Hey everyone, I am back! I am sorry it has taken so long for me to update. Things got crazy with the holidays and work, so I didn't have time to write and edit. Hopefully, I can go back to the updating schedule I had before but it's up to the fates. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review!

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The trio stood below the wall, stunned and out of breath from their close encounter with death. Sophie leaned against the stone barrier, letting the coolness of the rocks to seep into her skin. The shocking chill against her heated skin felt nice and it reminded her that she was still alive. She looked at the two men before her. They appeared to have endured their encounter with the Sadist fairly well except for a limp they acquired while in the barn. She felt mildly bad for not warning Jimenez, he could have been killed because of her. Then again, Sebastian and Sophie could have died due to his own lack of information. Furthermore, the only reason she was here to begin with was because of him. She changed her mind. She didn't feel bad.

"How is everyone? Any injuries," the detective asked, sounding very much like the cop he was.

"I am fine. Just a few bumps and bruises," Sophie responded, looking at her surroundings for any signs of zombies on this side of the wall. She noticed Sebastian looking around as well, his finger close to his gun's trigger. "How about you guys? Why are you limping?"

"Well, Miss Burke," Jimenez said, seething with anger, "after I got chased away by those things from the house where you sent me, I took cover in the barn. Then, the detective led that creature right to me and in order to evade it we had to jump from the second story of the barn!"

"Wait, you didn't warn him about the zombies in there?" The detective inquired, giving her a disapproving frown. She turned away from Sebastian and his reproachful glare in order to address Jimenez instead.

"I am sorry. I guess in the heat of the moment it slipped my mind. Isn't it strange how such things happen like that, doctor." She said, smiling through her teeth. The detective watched the discourse between them. He seemed to have caught on to the undercurrents of their conversation because he nodded his head at Sophie, giving her a significant look.

"Whatever happened in there is over. We need to look to the future now," Sebs said, taking control of the situation. "It looks like there's a gate over there. Maybe your patient ran through it." The doctor seemed to perk up at the mention of his patient.

"Yes, I have to find Leslie immediately. He is very delicate." The doctor rose from the ground and brushed the dirt from his pants, turning to walk toward the gate. Sophie and the detective followed him, although they left a bit of distance between them and Jimenez.

"Sophie, I think I can gather what happened in there concerning the doctor." Sophie gave him a cautious look of interest. "I think the doctor did us wrong so you did him wrong in return," he gave her a stern look. "That was very childish. Two wrongs do not make a right. We have to rise above pettiness in this situation." She winced at his words. She had had second thoughts about her actions as well but she stood by what she did. It may not have been morally sound but Jimenez had it coming. Besides, who was he to judge her?

"The doctor needed to be taught a lesson. If he thinks that he can get away with such impudence than he will continue to do it," she stopped to look at him, he halted his movements as well. "We find ourselves in a very unique and dangerous situation, detective. You were right, Jimenez is a coward. He needs to know that if he tries that again, there will be serious repercussions. I haven't gotten this far in my life only to be brought down by that sniveling weakling," she hissed at him. He looked taken aback by her words but he didn't back down.

"So you think lowering yourself to his level was the right thing to do?" His words filled her with rage.

"I am nothing like him," she said, eyes blazing. "He put us in danger out of cowardice. I put him in danger as a warning. Don't forget who followed you into that barn, Sebastian." She turned to leave but he grabbed onto her arm.

"I haven't forgotten, nor will I ever forget. I just…I just need to know that I can trust you despite what stupid things I may do or what Jimenez is bound to do again." She looked deep into his hazel eyes.

"I am not going to die here, Sebastian," she said in an eerily calm voice. "I will try to do what is right and do what I can to help but I won't let anyone actively endanger my life. If Jimenez becomes a liability to my safety then he will pay the consequences, whatever they may be." He nodded his head weakly and let his arm drop to his side.

"Is something wrong, you two?" The doctor asked, looking back at them.

"Everything is fine," Sophie quipped, storming off ahead of them in irritation. She was angry at everything. At the situation she was in, for Jimenez's cowardice, for Ruvik's mysterious and dangerous ways, at Sebastian's reproach, but most of all she was angry at herself. She knew that Sebastian was right. That she had acted irresponsibly and she had put someone's life in danger. But what really made her mad was the fact that the more she thought of what happened, the less guilty she felt for doing it. When had she become so calloused? So uncaring? No, she was a good person. It was just this place, this situation, and the fact that Jimenez was a very odious man.

