The moment she was shoved into the isolation chamber Lilith could feel it, she could feel herself changing. She fell against the wall pressing her palms against her eyes. No matter how many times she was thrown in here it never got easier. She bit her lip so hard blood started trickling down her chin, she could feel tears pool in the back of her eyes. Lilith’s scales slowly and painfully retracted back into her skin, leaving bad scaring everywhere her scales had been previously. She felt all of her bones move and mold, the thousands of bones she had previously molded into the normal amount a human was supposed to have. She hated this the most, she was certain she was covered in bruises and cuts from her beating but none of that mattered at this point. Lilith shuddered at the new sensations; her skin touching everything rather than the hard scales she was accustomed to. Her scales were her protection and without them she felt like a scared child.

Arabella stared as Jack as he left her and Lilith in the isolation chamber. It was dark but she could feel Lilith’s shuddering figure next to her, she could hear her whimpers and it hurt knowing there was nothing she could do. Closing her eyes she laid her head back against the wall, attempting to get some shuteye. Ara winced at the pain she felt shooting through her body; Jack had not been a happy camper today. She could feel the moment her gills closed up and disappeared because it suddenly felt like she was choking and her hands balled up tightly in response. It was stupid she wasn’t even using her gills, but Ara was always so accustomed to them being there. She took a few long minutes to swallow the panicky feeling she felt was strangling her. Feeling tired she took one quick glance at her sister before allowing her tired eyes to droop.

--.--..-.--.--..-.--.--..-.--.--..-.--.--..-.--.--..-.--.--..-.--.--..-.--

Lilith was wide awake watching Ara snore gently in her sleep as the morning finally appeared. For Lilith it had been a long and sleepless night and the moment the room got light enough to distinguish figures she squeezed her eyes closed. Lilith refused to see herself without her scales covering her like her own protective armor. She could only hope Jack came soon and decided their punishment was over.

Arabella awoke lazily to disjointed sun rays making their way into their isolation chamber. Uncurling from her awkward position she reached out with an open palm as if to catch the rays of light. Forgetting where she was Ara was awed to see a normal human hand; no fins and patches of salamander skin. She was quickly brought back to reality though when her sleep ridden mind finally took in the rest of where she was. Ara looked over to Lilith, she was breathing deeply, unmoving with closed eyes. Anyone else would have thought she were sleeping, but Ara knew better, she knew that Lilith had not got one wink of sleep all night. She didn’t say anything though, Lilith wanted not to be noticed or ‘alive’ at this point. Sighing Ara leaned her head back against the wall drumming her fingers on the floor. It didn’t take long for the thirst to hit her like a truck. She felt uncontrollably thirsty, not a normal human’s thirst though, she felt a different thirst. She tried reasoning to herself that she didn’t need to be in the water, that she was a normal human right now. Ara couldn’t help it though, even if it wasn’t physically manifested in this room, there was still salamander blood in her veins. Her wounds from her beating last night were also worse, having the whole night to manifest and turn all colorful shades of blue. Honestly she looked like Lilith with all this blue.

“Hey, Ebs, Riddles, are you guys over there?” Ara called out hoarsely to the other Isolation chamber next the theirs. She needed a distraction from how she was feeling. Jack better decide they had paid their dues soon.

Taylor

He crouched a bit to be eye level, smiling slightly and hoping his eyes didn't seem too hysterical and excited. "Wondering if you'd wanna help me with something."

Leaning forward, he analyzed her face, her features satisfactory and her tail...interesting. He truly didn't trust her, as he never trusted anyone, but he needed help if he was going to pull this off.

"How'd you feel about...breaking out of here?" He made sure to keep his voice down, knowing her cat ears would hear him perfectly.

"Hey, Ebs, Riddles, are you guys over there?"

Ridley jumped at the sound of Ara's voice echoing through the walls. They had discovered a while back that you could hear each other through the walls, and tried to keep each other company as best as possible. Especially if you were alone in the separate cells. Depending on how long Jack kept one in the chambers, one could start going mad.

