'They can't keep you in this cell, you deserve to be free!' The voice in my head, I have come to know as Terra, growls.
"There's nothing I can do." I whisper in reply. I walk to the door, looking out of the small window into the hall to check if anyone's coming. Only Lexaeus is there, standing at the end of the hall, watching our doors.
"I can't get out of the room, and even if I could I couldn't take the security guard out without a weapon." 'Don't worry about that, in five minutes the crazies come to check us, you'll get your weapon.' Leaning against the door I listen to Katiana and Demyx whisper, beg, whimper, and scream.
I hear another cell open. I look up to see Labella standing face-to-face with Zexion. She runs a finger along his face. I see him flinch but he holds his ground. "Your skin's so warm and colorful." She gets a devious look in her eyes. "It would be much more beautiful if it were colder and paler." She smirks as a bit of color drains from Zexion's face. "Labella, enough." Vexen says, coming up behind them. "You would too." She whispers, walking back into her room followed by Zexion. 'See I told you, five minutes.' I look over at my clock. The clock strikes 11:30 A.M., as my door swings open. "Hello Shayla, how are you this morning?" 'Bastard.' Terra says as Vexen takes a seat across from the chair I had set myself in. "Fine." I reply, watching for anything to help my escape. I found it, a scalpel in the left breast pocket of his long white coat. 'Grab it! The minute he sees you with a weapon he'll run to get Lexaeus. All you have to do is kill Lexaeus and your out!' "I don't know about this." I had killed before and it isn't a big deal but… "Don't know about what Shayla?" Vexen asks, peering at me over the rims of his glasses. I sigh; it's now or never. I look up at him with murderous intent. He goes to stand but I jump to my feet and tackle his thin frame to the floor. He struggles as I slowly pull the scalpel out of his pocket, not taking my eyes off of him. I drag it gently along the side of his cheek leaving a small cut with forming rivulets of blood. I jump away, waiting for him to respond. He jumps up and runs to the door, fumbling with his keys. 'Get ready.' Terra says as Vexen takes off into the hallway. In a matter of seconds Lexaeus comes storming into the room. Dodging his attack I slash the scalpel across his midriff. It hardly seemed to have any effect. 'The throat! Go for the throat!!' Terra screams. I whip around and slash the scalpel across his throat before thrusting it up into his mouth and pulling it out. After making sure he's dead I check the hallway. Vexen's gone. I walk back over to Lexaeus. The ever-growing crimson pool that had formed on the floor stains my bare feet and the ends of my white dress a dark red. I can feel its warmth as the blood runs over them. I kneel beside him, staining the front of my dress a most beautiful color, and take the keys from his left pocket, placing the master key on a chain around Lexaeus's neck and wrapping it around my wrist. 'Wait, you need something else.' "What do you mean?" 'I think we should play a game. Of course, to play a game you need pieces and some pieces need to be placed.' I smirk. "An offering." I look at the keys and see a sharp edged can opener. Smiling, I slice down the inside of his forearm. After making four cuts I slice across his wrist and carefully pry the skin from the muscle and bone. I lay the bloody strips across my arms and stand. I slip into the hall, checking again and still seeing no one. Zexion must not have heard the struggle, but he'll be out here before long, Labella's sessions never last long.
I walked down the dimly lit hallway, my hand gripped tight on the scalpel's handle, while watching the small windows in the doors. I know who I'm looking for; his animal-like scream could be heard throughout the entire semi-empty asylum. I've heard rumors, and if he's as remarkable as they say he's already smelt the blood. But if he's as obsessed as I think he knows it's coming closer. I pause in front of a door, and as I turn towards it something hits the window making me flinch. Turning towards the window I see him. His hair appears bristled, his eyes burned a deep red, and his tongue slides hungrily over his point-filed teeth. Saix. 'Be careful, don't show fear. Fear is a sign of weakness.' Terra warns. I hold one of the strips up to the window and signal for him to back away from the door. He eyes me warily before retreating to the other end of the room. I pull the master key off of the chain on my wrist and unlock the door, keeping my eyes on Saix, waiting for him to attack. Slipping the key back onto the chain I step into the room watching the cannibal standing across from me. His expression is amused, as though I'm a plaything. I ignore it, fighting the urge to look away. "Your name's Saix, right?" I stop my voice from wavering. "Where did you get that?" His voice was deep and growl-like. "Excuse me?" It hadn't been the first thing I thought he would say. 'Don't show weakness, that how Lexaeus died!' "That meat, where did you get it?" I smirk. "Lexaeus, it's fresh. I carved it off in hopes we could come to a mutual agreement." "What kind of agreement?" He raises his eyes from the dripping meat to meet mine. His eyes no longer appear red but a cold yellow, and when he speaks you can see the teeth, which have been permanently tinted pink. "Well either you can run around and kill anyone you want but agree to leave me alone, or we can find out how good you taste." Saix slowly steps forward, running his tongue over his upper lip threateningly. 'You're doing good, hold your ground. Don't move, flinch, don't even tense.' He steps forward until we're face-to-face. He reaches, his nails gliding dangerously over my skin, and lifts up a piece of bloody flesh. He bites into it, tearing the meat to shreds. I watch, unmoving, as blood and pieces of skin run down his hands, face, and splatter onto me. His eyes gleam as red as the blood dripping through his hair, down his neck, and seeping through his clothes.
