Chapter 1: Maniacal

Life is full of pain and setbacks, but instead of regrets, pick yourself up and try to live it with pleasure, without grieving over missed opportunities.

© Some DestroSun with bad and inappropriate quotes.

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A sixteen year old young man with thick black hair and a trim physique, exuding the power of youth, appeared in the lens of the phone camera. His short coiffed hair spread a noble luster and gave him a unique charm. However, even more impressive was his physical condition, betraying his healthy and energetic lifestyle. The eye was drawn to his athletic figure and visible muscles, generously distributed all over his body, clearly confirming active training and regular exercise. His brown eyes were clearly looking at the camera.

- My name is Iron Ornie. I am sixteen years old. My home is in the northeastern part of Zajopinsk, in the Stockholm Estates neighborhood. I work in the office of the GymClub chain of stores and get home at 8pm at the latest. I don't smoke, I don't drink. I go to bed at 11pm and make sure I get exactly eight hours of sleep, no matter what. Before I go to bed I drink strong coffee, which I'm already addicted to, and I also spend about ten minutes warming up, so I sleep through the morning without much trouble. In the morning I wake up feeling neither tired nor stressed, like a baby. At my last physical I was told there were no problems. What I'm trying to convey is that I'm just a regular person who wants to live a quiet life and make millions from creating entertainment content. I don't fill my head with problems like winning or losing, and I don't make enemies that would keep me awake, because I have enough problems as it is. I know for sure that this way of interacting with society is where happiness lies. Although, if I had to fight, I would run away anyway.

- Okay, that's it. It's not bad, the speech is clear and the thought is well expressed, but I'll have to shorten it somehow, because it's too long. Okay, now it's my turn.

- Hub-Hub, this is Longbottom. Today my brother and I will be exploring an abandoned dormitory from the '90s, when the Soviet Union still existed.

The camera shook as if it had been handed over to other hands, but a moment later there was another man standing in the same place where the athletic black-haired guy had been.

Long purple hair falling over the narrow shoulders of a skinny teenager whose age was identical to the first. He was wearing a white hoodie that was clearly a couple sizes too big for him and jeans that were torn at the knees. A strange aura surrounded him, his appearance expressing weakness, while his demeanor was very lively and joyful, giving him a double impression.

- Ornie, take a spin with the phone. I need a couple of shots of the forest, or one abandonment won't be enough.

The camera began to make a counterclockwise circle, showing a dense and picturesque forest, surrounding on all sides, which gave even a little eeriness. Huge pine trees towered a dozen meters high, as if reaching up to the sky, covering everything around with their shadows, which made it feel a little cool, even though it was a hot summer outside.

Having made a full turn, the frame returned to Dolgolup, who had already turned his back and pointed with his hand to a barely visible building, hidden from prying eyes by the forest.

- Come on, we have to get through the night, and I don't want to stay here in the dark, because I'll pile up a whole mountain anyway.

- Okay, let's go.

The frame stabilization was working well, so there was no sudden jiggling, which allowed us to enjoy the beautiful nature surrounding us from all sides.

- Ornie, did you bring the spray can?

After a few seconds of brief rustling of clothes, I heard an answer.

- Yeah, I don't think there's any dangerous wildlife around here, foxes and squirrels at most.

- So you don't think foxes are dangerous? A rabid squirrel can jump on your shoulder and bite your carotid artery!

- I think you've been watching a lot of wildlife blogs, but now I'm a little nervous about my neck.... Wait, I'll put my hood on.

The black-haired guy was wearing a white sweatshirt and white pants, tucked into his socks and a tank top into his pants for fear of catching ticks.

- Legend has it that people disappeared in this dormitory, which is why it was abandoned.

Dolgolup began to tell the story of the building, picking his way along the barely visible path closer and closer until the building showed in all its glory.

The facade of the dormitory was faded and weathered from the effects of time and weather. Cracks and crumbling paint could be seen on the walls. The windows were broken or covered with a layer of dust and dirt, giving the impression of emptiness, but a small part was still boarded up.

- Yeahhh, it's been over thirty years, but it's still in pretty normal condition. At least there were no collapsed walls, which was a good thing.

The operator commented on the dormitory's appearance with a note of nostalgia.

- This is what we came here for. That abandoned building where people are rumored to be disappearing, although there's no evidence for that, but we're going to try to prove today that it's just an abandoned building. Let's go.

Dolgolup waved his hand, heading through the main entrance, where he was greeted by the pungent musty smell of damp and mold, but most foul of all was the stench of dead people.

