Fort Geranium

Second Chapter: Bad Ending

[Mariana von Ulysses’s Point of View]

“Ugh…” did I drink last night? Why does my head hurt so much? I couldn’t feel my own legs, heck, I couldn’t really feel anything at the moment. I attempted to open my eyes but all I was met with was the sweet embrace of complete darkness. Great, my eyes are broken, my hearing wasn’t exactly all that functional either and I couldn’t register any of my other senses. This was definitely the best possible way to start off the day- ten out of ten!

When I tried to move my hands in order to give my eyes a little massage, there was something preventing me. Though my bodily senses were on worker’s strike, I was able to understand the general positions of my arms. They were above my head and constrained against something. ‘Did I do something last night?’ I thought back but nothing particularly notable came to mind. I wasn’t really the type to be into ‘hard’ play either so that couldn’t possibly be it.

‘Was I kidnapped?’ a valid concern but with no way to confirm that, the possibility merely sat dormant at the back of my mind. So many questions plagued my mind but being helplessly trapped in this void I couldn’t do anything about it. My only option was to wait until my senses recovered on their own though that did beg to ask if that’s really want I wanted. Truthfully, it was a little daunting, no that was a lie; it was mind numbingly scary with all of these uncertainties surrounding my fate.

Was I dead? Did someone kill me? Wait… I think I’ve said something similar to this before…

A brain pulverizing migraine assaulted me for quite a while. Eventually my senses started to return, though I couldn’t tell you if it had been mere minutes or entire days. Opening my eyes for the first time in god knows how long, I was met with the wonderful truth of my predicament.

Naked from the waist down, well not exactly, I still had my underwear and a single loose red T-shirt to cover me. However this thin piece of fabric was nowhere near adequate enough to alleviate any of the feelings of vulnerability going through my head. My previous thoughts about my hands being bound up proved unfortunately correct as they were restrained to the top of my bed.

When I tried to move them it stung around my wrists. Looking up I saw deep crimson ooze trickling down my forearms, ‘what…?’ confused, I had to focus more to realize that those binds were actually barbed wires. ‘What kind of insane…’ I grimaced as I thought but that question was quickly answered.

“Hello darling. I can see you’re in a lot of pain and confusion, but don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.” A familiar voice rang from beside me. Instinctively I froze up at the implications of that sweet voice. I knew who it belonged to but didn’t want to admit it. I took a couple of deep breaths and shifted my sights to the left as a familiar figure came into view. “The drugs must have been a little too potent for you; I wanted only to knock you out for a few hours but an entire day has gone by already.”

“… Wha-” I wanted to speak out to him but my voice refused to come out. Was it because my senses hadn’t fully recovered or was it because I didn’t want to say his name? I turned away without another word. It became obvious to me what was happening and I no longer wanted to give him the satisfaction of having things go his way. Though for a moment my entire world felt as though it had been crushed, I grit my teeth and let the dry tears slide down my face.

It would’ve been great if I could just cross my fingers and hope this was all a nightmare but everything was real. The blood running down my white bed frames along with the scent of rusting metal all stressed the cruelty of reality. The light stinging sensation on my wrists did not allow me to deny it. ‘Damn…’ no matter how hard I tried, this moment of betrayal would likely never be erased from my mind.

“I love how you’re trying to deny me the pleasure of this situation. The way you pretend to be strong like this is why I fell in love with you. Ah, but all of my girlfriends usually end up the same way. If it’s any consolation, I really did love you.” He leaned in closely and whispered into my ears with that sadistic voice but I tried to ignore him with all of my capacity. If he wanted to kill me or rape me, then he should just get done with it because I won’t give him, not for even a fraction of a second, the satisfaction. “Which is why I’ve anxiously been waiting for you to wake up all this time,” he continued.

I responded not to his words.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to play by his rules he changed up his game. He briefly exited the room in a deliberately slow and dramatic manner, only to return with a serrated kitchen knife. At the mere sight of such a violent weapon I jumped back, who wouldn’t? He smiled at me, the same kind he always used to show me when we went out on dates. Yet now all I could think of as I witnessed it was how it sickened me to my very core at how I often enjoyed it.

‘Your ‘boyfriend’ is a serial killer. You were just his latest in a long line of victims.’ A mysterious and slithery voice echoed in my mind. ‘Memory?’ I don’t think I would’ve forgotten such a significant conversation but here I was because I didn’t remember them. Was temporary amnesia a side effect to whatever drug he’s pumped into me?

“Ah, your body is so… beautiful.” He carefully started to caress me with the tip of the serrated blade. A thin, ice-like sensation ran along my legs, followed by a sharp pain. Like scratching the sides of a blackboard with your fingernails, a distinct kind of painful cringe writhed up my spine. I grimaced, seeing a sanguine pool forming at the base of my thighs I almost vomited. “I’ve seen it so many times but this time it is the most beautiful.” He continued to compliment how my blood looks better when it’s outside of my body.

