The hospital's LED lights came to life, panting the walls in flickering hues of red as a woman in a stained lab coat rushed down a narrow corridor with a preteen in her arms. It was a nightmare. Orderlies scattered like cockroaches towards the exits as the chaos spread around them. And though she did her best to keep the youth ignorant to it, pressing her head down with such a force that she was certain unintentionally hurt her, the screams were far too loud; so much so the emergency sirens were but a murmur in comparison.

There was no time to comfort her, not with them lurking around the corner.

With a plan in mind and an exit in sight, the faceless woman tore her ID card from her coat pocket and held it near the scanner on the door. To her horror, the LED light turned red.

"No! Fuck!" she cried. Her stomach knotted in fear.

Rushing to clear the blood from her card, she tried again but was unfortunately denied. A wet gurgle from the opposite end of the hall brought goosebumps to her arms, urging her to peek over her shoulder in a panic; fear of the unknown got the better of her. A musty odor permeated the damp air, growing stronger every wasted second as they ambled closer. Her grip eased as she turned and tussled with the ID scanner, slamming the palm of her hand against the metal door in protest.

"Open … come on open."

Her heart hammered in her chest. She was certain they were upon her; the stale air made her curl her nose in disgust, but she dared not to face them. Why was her ID card not working? Had she been forsaken? Again and again, she tried. Hot tears blurred her eyes.

Then at last, to her surprise, the LED light turned green.

She shoved open the door and ran through just as a shrill noise pierced her itching ears.

Avery woke with a start and darted her teary eyes around the barren room. Where was she? It took her a moment to recognize her bedroom; the plain walls inside her unit that her landlord insisted she not paint eased her fear. She had a nightmare; another one. They were beginning to be a constant nuisance for her, so much so her therapist was having trouble pinpointing what may be causing them. Hell, she wasn't sure either. But one thing was certain; the same two people – the faceless woman and the preteen – were always present in them.

Who were they? Avery didn't know, but her therapist theorized that each was a version of herself, the guardian, and her innocence. She needed to know what that meant. Was a part of her missing? Her childhood was a blur, all but the illness. And what were they running from? Perhaps the darkness clouded her thoughts, threatening to devour her forgotten memories. She grunted in annoyance, hearing the constant shrill beep of her bracelet echo around the room. It was time for her medicine.

Avery shut off the alarm and got out of bed. Ambling over to her closet, she picked out a cute blouse and a pair of dark jeans, taking them into the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom. After using the toilet and getting dressed, she stood in front of the sink and looked at her image in the mirror. She looked as tired as she felt; yesterday's eyeliner was smudged making her eyes appear sunken and lifeless. Avery sighed and washed her face, then walked back into her bedroom feeling a little less tired.

Like clockwork, her watch went off again to remind her to take her medicine. She picked up the plastic bottle, read the label on the front then took out a tablet and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. Avery wasn't sure the extent of her disorder, but she had inherited Thalassemia from her mother and had to take Deferasirox to treat chronic iron overload. She wasn't dependent on blood transfusions, so that was a plus.

As it dissolved, Avery messaged her therapist and told him about her dream. She didn't expect a text from him for a while, so she drank her water and left her house, purse in tow as her shift was soon to start.

Costa Prisma in northern Basalto Mexico was beautiful in the spring. Avery had moved to the seaside town from Nebraska in 2006 when her employers transferred her; that was four years ago. So far, she loved it. The residence was nice and the money she earned paid enough for her to rent a large apartment near the water. She lived alone, but she preferred it that way.

Driving her Chevrolet Cobalt across town, past the whitewashed buildings, she took a smooth gravel road down to the base of a manmade ravine. A sign in Spanish read: BioVerse Research Facility; quarry ahead, urging those who were trespassers to turn around at the guard booth.

Avery took out her laminated pass and stopped behind the crossing barrier as the guard, Humberto came out of the booth. It was a warm morning, so his white uniform showed signs of sweat stains beneath the arms as he waved at her.

"Buenos días, Miss Andersen," he greeted.

"Morning," Avery retorted.

She showed him the pass as a precaution and waved to him as she drove ahead once the barrier was lifted. Avery parked her car at the foot of the valley in a crowded lot where the facility sat; BioVerse. As far as she knew it was a privately owned building with three departments and over seventy rooms, dedicated to the study of biology.

Avery began working with BioVerse in 1999 as an intern after she graduated with a bachelor's degree in wildlife conservation. Then in 2005 she got her master's degree and began her career as a Zoologist. The company was nice enough to allow her a chance to work for them, but in doing so, she had to transfer to their sister facility in Mexico. It was an opportunity Avery could not pass up, the opportunity of a lifetime.

