Ash was very surprised at how...quiet it was. He was expecting an army of the Missionary's followers to be everywhere, tearing the place apart searching. Indeed, more than once he had to hide in a convenient shadow upon hearing approaching footsteps. Thankfully, the men in robes always walked right past him, never seeing him.
But why weren't there more? He expected a bigger hunting party, especially considering the Missionary's orders. He'd only seen a handful of members at a time, and with the way they were dressed, it was hard to tell if they weren't the same people over and over.
It doesn't matter. Ash decided. There probably isn't that many people here, period. I just need to take advantage of it.
He rechecked his map again. He was coming up to the room he'd just escaped from. How ironic. At least now he had something of a plan and wouldn't be running blindly away again.
He had to be careful. Constantly looking around for guards, Ash opened the doorway a crack and peered inside.
Adrian was still there, tied to the chair. But it looked like no-one else was in the room at all. This was perfect!
Ash opened the door and rushed to Adrian. "Adrian!" He whispered as he came closer to the boy. "Let's go, I got a..."
His words died on his tongue. As did his hopes.
Adrian wasn't moving. He wasn't blinking. He wasn't breathing. His face had gone deathly pale, his mouth was slack, his eyes...they stared right into Ash's soul, those cold, dead eyes.
Right under his gaping mouth was a deep cut that had long since stopped bleeding. Blood was splattered all over his shirt and the floor, leaving a red splotch on the iron floor.
Ash was too late. "No..." He breathed. He couldn't take his eyes off of Adrian's. They were staring, begging, accusing...
The Missionary did this, that monster! He must've...when I left, but...why...
Unbidden, a flashback came to Ash...
Adrian screamed and pointed behind Ash. The boy whirled around to see the Missionary swinging one of the huge switchblades at his head. Faster than he thought he could, Ash ducked and the blade whizzed over his head...
Oh no...
Ash touched the top of his head. Something sticky was in his hair. He hadn't noticed it before, he was too scared to.
"No..." Ash started to cry. This was his fault. If he hadn't...if he hadn't ducked when the Missionary swiped at him...if he hadn't been there at that exact moment...if he hadn't...
Ash didn't know what to think. He tried to save this kid, and instead he killed...no. The Missionary killed him. He just happened to be there. He just had to be a hero...
Now, all he could do was close Adrian's eyes with his hand.
Ash was paralyzed, but then he heard a noise that immediately snapped him out of his stupor. On the other side of the wall, metal scraping on metal and angry ranting.
The Missionary was coming back!
Ash's eyes desperately searched the room for someplace he could hide. A box, a closet, anything. The tool locker? No, the Missionary would definitely look there. Dammit! Wait...there was a table at the other end of the room, with some sort of cloth over it. It looked like it was used to wipe off the tools...It'd have to do. Ash bolted underneath and tried to keep from shaking as the Missionary entered the room. Please don't see me, please don't see me...
Luckily, he didn't. He didn't even glance at the table. The man in the burlap sack simply stormed over to Adrian's dead body. He looked at it for a moment, but Ash couldn't tell if he noticed or cared Adrian's eyes were closed. Suddenly, the giant swatted the dead kid with one of his switchblades, sending the corpse-laden chair to the floor. Letting out a scream of pure frustration, the Missionary kicked him aside like he was a drink can.
"Stupid little bastard...think he can escape from me? Huh?! I'll rip his f***ing face off and feed it to those mutts, then I'll find that whore who-"
His enraged raving was interrupted by someone opening the door. Ash silently cursed. Another one of the men in robes. How was he going to get out of here now?
Now Ash had a better look at one of the 'helpers' that had brought him here. He was wearing a brown/black robe, so generic that Ash figured it was standard fare for cultists. His face was hidden behind a mask. The mask itself looked like some kind of insect, complete with fangs and pointed eyes. It looked as if it was crafted more for the purpose of hiding the cultist's identity and making him look frightening than any symbolic value.
Whoever he was, he was not happy about speaking with the Missionary. His knees knocked and his voice faltered, all while he shook like a leaf.
The Missionary didn't have any patience at all. "WELL? Where is that bastard?! You told me you had him!"
"We-we thought we did, but then-"
"You LOST him?!"
"It wasn't- URK!"
Missionary didn't wait for an explanation. He grabbed the hapless messenger by the neck and forced him against a wall. "You idiot! How difficult is it to find him?! Huh? Now I lost BOTH of these brats!" Suddenly, the Missionary whipped out a small knife. "SOMEONE'S going to pay!"
The cultist shook in terror. The Missionary forced his mask off, revealing a terrified man with wide eyes. "It-it wasn't my..."
"SHUT UP!" Missionary began digging into the cultists eyes, slowly and painfully. As the cultist screamed in agony, the Missionary began giggling incessantly.
A thought occurred to Ash. That monster was completely focused on punishing his charge. The door was wide open. This was his chance for escape! Without hesitation, Ash bolted out of the table and towards the doorway.
"That whoreson isn't going to get away from me!" The Missionary ranted to the blinded cultist. "I'll find him, and I'll MAKE HIM SUFFER! NOBODY ESCAPES THE MISSIONARY!"
If the Missionary had turned around, he would've seen Ash running out the door.
The steel floor rattled as the young trainer ran desperately through the all-too-narrow corridor, looking for the exit on the map. He bolted down stairs and hallways, not waiting for a second. Luckily, nobody tried to stop him or capture him. In fact, it seemed like there was nobody else in the water prison.
Ash hated hiding. He hated running. He hated not being able to do anything. But there wasn't anything else he could do. His Pokemon were gone. His backpack was gone. His friends weren't here. And with him was someone who was every bit as violent and cruel as Pyramid Head had ever been. If not more so.
He had to get out. If he did, he could get the police here. He could save everyone. He might not have been able to help Adrian, but he could help so many others. He could…
Ash stopped, dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe his eyes. "NO!" he screamed, not caring if anyone heard him. Or if that THING heard him.
It just couldn't be simple, could it?
Something was blocking the way out. His escape was barred by…He didn't even know how do describe it. It looked like…it looked like one of Pyramid Head's meat sacks, somehow come alive. It was dangling from the ceiling to the floor, a meaty, decaying THING surrounded by a metal cage that looked too heavy to move and too dangerous to approach unarmed. It had two mouths that twitched constantly, laughing at the boy for thinking he could get away so easily.
And it was sitting right in front of the way out.
"No, no NOOOO!" Ash screamed before stopping himself. He couldn't lose his grip now. True, everything seemed to be going against him, but…he just needed to stay calm, figure a way out, everything would be okay. He had been through crap like this before, and he'd pulled through. He just needed to…
Tiny footfalls jarred his train of thought, and the boy whirled around to see who had snuck up on him.
His eyes widened as he saw a small, bloodied figure with a lizard's skull for a head, clutching a tiny pocketknife in it's grubby hands. It's entire body was covered with bloody bandages, particularly around the hands and chest. It hobbled towards Ash as if it's leg was broken.
"No." Ash gasped. "Nonononononononono…"
"What's the matter, Daddy?" the creature asked, his voice hissing like an angry snake. "Aren't you happy to see me again?"
