Freak of Nature by Julia Crane Read Free Book Online Page A

Thirty minutes of sitting still, then a blood pressure check. Boring. Monotonous.
    Kaitlyn glanced at the old man. His spectacles had slid so far down his nose it was a surprise they hadn’t fallen off. Not for the first time, she thought she should have hated him for taking away her old life, but for some reason, she didn’t. She only felt indifference for the professor and the rest of the staff. They had probably programmed her that way.
    Kaitlyn was tired of never knowing which thoughts were her own, and which were IFICS.
    “Well done.” The professor pulled apart the velcro and released Kaitlyn from the cuff.
    Like I have anything to do with my blood pressure. I don’t even have a normal heart . With all her knowledge she couldn’t even comprehend how her body was able to function properly. A medical marvel was often thrown around in regards to her body.
    The professor rolled his chair around where Kaitlyn was sitting to glance at the computer screen. It was hooked up to electrodes placed on her chest. Adams was obsessed with bio-rhythmics, and was constantly tracking all her numbers searching for any anomalies. He said it was the mathematician in him. Bio-rhythmics consisted of three cycles: physical, emotional and intellectual. It didn’t seem very scientific to her.
    “Amazing.” He muttered staring at the data. “Your readings are always the same. No matter what we do to you.”
    There was a knock at the door, and Frank, her firearms instructor, entered the room. “Time for the shooting range.”
    Finally, something that wasn’t boring. Kaitlyn had to suppress a smile that wanted to spread across her face. After her initial training, she only spent one day a week on the range. Frank claimed she was so accurate, anymore time would just be a waste of bullets. They just wanted to keep her from getting rusty.
    She was quite sure her parts could not rust, but she kept her thoughts to herself.
    With haste she made her way to the arms room and grabbed her gear.
    There was something calming about the feel of cold steel in her hand. It was as if the gun was an extension of her hand.
    Maybe they were right. Maybe she was born for this. Or maybe she would never know since she couldn’t recall her life before the accident.
    Kaitlyn slammed a fresh magazine into the Browning MK III. Legs planted firmly, she leaned forward just a little, arms locked, and lined up the red dot. Letting out a breath, she squeezed the trigger repeatedly in rapid succession.
    She lowered the pistol and pushed the button to the right of her. The electronic carrier brought the black silhouette forward, edges of the paper waving in the breeze as it moved.
    Her instructor, Frank, whistled under his breath and stared at the quarter-sized hole in the middle of the target’s bulbous forehead. “Damn girl. Forty-five meters. That’s the stuff of legends.”
    “Legends?” Kaitlyn asked, staring at Frank. He was a big guy—broad shoulders, a huge, muscular torso, and a neck as thick as a tree trunk. Kaitlyn had to peer up at him he was so tall.
    Frank stared at her, but didn’t reply. He ran his hand through his greying goatee and he opened his mouth about to say something, but thought better of it and clamped his mouth. He wasn’t allowed to talk to her unless it was in regards to training. He turned his back on her and jerked down the target. “Let’s try that again. Only this time, left arm only.”
    Kaitlyn waited patiently as Frank attached two new targets and hit the switch to send them back down the training field. He stepped away and motioned. “Two to the chest, one to the head.”
    She nodded and got in position. Frank moved the targets this time, back and forth and side to side. She calculated the distance and squeezed the trigger. As the targets continued to move, Kaitlyn’s mind kept up with them as if they were standing still. Moving targets were so much more fun than stationary.
    “Come over here and let’s work a few