| SplitTheWorld |
1940
As Ryan stepped down the hallway, his footsteps were heard among the deafening silence. Clipboard in hand, Ryan made his way to his office. Unlocking the four locks on the door with four different keys, Ryan then entered the cluttered room. Papers were on the ground, in his chair, and all over his desk. The wastebasket was full of crumbled papers, failed experiments with ideas taking up the blank canvases.
Lifting the stack of papers and documents that sat on his chair, he moved them to the desk and took a seat. Ryan was beyond stressed. His recent experiment was still being approved by Angelo, his boss.
Ryan was a scientist. He studied psychology, and he was very valuable to the entire laboratory. Ryan was sick, though. Not the sneezing, coughing, fix it with medication sick. Ryan was fucked in the head. The morbid, inhumane ideas he had would scare anyone, human or not.
Ryan read through the papers on his clipboard. He had discussed a new study with Angelo, the experiment idea being approved along with others. Ryan wanted to run rests on people. He didn't want to run tests that helped cure diseases or anything helpful to society. In reality, Ryan was curious.
His curiosities started at a young age. At first, he wanted to see how many times he could cut his hand until he would pass out. Six years old when he did that. Next he was wondering how long to choke a bird until it died of strangulation. Age fourteen.
No, no, Ryan didn't want to experiment on the people's resistance to cuts, or strangulation. Sleep. It may sound odd, knowing Ryan's backround, but the experiment turned gruesome and wrong.
///
"Sitkowski." Angelo caught Ryan walking down the hall, handing the man a slip of paper. "Approved. You can run your tests whenever the gas chamber is available. Warner is using it right now, but I'm sure he'll be done somewhere around next month." The raven haired man explained.
Ryan took the slip of paper. "Next month?" He groaned, throwing his head back. "Angelo, I need to do my testing as soon as possible! What is Warner even using it for, anyway? To see how much marijuana he can smoke until he fucking-"
"Enough." Angelo cut him off. "I advise you to go do some extra research until you can have the chamber. Go sign the list, Warner has it. Whenever he's done, you'll be first to have the chamber." He seemed annoyed as he walked off, probably to go rant to Chris about how Ryan's experiments were "stupid", and had "no point to them at all".
Ryan rolled his eyes and continued walking down the bright hallway. The research facility wasn't very large, but that was expected. Now to confront Warner.
"Why do you need it?" Brian Warner asked, taking notes on a piece of paper. His eyes stayed focused on the glass, where he had been watching three people, who were seemingly eating away at each other. However, this wasn't unusual for Brian, so Ryan didnt ask.
"Angelo finally gave me permission to conduct my sleep experiment. I will need the chamber for thirty days." Ryan responded, hazel eyes fixed on the cannibalistic actions of the people in the chamber.
"Explain yourself, Sitkowski." Brian muttered, glancing down at his paper.
Ryan sighed, and responded, "I want to see the effects of extreme sleep deprivation. I have five war veterans, enemies to the state, that I will use. They'll be given enough food to last thirty days, enough for the group. Gas will be pumped into the chamber, the gas keeping the prisoners awake. Whichever prisoner or prisoners survive will be granted freedom." He explained, raking a hand through his hair. "If my hypothesis is correct, the prisoners will likely die toward the end of the experiment."
Brian finally turned to look at the scientist beside him. "You're strange, Ryan. However, your idea intrigues me. My testing will end whenever these two," He nodded toward the people in the chamber, who were now covered in their own blood and other bodily fluids, "decide who will die. So far, they've caused little harm to one another."
Ryan nodded. Now for the wait.
///
The day of the experiment crept up on Ryan rather quickly. He was happy it did, though.
He read the names of the five people he'd be running his experiment on. "Vincent Mauro. Age twenty-five, Caucasian male, no mental disorders or health problems. Please enter the chamber."
The young man, Vincent, wore a white uniform. He had short brown hair, which was greasy and tangled. He stepped into the chamber, then took a seat on the floor.
"Jeordie White. Age thirty-one, Caucasian male. Suffering with schizophrenia, no other mental, nor health problems. Please enter the chamber."
Jeordie didn't say anything at all, and his behind his long black hair. He gave a twitch, which he did often, and stepped into the chamber. Ryan decided that Jeordie would most likely be the first to fall asleep or die.
"Richard Olson. Age twenty-one, Caucasian male. Suffering with suicidal tendencies, no other health nor mental problems."
"Ricky. My name is Ricky. Do not call me Richard. I do not like it." The young man said quickly, in a tiny voice, playing with his fingers. He shyly stepped into the chamber, taking a seat beside Jeordie, who sat on the floor.
Two prisoners left. "Joshua Balz. Age twenty-seven, Caucasian male. Suffering from no mental, nor health problems. Step into the chamber."
Joshua stepped into the chamber, immediately walking over to Vincent. It seemed that the two were friends.
"Now... Michael Kuza. Age twenty. Suffering from no health problems, nor mental. Caucasian male. Step into the chamber."
Kuza just glared before stepping inside. He didn't look happy at all, which was no surprise, considering he was practically stepping into the room he'd most likely die in.
Ryan shut the chamber door and locked it. He stepped over to the window, turning on the microphone so he could speak to his subjects. "You five are part of a sleep experiment. I will be testing the effects of extreme sleep deprivation. Every hour, a gas will be pumped into this chamber. The gas will keep you awake."
Ryan's subjects let out a quiet sigh each, then turned to speak to each other quietly. Now to keep up with them.
