WARNING
Despite the elements of horror and gore in this story, I want to warn readers
that this chapter of R'lyeh contains depictions of sexual assault and abuse which
some people may find upsetting.
Mining Sector
It didn’t take long to reach the mining sector the large elevator at the entrance was a short ride that took them down to equipment preparation, the elevator door opened revealing the sector here is was a much different atmosphere and appearance to the rest of the station above, here it was darker with less lighting and the wall panels had segmented plates that were used to help airflow into the sector, since it was a place that got hot from the machinery working in the ore processing plant.
Kara checked the map on her pad “If we head forward then we will reached a walkway that will lead us above the processing plant, after that there is a service elevator down into the quarry”, they moved through preparation which had multiple stalls for workers to change into their mining gear and near the door was several racks of mining equipment like rock drills, rivet plugs and pike guns. Kay opened the door into the ore processing plant the door led out onto a walkway that went across and around the perimeter of the room, to the right the walkway led to the plant’s control room were supervisors would observe the work down in the plant. Below was stacks of large crates that surrounded the grinder in the middle of the room along with large forklifts that removed the crates from the trucks and onto the trackways that send them to the grinder, the group walked across walkway that was in the middle of the plant stretching all the way across. Kay looked down to the intimidating grinder that lay below they whistled at the crushing gears, Trent looked as well as was impressed at the machine “That would certainly do some damage mate”, they carried on eventually reached the door on the other side and passed through into the vehicle bay. The walkway descended down a stair case and the group walked in between the large clunky looking trucks, diggers and earth movers until they reached the service lift, the doors slowly slid open and everyone stepped back from the horror inside the elevator, inside there was fifteen bodies of the colonists who had been killed but had rivets shot through their hands, shoulders and legs so their bodies were pinned to the three sides of the elevator in a sort of crucified pose many still in their mining gear. Trent looked at the bodies and felt a sorrowful pain these were meant to be his new colleagues he turned away slightly “Is there any other way?” Kara shook her head “Doesn’t look like it, there a few elevators we need to take before crossing over” Trent was reluctant but he had no choice but to step into the grim elevator car, Paulson pulled the large lever closing the doors and with a loud clunk it began its slow fall.
Everyone felt on edge as the decoration of snuffed out life watched from above them, but passed the bodies through the blood stained glass the quarry emerged into view Kay wondered about the rain that they had to go through when they arrived “Hope the rain has stopped” Trent knew of the mining operation here on Theta and replied “It will alright if it’s not the drilling platform at Fort Haven is stationed over the whole quarry, so should act as a canopy from most weather”. Kara stared out to the slopes and running lights that littered across the quarry she had a strange feeling like she knew that something was down at the bottom, something that had been waiting a long time, for her “I love you mummy” Kara felt sick with grief at hearing the voice that seemed to coming next to her but she made sure that no one else noticed she whispered to herself “It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real” the elevator stopped at the first point where the vehicles would use the slopes to move up and down the quarry. The door opened and Kara stepped out rifle aim high as she looked quickly in all directions and there was no one, with the drilling platform above them blocking the light it almost appeared to be nightfall but there was plenty of light to push back the dark and shadows she looked to the others who were waiting in the elevator “It’s clear” they stepped out as she checked the map and pointed to a specific direction “There’s a smaller elevator for miners just this way” they moved on to find the way down.
It took a further three personnel lifts to reach the bottom then it would be a quick enough walk, the door to the last lift it opened onto the bottom of the quarry, it was darker due to the low lighting, Kara peered out but it was difficult to make anything out apart from the marker lights which led the way across the other elevators to take them up to Geology. They all moved into the darkness together, the lights were a welcoming beacon as they passed each one since the torches didn’t have much of an effect, they reached an earth mover that had been abandoned during the madness, Kara shone the torch over it and as she moved the light she saw a child move behind the machine “Oh my god!” she started walking after them which made Kay worry “Kara what are you doing?” Paulson turned shining his light seeing Kara walk away he spoke with concern “Where’s she going?”. Kara turned moving around the back of the vehicle she couldn’t believe that a child had managed to survive here, she could see them so called out with a low tone “Hey, it’s ok we’re not going to hurt you” the beam of light from the torch tried cutting through the dark, with a sweep to the left the light shone up the shape of the child who was facing away from her Kara saw that it was a little girl “Hey how did you get here sweetheart?” the girl spoke “You brought me here” Kara felt another chill at hearing the voice she shook her head “No…no” the girl turned around and smiled at her mother “I’m here because of you” Kara stood staring at her daughter she felt tears rolling down her cheeks “Dani?” her daughter began stepping backwards she called back as she faded into the darkness “We are waiting for you mummy” Kara began going after her but she had vanished “Dani! Dani wait!” she took a further step and she felt the ground was wet, she aimed the light down and saw that she was standing in blood.
