The first thing you felt when you finally came to was something thin scratching your skin. It wasn’t painful, just… strangely unnerving. When your sleep-riddled eyes finally cleared up, the sensation on your outstretched arm was gone. But before you can even take a look at it, a voice boomed, loud enough to shock you into attention.
“Run!” He continued to yell repeatedly at you.
It was a bit late, but you finally registered that the loud, repeated booming sounds weren’t coming from your head— it sounded like something was walking, coming closer and closer. But whatever it was, you’d rather not know what it was before it was too late.
Taking a quick look around, you noticed that the man who kept yelling to run was in a state of panic himself as he grabbed whatever he could, and stuffed it into his satchel. In the midst of your observation, you noticed something glowing red at the end of the corridor opposite your bed.
“Don’t wait, just run already!” He yelled again.
Terrified and mindlessly following his advice once more, you ran out the already opened door and into the cold outdoors. With each step you took, your heart beat struggled to catch up, and your vision was blurring. You didn’t know where you were going, but you didn’t care as long as you got out of there.
[[Next->CH1]] For days you travelled to wherever your feet could bring you, and with the money in your pocket, you were able to survive for a few days before finding a few odd jobs here and there. You couldn’t remember much, except for some things about yourself. Strangely enough, you couldn’t remember anything before waking up to that strange man who wrote those mysterious words on your arm, and then yelled at you to run. You couldn’t decipher what the words meant.
*Female, 20, Uncontaminated.*
Yes you were female, and you supposed around 20 years of age based on your looks.
But uncontaminated? Perhaps that could be answered by a doctor. But you didn’t have money for that just yet, so you continued your now mundane life.
[[Break out of your mundane life and keep exploring the town.->CH2.b]]
[[Stay put and let the week pass by.->CH2.a]] A week breezed by, and you barely remember anything that happened.
[[Next->Prologue]]When you came to, you woke up with your body feeling warm and sticky despite knowing that you were laying down on cement. When your vision cleared, that’s when you realized that you had been lying down in a pool of your own blood. The pain your body felt a while ago seemed to have disappeared, however, and your pounding headache was gone too.
Rubbing your arms together due to the cold night, you felt the cloth of your tattered sweater, your skin, and something else. Getting up rather effortlessly despite the accident that had taken place a while ago, you walked until you reach the lamppost. When you arrived by the light, you spotted words on your arm that said:
*Female, 20, Uncontaminated.*
Once you read the three strange words on the inside of your arm, you ascertain that based on the hurried way it was etched on your skin, that it was written by the man who told you to run. The counter below those words was a counter you’ve— everyone’s— had for their entire lives. Taking a brief glance at it you see the number 243,090 on it. It simply means that you’ve been living for that long in days.
It took you awhile, but when the cogs in your brain finally clicked into place, your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets.
“Six hundred and sixty six years?!” Is what you managed to choke out.
Even your own voice is foreign to you, as it comes out husky and unfamiliar. With your left hand, you thread through your long hair, taking a glance at it. Despite being six hundred and sixty six years of age, your hair still remains to be auburn in color. You were honestly expecting it to be white or silver.
You knew that a person only lived for about 28,835 days, more or less. How on earth were you still alive?
[[Next->CH3.1]] One of your jobs was a waitress at the rundown restaurant at the end of town. You questioned how the usually deserted place still remained open but it paid the bills, so that was also the least of your concern and really, it was none of your business.
It was during one of your more lax shifts where you met a strange yet charming man who told tall tales that you knew were made just to show off. You didn’t mind him, for the most part, but you can’t shake him off of your mind. He was good looking, sure, but it was something about the way he spoke that drew you in…
But you ignored the thought. Your tiredness must’ve gotten to you already because you could’ve sworn you heard him say that you sold your soul to him long ago. Before you could even ask him to repeat himself because you were sure that your mind had been making things up, you had been called by another set of customers. With no other choice you finish up your shift, not getting another chance to talk to the strange man, and retreat back to your shaggy apartment.
[[Next->CH5.a]] Loud sounds were everywhere, from high pitched screams to booming footsteps on concrete. It left you overwhelmed as your head tried to wrap around everything that was happening. First you heard the distinct sound of gunshots ringing in the air, and almost immediately, your family members dropped to the ground one by one, bleeding uncontrollably. Your eyes widened like saucers and your mouth fell open, releasing an agonized scream. You could do nothing as the lower half of your body was pinned to the ground by something heavy. It was crushing you, but your body desperately moved on its own accord, trying to get out. They were bleeding, everyone was screaming, more people were collapsing onto the pavement and you could do nothing but watch them die.
