#he was so excited to see a herbert and got so excited about my syringe prop lejdkfndkfnnd

[autisticriddler]

sorry lol im gonna post about it again but

I MET THE HERBERT WEST WHILE I WAS DRESSED AS HERBERT WEST.

OMG IM NEVER RECOVERING.

[haku23]

ok my thots on re-animator 1985 will contain spoilers

-Gross. I think the head talking was the most gross part tho. by the end, however, I was desensitized to it and just found the gore kind of funny I’m ngl

-I love how they explained almost nothing except things that didn’t matter like why didn’t this bottle break? “aha it’s made of PLASTIC” like thank you I wasn’t wondering. How did his ass get to america? how does the serum work? don’t worry about it. 

-Herbert’s name is Herbert which is just funny. Imagine naming your kid Herbert

-I like how Dan helps him because it is implied at the beginning that he is like. overly against death like. the idea that he can bring ppl back to life is of course appealing to him it makes Sense

-I do think they could have, or may in the future, explore one another’s bodies. idk. i’m just saying.... but i suppose sometimes it’s about the gay sex you’re not having

-the serum looked sick af I think it was glowstick juice

-herbert got bondaged by tentacles made out of intestines which was gross, impossible, ... but... lms if it’s...kinda hot.

-full frontal nudity?! TITS out. Dongs? Also out but covered mostly by hair which. not my thing put that sloppy thang away before some sloppy little creature tears it asunder. sorry i’m 13 and i have never seent a brest in my life so I exclaimed every time I saw them 

-considering he’s in the next movie, I assume he Gets Better so it’s not a worry for me like I am not concerndt that his gay ass got tentacled to death rly

-I thought they were going to at the end be like oh he saves her thru cpr to like. harken back to the beginning but i kind of like the villain era that he’s entered that the first thing that pops to his mind is “omg i’ll use the glowstick serum!” like ok queen 

-we stan a hashtag body posi movie that has people of ALL bodies and skin colours becoming reanimated corpses with their entire tits and/or dicks out <3 

-they were on a TIGHT one hour 30 min time budget and I respect that. Sure it took me over that to watch the whole thing but like I said it was gross. also how can i take sc of every scene that makes me go “lgtv?” if i don’t pause and share it onto tumblr ??? 

-I found myself being like “would that rly be a problem if he was dating the dean’s daughter...?” at multiple parts of the movie like girl that’s not the point but I mean I guess he’s like Light and saw a slippery slope (of helping herbert) and grabbed a sled. 

-Herbert is kind of a freak, but I liked him. if you see me drawing Silas holding a syringe full of glowstick juice and looking like a rough 42 years old mind your business (well, silas is older and already does that so just like. i’m not hashtag copyingggg ok) 

-there’s a second movie, and it was straight to dvd so i’m excited because i think it’ll be even “better” than this one

-anyway, I liked it. It’s very dated but in that fun way that I can see why people like it.

-but please check the warnings as my recent art rb say it definitely contains a lot of possibly triggering material

[starfleet-jelly]

Beloved Dead- Herbert West x Reader

Word Count: 1639 words

Herbert tossed his glasses onto the desk in frustration. Trial after trial, failure after failure, it was all starting to get to him. He was so close! He could reanimate them, but couldn’t make them... alive. They were monsters, dead flesh moving about wanting nothing, going on about nothing more than base instinct. Herbert pinched the bridge of his nose and looked over at the girl who lay cold on the table. Unmoving, gray, icy cold, however, she looked peaceful compared to how she was earlier that day. She was some Jane Doe who came in having collapsed during a morning jog. She was barely conscious, but her face still contorted in pain, her organs shutting down one by one. No one knew, the reason for her sudden death, no reason for the organ failure, even the autopsy was inclusive. But who would miss the body of a Doe? No one really, she was going to be cremated anyways, why waste a good body? Her organs were all perfect, no damage. She was perfect.

The doctor placed his glasses back on and stood from his stool and strolled over to the corpse. She was young, and couldn't have been much older than mid twenties, early thirties. Death of someone so young, she had so much potential, it was almost tragic. However, she had even more potential now, he could bring her back to life, she could move again, see and feel the world again, instead of the void she no doubt was surrounded by now.  She could be the first of his experiments to actually work. The first success. Herbert picked up the syringe with the green glowing mixture that was inside. If he waited much longer she would continue to rot and then she would lose all potential. 

