《People of the Sky》 Note 1 Flora鈥檚 Mundanity (1) 00:04 My eyes reflected the mind''s thoughts, and through that, watched life walk away into a cycle ending nowhere, going nowhere; reflecting no pain, no remorse and no guilt, neither the happiness, joys and wonders. They reflected the world as it moved, revolving around the things with no meanings, worthless and people with no attachment or love. My eyes were plain, dull and dark, neither beautiful nor bland. They were mine.| "What is this weird paragraph?", the reflection of the screen was quite bright in the dim room. "It''s as if I am on drugs!", I had to shut them for a while as I reclined on my chair. My eyes were throbbing and my hands were itching. This terrible habit of mine has plagued me ever since. I have gained nothing out of it, just a bad posture with backaches. Sometimes, I wished something would change. It felt pointless at times- life. Bright light passed through my curtains illuminating the wall opposite to the window. I think I have an inherent ability to call disasters towards myself. "Those entitled devils...", I mumbled silently. Those kids must be on their hoverboards again, oh how I wish I could murder them. The annoyance had made me approach my curtains. As I pulled them apart, the kids whooshed past it screaming, "LOSER!" I slid it open and screamed, "YOU DEVILS!!!". No, that didn''t happen. That was just my foolish wish, a coward like me could never accomplish such an act. Frustrated, I pulled back my curtains, shutting out the repulsive city view. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. My bed right next to the window urged me to give up on thinking, and so I did just that. My face buried in the pillow, while I pushed the button on my bracelet called a ''Rilet''. This piece of technology allowed me to connect to any of my electronic devices using a hologram, no matter the distance. I looked up to see a screen about the size of my laptop floating in front of me. I adjusted the virtual keypad, making it easier to write. 00:18 Sky, the people there live on tents and land there floats atop massive cumulonimbus clouds.| I couldn''t recall the type of cloud they lived on, something about cumulonimbus clouds felt odd. 00:18 Sky, the people there live on tents and land there floats atop massive| 00:18 Sky, the people there live on tents and land there floats atop massive cumulus clouds. The floating lands are not heavy but light. People there have wings like those of early aircrafts, they float on the clouds and..........| I drifted into a slumber. My morning alarm was an irritating android voice on repeat, shouting, "Wake up!" "I am awake, u piece of-", ah! right! I seldom cussed, "-talking machine", I mumbled. Along with the maddening voice stopping, the noises of the bustling city outside flowed in through the small opening of my window. I stared at the ceiling above me through the semi transparent screen I was writing on. Argh, I must have forgotten to shut it down yesterday and there isn''t enough time to charge it. Will the battery last till I reach the office? I glanced at the gibberish I wrote, 00:18 Sky, the people there live on tents and land there floats atop massive cumulus clouds. The floating lands are not heavy but light. People there have wings like those of early aircrafts, they float on the clouds and........... 00:24 ...................................................................and they eat humans. | The screen disappeared into thin air. *** Note 1 Floras Mundanity (2) I always found walking through the crowds a pain, especially when they were rushing to catch the moving platforms called ''Munvars''. These were square platforms of various sizes able to move in any direction regardless of external force. All you had to do was plug in the needed coordinates for it to move along; it moved sideways, up, down, inside buildings, even underground to the new metro system called ''Magnorails''. MunvAr- although the name of a ''moving platform'', was the name of a transportation company. yes, just a transportation company with complete monopoly over most of the transport services. If that was not enough to be a skeptical, it was fully funded by the government. The method the used in the construction and management of the ''moving platforms'' were a trade secret, i.e., people had no idea. The only disclosed fact was that it was a new element and this was one of its properties. however when the use outweighs any faults people get adjusted to the blatant propaganda. To me however, the sight of these hoverboards and Munvars were distasteful, hence I avoided them. Pushing past the crowds, I entered one of the skyscrapers where my office was located. Swiping my card gave me access to the door at the end of the reception room. It was desolate and eerie, the lights flickered and switched on. The keypad on the wall activated as I pressed the number 6 and 4. With a sudden loud noise the winder stairs started moving up like an escalator. These stairs