The others arrived behind her concerned with her sudden desire to wander off, Trent came up on her left “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Kara looked at him “I thought there was a kid, a survivor maybe but…” she pointed to the ground they all looked at the blood soaked floor, Paulson lifted his foot out of the blood “Jesus! What the fuck is this?” Kay aimed the torch and found the source they couldn’t help but let out a disgusted yell Paulson saw them “What?” Kay pointed showing the large pile of corpses. The mound was of the colonists some had been stripped of clothes others still were dressed but all of them had been slashed and cut and put on top of each other the mound was over seven feet high, the blood had pooled at the bottom and had flowed out onto the ground. Kara stared at the pile of bodies as Trent retched out “Fuck me!” she noticed the blood led away towards a glow of light and could see the faint outline of several other mounds of bodies she mentioned to the others “There’s more” they all turned to where she was pointing Paulson spoke “Shit, now we know what they did with all the other people of the colony” Trent replied “They slaughter them then just dump down here, why do that?” Kay looked to the blood trail “This has been dug at, someone wanted the blood to flow a certain direction” Kara notice the grooves in the ground and looked to the glow of light “Well we have to go this way anyway so let’s see where it leads to” she moved on ahead of the others who were concerned of moving between the mountain range of the dead.
Through the mass of vacant eyes and blood Kara and the others found the source of light was a few floodlights on the ground, they were aimed at the side of the quarry Kara couldn’t believe it, it was the stone doorway she had seen in that dream on that island she stepped out into the light and looked up at the carvings and symbols “How is this here?” Paulson, Trent and Kay stood alongside her staring at the door Kay was in awe of it “How long has this been here?” Trent noticed the layers of the rock in the quarry as they moved down “Don’t know much about geology but the depth of the rock layer puts it at millions of years old” a voice echoed from behind them “It’s far older than that!” they turned to see Blackman walked towards them with the two hounds alongside him, Paulson saw the hounds and raised his rifle Blackman raised his hand “Relax, they’re wanted to eat but I’ve calmed them” he smiled at the group “You four have proven quite difficult to deal with, although crazed fanatics aren’t exactly the ideal tools but I did think these would do the trick” he gestured to the hounds who growled angrily. Paulson kept his aim at the creatures “What are those things?” Blackman turned to the pilot “They are the Hounds of Tindalos, beasts from a realm in the void, they prove to be very useful although you four managed to defeat two of them which is impressive” it took several moment but then something clicked with Kara and she recognised the man “Wait…it’s you” Blackman eyes met Kara’s and he smiled again “You were in the dream” Blackman spoke “Was it a dream Kara? The island…the being in the fog” Kara was dumbfounded “Who the hell are you?” Blackman kept the introduction short “It would useless to explain just call me Blackman” Kay gestured to the doorway “What is that?” Blackman gazed up at it “It’s the way home, his gateway back to reclaim what was taken” he waved a hand over the pathways of blood “The sacrifice of the people of Fort Haven will bring him to the doorway but more blood needs to be spilled” Paulson barked at Blackman “You stay right fuckin there!” Blackman raised a hand he seemed to enjoy the situation “I would love to finish this but the hounds need feeding however I’ve brought some friends to join us” he snapped his fingers and the rambling mutters of people came from behind him, several of Lady Garvel’s congregation emerged the group began moving away from the doorway and away from the cultists, Paulson cursed “Shit! O-SEC get to that elevator we’ll hold them off” Kara without hesitating turned about and darted in the direction of the elevator running as fast as she could.
The shouting and cracks of gunfire rebounded sharply through the vastness of the quarry, Kara reached the elevator and pressed the call button a gunshot made her turn around quickly, in the darkness the flashes from the guns showed quick silhouettes of the group and the cultists but there was something else, something behind them. It was large moving about the fighting the upper half was almost human but the bottom half Kara swore she could see tentacles, it seemed to be watching everyone it even in a flash looked to Kara, the elevator clanged behind her. She ran to the others and yelled “Guys it’s here!” she couldn’t see the creature anymore but she saw Paulson, Trent and Kay three of the cultists had been shot dead and the others were running about keeping their distance Kara yelled again “Come on run!” the group ran towards her and followed her towards the elevator. Kara was the first to get into the elevator she howled “Go, go, go” as she pulled Kay inside then pulled Paulson, she reached for Trent a mining pike burst through the right side of his chest, blood splattered onto Kara’s face as her mouth was agape as she grabbed Trent and pulled him in, it was then that they saw Ahmid with the pike gun he spoke to them “The crawling chaos will set us free!” he fired another pike but Kara slumped to the floor holding Trent and the others moved to avoid it and it slammed into the back wall of the elevator, Paulson fired one round and it struck Ahmid in the chest and he fell to the ground.
The elevator door closed and Kay pressed it to go up, Kara tried putting pressure on Trent’s injury to stop the blood pouring out “Shit, shit hang in there Trent!” Trent cough and blood dotted on his lips and shirt he wheezed out a few words “Cheap shot fucker” he winced from the pain, Paulson looked up the elevator “How many stops is this one?” Kara’s hands kept slipping with the blood “It’s just this one to the top, fuck I can’t stop the bleeding!” Kay knelt down and tried to help putting the hands around the pike as Paulson fumbled in Kara’s pack for another medkit.