Your family and everyone seemed to fade away as your vision turned black.
You woke up with a start. Your head was pounding and you were sweating bullets from last night’s dream. Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you reached for the glass that rested on your nightstand. Barely reaching it, your hand had accidently swiped the glass instead. It shattered into tiny shards, and you swore colorfully. Taking a quick look at the time, you sighed frustratedly and rushed to prepare yourself for work, tiptoeing over and practically ignoring the sharp pieces of glass on the floor.
You’d get to that later.
[[Next->CH5.a.1]] The first thing you felt when you finally came to was something thin scratching your skin. It wasn’t painful, just… unnerving. Your eyes snapped open in attention, feeling a strange sense of deja vu, and you reel your outstretched arm back to yourself. Your eyes looked at the messy ink scribbled onto your skin.
*Female, 2
*
Was what was written on your skin, with the number barely even readable. Everything seemed so oddly familiar. For some reason you knew what was to follow.
*Female, 20, Uncontaminated.
*
[[Stay on the bed, and let the man continue writing.->Prologue]]
[[Get up and out of the bed.->CH6.a.1]]After running what felt like a marathon, you stopped in your tracks out of exhaustion. You inhaled almost greedily, taking in as much air as you could after everything that had happened. Your mind was still racing, trying to recall past events and organize them properly as you stared at the ground.
Rubbing your arm to soothe the strange stinging pain away, you had a sudden thought as your mind kept spitting out memories into your head. This was probably the first time that the loud man wasn’t able to finish writing on your arm.
Would that change anything? You wondered as your feet started to move, leading you to the unknown.
[[Next->CH8.a]]The first thing you felt when you finally came to, was something painfully scratching your skin. When your vision cleared up, the sensation on your outstretched arm was gone. Before you can even take a look at it, a loud voice boomed, enough to shock you into attention.
“Run, run, run!” A man’s low voice bellowed.
For some reason, this seemed strange to you. Somehow this whole scenario felt… oddly familiar. You didn’t have much time to ponder on it as you sat up too fast, and it immediately caused your world to spin. Barely gathering yourself, you stand on unstable feet.
“Run!” He thundered.
Your head registered some sounds late, but you realized that there were loud footsteps coming at a slow yet steady pace. Shivers ran down your spine, and even though you didn’t know what was coming from the dark hallway opposite you, you’d rather not know.
The man who kept yelling to run was in a state of panic himself, you noticed, as he grabbed whatever he could, and stuffed it into his bag.
“Don’t wait for me, just run already!” He yelled again.
You saw something red flash in the darkness of the corridor. Terrified at the prospect of what that thing could be, you ran out the already opened door mindlessly. With each step you took, your heart beat struggled to catch up. You chalked your exhaustion up to not having ran in a while, and continued to push yourself to keep running. You didn’t know where you were going, but you didn’t care as long as you got out of wherever you were.
*HONK! HONK!*
A loud sound blared, causing your body to freeze up in the midst of your actions.
*CRASH!*
You felt your ribs come into contact with a powerful force as your body was flung into the air briefly before you hit the hard concrete face first. The pounding in your head seemed to have gotten stronger, overpowering the rest of the pain that your body felt.
Then everything turned black.
[[Next->CH3]] A week breezed by, and you barely remember anything that happened.
[[Next->Prologue]]Speaking of, you started to wonder what happened back there. You don’t exactly remember where it was located, but your curiosity was getting the better of you.
You tried to ignore the thought, for it was foolish to think that you should go back no matter how curious you were. But your tiredness must’ve gotten to you already as questions swirled in your head. What were you doing there, exactly? What was that thing in the shadows? Why did the man write strange things on your arm that you couldn’t seem to remove?
Who was that man? Your mind echoed that last question more than once.
Before you could even ponder on it further, your mind decided to slowly shut down and give up along with your body due to your exhaustion. Your vision eventually faded, your body finally succumbing to its well deserved rest.
[[Next->CH5.b]]Loud sounds were everywhere, from high pitched screams to booming footsteps on concrete. It left you overwhelmed as your head tried to wrap around everything that was happening. First you heard the distinct sound of gunshots ringing in the air, and almost immediately, your family members dropped to the ground one by one, bleeding uncontrollably. Your eyes widened like saucers and your mouth fell open, releasing an agonized scream. You could do nothing as the lower half of your body was pinned to the ground by something heavy. It was crushing you, but your body desperately moved on its own accord, trying to get out. They were bleeding, everyone was screaming, more people were collapsing onto the pavement and you could do nothing but watch them die.
