The Dark Somnium - "How a single little flathead screw destroyed a research lab" Creepypasta | Scary Stories

Episode Date: March 2, 2021

This creepypasta scary story is from the nosleep subreddit, written by Manen_lyset--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/darksomnium/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

My presence is always overlooked, ignored, forgotten. I'm cast aside as being nothing but a lowly janitor. But I'm not just around to pick up trash. I'm a custodial worker, sure, but I'm also educated. I have to be, because I'm trained to deal with medical waste at a private research lab. I handle biohazardous materials of all kinds on a daily basis. The researchers forget I'm here and walk right by me without a word. But just because they don't see me doesn't mean I'm left in the dark.

I know more than I let on. I have unrestricted access to see all the messed up stuff they do here. I might not understand the science behind it all. I might not be able to explain what all the tests are for or what all the machines do, but I see everything. I've seen four winged butterflies. I've spotted weirdly misshapen pigeons. I've cleaned up blobs of molten animal skin.

I've watched a monkey learn to control a biomechanical arm, and yesterday I saw the end of this entire research facility and its team of researchers when one of their experiments went awry. Skinny Rogue, that's what they called him. His official name was specimen E5-2187, but no one called him that. See, the scientists get a bad rap. They're not nearly as cold and disconnected as you see on TV or in the world. movies, they tend to get more attached to their creations than you might think. Case in point, there was a piece of tape on the corner of Skinny's tank with his pet name

and a smiley face next to it. As far as I could tell, Skinny Rogue was some sort of snake. He was about two feet long, thin and flat like a tapeworm. He had a rounded face with two tiny glassy blue eyes that never moved. The rest of Skinny was entirely white, but for his little four-four. dark tongue that sometimes slipped out of his little mouth and flapped around like a flag in the breeze. He was kept in a bland terrarium on sub-level six, just a layer of gravel and wide-open space,

nothing more to keep him company. I'd see him slithering along the glass walls at night as I cleaned up. He reminded me of that old game with the snake eating pixels and trying not to bump into itself as it grew bigger. You know, the one everyone had on those big fancy cats. calculators in algebra class. I'm not sure if Skinny could see me, but sometimes it looked like he was following me around. Skinny Rogue was definitely one of the most unique specimens I'd seen.

Phase 1. Last week, as I was sweeping the floor, I saw the research team standing around Skinny's tank, Catherine, John, and David. Yeah, I know their names, but damned if a single one of them knew mine. The trio had set up a camera aimed at the tank. Catherine was holding a wriggling millipede with a pair of tweezers. David unscrewed the single flathead screw, keeping the lid at the top of Skinny's tank shut. John opened it.

Catherine dropped the millipede inside, and the other two quickly shut the lid and put the screw back in. It took Skinny Rogue all of two seconds to notice the intruder. Before the millipede even had time to get its bearings, Skinny was on it. And chomp was all it took for the millipede to disappear. There's no way they'd set up a camera just to record a feeding. There had to be more to it. The three started writing notes, letting out a few excited gasps.

They were so distracted that I managed to get a little closer without drawing any attention to myself. You know how when a snake eats something big you can see its shape bulging out of its form? Well, I could see the millipede inside of Skinny. just a rounded shape where it had settled in Skinny's stomach, but each and every little leg branching out under the pale white flesh. That's not what bothered me, though. What bothered me was how the legs were spreading out all along Skinny's length, spacing

themselves evenly to accommodate the creature a good ten times larger than the millipede. Then, when the legs finally settled in place, they moved. Skinny rogue ceased slithering and started skittering instead. The trio of scientists exchanged high fives, congratulations, whoops and cheers. I let them be and went on with my work so I wouldn't look suspicious. When I made my rounds later that night, Skinny was still running around with his new limbs. Phase 2. In the days following Skinny's transformation, I noticed the little guy filling out a bit.

It was like he'd been a balloon and someone had finally inflated him. I wasn't around for any of the other feelings. feedings, but I assumed they kept up their steady supply of millipedes, because the millipede storage tank, yeah, we actually had one of those, was emptying out and fast. Catherine and David came in, just as I was emptying the trash bin. He's ready. Let's give him a scorpion tonight. David looked hesitant.

You sure you don't want to wait a few days? Catherine shook her head. He plateaued as of seven o'clock this morning. It's time. All right, all right. You know what you're doing. replied David. Catherine smiled brightly and gave him a playful jab on the arm.

