Without a word, she dropped to the ground. Words would have been futile in her chosen form, and a growl would have belied her frustration.
She changed swiftly, and without fuss. Her body was lithe and agile, and as she crossed the forest floor she didn’t make a sound. She was as graceful as the large cat she’d assumed moments before; intense and fully alert.
Sophia was a born warrior. Her strengths and preternatural abilities were encoded into her genetic structure.
Finding the change of clothes where she’d stashed them, a replica of a dozen others scattered around the forest, she dressed quickly.
When she reappeared her brother was down from the tree and pulling on a pair of shorts.
She studied the three jagged claw marks on his skin and felt a fresh wave of anger.
“You were careless today, Jacob,” she told him, closing the distance between them in a few easy strides.
“Maybe, but we got away, so no harm, no foul.”
“Then what’s this?” she accused, dropping her gaze to the welts on his skin.
He shrugged broad shoulders. “Just a scratch, sis. They’ve done worse.”
They had. Much worse.
She, like Jacob, had been born in a lab. They had spent their formative years in combat training and learning about Euthoratopia; the prison they called home.
They existed to do others’ bidding, and like puppets, they were pulled in whatever direction their masters chose.
They were the only two to survive the Chameleon Project, and that made them special.
Both could shift between human form and that of the animals they were twinned with.
Jacob spent more time as a bird than he did in human form, because it gave him the illusion of freedom.
Sophia on the other hand, preferred to use the skills she had been given in hand-to-hand combat, though in cat form she was pretty lethal.
Earlier they had run into trouble and she’d almost lost her brother to the enemy. One of them at least.
Sophia glanced down when Jacob began to draw symbols in the cracked earth.
On instinct she blocked the message with her body, because they were watching. They were always watching.
The message was coded, an intricate puzzle that took her a few moments to work out.
When she met her brother’s eyes she could see the excitement, an emotion overshadowed by the light of hope. He’d found a way out.
***
Thanks for reading.
Mel
Melissa Barker-Simpson 
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