《Dark Tales》


 Petrified

    Nobody except him could understand how much I miss them. It was undeniable, especially at that moment when a once simple task became one of the greatest challenges of my life. Even after two good months in my condition, I remained determined to regain my freedom and autonomy. Therefore, drenched in sweat and on the edge of my bed, I decided to give it the ultimate try. Nearly falling, I stretched my trembling hand towards the glass of water on the little table next to my bed.


    Have you ever imagined what it is like to be on the other side of the glass? You know, the liar being lied to, the robber being robbed, the Police Officer being arrested, the Coroner being on his own table or in my case, the Doctor being the patient? It comes with a certain feeling I wish I never knew. That is what I was thinking about at that moment, battling with my ill body just to reach the refreshment. I only succeeded in slightly touching the glass when I slipped and fell on the floor. Lied on my front, I felt it deeply, that sentiment of loneliness and helplessness that was even reflected in my posture. I wish nobody could see me in a such a distress but Sof¨ªa, the daughter of my housekeeper Arrieta, entered the room in a hurry when she heard the deep sound of my fall and found me there on the floor next to the then broken glass.


    "?Mama? ?Mamaaaa!" the little girl called with her eyes still on me.


    "?Sof¨ªa? ?Sof¨ªa qu¨¦ pasa?" her mother replied from downstairs probably asking to know what happened.


    My eyes started to fill up with tears when I heard her mother rushing through the stairs. As if she shared my pain, Sof¨ªa clenched her teddy bear with both hands, pressed it against her and hid her mouth behind its head, while her startled look turned into one of pity. Upon discovering the scene, Arrieta already understood what occurred. She then sighed and approached me with the same look as her daughter''s in her eyes.


    "Oh Miss Deann. I already told that if you need any¡ª"


    "Get away from me!" I yelled at the instant she touched me. "I can stand up by myself! By myself, you hear me? Yes¡ªyes I¡ªI can¡ªstand¡ª" I added, unable to even complete my own sentence, agitated by heavy sobs with my eyes fixed on my trembling hands. Arrieta just hugged me while Sof¨ªa ran out of the room.


    "Come on Miss Deann. You can do it." Arrieta quietly said, putting my arm around her neck and her arm around my waist. She lifted me as high as she could and helped me sit back in bed. Meanwhile, her lovely daughter came back with a little garden shovel and a mop to help to remove the shards from the floor.


    "Thank you Sof¨ªa." I just said, smiling. She equally responded and put the tools on the floor.


    "?Ten cuidado Sof¨ªa!" Arrieta probably warned her daughter about the broken glass. "Miss Deann. I''m really sorry for everything that has happened. If I could do anything to help you I would. You''ve done so much for me and Sof¨ªa. I ¡ª"


    "Please Arrieta, you don''t have to blame yourself again. It''s not your fault at all."


    "It''s his fault, isn''t it? The man in the hospital." Sof¨ªa said.


    "?Sof¨ªa!" Arrieta yelled, about to stand up and scold her daughter.


    I put my hand on Arrieta''s shoulder to stop her from doing so and she looked back at me, surprised by my act. My eyes widened since what Sof¨ªa just said startled me, and I stretched both of my arms towards the toddler. She immediately came to me and took my trembling hands, plunging her beautiful innocent brown eyes into mine.


    "Sof¨ªa? Who''s that man in the hospital?" I asked.


    "Miss Deann please don''t mind her. Those are just stories, she''s a child with a lot of imagination. She keeps on telling me about that strange dream she had several times and¡ªshe thinks it has something to do with what happened to you." her mother said.


    "Really?" I said, still eager to know more about it. "Sof¨ªa, can you tell me more about that man?"


    "Come on Miss Deann." her mother said after sighing and rolling her eyes.


    Still afraid to be yelled at, the little girl looked at her mother before she shyly looked down and answered. "He''s in a dark room, I can''t see his face, he doesn''t move. He never moves. And he never speaks. He''s covered with a blanket, he''s in a bed, like the beds in the hospitals."


    "A hospital bed?" I asked.


    "Yes. And he wears a dress like when you''re sick and you have to stay in the hospital."


    "A hospital gown Sof¨ªa, it''s called a hospital gown." Arrieta taught her daughter who just looked at her then nodded.


    I swallowed my saliva before I could ask the next question, fearful about the expected answer that would come out of her mouth. "The¡ªhospital gown, is it dirty and torn up?"


    "Yes." she answered.


    "What''s going on?" her mother questioned, perplexed.


    "I think Sof¨ªa and I have the same dream, about the same man."


    "What?" her appalled mother said.


    "And there''s that sad song on the old radio next to his bed. I don''t know why but it¡ª"


    "It stops at some point and starts again? At the beginning?"


    "Yes."


    "Do you also see the drawing on his blanket?"


    "Yes. It''s a¡ªit''s like¡ªI don''t know how to¡ª"


    "You can show her the drawings Sof¨ªa." Arrieta said.


    The little girl ran downstairs to fetch something and in less than a minute, she was back with her little school bag in the bedroom. Instead of browsing through it, she just opened it, held it upside-down and shook the bag to empty it. Among her books and her color pencils, several sheets of paper full of drawings scattered on the floor, and as if it knew it was the main one we wanted to see, the paper with the drawing of the symbol was the last thing to come out of the bag. As soon as I saw and recognized the emblem, I shrieked then placed my hands over my mouth to avoid screaming. I clenched my eyes, and my whole body started shaking, except for my legs as tears slowly escaped from my eyes.


    "Miss Deann! What¡ªare you alright?" Arrieta asked, placing her hands on my shoulders.


    "It''s him. It''s definitely him." I quietly said, fighting to retain my tears.


    "What? Him? Who''s him? Wait, are you¡ªso you''re saying Sof¨ªa''s right about her dreams?"


    I did not know what to reply, and we found ourselves immersed in an uneasy silence, only hearing the falling rain outside. "This way too crazy, I can''t¡ªI just can''t¡ª" I replied, sobbing again as the painful memories I managed to bury in the depth of my soul, gushed out like a fountain of lava, which the sole purpose was to burn the rest of my sanity.


    "Miss Deann, you know you can tell me anything. Everything. You know it."


    "Se?orita Deann. He''s not nice right?" Sof¨ªa asked me with her little sweet voice.


    Looking at her round and sad eyes, I felt the torment the little girl was going through because of the dreams. Arrieta was looking at me with the same eyes, she who almost harassed me every day with questions about the way I lost my legs and nearly lost my hands.


    "I''m not sure Sof¨ªa. I''m not sure." I almost whispered.


    On each occasion, I was reluctant about sharing it with anybody, but that time, the need to be heard by someone who would not see me as a fool right away crushed my resistance and stubbornness. Sof¨ªa sat on the bed next to my dull legs; the limbs I never want to even glimpse in that state until now because I miss them so much. And after Arrieta removed the dangerous shards on the floor, I told them the story of how I lost everything.


    A successful Epidemiologist just two months ago, my life had reached the peak I always dreamed of. My dream job, a nice white hatchback, a sweet split-level house, the wardrobe of a diva, every woman''s dream man at my feet, caring relatives, as well as friends and colleagues that loved and valued me. However, despite all the wealth that was for me, I still found the silliest reasons to complain about the littlest things.


    Just during the third year of my career, as if fate wanted to fuel my bad complaining habit then punish me, it broke out in the city I lived in. An epidemic of paralysis that still wreaks havoc to this very moment. The strangest fact about that disease is the pale color of the whole body each victim is found with. It is as if the blood has been drained from the victim, and only a pale and seemingly dry body remains, with yellow colored eyes. There is also the look in an affected person''s eyes, something I will never forget; an authentic look of terror, so real that it is almost possible to feel the fear the victims experienced when the illness struck them. That disease or whatever its true nature is one of the cruelest things somebody can go through; being imprisoned in an ill body with no possibility to move, to speak, to eat or drink on one''s own will and even to blink in certain worst cases, is a really harsh reality to live in. A condition worse than death itself. Another odd fact about the disease is that most of the victims are found in the morning or later during the day, with their eyes riveted on their bedroom windows, and they are stuck exactly in the position they were sleeping in.


