mike woke up at 5:00am, after having a decent dream for once in his life. he didn't remember much, but he remembered having a good day at the lab, and getting offered the scholarship right there and then. he laughed to himself as he prepared a shower, and got ready for the upcoming day.
by the time he was out the door, it was 6:00am, and he got into his dad's old car, the one he had left behind when he left his family, and drove off to lucas' house, which wasn't very far away. he knocked on the front door, and saw his clearly annoyed friend. "lucas— i'm sorry about what i said, i just didn't expect you to bring her up, you know what that does to m-" he was cut off by a hug. "mike, i'm sorry. i know i was being insensitive, and i really know how much you miss her. just please, please don't let you missing her take over your first day at the lab." mike nodded. "i'm glad we're okay, lucas." he answered, before patting his friend's shoulder, and getting into his car.
as he pulled up to the laboratories, he was in utter shock. it was massive. he parked his car, and locked the door. he made his way inside, and was greeted by the front lady asking him what his name was, and if he was signed in already. he quickly filled in his name, and was instructed to wait while she got dr. lennox. lennox was an extremely well known scientist, who was primarily known for giving out scholarships to people in his internship program. he was short and plump, and greeted mike with a smile, offering him his lab coat and identification badge. he took him on a tour of the laboratory, seemingly skipping one room in particular. "dr. lennox, with all due respect, i think you missed a room." the teen said, standing a bit straighter. "oh, oh yes. we won't be going there any time soon." doctor lennox said this with a ghostly expression on his usually cheerful face. mike took this in, and nodded, deciding that it was probably just a room where he kept equipment that he didn't want the newbies to see. that was probably it.
for the rest of the day, however, he felt like something was pulling him to open that door, and find out what was inside.
his curiosity began to overcome him, and he wanted to open that door, and part of him hoped it would be eleven, happy, and finally with him. he knew the chances of this happening were incredibly low, under 1%. but still, this was michael wheeler. this boy had searched almost every friday for a girl who for all he knew was dead, and he would do anything to get her back.
he decided that he would have to come back later tonight, and finally convince himself that she wasn't going to be there.
