Anomaly

Author: Rowen

Chapter 310 – The Primordial Fear [28]

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“Did you guys... hear that too?” Rupert asked quietly, his expression stiff as he tilted his head slightly, as if trying to catch the sound again.
His eyes swept over the darkness surrounding us, scanning every corner with care, as though he expected something to emerge from the shadows at any second. Not that he would actually be able to see anything in there, but I chose not to comment.
I was focused on the sound, or rather, on whatever was producing it. With each passing second, the footsteps grew slower, more spaced out, and yet, terrifyingly closer to where we stood. The silence between one step and the next seemed to stretch on. Even so, I still had no idea what exactly was coming toward us.
“Are you sure you’re not hearing things?” Victor asked, casting a suspicious glance around: “This place might be exerting some kind of mental influence on us” he added, his skeptical tone clashing with the obvious tension in his shoulders.
I kept concentrating. Every time the sound of footsteps appeared from a different direction, I turned my body toward it, my gelatinously flexible form following the motion, ready to react. But just as I prepared to act, the noise dissolved into the air, only to reappear seconds later from another distant corner.
There was no pattern, no recognizable logic. The footsteps appeared and vanished chaotically, as if whatever it was were deliberately provoking me. The only thing I was certain of was that it was getting closer... and that with every repetition, the distance between us was shrinking.
“No...” Arthur murmured suddenly, drawing the attention of Victor and Rupert, who were closest to him. With a careful motion, he adjusted the monocle over his eye as if searching for sharper focus, then leaned forward slightly. In a low voice, almost a whisper heavy with unease, he added: “Rupert is right... there’s definitely something here besides us”
Arthur leaned in a bit more, directing his gaze in the same direction as mine as he spoke, perhaps slightly above where I imagined the thing to be. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, he could see from there, but judging by the tension etched on his face, it clearly wasn’t the anomaly itself.
The footsteps echoed again, now closer than before, probably just a few meters beyond the reach of the faint light my eyes could project. I narrowed my gaze and forced my focus, trying to pull something out of the darkness ahead.
Despite having a very unique way of seeing, it had become practically useless since we arrived here. If I shifted my focus too far from the central point where my body was, I couldn’t make out anything at all.
The darkness swallowed everything. After all, I could only see what my eyes directly reached, and without light reflecting ahead, the world around me collapsed into an oppressive void.
At some point, the footsteps grew loud enough to be impossible to ignore. The reaction team members turned almost simultaneously toward the direction one of them had echoed from, a purely instinctive response, raising and aiming their weapons.
Then the footsteps stopped. The silence stretched on for several unbearable seconds, heavy enough to make every breath sound too loud. And then, suddenly, the footsteps echoed behind us.
One by one, we turned toward the sound. And, surprisingly... or perhaps not, there was something there. However, it was far from the terrifying, fire-breathing, three-headed monster dripping acid from its jaws that we had imagined.
“What the hell...?” Rupert muttered, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the supposed “Anomaly” the source of that strange sound in the darkness.
Arthur and Victor, along with the members of the anomaly response team, wore expressions very similar to Rupert’s: a mix of disbelief and silent caution.
No one said a word, which wasn’t surprising. Given the circumstances, any other reaction would have felt strange. The entire situation was far too absurd to prompt immediate responses.
I didn’t know exactly what we expected to emerge from the darkness, but it definitely wasn’t a human. And yet, that was exactly what appeared: a man with dark, slightly curly hair, falling carelessly over his forehead.
His eyes, just as dark, observed the surroundings with calculated attention. A pair of glasses rested on his face, giving him an almost intellectual air, one that felt oddly out of place, especially when contrasted with his strangely disheveled clothes, as if he’d been dragged out of another place... or another reality.
“I know this is going to sound insanely weird, but... why the hell is there a human here?” Victor asked, frowning, the confusion clearly audible in his voice.
“Maybe... he got lost?” Rupert ventured after a brief silence. The words came out hesitant, almost a whisper, and he frowned immediately afterward, as if realizing he didn’t truly believe that explanation himself.
