Chapter 1
Pressing herself against the wall, she cranes her neck around the corner, her ears alert for the scrape sound of footsteps. The hallway is clear, so swiftly her feet slides across the slippery floor and her body crouches behind the water fountain. Silence was deafening, a stillness that is only broken by the incessant imaginary voices of reprimand that feed her fear.
There would be consequences if she was caught, and that fear began leeching into her veins, cold and rampant. It encourages her to be calm and overtly cautious. Once she is positive the air is still, her shoes rapidly move her forward while her heart hammers in her chest which she ignores in favor of focusing on the mission. "I hope I don't get caught," she repeats for what seems like the 15th time this evening.
Running a few more corners, the door of the laboratory is in sight. Relief trickles into her body and she feels some of the pressure lifted. She made it this far. A hand grabs the handle of the door and tugs at it, of course, it does not open. Gaze fly to both sides of the large shadowed hallways before fingers reach into her pocket to pull out a duplicate key.
The torch in her hand temporarily lit up the key hole for her to insert it in. Suddenly, a flood of dread hits her; she fears it will not work. 'Maybe they are setting her up for failure.. what if they want an excuse to kick her out of the club.' These thoughts turn in her head causing knots to twist in her stomach. 'No' she tells herself, 'They have accepted me.. they promised me a good future, I can't betray their trust.'
Breathing in the musky smell of the school that has a faint trace of bleach, the key is shoved into the lock and turned. Her heart leaps as the lock releases. Instantly, she slips inside the gaping room and shivers -the temperature is lower compared to the outside, and her skin prickles due to the effect. 'What kind of weirdo needs the science lab to be this cold? Maybe Reuben is a freak.'
The circular light from the torch moves across the room, allowing her to view the pile of books and papers, some machines in the corner, all mundane things until - a human face. A scream nearly tears from her throat, but lips clamp down on the sound. Moving closer, the torch light illuminates the strange shape of a life-like human head whose exposed brain was sectioned into various parts and labeled.
Sharp pins were stuck into its fleshy parts, parts tainted a thick red liquid that oozes out from the holes, dyeing the areas a sickly red. 'What kind of twisted science project is this thing?' Flinching away at the morbid creation, 'the brain is designed to look so realistic, it is fucking creepy.'
'He surely couldn't have bought a live brain here, the teachers would've complained, and all the other students would scream. Ruben has been known to be hostile towards both but he wouldn't risk expulsion.' From the darker part of her imagination, a facile outline of the quiet lad takes shape, and she sees his creepy eyes and his downturned mouth, framed forever in a sneer. A small window, shows just barely above the surface of his sharp blue eyes, giving a glimpse of his hatred for the world. And here she was, an average student in his twisted lair, snooping around.
'He couldn't really do anything to me, could he?' There was this horrible rumor around school that after the University marching band angered him - they disappeared. He was somehow responsible for their deaths. He muttered about it incessantly, and cackled in the shadows every time someone mentioned it. No one really knew the fate of the band, where they disappeared off to, but the idea that Reuben could be responsible- was plausible, but it was most likely a rumor.
Pushing those thoughts from her mind, clearing them as fast as she can, whatever feelings of dread she feels at this illegal exploration of the lab. She begins her duty in earnest. Under the light, the lab looks relatively normal, but on closer inspection, the cracks in the psyche were revealed and had inundated his work space. That was rough drafts with hasty scribbles for issued homework from his classes and projects made from clay and dioramas of construction paper, but somehow he managed to etch his true feelings onto the papers and materials.
'The University is for idiots', 'there is no one of value here', and 'All the people here are worthless.' 'They each deserve to die', 'Their ignorance, and their failure to see their own pathetic self-worth.' 'They are pitiful self-serving sheep', 'how weak they are trying to find their purpose,' All of it was scribbled on research papers, a few writings on the side of a caved in model, and even a balled up discarded paper contained a few of his insidious musings.
The torch light drops to the floor and moves across another pile, her eyes track it thoughtfully. This is getting tedious, picking up pieces of scraps and trying to find some answers. It was a waste of time. Shining the torch around, the glare caught the reflective surface of a mirror. Good, she could use that mirror to cover the window and that cardboard boxes to shield the edges to prevent any light from escaping. Once the lights were switched on, she could view every part of the room more clearly.
The lab resembles other labs in the University inhabited by normal students, down to the bookcase stuffed with books in the corner and mathematical drawings on the board. But there was something off, so she checked his library collection, curious if she would perchance upon more angry scribbling. Instead, shock seized her face on finding red prints. 'Was that blood?" she speaks out loud, a quake in her voice. Scientific books, psychology and other hardbound covers all related to his field of interest except for the few books pushed into the lower corner. 'Why would a scientist have books about Shakespeare in his possession?'
