Reid nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Well, that was unfortunate. And unforeseen. It was the first time we hadn’t been prepared for such an event. It took us unaware.’
‘So what the hell was it?’ Reid asked.
But Templeton just went on with what he was saying, dismissing the question.
‘I’m not sure how much more time Tom here would have, so we need to speed up the process while we are in a position to handle it.’
The man on the bed stopped his groaning and fell silent after giving out a prolonged wheeze. Templeton went on.
‘I am aware that you have read at least some of my diary, Doctor. And, as you said, you saw something last night that you could not explain. Tell me, how hard was it for you to believe what you were seeing?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, did you accept what your own eyes were showing you?’
‘Of course.’
‘That’s good, Dr. Reid. Many in your line of work would not. Now, let me ask you this. What was it, exactly, that you saw?’
Reid paused for a moment, considering the question. Tom gave a brief moan, then settled again into silence.
‘I don’t know,’ Reid said.
‘Try. How would your scientific brain rationalise something that couldn’t be rationalised?’
‘I’m guessing that this medicine has something to do with it,’ Reid said.
‘Indeed,’ Templeton replied.
‘So it does something to the human body? Mutates it somehow? I’m not a chemist or biologist, so I cannot even begin to explain how that happens.’
‘That may be partly true,’ Templeton said. ‘But in actuality, there is a kind of transference taking place. The medicine you see entering Tom Cunningham’s veins is the catalyst for that change.’
‘A transference of what?’ Reid asked. ‘Cells?’
‘You are still thinking in terms of science, Thomas—of things we understand. Just how much of my diary did you read? I would like you to consider possibilities more… eldritch in nature.’
‘Eldritch?’
‘Something a little more outside of your belief system, Doctor.’
‘These gods you spoke about?’
Templeton nodded.
‘I don’t know what else to say, Isaac,’ Reid snapped. ‘You are asking me to use fantasies and fairytales to replace actual science.’
‘Something that you cannot explain, I remind you.’
‘There is a lot in this world that I can’t explain. It doesn’t mean I attribute it to make-believe gods.’
Templeton just smiled. ‘You still cling to redundant notions of how things are, Dr. Reid. I sympathise. I’ve been there myself. But I have seen the truth, as you soon will.’ He then pointed to Tom. ‘Watch.’
It did not take long for things to happen. Tom’s eyes flicked wide open, and his jaw dropped. Then he let out a horrifying scream.
His eyes rolled back in his head, but he was not dead.
An unnatural growl emitted from his throat.
And then the change began.
His jaw cracked and dislocated, and the mouth pulled itself open farther to an unnatural length. His teeth were pushed out from the gums, along with small pools of blood. Some of the teeth fell back into his mouth, others to the bed beneath him. Longer, sharper teeth now emerged, pushing their way through as the mouth continued to contort, taking in more of a vertical, elliptical shape. Both eyes dropped and engorged, the whites and irises flooded by a pool of black.
At the same time, Tom’s thrashing body transformed, too. His arms and legs elongated, becoming spindly things, and Reid could hear bones crack and splinter as they changed shape. The knees buckled inwards with a nasty pop, and a webbing formed between the long fingers and toes. All the while, skin that was turning a dirty green, tightened around bones. The chest cavity pushed itself out so far that the flesh split around it, revealing bone beneath.
Lastly, Tom’s tongue thinned and stretched as well, dangling from the mouth like a sore, loose nerve ending.
The abomination that Tom had now become—bearing qualities of both amphibian and insect—let out a screech.
Reid moved back to the far side of the room, pressing himself into the wall, and put a hand over his mouth in horror.
‘Steel yourself, Dr. Reid!’ Templeton yelled above the horrifying noise. The director did not look at Reid as he spoke; instead his gaze was fixed on this creature in awe and wonder. ‘This is exactly what you wanted to see. This is the truth of how things really are, so bear witness to it.’
