Eclipsara pov(first person point of view)
Mira and I slowly walked deeper into the lab.
Carefully.
Very carefully.
Twenty containment tanks surrounded us, their dark contents shifting lazily in the murky fluid.
I tried not to look at them too long.
Every time I did, I noticed something new.
Another limb.
Another mouth.
Another claw dragging slowly across the inside of the glass.
Thankfully… none of them moved much.
Most floated.
Some twitched faintly.
All of them looked like nightmares someone had tried to give a body.
Mira leaned slightly toward one of the tanks, studying the creature inside.
“…Their bones look like they were rearranged.” she murmured. “Like their bodies tried to grow new limbs and failed halfway.”
“Fantastic.” I muttered. “That is exactly the kind of information I wanted today.”
We kept walking.
Mira glanced at the next container.
Then the next.
“Okay.” I muttered quietly. “Good news.”
Mira glanced at me.
“What?”
“They’re all contained.”
She nodded.
“That is good news.”
“Bad news.” I continued, gesturing around the room with my axe. “This is clearly the room where someone decided nightmares needed storage jars.”
Mira walked past one of the tanks, glancing up at the floating creature inside.
“You chose the door.” she reminded me.
I pointed the axe at her.
“You are enjoying this too much.”
“You were very confident.”
“I was committing to the bit.”
She stopped beside another tank and tilted her head slightly.
“Behold.” she said calmly.
I narrowed my eyes.
“The scientifically selected door.”
I placed my hand over my chest in mock betrayal.
“Wow, Mira.”
She looked innocent.
“You wound me.”
“I am simply repeating your own words.”
I gestured around the room.
“Yes, well, when I said that, I did not realize the room would contain twenty jarred abominations.”(Jarred means kept or stored inside jars or containers. The sentence means twenty monsters were trapped inside glass tanks like specimens in jars.)
“That sounds like a skill issue.”
I stared at her.
“…Did you just roast me?”
She shrugged.
“Maybe.”
I shook my head slowly.
“Wow.”
I pointed at her dramatically.
“Wow, Mira.”
She tried not to smile.
I gestured to my missing arm with exaggerated offense.
“You’re going to make fun of a young girl who is missing an arm and throw burns at me?”
I shook my head in theatrical disappointment.
“I thought you had class, Mira.”
She snorted quietly.
“You picked the monster room.”
“That was an unexpected variable.”
“You sang to choose the door.”
“It was a strategic chant.”
She shook her head, still smiling.
“You were very confident.”
I pointed accusingly at her again.
“You laughed!”
“Because you said behold.”
“That was part of the performance!”
Before she could respond
The entire room rumbled.
Just for an instant.
A deep vibration ran through the floor and walls like something massive had shifted somewhere beneath the facility.
The tanks trembled slightly.
The liquid inside them sloshed.
Mira grabbed the desk beside her to steady herself.
“What the-”
The rumbling stopped as quickly as it had started.
Silence returned.
Mira looked at me.
“…What was that?”
I looked around the room.
“I have absolutely no idea.”
Then something else happened.
Every single creature inside the tanks opened its eyes.
All twenty of them.
At the same time.
Black eyelids peeled back.(Peeled back means slowly pulling away or opening, like peeling skin or tape. The sentence means their eyelids slowly opened, revealing their eyes underneath.)
Some revealed hollow pits.(Hollow pits means deep empty holes. The sentence means instead of normal eyes, some creatures had empty eye sockets that looked like dark holes.)
Some revealed glowing slits.(A slit is a very thin, narrow opening, like a straight line instead of a round shape. In this sentence, it means the creature’s eyes are not round like human eyes. Instead, the eye looks like a thin glowing line. Imagine things like:A cat’s pupil in bright light-it becomes a thin vertical line.)
Some revealed clusters of small, insectlike eyes stacked together.
But they were all open.
And they were all staring.
Mira stiffened.
“…Eclipsara.”
“I see it.”
One creature slowly pressed its face closer to the glass.
Another dragged its claws along the inside of the tank.