"I'm here," She answered back, pressing her body against the wall. It was cool and lifeless, but somehow comforting. Overheating was a constant concern of Ridley's. Harsh temperatures made her uncomfortable. The coolness of the isolation chamber's walls was comforting. "Ebony's still sleeping. She's been beat up pretty good."

Ridley pressed her cheek to the wall, sighing. She really wanted to be released. She was starting to feel antsy. Her fingers twitching uncontrollably. She had to get out. Not just the isolation chamber, but the zoo in general. She was tired of being a puppet of Jack's. Tired of being treated like a lesser being.

"Do you guys ever wonder about what it would be like to live outside the zoo?" She asked. "Like, to escape this place and live life without the constant fear of Jack beating the living shit out of us?"

Katerina smiles when she sees Taylor's smile. It was cute. So was he. In any case, she waited for him to ask what he needed to.

"How'd you feel about...breaking out of here?" When she hears this, her ears flicked and surprise filled her cat-like eyes. She chuckled slightly in her astonishment, but smiled.

"Hell yeah!" Katerina said. She was immediately thrown into a world where this place didn't exist. Where she and the other freaks could be free to do whatever they wanted. But then she was thrown into the memory of her father. What he did to her, what she did to him. Taylor could see the flashback in her eyes.
"But...where will we go?"

Arabella waited for few moments to hear a reply from the neighboring chamber through they wall. She sighed into the wall when it arrived. Hearing someone else's voice come outside of the small room was comforting no matter whose it belonged to. "Ebony's still sleeping. She's been beat up pretty good." Ridley continued after a few beats. "Poor girl." Ara muttered quietly, she didn't mind if Ridley had heard her but she hadn't said it to be heard. She had said it because it was true, what happened at this zoo was unfair and just plain shit.

"Do you guys ever wonder about what it would be like to live outside the zoo?" Ebony's question caught Ara off guard, she would have choked badly if she had been drinking anything at the time. Looking over at Lilith, Ara noted that her sister was still unmoving and unresponsive. "First off it's just me here Ebony, Lilith's...asleep." She responded to give herself some time to formulate an answer to Ridley's question. After a few long moments she had decided what she wanted to say. "Of course, only everyday. I spend my nights dreaming of it and my day thinking about it, why do you think I am always watching the clouds?" Ara said slowly, looking down at her now human arm. She swallowed hard, saying what she intended to was going to be harder than she thought. Taking one last glance at Lilith, Ara rolled her head towards the ceiling. "But it's a dream Riddles; something I want more than ever, but can never fathom having." Besides there are worse places out there, she added mentally thinking back when they lived with their father or the scientist.

Taylor

She was immediately on board, which made him smile, sharp canines prominent and visible. A thought saddened her however, and he knew he would have to deal with doubts and fears. He waited for her to recover then responded, "One step at a time, Ms. Meow. First we have to get everyone on the bandwagon. Would you help me? You seem to be..." he eyed her up and down, grinning still. "...rather persuasive."

"It would have to be in Vancouver, I would think, when we finally break out. Which gives us hardly two days to plan. I'm not sure how long we'll be in O Canada. So, while we can still talk to each other this morning, we need to let everyone know the plan...without letting any of the staff know, of course."

"So, will you help me?"

Taylor

She was immediately on board, which made him smile, sharp canines prominent and visible. A thought saddened her however, and he knew he would have to deal with doubts and fears. He waited for her to recover then responded, "One step at a time, Ms. Meow. First we have to get everyone on the bandwagon. Would you help me? You seem to be..." he eyed her up and down, grinning still. "...rather persuasive."

"It would have to be in Vancouver, I would think, when we finally break out. Which gives us hardly two days to plan. I'm not sure how long we'll be in O Canada. So, while we can still talk to each other this morning, we need to let everyone know the plan...without letting any of the staff know, of course."

"So, will you help me?"

