You're Different to Me

Pleasing the Entity

The scene changed around me as it always had at the start of the trials. It was a familiar darkness, similar to that of the cabin I began to call home. The forest was calm, the only noises being the wind through the trees and the crackling of small fires littering the area. I surveyed my surroundings, focusing my senses to heighten my hearing. In the distance I could hear sparks and clicking, I turned quickly to pursue my targets, praying they were the bastards I wouldn't mind sticking my knife into. I spotted the figure of a man, crouched down next to the machine growing louder with each click of a lever. I broke out into a sprint, my vision beginning to regain its familiar red blotches. 

"Well look what we have here," An unfamiliar man seemingly unafraid of me stood to his feet next to the generator. I didn't have time for antics, Frank was on the line here, nothing else mattered to me. I forced my forward, grabbing his shoulder while plunging my knife deep into his other. I pushed him out of my way to continue to other others. I slashed one, another, then the last survivor I could find. As my knife slashed through his skin, my head clouded with pain as I gritted my teeth. 

"I'm surprised the entity even keeps you around," he teased me. Not letting his words twist my mind, I continued to focus on the task at hand, eliminating my targets. I felt my vision blur for a quick second as I felt myself go faster without trying. My emotions seemed to turn off all of the sudden, I became mindless, watching myself from the outside it felt like. I moved my arm to wind back my throw and released my knife with precision straight into the center of his back. I placed a foot on top of his back, pushing him down into the dirt. I recalled my knife, ripping out of his skin with a horrid sound. 

"Agh.." The man grunted with the weapon leaving his skin. "Don't think this means you've won anything bitch," he stumbled saying with his face pressed against the dirt. I pressed my foot down harder, this time on his freshly opened wound, rubbing the dirt into his bloodstream from my tread. I felt this power flooding through my veins, my brain impulsively saying the same words on repeat. 
"Kill him, kill him, kill him..." Like an echo chamber in my head whose voice didn't sound like my own. The thoughts were deafening, feeling as though my arms were moving against my will. I removed my foot from his back, as he tried to take the opportunity to run. He stumbled to his feet and began to sprint. Without even time to blink, I had thrown my knife straight through his heart causing him to cough and sputter. He fell forwards to the ground, clutching the metal blade in his chest. I lifted my arm above my head, my knife returning with a gift from his body. What was left of his once beating heart lay empaled by my blade. I felt invigorated, I knew I could do this, and this was just the beginning. I felt an instinct, my killer instinct, no one else's. I continued towards my next target who caused a loud explosion upon my arrival. Another unknown man which confused me. I was almost positive I would be against the men who harassed me last time, but I guess word has gotten around about me in the survivor's camp. He too seemed to scoff at my presence, smiling like I'd never catch him. His ignorance only fueled me more, I am more powerful than I was last trial, and I push myself to grow stronger every day. I am told by so many how useless I am, and how hopeless, but one person always believed in me. Frank took me in, Frank cared for me because he saw something he didn't see in the others. I was beginning to find out why, or at least I felt like I grew closer to the answer. Without Frank always being there for me, protecting me, I would have been just like these men. I would have been hateful and cynical about my life, but now, I felt like I had a purpose. To prove to everyone who doubted me or Frank, that they were dead wrong. I didn't bother to listen, my vision only craved the crimson colors unfolding before me. Before I regained my conscious mind, I was sitting on the man's stomach, stabbing him repeatedly, smothering myself in blood. Within the second, I was sprinting towards my next target again letting my instinct take over. The blood dripped from my clothes profusely, almost leaving a trail in my wake. I spared no time catching up to another survivor, vaulting windows behind them, right on their heels. This man looked afraid, finally the message I wanted to send. I slashed across his back, sending him groaning as I wiped my weapon on my sleeve. I continued on as he reached some broken stone and wooden walls. Noticing the large wooden pallet leaning on the side of the wall in a tight space, I made a mental note to watch his movements. I could not risk the injury. He ran along the edges of the walls, forcing me to follow closely behind. He sharply turned the corner as I followed realizing last second that the large wooden piece had started to fall. I stumbled backward, tripping over myself and falling to the ground. I shook my head to bring myself back to the present and stood with little to no hesitation. I slid directly over the wooden boards gaining distance in no time. I saw an area he could easily vault ahead and pushed my knife through the air into his right arm. I felt it return to my hand as fast as it had left, never breaking my sprint. I jumped through the window behind him, grabbing the back of his shirt, and stopping him in his tracks. I pushed his body against the wall with unnatural strength looking him dead in the eyes. There were small tugs in my brain of guilt and remorse, but I pushed them away, much easier than last time, before pushing my knife into his neck and throwing him to the side. I had one target left, and this time I knew exactly who it was. I heard two more racing hearts in this trial, his, and mine. As I run through the dilapidated forest, I heard a familiar noise. A soft unnatural hum and black smoke. I turn to face it, finding a large metal trap door, leading to black nothingness in the ground. In front of me, I see him, finally unafraid to look him in the eye. I lifted my mask slightly, I wanted him to see me smile. I smashed my foot down on top of the door, sending off a loud siren. 

"This is as far as you go," I said with an unnerving excitement in my voice. He started to back away, unaware of his next move. "Don't you have anything to say to me?" I cocked my head to the side, pretending I didn't know. His expression hardened with anger, but he remained silent. "Perfect, that's just how I like it." I lunged forward stabbing strongly into his abdomen and pushing him against a large tree. He wrapped his arms around my wrists, using all his might to force me back with no luck. I strengthened my grip feeling the tip of my knife piercing into the wood of the tree behind him. I pulled back in one swift motion, his body falling to the ground. I whined as he used his last bit of energy to look in my direction. I crouched down next to his form, growing colder by the second. I placed a finger over my mask, shushing his cries. I giggled to myself, turning around as his head fell into the dirt. I cleaned my knife on my sleeve one final time looking into the night sky, knowing I was being watched. I formed my fingers into a gun and metaphorically fired into the sky before the surroundings began to fade once again.