Chapter 3: Isolation

We're all islands shouting lies to each other across seas of misunderstanding.

Rudyard Kipling

Jim awakens with a start, his heart racing, his head still ringing from the screams that had caused him to blackout. He looks around to see that he is in another store, Bella is nowhere to be seen. He looks down to find that he is still clutching the book tightly in his hand. It was the book of myths and legends around the world that was gi ing to him as a gift from the children of the orphanage school in Ira!. "ooking at the book Jim reli ed the screams from earlier, screams he ne er actually heard, but haunted e ery night and would fore er. It was during his first assignment in Ira! that he had took notice of the orphanage. His mission was to perch atop buildings and watch the checkpoints into the town he was in. But e ery so often, he found himself turning his scope towards the children laughing and playing inside the courtyard of the orphanage, seeing them through the crosshairs. #o anyone, it may ha e seem sinister, but it was all completely innocent. Jim was still getting o er the news of his girlfriend telling him she was going to abort her pregnancy, his child, and it $ust brought a smile to him to see these children smiling and happy, amid all this pain and war. #he woman who ran the orphanage was a woman maybe three or four years older than Jim at the time, maybe %& to %'. (he had long, shiny black hair and the most beautiful brown eyes, they always shined brightest as she looked upon the children in her care, always smiling down on them. He later learned her name was )arah. Jim always thought of his mother when he saw her, but also of "auren and wishing she could ha e been this gi ing, to open her heart to a child. *ne day, Jim heard shouts coming from the orphanage. #urning his scope away from his ob$ecti e, he sees a man dragging )arah by her hair out into the street. He was carrying a knife, shouting at her in +rabic. #he children were closely following behind the man and their teacher, sobbing and seemingly pleading with the man. #hey so wanted to rush to her aid, but they were to small and were afraid of what the man would do to them if they got too close. ,ith her out in the street, the man starts calling attention to e eryone walking around. -ost seemed a small bit concerned but others seemed to not really care at all. Hoisting )arah up he holds the blade to her throat, the man shouts out to crowd, proclaiming something, ranting like a madman. Jim couldn.t belie e what he was seeing, how could anyone want to hurt this kind woman, and e en if they wanted too, what ga e them the right to lay e en one finger on her. (he was the only thing to a mother these children had and this monster was threatening to take it away. Jim already had his sights set perfectly on the man.s head, as the anger boiled in him at this sickening display, he didn.t e en think twice as he took the shot, killing the man dead. +s the maniac went down, )arah collapsed beside him. Jim watched as the children rushed around her, protecting her from the unseen sniper, afraid perhaps they had missed their target. Jim smiled at their courage and put his gun away, they had nothing to fear from him. "ater, he was sent to his commanding officer at the time and he was not pleased at what Jim had done. /ot only had Jim turned away from his post, he had also upset the citi0enry. +pparently what Jim had interrupted was what was known as an 1Honor 2illing1, )arah had re$ected the man, who was chosen as

her husband and so the man was entitled by many.s opinion to take her life for the insult. Jim couldn.t belie e that, it was the most insane thing he had e er heard, barbaric. His tells his C* that he couldn.t seriously ha e allowed a woman to be killed on the streets. ,hat was the point of fighting this war of that kind of madness could be allowed. #he Commander, tells Jim that his duty is to maintain watch of the border and that what happens beyond that is none of their direct concern. Jim then gi es his C* some rather choice words. /eedless to say that did not go o er well and Jim was reassigned to actual combat. #hey day he was going to be shipped out, he actually met )arah and the children. Her english was surprising good as she thanked him for sa ing her life. (he then got the children to say thank you as well, in unison. #heir english was as good, but Jim foudn it rather cute that they would try. )inally they presented him with the book, which he found odd at first, but understood when they told him it was their most pri0ed story book and they wanted him to ha e it. +ccepting the book, he then !uickly said his thank yous and was shipped off, watching them fade away into the rising dust. It would be the last time he would see them. He would $oin Jack.s company and shortly lose his leg. (i3 months after coming home, he read in the paper that an e3plosion had destroyed the orphanage killing e eryone inside. It was a retaliation to the death of the man, who was known to ha e ties to terrorists in the area. It was his fault they were dead and e er since their screams ha e haunted him e ery night in his dreams, along with the images of the monster within the pages. But he ne er resented the book, e en now in this store, he clutched it tightly to him self and sobbed, muttering, 1I.m sorry... I.m so sorry...1 )or a moment, he was grateful that Bella or Jason were nowhere to be found. He didn.t want them to see him like this, not this wreck. Jim took a few minutes to a calm himself, wiping the tears from his eyes. He then pulls himself up and goes to the front door, it was locked. It was at the door that Jim then noticed the bookmark inside the book. 4ulling it out, Jim reads a message written on the back. You must keep the Innocent safe from the Sleeper! Jim had no idea what that meant, but it stuck a string of concern in him. He had to find a way out of here, check back on Jason and 5iiko, and Bella too. He had to find where she had gone off to and that she was okay. "ooking around him Jim sees se eral displays, featuring statues of the Buddha, stuffed animals, incense, fantasy themed fairy and dragon figurines, odd looking smoking pipes, hermit crabs, and rolled up posters. Jim first heads to the display featuring the fairy and dragon statues. #he display was a set of matching wooden bo3es. Inside one bo3 were the fairies, sitting upon tree branches, smiling coyly or playfully, adorned with lea es as dresses and other articles of clothing. #hey other bo3 featured the dragons, all looking fierce, all with their $aws open and some breathing fire while others had claws out ready to strike. #he dragons were of all different colors, the most ferocious being the ones colored black or red. 6oing through the different figurines, Jim stops when he picks up a statue of a white dragon and hears a rattling inside. Hoping perhaps it is the key to the front door, Jim smashes the statue and is a bit disappointed to find not the key, but instead a plastic syringe. + plastic end protects the needle. #he white li!uid inside confirms to Jim that it is morphine. ,as someone smuggling drugs through this store7 (tepping back, the appearance of the smiling and fanciful figurines seem to ha e lost their fancy and now seem ominous. Checking the others, he finds that this white dragon was the only one to hold anything at all. 8eciding that ha ing this medicine, which has been needed before would be important, Jim takes the syringe and places it in hiis pocket.

Jim then walks to the other end of the store, where a number of large statues line the wall from end to end. #he statues are statues from se eral asian countries. #he ma$ority of the statues are likenesses of the Buddha, with his round belly and wide friendly smile. *ther statues featured "ucky Cat statues, statues of white cats with coins around their neck and wa ing with one hand. +lso featured are gray stone guardian dog statues, some holding clubs and others a ball under it.s paw, wearing armor on it.s heads, shoulders, and legs. *n a shelf abo e the statues, se eral trinket bo3es laid out. #he bo3es ha e a distincti e oriental design and aried in si0es from large to ery small. #he bo3es were mostly red or green with gold lining and gold adornments and symbols. Jim wished that 5iiko was here, he would lo e to know the significance of these symbols and statues. He was pretty sure that she would know them, e en though she was $apanese, he imagined she knew chinese as well as other languages. He also figured that Jordan might know these things as well, but he figured Jordan wouldn.t bother to e3plain such things to him, preferring to keeping Jim ignorant and these making himself feel superior. But neither was here and if he e er hoped to see either again, he had best start looking for a key. Jim tips the statues o er, looking to see if perhaps a spare key or something else is hidden underneath or inside the ones that feature hollow bottoms. #hose that do not feature hollow bottoms, Jim picks up and shakes, hoping perhaps to hear the similar clink he heard from the dragon figurine, but hoping for a key this time. )inally, Jim opens the trinket bo3es and searches the contents that were inside.

(tanding again, with some disappointment, Bella sighed hea ily. /othing had come for her when she.d closed her eyes, $ust like she.d known it wouldn.t. (he began to creep through the dark building hoping to find another way out or at least an answer to the $umble of !uestions her mind was begging to ask. (he found a large, comfortable looking room. 5ecogni0ing it as a lounge she began to look about the room, pulling out her cle er so as to hopefully a oid further in$ury if something lay in wait for her. #he place looked like it might ha e once been a rather nice area to rest. Comfortable looking lounge chairs and couches spread about. Bella searches through the lounge and becomes distracted by a crunching noise she walks to in estigate, the sounds stop, she looks around a bit longer and finds nothing, she returns to her chair to continue lounging when she finds a creature obliterating the cushions with its strong and frantic $aws, Bella steps backward and unsheathes her hatchet, it notices this action and 1looks1 in Bella.s direction, its $aws click9 clacking in a bi00are rhythm. #hinking back to the last encounter like this she.d had, Bella tries to think !uickly of a way to put distance between herself and the ...thing in front of her. #his time she was determined not to be se erely wounded in the battle. But then it came to her, escape may be a good option too...but how7 (he thought for another second, and begin to !uickly back out of the room, attempting to slam the door shut with the creature on the other side. #he -onster chases Bella, leaping o er random pieces of furniture. Bella makes it to the door with the monster couple feet behind her, she slams the door and looks around frantically to find something, anything to hold the door closed. )inding nothing, she tried to think of something new, keeping her weight on the door. 4erhaps if she left it cracked open the thing might try to wedge through the gap...that might work. (he cracks the door, then the monster tears a chunk out of the door, with its claws and obliterates it with its $aws. #hen it continues to de our the door. Bella slams the door, knocking the monster back, then it continues to maul the door.

Bella then runs as fast as she can away from the beast. Her heart beating furiously, Bella runs from the hallway of the lounge she !uickly ducks into a room marked 1"ibrary1. /ot as big as most +merican libraries she.s seen before, but big none the less. It is filled with books and shel es to hold those books. If the creature from before were to follow her in here, she might be able to trick it. (he might be able to push one of these large shel es o er on it, and e en if it doesn.t die from the impact, it.d be at least trapped, for a bit. #hen again (he.d ran way so !uickly, she wasn.t e en sure it was still chasing her. (he had to get out of here...but how7 #he door, which might be the only door in the whole establishment was locked. #here might be a backdoor, or a window to escape through...something. (he $ust didn.t want to be here with that...thing still ali e, and all alone, with hardly anything to defend herself against. (he thought of calling for help, but thought better of it. #he creature from before didn.t seem to ha e eyes, $ust mouth parts, it may ha e possibly heard her, which could be what initiated it.s attack. If she yelled now, it could hear her and come again...hell it could be searching for her right now. 1(on of a fucking bitch...1 Bella muttered softly to herself, standing behind a bookshelf, listening for the thing to return.

:Jordan...; 5iiko whispered. (he noticed the hospital gown... *h god, was she in the hospital again7 #hey had to lead her e erywhere, and some people attacked her and oh my god what was that and... :5iiko, are you ok7; :/o.; :,hy am I in the hospital again7; 5iiko moaned :#his is no hospital; Jordan contradicted :It is a gallery. ,e should see what there is to see, because I doubt that we are here by accident. ,here would you like to look first7; :4ortraits... ,e might be able to find something there...; :8o you like this one, Jordan9san7; 5iiko asked :It is my fa orite because... ,hat are you doing7; Jordan was busy remo ing the portraits on the other wall, checking behind the frames and knocking on walls [...] she paused Jordan was ready to search another room but 5iiko insisted that they replace all the pictures first. He grudgingly conceded but when 5iiko saw the half9assed effort he was making, she had to rebuke him :Jordan9san, you are hanging the pictures crooked; she scolded :and that one is upside down<; 1(o what7 I seriously doubt that..1 he s!uinted and turned his head sideways to read 1...=rnest Baldwin gi es a damn1 :#his one looks like you, Jordan9san; 5iiko giggled :if you had short hair and li ed in the &>??.s; 16et real, 5iiko9chan1 he teased her 1#hat guy is way better looking. /ow I am tired of watching a bunch of founding fathers staring at me like I owe them something... "et.s go1

Inside the glasswork and pottery room, 5iiko was shocked to see Jordan grabbing the e3hibits and shaking them by his ear :Jordan9san; she gasped :#hat sign clearly forbids you to handle the art in such a way<; :8on.t worry about...; he replied, tossing her the ase he.d been shaking and then knocking o er the pedestal it had been on to check inside that :#here must be a reason we are in here. +nd I.m going to find it;

