One of them was hit in the shoulder, he must have lagged behind… But going back to the same place as before? There might be more people. It's better to just leave. I've already had enough trouble for today.
I crouched on the ground for a while to think. Unfortunately, it started to snow, which would make it even harder to detect other people.
I took another route and circled around the building area where the confrontation happened, making sure to stay as far away from that place as possible while heading back to the house on the bridge. That area seemed neutral, I could stay there at least until this blizzard passed.
However, as I was returning, I noticed many footprints around the bridge house. They didn't look like they belonged to children. I have a bad feeling about this, I probably shouldn't get too close.
The environment fell silent again. Silence always brings back bad memories. I learned something very valuable a long time ago, if I remember correctly, my father taught me. While he was still alive.
Whenever the environment remains silent, it means something greater has silenced everything around it. In other words, when the forest goes quiet, it means the animals are hiding from a predator.
When you feel like you're being watched, it's because you actually are. When something seems far away, it's because it's close. And when it seems close, you'd better run. It's frightening how useful that is.
When I reached the spot, I saw lights on inside the house's tarps. There were silhouettes of five adult men, it looked like a meeting. But what the—
CLACK!!!
I heard a shot from afar. When I looked down, I saw a hole in my chest. Breathing became difficult. As I turned to look, I heard two more shots from the sides, one hit my thigh, the other my stomach.
— Shit!
They kept firing, more, and more, without stopping. How many times did they shoot…? The snow turned red, my vision was blurring far too fast… How did they know I would come back here?
Someone was standing in front of me. I couldn't distinguish their face, but they were wearing white clothes, perfect for camouflaging in the snow. I tried to draw my rifle, but they shot my arms.
If their aim is this sharp, why don't they just shoot my head? Why don't they just end this already…? What a bunch of psychopaths.
The world seemed to spin around me.
— Это он. (It's him.)
The voice came from the direction of the bridge house. A man was clutching one of his shoulders with a blood-stained cloth… Bastard… So he didn't go home after all…
[My eyes closed, and the pain faded away.]
My body felt light, as if it were diving into a sea of warm water. It was so comfortable…
I was slowly sinking toward the bottom. Sunlight pierced through the water, wrapping my body in a warm summer embrace. I could feel it, the warmth intertwining its fingers with mine, trying to drag me out of the water.
This sweet sensation… if this is a dream, I don't want to wake up.
[That thing kept dragging my body upward.]
I didn't want to open my eyes. My body was far too tired. I can't even remember the last time I felt this… Was it… when I was born? No, I couldn't possibly remember something like that. I was far too young.
[My body stopped being dragged upward.]
A texture began to spread around me, very different from water. It was viscous and thick, it felt almost like…
[I opened my eyes.]
The water was saturated with red. A form made of light was embracing my body. It was golden like the sun, like a woman.
— Not yet.
Her voice was calm despite the situation.
— It is not yet the time.
That red liquid was leaking from my body, but I wasn't wounded.
— You haven't found her yet.
And am I supposed to find someone? That being of heat placed her hands on my face, her fingers spreading across my cheek.
The warmth that had been comforting until then turned searing, as if a hot iron were branding my face. I tried to pull away, I struggled, I tried to push her away… but nothing worked.
— Wake up. — She said.
My eyes snapped open.
I was tied to wooden bars. The place looked like a basement. It was filthy and foul, with bloodstains scattered across the floor… Wait… is that a human tooth?
— Boss! He's awake.
A man was sitting in a chair beside me, holding a crowbar.
Shortly after he shouted, another man appeared. He was tall, wearing an ushanka hat and black wool gloves. A wide white coat with synthetic fur, white pants, and black shoes stained with snow.
He was smoking a cigarette, a revolver was prominently tucked into his waist.
— Is this the guy from Kholm?
His gaze was full of disdain, as if he were looking at a rat.
— Yeah, he's the one who shot Boris. — The man beside me commented.
— I have to say, I'm truly amazed that people like you exist. You were full of holes when you got here. — He pointed at me. — And look at you now. Not a single scratch. You're a lucky guy.
He crouched down, took a drag from his cigarette, and blew the smoke into my face.
— So, tell me, where did that little friend of yours from Kholm go?
I wasn't fully awake yet, the world was still spinning.
— I'm not part of that bunch of sons of a—
TAFT!!!
He slapped me with everything he had.
— Wh—
TAFT!!!
Again. And again. And again. Every time I spoke, he struck my face.
— I don't care what happened, whether you guys had a falling out or whatever. I just want you to tell me where he is. — He drew his revolver. — Are you going to tell me?"
— I'm telling the truth. I'm not from Kholm.
He smirked. — I see. — He aimed his revolver at my left leg and fired. The sound echoed through the basement.