Your family and everyone seemed to fade away as your vision turned black.
You woke up with a start. Your head was pounding and you were sweating bullets from last night’s dream. Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, you reached for the glass that rested on your nightstand. Taking a quick look at the time, you sighed frustratedly and decided to just skip work. It was much too late to go anyway.
You decided that you’d sate your curiosity today. Your mind had been far too disturbed to do anything else.
[[Next->CH5.b.1]] With free time in your hands for the first time, you decided to go around town as you’ve never seemed to have the time to due to your very many odd jobs. It’s not like you could quit any of them either, as you needed the money for rent, food, and pretty much everything since you were thrown out into the world with almost nothing. It felt oddly like you were born again, except this time you were flung out into the world as a functioning adult with almost no recollection of your own life despite having lived for such a long time.
You paused in your thoughts. Long was a terrible understatement. You’ve lived for six hundred and sixty six years and counting for reasons unknown.
Sighing tiredly, you realized that you walked around practically the whole town, and nothing interesting had caught your eye at all. It wasn’t so surprising, you supposed, as the town was relatively small anyway. It didn’t help that it was practically a ghost town as well. As much as you wanted to pack up and leave, you knew your wallet couldn’t handle doing such a thing just yet.
After a while of your random musings, you noticed that your feet were absentmindedly taking you towards an eerily familiar place. When your body stopped a few feet away from the old and rickety house you ran away from when you first woke up to a strange man writing words on your arm, a shiver suddenly ran down your spine.
Suddenly, your vision turned black and your mind suddenly flashed past memories back to life.
[[Next->CH5.b.2]]
Not knowing what to do with the information you had about yourself, you ventured mindlessly into the working world, finding a few odd jobs here and there. It’s rather surprising, but you managed to adjust rather quickly even after being thrown out of that strange place.
[[Let the week pass by.->CH4.a]]
[[Go out of your way to find out more about the strange place. ->CH4.c]]
[[Continue with your work, you'll think of what to do later.->CH4.b]] As days passed by, the nightmares you had started to increase. You don’t know what triggered it, but you had this sudden feeling one night that you should be doing something. You don’t exactly know what that meant, but you were sure that things didn’t seem to be very normal around here. Besides the fact that you’ve lived for too long, the dreams you’ve been having seemed to be related to that as well.
A shiver suddenly ran down your spine as your mind suddenly flashbacked into the past, piecing together all of the strange dreams you’d been having lately.
[[Next->CH5.a.2]]*“So you, a mere mortal, somehow managed to summon me. What do you want? Money? Pleasure? To kill someone, perhaps?” The devil droned on as if he were reading items out of a shopping list. He didn’t seem to pleased to be in front of you, either.
For some reason, however, his voice seemed to draw you in like a moth to a flame even though you knew he was dangerous.
(Well of course he was, he was the devil after all. You weren’t that stupid.)
You rationalized that it must’ve been some sort of power that he had to get people to listen to him.
“My family, bring them back,” You started in a raspy tone. It was evident that you hadn’t slept for quite some time as your hands clenched tightly onto a weathered book. The tome looked used, with its pages tattered and its text barely understandable, but you held onto it like a lifeline.
“Reincarnation isn’t in my job description, did you try calling for Jesus?” He replied, nonchalant as he inspected his nails with a sinister smirk. Were you supposed to laugh? “But I can do practically anything, even change fate. It just comes with a price, of course. You do know, some things are set to stone for a reason, yes?” The devil continued.
“Name it,” You stood your ground, ignoring his question.
“Your soul—” Your desperation caused you to interrupt him.
“Deal.”
“I wasn’t done yet, you brat. Your soul is far too little to recover so many human souls, and to change events that have been set to stone... Hm, how about this,” He paused for a moment, sizing your up. “Instead of your soul, you will become immortal. Old age won’t kill you, and perhaps you’d be able to recover from some other things that would kill mere mortals, but you’d still be able to die. Though of course, I am disallowing you from killing yourself. That wouldn’t be fair, now would it?” The demon said casually.
“I-Is that all?” Your voice couldn’t help but waver as the devil eyed you up and down, as if assessing your worth.
“Of course not. Once this contract is complete, you are not allowed to meet your family again, and you are not allowed to summon or even see me on earth again. If you break any of my rules, you’ll rot in hell for eternity,” The growl at the end of his statement was evident. “These are my conditions. Do you accept these?”
