《Self Defining Obituary of Humanity》 1- Not a Good Person I¡¯m not a good person. ¡°Wait! P-please, I said I¡¯d pay!¡± In fact, I¡¯d have a hard time agreeing I¡¯m much of a person at all. ¡°You were due three weeks ago man. Sorry.¡± I wouldn¡¯t say I¡¯m a monster either. That would mean I really enjoy what I do. I don¡¯t really have my head all that deep in it. ¡°Y-you know I can deliver the goods. Please, Jesus, NO-¡± A gunshot rings out through the apartment complex. I sigh, waving the pistol in my hand back into black particles, forming around my hand, returning to their original form of a plastic glove. ¡°Hope hell treats you better than life ever did Dave.¡± I give a little nod before walking over to the dirty couch near the apartment¡¯s far wall, finding a safe next to it. I input the code into the keypad and watch the door open, revealing where all the extra money he¡¯d been keeping from us was hiding. ¡°Guess I owe dad some credit. Well, you¡¯re coming with me buddy.¡± I tag the string bag off my back, placing the money inside, when I pick up the sound of someone nearby on the phone. I close my eyes, focusing in¡­sounds like the police will be on their way soon. Figures. Whatever, I¡¯m already on my way out. I walk over to the window and open it up. Just ahead of me I see the rope I¡¯d set up earlier. With a short hop I grab onto it, grunting as I begin my short ascent. Reaching the roof I quickly begin untying and bringing up the rope. As I do, I notice the gentle breeze of the afternoon blowing against my face. I look out, seeing the blue sky and the sun beginning its descent to the horizon. How pretty. Huh? Sounds like sirens. Damn, must have spaced. I turn, run, and hop to the neighboring rooftop, tracing the route back to the meeting spot in my head. Damn though, it¡¯s a shame its so close. Jumping around is probably the funnest part of being here. I usually don¡¯t get the chance to be so variable in my movement. Hopefully I get another city job after this. I hop down to a lower roof, seeing another rope I¡¯d set up earlier. The sirens are far enough away now that I can hardly hear them. Still, better to be safe. I wave my hands, making the plastic gloves turn to simple nonsense atoms floating in the air like tv static. Grabbing the back of my head, I carefully tear it off. As the flesh and meat falls to the ground, wavering static takes its place. From there, I grab onto the stump of my neck, and pull up, allowing reality to carefully recreate for me some random face. The blaring numbness slowly takes on feeling as I feel the top of my head once more, letting the breeze run over my face once more. I wave my hands once more, letting the plastic gloves reform around my hands. ¡°Hm?¡± Something grabs my attention before I can make my way to the rope. Turning my head, I see a couch and a tv set, playing something. There¡¯s someone sitting on the couch. Her short, icy blue hair hangs just above her shoulders, clothed in an oversized mint green hoodie and white tights. I realize I know this because I¡¯ve unconsciously made my way over to her. She turns her head away from the tv, looking at me with a monotone gaze before patting the couch cushion next to hers. I sit down, looking over at the tv. Playing there is what looks like a gore video. The sight of someone¡¯s head falling to the ground, their cut windpipe making nauseating noises, I feel as though I should be looking away.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Don¡¯t think there are any electrical outlets up here.¡± The girl takes note of my assessment. ¡°You¡¯re correct.¡± ¡°Is it a magic tv?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a stupid way of putting it. Are you a child?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the best way of saying it?¡± ¡°Subjective evaluation of the mundane.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I was just kind of curious what someone was doing watching tv up here. Would you mind answering?¡± ¡°Well, what are you doing up here?¡± ¡°I enjoy variable movement.¡± ¡°Variable movement¡­how do you come up with these things?¡± ¡°Huh? Is that weird?¡± ¡°Very, but maybe I¡¯m the weird one.¡± ¡°I think what you¡¯re doing is pretty weird.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m certainly glad I wasn¡¯t asking for your opinion.¡± She seems upset after that. ¡°Was that mean? I didn¡¯t realize.¡± ¡°A bit.¡± ¡°Wait, that means you were being mean to me too. Doesn¡¯t that make it fair then?¡± ¡°Is there any reason you¡¯re still here?¡± ¡°Not really. Just interested.¡± ¡°Mmm¡­do you like this?¡± ¡°No. Wait, what part?¡± ¡°What¡¯s on the screen?¡± ¡°Oh. No. It¡¯s really violent. Kinda gross.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Do you watch this kind of stuff a lot?¡± ¡°Not what you¡¯re watching.¡± Curious, I look from her back to the screen, seeing a broken television screen. I look back and see the woman gone. I reached out, patting where she was sitting. It feels ice cold. ¡°Weird.¡± I stand up, walking around and seeing the tv¡¯s power cord sitting on the ground. It really was unplugged. Cool. I feel something start to vibrate in my pocket. Pulling out a flip phone, I open it and hit accept. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°You¡¯re fucking 15 minutes late, where the hell are you?!¡± A loud voice retches out from the phone¡¯s speaker, making it crackle. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m right above you actually. Sorry, got a little hung up. I¡¯ll be there soon.¡± I go ahead and hang up. Before heading for the rope though, I take off my string bag and pull out a little digi-camera. I get the tv and couch in frame and take the shot. The screen flashes, before showing me the photo. ¡°Woah¡­¡± The girl is on the couch in the photo, looking somewhat bemused, flashing me a peace sign. On the television screen, I see a frame of a diner, late at night. The light inside lights up the sidewalk, where a young girl stands with a young boy, holding an umbrella over her head. Pulling the camera down, I flash the empty couch a peace sign, before finally descending the rope, and making my way to the meeting point. Oh, right, I never really said what I am. More than anything, I believe the best thing you could call me is a god. 2- Keeping It Cool As Always The room stinks of tobacco. The one puffing it out of his sagging cheeks is sitting in a leather chair, rubbing the side of his forehead, eyes moving from point to point. They finally stop on me. ¡°Took you fuckin long enough. Was your papa right? Was he a broke bastard or a nippy rat?¡± ¡°He had the money to pay, he was just keeping it in a personal safe. Hang on.¡± I opened my string bag and began pulling out the bundles of cash as that man¡¯s eyes stayed locked on me. It made my skin feel ill. Stepping back, I watched as he gave a careful inspection of his money. Bill by bill, slipping by his thumb. Once he¡¯s satisfied, he gives me a smile. ¡°Good work. You can expect to be paid by the time you¡¯re back in your hotel room. You may wanna hurry, though. Your father sounded pretty tight-wound last he called.¡± Seeming pleased with his concerning words, he casually waves me away. I do as told, slinging my bag back on my shoulders and walking to the apartment¡¯s entrance. I halt for a moment, holding the doorknob in my hand, hesitating to turn it. ¡°Is this building haunted?¡± The man cocks his head, makes a sound of consideration, then frowns. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± ¡°Cause I thought I saw a ghost.¡± At that, the man seems ready to laugh, but ends it at a soft chortle. ¡°Well, I would have said a man who could rip his own head off was stupid, but it seems even that is possible. Who am I to say ghosts can¡¯t be real? In that case, I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve heard any stories about anyone seeing anything strange here. Of course, this is only where I do business. I don¡¯t live in this building. You¡¯re better off asking someone who actually spends their time here. Just don¡¯t make it obvious you¡¯re affiliated with me.¡± I give thanks to the man before leaving, closing the door behind me. I take a breath, walk to an open window and enjoy the fresh air. Ahh, much better. ¡°What is it about rich men and smoking?¡± I find myself wondering to myself, watching the cars pass by on the street. I wrack my brain but can¡¯t help feeling that it¡¯s contradictory. Risking freedom for money just to take away the time you can spend enjoying it. Do they not understand it? If they do, how can they justify it? I lose myself in the possibilities, letting the minutes pass by, until I hear a door open. Turning my head, I see a man adjusting his coat with a little smile on his face. Friendly. I return to my original objective, walking over to the man as he takes notice of me. I wave, earning a wave back. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen you around before. New neighbor?¡± ¡°No, I was just visiting someone.¡± ¡°Oh? Mind me knowing who?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say, it¡¯s actually supposed to be a secret from someone they know. It¡¯s safer to not say.¡± ¡°Mysterious¡­¡± The man crosses his arms. ¡°Well, I do have some things to do, and I¡¯m not into prying into business.¡± ¡°I actually wanted to ask you something, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Uhm, alright? I don¡¯t really think I can be of much help but sure, ask away.¡± ¡°My friend was telling me a story about how they saw someone on the roof, but was pretty convinced that they saw a ghost. Do you know anything about that?¡± ¡°A ghost¡­ok. Well, sorry, I don¡¯t really know anything about that. If you tell me what this ghost may look like, I can keep an eye out.¡± ¡°Icy blue hair, pretty young, I¡¯d say in their twenties.¡± ¡°Male or female?