    When the disease broke out, although I was at the beginning of my career, the Department of Health placed me in a team of Epidemiologists which itself was part of a larger group. We all had to contribute to finding the causes, a cure and ways to prevent the effects of that paralysis. As a member of the team, my task consisted in working with a specialist statistical computer software when analyzing data, designing statistical analysis plans, performing, guiding and providing critical analysis and thinking on data as well as on the victims. Pretty cool and sophisticated right? After several weeks, we did not find a single clue on what could have caused the phenomenon, and of course, it had me frustrated and complaining about everything a lot more than usual. To remain a little bit credible, we kept on coming up with some hypothesis, you know, the kind of things scientists say when they do not know exactly what is going on with something.


    One evening, I stayed longer than usual in order to run several tests on one of the patients, a young teenager named Jayna. Among all the victims, she was the only one I shared a deep bond with. Maybe that was just my imagination, but I felt attached to the beautiful young girl, to the point of sharing her feelings and emotions. Consequently, as I was running the last test, a rising fear overwhelmed me all of a sudden. When I looked at her, Jayna was looking at me then at the window successively, as if she tried her best to warn me about a danger lurking behind it. Her pulse fastened, and some devices in the room started malfunctioning, along with her radio which mysteriously switched on and played an extremely sad piano music.


    My pulse fastened too when I saw the shadow of a man standing outside by the window. He stood still and my heart shivered to the fact that we were on the fifth floor and there was no balcony nor anything allowing him to stand by the window anyhow. I slowly approached, already wondering if it was a collective hallucination or not. Just when I was about to touch the curtain, the shadow slid to the left. Yes, not walked, slid like it was some chess game pawn pushed to the left, and it disappeared behind the wall. I immediately panicked and jumped back. The devices stopped malfunctioning and the radio stopped. I considered calling for security, but as a scientist, I could not let myself go with some unrealistic and unreasonable thoughts. It was surely due to the stress and frustration with all that was going on I thought, so I shook it off my mind and focused on finishing the task.


    There was something in her look when I was about to leave. Her eyes were stuck with an expression of fear already as a symptom to the illness but, that time, I really saw and sensed it. She did not want me to leave. Of course, I wanted to stay with her for the whole night, but I really needed to rest, so after I switched off the lights and everything necessary, I kissed her on the forehead and reassured her. "Don''t worry Jayna, I promise you, we''ll find a cure." I whispered in her ear before I left, thus leaving her in the hands of the Doctor on duty that night.


    Most people already left and the building was almost desert. In the outside parking, I checked my phone and saw the tender messages that Kevin sent me. Remember the dream man I mentioned earlier? Well, that man was him. Smiling, I proceeded to reply to each of them while I walked to my car, and it was only when I became close to the car door that I saw him. At some distance in a dark corner, a masculine silhouette dressed in a hospital gown stood straight and looked in my direction, without even moving a single limb.


    "Hello?" I said to initiate a conversation with the man, but he neither answered nor moved. "Hello, you okay?" I tried again but still no form of response from him.


    With the thought that he could have escaped his room from the laboratory or a psychiatric facility in a worst-case scenario, I swiftly dialed the emergency number and launched the call. When I put the phone on my ear and looked back up, the man had vanished and there was no sight of him anywhere. While I heard the sound of the call in process, I glimpsed a silhouette sitting in the dark inside my car and in the back seat. I quickly jumped back and accidentally dropped the phone. When I rapidly picked it up and put it back on my ear, I looked again in the car to see that it was empty.


    "911 what''s your emergency?"


    "Hulloh? Uh yes uh, in fact, I''m¡ªI''m sorry I didn''t mean to¡ªsorry for the disturbance. Good night!" I said with embarrassment and hanged up. "Just relax, it''s just the stress and the fatigue." I whispered.


    After this other incident, I drove to my home constantly looking behind through the rear view mirror because I somehow expected to see that silhouette sitting in the back seat. Once home, I wasted no time to prepare a warm bath along with a bottle of wine and a bowl full of red grapes. Nothing better than some soft and slow music to relax. Therefore, I knew that a song from my favorite singer would be suitable. Under the enchanting melody of her best track, I plunged myself in the warm and soapy water, embracing the comfort it quickly brought to me. Each grape tasted sweeter than the previous one, and I found myself calm and contained again, reflecting on a few details about the patients, especially Jayna. To completely escape work, I called Kevin on his phone but only reached his voice-mail box.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "The last one." I said to myself as I reached for the remaining grape in the crystal bowl. As I directed the little fruit towards my lips, I glimpsed something at the window just centimeters away from me and widened my eyes to the terrifying view of a shadow standing on the other side of it. I struggled, flailing my arms in an effort to get out of the bathtub and distance myself from the shadow. In sheer panic and fear, I slipped and fell on the floor when I succeeded to get out of the container.


    I woke up and immediately looked at the window. There was nobody. The water was then cold and the bowl of grapes was empty. I did not even know at what moment I fell asleep and fortunately, the terrifying occurrence was a nightmare. After calmly getting out of the bathtub and drying up, I prepared to get my beauty rest. The main thing I remember from that night is the fact that I refused to sleep near an opening. After all, most of the victims were found looking at their windows for a reason and I just had that horrible nightmare. Therefore, I dragged my bed to the middle of the room and used folded heavy bed sheets to cover all the windows. I know it was a really dumb thing to do, and I also thought the same, but at that point, I had to feel safe. It took me at least forty minutes to fall back to sleep after that, and I finally succeeded at three o''clock.


    The next morning, I woke up and went through my usual routine. First, pop music, resonating in the whole house through the speakers. Second, the hot shower while I sing along to a song of my favorite artist and finally the solemn choice of the day''s dress up. Arrieta appeared at the front door at the moment I opened it to leave. We hugged each other and shared greetings before I left for work, but not without a little complaint about one of my furniture being a little bit dusty.


    Of course, I also sang along the road while I drove. It somehow always felt good to shine in the middle of other motorists, that almost always drove to work with a moderate or tense mood. Each of them could see how I looked happy with my job and life even though I myself considered it not to be enough. Close to the main gate of the hospital, as I entered the outside parking, my joy vanished when I recognized the Coroner''s and the Lead Epidemiologist''s respective vehicles parked, knowing that their presence generally does not predict anything good. "Dammit, not today." I whispered. I quickly parked and went inside the building, where I met the cheerful and lively woman I always thought to be my best friend. At least she was before that terrible thing happened to me. "Hey Judith! Hey, how you doing girl?"


    "Hi Deann. You okay?" she answered with a freezing coldness I never imagined she could be in.


    I chuckled, a little bit surprised by her demeanor. "What? What''s that? Are you sick? You seem¡ªyou look¡ª"


    "Look, uh¡ªI think you should come with me, come on."


    "What? What''s going on?"


    "Just¡ªfollow me, please."


    "What?" I said and chuckled again, still unsure about what I was going to find out.


    We went to the meeting room. There, Vera Delarez, the Lead Epidemiologist in charge of our entire group at the laboratory, along with all the other members of the group were seated. By the looks on their faces, they seemed to wait for me to arrive so that they can announce something terrible to me.


    "Good morning Doctor Shelter. Please have a seat." the Lead Epidemiologist said to me in her usual calm tone.


    "Good morning everyone." I greeted as I sat but nobody replied.


    "Well, Doctor Shelter. We don''t have a lot of time and quick action has to be taken from now on considering the issue." Doctor Delarez said.


    "An issue?"


    "Miss Jayna Toranovic is deceased, Doctor Shelter. She died during the night, after your service." Doctor Delarez added.


    "What? Jay¡ªJayna? What happened I¡ª"


    "Like I said Doctor Shelter, we''re running out of time and we need a report from you in the next hours. The Outbreak Coordinator and the Officials are already aware of the loss of the patient. Do you understand what I mean, Doctor Shelter?"


    "What? I¡ªI didn''t, she just died¡ª" I said, standing up, breathing heavily and shaking.