Another’s extra limbs slowly began to twitch.
But something felt wrong.
I watched their gaze carefully.
Because they weren’t looking at both of us.
Not really.
Their eyes tracked.
Every single one of them slowly turned.
And focused.
On Mira.
All twenty creatures.
Staring directly at her.
Mira swallowed.
“…Why are they looking at me?”
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because I had noticed something else.
Something strange.
Something that made the back of my neck prickle.
“…Mira.”
“What?”
“…Don’t move.”
She froze instantly.
“…Why?”
I kept watching the creatures.
Their eyes.
Their focus.
“…They aren’t reacting to me.”
Every single creature in the room kept staring at her.
Like she was the only thing they could see.
Then-
A faint crack echoed through the room.
Then another.
My head snapped toward the nearest tank.
“…Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”
A thin fracture had appeared in the glass.(A fracture is a crack in something hard. The sentence means a small crack started forming in the glass tank.)
It crept slowly across the surface like a spiderweb.(Crept means moved slowly and gradually. The sentence means the crack slowly spread across the glass.)
“…Mira.”
Another crack answered from the opposite side of the room.
Then another.
Then another.
The tanks weren’t shattering yet.
But they were all starting to break.
Very slowly.
Very steadily.(Steadily means continuing at a constant pace without stopping. The sentence means the tanks were cracking little by little without slowing down.)
And the creatures inside were all still staring at Mira.
One of them dragged its claws along the inside of the glass.
The fracture beneath its hand widened.
My stomach dropped.
“Oh no.”
“Eclipsara…” Mira whispered.
“I see it.”
CRACK.
Another loud CRACK split through the room.
A larger fracture spread across one of the containers.
Black fluid slowly leaked from the seam.
“Okay!” I said loudly. “New plan! New plan immediately!”
I spun around quickly, searching the room.
Desks.
Control panels.(A control panel is a flat surface with buttons, switches, or screens used to control machines. The sentence means a station where someone can operate the lab systems.)
Equipment racks.(An equipment rack is a frame or shelf used to hold tools, machines, or devices. The sentence means storage structures where lab equipment is kept.)
Then I spotted it.
A control console mounted against the wall.(A control console is a larger control station with multiple panels, screens, and controls. The sentence means a main operating station built into the wall that manages the lab systems.)
“Mira!” I pointed. “Over there!”
She ran to it immediately.
I followed a step behind her, axe still in my hand.
Behind us, the glass tanks groaned under pressure.
Another crack crawled across the surface of one.
Mira leaned over the console quickly, scanning the controls.
“There’s a lot of stuff here!”
“Please tell me one of those buttons says ‘do not release nightmare monsters!’”
“I think”
Behind us
CRACK
One of the tanks split a little wider.
The creature inside pressed its face against the glass.
Its eyes never left Mira.
Not once.
I noticed something else.
Something that made my stomach twist.
Even when I moved.
Even when I waved the axe.
Even when I stepped directly in front of one of the tanks
Their heads turned.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Tracking only Mira.
Not me.
Just her.
“…What the…” I muttered under my breath.
Why?
Why were they ignoring me still?
Why were they so focused on Mira???
“Mira!” I snapped.
“Yes?!”
“They’re still staring at you!”
“What?!”
She looked over her shoulder briefly.
All twenty creatures stared back.
“…Oh.”
She turned back to the console very quickly.
“Okay! I think I found something!”
“Please let it be a ‘stop everything’ button.”
“There’s a big red button!”
“…That sounds promising.”
“But”
Of course there was a but.
“There’s also a puzzle.”
I stared at her.
“…A puzzle.”
“Yes.”
“In the emergency monster containment console.”
“Yes.”
“Who the fuck designed this facility?!”
“I don’t know!”
Behind us
CRACK
One of the tanks split farther open.
Black fluid dripped onto the floor.
The creature inside twitched violently.
Mira scanned the screen again.
“Wait! Wait, there’s also a manual option!”
“What does that mean?!”
“There’s a manual override to sedate the creatures temporarily.”
