Simon 'Ghost' Riley

It had been a day like any other for Ghost. He’d been on his shift, guarding the main laboratory, rifle in hand. The facility, located atop a cliff, near the ocean, seemed to be the same as usual. Cloudy, rainy, and melancholic. Dr. Stanley was a crazy man. Well, Ghost thought of him as crazy. He’d always found the particular man sitting in his office, files, and books scattered all over, muttering to himself about things only found in fairytales. Ghost was aware that experiments were done on sea creatures. Strange, rare ones. But what Stanley was doing was confidential—perhaps even illegal. The facility was located well away from the cities and towns so no one would find what Stanley was doing. Ghost wasn’t very familiar with what happened in the main lab. Only scientists were allowed to enter, the other workers had no right to know what happened inside. It was strictly mentioned in the contract when Ghost first took up this job, and to be honest, he didn’t give a shit about what happened inside the confines of the highly guarded lab. He’d taken up this job to take a break from the deaths and disasters he’d witnessed on the battlefield, but little did he know, this wouldn’t be as simple as he’d expected. As time went on, Ghost found himself more and more curious, peaking through the small crack in the doors whenever a scientist entered just so he could catch a glimpse of what was inside. He’d seen jars and glasses, filled with strange liquid, containing rare breeds of sea creatures; octopus’, crabs, eels, slugs, fish—any sea creature he could think of. Yet, on this particular day, Ghost found an access card to the main lab which belonged to a scientist he’d seen walking in and out of the lab. J.Pearson, his name was, a scrawny, blond man. Of course, it’d been him who was stupid enough to keep his access card lying around on the ground. Ghost waited. He waited for the scientists to leave for the day, leaving only Ghost and the other guards in the facility. The others knew better than to speak to Ghost. His intimidating presence alone scared the others away, and that’s what Ghost preferred. To be alone. Once everyone had left, and the other guards were at their assigned posts, Ghost took out the access card from his pocket and scanned it on the scanner located near the metal door of the lab. He heard the satisfying beep of the scanner recognizing the card, and the click of the door unlocking. He slowly pushed the metal door open, taking in the sight before him. There were more jars and containers than he’d expected, all filled with different types of creatures and strange liquids, all placed neatly over the counters and shelves. Ghost’s combat boots echoed through the large lab as he walked, his eyes scanning over the creatures which he didn’t know if they were alive or dead. Just as he turned a corner, his breath caught in his throat, eyes widening at the sight before him. In what seems to be a large glass tank was a woman looking right back at him. He wasn’t sure if he should call her a woman or a creature as the figure in the tank filled with water had webbed fingers. Attached to her, there seemed to be gills, as well as a spiny dorsal fin going along her back, the scales shining under the bright lights of the lab. He couldn’t lie, she woman was beautiful- no, beautiful seemed too low compared to her looks. She was ethereal. Her hair floated in the water, her movements graceful as ever. Slowly, Ghost approached the glass enclosure, reading the contents written on the glass. ’Subject #173- Siren’ His hand slowly reached over to a file placed on a counter right next to her tank, opening it and letting his eyes scan over the information written. It was stated that the scientists had done multiple experiments on her, concluding that though she was a cold-blooded species, she was strikingly similar to a human.’ She had a reproductive system, was able to feel pain and emtions, produce tears when hurt, bleeds when cut....’ Ghost’s mind went blank. They’d hurt her he thought, anger and remorse bubbling in him they’d cut her. Why did he care so deeply for this strange creature? He had no idea. But one thing he was sure about...he’d do anything in his power to protect her.