The Others Within - Awakening

"Find the truth, huh?" Emilia whispered. "What the hell does this mean?" She complained. "Couldn't this note at least give some context on what 'the truth' means?" She added. She tears the paper into several pieces, and throws it into her trash bin. "Well, I guess it's Saturday. I suppose I should go check the mailbox." She said as she gets out of her room. She shuts the door slowly to not wake her friend up. The trash can starts shaking, and the note slowly puts itself back together. Outside, Emilia is approaching her mailbox. Something was odd however... It had a yellow glow, similar to the man's eyes. "Here we go again." She sighed. She grabs a nearby rock to use it as a weapon in case something tries to attack her. She slowly opens the mailbox, and the glow disappears. Inside was a cube, with a green button on top of it. She pulls it out of the box and examines it. She looked beneath it and saw five numbers. "40189". She ignored it and went back to the house with the cube in her pocket.

She carefully placed the cube on the table in her living room and examined it further. "I hope this isn't another trap..." She said with suspicion. She quickly then pressed the button on top. Nothing happened. She pressed it again and a hologram appeared. It looked like the man. Emilia jumped out of her couch and hid behind it. "If you are hearing this message Miss Mingreto. I can assume the teleporter worked." The man droned. Emilia peeked for a few seconds and realized that it was just a pre-recorded message. She stood up and went back to sitting on the couch. "After this message has been forwarded, a map will be deployed out of this cube. It will show you where you can find the truth. Think of this as a fun treasure hunt." He said. He then pointed at the armory of Emilia. "Bring one of your weapons, you'll need them." He added. Emilia turned around to check and turned back to the man. "That wasn't there before.." She asked. "I know." The man replied with a smile. "Wait.. how did you reply? I thought this was pre-recorded.." She jumped. The holograph then disappeared, and a map popped out of the cube. She grabbed it and opened it. It shows a satellite image of the town. Her eyes spotted a huge circle encircling her old work-place where all the information about her was hidden there. There was a label on it. "Basement." Emilia then remembered that there was something about her parents there. Without a second to waste, she placed the map and the cube in her pocket, grabbed only a knife from her armory, and ran out of the house.

Ten minutes later, she arrives at the building. It was very silent, and it looked abandoned. It was one kilometer away from the main road, so she had to be careful. She approaches the main door and tries to open it. It was locked from the other side, so she had to find another way in. She looks around and finds a rusted ladder to the second floor. She approaches it and pulls it down slowly. She begins climbing but she gets injured from the sharp rust, so she starts going slow. After a minute has passed, she reaches the second floor. She climbs into the balcony and pulls the ladder back up. She walks around to see if there is a window she could enter through. Unfortunately for her, there was none, as all of them were locked tight. She looked through one of the windows and sees a dark figure looking at her from the first floor. She quickly moves back. "What the hell?" She thought to herself. "Who was that?" She asked herself. She took a couple of breaths, and charged one of the windows making a crack. She proceeds to kick the crack repeatedly. After a few kicks, the glass fell to the ground, and she could pass through. She slowly crawls through the hole in the window and lands on the floor. She takes a look around. "Who are you? Why are you here?" She shouted. There was silence. "Helloooo? I said, who are you?" She repeated. There was still silence. She got tired of waiting, so she just went down to the lobby. There were two hallways beside her. "Sector A" and "Sector B". She remembered that the basement was in Sector B, so she walked down it. In the middle, there was a mirror. She decided to take a look at it, and fix her look. However, something was odd. There was something behind her. She wiped her eyes... It was the same figure she met last time. She turned around, and those ruby eyes are staring at her. She falls to the ground, trying to dodge it. She stands right back up in the side and runs toward the basement door. She takes a look behind her... It was floating, and chasing her. The ground beneath it was being distorted. She faced the front again. She is near the basement door but accidentally trips on a small piece of rubble. The figure was getting near her, but she couldn't stand up. She crawled towards the basement door and pushes it open. The figure shouted in pain, as it slowly faded away. "What just happened..." She thought to herself. "That was your 'Other'... Miss Mingreto." A voice replies. "Oh boy, here we go again.." She mumbled. "Go down the basement. Find the files and get out. Do it quickly, your 'Other' will be trying to kill you." The voice said. The man appears in front of Emilia and throws a bottle at her. "Drink it." He said. Emilia gulps the liquid down without any question. She feels better and could stand up again. "Oh hey, thank you." Emilia said. "This is the last time I'm saving you. Don't cause trouble again." The man said with anger. He pushes Emilia down the stairs of the basements, her screams echoing. The man then disappears.

