The Madness in Healing: Chapter 3 – The Cost of Love

Chapter 3 – The Cost of Love

Making my way through the surgery rooms, I find that it’s untouched. There are no signs of conflict, and there’s not a single body in sight, something that is more concerning to me than seeing bodies. Sure enough, the environment changes, and I see various versions of myself being operated on in the room, most of which are being injected with a black serpent and mutating into grotesque versions of my L’Obscurité form who have legs and arms sticking out of their eyes or mouth, having additional limbs, or additional bodies of themselves attached to one another similar to the human centipede that was created back in the cell block.

They cry out for death, saying, “I’m a failure to God and the city!”

“I should’ve done more to protect my parents!”

“I should’ve become a doctor like they wanted!”

“I should’ve married Darcy earlier!”

“I’m unworthy to be called Lancetto’s best friend, let alone brother.”

“Klinge had the right idea in living a humble life despite his mutations.”

“All I do is kill and torture!”

“These powers are a curse!”

“They can’t change the city!”

" Shut up, shut up, shut up! " I pray the temptations away and see a black serpent manifest from my dark form, hissing at the hallucinations. In the blink of an eye, I realize that the people in the rooms are actually the prison’s workers and prisoners, all of whom seem to be going insane. Some have killed themselves, while others are barely holding on or have completely given in, crying or convulsing on the ground. Bianco appears out of thin air in the observation room, accompanied by my three friends, Lancetto, Darcy, and Klinge, who have ropes around their necks, arms, and legs.

“Are you ready to end this yet?” I ask.

“Not quite, but we’re getting there,” he says.

“What kind of sick challenge do you have for me next?”

“One that’s more of a deal.”

“I’m not making any kind of deal with a devil like you.”

“Oh, it’s not the kind of deal that involves your soul, but it will involve lives, and one that you can benefit from greatly. First is this deal. Let me kill your friends, and everyone in this asylum, including your parents, will be spared, and I’ll turn myself in for your judgment.”

“No deal. Not a chance.”

“Don’t speak so quickly because the second deal is that you take a bullet for each of your friends in your normal form. You won’t be exposing your identity to the people in this room since you’ll be going somewhere else if you accept this deal.”

“Don’t do it!” Lancetto says.

“I’ll die for you instead!” Darcy says.

“Don’t worry about me! I don’t mind dying as long as everyone else lives!” Klinge says.

“Oh, shut up, all of you. It’s going to be fine. He can just turn into his invincible dark hero form after taking a bullet to heal, right? I know you’ve done it before.”

It’s true, but I’m not sure I can endure bullet after bullet, and I’m also not sure if Bianco will shoot me in the head, ensuring that I won’t come back from it. Nevertheless, I have no choice.

“I’ll take a bullet for each of my friends,” I decide.

“Such a selfless hero. Let’s see if you can endure the pain.”

I’m transported to the courtyard outside the asylum, where the garden's grass has grown unnaturally large, and the flowers and plants reach the sky like the many skyscrapers in the city. I revert to my normal form, wearing my usual suit, tie, dressy shirt, pants, and shoes, and walk through the maze I find myself in.

“Lancetto, your best friend, whose family has power in many businesses, areas of government, and religion in Meridian, is one easily susceptible to corruption, and yet, you continue to put your full trust in him. Don’t you think he’ll eventually cave to the threats and bribes that he constantly faces?” Bianco asks in my head.

“He’s my brother and a better brother than my own siblings. He’ll endure everything thrown his way and then some,” I say without hesitation and full confidence.

“Ha…haha! He’s a better brother, you say? What has he done for you besides follow your every command? Don’t you think he follows you out of fear?”

“I don’t, and I don’t need to use my powers to see that. Since we were kids, we played games together and kept each other faithful to our God and families. We’ve indeed sinned, but everyone does, and we always strive to be better.”

“You two are such living saints, aren’t you?”

A shot rings out, and I feel a sudden pinch in my gut. Looking down, I see that I’ve been shot in the stomach. Immediately falling, I don’t let the pain frighten me as I turn into L’Obscurité to heal myself and turn back into my normal self to find that the wound has healed.

“See? You can easily come out on top of this,” Bianco says as the scene shifts to a workhouse where the inmates work off their debts to society. “As for Klinge, why should he matter to you?”

“You heard it in my inner thoughts that you manifested. He’s a hard-working and humble man. I pulled him into my mess of crime fighting because I believed that he should be doing more with his position at the head of his powerful family, and I have a responsibility to protect him, and responsibilities for his actions.”

“He was a lazy man who let criminal dealings happen under his feet. What makes you think that illegal and sinful activities still don’t happen under his mutated nose or that he’s as active in getting rid of corruption as he should be?”

“Because he works hard and is passionate about helping the common worker. He shows me his true heart by example.”

“How about you do the same?”

Another shot rings out, this time, I’m shot in the chest, and again, I fall, transform, heal, and transform back. If I didn’t change as soon as I noticed the injury, that could’ve ended badly. Picking myself up, I continue walking, this time finding myself in a recreational area for the inmates who deal with mental and physical disabilities.

“This is a dirty game you’re playing, Bianco.”

“You’re surviving it. Stop complaining, especially because you only have one last bullet to take and it’s for a special someone. You’re planning on marrying her, aren’t you?”

“I am, and I was going to propose to her tonight. I still have the ring in my pocket.”

“Really? Do you not remember who your first foe was, who inspired many to take the lesson you were trying to teach people, and turned it into chaos? Do you really think she hasn’t wrapped you around her finger with how aggressive she’s been with getting you to love her? Your marriage will likely end as quickly as it begins.”

“She’s changed. I’ve seen it in her soul and actions.”

“Your judgment is clouded by your young heart. You’re under her spell, and she will play you like a puppet.”

“If it is, then may God have mercy on me. It wouldn’t be the first time I prayed for something and got the opposite in return, but I’m going to continue to stay faithful to God and her, regardless.”

“Faithful till death, as some say.”

The last shot rings out, and I feel myself falling back as something hits the center of my forehead. My body feels like a sack of bricks that I no longer have control over. I see that I’m in an observation room with my friends standing over me, all of whom are frantic, and the ropes removed from their necks. Klinge, the humble, mutated man who could never be convinced to dress in anything other than boots, jeans, and a hoodie, looks to be the most upset I’ve ever seen him.

“You can come back from this! You never let anything keep you down, so get up!” he says.

My best friend, my better than a brother, Lancetto, who is always dressed to impress with his top hat, glasses, and fancy suit, looks like a mess as he cries and says, “Come on, brother! Please, God, bring him back!”

Darcy, who is the most upset out of all of them and is crying the most, holds my hand up to her face with her makeup running down from it. I want to hold her face and tell her everything is okay, but the best I can manage are slight jolts of my body and head.

“Please, come back to me, my love. I know you can do it,” she says while kissing my hand.

They keep telling me to do something, but I can’t besides pray. I give my life into your hands as I always have, Lord. Do with it what you will. It’s then that I feel a sudden surge of strength that allows me to turn into L’Obscurité, saving my life. My friends cheer, and Lancetto and Darcy hug me.

“Of course, you were going to survive. A gunshot to the head is how I got my powers,” Bianco says as his voice echoes throughout the asylum through the speakers.

“This game is getting beyond old. Let’s finish this already!” I say.

“We are at the end. Find me in the surveillance room with the two last special people you need to rescue.”

Not wanting to waste time, I tell my friends that I’m off to finish this, and they cheer me on as I leave them. If my parents know that I’m L’Obscurité, then this is going to be difficult. Hopefully, they’ll make this easy so we can settle any disagreements and answer questions after Bianco is dealt with.