“Well, I got some bad news and some really bad news,” Jasmine said.
Erich sighed, glancing towards the door. “I’ll take the bad news first.”
It had been a few minutes since their close encounter with the beast but his residual presence remained.
That little voice in the back of his mind was screaming. Its voice had been perverted into an agonizing white noise that threatened to split Erich’s mind in two.
His vision was tinted with red and he saw little tendrils of white squiggle away in his vision.
As he glanced at his fingertips, he noticed that a black goo was building under his nails. It was like it was trying to break free. Likely it was, as there was a noticeable, and mounting, pressure building under each nail, making his situation even worse.
Clearly, his guest was going through some shit at the moment.
“All of the juicy information is kept under a cryptolock, which… I’d need the corresponding cryptokey to unlock,” Jasmine explained.
She sounded so distant.
What was going on? What was happening to him?
I’ve reunited with my progenitor though… it is not as calm as myself. I do apologize for its viciousness but it refuses to settle. Hopefully it will see reason eventually.
Lovely.
Erich nodded, forcing his attention onto Jasmine. “And I’m guessing the key is…”
“That’s the really bad news. It’s probably with her body,” Jasmine finished. She then sighed. “What I can find is also not reassuring. Something about ‘The Project’ in her emails. Lots of doomsday and vague bullshit that probably shouldn’t even be around on servers where us mortal, with low clearance levels, can roam.”
“Any news on what they’re injecting me with?” Erich asked. Though he felt like he already knew the answer.
Jasmine frowned. “Not explicitly, no. But if I had to make an educated guess, I can’t imagine that the black goo that’s murdering everyone is just some pet they leave lying around.”
She grunted loudly, scrolling through the computer.
“Anything of use in any of the other emails?” Erich asked.
Jasmine slowly shook her head. “Not unless you’re hyped that tomorrow is Taco Tuesday?”
Erich brightened, looking up at her.
“Huh,” he murmured.
“What?” Jasmine asked. Then it clicked. “Wait… are you actually excited about that…”
“Always wondered why you guys brought me tacos once a month,” he said, chuckling. “Was kind of looking forward to it.” He placed a hand against his cheek. “That’s besides the point. I can get tacos when I’m finally out of here.”
He then pointed a metallic finger at her. “So, I’m guessing that there’s nothing on how to kill it.”
Jasmine shook her head.
Erich sighed. “Well in that case we better make a break for the exit. Only chance we’ll have to get out of this place alive.”
He reached for the panel next to the door, ready to open it.
Not yet.
That voice was the only reasonable one. Every other synapse, in his mind, was alight with a white-hot agony.
Yet, Erich was finding himself amenable to agreeing with this voice. After all, it hadn’t steered him wrong yet.
“I just know one thing,” Jasmine whispered. “Whatever we do, we can’t let that thing escape. I have a feeling that it has the end of the world written all over it.”
Escape.
Erich nodded.
The rattling in the hallway returned, distant once again. Though like before, it grew louder and louder. It sounded like a piece of metal in a dryer, rattling around and around with every rotation. Soon, the sound of torn metal and heavy impacts joined in, creating a cacophony of violence.
The Being outside was chaos personified. Wherever it moved a noisy destruction was left behind.
Thankfully it moved along just as swiftly as it arrived, not staying behind to crack open another compartment and tear its inhabitants to shreds.
I’ve covered for you. Though I don’t think the illusion I’ve projected to hide you from the me that is not me will remain firm for long. You should use this opportunity to escape.
The screaming within Erich’s mind slowly faded away as the monster departed, dying down to a more reasonable howl of fear.
Erich knew something was amiss. It would take an idiot not to realize that he was fucked up in the most extreme definition of the word.
He looked down at his hands, noticing that the blackness had subsided, retreating back into his system. Though there was now red blood dripping from his fingertips.
“Lovely,” he whispered.
Jasmine perked up. “What?”
“I said we should get a move on,” Erich lied. “No point waiting around for that thing to show up again.”
Jasmine looked hesitant but forced herself out of her chair.
“Alright, the elevator should be relatively close,” she said.