1,hat the fuck is this71 Jack says as he lifts his eyes off the glass. ,asn.t he $ust in a wine shop7 How.d he get here7 -ore importantly though, where was 1here17 (e eral doors surrounded Jack as he stood in the centre of a room. Information tabs that hanged by the doors re ealed where they lead. 4hotograph hall, painting hall, abstract painting hall7 #he place made no sense, Jack wouldn.t e er be caught in an art gallery e en if his life depended on it but here he was. #he photograph gallery caught Jack.s attention, he walked inside and saw walls littered with different photographs re eal themsel es to him. +s he walked along the walls glancing at some of the photographs his face turned from interested to pu00led to shocked. +ll of those photographs were from his past. + picture of him kicking down the tombstone off a gra e that Jim had dug for an innocent man that Jack had killed in the army. How could this be7 /o one e er took any pictures of him while he ser ed anyway. +nother picture of Bryan holding Jack by the throat in the asylum that he had met Bryan in. Blasphemy< #his can.t be happening. Jack cutting Jim.s right leg or rather -a3 cutting it. #he picture was filled with blood as was Jack.s face back then, he could still recall the warm blood that flowed down his cheeks as he watched the gruesome ordeal from inside himself. #he pictures went on and on along the wall, e ery one of them was different, e ery one of them showed a different episode from his life. +nd then as Jack circled the room and ended up where he started a lone picture showed something that couldn.t possibly be from his past. It showed Jack stabbing Jim in the stomach with a sil er knife. #his one picture showed the future, or so Jack thought. Jack wasn.t that shocked or surprised by the picture either but considering all the other pictures happened at one time in his life he figured this one would come true as well. )or what reason it would come true remained to be seen. Jack hears se eral scraping noises, and then the stench hits him, he turns to see a figure walking around him not paying much attention to Jim at all, $ust carrying out its@their 1business.1 #he no3ious odor that it is emitting starts to o erwhelm Jack.s senses, his ision becomes blurry, balence become unsteady, and breathing labored. #hese condition seem to worsen with time. #he arms of the creature flail out blindly and at random, whate er they touch start to slowly dissol e. Jack co ers his mouth with his collar watching the creature wander aimlessly across the gallery. It flings its hands left and right, one hand touched the wall with the framed photographs and slid across it. Jack noticed the wall start to immediately dissol e but the framed photograph that was held in between two glass pieces seemed unaffected by the monster.s acidic touch. #he glass pieces were large enough to pro ide a little surface area to protect oneself against the acid and light enough to hold in one hand. /ot wasting any time Jack stepped back from the monster and grabbed two frames off a nearby wall, he wrapped the strings upon which the frame had been hung around his left fist and smashed the other one

to bits. He picked up a few shards from the shattered glass and holding the other frame as a shield started approaching the monster. It seemed to be working, the monster.s hands flailed at Jack but slid down the glass and didn.t touch him. He sliced at the hands as they slid down the glass trying to e entually chop them off to get access to the creature up close. ,ith each thrust, the broken glass that Jack is holding begins to dig into his, he continues, ignoring the pain. +s he sliced at them a single drop of acid fell on his foot, the pain o ercame him and he fell down to the ground shattering his shield to bits. #he creature seemed to react to the sound and started approaching Jack. )ortunately Jack was able to slice at the arms enough for the creature to loose the ability to lift them up, it was dragging them along the ground, dissol ing it behind it. Jack got up and took out his broken bottle, noticing that the creature was apparently blind Jack carefully sliced at one of its failing arms until he managed to completely cut it off. He grabbed a shard of the ground and carefully picked up the hand that was dripping acid. ,ith a swift swing Jack threw the hand back at its owners fused heads. It started eating away at its heads until e entually the creature fell lifeless to the ground. Jack e3ited the photo gallery with the dead body behind him as the fumes were getting into his system. He gasped for semi fresh air as soon as he left the room, the dirty, oil soaked air ne er felt as refreshing as it did right then. He $ust ga e himself fully to the e3ctasy of something that had not resembled rot or a sharp smell that was eating away at his nose. (lumming down to the ground Jack notices two figures a little ahead of him. Blurry as his ision was Jack couldn.t makle out more than the two being anything from monster to man. 6athering his remaining strength accompanied with his newly ingested to3in he got up and walked towards the two while intimidatingly trying to be scary ... 5iiko: Jordan9san, what is that7 Jordan: ,here7 5iiko: 5ight there, coming towards us7 Jordan glances into a corridor that Jack was slumping along the walls off. +s the to3ins o ercome him, Jack reali0es he cannot speak clearly anymore. 1Blood,1 Jack says with his bloody hands raised towards the two, 1... ghmmm1 5iiko s!ueals grasping Jordan as tightly as she could, watching Jack pass out in front of them.

Jason.s sense e entually came back to him. He panted and knelt o er trying to catch his breath. #here was no sign of -r #eddy or Jim. (not ran down his face and pattered into the wet. He sniffled. His breathing also now under control, Jason looked up and at his surroundings. He was alone. His breath tried to hitch back up into panic but he managed to keep it in better check. He was lost and alone now, who knew where he would end up if he had another white9out7 Jason didn.t stop the tears washing down his cheeks. He didn.t care if he was being a cry9baby. .,here.s e eryone7. He whimpered. Images of rancid 0ombie dogs and faceless humanoid monsters ran through his head like a bad %?.s black and white mo ie. Jason tried to tune them out as he gathered his bearings. #wisting around he saw a shop front. + dead neon sign proclaimed the place as Booche.s (ports Bar. #he windows were smashed and in one of them a chair balanced precariously on the window rim. It looked ominous. Jason turned around intending to lea e but the desolute street was e en less friendly in it.s emptiness. Jason faced back toward the bar again. Jim could be in it. Jason stilled himself then breathed out before entering the establishment.

Inside the place stank of stale beer and alcohol. Jason dodged around the miserable tables and chairs, galncing o er each one in the hopes of spotting something useful. His eyes perked at a large tele ision screen 9 smashed 9 that was the centre point of the whole room. It watched him bleakly with it.s dead stand9by light. He tripped on an old bag and almost fell into the lip of the bartop. #he bag was waterlogged but he checked it anyway. +round were other pieces of abandoned personal items. Jason fely only slightly guilty as he rummaged through them. #he accompanying ladies and mens bathrooms were rather drab and basic but he checked where he could. )inally he looked behind the bar itself. 6lass crunching under foot. +fter, Jason sat on one of the bar stools and stared glumly into his reflection in the dirty glass mirror. He couldn.t find anything, not one clue, e3hausted and frustrated he lets his face rest on the bar, $ust reading some of the messages car ed into the bar to pass the time, until one of them caught his attention. Jason closes his eyes, and when he opens them he finds himself, locked in, somewhere in the /o elty shop.

#he search had pro ed fruitless for Jason. He looked at his reflection and frowned. #here he was sitting... and alone. He was tired. Aery tired. Jason yawned then put his head on the bar mindlessly reading the arious little musings of the drunks. *ne stood out though and he found himself staring into words that made his heart $ump with hope. =ngrained on the surface was this.. I have missed ou so much! are ou oka " #re ou hurt" Where are ou" You$ll find me and I$ll find ou! oka " I found a %a to keep ou safe! safe from the &octor! from the 'urses( I$ll meet ou at the )igar Shop! I$ll take ou there! *ust close our e es. .-r #eddy7. Could it be7 Jason missed the bear terribly. *f course he was going to close his eyes if it meant finding his friend. Jason s!uinted as tight as he could, but for the minute he did so he felt nothing. #hen the world tipped on it.s a3is. Jason awoke with a moan, his eyes peering tiredly. #he bar.s interior was gone. He was somewhere else. Jason sat up to take better stock of his surroundings and his e3citement soared. #here sat row upon row upon row of little stuffed toys. -r #eddy must be there< H= -B(# B=< -r #eddy was safety. He e en said so. #here was somewhere where the monsters couldn.t get him. Jason wanted to feel safe but most of all he wanted -r #eddy. ,ith a new found bounce, Jason $umped from his place on the floor and do e for a pile. + little -onkey flew one way, a pink elephant another. Jason discarded each and e ery one that was /*# -r #eddy. Just to be certain he e en scrambled under their tables to make sure he hadn.t missed any. = entually Jason got through the entire contents of the room and found himself standing in a small mountain of soft toys. #here sat row upon row upon row of little stuffed toys. -r #eddy must be there< H= -B(# B=< -r #eddy was safety. He e en said so. #here was somewhere where the monsters couldn.t get him. Jason wanted

to feel safe but most of all he wanted -r #eddy. ,ith a new found bounce, Jason $umped from his place on the floor and do e for a pile. + little -onkey flew one way, a pink elephant another. Jason discarded each and e ery one that was /*# -r #eddy. Just to be certain he e en scrambled under their tables to make sure he hadn.t missed any. = entually Jason got through the entire contents of the room and found himself standing in a small mountain of soft toys. #here was a tear and a crunching noise as is something was tearing apart the animals, Jason turned around and saw a beast tearing at the stuffed animals, then same ones which Jason threw across the rum with its terrible fast mo ing $aws. It grabs an elephant and reduces it to fluff, the limbs of the toy fall on an other toys mo ing it slightly, then monster de ours that one as well. this continues as the monster steadly destroying Jason.s mountain of toys, e entually it will come across Jason. Jason ducked down behind a small pile. (hi ering with fear he is left utterly stilled by fright. He can hear the monster tearing through the toys like tissue paper. (ome part in the back of his head is thankful that -r #eddy wasn.t in the room. His inner darker side angry at -r #eddy for bringing him here. Jason wets hilmself once more. #he warm li!uid rolling down his pant leg bringing him out of his stupour. He has no weapons Cbut Jason wasn.t sure what he could do with a weapon anywayD , all he.s got is his limited wits. He hears the monster getting closer, so makes a decision. Jason tried to crawl behind the piles that protected him from the sight of the creature. It appeared to be all mouth with teeth. /o eyes to be seen. (ome sane part in his head told him that without eyes it was blind. ,hile he was crawling, his hand hit a hard ob$ect. He looked down to see one of those cymbol clapping monkeys. He grabbed it. If need be he could throw it at the monster. He continued to crawl towards the door. Hoping to sneak past the beast. #he creature picks up on Jason.s impact with the noisy toy, it $umps o er the mountain of toys and Jason runs, the monster then begins to chase Jason. Jason screams, and throws the monkey at the beast. It misses, then the monsters chases after the toy, Jason continues to run. #he toy crashes against a wall and the monster obliterates the toy. Jason makes it to the door and slams it closed behind him. #he monster runs and attacks the door, crashing through it. Jason is fro0en with fear, the beast stands and wanders mere feet from Jason, trying to find him.

Jim hears se eral scraping noises, and then the stench hits him, he turns to see a figure walking around him not paying much attention to Jim at all, $ust carrying out its@their 1business.1 #he no3ious odor that it is emitting starts to o erwhelm Jim.s senses, his ision becomes blurry, balence become unsteady, and breathing labored. #hese condition seem to worsen with time. #he arms of the creature flail out blindly and at random, whate er they touch start to slowly dissol e. Jim wondered if perhaps he could sneak by the thing, it hadn.t noticed him and didn.t seem to be looking for anything in particular. #he two skeletal figures seemed fused together at the chest and head and Jim could see no eyes isible on the creature. #hinking again, Jim thinks it.s best to not take the chance. ,hat if he approached by the monster as he escaped and the thing blindly reached out and touched him, he didn.t want to e en think of that. +nd e en if he did escape, then what7 He couldn.t lock the monster away in room with the statues, if it went to the door, it.s acid touch would destroy the door instantly. = en if the door did hold, the fumes it

emitted would e entually fill the store and Jim could barely stand it as it was. He would ha e to find a way to kill it. Jim did not think his lead pipe would handle the acidic touch of the monster, he.d need something more durable. Jim turns and picks up one of the hea ier statues he had found. ,hile the air was still breathable, he takes in a breath and holds it, lifting the hea y stone statue o er his head. He has a bit of trouble keeping his balance and his head ached from the effects of the gas, but he stays focus. He had one ad antage, the monster did not know his presence and thus made itself an easy target. ,ith the creature still obli ious to Jim.s presence, he throws the statue at the monster, catching it in the torso. Jim had meant to aim for the head, but he still scored a hit. #he creature staggers about, clearly affected. Jim picks up another statue, a "ucky Cat statue, and chunks it for all he.s worth, this time connecting with it.s head. #his time the creature stumbles and falls o er. #he thing seems to ha e difficulty picking itself up from the floor, the two hal es ob iously not able to coordinate with each other ery well. ,hile it fails on the floor, Jim picks up one last statue, a solid stone 6uardian 8og statue. )rom a safe distance, he lifts it as high as he can muster and then with no strength left, lets it fall out of his hands towards the heads of the monster, crushing it.s skulls. ,ith that the monster lays still and the fumes it emits cease. It was dead. =3hausted and still ery much woo0y and feeling nauseous, Jim staggers out of the room and away from the dead monster. #he stench of the chemical fumes still filled the air and it sickened Jim, he wanted to be rid of it. He turns a corner into a room featuring rows of incense. #he incense was aried. (ome were powdered incense packaged in bo3es along with engra ed metal censers to slowly burn it. *thers were compressed into cones, in which you burn the top and it works it.s way to the bottom, increasing the scent as it goes. +nd finally, the most common form of incense, those on thin wooden sticks. #hese were separated into their indi idual scents and each were held in glossy black stone $ars. #he $ars and incense lined the room, sitting on numerous shelfs, with many arieties of scents from end to end. Jim picks out a few sticks of la ender scented incense Chis mother.s fa orite scentD and begins to search for a lighter or a match. Jim searches the wooden bo3es that hold the metal censers, he then turns to the flimsy cardboard bo3es that hold the cone shaped incense. He then goes and looks inside each indi idual stone $ar that holds the stick incense, looking for anything that might light them.

