176 Dook-Dook #176

"It should be right around the corner..." I mused as I stopped before the corner leading to the warden's office hallway, taking a deep breath to prepare myself for whatever was waiting ahead.

I took out the last Sentry Spider in my inventory and sent it ahead to scout the area. Letting out a breath, I activated my personal computer power to view the footage from the machine and promptly froze.

It was a bloody sight, to say the least, with several inmates chopped up and splayed all over the walls, a man in a bloody tank top standing in the middle of the hallway, holding two pulsating hearts.

He seemed engrossed in his work, admiring it in a trance-like state, almost like a master artist appreciating his masterpiece and adding the final touches.

I felt the urge to vomit, but I held it in and suppressed my desire to turn around and leave, as I knew it wasn't an option. I wasn't scared of the man, but dealing with people like him rarely ended pleasantly.

I firmed my resolve and stepped into the hallway, and the squelching sound of my boots stepping into blood drew the man's attention as he turned to me and smiled.

"Are you here to answer his call...?" the man asked, tilting his head at me, to which I only gave him a blank stare. "Oh...? You're not..." he added, his smile turning strange as he turned to the two heats in his hands.

"You're here to stop the ritual, aren't you...?" the man asked, and I immediately frowned at his words, causing me to look around and notice several details I'd overlooked because I was too focused on the bloody bits and pieces littering the hallway.

There was an intricate pattern, several circles, and matching symbols that looked like scrabbles at first glance. 'What the...?' I mused as I activated my energy detector power, which I'd never used since I first got it, and felt that dark presence.

The feeling this time wasn't as dark or menacing as that presence, but it was close, with a cold energy emanating from the bloody mural the man had painted.

"It's too late...!" the man said, hideously grinning as he spread his arms to his sides as if preparing them to crash the two hearts into each other, and I instinctively knew I couldn't let him do that.

"Fuck...!" I exclaimed as I retrieved Ebony and raised it, aiming at the man's head as I released a fully charged energy projectile, fully intent on putting him down before he could finish whatever he was doing.

The energy projectile hit, immediately exploding the man's head and adding to the twisted mural he'd created. Unfortunately, I was a millisecond too late as the man, headless as he was, still managed to crush the two hearts unconsciously.

I grimaced as the scrabbles, blood, and body parts on the wall started shining as the man's body exploded in a bloody red flame that drew the gore toward it.

"Fuck! Shit!" I swore away as I retrieved my second gun and started firing as I watched the mangled flesh, bones, and blood joining together, forming a 10-foot-tall humanoid figure.

In the end, I could do nothing but watch as the gory remains of the man and his victims took the form of a tall green demon with protruding tusks and two short white horns.

The green demon looked at me, smiling as it slowly changed form, yet again, taking the shape of a slender, pale man with a stretched, hideously grinning big mouth and red eyes, wearing a black fur coat and a top hat.

I recognized the demon's new form as Mister Babadook, a horror movie villain from my past life who caused me endless trauma as a child. Even now, I barely resisted the urge to wince as I stared into his red irises and pale white pupils.

'Fear toxin again...?' I wondered as I examined my body and found no traces of the hallucination-inducing gas in my system. 'A fear demon... what an awesome fucking cliche...' I gritted my teeth, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

"Ba-ba-ba... dook! Dook! DOOOOOKH...!" The demon said, weirdly grinning as his face spun, and made a knocking gesture with his hand.

"Ba-ba-ba... dook! Dook! DOOOOOKH...! Let me in...!" he parroted, sneering as he repeated the same gesture precisely as I remembered it from my past life.

As I watched the demon perform a perfect impression of the horror movie villain from my past life, I could only feel anger instead of fear, as it was a clear sign he'd somehow pried it from my mind.

"I fucking hate mind fuckery...!" I said my expression hardening as I put away my guns and lunged at the demon.

...

Deborah sighed in relief as she watched a dozen or so police cars arrive, police officers stepping out of them and getting to work immediately, reinforcing the parameter around the asylum.

With the backup's arrival, she only needed someone to oversee the area and make sure the inmates wouldn't suddenly act up, but it suddenly turned to the least of her worries as she heard a loud crash.

She turned to the asylum's main buildings, and her eyes widened as she watched the central tower suddenly collapse as a giant humanoid shadow suddenly flew out of it.

The shadow stretched its body and floated in the air as it found balance, which didn't last long as Grayson flew right towards it from within the collapsed tower, his right hand glowing gold as he buried it in the monster's abdomen.

It cried in agony before stretching its body further and wrapping around Grayson, engulfing him in a dark embrace. Everyone gasped at the sight, only to sigh in relief as the shadow's body fell apart, with golden light leaking from within.

Soon, the shadow cried in agony, its body turning into black shredded-paper-like pieces, falling into the ground, almost like snowflakes, despite their off-putting color.

Now free, Grayson scoffed as he conjured two guns and fired. Every bullet he fired would hit one of the monster's pieces, incinerating it before it touched the ground.

However, he couldn't get them all, and the last one suddenly grew in size and took the shape of a humanoid shadow in a top hat.

Still, it was smaller in size, and Deborah was one of the few spectators who noticed the change as she watched Grayson charge the monster and tackle him to the ground with his shoulder like a meteor.

Grayson stood over the monster and raised his hand, causing three glowing metal threads to emerge from his gloves before he swung down, dissecting the humanoid shadow into pieces again.

Before Grayson could capitalize on his attack, the monster reformed, and its body transformed into countless sharp spikes that flew toward the former at an incredible speed.

Grayson didn't have time to dodge the surprise attack, and even though the sharp shadows couldn't injure him, they still pushed him back, giving the monster a chance to recover.

The monster's body stretched again and merged with the asylum's shadows, creating tens of veiled figures, all of whom took the shape of one monster or the other.

The creatures growled as they eyed Grayson before lunging at him, some sprinting, some flying, some crawling as they used all manner of attacks, ranging from sharp claws, all the way to spitting strange dark-colored liquids.

Grayson maintained his calm as he flew into the air, avoiding all the attacks as he floated above the creatures. He spread his arms and opened his palms, causing several canisters to appear between his fingers.

Pausing for a second, he threw the canisters to the ground, causing them to explode in a radiant glow, to which the monsters screamed in agony as they dissipated.

They turned into particles, which slowly joined together again, taking the shape of the humanoid shadow from before. However, it was noticeably smaller this time and clearly at the end of its rope.

Grayson scowled at the humanoid shadow before flying towards the monster and crushing it into the ground with his foot. He promptly resumed hacking at the dark monster with his energy wires.

The shadow desperately resisted for several minutes before it screamed one final time in agony and slowly changed to take the shape of a green demonic creature.

"You are powerful, mortal. But you are a fool if you think you could kill The Kamara..." the demonic creature said, grinning as it showcased its protruding tusks for all to see.

"The worst you could do is send Kamara back to hell... but Kamara will come back..." it added, shaking its head as it radiated an aura of smugness that everyone could feel all the way out of the asylum's yard.

"The Kamara will keep coming back until you die... and when you do... Kamara will go after everyone you ever loved or cared about..." the demon went on, its grin becoming more pronounced.

"But it doesn't have to be that way... be gone, and The Kamara shall forgive your insolence..." the green demonic creature concluded as it slowly got to its feet, taking Grayson's silence as agreement.

However, before The Kamara could pat itself on the back, its eyes widened as Grayson conjured an antique rifle and pointed it in the demon's face before pulling the trigger.

...

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