Chapter Three
The chapter begins with Gabriel in a state of panic and tension from what he saw. He says to himself, "There's no time for fear. It's time for an ordinary person to change this wretched world. I will join Zero Phantom." Gabriel slams the door behind him and leaves the apartment. He takes a late-night cab to meet Rose, whom he had an appointment with today.
Gabriel enters the hospital and finds Rose watching TV with excitement and tension.
Gabriel: "What are you doing, miss?"
Rose: "Watching a horror movie."
Gabriel, mocking her: "I don't like horror films; they don't scare me. This isn't real horror."
Rose: "Have you heard of psychological horror before?"
Gabriel: "Yes, I used to read novels at that cursed school by H.P. Lovecraft."
Rose: "What do you think of him?"
Gabriel: "I feel the experience would be different if you tried it yourself. That tension, confusion, anger, and bewilderment always lead me to ask: What does a human fear? Do they fear death, being attacked, a threat to their lives, or do they fear the unknown, confusion, the internal struggle, madness, or the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy? What we all fear, Rose, is our unknown fate."
Rose laughs and says, "I think I'm more afraid of your philosophy."
She then asks, "Have you thought about what I told you?"
Gabriel: "Yes, I've made my decision. I will join Zero Phantom."
Rose: "Alright, I will send you the coordinates and the location through the encrypted chat app we're using."
Gabriel: "How much do you want, leader?"
Rose: "Go now, and don't worry about me. My friend will come to pick me up."
Gabriel returns to his apartment and falls into a deep sleep. The next morning, he heads to the location Rose sent him, only to find it's an empty lot with nothing there. The ground beneath Gabriel cracks open, as if he was standing over a giant door. Two huge men emerge from the earth and place a cloth soaked in a sedative on Gabriel's face. He faints.
Gabriel wakes up to find himself in a meeting with the members of the organization.
Eva, the deputy leader of the organization: "Welcome. You must be Rose's spoiled boy. I'm Eva, the deputy leader here."
Gabriel: "Rose has told me about you."
All of Zero Phantom's members wear black cloaks and masks to hide their identities, except for Eva, whose face is exposed.
Gabriel: "So after all these assassinations of journalists and famous political figures, I want to know what your goal is with all this."
Eva: "To understand our goal, you need to hear the plan. Today, we will plan the assassination of the American Minister, Howard Phillips, during his visit to the main building in 8 days."
Gabriel: "You all truly are crazy. Why this minister?"
Eva: "Because this minister is the link to the devilish Chevchenkov family, one of the seven families that rule our world. Howard Phillips is just a puppet in the hands of Chevchenkov, allowing them to push their ideas and agendas into American society."
Gabriel: "Seems like you really hate your family. But what makes the rest of your comrades hate them?"
Eva: "I have no ties to those devilish dogs anymore. Well, remember how there were around 200 similar schools to the one you were in, all over the world, with the same idea? Everyone in this organization are students of those schools, who discovered the secret, just like you. Now, cowboy, if you're not going to interrupt me, I'll start explaining the plan. There's a tower near the political building's garden. I'll be the sniper, you will hack the phones of the American guards while they are in the restroom, and Rose will hack the phones of the New Zealand president's guards while they're inside. We'll send them orders to wait briefly inside the building. We'll shut the entire main building down, declaring an emergency, and we'll hold the guards hostage. The alarms will go off, and the place will be in chaos. During this chaos, we'll blow up all the cars in front of the building and a few empty houses. Then the target will be alone. I'll shoot him in the skull and we'll escape disguised so no one notices us."
Gabriel: "That's not a bad plan. Is it yours?"
Eva: "No, it's the leader of the organization, the hacker Avery."
Gabriel: "So you don't know anything about the man?"
Eva: "No, but he's clever and has this terrifying tone in his voice. Actually, he speaks with me in his true voice and discusses many topics. He's insane and scary, like a serial killer."
Then Eva said in a stern tone: "Anyway, gentlemen, this meeting is over. Get ready for the big challenge in eight days."
Everyone shouted with enthusiasm and raised their glasses high, as if celebrating a coming victory. Their voices echoed, while Gabriel sat silently, lost in thought.
Gabriel returned home, but as he reached a street near his house, he asked the bus driver to drop him off. He wanted to walk for a bit, perhaps to calm his nerves after the intense meeting.
