Subject 27

Chapters

The Operating Room
The Testing Begins
The Creeping Shadow
Return (Not Censored)
Return (Censored)
Awakening
Code Name Arkis
Colt
Improvised Rock
Debt Collecting
Human Nature
A Silver Tongue And Quick Hands
The Bitter Cold
Friend's and Fade's Little Sceret
Walking With My Head In The Clouds
Welcome To The Jungle
Armed To The Teeth
Horrors
A Welcoming Home Party
'Protection' Services
A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Cloud's and Bell's Secret
Mission Un-buckable
Test Subject “Demon”
Stage Two, Paranoia
A New Horror Comes Out To Play
Meet The Monster
Fade To Black
Rise Of The Ice Queen
My Little Horror
Fade’s Lullaby
O' Captain My Captain
Basically... Run
The Binding Of Isaac
The End Of The Road
Hell Hath No Fury Like Fade
Madness (Not Censored)
Meet Subject 27
Tail Gets Tail
Burning With Rage
Operation
Spitting Venom
Viewed As A Monster
Be A Good Girl, Silver
Gatekeeper
S.O.S.
Bath Time with Tail - A How-to Guides
Wish Master
Great. Now I’m a Pet
See Horror Run
Not This Time, Gravity!
The Most Dangerous Game
27's and Hyper's Excellent Adventure (Not Censored)
27's and Hyper's Excellent Adventure (Censored)
The Taming of the Shrew
Crush, Kill, Destroy, Swag... but mostly Swag
Big Trouble in Little China
Master Prankster
The Joys of Experimenting
Darkness on the Horizon
Beta Testing
Breaking Bad: Side A
Breaking Bad: Side B
Breaking Bad: Side C
Silver’s Special Night
Knightmare Knight: my Final Shred of Humanity
Cruel Ultimatum
An Unexpected Journey
King Kabobs
A Place to Call my Own
Boundaries
Hide n’ Seek
Irony
Unspoken Dream
Mistakes
A Night To Remember
Curiosity Kills The Horror, Satisfaction Brings It Back
Madness (Censored)
Friend’s New Friend
Kill Horror, Kill! That's a Good Boy!
A Pulse of new Life on the verge of Death
Problems

The Operating Room

Chapter 1 - The Operating Room

As I lay on a cold metal table, in a haze, my head swirling and throbbing slightly confused and disoriented. For some odd reason both my ears had a slight ring in them. The room was chilly, the cold metal table mixed with the chilliness of the room felt kind of nice. My heart started to race as I tried to move my arms and legs but fail. I calm myself down and try to figure out where I am and why are my limbs bound..

Wondering what happened, where I am, why I’m bound, who I am, and why I have the strangest feeling that I’m not alone. I try to focus on my memories to see if I can recall anything from my past to see if I can figure out what happened. But all I can recall are fragments of memories. Nothing that can really help me at this moment until I can figure out who I am, or at least what happened. I clear my thoughts and focus on the main thing at hand, where I am.

I look up only to see a bright light and shadows moving around the room. My eyes aren't focusing quite well so I stay still for now and listen, hoping the ringing in my ears will stop soon enough. The ringing in my ears starts to mix with the buzz of the lights and the muffled voices as my mind starts to clear. Feeling the IV stuck in my arm, I start to wonder what they are putting into me. I try to move my arms again, but fail. Wondering why I am bound in the first place has me slightly worried. With the ringing in my ears stopping I can finally hear well enough to make out what the shadows are saying. One of the voices owners is a female, rather nice sounding voice. Soothing and calm; nurturing in fact.

Another one is also female, slightly younger, and higher pitch, but still quite pleasant to listen to. The third one is male, a deep voice, but smooth like silk, speaking in a calm tone of voice, probably an older gentlemen. The final voice that I can hear is also male, slightly younger than the first male, more gravely sounding, and he is talking faster than the others, slightly excited. The first female voice said something that made the other three be quite, what she said doesn’t surprise me though.

"Doctor, the subject has blue eyes, about 5’11, short blonde mane; barely no mane at all. A few sharp teeth and a few flat teeth, most likely an omnivore, the subject seems to be in good condition, very little fat. The subject also seems to be healthy, no illnesses or disease. Scarring on the the upper back near both shoulders looks like it was caused awhile back ago. A few circular burn marks on his forward limbs. and a few circular scars on the lower torso. No bruising that I can tell on the subject. One problem though, the subject is highly resistant to any of the sedatives or any chemicals, we've nearly given him .9 mg of sedatives and that's barely keeping him under. We've been increasing the amount more and more and it's still not enough."

The second female voice chimes in but I can't quite hear her that well; but I think I heard her call one of the doctors by the name of "Doctor Helping Hoof" but it's just probably whatever medicine that they been pumping into me. I hear the second male talking to the first, but I can barely make out what they are saying. Sounds like both of them are far away,

My head isn't spinning as bad as before. Still slightly disoriented, I try once more to recall one of my memories. As I do, a jolt of sharp pain shoots up my spine and into my head. Grunting a little from the pain, I try my best to stay quiet and not get any attention from the four hosts in the room. I relax and try focusing my eyes to work well enough so I can make out some of the shadows.

I look around the room and I notice out of the corner of my eye that one of the shadows is small, could be one of the nurses. Next to her there’s another shadow, about the same height as the other figure. Both of them are talking, the slightly higher pitched voice one is on the right. I’m only getting a few bits and pieces of the conversation now since they aren't talking as loud as before. The one on the left laughed at something the younger one said, can't tell what though, but that laugh was rather pleasing to the ears. There's been a noise that I keep on hearing and I can’t quite place my finger on it, but it did bring up a saying that made very little sense to me "If you hear hoof steps, you don't know if it's zebra or horse". As I look down at my torso I notice something that made my blood run cold. There was a metal shard stuck right under my rib cage. Shocked that I haven't felt it, until now. These pain killers that they have me on are awesome.

It was odd, feeling the cold metal shard sticking out of my stomach, yet feeling no pain at all. The metal shard is resting against the bottom of my rib cage, hopefully it didn't hit anything too vital. The thought of how this piece of metal lodged itself into me has me a bit concerned. I look over the rest of my body trying to see if I been lucky enough to have any other foreign object lodged into me. I notice that my torso near the impact of the shard is covered with quite a bit of blood.I also notice that all I’m wearing is just my pair of camo cargo pants and socks and black boots. Wonder what other injuries I have but can't feel. Wonder why the doctors or nurses haven't pulled it out yet. Still, being able to feel my hands and feet brings me some comfort. Being able to wiggle my fingers and toes takes some stress off my chest.

I begin trying to figure out where I am, looking around the room the best as I can without drawing any attention from the staff. The room has stone walls painted white, a lot cleaner than I expected. Some counter tops with jars filled with god knows what. On the wall to my left there is an X-ray scan of what I assume to be my body. Can’t make anything out from it so I turn my attention to the rest of the room. There are no windows, no other "patients" in the room with me. Just the staff and a pair of double doors that seem to be the only exit. There is a small table to my left that has some scalpels, syringes and other instruments that I can't reach. Damn these arm and leg restraints.

One of the nurses notice my head turning and yells at the doctors.

"Doctor! the Subject is awake! Should I give him more sedatives?"

Jerking my head to where the voices are coming from, one of the shadows approaches me and as he continues talking. It’s the older sounding gentleman with the smooth as silk voice approaching the table and starts to talk.

“Subject 27, glad to see that you’re not dead, yet. Since you’re still alive and “kicking”, so to speak, we’ll be running more tests on you to see what makes you tick, hope you’ll be having as much fun as we’re going to have testing you.”

As he finished the other male walks up next to him and starts to speak.

“So doctor, how are we going to proceed with Subject 27’s tests?”.

The women with the pleasant laugh chimes in and starts to speak. “Excuse me doctors, but wouldn't it be best for Subject 27 if we removed that shard of metal from him?”

As she says this, my vision is going dark again due to the sedatives. Right before the sweet embrace of slumber takes a hold of me, I see a faint glow around the metal shard as it is ripped out from my stomach. I let out a bloodcurdling scream and pass out from sedatives.

