• Chapter 1

    Amelia tried hard not to stare, she really did but she couldn't help it her brother’s new friend was just … she tried thinking of the word to sum it up; gorgeous she thought and nodded to herself in satisfaction. Soft brown hair, bright green eyes, and the skin Amelia could just die for—pale and smooth with no blemishes whatsoever. He was even taller than her brother and that's saying something, her brother was a little over six feet.

    “Hey Rick, who is your friend?” she asked trying not to act awkwardly or seem too desperate.

    Her brother rolled his eyes. “Amelia this is Arthur. Arthur this is my little sister Amelia.”

    Amelia smiled at Arthur whose face was unreadable.

    “Nice to meet you Arthur.” Amelia held out her hand, cheerfully, smiling brightly than before.

    There was no response and her smile faded and she felt like an idiot, shifting her feet she moved her eyes to Rick’s face.

    “Oh … um ... okay. Well I'll see you guys later. I … err … guess.”

    She let them pass and Rick sent an apologetic look her way but she ignored him. Amelia walked out of the hallway and into the kitchen suddenly feeling the need to eat something sweet. Her mother was already there cell phone in hand and talking rapidly to a coworker while looking through files on her laptop. She briefly looked up at Amelia acknowledging her before going back to her business.

    Amelia sighed inaudibly opening the freezer and taking out a Popsicle. “Yes … yes … hold on a minute … you’ll spoil your appetite Amelia.”

    Her mother looked at her sharply but Amelia shrugged and took a bite from the Popsicle.

    “Whoa—oops. Sorry mum I already ruin it.” She looked at her mother mockingly her eyes daring her mother to say something, anything—desperate even to just gain a little more attention.

    Her mother gave Amelia an annoyed look before pointing, with a perfectly manicured nail, at the door of the kitchen. “Leave. I’m working.” And with that she went back to her phone call.

    Something flashed in Amelia's eyes before disappearing completely leaving her to and mutter, “When aren’t you working?” as she made her way out the kitchen.

    A disinterested “What was that?”followed Amelia out the door.

    “Nothing Mum,” Amelia replied quickly and just as quickly shut the door of the kitchen.

    She left the kitchen Popsicle in hand and with nothing else to do. Sure she could go bother her brother and his friend but there was something about that Arthur guy that made her wary about him. Something wasn’t right about him and her gut feelings were telling her to be careful. Besides even though she did find him smoking hot, she laughed to herself a little at that, she didn’t like him—maybe it was the way he didn’t respond to her or the lack of response that is. So bothering her brother was crossed off her list.

    Well there was always the television, Amelia thought letting herself fall on the couch.

    “Let’s see … what to watch … oh how ‘bout a scary movie?” She mused.

    She picked one at random that was based on the novel Pet Cemetery by Stephen King. She became so engrossed with the movie that she ignored her surroundings it wasn’t until she came to a scene with Jud in the bedroom looking for Gage and was about the left the bed covers for a better view underneath, when suddenly Amelia's cell phone rang loud and obnoxious.

    She screamed once at the sudden intrusion of her cell. Then a twice even louder than before when she saw the scene of the cat popping out of nowhere and the kid’s hand sneaking out with a scalpel from underneath the bed cutting Jud’s ankle. And a third time when her brother and his friend appeared at the door. Rick looked confused and worried.

    “What! What happened?!” came all in a rush out Rick's mouth, he scanned the room looking for any unwanted intruders tensed and ready to attack if needed.

    When Amelia felt calm enough she paused the movie and threw the pillow at Rick with precise accuracy at his face.“Gosh!” she yelled “You want me to die of a heart attack don’t you?!” She put her hand over her chest trying to remember how to breathe normally.

    “What?” Rick glared at her taking the pillow and throwing it at her hitting her in the back of the head. “Owie.” She took the pillow and hugging it she pouted at Rick, noticing Arthur standing beside him.

    “What do you want Rick? You interrupted me.”

    “Well I heard screams so I was worried that you were getting attacked or something.” Rick gave Amelia a concern look, and she sighed to herself; her brother was just too overprotective and a worry-wort sometimes, that it gets old after awhile.

    Amelia scoffed, “No way. I was watching a movie that’s all. My cell rang at this really good part of the movie and then when I looked up the kid attacked the old man and then I looked back behind me I screamed because you surprised me.”

    Rick started laughing which caused Amelia to start giggling before laughing loudly and Arthur quirked his lips snickering a little.

    “Pfft, Amelia I can’t believe it.” Rick finally said when he was done. “Damn it. I wished I had seen it. Anyway let’s go back Arthur.”

    Amelia grinned and waved them off playing the movie. She enjoyed the rest of the movie and only screamed into the pillow so she wouldn’t bother Rick. Although she did have to admit that it was pretty funny. Stretching once the movie ended she commented to herself about the ending, her cell rang again.

    Jumping she cursed, “Oh shitz I totally forgot about the call earlier.”