    "Doctor Shelter. Please calm down." Judith quietly said.


    "I understand that it''s quite unsettling for you. We all understand your attachment to the patient but we need to have more details about what happened and fast. The Doctor on duty last night has already done his part concerning that. He mentioned some devices left in a quite defective state. He said that the alarm didn''t activate when the patient''s state deteriorated and was surprised to find her dead when he went to check on her. We need your version of the facts and a report as soon as possible." the second in charge said, looking at me with his piercing eyes.


    "What? I¡ªI have nothing to do with th¡ª"


    "We know about your competency Doctor Shelter. Be reassured. But we need a report." Delarez interrupted before we all stayed silent for a moment.


    "May¡ªmay I see her?"


    "Oh, come on Doctor Shelter you know it won''t be possible to see the body. Not now." Delarez said, rolling her eyes.


    "Deann please. This is very serious, we really need you to get a hold of yourself." Judith said.


    "Doctor Shelter! Doctor Shelter!" I heard Doctor Delarez calling after me as I left the room, unable to bear the pain.


    "Deann! Hey! Deann wait! Wait!" Judith called, running to catch up with me.


    "What is it Judith?"


    "Hey. I know it''s hard, particularly for you, but it''s hard for each and every one of us. We need anything, any info about what happened."


    "Judith, I¡ªI don''t know but, I saw it in her eyes she was afraid and, there were devices going crazy and that¡ªno I can''t. I can''t right now!" I said before walking away from her in tears, not caring about Judith calling after me.


    Guilt accompanied me from the moment I left the meeting room. I hurried to catch the elevator and once inside, I cried and thought about Jayna''s look when I left her after the tests. The so palpable terror in her eyes, the shadow at the window, the malfunctioning devices and the silhouette in the parking. Maybe, just maybe if I had not left her or at least called for the security or did not hang up on the 911 operator, Jayna would still be alive.


    Such a level of stress commanded me to leave for the only place I could go. It was still quite early in the morning and even though his house was far from the laboratory, I absolutely had to see Kevin. For some reason, I chose not to call before I arrived at his house and the decision turned out to be one of the wisest I ever took in my life.


    Driving slower once I arrived in the street he lived at, I could not be prepared for the surprise before my very eyes. Bare-chested, he stood on his porch and had his muscular arms around her waist, and they were tenderly kissing each other while I stopped my car right in front of the walking path leading to the front door of his house. The goodbye kiss seemed to last an eternity for me and following that, they exchanged some words then the lady happily started walking to her car. At that moment of course, as he watched her leave, they both displayed a surprised look when they saw me staring at him from my car. Without wanting to see more of the disgusting spectacle, I drove off as fast as I could.


    On my way home, as if it was not enough, the sad piano music I heard playing yesterday on Jayna''s radio mysteriously started on my car''s. My heart almost exploded when I heard it, but the surprise it brought to me rapidly left its place to anger, and I almost crushed the car radio while violently trying to switch it off. The mixing of emotions made me speed up along the road so fast that I almost got arrested, and I believe it would have happened if I did not know the officer who pulled me up.


    At the moment I arrived, I completely ignored Arrieta who saw my tears and bombarded me with questions about the reasons of my sorrow, as well as the multiple missed calls from Kevin and Judith. Grabbing a bottle of wine and a bowl of black grapes, I locked myself in my bedroom. I covered the windows again with the bed sheets that Arrieta certainly removed while cleaning, and thus plunged myself in darkness. The anger subsided and the sadness alone was left to rule my soul. I was completely destroyed.


    Heavily drinking, it took me no time to get drunk and fall asleep. That day, I had my first dream about the man in the hospital. I saw myself enter that very old elevator and descend to the deserted and empty underground. I then walked in the direction of a patient room which door was labeled L -1 : R 14. Inside, I found him in the dark, dressed in a dirty and torn up hospital gown, lied down and immobile in his hospital bed surrounded by still functioning old medical devices on both sides. A dusty phonograph played a piece of melancholic classical piano music which happened to be the exact same sad song that was mysteriously played in Jayna''s room and on my car radio. The phonograph stopped at some point before restarting the music at the beginning several times, and at each time it stopped, I could hear the man''s painful breathing.


    The symbol on his blanket attracted my attention; a hexagon in which there was a six-pointed star, and in the center of the star itself there was a medical cross. As an alumnus of a medicine faculty, I could easily identify it to be the logo of the Hexagon Hospital. It was built in the middle of the eighteenth century and was destroyed in 1959. His face was hidden in the dark, and the moment I made a step in his direction to uncover his identity, the whole building suddenly collapsed, crushing both of us. At the same time, I woke up to Arrieta''s knocking on the door.


    "Miss Deann please. I know life''s difficult sometimes but it''s really in these moments that you need to open up. Please Miss Deann, open the door por favor."


    Despite Arrieta''s insistence, I was resolute not to answer anything to her and not care about the meal she left at my bedroom''s door. Even when she announced her departure around seven in the evening, I kept silence, locked inside my bedroom. She should have left earlier to fetch her daughter at a friend''s house, but I guessed that she was really worried about me. I kept on drinking and the wine started to take effect again half an hour after she left, and sleeping or fainting appealed to me as the perfect getaway to escape all the pain. Therefore, I abandoned myself to Morpheus''s arms once again.


    With the windows covered, I felt safe enough to sleep. Little did I know that what is supernatural cannot be stopped by walls and doors, or anything material like bed sheets. I wished it could be another nightmare just like the one I had the day before, and as to extend my pain in the already hellish day, I saw it as soon as I suddenly woke up from my slumber. The shadow stood next to my bed. A dark mass with a human form dressed in a hospital gown. I wish I could jump and run to the door, but I could not move, not even blink nor say anything nor make any sound. I was completely petrified.


    Less than one minute had elapsed when the shadow transformed itself into me. A macabre version of myself with sunken eyes, dry lips, and very pale skin so dry that it seemed to have cracks on it. The terrifying doppelganger was immobile, staring at me with a look of hatred I will never be able to imitate.


    "Miss Deann! Miss Deann it''s me, Arrieta. Miss Deann! Please answer me!" Arrieta said behind the door with concern in her voice, back in the house just thirty minutes after she left.


    At the instant I heard her, I felt an unbearable pain starting at my toes, then progressing to the whole feet, then to my calves. It felt like my nerves and tissues were being pulled then peeled off with a very sharp object like a scalpel. I know it sounds like a very doctor-like description but it is the best way I can explain it.


    "Miss Deann! I don''t know if you''re hurt but I can''t just let you in there like that, I''m very worried. Pardon me if I insist but since you don''t want to open I''m going to force the door."


    The pain progressed and reached my knees. I wanted to scream so loud, not to call for help but at least to scream in pain, and the more it progressed, the more my evil doppelganger intensified its hatred look. Its pupils started to glow in the dark with a yellowish color, and its hair started to grow longer as the pain slowly made its way towards my hips. I heard the door handle shake as Arrieta desperately tried to enter the room.


    "?Se?or por favor! Please I hope you¡ªdidn''t hurt yourself Miss Deann¡ªI''m going to¡ªopen the door¡ªjust hold on!" Arrieta said while banging on the door repeatedly.


    I started to feel the pain at my fingers as the eyes of the doppelganger completely turned to pitch black. Cracks appeared almost everywhere on its skin and I could even hear the sounds they made each time they formed. The aging of the evil entity fastened and its then very long hair turned to gray. I was convinced that if the pain reached my chest, it would affect my heart and I would instantly die. Although Arrieta was still struggling with the door, I had already given up at that point.


    Suddenly, I saw the light switch on and the entity rapidly turned into a black smoke then vanished. I immediately pushed a scream and tried to jump out of the bed but my legs were pale and not moving, while my hands were constantly shaking. Even though I did not hear her succeed, Arrieta had opened the door and had switched the light on. Upon seeing me, she ran in my direction and hugged me for comfort.


    "It was¡ªit was there Arrieta¡ªit was there and¡ªit tried to kill me, oh no Jayna no." I hysterically said with tears in my eyes.