‘This is insane,’ Reid yelled back, terrified. The creature writhed and squealed on the bed, fighting against its bonds. The leather straps creaked and groaned in protest. Eventually, Reid knew, this monster would break free. ‘Kill it,’ he shouted to Jones, trying to make it sound like an order. Jones just ignored him, but did, Reid noticed, keep the weapon he was carrying trained on the monster.
‘Remember this moment, Dr. Reid,’ Templeton said. ‘For when you look back, you will know it was now that you started to believe.’
‘I want nothing to do with this,’ Reid snapped, and Templeton eventually looked over at him. The creature on the bed continued to fight.
‘Yes,’ Templeton said, ‘you do. The night is not yet over.’ He now turned to Jones and the others. ‘We must move this child. Follow me.’
Templeton then walked to the door and pulled it open as the orderlies gathered around the bed. They carefully wheeled it out to the corridor as the monster kicked, bucked, and roared.
Reid pressed himself further into the wall as they passed him. His breathing was fast and erratic.
Templeton yelled from the corridor outside.
‘Dr. Reid, I suggest you accompany us. You still do not know everything there is to know. You wanted answers? You wanted the truth? Well, tonight is a night for revelations.’
Reid remained in place, terrified and conflicted. He did want answers, but now feared what those might be.
‘Well?’ Templeton called back over the sound of the creature.
Reid took a breath. ‘I’m coming,’ he said. He then pushed himself off the wall and left the small room.
The terrible sounds of whatever ungodly thing poor Tom had become eventually died down, leaving only the frightened cries of Adrian’s fellow inmates. God knows what they made of the nightmarish noises.
But Adrian knew exactly what had happened.
He had seen firsthand the thing Malcolm had become, and now the same fate had befallen Tom. He knew it.
And he remembered the poor old man’s words from earlier.
Guess this is what you’ve got to look forward to, lad.
21
Reid hesitantly followed as Templeton led the way; the group of orderlies gathered around the bed they pushed along. The creature tied to the bed did not relent for a moment, struggling and thrashing against its restraints, which seemed to give more and more. Reid was concerned that they would not hold much longer and he prayed they would reach their destination quickly, as he did not want to get caught up in the kind of carnage he had seen the previous night.
Jones walked beside the bed as it moved, flame-spewing weapon in hand. The end was lit, and the small blue flame was ignited, ready to burst forth with a stream of red-hot flame.
They moved from Ward B and into the Main Hall, then from there continued to the very back of the large open space. Given the late hour, the room was empty and would have been deathly quiet if not for the noise the thing they were transporting created.
They finally stopped before the old service elevator, the one that Reid had not yet used, though he had a feeling that was about to change.
A mesh gate protected the dark red steel door to the lift. Templeton unlocked the gate, and it swung open with a creak. He then slid up the inner door to reveal a bare, spacious internal area.
Templeton moved aside, allowing the bed to be wheeled into the elevator. Templeton then
joined his group inside and turned to Reid, who had still not crossed the threshold.
‘Well?’ he asked, but Reid hesitated. If that thing got loose in such an enclosed space, then they were done for, and Jones’ weapon would be useful only to incinerate them all.
‘I…’ Reid began, but trailed off.
‘Mr. Jones, could you please help the good doctor along?’
Reid looked up to see Jones stomp back out towards him, and the large man grabbed him. ‘Come along, Dr. Reid,’ Jones said and dragged Reid into the elevator.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Reid snapped as he fought uselessly against the bigger man, but Jones seemed to have no trouble manhandling him with his one free hand.
‘It is too late to back out now,’ Templeton said as he slid the door closed. Reid was then released, and he felt the sway of the elevator as it started to drop. The mechanics of the machine worked noisily, partially drowning out the screeching of the impossible thing that still fought on the bed.
The feeling of nervousness in Reid increased, and even though the inside of the lift was far from cramped, he still felt as if the walls were closing in on him. Claustrophobia was never an affliction that had troubled him before, but now he had a desperate need to be out of the space.