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°...couldn¡¯t tell.¡± ¡°Ok. Well, blue hair isn¡¯t super common, so that¡¯s probably good. Sounds like they¡¯re androgynous. Uhm, can I ask what your friend was doing up there?¡± ¡°Just getting some fresh air.¡± ¡°Mmm, mkay.¡± He mouths something. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Nothing, just thinking out loud.¡± His eyes move to the window as he wipes at his mustache. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it in mind, but I gotta go. Tell your friend hi for me.¡± He puts up a hand before walking off in a hurry. I wave him off, feeling a funny something or other in my chest. In my mind, I¡¯m certain that if I pursued him and demanded an answer, I could get one. With that in mind, I turn around and finally make my way to the left side stairwell. The steps ascend upwards for floors aplenty, aging stone making clear how little time has been spent keeping this place in good shape. I make my way downwards, the signs decreasing from three to two to one. Stepping into the lobby feels like walking into an itchy hell. The eyes of the man at the front desk mix with the harsh fluorescents to make it feel like your skin is melting. I do my best to ignore it all and walk to the entrance. I¡¯m sure dad is gonna be annoyed it took me so long to come back, but maybe not too annoyed. My hand touched the metal bar handle and pushed it forward, but the door didn¡¯t seem to move an inch. Huh? I turn back to the person at the desk, waving at them. ¡°Hey, uh, the door¡¯s stuck!¡± With an eye roll he got up from his seat and walked over, placing his own hand on the bar and confirming, yes, it was indeed stuck. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not right, not at all.¡± He takes a key out from his pocket and puts it in the door, but no matter how he tries to turn it, it doesn¡¯t move. The man sighs, taking his key and stepping back. ¡°Well, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll take you to the employee¡¯s exit sir.¡± He leads the way, inviting me to follow him through a door into what looks like a break room. A card game that looks to have been interrupted sits on the table along with some opened cans of beer. ¡°Are there other people working here?¡± ¡°Yes, though most of them are busy with other tasks.¡± ¡°Like?¡± ¡°Nothing for you to worry about.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± Scratching the back of my head, I begin to wonder if I¡¯ve said something awkward when the man in front of me stops. At some point we¡¯d ended up in a hall of rooms, and for some reason, the guy in front of me was hesitating to open the door at the end of it fully. ¡°Hey, uh, is that the exit? I really do need to leave, so if I could just get-¡± I stop, noticing the man in front of me shivering. Touching his shoulder, I blink and he¡¯s gone. ¡°Huh?¡± He¡¯s just gone. Constantly trying and failing to process this single occurrence, I notice that the door he¡¯d been opening still remains opened just a crack. I pull the door open just a bit more to get a peek behind it. However, all I find waiting there is a wall of brick. Nothing like an exit, or an explanation for what just happened to that man. I bite my lip. Well, ok. This exit is a definite no go. With that guy gone, I can probably just break down his front door and leave then. Probably should make it fast though. Taking a quick sprint back to the break room we¡¯d originally entered through, I find a surprising face sitting at the table. ¡°Oh. It¡¯s you again. Hi there Miss Ghost.¡± ¡°Huh? That¡¯s rude.¡± The icy haired woman turns to me from her hand of cards. ¡°Well, you never told me your name.¡± ¡°That¡¯s no excuse to define me with something so simple. You really are a weirdo¡­¡± ¡°I feel like your definition of weird is really broad.¡± I scratch the back of my neck. ¡°Uhm, hey. The guy I was with sort of¡­disappeared? It was weird, he started shivering and then he just went away. Do you know anything about that?¡± ¡°Uhm, no, I don¡¯t. Probably not that helpful, my bad.¡± ¡°It¡¯s good, it¡¯s good. Well, I gotta try breaking down the front entrance now.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well the other one is bricked up. At least the other one has glass to it I can smash.¡± Getting an idea, I decide to grab one of the chairs, feeling it for its weight. ¡°This should work.¡± I start to drag it to the door. The woman stands up. ¡°Uhm, sorry if I¡¯m being noisy.¡± ¡°Mm?¡± ¡°I just figured I was being a bother since you got up and all.¡± ¡°...?¡± ¡°Nevermind.¡± I open the door back to the lobby only to find something completely different from what was there before. Halted, I let out a breath. ¡°This isn¡¯t great.¡± ¡°Woah¡­¡± The voice from behind me moves past my head and echoes through the now checkerboard lobby floor, up the white walls, bare of furnishings and an entrance, past the dripping bodies of people hanging from hooks, along the endlessly increasing set of stairs, into infinity, toward the light. ¡°Don¡¯t think a chair is gonna get you outta this.¡± 3- You Gotta Tell Me ¡°Well, at least I know where he is now.¡± Seeing the lobby-man hanging upside down from his ankle, I lower my eyes. ¡°Sorry man.¡± With that, I return to walking up the steps. ¡°Jesus¡­¡± The woman with icy hair remains close behind, her eyes locked on the bodies hanging. Those hooks, these stairs, how far up do they go? It seems unreal. Looking back down I count just how many layers of stairs we¡¯ve climbed by now. Around 6 or so, and I couldn¡¯t possibly tell how long it¡¯s taken to climb that high. Maybe an hour? It could be more or less. The woman behind me doesn¡¯t seem to have been keeping track either. Her time was sucked up by thinking, or I suppose so anyway. She seems really deep in it. I haven¡¯t thought to ask her, it would probably be really annoying to be broken from such a focused train of thought. ¡°So, you gonna say anything?¡± She decides to break it herself. ¡°Huh?¡± Arriving at the end of another staircase, I look back at the woman, seeing an indecipherable face. I shrug my shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t really have anything interesting to say.¡± I turn back to the stairs. ¡°Nothing¡­I mean, this is insane, right?¡± ¡°That seems like the right thing to call it.¡± ¡°You have nothing to say about that?¡± ¡°Is there more to say about it?¡± The woman lowers her gaze again. ¡°...you were saying something about variable movement on the roof. What¡¯s that about?¡± ¡°Jumping around is pretty cool, don¡¯t you think? It¡¯s more fun than just running.¡± ¡°You could do that in other places besides off tall buildings. Some kind of adrenaline junkie?¡± ¡°Adrenaline is very exciting. I¡¯d argue it¡¯s more the reaction to the fun though. Fun is just fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that makes sense in your head.¡± ¡°It does.¡± The silence returns between us as we finish another three staircases, the end no closer. Very uncomfortable. I feel my skin simmering. In dire need of escape from my body¡¯s tormenting, I think of anything to say. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Mina.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s pretty.¡± I say it without a second thought, only to wonder why right after. I hear a chuckle from behind. ¡°It is, isn¡¯t it? About time you asked it. How about you, unless you think weirdo is a fair name.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really have a name.¡± ¡°Mysterious¡­oh, wait, you¡¯re serious?¡± Catching up, she takes one look at my face and seems to believe me. ¡°Wow. That¡¯s interesting. Is there something you prefer to be called?¡± ¡°Mmm, I guess whatever you feel like. It doesn¡¯t make much difference to me.¡± She puts a finger to her chin. ¡°David.¡± ¡°Uh, ok. Why?¡± ¡°Cause David is a cool name.¡± ¡°It is? Oh. Thank you.¡± She puts her hands on her hips and laughs after my thanks. I feel something like a smile creeping on my face. ¡°I''m starting to feel like this is impossible.¡± Turning my gaze back out to the open expanse, I see hooks holding people I hadn''t noticed originally from the ground floor. ¡°Do you think all of these people were residents?¡± ¡°That would make sense. Still¡­that doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± She points to someone hanging above someone else. They¡¯re dressed in what looks like only a swimsuit. ¡°What¡¯s the likelihood someone living here would be wearing a swimsuit in their own apartment? There aren¡¯t any beaches close enough to make dressing like that before even getting there reasonable.¡± ¡°Good point. You seem to know the area well.¡± My words seem to make her freeze, before she''s catching back up with me. ¡°Not really. Just what you can see from the roof.¡± ¡°Mmm? You don¡¯t leave the building?¡¯ ¡°No.¡± She hangs on that word, something strange moving across her face. ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t even really know where I am.¡± ¡°Really? Didn¡¯t you die here? I think that¡¯s how ghosts work.¡± ¡°Died¡­where did I die?¡± She starts to rub her arm. That¡¯s strange. Unlike any ghost story I¡¯ve ever heard. ¡°Do you remember anything besides this place?¡± She stops, and so do I, watching as she struggles to search through her mind for whatever she can find. ¡°My name. I can see a powerline getting snowed on at night. Another, just faint, I see a cabin with a light in the window. That¡­diner. I remember that diner.¡± ¡°The one that was on the tv?¡± Remembering my photo, I take out my camera and try going to my saved photos, showing it to her once it¡¯s on the screen. ¡°That one. But¡­that¡¯s it.¡± Petering out at the end her words hang between us. ¡°That sucks.¡± What else can I say? ¡°Sucks¡­psht¡­pshhaha¡­¡± She let a little laugh slip through her lips. ¡°Yeah, pretty succinct way of putting it. That fucking sucks.