**(Continuation of previous events)**
Pitch darkness everywhere, and a loud whistling sound dominated the atmosphere, accompanied by a sharp pain in his head. After an unknown period of time had passed. Minutes? Hours? Or days? Ethan slowly opened his eyes to find himself on a chair, his feet and hands tied.
Ethan began looking around the place, not comprehending the situation he was in. Several minutes after waking up, and after fully regaining his composure, expressions of astonishment and shock appeared on his face. He then began trying to force his restraints loose, but stopped after finding he couldn't free himself that way.
His heartbeats began to rise, and his tension increased tremendously. He quickly scanned the place and found himself in a dilapidated room full of dust and cobwebs, with a small lamp in the ceiling that barely lit the room.
In front of him were iron bars separating his room from a dark corridor in which he could hardly see anything. Since waking up, he had been wondering: What is this place? And what happened to him to end up here? Ethan tried to get up but couldn't. His restraints were tied so tightly that it rendered him helpless, unable to do anything. He remained in the same state for a while, until suddenly he began to hear strange sounds coming from the walls.
Ethan looked in terror towards the walls, only to find nothing strange in his room, which made him think the sounds were coming from outside.
Ethan tried again to force his restraints loose, but ended up falling to the ground with the chair, causing himself more pain. Ethan took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and began violently shaking his body in a desperate attempt to free himself. But the ropes were tight, and every movement only increased his pain. While sweat began to bead on his forehead from the effort and fear, his strength finally gave out and he stopped resisting. He remained lying on the ground, helpless to do anything.
After a few seconds, Ethan began to hear the sound of the iron bars moving, which increased his tension slightly. Ethan slowly opened his eyes and looked directly at the iron bars. Expressions of terror and horror appeared on his face, and his heart began to pound violently from the gruesomeness of what he saw. Behind the bars stood a humanoid creature without skin, wearing cut-off pants and no shirt, and in its face was one large eye instead of facial features. The creature grabbed the bars and began pushing them forcefully, trying to get in.
Ethan remained frozen in place, terror and tension dominating his body, while the creature continued trying to smash the bars with all its might. Ethan began looking all around the room, searching for anything he could use to free himself. Then, suddenly, an idea came to his mind. Ethan tried to rise with all his remaining strength, and in one moment, he intentionally threw himself to the ground, causing a piece of wood from the chair he was sitting on to break with him. He repeated the process several times until all the legs of the chair broke. After that, Ethan slowly moved towards one of the wooden pieces that had pointed ends and tried to grab it. It was difficult at first, but he eventually managed. Then he carefully tried to use it to cut the ropes restraining him.
The creature's blows against the bars grew more violent, and the sound of metal under the pressure of its grip became clearer. Ethan, with difficulty, held the piece of wood using his fingertips and placed it on the ground, its pointed end facing upwards. Then he placed the rope over the wood and with all his strength, began pressing the rope against the wood and rotating it in a circular motion, trying to make the sharp point cut the rope. It took a long time, and the wood fell several times, but he repeated the attempt each time. Finally, the wood weakened the rope, and Ethan, with some force, managed to undo his restraints. Then he quickly undid the restraints on his feet, feeling joy and relief afterwards.
Ethan looked towards the bars and found the creature still hitting them, but its blows had no visible or strong effect on the bars. Ethan looked at his hands and saw the imprint of the ropes etched into them, his face showing discomfort from the resulting pain.
After a few minutes, Ethan noticed the creature had stopped hitting the bars and began slowly moving away from Ethan until it disappeared into the darkness of the corridor, while Ethan kept looking at it with bewildered and anxious glances. After it left, Ethan slowly approached the iron bars and began searching for a way out of here. He looked right and left and found two other passages similar to the one in front of him. He tried pushing the bars with all his might, but it was futile.
