A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Fade in. Fade out. Darkness. And, more darkness. Close ... Open ... Shut ... His energy was depleted to a point where he couldn't make sense of much at the moment. The young teen's head hung forward, and his eyes blinked open before they closed again. If it wasn't so dark in the room, he imagined that the world would be spinning before his eyes.

His free hand rested on his uninjured left leg while his right side still burned with agony, but his sense of that was dulling. Maybe, he finally was dying. Perhaps, that was why his right wrist felt free from the rope around it. Soon enough, his ankles were free as well. He probably was hallucinating.

With no more ropes holding him up, however, his body slouched forward since it lacked the stamina to remain upright. The chair no longer supported him, and he fell off. Before he could hit the floor, though, two arms caught him. Almost, it felt like nails glided across him, but he couldn't be sure. He couldn't see anything in pit, and he didn't have the ability to lift his head high enough to look out of it. Amidst all of that, his stomach had the nerve to grumble loudly and remind him that he was starving too. Oliver swore, though, that he could hear a quiet giggle.

Whether it was Terry or not, he didn't know. He doubted that Terry had escaped the creature again in the cave system, but he supposed that it was possible. At this point, she really was the only one who probably could pull that off. Besides, why would the creature remove him from the chair? Then again, how would Terry have been able to find her way back to the room? Could she really get that lucky twice? Oliver didn't think that it would be possible for anyone to memorize their way around the cave system unless they had been in it for awhile or could see in the dark. Both of those qualifications fit the creature perfectly, but he already knew that the creature had the place memorized.

When he was placed on the floor, however, he used his left hand to push him up just enough to roll onto his back. His legs and arms spread out, and a pained moan parted from him as his body ached to move even that much. "Don't you look like you're ready to be served on a dinner platter," an all too familiar voice joked. Oliver closed his eyes, not wanting to believe it.

"Te-Te ..."

"She ran into some slight complications," the creature answered, grinning. Oliver didn't answer. Instead, he shut his eyelids more and squeezed them together almost in an attempt to block everything out. Unfortunately, that gave him little solace. "But figuring that I gave all of them a chance to fight, I decided to give you a chance too." Steadily, he opened his eyes again.

"I'll even give you a little help given your condition." Footsteps hit his ears, and something metal hit the floor. "A souvenir from the town." The soft footfalls sounded again, which meant that the creature must be walking away from him. "One of the cooks from one of the restaurants tossed a broken butcher's knife into the garbage." A giggle resonated in the pit. "It doesn't have a handle, but you should be fine if you hold the top of the blade."

"W-W ..."

"Why?" The creature shrugged. "Again, I thought that I'd give you a chance too before I head out." Another giggle echoed around the room. "You've been such a good sport with entertaining me and making our torture session together all the more fun." Spinning on its heel, the creature grinned. "So, here's your prize!" It threw its arms out in a grand motion. "You get to try and kill me with a knife, or you could try and use something else, but you don't have too many other options."

"C-C-Catch ..."

"There is none. Either you kill me or don't. You'll be stuck in here until someone finds you regardless, but you get revenge in the one option. You could even use me as your food source for awhile if you succeed." A disgusted scowl ran across Oliver's lips, and the creature giggled in response. "I can't be that bad." Another giggle parted from it, which hid another noise in the room. "At least, I hope not ..." It began to mumble something, and Oliver thought that he heard the thing referencing (f/n) at one point.

"But, it's your choice." The creature moved about the room again before it stopped abruptly. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Once more, it spun on its heel. "I won't kill you even if you fail." Oliver's tired eyes widened some at that. "I find this more suiting for you." Before Oliver could utter out a word, the creature added, "But, I'm only giving you a little bit more time. So, decide before I leave."

There really was nothing for him to lose. He was going to be left to die in the pit regardless, and if he could take the creature down, especially after it killed off the rest of the group, he would give it a go. Summoning up what little energy he had, he used his left hand to push him up into a sitting position. Almost, he fell back down, but his hand supported him up for the moment. His left fingers searched the ground carefully for the blade before he located it. Once he did, he lifted it up and struggled to stand to his feet. Oliver's legs wobbled terribly, and the gash in his right leg sent a horrendous burning sensation up his body. That agony nearly sent him back to the floor. He took in a sharp breath and tried not to regret it as it felt like tiny pieces of glass just got stuck in his throat. Steadily, though, he began to walk towards where he thought the creature was in the pit.

