The Evil Within-The Final Showdown

Scars From The Past

I felt the icy chill run up my spine as Ruvik's sentence radiated through my skull. I could faintly hear Joseph gasp and take a tentative step back, his eyes widening in horror behind his glasses. The icy chill froze every body part, paralysing me entirely. Then the heat of anger came in a flash, melting away the ice that was forming. I tried to compose myself and ask Ruvik to clarify his statement but instead the anger that was beginning to dominate registered on my face. I saw the flash of worry on Ruvik's face and then, was I mistaken or was that an expression of fear? It was apparent Ruvik was not intending to say that but let more slip than he intended.

"Well, we mustn't waste time talking", he quickly tried to change the topic. "There is much more work to carry out. It won't be long before......."

He was cut off mid-sentence when I dived suddenly, tackling him to the polished floor of the medical centre. We grappled on the floor as I aimed to wrap my fingers around his throat and strangle the life out of him. I could picture his last breath of air leaving his body, leaving behind the pale, fragile corpse. The more I thought of it, the more I craved it. Ruvik had been taken by surprise and significantly struggled with my body weight on top of him. I found my opening and grabbed his throat, crushing his windpipe. Joseph's gloved hands were trying to pull me off and I could distantly hear him yelling something. I shrugged him off easily, too focused on the task at hand. Ruvik gasped and struggled for air but he was failing. The ghost of a smirk was forming on my face, a sense of satisfaction coursing through me. How long I had waited for this. To punish the man who was the cause of all this. For the torture he put me through. For the innocent lives that have since departed from this world due to his cruel work and sadistic hands. For the misery and depression that still crush me and visit me in my nightmares. For Myra. For my daughter, Lily, who he may have made an admission to killing. Finally, I was going to have my revenge on this pathetic, murderous man. Or monster, I should say. His acts go beyond the cruelty of humanity. I saw the life fleeting him. The dark eyes of Leslie fluttering until they almost closed. The little colour there was fading from Leslie's cheeks. The body of Leslie growing weaker and less resistant as he gave up his fight. Leslie! My hands immediately flew off his throat and I finally realised why Joseph was trying to stop me. The feeling of remorse radiated through me. I was killing Leslie. Unfortunately, Ruvik saw his opportunity and with renewed strength, he pulled me by my hair and dragged me down to the cold floor, turning the tables.

"Only I may do the strangling!" he hissed, his hands wrapping around my throat.

I tried to kick him but he was surprisingly heavy, binding my legs to the floor. My hands tried to pry his long fingers off but to no avail. Joseph tried to intervene, shouting and grabbing Ruvik. Ruvik took one of his hands off my throat and backhanded him hard across the face. The only person there who could have saved me fell to the floor, unconsciousness claiming him. I watched as his glasses skittered off his face and his body crumple. Ruvik turned his attention back to me but surprisingly took his other hand off my throat.

"No. I should finish my handiwork instead," he smirked, removing a crude looking blade from his shirt pocket.

I tried to shove him off but he rammed his knee hard into my chest, knocking the air out of me.

"Now, now, Sebastian," he warned. "This could get messy. It would be most ghastly if you struggle. You remember what happened to poor Lily."

"You killed her, didn't you?!"I blurted out, tears forming. "You set that fire!!!"

"Oh, he finally figured it out," Ruvik laughed, twirling his blade. "Very good, Sebastian! But I thought you were an outstanding detective. You should have figured that out sooner!"

I sobbed, ignoring his insult. "Why? She had nothing to do with this! Why her?!"

"It was a warning to you, Seb," he spat in my face. "You were getting far too close to the truth for my liking. What did you think? That I would allow you to carry on your pathetic investigation into the missing persons cases? Allow you to find your true mastermind and lock me away for the rest of my days? You should know me by now, Seb. I don't play fair."

"How was I supposed to know?!"I screamed. "You could have tried to inform me some other way and I would have dropped it! I swear I wouldn't have told anyone!"

