The Soul Reaver

        Chapter 33: Homecoming pt. 1

I felt my fatigue leave me, a sense of alertness overcoming my senses. I had awoken at the break of dawn on my own, surprisingly enough. I looked around, and the house still looked the same as before. I sighed, and stretched my arms, giving myself a few good cracks.

        Now, I just gotta wait for Louis to appear.

        “Hello Dean!” well that didn’t take long! I turned and saw the blonde Prince of Pride standing there in all his “glory”.

        I sighed, and turned fully to him, “Hi Louis…”

        “Oh be quiet, you know you love me.” He smirked and held out a hand. “Are you about ready to go? Or do you need to do a couple things first?”

        I shrugged, “I’ve got pretty much everything I need.”

        He nodded. “Good. Anywhere in particular you want to go first? If not I shall simply drop you off in America.”

        I paused and nodded. “Yes. Portland, Oregon.” Well, looks like I’m gonna visit an old “pal” of mine.

        He nodded again and moved his hand closer, a grin splitting his face. “Then grab my hand.”

        I stared him cautiously, “Uh… what?” This is getting kinda creepy… Oh god, don’t tell me the jokes were true. PLEASE DON’T TELL ME THEY’RE TRUE.

        He broke out laughing. “I’m not going to kiss you Mr. Marcelo. I’m simply going to teleport you as soon as you grab my hand.”

        Oh thank god. I grabbed his hand, keeping my guard up, “Right.”

        He smiled as flames burst around us. “Close your eyes. Otherwise you’ll puke.”

        “I’ll take your word for it.” I did just as he said, and closed my eyes. The whole teleporting thing kinda feels like vertigo in a way. Opening my eyes I found I was in a back alley, some cars at the end. “That was quick.” I chuckled, and looked to thank Louis, only to not find him there.

        “I would hurry to whomever you wish to see.” He spoke up from behind me.  I jumped back, and saw him smirking. “Otherwise you’d better go and hurry to do your job.”

        Sounds like a plan. Without a word, I left Louis by himself and walked out of the alley.

        He waved after me. “Good luck.” I waved back, and looked around. Yup, this was Portland alright. Rain and all.

        It’s so fucking depressing. I shook my head, and walked onto the sidewalk. I couldn’t help but smile, the old feeling of being in a cramped city was a good one. At least in my opinion. In the distance, I saw a construction building near the OHSU. Hm, well, he’s usually there. I made my way towards the building, letting the rain fall on me, enjoying the sensation. It wasn’t long until I was finally inside the office. It was warm. SO, LOVINGLY, WARM.

        As you can tell, I love the transition in temperatures. Anyway, I saw the secretary stare at me in shock and surprise. I grinned, and waved at him as I passed. “What’s wrong man? You look like you saw a ghost!” I laughed as I entered the elevator, pressing the fifteenth floor button.

        When I reached the top, there was a long hallway filled with different doors, many of which lead to different sections of my friends… business. I walked down to end of the hall, and knock three times.

        “I thought I said I was leaving for the night? Come in!”

        I kicked open the door and said excitedly, “In this weather!? Come on Prof, I hope you at least have an umbrella!”

        Allow me to describe what he looks like. He’s over seven feet tall, and has hair almost like fire, moving and all. His eyes were even more weird, they almost glowed in the darkness. He was wearing a three piece suit with what I can only best describe as Ozzy’s sunglasses if designed in the 70’s. He looked over from a small desk and smirked. “Ah. Dean Marcelo. I thought you were a skid on some pavement the last I saw you.”

        ….“Fuck you.” I said with slight shame. “I know it isn’t exactly the most dignified death I would have liked, but still, come on…”

        He chuckled and shook his head. “I kid. A lot of people got much worse death’s though.” He moved over and grabbed a small bottle and some glasses. “Brandy?”

        I grinned, and nodded, “You know me so well Prof.”

        He poured the glasses and passed one over. “I take it that the secretary was scared? Oh who am I kidding... He’s rather jumpy for a werewolf.”

        I looked at him in surprise and laughed, “Sheesh, which clan!? I can’t think of one that cautious, or wimpy!”