James and his father looked around the +dmiral.s -odel (hips Collection. +s they enter the shop, they begin to search for a clue while surrounded by model ships. James walks up the stairwell to search. He hears a series of smashing noises, a figure is dimly isible throwing the ships against the walls, and crushing them up against the tables with its hands. ,hate er it is, it is fast, its motions are almost blurred, as James.s eyes struggle to keep up. James couldn.t not guess why, but this figure resembled someone, he couldn.t guess or why until it... laughed. + fast percussi e laugh that struck James with mortal fear, and brought buried memories to the surface. James, hurriedly back away, and tripped o er his own two feet at the top of the stairs. #hen darkness. James awakens in the Cigar (hop, locked in.

Christian runs up the stairs to find an empty room.

18ai$obu desu1 Jordan assured 5iiko :,hate er did this to him is already dead, or it would. e chased him, so we.re safe. 8o you understand7 ,e are safe but he is in trouble. I need to see how bad his wounds are, so you need to let go of me...; 5iiko trembled in his arms for a few more moments then reluctantly stepped away. Jordan took her backpack to use as a pillow and asked her to get some blankets from the !uiltwork display, e3horting her to come back immediately if she saw anything hostile, then he turned his attention to Jack... #he cuts on his hand were no problem, but Jordan smelled something else, something... #hat boot was scorched, the last wisps of smoke fading away. Euickly remo ing the boot and sock, careful not to touch the damp parts, he e3amined the burned foot. +cid burn. It had to be an acid burn and that was bad because anything with a low enough pH alue to burn through leather was dangerous. #he blood had neutrali0ed most of the acid Che hopedD but if he could find some baking soda, or better yet, some anomia Cwhich would definitely cancel out the acidD then that acid could still be eating away at Jack.s foot. Jordan knew his urine couldn.t ha e a pH alue higher than eight or nine, which was better than nothing but with his luck Jack would wake up, or worse yet9 5iiko would catch him with his dick in his hand, pissing on someone.s foot and then Jordan would ha e a lot of e3plaining to do. /o, that was going to ha e to wait until he was sure that he had no other choice. He searched Jack for anything useful, then bandaged the wounded hand. Jack slowly opens his eyes to see Jordan bandaging his burned foot. 1Hey, you.re that guy ... you know ... the one that.s always lying around,1 he says still only half awake. 1Feah, well, looks like you.re the one lying around right now,1 Jordan replies. 1,here.s your little girlfriend7 I didn.t scare her, did I now71 1-y 1girlfriend1 is looking around for stuff to help your sorry ass1 1Heh ... how does it look7 -y foot.1 1Fou should li e, unless the acid starts spreading, then we.d ha e to chop it off1 16reat. /ame.s Jack1 1Jordan. /ice to meet you1 1Charmed, I.m sure1 1+bout your foot, if worse comes to worse I could piss on it, that might help1 1... no ...1 1Just saying1 1-ight this help71 Jack says pulling out his odka bottle 1,hy the hell am I bandaging his foot71 Jordan wondered 1#his type of wound needs to breathe...1 he took a swig of odka and then he reali0ed9 Aodka is a base< #his bottle tasted around a pH>... He remo ed the bandage 1Hey there Jack, I ha e some good news and some bad news1 Jordan warned 1#he good news is that this odka will neutrali0e the acid and in case you hadn.t guessed, the bad news is that it is gonna hurt like hell1 1Euit talking about it and pour already1 Jack growled through his clenched teeth. Jordan doused the foot, and Jack.s howls brought a frightened 5iiko to see what the noise was all about, with a grip of !uilts in one hand and a %3' in the other :I9i9is e erything okay7; (he asked :#here was screaming; :/othing to worry about; Jordan smiled at her :Fou found some blankets7 6ood work. "et.s look around and see if we can.t find something to help him out; #hey bundled Jack up lea ing his foot clear and told

him to stay put, then went to check out the +bstract 4ainting 6allery +ordan said [it looks like someone snee,ed on the canvas] [It is #-stract ./pressionist] 0iiko said [#nd %hat is %rong %ith that one"] +ordan demanded [Wh are -oth e es to the left of the nose"] [It is called )u-ism] [It is called 1I failed art class1] +ordan contradicted! tossing the paintings around %ithout a care for the damage he %as inflicting [+ordan2san!] 0iiko gasped [You are destro ing those paintings!] +ordan contradicted 1Sonno +oi!!!1 5iiko inspects the painting then stops when she sees a large on propped against the wall. (he approaches, then the painting starts to mo e, something is behind it, then the can as begins to rip as sharp talons tear through it, e3posing the horrible teeth of the creature. In the awful parody of birth the creature emerges from the composition, then begins to de our it. 5iiko screams, then tries to use her %3' to distract it. #he monster grabs the %3' with its teeth and chews on it, and takes it from 5iiko. Bpon hearing 5iiko scream, Jordan rushes to her side. ,hen he sees the beast, he takes the rebar in his left hand and the >mm in his right. He sho es the rebar in its mouth, keeping it more than a yard away from him and 5iiko. #hen he shoots it in the chest from close range until it dies. Jack awoke from his short nap to the sound of a high9pitched screaming in one of those hollow corridors. He growled as he rubbed his forehead, (hut the hell up<1 he yelled out. #his screaming was making his head split in two. Just after he yelled it out a gunshot followed and the screaming instantly stopped. Coincidence7 (omeone had a gun, someone would put on a good show from now on. +s he looked around he noticed that both Jordan and 5iiko were gone but it didn.t matter, it seemed the Aodka did its part, his leg didn.t feel sore anymore and his hands were disinfected properly. He wanted to say thanks to that man for some reason but he wasn.t around. Jack continued on to the gift shop. :Fou see7; Jordan !uipped handing 0iiko her che%ed up 3/4 and recovering his re-ar! then he suddenl paused as if he heard something. 0iiko sa% him flinch and his face t%ist into a sco%l! she'd seen him do this -efore [What is the matter! +ordan2san"] she asked ['othing] he replied the fierce look left his face! replaced - a small grin as he took a small shred of canvas the %ent to the portrait galler and e/amined the -od [./actl like I thought] he muttered! dropping the small shred of canvas into the pool of ichor [acid...] [What %as that a-out"] 0iiko asked +ordan e/plained ['o% I must check on +ack's %ounds] [...he frightens me] 0iiko said softl

he replied! taking her hand -ut she pulled it a%a outside of the gift shop [Wait here then for a short time] +ordan %ent in to look at +ack's %ounds. 5he passed the -ottle -ack and forth for a %hile and then +ordan returned to tell 0iiko [6e %ill -e fine] [7et us search the lo-- ] she suggested [5his is an e/cellent idea] he replied [%e %ill do it]

+fter many tense minutes of nothing further happening, or trying to burst through the "ibrary doors to charge her, Bella decides to try and look around the place. (omething might come up, or e en better she might find something to help her escape this rotten place. But where would she go7 ,ould it e en be possible to escape7 was she already dead to begin with7 #oo many damn !uestions, and no answers. 8espite all the bullshit going on around her, the "ibrary seemed fairly calm. +nd though there was little to no light, she felt at least partially comfortable there. (he was a fan of books and reading in general. In her youth she hadn.t been too into reading, but e er since ha ing started o er in +merica, she.d became a rather a id reader in her spare time. *ften reading horror no els and some fantasy books. *nce she.d found a collection of Japanese science fiction stories at her local library. (he.d read them o er so many times, and considered most of them ery good. #he translation was spotty at times, but o erall she.d fallen in lo e with the book. (he somehow doubted sheGd find something as interesting to her in this library, crammed inside a cigar shop. (till, the place was fairly spacious, or rather it was arranged to appear so. (he wondered what sort of literature may lie within the shel es here...the thought ran into that of wondering who may ha e regularly come here to read. (he pictured old men, old men smoking cigars and sitting down to read...read what7 8irty maga0ines hidden inside thick hardback books7 Bella chuckled at the thought. (ighing lightly she tried to sift through some of the shel es and carefully look around. Bella searches through the library, looking amongst the bookshel es, tables, under chairs and all the while continuously looking back and straining an ear to listen for the creature somewhere outside. #hough perhaps it was busy chewing away at something or another. Hell perhaps it was a figment of her imagination, and she was merely going insane. #hat.d make a lot more sense of things... /one the less she continued to search. -James woke inside the cigar shop. He immediately started to look around. Aincent was already there.. he hadn.t found his mother yet. #his was way too soon. By the time Aincent was in the picture he only had a limited time. He H+8 to find his mother< James scrambled to his feet. He ran from room to room, looking for someone.. anyone.. +nd finally, stumbled upon Bella. 1H=F<1 he shouted, looking frantic. 1,e ha e to get out<1 he looked around. ,here was Aincent, where ,+( he<7 1/*,<1 he turned out and to the )ine Collections. He was frantic, looking for something, anything.. maybe a C"B=.. who cared<7 He needed to do what he could to get ready. He wanted to get out. -aybe he could find a key<7 1Holy fucking shit, I.m so glad to see you...to see anyone. "ooks there.s something out there, it.s...it.s a monster. I.m not kidding, there.s something out there with horrible teeth, it almost got me and started eating a door. "ook...i...I found this book, it.s gotta be some sort of riddle.1 Bella frantically e3claims, trying to keep her oice from being #** loud. (he nearly topples him o er as she grabs his shoulder with one hand...then reali0ing it slowly lets it go.

(he shows James the odd tome, it.s a red bound book that is bound shut by a steel plate. #here are two rectangular depressions on it.s side and a cryptic message. 1HIHJKAI 1 1(o...so did you see the monster thing on your way here...and wait. ,ait a minute, how in the fuck did you get in here7 #he place was locked tight, as far as I could tell. 8id you come in from another room, through a window or something7 +re the others ok71 (he asks !uickly, nearly stumbling o er her own words in the rush. (he waits for James to reply eagerly, still holding the red tome. He says nothing and begins to storm away. (he followed him into the a room decorated with e3pensi e looking collection pieces, and he tore through the place loudly and cra0ily looking for something. 1James...look..I...we can get out of here ok, stay calm.1 Bella tries to reassure him James whirled around. 1I d9don.t ha e time for this<1 He was sweating a little. He.d gone a while without a hit or.. anything.. and was starting to show minor signs of withdrawal.. but.. frankly, he figured it was because he thought his uncle was going to murder him. He run his hands through his greasy hair. 1... okayokayokay...1 he looked around. 1... okay...1 he took a few breaths.. 1I9I can.t freak out... I can.t. If I do, he.s gonna catch me off guard..1 he muttered, looking around.. 1okay.. okay..1 he blinked a few times.. then looked to Bella.. 1.. okay.. uhm... HIHJKAI... uhm..1 he looked at the tome... think we.. ha e to put something in there7 I mean. like.. there.s depressions.. we must ha e to find something... He looked around. 1.. go.. go search a room. ,e need to find the things that go in there.... it.s.. a.. number... it must be roman numerals we.re looking for..1 James and Bella enture into the )ine Collection with the Crimson #ome, trying to figure out how to open it, when a percussi e noise begins to echo through the chamber, James immediately knows what it is and free0es, in mid sentence. He knew now that this strange trip was going to end, hard. Bella looks up to find the source of the ryhthm, it is crawling upside down on the ceiling, ery !uickly in a circle. It lets itself fall between James and Bella, takes James.s face in its hand and slams it into a nearby table, then !uickly crawls up a wall and begins again to !uickly crawl all around the ceiling. James let out somewhat of a startled noise as his head hit the table. He gasped, reaching for his face. 1+h.. (HI#<1 He watched the figure crawl back up to the ceiling... 1AI/C=/#<1 he shouts, glaring up at it. 1,H+# #H= )BC2<71 He readies his butterfly knife and looks !uickly to Bella. 1,hen he comes back down... don.t go easy on him< 8on.t hesitate<1 He waits and, whene er if does come back down, he pi ots and turns to the side, planning to catch him in the back of the neck, right at the base of his skull. Bella $umps back a step, hoping the thing crawling on the ceiling will lunge for her. +s it does she $umps back another step and swings the cle er hori0ontally for greater chance of connecting to it. 1James, get this fucking thing from behind<1 (he yells, swinging at the creature again, keeping a wall of offense up to keep the thing at bay. +s it slips in closer she throws out a fierce, hooking roundhouse, praying that her hea y combat boots will connect with the thing.s head. #he kick clips the beast.s head, stunning it ery briefly, and Bella follows through with an outward swipe of the cle er, slashing the blade across it.s 1face1. 2eeping the offense up, and trying to keep some space between the attacker and herself, she cannot see what James is doing, but hopes he.s following into an attack. ,hile it.s distracted by Bella, James lunges at the creature from behind with the knife, the creature

regains its composure and side steps the charge, flings out its right arm and clothes9lines him. #he creature is bleeding in the 1face1 and begins to emit its high pitched percussi e laughG Bella charges again, it slaps her in the face with such force that falls on her back. #he creature crawls on her holding her down and forces its weight and stench on her, wiping its bloody face on her.s. It hears James rise behind and with a bound crawls to the nearest wall and out the window. #he room then fills with its laughter.

