The doors towered above me. I stood there for a moment, unsure of myself. I glanced around me, straining my ears for traces of voices or footsteps. All was silent and motionless. It appeared that everyone had gone home. Still, how could I be sure there was no one left in the room beyond? I inched closer to the doors and checked my watch. Five-twenty-seven. They must be gone by now...

I heard something--a faint thump from the other side of the doors. Quicker than a jackrabbit, I ran out of sight and ducked down one of the hallways. I heard the doors open. I sucked in a breath. My pulse began to race. Had they seen me? Footsteps and voices grew near. I didn't move. I didn't even dare to breath for fear that I might draw attention to myself. Two figures passed, and in the darkness, all I could make out was that one was tall and lanky, definitely male though, and he wore glasses. As they talked, I had no problem identifying the second. That raspy voice definitely belonged to Curtis.

"Everything's secure then?" The first man was asking.

"Yeah, no problem." Curtis replied. "I pressed the button on the way out."

"And the chim?"

"It's resting now. We'll probably begin the shock treatment in the morning."

Their voices disappeared down the hall into indistinguishable mumbles. I let out my breath in a gasp before my face had the chance to turn purple. As I neared the doors, I noticed that the flashing red light was now off, which made the whole entryway even more unfriendly, yet all the more enticing.

Daring to remove my sight from the door for a moment, I slowly reached into my pocket and fished out the ID card. Jim's face stared back at me, and I couldn't help but notice how those dark eyes seemed to hold accusation. His black hair looked like a mop had been placed on top of his head. His entire face (which was a mixture of Caucasian and Japanese features) was twisted up into a tight little grin that seemed to warn me against what I was about to do.

You're just being paranoid... I swallowed.

My hand trembled as I slid the card through the badge machine. I watched the monitor closely, and breathed a sigh of relief when the door clicked, bating me to enter. I glanced around one last time and pushed the bar in, gaining access to the room beyond.

Have you ever been afraid? I mean truly, undeniably terrified? If so, you'll understand how I felt in the moments that followed. I stood just inside the room with the doors shut securely behind me, taking stock of my surroundings. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary at first glance. The room was filled with the typical machinery. There were a couple of monitors on the walls, sets of buttons, computers, vials, petrie dishes, and microscopes. It was the typical working-lab setup.

"So what the heck is so Top Secret?"

I found my answer almost before I could finish the question.

A gasp escaped me--one of complete horror and disbelief. I didn't know whether to run or scream or find something to pick the lock. So, instead, I stood there completely dumbfounded (and let me tell you, it's hard to render me speechless). My heart was beating so fast, I could feel it in my throat and temples. Very slowly, and with extreme caution, I found my legs and forced them to move toward the giant structure. It was a cage--the largest one I had ever seen, and it appeared to be made from the same metal as all of the others I'd seen so far. Whoever had entrapped the beast within decided that the cage required a more secure locking system than the standard sliding door mechanisms that were the norm. A thick chain was wrapped around and around the giant steel structure, and fastened securely with a enormous padlock. What held me in a horrified stupor was not the bindings, however, but what was being bound by them.

Beyond the bars sat a creature I had never seen before. This animal was gigantic. I approximated that if it had been standing upright, it might have toward a good four and a half feet tall. Fur covered it from head to toe--thick brown fur with patches of gray. And with its legs outstreched in such a manner, it appeared to be bipedal. I dared venture closer (that is my nature of course), and I could tell that it was in pain. Its positioning in the cage was much like how a human would sit, its back against the bars, head hanging slightly, arms tied up above it in what appeared to be metal cuffs. Tubes and wires branched up from its shoulders and chest, some filled with liquid as red as blood, others empty for the moment, and still others that were dripping a clear substance. A beeping monitor nearby seemed to reflect the creature's heartbeat. I wasn't sure what the hell this creature could be, and in all honesty, it terrified me beyond belief, but I couldn't leave just yet. I had to find out more.

My gaze lingered on the animal for a few moments while I tried to decide where it could have possibly come from. For a brief moment, its face appeared almost human to me, the eyes taking on a sentient sparkle. Finally, I could bear it no more, and turned my attention to the sign. It read:

I gaped at the animal in awe. Its sight was still on me. I could feel its penetrating stare. In the midst of all that fur were two glossy brown eyes--so piercing, so haunting, it made me want to scream. I stood there like a statue, gazing back at it, almost becoming lost in the sorrow those eyes contained. They were pleading with me, asking me to help, but I couldn't. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't even breath.

Rattus Norvegicus....Norway Rat.

But it couldn't be possible. Norway rats (who incidently migrated to the United States from Norway many years ago--thus the name) typically live under the streets of major cities. Perhaps their more well-known name is the common sewer rat. But this was no typical rodent! This specimen was huge! Then I remembered the name 'chimera'. I had never seen one before, but I knew the definition. In simple terms, it meant that a new life had been created using DNA from an animal and mixing it with that of a human being. So that's what CHIM-9 referred to. The idea sickened me.

I felt like I was trapped in a bad dream. None of this could be real. Maybe they'd found out what I was up to and decided to drug me with hallucinagens. Perhaps I'd wake up later to find out that none of this ever happened. I was actually hoping that would be the case.

I backed away slowly, not daring to take my sight from the creature, lest it somehow break free while my back was turned. The eyes continued to stab into me, begging me to help it without saying a word. My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't breathe. It felt like a weight was pressing down on my chest. What the hell had someone done to this poor animal, and even more importantly, what would it do to me if I dared set it free?

Unable to bear my surroundings any longer, I finally found the strengh to turn my back on the pitiful creature. I pushed the door open and ran as fast as I could down the hallway, my hand the only thing muffling my terrified cries.