Chapter 247: Husk
’Was the old one not needed?’ Azel thought as he turned the bloody book in his hand.
Many pages from the other diary had been torn away, but this one looked newer.
Maybe the professor had started it after the first was ruined.
He flipped the book open.
It was not new...
Most of the pages were destroyed but the first few remained. They looked almost clean compared to the rest, the handwriting rough and rushed but readable.
He scanned the first few pages.
Whatever this man had written, it was enough to make his stomach twist.
And because he was curious about how this man... had created the clones, he read every word.
...
[Day 90]
it... it doesn’t work... no, no, no the bodies split, the skin cracks they can’t hold the pulse, can’t grow
need something alive, something that hums with breath not metal not clay a real beating form...
something warm, soft, real... maybe a woman yes... yes that could work...
the circle keeps whispering, says "find it, find it, make it whole"
my hands won’t stop shaking
if i find the woman maybe the blood will obey maybe it’ll stop screaming
i can hear them calling already... the shapes, the broken children... they want it too..
[Day 96)
i see it... the bookworm comes every day... walks into the liiibrary like a moth...
maids take coin... soft hands, quiet mouths... bring it to the back room... i thank them smile smile
it trembles... big eyes so small so useful this is for science this is for the song...
i prick my vein.. warm red.. I drink.. i dose...
thenTHEN i jump and platz the blood in her womb with my stick...
[Day 100]
firssst stt-t-tand stable clone... hhh holdin sh-shape...
It breathes. It breeths. BReeath... steady steady... my rhythm.
it’s me. same face... same eyes but clean clean not tired no pain in the head no sleeplessness.
He callz me "Maa—Master."
I name him MIRROR.
[Day 102]
Mirr’r speekss now properllly... no no errrss.
He movez with grace like me before the sh-shakesss.
Keeps records. Organizes notes. Says I should rest.
He soundz so polite.
I like him. He iz better version of me.
[Day 104]
We took morrre womzennnnnn and used them.
One ffor flame... one for ice... all hum diff’rent but same base tone... mine.
When they sttand tgether the air sings.
They smile. I smile. We smile.
Itz perfeccct choir.
[Day 106]
MIRROR ssay we need... cont-in-nuity, rep—replicaz to prrotect the w-work.
yesss yes he’s right.
He ggetz ten of them t-iz time... hum everywhere hum hum hum hum hum
cant sleeep.
I hear them scream.
[Day 108]
Two disssolv’d. one burnedd. sevn surv—survived.
Accept-t-table.
They call me Father now. I laugh. I cry.
I dont remmemb—remember why.
The blood under skin sings when they walk by.
[Day 110]
My reflecshun in the glass moves befor me.
Sometimes it writes when I dont.
Mirror says its fine—fine fine fine.
But ink won’t stay still. It dripss, it bleeds.
[Day 112]
MiRRor sssuggsted in... infil-infiltr-ration—yeesssss—put them in halls, libraree, claassrooms.
Protect the res-search. keep the song al-live.
I agrreed.
Now they walk in daylight. people dont see the seams.
[Day 114]
My han—handz cramp always. MIRROR writes most entries now in de oder book.
sometimes he usess my voice.
I hear it when I sleeep.
same tone. same laugh. not mine. not mine—
[Day 116]
we... mixx’d blloodz againn... too manny voices in one bodyyy.
it sang wrong. discord. shrieked til my earzz bled.
mirror said "it’s learning."
I beleeve him.
[Day 118]
mirror lookz at me differnt now. smile wide—too wide.
he say "you’ve done enough."
he say "rest, Father."
I c-can’t ssee when he leavez room. he movez like whisperss.
all of them hum when I breath.
[Day 119]
i woke up in glass. mirror on out—outSIDE.
he watchin. w-watchin with my face.
he say "we are safe now."
i say "who is we."
he smilez.
there’s no sound after. jus hum.
[Day 120]
th—th ey a-are me ME me all meee all ME
cant feel the pen—hand shhaakess bleed bleedd ink EVERYWHEREE
mIRror good—mirror lord MIRROR LORD
we we are we are we are
oone oonnnne ooonnee
sstop writin stpppp write
t-too loud hum hum hum hum hum
Cant cant seeee light
...
When he finished reading, Azel slowly closed the book.
For a moment, he said nothing.
His hand tightened around the cover, and the leather creaked.
Then his fingers clenched harder until the book crumpled.
"Fucking bastard," he muttered.
He didn’t know the victims mentioned in the diary, but that didn’t matter.
The words were enough.
The experiments, the blood, the pain — it was all too much.
