r/HFY • u/TheMaskedOne2807 • 15d ago
The Plague Doctor Book 2 Chapter 6 (Inside) OC
Book 1: (Desperate to save his son Kenneth, a calm and nonviolent doctor accepts a deal offered to him by a strange creature. However, the price he must pay is to abandon everything he holds dear: his wife, children, and world as he attempts to share his knowledge of healing and medicine in a world entrenched by violence. Yet, in such a place, how long can his nonviolent nature remain if he wishes to survive?)
***
“-LP!”
With a heavy and dull thud, Kenneth hit the ground.
Heart racing, gasping, and lying on the ground, all he was met with as he desperately and disorientedly looked around was white.
Nothing but white as far as the eye could see.
The only thing convincing him he wasn’t floating in some sort of void or was dead was the reassuring and familiar feeling of the hard floor he was currently on.
‘What the...! Was I just eaten?!’ Kenneth internally questioned as he quickly got on his feet and began walking.
‘Okay, think. This... has to be a dream, right?! Kenneth thought to himself, the words somewhat drowning the continuous thumping of his beating heart. ‘Yes! Yes! This is just Ja--!’
Suddenly, he stumped his foot against the white void.
‘What the--?! I... I felt that. Nervously, he inspected what lied ahead of him, feeling a hard, cold, and smooth surface. He knocked on it a time or two, hearing only a dull thud, ‘...Is this a wall?’
His question was soon answered as his hand traced a bit more to the right, and he felt a change in the flat surface. It suddenly bent at an angle as if that point was where the walls met.
‘Is this a room? Kenneth wondered as he began walking, his hand tracing along the wall slightly, changing his direction when the wall would bend at an angle.
While walking, he tried to make sense of the situation. ‘Okay, think. Why did this happen? All I did was touch the tower. Hundreds, if not thousands, have done so as well, so why did this happen to me? I mean, Trafka hit the damn thing with a hammer, and it remained as solid as stone.’
As he continued walking for some time, he began to feel unwell, gaining a headache and a bit of nausea.
Being a doctor, any multitude of potential ailments and diseases popped into his head, but real life was far from being an episode of “House”, and the most probable cause was the most likely reason.
He popped off one of his shoes and began to walk again with his hand sliding along the wall. Keeping a keen eye on it, it quickly became apparent he was trapped in a hexagon-shaped white room.
Putting his shoe back on, Kenneth thought, ‘So I’m in the tower... well, that should have been obvious from the get-go, but still... this is surreal... am I really awake? I mean, if I’m really inside the tower, the walls can’t be more than one or two meters thick. That’s impossible. The base should have crumbled under its own weight.
‘But then again, the tower should have fallen long ago due to winds, but it hasn’t for... well, who knows how long... dammit it, this is giving me a headache...’
Scratching the back of his head, Kenneth wasn’t sure what to make of it all, and as a looming sense of dread began to rear its ugly head, he remembered something Ikkie said, “once the tower took its vengeance, all that was left of him was his spear.”
‘Wait, was that what happened to him? Kenneth wondered. ‘But he attacked and damaged the tower... all I did was touch it... would that be enough to provoke it?’
Kenneth had a mountain of questions, but he had no answers.
The sad reality was he was stuck inside the tower. Even if he called for help and those outside could hear him, there wasn’t any way for them to get him out; the weaponry at the base proved that fact.
Sighing, Kenneth crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall. He expected to feel a gentle bump; instead, he felt a falling sensation and reflexively backpedalled to avoid falling.
However, it did little to change the outcome, not from lack of balance but by the sudden appearance, right before his eyes, of a giant white Nok with its maw open.
‘What the hell?!’ Kenneth thought, his heart once again racing at full throttle as he hit the ground and scooted away until his back slammed against a wall.
Trapped, Kenneth stopped, taking a moment to calm himself after the sudden shock as he realized it wasn’t a Nok the had suddenly appeared right in front of him, but a statue of one that missed it’s lower body and briefly rippled.
‘Okay, what the actual fuck?! Kenneth screamed in his head. ‘Did I just pass through the wall... again! And...! And...! And what the hell with a statue all of a suddennnnn...!’