Ruvik gave one of his twisted laughs, the kind that made your hair stand up on end. "I swear I wouldn't have told anyone!"  Ruvik mimicked me. "Lies! There was no way you could keep your mouth shut! Look at you rambling on now!"

"You took everything from me," I sobbed quietly. "I have every right to express my thoughts. Never in my years of being a detective have I ever encountered such evil. But you will pay your price. You will pay it in your blood!"

I attempted an aggressive attack, trying to push Ruvik off but he punched me in the mouth, knocking me to the floor again. He held the blade threateningly over me and brushed it against my cheek. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"I have a far better idea than a torture session," Ruvik announced. "We never did finish playing. I want to do this properly. Give you a fighting chance."

He stood up, freeing me but I could not get to my feet. My body had taken far too much punishment and the soreness was beginning to spread across my jaw from his punch. I heard him looking through the stainless steel drawers, no doubt looting supplies for his next despicable plan. I tried to crawl over to Joseph or scream for help but neither was a viable option. My limbs refused to work and I had seemed to have lost my voice from my previous screaming. Where the rest of Mobius was remained a mystery. Ruvik finally knelt down and rolled me over on my stomach, pulling my hands roughly behind me. I moaned and tried to struggle as I felt him winding rope around my wrists, binding me tightly. Pathetically kicking at him, he rolled me back over and ripped a piece of duct tape from a roll. As I tried to give a final scream, he firmly pressed the strip of tape over my mouth, the scream sounding muffled.

"There," he laughed. "That shut you up."

I continued to try and scream from behind the tape but it was worthless. No one could hear me. Or could they? Sure enough, the synchronised steps of guards could be heard in the hallway.

"Shit," Ruvik cursed, retrieving his gun.

He slipped out into the hallway and all I heard was the exchange of gunfire and shouting. I tried to free my hands from the binding rope, failing miserably. The gunfire ceased suddenly and I hoped that the guards had won the fight. They might show me mercy. But a sick feeling hit my stomach the moment Ruvik stepped back into my eye view. He looked down at me, smirking, surveying his helpless victim.

"It's time to go," he said, scooping me up into his arms.

I tried to scream as he carried me out of the medical centre but nothing halted the journey out of the headquarters of Mobius. As we were approaching the exit, I could faintly hear Joseph yelling my name.

"Sebastian!" he screamed.

I insisted on answering in a muffled scream but Ruvik continued walking. I heard the rushed footsteps as Joseph sprinted down the hallway.

"Sebastian!" he screamed again.

I could not see him but knew he was coming close. Ruvik strode to a waiting car parked next to the building. I saw that night had fallen and I looked up at the stars, wondering if this would be my last time seeing them. Ruvik laid me down in the backseat and carefully took out the syringe with tranquilliser he had been concealing. I kicked wildly as Ruvik held me down with one hand and slowly sank the needle into my neck with the other. I felt the energy flee as Ruvik entered the driver's seat, started the car and took off. Just before I fell to the blackness, I faintly saw the outline of Joseph at the entrance and heard the faraway yell of my name.

My eyelids fluttered open and a black ceiling swam before me. I found myself lying down. Had I been saved? Was this a hospital? The memories of the past events came back in a rush. The confrontation with Ruvik. Joseph being knocked unconscious. Ruvik capturing me. Joseph trying to save me. I looked to my sides and found my hands lying there, untied and I could no longer feel the tape over my mouth. But something else far worse than bondage made me recoil in horror. An array of brightly coloured wires were twirled around my wrists, connecting to something behind my head. My clothes felt wet and I could see I was in what resembled a bathtub with a milky white substance sloshing around the inside. As I checked my surroundings, I was in a large black room and beside me were identical looking tubs. I tried to look behind me and could make out the familiar structure rising to the ceiling, the brain of the machine if you will. The machine that had started all this. I looked back ahead and found Ruvik in my face.

"Hello Sebastian," he greeted with feigned politeness. "Welcome back to STEM."