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Description
Ash Night grew up in a small town on the Louisiana coast south of New Orleans. He was fascinated with the supernatural, and loved every aspect: vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, hauntings, but none so much as witches.

He buried himself in stories, history, and even spell books he'd purchased at the local voodoo store. His parents didn't know the extent of his research of course; such knowledge would most likely cause them to summon the church exorcist, as if he'd been possessed. No he hadn't been possessed, he couldn't perform the spells, and though he tried nothing ever worked. He executed all the steps with precision, without flaw - he simply did not have any power.

One evening he came across a story that sparked a fire in his being, it read as follows:

Once there was a young girl named Ivy Moonshine. She had an innocence like no other - a purity unattainable. She spent her days running through the fields, painting, or reading poetry. She was the girl every boy wanted but couldn't have; one boy inperticular was very persistent.

Eli Burrows was his name. He would send her flowers, write her letters - some nights, he would sit in a tree by her window and watch her as she slept. He was her stalker, in every connotation of the word. he knew everything about her: favorite food, favorite color, birthday, closest possession, and anything else one could think of. One day at the library, Eli was going through her family line, and discovered something terrible. He found out that his love, Ivy Moonshine, was a descendent of an escapee of the Salem witch trials. She was a witch, or rather, had the power to become one. Eli hated witches, with a vengeance. He couldn't stand the thought of them. In an instant, everything he had ever felt for her vanished, and he was determined to destroy the last of the witch line.

Eli was very careful in his planning of how to do it. He would have to wait until she went out into the fields. He would capture her, tie her to the steak where the old scarecrow used to be, and burn her for the witch she was. The fire would be easy to start, it was a corn field after all.

And he was right; everything was executed with ease. He watched her in the fields - just as he had been doing for the past few years, and when the opportune time arose, he did it. He approached her calmly, but with a fire in his eyes. She was quiet, or muffled rather, he had put tape over her mouth so no one noticed the two walking through the corn to the scarecrow. He bathed her in kerosene and tied her to the lower portion of the steak. She was a flaming beauty, breath-taking, even in death; He sat in a tree and watched the tragic scene from afar.

The police never found him, they had no idea who to suspect.

To most people, this would have been a sad and tragic story - nothing more. To Ash however this story was an adventure waiting to happen. He knew where this place was, Moonshine manor was not very far from his own house; He had to go there.

He was only eleven or twelve years old, but his parents wouldn't mind, they were out running errands anyway. So he got out his bike, and rode the five miles to Moonshine manor. It was a long ride, but this place was so close he simply had to see it.

When he got there it was abandoned. apparently the old owners decided to move out after the death of their daughter. The area was grim. you could tell that something had happened here. The autumn leaves were falling in death; though there were a few spots of color here and there, most were brown and fragile, crunching beneath your every step. The house was a smooth dark brown - you could tell it was old. He walked up the creaking steps to the door, which was left open. He hesitated to enter at first, but this feeling fled his mind instantly. It was empty. The whole place looked as though it would collapse on you at any given moment. The stairs weren't climbable, the windows were broken, the ceiling was sunken in, and the walls were being chewed through with termites. The back door must have fallen off, there didn't seem to be anything to shut off that entrance with.

He walked towards the back door wanting to see the remains of that fire so long ago - he jumped! " what the...?!" he said to himself aloud. As he was approaching the doorway he'd seen something - someone rush past. creeping forward slowly, he was hoping, praying that it was just his imagination.

The field was dead. The ears of corn that used to be were now just hollow shells of emptiness. The surrounding trees gave the field a haunting, ghost like feel (as if the house itself was not enough ). He saw that figure again, running, to the center of the field it seemed. Stricken with curiosity he followed.

Ash chased after the unknown body tirelessly, he was determined. He was getting close, the dead grass cracking beneath his feet, the wind whipping through his hair; then she vanished - as if she had become hidden in the air itself. He turned in circles looking left, right, left again...she was gone. Following them had been like sprinting through a maze - you don't know where your going you simply going. He didn't know the way out, and figured that if he walked one way long enough at least he'd be at the edge of the field and have some sense of direction.

