Brandon was dead. He was dead and Ally knew she was responsible as she panted and doubled over to vomit. “Ally!” Mellie cried out and came to her side. “You’re alright!” Ally continued to retch as she pictured Brandon’s face, his desperate last words, and his screams which failed to fade away in her mind, even though he had already fallen silent.
“Ugh. I’m going to be sick,” Apollo complained while forcing himself to turn away.
“Brandon’s dead,” Ally gasped.
“We heard,” Apollo said in disgust, “There was nothing you could do.”
But that wasn’t true. Ally may have been able to help him break free. Instead, she had kicked him when he was calling for help. Instead, his blood was on her hands. “No… He’s dead…”
Mellie tried her best to comfort Ally, “Come on, if you want to make his death mean something we need to get out of this alive.” Ally looked at Mellie, and then started laughing, slowly rising in hysterics, causing her to be taken aback. Mellie was right! Ally had been ready to die, but instead she sacrificed Brandon. That meant she had to live!
Life had felt meaningless, but maybe that wasn’t true? Maybe she just needed to realize how precious life was, reach that point where she had lost all hope, and at the last moment know that she still wanted to survive. Make his death mean something? No, it wasn’t that death meant something. It was that life had meaning because of death. Death was a finish line, and she had a journey that wasn’t ready to end. Without death, she wouldn’t have reason to live!
“What the hell? Stop it!” Apollo yelled as Ally threw her head back in manic laughter. It wasn’t that she wasn’t fearful anymore. It’s that it had so completely overwhelmed her she wasn’t even capable of processing it anymore, and in its wake was euphoria, emotions spilling out as a way of protecting her mind.
“… Ally…” Mellie breathed, and then turned back to Apollo. “She’s in shock.”
“Great! Just great! At this rate with her like that, my hands in this condition, and us being trapped, looks like you’re the one who is going to make it.”
“Don’t say that!”
“It’s true though. She’s gone mental, and I’ll be honest, I’m not even sure if life is worth living anymore. My family will disown me once they find out I lost my,” Apollo looked down at his mangled hands and hesitated, “my ability to play.”
“That can’t possibly be true?”
“It is. My father had made it crystal clear that my relationship with him hinges on not letting him down.”
“… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be… Besides… Earlier, didn’t the guard say that one of you were pregnant?” Apollo looked into Mellie’s eyes, and she turned away in shame, “It’s you, isn’t it.”
“It is.”
Apollo looked down at his hands and closed his eyes. When he finally opened them again, he said, “That settles it then. We’re going to get you and your kid out of this. I promise you, if that’s the last thing I do, I’ll make it happen.”
“Don’t say that.” Mellie started to shake as she cried, “Please! We’re all going to make it out of here, so don’t say that! Please say you’ll make it!”
Apollo realized she needed to hear those words, but he whispered them with no conviction, “We’ll make it out. All of us.”
“… Thank you.”
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch. The two turned to face the bed as the scratching noises began on the other side, putting them on edge. “Is he coming?”
Ally giggled deliriously, “He’s too strong to be stopped by the bed. It’s just the let piglets. Sniffing for truffles! We’re the mushrooms.”
“Shut it,” Apollo said glancing at her, and she giggled again while rocking herself back and forth. He sighed. She was clearly completely gone. “Mellie, grab her and take her away from the door. When he breaks through, we’re going to make a run to get around him and exit through the garage. He only has two arms; he can’t stop all of us from making it.”
“What about the pigs? They blocked the exit last time!”
“Then we kick them and shove them out of our way. I told you, didn’t I? We’re going to make it.”
Mellie looked deep into Apollo’s uncertain eyes and grew still with determination before nodding. She walked over to Ally and reached down to grab her by one sleeve to lead her away.
“Mellie, no!” Apollo yelled, but it was too late. From the vent a cowhide glove reached out even as she bent over and grabbed a handful of her blonde hair, ripping and pulling her up causing her to scream in pain and fear.
Apollo ran to try and wrestle her free, but before he could Ally tackled him back and looked into his eyes, fear finally taking over again as tears streamed down her face and she said, “No! We have to run! Help me move the bed, we must run!”
“Get off me!” Apollo struck Ally across the face knocking her to the side and grunted as he pulled himself up despite his protesting hands burning white-hot with pain as he forced them to work. Mellie was trying her best to break free, hitting the arm in vain, even as the monster lurched out and fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground.
Apollo looked at their assailant and had a moment to process the floating eyes staring at him. Was that an… exposed brain? The hog farmer began to stand up while the brain continued to pulsate and writhe, still pulling Mellie by her hair. She screamed harder, but to no avail. Apollo had no time to process the change in the hog farmer, all that mattered was getting Mellie free. He ran over and tried to punch the thing in the brain, but it caught his hand and squeezed, causing his bones to pierce skin.
