Chapter 6: Project Cain
Freddy and his trio of silent acquaintances found themselves following the nurse further down the halls into a part of the sanitarium they had never seen before. It was dead silent, not a single sound to be heard aside from their footsteps and breathing. The nurse's high heels made a clicky-clack sound as she approached a blank door at the end of this new hallway. "These are the backrooms." She explained. "They pretty much only exist for extra storage space. We should be safe in here." She opened the door and stepped inside, shoving the nearby doorstopper into the bottom space of the door with her foot.
Freddy and the others cautiously followed her inside. True to what she said, there wasn't much inside the room aside from random boxes, most of which were empty or filled with trash. As Freddy's eyes scanned the filthy room, they happened to fall back on the nurse who was currently removing her high heels and replacing them with well-worn grey sneakers. She then unbuttoned her dress and let it fall to the floor, revealing cut-off jeans and a black tank top with some sort of text Freddy wasn't sure was English or not. It didn't even look like words as much as it looked like a bunch of dead tree branches thrown haphazardly together. Underneath the undecidable text was a picture of a bleeding skull, a single bloody eyeball glaring at Freddy from within its socket, and a lime-green serpent emerging from the other one. Freddy decided he liked this girl's vibe as he took a seat on one of the empty boxes.
"I suppose the first thing to do would be to get introductions out of the way." The girl began as she removed her hat and undid her hair. Her bangs, which were hidden underneath the nurse's hat fell before her face, as bright green as her eyes. "The name's Fae and let me just say it's an honor to meet you guys at last."
Jason and Michael exchanged yet another look while Bubbha looked down, not sure how to react to the nurse's sudden transformation. Freddy, on the other hand, simply smirked. "I guess that means we don't have to introduce ourselves to you after all huh?"
The girl produced a smirk of her own and pointed a finger at Freddy. "Fredrick Charles Krueger A.K.A The Springwood Slasher. Killed up to 20 children before being caught by the law, freed by a technicality, and then being burned alive by the parents of his victims."
Freddy shivered. "Don't remind me!"
"Only to come back as a fucking dream demon." Fae finished. "Ever since then, the teens of Springwood have never known a good night's sleep!"
Freddy chuckled to himself proudly. "I try my best."
Fae nodded and moved her pointing finger toward Jason. "Jason Voorhees. Born to Pamela Voorhees in 1946. Supposedly drowned in Crystal Lake in 1957, causing your mother to fly into a rage and become a serial killer. When one of her victims got the drop on her, however, you came back and made that person pay for killing your Mom. Since then, not even death's been able to stop you from protecting Camp Crystal Lake from trespassers."
Jason's one good eye narrowed as he didn't appreciate this girl talking about his mother so causally. He felt the urge to rip her in half but managed to fight it off for the time being. After all, this girl was the key to escaping this place and going back home to where Mama was. Oh how he missed her so.
Next, the girl pointed to Michael. "Michael Audrey Myers. A-"
"Audrey!" Freddy snickered. "You're fucking middle name is Audrey!? No wonder you turned out psycho!" Freddy's giggling fit was short-lived as Michael shoved him off the box he was sitting on and onto the floor. Fae seemed a little peeved at this but continued nevertheless.
"Michael Audrey Myers." She repeated. "A.K.A the Shape. Began his killing career at the tender age of 6, his first victim being his very own sister Judith Myers. Why he killed her, why he continues to kill to this day, and why he can't seem to die himself is a mystery no one can figure out. Perhaps not even Michael himself."
Michael's only response to this was to cock his head in curiosity. Like Jason, he too wanted to kill the girl, not because she had insulted him in any way but simply because she was there. As with Jason, the fact that this girl could be their only way out of here as well as the collar around his neck kept Michael in place for the time being.
Finally, in a moment that Freddy, Jason, and Michael didn't realize they were waiting for up until it came, Fae pointed to Bubba. "Jedidiah "Bubba" Sawyer AKA Leatherface. He may not look like much right now on account of him missing a few...accessories but believe me when I say he's one of the most feared men in Texas!"
"Are you serious?" Freddy asked as he picked himself back up, his head still spinning from its collision with the floor. "You're saying this blubbering dumbass is a killer like us?"
Bubba continued to whimper and coo at all the unwelcome attention he was getting thanks to the girl with the scary shirt. It was a bit overwhelming for the simple fella and he continued to shake his head vigorously, hoping to make it all go away.