adjusted according to the floors and were termed as ''Autostairs''. Being a technology of the past, people didn''t use them much, yet I liked them. My office was on the 64th floor, quite a high floor for an office that did nothing important. It was a quiet place, mostly, until the clock hit 10am, and the members gathered; people who lacked discipline, often late and at times absent; the only exception being our assistant manager. As for our manager- who was early or late, absent or dead- he could care less. The most baffling character, who didn''t care much about anything at all. The Autostairs halted, extended and connected to the platform in front of a door similar to the one I had taken earlier. Somewhere in my mind, I wanted to go home, my presence here never made a difference. I could feel my fingers itching. As usual there wasn''t a soul in the office. I took one of the empty chairs near the outlet and sat down. As soon as I connected the Rilet to the port, the screen from morning flashed, and without further adieu I started typing. 08:59 The things I wanted to do amounted to nothing, I never wanted it to turn this way. I just wanted to do something with this pointless circle of life. So, sometimes, I wonder if the world and its people hated me or | Footsteps silently drew closer to me, but my hands wouldn''t stop typing. or I hated the world | It had stopped abruptly behind my chair. or I hated the world and its people.... | Someone''s arms in a blue loose shirt, wrapped around my collar. He rested his chin on top of my head, pulling me closer to the chair. My mind stopped thinking, my fingers stopped itching and so I stopped typing. I could feel his warmth and smell his cologne. More footsteps followed and people passed my chair with frowns on their faces. "Hehehe, yours truly wins! Pay up peasants!", his low, mocking voice rang in my ears, disturbing my peace. As soon as he lifted his chin, I tilted my head up to see his charismatic face smirking widely. This situation, no, his presence was quite unpleasant to me, and it was pretty evident on my face. He immediately retracted his arms and followed the others. "I don''t find this a fair game." Samuel who had entered together with Alpis spoke with disappointment, as he watched the man in blue shirt leave me and approach them. His face expressionless and dead. "Agreed, you know Flora freaking never speaks!" Alpis retorted, I could see his exasperation as he took out his wallet. "Hey gentlemen, I won fair and square! The bet was to hug the first person in the office, without scaring them or making them scream! So, quit grumbling and hand me the Money! Hehehehe." the man spoke. "Shithead!", the other two mumbled, as they handed the money to the snickering man standing in front of them. This self-absorbed man, who loved doing whatever, whenever he pleased, was our Manager. Everything about him was borderline uncanny. His demeanor was nothing but sinister, like the sly fox he was. His tall stature and dark skin tones only gave him an alluring aura, and the streaks of pastel lilac highlights contrasted his silk like black hair. I disliked him. I must have stared for too long, he changed his target to me, "Whatchu scribbling Flory?". "It''s FLORA!!!", I stood up, and threw my bag. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. At least, in my head that is how it played out. But my cowardice only allowed me to silently scowl back at him. His face broke into a malicious smile, like he was reading my thoughts. "Flory? What''s the matter? Feeling awfully unwell somewhere?", he jeered at me. He always tried finding ways to make me feel uncomfortable. To me, his pointless harassment made no sense. "I-", I opened my mouth. "Oh by the way, I wanted to let you people know that we had done a great deal on the new hoverboard designs!", he started clapping. He probably did that on purpose. "Are you praising us when our whole team isn''t even here?" Samuel, the assistant manager asked. He was a fair, plain, straightforward person, with hair that reached his shoulders, mostly kept tied at the back. Nothing stood out in him, except his ocean blue eyes. "Hmm hmm.. You have to realize that I give you way too much freedom, daa?", the manager sneered at them. "I am not aware of anyone getting away without getting themselves fired by calling their manager a shithead, scis?". Samuel frowned at him, as he was the source of that nickname. "Come on, you the one who is weird!", Alpis countered. "Besides we not even talking about that. Why you random as hell?!". Being the youngest in the office with a small stature, Alpis had a funny way of speaking. His hair was very short, at times standing up like spikes; a man who wore his emotions and thoughts on his sleeves, the easiest target. The manager placed his hands in his pockets and started pouting like a small child, "Heh?! No way! You are so mean!". Samuel and Alpis both frowned. After an awkward silence he resumed, "Y''know, this is a small sector, in