So, My Girlfriend is a Werewolf

Chapter 5

Three days later, and still no show from Samuel Barton, my nerves are on fire as I continue through my daily routine at Lotus Industries as if nothing is amiss. But I know something isn't right. The last time I had seen him was when he disappeared up the stairwell with Pamela Jones.

Vampire?

No, that's absurd.

Sam just must be sick.

Though I have called him a dozen times and still, no answer from him. But his ringing phone gives me up. A phone that doesn't ring and goes straight to voicemail could very well mean the worse. If that had been the case I would have feared something awful had happened to him and I would have gone over to his apartment and kicked in the door myself.

Still, no one seems to know what happened to Samuel Barton.

He's sick. I tell myself.

Somehow, I wonder if my mantra for my friend is nothing more than a sweet lie.

It's just a few more days until the full moon. Perhaps it was just all the horror stories I had grown up on as a kid, or maybe it was all the strange happenings occurring now that were striking my nervous core like a ghost on all hallows night. Regardless, something isn't right at Lotus Industries and I am going to find out the truth. If they aren't searching for medical cures, then what are they doing here? If my friend isn't home sick, then what happened to him?

I can feel my sanity slipping.

I wait until almost everyone has cleared out of the building for the night before I begin my search through the company's most sacred files. I select a file that catches my attention entitled Fangus Virus. I select the folder and several other files appear. I click on each of them, they are doctor's notes about some sort of chemical compound with a mathematical equation. At the end of each file is a question mark listed followed by a video feed link. I select the link and an image appears of a research lab.

There's a patient sitting down on a table. Their shirt is off and it's hard not to see how pale his skin is. The female doctor is talking to the patient.

"This is an experimental drug, it has not been tested yet, do you understand?" The doctor asks him. The pale figure nods his head in response.

"I will take my chances. I did not choose this life Dr. Zalar." He says. I could practically see the eagerness radiating off him.

The doctor injects him with the serum. At first nothing happens. The doctor checks his vitals then looks at her watch. She reaches out and checks for his pulse at his wrist. She shakes her head then reaches for his neck. The patient reaches out and grabs her hand before she can check his pulse.

"Something is wrong." He says. "Get away from me." He shoves her away, more violently than needed. The doctor collides into the table behind her, brown hair curtaining behind her as she falls to the floor on the other side. She scrambles to her feet. "Run." The patient says to her. "I can feel the burning inside of me."

The doctor runs to the door just as the patient reaches his hands into his hair and tightens his hold. He lets out a horrified scream from the pain.

"I'm sorry." The doctor says as a single tear falls down her creamy cheek.

"It's okay. It was worth the risk Zalar. Now I will die happy."

The doctor nods her head then opens the door. In one fluid motion the door slams shut with an echoing lock sound. The doctor peers through the glass window at the door, her eyes wide as she watches.

The patient lets out another cry. A bright light seems to appear within the veins of his skin, like daylit spider webs. He screams as his arms open wide. The light upon his skin brightens. Blood seeps from wounds that begin to appear within the spider web flecks of light. Suddenly the patient explodes, the light brightening the entire room, blinding everything from view. When the light disappears, all that remains is a bloody mess.

I close out of the file, my pulse racing. Part of me is tempted to flee this place. How had I missed this when I first started working for Lotus Industries? I know exactly how, I had been distracted. Too bothered by my own accident five years ago. I had been told that rehabilitation could take me years. And not just the accident had been on my mind.

Valerie Ortega.

The perfect beautiful distraction from the inner keepings at Lotus Industries.

I had been a fool.

I move to click on another file just as I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I jump out of my seat just as Valerie comes around the corner.

"You're still here." She exclaims, the excitement evident on her face.

"Yeah." I say as I swallow the lump in my throat.

"Want to come over to my place tonight and hang out?" I close out of the computer and log off, eager to get away from the horrendous images I just witnessed and all the questions circulating in my too small brain.

"Yes." I say eagerly as I grab my coat and follow her out of Lotus Industries. As we exit the building I can't help but feel as if we are being watched.