"As hard as it might be to believe, it's true," Fae confirmed. "All four of you are the biggest serial killers America has ever known! The original boogeyman!" A small blush crept on Fae's face. "You're all...my heroes."
Freddy cocked a nonexistent brow in confusion. "Sorry but I didn't quite catch that last part. It sounded like you said that we were your heroes or something."
"That is what I said!" Fae replied. "While all the other kids were fawning over Superman or Captain America, I was watching you guys in action!"
"Action?" Freddy was now even more confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh just what the newspapers told me." Fae said, suddenly toning down her enthusiasm. Freddy couldn't help but read this as a big fat lie but once again reminded himself that Fae was the key to his escape and so said nothing. He wasn't really interested in her life's story anyway. The sooner they could get to the part where she'd help them escape, the better.
"I've been interested in serial killers all my life." Fae continued. "I would cut out the articles talking about them from my parent's newspaper after they were down with it and store them all in a little scrapbook. Warden. Lee Ray. Bates. Of course, none of those guys could hold a candle to you four! I never expected to have the chance to meet all four of you when I signed up for this gig."
"You mean as a nurse for this stinkin sanitarium right?" Freddy asked, painfully aware that as the only one among the group who talked, it fell on him to ask all the questions. "You wouldn't by chance know exactly why that bitch Vivian brought us all here would ya?"
Fae sadly shook her head. "I'm not exactly a higher-up around this place. Hell, the only reason me and any of the other nurses command any kind of respect around here is because of the collars."
Everyone in the room thought back to the man pleading for help before the collar sliced through his neck that day.
"I have attempted to listen in on her conversations every once and a while but so far I have yet to find anything truly substernal. The most I've been able to gather is that she wants the DNA of maniacs from all over the country, including you guys. To what end, I have no idea."
"DNA huh?" Freddy pondered. "I suppose that explains why the bitch is keeping us locked in here but then why hasn't she made a move yet? And why the hell does she need our DNA for?" Freddy shook his head again, wanting to push those thoughts aside for the time being. No. More like for good as once he was out of this shithole, he couldn't care less what becomes of Vivian or Fae. Speaking of which...
"Forget all that!" Freddy commanded. "I think it's time to address the elephant in the room. Namely, the fact that you're offering to help us get out of this place. Is that true?"
"Of course!" Fae shouted. "I wouldn't have had you guys go through all this trouble for shits and giggles!" Fae reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out what at first seemed to be a small piece of paper. As she began to unfold it little by little, the paper began to grow in size, so much so that she was forced to set it down on the floor between them at some point. Once Fae had finished folding it completely, the slashers were able to see a diagram of the collar they all wore around their necks. It was a blueprint for the collar.
"Now, for the most part, these collars are pretty tough to work around. Even trying to mess with the wiring is enough to trigger the blades." Fae explained. "But in the five years that I've worked for Vivian, I've managed to come across one crippling flaw in their design."
Freddy and the other killers perked up with interest at this news.
"If enough collars were to go off in the same room at the same time, the signals sent to Vivian would get all mixed up with each other and interfere with their transmission. Instead of instructions to go all "Off With Their Head" on the offending prisoner, the collars would receive garbled noise that would cause them to self-destruct."
"Wait a minute!" Freddy interrupted. "Wouldn't that just take our heads off anyway?"
"Of course not!' Fae reassured the Springwood Slasher. "Because of the risk of flying blades cutting into innocents in the event of an explosion, Vivian designed the collars with a cooling system. See?" As Fae said this, she pointed at a spiral-like shape running throughout the collar's interior. "They can't explode. Only shut down indefinitely. And once they do, you can take them off with ease."
"But won't that bitch Vivian noticed a bunch of her precious collars crapping out at once?" Freddy inquired.
"Of course and her first instinct will be the send the guards to control the situation, which in this place, translates to killing everyone with a dead collar. That's why when you guys start the riot that's going to kick everything off, I want you to haul ass over here as soon as there's chaos. By then, well, let's just say I'll have a few gifts for you. Gifts I think you're going to like."
Freddy smiled at this plan and turned to his silent comrades to gauge their own interest in the matter, something that became a moot point once he realized they were all wearing masks. At least Bubbha was clapping and giggling happily, clearing just as hopeful about this plan as Freddy was. It was at that moment that Freddy thought of his biggest problem, one that wouldn't be fixed just by escaping Black Rose Sanitarium and that frankly, he wasn't sure even Fae would be able to help out with. Nevertheless, he decided to ask her.
