The sterile hallway reaches end-to-end, which must be 200 feet. Every 5 feet, there's an iron door. Each door is fortified to hold back a hideous, sick-minded, or evil person. The facility isn't something you can Google. Other than the locals who are hired to run the place, not many people realize the heinous and brutal death that has occurred by some of those locked in those rooms outside this town of 5,000 souls.
"This door," she said, pointing, "is where we keep Jack." A woman said to a group in the hallway just outside the quiet from the inside room.
Dana is a tall and skinny woman. She is wearing a plain blue polo shirt and khaki slacks. Her tour seemed as simple as a museum guide, but the people with her today are not tourists. They are some of the brightest scientists, doctors, and F.B.I. profilers of homicidal people.
"Jack lives in the dark. We can never get him out of this room on his own without us forcefully tearing him out. There is never any light on inside the room. In fact, any sight of light, even from these florescent ones above, will cause him great pain and terrible anger where he will lash out and kill. Later, we will place him in a lighted cage and show you what happens when he is unleashed."
The group walks down the hall and enters a safe, enclosed room. The 15 or so people sat on the chairs lined up in rows. The rows faced a large window. The window was 6 to 8 inches thick. It was made to be unbreakable.
The room behind the glass was 16 x 16. Fully vaulted to protect the people outside those walls and the public. There was one door that led into the room.
The door was fortified metal. Stronger hatches than what you'd find on a battleship. The only thing going inside the room was Jack. Along with Jack, there was a farm animal, a pig, who was free to roam around the room.
"Once you all have settled in. I will summon Jack. Please, do not move from where you are. You will be tempted to move, but I can't stress to you enough that as far as we know, Jack can not see you, nor can he hear you. You are safe with us. However, speakers here will let you hear what is happening in that room. DO NOT MOVE."
The group looked around at each other, and the tension inside the room began to tighten like a vice, compelling everyone to watch precisely what would happen.
"I will ask everyone to look under your seats for this demonstration. There, you will find night vision goggles. Please place them on. We will now shut off the lights. You can view everything in the pitch black dark, but when the lights return, you can remove them. The lights will only be on inside the room. We will still be in the darkness."
The guest fumbled around with their night vision goggles. The more experienced law enforcement officers helped, the less experienced civilians wore their night vision goggles. Everyone was tense, but the excitement could be felt within their bones because they had no idea what would happen, but they felt it would be huge.
"Okay, bring in, Jack," Dana announced, "Don't forget to release the pig once Jack's inside."
The group talked to one another, and the sound of mumbling was silenced once the loud clanks of the heavy door began to sound. That sound announced the doors were being unlocked.
One by one-heavy booms could be heard as each of the 8 locks was slid to the side, which would free the heavy 2-ton door. A creaking sound resonated as the heavy door swung open. BANG!
The door slammed against the wall. The guests could see the body heat of the men and women preparing to wheel Jack in through their night goggles.
"No, no," Jack yelled. "Don't do this any longer. Stop. Just kill me. Kill me, please," he implored from inside his totally sealed cage.
Two men pushed Jack's mobile enclosed cage into the room. Some of the guests witnessing what was happening removed their glasses. They were terrified of the sounds, and yet they saw nothing. The experiment had not begun yet.
The workers pushed the box against the far side of the room, where they placed it flushed against the wall into a pre-made mold. Clanking noises were echoing as they locked the box in place. Steel rods sealed the box tightly.
"Stop!" Jack screamed. "Kill me now," but Jack's pleas fell on deaf ears while the men and women robotically did their jobs. They had no sympathy or empathy for the hours of torture Jack had gone through over the past year.
After the box was locked, the 3 men and 2 women walked back to the room door. The last 2 men reached back and grabbed the handles mounted on the door. With all their might, they pulled the door shut. BOOM.
One by one, the locks were placed on the door until the 3rd lock. That is when all activity ceased. Muffled talking could be heard. A small argument ensued. There was a silence. The guests in the room didn't know what was happening and looked around at each other with wonderment. There must have been a significant problem.
The silence was broken when the locks could be heard by all being undone rapidly. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. The locks slid. The door slowly opened. Then, without warning, a medium-sized pig was slid through the slightly opened door. The pig squealed and ran into the room. The door closed quickly, and the securing of the locks commenced again.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Dana began, "we have not been able to account for what you are about to see. We do not do this event often anymore because Jack seems stronger with every new experiment. For more funding so that we can study Jack, we invited you all here today to show you what your money would be doing. Jack could be the ultimate weapon. A breeding specimen with power no one has ever seen. The money will either tame him or make him useful as a weapon. Or, we will prove that his existence is not a confirmation of life after death, but we will affirm that there is pure evil here on earth. And by God, we will incinerate him."
The people in the audience gasped. What was Jack going to do? The anticipation was cruel in itself.
"Glasses off," Dana said, "turn on the lights! Release, Jack."
Jack's cage shook and rattled, but its grip on the wall was too great. The shaking caused the first row of people to jump. The lady on the left of the front row, closest to where Jack was, watched closely as she saw little bars sliding out of Jack's cage and disappearing into the remolded wall until the door was free.
"I can't do this again," Jack pleaded, "you don't care what you're doing to me. All of you will DIE!"
The light popped on just outside of Jack's holding cage. His bigger room resembled a large 16 x 16 cubed, clear cage. The glass was so thick it could withstand a .50 caliber round. The pig was moving around the room. The people in the audience squinted as their eyes acclimated to the bright light shining through the thick glass. As their eyes began to focus, they zeroed in on a basic room.