Ethan took a step back, trying to think of another solution. He looked around the room again, trying to find anything that could help him escape. The room was almost empty except for the remnants of the shattered chair and the thick dust. Ethan lay down on the floor, his face showing anxiety as he looked towards the dark corridor.
Ethan remained like that for a few minutes. Then, suddenly, he began to hear footsteps approaching him. He anxiously directed his gaze towards the corridor and saw a strange man wearing blue medical clothes, a blue mask, and glasses that hid his eyes. The man approached Ethan's cage, then looked at him calmly, glanced at the shattered chair remnants, and said in a calm tone, "It seems I'll have some trouble with you."
Ethan felt anxious and threatened by him, so he quickly went to one of the wooden pieces of the chair and held one, using it as a weapon. The man lowered his mask, revealing his mouth, then took a whistle from his pocket, put it in his mouth, and blew into it forcefully. But no sound came out, nor did anything strange happen because of it, leaving Ethan puzzled about what he had done. And after a few seconds, the sound of many footsteps began to be heard coming from the corridor.
The sound of footsteps became clearer and closer, making Ethan's heart beat violently from the intensity of the tension as he held the piece of wood tightly, ready for what awaited him.
From the dark corridor, a group of creatures resembling dogs but without fur and more disfigured and horrifying in appearance began to emerge. The creatures stood directly in front of the man and began circling him and sniffing him, while he remained standing in his place, showing no signs of anxiety or fear. The man turned to Ethan, then took out a small glass vial containing a strange liquid resembling blood, and threw it at Ethan, breaking it and spilling the liquid on his clothes. Ethan looked at his clothes and found them stained by the liquid. He touched his clothes and noticed they had become strangely hotter, which puzzled him. Ethan turned his gaze back to the man and found all the dogs looking at him with strange stares, then they began running savagely towards Ethan's cage, causing his panic.
The dogs pushed the cage with such force that cracks appeared in the walls connected to it. And through all this, the man remained standing in his place while looking at Ethan with his cold stares. He then began walking towards the cage, unconcerned by the pack of dogs. Upon reaching the bars, he took out an iron key, inserted it into the cell lock, and opened the cage for the dogs to enter. The dogs then began entering the room in huge numbers, heading towards Ethan with bloodthirsty eyes.
Ethan gripped the wood tightly and began hitting them one after another, trying to defend himself. But they eventually managed to knock him to the ground and began dragging him out of the room towards the corridor. Ethan opened his eyes and in a desperate attempt to break free, he grabbed one of the iron bars to stop the dogs from dragging him, and began kicking and hitting them with all his might. But one of the dogs bit Ethan's hand hard, piercing the flesh of his arm, causing Ethan to let go of the bars from the intense pain and grab his injured arm while being dragged by the dogs to an unknown place.
Sometime after the event, Ethan suddenly felt that the dogs had stopped. He opened his eyes to find himself in a grey room, with a large lamp in the ceiling illuminating the entire room, padded chairs showing wear around the edges, and in the middle of the room an iron bed with a strange person, his limbs tied to the bed, naked. Ethan tried to get up from the floor but stopped suddenly when he noticed his hand was shackled to the chair with metal restraints, which provoked him. Ethan looked around the room and saw the dogs had torn his shirt and were shredding it into small pieces. He also saw a small table in front of the bed filled with sharp medical tools.
Ethan took a deep breath, then looked again towards the bed, surprised to find the restrained person looking at him with anxious and fearful glances. Then he said to him, his face showing seriousness, "Hey, you're awake! That's excellent. We don't have time for this talk; you need to free me quickly so we can escape from here." Ethan kept looking at him with anxious glances, then pointed with his free hand towards the iron shackles restraining him. The man shook his body violently, which shook the bed a little, then said in a tone clear with anger, "It doesn't matter! Do anything to free yourself. Cut them. Break them. Tear them. It's more merciful than what that monster will do to us." After that, the man began trying to move his legs with all his strength, but he only managed to move the bed a few centimeters. While Ethan looked at him with expressions of bewilderment, wondering what he was planning.
