8 An Oath to God

"That girl…" Zack soon said, "... She said there was a room inside and to the right didn't she?"

Kristen looked at him surprised before she responded, "Yes! She did say that!"

"Than what are we doing standing here!?" Zack told her, "Grab your gun and let's get moving!"

Zack ran ahead of her before Kristen could react; she was able to recover quick as she quickly grabbed ahold of her gun and hoodie, before she went to follow his lead. She managed to get on her holster and hoodie as she caught up to him down the halls.

Eventually they managed to reach the room that had been filled with some sort of blue light, due to the water that has been within, only to find that it had been a dead end.

"Crap!" Zack said looking around, "What are we supposed to do now!? There ain't a door in here!"

"Shit!" Kristen cursed as she looked around the room, "There's got to be a way we can get to--"

Kristen stopped herself when she heard the sound of faint voices, one sounded familiar.

"He won't be able to get out of here otherwise if all three of us aren't together."

"Rachel!" She exclaimed, getting Zack's attention, "Where is it coming--"

Kristen was quick to come to the conclusion that the voices had been coming from the wall just up ahead as she noticed it had been partly damaged. She ran towards it, immediately knocking against it.

"Rachel! Faith!" Kristen yelled as she did this, "Are you two in there!? One of you answer me!"

"... Kristen?" She heard her say faintly, bringing a wave of relief to her.

"Thank God." She couldn't help but think.

Zack soon ran towards where she had been and gave a knock on the wall like she did before he shouted, "FOUR EYES! LITTLE MISS HORROR SHOW! YOU'RE BOTH IN THERE SOMEWHERE RIGHT!?"

"Ugh… Why did she have to bring him with her?" She heard another voice say.

"It's a kid?" Kristen said surprised before it had finally sunk in, "Jesus Christ it's a kid!"

"So what?" Zack said to her.

"What do you mean so what?!" She said to him angryily, "It's a fucking kid!"

"Yeah it's a fucking kid that wants to kill her!"

"Even so--"

They soon heard the boy by the name of Eddie say through the wall, "... Do you want him to kill you, or me?"

Kristen's eyes widened at this. This kid, she could only assume to be Eddie, was offering to kill her! That was crazy! She couldn't even consider that offer, now could she?

"My beloved Rachel…" She heard him say, "... For you… I'll give you a beautiful place to rest. All you have to do… Is say yes."

"No! She can't--!"

Though Kristen couldn't see what was going on, she could almost swear she knew what was going on through her head right now. The fact that Rachel was even considering his offer right now was what had really worried her. She knew that she had to say something right now, she had to at least say something.

She quickly went to bang on the wall.

"RACHEL!" She called out, "DON'T LISTEN TO WHATEVER HE'S OFFERING TO YOU! I TOLD YOU I'D RETURN THE FAVOR TO YOU DIDN'T I!? HOW CAN I DO THAT IF YOU WERE TO DIE HERE AND NOW!?"

"Don't worry, okay?" She heard Eddie speak up, "I promise I won't make her death hurt."

No, that's wrong.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT!!" Kristen shouted.

Rachel please… You can't do this. You can't die here! If you were to die--

Kristen was about to take another crack at it, but before she could, Zack stepped forward and banged on the wall again.

"YOUR CALL AT AESTHETIC IS PRETTY DAMN VAGUE!" Zack shouted, "YOU'RE SERIOUSLY GONNA KILL SOMEONE WITH THAT BORING LOOK! ARE YOU MORON!?"

"Zack?" Kristen had said surprised.

"Keep it down will you?" She heard Eddie say, "I'm talking to Rachel right no--"

"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!!" Zack shouted, cutting him off, "HEY! YOU CAN HEAR ME IN THERE CAN'T YOU!?"

"Do you mean me?" She heard Rachel say.

"WHO ELSE WOULD I BE REFERRING TO!?" He yelled, "DON'T THINK I'M GONNA LET YOU OR THE OTHER TWO GO OFF AND DIE! THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE GONNA WANT TO KILL YOU! BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE! THAT I'M GONNA BE THE ONE TO KILL YOU WHEN THE TIME COMES!!"

Though Kristen had been surprised by what Zack had been saying, she had no idea if he had been getting through to her not. Though little did she know that only those four simple words would change her mind completely without question or doubt.