I tried to find any plausible reason for a human to be in the middle of the ocean, especially inside an aquatic anomaly. The idea felt far too absurd to be real. Still, one doubt lingered for a few moments: was he really human? The uncertainty didn’t last long.
His body gave off a subtle glow that fractured into countless colors, rippling like light refracted through water, exactly the same phenomenon I had seen with Victor, Rupert, Arthur, and every other member of the response team. There was no room left for doubt. This unmistakable effect caused by my eyes spoke for itself: he was, without a shadow of a doubt, human.
What struck me as truly strange, however, was how familiar the man looked, unnervingly so. It felt as if I had seen him very recently, his image still fresh and vivid in my mind, impossible to ignore.
I tried to comb through my memories from every possible angle, searching for a detail, a context, anything that could explain why this human stirred such a strong sense of recognition.
I replayed recent encounters, forgotten faces, mundane moments... but before I could reach any conclusion, my thoughts were abruptly cut off.
“He’s armed!” one of the response team members shouted, urgency lacing his voice as it sliced through the background noise and instantly drew everyone’s attention. The others spun around on instinct, hands moving to their weapons.
He was right. The man was armed, specifically, he was holding a kitchen knife. Honestly, that wasn’t the kind of weapon that usually caused panic. Not when, on our side, we had futuristic firearms capable of firing laser beams and punching clean through steel.
That said, everything changed once you remembered one crucial detail: this was a “human” wielding a “knife” trapped inside a colossal aquatic monster, right in the middle of the ocean. From that perspective, the situation stopped being merely strange and became genuinely terrifying.
Everyone was on edge, and understandably so. After all, when a supposed “human” appears in front of you holding nothing more than a kitchen knife, deep inside a massive aquatic monster in the middle of the ocean, it’s impossible not to feel at least a chill crawl down your spine.
I noticed some of the response team members exchanging uneasy, tension-filled glances before turning their attention back to Victor, clearly waiting for an order that never came.
Victor, however, looked just as uncertain as they did. His weapon remained firmly trained on the “human” perfectly aligned, but his finger stayed off the trigger.
“So what do we do now? Shoot?” Rupert asked in a low voice, thick with impatience: “I vote we shoot” Unlike Victor, who kept his weapon steady but controlled, Rupert already had his finger dangerously close to the trigger.
“Are we really going to risk it? What if that actually is a human?” Victor asked, hesitation heavy in his voice. Even so, the slight tremor in his words and the way he avoided eye contact made it clear that he didn’t fully believe that possibility himself.
“You’re seriously considering that thing is human?” Rupert let out a short, mocking laugh: “What the hell would a human be doing here, in the middle of nowhere?” He spread his arms wide, gesturing around them: “I don’t know if you forgot, but we’re in the middle of the ocean, trapped inside a colossal aquatic anomaly. Unless humans suddenly learned how to breathe underwater and ignore common sense, that idea is ridiculous”
Victor couldn’t come up with any argument against Rupert’s logic, it was airtight. And the moment the supposed “human” suddenly lunged toward us, brandishing that simple kitchen knife, any remaining doubt vanished instantly.
Strangely enough, watching him run stirred something deeply unsettling in me. The scene felt familiar in a way I couldn’t explain. I didn’t know why or where that feeling came from, it was just there, persistent, like a memory that refused to take shape.
My thoughts came to a screeching halt when a gunshot rang out beside me. Victor fired, but the shot slammed into the ground, missing the human by just a few inches.
The impact made him stop abruptly, shifting into a more cautious stance, almost instinctively. Honestly, the way he stared at us, eyes locked, face completely devoid of emotion, was deeply disturbing.
“He’s clearly hostile, Victor” Rupert said, his voice firm and tense, eyes tracking every movement ahead: “I’ll follow your orders like I always do, but I’m not standing around waiting while some lunatic with a knife turns me into Swiss cheese”
I could tell Victor was still skeptical, still clinging to the idea that it might be human. The tension in his eyes betrayed the doubt he was trying to suppress. Rupert seemed to notice it too and, after a brief, heavy silence, spoke again, his tone firm, almost impatient: “You still think that thing is human, man? I can say with absolute certainty that whatever that is... it’s anything but human”
Victor stayed silent for a few seconds, staring off as he weighed his thoughts. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, carrying the same unease and doubt, as if something gnawed at him from the inside.
