Sorry it's been so long since the last chapter, I've just been busy with other things. Also, this chapter was pretty difficult to write.
Max managed to convince Scarlett to once again join forces, although not without some threats from the latter. What does Max think of this?
This is excellent news!
I have finally managed to get Scarlett back onto the side of EVIL alongside me. Unfortunately, she refuses to be my sidekick, so now we have to work as 'equals'. BLEGH! I am willing to make some sacrifices to appease Scarlett however, so equals we are.
I don't know what draws me towards Scarlett so much. Ok, that's a lie, it's her EVILocity! Picturing the moment she revealed her true colours still gives me the tummy wonkies, but not only in fear for some reason. I can't quite pin down what else I'm feeling though, it's a very new experience to me.
Right now, I still have nothing to do. None of my roommates want to be graced by my EVIL presence right now, and those blasted 'activities' still aren't available to me. I'm starting to question if they even exist!
Knock knock knock
A visitor? How delightful! I open the door and am greeted by a tall balding man wearing a guard's uniform.
"Have you finally realised your mistake in trapping your EVIL overlord inside this dirty place?" The guard sighs for some reason, even though I forced my EVIL onto him. He should be cowering in fear!
"No, I'm here to tell you that activities are available for you to attend as of this moment. To introduce you to them, the first one is mandatory." He looks at a piece of paper he's holding. "I just need to fetch Scarlett Cyr, then follow me down to one of the activity rooms."
Finally, a cure for my boredom! And Scarlett's coming too! We can experience our first activity together.
The guard knocks on Scarlett's door, and tells her the same thing he told me.
"Ok you two, follow me." The guard walks down the hallway towards a staircase with us following him.
"What do you think this so-called 'activity' will be?" I don't have a clue what we'll be doing.
"It will presumably be an ill-disguised attempt at rehabilitating us into being less 'evil' individuals." Was that English? I give Scarlett a confused look, which she sighs in response to.
"They're probably going to make us do therapy so we're less 'evil'." Oh no they do NOT!
"HOW DARE THEY!" The guard turns around holding a small device.
"Cram it or I'll tase you!" I immediately settle down.
"Yes sir!" I can't believe this! They better not attempt to make me less EVIL! Hopefully Scarlett is wrong about her prediction.
After a couple minutes of walking, we finally reach the staircase. The guard tells us that the room we are supposed to go in is at the very bottom of the stairs. More uneventful walking later, we are around half way down to where we are going until a male inmate approaches us.
"Oh wow! Are you Max and Scarlett from Total Drama?" I knew my charisma would gain me fans! It even appears that some of it rubbed off onto Scarlett.
"The very same! We are the most diabolical minds to ever be on that infernal show!"
"I would prefer we do not dwell on the trainwreck that was Pahkitew Island. Let's just go to the activity room before we are hounded by any more desperate fans." Scarlett is sometimes such a spoil-sport, but I do want to go to the activity room.
"Very well then Scarlett. We must continue on our way!"
Another couple minutes go by, and we are nearing the bottom. It has gotten quite dark now and I'm kind of scared.
"It's quite spooky down here isn't it, Scarlett? EVIL is not a fan of the dark!" She moans and comes closer to me.
"Good idea, Scarlett! You can scare any monsters down here off with your EVIL while guarding mine! You have my gratitude." She giggles in response, which I find very strange. I don't think I've ever heard her laugh like that, but I prefer it from her usual attitude.
"Scarlett, Max, this is the activity room. You go through the door, and I'll collect you two once you're finished. It should take about half an hour." The door the guard mentioned is quite tall, and made of old wood, very different from everything else I've seen so far. It almost looks like something you'd find in a haunted house. Scarlett opens the door and lets me in after her.
"Oh, wow." We both say at the same time in response to the room we are seeing. The walls are very tall and made of stone, with a high ceiling. Most of the room is pitch black, except for a small area in the middle. There are three people there dressed in maroon robes, surrounding a stone table with something on it. This place is terrifying!
"I don't like this place very much, Scarlett. It gives me the heeby-jeebies!" Scarlett seems to nod in agreement.
"Despite your infantile language, I actually have to agree somewhat. This auditorium is rather uncanny." I can hear some shakiness in her usually firm voice.