Ahmid lay on the ground blood had pooled by the left shoulder and his head, his breathing was short rapid gasps he stared up at the lights that were high on the drilling platform they were light stars trapped in a metal sky. He heard footsteps approach then Blackman appeared looming over him Ahmid spoke weakly “Forgive me…I…failed you” Blackman crouched down and ran his fingers across Ahmid’s hair “No, you managed to get one…and although they have gone you’ve given yourself to him, to use your blood to give him strength” Ahmid gave a smile causing a single bead of blood to trickle along the side of his face “Will he accept into his eternal embrace?” Blackman nodded “Yes he will now go my child, the void is calling you home” Ahmid let out a final soft exhale as his eyes went vacant the life gone from his body. Blackman stood upright and walked towards the doorway where the surviving cultists had begun praying to, the hounds joined him by his sides, one of the cult followers turned to Blackman slightly fearful “Great one please forgive us we didn’t mean for them to escape” Blackman remained straight faced he was beginning to get annoyed by the new comers tenacious ability to not die, he let out a grumbled sigh “They are more than I anticipated” the cultist spoke with his head lowered not wanting to look Blackman in the eyes “Shall we pursue them?” Blackman shook his head “No there is no time, Cthulhu will begin to rise soon but more is needed” he looked to the man before him and the other cultists “We must use other means to finish this” he turned back to the man “Kneel before the doorway pray for guidance” the man nodded “I will Howler of the Night” Blackman walked off into the shadows as the cultists continued praying.
As they chanting and bowed tentacles spilled forth from the black and began grabbing the cultists, one was picked up and thrown against the door so hard her screams were cut off by the loud crack from her skull shattering, the man who had been talking to Blackman watched as his brothers and sister were grappled one after the other, one man was simply crushed by the squid like appendage’s immense strength blood pouring down his legs and onto the ground, another woman had two that ripped one of her legs off then discarded her by throwing her to the ground. The others all met similar fates of being crushed and torn apart the man was eventually grabbed by leg and was dragged along the rough ground whilst he tried to claw away to freedom he screamed as he was pulled in to the darkness which was followed by several sickening crunches. Blackman emerged from the darkness adjusting his suit cuffs and straightening his tie, he gazed at the bodies and stroked the heads of the two hounds “I think we should take attend a sermon” he walked away with the hounds leaving the fresh carnage behind.
Kara was sat on the opposite side of the elevator as it rattled it’s way up, she was slumped with her back against the wall as she stared at Trent who sat across from her his head turned to the side his lips slightly apart but there was no breath anymore, Kara had a tear welling up in her eye she planned to get them all to safety but after only several hours three were already dead, she tried keeping emotions out of it but she had reached her limit she felt like she was losing control especially with the hallucinations, how long before she would snap like Ahmid she’d make sure someone would put a bullet in her head before anything like that happened. Paulson huffed as he crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder “There was nothin you could have done O-SEC” Kara scoffed at hearing O-SEC “It’s my job to protect people…and I’m failing” she stared at Trent’s body “I’m fucking failing” Paulson frowned at her negativity “No one could have anticipated this, this is whole ordeal takes fucked up to an impossible level” Kay stood silently looking at Kara they could feel the blood drying on their hands. The elevator eventually stopped and the door slid open with a metallic scrape, Kay stepped out checked to see if it was safe but after what happened down in the quarry they began to wonder if they have ever been safe, Paulson picked Kara off the floor and onto her feet as she kept looking down at Trent’s body he shook her slightly “Hey, I know what happened is shit ‘n all, but right now we need to focus” Kara looked at Paulson then to Kay eventually she nodded and took a deep breath then exhaled quickly “You’re right, you’re right come on let’s go” she stepped out passing Kay and patted them on the shoulder as she went by Kay gave Paulson a weary expression one that he returned, the last thing they needed was for Kara to lose it as well both of one walked after her.
Geology Department
The security door that led from the quarry to the geology department opened and the trio walked inside, here it wasn’t as dark as the rest of Fort Haven the metal grated floors had white underlighting and the wall panelling was a soft blue colour to the usual darkened grey. Paulson saw one of the large labs up ahead “Of there, we can take a few minutes to rest and prepare ourselves before we move on” the others thought the idea of a breather was a good one even if it was just for a moment.
In the heart of the geology department they was a large room that was used for research, inside there were samples and several large shelving units filled with books and a couple of white boards covered in pieces of paper and writing from board markers. The trio and taken rest in here and Paulson was curious about the writing “I’m no scientist but this ain’t no geology stuff” Kay was sat next to Kara on one of the stools that was at the large table in the middle of the room “What do you mean?” Paulson pointed to the boards “They are covered in that writing that we’ve been seeing all over the place” Kara responded “Yes but if everyone else had gone crazy surely it was the same here too” Paulson shook his head “And be this organised, Naw this was before all that and Kiddo didn’t you say that Blackman guy was part of geology as well?” Kara turned to Kay who replied “According to what the director said yes” Kara was concerned “So this was where he worked…who knows what else is here” Paulson agreed with her concern “That’s what I’m thinking, they were doing more than just geology I reckon, they are looking for something and by the looks of these papers not just that door down in the mine” Kara got up from the stool and checked her map “According to this including the door we came in there are three others that lead into this department, if we are going to the resting then I’d rather not have any more surprises, we each take one door and seal them then meet back here in fifteen minutes” the other two nodded but Paulson added “I’ll be fine on my own, you two should stick together” Kara agreed “Ok once were done we can look into what Blackman was doing here” the three headed for the door as Kara gave one last bit of advice “Paulson we’ll take the main entryway and the security door so just go to the door that leads to the access to the power station and come back, you see anything just run got it?” Paulson gave Kara a reassuring smirk “Got it O-SEC, I’ll be fine” Kara shot him a ‘just be careful’ look and they separated.
