3 II. The Man in Black

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***

Irina opened her eyes. Her vision was trying to adjust to the blurry scene but it was clear she's in a hospital. Her head started to ache as she tried to remember what just happened. She didn't seem to have any serious injury but her muscles were in pain.

How did she get here? Right, she was supposed to take the train but due to some incident, the train was not available. Matthew, a former employee of her father, told her that buses were provided as alternative to still accommodate the travelers. He was one of the drivers but she ended up taking a different bus since she didn't want any special treatment and had to fall in line to ride.

She recalled riding the bus and falling asleep shortly. She wasn't sure how long she was out then she woke up to the screaming of the passengers.

Bam! Bang! Bam! Bang!

Gunshots! Continuous gun shots and not just some gun. Those sounded like rifles.

What the hell, she thought nervously. Did you ever become so nervous that you forgot how to breathe automatically? She almost fell down her seat when the driver took a sharp turn. She saw everyone crouching, covering their head.

What in the world is happening? She tried crawling to the nearest person to ask what's going on. Everytime she heard a gunshot, it felt like it barely missed her. She could swear she felt the wind of the bullets get past her head, then somewhere, someone would mumble in pain. She saw a figure of a man just another seat ahead.

There was blood and glass fragments on the floor. She saw the lifeless body of the man lying under his seat, bloody face, eyes still open, looking at her. She was nauseated with the sight and controlled the urge to throw up. The driver shouted at her, "Hey! Get down! That is if you want to live! That damn bus was hijacked by some fucking rebels! The bus wasn't supposed to stop to pick up other passengers. That bastard driver must be with those scums!"

The gunshots and the screams continued. She mustered her strength to look out the window to see who was firing at them. Whoever was doing it seemed to be crazy for doing this in broad daylight. It was too late for Irina to realize it was a mistake to sneak even just a peek.

One. Two. Three. She felt the bullets almost brushing her cheek. She hid back under her seat, suppressing a scream. She had tears falling down her cheek. She was almost shot and for what? She didn't even get a clear look. All she saw was another bus chasing them.

A few seconds after, police sirens filled the air. She finally let out a sigh of relief for thinking they would be safe but just as luck would have it, their bus swerved. The screams were deafening. The last thing she saw was their bus crashing on the rails, before falling down the cliff.

Did that really just happen? A bus with people shooting at them and their bus, falling down a cliff. Was the nightmare about her father stabbing her actually a premonition of those dangers happening in real life? Her head started to ache even more. She looked outside. It was dark and quiet. She checked for her things but found nothing, not even her phone.

She tried to call for a nurse. Some minutes had passed but no one came. Well by some miracle, she wasn't really hurt so she stood up slowly, checking if she would feel any pain. Nothing. She groped her body for any broken bones. Nothing. She really was fine, save for a small scratch on her forehead. And some muscle pain which was probably due to exhaustion and lack of sleep.

Irina took off the needle. She once again noticed the outside of the window. It was unusually dark. She leaned closer but no matter how she tried to look, it was completely dark outside, as if nothing lied beyond the window. If that wasn't strange enough, it was also eeriely quite.

"Am I dreaming? Maybe I'm high with some medications", she didn't even realize she said that out loud.

"No, you're not. You are wide awake."

She almost jumped for getting surprised. She looked at the direction of the voice and saw a familiar man. It was Matthew, her father's former employee, according to him. He had quite a few patches on his face and a broken arm.

"Oops! Didn't mean to startle you. How are you feeling?", he asked.

"I- I'm fine. I think.", she answered nervously. Seeing a familiar face should have calmed her but she couldn't shake the feeling that something's off.

"It was a miracle that you and I aren't really hurt. The others aren't so lucky. Some lost a limb or two. The rest lost their lives. I feel kind of bad for what happened to my passengers.", he said.

Irina thought of something. She noticed that he was staring at her, probably waiting for a reply.

"R-right. We're lucky. You and I.", she said stuttering. Matthew slowly walked towards her, and her body instinctively retreated. She was scared but she's not just going to back down. She palmed the needle of the dextrose she just took off and tried to stall.

"You weren't in our bus, were you Matthew?", it was too late. Her curiosity got the best of her. Whatever Matthew's up to, her question was sarcastically provoking.

"No, I wasn't."

