LUX APOCALYPSIS
Here we go guys ! The sequel to my fanfiction Beyond The Darkness is coming to life ! Some of the chapters are already written and ready to be read, so I finally deciced to upload them :)
For what I have in mind so far, I guess this story will be a little bit darker than the precious one... I let you discover the first chapters, and as always, do not hesitate to share your opinion with me and tell me what you think of this :)
Again, I am no English native speaker (unfortunately), I'm sorry if there are any mistakes or misspellings in the texts.
And again, a huge thanks to all the readers and all the people who added this story to their favorite and those who are just following it :) I can't thank you enough for your support !
NB : a special thanks to Ferilium, who may not be aware of that, but I had never thought about giving a continuation to my fanfiction... And with only one comment, she changed everything... she's definitely the one who pushed me into putting all my ideas on paper and who pushed me into writing again :)
NB : the cover image belongs to the great LitoPerezito :)
INTRODUCTION
SOMEWHERE IN ANTARCTICA, 1943
The snowmobile made one last turn before coming to a stop. The gleaming noise of the engine and chains gave way to a flat silence. The wind whistled in great gusts, whipping and penetrating to the depths of the few intrepid's flesh who ventured out. The man, wrapped in a thick suit, got out of the vehicle and walked towards the high pile of snow that was forming before him. A little further on, only a few metres away, the heavy armoured door was barely visible in the night that had now fallen. It formed a vague dark spot in the white blanket of snow, carved into the side of the mountain, which rose in menacing and sharp peaks before him.
His footsteps creaked in the freshly fallen snow. Another icy gust swept across the plain, and he felt the bones in his skull cringe a little more. He reflexively rubbed his hands together, but he couldn't feel his fingers, or his toes for that matter. His lungs burned every time he took a breath. For a moment he thought the gel was descending and settling in his throat, freezing his chest from the inside.
The seconds that passed before the door unlocked seemed endless. The bunker door opened with an ominous rumble, like a groan. After a quick check, a soldier let him in, before slamming it behind him. He found himself in a large, airtight chamber, with only a small, garish light bulb above his head. It was better here inside the fortress, but he smelt of damp.
"I need to see Bickenbach," said the young man before he had even removed his heavy coat completely.
The few soldiers standing there all turned to him in one motion. He felt their piercing eyes on his frail figure.
"It's DOKTOR Bickenbach, you brat," the corporal interrupted him coldly.
The man looked down on him.
"Herr Doktor is in the middle of a conference call with the Reichsfürher, you'll have to wait."
"It's not me who's asking for him, it's Dr Mengele himself," the young man retorted with a frightened look. "They've discovered something that might interest Herr Bickenbach, the news comes directly from Strasburg."
There was a moment of silence between the soldiers before one of them finally decided to move. With a movement of the chin he invited the young man to follow him. The two of them entered the sinister, endless passageway that served as the main access gallery to the underground fortress. The young German felt as if he were sinking directly into the depths of the glacier.
He did not like this place, and deeply hated its strangely oppressive atmosphere. Perhaps the simple fact of being completely isolated, cut off from the rest of the world and lost in the most hostile and remote lands of the planet added to the unease he felt here.
Strange vibrations echoed around them. The building was relatively new, but the walls were already covered in mould and the paint was peeling off in large patches. In the distance, whispers and murmurs ran through the walls, which were closing in on them as they walked. Several times they passed small rooms with open doors, revealing desks in disarray. Loud, sharp voices were heard from one office after another. Some soldiers, busy with telephones, others bent over maps, watched them as they walked past them. In a little larger room, some men were working on the radio system. The young German followed the corporal who took a tunnel on their left. It was a real labyrinth down there.
The soldier walked briskly and rhythmically ahead of him. The young German hardly dared to look up, impressed. The part of the bunker they had just entered was much darker, much wetter and even more hostile than the area they had just left. The heavy silence contrasted with the activity of the offices they had just passed. Here, everything looked like an underground prison: metal doors, all similar, followed one another. Strange sounds came from the walls and from behind the doors. Moans, groans, sometimes screams. It seemed to him that at times something was scraping, scratching against certain doors.
People
The thought suddenly made his blood run cold. He was from a tiny village, lost in the middle of Bavaria, and he had only known the countryside and the calm of nature before this war. Like many others, and despite his young age, he had been requisitioned to join the Schutzstaffel in Munich, initially as a simple field soldier. He had heard some of his colleagues talking about things. Programmes, camps. Rumours were circulating among them. At first he hadn't really paid attention. He had told himself they were only stories, crazy ideas to keep the soldiers in line. However, he soon realised things were about to change as the war in Europe intensified.
The rumours had been confirmed. Soon they were moved to bigger cities and camps. Their mission was to condition people in specific places, but he had had no further details about the nature of his mission. He was the only one left of his former squadron in Dachau's camps. Then after only a few months, maybe two, he found himself transferred again. In a much bigger, much more important camp. There were many more people there, many more prisoners. And they were hidden from the rest of Europe, mostly. Chelmno : a name known to all, but again, only preceded by rumours.