I can only see darkness right now, no lights, no sounds, nothing. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been very comfortable in the dark. Could be because I am safe in it or that what ever I am hiding from, I can see it, but it can’t see me. The fact still stands though, it’s nothing but darkness here. Just darkness... did.... did I die when they pulled out that shard of metal? Or did I merely pass out due to the pain or the sedatives? This feeling... I had it before, when I first woke up; the feeling of not being alone, but there’s nothing here but darkness.

“Are you sure about that, Subject 27? You are correct about the darkness part though, but you are far from being alone.”

That voice sounded a lot like the mad god Sheogorath.

“Who said that? Where are you? Show your self!”

“Oh, I am right here. Or am I over there? Or could i be right behind you? ”

I quickly turn around but only see darkness, although all around me I can hear his insane laughter. As I steady myself the voice starts to talk again.

“Oh Subject 27 you and I are going to have a lots of fun together, you do know that, right? You already know me.”

“How do I know you all ready? I’ve never met you before in my life!” shouting at the darkness, I really must be going crazy.

“Oh? Don’t tell me you don’t remember that little deal we struck? What a shame. Well here, let me refresh ‘our’ memory.”

As it said that, a mirror of myself appears right in front of me. But something was very off, it didn't feel quite right. It extends its hand forward at me, reaching for a handshake. I reach out to shake its hand, but with this feeling of unease. It just stood there with a smile on my, no, our face with his hand out. As our hands made contact, that same jolt of painful energy traveled up my spine and shot into my head.

I wake up sweating, heart racing, adrenaline rushing through my veins and my eyes darting left to right, my back in a corner against a cold concrete wall. I quickly look at the cell I am in, fairly small, no bigger than a walk-in closet. There’s dim light coming through the bottom of the door and through the top of the door were a slit is at. The only objects in the cell are a bed of straw, a bucket, a small bowl with water in it, and a tray of food. I quickly stand up, but hit my head on the ceiling and fall back down to the floor. I sit here holding the top of my head as it burns with pain, glad that I didn’t crack my skull. I size up the space between the floor and the ceiling: it’s about 5 feet, i’m 5’11. After a few moments of sitting in pain, I crawl over to the water and greedily drink it, the feeling of cold water running down the back of my throat while it dripped from the corners of my mouth and ran down my chin and neck felt great.

Then I crawled over the food tray, and before eating it I try to see if it was drugged, or something that has been tampered with. All in all it looked safe enough to eat; it consisted of mainly fruit. An apple, some grapes, and a carrot. Biting into that apple, the crunch of it brought joy to me, it tastes so sweet, so very fresh. And the grapes; surprisingly cold and crisp. The carrot has a really nice earthy taste to it, each bite of it made a loud crunch, and I quickly eat every last bite there is. Licking my lips and fingers after devouring the freshest of fruits and carrot I ever had, and it felt great.

I check my pants to see what I have on my person, and I come up with my wallet with some cash, and that’s about it. I also have a some sort of device in my front right pocket, and as I look over the device a fragment of a memory comes rushing back, what I see doesn’t help me much, but I’m able to turn the device on. It loads up and comes to a screen with a symbol on it, I tap the screen and it is asking for a passcode, too bad I don't remember anything, let alone a passcode. I checked my front left pocket and find a pair of headphones in there, and that’s about it.

Sitting there with my back against the corner of the cell, against the cold concrete wall, I look over where the metal shard was impaled and was shocked to see that it left no scarring, no stitches, nothing, like it never happened. Amazed at this, even more surprised I’m still even alive. With very little light in the cell, I can barely check to see if I have even more wounds or bruising. Something on the far right of the cell catches my eye. A piece of paper sitting in the corner by the door, with only a few words written on it. A slave obeys. After reading this, I sit here trying to sort out what it means. Was I a slave now? Or was this left by the previous resident of this cell? Or was it left by one of the staff just to see what kind of effect it had on me? I disregard the thoughts and try to sort out what has happened to me, all I can recall is that dream I had... With “it”. That strange feeling of not being alone, that sudden pain that occurred again when I shook “our” hand.

Still disoriented and even more confused now then I was before, the adrenaline rush I had when I first woke up is finally starting to calm down a little. I’m starting to feel every ache and pain in my body, where the shard was at hurts like hell, searing pain is the only thing there now, like a hot ball of lead was placed inside of my abdominal cavity. Both my wrists and ankles are sore from the binding I was in. My whole body aches, every inch of me feels like it was tenderized with a sledge hammer. I lie here on the concrete floor of the cell, the cold floor feeling great against my bare back. With every ache in my body I’m surprised I was even able to stand up without my body giving out. With a sigh I start to wonder how long I was out, or how long I’ve been here, time seems all lost to me, seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to hours.

Laying here staring at the ceiling, I start to drift off back to sleep, my eyes slowly closing, my aching body resting against the cold concrete floor, enjoying the chilliness of the ceil I fall back asleep. In my dream I’m somewhere that seems so familiar to me, but I don’t recall it at all. I was in some mess hall, watching people walking by, eating, getting food, or just standing around talking to each other. I noticed every one is all wearing the same uniform, all in camo pants and a camo jacket, and black boots, every single one of them wearing a military uniform. I look over the hall and see several rows of tables all with red plastic chairs to each of them. Just looked like a standard mess hall. Something caught my attention to the left, so I turned towards it and saw a row of windows stretching across the entire wall. I walked over to the windows to stare out of them. It was on ground level, the windows open to let the fresh spring air in, pleasant each time the wind blew, rushing past me into the the mess hall. The smell of fresh cut grass, the sun’s rays going through the window hitting my face, the warmth of it brought back a nice sensation of being alive. watching through the windows, watching men and women train brought a sense of pride to me. I felt a hand on my right shoulder, and as I turned around to face the person I -

I wake up, with something cold around my neck. It’s metallic, heavy, and as I sit up, the metallic ring around my neck slides back a little against my throat. As I put my hands around this new accessory I have, trying to figure out what it is, or at least try to get it off, it starts to beep. The more I touch it the more it beeps. I stop touching it and the beeping stops, and a voice comes through it. A male’s voice, calm and steady, with a little southern accent in his voice.

“Ah, Subject 27, glad to see you’re finally awake and still with us my boy, the device around your neck is called a Slave Collar. If you try to remove it, it will blow up and take your head with it. If you try to tamper with it, it will blow up and take your head with it. Only a few staff members have the key to remove the device, I myself included since I created it. If you disobey your new masters it will send a painful electric shock into you, or if you do anything we don’t like. Now be a good boy and leave your cell and go to the right and follow that hallway until further notice.”

I hear a metallic clicking sound as the door unlocks. I crawl to the door and turn the handle to open it, it swings open and I can see the stone hallway painted white. I crawl into the hallway and check to see how high the ceiling is (about 7 foot clearance). I stand up, stretching my arms and my legs, glad I can finally start to walk again, I turn my back to pop it, and my lower back makes a loud cracking sound as it pops. I turn the other way to do it again, and it pops once more. I look at the wall and it has two arrows, one pointing to the left saying (exit) and one to the right saying (testing). I stood there for a few second thinking this over, wondering if I go left if it’s really the exit or if it’s a trap. I turn to go right and make my way down the white hallway, the floor and walls are both white, both very clean looking, the ceiling is also white and clean looking as well.

As I walk down the hallway, I put my hand against the stone wall, and the feeling as I drag it across the smooth stone brings a smile to my face. As I continue down the long hallway I notice there is a security camera in the corner, so I stop and I examine it. As I do, the voice in the collar starts to speak again.

“Subject 27, I see you notice the security camera, don’t pay it any attention. Now, Subject 27, please continue down the hallway a little bit more and take the first door to your right.”

I continue down the white hallway until I eventually see a couple of doors. There are total of 4 wooden doors, Two on the right side with about 10 feet apart from each other, and two on the left both with 10 feet apart from each other.

As I approach the doors, I look up and see another camera, and then hear a metallic clicking noise coming from the closest door to my right. I open the door, and walk in. The door behind me locks again and i’m in an open room with a catwalk about 15 feet from the floor with mirrors covering it. At the far end of this room is a giant metal door on a track. The room is fairly largely sized; the ceiling is 20 feet high, from wall to wall it’s about 30 feet, and the floors are smoothed grey metal. The walls are smoothed stone painted white. There are some speakers under the catwalk, 2 cameras in the far left and right corners. The speakers go live and start to speak.

