In the darkness inside my head stood Juktha. She was looking at me, her brow furrowed with worry.
“There are other ways.” Her voice sounded stern, almost motherly.
“I know, but this is the quickest.” I walked towards her, reaching out my hand. “So, are we going to do this?”
She nodded.
The fact that she was agreeing to this put me at ease a little bit. At least I knew she wouldn’t jump into something deadly.
The last time I had done this, the mind-scape that I had entered had been colorful, active. Inside Andrew’s mind there was only black and grey.
The world around us seemed to pulse and swirl. I could see faces, silently screaming out, hands reaching for unobtainable freedom. The walls moved and shifted as the beings trapped inside them tried, and failed, to escape their prison.
We floated forward, towards the only source of light in the space. One pillar of shimmering yellow shone in the center of this hell, and in the middle of it was a young man.
He was naked, barbed wire wrapped around his body, binding his legs together and wrapping up his boddy, cutting into his torso and neck. Dried blood covered his pale skin in tiny, flaky paths. Only his hands were free, outstretched.
In each, he held a scale, one shining and gold, and one made of rusted, rotting steel.
Around his eyes was a dirty white blind fold. Two red stains marked his eyes. Dried blood streaked his checks, and almost looked like crimson tears.
This was Andrew.
The closer we got, the more I could sense that this young man was not alive. He was a reminder of the person who had once occupied this place. He was an icon in a temple.
“How does that happen to someone?” I turned to Juktha.
My heart rate quickened when I saw the look of horror in her eyes. Whatever was in here was strong enough to scare her.
“Justice...” her hand went to her mouth.
“You finally came.” A raspy, male voice echoed through the mind-scape. “I’ve been waiting for you. Both of you.”
From behind Andrew’s tortured body stepped the creature. He looked exactly as he had in the lab, only now, when he opened his mouth his growls and grunts formed actual words.
“My bride has finally come home to me.” The creature smiled.
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