"But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
Assailed the monarch's high estate.
(Ah, let us mourn!-for never morrow
Shall dawn upon him desolate!)
And round about his home the glory
That blushed and bloomed,
Is but a dim-remembered story
Of the old time entombed."
-The Haunted Palace, Edgar Allan Poe-
Chapter Four
"…It begins to prowl…"
Aleta felt a twinge in her temple and a slight rise in her pulse. Immediately, she began to worry that a headache might be ready to strike her at any instant. Her companion took notice of her dilemma, and asked if she wanted to rest for a bit. At present, they came upon a room with sunken terraces filled with formal parterres. The hedges had grown out of proportion, each appearing like a tangled mass of untidy hair, and the rectangular fishpond in the middle had already gathered some algae.
"I might need to sit down for a while," Aleta said, feeling the oncoming rhythm in her cranium. Joseph steadily guided her to a nearby wooden bench and settled her there.
"Stay here, I'm going to take a look around since this is a particularly large area," said the detective. For a second, his expression softened, as if he pitied her current impasse. "If the headache continues, please don't hesitate to notify me."
"Of course," Aleta grumbled and leaned on the backrest of the seat. She heard Joseph manhandling several broken pottery and placed them aside, looking for any information that could possibly help them.
She looked to the empty flower beds and pretended to see roses and campanulas in shades of red and royal blue thriving beautifully in the moonlight. One lifeless tree caught her eye, because of the way its branches seemed comparable to antlers. If only she had her pencil and sketchbook right now. However, she could feebly sense there was something standing in the darkness, glaring back at her. At that moment, she swore to herself that one of the antler-like branches began to move.
"Aleta," the said girl practically bounced in fear, but she felt her heart return to its normal pace once she realized it was only Joseph. "I have good news: I found this brochure near a receptionist desk. But oddly enough, it doesn't look timeworn at all." He was right; the item appeared rather new, further contrasting its state from their current surroundings.
Aleta stood up to stand behind Joseph the minute he unfolded the glossy catalog to its full extent. The conservatory was allegedly entitled Halcyon Nest, for it was also designed to be a huge aviary. She also took note that they were presently in the Koi Pond, which would explain the arrangement. Still, she couldn't help but glance back at the dead trees, praying that what she had seen was an illusion created by her illness.
"In which room did you find me again?" Joseph asked her. Aleta returned her attention to the chart and pointed at one room northwest from their current location. She likewise saw the way Joseph's shoulder became tense upon reading the description.
"Red spider lilies," he muttered so low, Aleta had to lean forward to hear him. "Do you know what those flowers mean in Japan?"
"I'm not really sure, but I think they're supposed to mean reincarnation or something like that." Aleta answered rationally. Then she added, "It is also called the Death Flower, because they only grow near cemeteries."
Joseph merely nodded, and started to study the conservatory chart. "Right now, we're situated here, and the main entrance is in the southern area, after the Exotic Florae section. The structure is mostly cross-like in contour, but it was personally intended to hold at least several quarters for the plants, and that could explain the ingenious high-ceilings and metalwork."
"I knew there was something peculiar about this place," Aleta said, finally understanding the feeling she had felt upon waking up earlier. "But if this was also an aviary, then where are all the birds?"
Joseph could only shrug his shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe they were moved elsewhere when this place was abandoned."
"I hope so," Aleta whispered, dreamily reaching for the locket that wasn't even there. "The headache is gone, by the way. All I needed was a bit of rest."
"That's good to hear," the detective replied, but made no further comment as he began the excursion once more.
Again, they were hailed by withered vegetation and decay, though the vines had suddenly grown greater than the foliage themselves. There, the atmosphere suddenly turned cold and threatening. The pair could practically feel an ominous hand wrapping itself around their throats and thinning their supply of air. Joseph and Aleta persisted, nonetheless, and had overlooked the towering figure that silently crept behind the broken glass walls—it pursued them so quietly that neither of the two could even hear its talons stepping on the rock-strewn floor.