The man continued doing that until he finally managed to knock over the table with the surgical tools, scattering all the sharp tools around the room. The man looked at Ethan, his face showing exhaustion, then said while breathing with difficulty, "T-take one of those knives and free yourself, then free me! Come on, hurry!" Ethan grabbed one of the knives lying on the floor and began trying to cut the iron wire attached between him and the chair, causing the man to scream at him, "What are you doing? Use the knife to open the chains by putting it in the keyhole and moving it! Come on, hurry!" Ethan began applying what he was told, then searched for the keyhole in the lock, put the knife inside, and began trying to open it.
(Sound of a door opening)
But it was too late. Ethan and the man looked towards the door and saw the same man who had kidnapped them. The man took a look at his tools scattered on the floor, then said in a slightly annoyed tone, "You're a lot of trouble, Lucas. I think I need to punish you." Expressions of dread and fear appeared on Lucas's face, then he began trying to escape his restraints with all his strength, screaming hysterically, "You #%$%! What do you want from me? What did I do to you? Get away from me!" The man paid him no attention, then put the table back in its place and picked up his tools from the floor while humming some tune, ignoring Lucas's screams.
After the man entered the room, Ethan quickly hid the knife and pretended he had just woken up. After the man finished gathering his tools, he paused for a moment, then took off a large backpack that he seemed to have been wearing recently and set it aside. The man looked at Lucas with cold stares, then secured his head to the bed using a leather strap. After that, he took a black ink pen from the table and began drawing dotted lines around Lucas's right arm, his left foot, and both his eyes. While Lucas kept screaming with all his might, "You madman, let me go! I didn't do anything to you!" to the point that tears began to fall from his eyes. But the man didn't bat an eye and continued what he was doing.
The man took a strange syringe containing a green substance and injected it into both Lucas's hand and his foot. After that, he took a sharp scalpel and began slowly and carefully cutting off Lucas's hand, ignoring his hysterical screams of pain. While Ethan was trying to undo his restraints when he noticed the man couldn't see him, his face showing terror and anxiety. Lucas tried to resist, but his attempts were in vain. His eyes were overflowing with tears, and his body trembled between fear and pain. In despair, Lucas muttered in a weak voice, directing his words to Ethan, "Please.... do something....".
And finally, Ethan managed to free himself. He gripped the knife tightly, then looked at the man and found he hadn't noticed his escape yet, then began moving silently towards the man while preparing to stab him with the knife. He approached cautiously, each step increasing his tension and heartbeats. The man suddenly turned around. Ethan attacked him with all his might. He stabbed him with the knife in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground, his blood staining the clothes around the knife.
Ethan pulled the knife from the man's stomach and rushed to free Lucas, whose face was pale and whose hand had already been cut off, but for some unknown reason, his hand wasn't bleeding. Ethan began cutting his restraints one after the other. But before he cut the last restraint, Lucas looked at him and said in a weak voice, "..Watch your back..". Ethan quickly turned around. He found the man trying to stand up while holding his wound. Ethan hurried towards him, then kicked him and knocked him to the ground, then quickly returned to Lucas and cut his last restraint.
Ethan helped Lucas up, then assisted him in standing. Lucas looked at the man, his face showing hatred and exhaustion, then said, "Kill him.... kill this monster! He doesn't deserve to live." Then he began coughing violently to the point that blood came out of his mouth. The man pulled something from his pocket and with all his remaining strength, threw it at Ethan and Lucas. That thing exploded, spreading the same red substance he had previously thrown on Ethan. Ethan looked at that substance stuck to him, and expressions of terror appeared on his face. Then he started running quickly, supporting Lucas, towards the exit door. At the same time, the disfigured dogs smelled the substance and all turned towards Ethan, who was trying to escape, and began pursuing him. But before they reached him, Ethan had already left the room and slammed the door shut, preventing the dogs from catching up.
