Cherreads

Chapter 39 - The Lion's Den

After Michelle got out of the room, she looked at the hole in the wall before approaching it. When Michelle entered the room, she heard clanging in the distance. "Something must be preventing it from closing," she said before walking forward.

As Michelle turned her head to the right, she saw a bounce pad. Michelle twisted the knob, switching from the red hand to the purple hand, before approaching the bounce pad.

When Michelle stood on the bounce pad, she aimed and pulled the right trigger, launching herself into the air. After Michelle landed on the ground, she saw a crate preventing a shutter from closing, which made her hum. "That explains it..." she said, lowly, before approaching it.

After Michelle went under the moving shutter, she spotted a note on the shelf, which made her grab it. Michelle read the note. "This is... a prisoner profile," she said, lowly. "To a Bigger Bodies version of Yarnaby... seems like the Doctor wanted to keep this one all to himself..."

Michelle crumpled the note. "If he was as sadistic back then as he is now... I feel bad for Yarnaby," she continued before tossing the note and walking away. Michelle crawled out of the other shutter before standing properly.

Michelle looked at the pathway on the left before approaching it; after she turned a few corners, she spotted a bounce pad. Michelle aimed the purple hand before pulling the right trigger, launching herself in the air.

After Michelle landed on the ground, the room started shaking, which shocked her and made her look around. "I don't like that..." she said, lowly. Michelle looked at the vent before approaching it; when she was close, she started crawling through it.

When Michelle reached the end of the vent, she saw a blue hand scanner. "If there's one hand scanner, then another one is around here somewhere," she said before getting out and landing on the ground.

When Michelle stood properly, she looked at the shutter on the other side. "This seems too simple," she continued before looking at the blue hand scanner and pulling the left trigger.

When the blue hand touched the scanner, the shutter on the other side closed. "I figured as much," Michelle said before retracting it, which made the shutter open again.

Michelle twisted the knob, switching from the purple hand to the red hand. "I'm gonna need something big to prevent both sides from closing," she continued. Michelle turned her head to the right and saw a large crate before pulling both triggers.

Both hands grabbed the crate before Michelle started pulling. Soon after, Michelle aligned the crate over the shutter. "That takes care of this one..." she said, lowly, before looking at the crate on the other side and approaching it.

When Michelle was close to the crate, she pulled both triggers, launching both hands and grabbing it. Soon after, Michelle aligned the crate over the shutter. "Now I don't have to worry about both sides closing on me," she said.

As Michelle entered the room, she spotted a red hand scanner before aiming and pulling the right trigger. When the red hand touched the scanner, the shutter on the other side was stopped by the crate.

When Michelle reached the other side, she crouched before aiming at the blue hand scanner and pulling the left trigger. After the blue hand touched the scanner, Michelle crouched under the shutter and looked at the large shutter as the scanners activated.

When the scanners finished, both hands retracted before the large shutter started opening. Michelle took a deep breath before exhaling. "Let's see what you have in store for me, you sadistic bastard..." she said before walking forward.

When Michelle was halfway through the hallway, the shutter behind her closed. Michelle turned to the back, shocked, before looking around, concerned.

Soon after, a liquid started spraying above Michelle, which made her look up. "Is this... some kind of decontamination zone?" she asked herself. When the liquid stopped spraying, the shutter before Michelle started opening, which made her walk forward.

Michelle saw an area with different numbers above them. "What... is this place?" she asked herself. Michelle approached the room on her right and saw a cell. "Is this... how they contain the toys?" she asked herself. "What a horrible place..."

After Michelle left the room, she circled the area; when she was close to the fifth cell, she saw a note on the other side, which made her approach it. When Michelle was close, she examined the broken window before going through it.

After Michelle landed on the ground, she approached the note and picked it up. "This one is another prisoner profile..." she said. "Based on the context clues... this is about a Bigger Bodies version of Pianosaurus."

Michelle looked down. "And it seems like those that start with 116 lost their humanity altogether," she continued. "These poor children..." Michelle crumpled the paper and tossed it to the side. "Once I find him... he'll have hell to pay..." she said before leaving the cell room.

When Michelle entered the third room, the intercom went off, which shocked her. "You know... I never thought I'd see another like you... a human," the Doctor said.

Michelle scoffed. "Yeah? Well, I wish I'd never met a human like you," she said. The Doctor chuckled. "Flattery won't get you anywhere, little germ," he said.

Michelle gritted her teeth. "But... something about you makes you different than all the other humans. I can tell you that much," the Doctor continued. "Though I can't say what exactly that something is... not yet..."

Michelle glared at the intercom. "The others you faced and changed through your sickly... sentiment... 1170, 1188, 1222..." the Doctor said. "Let's try our hand at something that isn't so easily swayed. Oh, Yarnaby..."

The cell door started opening, which made Michelle look at it, concerned, before backing away. Soon after, a larger version of Yarnaby slammed himself against the glass, which startled Michelle.

As Yarnaby scratched the glass, he circled before slamming his head against the glass, which caused it to crack a bit.

Soon after, Yarnaby's face split in half, revealing crimson flesh, swollen gums lined with a ring of sharp, jagged teeth, and a smaller maw before his throat. Michelle stared at Yarnaby, mortified, as he roared and stood on two feet before clawing at the glass.

Soon after, Yarnaby's face closed up before entering the hole on the side. "Please, do keep making this enjoyable for me; I'll be taking notes," the Doctor said before the intercom ended.

Michelle trembled and held her arms. "I've never seen anything like that before... it terrified me..." she said, lowly. Michelle flinched before slapping her cheeks together. "Get it together, Misha; this is what that bastard wants," she continued.

Michelle glared at the intercom. "And I'm not giving him what he wants," she said. Michelle turned her head to the left and saw a partially opened closet before approaching it. When Michelle opened the door, she saw multiple battery sockets with different colored wires.

When Michelle turned her head to the back, she saw a deactivated blue hand scanner with a blue wire next to it. "I need to plug the battery into the socket with the blue wire," she said before aiming at the battery and pulling the left trigger.

The blue hand grabbed the battery before retracting. Michelle aimed at the socket in the top left corner before pulling the left trigger. The battery went inside the socket, which activated the blue hand scanner.

Michelle faced the scanner and aimed the blue hand. "I hope luck is on my side because I'm about to enter a lion's den," she said before pulling the left trigger.

The blue hand touched the scanner, which activated it; after the scanner finished, Michelle retracted the blue hand. "Hang on, you guys... I'm coming to find you..." she said, lowly.

Unbeknownst to Michelle, black sunken eyes with slimy pink hands holding a broken piece of metal from the roof stared at her before she left the room; the figure tilted their head before climbing up.

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