A Horror Collection

4/12

Just as I thought I had discovered the means to create a better world for those around me, it is taken away.

15 years of searching. 15 years of trying to find a conclusion to something that had no definite answer. 15 years of feeling like my life had served some sort of purpose to the world around me. 15 years wasted by a dream.

The dream was lost today. It was lost only a few minutes ago when Park informed me that the department was being shut down. He told it to me in such a harsh manner.

“We no longer wish to fund your department. Gather your things and leave.”

After five minutes of throwing a tantrum and wishing his company to run itself into the ground without me, I took my leave. We were making strides in the world. People were benefiting from my project.

Just last week, I had received a letter from a woman in Taiwan. Her father had been impaled by a falling roof and had to amputate his left leg and his middle finger, index finger, and thumb removed from his right hand. He was 63 years old. He’s now bedridden, and a representative of ours (mine—Luiz worked as MY employee) made contact with the family to test out the product. After eight months, he showed remarkable improvement. He was able to walk about, albeit with a slight limp, and can carry up to 150 pounds. His hands were also doing very nicely and has been improving his cognitive skills along with his writing. She thanked us profusely for helping her father.

If Park only knew the kinds of people this could help, he would change his mind about his decision. Sure, he wants to throw all his money at stem cell research and cancer prevention, but his real attention should be geared towards my work. Of course, he once did have faith in me, but that was years ago.

I suppose it started to all go downhill in 2013. That was when we released the first generation out into the public for trials. Everything was great. All patients improved on their various disabilities, some even claimed they improved past the point they were at pre-illness or pre-accident. It was Park, that slimy bastard, who decided we needed more time, it was Park who called for us to stop being so zealous over our discovery. I never knew what had gotten into him.

Leaving the office with a box stuffed with papers and pens almost felt liberating, however. As soon as I took in the fresh air, it dawned on me that maybe this was a sign that I shouldn’t have relied on Park to begin with. All that time and research was from my efforts, not him, so I surely can proceed on my own. Everything would have to be run from my apartment. I couldn’t risk joining a new company, working my way back up, and risk denial of my work. I could call a few people, pull a few strings, maybe call Luiz and see if he’ll do some more advertising for me.

First, to the pet store. I’m sure I can find some things there that I’ll need. Then the general market. And maybe to a café and get some tea for the evening. I can call Naomi in the morning and see what she can do for me.

4/13

I’ve got everything set up in my apartment. Victor came by last night after he heard the news and brought everything else I needed. He’ll be staying here and helping me with my research from here on out. Naomi stopped by as well just an hour ago. She said she would have to think about it, but I’m sure she’ll come around.

My trip to the pet store was great. I was able to get everything I needed to get started and more for any worst-case-scenarios. Victor has started on the filtering process now, it should be a few more days of incubation before we can continue the process. Everything is looking great so far.

Shove it, Park.

4/16

Naomi came by again. The three of us sat down and had a long discussion. She’s in.

4/18

Incubation is complete!

Victor and I separated the pods and I have started on the alchemical portion of the experiment. I had to send Victor down to the apothecary and then to the garden shoppe to see if he could find lichen of any kind. I may have to send him camping if he comes back empty handed.

We have two pods for testing. One focuses on adipogenic differentiation. Cells multiplying into other cells. The other is a combined source of proteins and plant fibers with resilient properties, thus the need for lichen. Eventually, as the two pods improve, we should be able to combine them and continue onto the next step.

4/21

Victor was able to find the lichen. He found a decent specimen, a foliose sample in particular. Good. He has his doubts, he called during his camping trip and had concerns over the sulphur dioxide components of the plant. I told him I would take care of it, to just gather the samples and hurry back.

Pod 1 is showing great results.

Pod 2 should start improving once the lichen is broken down, mixed, and injected into the seed.

4/22

Wow!

Overnight, Pod 2 changed IMMENSELY. No sulfur dioxide was detected from the lichen, so it seems my efforts payed off. The surface acts like mercury—it rejects anything less dense than itself. A little worrying, but it is exactly what we need to continue. Victor and I will commence mixture of the two pods.

I called Naomi and told her we would need her help in a couple days. I hope she pulls through.

4/23

Some men showed up asking about our work. Victor showed them to the door.

4/24

I still can’t believe how quickly this project has come together. Mixing the pods worked out exactly the way we had anticipated. It is definitely hard, doing this work without the proper lab equipment, but I’m thankful it worked.

The new pod is ready to go for vial testing. I have more faith in this project than I do in any other modern medicine. Perhaps maybe even more than I would have in god, if I believed in him. This would negate the need for such a being anyhow.

4/25

Naomi came over, just has she had promised. After a few stinging remarks on my disheveled hair and baggy eyes, I directed her attention to the project. I had loaded a small dose, about 8.5mL in total, and walked her through the process.

“This should be enough. Give it two days, come back and we will discuss what you want to do next. If you wish to back out, I understand.”

