The Red River

Act 1 Chapter Nine: Death

Darkness surrounded my mind. It wrapped around me, refusing to release me back to the light, back to life. I stood still, in a void filled with darkness, despair, agony, everything I had feared had come to life; yet, I could not see any of it. "You all blame God for your mistakes... I ask you this, who has ever read the real bible?... These false prophets... Look around you...Do you feel safe, or do you feel like one day you will be that missing person on the news... the rapture is upon us people.... Demons in human flesh walk among us... Let me in Stephen... Let God in..." Logan's voice trailed through the void, torturing me to relive every moment, every word I had heard from him before.

The light of life lit light a blazing flame, burning, dancing in front of my very eyes, protecting me from the darkness. The light grew bigger by the second, removing the darkness away, as if light had arms to shield me from the despair I had felt before. The light made me feel safe, it made me feel at ease.

"Come to me... Come to the light, let yourself be reborn, let the darkness be washed away." The boom of Logan's vocals ran from the light, smacking my eardrums at full speed. I failed to believe that the light was the way to go. Although it made me feel safe, I dared to follow Logan's voice again; however, the darkness behind me dared me to stay. I refused to die like this, not if it was not in my control.

"Stephen.... Stephen... Stephen!!" The voice of Henry broke me from the trance I had suffered before. My eyes felt like piercing needles as they were opened, forcing me to scream out in pain. My body hung from a loose pipe on the ceiling. My arms, my arms felt as if they were ignited the instant I woke up. The rope around my neck signaled that someone had hung me against my will.

"Hold on! Imma get you down!" Henry shouted, as he loosened the rope, allowing my body to fall against the pavement hard. I laid on the ground for a bit, trying to recover, trying to get time to breathe before panic let itself again. "Boy! Stephen, what the hell happened to yo-What the hell happened in here?" Henry asked nervously, as he stepped a few feet away from me. I looked around the room, finally seeing what he had saw, all the bodies who were once unconscious were brutally mutilated, heads bashed in. Some could not even be recognized; others had their eyes tore out their sockets. The man from before, was now nothing but a waste of flesh. There was no skin to signify if it was him or not. The only way to be sure was the crack against his skull where Logan had struck him prior to this moment.

"What... What happened? Logan... Where is he?" I asked slowly, regaining my strength and stamina. Henry looked a little bruised himself as if he had just come from a physical confrontation.

"Why are all these people dead Stephen? What did you do? What the hell did you do to these people?!" Henry shouted. Immediately aiming the nose of his pistol in my direction. He glared at me, waiting for me to pounce on him any second. His fist cuffed his pistol, he was ready to put me down, he wanted to shoot, he just needed a reason.

"Me, you think I did this? Henry you just saved me from hanging from the damn ceiling! How could I have done this?!" I demanded, glaring at Henry. I clutched both my fist ready for combat. The fire from before fueled me. The blood from the Red River pumped from my veins, it fueled the fire that burned in my heart with every beat. My eyes burned with rage and my mind... My mind was no longer in control. "You honestly think I did this!! I was caged up with these people for what seemed to be weeks while you were free!! I had to watch Logan torture this guy and you aim a gun at me!!" I screamed from the top of my lungs. I felt no pain, no remorse, no guilt, hell, I did not feel anything at the moment. My body went numb, the Red River took control and let me watch from a distance.

"I just got here dammit! I was chained up before I was knocked out with a fucking pipe! I wake up in a room filled with dead people! Every one of them had bullet holes in their heads! So, what did I do, I tried to escape and instead found this room, found you filled with all these people! These people don't have bullet holes in them, these people in here were gutted! Some of them don't even have skin! And you are the only one in here who is alive, who is capable of doing something like that! When we were in that room the first time Logan captured us, I saw him use that mist on you! That mist changed you... look at your eyes, they are filled with rage... You... you look like you are ready to kill someone... kill someone else." Those last words that fell from Henry's lips made a smile appear across my face. I slowly walked closer to him as he the pistol was still pointed in my direction.