Chapter Text
"What the hell is going on here?" muttered a mysterious man clad in a black and white trench coat.
He strode through the dimly lit halls with an air of ownership, his sharp eyes scanning every corner.
"If they could just stop making so much noise, that would be greatly appreciated," he grumbled to himself, irritation lacing his words.
Noticing a door wide open, he narrowed his eyes.
"Something's off," he murmured.
Stepping cautiously into the main room, he inhaled deeply, nostalgia hitting him like a wave.
The room, surprisingly lived-in, bore silent witness to lives disrupted.
A sudden, loud gunshot echoed through the building, yanking him from his reverie.
"Gotta investigate what's going down there!" he exclaimed, urgency sharpening his tone.
He sprinted through the hallways, drawing his dual pistols—one black, one white, both adorned with intricate butterfly markings.
He reached the elevator, the metallic doors closing around him as he steadied his breath, his mind racing.
When the doors slid open, he was greeted by a gruesome sight.
Blood spattered the walls, and the air reeked of violence.
Jaiden lay crumpled, his head blown open by a powerful shot, rendering his face unrecognizable.
"Holy sh*t, what happened here?" the man whispered, his voice tinged with horror.
Marcos, leaning against the wall, shook uncontrollably, his breaths ragged and uneven.
The man in the trench coat glanced at him, but received no response.
He then turned to see Josef and Rando huddled together on the floor.
Josef sobbed softly, clinging to Rando, who murmured, "I'm sorry, Josef," in a voice barely above a whisper.
The man sidestepped the mournful pair and moved further down the gore-streaked hallway.
Blood pooled on the floor, and chunks of flesh clung to the walls.
He spotted the deranged humanoid in a straitjacket, its body still bleeding profusely from multiple bullet exit wounds.
"Talk about gruesome," he muttered, a hint of grim admiration in his voice.
"Good job on that—it’ll come back sooner or later." Approaching the corpse, he placed a gloved hand on the cold, lifeless body.
"Oh, forsaken murderer, rest in peace," he intoned solemnly.
Suddenly, the lights flickered back on, bathing the carnage in harsh, clinical brightness, signaling the start of a new day.
Forty-five minutes later...
Everyone was still recovering from the events of the previous night, their nerves frayed and tension palpable in the room.
"Well, looks like you guys discovered my works," the man in the trench coat declared with a disturbing enthusiasm, his voice cutting through the silence like a knife.
The room remained deathly quiet. Everyone sat tensely in the main room, Jaiden's corpse lying still on a makeshift bed.
The gruesome sight served as a grim reminder of the previous night's horrors.
"You!" The man in the trench coat pointed directly at Rando. "You're coming with me, and bring the corpse. I'll show you a cool trick," he added with a menacing grin.
Rando stood up, gripping his pitchfork defensively.
"No need to get violent," the man chuckled.
"I forgot to introduce myself. Excuse my behavior." He bowed with exaggerated elegance.
"My name is Dwayne. I was the architect of this facility ten years ago."
Marcos stood up, a smirk of confidence playing on his lips.
"The name's Marcos," he declared.
Rando, still wary, introduced himself as well.
"I'm Rando, captain of this department, if you can call it that. Over there is Josef," he said, pointing to Josef, who was fast asleep.
"Glad we can all introduce ourselves in such a delightful manner," Dwayne pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.
"Anyway, Rando, bring that corpse with you. I'll show you something," Dwayne commanded, his tone leaving little room for argument.
Rando hesitated, his mind racing.
With a deep breath, he moved to Jaiden's body, lifting the corpse with a mix of reverence and horror.
The room felt colder, the air heavier as they prepared to follow Dwayne.
"Come on, let's go," Dwayne urged, turning on his heel and leading the way out of the room.
The sound of their footsteps echoed ominously through the hallways, each step a reminder of the night's brutality.
As they walked, Rando couldn't shake the feeling of unease.
Dwayne's presence was unsettling, his demeanor too casual for the circ*mstances.
