Hometown - Chapter 7: Forgotten

Hometown - Chapter Seven: Forgotten

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	Kris rested his palm on the center of his chest. He could feel the dull rhythm of his heartbeat, but he also felt something else. There was a pulsing presence lingering deep inside his soul. The more he pursued the source, the stronger and sharper the sensation, almost like he was fidgeting with a radio dial and searching for a clear frequency.

	The presence was familiar to Kris, and yet the sensation was different at the same time. This feeling was not the same one he threw away those many nights before.

	Kris felt a tug inside his chest. Like someone knocking against a door, it was plain to see that something inside was resonating within him, and in that moment, Kris knew he was two again.

	“Who are you?” Kris asked aloud.

	‘Watcher,’ a voice said back in a whisper almost immediately.

	Kris was shocked to hear a response—not that a reply was something unimagined by him, but never has this second soul, this “Watcher”, spoken to him before.

	‘Are you the same… thing… from that other Dark World?’ Kris questioned him mentally. He needed to know the answer to this, then he might learn about what happened during that time in the supply closet. He might even figure out how to get Susie and him out of this nightmare.

	And yet there was no response from the Watcher.

	Kris took the time alone in his thoughts to ponder whether this was indeed the same being that guided him during his previous adventure in the Dark World. He never could explain what went on during all that, but between discovering an ancient kingdom inside his small-town school and getting attacked by talking boardgame pieces, a being inside his head controlling him did not seem too out of the ordinary. Kris never bothered to question it. He perhaps thought it was better for his sanity. It was like a dream to him, and he was there going along with the ride.

	‘Yes…’ a voice finally answered.

	Kris had almost forgotten what question the Watcher even answered, but he was determined to press the Watcher even further in case this connection between each other was severed.

	‘Can you get me out of here then?’ Kris asked plainly. ‘Just take over my body and do… whatever you do.’

	Just like before there was no response from the Watcher.

	Kris could stand around all day and question the Watcher for every drop of information he can squeeze out of him, but as he looked over his shoulder and noticed that Susie was nowhere in sight, his patience began to thin. Kris had almost forgotten where he was.

	‘Where am I anyway?’

	Kris began putting two and two together. All the stretchers he found earlier, the infirmary he may or may not have dreamt about, and the sterile white tiles that covered the hallway he was in meant that this place was some sort of hospital. Though a subterranean research facility would be a more educated guess—at least going by how Kris has not stumbled into any windows so far, suggesting that whoever was in charge here desired secrecy above all else.

	Everything seemed dilapidated and run down. The entire hallway was marred with white tiles that have been peeled off the floor and walls like dead, flaky skin. Silver-coloured pipes dangled from the ceiling above him from the various gaping holes that looed like they were punched through with extreme force.

	Kris had explored abandoned buildings before in Old Town with Susie during summers when they were bored, but this place was something else. Between the flickering lights and decrepit walls, there was a certain half-death feeling in the air. It was like the facility was still struggling to maintain some sense of functionality. Even worse, Kris knew that Susie was wondering around somewhere in this hellhole.

	A shiver ran down Kris’s spine as he thought about his friend. Susie. Susie… She had been acting so strange and violent, much more than Kris would normally expect from her. She blew that poor monster’s brains out earlier… Sure, it was one of the creatures from this nightmare world, but that was not the Susie he knew.

	‘Hmm… Maybe it’s for the best that she’s not around for now…’

	‘No,’ the voice said, breaking Kris’s line of thought.

	Kris scrunched up his face. This time he had forgotten what he asked the Watcher previously. He hoped the Watcher would soon learn to introduce brevity into his lifestyle.

	Kris took a moment to collect his thoughts. ‘Wait, you mean about getting me out of here? Why can’t you help me?’

	‘Weak.’

	Kris pointed at himself. ‘Me?’

	‘Me.’

	“Huh…” Kris frowned and stared down the sterile white hallway he’d last seen Susie walk through. He might as well be back to square one again. “So much for getting a free ride out of here then…”

	Susie. Susie…

	Kris suddenly remembered the knife Susie had given to him as he gripped it tight in his hand. He looked down at the weapon with a wide frown. There was something off about this weapon. A faint warmth emanated from the blade that sent chills down the teen’s spine.

	Kris stowed the blade away in one of his pockets and decided to get moving. Figuring that Susie could have only gone one direction down the hallway, as the other was blocked by a massive pile of twisted stretchers, Kris walked down the open corridor after Susie.

	The human did not get far before his attention was stolen by two, great white doors off to the side. All the other doors in the hallway were single doors, so these must have been special, he figured.

	‘Did Susie go through these?’ Kris wondered.

	The human pressed his hand lightly against one of the doors, and it did not resist him pushing on it.

