Razia swept a few more shards of glass into the pile. She also managed to get a majority of the dust that had been building up on the floor. Shattering the display case wasn't the best way to remove the bracer, but what's done is done. She took a pause from her work and looked down the line of exhibits. Each glass case held another artifact found buried within the city or the desert surrounding it.

The museum was going dark as the sun started to set, and the last few rays trickled in from the stone windows on the far side of the room. Soon only the pot lights in the ceiling would keep the room lit.

Razia cherished the museum and all the history it held. But now the jewel of their collection, the Bracer of Sharjah, was in better hands.

She wiped her hands off on her black dress, and returned to the task at hand. The mess of glass would surely take her the rest of the night.

"What happened!? Where's the bracer!?" Narin dropped her stack of books and ran over to Razia. She was a young protégé who had only just begun learning the history of the town. She wore a simple, blue hijab on top of her black dress. "We have to find it before Fariq finds out!" She frantically kicked the glass aside. Her eyes flitted around the room searching for any sign of the bracer.

"Calm down my child," said Razia, raising a finger to her mouth. "The bracer is gone."

"We have to--"

Razia quieted Narin again. "The bracer is in safe hands. I will tell Fariq, and we'll have nothing to worry about." She lowered her finger, and returned to her sweeping.

Narin took a moment before retrieving her books. "Are you sure? Fariq will be very angry."

"When isn't he?" Razia laughed to herself. "When you're done putting away your books, would you mind helping me tidy up. I couldn't possibly do it alone."

"Yes ma'am," nodded Narin, and she took off to the spiraled stairway up to the library. Razia smiled after her. Narin was always a huge help around the museum. In a few more years, she'd be ready to take her place. Razia returned to her sweeping and listened to Narin's creaking footsteps from the floor above.

Suddenly, there was a loud thump from above, and a cloud of grey dust fell from ceiling.

"Everything okay up there?" coughed Razia, waving the dust away. No response. "Narin? Are you alright?"

Silence. Not even a creaking footstep.

She leaned her broom against a nearby pedestal and walked to the stairs. "Narin, dear. Did you drop your books?"

She climbed the last few steps and arrived in the library. It was mostly rows of tables with books piled high. The only shelves were pushed back against the walls, and were equally stuffed. She weaved through the tables trying to find Narin.

"Narin, please answer me. Where are you?" She tried looking over the stacks of books to spot her. But no luck. They were too high. She crouched down and tried looking underneath the tables.

A pair of legs rushed by against the far left wall. "Narin? Is that you?" She pushed herself up to her feet and hustled in the direction of the legs. Peering down the left wall, she saw nothing. "Narin, this isn't funny. I need to know if you're okay."

There was a loud thumping from the other side of the room. Razia jumped, and a gasp slipped through her lips. She wheeled around; heart racing. Had a stack of books fallen on her? She ran off in the direction of the noise. She rounded the last corner and spotted someone curled up at the end of the row.

"Narin!" she shouted, as she dashed over. She knelt down beside the girl. "What happened?!" She turned Narin over. Her face was bloodied, her nose broken, her eyes glazed over. "No!" Razia dropped her in shock. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she examined the rest of her battered student. Both her arms had been broken, and her legs bent out of shape. "What's happened to you?! We need to get you help immediately!"

Razia noticed that a fog was creeping in underneath her. She jumped to her feet and fell into the table behind her. A few books crashed to the floor. Startled, she turned and saw that the room had been consumed with the grey fog. "What is happening in here?" she cried. She whipped back around to the sound of cracking behind her. Narin had started to rise like a marionette. Her broken bones limply cracking against each other. "Narin, dear! Please stay down! You're injured!" She wanted to calm her, but couldn't bring herself to get any closer.

But Narin's body kept cracking in to place. Her arms hung at her side. She tried to raise them but the bones snapped and dangled. Her fingers writhed and twitched, as if trying to reach out for her. Her back lifted her up, but couldn't move any higher than a hunch; weighed down by the front of her torso. She dragged her feet along the ground at the end of her broken legs. Blood drained down her body and trailed on the floor as she limped along. Her skin had greyed, and the outline of her skeleton pushed through her skin, tearing through at her collarbone, and hips. Even her clothing had rotted and tore away, revealing more of her gaunt figure.

Razia backed away as the figure lurched towards her. She was on the verge of tears as she turned to face the wall of fog. She looked back once more and saw the figure advancing towards her. Razia took a whimpering breath and ran into the grey fog. She tried weaving her way through the tables, but they were rendered invisible by the fog. Books fell to the ground as she blindly stumbled into tables. The cracking of bone followed her as she tried to find the exit. She could hear every step the monstrosity took. But with every corner she turned, the cracking seemed to move to a different part of the room. The sound floated around her, surrounding her. It grew louder and closer and filled her ears. The cracking monster was everywhere, hiding at the edge of her vision. Waiting for her to turn the wrong corner and fall into its grasp.