¡± I nod along with her, when she moves ahead of me. ¡°Ugh, you almost put me in a bad mood. I hope you feel bad.¡± She looks back, sticking her tongue out at me. ¡°You¡¯re lucky I think you¡¯re pretty cool, David, or I¡¯d push you right back down to the first step. Now come on, we still have a lot of climbing to do.¡± She moves ahead, faster than before. ¡°What did I do?¡± I mumbled those words as I picked up the pace. ¡­ The sound of a ringing filled my ears. I opened my eyes, feeling a bit groggy, in time for it to slowly fade away, leaving me back in silence. Sometime during our climb, Mina insisted we take a break and, while sitting, It would appear I fell asleep. I look around to see if she¡¯d gone ahead, only to notice a weight on my shoulder. Leaning against it, I saw her head. She was sleeping soundly. How queer. Shouldn¡¯t a ghost pass right through me? Well, I guess if that were the case, would she also pass through the stairs? I¡¯m not sure, but regardless, it is a bit annoying when I want to get back to getting a move on. Still, it would be rude to move, so I decided to turn my attention to something much more interesting. The once bright light had dimmed, changed to a dark blue. Reflecting around and round the walls were the images of stars and clouds. No, not images, they were closer to paintings, moving softly and gently, as if alive. The hooks holding the countless dead were gone, to where I don¡¯t know, leaving the view empty and, at the same time, peaceful. It''s been a while since I''ve felt something like hat. I guess it''s hard to feel like you can really relax when you''re waiting to do a job or for the next job. I guess I can thank this place for this one moment of reprieve. I feel her head move a bit, some words escape her lips with a whimper. Too quiet to make out, but she looks upset. I carefully poke her cheek, causing her eyes to open a bit.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ''"W-whe...mmm...sorry." The words slowly came out as she became more and more aware, though not aware enough to really count as awake. "You don''t have to worry about it. I''m the one who fell asleep first." "Yeah..." "Are you comfortable?" "Yeah..." "You''re still tired?" "Mmhmm..." I nod, looking back out at the quiet expanse. "That''s fine. You can sleep then." I feel her cheek twitch a bit. I think she smiled. "You''re a good guy David." She spoke in the calm whisper that made me feel calm myself. I felt my head tilt, leaning against hers, letting the sight of the painterly stars lull my eyes back to being closed. Before I returned to sleep, I heard her whisper me good night. I whispered it back. ... Another flight. Another flight. Another and another and another. We kept walking for who knows how long, past the point I believed we would ever reach the top. Ever since the hooks disappeared, they haven''t returned, so I''d say that''s been a nice change to the scenery, but I guess in their absence a part of me had grown to miss them. I''m pretty sure I thought this same thing over 7 times in this past hour. Right around me realizing this, I felt a tug on my sleeve. Turning back, Mina pointed to something in that grand expanse. Looking out, I noticed that something, in fact, was there. A chair, hanging from a single hook, at our level, with someone sitting in it, watching us. "Who the hell is that guy?" Mina whispered. I squinted, trying to make out why they looked familiar. Oh, wait! I snap my fingers. "That¡¯s the guy I¡¯d met in the hall. The guy who had somewhere to go." "Uhm, alright?" "The same guy who also definitely knew something about you." I could feel her widened gaze as I waved my hand out at him. ¡°Do you mind letting us out?¡± I yelled out to him. He cocked his head. ¡°You think I¡¯m responsible?¡± He yelled back, placing his chin in his hand. ¡°Yeah!¡± "Y-seriously?! You think some random did this?" I heard Mina whisper. "Absolutely." ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He looks as though he''s pondering, looks up, then begin reaching behind his back for something. ¡°What''s happening?¡± Mina reaches out her head to get a good look. The guy then proceeds to pull out a pistol ¡°Not good.¡± I grab Mina¡¯s hand and pull her out of the way as a bang shouts out, a bullet hitting just where my head was. I wave my hand, turning my glove into a gun as I aim and fire, hitting the man¡¯s chain. It breaks, sending the man¡¯s chair falling down into the yawning abyss of staircases. ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± I don¡¯t get the chance to answer, instead watching as staircase after staircase suddenly starts to crumble. Looking above, the stairs above us were doing the same. I feel my heart starting to race, looking around for anywhere to jump to, before realizing Mina has made a decision before I could even start considering, pulling me off the edge. ¡°What are you-¡± She covers my mouth. ¡°Shut up and look!¡± She points below us. The yawning abyss had formed itself into the same light we had been ascending towards this whole time. Ah, well, seems like we¡¯re just gonna go wherever we were headed before anyway. Still, that didn¡¯t stop me from screaming my lungs out. We reach our destination, only to realize something is very wrong. The light burns, it¡¯s excruciating, but I can tell I¡¯m not gonna die. In that painful light, I can see countless writhing beings, their screams filling my brain. I try to move my hands to cover my ears, but it hurts too much to just think. In that pained sense of nonsense, something fills my brain. A memory. One of seeing a monster, it''s eyes staring deep into mine. ¡°RAHHH!¡± Something inside of me starts to scream in rage, and everything flashbangs into normalcy, my back slamming against the wooden floor of that building from so long ago. ¡°Agh¡­gah¡­¡± My teeth grit as my spine screams from the impact. It takes a good long minute before I can finally move slowly pushing myself into a sitting position. Around me is, instead of the white walls of that other world, the same hall I¡¯d been in earlier today, same apartment numbers and everything. ¡°Mina¡­¡± I mumble, hearing a groan nearby in response. I flip over onto my hands and knees, pushing onto my feet as the woman I¡¯ve spent a good plenty of time with plays with a rip in her hoodie. The sight seems to knock the winds out of any questions of wellness I had for her. ¡°How does one repair¡­a ghost hoodie?¡± I ask, with sincerity, as she looks up at me and sighs. ¡°Not a great question for right now.¡± With clear admonishment in her voice she stands herself up when, from several floors above, we hear someone yell. Okay, definitely don''t wanna stay in the same building as that. I turn my attention to one of the windows. It''s sunset. It would appear we really are back in the regular world. I grab the window and pull it open, looking out for anywhere o safely jump to. Just in luck, under me is a fire escape. Fantastic. ¡°Looks safe enough. You¡¯re free to come along if you want.¡± I offer, looking back as I sit myself on the window sill. In response, she shakes her head. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure if he can hurt you now, but if he does that again, I¡¯ve got a feeling you may not get back out of it.¡± Again, she shakes her head. ¡°I¡¯ve tried. I¡­can¡¯t leave.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t?¡± ¡°This hotel, I¡­I can¡¯t leave its perimeter.¡± ¡°Why? Isn''t that why you were following me that whole time?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s just not possible. I¡¯ve tried walking through the front, the window, jumping off the roof, nothing. I...wasn''t following you because of that." I nod along as she explains, hearing the sound of a door opening above us. Most likely the stairway entrance. ¡°It was...nevermind. It''s okay.¡± She steps back. ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay. I¡¯m sure you would prefer getting to safety than risk going back there. Besides, I¡¯m already a ghost. Not like I can die again. Even If I do..." She stutters. "S-surely it would be better than living alone like this." ¡°I see.¡± Sitting there, I feel like I can¡¯t stop looking at her. A part of my mind goes back to seeing her head on my shoulder. She''s right. None of this is my problem. I have no reason to help her. I have no idea how I even would do that. I move closer to falling to the fire exit, but I can''t stop staring at her, looking down at her feet. It¡¯s probably not gonna be too long before that guy is back down here to try and finish whatever the hell he started, and I should not care in the slightest. Something is¡­bothering me though. ¡°You¡¯re scared.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Do you really not mind dying?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Mmm¡­¡± The sound of his footsteps are getting closer to our floor. Waving my hand, the pistol that had fallen away from me materializes back into my grasp. ¡°Then, would you like me to kill him?¡± I don''t know why I offered. ¡°W-wah¡­how did¡­want you-¡± From the corner hall, the sound of a slamming door echoes out. ¡°Do you want to risk dying again, maybe even disappearing forever, or do you want me to kill him?¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t-I-¡± I can see him turning round the corner, aiming a gun at either one of us, I can¡¯t tell. As he tries to collect himself, get just the right shot, I hear the words leave her lips. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna die!¡± "Ok." I take aim and fire, blowing his hand off. ¡°G-RAGHHH!¡± The gun and bits of flesh fall down to the floor as he holds his newly-born stump. I get off the windowsill, standing in front of Mina as I take aim and blow his other hand off next. ¡°We can work out a price later. I know you probably can''t pay money, but we can probably work something out.