the main company, daa?! Our work includes bringing new ideas, improvements, innovations and designs, in other words-", he paused briefly, "-so boring!". Another awkward silence. "Now my colleagues," he sneered at them, " tell me, what in devil''s snare would I gain by taking hell like this seriously? hahaha...". He laughed, patting Alpis'' shoulders. Alpis, confused, turned his head towards Samuel. After he was done laughing, he tightened his grip over Alpis'' shoulder, his face grim and expressionless. As soon as his eyes locked with Alpis'', he spoke, "Alpis, my lad, I for one, know how you absolutely love talking, how do people say it, ah- dirty- with your ever so changing girlfriends- but y''see keep that chitchat to the minimum in the office, capiche?!". His dead eyes peered into Alpis''. it took a few seconds for Alpis to register his words, to which his face flushed bright red with embarrassment. Samuel let out a silent laugh. "Pffff hahahaha...", the manager broke into laughter. "I will be in my office then. Let me know if anything not so boring happens!". Before retiring to his glass chamber, he gave me a menacing glance. "Argh! How he know that? No how he know what I talk with them?!! He''s scary, man!". Alpis was on the verge of tears. Samuel shook his head and patted his shoulders, consoling him, "You know how eccentric he is! Don''t let him bother you!". We then walked to our respective tables. Our manager''s antics absolutely confounded me. His affairs were as random as his conversations, which led nowhere. He would speak of one thing and jump to the other, like he never spoke of the first, poking his nose into other people''s business and sharing nothing of his. Nobody here liked him. *** 16:46 I want to write and I don''t know the contents of it. But when I feel like everything is useless is when my hand itches to write. Something, anything. I just| "Don''t have anything worthy in my life", I found myself mumbling. As I felt my worth drain down the gutter, it was time to leave. Samuel reported the absence of other members to the manager, to which he nodded. Turning around, "Y''all dismissed!", he announced. This was a daily routine before he dismissed us. I often wondered how the members of this company kept their jobs? But that was not my job to ponder about but the manager''s. Alpis was the first to scurry out fuming about something I didn''t know, Samuel followed which left us as the last to leave. I turned around and walked towards the Autostairs. "Ah! Flory!", the manager''s voice called out to me. What more was he going to bully me with? I turned around and watched him approach me. "Yes?" He stopped abruptly and gawked at me. "Oh wow, sometimes I forget that you are not a mute!", he broke into a sinister smile. I didn''t feel like entertaining him so I watched him in silence. He snickered, "Hehehe, well, you are not off the hook though." I barely had any idea of what he was talking about, so I kept staring at him blankly. He looked at my confused face and laughed. "Don''t worry, it must be just your love for writing. You must have jumbled your papers and sent me the wrong ones.", he smirked. I don''t recall sending him anything except some draft designs that were submitted on the forum, what papers was he talking about? That''s when I broke into a cold sweat. Did I by any chance send him the random texts I kept writing? "Wha-t you.. Mean?". I tried to calm down but stuttered. I didn''t know when he had covered that distance, but within a moment he brought his face close to mine, grinning. "I love your smell! It''s so mesmerizing!", he whispered, sending shivers down my spine. He probably felt like he had accomplished his mission, for he backed up a few steps and looked at me, as I stared back in utter confusion. "This Perfume! I must see it! Gadgets with perfume would sell like hot cakes among the ladies, don''t you think?". He smiled widely and continued, "So, see you at your place at 8pm then! Tuduloos!" I watched him walk towards a glass panel connected to a Munvar, while I blankly stood there studying his back. His foot, about to touch the platform, turned 180 degrees and he stood there staring back at my confused disposition. "Oh, and with all the strange missing cases going around, be careful huh!". This time he stepped on the Munvar, heading from the office to the other side of the street, down below, without glancing back. Nothing he whispered to my soul touched me, the papers, the perfume, the smell. He had no sense of personal space, and I found myself cornered by the feelings I had once buried deep inside. What manager behaves so unprofessionally? Tick tock.. 8pm... my place... Tick tock.. 6:15 pm. The wall clock displayed. It made no noise but the ringing of the absent clock was deafening to me. Tick tock tick tock tick tock.. The memory of his arms wrapped around my collar, the smell of his cologne, the warmth of his body, his randomness, his malicious smile, did not help my discomfort. I wished