You're Different to Me

To Keep Me Safe

I've never felt so close to someone. Despite being taken from my home and sent to this place, it felt like fate had brought me here. My views on life had been turned upside down, my morals twisted, I wouldn't have it any other way. The challenge that it really came down to was to keep me safe, even if it meant hard decisions on both ends. We awoke from our passionate night together and come back to the reality of our situation. I slipped back into my clothes as he grabbed his leather jacket from the wardrobe and put his arms through. I sat on the edge of the bed, holding the mask he had given me in my hands. He pulled his mask down over his face and knelt beside me. I slid my own mask onto my face and he pulled up my hood over my head, only allowing my hair to come out the sides.
"It fits you well", he said trying to cheer me up. "I'm gonna show you the ropes okay? You don't have to go into trial often, just... enough." He said hesitating on the second half of his sentence. He stood and walked over to the bedside table and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a small knife with a cat charm hanging from the handle. He came back and held it out to me.
"I made this too, I hope you like it." He said cheerfully. I wish I could feel as confident as he did. The thought of using that to hurt someone made me feel sick to my stomach. With my emotions hidden behind my mask, I held the knife in my hands, unsure how to even grasp it. He offered me his hand, which I took somewhat reluctantly. I took a deep breath and pulled my shoes from under the bed to slip them on.
"I'll talk to them, most of the killers around here don't talk anyways, it'll be fine." He said reassuringly. I nodded as we walked towards the bedroom door. We made our way down the narrow wooden hallway until we passed through the front door of the cabin. Into the eternal night of the realm. I followed him closely trying not to show how much I was shaking. The man in the black robes was there, seemingly eyeing me through his ghostly mask. I gripped my knife tightly in my hand, hoping to show confidence I didn't have. I walked with Frank until we reached a large wooden fence gate. He pried it open causing a loud creaking noise. Together we walked into an eerie blackness and were engulfed by the entity. My vision cleared as we walked into a seemingly barren place outside of space and time. The sandy ground dropped vertically with an inky black fluid as the sky grew dark.
"Just watch me for now, follow in the shadows. I'll have a very important task for you later." He said grimly. I nodded and shakily followed behind him. He began to run with his knife seemingly slashing through the air in front of him. I tried my best to keep up with his pace, running behind him. I felt like I blinked before I was shaken to reality by a scream. In front of me, Frank was still running as a survivor hastily limped away. All my senses went into overdrive as I tried to control my panic. Another scream rang out, then another, the trails of the blood being left in Frank's wake. My legs felt like they were going to give out, my brain didn't want me to see anymore. I felt myself disassociate while my legs moved on their own, the screaming drowning out my thoughts. Before I realized I had dropped to the floor, sitting on my knees struck by horror. Frank soon walked to my side and knelt down.
"I need you to help me with that thing I mentioned earlier..." he said in a monotone voice. I barely rose to my feet as I followed behind him. He lead me to a small corner, the more we walked the larger the pools of blood grew. We walked through it, leaving blood tracks behind us. The groaning began to register in my brain as we approached a dying man lying on the ground. I reached under my mask to cover my mouth, trying not to vomit. Frank placed a firm hand on my back and gently pushed me towards the man.
"How did this happen.. what happened.." I managed to stumble out.
"I need you to use that knife I gave you," Frank said with no resistance. I looked down at the knife in my hand, it felt like time slowed down.
"He's not going to feel it, he's already mostly gone. He'll be sent back to camp with no injuries." Frank's reassuring words left me feeling helpless. I knelt down next to the man and began to lift up my knife. As I was about to close my eyes and do as he said, the man looked at me, his piercing gaze seeming to go through my mask. My hands trembled as I began to cry. Frank stepped in and gently took the knife from my hands. He knelt behind me covering my eyes while stabbing the man with his other hand, putting him out of his misery. The loud thunder came again, and his body seemingly vaporized and preceded to float into the sky. My brain locked down all abilities to move and speak. I sat on my knees, unable to move.
"I'm sorry, that was too much, I didn't think it would hurt you like that, I'm sorry." Frank pleaded to me. I heard we saw everything, I couldn't force myself to react. He gently shook my shoulders trying to snap me out of it, but I couldn't look away from the blood that had been pooling around that dying survivor. I felt frozen in time, unable to process the present. Frank picked me up and held me against his chest, putting my now bloodied knife in his belt along with his hunting knife. He walked with me until the sky turned black as when we had entered this trial, he continued walking. The familiar light of the dark forest with the small campfire entered my peripheral vision.
"Can you walk?" Frank questioned. I didn't respond.
"Please try, there are others here, I'll do the talking okay?" I still didn't answer. He set me down on my feet, my legs feeling like stiff metal but managing to stand. He placed my knife in my hand, curling my fingers around the handle for me. He wiped the blood from his hands onto mine to create the illusion that I did the killing. He lead me back towards the cabin, where the same ghostly figure stood outside. He cocked his head at me as he saw me approach, scanning over every part of me it felt like. Frank hastily tried to shove me inside the cabin, but I was still unresponsive. I felt a violent yank on my arm, that pulled me backward, knocking me to the ground. Above me stood the man with the black mist, staring down at me. My sense of reality seemed to start connecting again as he pulled a large knife out of his sleeve and held it to my throat.
"She's no fucking killer." He grunted.