Spiral of Ants

Strange Things Happen For No Reason

This is a part of Ezra's backstory. Not all of it, because I'm not quite sure how to approach his first interactions with James, but I wanted to write him finding The Lab at least.

It had been almost 10 years since Ezras first encounter with a freak. Almost 10 years since he discovered monsters were, in fact, very real. And for almost 10 years, not a single person believed him.

He found himself often being told he had a 'wild imagination' at best. 'Obsessive' and 'delusional' were the more common accusations these days, however. No one really humors a 17 year olds obsession with supernatural the way they do a small child.

Ezra wasn't stupid, however. He knew that was a large factor in what made people so uncomfortable with him, in fact. He had graduated highschool early and was already working through college. This made it harder for people to write Ezra off completely, which he found some smug pride in, whenever he saw the conflict in people's eyes when talking to him. They knew he was smart, and so despite their refusal to believe what he had to say about the real monsters among them, it always seemed to stick with them.

It was hard to get resources and study these freaks, however. They could be difficult to detect, or find. There were people sharing encounters online but it was always difficult to tell the legitimacy. It was the internet, after all.

Possibly the most limiting factor of all was danger. Even if he could identify a monster, observing up close was too much of a risk. These creatures, despite often unassuming appearances and deceivingly human appearing personalities, were dangerous wild animals.

Recently he had been seeing a higher concentration of them, which both excited and terrified him. At first he was unsure if all the people he was identifying as freaks really were, as he had never seen so many in such a short period of time. After all, some oddities were way harder to spot then others, meaning spotting and identifying a freak wasn't the easiest thing ever. However it wasn't long before he noticed a commonality between many of the freaks he had been seeing recently.

A uniform. Upon first glance it was a relatively unassuming suit. Brown with blue accents. However it was the lettering across the backs of all the suits that really caught his attention. 'HNTR'.

It didn't take long for this new thread to completely consume him. These oddities were in some sort of organization, that much was obvious. But what kind of organization? What did they want?

It was on an impulse one day that he decided to follow. On his way home from school he saw about three of the uniformed oddities quickly vanishing into a forestline. One of them even being the most obvious oddity he had ever seen, having literal claws and a lion-like tail.

The decision was quite possibly the most risky, and least thought thing Ezra had ever done, but his desperation to know where they were from and what they were working for was too much.

They didn't notice him as he followed, from a far distance, staying as quiet as possible. Thank goodness, Ezra thought, feeling he would most likely die if noticed.

It wasn't a short or easy trek, especially considering Ezra had never been one to work out. An approximately 7 mile hike through the thick trailless forest that took over 3 hours before he saw the building. It was dark out by now, and the building gave no light. It didn't seem to be from the lack inside of the building, but instead from a lack of places for light to leave the building. If there were any windows, they were heavily sealed at the moment. He saw the uniformed oddities punch a code into a keypad, and an almost hanger like door opened up.

A man in a lab coat was right inside, letting the uniformed freaks in, before going to shut hanger like door once again.

Until his eyes landed on Ezra, watching from behind a bush. The man looked over to the hunters, looking annoyed "You were followed. Head in, I'll deal with you three later" He said, before stepping out of the building.

With his cover blown, Ezra stood. He hadn't come this far to run like a coward and not get answers. He assessed the man quickly, trying to decide if he was human or not.

"Kid, this is a classified and dangerous location. You shouldn't be here"

"You're not a freak..." Ezra mumbled, more to himself than the actual man. That was good! That meant this place probably wasn't an organization of and for monsters, but probably a place to study them. What he had always wanted.

"You mean oddity?" The man asked "How much do you know about them, kid?"

"Not enough. I encountered one when I was 8 and I've been trying to study them ever since. Is that what this place does?"

The man in the lab coat crossed his arms, looking over Ezra. "More or less. It's not the sort of place for a kid though. You stay right here, I'm going to get someone to get you back to town."

"Wait! I'm not a 'kid', I'm 17 and already halfway to my bachelors. I want a job here, please. You don't understand, this is everything I've ever wanted. I have notebooks I can show you, full of notes on oddities. Everyone has always called me crazy but I knew it was all real and now it's all here! You can't just turn me away now!"

The scientist gave pause, seeming to consider Ezras words. "Maybe... there's a place for an internship or something. Seems like you know too much to properly turn back anyways..."

"That's all I need. Just a chance. I swear I won't disappoint"