Endless

cHaPtEr sEvEnTeEn

I couldn't help but facepalm internally. After everything that's happened she's still allowing Thomas to control her like she was some kind of puppet?

I really did do everything I could to help her, but maybe that wasn't enough. Maybe there was simply nothing I could do. I didn't want to see her dig herself into a bigger hole than she already has.

Then again, this was just a fake...maybe the real Claudia wasn't like this.

She held out her hand, tears still falling out of her face.

"Please give me the axe," she asked quietly, as if she was someone who was really shy.

I was immediately reluctant to give her this weapon of immense power. If she decided to go crazy and attack me with it I would be a goner since I wouldn't have anything to defend myself.

She walked closer, still holding out her hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you...please give me the axe."

I definitely wasn't planning on doing that, but something about her eyes just somehow proved to me that was telling the truth and her intentions were pure...

"Alright, I'll do it."

I lent her the axe, and as she grabbed it she kept staring at Thomas's bruised body. Then I realised what she wanted to do...

With the axe firmly grasped in her hand, she walked towards him, looking down at him.

Thomas tried getting back on his feet but he was far too weak to move. He could at least raise his head and see Claudia looming above him.

"C-Claudia...please..."

Claudia raised her axe, ready to start the slaughter. This was the first time I saw Thomas at he was at his weakest: terrified and begging for mercy.

"No. I should have done this long ago. It's over."

I decided to look away as I heard the axe make contact with Thomas's body, these experiences have already scarred me mentally enough, I didn't need the wound to get deeper.

It went on for quite a while, it seemed that the fake Claudia was enjoying this...eventually Thomas's screams died down, until he was finally silent.

Once it ended, she gave me the axe back. Surprisingly it wasn't covered in blood, it was almost as if what Claudia did never happened.

She handed it back to me with a smile on her face. Her fists were clenched as if she was holding something in her hand.

"Thank you for saving me, Owen...but this isn't over. You need to save the real Claudia. For now, you should take this."

She held out her hand, there was the same golden sphere that Alyssa was holding earlier.

"This is the real Claudia's mind. Once you find her heart and body, and bring them together, she'll be brought back."

I held out my hand and the sphere instantly moved towards me and landed in it's palm. As this happened, the ground below me started to shake.

"W-what's happening?!" I shouted, knowing that this probably wasn't the sign of anything good.

Suddenly, a door rose from the ground. It was simply a large pitch black rectangle, something about it seemed really ominous. I expected something a little more fancy, then again Alyssa works in mysterious ways.

The fake Claudia seemed just as confused as I was.

"Maybe...maybe this is where you can find Claudia?" she mused.