She agreed, and Victor put her under anesthesia. I had a little trouble with the bow saw once I hit bone, but luckily I was able to saw through before she woke. We let her rest, gave her some painkillers when she woke up, and injected the cure. For now, we are calling it Reg-5.

4/26

I know I told Naomi not to call yet, but I’m getting anxious.

4/27

She didn’t arrive until the end of the day. And, wow. Reg-5 is working much quicker than we could have hoped for. Already, we see that the wound had completely healed and was starting to bulge.

We took her out for a meal to celebrate, and I could have sworn I saw those men from just a few days ago, watching us. Victor told me I was being paranoid. I agreed, so we spent the rest of the night drinking and reveling in our success.

4/29

Saw Naomi again today…what she showed the two of us was surely revolutionary.

We had just sawn off her calf just below the knee on the 25th. It is the 29th, four days later, and she already has baby toes sprouting from a completely normal-looking foot. Reg-5 seems to be much more promising than we originally anticipated. We may be able to start mass producing soon if we take this to a big company. Or perhaps we should go an underground route and take it to Asia and South America. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. We must take note on any side effects this may have.

4/30

Last day of April.

Naomi and I went out to get tea and breakfast this morning. I hope she didn’t realize I only wished to observe, the lass was acting as if this was a social, possibly romantic, outing. While I admit she’s a fine woman, I have a career on the line. I can’t distract myself now, not when I’m so close. However, she seems to be fine. Her eyes seem to radiate with a healthy glow, and she holds a much brighter expression than she ever has in the past 18 months of knowing her. Side effects, if any, seem to be benign and of no significance.

5/3

Victor made me run home today. At first I thought he was freaking out over nothing—didn’t help that he wouldn’t tell me the issue. Of course, I can see what he is talking about now…

Naomi was waiting there with him when I arrived. As soon as she looked up from her mug I could see the side-effects taking shape. Her iris and pupil had grown in diameter, almost blocking out the sclera entirely. Her iris was a hazey deep purple, a very unusual change from her previously brown eyes. However…everything else was normal. No other changes, and the change in her eyes seemed to be cosmetic only. I do not believe this will be of any consequence to us.

5/4

Victor refuses to release the first batch of Reg-5 to the public. Fine. I can do without him.

I called Luiz, luckily the man is doing some work down in Chile this summer. I told him I would be sending him 100 vials of the Reg-5 to distribute to anyone he finds needing it. I promised another batch to follow in a month, and to contact me when he moves so I can send the next packages accordingly. We have a deal. It may not be the most legal way of going about this, but I can’t risk exposing myself here.

5/5

The men came again today. Since Victor moved out last night, he wasn’t here to tell them to shove off for me. Surprisingly, though…it was an insightful visit. They are actually very interested in helping me move Reg-5 to the public and have agreed to some seedier terms. Soon the cure will be all over southern and eastern Asia, helping them in ways they couldn’t have dreamed of.

5/6

Naomi came by again today for some physical therapy. The leg is working just fine. Overall, her reflexes have improved immensely. She said she was thinking of taking up sports. It’d be a grand idea, especially with the improvements she’s made with the treatment. We also tested her eyes some more as they have not changed since her previous visit. Remarkably, she can see…everything. She has hyper-awareness to her surroundings when her vision is obscured. What she describes is almost like the way a bat navigates through echo-location. It’s tricky to describe. But there is no harm in this discovery either. She seems happy with the change, and so am I.

5/8

I saw Victor at the general store today. He didn’t speak to me.

5/9

Fuck. Oh, god.

A motorist ran me over as I was crossing the walk today downtown. Fuck. Now I’m in the hospital, no way to contact anyone. I have a collapsed lung, two broken legs, a crushed hand and a concussion to top it all off. For Christ’s sake. I can’t afford any of this.

5/10

Somehow, Naomi caught wind of my accident. She visited me in the hospital today…thank god for her. I lent her my key and told her to bring me five vials of the Reg-5.

5/11

Naomi was able to bring me the cure and helped me inject each dose. It’ll be a painful few days of recovery, but I feel better knowing my own treatment will heal me rather than this shoddy, rich-mans “modern medicine” that these quacks are trying to offer me.

5/20

Finally released from the hospital today. It was quite funny, seeing the doctors struggle to figure out how my body was fixing itself so quickly. Every time a bone snapped back into place or a scar disappeared with no visual confirmation of trauma in front of that doctor I burst out laughing at his failure as a healer. He has no right to compare himself to me.

5/21

I found out today that I really don’t like tea. I don’t quite care for any vegetable, honestly.

5/22

Naomi called. We went out for a dinner. Honestly, I take back what I said before, she is obviously into me on a romantic and sexual level. I don’t know why I denied my feelings towards her. She’s a lovely woman.

5/23

Looked in the mirror and my eyes have made the same change as Naomi’s did. I feel…wonderful. Strong. I’m aware of everything around me, my reflexes haven’t been this great since my twenties. I almost dropped a cup today and saved it with my own reflexes! Outstanding.

However, I did feel odd today. I went out and bought a humidifier which helped tremendously. I’ve been bumping up the heat in the apartment as well.

