Ima screamed, shocked, finding himself tied to the chair once again. It was exactly as he expected: he was trapped in a loop.
This confirms my suspicions. It seems I can't die… Barry's words echoed again like a death sentence, but Ima paid them no mind. It's happened twice now since this excuse for a kidnapper caused my death… The only possible deduction… I only return right to the moment I am in the middle of a decision. I can't confirm it with just a couple of resets, but I'm certain I only come back during or after a "Significant Decision." Ima stared at Barry and Vanesa, his eyes wide with the lingering shock of having shot himself.
"Four!"
If it only happens during a decision like that, it would explain why I returned right before dying after my stupid declaration. Ima looked at Vanesa; she was crying, her lip trembling. He immediately snapped back to the reality of the situation.
"Me… Take me," he accepted wearily.
What do I do now? If I try to count the time, the pain of the torture might make me lose track. If I try to play the card about his father, he might catch me in another lie if he asks something specific… I can't challenge him, I can't see his stats. Will I really have to die indefinitely until I find a way out? Ima shuddered as he felt the cold metal of the soldering iron against his leg. He began to shake his hands in frustration, feeling the burn of the ropes. I have to try… I can't let him hurt Vanesa. Anything could be useful to distract him.
"I know about your father's letter!" The frenzy in Ima's voice even caused Vanesa's sobbing to stop.
Barry held the cable of the iron in his hand, waiting. Once again, he showed the same childlike impression from the previous loop.
"How do you know?" Barry's lip began to tremble.
Good, it worked again. That confirms there are no changes in people after a loop, he thought. His racing heart betrayed his anguish.
"F-from the letter…"
"That's impossible. No one but me read the—"
"I know. But I also know your father isn't here now…" Ima interrupted, bowing his head. Barry's eyes regained a childlike glint that went unnoticed by everyone else. "I… I know you think this was my fault…"
Ima expected Barry to explode at his lie, but he didn't. He placed the cable of the iron on the table and, leaning his weight on his hands, tilted his body forward.
"It is your fault… If you…"
"Why did you hit me that time?" Ima interrupted, watching Barry clench his fists.
Barry didn't answer. He remained in the same position, clearly dissociating. Even from her spot on the floor, Vanesa could see his eyelids trembling.
I've used everything I know so far. If this heads toward another specific point… I'll die again. Ima looked directly at the stairs, into the darkness, remembering the two previous occasions. I can't think of a way to free Vanesa and myself safely. Even if the agents arrive, Barry will likely threaten to kill one of us again, leading to a shootout… I can only trust in how well I can mix lies and the truth. Ima ground his teeth.
"I know you must feel devastated…" Barry turned to Ima. "You want revenge on me because all of this happened because of that report, right?" Ima made sure his facial muscles were convincing enough to express anguish. "That wasn't my fault… I would have never dared to report you."
"What are you saying? Never?" Barry's eyes widened.
"Yes… When I found out what happened to you and what Teacher Alexandra had done, the guilt weighed too heavily on me." The sincerity in Ima's tone made Barry press his lips together. "No one let me decide how to proceed." Ima sat as straight as he could in the chair. "If this had been my decision, I would have forgiven you… I'm sorry, Barry."
Barry felt his heart and mind throb, memories flooding back. As he tried to find a comfortable position again, Ima managed to knock the iron off his leg and onto the floor. The sound sent a strange chill through him. Vanesa whimpered weakly. It was as if the simple echo of metal against the floor was an ill omen.
The sound snapped Barry back. Seeing the iron on the floor, he shook his head as if clearing it.
"I understand what you're saying, Ima… But unfortunately, I can't stop now. They must be on their way, already speculating about my sentence." Barry weakly picked up the bat from the table. "I can't waste this. I can't, I can't, I can't…!"
Extreme pain flooded Ima. Without waiting for things to return to the morbid normalcy of the torture, he received a precise blow to the wrist. Once again, Barry had shattered it.
Once again, everything followed the same path as the previous times. Vanesa was in total shock, her body spasming as she cried and tried to claw at her ropes, wounding her own wrists and ankles. Barry, though now occasionally letting out a whimper of his own, continued his role as the perpetrator. Ima clumsily tried to endure a pain that even his abilities couldn't lessen.