¡± I tell her, taking aim for his head as he charges at me. ¡°Huh?¡± Before I can get another shot off, he¡¯s already gone. ¡°BULLSHIT! YOU DON¡¯T KILL A KING IN HIS CASTLE! THAT¡¯S BULLSHIT!¡± I hear his voice, booming through the hall as the walls begin to fall away. ¡°NO, NOT JUST A KING! YOU STAND TO MOCK SOMETHING BEYOND ALL COMPREHENSION, WITH A TOOL MADE FOR PUTTING DOWN PESTS AND DOLLS!¡± The wooden floor begins to crack and splinter. I reach out and grab hold of Mina, trying to find somewhere safe to stand. Something grabs my collar, forcing my attention forward. Bone. Skull. A skull stares back at me, filled with eyes of countless different species, all melted together like paste. It opens its jaw, and roars. "I am a god. I will not die in my reality." It spins me and Mina round, and throws us through where there once was a wall, now only leading to a pit of black. We don¡¯t fall for long, landing somewhere as reality recreates itself around us in just an instant. Panting, breathing. It hurts to do it. The air is tinged with an unmistakable scent of meat and rot. Wetness soaks into my clothes as I sit up, surrounded by so many pieces of the dead to make for a scene inconsolably hellish. Hellish. Hell. Yeah, that¡¯s exactly what this place is. We¡¯re in hell. 3.5- Things Always Get Worse, Dont They ¡°Where are you?¡± A deep breath. The sun has finally set over the horizon, the moon coming to take its place. Sitting in a small apartment, cigarette balancing on his lip, a man dressed in a black tee and jeans stares down at his phone, the only light illuminating his face. An outgoing call shows on his phone, addressed to someone simply titled ¡°Boy¡±. The man leans back in his wooden chair, groaning as the simple voicemail message plays. He takes a drag, staring up at the ceiling, letting his eyes adjust to the dark around him. It had been a long time since he¡¯d been able to relax in the dark. Every second felt as though it were excruciatingly pulled from the hands of some pestering death god. Even now, the only feeling coursing through him, besides one of worry, was that the ceiling could possibly come falling right down on him. He considers the idea, harder than any normal person should, scoffs, and closes his eyes. ¡°Hurry up brat.¡± As if on cue, his phone buzzes in his hand. Silently appreciating the distraction, he holds it up, seeing a message from his latest client. He¡¯d been a pretty bothersome one, especially considering the simplicity of his wish. Still, a gig is a gig, so client¡¯s can get away with a fair bit of pushiness. ¡°You already paid, what else do you want?¡± Tapping the notification, he sees something unexpected. A video. A video of a hotel, surrounded by police tape, onlookers watching as black bags are pulled out from the entrance. Most concerning was how similar it looked to one he¡¯d been shown during him and the boy¡¯s briefing. He focused up. What is this? The man grits his teeth. ¡°Unusual¡­don¡¯t tell me he got caught up in some kind of nonsense.¡± A response to his question arrives soon enough. Police are saying everyone inside was found in pieces. Apparently someone heard a scream and called em. What does this have to do with me? The typing icon grows more and more annoying every second he has to spend watching it. I thought I¡¯d make sure your boy wasn¡¯t one of em. This place was the meeting spot and all. Confirmation. ¡°Fuck!¡± Up in a flash, the man grabs his coat and throws open the door, surprising a passerby. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°S-sir, you shouldn¡¯t smoke i-¡± He grabs their water bottle out of their bag and twists it open, throwing the thing inside. ¡°Much appreciated.¡± He hands them their water bottle back, before returning to his rush, running faster than he¡¯d ever imagined he could. He throws himself into the elevator, hitting the ground floor button. ¡°If you really die on me, I¡¯m not gonna make it a peaceful passing punkass.¡± As the doors close, he feels his fists close up. ¡°So¡­be alright.¡± ¡­ ¡°Sir¡­what the hell happened here?¡± Holding in the urge to vomit, a lower rank addresses his superior officer as he shines a light on a man¡¯s torso, tied to a hook via their own circulatory system. ¡°No clue. Just¡­focus the light so I can clean this guy up.¡± His superior managed to choke out before gagging, scooping up entrails into a trash-bag. ¡°How do you know you¡¯re even picking up the same guy?¡± ¡°Wishful thinking.¡± The conversation fizzles out soon after that. ¡°...That kinda looks like a mouse.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a lung actually.¡± ¡°Is that what they look like?¡± ¡°Did you take Biology?¡± ¡°Dropped out, remember?¡± ¡°Fair enough. No, it¡¯s not a mouse.¡± Carefully scooping up the organ, the man places it in the bag. ¡°You know what, you get a bag too. We got another 30 rooms to clean, and no way any other officer¡¯s coming to tag you out. The faster we¡¯re done the better.¡± The lower rank nods, grabbing a bag when he hears something. A voice, echoing from the left hall. ¡°You hear that?¡± Moving his light to the other hall, he saw nothing. ¡°Is someone there?!¡± His superior gets off his knees, taking out his gun. ¡°This is the police! If someone is there, we need you to show yourself, hands up! You understand?!¡± His voice was full of gusto, but his hands were shaking. The voice seemed to keep quiet. ¡°...you sure you heard something?¡± ¡°He did.¡± The superior turned his head to find his lower rank¡¯s head on a pike of bone. ¡°A-AHH!¡± Falling backwards, the officer finds himself slipping back. The floor had become a slope. He ended up in a roll, watching his partner¡¯s head leave his view as further and further, he fell into the darkness of somewhere unknown. The hall was now empty of all but a head. To the onlooker, it would seem a grisly enough sight. They would be unaware of the racing mind in that head, waiting, waiting for its partner to return and save it. It would be waiting for a long time. 4- Making Exceptions Is All You Could Hope For ¡°I can¡¯t look.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to.¡± I let my hands move along the walls while Mina shivers behind me. I can hear everything she wants to say, mumbling under her breath only panicking herself more. I tune it out, trying to find some kind of possible exit. ¡°There really is nothing.¡± I take a breath, stepping back. The only things in here are blood and ripped to shreds bodies. ¡°Not good.¡± I turn back to Mina, seeing her still lost in her own head. ¡°I changed my mind. I think this would be way easier with some extra help.¡± She shakes her head. ¡°Nnnno. No no no.¡± She mumbles. Taking a breath, I grab her shoulders. ¡°G-GET AWAY!¡± She pulls out of my grasp. ¡°Uh, ok. Sorry.¡± I sigh, looking over the place again. ¡°I¡­I really need your help. I can¡¯t keep you alive if we¡¯re both just stuck in here.¡± For some reason, that seems to end the mumbling. She turns her gaze to me. ¡°...you talked about payment. Nobody just jumps around on roofs for no reason. You¡¯re an expert with a gun, and only offered to protect me when I agreed to it¡­like a job¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot of different thoughts at on-¡± ¡°What are you?¡± She interrupts me. ¡°Are you like him?¡± ¡°Like him? Uh, I can¡¯t do anything impressive like this. If I could, we¡¯d probably be out of here by now.¡± ¡°Are you a murderer?¡± The word slips off her tongue with so much hatred it stings the air. ¡°...¡± ¡°David, are you a murderer?¡± Why can¡¯t I answer? I am, I know I am, I fit the definition perfectly, so why can¡¯t I say it? ¡°...I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!¡± She holds her head. I can see the wetness forming in her eyes. ¡°DON¡¯T LIE TO ME! BACKSTABBER! EVIL! BASTARD!¡± Every word she can think of she throws at me, stepping back into one of the walls. ¡°Ngh¡­why¡­why did it have to be you?¡± Her words broke through the crying. ¡°Why couldn¡¯t it be some good person¡­who saw me?¡± She slid down, sitting in the blood, coating herself in it. ¡°Did someone kill you?¡± She looks up at me, her eyes still wide, filled with tears. ¡°Did¡­someone¡­¡± She looks down at the blood. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°It sounds like your hatred is really personal is all. I guess I was just curious. Though, you already told me what you do know. You would have probably already mentioned it then-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ve been¡­dead¡­but I feel it.¡± ¡°Feel it?¡± ¡°Inside of me. Like mountains of bricks, weighing me down with every second that passes. So much of it is empty, without vision, like I couldn¡¯t bear it if I didn¡¯t sleep through it all.¡± She gripped her chest tight. ¡°I was asleep for so long, hoping I would somehow end up disappearing. That¡­existence. Even if it isn¡¯t everyone you killed. Even if only half. I could only hate someone who would allow someone to end up like that.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°...I see.¡± I feel my thumbs bump against each other. What do I say to that? How I feel? How do I feel? ¡°Sorry¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°...you¡¯re¡­sorry¡­¡± ¡°I never really thought, like, ghosts could exist. I just thought it sort of ended when people died. Uhm¡­¡± She hung her head. ¡°I want¡­to hate you¡­and then you say stupid shit like that.¡± She covers her face. ¡°Why do you have to be a monster?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a monster.¡± ¡°Oh? Do you think you¡¯re a good person?¡± ¡°No. Not that either. I don¡¯t really think that matters right now though. Uhm¡­¡± I sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy doing it. It¡¯s more like a job than¡­a thing I do. I think that¡¯s why murderer sounds wrong.