“Subject 27, Welcome to testing room Alpha. Testing room Alpha is for physical testing, to see what are subjects can withstand against certain creatures. Your first test will be against a manticore”

The sliding door starts to open, and my heart starts to race, adrenaline starting to course through my veins. And the only thing I can hear is this massive roar coming from behind the door as it opens.

Credits

Idea(s)/Editing

itsmyfuneral

ZephyrRey

The Testing Begins

Chapter 2 - The Testing Begins

As the gate slowly opens, my mind is racing with thoughts. Wondering how a manticore could even exist. I thought they were a mystical creature, legends, fake! The beast roared once more snapping me back to reality. The gate’s halfway open, the manticore puts a paw on the gate and another against the wall, trying to force the gate to open faster. My heart’s now racing, adrenaline coursing through my body like never before, my hands are clammy, this feeling.... I’ve never felt so much... Excitement... So scared before... So alive! I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline rushing to my head, or just the kid in me so excited to see a mystical creature. I stand here, motionless, eyes focused on the two paws trying to force that slow gate to open any faster. Standing here, scared out of my mind, not knowing what to do feels great.

The gate was now fully open, I feel a lump building up in my throat, waiting to see if manticores really do exist. The beast steps out from the shadow, standing on its hind legs. Body and head of a lion, wings of a bat, and tail of a scorpion, this thing was massive! Nearly towering over me, a solid 7 feet tall on its hind legs, maybe weighing around 300+ pounds of pure cold blooded killing machine! There’s a good 20 feet between us, the manticore standing there, seizing up its next meal. Its tail wagging left to right, like it has a mind of its own. I can't tell if this is a dream or not, or maybe i really did die when they pulled out that metal shard from my torso.

The manticore starts to slowly approach me, still walking on its hind legs, its tail wagging back and forth as it walks, his wings fully expanded to their full length, and I am scared shittless. The manticore is now only 10 feet away, still walking towards me, keeping perfect eye contact with every step it makes. I don’t know what i’m more scared of, that this thing has a good 2 feet on me, hell even maybe the extra 200+ pounds of muscle then I do, or that tail of its, filled with some deadly poison that could probably kill a full grown male in seconds. My mind is telling, no screaming at my legs to move, but my body will not listen. I can feel every beat of my heart against my chest, time seems to slow down the closer the beast comes to me. My mind is now yelling at my body to work, my legs seem to be locked in place, and my feet feel like i’m wearing a pair of cement shoes. God, what a way to go, dieing to a mystical creature like a manticore.

Time is crawling now, since the beast is only 5 feet away, and every step it takes seems like a lifetime ago, the only thing I can hear is the beat of my heart and every breath I take might be my last one.

“Oh Subject 27, you’re scared stiff aren't you?” That voice again? I must either be dead or going crazy if I keep on hearing voices in my head. “Oh no Subject 27, you are very much alive my dear boy, and yes, you are slightly crazy, but who isn't? Now come on, my good friend, why don’t you show your hosts what gifts i’ve bestowed upon you? Or would you rather take your chances and see what this big ol’ pussy cat is made of and see if it wants to eat you like a mouse or play with your dead body like a ball of twine?”

That voice does have a good point, this manticore could either be no more of a threat than a normal house cat, or it could very well want to rip my face off and eat it like catnip. I don't know what it's talking about though, what power? I’m just a normal human being stuck in what could be Hell, Limbo or some rich bastard’s sick idea of a joke.

“What powers are you talking about? I don’t even know who or what you are! And why do you keep on talking like we know each other? I don’t recall anything about my life or what has happened! Let alone a voice in my head that keeps on talking to me!”

“Tsk Tsk Subject 27, you truly don't remember a thing, do you? What a shame... Ah well, we’ll be talking again very shortly if you survive this big ol’ pussy cat.”

As it said that, and time goes back into full swing, the manticore is now in arms length from me, just staring me down. Why did the voice in my head keep on calling this death machine a ‘big ol’ pussy cat’? Sure it might be ⅓ lion and but it’s still 100% cold blooded death machine. My heart is pounding so very hard right now, the adrenaline still coursing through my entire body, and I have two options right now. Plan A: either try my best to beat this manticore down without it killing me in one shot, or Plan 2: pet it.....

As I raise my right hand, the manticore quickly shifts its gaze from my eyes to my hand, watching it very carefully. The manticore is studying every single move I make, his wings are now close to his body, his tail staying perfectly still. My hand is only a few inches away from the manticore’s chest, every second feels like i’m signing my own death warrant. I firmly place my hand on the manticore’s chest; his fur is surprisingly soft to the touch, and I bring my left hand up onto its chest and start to pet it with both hands. The manticore stands there, not making a single move while I pet it with my hands. Scratching his belly, the manticore starts to purr like a kitten in a beam of sunlight. As I pet the manticore, my heart rate returns to normal and the adrenaline rush stops, and oddly enough a smile breaks out across my faces as I pet the beast. The manticore lays down in front of me on its back as I keep on petting and scratching its belly, his left hind leg starts to twitch and does a kicking motion as I reach the spot right under his rib cage on the left side. The purring noise is rather loud; it’s echoing off the walls of this empty room.

“Bravo Subject 27, Bravo. You just made me 10 bits. I am rather pleased to see you were able to figure out the manticore’s “weak spot”. It might seem like a giant vicious lion ready to attack anything in sight, but all in all it’s no more of a threat than a normal house cat. You’ll have more tests with wildlife soon enough, more dangers than the others. Lamar! get back into your cage!” As the voice says that, the manticore slowly gets to its feet and walks back through the metal sliding door and it slowly closes behind it.

“Now Subject 27, since you were able to complete the test rather easily, we’ll let you continue further. If you wouldn't mind going back out the door and going to the next room on your right, well continue your testing.”

As the voice cuts off I hear metallic clicking from behind me as the door unlocks. I sigh in relief that test was rather easy and I didn't have to defend myself.

I turn around and push the door open, and headed to the next room, I hear metallic clicking from behind me as the door locks itself behind me and once again as the door to my right unlocks. Slightly nervous about what might behind this next door, I pause only for a few seconds before opening it. As I open the door, the collar around my neck softly beeps, slowly, not like before when I was trying to touch it. I pause, listening to the soft beeps of the collar, with the door only halfway open, and the voice starts to talk once more.

“Come on in Subject 27, ignore the beeping on the collar, nothing that you need to worry about.” As the voice cuts off, I fully open the door. There are no lights in this room that are on. I slowly walk into the room, the only source of light is from behind me, coming from the hall way.

The room has an odd feeling to it, like the feeling of ozone right before a big storm. As I step fully into the room, the door slams shuts and locks itself. My eyes quickly adjust to the darkness of the room. The collar is still softly beeping, a slow steady rate.... Beep... Beep... Beep. I feel at ease in this room, the darkness cloaking my actions. I notice a little red light across the room, Just flashing, probably no bigger than a penny. I slowly start walking towards the light, it’s slowly getting bigger and bigger the closer I get, the collar is still keeping the same rate as before, just softly beeping. Wonder why it started to beep in the first place, why here and not in the first room?

I am now close to the blinking red light, and I slowly move my right hand towards to, trying to grasp it. As my hand made contact the collar starts to scream. The beeping is a lot louder then before. I quickly remove my hand from the little red light and the collar starts to quiet down again. Why did the collar flip out when I put my hand on the red light? Testing a theory out, I quickly put my hand on the red light again. Once more the collar started to scream, the rate of the beeps started to increase, and the volume increased as well. With my hand on the red light as the collar screamed, I do the next best thing I can think of: push down on the red light.

As my hand slides down with the red light, the collar stops beeping. Standing here, motionless in the dark, with no sound, no light, wondering what will happen next, my mind races; not knowing what that little red light did, or what it was for. I turn around to try to walk my way back to the door and then as I place my foot down, I fall. Ether I turned the wrong way or the little red light did something to the room when I pressed it down. The fall seems to last forever, free falling is not something I like so much, especially in the dark.

