Page 9

Which might mean...

Pulse drumming in her ears, Dani cautiously slipped between the narrow entrance and into the room.

There were large glass tanks, reaching several feet high. Computer stations hugged around them. Hoses attached to the sides, as big as her arm, snaked around the room.

All the tanks were empty. A few were broken.

She searched for the source of the light and found it within one of the tubes closer to the center.

She stared at the bottom of the broken tank and a smile crept onto her face.

It was a mushroom. A small blue fungus with little red dots on the top. It had some bioluminescent qualities which gave it a soft glow.

“Yes!” she whispered. Not only would they make it back in time, but she had plant matter to bring back with her, a perfect addition to the collection. Maybe she’d even get to study it in the labs once she was promoted.

Quickly, she went to grab a small capsule from her pack. Returning to the tank, she used a set of tongs to carefully pick out the mushroom and set it inside.

As she capped the capsule tight, her garometer started crackling.

Strange. She didn’t see anything around. No other mushrooms or even bugs.

Her brow furrowed as she studied the screen on her wrist. There was nothing lower than a level two energy, coming from the mushroom. Why would it be going off so much?

Then she realized her settings were wrong and it was only displaying low-level readings despite detecting others. Instead of re-adjusting manually, she reset the settings altogether.

The levels shot up.

To fifteen.

She felt the blood drain from her face.

That feeling of unease turned to instinctual panic.

Her eyes flicked up to the glass of the tank. In the reflection, she saw it. A hulking shadow lurking right behind her.

A heavy breath pressed against her back, sending a sickening chill down her spine.

“Yessss,” came an awful hiss. That sounded just like…

Just like her.

Her stomach dropped. She couldn’t even look behind her. The crackling of the garometer was a roar in her ears.

A soft whimper escaped from her lips.

Oh, my fucking god, I’m dead, she thought. For a split second, she had a vision of the security officer in the clutches of the hulking monster, head being munched on, brain slurped up.

She felt something bump against her helmet and another harsh breath. Sniffing. It was sniffing her.

Something slithered up her leg. Something sharp.

She trembled. Her knees locked up. A drop of sweat went down her neck.

She watched the shadow move in the reflection of the glass, its head coming down as it leaned close. Whatever slithered up her leg now trailed along her thighs.

“Xiha marish isha esh xu,”it hissed, it’s voice now guttural.

What the fuck was it saying?