My head snapped toward the tanks.
“…There is?”
“Yes.” she said quickly. “Each container has its own emergency sedation button on the outside.”(Sedation means using drugs or chemicals to make something calm, unconscious, or sleep. The sentence means a button that releases something to put the creature back to sleep temporarily.)
I turned back toward the rows of tanks.
Twenty containers.
Most cracking.
Some are cracking faster than others.
I stared at the cracking glass.
Then at the creatures inside.
Then back at Mira.
“You want me to run directly up to the nightmare jars.”
“Yes!”
“The jars that are currently breaking.”
“Yes!”
“And press a button next to the monster.”
“Yes!”
“While it stares at you like it wants to eat your soul.”
“Yes!”
I stared at her.
“…You know I only have one arm, right?”
“You have the axe.”
“…That is not comforting.”
Another tank let out a loud CRRRACK.
A large fracture spread across the center.
The creature inside slowly pushed its claws into the widening split.
Mira grabbed my shoulder.
“Eclipsara, if those break before I finish the puzzle, they’ll all get out.”
She pointed toward the tanks.
“Press the sedation buttons on the ones cracking the fastest. It should put them back into sleep mode for a short time.”
“…And what if it doesn’t?”
“Then we run.”
I exhaled slowly.
“…Fantastic.”
Another CRACK rang out.
A large shard of glass bulged outward.(A bulge means something pushing outward and sticking out from pressure inside. The sentence means the cracked glass was being pushed outward by the creature pressing from inside the tank.)
Black liquid dripped faster now.
Mira looked at me urgently.
“I need time to solve the termination button puzzle!”
“…Termination?”
“I think the red button kills them!”
“Well that’s good!”
“But I need time!”
I groaned loudly and gripped my axe tighter.
“…This day keeps getting worse.”
I turned toward the containers.
“Mira.”
“Yes?”
“I would like to file a complaint about this situation.”
“Complaint denied!”
I groaned.
Then tightened my grip on my axe.
“Fine!”
I rolled my shoulder and started moving toward the tanks.
“You solve the puzzle.”
Another crack echoed through the room.
“I’ll go play whackamonster.”
And with that, I sprinted toward the cracking containers.
I sprinted toward the first cracking container.
The creature inside had already pushed part of its claws through the widening fracture. Black fluid leaked down the glass like thick oil.
“Come on…” I muttered.
I spotted the small control panel mounted beside the tank.(A control panel is usually one surface with buttons or switches. A control console is a bigger station that may contain several panels and screens together.)
There.
A single button.
SEDATION OVERRIDE.
Of course it was placed at the perfect height for someone with two arms.
“…Fantastic design.”
I ran up to it and slammed my elbow against the panel.
CLICK.
A small light turned blue.
Inside the tank, the creature suddenly jerked.
Its claws slid back down the glass.
Its eyes slowly rolled upward as the sedation took effect.
The twitching stopped.
I didn’t wait.
I spun around and ran toward the next container.
Behind me Mira shouted from the console.
“I’m working on the puzzle!”
“How close?!”
“Not close yet!”
“Great!”
CRACK.
The second tank was worse.
The fracture had split halfway across the glass.
The creature inside was pressing its face directly into the widening break, needle teeth scraping against the surface.
“Oh no no no”
I reached the panel and jammed my elbow into the button.(Jammed means pushed something hard and quickly into place. The sentence means Eclipsara hit the button forcefully with her elbow.)
CLICK.
Two seconds.
It took two seconds.
Two extremely long seconds.
The creature twitched violently
Then suddenly went limp, floating in the murky liquid.
“Okay!”
I ran again.
Third tank.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Each one cracking.
Each one with those horrible eyes staring past me
Still focused on Mira somewhere behind me.
I slammed my elbow into another button.
CLICK.
Two seconds.
Come on.
Come on.
The creature’s claws were already halfway through the fracture.
“Sit! Sit! Sit!”
The sedation hit.
Its limbs slackened.(Slackened means became loose and relaxed after being tense. The sentence means the creature’s arms and legs stopped fighting and went limp because the sedation worked.)