His legs burned; he hadn't noticed it until now; his senses felt overwhelmed: The silence was deafening, his eyes felt as though they were moving through a never-ending pattern, he could taste the ash in the air, he could smell the burning, and all the while he felt as though he was being watched...he could feel this unknown presence. Then he saw it; the very place Ivy had burned, and the steak was still there, blackened from the flames. He was walking forward to touch it when he heard a whisper. "Eli..." it said barely even audible, "...you killed me Eli..." he could tell now that it was the voice of a girl, probably in her mid-teens, then he heard it scream out it rage "you'll pay for what you did to me!" Ash turned around, and he already knew who it was before he did so. It was Ivy, a transparent spirit, beautiful even in death, but he hadn't time to think of that; her hands were on his throat, he couldn't breath. She had him at his knees; he couldn't move.

He would find out later what had happened next, or at least be able to connect what he remembered with the aftermath. His parents had gotten worried about him when he didn't show up for dinner, and it was getting dark. They were out looking for him when they saw his bike at the abandoned house. They found him dead, tied to the steak. Luckily his father was a doctor and knew what to do to revive him. For the next few days all he did was sleep, greatly fatigued from the trauma. He started seeing things as well as hearing voices. At night he always had nightmares of what happened that day. For the next few years he would be in and out of several mental hospitals for his hallucinogenic disorder.

***********************************************************************

Ash thought to himself, "It's around 11am - I only know that because that’s the time when the drugs start to kick in, and these pure white walls fade to a dim gray. My heartbeat slows, my body relaxes, and I am then escorted to the visitation room - the only place…or would it be time…where I am able to interact with others. Well, they call it interacting, but it’s hard to converse with a bunch of drugged up zombies. On those few occasions however, when one does come into contact with a living, thinking, human being, you have to embrace the moment and take things head on. For the remainder of the day you pace the floor in you padded room, or try to get some sleep, but none prevail in the ever present mental struggle for answers…oh there it is, the walls are getting a bit darker now…I’m felling kinda tired…”

Ash was escorted out of the room and taken to see the other “guests.” He sat down. The chair was about as comfortable as the electric chair only without the plug, but he wasn’t surprised that no one else seemed to notice. When he was younger, he would simply go sit on the floor in the corner because it just felt better, the surrounding of the two conjoining walls on his back, the feeling that something, anything was there. He couldn’t do that though, when he was transferred a month ago on his seventeenth birthday
The nurse giving him a tour said that in entering the adult facility he officially lost his right to sit in the corner. After forcing himself to submit to the confines of the chair He began to watch.

Since he had arrived there he hadn’t paid much attention to the television, instead he was preoccupied with getting to know his new roommates. So far none of them were of much interest to him, no one but David. A lone spark in the surrounding darkness of the damned. As their attention simultaneously wandered from the Tv screen, there was a moment of instant recognition when their gaze collided, and they stood from their chairs to move to a nearby table.

Ash had met David a month ago in the lead physicians office. He was a tall man -with emphasis on the word “was,” they say shrinking is common over the years. He had a scruffy look about him - like that one rambling drunk you would see at the bar. They had both been transferred on the same day, but while Ash had been transferred because of his age, David had been transferred because he tried to escape. Apparently David had been at one hospital for a little over five years; he simply knew every single thing that would - and did - take place. It was this knowledge that presented him with the opportunity to break out; his only flaw was his age, he had done everything too slow, and the nurses caught him before he was out of the door. After hearing this story Ash couldn’t help but laugh; he wanted to know more about this guy, and they had been companions ever since.

The two greeted each other with a handshake and a “hello.” They asked each other how they had been and what they had been doing to distract themselves, as a lack of communication and sense deprivation can be torture for the mind. And finally Ash asked David what he had seen on the news that would be of interest taking place in the world today.

“It’s nothing too big Ash,” said David in a complacent tone, “just the same old drugs, sex, and violence routine.”

“Really?” Said Ash disappointed.

“What’s wrong? That’s all that is ever on the news. Was today supposed to be special or something?”

“No, it’s just that I was hoping I would have something different to think and wonder about while I’m pacing my room.”

“Well, and this could be completely irrelevant to you, but a new haunted house is about to be opened. Supposedly it’s so frightening it will attract people from all over the U.S.”

“Hmmm…well give me some more information than that. Where is it? What’s it called? What’s the theme? Why is it going to be so popular?”