        He shrugged. “He was exiled. Said it was because they thought him a coward.”

        “Ahhh, that’s the reason. So he came to work for you? I can see why, desk job would sound more appealing to him.” I nodded in understanding.

        “Of course. He came to me wanting to be a janitor, but he had a knack for organizing things.” He took a drink and grumbled as it turned into ash. “Fuck.” He tossed away the glass and looked at me. “I take it you’re here, back from the dead, for some reason other than saying hello to me.” He walked over and grabbed a remote, switching on the news, and sitting down in a leather chair.

        “Unfortunately, you’re right.” I shrugged, “I’m here on a job. Have you heard of A.N.G.E.L?”

        He looked over and nodded a bit. “I have.”

        “Do you know where it is?” May as well continue asking questions.

        He nodded slowly. “I do, yes.” He smirked and looked over. “You need to be a bit more specific.”

        I deadpanned, “Can you tell me where it is?” This is getting annoying.

        “Do you want specifics or just the hypothesized location?” He paused, and turned up the news volume. “Be quiet....”

“... and here we see the sheer destruction of what happened last night; a massive count of sixty five people murdered in cold blood, their bodies found mutilated and burned, with large, black marks on their chests, right over their hearts, which have been reported to be missing from each and every body. They were estimated to have all been killed, simultaneously, at 12:01 AM, leading authorities to believe their to be many perpetrators.”

        I looked at the Professor with a raised eyebrow, and a very bad feeling in my gut appeared. “That screams either a really pissed off warlock, or necromancy…”

        The Professor shook his head. “Sounds more underworld-y. Maybe a pissed off demon....”

        “But have you been hearing anything about any summonings? This sounds like a major demon.”

        “My company hasn’t sold anything that could be used to summon one... It’s almost impossible to get the ingredients without me knowing....”

        “Then that leaves me to wonder what exactly is going on…” I shook my head, “But that isn’t what I’m here for.”

The news report went on, “It is not yet known who caused this, or why, but be safe, Detroit, whatever it was could very likely still be out there.”

        He turned off the tv and turned back to me. “So. You’re asking about A.N.G.E.L. I take it?”

        “Yeah, I need to find their facility and steal a little something from there.”

        “Ah. I don’t know exactly where it is, but I can tell you what I know. Maybe that will help.”

        “Anything will do, really.” I tell him, “What they have could screw the world if it ends up in even worse hands.”

        “Well. Sixteen years ago the underground started buzzing around a story. One of the workers at A.N.G.E.L. was seen to have been infected with Croatoan.”

        That confirms my suspicions… “Infected? Prof, Croatoan hasn’t been seen in years, what made it surface now?” I’ll start playing the fool for now.

        “Not now, before, and that’s just it. I don’t know. But what I do know is that their leading Chemical Scientist stumbled out infected with the shit, and I mean infected. He didn’t lose the infection until a year and a half later.”

        Hmm… “Do you know where the guy is now? I can have him tell me.”

        He pulled out a pen and paper. “He lives in Stockton. I’m writing the address, do you wish to know the guy’s name?”

        “It’ll make things easier, so yes.” I nodded.

        He nodded and finished writing, handing over the paper. “His name’s Nathan Fritz. Don’t be too hard on him, he lost his only son not too long ago.”

        I nodded and took the paper, “No promises.” I shrug, not really all that considerate for a guy who was part of a fucked up organization like that. “Anyway, I guess I’m going to be on the next flight to California. It’ll be good to be back on one of my properties again.” I grinned, “Anything else you need to tell me before I get going?”

        He shrugged. “Not unless you need to know something else, so for now it’s a no.”

        “Alright…” I paused and looked at him with a grin, “Got any cars I can borrow?”

        He raised an eyebrow. “Well. Not really no.”

        Fuck. “Alright alright, I’ll just run to the airport then.” I began to walk out of the office, “Later Professor.”

        He waved. “Debatable.”

        I left the office, giving a creepy grin to the secretary, “Bye~....”

        He waved shakily.