It floated back.
“YES.”
I dashed to the next container.
My breathing was already getting rough.
Axe in one hand.
Buttons at awkward angles.
Glass cracking all around me.
“Mira!” I shouted while running.
“How close?!”
“Still solving it!”
“That is not a comforting answer!”
CRRRRACK
A tank behind me split wider.
Black liquid spilled across the floor.
“Oh crap”
I slammed my elbow into the next panel.
CLICK.
Two seconds.
The creature inside opened its mouth impossibly wide.
Teeth scraping the glass.
“Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep.”
The sedation kicked in.
It went limp.
I ran again.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Each tank another nightmare.
Extra limbs twitching.
Claws dragging along the fractures.
Jaws snapping slowly.
All of them staring past me.
All of them staring at Mira.
I hit another button.
CLICK.
Two seconds.
I held my breath.
“Sit! Sit! Sit!”
The creature slumped.(Slumped means dropping or collapsing into a relaxed or weak position. The sentence means the creature’s body sagged and floated loosely in the tank after losing strength.)
“Good monster.”
Next one.
Ten.
Eleven.
Twelve.
My lungs were burning now.
Boots splashing through leaking black fluid.
“Mira!” I shouted again.
“How close?!”
“Almost halfway!”
“HALFWAY?!”
“Just keep pressing the buttons!”
“I AM!”
Another tank let out a violent CRACK as I reached it.
The creature inside shoved its claws through the fracture.
Glass shards popped outward.(A shard is a sharp broken piece of glass. Popped outward means the pieces suddenly shot outward from pressure. The sentence means the tank broke and sharp pieces of glass flew outward.)
“Oh hell no!”
I smashed my elbow into the button.
CLICK.
Two seconds.
The claws kept pushing.
The creature’s head forced toward the gap.
“Shit shit shit shit Please Go to sleep. Go to sleep. Go to sleep.”
The sedation hit.
Its limbs went slack.
The claws slid back.
I staggered away and ran again.
Thirteen.
Fourteen.
Fifteen.
My breathing turned into rough pants now.
Each button.
Each tank.
Each terrifying two second wait.
“Sit!”
CLICK
“Sit!”
CLICK
“Sit!”
CLICK
Sixteen.
Seventeen.
Eighteen.
Nineteen.
By the time I reached the last container, my legs felt like fire.
The crack across the glass was massive now.
The creature inside had already forced one claw completely through.
Its head pushed forward.
Teeth snapping.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me!”
I lunged forward and slammed my elbow into the panel.
CLICK.
Two seconds.
The creature lunged again
“Shit shit shit shit”
Then suddenly
Its body went limp.
The claw slid back inside.
The creature floated silently in the murky liquid.
I stood there for a second, panting heavily.
Twenty tanks.
All sedated.
For now.
I turned toward Mira, breathing hard.
“All twenty!” I called out.
“Please tell me you’re done with the puzzle!”
“DONE!” Mira shouted from the console.
Before I could even respond
SLAM.
The red button was pressed.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then every tank in the room lit up with a violent red glow.
The liquid inside began to boil violently, bubbles exploding upward as the systems activated.
Then-
FWOOOOM
A blinding surge of energy filled the containers.
Inside them, the creatures convulsed.(Convulsed means jerking or shaking violently without control. The sentence means the creature’s body twisted and shook as the energy destroyed it.)
Their bodies twisted violently as the energy ripped through them.
Limbs disintegrated.(Disintegrated means breaking apart into tiny pieces or dust. The sentence means the creature’s arms and legs were destroyed and turned into fragments.)
Jaws collapsed.
Black flesh broke apart into burning fragments.
Within seconds, most of the creatures were completely vaporized, their bodies dissolving into nothing but swirling ash inside the tanks.
The room filled with the smell of burning chemicals.
I exhaled sharply.
“Thank-”
Something slashed across my back.
