Operation Starglow

Even as I write this in the little Starbucks two blocks away from my house, I am unable to process that this is real. All I have brought with me is a $20 bill which I used to get a Grande Frappuccino, my late girlfriend Stacy’s glasses, my old laptop which I got for my 15th birthday, and most importantly, a USB drive containing all the darkest secrets of Operation Starglow. It’s only an hour until the cafe closes, and I am writing this by candlelight as people slowly begin to trickle out, living normal lives. What I would give to join them, blissfully ignorant of the horrors of Operation Starglow. However, I cannot, and I can’t withhold the information for any longer, so that’s why I’m writing this down. I should probably back up a little bit.

My name is Steven, I’m 17 years old and I live in the little town of Dogolas, Ohio. 3 months ago, something happened that I’ll never forget, something that will haunt me until the day death encircles me in his cold embrace. It's all my fault, what happened, I was rash, impatient and adventurous, and where did that get me? These events have taken me to dark places, however, I have fought those thoughts back each and every time. It's all my fault and that will never change, I can’t change my actions, and I cannot stop Operation Starglow from taking place. This has led me to losing my hope in humanity. If an asteroid crashes into Earth and takes out the entire human race tomorrow, I will welcome it, so long as it purges the earth of humanity. I know that I have been rambling a lot in the start of this narrative, but I can hardly help it. Once I finish this summary of the events that took place, I will most likely burn my laptop. The authorities are no help, I went to them mere hours after I escaped that horrible place, but they’ve all been bribed and paid off. I’m sure of it, surely someone would have gone down to investigate my claims by now, but no. They are all corrupt, everyone, nobody ever listens. The only person who believes me is my friend Michael, who is a part time detective and was actually there when it happened. So, I am just going to start the story.

So, on the outskirts of my small town is a laboratory. It was owned by a company called Malum Genetics. 5 weeks before this story starts, the lab mysteriously shut down for no reason. My friends and I were fascinated by the laboratory. I can remember it as clearly as day, I had been working at a Mcdonalds at the time. Stacy was waiting for my shift to finish, and Michael had come back from his detective business. We sat down at a table outside to discuss what we wanted to do that day. Michael suggested we do something normal, like go to the movies. It was my idea, my idea that led us down this stupid journey. I suggested to Stacy and Michael that we should explore the old laboratory on the edge of town. Michael was hesitant but Stacy leapt at the idea. Eventually we convinced Michael, and we got on our bikes.

I got a pair of wire cutters and three flashlights from my house, and we set off. The three of us rode out of town, no one noticed us go. We biked up to the chain link fence surrounding the lab. It was peppered with do not enter signs. Michael insisted that we should turn back, we should have listened. I told Michael that if he wanted to be a chicken, he could go back on his own. Even Stacy seemed apprehensive. The three of us made a hole in the fence with the wire cutters I had grabbed from my house. We stepped through the fence and approached the lab, nothing seemed structurally wrong with it on the outside, nor did anything seem wrong when we first entered the lobby. The interior of the lab was painted white. All the power was out however, it was a good thing we brought the flashlights, we walked down corridors and checked inside rooms. We searched everywhere, offices, testing rooms, and corridors. From what we found at first, Malum Genetics had been working on a project called Operation Starglow, and they had created several test subjects. Everything was going fine until we rounded a corridor and found a room labeled, CONTAINMENT. Foolishly we charged onwards, unlocking the door and charging into the room without a care in the world. What we found shocked us.

