A Monster Inside - Book of the Amulet - ITV's Jekyll and Hyde

16 - End Game

'No matter what they say, don't believe a word/ Cause I'll keep singing this lie if you keep believing it// Are we growing up or just going down/ It's just a matter of time before we're all found out/ Take our tears/ Put them on ice/ Cause I swear I'd burn this city down to show you the lights// The best part of believe is the lie/ I hope you sing along and you steal a line/ I need to keep you like this in my mind/So give in or just give up//

-Sophomore Slump or Comeback of the Year

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Louis was sure someone, something, was following him. He was sure of it. The maze that he was navigating was ominous enough without some creature stalking his every move, but however many times he spun around, blade outstretched, he never could find it. Well, that was until it found him.

The tall, stone walls that surrounded him in a labyrinth were starting to become wearing. He had already met too many dead ends to count, and there was no difference or sign to show he was actually going the right way. It was all deadly silent, then, what was that? Buzzing? No his ears weren't deceiving him, there was a definite sound, coming closer and closer.

"The Hell are you?" Louis said, mistakenly out loud, but couldn't help it when he saw the creature emitting the said noise. It was a quite tall being, draped in grey and brown linen sheets, and flies buzzed around it. Out of its blood stained sleeves were two taloned hands that gripped at the air. Its face was covered, but Louis guessed it would be as gruesome as the rest of its body. Slowly it moved towards him, holding its hands out, and Louis moved away, eyes still locked on the creature. Stepping back, his foot stumbled across something on the floor. Cautiously he looked behind him to see a skeleton sprawled across the stone. It was quite old; the flesh that has once been now decayed, leaving a grey set of bones crowned by an emotionless skull. A long crack had been cast across its eye socket into its jaw. Above the skeleton were the words: 'TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE' written in blood on the wall. Obviously it had been left by the creature, not its victim.

"Truth or consequence", Louis repeated to himself, then had to backstep quickly when the creature took a swipe at him with clawed hands. A long rip appeared across his shirt, which worried him slightly because the creature had hardly even touched him. "Okay. So you're dangerous". Swiftly he ran down the maze wall, watching the creature come towards him, still at the same slow pace. It gave him time to realise what was actually around him: hundreds of almost identical skeletons lying all across the ground. And above all of their skulls were the words 'TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCE'. He looked behind him to see a solid stone wall and no way to get around it. "Oh good God, I'm stuck", Louis murmured to himself, then glanced around the corridor for anything that could help. The only thing that he saw were the words on the wall.

"So that's what you want, truths?" Louis exclaimed towards it, but knew it wouldn't answer him. "Wait, I've heard of you. An Obmanshchik? There was a story about your kind that I was told when I was little. Used to give me nightmares all the time. The tale of the monster that would never stop hunting you until you fed it with your greatest secrets. I'm guessing that's what you are". The creature was now about three metres away from him, scuffling around the broken bodies of former victims. "So what's on the menu today? You want a story? Okay then. That's what I'll do. I'll tell you a story". The creature shuffled forward and Louis put the knife back in his pocket. No story should be told with threatening.

"I've heard a lot about you and your kind. In fact I spent most of my childhood nights thinking you were at my window with your talons. Never thought I'd actually be face to face with you, so stick with me because I'm making this up as I go along", Louis started, not surprised that the creature did not stop its approaching. "You like to think you're a god. But you're not. You're just a parasite eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On the secrets of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow. So... come on, then. Take mine. Take my secrets. But I hope you've got a big appetite. Because I've lived a long life and I've created quite a collection". It paused for a moment, interested at his covenant. "Fine. I confess. I didn't leave Tenebrae because of family troubles, I left because I was scared". The creature still continued its looming approach. "You want more? I was afraid of Dance, of his ideals. I didn't want anyone I loved to be hurt by him". Then it stopped dead, and Louis could hear a rumbling behind him as the wall blocking his way moved to the side. Swiftly he escaped through it, and it shut behind him. That was... seemingly easy. On the back of the wall was the letter 'B'.

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Lottie could only cling to the unmovable wall at the end of the corridor, terrified. The creature was approaching her, slowly, but surely, and being surrounded by its earlier victims didn't exactly help her nerves.

"It's times like this I miss my Hyde", she murmured to herself, but the creature heard and paused suddenly. However Lottie didn't notice. She was more engrossed in crouching up against the wall, with her hands covering her head, just waiting. To her death seemed inevitable. There was no way out. So, if she was going to meet her end here, she might as well stop lying to herself. "I was seven years old when MIO took me in. I never told anyone why though, probably because it was a mistake I made myself", she started, deciding that the silence was not the nicest of atmospheres. "When I was young, I was... addicted to my Hyde side. I suppose it made me feel powerful in a sense. And the only way to keep her alive was with monocane. But, unbeknownst to me at the time, it was slowly killing her instead. It made her unstable, so unstable in fact that MIO was forced to, well, murder her in a sense. And all down to my stupid obsession. I... miss her. Especially in times like this". The creature stopped completely, and Lottie heard the wall behind her move away, but she didn't escape. This 'monster' as she supposed most perceive it as, now seemed rather peaceful. Its talons retraced into its long, leathery fingers, and it just stood there, looming like a shadow in front of her.

"What's your name?" she asked it, but it didn't answer. She stepped forward, with a curious gaze and raised a hand to its hood. It didn't stir at all. Lifting its hood from its face, she was rather confounded to see a human face look back at her. However his eyes were dark and closed, unable to open, and his mouth was almost sewn closed. He was pale, and his bones were prominent in his lightly featured face. She felt something like pity for him, for his feared appearance and abilities. "I'm Lottie", she said. "I'm not afraid of you". He nodded, then abruptly fell to the floor in a pile of linen and bones. She crouched down, pulling back his hood completely to see a skull, with indentations where his eyes had been. But this skull looked almost ancient, much older than the man that she supposed it belonged to. All she could guess was that this creature was cursed with this duty, to never allow any being to pass unless they gave up their secrets. "Truth or Consequence", she murmured to herself and, as she glanced over at the words scrawled across the walls, the dried blood fell away. In its place was just the letter 'A' written over and over again.

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