Twenty-four stared in disbelief at what he had done. Dr. Wagner lay unmoving on the floor of his office, the handle of a scalpel protruding from the vampire’s right eye. It had happened in a matter of seconds when Wagner let his guard down and looked away from the surgical tools on his desk. Twenty-Four had resigned himself to being a prisoner of the lab for centuries, but this day he’d had enough of the torment, lashing out in retaliation. He stood panting hard, unsure what to do now and knowing he had a limited time before the guards showed up when Wagner didn’t make his usual rounds.

“If you’re going to flee, now would be the time.” A voice commented from nearby and Bex whipped around, seeing no one. 

“Who’s there?!” Bex demanded, frightened by the seemingly disembodied voice. 

“Though… he’s not going to stay dead indefinitely from just that.” The voice came again but this time Twenty-Four was able to look to the source of the sound, finding himself staring at a somewhat mundane-looking book sitting on the doctor’s desk.

“Did you… talk to me?” Twenty-Four asked cautiously. 

“No, I spoke to the other shifter in the room.” The book retorted sarcastically. Unfortunately, the sarcasm went over Twenty-Four’s head and he glanced around for another shifter, garnering a groan from the book. “Yes I was speaking to you, you dolt.”

“Oh.. right.” Twenty-four furrowed his brow, “Are you a shifter too? Why did you turn yourself into a book.” 

“Former shifter, and if you want a chance at making it out of here you might want to be a bit more choosy about your questions.” The book chided, floating up off the surface of the desk.

“I don’t… I want to but I don’t know the elevator code.” Twenty-four said anxiously.

“I know the code. Now if you want to get out of here: burn that vampire, grab me, and don’t stop til you reach the elevator.” The book said floating closer to Twenty Four, its covers and pages fluttering as it spoke. 

Twenty-Four nodded, shifting an arm into a flamethrower and setting Wagner aflame before shifting his arm back and grabbing the talking book. He shifted his skin to thick armor and hugged the book close to his chest as he kicked the office door open and bolted down the hall. 

He rushed through the halls, shoving past interns who began to shout into their radios and guards who started to aim for him but held their fire when they saw what the shifter carried. As he ran through the cell block Twenty-Four saw another shifter he recognized as 7-2, watching him from their cell with a disapproving expression as he ran past. Fire alarms began to blare as the fire that started with the doctor’s burning body began to spread.

“What’s the code?” Twenty-four hissed as he rushed to the elevator.

“2365834927344.” The book stated as Twenty Four frantically scrambled to punch in the code. The moment the doors began to open Twenty-Four wedged himself between them. Once he was in, mashing the buttons to close the door and take him and his helpful book acquaintance upward. Bex waited, sure the order would come to have the elevator stopped but it never came, the staff below preoccupied with putting the rapidly spreading fire out. When the doors opened Twenty-Four shot through the opening and out of the dilapidated shack that concealed the elevator and off the path leading up to it into the woods. He ran aimlessly, weaving between trees and through the underbrush. 

A few hours had passed when Twenty-Four found a gap between the stones in the side of a ravine just big enough for a person to fit through. He squeezed inside, finding the space opened up after a few feet of wedging his way in. Shifting his eyes to adjust to the dark as he took in the inside of the cave. There were insects and a handful of small creatures skittering around and more pathways that led off from the main space, deeper into the cavern. 

“This will do nicely. The bottleneck at the opening will make it difficult to get at us should we be attacked.” The book spoke, breaking the silence. 

“We did it… We’re.. we’re out… WE’RE OUT!” Twenty-four said, excitement building until he was shouting, sending a few startled bats flying out of the cave.

“Shhh. We are but let’s not be too loud in case we were tailed.” The book cautioned. 

“Right. Sorry um, book.” Twenty-Four lowered his voice but was still trembling with excitement as the book wriggled free of his grasp and floated in front of him. 

“I have a name. It’s Alto.” The book said with pride. “What do you call yourself?”

“I’m Twenty-Four.” The shifter replied, watching Alto curiously. 

“I didn’t ask what the lab calls you. If you’re going to be free you need a real name. The interns they bring down from the surface have real names. Not numbers.” Alto elaborated on his question. 

Twenty-four furrowed his brow at that. Thinking hard for a moment, remembering the letters on the nameplate outside his cell, before he said. “I… want to be called Bex.” He said.

“Bex it is then,” Alto said, giving the best approximation of a nod that a floating book could. 

“I still can’t believe we’re out. It feels surreal.” Bex said, looking around the cave again before his gaze settled on Alto once more. “It was so weird. I thought the guards would at least open fire. They looked like they wanted to but they didn’t.”

“That would be because of me. As I understand it there are strict orders not to damage me in the instance of my capture during a breach.” Alto said. 

“You?” Bex blinked.

“Because I’m not quite so durable as you, though the lab finds me valuable for other reasons. If this book is destroyed so am I. So I am handled with caution.” Alto elaborated. 

“Ah, you said you were a former shifter. Wait… you’re-“

“I’d prefer you didn’t use my lab designation, but yes. I was once like you and the other shifters.” Alto cut him off. 

“Ok, I won’t. What happened though? How did they make you like this? They threatened to do that to us but never explained how.” Bex asked. 

“I’d rather not discuss the specifics. At any rate, we are free now.” Alto said.

“Yeah… free.” Bex echoed softly.

“We should rest, and then we can explore our new hiding spot further,” Alto advised.

“Right. I don’t know if I can rest but I’ll try.” Bex nodded, making himself comfortable on the cavern floor.