he never existed! Note 2 The People of The Sky (1) Another life changing innovation, developed by MunvAr were the Magnorails. Also known as, Magnos, they resembled a pipe that remained suspended in air in the tunnels and moved without the help of wheels. An idea as to how they worked were again held by a selective few, however the integration of magnetic fields and electro-cylindrical tunnel made out of the mysterious element were the only known constants. Magnos took me to my neighbourhood from the office in 6 mins which would otherwise be a 40 mins walk, and therefore, was one of the few transport systems I often used, despite my distaste for them. The scanty apartment''s lights clicked on, as I walked towards my room, my faint reflection made visible on the translucent glass wall clock, displayed at 7pm. The reflection looked tired and exhausted. It was a small apartment, the front door connected to a small corridor leading to my room, which was usually left open. Closer to the right to the front door, stood the kitchen and further up left, in the corridor, was the bathroom. The kitchen was spacious but the bathroom was cramped, however, since it was right next to my room, I didn''t mind. Placing my Rilet on the bedside table, I headed to the bathroom. After a shower, I slipped into my shorts and shirt, took the towel and started wiping my wet hair. That was when I heard it. Clank crack sssssshs... That iconic sound my bedroom window made each time it was opened. It startled me, making the hair on my body stand. I broke into a cold sweat. This was the 18th floor of a 20 storey old apartment complex, where I had been the only tenant on the floor. Was it the wind? No, that noise is only made when it is pulled open completely. No one there would have been present to open that window, except me. But If it wasn''t me then......Who was it? Thack! Wham! Someone was in my apartment. Who and why would anyone break into my apartment? In that eerie moment, a memory of the manager flashed before my eyes. An unfamiliar scene where he was sneering at me, sitting on an unfamiliar bed. Something about that image didn''t sit well with me; Something was off. Manager? When? Where? My head started ringing. Creak... The noise brought me back to reality. This was not the time to be concerned about an odd memory. Someone was in my apartment! My knees felt weak, but I knew I had to regain composure to think logically. Gathering my leftover courage, I pressed my ear on the door. There was nothing but silence now. I didn''t move a muscle scared frozen, still listening keenly for any noise in my room. Silence. Strangely, not a single word nor any noise could be heard. Was it my imagination? My ears started ringing. A fter a while I concluded that I would go mad if I weren''t able to gauge the situation at hand, as it could have just been my imagination. I detached the metal mopstick as silently as I could, and decided to venture out of the bathroom. Slowly and quietly opening the door, I tried to look around. Nothing was visible through the gap except the wall on the other side and the rough concrete floor. Ah, the floor was a pain to walk on without slippers, when was the landlady going to fix it? Gulp... Poking my head out the bathroom door, I peeked at my room. I could see the cupboard there. Silence. I opened the door more and more, looking around, but couldn''t feel anyone''s presence. Apart from the kitchen door being wide open, there wasn''t anything out of place. Was it really my imagination? As quietly as possible I made my way towards my room. With each step I took, my heart banged harder at my ribcage. Tension sprung throughout my body and my palms started sweating profusely. I tightened my grip on the stick in my hand. Reaching the door near my bedroom, I entered it with a swift movement. My heart was pounding out of my chest, while beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. There I saw... ...............no one. The room was empty and gloomy. And just like that all my built up tension faded away. So, it was my imagination! Sigh! My grip on the stick loosened, and my cowering knee gave up. I fell to the ground in relief. I think I had become complacent then, to think I missed something so obvious. As I blankly stared at the floor, it hit me. The manager was supposed to be here, it slipped my mind completely. What was the time? I looked up at the glass plate displaying the time. 7:43 pm . . 