The Regulator (Complete First Draft)

Chapter 51: The Regulator - Experiment

The Madman slowly woke up, his vision blurred. He tried to rub his eye and clear his vision but found he couldn’t move his hands. They were stuck, restrained. He tried to stand up but found that he couldn’t do that either, and shaking his legs proved fruitless as they were just as tightly bound. His vision came too, and he found himself sitting on the floor of Belinda’s room. She was still sitting in her chair, sobbing. He looked around the room, and there, kneeling down in front of him at eye-level, was the Stark boy. “So he was right, hm?” The Madman asked, “You’re real after all. You’re the Regulator.” Andrew grinned, just a little bit.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The Regulator responded.

“Where’s your Bedlam, Regulator? Where’s that crazy old man who seemed so obsessed with finding you.” The Madman asked. The Regulator’s grin faded from his face.

“How do you know about the Bedlam? He sent me here to stop you!” The Regulator demanded. The Madman just laughed.

“Stop me? Who do you think gave me the Man, Woman, and child you just rescued.” The Madman laughed again, and The Regulator looked away for a second to collect himself. He then stood up, and kicked the Madman across the face, silencing him.

“I’m not gonna worry about that right now.” The Regulator said, in a cold and uncaring tone.

“So what will you do now, Regulator? Stab me? Shoot me?” The Madman said, a slight taunt in his voice. The Regulator looked at him with a dark, angry glare. He bent down and grabbed the Madman’s face, squeezing his cheeks and forcing him to look into his eyes.

“My name is Andrew Stark. Not, ‘The Regulator’. And no, I am not going to kill you. I’m not like you, I’m not a monster.” He said, he finished and let go of the Madman’s face. He stood up and turned his back on the Madman. “But, I’m no saint. I’m gonna do an experiment of my own.” The Regulator lifted his newly acquired Revolver and aimed it at Belinda, quickly aiming at her head, he fired and watch her body droop over dead.  The Madman reeled back, startled to see his prized creation wiped out in the blink of an eye. The gunshot pounded his ear drums and rang throughout the house. “You tortured that poor women, and for reasons that I don’t know why. She earned her death. It was mercy, not murder.”

“Is this your experiment? Torture me with destruction of the things I cherished!” The Madman screamed. The Regulator slowly turned to face him, with a face that had no compassion or even care in it.

“No. They say the dead are attracted to sound, specifically gunshots because of how loud they are. Of course, I believe this, but I have no actual proof of it. So why not test the theory, using this very house.” The Regulator turned away and began walking towards the door. The Madman tried to jump up, but suddenly felt the sharp pain in his chest from where the crossbow bolt had hit him. “Oh, don’t try to move by the way. It just makes the dead more annoyed when they can’t get there food easily.” The Regulator opened the front door and stepped outside.

“You are no different than me!” The Madman screamed, “The apocalypse has gotten to you just as much!”

“No. No I don’t believe it has.” He said, before stepping outside and slamming the door shut, all to the sound of the Madman’s pained screams.