I keep on free falling, not knowing when I’ll land face first into the ground below and most likely break my neck. It feels like I’m falling faster and faster, time seems all lost to me while free falling. It’s like an eternity, This feeling of is familiar somehow, like I’ve done it before, willingly though. Why I would ever decide to do this is beyond me. While thinking this a fragment of a memory comes racing back to me.

I was falling fast, but enjoying it, I could see the bright yellow sun, the big white puffy clouds hanging in the air, the blue sky expanding as far as the eye could see. The feeling of the wind pushing against my body as I fell, the wind rushing past my face. The mere thought of plummeting to the earth at break neck speeds was thrilling, and I felt weightless while free falling. I could do all sorts of things while free falling.

I snap back into reality when the lights suddenly came on and I slam face first into the floor with a loud thud. The sudden impact of my head hitting the floor knocked me unconscious.

“Oh Subject 27, did baby fall down and go boom?” His insane laughter echoes through my head like a gunshot in an enclosed area, never stopping, just continuing to echo. “ I do have to admit, Subject 27, that did look like it hurt, a lot. Hell most people would died on impact from that height, but not you, you’re a tough one to crack. Now Subject 27, get it, rise and shine!”

I wake up still face first on the floor, my head throbbing due to the sudden impact with the floor. I most likely have a concussion now due to the fall. Feels like someone dropped a concrete block on my head. I can feel blood running out of my nose, the warmth of it as it runs out and onto the ground. God that hurt like hell. I sit up holding my head, hoping that this pain stops soon, as well as the blood. As I sit here, making sure everything is in one piece, my neck is hurting from the trauma, but I am still able to turn my head so I doubt I broke my neck. I put a little pressure on my rib cage to see if any of them cracked or broke. A sudden sharp searing pain shoots into my torso as I make contact with my rib cage. Hoping I only cracked a few, I sit here waiting for the pain to stop before getting up and moving on. I look up to see where I fell from and how far of a drop it was. I see a platform where I was most likely standing at with the little red light. And not too far from it was the door, so pressing that little red light did move the room around. I looked to see how far the drop was from the ledge to where I am now, roughly a 20 foot drop. Kind of hard to gauge any thing with a throbbing head, let alone a concussion.

I try to stand up, slowly so I don’t do any more damage to myself. As I started to stand up, my ribs start to burn. Grunting in pain, I’m able to fully stand up without falling down. With every breath I take makes my chest burns with searing pain once more. I look around the room where I am at; the floor is a smooth grey stone, the walls are stones painted white. I see three doors on the far side of the room. I notice another camera above the three doors. I start to walk towards the doors when my collar starts to talk once more.

“Subject 27, this is Doctor Helping Hoof. I am surprised that you survived that fall, let alone already started to walk again. The collar allows us to monitor your vitals and the condition that you are in. I don’t know how you are walking around with 3 fractured ribs, and a concussion, but you’re making one great test subject to study. The three doors in front of you are a “reward” for you surviving the fall, but you may only pick one. Fair warning though, one door will not benefit you, another one may or may not have another test in it, and the last will have something to help you out.”

As the microphone on the collar goes dead once more, I stand there, wondering which door I should pick. I approach the doors, standing only a few feet from them, I hear metallic clicking from all of them as they unlock. I choose the door in the middle, and as I open it, I hear metallic clicking coming from the other two as they lock. I slowly open the door, my heart rate starting to increase, my ribs still on fire. My head still throbbing from the fall, still hard to think straight with this concussion, I push forward, opening the door fully. I step into the room, the door closing and locking behind me, The room is well light, same smooth grey stone flooring, and white walls as before. Something is off about this room, it’s smaller than the others I’ve been in. There’s a door on the far side of the room, and two pedestals in front of me, and behind those pedestals on the ceiling are two tubes. I notice two cameras in this room, one over the door on the far side, and the second one on the right wall.

The microphone in my collar starts to talk once more.

“Subject 27, I’m glad you chose the testing room.” As he says this, a lump is building in my throat. “Now Subject 27, this test is rather simple, but it can either help you or harm you, depending on which pedestal you pick. Too bad you didn't pick the door to the right, that had a healing potion in it to heal your wounds that you obtained” I facepalm myself as he says that. “The door to the left though, well, you would have some ‘fun’ in there, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Now, Subject 27 pick which one you want and pick wisely.”

The microphone goes quiet after that. I stand there wondering which one I should pick. Wait, this might be the concussion talking but I do have a rather smart idea, what if I don’t pick either of them? What if I just walk towards the door?”

I head towards the other door, try to open it, but it’s locked, figures. As my idea crashes and burns, the microphone starts to talk once more.

“A slave OBEYS!”

As he says that, a powerful jolt of electricity comes from the collar and rushes into my body. The pain of this is unbelievable, my whole body locks up and I collapsed and hit the floor with a thud. With every gasp for air I try to make my chest burns with searing pain, and my eyes start to water from the pain caused from that jolt of energy from the collar. Nearly passing out due to lack of air, I start to cough violently. Which doesn’t help the pain in my chest at all... After a few minutes trying to regain control over my body, I eventually get up on my hands and knees and slowly begin to stand.

Surprisingly the collar’s microphone still worked after that jolt of energy.

“Now, now, Subject 27. I gave you fair warning if you disobeyed one of us. Now, would you kindly do as you’re told and continue with the testing. Pick which button you want to press and see what you’ll get.”

I limp over to the two pedestals and press the one on my right, hoping I can get at least one break and get something decent. I look up at the tube, waiting for something bad to come out and try to rip me a new one. I started to hear screaming coming from the tube. Getting myself ready to defend myself from what ever it was, the screaming is getting louder and louder as it comes farther and farther down the tube.

As it landed on the floor right in front of me with a thud, it isn’t like anything I was expecting, not in the slightest. Slightly dumbfounded on what I just got for a “reward” and extremely confused on what this creature was in front of me, my jaw nearly hit the ground after witnessing this creature appear right in front of me. It turns its head and stares at me and says,

“Oh, Hello there.”

Wait.... Did.... Did it just TALK?!

The Creeping Shadow

Chapter 3 - The Creeping Shadow

Standing there, dumbfounded and unbelievably confused to no end. She is just sitting there, staring at me like I’m some sort of abomination.

“Do you not understand me? Or can you simply not speak?.”

Her voice had a raspy/cocky tone to it but still rather pleasing to listen to.

“Well? Spit it out or ready.” Standing there still shell shocked on what my “reward” was, I just stood there speechless, couldn't put any words together.

Standing before me was a Pegasus, a talking Pegasus... Her coat white as a cloud, and a light blue mane that looks like she has bed head, all uneven and rough looking, she is approximately 4 feet tall. But something puts me off though, she too is all so wearing a slave collar just like me. My mind struggles as it tries to figure out how Pegasus exist, let alone a sentient one.

“Why do you have that dumb look on your face? It’s like you’ve never seen a Pegasus before.” First the manticore, and now a talking Pegasus, what has happened to me?

“So Subject 27, what do you think of your “reward”? Subject 27 meet Cloud, Cloud meet Subject 27. Cloud, Subject 27 is a “rare” species, we’ve never seen one like his kind before, until now. So we thought it would give us interesting test results so we decided to pair you two together, good luck.” Has he finishes both are mics on are collars go silent, Cloud is just standing there her head slightly cocked to the side, with a puzzling look on her face staring at me.

“Hey, Subject 27, that’s your name, correct? What a strange name to have. Any who let’s go, I don't like standing in one place for long” As she says that, I shamble over to the door on the far side of the room.

Trying to open it once more, slightly hesitant since what happened the last time, I begin to open this door. As the door swings open, Cloud walks past me into the room first but to only stop cold in her tracks as she entered the room. I stepped into the room the door closing and locking behind us, I looked around the room to see what made Cloud stop dead in her tracks. The room was poorly lit, the floor wasn't the same smooth grey stone, but sand instead and the walls were the same white as before, but covered with scratches and blood splatter.

