The sensation of slickness across her skin. She retrieved her hand. Her palm was soaked in blood. A long cut spiraled down from the top of her hairline to the bottom of her shoulder blades. It looked bad, yet she felt nothing from the wound.
Gail stood up from the floor in a blur. She was caught up with figuring out how she had been cut. It took her a few moments before she realized she was alone in the room. The others were absent. She slowly drew up with the realization. What the hell? Russell, Hanna, and Dimitri had seemingly left her there. Had they been taken? She quickly stepped toward the door as confusion ripped the air from her lungs.
“Guys? Hello?” she pleaded loudly enough to travel through the thick metal door.
Pure silence. Her heart rate heightened as the silence rang in her ear. Her breathing tensed. The adrenaline took over, sending her body into a shaky mess of muscle spasms and twitches.
There was the sound of a metallic object hitting the floor. It rolled endlessly across the space. Gail looked down to her feet. Rolling beside the heel of her air force — issued boots was a long pencil-shaped device. It sounded hollow like a copper plumbing pipe. What the hell is that? She narrowed her eyes with confusion. She scooped it from the floor and gave it a good investigation.
The surface of the object was strange. It had small air vents that ran around the circumference. It was lightweight but very strong. Maybe titanium? Despite its shiny appearance, she could grip it. It was as if it had been treated with some special coating. The object was easily handled. Its purpose was hard to identify at first, but as Gail tilted the object toward the tip, there appeared to be a clue. She could lift a small flap at the top of the object with her thumb, exposing the inside. A series of razor-sharp needle heads rested below the flap.
Gail shrugged. The object’s purpose was not the leading question of the moment. She tossed the object to the floor and set her focus back on the door. Not much larger than a regular office door, this gateway was ominous and intimidating. Its age had something to do with it. Built sixty years prior, the door had seen years of abuse and shoddy patchwork. It was assembled with several strips of iron that recklessly overlaid each other and were pinned together with large, rusty bolts. This door had taken a beating. It had character. It had kept the room safe for years.
Gail slowly stepped toward the door. Her trembling hand reached out for the lever. Her anxiety was difficult to contain. She knew opening the door was a risk, but she had no other choice. As her fingers wrapped around the edge of the lever, an enormous impact from outside forcefully shook the doorframe. Gail recoiled her hand back quickly. Her gasps bounced around the room like an echo chamber. Something was trying to get in. Gail took a step back with reluctance. “Hello?” she cried with uncertainty. “Can someone hear me?”
The door was still. Deadness again filled the room. Gail was beside herself with confusion. She stared back at the door with speculation. Her confusion was slowly morphing into aggravation.
“Help! Who’s out there?” she screamed out.
She held her breath and waited for a response. The request remained unanswered. Her strength slowly dissipated. No one was going to respond to her. She stepped back, contemplating her next move.
Something phantomlike caught her attention from her peripheral vision. She couldn’t see it, but she knew it was there. It moved behind her. It was a shadow against the wall, and it vanished into the background. She froze. Fear gripped her bones. Who is in this goddamned room? She could hardly rotate her head. Her eyes did all the work. She slowly angled back to the other side of the room. No one was there. She was still alone — with the exceptions of an old filing cabinet, a chair, and a desk. She exhaled noisily and moved toward the other corner. Maybe it was her imagination getting the best of her.
How fast she had forgotten the impact from outside the door. Her focus resettled. She looked back at the door with speculation for a beat before taking notice of the ductwork above her head. Could I escape this way? She moved about the wall and rubbed her hand against the rusty surface. Come hell or high water, she was determined to find another way out.
Shuffling sounds of movement resounded throughout the room. They weren’t Gail’s movements. She stopped in midstep, startled beyond belief. This time she wasn’t imagining anything. The sound was real. It was defining. She was not alone after all. Planted behind her was the faint profile of what appeared to be another person. However, its elongated head and twisted upper torso suggested otherwise. Gail agonized over her next move. She didn’t want to look, but curiosity was a basic human flaw. She slowly pivoted back toward the door.
It was something horrifying. Standing before her was a creature. Its body was similar to a human’s, yet something was different. Its black, vertically slanted eyes were large enough that Gail could see her own reflection. Its head was elongated toward the sky in the shape of a volcano. Its skin was dry and leathery. It was completely naked. A small set of genitals suggested its sex. It tried to communicate. A wheezing sound painfully pushed through its twisted jawline. Gail stumbled back and let out a scream. Her mind started to slip. The room started to falter and twist. Her balance started to lean. Everything was becoming more distant. The room faded away into darkness. Gail felt the sensation of weightlessness.
It felt as if an eternity had passed since Gail had opened her eyes. As she lifted her heavy lids, she realized she wasn’t in the same space anymore. This new place was quite different. It was flooded with lights. Clean. Sterile. The only thing she could see was metal grating on the floor below her. She was lying belly down on some type of cold surface. The muscles in her body began to spasm, but there was no pain otherwise. Her body felt light. It was like floating underwater. Her physical state was relaxed.
Then there was a twitch of movement in her forearm. She started yanking her fists back and forth, and she realized she was in constraints. Her entire body — arms and legs — was strapped down to a metal table. Her body was completely naked. Her smooth skin twisted back and forth in the constraints. She groaned with frustration and then panic. Her consciousness started to return. A sudden jerking movement. The table she was strapped to started to tilt upright. Her body slid down as gravity took over. The constraints around her ankles tore into her legs as the weight of her body shifted. More of the room came into view. It was some type of medical space. Large tables lined the walls. Sophisticated machines were all around. Tubes and vats of liquid seemed to be in full use, pumping God knows what. The unnerving sounds of servos and mechanical machinery burned through her awareness with the ferociousness of a forest fire. Her eyes began to balloon with emotion. Hopeless tears streamed down her face. She was powerless and naked. She could only endure what was about to happen to her. Would it be pain? Molestation? Death?
She screamed out, but no one was there to hear her. Her bare feet kicked back and forth in the restraints, slowing taking the pressure off her legs. The weight of gravity and the friction of the restraints burned the skin around her ankles. A gaping gash about four inches wide snaked down the course of her spine toward her ass. Her skin was folded back like paper. Small pins hinged the incision open. She resembled a high school biology project. Her entire spinal column was viewable.
The table finally shook to a stop. Pure silence again. Gail twisted her head back and forth to see if she could see behind herself. It was difficult. She was locked in pretty tight. Then the unnerving presence of another creature moved in from behind her. Its hand reached toward her skull. She could see it from the corner of her eye, but she was helpless to defend herself.