.₊꒰ 🪓 ꒱:⩩┆( 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙬𝙣 )⊹.*

𝑇𝑊𝐸𝐿𝑉𝐸. ☠︎︎    𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙣𝙤𝙬

⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━━━━━━━ "𝑯𝑬𝒀, 𝒀𝑶𝑼❜𝑹𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑶𝑶 𝑮𝑶𝑶𝑫, 𝑳𝑶..." 𝑴𝑰𝑲𝑬 𝑶𝑩𝑺𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳. While the colour in her face was still settled, a light pink filling her cheeks, her face was drained. Every muscle in her face felt hurt by any sort of movement. It hurt to live. And she wouldn't admit that she wasn't doing well, despite how obvious it was to the eyes of Mike. Marlowe's body was pressed against one of the decaying walls of the tunnel, taking a few breaths. The air was so thick and cold that a string of vapor rose from her hot breath. "We can still turn back-"

"I'm... fine" Marlowe hesitated, pushing off of the wall, "we're already halfway to The Sanatorium. No use in turning back now."

Strangely enough, the area where her hand used to be attached felt numb, a slight static feeling. She had read about it before, finding the phenomenon fascinating. Phantom limb syndrome. She never thought she'd be one to experience such a thing.

"If you bleed out here-" Mike's jaw tightened, "I would never forgive myself."

Marlowe rested her hand on his bicep, feeling the engraved muscles through the thick jacket, "I'm not going to bleed out. You did a pretty good job..." She held her stump up, carefully waving it around as though it were a prized object.

"Marlowe..."

"Mike. I said I'm fine," Marlowe retracted her hand, walking ahead of him with her hand dangerously close to the machete attached at her belt.

He nodded, and whispered, "okay," before continuing on, his pace matching the girl. The shotgun that he had pick up from when Marlowe told him to shoot was stiff in his grip.

There was a moment of silence between them as they closed the distance between them and The Sanatorium through the horrid tunnel.

"What happened out there, Lo?"

Marlowe tucked her stub in the warmth of her right side armpit, positioning it between her bare skin and the fabric of her faux leather jacket. "We... we got there and Josh was already gone-"

"We only left him for a minute," Mike interrupted.

"That's the worst bit... I feel horrible for what we did in that shed, Mike," Marlowe whispered, "he didn't kill Jess. That thing did. You saw it. And we saw Jess. No human could have done that."

Mike stayed silent in agreement. "I thought..." he hesitated, "I thought you were a goddamn goner too, Lo. When that thing-"

"I thought I was, too. It sliced through that man like he was paper. And Chris? ... I've never seen somebody die before tonight," Marlowe chewed as the peeling skin around the outer area of her thumb nail, "that man saved me, you know... he pushed me out of the way and took the hit... and Chris would still be alive if strawberry shortcake opened that fucking door."

Marlowe shuffled her arms around, trying to wipe away the tears with her hands. When she successfully wiped away the tears from her right cheek, she felt the rough surface of the bloodied bandages on her left. She laughed. It was a painful laugh.

"Oh, my God, I don't even have a hand to wipe my fucking tears," She continued to laugh, covering the fact that she was not coping. But maybe her laughter only made her look like she was losing it.

"Hey, I got you," Mike stopped in his tracks, tucking the shotgun under his arm after putting the safety on. He grabbed the zipper on each side of her opened jacket and pulled her closer to him. His dirty fingers wiped away the tears she couldn't reach. "I got you."

It was spontaneous, but Marlowe tucked her arms around the torso of his body, underneath his green jacket while rubbing against his tank top clad back with her good hand. She needed to feel his warmth for just a second. As a reminder that she was not dead. Not yet.

Pulling back from him, she was greeted with his closed eyes and chapped lips, but she turned her head away to let the kiss land against her scratched cheek. "I think we need to work out all of our... issues... before anything else, Mike."

He stepped back, suddenly embarrassed. "Right. Right. Well, since we are both clearly coping like normal people..." he outstretched his hand to the darkness of the tunnel, "shall we?"

"Arrr, me hearty!" Marlowe, though drained, raised her stump in the air and closed one of her eyes.

Mike was... well dumbstruck, to say the least. His mouth slightly agape, confusion throughout each and every one of his features, especially his eyes.

"What?" The girl asked, "this is me trying to cope..."

"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Mike took the shotgun from underneath his arm pit, switching the safety off.

They were welcomed back into the cool and disturbing atmosphere of The Sanatorium. Marlowe could smell the odd odor that was filling the freezing air. "I forgot how awful it is here."

