Chapter 6
The wind rustles as rushing footsteps run through the dry leaves at the heart of the forest. He was catching his breath as he thumped his foot on the ground. The forest was full of everlasting tall trees with no sight of safe ground. All he could see was an ever-lasting hallway for him to run and he could also hear the rustling wind that was chasing him. He already couldn't feel his feet running on the ground. He felt like he was running in the wind due to his pace and if anything hit him he was sure that he would stumble. It was a harsh wind, an icy wind that he did not want to be apart from.
Rugged and icy fog came out of his mouth as he took a breath.
'I'm going to make it," he says in a slow voice while catching his breath. Trying to convince himself that he is not going to die. Not today and not tomorrow, but not until he saw that thing out there, his knees were weakened by the horror that he had witnessed.
If only he had listened to his brother and he sensed he wouldn't be going alone doing an investigation, especially if it involved the WIC. His brother sensed that the company was doing something sinister and they should have a better plan before going to make a move. But he was so eager to find it for himself because it was like it was his calling to do it. And now he is paying the fine. He wished that his brother was now looking for him, but it was really impossible since he had an appointment.
'Shit!" he cursed, as he couldn't feel the bulge of a thing inside his pocket. It was his cellphone that he was looking for. Maybe he had dropped it around the place while he was running.
He wanted to punch himself because he was so careless that he had dropped an important thing that would maybe save his life.
His hands swayed as he ran and he could feel the dryness of his lips. Parched of running but he had no choice but run for his life.
He does not know, but it seems like he was put into a maze and just goes circling around and can't seem to find the way out. He was sure that there was an exit because he had put a trace of his exit but he couldn't see it now. They play on him until he gets tired.
He looked up and saw a full moon in the sky. It was dark and cloudy and full of tall trees.
‘Bro, maybe this is the last fight of my life. I am sorry if I have broken a rule that we made. I always break the rules and here I am now paying for it. If I die and if I don't do it, I am a failure. But if I make it and barely breathe, I promise to lead you the way. I will lead you to what I know and you will bring justice to those people who seek help. That was our goal.' He thought as he kept running in the woods and closed his eyes for a second, as he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He could already feel the hot liquid forming in the lid of his eyes.
It was like he had chosen the fate that was for him from what he was running at. If this was his fate, he would choose to embrace it.
The last steps of his feet on the ground and he could already feel the cold welcoming him.
It was a loud thug welcoming his face as he stumbled through a tree.
And then he was black out.
It was hot and he found it hard to open his eyes. He can't feel his body. He can't even move the fingertips of his toes or even his fingers. He can't feel his neck.
But one thing was for sure.
He was alive and breathing.
He put a lot of effort into opening his eyes and then there he had learned that his eyes were being stitched but not yet tightened. He can't feel any pain as he opens his eyes and from the force that he puts on.
He slowly looked around and saw a life-sized broken mirror in front of him. He was shocked and his breathing was ragged but he couldn't feel his lips. And then he learned as he looked at himself in the mirror that his lips were also stitched with thread.
His hair was shaved and he was naked. He was like a stretcher with a belt supporting his weight so as not to fall down.
He wanted to speak. He wanted to scream but he couldn't.
A tear escaped from his eye full of regret but beyond grateful that he was still alive. And maybe the gods had heard his plead that if ever he could survive and be alive, he would help his brother to find the lead to this sick company. The secrets behind this company.
The WIC company was elegant if you see it outside and as well as on the inside, but something was up that he could not describe what and how it turned out to be like this kind of stinky hell. All of the four corners of the room smelled of blood. A rusty smell that lingers in the hair in his nostrils makes him want to vomit.
A sticky saliva came out from his stitched mouth as he couldn't hold it up from his throat.
The room was dim and he couldn't see any person passing by. It seemed like he was all alone in those four corners of the wall. At his bedside there he saw things that he only sees in the movies when a doctor prepares for a procedure. But what caught his attention was the big needle of an injection that he believes was an anesthesia that was injected into his body, which explains that he didn't feel anything.