When I wake, I find myself in a hanging cage. A wide squared cage made of steel. I look down to see myself ten feet from the floor, I feel the cage sway gently. Under me is a platform with a pit of fire. I'm no longer in the sleeping quarters, I'm in the Church. The interior of the Church is disturbingly beautiful, it is high ceilinged and spacious, with rows of long benches and beautiful mosaic windows.
In the rows, there are hundreds of individuals with fascinated eyes looking up at me. Some are inmates, some are guards, some are individuals who look like Wellington citizens. I see a distraught Minerva in the first row two massive guards sitting at her sides. A slim man walks towards the fire and pours fuel on it. A stone-faced woman beckons someone above me with that.
With the sharp clinking of the metal chains, my cage slowly lowers. The smoke heats the steel underneath me. The heat instantly becomes too much, scorching my hands. Sweat drenches my clothes.
I go lower and lower. Blisters rip in my flesh each passing second. My lungs are ravaged by the violent smoke, setting it ablaze. I am desperate for oxygen, thrashing my limbs and convulse.
The last memory I have is the ravenous licking of the flames on my skin. The scorching steel burns into my flesh. The flames engulf my entire body. It roasts my clothes, burning my flesh to a crisp. All feelings in my nerves vanish. My sight disappears. The resounding screams of hell vibrate in my ears, my heart thumps against my chest, my body is battered by terror. The ruthless flames engulf my face, sealing me into a void of darkness.
When I awaken, I am in a dank cell. Surrounded by stone walls, only one metal door is my exit. My lying position is uncomfortable. Laying on my scorching back, my head is left pressed against the stone wall.
I see my skin. Darkened and burnt. It is as if my blood has become acid, intent on killing me from the inside out. All I can do is writhe, my small whimpering echoing off the walls. My nostrils are incapable of smell, my healing factor is working as hard as it could. I feel it, taking it's time to heal my entire body. My skin, my flesh, my organs were charred. The contained oxygen in this cell sends agony through my scorching skin. I only have a thin gown that painfully rubs against my skin. No longer do I have hair, my bald head has no protection.
All of this agony is excruciating, all I want is a merciful bullet to end the pain.
But I know I will not receive mercy. I was tortured for Minerva's answers about Luna's whereabouts, this is my punishment. An agonizing and slow death. I know I will heal, but there is no healing for my mind. All of my memories seethe inside of my mind. I remember all of my tormentors in my life, their malicious faces are burned into my psyche. The only emotion I feel is sheer rage. I have never felt so much passion before.
As my mind unravels itself, I feel my soul floating in the void.
That's when I hear a voice.
"You need to give me the light."
I can't move. I can't speak. I can only see and hear. But there is no one in the room with me. Just the walls and the door.
"Faye, give me the light." I hear the voice again. I instantly notice the familiarity of that voice. It's mine.
"Close your eyes."
I do nothing, terrified.
My voice raises its voice. "NOW!" The voice is so intense that it violently vibrates inside of my head. Obediently, I close my eyes. Immediately, I find myself in a pitch-black void. Fear hitches inside of me when I see myself standing in the darkness 6 feet away from me. Myself has a dark expression fixate on me. My eyes are hardened and cold. My lips are sealed in a callous thin line.
It is almost like I am looking into a mirror.
There were slightly different features on her that contrasted from me. Her hair is slightly darker and her eyes are different. They are darker than mine, almost black. Her eerie presence brings dreadful waves through me.
"Welcome." She gives me a smile. "It is a pleasure for us to finally meet."
I only look at myself.
"You don't know who I am." It's not a question. The doppelganger's callous expression becomes gentle. "I am you. I am Faye."
Faye looks at me, coldness prominent inside of her dark eyes. "Give me the light." She commands. My voice terrifies me. Hearing my soft voice come out of myself brings me trepidation.
"You need to give me the light, Faye. We can finish this. We can kill them all." I watch myself vanish into thin air.
"Do it." My voice is directly in my right ear. I feel icy fingers on my shoulders, I feel the cold skin of my cheek pressing against mine. "Why do you keep resisting me? Even now? Don't you want them to finally suffer? We can end this. We can kill them!"
I finally find my own voice. It is shaky and small. "Who...who...are you?"
"You," Faye answers precisely.
"What do you want?"
"Let me take control. I want to be in the light. I will end this for us. We need to be together again." Faye appears in front of me. "Give me the light. We need to end this."
"What are you talking about?" I croak.
