e·lix·er

[ɪˈlɪksə]

noun

an alchemical preparation supposed to be capable of prolonging life indefinitely (elixir of life) or of traning base metals into gold

What do you want me to say?

I feel sick. Because of you I had to think about it again.

Just go away, you’ve done enough.

Happy now?

Happy that you finally know?

You heartless monster.

I hope you slip and fall.

The noise never reached the door. It left me. I shook my head and realized that this darkness would consume me if I wouldn’t do something about it. So my eyes were pretty useless right now, that was a fact.

I tried moving, which somehow worked out for me. I was lying on a cold table, wearing clothes. It was strange to admit, but that was actually very important. Okay, so clothes, mouth taped, hands tied, complete, absolute darkness…How was I going to get out of here, before the masked man would come and find me?

Minutes later, it took me that long, I finally had been able to somehow sit up. My back hurt and I could feel my forehead splitting apart. I remembered that Mr. Gasmask, that’s how I was going to call him, hit me right in the face with a bat. That bastard. I was going to kill him!

I groaned and couldn’t do anything but free myself from that duct tape that was making it hard for me to breathe. I didn’t understand why Mr. Gasmask would be that stupid to tape my mouth with a single strap of duct tape. In movies it may seem like it’s a good tactic to trap your victim, but really, it isn’t.

I moved my lips, breathed against the tape and could finally feel it loosening and eventually falling down. After that I inhaled deeply and finally felt as if I could breathe again. I wanted to scream, call for help, but knew that Mr. Gasmask was nearby.

Slowly I turned around, still sitting up and moved my legs, happy that they weren’t hurt. I was standing straight right now, overwhelmed by a sudden stench which devoured my entire being. I wanted to vomit, but was way too distracted. Maybe it was for the better, this blinding darkness. Maybe I didn’t want to see what was here inside this room. That smell, I couldn’t even describe it.

With my hands still tied together, I tried reaching for one of my pockets, but I soon realized that my gun was missing. My gun, ID, wallet… I cursed and wanted to find some time to process all of this, but the Lord refused giving me any time to do so.

I kind of realized where that stench came from as my foot touched something that seemed quite familiar. It was the smell of death. I could feel the contours of a human being underneath my feet. That realization forced me to burry my heart and hid it inside a chest.

During my previous missions, I had been confronted with dead bodies before, but not like this. Back then, they had been strangers to me. This was different. I was way in too deep. My imagination took over and it even came to the vivid image of Tao lying here underneath my feet.

I backed off and constantly reminded myself that Tao was alive, sleeping in his bed right now. Mr. Gasmask only took me. And besides, if that person really was Tao, he couldn’t be smelling like that. This person was dead for at least a week.

So I had a dark room, tied hands and a dead body. Great. Just what I needed. I kneeled and covered my nose with both of my hands. I smelled blood. There was blood on my hands. It couldn’t have come from this body. The blood hadn’t clotted yet. What the hell was happening right now?

I bit on my lip and tried to convince myself that I had to touch that body. I inhaled deeply and lowered my hands, feeling some kind of fabric. It was soft, almost like a thick sweater. When I got to the pants, I slipped my fingers in one of the pockets, only to find nothi