Chapter 70: The Crimson Room
Using true invisibility, I disappear like a ghost. Shortly after, a young blond man in a white lab coat steps out of the room I was listening to. A permanent state of disdain rests on his face. He storms down the corridors like someone just told him his car window was just smashed in.
I follow him, keeping careful count of my invisibility timer. I float a step behind him like a shadow. He quickly walks to the opposite wing of the manor, quiet words leaving his lips. “You’re the one dying you old fool. I get to research for free and you keep on kicking. Is that so hard that it gets through your thick head?!” The last part comes out as an angry hiss.
He walks through the rooms I previously searched before opening the end room. He steps through the doorway, lazily looking over the room. He freezes for a split second, scrutinizing the room. Thankfully, he just shakes his head and moves to the table.
He grasps the glass container holding the pink liquid. Swirling it delicately in his hand, he mutters “Trash, couldn’t have been a little purer, could you?” He brings the glass to his side before quickly leaving the room.
I continue to follow him as he steps down the stairs. He walks to the side of the stairs that heads deeper into the building before stepping into an inner room. Inside, some stairs descend down into a poorly lit tunnel.
He, clearly being familiar with the building, steps down without a hint of fear. As we descend further, I notice the recency of the appearance of the wall. Unblemished, new bricks are clearly visible each time we pass the rare torch. A thin layer of moisture clings along the walls and floor.
Eventually, we come to a large cavernous room. Blinded by a sudden bright light, I wince. Rubbing away the pain in my eyes, I take a blurry look around, noticing a distinct shade of red around the room. As my eyes come into focus… I begin to wish they hadn’t. Turning around to resist the urge to vomit, my stomach twists at the slight glimpse I got of the room. Blood, so much blood.
I suppress my trembling arms. I knew something grim was going on, but this is – terrifying. Focusing my mind inside myself to gain a semblance of stability, I turn to get a better picture of the scene. Looking around, I see… bodies; so many bodies. Just piled up with blocks of ice in the corner. Suppressing rising nausea at the sight alone, I take in the rest of the room.
The… scientist, should I call him? Hastily headed towards an alchemic structure at the far end of the room. He pours the pink liquid into a round glass container over a flame and mixes it with a clear liquid. The other side of the complex alchemical construct has a large alembic slowly dripping a red liquid. My eyes follow the even larger glass creation to find something terrifying.
A living person is slowly being drained of blood into a swirling mass of magical energies. Arms shaking in shock, I look further around the room, only now seeing several living captives chained to the walls. Falling back towards the wall, I make more noise than I should. I quickly chug a potion of invisibility, having forgotten my timing.
Their faces… were just empty, marred with simple resignation to their fate. Their wills have long since broken. Looking up at the poor souls, my heart twists in pain. The misery of such a situation is unthinkable. Looking over the large variety of people, I spot an anomaly. There is a large, muscular man in shredded armor. He has a streak of silver in his rugged brown hair. Scars on his wrists and ankles speak volumes of the blood draining process. Yet when I look at his face, all I see is fire. The angry glare and intensity on his face sends a shiver up my spine. He looks like he would fight till his last breath.
The... Scientist? Walks up to him, a smirk on his face. “And how are we today?” he asks the man with a sneer, leaning forward to look him in his eyes. The man simply stares hatefully at him. “Ah, yes, you can’t speak. I suppose the paralytic poison is working.”
The scientist continues to ramble. “Don't worry about anything. You are the only one of my subjects to live through 3 tests! That’s amazing and admirable. So, I have a special experiment for you and your wonderfully durable body.” A devilish smile lights his face. “Let me just get it set up. You may just be my ticket up.” He then hastily walks back over to the alchemical setup. He slowly adds a combination of unknown materials into different test tubes.
Putting him out of my mind, I step back further into the tunnel, letting my breathing steady and heart rate drop. “What do I do?” This is way bigger than I expected. I thought maybe a cruel animal farm or even a couple captives at the worst. There must be 50 corpses in there! First… I need to tell someone. I hastily grab an ender letter. The mayor now has an ender mailbox for convenience.
I write, “Urgent, I have made a terrifying discovery. Within Damon's family estate, I have found a human experimentation lab. It's… terrifying. Corpses… so many corpses. Please help, I can’t deal with this. I will enclose the location and directions to the lab. Send help, please. The sooner the better, lives are at stake. I will attempt a rescue as best I can. He is about to do some more tests. I can't stomach such a thing so I must do something.”
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Falling to the floor, I cradle my knees. “Can I do this? I know I have great armor, but lives are at stake if I fail…” I shake the pessimistic thoughts away. “No, you must be successful. Otherwise, they are in a much worse situation. If I was in that situation, I would rather die escaping than sit and suffer through human experimentation.
