With a final glance back towards Luke, the child walks away with a devious smile plastered on his face before vanishing from Luke's view. As Luke looks onward, his vision darkens and becomes blurry as he finds himself still sitting down next to Caroline. "Why am I having so many of those weird dreams lately?" Luke mutters out loud as he shakes his head in disbelief. Standing up from his seat, Luke thinks about what he had seen inside the dream world and tries to wrap his mind around what had happened. After all, not everything was just a dream. It was real. And if the decrepit child was right, then he couldn't just leave things up to Jeremy. But what could he do to help? It wasn't like he could just hop on and start hacking away at the system. That would be asking too much of someone like him who had no clue what was even happening. He was a total novice when it came to handling anything that complex on a computer. If it was physical work, then he would be able to figure it out no
Why Would his father want him to ruin his own children's image, and why did he need him to do it? Was his father truly that heartless? Was he really that cold? Whatever the case was, Luke felt that he needed to put a stop to it right now. His anger grew with each passing moment and soon enough he reached inside of his car for the still loaded gun. He figured that it wouldn't hurt to take it along with him just in case. It was likely that he would be met with force if he was spotted within the premises. And if that was the case, He would need something to fall back on if there were no other choices. With his car parked in such a discreet area that no one would notice if someone were to pass by. Luke makes his approach towards the large property. Slipping past the unaware gaze of the guards, Luke makes his way towards the backside of the home. He was hoping to enter the home in the same manner as last time. Unfortunately, there was no way that it would be possible. The window was shut
Luke acts quickly and grabs whatever was available to block the door. Although he locked it when he came in, He wasn't sure how long it would last if the guards chose to use force. *Bang Bang* A guard slams his fist into the door from the opposite side, while shouting for him to let him in. "Open this damn door before we have to kick it down." Another guard yells back as his partner continues to pound away at the door with his fists. "Come on guys. Give me a fucking break here." Luke thinks as he turns to look at the window behind him. He wasn't privy to the idea of leaping from the top floor of the manor but there weren't many other options at this point. If he wanted to escape alive, he would need to go with his gut feelings on this one. And with the sound of wood cracking and breaking under the guards pressure, he needed to get going right away. With a deep breath, Luke prepares himself for action as he reaches over to unlatch the window frame and pushes it wide open. He climb
Luke found himself in a large White walled room reminiscent of a hospital. He stood up and took a good look around, seeing that there was nothing here but a few different doorways that seemed to lead deeper into the facility. Luke felt as though he could hear the faintest sound of voices coming from the nearest doorway. He figured that he should take a look around and see if he could track down the source of the voices. It would also lead him closer to his destination. Luke's footsteps echoed off of the white walls as he walked through the barren hallway. He had expected for there to be at least someone else besides him around, but everything was eerily quiet aside from the faint noises he could hear from afar. Carefully making his way past each doorway, Luke continued down the hall, listening closely for any suspicious sounds that might betray where his targets were located. Eventually, Luke arrives at the end of the hall where he finds one final doorway. After hearing voices from
Sitting behind a large monitor was Luke's own father. The one who had also been preventing him from removing the system that was implanted into him. He watched as his youngest son approached. The old man chuckled lightly before waving a finger in front of Luke's face to bring him closer. Luke could feel him staring at him intently from beneath thick eyelashes as he approached towards the monitor. "Hello, Father." Luke states in a low tone while maintaining a strong stare with his eyes. The man's lips turned up in a slight grin as he leaned back in his chair and rested his hands upon his desk. "Well well, if it isn't the little disappointment. How is my favorite little errand boy today?" The man asked with a warm voice. Luke couldn't help but frown at the title 'errand boy' given to him by his father. especially after all he had been put through by him. "Why did you do all of this?" Luke demanded as he pointed the weapon at his father. "Because I had to, dear son." His father repli
"You don't want to do this." Luke muttered with his fist clenched, staring deeply into his fathers eyes. "You've been using me for my whole life. You don't need me anymore and I don't need you. I refuse to be a part of whatever it is that you are planning." "It's a bit too late to share your opinion on this matter, don't you think? If you would have just listened to me and followed the path I set for you, we could have avoided all of this." He spoke before reaching out and grabbing Luke's neck in a firm grip. "And I'll tell you once more... If you choose to defy my authority, then you will die." The man growled as he tightened his grip on Luke's throat. Luke was in complete shock as the old man grabbed him by the throat and squeezed hard. He tried desperately to push up against the hand, squeezing him with all his might and was surprised when his own strength caused the man holding him to respond with even greater force. "You seem surprised." Jameson whispered into Luke's ear. "Do
