FicWad

Ruby’s hair swished around her cat-like ears in the wind. Her skirt covered the top of her grey tail, but the end swirled and danced behind her as she walked- automatically balancing her.
She could relax by herself. When she was with others, all she could feel was them staring at her furry, cat-ears and tail.
Scientists had made her like this. When she was still in her mother’s stomach, no more than a few weeks old, they’d injected her with modified cat DNA. Apparently the cat DNA was supposed to make her faster, stronger and more flexible; better. But there were side effects- the ears, the tail and the less noticeable feline eyes.
Anger surged in her veins. This was better? Everywhere she went, nobody saw her for who she was, they only noticed her unusual features- like she was some circus freak to stare at!
She hated the scientists who did this to her. She sent every ounce of her will into hoping that they died a horrible, painful death.
“Hey! What’s your name?” a mocking male voice yelled out to her.
She twirled around the small park, where the few trees created shadows on the grass, trying to find where the voice was coming from.
A blonde boy, only about a year older than she was, jogged up to her. The smile on his face said that he thought himself as royalty.
Ruby frowned, showing her annoyance at him in the hope he’d go away.
“Hey, don’t give me that look, kitty cat,” he said, still using the mocking I’m-better-than-you tone.
“Go away,” Ruby scowled angrily at him.
He came closer, his intent clear. He wanted her to hate him like he hated her.
“If they really think that you’re the superior being, then there’s something wrong with them,” he stated matter-of-factly.
Shame at what she believed to be the truth consumed her, freezing her to the spot. A tear spilled down her cheek. She started using excuses to make anger burn away the shame.
I can’t help it!
It’s not my fault!
I shouldn’t be taking the blame!
On an impulse that she couldn’t control, her arm swept forward; her fingernails lengthened and sharpened like a cat’s claw; making contact with his skin.
Within a moment, scarlet blood dribbled from the four parallel cuts on his face.
They both blinked in shock. He ran off with a dazed expression on his face.
Ruby wondered why she’d done that. She didn’t feel any regrets- he’d deserved it- but she hadn’t consciously made herself do it.
Was that the cat DNA reacting to her anger? Did anyone know about this flaw?
Almost as if in slow motion, she realised that there was blood on her nails. She wiped it off onto her shirt, staining the white material red. Without thinking her mind was made up.
She plotted her revenge against the cause she was forced to live in loneliness.
*
Finally, after a week of determinedly searching- going through phone books, contacting people who might have information, and even Googling- she’d found the place she was searching for.
Ruby lifted her hand and reached for door handle, letting it rest on the steel knob.
It was almost too good to be true. There should be guards and security measures, but there was nothing except for a normal wooden door. The powerful sweetness of the moment was overwhelming as Ruby slowly twisted the handle.
Quiet chattering grew louder as she stalked down the pristine white corridors. Most doors were closed, a few open; revealing abandoned labs, glass smashed and strange liquids in puddles across the floor. Ruby, at last, reached the door where the chattering was emanating from. She knocked once and the room within fell silent.
The door opened to a stout bald man wearing a lab coat and safety goggles.
His eyes widened in surprised as he saw her.
Ruby curled her hands into fists, feeling the slight jab of pain when her nails lengthened and sharpened and poked into the soft flesh of her hands.
“Wha-?”
She pushed him hard, so he fell over before he could finish his sentence.
The other two scientists in the room stared at her, frozen mid-way in mixing substances in strange contraptions. One, a female, started to smile, but the smile faded when she realised the situation.
Power and anger surged through Ruby dizzyingly. She strolled in casually, following her instincts willingly.
As she spoke she circled the room.
“All my life, I've suffered because of what you people did to me! Now it's your turn!” she growled, letting all the loneliness and anger from her life infuse into her voice as she embraced the cat DNA.
The younger male started shaking and cried out with a wobbly voice.
“I didn't mean... I didn't mean for that to happen!”
She swallowed her compassion: “It doesn't make any difference.”
She crept up to him and slowly scratched a line down his cheek with her nail. It broke his skin, and blood merged with the tears seeping from his eyes.
“Sorry,” he whispered sincerely, but she ignored him.
When she turned to the woman, the woman stared at Ruby with narrowed brown eyes.
“If you think you've suffered, then think of us. All we did was try to improve people- to make people's lives better- and we're hated for it,” her velvety voice matched her dark curls and tan skin.
Ruby looked over at the young man, still sobbing. He looked truly sorry.
Shame at her thoughtlessness cracked into what her DNA told her to do.
How could I only think of myself?
I'm not the only one that's suffered.
And most of all, she let herself be controlled by the very thing that the people she'd hated had put in her.
She fled the scene- like a criminal from a murder- before she could break down on the floor. As she left she heard the woman say something.
“That was lucky she still has her human emotions...”

The End...?