You bit your lip harshly, thinking it over one last time.
“Yes.”
“Finally, someone who knows how to deal with me. Tell people to be more like you when they summon me with their stupid tomes, will you?” He laughed heartily before opening a scroll. You felt uneasy as he seemed to scribble something onto it with a quill. It was just a simple action, but it was… unnerving to say the least.
”Female, 20, oh and uncontaminated… your contract is granted,” The demon snapped, and you dropped the book you held so tightly onto out of shock.
*
[[Next->CH6.a]] It had been a week after that strange turn of events. You felt that you remembered everything, more or less, and the cycle of day 243,090 hasn’t repeated either. Based on everything you recalled and done so far, you concluded that what kept you in that strange loop was the words the man wrote on your arm. He seemed so strangely familiar, but you chalked it up to seeing him in the loop you’ve been in for God knows how long.
You were also able to recall that those were the words that the devil had said and written before everything turned black during the day you tried to make a deal with him. At the time you were 20, and you’re still definitely female. Perhaps uncontaminated meant you haven’t made any contracts with other demons? Or something..? You weren’t sure yet, but that was your best guess.
After confirming that you were more or less safe from the devil, you decided to try to find your family. If the words written on your arm was meant to be a trap, then the numbers that changed on your arm could be the some sort of trickery as well.
[[Next->NEUTRAL END]]It didn’t take you long to find your family.
Your mind had led you there almost instinctively, as if you knew where they were. But you weren’t expecting this.
You stood in front of a set of tombstones not so far away from each other with painfully familiar names embedded onto the stone. Based on the tombstones, they lived a longer and hopefully a fuller life, just like you wanted. Your mother, your father, and your two younger brothers were in a better place now.
The devil fulfilled his side, and you’re more than surprised at this revelation. He was the devil after all, now that you think about it. You were so desperate for anything, or anyone who could change the fate of your loved ones. The days on your arm continued to go on and on— you were immortal after all. But what now?
You laughed bitterly, more directed at yourself than anything.
The devil did warn you, and it was a foolish decision to change fate.
Sure, your family lived a full life without you. But now, now you were stuck here in a new and unfamiliar world, constantly living in fear of the wretched devil finding you and giving you an even worse punishment for running away from him. You were stuck here with so many unanswered questions. How were you so easily able to adjust to the modern world? Did the devil implant knowledge in your head so that everything felt natural as you repeated Day 243,090 over and over again? Who was that man, who seemed so painstakingly familiar, who seemed so concerned at that last moment when he wasn’t able to write on your arm? Was he in cahoots with the devil too, or was he another victim of the demon’s trickery?
Why did he remind you so much of your own father?
Why does your mind still have gaps in between some of your memories? Would they ever be recovered?
You looked at your arm. Day 243, 100. Around six hundred and forty six years have passed after all, you had all the time in the world to find that out.
You just hoped that you’d never have to see the devil again.
[[Play again?->Prologue]]*“Mom, Dad!” You shouted in the midst of chaos.
People were screaming, running, suffering, and crying, and the once pristine stadium was now a mess of people and things everywhere. All your family wanted to do was to enjoy the weekend watching that football match your dad wanted to watch so badly. He had even written down the chant he wanted everyone to say when they scored a goal with that fancy fountain pen of his. It was ridiculous, really, but your mother laughed and said that we had no choice as they’d already bought the tickets.
But now everyone was panicking, and so were you. You and your siblings were separated from your parents after the crowd erupted in panic at the announcement of an explosion outside, and you held onto the hands of your two younger brothers tightly, trying to comfort them as well as yourself. Their presence was the only thing anchoring you from hyperventilating right there and then. You had to protect your brothers and find your parents as soon as you could.
A large wave of people had suddenly come running towards your direction, forcing you to quickly twist your body and follow the direction they were charging towards. Swiftly, you lifted your small four year old brother with your right arm and held your twelve year old brother’s hand with your left hand as you ran. You could hear your youngest brother screaming and crying with the crowd, unable to take in all that was happening.
Your whole body was screaming in protest as you forced yourself to keep moving, to keep holding onto your brothers so they don’t get lost in the stampede and when you and your siblings managed to exit the stadium, you were only met with even more mayhem.
The streets were jam-packed with people who were panicking as well in fear of the terrorists who had gotten in the stadium. People yelled of bombs and guns and every nightmare you only used to imagine become a horrifying reality. Wasting no time, you encouraged your brother to keep moving in fear of what was to come next. Turning into the corner street and into a dark alley, you put your small brother down and leaned on the wall, catching your breath.
