Spencer parked the car on the side road and looked around. He looked at Eli and said,
"Are you ready for your first task?"
Eli did not respond and sat there looking ahead. Then suddenly she turned around and stared into Spencer's eyes. His robotic eyes looked at her without blinking. She once again turned her face to the front with a blank face.
"I want you to enter this mansion and go to the basement. Connect all the wires to the power and do not let him find you. Now go."
Eli opened the car door and got down.
"Remember, do not let that fool find out about your presence. I warn you. If he knows that you are there inside the mansion, then I will make sure that you lose your life the next minute."
Spencer's eyes glowed and turned into dark red. Eli looked at him from the corner of her eyes and walked forward.
She walked near the gate and studied the perimeter. The darkness around her did not scare her nor would it terrify her. She was born on a dark night and the most dreadful of all. She was abandoned in a garbage bin to die.
She moved towards the gate and slid herself in between the metal bars without much effort due to her tiny figure. She hid behind the bushes and the huge trees which covered the whole area while creeping towards the mansion.
Hastin woke up after lying on his bed for a long time. Suddenly he felt something weird and looked outside the window. But he did not see anything as it was too dark outside. He climbed down the stairs and walked towards the kitchen.
"Akemi, where is my dinner?.... Oh, no one is here now. I pushed all of them away. I even shut down the server. Thank goodness. Finally, I am free... I am really freeeeee..... from now on, no one, no one can control me. This is my life, I will live my life as I want. I don't have to watch anyone get killed. I don't have any restrictions or anyone to make me do things that I don't like. I am going back to how I lived in the past. With no one around and nothing much to do... and with no excitement..."
Since Akemi was not there, the whole place looked empty. Until she was here, she would be running around taking care of all the work assigned to her by the App. But now… the only human whom he had a little attachment to, is no longer there with him.
He took a deep breath and walked outside. The night sky was gloomy and it looked like it may rain at any time now. Eli almost reached the mansion and when she noticed Hastin, she understood whom Spencer mentioned to her about.
"Where are you Akemi? I hope you are doing well. Do not come back here! It is a horrible place and I better be alone for the rest of my life. I am not going to write anymore. I hate writing! I hate it! I hate you!! I hate you!! I hate you all! Go to hell, everyone... Just die... Die... die..."
Hastin shouted like a lunatic and whirled around. Eli looked at him and hid even more. He walked towards the garage and looked inside. He took his bike and decided to go for a ride. It has been a long time, he had so much free time in hand.
Eli watched him drive his bike around the mansion. She calculated the timing it took for Hastin to take one round. Once he went around, Eli rushed towards the mansion's door. She realized that the door was locked. She tried to open the door using the technique that Logan taught her but the door would just not budge.
The minute she turned around to go back to her hiding place, she saw Hastin coming back. She jumped down on her left side and hid there holding her chest. When Hastin saw something moving around, he thought the App sent Slayer to punish him.
He jumped down from the bike and picked a rock from the sidewalk. He threw it at Eli thinking that it was Slayer. The rock hit Eli's head and rolled away. Eli lifted her hand and touched the part where the rock struck. When she brought her hand in front of her eyes, she saw blood in her hands. She closed her eyes and opened it.
Hastin moved towards the place where he saw the movement awhile ago. He lifted a wooden rod lying on the ground and ploddingly climbed the stairs. Eli crawled towards the garage and hid behind a car.
He opened the door and held it one hand while gripping the rod tightly with the other. He looked around once and the darkness spread across scared him for the first time in his life. The one he was accustomed to from childhood, had now become his most unsettling feeling because of what he experienced in the past few months.
The owl hooted from a faraway tree, that made him jump up in fright and run inside the house. He slammed the door behind him while locking it with shivering hands hurriedly. He looked outside through the small glass opening, there were shades which reflected all the animals he saw when the App took over Akemi's consciousness.
"There is nothing, there is nothing outside. It is all my vivid imagination, nothing can come out of the server, I have shut it down. I have pulled all the wires out. I have…"
All of a sudden he ran towards the basement to check if he had really shut down the servers or not. Once he made sure that it was all dark inside and there was no green or red light reflected around the room, his breathing became normal.
He switched on the light and with the rod, he was holding, he hit the servers with all his strength. The wooden stick broke into pieces but nothing happened to the servers. Not even a scratch could be seen. He threw the stick and walked away to search for the crowbar which Akemi threw at him a few days back.
Eli stood up from where she was hiding and looked around. She gazed at the car collection with an impressive look.
'If I could sell all these cars, then I can consider myself well settled. I do not have to pretend or even try to mingle with anyone. I do not have to fight, just to fill my stomach once a day. What if I kill the person who lives in this mansion and steals all the valuable things inside his home? Wait, the guy who dropped me in front of the mansion looked dangerous. But why did he wants me to switch on the servers? What is it in there for him? Should I just listen to him and work for him for a few more days?'
She moved towards the garage door and peeked at the main door of the mansion. She saw Hastin coming back towards the garage. So she rushed away quietly and ran towards the outhouse. Hastin once again felt something moving in front of him. He realized that in frustration, he had broken the wooden stick which he was holding before.
"Who is there? Come on out! If you do not come out right this moment, then I will call the cops."
He waited patiently for a few minutes but did not get any response. He walked forward a little more and noticed that his garage door was left open. The crowbar was lying in the middle of the garage, he went towards it and picked it up.
He then started to walk towards the outhouse. Eli saw Hastin coming towards the outhouse. To not get caught, she started to run towards the dark forest.
"If you do not come out now, then I would really call the cops. I am not joking. I have a good connection with those people. I will count one to three, if you do not show yourself then if I catch you, I will throw you to my pet, Tegus for his dinner." He shouted and walked with unhurried steps towards the outhouse.
"One... Two... Three..."
"I am warning you for one last time, if you really do not come out this second then I am getting my pet out. He is a giant lizard who is capable of devouring you and you would not even realize what hit you. I also have a giant snake that could just swallow you whole within a few seconds. So do not think you could escape from my eyes, just because this place is vast. Come on, do not waste my precious time."
Hastin spoke and walked towards the outhouse. He opened it and lifted his weapon up. A bunny jumped up and it frightened him. He hit the bunny with the crowbar nonstop until the poor soul left its body. By the time he realized what he had done, it was too late.
"I am sorry, I am really sorry. I thought it was something else. I am so sorry… sorry… sorry… He hugged the bunny that was covered in blood and cried.
Suddenly he saw the bunny flared its sharp teeth at him. He dropped the lifeless body down and fell back. He wiped his face with the hands and looked at the bunny once again. It just laid there lifeless without moving. He shook his head and stood up. He brought a garbage bag and dumped the body into it. Slowly he walked towards the dark forest.
He dug a hole and buried the dead bunny. A small figure watched all this from behind a huge tree without any emotion. The figure walked further into the dark forest without realizing the secrets it holds.
"Rest well, bunny. I am really sorry." Hastin murmured and walked towards the mansion.
The hunger he felt before had now disappeared and with a heavy heart, he walked unsteadily as if he was the one who died and not the bunny.