by Amy Cross
“What's that?”
“Annie,” Elly said with a sigh, and with a faint smile, “go get yourself a gun.”
***
“There it is!” Annie gasped, her voice filled with grit even as she dropped helplessly to her knees. Rain poured down all around, hitting the ground with unrelenting, ferocious intensity. “Do you see it?”
Behind her, Elly stepped closer.
“Please tell me you see it!” Annie yelled, still down on the ground. “Tell me I'm not imagining it!”
“You're not imagining it,” Elly replied, staring at the dark shape ahead. “We're here.”
At that moment, as if to confirm the point, lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating the radio telescope. A large round dish was tilted to one side, aimed toward the sky as thunder rumbled all around.
With the adrenaline still in her system, Annie carefully got to her feet. She was almost sinking into the muddy ground, but somehow she managed to remain upright. Reaching into the pocket of her over-sized lab coat, she felt the three handguns she'd stolen from some of the dead soldiers; three had been as many as she thought she could carry, and so far they didn't seem to be getting too wet in the rain. Not that she knew whether rain would stop them working, but somewhere in her addled mind she figured she should be as careful as possible.
“It's okay,” Elly continued. “There's no -”
Suddenly a scream rang out, horrified and filled with pain.
Stopping, Annie stared ahead at the facility. The scream had already faded away now, slipping back beneath the sound of driving wind and rain.
“What was that?” she whispered, as rain water dribbled down her face and over her lips.
“You can't let it stop you,” Elly replied.
“I can't do this,” Annie said, turning to her. “I need to call someone!”
“There's no time,” Elly explained. “You know all this, Annie. If the entity has a body now, it'll be getting stronger with every passing minute. If you ran and called for help, they could send entire armies here and there might be nothing they could do. You have to face this thing down, and you have to hurry because -”
Before she could finish, a second scream rang out, this time sounding more agonized than the first.
Annie turned and looked over her shoulder, back toward the radio telescope.
“Kirsten Winter is there,” Elly reminded her. “She's waiting for you. Between the two of you, you can finish this thing tonight. You remember the vision you experienced at the farmhouse, don't you? When you saw Carrie and Richard acting like monsters?”
“Yes, but -”
“You can't risk letting that future happen,” Elly said firmly. “You have to keep going, Annie. You have to do this.”
***
“It's too dark,” Annie said, standing in the doorway that led through to a long corridor. Reaching out, she fumbled for some switches on the wall, but she found that none of them switched on any lights.
On the opposite wall, a small box flashed green, showing a display that seemed to be reeling off a string of random numbers.
“Use the flashlight,” Elly said.
“What flashlight?”
“I told you to take a flashlight from one of the soldiers, along with a gun.”
“You did?”
Not remembering this, Annie reached into her pocket. She felt the butts of the guns, and then her fingers closed around the handle of a flashlight. She pulled it out and switched it on, and a beam of light immediately blasted along the corridor, illuminating a dusty floor as well as several pipes running across the ceiling.
“I still have patches in my mind,” she murmured. “I'm not a reliable narrator.”
“The plan was to use the radio telescope to focus the entity's consciousness,” Elly continued. “The telescope can receive as well as send. You and Kirsten were planning to receive the entity's mind through the telescope and bottle it away in a human brain. Langheim's done the same thing, except I think he's used a brain that's inside a body.””
Another scream rang out, this time sounding much closer. Annie flinched, and as the scream died away she felt certain that the ceiling's metal pipes had shuddered slightly.
“Who is that?” Annie whispered. “Someone's in pain, but who?”
“The entity, maybe,” Elly suggested. “If it's been transplanted into a human body, it'll still be in the madness phase. The screams are a good thing, Elly. The screams mean you're not too late.”
Annie turned to her.
“But I -”
Stopping suddenly, her eyes caught the flashing green box. This time, however, she saw that the random numbers had been replaced by a string of words. Making her way over, she took a closer look:
HURRY UP, ANNIE.
WEAK NOW.
CONTROL ROOM.
KIRSTEN XXX
She froze, reading the words over and over again, before turning and once again looking along the corridor.
“See?” Elly said. “Kirsten Winter is in the building. She probably used so much energy controlling Schlesinger's corpse and putting your brain into a new body, I'm sure she's struggling by now. You have to finish this together.”
Annie hesitated, before slowly setting off along the corridor. She kept the flashlight aimed straight ahead, picking out the bare walls, but already she felt that the sound of her own footsteps was too loud, that anyone else in the facility would already know of her arrival.
“Where are the staff of this place?” she asked. “What about -”
“Don't worry about the details now,” Elly replied. “You can figure all of that out later. Stay focused.”
Reaching out to steady herself against the wall, Annie stumbled for a moment, almost tripping as her feet caught the bottom of the lab coat. She somehow managed to stay up, however, and after a few more steps she reached the end of the corridor, where a door had been left hanging half off its hinges. There were scratches around the edges and part of the door-frame had been smashed away, as if some kind of immense force had burst through. There was blood smeared on the wall, too, and a light-switch had been torn out.