Kara and Kay had reached the main entry way into the department and Kay worked on the panel as Kara was keeping an eye on the hallways in case anyone or anything for that matter should show up, Kara was still thinking about what happened to Trent in the quarry she glanced over her shoulder at Kay “Hey I just wanted to say thank you” Kay continued to work “What for?” Kara swallowed the lump in her throat “For helping back there, in the elevator” Kay sealed the door then turned to Kara “No problem” Kara turned to face them “I’ve tried keeping you all at some distance to avoid letting emotions get in the way…but that didn’t seem to work, especially when they killed Allison that was when I felt like I was starting to fail you all” Kay shook their head “It’s ok to fail Kara, like what Carl said we have been put into a situation that was way beyond our control and understanding, but we’ve gotten this far and we are almost there” Kara still felt defeated but she did get a slight sense of warmth from Kay’s words.
Paulson even though he had the rifle he took each corridor carefully, he finally reached the door that led to the access way to Fort Haven’s power station and pressed the pad to close the door then wondered how exactly he was going to work securing it “I should have taken Kay with me instead” a clattering noise from some in the department made Paulson spin around “Hello? Kay?...O-SEC?” there was nothing but silence, Paulson didn’t want to waste time “Fuck it” he took the butt of the rifle and slammed it against the pad which with a crack and several buzzes from the wiring deactivated “There we go, Kiddo can sort that later” he began making his way back when he heard a voice coming from somewhere in the department, it was low but it was enough for him to follow it “This is probably gonna be a bad idea” he moved through the corridors searching for the noise.
As he made his way he noticed that there was a door at the bottom end of the corridor but it was different from the others it was wooden and familiar, Paulson reached it and pushed onto the handle opening it, he was back at his family’s farmhouse back on Earth he smelled the scent of his father’s cigar smoke as he walked into the living room of his home, his dad was sitting in the usual armchair watching the television “Hey Dad?” his father was a rough looking man rough from working every day since he was young, he was similar in appearance to Paulson except smaller in weight and height, he looked up to his son that same stoic expression “Your Uncle Kenny is coming by to watch the game and have a few beers” Paulson nodded “Ok I’ll be in my room if you need anything” he clambered up the staircase taking each step one by one as if suddenly the staircase was just going to collapse from under him and headed to his bedroom.
At the larger security door Kay was finishing up on seal that door when Kara heard the laughter of the child again she tried ignoring it however she blinked and found herself in another part of the station, she looked around and was surrounded by the grey panels and flickering lights of some place she didn’t recognise she called out “Kay! Paulson!” there was no one here, she was alone
Kay finished on the panel then turned around but found themselves in the locker room of their high school, they were stood in the mirror looking at themselves looking at the binding around their chest it was the only one they had it felt tight and uncomfortable. The locker room door opened and Kay rushed to pick up their shirt and put it on as three girls walked in laughing with each other, they glanced at Kay then walked away snickering Kay turned back to the mirror and saw that their reflection was still in Fort Haven but blood was everywhere tentacles emerged from behind them and grabbed Kay by the legs began dragging them across the tiled floor into the shower area. As Kay scrambled with their hands a voice bellowed “KAYLEIGH!” Kay noticed that they were standing up and their father was stood in front of them, he just stood there looking at Kay who was stood there looking at them up and down “What the hell are you doing?!”.
Kara wandered the corridors she was nervous as she could hear scratches and bangs coming from inside the walls, around a corner she found Paulson standing in the middle of the hallway she sighed with relief “Paulson, thank god have you seen Kay anywhere?” Paulson didn’t reply. Kara moved around the pilot and saw that he was muttering words that she couldn’t understand over and over again, his eyes were in a constant state of terror Kara was concerned “Paulson?” she noticed that Paulson was pointing behind her. She turned around to see on either side of the hallway longs rows of people, each one was covered in blood and cuts Kara realised that the people were the colonists and they too were pointing down the hallway so she decided to follow them.