“That’s not it...” He hesitated, taking a deep breath before continuing: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I don’t think shooting... that thing is actually going to solve our problem”
“So what, then? We wait to get stabbed to death?” Rupert said, letting out a short, humorless laugh: “Honestly, I always figured I’d die to some bizarre anomaly, not to a psycho in the middle of the ocean, waving a knife around like that’s normal”
I wondered whether Rupert really thought a colossal, flying anomaly covered in tentacles, or a massive mouth in the middle of the ocean housing another dimension, was more normal than a simple human holding a knife in the darkness, surrounded by all of this. I even considered asking him, but chose to stay silent. Honestly, even I knew it would sound incredibly stupid.
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Chapter List

Chapter 1 – First Contact [1]
Chapter 2 – First Contact [2]
Chapter 3 – First Contact [3]
Announcement!
Chapter 4 – First Contact [4]
Chapter 5 – First Contact [5]
Chapter 6 – First Contact [6]
Chapter 7 – Outbreak [1]
Chapter 8 – Outbreak [2]
Chapter 9 – Outbreak [3]
Chapter 10 – Outbreak [4]
Chapter 11 – Outbreak [5]
Chapter 12 – Outbreak [6]
Chapter 13 – Adaptation period [1]
Chapter 14 – Adaptation period [2]
Chapter 15 – Adaptation period [3]
Chapter 16 – Adaptation period [4]
Chapter 17 – Adaptation period [5]
Chapter 18 – Threat from the shadows [1]
Chapter 19 – Threat from the shadows [2]
Chapter 20 – Threat from the shadows [3]
Chapter 21 – Threat from the shadows [4]
Chapter 22 – Threat from the shadows [5]
Chapter 23 – Threat from the shadows [6]
Chapter 24 – Threat from the shadows [7]
Chapter 25 – The director’s visit [1]
Chapter 26 – The director’s visit [2]
Chapter 27 – The director’s visit [3]
Chapter 28 – The director’s visit [4]
Chapter 29 – The director’s visit [5]
Chapter 30 – The director’s visit [6]
Chapter 31 – Conducting experiments [1]
Chapter 32 – Conducting experiments [2]
Chapter 33 – Conducting experiments [3]
Chapter 34 – Conducting experiments [4]
Chapter 35 – Conducting experiments [5]
Story recommendation: the new chapter of Anomaly will normally be released at 7pm.
Chapter 36 – Conducting experiments [6]
Chapter 37 – Conducting experiments [7]
Story recommendation: I’m reposting because, last time, the author’s story hadn’t been approved yet.
