When lab assistant Devin is sent on a mysterious assignment, Angel temporarily takes over his duties. She learns that Devin's boss has made a discovery that could change the world. But Angel makes some terrifying discoveries of her own. When she unwittingly becomes part of the nefarious scientist's research, she finds out his actions have put the entire Facility in danger. Can she put a stop to his crimes before he kills them all? 

This novella appears in Trapped Inside the Maelstrom.

Begin reading below!

CHAPTER 1

“Angel, I know you. You’re gonna see things and be curious. But listen. No matter what happens, don’t snoop around. Promise me.”

Angel snorted. Devin had nothing to worry about. While he was gone, she’d be pulling sixteen to eighteen hours a day to cover both their workloads. Even if she wanted to go ‘snooping’, she wouldn’t have time.

The two lab assistants submitted to retinal scans before entering the transport station. They located an empty capsule, programmed their route into the transport’s computer, and set out for the civilian researchers’ complexes.

Angel and Devin worked on a floating city called the Facility. The structure’s official purpose was to test the viability of moving some of the Earth’s population onto the oceans. Unofficially, the remote location was perfect for conducting ethically questionable research without oversight.

“Hey!” Devin snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Focus!”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry! My team is already pissed that Creepazoid’s needs are getting priority over theirs. I’m not gonna linger.”

Devin groaned. “And stop calling him ‘Creepazoid’. If you slip up and call him that to his face, I’ll have to go deep sea diving to find your body.”

“I’ll risk it.”

He glared at her mischievous grin. “I mean it, A. You don’t want any part of what he’s got going on.”

“Dev, relax! I’m not going snooping!” She looked him over with a critical eye. “You look like you slept in a garbage disposal.”

He shook his head and looked away.

“Look, you know LaDania in Operations, right?” Angel asked. “She already told me to watch my back. She told me Creepazoid was suspected of kidnapping two of his own assistants when he worked for Military Intelligence. They went into his lab for their shifts one day and didn’t come out. Their bodies were never found.”

Devin looked at her wearily. “Everyone knows that’s just a rumor.”

She crossed her arms. “Really? The word LaDania used was ‘coverup’.”

“My job isn’t much different than yours,” Devin said, changing the subject. His eyes flashed between Angel and the capsule’s smooth metal floor. “Get his notes transcribed as quickly as you can. He mumbles a lot during dictation, but don’t ask him to clarify. Just slow down the recording and figure out what he’s saying. 

“We have separate servers down here, so I’ve set you up a temporary user ID. I’ve also left instructions for sorting his snail mail. Follow them to the letter, if you’ll excuse the pun. Oh, and he might give you lists of bizarre things to order. Don’t question it, just do it.”

Finally, he focused his gaze on her. “Dr. Crofton has some strange hang-ups.”

She raised her eyebrows and put a hand over her heart. “I’m shocked.”

“Be sure to check all the soap dispensers several times a day,” Devin instructed. “The guy from Environmental Services doesn’t always fill them completely. If Crofton runs out of soap, your day will end badly.”

“Okaaaaay. Soap. Got it. What else?”

“We’re almost there. I’ll show you the rest as I give you the tour.”

Devin’s off-site mystery assignment was set to begin the next morning. Crofton had told him he’d receive instructions upon arrival, but he had refused to reveal the destination or purpose of the trip.

Dr. Crofton’s research involved establishing communication with a newly discovered form of life. The heavy secrecy shrouding his project led Angel to believe something of worldwide significance was going to happen. She suspected (and hoped) he’d established contact with extraterrestrials, but she had no basis for her hunch.

Whatever he was doing, he couldn’t be without an assistant for two weeks. In Angel’s opinion, he should’ve thought of that before deciding to send Devin off to who-knows-where.

The capsule hissed to a stop in front of Complex One. The entrance looked like an ominous barrier separating Crofton’s lair from the rest of the world.

They climbed out of the capsule, and Devin swiped his keycard at the door. Devin’s fingers went to the distinctively thick, gold chain around his neck, as they so often did when he was nervous. Angel knew his son gave him the necklace for his birthday, two days before a minivan crushed the kid’s car on I-35.

“Welcome to the eighth ring of Hell,” Devin muttered as he ushered her through the entrance. “Try to avoid drawing the attention of Satan.”

