Epit, Part Four: Finale

            The door swung open with a bang and the man in the blue mask re-entered the room. The bang was loud and woke Aleks.

“Are you almost ready?” Said the man.

“Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on.”

“You know you can’t stay mad at me forever.”

“Well maybe I can. You called me Doctor Maloney. We agreed that I would be Doctor Malone. If we can’t keep our story straight then people won’t trust us. And if people don’t trust us then this whole operation falls apart.”

            By nature, Aleks was always on to be slow at getting up. So for the moment he decided he would just stay as he was, lying on the table and facing the wall, as he listened to the conversation.

“Well it has been doing fine so far even with the mixed results.”

“Mixed results isn’t good enough. We need real results. The clearer an answer we have to what these things are then the better chance we have of being noticed. And we need to be noticed. I want my licence back, I want money for food and new clothes. I want to restart my life and not have to worry.”

“Then we get this done. Maybe this kid will have the answers we’re looking for. Then we’ll all get our happy endings.”

“You say that like it’s so simple but it’s not. There are no happy endings. The stories never really end. It’s one thing for us to be noticed, but honestly I want to be noticed be the right people.”

“Hey we agreed. Our findings go to the highest bidder.”

“I never agreed to that. What we discover could be extremely dangerous. I am not letting this information get into the hands of any government or militants.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Dramatic! Do you think a mass produced army of Epirions is dramatic? It cataclysmic. We could be looking at World war three or maybe even human extinction.”

            That was the point of too far. The more he listened the more nervous Aleks became. It was one thing that these unknown people, who he now suspected weren’t real surgeons, were going to operate on him. But if they were going to cause the end of the world it was too much. Aleks hated the idea that he might die here today but what would be worse is if he died being the person that caused the apocalypse. The very idea set his heart racing.

            His sweating became more and more profuse with each minute. His chest felt tight as if he was having a heart attack, it had a burning sensation. He felt as though he was going to be sick. He stood up and was immediately noticed by the man.

“Aleks, you’re awake?”

            The man reached toward him but Aleks back away quickly. He fell through the door. He landed in what looked like an operating room. But this was no normal operation room. Dried blood splattered the walls. On a table in the centre was a collection of tools, none of which looked very safe or clean. This was where he was going to be operated on. Well not anymore not if he had something to do about it. The woman called out from the other room.

“What’s going on in there?”

“Ohh crap! It’s happening. The Epirion chemical in his blood is countering the sedatives.”

            Aleks tried getting to his feet but was immediately brought to his knees by a horrid pain in his chest. He let out a pained shriek. The man was right. Something was happening. He was changing.

            Aleks cried out in pain as every bone and muscle in his body rapidly began growing. Unfortunately his skin didn’t so it began tearing apart as his insides started protruding. Massive fangs tore through his gums and pierced out from his lips. The bones in his fingers extended and sharpened into talons.

            While Aleks was changing the man ran back into the office. He opened and began rifling through several drawers in the desk. He found his weapons, a pistol and a dagger. He also grabbed a syringe with his special serum of sedatives. He ran back into Aleks, who was still on the ground. He tried to plunge the needle into his leg, but it was too late. The muscle fiber had thickened and the needle broke immediately. It was no longer Aleks.

            The Epirion stood tall, towering above the man. It took the first swing with its claws, going for his head. He easily ducked and rolled away. In almost an instant the man was behind it taking pot shots with the pistol. By the time he emptied his clip he had caused some damage but not enough to stop it. The beast turned to him and tried to slam down on the man. He dodged back and quickly took advantage of the situation. The man ran up along the beast’s arm, leaping from the elbow. He took out his blade mid-air and stock it in the soft spot right between the eyes.

            After seconds of flailing and squealing the monster fell to the floor, defeated. Its blood pooled out into the operating room. The woman, hearing the silence, cautiously stuck her head through the door. She sighed with relief when she saw the dead body. She approached the man and sympathetically placed a hand on his shoulder. He sighed.

“Another failed experiment.”