MUTATION: THE FATE OF A SOLE SURVIVOR

Chapter 12: The Madness Within

                I could see myself killing those men as though I was in a trance. I heard their death cries as their blood splattered across the sands. The crowd's roars were at its highest, but the voice in my head was louder than them all. It was the voice of the one inside me, leading me down the bloody path of killing. It represented nothing but violence, removing mercy from its dictionary and replaced it with the urge for blood.

I gasped and woke up to find myself in a room. I was bounded to a chair, both hands and feet, and found out that I was sweating profusely, even though the room temperature wasn't high. Part of my face and back was bandaged, reminding me of the arena. In the room, there was a lot of paintings and pictures of Boss Jack and his notorious men committing crimes and enjoying their earthly wealth. I didn't need anybody to tell me that I was in Jack's living room. The only question was: why?

I heard the sound of someone sniffing something into his nostrils, and I looked up to see Jack himself sniffing in a whitish substance lying on a table of a poker game into his right nostril. He shuddered as it circulated through his brain and had to support himself against a chair. There was nobody else inside the room besides the both of us, which was quite understandable considering the fact that I was bounded to the chair.

Boss Jack noticed I was awake and moved to where I was. He sat on a couch opposite me and lighted up a cigarette. He sucked it deeply and puffed out a cloud of smoke. "Smoke?", he asked while lifting up a pack of cigarettes.

"I don't smoke", I replied.

"Alright, if you say so", he replied while tossing away the pack and relaxed more on his couch. "Congratulations on your victory. I didn't believe a man like you could best eleven men".

I kept mute, not knowing whether to be grateful or not.

"What? Where they your friends or comrades? Know them, hmm?", he asked with a curious expression, which made me wonder why.

"I didn't", was my reply.

He smiled and resumed smoking. "Lemme guess", he said after clearing his throat, "You're probably wondering why you're here and not in your cell, right?".

I nodded my head in response.

He smiled and continued, "No one had ever bested every man by himself once in the sands, but you came and changed history".

"A change is always bound to occur".

"True, I must say. But there's something that keeps bugging me. In that arena, I noticed that the person who was fighting wasn't you, young man", Boss Jack commented and dropped his cigarette on an ash tray lying on a table beside him.

"What do you mean?".

"The person I saw fighting in the sands wasn't you, but the beast within".

I was surprised that he noticed it as well. However, I hid my expressions and continued our talk, "What do you mean?".

"You know what I mean. I can see it in you, hidden deep within your heart, caged, and chained deep inside. It's something that's once triggered, becomes very hard to control. You look like someone having a personality issue".

I paused a bit before replying, "I don't believe that".

"You don't huh?", Jack asked while slowly nodding his head. He stood up and began walking about in the room while he continued, "Do you remember fainting after your glorious victory?".