Deciding, I get up, my shaking gone like a memory. With true invisibility active, I equip my wyvern armor and hold my wyvern sword in my free hand. I walk forward, slowly, carefully. The scientist doesn’t even bat an eye as I come up behind him. Before I can do anything, I freeze. Thoughts of what I am doing whirl around my head like a hurricane of distractions. “You don’t have to do this, just walk away. Let the police sort this out.” “Why risk yourself?” “Run away.”
Steeling my decision in a moment of clarity, I bring my sword forward, stabbing straight through the third and fourth rib, skewering the heart in one clean motion. Realizing what I had done, I dropped my sword, stumbling back. My hands were trembling. My mind wills my body to move, but it fails to follow. I can barely stand, my body is not listening to my mind.
The true invisibility has broken long ago. I focus on my hands. Only on my hands. Eventually, the shaking subsides slightly, allowing me to focus outside of myself. Standing up off the ground, I didn’t realize I was sitting down. I steady my legs. Feeling my face wet with tears, I attempt to rub them away. Realizing my helmet is on, I simply give up.
Looking around, I see that same man, the fire in his eyes blazing with hope. He has a pure, unadulterated wish to survive. Gazing over his body, his muscles are pulled taut, straining against the paralytic poison coursing through his veins. I step towards him, my arms limp at my sides. Eventually, I come in front of him. I grasp a god apple firmly within my palms before pushing it towards his face. “Eat, now!” I say with great difficulty, my words and body not heeding my will. He hesitantly takes a bite, then the particles suddenly bloom around him. I unshackle his arms with a swift cleave of the iron chains. He falls to the ground, but quickly rising he comes to his feet, likely and hopefully heavily empowered by the apple.
He looks at me… thankfulness clear in his eyes. He bows his head towards me in respect before walking to the scientist. He removes my sword, then dismembers his body joint by joint. I turn away from the gruesome sight. After a few minutes, I turn back to see the man huffing and puffing as he falls to his knees. The face of fury falls away to reveal a broken man. A single teardrop falls from his eye as he sits there and stares at the body.
Knowing what to do, I walk towards him and grasp his shoulder. Removing my dislocator, I teleport us to my castle. I had already marked a guest room. He is visibly startled, but calms down. I look at him, then say “Rest, we can talk tomorrow.” He nods carefully. I leave a small bit of food and a canteen on the table within the room before returning to the lab.
Knowing someone will soon be storming the manor, I hastily head towards the scientists desk. Searching the drawers, I find a whole host of materials. There are dark gems, blood gems, and some… garmonbozia. I take it, hands shaking imperceptibly. Looking over, I see the now finished drop of a condensed crimson liquid in a tiny vial. I grasp it and store it away. I don’t know what it is… but I sure as hell don’t want it anywhere near the government.
I slowly, mechanically remove the chains from each of the captives, then safely bring the suspended captive being drained to the ground. I feed each a normal golden apple before sitting at the door. I am waiting for someone to show up, whether good or bad. Hours go by before I hear anything, then suddenly, I hear a loud banging coming from the tunnel. Looking through the tunnel, I see a battalion of armed guards running through it with a combination of swords, guns, and wands.
Pressed for time, I quickly changed my armor for my more well-known pink variety. As the guards enter the room, they are stunned by the bright light within the room. They quickly get their bearings, and looking around, see me and the dismembered corpse. I hold my hands above my head, saying “I rang the alarm, don’t worry.”
Guns pointed at me, the frontrunner shouts. “On the floor now, you are under arrest.”
Dropping to the ground with care, I do as they ask. I am unconcerned, as I didn’t do anything wrong, but it still makes my heart skip a beat in nervousness.
A few guards run towards me, on guard, before placing a large metallic structure on my arms. It is similar but different from handcuffs. They sit me against the wall before securing the area. A group of people wearing white run in before tending to the now freed captives. A man in white with golden embroidery on his back checks their body as he starts to speak. “Malnourished and weak, but alive.” He pauses for a moment before speaking once more. “I cannot say the same for their mind. We simply must wait and see.”
The poor people are quickly removed from the room before I am taken with a group of guards. They are careful to make sure I cannot escape their grasp. I am brought out of the manor and placed on a small metal carriage before being brought back to the town. Two separate metal carriages are filled to the brim with people. Undoubtedly, the Damon’s family members.
Once within the walls of the town, the carriages are brought to a large stone building. We are taken around the back. I watch as the family members are carefully and methodically taken off the carriage in chains before being brought into the building. I am the last to go before being taken through the winding corridors. I must have passed through 4 security doors. Eventually, I am brought to a white room. It has a desk with 2 chairs and a safe on the side.
Looking to the corner, I see something I didn’t expect. A camera rests sneakily in the room. Aside from the camera, I see no other signs of technology. The guard leader sends the other guards away before taking me into the room.
I feel fear slowly creeping up my spine. I… hope this goes well.