'One player in, now for the next.' She sounds very pleased. "You know he's going to turn on us." I reply, pushing the door of the cafeteria open and heading for the kitchen. 'And when that time come you'll do what you always do. Until then let him have his fun.' Doesn't take long for me to find what I'm looking for, an assortment of clean, stainless steel chef's knives. I leave the cafeteria, knives in hand, and head down hallway four. Most of the asylum had been cleared out and the residents, transferred. They were shutting down the asylum because it had been deemed unsafe. Everyone had been shipped out but the ten of us, seven residents and three employees. We were due to be transferred in two days until this… unfortunate occurrence. Between hallways three and four is the cafeteria. My cell is in hallway three and hers is in hallway four. 'Cell six.' "How do you know all this?" I ask her, checking the numbers on the doors. 3…4…5…6! 'I know a lot more then you think.' "Right." I reply, looking through the window. She's sitting on her bed, her black hair splayed around her reaching the floor. I slide the key quietly into the lock and carefully open the door. Replacing the key I grip the handles of my knives tightly and enter the room. She twitches a bit as the door creaks open but she doesn't move. "Serenity, right?" Her head jerks. She looks at me before training her gaze to the knife in my left hand. Her eyes flare and she starts shaking. 'Move.' Terra says calmly. "What?" 'Move!' Too late. She lunges at me, knocking us against the wall before slamming us into the ground; the knife in my right hand is thrown to the other side of the room. She claws my arms, trying to pry the knife from my other hand while screaming. "Give it to me! Give me the knife!!" I can smell the blood forming on the cuts on my wrist and I can see the pieces of skin jammed under her nails. 'Give it to her, drop the knife.' I toss the knife away and watch her scramble to the it leaving streaks of blood in her wake. Grabbing the knife she retreats to a corner, muttering incoherently as she runs her fingers over the blade. 'Back out of the room, but leave the door open.' Picking my other knife up, I do what she says. "Where now?" I ask, peering down the hallway. 'Head back to hallway three, find Marluxia's cell.'