Gently, Herbert lifted her head and pushed the syringe into the base of her spine and injected the reagent. He placed her head back down and leaned against the other autopsy table behind him and watched. He looked down at his watch and counted. 45 seconds… 1 minute… 5 minutes… 10 minutes… 20 minutes… there was no sign of movement, no sign of life whatsoever. So what now? Did he mess up his reagent? What kind of failure was he! He growled and kicked over a bucket as he paced back and forth. He was tired, he’d been up for days at this point, running on nothing but diluted reagent. Maybe he did mess it up. Herbert signed and pressed the palms of his hands over his eyes. Rest, he needed some rest. A few hours should be good enough and then he would make a new batch of reagent and find another body. He walked to the door and looked back at the girl on his table, another failure, worse than the previous ones. He closed the door and made his way up the stairs and to his bedroom. He didn’t even bother to take off his shoes, Herbert fell onto the bed and sank into it, blackness of sleep engulfing him into a dreamless fitful rest. 

~~~~

The pale girl’s eyes snapped open as pain suddenly radiated throughout her body and she let out a pained scream. Something wasn’t right. She jolted forwards, her body feeling stiff, like she hadn’t moved for days, her joints glued together and freed with sicken pops. She looked around eyes wide in confusion. Where was she? Who was she? She looked around the room panting. It was a morgue of some type, it was old and dirty. Did someone mistake her for dead? She obviously wasn’t dead. The girl slowly tossed her legs over the side of the table. It was difficult to move, it was like her body was weighed down by some unseen force. She was cold and confused and angry. Too many emotions all blurred together. Slowly, the stumbled to the table across from the one she’d just got off and grabbed the previously white sheet from it and wrapped herself. Panic and pain was starting to dull as she slowly walked around the room. Human and animal body parts littered the room, like some mad scientist laboratory. Somehow she wasn’t bothered by all the morbidity around her. It must be shock, she told herself. She looked towards the only door in the room and slowly made her way over and opened it. It was heavy and the stiffness of her joints and heaviness of her limbs made it a bit more difficult to push open. Passed the heavy door were dirty stairs and she forced herself up them, however painful it was to move up them. At the top of the stairs was house, dusty and old. It didn’t look like anyone lived there. The smell of the house was musty, like an old book that hadn’t been opened for decades. The only sign for life was the kitchen which the light was on. There was the sound of cutter dishes clanking and watering being poured into something else. She shuffled to the kitchen doorway and watched as a dark haired man made coffee. He looked tired, his button up shirt in disarray, untucked and hanging over his black slacks which had wrinkles. The man pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eye with his left hand. He must have just woken up by the state of himself. He lifted the cup of hot coffee and turned to the doorway. The tiredness of his face was quickly replaced with fear, confusion, and shock and the newly made cup of coffee met the kitchen floor. The girl looked down at the shattered mug and back up to his face. 

“Hello...” he choked out. He should really tie down all of his experiments. Herbert was alone, Dan off sweeping Meg off her feet. The girl cocked her head to the side. His words sounded odd to her, almost hard to understand. “He...lloooo...” She managed just barely to get out. She watched the man as he seemed to relax. “Do you… know who you are? Where you are?” he asked, stepping a bit close, over the coffee that was staining the tiles. She thought for a moment and slowly shook her head. Herbert grinned, She knew what he was saying! She could understand him! But how? He thought the reagent was a dud? How long has she been up and moving around? How close could he get before she attacked him? Herbert took a short deep breath before he got closer to her. He looked familiar to her. Like she’d seen him somewhere. She watched him cautiously move closer to him. Was he scared of her? She was so lost in her thoughts of trying to place his face that he hardly noticed the man place his hand on her shoulder. “I am Dr. Herbert West, and I’ll help you, don’t worry.” Dr. West; that name. She remembered it. He was the doctor who she first saw coming out of the ambulance. She remembered his muttered words as he talked with the nurses and other doctors and the odd looks he’d given her. 

Herbert smiled and led her into the living room and sat her on the old couch. Dan was going to have such a shock when he got home. Herbert was trying to hold back his excitement as he looked down at the girl who sat quietly on his couch. So far she was compliant, nonviolent, however she seemed dazed, like in a dream. Herbert crossed his arms and thought for a moment. There were some tests he’d need to run. She hadn’t moved for almost half an hour after he injected her with the reagent. She couldn’t have been awake for too long.  He couldn’t quite tell if this was a success yet. She still didn’t act… alive. More like a doll being moved by strings. Her movements were rigid and her voice was cracked and quiet. Everything she did seemed like a struggle for her, everything from breathing to walking. She looked up at him with big eyes, the lively light of life that usually shined behind was dull. Herbert  knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her wrist to check her pulse. It was normal, maybe a bit slow, but not dangerous. He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and checked her eyes. They reacted appropriately to the light. “Follow my finger, please.” he instructed as he moved his finger and had her eye follow it. She was responsive, a bit on the slow side. Herbert raised a sighed, she was the closest thing to a success he’d had since testing the reagent and actually reanimating a person. 

“Ms. Doe,” Herbert started getting her attention. “will you come with me? I’d like to run some more tests to make sure you’re stable.” he asked, standing up and straightening the slept-in button up and tucking it in. Doe looked at him and nodded. There wasn’t really any point in telling him no. But a small bit of fear peaked at her. What was she doing here? Why was she at his house and not in a hospital, had she’d been kidnapped? Her brain was so foggy and clouded it was difficult for her to place her memories, like someone had taken her brain and placed it into a blender. She  stood up and looked at him cautiously. Herbert chuckled “I won’t hurt you, you’re the closest thing I have to success, you’re a prize.” He said as he took her gently by the waist and led her back down to the basement.

[vortahoney]

Doing the Shopping- Re-Animator

@dilfsisko @bashircore this is the 5 + 1 grocery store thing!!

Herbert did not like going to the grocery store. Apparently, it was unfortunate he had to eat at all. Thankfully, he now had a boyfriend who could do it for him, and Dan was more than happy to get away from the damned lab for a while.

Sometimes he purposefully took too long. Examining each product and making long conversation with anyone who would listen.

As he went along, he was looking for which register worker he would most like to talk to. He settled on a woman with dark brown skin, what looked like a tool belt under her store-issued vest, and a nametag that read ‘Amaya’.

“Good afternoon,” he gave a small greeting. “How are you?”

“Can’t complain.” Amaya shrugged.

“I couldn’t tell you the last time I left the house.”

“Been busy?”

“Ohh yeah. My um, partner-“ there was a snap of relief in Dan’s chest as he saw her excited reaction. “He doesn’t like doing the shopping. So I get stuck with it.”

“My girlfriend.” She put extra emphasis on the word. “Is the same way.”

“Well, my guy, Herb,” Dan continued, smiling widely with relief, as she rung up his canned peaches. “Well. He’s very passionate about his… work. He gets this look in his eye, real bright-like.”

“He sounds like quite the guy.”

“Oh he is, barely sleeps though.” He chuckled. “Oh um, I’ve got a coupon for that.”

She took it. “So what’s he do?”

“Hm?” He looked up as he put his grocery bags back in his cart.

“Your boyfriend. You said he’s passionate about his work. What is it?”

“Oh! He’s a doctor, kinda.” Dan smiled before leaving.

***

“Peaches again?” Amaya raised an eyebrow at Dan’s cart, which had a good twelve cans of peaches.

“Herbert’s been getting really into peaches.”

“Sounds um… obsessive.”

Dan laughed. “Oh yeah. He certainly can be. He’s in his lab right now, has been for awhile. He’s hell bent on his ‘experiments’. That’s how we met, actually.”

“Oh, you’re a doctor too?”

“Yeah, kinda.” Dan shrugged. “How’s Shauna?”

“She’s good. Just got a job at a sunglasses kiosk in Boston.”

“Pretty long drive.”

“Yeah. I guess it is.” She finished scanning the peaches. “Wait what does ‘kinda’ mean? Are you not a doctor?”

“You do not want to know, Amaya.”

“Alright,” she chuckled. “No further questions.”

***

Over the next few weeks, Dan went grocery shopping five times. Each time, Dan and Amaya grew ever closer. They always had new gossip for each other, about their partners or not. Dan talked about his books and his med school experience, Amaya talked about her job and law school applications. It was a great relationship.

“Amaya!”

“What’s the situation, Daniel?” She smiled. “Oh, no peaches today!”

“I got tired of them. We’re doing soup now. More variety there. Herb slept in his glasses last night.”

“They broken?”

“Just bent a bit. They’re all crooked now, it’s adorable.” Dan got out his wallet. “He slept at his desk over his notes.”

“Do you want me to help bring those out to your car?”

“Sure!”

Amaya grabbed a few bags. “So how was that book?”

“Hm?” Dan looked over at her.

“Oh, first time you came in. You bought a book called ‘The Saint’s Perversion’ from the newsstand.”

“Oh, didn’t finish it. It was erotica.”

Chortling, Amaya’s face scrunched up. “Did you expect it not to be?? It’s called ‘The Saint’s Perversion’, dude!”

He opened the trunk. A small green glint caught Amaya’s eye as she placed the bags in the car. Investigating slightly further, she noticed it was a syringe full of something glowing and green. “Hey, what is tha—“

Dan slammed the trunk closed. “Nothing! I gotta get back, good talking to you!”

“Alright! Tell Herb I said hi.”

“Tell Shauna the same!”

“Will do!”

***

Dan was unusually quiet in the checkout line, save for the small, angry murmurs to himself.

“So,” Amaya spoke up. “How’s Herbert?”

He gave a harsh laugh. “Busy as ever. Spending every day in that damn lab cooking up his…” he stopped before he could say ‘monstrosities’.

“I’m guessing you’re not on great terms?”

“No, we’re fighting. Again.”

“Again?”

“We fight more often than not these days.” He sighed, practically slamming his gallon of milk down on the counter. “He’s always working or yelling at something. The sex is… basically nonexistent. No, no, completely nonexistent. He’s too busy working. I’m too busy helping him! I told him today that I’m done with his sick power games and that I can either be his lab partner or his romantic one.”

“Why are you still with him?”

“I…” he paused. “I don’t know.”

***

Dan came in the next day, nothing but a pack of batteries in his hand. “Amaya!”

She leaned over her register. “You seem chipper. Get over your fight?”

“Sorta.” Dan smiled and looked down, bouncing on his heels. “You asked me yesterday why I’m still with him.”

“I did indeed.” She rested her chin on her palm. “I sense you’re going somewhere with this.”

“Well, I can agree that he’s a difficult person. Difficult to work with, difficult to talk to, difficult to love… sometimes.” Dan’s face softened and he wrung his hands together. “But sometimes… it’ll be late at night, I’ll be staring at the ceiling, and he’ll have been working for… forty eight hours straight. And he’ll crawl under the sheets and curl into my side.”

“Awww.”

“He doesn’t really sleep. Ever. So it’s more for my benefit than his. But he does get bored easily, and he does this cute little thing where he traces circles on my chest. Or- or I’ll ask him a question about his work and he’ll just light up. Or when there’s an accident in the lab and the first thing he’ll do is make sure I’m okay. He cares about me, and… I think the world would be a worse place without him.”

Lightly smacking Dan’s shoulder, Amaya let out a small laugh. “Dan!! That was so cute!”

“You think?”

