Ch. 22
Dr. Campbell took the converter and connected it to a mechanical arm attached to the transference device. It looked like he had made an attachment custom fitted for the artifact. It proved that this was his intention for the device all along. He carefully made all the connections and finished making sure everything was secure.
“P-please, Dr. Campbell, don’t do this!” Evan said, trying desperately to appeal to the doctor’s humanity.
“Can we quiet him?” Dr. Campbell said.
One of the officers then roughly rolled thick tape around Evan’s mouth. He could no longer do more than make unintelligible noises with his throat. As if responding to the commotion, Derek’s body stirred. Evan watched as Derek opened his eyes and looked around the room. Derek’s mouth was covered, preventing him from speaking, but his agitation was obvious as he began to breathe quicker upon realizing the situation. As soon as Derek’s gaze found Evan, they stared at each other in silence.
Evan was no stranger to what he saw in Derek’s eyes. He had seen eyes like that looking at him before. They were eyes filled with fear and pain and anger. They were pleading, screaming for Evan to help. To do something and stop what was about to happen. But Evan knew. He knew then just like he had known the last time. It didn’t matter whether it was because he couldn’t or wouldn’t help, either way, he was going to let those eyes down. Evan was the first to break eye contact, looking away in shame.
Derek’s gurney was maneuvered to be parallel to Evan’s table, and Dr. Campbell’s assistants put a tray of tools next to Derek as well. After things were set up, Dr. Campbell got out a syringe and filled it with some unknown liquid.
“This will keep him out for a while,” Dr. Campbell said, putting the injection in Derek’s arm. “Wouldn’t want him causing a fuss during the experiment.”
Just like that, Derek fell asleep, freeing Evan from his silent cries. Dr. Campbell then went over to what looked to be a cold storage device. It was like a refrigerator, but it didn’t look like something you would see in a typical kitchen. He opened it and pondered the contents just like a typical person would do when they were looking for a snack.
“Let’s see,” he said. “What will it be…”
Evan had no idea what Dr. Campbell was doing, and he couldn’t see what was in the fridge. Evan looked back at Derek and saw he was completely out, but he was still breathing at least.
“I think this one will be best,” Dr. Campbell finally said.
He grabbed a large tube full of red liquid and returned to the machine he had previously been working on. He opened a hatch on the arm holding the converter and carefully inserted the tube.
Dr. Campbell started working on something behind Evan’s back. Evan shook just imagining what might be going on back there. He didn’t want this psycho injecting him with anything. After a minute, Evan felt a metallic helmet being placed on top of his head. It was then secured with a strap under his chin.
“That should do it,” Dr. Campbell said. “Now, everyone, let’s do our final prep before we begin.”
There were three officers, two assistants, Dr. Campbell, and General Carn in the room. The doctor and the assistants were busy double checking all their preparations while the others simply observed. After another five minutes of working to get everything ready, one of the assistants gave the go signal.
“Don’t worry, Evan,” Dr. Campbell said next to him. “You won’t feel a thing.”
The doctor then went to the control panel of the transference device and hit the switch to begin. It was true that Evan did not feel any pain, but it wasn’t true that he couldn’t feel anything. As soon as the device was activated, he felt like all the blood in his body rushed to his head, and a great bout of nausea assaulted him. He barely managed to keep himself from throwing up.
Unable to stop anything, Evan could only watch what happened next in horror. His magic power was used by the transference machine, and the converter came to life. The smooth round sphere expanded as the magic flowed into it. Grooves in intricate patterns were revealed as the artifact opened. After a few seconds, the grooves also started to glow a blood red color.
“Activation successful,” Dr. Campbell said. “Moving on to trial on test subject number 1.”
The artifact was moved over the prone form of Derek’s bandaged body. It was slowly lowered until it finally made contact with Derek’s bare chest. Derek’s body instantly tensed up at the contact. The red light from the artifact oozed out of the grooves and seeped deep into Derek’s skin. The changes started happening shortly after that.