How I wish she'd interact with me like that. Out of everyone at the facility, Catherine was the only one to acknowledge me, but even then, it was hardly more than a courteous smile when we were alone in the lab, more of a pitying look, really, one that meant, sorry you had to pick up monkey viscero again. In the evening, I made it a point to stay close to the lab. hoping to watch the show. I wanted to see what would happen with Skinny, morbid fascination really. Around 6 p.m., David disappeared into the insect storage room. John and Catherine entered

the lab and set up the camera. This was when I, coincidentally wandered to clean up the medical waste. It wasn't long before David returned with a scorpion in a small plastic box. John unscrewed the lid to Skinny's tank and looked to David as though waiting for approval. David nodded, and John opened the tank. The scorpion was not too happy with its tumble into the tank. As soon as it landed, its tail reared up and readied for attack. It stepped side to side, snapping its pincers aggressively. John screwed the lid quickly, as Skinny made his approach.

Skinny snapped his mouth toward the scorpion, but the bug was ready for a fight. It clicked Skinny. A beat of sweat rolled down the side of David's face. He's not ready for this. He whispered, hands reaching for the lid. Catherine stopped him. Just wait. Skinny rogue skittered around the scorpion,

his little tongue flickering back and forth as though to mock his prey. John looked tense, and David was a nervous wreck. Out of the three, Catherine was the only one to remain calm as Skinny orbited around the insect. Once he formed a near perfect circle, he violently snapped inwards and coiled around the scorpion from all sides. There was a crunching sound, followed by a gush. It happened so quickly that the scorpion hadn't even had time to react. Skinny scooped up the shattered remains in one gulp.

The bulge in his stomach quickly flattened, but nothing happened. It needs to be alive. Get another one. Smaller this time. I quickly looked away as David rushed past me. I pretended I hadn't been watching, but even if they looked right at me, I don't know if they would have seen me. I was invisible. I resumed my work while David fetched another scorpion.

Once he came back and they had their backs turned, I stopped and watched round two. The scorpion went in, the lid was closed and screwed shut. Skinny rogue unhinged his jaw and slurped the smaller scorpion down in one shot. Impressive. I could see the creature's outline in Skinny's body. Its tail seemed to dissect from the rest of it and extended its way down. Skinny's tubular shape like sausage meat being stuffed into a goat's intestines. The scorpion's tail became Skinny's tail.

His small, weak scales thickened and hardened like an exoskeleton, still white but stronger. Skinny pitter-pattered around the terrarium, knocking the sharp tip of his tail against the glass, as though testing it for weakness. John, David, and Catherine were elated. Phase 3. I wasn't able to be there two days ago when they performed the next experiment on Skinny. I had an important meeting to attend outside of work, but I was able to see the result in the morning.

He'd grown two short arms and a pair of strong hind legs, which allowed him to run around, dig, and even move bits of gravel into a nest. A rat, I thought, as I examined his now plump midsection. Rogue wasn't so skinny anymore. His milky eyes, now larger and with slitted pupils, followed me as I circled around his terrarium. He scurried from one side to the next, scratching at the glass with his newly acquired paws. I figured he'd gotten too big to climb the glass pane anymore, but when I tapped on

it curiously, he folded his mammal features and let the millipede legs connect to the glass. He easily climbed it and circled around my finger, as though trying to crush it like he'd done with the larger scorpion. Thankfully, I was safe behind the glass. Skinny then tried to break it with the tip of his tail, but it wasn't strong enough to breach the glass. Before long, I went back to my cleaning rounds, anxious to finish and go home. Unfortunately, just as I was about to leave, my supervisor told me a monkey had died and

I needed to clean up. I could tell by the look of his cage that it was going to take. take a while to sterilize it. There were these odd and hair-like filaments sticking to every wall. I'd been warned to avoid contact and incinerate them for safe measure. I was just about to slip into hazmat suit when the main lights dimmed and were replaced by an alternating red and orange glow. The piercing shriek of alarms quickly followed suit. This was the first time I'd been at the facility during an emergency, and though I knew the evacuation protocol, the full sand. Sensory assault left me rattled and frozen.

I had to get to the access tunnels. I knew that much. Those tunnels had been built for and used explicitly by us lowly custodians so we wouldn't, and I quote, get in the way when carrying waste through the facility. The maze of corridors led to almost every part of the building. They were a sort of underground world for the lesser staff, not unlike a service elevator at the back of a fancy hotel, something to keep us out of something to keep us out of the building. sight, even though we were already basically invisible anyways.