The blood from my room had run out into the hallway. The hallway walls bore claw marks. Zexion's no longer in Labella's cell, wonder where he went…. There are two sets of footprints, both going off in different directions. I look through Marluxia's window. I can hear him humming as he flaunts about the room, running a brush through his silky, pink hair. Am I wrong to think vanity is a sin? No matter, he will soon pay for it. They let him have a mirror in his room because he has no record of a violent history. Taped to a corner of the mirror is a picture of Vexen. He spent every waking hour primping and preening for Vexen despite the fact they hardly see each other. I unlock the door and push it open. "Vexen?" I hear Marluxia ask excitedly. I push it all the way open and step in. "Oh, it's only you." His face turns from disappointed to surprised. "How did you…?" 'Do it.' "I killed him." "No…" He throws himself at me, but I dodge. He drops to his knees, shaking. "You're lying, aren't you? You're lying! YOU'RE LYING!" He screams. "You're right, I am. I didn't kill Vexen, but that doesn't mean someone else didn't." He pushes past me and stumbles into the hall, screaming. I giggle, leaning against Marluxia's wall. "This is fun." I laugh, taking a deep breath. Suddenly I hear rapid footsteps, still far away, coming towards me. I press my ear against the wall. Rapid, but light. Whoever it is is fairly short. The footsteps sound urgent but precise. Zexion. I stand by the door, back against the wall, and wait. I hear the shoes click on the tile floor. 'There!' I jump out and grab Zexion by the front of his lab coat. I swing around and throw him into Marluxia's room, against the wall. He gasps as he slides to the floor. Holding himself up with one arm he glares at me, blood forming on his lips. "Shayla." "Hello Zexion." "This is your doing?" I grab him by the hair with my empty hand and drag him out of the room and through the hallway. He tears at my arms and thrashes around, trying to break free. I head to the cafeteria, listening for the familiar mumbling. I throw him against the marble counter. A wave of excitement flows through me as I hear the unnatural snap of bones as his chest strikes the edge. He crumples to the ground, holding his ribcage, unable to stand. I can see the blur of tears clouding his vision, and can hear his breath, pained and ragged. The thought of a sliver of bone piercing through his lungs or heart provokes me. I enter the kitchen, leaving Zexion on the floor, and head for the stove. Turning a burner on high, I set my knife down and dig through the drawers. Not long after I find what I want, a knife sharpener. A long, thin sharp-ended rod with a handle. By now the stove is red hot. I set the sharpener down on the stovetop and wait for it to heat up. I wait eight minutes for the metal to turn white hot before taking it and heading back to Zexion. He tries to crawl away when he sees what's in my hand, but I grab him with ease. Pinning him down, I slam his mouth shut, preventing him from moving his head or arms. "You, know." I start, watching him twist and struggle. "This is tradition in some cultures. They did it before they buried their dead." I bring the hot poker down into his left eye, twisting it painfully. He screams as the burning skin bubbles and pops around the metal. I can feel him writhing underneath me as I pull the poker out and bring it down into the other eye. His screams become more persistent as the smell of burning skin fills my nostrils. I pull the poker out, watching him whimper as a pus-like substance leaks out of his deformed eyes. I pin his mouth shut before bring the poker down on his lips. I drag the hot metal slowly across and enjoy the muffled screams as the heat sears and melts the skin together. Looking down at the deformed, broken creature laying still beneath me I inspect my work. Hearing the expected footsteps I don't have time to perfect my masterpiece. As a finishing touch I scorch and X across the mutilated flesh of his lips. I run back to the kitchen and drop to the floor, watching from behind the counter. Not long after Serenity enters the cafeteria. She eyes Zexion carefully before taking in the room. After several minutes she approaches Zexion, kneeling next to him. She runs a finger along the side of his face as he whimpers pitifully. "Look at the broken toy." She purrs, running her fingers along what's left of his lips. "Someone had their fun with you, but now it's my turn." She whispers, grabbing him and dragging him from the room. I grab my knife from the counter and head down the hallway opposite from Serenity. I might as well let her have her fun.
'Well what do we have here?' It was quite a sight. Katiana's huddled in a corner silently screaming while Marluxia sits on the floor, hands bleeding from the piece of glass clenched in the hand, with Demyx laying bloody and lifeless on the floor. After a few seconds Katiana snaps out of her trance and lets out a mind-shattering scream. 'Damn it.' "What is it?" 'Serenity's coming.' "You killed him!" Marluxia screams, pointing at Katiana. She dodges, screaming, as Marluxia lunges at her. "I didn't do it! I swear, let me go! Please!!" She screams, hysterically. Marluxia raises the piece of glass, preparing to strike again. I didn't hear her run up and I barely saw her pass me. She flashes by and grabs Marluxia by the hair and rips him back, jamming the handle of her knife into his central nerve system in the lower right-hand side of his back. He freezes, inhaling slightly with widened eyes. She runs a hand through his soft pink hair. "It's so beautiful." She runs the knife through, taking a lock of hair off. I can see his hand flex on the piece of glass as Serenity slices another piece off. 