Chapter 38 - Arbitrate Fates, Pt. 2
Getting out of the hallway they were in, Speed lead Chiara in the next direction to the right. The death that was occurring a couple of passageways behind them got quieter; however, it didn't dull the sounds of someone getting attacked. Focusing on her breathing and keeping her eyes forward at the lite red illumination, it battled against the seeping terror in her mind. Feeling him nudge in a direction, both turned left. Hearing a sudden rush of heavily placed hands, it was followed up by heavy breathing.
Feeling the urge to panic and run crescendo in her mind, the amputee moved her slightly to be half in front of him. As if on cue, the walls beside them instantly narrowed. As if it was a service or maintenance passageway, the ceiling seemed to lightly brush against the stoat's erect ears. Not narrow enough to making walking cumbersome, the crimson hue mildly showed the varying pipes and plumbing that was installed on the ceiling and walls.
"...keep...gazing...forward..." the hedgehog breathed barely above a whisper. Without warning, something slammed hard somewhere behind them. It sounded like a massive shockwave that rattled the walls.
"...!?" Chiara flinched. Clenching her teeth together, she forced herself to just keep walking. Cold sweat started to drip down her back from hearing the sounds of crawling and scratching. It seemed to be where she and Speed entered the narrow hallway, but never got closer.
"...Veeerrrrmmmiiillliiiooonnn..." the monstrosity spoke and drooled. It sounded like he had things in his mouth that were pooling out. The pings of droplets onto the floor sent a shiver up the female's spine. She blinked when another slam against the walls occurred.
"VERMILION!" it growled with agitation. "WHERE IS THAT FRESH MEAT?"
"YOU SSNNAAAAKKKKEEEE..." Abolic bellowed. Despite walking further away from it, its loud voice echoed and bounced off the narrow pathway walls harshly. Wincing at how the sound hurt her ears, Chiara kept feeling Speed's guiding hand on left shoulder blade.
Reaching the other end, it opened up to the size of the previous hallway. As if getting detected for leaving the maintenance channel, a harsh shout of air rushed behind them. Sounds of heavily placed thuds echoed once before it dulled. Feeling his hand let go of her back, he began walking to the right. Immediately feeling stressed out, she snatched his left hand with her right. Getting very close beside him, she followed his movements with hyperactive awareness.
'If he freakin' says anything, I'm going to deck him and rip out his tongue,' the stoat threatened squeezing his hand.
"..." the hedgehog ignored her action and continued to his next destination.
See his red eye look left, another narrow hallway appeared. Feeling him move their hands to point at the opening, Chiara readily entered it. Seeing that it was similar to the previous, they were not alone down it. A couple of silhouettes were hanging from the pipes on the short wall. A hailstorm of worried thoughts and survival probabilities racked her brain as they got closer and closer. Watching the dull glow seem to lower in height, she crouched quickly.
While moving forward, a growing rumbling came dangerously quickly behind them. Just as the two were passing under the suspended figures, Abolic slammed the walls outside of the opening. Chiara flinched hard and murderously squeezed Speed's hand as they continued. Looking up from being able to see with the scarlet haze, she immediately looked forward and clenched her teeth. Corpses of former prisoners or staff were seen with half of their bodies missing. She assumed they were brutalized and ripped apart by the towering prison guard.
"...t...h...i...s...b...r...i...n...g...s...s...u...c...h...p...a...s...t...v...i...s...i...o...n...s..." the beast called from the opening. Seeing the two getting further away, it blinked remembering the bodies.
"Aaaaahhhhhh...IIIII...wwwooonnndddeeerrreeeddd...wwwhhheeerreee...ooolllddd...mmmeeeaattttsss...wwweeennnnttt."
'...just don't think about it...' the stoat told herself to keep herself sane. '...just don't think about anything...'
After not seeing any more hanging bodies in the passageway, she and the amputee stood up. Following where the path would take them, they could hear Abolic seemingly distracted by something. Not leaving his current position at the beginning of the maintenance shoot, it sounded like he was reaching for something while haggardly breathing. Faintly seeing the exit ahead of them, Chiara did not feel relieved. Getting out to the other side, Speed glanced around calmly. Stopping in a direction, darkness hid what was down the hallway.
