The Evil Within-The Final Showdown

Purgatory

The crying took a good two hours to finish. As soon as I was safe from the prying eyes of the smug doctor and his guards, I had allowed myself to burst into tears. The strong, tough demeanour I usually adopted crumbled. I was never one to be openly expressive of my emotions in front of others. I refused to let anybody even the few people I trusted such as Joseph to see the scars the loss of Myra and Lily had left. I constructed an act of indifference, able to deal with it in my own unique way. But once I was away from their concerned faces, I lost myself to the emotional turmoil that raged inside. Nothing I did seemed to help me move on from my past of loss and grief. The only way I managed was turning to alcohol, drinking myself to incoherency. Joseph was always there to carry my drunken self home. It was pathetic of me but there was no other way I would forget about Lily's death and Myra's disappearance.

After I had finally run out of tears to shed, I slumped against the cold wall, letting myself slip to the floor. I finally grew quiet, only uttering the occasional sob. I don't how long I sat there. I lost myself in a trance, eyes set on the opposite wall. It made me feel relaxed as my problems melted away. Not being aware of myself made me unaware of my current predicament. I was about to doze off when my head snapped back up. It couldn't be. Ruvik? Just across the room, he stood. Draped in his usual white robe, hood pulled up, his crude eyes bore into me. I began to shake with fear, slowly standing up. Ruvik's mouth twitched as he gave me a cruel half-smile. His features marred by severe burns barely moved in response to his thin lips. My breathing became shallow and panicked as he continued his demeaning stare. My hands pressed up against the wall behind me and came back wet. Horrified, I turned around to see crimson streaks slide down the wall. Blood. There was no mistaking the metallic odour that emitted from it. I had seen and smelt enough of it. I turned away from the wall in disgust and found Ruvik standing right in front of me, his eyes still fixated on me. I screamed and backed up against the wall of soaking blood. Out of the wall, red vines erupted, twisting themselves around my wrists and legs. Vines of hardened blood. I screamed in horror and tried to struggle to set myself free but it seemed the more I fought it, the tighter my supernatural restraints became. A final vine slapped against my chest, limiting my movement entirely. Ruvik outstretched his cold hand, placing it on my cheek. I opened my mouth to scream for help but his other hand clamped itself over my mouth, stifling it. He raked his long fingers against my cheek, creating long scars. I gave a muffled scream in response to the pain as he plunged his hand into my chest, ripping out my heart.

He held out my heart to me, still beating. I looked down to see the hole it left in my chest.

"You're mine, Sebastian," Ruvik spoke in his quiet, harsh voice.

I screamed as the pain radiated through my body. I shut my eyes and waited to die. But I didn't. Instead, upon opening them, Ruvik was gone. No more vines restricted my movement, no blood covered walls and no sign of any mutilation on me. I put my hand against the wall for support, breathing heavily. I had been hallucinating. Just the work of my sick mind. My eyes wandered to the door, expecting guards to enter in response to my screaming but nobody came in. It shouldn't be much of a surprise. The sound of screaming was commonplace in this hospital. Suddenly feeling claustrophobic in my dark room, I ran to the door, slipping into the bright hallway. My door was always left unlocked with the exception of night when every patient was supposed to be asleep. Dr Avers had allowed me this little luxury of exploring the hospital as long as I didn't try to escape. Originally, Dr Avers had wanted me treated like the extreme cases here, confined entirely to my cell with the exception to eat and undergo treatment with surveillance. It was my guard, Steven, who had protested on my behalf.

"Come on!" he had complained. "He's not a dangerous person! He's harmless!"

Dr Avers had reluctantly agreed and succumbed to allowing them to keep my door unlocked. One wrong move on my part and I would be locked inside the small dark room. I took slow steps down the hall, casting my eyes to the floor. I felt several people brush past me as they walked down the hallway. The occasional patient would show curiosity, feeling their eyes on me. Remain as unsuspicious as possible and they would generally pay no attention to you. I considered reporting my most recent hallucination to Dr Avers but changed my mind as soon as the thought presented itself. it would only result in another round of unhelpful treatment. I didn't know where I was going. I walked without any set destination in mind, just not wanting to return to my room of horrors. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the STEM machine. I hadn't come here intentionally but it seemed I had been compelled to come here. My eyes finally departed the floor and looked up at the contraption of horror in front of me. It consisted of a series of wires and other materials I couldn't put a name to spiralling to the ceiling, twisting themselves intricately. At its centre was a pedestal where Ruvik's brain had once sat. It had no doubt been removed by Kidman's organisation. That's right. Remove the evidence, proving my insanity. Scattered around the perimeter of this structure and connected to it were a series of tubs, resembling bath tubs, filled with a milky substance. I slowly walked around it and finally found the one I had been put in. I ran my fingers along the rough patch on the smooth surface. It had once had my name on a gold strip but had been removed along with the brain.