She kept weaving her way through the tables, trying to escape the horrible sound. She rounded another corner and stopped dead in her tracks as a mangled hand reached out of the fog and grabbed her. She screamed and pushed away in the opposite direction. Her hijab pulled off her head, but she continued without it. She ran down another row. Turned left, then right, right again. She took another step and fell through the air for half a second. The stairs!

She groped through the fog for a handrail and dashed down the stairs. The fog thinned out as she reached the bottom. She could see again. She turned and looked up at the cloud of fog. A wave of relief washed over. But a mangled arm soon broke the surface of the fog. Panic gripped her once more as Narin's disfigured body emerged from the fog and rolled down the steps. She turned to the museum and ran down the row of displays.

She looked over her shoulder, and saw the figure crawl to its feet. It staggered along the ground moving faster than it did before. She turned back and saw the broken glass surrounding the pedestal. But... How could it be? The bracer sat on its pedestal again. She stepped through the sea of broken glass and grabbed the bracer. She slipped it over her hand and buckled it to her wrist. The monstrosity clawed its way through the glass, ignoring the shards that stabbed into its body.

With a flick of her wrist, a blade shot out the front of the bracer. "Stay back!" Razia shouted at it. But it kept cracking towards her. It's forearm started to rise at the end of its limp elbow; its wretched hands reached out for her. "Back!" she shouted again. But it kept advancing. Without wasting another second, Razia slashed the monster with her sword. But the blade passed harmlessly through the monster's arms. She slashed again; and it passed through. Panic and anxiety gripped her harder. "No!!" she screamed as her slashes passed through the monster again and again. She looked down at the bracer and flicked it in and out, trying to fix it. As she touched it, the bracer evaporated into a grey fog, and slithered away. "You are alone," the fog hissed, and the monster crashed down on top of her.

Rotted teeth gnashed at her face, the smell of decay filled her nose and mouth. The sharpened edges of the protruding bones began to pierce her skin as it writhed and clawed on top of her. Razia tried pushing it off, but it was too heavy for her to lift. She threw her head in every direction, looking for something to help. A large shard of glass sat just out of her reach. She reached out and pushed herself further and further, just barely touching the edge. With one small push, she spun the shard of glass, and it swung into reach. She grasped it in her hand like a dagger and stabbed it into the side of the beast's neck.

It unleashed a horrifying scream and railed backwards. Razia scrambled to her feet and watched the monster seize on the floor. Its bones slowly started to crack back in to place. Its skin filled with colour and the outline of her bones disappeared. Its clothes began to stitch back together. Narin was reassembling before her eyes. The screams continued and morphed into Narin's. Razia watched in horror as her student grasped at her neck trying to stop the gushing blood. "Narin!!" screamed Razia, as she ran to her side. Tears streamed from both their eyes. Razia held Narin in her arms as the colour in her cheeks started to wash away again. She tried to speak, but blood spluttered out instead. Her eyes rolled in their sockets, searching for Razia's. "Narin, please. Look at me! You're going to be okay!" Narin's eyes locked with Razia's for only a second, and her head fell limp. Razia cried out and held her tighter. She looked down on her student's face once more. She could only watch as the blood continued to pool out on the floor beneath them.

She stared into the crimson pool, tears distorting her vision. The fog crept into view once more, and two yellow eyes blinked on in the reflection in the blood. Razia looked up and saw the eyes shining out of the cloud of fog before her.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" she cried at the ominous figure. Four robotic claws shot into view from the fog. They reached out and lifted her up, away from Narin's body. Terror and grief held her captive as the figure brought her in closer. "Please, leave our town alone."

The eyes stared back, refusing to respond. One of the claws moved into view, and a needle shot out the middle. In one swift movement, the needle stabbed into her chest. Razia screamed as she felt whatever it was moving through her body. It crawled like ants through her veins, claiming her body as their home. Her flesh felt like it was trying to pull itself away from her body.

Suddenly, her arms started to contort. They bent and writhed beyond her control. Then they both shot stiff. She tried to pull them back, but her muscles moved against her. She muffled a scream as she felt them bend further and further. A sickening crack filled the museum as both her arms snapped and fell to her side. She roared in pain, as the ominous figured stared on. Then both her legs stiffened. She was useless to resist as they bent further and further out of shape just as her arms had. She gritted her teeth, but she was still unprepared for the second sickening crack as her legs snapped then dangled beneath her.

Razia hung in the air, holding back her roars of pain as her attacker watched, uncaring. Finally, the claws threw her to the ground. She cried in agony as she raised her head to face the assailant one last time. "You can't scare me anymore," she whispered, through strained voice. The figure shot to face her. A claw weaved its way through the air and latched on to the side of her head. Razia grunted with pain, but stared into the yellow eyes. There was a squeal of hydraulics, and the claw clamped harder on her head. Razia held in her scream as blood streamed down her face. She closed her eyes. And the claw slammed shut.

We hope you liked this short story! All of our stories are related to the Injection universe and expand upon the world. We hope all of  you will become Injection fans as we continue to forge the world and wide array of characters in it!