    "What? What was there? It''s okay Miss Deann. It''s okay calm down. Oh, I was so afraid, I thought you locked and hurt yourself. It''s finished now you''ll be¡ª"


    "Arrieta my legs. I don''t feel my legs Arrieta. I don''t know¡ªwhat¡ª"


    "What happened? What happened to your legs?" she said, looking at my legs then at me, visibly concerned.


    "I can''t move them, I can''t feel them at all! Oh no! Oh no no it''s happening to me, the disease, it''s¡ªit''s happening to me Arrieta! And my hands!" I said, sobbing.


    "Don''t worry we''ll find something, we''ll find a solution soon Miss Deann. I''ll call help." Arrieta said, hugging me again.


    For the next ten minutes at least, I kept on crying. She stayed there all along with me, comforting me to the best she could, till we heard the sirens of the rescue. She knew that she did something good for me that night, but she never realized how important and crucial her attention and concerns about me had been a life savior. I never revealed it to her, but after I told the story to Arrieta and her lovely daughter, she deserved to hear it from my mouth.


    "Yes Arrieta. That night, you just saved my life. There''s nothing I can do to repay that debt. Thank you Arrieta. Thank you."


    "Miss Deann." she said with a tender voice and tears in her eyes.


    Sof¨ªa looked at her mother with a little smile and a lot of admiration. When I saw it, I also smiled for a moment, but my positive emotion quickly vanished when I remembered that the sweet little girl could be in serious danger and could go through what I have been through myself since we had the same nightmare about the same strange man.


    Following the intervention of the rescue at my house, I faced the first steps of my hellish downfall. It was quickly reported that I was affected by the disease and I soon faced my colleagues from the Epidemiologist team at the Public Health Laboratory. I tried. Just like with the Police, I really tried to say it best and use the most convincing words to explain to them what I saw the night Jayna died, as well as how I lived my attack by the mysterious entity. The only reward I almost earned from that attempt was a one-way ticket to an asylum. I successfully avoided that by modifying my story in the best way possible and refused to be examined by my colleagues just like the other patients, not able to stand to be on the other side of the glass. As a result of all that, the team members, including Judith, turned their backs on me.


    Kevin tried to reconnect with me and even came to my house armed with some prince charming set. You know, the bottle of wine, the bouquet of roses with the small cute card inside and you name it. However, as soon as he saw that I was one of the victims of the new disease, he just made up his mind, apologized and left to never come back in my life again. It hurt me more than losing my dream job since I cannot use my constantly trembling hands. All I can do now is praying for the discovery of a cure.


    Despite my hope, I myself always think that the answer to the whole mystery and the discovery of a cure to the disease does not lie in the hands of medicine. The illness has been named ''Medusa Paralysis'' because of the Greek goddess that turns into a stone statue whoever gaze upon her face, and it soon spread to other cities and continents. As for my own way to prevent any return of the nightmarish entity, I never let myself be in the dark anymore, whatever my mood, day and night. It seems to be the wisest thing to do since it never struck anyone during daylight, and I saw it vanish that night when Arrieta switched the light on.


    The nightmares about the man in the hospital still haunt me and I have them each and every time I sleep. Because of the growing fear he inspires me each time I dream of him, I named him the evil patient. I do not know if he was abandoned there and actually died crushed by debris the day Hexagon Hospital was destroyed, but I strongly believe that he is responsible for the Medusa Paralysis outbreak. Somehow, I think that he is born with that condition, and I also feel the deep anger, hatred, and grudge he holds on people in general. He does not stand anybody who looks down on him or even pities him. But I still feel sorry for him anyway and somehow understands his resentment though I absolutely do not support it. Like everybody else, he is just filled with the desire to live and to be free.


    When I thought about the victims, I noticed that each one of them was either depressed or unsatisfied with something or their whole lives overall just like me. Among them, one man and another woman were both unfaithful to their respective partners, one lady was always complaining about her looks and wanting a perfect body, one single father always found the silliest reasons to be away from his child so he could party, one lady was lazy and preferred drug consumption over everything, and many more like that. He cannot stand such people he finds ungrateful and unworthy of the gift and faculty to live. Therefore, he plunges them in the same condition like his, before finishing them off after some time.


    I myself, still have to come to terms with my condition and the new life that it imposes. Why should not I strive to live and be happy? I keep on looking back at my previous life and realize that I have been an idiot for not being fully happy at that time. There are people in worst conditions way much happier than me. I still can live. I still can smile. Problems are always there, they just change forms and scales. You see, I understood that the only way to happiness is avoiding complaints, any forms of depression and just live, by any means necessary. Strive to catch any moment of happiness or anything that can make you smile. If you cannot do that, at least, survive the evil patient, and do whatever is in your power so that he does not target you. And remember, do not switch the light off at night.

 The Limelight Spell

    She would never give up on her friend. Never. Armed with her stapler and her glue, Juny walked in the streets of the city days and nights for her crusade. Even though two months already passed, Juny strove to keep the same tremendous energy she had on the first day since her friend''s disappearance. That Sunday night was no different. So, on her way to home after another great effort, she walked in a desert street not far from her house under the light of the full moon and stapled one last poster of her vanished friend on a decrepit wall.


    "Amanda. The only thing you wanted is to be like Stacy, and now you''re nowhere to be seen." she said quietly with tears in her eyes. She slid her fingers on the picture of her smiling friend. Remembering the classes she had to attend the day after, Juny then hastened in the street as it was getting very late. The cold wind lifted up the papers and the trashes on the floor while the barking of a dog resounded from afar in the silence of the night. The teenage girl placed her hand under her nose to avoid smelling the usual and strong urine odor that perfumed the streets she used to play in with Amanda when she was a child. Her friend on her mind, Juny reflected on the things that led to the current circumstances.


    Juny, Amanda, and Stacy went to the same high school. The latter was the most popular girl of the institution and possessed all the things every teenage girl could dream of. Beauty, fancy clothes, friends, the cutest boys around her, all the trendy things on the internet and many more good things were part of her daily life. Most of the girls envied her and she sure enjoyed her status of high school queen. Although they really wished they were, the two girls and Stacy were not friends, but they strove by doing everything in their power to achieve such a level of popularity.


    The evening of her sixteenth birthday, while hanging out with Juny in their favorite fast food, Amanda took advantage of the free internet connection and stumbled upon a forsaken article. It made the glorification of several magic rituals for positive outcomes, and among them, one stood out as the perfect fairy spell for the popularity the girls were craving: the ''Limelight'' spell. A dark ritual that promises fame to whoever performs it and the article even claimed that most celebrities did it for their careers. Although not taking it seriously at first, the girls finally performed it later that evening, for the fun and adrenaline it could bring them.


    In Amanda''s bedroom, the girls drew a symbol on the floor in order to set up the ceremony. The symbol was a rotated square with a circle inside, and as a requirement, they put a candle on each of the square''s angles. With the lights off, the girls lighted each of the candles and entered the circle, face to face, hands in hands, smiling and giggling.


    "You ready?" Amanda asked.


    "Yeah." Juny replied.


    "Okay let''s do¡ª"


    "Wait! Wait."


    "What again?"


    "Look, I think we should just, you know¡ª"


    "Oh come on Juny! You really wanna chicken out because of some stupid freaky stuff we saw on the net? Come on it''s gonna be fun. Do it for me, it''s my birthday remember."


    "Okay, okay."


    "Yeah, that''s my girl. Oh, one more thing." Amanda took Juny''s glasses off her eyes and threw it on her bed. "Okay, let''s do it."


    Closing their eyes, the girls both sighed and recited the required incantation for obtaining the attention they dreamed of. "Beauty and charm, wealth and fame, in the silence of the night, I summon you Gerxhos, to please bring me limelight, from all four corners of the world." They both stayed silent, eyes closed, expecting to feel something like a strong wind or to hear a fairy whisper something to them.


    "That''s it?" Juny asked, after slowly opening her eyes.


