unfortunate ➸ primeval

Chapter 1

Eight years later

"I'm on my way, I'm on my way," Clara babbled down the phone, rushing down the stairs and grasping the car keys that laid beside her front door.

Hanging up the phone, she slammed her front door and got into her car. Music blasted from the speakers the moment she started the engine, nearly deafening her. "Jesus," she cursed under her breath, spinning the dial to turn down the music. She then sped off, in the general direction of the university.

Central Metropolitan University - the place where Clara achieved her degree in prehistoric animal science, and now the place where she worked. She assisted Professor Cutter in his research, along with fellow lab technician Stephen Hart.

She'd worked there ever since she'd graduated university, as she had found Professor Cutter's work interesting and fascinating ever since she was a young child.

"You're late, Clara," Nick commented idly as she entered the office, not even looking up from the papers he was reading.

"I overslept," Clara shrugged, sitting down in a spare chair and sifting through some papers. She waved at Stephen, who sent her one of his signature heart-stopping smirks in return.

Clara had liked Stephen since the moment she met him three years ago, though she knew he didn't reciprocate her feelings. In fact, Clara knew that Stephen had a girlfriend who was away in the rainforest doing some research - her name was Alison.

"Professor Cutter?" A male voice came from the doorway. Clara peered up to sneak a glance at the intruder. Chin-length dark hair and dark eyes to match, and a few flecks of stubble on the lower half of his face.

"Oh, you again," Cutter sighed and rolled his eyes, throwing his paper down. "What do you want? And don't touch anything," he warned as the student went to pick up one of the many fossils that littered Nick's desk. "By the way, these are my lab technicians, Stephen Hart and Clara Fields." He gestured to Clara and Stephen, who both gave him a nod in greeting.

"I was wondering if you'd seen this," the student said, holding up a newspaper with a 'monster' sighting on the front page. Clara glanced at the paper, and then exchanged an incredulous look with her fellow lab technician.

"Don't believe everything you read in the paper, Connor," Nick smirked, though he took the paper, skimmed over it for a moment before handing it to Stephen.

"No, it's real!" the student, evidently Connor, argued, snatching the paper off Clara, who had wanted a closer look.

"Connor, it's a hoax. Forget it," Cutter shrugged, rolling up his shirt sleeves.

Connor took a deep breath, gulped, and then said, "Your wife wouldn't have ignored it."

Both Clara and Stephen looked up at those words, casting a concerned look over to their boss. Nick himself glanced at one of the photos of Helen on his desk. "My wife was a serious scientist," he told his student stiffly. "Not some gullible monster hunter."

"Sorry," Connor apologised quickly, realising he had hit a pretty hefty nerve.

"It's okay," Cutter half-smiled.

"I just thought you might want to check it out, that's all," Connor smiled weakly, resting the paper on the desk and turning to leave. "It's not as though the Forest of Dean is far away, though." He chuckled.

"The Forest of Dean?" Nick repeated, his curiosity now piqued. Clara stood up, as did Stephen. They both knew full well why Cutter wanted to go: that was the place where Helen went missing eight years ago.

Stephen let out a sigh when Nick looked at him, almost pleadingly. "If we leave now, we can get there by lunch."

"Let's go," Nick said, shooing everyone out of his office so they could go to the car. Connor looked more than happy that his favourite teacher was taking him up on his request.

Clara walked with Nick to the car, watching Connor and Stephen walk in front. "Do you really think this is a good idea?" She asked him. "Following a hoax one of your students showed you?"

"You know as well as I do that's not the whole reason I'm going, Clara," Nick told her. "Helen went missing there after hearing about a creature sighting. Maybe this was it."

Clara didn't have time to argue her point anymore, as she was forced to get in the back of the car with Connor, who gave her a sweet smile. She returned it, sinking back into her seat and mulling over what Cutter had told her.

"So," Connor's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "I've never seen you around before. Are you new?"

Clara faced him, registering his face. He looked very young for his age, amplified by his puppy-dog brown eyes. "I've worked for Professor Cutter since I graduated university," she informed him. "Three years ago."

"Oh." He paused, thinking of what to say. Clara imagined he was intimidated by her. "Have you ever been to the Forest of Dean?"

——

They arrived at the Forest of Dean about an hour later, where they found the man who had seen the 'monster' on the front of the newspaper. His lorry had been slashed so fiercely that there were massive, deep gashes in the side of it.

"I had just finished my rounds for the night," the driver told them. "When I saw it in the mirror. Bloody terrified me."

"I'm not surprised," Clara commented, staring at the slashed lorry. "Look at how it's been ripped - almost to shreds. It must have taken a strong force just to even break through the first layer."

"You think it's a big cat?" Stephen asked her, coming to stand next to her. "Escaped from a local zoo? Or maybe a private zoo?"

"Not even a big cat could cause this much damage," Clara shook her head. "But it's definitely a large predator." She watched as Stephen stepped forward, outstretched hand wiping a bit of red substance off one of the rips in the lorry.

"There's blood here," he called to Cutter, who was still talking to the driver. Connor, meanwhile, was inspecting some of the gashes further down the truck.

Stephen and Clara went towards the younger student. Connor spun so he was facing them. "Why is the Professor so intrigued by the Forest of Dean?" He asked them. The two lab technicians exchanged a look, silently debating who would be the one to tell him.

Stephen let out a sigh, relenting. "Eight years ago, Helen Cutter came to this area to follow up on a creature sighting. She went missing inside the forest. No body, no nothing. Well, nothing except a rucksack. Just vanished."

"Oh my god," Connor mumbled.

Cutter thanked the driver and sent him on his way before walking to the front of the lorry.

"It's a hoax, obviously," Stephen shouted to him. Clara and Connor followed, but then stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what Nick was staring so intently at. Even Stephen wavered in his speech. "Just a difficult one to pull off."

"I don't think your big cat could do that, Clara," Nick said, pointing to the fence. There was a gaping hole in it, and either side of the hole had been bent with some brute force.

Clara moved forward, not tearing her eyes away from the fence. "Then what the hell did?"

Quick Disclaimer: I do not own Primeval or its characters in any way, nor do I own the plots I use or any dialogue I choose. Those rights belong to Impossible Pictures. However, I do own Clara and any other characters who are obviously not from the show. Thank you, and enjoy!