        I had went out into the rainy city again, and looked around. There wasn’t too much of anyone out right now, so I ran into a nearby alley tried to remember the quickest route to the airport. I managed to get there in at least under twenty minutes. I snuck into the bathroom at the busy terminal, and walked into an empty stall. I concentrated and froze the water off of me, making it seem that I’m dry.

        I walked out of the bathroom and looked around for an ATM, wanting to get some money.

        It wasn’t too hard to find the machine, so I stopped in front of it and tried to get some money, but to my surprise…. Denied. De-fucking-nied.

        Oh fuck.

        ‘You best start running boy....’

        OHFUCKGOTTAGETTHEFUCKOUTOFHEREKBYE.

“....and in recent news, there have been reports of a white blur along the I-5, we have no idea what it is, but with what’s been going on lately, I’d advise that those who travel along this route, be careful.”

MUST. NEVER. RUN. AGAIN. OH GOD I’M TIRED.

I had to run from fucking Portland all the way to goddamn STOCKTON. Do you have any idea how long of a run that is, even with third restriction released!?

‘At least three hours if you ran at your top speed continuously without any restrictions released.’

SHUT UP LOUIS NO ONE ASKED YOU!

‘Actually hold on... The correct time it would have taken you is at least an hour and a half because you released the third restriction.’

….

‘I would get moving~.’

Fuck…  Finally catching my breath, if only slightly, and made my way to the address that the Professor had given me. The neighborhood was rather shitty. Seeing so many abandoned houses just left a bad taste in my mouth, given the other uses they could have. I sneered, and double-checked the address to make sure I was correct. Alright, it was. I looked up from the paper, and see a… Damn. I’ve seen better logs of shit that looked aesthetically more pleasing than this house.

Whatever, worrying about that is not what I’m here for. I walk to the side door of the house, and knock on it.

There was a grumble as something stumbled over something. “Ow! Who the hell would be knocking at midnight?” The door opened and a grey haired man looked at me. “Can I help you?”

Smirking, I kicked the door down, “Why neighbor I do believe you can!” I grabbed him by the collar and threw him into a chair, making it tip back and him falling to the floor. I stood over him and looked him in the eyes, “So! I heard you worked for A.N.G.E.L.” I told him.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking abo-”

I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him to my face, “Spare me the bullshit Doc, cuz’ I’m really not in the mood. I just ran I don’t know how many miles from Portland to come find you, and I’m not leaving until I get some fucking answers.” I growled, “Where. Is. The Facility?”

“O-one of the hospitals on the outskirts of town. I-I don’t even know if anyone’s still in there!”

Sneering, I dropped him, “Whatever. I got what I needed.” I glared at him, “You fucking make me sick, you know that? The shit you did in that facility is damn near enough to make me want to mount your head on my wall.”

“I-I didn’t release it! J-Jeriah did! H-he was taking it for months!” He scrambled up to a wall. “I-I got out while I could.... I had to get out.... I-I had to get out....”

        I looked at his house as he seemed to drift off, and something… very surprising caught my eyes.

        It was a picture of this man and Michael. I walked over to the picture and grabbed it, “How do you know him?” I demanded from him, wanting to know what the hell kind of connection he had to Michael.

        “K-know who? Who’re you talking about?”

        I punched a hole in the wall, “Did I not just say I wasn’t in the mood?” I ask him with an annoyed glare.

        He looked at the picture and pointed at it shakily. “H-he’s my son.... Michael Fritz.”

        ….That. Makes a lot of sense, actually. Both he and his father kinda look alike, if it weren’t for the retardedly bleached hair.

        Looks like Michael and I are gonna have a few words. Joy. I glared at Nathan silently, before tossing the picture to him, “Good guy. You’re lucky to have a son that didn’t turn into a piece of shit like you.” I told him as I began to walk out of the house.

        “H-he’s alive...” He scrambled towards me. “D-don’t tell him! I tried my hardest to keep him from knowing!”

        “Fucking surprise asshole, he has a right to know what sort of dipshit his father is.” I said coldly, “Pray to whatever god it is that you pray to for mercy.” I looked at him with my eyes producing a cold mist, the glow overshadowing them, “Because when you die, I’m going to personally send you straight into the deepest pit of hell.”