Pushing the damaged door aside, Annie stepped into what looked like some kind of control room. Banks of monitors filled one wall, displaying nothing but static, while a red light cast deep shadows toward the room's far end.
Annie took another step forward.
“This would be much easier,” Elly said, “if you'd stop thinking about yourself in the third person.”
Annie opened her mouth to reply, but then she heard a faint gasping sound coming from nearby. Turning, she saw that part of the ceiling had been torn away nearby, leaving wires hanging down. Further on, slumped in the farthest corner, there was a human figure. Annie instinctively took a step toward the figure, before stopping again as she saw Katia's bloodied face.
“Careful,” Elly said. “Remember that's not really Katia. It's her body, but her brain is long gone. That's Langheim in there.”
“Help me,” Katia replied, her voice trembling with fear. “Annie, please...”
“It's not her,” Elly pointed out. “Annie, keep moving. We have to find the entity.”
“The bad woman hurt me,” Katia sobbed, with tears streaming down her blood-smeared face. “There was a voice in my head, a mean man, but I managed to make him go away. Now it hurts so much, Annie. You have to help me. You know what it's like, don't you? You know how it feels when he gets into your head.”
Annie took another step closer.
“Please,” Katia continued, “I only -”
Her next words were drowned out by another horrified, ragged scream that rang out from somewhere deeper in the building.
“This is Langheim,” Elly said firmly. “You know that, Annie. Don't be weak. Don't let him manipulate you.”
“I'm so scared!” Katia sobbed. “I'm all alone! Won't you help me?”
Annie stepped even closer.
“You have to get
me out of here,” Katia continued, slowly starting to get up, only to slump back down. As she did so, her head turned to one side, revealing the broken left side of her face. Part of her skull had been crushed, and thick fresh blood was leaking from the wound. “She attacked me, Annie. She did this to me. You were supposed to look after me, now you have to make everything right. She's contained here for now, she's scared. Get me out of here, back to Eldion House, and we can come up with a new plan.”
“You know that's Langheim, Annie,” Elly said. “And if you need more proof, look over your shoulder.”
Annie hesitated, before slowly turning.
All the monitors on the far wall had now changed. Instead of showing static, they all showed the same brief message:
DON'T BE A DUMB BITCH, ANNIE
THAT'S LANGHEIM
GET YOUR ASS TO THE MAIN ROOM
X
“Kirsten's waiting for you,” Elly continued. “Langheim's as good as dead. You have to stop the entity.”
Annie paused, before slowly turning toward the far door.
“Get back here, you stupid cow!” Katia screamed, before yelling something else in German.
Annie turned to her.
“I'm ordering you!” Katia snapped, her face filled with fury. “Don't you know who I am? I'm your superior, and I'm ordering you to get me back to the main house so I can repair this damage! You will do exactly what you're told, and you will do it now!”
Annie stared at her.
“THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!” Katia shouted. “DO IT! DO IT NOW! DO IT! DO IT!”
“Go to Hell,” Annie replied, before turning and making her way toward the far door.
“You should kill him right now,” Elly said, hurrying after her. “Annie, Langheim's always going to be dangerous.”
“That body's dying anyway,” Annie pointed out.
“You should make sure! Cut the head off!”
“I was willing to give it everything!” Langheim barked. “I underestimated its madness, but I won't make the same mistake again. Lift me up from here and get me back to the house. I can help you, child. You're Annie Radford, aren't you? You're Annie in another body. I'll help you, we can work together, but you have to get me out of here!” He paused for a moment, before screaming: “I ORDER YOU TO GET BACK HERE!”
“I have to find Kirsten,” Annie said, pushing the door open and then stumbling slightly. She paused, taking a moment to steady herself.
And then she saw it.
Spread out ahead, a huge, round-walled room was dominated by a central column that rose up to meet the base of the radio telescope's main dish. Only the emergency lights were on, offering dim red lights from panels close to the floor, although banks of monitors were still flickering at various points around the room. Some of those monitors had suffered damage, with a few having been torn from the walls, and patterns of blood had been left smeared and sprayed on the white floor.
For a moment, Annie thought she was alone. Then, as she took a step forward, she became aware of a series of tight, snatched breaths coming from somewhere nearby.
Over near the room's center, hunched and on all fours, there was a figure in a tattered white dress. Its back was curved, moving fast with every rapid, snatched breath, and after a moment the figure let out a low, guttural growl.
Annie hesitated, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out one of the handguns. Her hand was trembling, and her childlike fingers struggled to grip the gun's handle properly.
At that moment, as if it had heard the movement, the figure half turned. Now its matted hair could be seen, hanging down and covering the side of its face, and the growling sound became more of a high-pitched, trilling snarl.
Annie opened her mouth to say something, but then she saw the figure's hands caked in blood, and she realized with a shudder that she recognized the wrists.
The figure turned a little more, finally revealing its face more fully.
Or rather, revealing Annie's face.