7:44 pm. The reflection on the glass however wasn''t mine. Someone swung a heavy ceramic bowl at my head. Wham! Thud! I lost consciousness for a few seconds. After a while I could hear a ringing getting stronger and louder in my ear. I tried to grab the air that I couldn''t quite see, but my body felt heavy and my head kept throbbing. Through my blurry vision I squinted to see who the intruder was. What I saw was a man with a short chubby build, a receding hairline, and bulging eyeballs, wiping the saliva dripping from his panting mouth. Looking for any strength I could salvage felt pointless, in front of this horrifying figure. My head continued throbbing as the blood trickled down my head. "Did we get her?", a woman''s voice entered my ears. Her silhouette approached the man from the kitchen, and I slowly started to see her figure behind him. She was slender and much taller than her partner, a middle aged woman in her 40s. "He he...honey, it looks tasty...". The man turned his gaze towards her, drooling. "Control yourself, Careful! Your carelessness will be the last of us!", the woman seemingly disgusted, turned his head towards me. "Hnnnghh", the pain made me groan. "It didn''t pass out completely. This is what I was warning you about! Always make sure to get them with the first hit!", she complained. The man turned and looked at the woman, "... hehehe, oh c''mon, who cares ?? It will end up as sliced meat anyways.", he laughed slightly and continued, "More importantly did you find the knives?". "No", the woman looked behind her in the corridor. "I didn''t get the time. You had to make noise while breaking in!". she sounded very annoyed. The man looked a bit disturbed, "Well, it was the window-". "Nevermind!", the woman interrupted, "the kitchen is more fantastic than her entire apartment. Grab her! Let''s talk there.". I felt disoriented but I was sure I didn''t know these people and by their conversation it didn''t bode well for me. "Who are... you and, why are... you do-.. doing this...?", my voice quivered. Silence. They both looked at me. The man then turned to the woman and asked, "What is she saying?". The woman fixated her gaze on me, "Do you think I understand?". They can''t understand me? "Besides whether it speaks or not, it doesn''t matter to us", she replied. Thinking made me nauseous, and the lightheadedness made me want to vomit. But before the pain in my throbbing head intensified, the man had gripped my ankle. At that moment my body turned cold in terror. My corridor wasn''t in a state to have things dragged over them. As the man dragged me through the rough concrete, the friction scraped off the skin of my back. The immeasurable pain made me want to break free, but all I could do was scream and writhe in pain. After a long time, the feelings I thought I had lost, resurfaced. I was scared. "... ple... please let... let go...." I begged them, yes, that was the best thing I could do. Yet the grip on my ankle grew tighter and the pain felt stronger. Fear of something I didn''t know crept up in me and I found myself in tears. Why was I crying? Was it because of the pain, or the fact that no one could help me? Or the reality that my pleas fell on deaf ears, or was it simply fear? ".... Help- aargh...". Ah! No one can save me now... That is when in my blank head, his traces replayed silently. That man and his words which slowly devoured my roots, rotting it till it reached the gates of hell. '' "I love your smell! It''s so mesmerising!" '' '' "So I will see you at your place at 8pm then! Tuduloos!" '' The manager... '' "Oh, and with all the strange missing cases going around, be careful huh!" '' Asra.. The man released my leg and it fell to the ground with a loud thud. I couldn''t feel the pain in my ankle, it had gone numb. ''Hnnn aa...gh...leave.. me... ple... please...", I mumbled, wriggling on the kitchen floor in agony. "Argh, this girl! What is she saying?!", his sanguinary eyes shook my soul to the core. "How the heck am I supposed to know? I understand it as much as you do! This is exactly why you are supposed to hit them unconscious!", the woman sounded irritated, she started opening and shutting the kitchen cabinets furiously. She probably couldn''t find the knives. "Fine! Just don''t shout!", they started bickering. The woman kept complaining about how reckless he was while the man kept pointing at how impatient she was. Amongst the bickering and fading in and out of consciousness and the pain, my mind repeated his words. '' " Be careful huh!" '' Asra... Why was he the only person I thought of? Was it my suppressed feelings, my anger, my remorse? Or was it my hatred? Why did he linger in my thoughts? The woman had finally found the knives I kept hidden in the lowermost corner of the kitchen cabinet. "Ah, will you shut your mouth and just take these damned knives! Who the hell keeps them at a place like this?!", she screamed. "Okay! You are the one shouting!", the man responded, he took out the thickest one out of the 3. "Make sure to slice it nicely!" the woman urged. "Hopefully the meat looks presentable, you know how everyone is so picky nowadays with the meat they eat!" the man continued. . . EAT?! Note 2 The People of The Sky (2) Eat?! The word repeated in my head as I tried desperately to make sense of it. It took me a while to understand why their eyes reflected hunger and bloodthirst. They ate humans! No.. No I don''t want to be eaten... My head throbbed. But the thing that concerned me more was the fact that something about all of this felt