The Clinic Of Horrors

Written by Ray Everly and Neenee Hu

Piper felt her lungs strain as she breathed heavily, her hands cupped around her knees, air coming out in short and steamy clouds.

She glanced up, eyes hollow. She slowly realized the pain in the left corner of her temple, throbbing and burning. She cautiously reached up a hand to feel at her scalp, scraping at the skin.

Placing her hand down again, she watched warm blood drip down her palm, dry blood caked in her fingernails and knuckles.

She let out a small shriek, swiping her hand on her jeans desperately, trying to get rid of the goo.

She swiped her head around, her friend, Daphne’s name on the tip of her lips. The words stuck in her throat like jello cups, not daring to let them escape.

“Daphne,” she finally got the words out, a faint whisper. Piper wanted to scream, but couldn’t, just couldn't.

She stumbled down the stairs, bones creaking eerily as she went, the endless tick of a clock as she stepped down.

Her instincts told her to run, to get the heck out of there, but she persisted, wobbly and frail.

Get yourself together! She screamed at herself, watching the darkness consume the shaky lighting of the foggy morning. This is for Daphne, not some stupid–

“Eeek!” With every screech, the room creaks with the sound of the scream.

A sharp, throbbing pain in Piper's right arm bursts through her body, the flashlight rolling far enough to be out of reach.

Piper touched her arm ever so gently to feel a wet, warm, gooey liquid coming out of her arm. She could feel pieces of bone sticking through her skin, the ripped flesh

surrounding the bone. She felt paralyzed.

What is happening?! Someone, help me please! Please– please! Piper's chest went up and down, each breath getting quicker and quicker.

Piper started to panic, with wet, watery drops welling up in her lashes, looming down on her porcelain cheeks. Oh, come on! Is it really that hard to find Daphne? Speaking of Daphne– where is she?

Fumbling, her hands flew across the ragged walls, nails dragging into cement as she forced herself to stop, breath coming out in ragged, short puffs.

Think, Pipes, think! Where would Daphne go? She straightened, hands still pressed to the cold. “Cement? Wait, this doesn't feel right– it’s.. wet?”

Piper felt around for a split second, a sharp pain suddenly shooting up from her fingertip. With all the energy she had left, she pressed her hand against it, feeling a pointy, thin syringe tip stuck up into her finger. Piper could feel it all the way through her finger. Blood started to drip on Piper's freshly painted, bright green nails. The longer she sat there, the longer it loomed. Tears, once welled up under lashes, now spilled over, rivers over her face. I just want to get out of here. Why did we ever come here in the first place?

“Thud!” She looks up towards the noise, trembling. The sound is familiar, as if someone, or something, is here, walking beside her.

“Is someone there?” Piper whispers, voice soft.

“Sreeeeech!” Suddenly, another sound emerged, squealing, as if nails were dragging across the walls, followed by another thump, sounding heavy in her ears.

Piper, stumbling to get up, somehow manages, the adrenaline coming in fast, syringe still stuck, blood gushing out. Piper, shuddering, tears falling like rain, flees, arms held poised over her backpack, breath coming in heavy, foggy clouds.

“Daphne, is that you? Please tell me it is!” Piper cried, her voice trembling with worry.

Oh, great. It just had to be pitch black. That’s fine, everything's fine. Right!

The lights flickered with every step Piper took. Her hands, now clenched, ready to fight, shake around the backpack straps. Oh, great!

“No, no, no, no! Daphne, where are you?!” Her whisper slowly delved into hysteria.

Piper could only see red, all red. What am I looking at? Her eyes widened. This red’s… rich and.. fleshy?

For a reason, it put Piper at ease.

What in the world?

Piper ran for her life, her heavy breathing slowing, and the once-open wounds suddenly gone. Everything was back to normal, right?

"Maybe everything is fine after all,"

Piper’s voice was soft.

Images of Daphne began to appear. “Daphne, is that you?" she murmured. "This doesn't seem right..."

Piper straightened up, worry spreading across her face. She tried to close her eyes, but she couldn't.

She felt a vein twitch in her chin as she walked back one step.

Then another.

One, two. One, two.

Her foot suddenly caught on a slippery patch of floor, and as her eyes met the floorboards, one thought slipped through her brain.

I'll find you, Daphne.

Her vision went black.

When she woke up, one noise sounded in her ears.

Tick, tick. Tick, tick.

Her eyes fluttered open, feeling dried tears encrusted on her cheeks, little drops welled up on each lash, like dew on the edge of a flower's blossom.

She looked around her. Different room. Same eeriness.

A weight pressed on her left wrist as she lifted herself, and she instinctively glanced down.

A shriek left her throat.

Handcuffed to her wrist, tight, was a disembodied hand, leaking gory contents onto the floorboards.

She skittered back, platform shoes kicking away at the floor.

Her eyes widened, more tears threatening to fall as she screamed.

"Daphne! Daphne!" she sobbed, her other hand desperately clawing at the metal connecting her to the corpse.

But Daphne didn't come. Nor did any other kind of miraculous help.

She sniffled, taking a deep breath.

Stay calm, Pipes. Remember what Momma would say.

She inhaled and began counting to ten, and didn't even make it to 5 before she started messing with the cuff again.

Finally, her fingers managed to get it loose enough for her to slip her hand out, the metal engraving dark crimson lines in her flesh.

She winced as she saw the red, hot marks, but she smiled in relief nonetheless. Free, at last!

Suddenly, a voice boomed overhead.

"Subject one, test complete. Please wheel in subject number two."