What the fuck was I thinking? They had the car keys! How the hell am I supposed to get home? My head felt like it was going to explode. What if a wild animal or mutant saw me in this forsaken flat wasteland of snow and ice? What would they do to me? Would they kill me for fun, feed me their food or torture me until I die? Or maybe, just maybe, some other weird supernatural creatures will find me.
I sat on the front entrance stairs of the lone house, deep within the cold weather with my legs folded under me. The wind blowing against me was chilly but not unbearable as it did little to affect me from having already gotten used to the frigid temperature like everyone else. It had been nearly an hour since I bargained with my two partners just to make that son of bitch leave this world.
My mind was a mess, unable to think straight due to the constant worry about how to get home and what would Walker and Mervin imagine me for doing something so reckless like trying to bargain their lives away just to have that monster return to hell. Yet, I knew I had no choice but to do it because of how dangerous he was, making me wonder why the hell I am still alive to begin with.
The only thing I can imagine right now is how I should get out of here as soon as possible before any of these freaks attack me again, forcing me into another terrible situation. And even though I cannot help but feel sorry for Helson and Mano, I had to protect myself from being killed by that freak.
After all, what is done is done and there is no going back. I thought, slowly standing up from the stairs, “I should ask one of the residents living in those houses nearby if they can give me a ride,” I said to myself while brushing off the snow on my pants.
“No, that is stupid. They could be empty or have dangerous people inside,” I whispered to myself as my head turned around, searching for anything familiar. The flat surroundings looked dead quiet and lifeless with no signs of human activity at all, but then again, it is probably too late to expect someone outside.
Yeah, too late.
I could not help but walk and stand outside the front house, looking above the starry and beautiful night sky that filled the area with its glow. The air was crisp and cold, causing my body to shiver slightly once more. My breath came out in white vapor and dispersed into thin clouds of mist.
This is getting ridiculous, I thought as I looked up to see the moon and stars twinkling brightly in the sky. This place was so desolate and boring that it made me wish that I would never have come here in the first place. But alas, this is where I am now, which means I had no choice but to live through whatever situation I found myself in.
Hmm, perhaps I should look at the back of the house, there could be a town nearby or something. Or maybe there’s some kind of village within walking distance?
I then decided to take one last glance at the front house before turning around to head towards the other side of the building. As soon as I got near enough to the rear of this house, my eyes fell upon a small town from a distance, lit up by several bright lights. It appeared like there were a couple of houses scattered throughout its area, along with a few buildings and stores that resembled restaurants, grocery shops and even a hotel. There was also what appeared to be a school located at the outskirts of the town.
None of that mattered though, the hotel is where I need to go.
With my growing perseverance, I headed towards the small town. Walking straight down the narrow road, I could feel the touch of snowflakes gently touching my skin. My breath came out in white vapor and dissipated into thin clouds of mist as well. It was quiet and peaceful. Nothing but silence filled the night air. No sounds of cars passing by, no noises of people talking or laughing, nothing.
Judging from the distance, it would take about a few minutes to reach there with my pace, so I decided to stop for a moment to catch my breath. This cold weather is not helping at all as my fingers are freezing up and my nose feels like it is going to freeze off any second. As such, I wrapped both hands around the sides of my trench coat to keep them warm while looking at the streetlights from the town glowing brightly in the distance.
I am almost there!
My heart pumped faster with excitement as I continued walking towards the lighted town. At long last, this is where I will find shelter, food and warmth, which I badly needed. A sigh of relief escaped me as I reached the entrance to the small town and entered its premises. The place was vivacious compared to the rest of the places I have been before, especially during this late of the night.
But I could not shake the feeling that someone is watching me throughout the whole time I am here, though I could not see outright see anyone due to the lack of light during nighttime. However, the feeling of being watched made my nerves tense up, making my body stiffen and sweat profusely on the inside.
I then glanced at the hotel building. Its structure was quite tall with several floors, but most importantly, it had a signboard hanging above the front door that read “Kike’s Hotel.”
“This must be the place,” I said aloud to myself as I headed straight towards the hotel before deciding to stop, look back and observe everything in the area once more, “I do not feel right…” My senses told me otherwise.
There were no signs of anything suspicious, but my senses and instincts on the other hand are telling me that there is danger lurking around every corner waiting for the perfect moment to strike. However, I can feel that there is more higher chance of dying if I entered that hotel than staying outside in the cold, so I decided to contemplate whether I should go inside or not? I did not want to die, but I also did not want to get killed either. But what choice would I have, I am already here now.
So I decided, luring that person or whoever is following me into the open and then hope for the best. If things go south, then I will just try to mess with their minds with my psychology skills until they give up on trying to harm me. I know that sounds very cliché, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.