“Hehe, you seem very enthusiastic about this, ok I’ll tell you. From what I can remember It’s called The Ivory Manor, and it’s located in Louisiana south of New Orleans. The theme is simple, “mansion haunted by witch,” and it’s going to be popular because the “haunted house” is a reconstruction of the previous “manor” which is on the land where a real witch was burned.”

Ash was speechless. Could it be the same place he was at so long ago? He wanted to finish talking about it with David but he didn’t get the chance; David’s TV time was up and he’d just been taken back to his room.

Ash paced the floor in his room. He needed to talk to David. He needed to find out what was going on. If it was the resting place of Ivy Moonshine, all who went there would be in grave danger. He needed answers, and he needed them fast. He couldn’t let people fall into that trap.

For the next few days, he couldn’t sleep. All day he would lay there in bed staring at the ceiling in a psychotic fashion. The doctors thought it was because of trauma, but in reality he was delving deeper into the depths of his mind for an answer as to how he could complete the task of defeating the witch. After a week of this he was finally stable enough to go to the visitation room.

When he walked in and saw David they immediately walked to the table and got down to business.

Ash was trying to control his anxiety as he said, “David, I have to get out of here. Somehow, someway, I have to stop this from happening. Its -”

“Wait wait, say that again. Whats happening?” Said David in a frantic tone, “escape?”

“You do remember why I’m in here right?”

“You said it was because of childhood trauma and some girl.”

“Exactly. Well you know that Haunted house that’s about to open? That was the place where my ‘accident’ happened. That story is true! The witch is real! I know it may sound crazy but I know what I saw. And now I have to get out of here and stop other innocent people from being hurt. I have to defeat this witch once and for all.”

“Ok, I believe you. Now where do I come in?”

“You tried to escape before right?Well I need you to help me escape now.” Even before the words had left Ash’s mouth David had already known the question and knew what had to be done.

Before, when David tried to escape he did it in broad daylight; he had time to learn the shifts of the hospital staff. They didn’t have that option, and decided to take a much more direct approach. Their rooms were in the same hall, so when it came time to use the restroom they’d be in the same one. After leaving their room at the designated time to meet up, they would stage a fight and knock out the guards when they come running. The switch into their clothes and walk out of the building.

**********************************************************************

The plan was executed flawlessly and they were on their way to Ivory Manor.

They drove up to the edge of the yard. It was coming back now: the red orange autumn leaves, The never ending fields, the dark feeling you get as you stare at that old plantation house with the forest enclosing you on all sides. They chose the house because it had a reputation for being haunted thought they themselves didn’t believe. They were trying to create controlled fear, but never realized they were without control. They could remove every article of the original structure, they could have a priest exorcise the land, but none of their precautions could assuage his revolution.

He made his way down the path, and then that eerie sense of insecurity came back to him. He had died before, why did he think he was capable of defeating her now? They were two men against a hundred year old witch. Suddenly that fire that had been set in his being burned out. He felt powerless in the face of evil, and gave into that feeling for fear of his life.

After explaining to David that he no longer cared, Ash got into the car and drove off. Almost to the end of the road, he stopped abruptly when a black cat ran by - trying to see where it was running to, he noticed through a break in the tree line the stake where he first met death so long ago. He was tired of running away and hiding. He needed resolve; he needed to rid himself of his inadequacy. He had to go back.

David was getting annoyed with Ash’s indecisiveness, but never-the-less they got out of the car and Ash took his first steps toward redemption.

They walked together through the fields, searching tirelessly for a sign that she was there, and then it happened again. The same way as before he saw her, a fiery blur running through his vision. Again he chased her, and lost his sense of direction. Then there was the stake, still black from the flame, and out of the corn she appeared coming at him full force. As he lunged forward at her throat he was surprised that he could actually grab hold, but they twirled over and over, wrestling in the grass. In a moment it seemed as though all hope was lost - she overpowering him, grasping his neck, But somehow he freed himself and stunned her. He ran to the stake, uprooted it with ease, and thrust it into the heart of his enemy.

Relieved of this pain he’d held for so long, he was victorious, and called out to David who was lost in the confusion. He ran about and yelled at the top of his lungs in hope for finding his lost friend, and find him he did.

He came back to the place of battle, and found him dead lying in the grass with a stake driven through his heart. He understood now. Thinking back to that time when he was younger he saw himself in that exact spot, fleeing from no one, scared of his shadow, tying himself to the steak, and setting it on fire.

