3. The Man in the Glass Cage

He cleared his throat. "Did you look inside?"

"Of course not!"

"Right." He seemed to think it over. "Well, maybe we should leave it. Alien stuff, you know, better to leave that stuff alone."

It was becoming difficult to swallow down the bad feeling that was rising from the pit of my stomach. "Something feels off about that room. Why would they leave it open?"

"Should I take a quick peek inside and make sure everything looks normal?"

"Maybe..."

"Okay." Percy nodded. "Let's check it out."

A long pause.

I peeked up at Percy.

He peeked down at me.

"Well?" I asked.

"Oh right, me." He touched his chest. "I should look inside."

"Well, it certainly isn't going to be me!"

"Right. Right." Percy nodded. "You're the one with the childhood trauma." God, please don't mentioned that. It's true, but  please don't refer to that terrifying event  so freely. I'm not ready to revisit that dreadful day quite yet. "And I'm the mentor," he stated to no one in particular. "I should look inside."

Pulling the door wide open, Percy was faced with a line of thick vinyl strips; the same sort of curtains you would find at the entrance of a Freezer. However, the climate inside the Vault was far warmer than where we stood. The warm air kissed my ankles, and lured my frigid body closer. It made it difficult to give myself over to the fear that had settled over my heart.

Percy pulled the vinyl strips to the side, and leaned forward to look inside the vault.

He turned as silent as a mouse.

"What do you see?" I asked, braving a few steps towards the entrance as an attempt to thaw my icy toes. "Does anything look suspicious?"

Percy was transfixed, frozen in place, as if paralysed by Medusa herself.

"You're freaking me out, Percy," I grit out. "What's in there?"

He stuttered something incoherent.

"Percy!" I snapped, feeling a lasso of unease wrap itself around my chest. The heavy plastic curtain hid the contents of the room, as well as the sight of my partner's face. I had no clue what was happening. But this was becoming much more than a quick peek. "Percy, say something!"

"I did!" He shushed, peeking back at me and keeping his voice low.

"Well, I didn't hear you." I gave him a stern look. "So, repeat it, please."

"There's a man," he growled with annoyance.

He was about to look back inside, but I stopped him: "What?"

His nostrils flared. "There's a man. He's in some sort of glass enclosure."

A loud scoff escaped me. "A man?"

"Shhh! Try not to be so loud, would you?" He looked over his shoulder, expression notably puzzled by what he was witnessing inside. "Yes, it's a man in a glass cage."

"Is he an employee or something?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it."

"What is he doing in there?"

"Sleeping."

"Just a man?"

"Yeah."

"In an...enclosure?"

"Yep."

"You can't see anything Extra-terrestrials?"

"Nope. It's just him and some medical equipment."

"Medical equipment."

Percy lifted his shoulders.

"But this door says 'Extra-terrestrial'"

Percy leaned backwards and looked up at the engraving below the green light. "I can see that."

"What the deal?"

"I don't know, Ash. I don't work in here," Percy stated. "But it looks like this guy might be some kind of inmate or something."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because he's dressed head to toe in orange."

"Okay, but why would an inmate be placed in there?"

"Probably the last person that came in the Filing Cabinet without proper authorization." He gave me a pointed look. "So, maybe we should get the hell out of here before we end up in there with him."

"Wait." I held the door still before he could shut it. "Is there anything  in there that could give us a clue as to why he's been shut in?"

"You know? You're asking an awful lot of questions." Percy's brows reached for his perfectly straight hairline. "Do you want to have a look for yourself?" Percy stepped aside and motioned towards the vault. "Be my guest, girl."

I gulped. "Fine."

As I pushed away the plastic curtain, warmth whirled and fluttered around me. I made my way inside, and was surprised to see how very ordinary and barren this room was. What I witnessed was far from what I had expected to find when I stepped inside this thick and insulated vault.

There was a man. He was lying on a hospital-like bed, sleeping inside a very large glass cube in the middle of an all-white colored room. His transparent cage looked like an oversize fish tank, minus the water and fun pirate theme decor.

Everything was white. The walls, the tables that hugged the back wall, the cupboards that hung above a small sink, the linoleum floor; everything was colourless and smelled of disinfectant.

Like Percy had mentioned, the man was wearing a bright orange jumpsuit that was sticking out like a sore thumb.

When I held my breath it felt like the room was completely robbed of sound, and suddenly, as if guided by some invisible hand, I stepped deeper inside the mysterious room. Passed the medical exam table, equipped with various surgical knives, medical tools, I had to round a big cardboard box to get closer to the small glass prison. It was filled with packing peanuts, and the picture on the side revealed that it had contained a new dresser of some kind. Seemed to me that the person who was last working in here had just finished building the new piece of furniture, and had then neglected to clean up after themselves. Could be due to the emergency meeting about the meteor.