With one last look at his father, Luke walked away from the room and quickly made his way back to where he had left Ella and Aria. After everything that he had been through, he just wanted to go home and lay in bed and forget about all of this nonsense. And maybe he could get some good rest without his nighttime invader getting on his case. He could already feel the exhaustion in his limbs as he hurried over to where the two girls were waiting patiently for him outside of the main room. "Took you long enough. We have been sitting here for hours." Aria spoke up as she stood up with her hands on her hips in irritation. She looked like someone had taken her favorite toy away. "I swear you are slower than a turtle on its back." Luke chuckled before looking up at her and smiling as he patted her on her back lightly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I just lost track of time." He responded as his eyes shifted over to where Ella was standing. "What about you? Are you ready to go home?" E
Arriving outside the old farmhouse, Luke stopped his car on the gravel driveway and got out to open up the door for his two companions who were waiting behind him in the passenger seat. Once Ella and Aria were out of the vehicle, Luke made sure to shut the door tightly and locked it as he stepped aside for them to pass him by and make their way towards the front entrance of the farmhouse. Taking a moment to take in the rusted and dilapidated farmhouse ahead of them, both Ella and Aria looked over to Luke in disbelief. The building appeared to be in much worse shape than they were expecting after having driven so far out of town. They had expected something a bit more vintage but definitely nothing as bad as this. It was almost as if the entire farmhouse was built out of scrap metal and old wood with a rusty exterior finish. The structure looked more like an abandoned barn than a proper home. "Well well, isn't this just lovely." Ella commented sarcastically as she tilted her head an
The passenger side door swings open to reveal A thin passenger with long hair tied up into a ponytail. He was dressed casually in a white collared shirt and black slacks. "Welcome back brother. You made quite the entrance I must say." Jonathan said with a smile from within the vehicle. "So how was your vacation?" Luke looked at his brother with disdain, "What are you doing here!? Why did you have to show up now!?" He growls angrily. "That's a silly question. I'm just here to pick up my brother and his companion." His older brother explained, "why don't you have a seat so that we can catch up. It's about time that we have a talk." Jonathan suggests with a grin while gesturing with his hand out towards the passenger seat. "Don't get your hopes up. I wouldn't ride in the same space as you if you paid me to." Luke retorted coldly. "How about you run on home and wait for me to tear you down, just like I did with Marilyn." Luke tells him with a scowl. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I don
Luke watched on in shame at the mess taking place in front of him. The room was already cluttered as is with the bodies of the guests scattered about, but now Ella and Le were making an even bigger mess of things. And all over a single bottle of liquor. "Haha, your going to have to try harder if you want to catch me." Ella remarked as she kept away from Lee while holding on to the bottle loosely in her hands. "You think you're funny!?" Lee huffed in frustration as he attempted to tackle her but she effortlessly dodged him and quickly disappeared behind the bar. "Ha Ha Ha! Very cute Lee." She taunted him as she tipped the bottle upside down, allowing the liquid to flow down into two glasses. She handed one of them to him with an amused look before downing her own glass in an instant. "Hey! You can't just drink it like that! It's not a shot!" He said while pointing his finger accusingly at her. "Oh yeah? Well I don't have any patience today so I'm going to just drink it however I d
A week and a half passes and Luke, Ella and Lee are now able to see land. It wouldn't be long now until they were back on solid ground. "Ahhh, Doesn't it just look so nice?" Ella exclaimed joyfully while looking out the transparent plane covering their room. Her eyes were fixated on the land as if it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Luke couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, but he also found it somewhat amusing seeing her this way given how much she had been through recently. "When I get back I'm going to take a nice long bath with extra bubbles and candles. Maybe even light some incense while I soak under the starry sky. Then I'll get out and dry off slowly while laying out by a pool somewhere in the desert with an ice cold beer in my hand." Ella continued on with her fantasy. "What about you half-pint? Are you going to go back to your family to tell them what happened? I'm sure that they would want to know how their youngest son almost died on his business tri