“ARGH! LET HER GO!” Apollo wasn’t going to give up, and the monster kneed him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to collapse as drool spilled out of his mouth. He squirmed on the ground as the farmer walked around him to the bed, dragging Mellie behind, and freed it from the doorway. The pigs didn’t even bother swarming inside, with his mind returned the monster had full control over his hogs and he threw her to the ground.
She tried to get back to her feet, but a single boot slammed into the small of her back and pinned her back into the ground as the pigs’ mouths gaped, froth and fresh blood dripping from their mouths from their most recent meal.
“NOOOOOO!” Mellie screamed, but her fate was sealed as they consumed her, voraciously tearing into her face. One got hold of her eye and burst it like a berry in its mouth causing her to squirm in terror. The pain had already gone away as she went numb with the pain, but adrenaline pumped through her vein like liquid fire desperately trying to empower her to escape. The foot of the monster did not yield however, and moments later she lay still as the swine snorted and sniffed as they scrunched up whatever remained of her head.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Apollo gasped even as he struggled to his feet. Tears welled in his eyes as he saw Mellie grow still. He hadn’t known her long, but for what little time he did she had never stopped caring about him and the others until the moment she died. She was a kind soul, he could tell, and would have been a good mother. Now, both her and the future life had been squashed, unfairly and without justice.
His eyes watered as he looked at the large figure of the man straighten up, bone erupting from the neck and covering and protecting his once exposed nervous system. A skull wrapped around the eyes and brain, and soon the headless hog farmer stared from his eyes sunken into the white visage of skeletal armor.
Apollo didn’t even have the capacity to be surprised anymore. The thing was restoring itself with each kill, coming closer and closer to being complete with each kill. Why? Who knows? Who cares. Apollo looked over at Ally who was still splayed out on the ground crying and a fury fell over him. She had stopped him from saving Mellie. Maybe if she hadn’t tackled him, he could have freed her before he came through the vent. Maybe. But now he would never know, and never be able to try again.
He stumbled over to her and growled, “You killed her! She was going to be a mother, and you got her killed!” His hands were in too much pain for him to use them, so he fell to his knees and headbutted Ally. “You killed her!”
“Stop it!” Ally cried, while trying to block her face with her arms.
“You killed her!”
“Stop it!” She sobbed. And suddenly it hit her. Was that how Brandon had felt when she kicked him that first time? Was that how he felt when he pleaded with her?
“You killed her!”
“… I want to die…” She moaned and dropped her hands to the side.
“You deserve to die!”
“I know…” Ally sobbed, and all fight left her body. Apollo glared at her, tears streaming, and a feeling of horror washed over him. What was he doing? He looked at his hands, bloodied and twisted, just like him. Was this what he became in the face of evil?
“Why? What am I doing?” He got off of Ally and backed away staring at his hands in horror, “I’m hurting someone…? Why? Hazelwood? Where am I?” His mind spiraled as it struggled to regain grips with reality. He was here for a music program, that’s right! He had been playing the piano, a beautiful melody, that rang true! But it hadn’t carried emotion the way music needed to. No, no, no. It was bland, boring, uninspired!
But this feeling. This feeling! The dread, the horror, the fear. So real, so visceral! Of course, he was here for music, that’s all that mattered. That’s all that mattered to his father, and now Apollo could see it so clearly, so concisely, what it was that his father saw. He had a tune, a song, a melody, and harmony, waiting to be intwined! To capture the very human experience!
Another step back and Apollo bumped into something. He looked up and saw a skull staring back at him, living eyes unable to blink staring intensely down at him. “Oh.” It’s all he could really say to sum up how he felt as he came crashing back to reality.
The lead scientist had turned away after Mellie’s death, she couldn’t stomach what she was watching. Two teenagers were dead and watching the conversation between Apollo and Mellie regarding her pregnancy had destroyed her ability to compartmentalize her ability to humanize the test samples.
“Do I need you to pull you from the project?” Randolph asked coldly. It was too late, if they wanted to stop this nightmare from happening again, they needed to see this evening through. He knew this, and he couldn’t have the experiment compromised by temporary lapses of judgement hampered by emotion.
“No,” she said. She knew what was at stake. She knew the headless hog farmer would keep hunting until they found a way to stop him. To stop anyone like him from being made again. She forced herself to look again even as Apollo headbutted Ally. “I can do this. Sir, Subject Omega has reached stage three of his manifestation. The recovery team is deploying now and will stay out of range of manifestation until the last second.