"I swear to God."

On the other side of the wall, a ring seemed to go off in Rachel's head; for a moment an image passed her by, an image of a full blue moon high in the sky, and with a simple turn of a page as before her eyes, she saw her answer.

"You swear…" Rachel started to say, "... To God…?"

"Yeah, that's right." Zack soon told her, knowing that she had been talking to him, "So… Don't you dare, let anyone else kill you!"

Once more there was silence, as if Rachel had taken a moment to process what Zack had been saying. Now had been a good time to step in for her, is what she thought. "Rachel?" She started to say, "You should know that I don't approve of what your wishing for but… Whatever the case… You have to continue to live, even if only for a moment. Your safety is all that matters to me, and I want you to stay alive. You understand… Don't you sweetheart?"

Another ring seemed to have gone off in Rachel's head at Kristen's words; though the image in her head came too quick for her to see, as she couldn't help but ponder as to what it could be. Even though Kristen had been a stranger, she trusted her… More than anything else, yet she had no idea why.

"I… Understand." Rachel soon said, putting her forehead against the wall, bringing relief to the young woman.

"Thank you." Kristen said softly, doing the same as the child.

"Mister!" The child's voice soon said, "Try to hit this section of the wall as hard as you can!"

Zack cracked a smile as he readied his scythe while he got in a stance. "Step back Red Eyes!" He told her.

Kristen nodded her head and quickly got out of the way. With one hard swing the wall had shattered, creating an opening between them and Rachel, who had been standing back a few inches so as to not get hit by the debris. Once the dust had settled, Zack had been the first to step through the now open entryway as he still had a smile plastered on his bandaged face.

"Hey." He said as he had his scythe over his shoulder.

At the sight of Zack, she couldn't help but give a small smile, which Zack himself could almost swear he saw. The thought had soon been lost when Kristen stepped in.

"Rachel!" She cried out before she threw her arms around the young girl, "Thank goodness you're alright! I was so scared!"

Rachel couldn't help but lean onto her shoulder as she hugged her back, giving her a pat. "I'm sorry…" Rachel said to her softly.

"It's alright." Kristen said, gently pushing her out of the hug gently, "What matters is your alright."

"Where's the Four-Eyes?" Zack soon asked, "I could've sworn she went with you back here."

Rachel's eyes widened slightly, "That's right. Faith. She was--"

"Why, Rachel?"

The three of them were startled a bit when Eddie's voice echoed within the room, as they had just now realized that he had disappeared; Zack quickly went to look around, while Kristen stayed in the light with Rachel.

"Where did that little shit go?" He said as he had his scythe ready.

"There wouldn't be any problem with me killing you." Eddie said, his voice bouncing off of the walls.

"Moron!" Zack said, "There's a shitload of problems with that!"

"We couldn't just let you kill her!" Kristen yelled.

"You're such a savage." Eddie said, "You'd do such an ugly job."

"Shut your mouth!" Zack yelled.

"Eddie please!" Kristen pleaded with him, "Maybe we can come to an understanding! I don't want to have to hurt you or anything!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" Zack yelled to her angrily.

Eddie stayed silent for a few moments, before he spoke again, "Rachel… Do you really want to be killed by him? He'll make a mess of things. It's better if I do it."

"QUIT YOUR DAMN YAPPING!!" Zack shouted, "GET OUT HERE! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Zack, he's just a kid!" Kristen told him, "Don't threaten to kill him!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?" He yelled at her, "HE'S CRAZIER THAN YOU, YOU KNOW THAT!!"

"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT HE'S A KID LIKE HER!!" She shouted while pointing at Rachel.

"Rachel…" Eddie said, "... I'll be the one to kill you… I'll kill the other two if that's what you want… So… I'll wait for you, okay?"

Just like that, the lights turned on with a click, making the room light up after they heard what sounded to be a door. Their surroundings became more clear, and they soon noticed Faith on the ground, not too far from them.

"Four-Eyes!!" Zack exclaimed.

Rachel, Zack and Kristen ran towards her, before Kristen flipped her onto her back only now realizing that her glasses were missing.

"Faith!" Kristen said as she shook her a little.

"Shit, is she dead?" Zack asked.

"No." Rachel told him, "Eddie told me, he knocked her out."

"So she's unconscious?" Zack asked.

