Chapter 3

It was late, really late, later than she ever had been at work by herself and she hated the fact that she was afraid to be in the lab all alone. It wasn't as if she didn't know the ins and outs of the place, she just hated how the humming of the lights sounded like some unforeseen monster lurking just beyond her sight.

She as acting foolish.

But it was the nerves for sure, she was about to test the potion for the first time and not on the rats. She wanted to use it on herself. It was the main reason why she wanted to work alone tonight, she knew what she was doing was over the line and could possibly get her fired or even in trouble with the ethics board. But what's the big deal if she wanted to know if something worked, really, really worked? And what if, she wanted it to work for herself?

The notes and results on paper were outstanding, they were off the charts to be honest, even when she continued the trial runs on the rats. The males were stepping over themselves to get to Hera, but still not in an aggressive way. They wanted to be closer to her but they were being affectionate, caring, wanting her but not wanting to hurt her. They didn't even try to mount her right away, it was as if they were waiting for her to give them her permission. One of the males, Alex, put is body between her and the others and, and it was the oddest thing she's ever seen, he did it as he rubbed his head against hers. He was caressing her with his head, it took her a while to respond fully but when she did it was then the Alex pushed and kicked the others away from them, keeping Hera to himself. She then began to respond to him and they have become inseparable ever since. They've been together for two weeks, doing everything together from eating, sleeping, sitting together like a human couple! It was amazing. A simple tweak of the plant extract to increase her hormone output, something that heightened her overall smell to any surrounding male was all it took. Still, it was too soon to see if there were any long lasting effects, but from the notes it seemed that there wouldn't be. She hadn't injected the female subject in about two days now and the rats were still together, cuddled up.

It was incredible.

They, well she, had discovered a potion that had long lasting effects for two organisms to be together and quite possibly live a happy life.

Erin wanted to know if it could work on humans.

So, she was going to be the subject.

Mr. Leslie had warned everyone in the lab on day one and once every other day from then on, that self-testing is an immediate, punishable offense and that by no means should anyone test something on themselves. She remember the speech very well, in fact he said it that morning. But she wanted to know, she needed to know for once, what it was like to have someone notice her the way they noticed Abby. What that feeling of power over the opposite sex would feel like. And not for nothing, but she wanted sex, needed it, it had been two years since the last time she was intimate and she was beyond desperate. The multitude of dating apps weren't cutting it, she was tired of talking to what seemed like a nice guy at first but then he turned into a follower of Charles Manson. The exhausting ordeal of having to get to know someone was wearing on her and she had had enough. Her mother even said it was time she attracted the right kind of guy, instead of the losers she had been talking to.

And she was right.

She needed to start bagging the kind of men that Abby could easily obtain just by wearing the right kind of shirt, she could never do that. She tried make-up, make overs, going out with her friends, being set up with a guy who they claimed was perfect for her, all for it all to blow up in her face. She needed the right kind of man, she wanted the right kind of man, and she wasn't getting it the normal way. So, she was going to cheat.

The vial hung in the stand looking almost as it suspended in mid-air. It glowed a sinister pink, steamed almost, it was warm; it had to be for the experiment to work at its fullest peak. She sat on the stool, hunched over with her elbows on the table and her fingers intertwined. She had been staring at the familiar liquid for about ten minutes now and hadn't moved a muscle, it was as if she had lost all of her nerve suddenly. Like she hadn't just hyped herself up all day long, she knew she was going to do it, planned it even. It was happening tonight.

She prayed that the guard wouldn't suddenly pop up and ask her if she needed anything for the hundredth time that night. He was a nice guy, even someone who Abby thought she should date, or at least go out with. Though to be fair she thought Erin should go out with any male as long as he had a swinging dick.

Her words exactly.

He was nice, she just wasn't into the nerdy type like everyone else was these days, oddly enough since she was the walking definition of nerd: glasses, hair usually in an up-do bun or pony tail, mousy, plain clothes, she even had a pocket protector. Abby made her take it off the first day they met, warning her that if she didn't want her eggs to go brittle and dry then to take it off, as she'd never get a man like that.

The way they were both, in a sense, so obsessed with men and sex was embarrassing. She understood why she was obsessed, she wasn't getting any. Abby was getting it on the regular, at least that's what she told her during their many late nigh conversations, so why she was still obsessed was anybody's guess.

'You're stalling.' Her brain nagged. 'If you're going to take it, take it now!'

It was time.

She sat up and coughed a bit when her shirt collar yanked back on her throat, she had been sitting on her lab coat at the time. She was nervous, maybe too nervous to actually do it. But she had to know if it was going to work, the lab rats showed mounds of improvement, record improvement, so much so that when they presented their work they might even get an increase in funding. That would mean everything to their lab, they could do all of the research and experiments they had on hold since the last board presentation session. This, could mean everything.

Plus, she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to find out what it was like…what it was like to be the one, the girl that gets what she wants, all the time, every time. She wanted the attention, the admiration, the affection, the love, the sex, she wanted it all.

No matter how she'd get it, she wanted it.

"Fuck it."

Erin grabbed the vial with one swift pull, popped the cap off and downed the entire contents of it in one gulp.

She gagged.

It burned, it burned so very much, it was thicker than she thought it was, it kind of reminded her of Pepto-Bismol, but sweeter and had sort of a grainy texture to it.

She gagged again.

It didn't go down as easily as she expected, maybe this was one of the reasons why the rats were getting sick, but they had fixed that problem, so it shouldn't make her sick.

'Shit.'

At least she hoped not.

