Chapter 3

Sean Laboratories, one of the most technologically advanced labs in the world. It is home to the first ever discovered, Mirrond.

Karina Sean, the head scientist at Sean Laboratories, has been offered to be a part of a revolutionary project. Karina and her close partner, Elias, have been studying the nature and intelligence of Mirrond.

Sean Laboratories, Sean City

Tired, sluggish, and less than 4 hours of sleep. I couldn't be more exhausted. And of all the things we could be doing today, we had to study the most energy-consuming subject. I have never seen such a peculiar creature in my life, and that's saying something considering Venierreaze is full of odd creatures and people. But this one in particular was beyond my imagination. Standing at 16 feet tall, with sleek black skin, boney blades on its joints, and the nastiest face; an indescribably demonic face. I have been terrified to work with this thing since the day Karina brought it in.

I was on my way to Sean Labs; the sun was dawning and tired was an understatement for me. I have been good friends with Karina Sean, head scientist of Sean Labs, which is owned by her parents. Raised as rich as she was, Karina is a kind, yet slightly shy, short, and slim girl. I'm not very tall either, so I always imagined we'd be a good couple. But besides that, I love being a scientist, and always have.

Still, I can't shake the feeling that the Mirrond could break out of its enclosure at any given moment. We've run several tests on its strength and speed within the past week. Absolutely terrifying is the only way to explain what I saw. I don't understand Karina's over-ambitious personality to know everything about everything. Though quite eager, she never takes it too far, at least not that I've seen.

I was finally nearing the Lab; the drive is well over an hour every morning. It is on the outskirts of Sean City, but there's no excuse for building such a far-extending road.

I could see the garage gate not too far off. I'm now seeing why Karina told me to look for a new car because this one is older than me and slower than time. She always joked about it, but I could feel a little sincerity in her words every time.

"Hey!", a cheerful voice greeted. I turned around, "Karina! Wow, you're here early", I said. "Well yeah, I have to be. You look really tired, get enough sleep?", she asked softly. Not wanting to affect her mood today I replied, "Nah, I'm good. How are you doing?". She looked around the office answering, "Pretty good. Have you noticed anything strange lately?". I looked at her confused, "Other than the anxiety I get from the Mirrond, no why?". She looked serious as she slowly walked toward the samples table.

I really had no idea what she was talking about. There hasn't been anyone inside the lab for a week. But maybe she meant something else. "Did you touch these?", she asked concernedly. "No... I haven't been here since last week... no one has", I tried to assure her. "Really? Because, before I left, I put all of these samples away", she said implying I was lying. "Karina, I assure you, I did not touch anything. No one should have been here last week, as the lab was closed for construction", I conciliated.

She grew angry as she stormed out of the room. 'What was that about?', I asked myself. She's never been this upset about something. Either she's overreacting, or this is a serious matter. I wasn't sure what I could do to resolve the situation, given I was completely ignorant of the matter.

Karina's Office, 3 Hours Later

'Where could I have possibly misplaced that stupid-', I spoke to myself when my phone suddenly rang. I walked over to my desk to pick it up, "Hello?". There was a brief silence before a husky, accented voice responded, "Hello, is this Karina Sean?". "Uh... yes, who's asking?", I replied with confusion. "Barren Kartovyan. I'm working with your parents as of today. May I come in?", he asked confidently. "I'm sorry... let you in?", I said, further confused. "Yes, I am at the front gate. I've brought what Chelsea asked... a Mirrond and a Quora.", He informed me. "Uh, I was completely unaware of this. I'll call my mom real quick just to be sure.", I said, with suspicion crawling up my spine. "There's no need for that; but if you insist.", He said, weirdly contradicting himself.

I felt uneasy with his attitude and proceeded to call my mom. The phone rang for a few seconds until my mom answered, "Karina?". "Mom, there's a man at the front entrance of the lab, he said you're working with him?", I questioned. "Yes, his name is Barren Kartovyan. We're working on a new project; hybrid breeding. Does he have the Mirrond and Quora with him?", She explained. "Yes, but mom, hybrid breeding is illegal!", I warned. "Oh it's not that bad, besides, you'll get a nice bonus if you help Mommy out, yeah?", She spoke ignorantly. "No! Mom, I will not be a part of this, and neither should you!", I shouted at her. "Darling it's too late, there's no going back now. Just do as you're told, and we'll make sure you don't take any responsibility for the deeds", She persuaded.

