2021 short stories

Experiment 638

4:52 am

Lisa: Alex

4:55 am

Lisa: Alex, this is an urgent matter

5:07 am

Lisa: Alex, I know you're awake. Get off world of warcraft. Have you eliminated experiment 638?

Alex: 'Course I did. If the gov found that thing there'd be trouble. Even more trouble would come if they knew how I created it.

Lisa: Nonsense. Stop evading responsibility. I heard shrieking coming from your basement last night.

Alex: Rlly? Eh, I guess I may have messed up on my logs. I'll go down there and take care of it right now.

Alex stared at his computer through his limp, greasy bangs and sighed. He thought he was done cleaning up the mess his experiments created months ago. But now, he had to venture back into his basement to end the abomination that should've been long gone.

Hold on, he thought. How did experiment 638 survive so long without adequate care? His eyes lit up with realization. Running a few more tests could open up a whole new avenue in biology. But if he didn't kill it then Lisa would kill him, and so he quieted his curiosity and saved his burning questions for his next hybrid.

As he stood up chip crumbs fell off his unwashed clothes and littered the floor, and each step he took a piece of trash crunched under his foot. His favorite anime body pillow stared him down as he exited his bedroom. "How could you possibly live like this?" his few visitors would always say, half concerned and half disgusted. But what they didn't know, he would tell himself, is that he was a genius.

He made his way towards a small door in the corner of the kitchen. He grabbed the nob and twisted it, only slightly cracking open the door. His cautious attitude was evident in his movements. Immediately, the scent of the basement overtook his senses. Blood, sweat, toxic chemicals, and burning flesh. If fear itself had a smell, this would be it.

He walked down the stairs one step at a time, holding his breath in anticipation. Was he excited or was he terrified? Even he couldn't have answered that. Nearing the bottom, he grabbed a bloodstained axe off a section of the wall that had various weapons mounted on it. All of them looked to be well used.

Sure, there were plenty of more humane ways to euthanize an animal. Especially one that had been subjected to a lifetime of experimentation in the basement of a twenty year old man unfamiliar with both the concept of ethics and the idea of basic hygiene. But Alex was never one to listen to anything other people told him, even when it came to the generally accepted standards of right and wrong. A double edged sword, I suppose.

He peered into the main room of the basement, littered with cages, chains, and toxic chemicals haphazardly spilled on the furniture. He was confused for a second, as he scanned the room and spotted no signs of life.

But then he heard it. He turned to face the ungodly screeching coming from behind, and a crazed smile greeted him. The animal itself was a mangled amalgamation of so many different species that the individual elements couldn't be placed. Iron chains hung around its deformed limbs, and pieces of flesh were rotting off its body. To say it was horrifying is a severe understatement.

Alex backed up, and held the axe above his shoulder with trembling arms. He never had much muscle to begin with, and his terror was enough to make his entire body collapse in on itself. He looked the creature in the eyes and took a swing. Blood splattered the floor.