The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, cold and unfeeling. The hallway stretched endlessly before us, each step pulling me closer to the nightmare waiting on the other side.
The hallway stretched endlessly before me, dim and oppressive, the walls lined with doors that held horrors I dared not imagine.
Each step echoed through the stillness, reverberating like a haunting reminder that escape was impossible. Some doors glowed faintly, with muffled sounds emanating from within-low hums, clinking metal, whispered voices. Others were dark and silent, but the air around them seemed to thrum with a malevolence that set my teeth on edge. I knew better than to hope for an empty corridor. This place was alive in its own twisted way, feeding on fear, thriving on despair.
James walked ahead, his grip on my arm firm but detached, as though I were nothing more than cargo. I stumbled once, my legs weak, but he jerked me upright without a word. His face remained impassive, devoid of emotion, a perfect reflection of the soulless facility around us.
At the end of the corridor, we entered a larger, sterile room dominated by an elevated office with tinted glass. My chest tightened. I didn't need to see behind the glass to know who was there. I could feel his presence, cold and oppressive, like a storm cloud pressing down on my soul.
James shoved me inside and locked the door behind me with a deafening clunk. The sound was final, a steel blade cutting off any hope of escape. I threw myself against the door, pounding on it with fists that felt feeble against the unyielding metal.
Thump, Thump, Thump!
"Let me out!" I screamed, my voice raw, a blend of desperation and fury. But I knew it was useless. It always was.
The intercom crackled to life, and that voice
—his voice-slithered through the room like a serpent. "Edwin," Albert said, calm and clinical. "I need you to replicate yesterday's results. This time, I'll be collecting your blood for analysis."
My blood ran cold. My heart slammed against my ribs as panic surged, primal and unrelenting. "No!" I shouted, spinning to face the glass as though I could see him, as though he would care. "I won't do it! You hear me? I won't!"
Albert's voice remained infuriatingly composed. "You don't have a choice, Edwin.
You never have."
"What if I don't?" I snarled, my breath coming in ragged gasps. "What are you going to do, kill me? Go ahead!"
Silence followed, the kind that stretched long enough to let doubt creep in. I could hear my own frantic breathing, the blood roaring in my ears. When he spoke again, Albert's voice was tinged with amusement, as if I were a stubborn child throwing a tantrum.
"Defiance is predictable. You've always been predictable. But I promise you, Edwin, resistance will only make things worse."
"Worse?" I shouted, laughing bitterly. "Worse than this? How long have you kept me here?
How long have you turned my life into a nightmare?"
Albert sighed, a sound so nonchalant it made my blood boil. "If I tell you, will you calm down?"
"Go to hell!" I shouted.
The room came alive with a sharp whirr as a hidden panel slid open on the wall. My instincts screamed at me to move, to run, but there was nowhere to go. A mechanical arm extended, and I barely had time to brace myself before—
Bang!
A white-hot pain exploded in my back, searing through every nerve. I crumpled to the ground, gasping, my vision swimming.
My hands clawed at the floor as I felt something foreign lodged deep in my spine.
Then it moved. Slowly, agonizingly, the object began to shift, as though my body were rejecting it.
Clink-!
The sound was small but deafening in the silence. I turned my head, every movement a battle against the pain, and saw it—a bullet, slick with my blood, glinting under the sterile lights. But the wound was gone. The pain had vanished, leaving behind only the phantom sensation of agony.
"What the hell.." I whispered, staring at the bullet.
Did he really just shoot me? I know I felt the pain but was I imagining it? Where’d the wound go?
Albert's voice cut through my haze.
"Fascinating, isn't it? Your body's resilience is truly extraordinary. Keep defying me, and we'll test its limits. Pain, after all, is an excellent teacher."
Rage surged through me, hot and consuming. "You're a monster," I spat, my voice trembling.
Albert chuckled, the sound devoid of warmth. "And you're my creation. You owe me everything, Edwin. Your life is mine. Now, stop wasting time and comply."
The room shifted. Lights flickered, then turned blood red, painting the walls in a menacing glow. My head throbbed, the pressure building as memories crashed over me like a tidal wave. Pain, needles, screams
—my screams. Straps binding my limbs, Albert's voice commanding, demanding.
Every moment of my existence had been torment, every second a new layer of hell.
The realization hit me like a physical blow: I had no past, no future. Only this-a perpetual cycle of suffering at the hands of the man who claimed to have given me life.
