Brianna felt that her luck was changing for the better. After a dismal six months in which her father and mother died in a single car crash on a rain slicked highway, her love life deteriorated after straining and waning and she got so disgusted with life in general that she dropped out of college after an auspicious first year. At barely nineteen, Brianna had almost given up hope completely. The real world barged in and gave her a brisk reminder of how she needed the essentials, such as food and shelter, to survive and that these essentials required some sort of income to sustain them. She got a copy of the local paper and circled some promising prospects, finally coming to an ad that seemed to be exactly what she needed to save her from the quagmire she had immersed herself in.

The want ad was under the medical field heading and she would have simply passed it by due to the fact that she had zero interest as well as training in any facet of the medical profession. The bold type heading that stated,"$5,000 in only two weeks" had a way of commanding her attention. The fine print underneath went on to explain that she would be part of a medical research study consisting of a full physical and psychological exam and a daily regime of research medication. She would be able to stay on site for the full two weeks with daily examinations, meals, an exercise gym and nightly movies. The two weeks would conclude with a paycheck of $5,000. The applicant would be responsible for all subsequent taxes and would be issued a 1099 form.

This sounded absolutely perfect to Brianna. She was already a month behind on most of her bills and two months behind on rent. She could move out of her apartment and stay at the research facility and, with her fat paycheck, she would be able to catch up on her bills, find another apartment and have enough breathing room to look for a decent job, or possibly re-enroll in college. The only big if was whether she would be qualified as a test subject. She had done one other research study when she had first enrolled in college to be able to buy all the books she needed. It was for a sinus medication and she had suffered from sinus infections due to allergies almost all her life. She came out of the study the same as she went in. She figured she was in the control group that received placebos, but the nurses were not allowed to tell her for sure. Except for the needles, it was the easiest $200.00 she had ever made.

She called the number listed in the ad from a payphone in the coffee shop she had been loitering in. The effeminate sounding man on the other end read off a list of questions in a monotone void devoid of any inflections. He must have answered hundreds of calls a day and be bored out of his mind, Brianna thought to herself. He asked the standard height, weight and age type questions, then onto the allergies and past medical history. Brianna lied about her mold and pollen allergies for fear that she would not be accepted. He asked if she could be reached at the phone number that was listed on his caller I.D. Brianna felt her heart sink as she told him she didn't have a phone and was using a payphone. He asked if she could be reached through a friend or her family. Brianna stared at the floor as she told him she did not really have any friends at college and she had no family left after her parents died. His tone finally changed as he apologized to her and offered his condolences. She felt her chances of being accepted dwindle away as she told him the brief version of their recent deaths. She was stunned when he said since it was going to be difficult to get in contact with her; he would set up an appointment for the following afternoon at three. She smiled broadly for the first time in months and said that three o'clock tomorrow would be fantastic.

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