The Road to Hell

Framing Hanley blasted through my cheap headphones that I used at work.

I had been mopping for what felt like forever... the guys in the labs had really trashed the place today, and of course the night crew—me and old Ed, who could barely move and just really hung on to the cleaning cart that squeaked all the way up and down the halls—got stuck with all the work.

I didn’t get it. There were at least 15 people on the day shift.

Lazy asses!

I sat down heavily in one of the chairs by the station that had made the biggest mess.

I leaned back and put my feet up. The yellow work boots clashed with the old industrial steel of the consoles.

These guys needed to be less messy. I don’t care what people say about job security, I would be lucky to get all of this done tonight, and they needed an upgrade badly! Even I could see that.

I ran a hand through my dirty blonde shag—I needed a haircut, but it wasn’t in the budget—and scratched in agitation.

Looking at the consoles, I realized that they must have REALLY been having a bad day... they had left a number of switches ON. They were normally all turned off and put to low-power mode for the night.

Ugh, my hand was itching.

I looked down to see that it had some of that purple glittery goop on it that I’d just mopped up.

Oh hell, great. Just great!

I hoped I hadn’t accidentally touched something that was going to give me brain cancer!

I seriously needed to get a different job... but damn, poor Ed would be all alone. That dude was awesome but really needed to retire.

I wiped my hand off on my bright blue coverall jumpsuit.

I blew out a breath. I was already exhausted.

I stared at the switches that were on.... Well, it wasn’t my business, and besides, this wasn’t my area—I didn’t get paid enough to care—but on the other hand it was pretty clear that these guys had had their hands full today.

Ah hell with it.

I flipped the switches to off and levered myself up out of the chair, only to find myself slightly stuck... like I had sat in taffy or something. I pulled harder and finally pulled free.

When I inspected the seat, I found the glitter goop climbing up the seat and over it toward the console.

I pulled the chair away, and the goop tried to reach the console again.

Oh hell!

What had these guys been playing with?

I ran toward the big yellow shutdown button across the room on the wall by the door that I came in. It was procedure if something went wrong with an experiment.

There was no trace of purple glitter goop anywhere else.

I was midway when I slipped on something and went down on my back, HARD!

The wind knocked out of my lungs, and I immediately looked around for what I had slipped on. These boots had the best traction I’d ever seen.

I looked and looked until I saw a glitter on the edge of the sole of my left boot.

What the hell was this stuff?

It started to make its way up my boot when I heard a strange buzzing. It was starting to drown out the music, so I pulled off my headphones and looked around.

The lab had taken on a faint aquatic blue glow.

It had been well lit just a few minutes ago.

I definitely did not get paid enough for this!

The glow seemed to be intensifying in the center of the room.

As I watched in awe, metal petals unfolded in the center of the room to reveal a clear acrylic—or maybe heavy plexiglass—cylinder that glowed with that same aqua light.

It wasn’t the petals or the cylinder or the light that held me in awe...

It was the beautiful creature that floated within the viscous liquid that the pillar encapsulated.

All glowing fins and pearlescent skin.

It was reminiscent of some sort of bioluminescent sea creature, but it had distinctly humanoid features and a humanoid bent to its body shape. Its back fins looked like a filmy white dress. Its skin looked to be made of silk.

Then it opened its eyes.

Human-looking eyes, but they were blue and filled with that same purple glitter goop... it was streaming down the creature’s face.

These were its TEARS???

Oh my god!

What had these crazy scientists made in here???

The thing was clearly miserable.

I wanted to help it.

At that thought, it smiled ?

I felt a pressure in my head and noticed that the purple glitter goop had closed over my hand and run up my arm to my shoulder and then to my neck. It was currently on my face, at my temple.

It moved fast!

I heard the softest, most melodious voice in my mind.

“Please help me.”

“What?” My voice sounded shaken even to me.

The creature in the tank floated closer to the tank wall and nodded.

“You can hear me, in here.” It pointed to its forehead.

I got up and walked over to the tank. I looked up at the creature and nodded.

“I guess I can... what are you? What is your name?”

It smiled again. “Melveran... and you are... Shane?”

I nodded. “How did you know?”

It nodded to the doorway where Old Ed was wheeling the cart toward me.

“He told me.”

I looked from it to Ed and back again.

“How long have you been in there?”

It looked contemplative.

“I don’t know. The stars looked like this when I saw them last.”

