Fear Monster

Chapter 1 ~ Dr. Hangard

In the darkness that surrounded the lab, the only source of light was the screen that monitored a child. She was sleeping peacefully in the test room.

Her little caramel curls were splayed over the pillow, acting as a contrast against her porcelain skin. She held a teddy bear close to her, and she was curled into a ball on the bed.

The white clothes she wore matched the white on the walls, and the white on her bedsheets. Everything in her room was white. Colorless. There were no windows in her room.

She was already talented. She'd write stories on the wall, and every time she got a notebook she'd fill it with more stories. Anything she observed she'd turn it into a story.

Dr. Hangard watched her sleep peacefully, before turning to his assistant.

"Dr. Axel," he addressed the man, "perform some tests. I want to know what her dreams are."

The best way to find out a little girl's worst fears, was to find out what her nightmares were.

Dr. Axel smiled warmly. "On my way."

As Dr. Axel turned and left, the door shutting behind him as he did so, Dr. Hangard turned back to the monitor. When the little girl's brown eyes fluttered open, he leaned closer to the screen. What woke her? He wondered.

The white door to her room slid open. She turned to face Dr. Axel.

"Hello," Dr. Axel greeted, "you ready for your daily testing?"

The little girl nodded. "I'm ready!"

Dr. Hangard smirked. This is going to be easy, he realized. If she cooperates like this all her life...

Which he knew wouldn't work. Once she reached the teen years, the unstable hormone part of her life, she was going to be defiant. Unfortunately for her, he already had plans for that.

Dr. Hangard turned to the second monitor, a boy this time. He was also asleep, his clothes also white and colorless. He'd noticed that, obviously, girls and boys are different. Fears vary from person to person. However, it's much more difficult to scare a boy than it is to scare a girl.

He loved that. It makes his job a lot more interesting.

Turning in his chair to the mic, he said to the boy, "Roman, wake up!"

The boy's—Roman's—blue eyes opened wide, before adjusting to the light of the room. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, then smiled. "I'm up!"

Dr. Hangard turned to his next assistant, and told her to go preform tests on the boy, as well. Then, turning to the mic, he said, "You will be tested on again, okay? Cooperate."

The boy didn't respond. He just turned to the door, and waited.

"Daddy," a voice said from behind him. He muted the mic, and turned to face his daughter.

"Yes, Vicky?"

The little girl frowned, and asked, "when will I get to meet them?"

Dr. Hangard sighed. "Soon. I promise."

But it was an empty promise. He was afraid Vicky would spill his secret to them. He couldn't have that.

For this experiment to be successful, he needed cooperation. And he can't have cooperation if they knew what the testing was for.

-~-

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," said Dr. Axel, "you want me to read her horror stories before bed?"

Dr. Hangard, exhausted of the conversation, rolled his eyes. "You don't tell her they're horror stories. You just tell her you want to read her a bedtime story."

They were walking down the narrow white hallways toward Roman's room. The windows that looked into each test subject's room were distracting to Dr. Hangard.

One room had a teenage girl, who was reading on her bed. It caused Dr. Hangard to pause.

"Yeah, but why a horror story? She's six!" Dr. Axel said. Then, with a sigh, he added, "her tests have been coming back positive recently. I don't see why it would be necessary to—"

"Wait, you didn't tell me that!" Dr. Hangard interrupted. Then, they continued walking. They turned a corner, and stopped before Roman's room.

"Yeah, she's been having nightmares," Dr. Axel whispered. "Our strategies have been working."

"Interesting," was all Dr. Hangard could think to mutter. He turned to Roman's door button, and slammed his palm on it.

The door opened with a hiss. Roman turned to face them. He'd been playing video games for the last hour; Dr. Hangard wanted to distract him from that.

"Ready to meet a new friend?" Dr. Hangard asked.

Roman perked. His eyes lit up as he said, "yes!"

-~-

"They're getting along quite nicely," Dr. Axel said. The little girl with the caramel curls was showing Roman her notebooks. Her finger traced across the pages as she read the words out loud.

"You think they'll be best friends?" Dr. Hangard asked with a tinge of hopefulness to his voice.

"I'm certain of it," Dr. Axel replied.

Roman laughed at something the girl said.

They sat in silence for a moment before he picked up a book he'd brought with him. He handed it to her. "For when you can't sleep," Roman said.

Dr. Hangard smiled warmly. It was endearing to watch little kids grow up together. Some ended up as lovers, others ended up fighting too much to be good friends anymore. He couldn't wait to see how they'd turn out.

"Alright, I'm gonna bring Roman back to his room. You take the girl back to hers." Dr. Axel said.

Once Roman and Dr. Axel left, Dr. Hangard walked up to the girl. "Alright, Nadia. Time for bed."