Everyone stood watching Matthew try to stop the blood gushing from his eye. Only Karen helped him up and put him on a couch. '' Thank you.''

''Don't worry about it. I'll get a first aid kit and be right back.'' Karen started to look for something to help Matthew and his bleeding.

Matthew took this opportunity and asked again, "What's going on here? What happened to Sheryl?''

He had other questions, like why they were here instead of just Karen, but honestly speaking, Matthew had pretty much forgotten about it. Losing his eye for his demon-like ex-girlfriend was not something that happened every day.

But no one answered him. Everyone was looking at Daniel, waiting for an answer or some kind of reaction from him. And from the look on his face, he was not in a good mood.

'CRAP! He was supposed to be dead! Karen you bitch, getting into the way of my plans when you don't have to!' Daniel's plan for Matthew to die at Sheryl's hands almost came to pass, if it hadn't been for Karen's interference.

Scanning everyone's gaze, Daniel quickly remembered something, 'Wait, Sheryl bit his lips... why isn't he transforming?'

Ignoring that, but finding a reason to send Matthew to the basement, away from everyone, and maybe even a reason to kill him, Daniel acted, ''We don't have to say anything to you. Guys, he's been bit and you've heard what happens to people who get bitten by a Deadite. I want to put him in the basement for now, to see what happens.''

Karen returned at that moment with the first aid kit. She was shocked, ''What the hell are you talking about? Bitten? Why does he need to be locked up?''

Daniel and the others were so focused on Matthew that they totally forgot about the demon outside the cabin. The two were separated by a flimsy wooden door, but they didn't care.

Daniel looked at Karen, '' Send her down too.''

Like mindless people, the man of the group grabbed the confused Matthew, who tried to resist but was overpowered, by the arms and threw him into the basement. The girl did the same to Karen.

Daniel looked down at them. He was smiling sadistically, '' Have fun down there.'' He then closed the basement.

Matthew and Karen were in pitch-black darkness. Matthew tried to open the hatch but to no avail. '' Do you have any light?''

Karen searched her pockets and pulled out her phone. She turned the flashlight, '' Here.''

'' Thank you.'' Matthew wanted to see if there was any path that lead outside, but when he started to go down the stair, he felt dizzy and had to sit down, '' What is happening?''

Karen carried the med kit, '' You are in shock. Relax for a moment, I'll deal with the bleeding.''

And for the next minute or so, Karen stopped the bleeding the best she could and bandaged Matthew's head. After doing so, she stepped away from him, '' Done.''

Matthew looked at her and was smitten by her appearance. But he knew that was REALLY not the time to think of that. He needed to find out what happened here or how to run away. '' Let's continue.''

Struggling to get on his feet, but doing so anyway, Matthew and Karen descended the stairs. As soon as they arrived at the end, they could see a source of light.

'' You can turn it off now, don't waste the batteries for nothing,'' Matthew said to Karen, who nodded and turned off the flashlight on her phone.

The duo then made their way toward the light, and sure enough, there lay the Necronomicon and the tape recorder.

When they saw the Necronomicon, both recoiled a little and hesitated on going towards it. But Matthew knew they didn't have much choice, and went to grab it.

As soon as he touched it, he noted his hand had some blood on it, but he didn't care, ' In our situation, this really is nothing.'

Opening the book, Matthew passed through the pages at a fast pace. He could not understand any of the contents. ' No luck. Maybe Karen knows something?'

Passing the Necronomicon to Karen, Matthew said, '' I can't understand a single word on it. I'll use the tape recorder to see if there's a way out of here. I doubt Daniel will let us leave this place through the normal way.''

Karen took the book and nodded, '' I'll see if I can understand it.'' Soon though, she gave up. She too could not understand it.

At this point, Matthew had used the tape recorder, and somehow made it start the tape from the beginning. Karen was there to listen to him.

5 minutes later, they looked horrified at what they heard. Matthew looked down at his lips and sure enough, there was a bite mark, '' But why I'm not transforming into a Deadite?''

