Unknown Experiments

Chapter 2

Lucia turned around and found herself face to face with an old, rusted, dimly lit hallway. She tried to press her back up against the door, but what she touched was nothing like a solid metal door. Something wet and slimy smothered her back. She froze where she was just before she heard an eerie clicking from right above her head. She caught her breath, but her eyes only showed fear.

"Don't look, don't look. Don't you dare look," she thought to herself, but her body wasn't listening to her mind. She slowly looked up and saw a gruesome looking creature staring straight ahead.

Lucia almost screamed out in terror, but bit down on her tongue in time before looking forward once again, drawing a bit of blood in the process. She felt more slime trickling down her spine, soaking through her uniform. She didn't move. Then there was an audible bone chilling crack. Lucia froze again, and the clicking from the creature grew louder. Lucia could begin to feel it move. It moved a foot, and a slimy squelch followed. Another followed shortly after. Then, it lowered its head right in front of her face, looking directly at her. Right side up.

Lucia quickly reacted and screamed in terror as she punched the creature in the face before ducking down and bolting forwards. The lights began to flicker and the creature began to snap its neck back into place before chasing Lucia. Its shriek echoed down the hall and nearly paralyzed Lucia in fear. She looked from side to side to try and find something she could do to stop it from chasing her, but there was nothing.

Lucia looked back and saw the figure of the creature flicker in and out of view. The lights in the hall continued to flicker, but they soon came to an end. Luckily, there was a corner she could turn past. She looked at her hands for a brief moment and ignited a small spark on the palm of her hands. She looked back at the creature, and her heart nearly stopped when she saw how close it was.

Lucia reached back with her right arm and ignited a large flame from the palm of her hand. The flame gave her an extra boost, and she bolted down to the corner before swinging her arm out to swerve around it. She tumbled slightly, but pushed off the ground with her left arm and jumped back to her feet.

The moment Lucia had rekindled the flame on her palm, there was a loud crash. She didn't dare look back at the creature chasing her. She looked down the hallway and noticed a small crevice on the left she could hide in. She extinguished the flame and flipped around completely, skidding to a stop as she placed her left hand on the ground. She twisted her hand and a thick sheet of ice covered the ground around her. She slid onto the ice behind her as she stood up and raised her fist into the air, pulling a large wall of ice with it.

Lucia swiveled back around and dove into the crevice moments before the creature slammed into the ice. She hit the back of the crevice, but quickly stood up and pressed her back against the wall facing away from the creature. She held her breath as she heard the creature cracking the ice, and quickly broke through. She saw massive shards of ice fly by her peripheral vision before squeezing her eyes shut the moment the creature began to fly past.

The creature's shrieks echoed down the hall as it disappeared around another corner. Lucia finally let her breath out before opening her eyes. She took a few deep, shaky breaths as slumped onto the ground. Minutes passed of listening to the creature's faint shrieks before she glanced sideways into the hall. She noticed the shards of ice mixed in with the creature's footprints. From what she could see, there were between eight and twelve legs total.

Lucia looked at the footprint next to her and reached out. It wasn't a footprint within the metal floor. Instead, it had left some sort of substance behind as it ran past. She began to reach out, but the moment she heard a shriek and a snap, she brought her arm back. She could hear the creature walking around somewhere behind her. Lucia peeked around the corner and saw the creature walking down the hallway, looking from side to side.