Jim lights the incense, and as if he $ust performed a summoning ritual a figure fell from the ceiling on the opposite side of the incense welding a lead pipe identical to Jim.s. It is lifted to its feet, and approaches Jim swinging its pipe. Jim lifts his pipe defensi ely, the creature blocks the way to the door, he cannot escape. #he creature swings it.s pipe wildly, shattering the stone $ars holding the incense and knocking many others to the ground. #he monsters swings are so wild and unpredictable, that Jim cannot predict when a good opening can present itself, so he back away and finds himself being drawn in closer and closer to the wall. -eanwhile, outside the room, the creature blindly searching for Jason hears the raucous and is drawn to the noise, lea ing Jason be. It creeps closer and closer. )inally, Jim has his back pressed to the wall, he has nowhere to go any further. ,ith no other choice, Jim rushes in and takes a swing at the monster, hoping to take ad antage of a small opening. Just as he is about to connect, the monster.s pipe comes into iew coming at him in icious speed. Jim tries to pull back and he nearly misses the attack, but he isn.t fast enough and the pipe connects with his face, mainly his nose. Jim is knocked to the ground. +s he lays there trying to regain his senses, he can feel his warm blood begin to flow freely from his nose. #he Jim looks up to see the creature raise it.s pipe, preparing the killing blow. (uddenly a massi e collection of teeth come from behind and gnaws into the pipe wielder.s head, crushing the attackers skull and ripping it.s head from it.s neck. +s the first monster falls to the ground, Jim sees that it is another monster, one with two sets of $aws, powerful chewing onto it.s prey. ,hile it is busy on it.s feast, Jim picks himself up and takes ad antage of the situation. ,ith e erything he has left, he swings the pipe and connects with the new monster.s head, sending teeth flying with a shuttering sound similar to the one produced by the stone $ars. ,ith no teeth in it.s mouth, the chewed piece of meat falls from the monster.s wrecked $aw and with a shudder it falls o er, dead. ,ith his breathing labored, blood spraying from his nose, Jim staggers out of the room, wary of any further attacks. #he noise almost made Jason $ump. +lmost. But fear stilled any motion e3cept the widening of his eyes and the pitching of his breath. #he -onster reacted more acti ely. It rushed to the room where the crashing came from lea ing Jason stunned. "ike a statue he stood there listening. /oises he didn.t want to imagine could be heard. + shattering of impact was followed by silence. He shook, terrified but also recklessly curious. Jason took a few steps towards the room when something came out. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He demanded his legs to mo e but they had withered from stone to $elly and could barely hold him up. Jason waited for death to catch him. ...

.... ..... /othing. He focused on the thing that came out and slowly but surely he began to recognise it, or rather him. .JI-<. #he $elly wobbled it.s way to the sinking form. Jason.s delight rapidly disappeared to concern as he saw that Jim.s face was slowly bleeding from the ragged part of his face that had once been his nose. .Jim7. Jason stopped and stared as the man slowly rested on the floor. Jim.s breathing was laboured and a little bubbly. .Jim. Four hurt.. He didn.t know what else to say. Jim turns in surprise to see Jason standing outside the doorway, watching him. 1Jason71 His oice was distorted somewhat from the damage to his nose, it seemed to spook Jason. #he boy.s face twisted into anguish and he seemed to want to go to Jim but at the same time petrified to approach. 1How did you get in here7 Is the front door unlocked now71 1/o...1 the boy says softly, a oiding Jim.s eyes, his whole face actually, 1I was searching a bar, looking for -r. #eddy... I fell asleep and then I woke up in this place.1 Jason continues, 1I thought -r. #eddy had sent me here and I thought I would find him in that room with stuff toys, but I didn.t.1 Jason then wraps his arms around himself and shudders, 1Instead I found this scary monster with teeth, I though it was going to get me, but something made it walk off.1 Jim understands what happened now, the noise he had heard, the one he had regarded as another monster, it had been Jason. ,hat if while he was walking away, Jason was being attacked7 Jason could ha e died and he wouldn.t ha e known anything about it. 1Jason, I.m sorry... I should ha e been there.1 1It.s okay,1 Jason says tilting his head to the side to peer into the room Jim $ust walked out of. 1Fou got him... But your face...1 Jason.s lip begins to !ui er. 1I.ll be okay...1 Jim says, trying to calm Jason. ,iping the congealed blood from off his upper lip and chin, Jim goes to feel his nose and regrets it instantly. He damn near stumbles backwards as a rush of nausea fills him. 6etting his balance, Jim goes into the room filled with asian items and opens one of the trinket bo3es. It features a polished mirror inside and Jim can see the damage done to his nose. It didn.t seem that bad, but his nose was crooked and he knew he had to straighten it. 4lacing his hands on either side of his face, Jim snaps his nose into place, wincing as he does so. He turns to see Jason watching him, tears in his eyes. #he pain was coming to him more and more and he could feel the swelling starting to build. = entually, Jim couldn.t keep his balance anymore and slumps to the ground. 1,e should keep looking around, but please don.t go without me Jason. I don.t want you getting hurt... 4lease, $ust gi e me a minute to rest.1 Jim leans forward, allowing the blood to tickle from out his nose and not back into his head ans sinuses. He has his back against the way, his knees drawn up slightly but not all the way. #he pressure in the center of his eyes was building like cra0y, he hoped it would pass soon. He could imagine his eyes bruising up right now, his nose swollen too.

He wanted to sleep but he didn.t want to risk turning his head onto the floor and further in$uring his nose. He also didn.t want to lea e Jason out of his sight. He had already endangered him already, thinking he was a monster and lea ing him to fend for himself, he didn.t want to risk his safety again. Jim wished Bella was here, she seemed to ha e Jim.s back for the most part and she was good with Jason, ery motherly. 6od only knew where she was right now or if she was still ali e. + bit of cold hits into Jim.s stomach at the thought of Bella being killed. He !uickly dashes the idea. (he was most likely alright, she was tough. But still, a part of him wanted to mo e forward and get out of here to try and find her so badly. Jim slowly picks himself up and says to Jason in a muffled oice, 1Jason, I.m going to keep looking for a key to get out of here. -aybe it.s better if you stay here, but if you want to follow, it.s okay. I.ll protect you like you were my own son, nothing will hurt you.1 ,ith that, Jim $ust turns and heads to the poster displays. In one corner, a number of posters sit in plastic frames along the wall. #he images are of dogs, kittens, abstract images and e en rock and boy bands. Bnderneath each frame is a large cardboard bo3 holding a number of indi idual tube containers, presumably holding the same poster seen under each framed image. Jim heads to these bo3es and begins his search. Jim goes through the bo3es, opening each cardboard tube and e3tracting the contents. He goes through each bo3 after emptying their contents and after going through all of them, he finally turns to the frames. He opens the frames from the back and searches them for anything hiding behind one of them. =mptying one of the cardboard poster tubes, Jim finds not a poster inside, but a bottle of icadin. Jim thinks back to the morphine shot he had found in dragon figurine and wonders if the idea of this store being a drug smuggling front wasn.t too far off. In the end, he figures it doesn.t matter, the owners of this place are long gone or dead, killed by whate er these things were that was in ading the town. In fact, he was glad he found the icadin. #he pain was growing steadily in the area where his nose was broken. #he swelling of his nose and around his eyes ga e him a nasty headache and fits of nausea swam through his head. #aking the pills out, Jim swallows two and then heads back to Jason. +s the pain began to fade, he noticed that Jason had wet himself again, probably during his encounter with the monster in the toy room. He couldn.t do anything about that now. He remembers seeing a clothing store alongside the other stores, maybe if they can find their way out, he could help Jason find some new clothes. ,iping the new blood from his nose, Jim leans against the wall and rests. He looks to Jason and says, 1It.s going to be okay, Jason. I should be okay in a while... I mean, my nose is probably still going to look a mess, but I.ll be a hundred percent in a while.1 Jim turns to see the children.s book, the one he had gotten in Ira!, laying on the floor. He takes the book and holds it in his arms, cradling it, he looks up at Jason, who looks at him pu00led. Jim e3plains, 1#his book... I got it during the war, from a bunch of nice kids that thanked me for sa ing someone they lo ed, someone they saw as a mother, from being killed. But when I came home, something... something bad happened to them back where they li ed, I couldn.t sa e them.1 Jim found himself tearing up and inad ertently sniffles a sob and wa e of pain o ercomes him and clutches tightly to the book. "ooking up to Jason, he says, 1But I promise... I won.t let anything happen to you or anyone else if I can help it, I swear it.1 Jim then leans back slightly and tries to get as much rest as he can while staying alert.

Jason feels a twinge of comfort around the older man now. He sat down and watched Jim sleep, his eyes e ery so often darting to the book the man held with such re erence. (omething bad happened to the children who ga e it to him7 Jason felt a waft of pity for him. Jason wasn.t smart, not by a long shot but it didn.t stop his emotions from being mature. #hat book was important to Jim, like -r #eddy was to Jason. +lthough thoughts of the little bear didn.t bring back such bright and happy memories anymore to Jason. In light of recent e ents Jason.s trust in the little bear had waned. ,here -r #eddy had brought comfort, he now only brought doubt. He was not being so nice anymore. Jason wondered. He checked Jim and saw he was lightly do0ing. -aybe the book would help him understand the man more. Jason wanted to know as much as possible. #his man who was apparantly seeing him like a son9figure. His heart warmed at that. #he closest to feeling like part of a family, was his first foster home so, so long ago. -r #eddy had been a sort of substitute but Jason wasn.t smart enough to connect such things. /or did he notice as that substitution was now also being substituted itself. #he line that bound was now frayed and tearing. But for Jason it was like slowly being pulled away. (o subtle he didn.t realise it was happening at all. +gain he thought back to the book. He wanted to know more. It was almost a need. .I promise not to hurt it.. Jason whispered as he gently tried to pry it from Jim.s hands.

1Holy shit...that...Jesus, what the fuck was that thing man71 Bella asks James, pulling herself up from the ground. 1/e er heard something laugh at me here yet. (hit, are you ok, it ga e you a pretty good beating. Fou said Aincent...like you knew it or something. It kinda $ust looked like...like some sort of monster to me...did it appear differently to you7 +t saying that, Bella tries to wipe the things blood from her face with the corner of her shirt. +fter he says nothing, Bella mo es in closer to James. 1Hey, hey are you alright7 ,e gotta get outta here man, that.s the second time in like an hour some cra0y shit has attacked me, who knows what.s ne3t. ,hy did it not...like attack me7 It looked like it was trying to rape me or something...cra0y fucking bastard.1 James made a face, trying to process it. He swallowed hard, finally looking at her. 1... it laughs like my uncle... it.s him... I know it.s him...1 he held himself, curling in a bit... 1... he.. he does that... rapes.. he..1 the boy whined softly for a moment. He didn.t feel like talking about.. 1it doesn.t matter.. it.s $ust.. it wouldn.t be the first time...1 he slowly got to his feet, looking around... Aincent... If he was there then where was Christian now7 He had to find him. He had to find his mother. He had to make sure Aincent stayed )+5 away from them. +ll he had in the world was in these trips. He couldn.t stand to watch them lea e him again.. not e en if it was in his head. 1... ,e.re getting out of here... now.. I need to find my parents..1 Bella panted, standing and brushing herself off. (he looked around a bit thinking what could ha e happened if the creature would ha e tried to go further. ,ouldn.t ha e been the first time someone had tried to force themsel es on her, the other hadn.t li ed to tell the tale...but this thing hadn.t been human. 1,e gotta get outta here man. Before I met up with you I think I saw a balcony...we might be able to find a way off of it to get back into the street, and possibly meet up with e eryone else.1 (he said, motioning for James to follow her.