Based on what they saw with Sheryl, they knew the tape was real and contained real information. So, Matthew should've transformed by now, but nothing looked wrong with him.

Karen, even though scared, tried to reassure him, '' Even Professor Dangerous took a while to transform... and maybe you could be immune?''

Matthew knew it was an attempt to make him feel better. It did help a little, but he now wanted to run away from here. ' I don't think I can, or should, help those people upstairs. Maybe Karen, but she too just broke my trust.'

But for now, knowing their full situation, Matthew was prepared to do whatever he could to escape, so he forgot about that.

He started to think, ' How could we run from here? Maybe is there a tunnel somewhere in the basement?'

Deciding to search for it, Matthew said to Karen, '' Let's see if there is a tunnel that leads outside or something.''

Karen nodded and turned on the flashlight. The duo searched around for a minute or two but found nothing. Just then, they heard screams from upstairs.

The duo looked at each other and knew Sheryl Deadite must have entered the house. Knowing they were running out of time and were trapped, they continued searching.

CRACK

They heard a sound somewhere in the basement. Slowly looking towards the sound and praying it wasn't anything serious, they finally saw an exit. It was a tunnel, but it was blocked by a wall before the Deadite in front of them broke it.

Oh, and there was a Deadite in front of them. It wasn't Sheryl or one of his friends so, it could only be Professor Dangerous. He could not kill himself on time, or he did and turned anyway.

Matthew paled instantly, 'FUCK!' The only thing that could realistically kill a Deadite was the Kandarian Dagger, and it was supposed to be upstairs in one of the rooms.

So now, Matthew and Karen were trapped in a basement with a Deadite. Going upstairs, to the main part of the cabin, there was a Deadite breaking havoc and most probably killed some people there, and THEN they had to go upstairs in the cabin, to search for the Kandarian Dagger.

So, to say it shortly, they are fucked.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The only relief they got was that the Deadite in front of them was almost only bones, with little to no flesh. Still, an undead demon was not something you want to face with no weapons.

Regardless, that was the hand both Matthew and Karen had been dealt.

The almost-skeleton Deadite ex-Professor Dangerous looked at the duo. His eyesocket looked menacingly, '' WE WILL FEAST ON YOUR SOUL!''

Not giving the duo time to think of a plan, the Deadite attacked, leaping toward them. Matthew dodged to one side and Karen to the other, and the Deadite missed them by a lot.

CRASH

The Deadite went all out into the wall and stayed there for quite a while. Long enough for Matthew to grab the only thing that could serve as a 'weapon'. The chair.

Picking up the chair, which was extremely fragile, Matthew cursed. '' FUCK.''

Karen also looked around for some kind of weapon but without success. She then looked up the ladder that led to the cabin and looked at the steps, ''I can break one and use it as a weapon!''

And that's what she did. Over Matthew's gaze, Karen broke one of the steps off the ladder and armed herself. The two looked at each other and nodded. They could see that they both wanted to live, and it gave them a boost of confidence.

Matthew, who in the last four years had had almost no happiness, was smiling broadly. 'This is amazing! The feeling is addictive!'

Even though he didn't know why he was like this, what mattered to Matthew was that he had regained some 'happiness' in the midst of it all. It just took him losing one of his eyes, receiving a kiss from a demon ex-girlfriend and almost dying several times in minutes.

Finally, after agonizing seconds, Deadite 'woke up'. He turned around and said after seeing the two with 'weapons' and approaching him slowly, "Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?"

Shock appeared on Matthew's face. He recognized that line from somewhere but quickly forgot about it when Deadite came toward him and Karen.

It didn't jump like before, but slowly made its way towards them. Matthew and Karen didn't retreat but went in circles, to try to stay on the light.

Remember the basement was pitch black, the only source of light was the lightbulb above the table and Karen's phone.

Regardless, the Deadite didn't attack them right away. He was just mimicking their movements a little, ' He's toying with us.'

