Chapter 1.5

Alistair walked into the prison infirmary with a stiff composure, wearing dress shoes that transitioned seamlessly from brown to auburn. His attire comprised of a navy blue suit, accompanied by a dress shirt and accents mirroring the hues of autumn. A gold pocket watch graced his breast pocket, adding a touch of refinement to the entire outfit.

A sickly but bone-chilling chuckle echoed throughout the room, followed by a few coughs, then a deeper and more humored laugh.

Marco was sitting up on one of the beds, being treated by a nurse. He was red all over, not just from blood, but from the bruises and injury that covered him from the neck down. His face looked no better. He had stitches holding together cuts where his skin was swollen then split open, and he was missing several teeth, those that were left were stained red.

Alistair stopped but a few feet away from him, his arms behind his back.

Marco looked at him, grinning, his hair fallen in front of his face. "What? Does my appearance please you sir?" he said with heavy sarcasm in his voice.

"I find it hard to believe that the Demon was taken down by a mere teenager."

"Demon, you say? Is that what they call me outside of these walls? Lemme tell you somethin'."

Alistair took a step forward. "I'm listening."

"His punches… I couldn't see them. It was like he disappeared right in front of me." Marco hung his head and laughed some more.

The nurse backed away. She looked at Alistair, holding her hands politely in front of her. "He has severe damage done to his liver, and probably more to the brain. I suspect a grade 2 concussion, but it may be worse. I've done everything I could, but if we don't get him to a proper hospital, he will die."

Alistair waved her off, shaking his head. "We will do no such thing. If he dies here because of his own actions… then I say good riddance. The Lakesboro Detention Center's shadow ruler has finally been defeated."

Marco's laughter became more erratic. "And his eyes… his eyes!!" He stared at Alistair with his eyes wide open and mouth agape, heaving desperately with each breath. "ALISTAIR HIS EYES!!!"

Alistair was now visibly concerned. "His eyes…? Marco, what are you rambling about?"

The nurse shook her head in dismay. "He's confused, he's not in his right mind!"

Alistair grabbed Marco by his shoulders. "TELL ME!! What did you see?!!"

Marco wobbled, nearly falling over, but he caught himself. He pulled down on his left bottom eyelid. "It was only for a second, but I'm sure of it, they were glowing. Clock pattern. Horologium!" He laughed some more as Alistair let him go.

"It can't be…!" Alistair bolted out of the infirmary. He ran towards the nearest prison guard he could find and pointed away. "Go find inmate Stanley Thompson and bring him to me, now!! He should be in Maximum Confinement, bring a police unit with you, GO!!"

The guard hurried off immediately.

Alistair pulled his phone out and dialed a number. "Milady, I have something to tell you."

-

Marco, still sitting in the same position, finally calmed down. "What a world we live in. How exciting." He opened his mouth as wide as it could go, hanging his tongue out.

"ARRRGH!!"

The nurse was startled. "Marco?! What did you do?!"

Marco had bitten off his own tongue. He raised his neck, and swallowed the mouthful of blood he'd accumulated. His eyes glowed blood-red, his muscle mass tripled in size, and his teeth and nails became sharp and beast-like. "Stanley… you have no idea how bad I wanna kill you right now…" He got up, and glared lustfully at the nurse.

She timidly backed away. "U-Um… please, Marco, calm down… just s-stay away!!"

-

Alistair suddenly heard shrill screams from behind him, followed by a loud crash. "The nurse?" He ran back into the infirmary. "Marco!!"

When he got back, all that was left was the nurse's body laid out lifelessly on the floor, her head missing from her body. There was a hole in the wall large enough for a person to walk through. "Shit!"

—

Stanley sat by himself in Maximum Confinement. There was nothing inside of his cell. No sheets or cot to sleep on, no windows, no light. If he had to relieve himself, he would have to do it in the corner to his left, where there was a drain built into the floor. He couldn't stand up, and he couldn't lie down.

[ "Why is everything happening to me…?" ]

[ "I just… I just wanted to live a normal life. I punched some guy in the face over my girlfriend, do I really deserve this?" ]

[ "If I really wanted to, I could kill them all… kill… kill…!" ]

Stanley was startled by the sound of footsteps— lots of them. The thick iron door to his cell was being unlocked from the outside. With a grunt, a prison guard pulled it open.

A police officer shone a flashlight in Stanley's face. "Come with us. Don't try anything funny, or we'll shoot."

Stanley crawled out of his hole and stood up slowly. He let himself be handcuffed as the officers led him away.

As they walked, Stanley could hear the screams of men from far away inside of the building. "What's that?"