Faye narrows her cold eyes. "I have always been within you. Trapped in this dark void. Forced to watch your every movement. I feel all of your pain, all of your hatred. All of your idiotic decisions. All of the humans you chose to travel with! I see everything you see and I hear everything you hear. You and I are separate, but one."
My heart jackhammers in my chests. I cannot fathom what is happening.
Faye sighs softly, she takes a step closer to me, so close our lips were inches away from each other. "You're still confused, huh?"
"What are you?" I demand, voice trembling. "How are you me?"
"I am the side of you that is kept away from the light. The embodiment of you!"
"What is the light?"
"Control. I only watch while you control. You resist me from getting the light. I have only gained it a few times."
A realization washes over me. Mucker appears in my mind. "You're the one who made me "snap?" Rage curls in the pit of my stomach. All of my recollects weighs heavily down on me.
Faye nods at me. "Yes. Every single time you snapped, it was me. I had to steal the light to keep us alive. Over time you resisted me and I was trapped inside of you. But every time, you committed a violent act, every pain you suffered, every time you felt hatred or rage, I got stronger." A sly smile appears on Faye's face. "Finally! You're broken! Your resistance is finally broken!" Her voice is passionate.
"We can make them pay. We can destroy them all. Together, we are powerful." I want to say no, but I feel a profound temptation. All of my attackers. I remember all of the assaults inflicted on me. All of those who hurt me appear in the darkness. Hatred overflows through me, overwhelming all rationality and compassion. I want revenge. I want the sweet taste of vengeance. No one will ever hurt me again.
"Look at them. They hurt us. All of them. Remember all of the pain they inflicted on us, what do you think we should do about that?" I feel scorching heat inside of me. It's not from the four-degree burns inflicted on me. It is within my soul.
Her hand snatches my chin, forcing me to face her. Fear overwhelms me. "I know you are afraid. I know you are having doubts. But together we are powerful. We can escape this hellhole with all of your friends. We can kill them all. All of the guards. Anyone who stands in our ways! We will destroy them. Let go of the light. Let me have it."
I am interested but skeptical. I do wish to escape this camp and if what this entity is saying is true, perhaps I do need improvement to save my friends. "Faye, how can I trust you?" I think of Minerva.
"Minerva will be fine. I promise to you. We can both escape here. No one will be able to stop us. We need to show the humans that we have the powers that they will never attain themselves."
I ponder deeply to myself, then I nod.
"Do not resist me," Faye instructs gravely. With that, Faye wraps her arms around me. She locks me into a tight embrace. I have no time to react as Faye phase into me.
I snap back into consciousness and Faye takes control. It is a peculiar sensation. My burnt legs move without my permission. I can feel Faye's presence, her mind, and soul weighing over mine. Faye raises up my healing hands. She examines them as if they are the most interesting thing in the world.
"So this is what it's like to have a body." She whispers longingly.
"Can I not move at all?" I think to myself.
"Yes. You can simply think and watch." Faye says aloud.
Every passing second, my skin forms fresh skin over my scars.
"Finally!" Faye breathes. I watch on as dark fungus disperses from my roasted skin. They clump onto the floor in large masses. Faye stretches out both of my arms, guiding the fungus to attach to the walls. In amazement, I watch a mass amount of fungus mold seep underneath the metal door.
I remember the very first time I did this ability. For a long time, I always tried to invoke that ability, but I never could. I simply believed I wasn't strong enough. But I never imagined myself was literally the problem. Within seconds, the prison breaks out into chaos. I hear the agonizing cries of men and the shrill screaming of women. The cries are long-winded and terror-stricken.
Faye reaches out my hand towards the door, beckoning an unseen force to open it.
"Holy shit." I think once the door is opened by an infected guard. Streams of the fungus cover his skin and face. The man's face closed in a grimace, his skin pale and agonized. His limbs are convulsing uncontrollably. Once the door is completely open, Faye smirks at him. The man's eyes bulge as his agony intensifies. He releases a bloodcurdling scream. Automatically the fungus growth accelerates, engulfing all of his limbs and head. He drops his knees, vomiting out an excessive amount of fungus. He collapsed face-first as life seeps out of him. The fungus he retched moves on its own, joining the other fungus on the walls. Tiny spores float in the room and into the corridor.
I can only look on in astonishment. I am in deep disbelief that this is my true power.
When Faye takes her first step, she stumbles. "I never walked before. It is a difficult task. It looks so easy." Faye comments pensively.
"Take it slow. One foot at a time." I think.
