The gantry crane was similar color to the sand, making it easier to blend it. The same with the metal doors. The cages were placed next to it. The driver informed Rose that he would be the one coming back to get the creatures and can help get them out of the lab. She thanked him once again before he left.
Rose decided to see what it all looks like. She stared at the looming girder. The hole in the ground was now bigger. The snapping sound echoed in her mind. She shook her head trying to get that sound out. She headed back trying to warm her arms up.
It was still going to be another week until Wes will be back. She also noticed the town was getting ready for El Blanco day. She had to tell herself that it was just like when she was in the Artic and she was chased by a polar bear. It was the same type of threat. Nothing more. She would have to get back into research even when Wes came back. She could not keep procrastinating. She would have to get over the innate fear to continue her research. Besides, when Wes does come back, is he even going to be back to his full strength after that near fatal injury. It was going to take time.
The town was trying to get Burt on board of El Blanco Day. They gathered in Chang's Market. There were posters and flyers.
"Burt, think about the publicity," Jodi pressured him. "We can celebrate El Blanco day and it can bring in a lot of tourists."
"That's not a day of celebration," Burt tried to refute. "Besides, the last time El Blanco was in the news, he almost died thanks to some activists. You want to tell people about the first graboid attacks as well. It's not a day to remember. People died horrible deaths and if they stay on the asphalt, they add to our growing number of tragedies."
"We can honor them as well," Jodi urged. "Hold a vigil, let them remember how serious this is. Sharks have become endangered; they are dangerous but people celebrate it with shark week. Raising awareness and educating those around. That's what these three days would mean. Educate and raise awareness."
"It would be good to get our story out," Nancy agreed. "People just enjoy the danger but they don't understand the severity of it. We are the people who got bit by the shark but still go out and surf."
Burt did not enjoy bringing more people into the town. He stayed silent.
"Did Val and Earl ever respond?" Nancy turned to Jodi, who shook her head. "That's understandable, they both have their own lives and moved away from this place. Back then everyone wanted to make money off of graboids and now here we are, the original townspeople and now we are trying to take back what was ours. We should hold El Blanco Day. Please explain the schedule."
"Okay," Jodi glanced at Burt. "We start off with an introduction of what El Blanco day means. There will be tours and Chang's Market will also hold as a museum for now. Which I will curate and Tyler will give the tours. Larry will man the restaurant side. At two we will have Nancy speak about how her experience of those times. Tentative for four is Burt speaking about his experience about those times and how it led him being a master monster hunter. Seven, if anyone has questions and then lastly at eight, we hold a memorial for all of those who lost their lives."
"It sounds great," Rosalita complimented. "I am actually going to go on the tours. It's going to be very informational."
"Actually," Tyler chimed in. "I would love to have someone help me go through the tours and give me constructive feedback that way I know what to say."
"Done!" Rosalita slapped the table.
"Alright, I will participate," Burt gave in. "Only for that portion, everything else I will watch from afar."
Jodi cheered. "Thanks, Burt!"
The town kept preparing for that day to arrive. Twitchell came in town, about to stop their celebration. Jodi and Nancy swayed him not to close it down. He was reluctant but did the same as Burt and would watch from the sidelines.
Wes got to return a day early. He was driven back in the dead of the night to the facility. Rose was waiting outside of the trailer for him. He was relieved seeing her safe and unharmed. He thanked the driver as he got out. The driver left the two of them.
"S.S.," Rose got emotional. She cleared her throat. "S.S." She spoke again in a serious tone. "Welcome back."
Wes gave her a soft smile. "I am happy to be back, Dr. Frankenstein."
"Let's get inside," she allowed him to go first.
When he got inside, he got to take a better look at her. Rose had dark circles under her eyes. Papers were scattered all over her desk. It was a bit of a mess. "What happened after I left?" He sat down in one of the chairs.
Rose knew he was going to ask that. She sat down across from him. "I decided to go back into the lab." Wes disliked what he was hearing already, but decided to hear her out. "I made my way into the first lab, microbiology. I don't know what the creature was but it was large. It attacked me, thankfully I was unscathed but I ran for my life, pulled myself up as fast as I could. I crawled out of the entry. I am glad I unbuckled myself as it kept pulling the excess rope. A few days after that incident, I went back." Rose gathered courage. "My rope was still covered by the metal entry. I pulled the rope up only to find it half eaten. I did take it back with me for testing but the fear is still there. I have been chased by polar bears, almost spit on by cobras, was bait for the giant cephalopod but this creature has scared me. Maybe it was because I couldn't see what exactly the creature was and could not deduce its genetic makeup. The only thing I knew about it, was the aggressive nature and hearing the snap each time it tried to bite me."
Wes stared at her with guilt. She would not have encountered that if he happened to be more vigilant and agile so he wouldn't end up getting hurt.
