The rain was coming down in sheets, pounding against the dilapidated building with unrelenting fury. The structure itself looked as though it could barely withstand the onslaught, with creaking boards and missing shingles.
Despite the weather, a group of ten people was sprinting towards the building, their clothes soaked through and their faces etched with exhaustion.
As they reached the building, one of them stumbled and fell, grabbing hold of a rusted metal railing to steady himself.
"Be careful. We're almost there" Robert said as he helped him up, and they hurried towards the entrance, which was barely visible in the gloom.
Robert pushed his way through the heavy wooden door, which groaned in protest at the forces, and found themselves in a dark and dank entrance hall. Water dripped from the ceiling and pooled on the cracked tiles below.
"Get the flashlight," said a man in a low voice.
Quickly, a young man fumbled for a flashlight with a trembling hand, and when he found it. He shone it around the room, revealing peeling wallpaper and a staircase that led downward.
"That's it!" Robert echoed in excitement.
Hearing this, a gloomy expression appeared on Mack's face. The world around him turned eerie and quiet; he felt abandoned and alone.
His chest rose and fell as he was consumed by anger and envy toward his friends. He couldn't help but compare himself to them, their success and achievement only fueled his frustration.
'Why can't I be like them.' He mused. He knew he had potential but something was holding him back. The anger inside him began to boil as he looked at Robert's proud smile and was suffocating.
"I deserve better than…. Previously, it was Justin and Susan… and now. You…" A sharp glint appeared deep in his eyes as he looked at Robert.
He knew he needed to take control of his life and make things happen, but envy kept holding him back. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down, hoping to find a way to overcome his negative emotions.
However, when he laid his eyes on Robert and the respectful look directed at him. The slight traces of humanity in him disappeared into thin smoke.
Unknown to others, the Mack they knew was changing as his anger and jealousy consumed him, and he found a new source of power. With each passing second, the power grew in his mind, and his thoughts became more twisted and sinister until he was no longer the man he once was.
The darkness within him had taken hold, and he embraced it willingly, reveling in the fear it would enact.
"Let's get inside. There is a safe house below." Robert said without noticing Mack's bizarre change.
Just then, something unimaginable happened. As the group prepared to follow Robert into the hidden passage, a silhouette moved at breathtaking speed and appeared before a woman.
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
The woman convulsed in agony as her body withered away, her flesh melting into bone. The man before her stood unflinching, his eyes glowing with a sickly green light as he drained her life force.
She only screamed for a moment before her voice turned weak and hoarse. Her eyes locked with his, filled with a mix of fear and hatred as she realized too late who her attacker was.
Hearing the sudden scream that only lasted for a moment, the group halted on their track and turned. And behold…
They saw one of their own lying lifeless on the ground turning into a pile of bones and standing beside her was the killer. Mack.
Seeing this, they looked at each other in shock and confusion, the shock and sorrow of what just happened had left them all reeling.
"You…you killed her," one of them whispered, barely able to speak.
Mack didn't say anything. He just stood there, his expression unreadable.
Robert and the others didn't know what to do. They had trusted Mack with their lives, and now he had betrayed them. It was a betrayal that cut deep, leaving them all feeling vulnerable and exposed.
Robert stood rooted on the spot. He was the most affected of the group. He had trusted his best friend, Mark, with his life, and now, he had been betrayed.
The memories of their time together flashed in his mind like a movie, making his heart ache with pain and longing for the past.
He couldn't help but wonder where he had gone wrong. Was it something he had done that made Mark betray him? Did he not see the signs? He thought back to their conversation, trying to find any hints of deceit, but found none.
But wait!
The more he thought about it, the more he felt foolish for not seeing it coming until now. He had been so blind, so naive to think that their bond was unbreakable. He had let his guard down since they planned to start a new beginning together, and now he was paying the price for his foolishness.
"I… I can't say I never see that coming,' said Robert with a breaking voice as he tried to maintain a stable posture.
His chest rose and fell as he took a step forward. "Since the beginning, you want everything to be about you… but when it's not… You turn them into an enemy."
The more he talked the more he hated himself for his foolishness. Why would I believe Justin and Susan were tyrannical and bad people without trying to know them and how people feel about them?
What of William? Is he also a bad person?
The realization dawned on him as he realized he was merely being played by Mack and his thirst to rule people like Susan or Isla made him ignore the obvious.
"Although I realize this late. I won't let you continue spreading your bad seeds. This ends now." His voice raises an octave.
His eyes were blazed with fury, twisted into a contorted mask of rage. His muscles tensed as he balled them into fists, nails digging into his palm. Breathing heavily, he struggled to contain the boiling anger that threatened to consume him.
The room around them seemed to pulse with their seething emotions, and the air crackled with a charged energy.
Mark looked at the furious Robert and his men with a playful evil smile on his face. Previously, he was weak and dependent on them to achieve his goal. But now, everything changes with his new ability— Energy drain.
