Fatal Game

Final Game - part 16

I took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. The smell of rotting flesh was so strong and made me nauseous. As soon as my eyes fluttered open I noticed that once again I was in that little town. This is it, I thought as I stood up.

This time the whole town was dark and I noticed several people on the streets. All of them were suffering one way or another. Some looked starved while others looked tortured. For some reason I felt that there was something inhuman about all these people. I decided to be careful and avoid getting too close to them.

I looked over at the one story house and felt a pull to it. Something was telling me to visit it again, that I could find some answers this time. With hesitant steps I started walking towards the front door and knocked softly when I reached it. Nobody answered so I knocked harder. As I didn’t get an answer this time either, I decided to open the door myself.

“Hello?” my shaky voice echoed in the empty house. A loud groan from the basement answered me and I tiptoed my way to the stairs. “Is there someone down there?” I wondered and took a couple of steps down the stairs. A loud wail cut through the air and I stumbled back several steps.

For a long while I just stood there, shocked, before running down the stairs. It sounded like this person was in great deal of pain and I couldn’t just ignore it.

The lights were all on, when I reached the basement and I quickly scanned the room. Strapped to the altar was a body that I first thought was a corpse but quickly I realized that he was alive when he moved his hand.

“Oh my God” I exclaimed as my hands fluttered above him. I wasn’t sure what I could do. All I knew is that I had to help him even though he looked far from being a human. “What happened to you? Are you in much pain? Tell me how I can help you” I blurted out and started feeling the panic to dwell up.

The poor man was cut up and I couldn’t take my eyes off his face in fear that I would throw up. I could not, for the life of me, figure out how someone could do something like this.

The man just moaned loudly and seemed to be unable to answer so I quickly darted up the stairs and out on the street. No matter what direction I looked to, I saw nobody that could be capable to help. “Can anyone help me?” I yelled frantically.

“I have an injured man here and need help!”

I watched in despair how the people that were out on the streets scurried away, as fast as they could. Nobody would willingly help out this poor man, I realized sadly. It was just him and me. With a huff I sat down and tried to think of a plan. Maybe my mystery man has some kind of soul… He seems to be my last hope, as it seems…

Determined I stood up and started walking towards the square. He had to be there. Whatever plan I had to get rid of him, could wait. Saving this man was more important right now.

I stopped at the edge of the square and looked around. The square was absolutely void of anything but the fountain. “Damnit” I screeched. “Where the hell are you when I need you?” I angrily stomped around the fountain, spitting out curse words at everything and everyone. Why I felt so angry, I had no answer to.

“This is ridiculous! Come on, you bastard! Show yourself!”

Arms snaked around me and restricted my movements. HE was here, I just knew it. “There’s a man injured in one of the houses” I stuttered weakly before I mentally kicked myself for sounding so pathetic. “I need you to help him, please.”

“I need you to do something for me in return” he answered firmly. A cold chill ran down my spine as I was certain that whatever he would demand wouldn’t be good.

“Alright, what do I need to do?” I questioned in a shaky voice. One of his hands slid down my waist and he grabbed my hand roughly. Something sharp was put into my open palm and I looked down on the shiny razor blade. Oh, no… Not this again, I thought but didn’t find it in me to protest.

Like in a trance I walked to the edge of the fountain and sat down. I stretched my arm out and stared at the veins. This was a small price to pay, right? It was for the sake of that poor man. “I can do this. It’s not a big deal” I mumbled to myself as I brought the razor blade to my wrist.

“Anna, don’t!” an extremely familiar voice called out and startled me. My head spun in the direction of the voice and my eyes widened at the sight of Sam.

“I’m sorry… I have to do this” I whispered as I felt tears prickle my eyes. I was happy that he seemed to be ok but at the same time I was sad that he had to witness this. Slowly I turned my head back to look at the task at hand.

“Anna! Be reasonable… Don’t do it” Sam continued begging but I tried to shut out his voice. This was for a good cause so I took a deep breath and pushed the razor against my skin before I dragged it up my arm. This time it hurt way more than before but I continued. It was like I had lost control of my own actions.

For some reason I felt compelled to do the same to my other arm. Without hesitation, I slit my other wrist too and held my arms above the water. It was mesmerizing to see my blood mix with the light red water.

“That was very well done” mystery man chuckled after a while. I had started feeling very sleepy. My guess was that I overdid it and was now loosing too much blood. I was becoming very woozy and fell backwards, right into the arms of mystery man.

With a lot of effort I looked up to his face. The first thing I noticed was his black eyes. No whites or anything, just blackness. I could not tear my eyes away from his. They drew me in, captivated me.

“You belong to me now” he mumbled and leaned down to press his lips against mine. “I own you” he whispered against my lips as my eyes slowly shut and I plunged into darkness. I was finally free from this life of mine.