From the corner of her eye she could have sworn she saw a flash of white cloth but when she turned her head to get a better look, nothing was there. She didn't doubt her eyes for a moment. She was certain that Ruvik was still following them. Had he heard Sophie and Sebastian's conversation? If so, he probably got a kick out of it. An image of him bending down toward her flashed through her mind. She put a finger to her lips. She had been convinced that he was going to kiss her. It had been a long time since a man had kissed her, well over two years ago. Even before she started to see the dead her love life had been very meager. She had been preparing to be a doctor and between the classwork, working at the hospital, and trying to maintain her friendships; she had no time for men. In a weird way she did find him attractive. It was obvious that if he didn't have the burns he would have been a very handsome man. It was more than that, though. It was the way he carried himself; his confidence and his intelligence. He also had the most astonishing gray eyes and the sexiest voice she had ever heard. It was too bad he was completely insane.

Sophie walked through the gate and saw grim buildings of stone in a small clearing. Thick fog clung to the air, drifting slowly in haphazard swirls. Sophie wondered what dangers could be lurking in that mist. More zombies, another Sadist, or something even deadlier? The doctor and Sebs soon came up behind her. The gate slammed shut behind them.

"Ah, the hospice. Leslie was being treated here years ago. He'd come here thinking it was familiar and safe," the doctor said, once again taking the lead.

"You know where we are?" The detective inquired.

"This is my brother's hospice. He will take us in."

"That didn't answer my question," the detective responded. Sophie looked around at the weathered buildings and the farm animals running about.

"What type of hospice is this?" She asked incredulously. She saw the doctor tense up at her inquiry. He ignored her question, not that that surprised her.

"Honestly, I don't know where we are. For all I know you're both figments of my imagination and I am losing my mind." Sophie let out a small mocking laugh. If this was his brother's hospice then how could he not know where they were? He was being shifty again.

"But I like to think I still have a shred of dignity left," he continued and once again Sophie scoffed at his words. He turned his head to glare at her, "I believe I have an obligation to my patient, Miss Burke."

"If only such sentiment extended to others, doctor." He crinkled his nose in disgust and turned back around, going into the hospice. Sophie entered the building warily, her eyes darting in every direction, just waiting for something to pop out at them. The inside was in even greater disrepair than the outside; plaster was peeling from the walls, trash strewn about the floor, and a thick layer of grim on virtually every surface. Sophie thought that she heard crazed murmuring but she couldn't be sure. Or, more accurately, she didn't want to hear any demented muttering. The doctor eagerly made his way to an open doorway, calling to his brother. Sophie and the detective followed him into the room. The doctor strode confidently forward, approaching a dark figure behind a curtain. The muttering had gotten louder and now she could make out the words "Peel it away…Skin…Itchy." For a moment she thought that a ghost must be in the room. It certainly sounded like their usual discourse. Sophie and Sebastian held back for a moment. Something was obviously wrong.

"Doctor wait..." Sebastian called out but the doctor ignored him.

"Valerio, I…" the words died in his throat. Sophie and Sebastian followed him behind the curtain and were met with a grotesque sight.

"Don't worry, the good doctor is here," a large man said, bent over a figure on a gurney. The sickening dull thump of bloodied flesh and organs hitting the floor made Sophie sick to her stomach. The hunched over figure rose up from his bloody work, rolling his shoulders back as he did so. He turned to the trio slowly. His face was a mash of sickly gray skin and peeled away flesh. His eyes were void of color but they seemed to have a light glowing within them. He snarled and charged at them. Sebastian raised his gun and shot the man in the head, he collapsed immediately. As the man hit the floor, the room began to shake violently. Sebastian let out a cry of pain and grabbed his head, falling to his knees from the agony. Sophie went to comfort him but a shimmering vision of the dead doctor appeared where he had previously stood, bent over the gurney. He was cutting up the man on the table. Unfortunately, the man was still alive. The poor man let out shrieks of anguish with each cut but the doctor was not moved by the man's pain. Sophie watched with revulsion as the demented doctor pulled out a key and put it inside of the screaming man's body and sewed him up. As he finished his work, the doctor started yelling about being itchy and he clawed large chunks of flesh from his head and face. Sophie looked on at the bloody scene in horror and disgust. What was wrong with him? Just as suddenly as it had started, it ended and the disturbing image disappeared. Sebastian's cries of pain stopped but he remained on the ground shaking.