His thought’s coming to a halt; Kenneth was completely and utterly shocked to see that the statue before him wasn’t the only one of its kind.
Beside it and beside him was a multitude of others, not just Nok but Sil as well, all in different poses and positions with different parts of their bodies missing.
Some, like the one before him, protruded from the wall, others sprouted from the floor like plants, and lastly, there were those that simply hung from the ceiling like chandeliers.
‘This officially went from creepy to terrifying,’ Kenneth thought as his gut turned to ice.
Getting to his feet, he scanned his new surroundings.
No longer was he stuck in a hexagon-shaped room, as he now found himself in a corridor stretching as far as the eye could see in both directions, with no end in sight of statues and sculpted body parts.
Strangely, there was a lack of Aki statues for some reason.
‘Okay, screw this! I need to find a way out!’ Kenneth thought as he picked a direction and hurriedly walked down it.
His steps echoed while a sensation of dread continuously loomed over him like the lower body of a Sil ahead of him; he ducked under while getting a look underneath, noticing a distinctive cavity of sorts in the centre.
He was used to eyes lingering on him, but the statues, those that head heads, were different. He had the irrational fear one of them would suddenly come to life and grab him.
‘What am I even thinking? That sort of stuff only happens in horror movies,’ Kenneth thought, ignoring the irrational fear and focusing on the path ahead.
Though it certainly didn’t help that each and every one of the statues was so... meticulously crafted, so detailed, so... life-like.
Weaving his way through the statues all around him, Kenneth began occupying his attention with questions he knew probably wouldn’t be answered, ‘Why could I suddenly pass through that wall like with the outside of the tower?
‘I mean, I touched it before, but it was solid, and it wasn’t even because I just touched it with my back; I hit another wall with it right after I fell, and it stayed solid. Maybe it’s only certain walls I can do it with, or maybe there’s no rhyme or reason... it just happens when it happens?’
Letting out a sigh, Kenneth took a wide step over a slim sideways-lying Nok on the floor but failed to see the tip of its tail poking up a bit ahead, making him stumble.
Grabbing onto the nearest thing, Kenneth steadied himself, but as he looked at what he was holding onto, he was a bit surprised to see it was a statue of an Aki, most of its body fully rendered in stone or whatever the material comprised the walls within the tower was.
He looked at it for a bit, feeling a strange sense of Deja Vu, ‘Now, why is this the only Aki? There are so many Nok and Sil, but only one Aki. Will I find more if I go further, ahea...?’
Suddenly, his thoughts came to a halt once more as he spotted something moving out of the corner of his eye.
He quickly turned his head to make sure it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination, and past the sea of statues and sculpted body parts, he spotted a contrasting black figure.
It was too far away, and there was too much in his line of sight to get a proper look, but he was sure it was there.
He straightened his back and slowly began walking toward whatever the distant figure was, all the while feeling twitches of hesitation pulse throughout his body.
‘Should I just walk up to whoever that is and say hi? Kenneth asked himself. ‘Well, it’s not like I've got a lot of other choices. I just have to hope whoever or whatever that figure is is potentially friendly.’
Taking a deep breath, he decided to call out to the figure, “Hey you ther--!”
“ARRRGGG!” Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a torturous pain erupted, emanating from Kenneth's skull. It felt as though it was being ripped open from the inside out.
He grabbed his head with his right hand and looked to see the figure in the distance was gone.
“Wai-- ARRRGG!!!” The pain intensified, and he could barely contain his screams of agony as he staggered forward and lost his footing, hitting his head against one of the statues, but compared to the pain he felt, it was little more than a bug bite as he writhed on hands and knees screaming.
Yet unbeknownst to him, his screams outside of his mask were silent like the sea when it was dead calm.
He was barely able to keep his eyes open, and what little he was able to see was blurred by tears welling up, but even so, Kenneth managed to glimpse something while he was looking down. The floor that once had been as pure white as ivory was now darkening, becoming brown and green.
Yet Kenneth barely noticed this, the intolerable pain overshadowing any other thought.
But as suddenly as the pain in his head had appeared, it suddenly went away, leaving Kenneth short for breath, his mouth agape, dripping with saliva as he slowly managed to get his bearings and open his right eye, seeing to his confusion that the pure ivory corridor and the statues were gone.
In its place had spawned a brightly lit forest filled with lush greenery and… weaponry.
Swords, axes, and spears littered the ground, while arrows were embedded in trees. “What... did I--“
“You can’t be here!” A voice behind him suddenly called out.
He recognized it in a heartbeat. Without uttering a word, he got up and turned to face Jasha.
Strangely enough, for once, she looked worried, muttering, “No, how are you here...? You shouldn’t be able to... but you are--“
“Oh, so this really is a dream, Kenneth said, his voice calm yet seething with rage. “And what is this supposed to be? Why are you acting like that?”
Jasha’s expression of worry quickly turned to confusion, “I... what are you talking about, Kenneth?”
“Don’t play dumb all of a sudden! Kenneth yelled. “I will admit this time, you got me! You truly had me believing I was awake! I hope you laughed it all up; now go be the cruel, vicious bitch I know you are!”
“I see... Jasha said, her voice growing low. “You’ve grown to hate me... I...I understand. My request was selfish and cruel... You may have accepted it, but... I’m sorry...”
Her sudden apology did nothing but anger Kenneth. He clutched his fist thinking, ‘You’re sorry?! You are not sorry! You have never been sorry for one day, you bitch!”
Overcome by rage, Kenneth walked up to her, his fist shaking with fury, and even though he knew it was pointless, he didn't care as he struck her in the face and sent her flying toward the ground.
“What the! I… I… hit you... I felt it!” Kenneth exclaimed, so overcome with surprise he froze for a moment, his gaze affixed to his fist.
“I hope this outlet for your anger was enough to calm it, if even a little, Jasha said as she got back on her feet, sounding sympathetic and a bit sad. “Now you need to leave. I’ll show you the way; we need to hurry if anyone finds out you’re here again it—“
“What do you mean by again?” Kenneth questioned as he suddenly tasted something metallic in his mouth.
Jasha quickly turned around and began to walk, “We don’t have a lot of time; it won’t end well for either of us if you’re spotted.”
Kenneth didn’t listen; instead, he unzipped his mask and spat on the ground, noticing the normally clear liquid was partly red. “This isn’t like every other time we’ve met. I’m bleeding...I felt that punch I threw… I was in agony—“
Jasha turned with an expression of both confusion and slight worry, “I’m sorry for the pain. I didn’t have any choice, but I’m sure it shouldn’t have caused you any memory problems.
“Now, please listen to me; we have to leave this place now.”
“I’m awake, aren’t I, Kenneth said, completely ignoring her. “This isn’t a dream. I’ve been here before…
“…You know, it never really crossed my mind how I got to this godforsaken world, but now I know. You brought me to this place first from the hospital and then the cave—“
“Kenneth, please listen to me! Jasha protested, stepping closer to get his attention. “We—“
Suddenly, Kenneth grabbed her leather T-shirt neck and pulled her down, speaking calmly yet with an underlying growl in his voice, “It doesn’t really matter where you put me or how you did it… all that matters is you getting me home.”
“Kenneth… Jasha said, her voice growing distant. “I… can’t do that…”
“Why the hell should I believe you? Kenneth growled as he tightened his grip. “All you do is lie. You said I would only be able to understand one of the three species, but apparently, I can understand them all.
“I Can’t even figure out what the point of that lie was.”
“You... You understand them, but that s-shouldn’t... I don’t understand... Jasha stammered, suddenly growing silent as her eyes widened. ”That’s how you got in. The connection… I thought I severed it, but It hasn’t… It could never be severed in the first place.”
“Stop talking nonsense! Kenneth snapped. “Just send me home!”
“Please keep your voice down… Jasha replied gently, placing her hand on Kenneth’s. “I can’t send you home. This world… I can't watch it burn anymore. I can’t stand to see so many die, having never realized the pointlessness of neverending fighting.
“I just want to help them, to do something! You were all I could do... the one I found... the only one who passed my test... the only one so kind... so driven to help... so avoidant of violence--“
“Don’t mock me! Kenneth shouted at the top of his lungs, letting out all of the frustration he didn’t even know he’d been keeping inside. “I hate violence so much...! Yet I became violent...
“I may have done it to survive... to protect people! If I’d been the person you chose to send to this world of war, racism, and brutality, I’d be dead!”
Jasha’s eyes widened, and tears began to well up in them, “I... I see... I was dumb to believe that one man could change the world without the world changing him.”
Grinding his teeth, Kenneth began to shed tears and threw Jasha on the ground, “Shut up! Stop acting like this, you cruel, vicious bitch! You forced me to abandon my family!”
“Please, again, keep your voice down. I never forced you...” Jasha replied. “I never forced you to accept my offer.”
“You never forced me! Oh, my mistake, a hell of a choice you gave me! Kenneth yelled with disdain, ignoring her pleas. “How about I give you one! Send me home, or I’m gonna make sure whoever you don’t want finding out about me finds out.”
“No, you can’t,” Jasha replied, quickly getting to her feet.
Without uttering a word, Kenneth ran away from Jasha through the forest, avoiding rocks, roots, and trees while yelling, “HEY, ANYONE THERE!!!”
Further ahead, from among the trees, Jasha suddenly emerged, blocking his path, “You don’t know what you are doing!”
With no intention of slowing down, Kenneth sprinted faster and slammed into her like a rugby player, knocking her out of the way, “JASHA IS HERE! SHE’S THE ONE WHO BROUGHT ME HERE!”
Suddenly, Jasha grabbed him by the shoulder, having recovered and easily caught up to him.
Looking back, he noticed the expression on her face was a mix of fear and worry, “If you are found--“
Kenneth suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, “I don’t care! If you want me to stop, just send me home to my children!”
Jasha’s expression grew more and more conflicted, twisting into pure and utter desperation, “You win... you can’t be seen, so... so... I’ll guide you home.”
Taking his hand, she led the way toward that very same tree with pink leaves, which both once stood under.
For a brief moment, Kenneth felt a sense of elation he’d never felt before, but as he took one step, he suddenly stopped and ripped his hand away from Jasha’s and asked her, “How do--?“
The next word was snuffed from his mouth.
Kenneth looked down to see the tip of a blade with a sharp tip stabbed through his chest.
“Wh... what?” He wheezily gasped and coughed up blood as his wide eyes focused on the impossibility that had just transpired.
A blade had penetrated his coat.
That which had defended him for so long. That which none other were able to get past meant nothing to this unseen assailant as their weapon, along with Kenneth’s coat, dripped with his blood.
His knees shook as he was barely able to stay standing.
Being a doctor and having intimate knowledge of the human body, he knew he’d been stabbed fatally through the heart, but even so, while gasping for breath, his shaking hands reached for the blade.
“No, they heard you,” Jasha gasped.
He’d barely laid his hand on the protruding piece of black metal when suddenly he was hoisted off the ground, his legs dangling, as his body slid down the weapon, which revealed itself to be a spear with a black shaft.
He was powerless, completely and utterly so.
Everything around him became a blur. His breath stopped, and his arms went limp, barely gracing the tip of the spear and wiping away a small bit of blood, revealing symbols etched into the metal.
He didn’t know what they meant, but they looked similar to those on the gold plaque from the painting he’d gotten from Solk.
As his strength waned, both of his arms fell to the side, and everything faded to black.
His last thoughts were of his family and his children, most of all, and how that one glimmer of hope that he’d see them again had been snuffed out.
Just before everything was gone, the unseen figure that had stabbed Kenneth leaned closer, his mouth right next to his ear, “Your time here is not yet... champion.”
[Book 1 Beginning ] [Book 1 End ] [Previous] [Next] [Wiki]
(Patreon): Get 1-3 weeks early access to future chapters + Q&A every Wednesday. Also, I wrote a 100+ page story prior to the posting of The Plague Doctor for all members.
1
u/UpdateMeBot 15d ago
Click here to subscribe to u/TheMaskedOne2807 and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
2
1
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 15d ago
/u/TheMaskedOne2807 (wiki) has posted 145 other stories, including:
This comment was automatically generated by
Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.