Erich opened the door and was instantly hit by a putrid smell. The source of it spilled into the room as the bottom half of some poor bastard tumbled inside, splashing all sorts of unpleasant things against the cuff of his pants.
“Lovely,” he whispered.
Jasmine looked green but thankfully managed to restrain herself.
They plodded through the blood and gore, heading down another corridor that had been destroyed by the beast. It seemed like their hunter was growing increasingly angry. Where there had been a few scratch marks, in previous corridors, there were now whole sections of walls and paneling torn asunder, exposing the bare bedrock.
“Surprised that it doesn’t burrow its way out,” Erich commented.
Jasmine shrugged. “Maybe it isn’t strong enough or maybe…”
“Maybe?” Erich asked.
“I mean just a theory but maybe the rock is poisonous to it,” Jasmine suggested.
“That…” Erich snorted. “Sounds pretty implausible. It’s a feral animal who has food, it’ll get out when it feels good and ready to do so.”
“Good luck with that,” Jasmine murmured. “We’re under at least two hundred feet of the Canadian Shield.”
They turned another corner and Erich sighed in relief. This one seemed to be untouched, a virgin landscape that had not yet been plodded by their stalker.
“Though it does make me wonder why this thing waited so long to break free,” Erich said.
Jasmine shook her head. “No idea. Clearly things like steel and walls aren’t really an obstacle for it.”
NO WAY OUT!
Erich winced, shivering at the new voice. “We’ll never know.”
“Are you alright?” Jasmine asked.
“Just peachy…” Erich grumbled, grunting through the pain. “Thanks for asking.”
They plodded forwards at a trot, half walking, half running to their destination. Each step echoed through the eerily quiet halls that surrounded them on all sides.
Erich looked at Jasmine who was gazing over her shoulder.
“He isn’t going to sneak up on us,” he joked. “Things too stupid to do something like that.”
There was a bang from in front of them, a loud thud. It was like the world’s most accursed drumbeat. It was soon followed by another and another, each drawing closer and closer.
Erich and Jasmine both froze, looking at one another. Then they started to scour the hall, looking for any doors, any protection. However, there wasn’t so much as a janitor’s closet. It was barren. They were caught out in the open.
The voice in Erich’s mind started to holler, screaming with its usual shrillness. It made him wince, threatening to split his skull right down the middle.
“Yeah, I got the memo,” he hissed, feeling spittle fly from his teeth as he fought through the incredible pain.
Jasmine reached out to him. “Come on, we got to make a run for it.”
ESCAPE!
Erich looked at her hand. He reached for it but the voice was having none of it. It screamed even louder, like the world’s worst toddler. The pain was too much, the voice making functioning an impossibility.
His hand wobbled there, in the air, for both of them to see.
“Oh my god,” Jasmine whispered.
Erich blinked, his vision blurring.
What exactly was she ‘oh my god’-ing about?
Then he noticed it. The blackness had returned, not only pooling under his fingernails but now coating his digits. It was the beast or at least a part of it.
“You… You…” Jasmine took a step back. “You’re…”
Another drumbeat, now so scarily close.
Erich lurched forwards, like a drunk on his final beverage of the night. He groped at Jasmine and grabbed the hand that she was holding. She let out a panicked note, letting go of it in an instant, lest she be infected with whatever pollutant was coursing through his system.
TRUST ME!
And he did, standing perfectly still. He gritted his teeth and barely even breathed. Was he quivering? Probably. But all he could do was pray that the beast could be trusted.
The screaming rewarded him, dying down from pure white agony to something manageable. It settled him, washing over him like an aura.
Jasmine shook her head and started to sprint in the opposite direction, her shoes clapping against the ground with every stride.
“I’m going to die.”
No, you won’t. Trust us…
The beast must’ve finally turned the corner as Erich heard Jasmine let out the most guttural scream imaginable. It was worse than even the voices in his own mind. They were inhumane, but this was a human, a fellow person who knew that their life was drawing to a close.
She’ll die, so we may live. Don’t you want to live?
Erich opened his mouth to speak but promptly shut it. Yes, yes, he did in fact want to live.
She tortured you.
They had.
She held you captive.
They had.
This is the price she must pay.
