Chapter 1: Alone
"Tell the director the operation was a complete success" echoed the gruff voice of a man.
Where am I?! Why can't I open my eyes?!
"Doctor the patient's heart rate is rising erratically!" A new voice exclaimed, a female one.
"What? I thought you said we had him sedated?" The gruff voice answered back crossly.
Who is that?! Why can't I breathe?! What's going on?!
"Damn it the director wants him alive, stabilize him and seal up the incision!" The gruff voice commanded, the sounds of hurried footsteps and clattering metal threatened to overtake everything else. But amongst the chaos of sound there was one that stood out from the rest, a high-pitched, ear splitting screech.
Can't breathe! Chest Burning! What's that sound?! Make it stop!
"Doctor he's slipping into cardiac arrest, we're losing him!" The female voice exclaimed, panic now soaking into her words.
"Like hell we are, out of my way I'll handle this myself! And get that… thing out of here! The director has what he wants so bring it to him!" The sounds of wheels squeaking and heavy footsteps echoed in the darkness and slowly faded away.
"Is it even worth it to try and save him? He barely survived the surgery in the first place" a new voice asked, this one sounded younger than the others. "Poor schmuck's already got one foot in the grave."
Alright new voice, fuck you too…
"What can I say, I like a challenge, Iain MacRury believe it or not this is your lucky day" the gruff man chuckled in the darkness. The few sounds Iain had been able to pick up on slowly faded out of focus turning into distant static.
Can't feel anything, the pain's gone, sound's gone too, all alone…
Iain awoke with a start gasping desperately for air as he flailed about in a blind panic. His vision was returning to him slowly and as it did Iain began to calm down. As the room around him gradually came into focus he started taking in details as quickly as his sluggish mind would allow. He was in a dark room, the only lights keeping the room from falling into utter blackness were the few ambient lights along the wall. Looking from left to right he spotted several machines on either side of him many of which looked to be connected to his arms and chest.
There were small dressers scattered about the room which looked to be made of actual wood, a rare commodity these days. Despite the lack of light Iain could just make out the walls around him, they were pristine with not a mark on them. The bed he had been lying in was elevated keeping his head up and it had safety rails on either side to avoid accidently falling out. He recognized where he was, he had been in one once as a kid, but how the hell did he wind up in this hospital room?
Rising to a seated position Iain looked around groggily trying to remember how he got there. It didn't make sense, the last thing he remembered was going into cryosleep for his delivery. He had made the trip to deliver supplies to Oboron IV plenty of times and nothing like this ever happened before. He raked through his memories feverishly trying to recall anything else but there was nothing else to remember. He got the request from his supervisor as per usual, had his supplies loaded aboard his freighter, which went smoother than usual, he took off without a hitch, set his course and went to sleep.
Looking back down at the wires and sensors hooked up to him, Iain wondered what had happened to him to require such monitoring. Had there been an accident while he was asleep? He had to know what happened. "Hel-" Iain tried to speak but was overcome by a rough coughing fit that sent a surge of pain through his chest. His throat felt like a desert, like he hadn't taken a drink in a week, and his chest! What was with this pain?
As the coughing subsided Iain looked around once again, his eyes lit up when he spotted a sink over on the other end of the room. But it was too far away to reach without disconnecting the machines hooked up to him. Looking down tentatively he slowly began taking off the suction pads attached to various parts of his arms and chest. At last it came to the two lines that had been injected into him, Iain had never been a fan of needles it didn't really matter if they were going in or out.
Gritting his teeth together Iain yanked on the lines pulling them from his body and causing the machine hooked up to him to come to life. The screen was flashing red flooding the dark room in a repetitive flash of crimson while an emergency alert blared like a claxon. Leaning over Iain punched in a few commands into the console turning off the alert. While the light may have been welcomed, if not a bit annoying, the loud alarm was definitely not going to fly.
Scooting his way to the end of the bed Iain placed his feet on the cold tiled floors which sent a shiver right up his spine. Bracing against the icy floor Iain stood up and almost toppled over. His legs felt so weak! How long had he been bedridden for? Pushing away those thoughts Iain set his sights on his prize and began his shaky walk to the sink.
