Ben Hammott - Siberia

“As do I,” added Pechka.

“And if it fails to take the bait, what then?” questioned Stanislav.

“We let it in here,” said Svetlana.

Stanislav raised his eyebrows cynically. “And just how will that save us?”

“Assuming it will chase us as soon as the door is open, we flee through the attached laboratory, through Containment Room 6 and into the corridor. We close the far door as we exit and one of us nips back in here and shuts off its retreat, trapping it like we originally planned.”

Stanislav considered the merits of Krisztina’s and Svetlana’s variations of their original plan. “Though your plans lack the simplicity of Luka’s moronic proposal, I believe both have a far higher rate of success.”

“I agree,” said Luka. “Their plans are much better. Go with them.”

“We’ll try Krisztina’s less-hazardous-to-our-health idea first.” Stanislav reached for a button on the console and pressed it. The corridor containment door swished open.

On hearing the noise, EV1L focused its senses along the corridor. It peeled its form from the glass and flowed over to the door.

“It’s working,” whispered Krisztina, practically holding her breath.

EV1L peered through the opening and studied the room before focusing on the part of it that feasted on the human. Its energy would be added to its form when they were reunited. Sensing the humans were trying to trap it again, it formed into the two-legged beast and walked back to observe the humans.

Backing farther away from the terrifying monster peering in at them through the glass wall, Krisztina groaned with disappointment. “Why didn’t it enter?”

“It sensed a trap,” replied Stanislav, admiring the creature’s intellect. “Time for plan B.” He hovered his hand over the door control buttons and looked at the women. “Get ready.”

Krisztina and Svetlana moved to the far laboratory door, opened it and waited.

Stanislav opened the containment room’s second door and then pressed the control room door button. As soon as it began to open, the three of them rushed into the adjoining laboratory. They halted when the creature remained in the corridor.

“It’s not following,” said Svetlana, fearing their plan would fail.

Krisztina shot a glance at the Black in the attached containment room and was relieved to see it seemed unaware of them and continued feasting.

“It’s thinking,” said Stanislav.

Deciding on its course of action, EV1L shed a small pool of Black and entered the control room.

Svetlana led Krisztina and Stanislav into Containment Room 6. Taking a wide berth around the feeding Black, they headed for the far exit. While Svetlana and Stanislav continued along the corridor, Krisztina halted by the door with her hand near the exterior door control, ready to close it.

EV1L halted at the far entrance and stared at her.

What’s it waiting for? Wondered Krisztina. Come on, just a few more steps.

Along the corridor, Svetlana stopped so abruptly, Stanislav stumbled into her.

“Don’t stop,” he urged, glancing back through the transparent walls at the creature.

“We can’t go on. Look!” said Svetlana.

Stanislav peered past her at the black mesh stretched across the corridor. “Damn, that thing’s clever and too devious for my liking.”

“Hey, you two, we have a problem,” called out Krisztina.

Svetlana and Stanislav glanced back and saw the part of the Black that had killed Vadim rise from the partially digested corpse while the main bulk of the creature turned away from the far door and headed back through the laboratory towards the control room.

“It’s tricked us, again,” stated Svetlana fearfully. “We can’t go back, and we can’t go forward.”

Stanislav, desperate to survive, only had seconds to act before the main beast creature cut off their escape route. He glanced back at Krisztina when she closed the containment room door, her attention focused on the Black inside approaching her. He shoved Svetlana forcefully into the mesh. She screamed when the Black net touched her skin. Stretching like elastic when she fell against it, the mesh was pulled from the walls. Ignoring the woman’s screams, Stanislav leapt over her writhing form. A tendril shot out and grabbed his foot. Stanislav crashed to the floor, smashing his nose hard. When he spotted the tendril wrapped around his foot, he pushed off the shoe with his other foot and scrambled away. He climbed to his feet and sprinted for the elevator.

Gripped by fear from Svetlana’s terrible screams, Krisztina rushed to help her. She gasped at the small Black puddle seeping into Svetlana’s eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth, gagging her pain-wracked screams. She was beyond help. Krisztina glanced fearfully at the creature moving unhurriedly, it seemed, through the control room as she ran to catch up with Stanislav.

Stanislav entered the elevator, kicked the timber aside and pressed the Level 1 button.

Seeing the prop sliding across the floor and the closing elevator doors, Krisztina screamed, “Stanislav, wait! I’m coming!”

Stanislav ignored her plea as he silently urged the doors to close quicker.

The doors closed. The elevator jerked when it began its upward journey.

Stanislav sighed with relief. He was safe. He smeared blood across his face when he wiped the drip oozing from his smashed nose. Puzzled by the sound he heard behind him, he turned to look at the partly digested cow. Its hide moved, as if something was inside. Fear spread across his face when a tendril of Black wriggled from beneath the cow’s flesh. He staggered back against the door as more appeared and stretched into the air with their tips pointed at him.

“Please, God, no! Not this!”

Stanislav turned away when the tendrils stretched towards him. His hand thumped the up button in the hope it would make the elevator rise faster. Fearing what he would see but unable to resist, he turned his head slowly. The tendrils wavered menacingly in front of his face. As one, they shot forward. They liquefied on contact with his skin and spread out, forming a tight Black mask around his head. Stanislav’s muffled, agonized screams filtered through the elevator shaft.

Though she knew her efforts were wasted, Krisztina pressed the call button and cursed Stanislav while she thumped on the elevator doors. She stopped when Stanislav’s tortured scream reached her. Gleaning a little comfort from the man’s suffering, she sobbed when she looked back at the black beast skulking menacingly nearer. It knew she had nowhere to go. Krisztina turned and fled along the corridor.

“I wonder what’s happening down there?” pondered Luka aloud, after failing to contact those below over the intercom. Already worried by the woman’s scream he’d heard a few moments ago on the open intercom, his unanswered calls had increased his anxiety.

“They are probably heading for the elevator,” said Pechka. “If I was being chased by that thing, I wouldn’t stop running for anything. They’ll be fine.”

Luka wasn’t as confident. He had a feeling something bad had happened.

Pechka cocked an ear to the doorway. “It’s the elevator. I told you they would be okay.”

They went into the corridor and waited by the elevator.

They looked at each other when a man’s terrified scream filtered from the lift shaft.

“That was Stanislav,” stated Luka.

Both men looked at the doors fearfully and backed away when the elevator arrived. The doors slid opened. Something fell out and thudded to the floor. It was Stanislav. Both men focused on what was left of Stanislav’s head being consumed by the Black smothering it. A glance inside revealed the remains of the cow but no sign of Katrina or Svetlana. The two men backed away from the feasting Black and ran.