The door closed behind them with a whoosh. They stepped into a narrow entryway, lit only by red bulbs in cages on the walls. They walked past a closed door on their way to the end of the hall. Devin swiped his keycard again, and they entered the strangest office Angel had ever seen.

Intricately detailed statues of sea monsters, ancient gods and goddesses, and other mythical creatures stood in a line against the far wall. Standing from three to seven feet high, they appeared to be made of an iridescent plaster. Angel recognized a few of the forms from Greek mythology, but some were completely unlike anything she’d seen before.

To her right sat a cherrywood desk, flanked on both sides by matching bookcases. Hundreds of books had been packed onto them, with more stacked on the floor. The desk held two 34-inch computer monitors and a keyboard. Where most people might’ve had pictures of their family or pets, Creepazoid’s desk had a framed diagram of the human nervous system, a display of tiny fish skeletons, and a bobble-head monkey.

A floor to ceiling aquarium spanned the left wall. Behind the thick glass, a decorative pirate ship and a castle standing twice as high as Angel stood next to corals and plants. Colorful fish swam lazily in and out of view. Something with a flat, purple shell and several eyes on the ends of stalks studied her through the glass.

Devin sneezed. In the quiet, she’d almost forgotten he was there.

“What does he have in there?” Angel asked, staring back at the purple critter.

After a pause, Devin said, “It varies. The aquarium connects to the open ocean. Different fish come and go. Sometimes there’s… other things.”

He cleared his throat. Angel watched him twist the gold chain back and forth as he looked around the room.

“Dev, you’re freaking me out.”

“Sorry. Let me show you the lab.” He led her to the entrance, near Crofton’s desk. “To get inside, punch this code in. And for the love of donkey snot, do not forget it: 837401292684.”

“Donkey snot?”

“Angel!”

“Okay!” She shook her head as she looked at the keypad, then pulled out her phone. “Tell me again so I can make a note for myself.”

“NO!” he shouted, as if she were about to jump from the top of a building. He put his hand on her arm. “Just enter it! 837401292684!”

“I’ll never remember that!” She paused, thumbs hovering over the notetaking app on her phone. She flinched as she met his intense stare. “Dev, seriously—”

Growling, he grabbed the phone away from her. He scrunched over, hiding it from view, and entered the number.

“Don’t ever let him know this number was on your phone,” he whispered. “Go back to your quarters after your shift, memorize it, and delete it.”

“Um, okay.” At Devin’s nervous look, she added, “I promise!”

Devin’s features were drawn tight as they entered the lab. To Angel, it looked like every other lab she’d been in. The mandatory eye wash station and fire extinguishers hung on the wall near the door. Packed into the room were microscopes, a centrifuge, computer equipment ranging from state-of-the-art to outdated (“he’s sentimental,” Devin told her), and a few unidentifiable devices that must have been custom built for use in Crofton’s research.

“Always assume he’s watching you. Don’t ever come in here without permission, unless you have a jug in your hands to fill the soap dispensers. Don’t ever do anything you wouldn’t do if he were standing next to you.”

Incredulous, she turned to him with wide eyes. “I’m not four years old!”

“Shut up, A!”

She raised her eyebrows and glared at him.

“Sorry.” He sighed, running a hand across his forehead. “Oh, see that door over there?” He 

pointed across the lab.

“Yeah. Fire exit?”

“No!”

Angel flinched. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “That’s the door to his secret work area. Don’t go near it. Don’t ask about it. If you have any questions while I’m gone, call Dr. Meisner in Biology.”

Angel huffed and crossed her arms. “Why don’t I just call you?”

“Because apparently, where I’m going is so top secret they don’t allow outside communication.”

“Woah.” Her voice lowered. “Do you get hush money? Hazzard pay?”

“Look, I’ve got to get up early, and so do you. Let me show you the files I need you to update so we can get out of here.”

Afterward, as they walked back to the capsule, Devin stopped short in front of her. She barely avoided running into him. Turning around, he said, “Angel— no matter what—if Crofton tells you to do something, drop what you’re doing and take care of it. Don’t give him any reason to—”

“Dev, for the last time! I’m an adult and a professional. I can handle Creepazoid.”