But as soon as he started walking, something strange happened. The ground beneath him started to shake, as if an earthquake was happening. Suddenly, the air filled with thick green mist, terrifying, seeping from everywhere. Shadows moved as if they were living creatures, and the air became thick as lead.
As Gabriel staggered forward, masses of corpses began to appear through the mist. Some were nailed in place, as if tortured to death, while others moved unnaturally, like a cursed funeral procession. These corpses weren't human anymore. Some were so mutilated that their flesh was torn apart, exposing their skeletal frames, and their faces were lifeless, yet they moved slowly.
There were even more horrifying corpses; some had melted flesh, while others had no heads or arms. The sight was extremely bloody, and Gabriel struggled to look away from those grotesque details. Their rotting flesh, severed limbs, and exposed bones made the scene feel like a sick nightmare.
But what was most terrifying was that these corpses moved in unison, as if they were a cursed musical band, repeating one word in Greek: "Σὺ αἴτιος"
Gabriel froze in place, his body trembling as though he had lost control of it. He couldn't understand what was happening, but he was paralyzed by fear. As those corpses drew closer, he felt as though his breath was being sucked out of his chest. Suddenly, he woke up, gasping for air, drenched in sweat. He realized it had been a nightmare, or so he thought.
But the feeling of reality was different. He opened his eyes to find himself in a strange alley. His clothes, especially his jacket, were soaked with blood. His face and shoes were stained with dry blood. He tried to comprehend the situation, but he didn't understand anything.
He slowly got up, his eyes nervously scanning the place. He headed for the nearest water source, washing his face violently, as if trying to wake up from a nightmare. He took off his jacket and threw it in the nearest trash can, as though getting rid of it would erase the traces of what had happened.
He stood there for a moment, stunned and scared, whispering to himself: "Is this another nightmare? Or is this real?"
As he walked with trembling steps, he heard screams and cries coming from nearby. His heart raced, and he quickly moved toward the source of the sounds. There, he found ambulances and police cars, with red and blue lights cutting through the darkness, while paramedics were carrying disfigured bodies into the ambulances.
He got closer to the scene and discovered that the apartment from which the incident originated resembled a crime scene from hell. The bodies were scattered everywhere, with parts of bodies thrown around as though a monster had attacked the place.
In the center of the room, there was the body of a small girl, her head split in half, and the body of an adult man completely torn apart. The intestines were scattered, and the internal organs were thrown around as though they had exploded. Blood stains covered every inch of the room, and the walls were painted red.
But the most horrifying sight was the body of a woman; her reproductive organs had been cut off, and her eyes were missing, as though they had been violently gouged out. Every corner of the apartment bore the marks of absolute torture, as if the very demons of hell had passed through.
Detective Thompson stood in the middle of this bloody hell and said in a trembling voice: "What in God's name happened here? Did a pack of leopards attack them? Or what?"
One of the officers standing next to him replied in a tense voice: "Sir, this brutality can only come from a human... no beast could do this."
Outside, Gabriel stood close to the crowd, shocked by what he saw. He couldn't understand what was going on, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering: "Who is the human monster that could do this?"
His thoughts were interrupted by two old women talking nearby: The first one: "Could it be the Soul Reaper again?" The second one: "Damn him! Wherever he is, let him ride straight to hell!"
As the second woman finished her words, Gabriel decided to leave the scene. He didn't want to stay there and risk being seen by the police. Gabriel returned to his home home,
Gabriele couldn't sleep that night. He felt as if the very heavens were declaring war on the earth. The rain poured down in torrents, relentless and unending, as if the clouds were unleashing their fury. Lightning cleaved the sky, splitting it with blinding white light, followed by thunder that roared like an angry beast, shaking the entire neighbourhood and rattling the windows as though they might shatter. Yet, despite all this, the storm was not what troubled him most.
Gabriele sat in the corner of the room, pressing his head against the cold wall. His body shivered, as though the chill had seeped into his bones. He began to whisper to himself, his voice laden with distress and fear:
"What is happening to me? Have I gone mad? How am I seeing all these hallucinations? Or were they truly hallucinations?!"
