Ch. 56: Experiments
A damp, musty aroma hung in the dense darkness. A chill crept up, sending shivers down my spine.
My palms were slightly sweaty, feeling the rough stone surface as I used the wall to guide my slow descent down each step.
A soft creak came from my leather shoes scraping against the stone stairs.
I could also hear Charlotte's footsteps behind me, and her muffled breathing, as if trying to stifle it.
"What do you think is inside?" Charlotte whispered beside me.
Her slender fingers pinched at the fabric of my sleeve.
I shook my head slowly, though knowing Charlotte couldn't see it in this pitch black.
"I don't know...maybe...a living creature, or...a ghost?" I answered half-jokingly.
Charlotte's fingers gripped my sleeve tighter, perhaps subconsciously due to apprehension about what we might encounter.
Calm...calm...there shouldn't be anything. It's just the wind...not a dragon's breath.
But...where is that wind coming from?
Questioning this made me shudder instantly.
Still, I tried to remain calm, taking slow steps down the remaining stairs one by one.
Charlotte followed with careful footfalls behind me.
Occasionally, her slightly labored breathing washed over me, and I caught the distinct scent of her perfume.
A woman's scent...I furrowed my brow. I hated this aroma now...it reminded me of...
Huh, I sighed. Never mind...that's in the past.
After a few more steps, we finally reached the flat floor, having entered the underground chamber.
Dim light...I gasped, seeing it emanate from several fluid-filled tubes in the corner of the room.
Inside those tubes...human figures!
They appeared unconscious with closed eyes, yet still alive with dozens of wires protruding from the tube tops and snaking around their bodies!
"What do you think...this is?" I stammered, still transfixed by that horrific sight.
This was like a sci-fi story...could a middle-aged man really create technology like this?
Soon after, Charlotte released her grip on my arm.
I watched as she took out a camera. She then aimed it at the row of tubes and *click!* captured them in a flash.
"Experiments," she stated flatly.
"You've got your proof...let's get out of here. I've got a bad feeling." Without a second thought, I turned to leave this dreadful room right away.
But Charlotte held me back, gripping my arm again like when we descended the stairs.
"You're just going to leave?" She asked, locking eyes with me. Her gaze was serious, demanding an answer...
I didn't know she could be so brave...I myself was already terrified.
"Wait a minute."
"There's something I want to make sure of first..." she said softly.
Charlotte stepped forward carefully toward the nearest tube. A dim blue light reflected off its condensation-coated glass surface.
I scanned around, and was utterly shocked when I saw...
An old wooden table in another corner of this room. And on top of it, lay an ancient, decaying leather-bound book!
Another book.
"There's an old book over there," I pointed toward the table. "Maybe we can find clues about what this place really is."
Charlotte turned her gaze to me, nodding, then walked over and picked up the book.
Her slender fingers parted the leather cover, opening it slowly.
"Careful," I warned as dust flurried up from the age-yellowed pages.
Charlotte ignored my caution, immediately opening the book with curiosity. She squinted, leaning forward to see more clearly in the dim light.
I watched her eyes quickly scanning the lines of text on the book's pages. Her brow furrowed.
I peered over next to her, glancing at the book's contents.
At this, my eyes went wide.
My trembling hand instinctively grabbed the book from Charlotte's grip.
[ Sarah, my darling, why did you have to be taken from me so soon? I'm not ready to lose you, your beautiful, icy cold form cradled in my arms. I should have had the chance to spend the rest of my life with you. ]
I swallowed hard. My grip tightened on the book as I continued reading.
[ But I won't give up, Dear. Believe me, I will bring you back to my side, in my own way. I have studied the forbidden arts of summoning spirits from the other realm. With the aid of this ritual, hopefully I can resurrect your soul into a new body. ]
I felt my heart pounding hard in my chest. What kind of ritual was this? The tubes in the corner of this room...was all of this truly an attempt to reanimate his deceased wife? My fingers now clutched the crumbling book tightly as I forced myself to keep reading the unraveling sentences before me.
This madman was trying to revive the dead!
[ My first experiment failed, Sarah. I thought by trapping a young girl's spirit inside a body I constructed, she would manifest as you reborn in a new living form. But her form was grotesque, nothing like your elegant self. ]
I shuddered imagining the grotesque creature described in this writing. Charlotte gripped my sleeve tightly, her face pale.
[ I must keep trying to find the right spirit. I won't give up, my love. I will surely bring you back to me, in a new perfect form like your former self. I promise, we will be together again, Sarah... ]
I closed the book with a violently trembling hand.
Cold sweat drenched my brow.
A horrific experiment, conducted to resurrect a deceased wife from the grave! A number of tubes containing failed attempts at reanimating spirits, trying to raise a woman's soul in a perfected new body...this sounded like the delusions of a schizophrenic madman.
Humans could be strange and insane at times!
Soon after, I turned my gaze to Charlotte, she stared back at me silently.
"Your business here is done, right? Let's go back." I turned and left that place.
Charlotte, she walked beside me. She fiddled with her camera in silence.
We will be together again...I muttered, taking one last look behind. Then, I turned my eyes forward again.
CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE QUEST
[ OPERATION OF SILENCE: SNEAKING IN THE SHADOWS ]
YOUR REWARD IS NOW STORED IN YOUR INVENTORY
***
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