The One-Seven

Chapter 19: Pieces in a Puzzle

"Got something here, looks like a trap door,"

"Locked?"

"Yup,"

"In or out?"

"In,"

"Get us a battering ram up here!"

There was a tremendous bang, and the trap doors slammed open as the lock mechanisms were utterly destroyed by the ram. Percy took the point position, his weapon drawn and held in his dominant hand. He propped his weapon over his left wrist, and was holding a flashlight in that hand. He descended down the staircase slowly, panning left to right and clearing his three and nine o'clock positions. The stairs led down into a large meat locker that had been converted into something far more disturbing. To Percy's right were several large meat hooks hanging from the ceiling. Percy could see what looked like dried and congealed blood on the hooks as the light from his torch danced off the metal. To the left were several large cages. There were six in all, and four of them were empty, but there was a man and a woman laying down in the fifth and sixth. The woman was curled into a small ball, and looked as though she were barely even breathing. The man was sitting down, his back to the cage and looked like he too was unconscious. Percy quickly expanded his senses, and to his relief he saw that they were both still alive, albeit barely.

"Got two down here," Percy called out, before scanning forward and heading deeper into the chamber. Hurried steps behind him indicated that a couple of officers were heading over to the cages, but Percy paid them no mind. His job wasn't to secure the hostages, that was best left to the patrol officers. Percy was preoccupied with the end of the room. There were what looked like surgical curtains, and Percy could see what looked like large surgical lights poking over the top of the curtains. Not wanting to touch anything, Percy waited in front of the curtains, before he felt someone squeeze his arm. Heeding the cue, Percy stepped around the side of the curtain and nearly gagged.

On the other side of the bed was a surgical table. Dried blood stained the corners of the bed, and there was blood splattered over the curtains, and the floor. Dirty and bloodied bandages were strewn across the floor.

"Clear!" He called out.

"Clear!" Montoya called out as she came around the other side, flinching in revulsion as she saw the table. There were additional calls of "Clear!" around the chamber.

With a sigh, Percy holstered his weapon and pulled out a medical mask and gloves. Strapping the mask over his face, and snapping the gloves on, Percy stepped forward. On one side of the bed was a large tray. There was an array of foul and soiled surgical tools. Scalpels, forceps, scissors, and clamps, as well as other tools that Percy didn't recognize. On the other side of the table was a small refrigerator. Kneeling down in front of it, Percy opened it up, and saw that there were blood bags inside. Picking a few up, Percy inspected the tags. Each bag was tagged with a different blood type.

"I guarantee that if we cross reference these with our vics, we'll get matches on their blood types." Percy said,

"This is sick," Montoya muttered, as she examined the tools. Percy could only nod in agreement. Replacing the bags, Percy took a photo of the bags before he replaced the glove he used to touch his phone. Standing up, Percy scanned around the rest of the room. In the far corner Percy could see a large structure. It looked like a separate room, two walls jutted out from the rest of the building, with a strong, wrought-iron door. Gesturing to the door, Percy and Montoya walked over to the door. Percy tested the handle, and was pleased to see it was unlocked and he swung open the door.

Montoya swore, and Percy could only agree. The inside of the room was similar to a private office. There was a large desk butting up to the far wall. On the wall were diagrams, and pictures of the victims. Pictures of the surgery as it was happening. Pulling his phone out, Percy snapped a quick picture of the wall before he approached the desk. Ignoring the pictures for a second, Percy was far more interested in the documents on the table. There were order forms for surgical equipment, documents on how transplant surgeries are performed, as well scientific journals exploring the effects of psychedelics on pain tolerance. Taking his phone out again, Percy snapped more pictures of the documents on the table.