Pieces of rubble and chipped cement from the floor crumbled beneath their feet as they continued through the tunnel. A sudden gust blew through one of the cracked windows in the sun roof above them in the open room, causing both of them to shiver. The Sanatorium was far darker than the tunnel had been. "You want the light?" Mike asked, pulling the flashlight from his back pocket and into his open palm.

Marlowe shrugged, "sure."

Taking it, she smacked it against her palm for a few seconds whilst pacing around the open room until it finally flickered on. Her foot caught on some rubble, a thin layer of dust covering a totem.

"It's like these things are following us," Marlowe tucked the flashlight underneath her chin in order to examine the totem, observing the butterfly shaped hole carved into the wood. This one seemed slightly different from the others she had come across. Different in style and colour. As though it had a different meaning.

𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺

𝗐𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗆𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗈𝖽𝗀𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝖺 𝖿𝖾𝗐 𝗌𝖼𝗋𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗌, 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾 𝖽𝗂𝖽 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖼𝗁𝖾𝖼𝗄 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗌𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗌𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗁𝖾𝗋. 𝗋𝗎𝗇𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗍𝖼𝗁, 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗅𝗈𝗐𝖾 𝖿𝗅𝗂𝖼𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗍 — 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗇𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗍𝖼𝗁 𝖿𝖺𝗂𝗅𝖾𝖽. "𝗆𝗂𝗄𝖾! 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝖾𝗋!"

"Well?" Mike asked, watching the girl drop the wooden sculpture to the ground.

Marlowe shrugged, "nothing special."

They were back in the foyer where the pair had once been the first time they arrived. The closer it got to dawn, the worse The Sanatorium presented itself. Everything seemed to be far more distorted now than it had been a few hours ago. Marlowe shone the light on every object.

"I wonder where the wolves went," Mike motioned for her to use the light to help him look at something.

The girl began thinking for the worst, "I hope that thing didn't get to them. The one we fed was quite nice," she smiled sadly, "even though he chased the shit out of us."

"Yeah... hopefully..." Mike suffered without the light while the girl wandered around. "See anything?"

"There's a locked door here but... I think I can see a way down from above. We just gotta get up there." Marlowe directed the light to the staircase, "Over there!"

Mike followed after the curly haired girl, chasing her up the stairs. For someone who was practically drained of life, she was still fairly agile. There was a small grunt, followed by a whine when she hit the ground, falling to her knees. Her balance wasn't the best while missing a hand. He caught up as she dropped through the hole that was in the floor, landing into the room that had been locked behind the door. "Lo! Don't run off! Be careful, goddamn it!" Mike hissed, following her exact movements.

"You're gonna be glad you followed me here..." Marlowe nudged the man, moving to the side to allow Mike to get a chance to see what she was seeing. An unlit torch, a double barrel shotgun and its corresponding bullets, and a stash of medical supplies.

"You don't even know if these are in date..." Mike shuffled through the medicine and bandages stuffed into a bag.

Marlowe rolled her eyes, stepping forward and taking a box in her hands to examine the date, "that's why we have eyes. They're in date." She pulled out the fresh gauze and a clean cloth.

"Sit." Mike instructed, pulling over the stool in the corner of the room so the girl could sit down while he treated her. "This will hurt, okay? Let me know when it's too much."

"Will do." Marlowe nodded, taking a deep breath in whilst he began unwrapping the bloodied bandages around the stump. It stung. It was awful, really. The harsh material of the bandage rubbing against her exposed flesh. But, that was possibly the easiest bit.

He took the sterile cloth in his hands, "you may want to bite down on something."

Her eyes widened, but she bite on the collar of her jacket and braced herself. The dry material was pressed against the raw area, over and over again. She whimpered in pain, closing her eyes as she tried to focus on something else. But Mike worked quick, drying the area before applying bandages around the area. She was as good new. Well, good enough until actual trained professionals would be able to aid her.

"You think that old man had a plastic bag or something lying around?"

"No offense," Marlowe started, "but I don't exactly think he was doing his grocery shopping out here..."

"Ha, very funny," Mike turned from her, tearing through the deceased mans belongings until he came across some sort of plastic he could tie around the stump.

The girl watched in awe and he tied the protective layer around the area. "Were you class president or a medical student? How do you know to do all this?"

"Movies. Shows..." Mike shrugged and threw the dirtied bandages that were previously on her arm into the far corner of the room. He began rifling through the pills, popping out ones that he thought would be the right amount of dosage after reading the labels, "you're going to have to dry swallow these."

Marlowe dreaded pills. And these pills... were huge. "Okay."

One pill. Two pill. And she downed another two on top of that. They wouldn't settle for a little while, but at least she knew they would start up at some point in the future.