The small trip to the sink was a lot harder than it should have been but Iain was no less pleased to reach his destination. Turning on the faucet a stream of water gushed out, with no cups around Iain stuck his head under the tap and lapped up the flowing liquid. It was lukewarm at best but damn did it feel good! After several minutes of drinking Iain finally felt like he had quenched his thirst and turned the tap off before turning to face the rest of the room again.
It had been over five minutes since he unplugged himself from the machines. Now Iain was no doctor but he watched enough medical shows to know that at the very least a nurse should have shown up to check on him by now. Walking over to the door to his room Iain was surprised that it didn't automatically slide open for him. Undeterred he tried pulling the door open but to no avail. "What the hell? Am I locked in here?" Iain asked himself, more to test out his voice than anything, while still raspy it no longer hurt to speak so that was a start.
Iain quickly began scouring the room in search of anything of use, he was completely out of his element but doing anything was better than sitting alone in the creepy room. Most of the drawers were empty save for one that held a small bible. "Yeah I'm gonna pray my way out of here" Iain snorted, throwing the book back into the drawer.
Turning around Iain's hope was rekindled upon noticing a nondescript set of doors, he hadn't noticed them at first as they matched the walls so well. Hurrying over Iain slid them back to reveal a closet full of clothing that had been left behind. Looking down at himself Iain suddenly felt very self-conscious in the gown that he'd been draped in. After a quick search Iain pulled out a pair of navy blue boxers, plain white socks, old fashioned denim jeans and a black shirt with red sleeves.
Stripping away the gown Iain had the first real look at his body since awakening as he stepped in front of the mirror set above the sink. At first glance everything appeared to be in order, his short sandy brown hair was the same length as he remembered, though it was in desperate need of a wash. His eyes, while somewhat bloodshot, were their usual blue. His face was still as devilishly handsome as ever though his skin did look somewhat clammy. As he checked over the rest of his body his gaze fell to his now bare chest and what he saw made his stomach lurch uncomfortably at the sight.
Starting from his collarbone and stretching all the way down to his bellybutton was a single uniform scar. The mark was still rather pink so must have been rather fresh and it was perfectly straight as if made with a precision instrument, thinking more about his current situation Iain was certain it was. Taking a chance Iain gently poked the mark sending a sharp jolt of pain through his body that almost brought him to his knees.
"Well that explains why my chest feels like an elephant sat on it" Iain muttered as he straightened himself once more. Iain hoped that once he got out of this room he'd be able to find someone who could fill him on what had happened to him. Until then though Iain decided to slip on the rest of his clothes he had procured, his new shirt was first to go on so as to cover up the disfigurement. After slipping on the pair of socks Iain popped his head back into the closet once more and as luck would have it he found what he was looking for. A pair of brand new running shoes sat at the back of the closet.
"Not a fan of the green but they're my size so to hell with it" Iain murmured to himself as he laced up his new runners. While he was quite happy to be properly clothed once more Iain couldn't help but feel a little discouraged, there hadn't been anything of use in the closet apart from clothing and there still hadn't been a single person to come check on him. In fact apart from the ruckus he had made in the closet there hadn't been a single noise since he woke up.
Again resorting to scanning the room for anything of use his gaze fell to one of the machines that had been hooked up to him. They were still on, giving off a pale green light which lit up Iain's face as he came to a halt in front of it. Everything he tried to access on the console seemed to be locked or password protected shutting him out at every turn. He had almost completely given up on the system until he came across a single folder marked Iain MacRury MPP-001.
"Please don't be locked, please don't be locked please… YES!" Iain exclaimed loudly irritating his still somewhat sore throat. He could talk but he might want to lay off on shouting for the time being. Iain quickly scanned over the contents of his page and it only provided more questions than answers.