A searing horizontal pain exploded across the lower part of my back, just above my hip.(The hip is the part of the body at the side of your waist(narrow middle part of your torso. It’s the area between your ribs and your hips, where your body bends when you twist) where your leg connects to your torso(chest, stomach, and back, but not your head, arms, or legs.). The sentence means the cut hit the side of Eclipsara’s lower body near where her leg meets her body.)
“AAAH!”
I stumbled forward with a scream, nearly dropping my axe.
Warm blood instantly spread across my jacket.
I spun around.
One of the tanks behind me had completely shattered open.
Black liquid spilled across the floor.
And standing in the broken glass.
One creature.
Just one.
Its body was twisted and skeletal(Twisted means bent into an unnatural or wrong shape. The sentence means the creature’s body was distorted and not shaped like a normal body should be.), its long claws dripping with my blood. Its mouth split open far wider than any jaw should.(The jaw is the part of your face that holds your teeth and moves when you open your mouth. The sentence means its mouth could open way wider than normal, making it look unnatural and disturbing.)
Its limbs were wrong too many joints bending in the wrong direction.
Rows of needle teeth glistened(Glistened means shining slightly, usually because something is wet or reflecting light. The sentence means the sharp teeth looked shiny because they were wet with liquid or blood.) as black liquid dripped from its face.
“…Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”
The creature lunged.
I jumped back and swung my axe with all the force I could manage.
CLANG
THUD
The blade slammed into its shoulder and knocked it sideways.
“Stay DOWN!”
The creature shrieked, its extra limbs scrambling against the floor as it lunged again.
I rolled forward, barely avoiding the next swipe of its claws.
My back screamed in pain.
“Shit!”
I scrambled up and swung my axe.(Scrambled means to move quickly and awkwardly, often using your hands to help. The sentence means Eclipsara rushed to stand up in a messy, panicked way.)
CLANG.
The blade smashed into the creature’s other shoulder, forcing it back.
But it didn’t stop.
It twisted its body unnaturally and rushed me again.
I backed up, blood running down my spine.
“Sit down! Sit down! Sit down!”
I swung again.
CRACK.
The axe struck its side with brutal force.
The creature shrieked.
But it kept moving.
I quickly circled around one of the large containers, trying to keep the tank between us.
The creature scrambled over the floor after me, claws screeching across the metal.(Screeching means making a high-pitched, harsh sound. The sentence means its claws dragged across the metal loudly, making an unpleasant sharp noise.)
“Yeah, follow me! Follow me!”
I darted around the tank, forcing it to turn.
Then around another.
And another.
The creature chased me in jerky, unnatural movements, its limbs snapping and bending as it tried to keep up.(Snapping here means moving suddenly and sharply, like a quick jerk. Bending means curving or folding at joints. The sentence means its arms and legs were moving in fast, jerky, unnatural ways as it chased her.)
I cut across the room suddenly, forcing it to change direction again.
“Confused yet?!”
My back burned from the cut.
Blood ran down my side.
The creature ran with frightening speed and swiped again. Catching me off guard at the last second.
SLASH
Its claws sliced across my leg.
“SHIT!”
I stumbled, barely keeping my balance.
The monster lunged again, mouth opening wide
I raised the axe overhead.
“Come here, you ugly-”
BANG
A rifle shot cracked through the room.
The creature’s head snapped backward violently.
A perfectly clean bullet hole appeared straight through its skull.
The body collapsed instantly.
Mira stood across the room, sniper rifle still raised.
Smoke drifted from the barrel.
“…Nice shot.” I breathed.
For half a second everything was silent.
Then the rage hit me.
“YOU PIECE OF SHIT!”
I charged forward and raised my axe.
WHAM
The blade slammed into its skull.
“THAT”
WHAM
“WAS”
WHAM
“MY”
WHAM
“FAVORITE”
WHAM
“JACKET!”
I slammed the axe down again and again, screaming.
“I FUCKING LOVE THAT JACKET!”
The blade struck bone repeatedly as I kept swinging.
“How DARE you!”
Inside my head, the anger burned even hotter.
That jacket wasn’t just any jacket.