“Why are you telling me?!” Her voice was a squeak at this point. “Why aren’t you saying this stuff to your boyfriend?”

“I’m going to!”

“Did you really need the batteries?”

“Maybe not exactly…”

Amaya snorted. “Dude.”

“I wanted to make sure it was okay!!”

“It’s more than okay.” She squeezed his shoulder. “You should bring him around sometime.”

“If I can get him out of the house.”

***

Something was strange about the next store visit. A man was on Dan’s arm, a shorter man with big glasses and dark brown hair. Scowling, his arms crossed, he looked like he did not want to be there.

“Hey,” Amaya nudged her coworker. “Be, do you mind taking my register? I’m gonna make some rounds.”

She nodded. “You got fifteen minutes, I get out at four today.”

“I’ll be right back!” Amaya hurried off, waving at her. “Promise!”

She jogged up behind Dan. “Hey you two.”

“Hey, Amaya!”

“Yes, hello.”

“So, you must be the famous Herbert, then.” Amaya stuck out her hand to shake.

He did not take it. “Unfortunately, not yet. You may be confusing me with a different, more famous Herbert.”

“No, I just mean that Dan talks about you a lot. You and your work?”

“The work?” The man glared at him. “What have you—“

“Nothing specific, dearest.”

“You know I loathe when you call me that.” The blush on his cheeks betrayed his statement.

‘This is Herbert?’ Amaya thought to herself.

“Amaya, you aren’t at the register today?”

“Nah, I’m a ‘can I help you?’ right now.”

As they were talking, the man started drawing small, impatient circles on Dan’s bicep. Definitely Herbert.

“How’s the work been going?”

Herbert perked up, eyes brightening. “Fantastically. Our specimens have been responding excellently to the— um, the prototype.”

“I see what you meant, Dan. He is passionate.”

“This work is important.” Herbert frowned.

“I bet. Anyway, anything I can help you guys with?”

Dan shook his head.

“Well I’ll leave you lovebirds alone. Nice to meet you, Herb, I see why Dan likes you so much.”

“Likes… me?”

Dan gave a small, breathy chuckle. “Well, tell Shauna I said hi.”

“Will do!” She waved at them as she jogged back to her register.

So that was Herbert.

[vorish-musing]

Could This Day Get Any Worse?

Hey everyone, guess who’s back from a hiatus! I hope y’all like this re/animat/or story!

Summary: Herbert was trying to make a new batch of reagent, But a mix up of ingredients makes him discover...something different 

Warnings: this story contains soft, safe vore, shrinking, fearplay,Digestion mentions (doesn’t happen), cursing 

Spoiler Warnings: this story contains spoilers for the movie re/ani/mator, so if you haven’t watched it, I’d recommend doing so! 

“Just one more drop” Herbert West spoke to himself as he held a dropper full of neon Blue liquid in his hand. He squeezed the dropper as carefully as possible, releasing the liquid in a beaker full of Yellow serum. Herbert watched as the colour of the two liquids combined created his Reagent, Bright Neon green.

Though His excitement at seeing his reagent distracted him when he stood up, not realizing that as he put down the dropper, a few more drops of the Blue liquid dripped into the beaker. He swiftly turned and made his way out of his Lab-Basement, taking off his gloves and placing them on a shelf. 

Dan Cain sat on his couch, his legs laying across in a relaxed way, he was reading a medical book, hoping that Dean Halsey would call any minute, saying he wasn’t a mindless zombie anymore and allowing him back in the school. It wasn’t fair that he was kicked out of the school because Herbert was crazy. 

It seemed that even thinking about the mad scientist made him appear, as Herbert swung the door open, making Dan jump at the loud noise. 

“I’ve finished the new batch” Herbert called, adjusting his glasses, without another word, he fled back into the basement, expecting Dan to follow. Dan just sighed, putting down his book and following the man down. 

As he got to the bottom of the stairs, Herbert was transferring the Reagent into a syringe, placing it on the table and looking up at Dan, with that mad smile of his. 

While the Reagents colour changed slightly, more blue than green, Herbert was too eager to notice.

“Get the handout of the Fridge” Herbert spoke, pointing to the mini fridge “I want to see what happens when we put the reagent into it” 

“West, this isn’t going to work” Dan looked almost annoyed but complied with Herbert’s wishes. “A hand doesn’t have a heart, brain or anything but muscle, veins and bone” 

Dan opened the fridge, his face paling  a bit at the sight of the severed hand in a medical bag. He couldn’t believe he was actually caught up in this mess. He grabbed the hand, which was in a plastic medical bag, walking back to Herbert, placing it on the table. 

“Yes it may not work, Dan,” Herbert picked the syringe back up, “But it doesn’t hurt to try, correct?” he flicked the syringe, letting a bit squirt out of the needle, testing to see if the syringe is working. Dan just sighed, letting the mad scientist do what he wants. 

Without looking up at dan, Herbert brought the syringe closer to Dan, “Hold this, I need to get the bag op-” 

“oW!” 

Herbert turned to Dan, surprised at the sound. It turned out that Dan was not paying attention as well, getting his arm  pricked with the syringe, some of the Reagent being injected into him. 

Herbert’s eyes went wide, pulling the syringe out, throwing it on the table. He grabbed onto Dans arm. 

“Shitshitshit!” Dan pulled his arm back “what the fuck is going to happen to me!” 

“I’m afraid don’t know!” Herbert shook his head “I never put it in a living person.” his voice was defeated, almost horrified at his own actions. 

Dan paled even more, anything could happen to him, he could spontaneously combust, melt, or just die! He panicked, freezing up. Herbert just stared at Dan, watching the man silently panic about his own demise. 

Dans head began to spin, it started very slow, but began making him dizzier and dizzier as it got faster. His vision became very blurry, and his brain felt like it was about to explode, Dan held his head in pain, hoping that what he had was just a migraine, and not anything worse. 

Herbert stared at Dan, who seemed to be getting ...Herbert shook his head, double taking. He's not really….

“Dan….” Herbert spoke, his voice cracking out of pure shock “are you getting...smaller?” 

Dan opened his eyes, wanting to give Herbert an angry look, but noticed he wasn't looking down at Herbert anymore, but eye level with the man, he looked down at himself, he almost felt sick 

“What...What’s happening to me?!” 

Herbert just silently watched in disbelief as his friend shrunk down more and more, he yelled loudly, trying to get Herbert to do anything!

When Dan finally stopped shrinking, the pounding in his head stopped as well. His breath was heavy, he held himself, shaking slightly. 

Herbert slowly crouched down to Dan, his eyes not leaving the tiny figure He was so… small! Herbert could hold him in his hand!

Dan Looked back up at Herbert, backing up slightly. Lucky him he was stuck with a Mad Scientist, who knows what Herbert wanted to do with him

But Herbert wasn’t thinking about that now, all he cared about was his friend, who he had shrunk. “Dan, Are you alright” 

“Alright…” Dan repeated quietly, just loud enough for Herbert to hear, his blood began to boil at the question. “Alright?! You're asking me if I’m alright?!”

“Come on Dan-” Herbert tried calming the angry man down, but Dan didn’t stop. 

“I’m three inches tall West! What do you think?!” Dan flinched back as Herbert held a hand up, trying to silence the man, but scaring him in the process. 

“All I was asking was if you feel alright, I understand you’re not physically well.” Herbert put his hand down, shocked at the panicked look Dan was giving him “You know Dan, this was a complete accident, and I have no intention of hurting you.” 

His voice remained very calm, like when Dan would calm down Megan, but on the inside, his mind was racing, he just discovered a shrinking agent, as well as a reagent, and he had no idea how he did it!

Dan huffed, calming slightly, not enough to calm completely though. “I feel...fine. I felt dizzy before hand, but now I feel like I felt before.”��

Herbert smiled slightly, “good” he looked between the table and Dan, carefully placing his hand near Dan, palm up. “Do you mind?” 

Dan backed up, seeing Herbert placing his hand down near him, staring at the Scientists palm. He looked back up at Herbert, who was just patiently waiting. 

“What are you gonna do?” He didn’t mean to make it sound so hostile, but he was just so small, and anything at this point could hurt him. 

“I’m just going to the table Dan, it’s not that big of a deal, I may be a Scientist, but I would never do anything to hurt my friend.” 

 Dan hesitated for a few moments longer, and Herbert allowed him to take all the time he needed. Finally, Dan made his way to Herbert’s hand, carefully climbing on top of it. 

Herbert smiled, then stood up, using his other hand as a shield so Dan couldn’t possibly fall off. Dan held Herbert’s hand tightly, shivering at the air flying past him, he didn't dare look down, he didn’t want to be reminded that a two foot drop for him before is now a 20 foot drop. 

When Herbert placed his hand on the table, Dan scrambled off of it, wanting to be more secure. 

“The reagent must’ve been wrong, not the correct measurements of ingredients” as Herbert spoke, his eyes trailed over to the dropper he had left, noticing it was leaking the blue liquid. His eyes went wide. “I created a Shrinking agent.” he smiled slightly. “Dr. Gruber would be impressed, wouldn’t he?” 

Dan just nodded, staring at the puddle as well. “You better know how to fix me” he laughed, clearly trying to hide the confusion and anxiety in his voice.

Herbert turned his head back to Dan “I’ll start an antidote as soon as possible Dan, you won’t stay like this forever” 

Dan walked over to the Scientist “Y-You better, or I’ll…” 

Herbert grinned, “you’ll what? Pull out an arm hair? Bite me? Sorry to tell you this Dan, but you’re a bit powerless right now.” his grin faded, seeing how Dan reacted. 

Dan frowned, offended at the comment, he knew it was true, he was pretty helpless in this situation, but being painfully aware of it wasn’t helping his mental state. 

“Don’t look like that” Herbert shook his head slightly “I’m sure there's things you can do. You can always test your strength.” 

“How am I supposed to do that?” Dan asked, tilting his head, intrigued. 

Herbert reached for a Pencil on the other side of the table, placing it in front of the shrunken man. Instinctively, Dan backed up. 

“Pick it up.” 

“Why.” 

“You want to see how strong you are, correct?” 

Dan sighed loudly, knowing that if he couldn’t pick it up, Herbert would laugh at him, but he didn’t want the Scientist to push him to do it more. 

Without another word, Dan gripped the giant pencil, pulling it up. He struggled a bit as he did so but got it off the ground. Dan smiled at the success.

Herbert watched, joining Dan in smiling. He was proud of the young doctor. 

Dan, about to gloat about how he wasn’t helpless, soon realized, he wasn’t holding the pencil at an equal length, and he was tipping over. Dan tried balancing the pencil out, but as he did so, he moved closer and closer to the ledge

Herbert only realized when it was too late, Dans foot slipping, the man crying out before letting go of the pencil and falling off the edge.

“Dan!” Herbert yelled, attempting to catch the freefalling man, only for him to slip through his fingers. 

Dan yelled, terrified of the inevitable, when he hit the ground, he would splatter. 

But the so called ‘inevitable’ never came.

Dan hit the ground hard, he layer frozen for a couple of seconds, enough for Herbert to freak out, yelling out angrily, that he allowed this to happen. 

Dan opened his eyes, surprised he was still alive, he moved his fingers, and he still had feeling, he just couldn’t feel any pain. He was sure that he should be dead, but he clearly wasn’t 

“My god…” Herbert whispered, seeing Dan still moving, his eyes were wide. 

Dan sat up slowly, feeling the rest of his body, not a bruise forming, much less a broken bone anywhere. 

“I’m… Fine.” Dan laughed, horrified and in shock. “I’m fine! Powerless my ass” 

“Not a scratch…fascinating.” Herbert held his hand out to dan, who climbed on eagerly. Herbert stood up, placing dan back on the table. “Your body must be condensed enough that you can’t be hurt as easily as we do.” 

Dan was about to ask more questions, but he was cut off by a pounding on the door, making the two men turn their heads. 

“Mr. West.” the voice was none other than Dr. Hill, Herbert could tell from anywhere. There was more pounding on the door, Herbert was thankful it was closed. 

