“I will be the one asking the questions, boy,” Ju’Nero’s deep voice reverberated through the chamber, like the growl of a predator sizing up its prey.
“Were you planning to walk away with my hard-earned loot?”
[-??- has risen to 50%]
…
The inside of the factory was very different when compared to the open space outside. The air was stifling with the smell of mildew and rot.
Dim, flickering lights cast erratic shadows along the vast, crumbling interior, making the already unsettling surroundings seem even more unpleasant.
Bare wires dangled from the ceiling, some sparking sporadically, illuminating the grime- covered walls with momentary flashes of light.
Bulbs, either shattered or on the verge of burnout, hung uselessly, leaving long stretches of darkness between the sparse spaces of weak lighting.
The squeaking and scuttling of rats echoed intermittently, the rodents darting out of sight whenever the group approached.
Corridors stretched ahead of them, filled with debris… discarded machinery, shattered glass, and twisted scraps of metal.
A faint, metallic stench wafted through the air, growing stronger with each step they took. Kira wrinkled her nose in disgust and covered it with her hand.
“Ugh… I can smell something foul. Like rotting flesh.” Her voice was muffled, but it was clear that she wasn’t comfortable with this as she glanced around.
Claus sniffed the air and grimaced, nodding. “I smell it too. It’s worse than I expected.”
Donnel, who was walking ahead of them, stopped to take a long inhale, his expression calm.
Then, he glanced at them with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t need a flashlight or something? It’s pretty dark in here, even with the little light we’ve got.”
Claus shook his head. “No need. Our blessings let us see fairly well at night. This is manageable.”
Donnel smirked. “You don’t say.” He hefted his spectral hammer over his shoulder and continued walking, his gaze darting to the shadows as if expecting something to leap out.
As they ventured deeper into the factory, the oppressive darkness seemed to close in around them.
The faint thrum they had heard earlier louder, reverberating through the floor beneath their boots. Then, Kira’s voice cut through the silence.
“Hey! You two, come look at this.”
Both Claus and Donnel redirected their attention to her. She was standing a few paces ahead, staring at something on the wall. Claus quickened his pace, with Donnel following closely behind.
When they reached her, their eyes fell on the wall. It was smeared with what looked like blood, forming the rough outline of a large, grotesque wing.
The uneven strokes and smeared edges made it clear that it hadn’t been done with slowly or intentionally, but rather, it seemed hurried, almost primal.
Claus tilted his head, his expression tightening as he studied the crude bloody painting. “What the hell is that supposed to be?” Kira asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Donnel stepped closer, his hammer glowing faintly, casting a soft ash glow on the wall. “Not done by a person,” he said, his voice grim. He motioned to the ground, where a severed human hand lay discarded, its flesh raggedly torn at the forearm.
Blood oozed from the exposed muscle, pooling beneath the grotesque artwork.
The sight sent a chill through all of them. Claus crouched to examine the hand, his face as calm as ever.
“This,” he said, gesturing to the makeshift paint, “is likely what was used to create that… thing.”
Donnel exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “Like a kid using crayons on a drawing book,” he said darkly, then turned his gaze back to the wing. “Only this… this is no child’s drawing. Whoever… or whatever… did this is clearly sick to the core.”
The three of them exchanged a grim look before Claus straightened, his hand hovering near his weapon. “Stay sharp. Remember we are dealing with an intelligent monster.”
The oppressive air seemed to grow colder, as if the factory itself was watching, waiting for their next move.
The trio moved cautiously deeper into the factory, the foul stench growing heavier with every step.
It clung to their throats, making breathing almost unbearable. Kira coughed softly, her nose still pinched as her eyes darted around nervously.
Donnel muttered something under his breath about how the air felt like it could corrode steel. Suddenly, a deep, growl echoed through the space, echoing off the walls and freezing them in place.
The sound was primal, angry, and filled with an unnatural menace. Before any of them could react, a figure lunged at them from the shadows.
The monster was grotesque-a towering, hunched figure clad in what once might have been a crisp office suit.
Now the fabric was torn and filthy, hanging in tatters over a misshapen frame. The creature’s limbs were unnaturally elongated, the skin pale and mottled with dark patches, as if it had been rotting for weeks.
Its eyes were hollow, glowing faintly with a sickly red light, and its mouth was filled with jagged, bloodied teeth.
As it lunged, its claws slashed through the air with deadly intent. But before it could make contact, Donnel stepped forward with a sudden burst of speed. He swung his spectral hammer in a wide arc, and with a resounding BAAM, the weapon connected with the creature’s head. The impact was brutal. The monster’s skull caved in with a sickening crunch, and its body was sent crashing to the ground with enough force to leave a dent in the concrete floor. A fresh wave of the foul stench erupted from the corpse, so intense that Kira gagged, turning away briefly to regain her composure.
“Good god…”
“…It smells even worse now that it’s dead.” she muttered.
“Take a look at it,” Kira said, motioning to the lifeless body.
Donnel furrowed his brow and stepped closer, his hammer resting over his shoulder. He glanced at her. “What exactly am I looking at?”
Claus crouched beside the corpse, his face still calm as he examined it more closely. The creature’s physical features, though twisted and grotesque, retained a disturbingly human
quality.
The skin, though discolored, was unmistakably human beneath the patches of rot. The hands, despite their claw-like appearance, looked very similar to fingernails.
“It’s a human,” Claus said softly, his tone laden with unease. “Or at least it was.”
He tugged at the creature’s tattered suit, his eyes narrowing as he noticed something sticking out of the breast pocket. Carefully, he reached in and retrieved what appeared to be a worn, bloodstained ID card. He wiped the blood away with the edge of his sleeve, revealing a name
and photograph.
“This person was…” Claus paused for a moment befir he finally spoke. “One of the individuals from the missing persons case that was filed. The name matches.” He held up the ID for the
others to see.
Kira’s face twisted with a mix of horror and pity as she looked at the card. “You’re saying this
thing was… human? And it turned into that?”
Claus nodded grimly, his gaze lingering on the corpse. “Not just turned. Mutated.
Something… someone… did this to them.”
Donnel exhaled slowly, his grip tightening on his hammer. “Well, whatever did this, I’d bet
good money there are more of them ahead.”