¡± ¡°Do you think doing it for money makes it better?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s not about whether I think I¡¯m right or wrong. It¡¯s more, like, I guess I don¡¯t want to think it¡¯s malicious.¡± I sigh. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know how to say this.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­¡± She sighs back. ¡°Why? Why can¡¯t you do anything else? Why is murder your only option for a job?¡± ¡°That''s all I know how to do.¡± The words seem to freeze her up. ¡°As long as I¡¯m with dad, that¡¯s all I can do. On¡­that tv, on the roof. The thing I was watching was¡­a video he showed me on cutting people up.¡± I cover my face. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but this feels really hard to say. I don¡¯t mind if you say you hate me again, but I¡¯d really prefer if you talked instead of me.¡± ¡°Your dad taught you how?¡± She whispered. ¡°Uhm, yeah.¡± ¡°...why don¡¯t you leave him?¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t know where I¡¯d go without him.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Her hands ball up. ¡°I¡­see¡­okay.¡± Something like determination shines in her eyes as she stands up. ¡°David, listen up!¡± ¡°Ok.¡± She points right at me. ¡°I want to make changes to my job I¡¯m asking from you! Are you listening?!¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking really loudly.¡± ¡°1. I want you to find a way to get me out of this hotel, with you obviously. If that involves killing that murderer bastard, then that¡¯s just fine. I hope to god his soul never sees heaven or hell.¡± ¡°Scary¡­¡± ¡°2. After that, unless in self-defense, I don''t want you to kill anyone, ever again.¡± ¡°I think that one is impossible.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll make it possible.¡± She gets close, looking directly into my eyes. I gulp. ¡°W-we will?¡± ¡°No matter what.¡± ¡°I-I guess I¡¯ll let you try.¡± ¡°Good.¡± ¡°Uhm, I guess I don¡¯t really know what payment I can expect for this job.¡± ¡°Easy.¡± She holds out her hand. ¡°You¡¯ll have a friend.¡± ¡°A friend¡­aren¡¯t you the one who said you hate killers more than anyone?¡± ¡°Well¡­you may be the only person who ever sees me. I may as well make an exception.¡± ¡°Huh. I guess that¡¯s ok. I don¡¯t really have any of those, anyways.¡± ¡°I sort of figured¡­¡± I take her hand. ¡°Alright. Job accepted. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± 5- Were Gonna Do Something Bad Four walls. Pulling down the hanging bodies and wiping off the paste of the dead, we were left with four stone walls, void of any holes, cracks, weaknesses. The floor, unfortunately, was impossible to make visible with the blood pooling up to our ankles. However, we still managed to run our hands and feet along it, and the floor was just the same. The room really only had one thing about it that seemed like a potential for escape. Hanging above us was a lightbulb on a wire, connected to the, equally to all other parts of the room, bare ceiling. It made the ceiling the best bet. ¡°Assuming actual logic of course, which, I don¡¯t know if that really applies here?¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± I rub my chin, narrowing my gaze. Even so, It was a better lead than nothing. My glove turned my old reliable revolver, and aiming at the ceiling, I fired off a shot. The bullet shot through, however, left no hole or mark of having made any impact. Brilliant. That leaves a couple possibilities. ¡°Automatic repair? Deletion for the sake of protection? No, it definitely looked like it made it through. So what is it?¡± She pondered it, before something seemed to click in her mind. She bent down, sucked in, and pulled off the barely held together finger off a body¡¯s hand. She held it, pulled back, and threw it at the ceiling. It smacked against it, falling back down. ¡°So, automatic repair then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Mina nodded. ¡°It must have to do with speed. Try shooting again.¡± I do as told, and the same result. An undamaged ceiling, a missing bullet. ¡°Yeah, that feels like the ticket.¡± She grins. ¡°Are you a fan of puzzles?¡± ¡°Mm? I dunno.¡± She brushes me, pointing to one of the walls. ¡°Try shooting a wall next. Maybe they¡¯re the same.¡± I take aim and shoot. ¡°Hey, it worked. So, what does that mean exactly?¡± ¡°I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± Faced by sudden and complete defeat, Mina falls back on her ass. ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re gonna be able to move as fast as a bullet. Damnit¡­¡± She covers her face. ¡°Ughhh, what do we do?¡± It¡¯s true. The speed situation is an impossible one. If there is a way out of here, there has to be some other reason. What else about the bullet is unique? Unique things about the bullet, unique things about¡­wait¡­maybe¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s try this.¡± I wave the gloves off my hands. Mina looks up, in time to watch as I grip around my left wrist and, with a grunt, slowly start to tear it off. Her eyes widen and I think I hear her scream as the skin and meat start to slip away, leaving in its place a static akin to that of a dead signal. Once the remains fall into the blood at my feet, I take a breath. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!¡± I hear her yell. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it doesn¡¯t really hurt. It always just feels sort of numb. Kind of like when your leg falls asleep.¡± ¡°THAT¡¯S, WHAT, NO! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?!¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s just¡­something I can do? Hang on.¡± Placing my fingers back at the wrist, my fingers ascend up the static, forming a hand different than the one before. A similar skin tone, save for healed scars and black painted nails. ¡°See? New hand.¡± ¡°A¡­aaa¡­¡± She still seemed freaked out. I turn my attention back to the wall. ¡°I think this may also work. You see, we can¡¯t pass through, that finger couldn¡¯t pass through, but the bullet could. If it is possible for us to get out, then speed can¡¯t be what¡¯s going on.¡± I hold my new hand up, just in front of the wall. ¡°So, what else about the bullet makes it different?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°U¡­uhm¡­what else¡­is it¡­¡± I bring my hand forward as she speaks, and like magic, it goes through. A cool wetness lies beyond the wall. I feel it overwhelming my senses, forcing me to drag it back in. ¡°It wasn¡¯t accounted for.¡± I hear her stand up behind me, dashing over and grabbing my hand, placid her own against the wall. ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°He may have known I had a gun, but he couldn¡¯t place it on me because it''s attached to my glove, and he has no way of knowing that unless he¡¯s seen that himself. So, it breaks this place. It seems like it can only contain specifically what he made it to contain. This new hand isn¡¯t accounted for, so It can pass through.¡± ¡°O-oh.¡± A wave of emotion passes over her face as she steps back. ¡°So, it should be possible for you to get through. I think that may leave me completely high and dry though. I can¡¯t do anything like that.¡± That¡¯s true. How does she get out of here? ¡°Hmm¡­maybe if we shared a body.¡± ¡°...huh?¡± ¡°You wanna try it?¡± ¡°Is that possible?!¡± ¡°I dunno. It could be. If it isn¡¯t, it¡¯s not like we lose anything.¡± She seems incredibly hesitant. ¡°I;m not gonna do anything to hurt you or anything. That¡¯s not my job, remember?¡± ¡°Right. Sorry, I¡­¡± She sighs, holding her head. ¡°I¡¯m too lost. None of this is normal, I don¡¯t¡­know how to take a single thing that¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°Ah. That¡¯s understandable.¡± I look away. ¡°We can talk all about it when I get you out of here, but, until then, I guess I just need you to trust me.¡± ¡°I do¡­that¡¯s still asking alot. You¡­ripped your hand off¡­¡± She shakes your head. ¡°Just tell me how to do this sharing a body thing.¡± I nod along. ¡°I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll need to tear this body off, and grow one around us.¡± That sounds like the most logical thing to try. ¡°Your whole body. That sounds horrifying.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to watch.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t plan on it.¡± She breathes, turning around. ¡°Just, tell me when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± I stare down at my hands as she turns away. When was the last time I¡¯ve torn off more than just my head. It¡¯s not something I do often, there¡¯s not usually a reason to. It always feels strange. That numbness fully enraptures me. Close to death, perhaps even brothers. I take my hands, bring them to my chest, and begin to pull. Tearing away, the skin, the meat, the image of translation that describes me, it crumbles and strips and falls to the floor, disgusting lumps rotting into ash before me. I tear more, watching it peel back to my sides. My legs pushed through, splitting through and leaving my old self hanging off just my arms and single leg. I pull myself through, watching that static morph and squish around as I free myself completely. It stings, like pricking needles, the numbness separating me completely from reality. I hate this. I do not belong in this world is all I can feel screaming from my core to every single cell outside me. I look over to the woman, still looking away, and find myself incapable of speaking. All that comes through is noise. Simple noise. I move without feeling, all actions defined and actable solely by my desire to perform them. In that, my arms move because I wish them too, wrap around her body because I want to feel her. To combine with her and become whole with her, so we can leave this place behind. I don¡¯t understand why it happens, but when I touch her, the numbness becomes sensation. My arm can feel the soft warmness of her hoodie, heated by her soul. How such a thing could be wracked my brain. Are you alive? Are you a ghost? How can this ghost feel like a woman? She looks up at me, and rather than fear, I see tiredness in her eyes. As if her senses are leaving her behind as she observes me observing her. ¡°David?