"Don't say this was your fault, it's mine," Rose defended. "Excavation of an ecosystem needs to be a delicate process. Too much at once can disrupt it. That's what I did. I went too much too fast. I even went back even though you had a near fatal injury. That was a red flag. The threat level was critical and mortality rate was at seventy five percent. I broke one of my safety rules. I could have been found dead or possibly never found at all. If I didn't keep to my protocol, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Wes placed a hand upon hers. "It's alright, you got me to safety. You went through the proper procedure and you saved my life. It's not any of our faults except Proudfoot, who created this lab. Don't berate yourself over this. After hearing this, I was originally worried about a Dr. Hyde harassing you and now this definitely topples over that one."
Rose raised her eyebrows. "Who told you about Dr. Hyde?"
"In the medical ward," Wes explained. "I roomed with a Dr. Jekyll, great guy, who explained that there was a group of doctors with similar code names. He was in for a broken arm. He came back to give me my phone, panicked and let me know everything was going to be fine. Then a Dr. Moreau came in later, we spoke about you, then you called. He put you on speaker. Sent his men over to retrieve Dr. Hyde and then Dr. Jekyll called making sure a team could get sent right after you called. Dr. Moreau also let me know of your situation with the two of them."
"How much did he tell you?" Rose was not amused.
"That you and Dr. Jekyll were to be engaged," Wes observed her facial movements for any hints. "But Dr. Hyde ruined it for all of you."
Rose nodded. "That's the one-line summary. Since Dr. Hyde has already interfered with the project, the probability will be high for him to do it again. I will give you a longer summary since you are working with me and know the threat level, he brings with him. Dr. Jekyll, him and I knew each other since college. Jekyll never mentioned he had a twin and I never asked. It was due to Hyde. Jekyll, great man as you mentioned, he got along with everyone. Hyde, however, true to his name, did not want to do anything with Jekyll. He went to a different college, that was not even in the same area. Henceforth, I never knew of him. Jekyll and I were in a serious commitment that we had bought a house together, went ring shopping, and we met the other's families. We also had careers at the CDC in Atlanta ready for us after we got our doctorates. The only thing left was him to propose and the wedding." Rose had a somber smile. "I met Hyde by accident. I gave a guest lecture at Dr. Moreau's Alma Mater. Jekyll said he may not be able to attend but I would only know last minute. Jekyll was unable to attend. I made a terrible mistake."
Wes squeezed her hand, trying to comfort her.
"He answered to C.W. as well. Cartwright is Jekyll, Caswell is Hyde," Rose continued. "You can see my mistake. Unfortunately, it wasn't just that." She took in a deep breath to calm herself down. "During my mistake, I found out that he wasn't my C.W. too late. I fled as fast as I could, back to Jekyll and confronted him about this situation. There Jekyll informed me why he never mentioned him. We had a few more months until we graduated. Within those months, Jekyll and I agreed that it would be safer for both of us to terminate our relationship. That was how devasting Hyde's influence was, he made our lives a living Hell. Dr. Moreau stepped in and that's how all three of us work under him. Dr. Jekyll and I could have gotten back together but we agreed it would be a Romeo and Juliet ending. Neither of us wanted that, so we now are just close friends."
Wes had no words. That was a devastating story that had more details but those were not his business. Jekyll had every right to panic.
"You have questions, probably, don't be afraid to ask them," Rose had made her peace about not being with Cartwright years ago.
"Did Dr. Hyde do anything to you while he was here?" Wes looked her straight in the eyes.
"Besides being overly annoying, thankfully no," Rose stared right back. "He did his usual kiss upon the forehead, handsy nonsense but I successfully countered it. I also slept in my Hummer, locked al the doors and had both spare keys with a change of clothes."
Wes clenched his jaw. "No one should have to feel that uncomfortable or go through that scenario. Or any of that story."
"Yes, no one should ever go through that, but one out of every six women, U.S. statistic, does," Rose said that with a grim smile. "The terror doesn't always just stop at once. Thank you for listening and being there for me."
"I will shoot him on sight, when I know its him and not his twin," Wes was not trying to soothe her.
"I appreciate the sentiment, but justice is only served when I do the killing," Rose countered. "Plus, it doesn't get rid of what all has happened. Now if he was to be placed down in the lab without a way out, I may just call it even."
Another question came to mind. Wes didn't want to sound like a jerk when he asked this, but he had to know. "Did you ever press charges?" He softened his tone.
"I did," Rose let out a sigh. "I did." She had somewhat of smile yet a frown. "That's when Dr. Moreau had to step in. Since Jekyll and Hyde were twins, all of the charges I pressed, Hyde with his egotistical genius managed to get Jekyll accused instead. It was watertight. If I pressed charges, Jekyll would be in jail for all of Hyde's misconduct and laws he broke. Dr. Moreau had tried to recruit us before. He had Hyde already. He guaranteed us with a binding contract that Dr. Hyde would stay out of our way as long as we came aboard as well. It would be safer for us since we could use the military division as guards and were allowed to access and use top secret items for out safety."