Erin coughed a few times, covering her mouth with her arm then immediately regretting it. If anyone found any traces of her 'magical potion' anywhere other than in a vial or inside a rat, someone might get suspicious, and she couldn't risk that. She'd have to have her coat dry cleaned. Her mouth was warm, kind of like it feels when one is about to vomit, but she didn't, at least not yet.

"Test 1, I just consumed the potion," she talked into her recorder on her phone, "I am feeling a warm sensation in my mouth, no upset stomach, or any of the other previous symptoms the rats had, yet. Vision and hearing are normal, motor functions normal, no sweating or cold shakes."

She felt like an asshole, they were here to make a hormone supplement, not a magical love elixir to fix the problems of all the socially awkward freaks in the world.

She shouldn't have done this. She should have ignored this finding and continued on with the experiment as planned. This could not only get her fired but maybe even face jail time. She just tested an unknown man made chemical on herself with no previous testing done on a human being. She could die.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.'

Now she felt her heart begin to beat faster, she was losing control of her nerves and it was starting to mess up her experiment, she didn't know what was the drug or her. It was getting worse by the second and she couldn't think, she had to calm down, who knows what could happen to her in this state.

She stared to hyperventilate. "Oh, God," she gasped again, "Oh, God."

"Hey."

Erin gave as short scream.

"Sorry! Haha, didn't mean to scare you but I was making my rounds for this hour and heard you choking in here, thought you needed help."

It was the security guard, Tyrone, he poked his head in the lab, his usual strawberry blonde hair was almost unnoticeable since he got his haircut. The managers all thought he looked unkempt with his natural curly, yet masculine hair bouncing all over his head and made him get a haircut. Erin hated that they made him do it, as it was one of the best ways to let everyone in the building know that yes interracial couples make the best babies. His mother was black and his father was white, he had a cute family photo of them together on their last visit to see him on his phone. He had showed her it along with many others one night as she was locking up the lab. They had talked quite a few times before, his caramel colored skin and freckles made his features pop, especially with his green colored eyes. He was a little taller than her too, not terribly muscular but could take down an intruder if need be. By all rights he was a catch and a half, but Erin just didn't see him the way other women in the building did. As far as she knew they were just friends.

He scared the living shit out of her though.

"Ty. Jesus….you could have knocked."

"Heh, sorry Rin-Rin."

She hated that nickname, but he called her that anyway.

"You alright, though, need some water or something?"

She sighed, sitting back down on her stool, her hand on her chest as if that would help calm her down. "Sure, could you grab me a bottle of water from the fridge?"

"Sure thing."

He almost skipped to the other room, their breakroom, to grab her desired water. Maybe he really did like her, more than she thought he did anyway. And here she was whining about not having enough male attention and there was someone who liked her. Maybe taking the drug wasn't a good idea after all, maybe all she had to do was give this poor guy a chance and see where things could go at least.

Maybe she made a mistake.

"Here you go."

He snuck up on her again, this time it was with an ice cold bottle of water, she could feel the slightly cooler air coming from the small cylinder bottle.

"Thanks," she sighed after taking the water and pressing it to the side of her face for a second before opening it and taking a few small gulps.

It was after she took the bottle down from her mouth that she noticed Ty was still standing next to her, almost too close, and staring at her. His face had the look of, bewilderment, like he was trying to figure out a really difficult math problem. His chest, covered by his blue shirt, tie and ID, breathed in short breathes, breathes that came out from his slightly parted mouth. He, looked as if he were breathing her in.

He was breathing in her scent.

"Rin-Rin…." He suddenly uttered.

"T-Tyrone, are you ok?"

He just stared at her.

"Ty? Tyrone!"

He jumped, licked his lips then stuttered. "Rin-Rin, are…are you wearing a new perfume?"

She frowned her eyebrows. "No, heh, you know I don't wear any of that fancy stuff, Ty."

He still stared at her, almost as if he had never seen her before.

"Um, Ty shouldn't you be getting back to the front?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah! I should…I should probably leave you alone. But, if, if you need anything don't hesitate to let me know, ok? I'm serious. Let me know, ok?"

It was then he took hold of her hand and gently pulled her up to stand with him. Not knowing what was going on, Erin slowly stood with him, looking at him with concern, but then relaxed a little when he pulled her to him for a hug. She didn't mind this too much, since they were friends and have hugged before. But as she wrapped her arms around him to return the embrace, it was then she felt him kiss the side of her head, slowly. Her eyes arched open some more when she then felt the hardened bulge in the front of his pants. It was there and it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

He was hard!

Really, hard.

Erin froze but only for a minute, as she could feel Tyrone pull her a little tighter, but not enough to hurt her, to his body and begin to grind his crotch against hers, slowly but surely. Her cheeks flared up in their usual red tint when she felt him kiss her on the side of the head again, but this time he groaned a little when he pushed his crotch into hers again.

"Rin."

"T-Tyrone….you, should probably get back downstairs."

"Yeah," he breathed into her hair, "please call me if you need anything else…"

She slowly detached herself from his warm body and couldn't help but glance down quickly at his now too obvious erection. Tyrone looked at her as if he himself didn't notice how aroused he was. He picked her hands up and kissed them softly before backing away, accidently hitting a stool, and backed away from her and out the lab, keeping his gaze on her as he walked away and out of sight.

"Holy shit." She whispered. "How long has he had a thing for me this bad?"

It wasn't until she sat down and looked at the empty vial on the table, a few pink drops still clung to the inside of it as it sat on its side.

She then remembered the rats. How the rats were behaving after she gave them the new enhanced drug, how they were reacting to the female after she took the drug.

"Holy shit." She said in a more matter of fact tone.

"It works."