Author's Note: Finally the next chappy! Life's been hectic lately and I've been on depression, so shut up, lol. Anyway, here it is and I hope you enjoy it. Have a nice read!^^

Disclaimer: Apply the usual here; copyright goes to Frictional Games.

II

21st of August, 1839

21st of August, 1839

It's over. Everything's over! Just two days ago I defeated Alexander and banished the Shadow from my own; I've left death well behind me. I don't yet know if the Orb was destroyed, for it simply vanished before my eyes and I haven't seen it since. Castle Brennenburg has collapsed and will remain as ruins for time to erode and corrupt and for nature to cover. In there, buried under those remains, my sins will remain. I can't deny the things I've done, but at least I found the confidence and resolve to set matters right. I would've very well given up if it wasn't for the note I left myself, which tells me I was desperate to forget and trace another course.

I remember little of how I was before except for one thing: I am evil by nature. I am alone now whilst I'm writing this and I have no other choice but to say it. Though after realising the cruelty of my actions I sought to redeem myself, I remember I barely felt conscious of what I was doing at times, and some others I was fully aware and didn't want to stop. I remember how viciously I beat and tortured my victims. I remember my lack of qualms. I remember how merciless I acted when in front of Alexander. I remember how I lost my mind day by day and how I plunged into darkness without knowing how I was ever going to get out. Why? Because of some selfish desire that cost me more than I could ever afford.

Feeling human again feels strange in itself. Why though, if we're all human? Because we humans can commit depravities and atrocities that go well beyond our imagination, and I am the example. My evil nature is no reason to say I am innocent, since one would say I was not in my sane mind, but I gave vent to all the frustration I had had bottled up since I was a little boy. I remember it perfectly, and the sound of naked flesh hitting naked flesh was the most rewarding sound I would ever hear. God saw me from above, and I know that I will not see Him like I had been taught to as a child. 'God is amongst us', my mother used to say, and I received proof of such statement in school.

There was a boy older than me, Henry Bedloe, who was on the same boat as I. For a time, we were friends –or rather, acquaintances– until his situation caught up to him and changed him. He became a bully and he tormented all of us.

One day, he was about to pick on Hazel. I wasn't peaceful like I should've been; instead, I lost control of myself and made him pay for his crimes. I was and am no avenger, no Angel from Heaven to punish those who sin, but I wanted to do something to end the violence. Violence begets violence, or so they say, but I didn't care. I struck Henry to the ground in a flurry of punches, and it all raised havoc. All those that had been Henry's victims gathered around me, cheering me.

The other children urged me to do it. My name was voiced in a steadily rising pace; they wanted me to do it. I couldn't help but wonder if I was really committing so cruel an atrocity, but I thought no more and struck Bedloe's face with a rock. With a broken bleeding nose, he ran away from me and though I had done justice, what nobody had done before, I couldn't help feeling like him. I'd suddenly turned into Bedloe.

God would've stopped me. Perhaps he'd tried, but I'd been too blind to see Him and too deaf to hear Him. My punishment came afterwards, when I got home that day, and it was harder than others. I hurt even more because it wasn't some of those beatings my angry and drunk father used to torture with me at night; he was sober and disappointed. He hit me with strength I thought herculean, but I deserved it. The other beatings had led me to be like Bedloe, but he was different: he either cried or became angry, and he always chose the latter. On the other hand, I wished to relieve my pain by not inflicting it upon others, so, in a way, I was different than him. Now I've realised that's not true.

Yesterday, after taking at least two trains, I arrived at Canterbury, where my family lived. The last time I saw my father was on the second week of April, a day prior to my departing for Algeria. I didn't ask for much from him: he merely looked at me in the eye and dryly bid me good luck and a safe adventure. After that, I'd gone to see Hazel at the hospice. I hardly remember her face, but I'll never forget her eyes, sweet and warm as always. She was the last person I saw before I left England, she was the only person that was actually happy to see me; as such, she was the first person I visited.

She was beautiful. That was the first thought that appeared in my mind as I caught sight of her. Even with her pale face and weak complexion because of her illness, she was still the pretty girl I always liked to boast about. Hazel was more of a look-alike of my father than me; I, on the other hand, remind everyone of who our mother was. I never received such an embrace in my whole life; sadly enough, all the love I ever received after our mother died came from Hazel. Hazel didn't believe I had returned; she'd thought me dead. I could've very well perished in Brennenburg, but she would and will never know the story.

Hazel is the only person in this world that I love wholeheartedly.

She's my dear little sister.

A/N: There is some theorizing in here as to who Henry Bedloe is (he IS mentioned in the loading texts), whom I think is a psycho and a sadist who was haunted by the same situation that haunted Daniel: physical abuse, only that Daniel didn't go as far as to turn to sadism... that is, until we get to Brennenburg and see the side he's kept hidden for years. As far as I'm concerned, Daniel is evil by nature, only that he can show some of his kind side for as long as that nature doesn't show up. That's how I see it; anybody who'd like to debate, do send me a message and I'll gladly reply to keep up a discussion.

And also, yes: Hazel IS Daniel's sister, mentioned specifically in the commentary by one of the guys at Frictional (I think it was Thomas).

Reviews are appreciated!^^