SCP-1471 [A One of A Kind Friend] (Re-write)

     I couldn't move, nothing worked. I screamed and yelled at my body to do something, anything... But nothing worked. I could only stare at the beast before me, lit by the flashlight slowly rolling across the floor.

     At first glance one would call it a crocodile, but there was so much more wrong with it. It was massive, much larger than any gator I had ever seen. It stood on four legs, the flesh covering it not scaled, but more like leather colored a sickly green-brown. Its head did resemble that of a crocodilian, the teeth, the shape, its nose. But it had no skin, just its skull and its glossy black eyes reflecting the flashlight back at me. Long black hair came from the creature's back, from the base of its massive tail all the way to its head. The hair protruded from its spine flowing halfway down its body. Patches along its skin were damaged, bright red flesh and bone protruding from these wounds with what skin remained barely holding on much like the poor soul behind me. It showed no signs of being in pain as it quietly stared at me, then it moved.

     I scrambled backwards, using my hands to push myself away as it slowly walked towards me. Its massive claws scraping against the concrete. I looked around me, trying to find a way to escape but I was trapped. To my left and right were massive puddles of the grey liquid. I continued moving backwards as it approached, soon backing myself into the wall of the chamber. Each step it took, it drew closer and closer until its head was mere inches from my face. It slowly opened its jaws, thick, vile breath washing over me. It smelled of rotting flesh, burning, and the chemicals that filled the floor of this chamber.

     "Who are you?" came a raspy voice, annunciating each word excruciatingly slow.

     It can speak?

     I didn't know what to do. I was still paralyzed by fear, and now confusion. But it didn't take long for my mouth to respond for me.

     "Qu-Quentin... I'm Quentin." I said as firmly as I could. Upon hearing my name, the beast seemed to relax a little. Some tension in its muscles releasing as it sank a little lower on its legs.

     "You. I recognize your voice, your name. You spoke to me." It said, backing away a few feet. "The. Human." The hatred oozing from those final words was enough to make my skin crawl.

     "You must be one of them. You remind me of home..." It started slowly pacing around me, not removing its gaze from my body.

     "One of them?" I quietly asked.

     "I'm not sure, but I won't kill you... for now." It turned, looking around the room. "Come." It said, its tail reached behind me, shoving me up and onto my feet. Then the thin end of it wrapped around my right arm, pulling me with it. I carefully stumbled along with it, avoiding the grey puddles until we arrived at the corner where it was resting earlier. The grey puddles were not present over here.

     The monster pushed me down to sit on the floor in the corner, releasing my arm from its grip. It began to pace in a circle in front of me before sitting down and wrapping its tail close to itself. We both sat quietly, staring at each other for a few moments. Wanting to break the uneasy silence, I gathered my courage and spoke.

     "Shouldn't we escape?" I asked.

     "No. Guards will come here to check, they always do." it said with a little nod.

     "Always? This has happened before?"

     "This was not the first, or last time it will happen." the creature answered. "The Humans, they think they can contain us. Hold us captive for their experiments." Contempt filled his words. "They can't."