- Fuck, yuck, there's a dead dog lying around. Fuck, it's almost all decomposed ... Andryukh, go inside, but don't take the corpse off, got it? I don't want to get banned yet.

- Roger, Sergei. Really you could just cover it up with a montage and that's it.

Ornie walked inside, feeling normal until he smelled the rotten odor, which made him cringe and a small tear welled up in the corner of his eye.

- Andrei... What are you doing?

- I remembered my cat.

- About Vasya or something. Uh-huh. Ahem, well, let's move on.

Andrei only nodded silently, following his friend down the dirty corridor, where various trash was scattered: pieces of furniture, old magazines and pieces of newspapers, tin bottles of energy drinks and beer, scattered in a strange way, as if someone had stepped on them.

- What a creepy place. Let's go into some apartment.

Most of the rooms had no doors, so exploring the living quarters was easy, except for the much larger number of metal cans.

- I don't like this place, Gray.

- Neither do I, but did we take the bus for an hour to get here for nothing? We'll go around a couple more apartments and look at the second floor, if the stairs are okay. Remember that time I fell into the basement?

A small smile appeared on Andrei's face because of the memory of all the profanity his friend had uttered at that moment.

- Yes, then my vocabulary was enriched with profanity.

- Uh-oh, what a saint, maybe I should remember the incident with the drained roller?

- It's my fault my teammates are crayfish?!

- Oh, you're getting angry. Let's go check the bathroom.

Before leaving the room, Andrei took a quick picture of the general view of the room. A whole table and a couple of chairs, covered with a thin layer of dust and patches of cobwebs, on one of which sat a small spider of black color. There was also an empty shelving unit in the corner and a half-disassembled closet with a couple of different socks lying around inside.

- God, what kind of monster is that?!

Andrei turned around sharply, hearing the shocked voice of his friend. He went straight to him, while Sergei stood in the middle of the musty bathroom, staring at the furry tarantula sitting under the rim of the toilet.

- Holy shit, the rhinestone ojin of his childhood in the flesh.

The black-haired boy was equally surprised by the inhabitant, for he'd never seen such a giant on the loose.

- Take a bigger picture, let the audience be frightened too. It will be possible to make them a sharp screemer, but with this I will already determine when editing. Let's go upstairs.

Andrei nodded, having filmed the whole room, which consisted of a toilet bowl with a tarantula and a bathtub with mold, which made the air feel a little damp, which was strange, as there should be no water here, but deciding not to fill his head with unnecessary thoughts, he headed for the stairs, where Sergei was already waiting for him.

- Usual scoop ladder, some garbage and dust, but otherwise in reasonably good condition, although a crack in the ceiling is a concern.

- Up we go, then.

Sergei was the first one up the stairs, looking in every corner for anything supernatural or suspicious, but there was nothing but tin cans, one of which he accidentally stepped on. When they both found themselves on the second floor, they began to explore the rooms again, where, besides a couple of things, they could find a long-dried pool of blood.

- Fuck, Gray, we have to get out of here. What if there really is a maniac living here?

Sergei only smiled weakly because of his frightened friend, while he scrutinized the puddle. After a couple of minutes of careful examination, he came to a conclusion.

- Well, it's really blood, not paint. So it's time to really get out of here, don't want a repeat of the cult incident.

The mere memory of it sent shivers down Andrei's spine. They went straight to the exit of the room, as suddenly there was a strange sound, followed by the crunch of bone. Andrei, who was the first to leave, turned back to his friend, who had already collapsed on the floor with a hatchet in the back of his head, from where scarlet blood was oozing.

At that moment it was as if time had stopped for him. Slowly flowing blood from the skull of Sergey, his old friend, made Andrei stagger and grab the wall because of the shock and horror of the situation in which he found himself. His breathing quickened, his heart quickened, tears welled up in the corners of his eyes and goosebumps were all he was experiencing at that moment, but a sharp sound caught his attention.

It came from the passage to the other room, from which a one and a half meter tall man emerged. He was dressed in tattered and dirty clothes dotted with bloodstains, some of which looked fresh. But the most horrible thing was his face - a distorted face, with obvious distortions and open sores. Andrei and the maniac stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds, until the latter laughed and lunged at the guy with a knife from his pocket.

- Hwaahahahahahahaha.

At that same moment, Andrew realized that he needed to run away, save his life and inform law enforcement to get this bastard caught. The guy easily reached the stairs and jumped from the second floor to the first, increasing the gap with the maniac as much as possible. When the exit was a couple of meters away, Andrew looked behind him to make sure that the maniac was behind, but he didn't see anyone, so he turned back. When he ran out through the exit, he was met by a powerful blow with something heavy, from which he immediately blacked out.

