Alex, Samantha, and Mike were examining the chief doctor’s office—the very one who, during the Wendigo escape incident, chose to lock himself inside and die alone, drowning the last remnants of his conscience in alcohol.

To move forward, they needed the key to the massive iron door—the only surviving passage to the next hall. All other exits, including the staircase, had long since collapsed when Blackwood Sanatorium was shut down and left to rot.

But their search for the key turned into a discovery far more shocking. In the dead doctor’s desk lay folders marked “Confidential.” Each file revealed an abyss of nightmares. The doctors, hiding behind medicine, had conducted inhuman experiments on the rescued miners—those very same men who, trapped underground, had resorted to cannibalism just to survive another day in the collapsed mine.

A lobotomy of a half-transformed miner—mercilessly dissecting his consciousness. A trepanning of another’s skull, all for the sake of studying brain changes. Endless records of how people, already broken by hunger and fear, were deliberately pushed to complete transformation. Each document was a new death sentence.

Alex closed another file, its name deliberately erased. Even with the power to destroy worlds and annihilate immortal beings, he still found himself astonished by the foolishness and cruelty of ordinary humans. Humans, capable of the worst atrocities in the name of profit or “science.”

He knew he was no saint. His own cruelty was frightening, but it was always directed only at enemies—those unworthy of a merciful death. He recalled the Red City—his personal prison, where captives were given chance after chance at salvation, only to find themselves trapped in another circle of torment. Alex often watched their suffering. Some broke, like Bison, stripped of his psycho-powers. Others, like Zhu Xiu, became playthings in the hands of local “doctors.” Even cunning Derek Simmons, who managed to slip through countless traps, always met his inevitable death in the end.

Alex gave a bitter smirk and carefully stored the miners’ medical files in his inventory, deciding to add them to his collection.

Meanwhile, Samantha and Mike were rummaging through locked cabinets and overturning piles of documents in search of the key. But the key was hidden where they least expected it—in the pocket of the chief doctor’s lab coat.

Alex carefully reached into the brittle fabric and pulled out an old iron key.

“I found it,” he said shortly, drawing the attention of his companions. “We can move on.”

“Goddammit…” Mike cursed, slamming shut another empty cabinet. “We tore this place apart, and it was sitting in the pocket of that dead bastard?”

Alex twirled the key between his fingers.

“He didn’t just lock himself away. He locked everyone else in too. Classic human nature: save yourself, and to hell with the rest.”

“Disgusting piece of shit,” Mike muttered through clenched teeth, angrily kicking the chair where the corpse sat. “No wonder he rotted here alone, surrounded by bottles.”

“Not just him,” Alex shook his head. “All the doctors here were the same. If even one of them had a shred of compassion, someone would have tried to stop it. But the thirst for fame and money from a ‘great discovery’ blinded them all.”

Samantha lowered her gaze, her voice trembling.

“And to think… we came here so many times to see Josh, Hannah, and Beth… and never knew. I never would’ve thought that behind these walls was such a hell.”

Alex only shook his head and gently placed his hand on Samantha’s head, trying to comfort her. He understood her state perfectly. Until this moment, Samantha had never faced the darkness hidden in the depths of human hearts.

People capable of unspeakable acts… things too horrible to even put into words. Alex had seen it many times. First in Orario, when he had just arrived in that world. Later in Night City, where such horrors were even more common. And in other worlds he had already walked through.

Deciding not to linger any longer in the chief doctor’s office, Alex, Samantha, and Mike moved on. To reach the next hall, they needed to unlock a massive iron door. Alex slid the key into the rusted keyhole and began carefully turning it, worried it might snap. Otherwise, they’d have to break down the door or search for another route. Of course, Alex could have easily destroyed the barrier, but he was still playing the role of an ordinary man. For him, it was part of the game—finding keys, moving through the proper paths.

He tried to force the jammed lock to turn, but it stubbornly resisted.”Mike, give me a hand. Try lifting the door a little, otherwise the key will snap soon, and then we’ll have to dig through the rubble or find another way,” Alex said without taking his eyes off the lock.

