Sword ready for anything, Neter approached
the doors with great caution, placed his ear against the slab but inside the establishment
all seemed quiet, there weren't any sounds to be heard. He tugged at the
handle, it was locked. He stepped back, swung the sword around and with a loud
CRACK, blast the door open, triggering another round of agonizing canine
outcry from behind the tall stone wall.
He
peered through the door into a dim reception hall, dark and quiet inside, stuff
was strewn here too, the stench of old smoke was heavy, there had been a fire. With
all senses on alert, he stepped inside. Other than the wild life outside, the
lab appeared deserted, moved out of as if ready for demolition or heavy
renovation, perhaps due to the fire. The reception desk was packed up, closets
were empty, he walked farther into one of the offices, there were half-packed
boxes here too, it looked abandoned mid-task, perhaps due to the fire.
The
reception hall was like a mini-hub, signage hanging above pointed in several
directions, with hallways leading in four directions.
'ARIBU WING'. Neter knew in his gut the
moment he read it; this was what they
had been searching for, Malodon's secret lab. Braced for more of the horrors he
had already encountered, Neter headed down the hallway. The Aribu Wing had been
packed up too, lab after lab stood empty. Rows and rows of old beds were left,
banked against the walls. He took a deep breath and paused to compose himself
as feelings emerged from the past. The room felt familiar, he had felt these
toxic low vibrations before, heavy with sadness, torture and pain. Images of
horror that matched the scene, once so carefully put to rest resurfaced in his
mind like skeletons from his own closets. Feelings that he had been here before
only got worse. Conscious of fear creeping in, he pushed on, reminding himself
of the reasons he had come this far.
The
fire had been extensive, the Aribu Wing had been badly hit, every way he looked
there were black sooty walls, everything was layered in ash. File cabinets were
emptied, garbage bins were overflowing with old discarded scrolls and tablets,
furniture had been picked through and it seemed like the majority of the
equipment had been removed.
He
scanned the corners of the room for evidence of savage beasts... But there were
no bits of clothing, no fingers, no tufts of hair or children's shoes here. The
massacre had only taken place in Culloom... Did
the wild life escape because of the fire?
Troubled
on many levels, he walked through the lab to the office at the end of the hall.
The room was full of stuffed specimens, frozen in some sick action pose, there
were strange and modified beings of all kinds, cramming the walls of the room
like some creepy wax museum. There were tiny Gnomes and giant Nefilim beings,
bodies spliced with animal appendages, crossbred monsters of all kinds, the
tortured creations of a sick mind. What
was this?
For
a moment Neter was stunned, in shock he stared in horror at the crowd of
tragedy staring at him, their final expressions preserved forever... Even the
monsters seemed to have been begging for mercy as they had taken their final
breath. This was the real Hellias...
The
chill of darkness crept down his spine once again. What horrors had these poor
beings gone through? Such tortured lives bred sacrificed and mutilated in the
name of Fear, Greed and Heartache? Nothing had changed, things had obviously
mushroomed out of control, Orius had completely failed. Now he knew why he had
ran away to Ebar, now he knew why he offered to send a ship to 'rescue' them. Now
he knew who was actually 'mentally ill'.
"I'll
show you transformation!" He vowed under his breath and stormed out of the
museum, scanning the labs on his way back to the reception, there wasn't much
to see... Another office... This office had been emptied too, belongings and
files had been removed. There was a familiar image scribbled in chalk on the
blackboard on the wall. It was the image of a skull with a diamond shape drawn
in the center. A serpent was rising from the top... He recognized it right
away, it was copied from the Book of Life which they had stolen from Anur. What
were they doing with their Knowledge?
He
scanned the room once more as he turned to leave and noticed an empty bottle on
the floor. He picked it up and read the label "Year of the Pig."
Curious, he sniffed the bottle. "Ugh!" He jerked it away, nauseated
by the smell and threw it down in disgust, smashing the bottle on the floor.
"My
GOD!"
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