He wasn't in any English class - and a sudden thought occurred to her, he had a dislike for this particular famous writer. It was during the university show of Macbeth. The actors were amplifying their lines with a clownish zeal, exercising every little rise and fall in the Victorian language. They echoed exuberantly the exaggeration accompanied most plays set in Victorian England by lesser artists. It had gotten so bad that many of the attendees visibly showed their frustration. Only Reuben had gotten to his feet and shrieked in the voice high with derision. "How much longer are we to be subjected to this butchery of English language?" His lips drawn downwards sharply in a vicious line, a perpetual scowl that was ugly and vicious.
Clearly, he harbored no love Shakespeare, but why keep his work around, for what purpose. She reaches down and picks up one of the books as icy terror washes over her. The lower part of the book is drenched in blood. It looks fresh. A trace with her fingers left a dark wet stain on her prints. 'Why was there blood here? Asks herself shakily, suddenly frightened of the meaning behind this discovery, 'what was he doing?'.
After wiping her fingers off on her jeans, she flips through the clean pages, searching for some answers. Nothing contained in this book, nothing out of the ordinary. The remaining ones didn't have this level of smearing.
If you were Reuben, what would you do? And you wanted to hide an amazing invention or your greatest ideas. A sudden thought hit her - quickly the books were removed from the bookcase. Viola! A password keypad was displayed, hidden under the stack of books. Now to enter the password. Eyes are drawn to the blood staining the back of Macbeth. 'How fitting!' Flipping it open, she scans the first couple of pages, until she lands on one with ink that appears recent. Lightly, she touches the highlighted sentences with a finger. For some inexplicable reason, she decided to count the words and add it, the answer giving her, 7-3-4-7-5. Without wasting a second, fingers nimbly press the keys, hands clammy and beads of sweat gather on her forehead.
The longer she stays, the chances of getting caught increase- jeopardizing her future. Finally, the code is entered, and a whir of machinery followed by a creak resounds in the narrow space. Then, the bookcase moves to the side revealing a dark entryway. Staring at the open passageway in shock for a moment, which was soon followed by a flush of pride. 'She did it!' She unlocked Reuben's secret lair and now, the discovery of his amazing science project was close at hand. The message would be relayed to the club president and the award would be theirs. Standing at the entrance, staring down the pitch black path, her heart pounding in her ears, the question rises if it was all worth it, and a lump sticks in her throat.
Reuben was not normal, that was certain. .A sudden noise causes her to jump back. No, it was a voice. Turning her head to the source, she caught the deep brown eyes of a boy, a little older than her, in a hostile stance at the open lab door. "What are you doing here?" He demands, eyes narrow suspiciously. "I-am-I am doing a favor for Reuben." She sputters, thinking quickly, 'dammit'. She hadn't even heard him come into the room.
Studying his features, she recognizes that boy as the senator's son and the prefect for the boys' dorm. 'What was his name?' She wonders. "So Reuben told you to come here in the middle of the night and check out his lab?" There was clear doubt in his eyes and his expression was edged with distrust.
"Yes," Came the quick reply, as her eyes shift sideways to the open door, "I just have to check downstairs-"
"Wait, is that blood!"
He is beside her in two quick strides, picking up the book she had discarded on the table. Confusion colors his hard gaze that swung from the book to the dark tunnel before settling on her in a probing glare. Panic and fear hits her chest, and thickens in her throat, but she doesn't allow the feelings to leak into her calm façade.
"What are you doing here? And where do those stairs lead?" He presses her tersely, his stare examining every twitch on her countenance. "It is just a secondary lab for Reuben's secret projects. The ones he wants to hide from the teachers." Attempting to casually pass it off as a logical response of a genius wishing to keep his projects secret, and not the insane creation born out of paranoid delusions.
The boy didn't seem to be convinced; he continues his silent evaluation of her, gauging her own reactions as his eyes surreptitiously dart across the room. In her opinion, she think she does a good job of acting innocent, very effective from her big brown eyes to a coquettish curve dancing on her lips.
"I don't believe you!" snaps tersely, eyes growing harder, and she detects an undercurrent of anger with an authoritative edge, "I'm Sebastian Castellanos, prefect of the University and I would appreciate if you would stop lying to me."
"Why are you really here?" He repeats his question, arms folded across his broad chest. "None of your business," Giving voice to the agitation at his prying questions, an angry scowl twisting on her face. She was done being nice.
"You seem tense-"A cold sharpness in his eyes, " Who are you? An underclassmen." Lips condensing into a thin line before giving him an icy glare. "I think I know you from somewhere?" Suddenly proclaims, studying her face.