The room we were in was full of enormous stables. Many were the size of entire houses. As soon as we entered the room, the smell hit us like a raging bull, the smell of decay. The smell that every human associates… with death. Stacy nearly vomited, Michael insisted that we had to leave, I told Michael that there was nothing that could hurt us if everything in the room was dead. So, we pressed on, we, I, was an idiot. I should have listened to Michael; we should have turned back. Stacy peered into one of the stables and screamed. Michael and I ran over to her, inside the stable, was the body of a horse. No, not a horse, a Unicorn? I couldn’t believe my eyes, the majestic, white horned horse had slashes and tears up and down its body. Its horn had been broken off about halfway up, and there were huge chunks of its skin missing. I looked in the stable next to it, and found a dead Werewolf, an upright standing wolf, laid sprawled across the ground. Again, it had chunks and slashes missing from its body. Michael turned to run and ran straight into something solid. We turned around, I remember how terrified I felt, I was glued to the spot, a gargantuan serpent was staring down at us, half a Griffin hanging from its jaws, which were stained red. Out of instinct, I threw my flashlight across the room to make a distraction, the enormous snake turned to stare at it. It lunged at the bright light and the three of us ran for our lives. The great snake began thrashing around, trying to maneuver through the tiny room. It turned after our footsteps. We ran out of containment and Stacy slammed the door behind us. We sprinted for the exit, desperately trying to escape the laboratory. We heard a crashing sound as the snake destroyed the doorway behind us. Slithering after us. Suddenly, it turned left, and we thought we were in the clear. We sprinted for the exit. “WE’RE GONNA MAKE IT!” Michael yelled. I firmly believe in jinxing it due to what happened next. The enormous snake burst through a wall to the left, blocking our path. We turned to go back the way we came, but it had blocked all the corridors with its enormous body. “That’s it, this is the end!” I yelled, the walls around us began to crack, it was trying to constrict us, the walls began to give way, bending and creaking as they did. Stacy looked up at the ceiling. “LOOK OUT ABOVE!” She screamed, the snake had crushed the support for the ceiling, and it came crashing down just as the gargantuan monster lunged. The floor gave way and sent the three of us and the snake falling through the floor. Unable to control where I landed, I grabbed Stacy as we fell. It wasn’t a very long fall, but it was enough to hurt like hell. Stacy was unharmed as she was in my arms. We had landed on a large balcony overlooking a vast pit. At the far end of the pit, I could see a huge steel door. Michael fell past us, missing the balcony. I grabbed him by the leg and pulled him up. The great snake’s head hit the balcony; it snapped at us once before falling at least 200 feet into the pit below. We heard a thud as it hit the concrete. I dusted myself off and looked around, WHAM! Michael punched me hard in the face, “Go to the lab you said, it’ll be an adventure you said. Steven, WE ARE TRAPPED DOWN HERE WITH MONSTERS AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!” Stacy jumped between us, “Michael, Steven had no idea this would happen, we shouldn’t be fighting each other, we should be focused on getting out of here! Michael nodded but turned to me. “Steven, if we get out of here, I’m going to kill you!” We looked around us and saw a sliding door leading off the balcony. It was half closed; a body hung from the door. Horribly mutilated. “Let's get going!” Stacy said, leading us through the doorway into the laboratory.

Michael was right, it was all my fault, and this was just the beginning. I should have never led my friends into that awful place; I bear the responsibility for what happened to them. It's all my fault and I can’t run from that. I didn’t start Operation Starglow, I didn’t create the monsters, but I did drag my friends into a venture that should have been my own. I have been struggling with this fact ever since I left that laboratory. Though I made it out, the memories still haunt me, the great snake, the floor collapsing, her terrible staring eyes, that THING, maw opening wide. Stacy’s hand being pulled out of my own. However… I am out of time, the Starbucks is closing down, and I need to leave. I will write the rest of what happened as soon as I feel like it, but for now, I need to take a break from all this. Just writing about it brings a tear to my eyes as I recall those traumatizing memories. I can’t take back what I did, I can’t undo the past, but I can learn from it. However, for now, I need a break from thinking about all this. Maybe tomorrow, I will do something normal for a change. I might go to the park, or the movies… the movies, Michael wanted to go to the movies that day, and If only I’d have listened to him… maybe things would have turned out differently. I just am so overwhelmed. I don’t know what to do. I think I might take this to the authorities, but they won't listen, they didn’t listen before. Nobody ever listens.