“Shit…” Dan spoke “what do we do.” 

“He won’t leave on his own, he’s too stubborn, or idiotic.” Herbert sighed “You need to hide...now.” 

Dan felt his heart drop as Herbert spoke this, all the emotion he had was replaced with a serious, stern look. Herbert began grabbing all the Reagent, and the shrinking serum, putting it in a cabinet and locking it tight.

“If Hill finds you, who knows what he’d do.”  Herbert spoke Dr. Hills name like it was poisonous to hear. He treated it like a slur, embarrassed he would even speak the plagiarists name. 

“There's nowhere to hide West!” Dan refused to hide below the table, or in a cabinet, the basement was dingy and dirty, who knows what kind of rodents or bugs lived down here. 

As Herbert thought, a lightbulb went off in his head. His eyes lit up at the thought. He could just… put Dan in his mouth, which also allowed him not to speak to Dr. Hill, so...win win? 

Dan paused, seeing a familiar look in Herbert’s eye, he had a sinking feeling. “What?” 

“Well if you’re willing to hear me out,” Herbert began, making Dan groan. He knew it was one of the Scientists schemes again, “If I put you in my mouth…” 

Dan wasn’t prepared for those words; he knew he didn’t mishear him. “You… WHAT?!” Dan backed up instantaneously, he knew Herbert was wild, but this? Outright insane!

“Now hold on.” Herbert shushed the tiny, hearing the banging on the door became louder. “If you hide there, Hill won’t find you, I don't have to speak to him. We both get what we want” 

“You could bite me in half!” Dan yelled, the thought of Herbert doing that was enough to make him sick 

“Human teeth aren't razor sharp, Dan” Herbert spoke, almost pleading, “it would take force to Bifurcate your body, I wouldn’t ever do that.” Herbert held his hand out “We don’t have a lot of options, not to mention we don’t have a lot of time.” 

Dan hesitated for a few moments, trying to think of a better option, but the calling from the top of the stairs and the banging was making him panic even more.

“You better be right, West” Dan moved to the hand, shaking profusely, he was about to be put in his friends’ mouth, and if he was found by Dr. Hill, could be taken away. 

Herbert sighed in relief, glad that Dan came around to the idea, he lifted his hand, once again using his other hand as a shield. “Don’t move when inside, I don’t want to give this away.” 

Dan just nodded, not saying a word, hoping this plan wasn’t going to go wrong. 

Herbert brought Dan to his mouth, his breath blowing on the shrunken man, Dan was grateful it didn’t smell bad. Herbert carefully wrapped his index and thumb around Dan, lifting him up, still holding his other hand below the tiny man. 

Dan watched Herbert like a deer in the headlights, only slightly reacting when the Man opened his mouth. Dan gripped the fingers holding him tightly, taking deep breaths. He cringed as Herbert placed him on his tongue. His clothes almost instantly soaked in saliva. 

Herbert Closed his mouth, moving Dan carefully with his tongue, he felt the man move a bit, probably protesting, and he stifled a laugh. Herbert moved to a mirror, checking if he looked out of the ordinary. As he did this, the man noticed something strange…

Dan tasted pretty good, not how he expected at all, he had expected it to be weird, terrible even, but the man’s taste was almost enough to make him salivate. 

No no no, don’t you dare Herbert West, you are not going to think about eating your only friend….

Dan lied on the wet tongue, trying to keep himself calm. He kept his head down, not wanting to look at the dark throat that was before him. But even if he wasn’t looking at it, his mind continued to wander. 

I could fit down that, if Herbert isn’t careful I could….no no don’t think of that, it's not possible, it can’t be possible, he would choke before I could get in… don’t think about that...god don’t think about that!

The scientist smiled, it didn’t even look like he had anything in his mouth, much less a person! Herbert turned, walking up the stairs, taking a deep breath to calm himself. 

Its now or nothing. Herbert unlocked the door, swinging it open. 

Dr. Hill stared at the shorter scientist, if looks could kill, Herbert would be dead where he stood. Herbert sent a glare back, turning away from the plagiarist, heading down the stairs. 

Dr. Hill quickly composed himself, following Herbert down. “ Good Evening, Mr. West.”  He hissed at the young scientist, “I would like to speak with you on an important matter.” 

When Herbert didn't respond, Dr. Hill got more intense “I want to know about Dean Halsey, his heart rate is erratic, and his pulse is nowhere to be found.”

Herbert paused, his heartbeat quickening at the mention of Dean Halsey. He had hoped Dr. Hill would have mis-diagnosed him by now. 

Dan tried to listen as best as he could, but it was hard over Herbert’s heartbeat and his breathing, not to mention the wet noises he made on the man's tongue, he let out a quiet groan, hoping the interaction would end as soon as possible. 

Herbert gave Dr. Hill a look of confusion, but still refused to talk to the man. He would give anything to yell at the man to leave, that he knew nothing of what happened to Halsey and get Hill as far away from the house as possible. 

“My question is.” Dr. Hill paused, his eye twitching at the utter disrespect. “How does he yell out in pain, when we both know, he’s very much dead” 

Herbert’s Heart skipped a beat. No, no, no…. This can’t be happening…not now… not with dan here...

Dr. Hill laughed, seeing Herbert’s face turn from an annoyed to a scared expression. “Cat got your tongue Mr. West?” Dr. Hill came closer to Herbert, making the young scientist back down a bit. “Where is it, West?”” 

Herbert pinned Dan to the roof of his mouth, swallowing the excess saliva,  not wanting to drown Dan. As much as he wanted to cuss the Plagiarist out, he knew he couldn't without outing Dans hiding spot. 

“Where is the Reagent, Herbert.” Dr. Hill grabbed Herbert by his shirt, pulling him closer “I know you have it!”

Oh god Herbert get away from him. Dan thought, his heart almost pounding out of his chest. He felt Herbert tilt his head down, keeping his face away from Dr. Hill. 

“Answer me, dammit” Hill shook Herbert back and forth, who just took it, not making a single noise. 

I’m sorry Dan, Herbert thought to himself, knowing what he was going through must’ve been worse for his shrunken friend. 

“Fine! Have it your way!” Dr. Hill, who finally gave up on Herbert, Pushed the man down to the floor. He turned back to the stairs “Don’t think this is the end of It West!” 

 Herbert’s head hit the concrete floor, making himself swallow instinctively, the pounding in his head from the impact made it so he couldn’t even notice he was swallowing his friend. 

Dan felt the impact just as much as it was, he who was falling down, the impact making him slip back a bit, so it took him a moment to realize that Herbert had swallowed. 

That was until he felt the throat muscles begin to massage him into it. 

“West!” Dan Yelled, his body being pulled down into the hungry throat, legs first. “West! Please! Stop!” Dan clawed at the man's tongue, trying to hang on the best he could but, it proved to be too slippery to aid him in his escape. 

He was on a one-way ticket down Herbert West's gullet. 

As Herbert finally came to, he heard the front door slam, meaning Dr. Hill had left. It made him giggle, the thought of how angry Dr. Hill was because of him brought joy to the man. Without thinking, he swallowed again, feeling a strange lump in his throat. 

Herbert let out a sigh of relief, he was worried for a minute that Dr. Hill would have found Dan in his mouth… 

He finally realized his mouth was empty, and he was sure he kept it closed as he fell. The pieces began to click into place 

Dan ... the strange lump… it was.

“Caine!” Herbert yelled, grabbing his throat, feeling the last of the man move down into his esophagus. 

Dan heard Herbert’s call to him, and his heart rate speed up, more than before, he yelled back to Herbert, pleading for the man to get him out. 

Herbert cringed at the feeling of Dan fighting and  sliding down his esophagus, it didn’t hurt, but knowing it was happening made him hyperfocus on every single detail.

It felt even weirder when Dan landed in his stomach. 

“West!” Dan yelled as he entered the scientist's stomach. No this can’t be happening, shit! Dan pushed on the stomach walls surrounding him, “West let me out!” 

Herbert looked down at his stomach, horrified that he could actually SEE Dans movement. He put a hand to his head, what was he going to do?

“Caine stay calm!” Herbert spoke, even though he knew it was no use, the man wasn’t going to calm down “I can’t get you out if you’re squirming like that!”  He placed his other hand on his stomach. 

“calm ? you want me to be CALM?!’  Herbert winced, feeling Dan kick him, very hard. “How can you tell me to be calm?! You ATE me Herbert! I could be dead in minutes! Let! Me! Out”  Dan pushed against the organ surrounding him. 

Throughout all the man's yelling, a lightbulb went off in Herbert’s head. Dan should’ve started digesting by now, he was in there for a few minutes, something should have at least begun to tingle by now. 

His mind went back to dan falling off the table, he survived that with no damage left behind. Could this be the same case? If the serum condensed his molecules like Herbert theorized, that would mean Dan was too dense to digest, which meant he wouldn’t be hurt! 

“Dan” Herbert spoke, feeling quite awkward speaking out loud to his stomach, “I need you to answer something for me” he could feel the tiny man squirm in confusion “Do you feel any pain, or even anything wrong overall?!” 

Dan was about to start yelling once again, Dan's life was in danger, and Herbert was playing games with him. But then, Herbert’s words registered in his mind.  If anything felt wrong, I can list 200 things that feel wrong right now. 

But the more he thought about it, he realized. He felt hot, wet and disgusted by all of this, but he didn’t feel any pain. 

Dan looked down at the small pool of liquid that he was sitting in, he thought the reason he couldn’t feel anything was because of his clothes, but clearly that wasn’t the case.  He pulled up his pant leg, expecting it to be bubbly and a bit digested. 

There was nothing. His leg looked completely fine. He even stared at it for a few moments, waiting for it to start burning, but…

“Dan? Dan are you okay” Herbert’s heart skipped a beat, not getting any reply from his friend, “Dan?” Herbert pushed on his stomach, directly where Dan was. He felt the shrunken man squirm around, and it almost made Herbert laugh. 

“Nothing” Dan called up, confusing Herbert “Oh my god I feel nothing!” 

Herbert’s eyes widen, a smile forms on his lips.

“I was right!” he stood up, grabbing the pencil from before, “You’re not digesting! And you probably never will!” the man stood up. 

Dan flinched and the sudden movement, the stomach sloshing him around with every step Herbert made “What?!” 

 “the serum made you indestructible! No matter how hard my body tries, it can’t digest you!”

He took the pencil, grabbed his notebook, and began writing his discovery down, laughing out of pure ecstasy. 

“I don’t believe it...How is this even possible?!” 

“Jesus Christ Dan, we bring people back from the dead and you don’t believe this?!” Herbert patted his stomach “this is fantastic! If Dr. Gruber could see us now…”  

Dan let out a yelp at Herbert’s response, pushing back at his hand “don’t do that! Its already bad enough that I’m in here, you don’t need to patronize me!” 

“Can’t you see Dan; this could change the world as we know it!” Herbert spoke, ignoring the tone in Dans voice. He ran to the cabinet, grabbing both of the bottles he had hid “these two serums throw out everything we know about the human body and what it's capable of!” 

Herbert continued to write down his notes as he spoke, writing the formula for his new shrinking serum “ doctors wouldn't be able to make a mistake if the can see things regular sized people wouldn't, and we wouldn’t have to worry about overpopulation either!” 

As he was blathering on, he felt a hard punch to his liver, knocking him down on the spot, he held his stomach, shocked that Dan would do such a thing. 

Dan gasped as he too felt the impact of the fall, he had no idea that would be the reaction he had caused, but in some way, he believed Herbert did deserve it, after all, Herbert shrunk and ate him!

Now having Herbert’s full attention, Dan spoke loudly “Well that’s all fine and well but I think you’re missing one great detail… I’m still in here!” 

Herbert rubbed his sore belly, “Right… Of course,” he felt a bit of guilt, he had almost forgotten that Dan was even in there… it became weirdly normal to him. “I got a bit ahead of myself” 

