Anna In The Garden

33

33

She could not find the words to describe what she observed within this sprawling space. The room, itself, had a vast immensity to it that caught her breath. She had always considered her home among the larger structures she had thought possible, but this place, this warehouse stretched on and on, beyond her sight.

The size of the place, however, paled in comparison to what occupied the space and she found her eyes dragged towards the horrific view before her. She could not comprehend it. Nothing in her life had prepared her for such a thing. Not Mother and Father's gentle instructions, nor Nursey's intense education. Nothing could prepare her.

As she stepped forward, releasing Kontessa's hand, she felt her breath catch in her throat. Or, at least, the presumption of breath. In this ghostly existence, Anna could not tell if any of her bodily functions occurred, in truth. Though she felt such dread emotions stirring within her, she felt that that, at least, was real.

Her hand reached up and pressed against the glass of the first cylindrical case, sat upon a plinth that held keys, much like those of the typewriter contraption, buttons, switches and one of those electric mirrors, festooned with a continuous display of ever changing figures. But, it was the vision within the case, the tube, that caused such deep feelings of pity and horror.

Suspended in some form of liquid, it looked almost human, in form, but for several things that Anna could not describe with any great precision. The back, bent and twisted, held bone-like structures protruding outwards like some form of dorsal fin. It's head, elongated and misshapen, held a fissure, a crack, that revealed the contents of its skull. Grey matter throbbing within. This thing, this creature, yet lived.

Through her periphery, she saw Kontessa come to stand beside her, gazing up towards the monstrous, pitiful creature within the case. Her hand, also, reached up to touch the glass and then fell to the keys upon the plinth, fingers flashing against them. She stared at the electrical mirror and scowled.

"'Specimen one-four-four-two'." Kontessa read from the mirror. Mumbling to herself. "Blood pressure, respiration, temperature, everything, all below human standards but strong. The liquid must be both oxygenated and nutrient filled. Allowing it to breathe and feed at the same time. It's incredible."

"It is horrific!" Stepping backwards, Anna looked to the side, finding Ken walking along the row of similar glass tubes. "It is foul and evil."

"This one is different again. Claws instead of fingers, reverse articulated limbs." Ken, too, seemed both mesmerised and fascinated by the scientific connotations of the creatures within the tubes. "There must be hundreds of them."

"Thousands." Continuing to run her fingers over the keys upon the plinth, leaning forward and staring at the mirror, brow furrowed in concentration. "By this count, three thousand and twenty-one specimens here, in this warehouse. One ongoing subject and one in preparation. Fascinating."

"It is not fascinating!" Uncertain why, other than the general visage of the occupant of the tube, Anna felt a deep revulsion for the creature. She fought back the urge to run. "These poor creatures are alive, sustained by some alchemical reaction beyond their natural lives. This is not humane! It is vulgar and foul!"

She stepped further away, one step, followed by another. She did not wish to remain near these creatures. The twisting in her stomach became mirrored and compounded by a curious buzzing sensation within her head. She could not understand that, either. If she were as non-corporeal as she appeared, only able to interact and touch Ken and her sister, how could she feel such visceral reactions?

The buzzing within her mind increased and her hands rose to her head, clutching at the curls of her golden hair. The buzzing felt as though it came from within the room but altogether bypassed her ears, insinuating straight into her head, penetrating into her mind and giving Anna a feeling of intense pressure within her skull.