MAXIMUM PRIORITY PATIENT-001 UNDER CARE OF WEYLAND-YUTANI MEDICAL TREATMENT CENTER
TIME OF LAST LOGIN: 15:38 2266-10-23
PATIENT NAME: IAIN R. MACRURY
DATE OF BIRTH: 2243-05-27
OCCUPATION: INTERSTELLAR FREIGHT TRAFFICKER FOR WEYLAND-YUTANI SUBSIDIARY SCHNEIDER TRANSPORATION
REASON FOR OCCUPANCY: -REDACTED-
OFFICIAL STATUS: DECEASED
CAUSE OF DEATH: -REDACTED-
NEXT OF KIN HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED AND WILL BE COMPENSATED FOR THEIR LOSS. PATIENT HAS SHOWN SURPRISING RESILLIANCY FOLLOWING –-REDACTED-. STATION DIRECTOR MICHAEL J. BLANCHETTE HAS REQUESTED THAT PATIENT BE KEPT ALIVE AT ALL COSTS IN CASE OF –-REDACTED-. SEVERAL CLOSE CALLS AFTER -REDACTED-. PATIENT HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE ROOM 426 FOR 24/7 SUPERVISION. UPON PATIENT'S RECOVERY HE IS TO BE IMMEDIATELY DETAINED FOR FURTHER STUDY.
"Official status deceased? Nuts to that!" Iain sputtered in disbelief at what he was reading. Aside from the shock of being listed as a dead man, Iain couldn't believe what he was reading. Or rather what he wasn't, as it looked like any important information had been removed from the system.
"Upon patient's recovery he is to be immediately detained for further study" Iain read through the notes one more time. "Well, I've been up for like fifteen minutes so where is everyone?!" Iain called out hoping someone might have overheard him. As another minute passed with no response Iain felt himself growing antsy, what if no one ever came for him? What if they did only to have him killed? What if he was stuck in that room forever? Ridiculous thoughts of course but Iain felt like he was in a ridiculous situation.
Just as Iain started to pace around the room a loud cracking noise followed by a long hiss broke the silence catching his attention. Stunned by the sudden noise Iain spun around to face the source of the sound, the pressurized door had just been opened. Inching his way closer to the entrance Iain found that the door, the magnetically sealed and pressurized door, seemed to have been forced open just a crack. The metal halfway up the frame seemed to have been bent inwards, it was like someone had wedged something between the doors and pried them open by force, but that should have been impossible.
Peeking through the crack Iain could see into the hallway beyond the door. The only lights he could make out were the spinning orange emergency lights that coated the hallways with an eerie orange glow. "Alright Iain time to make a choice, stay in the creepy room with no one around, or head out into the creepy hallway… with no one around?" Iain grumbled to himself. He stood crouched at the door for what felt like an eternity before finally coming to a decision. "Well let's get this over with" Iain sighed as he braced against the entryway. Using the leverage of the wall at his back Iain pushed the sliding door open fully revealing the hallway outside his room.
Just as he thought the main lights in either direction were off, the only light as far as the eye could see was emanating from the emergency lights. Gathering up his courage Iain strode out into the deserted hallway as quietly as he could. Deciding to go right Iain began to creep through the silent hallway passing several rooms along the way. Most of them looked like they had never been used but quite a few looked like they had recent occupants, they all had one thing in common though, they were all empty.
Coming to another branching path Iain looked around hopelessly, both ways just looked like more of the same, empty hallways with no indicators of which way was which. "Hello!" Iain called out into the darkness his voice echoing eerily off the walls of the deserted corridors. Regretting his choice almost immediately Iain refrained from calling out again, everything about this situation felt wrong. He had watched enough horror movies to know that shouting into the darkness was a quick way to wind up dead.
"Ok stay calm, stay quiet… but where the fuck am I?" Iain hissed angrily as he pressed his back against the wall. As if in response to his question the wall he had leant up against flashed blue causing Iain to leap away in fright.
"Welcome to the Weyland-Yutani research station Hyperion, MPP-001, how may I be of assistance?" A cool feminine voice asked from the speakers next to the screen.
"Damn VI nearly scared the shit out of me" Iain chuckled as he looked up at the screen before him. "Where did you say I was?" Iain asked the console that displayed the layout of a large building.
