Prologue
1130 Words
“What in the actual hell,” I cursed under my breath as my latest experiment bubbled into a murky, useless sludge for the millionth time. My shoulders slumped and I felt a tiny, familiar weight press against my cheek. Murphy was nibbling on my skin, his little whiskers twitching as he tried to offer whatever comfort a ferret could provide.
“You are the only soul in this godforsaken forest who understands my pain, Murphy,” I whispered with a heavy sigh. I reached up to scratch the sweet spot behind his ears, listening to his tiny, enthusiastic squeak. Then I looked back at the disaster on my workbench. I had been so certain that this specific chemical bond would hold, but once again, science had decided to slap me in the face.
I shoved my glasses back up the bridge of my nose and trudged over to the massive, floor to ceiling bookshelves that lined the lab. These walls were packed with every botanical text imaginable, most of them dog-eared and stained with coffee. I pulled out the heavy volume on a purple nightshade and stared at it for a second. With a frustrated groan, I grabbed a thick red marker and drew a giant, aggressive X across the cover before shoving it back into its slot.
My eyes wandered over the spines of the remaining books, feeling that familiar sense of dread. This was getting impossible. I walked back to my desk and flipped through my notes, staring at the list of poisonous plants I had compiled. The government didn't want the helpful stuff. They didn't want the vaccines or the pain relievers I was so good at making. No, they wanted something destructive, a weaponized drug that could probably level a city if they refined it enough. They wouldn't tell me what the secret mission was, only that my current results were pathetic.
I glanced at the glowing screen of my laptop, where an email from my mentor sat like a lead weight in my inbox. She told me she had high expectations and that she was deeply disappointed in my lack of progress. Each word felt like a tiny needle pricking my ego. I was the girl with the straight A's and the perfect record. Failing this publicly felt like dying a slow death.
“I don't even know what I'm doing anymore,” I muttered. Murphy whimpered in response, sensing the sadness vibrating off me. “It is pretty pathetic, isn't it?” I asked him as I swept the failed drug samples into the trash. I knew that if I didn't produce something soon, they would pull my funding and kick me out. I had worked too hard to let some bureaucrat take my lab away.
I scanned my list of poisons again. Most of them were already crossed out in red. Then, my eyes landed on Nerium oleander. It was a stunning plant with delicate, beautiful flowers, but every single inch of it was pure, unadulterated lethality. From the roots to the tips of the petals, it was a biological nightmare.
I quickly printed out the botanical maps and a high resolution photo of the flower. I didn't even bother going to my desk or the sofa. I just slumped right down on the hardwood floor, surrounded by papers, and started absorbing every bit of data I could find. I dove into the chemistry of the plant for hours, my brain firing on all cylinders. This was why people called me a nerd, and honestly, I wore the title like a badge of honor. I was the girl who chose books over everything. It was who I was.
After a final hour of intense reading, I pumped my fist in the air and shouted, “Dan, you've got a new location to scout!”
The silence that followed was deafening. The excitement drained out of me instantly as I remembered that Dan wasn't there. He was gone, leaving me completely alone in this massive, silent forest. After his death, I had begged the government for a new partner, someone to help with the heavy lifting and the field work. Those asshats had just sent back a form letter denying the request.
“Well, I guess it is just you and me, Murphy,” I grumbled. Murphy squeaked with what sounded like genuine excitement. “At least one of us is looking forward to a hike,” I said sarcastically.
I pulled up the digital maps to see where I could find a wild patch of oleander. The nearest town was thirty miles away, and the plants were supposedly another nine miles north of that. For a woman who spent three years straight inside a climate controlled lab, nine miles of rugged, uphill terrain might as well have been a trek across the moon.
“This is impossible,” I groaned, already feeling my leg muscles twitching in protest. My body was a bit on the plump side, built for sitting in libraries rather than scaling mountains. I was convinced I would either die of a heart attack or come back looking like a literal skeleton.
Murphy made a clicking sound in the back of his throat that sounded suspiciously like a judgmental tsk.
“It is easy for you to judge, you little fluff ball, because you'll be riding in my hood the whole time,” I huffed. Murphy hissed at the nickname, but I just smirked at him.
I spent the next hour frantically packing. I grabbed my compass, a couple of sturdy knives, energy bars, and as much water as I could carry. I packed a lighter, some rope, a few pairs of booty shorts and sports bras for the humidity, and my contact lenses because glasses in the rain were a nightmare. My backpack felt like a boulder when I finally zipped it up, but I managed to hoist it onto my shoulders.
I added a second smaller pack to my front to balance the weight, and swapped my lab clothes for comfy sweatpants and a thick hoodie.
“Okay, hop in, buddy,” I called out. Murphy didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled up my arm and dived into my hood, nestling against the back of my neck with a happy squeak.
“Let the journey begin,” I whispered to the empty room.
I took a deep breath and stepped out of the research center for the first time in three years. The forest air hit me like a physical wave, cool and damp and smelling of pine. It was terrifying, but as I looked into the dark treeline, I felt a spark of something I hadn't felt in a long time.
~•~
- Writer