Going in that direction, she got next to him. Even though she continued to hold his hand, she made sure that her shoulder was rubbing against his. Keeping in constant contact with him kept her developing horror at bay. The aspect that Speed had not said anything or pushed her away also helped a little as well. Her ears perked from hearing pounding in the distance. Glancing to her right and seeing that he had not moved any faster, she told herself to not look behind them.
Traveling further down, they came to a stop after a short distance. Appearing to be a dead end, his crimson implant slowly scanned around the wall. The disfigured ape monster was heard from where they came as its crawling and grunts echoed. Darting her face to his, she blinked. Seeing him looking up, she quickly turned to see what he was staring at.
Above both of them was ventilation grate. It protruded out from the duct work that followed parallel to the floor. Seeing the rectangular tube go past the wall in front of them, there was only enough of a gap to put an arm through. Suddenly seeing him jump up, he grabbed the grate with one hand. Blinking from the surroundings get swallowed up by darkness, the aspect that she didn't feel him remove her hand unnerved her.
Seeing his figure still, it was coming down. His weight alone was able to open the vent screen. At the same time, it produced a metal bend sound. The volume was like it was next to a microphone plugged into an amplifier. Loud and bouncing off the walls, a suddenly release came as if the grate broke off. Hearing and seeing him land back on the ground, the dull thuds from heavy hand moves became rapid. As if honing onto their position, their volume was getting louder too quickly.
'Is he going to jump or am I-' the female thought before stopping.
Seeing him swing his arm, he threw the vent cover at the duct. Slamming onto the underside of the metal tubing, it entered the narrow gap. The clanging it produced continued passed the dead end. Trying to figure out what he was doing, the monstrosity sounded like he was around the corner. About to open her mouth, she felt the amputee's left arm go around her waist. Blinking and feeling something touch her right cheek, it was Speed's left check.
Observing that he was not moving and staring down the blackened hallway, the monstrosity was getting dangerously close. Her heart was beating faster as if it was trying to travel up her throat. Noticing the dim red light from his eye shifted, it pointed towards the floor. From doing so and without looking down, everything suddenly became lost to darkness. Even the robotic eye's light couldn't penetrate through the void the environment appeared in.
'WHAT'S HE DOING!? WHY IS HE DOING THIS!? HOW ARE WE GOING TO ESCAPE!?' Chiara felt her inner voice scream at her. Beginning to feel tremors coming onto her, a heavily placed palm slammed onto the ground ahead of them. Just from hearing the impact, her eyes widen. Micro-vision began to take effect. The adrenaline of fear pulsed through her veins as fear rushed through her limbs. In the darkness, she could barely see a lighter black shadow coming out of the wall.
Not having enough time to act on her fight/flight instincts, her vision began to shift rapidly. Without warning, she sudden lurched forward sensation came as if getting hit by a speeding car. At the same time, the darkness appeared to be enclosing on itself. Unable to move or blink, a faint electric static jolt shot through her. Unable to see anything still, the sensation of sprinting forward came. Within a second, the odd sensation stopped.
'...wait...that was...' she thought blinking.
Unable to get her bearings, she felt a hand move. Going off her waist, the crimson shine weakly illuminated what was in front of her. Recognizing that he just went super speed, the negative sensations she had when he did that the first time were not there. Thinking that her nerves were too rattled to react, the female moved her ears around. Hearing a distant shout followed by an impact, it was further away and behind them.
"...inside room..." the hedgehog breathed. Scanning around and walking towards a wall, she immediately put a hand on his shoulder. It didn't stop him as he kept moving forcing her to follow directly behind him.
"Used to be...rehabilitation and supplies...based on old markings."
"...you...owe...me...for...bringing...me...here..." the stoat barely spoke. Hearing how weak and scared her tone was made her mad at herself. It was short lived when he whispered.
"...for what is...here...should be enough...compensation..." he mentioned. Stopping to what looked like a cubby cabinet, he began to pat around.
'There is so much I want to ask...but I will lose it if I do,' she thought. Trying to calm down, she focused on the subject that they brought up.
"...how are we...going to nab let alone find...all the supplies you mentioned in this underground?"
