Alpha (Jacob Seed X Deputy OC)

19 - The Fourth Trial

It was quiet. No screams from prisoners, no wolves growling, no cultists slamming gates shut. The only sound was the crackle of fire inside the steel drums littered around the camp. I was sitting, body weighed down with Bliss when I noticed the little box just outside the cage. Crawling like an animal, I stretched my fingers out with all my might to try and retrieve it. My cheek pressed hard against the bars and I huffed, teeth pressing down onto my lower lip. A heavy boot slammed my hand down onto the ground, the crushing weight squashing my knuckles to the point that I thought they might crack.

'Don't worry, you'll be out of here soon enough.' Looking up at Jacob, his eyes were dark with malice and contempt. 'Did you think you were free?' He babied me but I was so out of it I couldn't react. How much Bliss had he laced that bullet with? Reaching down, Jacob picked up the music box and began to wind it up. 'Your little buddy went through a whole lot of trouble for nothing in the end didn't he? Helping you get out, warning you to stay away from me. But you didn't listen. Didn't use that pretty little thinker of yours.' A thick line of drool slunk down my chin and pooled on the floor. 'That's okay. He knows better now and so do you.' He crouched momentarily in front of me and used his thumb to wipe the saliva from my chin. His fingers drifted down the bumps of my plait and twisted the ends of my hair tenderly. 'I told you that you are not a hero. You are a tool.' Standing back up with a heavy groan as his joints clicked, he finished winding up the box. 'Now you know your purpose. You've known it from the beginning. Let's finish this together pup.' The moment he braced the lid, my head began to spin as the first notes of the song leaked out from the cracks in the wood.

Only you,
Can make all this world seem right.

Eyes enflaming, I snapped them shut and collapsed backwards. Every ounce of me writhed on the floor until I heard Jacob's encouraging voice.

'Cull the herd.' Focus claimed my pupils and I had tunnel vision. Complete the mission. I immediately fixated onto the nearest weapon and took it into my hands. I knew the routine. If I could do this, then it would be over.

Bang. Bang.

'Excellent.'

Only you,
Can make the darkness bright.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

'Good.'

Time was ticking. I needed to be faster. Needed to get it done quicker.

BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.

Only you and you alone,
Can thrill me like you do.

'Keep it up.'

Stranger after stranger fell. Enemies. Enemies everywhere. All of them for the claiming. Get it done. Get it done and then we can be together without anybody else. Stairs, had to climb them. Gaps, had to jump them. Shoot, shoot, shoot.

BANG. Bang. BANG. Bang. BANG.

'Time's ticking Deputy.'

And fill my heart with love,
For only you.

Down the rabbit's hole, sliding against cool metal. This was routine now. Jacob would be so proud of how well I was doing. More enemies coming.

Stranger. Bang.

Stranger. Bang.

Stranger. Bang.

ELI. BANG.

Wait, Eli? Time seemed to stop and I reeled backwards as my gun recoiled into my shoulder. Eli.

'Only you... can make this world seem right... Only you... can make the darkness bright...' Jacob's deep voice approached from behind, his fingers steepled proudly. Eyes wide, I stared at him as he gently lowered the barrel of my gun. A thrilled grin adorned his face as he reached out and softly pinched my cheek like I was a child. 'Only you.' Letting go, he approached Eli and the grin grew wider until he was reminiscent of a shark baring its teeth. 'Only you could have gotten this close. Only you could have earned his trust. It was always only ever you.' Studying the frozen body of my former ally, Jacob then came back to me. 'Good work pup. You did it. You passed your first test. You made your first sacrifice.' Bracing my shoulders, he squeezed them with terrifying strength. 'But now you're alone. And you're weak. And we know what happens to the weak.' Leaning his face down to my level, I stared him deadpan in the eye. 'I cull the herd. It's what I do. I'll be outside waiting for you.' Softly, he pressed a kiss to my forehead before leaving out of the bunker door humming the God awful tune to himself. This had to be a nightmare. This had to be. Time started to pick up, the Bliss waring off. Eli was flung backwards, his body connecting to the floor with force.

'Eli! No! No!' Tammy shoved past me and fell to her knees, gripping Eli's corpse.

'What the fuck did you do?!' Wheaty yanked me around, pressing a pistol to my temple. I felt dazed and confused, unable to form any words to defend myself. 'You fucking killed him! You fucking piece of shit!' The teenager shoved me into the wall and was prepared to shoot me at point blank range.

'Wait! Wheaty!' Tammy sprung back up and clamped her hands around the gun, pulling its sight line away from my torso. She knew the vacant expression on my face all too well.

'He trusted you!'

'Wheaty!'

'I trusted you!'

'Wait Wheaty! It was Jacob!' The kids' fingers brushed the trigger and Tammy pushed him slightly. 'No! Listen to me! It was Jacob! We've seen this before... Ronnie, Parker... This is what he does.' I couldn't bare to look at Wheaty's face glistening with tears but if I turned the other way I just got Eli's cold dead eyes staring back at me instead. 'And we let him right in.' Despite the rage that must've been coursing through his veins, Wheaty let Tammy take the gun from him. Both of their breathing was laboured and it took me a second to realise that mine was too. It became even more-so when Tammy shoved me up onto the wall by my collar. 'You find that motherfucker. You find Jacob and you kill him. Or the next time I see you so help me God... I'll kill you myself.' She meant it too, I could see it in her eyes. With a final glance at Eli's body, I took off up the stairs but had to pause before opening the bunker door.

'You are not weak. You are strong.' I encouraged myself though my voice was shaky and my hands unsteady at my sides. 'You are strong.' I said it once more before pushing the bunker doors open and stepping out into the blood red vista.