The bedroom was half bathed with shadows as Paulson lay in his bed, it was late in the night and everyone else was in bed amidst the distant chirping of the crickets in the field outside another sound could be heard this one was inside, it was the creaks of the floorboards of someone walking carefully. Paulson heard the door creaked open and he rolled onto his back and looked to see his Uncle peeked from behind the door he spoke quietly “I thought you’d be awake” Paulson felt his body tremble from nervousness “Uncle Kenny we can’t if…” Kenny walked into the room and shushed Paulson “Sssh it’s ok your parents will never knew, you know that this is our secret” he reached the foot of the bed and pulled away the covers revealing Paulson in his vest and boxer shorts, he knelt on the mattress looking down at his nephew “Remember to keep quiet” Kenny reached down and took Paulson’s boxer’s and pulled them his waist and off from around his legs and tossed them onto the floor, Paulson lay there exposed as Kenny began unbuckling his trousers “Roll over big guy” Paulson rolled over and just stared at the clock on the wall it’s what he always did. He gritted his teeth as his Uncle pushed himself inside it and began to thrust over and over, was always rough but Paulson had gotten used to the pain but there was something else, something wrapping around his leg, violently he was pulled away from the bedroom and his Uncle into cold, dark water.
All Kay could do say stare at their father as he looked at them up and down “What the hell or you wearing?!” Kay replied sheepishly “I like wearing these clothes” their father scoffed “You start wearing those clothes and pretending to be a boy then people are going to make fun of you” Kay tried to explain “But it doesn’t feel right, I don’t feel right wearing women’s clothing” their face turned away to grab a drink “It’s just a phase, you kids nowadays want so much now just to stand out” Kay scowled “Dad I’m not doing this to get attention! I’m doing this to be who I am” their dad quickly around raising his voice “Stupid girl! You’re only a kid you don’t know what you want!” Kay stormed off to get away from the father but when they moved through the front door of the house they found that they were back at school. They were at the outdoor running track at the back of the school, Kay although reliving this set of memories they knew what was coming, Kay turned around just in time for the hockey stick to strike them across the head, the world went blurred and the ground hit hard as Kay fell, amongst the pain and confusion they could hear a group of students laughing “She fell so easily” “Hey if she was a real boy then she could have taken the hit better” the group began kicking Kay as they lay huddled on the ground. There was a couple of pops after a few of the impacts and Kay knew that bones had been broken, the beating and the pain seemed to go on for hours but somehow through the insults, kicks and laughter there was someone else a voice “Open it” Kay could tell it wasn’t any of the other students. After a few moments the beating stopped “We don’t want a freak like you perving in any of the locker rooms” “Just fuck off and never come back perv” the group left leaving Kay on the ground tiring hard to fight back from bursting into wave a sobs but the tears rolled down Kay’s face “Open it” from right underneath them the tentacles appeared they slithered over Kay’s skin and clothes and coiled around them, gripping Kay tightly they began slowly pulling them into the ground, Kay was still huddled but didn’t try to fight as they were dragged into darkness.
Kara reached the end of the parade of the dead and stood before a door, she looked to see that the key pad had been broken, removing the panel she fiddled with the wires and with a flash from a spark the door slid open. As the door slid open a scream came from behind making Kara turn around, the people that had led her hear were sprawled on the ground blood smeared across the walls the lights flickering erratically, all of them seemed to have their dead eyes facing in her direction. A deep voice came from down the corridor “Give in Kara, he is waiting for you all you have do is let go” Kara yelled back “Leave me alone!” a figure appeared similar to the man that attacked them in the shuttle bay, dark red tentacles writhing through the splits in the skin on her neck and right arm. Kara aimed the rifle and fired one round but nothing happened, no wound or blood as the deformed woman stepped closer “There is nothing to fear in the void, no pain, no fear” Kara fired another shot “From what I’ve seen all you bring is misery, death and madness!” the figure twitched causing bones to crack “Madness comes to those who resist the will of the Old Ones” Kara scowled “You won’t break me, not you, not those fanatics, not even your so called Great Dreamer” the figure released a shrieking, guttural cackle “To gaze upon his might is too much for even the strongest mind to comprehend, you will break…eventually” Kara began stepping back through the doorway she opened as suddenly Kara felt herself being pelted with rain. She looked down to see the road beneath her feet as the beast’s voice spoke “They, will break you” Kara looked up to see the walls of Fort Haven had gone, there was only the highway and the pouring rain, she turned around to see two figures standing in the distance she knew instantly who they were, they were her husband Emmitt and her daughter Dani.
Paulson tried to claw his way through the water but stopped when he heard the voice again “Open it…Open it” flailing his arms Paulson spun about to see where the voice was coming from, a figure began move towards him. Whatever it was it gave off a deep resonating growl and wails like some haunting colossal sea beast, Paulson saw that there was smaller creatures that were swimming around its large arms and wings, Paulson felt like every emotion was being ripped from him like he would never feel them again.
