A Treat!

It took a year, but the anthology is finally here! Three writers and I wrote from prompts related to the four seasons of the year. Some of the stories, like mine, start in winter and end in fall. Other stories are standalone. If you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, paranormal, humor, or romantic suspense, then you’ll find at least one short story to read in this book.

I mentioned that every title I publish has some little snag. It took extra long to do the rewrites or edits. Or I had trouble formatting. Or I couldn’t decide on a cover. Or one of the retail platforms had a hiccup. This particular project had a bit of everything. I’ve never been so glad to publish a title as I am with this one. Here’s the first prompt: “Write about someone who gets stuck in their workplace during a blizzard and decides to explore rooms they aren’t normally allowed in.”

And here’s part of my winter piece:

Jade eased the door open. The odors of antiseptic and spoiled food assaulted her sinuses. She peered around the edge of the panel. More than the emergency light illuminated the space. She slipped through and held the door. If the power was on here, then the security would be online.

Behind her on the wall next to the door, green lights lit the pad. Using the trashcan by the door to prop it open so she wouldn’t be locked in, she turned and studied the space.

No lab techs or doctors or researchers occupied the workstations. Computers lit with screensavers and the hum of equipment were familiar. The gooseflesh that prickled her skin warned that something was off in this space. Was it because she didn’t know this level existed? Whatever was worked on here had its own power supply. Jade held a level five security card. HR told her that five was the highest level. But apparently they lied to her. In charge of projects and managing other researchers, Jade thought she knew everything that happened at this facility.

She tucked her phone into her pocket and peered inside the glass-fronted refrigeration units. Reading the labels on the containers, she frowned. Advantage Pharmaceuticals pride themselves on cutting-edge research. She and the others in her lab worked to find cures and treatments for various cancers and lower respiratory diseases. Did the Centers for Disease Control know AP had anthrax, ricin, smallpox, Ebola and other hemorrhagic viruses on the premises? Was AP developing vaccines?

Jade turned to the nearest computer and jiggled the mouse. A window appeared with the login but a blank box for the password. She glanced around the empty lab, the door she’d propped open, and the contents of the cases behind her. Guilt pinched her chest that she stood in a place she didn’t know existed and obviously wasn’t trusted enough to be told about. She pushed that away and considered calling Dr. Joseph Singh, her boss. And say what? Demand he tell her what the hell was going on?

Shoving her hair off her forehead, her gaze landed on the glass wall across from her. Was it a hallway? An area where they kept mice or monkeys to test treatments and vaccines? She agreed to work for AP because they used computer simulation, not live test subjects. At least in her lab. Did another team of researchers use her data on lab animals?

Temporarily abandoning the computer, Jade approached the glass wall. A black curtain hung on the other side. No lights shone from the ceiling, but she recognized the small dark dome and red eye of a security camera at the back of the hidden room. Whatever was behind the curtain held enough value and importance that it warranted surveillance.

To her left, where the glass connected with the block construction of the building, was a row of levers lined up like soldiers at roll call. Two appeared to be regular light switches. A third was red with a clear plastic cover. A fourth was comprised of three metal levers with a bar attached, so all needed to be lifted at the same time. The last device was a speaker with a button on the bottom.

Jade reached out and touched the first switch. If animal cages were housed behind the curtain, and this turned on the lights, she would hear them if they moved around or cried out, startled by the lights. She flicked the switch.

Silence.

Maybe the glass was too thick for her to hear any noise.

With the black curtain reaching the floor and bunched on the side, the only light she saw was through the one-inch space between the curtain and the ceiling.

Jade flipped the second switch. She flinched when the curtain slid from her side of the lab to the other. She stared at what the dark fabric revealed.

Not animal cages, but a room stocked with medical equipment. As the curtain continued retracting, she saw a second glass enclosure. Following the path of the curtain, Jade froze when she reached the middle of the glass wall.

In the center of the smaller glass-enclosed space was a hospital bed. Sitting in the middle, legs draped over the side, wearing a hospital gown, was a man. His black hair hung around his face and brushed his shoulders. A metal cuff encircled his right wrist, and a chain attached him to a metal loop in the ceiling as thick as her forearm.

Her jaw dropped in shock. When he opened his eyes and locked his gaze on her without raising his head, the air in her lungs whooshed out as if she had been struck in the belly. Hatred. The single emotion glowed in his eyes.

“Who are you?” Jade demanded. “How did you end up here?”

The man tipped his head to the side as he stared at her.

Jade rushed back to the row of levers. What did the others do? She lifted the plastic cover on the red switch, then looked at the man.

He stood now at the front of the enclosure, his right arm lifted above his head because of the length of the chain.

She flipped the switch.

A mist emanated from a vent in the ceiling above the hospital bed. The man crouched, covering his nose and mouth with his left arm.

Jade reversed the switch, and the mist stopped. She couldn’t hear him but watched as he coughed. Afraid of what the three switches might do, she reached for the button on the speaker.

“Can you hear me?”

The man slowly stood, his gaze never leaving her.

“I don’t know what these switches do. I’m sorry for whatever came from that vent.” She released the button. His lips didn’t move.

She pressed the button again. “I work in the lab one level up.” In case the speaker system didn’t work, she pointed to herself, then to the ceiling. “I didn’t know all this was here. That you were here.”

Again, he tipped his head.

Maybe AP had the man contained because he was ill. That didn’t explain the chain.

“Are you sick?”

A slight shake of his head. So, he could hear her. But was he telling the truth? Maybe he volunteered to be a test subject. A company the size of AP could afford to pay a fortune if someone volunteered to take part in a drug trial.

“Did you volunteer to be here?”

An immediate shake of his head.

If he was lying, and she released him, he could spread an incurable disease to countless people. If he was brought here unwillingly and subjected to experiments, Jade had to release him.