Connor also appeared from the laboratory and Ethan noticed how close he stood to the new guy. Soon the three of them were talking loudly, Godrik using his hands wildly as he explained something. The trio hadn’t even noticed Ethan standing to the side.
The boy maintained his distance and kept to himself until finally he heard someone clear their throat. He glanced up and caught three pairs of eyes staring at him.
“Ethan. How long have you been there?” Godrik asked. He shrugged. “A while.” He tried to appear uninterested, keeping his gaze on the floor in front of him, observing the many lines of the carpet beneath his feet. The scarred man stalked toward him and stopped within inches of Ethan’s face.
“Ethan Drake?” he asked, lifting a single eyebrow in question. Ethan swallowed hard but answered, “Yes.” His voice sounded tiny in the presence of someone so intimidating. He watched as the man inspected him, judging with his eyes. The act made Ethan frown in confusion. Who was this man and why was he staring at him like he was a piece of meat? A smelly rotten piece of meat if the man’s expression was anything to go by.
“I’m Edred Hayes.” He shoved his hand out for Ethan to shake, which he did, though he did it reluctantly. Edred’s grip was intense and Ethan found himself wincing as the blood flow to his hand was slowly being cut off.
Edred wore black pants that were filled with pockets along the leg, black boots and a very heavy looking top. It was synthetic leather with an intricately stitched pattern that covered the whole garment. It almost seemed protective but Ethan had no idea from what. He noticed the man’s lips form a thin annoyed smirk.
“Nice to meet y-” Ethan tried to say but the man abruptly turned around and walked away with Connor following closely behind. Well that was weird, he thought. Ethan turned to look at Godrik questioningly but the older man simply shook his head.
“Never mind him. Are you ready for your injection?” he asked as he stepped into his office. Ethan took a deep breath and followed him. It was now or never. “I need to talk to you about something first.” Godrik took a seat and motioned for Ethan to do the same.
“My… my dreams are getting really bad,” he said tremulously. Godrik was a little taken aback by the statement. It was the last thing he thought Ethan would say. “They’re happening more frequently and they’re… affecting me,” the boy mumbled. Ethan peered down at his hands shamefully. He knew there was something wrong with him and now it was Dr. Stevens turn to tell him what it was and how to fix it.
“Affecting you? How?” the doctor asked. Ethan closed his eyes and prepared himself for what he was about to say. He had never told anyone exactly what he dreamt about and his mind was full of the different scenarios that could possibly play out.
“The dreams are violent. I… I wake up screaming and sometimes I accidentally hurt myself because it seems so real.” Godrik was staring intently at him now, taking in everything that he was saying. Ethan rolled up his sleeves to show the doctor his arms which were still pink and injured. Godrik immediately went to Ethan’s side and inspected the arms himself. “You did this to yourself?”
Ethan nodded. “I thought I was still dreaming and I had to get the needles out Godrik! I had to!” the boy explained frantically. He placed his hands gently on Ethan’s shoulders and searched his eyes. “It’s okay Ethan. Calm down.”
But that had the opposite effect on the boy. He stood up and began pacing the room. “It’s not okay Godrik. I’m terrified to go to sleep and when I do, I wake up feeling so scared and sad. This isn’t normal! I know it’s not! Just, tell me what’s wrong with me, please!”
Godrik was stunned by Ethan’s outburst. He had no idea the dreams were that bad but clearly something had to be done. “I’m sorry Ethan. You’re right, it’s not okay.”
He walked over to one of the locked cabinets, produced his key and rummaged through it until he found what he was searching for. “These should help,” he said, handing a bottle full of pills to Ethan. The boy examined the bottle closely. “What are they?”
Godrik hesitated, clearly vying for the best way to explain what they were. “They’ll help you sleep,” he said confidently. Ethan regarded the man standing before him and sensed that he was not only telling the truth but that he would be okay. He nodded his head and placed the pills in his pocket. Godrik breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you ready now for your injection?” he asked hopefully. Ethan didn’t answer but instead sat down and revealed his arm to the doctor. The older man went back to the cabinet and grabbed a green vial with a syringe. Ethan told himself over and over that Godrik wasn’t there to hurt him and that whatever he was doing to him was for his health and wellbeing.