"Well, it's better than being killed." Kristen told him.

She soon let out a groan, and they saw as she opened her eyes. She sat up as she rubbed the back of her head, "Ow… My head…" She said as she sat up, "What happened…?"

"Eddie hit you with a shovel." Rachel replied bluntly.

"Who's Eddie?" Faith said as she squinted a little, "And where's my glasses?"

"He's the master of this floor." Kristen replied, helping Faith to stand up, "You sure you're okay?"

"Ye-yeah, other than the headache." Faith replied as she put her hand in front of her and leaned on Kristen's shoulder, "You're all here right?"

"Can't you see us?" Rachel asked, tilting her head a little.

"No." Faith replied, "I'm pretty much blind without my glasses. Does anyone see them? I think they fell off when I was hit."

"What are you fucking 85!?" Zack yelled.

Kristen couldn't help but glare before she said, "Enough with the cursing already!"

Zack growled mumbling something incoherent before he noticed a familiar cracked lens on the concrete floor. He picked them up before he shoved them onto Faith's face making her squeak a little as she backed up from the force. "Keep a better eye on your crap." Zack said to her in a pissed off tone of voice.

"What crawled up and died in your head?" Kristen asked.

"You wanna know why I'm pissed off right now!?" Zack yelled before he pointed over to Rachel and Faith, "It's because of these two knuckleheads!"

Kristen glanced over to Faith and Rachel; both of them as confused as she was. She soon turned back to him, "WHAT IN THE HELL DID THEY DO WRONG!?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DID THEY DO WRONG!?" Zack shouted, "YOU, I KNOW YOU HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE AT LEAST, BUT THESE TWO BRATS ARE WEAK AS HELL! IF ANYTHING THEY'RE GONNA END UP DEAD, EVEN IF I DON'T KILL THIS BITCH!"

Of course, Zack had been referring to Rachel at the last part; Faith however looked a bit offended. "Seriously man?" Faith said as she sniffled a little fixing up her glasses, "I know I can't fight, but that still hurts."

"WELL GET OVER IT, CAUSE IT'S THE TRUTH FOUR EYES!!" Zack couldn't help but yell in her face, which Faith couldn't help but feel startled by. Kristen immediately pulled him away, though she was being rough as he cringed.

"HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF PERSONAL SPACE YOU DAMN MUMMY!?" Kristen yelled.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING MUMMY YOU FAT ASS C--!!" Zack shouted back.

Kristen hit Zack on the head again, cutting him off mid sentence.

"FIRST OF ALL, STOP THE CURSING!" She exclaimed, "AND SECOND, HOW DARE YOU CALL ME FAT AGAIN YOU GHOUL LOOKING BADDIE!"

"OH YOU'RE JUST ASKING FOR ME TO KILL YOU NOW YOU RED EYE BITCH!!" He shouted.

"YOU'RE ASKING FOR A DEATH WISH YOURSELF IF YOU KEEP CALLING ME FAT!"

"TITS ON CHRIST, TO THINK I ACTUALLY FELT SORRY FOR YOUR FAT ASS!"

"THAT'S MY LINE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I ACTUALLY TOLD YOU MY NAME!"

"WHEN DID YOU EVEN DO THAT!?"

"DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET AGAIN!?"

Once again, Faith and Rachel found themselves in an awkward position as they watched the two of them argue; the atmosphere changed again, one word after another. "Um…? Guys…?" Faith said, though it didn't look as though they didn't hear her, "... You really should stop, otherwise you might end up killing each other for real."

That part they did seem to hear.

"I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO KILL THIS BITCH FOR BEING SO GODDAMN ANNOYING!" Zack yelled.

"YOU BETTER NOT YOU MUMMIFIED JERK!" Kristen shouted.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT CALLING ME A MUMMY!?" He exclaimed, as he readied his scythe.

Finally, Rachel took a deep breath and spoke, drawing the attention of her, "I'm sorry for making you two worry about me. I'll do better next time."

"That better be the truth brat!" Zack said, stepping towards her, "Like I told you earlier, if you wanna die so badly than you had better make yourself useful first!"

"If I'm useful to you…" Rachel soon said, "... Than you'll kill me, right?"

"That's what I've been telling you isn't it?" He replied.

The atmosphere seemed to have changed again as Kristen and Faith stayed silent at this, as they didn't know what they should say at that point. After a moment, they saw her expression change.

