Unknown Experiments

Chapter 2

Lucia quickly hid once more before looking at her hands before she thought to herself, "Light and plants would be useless. I'd just give myself away. Ice and fire are good for offense. But there's no hope of fighting that thing! I can't use anything without drawing its attention! Unless... maybe..."

Lucia thought for a brief moment before forming a reflective sheet of ice in her hand. She held it at an angle to peer around the corner to see if there was anything new she could spot. She stared at the image of the creature on the sheet of ice and took a few moments to take in the details. It didn't have eyes like she had thought, but she was sure it could still see. It had a large horn that looked more like a frill protruding from the back of its head. Its neck was thick and extremely flexible at the sacrifice of its stealth. There were ten legs, two of which looked like tiny arms.

Lucia froze when the creature's neck snapped as it turned its head to face the ice. Lucia quickly threw it down the hall to divert its attention and really test its ability to see. The sheet of ice shattered nearly fifty feet down the hall, and the creature shrieked again before bolting down the hall. Lucia watched it run past and let out a shaky sigh of relief. "So it can't quite see anything," Lucia thought.

Lucia looked back out and watched the creature disappear from sight once again before looking over at the print left by the creature. She reached out to test what it was and quickly poked it. The moment she poked it however, the creature's shriek echoed down the hall nearly twice as loud as it ever had.

Lucia grabbed some of the substance to inspect it and pulled it back into her crevice just as the creature turned the corner. She held her breath and clutched the substance close to her chest as she waited for the creature to walk past. She could hear its squelching footsteps draw close; each one sending shivers down her spine that spread across her whole body. It became too much and she closed her eyes shut after a few moments.

Lucia let go of the substance and covered both her mouth and nose in case she broke out and somehow alerted the creature slowly creeping down the dim hallway. She listened as the creature stopped right next to her and stood there for what felt like forever. She heard the creature begin to walk past nearly a minute later, and she lowered her hands back down, grabbing the substance once again. Just after grabbing it, she let out a small sigh of relief, though immediately regretted it.

The creature turned to the crevice and let out a blood curdling shriek right in Lucia's face, paralyzing her in fear. She felt the substance in her hand twitch and slip out of her grip before sliding towards the creature. It left a trail of blood along her leg and on the floor before sticking to the creature's leg as it fused itself back with its host.

Lucia started to breathe heavily and started to scramble to her feet. She created a small sheet of ice underneath the creature and used a burst of flame to propel herself underneath it as she slid. The flames licked the creature's stomach, and it shrieked in pain. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating, and Lucia almost threw up as she slammed into the wall.

Lucia took a few moments to get back to her feet, but she wasted no time in running to the right. She heard the creature start chasing her, more enraged than before. She looked back and nearly stumbled when she saw how close the creature was. She turned right, back into the hallway she had found herself in at the start. She clenched her fists as she jumped, turning around in the process, and released large blasts of fire. The fire propelled her down the hall and burnt the creature's entire body. Its shrieks were loud enough to make her ears bleed.

Lucia watched as the creature fell behind, and a smirk of triumph crossed her face. Up until she slammed into a solid wall. She fell down onto the ground and groaned before looking back up. The creature was already almost upon her. She quickly stood up and turned around, just to realize she was stuck. There was no corner, no door, nothing that followed after the lights. Just a plain old wall that marked a dead end.