The Evil Within: Chapter Thirteen
Sanity-Check
It is difficult to have a grasp on reality when your body is in a coma - a state where you live, yet your mind dwells elsewhere. It roams, searching for answers, hoping they will be granted sometime soon. But even a coma can last long, days if not months, and if one is unfortunate, it can consume years of your life. But does any ever wonder that you are fighting a mental battle inside of your own head? Possibly so, but that does not erase the option that you're on the verge of death. Your body, now a mere vessel that can be possessed for another spirit if they manage to control it, or an entity. That is the battle you fight, and that is the battle you must win, for if that fails, all will be lost. The world as you know it will change, and it will exist no longer - if this entity succeeds in making his life true once again, if blood returns to his veins in a new vessel, the human race will kneel in subjugation, a new era will begin.
A vague moment of light flickered before his eyes - Sebastian's eyes - as he had closed them after the words of the man. He felt himself become weaker, the lassitude had consumed him whole, and he only craved to leave this nightmare. Leaning back against the wall, he scraped his fingertips over the bloodied surface underneath his skin, prodding against the thick tissue layer of intestines spread on the ground. He could barely move, every muscle ached and his head hurt even more, but even if the feeling of pain was an odd familiar one, he couldn't help but to think death was not destined for him. After a minute of composing himself, his eyelids lifted to visualize the sight before him, looking at the entity with sheer distaste - for that is all that he felt in the moment. He had been taken from his own world, forced into some kind of computer that linked his brain to the main brain, namely the one of Ruvik. Not without notice went the provoking of perpetually being reminded of his deceased daughter, if not deceased wife, if she's not missing, although he couldn't answer that question for himself. Clarity was all he wanted as of now - what would happen if he let Ruvik do what he wanted? Sebastian had a few thoughts in mind: he would be sexually abused, although if he would enjoy it was an answer that shifted from yes to no in his head constantly. Secondly, would Ruvik take it as validation for keeping the detective as his personal playtoy - forever?
The detective felt remorse in what he's done so far, namely being so kind to an entity that couldn't grasp how it felt to be stuck here - or did he? Ruvik has been stuck here for aslong as he could remember, and he could also tell that the man had known love from his sister. But the way the child was raised, he didn't really have the desired childhood he deserved, but the question was, did he ever want a normal childhood? Sebastian couldn't start comparing what they had in common, again, for he noticed that it made him more sympathetic towards the other, weaker in a mental and physical state, and he couldn't allow such to happen again. He shook his head in attempt to clear his mind, erase all the surfacing thoughts he struggled to surpress. Coppery eyes slowly looked around as he saw Ruvik no longer - the man dissapeared as Sebastian struggled to remain awake from the bloodloss, and he couldn't comprehend why - he was at his weakest now. Why risk to leave him all by himself? He rubbed his head with the palm of his hand, pushing away the stale blood upon his traumatized features, steadying his breathing as the heart in the center of the room had dissapeared aswell, though the detective had memorized the constant tremor it gave off before - it was drilled into his mind.
As Sebastian slowly pushed himself up, he could feel that his knees were going to cave in, making him all the more reluctant to continue, but there were no other options, he had to move on. The headache didn't fade either, though thankfully it was mitigated by the absence of Ruvik and the beating heart. As he looked down at himself, he saw his tunic again - it was ripped and ragged at some places, but he got it back somehow, feeling less vulnerable than before. And by one miracle or another, he saw a pool of blood in the center where the heart used to be, but an object glinted in the middle of it. He groaned at the gaping wounds, but he pulled through, slowly making his way to the center of the room before his right knee gave in and he fell down on the ground. ''Ngh..damn, this is no fun''. He slowly crawled forth and eyed the pool of blood in hesitation, but eventually shoved his arm in it, and pulled out the object he had seen before: it was black - it was his gun. The gun he had lost before, but why would it be returned to him, unless someone else took care of that? Perhaps Oda, or Kidman? That would mean one of the two would be well and alive, and they were searching for him. But even that gave him no reassurance as the entity controlling this world was a master manipulator, possessing a silver tongue that could break the roughest and most resistant of minds. He perused the gun a while longer, counting how many bullets were left, and luckily, three were there, it wasn't much, but he thought it could suffice after all he had endured.
As soon as he placed the gun back in its holster, he felt something pull at him - the pool he was kneeling before, it was warping its swirls of blood around his arm, the force being enough to pull him inside as he got consumed entirely, unable to object, he felt the river of blood drown him completely. He grunted, his eyes half-lidded as hours later, he awoke on an open field of grass and sunflowers, which caused him to widen his eyes in shock as this was nothing he had seen before. Clearing his throat, he pressed a hand against his temple, slowly pushing himself up as he shook his head, standing on both feet, albeit wobbly. He had no idea where he was, or how he could escape this certain area, but the bright sun, the breezes and the sunflowers made him more keen to leave as this was the first time he felt comfortable, but was that a good sign? As his gaze moved down, he checked if he still had his gun, and with that confirmed, he continued his path towards a cave in the distance, the sunflowers allowing a path to be clear of them as it led onwards - to the cave. As he approached, he saw him again, the man that had been the fuel to his nightmares: Ruvik. The man phased through the rockwall of the cavern as he drifted towards Sebastian, although the man's malformed face seemed to hint no expression - not one of amusement, and not one of remorse. Silvery-white eyes lingered upon the bronze, coppery ones of Sebastian as he walked past, without a word, without care.
Sebastian was heavily confounded, Ruvik could see him, didn't he? He looked at him. But he didn't care, nor bothered to try to play a mindgame with him again. Or was this all part of Ruvik's plan? Ignoring his pet so it would come running back to his owner in attempt for attention? Sebastian followed, just to figure out why he was being ignored - but why did it bother him so much? He walked on, and he walked on, and eventually the both of them got into a clearing - the sun shining brightly down at the pair, but Ruvik kept his back turned to him, yet his head was lifted towards the sky. Sebastian approach hesistantly, his right hand upon the hilt of his gun as he remained cautious. ''Ruvik...why are we here?''. The other man tilted his head slightly to acknowledge the detective's presence, smirking once again. ''Do you not like what I have given you?''. Ruvik asked as he looked up again, the wind brushing against his skin and against the white coat that now exposed some of his figure by being forced aside. Coppery eyes glazed upon the figure of the other as he shook the lust from his head, looking around momentarily before answering. ''You mean being stuck here, with -you-? Not knowing where my partner is and Kidman? You torturing me?''. Ruvik laughed. He laughed. ''You make it sound as if it is a bad thing, Seb''.