He raised his trembling hands to his head and pressed them hard, as if trying to stop the flood of thoughts that were drowning him. He muttered in a hoarse voice:
"What about that demon pirate? And those horrifying corpses walking in that cursed alley? What... is happening to me?!"
Gabriele's voice grew louder, as if his screams were a reflection of his inner turmoil. He began gasping for breath, his eyes scanning the room as if searching for some explanation or way out. He spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, almost choking:
"What happened to me?! How did I wake up in that alley where that massacre took place? And why was my clothing covered in blood when I wasn't even wounded? This... this is impossible... impossible!"
He repeated the word as if trying to convince himself he wasn't losing his mind, but the echo of his words in the empty room only heightened his tension. Sweat began to pour from his forehead, and his entire body trembled as if stricken by a fierce fever. It felt as though he had wandered for days in a valley of death, surrounded by darkness and fear.
After long, agonising moments of silence, Gabriele stumbled to his feet, then collapsed onto his bed. His body felt as though it were carrying the weight of the entire world. He closed his eyes, trying to summon the image of his devout Catholic mother. She had always been his refuge in moments like this. Slowly, he began to recite the prayers she had taught him as a child, murmuring them slowly as though pleading for peace and tranquillity.
With each prayer he uttered, his heart calmed a little, until at last, exhaustion claimed him, even though his dreams were far from peaceful.
When the sun rose, it marked the day of the great operation. Gabriele awoke with a heavy heart, determined to go forward despite everything he had endured. He set off towards the headquarters where the team awaited him.
Everyone piled into darkened cars, equipped with advanced camouflage systems, as if part of some grand secret conspiracy. Inside the cars, the atmosphere was charged with tension and anticipation. As the vehicles made their way through the streets, Gabriele couldn't help but wonder to himself:
"Who's funding this organisation? Who has these resources that seem endless?"
They finally arrived at the designated location. The air was thick with anticipation, and each member of the team readied themselves for the next step.
On the seventh floor of the unfinished concrete building, Gabriele and Rose took their positions, while Eva was positioned above. The building seemed like an empty shell, filled only with shadows that danced with the wind.
In the garden, the president and the minister sat comfortably, sipping coffee, completely unaware of the disaster that was drawing near.
Eva signalled the beginning. Rose immediately began hacking into the phones of the New Zealand soldiers. Her fingers moved swiftly and precisely across the keypad, as though playing a complex technological symphony. After a few minutes, Rose succeeded in disabling their systems, forcing them to stay inside.
Meanwhile, Gabriele was suffering from a severe headache. He felt pulsations of pain, as though a hammer was repeatedly striking his skull. He tried to focus on the hack, but the pain clouded his thoughts. Nevertheless, thanks to his sharp intellect, he eventually managed to breach the American guards' systems.
The operation began as planned. Explosions began to ring out, one after another, each explosion sending shockwaves through the air. The deafening hum filled the atmosphere, and thick smoke clouded the area.
Amidst the chaos, Eva fired a single shot. It was a perfect hit, piercing the minister's skull, causing him to collapse, lifeless.
As for Gabriele, the dizziness intensified with every passing moment. Suddenly, he felt something tightening around his neck. He turned to find a little girl, her features grotesquely disfigured and her head shattered completely, blood pouring from her body.
The girl effortlessly lifted his body as though he were a mere doll, then slammed him to the ground with a brutal force. Gabriele felt excruciating pain as it tore through every bone in his body. As he struggled to gather himself, the ghost of Mason appeared. Mason was surrounded by an aura of dense shadows, his eyes glowing like hellfire.
The ghost approached him and spoke in a chilling voice, as if the words were echoing from the very depths of hell:
"με ἐγκατέλιπες"
The ghost vanished suddenly, leaving Gabriele sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
When Rose found Gabriele, he was lying unconscious. The team had decided to flee, leaving him behind, but Rose refused to leave without him. She shouted angrily:
"I will not leave him here, Eva!"
But Eva responded sharply:
"Come on, Rose, we must leave now!"
Rose refused to comply, lifting Gabriele onto her back, despite his heavy weight. She rushed through the hallways, searching for an escape route, until she stumbled upon an abandoned motorcycle.
She jumped onto the bike, placed Gabriele behind her, and sped away at full throttle, leaving the site of the disaster behind, the smoke from the explosions and the sounds of chaos echoing in the distance.
End of Chapter