Facing the thick glass, I could make out the fine details of the prisoner the way someone would, while nearing a painting at an art museum. I could see every texture, every crease and seam that made up his outfit. He was laying on the bed, his breathing delicate and even, and facing away from the rest of the room. He lay atop of a thin layer of blankets in what appeared to be a rather uncomfortable fetal position. It was the only position, it seemed, that made him fit atop the bed. He looked to be twice the size of the bed... I would guess, the man was close to six feet tall.

The absence of windows made the air inside the enclosure feel heavy.  The scent of antiseptics mixed poorly with a vague trace of latex and burning furnace dust. So much so, that I found myself stifling a sneeze more than once.

Percy growled my name from the door and I jumped. "What are you doing? We need to go."

"In a minute," I mouthed, winning myself a stern look from my work partner.

Facing the glass, I spotted a small television that hung above a small bathroom. A free-standing shower and small toilet was all that could fit into the tiny room at the farthest corner of the enclosure. There was the new dresser against the back wall, and it held a small lamp and various sized books. Beside the dresser, a wooden chair was tucked neatly underneath a small desk that was empty save for a dirty dinner plate and a fork. The small living space reminded me of the television show: tiny-living, if you ignored the feeling of sadness, and the underlying eerie atmosphere the medical equipment brought along with it.

Who are you? And why are you locked in here? I wondered, glancing over at the thick padlocking apparatus that kept the door shut.

"Ashlyn, that's enough lurking about. Let's go!" Percy whispered after me. "This place is starting to give me the creeps."

"Shh, you're going to wake him," I shot back.

I nearly looked at Percy to catch a glimpse of his expression, but the prisoner's broad shoulders twitched to life, and my curiosity peaked rooting my stare in place.

The man's short black hair shifted as he twisted his face deeper into his pillow, possibly trying to find shade in this extremely bright room.

"Ash!" Percy called, keeping the mysterious man from drifting back to sleep.

The man's shoulders stiffened, and I swatted the air towards Percy in an attempt to keep him quiet.

"Get back here!" Percy growled, pestering me.

My eyes slice in his direction only a mere moment before I realise the prisoner is turning his attention to Percy too. And as he stretched, I spotted the gray color of his profile. The color of his skin and what I mistakenly had assumed had been a pair of socks covering his feet, was the color of smoke.

"Ashlyn, you need to get back to me this instant," Percy hissed from the hallway when he was hit by the full impact of the same realisation I'd just had. This mystery man was not human. "This isn't..."

Atop the white sheets, the gray-skinned man followed Percy's gaze and glanced over his shoulder at me.  Our eyes fixated on each other. A small gasp escaped me when I spotted his eyes. They were as black as a barred howl's hypnotic stare.

"Run." Percy whispered, making my stomach flip. "Get out of there, Ash."

I would have, I would, if had not lost all sense of my bearing.

By the time my throat allowed me to swallow, a deep frown had married the prisoner's full brows. His eyes narrowed and his lips set in a hard line. Gaze latched on mine, he gently sat upright, carefully swung his legs over the side of the mattress. He stood ever so slowly, watching me as if I was a frightened deer ready to jut away at any given moment.

I hated to admit it, but despite his unusual characteristics, the man was breathtakingly beautiful. If one overlooked his black-basin eyes and rare skin coloring, this stranger was, without a doubt, shockingly handsome. With his long nose, full lips, and cheekbones so smooth it looked like he was made out of pure marble, he reminded me of a Greek statue I had once tried to replicate for a final project in art class - one titles Discobolus. I had failed miserably. That was the day I had accepted that I was much more talented with paint and that I should stick to what I know.

We just stood there, both mesmerised with each other's existence. Suddenly, his eyes go wide, as if he realised something that left him scared. The prisoner stepped forward, stalking towards the glass with purpose, and making me take a step back, heart at my throat.

What are you doing here? A male voice rang into my ears, but not audibly. No. It had been heard from somewhere... inside my brain and I nearly screamed.

Who said that?

He slapped the glass, snapping my attention back to him. I flinched. You need to leave. Now!

Shaken by both his action and this new sensation in my brain, I squealed.

Stop it!

You were never meant to come here.

"Stop!" I shouted, and squirmed as if millions of spiders had just crawled up my legs. The voice felt so invasive.

"What's going on?" Percy freaked from the door. "Ashlyn! What's happening?"

You must go. With air of worry kissing his brow, the prisoner's hand fell from the glass. Go, before they find you with me.

Get out of my head! I shook my head as if the motion could make his voice fall out like pool water from an ear.

"Ashlyn Mary Gibson!" Percy snapped, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the glass.

I released a breath. It felt like being taken out of a trance. I had not even realised Percy had ran to me until I was half way out the door.

"Let's get the hell out of this place!"

I'm sorry, the man said, as chills scratched down my back while Percy pushed me through the heavy set of plastic curtains.

