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

xvii. the last confrontation

As the water hit us all three, I accidentally let go of the gun and it slid away from me. Shit, where did it go? It's so dark in here that I can barely see.

I looked up to see them fighting over the distributor cap. I immediately rushed to them and pulled Olson away from Julia and punched him in the jaw. He didn't seem to have been hurt by it but he sure was now angrier with me.

He screamed and punched me in turn. I grabbed his shirt but he then pushed me in one of the crates, ripping a part of his shirt in the process. Julia then lamely swung the sledgehammer towards Olson but he just took it right from her hands and pushed her away too. He turned to me and swung the hammer, aiming it at my head but I got away fast enough. He smashed the crates and revealed sacks with some unidentifiable contents.

Could this be the gold? It definitely has the same colour with the mist--

"Aahh!!" I didn't even notice Olson grunt and swing the hammer right in my leg, knocking me down. I screamed in agony and it felt like my left leg was broken.

"Get out of there! Come on!" Julia exclaimed. I was about to crawl away from him but he grabbed my broken leg but kicked him with my right one. He backed away for a second so I took the chance to get away from him.

And then I saw the gun in the corner and immediately crawled towards it.

The ship moved again, knocking Olson down and he let go of the distributor cap. I swiftly took it and crawled away from him as fast as I could and I was actually nearing the cargo door.

"Come on Emma! I will pull the lever--"

"Do it now!" I exclaimed and heard her do it. I continued crawling again but I could see from behind that Olson was catching up. I pushed the distributor cap away so he couldn't get it from me.

Then, Olson pinned me down under the door and started choking me with his sledgehammer. We heard a link snapping and it distracted him so I pushed him again and tried to get away. Once another link snapped, I successfully got away... but so did Olson.

"You think you can get away from me?" He laughed in a dark tone as he slowly advanced in me.

"Stop!" Julia screamed but stopped in her tracks when she saw me aim the gun at Olson.

"Back the fuck away or I swear I will shoot. I swear!" But he didn't even care.

"Have you ever used a gun before?"

Trembling, I pulled the trigger. And then again. And then again. Shit, it has no bullets left! I threw the gun at him and crawled away.

"Idiot." He said.

Julia tried to do something but Olson pushed her away. He was now facing Julia, who was cowering in fear. I tried to stand up although it was very painful to do so.

I looked around and tried to find something I could knock him out with. To my left was a small wooden box that looked sturdy enough. I grabbed it and smashed Olson in the head, destroying the box in the process.

He fell down and accidentally let go of the sledgehammer so I quickly took it and smashed his head with it. Then again and again and again until Julia grabbed me.

"Stop! He's already dead! We're okay!" Julia exclaimed and then hugged me afterwards while she was sobbing.

I patted her on the back and looked at the state of Olson. His face was completely disfigured. I put the sledgehammer away and hugged Julia.

"Let's get the hell out of here." She said. I took the distributor cap. The piece of Olson's shirt I ripped was somehow stuck in it.

With the distributor cap in hand, we got out of the ship and back on the Duke. Julia was assisting me walk properly. Every step was painful but I'm just glad we were able to get out of there.

But just before we stepped onto the boat, Julia stopped me.

"What are you doing? We're waiting for Alex. Come on, he'll be back soon." Julia said. I could sense in her tone and facial expression that she's already suspecting that something had happened to Alex, but hoped she was wrong.

"Julia," I started, "He didn't make it."

Tears fell down from her face. "What? What are you saying?"

"Julia I'm so sorry."

"No! Not Alex too! Oh god no!" She was crying, obviously feeling defeated. I held her in my arms and comforted her, although I'm not gonna lie, I didn't care that much. I just knew she needed this.

Soon, the Duke of Milan successfully started. Alas, we're out of here! As we sailed on to the sea, everything went dark and then I was back at the repository.

Mozart's Requiem was still playing on the background. The Curator was humming along while writing something down.

As soon as he noticed I was already sitting there, he spoke.

"That's it. Game over. You're done... for now, at least."

He smiled a very teasing one.

"Not a very happy ending... or maybe it is? Whatever your objective really was. Depends on what makes you happy, really? I suppose when... 'the curtain falls,' you're either ready for it, or you're not."

His face grew a bit stiff again and continued on with his monologue about decisions.

"It's all about decisions, isn't it? Decisions made in a hurry, in a panic. Made with the heart instead of the head... or vice versa. Making grave decisions impulsively, or... simply out of habit... Sometimes those decisions take a long time to have repercussions. But there are repercussions. There are always repercussions."

I wanted to ask him about his last statement again but decided not to. He's probably just doing it on purpose to torment me even further.

He stood up and went straight to one of his bookshelves.

"'Til we meet again, Elaine. Maybe in Little Hope... maybe somewhere else." He said, referring to other instances outside his stories. "But be certain. We will meet again. It's... inevitable."

I wanted to talk about Conrad but everything went dark and then the next thing I knew, I was back at home, in my bed. Wait, in bed? Was I dreaming all along?

I quickly got up and saw myself in the mirror. It was the same clothes I was wearing before the Curator had taken me.

I left my room only to find a couple of things lying on the coffee table. There was Conrad's watch, Fliss' hair tie, and other things I accidentally took. In the centre however was a bottle with the model of a ship that looked like the SS Ourang Medan. I picked it up and saw a note and read it.

❝

Keep them.

I will see you in a few months time.

❞