Beneath the Waves ➵ Carlton Drake

[05] NOCTURNAL BEAST

   The next day, Doctor Skirth and Doctor Callahan arrived around the same time, both walking into the laboratory together.

   "Do you think she's sleeping?" Callahan questioned out loud, hoping that the siren was asleep.

   Sure, he had seen her unconscious via sedatives; however, he had yet to see her naturally asleep. He wondered if when sirens were asleep, whether it was the same as humans. Did they snore? Did they drool? Did they glow? Callahan did not know, at this rate, anything was possible.

   "I'm not sure." Dora shrugged, the lab door opening once Quinton scanned his I.D. in the receiver.

   It was exactly nine-thirty A.M., thirty minutes before the rest of the scientists were supposed to be arriving. Doctor Skirth and Callahan were there early simply for the fact that they were always early to their job.

    The second the duo walked into the lab, both wearing the same pristine white coat, the lights flickered on.

   "I'm just a kid who is four, each day I grow some more..." Doctor Skirth recognized the song as the theme to Caillou, a show her young children tended to watch.

   Callahan, because he had no children himself, did not recognize the song as anything other than a random children's television theme. Dora quickly began powering on different computer systems, Callahan walking toward the glass wall with his hands resting in his pockets.

   "Drake has a few different conferences and interviews that will take up a little more than half the day, so he's put you and me in charge. All he said was to continue studying the siren and make note of any changes..." Dora trailed off, looking up when she realized Callahan was not paying any attention.

   Furrowing her brows, Doctor Skirth walked forward, bringing her attention to what Doctor Callahan was so focused on. Laying on the bed, curled up facing the flashing television was the siren.

   Her midnight hair covered half of her face, the sparkling blue gems that were her eyes closed peacefully. Her breathing had shallowed out, Doctor Skirth taking note of her flickering eye movement under the eyelid. Seeing this, she was quickly able to determine that the siren was in the first stage of sleep, meaning she had gone to sleep not too long ago.

   Doctor Callahan noticed this too, turning to Skirth making a confused expression. Biting her lip, Skirth spun on her heel, grabbing the remote to the television off the counter. Clicking the button to turn off the television, the screen turned black all the previous noise coming from it now nonexistent.

   "I think it's best we allow her to sleep for as long as possible so we can take notes," Skirth explained, while walking to the controls of the containment room.

   Dora gripped the dial which allowed sound into the room, turning it so that all sound from outside the room was cut off. Along with basking the room in silence, Dora was able to turn the lights off from inside, tinting the glass so that any light from the lab would be dimmed.

   Biolights running along the lower walls of the containment room flickered on, glowing a dim blue. It was just enough so that from the outside, everyone was able to see in.

   Tilting his head, a sudden thought crossed Callahan's mind causing him to freeze. "Do you think..." Callahan started, Dora listening to him while logging into her assigned computer. "That she could be nocturnal."

   Dora stopped what she was doing, bringing her gaze to Callahan. Both of their eyes lit up in realization, the two turning the heads in sync to face the sleeping creature.

   "You know what, Callahan..." Dora stated a small smile on her lips. "She might just be."

✰✰✰✰✰