The Scourge (part 2)
My dreams are hazy and fragmented, just like everything else that has happened lately.
The first thing that I register is darkness, but it doesn't last long, because I soon notice a soft white light. Everything seems so far away as I stare blindly into the dark void. After awhile, things begin to clear up.
And I realize that my vision is no longer blurry as I start seeing a little bit clearer. But still there is that feeling of distance. It takes me a while before everything becomes more clear and the surroundings come into focus, revealing itself to be familiar surroundings.
A few seconds later, I remember that I am lying in bed.
I glance over at Karl next to me, noticing that he still looks asleep.
I roll over onto my back. It seems to me that I didn't manage to fall asleep at all last night, so I decide to get a jumpstart so that I'm prepared before our test this morning.
After laying there for another couple minutes, Karl begins to stir awake. When he wakes up, he sits up quickly. His head snaps around to look at me.
- "Is it really time already?" He asks.
- "Yeah." I reply, yawning.
Karl looks at me confused.
- "Well, we should start getting ready then. They'll probably wake us up early." He says.
- "Good idea." I nod my head.
I get out of bed, stretch my legs, and then walk over to the wardrobe so that I'm properly dressed. I put on my black cloak, and then walk to the main room to make some coffee. Once I finish making the coffee, Karl joins me in the room as I hand the steaming cup to him.
- "Thank you," He says, taking a sip from the cup, and then placing the mug back onto the table.
- "Of course, today is going to be a long day." I reply. "Let's get ourselves together."
- "Sure," Karl says.
As he finishes his coffee, I go to get my weapons and resources so that I'm prepared before we leave.
Just as I come back, I hear someone knocking on the door, which of course, would be the member that Kurtz has sent from the Scourge.
I sit down again. I take out a cigarette. While I'm lighting it, Karl gets up and goes to answer the door.
- "Good morning." The man greets us. He's wearing a suit. "Are you both ready for today? We must hurry, or we will miss our appointment. Please follow me."
He turns around and heads off, not waiting for us to agree before leaving the house.
We get up from the table and join him.
As we step outside, the wind hits me. This coldness makes my breath stop. I tighten my grip on my weapons, and we follow behind him, silently. We walk in silence for about five minutes until we reach the gates of the building.
- "Here we are." The man stops, and we stop with him. He opens up the gate. "This way."
As I'm about to walk through, I suddenly remember that Kurtz told me yesterday to take the entrance from the side of the building, into his office.
That's right. I think to myself as I walk through the gate. I glance over at Karl, who's already gone ahead of me. After hesitating for a moment, I finally decide to go after him.
I quickly follow Karl who is heading directly towards Kurtz's office as I follow. As I catch up to him, Karl raises his arm and knocks twice lightly on the door, which is already opened by Kurtz who's waiting for us inside.
- "Come in." Kurtz tells us. "Have a seat."
Karl and I enter the office, and I sit down on the sofa across from Kurtz.
Kurtz hands me a file.
- "You will sign this. It's your confirmation for taking the exam." He says, pointing at the document.
I take the file from him. I pick up the pen that was resting on top of the folder. I scan the documents. All of them are filled out very carefully, and they all seem to be legit.
After reading through the document, I pass it over to Karl. He glances at me, and then starts signing the papers.
When he's done, he puts the pen down. Kurtz closes the file, places it on his desk and leans forward. He takes out two envelopes, handing them to Karl and me.
- "Take these envelopes inside to the examination rooms. They will let you enter once you have passed your physical inspection."
We get up. "Thanks for the warning." Karl says quietly.
Kurtz nods his head. "Now go on. Good luck." He adds.
We turn around and leave the office. Once we're out in the hallway, we proceed to walk to the room which Kurtz adressed in the envelope from yesterday. We walk down the corridor in silence, each of us trying to ignore the other.
The examination rooms are located at the opposite end from our meeting room. As soon as we arrive at the examination room, I open the door, and we both enter.
I close the door behind me. Once I'm inside the room, there are two guards standing outside the room in front of me. They're both staring straight at me.
- "Welcome to Scourge. Before we start the test, we need to inspect all of your weapons and accessories so that you may enter." One of them speaks up, breaking the silence.
I take off my cloak, putting it over the back of one of the chairs in front of the examination tables, then pull out my gun and dagger from under my belt. The guard examines it closely, looking closely at the magazine and checking every single bullet inside.
- "These are all fully loaded." The guard says. "It appears that you have been practicing with them."
- "Yes." I respond.
The other guard then examines the dagger, examining it closer.
"This isn't an ordinary knife either." The guard comments.
He gives me an appraising look, then turns to the gun. He continues to check each and every bullet in the ammunition. After he's done checking, he hands me back my weapons, and I put them on the table.
- "The inspection is now officially complete." The guard says. "Now, just give me your envelopes, and you should be ready to begin the test."
I take the envelopes out of my pocket and place them in front of me on the table.
- "Perfect, and it might be useful to mention that the door will remain open the entire time, so do not hesitate to leave if you feel uncomfortable." The guard says.
- "Okay." I say.
Now follow me, please." The guard says, gesturing towards the door.
I stand up and leave the room, walking behind the guard. He opens another door on the right hand side, and then we enter the corridor that leads to the testing area.
We continue walking along this corridor, passing several doors. Soon enough, we reach the door that leads to the testing room where most of the members are already gathered.
- "Greetings everyone! The test begins in less than half an hour. Are you prepared for the trial?" One of the female members addresses the crowd.
A few people raise their arms or shout in response, answering her question. I listen and watch what happens, but I don't pay too much attention to what's being said, since I'm only here for one thing.
The test begins when the clock strikes 12. If we suceed to pass the final test, then we will definitely become members of the Scourge and obtain more power than ever. However, if we fail and we end up dying during the test, that's it.
As the clock strikes closer to 12, the atmosphere becomes tense and nervous. I can sense that the rest of the people are nervous as well.
Suddenly, it strikes twelve, and the room falls silent. No words are spoken. There's no noise except for the ticking of the clock. The whole time there is nobody saying anything, but I can hear the sounds of breathing that are coming from all sides of the room; almost like the people are all holding their breath.
The tension between the groups has reached its peak. Suddenly, the door swings open. In comes a man wearing a grey suit walking towards us. He seems to be the leader of this, and I assume that that means he's in charge of things, like the test itself.
- "Welcome all candidates." He introduces himself. "My name is Lawrence."
He pauses for a second and then continues. "From this point onwards, all of you will undergo different tasks to determine if you are capable of entering the Scourge, and whether or not you will join the group."
- "You are all welcome to participate in any of the tasks, but if you fail, you will die. For what these tasks concist of, you will know soon."
- "Now, shall we get started?" Lawrence says, ending the introduction.