"Is he just locked up in the lab?" Wes was trying to understand how she would stay in the same company as him.
"Dr. Moreau is working on several theories for behavioral issues," Rose explained. "He focuses on behaviors geared towards violence, racism, obsession, and the like. Dr. Hyde has been on conditioning, retraining, and medical treatment to change his behavior. Dr. Moreau was thinking if there was a way to restart that part of the brain and then have the person relearn proper equality and equity. He also is seeing if there is an imbalance in hormones, trying to come up with a supplement to balance that. The usual shock therapy and shaming bad traits."
"Yep, you're all mad," Wes agreed.
"There is a bit of progress," Rose added. "When Bloodsport, Commando, and Lancelot came to retrieve him, I was not taken as a hostage and Hyde didn't threaten to kill him or me."
"Leaps and bounds," Wes stared wide eye and shook his head. "You are at some high level of dissociation with yourself. Let's get off this topic before I go back to the facility. I want to end this on a lighter note. Tell me how you and Jekyll met."
Rose gave a genuine smile this time. "I met him at one of his fraternity parties my freshman year in college."
"Oh, a sorority girl, I didn't expect you to be that type," Wes teased.
"I am not affiliated with any Greek organization," Rose quipped. "So, any image you have of me with letters on, is just a fantasy woman."
"Oh, and why is that?" Wes wanted to hear the rest of it.
"You are not Greek affiliated either," Rose observed. "It also, doesn't say it in your file." She gave him a smug look. "Rushing a sorority, is not what I wanted to do with part of my life. Now, rush is exactly what the name states, a rushed recruitment for potential new members of a Greek organization that falls under the traditional associations. I did not want to hassle competing with a thousand other women for letters that when on bid day were deduced by looks and depending on what alphabetical order, ascending or descending, they accepted them."
"Sounds like someone was mad she didn't get chosen," Wes raised his eyebrows.
"I actually interviewed the president of the National Panhellenic Council before I started in the Fall," Rose reasoned. "Sorority was an interest but hearing the answers, I was swayed into not joining. I did not fall into the category of a legacy, neither of my parents were Greek affiliated. I did not want to sleep on a porch, a bunkhouse with all of the other women in the house. The president smiled when she said the whole house was like one big closet. No. I asked if any of the articles of clothing that were taken were ever given back. The answer was majority of the time, no. In most of their bylaws, if you are not participating in their events, you have to pay a fine and if the fine is not paid, you could be potently kicked out. I asked if medical excuses or prior commitments such as scholarly trips were exempt. No. Grades slipping, you still had to go to their events. Less chance for studying and more of chance to again, get kicked out. And, to me for the worst part, if you had a certain sorority in mind, you had to have two more options in mind in case you did not get into that one. Greek is for life. Letting others know that you are in your second or third choice sorority is terrible." Rose shook her head.
"I don't know if you would tell others that this was your third-choice sorority," Wes mused. "I now can see why you have turned into a Medusa, turning people into stone with one look. Lots of challenges."
Rose rolled her eyes. "I was turned into a Gorgon way before any of this."
"A Gorgon?" Wes didn't know why she brought that up.
"Different authors always depicted Medusa as a woman of rage that deserved her punishment," Rose raised her chin. "But I believe that she was and her sisters were turned into monsters, to protect themselves from men who thought themselves of Gods when they were just beasts. It is a sad story of Medusa fighting against Perseus. She was a woman who wanted to be left alone, yet men still kept coming forth, this time instead of ravaging, it was to see who could kill the beast. She turned men into stone with one look and she was outsmarted by a man and her death was cheered and praised for. Her death meant the birth of Pegasus." Wes a bit intrigued. "My two best friends and I each have a Gorgon tattoo on our thighs."
Wes blinked. "Come again?"
"I have a thigh tattoo of Medusa," Rose repeated. She could see the strained look in his eyes. She scrunched her nose as she teased him. "You're trying to imagine it as well as holding yourself back from asking if you can see it."
"That's why you're the scientist and I am not," Wes coughed. He did want to see it. He covered his mouth with his hand. "What side?" He looked away.
Rose chuckled. "The left side." Wes glanced over. He turned his head again. This was not how he thought the night was going to end.
"Alright, its been a long day, we need to call it a night," Wes got up from the chair and headed towards the bedroom. Rose inclined an eyebrow. She was amused about this sudden embarrassment. "Are you coming?"
"Are you sure you want to sleep next to a Gorgon?" She called to him.
"As long as your snake hair doesn't bite me, we're fine," he called back. "Also, if you slept in your Hummer, then did he sleep in the bed?"
"I washed it twice with some bleach, you're fine," she got up from her chair.