Sea Stars & Wishes

Chapter 8

Lyrika

Lyrika leaves her apartment at 1:30 AM, and aiming to arrive by 2:30. She walks along the sidewalk, with her jacket hood up and medical face mask on. Strapped to her back is the collapsible wagon; the wheels bouncing off her legs at an annoying rhythm . A car passes, and then silence envelopes her again- exactly what Lyrika needs. No people. No cars. No identifiers.

As Lyrika approaches the university she pulls out her latex and cotton gloves, and slips both on. She mentally thanks her mom for her weird obsession for watching crime documentaries and TV shows, which taught her to not leave any DNA behind if she can help it.

She slowly approaches the marine biology building, noting that there is no campus police in sight. She walks on the grass towards the side of the building first. None of the windows appear to be open, and Lyrika doesn't want to waste time figuring out if they are locked or unlocked. She walks back towards the front of the building, widening the circle as she walks around. No open windows on that side either. That leaves entering through the front doors. She approaches from the side of the building, pushing her way through the small gaps of the bushes. She peaks her head around the corner to look through the glass doors.

Lyrika has a direct view of the security room; the lights on and the door is slightly ajar. She huffs. She crouches down, hiding in the bushes, and she gets comfortable. She looks at her watch noting the time.

2:37

That's fine. She can sit for a bit and see if security stays in their room, or how often they go out and about on their rounds.

After what feels like an eternity and no movement inside the building, Lyrika looks at her watch once more.

3:14

With a sign, Lyrika mentally steels herself. She pushes herself off the ground and slowly comes out of the bushes. She approaches the door and gently pulls on it, but it doesn't budge. Her adrenaline spikes instantly. She didn't come all this way just for the front door to be locked. She looks around the door, frame, and wall, and she spots it in the corner, halfway hidden by an overgrown bush. A keycard sensor.

She fishes in her pocket and pulls out Layla's ID card. Lyrika holds the card up to the sensor and it flashes green. She hears a small click and she gently pulls the door open before it locks again. She slowly opens the door, and mentally thanks it for not creaking. She instantly hears talking and freezes, but quickly realizes that it's a movie playing loudly from the security office.

She opens the door wide enough for her and the wagon strapped to her back to slip inside. She slowly closes the door behind her. She turns and looks through the ajar security office door. She spots Drew, the guard from the other day, asleep with his head resting on his desk. Drew's body and wall illuminate with different colors, indicating the movie is playing from the other side of the office. Both security guards are in. Lyrika quietly walks to the far wall and slowly inches across, her eyes not leaving the door. Once the light from the door passes and she no longer in view, she quietly picks up her pace down the hallway. She keeps her head down to avoid any possible cameras in the hallway.

She stops in front of the poorly painted merman door. She pulls the ID card out of her pocket again and holds it to the sensor. It flashes green and she quietly opens the door and sneaks inside.

Now, inside the room, Lyrika has limited time. She still doesn't know who has access to all the security cameras. But with Song here and being sick, there is bound to be someone who has it pulled up on their computer wherever they are.

Lyrika quickly moves towards the pool and pulls the wagon off her back. She quickly assembles the wagon, something she also practices several times in her hotel room and even timed herself to do it in less than fifteen seconds.