Janus

“Bring her in,” the lab supervisor, Magnus, commanded as he barged into the waiting surveillance room.

“Yes, sir,” Nathan passed the command along to the guard through his headset.

They watched through the video feed, along with the technicians in the room, as the lab’s solid, metal door unlocked and swung open to allow a young woman, Andrea Samson, to enter the near-empty, blazingly white interior. The man Nathan had spoken to a moment ago reminded Andrea of her instructions and placed a key on the tray she held before giving her a nod. The door closed behind Andrea, leaving her alone with… it.

It was a pale, bald man sitting cross-legged in the center of the room biting his lips. He paid no attention to Andrea, his focus racing around the room, never concentrating for more than a couple seconds on a single spot.

“Hello?” Andrea ventured towards him with small, slow steps. Before getting too close, she grabbed the key off the tray and slipped it into her pocket. “What’s your name?”

His head jerked up at her greeting and he squinted, leaning forward to inspect her.  In a calm, level voice, he said, “They didn’t tell you?”

Andrea shook her head and tentatively placed the supper tray on the floor in front of him before stepping back to give him some space.

“They,” he glanced up at the camera in the corner concentrated on him. “Call me Janus.”

“I see,” Andrea said in quiet fascination as Janus cut up his meal and silently chewed as if he were at a formal banquet. “Well, my name is �"“

“No,” Janus said, vigorously shaking his head. “No, no, no. Do not tell me your name.”

Andrea gulped. “Okay, I just thought that maybe I should introduce myself since I’ll be the one bringing you your meals from now on. Your last caretaker, Col-“

“No!” Janus slammed his fork and knife onto the tray and scowled at Andrea, almost growling as he said, “Do not tell me his name either! I do not want to know the name of you, of him, nor the caretakers in the future! Is that clear?”

Andrea’s eyes were wide as she backed off, keeping her eyes on him although he seemed to calm down immediately. Janus resumed eating as if he had never spoken to her, nearly finished his meal.

“I’ll be back again tomorrow,” she said after a moment, gradually returned to the door without turning her back on Janus. The guard had assured her that the subject wasn’t dangerous, but she couldn’t help but doubt.

 “Good-bye,” Janus muttered, focussing on the last bites of his meal.

Fumbling with the key, Andrea tried to unlock the metal door. When it wouldn’t budge, she frowned and pushed on the door a little and jiggled the key. She silently cursed as she slammed her palm into the door to grab the guard’s attention. When no one came, she called out, “Excuse me? The door’s not opening. Could someone unlock it, please?”

Before she could start yelling at the guard to come unlock the door, she felt the sharp blade of a knife cleanly slit her throat. Nathan flinched as he watched the scene unfold on screen. Despite having witnessed Janus in that form many time before, he still winced at Janus’ ferocity with his victims.

Janus’ once pale skin was now like faded charcoal with fingers extended into what could only be described as claws. His muscles grew and rippled over his body, giving him inhuman strength. He lifted Andrea off the floor by her hair as if she were nothing more than a doll and flung her limp body across the room. He watched as it slumped into a heap on the ground before glaring up at the camera with rich silver eyes and snarling.

Dismissing the men surveying him, he continued on, advancing through the drops of blood towards Andrea’s corpse. With cannibalistic hunger, Janus tore off her arm from the socket and began feasting once again.

Nathan turned away from the brutal scene and asked Magnus, “What is your assessment, sir? Do you have a use for him?”

Magnus considered the question as he observed Janus rip his victim’s body apart and select the meatiest parts to devour first. He contemplated how Janus went about the carnage and after a moment, he regarded Nathan coldly and said, “Keep him.”

With that, he turned away and exited the surveillance room. Nathan ran his fingers through his hair and returned to the video. Janus stood by Andrea’s bones and dropped her severed, skeletal hand into the bundle. Janus had returned to his human appearance since his appetite had been fully satisfied and he stared at his blood-soaked hands, saying, “My fate… Has it been decided?”

He waited for a moment and smirked when no executioners came storming in to kill him. It was an ordeal he knew of from the past screams of other subjects during their executions and the eerie silence that followed as the pulpy mess was cleaned up. He figured it wasn’t a particularly pleasant ordeal.

Janus clenched his fists and screamed at the camera, “Hey, Nathan!”

Nathan went cold in his seat and stared stiffly at the screen.

“I look forward to the day when you come to feed me,” Janus gave him a bloody grin. “Until then, brother,” he returned to his seat in the center of the room, amid the blood and scattered bones, and furiously scratched at his arms.

All eyes focussed on Nathan in the surveillance room with only the occasional beep of equipment to interrupt the stillness. Nathan couldn’t take his eyes off of his brother, knowing full-well that he was right and Magnus would throw him into the lion pit just like Andrea once he finds that he doesn’t have a use for him. After taking a moment to recover and consider his options, Nathan took a breath and said into his headpiece, “Bring in the executioners.”

 

Author's Note

Hey, I guess just let me know what you think I could fix/add. Any criticism or suggestions are welcome. Also, if you can think of another way to start the story, that'd be nice- I don't think the story has a particularly catchy hook, you know? But I can't think of anything. Thanks so much if you read it

Reviews

[Axel Wright]

There are really nice twists and turns both in point of view and in plot. backed up with gruesome scenery amd brutal morality to make it all stronger. The first twist is my favorite because it completely changes the way the story is experienced, I don't wanna go into specifics to keep my review spoiler free. In short, its brutal, surprising, effective and interesting. Nicely done, I liked it.

[Old Heathen]

The story definitely leaves you wanting to know more. The start was good but I guess you could begin with more about Andrea. Let the reader get to know her a little better for a more intense reaction? Thumbs up from me.