        “I didn’t want to let him know.... I couldn’t let him know...”

        “Whatever. Drown in your self-pity for all I care.” I scoffed and began to leave once more, “Someone like you is just a waste of flesh for me to even care.” I left the house feeling quite angrier than I was used to… all while I felt something gnawing at the back of my mind… like something wanted to get out.

        Like something was hungry.

        I shook my head, and sat down on a bench.

Louis? You there?

        ‘You seemed a bit angry back there.’

Don’t push it Louis. I was damn near ready to fucking turn that piece of trash into paste.

‘Well he wasn’t lying, he never released the virus. I would know, I gave it to them.’

YOU FUCKING DID WHAT!?!?

‘I was bored, and wanted to see if something was immune. They did their part perfectly.’

Louis I know you’re a fucking fallen angel and all and could easily turn me into dust, but you are a bastard. A pure, bonafide bastard.

‘Thank you. I take pride in being called that.’

And you make fucking PUNS. No. It’s funny, really. I figured, since you were the prince of pride, that you were above the demonic stereotype. I actually thought that because you had free will, you’d be an actually better demon. Or angel, whichever you want to be called. I guess I was wrong. You’re no different. You’re the same like all the other demons I’ve fought.

        ‘Oh really? Who was it who gave Eve knowledge? Who was it that led to, eugh, Jesus becoming baptized? I refused to bow to you, yet I did more than god ever did.’

And so that fucking excuses you from this shit? You may have done good, but so far all I’m seeing is someone who prefers being what everyone thinks he is. You fucking sheep.

‘And what of it? Life in the deepest pits gets boring, and I do not like the cold. But, I would rather have fun then go and bow to a mortal’s every whim.’

What, you think I fault you for that? Hell, I think that’s fucking awesome that you actually stood up for yourself, especially given the era in which that happened. Yeah, life gets boring, and honestly, who likes the cold? Well, besides me, but I don’t even count. It’s funny really, that song by The Stones really does fit. Honestly, I wanted to view you as an equal. Not in terms of power that’s stupid. But you know, as just a guy.

‘Heh. Well the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And if you must know I did nothing to convince them to release it and go insane. You were all built with good and evil, and their leader chose evil.’

Hm… we all make our choices, don’t we? I can’t fault you for what they did. I can hate them all I want, I guess. Logically speaking, it’s an interesting thought on seeing if someone would be immune to the croatoan of all things. That shit is way too dangerous to be in mortal hands anyway, I’m at least glad you’re taking it back.

‘Of course. Besides, I personally despise that disease. It was fun when it was made, but now it’s just annoying.’ I could feel him roll his eyes. ‘Just get some rest, and then go and retrieve it. Be careful.’

Hm, didn’t know you cared.

‘I simply don’t want Death bitching that you died to me for an eternity.’

Sounds like him. Right, I’ll just find the only safe house near by… shouldn’t be too hard.

After that mental debacle, I rose from the bench and looked around. Alright, if I’m right, the closest safe house is in…. San Diego.

        Fuck.

        “....Diane, what’s the latest traffic report for the night owls out there?”

        “Well Ross, there seems to have been reports of yet another white blur running through the highways, as was also reported to have been seen on the I-5. More on this after these broadcasts.”

        WHY MUST THE LAWD PUNISH MEH SO!?!?

        Well… at least I was in front of the safe house… I cleared my throat, and placed my hand against a small, swirling green rune, “Patefacio.”

        The rune disappeared in small flash of green light, and the door opened by itself.

        Safe houses are awesome. I walked into the safehouse, and thankfully since it was in a rather secluded area in San Diego(Shockingly enough), no one would really bother me. I was dead fucking tired(PUUUUUUUNNNNNSSSSS!!!!!!!), so I pretty much moved like a slug through the place, finding my way to the bed. I laid down on the oh-so comfortable sheets, and felt myself drift off into sweet slumber

Ah... it feels good to be back in comfortable bed. The softness of the sheets, the smell of my own bed, it’s just rela...xing. Why do I feel a chill going up my spine.

