A few groans could be heard as Leo slowly woke up.
His eyes fluttered.
Trying to adjust to the light in the room.
His hands trembled.
Dark veins swelled under his skin
He couldn’t stop shaking
Leo was strapped to a bed with some type of black metal.
He struggled, gritting his teeth
It didn’t even budge.
He exhaled as he stopped struggling
He took a few more breaths
Then.
He tried again.
He groaned as the metal screeched
Slowly stretching
Suddenly it gave out
Falling to the floor with a loud echo
Leo rolled over falling to his knees
His messy hair falling onto his face
Breath hitching
He stood up with a huge groan.
His body continuously trembled
The bright light shining from the ceiling blurred his vision Before he knew it the world was going sideways But his hand leaned on the wall to his left His unsteady gaze searched his surroundings.
He was in a sterile white room
With two bright lights above his head
Okay, what the hell is this?
A deep ache ran through his stomach
Instantly he clutched it
Then he remembered
The dark mansion
Alwich.
The rain pouring outside when they ran towards the exit.
And the monster that knocked him out
Leo growled
Eyes flickering
Jaws clenched
“I’ll kill those bastards” he muttered
Just as the words left his mouth
A robust machine-like sound was getting closer.
Huh?
…
A partition of the square wall opened up
A metal robot stepped through.
It was humanoid
Hands and feet, excepts its head
Diamond-shaped
In the middle was just one big circle for its eyes It glowed yellow The tip of a long syringe glistened while reflecting the lights A yellow liquid bubbled inside The robot held it firm Its circular eye widened when it landed on the bed Leo was not there It turned its head, scanning the room Slowly going from left to right A long processing hum Before it could finally reach the right Leo’s hand immediately stabbed through the robot’s face It sizzled, while electricity hummed Leo gripped its head Then ripped it from its body The robot fell with a clang Leo didn’t even react He looked at it, eyes unsteady Hands shaking Immediately he exited through the open partition.
He dragged himself down a white hall
No windows.
Nothing.
Just…
walls and echoes of his feet dragging
After whatever felt like minutes, he reached an airtight shut door He stopped Staring at it Silence His hands stiffened He stabbed straight through the crack where the two doors met.
Forcing it wider
He shoved his other hand in
Muscles straining as he pried it apart.
The metal groaned
Only partially open
Leo stopped and began panting again
“Dammit!
What did they do to me?”
He looked at his trembling hands
The veins were getting darker
Immediately, he squeezed through the hole
He started jogging
Looking around wildly
Then
A loud scream echoed through the walls
He stopped
It screamed again
“Thomas?” he asked himself
Leo made his way closer to the noise
The scream grew higher-pitched
He arrived at one of the airtight doors
“No!
Fucking no!” The voice shouted
Leo ripped his hands through the door and jumped through.
What Leo saw was Thomas strapped onto a metal bed Two robots stood over Thomas One held a syringe, They turned looking at Leo Everything went silent Even Thomas Then it happened Everyone reacted at the same time One of the robots charged Leo The other went to pull a lever on the left wall.
Sounding an alarm.
The one that charged was already on the floor A hole in its chest The one that pulled the lever dropped the syringe A rotating blade came out of its hands.
The robot jumped into the air
Immediately, Leo moved to the right
The robot came down, smashing with the blade
Slicing through the walls and the ground it reached Leo moved forward to counter But It instantly followed up with another attack A wide horizontal slash towards Leo Which grazed his chest Leo froze instantly If he was just inches closer The robot stood up quickly But Leo was ready He grabbed the charging robot’s head He twisted and rammed it into the nearest wall A loud crunch The wall was cracked Concrete debris falling onto him Leo stepped back The robot came out twitching Half its face caved in It fell Leo went over to Thomas His skin was pale, black veins running all over his right side.
His right eye was dark while his pupil glowed a faint yellow Leo ripped the straps off him.
Thomas rolled over to throw up
Yellow sludge on the floor
Leo slowly helped him up
“Let’s go, where’s Autumn?” he asked
Thomas shook his head while leaning against the wall “Don’t know,” he responded The alarm lights flickered continuously Giving their faces a red glow “Come on…
” Leo said while holding up Thomas
They walked out of the partition
Back into the halls they moved
The lights flickered red continuously because of the alarm The alarm started to blur Briefly, it became muffle Leo shook his head Dragging Thomas harder “We need to get out of here ASAP….
I’m feeling worse by the second,” Leo muttered “It’s the vents, there’s something flowing out of them,” Thomas pointed Hands trembling Leo looked A yellow gas flowed continuously from the vents Almost like steam “Oh…
fuck”
Thomas coughed, blood falling into his hands
He looked up at Leo
…
Just then
Something rounded the corner
Ahead, four robots were heading their way at immense speed But these were different They had three hundred and sixty-degree rotating balls for legs And were twice as large as the first Leo took a right turn immediately He lifted Thomas onto his back and started running “Dammit!” Leo shouted Sweat forming around his face Heavy grunts with every step Soon he was limping The robots rounded the corner Wheels skidding The robots were getting closer A long sword formed from their hands Grazing on the ground, “Oh, fuck…
we’re gonna die,” Thomas said
Leo didn’t answer
Teeth gritted as he limped forward
Suddenly
A heavy door started closing.
