After having the bodies removed from the refridgerator, wheeled into the operation room, then prepped and ready for the examination, I set up my recording equipment as was my usual manner. I turned on the overhead cameras, keeping both trained on the operating tables, along with the audio recorder I kept beside me. I loomed over the what I had deduced to be the first to go of the two deceased, as if I were some higher authority casting judgement which was exactly how I had felt on some occasions. But for this man, I held no judgement over his head. For this man, I felt pity. Pity that the only thing he had done wrong was be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Pity that he was just a victim bound to the target by the inescapable bindings of fate. This was no time to mourn, however, for there was an examination to conduct. I could not forget why I was here in the first place, there was work to be done and it couldn't be held off any longer.
Clearing my throat, I began to vocalize my observations as I inspected the least severe of the man's wounds - the tearing of the shoulder. "One laceration on the left shoulder, without a doubt due to a .357 ripping through. Solely a flesh wound, light muscular tearing, none too concerning. One entry wound in the neck, another .357, exiting just to the left of the spinal column. From the angle, it's probable that the victim reeled from the shoulder wound allowing the bullet to pass through the windpipe as well as the jugular. I suspect much of the blood would have entered the lungs and stomach, though we'll see in further examination. One entry wound in victim's sternum, no sign of exiting. No doubt from yet another .357-"
With a pair of forceps, I carefully extracted a bloody piece of a bullet. I turned it from side to side, scrutinizing to a great extent as I had done many times before. "Fragmentation suggests that soft lead rounds were used, though the forensic report will confirm."
I deposited the bullet fragment in a small tray of antiseptic and worked to extract another piece from the point of entry. "Severe fragmentation of the sternum local to entry point is evident, though none too surprising. Severe tearing of soft tissue is also apparant, though the wound would have likely been sur-"
"[sub][sub][sub]...ake it...[/sub][/sub][/sub]"
I paused as I had heard a soft murmur in the room. My hands were still, forceps secured in one while the other still held the wound open. Looking around, my eye confirmed what my mind already knew, I was clearly the only person in here. The only one living at least. I shook my head, clearing the thought from my mind. It must have just been a faint echo of my own voice, or possibly the resonating sound of some outside commotion. Clearing my throat once again, I continued my extraction. "Wound would have likely been survivable with immediate medical attention. Bullet fragments stopped just short of any vitals, so I can safely say it was the wound to the n-"
"[sub][sub]...take it...[/sub][/sub]"
Again, I had heard a faint whisper, more clear than the last. It sounded like it had come from behind me and I turned to see what may have spoke. There was none other than the second victim of that night and the voice most certaintly could not have come from it. I figured it may have been trapped gas escaping the body or, an equally likely possibility, I was growing increasingly tired and my ears were playing tricks on me. I decided I should just push on with the work and maybe get some coffee after I was finished with the first examination. "It...it was clearly the shot to the neck the proved to be the fatal wound. No other signs of injury save for a few small scrapes, likely from falli-"
"[sub]...take it...[/sub]"
I heard the whisper yet again, felt it even, a cold breath brushed my ear and a sharp chill went down my spine. I dropped the forceps and reeled, barely able to steady myself on the operating table with shaking hands. Frantically scanning the room while keeping as still as I could, I failed to find who-
what
-had spoke in that cold, calm whisper. My mouth opened and shut ever so slightly, like a fish out of water as I fumbled with words to call out.
"...take it..."
The whisper appeared to be coming from the corpse that lied before me, the man with the head wound that now seemed as if it was radiating an aura of darkness. I wasn't certain what could be causing it, though something told me I never should have brought the body in here.
"Taste it."
The voice called out, more clearly than ever, and though I knew I misheard it at first I could not imagine what it was talking about.
"Taste it."
The aura around the corpse grew as the voice spoke louder, though I had only the faintest idea of what it meant. I almost had the audacity to ask it when I froze, mouth agape, at the movement I saw from the corpse. From the man's stomach, I saw a growing bulge, though it was nothing like a gas bubble forming. It looked as if something was pushing from inside the body.
"Taste it!"
The voice called out louder and the lights began to flicker as the bulge continuously pushed outward and retracted, gaining force with every push.
"Taste it!!"
Suddenly the lights went out and I stood in the black stillness, heart racing and unable to breathe as I was stricken with more fear than I ever thought possible. Just as the room's lights went out, the single fixture above the corpse my eyes had never left flickered on and revealed something one could only have ever imagined in a nightmare. There were four figures, creatures, creatures the size of large dogs with skin as black as charcoal and spindly limbs like a malnourished ape's. Gnarled, clawed hands transferred chunks of flesh and organs to their mouths. The one nearest me had froze as if in realization that it was being observed and slowly turned towards me. I couldn't help but stare into its eyes, the horrid, yellow pus-colored eyes with deep black slits of cold, frozen despair. I assumed its lips were curled back in a snarl, revealing jagged teeth from which blood and bile dripped off shreds of meat. It only to a moment for me to realize that the creature simply had no lips, only callus flesh making it appear as if they had rotted away years before. The creature seemed to be smiling, grinning at me before opening its teeth, revealing a mouth full of open sores, many bleeding or spewing pus, and I was met with a stenc of putrifaction worse than had ever smelled before.
"TASTE IT!!!"
The voice bellowed from the mouth of the horrid creature and it knocked my out of my stupor. I tried to scream but I could find no voice within me as I scrambled backwards, onto the operating table and over the corpse that rested atop it. I quickly ran out of surface to traverse and was thrown onto the ground. My head was first to hit the cold floor, and like a candle snuffed at the dead of night, I was out cold and enveloped by suffocating darkness...