I suddenly heard a light, echo-y voice say, “Hello.”

My eyes snap open as I freeze there, just rigid as a... I don’t know, a pressure just fills the room. Like something is wrong. Like I’m trapped.

Like I’m going to die.

I slowly turn, and spot this figure that looks like the stereotypical Death, but I could tell it wasn’t Death. Something about him was..... different. “Hello.” I said back, still feeling on edge.

He stared at me silently, then nodded once and brought a crop scythe out from behind his back. He then hit me lightly on the forehead with the blunt end, and the pressure immediately left.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he said, his jaw not moving at all as he spoke, “I like to do that to mess with people, forgot I had it on still.”

I rubbed my forehead, “So you hit me on the head?”

He shrugged, “‘Least I hit you on that head. Or, would you prefer the other?” He said it jokingly, and raised the scythe for effect.

I laughed nervously, “I’ll pass.” I got up and stretched, “So who are you?”

He shrugged again, “Some call me some things, others call me other things, my creators call me “Oh-Lord-It’s-That-Walking-Bones-Thing-Why-Did-We-Make-Him-Again?”... I just call myself Bill.” He stuck his hand out, “A pleasure, Dean Marcelo.”

I stared at him, but shook his bony hand nonetheless, “Er... right. So.... nice to meet you Bill.”

“Nice to meet you too.” He pulled his arm back, his hand staying behind in my own, which we both just stared at for a few seconds. He then coughed and gently grabbed it out of my hand, placing it back onto his wrist and saying, “Anyway.... So yeah, I’m going to be your Cosmic Stalker from now on, hope you don’t mind.”

I then blanked, “Cosmic Stalker. Are you fucking kidding me.” I had a feeling he wasn’t.

“Sorry, but that’s what the higher-ups demand, more or less.” He made a few vague gestures with his hands as he said, “Basically... I’m just gonna follow you around, outside of your sight, smell and other senses of course, and make sure things happen as they’re supposed to. It’s my job for the next....” He reached into his robes and pulled out a silver pocket watch, opening it to reveal seventeen faces, each with twelve or so hands each. He stared at the watch blankly, then slowly returned it to his robes, coughing and saying, “.... Yeah... that.” He then muttered, “Good Gods could they have made that thing harder to read?”

I facepalmed, “I’m being stalked by a cosmic being that can’t even tell time. Great.”

“Hey I can tell him lots of things, thank you very much.” He crossed his arms and huffed, “Mostly just to sod off, but still!”

Not going to question it... “Whatever.” I sighed, “And I can agree with you on that. Time sucks, always passing by slowly when you want it to go fast. And always going fast when you’re having fun, it’s an outright jerk.” I grumbled, “Anyway, so your name is Bill and you’re going to be stalking me. Why?” I asked him.

“Sorry, top secret information that only I and...” he stopped to count his fingers, “three other beings are allowed to know. My best explanation is that because “they” said so, which I know is vague, but really that’s all I can say.”

I facepalmed, “Of course it is.”

“Yep.” He looked like he was about to turn around, but stopped, “Oh, before I go....” He reached into his robes and, after a moment of rummaging around, pulled out a... corpse. “I found this guy trying to sneak in your window, so I offed the poor bastard. I think he was a vampire or something. Here.” He tossed it at me. “Ta-ta!” He then vanished into thin air.

Now I couldn’t help but laugh. I laughed hard. Very, very hard. As much as the physics of that robe is utter bullshit, I still found it funny with what he did. Being the guy I am, I dragged the body to the fireplace and lit it up. Thank god for disguising the scent with other plants in the house.

So you know what else I did? Fuck all nothing, that’s what. I just went back to sleep like nothing happened. And you know what?

I fucking liked it.

(At the building described by Nathan, the next day)

I stared at the piece of shit building with contempt, palming my wraith blade. This is the place... Now how do I get in?

