The story of Amborella Boyle

It was a dimming mid-October day; night was fast approaching (as it often does in fall), and Amborella Boyle was finishing a hard day of work. Although, while it was (to most people) rather strenuous work she was doing, for her it was just any other day! For you see, Amborella Boyle’s mother was one of the most renowned biologists in the country, and as a result she had been expected to follow in her mother’s footsteps from a very young age.

And so it was that she enlisted in the college founded by one of her mother’s colleagues, and engaged in work every day greater than some would in a week. Research, understanding accomplishments, working in teams with some of the greatest scientists, you name it; the harder it was, the more likely that Amborella would find herself doing it sooner or later. Putting away all the equipment she had been using (and making sure that her and everyone else were using the proper safety protocols), Amborella prepared to go home when her phone started going off in her pocket.

The ring tone was a default one, which told Amborella one of two things. Either one, it was her mother, or it was a scam call asking her about insurance; she wasn’t sure which was worse. Begrudgingly, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit accept call.

“Hey sweetie!” Came a calm and controlled voice from the other end, that she immediately recognised as her mother’s.

“Hi mum.” Amborella responded, trying her best to avoid sounding dismissive. Failing, of course.

“How was college today?”

Amborella sighed. “Mum, you and I both know that’s not why you called. Just spit it out already.” Amborella had had the best part of 18 years to figure out what kind of person her mother was, and while she can’t remember them all, she knew that her mother wasn’t the kind of person to ring you and ask how your day was.

“Right.” There was a pause for a moment, causing Amborella to consider hanging up and just going home. “I er… need you to pick something up for me from work.”

“What?” Amborella replied, shocked as her mother was rarely so unorganised that she would leave something at the lab.

“Please, Amborella. This is very important.” Her mother’s tone was far more sombre than Amborella could swear she had ever heard. She paused for a moment.

“Alright” Amborella was very suspicious, but figured that it must be important if her mother was asking her to do it after college
.
“Okay. When you enter the lab, go down the main corridor, and into the second room on your right. There should be a bundle of papers on the desk opposite you in that room.”

“Okay, got it. Grab those, come back. Love yo-”

“Do not! Read them!” The commanding tone of her mother sent chills down Amborella’s spine.

“Okay I won’t! Bye!” Amborella hung up, not giving her mother the chance to respond, and turned her phone down to silent.

Amborella paused for a moment, as her classmates shuffled out of the room around her, before awkwardly pushing herself into the crowd, and joining the shuffle outwards. After she left the room and entered the great corridors of the college on the way to the exit, she gave herself a moment to wonder what it could possibly be that she’s being sent to get. Was it some paper that’s gonna change the world? And why is it so important that she gets it right now? Her mind ran wild with conspiracies, and as she pondered all the reasons why their reptilian overlords might be wanting to obtain anything from a shopping list to nuclear launch codes; she walked through the college, into the outside world.

It was cold and dark, and Amborella was really beginning to regret not coming in one of her warmer coats. For while it wasn’t snowing or raining, the clouds were threatening to begin to do so, as a great dark grey horizon began to creep across the sky, infecting the pure white of the clouds and consuming the desperate spots of blue. Wanting to get to the lab and back home before the storm threw itself over her, she hugged her coat closer to her, and began to jog towards the lab. It was not a far distance, and (albeit with a slight detour) was roughly the halfway mark back home. Eventually though, she got to the lab.

It was a great plain building from the outside; a great wide open wall at the front which was widely considered the visitor’s area. People could come and have a look at some of the research being done, or have a tour (as there was more than just biology there), but it had shut roughly an hour ago. Being the daughter of one of the major scientists working there, she did have a key to the entrance that she had been given a year ago ‘in case something goes wrong and you need to get out or in’. Amborella had never known what she meant, but thought now that perhaps her mother had predicted something like this happening? She stood for a moment, looking at the key, before fitting it into the door, and pushing it open.

Already, things felt off. Within the lab was far colder than it should have been. She shut and locked the door behind her, using her phone for a bit of illumination, before turning the flashlight on it on, and heading in. She loved the lab when it was dark, and always had. But whenever she tried to sneak in, she would always be found and escorted out. But this time, she had been told to enter, and no one could kick her out. She looked round, shining the phone-light onto the reception desk, onto the walls, and finally put the light on the keypad to the rest of the facility. What she saw shocked her.

