[16— Monsters in the Dark]
|| Your P.O.V ||
"The doors appear to be leading me somewhere, over."
Panic surged through me and I whipped around to see 049 already rushing for the door. I went after him almost instinctively. Throwing out a hand, I grasped onto his tunic and began to try and hold him back.
He made attempts to resist as usual. The door whirred opened with the usual airy squeak. 096's sobbing stopped. Chills crackled down my spine as the familiar screaming began.
"Oh, shit! Fuck, fuck—"
"You're always getting in my way! Release me!"
I yanked back the plague doctor, gritting my teeth in the midst of struggling. I remained without a response, hoping that 049 hadn't seen the face of 096 as well.
The screaming got louder, enveloping me before it burst into blood-curdling screeches. A white blur was visible.
How fast is that thing?
There was no time to contemplate the question as I whirled to the door behind me. Miraculously, the light was blue again. Slamming the button, the door slid open and I tugged the plague doctor through, tripping over my own feet and falling onto the floor.
The cries of 096 had died off in the distance. Heavy weight was on top of me, but it wasn't enough to crush me. I knew who it was, and was glad that 096's absence meant the guard was as well.
What had just happened?
I felt 049 begin to take himself off of me as I realised how hard my heart was pounding. Getting up on my own feet, I let out a long breath as my shoulders slumped. I was just relieved both him and I managed to get out of there.
I guess 096 came in handy after all, huh...? I wonder if we would've died if it wasn't there to get the guard. I let out a small huff. No. I can't die. And I won't let 049.
"Are you alright?"
My attention pulled back to him. "Oh? Yeah..." I replied quietly as I lifted my head and scanned our surroundings, seeing we were in a normal hallway once more. I few doors still had SCP's labelled to them. "And you?"
He hands went and folded behind his back, appearing calm as ever. "Of course. I must apologise for the commotion, however."
"No, you... Never-mind." Blinking back into focus, I attempted to settle my breathing pattern as we began to trek down the corridors and further into the unknown once more.
I was used to things like that happening at that point, so I hadn't felt any need to freak out. I was over doing that. My mind was honed in on the situation, as I was trying to figure out what exactly had went down.
The guard had said something about the doors leading him somewhere, right...? I glanced over to 049. Had he heard it? Or was it just me? Well... What would he mean by the doors leading him, then?
"Hey, um..." I paused, thinking of how to word what I wanted to inquire. "There was only door's down that hall before... All that... With SCP's in them, right?"
The plague doctor's eyes shifted to me. "Ah... Yes, I believe so. Something on your mind?"
"It's just what happened." My words drew out a little slowly. "The guard said something about the doors leading him."
He let out a small, short hum. "Well, I certainly hadn't heard any of that."
"Of course not," I shook my head as I nearly mumbled my words. "I guess... Maybe the lights on the scanners were changing as needed to lead him towards us?"
"Perhaps."
I continued, getting into it subconsciously. I hadn't even realised a finger was up to my chin as I stared at the floor. "Which... If they were leading him, then he was definitely being lead to us." It just seemed odd. Us getting locked into that one corner, 096 freaking out like it had, and how the guard was lead directly in our direction right after.
My brows furrowed, and I looked up back to him in a sort of realisation. "You think whatever was causing all that was trying to kill us?"
049 was silent for a moment, presumably thinking things over. "I suppose that would be a reasonable assumption, yes."
"I..." Would it be stupid? Would I sound stupid if I said it? I decided to speculate out loud anyway. "Do you think 079 did all of that?" For what? Opening that door to it?
The anomaly gave a light chuckle of amusement. "Well, if that were the case, it certainly seems as if it didn't want us near it."
Even if he had done it plenty of times before, any kind of laughter coming from him always caught me off guard.
Yet, I offered a small smile in return. "I guess not, no..." A shame, though. I had questions for it. Perhaps it could've known what I had done?
We continued on for a short amount of time before we had ended up at another dead-end with an elevator. The last one we had used gave us some sign of progress when we used it, so we decided we might as well again.
I pressed the necessary button when we approached it, and we both casually waited in silence for it to get to our level. My mind was going places, as usual, and I geared my eyes over to 049.
Damnit... How am I going to bring myself to kill him? After all of this? I lowered my gaze. How... I... Because I have to. That's how.
I just didn't think I'd be able to do it without it killing me too.
I blinked, sucking in a bit of a breath. Geez... What the hell has gotten into me? I glanced up at him again, then deciding I hadn't gotten a good enough look, and ended up staring. My lips pursed. Okay... No way. No way do I feel like that. He's a monster— He's an SCP. He's killed so many innocent people, and he feels like he's justified for it! We've only known each other for... Not that long? He's not even human, even if he looks like it! I'm going to kill him when I get out of here, and that's final.
049's eyes flicked to me, practically glowing their pretty bright blue in the dim light. I stiffened a bit.
And yet, even telling myself all of that failed to convince me that I didn't.
The elevator doors parted and slid open, taking me out of my trance. I quickly looked away from him and stepped into the elevator. Once he was inside, I glanced at him warily before pressing the only button there was. Why there was only one, I hadn't known.
"Is something wrong?"
I bit my bottom lip, eyes going to him as the elevator hummed underneath my feet. "No, I'm fine." I forced my tone to be more stoic than anything else.
His response wasn't immediate, as if he were considering my answer. "Are you sure? You've been acting awfully strange."
Is that concern in his voice?
