No…. no, no, no…

It's all wrong. Everything is wrong.

There's so much blood, everywhere, anywhere. Disgusting.

Glistening crimson in the pale nighttime glow, it's so ominous. She watches that deranged smile on his face as he approaches her, lifting his knife, the source of the blood.

Drip, drip, drip, goes the dark liquid across the floor. It paints a mosaic of grotesque beauty along the wood.

Her heart… is it still beating?

From within her nightmare, she continues to watch the same thing happen again, and again, and again.

The pool of blood along the kitchen floor, the lifelessness of the mutilated body resting motionless underneath someone else viciously maiming it over and over—

—The laughter, ringing out, hurting her ears, and driving her mind to insanity.

.x.X.x.

"N-ngh…"

Slowly, with confusion, the young girl draws herself back to consciousness. As her soft blue eyes take in her surroundings, questions begin to arise.

She sits, alone, in a moonlit room. The chair underneath her is hard, made of weak wood that slightly wobbles when she shifts. The room is bathed in bright rays from the night sky, and she looks back and forth along the room.

The room is empty save for herself, and another emptied chair across from her. As she inspects the remainder of the room, she notices a few security cameras in the right and left corners of the back of the room, tiny blinking red lights making them obvious in the still barrenness.

Where… is this?

The thought nearly shocks her. The more she thinks about that question, the more her head spins. As she tries to wrack her brain, searching for clues on where she might be or what's even going on, she comes to the unnerving realization that she can't recall anything at all. The only thing that comes to mind is her name.

I'm… My name is Rachel Gardner. But why can't I recall anything else?

I must have… lost my memories…

Somehow, as frightening as the conclusion is, she's a bit calmer about it than she expects.

Well, I should see if I can find any clues around here. Nodding to herself, she lifts herself from the chair, finding herself to be relatively stronger than she first thought. She doesn't seem to be hurt at all, thankfully.

She glances behind her, and finds a wide window there to greet her. A large, blue full moon graces the view, filling her vision with its glow. Something about it feels strange, unnatural- it makes her question if it's even real.

A blue full moon… is it night, then?

Another memory begins to resurface, and her eyes narrow in thought, fingers gently gripping her dark handbag reflexively.

That's right, I- I think I was in a… a hospital. I'm pretty sure I was in a medical examination room.

Tilting her head, her lips press together in a tight line. A nagging worry pokes at her mind, and she lets out a short exhale, bracing herself.

...Anyway, I have to find mom and dad. Maybe they're here somewhere? Could this place be another part of the hospital?

Ray starts to the exit, and the sound of her own footsteps echoes throughout, breaking the silence that had been somewhat bothering her.

Shouldn't there be people? Maybe I should call out for help?

She banishes the thought quickly. There's something off about this place that makes her hesitant to draw attention to herself.

Gripping the doorknob and finding, with a bit of relief, that it happens to be unlocked, Ray slips through the doorway and enters what looks like a long hallway. Drinking in the surroundings, the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach grows.

This place… there is no doubt that this isn't right. This isn't the same hospital as before. A short chill runs down her spine. The blank white walls, the slightly grimy tile beneath her feet… it's all unfamiliar.

The building seems old and a bit run down, for starters. Down the way, she can see only one other door beside the one she came out from, and a wide area leading down to what she thinks is another hall. However, as she walks over, she finds that it's barred off by a large steel gate. Inspecting it, she sees a card slider nearby.

How am I supposed to get out of here if I don't have the key?

Peering down past the gate, she can see what looks to be an elevator. With this wall between her and it, it feels miles and miles away from her.

There is that room down the hall. Maybe I can find the key for it there?

Feeling it to be her only option, Ray reluctantly wanders over to the door. When she reaches it, she notices some writing etched into the wall beside it, strangely scratchy— like someone had dug it into the wall with the edge of a knife.

"'Who art thou?'" she read aloud to herself, her voice sounding a bit foreign to her ears, especially in the old English. "'To know, thou must find out for thyself. Is it thine true self? Or thine desired self? An angel? A sacrifice?'"

"'Know thyself… and the gate shalt open.'"

What strange writing, she mulls over it internally. I wonder who left this here?

Know thyself? What does this mean?

An angel, or… a sacrifice…

She ponders the weird note as she enters the room, but it leeches away from her mind as she glances around the small area. It's just as lifeless and sterile as the one she'd woken in, but it feels odd to her. A desktop computer sitting dormant faces the door on a desk, and another card machine sits there as well. She sees a wall paneled with layer after layer of mirrors, but her reflection seems to appear only in the tall panel in the middle. After doodling with the lifeless monitor for a minute, she wanders over to the mirrors, stopping when she faces herself.

She stares at herself for a moment, glancing at her appearance. Her favorite black and white striped shirt half-hidden under her pale jacket and the strap of her trusty handbag, and her dark shorts peeking out from beneath that. A pair of boots with little metal buckles that she's been fond of, that seem a bit dirty for some reason. Her long blonde hair is a bit mussed, with that one tuft sticking up that she can never manage to tame. She brushes her bangs from her eyes, watching her double do the same.

...Just my usual self, she thinks with a tiny quirk of her mouth.

Click.

She nearly jumps at the sound of what reminds her of a switch being flipped snaps through the air— and then something akin to radio static triggering from the desktop she thought didn't work. Turning around, she catches the sight of colored light flickering over the desk, and hastily she moves back to face the computer, curiosity tugging at her.

