Forest knew the day would suck the moment he woke up, not in his room but a padded gray cell. "How the hell?" He looked around, startled, afraid and shivering. "How the heck did I get here?" Standing, he realized he didn't even have a bed, he was just placed somehow in a freaking cell. He was wearing new clothes, a set of grey gym shorts and a tanktop, so there was that."At least I have clothes on, I guess." He shivered more, almost close to a breakdown, tears in his eyes and panic settling in his heart. "I am going to end up losing a kidney, or sex trafficked. Why me, I am not even fit or pretty, like seriously, I'm a hundred pounds overweight and-" He looked down, stopping. "When did I get in shape?"

He looked thinner, a lot thinner, and his arms were bulging with powerful muscles. His skin seemed healthier, no longer the dull gray of before. He was a milky pale color, but still less corpse like. Twisting, he saw that his calves were rounded and firm like a runners.

All in all, he looked ten times healthier than before.

Before he could panic about that, a door opened in his cell, and a familiar doctor appeared. Dr. Nikola Masters, his pediatrician of all people. Same cold brown eyes, ageless face and aura of cold power. The kind that made any child obey her, himself included.

"You're awake, good. That will make things easier. It's been three months, you know."

He froze. "Huh?"

She laughed. "We collected you three months ago, do you remember that? The accident, the car?"

His mind whirled, and memories burst through like damn bursting, washing him out of time.

"Why is it always so cold in the winter?" A stupid question, but thick as he was Forest never seemed to warm up. Layers barely helped, for some god awful part of his stupid unknown illness. Even now, feverish as he felt ( Which was why they sent him home early from work, not that he could afford it) he was freezing.

Walking along Jefferson street, complaining and struggling to not fall on the ice and see through the wintery air, he almost didn't hear the car coming, not until it's lights were on him in full. Sluggishly, he turned just in time for the car to strike him at fifty plus miles an hour. He barely had enough time to brace himself, to feel a strange heat fill his muscles, before the forceful vehicle slammed full force into him.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

He moved maybe ten feet, sliding away...

The teenager in the car, a young boy with blue eyes and greenish hair, died as his head slammed into the dash. The sound of his head slamming into the dash burned through the cold and ice and endless terror.

Panic filled Forest, burning away the shock as he rushed the boy, literally tearing the door off of the car in a single tug. The sight of the dead boy made him ignore the action. He moved to do something, give CPR, something... anything to salvage the lost life but several sharp stings covered his body and before he knew it, greying darkness filled his vision.

Tears burned at his eyes. "The boy?"

"Adam Warren." She said. "He swerved on a patch of ice, flew into you. He died on impact. It was no one's fault, not even yours." She sighed. "You survived, and that is why you are here."

"The car, it was all but destroyed when it hit me. How?"

She smiled, reptilian and cold. "You are not human, child, or rather not just human. To put it bluntly, you are an experiment, One of many designed to hunt down preternatural forces. Demons, you may call them. You are a Guardian, a Hunter. A superhuman force, capable of incredible feats of good or evil. We made you, through science and sacrifice."

He wanted to call her a liar, but the memory of his strength, his survival... it was too much to ignore. "You made me, thirty years ago? Did we even have the tech needed to make me a superhuman?"

"Project Heracles, what you are, took many decades to master. Centuries really. You see, humans cannot use magic, not pure humans in any case. Science is our gift. Our organization is centuries ahead of the present path of knowledge, we are the last line of defense in an ever growing, ever evolving war between the old magical world and the future. You are the final tool in that war."

He nodded slowly, confused. "What did you do to me?"

That made her frowned. "Super strength, durability, and healing factor. All many times greater than a mere human, but to what degree is unclear. At first we thought you a failure, but when you started to show signs of rejection, the fever you felt before you were struck by the car... well, we believed we had to cover your death up, to mask our efforts on you as we have the others. However, when you showed that you were manifesting powers, one of the few to do so... we had to act.

You entered a coma, and your body developed this form. It will evolve as you do, so be believe. But enough for now, come, there is much to discuss and see. I would rather you see your limits than tell you them." She froze, eyes colder than a glacier. "There is a kill switch bomb in your brain, if you betray us, or act in a way that we disapprove of... we will kill you. Are we clear?"

And somehow, he knew she was telling the truth.

Nodding, he followed her out, keeping a distance, wondering - 'I once asked for power, is this the price for that?'