	‘Looks like I can open these… Susie could have gone through here…’

	Kris tilted his head upward and looked at the plaque bolted above the doors. “TRUE LAB” was inscribed in bold letters. Kris had no idea what those words together meant, but he did not mistake their importance.

	Kris reached inside for the Watcher. “Should I go inside?” he asked, hoping that the new buddy he had living rent-free in his head could at least guide him verbally.

	‘Yes.’

	The young human smiled. Looks like he was right about the Watcher being useful to him. Though that smile soon turned into a grimace as Kris wondered whether he could trust him. Sure, this spirit of sorts brought him home from the Dark World before, but he never wanted to stumble there in the first place.

	Also, the Watcher could have lied about what he said earlier. For all Kris knew, this voice was leading him to his death, which would not be a huge surprise considering all he’s seen so far.

	Still, the adventure in the Dark World was something Kris would cherish until the end of his days, and it was only through it that he and Susie became best friends. If the Watcher was indeed the same force that guided him those many months ago, then he owed him some trust. Maybe things would start looking up in this second adventure now that he had his guide back.

	With a deep breath and a prayer for bravery, Kris pushed open the white doors with both hands and made his way inside the True Lab.

The room was dark, illuminated only by a faint blue glow in the distance, but despite this Kris would make out the sheer scale of the room. He could barely see the shrouded ceiling above him, but he determined that the room was about two-stories high.

	A strong, foul odour struck Kris right in the face, causing him to gag. It smelled like rotten meat, which was reminiscent of the room he woke up in before meeting Susie. The teen had no idea where the smell was coming from this time as it seemed that the rank scent had entirely permeated in the air.

	‘It’s like I’m inside a dead animal…’

	Kris held his sleeve up to his face as he journeyed deeper into the room. The Watcher was silent so far, and Kris bit his lip as the uncertainty of exploring these dark surroundings began to chip away at his courage.

	The only choice was to continue walking towards the blue light near the back of the room, which, from where Kris was standing, looked to be coming from a giant glass tube filled with some clear liquid—probably water. Aside from the water, there was nothing inside the tank. However, as Kris made his way towards the light, he began making out shapes now unhidden from the shadows.

	As expected from a laboratory, there was a whole mishmash of consoles and blue-coloured screens all over the room. It almost looked like something straight out of a children’s TV show, but the research here was no doubt quite serious. Kris could almost feel the amount of time and effort poured into this place, and he had a sour feeling it was not for something noble like solving world hunger or curing cute orphan cancer.

	Kris looked at the empty chairs standing by the machinery and the contents resting on top of the consoles. Coffee mugs, pens, clipboards. It all looked like this place was abandoned in a hurry, even the screens were still powered on and displaying all sorts of documentation that Kris figured he’d end up going over eventually.

	Now that Kris had a better view of the room, it was obvious that the consoles were centered around the empty glass tank that towered over everything like a blue monolith. One crescent-moon-shaped console stood out among the others. It was located directly in front of the tank with its screen on like the others.

	Kris pulled up a nearby chair and sat down in front of the computer. A floating, purple Deltarune bounced around on the screen almost hypnotically. Kris mused that he’d love to sit back and wait for the tri-triangles to hit the corner of the screen just right, but he decided that he could waste time on a computer back at home whenever he wanted.

There was no mouse in sight. Perhaps people with Ph.Ds. were too sophisticated for them. Instead, Kris reached for the keyboard in front of him and tapped on some keys until the screensaver blipped away and revealed a new screen.

	Kris met with the words “INSERT KEYCARD INTO SLOT” on the monitor. He looked over to his side at the console, spotting a glowing red light attached to something that looked like a card reader on an ATM. Figures.

	‘Keycard…’ the Watcher’s voice echoed inside his head.

	Kris stretched one side of his mouth in slight annoyance. Of course he had to track down a keycard to access the console. Anything else would be too convenient for him.

	Looking left and then right, Kris made out two doors flanking him on either side of the room.

	‘Do you know where the keycard is?’ Kris asked the Watcher.

	‘Yes.’

	Kris rolled his eyes and continued to press him. ‘Is it in this room?’

	‘No.’

	‘Let me guess, it’s going to be inside either the door to my left or the door to my right?’

	‘Left.’

	Kris sighed. He could feel a pit growing in his stomach at the thought of exploring too far away from Susie, let alone exploring and stumbling into another monster. For all he knew, however, Susie had already come through here on her own. That, and the Watcher was presumedly leading him down the right path. Well, in this case the left path.

	With another heavy sigh, Kris accepted that he had to go along with the flow if he wanted to escape from this nightmare.

	Just as Kris decided to stand up, two cold hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him out of his chair. Kris had no time to even scream before he was violently thrown a distance away.

	The teen landed on the hard floor near the base of a console with a loud thud. He would be having flashbacks to getting tossed around by Mother had his brains not been rattled inside his skull.

