Whispers in the Dark

Memento Mori

The orb of light started going uphill, and Kol continued to follow it, expecting Eve to be behind the entire time. They had encountered three of the game masters so far. What of Patrick and the second girl?

He fully expected his feelings for Patrick to be used against him in some manner, but didn't think someone as simple-minded as Los could do it effectively. The spirit - and Kol did firmly believe he was a spirit - no god would struggle so much against regular people - may be powerful, but he wasn't smart. The fact that Patrick had managed to go easy on Luke and Nikita was proof of that, as was Eve's successful distraction.

The higher up the mountain he got, the more the mist relented. The light was slowing down, too. Were they near?

They?

Something buzzed in his mind.

Who were they? Was he supposed to be with someone.

"Of course," someone told him - someone he recognized. "Don't you remember?"

Suddenly, Kol ran into a gate. How long had that been there?

He looked back, and saw an old house behind him. Oh, right. He was home.

"Come on, Kol," someone called from the other side of the gate, and then a bird hooted. "I'm over here!"

He opened the gate and stepped outside. The forest was slightly different here.

"Over here," the voice said from among the trees, and then he heard someone running. Kol chased after them.

"Wait! Who are you?"

It was dark, but he could make out a small figure running ahead of him.

"Don't you remember?"

"I do," Kol replied quietly, beginning to catch up. He could make out the kid's blond hair. He knew that hair.

They came upon a house, and the boy ran into it. Kol followed, but the kid was out of sight once he was one.

"Hello?" he called out, carefully stepping inside. The floorboards creaked under the sols of his boots. "Where are you?"

Someone upstairs screamed, and Kol's instincts took over. He ran up the stairs.

"Help!" the person screamed again. He knew that voice.

Opening every room he came upon, Kol finally found the blond boy. He was tangled in strings that came from the ceiling. They dug into his skin as they suspended him mid-air, causing small bits of blood to flow out.

"Patrick," Kol whispered, taking a step forward.

The boy was crying and trembling. "Why didn't you help me!?"

Kol reached for the kid and started untangling the strings. He cut his fingers several times, but managed to free him.

When he looked down, Patrick was gone. Turning around, Kol went out into the hallway, but instead of entering it, he entered the same room again, and Patrick was once again tangled in strings. They twisted his fingers, breaking them one by one. The boy screamed, and Kol rushed to help him again. Spreading the cuts to his hands, Kol freed his friend once more.

Then he heard the same shriek from behind. As he turned around again, Kol found himself standing at the entrance of the same room. Patrick was tied up, all fingers on his right hand broken. The strings twisted his ankles almost 360 degrees, shattering the joints. Patrick howled in pain again, and Kol hurried to help him again. Cutting his hands some more, he managed to set the boy free.

"Why aren't you helping me!?" Patrick screamed, and Kol was standing by the door again. The strings cut deeply into the boy's arms and legs, spilling his blood over the floor.