The young German had not tried to understand at first. He was only a guard, and sometimes a messenger there. He followed orders. But he had never had access to the main barracks, never. There too, he started hearing things. Things that were happening in those very same barracks. Experiments, tests. Until one day, when, for fear of an Allied retaliation, part of the camp had suddenly been moved. Huge convoys had left for Southern Hemisphere for a secret place. A good number of prisoners were taken away in the greatest secrecy, most of them already half dead.
Again, no one knew exactly what the base here was. At first he thought it was just another camp, like the ones established all over Central Europe. He believed, in his still naïve soul, that it was just another rumour, one of those that are believed to have been created by the enemy in order to destabilise and divide, which spread like wildfire during bloody events such as this war. A rumour that makes its way without a sound from one squadron to another, without anyone ever daring to make a clear statement. A rumour that swells and is whispered among the prisoners. High ranking officials denied, and dodged the subject as long as they could. But now he was there, too. And that's when he had seen it with his own eyes. Or at least, he had understood.
Things were happening here. Things much worse than in the camps.
A scream suddenly brought him out of his dark thoughts. They had just entered a new area of the bunker, with much more light. This time the corridor was perforated with large double-glazed windows, which gave a view on sealed rooms closed by heavy reinforced doors.
Cells. Or more precisely, he realised, test rooms.
A thud made him jump. On his left, a naked man had just thrown himself against the glass, banging his fists. His bloody face, or rather, the blood that flowed from his mouth, nose and ears, left large marks on the window. His fingernails scratched the wall with an unbearable sound, as if he was trying to claw at it.
As if he's trying to escape
The young German was suddenly gripped by a deep sense of terror. He could not take his eyes off the man on the other side of the window. The prisoner looked into his eyes, seeking some humanity in his last minutes of agony. He wanted to scream with him. He felt a terrible tremor, as if a swarm of insects were swarming inside him and trying to get out of this already dead body. The young man saw the man's chest and torso inflate exaggeratedly, like a balloon being inflated with helium. There was a loud "plop", like the sound of a muffled explosion. The prisoner's chest dropped suddenly, and the man collapsed and disappeared from behind the glass.
"What are you looking at?" barked the corporal who had continued on his way.
The young German was petrified by what he had just seen. He felt unable to move, his eyes wide open. The soldier's footsteps came back towards him, and he felt a hand grab him by the jaw. Slowly his head turned towards the German man, and he came face to face with his icy stare.
"You'd better not linger here too long if you don't want to get into trouble, brat."
The young man just stared at him, unable to say a word. The soldier's grip tightened on his bones.
"Move."
The young man shook his head in a tiny movement. The captain released him, and resumed his walk. He followed without a word, and more rooms appeared.
Torture rooms, laboratories
The screaming started again around him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw more bodies squirming in another cell. It was a nightmare. He gritted his teeth to keep from screaming, or crying, or maybe both. He felt like pressing his hands against his ears. After several minutes, which again seemed endless, the corporal turned to his right and disappeared into a room with a wide open door. When the young German joined him, he found himself in a sort of office that served as a laboratory. An old wooden desk was covered with a whole heap of documents which formed a nameless mess. Machines, glass containers, instruments, vials of all kinds covered the shelves on the wall. Various sketches and anatomical drawings were pinned to the wall. The corporal had stopped dead in his tracks, standing to attention. Opposite him, a man of medium height had stood by a window like the ones they had seen in the corridor. He was obviously concentrating on what was going on in the beside room.
"Sorry to disturb you mein Doktor, I know I interrupted you during your conference, my apologies. But it seems that this young man brings news from France," the corporal pointed out.
The man did not move. The soldier motioned for the young man to come closer. But he couldn't. If he came forward, he would see what was behind the glass, and he did not want to. The soldier insisted. He watched the two men in turn, terrified. The doctor suddenly turned to him, looking him up and down.
"Well, I'm listenning, have you lost your tongue, young man?"
The young man swallowed with difficulty. He blinked rapidly and tried to pull himself together. He took a deep breath to refocus.
"My respects, mein Doktor. I have just arrived from Strasburg, I have been sent by Herr Mengele himself, he has some information to give you, or more precisely, a message, Herr."
"Why didn't he send it by telegram or by post? Or why didn't he call me?"
"I... I couldn't tell," the young man replied feverishly, feeling uncomfortable.
"I think Herr Mengele was afraid the information would fall into the wrong hands, mein Doktor," replied the soldier. "We are closely watched, the Allies are spreading all over Europe now. Our communications are undoubtedly being monitored."
The doctor nodded slowly. His eyes fell on the young German again. At his insistent and inquisitive look, the young man decided to speak, albeit stammering.
"An enemy spy group infiltrated the Reichsuniversität a few days ago. They discovered things... that they should not have discovered. The Council of State has been seized..."
He paused to swallow. He felt the doctor's cold gaze harden and pierce him a little more as he delivered his message.
"... all the research has been slowed down, and is even severely compromised."
"Did you get any more details, Weber?" the doctor asked, turning to the Nazi corporal.