The fluorescent lights above flickered, casting eerie shadows on the walls.
Finally, they reached a small, dimly lit room.
Dwayne gestured for Rando to place Jaiden's body on a metal table in the center of the room.
"Watch closely," he said, a twisted smile spreading across his face.
Rando stepped back, gripping his pitchfork tightly, ready for anything.
The tension in the room was suffocating as Dwayne began to perform his "cool trick," the air thick with the promise of more horrors to come.
"Do you see the lever over there?" Dwayne spoke with a dark tone, his voice echoing in the cold, dimly lit room.
Rando scanned the area, spotting the lever on the far side.
"Pull it down for me," Dwayne demanded, his eyes gleaming with a sinister anticipation.
Rando approached the lever, a sense of dread and uneasiness gnawing at him.
With a deep breath, he pulled it down.
Suddenly, Dwayne dashed backward to the wall.
"Cover your eyes!" he shouted. Rando instinctively raised his pitchfork in a defensive stance and squeezed his eyes shut.
Dwayne used his trench coat to shield his face.
In an instant, Jaiden's body started levitating above the metal table.
His limbs twisted and contorted as if an unseen force was mutilating and annihilating them to replace them with something new.
Jaiden's screams filled the room, raw and agonized as he regained consciousness, the pain of his injuries flooding back.
The machine embedded in Jaiden's palm reassembled itself, reattaching to his flesh.
Blood flowed freely from his wounds, knitting tissues and bones back together as if time was reversing the damage.
His head throbbed with the same unbearable pain from the bullet wound, now healing as though it had never been inflicted.
Slowly, Jaiden's mutilated form descended back onto the metal table, the transformation complete.
The room fell silent, the gruesome spectacle over.
Rando dared to open his eyes, lowering his pitchfork, and stared in horror at the revived Jaiden, breathing heavily on the table.
Dwayne stepped forward, lowering his trench coat.
"Marvelous, isn't it?" he said with a twisted smile.
"The wonders of science and sorcery combined. Your buddy is back, and better than ever."
"I have a name, you broomstick," Jaiden groaned, his voice raspy and filled with pain.
"Well, let's get you back to your room," Dwayne replied elegantly, as if this macabre resurrection was a routine procedure.
Rando stepped forward, offering his hand to Jaiden.
"I'm happy you're back, Jaiden," he said softly, helping him up.
"Yeah, no, I'm not happy to see you," Jaiden retorted, his tone sharp with lingering pain and confusion.
"And since when do we have a crazy scientist inside this facility?" he added, glaring at Dwayne.
"I'll explain everything," Rando assured him as they walked out of the dimly lit room, Jaiden still unsteady on his feet.
The trio made their way back to the main room.
Josef was still asleep, and Marcos was meticulously cleaning Josef's rifle.
"Oh, welcome back, Dwayne," Marcos said nonchalantly, not looking up from his task.
"Introducing this fella!" Dwayne announced with enthusiasm, gesturing to Jaiden as he walked into the room.
Marcos looked up, his eyes widening in shock.
"What the f*ck," he muttered, seeing Jaiden alive and walking.
He grabbed his pipe and took a quick hit, trying to steady his nerves.
"So you brought him back to life. Neat," Marcos noted with a grim undertone, the words hanging heavy in the tense atmosphere.
Jaiden, still pale and shaky, glanced around the room, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and confusion.
"What did you do to me?" he demanded, his voice barely above a whisper.
Dwayne smiled, an eerie, unsettling smile.
"I've given you a second chance, Jaiden. A chance to continue your work. Now, let's make the most of it."
The room fell silent, the weight of the night's events pressing down on everyone.
They all knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
Jaiden looked Dwayne in the eyes, trying to suppress his rising anger and confusion.
"I'll show you to your new room," Jaiden said carefully, his voice tight with the effort to stay calm.
"Marcos, once you finish, you're also going with him," Jaiden added, glancing back at Marcos, who gave a thumbs-up without looking up from his task.