It was clear from the fact this Deadite and Sheryl Deadite didn't kill them right away because they were enjoying preying on their victims.

Matthew could see this game of cat and mouse was taking some toll on Karen, as she was trembling quite a bit. He knew she would eventually lose her cool and do something drastic, so he had to act.

In front of a demon, Matthew was relaxed. Nothing like he was with Sheryl, that one time he was scared as fuck, but now he was almost fearless. So, he did something.

Matthew tried to talk with the Deadite, '' Say, why don't let us go? I mean, I only have one eye and my friend here has gonorrhea. I doubt her blood, soul or whatever, would taste good.''

''HEY!''

The Deadite stopped. He seems to think really hard about it. '' Hmmm, how about this? Give me your other eye and I'll let both of you go.''

Matthew shook his head, '' Come on, you know that's not how this works. We need a compromise here. I'll not give you my eye.''

'' Then I'll not let you leave this place.'' The Deadite was calm. He knew he had the upper hand, and based on his hive mind, he knew the situation upstairs was good too.

'' Hey, now, let's not be so drastic.'' Matthew did a pose looking like he was thinking, '' How about this, you take one eye from my friend here and we can leave. Deal?''

''Didn't you say she had gonorrhea?'' The Deadite didn't like rotten food. He prefers his blood and soul clean as possible.

'' Beggars can't choose. I see you are quite hungry.'' Matthew looked at the Deadite body, which was almost a full skeleton, '' Do we have a deal?''

Karen was totally dumbstruck by all this interaction. She had no idea where Matthew got the confidence to talk to this demon so careless and he even offered an eyeball to him. HER eyeball.

'' Do I not have a say on this?'' Karen weakly interjected.

Matthew and the Deadite finally remembered Karen. Matthew tapped his head, '' Silly me, I forgot about you!''

Karen was relieved. She knew she must have heard it wrong.

Matthew looked at her, '' Which eyeball do you want to lose? Wait a second, '' He turned to the Deadite, '' Do you have any preference?''

The Deadite shook his head, '' I'm okay with any. Just hurry up, I'm getting impatient.''

Matthew nodded and returned his attention to Karen, '' So, left or right?''

Karen finally noted something. Matthew looked down at her arm and winked. ' So he wants to attack... we don't stand a chance. But, it's better dying this way.'

Taking a deep breath and holding her 'weapon' tightly, Karen said, '' Left.''

Matthew nodded and turned around. He slowly walked to the right of the Deadite in a way it didn't show any signs of anything wrong. '' She said left.''

Immediately after that, Matthew attacked with the chair, followed by Karen. The attack hit the Deadite in the head and sure enough, it broke into pieces.

Looking at the piece of trash in his hands, and the expression of the Deadit that 'said,' ' That's it?', Matthew snapped. '' FUCK THIS.''

He didn't care anymore, he just tackled the Deadite to the ground and started punching it.

PUNCH PUNCH CRACK

Something broke in Matthew's hands but he didn't stop. He could see the Deadite was still smiling, taking almost no damage.

Karen was helping too, kicking and screaming at it.

The Deadite was getting bored, '' Can you guys finish this quickly? I'm still hungry.''

Matthew was getting crazy. Nothing he was doing was working. ' I can't win...' Just as he was thinking that he noted something strange, ' His head... it almost like it's hanging on a thread.'

Thanks to Matthew's punches, the head of the Deadite, who looked almost like a skeleton, was getting separated. This gave Matthew an idea and he acted quickly.

Matthew grabbed the head of the Deadite, who found it amusing, '' What are you doing?''

Ignoring the demon, Matthew started to pull the head up, to decapitate the Deadite. Karen noted and helped.

Sure enough, when the Deadite noted the problem it was too late, '' Wait, stop! I like my head where it is!''

SQUISH

The head of the Deadite was pulled out. It screamed, '' That was dirty!''