Day One (First 24 Hours): Subjects do not seem much different. Jeordie twitches, stays away from the others for the most part. Joshua, Richard, Vincent and Michael all speak to each other. The special gas caused them to act much differently compared to the day they entered the chamber.
Ryan set down his pen when Chris came down the hall. "I don't see why you're running this." He commented, brown eyes fixed on the observation window.
"I don't have much of a reason for it, Chris. I'm just... curious." Ryan replied, looking up at he taller man with a shrug. "You can't tell me it isn't at least somewhat interesting, Chris."
"It is, it is, Ryan, really... Just a bit of a stranger experiment, I guess." Chris replied, skimming through Ryan's notes. "You're recording each day, correct?"
The brown haired man nodded. "Mhm. It's... Fascinating. I'm very curious to see how things will end up."
"Very curious indeed."
---
Day Three: My test subjects have... Changed. Jeordie twitches more than ever, and they all stopped speaking. They haven't eaten. I cannot enter the chamber, I have a bad feeling about the subjects.
Ricky stays in the corner of the room, silent. Joshua and Mike simply communicate with small growls and grunts, which is very peculiar.
Back to Jeordie; he stands and/or sits in the center of the room, always, and simply stares through the observation window. He hasn't eaten or drank anything from what I have personally observed. However, I have noticed him... Pick. Pick at his sides, claw and bite himself.
He's the most peculiar, and I predict he will die first.
Day Five: It happened. Michael, Vinny and Josh attacked Richard. They... They hurt him badly. They've all gotten skinnier, which shocks me. It's only been three days since the trio had last eaten.
Anyway, Richard has passed. Sadly, I cannot see through my observation window anymore. The group used the books and their own excrement to block the glass with the pages.
As for sounds, I hear groaning and the occasional scream. I dont know how Jeor-
A loud howl of pain caused Ryan to jolt, dropping his pen. It came from the chamber. There was now banging on the glass, along with a new voice. "I know you! I know you!"
Another voice piped in. "I don't want to sleep! No, no more sleep! More gas, please! Give us more!" They begged.
Ryan backed away from the glass and ran down the hall. He bumped into Chris on the way, smiling madly. "Th-They're making noise! I want to go check on them!"
Chris furrowed his eyebrows. He looked sweaty, and was fixing his belt as he walked down the hall. "Shouldn't you ask Angelo?"
Speak of the Devil, the man was limping down the hall. He, as well, looked sweaty, his hair messy and the buttons of his shirt open. "A-Ask me what?" He questioned with a small smile to Chris.
"Come with me! I-I have something to show you!" Ryan laughed, grabbing their hands and sprinting down the hall again.
"Sitkowski, I have a bad feeling about this. Your subjects sound insane!" Angelo said nervously once he heard the screaming. "L-Let me get a guard."
Ryan groaned and let Angelo go. Chris furrowed his eyebrows as he heard thumping and more blood-curling screams. "Jesus Christ, Sitkowski, what have you done..?"
"I've created a masterpiece!" Ryan laughed, running a hand through his tangled hair. Angelo came back into the room, causing Ryan to grin like a maniac. "Okay, now open the door!"
The guard opened the door, a pistol visible from his waistband. Inside, the room was an absolute mess.
The food that was provided had rot, barely any being eaten or even moved. Ryan's eyes scanned across the room, landing on Joshua.
He had clawed a hole in his own head, the flesh hanging as if a peeled orange. He laughed, hitting his head against the wall. Ryan hadn't noticed Angelo hug Chris' side before calling another guard.
Suddenly, Joshua ran at the trio of scientists, only to be shot down by a guard. In the midst of the attempted attack, Vincent jumped onto Angelo, clawing, kicking, and even biting him on the neck. A decent amount of Angelo's flesh had been torn from his neck, blood pouring from the new wound.
Chris screamed, crouching down beside Angelo as tears pricked his eyes. He pulled the man's now dead body close to his chest, whimpering, "No, Darling! My love, no!"
Ryan managed to be into the room. The closest guard passed him a pistol for precautionary measures. He stepped into the room and over Joshua's body, only to have a bloody Michael tackle him. He yepled and kicked the skinny being away, noticing that he'd torn away his own lips.
"O-Oh my God! What the fuck have I done?!" Ryan screamed after Michael was shot down. The room then went silent, except for small grunts and muttering.
Ryan slowly turned around, weapon at the ready. All eyes except Chris' landed on Jeordie. He looked... Terrifying. His dreads were all at different lengths now, some even being pulled from his head and thrown to the floor. He was in nothing but underwear, ribs visible. Sure, he was skinny, but they could actually see his ribs.
On his side, Jeordie had picked away so much of his own flesh and eaten it that the bone showed. There was blood still dripping, and Jeordie licked it away. He finally looked to the group, tilting his head.
"Hello." He spoke, voice soft. His eyes had bags beneath them, and he had a large hole in his cheek. He was pale, pasty looking, and even had blood on his teeth.
Ryan trembled, "Wh-What are you?! I must know." He replied, aiming the pistol at Jeordie's head.
"Why... I am you, sir. I am the thing you hide from everyday, the one you keep your children from. The one in the closet, under your bed. Not the figment of your imagination, no, but... You. Your fears, your dreams, you. Ryan Sitkowski, I am you."
Ryan went pale as Jeordie rocked back and forth, giggling and shaking his head. It was unsettling, utterly terrifying.
"I AM YOU! I KNOW YOU,-"
Ryan pulled the trigger, then fell to his knees. He had learned a lesson as his pants slowly soaked up the blood on the ground...
Curiosity killed the cat.