Specimen

Laura looks out of the train window, not at the scenery, but at the raindrops pelting the window in rhythmic succession. The pitter-patter, like a lullaby. She begins to feel at ease for the first time that night. As she slowly closes her eyes she suddenly jolts herself back to consciousness. 'I can't afford to sleep right now.' she tells herself. She reaches into her coat pocket and retrieves a crumpled piece of paper, she studies it, focusing on it’s contents intently with her sullen eyes. The significance of its message, so dire to her now. She feels alone yet so scrutinized. 

This all started that morning, when she got the first message. Laura had just finished her biweekly yoga class, as she was slipping on her sneakers she felt a lump in one of the soles. Turning the shoe over a folded piece of paper fell out onto the floor. At first she felt a spark of whimsy. 'How cute, someone wrote me a little note.' she thought to herself. Maybe the guy she's been making eye contact with in class has an innocent playful side to him. She unfolds the note and reads it. To her confusion all that's written is a single word 'Specimen'. Feeling a little weirded out she tosses the note into the nearby receptacle. She rushes to slip on her shoe and stands up to catch the attention of her yoga buddy Emily. 

'Good class today right?' she asks Emily. 'Yeah, the instructor has really been pushing us lately hasn't she?' Emily says with a laugh. 'Wanna grab a coffee with me at Gregorys?' Emily points in the direction of the coffee shop. 'Sure thing, but I gotta hop on a zoom meeting right after, argh, work, work, work.' Laura explains with a false sense of agitation. Laura was actually very pleased with how her life was going so far. After moving to New York City following her graduation she was able to make the right moves and get a jump start on her career, something she wasn't expecting to happen so soon. They both slip on their jackets and head out.

The two women are in the coffee shop, chatting while they wait for their orders. ‘Oh hey, you remember my sister in Newark?’ asks Emily ‘She’s going on vacation today and needs someone to dog-sit. I can’t do it because of work. But I know you telecommute so would you maybe wanna do it? Her apartment is actually pretty nice, you'll love it.’ Emily nudges Laura on the shoulder. ‘Hmm, yeah. Let me think about it.’ Laura says with hesitation. She’d rather not spend a week sleeping in a bed other than her own. Just then the barista walks over to the pick-up counter and calls out the orders by name. ‘Emily? And, uh, Specimen?’ he reads the name on the coffee cup with a curious expression. ‘Specimen?’ repeats Emily. ‘What the hell?’ Laura walks over to the barista. ‘Is this some kind of joke?’ she asks the barista in annoyance. ‘I’m sorry ma'am it must have printed out that name by mistake.’ ‘Well you guys outta get your stuff checked out.’ She takes her coffee and walks out of the coffee shop, Emily follows her out.

Although her morning was a little strange, Laura wasn’t the type to dwell on things so by the end of her zoom meeting she had already forgotten the entire ordeal. The meeting had gone great for her, she said the right things and got the right reactions so she was basically on cloud nine. Putting her laptop off to the side she stands up to stretch, just then she remembered she needed to pick up her mail. She quickly slips on her shoes and grabs her keys to head downstairs to the mailroom. 

As she steps into the foyer she waves to Linda, the concierge to her building. ‘How’s it going girl? Finally picking up your mail?’ says Linda with familiarity. ‘Feeling unstoppable, nothings gonna put me down tonight.’ replies Laura with a giant smile on her face. Upon entering the mailroom she looks for her mailbox, once she spots it her heart sinks. Written on the nameplate where her name should be is a single word, ‘Specimen’. ‘No. No. No. What the hell is going on here?’ exclaims Laura with panic in her voice. She quickly rushes over to the front desk. ‘Something wrong girl?’ asks Linda, seeing the distress on Laura’s face. ‘Linda, has anyone not from the building been back there? Someone changed my nameplate. I think someone is pranking me.’ explains Laura. ‘No ones been back there all day. If you want I can have security check the cameras from last night.’ Linda begins typing at her computer. ‘Could you maybe have someone check the cameras? I’m sorry, this has just got me a little freaked out. Give me a call if they see anything. I’m gonna go back upstairs.’ Linda assures her that she will and Laura heads to the elevators. 

That night Laura tosses and turns on her bed. She appears to be having a bad dream. In her dream she is laying down on a white table, a sheet has her tightly tucked in so she can’t move her arms. She’s alone but feels a million eyes on her, just then a big flash of green light begins to emit from above her. It grows in intensity until she can no longer keep her eyes open. As the light draws closer she begins to feel her skin burn. She can no longer handle the sensation and lets out an ear piercing scream. Waking up in her bed Laura can barely breathe as she gasps for air. Cold sweat drips down her neck and she can't make sense of what she just went through. She manages to calm herself down and reaches for her bedside lamp but before she can turn it on she notices a small folded piece of paper on her nightstand. Her eyes grow wide. 

Now, sitting on the train still staring at the piece of paper with the single word ‘Specimen’ written on it. Laura crumples up the piece of paper and stuffs it into her coat. Finding this last note is what pushed her over the edge. Then and there she decided to call up her friend Emily and agree to dog-sit for her sister. She needed to get away from whatever was stalking her all day. So she rushed out and hopped on the last PATH train to Newark. The further she got away from the city the calmer she began to feel. Once there she would be able to relax and maybe file a police report to hopefully get to the bottom of whatever was going on. She takes a look around, she’s the only one in the train cart. She decides to pass the time by continuing to look out at the rain when suddenly a big flash of green light begins to emit from above her window. She only has time to notice before everything goes black.