5/25

My skin is starting to make its own mucus.

5/26

I haven’t cared to look in the mirror since yesterday. I’m afraid to do so.

After I started exuding mucus, I noticed certain details of my body had become formless, or at least less…detailed. I’ve lost all my fingerprints. From feeling them, it seems that my ears have started to shrink, and I’ve lost certain folds in the auricle. I seem to still have facial hair but my scalp has been rejecting all of my hair, as well as my underarms which haven’t been this bald since I was 11. I’m not the hairiest man to begin with, but I can tell I have lost quite a bit of body hair as well.

5/27

I’m starting to become sensitive to light. How could this be? I took five injections of the Reg-5…I’m afraid the side-effects will start becoming worse and worse over time. I must talk to Naomi.

5/28

Naomi and I talked. She didn’t want to look at me…I must really be hideous. She suggested we ceased meeting in public.

However, I did get something positive from our meeting. She has not appeared to have changed at all, mind the eyes, so it seems the level of transformation is caused by the quantity of dose.

5/29

I can’t stand the light. I can see much better in the darkness.

The texture of my skin has changed a bit. I no longer produce as much mucus but without it my skin feels flaky and hot. I’m drinking much more water. I’m also eating a lot more meat…chicken finally settles with no outbreaks. Seems as though I’ve kicked my poultry allergy.

5/30

Naomi came over but only for a minute. She screamed as soon as she saw my face. I don’t understand why. She tried running back out the door, but I tried catching her arm as she did. She told me to let go. Something…something came over me. Like an…instinct, I suppose is how I would classify it. As soon as she tried forcing herself away, I…tackled the poor girl. I stared into those amphibious eyes and plunged my thumbs into them. The way the tissue felt under the pressure of my thumbs…it was…euphoric. It felt like I was fighting for survival and I was winning.

5/31

I haven’t moved Naomi’s body out of the apartment. It feels nice, having her around. I’m not sure if it is because I miss her company as a person or if it because I’m craving a meal.

6/1

I started packaging pieces of her to save. I don’t want any of the meat to spoil nor do I want to draw any attention towards my apartment with the smell. Luckily the duplex is somewhat secluded, and the landlord has yet to find a tenant for the apartment over.

I finally looked in the mirror today, as well. I…well I must say I enjoy the look. I hadn’t even realized my sense of smell had started to deteriorate but I had see if it was a sense I’d lost once I saw my nose had sunk into my face. I have no eyebrows nor facial hair. All of my hair is gone, honestly. My ears are now simply holes, though a flab of tissue hangs from them, likely what is left of my earlobes. My teeth…are fine. No changes. I’ve also noticed a few flabs of skin on my neck and collarbones, but I have yet to find a purpose for them. I’m definitely looking gaunt, though. Maybe I’ll have Naomi for dinner tonight.

6/2

Those men stopped by today. They didn’t seem to harbor any feelings towards my appearance…if anything they were impressed. I’m impressed as well. It’s good someone finally has faith in my work.

6/3

Luiz called me. He had made a number of injections of Reg-5 into a teenage girl who was suffering from a lung disease as well as a flesh-eating virus. While she has gotten over her ailments, he couldn’t help but worry over the seemingly amphibious traits she—and other patients, as well—had acquired after the treatment. He didn’t want to continue with this work. I told him to shove off.

6/4

I ordered a small inflatable pool a couple days ago and it’s finally arrived. Thank god for 2-day shipping. As soon as I got it set up and filled I took a small soak…I’ve never felt more at home.

6/5

Filled the pool a little higher than I had it yesterday. I made a discovery while studying my process of evolution in the mirror. I believe those “flaps” may actually be gills!

6/6

Acquisition of gills is confirmed. I can breathe underwater.

The men came back today. I told them I no longer had contact with my oversea advertising team and was willing to sell what I had meant to ship to them. I made 8.5 million today.

6/7

There is nothing more of Naomi to consume. I called Victor. I said we got off on the wrong foot and I wished to make amends.

6/8

I killed Victor when he arrived. I’ve already got him packaged and ready for further consumption.

6/9

Park came by. I decided to hide my appearance to him. I claimed I had fallen ill, but still wished to speak about how things ended.

Turns out, his company hasn’t been doing so great after my leave. Of course he is still fighting the government on his stem cell research. The strides made towards lung and breast cancer had made slight gain but nothing more.

I decided to tell him about my hit-and-run incident. At first, he was alarmed, and then naturally asked how I had healed so quickly. I took my chance to rant for a small minute about the regenerative properties of axolotl’s and various lizards, as well as the unnatural resilience of lichen in extreme environments. I proceeded to remove my headwear, scarf, sunglasses, and surgical mask. I loved the terror in his eyes when I did so. I leapt over the table and gouged his eyes out.

6/11

It’s not humid enough in here. It seems the higher the humidity, the more mucus I produce. Taking regular long soaks in the pool help as well, and it prevents my skin from feeling so irritated.

6/29

I no longer sleep. I no longer dream. The heat is high and the water is warm. The stench draws me in.