You have to remember everything. For our sake, a voice whispers in my head.

Or maybe not? Do my deepest thoughts emerge and talk to me? Or maybe I’m just getting crazy?

I see my hands moving, but I don’t control them. I see my feet walking, but I don’t move an inch. My fists are full of blood, but I’m not the one using them. I’m a slave to my own body, and I can’t do anything but keep on hitting the dead, emotionless corpses. Every punch is a liberation, a small victory.

I feel like when the last time I inhaled Timedisol, only that blood and adrenaline got me drunk this time.

And I want more.

I push some of them to the floor and start kicking them, them never resisting or making a move.

I’m ready to take all of them if needed be when I turn my head and suddenly see the dark brown in the doctor’s eyes. He looks straight into my eyes, but I can’t stop in time from hitting him. It’s only a moment later that I see him falling to the floor, almost passing out. He’s a delicate human being after all, and I’m a mighty Esuh.

An Esuh of the Two Faces.

When these words appear in my mind, I snap out of my confusion. In a fraction of a second, I realize that I could have stopped if I wanted. Only that at the time, I didn’t.

“Dale!” I hear Eladia yell.

The motionless corpses now seem dead, although still standing. I watch the man trying to get up, but the force of my punch must have been way too strong for him. He’s just another victim of my wrath.

Eladia slowly squats over him and after checking that he’s alright, she rises again to her feet. She now watches me straight in the eyes and almost whispers:

“Enough Jay. Just...enough. I won’t let you harm another person anymore.”

Don’t listen to her! Kill her! Get on with your rampage, I hear my voice command me, but I choose not to listen this time.

For some reason, while watching her deep-set eyes condemn me, everything makes sense. My memories may not have returned, but my other self, the one that Eladia talked to me about, is starting to come to light.

I move past her and head straight for the fallen doctor. I stretch my hand and wait for him to grab it. When he does, I pull him up on his feet and then walk away. Eladia was right all along. The only thing I did was push her away because she lied to me. Maybe it was better not knowing the truth after all.

I’m dangerous when I turn to that monster, a monster I can’t control.

I’m trying to find something to hold onto, some sort of sentiment that will sort out my thoughts, but it’s not easy when you’ve forgotten how to feel. I walk in, before the elevator doors close, and push the button next to them. I wait, but no one follows me.

It figures; they’re afraid of me. The only one that dares come closer is the human doctor, his cheek swollen from my all-out punch.

Hit him again, this time in the chest. It’ll shatter his heart in pieces, the voice inside me instructs me again, but this time, it’s hopeless.

I turn and watch at him, only to see him smile in a twisted, crooked way. He’s in pain, I can tell, but he’s the one that tries to cheer me up.

“Don’t worry over this. I’m a doctor. I can fix it as soon as we get on the shuttle.”

Was it something in his voice or the sound of the elevator ascending from the lower floors? I’ll probably never know. But, as soon as he spoke, the corpses started moving again, this time, faster than before. They almost grab Zan and Eladia, but they manage to get away from them just in the nick of time.

For a moment, seeing them almost getting captured by those monsters, I feel despair, even fear, filling my veins. I don’t want them to die because of my stupidity, that much is apparent. But Eladia...Eladia I want to see her smiling at me again, seeing me for what I truly am: a man deeply interested in her.

We fight them for what it seems like half a minute when finally the elevator arrives. We all get inside at once, never looking back. Everything happens really fast from that moment on. The elevator gets us closer to our destination, but as the doctor correctly guessed, the morgue below us is crowded with zombies.

Dale leads us to the stairway, and we quickly find our way to the parking lot. Passing just outside the cold room, I can hear the hollow cries of the undead. It’s a haunting melody, one that I will remember for the rest of my life. The dead keep howling as we make sure to stay silent and walk as fast as possible without making a sound.

Our shuttle is located all the way to the other side of the lot, but we manage to get there fast, fast enough for the corpses not to be able to keep up. Outside of the building I can hear a recurrent sound, accompanied by a blue-and-red light. Deep in my memories it kinda feels like I’ve heard that sound before, only that I can’t quite place it somewhere.

Either way, we all get aboard. Eladia and me first, and the doctor and Zan later. Silver is still in her low-function mode, but as soon as Eladia links her up to the system, her voice returns, merry as ever.

“Finally! It took you long enough to get here. Is everyone aboard?” she asks.

“Yes. Set a route for Space Station 1. Planet Yaerus is not safe anymore,” Eladia says.

I agree with her, but I never say a thing. Even though I’ve forgiven Eladia for all the lying, I have no way of connecting with her anymore. That’s a bridge I burned myself.

And something inside me tells me that she feels the same way about me.