The room was rather warm, the air felt stale and heavy. I noticed four cameras in the room, one in each corner of the room, slowly moving back and forth. I took a step to walk past Cloud, she put her wing up to stop me, and pointed her hoof to the middle of the room. I looked to where she was pointing and then noticed what made her freeze, there were bones scattered throughout the room, no decaying flesh on them, no muscle, nothing, just bone. The bones looked as if they were picked clean of everything. I was stricken with horror, my mind started to race trying to think what caused this, there was at least four skulls I could see on top of the sand, wondering how many more hidden beneath the sand. I look down to see Cloud’s face shaking with fear of what is in this room. She slowly backs up behind me whispering quietly.

“Subject 27... I.... I don’t like this room, what ever brought this much death is probably dangerous, please be careful 27....” I kneel down to eye level with Cloud and giving her a hug to reassure her that everything will be fine.

Slowly walking into the middle of the room, my eyes surveying the room to see what caused all this, walking to one of the nearby skulls , and picking it up to examine it. It was about the same size as Cloud’s head, most likely a pony skull. I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about why these people, no monsters where testing on innocent creatures. Walking farther into the room, I spotted something shiney out the corner of my left eye, only a few feet away from me. I turn and walk towards it when my foot got caught on something and I tripped. I landed in the sand, my body hitting the ground and kicking up dust, my ribs on fire once more, my eyes watering from the pain.

“Subject 27! are you okay?” I lifted my arm up to wave at her to assure her I was okay.

Looking behind me to see what my foot got caught on, it was another skull, but this one much bigger, I dug it out of the sand and surprised that my foot was easily able to fit in this skull’s mouth, I would not like to meet the creature who this belonged to.

I turn my attention to the object that caught my attention early, I started to dig it out when I thought I saw something moving underneath the sand. I stop and watch carefully where I thought I saw movement, but nothing happened.

“ Must be my imagination playing tricks on-” As I thought that something grabs my foot and starts to pull me across the room, dragging me over the bones, my back being dragged across the sand.

“27! What is that thing?!” Cloud screams as she takes but stops as she sees more tentacles coming out from the sand all surrounding me as the first one continues to pull me across the room.

I frantically try to grab on to something as I’m being dragged across the sand. I managed to grab a skull that was buried underneath the stand, I toss the pony size skull at the tentacle that’s wrapped around my foot. It hit,

“ I think I just pissed it off even more.”

As saying that one of the nearby tentacle shoots towards me and wraps around my chest squeezing me as it holds me in the air. All I can feel is severe pain from the tentacle squeezing my fractured ribs. I try my best to force the tentacle to release me from its grasp. Doing so it retaliates and starts to pull me into the sand.

“27! I’m coming!” (lol) Cloud shoots towards me, as the tentacle drags me underneath the sand.

Cloud dodges and weaves through each tentacle flying faster and faster quickly closing the gap between us. With both my legs in the sand, Cloud is only a few feet away from me.

“27! I got you!” I reach out my hand to grab Cloud’s hoof, with only a foot in between us.

I notice one tentacle right behind Cloud, quickly closing in, my eyes going wide as time slows down to a crawl, every second is like watching a train wreck happen. The tentacle wraps around Cloud’s left hind hoof and flings her across the room. Grasping for anything to stop myself from being pulled into the sand, but ultimately failing as sand slips through my fingers as I get pulled completely under. Terrified out of my mind as the tentacle wrapped around my torso, pulling me further and further down into sand.

A fragmented memory flashes in my mind showing me a small memory. The feeling of the hot blistering sun on a summer day as it hits my skin, hearing locusts in the neighboring trees, hundreds of them. The sound of a horse galloping across the ground. There was a rope tied around my waist as the horse dragged me across the ground, the feeling of small pebbles scraping against the back of my jacket as I tried to escape, hearing a man yell commands at me mixed with the sound of the locusts chirping in the nearby trees made it hard to concentrate on trying to escape.

“Twist boy, twist! The enemy ain't gonna let you go if you play possum!” Hearing that, I started to twist my body in any direction I could, only after a few seconds after twisting the rope snaps under the strain of the horse tugging on it while it was being twisted at the same time.
I came to a stop, my back slightly sore from being dragged across the ground by a horse.

“God dang it boy! It took you a lot longer than it should have! If it wasn't for me, the enemy would of brought you back to their camp, raped you, and then skinned you alive for the hell of it! But hell, what are families for, right? I reckon your ol’ uncle might teach you a thing or two before you get shipped off to boot camp”

I quickly come back to reality and started to twist as my uncle commanded me to do. Twisting in the sand with the tentacle still around my waist, quickly making the tentacle slow down before becoming injured. Only a few seconds after twisting, all I can hear is a loud snapping noise coming from the tentacle below me. Releasing me from its grasp, I started to dig towards the surface, trying to escape before the tentacle tried to grab me once more.

Reaching the surface, my arm reaching out of the sand, slowly digging my way out. Gasping for air as I made it to the surface, spotting Cloud slumped over next to the wall not moving, I fear for the worst. Quickly running towards her, hoping she is still alive, I pick her up in my arms, darting towards the closest door near me. Praying it was unlocked and that the tentacle monster didn't come back for round two. I made to to the door without seeing the it, Cloud still in my arms, I quickly open the door, not even hesitating to see what’s behind it. Rushing into this hallway, only stopping after the door closes and locks itself.

Putting my ear next to Cloud’s mouth, praying to whatever god exists here that she was still alive. Holding my own breath so I wouldn't make a sound. I can hear a soft inhale coming from Cloud. it’s shallow, but she is still alive! Laying Cloud gently on the ground to assess my condition. My ribs are still on fire, head not throbbing as bad as before, but still there. My torso and back were both bloody from being dragged across the sand, the cuts and scraps weren't bad at all, but enough to break the skin and cause very minor bleeding. I lean down and pick up Cloud’s unconscious body up, cradling her close to me.

Continuing down the hallway, trying to spot a safe place to rest and tend to my wounds and see if I can help Cloud anyway I could. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, the hallway was the same white stone, and the floor was the same smooth grey stone as the other rooms. Feeling like I’ve been in this hallway for ages now, never ending, no cameras on the walls, no doors, nothing. Continuing down the hallway, briefly stopping to take a break for only a few moments. Sleep deprived, body begging me to stop moving, go lay down in a corner somewhere and sleep, sleep for a very long time. Keeping on moving, must find somewhere safe to rest at, I quickly looking behind me, see nothing but the hallway and the shadow....

Wait, shadow of what? There’s nothing in this hallway to cast any shadows, as thinking that, I hear something once more, coming from the shadow. Something wrong, very wrong about that shadow, it’s not natural. What ever is creating it most likely just looking for it’s next meal, like most things i’ve faced so far, just trying to survive on the weak. But.... It feels like the shadow is beckoning me, like it wants me to walk into the darkness, where I feel the safest in.... Slowly walking towards the shadow, not knowing what I am doing. Entranced by the shadow’s call. Walking closer and closer to the shadow. Walking to the very edge of the shadow, taking the last step into the..... NO! Turning away from the shadow. Sprinting down the hallway with Cloud in my arms, in a dead sprint, trying to make as much distance between the shadow and I.

The hallway seems never ending, as I run down the hallway, my legs cry in pain, but I will not stop, I will not be taken over by the shadow. Seems like I’ve been running nonstop for hours, coming to a stop, only to catch my breath, sweat beading up and dripping down my blood stained body. Trying to catch my breath, turning around to see if the shadow followed or not, just seeing the endless hallway, stretching on for eternity. Turning back around and continuing down the unending hallway, looking for any sign of a door, or even a camera. Walking for what seems like years now, with Cloud still unconscious in my arms, hoping she is okay, hoping to see anything in this damn hallway that just keeps on going.

Stopping, slowly turning around, feeling something watching the back of my head, its eyes burning a hole straight through the back of my skull, but nothing, nothing is behind me, just the hallway. Starting to question my own sanity, not evening knowing if this is all true, maybe I just asleep and this is just a really bad dream, yeah that’s it, it has to be it! I hear a quiet whisper coming from behind me, making my blood run cold with every word it speaks.

“Or you could of died on that operating table and you’re just in limbo.” That could be it.... I am probably dead and most likely stuck in purgatory..

