ATTENTION

Dr Rita Angel is looking for anyone with strange oddities about them, for lab testing and medical procedures. You will be paid handsomely for your participation. Call the number below to schedule an appointment.

0800 9184 582

You will be staying in a high quality laboratory for one month to undergo certain tests and procedures, in an attempt to better understand your condition. Food and accommodation will be covered.

Maia sat alone in the waiting room. It looked like any doctor's waiting room she'd been in before- plain, white, with weirdly coloured chairs and bad music and magazines that probably hadn't been popular since the sixties. Flipping through the pages of yet another car magazine, she let out a sigh, only wondering how long it would take for the doctor to see her. Doctor Angel, her name was.

Maya had come across the Doctor's advertisement one day while walking down the street in the rain. The giant red block letters spelling 'attention' had caught her eye immediately, and after skimming over the page, she found herself intrigued.

Of course, she wasn't stupid. The rational part of her realized it could be a trap, designed to catch people with strange traits who were desperate for a little love and attention, just to make them disappear off the face of the planet- but honestly, she didn't care all that much. It wasn't exactly easy to kill her, and even if they managed, the world might be a little bit safer.

The inscrutable brown wooden door finally opened, and a short, tan, brunette woman stepped out. Her clothes were plain and her hair was tied in a simple ponytail.

"Ah, hello. You must be Maia- I'm Doctor Angel, nice to meet you." She extended her hand.

Maia stood up. She towered over this woman. "Hi. I was starting to think you'd never see me."

The other woman laughed, but Maia didn't understand why. She hadn't been joking. "Yes, sorry about the wait. Come inside."

Maia stepped inside the room, and again, it looked pretty much like a normal doctor's office- except that there were a few more devices and medical tools around than what would have been expected. Doctor Angel sat on a chair by the computer, and Maia sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to let her guard down.

"So, since we both already know why you're here, why don't you explain to me why you'd be good for my project?"

This feels like a job interview. "Right. You said you were looking for oddities, and I assumed that to mean not just 'oh, I'm double jointed' but 'oh, I burn when I step into the sun and the only thing I can drink is the blood of normal people'. Which is me, if you're wondering."

Doctor Angel leaned forward, her eyes lit up as she took in Maia's paper-white skin and sharp canines. "You're a vampire?"

"Indeed. Does that pique your interest?"

"It sure does. Alright, I'm pretty sure it's obvious that you're not lying- I've got some paperwork for you to fill out, and then I'll contact you when there are enough people for the experiment to start."

"Thank you."

It turned out there was a lot of paperwork- so many forms and technicalities. Maia felt like she was signing her life away, which maybe she was. But after meeting this woman she was even more confident that this person couldn't kill her, or even a fly.

General Information and Permissions
Name: Maia Henders
Age: 18
Biological Gender: Female
Do you have any dependents? (children, elderly relatives, etc) No
Species: Vampire
Do you agree to take responsibility for any injuries that occur, on account that Angel Labs does their best to aid you in recovery? Yes

So that was how Maia found herself in a plain white room with no real decorations, waiting for literally anything to happen, two weeks later. At least the chairs were semi-comfortable. Although she was wishing for literally any colour.

Suddenly, the door bursts open and a whirlwind of pink and white and noise burst into the room.

The younger girl grabbed Maia's hand and violently shook it. Her blonde pigtails spun around her as she rapidly explored every inch of the room.

"Hello!" She cried in a sing-song voice. "I'm Lulu! Some people think my name is Luna, but it's not. What's your name? You're pretty. You joined the project too! What's your oddity? I'm a meifwa. That's a half-cat person, if you didn't know. Most people don't. Which is fair enough. Hey, you don't talk much, do you?"

Maia held the girl by her shoulders quickly, holding her still, and jumped in when she stopped to take a breath. "I'm Maia, and I'm a vampire." Now that Lulu wasn't moving around so much, Maia could see two soft white cat ears on her head, and a furry tail poking out through a hole in her pants- about where her tailbone would be, which made sense.

Lulu giggled. "Hi! A vampire, wow! You're so strong." She easily slipped down and out of Maia's grip before continuing her excited exploring, practically bouncing off the walls. "I wish there was some sort of colour in her. Like blue- ooo, or pink! What colour do you like? Wow, your eyes are yellow! Is that a vampire thing?"

