A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely reviews and support! I hope my story continues to please!
I welcome all new and returning readers!
Please enjoy!
(Young-ja)
The harsh rain was like thick needles piercing my flesh the further we ran through the storm. Even with the night vision and Miles' jacket, it was still difficult to see anything with the rain and wind ramming against our faces.
"Hey!" Miles screamed as we approached a fountain in the middle of the courtyard. "Where are you, you psychotic bastard?!"
"Father Martin might be hiding in one of the sheds!" Waylon shouted over the storm and pointed towards a small shed to our left. "We can try there!"
The three of us hurried into the tiny shed and slammed the door behind us. It was a utility shed from the looks of it.
"This might come in handy." Miles reached out and plucked a key off a hook. It had the words "Maintenance" inscribed near the ring hole.
"Maybe," Waylon replied, scanning the shed with his camcorder before laughing suddenly. "Heh, the shed's caretaker must've been an 'Evil Dead' fan." He gestured towards a crudely drawn chainsaw scribbled on the top shelf.
As the guys continued to investigate, I suddenly felt this chill run through my body. It wasn't brought on by the rain, but this feeling that….someone else was here. Something that made this copper taste form in my mouth, and as the chill grew, this…buzzing began to ring in my ears.
Like television static echoing through my brain and gradually…tearing down my spine like nails on a chalkboard.
Getting louder…
And louder…
And L..ou..De..r..
"Young-ja?!" Miles' voice shattered through the static and I blinked, my vision slowly clearing up. "Are you alright?! You suddenly collasped!"
I looked around, noticing that I indeed was on the ground and my nails were digging into my thigh, drawing blood.
"I-I'm…fine.." I whispered, my heart pounding in my ears. "I just…felt..a little…dizzy."
"Don't give me any of that shit, Young-ja." Miles whispered as he helped me up. "Tell me what is wrong."
My eyes connected with Waylon's concerned ones, who was standing behind Miles, and I saw recognition flash across his eyes, and my heart froze for a moment.
Did he also….?
"Upshur, I think it is best if we find Father Martin as soon as possible." Then he placed his hand on Miles' shoulder and leaned in close to whisper, "I don't think we're the only ones in the Courtyard…."
Miles' posture stiffened and he immediately glanced towards the door, as if he could hear something.
Could he….could they have also heard…?
"Yeah. Let's hurry then." He held his jacket over all three of us once more, and we sprinted back into the now violent thunderstorm.
The ice cold wind swirled around us and ripped its frozen claws through our skin with every step we took.
The wind carried whispers on it too. Whispers I had heard before.
'Oh no….Oh God no..'
As we approached the fountain from before, a flash of lighting hit and I could see a familiar dark figure fly back.
"No!" I screamed, shoving the three of us off the cobblestone path and into the trees and grass.
"What the-?!"
"Run!" I cried, my throat burning and my heart threating to beat out of my chest.
'It couldn't be. No! No! It's all my imagination! It's not him! It's not him!"
Suddenly, Miles forced us to stop in front of a large stairway, and he grabbed me by my shoulders, forcing me to look him in the eye. His jacket flopped onto the cold cobblestone, thus soaking the three of us to the bone.
"What the hell is going on?!" Miles cried, his expression a mixture of fear and worry. "Tell me!"
"Upshur, this is not the time! We need to keep go-!"
"Do you expect to me press on when my wife looks like she's seen a fucking ghost?! Young-ja, answer me!"
All I could do was stare at him with wide eyes as the memories of the Morphogenic Chamber flashed through my mind.
The never ending buzzing of the machine…the cruel, lifeless eyes of its one occupant who had long forgotten his humanity…the feelings of nanobites swarming across my body as I was thrown around the room…..be..for..e..
"Young-ja?! You are shaking! Park, we ne-!"
"I…tried to reason…with him.." I whispered, staring at nothing and everything. "But…he mistook me..for…and he…."
"Billy, stop it!"
The Walrider jerked my arm roughly before slamming its other hand over my face, muffling my screams.
Then, The Walrider began wrenching at my arm, causing me to scream bloody murder at the shearing pain.
It pulled harder and harder like it was trying to-.
My eyes snapped open, and my heart fell to my stomach.
"BILLY! NO!"
I could feel my bones cracking as the pain grew and grew until-.
"BILLY!"
"Young-ja!" Miles screamed as I fell against him and clung to his shirt for dear life, my tears mixing with the rain pouring onto my face. "Are y-?!"
"Can't…you..hear…it?" I mumbled, the static pulsing through my brain once more. "Make it stop." I whimpered, burying my face into his shoulder. "Please…make…it…go…away…"
Miles just held me tight, completely at loss of words.