The first thing that happened was that Derek transformed into his monster form. Thick brown hair erupted from his skin, his mouth morphed into a snout with pointed teeth, and claws sharpened at the ends of his fingers. Evan had not seen this form before, but it was exactly what he thought a werewolf should look like. With his mouth changing shapes, the gag that had been silencing him previously was cast aside.
Unfortunately, the changes didn’t stop there. Derek’s chest began to expand steadily. It got to the point that Evan thought he might witness the body burst into pieces. Instead, the extra mass moved to the sides of the torso and formed new limbs. Two new hairy arms began to emerge from Derek’s body. They started small, but they grew quickly to match the original pair.
Derek’s long bushy tail that could be seen between his legs also changed. It expanded before it split into two. The two tails then started to sprout suction cups along one side. The furry tails grew longer and began to look more like tentacles.
The entire time the transformations took place, Derek’s body was thrashing around violently. He didn’t wake, but it was clear the transformation would be excruciating if he did. Derek’s body tensed against the restraints and his mouth opened in a loud scream. The scream mixed with a gurgling sound as if his throat was full of liquid. Flesh and bone then split with a snap as the wolf’s mouth separated into four separate interlocking mandibles full of teeth.
Evan watched with tears streaming down his face as the young man’s body was deformed into a truly monstrous form. The transformation finally ended as Derek’s tense body relaxed and fell lifelessly back onto the gurney. The artifact was taken away, and the transference machine was shut off.
Evan was having a hard time keeping his eyes open to see what happened next. He felt incredibly tired, unlike any other time he had helped operate the transference machine. It felt like he had been completely drained. Was it because of how much power the converter required? Read this novel at novelping . com for the best experience.
Dr. Campbell hurriedly approached Derek’s side and began checking his vitals. After a short wait, he smiled and announced that he was just unconscious.
“It’s a total success!” Dr. Campbell said to the cheers of the others in the room. General Carn looked proud as he lightly clapped along with the cheering scientists.
Evan heard what they said, but he couldn’t stop looking at Derek. The young werewolf now looked like something out of a Lovecraftian horror story. A monstrous beast. Part wolf, part octopus, part man. Evan wondered if there was even any of Derek in there any longer. He had no idea how these people could look at this vile act as a success.
“Alright,” General Carn said getting the attention of the room. “It’s finally time to get out of this town. Load everything up and prepare to leave.”
The General walked over next to Derek and inspected the results of their experiment. He seemed pleased with what he saw as he lightly touched one of the new arms.
“Young Derek here will serve as a good distraction for our exit,” he said. “Don’t you think doctor?”
“Yes, definitely.”
“Good, see that it’s done. I’ve got some business to take care of upstairs before we leave.”
The General started to walk towards the exit, but he stopped just in front of Evan. Evan met his eyes when he noticed General Carn was looking at him.
“Thank you for your service, Evan,” he said with a slimy smile.
The general then left, and everyone else began to work on packing up everything in the room. Evan’s body wanted nothing more than to take a long nap, but he fought as hard as he could to stay awake. He didn’t want to miss a chance to escape, even if that didn’t seem likely to occur. Despite busily cleaning up, Dr. Campbell noticed Evan struggling to watch what was happening around him.
“Wondering about your future?” he said to Evan. “You’ll be coming with us, of course. This was just the beginning. We have many great plans that you’ll make possible. It’ll be very exciting.”
Evan asked a question with his eyes by darting them quickly over at Derek.
“Him? Don’t worry about him,” Dr. Campbell said. “He’ll be staying here. We’re going to return him to campus. I’ll just give him a little something to help wake him up… and maybe cause a hallucination or two.”
Evan scowled at the doctor, but it had no effect. Dr. Campbell simply ignored him and returned to his business. Evan eventually saw them wheel Derek away. He himself was released from his restraints only to have his hands cuffed behind his back. He was put into a room with several guards and made to wait until the group was ready to leave. Evan had no way of knowing where they were taking him, but he knew it was nowhere he wanted to be. If Tourmaline was supposed to be a safe place, anywhere else could only be hell.