“A bit?” Dan replied sarcastically. 

Herbert stood up, still holding his stomach. The man sighed,  how am I supposed to do this?! He thought to himself, throwing up might make him suffocate, I am not going to cut him out, definitely not. 

Dan yelped as the stomach walls around him began to squish him, tightening so much that he could barely move. Out of instinct, Dan squirmed, kicked and began yelling “West?! West! What the hell is going on?!” 

Herbert Winced at Dans movement, he was pushing with both hands on his stomach, trying to forcefully push Dan up into his esophagus, after a few moments, he gave up, letting go of his stomach, falling into a coughing fit. 

“Herbert?!” Dan yelled once more; he had stopped flailing once the walls around him loosened. 

Herbert finally caught his breath, “that didn’t work.” he could hear Dan laugh at him, of course it wouldn’t work. “Maybe if we try-” 

Herbert’s thought was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, making the two men freeze in their places. 

Not Again Herbert turned, grabbing the bottles of serum and hiding them in the cabinet once more, this time with his notebook. If that plagiarism is back, I am going to get rid of him… Dr. Gruber would like that. 

Dan listened to Herbert’s heartbeat as it sped up. Yes, Herbert seemed like a confident man, but on the inside, he was nervous, the fact that it could not be Dr. Hill worried him even more, it could be the police, or just a random man who heard all the commotion. 

“It would be a bad idea if you don’t answer, it would seem suspicious.” Dan spoke, leaning against the wall “I’ll stay quiet, go answer the door.” 

Dan laughed, but he didn’t feel any joy. Why did people have to show up today?! Why couldn’t it be sometime else, when he wasn’t in this situation.

West nodded, fixing himself up as he climbed the stairs, he took a deep breath, patting his stomach one last time. Dan sighed, patting back, he knew Herbert was panicking, he could hear it all around him.

Herbert stopped in his tracks, he wasn’t prepared for that. It actually felt nice, as Herbert thought, he realized that when neither of them were freaking out, this actually felt quite pleasant.

Herbert heard the doorbell once more, bringing him out of his thoughts, he opened the door to the Living room, then marched to the front door, the basement door closing behind him. 

Herbert grabbed the Knob, twisting it as he spoke “one ring is quite enough” as the door swung open, Herbert’s eyes widened. 

Megan stood there, her eyes a bit puffy, her face red either from crying or from just plain anger, she gave Herbert one look, before pushing past him inside. 

She looked around the living room “Where’s Dan” she spoke, her words filled with anger. “We need to talk right now” 

Herbert sighed, “Miss Halsey I don’t have a clue where he would be.” he shut the door, crossing his arms. While he wasn’t a fan of Meg, he knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer. 

Dans heart stopped as he heard Megan's name, he gently pushed his head on the wall in an attempt to hear their conversation through the layers of muscle, fat tissue and skin. While it was still slightly muffled, he could hear exactly what they were saying.

Meg moved from room to room, looking for Dan, Herbert watched, stifling laughter as he knew her searching wouldn’t help. She looked back at the Scientist standing by the door, glaring at his face, he gave an amused expression, like he knew something she didn’t.

And he did know something that she didn’t. 

Her eyes turned to the basement door, Herbert shook his head, quickly moving in front of it before she made it to the knob. “Miss Halsey he isn’t here.” Herbert spoke more sternly, but it didn’t phase her, she just put her hand up to silence him. 

Her eyes were staring into him, that answer was not good enough for her. “Fine…” She said, quieter “Then what did you do to him.” 

Herbert was taken aback for her words, “Excuse me?!” 

“You did something to him, you killed him didn’t you?!” her voice cracked as if she was about to cry, she glared daggers into the man before her and tears threatened her eyes “Just like Rufus you did something to him!” 

She tried pushing Herbert away from the door, but he didn’t move, he just kept staring, shocked at the accusations she was throwing out. 

“Meg I’m okay…” Dan spoke, quiet enough that Herbert couldn’t even hear. His heart ached, her father was just reanimated into an insane creature, and now she thought he was gone too? He wanted to call out to her and promise her everything would be okay, but he knew things would get a whole lot worse if he exposed himself. Dan sighed, could this day get any worse?!

Herbert’s eyes narrowed, he glared right back at Meg, making her shrink back a bit. For all she knew, she was challenging a serial killer. 

“Miss Halsey” She took a step back, and he took a step forward “if you are accusing me of doing anything to Dan, I assure you that--” 

“Not Dan!” She yelled, her look changing to a confused expression, she couldn’t keep herself composed anymore “What did you do to my Father!” 

Herbert blinked, surprised. “Is that it?” 

“What did you do?!” She yelled even louder “he’s… he’s grey, constantly spitting up blood, he looks like a… Like a…” She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t want what she was thinking to be true. 

“A corpse.” Herbert finished her sentence, as if he was reading her mind. All she did was stare back at him “We did all we could do for now. I can explain it all to you” Herbert turned, gesturing to the basement, then looked back at her “I can explain everything, Dean Halsey, the cat, Dan.” 

Meg was almost like a statue, she didn’t know what to do, this could be a trap, she didn’t know what was in her, but she nodded, watching Herbert open the door quickly, motioning for her to follow. 

She just followed. 

Herbert lead her to the basement, she cautiously followed behind him, her eyes frantically checking every which way to see if it was a bad idea, her gut was telling her to run, but she just needed to know what the hell was going on. 

West felt a small kick from Dan, who was clearly unhappy with the current situation. 

She’s not ready… she won’t be able to handle this. Dan thought as he pushed and pounded on the stomach walls in protest. Even though he was still unsure of all the crazy things Herbert would do, what the hell was the scientist thinking?

Herbert pulled out the stool, motioning to her to sit down. Meg hesitated at first, but sat down without another word. 

Herbert put up his hand in a ‘one moment’ gesture, before turning around, and walking over to the other side of the room, unlocking the cabinet, grabbing his notebook, and the two bottles of serum. 

As he did this, there was another kick, he groaned slightly, while they didn’t hurt, they were still annoying as hell. 

“Herbert!?” the muffled sound of Dans voice called to him, luckily too muffled for Meg to hear, “What the hell are you doing, West?!” 

Herbert responded, decided that it was a safe bet to speak, if he was quiet enough, “trust me, we couldn’t keep this from her much longer, she already knew about Dean Halsey, it was only a matter of time until she knew about everything.” 

“You’re not gonna tell her I’m in here, you can’t” Dan looked around in the darkness, if she knew he was in here, that would send her over the deep end! Dan took a deep breath, attempting to speak in a calmer tone “Get me out of here first West. She’ll trust me more than you” 

“I won’t tell her if it’s not necessary” Herbert scoffed at dans words “She’ll believe a two inch person? She’ll faint upon seeing you!” he hushed the tiny person in his stomach. 

Meg just watched as Herbert had a single sided conversation with himself, her eyes were wide and her face was full of unease, did she really allow herself to walk into the layer of a crazy mad scientist? She just stayed silent and watched him, in fear of calling him out for his actions. 

Herbert finally stood up with the book and bottles in his hands, ignoring the pushing and prodding from Dan, who had stopped speaking as soon as the mad got up. He walked to the table, placing the things down in front of her. He stood on the other side of the table, Meg just looked at the bottles...then back at him….then back at the bottles.

She finally noticed the bright glowing reagent, which she instantly recognized. “That's the stuff that was in the fridge when Rufus was--” 

“Yes, Miss Halsey. It's also the thing that brought that beast of a cat back to life” he spoke, not even easing his way through the discovery. Meg just gave him a disbelieving look, like she was surprised that he was even trying to convince her. “Do you remember when you barged into the basement, Dan and I were there, and the cat was alive!” 

Meg's heart dropped, she did remember that day, she remembered that Rufus was found in Herbert’s fridge, and how she came downstairs, and he was alive, mangled up, she couldn’t get the memory out of her head. 

She didn’t like where this was going, this couldn’t be true, death couldn’t be defeated, he must have fooled her somehow “He… He couldn’t have been dead, we must’ve been wrong somehow” 

Herbert scoffed, rolling his eyes “You and Dan sound like twins, both of you don’t want to believe what’s in front of your eyes!” he hit his fist on the table out of frustration, making meg and Dan jump “The cat was dead, so was the body in the morgue, but I brought them back!” 

Dan turned to face the stomach wall “Herbert STOP!” he yelled as loud as he could. He immediately covered his mouth, he didn’t mean to do it, he lost control of himself. Herbert was being too forceful. 

Meg, hearing the yell, shot up like a bullet. “What was that?!” she looked around the room, she was sure she heard Dans voice, but it was quiet and muffled, like he was hiding somewhere far away. 

Herbert turned a bright red, his eyes basically bulging out of his head, he grabbed his stomach out of horror, he could feel Dan had gone still, very still. This was not good. 

He moved his hand until he could feel Dans whole body, and he pushed in slightly, did the man pass out? Hopefully that's the worst that could happen. He ignored Meg for a moment, he tried to feel anything, a twitch, a slight hand movement…. 

Breathing…. He could feel Dan breathing, his chest going up and down rapidly, clearly the poor man was terrified of what he did.

It's okay Dan…. Herbert thought,  It’s going to be okay…. I need to write this down.

He turned his attention back to Meg, who was still looking around, not paying attention to him at all “I… I didn’t hear anything” Herbert turned away, grabbing a pencil and his notebook, writing as quickly as possible. “You should sit back down.” 

“What's going on?!” She yelled “I can’t do this anymore, West! What the hell is going on?! I heard something!” she put her hands on her head “You say you bring things back from the dead and you just expect me to believe this with no proof?! I’m no idiot, and you won’t fool me like one!” 

“Well I’m sorry I don’t have a corpse to convince you, but it’s true.” Herbert sighed loudly, holding the bridge of his nose, “Dean Hasley was enough for Hill, but not enough for you” Herbert spoke softer, as if he was talking to himself instead of her. 

When he looked back up at her, he saw those angry misty eyes once more, she was holding it back, but clearly that comment hit her pretty hard. She quickly wiped her eyes 

“Can you fix him?” she didn’t ask, it was more of a plea, she just wanted her father back. 

“That's what I’m trying to develop.” 

She looked back at the table “Is that what this is?” she dropped her tone, trying to reason with the scientist, she pointed to the Shrinking serum, glowing softly. 

Herbert shook his head “it's a shrinking agent, I made it this evening.” she cocked her head to the side, but before she could ask a question, Herbert continued, “it was an accident, its fascinating what I’ve found out about it in a few hours. While it shrinks people to only a few inches, it makes them virtually indestructible, here, ready my note-- Miss Halsey are you alright?” he paused, seeing her face.  

She stared at Herbert with a disbelieving gaze, but her brain was putting the pieces together. “How do you know all of this…” her voice trailed off as she spoke “to know these things you would have to use that on someone. 

Herbert shrugged, putting his hands up in a “you got me” motion “we’re asking where Dan was, weren’t you Miss Halsey.” 

Dan panicked, he was shaking badly, anxiety flowing through his body like it was his own blood. He didn’t know what to do, should he call out to her, tell her he’s fine? But what would her reaction be… would she call the cops? 

