Early in the morning, while birds were chirping, I heard yelling and loud noises coming from the kitchen. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, already knowing — it was just another day of their arguments.
Nothing ever changed. Even if I got up and tried to stop their small fights, they wouldn't listen. They'd just look away… as if I wasn't even there.
In this family household, I'm the second daughter — the only one who isn't their biological child. And definitely not their favorite. But that doesn't really matter... because I know most of their arguments are about me anyway.
I heard my mom shove my dad backward.
"Why don't you just bring Riana with you if you're going to keep bringing that slut woman up?"
Their voices echoed behind my closed door as I curled myself into a ball. Then came a loud bang — my dad smacked the table.
"She's my mom! Don't call her that. Riana is your daughter too. Don't leave her out. I can see how much you cherish your other daughters and ignore everything Riana does for your lab."
My mom laughed bitterly, wiping tears from her face.
"Riana does nothing but sleep all day. Do you really think that lazy kid will ever bring anything useful to this place? You must be dreaming — she won't even listen to a single word I say."
My dad shook his head.
"Those are her efforts. And your daughters stole her work, bullied her like she's some kind of puppet. So you better watch your mouth."
Then he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him, and drove back to his job in town.
I have two sisters: Ashley, who's eight — still innocent, still growing. And Jasmine, who's nineteen — full of fire, but never in a good way.
We live beneath our family's laboratory. A hidden underground facility where monsters and animals are created — forged from the DNA of strange creatures pulled from the dark forest.
Some are made for experiments. Others are bred and sold as exotic pets to people on the surface.
And I'm here —Alone in this dark room, crying while holding a picture of my real mother. The one who loved me like I truly mattered. The one who appreciated the little things I did, no matter how small.
Her humming still plays in my mind — soft and warm. It's the only comfort I have left when I need to escape this cold, cruel reality.
Then came a knock at the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Riana, get out of the room. Mom said to head to the lab and help her collect DNA samples from the new creature that just arrived."
It was Jasmine. The one who hated me down to the core. The one who always burned with jealousy at my hard work… and stole it, especially after I'd stayed up all night writing research notes.
"I'll be there in a bit!"
I gently slid my mother's photo back under my pillow, wiped my eyes, and opened the door. Jasmine was already gone.
I walked upstairs and made my way to the laboratory. My mom didn't even look at me when I entered.
She stood beside Ashley, smiling sweetly while holding her hand — like they were part of some perfect family. A man named Devin, one of the scientists, stood nearby. He and my mom stood a little too close. Smiled a little too much. Like they had something more going on than work.
I stood beside Jasmine, listening quietly as the adults talked.
Devin flipped through the research notes and looked at my mom.
"These creatures are different. They might contain highly dangerous acid," he warned. "Be careful when handling their blood, and wear protection. I also don't recommend letting children near this one — we need more research on how it was made."
My mom nodded. "I'll inform my team and do more testing… but right now they're all on vacation. Do you think we can store this big guy in the freezer tube until then?"
Devin shook his head. "No. I'm not sure what'll happen if it's exposed to cold. It might explode — and this one's still alive."
My mom's face twisted in surprise. "What?! I thought you brought us a dead one."
Devin cleared his throat. "We tried to kill it, but it seems to have some strange protection. We can't figure out why it's still alive. My team only managed to sedate it. It might wake up tomorrow — so I strongly advise not staying in the lab overnight. It's best to collect the DNA sample now and do the rest once we return it to our facility."
My mom let go of Ashley's hand. "But our sample bottles aren't ready yet. They're still in processing. Can't you keep it sedated a little longer until everything's prepared?"
Devin looked at the creature, then back at her. "When will your DNA bottles be ready?"
She rubbed her arm. "Tomorrow night. Someone messed up the order, and now it's delayed."
Devin gave a slow nod, then looked directly at me.
"I see... well then, I'll go talk with my team about this. But make sure no one is here tonight. We don't know if this thing will wake up early. It's a tough one — took my whole team six hours just to bring it down."
He turned and left the laboratory.
The door clicked shut. Silence hung in the air — for just a second.
Then my mom turned sharply toward me, her face hard.
"Look at what you did! Why didn't you do your job correctly?"
I blinked." Mom… I did do it right. I put it in the machine — the one you taught me when I first joined the team."
She sighed and waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it."
Behind me, I heard Jasmine laughing to herself.
Ashley walked over and gently held my hand. "Sis… are you okay? You have black makeup under your eyes."
I smiled softly and patted her head. "I'm fine, Ashley. I'm just tired. But… have you done your homework yet? Do you need help?"
Ashley shook her head. "Jasmine already helped me with it."
I nodded slowly. "Ah… I see. Alright then, let's go eat."