Both of us approach the centre of the room and I begin to smell something foul. How dare such an awful scent grace my EVIL nostrils! I plug my nose, but Scarlett just pulls a face from the stench. As we come close to the table, one of the people surrounding it begins to say something in a feminine, yet spine-chilling voice.
"Welcome Max, welcome Scarlett. This is your first activity of hopefully many more to come. There is no need to be afraid, we aren't going to hurt you." That just makes me more worried! "Come closer and we will explain your task."
As we get a bit closer, I can finally see what is on the table. A dead llama. What in the world is wrong with this place!? It must have been the source of the foul smell. I can see Scarlett is also surprised, but she also seems to have a small smile. Does she enjoy this? I hope not!
We finally stop walking when the llama corpse is right in front of us. One of the other people starts talking to us in a slightly less creepy feminine voice.
"Your job is to set this offering on fire to appease Kruphtlaff, so that we may live without the threat of impending disease concerning us for another day." I have nothing to say. In my sixteen years of EVIL rule, I have never heard anything as utterly bonkers as that! Scarlett raises her hand.
"Yes, Scarlett?"
"May I ask about this supposed 'Kruphtlaff' entity?" I also want to know. Are they EVIL too? It seems like it from what they said. I may have a rival!
"Of course. Kruphtlaff is our protector. He keeps us safe from harm outside our wonderful facilities. All we have to do is set ablaze to an offering so that he gets the energy to protect us. We make our inmates perform the offerings so that they can learn of Kruphtlaff and his words of wisdom up close and personal." That is a lot to take in. It seems that Kruphtlaff is not EVIL, which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing.
I can see one of Scarlett's eyes twitching, she must be stressed from the information dump. She tries to keep a smile on her face, but she just looks like she's about to snap. For some reason, she looks… really good like this.
"A-a-affirmative." I wish I could comfort Scarlett in some way, but now is definitely not the time.
"Alright, which one of you wants to have the honours of starting the ritual?" I don't think Scarlett in the state she's in right now and fire would mix well, so I should probably do it.
"I will! EVIL is a fan of setting things on fire! Maybe not animals so much, but there's no harm trying something new." The only person who hasn't spoken yet sets a torch on fire and passes it to me. I take a deep breath through my mouth to prepare myself, and bring the fire towards the corpse.
The flames spread onto the body and begin to attach to it. The bad smell already in the room is replaced by a somehow worse stench, probably from the burning flesh. I desperately want to turn away from the gory sight, but I can't help but stare at it. The scene in front of me screams EVIL, but I don't feel the usual satisfaction that performing EVIL actions bring.
Me and Scarlett continue to stare in silence at the burning llama, now about half turned to ash. I can see its organs and bones now, but I still cannot look away, even though I'm starting to feel sick from the sight. I've always been a bit squeamish. Scarlett has barely moved at all, although her eye has now stopped twitching.
After who-knows-how-long, the flames have finally died out, leaving ash and bones behind. The robed person who gave me the torch speaks for the first time in a deep voice.
"The offering has ended. You can now return to your rooms. We hope to see you attend more activities." Fat chance of that! I think I've been scarred for life from that… experience.
I start to walk towards the entrance of the room, but Scarlett does not follow.
"Scarlett?" She doesn't respond. "Scarlett?!" Still nothing. "Ok, I'm going to take you back to our room myself." I grab her hand and start pulling her to the door. She finally starts walking.
As we exit the room, the same guard from earlier immediately spots us holding hands.
"Protecting your girlfriend from the scary stuff in there?" Scarlett? Girlfriend?
"She is NOT my girlfriend! Scarlett is just refusing to walk without me, I think she's broken." I wave in front of her face. "Hello? Anyone in there?" Scarlett shakes her head to refocus herself.
"We're in a cult." I can barely hear her whisper. Now that I think about it, this does sound like a cult. I don't know what to think of this right now, although I probably should be worried.
"You gonna be okay? I'm here for you if you need me." Being sincere does not come naturally to me, but I try my best to comfort Scarlett. I may be EVIL, but I do have a heart. She slightly nods.
"Let's go back."
"Agreed."
Max and Scarlett have just found out that the asylum is anything but normal, and Scarlett in particular is not taking it well. Why is Scarlett so distressed about this information, and is Max starting to develop feelings for his partner in crime? If you have feedback or general praise, please leave a review.