Chapter 6

The chapter begins with Gabriel in a state of panic and tension from what he saw. He says to himself, "There's no time for fear. It's time for an ordinary person to change this wretched world. I will join Zero Phantom." Gabriel slams the door behind him and leaves the apartment. He takes a late-night cab to meet Rose, whom he had an appointment with today.

Gabriel enters the hospital and finds Rose watching TV with excitement and tension.

Gabriel: "What are you doing, miss?"

Rose: "Watching a horror movie."

Gabriel, mocking her: "I don't like horror films; they don't scare me. This isn't real horror."

Rose: "Have you heard of psychological horror before?"

Gabriel: "Yes, I used to read novels at that cursed school by H.P. Lovecraft."

Rose: "What do you think of him?"

Gabriel: "I feel the experience would be different if you tried it yourself. That tension, confusion, anger, and bewilderment always lead me to ask: What does a human fear? Do they fear death, being attacked, or a threat to their lives, or do they fear the unknown, confusion, internal struggle, madness, or the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy? What we all fear, Rose, is our unknown fate."

Rose laughs and says, "I think I'm more afraid of your philosophy."

She then asks, "Have you thought about what I told you?"

Gabriel: "Yes, I've made my decision. I will join Zero Phantom."

Rose: "Alright, I will send you the coordinates and the location through the encrypted chat app we're using."

Gabriel: "How much do you want, leader?"

Rose: "Go now, and don't worry about me. My friend will come to pick me up."

Gabriel returns to his apartment and falls into a deep sleep. The next morning, he heads to the location Rose sent him, only to find it's an empty lot with nothing there. The ground beneath Gabriel cracks open as if he were standing over a giant door. Two huge men emerge from the earth and place a cloth soaked in a sedative on Gabriel's face. He faints.

Gabriel wakes up to find himself in a meeting with the members of the organization.

Eva, the deputy leader of the organization: "Welcome. You must be Rose's spoiled boy. I'm Eva, the deputy leader here."

Gabriel: "Rose has told me about you."

All of Zero Phantom's members wear black cloaks and masks to hide their identities, except for Eva, whose face is exposed.

Gabriel: "So after all these assassinations of journalists and famous political figures, I want to know what your goal is with all this."

Eva: "To understand our goal, you need to hear the plan. Today, we will plan the assassination of the American Minister, Howard Phillips, during his visit to the main building in 8 days."

Gabriel: "You all truly are crazy. Why this minister?"

Eva: "Because this minister is the link to the devilish Chevchenkov family, one of the seven families that rule our world. Howard Phillips is just a puppet in the hands of Chevchenkov, allowing them to push their ideas and agendas into American society."

Gabriel: "Seems like you really hate your family. But what makes the rest of your comrades hate them?"

Eva: "I have no ties to those devilish dogs anymore. Well, remember how there were around 200 similar schools to the one you were in, all over the world, with the same idea? Everyone in this organization is a student of those schools who discovered the secret, just like you. Now, cowboy, if you're not going to interrupt me, I'll start explaining the plan. There's a tower near the political building's garden. I'll be the sniper, you will hack the phones of the American guards while they are in the restroom, and Rose will hack the phones of the New Zealand president's guards while they're inside. We'll send them orders to wait briefly inside the building. We'll shut the entire main building down, declaring an emergency, and we'll hold the guards hostage. The alarms will go off, and the place will be in chaos. During this chaos, we'll blow up all the cars in front of the building and a few empty houses. Then the target will be alone.

I'll shoot him in the skull and we'll escape disguised so no one notices us."

Gabriel: "That's not a bad plan. Is it yours?"

Eva: "No, it's the leader of the organization, the hacker Avery."

Gabriel: "So you don't know anything about the man?"

Eva: "No, but he's clever and has this terrifying tone in his voice. Actually, he speaks with me in his true voice and discusses many topics. He's insane and scary, like a serial killer."

Then Eva said in a stern tone: "Anyway, gentlemen, this meeting is over. Get ready for the big challenge in eight days."

Everyone shouted with enthusiasm and raised their glasses high as if celebrating a coming victory. Their voices echoed, while Gabriel sat silently, lost in thought.

Gabriel returned home, but as he reached a street near his house, he asked the bus driver to drop him off. He wanted to walk for a bit, perhaps to calm his nerves after the intense meeting.

But as soon as he started walking, something strange happened. The ground beneath him started to shake as if an earthquake was happening. Suddenly, the air filled with thick green mist, terrifying, seeping from everywhere. Shadows moved as if they were living creatures, and the air became thick as lead.

As Gabriel staggered forward, masses of corpses began to appear through the mist. Some were nailed in place, as if tortured to death, while others moved unnaturally, like a cursed funeral procession. These corpses weren't human anymore. Some were so mutilated that their flesh was torn apart, exposing their skeletal frames, and their faces were lifeless, yet they moved slowly.

There were even more horrifying corpses; some had melted flesh, while others had no heads or arms. The sight was extremely bloody, and Gabriel struggled to look away from those grotesque details. Their rotting flesh, severed limbs, and exposed bones made the scene feel like a sick nightmare.

But what was most terrifying was that these corpses moved in unison, as if they were a cursed musical band, repeating one word in Greek: "Σὺ αἴτιος"

Gabriel froze in place, his body trembling as though he had lost control of it. He couldn't understand what was happening, but he was paralyzed by fear. As those corpses drew closer, he felt as though his breath was being sucked out of his chest. Suddenly, he woke up, gasping for air, drenched in sweat. He realized it had been a nightmare, or so he thought.

But the feeling of reality was different. He opened his eyes to find himself in a strange alley. His clothes, especially his jacket, were soaked with blood. His face and shoes were stained with dry blood. He tried to comprehend the situation, but he didn't understand anything.

He slowly got up, his eyes nervously scanning the place. He headed for the nearest water source, washing his face violently as if trying to wake up from a nightmare. He took off his jacket and threw it in the nearest trash can, as though getting rid of it would erase the traces of what had happened.

He stood there for a moment, stunned and scared, whispering to himself: "Is this another nightmare? Or is this real?"

As he walked with trembling steps, he heard screams and cries coming from nearby. His heart raced, and he quickly moved toward the source of the sounds. There, he found ambulances and police cars, with red and blue lights cutting through the darkness, while paramedics were carrying disfigured bodies into the ambulances.

He got closer to the scene and discovered that the apartment from which the incident originated resembled a crime scene from hell. The bodies were scattered everywhere, with parts of bodies thrown around as though a monster had attacked the place.

In the center of the room, there was the body of a small girl, her head split in half, and the body of an adult man completely torn apart. The intestines were scattered, and the internal organs were thrown around as though they had exploded. Blood stains covered every inch of the room, and the walls were painted red.