“Alright. Just don’t break it,” Mike replied, bracing against the door. “This is our only chance to move forward without making a detour through that creepy place.”

The iron door, sagging from age and covered in rust, groaned when Mike lifted it. He nodded to Alex. Alex carefully continued to turn the key. One twist—the lock clicked. Another—and the door yielded. Mike pushed the panel, and it creaked open with a long screech, as if warning all nearby Wendigos.

Alex picked up the axe he had left leaning against the wall and peered into the dark hallway. No movement, not a sound. Satisfied, he motioned for Samantha and Mike to follow.

They stepped into a new corridor, just as dark and littered with debris. Alex led the way, gripping the axe tightly. Behind him was Samantha, clutching the back of his hoodie as if afraid to let go. Mike brought up the rear, holding his shotgun and glancing back every few seconds, worried a Wendigo might sneak up from behind.

On both sides were doors boarded shut with planks. Every few meters lay overturned gurneys and broken wheelchairs, rusted and useless. In the distance, a faint light flickered through a grate above, casting long shadows across the floor.

Suddenly, the sound of quick footsteps echoed above them, and a shadow darted across the ceiling. Samantha flinched, Mike raised his shotgun, aiming upward. But Alex immediately knew what it was—the same Wendigo he had seen earlier through the ceiling when it scraped its claws across the floor after catching their scent.

“What was that?..” Samantha asked in fear, gripping Alex’s hoodie even tighter.

“I think one of those things,” Mike muttered grimly. “And I really don’t like that we don’t even know how many more are in here.”

“If you run into a Wendigo—freeze. Don’t move until it leaves. If it notices you… then we’ll have to run,” Alex said quietly, never taking his eyes off the spot where the creature had vanished.

Both nodded. Samantha pressed closer against Alex, finding at least some sense of safety that way.

A few minutes later, they reached a fork. One path was blocked by a collapsed ceiling, the other led further ahead. According to the map Mike had torn from one of the corridors, this path should take them to the central block of the psychiatric ward. If they passed through it, they’d reach the laboratories, and from there, the exit and the mines would be close.

They continued down the corridor. Alex walked ahead with the axe resting on his shoulder, Samantha followed, and Mike lit the way with his flashlight. Soon they stepped into a wide chamber that resembled a prison with cells. Above, a rusted bridge stretched across, connecting the two sides of the upper level.

Then, with a loud crash, something fell near the wall. Samantha clung to Alex, Mike swung his shotgun toward the noise. But a second later, a huge rat burst squealing from an overturned tin can and disappeared into a crack in the floor.

“Ugh… just a rat,” Samantha exhaled in relief, pressing a hand to her chest.

“‘Just’? That thing was the size of the dog Jess wanted for her birthday!” Mike muttered, lowering his weapon.

“Shh… don’t move and stay quiet,” Alex cut them off in a low voice.

At the sound of Alex’s tone, Samantha and Mike instantly froze and held their breath. In the very next moment, a dull thud echoed behind them—something heavy had landed on an old rusted hospital bed. It groaned under the weight, as if about to collapse beneath the intruder.

Both of them immediately understood: a Wendigo was standing behind them. Samantha, panicking, clutched Alex’s hoodie even tighter, her heart pounding so loudly it felt like it would give her away.

Alex turned to face the creature. The Wendigo clicked its teeth and swung its head from side to side, as if trying to catch the scent of its prey. Up close it looked even more revolting than from afar. The stench of rot and decay clung to it, like the smell of a crushed corpse.

With a rasping sound, the Wendigo slid off the bed, emitting those distinct clicks that made Mike and Samantha hold their breath. The creature rose to its feet, its face inches away from Alex’s. It listened to the silence, straining with every twitch of its body.

The moment the Wendigo parted its jaws to let out a screech, Alex acted fast—faster than the creature could even draw breath. In a flash, he thrust his hand into its maw, grabbed its lower jaw, and yanked it downward. The spine cracked with a sickening snap, and the monster’s head slammed against the floor with a dull thud.

