Chapter One
The Out of the Ordinary
I sat doodling in a daydream about how it used to be. How it used to be before Dad died and how it used to be before my Mum got a new project and we ended up having to move to this godforsaken place.
My friend Amie sat next to me texting her boyfriend while we were supposed to be watching a short film on dog behaviour but I already knew what the signs were. Amie had shoulder length curly hair that was a deep red colour and her eyes were stuck between a mix of brown and green. She had natural, pretty features that made guys look twice at her. Amie was the bubbliest person I knew. She always had a smile on her face and she had a daredevil streak in her that often got us both into trouble. She was my best friend. She was the only person in the college to boldly come up and talk to me when I was the "New Girl" and brought me out of my shell.
She slipped a note on my desk, innocently pretending to watch the film. "Read it," She mouthed as I looked at her with confusion.
I opened the note carefully; making sure Mrs. Lana never saw me.
Do you want to go to a party tonight? 7pm?
Sure, Mum's caught up in a new project and won't even notice I'm gone anyways.
I handed the note back to her and she quickly replied.
Any chance it's another world domination project?
Yep. She won't tell me anything as its "Top Secret". She can't even dominate the dishes never mind the world, anyways.
Amie broke into a fit of giggles as she read the note, making me laugh a little too.
"What is funny ladies?" Our college lecturer names Marnie asked, causing the whole class to turn their heads to us.
"Nothing," Amie answered.
"Quiet and watch the video," She replied sternly, turning her head back to the video.
I looked at Amie with a small grin and continued my doodling. My doodling took form and changed into the shape of a dolphin leaping out of the ocean.
I was obsessed with marine animals for as long as I could remember. I was on my way to becoming a marine mammal trainer. I wanted to specialise in training killer whales, sea lions and dolphins.
"God, that lesson was so boring." Amie sighed as we headed out the class at the end.
"Tell me about it," I murmured.
I barely managed to get thorough the rest of the day without each lesson making me feel even more depressed. I found myself looking at the clock every two minutes, counting down the hours till I could leave. In my free periods Amie and I sat in the library making a start on our assignment that got handed out, talking to a few friends we knew and listened to my iPod.
Amie got a call of her Mum saying she needed to babysit so our plans were rearranged to another time.
"Finally!" Amie breathed a sigh of relief when we left our last lesson. "Any more depressing lesson's and I'm afraid I may have needed to see a shrink.
"I'm surprised you don't have a shrink already," I laughed lightly.
"Bitch," Amie growled with a grin.
"Look who's talking!" I giggled, pretending to be outraged.
She gave me a playful shove, "I'll call you later,"
"Have fun with the little terrors."
"Why did you have to remind me?" She groaned.
"Because I'm a good friend,"
"Get lost!"
I laughed and gave her a quick hug. "Bye, Hun."
"See you soon, Ocean."
I headed off to my silver Peugeot 206CC as Amie headed off to her black BMW. It paid off having a top scientist for a mother. She worked tiresome hours to find a lot of medical cures or she studied and carried out tests on new species of animals or plants.
I was proud of her for a lot of her work. Without her help I'd bet thousands of people wouldn't be living today. The only problem was I hardly saw her. It was okay before because I had my Dad to keep me company when I came home from school and me and my Mum would have the weekend together. Now... She even went into work on her days off or she had important work to do at home and she didn't like to be disturbed.
After Dad died I ended up having nannies look after me but after reaching the age of eighteen I was able enough to look after myself. I often tidied up the house, cooked a meal and left Mum's in the microwave and then I'd study or watch TV or head out to see Amie for a while.
I was independent.
By the time I reached home it was almost six and dawn was setting in over the sea. Maybe I might take a walk along the beach later if I was bored.
Our house had four bedrooms that had its own bathroom suites. Mine, my Mum's, a guest room and the last room got turned into a study where Mum spent most of her time if she was home. The rest of the house was basically mine.
The kitchen and dining room had white wallpaper with silver swirls added on, midnight blue marble kitchen top to match the marble flooring, light blue voile wrapped around a pole for curtains, a clear vase sat on the small black dining room table with different shades of blue flowers for a centrepiece.