Breathing in the fresh warm air, Avery peered over at the rock quarry at the far side of the facility. It had been abandoned in 2000 when BioVerse bought the land, she was told. But before that, the miners of Basalto cultivated the basalt prisms, tall columns of rock that decorated the walls of the ravine outside Costa Prisma; it's where the state and town got its name. The lake at its base was claimed to be over twenty meters deep and spread as far as the next town. Avery often dreamed of taking a dip in it; the water was so clear, but there was far too much work to do.

She entered the building and passed through the open lobby, waving to Brooke behind the reception desk as she entered the elevator. But before the doors closed, she heard a shout, and a familiar woman came racing towards her in a rush to get on board. Avery held the door for her, laughing as the said woman clung to the bars inside the cart trying to catch her breath.

"Thank you for that," Sophie mentioned.

Her West Country accent was thick with exhaustion.

"It was no problem," Avery retorted.

Sophie straightened out her lab coat and pressed the button for the second floor; the microbiology department – she was a novice geneticist, but BioVerse integrated their departments. To show her appreciation she also pressed the button for the third floor as well.

"So I don't forget," she started. "Javier asked me to come up and collect a sample from Xolo today."

Avery raised a brow.

"Another one? Javier has been poking at him all week."

"It's necessary though. His DNA could help us better understand why he can regrow limbs in a matter of hours. You know how important that is," Sophia explained.

Avery knew. But poor Xolo couldn't get a moment's break.

The doors opened and Sophia walked out onto her floor, turning to look at Avery once again.

"I'll be up as soon as I grab a syringe."

Avery shook her head in agreement, sighing as the doors closed. At least she'd have time to feed Xolo before she came.

Once the doors to her department opened, the said woman walked out and hurried to her lab, passing the Herpetology and Entomology centers. Avery opened the door and went inside, grinning as she saw Xolo's tank on the table. Her little golden albino axolotl sat at the bottom, unaware of the evil that awaited him.

The best part about being a Specialist was that Avery could work with Xolo for however long she wanted. Since she arrived at the facility in Costa Prisma she chose to study axolotls and their environment, getting roped in with the genetics department once Javier took an interest in the regenerative capabilities of her little friend.

Avery walked over to the storage locker and retrieved her lab coat and Xolo's food from within. Once her ID card was attached to the collar, she stood next to the tank and put in a small handful of blackworms; he loved them but damn did he make a mess.

Hearing a knock at the door, the said woman peered over her shoulder to allow in her guest; most likely Sophie. But as the woman came in Avery felt a tug at her finger and looked down to see that Xolo had bit her, drawing some blood.

Someone is impatient.

It was her fault for leaving her hand in the tank; he thought her fingers were food.

"Oh damn," Sophie exclaimed. "Your finger is bleeding."

"It's fine. Xolo's teeth are too small to cause me any harm, but sometimes he draws blood," Avery explained.

She stared at the tiny drop of red at the tip of her finger for a moment, then wiped it on her jeans.

"Perhaps he knows you are going to let me stick him today," Sophia mentioned.

Avery glanced down into the tank with a frown, watching Xolo eat.

"Against my best wishes little buddy."

Sophia grinned and leaned against the table as they waited. A thought came to mind and she hummed.

"Did you hear that the mycology department got a new sample in?" she asked.

Avery shook her head. No, she hadn't.

"It came from someplace in Europe; a new strain of mold I heard. Paisley and her team have been studying it all morning, subjecting it to all sorts of tests," Sophie explained.

Good for them. Their department needed some motivation. Paisley had been a wreck after the big CEO visit the previous week, having nothing new to show. If it hadn't been for Xolo and her collaboration with the genetics department, then Avery would have been in the same boat.

"Ready to do this?" the said woman asked.

Sophia shook her head in agreement.

Once Xolo was out of his tank and secure, Sophia drew blood from him. Avery made sure that he was okay before she put him back in the tank, giving him a small pinch of blackworms for his contribution.

As she walked towards the storage locker to put away the axolotl food, listening to Sophia prattle on about her job, a shrill noise permeated her ears. Avery immediately dropped the container with a pained gasp and shoved a finger into her canal, but the noise intensified, so much so that she lost her balance from lightheadedness and fell to her knees. What was going on?

Her body spasmed as she lie on the floor. Was she having a seizure? Avery could feel Sophia's hands on her, trying to console her, but to no avail. The noise was too loud. Why did Sophia not hear it?

Leaning onto her arms, Avery puked onto the floor. Her stomach was in knots. The last question she asked herself before the world around her faded to black was: is my vomit black?