'This should be interesting.' Marluxia goes to turn around and stab her with the glass but Serenity's quicker. She thrusts the knife down through his skull before pulling it out and wiping it off on the white clothing we're all required to wear. Serenity looks over to Katiana who's sitting on the floor, wide eyed. Serentiy turns and walks back the way she came, brushing with me on her way by. "Bait." 'My thoughts exactly.' I rip a bloody strip from my dress and kneel in front of Katiana. "I didn't do it." She mumbles, running her fingers through Demyx's hair. I grab her and slam her to the floor, pinning her down with one knee, and cover her mouth with a piece of cloth, tying it in the back. "Sorry." I stand and grab her by the hair. "I can't have you screaming again, at least, not until I'm ready." I drag her down the hall, through the cafeteria, and down hallway three. I look around but don't see Serenity anywhere. In the middle of the hallway in front of my cell is Zexion's lifeless corpse. His eyelids, or what had been left of them, were removed along with the remnants of his upper lip after they had been pried open by Serenity's fingers. His tongue had been ripped out along with his teeth. He was shirtless and a clumps of skin, muscle, and bone lay next to him where she had taken a meat cleaver, also laying on the floor, and hacked her way to his heart. The loss of blood must have killed him, because she didn't remove the heart, what should be even, clean cuts are jagged. The pieces of skin missing, the bite marks, and the claw marks had to have been Saix. Does a human heart taste good? I'll have to find out one day. 'Wow.' I look over at Labella's cell. She's peering out of her window, her eyes fixed on Zexion's body. I throw Katiana into my cell and lock it. She sits up but aside from that she doesn't move, not even to remove the cloth over her mouth. I walk back to Labella's cell and unlock it, then head back over to my cell. I turn and watch briefly as Labella walks out of her cell, eyeing Zexion's body hungrily, "Finally." I peer through the window of my cell. 'What should we do to her?' I smirk, thoughts flooding my mind. "I believe there are meat hooks in the kitchen."
After retrieving the meat hooks I head back to my cell. Labella's no longer in the hallway. I enter my cell, set my knife and the meat hooks on the bed, and look up at the ceiling. Fairly close together are two large plastic hooks where lights are supposed to be but aren't. Humming, I grab a meat hook and walk over to Katiana. Ignoring her muffled pleas I force one of the large hooks through her right shoulder. It slides easily beneath the bone and through the muscle before breaking through the skin, coated with blood. She screams beneath the cloth, tears pouring down her face but she doesn't struggle. After doing the same to the other shoulder I pull a chair under one of the hooks. "Stand up." I order, kicking her, hard, in the side. Wincing, she stands and walks over to the chair dragging the chains behind her. I grab one of the chains and stand up on the chair. I manage to pull her off of the ground and attach the chain to the first hook. She struggles a bit but stops when the hook rips through her skin. I hang the other chain up and pull the cloth away from her mouth. I grab the knife from the bed and look up at her. "Now, scream." I thrust the knife in and run it down her back. She screams, hysterically, now unable to move. I pull the knife down to her waist and pull it out, watching as blood leaks down her exposed spine. 'Here she comes.' I slit Katiana's throat, cutting off her screams. A few seconds later, Serenity appears in the open doorway. "What did you do?!" I smile. "Beautiful isn't she? It's almost an art how we kill. So lovely." Her hand grips tight around the knife. "YOU KILLED MY SISTER!" She screams and lunges at me. Saix runs into the room as she goes to jump. This I hadn't expected. Saix grabs her by the shoulder, digging his nails in, and throws her against the wall, tackling her downed form. "She's my kill." He growls, grabbing one hand and biting down on the fingers. She gasps as bones shatter in his strong jaws and give way. He spits the four fingers, torn off at the knuckles, onto the floor. In a fit of pain and fury she slashes her knife twice, catching him on the face and leaving and X shaped cut between his eyes. He growls as his blood drips down onto her face, running between her lips. He brings his teeth down onto her neck. She stabs the knife into his chest as he rips her throat out. Saix roars and an odd gurgling sound comes from Serenity as she tries to take her last breath. Saix pulls the knife out and throws it to the ground. He tries to get to his feet but he can't. I pick the other knife up and approach him. I simultaneously thrust the knives into his shoulders and twist, dislocating both arms. I kneel down in front of him, meeting his gaze. His eyes burn with hatred. I run one blade along the X shaped cut, dropping the other knife. I run the knife beneath the skin, loosening it enough for me to get my fingers under it. Grabbing under the skin, I pull the skin from above his left eye, missing his nose, and taking off most of his lips. He growls, trying not to scream. "Now if you'll excuse me, I believe there's one person left on my list." I cut a small piece of skin from his shoulder and place it in my mouth, savoring the warm, metallic taste before spitting it onto the floor and leaving the room, locking the door behind me.