The sitting room was decorated in cream only the wall that held the silver fire on the wall was black with a lovely silver pattern twined into the paper. The chairs were black leather with two cream cushions and one fuchsia pink coloured one. The curtains were white and pink voile for decoration as we - I, - simply shut the blinds on a night. On each side of the fireplace were two white scented candle decorations that gave the room a nice scent of pink blossoms and vanilla and in the middle, on the wall, was a pink flower in full bloom. In the centre of the room, under the black squashy carpet was a white rug that made the room feel more inviting and in the corner was a glass table that held a goldfish and a flower arrangement that was a mix of pink and white. Other objects around the room was a plasma TV, a stereo system, a Wii that I never even played on and a PS3 that may as well have stayed in its box.
The conservatory was decorated in browns and creams. It was only ever used if one of my Mum's friends came home for a glass of wine and a good chat while looking out at the ocean.
I pulled into the garage only to find my Mum's Mercedes parked in her spot. I slid in carefully, taking care to make enough space to get out and then went up the stairs, entering through the kitchen.
Mum was in the sitting room with someone I never met before, chatting quietly. Mum had shoulder length sandy blonde hair, green eyes the same shade and depth of mine and a slim nose that showed off her high cheekbones and sweet, warm face that made her figure look even more petite.
"Hey, sweetheart," She got up and gave me a hug, carefully putting her coffee down as she did. "This is Julie, do you remember her?"
I gave the woman a look but no memory came to mind. She had warm brown eyes and thick dark hair pulled up in a clip.
"Sorry," I said, blushing a little "I don't recall meeting you before today," I made my polite voice I used for Mum's "important" friends.
"My gosh," The woman named Julie gasped as she got up to take a good look at me, "she looks so much like her father. I swear my heart stopped for a moment. I haven't seen you since you were no bigger than this," She flattened her palm out and lowered it to her knee.
"Ocean this is your aunt Julie, silly. Can't you remember?"
Julie pulled me in a tight hug before I could answer. "Look how much you've grown. The same black hair you're father had, the same nose and lips," She ruffled my long, thick hair and tapped my nose lightly, with a smile on her face and a few welling tears in her chocolate eyes.
"It's a little blurry but I'm sure I'll remember," I said politely.
"How old are you now?"
"I'll be twenty in a few months,"
"Wow, where does the time go?"
"Tell me about it, Julie." My Mum sighed.
"I brought a gift for you." She smiled at me, remaining me of my father's smile. Before she could answer a flash of ginger came bounding under my legs and leapt up at my mother for a slimy lick on her cheek.
"Isn't he adorable?" Julie grinned, picking the puppy up. "My Tia had puppies and when your mother and I talked on the phone we thought you might need a friend to keep you company. I know how much she works."
"Wow Aunt Julie, I don't know what to say." I was lost for words. My Mum never agreed to let me have a dog, or even a cat or hamster. Only fish.
"A simple thank you, Sweetie," She handed me the dog and he gave me a slobbery lick and a playful nip at my chin. "He likes you."
"Thank you," I gave her another hug.
"Mind you, Ocean. He is your responsibility." My Mum said sternly.
"I promise I'll take good care of him!" I gushed with happiness.
"Call it a late nineteenth birthday present from your favourite aunt." Julie beamed. "I know I don't get to see you much as we live so far but I'm here on a business trip and thought we'd drop by for a good long chat."
I stared down at the dog as he decided a curl on my hair would be a great toy to chew. By the looks of him and my knowledge of dog breeds, he was a Japanese Shiba Inu.
"What is his name?" I asked, giving him a scratch behind his ear.
"I called him Tiger or Taz on the trip,"
"I like Taz. The way he came in I could have sworn it was a Tasmanian devil," I laughed, snuggling the puppy as I inhaled his puppy scent.
"Me too, let's just hope he doesn't chew the house to pieces." My mum piped up. "I still can't believe I agreed to this."
"He won't," Julie and I answered together.
I sat on the plush floor with the puppy and laughed as Taz tried to chase his tail in circles.
"What do you plan to be, Ocean?" Julie asked later as it ticked to around nine PM.
"I'd like to work at an aquatic park with the whales and dolphins," I beamed at her. "But, I'm also thinking of becoming a vet for aquatics, therefore the park that I work for will have a vet on hand too."
"Training them?"
"Yeah, that would involve me performing tricks with them, too."
"You mean in the water! With them?" Julie's eyes widened.
"Basically," I laughed, accidentally knocking Taz out of his lolling sleep.
"My God," She gulped. "I'd never have the guts to.