I gritted my teeth, my fists clenching until my nails toad skin and bit into my palms. "You'll regret this," I growled, the words more a promise to myself than a threat to him. "I don't care what it takes. I'll make you pay, I’ll make you suffer more than I have."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The intercom clicked off, leaving me alone in the crimson-lit room. But I wasn't alone, not really. The rage within me had awakened, a storm brewing in the depths of my soul. And for the first time, I didn't feel helpless. I felt dangerous.
The pain struck like lightning, sharp and consuming, before fading into the depths of oblivion, only to return in jagged bursts as the red lights began to flicker viscously. My knees hit the cold, sterile floor as a scream tore from my throat, raw and guttural. Heat surged through my body like molten lava, every nerve ending alight. My right arm swelled with unnatural force, the skin blistering, bubbling, and hissing as steam escaped in sharp bursts. My heart thundered against my ribs, the rhythm violent and unrelenting, each beat a threat to rip me apart.
"I hate you!" I roared, my voice splintering under the weight of my agony. "I hate everything!"
Albert's voice crackled through the intercom, fervent and exultant.
"Yes! It's working, Edwin! Let it out! Let it mutate!"
The words were like oil on a fire. My body seized, muscles spasming uncontrollably as the transformation took hold. My arm twisted grotesquely, the skin stretching and splitting, revealing raw, pale sinew beneath.
“Graaaaah!”
Bones splintered and reformed, elongating in horrific cracks that echoed in my ears. The arm grew monstrous, a hulking mass of pale, veined flesh, grotesque and alien, dragging heavily toward the ground. My fingers had morphed into claws, razor-sharp and gleaming like darkened steel.
Then, the mark.
A black energy pulsed at the back of my wrist, a dark, swirling vortex that burned itself into my flesh, branding me with a glowing "V." The sight sent an icy dread crawling up my spine. It wasn't just power-it was something beyond me, something I couldn't control.
The room seemed to tilt as the transformation completed, leaving my body trembling, overwhelmed by the sudden surge of strength. My breath came in ragged gasps as my veins screamed in rejection, as if every fiber of my being was unraveling under the weight of this alien force.
And then came something beyond rage. Raw and heavy yet calm and gentle. A new emotion unlike any I had felt. I felt the power flow into my swollen arm.
Break free! It roared in my clouded mind. Before I could react, a surge of power exploded in my right arm.
Boom!
The wall exploded under my fist, a deafening crash of stone and steel crumbling as alarms blared to life. My mutated arm had punched clean through it with effortless force, sending shards scattering across the room.
Albert's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and panicked now.
“Guards needed in Lab A6! Secure him now!”
I didn't wait. I couldn't. My mind screamed one word over and over: Run!
I tore through the hallways, my feet pounding against the tiled floor. Guards and scientists scattered, their shouts and cries blending with the cacophony of alarms. I ducked into an empty room, yanking a coat off a chair and throwing it over myself. My breathing was erratic as I peered into the hallway, watching the guards sweep through, rifles at the ready, their movements seemed practiced.
Albert's voice boomed through the intercom.
"Secure all exits! Sweep every floor! Verify every evacuee! He does not leave this building!”
“Fuck.” I muttered under my heavy breathing.
Panic clawed at my chest. My thoughts raced. My arm-it had reverted, shrinking back to its original form. The transformation wasn't permanent, but I needed it again. It was my only chance.
How do I get out of here? The clock’s ticking… I’m running out of time!
Tick-! Tick-! Tick-!
There wasn't much left in the room. Nothing but silence and the ticking seconds, counting down to what felt like the end. I stopped, staring at the door. My thoughts raced. My arm-it was the only chance I had. Maybe I could use it as a shield, or break through the walls. Or maybe, l'd have to fight my way out. But first, I had to summon it.
At some point during my escape, my arm returned to its normal state. That means if I can return to normal subconsciously, I should be able to change it consciously. I just need to know how to trigger it!
Thinking back to the lab, a memory popped into my mind.
Albert had said it activated when I was near death, however just now I was induced by flashing lights. So then that can only mean there is more than one method.
I moved quickly, dragging a chair across the floor and wedging it under the doorknob. It wasn’t going to be enough. So I pulled a desk over, reinforcing the barricade. It was only a matter of time before they’d start pounding on the door, but I knew it was coming.