The problem lies in how to draw them out, however; since whoever this person is stalking me; I can say for sure that they will have the opportunity to come out and start conversation with me before doing whatever she or he is going to intend in doing.
Mind as well get it over and let her/him make the first move. It is better to do something than nothing at all.
I turned my head on the opposite side, mindlessly walking through the small town until something caught my eye – the alleyway, except that it is not an alleyway but rather just two lightened houses close to one another with the open middle acting like an alley.
Yeah…that would be good time for that person to strike me down in the open and run away without a trace while leaving me dead and bleeding on the floor. Good for them, bad for me though, as I am just an ordinary man who does not wish to die.
“Fuck it,” I said aloud to myself with a sigh. I am tired of waiting and standing around in the cold, “lets get this over.” When I stepped closer towards the alleyway I suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind me and immediately turned my head to see what was happening. The steps were heavy and loud, making the sound echo off between the walls and windows of these two houses at my side.
My senses told me that there was only one person following after me, hearing the footsteps getting louder and more distant every second. My eyes scanned around for any suspicious individuals, but no one was in sight yet.
Then out of nowhere, both my instincts and senses went to the roof as my own body immediately spun in motion, seeing close-ups of four knives before I instinctively dodged to avoid being stabbed by the blades. From all the walking, my fatigue dived in, resulting in one of the knives grazed against the back of my left arm, sending a jolt of pain up to my shoulder, as if I had been shot with a bullet.
I yelped in pain, dragging my ass down to the snowy ground while holding my injured left arm with my right hand, trying to stop the blood from dripping onto the snow. With my eyes still alive and not stabbed, I looked up again and saw the attacker who had just attacked me and I gasped from the familiar young woman I had seen a few days ago.
There stood was the same young woman wearing a white catholic robe, long blond hair and that I had not noticed from before. There is still no doubt that it is the same person, especially with that blank and emotionless face of hers.
“Why are you following me?” I asked her in disbelief, confused on why she suddenly appeared behind me like a ninja. “Who are you anyway? Why do you want to kill me?” I had so many questions running through my mind, but before I could ask anything else, the young woman simply tilted in curiosity at me and said, “I was sent to kill you,” no emotion came across her voice.
“Sent to kill me? By whom?!” I demanded an answer from her. She then shrugged with a nonchalant attitude and replied, “I am not allowed to tell.” And that is when I realized something, the young woman is fucking dead set on killing me without hesitation.
Think, think! I have to discover how this woman knows about me, and why does she want to kill me in the first place?! Then, after taking a deep breath and calming myself down, I continued my interrogation by asking, “who wanted to kill me?”
Instead of response, she silently and slowly walked towards me, with knives drawn from her sleeves. She stopped in front of me while staring straight into my eyes, making me nervous and fearful that if I made any wrong move or movement she would stab me instantly. “Who the hell are you?!” I demanded an answer once more, but the young woman remained silent as always.
She then raised her right arm, the knife reflecting in the moonlight as it glinted off its sharp edge, ready to strike me down for good. My heart pounded so fast and hard against my chest that I thought I might faint from fear. “Answer me!” I shouted angrily at the young woman.
Fear, that is what I am feeling now. That is what all humans feel when they are afraid of death and their lives being taken away, to see my last moments of being murdered in an alley is hilariously scary and classic. But instead of running or fleeing, I stood still like a statue and faced my own end, knowing that doing either option is pointless as I barely have stamina left to run.
When I felt the incoming blade heading straight down my skull, I screamed in fear of what was to come while my eyes were closed, not knowing that my death had not immediately arrived because the woman had stopped just before her dagger was about to stab me.
Opening my eyes in confusion, I see her hand holding the knife, trembling and she looks as if she has gone confused and shaken like me.
“How…how did you know my name?” Her words carried some emotion in her voice, but there is also a hint of hesitation and fear. Although, I cannot tell what is going on inside this woman’s mind as I could only guess. Perhaps she is hiding something? Or perhaps the screaming part terrified this assassin?
“What?” I blurted out. The young woman stared at me blankly for a moment, then shook her head and replied, “I am sorry.” And that is when I realized that she was trying to back off from attacking me, “when you screamed before my knife planted in your cerebral hemispheres, you called my name.”
I did what now?
“I..screamed out your name?” I asked again. But the young woman did not reply, she merely kept looking at me with a strange and confused look on her face, like a lost and scared person. I was wondering why I would know her name in such an odd situation where I never met her before in my life, when suddenly I noticed that her hands were still shaking. Is she nervous and afraid of me now for calling out her name?
Seeing this chance, I decided to take advantage of it and play along, “what was the name?” I carefully spoke, hoping that she would answer me honestly and without hesitation. However, the young woman only looked away, almost as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with me.
“My name…is…” she started speaking, but her voice trailed off into contemplating silence. She then turned around and looked at me with uncertainty, “…Eve.”
