The Evil Within-The Final Showdown

The Start

My enjoyment of my newly found freedom had to be cut short. The watchful eyes of the inhabitants of Beacon Mental Hospital would be sweeping the area with precision and outside the hospital wouldn't be an exception. I hastily stripped off the white, baggy uniform and changed into my old clothes and shoes. They probably weren't the cleanest attire but anything was better than the uniform. I didn't want to spark anybody's curiosity either. I tossed the dreaded uniform into the bushes along with the bag. All I needed was my wallet and handgun which I hid under my clothes. Without my badge to prove I was an enforcer of the peace, I would be labelled as a criminal. Without looking back, I sprinted as far away as I could from the hospital, not stopping until I found myself back on the streets of Krimson City. Giving the hospital one last look of contempt, I hailed a taxi and got in.

"Where to?" the taxi driver asked, tiredly.

"Uhhh," I tried to think of a destination.

I hadn't given this much thought. I thought I had planned this to perfection but I clearly didn't think about where I was heading after I had escaped. Going home was not an option. They would be looking for me there and probably expecting me to return there.

"Just take me to the furthest motel from here," I answered finally.

"Okay, buddy," the taxi driver sighed. "It's at your cost."

The taxi took off as I watched Beacon Mental Hospital disappear into nothing more than a speck on the horizon. I tried to calm myself as my worries swirled around inside my head. Locating this Mobius organisation was clearly easier said than done. Besides, even if I did manage to locate it, how did I plan to infiltrate it? I had become too caught up in my plans to rescue Joseph. Another flaw in my planning. I looked out the window and watched the world go by. People walking the streets without a care in the world. Or at least not in a worse predicament than me. How I wanted to return to being an average citizen. I wanted the life of the distracted businessman, chatting on his phone. The office clerk going on her lunch break. The hooded man..........staring at me. To my utter horror, Ruvik stood on the sidewalk as I passed, his eyes fixated on me. I tried to stay calm and took some deep breaths.

It was just a hallucination, Seb, I reminded myself. Nothing to worry about.

I focused on trying to ease the shaking that had started in my hands but the fear seemed to choke me. I tried to stop myself but my eyes flitted to the window, revealing a second wave of terror. The buildings that lined the streets seemed to crumble and move in on each other. Cracks ripped their way through the sidewalk as the bitumen sank. The people had mysteriously vanished. The signs from buildings and stone crashed to the ground, creating holes in the road. It was all too familiar. The familiar sight I had witnessed in Ruvik's reality. Krimson City destroyed and in a state of abandonment and decay. The taxi narrowly drove between two buildings which were about to collide. I was about to scream but stopped myself as the taxi just made it. I looked at the calm face of my driver except.........he was one of them. One of those Haunted creatures. He looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes an empty glowing mass as pulsating red growth took over his face. He opened his mouth to reveal his rotting, sharp teeth.

"Are you alright, buddy?" the Haunted asked.

With a blink, the concerned face of my driver looked back at me. I took a quick glance out of the window to reveal the usual commute of people walk the streets. No cracks in the sidewalk, no collapsing buildings, no sinking road. The buildings were in their place as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, I-I'm f-fine," I stammered.

The taxi driver raised his eyebrows in bewilderment and turned back to the road ahead. My act of trying to appear normal and not suspicious was clearly not a good one. The hallucinations were still a part of me which I couldn't seem to shake. Any medication Beacon Mental Hospital had prescribed only seemed to exacerbate them. What to do about them remained a mystery. The taxi stopped with a shudder in front of the ugliest building I had ever seen. Dirty, moulded bricks and stained windows with a splintered wooden door.