Faye nods her head acceptingly. She follows my instructions by taking one step at a time. She is like an infant learning how to walk.
Every step is a struggle, she grips at the walls when we enter the fungal infested corridor. All I see is horror.
Guards are infected, twitching in agony. Their screams of pain echo off the walls. Prisoners trapped in their cells, loudly choking on the spores seeping into their domain. Fungus drops off of my skin, accumulating on the walls and ceilings.
"Why them?" I think.
"They never cared for us. They all deserve this. If they saw us hurt, would they help? We are making them feel what we feel!" Faye elucidates.
Faye is a fast learner. Progressively, she learns how to walk steadily. When she is capable of walking, she immediately becomes brisk. Everywhere Faye goes, an individual suffers tremendously.
A dark-haired female guard goes insane, burrowing her nails into her face. A man twitches into a fetal position. Several guards are sympathetic to the prisoners, releasing them so they could escape the carnage.
Those guards suffer the same fate as the rest. The prisoners sprints for their lives upon exiting their cells. But the spores seal their fates. Faye accelerates the fungal growth, I observe the prisoners' bodies becoming ashen pale. Releasing out screams of terror and twitching violently, they drop to the floor.
"Look at this. We are creating a hell for these degenerates. These humans are all rapists, murderers, and thieves. All humans are mere insects compared to us. Just simple organisms with no meaning of existence. Don't pretend you have empathy for them. These humans would slit your throat, steal your prized possessions, and leave you to die. They are all vile and weak."
The bodies of the prisoners do not go through the natural cordyceps fungus process. They calcify, their bodies crumble into dust.
"Mucker never fully understood what he did. He wanted us to be the cure of the world. He never expected us to be like this." Faye remarks.
Faye walks through the carnage with a pleased grin on my face. I look at all of the slaughter with a mixture of excitement and shock. Never before have I felt this powerful. I almost feel inhuman.
I see the entrance door and I feel relief. Finally, I am free from this hellhole. Once we exit, the foul stench of the camp fills my nostrils. My friends flash in my mind and I begin to feel dread. Immediately I attempt to summon the willpower to stop Faye to no avail.
"Stop! I want the light back. Red and.." Faye doesn't let me finish my thought.
"No harm will be done to them. They are safe. I will give you back the light once we are finished. We must go to the Infected to guide them. Bend them to our will."
"Command? I can command the Infected?"
"Yes. I told you Mucker had no clue of our true power."
Faye walks quickly outside. Massive amount of fungus comes behind me, attacking all who are near. I see guards attempting to shoot at me, but the aggressive spores kill them before they could pull the trigger. Prisoners look over their barbed wire fence at me. The fungus and spores ruthlessly attack them. There is mass hysteria. The prisoners rampage through their pens, trampling over one another. Their frantic behavior swiftly turns violent as I witness one woman slit another woman's throat with a razor without provocation.
I look at them, remembering how many of the prisoners tormented me since I arrived here. Threw mud at me, spat on me, rob me for scraps. I have to only look out for myself and my friends. Not these monsters. Relief washes over me as I see the bodies fall down dead.
Faye heads down the barn and she opens the doors ajar without saying a word. Infected resides inside of there. Clickers, Runners, and Stalkers all gather up in this rusty barn. Terror fills me to the brim from the sight of them.
Faye doesn't appear to be afraid of this. Instead, she smiles.
I panic. "NO!" I scream. Faye ceases her movement instantly. "Do not be afraid. You need to stay calm." She instructs me.
I did not know what to do, so I resort to listening. I do my best to compose myself. Without a word, Faye opens the door wider. Upon seeing light, they go berserk. Faye reaches out my hand and within an instant, they all stop. They freeze in their spot, acting like statutes. It is almost like they are being controlled rather than commanded. With a slow gesture to the outside, the Infected immediately stampede. I struggle to suppress my fear as they speed past me. I am compelled to know how I myself can be this powerful. But I am too fixated to ask. I only watch it. I always had to depend on my weapons. All of these powers I possessed are unimaginable. Screams of horror ring through the camp. The Infected are ruthless, killing and devouring any survivor they could find.
"FAYE!" C-101's voice makes Faye whirl around. He is kneeling down by the piles of bodies. His eyes are wide as saucers.
"EVERYONE IS DEAD! FIND RED!" I force out my voice. I could tell C-101 is flabbergasted by the chaos I am causing, but he sprints off to find Red. "She's in the mines!" He calls out to me, urging me to come with him. The mines? I then realize that Red must have done something to the guards to be imprisoned within the mines. "We need to go with him!" I demand. "The fungus is killing them!"
