Note: This story takes place in a world relatively similar to ours. Even though there are monsters there, it has mostly identical historical events and similar pop culture (mostly the same famous books, movies, shows, games, and comics).
I titled this as Chapter 0 because this story was originally the prologue of a longer chapter, but I chose to separate them because it seemed too long now.
Also, I plan to use various fetishes/kinks in each chapter of this series so always check the tags before reading. Just because a certain fetish/kink appeared in a chapter, it doesn't mean all chapters will include it.
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Zara woke up feeling slightly nauseous, lying in the van's backseat. She couldn't see anything, then remembered that she was blindfolded.
"Hey, you," she heard Margaret, the old researcher, spoke as she took off Zara's blindfold. "You're finally awake."
"What happened? Did you guys knock me out?" Zara asked, her voice still groggy.
"No. You fell asleep not even a minute after I put the blindfold on you," Margaret smirked.
"Oh, I guess I was just really sleepy," Zara replied with a yawn. "I haven't slept well the last few weeks."
Indeed, she had sleeping issues because of the stress, since being a monster hunter in a busy city like Crowsend is no easy task. The number of monsters is skyrocketing, just like the competition among hunters. To stand out from the crowd, one has to be the best. Unfortunately, Zara wasn't the best. The Hunter Society Alliance began experimenting on their hunters a long time ago by giving them various augmentations from their experiments with the monsters. But Zara could never dream about something like that because she had no friends or family in high places like the rest.
She thought she wouldn't be able to continue and would have to quit in the next one or two years but a few days ago she got a call from the HSA. They chose her for an experiment with a powerful monster that could finally elevate her career. It seemed impossible to say no to this offer, although she began to worry later about this experiment's safety.
"Get out of the car, we have an experiment to do today. Remember?" Margaret said impatiently.
Zara stood up and stepped out of the van. The whole place was dark except for the light above a big metal door.
They walked to the door. The echoes of Margaret's high heels and Zara's boots sounded like a morbid waltz in there.
"Hi, guys!" Margaret said as she opened the door. The bright lights momentarily blinded Zara's eyes. "Sorry for being late, but we had to wait for the council's approval."
Finally, Zara's eyes adjusted to the brightness. The room was the polar opposite of the place outside. It was filled with light and people. Most were busy watching the monitors in front of them, but some waved when they noticed Margaret.
"So, this is..." Zara started.
"Yes, the Hunter Society Alliance's monster containment facility, or as you hunters call it, the Crypt," Margaret announced proudly as she led Zara through the room.
Zara glanced at the monitors as they passed by. Each monitor's footage was a horror show. She saw a naked woman, crawling on all fours with a huge snake-like creature halfway inside of her ass with its head being outside. It looked like the snake thing was in control because the woman was crawling backward as if her lower body with the snake monster would be her front side. Zara quickly forced her gaze to another direction.
"I have to talk to the guards to let us through. You can wait here," Margaret said as they stopped near a vending machine. "If you want to eat or drink something, do it now because you'll lose your appetite for a while after the experiment," she said with a grin.
Zara wasn't hungry. She was still a bit nauseous from the ride, but she checked the vending machine anyway.
"Oh," she thought to herself as she noticed her reflection in the machine's glass wall. She had always had a pale skin tone, and her brown hair made it look even paler, but right now, she looked sickly. Her eyes looked like two green marbles half sunken in a puddle of milk, which was her face.
She hadn't felt good all week after hearing about the experiment she was chosen for, but she felt different now, like an instinct. This was the first time in her career as a hunter when she was genuinely afraid of something.
"Wow! A ghost," she heard the voice of a girl standing nearby. She was seemingly near Zara's age.
"Yeah, I look like shit, got it," Zara replied wearily.
"Nah, it's not that bad. Just go outside more often," she smiled. Zara stayed silent.
"By the way, I'm Akemi Yoriko," she said, sticking out her hand, her grip firm and strong. "But feel free to call me Aki."
"Okay, Aki," she replied timidly. "Are you here for the experiments as well, or are you working here?" Zara asked.
"No, I'm a hunter. My grandma works here as one of the researchers. She called me here to check on my augmentations," she replied.
"You got augmentations?"
"Yeah, check this out," then an empty soda can from one of the tables flew to Akemi's hand. She squeezed it with a crunch, and then the can flew into a recycling bin.
"That was telekinesis?"
"Yeah," Akemi nodded. "They put some Brain Beast tissue samples into my head. I had a terrible migraine for a few weeks, but I'd rather choose this again instead of what that poor girl will have to endure today. I heard that the monster specifically asked for her, nobody knows why."
"Who is this girl?"
"If I remember well, her name is Sarah... Sarah Crowbell... maybe? Or something that sounded like that," Akemi said thoughtfully, her eyes scanning the room as if searching for someone. "But I've never met her before."
"Miss Cromwell, it's time to go," they heard Margaret's voice from the other end of the room.
"I'm coming," Zara replied and left Akemi there, her mouth hanging open.
"Follow me," Margaret instructed, opening a door with "Staff Only!" written on it.
"See you later, Aki," Zara waved goodbye to her as she entered the door that Margaret held open for her. They entered a large stairway. It looked almost infinite both up and down.
They walked for almost half an hour when they finally stopped in front of something that looked like the door of a building-sized vault. Margaret slid her card through the card reader, and a red light turned green.
"We are about to enter the Meat Circus, one of the special sectors of the facility. They keep monsters here with biokinetic abilities," Margaret explained as they walked through.
"And the monster my experiment will be is a... what did you call it?"