As the massive creature raised and arm to begin reaching for him Paulson was pulled away further down into the depths, from the darkness Paulson heard another voice but it was of his Uncle “The fuck do you think you’re doin?!” a crack across Paulson’s face filled it with face as he buckled to the floor. Paulson saw that he was in the barn of his family farm, he tasted the blood in his mouth he remembered this night, this when he confronted his Uncle about stopping his advances “I won’t let you do this to me anymore Kenny” Kenny stepped forward and punched Paulson in the face again, Paulson heard the voice calling “Open it” Kenny grabbed Paulson and thrust him against one of the support posts holding an arm firmly against the back of Paulson’s neck “This ain’t gonna end you tubby fuck” Kenny pulled Paulson’s pants down enough to expose his rear end then began to unbuckle his own trousers “I know you like it, the town knows that you’ve had many of the girls and guys at your school, so you are going to fuckin take it and you will fuckin like it!” Paulson had had enough of this, of the shame, the disgust he knew that this wasn’t real that this was some kind of delusion and he wasn’t going to succumb to it. Paulson yelled “NO!” he thrust out an elbow and struck Kenny in the face knocking him back, Paulson fixed himself then turned to face his Uncle “I felt hatred for what you done to me, I’ll not let you ruin my life again” Paulson lunged forward yelling tackling his Uncle by the waist and both of them wrestled to the ground. Paulson managed to get on top of Kenny and straddle his waist then punched furiously he released the anger from not doing anything all those years ago “Fuck you! For everything!” another punch made its mark against his Uncle’s face “My family threw me out! Because of you!” Paulson continued to throw punch after punch “But I never blamed myself!” his hands gripped around Kenny’s throat and he tightened his grip “You ain’t real, this whole thing ain’t fuckin real!” his Uncle’s eyes bulged as he thrashed around desperately trying to gasp for breath. As Kenny stopped struggling Paulson could hear a low sounding siren and his vision was clouded by random flashes of red light, he clutched the side of his head from the pain “This ain’t real Carl, you need to wake the fuck up!” he howled from the agony.
[Classified Containment]
Blackman’s Lab
Geology Department
The siren brought Paulson back to reality, his head was still fuzzy and he stumbled slightly, he looked around and saw that he was in a room which was filled with symbols scrawled across the walls in the centre was a cylinder containment unit which took up most of the room that had pipes attached to it reaching up to connect to valves in the ceiling. Paulson saw that several bodies lay across the tiled floor, the blood was black in the red lighting, Paulson turned and saw Kay standing several feet away from him “Kay?” he rushed over and stood in front of them, Kay was vacant, expressionless just mouthing silent words, Paulson put both hands on their shoulders “Kay, Kay you alright?” there was no response “Kay? KAY!” Paulson shook them but there was no response.
A voice was muttering to the side of them Paulson looked to see a woman in a lab coat huddled on the floor covered in blood “It wants to be opened, it wants to be opened, it wants to be opened” Paulson was reluctant to leave Kay but he walked over and crouched before the hysterical lab worker. She was kept looking at the bodies of her co-workers, one was the same as the man in the shuttle bay, the dead woman had the same tentacles coming out of splits in the skin but now lay limp on the tiles, she had met a similar fate as the man since a fire axe was embedded deep in her skull. Paulson spoke calmly but loud enough over the low resonating siren “What happened here?” the woman never looked at him but responded in a whimpering sob “It began calling to us, voices…voices in our heads” the woman paused “She just turned, first she was my friend…then she became some horrific monster” she leaked out a sob “Then she started killing everyone…I had no choice” Paulson looked over to the multi limbed corpse, he was weary at the thought of more of those monsters he had had his fill of fucked up creatures trying to kill them, he glanced at the huge doors of the containment unit “What is inside?” the woman replied “Blackman made us keep it secret, but he found something…an artefact” Paulson looked back to the woman “What kind of artefact?” she glanced up at the doors “Ancient…evil, it shows you things, horrible memories it tries to break you and open the doors” Paulson was curious “Why?” the woman finally looked him in the eye “It wants to released it is needed to unleash them” Paulson wondered what ‘Them’ was but he was only focused on getting of this rock and leaving all this insanity behind “How can I help my friend” the woman responded “They are trapped in their memories, it wants them to open it” Paulson had had enough dealing with the woman and stood up marching back towards Kay, he shook Kay again “Kay, Kay please can you hear me?!”.
Kay was struggling in the mass of tendrils and tentacles, they were everywhere writhing and slivering in between each other, Kay held out their arms pushing hard into the mass of limbs parting them. It was hot and slimy the smell made Kay want to retch, amongst the walls of moving flesh voices called to them “Fucking freak” “My daughter isn’t going to carve up her body” “You should hang yourself, do us all a favour” Kay closed their eyes and continued scratching and pulling at the tentacles they kept speaking to themselves “Shut up, fucking shut up”. Kay burst through the mass and fell to the ground feeling the cold tiles on the arms, Kay lay there wet and terrified as they curled up on the floor surrounded by others from her school all pointing towards them “Lady boys can’t use the locker rooms!” “dirty cuntboy!” “There’s no shemales allowed!” Kay cried “Leave me alone, just leave me alone” suddenly Kay heard another voice through all the hatred. It was Paulson calling out “Kay it’s not real! whatever it is it’s all in your head” Kay stopped crying, they heard Paulson’s voice again “You’re strong Kiddo, you can fight it!” Kay felt a surge of comfort from his voice. Ignoring the insults and scolds Kay got to their feet, gone was the girls gym outfit and Kay was now in the clothes that they wore the group of school colleagues now stood in a group in front of Kay along with their parents and siblings “I don’t need you approval, from any of you!” Kay felt the release they needed everything that had been repressed over the years “I should never have given any fucks to what you vile people spat at me!” Kay looked at each single one “Day in and day out I would just take it like some fucking idiot hearing you criticism and hatred” Kay stormed towards them and stopped right in front of their father “I am who I am and I don’t need any of you so just get the fuck out of my life and out of my head!” Kay began hearing the siren and the flashes of red light, the tiles beneath began to fall away and Kay fell into the black below.