What would she tell the cops? Does this count as cannibalism? Attempted murder? Even though he wasn’t really happy about being inside of Herbert, at least he was completely safe, and the longer he was in here, the less afraid he was,

Meg didn’t speak for a few moments, then her eyes narrowed, her voice was low, but definitely not calm, “you must think I’m so stupid”  she almost expected this trick from Herbert, but why would Dan do this to her? This wasn’t funny, this was downright cruel. “I’m not going to believe this stupid joke you two are playing.” 

Herbert sighed, he had hoped he could get through to her, he shook his head “I assure you that I’m not joking, I promise you.” he tried talking her down, using a calmer voice. 

“Oh yeah?” She nodded, crossing her arms “then where is he, where's my shrunken boyfriend Herbert?” 

Herbert looked away, his face turning a bit red “I can’t tell you, you won’t believe me”  he placed his hand back on his stomach, he could feel Dan shaking profusely, moving around. 

Meg glared, moving to the table and grabbing the bottle, she couldn’t hold her anger back, she too was shaking, but not because she was afraid. “So this is supposed to shrink me, huh? You really are nuts goddamnit….nuts” 

Herbert’s eyes widened as she picked it up “put that down!” he frantically spoke “ you have no idea how powerful that is, hell, even I don’t know everything about it!” 

She let out an angry scoff, putting it down, “prove it, prove how powerful it is.” She turned around, holding both of her hands “You’re crazy, Herbert. I get why my father kicked you out of Miskatonic… and why Gruber didn’t want you around” 

Herbert’s face turned red, “You want proof, I’ll give you proof” he was overwhelmed, he couldn't think about if it was a good idea or not, but he was going with it anyways.

Herbert grabbed a spare syringe, sticking it into the bottle, putting a tiny bit of the serum into it. He could feel push on his stomach, worried and confused. But as he heard what Herbert was saying, his stomach dropped. He knew what Herbert was thinking of doing. 

“Herbert! Don't you dare do this!” his plea fell of deaf ears, so he resorted to kicking, calling out to Herbert. 

Herbert moved over to Meg, carefully holding the needle. “Here's your proof.” he spoke matter of factly. 

Meg turned around, ready to cuss Herbert out, but she was met with a needle gently being pushed into her arm, she yelled in shock, pushing the man away, but not quick enough, the serum going into her veins. 

She backed up “What the hell is wrong….with...you?” she started to feel dizzier and dizzier with each word she spoke, her last one making her fall forward, Herbert catching her. He picked her body up, it shrinking in his hands, and he placed her onto the table carefully, letting the serum do what it did best. 

“Dan, I’m sorry she didn’t want to listen to me. Maybe she’ll listen to you” 

“Herbert don’t! If you even think about eating---” 

“I don’t want to do this dan!” Herbert yelled, holding his stomach “She didn’t listen to me, if I had told her that I ate you, she would probably run, if she ended up believing me, she would tell as soon as possible, she trusts you more than me. If I can get through to her without swallowing her, then I won’t.” 

“But Herbert don’t you--” 

“I’ll try to explain, But if she doesn’t listen, she’ll have to talk with you, deal?” Herbert leaned his arms on the table, watching as she shrunk down to the same height as Dan, maybe even a bit shorter.

Dan wanted to retaliate, tell him that's not how it's going to happen, but he knew Herbert would not listen to him. “Deal. be careful with her, I love her” 

Herbert rolled his eyes, “of course Dan.” 

Meg covered her eyes, the lights above her burning them. Her head stopped spinning, and she felt overall okay, like nothing had happened. She slowly sat up, her eyes adjusting to the light around her. 

She scanned her surroundings, she had no idea how she got there and where she was, everything looked the same, only much...much bigger. 

“How’s this for proof, Miss Halsey” 

His voice sent a shiver down her spine, it was so much louder than before, Herbert laughed softly at her reaction, it was like the air around her was vibrating. This felt like a dream to Meg, she slowly turned around to see Herbert, but she was met with a white collared shirt. Her head slowly turned upwards, finally meeting his eyes. 

A giant….Herbert was giant…no… no she was tiny!

She wanted to scream, but it felt like all of her energy was taken away from her in that very moment, Herbert had a concerned, yet amused expression on his face. 

“Megan” he finally spoke her name, which felt weird for him to be so informal “you’re alright, I’m not going to hurt you.” 

“Y-you…” She tried to speak, but the right words wouldn’t come to her, Herbert wasn’t lying like she had thought, which meant ....”Dan?” it didn’t sound like a question, but Herbert knew she was asking what happened to him. 

“Everything I said was true, Dan being alright is no exception.” Herbert smiled ever so slightly, trying to make her feel more comfortable. 

“Where is he?” she asked, looking around, but keeping Herbert in her peripheral. Herbert watched as she did this, trying to think of what to say. 

“Well…” Herbert rubbed the back of his neck, he could feel Dan freeze up, he didn’t know what to say either. “I don’t know how to say this lightly, but he’s...in me” 

Meg gave Herbert a confused look, like she wasn’t understanding what he was saying. Putting it lightly was not going to work. 

Herbert placed a hand on his stomach, keeping eye contact with Meg.  “I swallowed him” 

That did the trick. 

Her heart skipped a beat as he spoke those words, she stood right up, backing up slowly “You… you WHAT?! “ She yelled, then covered her mouth in shock, this couldn’t be true, Herbert wouldn’t do that. He couldn’t do that. 

“It was an accident, long story short I was trying to hide him from Dr. Hill, and he slipped into my throat.” he saw the sickly look on Meg's face and continued “He’s okay, I promise you this. There's not a scratch on him” 

She didn’t want to believe it, but it made sense, she did her Dans voice, and it was muffled, like he was behind something. Her boyfriend was trying to warn her, trying to get her out of there. This was all a ploy to get her vulnerable like this, she must be next. 

Before Herbert could speak another word, Meg turned around, running as fast as she could. She didn’t care if she ended up falling off the edge, there would be better than where she was now. 

Herbert sighed, watching the woman run across the table, he reached over carefully, placing his hand in front of her, she ran right into the leathery surface. 

Before she could move around his hands, Herbert scooped her up, using his other hand as a safety net below so she wouldn’t fall...even though it would be fine even if she did. 

Megan moved around, trying to get out of his grip, but every time she was close to the edge, Herbert would just simply cup his hand even more so she wouldn’t be able to escape. 

“Listen to me Miss Halsey” Herbert spoke “I know this is hard to believe, but you’re going to be okay, so is Dan. We’ll do everything we can to help your father”  

His words were not registering in her head, she didn’t want to listen, her body wouldn’t allow her to. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and her body was in fight or flight mode. 

Herbert watched her, he made a disappointed noise, “Dan?” he called, sounding defeated. This made Meg stop, hearing that name. 

Dan’s ears perked up hearing his name, “Herbert?!” he couldn’t hear much of what was going on, only hearing Herbert’s side of the conversation, he had hoped that the man had gotten through to her and he wasn’t going to eat her after all. 

Meg felt sick to her stomach hearing Dan’s voice coming from Herbert’s middle

“Look out, you’re about to get company” 

Meg’s eyes shot up as Herbert spoke “no…” she crawled in between the man's fingers trying to get away as fast as she could. 

Herbert just sighed loudly, grabbing her with his free hand, and picking her up gently, she pushed at his fingers, trying to get him to drop her. It was no use unfortunately, she was bound to get eaten, her fighting must’ve been amusing for Herbert. 

“Please!” she yelled as he rose her up, holding her by her shirt, leaving the rest of her to flail around “Please if you let Dan and I go, I promise we’ll never tell a soul” 

“You won’t tell?” Herbert brought her closer, she nodded profusely “well that’s a relief”  Meg smiled, she finally got through to the man, that smile faded as soon as he rose her higher, lifting his chin with her. She kept kicking, grabbing at his fingers, he showed no signs of stopping. 

Herbert’s mind was racing, he had hoped that this was going to be as easy as Dan, but the chances were low. Sure, she had a much smaller frame than Dan, in that way she would go down easier, but she was terrified, she would fight, and it would hurt, but he didn’t see a better option. 

Herbert slowly opened his mouth, holding her just above it. She flailed and kicked as much as she could, tears threatened her eyes, and she was not going to hold them back. “Damn you Herbert West!” 

She kept yelling obscenities as he lowered her into his mouth, letting go once he was halfway inside, she fell onto the tongue with a soft squishing noise, he quickly closed his mouth, his teeth clacking softly shut, isolating her in his mouth, away from the rest of the world. 

Megan pushed against his tongue, which got her, and her clothes almost completely soaked with one movement.

 Herbert rolled his tongue around her, trying to get her as slick as possible so it would be easier on his throat. As he did this, he noticed that Meg had her own taste as well. It wasn’t like Dans, but it was still pretty great, he could get used to this, minus the fear and struggling. Herbert felt his stomach growl, now that he was thinking about it, it felt nice to have Dan inside, feeling so full. 

All Dan could do was sit, carefully awaiting Megan's arrival. He could barely hear anything over Herbert’s stomach, it was practically cheering the man on, gurgling loudly and happily. He wondered if Herbert was enjoying this as much as his stomach was. 

Herbert cringed as Meg kicked his teeth, not strong enough to break them, but enough for it to hurt like hell. She was making this as hard as she could, which was working. Herbert would attempt to pin her to the roof of his mouth, but she would easily wriggle out of his grip. 

Finally, he had enough, he tilted his head as high as he could, swallowing as hard as he could. 

She screamed as his throat muscles engulfed her legs, she tried her best to pull them out, it was no use, he swallowed again, she jerked forward into the throat even more, she tried scratching his tongue, maybe she could claw her way out. 

This was worse than Dan, Herbert was in absolute agony, his preparations were no use, her fighting was awful on his throat, he had to swallow quickly and uncomfortably, which made it bad for both sides. 

Meg was pulled into his throat completely in one final swallow, which made her yell out, but it was too late, she was never going to get out of this, 

Herbert held his throat as she entered his esophagus, away from his windpipe, he let out a deep breath, in a hoarse voice, he called down to Dan “She’s all yours” 

“Herbert? Are you okay?” Dan called back to him, he heard the heavy breathing, and the gravelly voice Herbert had. 

Herbert patted his stomach, “try your best to tame her, I don’t know how much more of this I can take” 

Dan heard the muffled yelling of meg get louder and louder, he stared up, waiting for her body to fall into Herbert’s stomach just like he did. 

Meg seemed to slip faster and faster, sliding down Herbert’s throat with no issues, she pushed, she screamed, she tried everything to make him at least choke on her before the inevitable.

Her legs entered the man's stomach first, it was a strange feeling, having been in a space so tight she couldn’t move, to a space where she was able to move freely. She kicked wildly as soon as she could. 

“Meg!” Dan yelled, grabbing onto her legs, helping her ease into Herbert’s stomach, he cringed as she flailed around, nearly hitting him multiple times “Meg! It's okay! It's okay!” she fell into Dans arms, collapsing, crying into his shoulder.

“Dan! Oh god Dan?!” Meg pulled away, “We have to get out of here! We’re gonna--” 

Dan grabbed her arms, holding them so she couldn’t fight, she fell silent as he did this, he had never done anything like this before, he was usually afraid to put a hand on her. 

“Meg I’ve been in here for a while, I haven’t even felt a tingle,” she was about to protest, but he shushed her carefully, “believe me Meg, we’re okay” 

