was tied into a bun. She wears a pair of sunglasses on top of her head. She wears a black bikini and a transparent white gown over it. As she walked to the table, her sandals made a loud noise. She also filled the plate and sat at the table.

A broad, jagged scar ran down her chest. The pale part of her front stood out against the background of her tanned skin. She looked up and saw that I was staring at her. She frowned.

"Who is this?" She asked. "You remember Ben, Candace," Matt said. "He brought a new project from Winnie."

"What did he do to you?" She asked. "What should that be? A snake? ”

"A cat," Ben said.

"Are you worried, Candace?" Another said. "Do you think she'll replace you? Gregory might buy her. ”

"No kidding," she snapped. "No, it won't."

"You're right," Ben said. He stood up and grabbed the crook of my elbow. He pulled me up. "I'm going to show Diana around." He urged us out of the room without waiting for us to respond. His fingers dug deep into the flesh of my arm. We went back down the hallway, and I wrenched my arm out of his grasp. His hands grabbed my hips and pushed me against the wall. He looked over everyone's shoulders. I squinted to see what he was looking at.

I put my hands on his chest and pushed him a little.

"Ben, let me go," I said.

"Keep your voice down," he said. "I don't want anyone to hear us."

"Why?"

Ben looked around the corner of the hallway.

"What's your plan?" I asked, making sure to speak softly. "You're just going to make everyone who listens to me think I'm bad? So why do I have to learn how to be perfect at this dinner? ”

Ben grabbed my chin and leaned over to me. I gasped and heard him giggle.

"The situation has changed," he said. "You're still going to do what I say. I promise you'll come back to Canada. ”

"Shall we run away, then?" I asked.

"We're going to get out of this together."

Ben showed me around the locked part of the house. There is another corridor. We walked into a room with a big TV and bookshelves full of books. I was shocked to see a bar in the back with stools in front. It's too vague for me to see if there's alcohol or not.

Ben showed me around the room at the end of the hallway. The ceiling is a high glass dome that lets in sunlight. A large pool is surrounded by white tiles. A woman is cleaning up dirty towels from a recliner.

Walk back to my room. I try to retrace my steps and remember how to get back. As we walked by, I looked into the lounge and saw Jane curled up on the couch with a book in her hand. Candace applied nail polish next to her.

When I got back to my room, I sat cross-legged on the bed. Ben sat on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong with the others?" I asked. "What did they do to them?"

"Alright," he said, leaning back. "You can see what they did to Jane."

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Matt has been here the longest. His kidneys have been replaced. A chimpanzee, a gorilla, or some kind of monkey. ”

"Does this work?"

"He's still here." Ben bit her lip to keep herself from smiling at me. My face felt hot and I knew my cheeks were red.

"Elias, that Swedish bastard, has wings," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"Some kind of bird. He was Greg's last experiment. You can see that he has lost his sense of touch because he is sick. Elias couldn't move anything. ”

I listened and nodded. He must have hidden his wings under his shirt.

"Candace has a heart transplant," he said. "It was transplanted from pigs. She was the first person Greg bought instead of original. ”

"It's all crazy," I said, "and it's not supposed to work." ”

"No," he said, "and almost never." Most of their subjects did not survive the surgery, and those who did only survive for a few years. ”

"Why? They don't have medicine? ”

"No matter what they think, the body wasn't designed to be like this. Brandi is now dying. Her tongue was replaced by a snake, but now her body was rejecting it. ”

I touched the skin around my eyes. Still dull pain. Even if I continue to take medication, I may lose my vision. Terror!

The door just opened. Oliver walked in. He was rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and I could see the black moon-shaped sweat under his armpits.

"How is she adapting?" Ask Ben.

"Good," he said, getting up from the bedside. "We had dinner and she got to know other people."

"That's good." Oliver turned his attention to me. "Kitten, I have a gift for you."

I tried to restrain my fear and hatred of this cat name. He pulled a box out of his shirt pocket. He pulled out a pair of glasses and handed them to me. Sliding onto my face, my vision quickly went from blurry to clear. I must have been adjusting to this poor vision because the clear vision provided by the lenses was straining my eyes. My vision is wider and my peripheral vision has improved. The lenses are large and the frames are transparent, so they are barely noticed.

"How does it feel?" Oliver asked.

I looked around the room and was in awe of the clarity of everything. Without looking in the mirror, can I pretend my old eyes are back?

"Good," I said.

I've regained a part of my life.