The keypad was broken, and the door open. Amborella froze, her hand hovering in midair, a death grip on her phone, on her light. In this brief moment her phone was absolutely everything, she would be unable to have light without it, unable to find the exit, and unable to call for help. Amborella was scared, was there someone behind her? Maybe someone had been watching her from the moment she came in. Did she call her mum? Call the police? They both seemed great choices to make, but something was stuck in her head. Amborella knew what her mother thought of her. Amborella’s mother wanted her daughter to be just like her. A world changing scientist.

Amborella had never wanted to take science; no, she had wanted to study theatre and learn the arts but her mother would never allow it. ‘You can be so much better than that’ she would say. And Amborella thought, ‘what would my mother do here?’ She paused on that thought…

‘Call for help.’ She finally thought to herself. Her hand shook, but she strengthened her grip even more. She would make her mother proud. Amborella promised herself that she would be the hero, and would be more than just some grade 9 science student. She steeled her resolve, and stepped through the doorway.

Surprisingly, she did not find that she had instantly entered another dimension where Cthulu itself would emerge from the walls and either kill her or offer her a cup of tea. As she stepped forward, she was extremely aware of the world around her. Every step she took, her own shallow breathing, and if she listened hard enough… The slow, almost mechanical beating of her heart. Everything seemed to echo off of the unfathomable silence. ‘Second door on the right’ she echoed in her head. That was all she was there for; get that, leave and then call the police. But she would still do as she had been told first, she would get those papers. And she turned, into the second room on her right, and cast the phone-light around her, seeing the desk and chair where the papers should have been.

But the desk was empty.

She knew it, she should have known, it was all to inconvenient, whatever this paper was, the intruder must have come for it and he must have taken it. She began to enter a state of panic, she had been too long! What would her mother think? What would her mother do? Would she be angry? Would she be upset? This paper meant everything to her - her WORK meant everything to her, and because of this stupid child all of that had been lost! Amborella fell down to the floor, trying to hold back tears, now making a most pitiful gasping noise. She was terrified of what would happen if she went back empty handed, what would her mother say? What would her mother do? What would her mother do to her?

However, she quickly found, that this was the least of her concerns, as she felt the cold touch of metal on the back of her head.

“Do as I say, and you’ll get away from this fine.” the voice was low, soft, and simultaneously commanding. Amborella’s fear stopped her whimpering. “Get up, nice and slowly”. She rose up to her feet, following the man’s instructions. “Good.”

“Who are you?” her voice was shaking.

“It doesn’t matter, come with me.” He grabbed her shoulder, to which she flinched away. He pushed the gun to her head once more, and grabbed her shoulder again, she allowed him to.

Adrenaline was pulsating through her body. What was he gonna do? This man must be the intruder, but what did he want with her? Why had he effectively taken her hostage like this as opposed to just killing her outright? She had to find an opportunity to escape but how? This man had a gun held to her head, what way was there out of this?

He took his hand off her shoulder again “What’s your name?” He said, as she heard what sounded like him shaking out a paper to better read it. Amborella remained silent. His voice deepened significantly. “You have 3 seconds to answer before I blow your brains out.”

Amborella rushed out, “Amborella!”

“Boyle?” She nodded. He re-attached the grip. “Come with me.” he began leading her off, and hesitantly she followed.

Her phone now left on the floor, she was completely in the hands of this intruder, absolutely blind to the world around her (quite literally). Even if she did manage to escape him, she realised, she would still have to face her mother when she returned, and she realised with no doubt. She was alone. She had failed. She completely gave into her captor, allowing his grip to lead her, paying no attention to the sounds around her. It was all over. She barely gave it a thought when he told her to place her hand on one of the hand scanners, and allowed him to lead her into the room it opened.

Inside the room was perfectly lit. Machines showing various readings, pipes of liquid pumping in from the walls and the ceiling. But it didn’t matter to her. When the man’s grip and gun left her, all she did was fall down to the floor on her knees again. The man went towards the centre of the room, and looked through various vials of liquid, glancing at monitors as he did, until he eventually settled on one vial in particular and picked it up. He examined the contents, and then turned back towards the entrance. He looked down at Amborella

“Do what you want. It doesn’t matter anymore.” he said plainly, before walking away.

Amborella Boyle listened as his footsteps faded into nothingness.

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Thank you for reading! If you liked this story please share it in some manner as: A. It means more people get to see a story you think is good and B. It helps me to get more views and know that my work is thought of as good! Special thanks to the following for aid with the creative process: Joshua Davies-Jones and Samuel Harbron (Help with ending) Iara Proenca (Character and location context) Kayne Harrison (Idea of mysterious vial things) and Thomas Sharpe (Idea of intruder)