"Great , so you don't need to ask anymore stupid questions." Retorts apathetically, gestures to the door with her head, "Can I go now? Reuben is expecting me soon." Nervousness forces jitters down her legs, and she has to apply pressure on one leg to calm maintain some semblance of balance. "I've told you, I work for Reuben."
"Reuben works alone!" Was the snappish reply, his eyes still lowered and focused on the clicking on his cellphone. "What are you doing?" She asks, "Don't you think you are taking your duties too seriously, especially after midnight." Her voice sounds chiding; hopefully, she could defuse the whole situation..and leave quickly. "Wait a second," he said, a pause, he holds up the phone for her inspection, "You're Julie the KKK Kidman, right?"
A dark color shadows her face, eyes narrow into slits. She hated that nickname, from those unimaginative jerks from her old class.
"Now, I remember you! You are that girl whose parents were in the KKK and you had sex with the entire hockey team."
A grunt in mild anger passes her lips, 'who cares what he thought of her'. "Yes," Says tightly, refusing to look away, accepting the mocking glimmer in his stare. "Are you sleeping with Reuben? Is that why you are here?" He prods; the smirk softening his harsh lips probably reflected all the pornos going through his head.
"Yes, you caught me Detective!" The tone heavy with sarcasm and her hands tighten beside her legs, "Now excuse me, I have to go to our love nest." Despite her misgivings and overlooking the fear stroking her spine, she pushes past him to step into the darkness below. 'Damn, I hate kids like him.'
"Hey, be careful, it looks dangerous down there!" Fingers wrap around her arm and halt her progress on the first step. Something about the room -was wrong. His nose wrinkles as a strange stench assaults his nose, the air down there is colder and pungent with a weird smell he couldn't quite place.
"I'm Sebastian Castellanos," He sounds calmer, the lines of his expression relax, as if he decided that it was not worth upsetting her, " I'm sorry if I offended you. You're still a lady, so should probably be treated you like one!" Echoing his mother's words, while looking as apologetic as possible.
"It's fine!" she visibly relaxes, a small smile lifts her lips. "So Julie," He said, serious while maintaining steady eye contact, his hand loosening into a comforting grip, "Where are you going? And why do you have a stack of bloody books and -"
The smile never leaves her lips, "I don't think that is any of your business, Sebastian," Said in the politest tone she could manage, that was also stilted.
"Yes. It's my business-" Narrowing his eyes, tension rippling through his form, and he his expression grows harder when he notices her dubious look.
"There is something very fucking wrong here- I can feel it in my gut, and I would like you to tell me what the hell you are doing here working ..at midnight.. in a secret lab." He moves closer to her, and her stomach lurches as she feels herself being swallowed by the stormy blue irises of his eyes.
For a brief second, frustration crosses his face as he views the set of stubborn scrunch of her face. "Are you and Ruben doing drugs or having sex parties in there? Why the secrets? Answer me." He demands gruffly, leaning towards her and his blue eyes flicker irately. Fear streaks through her as images of terrible repercussions rush through her mind.
"Do I look like the type to be interested in sex parties?" Arching her brow, the coldness in her tone bordered on chilly. Sebastian rubs the back of his head, "Look kiddo," Refusing to relent from his interrogation, "I just want a simple answer. If you can't give me that then I am going to have to call the teacher at this time." His temper flaring and visible in his hard stare.
Now it was Juli's turn to let out a frustrated growl. It did well to hide the panic that the interrogator was stirring within her, she wants to avoid trouble.
"It is not so hard to tell the truth as long as it not so serious. I can be understanding." Taken on a more conciliatory edge in a softer voice; clearly, he is changing tactics to appear friendly. He caught the severe glimmer of distrust, and open hostility, and was surprised that someone could immediately appear so guarded and fierce. 'What was she trying to hide?' He wonders.
The corners of her eyes smooth out when she realizes that she appears maybe a little violent, so she visibly forces herself to relax in order to avoid raising his suspicion anymore, because his glower is probing and studying her like hawk.
When she feels confidence sear though her body, she decides to lie in earnest, "Well.. you see-"
"Who is in there?"
Both of them froze, and their eyes met in equal measures of fear and dismay, recognizing the voice of the janitor. Juli's reflexes, swift and strong from days playing soccer, come in handy as she snatches Sebastian's hand and drags him into the darkness. The door shuts behind them automatically, and together, their breaths mingle in the biting cold air. "Why did you do that?" Sebastian hisses between pursed lips, angry. Julie shushes him, tightening her grip on his arm.
