Grinding his teeth, Owen followed you for quite a while, never lowering his gun. His eyes were glued to your back, watching you and every single movement that you made.

Every time a single finger if yours twitched, he threatened to pull the trigger.

The staircase seemed to have no end, floor after floor and step after step.

Blood dripped from the corners of your mouth. Whenever you inhaled, a rattle sounded in your lungs.

Everything hurt. But at the same time it felt like you were beyond feeling anything.

When the lowest floor was no longer far away, you stopped. With difficulty your head tilted, your eyes scammed the area, listening for infected hiding in the shadows.

"Why do you stop?", Owen's voice was strained. "Go on!"

A deprecating smile appeared on your lips. You tried to fight the dryness with your tongue, but the skin was already starting to break. When you moved, such a strong tension formed that your lips cracked.

"Owen.", you tried to turn to him, but he hit you in the face.

A dull pain chased through your head, causing a headache and nausea to bring tears to your eyes. For a moment everything was spinning.

Surprised, you coughed.

Powerless, you fell to the ground. Blood poured from your mouth and covered your clothes.

Motionless and breathing heavily, you lay there. Every limb felt numb, stiff.

You didn't even want to fight back, everything in you wanted to close your eyes and surrender instead. And at the same time there was this small desire in the back of your head. There was something out there for you.

You could start a new chapter if you ever made it out of this structure. There was still a purpose worth surviving for.

Gasping, you managed to turn on your side to look at him with the last bit of amusement that had not yet fallen victim to the dwindling of life.

"Owen.", you whispered as your own blood pooled around your head. "You're more attached to Abby than you are to the child you forced on Mel. His foolish can you be? You're risking all of this for revenge in a person that has no business with you."

Angrily, he bared his teeth and kicked after you.

But at that moment, nothing mattered. Nothing felt real anymore, your body was like an empty shell, so completely devoid of feelings and pain.

Chained to consciousness by the adrenaline that tried to keep you alive, you couldn't help but laugh at him.

With flaming aggression in his eyes, Owen pointed the barrel of his gun at you.

"Do you think this is funny?!", he hissed and pressed the sole of his shoe into your bleeding side. "Do you think I won't do it?!"

Coughing and gasping under the pain, you rolled over. But the laughter did not stop.

"I find you pathetic.", you tried to sit up with trembling arms.

But he kicked your hands away and forced you to the edge of the stairs.

Blood ran in small rivers over the edges and dripped into the depths. The spores got caught in them and began to float on the surface.

Your eyes followed the flowing movements and watched as the green mixed with the red.

"You know nothing!", he hissed, his voice trembling with tension. "You are just a murderer. Your judgment has no value!"

"And you have no right to be angry with me. You are no better than me. And no better than Abby. But what makes you worse than both of us is that you think your actions are justified."

"They are! My motive and yours are in different!"

"Don't be a fool... Owen. Go be a man... take care of your child..."

"I will be the father you will weave. And I will tell my child that I was loyal to the ones I loved. I killed for Abby."

And again you had to laugh, but this time a raspy cough interrupted you. Your chest ached. It felt like sand was dancing in your lungs.

"You are here to avenge a woman who is not the mother of your child. You're an asshole, Owen. And you don't even see it. You could walk away and let it all go. Mel needs you and if she doesn't... the child will... but you're selfish..."

"You never let anything go. Not for years."

"Abby took my parents from me. She wanted to kill me too, for a cure she knew wouldn't work. She was willing to throw my life away without any benefit. Tell me Owen, what have I taken from you that your hatred equals mine?"

His lips twitched. Showing his teeth, he kicked you again. This time he made sure to aim for the rib area, grinning satisfied as a crack filled the silence.

Thrown back by the force of his attack, you slid a few inches over the edge. Gravity did its part and dragged your weak, almost lifeless body into the depths.

Helplessly you let it happen as you tumbled down the entire rest of the stairs. Hard concrete hit you, bones crunched and stains formed on your skin.

With narrowed eyes, your head hit all the edges. Pain filled your body, the feeling of blood covered you and breathing felt as much of a torture as bathing in flaming coals.

Gasping, you hit the ground.

With the last bit of strength you tried to get up but couldn't and hit the floor again.

Owens steps reached the back of your mind.

Slowly, he turned you on your back and stepped onto your chest with such force that the last bit of air was pressed out of your lungs. Halfway suffocating, your eyes locked with his.

"You took Abby from me.", he eyed you as if you were the most disgusting thing that this world had to offer. "Let's end the circle. If she can't live, you shouldn't either."

"If... you insist...", you smiled, now as tired as a human could possibly be. "But... you... act unreasonable..."