chapter 10

The two teams met in the middle silently and moved on. Just like the first corridor, it ended with an eastward bent, which they crossed before they ascended to the third floor. Lukas recalled that the lights came from the rooms of this level and the level above. He tightened his grip as they arrived at the floor...

Only to be disappointed.

The floor contained no doors, only a straight narrow corridor with bare walls flanking it on either side. Strangely, the floorboard was dimly illuminated from the lower parts of the walls where the doors should have been. Lukas could see moving shadows, as if someone was inside. He was curious what lies behind it.

"I wanted to blow up a chunk of this wall." Francis whispered at Lukas. "But the element of surprise that we have would be lost for sure."

"What do you think was behind it?" Lukas asked.

"I'm guessing a nightclub." Francis joked. He pulled out a small rectangular pack of explosives wrapped together by an electrical tape. He removed the covering of the adhesive on the back of the explosives and attached it on the wall, a few inches above the small horizontal slit of light by the floor. He pressed the black button and instructed everyone to stand clear.

They complied. Lukas and his team moved slightly ahead to keep watch at the corridor beyond while the rest moved behind their superior. A loud explosion could be heard as a large section of the wall crumbled to dust and filled the air with smoke. As the particles settled, Francis cursed loudly at the result.

Lukas turned to see that his bomb just blew up a big chunk of the wall, but it did not penetrated deep enough to reveal whatever was inside. He glanced at the light below, it was still there but the moving shadows seemed to gather around the 'doorway', obscuring it in the process.

He was about to comment something when Nagar let out a loud yell.

"Contact at 12 o'clock!"

Lukas turned to see rectangular shaped lights from the wall, simulating doorways that should have been there. It only revealed an interior lit in yellow and no other details were present, as if it led to a dimension simply filled with the color. From within, nude dark brown muscular entities that lacked genitals walked out. They were bald and the features of their faces were missing. In place was a large white question mark that seemed to glow like a signage. A small pair of horns could be seen from their temples.

They planted their palms on the ground and attacked like rabid dogs. Lukas yelled a curse as the same rectangular light appeared on the wall close to them. The same entities also came out, Lukas have not had the time to raise his aim as the nearest bastard wrapped its hands around his neck.

He knelt as the Black Entity's fingers enclosed around his windpipe, severing the air supply effectively. He held onto the creature's wrist, his armored fingers were digging at its skin but the grip of the creature gradually grew in strength, weakening him further. Black dots danced around his vision as he gasped for air. He felt pressure building up in his cranium.

Is this the end? He thought. Was this the price of his sacrifice? An image of his wife and his daughter appeared in his mind as his right hand fell limp on the floor. His left hand mirrored the same involuntary movement. His mind wanted to fight but his body refused. He felt himself being dragged towards the yellow portal as the noise of the battle around him disappeared.

He lifted his left hand forcibly, summoning all the strength he could muster. He managed to wrap his fingers around the grip of his pistol as the Black Entity's head turned to the doorway, its attention was elsewhere. He heard high pitched cries of infants from the room. Visions of fire and a small skull invaded his mind like some virus trying to take control. Lukas aimed at the back of the Black Entity's head, his aim was shaking.

He had one chance at this. If he missed, he is screwed.

He opened fire and in slow frames, he watched in horror as the bullet escaped the muzzle of his pistol, illuminating the dark corridor behind them and also catching the attention of the Black Entity as soon as it heard the ear pounding noise. It turned at him, the bright question mark on its face fixated upon his obscured features.

The bullet struck true, facial bones and muscles bursts apart in red. In an instant, the grip of the Black Entity weakened until it truly released him. The body of the bastard hit the ground and relief instantly washed over him as soon as air returned to his brain.

He crawled backwards in fear as the entity fell by the strange doorway. A pair of gigantic hands dripping in yellow liquid appeared and retrieved the body quickly and without noise, as if it was a toy retrieved by a child and the rectangular portal instantly disappeared in a flash and became a solidified wall once more. Even the strip of light beneath had disappeared.

Lukas turned to see another brown-skinned muscular entity with a question mark on its face, charging with its hands extended and reaching for his neck. The soldier aimed at the Black Entity's right shoulder and fired. He fired for a second time, directed at the creature's left clavicle.

"Never again!" Lukas screamed as he tackled the monster in the ribcage with his shoulder. He aimed his pistol at the face of the Black Entity at pointblank range and fired.