Chapter 38 – Conducting experiments [8]
Chapter 39 – Conducting experiments [9]
Chapter 40 – Conducting experiments [10]
Chapter 41 – Black Lake [1]
Chapter 42 – Black Lake [2]
Chapter 43 – Black Lake [3]
Chapter 44 – Black Lake [4]
Chapter 45 – Black Lake [5]
Chapter 46 – Black Lake [6]
Chapter 47 – Black Lake [7]
Chapter 48 – Black Lake [8]
Chapter 49 – Black Lake [9]
Chapter 50 – Black Lake [10]
Chapter 51 – Black Lake [11]
Creation of the Discord server
Chapter 52 – Black Lake [12]
Chapter 53 – Black Lake [13]
Chapter 54 – Black Lake [14]
Chapter 55 – Black Lake [15]
Chapter 56 – Black Lake [16]
Chapter 57 – Black Lake [17]
Chapter 58 – Black Lake [18]
Chapter 59 – The call [1]
Chapter 60 – The call [2]
Chapter 61 – The call [3]
Chapter 62 – The call [4]
Chapter 63 – The call [5]
Chapter 64 – The call [6]
Chapter 65 – The call [7]
Chapter 66 – The call [8]
Chapter 67 – The call [9]
Chapter 68 – The call [10]
Chapter 69 – The call [11]
Chapter 70 – The call [12]
Quick update
Chapter 71 – The call [13]
Chapter 72 – The call [14]
Chapter 73 – The call [15]
Chapter 74 – The call [16]
Chapter 75 – The call [17]
Chapter 76 – The call [18]
Chapter 77 – The call [19]
Chapter 78 – The call [20]
Chapter 79 – The call [21]
Chapter 80 – The call [22]
Chapter 81 – The call [23]
Chapter 82 – The call [24]
Chapter 83 – The call [25]
Chapter 84 – The call [26]
Chapter 85 – Storm [1]
Chapter 86 – Storm [2]
Chapter 87 – Storm [3]
Chapter 88 – Storm [4]
Chapter 89 – Storm [5]
Chapter 90 – Storm [6]
Chapter 91 – Storm [7]
Chapter 92 – Storm [8]
Chapter 93 – Storm [9]
Chapter 94 – Storm [10]
Chapter 95 – Storm [11]
Chapter 96 – Storm [12]
Chapter 97 – Storm [13]
Chapter 98 – Storm [14]
Chapter 99 – Storm [15]
Chapter 100 – Storm [16]
Chapter 101 – Storm [17]
Chapter 102 – Storm [18]
Chapter 103 – Storm [19]
Chapter 104 – Interludio – A little chat
Chapter 105 – Something called Life [1]
Chapter 106 – Something called Life [2]
Chapter 107 – Something called Life [3]
Chapter 108 – Something called Life [4]
Chapter 109 – Something called Life [5]
Chapter 110 – Something called Life [6]
Chapter 111 – Something called Life [7]
Chapter 112 – Something called Life [8]
Chapter 113 – Something called Life [9]
Chapter 114 – Something called Life [10]
Chapter 115 – Something called Life [11]
Chapter 116 – Something called Life [12]
Chapter 117 – Something called Life [13]
Chapter 118 – Something called Life [14]
Anomaly
Chapter 119 – Something called Life [15]
Chapter 120 – Something called Life [16]
Chapter 121 – Something called Life [17]
Chapter 122 – Something called Life [18]
Chapter 123 – Something called Life [19]
Chapter 124 – Something called Life [20]
Chapter 125 – Something called Life [21]
Chapter 126 – Something called Life [22]
Chapter 127 – Something called Life [23]
Chapter 128 – Something called Life [24]
Chapter 129 – Something called Life [25]
Chapter 130 – Something called Life [26]
Chapter 131 – Something called Life [27]
Chapter 132 – Something called Life [28]
Chapter 133 – Something called Life [29]
Chapter 134 – Something called Life [30]
Chapter 135 – interlude – Hidden intentions
Chapter 136 – Inside the mist [1]
Chapter 137 – Inside the mist [2]
Chapter 138 – Inside the mist [3]
Chapter 139 – Inside the mist [4]
Chapter 140 – Inside the mist [5]
Chapter 141 – Inside the mist [6]
Chapter 142 – Inside the mist [7]
Chapter 143 – Inside the mist [8]
Chapter 144 – Inside the mist [9]
Chapter 145 – Inside the mist [10]
Chapter 146 – Inside the mist [11]
Chapter 147 – Inside the mist [12]
Chapter 148 – Inside the mist [13]
SPECIAL PROMOTION ON PATREON!
