"Good morning, Liz," she said, her voice as sing-songy and annoying as was possible at 7:30 a.m.
"Morning," Elizabeth grumbled as she walked past to her office. She closed the door behind her, something she would only be able to get away with for another thirty minutes or so. Once the rest of her team arrived she had to be 100% accessible, lest Dr. Preston argue that she was being anti-social and not contributing to the team, and needed to take some time off to rest and re-set her attitude. She couldn't take a vacation yet, not until this mystery was solved.
Tossing her towel onto the pile of clothes on the floor next to the couch, Elizabeth sat down at her computer again and refreshed her inbox. Nothing. She started her routine with all of the Brazilian news sites, which she read in their original Portuguese, even though the words blurred together and were often difficult to comprehend.
There was nothing of interest on the front pages, and her searches for "creature," "monster" and "new species" yielded nothing.
Next she moved on to the world news sites. Again her searches yielded nothing.
Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back, her chair creaking underneath her. For her own sanity, she'd limited herself to checking the news sites only three times a day, but that left too much time in between.
Maybe today she'd try sitting out in the lab and help Penny with developing the drug compound. The team was perfectly capable of finishing it without her, but her help would enable them to hit their deadline ahead of schedule. That would certainly shut Dr. Preston up for awhile, but she didn't feel like she had it in her.
Just as she was about to push away from her desk and retreat to the couch again, her computer beeped. She clicked to open her mailbox: one of her news alerts was triggered by a new article. She clicked the link and the local ABC news site loaded.
LOCAL STUDENT FOUND UNCONSCIOUS IN DORM BATHROOM
Elizabeth quickly scrolled through the article, until she found the highlighted keywords that triggered the news alert: "alien creature".
When the student regained consciousness at the hospital, she described a strange alien creature that emerged from her body, leaving her bleeding and immobile in the dormitory bathroom. A thorough search of the bathroom found no evidence of any animals or possible assault by a fellow student, but investigators took samples of a strange green substance smeared on the floor.
Michaels had recently returned from a spring break vacation in Brazil and authorities are currently investigating whether she picked up some sort of parasite while traveling in the country. Doctors said she is in stable condition and is expected to be released by the end of the week.
Elizabeth scrolled to the top of the page and quickly read the article from beginning to end.
"This is it," she whispered. All this time she thought the creature was still in Brazil, but here was a sighting at SDU, less than 20 miles from her office.
The scientist moved quickly now, more motivated and alive than she'd been in the weeks since she returned from her trip. She looked up the university and searched for all the hospitals within 10 miles, cold-calling each one about where to send flowers to Miss Kaycee Michaels.
The helpful receptionist at St. Luke's gave her the ward and room number. Elizabeth didn't even bother to ask when visiting hours began. She slammed the phone down, dug her purse out of her desk and headed out of the office.
"Where are you in such a hurry to get to?" Peggy asked, watching Elizabeth with an arched eyebrow as she passed.
"Focus on your formulas," the scientist said as she passed, not slowing down a step.
***
When Elizabeth arrived at the hospital, she hurried past the check-in, slid past a new mother with "IT'S A BOY" balloons tied to her wheel chair, and found an elevator to take her up to the third floor.
She expected to encounter some security before she reached Kaycee's room, but it wasn't even 9 a.m. yet and most of the desks were empty. Elizabeth walked confidently past the nurse's station, hoping no one would ask where she was going.
The nurse didn't even look up from her paperwork. The scientist breathed a sigh of relief as she slipped through the door into Kaycee's room.
Kaycee was asleep, covers pulled up to her chin. Elizabeth recognized her face but didn't know why. Their paths must have crossed at some point, which was how the creature found her.
The student was very pale—her blood loss obviously much more severe than what Elizabeth experienced when she birthed the creature in Brazil. The machine next to her bed beeped softly with her heartbeat.
Elizabeth pulled up a chair and sat next to her, softly touching the blanket on her arm. Kaycee woke with a start, her wide eyes darting around the room until they finally settled on the scientist.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice shaky and raw.
"My name is Dr. Elizabeth Morrel."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore. The last doctor, he acted like I was crazy. I just want to go home." She brought her shaking hands up to her throat, clutching her blanket close.
"Shhh." The scientist gently reached up and pushed her hands down. "I'm not that kind of doctor, Kaycee. And I believe you."
"What? Why would you believe me? I don't even believe me."
"Do you recognize me?"
Kaycee stared at her face and then shook her head.
Elizabeth frown and leaned back in her chair. "You were in Brazil? A month ago?"
She nodded.
"I was too. I collecting samples in the rainforest, looking for a rare plant. What I found instead was a strange creature, like nothing from this Earth."
Kaycee's eyes grew wide. She clenched her blanket in her fist.
"It impregnated me and I gave birth to a strange creature, but it escaped."
Kaycee started crying, her head falling forward into her hands, her greasy, ice blonde hair covering her face.
"Hey, hey. Shhh." Elizabeth reached out and rubbed her back lovingly until the girl's sobs subsided. "It's ok. You're safe here. I promise."
