Awake

There was only one rule: don't open the door. It wasn't until the fourteenth day of the experiment that they thought of breaking it.

The chamber was sealed and closed. On day five, the subjects complained of paranoia and frequently whispered into the mics. On day nine, they started screaming relentlessly, as if attacking each other. They covered the windows with what could only be assumed to be a mixture of blood and fecal matter.

Three days had passed in complete silence. Special Operative Kabalevsky was the first to suggest opening the chamber.

"We have to know if the subjects are still alive."

"We know that they're alive," said Researcher Roshchin, "The screens show that oxygen is still being consumed by all five subjects, at an even greater rate than when they first went in."

"Then we need to check the microphones," Kabalevsky continued, "They've been too quiet."

"Maybe they're... sleeping?"

All eyes turned to face Officer Inkin. He was the latest recruit, and the least qualified. Kabalevsky often asked himself why the boy was even there.

"They're not asleep," Kabalevsky said, "The gas has been pumping in there consistently. It kept them awake over a week."

"But-"

"The gas works. ради бога, we know they're awake in there! So open the door."

Inkin cast a hesitant look at Roshchin, his heart racing in his chest. Roshchin pressed the intercom button, and stated "We are opening the chamber now. We're turning off the gas. Step away from the opening. Do not move or you will be shot."

The sound of the door unlocking echoed in Inkin's ears. Kabalevsky gripped the handle, endured a moment of hesitation, and pulled. The other two gripped their guns.

They couldn't see what he was seeing. Just the horrified look on his face.

One of the subjects snarled in a low growl, "That was a mistake."

The other two officers could only stare and blink as the subject ran at Kabalevsky and ripped his throat out cleanly through his skin. The other subjects began screaming.

A/N

When I found this challenge, I knew I wanted to write an entry based on the Russian Sleep Experiment. You can find more information about the experiment here.

It was definitely hard to manage the small word count, and there's so much more to this experiment, but I hope it still had enough of a creepy effect!

Thank you for spending some time with me!

♡♡♡ Belle ♡♡♡