    "Yeah. I think so. See? There was nothing to¡ª"


    Mysteriously, something blew off the four candles on the floor at the same time.


    "Hey, you closed the windows didn''t you?" Juny asked.


    "I did look, everything''s still¡ª"


    The glass of the big mirror and the windows suddenly and violently shattered. Amanda and Juny rushed out of the bedroom, sped up in the corridor and arrived in the living room under the stupefaction of the former''s mother.


    "What you girls doing?" Amanda''s mother asked with her cigarette between her fingers.


    "Uh, we just, we just¡ª" Juny tried to explain, immediately interrupted by her friend.


    "We were just talking in there and¡ªthe mirror fell on the floor and broke. It scared us and we ran. Crazy right?" Amanda said, looking at Juny, nodding and forcing a chuckle with a big fake smile on her face.


    "Uh, yes, yes that''s that." Juny said and nodded with the same fake smile.


    "You better be careful and stop messing up stuff in my house young ladies." Amanda''s mother said.


    "Okay mom! Don''t worry we¡ª"


    "Yeah that''s that. Go and clean everything!"


    Creeping in the direction of the bedroom, Amanda firmly held the broom followed by Juny, armed with the plastic long handle scoop. The girls both slowly looked in the bedroom and saw nothing unusual inside. Amanda then switched the light on and they both could confirm the zone to be cleared.


    "So it''s gone?" Juny questioned.


    "I think so, yeah."


    "What was that?"


    "I don''t know. A ghost?" Amanda then turned to her friend to warn her of another danger. "Look Juny. You gotta leave now."


    "What? Why?"Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "She gonna come here and if she sees the broken window she''ll go crazy. You know her."


    "What? Even on your birthday?"


    "She don''t care, just go!"


    "Okay, okay! Chill!" Juny said, entering the bedroom to retrieve her glasses on the bed. "Uh, where my glasses?"


    "What?" Amanda said as she removed and hid the candles.


    "My glasses girl."


    "They were there on the bed what you talking about?"


    "Well, they''re not. Only shards on."


    "Okay look, just go and you''ll get it back at school tomorrow. Promised."


    "You really gonna let me walk alone to home?"


    "For real? Your house is just in the next street remember. Go!"


    "Okay fine." Juny said, walking to the door.


    "Hey!"


    "What?"


    "Love you J."


    "Love you too bestie."


    That was the last time Juny saw and spoke to her friend. The following day at school, Juny noticed that Amanda was absent and immediately expected the worst to have happened. Moreover, just as she thought, Juny did not experience the popularity the ritual was supposed to bless them with. After school, she went to her friend''s house only to find it locked with nobody inside. Worried, she went to her house, came back later and waited till Amanda''s mother returned from work.


    "Well well well! Look who came to visit! Girl, you better tell me right now where she is. Right now."


    "What? Where she¡ªI don''t know, she didn''t show up at school today. I was¡ª"


    "Yeah of course. After the mess you put in the bedroom last night, she had good reasons to flee. She was gone by early morning. I thought I told you not to mess anything up in my house young lady." Amanda''s mother said, walking to her front door.


    "I swear we did not do anything last night. It''s the mirror that¡ª"


    "Shut up and come see what she left for you, Miss J." she said after unlocking the front door.


    "What she left?"


    Eyes largely opened, she froze and her heartbeats fastened in front of what she saw. On the floor, apparently written with the same chalk Amanda used to draw the symbol, a strange message from her left everybody with more questions than answers.


    ''J don''t answer if I talk t.''


    "Well, what you have to say about that?"


    "I¡ªI don''t¡ªunderstand."


    "It''s not the first time anyway. Look, I don''t know what you two are plotting, but if she doesn''t come back soon, Imma call the police to get you."


    She did. Amanda never returned to her home. The police asked thousands of questions to Juny who never revealed to anyone what they really did the night of Amanda''s disappearance. Soon after, there were a search and an investigation organized with no success, not even a single clue.


    The dog suddenly stopped barking when Juny turned right in the street she lived at. As soon as she did, she heard it loud and clear behind her. The exact voice of her best friend, saying it with the exact tone in which Amanda used to call her.


    "Juny."


    She immediately looked back and saw her. Amanda made little steps toward her with a sad look in her eyes. Juny''s hair rose on her skin and she started shaking her head in disbelief with her widened eyes on her friend.


    "Juny. Juny it''s me."


    The teenager put her hands on her mouth and started walking backward slowly, avoiding to answer anything to Amanda as she remembered the message the latter left her.


    "It''s okay. You can answer me. You can talk to me. Look, I came with your glasses. You want them back? Take them. It''s me Juny. I''m back."


    Juny turned and started walking as quickly as she could.


    "What you doing Juny? Where you going? Hey! Where you going you freak!" Amanda said with anger and a progressively distorted voice.


    When Juny looked at her, she saw her friend or the entity that stood in front of her instead, reveal its true nature. The face vertically split into two like the opening of its mouth and the entity pushed eerie rage screams.


    Juny ran as fast as she could in the desert street to reach her house, just at the end of it. She looked back while running at some point and glimpsed the thing running after her with its disturbing posture. It was running on all fours but had its legs coming from behind, above, and in front of its head, and it had no ounce of resemblance with Amanda anymore. She got rid of her bag and fastened to escape death.


    Her father, leisurely seated at his front porch, sipped his beer as his reward after a long day at work. Suddenly, he heard a girl''s scream and soon saw Juny screaming and dashing in the direction of the house with a look of terror. Surprised by the incident and understanding her to be running from something, he looked at the street and did not see anything or anyone pursuing his daughter.


    "Lock the door! Dad lock the door! It''s coming, it''s coming!" she shouted running to her father.


    "Hey! Hey! What you talking about? Why you screaming like a crazy girl?"


    "It''s coming, it''s right there in the¡ª" she said, with a good grip on her father''s arm and pointing at the street.


    "Where? And what you talking about?"


    "It was¡ªit was right there." Juny said, calmer but still out of breath.


    "Juny what is it? What a dog chased you or something?"


    "No, it was¡ªI mean yes."


    "Yeah. You see, you should slow down a little bit with all that. And you have school tomorrow Juny. I know Amanda was your friend but you still have a future to plan." Juny''s father said, returning to his chair.


    "Is dad. Is. Amanda ''Is'' my friend. She still alive with her future to plan too." Juny yelled before she went into the house, leaving the front door opened.


    "Hey, where''s your bag?"


    "The street. And I''m not going back there!"


    "Yeah sure." her father quietly said, immediately standing up to fetch it.


    In her bedroom, Juny lied down on her right side in a fetal position, and cried with profound regret, wishing they never performed the ritual. Just after a few minutes, her father came to the door.


    "Juny."


    "Leave me alone!"


    "Juny please, I''m sorry. Please, I''m coming in. I promise I won''t take long."


    His daughter did not answer and he entered as he said. He put her bag next to the door, took a chair and sat close to the bed, in face of his daughter''s back who refused to turn and look at him.


    "I''m talking to you Juny, you not gonna look at me?"


    She stayed silent.


    "Look, I''m really sorry. I didn''t mean to frustrate you by saying that Amanda''s dead. I''m not here to crush everybody''s hope about it."


    "She''s my friend dad. My best friend, how could you?"


    "I''m sorry. Sorry for saying that. Please excuse me. I love you and I hope you will forgive me. You still mad?"


    "No, it''s fine."


    "Look, if there''s something you really wanna share about Amanda or her disappearance, I just want you to know that I''m here to listen. Anything."


    They stayed silent for some seconds. Juny let out tears and decided to finally open up to the only person she could trust.


    "We just wanted some attention, Dad. We just wanted to be like Stacy. She''s just so happy with her perfect life. Everybody wanna be her dad."


    "Perfect life? Look Juny, I don''t know that Stacy friend of yours but, everybody got problems. Even though everything looks rosy for someone, it doesn''t mean that they have a perfect life. You don''t know what that Stacy goes through in her home, or inside in her heart. If you could switch places, maybe you would be surprised to find out that things aren''t so good than it looks, and that you''ve actually a better life than her."


