The old man triumphantly returned to the main room and then turned to the stairs that led upstairs. Before he proceeded, he stopped in his tracks and turned back looking at the hooded figure.
"It is time for you to go now." He coldly remarked.
The bewildered voice of the girl spoke up, "What? Why would I need to leave at this moment. I should see all of this through, ya know? I wasn't sent here just for you to drop a man to his death." The girl slightly hesitated as she talked about Ethan.
"You. Do you know him by any chance?" He stared at the girl, even when she was wearing the hood, she could easily feel his overwhelming presence.
"No. of course not. I wouldn't know a random stranger, it's just that he reminded me of someone. You know that happens at times? Although I can't expect that from someone as old as you."
"Quite the sharp tongue you have there, but let me reassure you. Even if you have your doubts, you must believe me when I say that he has no relation to you."
"No need to spell it out for me, you old geezer."
"Ha! Quite the jester if I say so myself. Go now, the mayor has been replaced with that credulous girl, relay this to him at the latest."
She nodded to the man before making a haphazardly executed bow that was nothing short of hilarious, before turning out and exiting the building.
"I am counting on you, Reina." Were the final words he said to her before he made his way upstairs towards the broadcasting room.
All the while,
His body disobeyed him as he tumbled down the slope. His entire being was rolling against the hard surface, his body was spinning again and again and again until he finally fell down with one loud thud to the ground.
"-AGHHHH!" His shrill yet blood-curdling scream was enough to know how much it hurt.
"MY ARM!, MY ARM!, FUC- AHH" His hand twisted and turned as he fell down. It hurt like hell, as if a knife was gouged through it again and again. It felt like it had twisted; his feet were no different. They had also suffered a terrifying blow as he fell downwards.
His head hurt, and his body was beginning to burn, he was experiencing all of it again. The same sensation, the same feeling, the same despair.
He wasn't lying alone as his eyes sporadically waved around the room. He saw a figure, a small figure that was lying on the ground beside him. It didn't move even when he screamed.
He took deep breaths, but he broke out into a violent cough as he fell down again.
"It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!" So this is what pain felt like.
He attempted again to take deep breaths and failed. He tried once more and finally succeeded.
As he would know very soon, screaming would never take away the overwhelming fear that had engulfed him. His heart was beating faster than ever before, and his breathing had become extremely rigid as his body crawled on the hard ground.
He finally reached for the figure he saw, but he couldn't see anything. Wherever he was right now, whatever it was, the dim lamps that lit the rooms, were not enough.
He looked around and the torch he had been carrying, he picked it up and approached the same figure.
He couldn't recognize what it was, it had ropes tied to it at the top at what seemed to be its mouth and a blindfold covered what Ethan made out to be its eyes.
It was a child. Not any other child, it was the same kid he had met before. The same child that had caught up to his mistake of almost swearing, the same kid who had such a sharp tongue and a mischievous face, that same girl was now lying beside him, tied up and unconscious.
Her pants were soaked which thus explained the pungent smell of urine.
Ethan's reaction to this was one of extreme agony, he almost forgot how to breathe as he saw the entire ordeal unfold before him.
He looked around himself, open walls, no doors and weirdly shaped corridors. He crawled and looked down one of them only to be met with more puzzling directions to be explored and more strangely built walls and rooms.
One thing was clear, he was in a maze. The concrete floors and walls were only lit up by the dim lamps that were slowly running out of fuel, they were scarce and hardly visible.
He clenched his teeth weakly, for he didn't have any words he could say. He had foolishly believed that man. He really thought that there was something special about himself. He really thought that he could become a hero once and for all.
But he was nothing, he would sit here and rot until he became a carcass. The same sensations came over him again but this time drowned in anger as he clenched his fists and hit the ground with all his might. The same sentiments of agonizing pain which made his chest burn.
He struggled to get up but when he did, he hoped he could find an exit nearby. He limped in the area surrounding him, the rooms were bare with barely anything in them and all he was met with were some boxes adjacent to the walls and the low hanging lamps that had scarcely lit up the room.
How had he ended up here, of all places? He should have been back at the workshop, toiling away at his work that barely made him feel respected.
He wanted to run, he wanted to run out of here, he wanted to run back to the apartment.
He never wanted to be here. All these emotions that were welling up inside of him they were the same ones that he had felt when he had found himself trapped a year ago, without anyone to run to or anyone to cry out to.