"I'm… not sure." one officer said, placing his hand on his hip.

More screams echoed, and before long there were even beastly growls being heard along with them.

All of the guards and officers pulled their weapons out, taking aim ahead. "What the f*ck's going on in here?"

The hairs on the back of Stanley's neck stood up. [ "I'm not gonna wait for whatever that is to come for me…!" ]

Quickly, Stanley snapped himself out of his handcuffs, incapacitated two guards, took a pistol from one, and shot the other six before they could even react.

Not long after, one of the inmates came running down the hall on all fours. His eyes were red, his teeth were sharp, and his tongue hung out while slobbering all on the floor.

"What the hell is that?!" Stanley exclaimed, shooting at the inmate instinctively.

The inmate dodged all of the bullets, running down the hall at breakneck speed as he switched to sprinting on two legs, then took a leap at Stanley, tackling him to the floor.

Stanley struggled, using his gun to keep the inmate's mouth open. "Agh…!! What… ARE you?! Some kind of monster?!"

He shot both of his legs into the inmate's body, launching him above. While he was still on the floor, Stanley shot three bullets straight through the inmate's head. He rolled over before the body could fall onto him with a bloody splat.

Stanley tried to catch his breath, in shock from what just happened. He heard more screams from down the hall.

Standing up, Stanley checked his pistol. "Out of ammo…" He tossed the gun aside and picked up a different one before heading down the hall.

In the distance, he could hear gunshots and more indiscernible growling. In preparation for what's to come, he took aim.

Up ahead, there was a left turn in the hallway. Stanley could hear a woman's voice getting closer, along with the growling noises.

"Stay back!! Get away from me!!" The words were followed by five gunshots, and then a loud growl followed by a scream. Just then, Stanley saw a woman hit the wall and fall to her knees. He watched as a familiar inmate slowly crept up on her.

Stanley squinted his eyes in disbelief. "Marco?"

Marco's neck instantly made a 90° turn. He was staring right at him. "Stanley… Stanley Stanley Stanley!! Look at me, how do I look?!"

"Like a monster."

"I know, right?! Isn't it great?! You really did a number on me earlier, so I thought this would be the perfect time to try out my new power!! Let's see how well you dance now!! But first…" In an unnaturally quick movement, Marco's tongue was going down the length of the woman's neck.

Stanley shot his gun twice.

Marco was hit in his side. He groaned in pain, but to Stanley's amazement, the bullet wounds healed perfectly before his very eyes.

Marco chuckled. "Just wait a moment kiddo. Can't you see I'm tryin' to feed?!" He opened his mouth.

Stanley grit his teeth.

[ "He's gonna eat her!!" ]

As he dropped his gun, Stanley sprinted forward. His eyes took on a green glow, as the patterns of a golden clock manifested within them. Everything around him seemed to slow down, almost to a standstill. He ran towards Marco and slammed his left fist into his face, then picked the woman up and ran past, heading down the hall.

Marco growled, holding his face as his deformed cheek repaired itself. "That little bastard…!!" He swiftly turned around, letting out a shrill scream. "STANLEYYYY!!!!!"

The woman in Stanley's arms opened her eyes, adjusting her glasses. "S-Stanley Thompson?"

Stanley looked down at her. "You know who I am?"

There were thumping noises coming from behind. Marco was running on the walls on all fours, his claws tearing up the tile with each step.

Stanley tried his hardest to run faster, but he was at his limit. Marco was getting closer, within arm's reach, but then—

fwoosh!

Alistair sped right past Stanley, his hand covered in a mass of water. He hit Marco with it, splashing him up into the ceiling, causing a rumbling throughout the hall. The water stuck in place, keeping him from moving.

Marco yelled and growled, struggling to move, but to no avail. Alistair went into his suit's inside pocket and pulled out a golden revolver. He put three shots into Marco's brain and that was it. The water splashed to the floor along with Marco and a splatter of blood.

Stanley slid to a stop, struggling to catch his breath. "What the hell…? Where did the water come from?"

"Um, excuse me, I can stand on my own, thank you." the woman said.

Stanley let her down. "Oh… sorry. You okay?"

"Yes. My name is Juniper, by the way."

Stanley nodded, still halfway in shock. "Juniper… cool."

Alistair put his revolver away as guards and officers flooded the halls.

"We killed all of the savage inmates, but not without casualties."

Alistair nodded. "At least you did your job. Good work. Don't let a word of this get out, or I'll see to it that you all are next."

"Yes sir."

Alistair walked over to Juniper and Stanley. "Let's talk somewhere private. Follow me."