THE CYCLE OF TORMENT

CHAPTER XXX: THE CYCLE OF TORMENT

Millie scowled at Eleanor. The diabolical creature that was responsible for so much death, so much suffering, was right in front of her. As angry as she was, however, Millie was completely frozen. The chill she felt before has returned and she was starting to sweat. Something about Eleanor's aura was more horrifying and domineering than before.

"What... what did you do to them?" Millie asked, failing to hide the fear in her voice.

"I DIDN'T KILL THEM IF THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT. I DON'T KNOW HOW I COULD KILL THEM SINCE THEY ARE ALREADY DEAD."

Millie gripped the axe in her hands tighter. She had to think of something, anything to buy herself more time. She needed to snap out of this trance.

"TRUTH BE TOLD, I NEVER EXPECTED YOU TO LAST THIS LONG. YOUR MENTAL STRENGTH DESERVES SOME PRAISE."

"Just shut the fuck up! I don't care about your praise! I don't care if I'm a remnant zombie, or whatever you want to call me! I just want to kill you, right here, right now!" Millie declared. Eleanor smiled as she started to approach Millie.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD GET YOURSELF INVOLVED IN THIS. WHEN DEATH CAME FOR YOU, LIFE GAVE YOU A SECOND CHANCE, YET HERE YOU ARE, SQUANDERING THAT CHANCE. YOU SHOULD BE CELEBRATING THE FACT THAT FATE PLANNED FOR YOU TO SURVIVE YOUR ENCOUNTER. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW UNGRATEFUL YOU'RE BEING. I HAVE BEEN WATCHING YOU, MILLICENT. YOU ARE TRYING TO CHANGE YOURSELF, TO BE LESS SELFISH, MORE KIND TO OTHERS, AND YET YOUR UNGRATEFUL NATURE REMAINS. YOU CAN'T CHANGE WHO YOU ARE, MILLICENT. WHEN HUMANS ADOPT A CERTAIN TRAIT OR PERSONALITY, THOSE TRAITS ARE THERE TO STAY. YOU CANNOT GET RID OF THEM NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY BECAUSE IT IS JUST WHO YOU ARE. IF YOU REALLY WANTED TO CHANGE, YOU SHOULD'VE ESCAPED THIS LIFE. NOW, IT IS TOO LATE TO TURN BACK. YOU PAVED THE WAY TO YOUR OWN DEATH, MILLICENT, JUST LIKE ALL OF MY OTHER VICTIMS DID."

"You... you're killing people, deceiving them, ruining their lives... because you think they're ungrateful?" Millie inquired in both confusion and anger.

"EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM DESIRED SOMETHING. NO MATTER HOW PRIVILEGED THEIR LIVES WERE, THEY WANTED MORE. THEY WANTED PERFECTION, SO I GAVE THEM WHAT THEY WANTED. OF COURSE, YOU CANNOT GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. THEY HAD A PRICE TO PAY. WHY DO YOU WANT TO AVENGE THEM, MILLICENT? LIKE YOU, THEY WERE UNGRATEFUL, SELFISH. THEY DESERVED THIS FATE."

Millie gripped her axe so hard, her knuckles turned white. "No one, and let me repeat this, no one... deserves this. You're a monster. You're just making excuses to make people suffer, is that it? You say you're giving people what they deserve, trying to compare them to me, but you don't understand that like me, they deserve a second chance, all of them! You're taking that opportunity away and now, they can never fix their mistakes! That's how humans work, Eleanor! We learn from our mistakes! That is how we grow, become better! But, you would never get that because you're not human! You shouldn't even exist!"

Eleanor stopped in her tracks and frowned. For the first time, Millie saw... anger in her face. "Mark my words, you might call yourself unkillable because of how powerful you are, but everything has a weakness... and I won't rest until I find it, you cold, rotten bitch."

"YOU ARE RIGHT. EVERYTHING DOES HAVE A WEAKNESS, EVEN YOU. IF YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME, GO AHEAD, AND I WILL SHOW YOU JUST HOW WEAK AND UNWORTHY OF REDEMPTION YOU REALLY ARE."

She outstretched her hands and stood in place, grinning widely. This was a trap, Millie knew that right away, but what else could she do? With a cry of rage, she ran directly at Eleanor and swung at her, but when she opened her eyes, she wasn't there anymore.

"LOOK HOW SLOPPY YOU ARE."

Millie jumped as her voice came from behind her now. Next to her, she saw a few empty plates on the table. They were dirty and useless against something like Eleanor, but they would do.