He wanted to flee, he had to flee, what else could he do but run? He had always been a coward, always resorting to back off whenever he was challenged. How could someone as pathetic as him, end up here? How did he end up in a pit without any clear light, alone and shivering?
He was wrong about one thing, as he realized soon enough. He was never alone.
He heard faint sounds of crying as he gazed back, he saw her, he saw Ellie tied up and hyperventilating, she tried to say something as he opened her eyes but all he could her was her muffled screams.
A child.
A small child had been trapped here alongside him. A child that had been here for much longer than he had, tied up, bruised and crying. She had been truly alone here, in the dark without anyone to cry to, or reach out to. No one to hold her in her arms and tell her that everything would be fine, no one to approach her and help tend to her wounds.
No one was with her, Ellie, a little child, powerless and scared was shivering in front of him. She must have felt so scared and so lonely when she was trapped here.
Ethan was on the ground as he stared at her small face, the face that was crying, with snot all around her nose and red marks at her eyes. For how long this 6-year-old had been tortured?
Ethan, how do you feel? You want to run away; you want to sit here and cry and scream hoping a solution would miraculously present itself.
Pathetic.
Back from when you entered Nicodemus's shop, you wanted to run as soon as you saw him, at the house of the man you robbed of hope, you wanted to turn and bail out of there, and again at loot house where you considered only your own self and wanted to leave Caia behind.
One thing was same in all of those situations, you were forced to stay, you had to wait with Nicodemus if you wanted to not starve, you had to sit with that man or you would have been killed, and you would have been condemned if you had left Caia to die.
But right now, and here, no one is seeing you, you can run away, run around aimlessly and find somewhere to run to and leave her behind.
Go on Ethan, that is what you have been and will always be.
"N-No." He said to himself.
"I-I can't run. I won't run. Ellie is here, I nee- I need to save her, I cannot leave her behind."
Pathetic, you still cling to your heroism even in your final moments. Hilarious.
"HELLO." Loud blaring noises suddenly erupted from the ceiling, it was the speakers that Ethan hadn't noticed.
"MY WARMEST WELCOME TO YOU MY GUEST, I'M TRULY SORRY THAT OUR LAST MEETING WAS SO ANTI CLIMATIC. I DO HOPE YOU FORGIVE ME BEFORE PASSING ON."
"Y-You fucking BITCH!", Ethan's lips quivered as he vehemently cursed.
"I HOPE YOUR SPIRIT PASSES PEACEFULLY, EVEN IF THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WANT. BUT OH LET ME ASSURE YOU, YOU CERTAINLY AREN'T THE FIRST GUESTS I HAVE ENTERTAINED AND I WILL CONTINUE TO ENTERTAIN MORE. ENJOY YOURSELVES NOW!" That laugh, it had stung him more than anything in the world.
That laugh was of an actual lunatic, not some metaphorical or emotionally crazed or depressed teenager, but an actual maniac who had lost all touch with reality, who enjoyed watching the sufferings of others.
The same person who trapped them in here, had tied up and thrown a child in here, the same person who Ethan would kill with his own hands when he met with him the next moment.
He had to do something; he had to stop shaking and sitting here on his knees unable to move.
He had a life that depended on him, the life that was crying again, he had to save Ellie.
He rushed and untied her; her reaction was expected yet still uncontrollable as she flailed her arms and legs around, she was in full panic, kicking her legs in all directions.
"NO! NO! P-P-P-PLEASE DON'T HURT ME! P-PLEASE!"
He quickly embraced Ellie in an attempt to calm her down and all he was met with was a barrage of kicks to his stomach. She couldn't control herself.
"MOMMY! I WANT TO SEE MOMMY!"
"Ellie! Ellie, its me Ethan, I am here, you're safe now, we can get out of here."
He embraced her as he patted her on the back repeatedly trying to calm her down.
After a while, her movements finally dulled as she clung to him, sobbing without stop. He reassured her, but his own voice was shaking, he didn't know what to do, but all he knew was that he had to save the life that was entrusted to him.
He picked her up as he decided to finally move down the semi-claustrophobic halls. He ran forward, and turned right, then left then ran forward again.
He was running directional less here, he turned left again and ran straightforward.
Dead end.
He turned around and ran in the opposite direction and turned right.
Dead end.
He repeated this same process again and again and again and again.
There seemed to be no escape from here.
Dead end after dead end.
He saw it, what seemed to be the same walls repeating, the bland concrete walls and floors were driving him insane.