"I've swam with dolphins before, when I was twelve." I gushed. "It was amazing!"
"But killer whales? There's a reason "killer" is in the name."
"With the proper training, they're big softies that are misunderstood." I replied.
"There's no getting through to her, Julie. She's had her mind set since she was tiny." My Mum sighed.
"She's as stubborn as her dad," Julie murmured with a smile.
We chatted well into the night, past midnight. I was almost falling asleep with Taz when my Mum roused me to go to bed saying Taz could sleep with me but only until I had a bed sorted for him.
I gave both the women a hug and a kiss on the cheek, adding another thank you to Julie, and lead Taz into the back garden to use the bathroom before we went to bed.
My bedroom was spacious and held a double bed, a computer desk, my wardrobe, a small exotic fish tank that Taz ran over to inspect, and a massive bookcase which held hundreds of different books. My walls were a dark purple with a light blue boarder along the middle. My floor was a light blue with a dark purple rug on and my curtains were light blue but thick enough to keep the morning light out. On my wall were various pictures of whales, dolphins, and some sea shells that I collected on the beach.
"Bedtime boy." I murmured softly, putting the puppy on the dark purple bed.
I set about getting my pyjamas on, brushing my teeth, washing my face, and combing my hair. My bathroom reminded me of the ocean as the mirrored tiles had a hint of millions of shades of green and blue in the glass. I stuck a few sea shells on and had a glass vase filled with sea water on the counter that held sand at the bottom to support the green and blue flower.
When I came out of my small bathroom Taz was chewing on the edge of my pillow. I smiled and went over to shut my curtains. My curtains had a perfect view of the sea and I often left the window open on warm nights so I could smell the ocean. The only problem with this magnificent view was that if you opened the window and craned your head as far to the left das you could, you'd see a massive cooperation where my Mum worked. I hated the place. Maxhope Cooperation needed to be bulldozed to the ground.
I slammed the curtains shut to remove the horrible sight of the place and climbed into bed with Taz. He settled on the other pillow against the wall as I switched my bed lamp off. I felt Taz chewing my hair for a little while before he curled himself around my pillow, buried in my hair with his head rested along my neck.
With the day's that followed I set my heart on making sure Taz was as comfortable as possible. Mum was working as usual so it was just me and Taz. I'd been to the local pet shop and bought him a few squeaky toys, a food and water bowl, a black dog lead and a matching collar with a ID tag on in the shape of a bone that had his name, address and number on, lots of things for him to chew to give my hair and cuddly toys a break, a few puppy mats for around the house, and a basket with a big black cushion to keep him warm downstairs. The "only for tonight" thing my Mum said went out of the window when I tried him out downstairs. He almost woke half the neighbours on our street up with his howls, whines and cries to sleep with me. One night he even managed to jump up the stairs and scratch at my door till I let him in.
I introduced him to Amie and she adored him, as well as her dog, giving us the idea to go to the park with them.
I let Taz off his leash as I walked along the beach, dipping my bare toes in the sand. There were a few local tourists taking pictures of the beach. I found it amusing to take a photo of Taz barking at a sandcastle, only to tackle it and end up covered in sand.
"Don't eat the sand, boy," I called, going into a quick jog to catch up with him. I watched him sniff around the sand and then decide it was a good place to pee. "Nice, real nice, you little devil." I called as I neared. By the time I got there he was finished and thought it was time for a game. He took off into a bounding run thinking I was going to chase him. When I didn't he ran back, let me near him, then took off again, making a few tourists "aww" and laugh at him. It took a while to catch him but I did eventually.
I barely walked through the door when the phone went.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hi, Ocean. It's me." Mum said down the line.
"Hi, Mum, what's up?"
"Can you do me a favour please?"
"Sure,"
"Go upstairs in my office and grab the files that are on top of my cabinet and bring them over for me, I forgot them today." She explained.
"Sure, when do you want them?"
"As soon as you can, Hun. Don't forget your badge if identification."
"I'll be there in a few."
I hung up and groaned. I hated going into that place.
I headed into my Mum's messy office and found the files she needed. I grabbed a hold of them and shoved them into a bag. I found my ID badge being chewed by Taz. After wrestling with the pup I put my badge in my pocket, slung the heavy bag over my shoulder, clipped Taz back onto his lead and headed out the door.
