Next Morning

Elite Saphire Penthouse, 8:30 a.m.;

As the smell of coffee and pancakes spread through the house, the girl gradually adjusted her eyes to the bright rays of the sun dancing through the bedroom's window, upon her face. She felt great. Oddly satisfied, one could say. She wasn't sure if it was the smell of the brewing coffee or the magical, refreshing sleep from last night, but she'd never felt like this, in years. Subconsciously, her hands stretched back to fix her unclasped bra and it was then that she realized who might've had done it, bringing a smile to her lips.

"Good Morning, President Xi!", the girl hugged the man from behind, who was holding onto a piping bag filled with a chocolate-flavored whipped cream, gazing down at the baked undecorated pancake.

"Someone is up early today.", the man laughed heartily, turning to press his lips against hers, "Good Moning, Ma Jolie.", he said back, "How are you feeling today?"

"Amazing, actually.", Rong Xinghe smiled, "Is there an extra coffee for me, though?"

"No. I thought you won't get up until 10 or 11.", the man scratched the back of his head, "Care to share?"

"Works for me.", the girl agreed, sitting up on the kitchen counter, "So... how was your day yesterday?"

"Um... fine.", the man answered, "Yours?"

"What is it, Bub?", the girl frowned, "What's bothering you?"

Xi Yuan walked over to the girl, handing her one of the two cups in his hand, letting out a sigh, "I have something to tell you. But not right now. You already have so much to take care of.

"I will definitely talk to you about it. Just trust me until then, okay? Do not call Fang, or Ying, or Wei. Or my assistant. Please?"

Rong Xinghe stared at the man for a few seconds before she nodded, "Okay. Just know that I am here for you. Always."

"I know.", Xi Yuan smiled, relieved, "What about you? How come you downed an entire bottle of one of the strongest whiskeys in the world last night? And what secret were you talking about?"

"Secret?", the girl repeated the word, fixing her gaze down at the warm steam escaping the coffee cup in her hands.

"Yes. Last night, you were blabbering about how some secret could ruin my feelings for you. You were about to say more, but then, you fell asleep.", the man explained, "Do you still want to talk about it? Or was it just the alcohol?"

"It wasn't the alcohol. There is something that you should know about.", the girl shook her head, "I was hoping to deal with these Lashkar ul-Mujahidin's terrorist attacks first, but I guess we have time. Anyhow, it's better for you to hear it from me than from anyone else."

"I am listening.", the man placed the cup beside the girl and swiftly erased the distance separating them, planting yet another long, deep kiss against her lips, his one hand on her thigh, another behind her neck, and the thumb in front of her ear, "Say whatever's on your mind, Baby."

"Oh, God-", the girl was still struggling to catch her breath after the kiss, her eyes never leaving him, "You are going to be the death of me someday."

Chuckling, the man raised his brows at the girl, his expression comparatively attentive this time, "So?"

"So...", the girl threw her hands up in the air, "I am a monster."

"Walk me through it, honey.", Xi Yuan looked at the girl, confused.

"Have you heard about human experimentations?", the girl questioned warily, her eyes fixed on the man's dashing face.

"You mean those disturbing, unethical ones, those conducted by psycho scientists, treating humans worse than even animals? Yeah.", the man nodded.

"Well... the Hybrids underwent one such experiment roughly seven years back. Including me.", the girl sighed, "There was an operation assigned to us at the end of our first year of training. In Country N. The mission was simple; finding and executing one of the suppliers of the drugs, plotting against the Naval forces of the country.

"It was too difficult to reach the guy, so as per the orders by our seniors, we'd decided to intentionally get caught so that we'd be taken directly to the enemy. Had we known, that we would wake up in some research laboratory, with our energy, our strength totally drained out of our bodies, we would've definitely thought of a plan B.

"It was some hideous, appalling trial, an attempt, to test the limit and consequences of human rage. Under the leadership of some Dr. Stevens and Dr. Decker. Of course, they'd chosen us. The eleven soldiers from Country X. Who better than their well-built, zealous and, resilient rivals?"

"Wha-", Xi Yuan was stunned, as he looked at the girl smiling wryly, "How is it even possible?! I mean... weren't such experiments shut down years ago? They're a matter of the past century, aren't they? How come-"

"True. I thought so too. Until Country N happened.", the girl shrugged, "And apparently, they still happen. Behind the curtains, now. The organizations that tortured us... was using an old age home as a front, you know? It was horrible."

The man held onto the girl's one hand as he squeezed it assuringly before he planted a short kiss against her forehead, warmth radiating through him to her, "Go on.", he said, as calmly as he could.

Rong Xinghe couldn't help but look down at their entangled fingers, the engagement rings, his and hers. For some unknown reason, she no more felt scared, the way she did a few minutes earlier. Inhaling a sharp breath, the girl continued, "I cannot describe the amount of pain they'd afflicted upon us. They would starve us, beat us. Wouldn't let us drink water. Wouldn't let us sleep. We were locked up in cells for about three weeks there.

"They would try different kinds of drugs on us. Each one inducing anger or frustration or irritation through every vein in our bodies. Anabolic steroids. Opiates. Amphetamines. Sedatives. They were developing a sample too, which apparently was capable of extending the average human age span. Xaralteroide. That was the name of the prototype. We would be injected with it so often that we'd stopped feeling the pain of it.

"Although the drug wasn't completely finished when we had escaped from that hellhole, it still was pretty consuming, very powerful. Every time we'd feel any strong emotion, like anger, no matter how hard we tried, it would become impossible to maintain our sanity, or to suppress the effects of it. We would crave for blood, for war, for destruction. And we enjoyed it. Every second of it.", the girl confessed guiltily.

"Hmm... what happened to those two doctors?", Xi Yuan asked, not paying heed to the horrendous stuff the girl had just told him, about herself.

"H-huh?", the girl looked up, taken aback, "They were killed by the Hybrids a month later. We had to avenge ourselves, after all, right?"

"Well done, babe.", the man smiled, pecking the girl on the tip of her nose.

"Yuan..."

Before the girl could speak any further, the man placed his palm over her mouth, silencing her, "Those were the real monsters. Not you. Not the Hybrids. Them.", he stated.

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ATTENTION READERS!

Xeralteroide is no real drug. It's just a fictional term I've come up with for the story plot. Be forewarned.