Investigator

Chapter 24: Window Of Fate

Mort was limping through the darkness when his foot tripped over something. He caught himself before falling face first but when he felt around he realized where he was, on the stairs. He made it, he had made it and he hoped that the twisted fucks hadn't done anything to the window. Mort climbed the stairs and when he reached the top he could see sunlight, shining gracefully through the window. Mort lumbered over and stood in the doorframe, looking out of the window. The heat of the sun warmed his cold dead body and the bright light nearly blinded him, but he was happy. He began taking steps towards the window, slow but powerful as each time he put his foot down a sense of happiness ticked inside him. He was finally going to escape

"Gotchu!" A voice said behind Mort and he turned to see Zach standing their, looming above Mort. Before Mort could even react, Zach pulled a knife out and stabbed Mort in the gut. Then Zach grabbed Mort by the throat and threw him into the hallway. Mort crashed into the wall face first and fell to the ground. Zach lumbered towards the motionless body of Mort as a huge grin spread across his face.

"You don't get out, nobody gets to live. You're all animals! And we hunt you, we are better. You're low lives, nobody's, you're better off as trophies for us." Zach twitched as he spoke, he loved the thrill of the hunt. He stepped closer to Mort's body, stopping right in front of Mort's face.

"And now, you'll be a trophy to honor Tim." Zach said as he held tightly onto the knife and rose it into the air.

Mort's eyes shot opened and he moved forward and bit into Zach's leg, biting down with all his force until blood leaked out. Zach dropped the knife and kicked Mort in the face. Mort grabbed the knife and climbed to his feet. He went to charge at Zach, but forgot about his broken leg. He hissed in pain and fell to the floor. Zach recovered and went to kick Mort again but Mort took the knife and stabbed Zach's leg. Zach fell backwards into the wall. Mort got back up and limped at him. Mort slashed at Zach's face horizontally. Zach now had a bleeding line going across his eye. Mort stabbed Zach in the stomach multiple times, making him look like a pincushion. Finally, Mort finished the job by stabbing Zach right in the forehead, going all the way through.

Zach's body fell to the floor. Mort stumbled backwards and he held his gut, looking at the blood on his hand. Mort stumbled about, trying to make his way to the window. He walked crookedly, side to side with his vision blurred. Mort finally made it to the window, he touched the glass and felt the heat on the other side. Mort weakly pounded on it, nothing. He thought about kicking it but he only had one good leg to stand on. Mort was defeated, he had no way out even though the exit was right in front of him. He pounded on the glass with both hands, and that's when he realized. Mort looked down at his hand, he had an idea. But before he could act on it, he heard footsteps behind him. Mort fell to the floor, his back to the window and he looked at the door of the room. In the doorframe stepped John, with a grin on his face.

"What's wrong Mort, out of fuel? Oh but your escape is right there, can you feel the sun rays burning on your flesh. I have to say I'm impressed, I wouldn't expect a scrawny prick like you to be able to do so much damage. I mean, at first I was impressed with Tony, I didn't even know you were going to bash his skull in, very very impressive. And then my two goons? I gotta admit it was brutal and I love it. I wish we could have met before all this, you would have made a fine member of this group."

Mort looked up at John, his boss, his torturer. He was angry, angry that this sick fuck could think that he would of ever have joined him. "I am nothing like you, you're sick." Mort said weakly between his heavy breaths.

John's smile grew bigger "But see that's where you are incorrect, we are very much alike. Both broken, angered and saddened by the problems of the past. Both eager to find something to fill the void." John stepped closer to the broken mess on the floor. "It was only a matter of time Mort, you were already finding harmful ways to ease it." John grabbed Mort's arm and rolled up the sleeve to reveal the cuts Mort had. "How much longer until you would of snapped?" John asked, crouched down to be eye to eye with Mort.

Mort closed his eyes "I wouldn't have... I would never have snapped because I'm not a twisted fuck who harms others for his own enjoyment. But now? Being here is enough, being here was my breaking point. But it's okay, I needed this, I needed to know about the sick freaks who are close, the friends who stand nearby, and the ability to push past humanity and morals to gain the upper hand." Mort looked down at his hand, laying on his beltline with small twitches moving it. "Which is why... I am able to do stuff like this." Mort shot his hand up with the scalpel he had hidden and stabbed John in the cheek, the blade going through into his mouth. Mort pushed John backwards causing John to fall on his back.

John flipped around and got on stomach to get himself up but Mort lunged and stabbed John in the ankles. John tried to crawl away but Mort limped after him and stabbed his other ankle making John completely unable to walk. Mort turned around and walked back towards the window. He took the scalpel and began stabbing the window, chipping away at the glass. After a few seconds it shattered, the window broke into hundreds of tiny glass shards. Airbrushed over Mort's face, the wind brushed his hair. The smell of a new morning filled his nostrils and he could hear the forest animals. Mort looked down, and his heart sunk. He was high up, he knew he was on the second floor but he hadn't realized how far up he was. It was a long way down and he worried that he jumped he would break his only good leg making him incapacitated and left to his demise, or worse. He didn't even know if he could survive the initial fall, his weakened body could just break at the fall itself.

While Mort contemplated jumping, he heard a voice behind him. John spoke to Mort while covering the hole in cheek. "Do you think this is the end? Do you think that even if you make it out I'll be done? I have hundreds of people in this city alone, hundreds who will help me. Tim and Zach were not the only ones, I'll have more people coming here. Even if I'm arrested, even if I'm killed, my followers will come here and continue my work." John said in a cheerful voice for someone who was on the ground in pain.

Mort turned and looked at him, he was surprised, could there really be that many killers in the town? If he left or killed John would it really make no difference? John could just get away or never be tried for his crimes. And if what he was saying was true then if he killed John more people would take his place, killers, monsters. John was a hydra, and a powerful one at that.

Mort took a breath and it felt poisonous. He looked over to his left at a vent and saw the drug gas spewing out of the vent. That's when clicked in Mort, the whole building was a gas trap. Mort reached into his pocket and pulled out his light. The dirty, blood covered light still had the engraving on the front. To my wonderful boyfriend to light the way ~ Love Wendy. Mort flipped the lighter and clicked it, not even a spark. He clicked it some more but still nothing, it was by now that John realized what Mort was doing.

"Stop, no Mort please. This is my life's work and, I don't want to die. Please Mort, if you let me live I'll let you go just, don't destroy the building." John pleaded to Mort.

Mort looked at John. A broken, dead gaze on Mort's face as he stared at his boss. Mort held his finger on the lighter's button. "Burn in hell." Mort said weakly before finally pushing down on the button and a single spark flew into the air.

The building ignited. Explosions sparked in the building. Fire spewed everywhere, especially in the room that once housed Mort and his defeated boss. Now all that remained was a burning building.