Rain pattered against the roof of the building as I continued down the dusty hallway before me. Windows to my left showed the sun being drug below the horizon by a suffocating amalgamation of smog and rainclouds.

My head felt light in a mix of adrenaline and anxiety. The revolver gripped tightly in my hand rattled as I struggled to keep a steady grip.

The more time passed, the more I realized that deep down I did not even wish for the truth. All my suffering instead seemed like blissful ignorance with the things I had witnessed.

No matter. I had made my bed, and I was to lie in it.

Eventually, there was no more path to walk, only a wooden door shut before me. Amber firelight flickered from the crack underneath, and footsteps could be heard within.

With great reluctance, my free hand reached for the doorknob. My heart began to race as I clutched the cold brass sphere and slowly turned.

Once the door had partially been opened, the fluttering beat of my heart rushed into my limbs and caused me to throw it the rest of the way. The familiar office of Dr. Prescott laid bare before me.

I held the revolver up, my eyes darting around the room.

Yet, I found no immediate danger. Every book was where it always was. The windows were latched shut. The fireplace crackled calmly. Behind his desk, Dr. Prescott poured a cup of tea into a porcelain cup.

It was a bizarre feeling, being in such a familiar space with such a different context. For years, I had come to that room. Sought guidance, help, and hope. Instead, I was standing in a den of lies.

An eyebrow raised as he poured; Surprised, but not panicked. Dr. Prescott greeted me in a nonchalant manner “Oh, hello Theodore…” He gave me a quick glance up and down, then finished his pouring. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

I did not respond, simply slamming the door shut and continuing to train my revolver on him. All the while, Dr. Prescott was unfazed.

Moving further into the room, I took no heed to pleasantries and instead moved straight into the questions engraved deep in my mind. “Why did I end up here? What is going on?”

“Many things.” He said whilst taking a sip. “As for how you got here, your friends simply brought you. You were hurt, and we were glad to help you get back on your feet.”

I moved closer and hissed at the doctor. “You know what I meant. Why am I here?”

He produced a smirk as he responded. “Ah, so you’ve gained a bit more knowledge than expected…” He shifted in his seat, getting comfortable as if he were about to monologue like in our old therapy sessions. “Just to preface, I would like to say that we have only your best interests in mind.”

“Bullshit.” I muttered in frustration.

“It’s true!” Dr. Prescott retorted. “Oh… How very true it is.” His face brightened in passion. “You are very special, Theodore. You, and all the others.” He looked in the distance in thought, not caring to keep his eyes on the gun pointed at him. “The things you’ve witnessed are extraordinary. Divine… I know they have been startling at times, but the grandeur of the things you have seen are truly amazing!”

I moved ever closer, standing near the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “The things I’ve seen are hideous, and by your word not real.”

He clicked his tongue. “Ah, yes, well, sometimes you need to make a few white lies for the greater good.”

“What about my medicine?”

“Purely sedative.” Dr. Prescott said matter-of-factly. “You can’t make things that are really there disappear, so we simply coerced you into ignoring what you weren’t ready for. My apologies about that.”

Letting my revolver drop down, I pursued a word from his sentence. “We? How many people are working against us?”

“Not against you, Theodore.” He corrected. “It was not a lie when I said we had your best interests in mind. The entire hospital, and quite a few others, only want to help you, and in the process help everyone.”

“Explain.” I stated. “What do you mean by help?”

“Well, you and your friends are the final chapter of a very long book. The last encore of a momentous symphony.” He sat his teacup down. “The things you have seen are all the work of a single benefactor. One that takes many shapes. This benefactor has been here since the beginning, and he will come to lead us to the end.” I was taken aback by the audacity of Dr. Prescott’s words, and even more at the fact that I believed them. “Have you ever noticed that these ‘monsters’ have never hurt you?” He questioned.

My attention was brought to my arm, eldritch scars still wrapping up it from the jellyfish creature pulling me… Although painful, if it had not brought me to that air pocket, I would have drowned… I avoided the question and instead asked one of my own. “What does this mean?”

“It means you are a part of something special. You are the witness to the end, Theodore. The eyes that will see our world succumb to its ever-growing entropy.”

