Orion rushed down the hallway with Andrea in toe. He felt his lungs burning, and his injuries were plentiful, but he couldn't stop. That thing still had his eye.
The hallway was dark and silent, every footstep echoing into the unknown. Orion felt as though something may jump out at him at any moment. He wouldn't be surprised, his luck was bad enough currently, why not add another monster into the mix?
[NEXT EVENT:45:12]
"God dammit! Where the hell is this thing?!"
"Orion!" Andrea called out. He stopped, turning to face her. She was hunched over by one of the apartment doors, with something on the ground below her. Orion realized with some terror that the door to the apartment was open. He stepped forward slowly, knife in hand.
When he got close enough, he squatted down next to Andrea. He had to squint to see it, but it slowly became clear what he was looking at.
A body.
Orion nearly fell backwards, terror creeping into his heart. Andrea grabbed his wrist. She didn't squeeze or reprimand, but she held it firm. He looked up at her, finding determination in her eyes.
She always managed to stay calm, it was something Orion envied greatly. The stoic boxer and her horrified companion, what a strange pair.
Orion turned back to the body slowly, and an idea took form in his head. He turned the body over so he could see its face. It was a woman, with long blonde hair and a beaded necklace.
And no mouth.
This must be where the Face Stealer had started, as this woman's trial beast. The woman had tried to escape by leaving the apartment, but she was killed on the way out. She left the door open, leaving the Face Stealer to roam freely through the apartment.
She had inadvertently let a monster free to attack the survivors of the tower. Orion couldn't blame her, he had considered escaping too.
But even if she had escaped, there was nowhere to run.
Orion felt a slow fear take form in his heart.
"There's a beast in every single one of these apartments, all of which are probably as strong as the Face Stealer. Am I gonna have to fight them too?"
Orion did his best to bury that fear. He couldn't worry about that right now. He needed to get his eye back. He stood and motioned for Andrea to follow him. As the began to stand, she yelled.
"Orion!"
Cold porcelain struck the back of Orions head, and he felt himself drop his knife as he fell towards the ground.
"I'm really tired of getting hit…"
Orion slammed into the ground, and what remained of his vision blurred. He barely felt the pain this time, but that felt like a bad thing. He was struggling to move, struggling to make sense of what was going on around him.
He heard Andrea struggling, heard porcelain being cracked. He heard a scream. Orion realized that the Face Stealer was no longer interested in taking anything from Andrea, it just wanted her dead.
Orion guessed that it would only take one component from each of its victims. That's why the dead woman still had her eyes and ears, and since the Face Stealer had taken everything it could from Andrea, it had no use for her anymore.
"What a cruel monster…"
Orion was delirious. He needed to focus, he needed to help Andrea. He tried to stand, but his motion was still sluggish. He needed something to help him. A jolt of energy.
Or, Orion realized, a jolt of pain.
Orion reached to his injured side, and pushed his thumb into the still open wound. He screamed out, doubling over as blood seeped through his clothing.
"God I'm so tired of this!"
But it gave him what he needed, he stood up and grabbed the knife that was on the floor. Andrea was in a stalemate with the monster, both in offensive stances, but neither making any moves. It was the perfect situation for Orion to find himself in. A distracted opponent.
He knew if he charged forward, the Face Steaeler would be able to dodge and counter strike. He needed a plan. He thought back to the Shambler, and the water he had used to distract the beast.
A distraction was what Orion really needed. The Face Stealer had panicked when something hit the mark on its back, and Orion planned to take advantage of that.
He reached down to the body beneath him, and ripped off its bead necklace.
"Sorry, need this!"
Orion threw the necklace at the back of the Face Stealer. It collided with the mark on the beasts back. The Face Stealer turned quickly and struck. It found nothing. Orion ducked under its extended arm, knife in hand. He brought the butchers knife up, slamming it into the Face Stealers chest. A large crack burst across the porcelain chest plate.