The light fixture above me caught my eye. I didn't hesitate. I swung my fist into it, shattering the bulb into a rain of jagged shards. Glass sliced into my hand, but the wounds closed almost instantly, my body rejecting the injury like a machine resetting itself. A few drops of blood hit the floor, but it wasn't enough to trigger my mutation.
I crouched, picking up a large shard, its edge glinting menacingly. My hand trembled as I pressed it to my stomach.
"This has to work," I whispered to myself.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
My heart pounced at the sudden banging on the door behind me. I could hear the guards now, rattling the handle, their voices muffled but urgent.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"This room! It's barricaded-get me backup!"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
There's no time, I thought, pressing the glass shard against my stomach.
Here goes nothing.
I clenched my teeth, pressing the shard harder. The glass pierced my skin, sharp pain radiating as blood seeped out, staining my shirt. But it healed almost instantly. No power. No change.
I stabbed myself, wincing at the sharp pain, feeling my skin tear. But the wound closed almost instantly. No power. No mutation. Nothing.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I muttered, panic rising.
I stabbed myself again, and again, harder each time. Blood poured from each wound, but my skin healed as quickly as I tore it. The dizziness came next. The puddle of blood in front of me grew larger with every stab, my vision blurring with each cut. I was getting weaker, losing control.
"Come on," I muttered, my voice trembling. “Come on!”
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The pounding at the door grew louder, more urgent. I stabbed again, harder this time, the shard digging deeper into my abdomen. Pain wracked my body, but the wound closed in seconds, leaving no trace of my effort.
Desperation overtook me. My vision blurred, tears threatening to spill as I plunged the shard again and again, each attempt more frantic, more forceful. Blood continued to pool at my feet.
I continued the repeated action of stabbing myself until the glass shard in my hand suddenly felt heavy, almost impossible to lift. But I couldn’t feel anything anymore anyway. With a final, shaky stab, I pulled the shard from my gut and collapsed to my knees. The wound didn’t heal this time. Blood poured from the gash, pooling beneath me, soaking into the cracks of the cold, sterile floor. My body felt cold and numb.
If I can’t escape this hell… I can at least die here. End it all. End the pain.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The pounding on the door grew louder, the voices of the guards outside growing frantic. They were shouting orders now, but it didn’t matter. I had nothing left. I fell to my side, staring at the door as my vision blurred and faded into black. Finally, I closed my eyes.
Bang!
The explosion tore through the room, a deafening roar that shattered my senses. The force hurled me against the wall, crushing what little air was left in my lungs. Pain erupted through my body, blinding and raw. My ears rang with the echo of the blast, and the acrid taste of blood filled my mouth. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even flinch as debris rained down around me.
Through the smoke and chaos, a shadow emerged. Albert. His pristine lab coat was speckled with dust, his eyes locked on me like a predator assessing its prey. Guards swarmed the room behind him, weapons drawn, their shouts muffled and distant.
I was nothing more than a broken body lying in a pool of blood and rubble. My mutated arm had reverted, useless and frail. The transformation I had fought so hard to summon had abandoned me.
Albert’s voice sliced through the haze, calm yet commanding.
“Get him stabilized and down to the infirmary. Now.”
The guards hesitated, their eyes flicking to my crumpled form.
“Sir, he—”
“Now!” Albert snapped, his voice sharp as a scalpel.
Two guards rushed forward, draping a white sheet across the floor before lifting my limp body onto it. My head lolled to the side, the world spinning as they hoisted me up. I barely registered the motion, my consciousness slipping like sand through my fingers.
As they carried me out of the room, Albert’s voice followed, low and almost inaudible beneath the alarms.
“So this is where it begins…”
We descended into the depths of the facility, the elevator humming like a distant heartbeat. My body swayed as the guards carried me, the edges of my vision darkening with each passing second.
The metal doors slid open, revealing the third level. A stark white infirmary stretched before us, sterile and oppressive, its fluorescent lights casting a harsh glow. A reception desk stood at its center, and beyond it, rows of medical equipment hummed softly.
A nurse rushed toward us, her face pinched with concern as she barked orders I couldn’t hear. Her hands pressed against my chest, trying to staunch the flow of blood, but it didn’t matter. I was beyond saving.
I let my head fall back, my eyelids growing impossibly heavy. The sounds around me became distant, muffled, like I was sinking into water. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the fight drained from me completely.
Finally, I closed my eyes and let the darkness take me once more.