,ith some hesitance he decided to do so and the two mo ed through the dark hallway to a rather large, open balcony. #here seemed to be some furniture still scattered about, and it looked like it couldn.t ha e been more than two stories up. #here was a chance of escape here...somehow. Bella decides to search the balcony, though there is little to hide in such a blank spacious area. -ore than anything else she obser es the ledge, and what lies below, searching for a way out. James followed after Bella, seemingly for little other reason that she was someone to follow. He wasn.t in the best of places right now... he must. e taken some B+8 drugs to get this sort of a result... he was really beginning to think it was a good idea to snap out of this... he H+8 to... he.d miss his dad, but.. what else was there7 1(lap me..1 he said abruptly, looking at Bella. 1... Bella, slap me... hit me.. I need to wake up now.1 Bella looked o er at James confused. #hen reached back and sharply backhanded him, making sure not to put her frustration into it. (he chuckled. 1,hate er gets you off man. If you thought you.re dreaming, wouldn.t ha ing gotten your head smashed into a table ha e already woken you up71 James winced, blinking... still there.. 1Fou.d be surprised... "(8.s a hell of a drug...1 He looked around... dammit.... 1... shit..1 he sighed. 1.. it was worth a try.... looks like I.m going to need something better than that...1 oh well... he could probably stand to trip $ust a "I##"= longer.. it.d been a while anyway.. the drugs would start wearing off soon.. 1*k James, I.m not thinking we.re getting out of here from here. I don.t think there.s a safe way down...and breaking a leg wouldn.t be a great idea here. +ny idea how we.re gonna get outta this bullshit71 +sked Bella to James. (he scanned the fog choked landscape out beyond the Balcony. #here was little to note, but it somehow calmed her rather than unsettle her. (he stared blankly into the fog, seemingly in a trance, big brown eyes unblinking. (he ponders how much the fog hides. ,hile it may look clear cut and flat, it.s actually three dimensional, like most things in life. (he wondered how long it.d been since she.d been truly happy in life, truly at peace. /o answer would come and she continued to probe for the answer. (he.d forgotten so much o er the past few years... How to be a woman, how to lo e, how to rely on another for support, how to... (he couldn.t continue, couldn.t remember. Her mental ision splashed red, a i id ermilion. Hatred, bloodshed, murder, contempt, malice, it all swam into iew. Bullets, blades, hammers...she stood o er the bloodied heap of a dark skinned, nude man now. + gore drenched claw hammer in one hand, her switchblade in the other. Her arms were co ered in the thick, drying blood, it was also splattered o er her naked chest, and e en running down her face. Her breathing burned like fire. )ocusing finally she looked down into the annihilated face of the man, a look of horror still etched upon it. *ne of his eyes missing, the optical ner e dangling from the empty socket with the eyeball still attached, a clear fluid running from it. + large split in the center of the forehead, brain matter actually beginning to creep to the surface after se eral blows from the hammer recently. Bnder the heap, amongst all the blood some of the bastards innards had spilled out. *ne outstretched arm was badly broken, the hand missing two fingers, the pinky and ring fingers. Bella.s mouth still tasted of his blood, e en she had surprised herself when she.d bitten off his pinky finger, and almost bit through the ring finger as well. It.d started like that. 8uring the struggle to spread her legs to penetrate her, she.d kneed him in the balls. ,hen his hand came up to grab her throat, it instead tried to clamp o er her mouth to shut her up. (he bit

down as hard she could, a warm gush resulting as she tore through the pinky, like a chicken bone. #hat had gi en her time to withdraw her knife, and she.d tripped o er the hammer as she reeled backwards through the small toolshed. He.d chosen the spot because no one would hear her screams, or walk in on the deed. It ser ed well now, as no one could hear his own screaming, and they wouldn.t later after the first blow to the head either. /o one would e er hear the pleas for his life as she tore her small knife through his stomach. (he.d noticed his penis wasn.t hard anymore and she.d smiled. =yes wide with rage, she continued to smile, and brought the hammer back o erhead for a mighty blow. ,ith a sickening crunch it came into the side of his skull with enough force to send his eyeball from it.s socket. His gurgled cries ceased after this, and Bella kicked the body o er, so as not to look at it any longer. #hen e erything began to slow...time began to slow, the rage drained from her body. (he stood motionless, caked in gore, wearing nothing but a single sock and a pair of blood smeared cotton panties, hiked up one leg, e3posing most of her ul a. +mongst the gory debris on the floor were the ruined tatters of her clothing. 5eality began to come back to Bella as she blinked, still looking into the fog. (he shook her head, trying to wash away memories she.d rather not ha e to e3plain to James. (he had to stay calm, had to get out of this place ali e. (he noticed her was staring at her now. 1=ight times eight is si3teen. (imple arithmetic. ,hat does it mean James7 #he answer to us getting out of here is in this book.1 (he said unusually coldly. James $ust watched her. He could.. kind of read that e3pression. He.d felt that e3pression on his own face before. He sighed.. perhaps she was a hallucination representati e of his issues with his uncle7 atleast the ones of a se3ual kind.. it would make sense that she was the one there when Aincent showed up again. Feah.. he.d treat her well. 1#here.s a few more rooms.. we should check them out..how about you take the humidor.s chambers, I.ll take the food and spirits room71 he.d noticed the signs o er the doors. 1okay71 he knew he.d been right to be nice to her before.. it would pay off now.. He ga e him a sort of forced, but also fairly genuine smile, and turned, walking cautiously to the )ine )ood and (pirits room. James searched e ery nook and cranny of this room, from the floor, to the walls, to the ceilings. He checked each bottle for something useful, sometimes breaking them open if they had no other practical use, incase something was inside a bottle. He checked through the food, which was no doubt rotted, and mo ed through anything the might. e been there. He needed to help Bella figure out this book thing.

5iiko and Jordan enter the lobby, they look around, then the feel a cold wind, then look up and see that the front doors ha e been opened, and in the open doorway, stand two figures, one is armed with a %3', the other a 5ebar. #hey stand completely motionless, with their weapons held o er their heads. Jordan pushes 5iiko out of the lobby and pulls out his >mm, he opens fire on the monster welding the rebar, most of the shots miss, ne erthess Jordan scores enough shots in the enemy.s chest to score significant damage, it is motionless.

Jordan unloads the pistol into the first monster, then reaches into his pocket for a second clip, he looks up to find the second monster is much closer then before with the %3' raised o er its head. Jordan points the reloaded gun it the second monster, and fires a shot into its stomach, the monster becomes enraged and throws the %3' at Jordan. It strikes him in the face with a sickening crunch, and e erything goes black. Jordan falls on his back, one of the nails in the board penetrated his left eye. Jordan is blind, he can hear his heart beating in his face, and he can hear footsteps, he only has one chance. He is alone, 5iiko has fled, and Jack has wandered off. He hears the footsteps stop, and a pressure against the %3', the Jordan readies his gun and unloads his gun into the blackness. #hen there is !uiet. Jordan.s right eye begins to be able to see again, and he sees the beast ho ering o er him, trying to pull its weapon out of Jordan.s eye, completely motionless, with blood from multiple gunshot wounds oo0ing on Jordan.s body. -Jack enters the room and begins to search, it is ery dark, and Jack is feeling for anything useful in the dark, then after a se eral minutes, he feels a clammy cold hand feel him, startled Jack $umps back, and se eral arms grab his shoulders and neck with a persistant force, then a strangling force, Jack struggles as he if pulled off of the floor, his legs flailing in the dark. He slips free, and thrusts his bottle upwards but the monster is gone, but he can still feel its presence, lurking around... Jack steps back leaning against the wall looking for the creature, it.s too dark. He uses the wall to make his way towards the nearest corner, as he reaches it he sits down and grabs a little gift statuette. )eeling that it.s hard he throws it in front of him and waits. #he statuette hits the floor and makes a little racket but nothing more, whate er grabbed him did not go for the noise. )eeling it.s safe to run for the e3it Jack gets up and sprints for it but as soon as he stood up the hand that had gotten him before got him right now, it held Jack.s arm, the one that had the broken bottle in it. Jack took out his flashlight and turned it on, aiming for the spot the hand appeared from. He saw a blob like creature, almost like ... a $ellyfish. #rying his best not to laugh at the appearance of the creature he aimed the light at it more carefully and saw four or fi e more arms e3tend to block the light and slap at Jack, gi ing him the chance to wrestle free, and !uietly sneak around the room. #he two soon fell into a stalemate, since neither pro ed to get the ad antage o er the other, Jack !uietly crawled out of the room. Jordan felt a searing pain, like a spike pounding into the corner of his eye. He pulled the board free and started shooting at the still figure in front of him, rolling away as it finally dropped. Jordan found the syringe and plunged it into his neck 15iiko71 he called hoarsely Jack grabs a gift of a random stand near the door and throws it at the creature further ahead of him in the back of the room, 1)uck you,1 he says and e3its the gift shop lea ing the creature behind him. #he hallway outside seemed as dark as the room he had $ust been in. + few scattered lights lit up the place faintly. #he dark seemed !uiet for a while until a screeching scream reached Jack.s ears. + loud pain soaked scream. (omeone got messed up and Jack was all up for the eye candy. ,hen he finally reached the oice he had been chasing the whole time, the sight pro ed to bare more than he had anticipated. + stream of blood steadily made its way to Jack.s boots as he stood before a man laying on the ground with a punctured eye and a woman grasping him tightly, sobbing. 1,hat happened71 Jack in!uired. 1(earch didn.t go as planned,1 Jordan replied with a mocking oice. 1Fou.re fucked if we stay here, come,1 Jack said as he grabbed Jordan.s arms and pulled him up holding

his weight on Jack.s shoulders. 5iiko s!ueeled and $umped at Jack trying to peel Jordan of him, 1,hat the hell are you doing7 Fou want him to die here7 ,= need to head for the front door, kick it out if needs be, or watch him die here and then get slaughtered oursel es by hell knows what that is lurking here<1 he said and glanced her straight in the eyes. He saw tears start gathering in her eyes as she endured Jack.s screaming, 1Come ... now,1 he said and continued towards the front door. +s they e3it the gallery Jack put Jordan down on the ground and tore off a cloth of Jordan.s shirt, he wiped the blood that rushed in streams from his socket, 1#his won.t work ... he.ll die before long unless we find a way to fi3 his bleeding, I don.t ha e any meds with me, got anything helpful71 he said turning to 5iiko Jack drags Jordan out back to -+I/ (#5==# with 5iiko following behind. 1,hat are you doing71 Jordan snapped 1Fou can.t use this shirt for a bandage9 it.s filthy< I. e got clean ones in my backpack. If you want to help, gi e me that bottle of odka... #urn away 5iiko, you don.t want to see this1 Jack wordlessly handed him the bottle and watched as Jordan splashed some in his eye and doused his right hand. #hen he gu00led the rest of the bottle and sa agely gouged his ruined eye out of the socket with his thumb. Howling in agony, Jordan broke the bottle and se ered the optic ner e. His panting sounded like sobs as he cut a bandage from a clean shirt and then hurled the broken bottle through the window of the gallery 1Can I ha e the other bottle71 he asked Jack 1#hat was totally fucking hardcore, man1 Jack replied handing him another bottle of odka 1I ne er e en saw shit like that when I was in the ser ice...1 Jordan hissed as he doused the empty socket and then tied the bandage around his head, took a few more swigs and returned the bottle :Fou can turn around now, it.s okay; 5iiko threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably 18ai$obu1 Jordan kept repeating as he caressed her back :*h Jordan9san; 5iiko moaned :Four poor eye...; :It figures that I.d loose my eye on ,ednesday; he cryptically replied :,hy does that matter7; (he asked [It's a 'orse *oke] he ans%ered 18h! nevermind...1 1We should pro-a-l go -ack to the clothing store1 +ordan announced 1+ack needs a ne% pair of -oots! his old ones are hosed1 he looked at the ruined e e on the side%alk and crushed it underfoot muttering 1I dedicate ou to Wotan...1 5he returned to 5rend, 8utfitters and +ack hunted for suita-le foot%ear %hile +ordan sat on the counter 1Y'all don't haveta %ait here on m account1 he said 1I'll -e fine here1 then picked up a pen and started scri--ling the 9uthark on the countertop

+s Jim do0es off, he dreams. He dreams of being on the streets of this town, chasing someone, a woman. ,as it his mother7 "auren7 )arrah7 *r e en Bella, maybe7 He ne er knew, but he $ust felt compelled to follow the figure, who was shadowed in the mist. +ll the while, the rain of blood continues to fall, blown along by the wind which carried the screams of dying children. He chases after the figure for what feels like fore er, his leg aching more and more, losing ground with e ery step. #he further the figure faded into the mist, the more he felt it was Bella and he calls out to her, pleading with her to stop. His cries go unheard and e entually he loses sight of her completely. He calls out for her, screaming her name and that is when he wakes up, bolting upright, her name still caught in his throat. He was breathing hea ily, $ust as if he had actually run that eternity in those streets, his ruined right leg also ached strangely and he attempts to rub out the pain. He also notices that his breathing had impro ed greatly and the pain had completely disappeared, signs that his nose must ha e be somewhat healed and the break was not as bad as he had thought. +fter sitting up for a minute he is fully awake and he finally reali0es that the book he had is missing. He !uickly looks around and finds that Jason is holding it, half open. He isn.t reading the book though at the moment, he is $ust staring at Jim, ob iously spooked by his suddenly awakening and his outburst. Jason stared at Jim with wide eyes, ner ously nibbling on his fingers, a little perple3ed. Calming himself, Jim slows his breathing and says to Jason, 1I.m okay... I $ust ha e these really bad dreams, I. e gotten used to them, but this place... It $ust seems to make new ones, it.s a little $arring.1 Jim looks down at the book, followed by Jason, whose eyes shift from the book to Jim, a little twinge of guilt on his face. 1I wasn.t going to hurt it, I $ust wanted to see...1 Jim only opens a small smile and says, 1It.s okay, you can hold on to it. It.s a book about myth and legends around the world... 5ead anything interesting in there you might like7 +nything to distract you from -r. #eddy for a while71 Jason looks down at the book, opens it and begins to ply through the pages, scanning the images. Jim doesn.t know if the boy is responding to Jim.s !uestion or is a oiding him outright. It didn.t matter, he was safe and the book might keep him occupied for a while. (tanding up, Jim straightens out his back and takes a walk around until he comes to a display of weird pipes. #hey were large metal pipes standing upright, with tubes coming out the sides of it. Jim remembers seeing one or two of these in Ira!, they were called hookahs. #here are do0en of them, many elaborately decorated. +lso along with the hookahs, Jim sees the standard smoking pipes common for smoking tobacco here. (ome were they old fashioned corncob pipes, others were intricately car ed i ory or a i ory like stone. #hese pipes were held in fine wood stained bo3es. Jim decides it could hurt and decides to search. Jim takes out the common pipes from their bo3es and shakes them, to hear if perhaps a small ob$ect is hidden inside. He then goes through the bo3, ripping open their felt co ers and tearing out the plastic holders inside, searching for anything hidden inside. *nce he is done with that, he shakes the hookahs, e en opening up those that ha e twist off parts, looking inside. (ome of the hookahs were contained in bo3es. Jim searches these larger bo3es as well, $ust as thoroughly as he had the other pipe bo3es. Jason was startled when Jim awoke. It was scary to watch as the man tossed and turned and was in ob ious distress as he slept. Jason wanted to shake him awake and make him feel safe. But he was too scared to. -aybe the book he borrowed had kept this dark dreams away from his friend.... +nd now he felt guilty. He briefly looked at the open page before him as the guilt settled. He shouldn.t ha e taken it.