¡± I don¡¯t hear her say it. I feel her say it, her words flowing through my presence as I watch her start to enter me, her body fading into my numbness and becoming warmth. My vision flourishes with new sights, but even as my periphery is invaded with the indistinct globs of blinding euphoria, I stay focused on the woman becoming one with me. She says something else, drool slipping through the side of her mouth. ¡°God?¡± It awakens a base instinct. Something escapes me. Words, in a voice I don¡¯t recognize. ¡°I want to devour you.¡± 6- Well Talk and Hurt Until We Find A Reason Wherever we are it hurts. I can¡¯t see her. Instead, I see only the blackness of a pure void, something soft against my back. I sit up. I see grass, going on and on all around me. I¡¯m naked. Interesting. I stand up, feeling the grass on the soles of my feet, and I begin to walk. All directions seem the same, so it¡¯s all just a matter of randomness. I walk, walk, walk. On and on, the passing blades of green become so repetitive they feel like they¡¯re on loop, like maybe I¡¯m not even moving at all. I decided to call her name. I hear nothing, as if I¡¯ve gone deaf. So I keep walking. I keep walking even when I start to smell the burning. From where I couldn¡¯t say, but to pretend it were my own imagination felt silly. It became clear there was something I wasn¡¯t seeing that just¡­begged to become known. I stop. I closed my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not a good person.¡± I opened them. A burning fire. A home falling apart, the sounds of the wood making up its exterior falling apart and crumbling to the ground. The woman next to me seemed to lack expression. ¡°Mina?¡± ¡°I remember waking up on the porch of a cabin. Surrounded by trees. It was night, and the stars hung over me. There was a lake close by, you¡¯d just have to slip down a little steep incline to get to it. I was watching the shore of the place though. Just watching the water come in and back out, again and again.¡± She didn¡¯t seem eager to talk, as if she were forcing herself. ¡°I remember thinking then that I would be doing the same thing if I were alive, right then. The exact same thing. Then I stopped thinking. Because that was terrifying.¡± She fell back, almost gracefully falling onto the grass, her eyes staring up at he black void. I follow her lead. ¡°I remember waking up in a hotel hallway to the sounds of people fucking. I stood up and walked in on them. I watched from the doorway to see three guys filling a girl with their dicks. She couldn¡¯t speak, every noise she made was phallic. Some guy fucking her ass was squeezing her tits and I just couldn¡¯t take it. I called her a slut while I touched myself.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°Quite.¡± The silence between us felt like death itself. ¡°Did you want to get fucked like that?¡± ¡°Really badly.¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°I wanted to choke on cum, have my tits bitten and groped, feel my pussy and ass getting stuffed, and jesus, I wanted to get plowed in the eye and feel my blood getting chunky with cum and falling out of my skull.¡± She chuckled. ¡°I wanted to get fucked to death.¡± ¡°That sounds extreme.¡± ¡°I also didn¡¯t. I wanted to bleed and curl up in a ball while being held and kissed and loved.¡± A breath. ¡°So slutty. Yeah. Happiness is the most slutty thing there is.¡± ¡°...¡± I don¡¯t say a word. ¡°But I was dead, " I told myself. That was exactly why it would never happen.¡± ¡°That was a lie.¡± ¡°How smart you are god. If I was alive, I¡¯d be just as lonely and pure. Like a good girl.¡± ¡°That¡¯s sad.¡± ¡°No.¡± Her voice was harsh. ¡°There¡¯s nothing sad about it.¡± ¡°Sorry. What is it then?¡± ¡°Unforgivable.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s cowardly.¡± I feel her hand, tightly gripping my wrist. ¡°Is purity cowardly?¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s powerful. I wasn¡¯t tainted or pure.¡± ¡°What were you?¡± ¡°A cutter.¡± ¡°I see.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°A beater. A bleeder. A biter. A scratcher. A whipper. A head slammer. An addict for every and any piece of pain I could inflict.¡± ¡°Mina-¡± ¡°Cause that was easy! That was so much easier than being a slut! So much easier than being pure and a good listener! Don¡¯t listen to mama, but fear each and every word she tells you!¡± ¡°Mina.¡± ¡°See how long you last, how long nibbling on the edge satisfies you till you can¡¯t take teasing death¡¯s cunt, and plunge your pocket knife deep inside, and carve out her womb.¡± ¡°Did you kill yourself?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Ok.¡± The silence returned. It returned for a very very long time. For uncountable eternities, and seconds more. ¡°I wasn¡¯t happy.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Not in general, but when I did it too.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that cowardly?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°I think so.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know. I would never know. She could repeat every second of it and I¡¯d still be clueless. ¡°But can I pretend to?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°I remember when mom died.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how far back it goes though. There¡¯s nothing before that. That¡¯s when I was born, I think.¡± I hold up my other hand. Static. No form. ¡°I remember looking down at her body in that coffin, and looking at her son, and watching him sob his heart out. I wondered how he could be so selfish.¡± ¡°Selfish?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t know why he should cry, but he felt like he was supposed to.¡± ¡°Did he not love her?¡± ¡°He loved her more than anything. He wasn¡¯t ready to stop loving her. So his body just did what it had to as he waited in his head for her to open the front door again.¡± I gulped. ¡°I hated him. So I bent down and told him his mother wasn¡¯t coming back.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°He stopped crying. He stopped doing anything. He left her body in its grave and went home and went back to the life that held no desire to wait for him and just lived.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°I watched his father a lot more than him. I¡¯d follow him and watch him do all the dirty jobs people richer than him were too rich to do. I remember watching one of them pay him and smoke a cigarette and wondered why they¡¯d do such a thing. Why waste the life they paid to make perfect just to decrease it? I still don¡¯t know why they do that.¡± I sigh. ¡°His dad didn¡¯t seem much too bothered by his son¡¯s loss of life. He was too busy pretending his wife¡¯s loss of life wasn¡¯t dragging him down to the pits of hell. Do you know what hell looks like for a killer mourning a death?¡± I looked over at her. ¡°It looks like chaos.¡± ¡°C-chaos?¡± ¡°Consensus reality doesn¡¯t do well with paradoxes.¡± I turned my gaze back to the void. ¡°That''s why it''s so empty.¡± I smile with no lips. ¡°So with no one to save him, the boy ended up doing the one thing he could. Awaken. He¡¯d already started a long time ago. That¡¯s the whole reason I was born. When it really happened, though, man, it was beautiful. I remember watching that whole house become a graveyard for rotting teddy bears and dissected plastic toys. I wandered through, and found that boy, crying over a mother I don¡¯t know a damn thing about. He looked at me, and asked me to take him to her.¡± ¡°What¡­did you do?¡± ¡°Nothing. He did it himself.¡± ¡°Jesus¡­¡± ¡°The whole world became white and void, but that boy¡¯s soul remained. All his happiness and sadness and love faded away to a mother waiting above, and what remained cried in silence. It asked from me a purpose. I told it that was impossible. It had already found a definition. And then, I devoured it.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°And despite that, it refused to be eaten. It hated itself, lost itself, wanted to disappear, and was just a shell that would never find what it was looking for. Its definition, of mourning, had become impossible to fulfill. Even still, it overpowered me, and created a new definition. Do you want to know what that was?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Make daddy happy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a definition?¡± ¡°When that¡¯s what you are, when you are nothing but that, yeah, that¡¯s definition. Obtained by abandoning purpose. It¡¯s inhuman. It¡¯s godly. Only god¡¯s can be defined, and too strong a will to disappear, it redefined itself. Like a ghost refusing to die. Sounds familiar.¡± A crack in the void. ¡°Who am I talking to?¡± ¡°A tool for a god.¡± ¡°Where is David?¡± ¡°Do you want to do that become one thing?¡± ¡°...yes.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± I smile. ¡°Interesting.¡± I¡¯m surprised when she gets on top of me, grabbing my face. ¡°Not with you. Be there all you want, but I have no interest in you.¡± ¡°You have a preference in who takes you out of here?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you for shit, asshole. Besides¡­I¡¯m feeling pretty motivated right now.¡± She smiles, her eyes burning. ¡°Go ahead and lead it yourself then.¡± I close my eyes, and feel something soft against my lips. Somewhere inside me, a stronger part of myself wakes. 