Matthew was grinning as he looked at the head on his hand,'' How'd you feel without a head?''

The Deadite smiled, '' Inconvenient, but you see, I can still move my body.''

After the Deadite said that, he threw Matthew, who was on top of him, into the wall of the basement.

'' Matthew!'' Karen rushed to Matthew's side and helped him get up.

The head of the Deadite laughed, '' Silly you! Now that you broke our deal, I'll kill you in the worst pain you can imagine!''

Matthew looked at the Deadite and noted its eyes were still there, so simply plucked them, the same way Sheryl did to him.

PLUCK

Now, the Deadite was completely blind. He didn't expect that, '' You motherfucker! I'll kill you!''

The body was moving without any direction, finally giving Matthew and Karen time to breathe.

When Karen looked at Matthew, she was him smiling creepily. Slowly, she asked him, '' Matthew, are you okay?''

With the head of the Deadite still in his hands, Matthew looked at Karen with surprise, '' What do you mean?''

Karen was surprised but responded, '' You're smiling crepply...''

Just then, Matthew finally noticed he was indeed smiling widely. He was shocked, '' What the ... HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA.''

Without warning, Matthew started to laugh like a maniac. Karen tried to help him somehow but didn't know what to do.

The head of the Deadite also started to laugh. Matthew was holding the Deadite with one hand and his stomach with the other.

Karen started to get chills and slowly got away from Matthew, ' He was bitten ... maybe he is transforming?' She arrived close to the tunnel the Deadite opened for them.

When she was almost entering the tunnel, Matthew and the Deadite stopped laughing. Karen immediately held her breath.

Matthew slowly raised his head, and, indeed, he now was a Deadite. '' WE WILL FEAST ON YOUR SOUL!''

Ignoring everything else, Karen entered the tunnel and started to run. To her surprise, when she looked back, Matthew wasn't following her and it was quiet.

Her guilty started to consume her, ' I was the one who brought him here... I'm sorry.'

Karen was about to continue running in the tunnel when she heard a scream that made her stop. The reason she didn't continue running was that the voice belonged to Matthew, the normal one, not the turned one.

So, now she was hesitating. ' Maybe he somehow controlled the infection?' Karen then started to go back to the basement.

To her shock, Matthew had recovered. But, the Deadite too. The scream just now was because the body found the head and a struggle started. Matthew was clearly losing, as he was being lifted in the air by the Deadite.

When she saw that scene, Karen didn't hesitate and jumped on the Deadite.

'' Oh?'' When the Deadite sensed Karen on his back, he didn't mind that much. But, that slight distraction was enough for Matthew to act.

With his right hand, Matthew grabbed the head of the distracted Deadite. With no more options or time, Matthew bites the nose of the Deadite.

Surprisingly, that made the Deadite drop Matthew from the air. Gasping for air and with the head still in his hands, Matthew dropped the head to the ground and raised his foot.

'' WAIT! STOP!''

CRUNCH

But Matthew didn't stop and smashed the head of the Deadite. He didn't know if the demon was dead for good, but just for precaution, he stepped a few more times.

Only when Matthew saw the body drop to the ground did he stop. Soon after, he dropped to the ground, painting hard.

Karen, who had gotten off the body of the Deadite, approached Matthew with caution, '' Are you okay?''

Matthew was sweating hard. He didn't know if he was good, '' I - I don't know. Karen, what the hell just happened to me?'' He also felt something was wrong with him. '' Just now, did I transform with one of those things?''

Karen nodded, '' Yes, you did.''

Matthew looked at his hands with his remaining eye. He closed and opened his fists, '' So how did I come back?''

This was not the same with Sheryl, who used her normal appearance to deceive others. Matthew was really back.

'' I don't know. But for now, how about we leave? We can deal with those things after we survive.'' Karen helped Matthew get up. She knew he was walking only on adrenaline at this point.

'' Thanks.''

Matthew thanked Karen, and the pair entered the tunnel, going God knows where.