Aleta paused in her movements when she caught a very welcoming tune—a bright yellow canary swooped down from out of nowhere and sang lovingly above their heads. Her heart and emotions soared at the sight of the bird. She briefly wondered if Joseph was seeing it too, but he kept marching forward, unaware of the feathered creature hovering near him.
All of a sudden, the bespectacled man raised a gloved hand to her, an indication that she must stop. Aleta did so immediately. The yellow canary found a perch atop a tall iron gate, which seemed out of place for some reason. Beyond the barricade, something humanlike was plodding through the lady ferns and milkweeds.
They quickly hid behind a giant terracotta urn to gather their bearing. Joseph held the mental patient close to him, and he felt her slightly trembling from terror. He slackened his grip on her and gestured her to be very quiet. "Alright, this is what we're going to do: I'll find a way to keep them off the trail, and while they're distracted, you have to move forward and hide until we reach the other gateway, do you understand?"
Aleta unintentionally replayed the last memory where she had been caught by that hooded fiend. She shook her head, and Joseph resisted the urge to sigh in frustration. "We have no choice, Aleta. Please, trust me on this one." The man asserted. In the end, the young woman caved in and gave his hand a strong squeeze to indicate that she was all set. "Now, do not move from your spot. Wait for them to be out of your sight."
Joseph then crept through the wide gap of the gate and delved into the bushes. The creature that resembled a human being did not seem to have any direction. Instead, it patrolled in one place. Barbed wires, gigantic nails, and cavernous wounds littered the graying bodies of these individuals. Their eyes were glowing unnervingly, demonstrating their lifeless condition to this bizarre domain. Aleta heard the smash of ceramics, and so did one of the haunted people.
The man walked to the source of the noise, dragging his heavy feet across the gravel, thus allowing the young woman to slip past him without his notice. She found another place to hide—a blooming Titan Arum that gave off a foul stench. Joseph had rushed past her, presumably to distract the other lookouts up ahead. While she waited for the expected commotion, the canary abruptly tweeted out of its usual tune, which made Aleta glance back at it.
The bird swooped down to lightly graze the top of her head, but she didn't know the meaning behind this agitated motion. Just then, she heard the loud scrape of the gateway as it opened wider. Over the dwarf palm trees, Joseph cursed silently. Something else has joined them in the chamber, and Aleta impulsively pulled her legs close to her chest. The dark figure from the solarium was there. She could see it hunching over the haunted man, who was unaware of the monster behind him.
It growled so profoundly that it almost shook the conservatory. The victim finally turned around to face its attacker, but he was too late—the monster snatched him off the ground and carried him off to the high ceiling, where she could hear the man babbling in alarm. The horrible sound of ripping flesh and the crunching of bones was too much for Aleta. She felt the fear escalating in her chest, and so she fearfully slipped away from her spot to look for Joseph.
She abruptly stopped when the ground quavered from a sudden impact. The girl dove behind the milkweed bushes just in time—the monster was so nearby, Aleta could basically hear the way it rumbled as it searched for more prey. She bunched deeper into the greenery, pleading that she wasn't easily perceivable. A large black claw, larger than her own body, landed right beside her. Aleta did not know what compelled her to look—a soft voice had told her to do so, and she did.
She had expected a very animalistic face, snarling and blood-stained. However, the monster had neither a face nor any expanse of skin: it was nothing but a canine skull with a pair of glowing, silver eyes and sharp elk antlers. Bits of pink flesh clung to its dagger-like teeth. Aleta quickly realized that it was close enough for her to see the disheveled fur on the beast's neck. It abruptly stopped moving. Aleta saw how it gently revolved its head, though she had been trying not to make a sound.
"Stop hiding….little one" it hissed; mouth ajar to release a cloud of steam, "…let Mother take care of you…sweet child of mine… can't run…forever…" Voices of countless qualities and pitches came from this monster, as if someone was browsing through different radio stations in a rapid sequence. The beast was directly above her now, sniffing the air for scent.