Chapter 149 – Inside the mist [14]
Chapter 150 – Inside the mist [15]
Chapter 151 – Inside the mist [16]
Chapter 152 – Inside the mist [17]
Chapter 153 – Inside the mist [18]
Chapter 154 – Inside the mist [19]
Chapter 155 – Inside the mist [20]
Chapter 156 – Inside the mist [21]
Chapter 157 – Inside the mist [22]
Chapter 158 – Inside the mist [23]
Chapter 159 – Inside the mist [24]
Chapter 160 – When logic escapes [1]
Chapter 161 – When logic escapes [2]
Chapter 162 – When logic escapes [3]
Chapter 163 – When logic escapes [4]
Chapter 164 – When logic escapes [5]
Chapter 165 – When logic escapes [6]
Chapter 166 – When logic escapes [7]
Chapter 167 – When logic escapes [8]
Chapter 168 – When logic escapes [9]
Chapter 169 – When logic escapes [10]
Chapter 170 – When logic escapes [11]
Chapter 171 – When logic escapes [12]
Chapter 172 – When logic escapes [13]
Chapter 173 – When logic escapes [14]
Chapter 174 – When logic escapes [15]
Chapter 175 – When logic escapes [16]
Chapter 176 – When logic escapes [17]
Chapter 177 – When logic escapes [18]
Chapter 178 – When logic escapes [19]
Chapter 179 – When logic escapes [20]
Chapter 180 – When logic escapes [21]
Chapter 181 – The Burden of Remembering [1]
Chapter 182 – The Burden of Remembering [2]
Chapter 183 – The Burden of Remembering [3]
Chapter 184 – The Burden of Remembering [4]
Chapter 185 – The Burden of Remembering [5]
Chapter 186 – The Burden of Remembering [6]
Chapter 187 – The Burden of Remembering [7]
Chapter 188 – The Burden of Remembering [8]
Chapter 189 – The Burden of Remembering [9]
Chapter 190 – The Burden of Remembering [10]
Chapter 191 – The Burden of Remembering [11]
Chapter 192 – The Burden of Remembering [12]
Chapter 193 – The Burden of Remembering [13]
Chapter 194 – The Burden of Remembering [14]
Chapter 195 – The Burden of Remembering [15]
Chapter 196 – The Burden of Remembering [16]
Chapter 197 – The Burden of Remembering [17]
Chapter 198 – The Burden of Remembering [18]
Chapter 199 – The Burden of Remembering [19]
Chapter 200 – The Burden of Remembering [20]
Chapter 201 – The Burden of Remembering [21]
Chapter 202 – The Burden of Remembering [22]
Chapter 203 – The Burden of Remembering [23]
Chapter 204 – The Burden of Remembering [24]
Chapter 205 – The Burden of Remembering [25]
Chapter 206 – The Burden of Remembering [26]
Chapter 207 – The Burden of Remembering [27]
Chapter 208 – The Burden of Remembering [28]
Chapter 209 – The Burden of Remembering [29]
Chapter 210 – The Burden of Remembering [30]
Chapter 211 – The Burden of Remembering [31]
Chapter 212 – The Burden of Remembering [32]
Chapter 213 – The Burden of Remembering [33]
Chapter 214 – The Burden of Remembering [34]
Chapter 215 – The Burden of Remembering [35]
Chapter 216 – The Burden of Remembering [36]
Chapter 217 – The Burden of Remembering [37]
Chapter 218 – The Burden of Remembering [38]
Chapter 219 – The entity of pride [1]
Chapter 220 – The entity of pride [2]
Chapter 221 – The entity of pride [3]
Chapter 222 – The entity of pride [4]
Chapter 223 – The entity of pride [5]
Chapter 224 – The entity of pride [6]
Chapter 225 – The entity of pride [7]
Chapter 226 – The entity of pride [8]
Chapter 227 – The entity of pride [9]
Chapter 228 – The entity of pride [10]
Chapter 229 – The entity of pride [11]
Chapter 230 – The entity of pride [12]
Chapter 231 – The entity of pride [13]
Chapter 232 – The entity of pride [14]
Chapter 233 – The entity of pride [15]
Chapter 234 – The entity of pride [16]
Chapter 235 – The entity of pride [17]