It was late afternoon and everyone was stuck in the Saturday rush hour. Taz trotted beside me with his curly tail swishing after him as he checked out all the new sights, sounds and smells. I adored him. He was like a big bundle of mischief and since I had him, I never felt lonely watching TV because he would distract me or he'd be biting my hair as we lay on the sofa.
I approached the multi-million pound cooperate that was in the shape of a Y with the name of the place in big shiny silver letters "Maxhope Cooperation" and the slogan "Anything Can Be Achieved". Everything was polished to perfection, the grass was cut to a certain length, people walked like robots, the water fountain blasted up as the two water fountains on either side shot to the sides so it hit off the building and the water rolled down the sides, ready for the next load. People who worked here were testing out objects in one of the safely grounds and supplies were being unloaded.
I entered an immaculate lobby. Everything was decorated in black and silver and everyone walked like robots. Taz's feet echoed as he trotted at my side, sniffing wildly.
"Hi, Ocean, sweetheart." The receptionist named Lara beamed up at me.
"Hey, Lara," I grinned.
"Oh my gosh, he is lush!" Lara squeaked, leaning over the desk to see Taz. I picked him up so she could get a better view of him. "When did your Mum agree to this?"
"The other night when a long lost aunt showed up with him." I couldn't help but smile as I showed him off.
"What's his name?" Lara scratched his ear as Taz tried to lick her hand off.
"I called him Taz; you'll understand when you see him running wild." I laughed.
"What can I do you for?" Lara sat back down in her reception chair.
"My Mum left some very important files at home and she called asking me to drop them off." I explained. "Do you want me to leave them here?"
"No, honey. If they're important give them to no one but your mother." Lara replied quickly, picking up the phone and typing a number in. I waited patiently. "Hi, Stan. I have Ocean Kinley here with some important files for Grace Kinley. I'm just about to send her up." She waited as he replied. I knew Stan. He was one of the guards that guarded the doors that lead into my Mum's area. "Are dogs allowed up there?" She waited again, nodded with a smile, and then said to me, "Do you have your ID card?"
"Yeah," I replied, flashing the badge.
"OK, sending her up now, Stan." Lara put the phone down and said, "Take the elevator to level twenty-eight, go down the corridor, turn left, go down another corridor and then turn left again and you'll see Stan. Show him your ID badge and he'll take you straight to your Mum."
"Thanks, Lara." I waved at her and headed over to the lifts.
I had to pick Taz up as he wasn't so sure of the elevator. I pressed the level I needed and waited. It was a long, long, long way up. I reminded myself not to look outside the windows as I took a deep breath.
As the door opened I followed the route Lara said to me, taking in the view as I did. There was no window's so I had no clue how high up we actually were and the lighting hurt my eyes as it reflected off the chrome walls.
Standing guard over a thick metal door, Stan blew out a bored breath and sat behind his desk the company provided. He was a big man in his late thirties. He had a bald head with a mischievous smile and warm, trusting brown eyes. He always made me laugh and when I did visit he would keep me company on his lunch hour. He was someone I could talk to. Plus I babysat his three kids whenever they needed.
"Hey, Stan." I smiled.
"Ocean, it's good to see you. Where've you been?" Stan's bold, booming voice called.
"I've been busy with assignments," I sighed. I also hated the place with such a passion; I'd pay to watch it blow up.
"Try coming visit more, my lunch hours are duller than a science geek trying to tell a good joke." His voice went to a pleading note.
"I'll try," I laughed as he got up and gave me a bear hug.
"Lara said you had a friend," Stan bent down and scratched Taz's head when he put me down.
"Yeah Aunt Julie gave me him. He's called Taz."
"As in the Tasmanian devil?" He chuckled. "Good luck with that."
"You haven't even seen him run around crazily yet," I rolled my eyes, pulling my badge out of my pocked. "Why do I still need to use this? Everyone in here known's in one of the top scientists daughter,"
"Protocol, sweetie." Stan looked at the badge, doing his job. "Ooh, just remind your Mum to get these updated soon. This one runs out in a few weeks."
"Where is Mum?" I asked as he punched in the code that got changed every week.
"She's talking to someone and told me to take you down the lab and to tell you to wait there." He said, opening the door that said "No Unauthorised Entry!" in big, bold writing.