    "Yeah. Maybe. But we did something. Something we shouldn''t have done."


    "Yeah, you did. And because of that, Amanda''s dead. Dead and gone. Rotting somewhere forever."


    "What?" Juny said, immediately sitting and looking at her father with stupefaction. "How can you¡ªwhat? Dad, I don''t know what''s going on with you tonight but I need you to get out of my room. Now!"


    "Dad? But, I''m not your dad."


    "Juny! I didn''t see your bag out there, you better remember where you left it you have class tomorrow little girl!" her real father yelled from outside.


    Her heart fell into her stomach and she did something she never thought she could do again as she wet her bed, petrified by the revelation and the smile of her father''s evil doppelganger. The entity''s skin turned gray and its face vertically split into two before it stood up, in preparation of a fatal attack.


    "Daaaaaaaaaad!"


    As soon as he heard the call, Juny''s father sped into the house. Storming through her bedroom door, he only found the bed, the chair next to it, her bag next to the door but no trace of her. He looked in the bathroom, in his bedroom, in the kitchen, everywhere he could, calling after her, but all in vain. He went outside, looked behind the house, then in the street, without success. Juny just vanished.

 Breakthrough

    Among all the wonders that magic can do, going back in time might not be in the list, because if I ever knew about the most unlikely way to realize it, I would try it without any hesitation. They say everybody deserves a second chance in life, however, the hard reality that stands before me each time I open my eyes renders the statement false. There are mistakes in life that generate indelible and unforgiving consequences. I wish somebody could please save me from what I have done to myself, whatever the mean so that I can properly rest again. Moreover, I cannot say that I could really close my eyes since that night.


    "Get the hell outta here! I hope you rot in your hole and never work again!" my last boss yelled behind me as I turned to him and replied with two middle fingers up, more out of annoyance than in a willingness to disrespect him.


    With nothing but my hands in my pocket, I had to walk home on a distance of thirty-six kilometers under the hot sun of the summer. I made my way on the boulevard through the river of carefree bystanders, busy enjoying the good things that a beautiful Saturday could offer. A stunning mother gave an ice-cream to her little son, while a man dressed in a classy suit with a suitcase in his hand was rejoicing on the phone about a done deal, and just beside me on the road, a group of people was pushing joyful screams in their car as they were going to a destination unknown to me.


    Tired from the hardship I was facing all along, I became convinced that all my suffering came from the bad choices I made in my life and I began listing them in my head as my steps became slower. Eyes down, walking like the dead, my frustration grew along the distance I traveled, whispering to me that maybe I should have chosen that job advertisement instead of the one I picked, that maybe I should have chosen to pursue my own goals instead of embracing the cause of other people, that maybe I should have traveled to another country or town instead of staying here, and many other thoughts of that kind invaded my mind.


    Many of the people I knew were doing well, especially Sean Kovaridis, an old acquaintance I could never get along with during my time in college. I met him months ago at a jewelry store in downtown, where he had just bought countless diamond rings and bracelets like a bunch of snacks. He seemed in a real hurry and we did not even exchange contacts or anything as he sped up through the door and entered his luxurious car. After doing a little search, I learned that he owned a real estate agency that I then visited a lot of times without finding him there even once.


    "Hey man!" I heard someone calling behind me.


    With my level of frustration, I did not pay attention to who it was and continued my walk, lost in my thinking, like I did not hear anything with my eyes still riveted on the ground.


    "Hey Timmy!" I heard the man again behind me and turned to face him, immediately getting appalled by the unbelievable coincidence.


    Dressed in a fancy shirt and arms wide opened, Sean approached me with a big smile on his face, quickly noticed by most of the bystanders all around him. After all, he is Sean Kovaridis, the rising force of the real estate business. Many thoughts flooded my brain as I considered several options from just behaving like an old friend who is happy to see him, asking him for a possible job opportunity or begging him for a few bucks.


    "Hey dude! What''s up? I been calling you all along bro. You look tense you okay?"


    "Yeah bro I''m alright, I''m good. What about you?" I said, pathetically forcing myself into acting cool and unfazed.


    "About me?" he asked after chuckling. "Bro, I''m Sean Kovaridis man, I really think I''m good."


    "Uh yeah, obviously." I said, thinking to myself that he was still the same proud douchebag.


    "Where you up to? You going to work or something?" he asked then squinted to read the inscription on my cap. "And you working for Gerry Builderz Warehouse?"


    "Yeah, I work for that company yeah."


    "Ah, that sounds cool. And everything fine there?" he questioned as he took a tissue from his pocket and began to clean his sunglasses.


    "Yeah, yeah in fact I was just going home now."


    "On foot?" he asked with a mocking smile on his face.


    "Yeah you know, I like to enjoy the hot summer sun."


    "Yeah, of course you do. You live far from here?" he asked, looking at me through his sunglasses before wearing them back.


    "No, not at all, think I''ll be home in less than half an hour."


    "Oh okay, good. Dude, it''s been a pleasure bro, but I''ve more important stuff to do, stay strong." he said, walking backward before he turned and took the direction of his luxurious cabriolet, inside which a first-class model was patiently waiting for him. "You''ll make it one day!" he added, raising one arm up.


    I watched him walk away, wondering if he started this little talk just to mock me like he used to do back in college, or if I just failed to seize an opportunity to humble myself and win a ticket for the upper class. The clock was ticking and I was sweating, trying to convince myself to do something that would either break me or make me. When Sean closed the door of his car and started the engine, I dashed toward the vehicle.


    "Hey, hey, hey! Sean wait! Wait man! Wait!" I shouted, tapping on the door before he could move the car.


    "Woah! Hey bro, relax! Go easy bro that''s a brand new car right here!"


    "Okay, okay sorry!"


    "What''s up?"


    "Yeah uh, look. In fact, I just wanted to know if you could, I don''t know, find me a little place in your business you know, or anywhere else you know, in memory of good old time man." I said with my little smile of embarrassment.


    "Good old time? Didn''t you just tell me that everything was good in that quote and quote company you work in?"


    "Yeah, yeah of course but you know the¡ª"


    "Take this." he said, handing me a visit card. There was his name and maybe his personal phone number on it.


    "Thanks, thank you bro. I really appreciate."


    "Of course you do, but I gotta go now I¡ª"


    "Wait, wait! Uh, I know it sounds weird but, can you lend me like twenty bucks or something, so I can catch the bus you know."


    "Dude, don''t lose that card and you''ll never be begging for shit in your whole life again."


    "Uh, okay, alright." I said, avoiding being pushy about it. "Hello beauty!" I greeted the lady next to him on the passenger seat but she did not reply. In fact, I remember her not moving or saying anything as if she was just a perfectly made doll, with her brown hair and her sunglasses, but I definitely knew she was not.


    The luxurious car sped on the road toward the sunny horizon, while I rejoiced because I just had a new one to follow, and I continued my walk home with a luminous smile on my face. After walking for three more good hours, I finally entered the crappy building in which I rented an old, small and dusty apartment, welcomed by the usual stench of cigarette and urine of the derelict construction. Under the dim light of the third-floor corridor, as usual, I slowed down and watched my steps to avoid being heard by Max, my landlord, who resided just three doors away from mine. However, I did not realize how life-saving that little habit would be when I saw ''death'' exit my apartment.


    As silently as possible, I entered my old neighbor''s apartment and hid behind the front door without closing it, praying not to be seen or heard while I felt my heart almost exploding in my chest. The slow footsteps of my grim reaper made heavy sounds on the floor as he advanced in the direction from which I arrived, and through the half-opening of the door, I could glimpse him put his silver tool of death on his belt.


    "Hey? What the hell you doing here?" my old neighbor yelled from behind me.


    The grim reaper stopped his walk then slowly turned his head in the direction of the half-opened door, and before he could see me, I dashed toward my neighbor, held her from behind, dragged the old woman to an unseen spot from the front door and covered her mouth with my hand. I waited at least ten minutes, attentive to any sound that could confirm that danger entered the premises despite the muffled noises of my neighbor, struggling to free herself from my grip.


