Insanity Becomes You [Outlast fanfic Eddie Gluskin]

♡ Chapter Fifteen ♡

"I don't believe it... hot damn!"

I bent over to the floor, and grabbed hold of a shiny pair of car keys. I'd never been so excited to see a tiny little set of keys in my whole life. Now when we got to the car lot, it would be a cinch for us to get the hell out of here. I knew my idea of "hotwiring" a car would've failed, and we would've been fucked. But now... now there was hope.

"What's that, darling?" Eddie, who had been walking in front of me still on guard for any trouble, stopped and turned to me.

"Our way out. We're going to get out of this place." I beamed up at him, and for the first time since I'd been skulking around this asylum I was genuinely excited. I was full of hope.

Eddie gave me a hard look for a moment, and sighed. Why was he not happy about this? He didn't want to stay here... did he? Maybe it was that he was scared to go back into the world, the world that had said he was too insane to live in it, and had thrown him into a nut house. Maybe he questioned whether I was going to throw him into a different one once we left Mount Massive... which was my plan, after all.

Eddie said nothing, and turned on his heel as we continued to make our way through the dark halls. I silently walked behind him, and stared at the back of his head. I'd watched Eddie change very slowly over the last few hours. He wasn't as... mental as he'd been the first time I'd met him down in the women's block of the asylum. It'd seemed as if he had calmed down, and I had to wonder if maybe I had something to do with that.

Before now, I would've thought that any mention of getting away from him would've been just cause for him to string me up. But now... he was ready to leave, whether he really wanted to or not. But the need to stay was outweighed by what Jeremy Blaire and his team of doctors might continue to do down below, in the Morphogenic Engine.

"What's the matter?" I inquired, pacing myself a little faster so that I could walk beside him now rather than behind.

"Nothing." Was the only response I'd received from my husband, and I was a tad put out by his answer. Not only because a very strange part of me cared about him, but because I wanted to know what was going through that sick head of his, so that if he was planning on taking a strike at me, I would be prepared.

"It's not nothing, Eddie... you don't want to leave, do you?" I stopped in my tracks for a moment, and never took my eyes off of him.

He turned around once more to look at me, and I couldn't read the expression in his eyes. "I... I'm not even sure anymore. I don't know what's real, or what's not. I don't know how to..." Eddie trailed off, and he sunk down against the wall behind him, and leaned his head against it. "Who am I, darling? I don't even know who I truly am... not anymore. I don't know what I'm doing..."

"Oh, Eddie..." I stepped over to him, and sat down next to him, with my head on his shoulder. "It's okay. I'm here. You don't have to be alone anymore." I spoke gently to him, a smile coming to my lips as I realized I was repeating a phrase that he'd given me. But, that must've been a mistake, as Eddie tensed next to me. Had I just... triggered him?

"Eddie?"

"Get up." Eddie spat at me, and quickly rose from his seat and grabbed my wrist to yank me up. He turned us around the direction opposite of the car lot, and kept his grip on my arm tight.

Oh God, no. Please.

"We're going the wrong way! We have to go back that way, Eddie!" I tugged at my arm, but his hold on my arm never faltered.

"You're not going anywhere. If we're going to die here, we're going to die together. I'm not letting you out of my sight. You belong to me. You have to stay with me, darling. It's not safe out there for a woman like you, and if I have to string you up to make sure you're safe, then I will, you fucking slut." Eddie turned and pulled me up to his chest with my arm in the air. His eyes were full of anger.

No, no, no. I was not going back there.

"Eddie please, I don't want-" The back of his hand collided with my cheek, and it stung enough that it caused me to cry out.

"You will do as you're told. I am the man here, and you are nothing. You've always been nothing. This is all just a trick, and I know it. I won't let you get away from me. Ever." He spoke through his teeth as he leaned down to my eye level. "Do I make myself clear, darling?"

No, no, no.This was all wrong - this was not how this was supposed to go. Freedom was so close I could taste it.

Isn't this what you wanted, though? To be with Eddie forever? Might as well die by his hands, so that you can remain with him for eternity.

NO, NO, NO. I was not going to become a prisoner again. I was not going to let him string me up from the rafters, like a prize for him to admire. I was done with all of it. Even if a part of me desperately cared for Eddie - I was not going to let all of the work I'd done to get here just fall out from under my feet.

I turned away from him, not wanting to look at him any longer. I didn't want any more to do with this horrible man. It didn't matter what I felt in my heart anymore. All that mattered was that I needed to live. I needed to get out of here.

As I turned, my eyes widened. All be damned... I internally cheered as my eyes caught sight of a large, steel pipe that must've fallen from somewhere. It was leaning against the wall of the hallway. If I could grab it, I could take Eddie down.

"Must I repeat myself?" Eddie demanded, shaking my arm to get my attention. "My dear, why aren't you paying attention? Perhaps there's something wrong with you and not me. You silly, stupid little thing." God, I couldn't understand where all of this was coming from. Sure, Eddie was a hostile monster... but he'd never spoken to me with so much animosity.

Maybe if I riled him up a little more, I could get to that pipe and ensure my freedom.

What? You're ruining this. You're supposed to be with your husband. For better or for worse? In sickness and in health? Till death do us part.

What a sick notion of loyalty this voice had; the nasty thing wanted me dead. Perhaps the voice wasn't something that my brain had cooked up on its own. Maybe it was the asylum who had truly done a number on my poor mind. This place could make anyone crazy.

I'm going to live, I told the voice. It's either my life, or his.

And I choose mine.

"I'm not going." I bucked up at Eddie, and managed to snatch my arm out of his grip. "You do not ownme."

Eddie stared down at me in disbelief, like I had just smacked him in the face. "What was that, darling?" He was obviously giving me another chance to pick my words correctly as he took a step forward towards me.

"I'm not going any further with you. You've beaten me, practically raped me, and belittled me the whole time I've been with you. You're an inmate, for Christ's sake! D-did... did you really think I loved you? Or that I wanted to have children with you? Eddie, I... I care for you. I really do. But I don't want to die." I took two steps back, and darted for the metal pipe before Eddie could so much as even grab me.

"Don't make me do this, Eddie." I held it out in front of me with both hands, and I felt nothing but sheer confidence and adrenaline coursing through my veins like wildfire. I'd survived everything this fucking place had thrown at me. I'd be damned if this man was going to end me. Even if Eddie did kill me... I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

I was sure that my words had cut through him, as he remained grim for only another moment. But then the Groom's face lit up with another one of his charismatic smiles.

"Oh, my sweet, sweet darling. You think that your story is going to end without me? No... I'd hate to think of you suffering outside these walls without me. But if you're so eager to die, you little minx..." Eddie's knife flashed out in front of him with a heavy amount of professionalism; it was like that knife was only another extension of himself.

"I guess I'll just have to kill you here, darling."