The Light That Follows Darkness

A week had passed since the intense encounter with Zane, and tension hung in the air like a thick fog.

Each day was a whirlwind of training the twins in self-defense and helping them build strength, all thanks to my resourceful friend, Eve.

She had crafted a rigorous regimen that promised to sculpt their muscles and teach them the most effective self-defense techniques. Meanwhile, she tirelessly fed me knowledge, cramming my mind with college-level material. Instead of falling behind in my studies due to confinement, I found myself ahead of others my age. I also took it upon myself to assist the twins with their education, as their troubled pasts had denied them the chance to attend school.

Throughout the week, an eerie silence enveloped Zane. The only sounds that escaped his lips were occasional moans of pain from his broken bones. Even when Ryuji delivered our provisions, Zane remained disturbingly quiet, crawling to the door to retrieve his belongings without uttering a word.

To be honest, I couldn't muster an ounce of sympathy for him, and even the gentle-hearted twins kept their distance, displaying their disdain.

Yet, his silence sent shivers down my spine. Something about it felt unsettling, prompting me to telepathically instruct Eve to keep her detection system on high alert from morning till night. My instincts warned me that trouble was brewing.

And sure enough, one fateful day, as I lay in bed, alarms blared in my mind. It was Eve, urgently warning me, "Danger! Danger! Zane is approaching with murderous intent, wielding an unidentified object."

Though I remained motionless with closed eyes, I relayed my instructions to Eve calmly, "Notify me the moment he nears my bed, just as he's about to strike."

Eve acknowledged my command, and I waited, straining my ears to catch the sound of approaching footsteps and Zane's deranged mutterings growing louder.

In a twisted, unhinged manner, Zane muttered, "You thought you could escape me, you worthless piece of trash. I've been biding my time, waiting for the perfect moment to end you. Today, I, Zane, will add your name to my illustrious list of victims. You'll join the countless souls I've relished destroying and snuffing out. Rejoice, for I shall deliver you to the afterlife, and then I'll ascend within the organization, free to torment and kill as many as I desire. My paradise awaits."

My stomach churned with revulsion. So, this was the sinister pact the chief had struck with Zane, using him as a pawn to carry out his dark deeds. It became clear that if the chief couldn't directly interfere, or manipulate Rick and Carlo, he would resort to external forces to do his bidding.

However, I had long been aware of the chief's cunning and twisted mindset. I had anticipated his machinations from the moment Zane entered our cell. I had remained vigilant, prepared for this very moment.

As Zane lunged at me with the shard of a broken plate, poised to strike, I snapped my eyes open and seized him by the throat. I believed this would halt his assault, but I hadn't accounted for his unexpected resurgence of strength.

While I choked him, keeping him at bay, he swiftly aimed to plunge the makeshift weapon into my heart. I was momentarily stunned, but managed to evade a fatal blow, though not without consequence. The shard pierced my shoulder, inflicting a searing pain.

A guttural groan escaped my lips, echoing through the room, as searing pain coursed through my body. The sound jolted the twins awake, their eyes widening in terror as they took in the sight before them. A shard protruded from my wounded flesh, a grotesque reminder of the danger we were in. Yet, what chilled their young souls to the core was the maniacal laughter and the words that erupted from Zane's lips.

"I have finallyyyyy done it! Finally killed you, you pathetic excuse for a human being," Zane jeered, his voice dripping with vicious triumph. "My paradise is within reach. Finalyyyyy. Hyahahahahahahahaha!"

The twins, their faces etched with fear, fixated on the shard embedded in my body. They heard Zane's words, believing that my life was hanging by a thread. Their cries filled the air, desperate pleas and anguished begging for me to hold on, to not slip away from them.

I didn't bother answering the twins or uttering a single word.

Instead, I locked my gaze onto Zane, my eyes filled with a murderous rage, while tightening my grip around his neck. Intrusive and sinister thoughts flooded my mind, tormenting me with questions: "Should I end it all now and kill him? Should I snap his neck and be done with it? But what if the chief sends someone even more deranged to take care of me? Wouldn't that put the twins and my chances of survival in even greater danger?"

With these thoughts racing through my mind, I reluctantly came to a single conclusion - for now, I would let him live.

However, I wouldn't let what happened here go unpunished. With determination burning in my soul, I maintained my grip on Zane's neck with one hand, while using the other to extract the shard of the broken plate from my shoulder, enduring the excruciating pain that accompanied it.

I turned to the twins, forcing a smile to reassure them that I was alright and that I wasn't going anywhere.

Then, I shifted my gaze back to Zane, locking eyes with him as I delivered my chilling words: "Too bad for you. You missed my heart by a longshot, you pathetic mutt. Yet, as I've said before, disobedient dogs need to be trained."

Zane's face turned pale with terror, all the blood draining from his features as he stammered, "Impossible, impossible! I used the emergency nanomachine shot the chief gave me and attacked while you were asleep. This can't be happening!"

A sinister grin spread across my face as I instructed the twins to close their eyes, and block their ears, shielding them from the gruesome sight that was about to unfold.

Once I was certain they had turned away, I proceeded to stab the shard into Zane's shoulder, then his other shoulder, his arms, and his thighs.

Satisfied with my handiwork, I left the shard lodged in his left thigh and hurled him with all my strength towards the steel posts of his bed, where he collided with a sickening thud and lost consciousness.