Deep Dark Blues

Chapter 14- Oceans Between Us

Reed felt tears threatening to spill.

This isn't fair!

This isn't fucking fair!

She was angry. She was frustrated...but most of all, she was scared. The fear was sipping through the small screen the three had been huddled in front of. She could see Alex's eyes widen, mouth agape as he stared with the purest expression of true horror.

There, just a couple of meters away floated the creature that haunted them all in their nightmares. The white, bald head floated in the absolute darkness, staring right at the entrance to the emergency storage with those big black eyes. The swollen flesh around its face seemed to bubble and contort, making Reed sick just from looking at it. She could see the veins and bone poke out from under the thin layer of tissue, unable to look away from the sight before her.

"Shit...Shit, shit, shit..." Alex's cursed, his hands stilling with the box still pressed against Aksel.

The creature watched them with the same unsettling grin stretching its features. It didn't move or even blink, just stared blankly at the two.

"Ryan...Ryan, what do we do?" Alex's bated breath echoed through the speaker, but no answer came. Ryan stared at the monitor, his eyes glassy, shoulders trembling.

"R-Ryan...W-we need to do something..." Reed whispered. Ryan's face slowly turned to her, his face stretched in a broken grimace.

"We...can't do anything..."

"I can't watch this...I can't..." Isabella breathed out, her eyes glued to the monitor despite her statement. She just repeated the phrase over and over, knees bouncing violently. Her face was blank, her eyes being the only proof of the fear she was experiencing.

"Ryan?! Ryan?!" Alex was practically screaming into his mic, panic seeping into his voice.

"God fucking Damn it! Ryan?! Isa?! For fuck sake, say something!"

"They left us..." Aksel's whisper made a sob rip out of Reed's throat.

"They left us..."

Ryan's hand was hovering over the button, but the man wouldn't press it. Reed wanted to shout, to yell at him to respond, but no sound came out of her mouth.

A startled cry escaped her lips as the face began to move towards them, painfully slow as it slalomed left and right. Its face was unmoving as if set in stone, aside from the black irises not leaving the silhouettes of the two men, vaguely reminding Reed of those portraits that always end up looking at the viewer no matter where they stand. The face swayed, tilting ever so slightly from one side to the other.

Reed's heart was beating out of her chest. The gigantic fleshy creature swayed like a snake, it's movements so graceful and smooth even the sand beneath didn't steer with the current. Her breath quickened, thoughts racing a hundred miles per hour. Her body was positively frozen, entranced by the dance of death unravelling before her. She could have sworn she felt the taste of salt water on her tongue.

No, I am in the Vault! I am safe!

And yet her senses screamed, begged her to run, to get away, fooling her into feeling the ocean surrounding her. Her skin prickled at the phantom current brushing over the supple flesh, rising goosebumps in its wake.

This is not real!

And yet it was real. It was real and it was happening then and there. The eyes on the monitor stared right into her green ones, expectant...curious... cunning...

"N-no..." she let out as the face finally hung above the camera on Aksel's helmet. That...That thing was bigger than an adult human, almost completely blocking the sight of the darkness around them. Its eyes peered intently into the lens, Reed feeling its gaze pierce through her soul and mind. Whatever this creature wanted to know about her... it needed just one glance to strip her of all secrets. They all waited, breath stuck in their lungs, eyes glued to the screen as they waited. They waited for their comrades, those who so bravely risked their lives to meet their untimely demise. There was nothing they could do... Nowhere to run...Nowhere to hide.