I shook myself to my senses, swiped my keycard against the reader nearest to me, and slipped into the tunnels. I didn't know exactly what to expect as I ran through the unpainted cement halls and up the steep stairs leading to the first floor, but I didn't expect to hear the screams. Yeah, I was shocked by how they managed to penetrate the thick concrete walls. I was cut off from what was happening on the other side, but I could tell it was disastrous and gruesome. A foot and a half of concrete, if I recalled correctly.

The screams managed to reverberate through a foot and a half of concrete. I could only imagine the horrors that could make men and women scream loud enough to manage that. By the time I made it to the first floor and out of the access tunnels, I was out of breath and covered in sweat. I could just barely see a glimmer of light through the front. frosted windows of the back exit. I pushed the bar handle, but the door was locked.

In my panic to get out, I tried ramming into the doors, but they wouldn't budge. It took me a few minutes to realize the emergency lights had gone from red and orange to just red. We were in full lockdown now. Nothing was getting out, not without a security access card. I cursed beneath my breath. Now I was really starting to sweat. I retreated back into the access tunnels, pacing back. and forth and panic.

What was I supposed to do? Waited out and hope I'd be safe in the tunnels? No, I couldn't leave anything to chance. The screams were getting louder, closer. I needed to get out of the building, jump into my car, and get the hell out of Dodge. If I had any hope of getting out, I'd need to get into the security office near the main entrance and steal one of the security access cards. I didn't even think about how I'd get into the security office.

If I had the access card necessary to get in, I'd just as easily be able to leave through the back door. My flawed, panic-stricken logic could have gotten me killed. Fortunately, when I reached the security office, I found its door wide open and its occupants missing. I jumped inside and closed the door behind me so no one, or nothing, would sneak up on me while I had my back turned. Phase 4.

I barely had time to rummage through the drawers before my eyes were involuntarily drawn to the security monitors. Skinny Rogue had gone, well, rogue. There were bodies everywhere, dozens of them across all floors. Skinny's work, no doubt. From the glimpses I managed to get of him, I could tell Skinny had changed again. He was larger, fuller, and his front legs had become distinctly arm-like in nature. It even looked as though he had the hands of a chimp. He skittered around on his millipede limbs, making his way from one security feed to the next in a blink of an eye. From time to time, he'd stop, sit up awkwardly on his hind legs, look around, and start running.

It was a struggle to keep track of him, but I realized one thing. He was coming my way. I checked the door, locked. Good. To my relief, it passed right by the security office without stopping. He turned the corner and headed for the main entrance. He hadn't come from me. He'd come to escape.

A security guard suddenly bolted out of the access tunnel by the entrance and immediately fired a shot at Skinny. I heard the pop and saw the flash of the light on the screen lagging a few seconds later. The bullet was lodged in the entrance's glass pane. The guard had missed. He wasn't going to get a second shot. Skinny snapped around, got up on his hind legs, and dug his venomous stinger right into the stomach.

On the screen, I watched as the man fell down. to the floor and began thrashing around like a fish. Bloody foam poured out of his mouth as his eyes bulged from his sockets like a cartoon character. It was only after a few minutes of this that he finally became still. It was a gruesome way to go. Meanwhile, Skinny was repeatedly thrusting his stinger against the window. He was smart enough to focus his effort on where the bullet had landed. With every impact, more cracks forward until the window finally shattered.

He climbed the door and disappeared on the other side. I waited for a minute and then mustered up enough courage to open the security office's doors and crawl around the corner to the guard lying dead in the hall. My intentions weren't to check for a pulse. No. I wanted his gun. I pried it from his fingers and retreated back into the security office. I was scared.

So damn scared. But the gun made me feel just a little bit safer. I hugged my legs and hid my face between my face. knees. Phase 5. As I sat there in terror, I could hear dogs barking wildly. We had several posted around the perimeter to keep people out, but it never occurred to me that they'd ever be needed to keep something in.

I hoped they'd managed to stop, Skinny, but I had no way of knowing what was going on out there. Anxiety and tension wheezed their way through every fiber of my muscles. The dogs had to win the fight. Who knew what would happen if Skinny managed to eat one? See, Skinny hadn't eaten any of the researchers, and I had a hunch it was because they were too big for him. Dogs on the other hand were a good stepping stone.

The barks turned into wines. The dogs were losing. It was only a matter of time before Skinny would eat one and change. I wondered how he'd change and what he'd do once it happened. Would he climb the electric fence, tunnel under it? he wreak havoc in town? He did none of those things. Instead, he came back.