You patted your jeans desperately, searching for your phone and cursed under your breath when you couldn’t find it. You had no way of contacting your parents, but you couldn’t go back there with your brothers either, it would be too risky. But you had no time, and you had to act fast. You weren’t sure if they were safe yet.
“Francis, stay here and look after your brother, okay? I’ll just l-look for mom and dad,” You tried to stay as calm as you possibly could. Eli, your youngest brother, was still crying.
“I-I can come with you!” Francis stuttered. He was obviously shaken from the events, but who wouldn’t be? But for such a young boy, he was so brave as he continued to ruffle his younger brother’s head in an attempt to console him. You squeezed his hand.
“No! It’s safer for you here, and you can’t just leave Eli alone... I promise I’ll be back soon, okay?” You tried to reassure him despite the mess of people screaming and shouting for help not so far away.
“Okay,” He let up. Quickly you pulled him and Eli into a hug, not wanting your younger brothers to see your tears.
“Promise you’ll be back soon?” Francis asked in a small voice, tears ready to spill over his eyes.
“I promise.”*
Before you could recall what had happened after that, the pictures in your mind shifted into a different scene. You tried to scream, to bring that previous memory back to life, but to no avail.
[[Next->CH5.b.3]]*“So you, a mere mortal, somehow managed to summon me. What do you want? Money? Pleasure? To kill someone, perhaps?” The devil droned on as if he were reading items out of a shopping list. He didn’t seem to pleased to be in front of you, either.
For some reason, however, his voice seemed to draw you in like a moth to a flame even though you knew he was dangerous.
(Well of course he was, he was the devil after all. You weren’t that stupid.)
You rationalized that it must’ve been some sort of power that he had to get people to listen to him.
“My family, bring them back,” You started in a raspy tone. It was evident that you hadn’t slept for quite some time as your hands clenched tightly onto a weathered book. The tome looked used, with its pages tattered and its text barely understandable, but you held onto it like a lifeline.
“Reincarnation isn’t in my job description, did you try calling for Jesus?” He replied, nonchalant as he inspected his nails with a sinister smirk. Were you supposed to laugh? “But I can do practically anything, even change fate. It just comes with a price, of course. You do know, some things are set to stone for a reason, yes?” The devil continued.
“Name it,” You stood your ground, ignoring his question.
“Your soul—” Your desperation caused you to interrupt him.
“Deal.”
“I wasn’t done yet, you brat. Your soul is far too little to recover so many human souls, and to change events that have been set to stone... Hm, how about this,” He paused for a moment, sizing your up. “Instead of your soul, you will become immortal. Old age won’t kill you, and perhaps you’d be able to recover from some other things that would kill mere mortals, but you’d still be able to die. Though of course, I am disallowing you from killing yourself. That wouldn’t be fair, now would it?” The demon said casually.
“I-Is that all?” Your voice couldn’t help but waver as the devil eyed you up and down, as if assessing your worth.
“Of course not. Once this contract is complete, you are not allowed to meet your family again, and you are not allowed to summon or even see me on earth again. If you break any of my rules, you’ll rot in hell for eternity,” The growl at the end of his statement was evident. “These are my conditions. Do you accept these?”
You bit your lip harshly, thinking it over one last time.
“Yes.”
“Finally, someone who knows how to deal with me. Tell people to be more like you when they summon me with their stupid tomes, will you?” He laughed heartily before opening a scroll. You felt uneasy as he seemed to scribble something onto it with a quill. It was just a simple action, but it was… unnerving to say the least.
”Female, 20, oh and uncontaminated… your contract is granted,” The demon snapped, and you dropped the book you held so tightly onto out of shock.
*
[[Next->CH6.b]]The first thing you felt when you finally came to was something thin scratching your skin. It wasn’t painful, just… unnerving. Your eyes snapped open in attention, feeling a strange sense of deja vu, and you reel your outstretched arm back to yourself. Your eyes looked at the messy ink scribbled onto your skin.
*Female, 2
*
Was what was written on your skin, with the number barely even readable. Everything seemed so oddly familiar, including the over the top fountain pen that the man used to write on your arm. For some reason you knew what was to follow.
*Female, 20, Uncontaminated.
