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"The Successful's mother?" Simon asked.

Hector nodded once. "I began courting her but she always refused. Months passed and I was so deep in love with Claro and Hazel, I would do anything for Claro to give me a chance, but she was still mourning her late husband even after all those years. Hazel was just a sweet little soul. All smiles and sweet talks. She was only eight years old."

"I had no idea that she'd been sneaking down to the underground—which you know is out of bounds to workers that aren’t the lab doctors. I had no idea how she discovered the secret door..." He shook his head, "I was shocked to my bones when Dr. Angor found her one-day sitting in front of the cage of Number 6, talking to him."

"When I came, I was more shocked to see Number 6...that huge wolf... was quiet. None of those raging howls, none of those angry grunts and snarls. It was quiet, just listening to Hazel speak." Even after all these years, his bafflement still reflected in his tone, "All the other prisoners, even from their own cages were quiet too...just listening to her little voice tell Number 6 a story."

"Angor was as shocked as I was. Number 6 hated humans so much that he kills all the women we'd thrown at his cage to sleep with, in the hopes that he will get any of them pregnant. his hate for humans was never mistaken, which made the sight all the more baffling. We secretly left without interrupting anything."

"After that day, we always watched from the Cam-Room...her interactions with Number 6, and every day, my fears rose higher because I can see the wheels in Angor's head-turning. Claro does not even know there was a secret door or an underground, she had no idea what was going on. I begged her to quit work, and I'll help her find another job but she refused because I was still a stranger to her...I could not tell her why I was trying to get her to quit work either."

Pain flashed in his eyes, "The Facility paid its workers well, Claro was just a single mother who was happy to find a way to make a good living. Hazel was everything she lived and breathed."

Although filled with curiosity to know everything that happened, Simon was bored with the story at the same time. He wanted out of that captive chair. He tugged on his reins.

Hector completely ignored him, sadness in his eyes as he continued. "When Angor told me his plans to kidnap Hazel, bring her in to know if Number 6 can sleep with her and successfully impregnate her without killing her, I went cold all over. Everything I feared was about to come to pass right there."

"I can still remember begging Angor not to use Hazel for that, the girl was just eight for crying out loud. JUST EIGHT!!" He shouted.

Simon startled at the unexpected shout, he stopped tugging at his restraints. "Oh, you scared me."

Hector breathed deeply to calm himself down. Took a while, but finally, he was able to get a semblance of calmness.

When he continued, his voice was calm again. "She was just eight." He repeated, "I did everything I could to dissuade him, I actually thought I succeeded at a point until one evening, I arrived at work to see little Hazel drugged and tied up in a cage of her own. I knew I'd lost the fight."

"When he drugged Number 6 up and took little Hazel to his cage, I was unable to watch from the Cam-Room. I was too heartbroken." He paused, tears in his eyes, "I did not watch but I heard it all. Her screams... Her pleas..."

His eyes squeezed tight. Tears flowed down repeatedly. "I heard and remembered every bit of those agonizing screams..."

"Uhm...don't you think you're being too emotional about this?" Simon's unconcerned tone filled the air.

Hector's eyes opened. He fixed them on the man.

Simon shrugged, "They are just experiments. It was all for a good cause."

Hector's eyes squeezed shut again. He balled his hands into fists, and squeezed, imagining it to be Simon's head.

"Heartless monster." Hector intoned.

Simon caught himself. This is not looking good for him at all. If he's going to get this damned man to release him, he has to pretend like he cares, even if he doesn't give shit.

"I'm sorry about that, uhm...don't mind me. What happened was awful, truly awful." He pursed his lips and shook his head, "You can continue now."

Hector glared at him. Hard.

Then, he sniffled, wiped his tears, and looked away. "I was already mourning her in my heart after crying in the bathroom while doing everything I can to make sure Angor did not get a hint of how I felt. I was already mourning her death, when Angor came into the Lab I was in, carrying a bloody and fainted Hazel in, while shouting: 'She's alive! She's alive!!!'. I was too shocked but indeed, Hazel was alive."

He paused. "Even though she looked worse for wear. But she was still alive and breathing. She was bleeding badly from what happened, but Number 6 did not shred her to pieces." A look at the ceiling. A wet smile. "I was relieved."

"But my joy was short-lived when I found out that Dr. Angor had no plans of letting her go after that. He kept her in the labs while poking and prodding her every day to know if she was pregnant. When I met Carol a week later, she was a shadow of herself looking for her child."

"She looked like she was barely alive...her eyes all swollen up from crying constantly. I was called one day because she fainted from starvation. My number was the first they could call, and when I got to the hospital...my heart could not take it all..."

A thought was starting to build in Simon's head. Surely, it cannot be...

"I was hoping that Hazel would not get pregnant, and hopefully, Angor will see that it didn't work and let her go home. I was hoping against all hope..." He has a miserable shake of his head, "But that was not the case."

"She really got pregnant...?" Simon asked in awe.