Anomaly Story

(POV – Protagonista)

Since I arrived at this new facility, isolated in the middle of nowhere, it's been about three hours. There's nothing as convenient as a clock in this room they put me in, so I started counting the time since I entered. My calculations might not be perfect, but overall, I estimate it's been roughly three hours.

By the way, nothing has happened since they put me here. Honestly, when I first heard about Base 17, I imagined anomalies running wild all over the place. However, contrary to what I expected, the place is pretty organized, and so far, I haven't seen anything that looks like an anomaly. Of course, I haven't explored the base enough to say that for sure.

Also, every now and then, Laura or Victor come to visit me. Laura, especially, always jokes around with me when she passes by. Usually, she comes by every twenty minutes and spends about eight to ten minutes with me. And, well, if you think it's weird that I joke around like a child, even though I'm an adult inside, imagine what you'd do in a completely white room with nothing to do but lie down and stare at the ceiling. I didn't have much choice: either I played along with her, or I'd die of boredom.

My first thought, honestly, was to leave the base and explore the place. But unfortunately, there was no furniture in the room, not even anything that cast any kind of shadow. When I asked Laura for something, she only replied that we wouldn't be here for long and asked for my patience, stroking my head with a smile. At that moment, all I could think about was throwing a tantrum - yes, and I'm not proud of it.

Anyway, all I could do at that moment was just wait for something to happen. But as nothing was happening, I just kept track of time passing in my mind — or rather, I started to seriously feel sleepiness creeping in.

(Since nothing is happening, I guess I'll take a nap)

Even with the hard floor, I didn't feel any discomfort. Technically, I couldn't even feel discomfort — probably because I don't feel pain either. I considered it just one of the perks of being an anomaly. With that thought, I finally closed my eyes and fell asleep peacefully.

***

(POV – ???)

Two men, dressed in snow gear and holding objects that resembled weapons but with strange, distinct appearances, were sitting on two rocks. The snow kept falling, and it looked like it was going to intensify. In front of them, a large black lake stretched out, the water so still it gave the impression that time had frozen there.

Strangely, even with the snow falling heavily, not a single flake touched the water, as if the snow was simply ignoring its existence. And if that wasn't weird enough, mysterious sounds began coming from the forest. Both men felt an unsettling sensation that something was watching them.

"I can't take this shit anymore! We've been here for five hours and nothing's happening! Why the hell are we still at Base 17? This place used to release stuff almost every month, and it's been four months since anything's happened. This damn lake is definitely dead!"

The man beside him raised an eyebrow, perplexed, trying to understand what the hell his partner was saying. It was just a damn lake — how exactly do you "kill" a lake? The man decided to ignore the thought, believing that his shift mate was going crazy from standing there, staring at the lake.

"Stop talking nonsense and focus. Our shift's almost over, so hang in there a little longer"

The other man snorted at his partner's words but thought the same thing inside. The lake had been inactive for four months; nothing came from it, no changes were happening. Still, they had to endure the freezing cold to watch over this stupid lake.

"Hey... is it just me, or is the snow really picking up?"

The man was snapped out of his thoughts by his companion's voice. He quickly looked around, and as the other had said, the snow seemed to be getting worse, to the point where neither of them could see anything ahead. The lake, on the other hand, remained untouched, as if it were isolated from everything happening around it.

"Contact Base 17 and report what's going on"

The other man just nodded and then took out an old-fashioned phone. Although electronic devices generally didn't work near the lake, this phone was different — it was an anomaly. There were two of them: one for receiving and one for making calls. His partner was holding the one that made the calls.

Despite there being no signal or any other means of communication, the call could always be received. This was the only way the guards watching over the lake could report back to Base 17.

"Report: We're in charge of guarding the lake at Base 17. The snow has intensified considerably. Requesting permission to leave the post until the blizzard stops"

The man quickly heard the conversation between the two before turning his gaze back to the lake. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on a specific spot, not because it was necessary, but because he felt like he had seen something move in the black water of the lake.

"What snow are you talking about? Are you serious? Did you drink on duty or something? Don't you see it's snowing so hard you can barely see anything in front of you?"

The man briefly heard the conversation beside him, but for some reason, his eyes couldn't leave the lake. He was sure he had seen something move in the water just before. That thought made his feet move, slowly and calmly, toward the lake. When he got close enough, he looked at the black surface, but there was nothing. However, for some reason, he felt like something was watching him back.

"What the hell is going on now? Hey! They said there wouldn't be a blizzard at Base 17... why are you standing there, staring at the lake?"