Some kind of program has booted up on screen without prompting. It beeps at her as if it had waited for her appearance.

"E-Enter data?" she questions aloud to herself, reading the screen.

'PLEASE ENTER THE FOLLOWING: NAME?'

"... Ra- Rachel Gardner," she murmurs hesitantly, not seeing a keyboard to type it into. However, the computer acts as if it heard her words, her name flickering on screen and then flashing away once more.

'AGE?'

"...13." It feels a bit invasive to give the beeping creature this information, but she finds herself doing it anyways with a bit of curiosity.

The next question brings her to a pause, though.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?'

What is she doing here? She wishes she knew that much. Still, she fights to recall, dredging up her memories, a solemn tone entering her voice.

"I'm… pretty sure I was at a hospital. And when I came to, I was here." The answer sounds as hollow and unsatisfying to her as it must sound to the machine, she thinks dryly.

'WHY?'

She blinks, taken off guard. "...?"

'WHY?' insists the machine, sounding somehow agitated. 'WHY? WHY?'

'WHY THE HOSPITAL?'

A pang of something shoots through her chest, and she backs away from the computer, her fingers clutching into the edge of her jacket tensely.

Her words feel dry, her gaze clouding little, but her voice is matter of fact.

"...I… I saw someone…" she mumbles, forcing herself to say it.

"—I saw someone die. It happened right in front of me. So, I was brought here… for counseling."

Though she says it, the memory of the incident is blurred in her mind's eye, like it's just out of her reach. Just thinking about it, though, makes her flinch, shying away from it.

'WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW?'

...Do?

She clears her throat, and replies, "...Leave this place. I wanna see my mom and dad..."

'-ENTRY COMPLETE. DISTRIBUTING PLAY START KEY CARD.'

A series of beeps follows, and she hears a whir beside her, Turning her head, she spots a card exiting the little slot nearby. A moment after it's finished being created, the computer itself shuts down again, returning to a lifeless shell once more.

I don't understand anything about this at all, Ray frowns a bit. Was all of that necessary?

Well, it did give me that card at least…

Retrieving the card, she examines it. This should work on the gate out there, I think. But… I wonder what it means by 'Play Start'...?

Unable to answer the continuous festering questions in her mind, she pockets the item and leaves the room, only glancing back one more time.

Back at the gate, she pulls it out and inserts the small key into the slot. It beeps, and then the gate slides open for her, allowing her through.

Thank goodness. Maybe now I can get out of here. I want to get home, to mom and dad…

She nearly runs down the hall to the elevator, but when she reaches it, she tilts her head in surprise.

"It only has… an up button…?"

How strange. So then, does that mean I'm underground somewhere? That's odd… I don't remember being in this basement.

A large influx of static overhead startles her, and she jumps back from the elevator in shock. Crackling through an intercom system throughout the building, she hears a voice begin to speak.

"The girl on the bottom floor is hereby a sacrifice. All floors please make preparations."

A sacrifice…?! Ray inhales sharply, her heart sinking immediately.

"Beyond here is the play area.

—The gate will now open."

A bell chiming, like it's signalling the start of something unknown, rings throughout, and she finds herself quickly pressing the up button, wanting to get out. Dread fills her entire body.

That announcement just now… what could it have meant…?

Not wanting to know the answer, she enters the opened elevator and jumps inside. As the doors close, her hands grip into tight fists at her sides.

I have to get out of here. I have to find mom and dad.

...What does all of this mean…?

...All I know now, is that I'm going up. Will I find the exit here?

Not knowing what to expect, she braces herself, and rides the elevator in silence, unknowing of what would come or befall her, only wishing to be allowed to return to her family.

She never could've known the awful things that would await her.

.x.X.x.

"—The gate will now open."

"...Hehehe."

Something shifts in the dim darkness, and something metallic catches the light, glinting as its owner drapes themselves backwards, becoming a bit more tense.

A wide, sinister, heart-stoppingly malicious smile cuts over their face, and they laugh low to themselves, clearly finding something funny in the dim silence of their room. Picking themselves up from their seat, they grip their long, well-used weapon in hand.

"...'Bout time. Was starting to get fuckin' bored twiddling my thumbs down here...

"—Finally things can get interestin'."

A/N: not beta'd.

WARNING: This fic will contain strong uses of language, gore, and whatnot. It is a novelization of the indie horror game Angels of Death. I will be following the game almost completely, however, I will spin it in my own way and I WILL take creative liberties with it when I choose, etc. I will write it as I played it. This is to be a more fleshed out version of it, after all. And yes, I do see Zack and Ray romantically pretty much, so be aware of that as I write.

ANYWAYS. Now that that's out of the way; hi guys. It's been awhile, right? I should be writing Malism, but uh... yeah. Anyways. Another WIP is here to be forgotten (laugh). However, this was surprisingly easy to write, so hopefully I will update it more and stuff. Don't expect a whole lot though. I would like to know what you think.

So yeah, here's this. I won't drag the a/n forever, but I missed my readers and I hope this might be something interesting to read as we go. And if you haven't played the game, I highly, highly recommend it.

Alright, well, I said my piece. I love y'all, and read on, my dudes.

~disclaimer~. I do not own Angels of Death, nor its characters. I just adore it.