(elf9rumination had to go though as Jim awoke with a start. #he guilt slowly burned in the back of his mind,simmering, as he turned with a startlement of wide eyes. Jim didn.t look well rested. +gain something gnawed in his head but it was subtle as he looked on concerned for the man he now held closer to his own heart. 1I'm oka ... I *ust have these reall -ad dreams! I've gotten used to them! -ut this place... It *ust seems to make ne% ones! it's a little *arring.1 Jim.s words though intended to lighten Jason.s unease, only further bothered him. Bad dreams. #his whole place was $ust one big bad dream. +t least though his taking the book wasn.t the cause. *f course the attention was immediately on the book. +nd that simmering 6uilt gently boiled o er for a moment. He stuttered an e3planation e3pecting Jim to frown and gi e him a look of disappointment and possible anger. It hurt to think Jim would see him like that. (o it only surprised him more when Jim reacted with a smile. 4erturbed he looks back at the book. /ot knowing how to react to Jim, he merely opened the book and put most of his concentration back into it.s content. It was rude he knew, but Jason had no answer to reply with. He was confused and the book.s inners pro ided a much wanted distraction. Jason was aguely aware as Jim stood up and went to e3plore but his mind remained focused on the open pages. ,onderful colourful pictures had strange little images of e en stranger creatures and beings. #hey were certainly much more interesting then the words that came with them. "ost in it, he practically forgot about Jim, and that gnawing 6uilt was bone dry for the time. +n image depicting a laughing ghost child brought a smile to his face. #he words beneath the image though made his brow crease. He couldn.t read the words. #hey were in a funny language. Furu77 Breyoo77 Fou95ay7 #he first word was hard. #he second harder. Liki9+shi7 Lashi9washi7 He ga e up and swent to look at the other pages. #he other images blurred as he yawned a little only to come out of his trance when he thought he heard a crash... Jim walks throught room inspecting the arious pipes, while Jason is looking at the picture book. #he is by the back of the store and it has become ery dark, Jason stays at the door frame, so that he has enough light to read. Jim comes across a si3 foot tall hookah, and is surprised that someone needs a pipe this si0e, when he starts to take it apart, a clammy hand grabs his hair from abo e, and lifts him by the hair off the ground, Jim struggles, and falls to the ground99losing some hair in the process. He looks up, but sees only darkness. #hat thing is lurking up there, waiting...

Bella thought for a while to herself before entering the Humidor.s Chamber. (he.d got lost $ust a moment ago in an ugly recollection of her past, a ery ugly one. How many times had she taken the life of another li ing, breathing person in her short life thus far7 #his she asked herself, and frowned as the answer couldn.t present itself...she.d lost count, or at least lost the ability to remember. It got a little easier each time you did it, until e entually she.d stopped omiting after the fact. But nothing made moments like this easier. /o amount of practice or e3perience washed away the regret and remorse that would creep up on her like it did now. It.d ne er been for thrill, sport or anything horrible like that. It.d always been kill or be killed, and she was li ing proof of 8arwinism, or natural selection in that sense. (he.d once made a lot of enemies, and se eral unfa orable characters had tried their tact with her. )ew were ali e to tell the tale of their e3periences. In truth Bella was lucky to be ali e, let alone not locked away in prison. Just another small fact that made her appreciate her new life so much. + life she cherished a great deal, she couldn.t let this shithole take that away.

#he thought brought a smirk to her face as she pushed open the room to the Humidor.s Chamber, the thick odor of cigars assaulting her nostrils, making her wince slightly. + smell she didn.t much care for. Euite a lot of small things could be hidden in this room, and somewhere there had to be an answer to the mysterious book she had within this building, she $ust knew it. #hough of course it may be in front of James rather than herself, either way, getting out of here sooner rather than later seemed like a damned fine plan. Bella begins to slowly search the Humidor Chamber. (he carefully turns the Humidor bo3es around to glance inside of those that are unlocked. (he rustles through small standing cabinets, hoping to find a clue or something useful, and checks under them, making sure to stay alert all the while. #hrowing arious new and aging cigars to the floor as she does so. 99 James searched e ery nook and cranny of this room, from the floor, to the walls, to the ceilings. He checked each bottle for something useful, sometimes breaking them open if they had no other practical use, in case something was inside a bottle. He checked through the food, which was no doubt rotted, and mo ed through anything the might. e been there. He needed to help Bella figure out this book thing. James is in the room alone, Bella did not follow him, a figure fell in the room, it was slowly pulled to his feet. James walks to the door, it is $ammed, of course. #he figure is unarmed and is walking toward James, and it is reaching out toward him, toward James.s face. James turned toward the monster. He looked tired.... he was so sick of this... 1*h please..1 he sighed, sounding put off... fine... he.d play $ust long enough to wake up. He shook out his pre ious $itters and takes a deep breath. He glances up at the monster.. he takes note of the surroundings.. shel ing, bottles, tables, counter.. ,ell, so long as he was in the middle of something fake, he may as well ha e his fun. He watched until the monster got close. #hen he acted. He pi oted out of the way and hopped up on a table behind the monster. He flicked his butterfly out in one hand and gripped his rock in the other and, at the same time, slammed both into either side of the creature.s skull. It was a sandwich of awkward weaponry and unidentifiable meat Chard to tell ,H+# this thing was, after allD. ,ith motion of pressure on both sides, James was able to dri e the knife in deeper, as the rock could help hold the head in place. His second instinct was to shake the knife now that it was inside. (cramble the brain.. if it had something like that. #hat was his theory. If that wasn.t enough, he had other plans. But he figured it was at least a start. #he monster stands motionless, James is unharmed. He stepped back. He put his knife back in his pocket and cracked his neck to the side. 6ood.. he started back out of the room, heading to the parlor. He stopped by the Humidor.s Chambers and hollered. 1I.m going to the parlor< -eet me there<1 His last few steps there were free.. carefree, that is. He felt pretty good.. one more room then they could figure out that dumb book< and he could finally get back to his dad< +h, mood swings were )B/. Bella heard James yell at her, sounding slightly e3cited, or at least an3ious. He was announcing that he was searching the parlor. (he.d failed at finding any clues about the cra0y tome, but instead some more painkillers. (he could get high as a kite if she.d so pleased...she.d rather not. 1Hey, alright, be there in a minute<1 (he called out, $ogging to follow him into the 4arlor. He was already hard at work searching the place.

Jack suddenly pulls Jordan off of the countertop, and $umps on top of him attempting to pin his right leg on Jordan.s right arm and holding Jordan.s left arm with his left arm. Jack uses his combat training to gain the upper hand. #hen Jack pulls out his broken bottle, Jordan uses this as a chance to slip free and crawl backward as !uickly as possible. Jack rises to his feet, he addresses a prone Jordan and a stunned 5iiko 1,hat you ha e is rightfully mine,1 Jack begins to run toward Jordan who freaks out and whips out an e il looking mask 1#his7<71 he stutters 1Is this what you want71 Jordan.s oice raises in panic 1#his thing is nothing but e il, if you think it belongs to you then take it<1 he tossed it away 1/othing good will come of it, mark my words<1 #he mask lay in the corner of the shop like an accusation, and Jack chuckled obscenely to see it before him 1Fou don.t ha e to wear it1 Jordan choked 1Fou can still lea e it there... It isn.t too late to walk away1 Jack starred down the mask as it slid down the floor behind him. It hid the wall, it seemed as if it cried out as it touched the wall. Jack turned back to Jordan, 1Fou wouldn.t understand, it.s not $ust about that thing o er there ... there.s a need,1 he said looking at Jordan.s confused face. #he mask did not belong to Jack, but it certainly could ha e held -a3 within for some strange reason, nonetheless, this was his time to show that he created -a3 and not ice ersa. Jack stared down the mask as it slid down the floor behind him. It hid the wall, it seemed as if it cried out as it touched the wall. Jack turned back to Jordan, 1Fou wouldn.t understand, it.s not $ust about that thing o er there ... there.s a need,1 he said looking at Jordan.s confused face. Jordan then reached into his coat for his >mm. Jack then resumed his charge wielding the Broken Bottle. Jordan brought out his gun, his ision was cloudy, his hand was shaky, he could feel his heartbeat pounding where his left eye used to beG ne ertheless he focused and he began firing. He missed once, twice, three times, then he gra0ed Jack.s shoulder. Jack did not slow down, ignoring the pain, then a bullet pierced his thigh, his leg went numb, and he fell flat on his face. Jordan pointed the gun at Jack, then his ision blurred, he could not focus enough this time and began to stagger, his pain medication was wearing off, and the pain was starting to become o erwhelming, he omited. Jack was struggling to rise to his feet, and managed to get up, and limp to Jordan still welding his make shift weapon. Jordan looked up and saw Jack a few meters away, then he was pulled up, and was !uickly led out of the shop. It was 5iiko, she had sa ed him. #he feeling in Jack.s leg began to return, Jack welcomed the pain, it meant that the bullet had not damaged the ner e, and he would not end up a cripple like Jim. #he mask was still on the ground staring up at him. Jack spit to the side watching 5iiko pull Jordan out. His breathing was still as hasty but his mind was calm. 6oing after Jordan now would be the right thing to do, get rid of possible future paybacks, but his leg wasn.t functioning well. He noticed Jordan.s rebar on the ground, he threw the bottle away and picked up the weapon. Beside it lay the mask. It called out to him from the ground. -a3 was there. He picked it up and turned it at himself, 1Fou finally found me, took you long enough,1 it beconed. He put it to his face and it tightly grabbed at his skin as if it had claws. #he pain only lasted a second and then Jack felt that -a3 was there again. 1Fou.re a fucking mess, no sense of self preser ation. (it down, this wound will finish you off,1 Jack listened to the demanding oice and sat down. -a3 talked to him while he tried to take care of his wound:

Jack tore his pants to re eal the gunshot wound. It bled badly, he pressed down near the wound, the pain came instantly. He tore off a good bit of his pants of the other leg and tore those into two long strips. He wrapped one strip abo e and the other below the wound as tightly as he could. He took out his bottle of odka and poured it down his leg so that he could see the wound more clearly as he bit down on his belt that he put in his mouth. ,hen the wound cleared up he gulped down on the bottle a little $ust to stay conscious and grabbed his wound, pressing hard against it trying to manou er the bullet out. He repeats the process se eral times until the bottle is empty. By that time he can see the bullet, he sticks his fingers inside his leg and pushes the bullet out. Bsing the two straps he wraps his wound up and leans against the wall only to fall out cold.

Jason was busy reading the book Ce en though most of it was hard to understandD that it took him almost a whole minute to realise something was wrong. #he fall echoed back after and Jason surprised turned to find Jim. He could barely make out the man on the floor, struggling to get up. )ear crept into his bones. #his wasn.t right. Jim looked hurt too. 5apidly closing the book Jason ran to Jim.s side. Helping to pull him up. He noticed the missing clump that bled from the man.s head and knew that there was a monster. )rightened he clung to Jim and stared terrified into the shadows. #hey H+8 to lea e. Jason desperately tried to pull Jim out of the room. .6otta go< 6otta 6o<. He commanded loudly. )ear taking control of his own actions. Jim was about to gesture for Jason to be !uiet and calm down, but before he can make e en one mo e, the creature.s numerous arms reach down from the darkness and hoists Jason up. Jason is lifted into the deep darkness abo e, his legs kicking in the more isible gloom. Jim.s throat almost sei0es up with panic for Jason, but that same panics causes him to !uickly snap into action. ,hile the monster holds onto Jason, Jim grabs hold of the large hookah pipe he had $ust seen and climbs onto the table displaying many of the pipes. ,ith a higher perspecti e, Jim can make out the ague silhouettes of the monster and the struggling Jason. (tanding on the table, the creature was still some distance away, his lead pipe was not going to reach, which is where the monstrous si3 foot tall hookah comes into play. #he pipe stood on the floor, beside the table, Jim takes hold of it by both hands and swings the hookah, connecting with the large balloon body of the creature. Jim hears a ripping sound and a slow hiss and instantly the creature descends crashing to the floor. #he thing still had hold of Jason, two arms around it.s waist and another two around his neck. Euickly stepping off the table, Jim grabs his lead pipe and begins to pummel the monster, careful not to hit Jason, aiming for the section of where the monsters airsack connects to it.s arms, hoping to hit some hidden organs or brain inside the sack. +fter a pounding on the thing for what seems like the thousandth time, it relents and releases Jason. It.s arms stretch outward and it.s fingers contort into ghastly claws and then free0e, apparently dead. Jim then rushes o er to Jason, 1Jason, oh my god, are you alright71 1Jason7<1 Jim rushes to the boy.s side, Jason.s eyes are closed and he is still, seemingly life. Bruises dotted Jason.s head, including a large one on the back of his head. Jim calls to Jason again, his oice becoming shaky, much like his hands were as he went grab hold of the boy. Jim tries to rationali0e that the monster had done this, but when he first struck the thing, ripping it.s airbag, it had crashed iolently to the ground. ,hat if Jason had been in$ured by the fall, what if he had killed him7 )or the third time, Jim calls out, 1Jason71 a sob in his oice. +s he took hold of Jason.s shoulder to lift his upper body up from the floor, Jason.s eyes pop open, followed by a wince of pain.

