Stockholm Syndrome

Dead Inside

Song is: Dead Inside, by Muse

I flicked through the file. Half of the pages had been ripped out of it, signatures scribbled out. I frowned, placing my fingertips on the printed name. SUBJECT -------- The rest was scribbled out with biro. I put it down, a lump forming in my throat. Something was badly wrong here. I jumped at a knock on the door. "Hey Rosemary, you in there?" I sighed in relief. "Yeah Max." The door opened and Max entered, his crooked smile I had grown to love and trust displayed on his candlelit face. "Hey. You ok?" I gazed at him thoughtfully. His brown eyes were soft and gentle in the candlelight, a small smile playing on his lips. "Um, yeah. You?" He lifted one shoulder. "Kinda. Professor was lecturing me again today. How to dissect the human brain and stuff." He shuddered; my heart pounded in a sudden panic. "Did he mention Derp?" Max shook his head. "No. Why?" I was about to answer when his eyes widen. "Actually, he did." He crossed the room to my bed and sat down on it, hesitantly taking my hand and pulling me down beside him. "Um, he went on a rant about stuff. Didn't think I could hear him. Derp was mentioned several times, as in, 'Subject 304'. Randel always states that he's a failure of an experiment...but...he said something else. S-said, 'if only the ones before him were still around.'" He looked at me in worry. "What do you think he meant?" I pursed my lips before handing him the folder. "Maybe this will have something to do with it."
***
SKY EYES. DYING. HAVE TO. HELP. SO DARK. DARKNESS. BLINDNESS. PAIN. nO eScApe FrOm ThE mOnStEr InSiDe oF mE. The monster I've become. Bleeding. He's dying. So slowly. So cold. Blood on my hands. Taste in my mouth. Want more. More screams. Want to kill. NO. WANT TO HELP! Light. I see light. LIGHT! HELP! SKY EYES! SOMEONE HELP! I scream so loud it hurts. Hear footsteps. I freeze. MASTER. Door opens. Hurt hits me. "Failure! What have you done you creature?!" Tears. Pain, so much pain. Pain inside. Want Sky Eyes. Want him to hold me. But he is cold and dead, because of me. MY FAULT. ALWAYS MY FAULT. ANGER. FURY. Stand up. Leap. Claws rip through flesh. Snarls. Redness. Heartbeat pounds. Master screams. I...LIKE SCREAMS. LIKE, PAIN. Sky Eyes wouldn't betray me. I won't hurt him. I LIED. More tears. More pain. Master has knife. Blade sinks into skin. Claws drip with blood. Demon. Creature. Animal. Failure. Subject 304. Fall to cold floor. I'm Subject 304. I'm an animal. Cry. Sky Eyes will always be hurt when I'm around. Can't control. I WILL NEVER BE WHAT THEY WANT ME TO BE! I'M A FAILURE! Voices scream in head. Pain. Master yelling at me. Sky Eyes' moans in my head. MAKE THEM STOP! Sobs wrack insides. STOP! PLEASE! Something hard hits head. Needle sinks into flesh. Mind goes blank and white. No more voices. Silence. Can't...remember. Can't feel inside. I don't feel alive anymore. I'm not alive. I'm dead. Dead inside.
***
I look at Rose. "Did you hear that?!" She nods, grass green eyes wide. We stand up and run to the door as one, throwing it open. I slam it shut before springing after her. Towards Derp's screams. "Derp!" Rose calls out to him. I take a deep breath, lungs shuddering, heart pounding. We round a corner and I stop dead. Randel is leaning against the wall, blood dripping from deep gashes in his arm and neck. They look like...teeth marks; gouges made by nails. Derp is staring at us, eyes devoid of emotion, blood dripping from his fingers and bared teeth. He looks like an animal. His look turns predatory and I see Rose take a step back. I see Ian lying on the floor, cold blood trickling from a congealing wound in his arm. There's an X carved into the side of his neck and deep teeth marks embedded too in his flesh. Rose sees him as well and covers her mouth, stifling a sob of terror as Derp cranks his neck over to one side, a psychotic grin stretching slowly across his face. A needle slips from Randel's limp grip and he collapses on the ground. Derp stares at him. I see the wheels turning in his head as he takes a step towards him, a creepy growl rumbling in the depths of his throat. "D-Derp? It's me, Rose." He turns his head slowly to look at her unblinkingly. "Rose, he doesn't know us. We should run."