*
[[Stay on the bed, and let the man continue writing.->Prologue]]
[[Get up and out of the bed.->CH6.b.1]]
It had been a week after that turn of events. You felt that you remembered everything, and the cycle of day 243,090 hasn’t repeated either. Based on everything you recalled and done so far, you concluded that what kept you in that strange loop was the words the man— your dad— your corrected yourself, wrote on your arm. He seemed so strangely familiar, but you chalked it up to seeing him in the loop you’ve been in for God knows how long until the memory of the shooting had flashed back into your mind.
You were also able to recall that those were the words that the devil had said and written before everything turned black during the day you tried to make a deal with him. At the time you were 20, and you’re still definitely female. Perhaps uncontaminated meant you haven’t made any contracts with other demons? Or something..? You weren’t sure yet, but that was your best guess.
But the bigger question was why was your father writing those on your arm? Why did he seem to be helping the devil, of all things?
You breathed deeply, not wanting to think about the implications of that.
Clearing your mind, you decided to look for the rest of your family. If your father was alive back there, (You didn’t want to think of what happened after the door slammed shut), then maybe, just maybe, everyone else was too.
[[Next->GOOD END]]It didn’t take you long to find them.
Your mind had led you there almost instinctively, as if you knew where they were. But you weren’t expecting this.
You stood in front of a set of tombstones not so far away from each other with painfully familiar names embedded onto the stone. Based on the tombstones, they lived a longer and hopefully a fuller life, just like you wanted. Your mother, your two younger brothers, and perhaps your father were in a better place now. Their tombstones were complete after all. It was a relief to you that they were all here more than anything.
Now that you think about it, you were so desperate for anything, or anyone who could change the fate of your loved ones. The days on your arm continued to go on and on— you were now immortal.
The devil warned you, and it was a foolish decision to change fate.
Now you were stuck here with so many unanswered questions. How were you so easily able to adjust to the modern world? Did the devil implant knowledge in your head so that everything felt natural as you repeated Day 243,090 over and over again?
There were so many questions, but your family lived a full life. Even if it wasn't with you they still did, and they died in peace. You knew your decision was stupid, but it was for them. If you had to do it again for them, you thought over it for a brief moment and decided that you would, without a single doubt in your mind. But perhaps, you mused, you shouldn’t mess with fate any more than you have already.
You looked at your arm. Day 243, 100. You supposed six hundred and forty six years after their death is enough time for you to have moved on.
You’ve learned your lesson. Now was the time to live the life you missed out on, without any more fear and regret of what was to come.
[[Play again?->Prologue]]You rolled the rest of your sleeve up. Day 243,090. You weren’t so sure of what was happening but your gut told you that something had to change. Out of instinct, you rub the ink out of our arm desperately.
“What the—” The man is baffled with your actions, and firmly held onto your shoulder, causing you to look at him.
“Run away, please,” He said in a whisper. For some reason, you were expecting him to shout at you. However his eyes looked watery, and his whole disposition seemed so, so tired… Where have you seen him before? You mused briefly. Before you could even muster a reply, or say anything at all you hear it: footsteps.
Looking past the man’s shoulder, you saw something red flash in the darkness of the corridor. Almost immediately you get up and run out the already opened door.
“Run!” The man finally yelled, like what your mind had somehow expected, but his voice had suddenly cut off.
You ran even faster.
[[Next->CH7.a]]You rolled the rest of your sleeve up. Day 243,090. You weren’t so sure of what was happening but your gut told you that something had to change. Out of instinct, you rub the ink out of our arm desperately.
“What the—” The man is baffled with your actions, and suddenly held onto your shoulder firmly, causing you to look at him.
“Run away, please,” He said in a whisper. For some reason, you were expecting him to shout at you. However his eyes looked watery, and his whole disposition seemed so, so tired… Where have you seen him before? You mused briefly. Before you could even muster a reply, or say anything at all you hear it: footsteps.
“Dad?” You said in a whisper as your eyes widened in recognition.
Looking past the man’s shoulder, you saw something red flash in the darkness of the corridor. Almost immediately you got up.
“Come with me!” You yelled, trying to pull your father with you.
“I can’t! Just run!” The man finally yelled and pushed you harshly out of the door. You turned back, trying to get back to him.
“We missed you, but we lived well knowing that you did this for us... Go live yours now, sweetheart,” He said in a wistful tone. The red pair of eyes that were glowing now revealed a large figure, smiling eerily right behind your dad as the old man slammed the door shut.
With tears streaming down your face and your heart pounding in both pain and fear, you ran as fast as you could with each step breaking your heart.
[[Next->CH7.b]]