Erich steeled himself, feeling the beast draw nearer. He felt its presence in the way the floors shuddered under its impressive weight.
Soon there was a cascade of liquid above him and around him, like a tidal wave that flowed over his body. He felt his voice bubbling forth, threatening to break forth in a scream.
Drops of black dripped from the beast’s body, showering down upon him. They were cold and heavy like liquid latex or oil. Yet, they did not burn, nor burrow into him. Instead, they were silent, dead.
The world was dark, in that moment, all light taken over by the immense blackness that surrounded him in every direction.
Finally, the tidal wave subsided and the entire black mass was beyond him. It was forcing its way further down the hall, blocking out the sounds of Jasmine’s screaming.
Was she dead? He honestly had no idea.
Go!
Erich obeyed, sprinting down the hall. He pumped his arms, fighting through the buildup of bile and horror bubbling within his gullet. His blood felt like poison, burning as he pushed himself onwards.
Fear was a hell of a drug, letting him push through the boundaries of common sense and endurance. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going at this point.
Finally, he turned the corner, leaving the beast’s blackish mass behind.
In the distance was a large steel door with a panel before it. He could only imagine that this was the elevator.
As he stumbled to a stop before it, he looked at the hand. The key.
It was damaged. Two of the digits were broken open and plenty of the flesh was scarred from wear and tear. It was also bulging slightly, the first stages of decomposition bloating it and making the skin feel waxy and weak.
Still, he attempted to use it, placing it against the panel. Slowly, the machine attempted to read it, getting through two of the digits before flashing red. He tried again and the same thing happened.
Erich let out a growl of feral fury, throwing it against the wall where it impacted with a meaty thud.
“Of course!” he barked, letting out a chorus of ghastly laughter. “Of course, it’s busted.”
And the other hand, that could open this door, was all the way back in the control room. Wherever that may have been in this maze of a facility. And even if he could get there, how would he know which corpse was the right one?
“Well little dude,” Erich said. He stumbled back and slumped against the wall. “We’re fucked.”
No, we’re not. Look at your hand.
Erich snorted and did so. Though his breath promptly caught as he saw the blackness under his fingernails, spread to his fingertips.
“What are you…”
He yelped loudly and hissed in pain. His fingertips burned as if they were placed against a hot iron. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes as he attempted to shake his hand, casting the stupid goo away. Though it remained, not deterred in the slightest.
We read the hand. We know its prints.
Erich wanted to respond but his mind was dominated with a blistering pain. His eyes bulged and he could feel his stomach churn.
Finally, however, the pain abruptly ended. As he looked at his hand, he noticed no difference in its appearance. It was not wounded by any stretch of the imagination.
Try it.
Erich groaned and got up, making his way over to the console. His feet felt like jelly and they were supporting legs made of straw. Yet, he made it over to the panel, slapping his hand against it.
The machine clicked away, churning and trying to see if this was the real deal.
Again, and again, it looped. It read his thumb first, then index, middle, ring, and finally… pinkie fingers. Each were marked off by a little checkmark until finally a massive beacon popped up on the centre of the screen.
The interface now asked him if he’d like to call an elevator.
His hand hovered above the button, yet, he did not push it. This was it. This is all he had to do to escape.
But was he willing to do that to the world?
He was fucked up by whatever weird alien bullshit this place was pumping out. If he took the chance then wouldn’t he be inflicting that horror upon the world?
Maybe he was a little spooked by that black goo that had just tsunamied around him.
Escape.
ESCAPE!
Erich gritted his teeth and pressed the button.
Fuck the world, what had it ever done for him.
For a moment, he thought he’d have to wait for it to come down. But thankfully, god saw fit to grant him the smallest of mercies as the doors opened right away.
As soon as he was able, he stepped into the massive elevator and rushed over to the controls. He hammered the up button with fury, again and again, until the doors behind him started to close. They were agonizingly slow about it.
Erich held his breath.
He half expected the monster to return and slip through the gap. Wouldn’t that be just peachy, being torn to shreds in the final five minutes of his escape.
It won’t harm you.
The door finally shut and the elevator started on its way to the surface.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
We’re alive.
“Yeah, we are.”
