Driving back to the police station with my smoking cigar between my lips was helping me calm down from the previous events that made me almost faint and sick to my stomach. It was all my fault, I know that. I should have be more vigilant when I am with strangers and not to get myself into a compromising situation with them.
But it is too late for that now, the wanted criminal is dead; Bill was killed in brutal death in front of his crying son and now the infant will be traumatized from witnessing such a horror. There is no turning back for this, and this fucking hurts.
I am a coward; I have always been. No matter how hard I try to overcome my weakness, it just ended up in my failure. It is all because of me that Bill is dead, and I cannot help it to feel guilty for this. The child’s own father, the only person that he can depend on and trust, is now gone from his life. He will never see his father again, and I have been the one who have caused this horrible scene in front of him.
“Fuck…fuck..” I accidentally mumbled out loud as I drive through the quiet roads of the night, gaining the attention of Eve, who was sitting next to me in the front seat. “Adam..its not your fault,” she said in my defense, trying to comfort me.
“It is! I should have been more careful and not have gotten myself into this situation,” I answered, smoking the cigar while I drive nervously from my anxious thoughts that is playing in my mind. “I am a coward, and I can never forgive myself for that,” I added, glaring sadly at the road ahead.
“Adam..this is not your fault!” She said in my defense, trying to calm me down while I am cursing my own fate. “You did not know this would happen, you-“
The police vehicle immediately stop at the red traffic light, interrupting her as I turn my head to look at her, “I should have been more careful! It is my fault!” I yelled out, pounding the steering wheel violently, “I should have done more to protect the two and prevent anymore bloodshed, “and I hate it! I hate myself for that!”
My heart is pounding crazy, tears are falling from my eyes, sobbing and cursing my own failure. The sins crawling on my back and digging deep into my heart, I am the one responsible for this. I should have done something else instead of choosing such a selfish option!
“Adam..!” Eve tried to calm me down, “remember what you said when we first met? That I need to continue onward regardless of the obstacles that is ahead of me? That I need…more faith in myself?” she said softly, gently wiping my tears away with her hand.
I remember…I remember the day we met, the encouraging words I spoke to her in becoming the person she is now, “faith in myself…” I repeated quietly, slowly calming down as my heart rate returned to normal. Eve furrowed her brows in concern, “you need more faith in yourself Adam, whatever had happened just now; it is beyond your control. Just relax and let our life move us through the freezing wind,” she said, patting me on my shoulder.
“Yes, you are right,” I said in a slightly calmer tone, “I-I need to believe in myself…yeah, that would do. Thanks, Eve,” I added, wiping away my own tears from her comforting words.
She closed her eyes, smiling genuinely as the darkness slowly washed away from my heart, “you are welcome.” Her tone was not the usual uncaring impression, rather a compassionate, understanding and warm voice that I rarely heard before.
I chuckled quietly as I let out a deep sigh, “you are right, we need to keep moving,” I said, continuing the trip after the traffic lights turned green, allowing us to proceed along the road. “I am fine now,” I added, trying not to look back at the scene of my failure.
Eve nodded in agreement, “I am glad you are fine now, Adam,” she said, turning her head back to the road ahead. “Yeah…thanks for everything Eve,” I replied in appreciation, letting out a gentle sigh of release from the tension of my inner turmoil.
The atmosphere became peaceful and comfortable as we continued our journey through this city, which brought a smile to my face. I looked over at Eve; she was still smiling, appearing to be sleeping as her head rests upon my shoulder.
It is relaxing to say the least, having someone at my side and walk with me through this city as we continue our journey together. Even though I thought and said this before in likely dozens of times, it is nonetheless a comforting feeling to remind myself that someone is there; always at my side.
After a long while, we reached back to the police station, stopping just behind my parked red sports car as I turned off the engine and gently try to wake her up, “Eve, were here,” I said in a calm voice, leaning towards her ear so she can hear me.
“Oh, okay,” she said, opening her eyes and looking back at me. “This is the station?” she asked in a low tone, as she slowly got up from the passenger seat and stood upright on her feet.
“Of course it is,” I replied with a gentle smile, “you forgot that we work here, Eve?” I humorously added. “I did not forget,” she said with a calm smile of her own, “we should head inside, the chief is probably waiting for us,” Eve commented, looking at the station building from the corner of her seat.
Reaching the doorknob, I opened before a sudden warmth lips of kiss touched my right cheek, “I love you, Adam,” Eve said as she pulled back and went outside, leaving me in a frozen state of shock and mirth. “Uhm…I love you too,” I embarrassingly mumbled under my breath, walking through the door after her as we stepped into the police station.
To our shock, however, no one was inside despite being open to the public. It was odd that there are no visitors or even employers walking around in the main public lobby. Even more curious, the police station is still not alarmed; meaning we did not hear any sirens or any security system going off.