"Ms. Meow..." Katerina laughs at this. She had been called a lot of things over the years, but never that. It was cute and funny coming from him for some reason. She took her fingers and brushed a few strands of hair from her face.

"You seem to be...rather persuasive." By the way he looked at her, she could tell what Taylor meant, but she wasn't a big flirt, nor did she know how to use her body and looks for persuasion. The only thing she ever used was her agility and threats. She holds a hand up, fingers facing toward the roof of her cage. Her nails jolt out like claws.
"Oh I can be persuasive." she said, half-jokingly. Still, she listened to whatever he had to say. She liked the idea, but the only thing was, where would they go? She couldn't go back home.

"So will you help me?" It only took Katerina a moment to answer that.
"Yes." she says. Her tail flops by her side and she smiles slightly, "Oh, and my name's Katerina." She points to her sign, "Or Kat."

Taylor

Smiling to her and holding out a hand, he replied, "Nice to meet you Katerina. I'm Taylor."

He motioned for her to leave her bars and join him in visiting the others. "Not sure who to head to first, but it doesn't really matter. We just need everyone to get in on it. And if they don't want to leave...well...we have to make sure they keep quiet as well." He nodded toward her hands, remembering her claws from a moment before. "You might need to persuade."

Deciding to pass by Ebony's empty quarters, he led the way onward toward the center of the park, noticing Dawn, the bird-like one, sitting alone. "We have our target," he said, pointing. "Shall we, Ms. Meow?"

Katerina shakes his hand as she retracts her claws. When he motions for her to leave her cage, she walks to the door and opens it, exiting. She covers her eyes from the bright sun. She feels the grass under her feet and purrs under her breath. When she walks to Taylor she nods, indicating for hi to lead the way. She listens as he talks.

She spots the bird-girl and her tail lashes from side to side. She licks her lips in instinct and her pupils dilate.
"We have our target" Brings her out of her trance and she snaps back to normal. Her tail continues to lash, but her pupils return to normal. He says the name again, "Ms.Meow." and it makes Katerina chuckle a bit.
"I guess that's your nickname for me then."

Taylor

Taylor shrugged, still smiling slightly. "If you want it to be," he said as they made their way over to Dawn. "I like Katerina as well."

He turned away and closed the space between him and the other girl. He was definitely ready to get his plan in motion. First phase: get everyone on board. Second phase: figure out which staff member to trust. He hadn't met the new gal yet, and figured she would be a good call once they did meet. But he would have to judge that after meeting her in person.

For now, he approached Dawn with a smile and gently took a seat next to her, motioning for Katerina to sit on his other side.

"Hey Dawn," he greeted, knowing most of the names here even though he had never spoken to anyone. "Was wondering if you'd wanna join in on something with us."

"But it's a dream Riddles; something that I want more than every, but can never fathom having."

Ridley took Ara's words with a grain of salt. She understood where she was coming from. It's hard to imagine ever living a life outside of the zoo, especially when the life before the zoo was horrible. She turned, pressing her back against the cool tiles. A dream.

She chuckled quietly. Were they even allowed to dream? She was sure Jack had smacked that out of all of them long before now. Dreams. They seemed so far fetched. But, this wasn't a dream. Not for her.

Escaping this zoo was a reality. She had lived an okay life before stumbling her way here. Her dad loved her, and she had lived a normal life. At least, as normal as you can live when you're cooped up in a hospital.

That all changed when she became Black Widow. Ridley looked down at her normal hands, her normal arms and legs. It was just like before. She felt tears sting her eyes as the memories flooded back. She had been normal once before. There was no going back to normal, but there was definitely escaping this zoo.

Whether Arabella believed it was just a dream or not, Ridley was going to escape.

Dawn looked up to see two people approaching her. It was Katerina and Taylor. She leaned back, waiting for them to finally speak. After all, nobody really walked up to her and started a conversation. So it had to be important.

"Hey Dawn, was wondering if you'd wanna join in on something with us." Join in on something? That was mighty suspicious. She raised an eyebrow, trying to piece together what they could possibly want from her. She didn't know much, except history of the zoo and information on Jack. Then again, that could be exactly what they wanted for some unknown reason. There were some weird people here, after all.