6.5- Were All Gonna Die Somehow There¡¯s something to keep going for. That was something even a man with little to no dreams like a senior officer still a year away from retirement could believe in. Even so, he found himself struggling to follow through. Leaning against the cold wall of a dark meat locker, the man let out a shivering breath. How many rooms had he been through that looked just like this one? He¡¯d lost count when his brain started freezing around 20. He pushed himself off the wall, slamming into a hanging stitched together creation of human meat. He did well to ignore the taste of it that had placed itself on his lips. His legs staggered onwards, past the countless hanging racks of meat. If he let them contaminate any more of his brain, he knew he¡¯d fall over then and there. He reached into his pocket, holding something tight. ¡°Move, move, move.¡± Whispered out in a weak wispy white. He opened the freezer door, found the exact same room waiting for him behind it. ¡°Damn.¡± He laughs, and keeps moving. ¡°Are you gonna keep doing the same thing again and again? Don¡¯t bore me.¡± He didn¡¯t know who he was talking to, but he was certain they were listening. Just knowing that made him smile. How beautiful, indeed, to be a wisecracking annoyance to someone so much stronger than you. He enjoyed the arrogance it fed his soul. In that arrogance, he found the strength to run. Slamming through doors, speed pushing him through more than his strength, depleting with every second spent in that cold. He felt his lips open, a yell primal and raging coming through, as room after room, rack after rack, passed by his form. Some desire to feel like he was at the edge of finally being free kept him going. Only when he tripped over his finally numb, frozen feet, did he truly realize he was done for. The feeling of the cold on his cheek was so warm. How stupid. How terribly, terribly stupid. While his fingers still had feeling, he reached into his pocket, he pulled out a police badge. ¡°Sorry man. I tried. I hope you understand. Forgive me¡­forgive me please¡­¡± As he spoke, Something beautiful crashed through the cold reality, Bringing him to a field of grass. All sensation of cold had dissipated, leaving him naked and strangely warm. The only thing left on him was that badge, still gripped tight. The man stood. Feeling the grass between his toes, he looked up at the black void of a sky, and saw it cracking, stuttering into static. He breathed and felt the air cutting through his lungs. ¡°Sir?¡± The man turned his head to what stood behind him. ¡°You¡¯re¡­kidding¡­¡± ¡°Where are we?¡± His lower rank walked up beside him, watching the sky. ¡°I¡­have no idea.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better than being a head, at least.¡± ¡°A head? You were still alive like that?¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± He looked down at the ground. ¡°Not sure I am now though.¡± He spoke with a wisdom that didn¡¯t fit his young face. ¡°Like my existence has lost all meaning.¡± ¡°That¡¯s horrifying.¡± He said that, but the higher rank couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°That laugh is way scarier.¡± The lower rank said, but couldn¡¯t help joining in. They laughed and laughed as the static sky became louder and louder.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry! I¡¯ll be making sure you don¡¯t stay in that fucked up hotel, you got it?!¡± Through his laugh, the high rank made his promise, the sky beginning to fall. ¡°Whatever you say sir!¡± His lower rank smiled. ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure! ¡®Always mine man. Always mine.¡¯ He kept the words locked in his throat as he closed his eyes, the whole world turning indecipherable. ¡­ Jumping onto the roof, the man in his jacket let out a tired breath. Down below, the sounds of police sirens and ambulances and whoever was interested all came together in a terrible symphony of nonsense. He walked past a strangely placed couch and smashed television, remarking in his own mind on its oddity, before opening the roof entrance and finding a staircase leading down into the building. The first thing to hit him was the stench of raging death. He covered his face with his shirt, taking out his machete from under his jacket and beginning his descent. Staircase after staircase, he arrived at the tenth floor and opened the door, peeking through. Police didn¡¯t seem to be on this floor, or rather, hadn¡¯t reached it. The blood was pooling out from under the apartment¡¯s doors. How the hell was something like this possible? He couldn¡¯t even imagine something like this in a nightmare. He brought the blade up, walking through. A feeling of being seen by millions of eyes. Just block it out. He closed his eyes, listening for any sounds. Nothing made itself known, save for his own footsteps. Still, it was clear, something was nearby. He stopped, going still, his body frozen. His mind halted all thought, focusing just on perceiving. Everything became fresher, rawer, uninhibited. Pure sound, in all its texture and nonsense. In that space, the man could feel, through the air, the repetitive drones of the gentle rumbles from the sound outside. The sound of blood dripping and gurgling from splits in skin and veins. He readied his blade as something hiding under all of those distractions came slithering through the gaps of reality to tear his throat out. He struck at air, and saw his blade glide through the right eye of a cocky-smile wearing fellow. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± The man¡¯s knee slammed into the surprised fellow¡¯s chest as he tripped forward in surprise. He kicked him back with his boot. The attacker screamed as he fell back. ¡°Argh! H-how did you-?!¡± The attacker disappeared in time to avoid the man bringing his knife down on his chest. ¡°Hm. Inhuman like my boy, huh?¡± ¡°Boy? Ah¡­you¡¯re¡­that little brat¡¯s dad?! Hahah! What, came to pick up the corpse?! You won¡¯t even be getting that, sorry poor papa!¡± ¡°Mmm. That so?¡± The man stands straight. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up? Can¡¯t process it? Don¡¯t worry, you won¡¯t be without him long¡­hey¡­why are you looking at me like that?¡± The attacker could feel the air shifting. ¡°So, how bad do you want it to hurt?¡± The man whispered, before rushing forward. The attacker¡¯s attempt to disappear once more was thwarted by a sudden stab to the gut. ¡°N-GACK!¡± ¡°Anything less than excruciating ain¡¯t an option.¡± The man felt a bony hand grab tight to his throat, as the skin and met melted from the attacker¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re all just so damn disrespectful! Show a god some respect in his own domain!¡± The attackers words were only met with another turn of the knife. ¡°You sure have an ego. I¡¯d respect it if I weren¡¯t so ready to see that jaw torn off.¡± The man spoke so clearly even the god couldn¡¯t help but freeze up at the threat. Still, he managed to pull back, holding his side as blood poured from it. ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of this. You wanna die that bad?! Fine then! I¡¯ll send you somewhere even worse than that brat of your-¡± A crash, as the floor beneath the men started to crack. ¡°T-the fuck is this?!¡± ¡°Interesting. I got a good feeling about this.¡± The man smiled. ¡°You¡¯re gonna regret not doing a good job killing my boy.¡± ¡°This¡­is¡­him? N-no! No! This is not your world to control! Put yourself back down, you overconfident piece of shit!¡± The shattered floor exploded, as an arm came reaching out, a hand of long, sharp fingers came reaching out, tearing into the cocky god¡¯s stomach as he screamed. He fell backwards, watching as the hand became soft and feminine and human, pulling out of the shattered reality a human body, creating itself from nothing. ¡°W-what¡­are¡­you?¡± His lips quivered, watching the woman form. Her neutral face took on a twisted smile. ¡°A god, asshole.¡± 7- Definition Aint All That Love I awoke laying on the bed of a room I didn¡¯t recognize. The light green walls were lit by a desk lamp sitting on a desk next to the bed. I sat up, surprised to find myself in just a black hoodie. Strange. Did my body grow back? It looks different. Very soft and squishy. Touching my fingers together, I notice how cozy it feels to be inside this one. My eyes wander over the room. Books. Books in so many stacks on the floor. The carpet seems like it hasn¡¯t been vacuumed in years. The scent of a cold polluted outside added a sort of sickness to the atmosphere. I covered my face when I heard a chuckle. I turned to an open window, where Mina sat on the sill. Snow fell outside on a building being constructed. Shadowy forms moved about, carrying materials. ¡°Good morning.¡± She spoke with fire. ¡°Thought it would be pretty simple, but I guess things aren''t that easy. Am I talking to David?¡± Huh? Do I look that different? ¡°Yeah?¡± I did a double take at the soft voice that came pouring from my mouth. I covered my lips as she smiled at me. ¡°Just checking. Very cute.¡± She laughed. ¡°Hey, I think you¡¯re a bit distracted.¡± ¡°...distracted?¡± I spoke low, trying not to perceive what sounded so wrong. ¡°I want to escape. You want me to escape. I don¡¯t want you to kill, and you want to please daddy. It¡¯s fucking up our rhythm.¡± ¡°I told you it wasn¡¯t likely, didn¡¯t I?¡± ¡°That excuse wasn¡¯t gonna work even if we didn¡¯t have to do this. Do you know why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any way you could make it work. Sorry.¡± ¡°You¡¯re supposed to say why. Groan¡­¡± She stood up, her steps carrying her over to me. Instincts made me want to hide, but she grabbed my collar, pushing herself on top of me. ¡°Because I won¡¯t let you hurt yourself.¡± ¡°Hurt myself?¡± A whisper. ¡°She knows what it''s like to be weak.¡± ¡°She¡¯s nothing but weak.¡± Voices from somewhere, sounding muffled. ¡°Do you hear them?