The elevator rumbled down farther, eventually coming to a stop with more force than Reid was expecting, causing all inside to rock on their feet. Templeton pulled open the door to reveal a subterranean level. From his vantage point within the elevator, Reid could make out a long, wide passageway with a high, curved ceiling above.
The walls and ceiling were both constructed from wet stone, but the ground that the group walked on was little more than dirt and dust. And whereas ceiling-fixed electric lights illuminated the facility above, there was no such luxury down here. Instead, the flickering light was cast by lit torches mounted on the walls, giving off circles of light not quite powerful enough to reach the other side of the passageway and leaving pockets of darkness between.
They did cast enough light, however, to illuminate doors cut into the thick stone walls, formed from rusted iron grates on hinges and showing only darkness behind.
But from that darkness, horrible noises could be heard. Inhuman moans echoed, and they became more agitated—or excited—when the creature the group had with them on the bed cried out as well.
‘What’s down here?’ Reid asked. His throat was dry and his palms damp.
‘Allow me to show you,’ Templeton said. He turned and walked out first. The orderlies wheeled the bed after him… and then it happened.
One of the orderlies, who had taken a position at the head of the bed, bent his body double as he pushed forward—it was at this moment that the creature opened its dripping mouth, and that thin tongue burst forward with frightening accuracy. The flimsy-looking muscle penetrated the orderly’s right eye with force, and as it did, it straightened out to its full length. The orderly let out a sharp shriek and instinctively pulled his head back, but it snapped to a stop as the tongue buried into his eye socket held him in place. Greasy water spilled down his cheek as the orderly started to scream.
There was a frantic buzz of activity as the other orderlies—sans Jones—tried to pull their colleague free. Jones, instead, turned his weapon on the creature on the bed, but Templeton calmly placed a hand on the long nozzle and pushed the aim down.
Reid himself had backpedaled farther into the lift, removing himself from any immediate danger as best he could.
But the chaos and panic continued and, eventually, the orderlies managed to pull their struggling colleague free. The tongue of the monster, upon losing its hold, quickly slithered back into its mouth, but not before Reid noticed a few drops of black liquid pump out from its end. Reid then looked to the wailing orderly, who was thrashing in pain as the others helped him down to his back. He had a hand clamped over his ruined eye, and dark fluid ran from between his fingers.
It was quite clear to Reid that something had been excreted into the man’s eye socket from that vile tongue. Jones and Templeton, who were now more animated, were clearly thinking the same thing, and it seemed to concern them more than the injury caused to the orderly.
‘Sir,’ Jones said, ‘the liquid. Is that…?’ He trailed off, but Templeton answered anyway.
‘I believe it is.’
‘That hasn’t happened before.’
‘It has not. I think things are progressing, the transformations evolving.’
Reid had no idea what the hell was going on, but he wanted to be away from this madness.
‘Will he turn?’ Jones asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Templeton said as the man continued to scream. ‘But we must take precaution. We can’t let a change take place while we are unprepared.’
‘We keep him here, then?’
Templeton nodded.
And that was it. Jones walked forward, pushed away the other orderlies, and took hold of the squirming man, dragging him across the ground with one hand. The orderly kicked and writhed as Jones pulled him over to one of the grated doors, where Jones peered inside, checking the space. He then retrieved his ring of keys and, in short order, unlocked the door and pulled it open.
The orderly had begun to crawl away. ‘No,’ he yelled out, seemingly aware of what was going to happen. ‘You can’t.’
‘Be calm, brother,’ Jones said. ‘This is for the best. Embrace what will happen.’
Jones then stepped towards the pleading man and grabbed him. The man tried to fight back, but Jones quickly overpowered him and thrust him through the now open door. He then pushed it closed and locked it, trapping the orderly inside. He quickly reappeared from the darkness, his face pressed up against the iron bars.
