Suddenly I found myself lying awake. There was little light, save a murky darkness slightly illuminated by an unknown source. Like a wild tiger would attack its prey, a stench that was akin to the innards of some decaying thing saturated my senses. Immediately, nausea hit me like a surging tide. My first thoughts, of course, were of retching. I tried to turn my head, but found myself held down tightly by the head, neck, arms and legs. The vomit within me however, would not be so easily daunted. Soon I would be lying in the remorseless wastes of my own body.
Violently I twisted and jerked at my unforgiving binds. It was useless. The movement only served to torment my queasiness more. So there I sat with vomit covering my face in some uncertain, terror inducing tomb awaiting the unknown. I was still of sane mind, therefore I decided to put it to good use. I couldn’t turn my neck a great deal without choking myself. I had to depend on my peripheral. As my eyes pivoted left to right searching for details to my whereabouts, I found myself constantly heaving at my malodorous predicament. It was nigh impossible to conjure a thought of eating, yet obviously my empty stomach could not give up anymore of its refuse, less I be coughing blood. I focused. From what I could tell, the room was an empty vault.
Cold, heartless stone in every direction greeted my wandering gaze. I could make out no particular light source, yet there was light. The room, for lack of a better term, was rather large: enough to fit several people in a circle around my platform. I say platform because I was perceptibly raised above any adjacent flooring that may have been around. My peripheral revealed no floor. I took this much information in before fear crept back into my being. It was worthless. My next thought amid my almost overwhelming horror was how I came to be in this place.
Personality
To keep my sanity in tact, I began to speak aloud, “I am Dr. Ordierno. I am a philanthropist, professor and crypto zoologist by trade.” Quickly, I changed my speech to thought as the sour taste of my own bile trickled into my mouth. Last I recalled I was in my laboratory deep within a forgotten Huastec ruin in Mexico. Yes. I had many hidden laboratories across the world. So many couldn’t understand the work I was doing was for the benefit of mankind. I had to hide like a rat – negotiating deals with despicable warlords and corrupt leaders across the world. I may have done horrible things, but it was for a greater good – a greater understanding of our world. It was all a means to an end. The cryptids… I kept them all over the globe, but the Huastec was the central locale. So many... Then it came to me - those assistants. Something was rotten about them. One minute they were the most intelligent men and women in the world, the next they were speaking to me…like…like actors reading from a script. Then there was the explosion…the black out... The beasts… the cryptids, a few got free. I was confronted by one. In the dark… Then nothing.
I woke up here. This place. I remembered the assistants were counterfeit... frauds. I remembered faintly them peeling off their facades before my eyes. This was their doing. Yes that I remember. Too much blackness. I remember never truly being awake. Can’t recall what they were doing to me… a séance… chanting… It burned… My god, what did they do to me. I can feel it. It’s still inside of me…and it burned. So much pain.
Then there were voices echoing as if coming from a corridor in the distance. I recognized one of them immediately. In and out of consciousness and pain, it was difficult to make out their words. I didn’t recognize the voice of the other, but I heard a name…Father Bathory. There was more… Something about a church… The natural order? With my body turning against me, it was good to know my sense of hearing was intact. As they approached and their voices became more distinct, I listened. Footsteps were all I heard for a while. Then I saw their shaded images as they entered the room. I quickly played dead and eavesdropped for all it was worth. The clamor of what sounded like dozens of feet raced around my platform. A rustle of clothing followed, then silence but for the sound of breathing all around me. After that…
“He is so peaceful, isn’t he Father?”
“Indeed. The brothers are ready and have cleansed themselves in preparation. His body and mind are also cleansed and ready for the purification rites.”
“Trifling melodramatics, it really doesn’t matter what his body and mind are ready for. For you see, the act takes place now regardless of who is ready. Wake him up. I wish to taunt him.”
“But of course.”
Powers
Augmentation/ Berserker/ Superior
The time for my weakly veiled deception was up. A shockingly cold splash of water hit my face. It was pleasantly refreshing as I was parched and it washed a bit of the refuse from my visage. The slap that followed was not as pleasant, nor was the following three. “Don’t fuck with me, Dr. Odierno. I know you’re not sleep. Open your eyes and confront your destiny.” It was him. That sick assistant of mine. But he wasn’t my assistant at all. No, this was the madman that had obviously killed my aids and took their place. He and his…I don’t know what they are…followers. A cult perhaps. Madmen…all of them. Another slap followed. “What are you thinking about, Dr. Odierno? Do you remember me? I’m different now to you I suppose. You knew me as Dr. Smith. Well, look at me now. Who do you see?”
http://www.electricferret.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2251&view=findpost&p=195144
Violently, my platform and I in it began to shake. I’m not sure how he managed to shake the entire platform like that, but I am sure of the damage it did to my already queasy stomach. I retched out a forceful, yet fruitless heave. He laughed carelessly then the trembling subsided briefly. “You may call me Percy. I don’t normally give my name, but seeing as you are now eternally ours… Anyway, the gentleman next to me is Father Bathory of the Church of the Natural Order. Now, I suppose you’d like to know why you are here.” I did not answer. This madman was full of his self and seemed to like to hear the sound of his own voice. I indulged him. “You sir, are now in the employ of Mr. Bathory. Who likewise looked to myself for a little assistance in the manpower department - brute force and all that. Therefore, you are now and forever a servant of her ever-loving patroness of the Natural Order. You, Dr. Odierno are going to be a legend… a saint. For you sir, are going to introduce the world to the natural order.” He said. “The only order that matters…” He drifted off briefly and then turned back towards me, “…disorder, that is.” He exploded with hysterics followed by a sudden room-shaking tremor. The man in the hooded robe he named as Bathory flung his hood off and began chanting loudly. The other hooded figures surrounding me followed suit. As they did, Bathory showered me with numerous unidentified concoctions. Mixtures of sensations from pain to ecstasy poured through my very essence. Percy roared in laughter as the room spun…literally. The room was indeed moving or at least everyone in it was. But through it all Percy seemed to stay motionless. Was he doing this? I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move. I began to succumb to the madness.
In like manner to the room, my body began to tremor. I convulsed with seizures that were so aggressively strong they broke my bonds. Regardless I was still held down by some powerful, yet straining force. I could feel my own growing strength press against it. What was becoming of me?
Within seconds, I began to see distorted images in my very mind. Faces. Horrible faces and images. Terrible. They taunted me, pushed and pulled me, but my body remained held down. With my own strength I tried to rise and it felt as if my body were being slowly ripped to shreds. My mind screamed in a cacophony of voices. Whose voices? Then they spoke names. Many names. It seemed like endless names. Eventually they began to overlap and become a torrent of garbled nonsense. I begged. Pleaded. Please, please stop… Outside my perception, the chanting grew louder. Unrelenting. They were doing this to me. But what? What were they doing? Finally, I could feel it… as if my own personality had been pressed into the farthest corner of my own psyche. In the forefront were the things. The faces. The horrible things. They cackled and howled at me. My standpoint was that of a child backed into a corner by a sea of molesters. I was helpless within my own body. My wits shredded, I whimpered out the only thought I could muster, “Who are you?” I whispered meekly. At that point, all the horrible faces turned their attentions to me at once and returned…
To be Continued.
