Feed The Evil Within, Ruvik x OC

2 - Time

Time is more precious than currency in my opinion, but it seemed like Mobius didn't share that sentiment. As I wandered about my sister's room, enjoying the feeling of the sun filtering through the windows while the particles of dust swirled about lazily I realized that I couldn't stay in this room forever. I didn't want to leave, but it seemed like I wouldn't have much of an option if I wanted to escape. I wondered if Ruvik was here; if it would be like last time. There were still scars from where my feet were pierced with glass; at least it didn't hurt to walk on them. My eyes softened thinking of him; a personal angel, even if he looked like a demon to everybody else.

My heart felt sore just thinking of him. I missed his warmth. I missed the feeling of having him beside me. What I'd give to be locked in the Red Room with him for the rest of my waking days would be almost anything. The STEM system, as I've been educated, was a walking nightmare. The real world was worse. But I somewhat felt not myself when parted from it, or Ruvik. My heart wrenched, a deeper cutting pain this time, from which I could not escape.

But alas, there was much more to it than Ruvik. Being in Bree's room was beginning to take its toll on me. I felt like the roof might come crashing down at any moment now, crushing me to death. It was STEM, so who knew what could happen anyways? Trying to predict what would happen next was impossible. But still, more importantly, the core of this STEM had to be Ruvik. He controlled it last time, so surely this time around things would be the same. I was grasping tightly to the idea that things were going to be okay like a naive child, hoping that my suffering was over.

The particles of light filtering through the window glitched for but a moment and my gaze locked on the door. Where would it take me? What was waiting for me beyond that door? The longer I stared, the more it seemed like rust covered the old, metal handle; glancing away for but a second restored it to its pristine state. If I stayed here, the longer I would be away from Ruvik and the less I'd feel like myself.

Yet, what I had was a new and familiar feeling, one that spread from my fingertips, to my heart, eventually poisoning my brain. Fear. I was afraid. This had been an emotion I hadn't known in a STEM for many years. Uncertainty lay behind that door, but surely, so did the cage that I felt safe in. What did the doctors call it? Stockholm syndrome. I didn't think it was that. But then again, I didn't think a lot of things were what they actually seemed to be.

I had been staring at the door handle for a few minutes, wrestling with my fear. Swallowing it and gathering up all of the courage I had to finally rest at a single point, my hand, I placed it on the doorknob. Behind this door, whatever there was, I feared it.

I was a victim now, after all. And I'd seen what Ruvik does to victims. This yet again pushed the thorn of doubt deeper into my heart, but I was so close. So ready to open the door, my eagerness to see Ruvik slowly overtaking my fear.

As I opened the door, voices flooded through my head. The operation. The words of the administrator. His disappointment. I was an untrue wife, so I required punishment. My sins needed to be absolved. He'd heal me of the rot that was in my heart; in my soul. Then, I'd become just as perfect as Bree. But I didn't want to be Bree. But I had to.

Slamming the door shut with force, I backed up, sitting on the bed. My heart squeezed painfully and my breaths were raspy. How could I find Ruvik if I couldn't even overcome the smallest of my demons? A simple door was all it took to deter me. This weakness was not because of Ruvik. The administrator was wrong.

Yet still, the echoes of his voice resonated deep within my core.

Static began filling my ears; it was all around, inside my brain and I was ready to begin clawing at my temples to get it out. I needed to pinpoint the source before I drove myself to insanity; which was rather simple, for above Bree's dresser was a small, portable radio. It was as if I were possessed, clamoring out of the bed, my fear simply vanishing into thin air as I took hold of the object and turned the dial. "Elise."

My heart seized once more and my face painfully contorted as I dropped to the floor, letting go of the radio as I did so. It crashed, breaking to pieces as did my hope; Ruvik's voice, gone. I almost sobbed as the heart pains began; I did not have my medicine on me. They slowly ebbed to a bearable pain, but I knew that this state of euphoria would not last.

Picking myself up off of my feet, I rummaged around in the cabinets, the bathroom, the drawers. Under the bed. In the nurse's area. No medicine. There was nothing. Time was wasting as another shock of pain rain through my nerves; only an extended croak came from my lips as my voice was nowhere to be found.

The time between the pains was getting shorter. "You won't find what you're looking for in here, Elise." The nurse said. I was sure she was mocking me; I had known all along that what I needed was not here and she knew that too. I just so desperately did not want to have to go through that accursed door. Still, it was inevitable. I either had to leave and find medicine, face those demons that plagued me, or die here. Alone.

Either choice would still condemn me to more suffering.