I sit at the desk, lazily tapping a pencil against the surface while watching the clock ticking down the seconds at the other side of the room.
Ten more minutes until I can leave and go home.
Time can't pass any slower.
I look at the computer screen on my right, checking for emails which aren't there, and sigh, letting my head thump onto the back of the seat.
Peter, a guard, stands in a corner, watching me with wide eyes that shine with puppy-like adoration.
It gets annoying, and I've tried to tell him to stop in nice ways, but he doesn't get the hint. It's not like he's bad looking. He actually looks my age, two years older at most, and his blonde hair and charming green eyes would make any rational girl want to date him, but I know I can't.
I'm not looking for a relationship. Besides, in a year I'll finally have saved up enough money to retire from this job and move as far away from this island as possible. Dating Peter would be a liability in that plan, since he would stay here, when I want to go far away.
Being a secretary is pretty boring when you work for a lab on a pretty much secret island sponsored by the government.
No one wants coffee, because their too caught up in their work, no paperwork needs to be done since scientists write down their very own notes, and basically nothing happens. I'm just a young face for everyone to look at while coming in or leaving.
My hair is dark brown, but not black, and reminds me of dark chocolate. Too bad it doesn't taste that way. My eyes are a normal hazel, but with more green than brown, and the only non-normal thing about me is my pale skin. You would expect me to be tanned like a gorgeous model, but I'm stuck white as a snowflake. My mom used to say I get it from my dad.
Dr. Cartwright, also my father and head researcher here at Braun lab, has a lighter colored shade of hair than mine, but has my eyes and my pale complexion. He has thin-rimmed glasses, that make him look like a professor, and is always in a lab coat. It used to be embarrassing, but I've gotten used to it. It'snot so embarrassing when more than half of the population of the island also wears a lab coat.
The small island Braun lab is located on is near the outskirts of Florida, a few miles away from the Bermuda triangle. The island is kept a secret from the public, specifically because of the "vital" research that goes on here.
I used to think this research was stupid, and now I hate it even more. It took my own mother from me.
I snap out of my thoughts, glancing quickly at Peter who catches my eye and winks. I roll my eyes and stand up, straightening out my navy blue dress that reaches me knees.
"Want some coffee, Peter?" I ask, walking away before he can respond.
I make my way down a few white hallways and into the lounge, where the coffee machine sits.
While waiting for the coffee to brew, I watch the news on the TV. Recently, the news has been my only connection to the outside world away from this island. I sometimes watch it like an addict.
Suddenly, loud noises startle me.
It sounds like a lot of yelling and running feet. I peek my head out into the hallway, watching many workers start running for the elevator.
Where are they going?
Forgetting the coffee, I follow them, wondering what could be so exciting.
I follow the crowd down to the bottom level, the level where experiments are held and you usually need a key card to access it. As far as I know, nothing too important has happened down here, at least, until now.
I push my way to the front of the crowd, to see the glass room where most dangerous experiments are done is curtained off.
Dr. Cartwright, my father, stands by the rope that will pull the curtain open as he tries to calm the crowd. I fight to get to him, finally reaching him through the sea of excited scientists.
"Dad! What's going on?!" I yell over the noise.
"We've done it, Ashley! We've finally found something!"
My eyes widen slightly, wondering what he could have possible found.
I've only learned the gist of the project taking place here, but I've known enough about it to think it's ridiculous.
Scientists are almost certain there's something in the Bermuda triangle, something big. What the thing is, I have no clue. It could be an unknown creature, or maybe some lost, forgotten historic structure. They've sent teams out into the triangle, some not returning, but the ones who do don't have any useful information.
My mother was on one of those teams. She never came back.
A few years ago, I held the hope that maybe she was still alive, and had found whatever it is that they were looking for.
Everyday that passed with still no word from her slowly killed that hope inside of me, until it was nothing but dust.
It's normal, people had told me after we held the funeral for her but without a body, for people to disappear in the Bermuda Triangle.
My mother's death has only given my father all the more determination to seek whatever he thinks is in the Bermuda triangle, and some part of me worries for him. I lost my mother, I don't want to lose him too.
"Attention Everybody! We will soon be opening the curtain, and don't worry, he's completely secured inside the room and can't cause any harm, but I still advise you to keep at least two feet away from the glass."
He's? I thought he said he found something, not someone. And why is the person "secured"?
I try to ask dad, but the roaring of the crowd grows louder as my dad slowly starts to open the curtains.
Almost immediately my eyes lock with intense, grey ones, and I gasp as something strange inside of me, almost like a pulse, resounds through my chest.
The man is standing literally right in front of me, in the corner of the room I'm in front of. His eyes won't leave mine as I feel my own widening, my throat closing up.
Why do they have a person locked up? I'm starting to think these scientists have gone insane. Being confined to your studies on a secret island can do that to a person. I should know.
I look again at the man, taking him all in as he tries to get me into another stare down but I won't let him. He's muscular, probably not even that. He's buffed. I wonder if he's on steroids. I also notice how he's shirtless, and my cheeks instantly heat up, my eyes darting back towards his face. His hair is milky brown, but then I notice this little spot that is a glistening golden blonde color. Finally, I let my eyes meet his again.
I start to move back, when suddenly, his mouth opens up in a threatening snarl. Scared, I unconsciously take another step backward right as he starts pounding on the glass with his fists.
This glass must be strong, because I can envision this man tearing apart steel.
I turn to my dad, shock and horrified about what I've just seen. The man keeps banging, but I ignore him, letting the crowd try to get his attention as they shove me around.
"Who is he and why is he locked up?" I ask, more in a demanding tone than in a question. My dad continues to watch the man, beating away at the glass, but spares a glance at me.
"He's the beginning of a brand new experiment." He answers.
"What experiment?" I push, urging him to look back at me, but his gaze is now far off in the distance, as if he can see something I can't.
I put my hand on his arm and give him a slight jostle, his eyes snapping back to me in an instant.
"What experiment?" I repeat firmly.
"Experiment Zero."
Dear readers, Sorry for the short chapter, I tried to make it longer. For all the people out there who are interested in this book, thank you for reading. I was inspired to write this by some of these books out there that go unfinished and it kills me. So, I decided to write one for my own. Vote, comment, and I'll keep writing. Lots of Love,
Dangeroustoken