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With a quick once-over, Daniel gave his brother the go ahead to cover up the body once more.

"It looks like he's been dead for over a day." Rowen explained as he signalled for someone to take the body away. "It took us a while to find him because his body had been dragged into the woods."

"It must have been one savage wolf that did this." Daniel said thoughtfully. "Make sure the security detail moves around in groups of two or more from now on."

"Sure thing." Rowen responded. "What about you, little brother? Will you get some work done with those two onto you?"

"Well, I don't particularly have a choice." Daniel said as he put on his lab coat. "To avoid anymore suspicion I must act normal . If I start acting differently they'll know I know they found out about my secret and we can't have that. The last thing we want is our little prefect ratting us out to Giovanni."

He grabbed his stuff and began to walk towards the door.

"We're nine days in. I'm expecting to start seeing results. If the results are positive then what ever criticism they may have will be a moot point. However, if there's little to no change then all of it was for nothing." He said as his expression grew dark. "Tomorrow we administer the last dosage. It's fingers crossed from this point on."

"You better get to work then." Rowen encouraged before he walked away, leaving his brother standing there all alone.

After taking a moment to recollect himself, Daniel set about his work. He already had his work planned out for the day but this time around he hadn't shared it with his assistant. He didn't want her sharing it with her new found friend, Emilia Larsson.

He found his team already waiting for him by his office. They usually had a debriefing first thing in the morning but he could tell from their expressions that they had heard about the body.

"Morning everyone." He greeted them as he took his seat.

"Good morning, Doctor Rudolph." Misty responded on behalf of the team. "If I may ask, is it true that they found a body?"

"Yes, it's quite unfortunate that one of our security officers was found dead this morning. He was attacked by a wolf and the nasty creatures are native to these woods." He replied with a solemn expression. "I've advised our security staff to travel in groups of atleast two and I'd like that to be the case with our team as we move around the outside grounds."

Everyone was quiet as they let his words sink in. Doctor Rudolph, on the other hand, continued on as if the incident was a simple everyday occurrence.

"Moving on to today's agenda. We will be carrying out a covid test on our subject. We have to know if our drug is effective. Our subject may still be a little sick but if the test proves negative then that would mean he's reacting to our drug. If that's the case then we need to know the side effects." Daniel went on. "Well then, let's get to it."

They all began to file out. He expected Misty to voice her disagreement but she didn't. He noticed that she seemed to be distracted by something. Infact, she appeared a little pale.

"Misty. Are you okay? Do you need a day off? You look a little pale." He asked her.

While he abhorred the thought that she would go behind his back, he still cared for her. Part of him even liked her as more than a workmate but he rarely allowed himself to indulge in such feelings.

"I'm fine, doc, just a little tired is all." She simply replied as she gathered up her stuff.

"Okay, if you say so. Just don't overdo it. If you need a little time off, don't be afraid to say so." He said as he too stood from his chair and walked out of the office, leaving her standing there in surprise.

"O-kay." She said slowly, marvelling at this caring side of him that she had never seen before.

After a second to compose herself, she proceeded to follow him. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't feel fine. She felt fatigued which was ridiculous because she didn't overwork herself at all. She took great care to balance her workload evenly throughout each day. She even asked help from the other team members if she was having trouble completing a single task on her own.

Yet for some strange reason her body felt like it had run 2000 laps over the last twelve hours. Not to mention her appetite had completely disappeared the moment she woke up.

Deciding she would have herself tested for covid later on, she set about her work.

She grabbed a tray of cereal for Alex on her way to the lab. After changing into her biohazard suit, she made her way inside his abode.

Someone had already opened the blinds as streams of sunlight cast their beautiful light into the small space. The warmth of the sunlight felt pleasant against her skin and she exhaled happily as she turned her attention to her patient.

Only he wasn't there.

At first she thought her eyes were deceiving her. She closed and reopened them three seconds later. Nothing had changed.

That's when she heard the voice.

Come to me.

She didn't know if it had been said out loud or if she was hearing things and the prospect of that frightened her.

"Alex?" She called out, her voice shaking.

She moved towards the restroom and small bathroom that he had all to himself. Knocking once, she pushed the bathroom door open before she peaked inside.

"Are you in here?" She called out as she tried to see in the semi darkness.

It took a while but she finally spotted a figure seated by the shower area. She considered switching on the bathroom lights but eventually decided against it.

Moving to where he was, she crouched down next to him.

He had leaned back against the wall and was using his left hand as a pillow. His eyes were closed, his breathing even. It was almost as if he was asleep.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked him as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Why are you in here?"

"The sun... It burns." He said lowly without opening his eyes.

She blinked at him in confusion, wondering what he meant.

"Does your head still hurt? Don't worry, I'll close the blinds up again." She said with a warm smile.

Standing up, she went back into the other room and closed up the blinds.

"Geez, this is keeping on. Guess I have to let the doc know." She said to herself.

As she turned to head back to the bathroom, she almost screamed in surprise when she found him already standing right behind her.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed as she put a hand to her heart. "Don't do that, you scared the crap out of me!"

She took deep breaths to steady her breathing before she continued.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed." She told him as she motioned for him to get back onto the bed. "Technically you're not allowed to remove those tubes that were sticking out of you, even if it's uncomfortable unfortunately."

He said nothing as she hooked him back to the machines. He merely looked into empty space, lost in a world of his own.

"Okay, I brought breakfast with me." She said as she retrieved the tray she brought with her. "Hope you are hungry."

He took the tray from her. Spoon in hand, he tried to force himself to chew and swallow the food but the cereal tasted like sand in his mouth and his senses were disgusted by it.

Eventually he gave up and pushed the tray away.

"Whoa there. What do you think you're doing?" Misty asked, crossing both arms across her chest. "That plate is still full. You need to empty it up."

"I'm not hungry." Was his response.

"Not hungry? Alex, we talked about this, you hate grain but it's good for you. So eat up now. I'm not going anywhere until you finish." She said, looking at him expectantly.

When he ignored her, she took it upon herself to force feed him.

"Okay, Mister, you brought this on yourself." She declared as she tried to shove a spoon into his mouth but before she could, his hand grabbed hers in lightning speed.

There was something about the way he looked at her then that made her want to shrink away in fear but she couldn't. She was frozen in place.

The spell was broken when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.