Colin felt himself growing smarter every time he emerged from his chrysalis. He was able to derive more information from life pulses than ever, he could pick up on not just intent, but also emotion from Jenny’s life pulse. It made it very convenient for predicting when she was most cooperative and would feed him when he called out to her.

Not only had his understanding of life pulses increased, but the range had expanded to beyond the home he was inside. He could sense the life of bugs and other creatures outside of Jenny’s window. Part of him felt sad at not being free like them, but part of him felt more free being able to expand his senses past this cage and back into nature.

Other than his life pulse sense, Colin was able to feel the pulse of many different bugs and animals inside of him. Each pulse glowed softly around his own life pulse and he knew deep down they were each a part of him in a profound way. He felt his body and knew it was a combination of so many different creatures that it was no longer efficient for anything. It didn’t seem right, but Colin wasn’t smart enough to understand why. When he looked within himself, the pulses of the creatures glowed softly as a part of him, but he felt like he wasn’t using any of them to their full potential. Where his hunger and life pulse were activated from raw instinct, the pulses of the consumed creatures seemed to be on a kind of autopilot and had nothing to do with instinct.

While he wasn’t smart enough to understand what he was doing wrong with his creature pulses, Colin was smart enough to start understanding speech. It was invigorating. After he said his first word, Colin decided he liked to talk. It gave him power in a way he didn’t realize was available, so he listened to Jenny whenever she spoke to him trying to find more words of power to use against her.

Recently he had finally figured out a second word: “No.”

It was difficult to say the two words, but he spoke them in practice as often as he could. “Down” meant feeding time and it was the best word ever. Sometimes when he said it, Jenny didn’t respond right away so he had to repeat himself often. She was not very bright, but he would just keep repeating himself until she caught on. “No” was simple, yet amazing. It meant that Colin disagreed or didn’t need to do something which let him fight back in a satisfying way.

The bedroom door swung open and the girl walked in carrying a bundle of different foods in her arms.

Hungry

So many wonderful smells, Colin couldn’t wait to eat it all. His hunger pulse had seemed to be less insistent since he would get food so often, but it still pushed him into action and he didn’t resist.

“Down!” Colin shouted and did an excited spin.

“I just need to close the door,” Jenny said.

“Down, down, down, down, down!” She could close the door afterward.

“I said wait!”

“No,” It felt empowering to use that word. He could fight back now. He may not be big enough to escape and kill her yet, but he could fight back like this.

“No, you!” she whisper-shouted while closing the door with her foot.

“No,” He said again. He was far too hungry to wait. He wished he was able to say more, but it was easier to hear than it was to speak.

“Don’t you give me that attitude, Frankenbug, I can put this food back,” Jenny threatened.

Colin stopped and his eyes went wide. That got his attention. He didn’t think she was serious, but he couldn’t risk losing all that food. He bowed his head and backed up.

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“Good boy!” She said and it made Colin feel proud to know he was a good boy.

Jenny opened the hole in the net with such ease that it was frustrating.

Colin still couldn’t figure out how she did that even though he tried every night when she slept. She made it look so easy.

Jenny struggled to fit some of the food items through the opening they were so big and Colin inwardly cheered.

Jenny backed up after stuffing all the food in the cage other than a single plate, “I brought you a leftover rotisserie chicken and a pack of raw shrimp and some crab claws and I brought you a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert, but you need to be a good boy and eat all your dinner before I give you that.”

Colin dove in headfirst. He made short work of the shrimp and crab but slowed down halfway through the Chicken. This was the first time in his life that he wasn’t able to finish a meal that he had started. Colin was full. He didn’t even realize that was possible.

“It looks like no dessert for you,” Jenny said through a mouthful of pie. “I warned you.”

…

Colin felt like today would be the day he would finally escape. After his last feast, he emerged from the chrysalis and formed into a mass that was as large as Jenny’s head. He felt like a colossus. He snapped his new claws in delight as he waited patiently for Jenny to fall asleep. His body was bulky and with this much weight behind him, he was confident he could finally open the flap of his cage.

Jenny’s life pulse signaled that she was deep asleep and Colin knew his moment had arrived.

Coling strained and could barely climb the net with his new girth, but he managed to make it to the velcro flap that was the opening. He leaned into the flap and dug his claws into the velcro connection. Colin felt relief as he heard the same tearing sound that happened whenever Jenny opened the flap. He rolled his weight into the flap further and it cradled him in the air like a hammock.

Not having to support his own weight on the net, Colin used both of his claws to jab back and forth at the velcro on the bottom of the flap. It started tearing further and staying apart. Colin kept at it. Freedom only inches away. With a final tearing sound, the flap snapped open and Colin dropped faster than he was prepared for.

“No,” Colin said in a whimper from the pain when he hit the ground with a painful thud.

Shaking off the pain from the fall, Colin looked around from his vantage on the floor, Jenny was still asleep.

He did it.

It finally happened. After so many failed attempts, Colin was finally free. He hadn’t felt this good ever before in his life. Last time he was free, he didn’t have enough of a mind to appreciate it, but now he soaked in every ounce of his freedom.

Colin saw the window was open and inwardly cheered. His escape couldn’t have gone better.

He looked to the bed where Jenny slept and grinned wickedly. He had unfinished business with Jenny. Before he escaped out the window, Colin was going to do what he had promised himself so many times that he would do.

It was time to get revenge and kill Jenny.

Colin climbed the side of the bed and crept slowly on top of the bed. He stopped just short of Jenny’s pillow and raised his claws. He aimed for the eyes, where she looked the most vulnerable. This was it. He had waited for this moment for so long and it was finally here.

He thought back on how long he’d been in that cage, subject to her whims. How she had forced him to get off the net to have food.

He thought about how Jenny had brought him food whenever he asked. How she taught him words and decorated his cage and talked to him.

Then he saw the book she was cradling in her arms.

It was the book that he had read to Jenny every night for so many years.

Where did that come from? Colin didn’t know how to read.

All of a sudden, a flood of feelings slammed into Colin’s gut like a solid punch. He looked from the book and back to Jenny’s face. Colin felt a surge of something powerful overwhelm his entire being. All of his hatred, all of his anger was washed away by a new feeling when he looked at Jenny. The feeling was warm and it filled a void within himself that he hadn’t realized was there until it was gone.

Colin backed off and climbed down the bed when he realized there was no way he could ever kill Jenny.

She was his Mommy. No. He shook his head. That wasn’t right. He felt like he knew more about her, but his intelligence was still getting in the way. One thing was for certain: Jenny was his family.

Colin climbed up to the window, took one last look at Jenny and journeyed outside for the first time in a long time.