“It must be true, how else could a manticore even exist, or even a talking Pegasus?” The voice does have a very good point but, what does that make Cloud then?

She feels so very real laying in my arms, her soft fur resting against my body. Petrified stiff with fear, with every word whispering to me, chilling me to the very core.

“All you have to do is set that Pegasus down, turn around and embrace the shadow.” Looking down and seeing Cloud unconscious body resting in my arms, starting to feel heavy all of the sudden.

Slowly lowering my arms, doing as the shadow tells me to do, not even thinking on what I was doing. Just doing as I was told, like I was in a zombified trance, obeying every word it was told. Kneeling down to lay Cloud’s body on the ground, slowly turning towards the shadow, every step I take brings me slightly closer to the edge of the shadow.

“That’s right, come towards the shadow, embrace it, feel safe once more, become one with “us”, let go of your mortal shell and surrender yourself over to me.” My spirit weakened with each word whispered through my ears, doing as told by the shadow commands.

“Tsk tsk, Subject 27, are you that easily manipulated in just surrendering your very being over to a false shadow? “ Sighs” Well Subject 27, I won't interfere with what ever you are doing, but if it jeopardizes our contract, then you’ll be forcing “our” hand.” As he was saying that, my foot lands in the shadow, realizing what an idiot I am. Letting myself easily be manipulated by this false shadow, but now it was too late to turn back, the shadow had me in it’s grasp and I was now it’s prey.

Trying to muster up as much strength as I could, only enough to turn the other direction. The shadow quickly crawls up my leg, consuming every inch of it, making its way to my hip. Not feeling any pain as my body is being consumed by the shadow, but instead, extreme cold where ever the shadow consumes. The shadow is not wasting any time, and is now consuming my torso, as I fell to the ground. As the shadow reaches my neck and soon my head, desperately trying to reach for anything to pull myself out of this frozen hell. Feeling helpless and very powerless as the shadow makes me into its dinner. Terrified of being consumed, feeling a tear run down my face as the shadow continue to consume me. Seeing the shadow in the corners of my eyes as it’s consuming the rest of me, the last thing I see as the shadow consumes me is Cloud’s unconscious body laying on the floor where I layed her.

In some dream like state, with the same feeling as last time I visited here, but the presence of something else was much stronger this time. Looking around to see if i can spot the other presence, but only seeing darkness all around me. Then it hit me, the intense cold affecting my body, my heart feeling like it’s about to stop beating any second, the crippling cold affecting my mind, making every thought run slow, it felt like I had one big brain freeze. Trying to do what ever I can from my heart from stop beating, the cold bringing me to my knees, helpless against it, my right hand clutching my chest trying to stop the crippling pain that the cold was causing to my heart. The agony that the shadow brought with it was unbearable, felt like my whole body was failing on me, every single part of me felt like it was frozen solid. The whispering started to echo through the darkness, penetrating my very soul.

“Surrender yourself over to me, and I’ll end your suffering.”

“NO! I will not surrender so easily to a false shadow!”

“False? I was the shadow that every filly was scared of, I was the shadow that crept into your dreams and turned them into nightmares.”

“Why are you here then?! Prying on any unfortunate souls that helplessly falls to your trap?”

“Aren't you a curious one? Very well, I shall tell you my story before consuming your soul, enjoying every last tasty bit of it. I was once one of Princess Nightmare Moon’s “creations”. I was born out of pure darkness, driven to feed upon the countless dreams that any pony or creature had. But When my Princess was defeated by the Elements of Harmony I was driven back from the small town of Ponyville.”

My body feeling completely frozen over now, I was helpless and was at the mercy of the shadow. The crippling cold was making it very difficult to breath, every breath I inhaled made my lungs feel like they were frost bitten.

“I was forced to life in the Everfree Forest, trying to survive on any creature that I could get cold grip on. I stumbled onto a small camp one night, with several very tasty looking ponies in it, my hunger got the best of me though. As I was about to feast upon my first pony in ages, I was captured by some damn unicorn’s spell. They brought me here for there damn test, using me like some brainless lab-rat. It feels like I’ve been here for a very long time.”

Barely able to take a single breath now, my lungs were nearly frozen over, my heart beating very slowly now as the shadow lays upon my soul.

“I’ve just have one goal now, and that’s to find that unicorn and torment her and feast upon her very soul, one bit at a time, revenge for what she did to me, trapping me here.”

Shedding tears now, the crippling cold was too much to bare, but each tear that I shed froze on my cheeks.

“So my prey, now that I told you my story, it’s time to dine on your delicious soul.”

Struggling even to speak, I manage to only say a couple of words before I was consumed by this shadow.

“Wait! before you devour my soul, I have a proposition for you!”

“Oh? And what is this “proposition” you speak of?”

“You want revenge on the unicorn that trapped you here, correct? Spare my life and I’ll give you your revenge you seek!”

The whispering stayed silent for a couple of minutes, pondering over the idea I made.

“You do have a very fine idea there little one, very well. I shall agree to this, the terms to are contract is this. If you’ll assist me on taking revenge on the pony who trapped me here, I in return shall spare you. But if you try to break our contract, then I shall not hesitate on devouring your soul.” My heart nearly stopped beating now, unable to breath, I managed to get one last word out before dieing.

“Deal!”

As saying that, the shadow slowly loosen its grip around my soul. Gasping for air as my lungs start to thaw, my heart pumping hot blood once more through my body. Kneeling in the darkness as the shadow released me from its icy grip.

“Oh Subject 27! You brought me a new friend! FANTASTIC! “His insane laughter echoed once more through the darkness

” And aren't you a cute little shadow, yes you are! And what might be your name lass?” As he said that the shadow merely stayed quite.

“Oh come on now, don’t be shy lass, if we’re going to share the same host, might as well be friends.”

Appearing right before me was, well , me once more with that creepy looking smile across our face. Bending over and extending our hand to help me up off my knees, grabbing it and being brought back to my feet the whispering finale speaks.

“Where did you come from? And why didn't I sense you coming from him before I entered his mind?”

“Well my lovely, because I simply didn't want you to know I was here. Like you, he and I both have a contract, I am willing to share him, for now. As long as you are willing to aid him if, and only if his life depends on it.”

Saying that, the shadow stays silent once more, for only a few seconds.

“I haven't been called by my name in many years, most refer to me as the creeping shadow, but my name is Fade.”

Credits

Editing/Formatting

iitsmyfuneral

Return (Not Censored)

Chapter 4 - Return (Not Censored)

Caution! This Chapter contains GORE! If you don't care for GORE please go read the 'Return(Censored)"! Enjoy!

Standing in the darkness with Fade, and my doppelganger. My body is now fully thawed from nearly being consumed by Fade. I’ve been managing with a voice in my head fine, but I don’t know how well I can manage two, and hopefully they both get along, or I might be the one who pays if they start to fight it out through my mind. Feeling an icy touch slowly creep up on me, as Fade presses her shadowy self against my back, draping her arms over my shoulders and bringing them together around my neck. Now that she isn't trying to devour me, I notice that her shadowy body is rather soft, slightly cold to the touch. With every word she whispers as she speaks into my ears makes them feel slightly cold, but her voice is rather pleasing to listen to, every word soft and quiet, but each word she whispers has a hint of seductiveness in it.

“Subject 27, I do have to admit that I’ve never seen a creature with such a delicious looking soul as yours before. I haven't even seen a creature like you before, come to think about, such a magnificent looking body you have. You and I could have a lot of fun together.” She laughs.

“Ah lass, it’s because he’s a mortal, a human! He isn't from around these parts, hell, not even from this plane of existence! And if you're trying to seduce Subject 27 into anything that will harm him, don’t forget lass, I’ll be watching.”

My ears now burning hot with every chilly word Fade whispers in my ear, my heart rate slightly increased. Her cool shadowy body feels rather nice against my back as she presses herself against me.

“Wait, what is your name? You do even have a name?”

Fade still leaning her body against mine, looking at my doppelganger. Wait, come to think about it, I don’t even know his name..

“Sorry lass, that’s for me to know and for Subject 27 to figure out. Subject 27, get up my boy! You got a scared little Pegasus waiting for you!”

