8 | Control

Prologue

When the tour had started, Mina had thought that the jungle around her was beautiful and peaceful. But as soon as she lost sight of the guide and the group, it was only terror that she felt when looking out at the trees. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and she swivelled around trying to catch sight of the group or hear the sound of the guide's voice.

Mina Brady hadn't expected much out of this vacation. She didn't get to go on vacation often, so this was a welcome change to the mundane life that she lived. All she really expected was to be able to relax for a week, see a new part of the world.

Now she was lost in the jungle and had no idea how to get out.

"...here..."

Mina whirled at the sound of the voice, moving towards it without a second thought. That must be the guide. The group must have circled back around, realized that they were missing a member of the group and come back to find her. Mina's hope soared, and she strained her eyes to try and see the group coming back for her.

"...closer..."

Following the voice, she found herself approaching a dark cave. Although she knew there was no way that the group was in there, Mina kept walking towards it. That was where the voice was coming from, so that must be where she needed to go. Right?

"...yes...inside...closer..."

Where the voice was coming from, Mina didn't know. Somehow, it didn't matter. The light didn't penetrate the cave very far, and soon enough, she was squinting to try and see where she was going. Mina didn't know how she was managing not to trip and fall on her face since usually, she was clumsy enough to trip on flat surfaces.

It didn't take long for her to reach a point where there was no light whatsoever. A part of Mina's mind was panicking, wondering just how long it would be before she was lost and couldn't find her way out or tripped and fell down a hole. But the other part of her mind was on autopilot. She had no idea where she was going, except that a part of her did.

"...yes...yes..."

Stepping forward, torches came to light around her in a circle, and Mina winced, ducking down and lifting an arm up to cover her eyes. When she lowered it slightly, she was able to see what exactly she had walked into. And her heart stopped.

It looked like some kind of ritual. Some type of symbol was painted on the ground around where she was now standing, a stone table in the middle with more symbols painted on top of it, and knives and other weapons around it. Mina began to panic and tried to step back and out of the circle, but found that she was unable to move.

Ahead of her, a figure materialized in smoke. It was vaguely human-shaped, and most definitely menacing. It walked towards her, extending a hand, and Mina found herself stepping further into the circle. Her eyes widened, screaming at herself in her mind to stop moving. Except she wouldn't stop.

Mina stopped on one side of the table, and the smoky figure came up on the other side. Mina gulped, scared and unsure of what was happening. Reaching forward, the smoky figure grabbed the knife off the table and raised it up. For a moment Mina had been sure that their smoky hand was going to go right through the knife and be unable to pick it up, but she was disappointed when the smoky figure succeeded in lifting the knife.

With the knife now in hand, the smoky figure turned it's head to look at Mina. It was at that moment that she found herself raising her arms above a bowl that was on the table. More panic built inside of her and she could see her hands shaking where they stayed above the bowl.

"No," Mina managed as the smoky figure raised the knife.

"...yes..."

Pain coursed through her as the smoky figure ran the knife along her wrists, letting the blood run out of them and into the bowl below. Mina's mouth dropped open at the pain, but she still couldn't move her hands as she wanted to.

"...yes...finally...freedom..."

Mina didn't know what that meant, exactly, but she wasn't too keen to find out, either. Unfortunately, she still couldn't move.

The smoky figure set the knife back down, looking at Mina the whole while. With the knife no longer in hand, the figure gripped onto Mina's wrists. She cried out in pain, but it turned to a cry of surprise as the smoky figure slowly started shrinking and disappearing into the wounds on Mina's wrists.

Her whole body locked up as the smoky figured sank through her wounds, the pain growing the more the smoky figure disappeared. Mina's eyes rolled back as they had almost completely disappeared.

When they had disappeared entirely, Mina's body gave out, and she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.