The Liberal Assassin

The passage of time passed rather quickly and like all things living, I woke up once more. Still in a disoriented state, I noticed there were people near me who were actually touching me. The room was also different from the one before as the walls were ominously white.

Feebly struggling against the warm hands in contrast to my cold body, hands tightened the straps that I noticed a little too late. As the sleepy haze cleared a little, I took in how the chair I was strapped into didn't have the right contours for a comfortable sitting posture. What was this torture going to be like? Making my bottom hurt from sitting on the hardest chair in Luna?

"Oh, it's so nice to see you're finally awake. Final preparations are being made as we speak. You don't have to worry about a thing. In case you're wondering why you're here, it's because we're going to question you."

I frowned at the politician.

"It is ready now, sir." A man in a white gown and surgical mask bowed to Arvin.

"You may proceed," he told the doctor who snapped on white gloves.

A syringe was readied and Arvin smiled at me while Rion was watching the whole thing from the sidelines.

Was this going to be a nerve drug to increase the pain that Rion will be inflicting on me for torture?

I scoffed. "If you think that intensifying the pain will give you the answers you seek, you're wrong."

Arvin raised a brow and I felt my gut sink.

"Who said anything about torture? You haven't done anything to deserve torture yet."

"Then what is that syringe for?"

Arvin glanced over at the doctor who held the syringe close to my strapped arm, looking for a vein.

"Oh, that? It's something you should be familiar with. After all, you used it on poor Berriwott."

Berriwott? That name sounded familiar. It wasn't until the slight sting of a needle being inserted into skin made me recall who he was.

Screams tore through my throat while I tried to buck the syringe from my arm. It was too late, eyes widened at the last of the solution being injected into my bloodstream. It's over too quickly and I hadn't even put up much of a fight.

Fear gripped me by the neck as Rion step forward. Arvin chuckled at my expression and called out to his partner in crime.

"Remember, only questioning. No physical harming," he grinned and added with an afterthought, "yet." The door closed behind the politician as he left with the doctor in tow leaving only Rion in the room. My mind raced like my heartbeat. How do I get out of this now?

The effects were almost instant as I begin to feel myself drift off into a dreamlike state. Nothing in the room seemed real anymore. There was no pain, no threat and absolutely no misery. I was in a happy headspace, safe and warm.

In front of me sat the man whose lover I killed. He was smiling at me for reasons I know not of. I smiled back too and he chuckled.

"Are you feeling very happy now, Titus?" he asked.

"Yes!" I giggled. The sound was almost unfamiliar to my ears.

One part of me was screaming to move away but I ignored it in favour of the comfortable feeling. There wasn't a single thing that could ruin the happiness and warmth I felt. I don't ever remember feeling so light but I enjoyed the dreamlike floating sensations.

"Now Titus, I want you to listen very carefully to me. You will answer all my questions truthfully from now on. Otherwise, there will be consequences to pay."

"Con…sequences?"

The word felt foreign to the tip of my tongue. What was the man talking about? Come to think about it, who was he?

"Yes, Titus. Consequences. You'll remember all the people who have died because of you."

The keyword was triggered and like a movie, I saw the faces of the deceased. Their pleasant faces smeared with blood, lively eyes now hollow as they called out to me longingly.

"Join us," Mia's voice tempted me but the images of her dead body played back over and over again.

"Come to me, son."

"Why?" Raoul screamed as I watch the life fade from his eyes again.

"You did this…" Melvick pointed a fingerless hand at me, reminding me of my horrible deeds.

"Night Walker!" Berriwott screeched, looking no less gruesome than the others.

The happy headspace disappeared as I fell into an endless pit of agony. No matter how I cried, begged for forgiveness and prayed for death, it never came. It was an endless cycle of opening my wounds and reminding me of my sins.

I was ugly, evil and deserved death more than anyone else. Pyros knows why I was still breathing.

The snapping of fingers worked like a charm and instantly all the voices disappeared as if they were a mere passing nightmare. My eyes came to focus and the gravity of the situation was once more dumped onto my shoulders. The pain returned in full force and Rion looked smug.

"Shall we begin?"