Description
Ash Night grew up in a small town on the Louisiana coast south of New Orleans. He was fascinated with the supernatural, and loved every aspect: vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, hauntings, but none so much as witches.

He buried himself in stories, history, and even spell books he'd purchased at the local voodoo store. His parents didn't know the extent of his research of course; such knowledge would most likely cause them to summon the church exorcist, as if he'd been possessed. No he hadn't been possessed, he couldn't perform the spells, and though he tried nothing ever worked. He executed all the steps with precision, without flaw - he simply did not have any power.

One evening he came across a story that sparked a fire in his being, it read as follows:

Once there was a young girl named Ivy Moonshine. She had an innocence like no other - a purity unattainable. She spent her days running through the fields, painting, or reading poetry. She was the girl every boy wanted but couldn't have; one boy inperticular was very persistent.

Eli Burrows was his name. He would send her flowers, write her letters - some nights, he would sit in a tree by her window and watch her as she slept. He was her stalker, in every connotation of the word. he knew everything about her: favorite food, favorite color, birthday, closest possession, and anything else one could think of. One day at the library, Eli was going through her family line, and discovered something terrible. He found out that his love, Ivy Moonshine, was a descendent of an escapee of the Salem witch trials. She was a witch, or rather, had the power to become one. Eli hated witches, with a vengeance. He couldn't stand the thought of them. In an instant, everything he had ever felt for her vanished, and he was determined to destroy the last of the witch line.

Eli was very careful in his planning of how to do it. He would have to wait until she went out into the fields. He would capture her, tie her to the steak where the old scarecrow used to be, and burn her for the witch she was. The fire would be easy to start, it was a corn field after all.

And he was right; everything was executed with ease. He watched her in the fields - just as he had been doing for the past few years, and when the opportune time arose, he did it. He approached her calmly, but with a fire in his eyes. She was quiet, or muffled rather, he had put tape over her mouth so no one noticed the two walking through the corn to the scarecrow. He bathed her in kerosene and tied her to the lower portion of the steak. She was a flaming beauty, breath-taking, even in death; He sat in a tree and watched the tragic scene from afar.

The police never found him, they had no idea who to suspect.

To most people, this would have been a sad and tragic story - nothing more. To Ash however this story was an adventure waiting to happen. He knew where this place was, Moonshine manor was not very far from his own house; He had to go there.

He was only eleven or twelve years old, but his parents wouldn't mind, they were out running errands anyway. So he got out his bike, and rode the five miles to Moonshine manor. It was a long ride, but this place was so close he simply had to see it.

When he got there it was abandoned. apparently the old owners decided to move out after the death of their daughter. The area was grim. you could tell that something had happened here. The autumn leaves were falling in death; though there were a few spots of color here and there, most were brown and fragile, crunching beneath your every step. The house was a smooth dark brown - you could tell it was old. He walked up the creaking steps to the door, which was left open. He hesitated to enter at first, but this feeling fled his mind instantly. It was empty. The whole place looked as though it would collapse on you at any given moment. The stairs weren't climbable, the windows were broken, the ceiling was sunken in, and the walls were being chewed through with termites. The back door must have fallen off, there didn't seem to be anything to shut off that entrance with.

He walked towards the back door wanting to see the remains of that fire so long ago - he jumped! " what the...?!" he said to himself aloud. As he was approaching the doorway he'd seen something - someone rush past. creeping forward slowly, he was hoping, praying that it was just his imagination.

The field was dead. The ears of corn that used to be were now just hollow shells of emptiness. The surrounding trees gave the field a haunting, ghost like feel (as if the house itself was not enough ). He saw that figure again, running, to the center of the field it seemed. Stricken with curiosity he followed.

Ash chased after the unknown body tirelessly, he was determined. He was getting close, the dead grass cracking beneath his feet, the wind whipping through his hair; then she vanished - as if she had become hidden in the air itself. He turned in circles looking left, right, left again...she was gone. Following them had been like sprinting through a maze - you don't know where your going you simply going. He didn't know the way out, and figured that if he walked one way long enough at least he'd be at the edge of the field and have some sense of direction.