1*www<1 e3claims Jason as he places his hand on the large bruise. 1It.s okay, Jason,1 Jim tried to say calmly, fighting back a few tremors. 1#he monster is dead, when it grabbed you I was so scared it would... /e ermind. ,hat matters is that you.re ali e. "et.s get away from here.1 Jim helps Jason to his feet and mo es him away from the monster.s location to an area at the back of the store. #here, Jim makes Jason sit as Jim takes a look at him. Jason looked to be in some pain, holding his head and his chest tightly. Jim thought of the morphine syringe he had, but instantly reali0ed that Jason hated needles and anyone who tried to medicate him. ,ith Jason in this condition, possible broken ribs or a concussion, Jim didn.t want to risk struggling with him to take the pain relie er. -aybe there were some more drugs around here. #his place seemed to ha e a fair amount of them hidden about, so it was likely more pain pills would be hidden. 2neeling down with his good leg, Jim says to Jason, 1I.m going to look for some to help you and maybe a way to get out of this place. 4lease stay here and rest, I.ll be back to check on you when I.m done, I promise.1 6etting up, Jim then heads off to the last place he hasn.t checked. Beside the register counter was a huge mesh wire cage, and inside were what looked like a hundred little crab like things. #he crabs each had a shell on their back, some shells had a natural color to them while others were ob iously painted to draw attention to the crabs for purchase. #he crabs aried in si0e and were either crawling and hiding amongst the sand that co ered the bottom of the cage, or scaling and clinging to the sides of the cage.s fencing. Jim had ne er seen anything like these before in his home in Iowa. +lthough he considered them odd, there was a !uirky kind of cuteness to the little buggers. Beside this large cage was a stack of smaller ones for buyers to carry the critters home in, many of which were occupied. +nd beside these cages was a large plastic drum which was labeled as 1crab food1, along with se eral bags of sand and wood chips for bedding. Jim first goes to the large cage and locates the door and opens it. 4lacing his hand inside, he combs the sand to see if perhaps someone had hidden the key to the door here, among th protection of the crabs. He is careful not to harm the crabs and not to ha e his fingers pinched. 8one with the large one, Jim mo es to the smaller cages and repeats the same action. Jim then mo es to the drum of crab food. Bsing a scooper he finds in the drum, he scoops out the contents and releases them on the floor in thin layers to see if anything is hidden in them. ,hen the drum is empty he looks inside to make sure nothing has stayed on the bottom. )inally, he goes to the bags of sand and wood chips. #aking hold each bag, he rips them open and searches through their contents thoroughly. He wanted to call out and ask Jim to stay but his stomach hurt too much and his head pounded like torrid sea to a cliff face. (o all he could do was breath shallow and watch with pain9filled eyes as Jim disappeared. = erything hurt< It HB5#< Jason wanted to cry. It wasn.t the worst pain he had e er dealt with. #he /urse and her penchant for burning flesh had hurt more. He whimpered thinking of the nasty woman and her lighter. -emories flooded him and added to the pain in his head. It was all too much. Jason let loose a torrent of tears. (!uee0ing his eyes shut to hold them at bay but to little use. He was a big, stupid cry9baby< Jason curled on the ground, trying to s!uee0e the misery and hurt right out of him. = entually his tears dried and his mind slowed. Jason slowly drifted off to an uncomfortable sleep.

5ipping open one of the sandbags and spilling the contents out, something large falls to the ground with a loud thump. 6rabbing the ob$ect and sweeping away the sand, Jim sees that it is a book of some kind. It is held together tightly by a steel plate and a large lock with three dials that feature numbers from 0ero to nine. *n the steel plate was engra ed a message. If the :uardian must sacrifice one of his o%n. 5o dispatch one of %hom imprisoning the Innocent. 6o% man fiends %ill remain! despite his -est efforts. +s soon as Jim has read the message, the front door of the store slams open by itself, re ealing the street beyond. Jim reads o er the riddle again and tries to think of an answer, but it eludes him. #aking the book with him, hoping an answer will come to him e entually, Jim goes to the back of the store where he had left Jason. #he boy was still where Jim had left him, resting. Jim sees that Jason has been crying, the dried tears staining his face. Jason must be in so much pain and afraid, it almost broke Jim.s heart to see Jason this way, he somewhat regrets ha ing to lea e him, but it couldn.t be helped. ,ell, they could get out now and Jim could watch after him with the help of the others, especially Bella, whom Jim was an3ious to see again and see if she was okay. 4lacing his hands on Jason.s shoulder timidly, Jim shakes the boy gently. 1Jason71 Jason rocks his head slightly emitting a small groan. 1Jason, you ha e to get up, we can lea e no, the door is open. *nce we get out of here, you can rest again and I won.t let you out of my sight until you.re better, okay7 (o what do you want to do71

5iiko dragged Jordan as far as she could and then collapsed on top of him, unable to mo e him any further or stop her tears :,hy does he want to kill you7<7; she wept [6e doesn't %ant to kill me] +ordan hissed [6e %ants to kill Y8;! -ut he doesn't kno% it et. 5hat mask he covets so much is evil2 8nl an idiot %ould consider placing it upon his head. +ack thinks it %ill give him po%er %hen he %ears it! -ut the fool %ill learn too late that the mask is going to %ear 6I< instead. 5he first thing the mask %ill make him do is kill ou and no% I let +ack have the cursed thing] [)an't ou stop him"!"] she so--ed +ordan moaned [5his is the one thing a-ove all that I did not %ant to happen! et -ecause of m %eakness ou are going to face certain death %hen I am too fee-le to prevent it] [5his cannot -e true] 0iiko screamed [You must find another %a !] [5he fault is entirel mine] +ordan admitted [If onl I had destro ed the mask... -ut I don't kno% ho%. You should have let him kill me! -ecause if I %atch ou die - his hand then m soul %ill never find peace] [;naccepta-le!] 0iiko shrieked [5hen ou must find a %a to keep them apart] +ordan %hispered [and I am too %eak to help ou] [If m death can not -e avoided! I can face it] she kissed him

JasonMs sleep was pitted with terrible, scary images. Creatures that bellowed, screeched and grunted. Hideous things that hurt him. In his dreams he ran. #hey grabbed for him causing welts and scratches upon his body. Jason screamed but his oice was like dust, blown away in silence.

*ne monster with the face of the dreaded 8octor scooped him from the shadows of the ceiling, grasping tight his body and s!uee0ing the life from him. He whimpered and kicked in the nightmare. #he 8octor whispered sweet death into his ear whilst he thrashed, legs desperately seeking purchase. +nd then he was dropped. Jason.s dream9self plummeted through a bottomless pit, tumbling in endless red. Blood scattered past his ision on walls that were close and claustrophobic. Hands briefly skimmed him as he fell. +nd then there were the faces. #hey seemed to be constant, no matter how far he fell or how fast, they remained fi3ed. =yes dead like drowned fish. (ome he recognised, like his old foster mother who had died of a brain aneurism. *r Harry 6rey, a gibbering wreck of a man who had hanged himself at the asylum. (ome he didn.t like the e il looking clown or a man with a lecherous grin fi3ed on his face. Jason e en thought he saw a bandaged face, connected to a spider9like body, hands mo ing something. But the others o erlapped and hid it. #hen they changed, morphed and as his descent continued he cried out in his sleep as he recognised e en more these new ones. )aces of the people he was trapped with. #he asian woman, the scary man, the boy with wild eyes, Bella< JI-< +nd there was -r #eddy. Half his cheery bear face torn away, stuffing toppling out like brains. #he other half wasn.t ery cheery either. #he button eye was bleeding, hanging to the head not by string but by some gooey yellowish9white stuff. Inside the barely issible hole something s!uirmed. He wanted out< He wanted out< He tried to scream again but he still remained silenced. He head shaking in denial. #hen a oice drifted through, a nice oice. + oice that brought him more comfort then he had e er felt in a lifetime. His silent scream gained life in the form of a groan. ' ..... the door... ou can rest... m sight.... -etter... do"' #he falling slowed at each word until Jason was no longer plummeting but gently being carried by a kind bree0e. #he images faded and died. He opened his eyes and saw Jim. #he nightmare tried to crawl out of his head as he awoke. He didn.t want it anymore. He grabbed for one of Jim.s hands. Jim would keep the bad things away. He nodded not !uite recalling what Jim had asked. +ll he knew was that Jim was to be trusted and whate er he had said Jason would agree. He tried to stand, only to be reminded of his recent trouble. Jason winced as his ribs stiffened sharply and the blood rushed to his head. But Jim was still there like a rock not seeming to mind as Jason used him for balance. .,e.re going7. He asked hopeful. . I want to go. -r #eddy isn.t here.. +nd he couldn.t help but feel happy about that fact. He smiled with a pained grimace. +fter a moment, Jason wakes up and tries to stand, only to !uickly collapse when he takes his first step. Jim !uickly grabs out for him and places one of Jason.s arms o er his shoulder, supporting the boys weight, keeping him steady. Jim looks down and sees that Jason is still clutching onto Jim.s book from Ira!. + warm smile widens on Jim.s face to see that e en though Jason was hurting, Jason still cared enough to watch o er the book. 1,e.re going71 asked Jason. 1Feah, buddy,1 says Jim calmly, 1if you.re ready.1 1I want to go.1 says Jason. 1-r #eddy isn.t here.1 + pained smile flashes across his face but disappears !uickly. 1It.s okay, we.ll look for him later, but we need to take care of you.1 Jim then places his arm behind Jason.s back to support him further and begins leading him out of the store. *nce outside, they can see 5iiko and Jordan in the distance and maybe Jack laying against a store. He

was wearing some kind of mask, hard to really see any detail from this distance and the fog. Jim would ha e taken himself and Jason to them immediately, but he thought back to Jason soiling himself again and thought it best Jason was a bit more presentable. 1Hey, let.s get you cleaned up before we go might the others, or at least find you some new clothes.1 Jason nods casually and then Jim leads him to the store labeled #rend0 *utfitters. Inside, Jim lets Jason go off and make his selections around the store. Jason seems to ha e regained his footing and was more than capable now of mo ing about the store. 4icking out the clothes he wanted, Jason then heads into one of the changing booths. ,hile Jason changes, Jim waits. ,hile he waits, the riddle he had read on the steel plated and locked door reenters his mind. If the :uardian must sacrifice one of his o%n. 5o dispatch one of %hom imprisoning the Innocent. 6o% man fiends %ill remain! despite his -est efforts. #he characters in the riddle meant nothing to him, but the more he thought of it, it sounded like some kind of math problem. #he 6uardian has a set number and so does the fiends imprisoning the Innocent. If the 6uardian uses all of his, whate er, to kill a fiend for e ery one he has, how many would be left. ,hat were the numbers7 ,ho were the character as well7 #hen Jim recalls the #arot Card he had found when he had woken up. It features a number and a set of characters. He wasn.t sure if his character on the card was the 6uardian, but it didn.t seem like a fiend. Jim then began to wonder if anyone else had a card as well. (peaking loudly enough for Jason to hear him, Jim ask, 1Hey... Jason7 8o you happen to ha e a weird looking card with you, like with numbers and pictures on it7 I ha e one too and I think it might be important to something. Can you show me your card71 It felt so nice to ha e clean clothes on. It had hurt somehat to put them on due to his in$uries and Jason could feel the heat of pain still lingering. He sat down to let it ease up somehwat and flicked through the book. He had forgotten it in his pain but had still been subconsiously aware of keeping it safe. In his other pain he hadn.t noticed the stiffening of his hand holding it tight. Jim called out to him asking him if Jason had a card. *h *H< Jason had forgot about that< But it was in his old clothes back at the hotel. =3cept it wasn.t. Jason found the card sticking through the pocket of the loose shirt he wore. He pulled it out and e3amined it. It meant absolutely nothing. It was $ust a funny looking card. It didn.t matter if Jim looked at it too. He might e en be able to tell Jason what it was for. It sure was silly looking. Jason stepped out and immediately ga e the card o er to Jim. .It $umped in my pocket and I want to lie down my head hurts.. )or emphasis Jason yawned. Jim couldn.t help but crack another smile at Jason.s comment, and the yawn that followed was $ust too much, Jim had to struggle to keep from chuckling. Jim takes a glimpse down at Jason.s card and sees the character on it, it looked so helpless. Jim wondered if whoe er ga e this card to Jason meant it as a metaphor for the boy. Jason.s condition did seem to hinder him, but he didn.t look as trapped or endangered as the character in his card did. *n the bright side, Jim felt that Jason.s card fit perfectly with the riddle character of the prisoner. Jim recalled his card and felt that it might represent a guardian of some kind. #heir cards $ust might work to

