Chapter 2

Outside of a wrecked farm house, two women stood side by side gazing down the one dirt road leading toward town.

"He's late again."

Alex laboriously declared to her sister Emma. Without turning, Emma replied very calmly.

"He will be here, Just relax."

"Please don't tell me to relax! We've been standing out in the middle of bum fuck nowhere for at least two hours! I'm cold, tired, hungry, and I think I might have gotten malaria from one of the thousand mosquitoes that have been chewing on my ass!"

"Your starting to harsh my mellow here. Look we have fresh air, pretty stars, and peace and quite, what more can you ask for after a job."

"Oh I don't know; food, a shower, bug spray, stop me anytime."

Emma reached into her pocket to take out a pack of cigarettes and handed them to her sister. Alex shot her a very dirty look.

"I thought you quit! You've been holding out on me!"

"I did quit. I just bring them along to shut you up."

"Bitch!"

Alex took a cigarette out of the pack and placed in between her lips. She patted her pockets down hoping to find a lighter.

"Hey Em, you got a light."

"No."

"Then why give me smokes!"

Emma rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated breath. From where she stood she looked around the area. With luck she spotted a lighter on top of a dresser which was now on top of one the the now deceased shadow figures.

"Bingo."

She raised her hand toward the lighter. AS she opened her palm, the lighter flew toward her. She caught it and handed it to her sister.

"Here."

"Thanks sweeeetie."

"Please don't mention it."

Alex lit her cigarette and put the lighter in her pocket. She watched the end of the cigarette flare in a bright orange glow as she took a drag. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled in complete satisfaction.

"This is exactly what I needed. I'm still gonna kill Ben for having us wait so long."

"Speak of the devil."

Emma nudged her sister and pointed down the road at a pair of headlights moving in there direction. A s the light got closer, they could make out the figure of a young man with long hair tied in a ponytail whipping in the wind. After a minute a candy apple red 1960 Cadillac Convertible with white walls parked in front of the two girls. From behind the wheel a smiling face was waiting to greet them.

"What up G's!"

Both the girls hung their head in devastating shame. Emma hopped in the back seat while Alex walked around the front of the car and jumped into the passenger seat. Still grinning, Ben turned to Alex.

"Yo, ain't this a fly ride ma?"

Reaching her limit with nonsense, Alex slapped him in the back of his head so hard he hit the steering wheel.

"Damn it Ben, your a short skinny Jew from Florida, your not from the streets of anywhere, so if you don't cut the bullshit and get us home, I'm going to blast a hole in your chest the size of a beach ball!"

"Okay, okay."

Rubbing his forehead, Ben shifted the car into drive. Emma lied across the back seat and laughed to herself as they drove back down the road.

"I'm so late. Dr. Coeus is going to kill me."

A very short and equally round man in a lab coat rushed down the hall as fast as his little legs could take him. He turned left, then right, then left again. He finally stopped at a dead end. He rubbed his head in frustration.

"Why the hell do all these halls look the same, and would it be to much to ask to have a map or gps or something. I'm so late."

He turned around just to be met with more white walls, white ceilings, and tiled white floors. The place looked disturbingly sterile. After another ten minutes of walking, jogging, and what at least he would call running, he finally found where he was going. Slowly he opened the door half way and stuck his head in. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I guess I wasn't late after all."

With a content smile on his face, he opened the door all the way. Before he entered the lab he brushed down his coat and straightened his tie. Still feeling a little tense he decided to stretch a little to loosen up before what he was sure would be a stressful day. As he took a step back he bumped into someone standing behind him. Startled halfway out of his skin he let out a very effeminate shriek. Shaking from head to toe he turned around only to be met with a cold unsettling face.

"D..D..Dr. Coeus! Forgive me, I had no idea that you were standing there. I was just..."

AS he was trying to explain himself, he lost his train of thought and began to trail off when he noticed an unusually red tint around the doctors lips and an equally red streak coming from the corner of his mouth. Realizing what his fumbling assistant was looking at, Coeus reached into his coat and took out a handkerchief. As he patted the corner of his mouth, he stared coldly as his assistant.

"Ethan...your late."

His eastern European accent only added to the sinister demeanor of Dr. Coeus.

"Dr. Coeus I'm so sorry, I got lost and I.."

"If your late again I will see that your terminated...from this position. Now prepare the specimen for examination whilst I...freshen up."

"Yes Doctor."

Ethan swallowed hard and felt a chill run through him. He watched the doctor walk down the hall and into the restroom. He let out a heavy sigh. Slapping his cheeks to compose himself, he entered the lab. On the way in he flipped a few switches against a wall. Bright spotlights turned on above a counter lined with an array of cutting instruments, glass tubes and beakers of all sizes, and an impressive collection of chemicals both powdered and liquid. The last switch illuminated a room adjacent to the lab. Ethan picked up a clipboard and a pen and walked over to a large glass window which overlooked the room next door. He looked at his watch and then began jotting notes as he watched form above at a young man in the room below him who was rising from bed.