His legs burned; he hadn't noticed it until now; his senses felt overwhelmed: The silence was deafening, his eyes felt as though they were moving through a never-ending pattern, he could taste the ash in the air, he could smell the burning, and all the while he felt as though he was being watched...he could feel this unknown presence. Then he saw it; the very place Ivy had burned, and the steak was still there, blackened from the flames. He was walking forward to touch it when he heard a whisper. "Eli..." it said barely even audible, "...you killed me Eli..." he could tell now that it was the voice of a girl, probably in her mid-teens, then he heard it scream out it rage "you'll pay for what you did to me!" Ash turned around, and he already knew who it was before he did so. It was Ivy, a transparent spirit, beautiful even in death, but he hadn't time to think of that; her hands were on his throat, he couldn't breath. She had him at his knees; he couldn't move.

He would find out later what had happened next, or at least be able to connect what he remembered with the aftermath. His parents had gotten worried about him when he didn't show up for dinner, and it was getting dark. They were out looking for him when they saw his bike at the abandoned house. They found him dead, tied to the steak. Luckily his father was a doctor and knew what to do to revive him. For the next few days all he did was sleep, greatly fatigued from the trauma. He started seeing things as well as hearing voices. At night he always had nightmares of what happened that day. For the next few years he would be in and out of several mental hospitals for his hallucinogenic disorder.

***********************************************************************

Ash thought to himself, "It's around 11am - I only know that because that’s the time when the drugs start to kick in, and these pure white walls fade to a dim gray. My heartbeat slows, my body relaxes, and I am then escorted to the visitation room - the only place…or would it be time…where I am able to interact with others. Well, they call it interacting, but it’s hard to converse with a bunch of drugged up zombies. On those few occasions however, when one does come into contact with a living, thinking, human being, you have to embrace the moment and take things head on. For the remainder of the day you pace the floor in you padded room, or try to get some sleep, but none prevail in the ever present mental struggle for answers…oh there it is, the walls are getting a bit darker now…I’m felling kinda tired…”

Ash was escorted out of the room and taken to see the other “guests.” He sat down. The chair was about as comfortable as the electric chair only without the plug, but he wasn’t surprised that no one else seemed to notice. When he was younger, he would simply go sit on the floor in the corner because it just felt better, the surrounding of the two conjoining walls on his back, the feeling that something, anything was there. He couldn’t do that though, when he was transferred a month ago on his seventeenth birthday
The nurse giving him a tour said that in entering the adult facility he officially lost his right to sit in the corner. After forcing himself to submit to the confines of the chair He began to watch.

Since he had arrived there he hadn’t paid much attention to the television, instead he was preoccupied with getting to know his new roommates. So far none of them were of much interest to him, no one but David. A lone spark in the surrounding darkness of the damned. As their attention simultaneously wandered from the Tv screen, there was a moment of instant recognition when their gaze collided, and they stood from their chairs to move to a nearby table.

Ash had met David a month ago in the lead physicians office. He was a tall man -with emphasis on the word “was,” they say shrinking is common over the years. He had a scruffy look about him - like that one rambling drunk you would see at the bar. They had both been transferred on the same day, but while Ash had been transferred because of his age, David had been transferred because he tried to escape. Apparently David had been at one hospital for a little over five years; he simply knew every single thing that would - and did - take place. It was this knowledge that presented him with the opportunity to break out; his only flaw was his age, he had done everything too slow, and the nurses caught him before he was out of the door. After hearing this story Ash couldn’t help but laugh; he wanted to know more about this guy, and they had been companions ever since.

The two greeted each other with a handshake and a “hello.” They asked each other how they had been and what they had been doing to distract themselves, as a lack of communication and sense deprivation can be torture for the mind. And finally Ash asked David what he had seen on the news that would be of interest taking place in the world today.

“It’s nothing too big Ash,” said David in a complacent tone, “just the same old drugs, sex, and violence routine.”

“Really?” Said Ash disappointed.

“What’s wrong? That’s all that is ever on the news. Was today supposed to be special or something?”

“No, it’s just that I was hoping I would have something different to think and wonder about while I’m pacing my room.”

“Well, and this could be completely irrelevant to you, but a new haunted house is about to be opened. Supposedly it’s so frightening it will attract people from all over the U.S.”

“Hmmm…well give me some more information than that. Where is it? What’s it called? What’s the theme? Why is it going to be so popular?”