The door opened slowly as a tall, lanky teenager entered the room. He looked to be around the same age as Maia, or maybe a little older. Maia was disappointed to see that he was significantly taller than her, which was unusual- she was 6'8", and hardly ever found anyone taller. He had a strange mask on his face, with one eye covered and tubes attached to a mouthpiece. He looked her up and down, but before he could say anything, he was enveloped in the chaotic hurricane that was Lulu.

"Hello, new person! I'm Lulu, some people call me Luna but that's not my name it's just when they mishear me! What's your name? Why are you wearing a mask? It looks cool! What's your oddity? You are so tall! How tall are you? Do you play basketball?"

The boy pushed her off him, and flopped into one of the seats. He seemed very annoyed by her barrage of never-ending questions. "I'm Julian."

There was a couple seconds of silence. "Oh. Okay." Lulu seemed slightly discouraged by his frigidness, but as soon as the door opened again she was back to her excitable self.

This time two tall girls walked in- One with grey hair and large angel wings on her back, and one who looked pretty much like a normal person.

Lulu looked up at everyone. "You are all so tall! This isn't fair. How tall are you all?? I'm like, 4 foot 11. Also hi, I'm Lulu and I'm a meifwa, which is a half-cat person if you didn't know!"

Maia was getting sick of hearing the same spiel over and over. She hoped there weren't going to be any more new arrivals.

The normal-looking girl looked down at Lulu. "Oh hi! I'm Meghan- wow, I love your ears. And I'm six foot three."

"Thank you!! You can touch them if you want! They're super soft."

The door opened once more and Maia sighed internally. So many people... she hadn't really expected this. She'd thought she'd be alone, or with one or two other people, not cooped up with five other people all day, everyday. Her social battery was already draining just looking at them.

The man who walked in next was carrying a clipboard, and Maia could instantly tell that there was something different about him. Rather than his own personal clothes he was equipped with a lab coat, and an aura of authority followed him around. Lulu jumped over to him.
"Hi! I'm Lulu, I'm a-"

Julian spoke from his place on the couch, hands over his face with a fake high-pitched voice. "Meifwa, which is a half-cat person if you didn't know. Most people don't." He uncovered his face and glared in the general direction of everybody, dropping his mocking voice. "We know."

The newcomer surveyed the room, from Maia leaning against a wall, to Julian on the couch, to Meghan and the other girl standing awkwardly by the door, to Lulu, standing directly in front of him, ears drooped and looking a little defeated. "...Wonderful. Alright, can everyone sit down?" Maia walked over to the couch, and after a couple of seconds of staring expectantly at Julian and him not moving, she sat on his feet, causing him to squawk indignantly.

"I'm Kana, I work for Angel Labs, and I'm here to get you all settled. I assume you've introduced yourselves?"

It was Meghan who spoke up. "A little, but we just got here."

"...Wonderful. When I call your name, please respond with your age and species. Meghan."

"Right. Okay. I'm 18, and I'm human- but I'm here because I can use magic."

Kana eyed her, making her squirm. "...Wonderful. Maia."
"18, I'm a vampire."

"Salina."

"I'm not completely sure how old I am- 18 or 20- fallen angel."

"Lulu."

"Hi! I'm 13 and I'm a-"

"Yes, a meifwa. You said. Julian."

"19."

There was a moment of silence. "And your species...?"

"It's.. complicated."

"...Wonderful. Now, obviously you all signed up because there's something about you that's different to other, normal people." He pointedly eyed Julian's abnormal height, Lulu's cat ears, Salina's angel wings, and Maia's pointed teeth. "Then you all attended an appointment with Doctor Angel where she accepted you. While here you'll undergo testing and experimentation, including multiple virtual reality tests, and standard physical experiments. I will now show you to the quarters where the five of you will be staying, and you can get settled in."

We'll be staying together...? Maia looked around at the other four- excitable, energetic Lulu, quiet Salina, shy Meghan, and stone-cold Julian- and realised she may have signed up for more than she anticipated when she rung that number.

{1618 words}

{Here it is, finally. I'm actually really excited for this ngl. Time to drastically improve my story from like three years ago or some nonsense!}