"You are currently on the fourth floor of the Asclepius Medical Treatment Center" the voice responded calmly.
"Ok but I mean where is here? You said I'm on a research station" Iain pressed. Virtual intelligences were not quite as sophisticated as androids, so you had to be very specific when dealing with them.
"That is correct MPP-001, the Asclepius Medical Treatment Center is located on the Weyland-Yutani research station Hyperion" the voice responded.
"Cool and where is that? What sector are we in?" Iain asked hurriedly, something about being out in the open like this had his skin crawling in the worst way.
"I am afraid that information is classified by order of Station Director Michael J. Blanchette" the VI stated in the same monotone drawl.
"Fantastic, where is he?" Iain questioned the VI.
"I am afraid that information is classified by order of Station Director Michael J. Blanchette" the VI repeated.
"Lovely, guess you can't tell me what this place was researching either?" Iain asked, quickly losing all hope he had upon coming across the VI.
"I am afraid that information is classified by order of-" the VI began before Iain cut it off with a wave of his hand.
"Yeah I get it, classified, can you at least show me how to get out of this facility?" Iain sighed not expecting anything different from before.
"Of course, displaying layout of the Asclepius Medical Treatment Center now" the voice stated. Perhaps it was Iain's imagination but this time the voice of the VI seemed to be a bit more enthusiastic than before. Waving it off Iain stepped closer to the screen and looked at the layout.
"Of course I'm on the top floor, guess that means it's all downhill from here right?" Iain chuckled at his own attempt at humour.
"Correct, if you are looking to leave the facility the only way to proceed would be downwards" the VI replied with a slight inflection in its voice leaving Iain in stunned silence.
Shaking away his surprise at the VI's retort Iain felt a grin spread across his face. "Can't believe I'm getting sassed by a VI, can you tell me where the nearest person is?" Iain asked before continuing hurriedly "and don't you say it's me!"
"Unfortunately station wide scanners appear to be under maintenance I am unable to access current statistics" the VI responded solemnly. He hadn't expected it but at least it was a better answer than classified. As if in response to his discouragement the VI spoke up once more "I can however tell you there were four hundred and eighty-four occupants aboard the station prior to this unscheduled maintenance period."
"Thanks, I better get going" Iain replied sombrely as he made one last attempt to memorize the map in front of him. When he finally thought he had a pretty good grasp of how to proceed he felt a weight in his stomach at the prospect of continuing on. Iain didn't really like having to leave the first person he had come across since waking up, even if it was a VI.
But he knew he had to, standing around would accomplish nothing and so turning down the corridor on the left he began heading down the path that would hopefully lead him out of the hospital. Just as Iain began walking away the VI spoke up once more "good luck Mr. MacRury."
Turning around in surprise Iain nodded his head in recognition before continuing on his way. His trip through the medical center's fourth floor went smoothly enough he still had yet to hear any other sounds apart from his own footsteps and breathing. "Quiet as a damn tomb in here" Iain murmured taking another left-hand turn. Iain's eyes lit up with joy at seeing what was at the far end of the hallway.
There at the end were the doors to the elevator and stairwell, both of them illuminated by the orange emergency light above them. Forgetting his earlier apprehension Iain rushed forward as quickly as his still wobbly legs would allow him. Halfway down the hall Iain passed by a room and failed to notice the shifting shadow inside of it however the distinct sound of shattering glass brought him to a sudden halt.
The sound had definitely come from the room on his left and so in a surprising show of bravery, or stupidity, Iain inched his way closer to the door to see what had caused the commotion. As he got closer Iain saw the door had been left ajar and so upon reaching the entryway, and taking a deep breath, decided to take a quick peak in.
Nothing, the room was completely empty, there wasn't a single person in it however the bed did look like it had been used fairly recently. Taking a few tentative steps inside the room Iain was startled by the sound of cracking glass. Looking down he saw the previous source of the commotion, it was just a glass vase that had fallen over. Chuckling to himself, Iain left the room with a sigh "this place is starting to get to me." Deciding to take a slower pace Iain once again crept through the rest of the hallway. Arriving at the elevators and stairwell Iain breathed a pent up sigh of relief, it felt like he had just run a marathon.