"...simple answer...kill Abolic...gather resources" Speed answered continuing to search through the furniture in front of them. "...difficult answer...steal and leave only...while avoiding Abolic."
"You're fuckin' crazy...how they hell are ya supposed to kill that freak in darkness!?" Chiara whispered harshly.
"...crazy...is relative...but you do...pose a good...question."
"...god...damn...you..." she stressed.
Moving her free hand to her face, she pinched the bridge of her nose. Doing it harder to feel pain, it combated against the long-lasting effect of trepidation and anxiety. Hearing movement near her, she saw the mild fan of inferred move. Regripping her hand, she stuck close to him and walked across the room to the opposite wall. Seeing that they were approaching another cabinet of sorts, she tried to think of something to distract herself. It then came apparent to her of why they were talking now.
"...hey...why is it okay to talk in rooms...but not in hallways?"
"...based on...trial and error..." Speed answered. Stopping, his robotic implant began looking over what could be seen. There was mostly junk and debris scattered on the shelves.
"Trial and error?" she repeated. Blinking, a thought passed through her head that made her tense up.
"...you mean...from your attempts at escaping?"
"...no...from watching others...try..."
"...did you...try to escape?" she asked seeing him quietly rummaging the cabinet.
"...over time...based on its behaviors...and when...I was able...to remove my...shackles."
"Sounds similar to that one freak that was on the bottom of the stairs of that dive bar."
"...yes...and no..." he spoke. His ears flinched and rotated as far back as he could. Continuing to search, he mentally traced where the distant sounds were coming from.
"Stiles...is similar...but had a...pet mentality..."
"The one...that was in...the wall...down the staircase...was closer to...Abolic's mind."
"Pet mentality?" Chiara asked blinking and veering back a little from the comment.
"He was obsessed...and obedient to...Malaria only...slave and master outlook."
"..." she sighed heavily with stress. Moving her free hand to her face again, she began to rub it to fight off the shivers.
'This is way too screwed up to be real,' she thought. 'Why is there so much freakin' fucked up shit? And all of it was beneath this town.'
'Starting to make me question why there was so much hate against the humans...when our own kind goes primal and matches the horror stories.'
"..." Speed ignored her reaction to what he stated.
Finding a few items, one in particular was very useful. About to think of a strategy, his left eye began to drift in a direction. Remaining still, it stopped at the left corner of his eye socket. Grabbing the one heavy object that his hand was hovering over, he turned his head a little. Barely seeing the doorway in which they came through, no sound was heard.
Narrowing his right eye and still looking at the barely seen cabinet, something moved. Getting pressed against his chest, it felt like another chest though had two soft protrusions. Not moving and concentrating his right eye to what was in front of him, he could see it was not what he thought it was. Instead of the frost white eyes with quarter size pupils, Chiara's right eye was open. It's slightly lighter pigment than her left eye to which has a luminescent effect in the dark.
"H-H-Hey! W-What's there!?" she breathed tensely below the volume of a whisper. As if on cue, a silhouette began to peer in.
From sensing the deformed ape's presence and where its head would be, Speed re-gripped the object in his hand. Turning 180 degrees to the left and torquing his body, he swung his arm hard and fast. Letting go of the object, a faint glint of red shined off of it as it shot through the air. At the same time, the creature's eyes were seen in the doorway. Hearing a heavy impact to the monster's face, its eyes closed.
"GGGRRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!" Abolic screamed in the room. Sounding in agony, its volume was piercing loud like being next to a fire alarm. Cringing and plugging her ears, Chiara felt ringing occur in her head. The bellowing out in pain shifted direction and seemed to point down the hallway that was outside. Faint echos of those shouts reverberated down the pathways producing a wall of sound.
"this...THIS...IS UNACCEPTABLE VERMILION!" it yelled with rage.
Turning back around, the hedgehog reached to the cabinet. Guessing where he felt the object on the shelf, his fingers bumped into it. Grabbing it, he could feel Chiara breathing harder. Her exhales were felt near his right ear as her chest was expanding and contracting at the same fast rate. Positioning himself to stand in front of her face, he could detect the stiffened expression. Seeing her eyes shift to his, he moved his arm.
"...point..." Speed spoke normally. Despite the sounds of pain dying down, it seemed like he was speaking loudly. Before she could open her mouth, he placed an item in her left hand.