“Crap” Leo muttered
He limped on forward, sweating
But the door was half-closed
The robots were now right behind them
Leo heaved Thomas through the door
He stopped, panting
Watching as Thomas rolled a few times
He lay there limp
The door closed
Leo turned towards the coming robots
They slowed down just a few feet ahead
Leo braced himself on the door.
Eyes darker, pupils turning yellow
As he panted, foam formed around his mouth
The robots didn’t move
Suddenly, Leo spat
“Fuck it!” he shouted.
“Come on!!!”
Immediately, they all charged
Inches from colliding
THOMAS’S POV
Darkness.
Slowly Thomas’ eyes fluttered open
He staggered to his feet
“What the?” Thomas muttered
He looked around
“Don’t tell me he–”
“Fuck it!
Come on!” a voice echoed behind the doors
Suddenly a loud crash was heard
Like tires skidding in
Then
A huge crash slammed into the shut door
Denting it
Thomas turned quickly
Using the walls for support as he limped
“Stay strong, Leo,” he muttered
He limped till he reached an area with a lot of destroyed robots Robots impaled by their own blades or missing a limb Thomas stopped A trail of blood on the floor He slowly followed it It led him towards a door on his right.
He entered cautiously
There was a map on a screen just at the entrance Thomas turned, looking around Two destroyed robots in the corner And opposite them lay Autumn, clutching her ribs.
Head low, hair hanging in front of her face
Thomas got closer
“Autumn?” he called
Just as he was about to touch her
A blade was pressed against his throat
Thomas froze
Autumn looked up
Eyes wide, pupils yellow, her skin was pale
She dropped the blade trembling
“Took…
you…
long enough,” she said softly
A first aid kit rested right beside her
“Where’s Leo?” She asked
“Autumn…” Thomas said as he got closer
Her lips were black
The dark veins were all over her face
“I…know the way out,” she stuttered
She motioned to the screen with the map.
Thomas looked at it
The exit was just outside and around the corner.
There was a problem though
Thomas could barely walk, so how would he get Autumn there too?
Thomas looked around.
His lungs burned with every forced breath
He saw a small table with wheels, cracked vials inside.
He removed the glass then wrestled to get Autumn onto the table.
After getting her on, he pushed it
While pushing, everything in his path began to double His head began wobbling After reaching the destination A huge door stood tall in front of them Thomas walked over to the door, but it needed some code or a handprint to open it “Oh…We are…
so fucked,” he said softly as he started shaking, Thomas leaned on the wall for support while holding his head “I think I’m gonna—”
“Take this,” Autumn said, cutting off Thomas.
Autumn took one of the robot’s hands from inside her shirt and handed it to Thomas “Thought it would come in handy”
Thomas placed the hand on the handprint.
The door scanned slowly
Top to bottom
Before powering off
…
“Well, fuck,” Thomas muttered
Suddenly, the door opened.
Fresh air enveloped Autumn and Thomas.
Outside was green and filled with fresh grass.
Two deer hopped by gracefully
Thomas limped outside with her.
He fell to his knees taking in as much air as possible They came out of a hill, the door stayed open still.
And at the top of the hill was Alwich’s mansion After a while the veins on Thomas’s body started shrinking.
He inhaled deeply, as his face began to flush Autumn got up off the table and fell onto her back The grass blowing all around her A smile formed on her face Eyes closed, breathing steadily Her veins slowly started to disappear After about two minutes, both Thomas and Autumn stood up.
Their smiles faded
Thomas tensed, clenching his fist
Standing before them was Alwich and the humanoid monster that they crossed earlier at the mansion Alwich clenched his teeth, growling under his breath.
“NO!” he shouted
“NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOO!!”
“I was so close, so close!” He gripped his hair “I could’ve had one more,” he said “One more?” Thomas asked Alwich stopped gripping his hair He stared at the grass swaying in the breeze As if lost in thought “Oh…
right,” he answered calmly
Alwich pulled out a vial with a yellow liquid He dropped it on the floor.
The vial broke, splattering the yellow liquid Suddenly it began forming upward Slow and slimy.
Into something humanoid.
It formed into a guy about their age
An Asian.
He had the same cracks on his face, and yellow eyes.
Similar to the humanoid monster.
The kid stared nonchalantly at them
Cold eyes.
Just then the notification board appeared again.
It flickered from three to four, to four of four, then flickered back to three of three before disappearing.
Thomas and Autumn exchanged glances instantly.
“Now, now, where were we?” asked Alwich
Everything suddenly halted
No breeze
No swaying grass
Just this thick, heavy feeling
Thomas clenched his teeth
Alwich smirked.
…
Before anything could start.
A loud thud racked one side of the hill
Everyone turned to look
Another thud was heard again
The hill bulged outward this time
Huh?
With a loud crash the hill gave out
Everyone froze, eyes wide
Leo smashed through the wall
Smoke and dust all around him, shadowing his silhouette His chest heaved with every breath he took Blood was all over him, and a nasty scar was across his face.
Cuts were all over his body, and his pupils were barely visible.
Slowly the dark veins began to disappear
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Suddenly, Leo twitched .
“Ooh, you guys are so dead” he said
End
Thank you guys for reading to the end Much love and appreciation