Unibook: Roses and Thorns – Just for Them

"Let's go to the city," said one of the thugs, with a sadistic smile. "We need to take a little trip."

Before I could react, a precise blow struck the side of my head, and the world around me faded into an unrelenting darkness. The last thought I had was of Luna, trying to protect me once again.

But she wasn't in her full senses either. The sedation gradually took hold of her, and her consciousness began to scatter as the van's lights became a blur. The destination was now uncertain, but a new chapter was about to begin. And with it, the promise of an even fiercer struggle to try to escape that nightmare.

And while the thugs laughed, thinking they were in control, I, already awake, remained silent in the corner, pretending to be unconscious, hoping our situation wouldn't worsen and that Luna wouldn't be punished for my resistance.

With the world spinning around me, the silence of what was to come was overwhelming. The sense of helplessness grew, and with the new blow I had received, unconsciousness took over, leaving the future in an empty void with no answers.

Inside the van, the thugs, seemingly satisfied with the situation, began to laugh among themselves, completely ignoring that, even sedated and weak, neither Luna nor I would give up so easily.

The van made a strange noise as it traveled along a road I didn't recognize. I didn't know whether we were heading to the city or somewhere even darker. The idea that we were being taken like lab rats only increased the anguish in my chest.

Luna, on the other hand, had begun to awaken from her sedated state. Her breath was still labored, but she was conscious enough to realize the severity of the situation. She tried to move, but the sensation of weakness still dominated her body.

I could see her trying to understand what was happening around her, but her strength was limited at that moment.

The place we were taken to was a disguised laboratory, without windows and filled with equipment that seemed unfamiliar, even to us.

The smell of chemicals and the humidity in the air made it hard to breathe. I was still unconscious, but my mind was slowly starting to awaken, trying to process the situation, trying to understand what was happening.

At one point, the thug closest to me, perhaps realizing that we were still aware enough to be a threat, approached with a cruel expression. He ran his hand over my head and laughed, as if he knew what awaited us.

"You're not getting out of here," he said, his voice cold and without remorse. "Here, the control is ours."

Despite everything, part of me remained firm. I knew that if there was any chance of surviving this, it would be with Luna's help, and she knew I would do anything to protect her.

As the thug stepped away, Luna and I exchanged a silent glance. No words were spoken, but the understanding was clear: the fight was not lost. She wasn't just my ally, she was my strength. Together, we would find a way to escape this makeshift prison and face whatever they threw at us.

This situation was just beginning, and whatever came next, we knew we wouldn't surrender without fighting until the end.

When the One-Armed Crow entered the room, the tension increased. He approached us with a wicked smile, as though he had something up his sleeve, something we needed to hear but didn't want to.

He looked at me first, then at Luna, with a satisfied expression, as if he finally had a card to play.

"So, you think you're in control of the situation, don't you?"

He began with his low, malicious voice.

"But there's something you don't know, something that will change everything you think you know about her."

He pointed at Luna, and the fear in her gaze intensified, although she tried to remain firm.

He let out a dry laugh and came closer, stopping right in front of us.

"Luna, or rather, your beloved assistant, was a project. A project I had the pleasure of starting. You, my dear, were part of it. And you didn't even know the truth until now."

The One-Armed Crow paused, as if savoring the moment while he finally spoke.

"Luna was one of my first assistants in the lab. She dealt with specimens that came from... very distant places. Material brought from the moon, other planets... even from astronaut missions, from what NASA collected and sent for study. And among these materials, there was something no one expected: a bacteria."

I looked at Luna, but she didn't say anything. She already knew what was about to be revealed, and perhaps that's why the pain in her eyes was so visible.

"The bacteria, what I called the assimilating vampire bacteria, ended up infecting her. Luna was no longer just an assistant. She became part of something much bigger, and much more dangerous. She ended up being a guinea pig, yes. But a valuable guinea pig who now carried this bacteria. It wasn't just a simple infection. She... transformed."

Those words echoed in my mind, trying to understand what this meant for her, for me, for us. But the explanation didn't seem to make sense. I, who had worked by her side, had never noticed anything different about her.

"You were led to believe that she was just an assistant, a regular assistant helping you with a simple experiment. But the truth is, she was the key to the project. The only one carrying this organism inside her, with the ability to assimilate and control other organisms. And that's what made Luna so valuable... or dangerous, depending on how you look at it."

The One-Armed Crow stepped away from us, with a smile of someone who felt superior.

"And now, what will you do with this truth? The woman you love so much... do you still see her the same way?"

The room was quieter than ever. I looked at Luna, trying to understand what she felt now.

She didn't seem surprised, but the weight of the truth crushed her. What was left of us? How would we deal with this information?

But one thing was clear: the fight was far from over. In my view, Luna wouldn't give up so easily, and even though the odds seemed stacked against us, I could see in my beloved's eyes that all she was waiting for was a chance, to settle the score with those who made her suffer so much in her past.

I remained silent, completely still and attentive, waiting for the moment when he or they would make a mistake, a slip-up, and Luna would surely make them pay for the arrogance of putting us at risk, as if she and I were just guinea pigs or the result of an experiment on them.