"You know, Ima? I actually envy you." With what little strength he had left in his face after the repeated blows, Ima noticed the silhouette of the "system" notification. "When I watched you at school, it seemed like none of the comments they made about you and your strange, repulsive geek personality affected you." Barry scowled. "I envied that you could be so serene through it all… Maybe it's because, well… you and I grew up in different worlds. It's even incredible to me that you had parents who never dared to question the kind of person you were… And here I am, fighting just so Dad…"
Barry stopped, listening to himself. He didn't know what had caused his mouth to suddenly express the thoughts he kept locked away.
"I've fallen again…" Barry made an erratic movement, picking up a razor blade. "All my life I lived with determination, Ima. I had to act the way you knew me at school; otherwise, how was my father supposed to appreciate what I did? How was I supposed to become a powerful man one day?" Barry grabbed Ima by the hair, tilting his head back. With the razor, he tore through his clothes to expose his torso. "Determined?" He laughed. "Unlike you… No, I never had another choice. I always had to act this way." Barry made the first deep cut with the razor into Ima's left pectoral. "If this had been my decision from the beginning; if I had the same freedom you enjoy, maybe I would have acted differently, too."
Barry dropped the razor once he finished carving a smiley face into Ima's chest. He seemed impressed by the dynamism of his work, complemented by the flowing blood.
It seems this will be the only way to avoid dying… I suspected the torture would be inevitable. Ima looked at Vanesa with great difficulty. I just hope everything turns out right… This time, I won't let the pain separate from me. If I must be the only target… let the pain fall on me!
Once again, the sound from upstairs made itself known, and everything repeated like the last few times. Ima, now aware that he had a couple of minutes before Barry came back down, addressed Vanesa with considerable effort:
"Vanesa… I need you to come to my side. It's the police; they'll be here soon, and Barry will probably try to threaten them by saying he'll kill us." Vanesa shuddered at his words. "I need you to be ready."
If I have her repeat the same thing she did in the first loop, I might be able to make Barry lose the gun and get him arrested. I just need to make sure she bites at the exact right moment, Ima thought, while Vanesa crawled toward him like a worm.
Vanesa couldn't speak; the shock and the torrent of tears she had shed during the torture she witnessed seemed to have drowned her words entirely, but she could still follow what Ima was saying.
"Good. Forgive me for exposing you to this," he whispered once she was at his side, her face looking inhuman from the trauma. "I need you to watch my feet. When I move one of them, you must bite Barry. Don't worry about me. I'm sure we can get out of here once he's caught…"
Before Ima could ensure Vanesa was fully conscious of the plan, the stairs thundered, and Barry's figure was cast out of the shadows toward them. Gun in hand, he pointed it directly at Ima's head. When the agents arrived, there were a few seconds of arguing. When that detective finally emerged from the group, Ima began to move his bound feet, extremely anxious for Vanesa to notice and not be too afraid.
In a fraction of a second, Barry's scream marked the end Ima had hoped for. Feeling the bite, he reflexively pulled the gun away from Ima's head. The agents didn't hesitate, firing directly at his hand to disarm him. As fear flooded Barry at the sight of the agents rushing him, he lunged for the razor he had dropped earlier, intending to drive it into Ima's neck to finish him. Barry didn't expect the agents to fire again without hesitation. In response, Ima, with a phenomenal effort despite the extreme pain of his broken wrist, lunged forward to cover Vanesa with his body and the chair. Even so, he couldn't prevent her from witnessing Barry's imminent fall. Seeing him hit the floor dead, his wide eyes staring at nothing, Vanesa finally let out a piercing scream.
"All units, the kidnapper has been neutralized! Send in the medical units!" the detective shouted into his radio.
Barry saw flashes of memories in his mind as an intense heat rushed through his body. The darkness of the room grew around him—or at least, that's how he saw it.
"You did it, Ima…" Barry's weak voice made Ima tremble as he lay on the floor. "You won…"
"Barry…" Ima was surprised he was still conscious. His tone was filled with disbelief.
"I… I'm going to die…" Barry's voice sounded guttural, a clear sign of the blood rising in his throat. "Ima… I hate you."
Barry's bulging eyes finally seemed to relax, but they still held the sharp gaze that Ima would never forget. Barry had died in that place.
Once Ima was helped by the agents, he became aware of his situation again. Seeing Barry's body being inspected by the officers, he let out a sound like someone drowning, gasping for air. A powerful throb of pain struck his entire body.
During the rescue, both Ima and Vanesa fell unconscious: Vanesa from the uncontrollable shock of witnessing the torture and the death of another person, and Ima from the crushing realization that he had caused someone's death.
END OF THE FIRST ARC