The creature parading as Iris gripped its head once Anne activated the conflux. A mixture of pain and panic covered its face as it fell to its knees. Anne, in response, took a step back from the creature.
She stared at it as it let out several uncanny screeches and moans. Unlike before, Anne couldn't hear any of Iris's voice in the sounds.
A thud echoed out from behind Anne, who turned to see Stacey straightening herself after just landed on her feet.
"Got it." Han proclaimed, planting himself on Stacey's shoulder.
Anne motioned to Stacey to stay back, who had no problem complying with the command. Near to Iris was the last place the girl wanted to be.
The creature continued to thrash and cry out. As it did, black oil began dripping out of the pores in its body, causing a pool of the liquid to formulate on the ground. Then, with a howl that caused Anne to shiver to the bone, the creature out stretched its hands and landed on its palms.
"Whoa!"
Another thud rang next to Anne, who glimpsed over to see both Leora and Davis on the ground. From the looks of it, Leora had suddenly come loose, cause both to fall.
The creature let out a hacking sound as black liquid began dripping out of its mouth. Then, as if a dam had been broken, that same black oil poured out of its mouth. It vomited and vomited and vomited some more, to the point that Anne questioned if its stomach was even big enough to store that much sludge.
And then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The creature had stopped spitting up black liquid, and its breathing shifted to an uneven pace.
No... Anne thought, reaching out to the body before her. Not "the creature"...
Iris. Anne could feel her.
Sure enough, with trembling arms and a shaking body, Iris raised her head to look at Anne directly; the uncanny inverted eyes replaced with calm dark blue ones.
"Iris?" Anne asked, cautiously.
"Yeah. It's me. It's-" Iris went quiet as she looked around the room. Her eyes first landed on all the black marks on the wall, followed by over at Stacey.
As though on que, the lights above flickered on as the stomping of several pairs of boots slowly grew from the hallway. With the lights on, the scene of the room was fully visible. Scattered around were skeletons, parts of skeletons, half eaten corpses, and hollowed out bodies similar to the check point guard from earlier.
Iris's eyes darted around as a distraught yet exhausted expression covered her face.
"Oh my god..."
And with that, Iris fell face first onto the floor as MTF agents and medics began spilling into the room.
Iris sat with her hands folded in her lap, staring down at the floor beneath her. Tapping echoed around the cell as her leg bounced up and down in agitation.
They're late.
Usually someone would've been here by now with food for her. Iris would always snack on each meal over the course of a few hours, rather than eating it entirely at once. It was the best way to ensure she never felt hungry, a feeling she was paranoid might cause her to-
Iris's train of thought was cut short as the door across the room opened. She looked up to see a doctor with a clip board walk into the room. Adams followed closely by her side.
