I make no claims to the rights of World of Warcraft, the product, lore or anything associated with it. That is a creation of Blizzard Entertainment, and they did a helluva job with it. Enjoy.
Chapter One – Blurred.
The harshly sanded wood of the rack dug painfully into his back, piercing through the skin and rubbing the flesh raw, allowing tiny beads of blood to conjure and fall steadily down. Every movement only multiplied the pain, but he felt next to nothing. The drugs had reduced his effectiveness to nothing. His pupils were dilated, his eyes like black moons. What he could see only appeared a bland brown, coupled with leaky black and bright white. His head was restricted from free movement, and as a result, he lay with his eyes shut tightly, cutting off the blinding light from reaching and tormenting his eyes. Sweat lay beaded at his brow, flowing down over his face and pooling into the contours of his eyes, another reason to keep them sealed shit. His hands, arms, feet and legs were all bound to the rack, and he thrashed slowly in an attempt to free himself as he became aware of being restrained. The messy light brown hair which lay hanging on the top of his head fell down to cover the top half of his head. His heart pounded endlessly, trying to free itself from the man's chest, and his breathing was ragged and harsh. The feeling of being helpless seemed much more present that it had been before. The last injection had been so brutal that the resulting thrashing it had caused was violent enough to snap a bone in his forearm in half. The pain of that injury was distant and faded. The drugs helped dull whatever dangerous mixture they tried next. His gaze fell upon his right arm, and more importantly the brace holding the limb against the rack. It looked to be made of thorium, as it was coloured a rusty red. He knew that regardless of what he tried, he had no chance at escaping. His struggling stopped and he let his head drop, allowing the sweat that had pooled up to run carefree from his face and fall onto the floor.
The room he was in was illuminated brightly. Lights lay spaced apart by no more than a foot. These included both mechanical and hand-powered (including a few candles). All were directed at him, preventing him from analyzing the room. What he could make out was little of importance. The walls were a faded white, as if the place had been built a few years back. Any signs of an entrance were unknown to him. The room only contained the lights, the rack, and him. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't control his thoughts. Whatever they had injected him with had messed with his mind, his sight and control of extremities. There was no way out, no hop-.
-The wall to his right shifted, a loud whoosh erupting as a gust of air blew into the chamber. Two figures; a gray blob and a white blob, emerged from the wall, chattering softly to each other. Their shoes echoed in the room, assaulting the man's ears. The wall closed behind them, taking the fresh air with it. The two figured approached the rack, and gazed down at the ragged figure, glancing over him.
"Serum 94 seems to have acted as an anaesthetic, despite first predictions, affecting limb movement, and dulling the senses." The white blob announced.
"No, this one is taking effect; you can see it in him already. His system is adapting to the cure." The shade of gray replied defensively.
"Sir, by all means, he looks like his body is shutting down." The white blob announced. The figure brought his hands to the restrained man's face, and with a snap, fire lit on his fingers. The cascading combination of red, orange and yellow was marvelous and beautfiul, but it hurt every sensitive fibre in his eyes. "See, his pupils are severely dilated, his skin is damp and yet still sweating and you can hear his heart beating from here. This attempt was a failure. We can't test another sample, he will die." The flame disappeared from his fingers as fast as it had come as the gray blob snapped his hand again. The restrained man was still struggling, trying desperately to free himself, but he was secured tightly. He tried to speak, but his tongue would not move, and the only sound that came from him was odd, wet sloshes.
A low sigh, almost a growl of impatience originated from the gray man. "We can't toss him out, not yet. He's worth the most out of all of the other subjects, and we've made the most progress in curing him. "Barnes, another injection, triple the dose this time. This is the correct sample, I'm sure of it.
They paid no attention to the man's pitiful attempt to speak. The man referred to as Barnes hesitated, unsure. When he answered, his voice was low and cautious. "Giles, that will kill him, and we can't be sure that this will be the right sample."
