PROJECT: WONDERLAND

96. THEONA

Val continued moving forward with her team, following the eerie sound of a woman's sobs echoing through the dimly lit, flickering corridor.
Closer... it's getting closer. Val thought, gripping her weapon tightly.

"Hey! Are you there?" she called out, her voice cutting through the thick tension in the air.

Suddenly, a series of dull, rhythmic thuds began to resonate from somewhere beyond their position. Each one was louder than the last.
Thud. Thud. Thud.

Val's instincts kicked in.
"Everyone, stay sharp!"

They advanced carefully, their footsteps slow and deliberate, until they reached a massive, reinforced glass wall. Beyond the glass, the dim flickering light revealed only shadowy figures. Val, frustrated, slammed her fist against the glass.

"Damn it! It's bulletproof fiber glass..." she muttered, before raising her voice.
"Hey! Are you trapped back there? How did you end up in this mess?"

A voice responded, hollow and unsettling.
"Because of sin."

Val grimaced, not in the mood for games.
"Okay, miss, no time for cryptic nonsense. We're here to help you. We're trying to find a way to get you out of there."

The voice, still twisted and eerie, responded with chilling certainty.
"It's pointless... unless you face the demon."

Ignoring the ominous reply, Val pressed a button on a small panel near the glass, activating a monitor. A loading screen appeared, its progress bar sluggish. But when she glanced back at the glass, her heart skipped a beat.

In the flicker of the lights, she saw it—just on the other side of the glass.
A pale woman with long, disheveled hair hanging over her face, inches from Val's own reflection. Only the thick glass separated them.

Val's pulse quickened as she and her team instinctively backed up, hands on their weapons. Val's left hand moved to her goggle's frame, pressing a button to enhance her vision, her voice calm but tense.

"What... what are you?" Val muttered, more to herself than to the figure.

The woman's voice grew even more haunting, her words slithering into Val's ears.
"Good... reveal it..."

With the next flicker of the light, the woman was fully visible again—wearing a tattered, all-white surgical patient's gown. Her body was augmented with grotesque mechanical arms, cold and metallic, extending unnaturally from her sides.

Val blinked, her mouth going dry. In the subsequent flicker, the figure had transformed further.

What stood before them now was a horrifying vision—an unholy fusion of a kuntilanak, with flowing hair, skeletal features, and the additional horror of robotic spider-like limbs protruding from her back. She was something out of a nightmare, a twisted amalgamation of flesh and machine.

Val took a deep breath, stepping forward slowly, her voice steady despite the terror in her gut.
"I need to talk to you... Tell me who—or what—you are."

The air was thick with dread as Val braced herself for whatever answer or attack might come next.

To be continued...