Val gave it to me.
He picked it himself.
It was warm.
Comfortable.
Perfect.
It was mine.
Mine.
And this stupid nightmare creature had ripped it open.
“How FUCKING DARE YOU!”
WHAM
“DO YOU KNOW”
WHAM
“HOW HARD IT IS”
WHAM
“TO FIND A GOOD AWESOME JACKET?!”
Suddenly Mira rushed over and grabbed my shoulders.
“Eclipsara! Eclipsara!”
I tried to raise the axe again.
“It’s dead!”
“IT DESERVES IT!”
“Eclipsara!”
She pulled on my arm.
“It’s dead already!”
I stopped, breathing hard, staring down at the completely destroyed head of the creature.
It wasn’t moving.
Not even twitching.
Silence filled the room.
Mira slowly loosened her grip.
“…You’re bleeding,” she said softly.
I stared at the corpse.
“…It deserved it.”
She sighed.
Then I lifted the axe one more time.
WHAM
“…Okay, now I’m done.”
I stood there breathing hard, axe still in my hand, staring down at the creature’s mangled skull.
Black blood and cracked bone coated the floor.
Mira still had a grip on my shoulders.
“…It’s dead.” she repeated carefully.
I looked down at it again.
Then raised the axe slightly.
Mira tightened her hold.
“Eclipsara.”
“…Fine.”
I lowered the axe.
But the moment I did-
My back throbbed.
The burning slash across my lower back suddenly reminded me it existed.
“Ah.”
I blinked.
“…Oh.”
Mira immediately looked worried.
“What?”
I reached back with my free hand.
My fingers came away red.
“Huh.”
Mira’s eyes widened.
“Eclipsara, your bleeding.”
I looked at the blood on my fingers again.
“…That explains the warm feeling.”
“Eclipsara!”
“It’s fine!”
“You’re bleeding a lot!”
“It’s called fashion damage.”
“That is not a thing.”
“It is now. I’ve had worse!”
She stared at me.
“You’re literally dripping on the floor!”
I looked down.
A small trail of blood dotted the ground behind me.
“…Okay, that’s a little concerning.”
The adrenaline was wearing off now.
My leg throbbed where the creature had slashed it.
“…Okay maybe that slash had a little bit of attitude.”
My back burned.
My breathing was still heavy.
But I was still standing.
Which meant-
“Good news!” I said, raising a finger.
Mira looked horrified.
“What good news?!”
“I’m not dead.”
“That is the bare minimum expectation!”
“And,” I continued proudly. “the jacket is only partially destroyed.”
She stared at the ripped, bloodsoaked tear across my back.
“…It is very destroyed.”
I gasped in betrayal.
“It is damaged, Mira.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose.
“You are bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“From multiple places.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re ranting about your jacket.”
“Because it was a gift!”
My voice got louder again.
“From Val!”
Mira groaned.
“Yes, I get it!”
“And it was warm!”
“Yes!”
“And stylish!”
“Yes!”
“And now look at it!”
I gestured dramatically at my back even though I couldn’t see it.
Mira sighed deeply.
“That creature almost killed you.”
“Yes, but more importantly-”
She grabbed my arm suddenly, cutting me off.
“We need to move.”
“Oh.”
Right.
The nightmare lab.
The shattered containers.
The giant facility.
Probably more monsters.
“…Good point.”
I glanced back at the tanks.
“Because if another one of those gets up I’m suing this entire facility.”
Mira slid one of my arms over her shoulder and started helping me walk.
“Lean on me.”
“I can walk!”
“You’re limping.”
“I am limping with confidence.”
She ignored that and started guiding me toward the exit.
We moved quickly across the room, stepping around shattered glass and black fluid.
My boots squished unpleasantly with every step.
“Ugh,” I muttered.
“Focus.”
“I am focusing.”
“You are complaining.”
“Complaining is a coping mechanism.”
As we reached the door, I pointed accusingly at the dead creature. “That thing had personal issues with my wardrobe.”
