The Unnamed: Part 2.

"Placing one hand on my head, calamitous currents..."

I was frozen to the spot, filled with dread and almighty fear.
Part of me wished - no, longed to turn and see just what it was that sent frostbitten chills down my spine.
Yet, at the same time, I forced myself to remain still, in the naive and childish hope that what I had heard was nothing more than a fancy of my imagination, an illusion conjured up by a stressed psyche.
Any hopes of this being true were swiftly crushed by the echo of these footsteps. These could not be from any of my group; it appears that the same paralysis which grips my body has afflicted them all, and also, these noises were accompanied by a faint, intermittent click, a constant sound which served to keep me glued to this very spot.
Silence reigned supreme once more, the only noise being these untraceable tips and taps and clicks and clacks, getting closer and closer, louder and louder with each passing second.
My heart thrummed and beat inside, bashing against my ribs with startling force - I feared grievous injury would occur should I remain here much longer. Finally, after what felt like hours passed by, I drummed up whatever dregs of courage lay within me, and turned to glimpse a horror unlike any nightmare man has experienced.

The source of the unnerving footsteps turned out to be from the same ghastly figures that had lain dormant within the painting, and it was through means unknown that they had breached into our world.
As I and the creatures stood locked in a silent standoff, I took the moment to examine these beings more closely, most notably their leader.
Slender, bleached legs with talons of flesh were the first detail noticed, two towers of dull beige holding up an almost emaciated figure.
Both chest and lower abdomen, decorated with scars and blemishes from a time unknown, expanded and contracted with ragged, murmuring breaths, breathing life into something that was not meant to be.
Four humanoid arms hung from the lead beast's sides, almost the same width as the aforementioned legs, but still cloaked in wreaths of muscle, which had not quite succumbed to the entropy that plagued its compatriots; overall, the creature held an impressive physique that rivaled even the most staunch of fighters.
Descending downwards, I glimpsed the hands - chilling instruments with faded fingers, ending with what appeared to be almost swollen pads on the tips of the fingers, faintly hissing with the unmistakable sound of electricity.
Yet the most frightening, most eldritch aspect of these beings were their very faces - almost human, yet unbelievably alien.
The lower jaw was shielded by fibers as thin as hair, and as the creature shifted, the fibers parted, revealing a lower jaw that held striking similarity to that of an ape or even a human, but the teeth it bared lacked peers - no Earthly creature could have held an arsenal of knifes in their mouth quite like these.
Rising upwards, there were no eyes to be seen - above a thin membrane marking the middle of the head, the upper half of this beast's head can only be described as an undulating, gelatinous mass, akin to a human brain, twitching and pulsating in some macabre rhythm I cannot fully explain. This structure was a garish construct in contrast to the drained white that gave the creatures their color - it glowed and shimmered with colors both recognizable and colors I cannot find the words for, mesmerizing me with both angelic beauty and hideous repulsion.
The minions which hung by the creature's side were mirror images of their leader, save for the subtraction of two limbs and their rather diminutive stature, separated from it by a few feet of height.
Their presumed leader, as tall as myself, stepped forward with both the grace of blue-blooded nobility and the purpose of naught but the most doom-driven individuals, eyeing me and my accomplices, just as I had done with it and its fellows.
Had it had eyes, it would have seen a man gripped with fear, clothes soaked both in rain and in drenches of slick sweat, shivering with both cold and suppressed worry, and his once tidy hair now unkempt, resembling that of any ordinary vagabond.
My eyes darted left and right, looking for any sort of escape route, and at last, they rested on a door just yards away from my position. I attempted to run, yet still I was held in place, some unknown and powerful force keeping me stranded and still.
The creature now stood to its full height, standing at least a foot over me, arching down to inspect me close up. Its rancid breath stroked my face as it neared, almost causing me to gag in disgust.
Only my fear kept me from moving. The beast moved from side to side in an almost autonomic fashion - were I fond of metaphors, I would have perhaps compared it to a machine. Alas, my train of thought was derailed as something flew through the air, smashing into the Leader's side, sending it tumbling down.
"Now's our chance - run!" Jeff shouted.
The paralysis that kept me petrified vanished, and I turned towards the glimpsed door and ran with an alacrity I had not known before. Our troubles were not over - the beasts now turned to chase us, and their Leader, the one I had come into contact with, shrieked, his warcry echoing through the corridors.