"Should I even try the elevator?" Iain asked himself not really expecting such services to be available when the whole building seemed to be on emergency generators. "Meh, why not?" Iain gave in pressing the button to call one up. Unsurprisingly there was no response, not even the sound of machinery attempting to start up. "Guess that means more walking, wonder-" Iain had been taking a step backwards when he felt his foot land in something with a soft splash.
In hindsight Iain felt he really should have picked up on the coppery scent in the air right away. After all that was a massive puddle of blood he just stepped into. Looking around frantically Iain saw that the pool of blood stretched off into a trail, one that seemed to lead directly into the closed elevator doors. Suddenly the broken vase in the other room jumped into Iain's thoughts as his mind raced, something had to have knocked it over. Feeling far more vulnerable than he had just a minute before Iain wrenched the door to the stairwell open before rushing downstairs, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and that floor as he could.
Iain was in luck as the stairwell took him all the way down to ground floor of the medical center. Each floor number he passed managed to alleviate some of his built up anxiety, he felt like he was making real headway. Stopping beside the door to the first floor Iain pressed his back against the wall as he gasped for breath. The combination of practically sprinting down four flights of stairs, the pain in his chest and his still sore legs left him in desperate need of rest.
Taking this time to sneak a peek through the window of the door Iain attempted to spot anything on the other side. He was disheartened to not only see no signs of people but it also looked to be even darker on the first floor than the fourth. "This is all just some sick prank show I know it" Iain grumbled as he pulled the door open and stepped into yet another deserted hallway. "Any second now I'm gonna have some washed up B-list celebrity pop around a corner saying 'It's just a prank bro' and when he does I'm gonna deck his ass."
Iain continued on his trek through the seemingly abandoned medical facility in eerie silence. As he crept forward he thought back to the map the VI had shown him. If he had followed it like he was supposed to then he just needed to take the next right hand turn and then follow that with a left hand turn after passing a set of bathrooms. If at some point he had made a mistake in his recollection then… well he would cross that bridge when he got to it.
After several tense minutes Iain turned passed the set of bathrooms and found himself standing in the main reception area to the medical center. Just like the rest of the compound though there was no one around. What should have been the busiest area in the center was completely devoid of life, however there were definitely people here at some point. The place was a disaster, wheelchairs overturned, clothing strewn about the floor as if just discarded but the most unsettling sight was the blood.
Dried bloodstains littered the reception area marring the once pristine walls. Looking closer at the markings Iain's gaze fell on several of the seats in the waiting area. Many of the cushions looked to have been soaked in blood while others sported enormous tears as if made with a large knife. Iain's shocked gaze gradually turned to the walls around him, there were similar markings along them as well, there were also massive dents in the frame that looked like they had been punched in with a pneumatic nailer.
"What the hell happened here?" Iain whispered to himself. There was clearly a struggle of some kind and apart from the copious amounts of dried blood there wasn't the faintest sign of a person around. Deciding it would be best to simply keep moving Iain began heading for the exit.
A loud clatter off to his left brought Iain to a screeching halt. Whipping his head over to spot the disturbance he couldn't see anything at first. The hallway the sound came from looked just like the rest, dark with only the spinning orange emergency lights providing any source of light. As Iain approached he slowly scanned the area, everything seemed fine, or as fine as things could get in a bloodstained abandoned hospital. In fact there wasn't anything in the hallway itself beside a small cart laden with books and an overturned gurney… with a quivering shoe sticking out from behind it.
"You can come out, I'm not gonna bite" Iain chuckled as he approached the gurney.
No sooner had Iain said those words than the person bolted from their temporary cover sprinting down the hallway away from the exit. Against his better judgement Iain ran after the person, maybe it was because they seemed scared, maybe it was because he wanted answers but mostly it was because it was the first real person Iain had come across since waking up.