very familiar, however I couldn''t quite grasp what. "..hehehe.. Ah the tender meat... It''s making me excited by just thinking about it. When I grabbed its ankle I could tell. Its meat is ''Lun Gourmet'' material, she wasn''t lying when she told us it was high quality meat.", the man started sharpening the knife with another one. "It''s too soon to claim that! Until we cut her up we can''t tell.", the woman responded. I had somewhere accepted with certitude, my death, however the idea of people eating me was another level of horror. Cannibalism... I wasn''t foreign to this notion, in fact I had read quite a few books on it, maybe that''s why everything that had been happening felt oddly familiar. Wait, ''The Lun gourmet''. I had read that somewhere before... Yes, It was related to one of the pages of gibberish I wrote yesterday. People there have wings like those of early aircrafts, they float on the clouds and........... ...............................................and they eat humans. | The notes I randomly typed weren''t just my thoughts and ideals, they were often paraphrased abstracts of obscure unpopular books with low ratings. As to why I had that kind of hobby I didn''t know, just the curiosity of why it would be a bad book was enough for me to read it. One such book was called ''The People of The Sky''; an intriguing book about flying humanlike species called ''Caenubes''. The author of this book was a controversial one. Not only did his view contradicted popular beliefs it was also smeared with distrust of the government and the general public. He had gone to the extent of calling ordinary people government''s lapdogs and that he was a saint because he had broken free of such brainwashing. Therefore, his repeated statements of the book being a documentary, not a fiction, drove people to call him insane and mentally disturbed. It never impacted him, probably because of his unpopularity and this was his only published work. But a more baffling question was the banning of the book soon after its release. The ban according to authorities wasn''t due to the author''s beliefs but due to the books disturbing contents about cannibalism and human hunting. However, there were many who wrote books with disturbing contents what made this book different for it to be banned? In the book the author mentions a private elite auction where delicacies, meat, skin, eyeballs, rated according to their taste, rarity and difficulty in hunting, were sold to the highest bidder. It wasn''t sold just for the sole purpose of eating but also as luxury possessions. These included other parts such as nails, bones, hair and any unusual pieces like polydactyl hands. This famous auction was called ''The Lun Gourmet'' and mentioned countless times in the book. I suppose the imminent danger to my life had made me forsake all rationality, thus making me think that my situation was something related to them. " ...Caenubes..", I mumbled. I suppose I was right as the couples ceased their bickering and stared at me. Those vicious gazes sent chills down my spine, making me flinch, and shake in fear. The man stopped sharpening the knife squatted down, one hand holding the knife, tilted his head and glared at me with his face filled with grimace. "Huh, did it just call us...", he started dangling the knife left and right. "Caenubes...?!", the woman startled, started backing off, "..a lowly.. Creature... how could it?". "Such a sacred name... by this filth..!" Filth? Sacred? I couldn''t quite understand but I knew it had shook them intently. " ... you people ... live... in the ... sky, right?" I tried to buy time. Yes, I needed to relax. Getting scared would only get me killed. I needed to calm down. My body slowly went numb to the pain, while my head commanded me to wait. "Hey, I think it is saying something!", but the woman seemed to be in a state of utter disgust and confusion to listen to him. "How dare it... a mere human.... a mere fodder-", she grabbed her hair and kept mumbling. As soon as her back hit the counter she slid down to the floor, "how dare it... to a sacred name... even we don''t... how dare IT!". she started panting. What was this disproportionate response to a name? Almost like a cult member. The man felt like the situation was getting out of hand. He turned around and tried to calm the woman, "Hey! Calm down!" My body started to feel hot, and I felt the blood rush to my head. Incomprehensible voices kept chanting, while my ears were ringing. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Hold your temper!!", the man screamed at the woman. Yes, I had to do something! I had to survive somehow... "You are overreacting!", he continued. I think they shouldn''t have underestimated me, if they hadn''t they would... "It''s just fodder!", the women''s voice quivered in disgust. ...probably be alive... "We are gonna slice it and sell it in Lun Gourmet, remember?", the man tried calming her down with his words. ...and I probably would have been dead... I found myself sitting upright. The man was still facing the woman trying to stop her from losing it, while the woman was too busy crying insults at me. So I thought, if fate had death for me.... I grabbed the sharp end of the knife. "huh?", the man felt a force pulling the knife out of his hand. He turned to look at his hand, empty. Blood started pouring out my hand but it strangely didn''t feel that painful. I guess the adrenaline was running high in me. The man looked up at me confused, "The knife-". The one holding it now was me. My head was throbbing. Did he really think I wouldn''t try to escape? He wasn''t even holding it tightly. HeHe.. wHAt a FoOl.. "How did-", he couldn''t finish his line. With a swift movement I thrusted it into his wide stomach. Sqwelp! "Huh!-", he stared as his blood gushed over my hands. HAhA this.... I slowly pulled it out. I watched as the man looked at me a bit baffled, a bit in pain and abit confused. Sqwelp! Before he could react I thrusted the knife into his stomach but on the other side. ...THis Is nOT Bad At aLL!... He felt the pain because his mouth opened only for me to slowly pull it out. "Stop!.. WAI-T-t...", he begged as the knife went through him again and again. ...YoU deSERve ThIs!... All the while the woman stared in disbelief. The puddle of her partner''s blood puzzled her. To her, this wasn''t supposed to happen. It was only when he fell to the ground writhing, did she break out of her trance. "HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed. "I WILL KILL-" I stood up and stared at her. She looked at me and I watched the blood drain from her face. "..How...wait...no..." she mumbled.. My hand, all bloodied, approached her. What made her think I would let her go? "...wait...", she looked up at me with fear, backing away until she hit the lower cabinet. I stooped low to the ground, looked at her scared eyes and- Shunk! -stabbed her "Arh..ghh...", she looked at me unable to speak. Huh? Did you really find me that helpless? WhY aRe you loOKing aT me liKe you aRe the vicTIm? Hey, You must have enjoyed all this? If fickle fate had death for me..., Hehe... ... you are going to die first! ...Plorkk! Sqwelp! Shunk! Plorkk! Sqwelp! Shunk! Shunk! Plorkk! Shunk! Sqwelp! Sqwelp!.. *** After a while, the fleeting sensation of pain and exhaustion caught up to me, as the effects of adrenaline wore off. My hand ached heavily, my head throbbed, and my body pained me. I had been blankly staring at the ceiling, sitting with my knees bent, legs facing either side of my body. The dizziness, pain and metallic smell made me vomit. Blergh! Before I knew it I emptied all my stomach content on the lifeless woman in front of me. Her eyes were dilated and her mouth open. Ah Right, she was dead... And the man; he too laid next to me, soulless, eyes wide open. Oh, they were dead, I ... My heart pounded heavily. I killed them! What?..... No... NO! Oh no, what had I done! Were they really dead? The answer was obvious but my mind wasn''t ready to accept the truth! I looked at the floor, the pool of blood I was sitting on was still lukewarm. No this couldn''t be, " ...! Noo!....", I didn''t mean to! I didn''t mean to! It kept repeating in my head. The more I tried denying it, the more clearly reality slapped me. Everything felt like jumbling across, I vomited some more. Had I stabbed them until they stopped moving. I did that?! More than anything, this sensation of blood around me felt repulsive, and this scenario felt familiar. No It was self-defence! But then I stabbed them mercilessly! What was going to happen to me? The fear of the unknown future crept in me and tears rolled down my cheek. I looked around, yes, I needed to get out. I pushed the ground trying to get up but I couldn''t. I need to get away from these bodies! I pushed myself away from the bodies until my head bumped the kitchen cabinet. My reflection on the semi translucent cabinets, on the other side, looked pitiful. Covered in blood, it was hard to tell if I was the victim or the assailant. Isn''t that funny? HeHehehE I started laughing hysterically. The laughter, tears and blood, made me look like a maniac. Ah! Asra....Nothing changed... The disgust I felt for me made me queasy. Blergh! I heard a familiar noise. Click! Someone opened the front door. "Hehehe! Your carelessness knows no bound Flory! See, how anyone can barge in-", everything went silent. Oh no, he is here, no... what now? What should I do? I heard his footsteps at the entrance of the kitchen. It abruptly came to a halt. My eyes followed the blood till it could see his tidy shoes. I raised my eyes up to see his tall stature. His face in utter confusion tried to comprehend the situation. "Asra... I-", I stammered, but my vision suddenly blurred and my body felt heavy. I think I was going to faint. "FLORA-", I watched Asra''s scared look as he rushed towards me. Asra... What should I do? But my voice didn''t come out. Everything got swallowed into darkness. I had blacked out.