‘Please,’ he begged again. ‘Please don’t do this.’
Jones ignored him and walked back over to the others.
‘Now,’ Templeton said, looking down to the thing that used to be Tom Cunningham, ‘our new friend here grows angry. We must move quickly.’
Jones took the lead, grabbing the bed—from the bottom this time, aware of what had happened before—and pulled it farther into the open corridor. The bed wobbled on the uneven ground, but he still maintained a steady pace, pulling the bed over to a door adjacent to the recently imprisoned orderly. That man continued to plead for release and continued to be ignored. The other door was opened, and Jones wheeled the bed inside.
He reemerged and locked the door.
‘Thank you, brother,’ Templeton said to him, giving him a warm pat on the shoulder. The director then looked back to Reid, who still stood in the elevator, terrified for his life. The noises that reverberated from the cells, and through this subterranean ward-from-hell, were maddening.
‘Doctor?’ Templeton said. ‘Would you care to join us?’
Reid didn’t move. ‘I want to go back upstairs. I’ve seen enough, now let me go.’
Templeton shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, but you have not seen enough. Not even close. There is more to see, good doctor, and I did not bring you down here merely to show off these cells. Now come along before I order Mr. Jones to collect you. I can’t promise he will be gentle.’
Even at this distance and in the dim light, Reid could make out the cruel smile that spread across the face of Jones.
Reid took a breath and forced himself out of the elevator.
‘Fine,’ he said, but when he crossed the threshold out into the open space of this area, he suddenly felt horribly exposed. The air was cold and stale, and as he walked forward he swore he could feel eyes on him.
He peered into some of the dark cells he passed, trying to see as much as the dull light would let him. Some of the cells appeared to be empty—or if they were inhabited, then the things inside were content not to show themselves—but the residents of others stood in full view behind the iron doors, revealing their forms through the metal.
Monsters, creatures, and nightmarish abominations.
Seeing such ho
rrors caused Reid to pause and draw in a sharp breath. The first monstrosity that he saw had a vaguely humanoid shape to the top of its body and walked like an ape, supporting itself on two long, trunk-like arms that ended in sore-looking stumps, devoid of hands or fingers. It had broad shoulders, but its body withered away at the waist, curling to nothing so that its bulk hung between the massive arms. Its head, once human, was bald and the cranium was lined with small, white eyes that all gelled together like fish eggs. Instead of a mouth, the skin seemed to have sealed over, gagging it, however the thing was still able to make animalistic noises from the strange opening across its stomach: a circular wound with spiralling flesh behind it that kissed and puckered at the air.
Suddenly, the thing lifted a great arm and slammed it forward into the door, causing a deafening, metallic crash to ring out. Reid jumped back and let out an involuntary shriek. The thing punched again, and the metal door shook violently against its frame. The sounds from the other cells grew more frantic and more… excited.
In another cell, Reid saw a creature with a stick-thin body lined with sharp spines. It had a grotesquely engorged head that looked like little more than a sack of fat, hiding whatever face it had beneath. Strained moans could be heard from within the folds of the sagging, pulsating flesh.
Reid pushed himself on, trying not to look at the surrounding horrors, but a morbid curiosity worked against him. The next thing he saw at first seemed human—normal height, standard build, and naked. However, when it moved forward—with odd, jerky movements—Reid saw that its face had sunk so much that the eyes bulged from the sockets, ready to pop out, and its arms were buried inside its own stomach, fused into the flesh and lost within. It smiled and giggled, then opened its mouth wide, allowing Reid to see rows of small, stubby teeth running to the back of its throat.
Another creature, smaller than the rest, clung to the door of its cell, gripping on it like an underwater mollusc on a rock. Its once human shape had flattened out, its skin gelatinous, slimy, and transparent, revealing stringy insides. The creature’s face, now only spirals of small eyes around a large suckling mouth, was central to the mass of its body.
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