As we stand there in a mix of confusion and disarray, the voice of a familiar person announced its presence from behind us, “ah, there you two are,” the mysterious voice said as we immediately turnaround from the sudden appearance of someone different.
It was no other than Mervin, the mutant or rather the humanoid mouse himself. But the strangest part was that I did not even sense anyone here, it was as if he just appeared from nowhere. “Mervin? What are you doing here?” I asked him, feeling slightly confused as to why he is even there.
Mervin smiled, bowing respectfully, “I apologize Adam and Even; I did not meant to scare you two, but I came here to tell you that the police station is on a complete lock down. “Mervin said, making me furrow my brows in worry, “why is that?”
He sighed, glancing at Eve who was standing there with her arms crossed and frowning, demanding an answer from him, “I came here to tell you that a person afflicted by the cult was responsible for bombing the building you previously worked in, Adam.”
Me and Eve froze from hearing his words, looking at each other for answers before turning back to him, “you are serious, aren’t you?” I squinted my eyes in full attention, studying his body language and facial features to look for any signs of lies or deception; only finding none.
“His telling the truth,” my eyes widen as Eve turn to look at me in shock, “if this is true, then…” she turned back to Mervin, “can we talk to that person?” Eve asked him, her voice calm and collected despite being in complete shock.
“Of course, I will bring you to him; however, only Adam can talk to him,” Mervin said, causing greater confusion between me and Eve from his words.
“Why?” I asked him, trying to comprehend why I cannot let Eve come with me in this encounter. “Mister Piper is a dangerous man; he is a member of a ruthless and infamous cult. I will only bring Adam as this is interrogation instead of meeting,” Mervin said in a serious tone, “and I have a good reason to bring only Adam to meet him.”
“You mean…” I said in a low and hushed voice, “you want to get some information out of him?” Mervin nodded, “yes Adam,” he continued, “if you want to know anything about the cult, its members and how they work; then you must see this man.”
“I’ll do it,” I purposed, clenching my fists tightly, “but first let’s get a few things straight; the reason I am doing this is not from the kindness of my heart, but out of the desire to discover the truth and make this cult pay for killing my father and fiance,” anger welled up inside me after hearing what Mervin had just told me, “and if I can get justice for my father and fiance by doing this, especially my friends, then I will do it.”
Mervin smiled softly, “we understand that Adam,” he said in a sympathetic tone, “Eve can come with us to the interrogation room, but when we reach there; your own safety is in your own hands.”
“Understood,” I said, “but I am still going to see this through until the end.”
“If you say so,” Mervin walked away as we quietly followed him from behind in silence. We went through a few hallways and finally reached the end of a long hallway, where we saw the door that led into the room for interrogating.
“Good luck,” he turn the doorknob and opened, only allowing myself to enter as Mervin and Eve remained outside the room. I made my way inside slowly, making sure not to make any noise and being careful of every step. The room was anything but special; it had the typical bland appearance of a regular interrogation room that is found in police stations.
However, what had gained my full attention was the said cultist in behind the table with short sleeves, wearing an ecclesiastical red robe but that is not what I had noticed of him so far. His head was shaped with a familiar resemblance of pig and the long black hair that fell down from his face had its pointy end forming the shape of a sharp looking nose, and his round face and eyes were inhumane.
His visible arms was all covered with dirty black fur and the hands was deformed into a shape of a pig’s paw, only its fingers were still human-like. The skin of his hands was black and a bit wrinkled from the constant exposure to the cold.
There is no mistaking, what I am dealing with here is not a man but a mutant.
“The Freeman!” He then oink like a pig, “fate has brought us here in this very room! Hail the mighty and benevolent dark lord!” The cultist then open his arms wide as if he were welcoming his savior from heaven.
What the fuck is wrong with him? And why does these lunatics keep calling me the ‘The Freeman?’ Mind as well just get this over with.
I sat down on the chair, looking in front of him with anger, “you did this! You bombed that mental asylum I used to worked in, why?!” He then laughed maniacally, “because of his benevolence! His benevolence is our divine reward for serving him!”
“This is just a fucking lie, I never heard of this ‘dark lord’ thing before or whatever! Stop fucking making this rumbling shit and TELL ME THE TRUTH!”
“You are right, the dark lord is just a myth made by those weak humans to feel better about themselves and their terrible lives. He is nothing more than a symbol of hope for the weak-minded, a symbol of what they could become if they did everything according to-“
I stood up, slamming my hands on the table, hard. “I do not care, I want to know everything, now. Including your stupid cult,” the venomous words that came out of my mouth was a surprise for him to be honest, I just want to get this situation finished with.
The cultists laughed like a pig, “your anger is refreshing! We are glad to have you here with us! But the precious words of your silver tongue will not do you well when we are about to fulfill our promise to him!”
My heart dropped in my stomach, what the fuck is going on?
“If you won’t tell me…then I have to resort into mentally breaking you, piece by piece.”