¡± She held up her left arm as she asked me. ¡°Do you want to see them?¡± I don¡¯t know if I should answer. She takes my silence to pull downwards, letting the sight of her arm fill my vision. I feel something catch in my throat. Lines. Cuts. Interlocking and pulsing. They pull themselves open, making her wince. They¡¯re all¡­mouths. Rows of teeth hiding tongues, and they all start screaming. ¡°DISGRACEFUL!¡± ¡°IMPURE BITCH!¡± ¡°HIDE! HIDE! WHAT ARE YOU DONG COWARD?!¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!¡± Descending from words to incomprehensible gibberish all talking over each other. I could feel my breath halting. ¡°I can hear it.¡± ¡°W-wha¡­¡± I stumble over my tongue. ¡°When I get close to you like this.¡± She lowers her head to my chest. ¡°D-don¡¯t. Get away.¡± My voice sounds completely half-hearted as her ear touches my hoodie. ¡°I hear all the cuts on your heart, screaming for death.¡± She raises her face. ¡°Killing people hurts you more than you let yourself feel? No¡­you feel it don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t-¡± ¡°The only thing that disappeared that day was your willingness to express your pain, into a dead woman¡¯s arms.¡± ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°David, you¡¯re actually a pretty good person, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± ¡°Or a monster, right?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re a god? Right? Cause you decided to throw away one nebulous concept for another?¡± ¡°I am!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not.¡± She spoke the truth. ¡°Just a human pretending to be strong by being their weakest, lowliest self. If that¡¯s gonna be the case, why not just be everything a human can be?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not human. Stop lying to me.¡± I feel my teeth gritting. Don¡¯t cry. You¡¯re not supposed to cry. ¡°You are. You¡¯re a serial killer who does everything daddy tells them to, who can never fix all the harm they¡¯ve caused.¡± ¡°I-¡± ¡°You¡¯re a monster who can change the way they look to become anyone they wish. Who can summon guns to blow people¡¯s limbs off.¡± ¡°Ngh-¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a god. Because god¡¯s don¡¯t exist. Not silly one¡¯s that subsist off simple meanings and understandings, or wishes.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°You know what a real god looks like?¡± ¡°...wha-¡± Her lips covered mine. Her softness made my brain go fuzzy. She¡¯s so warm¡­our tongues gently settling on each other, before she pulls away, our saliva mixing into a trail, falling on my shivering tongue. ¡°No clue. Let¡¯s make one and find out.¡± She smiled at me, making my sensitive, tender heart throb. She kissed me again, and my brain became overwhelmed with raging hope. ¡­ ¡°W-what¡­are¡­you?¡± Through these new eyes, watching this bastard fall on his ass and whimper causes something in me to turn. What is this? This new sense? It¡¯s as if reality has completely changed into a foreign aspect, and yet I can still comprehend it all at the same time. Seeing things through new eyes? I touch the side of my head, feel the silky hair, every cell soft and different. So different. It makes me euphoric. I stepped forward, and with that, every layer of reality beyond the shared consensus existence fell away. A hotel full of dead bodies, destroyed limbs, and meat. I held all self satisfying fantasies in my hand, and crushed them before this false messiah¡¯s eyes. I can feel the stares of the man behind me, confused and strangely proud. I recognize him in my soul, and want to laugh. ¡°A god, asshole.¡± No, that¡¯s not right. Not at all. My fingers become that of a monster¡¯s, sharp blades for fingers. His eyes widening were a satisfying prize for all this suffering. In my soul, deep in its very depths, two voices ring as one, making me correct my original assertion with a light hearted chuckle. ¡°Scratch that. Just a human.¡± 8- What a Shitty Ending You Hack The sound of desperate panting just ahead of me. Through the halls and stairways, an echoing scream makes itself heard. I watch him trip over himself, slamming into one of the broken stairwell entrance doors. He seems tired. Angry. In a state of pure agony, in every way one could imagine agony to take shape. God, though, that anger really showed through. His red face as he desperately tried to choke back tears. I¡¯d feel bad, if I didn¡¯t loathe him. I morph my foot into something about as heavy as a cinder block, and see him try to evade too late as I stamp down and break his knee to splintered shards. His scream was satisfying. ¡°Don¡¯t go too far.¡± I spoke out loud, earning an ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± from myself, before repeating the same with my other foot on his remaining leg. ¡°We aren¡¯t gonna kill anyone.¡± A whisper meant only for us that he seemed to pick up on. It caused a rather strange reaction. ¡°LIAR! FUCKING LIAR!¡± His scream mixed with his sobbing as he fought to look back at us. I could see it. The absolute terror that had turned his anger into unfocused tears in his eyes. ¡°JUST KILL ME! DON¡¯T HURT ME! DON¡¯T HURT ME ANYMORE!¡± He screamed and screamed as I bent down. ¡°Are you afraid?¡± ¡°Ngh-! GET AWAY YOU BITCH!¡± He tried to hit me but my arm formed a tendril, wrapping around his. ¡°Nah.¡± I snap it backwards. Satisfied, I step off him, watching him sob into the ground before wrapping my new arm all round him, holding his broken body in the air. ¡°Freaky. Where¡¯d you learn a trick like that?¡¯ I turn to see the man in his long coat smiling at me, rubbing his chin. ¡°...so, you¡¯re dad, huh?¡± I snickered. ¡°Mmm¡­am I not speaking to my kid?¡± ¡°Hard to say. Better to say you¡¯re talking to half of me. Very hard to consider the concept, yeah?¡± ¡°Mmm? What¡¯s the other 50 percent?¡± We talked as we walked down the stairs, feeling our little killer squirming in my arm¡¯s tight grip. ¡°A pretty cool girl. Ah-¡± I felt my cheeks turn red. A chuckle escaped his lips. ¡°Fun.¡± We were both stopped by a fist penetrating through one of the steps. A man, wearing a torn police uniform, began pulling himself up, panting like a dog. ¡°I¡¯m¡­so fucking¡­lost¡­¡± The officer complained, his head sinking before looking up at us. ¡°Damn¡­still stuck in bizzaro-land, huh?¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯d say more normal than whatever the hell you¡¯ve been through. Need a hand?¡± The man walked past me, grabbing the man¡¯s uniform and, with a pull, got him on the stairs with us. ¡°Christ! Got some strong arms on ya, huh?¡± The officer seemed in good spirits despite looking like he¡¯d dragged himself out of hell. His eyes move between us, stopping on the guy wrapped up in my tendril. ¡°There you are. Thought I wouldn¡¯t get the chance. Hey asshole, take a look at this.¡± The man started reaching into his pocket, and that seemed to set him off.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°DON¡¯T!¡± His terrified scream echoed beyond just the stairwell. It felt as though it was loud enough to travel across the whole world. I grit my teeth, feeling my tendril loosen its grip, letting him fall onto the stairs. He was still screaming, but from the looks on the other two¡¯s faces, only I could hear him. ¡°YOU ALL WANNA HURT ME! YOU ALWAYS WANNA HURT ME! I WON¡¯T LET YOU! I WON¡¯T LET ANYONE TOUCH ME! I¡¯M A GOD! I¡¯M SAFE NOW! I¡¯M SAFE I¡¯M SAFE I¡¯M SAFE!¡± I tried to move, but my head wouldn¡¯t stop rattling. I tried to speak, but it sounded like nothing. ¡°DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE YOU CAN ALL DIE! JUST DIE!¡± That wasn¡¯t some fear induced nonsense. I could feel it. My eyes widened as his body started to convulse. My arm sharped into some nonsense shaped blade, acting on my bloodier half¡¯s instincts, but it was too late. It was too late before I even got the chance to realize it was too late. It started with a small pinch. Then my whole body exploded. I was still observing, but I could see my eyes, my stomach, my meat and skin all blowing around me. Same for the two men in front of me. Everything else followed after, and I watched as the whole world turned to ashy black. What? Wait, what? How the hell¡­I thought I¡­but I didn¡¯t kill him? Didn¡¯t I do what I was supposed to do? I did, right? So¡­so what the hell? What the hell! What just happened?! Just as I wonder that, I feel something against my cheek. I raise my head, and I see¡­white. Dunes of white. Not cold, not warm, in fact, just nothing. I stood up, and felt my whole body go still. Jesus. There¡¯s nothing. Nothing but white. I take another step forward. Then another. Another. We should have killed him Another, another, another. Why didn¡¯t we kill him? Another, another, my foot falters. Oh god. This is our fault, isn¡¯t it? ¡°Hey.¡± I turn my head. He¡¯s sitting there. Just sitting, staring out at the vast landscape of nothing. W-what? You¡­why are you¡­right there¡­ ¡°What¡­did¡­¡± ¡°...everyone.¡± ¡°You-¡± ¡°I killed everyone.¡± ¡°Oh. Huh.¡± I fall back on my butt. ¡°Yeah. Pretty crazy. Surprised you¡¯re even still here.¡± ¡°Me¡­too¡­¡± ¡°Guess that¡¯s nothing new. You don¡¯t seem to leave me alone.¡± He sighed, placing his chin on his knees. ¡°Man. What a shitty ending.¡± ¡°You¡­killed everyone¡­that¡¯s¡­yeah, that¡¯s a pretty shitty ending.¡± ¡°Mmm.¡± He didn¡¯t respond after that, just continuing to look out at the vast horizon. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re here, I suppose I¡¯ll enjoy the company.¡± ¡°You will, huh?¡± I look down at my hands. ¡°Fellow killer of all humanity. Guess we¡¯ll be the only gods left to tell their tale.¡± ¡°That¡­so?¡± I follow his gaze to the horizon. ¡°How disappointing.¡± And so, we stayed just like that, until both our consciousnesses faded away.