Lara kept on shooting her silk towards the grandma till the latter was coated in a cocoon of silk, unmoving. Andrew made his way to the cocoon, which he let unceremoniously fall to the concrete ground. Lara was barely hanging on, her consciousness fading in and out as Andrew's figure seemed to extract something from the older adult corpse and make his way to her. The two locked eyes; the hatred that glimmered in her eyes hours prior was now replaced with a solemn stare.
His fingers placed on her forehead as he wove another weave into her mind before letting her go. "ACK!!!" She spat out the mercury, lumps of black viscous liquid grating her as Andrew watched her with his aloof gaze. She convulsed and gagged until the pain that never refused to let go of her body faded.
Holding her by her chin, his words echoed in her ears. "Lara, my promise to you isn't something you can dismiss the moment it inconveniences you. I plan on seeing you live to the very end of this act, as I promised. Expect this to be the norm, going forward with your ignorance." She lacked the energy to scowl at him, her mind glad that the pain had ended. Picking up her figure, he took her to her room before returning to Brittany, who waited for her outside.
"Did you have to be so rough with her?" Her eyes ignoring the bodies scattered all over the motel. The motel sign attracted moths, the stench of death hanging in the air as Andrew now leaned on the guardrail next to Brittany. "That's the only way she'll learn. Her fear of pain serves as a great means of surviving." His hand gesturing a wave, which resulted in telekinesis that smashed all the bodies into one massive pile.
His fingers flickered, morphing the mass of flesh from a sphere to a cube, the sounds of bones crushing and tendons tearing filling the night sky. "Would you ever do something like that to me? Kill me only for you to bring me back to life?" Her question lingered; the stench of death was something that appeared normal to her. "It depends on my orders." His response resulted in a knot forming in her stomach.
"What do you mean if you are ordered? Your response should be an automatic no! That you would protect me at all costs!" A playful punch landing on his shoulder as he let the flesh like clay rest, his choice a perfect cube. Faces could be seen on the sides of the cube, one that made Brittany's face grimace as she looked to the side. "I'm keeping you entertained because I'm ordered to. Should I be given the orders to kill you, I won't hesitate."
The air turned pensive between the two of them, Brittany now displeased with Andrew. "I didn't think that you would kill me because someone ordered you two. Is it because of Charles that he's strong and I'm not?" Her brows furrowed as Andrew now bothered to look at her. "I'm here to make sure that you make it to the sixth league. Once that happens, I'm not obligated to keeping you alive. Should you die in combat, you die, but until then, consider yourself virtually invincible, that is until Charles kills you off, that is."
Brittany looked at her own hands, the idea of being kept alive on someone's whim irking her. "Is he strong like you? Charles, that is? For him to be giving you orders every time." A light breeze grazed their hair; Andrew's gaze drifted back to the sphere while Brittany had her crimson eyes on him. "He's strong enough. Get some rest; we'll be leaving tomorrow." His figure making his way back to his room, leaving Brittany contemplating his words. 'Charles, I wonder when I'll see you just to see the person capable of ordering Andrew around like a dog.'
Her eyes landed on the mass of flesh, a gag leaving her lips before she made her way back to her room for some rest.
. . .
The following day, Andrew was knocking on Lara's door; the lack of response forcing him to barge in. "We have to go, Lara." Lara's figure was curled in a ball, her back facing the door. "Just let me die, whatever I have to do, just let me die and see my family." His steps approaching her faint before he sat on the edge of her bed. "I made a promise, Lara, one that ensures that you will never die till this act comes to a close. As for your idea of death, it's not as pleasing as you think it is." Lara turned around, her eyes locking with his. This time her hatred was missing; only hopelessness and despair could be seen in her eyes.
"Why? You could just let me die and forget about me. You seem to have no issue with killing people, so why would you killing me bring any problems?" Her tone defeated as she slunk back into her ball-like state. "Death isn't what you think, Lara. In this game, it's not liberation, it's torture, and Charles made sure of that. I am thinking in your best interest and death through ordinary means would cause what you despise more than murder; it's nothing but unending pain."
She looked back, her eyes half lid like his. "How do you know what death is like? A person like you has experienced none of the pain you've inflicted on me, let alone death." His eyes locked with hers, his fingers now combing through her ash hair. "I know death and what follows because I helped create it. There's no redemption past death. People, both virtuous and evil, will end up on the same scale for one sin. The sin of being in a horror's game." She collected herself, now scared as she brushed off his hand. "Just what are you, Andrew? Last night, when you put me through hell, looking at you, it wasn't a person I knew but someone else. Someone who wanted to be done with the moment only to move onto today."