He might have muttered something under his breath, Julie could barely catch the words but it was definitely bitchy and annoyed. They wait on bated breath for any sounds and relief floods their bodies when they couldn't hear anything anymore. "He probably just left," Sebastian whispers.
Julie drops his warm hand that was slightly a little coarser than she was used to. "Wait, I have a flashlight on my belt."
She flips the switch and light floods the entire corridor. It was surprisingly spacious, and they could recognize that they were standing in a well-constructed tunnel with smooth walls and shiny steps. "Looks like someone build this!" Sebastian mutters, moving his head around the building to take in the odd structure, "I doubt the school would allow Reuben to build a secret room." "Unless it was already built-" Julie ventures a guess, "And Reuben just made some improvements." Shinning the torch around the walls and ceiling, studying its rough stone structure.
"Seems more likely.." Sebastian agrees in a low whisper, then she flinches as he directs a question to her abruptly, a tone made harsher in the narrow space. "And how did you find about this?" His eyes on her made her skin crawl. "I don't think you have been here before."
"Why would you say that?" attempting to sound casual but the fear is there bubbling below her surface. "Because you don't even know about the light switch is!" He sounds almost triumphant and the way he is self-assured makes a smile flash on his face. He is relatively clueless about this place, and he figures if she is too, then she has uttered nothing but lies, and there was no way to trust her. His fingers wrap around her wrist, causing a light shock to pinch her skin as Sebastian gently maneuvers her hand to push the light switch on the wall.
The corridor is bathed in a pale yellow light, and Julie feels her breathing return to a steady pace. She watches Sebastian from the corner of eyes, awaiting his next hasty action and thoughtless word, or another session where he attempts to play detective with no more than his Prefect badge that expires when University closes. Rather this time, his attention is focused down the long hallway that leads to another door a short distance away.
"What does Ruben keeping down there anyway?" He wonders out loud, his forehead furrows in curiosity, "What would he need for a bat cave?"
"Do you want to find out – or would you rather play the detective by your lonesome up here?" She asks daringly, a challenge issued in her posture and features. Even in the dim brightness, he could appreciate for a brief second the brilliant sparkle in her eyes. He ignores the sudden rise of interest in the girl. Sure, he caught the rumors, knew about a sordid reputation through empty chatter shared by bored students, but meeting her now, he wasn't sure she was a capricious fool the rumors made her out to be.
"We have no right to be here.." Recalling school rules, as he was the prefect and had to maintain a standard. "So the school rules deal with hidden doors and secret rooms, do they?" She retorts, and he can detect a hint of biting sarcasm, a hint of a sardonic lilt.
"No, this is Reuben's private lab and we don't really want to intrude." He tries to reason with her, and maybe convince himself that standing here was a bad idea though a nagging whisper screams at him to investigate. 'Stay out of trouble! Sebastian" His father's voice barks in his ear, warning him of repercussions.
Sebastian only caught a glimpse of Reuben as a witness to an argument. He was waiting to meet his teacher to discuss work for extra credit when Reuben burst from the room next door, eyes blazing and anger moving through his juddering body. "Those pitiful fools how dare they!" He rasps in quaking fury, sounding almost demonic. "I will show them! They will sincerely regret their attitude towards me." His fists beating the air beside him.
"Damn, what crawled up your ass!" Unfortunately, Sebastian said it out loud. And his eyes widened and his face jerked with an apologetic screen. The chubby boy turned his intense gaze on him, tight with malevolence and an expression of abject hate that caused unsettling feelings to crop up. The open rage appeared to want to destroy someone's soul.
His close friend Joseph, gently placed a hand on his arm. "Come on, Sebastian let's head to class."
Now, here he was in that crazy person's room and staring into the abyss. 'What did you make down there?' He questions the angry-eyed Reuben in his head. Did he really want to find out? If he was arrested for trespassing, he would invite his father's fury. Julie seems to have read his mind. "If we don't do down there, then we will never know what Reuben is hiding, and if it is safe. He did say he would take revenge on the entire University because of what happened to his sister last year." She reminds him in a low breath.
Sebastian froze, as the memory and the implications sink in. The reserved student bearing piercing dark eyes and a stern whip of a mouth was dangerous. Something about him made his stomach clench apprehensively. "Fine, let's go" Sebastian concedes, staring hard at the door at the bottom of the stairs, beckoning them with its secrets.
Disquiet stirs his blood that they shouldn't be doing this; there is something wrong with this plan. But the tug of his curiosity is harder. There is probably a law against maintaining secret rooms and hiding them on school property, he doubts the professors are aware of what Reuben is doing. "What are we going to do if we find out that Reuben has been using this place for illegal activities?" He voices one of his thoughts whirling in his head, but the question is more for himself, how would he ensure justice was served.