At that point, a loud metallic crash rang throughout the room, and the monster scuttled away to investigate the noise. Shaken and terrified, Aleta crawled out of her hiding spot and sobbed at will. Where did Joseph go? Why did her leave her alone? Her steps were uncertain now: she was afraid that something was going to come out of the shrubs and attack her. The other haunted people were gone as well; they might have escaped when that thing entered, but Aleta wasn't entirely convinced.
The other gate had finally materialized before her. It was already unlocked, which meant that Joseph had gone through here by now. She cried again, thinking that the detective found her to be so worthless and a burden. She pushed the gate open and closed it with the designated lock and chain. Aleta released a sigh of pure relief. Yet, the passage did not end there. While trying to collect her understandings, she heard the pitter-pat of bare feet against the cold marble floor, and the familiar murmuring of a certain patient.
"Leslie?" Aleta turned around and saw him at the very end of the long lavender-colored passageway. He was scrabbling for something, crying and yelling at invisible assailants. Then, the double doors opened up behind him, and he was ultimately swallowed by the darkness.
"Leslie, come back! Leslie!" Aleta shouted and ran as fast as she could.
But at that instance, a mysterious red mist arose from the floor. Aleta watched in both terror and fascination as it danced around her and swept her long hair, before assembling in front of her to create the silhouette of a man. To her shock, the hooded man from the hospital stepped out of the vapor like a bad omen from a nightmare. No, that was impossible!
"Still don't remember me, Aleta?" he said, his voice ever so deep and guttural. "I had hoped you would remember that place since it was your first creation, after all."
"What do you mean by 'first creation'? I've never even been there before." Aleta said cagily. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
The hooded man didn't respond to her final question. He looked at her calculatingly, as though she was a puzzle that needed to be solved. "I'm actually impressed that Doctor Jimenez had placed a strong blocker on you. But, either way, it is still insignificant in my eyes." As he spoke, the corridor steadily grew dim, until he and Aleta were the only emphasized figures in the dark. "I will get you to remember everything—about me, about Mother, and the Raven."
A very powerful energy struck Aleta in the chest without warning, and sent her flying backwards. She expected to crash right into the gate, but there was nothing there. She was falling, and there was nothing to stop it. Aleta wailed out to the shadows, begging them to help her end the deadly plunge.
"Please, help me…" she heard herself whispering to the cruel man as she started to lose consciousness all over again. "…Help me…I'm so lost."
There was something grasping at her shoulder. With its persistent clutch and determined jostling, she forced her eyes to open and amend to her rather hazy surroundings. It was dark, possibly late into the nocturnal hours. A rumble of thunder in the clouds suggested a forthcoming rainstorm. Aleta sat upright and prayed for the ache in her head to disappear.
"Pain…pain…pain…"
"Leslie?" Aleta glanced over her shoulder, and surely enough, she found the boy hunched over near an old horse cart. She scuttled over to him and placed a reassuring hand on top of his whitish hair. The boy stopped shuddering then. "I'm here, Leslie. Do you remember me? It's Aleta, your friend."
"Friend…friend…friend…" Leslie turned to look at her with weary eyes. "Aleta…Aleta…Aleta…" he babbled quietly before huddling close to the comforting presence.
"Don't worry, I'm here now," Aleta said soothingly. She looked around, understanding that they were currently on the outskirts of a nameless town. A bright light flashed in her eyes for a second, but she managed to grasp the outline of a lighthouse across a foggy lake.
"No, don't go there," Leslie mumbled into her shoulder. "No…no…no…"
"Alright, Leslie, we won't go there." Aleta told him. "But we still have to search for a safer place. It's dangerous out here." She helped the boy to stand and guided him down the weathered dirt road.
The pair arrived at the town, but Aleta was quick to realize that there was no sign of inhabitants. The houses and small shops seemed abandoned, much like the conservatory. There was a growl coming from their left, and thus she steered Leslie to sit behind a coffer. The boy panicked at the abrupt movements; he kept quiet as soon as Aleta tapped the tip of his nose. It was one of the few gestures that none of the nurses knew about, and it was useful whenever Leslie broke down.