    Minutes after, I released the old lady and went behind the door to check if I was out of the woods, only to see that the assailant had left. I was still looking in the corridor when I felt something strong land on my head. I turned and almost laughed at the view of my neighbor, standing in front of me with a baseball bat she struggled to hold in her hands, while she strove to gather enough strength to strike again.


    "Little dirty shit! I''m gonna teach you the lesson of your life tonight!" she yelled.


    "Sorry! I''m so sorry for that Mrs. Albertson, it''s just that there was¡ªI mean I saw¡ª"


    "Eat that you little freak!" she yelled as she hit me on the forearm while I tried to protect myself.


    Her perfectly understandable attitude made me realize the impossible mission of reasoning her at that moment, so before things could get messy with the potential arrival of the landlord, I hurried in the corridor, taking the direction of my apartment. I could still hear her yell after I locked the door behind me. A smile on my face, I sighed, a little bit amused following that moment of tension.


    Poorly lighted by the street lamps, the sad decor of my apartment seemed to make an attempt in increasing my frustration. I wondered at that moment how on earth the assailant I just escaped managed to know where I stayed, certain that he did not find what he came for. I crept through the shards on the floor and passed several of my broken movables, before crashing on my only sofa, finally free from the weight of my long walk home.


    Eyes on the ceiling covered with molds, I dived again into the river of my thoughts which strong flow led me to remember Sean''s card in my pocket. I quickly took it out then sat, completely caught off guard by a disturbing spectacle and even used the flashlight of my phone to clearly see what had just occurred. The card had entirely changed in color, in content and even in size to my pure amazement. Alone in the obscurity of my apartment strongly reminiscent of my life''s darkness, I widened my eyes to the unreal and unbelievable inscriptions that would soon shine an incredible light in my existence.


    The loud noise of my front door being kicked open then made me jump and turn to its direction, only to see ''death'' returns after having left less than half an hour ago. Its deadly weapon out and pointed at me, it smiled and let its golden teeth shine in the dark thanks to the light of the street lamps before addressing me the question that drove all its actions. I just dropped the card and put my hands up to surrender.


    "Hi Timmy!"


    "Hi Tyron. Long time no see." I quietly said with a trembling voice.


    "You said it man! Long time no see!" he said, still smiling, before slamming the door behind him.


    "How you doing?" I said with a fake smile, my hands still up.


    "Quite okay you know. And oh, excuse me for redoing the decoration while you were out. You know I''m a kind person. You don''t have a problem with that right?" he questioned, smashing my only flower pot on the floor.


    "No¡ªno problem at all¡ªTyron. You welcome here."


    "Thank you! That''s so kind of you Timmy! Well, since I had a hard time finding you, I guess you had enough time getting ready to pay me back. Right? So where my money at Timmy?" he said, approaching me and pointing the gun at my head.


    "Oh that?" I asked, slowly stepping back.


    "Yeah, that."


    "In fact, I wanted to call you about that, you see¡ª"


    "What bro? What?" he yelled, grabbing me by my T-shirt collar and pressing the gun against my temple.


    "I got an appointment bro¡ªa¡ªan appointment! Tonight, with Sean Kovaridis I swear."


    "Sean who?"


    "Kovaridis. Sean Kovaridis, the big name of the real estate bus¡ª"


    "Whatever dude. Why a guy full of cash like him would meet with a lowlife scum like you on a peaceful evening like this?"


    "We know each other Tyron, I swear. We were college buddies."


    "College buddies? So now you went to college? You stupid but hella funny bro. I''ll give you that." he said, shaken by his sarcastic laugh.


    "Tomorrow. Tomorrow morning Tyron, you''ll have all your money."


    "Okay. Let''s do this. Let''s play! I''ll pretend like you didn''t just tell me stupid lies right now and let you go. But know this Timmy. Even if you not there when I come back on morning, I''ll find you and kill you bro. Simple as that. You know, they don''t call me Death for nothing."


    "You''ll have it I swear."


    "Of course. Good boy." he said, tapping the gun twice on my head and left without closing the door behind him.


    I sat back on my sofa and placed my hands over my face before sliding my fingers through my hair, caught again in the midst of my thinking. Problems just kept piling up and Tyron was without a doubt a deadly one that I could not avoid anymore. My eyes on the floor, I soon spotted Sean''s card and hurried to pick it up as I remembered seeing something that could help me even though I did not really believe it at first.


    ''The great Ahmnnhod, god of riches, healer of poverty''


    An inscription I found amusing since nowadays the world is filled with countless quacks that promise the world to people, only to rob them from the little they hardly earn. Along with the name and the honorific titles of that individual was an address that did not lead to a really recommendable area but, dangerous or not, quack or not at that point, I had nothing to lose and kept on replaying in my mind the last thing Sean told me earlier. After standing and thinking for almost one hour, I dropped the card on the floor once again and finally made the first steps towards my last hope.


    Under an abnormally cloudy sky for a summer night, I arrived at the exact place indicated on the card; a dark alley stained with the bad reputation of being the deadliest of the whole city. Surprisingly, at that time of the night, they were not even one of the hardened drug dealers or robbers that usually waited for potential customers or victims with their backs against the tagged and dirty walls. I stood in the middle of empty cans, cigarette butts and paper junk with a wandering white cat for only company.


    "Tim." I suddenly heard without seeing the caller as I looked everywhere around me.


    "Hello?" I said, trying to get a response.


    "Tim Dharoz." I heard my own voice calling.


    "Who¡ªWho''s that? Who are you?" I shouted now completely in terror, looking everywhere until I found myself in front of Sean, dressed in a fancy all-white suit, smiling at me with his hands behind his back.


    "Well Tim, I hope that appearance calms you down a little bit. Right?" he said.


    "Sean? What you doing here? And what''s the meaning of this, with the¡ªcard and¡ª"


    "Sean? Don''t be so impolite Tim Dharoz. Have you come here to meet with Sean?" he said before transforming into the lady that was in Sean''s car, dressed in a sexy white silk robe and white high heels.


    "Oh man! Oh shit!" I said, turning to make an escape from that nightmare, but saw him mysteriously standing in my way.


    "Oh no Timmy! At this point there are several things you should know and do before the end of this meeting." he said, then transformed into myself dressed in a fancier white suit.


    "What? This can''t be real!"


    "Oh trust me it is. And now you have to listen carefully. Sit!"


    "What?"


    "Oh man. Why are the newbies always so difficult and clueless? I said sit sir! On the floor! Now!"


    "Okay!" I said and obeyed, trembling to the complete ignorance of what would happen in the dark alley.


    "Well, we shall begin. In case you forgot whom you had to meet here, I shall introduce myself. They call me all sort of names but for you, as you read on the card, my name is¡ª"


    "Ahmnnhod?"


    "Oh wow! Look who just recovered his memory! That''s excellent! Now, I will ask it to you only once Tim Dharoz. Be wise in your answer young man. What do you want?"


    Among all the craziest things I could have witnessed at that point of my life, that was way beyond the top of the list, but I did not know how surreal things were about to get. Remembering the purpose of my visit as well as being in front of the so-called ''god of riches'' as unreal as it can be, I concentrated, to the point I could feel and listen to my heartbeats along with his encouragements even though he had his mouth closed, looking at me with a malicious smile.


    "Good Timmy. Concentrate. Think twice. Think carefully. Give me the best answer you can think of."


    "I came here because I want money. Money that I can''t even count and that could fill a whole room. I wanna be so rich that I would spend a whole fortune in one day without thinking about tomorrow, and do it again the day after until the end of my life. I wanna have money to buy so many things that I would even forget that they belong to me because of having too many possessions. So rich, even richer than Sean so I could shut his mouth once for all and prove to every people that doubted me that they made a big mistake. I want you to make me the prince of riches." I said then looked at him as he was leisurely looking at his fingernails.


    "Oh, you done? So that''s it?"


    "Uh, yes. Ahmnnhod."


    "Well, take this." he said, handing me a little black bottle.


    "What''s that?"


