The rapid click of my heels echoed through the cold concrete corridor, the sound highlighting just how empty the building was.
Though it certainly wasn't the first time I'd been called in to work at such an unreasonable hour there had been something in Aro's voice telling me that, for once, I wasn't just being asked to oversee another set of inconsistent labs. In fact he had sounded so unlike his usual calm, unhurried self that had I not checked caller ID I might not have realized who I was speaking to at all.
"Isabella, this is extremely important, we need you in H17 within the hour. Should I ask Gianna to send a car for you?"
I had told him no and clicked the phone shut, ignoring Jake's grunting complaints as I flicked the dim bedside lamp on and started to dress, paying little attention to the sartorial choices I was making.
Five minutes later I planted a kiss on my dozing boyfriend's forehead, promised to call him after breakfast and hurried down to the garage where I climbed in to my reliable old Volvo and reversed out on to the deserted main road.
As I neared H17 I heard the low rumble of machinery. Whatever was happening in there was happening without me. The guys knew I hated them starting important work ups in my absence, so I assumed that Aro had insisted they kick start the processing prior to my arrival.
It was something that plenty of my colleagues wouldn't have been surprised by but the mere idea set my mind whirring. While Aro was sure to be involved at every step of the way in high level cases he never got his hands dirty. Lab work was for his staff, people like me. Aro read our notes and questioned our findings but he rarely involved himself directly with processing and he certainly never dealt directly with lower level staff.
My hands were damp with nervous sweat and I wiped a palm on my trousers before pressing my thumb to the wall-mounted scanner, It flashed twice before the heavy door began to slide agonizingly slowly, eventually opening enough to allow me to slip inside.
I called out a terse hello only to be met with relative silence, the only sound the continuing chugging of the Peloris.
Frowning to myself I approached the machine, checking its complex settings. It appeared to be running a full set of stains, as expected, but a quick glance at the processing records showed that nobody had logged the run. My staff knew better than to neglect the rigorous system I had put in place and they certainly wouldn't be so foolish as to leave labs unattended, especially if they knew I was due to arrive before completion.
A brief check of the desks showed no paperwork or evidence of further tests, so instead of waiting around for something to happen I took a coffee from the vending machine outside the lab door and set off in search of somebody who could give me some answers.
I peered through a handful of windows and doors but was only greeted with eerily empty rooms, machines lined up against walls and empty beds awaiting use. Usually the rooms buzzed with activity, test subjects filled the beds and white coated doctors and technicians rushed from room to room taking notes, pressing buttons and pushing rattling trolleys filled with samples.
At the end of the corridor, set apart from the labs, test suites and observation rooms was the bank of offices where I hoped to find some sign of life.
"Bella, you're here! Why will you never let me send Felix for you?"
Straight backed and immaculately turned out, Gianna was in her usual position behind the glass reception desk in front of the three large offices belonging to the men who called the shots.
"What would be the point of living with a mechanic if I didn't at least have a reliable car?"
She smiled and shook her head. Gianna was used to my reluctance in making use of company perks.
"I'll page Aro for you hon."
She picked up the phone but I reached to touch her hand, stopping her before the receiver reached her ear.
"Where is he? I'll just run up and meet him."
"He asked for you to wait. He's over on Brandon."
"Brandon?"
She shrugged, offering no explanation but rising from her seat to hand me a thin yellow folder.
I recognized the papers immediately as a set of admission records and assumed that whomever the forms related to was the reason I had been called in, the reason that Aro was currently visiting on the mental health wing.
Raising the rapidly cooling latte to my lips I sipped slowly, skimming over the new subject's personal details before flipping to the next page.
The hand I held my coffee cup with froze in midair. I glanced at Gianna but she was engrossed in something on the computer screen in front of her. She definitely didn't know what these files contained.
I turned back to the sheet of paper lying in my lap and again read the subject's admission notes, trying to make sense of the lists of symptoms, medications and observations.
"Aha, Isabella," Aro's soft voice broke in to my thoughts causing me to start.
"I see you have our notes," he continued.
I stared openly, trying to read his expression but it was smooth and neutral, betraying no emotion.
"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked.
He threw a pointed look towards Gianna, "let's discuss this in my office shall we?" he asked.
Once we were safely locked away in Aro's vast and extravagant office with its expensive art and grandiose furniture I threw the file down on his over-sized mahogany desk in annoyance.
"I'm going to be honest Aro, I have no idea why I'm here."
"You read the admissions?"
"Of course I read the admissions."
He leaned back in his seat, his watery eyes trained on me.
"You don't find the subject's experience's somewhat unusual?"
I stopped pacing and folded my arms, "not especially. This certainly isn't the first delusional subject we've dealt with."
"Delusional?"
I widened my eyes in surprise, "of course."
"With no evidence of a psychotic disorder? No schizophrenia, no bipolar?"
"Aro, you know I'm not a psychiatrist. That said, my uncle's dog could tell you that the delusion is a fairly good indication of psychosis in itself."
"But if there's no psychotic disorder?"
Aro's calm demeanor was making me increasingly frustrated, I couldn't understand why he saw this subject as so worthy of our attention or why he insisted on keeping up this pretense that I was in a position to make a diagnosis.