Ethan looked around and found two passages surrounding him: one to the right and one to the left. This made him pause for a moment as he decided which passage to take. After a moment of concentration, he noticed that in the left passage there were drops of blood extending along its length. This reminded him that the dogs had bitten his left hand, making it bleed almost the entire time, and this led him to conclude that passage was the one where his room had been previously. So he turned to the right and began walking towards the other passage.
Ethan could barely walk due to Lucas's weight, who could hardly move. The corridor was dark, but Ethan's eyes had already adjusted to the darkness beforehand. A faint light emanated from the end of the corridor, and a terrifying silence dominated the atmosphere. Ethan kept looking back every few steps, alert for any attack or sudden movement. But there was something strange. Ethan noticed that the light at the end of the corridor was getting closer and closer faster than usual. As if it was approaching them, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
Ethan continued advancing and getting closer to the light bit by bit. Until the distance between them was only a few steps away. At that moment, Ethan froze in place, and expressions of tension appeared on his face.
He was now sure... that it wasn't just an ordinary light..
It was a humanoid creature wearing entirely white clothes, and instead of a head, there was a small lamp illuminating the area around it. The creature continued approaching Ethan slowly while Ethan stood still from tension and fear. Lucas was heavy, so they wouldn't be able to escape from it if it chased them, so he picked up the knife and prepared for any sudden attack. The creature continued advancing slowly towards them, and with each step it took, the tension in Ethan increased. The creature passed by them slowly as if it didn't see them, then continued walking forward until it moved far away from them. Ethan kept looking at the creature, his face showing expressions of bewilderment and relief because it had moved away from them.
Lucas looked at Ethan and said with difficulty, "We don't have time to stop, come on, let's move." Ethan became alert, then continued walking down the corridor until he reached a spacious room containing a set of cages, with a small lamp emitting a faint light. Ethan entered the room and put Lucas on the ground because he was tired from carrying him and needed some rest. Ethan sat down, exhaustion in his eyes, to rest a little from this tiring day.
Lucas opened his eyes and said to Ethan in a calm tone, "I think I told you before that there's no time for rest." Ethan looked at him, his face showing annoyance, but he ignored him and remained seated. Expressions of anger appeared on Lucas's face, then he said in an angry tone, "This is no time for coddling or rest! If he catches us, he will turn us into them." Ethan looked at him with bewildered expressions. Lucas continued his speech, "And if you don't know who *they* are, I mean those." Lucas pointed towards one of the cages. Ethan looked at the place Lucas pointed to and found him pointing to one of the cages that contained a humanoid creature with 6 limbs distributed over its body like a spider, with thick hair and black eyes. Ethan kept looking at the monster for a while, not understanding what Lucas meant, until a few seconds passed and expressions of shock appeared on his face after he understood what he meant.
Lucas continued, "I saw it with my own eyes! He's insane! He cut off the limbs of one of his previous victims and reattached them in different places, and did other things I can't say! He disfigured him, and that's what he was going to do to me if you hadn't saved me." Then Lucas fell silent as tears began to stream from his eyes, his face showing expressions of despair, then he used his remaining hand to get up from the ground and said, "Well, I think I can walk on my own now. Let's try to get out of here." Ethan stood up with him, and the two began walking, trying to get out of here.
But before they left, the creatures in the cages suddenly started moving towards the bars. While making sharp and annoying sounds as if asking for help. But their voices were nothing but incomprehensible moans and murmurs. Ethan turned towards them, looking at them with glances of pity and sadness. Lucas continued, looking at Ethan with exhausted eyes, "These... were humans once. I don't know how long they've been here, but it's clear they've suffered here, and that's what will happen to us if we don't get out of here." Ethan took a few seconds looking at the suffering of these tortured humans with glances of pity and sadness, then turned towards Lucas and continued walking, leaving them behind.