Godrik noticed the fear in Ethan’s eyes as the needle got closer to him, the boy’s hand shaking. “Don’t worry,” Godrik said sincerely as he injected the substance. Ethan nodded and he recoiled his arm, tasting faint traces of metallic on his tongue. Thankfully, he didn’t feel any pain after the initial sting.
“Alright then, let’s get to work!”
Ethan followed the doctor to the laboratories, ready to begin their day. He felt better knowing there was a possible solution for his nightmares and the prospect of a good night’s sleep was motivating him to perk up. They reached the desired floor quickly and playfully raced to their lab. Ethan stopped abruptly at the sight of a stranger standing by the door.
“Hunter, right on time,” he heard the doctor say. Ethan didn’t even realize he was staring until the boy waved a hand in front of his face.
“Is he okay?” Hunter asked Godrik. They surveyed Ethan quizzically. “I’m not sure,” Godrik replied, genuinely concerned. Ethan finally shook himself free from his thoughts.
“Ethan this is Hunter Grey. He’s on loan to us from the tenth floor. Hunter, this is Ethan,” Godrik said in introduction. Hunter held his hand out to Ethan but for some reason it took the boy longer than normal to reciprocate the action. Eventually he mirrored the newcomers gesture and shook his hand. He knew he was acting completely weird but he couldn’t help it. There was something about Hunter, something he couldn’t put his finger on yet.
The boy in front of him was a few inches taller than Ethan but had a wider build and rich brown hair that sat perfectly coiffed on his head. He had a sharp jaw that carved the structure of his face beautifully, enhancing his thick lips. He was at least a year or two older than Ethan, but the true prize in front of him were Hunter’s eyes. They were a bold shade of green with tiny flecks of gold in them. Ethan was positively mesmerized by them.
“Is he mute?” Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow. “Nope, not mute,” Ethan muttered after a brief pause. What was wrong with him?
“Good, shall we get to work then?” Godrik asked.
Hunter gave him a nod but Ethan still seemed to be in his own world. Once they entered the room, Godrik began explaining the reason for Hunter’s attendance. “Hunter has been transferred to help us create a new species of fish.” Godrik glanced over to Ethan who was staring blankly at the wall.
“Ethan, are you with us?” he asked with annoyance. The dark-haired boy turned his head and nodded his head. “Yeah, I’m… here,” he said. “Great,” Godrik said flatly.
He pointed to the computer screen and explained how they would be taking a current fish species and adding qualities of an extinct species in the hopes of making something new. Ethan had his reservations about whether this feat would be possible but Hunter seemed more than optimistic.
He sat and listened to Godrik and Hunter go back and forth, preparing samples and making schedules for the week, detailing their testing and methods of gathering information. It seemed obvious that they had worked together before, given their comfortable, albeit, tense banter. It was enough to worsen the knots swirling around in Ethan’s stomach. He made to get up but immediately regretted the action. His vision became fuzzy as the room slowly closed in on him. The area in front of him turned into a foreign space that resembled a hospital wing fi
lled with medical equipment. He shook his head to clear the image but instead another one appeared. This room was dark and grimy with flickering lights around him. The images were somewhat out of focus, causing his head to hurt. The last thing he heard was Godrik’s voice before he fell face first on to the floor.
“Ethan?” They rushed over to him but the boy was already passed out. They were unaware that Ethan’s mind was flooding him with images that soon became too overwhelming causing him to faint. “Ethan, can you hear me?” That time the voice he heard was not Godrik’s but Hunter’s. He slowly blinked his eyes open and focused on the face in front of him. They must have moved him onto his back because he was now staring up at the greenest eyes he had ever seen. He was suddenly embarrassed.
He couldn’t believe he had fainted, having no idea what happened since it came on so suddenly. He stared briefly at Hunter who was so focused with concern it was nauseating. That was when Ethan realized he was still on the floor.