He stood up, his legs wobbled but it became steady shortly while he switched from pistol to rifle. The Black Entity was snatched from the ground by the another gigantic hands that were dripped in yellow slimy liquid. When darkness replaced the bright doorway and bathed the section of the corridor in the dark, the droplets became luminescent.

But there was no time for analyzation.

A scream behind caught his attention. Lukas turned to see a 666IB soldier dragged inside one of the portals, his buddy chased after him but was sent away by an invisible force that made him fly a few inches above ground and hit the floorboard with his back. He listened as sounds of wet splashes emanated from the room before ceasing.

A moving skeleton appeared from the same portal and tried to escape, but the invisible barrier prevented it from walking back out. The other soldier who tried to rescue his friend ran away as he and the others aimed at it. The Black Entity that resided from within appeared and scooped the skeleton from behind, never to be seen again.

The gruesome scene made Lukas think and for sure, he would never be able to sleep after this. Many questions ran through his mind. What was behind these portals? What are those sounds he heard? What would happen to him if he was dragged there? Where do that giant hands came from?

Many questions, all led to no clear answers. When the skeleton disappeared and the Black Entity inside walked out to grab more bodies, Lukas took aim at the creature and fired with the others, covering every inch of its body with bullet holes.

When the portals near them closed, they focused on the Black Entity across the hallway. He noticed that three of the soldiers were missing but relief came to him when he saw the young corporal still alive and kicking. He moved beside him and pointed at the Black Entity to the left. They both opened fire at the same target, dropping it in an instant.

They moved on with the second target, taking it down with a hail of bullets. A scream echoed across the dimly lit corridor as another soldier in Lukas' team was dragged by the ankles. Lukas aimed at the Black Entity, bursting its skull apart with a steady burst. The soldier crawled his way back to them.

The last one tried to escape, only to be riddled with holes in the back when it turned and ran. The perforation on its body could already be used as a trypophobia test image due to the large amount of holes.

The corridor was soon submerged in darkness, an indication of the entities' defeat. They continued ahead, turned around the bent and ascended to the last and final floor.

It was larger than the exterior of the building suggested. Lukas marvelled at the ionic-styled pillars that supported the domed roof of the arcade. It was still dark, but their visors allowed them to see. It was like they were pulled to a different country. The design appeared to be Victorian-era, which made him think twice about their current location.

"What the hell is this place?" Nagar asked as he aimed around.

There were no lights around them to suggest activity or answer that could point at any reason why there were lights on the windows outside. What was concerning is the fact that their surroundings seemed to stretch on forever. Lukas swallowed dryly.

"Keep moving forward." Francis ordered. "We're under the influence of a temporal anomaly."

"No shit." Lukas replied as he led on.

They were moving quietly for five minutes when they heard a loud roar somewhere but they ignored it and continued. From Lukas' perspective, a hunched figure sped past. His combat reflexes immediately kicked in as he took aim but it was too fast to be seen. The others had also stopped to regard the movement. After another five minutes, a loud clattering sound was heard nearby. They searched for the source of the sound but failed to locate it.

No one said a word. Another five minutes, a shadow flew overhead. Lukas turned behind to ask if Francis saw it too, but he found no traces of the other team.

"Where are they?" Another soldier, Private Abantes asked.

But no one replied because they have no answer to it.

"Francis?" Lukas called. "Alice? Can you two copy me over?" He asked but no response came back.

They continued straight ahead. There were no other choices but to move on. Another five minutes, another manifestation of the entity was felt in the form of a trio of horizontal scratches appearing from the pillar beside them. Indeed, it was becoming violent as time goes on.

"Watch the timer," Lukas ordered. "It was manifesting every five minutes."

"What's the plan?" Private Abantes asked.

"Form around and aim at the space before you. Make sure we cover all the directions."

They did what they were told and watched the timer reach another five minutes. As soon as the timer was up, they opened fire simultaneously. Their surroundings illuminated when the rifles' muzzles flashed. A loud whimpering was heard followed by a loud clatter of metal falling to the ground. They waited again for another five minutes.

Its presence became known in the form of the temperature lowering to a great degree. Lukas ordered another barrage of bullets to be fired and the room grew warmer until it returned to normal. Another whimpering and a loud clatter. Lukas began to ask himself what does the entity looked like? He imagined a thin emaciated monster with an overstretched mouth, which he immediately erased from his mind since the appearance was too common already.

They opened fire for the third time. The room shrank smaller for some reason. He frowned as they waited for the countdown and continued entertaining his thoughts. Another five minutes and they opened fire.