Jack's small cage was now slightly opened, a 6 x6 cage. The pig roamed around the rest of the room, sniffing its surroundings. Occasionally, they would find a carrot or other vegetable left on the floor for him to feed on. Occasionally, the pig would be spooked by Jack's whining and screaming.
"I-I- can't-t, I-I won't," Jack stammered. His door would slightly wave back and forth. None of the light in the room could penetrate the darkness of the black hole where Jack was hiding.
One Colonel in the audience placed on his nighttime goggles again and leaned toward the glass, hoping he would see a glimpse of Jack, who seemed to be hiding from the light. The night vision glasses captured Jack's bare back. He was completely naked and breathing heavily. His hair was uncut. The length of his hair covered most of his upper back.
Jack's breathing continued at a rapid pace.
"Easy, easy," the Colonel whispered.
Jack's body movement slowed to a calm, breathing form. Without warning, Jack reared his head over his shoulder as if he could see the Colonial. The night vision glasses caused a slight glow to Jack's eyes. His facial hair hid the pigmentation of his face. The Colonel was startled, so he ripped off his goggles.
Dana ran to his side, placed her hands on either side of his shoulders, and lurched him back further. "Colonel James, sir, you must stay out of the light. You cannot cast a shadow. You should not be seen. Stay behind the yellow line."
"Um, well, right," is the only 3 words the captain could muster.
The pig was no longer strolling around the room, searching to eat carrot sticks. He began to pick up his pace and did his best to avoid confrontation. The guest needed help understanding from whom, though? The only other person was Jack. And he has yet to emerge out of his box.
The pig kicked up its hind legs and leaped forward. All four feet landed on the ground. He quietly walked towards the corner of the room. He squealed loudly as he neared the far wall, away from Jack's cage. The pig's hind legs were twisted, and the pig's body was thrown to the ground. The pig quickly returned to its feet and ran towards the window, crashing its body into the glass. It let out a loud wail. The pig tried to run but couldn't gain any traction to move forward. The pig was brought back to the ground by its tail and pulled to the room's length. A dark pig shadow casts upon the glass. The lights in the ceiling were turning off and on at different angles to capture the silhouette of the pig. The pig continued to squeal, but it couldn't get away. The shadow pulled him in other directions until the animal was swallowed into the opening of Jack's cage.
The audience gasped in unison. Some people ran out of the room, but others stayed to watch the finality of the horror they were watching. A woman in the second row fumbled her hands under her seat in her attempt to find the night vision glasses.
She quickly grabbed them, but due to her fear, her hands shook uncontrollably while she adjusted the goggles over her eyes. The light in the enclosed room was still on, but she focused on the deep dark crevasse of Jack's box to try and locate the pig. Not a peep was made from anyone. The woman in the second row got up and walked towards the glass. She wanted to face Jack's cage face-on to see inside his layer.
She slowly walked down her row, using her hands to feel the back of the chairs in the first row to guide her way without losing sight of the cage. She cleared the chairs and walked towards the window and beyond the yellow line.
"Ma'am, you need to sit down, don't cross that line. The room light will pick up your shadow!" Dana announced.
The lady from the second row ignored Dana and got closer to the glass. Her goggles illuminated the dark corners of Jack's cage in bright greens. She continued to walk forward until the edge of the goggles hit the thick glass. She was startled and tilted her head back, then forced her head forward again.
Without warning from Jack, the pig squealed, and the head of the pig came forcefully out of Jack's cage. It smashed against the glass directly at the woman from the second row. It was as if the head was in 3D motion, but the thick glass acted as a protection barrier. She screamed loudly and immediately removed her goggles. Bright red blood cascaded over the glass. The head of the pig was the only thing left. The perfectly preserved head rested on the ground behind the glass before the lady in the second-row feet. She was frozen in fear. More shadows of the pig were cast on the walls and windows. There were big, scary shadows, and they made loud pig squeals that echoed throughout the room.
"Get away from the glass," Dana Shouted! "Get away from the shadows.
The woman from the second row turned to run, but the light above captured her shadow, which caused her shadow to come alive. The woman's shadow grabbed her hair and pulled her back into the lighted area.
"Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights!" Dana shouted.
Dana ran to the woman but would only proceed after the yellow line. She reached out her hand, grabbed the woman's wrists, and forcefully yanked her toward her. Jack's shadow pulled her back by her hair and snapped the lady from the second row's neck.
Dana fell backward onto the first row. Jack came out of his cage and walked towards his glass enclosure. He couldn't see Dana, but he knew exactly where she was. He was waiting for her shadow to appear. His body grew larger than life. His shadow grew larger than his encasement.
Dana stood up in a trance. She was in shock. Jack used his mind to pull her past the yellow line. Dana was slowly lifted from her feet until her body cast a perfect shadow just before the glass border. Jack stared at her. His physical presence disappeared from the cage. He morphed into Dana's shadow. He waited patiently to see another shadow beyond her, closer to the EXIT doors.
"I'm free," he whispered to Dana as he violently threw her into the thick glass window, killing her. He then jumped into the other shadow.
The dark secret was out. Jack's evil could come alive utilizing the shadows of people and animals as long as there was a light source that would cast a shadow. There was no turning back now for Dana and her greed to capitalize on Jack's ability of evil. Jack was loose, and he would shadow-hop through his killing spree toward freedom. Dana was correct; Jack was stronger now and was loose to live in your shadow. Stay away from any light.
2,458 words.