But before they were far enough from the place, they began to hear the sound of many footsteps heading towards them. Lucas looked at Ethan with a worried and shocked face, "Damn! It's those dogs again! They must have gotten out! Hurry up!" Then the two began running at full speed, trying to throw the dogs off their trail. They kept running and moving randomly between the corridors, ignorant of where they were going, until they suddenly stopped due to exhaustion in front of a door.
Lucas opened the door and said in a high, tense tone while holding the door, "Get in quickly!" Ethan went inside while Lucas closed the door, then sat against it to lock it properly, then said while looking at the door, "Well, this will stop them for a wh—" Lucas stopped talking, and expressions of shock and tension appeared on his face, and the same for Ethan. Lucas put his hand on his face, then said in a tone filled with shock and confusion, "W-w-we're back in the same room." They had returned to the same room where they had met, which shocked them. Lucas continued, "How did this happen?".
And suddenly, before Lucas could fully comprehend the matter, the door behind him shattered, and he was thrown away towards the iron bed, falling to the ground while feeling pain all over his body. Ethan was shocked upon seeing what happened to Lucas, making him turn towards the door to see who had done that to him. He found in front of him the man who had kidnapped them, who had somehow healed his wound, and behind him a giant creature with a strong body and many hands all over its body, possessing 5 heads on top of its body.
Ethan stepped back, then picked up the knife and took a fighting stance. The man looked towards Ethan, then took a strange device resembling a flashlight but smaller, with a black button in the middle. The man pressed the button, and red laser beams came out, directed towards Ethan. The monster looked at Ethan with its differently colored eyes, then began running quickly towards the red light. Ethan tried to defend himself using the knife, but the monster grabbed him in one second using its hands, rendering Ethan helpless to do anything.
Lucas looked at Ethan, his face showing pain, then looked at the man and screamed at him in a tone of anger and fear, "What's wrong with you, you madman, why are you doing this to us? What did we do to you?" The man directed his gaze towards Lucas and remained silent for several seconds. He took a deep breath, then replied in a calm tone, "I'm sorry for you, believe me, I don't want to do this but... I can't." Expressions of shock appeared on Lucas's face, then he replied, "What do you mean? If you don't want to do this to us, then stop this!" The man replied while wiping dust off his clothes, "I told you, I can't. I've tried to stop several times, but I couldn't... It's like an addiction... Every time I perform a procedure, I get a kind of euphoria... a beautiful, irresistible euphoria. But its problem is that it's followed by a feeling of remorse, and that bothers me. I tried to listen to this remorse and stop doing this, but I've become a slave to this feeling and can't suppress it for long." Lucas replied while trying to get up, "I'm not interested in your desires! We just want to get out of here!" The man replied, "And I'm not interested in you! I want to get my euphoria... Well, how about I tell you what I'm going to do to you?" Lucas replied, his face showing despair, "Just shut up!" The man ignored his words and continued, "I will restrain you and this boy, and cut off both your hands and attach them to one of you, then cut off the other's head and attach it to the second body's then_".
And before he finished his words, he heard a sound coming from behind him. The man quickly turned around to be surprised by Marcus standing at the door, looking at him from behind his mask, saying in a sarcastic tone, "I thought I was the only one who made secret hideouts underground." The man moved away from Marcus and replied with a mix of calm and shock, "It's you... How did you get here? I thought I had hidden the entrance to this place well?" Marcus replied, "I think you didn't notice, but I've been following you since the moment you kidnapped this boy." The man replied, "And you only intervened at this moment? You're a strange man." Marcus replied, "To be honest, I got a little lost in this place... Anyway, since I've caught you now, can you remove that mask?" The man replied, "Do you think I'm stupid to show my face to you so easily?" Marcus replied while scratching his head, "It doesn't matter. It's clear from your voice that you're Alexander." Alexander took a deep breath, then replied in an annoyed tone, "You're so smart, young man! Now let's finish this quickly."