A loud whistle hit his ears, and his head turned as the world felt unstable. Dizziness dominated his mind, and a fog seemed to wash over his eyes in even the darkness. In order to keep himself from falling, he focused on how many steps he was taking. One. Two. Three.

During the whole ordeal, the creature observed with an amused but impressed grin. Even though it didn't care for the kid one bit, what he was pulling off right now was something atypical. Most of its tortured victims wouldn't even be able to stand back on their feet without help after one of its sessions. Haley hadn't even managed that. Rather, she had crawled to her death before it had tossed her into the snow like the trash that she had been.

As Oliver neared the creature, it didn't move from its position. Rather, it stood ready for the blade, which the young teen was holding onto loosely. It swung sloppily through the air with each of the kid's steps, and the creature figured that the kid actually would look pretty terrifying to another human.

Soon enough, Oliver was only about a foot away. His right fingerless hand reached out and hit the creature's left shoulder. A giggle parted from its lips, but Oliver didn't waste any time. The blade swung through the air. Crimson flew and painted both of them as gurgles echoed hauntingly in the room. Surprised, Oliver couldn't believe that he actually landed a blow, but it sounded like he had struck the creature in the neck. Would that be enough to kill the thing?

Shock at his success kept him on his feet a bit longer as a body dropped to the floor. More choking noises greeted his ears. Carefully, Oliver fell to his knees and reached out his left hand. He dropped the blade but kept it close. His stunned mind didn't even catch the very quiet footfalls in the background. The young teen ran his left hand over the body, but his brows furrowed in the process. Why did the creature's hoodie feel different; it was ... longer? Did the creature change clothes? That was a reasonable possibility. It did have a duffel bag after all.

Running his hand up more, Oliver felt for the creature's nails, but he couldn't find them. He moved his hand again and towards its face. Its hair didn't seem right, and its face didn't either. What was going on?! Panic began to creep into his veins. Just who was lying in front of him?

Throughout the room, the sound of something being struck hit his ears. Right after that, light began to flicker in the room as wood cracked and permitted flames to consume it. Oliver didn't have to look up to understand that the creature was alive and above the pit. All he had to do was stare at the body in front of him. Crimson coated her throat and dripped onto the stone floor. It stained her lavender-colored coat and light purple curls. Her purple optics were wide with pain and fear, and her lips were parted both by the cloth gag and a silent scream. His own lips parted, and he couldn't look away. He ... He ... He ... With an unknown amount of strength washing over him from his realization, he spun his head around and stared up to the creature, who was grinning down at him.

"I didn't want to kill her myself. She was worse than the other two, and she even was going to torture you more so that she could get me. Honestly, she was so disgusting that I didn't want to add her to my record of kills." A giggle left it, and it grinned more. "It would've been an insult." Hatred stared right back at the creature, who didn't mind it one bit. "You're not the first to give me that look, and I doubt that you'll be the last." Picking up its duffel bag, it slung it over its right shoulder and lifted its hood over its head before it placed its sunglasses over its eyes. "Anyway, have fun down there. I just gave you a meal for awhile." The creature's back turned towards Oliver as it began to leave the room. "Just don't let her rot too much before you take a bite. You might get sick that way, and I think that you've already allowed her to poison you enough." It waved to him before it disappeared completely.

Not looking back, the creature paid no attention to the shouts being directed his way. They soon died off anyway by pained coughs and beyond strained vocal cords. He wondered if the kid would be able to talk again if he made it out of the cave. Even if the kid did make it, the creature doubted that anyone would believe his account of everything, and the creature did destroy Terry's phone for good measure. And to be even extra careful, he killed no one with his signature five puncture wounds to the heart. Every act could've been caused by a human too, and Leon's body, soon Gretchen's would be too, just so happened to be missing from the picture. How utterly delightful. Now, he finally could retrieve his lover.