“Stop lying!” I shouted, letting the stress of the situation affect my temperance. I brought the revolver back up, trying to coerce the doctor into speaking honestly. Deep down, though, I knew that I was not being deceived.

“I’m not lying, Theodore… You and our dear benefactor are one and the same. You have been gifted with the old one’s eyes.” He said bluntly. “Have you ever noticed that all the creatures you saw on your own made no sound? Speaking in a language of nonexistent colors, even when they had mouths to talk with?”

I felt dizzy. The influx of information was absurd and bizarre, but the more he linked it together, the clearer the truth became. “The others…” I said. “What do they have to do with this?”

Dr. Prescott gave me an expectant look, as if waiting for me to piece together a puzzle. “Come now, you can figure it out…” Yet after a good moment of silence, he sighed and continued. “There’s five of you. You see the truth. Emilia hears his voice. Hughes feels his touch. Bradley speaks in the ancient language with the tongue gifted to him. Price himself will tell you he can smell a liar meters away.”

I stopped for a moment, pacing around the room. I tried to control myself, yet the more I thought on the subject the less in control I felt. My shallow breaths turned into heaves as nausea stirred inside me. I whispered in disbelief. “No… You-… No…”

Dr. Prescott seemed overjoyed. “Yes! The witness, the hearkened, the touched, the orator, and the keen. All of you together make a single whole. A physical form to the old one. A divine avatar. You would not believe how long I have waited to reveal this to you!”

The brewing nausea crept up my throat as my memory was brought back to the suffering man I had seen but hours earlier. His eyes were jammed into his skull as if implanted from another, and his jaw was obviously removed and replaced… Oh, God.

I wretched on the floor, dizzy and unable to think straight. Dr. Prescott stood in startlement and mumbled to himself. The moment I finished vomiting; he spoke in his most reassuring voice. “I know it is frightening, but you will be something beautiful. We have collected the best surgeons in the world, and we have had decades of planni-“

With a second wind and rush of adrenaline, I shot up. I was lightheaded, but I still managed to raise my revolver and aim it at the mad doctor. “No…” Was all I managed to surmise once more. I stared down the mad doctor, whom I once thought of as a mentor. “This is a test. I-It’s all a lie that you told to see how I would react.”

He raised his hands, continuing onward. “It’s the truth, and you’ve been hiding from the truth for long enough. I’ve coddled you all, and I see that now. I should have revealed this much sooner.”

The adrenaline, anger, and denial became too much. The only person in my life I thought stable, dependable, and caring was instead out to bring me a fate worse than death. The man I thought was a pillar of stability, someone who could bring me to the world of normalcy, was instead a lunatic with no more on his mind than the profane cruelty of reality. My finger squeezed on the trigger as I screamed out for a second, defiant, time "No!".

Dr. Prescott screamed in pain as the shot went wide and lodged into his shoulder. He stumbled back into his chair and took deep breaths, trying to regain his composure. “They wanted to rush you… If it were not for me, you would have all been squandered long ago...”

I spent another shot without reply. It landed in the side of his chest, leading to another cry for pain. As he whelped and squirmed, I blankly asked. “What of my mother? What about her?”

Dr. Prescott writhed in pain, but he still struggled out an answer in hopes it would save him. “She had your eyes… When she found out the truth, she thought to stop us…” He winced in pain once more as crimson gushed over his leather chair and finely sewn suit jacket. “Yet it perseveres… Always… When she gouged out her eyes, the gift moved to you, just as it would be inherited by another soul if you were to-…” He looked back up at me, and his eyes locked with mine. Once he saw the expression on my face, he realized that what he said did not increase his chances.

“No escape…” I mumbled.

Dr. Prescott realized that I had become distant. He forwent his explanations and instead moved to pleading. “Please… We can still make this right… You can trust me. There is no meaning beyond the end. You mus-“

One more round thundered from the revolver, this time implanting lead through his skull and leaving splatters of grey matter all about the large bookshelf behind his desk.

Dr. Prescott’s body slumped down in his chair, and blood continued to gush onto the wooden floor in audible dribbles.

I lowered the revolver, simply staring into space and letting thoughts pass through my mind.

Fuck.