"Mom! For the last time, I am not being dragged into this!", I shouted angrily. I heard her take a deep breath as if she was furious, and then she yelled through the phone, "Karina you will do as you're told or I will have you put away! Do you understand me!?".

I stood in shock at what she said. Afraid, alone, and easily manipulated, I couldn't see a way out of this. So I complied, succumbing to my Mother's brutally narcissistic and manipulative influence, "Yes Mom... I understand". Calming down, she spoke softly, "Thank you darling, I'm glad you agree". I obviously didn't, but I had no choice but to submit to her will or be condemned. "Okay, bye Mom", I said nonchalantly. "Bye dear", She said before hanging up.

I took a minute to calm myself down and called Barren. He picked up and asked, "What took you so long?". "It seems you weren't lying. I'll open the gate right now", I replied ignoring his question. "Of course not, what reason do I have to lie?", He said as if there weren't a million reasons he'd pretend to know my parents just to get in the lab.

Despite my irritation with his cocky attitude, I put the code in on my phone to open the gate. Noticing it, he said, "Thank you, Karina". Unsurprisingly, that upset me, because for one I do not know him, nor have I taken a liking to him. But I have to endure, or else.

I got an alert on my phone that the lab door was opened, which was odd considering he shouldn't have the code to the main entrance of the building. Worried, I checked the cameras. The main entrance camera showed two men in all black entering the lab. The drop-off near the back of the lab showed a limo and two large trucks, which I assumed held the Mirrond and the Quora. But that doesn't explain why there are two strange men entering from the front. The lab is quite large, spanning over 30,000 square feet, so I felt pretty safe as it is highly unlikely they'd find me in this mazy place, and with the dozens of emergency exits, I was guaranteed a safe escape. Then again, underestimating their preparation would be naive. The other negative in this situation is, besides Elias, there is no one else here. However, on the plus side, it's midday, which might give me an advantage.

A few minutes after contemplation, someone knocked on my office door. I immediately got goosebumps. "Who is it?", I said with a shaky voice. The door opened slowly, and peering around the door was Elias. I sighed with relief. "Elias, Thank God! I was scared to death", I stated blatantly. "What's wrong?", He said with a worried face. "I saw these random men entering the lab", I answered. "How, shouldn't the main gate be locked?", He asked, unaware of current events. "It was, but I let a man named Barren Kartovyan in; per my Mother's orders, he brought a Mirrond and a Quora for an attempt to breed the two species. The other men that entered from the front, I have no idea who they are", I elucidated for him. His face grew with confusion, "Then who was the woman that told me you said to give her the Vanine Lepris DNA sample?". My face dropped, a wave of fear sweeping over my body. "Elias, nobody else was supposed to be here but you and I", I said in a frail voice. Elias dashed out of my office, scared as hell. I quickly followed him out the door, leaving my phone on the desk.

He was racing down the halls as I struggled to keep up. "Elias! Slow down! Where are you going!?", I whispered loudly. He completely ignored me and took a sharp right turn, heading towards the animal enclosures. I kept running as fast as I could, wondering why he was going to the animal enclosures. I continued to call his name to get his attention, but he deliberately ignored me. As we came up to the entrance of the animal enclosures, Elias pulled out his keycard and slapped it on the door scanner. The door opened and he darted toward the control board. My eyes raced around in a commotion, my anxiety raising through the roof because of my fear of the many deadly creatures here. The door opened behind me, I turned around and the two men that I saw on the camera walked in with a woman, who I presume is the woman Elias told me about.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing here!?", I yelled in an authoritative tone. "Shut her up", the woman commanded the guys. I backed up as they approached me with their arms held out, ready to restrain me. But I thought quickly and shot a few metal shards at them. The woman looked in disbelief. Now feeling the confidence to defend myself and Elias, I summoned metal shards all around me in an array and released them at the three. They all cried out in agony as the shards impaled their bodies. Down the hall, past the door, I heard rapid footsteps coming to us.

