Serpentine Stables

Is this prison or a stable?

VEERA POV.
She lets me go in, and hands me an ID card.

I notice instead of an image of me, it has a "BT". I assume it means beginner trainer.
I attached a picture on the top of this page.
Anyways, I go to the dorm building, and see a card scanner like one from stores attached to the wall.
I scan it, and the door rolls into the wall and walk in.
It slams shut, and the halls are dark and the walls are cement.
No front desk or elevator are available to help us, just a spooky air over the place and an old laminated map screwed to the wall.

I scan the map with my phone using my flash.

I approach the elevator shaft usig my flashlight, and realize it's and empty, boarded up, old, abandoned shaft.

I hold Geode closer, and we brave the sketchy door labeled stairs.
We scan to get in, and then the door slams shut.
I see a dark shaft above us, and grab the industrial railing and begin to climb the dim, cement stairs that hug the wall in a square spiral.
We encourage each other not go give up, but our exhaustion is wearing us down.
I see a small light up the next flight, and rush as quick as an exhausted girl in boots can.
I push open the door, and see a single light on.
I walk forwards to the dorm, and realize it's ours.
I scan the card, and the door opens.
We walk into a high quality room.
Then, the door quietly shuts.
Knowing the other rooms are not like this at all , I call out for another inhabitant.

A sob of suprise is my response, and I run towards it.

A girl my age is sitting in the bedroom, on one of the two beds.
Her head is in her hands, and she's bawling.
I sit beside her, and ask calmly, "What's wrong?"
She shreeks in alarm.
She falls off the bed, but Geode catches her.
She screams in double alarm, and stands up.
Geode jumps onto the bed, wings flapping.
The sight of wings settles her.
Then, she asks, laughing, "Did you walk all the way up?"
I nod, wipping the sweat away from my eyes.
Geode is panting, teeth glistening.
This seems to scare the girl, so Geode shuts his jaws with a mean sounding CLICK.

She whispers to me, "We never use those cards except in the early phases of trusting and growth. I see your friend is still growing, but needs more food to do so. Don't you? We usually fly."
Geode, I guess being Geode, replies, "Finally! Somebody who understands this mess!"
She leaps an inch off the ground in suprise.

She asks, "Yours talks?"

I reply, "Yah. We aren't sure what species he should be classified under. The good news is there's more of him. Somewhere."

Then, she touches Geodes' scaly spines.
He tensens, but doesn't snap. I can tell, even after only meeting him hours ago, he really wants to.
I warn her, "He isn't big on human affections. In the lobby he almost ate some dumb boys' hand clean off. And by his teeth shape, it'd go down the hatch."
He makes no comments, just remains like a tense statue.
Then, after confirming it solid, she removes her hand.
Geode looks at her with a sideways, horrified look.

She asks Geode, knowing he can talk back, "What animals were bred to make you?"
He straight out blushes.
I try no to laugh.
He growls, embarrassed, "A dragon, a weird cat, a huge wolf, and an Earth dragon."
Her eyes widen.
She balks for a secound as her jaws drop wide.
Her entire body begins to shake, and she nearly falls over if it wasn't for the dresser.

Thinking she's having a stress induced seizure, which my one friend has sometimes, I lay her on the bed and tell Geode to stay on top of her chest to keep her still.

The moment she feels Geode on her chest, she settles down.
She smiles broadly, and comments, "I guess the animals you train do have an affect on you. Even if your training it for someone else."
I ask, confused as I call Geode off, "What are you training?"
She laughs, "Fainting Goats."
I nod, realizing what she means.
I comfort, "I won't try to scare you then."
She stands up, and finsihes her sentence, "Geode here was the reject of a govermment training program that failed. All the subjects lost thier luxurious coats, and were deemed untrainable, agressive, and vulger. They were all distroyed. Except."
She pokes Geode in the nose, "You."

He seems sad now, and remarks, "I'm the only one?"
She shifts her weight, and looks him in the eyes.
She whispers, "They're not giving up, but they're trying a new combo of artificial DNA instead of trying to nature to do it. But, they're trying to get a sample from the regect they realeased into the wild. They heard a man took it to a stable."
I grab Geode, and hold him closer.
Geode grunts in suprise, but makes no protest.
We sit on the bed beside hers.

I ask, "They're taking him back?"

She laughs, "No. They said on the news they do not want it back. They said it's even more wild and untrainable. The only one who got close got eaten with the other seven. They said the regect was all wrong for configuration, and unstable. They also noticed it lost its' fur first and had some odd anatomy."

I look to Geode, who's peacefully sleeping in my lap.

What did they do so horribly wrong to prevoke him?

I stroke his long, muscled body that's stretched across my lap.

He sighs in content, and his entire form relaxes.

Then, a gentle knock makes me call, "WHO GOES THERE?"
A deep, exhausted, gravely voice chirips, "Does the beast live here?"
I call, "Come in."
I pick up Geode, which is a hard task.
He's like a German Sheperd the weight of a mastiff.

He wakes up, and leaps to the floor.
His teeth are shining in the florescent lights.
I grab his leash, and clip it on.
Thankfully, it's thicker than a tether for a dragon.

He pulls forward, and makes a strange noise.

GETOOUTUTTTTGJRNNNNNGRNNNNRRNNNN!

I hang on, and try to calm him.
A man in a lab coat walks in, and seems suprised I can hang onto him.

The man raises his hand to pat Geode, but he lunges forward and tears off his latex gloves.
I take them from him, and notice they're covered in foamy spit.

I throw them out, and leave Geode in the empty walk in closet momentarily.

GRRRAAAAASRKRRRKRK! GRRRAAAAASRKRRRKRK! BANG!

He streaks around the corner, hanving figured out the sliding door.
I grab the leash last minute, and he jerks to a stop short of the mans' face.
My roomie walks forward from the bedroom, and stands beside me.

I ask, "What do you need sir?"
He sniffs, "I need a small sample of this things DNA. If you'd extract a cheek swab, that would be enough. Oh, and a bit of hair from a brush if it's plausible."
I grab the swab, and tell Geode, "Please open your mouth and keep it open for a bit,"

I swab his fleshy cheek as he waggs his odd tail.

I hand it over to the stunned man as we head down to the bathroom to grab his brush.
We go back into the stables through the creepy halls, and grab the brush.
We run back, and end up back in our room in about fifteen minutes.
I open the door, and Geode yanks free of my hands.
I cry a warning, but it's too late.
His teeth are out, and he's on a kill streak.