"...!?" she reacted with mixed emotions. He hadn't let go and moved his fingers. Gripping her hand, he moved it to her right hand. Shifting his digits again, both of her hands closed around the handle.
"...pull..." he continued.
Not looking away or moving, he lifted her hands up. Able to see the outline of the thing when it was visible in his red eye glow, she recognized what it was. A surge of strength rushed through her making her tense up in position. Pointing to the left of the hedgehog's head and seemingly higher than his height, the crimson ring in his eye socket moved. Its slow pace to be looking directly at the gun did not calm her. The premonition it gave made her grit her teeth and concentrate.
"...don't blink..."
"...where...is...it?" Chiara said through clenched teeth.
Feeling his hand let go of hers, he slowly wrapped his arm around her right side. With his hand softly gripping her left hip, it did not feel tense. Immediately hating him from being unfazed of the situation, it also frightened her. Shaking her head internally as hard as she could, it briefly helped her to refocus. It became apparent to her that the monster's noises had gone quiet.
If it was moving around, she couldn't hear it. Without warning, two large white sclera appeared from the darkness. Standing behind Speed and towering both of them, it hissed viciously at them. Chiara felt her pupils shrink as she reacted. Without thought or processing what was happening in her mind, something automatically took over.
"RRRRAAAHHH!" she shouted and pulled the trigger.
A bright red flare shot out of the gun in her hands. Unable to avoid it, the flashing projectile hit Abolic's face at point blank range. It had enough velocity to disorient the beast making him recoil back. Sudden illumination lit the room from its face as it caused a small blaze. Seeing the monster entirely for the first time, it seemed something out of a horror story. Though focused on the predator, her vision began to bend.
Like what happened in the previous place they were in, the environment suddenly shifted. Lasting only a second or two, it was different. Like a psychedelic episode, different shades of red streaked across her eyes. As if a person's eye was flowing into their pupil rapidly, physical sensations of traveling on a speeding train was felt like in an instant. Stopping abruptly, the lines over her vision went away.
"..." Chiara hyperventilate a little.
Blinking and still pointing the flare gun forward, her mind began to process her surroundings. Seeing that only a source of light was down the hallway, it was accompanied by someone shouting. Closing and opening her eyes again, she glanced at the black-red eye that was next to her. About to hammer down at it with the butt of the firearm, she felt an arm and hand holding around her. Staring for a couple of seconds, she realized Speed was still holding her and being chest to chest with her.
"...your worth..." Speed spoke sounding different. Feeling him letting go of her, he turned to the left. Stopping to be perpendicular to where she was standing, he looked back to where the flare was.
"...is noticed..."
"..." she blinked again.
Unsure of the meaning of his statement, she looked down the passageway. Several feet away was the room they were just in. The ape creature, wailing in semi agony and enjoyment, was frantically trying to get the flare to stop. Lodged and tangled in the patchy fur on its head, the bright red-orange spark continued to burn. When it stumbled out and dropped to the floor, it casted a bright haze in the hallway they were in.
"...w-w-what..." Chiara quietly stammered. Getting more creeped out than she already was, the visual environment around her altered to a new level of hell. Feeling her tail extend straight behind her, all the fur on it was standing on end.
"...the...shit..."
Each cell door had faint beads of eyes attached to a standing body. All different shapes and sizes were seen. Some emaciated. Some appearing to have missing body parts. However, all of their stares were not at the monstrosity down the hallway grunting in pain. They were all looking at her. The whites of their eyes were shades of flickering red from the flare at the other end. Their pupils appeared to be half the size of their eyeballs. The only individual that held normalcy was Speed looking down the passageway. Flinching hard and feeling a deathly chill go through her, a demented hearty cackle came.
"...aaaahhhh...hheeeehhh...hhheeeeeehhh..." Abolic spoke with a deep raspy voice. Making several pats on the ground, it was moving in their direction. It was able to knock the flare off its head as it continued to burn on the ground adjacent to it.
"TTTHHIISSSS...BBRRRINNNGGSS...BBAAACCKKK...BBBLLIISSSFFUULLL...MMMEEEMMMOORRRIIEESSS."