"What do you want from me?" Her eyes were red, standing out against her pale white skin.
"I've been looking for the creature. I have to capture it, stop it from attacking anyone else."
"That creature is a monster!"
Elizabeth's eyes darting to the door, hoping no one in the hall heard Kaycee's yelling.
"Shhh, shhh. I know. That's why I need to capture it. What happened?"
"It, it—" She started crying again, sobbing between words. "It came out of me—p-p-pushed out of me. Oh god!" She covered her face in her hands, crying loudly for a few moments before she dropped her arms to her lap again. "It was so awful. It hurt so much and then, I—I saw it and it was hideous, I—I don't remember anything else."
"There, there." Elizabeth offered her arm and Kaycee collapsed against her shoulder, her whole body shuddering with each sob. "It's all right. You'll never see it again. I promise. You're safe. You're safe."
The door opened, and a nurse with a clipboard came in, stopping suddenly when she saw the scientist.
"Who are you?" the nurse asked. "Visiting hours don't start until 10."
"I'm her aunt." Elizabeth said, furrowing her brow in annoyance.
"You can't be here!" The nurse came forward, her fists settling on her hips. "You have to leave."
Kaycee pulling away, sniffling as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Please, I don't want to be alone."
"Now, now, it's all right. Your aunt can come back in an hour. But for now you need to rest and eat some breakfast." The nurse shot Elizabeth a dirty look.
"You'll be all right," Elizabeth said softly as she grabbed her purse and headed towards the door. She stopped before she left, looking back. "You're safe now."
Elizabeth hurried out to the parking lot, feeling a pang of regret for leaving the girl like that. But this was a dead end; the creature was already gone. It could be anywhere now. She needed to get into the dorm and search for it in case it was still there, bu
t it probably escaped by now and found another woman to breed with.
But they were in the same city now, and finding the creature was only a matter of time.
***
Elizabeth was asleep, facedown on her desk, when her assistant, Trish came in.
"Um, Dr. Morrel?" she said, hesitant to wake the scientist.
When Elizabeth awoke, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to block out the headache that was throbbing in her skull. She sat up slowly, her face sore and red from where it rested against the faux-wood surface of her desk.
"Yes?" she said, squinting. Trish was her usual put together self: wearing grey slacks and a white blouse. Her long straight black hair was pulled into a ponytail at the base of her neck.
"How are you today?"
"Awful. Now what do you want?"
"Well, it's nearly 10 a.m. Dr. Preston just got in and he wants to meet with you. I've deflected him from now, but I can't keep him away forever."
"Thank you." The scientist yawned. Her mouth tasted like dirty socks. "Get me some coffee, ok? And a print-out of the current progress on the project."
"Sure." Trish smiled, clearly relieved that Elizabeth didn't yell at her. "Be right back." She closed the door carefully, to keep it from slamming.
Elizabeth made a mental note to suggest Dr. Preston give Trish a raise. With all she put up with over the last few months, she deserved it. Her job lately hadn't really been "assisting" as much as it was "covering Dr. Morrel's ass". Plus she probably needed the money, since she only worked part-time while she went to school, finishing her PhD.
As she waited for her coffee, Elizabeth rested her aching head in her hands as she opened her email. There were a few new notifications—mostly from local conspiracy theory forums that she started reading looking for references that may be about the creature—but nothing noteworthy. There was a concerned email from one of her college friends, one who worked in academia now, teaching biology in an East-coast university.
Elizabeth skimmed the email, already well aware of the rumors spreading about her among her colleagues, friends and competitors. Everyone was talking about how she lost it, some throwing around the words "delusion" and "obsessed." She knew she was on the edge, just inches away from tumbling into a pit of blackness where her credibility and her job would be stripped away, but she didn't care. Finding the creature was more important.
The creature was still in Parkdale. Besides the rumors of the forums, there were other reports in the news—more strange "sicknesses" at the university. The most recent one led to the death of a student who bled out in her dorm room. The school was trying to keep the whole thing quiet, though most of the students had moved out of the dorm and there were rumors the school wanted to shut that building down entirely. No one knew the cause of these events, except for Elizabeth.
She didn't have an in at the school yet. Tensions were high and security was tight around campus. She tried to get back in touch with Kaycee several times, but her cell phone was shut off and she'd already moved home with her family. She didn't even go back to the dorm to collect her stuff.
Everything felt like a dead end. Now with the death, Elizabeth felt responsible. She needed to get in there and find that creature, and she was starting to think she'd have to do something risky to make it happen.
As Elizabeth closed her email, there was a knock at her door.
"Come in," Elizabeth said, smiling as she expected to see Trish with a steaming mug of coffee. Instead she was greeted by Dr. Preston's frowning face.
"Good morning, Elizabeth," he said, no pep in his voice. He was a short man, with neat hair (slowly going gray), and a little bit of a pudge forming above his belt-line. He always wore his crisp white lab coat while he was at work, even though he hadn't actually done any lab-work in nearly three years.
"Scott, how are you." Elizabeth sat up, but could not wipe the grimace from her face.