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- Let's do him already.

Through the darkness I heard a nasty, squeaky voice that stuttered.

- Wait, I think this one's awake. He's still alive, even with that head wound.

I started to slowly come to my senses as I heard an elderly yet menacing voice. With each passing second I could smell the metallic odor more and more strongly, the smell of blood. I tried to open my eyes, but the bright light of the bulb immediately made me squeeze shut.

- Bring the axe, let's deal with the little guy first.

- I got it, haaaaahhhhhh.

Once again I heard that awful laugh and the receding footsteps as a tall figure towered over me.

- Bad luck for you, lad. You're too tough, so Urik will have a little fun with you, but that's okay, you'll reach peace sooner or later.

I finally managed to open my eyes and focus my gaze on the man, in parallel getting used to the light. In such a short moment I could just make out a gray beard and mustache, he was also quite dry.

My head throbbed with pain while I was still conscious, but suddenly someone ran to my left and I felt a terrible pain in my wrist that brought tears to my eyes.

- Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

An agonizing scream escaped my mouth as a stinking rag covered in blood and debris was shoved into it.

- Yaaaaaaaaaah!

It drowned out almost all of my voice. I felt incredible pain as I felt a warm stream of blood flowing from my arm. I finally dared to look over there when I found that my palm was missing from its place.

N-n-n-- it can't be. It's a dream. It's a dream! IT'S A DREAM!!! SO WHY WON'T I WAKE UP!?!????

- Yaaaah!

- Okay, Urick, you deal with it, I'll deal with his friend.

My eyes finally adjusted to the light of the bulb, and I saw the couch to my right, where my friend's body was resting. I felt a new wave of horror and despair, for I was tied to the couch with a rope.

The old man was working on my friend's body while I tried to calm down and think of something to do as the little degenerate played with my palm. The pain was slowly subsiding, but it was still incredibly intense, and the blood was still gushing.

At this rate, I'm gonna bleed out and die. I don't know why we came all the way out here.

The old man walked out into the dark corridor, leaving me and the ogre alone. My gaze wandered around the room, which was almost empty except for a couple of tools. But my gaze locked on a knife that had been set aside by the couch where my friend lay.

My arms and legs were tightly bound, but trying not to attract attention, began to wriggle another whole limb to pick up the weapon. Holding back screams of pain, I grabbed the hilt, nearly dropping the knife. As soon as I was able to do so, I began cutting the rope, enduring the pain and discomfort, driven by the will to live.

After a couple minutes of slowly but quietly cutting the rope, I managed to free my hand.

The old man is still gone... This is my chance.

I gripped the knife tighter, and the moment the bastard was close enough, still playing with my limb, I jammed the knife straight into his throat with all my might. He tried to scream, but all that came out of his mouth was wheezing and gurgling, which was disgusting and.... The small pleasure of revenge.

- Ahhhhhhhhhh.

I pulled the stinky rag out of my mouth and set about the rest of the ropes while the old man was still away. As soon as I was done, I carefully climbed off the couch, nearly collapsing onto the blackened floor.

- Sergei.

I pushed my friend, hoping that he was still alive by some miracle, but his heartbeat was gone, and an awful lot of blood was pouring out of the wounds on his head and torso.

- Brother. How did I...

- Urik, are you done in there?

Just as I was condoling my loss, an elderly voice was heard very close by. I grabbed my axe and stood behind the wall, immediately delivering a blow to the head of the second assassin. He dropped dead to the floor, and I took one last look at Seryoga and walked down the dark corridor, which was flanked by many doors, but I had no desire to look through them. At the very end was a staircase leading upward. I climbed it, opened the door, and found myself in the same dormitory on the first floor. I'd been in the damn basement the whole time.

- Gotta go...

Only now did I notice that there was a trail of blood behind me, dripping from the hand I'd forgotten about. I grabbed the sleeve of my sweater with my remaining palm and began to bandage the wound, which was, to say the least, horrible.

- Hopefully it would be enough to keep me from reclining until the hospital, huh.

I picked up the stick from the floor and walked out of the damn dormitory, moving slowly down the path, but a sudden pain in my stomach, made me collapse to the ground. When I looked down, I found the spear had pierced through me, and I saw a part of my rich inner world.

I tried to get up, but my strength had finally left me, and the world around me was extinguished again.

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A drop of water fell on my nose, then another, and then another and another.

Я... Alive?

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