"We're playing Hide and Seek right now, so…" Aleta whispered to him, and Leslie happily nodded.
They waited for the throng to walk past them. A few of them were carrying torches and pitch forks. Once the Haunted were nowhere near them, Leslie took Aleta's awaiting hand, and allowed the girl to guide him through the village. They hid behind a small cabin, with Aleta peeking around the corner for any watchman. She noticed that there was a wooden gate found along a grassy hillside, and that there were only a small number of sentries there.
"Okay Leslie, we just need to sneak past those things, and then we'll look for Doctor Jimenez." Aleta said. Regrettably, she recalled what had happened when Joseph attended her, and she quickly felt disappointed.
"Ah…can't get away!" Leslie softly shrieked. Aleta chose this opportunity to dash towards the gate, but a Haunted villager jumped out from the shadows and latched onto the girl's leg. She screamed.
During the fall, she dragged the frightened boy to the ground along with her. Aleta quickly released her grip on Leslie so that he could scamper away to safety. "Run Leslie! Just go!" she yelled at him. The albino cried out; his movements became frantic—he didn't know what else to do, and so he ran. Aleta thanked whatever divine being that encouraged him to run. But right now, she had an even bigger problem to deal with.
"Get off of me!" she screamed at the Haunted, who still had an agonizing clutch on her left ankle. She kicked at his face with her unattended foot, and then broke his nose with the heel of her shoe. But that wasn't enough to discourage her assailant.
A loud gunshot rang out, and the undead man's head suddenly burst open, spraying blood and brain matter all over the ground. Aleta could only gaze at the gory image in front of her. Seconds later, someone else arrived and knelt down beside her. She finally took a deep breath, startling herself, and glanced up to see an older man with an unshaven face. His character was mainly mannish and gruff. She noted the shoulder holsters and the manner of dress he had on his person. Aleta appraised him with an artist's eye—this man cut a striking figure, though he had a tiny scar on the left side of his mouth that gave him a worn out appearance.
"Are you alright, kid? Are there any injuries on you?" he asked her. Aleta shook her head at him.
"Wait a minute," he interjected. "You were one of the patients in the ambulance, right? Your friend, Leslie, I saw him earlier, but he ran away." The man explained, before delicately adding, "What's your name, by the way?"
"Aleta," she answered timidly. Her voice was a little shaky from the prior event.
"Alright then, Aleta, I'm Sebastian Castellanos. I'm a police officer from the KCPD."
Aleta regarded him for a moment, before saying, "You're not going to leave me alone?" she asked "because the other one left me to die."
The statement prompted Sebastian to rub the back of his neck—a gesture likely used during awkward situations. He then gave Aleta a sympathetic gaze. "No, I won't leave you on your own. Come on, let's go find the others."
Aleta nodded. She got up on her feet, brushed off the dirt from her shirtdress, and willingly followed Sebastian deeper into the village.
Author's Note:
Longest chapter yet?
When I was trying to visualize Mother, I was thinking of scary stories that you would tell around the campfire. Then, Breynz the Zombie Werewolf thankfully appeared while I was browsing Pinterest, combine that with the terrifying Wendigo, and you have a monster worthy for The Evil Within!
In this chapter, I wanted Joseph and Aleta to have some sort of argument regarding the flowers, the plants, and the trees, with Joseph pointing out that a mental patient shouldn't be that knowledgeable about botany. Then I scrapped it, because it really went nowhere from that point on.
And, of course, since this is the mindscape of Ruvik, he can unite the scenery if he wanted to. Also, Tweety Bird coming to warn Aleta about Mother!
Finally, we eventually meet up with Sebastian Castellanos! (a.k.a. Big Bad Handsome Man by Imelda May)
The Evil Within belongs to Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks! I only own Aleta Volante, her wardrobe, and her knack of staying calm in the worst scenarios ever.