“But the shrinking thing...and the...the…” she couldn’t think of the right words, her mind was completely scrambled “but he ATE us!” 

“Yes, I’ll admit, pretty weird,” Dan laughed, though Meg looked at him horrified “but We’re safe, how the hell and I alive if we aren’t?” 

Meg tried to make a case for her horror, but she couldn’t find an explanation that made sense, Herbert ate them, they should be in danger… but dan was fine, she must’ve been fighting with Herbert for an hour, which is more than enough time for the stomach acid to attack. As she calmed ever so slightly, he let go of her hands, cradling her softly. 

Herbert, finally catching his breath, decided to head upstairs, not wanting to mess with any more reagent. 

Meg let out a gasp as they two lovers were sloshed around in Herbert’s stomach, she clung to Dan like a safety net. He grabbed onto her, holding her tightly. 

“He’s just moving, you get used to it,” he patted her saliva covered head “Just think of it like a...waterbed” 

Meg scoffed at the ridiculous comparison, but just nodded. 

Herbert turned off the basement lights, retiring to his room. He took off his tie, unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt. He looked down at his stomach, he laughed, seeing his skin slightly bulged out, containing the couple. 

“I’m guessing from the lack of fighting, you got through to her, didn’t you Dan” he placed his hand on his stomach. He could feel one of them squirm, he knew it was Meg. 

“It's okay Herbert!” Dan patted the stomach wall, Meg flinched hearing Herbert's voice all around her, this was insane. 

“Miss Halsey, I apologize for not explaining in depth, but unfortunately I knew you wouldn’t listen. So, I had to resort to this” 

“Resort to this?!” she yelled loudly, but surprisingly, not out of anger, she just had no idea if he could hear her or not “I think you could’ve done a few other things instead of this!” 

“Meg you and I both know that you wouldn’t believe him even if you wanted to” Dan sighed 

“Well I believe you now!” she called “so let us out!” 

Herbert stopped in his tracks, he completely forgot about that, and Dan had also realized at the same time as Herbert. 

“Unfortunately,…” Herbert began, trying to speak as delicately as possible, not wanting her to get mad. “Well…” 

“Herbert can’t right now” Dan spoke up for the scientist “We don’t really know a lot about what's happening right now” before Meg could begin to speak, Dan spoke up once more “We’ll figure it out, maybe we should just relax for tonight. Its late”

Herbert nodded, agreeing with him, “you two need some rest, and so do I. it may not seem like it to you but you both did a real number on me today” Herbert patted his stomach softly, ignoring the dull pain in his throat. 

“Fine….” Meg huffed “But you better fix us, West. or I’ll do ten times worse tomorrow” she gave up on fighting at this point, she would just have to go with what they were saying and hope that she would wake up from this dream one day. 

“You have my word, Miss Halsey” he smiled, sitting down on his bed, taking his shoes off. He didn’t care about his clothes right how, he would just sleep in them, he pulled the covers over himself, placing both of his hands on his stomach. 

Dan laid back, spooning Meg, she turned around, laying on his chest, she listened to his breathing, which was on time with Herbert’s, she smiled, strangely enough, the noises around her were more calming than scary. 

“How can you just go with whatever he says?” she asked Dan, who just chuckled, kissing the top of her head. 

“Because he won’t take no for an answer...and he’s my best friend” Meg lifted her head, embracing Dan with a kiss, before laying back on his chest. 

“You are so stupid” she giggled “That’s why I love you, you know” 

“I know” he rubbed her back, yawning softly “I love you too” 

It didn’t take them that long to fall asleep, the sounds around them lulling them into slumber without issue. Herbert smiles as he felt the two fall asleep, rubbing his stomach, something about it made him want to be like this forever, he didn’t want them to let go. And if he really had to, he would like to do it again. He didn’t know how he could convince Dan, but he’d probably find a way. 

 ----------------------------------------------

I hope y’all enjoyed that, thank you so much for reading, let me know what you think!

[stitchships]

In Which I Pine for Herbert West

Hey I got a new f/o and it's torturous and I immediately needed to write this. Sorry if it's a bit wonky but I hope you like it!! It's the first good art thing I've done in weeks lmao.

Tw for animal death and typical Reanimator bullshit.

-

Eleanor Miller is, to say the least about her, an intelligent woman.

Now, she does seem to take a bit too much of her beliefs from conspiracy and myth, sure. But she knows where believing ends and common sense begins.

Though at this point, it seems she's thrown all of that out the damn window.

The walls surrounding her seem all too fitting, she's seen movies. She knows creepy, creaky, basements are where fucked up things happen. And from the things that surround her, it seems that that's just a little too on the nose.

 The medical student is accompanied by one Herbert West. A small man, even a few inches below her, who seems to have zero grip on socializing with other people. And yet, she followed him home, crept down the stairs behind him, and is watching the scientist now as he flits about the dead rat on the table.

"So, when's the show gonna start?" The blonde asks, rubbing her bare arms. She'd left her coat upstairs, not realizing the chill would permeate his secret laboratory. The gold buttons of her nice button down reflect the eerie green glow of the syringe in his hand. "I'd prefer not to freeze to death down here, God only knows what you'd do with me.."

 Her question goes unanswered and her joke gets no laugh but a small huffing sound from West.

 "Patience, Miss Eleanor, it's a virtue." He shoots her a look, no emotion clear upon his expression. "Now if you'll observe here, this is an obviously dead rat, and in-"

"Dead rat, got it." She cuts him off, making a serious face and stepping closer, her shoulder brushing against his. He frowns.

"As I was saying, in my hand I have my Reagent. Which I so kindly offered to demonstrate the use of for you." He points the syringe at her smug smiling face as he talks, though careful not to shake it up too much. She gets the point and closes her mouth and gives the man an inch of space, earning her a satisfied nod. "Good. Now, I'll inject it here, into the brain and that will.."

 His voice drones on, but her focus fades out, gaze trailing away from his working hands and up his arms, towards his face. West isn't a conventionally attractive man in any way. He's small and mean looking, with little room for emotional expression. A gremlin of a man, and somehow Lenore's mesmerized by him, watching his lips as he speaks, she can't help but run her tongue across her teeth. However, she hears something awful that breaks her focus and leaves a blush on her ears from the loss of self control, a terrible squealing from the table.

"My god.." Her hand raises to her lips, entranced by the broken, but very much alive rat as it writhes and cries out. There's a shimmer in her eye, and though she doesn't see it, the man beside her seems to take interest in that untold excitement she keeps locked in tight. "You've really done it, you little madman. It's back."

 He opens his mouth to speak, but her gaze doesn't leave the gruesome animal, and she rambles onward instead. "Just like Frankenstein... albeit, less lightning and less... humans." She looks at him, a smile on her face and she notes his baffled look. "Though. It could work, couldn't it."

Herbert can only adjust his glasses and look to the still squeaking rat on the table, unable to match her wild eyed stare. "The last test was unsuccessful but, with just a few changes I believe it could be truly possible." He speaks, "And I'd prefer to not be compared to that character, he and I, nothing alike. I'm not making monsters, I'm doing so much more."

"That's okay." She speaks, voice surprisingly steady. "If you're the Frankenstein, I can be the monster." She runs a hand through her blonde hair, and doesn't flinch as he finally silences the animal he'd moments before returned from death. "Just try not to hate me like he hates his, okay?"

 He's taken aback by the casual nature of her statement, unable to figure out why she seems so.. attached. But now isn't really the time for that, and he simply says what sounds best as he removes his bloody gloves.

"Somehow, I don't think I could."

[darnedchild]

Molly Hooper - (Assistant Reanimator : Part Three

Also on FFdotnet and Ao3

With apologies to H.P. Lovecraft - A modern retelling of Herbert West - Reanimator.  Written for the 2017 Sherlolly Halloween fest.

Part Three - The Plague-Daemon

“Surely you don’t expect me to believe that your associate brought a man back from the dead?” Sherlock scoffed.

Molly reared back as far as her chair would let her, releasing his hand in the process.  “I don’t expect you to believe anything, Sherlock.  I’m simply telling you what happened.”

He immediately regretted the harsh disbelief that had coloured his tone and words.  His mouth opened as he fumbled for something to say that would convince her to continue, but Molly spoke first.

“It’s-It’s all right.”  She drew in a deep breath and gave him the barest hint of a forgiving smile.  “I’d probably feel just the same if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”

Her gaze darted toward the box for a moment, then back to him.  “Unfortunately, the story is only going to get stranger from there.”

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

The barn fire had set their research back considerably. All of their notes, several variations of the serum, their equipment . . . all of it was lost.  Months of effort, years in Herbert’s case, were destroyed in the flames.

Herbert had been working on his graduate studies and Molly was still working toward her doctorate when the H1N1 outbreak of 2009 reached critical levels.  

The Arkham hospital was filled with the sick and dying. Some of the poor unfortunate souls were nurses and doctors themselves.  

The desperate need for able hands meant the graduate students and upperclassman from the medical school were asked to volunteer at the severally understaffed hospital.  Even Herbert, who had been on the outs with the dean, Dr Halsey, and been lured into service with the promise of the return of his temporarily revoked privileges in the dissection lab.

At first, Molly hadn’t understood why Herbert was so enthusiastic about his time amongst the coughing population.  He tended to lose interest in the recovering patients, choosing to take on the worst cases that the other doctors were more than happy to pass along.

Then he stopped her on her way out of the building after a long morning at Miskatonic and an even longer afternoon at the hospital.

“Mrs Matthias was one of yours, wasn’t she?”

Molly scrunched her nose as she tried to match a face to the name.  “Yeah, she’s not responding to treatment, so I . . . Wait.  What do you mean ‘was’ one of mine?  What happened?”

“I believe you were with another patient when she went into arrest.  Dr Wilkes called her an hour and a half ago.  She’s already been moved to the basement to free up her bed.  You know what that means.”

“Oh God.”  She barely had a second to mourn for the woman she hardly knew before Herbert grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the stairs.  “Please tell me you aren’t . . . Not here.   Not now!”

But he was.

Molly kept sending furtive glances toward the door to the body coolers, convinced that someone would burst through with and catch them at any moment.  Herbert rolled his eyes at her concern.  “We’re doctors, Molly.  Very nearly. We’re allowed to be here, Mrs Matthias was your patient.”

“Is that-Is that why you brought me down here?  To act as a cover for-for whatever it is you’re doing?”  She didn’t wait for him to reply as she stepped closer to the drawer he’d pulled out from one of the lockers.  “What are you doing, anyway?  Have you managed to recreate the serum already?”

Herbert set his messenger bag on the slab and pulled a small zippered case out of it.  He opened it as he answered, “Recreated, improved, and have begun testing it.  Mrs Matthias will be subject number three on this round of trials.”

“Three?” Molly yelped.  She quickly glanced around and lowered her voice.  “You never mentioned starting the tests again.”

“You’ve had other things to focus on the last few months, haven’t you?”  He pulled a syringe filled with a sickly yellow-green fluid that seemed to give off a faint glow.  “How is your father, by the way?”