Ellie cried again and was sobbing. He momentarily stopped and patted her repeatedly, similar to how a mother would to her child, he never knew that sensation and was thus unable to replicate it, but he did what he could, and it seemed to work, be it only for a moment
Ellie's teary eyes looked up at him, and her shaking lips moved as she asked,
"Are you cr-crying too, Ethan? P-P-Please d-don't cry."
A child, a small child had shown concern for him. A little child who was unaware of the world's despair, who was naive to the fullest and innocent to no lengths, had asked him if he was alright.
Even if he wasn't, even if he cried, yelped, yelled, screamed, got beat or even died, he had to get this child to safety, under all conditions.
Ethan was now completed tired. He had been running aimlessly, he had to find a solution, had to do something. He looked around him, moving from left to right and left to right and left to right.
Shit.
His flashlight ran out, it had died midway through the hall. He was done for, the only thing left were the dangling dull lamps that provided small light.
He had to get out.
He needed to see the light of day again.
Light.
LIGHT.
His mind shot up with an idea, he saw the lamps that had been scattered around him,
"Ellie, would you do something for me? I'll make sure we would get out!"
Ethan smiled at Ellie and asked her the question.
The girl nodded and Ethan lifted her up as she took the lamps off the ceiling.
He picked up the lamp and held it in one hand and lifted Ellie in the other.
For the past hour he had been aimlessly running around, he needed a clue, a path.
That is when he decided to follow the lamps. The dimly lit lights that seemed random, he followed them with desperation. He turned right then left, running into a wall, he turned right again before running straight forward.
Jackpot.
To his left, he saw a narrow beam of light, he didn't hesitate to run there.
He saw it.
A small window in the wall that led to the world outside.
However, there was a severe problem, it would never fit him and even if it did, it was barricaded by thin flat bars.
He first thought of letting Ellie pull them out but they were too strong, and it ended up scratching her hand which made Ethan regret ever pushing her to do something that would harm her.
"Stay here for a second." He smiled as he put her down. She sat on the ground, only observing him.
What could he do to take it out? There was nothing around him, no objects no nothing. He thought about a brick or anything he can use to brute force his way through but there was nothing with him.
He realized his only option.
It would hurt tremendously but it was his only choice.
With strong yet fleeting conviction, he braced himself as he hit the bars repeatedly.
He hit them again, it didn't do anything, again, it didn't do anything, again it only left a small dent, again it bent it slightly.
He stopped, the knuckle of his hand had split open, it hurt like searing lava had been poured on his arm, but he continued.
He hit the window, again and again and again and again and again.
Until,
"ELLIE! GO!" That was the only thing he said to her and he put her on his shoulders and let her crawl out. He wouldn't fit but this was all he could do.
"NO! WHY! Where would you go!"
"I'll be fine, I'll be out there as soon as possible."
She screamed at him telling him to come out, telling him that she wanted him to live.
All his fears, all his hopelessness, it drowned at that sight.
The sight of someone crying for him, crying for his life. It felt strange but it provided him with the determination to continue.
"You're really stupid if you think I'd die here. RUN NOW!"
He saw her running, but only after looking back at him, he saw her lips move but never caught her words.
He had done it now, he had saved her, but whose to say that fucking retard wasn't waiting outside?
He needed to go; he needed to run.
Shifting his focus towards the maze he had forced into, he had to find the pathway that could lead him outside. He also noticed that currently, his face wasn't contorted in fear, it had a sharp and blunt look that he didn't knew he could make. Well, it didn't matter right now, all he had to do was get out.
It had already been 30 mins since Ellie fled away. Ethan realized that the lamps were now useless, they all let him to strange dead ends. He was wandering around the maze trying to make sense of his surroundings.
He needed a plan, and he needed it quick.
One thing he realized was that he had been repeatedly looping around the same area, but he wasn't sure of it.
He needed to mark it down even without anything with him.
He searched for anything around him, anything that could be of use but all he found was his own hand.
Biting on it, he made it bleed a little as he marked the concrete walls with the dark red color. He then moved forward, making sure to mark the walls enough so that he knew where he was going and enough to not to bleed to death.
But this wouldn't suffice. His hand had already been bleeding and smearing it on a wall would surely be a death sentence with the amount of rooms he had to traverse.
The walls as he noticed though, were not recently built and thus could be damaged rather easily without the requirement of extreme force.
