EPISODE 12
THE THING WE BROUGHT BACK
The creature smiled using Elias’ face.
But its mouth opened too wide.
Far too wide.
Its skin stretched with a wet cracking sound as it crawled halfway through the broken ceiling.
Every copy inside the house backed away in terror.
The black-eyed version of Elias whispered shakily:
Close your eyes…
Elias didn’t move.
He couldn’t.
The thing’s unfinished face kept changing every second.
Different eyes.
Different mouths.
Different people.
As though it was searching through stolen identities.
Trying to choose one.
The room temperature dropped instantly.
Cold air flooded the hallway.
Then the creature spoke again.
This time with multiple voices overlapping together.
Which one was mine?
The walls began vibrating violently.
Pictures crashed onto the floor.
Upstairs, something heavy dragged itself across the ceiling.
Elias finally forced himself backward toward the kitchen.
What do you want from me? he shouted.
The creature tilted its head slowly.
Then every light in the house burst red.
Emergency lights.
The same red lights from Elias’ memories.
And suddenly
The house was gone.
Elias froze.
He was no longer standing in his kitchen.
Cold steel walls surrounded him.
Long white hallways stretched endlessly in both directions.
Sector C.
The underground facility.
The copies were gone now.
Only the faceless creature remained beside him.
Its body twitched unnaturally under the flashing red lights.
Then a loudspeaker crackled overhead.
Containment failure detected.
Elias stared in horror.
This isn’t real…
But deep down
He remembered this place perfectly.
The creature slowly walked beside him.
Bare feet dragging across the metal floor.
You built the door, it whispered.
A violent headache exploded inside Elias’ skull again.
More memories returned.
Scientists arguing.
Security alarms screaming.
A giant circular machine hidden underground.
And dozens of people standing around it in fear.
Someone shouting:
We should shut it down now!
Then Elias’ own voice answered calmly:
We’re too close.
The memory vanished.
Elias grabbed the sides of his head.
No ..
The faceless creature stopped walking.
You opened the corridor first, it said softly.
You invited us here.
Far away down the hallway
Something moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
A shadow crossed the corridor for half a second.
Then disappeared.
Elias looked toward it carefully.
What was that?
The creature did not answer immediately.
For the first time
It almost sounded afraid.
There were others.
Suddenly the emergency lights flickered violently.
The loudspeaker screamed with static.
Then another voice echoed through the facility.
Not human.
Not copied.
Something deeper.
“HOST DETECTED.”
Every door along the hallway unlocked at once.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK.
Darkness waited behind each one.
Elias’ breathing became uneven.
Inside the rooms
People stood motionless.
Scientists.
Security guards.
Doctors.
Dozens of them.
All frozen completely still.
Their skin pale.
Their eyes empty.
Every single one smiling.
Elias stepped backward slowly.
“No…”
Then all the bodies opened their mouths together.
And whispered:
You left us inside.
The lights died instantly.
Pitch black darkness swallowed the corridor.
Then footsteps began running toward him from every direction.
Hundreds of them.
Elias turned desperately, trying to see anything.
But the darkness felt alive now.
Moving.
Breathing.
The faceless creature suddenly grabbed Elias violently.
RUN.
The emergency lights flashed back on for one second.
Just long enough for Elias to see them.
The smiling bodies were no longer standing inside the rooms.
Now they were much closer.
Standing directly behind the glass doors.
Watching him.
The lights went black again.
The pounding footsteps grew louder.
Closer.
Closer.
Then something grabbed Elias’ shoulder from the darkness.
Ice cold fingers.
A voice whispered directly into his ear:
You were never supposed to survive the corridor.
Then the lights returned.
And Elias screamed.
Because the thing holding him
Had his own face.
But older.
Rotting.
Dead.
And wearing a security badge labeled:
DR. ELIAS VERNON DECEASED.