the Fog that Swallowed your World, part I.

a dense blanket of fog took over the town. it was consumed in the intense fog. there was barely any visibility at the eyes of the weak.

there in shadows walks a doctor who has abandoned his oath chasing the handkerchief of hands that kept refusing the slightest of touches. the doctor in despair seeking to see the face of his beloved, the beloved who denies his existence.

the doctor trembles as he falls on his knees. he has no strength to keep moving. any step further would be inhuman. he looks up at the bright moon that embraces the despair of man and covers them with a false sense of safety.

behind the heartbroken doctor stands the one who stole his heart. Helen seems to be for the time back to her senses. what comes to question is for how long? how long before she breaks? Robert Hall cries feeling the warmth of her existence. he cries not because he can't see her as he faces the opposite side. the cries are not because there is only one loving. the cries are the outcome of the despair knowing there is no future, at least not for his beloved.

"I need to go." she said with an unfocused vision.

"I know, and I want not to know." said the man holding the wounds between his fingers as uncertainty was a lake's depth. an endless void. 

"It's time. thanks for all." said Helen with an angelic voice.

then a blanket of darkness erases her body. dust was all that was left.

Robert screams so loud his throat starts to hurt to such a point that the sound he produces is no longer human. he starts to sound more like a beast. a wounded beast. blood tears come from his clear naive eyes. his punches hit the ground until the flesh is expose.

"What is happening?" asks Anton as he walks in front of him.

"I was stolen of a promised ever after. what has done this jester to be deserving of no more than a handful of poisoned apples? I sold my youth to ensure a future. I sacrificed my integrity for the betterment of those I found beloved to me. I sabotaged my ego for everything, for everyone else and I forgot who I was." said Robert condemning his fate.

"I don't know what to say. there are no words to bring you peace." 

"Peace? what is peace if not some overrated lie. is a dirt-based placebo sold as gold." whispers Robert with a broken voice as he looks more hopeless than ever.

Anton convinces the only doctor on the grounds to stay with the group. Anton needs of the doctor to keep his people alive. he has no time to wonder if the doctor is of sound mind. he doesn't need of a clear conscious when things are already so wrong. the two men walk silently a step after another returning to the rest of the group.

"The priest and the doctor are back." commented someone far away from them.

Anton looks at the doctor feeling pity for him. he then looks up ahead on the road. there is nothing to save beyond the body. tomorrow is like a fictional promise. candy bathed in poison as bait waiting for someone to bite and die.

Catherynne, Caroline, and Ingrid get closer to them. the preacher asks about the other two. Catherynne tells him that they got lost at some point. the preacher tries to hide the disappointment on his face. the realization of how he keeps failing.

on the distance they observe a shadow. at first, it gets distorted by the fog. step by step the fear cools down once Richard and his group enter the frame. neither Massimo nor Detective Miller are anywhere to be seem.

"Where is he? is he dead?" asks Catherynne feeling anxious.

"We don't know. him, and the old gangster were out of our sight as we left. we didn't have the stupidity. I mean bravery to go back there." said Petter with a hollow facial expression.

"We have no time to mourn the dead. we have to keep moving. we need to find the exit as soon as possible. let's stay together." said Preacher Borisov with a loud and clear voice as he fixes the sleeves of his black shirt.

the majority of the group stays silent. they know that they need of someone to guide them and nobody seems to be more trustworthy than the only man who seems to be ready to lead the rest of them to safety. his shadow glows large and majestic.

Anton Borisov is done with doubting himself. he is done with letting others die without doing anything because he is taking too long thinking without taking action. he tells himself that since now he will become a different man. he will trust his instincts.

Anton may not know the way out. but he can feel it that they are getting closer. he sweats as he looks around trying to find any clues. he looks around trying to identify every sound. every image and even the fragments of the dirt. every step is heavy and firm.

Norman walks behind Anton. the cult leader has been captured once more. and judging based on the fresh bruises on his face, it is clear that they beat the living daylights out of him. Norman is the only one who actually knows the way to the exit. but he has chosen to stay silent and observed them without compromising his wounded ego.

Norman laughs like a maniac as he can see so clearly the deaths of many of them. he knows who will make it out of the first phase and who will die even before crossing the line. now to know if any of them will make it beyond phase two. well, that is a mystery.

"Oh, my fellow man of faith. I see that you haven't given up on your quest for salvation. but as a token of our comradery, I warn you. faith alone won't save you." said Norman.