“I’m okay,” he said weakly. Then he felt an arm wrap around his waist as Hunter helped him to his feet. Instinctually he rejected the offering and pushed himself up. There was still something about Hunter that bothered him. Maybe it was his muscular arms or his big sturdy hands that could probably lift him with ease. Ethan shook his head. Where did that come from? “I said I’m fine,” he snapped.
Hunter stepped back and put his hands up in surrender. He had just met Ethan and already things were not going well. Hunter didn’t know if maybe he had done something to upset the boy but regardless, he vowed to keep his distance.
Godrik examined Ethan with concern. Was this a side effect of the injection? Fainting and dizziness were quite common after injections but the irritable behavior was not. “You were saying…” Ethan said, prompting Godrik to finish his lecture. He gave a concerned pause but eventually resumed his speech.
During the rest of the day, Ethan found himself more and more irritated with Hunter. The guy kept staring at him, trying to figure him out but there was nothing to figure out.
It was like Hunter was waiting for him to break so he could heroically pick up the pieces. He tried to ignore Hunter, even going as far as turning his body away from him. He had no idea what was bugging him about the new guy but something wasn’t right. Hunter stood there, brooding self-confidence, arrogance and a smile that literally made Ethan weak at the knees- wait…what?
When they broke for lunch, Ethan practically ran out of the room and down to the café. For once he hoped that Hadley would be there and sure enough, she was already at a table enjoying a salad. He sighed in relief, grabbed a grilled vegetable sandwich and strutted to her. “May I join you?” he asked coyly.
Hadley giggled at him, nodding her head. As soon as he sat down, he gave the room a quick scan, hoping that Hunter would choose somewhere else to spend his break. So far it seemed to be the case.
“So, how’s work?” Hadley asked. She could tell that Ethan was distracted so she waited patiently for his response.
“I’m sorry what?” Ethan replied. Hadley tilted her head in annoyance. “Something wrong?” she tried again. Ethan stared at her in confusion before realizing the weirdness of his behavior.
“Oh, everything’s fine. I met a new co-worker and he’s giving off some strange vibes.” Yeah, that’s what he would do; play it off like Hunter was the one with the problem… great plan. She took a big bite of her food and nodded in understanding. “I get what you mean. There’s this guy, Alex, who gets on everyone’s nerves,” she said with a mouthful of food and an eye roll.
Ethan smiled at her and finally relaxed enough to start eating his meal. She went on and on about how Alex always checked her out and tried to act really smart but she could tell he wasn’t. The guy clearly liked her and was trying to impress her but Hadley wasn’t having it. “Can you imagine? I need to focus on my work! I don’t have time for that!” Ethan laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.
“You can still have fun, right? You’re not eighty!” he scolded. Hadley covered her mouth as she giggled at his comment. True, she wasn’t eighty but she wanted to prove herself in her career. That came before anything else and no boy was going to change that. Being placed in level 2 instead of 1 already had her on edge, she didn’t need anything to mess that up.
“What about you? No time for love Ethan?” she whispered. Ethan nearly spit out his juice at her question. Time for love? Not likely considering his work load, not to mention the only people he knew were his co-workers and that was a road he didn’t want to travel down, regardless of how good looking – oh not again! “Um…” he coughed, clearing his throat. “Nope. Too busy.”
He hoped for a subject change but it didn’t come. “What about Abby? I always thought you two had something,” Hadley inquired. Ethan laughed nervously before shaking his head. “Abby and I are just friends.”
Hadley shrugged. “If you say so.” Ethan desperately needed a change in topic. “So, have you found out anything else about the trains running at night?” Hadley put her fork down and scanned the room cautiously. Ethan mirrored her actions before glancing back at her.
“Well, the strangest thing happened. Remember when I told you the mileage logs had gaps in them?” Ethan nodded. “I went back the next day and checked them again to make sure I was right and they had all been changed. The mileage from the evening now matches the morning logs. Isn’t that weird?”