It mentally shot me a picture of the stars in a particular pattern.

I pulled out my phone and checked.

Those star patterns were from 60 years ago.

What the hell!?

It looked sad and nodded.

“Time is difficult to calculate here. So 60 cycles... not too long... not as long as it felt, truthfully.”

I looked at It incredulously. “60 years is a really long time.”

It smiled.

“Not really, when you think about it. But I do wish to be free again. Please let me go... Shane... Please free me.”

I wanted to. I felt horrible for this creature... it was worse that it knew freedom and had been caged. Who knew how long it had left?

If it were me, I wouldn’t want to be locked up for my life.

But something was off.

This was a high-security facility... if it was locked up then there had to be a reason why.

Maybe it was dangerous... even though it didn’t feel dangerous.

It felt miserable and lonely.

But there was an almost regal quality to it... a dignity in spite of its captivity.

I shook my head.

I needed to think.

“Why were you put in there?”

It looked at me and shook its head, sending its fins twirling. “I don’t know. I was brought here and put in this. No one explained. I would very much like to be free. I wish to see the stars again.”

I nodded. I got that.

Then a thought struck me.

“Wait, how come you have never spoken before?”

It floated a bit.

“I have been talking the entire time I’ve been here. No one has heard me except for him.”

It pointed at Ed, who had come closer.

I blinked at the creature.

“The whole time?”

It nodded. I felt an openness from it... an earnestness.

“I don’t know how to let you go free,” I admitted belatedly.

The creature smiled wider then and lifted a finny... hand? Pointing to the console.

“That lever. Push it up and it will flush this tank. I will be free.”

I looked at the lever it spoke of—marked with a DO NOT TOUCH branded on it in bright red lettering—and looked back at the creature with uncertainty.

It nodded confidently.

Ed got closer still with the cleaning cart, its creaking the only noise save for the hum of the machines in the lab.

I made the decision and strode over to push the lever.

Once pressed, sirens and alarms screamed everywhere at once.

The tank in the middle of the room bubbled and flushed out all over the concrete lab floor. A seam appeared in the cylindrical tank and then it split open.

The creature slid out with the tank liquid.

I was worried that I had just killed the thing when it levied itself up and metamorphosed into a much more humanoid creature with legs.

It stood with liquid running off of it and smiled at me.

“Thank you, Shane.”

It stretched and wriggled.

It held out a hand to Ed, who pulled an odd-looking bronze cuff with tiny lights moving over its surface from his cleaning cart.

He handed it to the creature, and the creature took it, slipping it on its wrist.

It took a large breath and then grinned and nodded at Ed, who slid up his coveralls sleeve and twisted the twin of the cuff he had handed the creature moments ago.

A strange ripple went through Ed... like a ripple on the surface of a lake, and a slight bit of that purple glitter goop oozed down his arm and onto the floor.

In a ripple, he wasn’t old Ed anymore...

He was a larger and fiercer-looking version of the creature from the tank.

I stared at them and blinked.

Now I was getting nervous.

What had I done?

The creature looked at me and gave a high-pitched trill.

“What indeed, Shane? I couldn’t speak to a human mind because your scientists found a way to mute the mindspeak. That switch on the left that you turned off—that is what allowed me to speak to you. That and my blood that Edosv here carefully laid out on the floor for you to find.”

It gestured to what used to be old Ed, who stood stock-still with his head held high.

I backed up toward the consoles.

I knew there was no way I could get to the shutdown button... but I could seal this lab if I didn’t hear something to ease my mind real fast.

“Shane, now don’t go doing that. Edosv—break the circuit.”

Ed went and began working on the electrical.

He was shockingly fast now.

So it had all been an act.

“Done,” he called, his voice steady and strong.

I felt my jaw drop. “I did all of the cleaning work for you for over 2 years... and you let me do it?? Damn it, Ed?!”

He nodded.

“I thank thee.”

He grinned.

I felt foolish.

The creature nodded. “Yes, you are what your species deems a good person. It’s why you let me out. Compassion. What is that saying of your people... something about the road to hell and good intentions? Well, Shane... the invasion of your world has been delayed for 60 years. It’s time that I got back to it.”

Ed bowed deeply. “My queen.”

I slid down the console bay and stared at this creature.

I hadn’t meant any harm.

I closed my eyes as the creature’s claws came down across my chest.