Iain stayed hot on the person's tail never letting up his own pace despite his strained lungs crying out in protest. The pair sprinted through the corridors at a breakneck pace and just when it felt like Iain's legs were about to give out on him he turned a corner and came to dead end. The person he had been chasing was huddled in the corner shaking violently and was doing their best to obscure their face.
"If you could stop running now that would be great, kinda not at one hundred percent here" Iain gasped as he hunched over trying to catch his breath. Upon hearing his voice the huddled person slowly lowered their arms revealing their face. It was a woman, a pretty one at that, though she looked she had been through hell. Her long black hair was matted and dirty as if it hadn't been washed in a week, her skin looked clammy and her dark brown eyes had enormous bags underneath them, a testament to what little rest the woman must have been getting. She wore a long white lab coat that was coated in dirt and torn in several places. Pinned to the left side of the coat was a bronze nametag with the name Desiree SN printed on it. "So you're a nurse here?" Iain said more to himself than to the distant woman before him.
The whole time the woman had been completely silent and never once made eye contact with him she was definitely aware of his presence as when he took a step closer she immediately huddled back up. Taking a chance Iain tried addressing the woman by her name hoping to break the woman out of her reverie. "Hey… um Desiree? Are you ok?" Iain asked taking another tentative step towards her.
At the mention of her name Desiree's eyes locked with Iain's and he could see the abject terror in them, clearly she was not ok. Without any warning the woman leapt from her huddled position and rushed Iain with a manic expression. Iain was so taken aback he didn't react until she was already upon him. She hastily grabbed hold of either side of his face and started taking in every detail of him all while mumbling incoherently to herself.
Despite being literal inches from her Iain couldn't make out what the hysterical woman was mumbling to herself. He could however smell her and much like her hair had indicated previously it was clear that bathing had not been on her priorities for quite some time. "Hey look I'm all for meeting new people but this is a little close, don't you think?" Iain said as the woman squished his face in her hands. "I guess I know your name already so… my name's Iain" Iain said from between the woman's hands.
Hoping that small talk might help calm the woman down Iain was dismayed when all it seemed to do was make matters worse. "Iain!" Desiree shouted, her breathing becoming even more erratic, she was now sweating profusely and her mumblings had evolved into a full blown vocal break down. "Can't be! But he's right there! But how?! All my fault, it's coming for me, all my fault! We're all going to die because of me!" Desiree was now in full hysterics, she collapsed in a sobbing heap all the while her gaze darted around the empty hallway frantically.
"I was not ready for today" Iain groaned as he took a tentative step towards the dishevelled woman. "Hey Desiree just calm down everything's going to be alright, can you tell me what happened to this place?" Iain probed hoping to get something out of the raving woman while he could. The sound of Iain's voice seemed to return Desiree to some form of normalcy, she stopped shouting, which was a good start and the small incline of her head told Iain she was listening.
"It's all my fault" Desiree whimpered, tears now flowing freely from her dark brown eyes. Iain couldn't place it but he could have sworn he heard her voice somewhere before, but this was the first time he had ever met her.
"What's your fault? Maybe if you tell me I can help fix it?" Iain pressed taking another step forward. He was now only a foot away from Desiree who had risen from her sprawled out position to a seated one. Taking a chance Iain tried placing a comforting hand on her shoulder to help calm her nerves but the moment his hand came into contact with her shoulder she bolted upright in a surprising burst of speed.
"Get back!" She screeched throwing a punch that connected with the middle of Iain's chest.
Iain immediately collapsed in a pile as a terrible pain shot through his body. His chest was on fire, his vision had distorted into a blurred mess and somehow that one punch had knocked all the air out of him. Iain gasped in pain trying to regulate his breathing, he wasn't sure how long it would take but he was positive that, when his vision refocused, Desiree would be long gone.
Once his vision had fully cleared Iain hesitantly looked up and was surprised to see Desiree still there however she looked even more terrified than ever before. Iain tried making a snappy remark but his still damaged lungs were having none of it and instead all that came out was a weak squeak.
"It's coming, it's coming, it's coming" Desiree whimpered, her head swinging wildly from one side to the other. Once again Iain tried to talk to the girl but he just couldn't seem to catch his breath, seriously what the hell happened to him? He thought as the girl in front of him began to back up against the wall to his left.