My last glimpse of the prisoner had me feeling torn; as he averted his eyes, I saw his brows etch in pain, his shoulders sink, and his striking features had become flooded by sorrow. The moment that voice finally vanished from my subconscious, my fear quickly morphed into pity. When the cold air greeted me like a bitter friend, making my arm hair rise uncomfortably inside the sleeves of my my white coat, I felt the need to rush back inside that vault and free the grey-skinned man from this torturously small confinement.

The door shut, and Percy shoved me back with excessive force. I fell hard onto my ass. "You better be okay! Do you know how dangerous those things can be?" Percy shouted. "Well? Do you? Your brain could have been fucked for life, Ashlyn!"

"'Fucked' by what, exactly?" I asked, rubbing my rump that was no doubt bruised from crashing into the hard concrete floor.

"By that alien, Girl!" He yelled, making unease churn in the pit of my stomach by the mere mention of Aliens. "What else could I be talking about?"

With eyes shifted to the heavy metal door, I frowned. That prisoner had looked nothing like the Aliens I'd ever seen before - Though he did have the same deathly look in his eyes I remember.

"What the hell was happening to you in there, Ashlyn?" Percy pressed, intruding on my train of thoughts. My eyes sprung open, and I watched him glare down at me with the stern look an angry father might give their child when they behave poorly. "You scared the crap out of me back there. Why the hell did you start twitching-out like that?"

Opening my mouth, I thought better than to tell Percy about the telecommunication. If he knew, he might send me to the labs for an exam, to make sure I had not been unaffected by it. And that would mean telling the Agency that we had been inside the Cabinet, which was not an option.

I felt fine. There was no need to risk losing both our job just to do some simple medical tests. Percy had two extra mouths to feed at home, he didn't need that sort of stress in his life; like finding a new job to pay the bills.

"I was just shocked when I saw him. I didn't expect to see... an alien, you know?"

He sucked in a breath. "I understand that." Then, he looked like he was about to combust again. "But don't you ever scare me like that again!" One look at my apologetic expression, and his shoulders slumped. "Sorry. I shouldn't get mad at you like that. It's not fair to you that I'm being this condescending when I agreed to be here in the first place. It's just... I was scared back there." Suddenly, his brows lifted at the realisation and his mouth dropped nearly to the floor. "Wait, hold up." He slapped his forehead. "Holy shit, Ashlyn! We did it. We finally saw something! And not just any sort of weird object or anything... we saw an actual alien!" The change in Percy's mood was so abrupt that I was taken aback. "I've never seen one in my life before today." He squealed. "Oh, I am soooo telling my mama about this!" He cheered, already taking his phone out of his back pocket. "She's going to lose her freaking mind when I tell her."

"Wait, you can't just text your mom about that stuff!"

"I'm not. I'm making plans to visit, so that I can tell her everything in person."

"Are you seriously going to tell your mother about what just happened? Isn't it – like - top-secret information that isn't allowed to leave the Agency?"

"She knows how to keep a secret," Percy said simply, quickly glancing up from his phone to look at me, as he typed. "I tell her everything. She's my best friend."

"Shouldn't your wife be your best friend?"

His eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "God, no! I can't tell my wife shit. She repeats everything you tell her to everyone she knows."

I smiled. "I bet she has the best stories to tell about you."

"Yeah." His face twisted into a grimace. "Remind me to never invite you to my house."

Looking back at the door, and my heart whirled inside my chest.

"Um, Percy?"

With a chest threatening to burst, I spotted with great distress that the green beckoning-light above the door, had turned scarlet red.

We must have set off the alarm somehow.

Percy kept his eyes on his cellphone as he typed a message to his mother. "Hmm?"

"Percy, you should see this..." I said, an edge in my voice.

"One second." He gingerly read through a message as my heartbeat quickened. "Apparently, I just missed a few texts from Everett."

"Do I sound like we have a second?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, finally trekking up to where I was pointing.

"We have a problem."

"Oh, shit," he exhaled. "Shit!" he shouted, shoving his phone in his pocket.

I shot up to my feet. "What should we do?"

Before he could attempt to answer, security interjected by busting through the front door, running down the Cabinet halls, and roaring towards us - towards the source of the triggered alarm.

"We need to hide," Percy ordered, grabbing me by the elbow. "Now!"

Looking frantically around me for some place to hide without avail, I turned to him for aid. "Where do we go?"

I saw the words in his face before he even uttered a word.

My expression turned bleak. "We're going back inside. Aren't we?"

"Girl, I don't think we have any other options?" He hissed. "Come on!"

He pushed me forward and we treaded through the heavy plastic curtain to go hide inside the vault.

The alien was now sitting at the edge of the bed and stood only when he realised we were back.

What are you doing?

Not now!

Percy and I scurried to find shelter, trying desperately to avoid the sad fate of the curious cat. I suppose that when I decided to have this stupid field trip, I had forgotten that - unlike a cat - I didn't have nine lives, and satisfaction was going to have a really tough time bringing me back to life, once I was dead.