After returning to the bunker and lying in his bed to contemplate for a while, Mortuus was still no closer to figuring out who the "Shadow Man" was or what their motives were. The only thing he knew was that the Shadow Man protected individuals belonging to a particular group. However, every time he thought he had a clue, a new piece of information would throw him off.
"How are they connected?" Mortuus breathed out cannabis smoke. At first, Mortuus thought it was protecting only workmen, but when it was defending a woman, he quickly eliminated that theory. However, the Shadow Man's motives seemed so obscure that Mortuus was beginning to think he was just random.
As Mortuus watched the smoke of his cannabis billow into the air, he pondered the mystery figure's goals. He thought for a second. "Wait a minute..." Mortuus smiled as it clicked, "That woman was pregnant... It's protecting family units!"
Mortuus sat up quickly, his heart racing and his mind in a frenzy. He knew he needed to act fast, and so he threw on his boots with lightning speed, barely stopping a second to buckle them. His thoughts were a blur as he ran out of the room and into the file room, his mind racing as he tried to recall where he had seen the information he needed.
With a sense of urgency, Mortuus scanned the rows of cabinets, his eyes darting back and forth as he searched for the right one. Finally, he saw it— a small metal cabinet tucked away in the corner.
Without hesitation, he rushed over and grabbed the handle, tearing it open with all his might. The sound of metal screeching against metal echoed through the room, but Mortuus didn't care. He was on a mission, and nothing was going to stop him.
As he rifled through the files, Mortuus could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He was getting closer to the information he needed. He could feel it. And then, finally, he saw it— a folder of papers with the information he needed.
Mortuus grabbed the folder and held it up triumphantly, a sense of relief flooding over him. He had done it; he had found what he was looking for. With a sense of purpose, Mortuus rushed to a table in the center of the room, his mind already turning to his next move.
He placed the file down and opened it. It was precisely what he wanted. There, in Mordecai's handwriting, was the answer: "Subject B-9 shows no aggression but refuses to interact with individuals, not within a family unit." Read Mordecai's notes, and he even signed them in his somewhat sloppy writing.
As Mortuus continued reading, he found another note provided by Peter's father: "Subject B-9 has been reported missing. I have reason to believe that his 'Hallows' aided him." Mortuus had to stop reading; the term 'Hallows' confused him. "What the hell is a 'Hallow'?" he wondered.
Mortuus scanned the document until he found what he wanted, "Subject B-9 has been diagnosed with Tetraplegia, and his body appears to have developed 'Umbrakinesis' to account for this." At first, Mortuus didn't think anything of this, but then his eyes wandered to Dr. Morgan's addition to the file. "I've begun referring to Jason's shadow creations as 'Hallows' after our town and his L.A.S. diagnosis."
Mortuus laughed sarcastically. "Jason, you sly motherfucker..." Mortuus now knew exactly what he'd caught a glimpse of in that window. That was Jason Andrews. He must have had his Hallows bring him to the place where his daughter died to torment himself endlessly; he wanted the last moments of his daughter to haunt him until the day he withers into dust. A fate that only a tormented individual such as Jason Andrews would subject themselves to.
"A cruel fate, given he can't die," Mortuus thought aloud. He thought back to when he had been that way—the thought brought back his mortal enemy, Mordecai's one-foot robot assistant. As weird as it seemed, that small bot was the only thing that Mortuus considered to be an enemy.
"Hmm... I wonder, whatever happened to that little shit?" Mortuus pondered aloud as he walked out of the room. It didn't really matter, but it was at least something he could think about on his way to the old Andrews' house.
As Mortuus took careful steps toward the decrepit house, he felt his heart rate quicken with each passing moment. The old and rusty gate creaked as he pushed it open, adding to the eerie atmosphere that surrounded him. The air was thick and musty, almost suffocating, and it felt like there was a weight on his chest. The sound of his boots echoed through the eerie forest as he made his way closer to the door, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched.
Mortuus stopped and looked up at the imposing house, at least what was left of it. He could see that it had been a two-story building; however, most of the upstairs was gone as the roof had collapsed long ago. Mortuus couldn't quite tell if it was from the fire or just plain weathering.
Most of the windows were shattered, with the main one being the only remaining window with glass, but it was clearly covered in a few inches of thick dust. It was a huge window, and beside it, on either side, were shattered windows with jagged glass edges poking out from wooden frames like the teeth of a vile beast.
Mortuus lifted his hand to the brick and felt along its rigid surface. It had rough edges and crumbled a bit from just his touch. He wasn't surprised, given that the house had been abandoned for at least two decades, if not longer.
He looked at the brass doorknob, speckled with blue-green dots, that was engraved with a fancy cursive "A," most likely for "Andrews." The doorknob itself seemed to instill fear and dread within Mortuus the longer he stared at it. The door itself was nothing special, just a splintered and white door with marks of smoke on the bottom from the fire years ago.
Mortuus grasped the handle, took a deep breath, and opened the door. 88Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE4Je1F8pt