The two walked down the hallway to the elevator.
The doors slid open, revealing the familiar corridor where Jaiden had met his gruesome end.
As they walked through the hallway, Dwayne moved with a quick, almost careless pace, ignoring the blood and gore splattered across the walls.
Jaiden struggled to keep his composure, each step through the blood-soaked corridor a reminder of his recent trauma.
"This is your new home," Jaiden said, gesturing to a room at the end of the hallway.
His voice carried a mix of eagerness and bitterness.
"No need to give me a tour. I know the ins and outs of this place," Dwayne replied dismissively, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"Well, okay then, Mister Know-It-All," Jaiden muttered, his annoyance evident.
"I'll go get Marcos."
Dwayne grabbed a chair and sat down with a sigh of relief.
He looked around the room, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly.
"You know, I'm going to check out the other hallway," he said abruptly, standing up and walking away before Jaiden could respond.
Dwayne entered the adjacent hallway, which, to his relief, was clean and free of blood.
He walked to the door at the end and opened it, curiosity piqued.
"Well, what do we have here?" he murmured to himself, stepping into the new space.
The room was starkly different from the rest of the facility.
It was immaculately clean, with white walls and bright fluorescent lights.
Rows of shelves lined the walls, filled with meticulously organized files and equipment.
A large desk sat in the center of the room, cluttered with papers and scientific instruments.
Dwayne approached the desk, his eyes scanning the papers with interest.
Diagrams, formulas, and notes filled the pages, detailing complex experiments and projects.
His fingers traced the lines of text, a smile spreading across his face as he recognized the familiar handwriting.
"This is incredible," he whispered, the excitement in his voice barely contained.
He quickly flipped through the pages, absorbing the information.
Just as he was about to delve deeper into the documents, he heard footsteps approaching.
He turned to see Jaiden and Marcos entering the room.
"Find anything interesting?" Jaiden asked, his tone still tinged with irritation.
Dwayne looked up, his eyes gleaming with a mix of excitement and something darker.
"Oh, yes. Quite interesting indeed," he replied, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
The tension in the room was palpable, the air thick with unspoken questions and unease.
Jaiden and Marcos exchanged a wary glance, both wondering what Dwayne had discovered and what it would mean for all of them.
As the three exited the room, the lights began to flicker and then shut off instantly, plunging them into darkness.
"Well, bed time," Jaiden muttered, his voice tinged with weariness.
"I thought they fixed this," Dwayne laughed, the sound echoing eerily in the darkened corridor.
"I guess not, ha!"
The flickering lights cast long, wavering shadows on the walls, adding an unsettling ambiance to the already tense atmosphere.
The trio moved cautiously through the hallway, the only sound being the faint echo of their footsteps.
"Let's head back to our rooms," Jaiden suggested, his tone more serious now.
"It's been an eventful day, to say the least."
As they walked, the silence grew heavier, each step amplifying the eerie quiet of the facility.
The events of the day weighed on them—Jaiden's resurrection, Dwayne's ominous presence, and the gruesome scenes they had witnessed.
The facility, once a place of order, now felt like a labyrinth of dark secrets and lurking dangers.
Reaching their respective rooms, they each retreated into their thoughts.
Jaiden, lying on his bed, replayed the day's events, trying to make sense of his miraculous return and what it meant for his future.
Marcos, cleaning his rifle with meticulous care, couldn't shake the grim image of Jaiden's lifeless body and the unsettling resurrection he had witnessed.
Dwayne, back in his room, sat at a small desk, pouring over the notes and diagrams he had found earlier.
His mind raced with plans and possibilities, a dark smile playing on his lips as he considered the power at his disposal.
The facility settled into an uneasy quiet, the flickering lights casting fleeting shadows that danced on the walls.
Each of them, in their own way, prepared for whatever the next day might bring, knowing that the night's uneasy peace was only a brief respite from the chaos that lurked just beneath the surface.
T O B E C O N T I N U E D
