༺The Evil Within༻Memory's Captive

XIII. Drunken Riddles

❁

"Sweet dreams are made of this,
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas,
Everybody's looking for something..."

❁

Reality swarmed her vision. She gasped for breath as shadows swirled about her, returning her surroundings in their wake. Her location was different, as per usual after blacking out. A large room, dark and hostile. The walls and floor were constructed of cold concrete. She couldn't see much, only a few feet before the rest of the room was concealed in black shadows. She sat on the ground in the middle of the room, her frame quivering from the cold atmosphere. She felt weak, vulnerable. Her position in the room only made it worse.

The air was still and empty. Her breaths quivered slightly from both fear and the cold. She wrapped her arms around her chest. Her denim jacket only provided minimum amounts of warmth.

Various noises echoed beyond the black void encircling her, inferring that there was a vast space she couldn't see. Rattling metal. Faint, raspy breaths. The occasional, lone cry of a haunted. The sound of liquid dropping drew her to glance at a small shaft of light shining down from the ceiling. Something thick and dark dripped steadily from above, and she had a rising suspicion that it wasn't water..

She took in a breath. She wasn't getting anywhere huddled to the floor like this. Rising to her feet and stepping forward, she heard something small and heavy clank against her boot. Claire looked down to see a pistol. She wasn't very experienced when it came to marksmanship or artillery in general, but she needed some sort of self-defense if she was going to survive. She picked it up, the metal ice cold to her fair skin.

The clattering and rattling continued to sound, growing louder as she advanced. The light above her head seemed to follow her every move and illuminate her path. Nothing was revealed, unfortunately, only more dirty concrete. At times, she spotted maroon stains spattered on the floor, some old and faded, some fresh and glistening.

A sudden, brisk chill ran down her spine. Her blood froze her veins though she had no idea why. She'd felt this before, whenever Ruvik was around. She looked, but there was no sign of him. Yet she still felt that cold edge, like some otherworldly being lurked within the shadows.

As if on cue, a figure appeared before her. She gasped at the sudden occurrence and froze, gazing upon the other. A young woman dressed in a scarlet dress that drifted rhythmically in the air alongside her hip-length, raven black hair. Her frame stood tall and still, but her head remained bowed downward, concealing her features. Claire was hesitant, but managed to call out a greeting, "Hello?"

No reply. The only noise filling the empty air was the faint whistling of wind,

And music.

The eerie melody of Clair De Lune echoed in the distance.

"Hello?" She called again, more confident this time. The moment she did, the woman's face shot upward. Claire's breath was taken and her face flushed as she withheld a gasp.

Her face was sharply featured and pale skinned. Her lips, set in a melancholy frown, ruby red to match her elegant gown. Her flowing locks continued to writhe in the air like graceful tendrils of darkness. Though her eerie, silent demeanor did set her on edge, the thing that unsettled Claire most was her eyes.

Silver, piercing eyes.

Irises that seemed to suck the soul away from her when she locked vision with her. So startlingly sterling that she couldn't look into them for long. They were so alike. Identical to Ruvik's..

His sister?

Without warning, the girl threw her head back and unleashed a horrifying scream before vanishing as quickly as she had appeared. Claire withheld a cry of her own as the room was suddenly illuminated.

She was in a hospital. A hallway. Windows lined the left wall and let sunlight leak in. It was in rough shape and most likely abandoned from the looks of it. Wheelchairs and cots were abandoned in the middle of the walkway. On the right side, dozens of metal doors were visible, all barred with metal bars. A mental asylum?

She cautiously walked forward, the only noise coming from her heeled boots. She peeked into the first door's window. Empty. The next. Empty.

A laugh began to sound from around the end of the walkway. A gruff, male laugh. Curiosity besting her better judgment, she hesitantly made her way towards it.

"Ha! Never thought ya had it in ya, Ruby.."

Ruby?

She reached the door that apparently held the laugh's owner. Looking inside, she saw the silhouette of a large, burly man sitting on a bed.

"Well, look who we have here," He hissed in a nasty, crackly voice before cackling more. "Ruvik's newest plaything.."

Claire wrinkled her nose. The cell reeked of liquor. His voice did have that rough, alcoholic sound to it.

"Who are you?" She growled, sneering at his comment.

Ignoring her question, he seemed to laugh to himself, "Picked yourself a feisty one, didn't ya' Ruby? Ha!"

She aassumed Ruby was some sort of insulting nickname he'd dubbed Ruvik. "What are you talking about? I'm no one's plaything!"

"Oh! But that's where you're wrong, sweets," he drawled drunkenly, "Everyone here is Ruvik's little toy. You're just a favorite of his.. Haven't you seen how he treats you?"

"How he treats me?" She spat, "you think I'm supposed to feel special just because he hasn't ripped my guts out yet?"

"Yet?" He threw back his head to cackle once more, "He doesn't wanna kill ya, toots."

"Then what does he want?" She asked, desperation lacing her voice.

"Haha! Never thought you had it in ya Ruby.. Always such a hardass and yet here ya are, fallin' for a sweet little dame like her."

Her brows furrowed and she paused in shock before speaking, "Wait.. What?"

"Ya really don't get it do ya?" He tut-tutted in mock disapproval. "You'll see eventually.."

"You're insane! You really expect me to believe that psycho is in love with me?" She protested, knowing the man was clearly drunk and delusional.

He laughed again, his voice echoing and fading away.

"Never thought ya had it, Ruby.."

The room faded the black, the man's laughter beginning to die with it. She slammed her fists against he door and cried, "No! You have to tell me what's going on! Where am I? Who are you?"

"Just call me, a friend."

With that, his voice faded away entirely, leaving her alone in the hallway.

//Hey there guys! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it though and don't forget to vote/comment! Do any of you Evil Within fans know who the drunk guy is? ;)

Things are going to start picking up between Claire and Ruvik from here on out! ^w^ Hope you have a fantastic day and I'll be seeing you in the next chapter!\\