What Lies Beneath

What makes a story worth reading? The title? The author? The cover of the book?

The answer is none of them, it’s the hook. You get them drugged by your words and leave them starving for more, getting them addicted. Once you get them wrapped around your hand, they wouldn’t be able to resist, ‘just one more chapter’ they’ll say but in reality, they’ll end up devouring the book within hours. And today I have the chance to do just that.

Hope Michaels you are this year's lucky winner! A private tour of the lunar island. Your tour date is June 11, 9:30 AM…

The screeching isle. Of course, that’s not the real name, but some rumors say back when the island was operational, they would hear screams coming from them. You could hear them on the mainland, but of course, those are just rumors. No one knows what the lab that occupies the island looks like. People have tried flying drones over the island to see but it’s covered with trees and greenery. 

The island was abandoned 50 years ago after a chemical leak poisoned the air. There were other tours before, they do it every few years, but no one talked about what they saw. But I’m going to change that, my story will be on every headline, I just know in my gut that there is more to the story than just a chemical leak. 

… 

“Hope Michaels?” A tall man asked as I approached the dock. He had wrinkled on his face and glasses; he looked like he was in his forties. 

“That’s me,” I smiled.

“My name is Rick Fanny I will be your tour guide for today” He shook my hand. The dock was isolated by only one boat. It was small, looked like it could hold 4 people.

“Now to give you some background on the island, it was shut down 50 years ago due to a chemical leak. It was a lab that was testing vaccines and cures for certain types of illnesses, but I’m sure you already know all about that considering you are a writer, right?”

“Reporter, actually. But yes, I’ve dug deep to know every little detail about this place.”

“I guess you don’t need me. Might even take my job” He joked. 

“Is this the only way onto the island?” I asked, this was the first time I looked at him since getting on the boat, the view was so captivating, a photograph wouldn’t have done it justice. 

“I guess there is still some stuff you didn’t research. Yes, this is the only way in and out of the island, which makes it easier to spot trespassers. There is only one dock, and the rest of the island is fenced.” He answered. “You might want to get comfortable; it usually takes 45 minutes to reach the island, you’re welcome to take photos if you’d like,” he continued.

“Thanks, but no camera can capture the beauty this place holds.” The sun was hitting the water at just the right angle making the whole lake sparkle. No photographer or painter would be able to mimic the alluring scenery. It’s one of the places you’d need to see in real life to believe it.

“Ahh, spoken like a true writer,” He replied.

“Reporter.” I corrected him but he just shrugged, not seeing the difference. 

Rick turned on the radio to replace the silence.

“Police are still searching for missing 12 and 10-year-old girls: Lara and Beck Stein, but there seems to be no luck.”

“It’s so sad what happened to the girls, they had their whole life ahead of them.” I looked at Rick trying to strike up a conversation with him, but he just kept his gaze on the floor and turned the radio off. 

Silence it is. 

… 

The rest of the boat ride was quiet, I wrote some notes down and Rick stared into outer space. 

“Well, here we are. Please be careful getting off the boat, we don’t want you falling in” I sighed and got out of the boat with no problem.

Now is when the story begins.

There was a small gravel path that led you further into the island, the trees caved in on us. 

No one would be able to rescue us if something happened. 

We proceeded to follow the path until we were standing outside of a tall building. There were vines growing on the walls and some windows had been smashed. Inside the building, the floor was filled with dirt and mud. It’s hard to imagine that this was once a functioning laboratory where people roamed in here doing god knows what. But in a way it was beautiful, seeing nature take back what once was theirs.

“This is the lobby but if you follow me, I’ll take you to the lab” You could hear his voice echo through the building.

We walked further into the building until we reached a room named Laboratory 1. 

“Before you could enter the lab scientist had to sterilize themselves to make sure they don’t bring any outside germs into the lab and possibly their work.” We were in a small narrow hallway that had ventilators everywhere. Once we passed, there was a room with lab coats and hazmat suits. There were desks everywhere and on them were broken petri dishes that were occupied by mold. There were needles on the floor and broken beakers everywhere. I walked toward the fridge and opened it, just like workstations there were Petri dishes in the fridge and freezer. 

“Oh, sorry Hope, I have to take this phone call. Feel free to roam around just be careful of the glass. I’m going to go outside; it has the best reception” he didn’t wait for me to answer. 

This was underwhelming, it looked like any other lab. I wouldn’t be able to write a story about this, there is no story here. It was just a waste of time, no wonder none of the other visitors talked about their experience. 

I kicked a chair across the room in frustration but saw that it hit a small bookshelf. 

Why would scientists need a bookshelf in their lab?

Walking over I saw that the shelf was filled with dust, dirt, spiderwebs, and leaves. The books too, all except one, one of them was completely clean.

I looked back to see if Rick was in view, he wasn’t. I pulled the book to look at it but as soon as I did, I heard a latch click. 

The shelf creaked revealing it was a door, confusion and excitement took over me. Now this is a story. 