"We are still waiting for the headquarters' orders, Herr Doktor. But for what I know so far, the militia managed to intercept them in time. The perimeter is secure now."
"However, and this is the subject of my message, the laboratory will be moved to another headquarters... as a precaution..." the youngster added.
"May I ask why I am only being informed of this now?" the scientist replied in his wheezy voice.
The corporal was seized with doubt. Unease settled over him.
"As I was saying, we're waiting for the headquarters' orders, Herr... but I'm quite confident, I've had confirmation the samples have been saved and everything that was supposed to be protected and kept secret has obviously been, no losses have been reported so far."
"I hope so."
"I... I am sorry you were not informed, Herr. I thought the Reichsfürher had already informed you and I thought that was the purpose of his call earlier actually..."
An icy silence ran through the room and settled between the three men. A howl echoed from behind them. Bickenbach seemed to think for a moment, deep in thought. He shook his head gently, as if to acknowledge the logic of his own ideas.
"Weber, contact the headquarters and organise the repatriation with them," the scientist ordered. "The research we have started must not be jeopardised."
"Herr Bickenbach, that's not all..." the young German suddenly interrupted, much to the surprise of the other two men.
In his rush, he had taken a step forward to challenge the scientist. Just enough to see what was in the next room. There he discovered the most complete horror: a woman was lying on a simple iron table, held down by thick leather straps. She was totally naked, covered in bruises, with dozens of cables, catheters and transfusions protruding from all sides of her body, as if grafted directly onto her. A thick tube was connected directly to her private parts, and large needles were plunging into her pregnant belly. She did not struggle. Her empty eyes, soaked with tears she could no longer shed, stared at a spot somewhere in the ceiling above her. She did, however, twitch at times, as if in small convulsions. The young German suddenly felt nausea rise in him. If he didn't look away, he was going to throw up at the scientist's feet.
Who the hell are they to do this to human beings...
He felt the scientist's gaze on him, as if he had managed to read his mind. The young German made a huge effort to regain his senses. He had only one desire: to get over this and get out of here as quickly as possible.
"A few days before the assault in Strasburg, Dr Mengele was contacted by Herr Karl Brandt, our fürher's personal doct-"
"I know who Brandt is, you idiot. Now come straight to the facts, you have wasted enough time."
He tried to pull his eyes away from the dying pregnant woman, but he couldn't. He held back the tears that were welling up in his eyes.
"Doktor Brandt has learned from our führer himself that a top-secret squadron, prepared and trained for the most difficult missions, has been working on identifying potential locations that could serve as secret bases or headquarters. And it seems they have discovered something in the region of Baden Wutemberg..."
The scientist nodded silently.
"... they may have found something that would allow us to make a great advance in our research. And which could revolutionise science, and maybe the world, as for his own words."
The Nazi doctor remained impassive, waiting for his next words.
"What is it exactly? Didn't they give you more information?"
The young man shook his head, suspicious.
"They also mentioned a castle, but apart from that they didn't tell me anything. I have no idea what they were talking about. I thought you would have more information about it than I do."
They were suddenly interrupted by the arrival of another soldier, who slipped into the room with them. He called out to the Nazi corporal, with whom he exchanged a few words in a low voice. After a moment, the soldier left as he had arrived, the corporal addressed the scientist.
"The next messenger is already on his way."
The young man frowned in surprise. Or maybe it was in misunderstanding. But it was already too late. Before he could react, he saw out of the corner of the eye the corporal grabbing something from his belt and pointing it at him. The last thing he heard was the click of the gunshot that pierced his neck. His lifeless body fell to the ground. The Nazi soldier holstered his still smoking weapon.
"It was safer not to leave the information in the hands of the same person," he said to the scientist without a hint of remorse.
"Of course."
They both glanced at the body lying at their feet. Fear and incomprehension were still evident in the young man's blank stare. The doctor turned away from him, his mind already occupied with other things.
"Take care of this," he told the soldier, who complied immediately.
He was about to turn away when he stopped, suddenly thinking of something. He turned back to the soldier, who was already walking out the door, pulling the young soldier's corpse out.
"And go and see the sample from cell 026 while you're at it. The Pressurisation experiment didn't turn out good. Tell Bayle to take care of it. It's a beautiful specimen, I want it for my personal collection."
The soldier nodded without a word and disappeared. The scientist returned to his post behind the glass, his arms folded tightly against him. Another scientist in a lab coat was working on the woman, but she wasn't moving anymore. This was a bad sign.
He slowly got lost into his own thoughts. The words of the young messenger kept echoeing in his head over and over. He had heard of this German southern region, indeed. He knew that a lot of strange things had happened there in the last few centuries, and especially in the last few years. As if something had awakened. There had been many rumours about it, but no one had ever been able to confirm what was there. Some even spoke of dark magic. The noble family that lived there had always remained very secretive, recluse in their great mysterious domain. He was now looking forward to the additional information that would be brought to him, but he understood that something was up. As he had sensed, something was hidden there. Something that would allow them to become the superior beings they deserved to be.
"It's time to get down to business," he muttered.