“Good.” Randolph stroked his snowy goatee; it had taken over thirty years to get this close. He was not going to fail now, not after coming this far.
Apollo ducked as the monster attempted to bear hug, quickly moving away from the hog farmer as he struggled to make some distance, but a small piglet ran in front of him tripping him. He turned and tried to get some distance, even as one barbed hand was reaching out to grab him.
“Philip Conway!”
The monster froze, and its jaws started chattering violently creating a terrifying sound as Apollo turned to see Ally standing up, nightstand in hand, glaring at the monster. It looked at her, its expression unreadable without skin or muscle, and she hurled the nightstand at its head. It didn’t react as it struck it, and it stumbled out of the way of the door as Ally ran and grabbed Apollo by the arm, dragging him to his feet and making a run for the exit.
“What did she just say?” Randolph exclaimed angrily.
“She called him by name!”
“How does she know its name!?”
“I don’t know, sir. Subject Omega is responding to it though!”
Randolph shouted and kicked the console in front of him that contained the monitors. “Don’t let them escape, we need Subject Omega to reach stage four, now!”
“Sir, we have no control of the situation here!” The lead scientist cursed silently in her head. She had warned him that test sample three was going to construe the experiment, but he had insisted they continue. Now if they escaped, they were going to have to try again, another three people would be sacrificed, and all for nothing!
The hogs shuffled in panic out of the two’s way as they made for the garage hallway. Nothing blocked the door, and Ally cheered as she realized they were going to make. Apollo, on the other hand, turned back just in time, “Watch out!” He shoved her to the side as he dived in the other way to dodge the two-hundred-pound pig soar through the air and slam into the metal door, blood spurting out of its orifices as it banged against the wall and instantly died, crackling, and squelching as it turned back into the Mastiff that had previously blocked the door.
Ally, who had fallen to the ground turned back and saw the monster emerging from the bedroom, its head still chattering violently and loudly while it jittered and shook violently, as if something was desperately fighting to take it over.
“Philip Conway!” She called again, that’s what had stunned it in the first place, maybe it would work again? Unfortunately for Ally, it seemed to have the opposite effect as the hog farmer froze, and then its eyes settled on Apollo, and it started its slow march towards him.
“Help me move the dog!” Apollo said, trying to kick and move the dog with his legs. Ally scrambled over and started dragging the dog out of the way, but it was too heavy.
“I can’t!”
“Shoot! We must circle around!” Ally turned back, the hog farmer was only a few steps away and was reaching out with his barbed hand, the barbwire dripping with his fresh blood. They both started running around the room, making their way back to the bedroom. The pigs moved out of their way, beady eyes staring at their out-of-reach heads hungrily. They met back on the other side, and the hog farmer was already marching halfway across to reach them again.
“What do we do? At this rate we’re just going to tire out!”
Apollo stared at Ally, back to the hog farmer, and then at Ally again, “I might be able to move the body, but it will hurt like hell. Wait until he’s just a couple steps away again, and then we’ll make a run back for the door. We’ll work together.” Ally nodded in acknowledgement, and both got ready to sprint while Apollo carefully gauged the last moment they could wait before executing the plan, so they would have as much time as possible to make it through the exit.
“Now!” They ran around and the hog farmer tried to grab him, he felt its fingers catch on his clothing, the spikes tearing through his sleeves, but not quite catching as he made a break for the exit. He slid on his side as he approached the dead dog and slammed his shoulder into it causing his hands to jar with pain and him to roar in pain. He pushed with his legs with all his might, and it immediately started to move. Ally got on the other side and dragged it, and the dog was out of the way.
“Door, door, door,” Apollo said desperately, and Ally jumped up and scrambled with the lock and pulled. Nothing. She flipped the lock again and pulled. Still nothing. “Turn left to unlock!” Apollo cried, and Ally did so again and pulled in vain.
The two stared at each other, and Ally breathed out in fear, “No…”
Randolph let out a sigh of relief, he had been worried for a moment there, but it looked like they were in the clear again. “You should have told me you had a remote-controlled lock on the doors.”
“We didn’t know if the signal would be able to reach. The walls can stop cellphone signal, but luckily the locks worked off radio waves.”
“Good. It looks like things are coming to a head. Deploy the recovery team. As soon as the third test sample dies, I want Subject Omega subdued and captured. We’re not letting him get away.
“What do you want to do with the survivor?”
Randolph thought for a moment while he considered things, “If test sample survives, have him terminated with the preplanned story for the media. If test sample three survives, I’ll personally handle it. I think it would be a waste to not keep her alive for further study.”