The Evil Within-The Final Showdown

Reunion

Joseph's P.O.V.

The silver chains rattled as I attempted to pull my wrists free. This pointless endeavour of mine proved that I was not going to get free anytime soon. Taking a shaky, angered breath, I sat still. My head hurt from the blow I had received from a guard that hated his job. My attempt at breaking free of his iron grasp was the reason the chains were around my wrists in the first place. With aggression, he had snapped them around my wrists, binding me to the railing at the side of the bed. I observed the room in disgust. The lack of furniture besides the bed I was sitting on and filthy grey walls was all I had to call home. Captured and without contact to the outside world, the fingers of insanity were gradually wrapping themselves around me. I tried to picture the face of my beautiful wife and daughter but trauma and fear had swirled their features into an indecipherable mess of nothingness. My brain switched to the only other person I trusted: Sebastian. A pang of sadness stabbed at my heart. What happened to him? The last time I saw him was during the earthquake before Kidman's stray bullet had flew into my chest. He was trying to protect me.

The people at Mobius had the decency to explain the strange sequence of events that had taken place. Being placed in the STEM system to stop a mass serial killer from escaping the realms of his mind to access the real world. We had failed in that duty. Infiltrating an impressionable Leslie proved to be easy work for him. I could still imagine his hooded figure and burnt flesh. Yet the faces of my wife and daughter were lost!  Anger welled within. Mobius was a well-organised thief; robbing us so intricately of our freedom, our safety and almost our lives. My recollection of my first kidnapping and implantation into the system was foggy. I doubt Sebastian remembered much himself. Each thought of him reminded me of how much I wished he was here with me. His fate was left unknown to me. Whenever I had asked about his whereabouts, I was answered with silence before being scolded like a child for speaking when not being spoken to.

I resorted back to attempting to free myself in order to divert my attention.The sound of footsteps on the stairs made my head snap up in time to see my would-be killer, Juli Kidman enter the dark room. I retreated back as far as I could, my back pressed against the headboard of the bed. My eyes flickered to the handgun resting in her holster. I prayed none of its bullets would find me again.

"Joseph, you're not going to get free that way," Kidman gestured to the chains. "They're too secure."

Each step closer she took towards the bed raised my level of concern. To think I used to have a crush on her. All her presence did now was provoke fear.

"Let me take those off for you," Kidman finally sat on the bed and reached out.

I jerked back and just shook my head.

"Joseph, I'm not going to hurt you," Kidman sighed.

Still wary, I slowly extended my wrists to her which she took gently. Unhooking a small silver key  from her belt, she unlocked the chains with it. They slid off and I rubbed my wrists to get the feeling back into them.

"I don't think you're allowed to do that," I finally spoke.

"Hey, what are they going to do?" Kidman shrugged. "I'm too valuable now for them to get rid of."

"I guess my days are numbered," I admitted one of my deepest fears.

"What do you mean?" Kidman asked.

"Come on, Juli. I know they're going to execute me,"  I spoke quietly.

"Not necessarily," Kidman said, firmly. "I could put in a word to spare your life."