Alexander took a whistle from his pocket and began blowing into it. Unlike the first whistle, this whistle produced a loud whistling sound that spread throughout the place. Marcus looked towards Ethan, who was being slowly crushed by the monster for a few seconds, then began walking towards him slowly. Alexander looked at him in surprise, then said to him, "Don't try! You won't be able to free him! This thing is ten times stronger than a normal human!" Marcus ignored Alexander's words, then continued, stopping in front of the monster. Marcus pulled his hand back, ready to throw a punch, then stepped forward with his right foot while keeping his left foot in place. Suddenly, his hand began to vibrate intensely, like the vibration of a thin string. And in one moment, Marcus delivered a powerful blow to the creature's body. The blow caused no external or internal damage to the monster, which made Alexander wonder why Marcus had done this, but he was surprised immediately upon seeing the monster slowly release Ethan and stand motionless in place as if it had lost consciousness.
Ethan fell to the ground, unable to move from the intense pain, while Marcus turned towards Alexander and calmly began approaching him. But before he could take a single step, creatures resembling the monster he had hit burst into the room. There were about 4 of them. Alexander directed the red laser towards Marcus, causing the monsters to head directly towards Marcus intending to kill him. But Marcus showed no reaction and merely stared at Alexander from behind his mask that hid his facial features.
Two monsters tried to attack Marcus simultaneously. Both of Marcus's hands vibrated, then he delivered a direct blow to the chests of the two monsters, causing them to fall heavily to the ground, and loud thudding sounds began to fill the room. While Marcus stood firm, ignoring Alexander's astonishment. One of the remaining monsters tried to attack Marcus from behind, but he quickly turned towards it and delivered a powerful blow to one of its heads to the point that the head that received the blow was completely crushed, causing the monster to scream hysterically in pain. Marcus's hand began to vibrate, then he delivered another direct blow to one of its heads, causing it to fall directly to the ground. As for the last monster, it fell to the ground for an unknown reason.
Marcus looked at Alexander calmly, then began approaching him. Alexander felt threatened, so he headed towards his table, picked up a sharp weapon, and attempted to defend himself. Marcus stopped directly in front of Alexander, who desperately tried to stab him with the sharp tool, but Marcus twisted his entire arm backwards, breaking it. Alexander began screaming hysterically from the pain, which attracted the attention of Lucas and Ethan, who were watching this scene in amazement, and at the same time felt happiness and relief that they were saved.
Marcus approached the suffering Alexander, then his hand began to vibrate, and he delivered a direct blow to his face, causing Alexander to stop screaming and moving for several seconds as if time had stopped for him. He returned to normal after a few seconds. Expressions of bewilderment and shock appeared on Alexander's face, then he said in a surprised tone, "Wait! What's happening? How did you suddenly appear in front of me?" Then he tried to point at him with his broken hand, and expressions of shock appeared on his face upon seeing his hand, then he said in a terrified tone, "What happened to my arm?! It was fine just now!".
Marcus's hand began to vibrate, and he delivered another blow to Alexander's face, causing Alexander to repeat the same actions as before (losing consciousness for a few seconds - surprise at Marcus's sudden appearance in front of him - shock at his broken hand). Then Marcus repeated this about 5 times while Lucas watched everything happening with a mixed expression of shock and confusion, thinking: "What is this person doing? He's making that madman repeat the same movements, words, and expressions over and over again.... Well, I shouldn't tire myself thinking. Whatever this stranger is doing, it's working!".
After Alexander received the sixth blow, he fell to the ground forcefully, unconscious. Marcus looked at him, then looked towards Lucas and said in a cold tone, "No need to worry. It's all over." A big smile appeared on Lucas's face as feelings of joy and happiness overwhelmed his heart, as if this was the best thing he had ever heard in his life.
**(End of Chapter)**