Mira helped me step back into the hallway we had come from. She then pushed the door shut behind us.
We reached the center of the hallway again.
The same threedoor intersection.
Except now only two remained unexplored.
Left.
Straight ahead.
I squinted at them.
“…Alright.”
Mira froze.
“…What are you doing?”
“Decision time.”
“You are bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re doing this now?”
“Yes.”
I pointed the axe at the doors again.
“Eenie… meenie…”
Mira stared at me in disbelief.
“…Seriously?”
“…miney…”
“NOW?!”
“…mo…”
She gestured wildly at the blood trail behind me.
“You are actively leaking!”
I pointed the axe confidently at one of the two remaining doors.
“There.”
Mira stared at me.
“…You are unbelievable.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She gestured at my back.
“You’re bleeding through your jacket!”
“Yes. Minor detail.”
“What the heck do you mean its a minor detail!! And you’re choosing directions with a children’s rhyme!”
“What else am I supposed to use?”
“A plan?!”
I shrugged.
“Plans are just organized guessing.”
She looked like she might scream.
“You almost died ten minutes ago.”
“And yet,” I said proudly, pointing the axe again. “the system worked last time.”
Her tail twitched.
“The system brought us into a room with twenty nightmare monsters.”
“Statistically that was very interesting.”
“You’re delirious from blood loss.”(Delirious means confused, not thinking clearly, or acting strangely. The sentence means Mira thinks Eclipsara’s blood loss is making her act irrational or not fully in control of her thinking.)
“I resent that accusation.”
“…You are going to die one day because of this.”
“Not today.” I said proudly. “Alright, Mira, calm down. Science is happening.”
Then I grabbed the door handle.
“Scientifically selected door number two.”
Mira reached the door first.
My hand was already moving toward the handle when she suddenly held up a hand.
“Wait.”
I blinked.
“What?”
She pointed at herself.
“I’ll check first.”
“…Why?”
“In case there’s something horrible inside.”
I stared at her.
“That is extremely thoughtful.”
“Yes.”
“And also extremely suspicious.”
She rolled her eyes and slowly pushed the door open.
The door creaked softly as it slid inward.
Mira leaned forward slightly to peek inside.
Then she froze.
“…What?”
She didn’t answer.
She just stood there staring.
I squinted at her.
“Mira?”
“…What.”
“That is not the reaction I expected.”
She slowly opened the door wider.
I stepped up beside her and looked inside.
Then I blinked.
“…Oh.”
The room was small.
But compared to everything else in this nightmare facility…
It looked almost comfortable.
There was an actual bunk bed against the far wall.
A real one.
Blankets.
Pillows.
Not laboratory equipment.
Not restraints.
Not glass tanks.
Just a normal bunk bed.
A small desk sat beside it on the left, with a single chair and a worn journal resting on the surface.
A dim overhead light gave the room a purplish glow.
And beneath the lower bunk-
There was another door.
A thick metal one.
Reinforced.
The kind designed to withstand something trying to break through it.
Mira stared around the room slowly.
“…Why.”
I leaned slightly against the doorway.
“Why what?”
She gestured at the bed.
“Why is there a bunk bed here?”
Then the desk.
“And a desk.”
Then the cozy blankets.
“And why does it look… comfortable?”
She turned back to me, confused.
“We’re in an underground horror lab.”
“…Correct.”
“So why is there a cozy bedroom in the middle of it?”
I looked at the bed.
Then at Mira.
Then back at the bed.
Then I pointed at it dramatically.
“Less talking.”
I took a step inside.
“More sleeping on the bed please.”
She stared at me.
“You are bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“You’re covered in monster fluid.”
“Yes.”
“And your solution is to immediately get into the mystery bed.”
“Yes.”
I walked toward it without hesitation.
“Bed.”
“Eclipsara.”
“Bed.”
She sighed and stepped into the room behind me.
“Fine.”
Before I could collapse onto the mattress, she walked over to the desk first.
“Wait.”
I groaned.
“What now?”
She opened the desk drawers and quickly checked inside.