"Then what do you mean by you feel bad for the passengers on our bus?"

"Oh, no. I didn't say anything about the passengers on YOUR bus. I meant MY passengers."

As if on cue, footsteps trampled the hallway and in a few seconds, three armed men stormed the room.

Matthew was the driver of the hijacked bus and he was working with the rebels! Irina realized that thought wouldn't really help her now. Just what did these men need from her to target her specifically, or so it seemed. Could it be about money? Kidnap for ransom? She would be relieved if it was a kidnapping but they were all radiating a violent killing intent. Her knees trembled and she loosened her grip to the needle.

Is this where I die, she thought.

"What are you idiots still doing with the guns? You will spoil the meat."

Irina didn't understand what Matthew meant but as soon as he finished talking, his whole demeanor darkened. Literally. It was as if he was being covered by the blackest ink, except it looked like a smoke and shadow instead of liquid. The other men started to change appearance as well.

"Oh, God! If this is another nightmare, I don't want to die in sleep.", Irina desperately whispered as she closed her eyes for a desperate prayer.

*Waapissh*

"Eeeaakhh!", Irina screamed in pain. Her left leg was hit by something like a whip. It hurt like hell and her leg's bleeding. Now, she couldn't even stand.

"I already told you, you're wide awake. But you're right about me. I am a Nightmare!" Matthews voice sounded as demonic as he looked. If snakes could talk, this was how they would sound.

"My order was to keep you alive, but you won't die missing a leg or two."

Irina was in despair. She was trying to crawl away when her back hit the wall. Matthew kept advancing with the other three shadowy figures as he flung the hospital bed as if it was a food tray.

He, or rather, it raised its arms to hit her again, only this time she could feel more violence from it. She closed her eyes tight then a slashing sound. Not a whipping sound like earlier?

"Aaaaaaaaaakh!", it was Matthew's voice. She opened her eyes and noticed a shadowy arm beside her, slowly disintegrating. Irina looked up and before her was a man in black. No, it wasn't just any man. It was the man at the store! Before she could say anything, the man quickly move. He was moving so fast he didn't seem like a normal human at all. He was too fast for her eyes to follow. The next thing she knew, the three shadows with Matthew were now, dead? They just suddenly disintegrated after whatever that guy in black did to them. "Aaaakh! Die! Die! Die!!!", she could see the now shadowy Matthew desperately whipping the guy in black, but he was so nimble and effortlessly dodging its advances. Then in one quick motion, the man slightly bent and the next thing she knew, he was already behind Matthew.

"You son of a wit-", just like the other three, Matthew disintegrated into thin air.

The man now focused his attention to her. He walked slowly towards her. She could see him holding what seemed to be a sword, chained to his arms. Is he going to kill her too, she wondered.

"Stop! Don't come near me!", she exclaimed. "Don't take another step, murderer!"

The man stopped. He stared at her, not showing any sign of amusement.

"Murderer?", he whispered, but enough for Irina to hear it.

"Yes! You just murdered those-," Irina wasn't sure but she continued, "those people."

"Right. Whatever." The man said and started to walk again.

"I said don't come near me! Haven't you had your fill of murders tonight? You're a psychopath!", she's on edge for everything that happened today.

The man noticed Irina was shaking in fear, and staring dead at his sword. To her surprise, the sword just vanished! The man pulled something out of his pocket, then he crouched in front of her.

This is it, this is how I die. Alone in a hospital I don't even know where, she thought. She caught a glimpsed of the thing that he pulled from his pocket. A cloth.

Great, this really is a kidnapping, she thought.

She was surprised when the man lift her leg and wrapped the cloth on her wound. She examined the man, but more than that, she examined herself. I'm not nervous or scared anymore, she realized.

"You're not one of those 'things', are you?" she asked.

"Come again?"

"Those people, they became.. I don't know, shadow monsters. You're human, right? You're not going to kill me or kidnap me, right? For a second I thought that's chloroform but-"

The man let out an amused chuckle. "Heh. You're more interesting than I thought, Irina Kaspian."

"You didn't answer me. And who are you?"

"It doesn't matter. You will not remember me when you wake up. Or any of this."

"What are you talking-"

"Somnolentus", he poked her forehead gently and she instantly fell asleep.

"This isn't chloroform, that thing is cheap."