He threw the book down the steps. It hit the wall and fell open on the ground.
The holy light around him spread, burning away the stains of blood and then the whole book.
Azel’s eyes narrowed.
The spiral staircase continued downward into darkness.
He could smell rot now.
He stepped down carefully, the sound of his boots echoing off the stone walls. The deeper he went, the heavier the air became.
After what felt like forever, the stairs ended before a large stone wall blocking the passage. It looked like the tunnel had been sealed shut from the inside.
’That’s not stopping me,’ he thought.
He drew back his fist. Aura wrapped around his arm like fire.
He punched.
The wall cracked but didn’t break.
He poured more aura into his arm and struck again.
The sound thundered through the corridor. Dust rained down, cracks spreading wider and wider until finally...
Boom!
The wall exploded, falling apart in chunks. A rush of foul air hit him like a wave.
Azel stepped through the dust, covering his mouth.
And what he saw stopped him cold.
Corpses.
They were everywhere.
Bodies piled across the floor, hanging from chains, lying in open cages. Tables were covered in limbs and torn flesh. The walls were smeared red.
The smell made his stomach turn. He gagged but forced himself to breathe.
He walked forward slowly, his boots squishing against the blood-soaked ground. His light spread further, and he realized what all the corpses had in common.
They were all women.
Their skin was pale, lifeless.
Their eyes were open, their faces twisted in horror. Most of them had been stripped of their clothes, their bodies used for something.
Azel’s jaw clenched.
He turned and saw one near the wall... an elven girl, her head tilted sideways. Her silver hair was stained dark red, her mouth open in a frozen scream.
’All of this... it’s madness.’
He took another step, then another. Every movement made a wet sound beneath his boots. He forced himself not to look down.
Then he heard it... a faint gnawing sound.
It was coming from deeper inside the cavern.
Azel followed it. His magic brightened, lighting up the far side of the room.
There, sitting near the back wall, was a man.
He was thin... so thin that Azel could see the shape of his ribs under his skin. His head twitched, his mouth moving as he made small, broken sounds.
And then Azel saw what he was doing.
The man was biting his own fingers.
No... he was chewing them, blood dripping down his arms.
Azel froze in place.
The man stopped gnawing and lifted his head slowly. His face was pale and stretched, his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused.
When he smiled, it was a hideous thing.
"Kekekekekekekee... you ruin’d mahh r-researchhhhhh... heeehee... ruin’d IT! Keheh... khek... kekek..."
His voice sounded broken like a rusted machine trying to speak.
Azel didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes narrowed. "Drake?"
The man’s head jerked toward him.
’So this is him... the real Professor Drake.’
He didn’t look human anymore. His skin was paper-thin, his lips chewed raw, and his teeth were mostly gone.
He looked like he had been starving for years.
"Mirr’r... gone... haaahhh... CAN’T FEEEL ’EM—my childr’n—dead—dead—DEAD! YOU DID THIS! KEKHHH... HEHHH..."
The man dropped to all fours, drool hanging from his mouth. His bones cracked as he moved.
His voice was trembling, switching between words and strange animal-like noises.
Azel didn’t move. He just watched, expression calm but eyes full of disgust.
"KILL YOU! I’LL KILLLL YOOOU then... then I’ll ussse y-your boddddy... make Mirr’r agaaiiin... HE’LL BE BACK... HE’LL BE BACK!!! I HATE YOU—KEK-KEK—KHEK—"
Azel raised his arm slightly.
"For all this..." Azel said quietly, "you deserve to be tortured for a lifetime."
He looked around again... at the lifeless bodies, the destroyed faces, the horror that this one man had caused.
His hand shook slightly, but his voice remained calm.
"But losing your mind like this..." he said, "...that’s already enough punishment."
He looked back at the man, who was now crawling toward him, eyes wide, saliva running down his chin.
"Besides," Azel added, "I doubt you can even feel pain anymore."
The man screamed and lunged forward like an animal.
His mouth opened too wide, bones cracking with the movement. His hands reached out, shaking violently.
Azel didn’t flinch.
He swung his arm once.
A line of golden light flashed through the air.
The man froze mid-lunge.
Then his body split cleanly in half.
The halves fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Blood spread across the floor, mixing with what was already there.
Azel stood still, breathing slowly, staring down at what was left of the man.
The corpse twitched once, then went still.
The wide eyes of the madman stared blankly upward and his mouth was still open, frozen mid-scream.
Azel covered his mouth with one hand, the smell of blood almost unbearable now.
He took one shaky breath and muttered, "Fuck you, man... fuck you..."