**The Ocean View University Lab, Winter Break - Night of the Outbreak**
The campus lay silent and deserted. Winter break had cleared out most of the students and faculty, leaving only a handful of people and maintenance staff behind. The once lively hallways, once alive with laughter and conversation, now sat in an eerie, undisturbed quiet.
In his private lab on the second floor of the science building,Professor Arthur Bennett toiled alone. The overhead lights flickered dimly, casting long shadows over the sterile counters and medical equipment. His hands trembled as he clutched a syringe filled with a cloudy blue serum, staring at it as if it held the power to change everything.
On the metal table in front of him lay,Rachel, his sixteen-year-old daughter. Her face was pale,too pale, and her body was still. The machines connected to her emitted soft beeps, tracking the absence of life. Ever since that horrible night when she had taken her own life, Arthur had been haunted by guilt and desperation.
The lab felt suffocating, the air thick with the sharp scent of antiseptics and an undercurrent of dread. Arthur wiped the sweat from his brow, taking a deep breath in a futile attempt to steady his racing heart. He had taken a monumental risk, stealing the serum from his old lab. There had been no other choice. The serum was officially deemed a failure, responsible for the deaths of two others, but Arthur refused to accept that. He was convinced he could make it work, that he could save her. He had promised Rachel. He had promised her mother, now gone, that he would keep their daughter safe.
With a deep breath, Arthur pushed the syringe into Rachel's arm, injecting the serum slowly.
"Please work… please…" he muttered, his voice breaking. "I can't lose you. Not like this."
For a moment, nothing happened. The lab was silent except for the beeping of machines monitoring her lifeless state. Doubt crept in, and he felt a cold sweat trickle down his back. But then, without warning, Rachel's body began to twitch violently. Her fingers curled unnaturally, her head jerking to the side. The beeping of the monitors grew frantic.
"Rachel? Rachel, it's okay… it's Dad…" he pleaded, his heart pounding.
The heart monitor flatlined. Arthur's eyes widened in horror.
"No… no, no…" he gasped, panic rising in his throat.
Then, Rachel's eyes snapped open. But something was terribly wrong. Her once bright eyes were now dull and lifeless, void of recognition. Her skin took on a sickly, grayish hue, dark veins snaking beneath the surface. She turned her head slowly toward him, and a low, guttural growl escaped her lips.
"Rachel? It's me… it's Dad," he said, backing away, a mix of fear and sorrow crashing over him.
In a single, unnatural motion, Rachel sat up, her movements jerky and devoid of humanity. Her mouth twisted into a grotesque snarl, and without warning, she lunged at Arthur, fingers clawing at him with inhuman strength. He reacted instinctively, grappling with her and managing to shove her back against the table.
"Stop! It's me! I'm trying to help you!" he shouted, but Rachel only snarled in response, a deep primal sound that echoed off the lab walls.
With quick thinking, Arthur grabbed a set of heavy chains from the storage closet nearby and secured her wrists and ankles to the table, his heart racing with fear and determination.
Arthur had anticipated that this might be a possible reaction to the serum. He had tested it on mice before using it on her, but he hadn't realized it would be this severe.
Pacing back and forth, he muttered to himself, "I can fix this."
Determined, he stepped forward and grabbed Rachel by the shoulders, her snarling face inches from his, her eyes wild and bloodshot. "Rachel, dear," he said, his voice soft yet desperate, "I'll cure you. I'll find a way—I promise."
Days turned into a blur as Arthur worked tirelessly, pouring over research notes and the serum's effects. He was careful, hiding his activities during the day, making excuses to the few staff members who remained on campus. But as winter break drew to a close, he found himself increasingly anxious, aware that his secret could be discovered at any moment.
---
It was late one night when Jim, a maintenance staff member, entered the building to perform routine checks on the heating system. He had no idea anyone was in the lab and expected to find it empty, as it usually was this time of year.
As he made his way through the dimly lit hallways, he heard a faint sound—a mix of growls and the frantic beeping of machines. Curious, he followed the noise, eventually pushing open the door to the lab without knocking.
What he saw inside made his blood run cold: Rachel, bound to the table, her movements erratic and unnatural.
"Professor?" Jim asked, his concern growing as he noticed Arthur's wild eyes and disheveled appearance.
"What's going on?"
"It doesn't matter! Get out!" Arthur shouted at Jim, his voice sharp with desperation.
"No, this is wrong—it's illegal," Jim retorted, wrenching free from Arthur's grip. "How could you bring someone into the lab without permission?" His eyes flicked toward Rachel, bound to the edge of the hospital bed, her form twitching unnaturally.
"Stay back!" Arthur's warning came too late. Jim was already untying the rope that held Rachel down with only the locked chain remaining.
Before Arthur could stop him, Rachel lunged again, her powerful movements breaking one of the chains. In an instant, she snapped her jaws at Jim, who instinctively reached out to push her back. But he was too late; she bit into his hand, tearing through flesh.
"What the—I'm trying to help!"
The door clicked shut behind him. Jim spun around, realizing that Arthur had locked it. In that moment, Rachel, now freed, pounced on him.
Arthur's eyes trembled as he leaned heavily against the door. "I warned you," he whispered.
The lab filled with the sound of screams, the clatter of falling utensils, and then—silence. Arthur approached cautiously, his gaze fixed on Rachel, who was hunched over Jim's lifeless body, feasting on his flesh. She didn't notice her father as he quietly moved to secure her with the chain once more.
"You must've been hungry," Arthur murmured, watching as his daughter continued to devour what remained of Jim.
Meanwhile, the mice in the containment cage had slipped free through the open door, the container knocked over in Jim's frantic struggle to escape Rachel.
---
Outside, the world continued on, blissfully unaware of the horror unfolding within the walls of Oceanside University.