The Eden Projects (FINAL EDITING)

Chapter 29. The false bottom.

- Kasper -

What's happening to me...

Kasper was being pulled along in a mad dash. His body moved for him. Where am I going? Another part of him whispered. Softening his landing back in reality. Then, in the splinter of a second, he was back. His lungs burned, the frigid air clawed inside of them like sick dogs. Jarring thumps caught up his footfalls and his ears rang with each pound of his own heart.

He was alive.

He was nothing more.

At least that he could remember.

The empty street stretched out ahead of him in a blur of downpour and unintelligible shapes. Nightmares nipped at his back, prodding him to push on. He couldn't stop. They would have him. I can't keep going, I need to hide. His wheezing tapered into a drawn rasp the further he ran. Air... Turning down the final block, he had reached it. Air... His guiding light. The Tower. Tearing into its shadow he threw himself through the glass door. The chittering of shards on cold ceramic bit into his one bare foot.

Clambering to a stand he jumped over the remains of the welcome desk and slid beneath it. His back hit the filing cabinet at one end with a thump, the drawers left open clapped shut when he settled down. Then he waited. Holding his breath. Looking down at himself, Naked. I'm naked. and doing everything to slow his riotous heart.

...Kasper...

Reaching blindly over the desks edge he ran his hands along the counter, trying to feel for anything to use in defense. Nothing. There's nothing. It was empty. He peeked over the peppered granite countertop.

I can take them.

There were three that he could see. Two larger, and one smaller that sat screeching wildly at the entrance. Soon there would be others. The clicking and chittering they made echoed around him.

...Kasper...

Go.

In a whirl, he threw himself out around the side of his hiding spot, and all that he was caught fire, igniting a surge of adrenaline that coursed through his veins like wildfire in a dead pine grove. Every joint burned for action, move, move, move. His vision darkened, narrowing into a tunnel where only the immediate threat remained in focus. Something folded over him; he felt its anger, the force of it wrapped around him like a shroud. Its rage pulsed in the air and in that moment, he was whole. At once, they ran to him, a chaotic mass of limbs and gaping maws, tongues unfurling without hesitation, eager for a taste. 

He caught the first, the vile female creature that lunged before the others, and with a surge of desperate strength, he threw a clawed fist back into its face, following it down relentlessly until his knuckles broke through its skull and smacked into the ground behind it with a sickening thud. Flickers of movement gnawed away at his lingering attention... The second beast caught him off guard, sinking its teeth into his shoulder with a vicious bite that sent a jolt of pain radiating through him. "GET OFF!" He leaned with all his weight, and the thing came flying over him, a grotesque mass of veins, tongues and teeth. Its belly caught sharply on something above him, and with a gruesome splatter, it dumped its innards down his face and chest, warm and slick, balming against him. 

The stench was overwhelming. The creature pulled his head to the floor with relentless force, and sent them both hurling forward in a chaotic tumble. It was snagged to him, its claws digging into his skin as it let out a violent shriek of pain when he tried to pull away, they were locked together. "GET OFF!" Unable to pull free, Kasper set to slicing. Tearing at its stomach with everything he had, he felt the resistance of sinew and muscle giving way beneath his relentless assault. He fought against its rapid healing. Two slices made one. Another of them ran up, dragging his legs out from under him. He screamed, the sound tore from his throat as its long, serpentine tongue scraped away strips of his bare flesh, flaying the skin from his back with each merciless pass. Finally hitting bone on the first creature, he snapped the ribs and untangled himself, reaching for the next. He rolled over to his side and broke its grip in a desperate surge of strength. It pivoted and leapt at him, pulling his fist into its mouth with alarming speed. The serrated jaws slammed into his forearm like ratchet straps with each tug it gave. Is it trying to swallow me whole?!?