Mike lit the wooden stick with cloth wrapped around it, allowing the room to be lit golden. It was a far better light source than the flashlight, but Marlowe still kept the portable light in her pocket in case of an emergency. Grabbing a handful of ammunition, Mike watched Marlowe pick up the double barrel shotgun, the same model that Mike already had with him.

"What are you doing with that?"

"I think I could shoot it..." Marlowe lifted it up with her right hand, resting the barrel against her stump as she aimed at the wall.

"Yeah... no," Mike snatched it from the girl, leaving it on the table, "we're not doing that."

"Why not?"

"The recoil would probably shatter your face," Mike explained, filling his pockets with bullets, "you're already missing a hand. Wanna have half your face blown off too?"

Marlowe rolled her eyes, unlocking the wire door that was previously keeping them from entering the room. "Anyway... Where to now?"

He pointed towards another wire door, "there's a lock on it, but since we have this bad boy..." Mike admired the shotgun. He passed off the lit torch to Marlowe.

"Uh huh, just make out with the damn gun already," Marlowe shook her head, "and try not to make this one explode, yeah? Don't really want a repeat of last time." She angled the light so that Mike was able to see where he was shooting. Her ears ring while the blast echoed through The Sanatorium, alerting anything and everything of their presence. The lock dropped to the floor and Mike kicked the wired door back, allowing Marlowe to step forward.

"Ladies first."

"Why do I have to go first?" Marlowe paused.

"You have the goddamn torch. We need to see where we are going and I can't do that if you're behind me, stupid. And we both know you can't shoot the gun..."

Marlowe brought her finger to her mouth, signaling for Mike to shut his mouth as they ventured through the dark paths of The Sanatorium. It was a low animal growl. "You hear that?" Carefully, and anxiously, the grey wolf they had briefly gotten the chance to meet crawled out from behind a piece of fallen wall. Marlowe felt a weight lift off of her shoulders. And it seemed to remember them, so that was a bonus. "Hey, buddy... Missed us, huh?"

The animal pranced over to her before whining and rubbing against the amputated arm. It could probably sense that she was injured.

Mike crouched beside the girl and gave his fair share of love to the wolf. "Alright pal, you're coming with us." He stood back up and began explaining. the plan to the wolf to include him, "here's the plan. We've seen a map of this place, so we're not flying blind. There should be a way through the psychiatric wing that'll take us right outside the mine. Think we can handle that?"

Turning its head, and perking up a singular ear, the wolf growled softly.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

The wolf lead them through the twists and turns of the corridors in The Sanatorium. When the pair finally caught up, the wolf was whining at something through the wired barrier. Marlowe looked above and around, "It's here, Michael. I know it is. We need to be quiet and careful."

Mike hushed the wolf upon hearing the girls words before the animal ran off again, slipping through the small crack. "Wish I could move like you, Wolfie. Look's like we're stuck on this side." Mike joked and Marlowe subtly laughed.

"Wolfie is a cute name. I like it." Marlowe smiled genuinely, waving the torch around to see if there was any way through to the other side of the wire. Pulling down a lever connected to the iron bar door, Marlowe watched as the door in front only slightly slid open while the one behind slid shut.

She easily slid through the slim gap, making it to the other side while she waited for Mike, watching him struggle due to his build. Pushing it open further with his hands, Mike managed to slide through and Marlowe laughed.

"Maybe you should lay off the calories." She joked.

"Hey! They're muscles, okay?"

Marlowe's eyes rolled while she walked along side the grey wolf. Mike watched the pair with a grin on his face.

But, the pair suddenly paused. The wolf beside her began acting frantically.

"Lo? What is it?" Mike had the shotgun ready.

The smell hit him immediately. Of raw flesh and bone. The sight alone nearly made him puke. Strung up on the wire, a black wolf gutted from the neck to the tail. None of the wolf was eaten. Its organs hung from its bones and its blood coated the ground beneath their feet.

"That thing. This..." Marlowe brought the torch closer the the gutted animal, "this is recent. It's here with us, Michael."

"What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into..."

⸝⸝ ʚ 🪓 ! ⌗ °• ━━━ '' - «🕸»‧₊˚𓍯 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚
╰┈➤ i had to stretch this chapter so much because in the original, literally half of the chapter was some cringe bullshit and the main character punching tf out of ashley and emily almost getting shot LMAO. both things don't happen in this book 😭 but guys, 2 chapters left. it's gonna feel like i'm writing 3 bc the final chapter in the original was literally almost 4000 words long i think 😭 pray for me

if there are any mistakes in this, i'll fix them tomorrow.

also go check out the new graphics in the graphic gallery 🫶🏻 it's worth it i promise !!