"I would be better if I hadn't seen this week's report." He sat down in a chair across from her desk, tossing a printout of the report on her desk and folding his arms across his chest.
She nodded, annoyed that Dr. Preston came to see her before Trish could return. It would be a challenge to defend a report she hadn't even seen yet.
"We're falling behind, Liz. Pritzer won't wait. The executives want this drug on pharmacy shelves next year, and if we don't meet this deadline they'll want someone to blame. Some people will get fired." He leaned forward. "I'm not going down for this one."
Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her forehead. She couldn't handle this right now with the pounding behind her eyes. "I'll get on it this afternoon. I promise."
He stared at her, trying to read the sincerity of her words. "Good." He leaned back in his chair, seeming more relaxed now. "We have a new intern coming in tomorrow—unpaid." Dr. Preston smiled. He loved staying under budget—that probably got him off more than sex ever did.
Elizabeth perked up. "What university is he affiliated with?" She didn't have an in yet at SDU, which was the main blockade in her search for the creature.
"Uh, that I don't know. His paper work hasn't come through yet, but he had a glowing recommendation from Phil Curtis over at Halvex. I guess he's more interested in pharmaceuticals than developing household cleaning products." He chuckled, but Elizabeth stared at him blankly. "Anyway, that's why he's transferring mid-semester. I need you to give him an orientation of sorts. I can't afford to pull anyone off the Feltrex project right now, so it has to be you. OK?"
Dr. Preston had a way of saying 'OK' that clearly indicated this was not optional. Elizabeth just nodded.
"Sleep at home tonight." His face softened. "Please."
Elizabeth nodded again, staring at her desk until he left.
***
Elizabeth arrived at the lab at 9 a.m. the next morning. Her colleagues watched her with interest as she walked in, wondering if it was over now, if the good old Dr. Morrel was back. While it looked like normal behavior—she was clean, her clothes wrinkle-free and her hair conservatively styled in a bun—it was all an illusion.
She didn't sleep the night before, sitting up all night in the dark reading the speculation in the forums about the events at the university. There were no new leads. No one on the thread identified themselves as a student, no one had an inside scoop. That was starting to feel like a dead end.
Today she needed to focus on actual work, get the new intern up to speed and hope that his extra help would be enough to get the erectile dysfunction project back on track. Instead of heading to her office, she went straight for the little kitchenette and poured herself a mug of steaming coffee.
"Good morning, Dr. Morrel," Trish said, as she appeared in the doorway. Her smile dropped when the scientist looked up and she saw the deep pits of purple under her eyes.
"Morning," Elizabeth said, blowing her coffee, wishing she could gulp it down without scalding her tongue.
"Um, the new intern is here. I didn't know what to do with him, so I just told him to sit and wait."
"Fine, fine." She sighed, then dared to sip her coffee, the hot liquid stinging the back of her throat. "I'll be out in a minute."
Elizabeth went to her office, tossing her purse on the couch and perching on her chair just long enough to wake her computer and check her email. Seeing no new messages, she went back to the lab to locate the young intern.
He stood out among the staff moving about the lab in their white coats. Perched on a stool at the end of the counter, he wore a printed t-shirt with the scrawled logo of some indie band and dark jeans, leaning forward as he talked softly with Trish, who laughed softly, covering her mouth.
He looked young, 19 or 20, way too young to be a PhD candidate. His dark hair was spiked with gel and he had eyes so green they seemed unnatural. This kid belonged in the line for a concert, not a pharmaceutical lab.
"Hello," Elizabeth said as she stopped next to the pair.
The young man looked up, then suddenly jumped to his feet,
thrusting his hand at the scientist. "Hello, I'm Gavin Denton, ma'am."
Elizabeth shook his hand and took a step back. "You can call me Dr. Morrel." She eyed him skeptically, then shot a glance at Trish, who promptly scurried away.
"I'm so excited to be here," he said, picking his backpack up from the ground and slinging it over his shoulder. "Thank you so much for accepting my application. I couldn't believe it when Dr. Curtis called me yesterday and said I was in!"
"Well, you can save your thanks for Dr. Preston. He arranged your internship. Today is going to be very busy, so let's get started. You can put your things in my office until we get a locker for you in the break room. Follow me." Elizabeth turned, immediately feeling annoyed by this naive, bright-eyed student.
"I hope you don't mind me saying this—" Gavin hopped a few steps to catch up with her so they were walking side-by-side. "But I'm a huge fan of yours. I've read everything you wrote about your research in Brazil."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and glanced over at him. "I haven't published much."
"I know, but I still read it all. It's so fascinating, the discoveries you made."
She stopped just inside the doorway of her office and pointed at a chair. "That trip was a complete failure. Months lost in the rainforest. Months of grant money down the drain."
Gavin set his backpack down on the chair and looked up at her with a goofy grin on his face. "But it wasn't a complete waste. Your essays on the Topnomee tribe were captivating. No one has studied them or lived among them the way you did."
"I'm not an anthropologist. I didn't go down there to study the people."
Gavin's smile faded away and he nodded grimly. "You were looking for the plant."
Bred by the Jungle Tentacle Plant: The Complete Trilogy Page 6