The lab was a massive room that had no windows once again. Everything was shiny and looked sparkling clean. There was loads of test equipment everywhere that I had no clue of. Computer's were lined up for my Mum's team who were busy checking something out through a microscope or they were mixing chemicals together or they were even doing something on the computer. All of them were like robots.
The thing that did draw my attention though, was a big black sheet concealing a square box that was the size of around a third of the room.
Stan lead me down the steps and onto the main floor, then took me over to the desk in the other corner that belonged to my Mum.
"Stan..."
"Hmm?" Stan turned around and looked at me.
"What's that?" I pointed to the black box.
"Nothing," Stan said quickly. Too quickly. "Don't look inside, Ocean. It's top secret and your Mum will fire me if you see, okay?"
His eyes locked on mine, his face nothing but serious. I gulped.
"I won't," I shook my head. "I was just curious."
Stan smiled, "I'm sorry, sweetie. There are just some things you wish you never saw."
"I understand," I murmured, not really understanding. Stan nodded and turned to leave the room.
I sat down in my Mum's seat, pulled out the files and placed them on her desk, and looked at pictures on her desk. There was one of me, my Mum, and my Dad all together smiling while on holiday. A one of me and my Mum, one of my Mum and Dad, and two recent one's of me that took pride of the place on top of her cabinet for everyone to see.
It was a picture of me sitting against an oak tree from when we had a picnic. I had my white shorts on, a light blue vest top, my flat white shoes that had blue gems stuck on the front, a mischievous smile on my face, and my thick black hair that was curled, tied into a side ponytail while my side fringe highlighted my bright green eyes.
The second picture was of me having a water fight with the people we were having a picnic with. I was soaked and was fighting Stan for the water gun. My eyes were squeezed shut and you could tell I was laughing hard as I clutched the gun to my chest.
I smiled and picked up the picture of my Mum, Dad and Me just as I heard a small growl sound from the box that was being concealed. I looked and saw that some of the material wasn't concealed. I gasped and dropped the picture just as I saw the shape of a mouth press against the side of the glass and heard it inhale deeply. Its eyes flashed open and a cruel smile spread across its face as its silver eyes shifted to the strangest colour of blue I'd ever saw and it's canines lengthened.
It roared as its gaze left mine and travelled down to my hand. I noticed it focus on my neckline a little longer and looked down to see what it was looking at.
I was bleeding. I must have cut myself as I dropped the picture.
"Ocean, get back from there!" My mother screamed.
I blinked, not realising I must have took a few steps closer to peer inside.
"I'm sorry," I gasped, backing off.
"Are you okay?" My Mum took my hand to inspect the cut.
"What's in there, Mum?" I asked.
"Nothing, sweetie." She murmured as she took me over to her desk and pulled out a band aid.
"Did you see that, Mrs Kinley?" One of her robots said. "It must have used some sort of mind control on her. And did you see the way it reacted to blood? I told you it was a cannibal!"
"Thank you, Murphy," My Mum shut him off as she put the band aid on my cut. "Whatever it is, it likes blood. Get some samples from downstairs and see if it has the same effect as the human blood. I've a feeling we're getting close to finding out what this thing is."
"Mum? What was that?" I panicked as the lab robots tried to conceal what I saw now, the cage. I could still see its eyes watching me, unblinking. I looked down.
"Nothing you should have seen." My Mum answered me, her voice angry. "What were you doing?"
"Nothing!" I shouted, looking up. "I was looking at the pictures on your desk and I noticed the crack. It was looking at me and I accidentally dropped the picture from the shock. I saw its eyes change colour, Mum, and I'm sure I saw it's teeth grow!"
"That's impossible," She turned and looked at it. "Its eyes are silver. And, Its teeth are human teeth." She went through her draw and pulled out a mould that had been bit into. "See?"
I looked at her with horror. "How long have you had this thing?" She simply looked at me. I gasped. "That's it, isn't it? The important breakthrough that made us moves home!"
"Ocean, go home. We'll talk about this when we I come home." My Mum said, impatient.
"And when will you come home, Mum? Next week? Are you just popping in and leaving again?"
"Don't speak to me like that, Ocean." My Mum growled.
"Why? Don't you like the truth?" I screamed. "Leave me alone. I don't ever want to see you again!"
I picked Taz up and ran out of the room, out of the building, and went home. I locked all the doors, fed Taz, and went for a bath. But all I could see was those eyes and those teeth. Was I hallucinating? I must have been.
What was that thing?