Despite the wound, I showed no reaction. Of course I felt the pain, but my body no longer knew how to respond to it.
— Not going to scream?
BANG!!!
He shot my right leg this time, but again, my body showed no reaction.
— Looks like we're gonna have to dump him in the water, Boss.
He whistled. — Kholm really knows how to build soldiers. — He stood up. — Bring the bucket!
About five minutes passed. Then a henchman appeared with a bucket full of water, it looked close to freezing.
— Throw it on him.
Until that moment, I didn't care about the pain. But the exact second that freezing water hit me, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. My body panicked, my clothes became completely soaked.
My skin turned red instantly. I screamed. I wanted to roll on the ground, to run, to do anything to make my body warm again.
— Will you talk now?
— I'm not from Kholm, you son of a—
One of his henchmen threw water on me again. My fingers were hardening, parts of my body were turning white.
— I wonder what happens if I cut off your fingers… will they grow back? — The Boss commented, terrifying sadism etched across his face.
They continued the torture. They would stop for a few minutes for my body to regenerate, then go back to throwing water on me. Other times they shot me, beat me… and so the day went on.
When night fell, they stopped. Laughing, they said they'd be back the next day if I survived the night. And there I stayed, in that filthy, freezing basement.
Alone in the pitch-black darkness, I shivered from the cold. But my body wouldn't let me die, even if I wanted to. My body fought to keep me alive while my mind fought to end the suffering.
From their conversations while they tortured me during the day, I discovered that when they captured me, I had been in a coma for an entire day. This regeneration has a limit, it can't heal multiple wounds quickly. The more damaged my body is, the slower it works.
Kholm… They ruin my life even from afar. As if it wasn't enough that they took everything from me, now… even indirectly, they're going to take my life too.
Honestly, I'd let them. It's not like I have a good reason to keep living. I'm just going to suffer until I die… I should have burned with the lab. I should have…
I closed my eyes, praying I'd never open them again.
[But that thing appeared again.]
Once more, the warmth comforted my body with a hot embrace. Once more, I returned to that great sea of warm waters.
— You cannot die. — That voice said.
— Why won't you let me die?
She was dragging me upward again…
— No matter what happens, you must never go to the bottom.
I tried to break free from her embrace, but she kicked her feet and swam upward.
— Never descend into the abyss. Never stare into it for too long.
— Why… why won't you let me die?!
PLASH!!!
— Holy shit, hahaha! Is he seriously still alive?
A henchman woke me up with a bucket of ice-cold water. Hell had started again. It felt eternal, they beat me until they got tired.
They didn't give me Axionil so I could resist the cold better, and because of that, the putrid smell began to fill the air. They didn't give me food, and the hunger only worsened the symptoms.
My head wasn't working properly. The sounds came to me warped and distorted.
I blinked, and for a brief moment everything looked like it was made of flesh.
No. Not this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
— Axionil…
I gathered what little strength I had left to speak.
— What was that? — He mocked, leaning closer to my ear.
— Axionil… Please, give me Axionil…
— Did you hear that, Boss? This rat's one of those addicts.
— You don't understand… I need to take it…
The boss slowly walked up to me, stubbed his cigarette out on my skin, and lifted me by the hair.
— I remember that guy who went INSANE because of this Axionil crap. — He stared straight into my eyes. — Go on. Go INSANE. I wanna see it.
— Please… — I begged
It didn't matter what I said. They wouldn't stop for anything in this world.
They watched me closely, noticing my breathing growing faster, noticing that the cold water was no longer having any effect.
— Boss…
— What is it?
— Are you sure about this?
My body wasn't getting cold. On the contrary, I could see steam rising from my skin.
That… was the water they had poured on me?
— Holy shit. — The boss grinned. — What was this guy's name again?
— Félix, sir. — The henchman replied. — Félix Hoffmann.
I don't know what he said after that. My vision keeps flickering in and out. My heart is racing too fast. I can't keep my hands and feet still, and… my mouth won't stop salivating.
— Grab your guns. I want to see this. — The boss said as he lit a cigarette. — Let's see if those Kholm people really live up to the rumors.
The basement filled with five armed men. The boss took a few steps back and drew his revolver.
They stood there, patiently waiting, watching me agonize on the floor. I have no idea how much time passed. All I know is that I needed to get out of that place.
And they, like children, wanted to see what their new toy could do.
But they didn't understand…
tHiS iS nOt GoOd, fOr AnYoNe.
ThIs Is WoRsE tHaN tOrTuRe, ThIs Is a HeLl.
...........
[Félix's consciousness was overtaken]
[The world turned into flesh and entrails]
[The walls pulsed like a heart, and the floor became sticky]
[People turned into corpses amid the putrid stench that filled the air]
[His mind could no longer think of anything else]
[The irises of his eyes turned yellow, like the sun itself]