Before the Wendigo could recover, Alex raised his axe and brought it down on the creature’s skull. The blade split bone with a wet crunch, blood spraying across the floor. Mike and Samantha flinched at the sound, turning just in time to see Alex swing again, driving the axe deeper.

The Wendigo’s body convulsed in spasms. The axe stuck so firmly that Alex had to plant his foot on the creature’s head to pull it free. With a sucking sound, the weapon tore out of the shattered skull.

“Well… one less monster,” Alex said calmly, resting the axe on his shoulder and pulling out a cigarette.

“You seriously just chopped it down with an axe?” Mike asked in disbelief, giving the corpse a small kick.

“Yeah. It’s not that hard. Sure, they’ve got tough skin and long claws, and they’re fast… But if you smash the head, it’s just another corpse. Without brains, they don’t live. Unless you’re an earthworm, or some other thing that doesn’t need them,” Alex smirked.

“If it were that simple, old man Jack wouldn’t have been hunting them his whole life,” Mike snorted with a trace of sarcasm.

Alex only shrugged, then glanced at Samantha.”You okay? Did it scare you too much?”

“I… I think I’m fine. Just… a little shaken,” she exhaled, trying to steady herself.

“Good,” Alex grinned. “Then I won’t need to find you a new pair of pants. I’m not giving up mine. Sure, I lent you my coat… but I’m not about to parade around these freezing halls in my underwear.”

Mike almost choked trying to hold back a laugh, his eyes involuntarily flicking to Samantha’s sweatpants to check if they were “still safe.” Samantha, however, just stared at Alex with a blank look of silent outrage.

Alex only smiled. Sometimes he cracked dumb jokes on purpose—just to break the tension.

“Look, I don’t want to ruin your ‘romantic moment,'” Mike cut in, “but how about you either kiss already, or we move on?”

“Thanks, Mike, you killed the mood,” Alex drawled sarcastically. “You do realize in every horror movie, after a monster encounter, the heroes have to stare at each other, their lips slowly moving closer… and then—bam, the climax.”

Samantha blushed furiously and turned away.

“Yeah, climax,” Mike chuckled. “As in another monster showing up at the exact moment of the kiss and killing one of them. Pretty sure you two wouldn’t like that outcome.”

Alex just laughed. For him, it was another red flag—those scenes always ended badly. Samantha, meanwhile, was now doing everything she could to avoid meeting his eyes.

They pressed on. Passing through the central block, the trio climbed a set of iron stairs, listening carefully to every sound. Where there was one Wendigo, there could always be another. At the top, they found themselves at a level where one path stretched straight ahead, and another led through a series of rooms.

Alex chose the second option: going through these rooms was the only way to reach the cells where old man Jack had kept the Wendigo, and from there, to escape outside, just beyond the cursed sanatorium’s grounds.

Entering the room on the left, Alex went in first, followed by Samantha, and last came Mike, who immediately shut the door and slid the heavy iron bolt into place. He had just started to step away from the door when a grotesque, bony hand of the Wendigo suddenly shot through the tiny window, clamping onto his wrist.

Alex reacted instantly, leaping forward to grab the creature’s hand.

“Come here,” he growled, gripping the Wendigo’s bony hand with both hands.

Mike, pale as a ghost, stumbled back, nearly tripping from the shock. But his fear quickly turned to bewilderment when a dull thud rang against the iron. Turning, he saw something incredible: Alex had planted his feet against the door and was pulling the Wendigo’s hand toward him, like some deadly game of tug-of-war. The creature struggled fiercely, trying to break free, but every yank from Alex ended with its head smashing against the iron door with a ringing crack, leaving deep dents in the metal.

The sounds grew louder, the blows harder. Time and again, the Wendigo’s head collided with the cold iron until its skull became a pulp of bone and brain matter. Its body went limp, the hand dangling uselessly, and Alex exhaled, letting go. With a dull thump, the dead creature collapsed on the other side of the door.