“Hehe, you seem very enthusiastic about this, ok I’ll tell you. From what I can remember It’s called The Ivory Manor, and it’s located in Louisiana south of New Orleans. The theme is simple, “mansion haunted by witch,” and it’s going to be popular because the “haunted house” is a reconstruction of the previous “manor” which is on the land where a real witch was burned.”

Ash was speechless. Could it be the same place he was at so long ago? He wanted to finish talking about it with David but he didn’t get the chance; David’s TV time was up and he’d just been taken back to his room.

Ash paced the floor in his room. He needed to talk to David. He needed to find out what was going on. If it was the resting place of Ivy Moonshine, all who went there would be in grave danger. He needed answers, and he needed them fast. He couldn’t let people fall into that trap.

For the next few days, he couldn’t sleep. All day he would lay there in bed staring at the ceiling in a psychotic fashion. The doctors thought it was because of trauma, but in reality he was delving deeper into the depths of his mind for an answer as to how he could complete the task of defeating the witch. After a week of this he was finally stable enough to go to the visitation room.

When he walked in and saw David they immediately walked to the table and got down to business.

Ash was trying to control his anxiety as he said, “David, I have to get out of here. Somehow, someway, I have to stop this from happening. Its -”

“Wait wait, say that again. Whats happening?” Said David in a frantic tone, “escape?”

“You do remember why I’m in here right?”

“You said it was because of childhood trauma and some girl.”

“Exactly. Well you know that Haunted house that’s about to open? That was the place where my ‘accident’ happened. That story is true! The witch is real! I know it may sound crazy but I know what I saw. And now I have to get out of here and stop other innocent people from being hurt. I have to defeat this witch once and for all.”

“Ok, I believe you. Now where do I come in?”

“You tried to escape before right?Well I need you to help me escape now.” Even before the words had left Ash’s mouth David had already known the question and knew what had to be done.

Before, when David tried to escape he did it in broad daylight; he had time to learn the shifts of the hospital staff. They didn’t have that option, and decided to take a much more direct approach. Their rooms were in the same hall, so when it came time to use the restroom they’d be in the same one. After leaving their room at the designated time to meet up, they would stage a fight and knock out the guards when they come running. The switch into their clothes and walk out of the building.

**********************************************************************

The plan was executed flawlessly and they were on their way to Ivory Manor.

They drove up to the edge of the yard. It was coming back now: the red orange autumn leaves, The never ending fields, the dark feeling you get as you stare at that old plantation house with the forest enclosing you on all sides. They chose the house because it had a reputation for being haunted thought they themselves didn’t believe. They were trying to create controlled fear, but never realized they were without control. They could remove every article of the original structure, they could have a priest exorcise the land, but none of their precautions could assuage his revolution.

He made his way down the path, and then that eerie sense of insecurity came back to him. He had died before, why did he think he was capable of defeating her now? They were two men against a hundred year old witch. Suddenly that fire that had been set in his being burned out. He felt powerless in the face of evil, and gave into that feeling for fear of his life.

After explaining to David that he no longer cared, Ash got into the car and drove off. Almost to the end of the road, he stopped abruptly when a black cat ran by - trying to see where it was running to, he noticed through a break in the tree line the stake where he first met death so long ago. He was tired of running away and hiding. He needed resolve; he needed to rid himself of his inadequacy. He had to go back.

David was getting annoyed with Ash’s indecisiveness, but never-the-less they got out of the car and Ash took his first steps toward redemption.

They walked together through the fields, searching tirelessly for a sign that she was there, and then it happened again. The same way as before he saw her, a fiery blur running through his vision. Again he chased her, and lost his sense of direction. Then there was the stake, still black from the flame, and out of the corn she appeared coming at him full force. As he lunged forward at her throat he was surprised that he could actually grab hold, but they twirled over and over, wrestling in the grass. In a moment it seemed as though all hope was lost - she overpowering him, grasping his neck, But somehow he freed himself and stunned her. He ran to the stake, uprooted it with ease, and thrust it into the heart of his enemy.

Relieved of this pain he’d held for so long, he was victorious, and called out to David who was lost in the confusion. He ran about and yelled at the top of his lungs in hope for finding his lost friend, and find him he did.

He came back to the place of battle, and found him dead lying in the grass with a stake driven through his heart. He understood now. Thinking back to that time when he was younger he saw himself in that exact spot, fleeing from no one, scared of his shadow, tying himself to the steak, and setting it on fire.