Harrington's Journal

Chapter 22: July 19th - Escape

July 19th

I believe it is July 19th. It was on this night when the full moon rises. It was the full moon all along. The full moon opens the gate. How is this possible?

I was lying on the ground with the chains on my wrists detached from the wall. My head throbbed in pain and I could hear my heartbeat loud in my ears. When my senses became clear, I saw Marok lying unconscious in front of me. I could not remember exactly what had happened. Something attacked us, a flash of black and white that was in the form of smoke.

I have no idea where it came from but for some reason I was alive. It's been over a month since I have been caged up in Marok's lair. A cruel month, nothing but torture. Nothing but excruciating pain.

Days after I had ran out of the medicine, I blacked out. Soon, I would wake up from my deep sleep and my body ached. Marok had fed me that bitter liquor, which had me woken up from my sleep. It was then that I refused to drink it. My body was rejecting it automatically. It tasted awful. My throat clenched as if it felt like someone was choking me. I coughed it out. My throat burned. I could no longer take it. Marok pulled me in and forced me to drink it. But I could not. I couldn't. Oh I hated it. I wanted it to end. The bite and the spirits weren't the only things torturing me, it was also Marok.

Marok lost his patience. He was forcing me to tell him where the entrance was. I said no. He then tortured me. He tortured me! He brought my forefinger to his mouth and bit down onto it. I remember the pain so well. His sharp teeth piercing my skin and into the bone. I could hear the bones crushing between them. He then smiled, enjoying the taste of my blood on his tongue.

"If you don't tell me, I will eat up your precious little fingers." Hearing those words, I shuddered in fear. The unbearable pain made me speechless. His kindness was nothing but a facade.

Marok leaned in and said to me, "Do you know why we are alike? Because you too have a monstrous side." He then asked, "Have you killed anyone Harrington?"

I hesitated. I have. I did. If I did not kill then I would be dead. Yet, there was that man. An innocent looking man whom was left on his own to die a painful death. I left him. I killed him. I should have saved him. But I did not. Why? Because I am but a coward. There was also Ayla. I killed her. I took away her second chance that was given to her by her creator. I also took her away from her brother.

He noticed my hesitation and smiled. "Oh so you have killed someone. Did you like it? Or did you hate it?"

For a few seconds after I stabbed her, I loved it. Soon after, guilt came piling on top of me. Even though I knew it was wrong, my mind was speaking the opposite. It felt right.

"Once a man kills, he will never stop killing," Marok said.

He was right. I am filled with murderous intentions, but my focus is on Marok. I wanted to get rid of him. Out of my mind, out of my sight. It was his entire fault! Why do I tremble when I think of him? I'll be honest. He and I, we are indeed rivals. When I stared into his eyes, I knew we had some sort of similarity, that role for dominance. I want to rule him, I want to make him squirm under my feet, and never again do I have to tremble when I see him. Yet, he wants me powerless, he wants me vulnerable and weak, and he wants to torment me by breaking my mind. Well, he did a great job so far, but I am not destroyed...not yet. He wants me to submit to him, give up everything so that I could be his golden egg and give him what he wants. Was it a coincidence? Or was it fate when I met him here? I wanted to be the one to show him that we humans are not as pathetic as we seem. Yet he was keeping me away from my ambitions.

When the black misty apparition attacked us, it was my chance to escape. My only chance to escape. With Marok lying unconsciously on the ground, I quickly stood up, though my legs shook in fear.

Pain shot up my arm. I looked down at it. Blood oozed out of three gashes that were deep. Something had clawed me. Could it be from Marok? I quickly covered the wound with a cloth and I gritted my teeth to hold back my cries.

I stumbled out of the building and made my way to the entrance. That was when excitement hit me. It was more than that. It was mixed with desperation. It was that desperation to live. 

The moon's light was my guide. Everything became familiar the further I walked. I did not know how much time had passed. It was then that I saw the same tree. The tree that I had hidden under when I was hiding away from that monster, Marok. Even though that there was pain electrifying my veins, I endured it and kept on walking. Memories were flashing in my mind. I could hear my father calling out my name as I walked closer to home. Then I saw it. The light right ahead of me. The exit. I saw the exit. I was so relieved - so so relieved...Until, a loud voice shot through the silence of the forest.

"You won't get away!" It was aggressive, filled with anger and malice. Marok was alive.

I am but a fool. Why did I not kill him earlier? Pathetic, pitiful, worthless I am. There was no way that I could face him. I started to run whilst gripping onto my wounded arm. I flipped my head around, but I could not see him, not yet. It was then that I saw it. In the pale moonlight, the haunting manor waiting for me.

Harrington. H