Clearly, Rick didn’t want me to know about this, but I didn’t care because a reporter will do anything for their story and that’s the thought I had as I walked down the dimly lit stairs. 

I quickly pulled out my notebook rushing to write down every thought that was going through my head, but they grew louder the more I walked down the stairs. 

I wasn’t alone.

I heard conversations through the room, but the island has been deserted, and they wouldn’t have been able to sneak in without alerting security, there’s only one way in and out. 

I reached the bottom of the stairs anxious for what was waiting for me on the other side. Walking toward the double doors, they opened automatically. The electricity worked down here. 

The doors flew open, and I got a glimpse of what was inside, a whole lab filled with scientists in robes. Realization hit me like a flood, the island was never abandoned. The chemical leak was a cover-up story so no one would come snooping around, who would want to explore an abandoned place if the air is poisonous? And the tours, they only did them, so they didn't raise the public’s suspicion, they showed the visitor the old lab ‘See there is no story here just a regular lab.’ I couldn’t believe my eyes; they must’ve been deceiving me. 

The only thing that nagged me was the why? Why do all of this secrecy, what could they possibly have to hide?

Speaking of hiding I ducked under a table so no one would see me, I looked out of place, and I knew just how to fix that. 

 I slowly crept up the stairs seeing that Rick was still on his phone call. I backtracked to the entrance of the old lab and grabbed one of the lab coats making sure to get all the dust off. Not perfect but enough to blend in. 

Standing in front of the door inches away from my story. Just act confident, like you belong there and didn’t just find out that this is a secret lab. Everything’s going to be fine, no one asks questions to people who look confident. I tried to reassure myself but wasn’t doing a very good job. 

Clearing my throat, I held my head high and walked through. I was immediately blinded by the fluorescent lights. There were scientists everywhere varying from ones looking at microscopes, to naming petri dishes, to writing down data on a file. 

This place was alive. 

I saw a door with a little tag that said subjects. It had a code pad though and well I didn’t have it; I’d have to wait until someone goes in or out of there. 

I pretended to look busy by intently looking at a piece of paper that was left on one of the worktables, it was a chart. A beep caught my ear. I saw the door to the subjects open and I quickly rushed over there before it closed. 

“Such a crappy day” I heard someone say, I looked around realizing they were talking to me.

“Oh um, yes” he looked intently into my eyes, waiting for me to spill my darkest secrets to him. They were black, you couldn’t differentiate between the pupil and the iris, it was like looking into the darkness, a darkness that everyone has inside them. I wonder what his darkness is. 

He cleared his throat bringing me back to reality, I gave him a weak smile and walked through the door as he walked out.

I looked back to make sure no one followed but was distracted by the noise in the room.

There were cells everywhere and… people connected to IVs; they were drugged out of their minds. 

“Help” one whispered, she was barely awake. But something about the girl in the cell next to her caught my attention. I recognized her, how couldn’t I, she was on every news channel. Lara Stein, she was one of the missing girls. 

Looking around I saw that I recognized all of them, some of these kids went missing years ago. 

Sickness fell over me, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and it felt like the air in my lungs had been sucked out of me. I felt useless, what could I do? I’m just one insignificant person, I won’t be able to stop this, the kids whose families are grieving them, the kids who are passed out on the cold cement floor, there was nothing I could do.

Expose them, that’s how you can help, don’t stop now, you came here for a story, and you got one. These kids need you to write this story, you’re their only hope. 

I swiped the tears away and took out my phone documenting everything. 

“I’m here to help you, but you have to tell me what they’re doing to you” I whispered to the girl asking for help, she was the only one conscious enough for a conversation. 

“Th-they’re injecting us with stuff and see if we survive.” She started profusely crying, “One of them started to bleed out of their eyes, they’re experimenting on us. I heard one of them say that-” We were interrupted by a blaring alarm, and the lights turned red, Rick must’ve realized I was gone. 

“I’m going to come back to you, I promise,” I looked down at the girl with pitiful eyes.

“No, no please I beg don’t leave, they’re gonna kill us all!” she started yelling.

“Quite down” I hushed, but it did nothing. She kept screaming and crying, seconds later scientists burst into the room knowing I was the odd one out.

I was mentally in that room with the girl, but my feet had a mind of their own, they were running, bursting through every door trying to find an exit. There were heavy footsteps following closely. I looked back to see how far they were but fell on the ground, dirt, and leaves; I was outside. I managed to find an exit. I ran to the edge of the island but was fenced in shit. I kept running along the fence until I reached the dock. Jumping on the boat, the keys were missing, Rick must still have them.

I had to think of something fast. I remembered that I wrote an article about hotwiring a few months ago about how it’s criminal and found it ironic considering what I was about to do. I took two different wires and connected them hearing the vessel roar to life along with the footsteps of scientists and security guards, but I hit the gas rushing me into the water. 

Looking back, I saw all of them with distressed faces, they knew they were doomed. 

I’ll be back for those kids, but for now, I have a story to write.