“A little,” Ethan said with confusion. “Oh well, it was probably all in my head!” She said it with a nervous laugh but Ethan chose to ignore it. Knowing Hadley, it could very well be all in her head.
After lunch, Ethan felt somewhat relieved. He liked talking to Hadley; even though she wasn’t Abby, she still had a way of making him feel better. And he had needed the distraction. He made his way to Godrik’s office on the 33rd floor but stopped when he saw Tyler stomping in his direction. He cursed under his breath and cast his eyes to the floor, hoping Tyler would march by but as luck would have it, the boy stopped right in front of Ethan, breathing harshly against his neck.
“You think you’re something special? I don’t know how you did it but you don’t belong here, freak.” The calmness in Tyler’s voice sent shivers down Ethan’s spine. Suddenly the courage he had months ago dissipated. He kept his eyes to the ground, refusing to engage the bully.
“Tyler, shouldn’t you be at the Commissioner’s office fetching someone’s lunch?” Hunter asked snidely.
Ethan saw Hunter shuffling toward them. Tyler huffed in annoyance but left without another word. “You okay?” Hunter asked. “Fine,” Ethan gritted. Hunter seriously needed to tone down the hero complex. He could handle Tyler on his own, after all, he had been dealing with him for years.
He began to step away when a hand grabbed his arm. He glared at Hunter angrily before yanking his arm back. “What is your problem?” Hunter asked, his voice heavy with frustration. “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ethan sneered, shrugging his shoulders.
“Listen, we don’t have to like each other but we do have to work together so how about you cut me a little slack?” Ethan stared at him, stubbornly refusing to answer. “Fine, have it your way.” Hunter rolled his eyes and trudged back into Godrik’s office where the doctor was waiting for them.
“Come on. We still have a lot of work to do.” They both nodded and followed him to the elevator. Once they got back to the lab, they split up and each worked on a component of the cells that they wanted to bind together.
Each strand of the DNA sequence had to be studied so they could find pairs that worked well together. They would then use those pairs along with bits of the extinct fish’s DNA strand to build a whole new species. The process was tedious and prosaic but it had to be done.
Ethan was excited at the prospect of literally creating a new species. The very idea of taking something apart and putting it back together differently fascinated him. He wondered about the practical uses of such applications in everyday life. Perhaps they c
ould use this Technology to wipe out ailments completely. He tried to imagine the possibilities that such Technology would afford and that caused a grin to spread across his face.
Hunter ignored him the rest of the day which should have made him happy but instead it made him feel guilty. The older boy was only trying to help him and Ethan had acted like a petulant child. He needed to fix this. He glanced at Hunter, only to have the boy turn his head away. Ethan’s expression faltered. “Yeah, about earlier-”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hunter said decisively. Ethan offered a small smile before returning his eyes to the screen in front of him. He was glad that Hunter didn’t hold resentment toward him but that still didn’t shake the feeling he got around the boy. He hoped that over time, the feeling would disappear and he would maybe have a friend at the end of the experiment.
CHAPTER 5
S everal weeks went by and the team was making progress on the new species. They chose to cross a trout with something called a red snapper. Ethan had never heard of or seen a red snapper but the Sector had remnants of its DNA. Godrik showed him a picture of what it once resembled two hundred years ago and Ethan had to admit it was a beautiful fish. If they could make anything even close to it, the citizens would be in for a treat.
As they waited for their samples to be sterilized, the trio opted to take a break. It really was a lot of work especially since some days they wouldn’t leave the office until it was dark outside. That’s how dedicated they were to making this new species a reality. Godrik had decided to talk to a colleague in another laboratory, leaving Ethan and Hunter alone.
Ethan was feeling more comfortable around the other boy which at least made working together easier. Hunter had eased up a bit and soon the glares and scowls turned into approving nods and smirks. Ethan would never admit it, but Hunter had been on his mind a lot. It seemed as if everything reminded him of his new co-worker and it was frightening. The vibrant green of the leaves outside was no match for the hue of Hunter’s eyes and the sweet smell of a ripened apple only competed with the saccharine fragrance that emanated from him. In a word, Hunter was intoxicating.
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