Last Second

Chapter 4

Cold.

It was freezing. The overwhelming darkness ran an extra chill down his spine. As Ryan slowly gained consciousness, he realized his body was floating in an abyss. He looked around frantically to try and find a way out of being confined.

There.

A distant single light twinkled so impossibly far above that Ryan had to crane his neck to get a better glimpse. The small beam of light was slowly dissolving into the darkness. No! He kicked his legs in an attempt to float upwards towards the light that was growing smaller by the second. In a desperate attempt, he started flailing both of his arms around, hoping it would make him travel faster. Almost there! A cold hand unexpectedly took hold of him and tugged him down by the waist. Ryan turned around and found himself come face to face with the most revolting thing he had ever seen. Its lengthy arm extended down to hooked sharp claws, which found themselves a home on Ryan’s shoulder. Its face was obscured in darkness, but the dull lifeless eyes could still be seen, as well as the rotting face of that repulsive being.

“Finally, I am free!” Its laugh sounded like nails being dragged against a chalkboard.

Who are you? What do you want? Ryan thought frighteningly. His eyes trailed up briefly. Seeing that the circle of light was getting increasingly smaller triggered a small panic attack.

“Why, I’m glad you asked, Ryan,” the thing replied. Its mouth slowly spread into a wicked smile, revealing jagged, pointed teeth perfect for tearing flesh and crushing bones. A frantic glance at the captor revealed a red object glowing from the left side of its chest, barely the size of his fist. Ryan knew that he was running out of time. Once the light disappeared from his view, he knew he would have no hope left to escape this place. He would be forever imprisoned within this entity. No more seeing his family, no more seeing his friends, no more of anything else he’s ever accumulated to treasure in his life.

Ryan definitely didn’t want to lose everything.

He tried to struggle free but the attempt proved futile. The grip on his shoulder only tightened in response, and promptly, the claws drove deeper into his flesh. Ryan was just about to let out a painful scream, but the monster immediately responded. It seized the opportunity and whirled into a funnel form, then it rapidly dived into Ryan’s open mouth. The backwards momentum was forceful enough to push his entire body behind into the circle of light. A hoarse voice declared three last words that echoed through his mind: "I am you."

 

Ryan woke up to a glaring light in his eyes and wet clothes clinging to his torso. He squinted in behalf of vision adjustment to the lightness of the scene around him. Slowly, he began to make out jars and bottles sitting on top of parallel shelves and rectangular windows lining both sides of the place. I’m in the van, his mind registered. In a sad attempt, he tried to rise to a standing position, but it proved pointless as he was strapped down to a stretcher by the wrists. He resorted to wiggling his hands around, since he knew that he had to try something. Then his eyes fell on an empty syringe with remains of blue liquid dripping down the sides.

“Looks like the release worked.” Ryan instantly recognized the voice as belonging to the man that had tried to kidnap him. “Hard to believe he’s still alive.”

“It’s good he survived,” an unknown voice responded. “Our job is done. Let’s get out of here before the kid’s fully conscious.”

“Wait, I want to see how powerful the release is for myself. If it’s as good as he said, then this boy would certainly last, at the minimum, 5 minutes against me,” the latter proposed.

“We were ordered not to kill him, Randy.”

“Oh, I won’t kill him, Vince.” Randy sauntered towards Ryan with evil intentions showing in his eyes. “But if he were to die right after taking the release in some sort of accident… Well, that’s a very different story. Besides, I have a personal grudge against him.”

Ryan scrambled to break free from the leather straps binding him to the stretcher, but his flailing was soon brought to a halt when a meaty hand rested against his chest. “You wouldn’t mind if we  have a little fun before we part, would you?” Randy grabbed a knife from his pocket and took a single slash at the straps constraining Ryan’s hands, leaving a deep gash on his delicate wrist. He immediately rolled off the stretcher, slouching over and covering his wound, trying to bring the bleeding to a stop. All the while, he searched for an escape route. His focus ultimately landed on the door handle at the rear of the van.

Randy gave a roar as he aimed the weapon directly above Ryan. The boy snapped from devising his plan and briskly dodged to the right, then sprinted towards the back door. He nudged at the handle and pushed the door open, finding himself stumbling into a dark alley. He had picked up his pace and began to run, when he felt the kick of a heel land itself against his shin. The untimely impact left him to fall into the concrete floor face first. The heel pressed his hands into the rough gravel and caused him to belch a scream of pain.

“I didn’t think it would be this easy,” Randy chuckled with his booming voice. “I was expecting more of a challenge from someone like you, Javeken.”

Ryan stabilized himself on the palms of his hands. But upon noticing his recovery, Randy had him forcefully thrusted back onto the ground again. Again and again, Ryan tried to stand, and every time Randy would kick him down.

“Come on, Javeken!” He kicked Ryan.

Come on, Ryan.

“I know you’re holding back, so stop it.” Ryan received another blow.

I can help you alleviate this pain. Ryan clenched his fist.

“Unleash your power, I want to fight against you for real this time.”

Just let me out.

“You little…!” Ryan shouted. His chest began to glow red.

“That’s the repulsive Javeken I know.” Randy smirked upon realization of the red color. “Come at me.”