"Hey, Upshur.." I could hear Waylon whisper off to the side. "I…I think there is something here for you."
Miles and I both turned our heads in his direction to see Waylon with a piece of paper in his hands.
"I thought I…'heard'….something so I went to investigate and I found a message nailed onto the wall and…I think Father Martin left it for you."
Miles said nothing, just reached out and took the soaked piece of paper from Waylon's hand. In turn, Waylon immediately bent down and picked up Miles' drenched jacket and held it above us, though the gesture seemed to stem more from comfort than practicality.
"I don't even know your name. But I've come to think of you as one of my blood, my Paul, I hope you don't mind. And I hope you don't indulge the vanity of self-pity, the fear that your suffering is more than others'. We all must endure this, and you are nearly done. There's no way to heaven but by the cross. And every man needs another to help drive the nails in. I am here for you. I am waiting up ahead. Let the angel be your guide so she may be free to return to Paradise. And may the shepherd serve you well so he may find his flock." said the note.
Miles slowly crumpled the saturated note into a ball before throwing it away, mumbling a "Kiss my ass" under his breath.
"Looks like Father Martin is leading us on a wild goose chase." Waylon sighed, jumping slightly when another flash of lightning hit.
"Where is the bastard hiding then?"
"Um…" Waylon rubbed his temples, trying to remember the layout of the asylum. "The next building over is the Female Ward. My guess is that he is waiting for us in there."
"Hmm," was Miles' only reply as he brushed my damp hair away from my face. "You're still shaking."
Being in Miles' arms helped to ease the static and memories for a moment and I felt a little embarrassed at my breakdown.
'I have to be strong…I promised Ae-cha to bring her daddy home…Repress it, Young-ja. Just repress everything..'
"Let's…go." I breathed, stepping out of my husband's protective grip. "The quicker…we find…Father Martin..the quicker we all can go home."
(Waylon)
I knew what Young-ja was feeling. I could sense it the minute we stepped out into the courtyard.
The Morphogenic images flashed across my eyes, and that accursed buzzing filled my soul once more; The Walrider was close by.
When she collapsed in the tool shed and began digging her fingers in her thigh, I knew she could hear it too. I even saw Miles look back a few times, as if he could hear something. He made no act of showing it though, maybe because he didn't want to acknowledge it or was too busy concentrating on Young-ja. The fear and pain on her face was palpable, and when we made eye contact, I felt my heart drop as the pieces seemed to fall together.
'Was…..was the Walrider the one who took her arm?'
I tried to convince myself otherwise, but when Young-ja panicked at the sight of the Walrider and broke down in Miles' arm, I knew my suspicions were true.
And I felt the guilt in my heart begin to spread across my chest.
Just what the hell did she go through while I was knocked out? And despite all of that, she…still came back for me.
I had to walk away so Miles wouldn't see my face and kill me right then and there. I was already beating myself up about it. Wasn't that punishment enough?
'Oh, Lisa, what the hell have I done to them? It's my fault they are here in the first place' I groaned and ran my fingers through my soaked hair, wanting to scream my lungs out.
I reached the top of the stairway and was about to take a seat when I noticed something scribbled on the wall in blood.
How Alive Are You?
"I don't know to be honest." I scoffed, throwing my hands in the air in exasperation. "I don't know how alive any of us are to be honest."
Then, in the corner of my eye, I spotted a piece of paper flapping in the harsh breeze. As I investigated closer and read the first line, I knew it was a message from Father Martin and hurried down the stairs with it. Though I didn't want to interrupt them, I knew we had to keep moving forward, so I showed them the note and we started planning our next move.
"Let's…go." Young-ja's voice was so weak and raspy that it just made me feel worse. "The quicker…we find…Father Martin..the quicker we all can go home."
Though she was covered in gashes, bruises, missing an arm, and could barely walk straight, I could still see the determination in her eyes to get through this Hell and go home with her husband to their baby.
'Young-ja Upshur, you are one of the strongest women I know.' I thought to myself with a smile. 'You're a lot like Lisa in a sense.'
Miles Upshur, ever the protective husband, insisted on holding her close as we moved forward, and despite my annoyances at the man, I did think it was very sweet that a hard ass like Miles ensured his wife's safety above all.
Suddenly, the buzzing and whispering returned in full force and all three of us could clearly see a black figure hovering above the fountain before fading away.
"What the fu-?!"
"Time to go." I mumbled, pushing the two of them forward with all my might toward the other side of the courtyard.
