(ooc: Theo and Mystica gave me permission. This is meant to be a sort of "future/alternate universe" story that will span over many shows. Zak's side of the story will only deal with males. If you like this idea and want to play a part or know more...please message me!)

The world was different now…a far cry from what it had once been. Some called the governments of the world ‘Commies’ while the rest of us, born from lab experiments, knew what to properly call them. The world’s humans were slowly dying out and we were taking over. We looked and acted like humans but… we were the farthest thing from them. Humans shunned us, beat us, and some went as far as to kill the weaker of us but we still stayed; creating children like ourselves. The dominate alphas protecting their submissive mates and offspring from the ever deadly hands of the humans.

The few humans that decided that becoming the weaker race could be the worst thing to happen in their lives. They would find the local labs and attempt to become one of us. I say attempted because out of the 50 that would go in, only 10-15 would ever come out alive. I had to convince my friends, my human friends, that being a hybrid wasn’t all that bad. There were things they had always asked me to do that their dying human bodies could never do, even if there was a human trick to opening the tight lid on the glass jar or just getting a stool to reach the top most shelf.

My friends made a quick point that I had always asked them to help with the more basic human needs like working a washing machine or even working the toaster. They would always laugh at my poor attempts at working the machines the humans needed for everyday life. They never once laughed when I would take off through the forever open door and come back 15 minutes later with a 8 point buck for them to cook and clean. Granted, Theo always thought it was funny that I would always curl on the floor and play with the animal’s heart like it was a squeaky toy. The heart was the best part and I never understood how humans shunned away from it.

“You are going to clean up your mess, right?”

Golden eyes looked up at Theo Pryce, who was sitting on a barstool, staring at the potato he was currently pealing with a knife. It still shocked me and my few friends how quickly Theo had slid into our little gang. No one would have thought that Theo Pryce would ever have friends. He would hold dear to his heart. His eyes finally looked down to meet mine and he smiled softly, the scar that went past his eye and down his cheek was the only reminder of a battle he nearly lost. He had jumped in to protect me from becoming one of the other victims of hate and had taken a knife to the eye. Until the day he died, his left eye would remain haunting silver.

I just nodded and went back to chewing on the heart, moaning softly as the muscle slowly melted away on my tongue. Theo’s rich laugh always filled the room and I think it’s why I always wanted to be around the man. His laugh always made the room he was in so much warmer and would always bring back memories of a happier, free time. Each of those memories were drowned out by the constant screams and tears that Theo always unleashed every night since the takeover.

During the takeover, Theo and Erica had somehow managed to separate and I knew, mostly from Theo’s nightmares, that he had witnessed Erica being forced into one of the many labs scattered throughout the city. The nightmares were a common thing in this house as I had dreamed many times of my own sister being forced into another lab somewhere in the city. Micah was a fighter and she knew how to handle herself but I doubted she was able to fight them. Most of the soldiers in the New Worlds Army were half human, half cyborg and not even Azrael was able to fight them off as they had forced Lila from his home. If you listened closely, you could still hear the pained cries of the alien who only lived four houses down.

My eyes danced back to the man sitting at the counter and sighed, I wasn’t even sure how he became my friend but it could have something to do with the fight that had taken place the first day I had been released from the Lab. There were humans here in the compound that hated the Hybrids and they did whatever they could to remove the abnormal freaks of nature. My back was littered with scars from the multiple attacks from both living in the Lab and being released. My mind flashed back to the first fight of Freedom and I felt myself tense, my eyes becoming slits and a growl escaped my lips from around the heart.

“Zak?”

Theo’s soft voice floated into my head but it only triggered more of the memory.

~Flashback~

I could have sworn that I was going to die that night, that I would have never been able to see my sister or enjoy the taste of steak against my tongue. Theo’s voice had caught my attention but it was the fact he jumped in and started fighting off the group of ten guys that gave me a little bit of hope. I struggled to my feet and started attacking the guys coming up behind Theo. There was a scream and I could smell blood…blood that I knew all too well. My eyes turned into slits and I let out a demonic snarl, turning to see Theo grip his face and stumble back. Something inside of me snapped and…I can’t remember what happen after that and it wasn’t until I was stumbling into Theo’s house that I finally calmed down.

“Theo…Theo!”

His million dollar smile was tainted with blood and I panicked, rushing around the house and looking for some sort of first aid but first aid kits were only awarded to mated households. I dropped down next to Theo and gently held his head against my chest.

“Don’t be freaked out…please…”

Theo just closed his eyes and I bent over, my tongue flicking along the nasty, jagged cut just above his eye. I could feel the skin stitching against my tongue and I moved down to the lower part of his eye. His body was tense against mine until I had pulled away, my hand brushing his hair back. Theo opened his eyes and he smiled again, which caught my surprise. I figured he would be pissed off at me for being so close but he just smiled and relaxed.

“You okay?”

“I should be asking you.”

~End Flashback~

The sound of knocking at the door snapped me from the memory and I looked over at Theo, who looked just as confused. Our inspection was last night, which was why I was able to hunt tonight and we weren’t expecting any visitors. The knocking started again and we both stood, walking over to the door and my golden eyes peeking over Theo’s shoulder as he opened the door. We didn’t get a chance to say anything as the two Soldiers threw a body at us, sending all three of us to the floor with a heavy thud.

”Your new housemate, gentlemen. Make sure he’s healthy before the next inspection.”

They turned away and I snarled, my tail snapping violently as I helped my friend and the new male to their feet. The soft whimper from our new housemate and the slap to the back of my head from Theo stopped me from following the Soldiers and look at the new man.

“Mystica?!”

This wasn’t the Mystica I remembered, not the man I knew from the last time I saw him. He was back in David’s body and it looked like it took a lot out of him. His eyes looked dead and I helped Theo move the smaller man into the living room, laying him on the couch to recover from the rough treatment of the Soldiers and the Lab.