"Hey Fae, this plan of yours sounds good and all but there's still one more problem I have yet to hear a solution for."
"You mean your dream powers." Fae guessed sadly. "Unfortunately, I'm just a normal human. There isn't anything I could do to give you your powers back."
Freddy groaned. He figured Fae would be useless in that endeavor but to hear it out loud he might very well be powerless for the rest of his life. Now that was a bitch.
"But I do know of a way you might be able to get them back!" Fae quickly followed up.
Once again, Freddy perked up in interest.
"There's this book you see. It's not just any other dime store piece of pulp either. We're talking about a truly evil book, bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. They call it the Necromomicon Ex-Mortis or in the common tongue, the Book of the Dead!"
"Book of the Dead huh?" Freddy cooed with intrigue. Jason and Michael tilted their heads as Bubba, as if somehow able to comprehend what was being talked about, blubbered in fear. "And I don't suppose you know where I can find this book would ya?"
Fae looked down again. "I can't promise anything for sure but last time I checked, the last known sighting of that book was in a cabin in Tennessee. I'll have a map ready for you along with your gifts once you guys start the riot. If anything can bring back your dream powers, it's that book."
"I see. " Freddy pondered over this newest information. "If that book really has the ability to bring my dream powers back, I can only imagine what else it'd be capable of. Heh. Heh. This is going to be fun." He placed his focus back on Fae and asked. "One more question, when exactly should we kick off this riot?"
"Actually, tomorrow evening right before light out would be perfect," Fae answered. "Try to get as many inmates on this as you can."
"Don't worry. We will." Freddy snickered as he turned to his comrades. "Come on you assholes. Let's go before those guards notice we're gone." No one nodded, not even Bubba but they all followed him out of the room regardless. Once the killers were out of the room, Fae let out a squeal of delight. She quickly shut the door and dug her hand into her jeans. "That was so hot!" She muttered as the feelings of ecstasy came over her. "Four killers all in the same room as me...I have the best job in the world!"
It would be well over two hours before Fae finally left the room and returned to her duties. When asked about her patient, she would simply blame his disappearance on the collars and his own actions. That lie had yet to fail her.
For Teddy, it seemed like he had been following Vivian for hours. In reality, it had only been about five minutes but even that was a long time for a walk. It was the dead of night and the Sanitarium was all but asleep. Neither of the scientists had any idea a certain meeting took place, one that had set in motion events that would destroy all their years of hard work. That would have to wait until tomorrow. For now, both of them had the same thing on their minds although only one of them actually knew what it was.
Project Cain.
At last, Vivian stopped in front of a large door. At this point, Teddy couldn't see any windows to the outside and was almost certain that wherever he was, it was underneath the building named Black Rose Sanitarium. Vivian opened up the keypad next to the door and typed in a 33-digit password. A small screen just above the keypad displayed a picture of an eyeball and Vivian removed her glasses and locked her own right pupil with the drawing. A red light scanned her eye and after a few seconds more, the keypad beeped, its red screen turning green. Sighing heavily, Vivian put her glasses back on just as the door opened.
"Right this way." She told Teddy as she walked into the doorway. Teddy was of course reluctant to follow his superior into the unknown room, the horrors of what he had seen in her private office filling his mind. "No!" He mentally told himself. "I'm the one that demanded to know what Project Caine was! I can't wuss out now!" Despite his resolve, Teddy still couldn't help but gulp as he forced himself inside the room.
For the most part, it was empty. Well, that wouldn't be quite the right word to describe it as there were plenty of objects in there. Most of these objects, however, were a bunch of pipes that seemed to all connect to the same place, that place being on the sides of a large pod-like object sitting in the back if the room. Within the pod, Teddy could make out a bulky shape floating within greenish-yellow liquid. Vivian was standing before the pod, her hands behind her back and humming to herself.
Teddy found himself frozen in fear and not wanting to come any closer. As if she could read his thoughts, Vivian slowly turned to her frightened assistant and said. "Well, you wanted to see him, now get over here." Not a shout. Barely even a demand. But a cold delivery of such power that Teddy had no choice but to comply and force himself closer to the pod. Once he was by Vivian's side, in order to keep himself from appearing weaker in front of her than he already had, he forced himself to look at the pod again. Once he had, it took every bit of willpower he possessed not to scream.
