I woke up, finding myself in the dark but vast of an empty space. Then I thought to myself…
(I vividly remember everything before this, Pet Shop, The Cats, The Rabbits, The Hamsters, The Dog, The Parrot. And…)
(Cult of Pets… Urk!)
I've been struck by the sudden headache, perhaps I've been pushing myself too far. Who knows…
(..., What's that light?)
The light among the darkness was dim but noticeable. I hurriedly follow the light, thinking there might be a way out of this darkness.
…
"What's this…"
A dog, a normal dog that's bleed on the surface of four leg table. Its expression was pitiable, and its cry makes any person would come over to give the warm hug.
And other than that, the cut that start from the neck, down to its guts. Led the river of blood flow down to the table. I thought to myself that I couldn't sit by to only watch and have to do something. And soon the moment I attempted to take a step ahead, a figure show up, blocking the view of the bleeding dog.
A figure that's twice the heights of me, wearing a white coat, gloves, mouth mask…
And in his grip, it was some kind of mechanical stuff that I don't know about which I discovered later. It was a drill…
"Subject no.143, showing no signs of dying. Then we'll proceed with drilling test. Starting by the brain."
*BZZZZZZZZ-*
A smooth but loud noise ringing my ear. As my eyes noticed that the drill has been closer and closer to the dog, I let out my anger and attempt to stop the figure.
But my advance were stopped… By the sudden mirror that appeared before me, dividing me with the figure and the dog.
I tried to punch through it, it didn't land a scratch.
It was no use…
I tried to find my way around the invisible wall, turns out it was a round prison, isolating the dog and the figure alone.
It was useless…
I tried to callout on the figure, pleading with him to not hurt the dog. But he didn't react to my voice.
It was meaningless…
*BZZZZRTRTZZRT-*
And then it was too late, my eyes had been led to witness the red-ish firework. The rain of the red liquid soon smeared upon the figure's clothes, the table, and anything within its radius.
I couldn't do anything… But watched how the dog's been drilled alive before my eyes.
My hand shivered, despair ran through my body, my breath disheveled. But that was just the beginning.
"W-What the-"
The light shines upon my eyes. The next thing I saw is the multiple table distance of each other. And on top of the different table lies the parrot, cat, rabbit, hamster, and the following other animals.
They were not alone; they were accompanied by the figure wearing the very same white coat that drilled the dog in a gruesome way.
Then it didn't take me long to notice that all of this was an illusion. Even so…
"What are you making me watch right now…"
A sight of a rabbit's been cut off its four legs, then impaled by multiple steel rods…
A sight of a cat has been made to swim in the acidic water…
A sight of a hamster being thrown into the shredder alive.
"It's. Painful. Stop. Stop this. I. Beg."
A sight of the parrot's been made to wear the electric hat that's almost burn himself from the inside out.
Or… The cry of other animals from being made to experience different kinds of torture.
I was wrong, calling this illusion might be an understatement. In fact, what I'm witnessing right now is…
Nightmare
…
I blinked, then found myself in the dark space again. But there's a slight difference.
In front of me, I noticed the bookshelf, the small table with a cup of black coffee on top of it, A long, standing lamp. And also, the huge chair that's bigger than me.
I have only seen the back of the chair. But I also noticed an arm, the hand that's holding the book, the finger that's flipping each page gently. The words written on each page are barely visible from where I stand.
And I barely see her shoulder. The huge display of the chair is blocking my view of her appearance from behind.
Then I thought to myself…
(Should I approach her?)
Whoever she is, I'm certain she wasn't normal that I can just go shout out to her as if nothing happened.
I have my guard up, despite that I have nothing but my bare hands. Even so, I have nowhere else to go but forward…
Approaching her, the first thing I do is to speak to her.
Then she suddenly closed the book, deliberately stopping my voice at the moment.
Gently putting the book on the table, she elegantly took the cup filled with black coffee and took a sip of it. Thus, following up with the voice, two words to describe the voice…
Feminine and Mature
"Pet shop, a weapon created by the Cult of Pets. They begin by experimenting on the animals, tamed or otherwise, with the intent to turn them into their weapon. Their deed has been made known to the public. Even so, many turn their eyes from those animals. And very few show resentment toward their actions."
The voice began to tell the stories of the Pet Shop of The Cult of Pets and its origin.
"By killing the animals in different way possible, the moment of their torture began to scribble onto their instinct. The instinct, which can be described as muscle memory inside the carcass, has been made to feed the other animal to gain that instinct. The repeated cycle of feeding the instinct continues; they believed they had what it takes to create their greatest weapon."
"In fact, their plan backfired. As the more instinct they've been made to fed, the more acknowledge they gain. And the more self aware instilled in their mind. Soon, their final experiment began by injecting each of the animals with the syringe."
"The syringe they've been inject made their bone and skulls melt, turned them into an almost animal costume look-alike. Then, by lumping them all together into the single giant flesh meatball, the animal began to merge."
"Merging into what they say? Some mistook them for a lion, and some of them said they look like a wolf. No matter how you see it, it was a dog, through and through."
…
"Y-Yes! It's finally completed! With this, we'll finally be able to crush those Holy cult scum!"
"The others began by celebrating the result of their "deed". Meanwhile, The Dog gazing at their face one by one. Gaining the previously memory and experience of the sacrificed animal, the feeling of wrath rose within him."
"No, it was them."
…
"AAARRRRGGGHHH!!! H-HAVE MERCY ON US!!!"
"Y-You… After all we've done for you- URK!"
"No no no no no I haven't done anything to you but simply turn a blind eye- EEEK!"
"A massacre, one could say. In a closed space where it has restricting entry and exit access. Almost nobody made it far to the safety. Even if they have, they'll later be chased down by the very ultimate predator they created."
"It didn't take an effort for The Dog to crush down every obstacle in its way, even the metal door that blocked the only exit to that place."
…
"Every unit on standby! Prepare to shoot down the target!"
"Soon, they'll learn the dangerous existence of The Pet Shop."
…
"A rat- No, The Hamsters, crushing down and inflicting panic on the soldier, devour whole like a living tsunami. The Rabbits, hunting down any hidden prey even in the most darkest corner. The Cats, using their tactical intelligence, plow down every plan that's been grafted by the soldier, pushing them all to the corner of the world."
…
"Even so, Pet Shop is but just one factor of the destruction of Wanth. The purposed weapon created below the Pet Shop becomes a weapon that destroy themself, in the end, all lives are gone. Only similar creatures exist, if they had intelligence to be reasoned with, that is…"
The storyteller glanced at me as soon as she finished her story. Was it to find my expression amusing? Only she knows.
"How was it? Were you entertained?"
Our eyes met each other, to answer her question… Entertained? After all the stuff I've been through?
"Were you… The one who sent me to this place?"
Hearing my question, she took another sip of her cup…
"Whether I was the one who sent you to that place… Who knows?"
She chuckle. I don't like it, I don't like her answer…
I approach her, I wanna grab her by her collar, shout in her face, questioning if she's the one who writes my fate.
And again, an invisible wall was created between me and her. It's frustrating, to be stopped right before my eyes.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
I punched the wall as hard as I could, even if my fist were to bleed. I end up letting out my frustration on that invisible barrier, a mirror.
In the mirror, I saw my reflection. A light skin, black hair. I'm just a normal guy. And suddenly, I've been hit by yet another headache, it was so severe that it immediately sent me lying on the floor, in the dark space, in front of her. As I was about to pass out, I vividly heard her…
"But… I'm certain I have nothing to do with your fate. After all, I'm merely nothing but a spectator. May we meet again, Ten."
…
...
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