"So how long do you think it will take before we set foot on solid ground again? I'm starting to get a little nauseous." Ella said while looking down at her stomach. "Not too long I hope." Luke replied while staring ahead at the transparent plane covering the room. It's been a little over a week since we set off, so I would guess that it would take around the same time going back" He told her while scanning through different screens on the walls. "At this rate, my boredom is going to kill me before Jonathan can get the chance. I can only sit here so long without going insane." Luke complained with a groan, as he sat down in one of the seats. "I need something to read, or do... anything would be nice" Luke added as he began scanning around the room for any kind of entertainment that might be lying around. Searching the cluttered floor, Luke spotted a few different magazines that were spread open on the ground. grabbing a few of them, Luke tossed one of them over to Ella as he began
Ella follows Luke as he opens the door leading further ahead inside the ship. Covering their eyes to shield themselves from the sudden increase in brightness, The duo enter into the vessels bridge. The sun is raised high in the sky outside, and the warm air from the heat vents makes itself known throughout the ship, creating a strong contrast against the dimly lit interior of the ship. "This thing looks like it's straight out of the 2000's." Ella mumbled aloud as she followed behind Luke, staring down at the small computer consoles on the wall before them and their array of buttons and dials. Luke turned around and nodded while he scanned through the screens and monitors displayed in front of him on the wall. "I hope this isn't as complicated as it looks." He said as he reached out his hand and pressed a few buttons on the panel in front of him, causing the ship's lights to brighten up. "I guess I know what this does now. Hmmm, Let me check on some things real quick." Luke tells her
Turning his back to his sister's unmoving form, Luke walked over to where Ella stood and wrapped his arms around her. Holding her close to him as he tried desperately to hold on to what little sanity he had left. He had acted confident in the moment, but had yet to fully realize what he had just done. Once again, he had managed to find his way back to the path that his brother had set for him. He was finally beginning to take control of his life and destiny and yet, once again he found himself on the verge of losing it all. "What is wrong with me?" Luke whispers into Ella's ear while tightening their embrace. His hands shaking as he attempted to calm himself down, but the thought of what he just did continued to plague his mind and make him panic. "I killed Marilyn. I didn't just kill her, I actually strangled her with these hands. I watched her life leave her body. What the hell have I become?" Luke asks as he tries to calm down and regain his composure. Ella could feel his hands
"Is this what you call fun!" Ella said through gritted teeth as she glared at Marilyn. "Is this truly just one big game to you!" Ella shouted with rage. "You're just picking and choosing who lives and dies because you think you can! Just like those poor kids!" Ella screamed at the woman before her as she bawled her fists and raised them high. Marilyn let out a small laugh at her statement before turning her gaze down to Ella and giving her a smile that was meant to look kind and welcoming but instead gave the girl chills. "Oh, sweetheart! Don't you know that there are more important things than living or dying. Everyone here is doing their part to ensure a brighter future for everyone. Even you." She said as she stood up from her seat. "But you see, I don't have any plans for you today dear. Your time hasn't come just yet. The only one I need is my dear brother. After all, this was set up just for him." She said as she attempted to walk past Ella. But Ella's anger flared up once ag
As the screen fades to black, Luke can hear the sound of heavy machinery above him. Swimming up with his key in hand, Luke pops his head out of the water to find a thin catwalk extending from the wall opposite of the door. It continues to extend until it reaches the door, creating a path for him and Ella to stand on. Although out of reach currently, The water continued to rise which would soon allow them to reach the door if they wanted to escape. With a glance at Ella, Luke can only shake his head as he watches her playing in the water like a child. She's definitely enjoying herself way more than she should have been. Watching Luke play must have truly bored her. Once the water level was high enough, Luke grabbed hold of the catwalk's railing and pulled himself up. After taking a quick look back towards the water, Luke reached his hand out to pull Ella up from below. "Why, thank you kind sir." Ella replied sarcastically as she placed her hand in Luke's grip. The two were now sta
Pushing to finish this game in the next round, Luke raises his head and takes a deep breath, as the water was now high enough to cover his face. Turning to his side to check on Ella, Luke could see her floating away on her back while giving him a thumbs up. He could tell that she was having fun despite the obvious danger approaching. But at least this meant that she trusted him to pull through. Finishing his breath, Luke dives under to see what was happening on his screen. His starting hand turned out to be a 15 made up of a 7 and an 8. Unfortunately, though. It seemed as though player 1's turn was taking much longer than usual. The same thing happened last round, so it wasn't unusual. Luke was just in a bit of a hurry considering his circumstances. Finally taking his turn, Player 1 instantly used the cover option and ended his turn with a Hit. Putting his cards count at three and locking down anyone's ability to manipulate his cards was most likely the best alternative. With playe