Utilizing this, he decided to take the lamp that he had been carrying with him and break off its rusty handle.
Afterwards, he shaped the handle into a thin straight rod as he used it to apply pressure on the walls and carve large markings.
This would work for now.
He moved once again, getting on his feet.
His hand started to ache. He didn't know where he was going, regardless of it he made sure to mark the walls..
The bleeding from his hand had stopped a while ago, he had marked all the rooms in his surrounding and adjacent areas, there were only a few routes left.
He started from where he had originally been, but this time he took a left, followed by another.
Heading straight forward this time, he was met with a strange alignment of narrowing halls and walls, that seemed to restrict his movement to the left with its congested pathways.
He looked at the one on his right and approached it, only for him to retreat and turned the other way after recognizing the large mark that moved from the top right most corner of the wall to the bottom left.
He was getting tired, he didn't want to continue this, his breathing was ragged. But he still continued without fail.
Staggering through the final stretch of claustrophobic walls, he pressed forward until he finally arrived at the staircase that led upwards. He was so happy that he could cry, but it wasn't over just yet.
He regained his confidence as he climbed up the stairs, only for his expression to be sullied once again.
He saw the door, he could sense the light, the sound of life, the rays of the sun, he missed them dearly. He wished to open it and claim his victory, but it was opened by someone else.
He was scared and flabbergasted as the door gradually opened, allowing his eyes to meet the smiling face of the man he hated most.
"Did you enjoy your visit? Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a one way trip only."
Ethan saw him.
The same man that trapped him there
That tried to take the life of Ellie.
He yelled and sprang at him, his form was terrible and he was unprepared as he attempted to hit him with an open swing. Without faltering, the old man moved to his side, but that was what Ethan wanted.
With a quick push, he ran up the stairs, those short seconds felt like an eternity. When he did arrive at the main gate, he still couldn't get out as the door remained locked and no matter how hard he tried to break it, it wouldn't budge.
The man was climbing up the stairs reaching for Ethan.
In a panic he ran up the spiraling stairs and back into the room, it was empty this time around.
He picked the chairs around the dining table and then proceeded to throw them down the stairs as he hastily looked around, rummaging for an exit.
He opened the doors in the small open kitchen, before running to the workbench and sprawling open each of the drawers in search for a key.
And at last he did find it amongst a pack of cigarettes lying in the bottom drawer.
He almost fell on the dining table, he was forced to cease his lousy breaths as he saw the man approach him.
This was it.
There was no escape.
He had to fight.
With his eyes half closed, he put up his arms in front of him, positioned to fight if necessary.
All the old man did was smile as he watched Ethan run,
He ran up to him with his fullest speed attempting to punch him, but he failed. The old man was quick to retreat backwards, and Ethan lost his balance almost falling before the old man delivered a powerful punch to the stomach.
He grunted as he fell back. The man didn't proceed, he only watched and waited for him to come at him again, his gaze was pitying him again.
Ethan got up, and moved back, his hand moved behind him, it was trying to grab something.
He came at the old man again but before hitting him, he flipped the dining table over, it worked partially as it left the man off balance, that is when he went for a strike, a hit landed, but it was weak.
He had lost all his power.
"Even those futile attempts to fight back, dogs like you never learn." He said to him without any remorse in his voice.
Just then, the old man pinned Ethan down on the workbench. One of his hands was firmly pressed on his throat trying to suffocate him. While the other seized his legs preventing any moment
He pressed harder as Ethan whimpered, his face was growing redder as he flailed his body around,
Was this the end for him?
No
The answer came to him rather quickly this time around.
His hands were behind him trying to hold anything, grab anything that he could help him.
His hand was searching for anything lying on the wodden workbench. He could feel the hard surface followed by a thin metal then finally he felt a round handle touch his palm.
Without thinking, he picked up a screwdriver and tried to drive it into his neck, but the man was quick to react, he removed his hand from Ethan's legs as he stopped the impact, but that was all he wanted.
A single moment of weakness.
With a quick jerk of his weak body, he kicked the man on the stomach, and he fell back. He was quick to recover but it meant nothing now.
The man reached for his throat again, but Ethan hastily launched his body and grabbed the hatchet, the old man finally had a grab on him, but it was already too late.
With one foul sweep Ethan ruthlessly drove the axe into the man's neck. The impact had suddenly left the man limp. His limbs were heaving around before completely seizing any movement. The light in the man's eyes dimmed as he glanced at him with one final smile.