"What the hell was that?" He asked. Sophie shook her head. She was at a loss of words. Had Ruvik created that vision? What other powers could he possibly have?

"H-How could he done that to Valerio? No…it couldn't be Ruvik." Sophie glanced over at the doctor. He was leaning against a wall and looking forward with a glazed look in his eyes. He was in denial. He knew this was Ruvik. He just didn't want to admit how powerful he was.

Sophie moved to the man on the table, she picked up a scalpel on a nearby tray. She knew what she had to do. The vision had made that clear. Sebs had done his part by taking care of the insane Valerio, now it was her turn to step up to the plate. She inhaled a slow, unsteady breath to prepare herself for what she must do. She inserted the knife at the top of the man's chest where the incisions began. The ease of the skin dividing beneath the blade made her feel uneasy. Human flesh was so weak. It could be so easily penetrated, so easily torn and destroyed. It made her feel so…frail. She thrust the blade downward, forming a gaping hole in the man's chest cavity. Sophie couldn't help but cough at the reek of his innards. He smelled like he had been dead for weeks. She looked down at the flesh hoping to see the glint of the key, but she saw nothing. Great, this was going to be unpleasant. Closing her eyes she plunged her hand into the man's body. The squishing sound of organs and sloshing blood made her want to hurl but she kept her composure. After what felt like an eternity, her hand finally wrapped around the small, metal object. As she lifted it out of the body, the man rose suddenly and let out a blood curdling scream, grabbing at her roughly. She shoved him away from her and ran over to Sebastian. The man fell to the ground, his innards spilling onto the floor. He was finally dead. That poor man. He had been through something truly horrific. Sophie moved to a sink and thoroughly washed her shaking hands and the key with cool water and a lump of soap. When she completed her task she returned to Sebastian and the doctor. Both seemed to have recovered from their various traumas.

"Are you feeling ok?" She asked Sebastian, concern in her voice. Even though they had had an argument she still cared for him. He seemed like a good guy and it was clear that he had a very clear line of what was right and wrong. She couldn't fault him for that.

"I am doing better now. It felt like my head was tearing apart. What was inside of that man?" She held out the key to him.

"This. I guess we should find out what it belongs to. It had better be something important because I did not go through that just to get a box of matches." She gave him a forced smile but he looked at her with confusion in return.

"You mean you haven't been to that place?" He asked her, refusing to take the key.

"What place? What are you..."

"AHHHH!" A sudden scream interrupted Sophie.

"That came from outside." Sebastian said, moving to the door of the hospice, effectively putting their conversation on hold. They walked out into the courtyard with caution, looking around for any signs of the disturbed young man. A scream emanated from a nearby building.

"Over there!" The doctor exclaimed, urging the detective forward to the house. It was obvious the doctor was wary about taking the lead when danger was possible, even if it was his patient's life at risk.

They entered the building cautiously. Just like the hospice, it was in great decay but there was something decidedly creepier about this particular building. Everything seemed to be covered in a red haze, as though the light shone through a sheen of blood. They came to a small room that looked like it belonged to some obsessive maniac. A lone, tattered chair faced a wall covered in hundreds of photos. Sophie was curious to know what was on those pictures but decided she was probably better off not knowing.

"Help me…Help me…" A small voice said across the room. They ran forward into an entryway on the other side of the room and found themselves in a dark room. Hidden in a corner they found the prolific Leslie. At the sight of them Leslie started to become erratic.

"Leslie! Thank goodness! Doctor Jimenez is here." The doctor said, moving forward to grab Leslie roughly around his middle.

"Wait, I think something is coming," the detective said, walking back into the room. Sophie remained in the dark room but watched Sebastian move cautiously to the door that they had entered. She hadn't heard anything and figured he was just being paranoid. Which was understandable, given their current situation. When the detective was halfway through the room the door suddenly slammed open but nothing came through. Sophie felt a pang of fear as she waited for something to happen. Out of nowhere Sebastian was thrown roughly against the wall. Sophie moved toward him but stopped as a man with tentacles coming out of his face suddenly appeared, choking Sebs. Where had he come from?! Sophie quickly moved to the other side of the room and grabbed a heavy candlestick holder and ran over to Sebastian and the tentacle man. She clasped the metal object in both her hands, raised it above her head and brought it down as hard as she could. The man let go of Sebastian and stumbled backwards, blinking back into invisibility.