Upon hearing his partner's words, the man momentarily turned toward him, raising an eyebrow. His thoughts were confused as he wondered, "Why am I staring at the lake so much? I thought I saw something, but there's nothing" He was even more unsettled when he looked back at the lake.

Something began to emerge from the black water, extremely thin, almost the thickness of a pencil. The man tilted his head slightly, and his hands moved, almost on their own, toward the lake. He wondered, internally, why the hell he was doing this. His mind felt foggy, working strangely, as a subtle and irresistible urge drove him to touch that thing rising from the lake.

"Hey, man, I don't know what's going on with you, but touching that black water is definitely a bad idea"

The man didn't pay attention, or rather, it was as if he couldn't hear anything around him anymore—only the sound coming from the lake. A soft, sweet, and tempting voice, calling to him. But sometimes, these voices can be the whispers of one's own demons. Suddenly, something jumped out of the water with a deafening noise.

A tentacle, with several oval mouths where the suckers should have been, grabbed the man. One of the tentacles wrapped around his feet, another coiled around his body, and the last one engulfed his head. Then, he was pulled into the lake, not making a sound, as one of the mouths kept him from screaming.

The other man widened his eyes, his mind unable to process what had just happened. Then, another tentacle emerged, slowly moving toward him. It moved so slowly that, to the man, time seemed frozen—advancing stealthily, like a silent predator.

"Ahhhhhhh! Damn, damn, damn! Stupid tentacle, die already!"

The man shouted as loudly as he could while firing his gun at the monster. To his relief, after the last burst, the tentacle fell to the ground, completely still. His heart raced, and his legs trembled uncontrollably—but he was relieved, almost happy.

"I'm still alive... I need to get out of this damn forest and report what happened, before something else shows up"

With that thought, the man turned around. However, as soon as he took the first step, a new sound echoed behind him. Swallowing hard, he began to turn slowly. When he finally completed the movement, the first thing he saw was another tentacle. He quickly pointed his gun, but before he could fire, another tentacle appeared. And another, and another, until, one after another, massive tentacles emerged from the lake.

The man's eyes widened, dropping his weapon as he knelt, staring at the scene in front of him in complete despair. "It's over. There's no way I'm getting out of this alive" he thought, overwhelmed by fear.

"This wasn't in the reports! I've never seen anything like this before!"

These were the last words of the man before the tentacles attacked. First, he was lifted by his feet and turned upside down. In an instant, his body fell back to the ground. The man looked at his legs... or at least what was left of them. In place of his limbs were only exposed bones, with blood gushing relentlessly.

"Ahhh! What the hell, this hurts! It hurts so much!"

The man screamed and turned, desperately trying to flee from the creature and get away from the lake. But in the end, he was caught again. The beast lifted him once more, ripped off his arms, and devoured them hungrily. Then, it wrapped around his head and began to pull. What followed was a grotesque scene as his head was torn from his body before the creature dragged what was left of him into the depths of the black lake.

After the event, the blizzard slowly began to die down, returning to the fine, constant snow that always fell in that place. The lake, in turn, returned to its monotonous routine, remaining in complete silence and stillness, making no sound or movement.

***

(POV – Protagonist)

Unfortunately, my brief moment of rest was abruptly interrupted. When I woke up, I noticed a loud, screeching sound echoing through the base, while red lights flashed incessantly in the room I was in. Surely, the same scene must have been repeating through the installation's hallways.

(Did another anomaly escape again? Although, as far as I remember, there are no other anomalies in this base except for me...)

At times like this, the most sensible thing would probably be to stay in the room and wait for the chaos to pass. But since when do I consider myself a sensible person? Even if I wanted to leave, how exactly would I do that? As I mentioned earlier, this place doesn't cast shadows, or at least it didn't until now. With the red lights flashing, there are times when everything is completely dark.

I took advantage of the moment when the red light blinked and plunged everything into darkness to activate my power. A golden field extended about a meter around my body. While the outside remained as usual, everything within the range of the golden field became completely dark.

(Oh! It really worked... I wonder how exactly this works. This doesn't even fit into the category of something alive; I thought the field only stopped living beings from entering it, but it seems like it interrupts everything around me)

Despite the curiosity, I pushed the thought aside and immersed myself in the shadow. Inside that world of pure darkness, I looked up and began to "swim" guiding myself by what I could see above me. As soon as I passed through the door that kept me locked in, I leaped out.

I looked around, but there was nothing—no guards, no anomalies—just the loud, annoying sound and the red lights flashing. The hallway looked straight out of a horror movie, and I had the strange feeling that something could emerge from the darkness at any moment to grab me. Despite the desperate situation, only one thought crossed my mind at that moment.

(Damn it, Victor, I knew staying in the same place was a bad idea)