Moonlight's Guidance

CH48: Unrelenting Hatred

Cardin awoke inside the Winchester manor. His mind was clouded with feelings that he couldn't understand. The burgundy red wallpaper of his home seemed out of place. As if nothing around him was real. But it had to be.

He started to wonder throughout the halls. Cardin passed through by a very familiar room. Inside were three armor stands, all stained with red. The steel suits shook with terror like something inside wanted freedom.

More anger sweltered inside him. The burning of his own emotions stung. Guilt. Anger.

Pain flashed across Cardin's face as he walked into the room. The armors came to life as groans of despair rattled the plates of metal. Each one reached out to him for help. Without hesitation, Cardin reached back.

However, the moment Cardin touched the first armor, it ceased to move. The wails of agony from within grew louder. The warm steel started to thrash around violently, until it suddenly stopped. Then it's helmet caved in. Cardin's expression twisted with fear and sadness as a thick, red liquid poured from each chink in the armor.

The other two armors recoiled. The agonizing screams shifted into horrible groans of fear. They stumbled back, looking at their own limbs as if the same thing would happen. Unfortunately, their predictions were correct.

Cardin watched in horror as the remaining armors imploded like a suspiciously unsafe submarine piloted by a Logitech controller. Blood pooled at his feet. But it just kept rising. To his ankles. Then his knees. Soon enough he was waist deep in medical Kool-Aid.

The wailing of agony stopped coming from the armors. Now it was coming from Cardin. He looked around the empty armory. Something was unfamiliar to him. There was a new window. Looking at it made Cardin's ribs hurt.

Although he couldn't understand why, he knew that his only priority was to jump out of that window. And so he did. He trudged through the murky scarlet liquid and sent himself crashing through the glass.

Cardin felt like he was falling in slow motion. The sky was a dark shade of purple. The grass was tall and a vibrant blue. Everything around him, bioluminescent.

When he landed on the ground, nothing happened. His legs didn't crumple under the force of impact. It was as if Cardin was weightless.

He looked around. The ethereal paradise around him was so peaceful. It was an artist's own little heaven. As he gazed beyond the manor and into the woods, a bright white light emerged from the blue forest. It's brightness was so warm. All Cardin could feel in his sensory overstimulation was the comforting warmness.

He entered a trance. His legs started to move by themselves into the glowing forest. The turquoise trees invited him. The aquamarine grass welcomed him. The purple sky greeted him.

Cardin couldn't help but sink away into the colors. His troubles evaporated. For the first time in this tripfest, he felt calm.

Then, something bit his foot. He cried out as his eyes darted around to find the source of pain. Suddenly, the tall grass rustled. Cardin plunged his hands into the blue grove and felt something soft. It was round and fuzzy. And warm. Almost as warm as the white light in the forest background.

He grabbed the object. A squeal came from the grass. Reluctantly, Cardin lifted the furball out of the shrubbery.

It was a brown bunny. It's black dot eyes looked at him thoughtlessly. Cardin's first thought was to dislike the bunny for biting his leg, but overcome with grief and negativity, he simply ignored it.

With tired arms, he lowered the bunny back into the grass. All he wanted to do was get away from this place. To run away into that warm light of the blue forest.