The being floating in the tube resembled a corpse more than it resembled a living thing and yet its chest was slowly rising up and down, indicating breath. Indicating life. The apparatus covering its nose and mouth was jet-black, a sharp contrast to the being's milky white skin. One of its eyes was open enough for Teddy to see a glint of yellow shine through. It seemed to glare at him. The only clothing the being wore was a pair of black shorts around its waist.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Vivian asked nonchalantly as she stared at the being floating inside the tube.
Teddy tried to reply but the words he wanted to say came out as a gag/ He quickly recomposed himself and tried again. "What is it exactly?"
"The pinnacle of human evolution," She answered. "But also the harbinger of its destruction." She turned her head slightly to the already terrified Teddy, her wide eyes and insane smile chasing out whatever sense of bravery he had left. "But mostly, I just call him Cain."
Teddy's eyes grew wide and he began to tremble. "C-Cain?"
"Seems like a fitting name, don't you think?" Vivian asked. "Of course, I've never really cared for that damned book even as a child but you have to admit it makes for some nice inspiration." Her smirk grew wider. "Especially with violence."
"Is this why you wanted the heavy hitters?" Teddy asked. "F-For this thing."
"Not just them. Any noteworthy psycho I could find as well. Vivian turned back to Cain. "I've been collecting their DNA through blood samples and augmenting it into Cain, making him stronger, faster, smarter and most importantly, more bloodthirsty. And once he's good and ready to kill, I'm going to turn him loose unto the unsuspecting populace."
Teddy's mouth hung agape with horror. "W...W...Why? Why w..would you do th-that?"
"Truth?" Vivian asked.
Teddy nodded without realizing it.
"Because I hate humanity," Vivian explained in a calm voice. "They are the single most savage, hypocritical, and downright idiotic species ever to have come into existence on this planet. They have the potential to do so much good but waste it on efforts to fuck each other over. Insist on it even! You only ever need to switch on the news to see at least 10 examples at once."
Teddy tried to rebuttal and found he couldn't. As much as he wanted to deny it, Vivian was simply speaking the truth.
"We've had several thousand years to get our shit together but it looks like that's never gonna happen. At least not before we kill ourselves and take this planet with us. So before that can happen, I'll release this being into the outside world and watch him punish all those conceded morons."
"You're insane!" Teddy shouted. "One man...thing...is not gonna take out humanity by itself!"
"Maybe not." Vivian admitted without missing a beat. "But Cain will only be by himself for the beginning."
"What do you mean?"
"Despite how he may look, Cain is still human and thus can still successfully breed with human women. You see where I'm going with this."
Once the sick reality of what Vivian had said hit him, Teddy felt himself retch in disgust.
"The young will be born with an accelerated growth rate and be able to join their father in the cleansing within hours." Vivian once again turned back to her creation, placing her hand on the glass and gently sliding it down. "To fix nature's biggest mistake and save this planet. That is the true goal of Project Cain."
Teddy felt himself backing away toward the exit, considered fighting it and then decided against it. "I-It'll never work!" He whined. "The government will notice Cain immediately! They'll destroy him and his kin!"
"Like they tried to destroy Jason?" Vivian questioned. "Why do you think he and the other were points of interest? Neither Jason nor Michael can be killed by any known means and while it's mostly wishful thinking on my part, there exists the small chance that Cain will gain Freddy's dream abilities through his DNA. If that happens, he won't even need to get near his prey to kill them. He'll simply wait until they fall asleep." Vivian reached into her pocket and took out an empty needle, the one she hoped to use for the DNA augmentation. "Once I've placed their DNA within Cain, not even an atom bomb will stop him."
"You're a monster!" Teddy said as he stood outside the door.
"No, humanity is the real monster. I'm just the cure." Vivian turned to Teddy one last time. "You know, this is usually the part where I'm supposed to kill you in order to keep you from spilling my little secret."
Teddy relieved himself inside his pants.
"But you're such a little coward, Teddy, that I don't think that's necessary. You're already too scared to try to leave me or blow my cover. Aren't you? Now go. Go on and behave yourself and maybe, just maybe, I'll have you sent to a safehouse once Cain is ready."
Teddy said nothing. He could say nothing. All the hapless assistant could do was run away in total fear as Vivian let out an insane bout of laughter.
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