Chapter 236 – The entity of pride [18]
Chapter 237 – The entity of pride [19]
Chapter 238 – The entity of pride [20]
Chapter 239 – The entity of pride [21]
Chapter 240 – The entity of pride [22]
Chapter 241 – The entity of pride [23]
Chapter 242 – The entity of pride [24]
Chapter 243 – The entity of pride [25]
Chapter 244 – Timeless State [1]
Chapter 245 – Timeless State [2]
Chapter 246 – Timeless State [3]
Chapter 247 – Timeless State [4]
Chapter 248 – Timeless State [5]
Chapter 249 – Timeless State [6]
Chapter 250 – Timeless State [7]
Chapter 251 – Timeless State [8]
Chapter 252 – Timeless State [9]
Chapter 253 – Timeless State [10]
Chapter 254 – Timeless State [11]
Chapter 255 – Timeless State [12]
Chapter 256 – Timeless State [13]
Chapter 257 – Timeless State [14]
Chapter 258 – Timeless State [15]
Chapter 259 – Timeless State [16]
Chapter 260 – Timeless State [17]
Chapter 261 – Timeless State [18]
Chapter 262 – Timeless State [19]
Chapter 263 – Timeless State [20]
Chapter 264 – Timeless State [21]
Chapter 265 – Timeless State [22]
Chapter 266 – Timeless State [23]
Chapter 267 – Timeless State [24]
Chapter 268 – Timeless State [25]
Chapter 269 – Timeless State [26]
Chapter 270 – Timeless State [27]
Chapter 271 – Timeless State [28]
Chapter 272 – Timeless State [29]
Chapter 273 – Timeless State [30]
Chapter 274 – Timeless State [31]
Chapter 275 – Timeless State [32]
Chapter 276 – Timeless State [33]
Chapter 277 – Timeless State [34]
Chapter 278 – Timeless State [35]
Chapter 279 – Timeless State [36]
Chapter 280 – Timeless State [37]
Chapter 281 – Timeless State [38]
Chapter 282 – Timeless State [39]
Chapter 283 – The Primordial Fear [1]
Chapter 284 – The Primordial Fear [2]
Chapter 285 – The Primordial Fear [3]
Special Christmas/New Year’s promotion on Patreon.
Chapter 286 – The Primordial Fear [4]
Chapter 287 – The Primordial Fear [5]
Chapter 288 – The Primordial Fear [6]
Chapter 289 – The Primordial Fear [7]
Chapter 290 – The Primordial Fear [8]
Chapter 291 – The Primordial Fear [9]
Chapter 292 – The Primordial Fear [10]
Chapter 293 – The Primordial Fear [11]
Chapter 294 – The Primordial Fear [12]
Chapter 295 – The Primordial Fear [13]
Chapter 296 – The Primordial Fear [14]
Chapter 297 – The Primordial Fear [15]
Chapter 298 – The Primordial Fear [16]
Chapter 299 – The Primordial Fear [17]
Chapter 300 – The Primordial Fear [18]
Chapter 301 – The Primordial Fear [19]
Chapter 302 – The Primordial Fear [20]
Chapter 303 – The Primordial Fear [21]
Chapter 304 – The Primordial Fear [22]
Chapter 305 – The Primordial Fear [23]
Chapter 306 – The Primordial Fear [24]
Chapter 307 – The Primordial Fear [25]
Chapter 308 – The Primordial Fear [26]
Chapter 309 – The Primordial Fear [27]
Chapter 310 – The Primordial Fear [28]
Chapter 311 – The Primordial Fear [29]
Chapter 312 – The Primordial Fear [30]
Chapter 313 – The Primordial Fear [31]
Chapter 314 – The Primordial Fear [32]
Chapter 315 – The Primordial Fear [33]
Chapter 316 – The Primordial Fear [34]
Chapter 317 – The Primordial Fear [35]
Chapter 318 – The Primordial Fear [36]
Chapter 319 – The Primordial Fear [37]
Chapter 320 – The Primordial Fear [38]
Chapter 321 – The Primordial Fear [39]
Chapter 322 – The Primordial Fear [40]
Chapter 323 – The Primordial Fear [41]
Chapter 324 – The Primordial Fear [42]
Chapter 325 – The Primordial Fear [43]
Chapter 326 – The Primordial Fear [44]
Chapter 327 – The Primordial Fear [45]
Chapter 328 – The Primordial Fear [46]
Chapter 329 – The Primordial Fear [47]
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