All the while, Samantha and Mike stood frozen, their faces stunned, unable to believe what had just happened. To them, it looked like madness: Alex had literally killed the monster by playing tug-of-war with its arm until it smashed its own head in.

“Alex… I don’t mean to offend you, but… did your family ever take you to a doctor?” Mike asked cautiously, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Because what you just did… that’s definitely not normal.”

“They did,” Alex replied calmly, shrugging. “The doctor said I’m fine. Only sometimes I have fits of rage, but I handle them easily.”

“And how do you handle them?” Samantha asked carefully, her eyes full of concern.

“Very simply. I spend time with my family. Usually, these outbursts only happen when I encounter some idiot with an inflated sense of self. But that doesn’t happen often. Very rarely, actually,” Alex shrugged again.

“And how do your loved ones react?” Samantha pressed, stepping closer.

“I think normally. I don’t destroy everything around me. I just let the anger out when the situation calls for it, and that’s it,” he said casually.

“Well… alright,” Mike said, smirking slightly, crookedly. “But you know, Sam was really scared by your little tricks.. Honestly, I never thought I’d see someone get killed like that.”

Alex raised an eyebrow questioningly and looked at Samantha. She shook her head slightly, indicating that she was fine and not afraid. Alex paused for a moment, realizing how accustomed he had become to his methods, to his brutal techniques, which often unsettled those around him.

But for ordinary people—like Mike and Samantha—witnessing such things was genuinely difficult. He had almost forgotten that his fighting style nearly always instilled terror in anyone nearby.

Alex shook his head, unwilling to dwell on his own anger any longer. He had learned to live with it, to ignore the feeling. Deciding to move on, he, Samantha, and Mike headed into the next room.

A sign on the door read: “Security Room.”

Cautiously entering and locking the door just in case, they immediately heard a strange, scraping sound from above. All three looked up at the same time. From a hole in the ceiling, a Wendigo slowly crawled out, making a disgusting clicking noise, like insects chirping.

Alex, Samantha, and Mike ducked behind an overturned wooden table, watching the creature traverse the ceiling. Soon, the Wendigo jumped down onto a massive table in the center of the room and, tilting its head back, let out a piercing scream.

Alex cautiously peeked out from cover: the doors were directly behind the creature. He quickly calculated a plan—how to distract the Wendigo so Samantha and Mike could escape alive. Looking around, he noticed a scattering of small stones on the floor.

Gathering a handful, Alex gestured to his companions: he would distract the monster, and they would move forward, using the tables as cover. Mike and Samantha nodded grimly.

Alex tossed the first stone—it hit a wooden surface with a dull thud. The Wendigo twitched instantly and crawled toward the noise. Taking advantage of this, Samantha and Mike dashed to another cover.

They repeated this several times until the two of them reached the exit. Alex threw another stone behind the Wendigo. It bounced off the wall, and the creature turned, giving him the opening he needed.

Without wasting a second, Alex lunged forward. Leaping over the table, he reached the Wendigo, grabbed its hind legs, and yanked it down forcefully. The creature let out a deafening roar as it slammed against the wooden surface. Alex brought it to the floor, grabbed the back of its head, and began smashing its skull against the edge of the table with rage.

The Wendigo’s teeth cracked, its jaw splintered into pieces, until finally the top of its skull separated from its body. With a hoarse exhale, Alex released the lifeless body, which thudded heavily to the floor.

“Well, that’s the third one,” he said calmly, lighting a cigarette.

“Are you planning to kill every one of these things?” Mike asked, staring at him in disbelief.

“No,” Alex replied indifferently. “Only the ones capable of chasing us. You don’t want to run through the whole block hoping we make it, right? Better to take them out now so we don’t have to look back later.”

“Fair enough, monster killer,” Mike muttered, shaking his head. “But I’ll admit, you made our path a lot easier.”

Alex shifted his gaze to Samantha. The girl stood pale, her mouth slightly open, trying once again to process what she had just witnessed. This was already the third time she had watched Alex deal with a Wendigo—and each time it looked stranger, almost unnatural.

