For as long as I've known, I've been stuck in a lab, restrained to the wall and unable to move freely. The lab is full of freaks like me: abnormals. We are humans that possessed strange abilities like future seeing or mind controlling. But my ability isn't as powerful as that. All I can do is transform into a snake on will, but I have to harm myself in order to transform. Since I'm restrained, I haven't been able to transform into a snake. Of course, if I was able to, I would. Anything to escape this awful lab where white-clothed people come and inspect me every day then spoon-feed me a disgusting mixture. Every abnormal has some sort of weakness, even the more powerful ones kept deep underground. As long as the lab people can find it, they aren't a threat. And I'm probably one of the weakest in the whole facility. It wasn't like I was ever going to be free.

That is, until, I was sold to a wealthy man who came in one day.

It seemed like an average day, restrained in my cell following the daily routine of eating and being inspected. A lab person was talking to a strange man who wasn't wearing the white clothes like everyone else. He pointed at me, and I was confused. Why on Earth is this man interested in me? The lab person was talking to the man but I couldn't hear anything because of the sound proof walls that surrounded my cell. The only way the lab people could communicate with me was by speaker or by entering my cell. I was classified as a yellow threat, meaning I'm usually safe to be near people. Red threats are more powerful abnormals that can't be interacted with at all. I suppose that means green threats exist but there wasn't any way for me to find out. I knew red threats existed because the lab people once questioned if I should be moved there. I suppose I'm not as weak as I think, but a snake isn't any match for a future seer, the most feared abnormal.

Soon after I first saw the man outside my cell, some lab people came in and injected something into my neck that made me doze off, likely so I wouldn't attempt anything dangerous. What I saw once I woke up was darkness. It seemed I was stuck in a tight space, but moving at the same time. I heard sounds of things whooshing past me, but I couldn't identify what it could be. One thing I figured, I probably wasn't in the lab anymore.

My muscles did not work for because of disuse. My fingers trembled against something soft. Not the cold, unforgiving wall I had known for as long as I could remember. I tried to move again, slower this time, wincing.

“Ah… there you are.”

I flinched, or tried to. A hand brushed against my forehead, pushing back my hair with a strange gentleness.

“Careful,” the man murmured. “You’ll hurt yourself if you rush.”

My eyes opened, light stabbing my retinas. I squinted until a face came into focus above me. He was older than I expected.

“You’ve been asleep for quite a while,” he continued, voice low, almost soothing. “The transition can be… taxing.”

I struggled to push myself up. My arms buckled beneath me, and I fell back against what I now realized was a bed.

“You’re safe,” he said quickly, his hand returning, this time resting lightly on my shoulder. “Well. Safer than before, at least.”

I stared at him. Speaking felt like walking through sand.

“…why?” I managed, the word barely audible.

His smile widened just a fraction.

“I’ve seen many abnormals,” he said softly, his fingers tapping lightly against my shoulder. “But you… you’ve been misunderstood.”

“I turn into a snake,” I said hoarsely. “That’s it.”

He chuckled, a low, pleased sound. “No,” he said. “That’s not it.”

He leaned closer, and I instinctively shrank back.

“They told you that, didn’t they?” he murmured. “That your ability is weak.” His eyes gleamed. “Typical. They only ever see what’s easy to measure. I’ve read your file,” he continued. They missed the pattern,” he said, almost gleeful now.

My fingers curled weakly into the sheets.

“What… pattern?” I asked.

He paused.

Then, he took my hand. I tensed, but he didn’t restrain me. He simply turned my palm upward and traced a faint, nearly invisible scar across it.

“You were never free enough to succeed.”

“…prove it,” I said, though my voice wavered.

His smile returned. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He stood, stepping back just enough to give me space. “Try,” he said.

I hesitated. My hands trembled as I brought them closer to my chest. Nothing happened. I exhaled shakily, my shoulders sagging. “I told you—”

“Again,” he said softly.

I clenched my jaw. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be trapped. My breath hitched as a strange sensation crawled through my body, like my bones were loosening, I gasped, collapsing forward as the world tilted violently. I panicked and the transformation snapped back and I slammed back into myself with a jolt that left me gasping.

Silence filled the room. He laughed. “Beautiful,” he said.

I stared at him, horrified. He reached out again, brushing my hair back like before, his touch almost affectionate. “You’re far more powerful than they ever realized,” he murmured. “A body that can abandon itself entirely… do you understand what that means?” He smiled as I stayed quiet. “Rest for now,” he said. “We have time.”