American Horror: Grind Edition Chapter 27 27: We’re Scientists

Luke racked a fresh shell into the Remington and leveled it at the tall figure.

"I've got zero interest in joining your creepy little pervert club. But I'm more than happy to put a bullet in you and that so-called bishop of yours."

"You will join us," the man said, shaking his hooded head with unsettling confidence. "Because we can give you power that breaks every human limit."

He slowly pulled off the black robe.

Underneath was a body that even made Luke pause. Every muscle was carved with surgical precision—pure power and speed, zero wasted fat. Like a living Greek statue.

"You're wrong about one thing, Officer Luke."

The man spread his arms in a bodybuilder pose.

"We're not a cult. This is science."

"Fucking lunatic."

Luke pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

The cultist didn't dodge. He just stood there and took the full blast.

Buckshot slamd into his bronze skin with dull thud-thud-thud sounds. The pellets only sank in a fraction of an inch. Not a single drop of blood.

"Son of a bitch. Finally found a real monster."

Luke's face darkened. This guy's defense made Myers look soft.

"No, no, Officer Luke. Again, you're mistaken. I'm not a monster."

The man struck a classic crab pose, flexing hard. The embedded pellets popped out of his skin like they were being pushed from inside and clattered to the floor.

"We're scientists. Not a cult. And because I respect you, I'll explain exactly where we co from—before I bring you in."

The man kept flexing, showing off his bulletproof physique while launching into his monologue.

"Our great bishop discovered the surviving notes of Dr. Frankenstein… and the remains of his original creation. He combined that with ancient voodoo rituals. After years of research, he perfected a thod that lets us evolve our bodies."

He paused, eyes burning with fanaticism.

"Through our ritual, ordinary people temporarily lose consciousness. Then we guide them to personally slaughter every blood relative they have, concentrating the power of their bloodline inside themselves. We follow that by injecting harvested soul fragnts to strengthen their will."

"Complete every step and you shatter the genetic chains. You unlock every last bit of potential. You beco a perfect new human."

He looked at Luke with smug satisfaction and flexed a bicep.

"So? Pretty scientific, right? Don't you want to join us now?"

Luke and Clarice both froze.

In Luke's mind flashed images of Gein and Myers in their mindless rages… and the eighty-plus innocent people who had died screaming in room 1408.

So that's what this was.

"You sick bastards. I'm going to kill every last one of you."

Rage wiped out every shred of restraint. Words were useless against monsters like this.

He raised the shotgun and emptied every remaining shell straight into the cultist's chest.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The man simply crossed his forearms in front of his face and let the buckshot hamr him. Dozens of tiny holes appeared across his torso, but that was it.

He shook his body once. Every pellet fell out. His skin didn't even show a scratch.

"My muscles have evolved to be incredibly dense," he said calmly. "And the keratin layer of my skin is reinforced. Your little toys can't hurt ."

Before he finished speaking, Clarice opened up from the second-floor catwalk. A tight burst of submachine-gun fire raked across his head.

The cultist tilted his skull at the last second. The bullets only carved shallow grooves across his cheek.

Now.

Luke saw the opening and dropped the empty shotgun. He yanked the massive experintal pistol from his belt and fired point-blank into the man's stomach.

BOOM!

The giant round slamd ho. The cultist was lifted clean off his feet and slamd into the concrete twenty feet away.

Perfect.

Luke started forward to finish the job.

The man pushed himself up like it was nothing.

A massive, gaping hole had been torn through his abdon. Guts and organs hung out in a colorful ss.

"Impressive backup weapon, Officer Luke. Let show you the true beauty of our evolution."

Still grinning, he calmly stuffed his intestines back inside, section by section.

Then the real horror show began.

The edges of the wound started writhing and knitting together at visible speed. Muscle, fascia, skin—everything weaving back into place like ti-lapse footage.

In under a minute the hole was gone. His stomach was smooth and perfect again.

"See? My evolution is flawless."

He stroked his healed abs, staring at Luke with burning eyes.

"Before I joined, I was just a skinny comic-book nerd who never left his room. But you, Officer Luke… you were born with this perfect body. Join us and you'll evolve even stronger than !"

Luke just shook his head.

"Pass. My life's already full of lunatics. Becoming one of you would be worse than dying."

The tall man's patience finally snapped.

"Hmph. Looks like I'll have to disobey the bishop's orders and capture you myself."

You're gonna arrest a cop? Isn't that backwards?

Luke didn't get the chance to say it.

The cultist exploded forward at terrifying speed.

One blink and he was right in Luke's face.

A crushing force grabbed Luke and lifted him clean off the ground.

But Luke's enhanced body wasn't weak either.

He clamped both hands around the man's arm and kicked him square in the face with everything he had.

The cultist's grip broke. He staggered back several steps.

Luke hit the ground, rolled behind a pillar, and used the cover to reload the giant pistol.

This bastard's muscles and skin stopped buckshot and submachine-gun rounds. His regeneration was insane.

Unless…

A cold, vicious idea flashed through Luke's mind. He knew exactly how to end this.

The cultist stood back up, eyes wide with shock and excitent.

"Officer Luke, you're even stronger than I thought. Join us. Lead us to the next stage of evolution."

He roared and charged again.

This ti Luke didn't dodge.

He charged straight back at him.

The two figures slamd together with bone-crushing force.