"Just a minute ago…" Rachel began to say as she stepped forward, towards Zack causing him to back up from her as she continued startling Kristen and Faith, "...You said 'I swear to God.' Those were the exact words. 'I swear to God'. Yeah, to God. You said you swore to God!"

Rachel suddenly grabbed onto Zack's hoodie, taking all of them by surprise. She looked as though she had been holding him in desperation of something; they could've sworn that her demeanor changed drastically by what she was saying.

"Rachel…?" Faith said a little worried.

"Kiddo?" Kristen soon spoke, as she reached out to her, "... Are you--"

"You heard it too didn't you?" Rachel asked as she turned to Kristen, "You heard him say those words didn't you?"

Kristen had been taken back, as she retracted her hand a little before she replied, "I did but--"

"Will you really do it?" Rachel asked as she turned back to Zack, cutting her off again, "Do you really swear to God… That you'll do it? Will you swear to God… That you'll kill me…?"

Once more there was silence among them as they were just left speechless at this point. No one knew what to say or do at that point. Zack on the other hand had something to say.

"You never know when to give up do you…?" They heard him say.

Zack pried Rachel's hands off of him, before he shoved her over to a wall, startling them.

"Didn't I already tell you!?" He shouted before slamming his hand right beside Rachel's head, making them all jump, "I REALLY HATE LIARS!" Silence overcame the room once more as the rest of the group had been just baffled by what had just happened. Faith, however, was a bit confused by this kind of outcome.

"Did… I miss something?" She asked Kristen.

"Long story." Kristen replied as she had still been speechless. More particularly she was speechless by the way Rachel had acted just now, as she looked to the killer. She couldn't help but ponder a thought as she looked at Rachel.

"Her eyes looked different just now…" Kristen thought to herself, "...I wonder…"

"Okay." They heard Rachel say, "I'll do my best to be useful to you."

Zack let out a sigh as he removed himself from her, "As long as you get it."

Kristen and Faith couldn't help but sigh, it was almost as if they were holding their breath. "So, what's our next move?" Zack asked.

"Before…" Kristen soon said, "... A door opened earlier. Meaning it has to be in here." Kristen started to look around, feeling the wall for anything.

"You think it could lead us to the exit of this floor?" Faith asked.

"It's better!" Zack said, "Cause I'm getting sick and tired of this crap!"

"That Eddie kid…" Rachel soon said, "... He said… He would be waiting for me."

They all gave the child a look; Kristen and Faith had worry while Zack's expression was neutral. "Is that right?" He said.

"Hey, I found it!" Kristen soon called out. They looked and saw that Kristen pushed in what looked to be a loose brick. She pushed it, and it let out a click, before she had pushed it open, revealing another passageway.

"Great!" Zack said, before he took the lead, "Let's get moving and get off this floor."

None of them hesitated as they followed behind him; Rachel and Faith walked just behind him, while Kristen kept herself in the back. She couldn't help but think back to what had happened earlier, what Zack did for her. She knew he said he didn't care about her, so why would he go out of his way to help her?

She couldn't really remember what happened when the room turned dark. All she could go by was what Zack told her. She didn't know if she could believe or if she wanted to. She just couldn't imagine Zack being a serial killer that he is, going out of his way to comfort somebody.

"I smell dirt again." Faith soon said.

"Don't tell me we're gonna find another cemetery again." Zack said annoyed.

"Probably." Rachel replied.

"Don't even THINK about jumping into an open one." Zack soon said as he turned to Rachel, "You got it?"

"I already told you." She said, "I won't kill myself."

He laughed to himself, "Right you did say that."

"That's not really something to laugh at, you know." Faith mumbled.

Zack soon looked over to Kristen in the back, noticing that she had been strangely quiet. "Hey Red Eyes!" He called out, "Cat got your tongue?"

"Huh?" Kristen said, seemingly snapping out of her own thoughts, "Oh no, I'm just thinking."

"Thinking?" He asked as he gave a quizzical look, "About what?"

Kristen stayed silent for a moment before she looked at Rachel and Faith. She stepped towards Zack, "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Where? We're in a hallway you know." He told her.

"It'll be quick." Kristen said, "You two don't mind do you?"

Faith and Rachel shook their heads. "I think we could use a break anyway." Faith said, "Right?"

