Second Life: A Second Chance

Unas Palomas en Vuelo (IV)

Having moved several meters through the maze, I come across a semi-hidden walled dead end, which to my surprise, serves perfectly as a spot to ambush the crazed male, whom is in current pursuit of me. Immediately following my arrival to the dead end, I spot at the bottom of the wall, a small crevice lying right at the border between the two walls of the dead end and of the floor, granting me a further insight into the paths found on the other side of the dead end. Almost immediately after finding the crevice however, I force my body to crouch silently, readying myself for the male's appearance. Suddenly, as if by chance, do I begin to hear several nearby pants, signaling to me that the male is approaching quickly. Almost immediately after the eruption of pants, does a loud monstrous yell erupt from the other side of the dead end. Prompted by the loud yell, I quickly but quietly come off my crouching stance as I lay my entire body against the cold stone floor, with the ground no longer below my feet. As one eye remains open looking out through beyond the crevice, I find myself slowly calming down, appearing to ready myself for the ambush.

However, just as I lay still for the male, does he disrupt once calmed nerves.

"I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!" the male abruptly shouts from nearby.

"GIVE UP YOUR LIFE FOR ME OR DIE TRYING!" he continues on, leaving me on alert as I come to realize that the male before me on the other side of the dead end, is not only crazed, but actually insane.

"COME AT ME YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I AIN'T PLAYING AROUND!" he screams, before suddenly quieting down.

Following the abrupt end to his yelling, the male begins to sit himself down on the stone floor of the maze, on the other side of the dead end, all while whispering to himself the same exact chilling phrase:

"I am great! I am worthy. Everymale else lacks my aesthetic! I am majestic. I am a phoenix."

What in the bloody hell is wrong with the male? Why is he acting so insane? Who is the phoenix that he speaks of? Does he even know what he is saying? Having seen quite enough of the male act in unsettling oddity, I prepare myself to ambush him. I lay still in place and wait, breathing in sync with my slowing heartbeat, hoping internally that I will not be exposed if I calm myself quickly. Suddenly, the hairs of my back stand up as I watch the male move from his current position through the crevice. This might be my only chance. I will end his life and hopefully prevail in the challenge. However, my hopes for a successful ambush are set aside as the male decides to do something rather unnatural of someone in a situation like the one I am in.

The male proceeds to pull his entire shirt off his body before dropping it on the ground near the crevice entrance, where it flops upon impact as it appears to have been heavily soiled by sweat. Following the flop of the damp shirt, does the male pick up the same shirt he dropped near the opening, holding it to his face as he begins to what appears to be him stimulating his pelvis. With one hand down his private area, I look to his bare back as an effort to avoid paying attention to such a private yet uncalled for act occurring at the front. I immediately notice from my staring that the male is not only highly muscular and well toned, but that he is also carrying with him numerous black scar marks etched all over his mid to lower back. The scar marks on the male's back suddenly bring to me a reminder I had with Amadan when witnessing the type of punishment males faced in their respective towns for acting out of the collective norm: flogging.

Whipping a male using either metallic or wooden belts is unsurprisingly, a commonly used tool used for punishment and obedience training among the citizens in each town. However, the marks on the male's back point out a more serious and higher degree of pain inflictment. Could internal domestic abuse be the cause of the marks on the male's lower back? Or am I merely wrong to believe so? He does appear to be mentally ill after all. However, before I am given even a chance to ponder, I soon become uneasy given the awkward situation from the other side of the dead end, forcing me to look away from the male in the crevice hole completely as I find a way to end the male's life in-simulation.