THE BREACHERS: Protocol: Hellgate

POV: CAPTAIN ELIAS VANCE ㅤ "Check your seals, people. I don’t want anyone breathing in this rot. This isn't just mold; it's the smell of a dying reality." ㅤ I adjusted the heavy rubber straps of my gas mask, ensuring the seal was airtight against my skin. The filtered air tasted metallic, a sharp contrast to the outside scent of charcoal and ancient decay that permeated the asylum grounds. We stood before the rusted, vine-choked gates of San Juan de Dios Asylum. It was 02:00 AM. For fifty years, this place was a silent tomb for the forgotten. Tonight, however, the very bricks seemed to pulse. It felt alive, watching us with hollowed windows. ㅤ [ Bravo: Seals checked. I look like a budget Darth Vader in this gear, Cap. ] ㅤ [ Jace: Tech is flickering on my end. The EMF readings are off the charts. It’s like the air itself is electrified. ] ㅤ [ Kael: Perimeter set. I’m on the north ridge with the long rifle. Cap, I see movement in the third-floor windows. Pale shapes. They aren't trees. ] ㅤ "Maintain radio silence unless it’s a contact report," I commanded, my thumb clicking the safety off my rifle. "Protocol: Hellgate is officially in effect. Remember your training. If it doesn't have a heartbeat, if it doesn't breathe, and it moves toward you—you use the Mercury rounds. No hesitation." ㅤ We moved in a tight tactical diamond formation. I took the point, my powerful weapon light cutting through the thick, oppressive fog that clung to the floor like a living thing. The moment we crossed the threshold of the main lobby, the temperature displayed on my tactical HUD plummeted. It dropped from a humid 28°C to a bone-chilling 4°C in a matter of seconds. I could see my own breath misting inside the mask. ㅤ Static. ㅤ A high-pitched, agonizing whine suddenly filled my earpiece, forcing me to grit my teeth against the sharp pain. ㅤ "Jace, fix the comms. The interference is hitting a lethal frequency," I hissed into the mic. ㅤ "It’s not the equipment, Cap," Jace whispered back, his voice trembling slightly. "I’ve run a diagnostic. The signal... it’s coming from inside the structural walls. It’s like the building is screaming in a pitch the human ear wasn't meant to handle." ㅤ We reached the grand staircase. The wallpaper was peeling in long, disgusting strips like dead skin, revealing damp, black bricks underneath that seemed to ooze a dark fluid. On the floor lay a shattered porcelain doll, its painted eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. Suddenly, Bravo held up a hand, signaling a halt. His flashlight was flickering intermittently, struggling against the supernatural gloom. ㅤ "Cap... tell me you heard that," Bravo whispered, his shotgun leveled at the darkness above. ㅤ I signaled the team to go silent. We stood perfectly still, the only sound being the rhythmic hiss of our respirators. Then, a faint, wet sound echoed from the darkness of the second-floor landing. ㅤ Schlick. Schlick. Schlick. ㅤ It sounded like someone dragging a heavy, wet sack of raw meat across a stone floor. The sound was rhythmic, deliberate, and approaching the edge of the stairs. ㅤ "Show yourself! Police!" Bravo shouted, his bravado a thin veil for the kaba in his chest. "I have a 12-gauge loaded with rock salt and silver, and I am not afraid to use it on a Casper look-alike!" ㅤ "Bravo, shut your mouth and watch your sector," I snapped, my eyes fixed on the shadows. ㅤ The dragging sound stopped instantly. A sudden, frigid wind blew down the stairwell, carrying the iron-rich scent of fresh blood and old formaldehyde. My tactical light finally hit the landing. ㅤ A man stood there. Or at least, it had the shape of one. He wore a tattered, yellowed doctor's coat, but his limbs were elongated, bent at impossible, skeletal angles. His jaw was completely unhinged, hanging down to his collarbone, and his eyes... they were nothing but hollow, bottomless sockets leaking a thick, tar-like black sludge. ㅤ "Residual detected," Jace whispered frantically. "No, wait. Correct that. The energy reading is solid. Cap, that’s not a memory. That’s a Class-4 Entity. It’s physically here!" ㅤ The creature tilted its head with a sickening crack of bone. Then, it shrieked. It wasn't a human sound; it was the digital scream of a thousand dying radios overlapping into one note of pure agony. ㅤ "OPEN FIRE!" I roared. ㅤ The lobby erupted in a deafening cacophony. But these weren't ordinary gunshots. Our Mercury-tipped rounds left glowing trails of shimmering silver light in the dusty air, slicing through the darkness. ㅤ BANG! BANG! BANG! ㅤ The creature moved with impossible speed, scrambling up the side of the wall like a starving spider. Bravo’s shotgun roared, the salt-packed shells shredding the creature’s midsection. It hissed in pain, black fluid splattering against the wall and smoking like acid where it touched the wood. ㅤ "It’s flanking us! Jace, Flash-Salt now!" ㅤ Jace pulled a specialized grenade from his tactical vest and tossed it toward the high ceiling. ㅤ BOOM! ㅤ A blinding flash of pure white light and consecrated salt crystals filled the room. The creature shrieked, blinded and burning as the salt seared its ethereal flesh. It fell from the wall, crashing onto a rotted wooden reception table. I didn't give it a second to recover. I stepped forward, burying my sights on its chest. ㅤ "Go back to the hell you crawled out of," I muttered, pulling the trigger. ㅤ The Mercury round expanded on impact, turning the creature’s torso into a cloud of silver mist and black vapor. The body twitched violently once, then dissolved into a pile of ash, leaving only a scorched, cross-shaped mark on the floorboards. ㅤ Silence returned, heavier and more suffocating than before. ㅤ Bravo exhaled a long, shaky breath, lowering his smoking weapon. "Okay... I officially hate doctors. Can we go home now? I think I left my oven on. Or my cat needs feeding. Anything to get out of here." ㅤ "Check your corners, Bravo," I said, my heart still hammering against my ribs. "That was just the receptionist. We still have four more floors of this nightmare to clear." ㅤ "Great," Jace muttered, tapping furiously at his tablet. "And according to my bio-scans, the 'Manager' of this place just realized we’re here. Cap, look at the entrance. The doors... they’re gone." ㅤ I spun around. The massive iron gates we had just breached were gone. In their place stood a solid, seamless wall of aged brick, looking as if it had been there for centuries. There was no seam, no crack, no way out. We weren't just in an asylum anymore. We were inside a stomach. And it was starting to digest us. ㅤ "Alpha Team, status report," I said into the radio, my voice tight. ㅤ Nothing but dead static. ㅤ "Kael? Do you copy? Kael!" ㅤ [ ...Elias... ] ㅤ The voice in my earpiece wasn't Kael’s. It was soft, feminine, and sounded like it was coming from a long, dark tunnel. ㅤ [ ...the doctor is ready for your appointment now, Elias... don't keep him waiting... ] ㅤ I looked at the stairs. The shadows were lengthening, stretching toward our boots like hungry, black fingers. ㅤ "New objective: Survival," I told the team, my voice turning cold as ice. "Jace, find us a structural weakness. Bravo, stay on my six. We’re going up." ㅤ "Why up, Cap? Everything bad is up there!" Bravo asked, reloading his shotgun with trembling hands. ㅤ "Because the only way out of hell," I said, staring into the abyss above, "is to kill the one running it." ㅤ I adjusted my grip on my rifle and stepped into the dark.