Rachel nodded in agreement, "You two can take your time, we'll just wait until your ready."

Kristen nodded and started to lead Zack down the hallway while Rachel and Faith made themselves comfortable. They were just out of earshot as Zack leaned back against the wall while he set aside his scythe.

"Okay, I'll bite, what is this about?" Zack soon asked her.

"... I think you know what it is." Kristen said.

"Not really." He replied with a shrug.

Kristen sighed, "I'll spell it out for you. You told me that you didn't care about me… And yet you went out of your way to… Comfort me."

Zack let out a sigh, "We're seriously gonna talk about this? Why?"

"Because it's been bothering me, that's why." She said, "You're supposed to be a serial killer, and basically be a sociopath, and yet you went out of your way to help me. You could've left me behind and gone after Rachel and Faith, but you didn't."

"Are you trying to get to a point?"

"... I want to know why… Why did you decide to help me?"

Zack stayed silent at this as he started to ponder. Now that he thought about it… Why did he help her? Why did he decide to stay with her? Why did he decide to do that for someone like her? A person he already admitted he didn't care for her. So why did he do it? As he looked to her again he could've sworn he heard a ring go off in his head; an image passed him by that seemed unclear.

He shook it off before he gave her his reply.

"I couldn't have you going crazy on me." He said, "It's bad enough that I got that kid over there begging me to kill her, but you were starting to talk like you were high on drugs when the lights went out. If I had one of you die on me and lose your mind, than it'll be down the toilet with me escaping and all that shit. You get the drill Red Eyes."

Kristen looked to the ground at this, she knew he had been telling her the truth, though she still couldn't help but have her doubts about his words as she pondered and pondered. Zack noticed the silence before he spoke up again.

"What is your deal with the dark anyway?" He asked, causing her to flinch, "That's like a five year old fear."

Kristen started to stammer a little as she tried to get her words together. Her body shook a little at the thought of it all. "I--" She started to say, "--I'd rather not talk about."

Zack gave her a quizzical look, "I answered your questions, so why won't answer any of mine!?"

"Because, most of it is personal." Kristen said, "And I'd rather not get into it right now."

Once again Zack stayed silent as he saw the look on her face. He saw that she had a sad look in her red eyes. He didn't know why he wanted to know though at that moment, for some strange reason… He didn't want to pry.

"Whatever. Let's just get moving." Zack said before he started to walk back down the hall, "I can't believe I wasted my time with this."

Kristen watched as he walked forward letting the two girls know that they were going to start walking again. Still with the expression on her face she started to walk down until she had been perplexed to hear…

The sound of giggles?

She turned behind her but soon realized no one had been there. From the sound of it, the voice didn't belong to the floor master Eddie. It was unfamiliar to her… Or was it? In the darkness of the hall she could've sworn, someone… Had been there.

"RED EYES!" She soon heard Zack call out, "GET YOUR ASS MOVING!"

"OH HOLD YOUR HORSES I'M COMING!!" Kristen shouted before she went to catch up. They resumed their walking, nearly getting to the end of it. "What were guys talking about before?" Rachel soon asked.

"It's… Nothing important." Kristen replied, giving her a small smile.

"Really?" Faith said not exactly buying it, "It looked like it was important."

Kristen was about to retort, but had soon been drawn to the sound of water. They soon found themselves in a room which looked to be a reservoir. The smell of dirt had been stronger on their noses.

"What is this place?" Faith wondered aloud, noticing the field of grass that had been up the stairs, "A garden?"

"Looks like." Rachel replied.

"Hey…" Zack soon said to the three of them, "... What did you say your names were?"

They had been taken back at this. "Your names." Zack soon said, "You guys got one don't you?"

The three of them looked to one another before Kristen had been the first to respond.

"Like I told you, it's Kristen Waterson." She said.

"My name is Faith." Faith added sounding a bit hesitant this time, "Just Faith."

"Rachel Gardner." Rachel finished.

Zack smiled, "I'm keeping you three alive so you can have a chance to be useful… But it's been a real pain in my life having you around."

Zack got his scythe ready and Kristen put Rachel and Faith behind her just as they heard footsteps coming towards them. Of course the footsteps belonged to the master of B4, Eddie.

"Hey." He said, sounding cheerfully, "We meet again."