    “I see you found the place already.” I heard a deep, male voice say from behind me. I turned around to see a short man with long, brown hair tied into a ponytail and a brown beard. He wore a black long coat, black pants and boots, as well as a black cap and sunglasses. Strapped to his sides were two black and gold revolvers, and a strange looking set of what looked like metallic bones.

        I narrowed my eyes and stared at him, “And just who the hell are you?”

        “Ultimatum.” He said simply, then walked up to the front door of the building, “Trying to find a way in?”

        “What’s it to you?” I ask lowly.

        He stared at the building with his hands in his pockets for a few seconds before finally saying, “Similar goals....”

        I raised an eyebrow, ““Similar goals”? And what might those be?” I asked again.

        He ‘hmm’ed for a second before saying darkly, “Destroying every last bit of this place.”

        I grinned viciously, “Oho... Then if you know how to get in, best say so now. I want to go and slaughter these bastards.”

    He nodded once and made his way to the broken doors of the building, grabbing one and easily pulling it off. He looked back and said, “Follow me then.”

        Smiling sadistically, I brought out my wraith blade and ignited it, “Certainly.” I then followed him into the hospital.

  We walked quickly through the deteriorated halls of the building, and eventually I could see a large, standoffishly clean metal door at the other end, as well as a hunched over, slightly obscured figure standing next to it. Before I could react, Ultimatum tensed up, then was gone in a blink of an eye.

There was a loud bang and a scream of pain, followed by the sound of blood splattering against a wall, and I could hear Ultimatum heavily panting. I walked over to see him standing over a burned and scarred, unrecognizable body, a gunshot wound adjacent to a black and gold revolver in Ultimatum’s hand. He then proceeded to fire more and more shots into the already dead body, a cold and distant look on his face as he did.

I shoved him off, “HEY! If you’re just going to waste time with one of these things, don’t bother coming, and point me in the direction I need to go. If not, let’s go.” I said harshly, “I came here to make sure these pieces of shit get what’s coming, not sit here.”

        He didn’t move and kept staring at the body, then suddenly asked in a low tone, “Do you have any idea just what these... things are?” He gestured at the corpse as he asked.

        I scowled, “Don’t know, don’t care, I just know that they’re in my way.”

He mumbled something to himself, then dipped a finger in the blood and lifted his glasses a bit, swiping the blood onto his left eye. “Sonrai, scan this please.”

        A few seconds later, a beeping sound was heard from his eye, followed by a robotic, female voice, “Scan complete, DNA match found: Sarah Arline Akinson.”

        I stared at the corpse with wide eyes, then glared back at him, “Explain. Now.”

He growled, “These abominations are hyper-aged clones of the most recent test subject here, Sarah Akinson. I believe you know her, and of her time here?”

“Yeah. When we first met, I told her how I fought a squad of these, and she basically said these things were more powerful than the average human.” I glared at the door, “Open it. I know you can, otherwise you wouldn’t have arsed yourself to come here.”

He nodded and walked over to the door, staring at it for a few seconds before grabbing the large handle on it. After a second of pulling, the door was pulled off its hinges with a groan. He roughly pushed it to the side, and it hit the floor with a loud bang.

        I stepped through first, and shouted, “Who dies first!?”

“Main offices are one level down, that contains Jeriah, the main source of the cruelty exhibited here.” I heard Ultimatum say from behind me, “Lower are the research labs, then the testing labs after that, and finally the holding cells at the bottom. I suggest you go there last, you may not like what you see.”

I simply said, “I’m working from top to bottom. I want to watch that little fuck squirm as I torture him.” I walked further down the halls.

“I am heading to the testing labs, there is something there I wish to... see to first. I will be waiting in the holding cell floor entrance.” I glanced back to see that he had disappeared completely.

Quick little fucker, ain’t he? I turned around, and found myself staring at a bunch of scientists staring right back at me. I grinned ferally, “Hey guys how your health plan?”

My reply was nothing but as follows. Groangroangurglegurgle.  I grinned, realizing that this would be an easy slaughter, and charged, “BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!” I cut the first scientist in half, blood squirting onto me. I turned to the rest, and created a bow of ice, “Arrows of Ice!” I shot three of them into three separate researchers, impaling them to the wall.