"Where is he? Where should I look?" I walk through the bloody hallways. I stop momentarily and look up at the ceiling. Labella is nailed to the ceiling, skinned alive. Blood drips from her body onto my face, mingling with the dried blood covering me. 'Vexen's lab, try his lab.' I walk down the hallway to the cafeteria. From the cafeteria I go through the door between hallways three and four. The door had been left open making the lock ineffective. I step into the dimly lit hall. In the third room to the left a light is on and the entire hallway floor was covered in broken glass. I smile. "How did you expect to get back out?" I make my way, soundlessly, around the glass. I get in front of the door and press my ear against it. I can hear his rapid breathing and quickened heartbeat. But why is he so close to the door? I slowly turn the knob of the door and I can almost feel him tense. "Gotcha." I throw the door open and slide quickly out of the doorway. Vexen rushes out, knife in hand, and gasps. I'm going to assume he wasn't expecting me to move. In his surprise he falls, screaming as he hits the broken glass. I kick him hard in the side. He tries to crawl away, slipping as glass slices through his hands. Pieces of glass are imbedded into his face, arms, and chest. "Doctor Frost, you look such a mess." 'Don't toy with him, just finish him off!' "Aw, looks like I don't get to have my fun with you." I run the knife along the cut I had made earlier, making it bleed again. "P..please!" He gasps. "Hm, never took you for the begging type. I would love to take you apart slowly, piece by piece, but since I don't have time to play..." I stab into his stomach and rip up. He bites into his lip, hard, to prevent screaming. He grabs the open wound, holding his insides in his body. "Terra's in the security room, she's called the police by now!" He warns, coughing blood onto the floor. "What?" A laugh resounds through my head. 'A pawn in a game of chess...' "What the hell are you talking about!" I scream angrily, ignoring Vexen who is crawling into the lab. 'I can't afford to lose more money on this pointless asylum. Why pay to transfer the rest of the residents when this was much easier. A pawn in my game, you played in perfectly. This was all a game, and I'm about to win.' A screech then silence. I feel around my ear and find it, a small headphone taped, hidden, in my ear. Screaming in frustration I smash the device on the ground. Furious, I storm to the door by the door I had come in. Kicking it in I look inside. I see my new goal in the back. The fuse box. I pull the box open and stab the fuse box, pulling wires out, snapping them. The lights in the room and hallway shut off. I look up at the cameras, checking to see if the red light is off. After making sure it is I head into the hallway. The fact that Vexen had crawled into the lab and locked it didn't bother me. Even if he's a good enough doctor to sew himself up I doubt he's good enough to do it in the dark. I make my way quietly down the hall. I can feel her listening through the door at the end of the hallway, where I'm headed. I press a finger against the door, feeling the outline of where she is pressed against it. I crouch down on the floor on the left side of the door. It felt like at least twenty minutes, though I couldn't tell you how long it really was before the door slowly creaked open. I hold the knife out in front of the bottom of the doorway. I can make out her outline as she peers down the hall, not bothering to check the floor. She begins to step forward. "Checkmate." She gasps as the knife bites her ankles causing her to fall. I pull the knife out quickly and slam the handle down hard on her left ankle., trying not to damage the skin. After all, it gets pretty cold in the dark.
I'm sitting in the back of the room, my head resting on the wall. My knees are pulled up to my chest and draped over my body is a pale, smooth blanket. Terra's corpse lay but a few feet away. I had left her face unscathed, her stunning blue eyes and remarkable orange hair had caught my interest. The skin is still warm, and the blood prevents it from falling off. I wrap my homemade blanket tighter around me and listen to the approaching footsteps. The door bursts open causing me to look up. Vexen is standing at the door, shirtless, with rugged stitches down his chest. Behind him are five or so police. "There! That's her!" Most of the officers are pale, of course they had to walk through hallway three. "Vexen, unbelievable!" He gasps as he see's Terra's skinned body on the floor. "You've made it through the game." My grip tightens on the knife. "But will you be so lucky the second round?" I jump to my feet and dart across the room, taking them by surprise. I grab one of the officers who had pulled a gun by the arm and aim for the person across from him. Pulling the trigger I snap his arm and dodge as a very well aimed bullet flies past me and hits another officer. I turn and grab Vexen by the hair and press the knife against his throat, stopping the other cops. I lean forward and whisper quietly in his ear. "I think we should play a game."
