Nightshade

Nightshade

Leo woke up with a start. He glanced down at his watch to look at the time. The numbers glared back, reading 5:00. For a moment, he wasn’t sure if it was five am or five pm, but the light pouring through his bedroom window assured him that it was five in the afternoon. As this realization registered in his brain, he threw back the covers and jumped out of bed.

“Holy shit!”, he exclaimed. “How did I sleep so late?”

He quickly grabbed a pair of jeans that had been slung over his desk chair and put both legs through, pulling them up and buttoning them quickly. Then, he pulled his long sleeve shirt over his head to complete his outfit. This was the third time in a row that he had slept through the day. Lucky for him, he was a grad student who worked as a research assistant in one of the labs on campus. Everyone knew that grad students made their own hours. Be that as it may, he still had no explanation for the extra needed sleep. Grabbing his bookbag and slinging it over his shoulder, he headed out the door and made his way across campus.

The sunlight filtered through the trees as it hovered just above the horizon. The yellow, red, and orange leaves made it look like the trees were on fire; and the cool, crisp autumn air made Leo glad that he decided to wear a long sleeve shirt.

Suddenly, he remembered that he had an apple in his backpack. He wriggled out of the straps so that he could retrieve the apple from the front pocket. Minerva’s statue was in the middle of campus, and he wanted to make an offering to her. Since Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom, it was tradition that students would leave a gift in the hope that they would be granted success in passing their exams, or in this case, for a breakthrough in his research.

Leo reached the base of the statue just as the bell tower on campus began to chime the quarter hour. The sound of the bell was a reminder that he still had work ahead of him for the evening. As he knelt to lay his gift at the foot of Minerva, the wind picked up, rustling the yellow and orange leaves in small circles, like mini tornadoes. Hmm. Perhaps this was the goddess’ way of acknowledging his offering. Only time would tell.

Next week was Halloween. Pumpkins, candles, and skeletons already lined the walkway as Leo resumed his walk towards the lab. The lampposts had been decorated with spiderwebs and the lights in the overhead lanterns flicked on as he continued his way down the street. I can’t forget about Rob’s party this weekend, he thought. After work tonight, he needed to go and buy a costume, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go as Superman or a scarecrow.

Leo opened the door to the Science building and decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator. As he opened the door to the staircase, he saw Tina, one of the other lab assistants on the bottom step.

“Hi Leo!”, she said with a smile.

“Hi there, Tina”, he responded, smiling back.

“Hey Leo, have you been having trouble staying awake during the day?”, Tina asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been having trouble the last couple of days,” he said. “I only work best at night. Then, by the time morning rolls around, I sleep the day away. It’s a good thing we’ve had our fall break, or I would be behind in all my classes.”

“That’s the way it’s been with me, too,” Tina answered.

“Something strange is going on in the lab,” Tina said, arching her eyebrows. “Our plant Harvey has…grown somewhat.”

She paused before saying grown somewhat, to indicate the significance of this new development. Dr. Herman’s lab had acquired the plant just a few weeks ago, and they were running tests on its genome. It was a rare species of nightshade with unknown properties.

Leo stood there with a thoughtful look on his face. He didn’t know how to respond, since he hadn’t been into the lab for the last couple of days. It didn’t enter into either of their minds that the exposure to this new plant may have been the cause of their strange sleep patterns.

“Hope that you can sleep tonight”, said Leo as mounted the steps, ready to climb.

“You, too, Leo. See you in class next week,” she said with a wave.

Leo ran up the steps, taking two at a time. Dr. Herman’s research lab was on the fourth floor, so by the time he reached the landing he was a little out of breath. He stood on the landing for a few moments, allowing his breathing and heart rate a chance to return to normal.

The hallway leading to Dr. Herman’s lab was already dark. There were no students and staff lingering in the hallway as most people had left for the day. A couple of overhead fluorescent bulbs flickered off and on, reminding him of those horror flicks where a monster could be lurking around any corner. This is so eerie, he thought to himself, as he noticed the goosebumps on his arms. At least he had his cellphone handy in case any situations should arise.

He finally reached the entrance to Dr. Herman’s lab. There was a sign on the door that said DANGER! RADIOACTIVE AREA. Leo didn’t pay any attention to the sign because he had worked for Dr. Herman for a year now. It was standard operational procedure to don the proper protective gear to shield oneself from any dangerous chemicals that were handled in the laboratory.

Dr. Herman’s research group studied exotic nightshade plants. They were famous for creating new breeds of plants through genetic engineering. Their most interesting creation was the new plant, nocturnis stolo. Stolos were runner plants that extended their vines as they grew. Nightshade plants, as their name implied, grew best in low light conditions.

The lab was bathed in a greenish blue glow as Leo made his way over to his workstation. Harvey, the new plant that they were studying, sat over in the corner. Tina had been right about the plant. It had definitely grown in size. Its runners now extended across the floor, getting closer to the center of the room. Some of its runners had covered the cage where Charlie, the lab’s pet lizard, was kept. Leo walked over to the cage and pulled back the vines. The vines were sticky with goo, and Leo pulled his hands back, disgusted. He went over to the sink to wash his hands, looking back over to the cage where Charlie was kept, but the cage was empty. That was odd. Who would have taken Charlie? He would have to call Dr. Herman to let him know about the missing animal. They couldn’t have him running around the lab.

Leo walked over to the pot that housed Harvey. In the center were white flower petals. Hmm. The petals smelled different. Leo leaned over to sniff. As he inhaled the scent, he noted that the smell was sickly and sweet. All of a sudden, he felt dizzy. Leo stumbled over to his desk and held onto the edge for support. After a few moments, he began to feel a little better, but his head was still pounding. He always carried a bottle of ibuprofen in his bookbag, so he reached for the backpack, but suddenly he was so tired. Tired and sleepy. Leo fumbled around for the bookbag, but suddenly, he couldn’t take it anymore. He lay down on the floor and closed his eyes. In just a few moments, his breathing slowed, until finally it stopped.

The lab was quiet. The only sounds you could hear were the humming from the fluorescent lights, and another one that sounded like breathing. As the breath exhaled, Harvey extended his vines further towards Leo, who was lying cold and still on the floor. The vines wrapped slowly around his body, covering him from head to toe.