The Face Stealer panicked. Orion had to dodge a flying knee that would've hit him in the jaw. Orion was still close to the Face Stealer, so he could hit it again…
Orion felt something grab his hair, and pull it back. Orion grunted in pain. His long hair had put him at a disadvantage, and the beast now had a hold of him.
But it had forgotten about Andrea.
CRACK
Andreas fist collided with the back of the Face Stealer, and the chestplate shattered.
Porcelain fell to the ground in shards, and the inner mechanisms of the Face Stealer were revealed. Made of copper, the innards of the beast seemed to made of nearly trivial mechanics. There were no wires, no motherboard, no electronics. It was all springs and pulleys.
The Face Stealer threw Orion to the side, slamming him into a wall. Orion grunted as his head hit the drywall. He still felt lightheaded, and his every movement felt slowed, as though he was trying to fight while under water. He had to fight the desire to sink to the ground. He wanted so badly to sleep.
He heard Andrea grunt. He looked over slowly, seeing blood drip from her nose where the Face Stealer had just hit her. She was still fighting. So Orion must as well. He shuffled away from the wall, and approached the Face Stealer.
It turned slightly, acknowledging his second opponent. The Face Stealer was good, far better at fighting than the Shambler had been. Orion felt his hands shaking. That fear he had felt during his trial, it was clawing through him again.
And yet, he did not feel trapped as he had before. He wanted to fight. Because now, unlike before, he had something to fight for. He was going to make it out of this hell, and he was going to live a better life. He refused to let his existence culminate in dying to a monster. He was worth more than that.
His life was worth more than that. And he would fight to prove it.
Orion charged forward. He knew the Face Stealer would attack, but Orion didn't know whether to expect an assault from above or below. So Orion compensated for both. He ducked to the side right as the beast struck. The Face Stealers leg flew by Orions face. It would've been a perfect shot at Orions throat.
Orion raised his knife and slammed it into the Face Stealers back. He had aimed for a spring that seemed important to the overall structure of the inner mechanism. The spring shattered on impact, sending shrapnel flying through the air. Orion raised his blade to strike again, but something caught his eye.
A key, made from copper, was inserted into a slot in the Face Stealers back.
"A weak spot…"
The Face Stealer ducked forward, putting space between itself and its assaulters. It turned, putting its back- and the key, to the wall.
Orion and Andrea charged forward. Andrea was faster. Her fists were raised to her chin, and a fierce determination filled her eyes. She pulled back a fist, and aimed directly for the beasts face.
And she found nothing.
The Face Stealer ducked beneath her assault, and its fist found Andrea's shin. Porcelain struck bone. Andrea cried out in pain, and she dropped to her knee as her leg was pushed out from beneath her. As she fell, the Face Stealer brought its fist up. It slammed into Andrea's chin with a grotesque cracking noise.
Andrea was silent then, and she fell to the ground. Orion waited for her to stand, yet she did not.
He was alone, against a force far more powerful than himself. The Face Stealer reached down to suffocate Andrea, finishing off his prey. Orion screamed out and dashed forward. He had fallen for the Face Stealers bait.
So enraged, and so desperate to save his comrade, Orion had completely thrown away all defense. The Face Stealer suddenly turned to Orion, and its hand lurched forward.
It grabbed Orion by the throat. Orions momentum was stopped and he grunted as the Face Stealers fingers wrapped around his throat. The Face Stealers other hand grasped Orions head, and the sharp feeling behind his eye had returned.
"No, no!"
Orion bashed at the Face stealers arm with the butt end of his knife over and over again. Cracks formed in the Porcelain, but the Face Stealer only squeezed harder. Orion gasped for air, but none came. He felt his Vision fading.
[NEXT EVENT:38:53]
"No..I'm not..done."
Orion raised a foot and kicked at the beasts chest wildly. Nothing happened at first, but then he struck something. A pulley, he figured. A loud metallic clang echoed through the hallway, and the beast suddenly released him.
Orion fell to the floor, and he gasped for air. He took a long time realizing what had happened to him. But when he did, true horror emerged within him.
"I'm blind…I can't see!"