    Flipping her phone open she was met with her best friend's angry voice, “Why the hell didn’t you call me back?”

    Wincing at the sudden yelling she answered back apologetically, “Sorry about that Nix when you called I was distracted and didn’t hear the ring over my screams.”

    There was silence on the other line then, “You are an idiot Amelia. Anyways tell me about it later. Have you checked the news today at all?”

    Amelia checks the clock. “Yea—no I haven’t. Why?”

    Nix gave a heavy sigh. “Jeez, don’t I always tell you to watch the news? Never mind don't answer. Anyway last night there was a murder on 47th street and Boardwalk Avenue.”

    Amelia frowned. “And that has to do with …?”

    “There was no evidence of trespassing and there was no weapon.”

    “Well no duh, the murder would've taken it with him or her.”

    “Shut up you. As I was saying, no weapon or signs of struggle were found. So the police and the higher ups were thinking that it was a surprise attack, but so far the only suspects are the neighbors or some type of friend of the victim.”

    Amelia poked at the hole in her jeans with interest humming to show she was still paying attention as her friend went on.

    “The way the victim was killed was weird too. There was no blood found in her body at all and her neck up was cut off and there was some type of unidentified poison found in her stomach and digestive system. What do you think?”

    Amelia looked up at the ceiling. “Well, I think that the reason there’s no blood is because the victims head was cut off and then the blood drained out. Anyway I don’t really think much about this; it’s more your thing not mine—since you’re so morbid.”

    Nix sighed as if expecting this from her friend, “Anyway I have to go now. I'll talk to you later.”

    Amelia gave a small yeah and flipped her cell off rubbing her temples. “Now, what to do with my life?”

    She fell back on the couch and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.

    There was a light shake on Amelia's shoulder and an equally light poke on her face “Hey, wake up Rick’s little sister.”

    Amelia turned over in her sleep making a face, raising her arm lazily to squat away whoever had the nerve to poke and prod her while she slept. She muttered something but it was muffled by the couch pillow.

    “What? Rick your sister won’t wake up!”

    There was yelling coming from the kitchen, “Try harder!”

    Arthur sighed frowning and shook Amelia. She woke with a start, grumpy and mean-spirited. She gave a fierce glare to Arthur, who blinked in surprised before going back to his blank face.

    “Rick says it’s time to eat,” he stood up and paused. “You got a bit of drool here.” He pointed to his chin and left, leaving a blushing Amelia alone.

    She groaned annoyed and embarrassed, but stood up anyway wiping her drool with her arm.

    Walking into the kitchen she was hit with warm delicious aromas of lasagna, chicken, and garlic bread.

    “Mmm … I’m starving.”

    She hovered around the island watching Rick put the finishing touches on the food.

    “Go sit down.” He sent her a look and Amelia, who was utterly useless anyway, sat at the table twiddling her thumbs facing Arthur.

    “So …” She began to rack her brain with something to talk about feeling suddenly uncomfortable with the silence.

    “Um …” Her eyes went to Rick who thankfully was done and setting the plates down in front of them.

    “Where’s mom?” Amelia asked through bites not out of curiosity but out of habit.

    “Don’t chew with your mouth open, you’re grossing out our guest.” Rick gave a glare jerking his head a bit to the side to emphasize his point.

    Amelia rolled her eyes though there was a slight reddening of her face showing her embarrassment.

    “She’s probably working,” he said dismissively.

    There was silence after that and Amelia was glad that she finished first, wanting to get out as soon as possible she left the two to enjoy their meal in a much slower pace.

    Checking her watch Amelia sighed it was only a little past two. Not having anything else to do, she quickly went to her room and grabbed her jacket, scarf, gloves, and purse.

    “I’m going out. Call if you need anything!” The door slammed shut behind her and she winced, shrugging it off she continued on starting to aimlessly wonder around.
    ****
    Test tubes clanked together and were crooked. A smooth pale hand reached out with grace to set them straight with a sigh. The purple liquid sloshed a bit threatening to spill out, but didn’t. There was a heavy sigh opposite the lab and a muttered curse.

    The only lights that illuminated the lab were the lights from the machines and computers spaced out around a large glass dome, that was filled with green liquid and wires connecting to a specimen that vaguely resembled a cross between a human and animal. There were rustling of papers, plastic and chewing, furious scratching of pen on paper, and frustrated murmurs.

    “God damn it, Zach! Can you not eat over here?” Finally having enough of the noise Drake, the lead scientist, spoke in a sharp manner towards his coworker, who choked in surprise. The lab was suddenly filled with hacking coughs and a few side-laughter from other fellow scientists.

    “Jeez, boss you scared me,” Zach coughed out hitting his chest firmly then taking a sip of his water until the rest of his coughs subsided.

    Drake frowned at Zach’s tone looking at him with dislike. “This is a lab, McKenzie not a cafeteria,” he used Zach’s last name in a warning tone.

    Zach sheepishly looked away avoiding his boss’s face.