Legs gave way and Kay woke to find themselves on the floor but after focusing they saw that Paulson had hold of them “Hey it’s ok, I gotcha” Kay clutched their head “Fuck! What was that?” Paulson shook idea “No idea, the lady over there said it was somethin caused by an artefact that was found” Kay was helped up onto there feet “An artefact?” Paulson replied “Seems Blackman has got some more secrets he didn’t want everyone knowing” Kay looked to the large containment unit “Shit what do you think is inside?” Paulson gave a huff “I don’t give a fuck anymore, we need to find Kara and get out of here before we become a gibberin mess” Paulson turned to the woman to say that she should come with them, but unfortunately she had stabbed a pair of scissors into her throat and bled out “Fuck me, come on Kiddo let’s go” they left the containment area and through Blackman’s office then the lab and out into the hallways of the geology department.
They searched the area but there was no sign of Kara, eventually they reached the door that Paulson had sealed but it had been opened “I locked that door” Kay looked to the panel “Seems as though someone rewired it to open” Paulson replied “There’s only us here so it must be Kara” Kay looked through the doorway which led to Fort Haven’s power station “Why would she go through here without us?” Paulson felt the slight twinge from the fading pain in his head “She could be seein somethin like we did, we better hurry” he stepped forward heading into the power station as Kay followed after him.
Kara ran through the rain the drops falling so heavily they stung across her face, the wet tarmac caused her to slip and face plant to the ground, Kara yelped from the pain. A voice spoke to her whispering “Mummy…mummy” Kara opened her eyes as she lay in her bed, she saw Dani standing next to the bedside table “Mummy are you getting up?” Kara smiled at Dani “Of course sweetheart we’ve got our special trip” she sat up and swept her legs out placing her feet on the floor. Kara cupped her hands on Dani’s face and kissed her on the tip of her nose “Go get dressed I’ll wake up dad” Dani beamed a grin and rushed off to her own room to get ready, Kara turned to the other side of the bed were Emmett was asleep on his front she nudged him and he let out a grunt “Uh…what” Kara nudged again “Time to get up” Emmett waved an arm “No it isn’t” Kara stood up and walked around to her husband’s side of the bed then pulled the covers from him “Come on it’s a long drive to the cabin” Emmett buried his head under his pillow “Can’t we just put a tent up in the living room?” Kara laughed “No, now come on lazy arse get up” Emmett sighed and eventually sat up speaking in a joking tone “Why do you hate me?” Kara leaned down “I don’t hate you but I get so much fun in annoying you” Emmett smiled in reply as the two kissed.
The car had been loaded up the night before to save time, Kara jingled the keys then used the thumb print on the pad to lock the house up whilst they were going to be away, the green pad beeped the confirmation that everything was secure and she turned to head towards the car, Kara stopped when she saw a man standing in the distance in the middle of main road. The man was familiar yet she struggled to remember anything, he stood there in his suit just watching her, Kara called to Emmett “Hey do you see that man in the street” when she looked back the figure was gone Emmett responded “What man?” Kara was confused he was just there not a moment ago “He there looking right at me but…he’s gone” Emmett glanced at his wife “Could just be a neighbour that has gone back to whichever house he lives at, we still don’t know everyone in this street” Kara nodded but gave one last glance to the spot where the man stood then climbed into the car.
Power Station
Turbine Hall
Kay and Paulson reached the large turbine hall they took a quick glance around the immediate area, Kay spoke “She must be here there’s no other way to past the way we came” Paulson noticed the whirring noise of the turbines “Would be able to hear her with all this racket” he pointed towards a gangway to their left “Come on let’s start that way” they moved on to continue the search.
The night time road was endless as Kara walked along it, she looked around and saw the forest to the right and the open field to the left, as Kara wandered along the road she couldn’t remember getting here though last thing she remembered was the man outside the house, whispering voice swirled around her like the wind. The rain came toward her like a wall of water the drops patted against the windshield of the car, Kara held the steering wheel firmly as she drove against the rain, she gave a quick glance and saw that Emmett had fallen asleep, Dani spoke “Mummy are we almost there?” Kara looked into the rear view mirror at Dani sitting in the back seat “Not long now sweetheart” as Kara looked back to the road she screamed “OH SHIT!” in the middle of the road was a tall black skinned figure almost skeletal in appearance Kara swerved the car but from the slipperiness of the road the car flipped and rolled, the air was filled with screams but was cut off with the sound of crashing metal and glass shattering, the car eventually stop rolling landing upside down under the light of a street lamp next to and a tree.