Alex smirked and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, bringing her back to reality. Samantha exhaled heavily, looking at him with a newfound curiosity. Her attention was increasingly drawn to Alex’s mysterious family: how had they raised someone who kills monsters with such cold-blooded ingenuity? He didn’t panic—he thought and acted as if it were ordinary.

If Alex had known what she was thinking, he would have just shrugged. He would have kept silent about the true nature of things: in this universe, there was only one being capable of rivaling him—and even that, with difficulty.

The corridor stretched into darkness. Feeling the tension, Alex signaled them to move quietly. Mike and Samantha nodded obediently and followed.

Soon they reached the very block where Old Jack kept the Wendigos. Cages lined both sides of the corridor. Alex could clearly feel that there were no fewer than a dozen creatures chained inside.

His suspicion was confirmed when a bony hand suddenly reached out from one of the cages toward Samantha. Mike raised his shotgun, but Alex was faster: he lifted his axe and with a single swing severed the limb. The Wendigo howled, recoiled, and collapsed into its cage, filling the corridor with furious screams.

“Don’t tell me the old man keeps these things in cages?” Mike breathed, keeping his weapon ready.

“If you can’t beat them—lock them up,” Alex replied dryly. “Stick to the center. Don’t get close to the cages. These things have long, grasping limbs. If they grab you—they’ll tear flesh from bone.”

He pointed down the long, grim corridor, and the trio moved forward slowly, avoiding looking toward the cages, from which raspy breaths and the clinking of chains echoed.

Satisfied that Samantha and Mike had understood, Alex stepped forward, walking strictly in the center of the dark corridor. Cages lined both sides, and from inside came moans, growls, and sickening scraping sounds. Sensing the scent of prey, the Wendigos began stretching their bony limbs outward, claws cracking against the bars.

Mike kept turning, raising his shotgun at each monster straining to break free, ready to fire at the slightest move. Alex, however, moved confidently, noting to himself that Old Jack had clearly accomplished an incredible feat, managing to lock up so many Wendigos. How had he even done it alone, without help?

The thought inadvertently reminded Alex of Bobby Singer. The old man was no longer alive, but Alex would have liked to get his collection of books and journals, which surely contained a wealth of useful knowledge.

It was this very distraction that almost cost them their lives. One of the cages had an unlocked grate: inside sat a Wendigo, restrained only by a thick chain. In the next second, the creature leapt with a wild screech straight toward Samantha.

She froze, gripped by terror, as the creature’s claws flashed inches from her face. But Alex reacted at the last moment: a step forward—and he shielded her with his body. The chain snapped taut, restraining the Wendigo and jerking it backward. But Alex wasn’t about to just watch.

“Come here, you fucking scum. Trying to scare us? I’ll scare you instead,” he growled, grabbing the creature by its legs and yanking sharply toward him.

The Wendigo shrieked, rasping, thrashing wildly to break free from Alex’s grip. But Alex held fast. The chain stretched tighter, and the corridor echoed with a sickening crack, like tearing flesh. In the next second came a crisp snap—and the Wendigo’s head flew to the side, hitting the wall and rolling back into the cage.

In Alex’s hands remained the lifeless, twitching body. He tossed it to the floor and turned to Samantha.

“You okay?” he asked gently, looking intently into her eyes. “Scared much? Don’t worry. The bad Wendigo won’t touch you.”

Samantha breathed heavily, trying to calm the rising fear.

“Considering how you killed it… I doubt it’s going to touch anyone now,” Mike muttered, still holding his shotgun ready.

“I’m fine,” Samantha finally exhaled, forcing a smile. “Thanks… I just got scared. It came out of nowhere.”

“The important thing is you’re okay,” Alex replied with a slight smile.

She nodded and peeked over his shoulder at the Wendigo’s body. The headless corpse lay at Alex’s feet, while the severed head rested in the cage. Instead of disgust or horror, she felt a strange warmth and gratitude. Were it not for the grim situation, she would have wanted to hug him tightly.