As though I were some kind of blank canvas he drew on my body with that knife, carving deep red scars that would probably not heal for the rest of my life. If I even get a rest of my life, that is. Those macabre graffiti upon my body didn’t really hurt, mostly thanks to the numbing effects of the drugs, but seeing it happen to me left me drained. Both mentally and physically it became harder and harder to stay awake. My stomach churned and retracted from this experience, the experience of dying.

However in vain it was, I wanted to keep up with this useless pride of mine, it was all I had left now. Clenching my fists I fearfully ignored all the vile acts he had done to my body. I would die anyway, right? My boyfriend was a serial killer and I was just his next victim. The only saving grace in this entire ordeal was the fact that I couldn’t feel much of the pain, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared to face death.

He inched his face near my wounds, licking them in a sexual manner, all the while giggling like a drunken school girl. It scared and disgusted me, but deep down inside there was a profound sense of pity for him. He was sick and what he needed now wasn’t another victim but capital punishment to alleviate his mental disorder.

“Mmm… so beautiful. You’re just as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside, my dear. But I think we’ve played for long enough. I’m sorry we couldn’t do it one last time but I need all the time I can get before the authorities start chasing me down.” He smiled back at me innocently as though suggesting that he had done nothing wrong. However when he saw my pity filled eyes for him he frowned.

He edged closer, dropping the knife down it made a distinct clanging sound followed by a silent vibration that lingered on in my head. Standing over me I could see his lifeless, sick eyes gazing into my own. He slowly wrapped his fingers around my neck, but even this I couldn’t properly feel. “Do you pity me? Wake up! You’re the one that’s going to die!”

Even as he shouted, I only gave out a sigh. I was going to die, and even if I didn’t die here I would be left with horrendous scars that would make me want to kill myself. I was the victim here right? So why was this idiot so angry all of a sudden? Perhaps I was going insane myself, because I no longer found myself caring about the state of my half-naked, mutilated body. I’m to die so what was the point?

So I gathered up what little strength I had and smiled back at him. The same kind I would usually give back when we went on dates, ‘payback.’ “Yeah, I pity you.” Those had been my first words to him since waking up, but I could tell from the increased force in his hands they were not what he wanted to hear. His face reddened, ironically bringing a bit of life back into those soulless eyes. “Heh, g- good for you… you look more… alive.” I smirked and commented sarcastically.

The sooner this was over the better. I closed my eyes and let his rage ruin the moment he completed his magnum opus.

Everything soon faded into black, sounds became distance and my desperate gasps for air became a non-problem.

Death.

I couldn’t even feel it, pathetic.

***

“Welcome back!” As soon as I regained consciousness I was greeted by a high pitched squeal. The blue colored walking light show shoved his face against mine, ‘is he going for a kiss?’ I quickly retaliated by gently pushing him away.

“Aegis… what was that?” I shook my head, the migraine having disappeared from my body I could feel that everything returned to normal. I clenched my fists a few times to confirm the sensation and that I was indeed back in full control.

“Like I told you before, your boyfriend was a serial killer and you were his latest victim. Though I do admit how you showed him resistance until the bitter end was pretty badass. Hehehe~” He laughed childishly to himself. Well, not that I don’t agree with him; while not my proudest moment, the fact that I was truly able to be myself till the bitter end was a consolation. “You were all like, ‘yeah, I pity you’, and I was like ‘ohhh shit~ she didn’t just say that!’ and it was amazing!”

He sounded like a kid who just watched his favorite action hero movie. I couldn’t say I shared his enthusiasm for snuff films but since it was me that was the main actor I think I can give him a pass.

“Well, I’m glad that at least one of us enjoyed it.” I sighed. The mystery of my death was solved but letting go of this unsatisfactory feeling was a little hard. I turned back to Aegis who still had a big dumb grin on his face, as though I was some kind of pop idol. “Say, you don’t think I can go back and… you know, redo that last part?”

“Redo?” He tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Yeah, dying like that leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I think my OCD is starting to act up.”

“Hmm, well I can send you back but it’s not like I have the power to change the past or your fate. Whatever has happened is written in stone and all sending you back would accomplish is making you feel better.”

“That’s fine. Just doing that much would be a great help.”

He shrugged. “If that’s what you want then let’s try one more time?” complying with my wishes once more he came a bit closer and just like last time placed his cold hands against my eyes. I felt a rush of darkness drawing and sinking me in. ‘Am I invoking the powers of the devil?’ I couldn’t help but muse to myself as my consciousness started to wane.

Slowly. Deeply.

Eternal black overwhelmed me.