I'm not sure why he did. I'm not sure what he wanted. Maybe he couldn't find a way out, so he wanted to investigate the facility. Maybe he wanted to take a nap in his cage. Damned if I know. I just recall looking up and seeing him break through the doors with ease. He was bigger, much bigger, and his mouth had elongated into a snout. A few tufts of fur peaked out from between his plated skin.

He was grotesque. He approached the security guard, licked his cheek with that forked tongue of his, and then swallowed him whole. He needed a live victim for it to work, I recalled, and who better to serve as his next meal than me? Skinny wandered around the corner and began scratching at my door. He could smell me. His new nose could smell me shivering behind the metal door.

I held the gun tightly, debating whether to use it on him or myself. Phase six. Skinny stopped. I opened my eyes and turned my attention to the security monitors. Catherine was standing at the end of the hall. Why the hell hadn't she stayed hidden wherever she'd been holed up? Why was she chasing danger? Skinny recoiled and slowly backed away, never breaking eye contact with her.

His tail arched over his head as he pointed his stinger at her. Rogue? "'Honey?' she said in as soft a voice as she could muster. As she passed the security office, I was compelled to open the door and pull her into safety. Maybe I could be a hero, her hero. But I didn't. I didn't even unlock the door. I couldn't take the risk. Skinny was just so fast. I just watched. She forced to smile. "'Let's go back downstairs. I'll give you some nice treats.' I could hear stress in her voice.

This was the first time I'd ever seen her confidence waver. Skinny's brand-new canine-like jaw unhinged and widened as the two turned the corner. He was going to eat her. I was sure of it. I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't let him take Catherine, anybody but Catherine. I held the door handle hesitantly, but finally I lunged out of the security office, clutching the gun tightly between my fingers.

But I was too late. I rounded the corner just in time to see Skinny dart towards Catherine. She yelled. Rogue! No! She screamed as it happened, but the scream was snuffed out so suddenly and abruptly that it seemed like someone had muted the TV. Skinny sat up on his hind legs and swallowed.

Her shape slid down his long torso and settled near the bottom. I waited in shock. I was too late. Too freaking late. Skinny's body didn't seem to change, even though he'd eat. eaten Catherine alive. Nothing happened. The bulge in his stomach slowly disappeared as though Catherine was dissolving.

Maybe Skinny couldn't evolve any further. Then he turned towards me. His little blue serpentine eyes scanned me head to toe. His mouth spread wide open, his pointed fangs glistening like knives. Everything became blurry as tears welled in my eyes. This was it. This was how I was going to die. He was going to eat me.

Skinny suddenly let out a shriek, not of anger, but fear. Why? He bellowed in a voice that was neither distinctly male nor female. He looked itself over, a clear terror in his beady little eyes. Why? I don't think I could have made a sound even if I wanted to. My mouth had gone dry and my throat had tightened to the diameter of a straw. Skinny shrieked again, his longer legs buckling.

His shorter, millipede legs pushing him slowly towards me as I stood there as still as a statue. I thought he was coming for me, but couldn't get myself to budge or look at anything but my own two feet. And then I felt his shadow on me. I closed my eyes tightly, terrified my final moments were going to be spent on the slip and slide to hell. But I was wrong. Skinny wasn't coming for me. Skinny's stinger nudged the gun towards him. He took it.

in his chimpanzee hand. I hadn't even realized I dropped it. I looked up slowly, only to see Skinny lowering his head closer to his hands. He brought the barrel of the gun to his temple and fired. I heard a splat and a thunk as he fell dead. It was over. I was safe. I don't know what exactly Skinny took from Catherine.

Maybe it was her soul, maybe it was her brain, or maybe something else entirely. I'll probably never know for sure. Whatever it was, I think it's the only reason I'm alive now, so I'm grateful to Catherine. When all was said and done, I did my job. I cleaned up. After all, that's what I was paid for, right? The lab was a mess, and I was just a lowly janitor. I mean, like I said earlier, I'm trained to handle biohazardous materials and dispose of medical waste.

I'm educated, but you couldn't tell that. much by looking at my meager salary. I wasn't too pleased when I realized recently that some high school janitors make about as much as I do when all they have to deal with is graffiti and gum. So when the representative of a lab we often compete against for grants approached me a few days ago and offered me $200,000 for a single little flathead screw, the screw to the lid of Skinny's tank, I accepted, and I don't regret it.