I ran down the hall, cutting everyone down that I came across. Blood decorated the walls, giving it a new paint job. After a while, I made it to the end, revealing an elevator. I forced it open, revealing the large elevator shaft. I walked backwards, preparing myself, then ran forward and jumped to the wall. I placed my foot on it, and froze it there. I quickly slammed my other foot onto the wall, and froze it as well. Ha, I was sticking to the wall. I walked down the wall, and found the next door. I jumped to it, flipped in mid-air, and kicked it down.

I rolled to my feet, and looked down the hallway. To the sides, I see various offices with glass doors, grinning, I charge myself with energy, “Restriction level 1, released! Arctic Dungeon!” Most of everything around me froze instantly. I saw that various scientists were all already frozen, all that was left was the door I see at the end. The very red one with carvings of various equations and random shit. I smirked evilly, and walked to it. When I reached it, I kicked it down, “Room service.”

And then the smell of fuck reached my nose. I’m not kidding, I could see little white flakes in the carpet, and I know it isn’t asbestos. Yeah, I’m going to fucking gut this pig and use his skin for a football.

    I look around, and also notice the blood stains. Rage. UNTOLD RAGE. TOO MUCH RAGE. I looked at the desk, and I could hear a spazzed out muttering from behind it. I jumped over it, and as I’m in the air, I see the little bastard. I land on top of him, and grab him by the neck. I lift him up, slam him into the wall, and into the desk, breaking it in half. I lift him into the air, and stare at him.

    He was short, with shaggy and unkempt brown hair and a crazed and distant look in his eyes. He wore a heavily bloodstained, white lab coat and a white button up shirt and black pants. His pants’ zipper and button were undone, and there was bloody, scarred over stump behind them. A large bloodstain spreading out from there covered his shirt and pants.

    I scowled in disgust, “Nasty piece of shit.” I kicked him in the ribs and sent him flying into a wall, giving a scream of pain. I smirked sadistically, “Come on, we’ve only just started.” He just twitched and jerked in place, muttering and grumbling incoherently.

    I lashed out a leg into his stomach, driving him further into the wall. I pulled my leg out, and started to punch him. He groaned in pain, and it made me want to beat him even more. And I did. I sped up my punches, making them a blur, and blood was being coughed up from his mouth. I heard a nasty crunch under my fists, but I didn’t care. I added more power to them, and this time I heard a squelch, and blood squirted from his chest and onto me. Huh, guess I crushed his heart.

        Surprised he even has one.

I looked around for something. I don’t know what, but- ah! In the corner was a large empty bag. I walked over to it, and brought it over to Jeriah’s body. I brought out my wraith blade, and cut off his head. It plopped onto the floor. I picked it up, and placed it in the bag, “I think this’ll be a good gift for Sarah.” I whistled casually as I walked out of the office, bag in hand. I proceeded to cut the heads off of every scientist I had already killed, and place them in the bag.

I finally finished with this floor, and placed the bag next to the door. I’ll have to come back for these later. I descend down to another floor, and repeat the process of entering. I look around, and the room was fairly large and open, streun with desks and chalk boards. Scientists moaning and groaning as they shuffled around. I created a bow again, and fired spikes of ice at everything that moved, “Die, die! DIE!” I screamed in rage as blood splattered all over the place, some of it even getting on me. I finished this floor rather quickly, and left down to the next floor.

I looked around, And there wasn’t even anything recognizable there. Walls were torn down, large windows were shattered with torn, fresh corpses impaled on them, doors were busted open with large, fresh pools of blood running from the rooms they lead to, and there were heaps of shredded bodies and large pools and splashes of blood everywhere. One scientist in particular was impaled into a wall with his own arms, and he was still gurgling and sputtering, left alive to suffer longer.

Hm, this guy really doesn’t like A.N.G.E.L, does he? I shrugged, and walked past the scientist. I cut his head off, ending his suffering. I walked even further in, and like anything else, more and more bodies.

So much blood... I shook my head. The hell...? I walked further in, and found Ultimatum standing next to a door. I whistled to get his attention, “Oi.”