He only heard one word, one word that the old man said to him before the second impact, and it very well described his situation.
"Monster."
Blood, blood was flowing out, gushing.
But Ethan pulled back and swung again.
Ethan picked up the axe and without a second thought drove it into his neck, it got stuck but he pulled back again with great pressure.
He lifted it again and another impact jerked the old man's already dead body.
Ethan wasn't stopping, the rage had completely consumed him.
All he saw in front of him was someone who had attempted to take away his and the life of a child and would continue to do so if he were not stopped. That is precisely why, all that was running through his mind was blind fury. His body told him to stop; he heard the cracks of bones and muscles tearing apart and the mushy sound, but they were not his and they never reached his ears.
All that went through his mind was the same ringing noises, the noises that replaced the small shrieks and jerks the dead corpse of the man made.
Blood
There is blood on the floor.
it is gushing out uncontrollably.
But all he did was swing the axe again, and again and again and again.
The nerves in his neck had been torn, the entire floor had had been drenched in a pool of blood.
He could see his lifeless corpse lying on the ground.
Yet he still swung over and over again.
He really was hopeless, wasn't he?
He didn't care.
He only swung and swung until he couldn't anymore. His arm finally gave out on him.
He was bruised and delirious, yet he still tried to pick up the axe but stopped once he finally saw the shreds that were left.
The body had been completely torn apart; large slashes made throughout the soulless body.
The face, he crushed the eyes with his axe on his 4th strike leaving behind only a grotesque mush, his jaw was broken on his 9th strike and detached from his head, his head had been split open with blood flowing out continuously , and the skull cracked on his 18th strike.
His arm almost detaching and only hanging by a singular muscle, that happened because of his 15th strike.
He counted them, each one of them.
He saw them closely, each gashes running deep into his body.
All that was left was the mutilated and mangled body that was way beyond recognition, and a single man with an axe in his now broken arm.
He looked at it, the man who had died because of him, he saw it, each gruesome detail.
But all he could do was fall to his knees. He stared at what he had before he felt something rising from his throat and he threw up on his side.
A minute later he got up again and continued down the stairs with hurry.
His body hurt but he pushed through the pain. Arriving at the door he took the key he had safeguarded and put in his pocket and attempted to open it.
He put it in the lock but nothing budged, not a sound nor did the key fit in the first place.
With no other choice he headed back up the stairs, but this time around his movements were slow and precise. He stared at the ceiling the entire time and not long before, the up going trail of the miniscule wooden stairs stopped and he arrived at the room.
His eyes didn't dare lay at the lifeless corpse in front of him, so then why was he staring at it? His thoughts moved elsewhere as he suddenly remembered his old home back on the main continent. Being back at the bungalow was something he never thought he would wish for in his life.
After a few minutes or so, he finally complete gazed downwards and bent his knees and reached for the carcass.
He turned it around only to hear the sploshy sound of wet flesh hitting the ground. He tried his hardest to not puke again but he couldn't help himself. He once again turned to his side before throwing up next to his dead body.
It was nothing short of a disgusting sight that could scar any man forever.
Ethan ravaged through his pockets and finally found the small key. In his other arm that he had also used to reach for the pocket on the other side of the man's waist, he pulled out a small pocket mirror and accidentally looked at his reflection and saw it.
His face had splashes of blood covering it and his torso was completely drenched in it.
He didn't grimace, nor did he feel fear.
He only felt shame.
He got up and took the cloth that lay on the kitchen floor, he wrapped it around his arm.
He washed his face in the sink that scarcely supplied water, trying to wash off the large splashes of blood on his face.
Not only his face, but his entire body.
He had done it; he had killed someone.
He didn't care, even if it meant writhing in the shame he despised, he could never back off on his actions.
He walked down the same stairs that had led to this entire ordeal happening in the first place.
His hands were strangely steady as he meticulously opened the door and walked out.
He was at the edge of the town and thus he never expected to see anyone there.
Trying to walk normally he headed back to where he had come from. He wanted to lie back in his head and forget about all of this, not wanting to see anyone.
Though his wish was shattered within mere minutes as he saw someone approach him and yet, he never felt frustrated, only comfort as he saw Ellie crying and hugging his leg, that snot would definitely stick to his pants, he thought.
It wasn't just Ellie that had come up to him, it was someone else too.
Someone he knew.
Behind Ellie was the same person with light brown hair that had saved his life before.
Malena.