"Dooo...yyyoouuu...reeeemember...the...sssssssesssssionsssss...Veeerrrmmiilliioonnn?" it asked sounding happy and demented at the same time.
"..." Speed stared and did not move.
"SILENCE?...BUT YOU...SPEAK...NOW"
"..."
"Fresh...meat...has he...told you...his consumption?"
"..." Chiara reacted with remaining still. Keeping both eyes on the creature, his movements seemed not entirely sure. It gave her a quick thought that it was blinded by the flare.
"Vermilion...is...an...atoned...lost soul."
"He was...Sister Polio's...wonder toy...the favorite...she built a holy room...of flesh...to embody his soul!" Abolic shouted then cackled again. "SHE...IS MINE...VERMILION!"
'...that is...not surprising...to me,' the stoat thought resisting another fidgeting response of what that mental image would look like. Her ears perked up suddenly and listened to her surroundings. The prisoners nearby were murmuring incoherently while staring at all three of them.
"...wwwhhhiiccchhh...lost soul...ssspppeeeaakkksss?" the creature spoke.
Tilting its head, it moved in the direction of the nearest prisoners whispering. Crawling towards them more as a predator, the glow of its eyes was not sharp. Seemingly duller, it gave the impression that the flare had blinded it. About to see the towering being slam its hand on a cell door, Speed began to walk forward. She blinked in surprise that he was making his footsteps heard more instead of being quiet.
"...aaaahhhhhh..." Abolic breathed what seemed like enjoyment. It stopped moving then darted its head toward where the amputee was heading.
"...if IIIIIIiii...bring your head...to the SSSssisssterssss of Sssssanctum..." it continued then moved. The monster slowly dragged his body to where the hedgehog was.
"...mmoorree...loossssst...ssssooullssss...to enlighten."
"..." Vermilion stopped in the middle of the hallway. She noticed that his left hand was in the shape of a tensed claw.
"...you...are...ignorant...Abolic..." he spoke using a harsher tone. "...the sisters...have met...their exitium...from this world..."
"YOULIEVERMILION! SPEAKTRUTH!" the creature viciously barked at him. Its voice was of some balled up rage that suddenly exploded. The creature's voice echoed and bounced on all the walls creating a wall of sound. Hearing it haggardly breath deep breaths, a soft chuckle was heard. Focusing on who was finding something funny, it was Speed.
"..." the amputee snickered louder. Seeing him bow his head a little, Chiara could see where the crude stump of his top middle quill would be. Seeing him bob a little, he began to laugh out loud. Seemingly being out of character for him, she glanced at the other occupants in her surroundings. All the prisoners were boring at him while the monster ape blankly stared at him. Without warning, the hedgehog exploded with mirth.
Laughing like a madman, he put his claw hand over his face. Bending backwards and hyperventilating for a few seconds, he took a deep inhale. Shoving his head back forward, he screamed at the top of his lungs like a demon. His volume eclipsed the tone of what Abolic did. So much so, all the prisoners began to shuffle backwards. Even the monster seemed surprised at what just happened.
Despite seeing something similar before, the intensity of him yelling was high. Feeling something was about to occur that she didn't know Speed could do, she carefully sidestepped away from the middle of the hallway. Reaching for the walls, she slowly pressed her back against the right side and remained still. Watching him intently, he put his left hand back to his side. She couldn't tell if it was shaking in place or not as it was in a fist.
"...wwwwhhhaatttssss...ttthhhiisssss...throwing...a tantrum...?" Abolic mocked with a crooked smile.
It started crawling to the hedgehog quickly. While doing so, Speed's figure vibrated erratically. Vanishing by the time the creature reached his position, the creature came to a stop. Moving its head around to look, its head was slammed from behind. The force behind the impact and from being surprised was enough to drop him to the ground. Catching itself before body slamming the floor, something rammed again in the same area with greater force.
Headbutting the surface, something not particularly heavy remained keeping its noggin down. Chiara's eyes widen from seeing the hedgehog standing on top of the other's head. A sensation of seeing a predator trapping its prey, her muscles tightened. Focusing on him, his eyes were glowing. Icy, intense, and unyielding with malice. Thinking he would be smiling; he was looking down that monster with disdain.