	Kris’s vision slowly settled on two, gangly blue legs slowly making their way over to him. He groaned as he propped his body up on one elbow, and the teen almost muttered a curse as he identified a uniform-wearing woman in front of him.

	Sickly-coloured skin, a police badge on her hat, plump lips that would distract from the hidden, massive knife-sharp teeth in her mouth, and a tight shirt and skirt that showed off more skin than what would be appropriate for a police officer. That same monster from before…

	With a sudden burst of speed, the officer lunged towards Kris, who was still on the ground, without any care for her own safety. Her chin landed on the floor with a loud thunk and there was still some distance between her and Kris, but that did not stop her from clawing at him with gnarled hands.

	Kris was only just able to stun the officer by hastily kicking her in the face, giving him enough time to push himself off the ground. In a moment of instinct, the human gave the monster a thick, heavy punt to the chin again as she began to crawl back up to her knees.

	That made the officer only angrier, and with a loud, primal growl she lurched towards Kris’s ankles with a feral swipe, but the human managed to bounce out of her reach.

	Kris was pressed to make a decision before the monster could get back up. He had his knife, but aside from his hesitation towards harming someone, he also did not want to get close to the officer unless he had to. Her claws were sharp, and her teeth looked even sharper.

	Kris’s heartbeat only pumped against his chest even harder when he heard shuffling feet in the darkness around him. He needed to get out of here.

	Remembering the two doors he saw earlier, he could see the door to the right of the room behind the downed officer, which meant that the other door was directly behind him somewhere. It was an obvious choice which door to choose, considering the Watcher had already told him where to go, and Kris burst off the heels of his shoes and ran past empty chairs and computer consoles towards the door.

	Kris slammed through the door so fast he even surprised himself. Without a moment’s hesitation, he braced his body against the door as he fought to catch his breath.

	It was dark in this new room, even more than the previous one as there was no assortment of monitors and a glowing glass tank to provide some degree of illumination. On the bright side, Kris noticed that the air here was not heavy with a foul-smelling odour. So that was nice.

	‘Was that the same officer as before?’ Kris thought, his chest heaving with deep, heavy breaths. He was sure Susie killed that officer creature. She blew her brains out even.

A sensation of absolute dread, like when one thinks about the inevitability of entropy, poured through Kris as he realized that more of those cop creatures must be lurking around.

	Regardless, Kris knew he had to get moving. He could not hear the officer, or anything else, approaching the door he had his back to, so Kris deemed it safe for now. He had to work on getting his hands on a keycard now, then he can worry about entering the main hall again.

	It was hard for Kris to make out anything in the room, but he was sure he was standing in a hallway. He groped around in the dark to prove that he was indeed surrounded by two grimy walls on both sides, and using that information, the human pressed his hand up against one of the walls and walked deeper into the hallway.

	Kris stopped in his tracks the moment he felt a seam in the wall, then soon after, a cool, brass doorknob. The human looked to his left. Nothing. The human looked back to his right, where he came from. Nothing. He really didn’t want to stay out in this hallway.

	Kris turned the handle and entered through the door, releasing a sigh of relief when he stumbled into an office fairly lit by a lamp sitting on a desk in the corner of the room. There was nothing else to note from where Kris stood, but the room provided a small sense of comfort in contrast to the cold darkness outside.

	Closing the door behind him, Kris approached the desk, which had a computer and its matching monitor. Aside from the computer, there were some pens and papers of little interest to him strewn about, but a tan folder labelled “CLASSIFIED” in red text caught his eyes. When he picked it up, it felt light in his hand, and upon opening it there was a single sheet inside.

	Overtaken with a strong sensation of curiosity, Kris skimmed through the paper. Whoever it was addressed to had their name hidden with black ink. In fact, a lot of the text was blacked out completely. Kris determined that the paper was talking about a shipment of something called “D-Series 103” but everything else was incomprehensible.

	Kris put the folder down and leaned towards the computer screen, too anxious to sit down on the large leather chair by the desk, so the comfort would have been lost to him anyway.

	Unlike the console in the main hall, this computer did not require a keycard to access it, but the system seemed locked. Kris tried shaking the mouse around, but it did nothing to wake up the computer. At the very least, the screen was frozen on what looked like some messaging program that the scientists at this lab used to communicate with each other.

	Kris took a closer look at the unfinished message on the screen. It was addressed to someone called Dr. Bridge, which was a name that sounded familiar, but there was no way for Kris to determine who had sent the message in the computer’s current locked state. It read:

	“You’re not going to believe what that old bag of bones did to me this week. He told me to make a profile for the newest experiment, but when I handed over the specifications, he tossed them out without even looking at them. He told me he had his own plans for ‘this one’ but then why did he even bother asking me to design a new profile? I know the good doctor is brilliant, but methinks he’s jealous that my F-Model is still the most successful experiment we’ve—"

	The message was never sent. Again, this was more nonsense that meant nothing to Kris.