"You think he's making drugs in there?" the corners of her mouth turns wryly as she descends the stairs with Sebastian trailing behind her.
"Why else would he have a need for some secret lab? Hidden behind a moving bookcase- as if this is some mystery movie." Sebastian surmises stopping in front of the door.
"If this is mystery movie, then would that make Reuben - Frankenstein!" She guesses, and she could almost believe it was true. "Wrong genre!" He mutters, and ran his fingers across the door handle, feeling the biting cold seep into his skin. He takes the handle and tries to turn it, it is locked.
"Maybe he just wants his privacy," she brings it up, a part of her is afraid that if they find nothing, suspicion will turn on her, and she wants to avoid scrutiny as far as possible. Even though it's hard to ignore the glaring problem of her having a set of lock picks to which to circumvent locked doors.
"The International Science Contest is next month; maybe he build this lab to protect his secret project."
"Right, is that why you're here - to find out his secret project?" Again, it was a guess, and a clear question rather than a statement, but it did nothing to alleviate the feeling of dread leaching into her bones and weighing on her. 'Damn it, I don't want to be suspended from school for cheating.' Juli purses her lips out of apprehension as she works with the thin piece of metal and hook to shift the mechanics of the lock of the door. He must not have had the time to replace this door with a more a sophisticated one, it fitted seamlessly into the wall. Probably part of a basement door. The lock opens with a click that sends a frisson of triumph through her.
"It's done," she straightens to her full height, and tucks the lock pick into her pocket. He stiffens, and grips the door handle hard. Judging from the sudden change in his breathing, she figured he was having misgivings too. "Did you hear that?" Cries out suddenly at the faint sound tickling her ears. "Yes," Was his response, his breath stuck in his wind pipe before being ejected with a rush. "Sounds like scratches-but from where?" Feeling fear and trepidation stir her blood with dark disquiet. Sebastian twisted the door handle and pushes the huge iron door open, "Whatever is behind here..it has to be an important enough!"
A loud creak vibrates in the air in the small space, and with their hearts beating in their ears, they move into the room. She sneaks a glance at her partner from the corner of her eye, but his expression is shrouded in darkness with light refracted onto his back.
The first thing the boy notes is the sharp odor of chemicals, a smell that reminds him eerily of the hospital. "Why does this place smell like a chemical factory? Sebastian voices both their inner questions. To Julie, he says, "See if you can find a light source!"
"Right," nods before working the torch light across the walls. Finding the switch, she flips it up and light floods the room, reflected in the many shiny lab equipment. It resembles a proper laboratory with machinery on the work bench, models of the human body on one side and beakers and chemical equipment against the far wall. All meticulously arranged. "So we found Reuben's real lab," Sebastian observes, his gaze sweeping across the room, "There is something wrong with this place!"
"Why? I don't feel anything..It's just a normal lab," Juli says it more for herself. If she is honest, she would admit that there was something terribly wrong with this hidden lab, with odd devices flashing colors and liquids scintillating darkly in their beakers. 'Why would Reuben need a private secret lab? Was he paranoid and crazy or just paranoid?' Feet carry her to the nearest table where sheets of paper and other files are stacked on it. She was wary about touching them; what if her prints were left behind and it would lead to her discovery.
Even though Sebastian tried to hide it, he was casting sidelong glances at her, his gaze judgmental, with a touch of disapproval tainted her skin.
'She is willing to risk expulsion to find out Reuben's secrets. Most likely she is here on the behest of a group, not likely one she is a leader of,' Is Sebastian's range of private thoughts, 'I'm watching this girl and she obviously isn't a science major or part of the competition. She has to be working for someone. The time is not now to interrogate her.'
'No, it was a foolish idea, Reuben wasn't that smart..was he?' Her mind conjures a vision of the boy – him whose gaze always seemed to be alight with a buried mania, an odd smiling rictus and eyes that were too sunken in his head. Fear drenches her bones. "Look, there is another door here!" Sebastian calls out. A frisson of anxiety rushes through her spine and her body jumps at the sudden loud noise.
Her eyes return to examining the pages filled with numbers and sentences. Nothing seemingly important or what she could decipher from her perusal, though there were a lot of sketches on human anatomy. Particularly eye-catching was the models with pins stuck into vital organs, and it disturbed her a little. He even had spots marked with sticky paper. "Hey, you have to be here, see if you can enter this door!"
"Is it important," asks without turning around, 'What was Reuben working on? What was this amazing discovery? Where could it be?' She pondered over the answers and still found her mind blank, and confused.