An uncomfortably bright light woke Tara from her slumber. The light blinding her eyes she tried to turn her head away and found that she couldn't. Her head was fastened in place by some type of harness. Additionally, her chest, arms, and legs were also fastened in a similar manner. Just as she was struggling to get out a face came into view.
Immediately Tara remembered how she got here. The young-looking Alchemist Vern is what came into view. "Who are you?" She asked, fear in her voice.
Smiling he said, "I'm the same man who you helped with those potion brews. Thank you for that by the way. We made a lot so I'll get a decent amount of money." His face moved out of view. "It's a shame too." He continued. Metal clanking sounds could be heard. "You were a good assistant. Too bad I can only have you for the day."
The reality of the situation continued to sink in as she was forced to lie there listening to him. He must be one of those evil alchemists. The ones that do illegal human experiments against peoples' will. But… Aren't they said to kidnap people in the dead of night wearing dark robes? Or offering shady deals in dark alleys in the daytime. Her thoughts jumbled up confused as to how she got here. It doesn't matter how he dresses or how he brought me here. Either way, he's some type of evil alchemist.
Her thoughts gave way when Vern started speaking again. "Oh well. I'm sure you'll be of much help to me still. Such a good assistant as you must be able to be a great assistant in all areas." He came back into view and shifted the light back, allowing her to see better.
The walls were high and seemed to be like they were in a large hole dug into the ground, both made completely of dirt. "Where are we?" While knowing it was a futile question, she wanted to keep him talking. The longer he was distracted the better chance she had of getting out.
"You're a calm one, aren't you?" He smirked like she was an amusing fly he was about to swat, pointlessly trying to escape its glass enclosure. "I'm ok with that. It would be nice to peacefully conduct my experiment without all the racket." He brought a few large mirrors around Tara and now she could finally see her current situation. Her body was strapped to a thick metal table which was bolted to a stone foundation. Just to her sides were two more rolling tables filled with a variety of metal tools whose names she didn't know but uses would obviously leave her ripped apart. Further from her was evidence of his practiced use. A variety of partially deconstructed people and monsters floating in vats of different colored fluids.
The unfamiliar scene shocked her to her core and she looked back toward Vern through the mirror. His eerie smirk turned monstrous in light of their surroundings. You have to be absolutely mad to be able to do this. She thought. And even more so to smile easily while doing it.
"Now that I can see clearly, we can start." He said, reaching into his cart he pulled out a large knife.
Thrashing as he approached Tara ignored the pain as she tried to pull away. Desperate to avoid the fates of the people in the vats.
"Not to worry little one." He petted her forehead briefly. "You know the phrase. Things are going to get ugly before they get pretty." Not wasting time, he severed her right leg from her body.
Immediately a loud scream filled the underground lab. In an attempt to shush her he said, "No worries. No worries. As you can see, I'm very experienced. I'll make sure to keep you alive as long as I can." Injecting her right hip with some fluid the bleeding stopped immediately. "Good. Good." He said to himself. Leaving her on the table he quickly dissected her removed leg.
Tara's breathing slowed and settled after a few minutes, the pain slowly weakening from the initial shock. Just as she was able to blink the tears from her eyes, she saw him coming for her again. Leaving her severed leg behind and bringing an assortment of recently bloodied tools.
Smiling up at her briefly he immediately set to work. Cutting open her left leg now, he slowly dissected it.
The pain was constant and excruciating. Her constant screaming was absorbed by the dirt around them. She tried to voice any words that could convince him to stop but she was unable to articulate anything through the pain. Partway through she passed out unable to stay awake any longer.
When she awoke again, her arms were pinned to the wall, two large metal rods stabbed through her wrists and into wooden support. Blood dripped slowly from the bottom of her chest. An exposed lung hung in the air, expanding and contracting steadily with the assistance of a parasitic creature clinging to it. A silent scream was all she could let out as she couldn't control her own lungs any longer.
The pain hit her next after the shock of her current state. Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks and she thoughtlessly tried to escape once again. The horror and pain of her current state convincing her anything could be better than this. Even if it was simply death.
Her feeble thrashing attracted Vern's attention once more. Walking away from a vat of her own body parts sitting weightlessly within, split open for his inspection, he greeted Tara cheerfully. "How are you feeling so far?" Ignoring her lack of ability to respond he continued. "See. I told you that I could keep you alive. You know. Those parasites are very hard to store." He said pointing at the things stuck to her lungs.
"These are called Carbon Eaters. Strangely enough, they love to 'eat' the carbon in the air. Unfortunately for them, they aren't able to breathe in the air due to their lack of lungs or comparable organs. Soooo… they latch onto dead or severely injured animals and use their strong muscles to expand and contract their prey's lungs. Through attaching themselves to the lungs, some of that air flows into them and they consume the carbon that they receive." Pausing for a minute he wordless pet the disturbing creature attached to Tara's lungs before continuing. "Fascinating creatures don't you think. Anyway… I learned I could cycle a few of these to indefinitely allow my patients to breathe easily. There are a few other amazing creatures and serums that I've found over the years. Some help with blood loss. Others provide nutrients to you without requiring you to eat. I won't bore you endlessly with the details but I can keep you alive for a very long time within the sterile environment of my lab and my support."
"Since you're up I can give you a little update. Right now, I've carefully managed to study you and the next step is to analyze the neural pathways in your brain and rewire your brain to accept the body parts of the monsters I'm going to combine you with." He attempted to give Tara a reaffirming smile that just came out terrifying. "I think you will finally be my first success." Clapping his hands over a dozen vats closed in around them. "Now. Let's give you a nice new body for you to enjoy."
Uncaring of her feelings he set to work, the pain Tara just managed to get used to renewed with a vengeance and immediately sent her into unconsciousness again. Saving her from directly experiencing the painful torture he was subjecting her to.