Without thinking twice, Elias slammed his hand down on a button, opening all of the cages. I screamed at the top of my lungs while several creatures creeped out of their enclosures. I kept screaming as I ran up a set of stairs to my right that led up to the control board and shut the door. Elias rushed to me urgently, "Are you okay!? I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do!". "You could have left that up to me! I was just working up the courage to do something; now I'm back to being useless", I complained. "I know, I'm sorry", he lowered his voice.

We both calmed down and recollected ourselves. Elias was about to say something when he looked through the window peering out into the animal enclosure. Looking terrified as the Mirrond that Barren brought, savagely tore the armed men apart, ripping them to shreds with its blade-like arms. I started to shiver in fear, watching the woman fight for her life while being tossed around in a Klove's mouth. Elias, scared as well, still held me in his arms saying, "Don't be afraid, just close your eyes and relax. It's going to be okay. I've got you", tenderly comforting me with assurance.

I did as he said and closed my eyes, blocking the screams and cries for help. I stopped shaking and took a deep breath. Opening my eyes, Elias was no longer holding me. He disappeared. I slowly stepped toward the window to look out, and there was nothing there; the room was entirely empty. No bad guys or the woman, no creatures, and no Elias. 'Did I imagine that all? Did I have some sort of episode?', I asked myself. But that wasn't normal for me to do, I've never had any mental or emotional disorders, so that wouldn't explain the disappearance of all these things.

I decided to see for myself and opened the door. To my horror, all the decapitated and torn bodies were still there. The creatures were gone, but the bodies were there. I was about to leave when suddenly, Elias popped up right in front of me. "Elias!", I rejoiced. "Why did you leave the control board room?", he questioned. "I was skeptical of this all being gone as if nothing happened", I explained. "Well that was the point. I gave you an illusion so you wouldn't have to face reality", he admitted. "And you thought by lying to me, I would feel better?", I rhetorically asked. "I'm sorry okay, I just wanted to ease this for you", he mediated. "I don't need your help!", I snapped at him. "I just nauseate at the sight of blood, that's all. I didn't need you to give me an illusion!", I added. "Look, I shouldn't have done that, and I apologize. Nevertheless, this is our problem at hand", he gestured at the gory mess. "I agree, and I accept your apology. It seems you've been giving a lot of those today", I instigated. He overlooked my snide comment and paced the floor thinking of what to do.

"I know some people who can get this all cleaned up without leaving a trace behind", I offered. He ignored me and continued pacing back and forth.

Offended by his disapproval, I walked away. "I'm going home", I told him as I went. He waved his hand in understanding.

Passing my office, I remembered I left my phone on my desk and quickly grabbed it, taking my purse along with me. I went to the nearest exit to my office on the third floor. Usually, I make direct contact with anything I want to use or grab, but in this case, I was upset and busted the door open with the command of my hand. Walking out like a boss, which ironically I was, I looked up at the sky; the sun was setting and I needed to get home before dark before the creeps came out, animal and Venierrean alike.

My car was out front, and not wanting to go back and get it, I figured I could fly home safely on my dragon. Resorting to that, I whistled a melody that I used to call her before I released her into the wild. You see, I was one of those people, and still am, that feels like using a creature for selfish reasons is cruel; never once kept any of the pets my parents gifted me. Always released them into the forest. Likewise, with Cassia, I let her go once she was old enough to fend for herself.

I waited for a few minutes, thinking, 'Maybe she needs a little time to get here'. Though that wasn't the case at all. It took me several minutes to realize she wasn't coming. I left her a long time ago, why would she care to come back; I didn't.

I felt sorrowful now, regretting all that I had done to some of the best companions I'd ever known. I really thought she might willingly come back because she missed me or something, but the sad reality is, she moved on.

I spent about a half hour reminiscing about the good old days. After mourning, I sucked it up and accepted the reality of the situation. What really confused me, was how today went from doing my job to being forced into an illegal project, then being attacked by the people I'm now working with, and then leaving this corrupt lab to realize, I have no one. All alone, with no one to turn to.

Despite the craziness today, I needed to push everything aside for now and get home.