"Alright, what do you want from me?" The words came out a bit too rude for her liking, but she didn't really care at this point. They had walked up to her, after all. She had a perfect reason to be annoyed. After all, she could simply get up and leave right now. But she couldn't, because she was a bit too curious on what the two had plans for.

Taylor

"We're going to get out of here. As in...out of the zoo," Taylor began, noting Dawn's irritation and not caring. He just needed help. He didn't need friends. "Would you like to join us? And if not, would you kindly not breathe a word of this to anyone?"

It was a long shot and if she did end of blabbing, he'd receive one hell of a punishment, he was sure. Jack tolerated nothing. Especially escapees. The punishment didn't scare him much though and he smiled kindly to Dawn, hoping she agreed to join them.

"...But it's a dream Riddles; something that I want more than every, but can never fathom having."

Ebony cracked her eyes open as she heard Ara's voice, timidly uncurling her legs before pushing herself up. Everything ached, especially ribs, but the damn brace hooked around her prevented the main movements that would cause pain. She stretched everything, wincing at the pins and needles she had accumulated, frowning when her tail remained uncomprehending. She was glad the appendage didn't go through an inhuman shrink and go into her skin, but this was just as bad, having a useless unresponsive string of muscle hanging off her.

She blinked and looked up at Ridley, able to see in the dim light,though not as good as when she had night vision. Ebony bit her lip for a moment, then casually said to Ara, through their cell, voice scratchy,
"Dreams are supposed to be unfathomable. That's what makes them dreams, things you think of and long for, even if it's improbable. Dreams make the world, hermoso, único, un lugar que desean vivir en. Dreams make lives." She sighed, glad her throat was beginning to soften up and began prodding at some new bruises on her arm.
"What are you talking about anyway?" She asked airily, thought she was sure she knew, having heard a few earlier snatches of their conversation whilst she was regaining consciousness. Escape.

The outside world was a place Ebony didn't have good memories with, at least in America. Their next location was in Canada. Better.
If Ebony did manage to escape, she'd get to Mexico somehow, find Abuela, hide her strange mutations and try to live normally. Or maybe she and the others could go off in some untamed part of Canada, found a little community or sorts, live in peace, pretend to be poor victims of some nucular disaster, far enough away no one will have heard of it.
Wishful thinking, but like she had said, dreams were all they had, so why abandon them.

Arabella stared at her feet her mind a dismal state of grey upon reflecting on the world in which she lived in. A place where not even dreams were not tainted or left intact. She felt bad, maybe what she had said had been to negative, but it was their reality. Ara was also afraid of what would become of Ridley if she did try to escape. Ara didn't have many friends so the ones she had she treasured, not outwardly so much but inwardly. She opened her mouth to continue what she had been saying when Ebony spoke up.

"What are you talking about anyway?" Ara laughed lightly. "And good morning to you too Ebs," She said lightly her mind brighter and her eyes looking up towards the roof. "Riddles was just asking me if I ever thought of escaping and living outside this place. So what about you Ebony, do you?" Arabella asked playfully trying to lighten the mood.

Lilith listened meekly to the others' conversation. Freedom, now wasn't that a novel concept indeed. She agreed intirely with everything her sister had said, of course they wanted out, but while they talked a big talk when given the chance they wouldn't go. Anyone freak didn't know what humans thought of them was living with their eyes closed. It was obvious how they felt about the freaks here, so why would they be anymore welcoming to them when they weren't behind bars? Though that was only her opinion, her reality, others could be different. "Ridley, don't ever let someone else push you around and tell you that you aren't worth anything. While me and my sister may never know true freedom, that doesn't mean the same for you. What may only be our dream may very well become your reality yeah?" Lilith said almost serenely to Ridley. She had an idea how the girl may have been feeling and secretly she wanted Ridley and whoever else left with her to succeed in finding their freedom.