Still standing in the doorway, Annie stared in horror as she saw that the entity's mind had been transplanted into her own body. Thick black stitches ran up the back of the neck, toward a patch where the hair had been shaved away. Her own face stared back at her, filled with wild fury, and she watched as her own mouth opened to reveal bloodied, gritted teeth.
And the snarl continued.
“Langheim has a sick sense of humor,” Elly said, standing right behind her. “He needed to cage the entity in a body that wouldn't last forever, as a way of ensuring its cooperation. I guess for some twisted reason, he thought yours was the most viable. Not that his plan seems to have worked out too well. Looks like his creation turned on him at the first opportunity.”
The entity opened its mouth wider and let out a slow, hissing gurgle.
“It's completely mad,” Elly continued. “It's in a human body for the first time and it's not handling it very well. It hasn't managed to adapt yet, but it will. You understand that, right? It'll only get stronger.” She leaned closer. “You have to kill it!” she hissed. “Now, while you still can!”
“But it's...”
Annie paused, unable to stop staring at the snarling, angry creature.
“It's me,” she continued finally.
“It's just a monster in your body!” Elly snapped. “It's filthy, it's inhuman! It's a freak and you have to kill it before it gets too powerful! It's pure evil, Annie, and it was never supposed to walk among us like this.” Reaching around, she grabbed Annie's hand and raised it, forcing her to aim the gun at the creature. “It'll destroy the world if you let it out of here. Kirsten Winter can only keep it trapped for so long.”
“But it's me,” Annie replied. “It's -”
“Don't keep saying that!”
Annie opened her mouth, but suddenly the creature stumbled to its feet. Quickly toppling over, the creature let out a pained gasp before rising once again and this time managing to stay up.
“See?” Elly hissed. “It's learning already! It's learning too fast!”
“Maybe it's not evil,” Annie replied. “Maybe it can use its power for good, maybe it can help us. I can't just try to destroy it because it's different.”
“Don't be naive, Annie. You have to blast this thing out of existence. If you don't believe me, then look at the monitors.”
Turning, Annie saw that a new message was now displayed on the remaining screens:
KILL IT, ANNIE
END THIS
NOW!
P.S. XXX
Hearing a bumping sound, Annie turned and gasped as she saw that the creature was edging ever closer. The way it was walking, the creature seemed to be struggling, letting its arms hang low and shuffling as if it might collapse at any moment.
“You've been a lot of things in your life, Annie Radford,” Elly continued, “but you've never been an idiot, so don't start now.” Slowly, she let go of Annie's hand, leaving her to aim the gun herself. “Ignore the fact that it's in your body. That's just a temporary casing of flesh and bone, it won't even last long. Langheim was probably going to use that to gain control over this thing. The body will burn up soon.”
Staring, Annie looking into the eyes of the creature, and she saw her own bloodied, yellowing eyes staring straight back at her.
“I can't do this,” she whispered, as the creature stumbled even closer.
“You know it's the right choice,” Elly replied.
“Like when I shot Taylor?” Annie asked, her hand trembling more wildly than ever now. “A voice told me that was the right choice, and I ended up killing my own brother. I'm done listening to other voices now, especially ones that have invaded my head.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
The creature took another step forward. Now, in Annie's wrecked body, it stood staring down at Annie, who herself was in the body of the little girl from the laboratory. Adjusting her aim, Annie had to raise her hand high in order to keep the gun pointed at
the creature's face.
“Now,” Elly whispered. “Before it's too late.”
“This isn't really happening,” Annie replied. “It can't be.”
“The fate of the whole world is in your hands,” Elly continued. “This thing is pure evil.”
“I can't,” Annie said, pressing her finger against the trigger but holding back at the very last moment. “I just can't. Not again. Not like with Taylor.”
She hesitated, and then slowly she lowered the gun.
“Do it!” Elly snapped. “Annie, kill it!”
Turning, Annie saw that the message on the monitors had changed:
KILL IT
TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT
TRUST ME
“I trust you,” Annie whispered, with tears in her eyes, “but I can't make the same mistake again. I killed my brother, I can't -”
“Destroy me,” a voice gurgled suddenly.
Slowly, Annie turned back to look at the creature.
“Get me out of this thing,” the creature gasped, speaking with an approximation of Annie's own voice as a trickle of blood ran from one corner of its mouth. “I thought I wanted a body, but now I'm trapped. I thought I wanted to be conscious, but I can't make sense of this thing you call a mind. I want to go back to how I was, to how everything was before this started. Before I became trapped under Lakehurst. Please, let me out of this prison. The flesh... I can't stand the flesh. I can't stand the beating of the heart, it's like a hammer deep inside the body. And the flesh, so wet and warm, is torture. I want to be free.”
“It's not a prison,” Annie replied, “it's a body.”
“I don't want it,” the creature whimpered, reaching up and touching the sides of its head, as if it hoped to rip its own skull apart. “That man promised me power, but I don't want power. I don't want anything, except to go back to how I was before I was this... thing! He told me I can rule the world, he told me I can be all-powerful and that he'd help me, but I no longer want anything to do with this world. I want to go back to how things were.”