The gray figure visibly shook, turning to face Barnes. His voice was filled with reproach and anger. "Don't ever use my name, Barnes, and never question my orders. This thing," he jabbed a finger at the man, "is our best hope at curing the disease. Triple dosage. Now. We solve this here, or he dies. Either way, we make some progress." The gray blur's arms disappeared behind his back as he turned and strolled away from Barnes.
Barnes nodded his head several times, hurrying back towards the wall and exiting as it opened. More fresh air blew softly in, before being cut away harshly as the door closed once again.
Giles looked down upon the man, a snarl on his face. ~ This poor, pathetic creature should be glad of what he has taken part in. No one should live like him. The others, they're all the same and they will be cured as well, but first, we cure him. He's was like me, but this curse, it changed him, and it's my duty to cure him, whatever the cost. ~ Giles shook his head. He knew Barnes was right. The man was deathly pale, and his body was failing. They needed to cure him now, or it would be too late to salvage anything. The man's face was gaunt, and hollow. His eyes were a dulled blue, and his body was almost nothing more than skin and bones. There was life in him still, and that made Giles happy. "Don't die on us yet, you're the biggest advancement in this whole project." He reached down to the left side of the rack, drawing away a piece of parchment, and glancing over the man's medical history. "Mr. Matthias Grenson, you're the most valuable man in the world to some, right now, especially to me and my colleagues". He scanned through the rest of the material, before letting the document drop to the floor. Giles sighed, he was tired of this work, of this cause. He was determined to save everyone, until he died, but with what he was puty his body through lately, that might come much sooner that he had hoped for. The wall behind him parted, Barnes rushing in.
Matthias looked up at the two figures, his tongue still not reacting. He wanted to ask what was happening, where he was, and what had they done to him. He didn't want to die. He had signed a contract, volunteered to be part of the "cure", but everything they had done to him bordered on torture, and despite what benefits this "cure" could offer, he did not want to suffer like this. As soon as he had finished this train of thoughts, his head darkened. Every current thought he had erased the last, another effect of the drug. He was only able to watch helplessly as Barnes came closer to the rack.
Barnes held a small syringe in one hand, but his vision was focused on the man named Giles. "Shall I proceed?" Matthias saw the gray figure of Giles nod its head, barely, and then could only watch as Barnes drew near. The needle drew closer and he could feel the cold material rub against the flesh his right wrist.
A tiny prick of pain blossomed in his wrist. The annoyance quickly evolved into a small tingling, causing his hand to tremble. The feeling worsened, the tingling turning into a burning, which amplified into a blaze. His arm felt on fire, and he could see his skin visibly change into a reddish, burned colour. The fire spread, through his chest, his legs, his left arm, and into his head. It coursed through his veins, tore through his muscles and made him writhe in agony. The restraints containing his arms and legs clanked and stretched as Matthias fell deeper into his horrible spasm. He thrashed, turned, and yelled, the babbling scream filling the tiny atmosphere of the room. He could still hear the delight in Giles voice through his torment.
"Barnes, look, LOOK! The dosage, it's taking effect." The grim satisfaction he was expressing was what imprinted itself into Matthias brain, and became deeply rooted in his thoughts. This wouldn't fade away. Then, the real effects of the drug kicked on. His body started to change. Bones broke, cracked and were turned to dust, only to be morphed into another structure. He twisted with every simple deconstruction and reconstruction. Matthias screamed and pleaded for it to stop, only drowl and nonsense escaped from his lips. He could feel the change working its way through his system. His arms stretched, his legs lengthened and his face grew. His voice turned from a high pitched whine into a low, trembling sob as the transformation came to a close. His vision became a black tunnel, and then, in one final, excruciating spasm, Matthias Grenson fell into an unconscious state.
"HAHA! Barnes, we did it." Giles voice rang with pleasure and happiness. "We've found the right serum; we can cure the world of his scum." Giles watched Barnes sigh and nod his head at the statement. "His form alteration was part one, but did it take control completely. We've rid them of their curse, it's only fair that we get something in return." Giles tossed a greedy grin towards Barnes, who never acknowledged the gesture.
Barnes took a deep breath, focusing his attention on the subject before them. "Well, let's find out..."