Kara could only hear the ringing in her ears, she woke to find herself still strapped into her car seat her head throbbed and she could feel something slowly trickling from above her eye into her hair, Kara could tell it was blood. Fumbling around Kara found the buckle for the seatbelt and clicked the release causing her to fall awkwardly, she yelled from the pain but felt more blood on her hand this time it was on the car roof she rubbed it in between her fingers. Kara glanced to Emmett to see him crumpled in a heap with a shard of metal wedged deep in his neck, she called to him “Emmett? Emmett!” she shuffled towards him and shook him hoping he would reply or anything but his expressionless eyes already told her that he was dead she sobbed “Emmett…shit! Emmett”. Kara stroked her husband’s hair then something caught her eye a small figure and her heart filled with dread, down the street about a dozen meters away Dani in the crash had been thrown from the car and lay motionless in the middle of the road, tears welled and Kara gasped out a horrid “Oh god no!” she scrambled frantically out of the wreck of the car and began crawling across road as the rain began to soak her threw. Kara dragged herself closer to Dani the ringing in her ears faded and the hammering of the rain could now be heard, the headlights from the car lit up the strewn pieces of glass like gems amongst the rain, as she got closer Kara yelled out “DANI!” she noticed the trail of blood that was mixing with the rain then flowing around the pieces of glass “Dani? Dani sweetie answer me”.
Kara reached her daughter who was faced down on the tarmac she began shaking her “Dani? Dani wake up sweetheart” Kara shook again “Come on Dani!” she strained and got up onto her knees to get into a better position. Kara rolled Dani over and was met with empty eyes and blood covered face, Kara let out a scream of grief at seeing her daughter dead in her arms she held Dani tightly sobbing “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…It’s all my fault” a small croaked voice then spoke to “It was all you fault” Kara looked down to see Dani looking right at her, the child twitched and writhed rolling from Kara’s arms and across the road until she stopped. The body cracked and popped as Dani began to rise up onto her feet “It has always been your fault mummy” Kara cried at hearing the words, everyone she knew said that it was an accident but Kara knew that it was her fault, Kara knew that the road was dangerous in the rain but she was determined to reach the cabin so she continue driving at a pace that was dangerous, Dani was upright legs bent in wrong positions and her arms dangling loose and out from their sockets, her face was expressionless but the eyes still fixed on the their mother “Everything has brought you here” Kara sobbed as the rain continued to fall “No, no this can’t be happening” Dani titled her head “Your misery has become a part of you and has begun consuming you” Kara looked right and saw that Emmett was now standing next to her looking at her also with similar dead eyes “It’s why he calls to you from the depths, he senses your anguish” Dani responded “He wants you to join with him and he will take the pain away” Kara felt the ground rumble. The expanse of grassland suddenly erupted in multiple plumes of dust and earth as the sound of the landscapes cracked and fell apart falling into nothingness, Kara watched the world around her shift violently she covered her from the sheer intensity of the noise all she could do was scream.
Paulson and Kay heard Kara screaming from somewhere close by and rushed in the direction of the noise, after weaving in between machinery and dead engineers they reached a row of several big cooling fans which were to pump air into the power station and regulate the heat from the machinery, Kay looked up to the platform that was several stories above and let out a startled gasp “Paulson!” they pointed to show Paulson that Kara was stood at the edge of the platform right above the spinning fans Paulson cursed with fear “Come one we gotta hurry!” and they ran to find the way up.
Kara was no longer in the forest by the wreck of the car, she was back on that island at the edge of a cliff looking down to the ocean that was far below her crashing hard against the rock, Dani and Emmett were stood behind her “Kara if you want all this to end then just jump and you will be taken in his embrace” Kara saw something dark moving beneath the waves, she knew it was him she spoke back over her shoulder “You want me to give myself to that thing? That monster?” Dani reached out and took one of Kara’s hands “We can be together, the void will bring us home” Kara kept staring at the waves. It would be easy to just step off and forget all the memories and the turmoil of what happened all those years ago it had been a thought that crossed her mind once or twice being a part of O-SEC it would be easy just to take her service weapon put it to her mouth and just swallow the bullet into the black. However this was different she had seen what this thing had done to the people of Fort Haven especially to those who gave themselves to serve it, the waves crashed again and Kara could smell the sea she gripped Dani’s hand and was about to step off the edge when she heard someone shout “KARA!” it was Paulson.
Paulson grabbed hold of Kara and pulled her away from the edge before she could step off the fall into the fans below, she screamed from the sudden pull back to reality “No! no! I can’t leave her again!” Paulson had hold of “O-SEC it’s ok, it wasn’t real” Kara looked around and see Paulson and Kay standing close to her. Kara couldn’t speak she just broke down in tears as Paulson brought her in for a hug “It’s ok…We’re here O-SEC we’ve got you” all Kara could do was cry into his chest, Paulson put a hand on Kay’s shoulder to show that all three were together again and they were going to get through this nightmare.
To Be Continued...
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