Iain tried to tell her to be careful, she was getting awfully close to the open maintenance hatch embedded in the side but again no words would come out. Instead Iain settled for getting to his feet to try and get the girl's attention. She may have been completely out of her mind but she was still the first real person he had come across since waking up, he couldn't just leave her.
Desiree was now fully pressed up against the wall, her eyes darting from left to right frantically. Sweat was running from her brow in rivers and her whole body was violently shaking. All the while she never relented with her panicked mantra "It's coming, it's coming, it's coming."
Iain tried waving to get her attention and Desiree suddenly stopped her frantic whisperings she had even stopped her eyes from moving back and forth. Thinking he had succeeded in obtaining the woman's attention Iain pointed down to the open maintenance hatch and what he saw made every hair on his body stand on end.
Locked around Desiree's right ankle was a long clawed hand. Six long fingers all as black as midnight and each tipped with a razor sharp talon. Iain slowly lifted his head to look at Desiree who was silently whimpering as tears streamed down her cheeks. Iain tried to move for her but as soon as he took his first step forward Desiree was dragged to the ground with a startled gasp. Most of her body was now inside the crawlspace but she had managed to grab hold of a safety handle and was holding onto it with every ounce of strength she could muster. She cried out in pain as whatever it was tried to pull her further into the crawlspace.
Finding his voice Iain called to the woman in a panic "hold on Desiree I got you!" Iain dropped to his knees and grabbed hold of her arms and tried his best to pull her towards him but she wouldn't budge. A sickening crunch emanated from the crawlspace as Desiree cried out in agony once more, blood was now flowing from her mouth and Iain could see her grip slacking. "No don't you let go damn it!" Iain shouted to no avail.
Locking her eyes with his own once more, Desiree blinked away the tears that had been building in her eyes. For the first time since they met she seemed to truly see Iain before her. With a shaky smile Desiree let go of the safety railing "I'm so sorry" she whispered. With a sudden tug of ungodly force Desiree was pulled into the open crawlspace and into pitch black darkness leaving Iain on the floor on all fours staring dumbstruck into the darkness.
In utter shock Iain slowly reached into the crawlspace, she was just there a second ago how could she just be gone? Iain was snapped out of his shock by the sound of a menacing hiss coming from the darkness before him. Whatever it was that took Desiree was still in there!
Getting to his feet Iain backed away from the opening never breaking eye contact with it until he heard a second hiss that snapped him back to reality. Breaking into a full sprint Iain bolted as fast as his tired legs would let him. He was running completely on autopilot at this point his legs seemed to know where they were going so he just let them take the lead.
He soon found himself sprinting through the reception area to the medical facility, how he found his way back to that spot he would never know. Without missing a beat Iain ran through the entrance his lungs screaming for rest but his mind urging him onward. Just as Iain thought he had put enough distance between himself and whatever the thing that grabbed Desiree was he heard a long drawn out screech that froze the very blood in his veins. It sounded very far off but it was difficult to tell as the sound reverberated off the steel walls of the corridor. With another burst of speed Iain pushed onward, gritting his teeth together as the pain in his chest screamed in agony.
Clearly he wasn't as alone as he had first thought.
Author's Notes: Hello everyone out there I hope you've enjoyed chapter 1 of my 5 chapter mini story as I had a lot of fun writing it. I've always been a fan of the Alien franchise and I just recently marathoned them all with my friend Iain who had never watched them before, we followed it with a playthrough of Alien Isolation. At some point we got to talking about if we were trapped on a station like Sevastopol with a Xenomorph on it would we survive? In any case he's wrong and he would totally wind up as Xeno chow. But that got me thinking and the idea for this story came to me and it was too good for me to pass up.
So there will be four more chapters on the way, it may take some time as I'm currently juggling school, work and another story but I have the whole groundwork laid out all I need to do is write it. Once again hoped you liked chapter 1 stay on the lookout for the others and hit me up if you have questions or just want to talk.
Until next time everyone!
