The security guard led Michelle down several levels to a hallway with widely spaced armored doors. He opened one and pushed her in. Before she could protest, the door shut behind her, plunging her into near darkness. Heart pounding, she felt for the wall, put her back to it, and sunk to a squat, her eyes gradually adjusting.

“What would you have me do, Steven?”

Michelle jumped at the unseen voice, frantically searching the dimly lit room for its source. She scanned the bare walls, seeing only gray and shadows from the high windows. She hugged her knees and waited.

“I smell blood. Is she wounded?”

She heard scraping and turned toward the sound. The wall on the other side seemed to shift, the pattern of light rippling, then it was still.

“Really, I wonder about you sometimes. Shall I eat her? Or perhaps you had something else in mind.” Michelle stared at the shadows and heard a snorting noise. Her heart hammered as the shadow stirred again and two yellow eyes fixed her with a steady gaze.

“I’m not your toy. Besides, she carries a strange odor.”

Michelle tried to suppress trembling as she watched the shadow unfold and resolve into a figure leaning against the wall. The colors shifted again, and she could now discern the source of the voice.

He (It? The voice sounded decidedly male), now sat against the wall, arms folded across his knees, draped with a short dark green kilt, still watching her. No reply came to his soliloquy. Michelle struggled to make out details, but he seemed to shift shape before her eyes, patterns and shadows rippling over the surface of his body even though the light in the room remained unchanged. Another rustling noise drew her attention to the movement of his left arm moving to scratch his back with a deep rasping noise. This natural movement combined with the relaxed demeanor of his posture gave no indication of threat, and her trembling subsided.

“This is all very entertaining and educational, Steven, but I tire of the exercise. I suggest you return me to my quarters. Whatever you intend for this woman, I will not participate. My violence is no longer yours to dabble with. Caesar taught me at least that much.”

Once again his remarks went unanswered. He stood up and stretched, still blurry and indistinct, covered with the shifting patterns. Michelle could see that he was tall and broad, at least six and a half feet in height, and very blocky in appearance. The impression was of considerable mass and strength and now Cole’s talk of the military made sense. This is what those little creatures grow into?

A hidden speaker hissed and Cole’s voice filled the room.

“Xerxes, I am not toying with you. Your quarters are being modified because of your latest outburst. You will return to them when they are ready. In the meantime, your interactions with Ms. Shank, though interesting, are of only peripheral interest to me. I’m pleased you seem inclined to more courtesy toward her than you give me. Perhaps Ajax is having a civilizing influence on you after all.”

“Why is she in here with me?”

“Convenience. Ms. Shank must wait there until I decide what we’re to do with her.”

“Another test subject you’ve lost control of, Steven?” Xerxes snorted again and turned to Michelle. “I am Steven Cole’s finest creation.” He stood and raised his arms then slowly turned, a mock runway spin as the shimmering effect faded, and the outlines of a massive slate colored creature came into focus.

He locked eyes with Michelle. “Steven likes to think of us as his calibans, monster spawn enslaved to do his bidding. But I am not a monster. I am a grendel.” Michelle watched in silent awe.

Cole interrupted Xerxes. “You are neither. Those are not names I chose for you. Blame Dr. Abrams and his stories. He put those ideas in your head, not me.”

“Stories? Just stories? I have many quarrels with Dr. Abrams, but his teaching is not one of them. While you make us run mazes and perform tricks, those ‘stories’ give us meaning, tell us who we are.”

Cole laughed. “And being a grendel is somehow better than a caliban? Read again, Xerxes. None of it ends well.”

“It’s not the ending: it’s how the story unfolds. Grendel at least comports himself with honor.”

Cole made no response and Xerxes sat down, ignoring Michelle once more. Her mind whirled, processing the connections between these creatures, Cole, Abrams…and Dr. Isaac? The school?

Chapter 56