Animegas (Editing)

My end or beginning?

"Give me the vials, Sam," he said, "or Max dies!"

My little brother's face was the definition of fear. His eyes were wide and his tan skin was pale.

"Why would you tell me where the lab was if you didn't want me to steal the vials?" I asked, desperate to delay.

Erik had a blank expression on his face. "I did?"

Something in my head clicked. Something Erik said earlier. About the Cage.

"Yes, Erik, you did! You helped us get here, you led us here."

"I did?"

Memory loss? The Cage made you forget things? No, that wasn't it.

I took a step towards him. "Yes Erik, and you're my friend. They, they....THEY BRAINWASHED YOU!"

He held Max tighter, trying to sort out his thoughts.

"Ya," I said, "that's it. They brainwashed you." I took another step. "You aren't yourself Erik, you're being controlled. Your thoughts aren't your own." I reached him and slowly pulled Max from his grasp as I talked. "Wake up Erik!" I yelled. Max ran to the others. I began to shake Erik. "Wake up! Remember me! Remember everything! Your sister, Greg, Katie, Thomas! REMEMBER US!"

Something was pinching me. I looked down.

The dagger was buried in my stomach. Blood trickled from the wound. There was a ringing sound in my ears. I heard someone yelling behind me, but I didn't know who.

I pulled out the bloody dagger. I didn't feel any pain. Strange, I thought this was supposed to hurt drastically. Tears trickled down Erik's face. I saw him shake his head furiously. I saw his eyes become brown instead of silver. He blinked.

"Sam?" He asked.

I smiled and fell to my knees. Blood was flowing from my wound. I saw a clash of Furies and Animegas.

'Suck it up Sam,' I thought, 'you can't black out now, your friends need you.' I ripped the bottom off of my shirt and pressed it against my wound.

Erik, my Erik, helped me tie it against the gaping hole in my stomach. He helped me stand. After that, I was fine...more or less. I pulled out an arrow and aimed it at a Furies head. Bull's-eye. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I pulled another arrow and shot it at a Furie who was attacking Max.

This went on for a while. Arrow after arrow, Furie after Furie.

Black spots clouded my vision, but it didn't matter. Eventually, they were all dead. A bunch of melted black puddles lay in front of me.

Max helped me collect my arrows. A small gash was on his forehead. I smiled and hugged him. We were safe, at last. The next half hour we spent finding everyone else's little brothers and sisters. It seemed too good to be true.

Max's eyes went wide. I looked behind me. The General stood there. His hand reached into my open wound. I just stood there and watched.

I felt pain. Pain beyond what I've felt before. I stabbed him in the eye with my dagger. He pulled his hand out when I did this. His hand had a huge gash in it. Black blood dripped from it.

The pain, it was unbearable. I collapsed and started screaming. I started spitting up black blood. Some of it landed on a flower, the plant steamed and died instantly.

The pain was eating away at me, it seemed to have to end. Whenever I started to get used to it, the pain flared ever hotter. Then, I couldn't feel it anymore. I looked around. Everyone’s eyes were wide, some of their faces were twisted in mid-scream.

They were moving in slow motion. Thomas pulled out the jar of Salus berry paste. He was frantically rubbing it on my wound. I saw the black blood burn away on contact with the Salus paste. But it wasn't enough.

The blood was already inside of me. I looked up at their faces. The blackness overtook me. At least...we had won. At least Max was safe.