    “My bad, boss. It’s just that it’s been hours since I last ate. And there hasn’t been a break yet.” His boss's lips went tight hearing that, the others feeling bold started to complain. Not wanted to deal with overgrown men acting like kids Drake thought for a moment.

    He nodded stiffly “Fine go on a lunch break. I'll watch the data from here.”

    The others cheered amongst themselves and rushed out of the lab, but Zach didn't move. His faced showed his disapproval at his boss's decision.

    “It’s nice to see you always hardworking, boss. But don't you think that you should relax?” Zach said concerned.

    Drake scoffed, “Relax? I can’t ever relax on this job.” He pushed his glasses up and swept his long hair—which he noted that it needed to be cut soon, it was annoying and got in the way with his work—back and slumped in his chair. “You may be new here, but I presumed that you would at least understand the seriousness of this project when you were assigned here.”

    Zach smiled pleasantly, making Drake want to hit him. “I understand boss, really I do. The thing is why should we waste our time on that thing in there when it’s not even awake? It could be in a coma and it’ll never wake up or it can be dead for all we know.”

    Drake raised an eyebrow. “That thing as you so call ‘it’ is still alive according to the monitor, as for the coma part it'll wake up eventually.”

    Zach made an offhand gesture.

    “Yes, okay you got me there but you yourself don’t sound too confident on it waking up. But you didn't explain why we are here wasting time on insignificant matters.”

    The boss blew through his nose. “Because, McKenzie, the thing’s unnatural. The Upstairs doesn’t know what it is; it could be a potential danger that if unleashed in our society. It’ll cause mayhem and chaos. It’ll be something that the government will have to explain and then it’ll cause distrust with the government and the people won’t know what to believe. Then there will people who want to stick their noses in our— and the government’s—business. And then they’ll be forced to explain a lot more, causing people like me to get sacked and possibly killed.”

    Zach blinked and turned to the dome studying the creature after awhile of silence he grinned and smirking he turned to Drake “But boss, the thing looks as harmless as a fly. It’ll probably be mistaken as a deformed ugly human.”

    And then he laughed like he said the funniest thing ever.

    Drake, however, didn’t find it funny so he scowled and went back to his data ignoring the rest of Zach’s attempts of conversation opting to study the data and puzzle over it. Annoyed at being ignored Zach got up and left deciding that since his boss wasn’t going to talk to him anymore he might as well go hang out with the others on lunch break.

    Once hearing the footsteps fade Drake slipped his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. Ever since this experiment began he felt the sudden need to unravel the mystery of the creature. His brain was itching to know and it kept him sometimes up late at night going over the day’s work, but with every new test, data, and observations he felt that he wasn't getting close to finding out what the mystery was. What the secret was that the creature held only seemed to make him obsessed.

    A bad sign, Drake noted warily. If he went beyond what the Upstairs were asking for, he’ll surely get into trouble especially if he himself knew too much than them. Then they'll believe that he was holding back information. He sighed; the worst part of it was that he named the creature himself, a real name not the one that the Upstairs had given him for it.

    Subject X6734 was what Drake fondly called ‘Sammy’ the creature with its hairy body, too long arms and bent back knees and legs, askew elbows, and hands slender and long, and not to forget the feet which were more of horse hoofs than anything. Its torso slightly defined with muscle but with thin scars barely visible to the eyes. It was a male obviously, although ‘Sammy looked scrawny and far too tall

    Drake knew somehow that ‘Sammy’ held some type of power whether it was physical or just intelligence type of power, Drake didn’t know yet, but he so badly wanted to know.

    ‘Sammy’s’ hairless head was big with a wide forehead—probably hosting a large brain, Drake mused, tapping his finger on his chin thoughtful—he held two small horns growing on the sides a little above its temples.

    And his features were unique, a narrow face with a hint of elegance, a nose that reminded him like that of a snake, and almond eyed shape. The feature that fascinated Drake the most, besides the horns, was ‘Sammy’s’ ears. They were long and stuck straight back and not to mention fleshy as well, reminding Drake of some type of a dog's ears or animal ears of which he had long forgotten.

    Slipping back his glasses he stood up walking to the dome in the center of the lab. Going the last few steps he placed his hands on the railings and leaned forward, just to stare and marvel as he usually did when there was peace and quiet.

    He tentatively placed a hand on the glass tensing for a moment and sighed when nothing seemed to happen.

    “Wake up you. Wake up!”he said fiercely, face twisting in to one of impatience and sudden anger.

    There was only silence from the being and the low mummer of the heart machine filling his ears. He gave grunt expecting this and slouched running a hand over his face.

    Drake studied the creature once more checking for anything unusual and only frowned when he didn’t find any. Sighing he raised his arms, stretching and yawning, turned his back to the dome.

    Subject X6737 at long last opened it eyes, a pair of inky black, and stared at the back of Drake. A twisted grin of mirth showed on its face through the oxygen mask, but quickly as it came it disappeared.

    ‘Sammy’ closed his eyes and let a small knowing smile cross his face.