Her voice was hoarse, her hands cradling her legs to ensure she distanced herself further away from Andrew. "Because I did want to forget about what happened that night. It only gets worse from here, Lara, and what you can do now is to endure, in living and in death." Her jaw tightened, her fingers digging into the flesh of her thighs as she looked at the impostor that wore Andrew's skin.
Her lips parted, wishing to say something, anything, and yet nothing left her mouth. Clearing her throat, she made her way next to his frame. "I need to change; I'll be ready downstairs in fifteen minutes." Andrew rose and left, Lara watching his back before she was left alone in the silence. 'He really will keep pushing me like this? There is no satisfaction that he gets from this, so why? Why not let me die?' Silent tears trickled down her cheeks, her sniffles echoing in the air before she collected herself.
. . .
Lara got into another car, this one from the parking lot. The playful and dismissive Brittany Lara had expected was now silent, her gaze avoidant of Andrew, who brought the car out of park and snaked onto the road. No one bothered to talk; the two were absorbed in their own worlds as Andrew kept his focus on the road.
. . .
"Looks like a murder; it could be related to the incident back at the gas station." An investigator adorned in military gear spoke up as they saw the ten-meter cubic mass of flesh. "From their direction, it would seem like they're heading towards Silvercoast." The investigator added, looking into the distance where a city, half in ruin and the other half somewhat civilized. "Just monitor them." A voice crackled through the investigator's earpiece.
"Affirmative." The man dropped his hand from his ear before waving for his accomplice to make his way back to the car. "What could they be doing in Silvercoast? None of them have any form of affiliation with that city." His partner said, the black SUV came to life before melting onto the road. "I don't know, but knowing those three, it can't be good."
. . .
"I'm sorry, but you can't go any further!" An armed military officer urged Maya, preventing her from exploring the ruins of the military base at the stadium. Her arrival wasn't suspicious as journalists were still lingering, some asking questions, others being nothing more than flies.
"You must be Maya Collins! A private investigator hired by Callahan Voss, correct?" A deep voice dripping with authority echoed from the tape lines. "Let her in." The journalists tried to barge in with her only to be blocked off. "Who are you and what do you want?" Maya inquired, her guard rising as she looked at the source of the voice. It was a man in his forties, with a shaven chin and hazel nut eyes, wearing a military styled beret.
"The name is Corwin Aelric, and I've been tasked with the purpose of tracking down Andrew and the two ladies he has. I know that you've been looking into Andrew's past before this whole situation came to be. However, strangely enough, you went completely silent two months ago. Nothing before you came back in search of Andrew once more." The two making their way to the stadium where bodies could be seen hauled away.
"These men had families, you know, and yet there are monsters like Andrew walking around, killing as they wished! I know that you're not actually an FBI agent, more so into the sketchy side; however, your skills are needed here, Maya." The stench of corpses cindering drifted into Maya's nose, making her take a step back. Looking around, most of the bodies had already been cleaned up, but the stench of death and blood lingered like a curse that refused to life.
"We already have eyes on Andrew and he's currently making his way to Silvercoast as we speak." Maya now faced Corwin, her eyes narrowing. "If you already know this, then why do you need me? Besides looking into Connor's records, you should know that we didn't make that much progress on Andrew. Sure, he stuck out the moment you looked, but there was nothing to work with. Other than his silence and perfect movements, nothing stands out about him."
Corwin let out a small chuckle, as if expecting this. "We know all of this, but there is something that you have that we lack, and that is experience with him. As inert as Andrew may come off, you're a scalpel, the same that Andrew uses when fighting. Cut off the only one who has a knowledge about him off."
Maya paused. 'Experience? What experience? I have as much information on him as you people have.' On the outside, however, she kept a calm and collected face. "Well then, from Connor's findings, you should know that he had some help with his murders. From how outrageous and illogical they were, it would seem that the persons helping him may have awakened before the eye emerged." Corwin gave a slight nod, his hands clasped behind his back as they walked to the mall.
"From your out of the blue silence, I take it you may have found something relating to Charles. After all, Matteo was a rather interesting individual tied to Andrew," Maya let out a small laugh. "This is one of those things that if I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Corwin, in his years of service, gestured for her to continue. "When interacting with Matteo, I ran into a character known as Drissel. She kidnapped me and kept me in custody for two months before letting me go. No torture, nothing, just kept me in a room, but her words were rather…interesting to say the least."