She looks at me. "But Ian is still in dang-" She screams as Derp leaps at me, his teeth sinking into my skin, eyes ablaze with fury and bloodlust. I yell and hit the ground, his nails digging into me as he bares his teeth, his jaws clamped round my upper arm. I cry out as his canines draw blood, diving deeper into me. Rose pushes him off me and he lashes out at her, snarling, eyes rolling in his head. I scramble away from him. "What the hell did that needle do to him?!" Rose's eyes widen. "It's the needle Randel used on him before!" My eyes widen too as his head swings round to face me. He goes low to the ground, growling through gritted teeth, regarding me as a predator would before attacking and mauling its prey to death. This isn't the man I saw the other day, carrying Ian and holding him protectively, love in his eyes as he looked down at him in his arms. This is a monster trapped inside the flesh of a man. He snarls again and springs at me, clawing and biting. I scream and leap to my feet, grabbing Rose's hand before turning and sprinting away. We run fast. I can still hear him behind us. Screaming. Laughing. Singing demented songs.

I grip Rose tighter, bringing her closer to me as I stretched my legs out further, running faster. My lungs and heart ache as he gains on us. Then something grabs the back of my neck and yanks me backwards. I'm on the ground, staring up in terror at the psycho standing above me. His crooked eyes are narrowed, fiery with insanity, his teeth bared, grin stretching from one side of his face to the other. He laughs and grabs me, pulling me to my feet and biting my neck hard. Rose screams in horror as his teeth sink deeper and deeper. I yell in agony and try to pull away. I stop dead. I feel my flesh give a little. If his teeth meet, he'll bite straight through my windpipe, perhaps more. I freeze, rendered helpless as he bites deeper still, tears of pain and fear running round my face. Then Rose grabs his face and wrenches his jaws apart. I fall. He turns on her as blood drenches my neck. My vision flickers. He laughs at her terror. "They always said I was a strange child. Said I would do great things when I was older!" He snarls. "They lied. They never said those things would be good now, did they?!" He advances towards her, swaying from side to side, laughing, singing an eerie song. "Iiiinsaaaaaniiityyyy, the weight of the air is torture-" He twitches spasmodically.

"Psyyychooopaaaathyyyy, don't know who I am anymore." Blood drips from his hands and face. My blood. Ian's blood. The Master's blood. "Captiiiivityyy, why don't you take a chance?" Rose is sobbing now. I can't help her. I'm drowning in my own blood. His eyes are glowing red now. As red as two twin suns. "Now the darkness has taaaken meee." Suddenly, he stops dead, staring down at his hands. He doesn't move for what seems like hours, but what is really minutes. "Taken me..." Then a strangled sob escapes him. He starts shaking violently. Sobbing louder. He throws back his head and screams. I'm paralysed in fear as he clutches his head, screaming incoherent words and names. I hear one though. Sky Eyes. He falls to the ground, raking at it with his bloody nails, screaming still in agony. Rose and I are rigid in terror as he scrabbles at his eyes, as if trying to tear them out of his own skull. "DARKNESS! IT'S EVERYWHERE!" He yells in pain, tears falling thick and fast from his tightly shut eyes.

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He scrambles away from us, flailing around, screaming at non-existent enemies. "PLEASE! NO MORE NEEDLES!" He cringes, whimpering and sobbing. Rose takes a cautious step towards him. "Derp, we're not here to hurt you, we-" His eyes snap open and he stares at us in complete horror. "NO! N-NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME! YOU'LL STAB ME AGAIN! TEAR MY EYES OUT AND MAKE ME BLIND!" He cries like a frightened child, a vulnerable figure. My eyes begin to close as Rose places her hand on his shaking shoulder. "Derp. It's me, Rosemary." He looks at her through his bloodstained fingers. "R-Rose-m-a-r-y?" She nods, tears dripping from her grass green eyes. "Yes Derp. I-it's me." She whispers, attempting a weak smile to reassure him. His eyes fill with fresh tears as I slump to the ground, my vision going black. The last thing I hear is Derp's hoarse voice asking Rosemary the dreaded question.

"Wh-where's my Sky Eyes?