That’s right, I forgot Cloud was still with me, god I hope she isn't unconscious still, and hopefully she is okay.

Waking up, my battered, hurting, broken body, laying against the cold stone floor. My head stopped throbbing, but feels a little more crowded now with Fade taking up residence in there. Hearing crying coming in front of me, I slowly get to my hands and knees. That’s when I was tackled by a white blur, moving so fast I couldn't even make out its shape. Knocking me over onto my back, there was now a light weight, crying, white pegasus now on my torso, her hooves wrapped around my neck, hugging me tightly. As I laid there on my back, I bring my arms around to hug her, still crying, her tears landing on my blood stained chest. Sighing in relief that she is okay, and nothing has happened to her while I was out.

“27! I-I am so glad that you’re alive!” she whimpered. “I-I t-thought you died.“ Only able to get a few words in between each whimper. “I-I don’t k-know how long I’ve been, b-but when I came to.... I-I saw you laying on the floor in front of me... You weren't m-moving, y-your body was c-cold.”

I laid there, holding Cloud as she wept in my arms, feeling a tear streak down my cheek, I started crying too. Not in sorrow, no, but in happiness; glad that I was able to live through that horrifying experience of almost being eaten whole by Fade.

Taking one arm off of Cloud while still holding her as she wept. I pushed myself off of the ground and onto my knees with my one free arm shocking Cloud in the process. Causing her to jump a little which made one of her hind hoofs kick one of my fractured ribs. Grunting a little in pain as her hoof made contact with my rib, but shrugging it off. I’ve felt much worse lately, just a little love tap like that won't bother me too much. Cloud looked up at me as I get to my feet, she started to blush as I hold her in my arm.

“27, you.... You don’t have to carry me, I can walk or fly perfectly fine by myself. But, I don’t mind at all though.” Her face turning bright red as she says this.

“Oh 27, you poor thing, how have you been walking around in this condition this whole time?”

Feeling Fade as she shifts around in through my body as she says this. Feeling her chilly fingers poke and touch the inside of my body.

“Let me see what I can do about your injuries, Subject 27.”

Saying this, I feel my fractured ribs start to freeze, numbing the pain. Very strange feeling to have, the warmth of my blood as it courses through my body mixed with the icy touch that is now on my ribs. The pain begins to numb, taking the sting out of every breath I take. The pain nearly gone, I inhale once more, able to breath freely now without my ribs tutoring me as I do.

“There you go, let my frozen touch numb the pain that you're in. Just relax and let me take good care of you.”

Hearing that throws me for a loop, first she was trying to make me her next meal ticket, now she wants to help me. What did I get myself into? Looking forward, down the hallway, not too far off I see the hallway stopping.... Wait, this hallway ends? Seeing this ignites my spirit with glee. I run towards the end of the hallway, still carrying Cloud in my arms.

“Wooo! 27, what has gotten you all excited all of the sudden?”

Reaching the door, I quickly open it, with a smile on my face, glad to finally get out of this damn hallway. But... What was on the other side of the door quickly removed my smile. Putting Cloud down onto the floor as I step into the room, the door closing and locking behind us.

The room was poorly lit, and I could only see about ten feet into the room. The air was musky and heavy, the scent of blood hang in the air, I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but this room felt very... Off. What I could see of the room, the walls were the same white as before, but had some kind of glyphs written on them. The floor was a dark grey stone. I notice two cameras on the left and right wall. That’s when I heard it... A faint crying, not from Cloud, no, but further into the room. Cloud starts to walk in front of me, I quickly put my hand in front of her to stop her from going any further into the room. The crying was quiet, sounded like it was coming from a kid... Why would a kid be in here? In this dark glyph filled room?

“Hello? Are you okay? If you need help come towards my voice. 27 and I mean you no harm,” Cloud said.

I started to walk into the room, feeling uneasy as I come closer and closer to the owner of the cries. My eyes now fully adjusted to the darkness, seeing more glyphs along the walls of this room, all painted what looks to be blood.... Without looking where I was going, I step on a bone, crushing it underneath my foot. Quickly looking down, I see a few bones scattered across the room, not being able to tell what creature they came from or what caused this puts me nervous. I see what looks like a foal crying in the corner... Something is very off here, why is a foal in this dark, blood stained room all alone? My breath shallows as I see this foal, and my heart is beating faster with every step I take closer. I’m terrified of what happened in this room and how this foal is still alive.

Only a few feet away from the foal. She suddenly stops crying, her coat was a dark green, her mane was even darker green, almost black, I notice that her body had caked on blood all over it.... Wh.... What the hell happened in this room? Too scared to move, the foal starts to stand up, slowly, she turns towards me.... That’s when I noticed, all she had was dark empty voids for eyes, her mouth, hang open... Her teeth were pointed, her muzzle has blood caked on it. Then I notice her horn glowing a dark red, She lets out a demonic scream as her horn shoots a dark red beam, impacting and penetrating right through the upper part of my right side of my chest. Doing so caused my right lung to collapse as the beam of energy penetrates through it. It traveled across the room, striking the wall right behind Cloud only a few feet to her left.

“27!” Cloud screaming my name, now charging into the darkness looking for me.

The demonic unicorn filly lunges at me, latching onto my left collar bone. I can feel her teeth digging into my skin, my collar bone starting to crack under the massive amount of pressure this little filly can create with just her mouth alone. The feeling of my blood, running down my chest as the filly biting down on my collar bone, the smell of burnt flesh filled the room from where the laser struck me. Struggling with breathing, with only one lung was hardly functioning. Still petrified by what just happened, this little filly trying to kill me was horrifying. The little filly’s horn started to glow again, seeing this, I quickly grabbed her by her hind legs, started to pull her. Her teeth ripping through my flesh, taking a chunk of my collar bone with her, I threw her against the wall, her horn shooting off once more, striking me in the left leg, grazing against the bone and skin. The pain causing me to drop to my knees. Blood still flowing from the chunk of flesh and bone that was once there, dripping down my body. Losing some function in my left arm. Struggling to breathe, blood pooling underneath me, losing feeling in my left arm.

The foal gets up once more, letting out a piercing scream as she charges up her horn again. Her horn over charges with a new layer or bright red. My eyes going wide seeing the new layer of magical energy surrounding her horn. Struggling to get to my feet, trying my best to dodge this next blast, started to run towards the right, doing my best to get as much distance between us as possible.

“27! What happened?!” As she says this, I see the bright red ball of energy shooting towards Cloud. Not knowing what this new spell would do, I push Cloud out of the way as the red ball of energy made contact with me. The room filled with a loud crackling noise as the ball impacted my body.

My whole body going into shock as ball of energy dissipated across my body. Falling down towards the floor, paralyzed from that blast of energy. All I can see is the demonic foal slowly approaching me, licking her lips the closer she gets. Unable to even move, my heart is pounding through my chest, causing more blood to pour out from my flesh wound. The foal lunges at me once more, this time aiming for the killing blow, time slows down to a snail’s pace. The only thing I can hear is the pounding of my heart beating against my chest. Every second slowly escaping me, as I watch my attacker fly closer and closer, about to land the killing blow.

“Ge- aw- fr- h-!” Is all I could make out of what Cloud says has she flys through the air with a broken bone in her mouth.

Impacting the filly in mid air, driving that bone deep into the foal’s neck. The momentum from Cloud’s impact caused them both to fly into the nearby wall. The sound of the foal wailing in pain made by blood freeze. The next thing I hear is foal’s body impacting the wall with a loud thud sound. Cloud saving my life bought me enough time as the paralyzing spell wore off. I Quickly get to my feet, and rush over to where Cloud flew while using the foal as a battering ram. Spotting a large blood splatter on the wall with the foal slowly standing up, Cloud quickly backing away from the foal as her horn started to charge up with energy once more. I manage to make it to Cloud and the foal before she could charge her spell up any further. Grabbing the foal by the horn, interrupting the spell channeling. I picked her up to eye level and slammed her against the ground as hard as I could, making a loud bone bloody wet thud as she impacted.