“Maybe there are medical supplies.”
“That would be nice.”
She rummaged through the drawer.
Paper.
Notes.
A few random tools.
But no bandages.
No medicine.
No first aid kit.
“…Nothing.”
I slowly turned toward her.
“…You’re telling me this entire nightmare facility has monster jars but no bandages.”
“Apparently.”
I sighed dramatically.
“That feels like a design flaw.”
She looked at my bleeding back again and frowned.
“…Just lie down.”
“Finally.”
She pointed at the bed.
“Rest.”
“That was my plan from the beginning.”
I climbed onto the lower bunk carefully, trying not to pull the slash across my back.
The mattress was surprisingly soft.
“…Oh wow.”
Mira folded her arms.
“What?”
“This is the nicest thing we’ve found in this entire facility.”
She shook her head.
“You are unbelievable.”
I pulled one of the pillows under my head.
“Wake me up if another jar monster shows up.”
Mira sighed and glanced around the room again.
Still confused.
Still suspicious.
“…I still don’t understand why this room exists.”
Mira turned slowly toward the desk again.
I was already halfway wrapped in the blanket.
“Because the universe loves us.” I muttered.
She ignored me and stepped closer to the desk.
Her eyes settled on the journal resting on its surface.
“…Maybe whoever stayed here wrote something.”
“Great.” I muttered. “Another spooky reading.”
She walked over to the desk anyway and picked up the journal.
The cover was worn.
Edges bent.
Used.
“Maybe it explains why there’s a bedroom in a nightmare lab.” she said.
“Maybe it explains where the bandages are.”
She opened the first page-
Then the entire facility shuddered.
A deep RUMBLE rolled through the floor.
The bunk bed vibrated beneath me.
The walls groaned.
For a moment it sounded like something massive had shifted far below the facility.
“…What the-”
The rumbling stopped.
But the silence afterward was worse.
Because then-
From somewhere deep in the labyrinth (A labyrinth is a place like a maze with many confusing paths and hallways. The sentence means the facility is huge and easy to get lost in, with lots of twisting corridors.)of hallways-
A sound echoed.
Soft.
Distorted.
Inhuman.
“Heheh…”
The same haunting laughter.
It echoed faintly through the ventilation system.
Like it was traveling through the metal ducts.(Metal ducts are hollow metal tubes in walls or ceilings that carry air (like vents for air systems). The sentence means the sound is traveling through those air passages, making it echo through the building.)
Like something was wandering the corridors outside.
My eyes opened immediately.
“…Oh come on. That’s the same thing I heard earlier.”
Another sound followed.
A scraping noise somewhere far away.
Then another distant thud.
Something moving.
Something large.
And then-
Another rumble.
This time it felt like it came from underneath the floor.
Like something deep below the facility had shifted again.
Mira slowly closed the journal.
“…Nope.”
She walked straight to the door.
The heavy metal lock was already engaged.
But she still grabbed the handle and twisted the locking mechanism again just to be sure.
CLACK.
Then she pulled on it twice.
Hard.
Just to confirm.
Satisfied, she stepped back.
“Yeah.” she said flatly. “I just lost my desire to read the journal.”
I nodded from the bed.
“Understandable.”
“We can look at it later.”
“Love that plan.”
She glanced at the second heavy door beneath the lower bunk.
The one built like a reinforced bunker hatch.
“…And we can check those 2 doors later too.”
“Even better plan.”
The distant laughter echoed again faintly through the vents.
“Heheh…”
Mira immediately climbed onto the top bunk.
“Yep.”
The bed creaked slightly as she settled in.
“We’re resting.”
I shifted slightly on the mattress below.
“Agreed.”
The room fell quiet again.
Outside the door, the massive underground facility remained filled with distant echoes.
Scraping.
Faint metal groans.
And far away-
That quiet, inhuman laughter drifting through the vents.
I muttered quietly from under the blanket.
“…If that laughing thing opens this door, I’m pretending to be asleep.”
Above me, Mira whispered back.
“That will not work.”
“It might.”