"Crap, where did he go?!" She yelled, desperately looking around the room. She took several steps backwards, her heart beating furiously in her chest. She was going to die. How could she possibly fight against something that was invisible? As her back hit the wall she felt something grab fiercely at her throat. Out of shock she dropped the candlestick holder and grabbed at her throat in desperation. The man became visible once more and he leaned down toward her, as though he were going to kiss her. She tried to push him away with her left hand as she tried to remove his hands from her throat with her right. This seemed to anger him because he let out a harsh rush of air from his tentacled face before slamming her onto the ground. He straddled her hips and once again tried to move his face to hers, all the while still choking her. She was running out of air. She weakly tried to push him away but her strength was quickly leaving her. Blackness was starting to creep into the outer edges of her vision. It wouldn't be long now. She had to do something or else she would die. She couldn't die here, not like this. Not like this…

A loud bang filled the room and the creature's hands loosened from her throat. She greedily sucked in the dusty air as the man's weight completely collapsed on top of her. His tentacles grazed against her cheek as she coughed and gasped for air. Sebastian moved forward and rolled the creature off of her. She sat up and backed away from it, massaging her aching throat. A noticeable bullet hole was in the side of the creature's head. Sebastian had saved her. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

"Thank you," she croaked out. He helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright? I am sorry I didn't get over here sooner, that thing knocked the air right out of me." He moved her hands away from her throat to have a look at the damage. "You're going to have some pretty nasty bruises, they're already starting to form, but you should be fine." She nodded her head at him gratefully, not wanting to speak at the moment. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and started to wipe at her face and hair. When he pulled it away she could see it was covered with blood and gore. A moment of panic seized her as she thought that it was from her but she quickly realized it was blood spatter from the creature. When Sebs was finished with his work he dropped the handkerchief to the floor and he let Sophie lean against him as they headed back to the darkroom. Her steps were slow and shaky, it felt like her knees were going to give out beneath her. She needed to sit down and regain her composure.

As they turned the corner and saw Jimenez and Leslie standing there a sudden, blinding anger overtook her. She pushed Sebastian away and moved forward toward the doctor. Her shaky legs almost gave out as she punched Jimenez in the face. She thankfully maintained her stance but he did not. He fell to the floor with a cry of pain, holding his bloodied nose in his hand. Her hand hurt like hell but she ignored the pain.

"Where were you?! We needed you!" She shouted at him, tears of anger and hysteria falling down her cheeks.

"I-I was protecting Leslie." He stammered out. She took a menacing step forward and he winced.

"He seemed to be doing pretty well for himself before. We could have died! Then what would you have done?! You stupid, stupid, cowardly worm!"

"Sophie listen…"Sebastian said from behind her in a calming voice. She turned to him.

"No, Sebastian. I refuse to be in his company any longer. We can take Leslie with us but not him! I have had it!"

"Sophie," he moved toward her and put his hands on her shoulders in comfort. "You know we can't do that. It wouldn't be right. He would die." She grabbed his hands and threw them off of her.

"Fine. Stay with him. But I am going off on my own. I would rather die because of my own mistakes then the cowardice of another." She went to leave the room but she realized that their surroundings had changed. They were no longer in the dark room but a long hallway.

"What the…" Sophie began but stopped when she saw who was at the other end of the hallway, Ruvik. What was he up to now?

"Ruvik! It is you." She heard the doctor exclaim from behind her.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance in your desire for some space, Miss Burke." Suddenly, the entire hallway seemed to shift and change around them, as though reality itself was being twisted. Sophie tried to run but she found herself flying through the air. An unknown force pushed her towards the back wall but instead of hitting it, she went right through. As she fell she couldn't help but look at Ruvik. He still stood in the same place, seemingly untouched by the chaos around him. She could no longer see his face but she could have sworn that he was smiling at her. She continued to fall, a black void slowly enveloping her.

'What is Ruvik going to do with me?' Sophie thought, before the darkness completely consumed her.

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I am sorry that this was basically a filler chapter but it was a necessary one. Next chapter will be a pretty big one: it will start off from Ruvik's point of view and then we get to finally see what was in Jimenez's suitcase! I am trying to make Sophie a bit amoral because I can't see Ruvik eventually ending up with someone who is completely good. So I figured making Sophie morally ambiguous in some ways (such as her dealings with Jimenez) would pave the path to their eventual romantic relationship. What do you guys think? Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I am very grateful that you took the time to comment. Until next time!