sol e the mystery combination after all. "ooking up from the card, Jim sees that Jason seems about to yawn once, before Jim interrupts. 1*k buddy, let.s go.1 Jim leads Jason out of the store and, helping him when his legs seemed unsure and on the erge of collapse. He carries Jason up the street until he sees 5iiko and Jordan. Jordan was lying on the ground, his back to Jim. 2neeling o er him, his head in her lap, was 5iiko, her face drenched with tears. Before in!uiring on them, Jim sets Jason against a wall of the building along which all four of them now stood. 1#ry to get some rest, I.m going to check on them.1 Jason nods, as he s!uints his eyes, looking as though he could fall o er into dreamland any moment. Jim folds Jason.s arms around the book from Ira!. ,ith a smile, Jim says, 1Here... #his might not be -r. #eddy, but I think it can do $ust as well.1 Jason nods again, half asleep, s!uee0ing the book close to him as he rests his head against the brick wall. Jim !uickly heads o er to 5iiko and asks, 15iiko, what.s happened7 +re you alright71 5iiko only shakes her head no, then gently turns Jordan onto his back to show Jim the grisly scene. Jordan was missing one eye, the ner e dangling still from the socket, and he seemed deathly pale. 1*h my 6od...1 says Jim, clearly shocked by the sight. "ooking down on both of them, touching 5iiko.s arm reassuringly, Jim asks, 1,hat.s happened7 Fou can trust me.1 Jason listened to the oices as his mind drifted off. He barely noted the slight rise in Jim.s oice as he spoke to the couple. It didn.t matter anyway. (o, so tired. He ad$usted his grip on the book and submersed himself completely.

James entered the parlor, Bella close behind. +s soon as the door was opened, a no3ious smell started wafting towards them. Looking to the source, they noticed the monster or monsters, as it was adjoined at the head, it seemed. It hadnt yet noticed them, but its destruction as it laid its hands on the wall was obvious. #he boy watched as the monster.s touch dissol ed the wallpaper. #he fumes coming off of the acidic creature was making him light headed. He tried to keep conscious. 1Bella..1 he whispered, loud enough for her to hear. 1Hold your breath and we.re sneaking out... when we do..1 he tried to continue on the same breath, 1look for ammonia, bleach, water, and baking soda..1 he took a small breath, feeling immediately more di00y. 1and a bucket...1 He motioned for her to follow and carefully, silently made his way out the parlor room door. He was going back to the )ine )ood and (pirits. #he supplies he needed were (B5= to be in the back room. +nd most guaranteed were the baking soda and bleach. +mmonia was most likely there as well, considering this place would ha e to clean its own floors. "ye he wasn.t counting on. *nce out, he made his way to the )ine )ood and (pirits, taking a deep breath. He walked around the corpse of the monster he.d left there and went straight to the back. 1Bella, look for those things I told ya< ,ater and baking soda go in the bucket< Fou want more baking soda than water for this one<1 It was a good fact that ammonia, bleach, lye and baking soda were strong bases and this monster definitely had an acidic touch. If they could neutrali0e the acid, they.d be able to get close enough to kill it. Hell, if they started dousing things with this stuff they.d ha e no issue getting it from afar. He $ust wanted a little security before it got back to them. He paused. 1.... if you.re going to handle bleach or anything,

you.re gonna want glo es.. if nothing else, grab a towel..1 he sighed... they.d smell like hell later, but he was determined to do this. He was sick of these monsters. 1#his might not work.. but we might be able to neutrali0e it... and if.. if you find ammonia.. don.t.. inhale..1 B+8 e3periences with that in the past. He grabbed a bottle of bleach he found with the cleaning supplies. Bella followed James. lead, finding an old metallic mopping bucket, it smelt like hell, but it.d probably work. /e3t was baking soda, should be easy enough. (he sifted through cabinets, rummaging through arious $unk, hoping to find a little bo3 of baking soda. ,ater should be easy to get ahold of, some faucet around here had to work, and if nothing else the place had been hit by a hurricane... #his she thought to herself, continuing to search, and glancing back at James e ery now and again to see his progress. James got all of the supplies together. He managed to get some water for the baking soda. +nd decided #H+# would be their last ditch effort. He sighed out. 1... finally.. working in a meth lab is paying off in a life9sa ing way..1 though really7 Had he only known better, he wouldn.t ha e said it outloud. He grabbed the bottles of ammonia and bleach and started out. 16et ready to throw some shit.1 #he two hurried down towards the smell. It was horribleG ,orse than before. James dropped the bottles and started to work. He uncapped them and held his breath, systematically throwing the li!uid at the monster until he was sure he.d gotten the hands. #he ammonia he was sure would do some damage. +s a last9minute idea, he poured some of it on the rock and chucked it as hard as he could at one of the monster.s heads. Bella grabs a small decorati e statuette from a side table and throws it as well. #hey pick up one of the tables in the parlor and, together, throw it, hoping to, if nothing else, weigh the thing down. #he table strikes the creature and knocks it o er He nodded to Bella to pour the bucket of baking soda@water onto the monster.s hands to make sure the acid in said hands would not burn them or the furniture. /eutrali0e it... #he monster continues to flair for a few moments then falls silent. James sighed out, looking at Bella. 1.... well.. that.s that...1 He straightened up and looked around. 1/ow we $ust gotta figure out that.. book...1 he looked through his pockets. Just a tarot card and his knife.. 1.. I didn.t find anything.. this is it.1 He showed her. 1I got nothin..1 ,hat a waste. #hey looked all o er and hadn.t found anything at +"" in the building. Had they missed something7 1It.s interesting you bring up the tarot card...I. e got one too. +nd come to think of it, it has the number eight on it. (o...so maybe if yours does too7 =ight plus eight is si3teen, right7 Isn.t that the riddle of the book71 Bella asked James, pulling her own tarot card out to show him. 1,hat if we put them both in the slots on the book, maybe it.d open, yeah71 (he asked, sliding her own card into one of the indentations on the tome.s front as she did so, then holding it out to James.

+s he takes the tome from her, she looks at him for a moment, pausing, then begins to speak again. 1Fa know, that shit back there with the chemical breakdown, that was pretty damn smart. I.d ha e ne er come out with that. I.m $ust saying, that was great, thanks. I owe you one.1 James took the book and held his tarot card, pausing before he put it in. He looked o er at Bella, not !uite sure what to say. He.d gotten complimented on something7 really7 .. and he didn.t ha e to instigate it.. she $ust.. up and complimented him.. that was new.. His lip twitched a bit, forming into a small grin.. 1yea.. no problem.. it.. yeah..1 was all he could muster. He wasn.t sure what to say, really.. He took another moment to smile to himself before placing the tarot card into the other indentation. If this was right, then Bella was pretty smart too.. he wouldn.t ha e thought to bother using his card.. not that he was going to use it for anything.. important..

5iiko $ust breaks into tears again, 1It was a monster that did this to him... But then that man... #he bad one, the one you know... He attacked Jordan9kun and tried to kill him after Jordan has done so much to help him<1 Jim instantly knows who 5iiko means. Jack, he has started resorting to his old tatics. #his could be bad, really bad. 5iiko clutches onto Jordan tighter, not only for security but also out of anger for what Jack has tried to do. 1I hate him,1 5iiko mutters before screaming it out again, 1I H+#= HI-<<<1 + new round of tears start from 5iiko as she buries her head into Jordan.s chest. #hrough wrecking sobs, she says to Jim, 1Could you $ust lea e us alone for a while please71 1I.ll be nearby if you need anything,1 says Jim before getting up and walking away. +s he goes he can hear 5iiko.s muffled oice speaking plainti ely in Japanese, not sure if what she was saying were curses or $ust apologi0es for something beyond her control. Jim doesn.t turn around, but heads straight to Jason and sits beside the sleeping boy. ,atching Jason can see that the bruises ha e all but completely faded from his face and Jason seems in less pain than before, sleeping calmly. #urning from Jason, Jim looks down on the book he found in the no elty store. #he strange book with the steel plate and three locks. He wondered if his earlier assumption was correctly, that he and Jason.s card numbers held the secret to the book. He decides to try it. +ccording to the riddle, Jim enters the number of his card, seeing himself as the guardian, in the first dial. #hen he adds Jason.s, seeing him as the innocent, into the second. #hen, subtracting the number of the two cards together, Jim takes the total and enters it into the third dial. It worked< ,ith a click, the -etal 4late falls off of the old book. Jim notices a ribbon engra ed with the roman numeral AI marks a certain passage. It was strange, some kind of spellbook, detailing odd rituals. *ne talked of bringing a dead lo e back from the dead. #his page fascinated Jim, but scared him too. +s he read, he thought of his mother, of )arrah, of his dead baby and what he would ha e gi en to ha e them back. He had to turn away, this was nonsense he was reading, of course. Howe er he couldn.t pull his eyes away from too long and went to study the book further, his heart feeled with dread but also a strong wish for it to be real. +fter reading the passage se eral times, notices another book marked identical to the other, e3cept it has an engra ed AIII on it. #his one scared Jim e en more. #alk of an angel and the sacrifice of an innocent to purify it, to fulfill it.s purpose. #he end of the passage goes on to say that the sacrifice of this innocent and the re i al of the angel will sa e the world. Jim finds himself turning to Jason, sleeping so peacefully, so serene, innocence personified. ,as someone threatening to hurt Jason7 He wouldn.t let anyone do it, not e en lay one hand on him, e en if it means killing another human being again, he will. #hen he thinks of the book. If he $ust gets rid of the book, perhaps no one will be able to know how to do the ritual and Jason can be spared. (ome ways from Jim, he sees an old storm drain. If he $ust throws the book down there, no one will e er know and Jason will be safe.

,ith both hands on the book, Jim begins to slowly place it into the drain but !uickly pulls it back. + fit of emotions rage through him. He has to get rid of this damn thing, but the more he tries, the more it pangs him to part with it. ,hat if it was possible to bring back )arrah, his mom, or his baby7 (hould he gi e up that chance7 ,ith the book at the mouth of the drain, his hands shaking, Jim.s ision begins to blur as he reali0es he is crying. He couldn.t do it, e en when he looks up at Jason one more time, he can.t get rid of the book. +s long as the book was with him, he could protect Jason, no one would e en lay eyes on the pages without him knowing. 6etting away from the drain, Jim sits right ne3t to Jason, leaning beside the boy, clutching the spellbook ne3t to him, looking almost like matching images, looking more like father and son. 9orgive me +ason... I promise I'll keep ou safe! -ut I can't let this go. 9orgive me. Jordan gets up, lea ing 5iiko, Jason and Jim are holding each other near the flooding street. He enters #rend0 *utfitters alone, 5iiko watches him through a window, Jim and Jason don.t seem to notice. #he door opens and closes shut, Jack is roused from his slumber, the 5ebar is resting at his side. It is Jordan, he looks more healthy then before, he has rested. Jordan demands the mask back, his gun is in his hand. He approaches, and stops at about &?9&N feet of Jack.s swing radius, e en with the long metal pole. #he e3it is behind Jordan. Jack.s leg is still wounded. Jack while wearing his mask reaches into his back pocket, Jordan interpets the action as hostile and raises his gun. ,hat follows is a !uick draw situation, Jack takes out the flashlight and points it straight at Jason.s only eye, Jordan is temporarly blinds but manages to fire a shot into Jack.s shoulder. Jack falls off of counter and grabs the rebar with his good arm, Jordan continues firing, backing away until his eyesight clears again. Jordan eyesight returns to normal and he realises that he has been firing into the wall, and that Jack is nowhere to be seen. Jack throws the 5ebar at Jordan.s legs and Jordan trips and falls backward. Jim opens the door and sees Jack with three gunshot wounds, he is confused Cwho here has a gun7D. Jack bites his lip down and tries to get up as fast as possible to throw himself at Jordan and manhandle him letting out his leg pain with his fists. Jordan sees Jack limp toward him, the -ask has gi en Jack a great deal of endurance, yet with three bullet wounds, he appears to be slowing down, and the bleeding wounds are finally taking their toll. #he only thing keeping Jack going is the fire in his eyes. Jim then spots Jordan backing away on the floor with the gun still in his hand. Jim sees Jordan ready his gun, Jim runs to inter ene, and the gun fires. #he shot hits Jack in the stomach and another hits his chest, Jack slumps to the ground. Jordan has killed Jack.