"Drug use? Sleep deprivation? Munchhausen's? Psychosis is seen in cases of AIDs, sarcoidosis, electrolyte disorders. You know this better than I do Aro."
He only smiled.
"Gianna told me you were in Brandon."
"I was."
I finally sat down across from my employer, leaning forward on my elbows and pinching the bridge of my nose. My head was pounding and I was close to either shouting or crying, neither of which would help my career prospects.
"What would you like me to do Aro?"
He drew a long breath, observing me carefully.
"Isabella, you've been with Volterra Pharm. for how long now?"
"Seven years including training."
"Seven years and you're already running a department. You're aware that you're the youngest person in the company to have done so?"
I nodded, aware that I'd moved through the ranks quickly and though it wasn't strictly the case that I ran a department - Histology was more of a sub-department and a relatively small one at that - I knew that I was the youngest member of management by more than twenty years.
"You're the best CLS we have here, you know that. You also know that I trust you above anybody else to work on confidential and sensitive cases.
"However Isabella, before we discuss this case any further I'd like to be sure of my assumptions. Can I trust you to be absolutely discreet, even within Volterra?"
"Of course you can," my voice was higher than usual, "I've never broken your confidence before."
He smiled, "no, you haven't. And you trust me to do the right thing for my employees, clients and test subjects?"
"You've never given me any reason not to."
Although Aro and the other CEOs appeared to be primarily concerned with profit and insisted on referring to those who agreed to take part in trials and studies as 'subjects' - a habit that had rubbed off on most of their employees, myself included - none of them had given me any reason to believe that they or Volterra as a whole was unscrupulous or corrupt.
He picked up the yellow folder and handed it to me again, rising from his seat.
"In that case we'll discuss the case further on our way over to introduce you to our new resident."
It was after 4am when Aro and I left his office and started the long walk to the Brandon Unit, the secure area in which Volterra Pharmaceuticals carried out mental health research.
I rarely spent time there, having little reason to leave the confines of my own labs in the main building. Besides, Brandon made me a little uncomfortable. It was rare that we carried out long term projects there - most mental health trials were required to take place in proper health care facilities - but when we did so I preferred to keep my distance. Medical conditions I could deal with, mental disorders were beyond my scientific understanding.
There was very little lab work could tell me about depression or retardation and the lack of scientific understanding wasn't something I could easily ignore.
Not only that but it seemed to me that Brandon was the only place where the company found themselves in a moral dilemma. Could people suffering with those kinds of issues really make the decision to take part in medical research? Was it acceptable for relatives or indeed for doctors to agree to the participation of their charges? I kept myself out of it as far as I could.
"I know this is an unusual request Isabella," Aro fell back to walk alongside me as we crossed the darkened quadrangle, "but I need to ask you to keep this particular, uh project, between you and I. For now I'd rather not involve Marcus or Caius."
"Fine."
"And I realize that you're extremely efficient when it comes to record keeping but I'd like to ask that on this occasion you let your meticulousness slide. I'd rather there be was no paperwork outside this folder, which is never to be out of either my own or your possession."
Although I didn't hesitate in agreeing to comply with Aro's requests I was a little discomfited. I trusted him entirely yet couldn't help but think that somehow whatever we were involved in here couldn't possibly be above board. Otherwise why would my labs need to be off the books? And why would Aro's partners need to be kept in the dark?
"May I ask a question?"
Aro smiled his usual unfathomable smile, "of course you may, although I can't guarantee to be able to answer it."
"Does this subject relate to any particular trial?"
We had stopped outside the huge automatic door of the Brandon Unit, neither of us yet swiping the security passes that would grant us access.
"Can you think of any trial it might relate to?"
I wasn't sure whether he was being deliberately obtuse or if he hoped I might provide him with something useful in keeping this project under wraps.
"So why have we requested admission?"
"We haven't," he answered, cryptically, "let's just say I'm doing a favor for an old friend."
"Why?"
"The case doesn't interest you Isabella?"
Without waiting for an answer he turned to unlock the door, letting us both in to the deathly quiet building and leading the way to the elevator.
On exiting on the second floor Aro turned left and left again, eventually stopping at what was probably the least accessible observation room.
It was only once we were inside the dark alcove alongside the subject's room that I realized that I had been holding my breath. I let it out slowly and turned to the window that would allow us to observe the unit's one and only resident without his knowledge.
Although his back was to us and I had no way of seeing his face there was something about him, something that made my throat tighten and my eyes well with tears. I had no explanation. Have no explanation. But the mere sight of his stooped, defeated posture, the way in which one long, elegant hand raked through an unruly mass of bronze hair affected me in a way I had never been affected before.
And then, without turning, he spoke.
A/N: This story kind of came out of the blue for me, an unexpected idea that had to be jotted down.
Now, I'm not usually one for holding my readers to ransom but here's the deal - this one chapter took hours of research and thought because I'm absolutely not science-minded. To carry on with it is going to take a lot of dedication on my part and I don't want to waste time I could spend elsewhere if nobody's reading. So it's up to you - if you want more review, review, review! Recc, recc, recc!
Much love EQx