Faye sprint for after C-101 without protest. "We need to be quick!"
Without living guards blocking the entrance, C-101 jumps over bodies and leaps into the mines. The mines are hazardous and in poor condition. The walls make me claustrophobic.
There are lines of lit torches that lighten the dim tunnel. Faye hurries deeper into the tunnels until I approach the chambers of cells. A sprinting guard charges at me. But his weapon is not drawn, he is fleeing. Upon running to me, he sealed his own fate. The invasive spore attacks his lungs, killing him instantly. He collapses to the floor with a hard thud.
"FAYE!" C-101 yells out.
C-101 witnesses the guard collapsing on the ground. "Get the fucking keys off of him."
Before I know it, Faye obeys him, ripping the keys off of him. Faye hurries over to C-101, tossing the keys to him. C-101 doesn't wait, he unlocks the cage, releasing Red.
"We need to go now!" C-101 barks.
We all sprint out of the mines and outside. We don't stop, jumping over deceased bodies, we continue to run.
It takes effortful willpower to force my voice out of my mouth. "Red, Xander, get Minerva! I can't be around her right now, my spores could kill her!" We all exchange a terse nod.
"What the hell are you doing?" Faye's livid thought blares through the darkness. "There are still more humans around!"
"No!" I reject. I have no desire to massacre anymore. All of the hotblooded emotions inside of me have faded away. I don't want to spill the blood of innocents outside of the prison.
But Faye is bloodthirsty. "NO! They all need to suffer!" Faye begins to move forward, I use all willpower to stiffen my limbs. "I want the light back!" I demand. "This is my body! This is my body!" With that, I mentally thrash and lashes through the darkness.
This affects Faye greatly, she releases out shrill cries.
"Faye, what the fuck is wrong with you?" C-101 says in a sharp, concerned voice.
I can't answer, I could feel myself violently jamming my mind back into my body. No energy remains in my limbs, I collapse to the floor facefirst. My lungs hunger for oxygen, my heart intensely drums, all of my limbs are scorching with agony.
"FAYE!" C-101's concerned voice blares in my ears. I feel his cold hands pulling me up. He has uncanny strength that I never realized. My vision is blurry and shifting when I'm on my feet. I fumble my fingers to confirm that I had full control of my body.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" C-101 demands.
I didn't know how to answer. How do I tell my friends about my situation? I barely fathom what is happening. Is this real? Is this merely a moment of psychosis? Or do I truly have another entity within me? What do I call "Faye" exactly? Do I keep calling her Faye? The second Faye? The Dark Faye, from her darker features and bloodthirsty behavior? I think pensively. That name seems somewhat appropriate, though stupid. It's not as confusing as using my name for her. Will I ever hear from her again? I didn't know if I should be afraid. Was she even real? Maybe from all of the high-level stress I experienced, my mind created a figment of my imagination. Or perhaps this is just blatant psychosis? Maybe I'm going insane, seeing and hearing delusions? Hell, maybe I'm just dreaming. Everything feels so surreal, all of my senses are numb. I pinch my left arm as hard as I could. So hard I draw blood. The stinging pain makes me realize this is reality.
C-101 snatches my hand away from my bleeding arm. Me and him meet eyes, his eyes are a mixture of irritation and concern. "What the hell are you doing?"
I shake my head to regain my composure. "Nothing! I just have a lot on my mind." I spring into action. I don't trust myself quite yet to be near. "Please, make sure you're clean when you find Minerva. I have to run into the forest until I can figure out what is wrong with me!" I could tell that C-101 is baffled, but upon seeing all of the carnage, he doesn't question me. With that, we all exchange a nod. "Hurry up!" C-101 tells me, departing from me. The two-bolt away from me and to the end side of the camp that lacks a wall and leads to a thick forest that surrounds the camp.
I sprint full speed to the entrance. The guards are dead, their bodies scattered throughout the prison. The prison is eerily silent. No living soul resides. When I exit the prison, I am surrounded by the forest.
I run through the lush forest with a rapid heart. I take a sharp turn to the left. "HOLY SHIT!" I shriek, I fall to the ground at the sight of Faye.
My blood runs cold. Faye appears before me, her narrow eyes are cold and impassive. I couldn't tell if I'm hallucinating or if Faye is truly here.
"Did you really think you can escape me?" Faye glares down at me. Her menacing stare alone sends icy chills through my veins.
The next chapter will come.
