May 3rd, 2010 – 12:00

"Shit."

That was all Ray Gott could say as another chemistry experiment flowed out of the vial, disgorging the bubbly, chartreuse bile inside. Ever since the original chemistry teacher Prof. Cooper had resigned, nearly every test, experiment, and concoction had gone awry. The uncanny spills and accidents were usually dismissed as simple coincidences, yet a strange uneasiness had settled around all that entered his former classroom.

Sure, lots of teachers might just suddenly throw in the towel one day―Prof. Cooper was no exception―but what no one could understand was why he had suddenly packed his bags and left. He hadn't hinted at any particular reason beforehand, but merely asked calmly to be excused and quit right after. And why had he looked so feverish before he left? So many other questions to ask, but no one could give a decent answer. Rumours whirled around the campus, but still not a single person knew anything about Prof. Cooper's strange leaving.

14:00

"I'm not so sure about this…"

"C'mon! It'll be like a test. All you have to do is find a way to systematically lead everyone away from that one room. Please!" begged Ray. Alison hesitated for a minute. She really didn't want to get into any trouble. After all, she was Alison Silvers; Ms. Perfect. But then again, how could I really get into trouble? She thought to herself. After a never-ending second, she relented.

"Oh fine. I mean, what could possibly go wrong? But, I want to know EVERYTHING. I'm going to give you a pad of paper and 2 pencils, just in case you break one. Now I want you to write in as much detail as possible, but don't include all those little things, and make sure to get out FAST. We're technically breaking in, you know?"

A snide voice cut in. "Hi guys… I hear you're talking about breaking in? Oh, you guys are in trouble…Heck, can I help?" Ray and Alison whipped around. It was Zack Black. No one knew how Zack got accepted into University; he was about as thick-skulled as a dinosaur.

"Crap," Ray muttered sarcastically, "Just what we need."

"Well, we will need another person on the lookout," said Alison to Ray apathetically. Then she turned to Zack. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tag you along. Just don't give our position away, alright?" Zack nodded.

The plan was simple: Get into the classroom, do some investigating, find some evidence, and get the hell out. How hard could that have been?

21:00

It was way past class hours. The hallways were one long, dark abyss, with the ebbing sunlight leaking out of the classrooms as their only source of light. The three crept silently down the halls, looking left and right for teachers or students that may have remained.

Finally, they arrived at Mr. Cooper's room. Vials, skeletons and diagrams cast looming shadows from inside, while trees and animals threw streaks of darkness around. The patterns of black on gray had a strange hypnotizing effect, but the trio shook their heads and got to work. The problem was, they had no idea what to look for, much less any idea where it could be.

Ray glanced around the room. His eyes landed on the computer that was sitting on Prof. Cooper's desk and he suddenly knew what to do. There had to be some information on why he'd disappeared on such short notice.

"Zack, I've got an idea," Ray whispered, "I want you to keep a look out for any people that might be coming."

"Alright!" shouted Zack merrily.

"Oh, god… Just shut up."

Ray got to work, his fingers zipping from key to key silently, his eyes glued to the screen. It had been harder than he thought. After 7 years of hacking into high-security systems and government documents, he didn't think he'd ever see this kind of system again. But, at least he got in. He started to search through the files. Most of them were lectures from class, or experiment handouts. Then, something caught his eye. It was a restricted file, coded with name 00000000000. After breaking and deciphering the code, he found out the name of file was called Subject Zero. He opened the document. It read:

I've recently discovered a new substance. It's a virus called Solanium. Apparently, studies have shown that—

CRASH! Ray started, and turned around to glare at the source of the sound. Zack had knocked over a cabinet, emptying the contents all over the floor. Fragments of glass littered the tiles, and a dark, red liquid was spreading from a giant puddle at the front of the class. Ray wrinkled his nose in disgust as a pungent, salty smell filled the air.

"Whoops…" Zack grinned nervously.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Alison hissed, straining to keep her voice quiet. "Do you have any idea what'll happen to us if anyone heard that?"

"It's okay; I'll just clean it up right now so no one will know!" Zack replied. He grabbed a random cleaning cloth from the blackboard and bent over to wipe the mess.

Alison hastily held out her hand to restrain Zack. "No, don't even think about it. You have no idea what that liquid is; it could be some sort of corrosive acid for all we know! Just leave it and let's get out of here. I'm sure the janitor will clean it up."

"Hey guys, wait a bit, alright? I need to do something." Ray called out to the two who were running out of the classroom. He quickly printed out a copy of the document, turned off the computer, and dashed out of the room. He'd have to take a look at it tomorrow. Now, it was time to get back to the dormitory and finish up that 10-page Latin essay.

Notes about this Chapter:
Hey guys! If you haven't read all of the chapter yet, GET THE HELL BACK TO READING CHEATER! These are my notes, giving you some info on how the story was created and where we might go with this. And when I mean we, I mean the crew and I. Only consisting of my good friend Kelsie. Now, will you give Kelsie a round of applause? As a winner of a spelling bee, she's entitled to edit all my work. And criticize my every move. And get angry at me for every little grammatical error. (JOKING ABOUT THE LATTER 2, though, it doesn't matter.)*Btw, Kelsie pointed out to me that my spelling of criticize had been wrong. LOL. Apparently I wasn't joking about the latter 2.*But something else I do want to get into are the characters. Most names are revised versions of friends.

So, yes, the psychopath you're going to see later on will be a slight adaptation of my friend.
And yes, I spoiled your experience.
And no, I don't give a rat's ass about whether that offends you or not.

And now for a little character preview! Mr. Ray Gott is our main character. A jack of all trades in some essence. He's a university student in (UNKOWN PLACE IN N. AMERICA), who's served for the military. I had originally planned for the big character to be just an average joe who learns a little from everyone, but I later wanted to base the character on one of my heroes and good friend, Ray. Take a bow Ray!