What I assumed to be the maintenance shed came into view and Miles quickly unlocked the door before hurrying inside.
"Where to next, Mr. Programmer?" Miles asked, changing out the batteries in his camcorder.
"I guess this door leads out to the Female Ward." I opened the adjacent door….only to see the Walrider racing towards me.
I slammed the door shut and flew backward, taking Miles and Young-ja with me.
"What the-?!"
"Shut up!" I hissed, pressing them against the wall. "…We've got company."
At that moment, the emergency lights flickered out, and the Walrider crawled out from under the door.
"Oh God…" Miles gasped, almost dropping his camcorder. "Is that the….?"
"..Walrider.." Young-ja answered, shaking like a leaf once again.
It stared at us with its bright, white eyes, like it was sizing us up one by one. Then, when it turned towards Young-ja, its' eyes widened and it pointed towards her with a long claw.
"Mom…my.." It growled, echoing throughout the room.
"What?" Miles and I asked in unison, but before we could blink, the Walrider let out an ear splitting scream and the three of us were thrown upwards and slammed against the ceiling before falling to the ground.
The Walrider let out one last roar before disappearing through the floorboards.
"Ngh!" I winced, propping myself up on my elbows and rubbing my head. "You guys alright?"
Miles didn't answer me, just scurried towards Young-ja's unconscious form.
"Young-ja! Young-ja, open your eyes!" He gathered her into his arms and shook her gently, looking like he close to tears.
I hurried and crouched down next to him, placing my fingers against her neck.
"She is fine, but she hit her head pretty hard." I let out a sigh of relief. "She will probably come to in a few minutes."
"What…what did the Walrider call her?" Miles whispered, holding her close.
I stared at him for a moment before closing my eyes.
"He…he….called her 'mother'."
"I thought so," Miles breathed out before shifting her onto his back and standing up. "Park, I leave the recording to you until we get inside the female ward. Can I trust you to do that?"
I didn't miss the hint of animosity laced in his words, but I took it anyways and just nodded.
"You have my word." I promised, placing Miles' jacket over Young-ja's body. "Believe me when I say that."
Getting to the Female Ward was difficult enough considering it was pouring and we had to walk on the rooves several times, but it was extra tedious since Young-ja was knocked out and Miles had to make sure not to drop her, especially when the pathways were slippery and narrow.
But what made it so much worse was Chris Walker was chasing after us. And I learned just how colorful Miles' vocabulary was.
Luckily we slid under a hole in the wall, stopping the chase, and dived through an open window in the Female Ward, getting out of the rain and arriving at our destination.
And you know who was waiting for us?
Father Martin.
"You saw the Walrider, didn't you?!" He called out to us from the upper floor. "You're beginning to understand, but not yet! Even Abraham had to cast his eyes to the ground, but soon, soon! This way. Revelation is at hand!" And he raced off into the darkness once again.
"Wait a moment, you son of a bitch!" Miles called after him, but he was gone and we were left alone in the dark hallway.
I turned to the right and saw a tiny linen closet.
I nudged Miles' shoulder and pointed towards it.
"Let's dry up and rest in there for a moment. It will give Young-ja a chance to wake up too."
There were no objections from him and we locked ourselves in the tiny closet. I settled myself on one side, wrapped in a linen blanket, while Miles sat across from me with Young-ja in his lap, both of them cocooned in a large linen blanket. Miles' jacket hung off the edge of one of the cabinets.
It was a rare moment of peace, a long awaited one actually and I let my head fall back against the wall and I closed my eyes, praying to God that this would be all over soon.
'Please…just let us live through this. Please."
A/N: The 'Evil Dead' thing is actually an Easter egg in Outlast. Check it out on Youtube. Warning: it is a very gory movie! This chapter was to show Young-ja mental state. Those who have played the game, you know during the Courtyard part is where Miles starts to hear the Morphogenic Engine and it really starts affecting him. In a sense, it is starting to really affect Young-ja too. She has been repressing it because she had to find Miles and Waylon, but now with them and seeing the Walrider again, she is slowly starting to lose her sanity. And while she was angry at first (still is), Young-ja is truly afraid of Billy/Walrider now. Who wouldn't be afraid of the creature that tore your arm off and left you to bleed out in the basement? Imagine her feelings when Miles becomes the Walrider….. And this chapter also looked into Waylon's mind on the matter. I always thought if Waylon knew Miles actually came after him (and add Young-ja in the mix), he would probably feel terrible for being the reason bad things happened to them. So, long story short, very emotional chapter and everything sucks for the characters.
Look forward to the next one! Miles and Waylon finally have a heart-to-heart chat!