When the Lights Go Out: MAN OF MEDAN [The Dark Pictures Anthology]

x. a nutcase

Filled with newfound determination, Conrad and I pushed the table against the door. With all the hype of what's been going on around, I was a bit surprised to see Conrad motivated yet visibly trembling with fear all of a sudden. Well, I guess now that we're actually doing something, it freaked him out a bit. All of this must be overwhelming for him, and I bet for the others as well. I couldn't blame them, not really.

What I don't understand though is why I seem to be unmoved with everything going on. In fact, I should be the one who's the most affected, considering that I'm literally living someone else's life.

But is Emma Lincoln even a real person? Are any of these people real? Or are they just some characters the Curator magically conjured?

"Hey, hey!" We heard one of the men say as Alex started kicking the vent open, bringing me back to my senses.

Hearing them yell and bang seemed to have agitated Conrad even more. He pushed harder but it didn't do much good because he was shaking profusely.

I was too worried about Conrad that I couldn't focus on the matter at hand.

"Can you two pull yourselves together?" Fliss said with an annoyed expression on her face as she helped push the metal table.

Finally, Alex had successfully opened the vent, taking it as one of the men's cue to grunt in anger and bang the door harder. I looked back and saw Alex, Julia, and Brad start going through the now-open vent, respectively.

While feeling the man hit the door, I could also feel my heart thumping in sync with it, although mine was obviously faster. Just think about it, one wrong move and we're done in a snap.

"Emma, go." Conrad said in quite a condescending tone. His face was distorted with fear and panic and it was full of sweat. I didn't wanna leave him at this state. But I didn't dare question his command any further and went straight through the vent just as I was told and sat beside Brad. I figured they'll be fine, I just gotta have some faith.

"You okay?" Asked Brad.

Out of breath, I answered. "Yeah, you?"

"W-We're good."

We waited a few more seconds until we heard Fliss speak.

"Hey! What the hell?"

Soon, we saw Conrad go through the vent with the lamp in his hand, telling us to go.

All of us ran, too eager to get away from that room as far as possible.

As soon as we came to a halt, I noticed Fliss was nowhere to be seen. I thought maybe she was just running slowly and that she'll soon catch up with us. But if so, she's taking way TOO long, if you ask me.

Panting, I asked, "Where's Fliss?," to which Conrad answered with a heavy sigh as he looked down on his feet.

"Are we safe now?"

I ignored Julia's question and instead asked Conrad the same question as before. He probably just didn't hear me the first time. Conrad eventually looked at me but no words came out of his mouth. That's when I realized something.

"You left her?"

I tried advancing to Conrad but Alex interfered and stood between us both. "It's okay, Emma."

"We have to go back! What if they kill her?" I said, looking intently at Alex' eyes. I couldn't understand why he's not worried about Fliss.

"They wouldn't--" Alex tried to reason with me but I could tell that he was going impatient.