She frowned; whether at the question or at the way Herbert had yanked the zipper of the body bag down and pushed her head to the side so he could insert the syringe needle into the corpse’s neck, she wasn’t sure. “He’s still weak from the latest round of chemo, but the prognosis is . . . good.”

He depressed the plunger and gave her a pitying look. “Good, Molly.  Really?”

She wanted nothing more than to focus on something other than her father’s condition.  “You said this was test number three.”

Herbert pulled out a second syringe and held it at the ready. “Number one was a failure.  But there were observable reactions with two. Shallow respiration, eyes opened.”

Molly was drawn in despite herself.  “And then?”

“And then nothing.”  He hurried to the other side of the slab and injected the contents of the second syringe into the flesh behind the body’s ear.  “It’s a process.  You know that.  Trial and error.”

They both leaned over Mrs Matthias and waited. Less than a minute later, the dead woman gasped and opened her eyes.  Molly swore that Mrs Matthias focused on her for one long moment with a wide-eyed, almost feral expression.  Then one rotten breath escaped Mrs Matthias’ lips and the body stilled for the last time.

Molly jumped when her mobile chippered with a text alert. Almost immediately, Herbert’s did the same.  She pulled hers from her bag and quickly read the text that had been sent to all the students that had agreed to offer assistance during the epidemic.  “It’s Dr Halsey.  He’s collapsed.”

“I’m not surprised.”  Herbert packed away his things, carefully tucking the zippered case into his bag.  “He’s been coughing for days.  I know Carmichael told him to rest, said he would be no good to the patients if he continued to run himself down.  Any idiot worth his degree would have been able to see the man was sick, not exhausted.”

“The flu?”  Molly hadn’t seen the dean in more than a week, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she might have been able to do something to prevent his collapse.  Most likely not.

“Undoubtedly,” Herbert agreed.  He finished zipping Mrs Matthias back into the body bag, and pushed the locker drawer shut.  “Go home, Molly.  With one less doctor on the rotation, our work load will only get worse over the next few days.  Sleep while you can.”

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

“He was taking advantage of the epidemic to experiment on dead bodies.”  Sherlock grimaced, obviously disturbed enough to restate the obvious. Something he would have pounced on with derision if someone else had done it.

“Pot, kettle.”  Molly rolled her eyes and waved her hands toward the morgue and the ceiling above, indicating the rest of the floors of the building. “Look where we are, right now.  We’re in a bloody teaching hospital, Sherlock. Bodies are donated for study all the time.  How many corpses have you, personally, experimented on?  And you’re not even a student.  Half the time it’s not even for a case, just your own morbid curiosity.”

He sighed and tilted his head in silent acknowledgement of her point.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

Five days later, Dr Halsey aspirated in his hospital bed and died.

Herbert invited her to his flat that night, to commiserate over Halsey’s death with a bottle of Scotch.  She’d been tired, exhausted really; but it wasn’t often that Herbert reached out for human contact, so she couldn’t bring herself to turn him down.

“I’m so sorry.  I know how much you looked up to him.  We all did.”  Molly sipped her Scotch, careful to nurse the drink so that she wouldn’t end up fuzzy headed and tipsy.

“He was . . . my mentor my first few years at Miskatonic. He supported my research in the beginning, when so many others scoffed in my face.”  Herbert set his glass to the side and pushed his chair away from the small kitchen table they’d been sitting at.  “And that’s why I’m going to bring him back.”

Molly immediately felt ill.  “No.  No, no, no. You can’t.”

“I can and I will.”  He held out his hand to her.  “Are you going to help me, Molly?  Or are you going to let a brilliant mind like Halsey’s fade away without even an attempt to save him from the dark void of death?”

“But last week?  Mrs Matthias.  The serum didn’t work.”  Reluctantly, she let him take her hand and ease her out of her chair.

“That was last week.  I’ve altered the formula again; ran computer simulation after simulation, and they all exceed my expectations.  I think we can do it this time.”  

The way he said ‘we can do it’—with such childlike hope and excitement—had her hesitantly agreeing.  “Do you need me to drive us to the hospital?”

“Why?”  He grinned. “I’ve got everything we need right here, in the spare room.”

She felt the bottom drop out of her stomach again. “Everything?”  Surely he didn’t mean . . .

Her fears were confirmed by the sight of Dr Halsey, still in the hospital gown he’d been wearing when they had wheeled him to the basement morgue, laid out upon the bare mattress in the tiny spare room.

Herbert had already set out a tray (one that looked to have been stolen from the university canteen) with half-a-dozen syringes on the bed.

“You really think you’ve got it this time?” she couldn’t help asking as she fumbled on a pair of latex gloves.  

He smiled, pleased to see she had agreed to assist so easily.  “Only one way to find out.”

“Would you like to do the honours?”  Herbert held the first syringe out to her.  “Or would you prefer to stand by in case chest compressions are needed?”

Molly still remembered the quarter of an hour spent hovering over the body in the barn, working to manually circulate the serum through the corpse’s veins.  She’d been sore for days after.  She took the syringe and waited for him to indicate where he wanted the first injection to be administered.

She was readying the fourth syringe, careful to stay out of Herbert’s way as he straddled Halsey and prepared to begin compressions. Suddenly, the body jerked; Halsey’s back arched until only his shoulders and hips touched the bed.  Herbert fell to the side and rolled onto the floor. The memory of Mrs Matthias’ expression before she’d died for the second time made Molly step back in fearful apprehension.  

Herbert popped up, eager and undeterred.  “This is it, Molly.  He’s coming to!”

Halsey’s eyes had opened, his body relaxing into the mattress now that the initial muscular spasms were finished.  

“Doctor Halsey, can you hear me?  Can you speak?”  Herbert reached for the older man’s wrist, but Halsey yanked it back with a snarl.

Molly finally found her voice.  “Sir?  Are you . . . What was it like?  Do you remember anything?”  She was desperate to know what awaited her father when he died.

Halsey twitched and turned his face toward her. Molly took another inadvertent step back.  Whatever Herbert had brought back, it wasn’t Halsey.  At least not as she remembered him.  Instead of an advanced mind and benevolent nature, the creature on the bed was all base instinct and primal anger.

It lunged toward her with its hands curled into claws, and Molly screamed.  Herbert launched himself across the bed and rolled to his feet between her and Halsey.

“The mini-fridge behind you, find something to knock him out. We need to sedate him and get him restrained.  Move, Molly!”

She broke out of her stupor and pried open the cabinet to find vial after vial of drugs and chemicals that had clearly been stolen from the hospital.  She heard something crash behind her, an unholy howl, and then her own yelp rang in her ears as Herbert crashed into her back.  She dropped the bottle she’d been holding, crying out as the glass shattered at her feet.  Something yanked at her hair, pulling her backward.  Just as a strong hand wrapped around her throat, Herbert swung a metal desk lamp past her shoulder.  She heard a sickening thunk as the base of the lamp connected, then Halsey’s nails dug deep into her skin before releasing her.  Herbert dragged her away, once again placing himself between Molly and Halsey in some strange, uncharacteristic burst of chivalry.

Blood streamed down Halsey’s forehead, partially blinding the man who was literally frothing from the mouth.  He snarled, spittle dribbling down his chin, then spun around and ran toward the lone window in the room.  Herbert cried out “No!” as Halsey threw himself through the glass and loped out into the night.

“Jesus,” Molly rasped through her abused throat.  “What the hell was that?”

Herbert didn’t get a chance to answer as someone began to pound on the door to his flat.

“West?  Open up! Can you hear me, man?  I’ve called the police!”

He grimaced.  “Damn it.  We’ll never be able to explain all of this.”

Molly stripped off her latex gloves and tossed them aside, her mind already shifting through options for damage control.  “Answer it.  Tell them-tell them a strange man knocked on the door asking for help, and then shoved his way in and-and attacked us.  Stall them as long as you can.  Go!”

He was able to buy her two minutes, during which she hid the remaining syringes of serum and pulled various pieces of equipment from where they’d been stored on shelves hanging on the wall.  By the time the concerned upstairs neighbour pushed his way into the room, the desktop had been set up to resemble the sort of chemistry experiment one would find in a first semester class at uni.  The average non-scientist would be fooled, but anyone with a background in advanced chemistry would know it was a fake with a simple glance.  

Molly sat on the edge of the bed and held a clean flannel to the scratches on her neck.

“What the hell is going on?”  The neighbour pushed past West and knelt at her feet.  “Miss?  Are you all right?”

“Yes, I . . .”  She met Herbert’s eyes over the neighbour’s head.  He nodded.  Molly dropped her eyes and shuddered.  “We were working, and that man . . . He must have known we’re medical students and have been working at the hospital . . .”

Herbert picked up the story when she faltered.  “He fell into a rage when he couldn’t find the drugs he was looking for.  He attacked my associate, and escaped through the window when we managed to fight him off.”

The neighbour finally got a good look at the room, and slowly stood up.  “What were you doing in here, West?  What is all this crap?”

“She told you, Schneider.  We’re med students, and we’ve been working with patients at the hospital since the epidemic started.  We’re trying to create an alternative treatment for the virus.  A new, more potent vaccine.”

“Here?  Isn’t that dangerous?  Are we going to get sick?”  Schneider jerked back from Molly, as if he were afraid she was contagious.    

As police sirens echoed through the streets of Arkham, Molly was once again reminded of that horrible night in the barn and the eerie story in the newspaper about the desecrated grave.  What new horror awaited the town with the Halsey creature on the loose?  

Both of the local papers were full of sensational accounts of brutal home invasions for the next two weeks.  Five homes broken into over a period of twelve days.  Only two survivors left to tell tales of a crazed madman with superhuman strength and no mercy.  Eleven bodies torn to pieces by human hands.  

The papers christened the murderer the Cannibal Killer once a loose lipped constable let slip that certain details from the crime scenes.  Soft tissues had been removed from several of the bodies, teeth marks left in flesh, chunks of meat ripped from limbs.  The sort of grisly tidbits people loved to read about over their morning pancakes and coffee.

He was eventually apprehended on the fourteenth night of his rampage; spotted in an alley with a dead stray cat dangling from his fist.  He ran out of the alley, slamming the policeman into a brick wall hard enough to break his arm.  A group of police and volunteers armed with guns and flashlights followed his trail to a forgotten tool shed hidden behind overgrown brush on someone’s property. He’d made a nest for himself; stockpiling rotting meat and piles of discarded clothes and blankets obviously scavenged from dumpsters and trash cans.  

Apparently, no one made the connection between the snapping, snarling madman who refused to utter a single coherent word and the recently deceased and well-respected Dr Halsey.

The Cannibal Killer was quickly deemed unfit to stand trial, and was immediately committed to a padded cell at the Arkham Asylum.  In a matter of months, he had become the stuff of urban legends.

Rumours spread through the hospital about a misplaced body, but no one in the morgue would admit to anything (and risk losing their jobs).  Someone was laid to rest in Halsey’s grave, but Molly knew it hadn’t been the good doctor.