Down in the basement, Emilia slowly stands up, groaning. "What the hell was that man thinking?" She shouted. "Anyways, I'll just go get what I needed." She said. She analyzed the room. The floor was wet, the lamps were for some reason, glowing red. She thought it was weird but she just shrugged it off. She pulls out her knife and walks around the basement. It was silent for a while, but then she heard footsteps. She stops walking, and she could still hear it. She begins sweating and tries to find a hiding spot. She finds a locker and slowly creeps towards it. She opens it slowly and gets in. The footsteps were getting louder, and louder. She held her breath, and peeked at the small opening in the locker. She could see her "Other", a few feet away from the locker. It seems as if it was looking for her. It looked like it was holding a bloody axe. The figure then walked away. Emilia slowly got out of the locker and kept on trying to find the documents. She walked slowly behind the lockers, as to not be seen by her "Other". The footsteps of the "Other" echoed throughout the basement. Emilia was sweating non-stop. Eventually, she came across 2 cabinets. She tried to see if any of the cabinets had her name in it. She could not see her name. So she went further into the basement. This time, she could hear a music box playing. The footsteps got louder again, so she hid beneath a table. Her "Other" was right in front of her, with its axe on her hand. It was heavily breathing. The music box began to sound distorted. Emilia couldn't hold her breath any longer, so she decides to gasp for air. Her "Other" immediately hears her and swings its axe at the table. Emilia quickly crawls out of the table before she could get hit. The second she gets out, the table breaks. She stares in fear at her "Other". It slowly pulls out its axe off the table and gives Emilia a death-stare. Emilia begins to cry as it approaches her, sliding the axe across the ground. "Let's join them, Emilia.." It maniacally laughs. She then stands up and runs away from it. Her "Other" then begins to give chase. She could not look back as any moment she stopped will mean her death. Its laughter echoed throughout the silent hallway. A few seconds later, Emilia spots a wooden plank a few steps away. She plans to use it to hit the other in the head to stun it. Without any hesitation, she runs faster towards it and grabs it. She turns around and slams the plank at its face. It immediately fell to the ground, twitching. After a few seconds, it stopped moving. She hits it again with the plank, just for safe measure. It was still not moving. She let out a huge sigh of relief. She threw the plank to the ground and ran away from it.

A few minutes later, she is far away from the exit of the basement. Fortunately for her, she has found her cabinet. It was locked with a password however. She shouts in anger and kicks the cabinet. But then, she remembered the code beneath the cube. She pulls out the cube again and looks beneath it. "40189". She puts in the code and the lock falls. She opens the cabinet, and finds 5 folders. She quickly grabs them and runs. After a few minutes again, she arrives at the exit. However, the door is locked from the other side. She tries ramming the door, it was no use. Suddenly, she could hear the heavy breathing again. She turns around and finds her "Other" with its axe on its hand. It charged at her, swinging the axe at full speed. Emilia's ducks down, but now she is stuck. She looks around for something to help her. She remembers that she had a knife, so she tried pulling it out of her pocket. It was gone. She didn't know that she dropped it when she entered the locker a few minutes ago. She tries to see if it's anywhere near her, and it is a few steps from her. She looks up at her "Other", it was trying to pull out the axe off the door. She kicks its leg and runs toward the knife. She grabs it and runs to the corner. Her "Other" slowly stood up and pulled out the axe off the door. It charges again. This time, however, Emilia stabs it in the stomach. It stopped moving and drops the axe. She pulls out the knife, and kicks it to the ground. A few seconds later, it faded. "Good grief..." She mumbled. She places the knife back into her pocket and went back to the door. She was able to ram the door open due to the axe breaking it. She walks out of the basement, leaving behind the axe.

Back in her house, she opens the folders. She finds two documents about her parents. She begins reading it. A specific part caught her eye.

"Emily Cara Nilmenta Mingreto - (Disowned)

Mother: Maria Nilmenta Mingreto

Father: Jonathan Mingreto

Subject was traumatized after being abused by her parents. Underwent three therapy sessions, with little to no effect. At age 12, she ran away from her parents. Other information has not yet been given."

She was speechless, dropping the documents. She couldn't move. All she could think about was the abuse. So, she decides to get further investigate why they really abused her. She goes upstairs to her room, and begins packing her bag. Her friend, Tim enters the room. "Where are you going?" He asked. "Back to where it all began." She replied. "What do you mean?" Tim asked. Emilia turns around, and hands her credit card to Tim. "It was nice meeting you. The information for the card is in that drawer." She points at the drawer. "What's happening?" Tim asked again. Emilia ignored him and put her bag on. She left the room, and went downstairs. She opens the main door but stops for a second. "I'm sorry, Tim." She slowly whispered. She goes out, and closes the door behind her. Tim tries to follow her, but when he gets out, she is already gone.

Back at the basement, the axe starts shaking, and a black puddle forms. Emilia's other slowly comes out of the puddle and grabs the axe. It slowly walks out of the basement, leaving behind a trail of blood.