Secrets at the Edge of Night

Chapter 3

It was supposed to be another regular mission alongside Ciaran, but something went horribly wrong, taking a disturbing turn in a night that was supposed to be partially calm. At the start it was all just an abandoned building which me and Ciaran was supposed to clear, but as soon as we made our way to the basement, an unexpected and horrific scene was revealed before our eyes.

At first, both of us were speechless, blood was split everywhere with chunks of human flesh littering the floor, but that was far from the end.

Ciaran walked closer to me as I explored the basement, it was not till I entered a room that I felt the need to throw up. On the tables were humans experimented on. A child with sowed-on bird wings and a pregnant woman whose belly was ripped open with the fetus of a goat inside.
The worst part was the human amalgamation in the corner, several humans sowed together screaming in agony, arms and legs twisting in different directions.
”What the fuck...” Ciaran whispered, his face carrying pure distraught and dread.
I look to the corner where a human amalgamation was screaming and twisting in agony. It was made using humans and animals sewed together. I look back to Ciaran, his face pale and in pure horror.
”I- uh...This seems abandoned.” He whispers as he holds back some vomit and tries to keep his emotions in check.
The screaming got louder but it’s difficult to differentiate between the human voices and the animals. It was twisted and sickening to hear their cries of misery.
A tear rolls down my cheek as I listen to the noises of what were once humans. It made it impossible to keep my composure. All these years, all through my job and life, I have never seen something so inhumane and sick

”That's horrible.” I answer with my eyes widened in terror.

The facility was empty like my eyes which seemed to have drained from emotion the moment I stepped inside this cursed place. I was not willing to free the experiments out of fear for our safety.
For the first time, I experienced true fear for humanity and what you could expect from humans that were supposed to be self-aware and emotionally intelligent doing these atrocities without a hint of guilt.
One of the creations in the corner began to stare at me, its mouth did not move but the eyes were wide and filled with dread. The rest of the bodies moved uncontrollably, all the while the screaming continued.

The Scottish man looks at me, his eyes full of both shock and fear “What do we do? We cannot leave them here, they are in excruciating pain.” He says, his voice shaky, which made me deaf to Ciaran's words due to my shock.
The human amalgamation stared into my soul, sending a chill down my spine, my skin forming goosebumps from the intense moment while my body was filling with a sense of terror and dread. “Don't fucking look at me!“ I yelled at the creature who was screaming just got louder by each passing second.

I was paranoid from the overwhelming and inhumane scene which I could not understand, but I could not bear watching someone in such wretchedness without feeling compassionate towards their situation. My hands were shaking while my face was losing color at a fast pace.
“Do not free them. They are far too gone, Ciaran!“ I knew he would be distraught by my words, but there was a twinge of truth in my advice. You could not free these creatures who were unpredictable and could potentially be violent towards us.
My friend looks down at me with even more distraught than before, as I say that he could not agree less. I remember that these things were once human and that they are innocent of this, they were forced into this situation.

“No, we cannot leave them like this! They are still alive! I’LL SAVE THEM.” He said with determination as if he would somehow manage to redeem the creature’s humanity it once had.

The amalgam looks right into my eyes, a scream escaping its body as if was already begging for death as a sweet relief after all the torture and torment it has been through.
I reply with a groan of frustration at Ciaran’s stubbornness and unwillingness to acknowledge my thought process on the situation.

“Ciaran, listen to me. These human-animal creations are just too far gone, their sanity is completely lost without any chance of being saved anymore. Ending it is the best thing we can do.“ I try to make him see my point of view without sounding cruel.
“What kind of life is that to be trapped in a creature made by humans? They are not human anymore, not with a mixture of animal DNA.“

Ciaran has a moment of silence in which he stares at the ground with tears welling up in his eyes before he finally sighs and nods his head in approval.

“You're right, they want to die. You are freeing them from their pain and miserable existence.” The man said with sorrow, but he knew that was the right to do.

“Do it, put them out of their misery. They deserve it.” He said as he was back at his confident and leader-like behavior which turned me on at a very unexpected and inappropriate moment, but I concealed my feelings with a firm nod.

I shot the creature in the head, following some horrible screeches which I was sure that I'll never get rid of from my memory.

A few moments passed before Ciaran placed his strong arm on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly while keeping eye contact with me. His blue eyes were deep and endless like the expanse of the ocean, filled with loyalty and openess.

“Let’s leave this place and return to the base. If the higher ups demand an answer, we simply say we got lost in the forest while clearing the zone. Understood?”
“Sounds good.“ I said with understanding tone, yet a feeling of somber was still haunting the memories of these unspeakable events.

Ciaran’s deep and authoritative attitude was soothing, yet his understanding of the situation made him attractive to me. His calm and compassionate demeanor was something I had never seen in a man before, and his ability to push his emotions away and become objective while making the right choice amid tragedy was admirable, even if he was stubborn at first. It was clear to both of us that the creatures were beyond saving and putting them out of their misery was the merciful option. I would follow Ciaran's leadership to the end, as his charisma and charm were both undeniable.