He turned and stared at me with a far off, harsh look, “What?”

I raised an eyebrow, “Watch who you’re glaring at. You’re the one who told me to meet you here.”

He grunted and started to make his way to the next floor, “Let’s just hurry. I’m only here to show you and explain what you are about to see, and this place is making me... sick, I’ll say.”

I shrugged, and followed him, “Alright.”

We walked for a short while, passing many clean metal doors, until we reached one door in particular. There were large dents in the metal from the inside, and claw-like gashes in the metal, opening up to darkness inside.

Ultimatum walked up and grabbed the large lock on the door handle, smashing it before gripping the handle tightly. He looked back at me and asked, “Ready? This is Sarah’s room, where she was confined for most of her life.”

I sighed, and nodded.

He gave a nod as well, then opened the door. Immediately, a foul wave of stench washed over me, a mix of blood, rotting flesh, shit, piss, and other things. A moment later, a light switched on, revealing the inside of the room.

Off in the corner was a barely recognizable bed, torn apart and stained with large amounts of blood and feces. The walls were in a similar state, with gashes and cuts and claw marks dug into them. Looking down, I saw that a large collection of scratches, looking like someone dug their fingernails into the ground as they were dragged across the floor many times.

The rest of the room was either dried blood, a rotting pile of flesh, cloth, books, and other things, and a crude bunch of carvings and words cut into the walls. On the floor, I noticed, was a single pistol, and an adjacent splatter of blood on the wall and floor.

I slowly turned to Ultimatum, “Either start explaining, or I make you. I’m getting pissed just looking at it, and I’m ready to go off at whatever pisses me off next.” I growled.

“Shut. Your damn. Mouth.” He said through clenched teeth, “I’m in a worse state than you right now.” He swung his arm to the side, putting a large dent in the door as he glared at the room, panting, “This... this was where they held her for all that time, where she was beaten and shot and stabbed and brutalized and raped and killed. This is where the worst of everything happened, this was, for her entire life, Hell and nothing more.”

I nodded slowly, “I see. Well then, I guess I know what I’m doing next.” I said lowly, “Now if you don’t mind, I need to get Sarah’s presents. A nice bag of severed heads for all the shit she went through. Jeriah’s already in the bag, just need to get the rest of them.”

“Before you do that...” He tugged at my sleeve and walked over to a particular set of carvings in the wall, pointing at them.

Looking over them from top to bottom, I saw the first being a crudely drawn person with a gun shaped object in its hand with the words ‘gget grgard’ next to it. After that was another image, this of another, smaller person on top of the first, this one now holding the “gun” with the words ‘retrestl gun awy’. Finally, an image of the shorter figure, the first dead on the ground. The shorter one was now pointing the gun at the side of its head, the word ‘happy’ next to it, and a smile carved onto the face.

I stared blankly as I pieced it together. She... she wanted to... “She wanted to kill herself... didn’t she?”

He slowly nodded, “Not only wanted to.... She may have told you how she was killed by a guard when she was no longer useful. Well... it’s a lie. This plan,” He ran a hand over the carvings lightly, “finally came to fruition. She would’ve never been allowed to leave, so she improvised her own, perfect way to escape this Hell of hers....”

I... I don’t... Fuck...

He let his arm drop to his side and sighed, and I saw his body begin to fade away into nothing. “Well,” he looked down at himself, then up at me, “it seems my usefulness was exhausted here, I’m needed back where I came from.”

“Who are you?” I asked suddenly. “Why go to all this trouble?”

He was silent for a second, then he said, “You... both Sarah and you... you’re close to me, closer than you realize right now. And why go through all this trouble? Well...” he gave a weak, humorless smirk as the rest of his body faded away, and his voice lingered, “only Time will tell....”

As much as that cliche really annoyed me... I still can’t get my mind off of what I just learned. That and the smell was just god awful. I left the room quickly, and did what I needed to do.

Filling the final head into the bag, I tied the end into a knot and walked out of the facility.

I made my way to my car, popped the trunk open, and tossed the bag in. I closed it, and got into the drivers seat and drove away.

Dammit all...