That noise was the only thing on my mind as I ran for safety in this accursed gallery.
Was it a cry of pain, or a call for its allies to hunt us down?
Most likely the latter, but all that was on my mind now was escape, and escape I would.
I made my way once more through these once silent corridors, my cohorts following suit, just outpacing the beasts behind them. The way these beasts ran - had they not been so alien in appearance, it is quite likely one could have applied human attributes to them. I shook the thought away - these beasts are most certainly not human!
With escape now in sight, I ran for the front entrance, and with safety now certain, it was unexpected that the air was pierced by a most human scream - that of a woman.
Alison was caught my the creatures, and as I turned, I saw the full extent of their savagery.
Thick cords of muscle held Alison in place, and I was transfixed, frozen in horror as she was carted away towards a doom I cannot begin to imagine.
Now, all the fear inside gave way to scalding fury. Powered by adrenaline and a resolve that can only be described as insane, I searched for anything, anything I could use against theses foul daemons. My eyes rested on an antique vase; the collector of these priceless artifacts would have to take issue with me later, for I had a friend to save.
With one deft move, I smashed the protective case, alarms now ringing through the building. I picked up the vase and ran back, only to be stopped by Darren.
"What are you doing? We're almost free!" he said, urgency and fear creeping into this words.
"I'm going to rescue her - I'm not going to let her die!" I exclaimed, pushing him out of the way and running towards the beasts.
I was not afraid - I would rather go down fighting than live the rest of my life knowing I had consigned a friend to death. The beast that held Alison in place now noticed me, and so it was that with one swift move, I hurled the vase towards its cranium. A lucky shot - the vase impacted the beast, sending it careening backwards, culminating in the foul thing losing its balance and falling over, never to get back up.
I ran to Alison and gestured towards the exit - we both ran, ran towards freedom.
The beast I had knocked down now got up with alarming ease, the "brain" I had thought to be destroyed growing back and regenerating before my very eyes. Could nothing kill these beasts?
Jeff pushed past me and Alison and shouted "Stand back!" just before taking out the pistol he had taken along. With precision borne from training, he fired three times, the bullets impacting the creature's torso - grievous wounds that would surely kill any human.
But the creature was not human, and began healing those wounds too. Jeff kept firing and as he did, the creature's arms now crackled with an eldritch light; arcs of electricity beginning to form.
"Watch out, Jeff!" I shouted.
It was too late for Jeff, though. With startling speed, the beast drew its arms, and twin bolts of lightning pierced Jeff's chest, sending him backwards, turning him into a smoldering corpse.
"You bastard!" shouted Darren, and he ran full force at the beast, knocking it down and pummeling it with a rain of fists. Yet above him the Leader stood, his head glowing with an unearthly hue, and with one deft blow, he clutched Darren's head with his hand.
Darren struggled and attempted to escape, but the Leader had other plans for him.
Within an instant, cerulean arcs of electricity coursed down the Leader's arm, straight into Darren's nervous system. He screamed in pain for what seemed to be an infinity before turning into ash, and the Leader, alongside his rescued minion, now strode in unison towards me and Alison.
We turned to escape, but behind us, its acolytes barred the entrances; there was no escape now.
Seeing the gun, Alison ran towards it - only for the Leader to grab her neck, her thin, delicate neck, pull her upwards, and  as she struggled in his grasp, he broke her like one would a twig.
Inspecting her lifeless corpse for but a modicum of a second, the Leader muttered something in some non-indigenous language towards its comrades, before laying her to rest on the floor in a delicate manner I thought out of place for such a fiendish beast.
I fell to my knees and began to weep, salt-kissed tears running down my face, all hope of escape now crushed.
The Leader stood before me, and it was then I asked:
"What do you want? What do you want from me?" I cried, my voice nothing more but a subdued whisper.

Remaining silent, the Leader stood, its towering physique hung over me, almost examining me as if I were one of the very exhibits of this damned gallery.
I saw the beast read through the pages of my life as easily as any bookworm, flicking through the pages with incalculable precision. The Leader paused, as if to contemplate what to do with the broken man beside its feet, and just like all others before, concluded its critique with damning silence.
Placing one hand on my head, calamitous currents of electricity arced and sparked along its arm, and instead of the blinding moment of pain I thought I would experience upon disintegration, I was thrown into a truly alien vista.
I glimpsed visions no man before - and perhaps no man after me would ever lay his eyes upon, glimpsing dimensions I still cannot put words on, unfathomable scenes of horror and beauty, histories both real and fictional.
These sensations parted and gave way to a vision from the past - or perhaps even the future.
I was subject to an assault on my conscious that left scars most grievous - no scream emanated from my mouth, nor did I experience pain - instead, my very sanity was unraveled as I was subject to sights most grievous; realities beyond our own, the horrors that lurked in shadow alongside alien structures my mortal mind could not begin to comprehend.
My body trembled and palpitated with surges of adrenalin, and the blinding white that filled my vision was snatched away, and a curtain of black fell over my conscious.
As I fell into blissful sleep, I could hear a scene play out in my last moments of life:
Sirens ringing in the distance, gunshots ringing out, a backing track punctuated by human screams and the sporadic zap of weapons thought arcane, only to end with unnerving silence, swiftly followed by footsteps.
Heading towards my body.

As I awoke, I saw the creatures and the Leader, each standing still in front of me.
I tried to move, to escape, but I could not, instead paralyzed in place.
"What could be the cause of this?" I wondered, and it was then I knew what fate had bestowed upon me.
I was doomed to live out the rest of my days, forever unchanging, forever undying.
The last sight I remember was the Leader pulling up the same white tapestry I had pulled off to reveal them, and placing it over the same golden frame I had laid my eyes upon, leaving me to dwell in fields of white.
I was left alone, their footsteps echoing away into the night.
That, ladies and gentlemen - is my story.
And I fear that it always will be.


Source of alien image: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Hot-head-121913747