Chapter 13: Somewhere Out There - Part 2

  A faint ringing echoed in a dimly lit office. The sound was sharp, mechanical, and persistent.

  Somewhere out there, a call was being made.

  “Excuse me, sir. We have a report,” a female voice crackled through the speaker.

  A gruff man narrowed his eyes, rubbing his temple before responding. “We always have strange reports about that facility. What is it this time?”

  “This one is different, sir,” she continued, her tone unwavering. “We detected an anomaly at Facility AS-111 with our satellite surveillance. This occurred within a restricted sector—Danger Level A.”

  The man’s expression hardened. “Send me the files.”

  A holographic screen flickered to life, displaying classified information on Facility AS-111. It was located in a remote mountainous region known as Elysium Ridge. The facility had long been abandoned, yet its history was steeped in numerous classified experiments and projects.

  His eyes landed on one specific entry: The Ark Project (TAP).

  The TAP Project itself held little interest to him, but the arc reactor it had developed did. That reactor had been a breakthrough—a limitless energy source, a marvel of engineering. It had been so advanced that, despite efforts to replicate it, no perfect copy had ever been made. The original schematics had been lost.

  Curious, the man attempted to dig deeper into the file.

  A red warning flashed on the screen:

  [INFORMATION RESTRICTED. HIGHER CLEARANCE REQUIRED.]

  He scoffed, shutting off the screen. Typical.

  Meanwhile, deep underground, the children descended further into the abyss of the facility. Each step was cautious, their eyes scanning for signs of Kwon.

  The melted metal trail had led them here, accompanied by scattered clumps of fur—brown, red, and even white strands. The white fur was unexpected. Perhaps it was natural for an older dog to develop some white patches, but something about it unsettled Mira. The white fur has a curl and it sticks together like glue.

  As they went deeper, the stairs became slick with moisture. They look around and see water started to drip from overhead pipes, leaking into the unseen depths.

  “Be careful, it’s a bit slippery,” Mira warned, gripping Kai’s hand tightly.

  Kai peered over the side of the railing. His headlamp barely pierced the darkness below. He can only see the staircase spiraling downward endlessly, disappearing into the void.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  “Wow, it’s really deep,” Kai muttered, squeezing Mira’s hand for reassurance.

  “Yeah,” she replied.

  “The facility wasn’t just built on the mountain—it was built inside it. It stretches down to the core. Originally, they used it for harvesting and processing minerals. But after the news of the asteroid, it was reconstructed to build giant machinery” Edward explained. “Thankfully the ventilation is still functioning, which means the underground levels are still maintaining air circulation. That’s good news for us.”

  As they pressed on, the walls shifted from industrial steel to eroded stone. Moss clung to the rusted pipes, and the once-sturdy stairs showed signs of warping. The deeper they ventured, the more it felt like stepping into a forgotten world.

  Then, suddenly, the trail stopped.

  Mira and Kai exchanged uneasy glances, searching for another clue.

  Edward activated his infrared scanner, utilizing the medical box's sensors to detect heat signatures. In this mode, warm colors glowed against the cold backdrop, revealing faint traces of movement. He traced a pattern leading further down the stairs, stopping just at the railing. Edward continues to point the headlamp's light into the railing.

  “Ah, there are muddy paw prints!” Kai pointed, his excitement briefly overcoming his fear.

  He tugged Mira forward, but she didn’t budge.

  “Mira?” Edward asked, detecting her sudden stillness.

  She wasn’t looking at the trail anymore.

  She was looking up.

  Before Kai could turn his head, Mira yanked him forward, dragging him down the stairs. He stumbled, barely keeping his footing.

  A low, trembling baaaaaaaaaaaaaa echoed from above.

  Edward extended his sensors, angling the headlamp upward. Edward activated another light as it flickered on, illuminating the horror above them.

  “Oh, what the hell!” Edward’s voice blurted out, filled with genuine alarm.

  A massive creature was crawling with multiple legs down the stairwell, its elongated neck contorting unnaturally. White fur covered its body, but its eyes—slit and soulless—glowed faintly in the dim light. Its nose had been grotesquely gouged out, revealing exposed bone and decaying tissue.

  It was a sheep.

  But it was not a sheep.

  Mira and Kai had already started sprinting, but the monstrous entity was faster. Its serpentine head shot forward, jaws parting to reveal jagged, yellowed teeth.

  Kai felt the hot breath against his neck.

  Edward reacted instantly.

  A burst of light erupted from Kai’s headlamp as Edward overcharged his arc-core, blinding the creature. It shrieked in agony, thrashing wildly. Its body slammed into the railings, causing the already unstable staircase to tremble violently.

  Mira and Kai barely paused, instincts screaming at them to run.

  A door loomed ahead—a hatch!

  Edward changes his form again. The headlamp moves and wraps itself around Kai's wrist. Then Edward extended himself from Kai’s arm, reaching the keypad. With a beep sound, Mira slammed her hands against the heavy door, pushing it open just as Kai stumbled inside.

  The moment they were through, Mira pulled the door shut. Edward locked it from the inside.

  For a brief second, silence.

  Then, a shadow appeared beneath the door.

  A slow, eerie tap tap tap against the metal surface.

  A chilling sound followed.

  A warped, cackling baaa mixed with distorted laughter.

  Edward shuddered. That thing is playing with us.

  Then, as if satisfied, the shadow retreated. A soft crunch signaled the breaking of the fallen flashlight outside the door.

  Darkness swallowed the creature whole.

  Mira exhaled sharply, clutching her chest. “We’re safe in here… right?”

  Edward hesitated. “These rooms were built to withstand breaches. This one should be secure.”

  Kai gulped, still shaking. “Where… where are we?”

  Edward scanned the door’s access panel.

  B12 East Observatory Room.

  “We just entered an observatory room,” Edward muttered. “Let’s hope that thing stays outside.”

  But deep inside, he wasn’t sure anything could stop what was lurking in the darkness beyond that door.