“Guys, I don’t want to interrupt your little romantic moment,” Mike said grimly, “but we have company. And they’re not happy that you took out their buddy.”

Alex and Samantha turned back simultaneously. At the far end of the corridor, from where they had come, five Wendigos were already crawling along the ceiling, walls, and floor. Their joints clicked, claws scraped the stone, and a grotesque crunch echoed through the room.

Samantha, only just regaining her composure, felt a fresh surge of terror. Mike gripped his short-barrel shotgun tighter, his face stone-cold. Alex clicked his tongue irritably.

Peach the wolverine and the wolf accompanying them bolted, immediately disappearing in the opposite direction, clearly unwilling to confront the flesh-eating creatures.

“Mike…” Alex said quietly, keeping his eyes on the approaching Wendigos.

“What?” Mike rasped, never lowering his weapon.

“I think it’s time to run. And fast,” Alex said calmly.

“Don’t need you to tell me,” Mike muttered through clenched teeth.

“Then catch up,” Alex said smoothly, turning to Samantha.

Before she could even react, Alex scooped her up and sprinted forward, heading toward where Peach and the Wolf had gone. Mike immediately followed. Alex knew the animals wouldn’t run blindly—they instinctively knew where safety lay.

Seeing the humans flee, the Wendigos howled and gave chase. Their screams echoed down the corridor, chilling to the bone. Alex, holding Samantha in his arms, couldn’t help thinking how absurd it all was: with the power to obliterate these creatures with a snap of his fingers, he still had to play the part of an ordinary person—and run for his life.

The tracks of Peach and the Wolf led them to a narrow bridge, flanked by mesh railings. Quickening their pace, Alex, Samantha, and Mike sprinted to the end of the bridge—but the doors were locked. Behind them, the rapid footsteps of the Wendigos drew closer.

Alex noticed a metal barrel filled with fuel. Without hesitation, he kicked it forcefully, sending it rolling back along the bridge.

“Mike, shoot the barrel!” he shouted.

Mike raised his shotgun and fired just as the barrel reached their pursuers. A shower of sparks from the shot immediately ignited the fuel. Alex spun around, shielding Samantha with his body. Mike ducked back, covering his face from the heat. The explosion rocked the bridge, shaking the walls. Flames and smoke engulfed the Wendigos, tossing their bodies aside.

In that instant, Alex saw black curse energy erupt from the charred corpses. Its shadow shifted, taking the form of Zhang Ya. The red darkness extended toward the cursed beings, grabbing them and dragging them into the depths of the Crimson City—a horrific dimension that Alex had turned into a personal hell, adding to the collection of those unlucky enough to cross him.

With the Wendigos dealt with, Alex kicked the door open and went inside first. Peach and the Wolf were already there, nervously scanning the room. Mike followed last, slamming the door shut and locking it.

Alex set Samantha on her feet. The girl, breathing heavily, pressed her hand to her chest, trying to calm down. Mike leaned against the door, still catching his ragged breath.

Alex pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag. The bitter smoke dulled his irritation slightly—the irritation of having to keep up the act of an ordinary person, hiding everything he truly was.

“Want one?” he offered the pack to Mike. “Cigarettes really help relieve tension.”

“I don’t smoke,” Mike grumbled, but within a second, he took a cigarette anyway. “Honestly, if I had known I’d come here and have to run from some cannibal creatures, I’d never have set foot on this mountain.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Alex smirked. “If a stranger had told you something like that, you’d probably think they were talking nonsense.”

Alex pulled a candy from his pocket and handed it to Samantha:”Here. Sweet things help with stress.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, immediately popping the strawberry candy into her mouth.

“Exactly,” Mike chimed in. “If some guy had told me Wendigos would be chasing me here… I’d have told him to go to hell.” He took a drag, coughed, but kept smoking.

Alex just smiled. He knew perfectly well—any normal person would react the same way.

Finally, they allowed themselves a brief respite. For Samantha and Mike, escaping the Wendigos had been a true ordeal—even though Alex had been carrying Samantha in his arms the entire time.

To be continued…

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep