Deranged

Chapter Thirteen

Carter's Point of View

I stared at him, my eyes widened. He pulled away and continued to drag me down the completely vacant building that had caught on fire. I screamed as the cart I slowly passed immediately lit up in flames. I stayed by his side, afraid I would catch on fire. Once we got to the spiral staircase, he took his time, making sure he wasn't going to slip; I would have been at the bottom by now.

"Take your dear old time, Carter," He chuckled just as we got to the bottom.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled as he continued to drag me out the doors.

"Don't bother looking back."

I tried not to, I really did. But, I wanted to see the damage he had done to it. As I casually glanced over my shoulder, I got a peak of the building slowly beginning to collapse. I quietly gasped and quickly looked away, no longer wanting to look back.

"I warned you not to look back."

I glared at the sidewalk, afraid to actually glare at the side of his head. It was getting a bit dark out, and I could hear the sirens from far behind as we both walked in our bare feet. The pain in my back kept throbbing and it seemed to be going nowhere. But, the only thing I could still picture was the fire burning several nurses in Harry's room. Without even realizing what I was about to do, I lifted my hand and slapped myself in the face, attempting to get some sense into me.

Harry's head snapped in my direction, curiously. "Did you just slap yourself?" He questioned in that cute-yes, I admit, it is cute-accent of his.

"Uh, n-no," I stammered, wondering why I even decided to straight up slap myself when in fact, it wouldn't really help anything.

"You are lying," He stated, letting go of my wrist to scratch his head with both hands. "Damn, my hair," He mumbled.

"What?"

"It fucking itches like hell."

I stared at his hands, questioning why on earth he was furiously scratching his scalp. I noticed red around the tips of his fingers and I immediately warned him about it.

"Uh. . . Harry. I think your scalp is bleeding," I spoke up. He sighed and pulled his hands away, wiping his bloody fingers on his dull blue patient uniform-which we were still dressed in.

"Happens every time," He shook his head and scoffed. I stayed quiet, becoming familiar with the path.

"Do we really have to go back?" I whispered, my voice slightly cracking.

"We have no choice," He told me, sternly.

"Maybe we could find a vacant place? Just. . . Anywhere but the tunnel," I quickly suggested.

"We have no choice, dammit!" He yelled. I furrowed my eyebrows, the tears blurring my vision.

"Then who makes our choices?" I whispered.

"You really want me to answer that?"

"N-No. Just forget it," I replied, wiping away the tears. And in my vision, from far away, I could see the dark tunnel. "I can't," I whispered, stopping in my tracks.

"C'mon," He whispered, grabbing a hold of my wrist again while he pulled me towards the tunnel. As we neared it, I took quite a few deep breaths in hopes to calm myself. He took the first step inside, glancing back at me. I hesitantly took my step and followed him through the familiar darkness. This tunnel gives me more chills compared to the building Harry had drastically burnt down.

"What was that?" I whispered as soon as I heard a noise come from the right of me.

"A rat," He simply stated.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"I can see it," He told me. I wanted to question how since it was completely dark, but I figured it had to do with his black eyes and the unflattering demon trying to eat his-somewhat already cold-soul. "You think way too much."

"I do not," I spoke up in a defensive tone.

"Either that or you get scared too easily because I can feel your fear."

"We are in a tunnel, surrounded by darkness when who knows what could be standing right next to me. Forgive me for getting scared," I so sarcastically said.

"What'd I tell you about watching your mouth," He warned, making me roll my eyes. "I saw that," He muttered.

"Maybe it was meant for you to see," I muttered back.

"Don't test me, Carter. You never wanna test a guy like me."

I stayed quiet, wondering how on earth I would ever get along with him. I mean, I want to, it's just the fact that he is too good at scaring the living daylights out of me. When everything became silent, a short scream erupted from my left. I claimed it to Harry's; as for it was so deep and frightening for my ears to hear.

"Are you ok?" I asked, stepping closer to him.

"They can smell my blood," He answered as if it was so painful for him to say. "The cut on my chest opened."

"Y-You're going to bleed to death. Maybe we need to get help?" I quickly replied.

"I'm not going to bleed to death. I can't," He told me.

"But, you're losing blood," I stated the obvious. I feel like I am talking to nothing but the darkness at this point.

"It's complicated to explain, alright?"

"Alright," I sighed. Once again, it got quiet and suddenly Harry had stopped walking. "Why did we stop?"

"I assumed you didn't want to go further. Was I incorrect?" He questioned.

"No, no! Don't go further. . . Please," I quickly begged. He only chuckled and stayed put. "We await death, again?"

"See, now you're getting the hang of it!" He exclaimed-loudly, might I add-as I tried to shush him. "What? Ya scared something's gonna come and get ya?"

"Yeah, kind of," I mumbled. The anxiety started to build up and not at all did it help when Harry let go of my wrist. "Harry?" When I got no response, I started to really freak out. I waved my hands in front of me, trying to see if he was still there. I felt nothing but cold air.

"Harry, this isn't funny." I backed away until I hit what felt like the wall. "You're really messed up, you know that!" I shouted, no longer caring to keep quiet. A little gust of wind smacked me in the face, and it only encouraged me to go on. "I don't understand you at all. You are mysterious and demonic, it scares me to death!" I could hear someone breathing in my ear, and I knew it was him.

"I scare you?" He growled in my ear.

I shivered and nodded. "Yes."

"How so?"

I didn't want to respond, afraid I would give him more of the satisfaction.

"I like when I scare people," He chuckled. "I can feel their fear. And when I feel their fear, I want to kill them. Do me a favor and don't go down that path. Can you do that for me?"