	A loud banging against the door startled Kris away from the screen. He looked up in fright at the end of the room across from him.

	There was another hard knock that rattled the door so hard Kris was afraid it was going to snap clean off its hinges. Even worse for the poor boy, he knew the door was unlocked, so he did not even have the thin sheet of wood between him and whoever was outside the room.

	‘Hide,’ the voice from inside told me in a stern, serious manner that did more to scare Kris than assure him that the Watcher had his back.

	Kris did not need to be told twice and he ducked down to fit under the space below the desk. He was thankful that the desk was low enough against the ground that nobody could see him from the other side. However, after some fiddling with the leather chair, he learned that he could not fit both himself and the chair in this little nook. Kris would have no way of covering himself if someone inspected the front of the desk.

	The door burst open and Kris felt like his heart jumped straight up his throat. He could do nothing but hold his breath as some big, heavy creature made its way into the room.

	Thump. Thump. Thump.

	Each footstep was accentuated with the feeling of Kris’s heart getting squeezed by some invisible hand. Kris was afraid it was going to burst, but the thing that had just entered the room terrified him even more.

	Backed up into the corner of his hiding spot, Kris tried his best to fit himself as deep inside his hidey-hole as he could. It was one of these moments where he wished he was a small, little bug that could skitter away. Instead, he was a sizeable, soft sack of meat that had nowhere to run and nothing much in the way of defending himself.

	Kris closed his eyes tight when something loud and heavy smacked into the desk above him. He almost blew his cover by yelping, but he instead bit his tongue by accident when he tried to keep his mouth shut.

	‘Please go away… Please go away… Please go away…’

	In panic, the teen gripped his head, almost as if to protect himself if the thing looming above him decided to punch through the wooden desk and pull him clean through the fresh hole that was made. He was waiting for it to happen at any moment, and his beating heart was so loud that he was worried that it’d be the reason his cover would be blown.

	Thump. Thump.

	Kris bit his lip. Was that his heart, or more footsteps? He tried hard to focus and he heard more footsteps moving away from him. Unfortunately, he could still tell that whoever was out there was still inside the room, maybe giving the office one last lookover before leaving.

	All Kris could do was hold himself as he thought about motionless things that made no noise—like statues. It would only take one sneeze or a little errant tap of the foot for it to be all over for him.

	The room had gone so quiet that Kris could now hear the creature’s breathing. It sounded ragged, strong, and inhuman. Any concerns that it might have been Susie stomping her away into the office was flushed down the drain.

	Thump. Thump. Thump.

	Kris held his breath again when he heard the footsteps. Then he heard some more trailing away. And then it was all quiet, save for Kris’s erratic breathing and heartbeat.

	Kris let out a near-silent whine as tears streamed down his face. His hands reached out to grope the wooden panelling of the desk for seemingly no reason, but perhaps Kris just wanted to feel something physical. He needed a good hug.

	‘I don’t want to do this anymore! I want to go home!’

	Too afraid to leave the safety of his hidey-hole, Kris curled up on his side and rested his cheek against the cold, hard surface of the floor. He tried to contain another tearful whine, but it instead came out sounding more like a stuttered whimper. Kris didn’t want to be here, but he didn’t want to leave, either.

	Maybe he could hide here forever. Nothing could get him here. He was safe here.

	Kris was so tired of it all that he genuinely considered hiding in the little, claustrophobic nook under the desk until Susie found him. Kris was sore and bruised, and what little bravery he had to risk his life further by exploring the facility was draining like a punctured waterskin.

	‘Move,’ the Watcher told him, but Kris did not budge. He was determined to stay hidden under the desk. He was tired of running away and being scared. He just needed some time alone to muster up the nerve to crawl out from under the desk and get back to exploring.

	Kris pressed his knees up against his chest and gave his quivering legs a hug. He’ll get up after a few minutes, he promised himself. Maybe this would give time for Susie to come around and find him. He hated how she killed that monster earlier, but the human could really use that violent, heavy-handedness to protect him right about now.

	All that mattered to Kris was Susie and his own safety. If that meant Susie had to come in guns blazing, mowing down everything that moved… then so be it.

	With fluttering eyes, Kris could feel the pull of sleep luring him in. The teen bit his lip, now was not a good time to sleep, even when every aching joint in his body was demanding that he lie down and rest up. Kris instead brought his attention to other things to distract him—home, warm food, his friends…

	Another teary whimper echoed in the officer as Kris thought about one friend in particular.

	“I sure hope Susie hasn’t forgotten about me…”

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	Next on Hometown - Chapter Eight: Characters