༺The Evil Within༻Memory's Captive

IV. Going Under

Audio Tape #1

"Jimenez honestly thinks he can run STEM without me interfering. Worthless scum bag. Publishing my work in his name all those years. I should have known it would have come to this. I was too blind in my work to see it.. This is my creation, and I won't allow them to squander my lifetime of work for themselves.

As for the test subjects, two of the seven have already lost their sanity and turned. It was exhilarating to watch. The slow, agonizing slip into madness followed by their rapid disfiguration and loss of self.

The sheriff fellow managed to escape, but not after slaying my newest minions. I will deal with him soon enough...

As for his partner, I do not know. She's different.. I can't quite place what it is. She is obviously sane; not a patient from Beacon. Maybe I will spare her for the time being and preform an autopsy later. That is if she lasts till then.."

~ R

❁

Claire held back a scream at the sight of the vile creatures. Keith fired, cracking one of the two's grinning, mannequin-like masks and revealing sickly pale skin beneath. Another shot and the head was reduced to an explosion of blood and brain matter. Its lifeless body collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud. The second monster didn't even flinch at its fallen companion and only continued to lumber forward.

"Run!" Keith ordered as he dodged a shot. Pausing only briefly to reload, he aimed again and shot. The haunted was felled at the headshot, but not before landing its own shot in the sheriff's shoulder blade. He cried out in agony and fell back, gripping his wound. Claire rushed to his side, eyes wide with fear of what to do.

But despite this, the sheriff's wincing melting into soft chuckling. Claire furrowed her brows in confusion,
"What are you laughing about?" She couldn't help but shout in hysterics, "you just got shot you idiot!"

This only provoked his laugh further. "You really need to learn to calm down. It's just my shoulder. I can walk it off."

"And you need to learn to take things more seriously!" She protested, enraged at his positivity. He only shook his head and rose, wincing briefly at his wound before smiling once again. "It went through completely anyway. It's not like there's still a bullet in there or anythin'."

Without warning he collapsed again, clutching his head and hissing in pain. Claire only rolled her eyes. "Thought you said it wasn't all that bad," she snarked with a smirk.

He didn't reply this time. Deep breathing sounded from the man as he grabbed his head in a vice-like grip with both hands. A whimper or two escaped him, before rising into a agonizing scream. Claire jumped back, frightened and panicked as her mind reeled for a proper reaction. He continued to yell before his voice began to change. More gutteral. Like growling..

Her heart sank into her stomach.

Claire's breathing shallowed. Her blood turned cold and raced in her veins. Her gaze fell upon his pistol, which now lay at her feet. No, she couldn't kill him. She couldn't bring herself to murder. Even if he wasn't himself anymore.

Keith's skin melted into a decaying green hue. His nails transformed into yellow claws. He threw his head back and unleashed a demonic howl.

Tears pricked Claire's eyes and blurred her vision. She couldn't move. She was going to die because of her pathetic fear. She wiped away her tears and gave 'Keith' a final look of despair.

And that's when she saw it.

That same cloaked figure, standing behind Keith and extending a shrouded hand to his head. Black smoke drifted from within the spectral being's clothing, once again keeping its features hidden. Or did it even have a body? Was it a spirit of some sort?

She stared in awed silence at the being. This was the cause of it. It was changing him. Anger boiled in her veins, driving her to step forward and hiss at it with all her might.

"Hey! Let him go!"

Its face whipped upwards to face her. Glowing silver eyes pierced into her heart like knives. Its hand launched forward, now in her direction. Black shadows swirled about in the shape of a hand, making a slight gripping gesture. She gasped as if her very soul had been stolen and stumbled back. Only, she didn't feel solid ground beneath her..

Next thing she knew she was falling. Pitch blackness enveloped her as the world faded away. The last thing she heard was Keith's voice call to her.

"C-Claire..?"

//Thank you again for making it this far! As always, remember to vote/comment if you enjoyed this chapter. It means a lot more than you think! :D Have a beautiful day and see you in the next chapter!\\