She laid there, motionless, blood now slowly oozing out of my wound. I turn towards Cloud to see her face stricken with horror. Kneeling down to eye level, as doing so she quickly wraps her hoofs around my neck and hugs me once more. I pick her up and started to head towards the door. Only a few feet away from the foal, she lets out one more blood curdling scream. Turning my head, stunned to see she was still alive. Her horn started to glow, first the layer of dark red, then the second layer of bright red, finally a third layer. Her horn now glowing a bright flame red. Quickly I kneel down and cover Cloud with my body, as I did this, the spell went off, flooding the room with red energy. The spell impacting my back, scorching my flesh. The pain was unbearable. My whole back was now burnt, the feeling like a sunburn that went very bad, a tear running down my cheek, landing on top of Cloud’s head. Then... Darkness....

I was in the darkness once more, standing in front of me was me, with that same sinister grin across “our” face. He extends “our” hand forward at me, reaching for a handshake.

“Subject 27, it’s time for me to show you a fragmented memory of the day we met.”

Reaching to shake “our” hand, making contact a painful jolt of energy shoots up my spine and into my head. It was a memory of when I was a kid, I was in my room playing, the feeling of the shag carpeting against my feet, the smell of smoke filled the air. The light coming from outside was discolored, hitting the window covered with duct tape and then through the old brown curtains. The walls had the fake wood paneling on them, I was playing with some legos, pretending I was driving a semi truck, while I pushed it across the top of my bed, the sheets was an old tattered Pokemon sheet, with many cigaret burns in them. Hearing my mother shouting in the other room with her boyfriend, my door was slightly cracked, letting in little light from the hallway. I couldn't remember what they were fighting about, but I do remember the sound of a slap hitting my mom’s face as her boyfriend hit her. The argument continued on, growing louder and louder by the minute.

I was only a little kid at the time, about 10 years old, every time they fight I would suffer, this has been going on for two years now. Whenever they started to fight, I would go seek shelter in my closet, hiding in the very back corner, in the darkness, covering my ears with my hands, trying to block out the fighting. I was able to retain some of the argument, my hands barely muffling the fight.

“Well you can go fuck yourself!, and I swear to god, if you hit me once more I WILL call the cops on your drunken ass!”

“Shut the hell up already! Your husband is dead! And you can’t do any better than me! So shut the hell up why don’t you! If it wasn't for me you and your worthless kids would be living in the streets!”

“Well fuck you Keith FUCK YOU!” A door slammed.

Hiding in the darkness of my closest, hoping he doesn't take his anger out on me again. Hearing heavy footsteps walking down the tiled hallway, the sound of his boots hitting the floor, getting closer and closer to my door. This memory that I repressed for my entire life comes flooding back to me, this is the night that Keith beats me to death. The footsteps stops right outside my door. The door slowly opening, squeaking as it opens. The sound of his beer bottle tapping against the door as he pushes it open.

“Boy, are you hiding again from your good ol’ friend Keith?’

Holding my breath, hoping he doesn't find me here. Eyes going wide seeing light pour through the closest door as it opens. Trying my best to mask my crying, gasping as I watch his hand reach into the back of the closet, grabbing me by the hair, yanking me out forcibly.

“There you are boy, you know I have to punish you now for hiding from me.”

“NO KEITH NO! PLEASE DON”T! I’M SORRY! I’LL NEVER HIDE AGAIN, PLEASE DON’T HURT ME AGAIN!"

But to no avail, off came his belt. Crying even harder now as he lays me across his knee and whipped my back, every single blow stinging worse than the last, breaking the skin on my upper back. Blood rushing to the top to the freshly broken skin.

“God damn it boy! You got blood on my belt!”

“PLEASE STOP KEITH! I’M SORRY!”

His left hand grabbing my hair, pulling hard enough to rip some out, tears streaking down my face, my back beaten and bloody he lifts me up into the air by my hair. Facing me towards his face, cigarette still in his mouth, blowing smoke into my face with every puff.

“You baby, boys don’t cry, only girls do! Stop your crying right now or I’ll give you something to cry about!”

“I’M SORRY KEITH! PLEASE JUST STOP!”

My pleas fall on deaf ears, and the next thing I feel is the cigarette burning in my lower arms, every single burn hurting more than the last, he eventually took his zipo to my left arm after his cigarette went out and burned me.

“Still crying like a girl? Fine you forced my hand boy!”

“Pl...ease.. Just stop...”

He took his right hand that had his class ring on it, and back handed my face over and over again, still holding me by my hair, breaking my jaw and sending a few of my teeth across the room. My back still bleeding from the whipping, my arms burned, my jaw now broken, blood running down into my throat and out of my mouth and onto his shoes.

“GOD damn it boy! You got blood on my boots!”

Unable to talk any more, only able to cough up some blood that is going into my lungs, I hang there, motionless, praying that the pain will stop soon enough.

“What? You’re not going to say sorry for ruining my boots?”

He lifts me further into the air, still holding me by my hair, and throws my limp body at the wall next to my bed. With great enough force, my body hitting the wall, shattering the fake wood paneling. my body falling down into my bed, my body bloody, beaten and broken.... I close my eyes as darkness takes over.

Laying there in the darkness, not feeling any pain at all, hearing this voice speak out to me, quickly looking up, to see myself standing before me, holding out “out” hand to help me up.

“You poor thing, are you okay? Did that bad man hurt you?”

“Y - Yes... He beat me again, but this time it was a lot worse.”

“That breaks my heart, I’m so sorry that you had to suffer through that pain, is there anything I...” I cut him off before he could finish...

“I want that son of a bitch DEAD! Not just for beating me senseless, but for hurting my mommy!”

He just stood there, silent, with a grin slowly making its way across “our” face.

“I see, that I can help you with my friend, but we have to make a deal, a contract if you would. For helping you kill this man, you’ll allow me to live inside you. And if you ever need to call upon my power, I’ll be more than happy to lend it to you, for a price though.”

“Fine! I accept your contract!”

“Y - You don't want to know what the price is first?”

“NO! I don’t care about the price, I’m willing to pay anything, even my own life if that’s what the price is!”

“I can tell you and I are going to be good friends.”

Waking up on my bed, not feeling any pain, not even controlling what I do. I see Keith putting trash bags on the floor next to a shovel. Slowly standing up in the bed, the feeling of dark energy coursing through my body for the very first time felt unbelievable. My wounds starting to close themselves as the energy flowed through my body.

“With my power, your body will heal a lot faster then it should, but since I just got here, these wounds will leave a scar. You’ll become much stronger than any human can possibly dream of. The more you call upon me, the stronger we both get and hopefully you can get strong enough so I can bring in some cool tricks. But as you are right now, you can’t control the power as well as I can, so I’ll do all the work for you, okay?” Nodding my head in agreement, letting my body be controlled by him, as long as this sick bastard pays for what he did, I am okay with it.

“H-How are you still alive?! I checked your pulse, you were dead!”

With a grin breaking out across my face, my body still healing itself, dark energy dripping from my wounds. Stepping off my bed, walking closer and closer to Keith. Keith backing up, his back hitting the wall behind him, I am now standing right in front of him, ready to strike whenever I please.

“Boy, what ever has gotten into stop it! Or I will b..”

My hand quickly jabs him right underneath his rib cage, penetrating into him, blood now oozing out past my arm, grabbing whatever innards I could, and pulling them out onto the floor. Keith quickly dropping to his knees, covering up the hole I made, trying to stop the bleeding, but failing, his stomach is now on the floor, still connected to his intestines. My hand, now covered with his blood, the warmth of it as it sits on top of my skin. I put my hand on his cheek, leaving a small hand print in blood. The look on his face, now forever burned into my memory, the look that you get when you know you’re going to die and you couldn't stop it.

“B-Boy... I’m S...”

Jabbing my hand once more, penetrating into his chest, pass his ribs, and grasping his beating heart in my hand. The feeling of it beating as my hand grasp it, slowly squeezing it. The painful look on his face brought me much joy. I kept on squeezing it till I felt it rupture in my hand, not feeling a single beat once more. Watching Keith’s eyes as the life faded from it was one of the best feelings in the world.

Return (Censored)

Chapter 4 - Return (Censored)

Caution! This is the Censored version of "Return"! It's GORE free, enjoy!