    "There''s nothing inside but, I want you to fill it right now with your urine, saliva, and blood."Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "Wait wait. What?" I asked, and he gave me a terrifying look I am still unable to describe to this day. "Okay, okay!" I added.


    "Don''t you worry Timmy! I''m not rude, I promise to look away."


    Following the execution of the weird instruction, I walked back to him with the bottle that he quickly put back in his suit inside pocket after displaying a big smile like the one of a lottery winner. His skin then turned gray and his veins became progressively black as if something poisonous traveled into them, while he seemed to enjoy the sensation like a drug addict who just took a dose. His eyes glistening, he addressed me with a gruff voice, about to give me the last and most important instructions. I recall feeling a deep sentiment of uneasiness, seeing my doppelganger with gray skin and strange eyes plunged into mine.


    "Listen carefully, Tim Dharoz. You''re about to be rich like you never could imagine. But remember. Never fail to spend everything you get every day. No charity."


    "What? I¡ªI don''t follow."


    "Find your heart in the dirtiest place of your home, but for this first time, watch your step before you enter or it''s over." he said as he began to fade away like some smoke.


    "What? I don''t understand please what you mean?"


    "Actually, you don''t have to worry about that anymore. Just tell him that it''s in the toilet room."


    "What? What you talking about?" I asked then turned when I heard the police siren behind me.


    Lighted up by the officer''s long-range flashlight, I played dumb, talking to myself while making big gestures. Certainly thinking that I was just another junkie lost in my addiction, he drove off and thus allowed me to stay out of trouble. I stopped my little comedy and began the long walk back to my apartment, wondering how on earth I would manage to pay my debt. Expecting to get something immediate and consistent from Ahmnnhod turned out to be a vain hope, and I already considered stealing something from my old neighbor in the middle of the night just to keep Tyron calm, oblivious to the reality that awaited in my apartment.


    "Hey Timmy! Come on in!" Tyron said, inviting me in my own apartment as soon as I opened the door.


    Considering a run, I trembled, reflecting on several options while he was insisting on me coming in. I just resolved myself to find an umpteenth excuse to survive him once more.


    "Tyron? What you doing here in the middle of the night?"


    "You saying I''m not welcome here?" he said, pulling his gun out.


    "No, no. We''re cool, mi casa es su casa Tyron." I nervously said with a fake smile.


    "It''s mi casa es tu casa dumbass! So, I got an interesting call from one of my contacts, and he told me that he saw you leave a street which happens to be one of the main points of my drug business. No no excuse me, my drug empire. And since you no drug dealer, that leads me to the conclusion that you were there to buy. And if you were there to buy, then you got my money."


    "What? No, no in fact¡ªI told you that I was¡ª"


    "Meeting Sean Kova¡ªwhatever right? Damn, you so stupid you can''t even lie. You really saying that a millionaire boy wanted to meet you on evening in the darkest and most dangerous street of the whole city? Really?"


    "I swear man I went there, in fact I¡ª" I tried explaining, quickly interrupted, as a powerful gun butt hammered my face. I fell on the floor and my vision became a little blurry.


    "Look what you making me do. I''m losing my good manners again because of you. I''m really trying to change you know."


    Down on the floor, I desperately crawled toward the door and spotted Sean''s card among the debris. Ahmnnhod''s words then flooded in my mind as Tyron grabbed me by my T-shirt collar and lifted me up before he asked me a question I already had the answer for.


    "Alright Timmy! I was kind enough to lend you some money, now be kind enough to pay me back. Okay? Where''s my cash?" he asked, holding me by my T-shirt collar with one hand and at gunpoint with the other.


    "It''s¡ªin the¡ªtoilet room." I answered, struggling to speak.


    "In the toilet room?" he asked back with a smile. "You not trying to make a run for it do you?" he asked again but I just looked at him straight in the eyes. "Alright Timmy!" he added then released his grip on me. "Let''s check the toilet!"


    He walked to the end of the short corridor leading to the small room he intended to check, while I thought of running for my life but froze, curious about why Ahmnnhod instructed me to give him that strange answer. Tyron stood in front of the door, looked at me with a smile then at the door handle, and laughed a little as if everything occurring was just a little game for him. After putting his gun back on his belt, he opened the door and to my horror, I saw him being pulled inside by three dark inhumane arms.


    Loud were the creature''s bestial noises and Tyron''s screams that forced me to bar my door with the sofa so that curious neighbors would not come to see what was happening. I then watched the door shake as loud bangs echoed in the silence of the night while Tyron''s screams ceased, quickly replaced by noises of clothes and flesh being savagely torn apart. Blood streamed from under the door and the tumult continued for at least ten minutes before it abruptly stopped.


    Never had I experience a silence so loud, and although it disturbed me more than the horror that I just witnessed, I unconsciously found the courage to creep in the direction of the door, perhaps ready to uncover the bloody scene. At the moment I had to step on the pool of blood, it retracted as if it was being vacuumed back in the bathroom and disappeared under the door. I fell on my back and looked at it, realizing that everything just appeared normal again like nothing ever happened.


    Seeing that rendered me unable to open the door because of the dread the creature behind it inspired me. I asked myself thousands of questions and considered even more options, walking in a circle and repeatedly rubbing my head for hours. What if somebody called the police? What if that thing was still behind the door? What if it kicks it open and attacks me? What were the meanings of all those strange things Ahmnnhod said? What about just leaving the city before people and the police discover Tyron''s body?


    Dawn enlightened my apartment when I finally decided to open that door. My heartbeat fastened and I began breathing heavily at each step I made toward the toilet room, covered with sweat and armed with a steel bar I brought back months ago from my last job. I listened to my heart beating hard in my chest as my hand got closer to the door handle and let out a scream when somebody knocked at the front door.


    "Police! Open the door!"


    I looked at the main entrance door then at the windows already thinking of a run but hesitated long enough while the officer kept on knocking before I chose to just answer and let my downfall in. Trembling, I walked toward the door, pulled back the sofa, threw the steel bar on the floor and opened to a pleasing surprise.


    "So Timmy? Big party last night?" Max asked.


    "What the hell Max? Why did you say you were the damn police?"


    "I got you on this one right? I always knew I was a good actor. Now step aside!"


    "Hey! Max! What you do¡ª"


    "What the hell just happened in here?" he questioned, after forcing himself in.


    "You don''t have the right to¡ª"


    "Shut your damn mouth up boy! I''m the big boss landlord in here, and after owing me three months you shouldn''t be running your mouth like you do. And nothing gives you the right to mess up a place that isn''t even yours."


    "Max please! Please this not the moment for your bullshit please just leave!"


    "Leave? Please? You got some nerves kid, and you kinda weird since yesterday. You broke into Mrs. Albertson''s apart¡ª"


    "That was an accident Max I¡ª"


    "Then there were loud noises in here all night long, I see what you did to my place, and now you begging me to leave? Man what happened? You hiding something in here?"


    "What you talking about?"


    Max crept through the debris on the floor and went to open my bedroom door. He even crouched so he could spot anything suspicious under the bed, while I yelled at him, asking him to leave. He went on with his investigator little game and opened the bathroom door without seeing anything extraordinary once again.


    "Nooooo Max!" I yelled to prevent him from opening the toilet room.


    "Well, I guess the victim''s inside." he said and placed his hand on the door handle.


    "Maxou?" we both heard from behind us, seeing his wife standing at the front door.


    "Janet. How many times I already told you not to call me that?" Max asked.


    "Maxou? What on earth happened here?"


    "You better ask Mr. party hard about that."


    "Later Maxou, now it''s time to change your diaper."


    "Diaper?" I asked, baffled by what I just heard.


    "Why did you have to say it here?" Max yelled, walking to his wife.


    "Come on Maxou, don''t make things difficult you know we have to go."


    They continued their early morning argument walking to their apartment as I closed my door and sighed in relief, then put the sofa back against it. Facing the toilet room, I took a deep breath then advanced toward it as fast as I could with all the courage I managed to gather even without my steel bar. My hand on the door handle, I took another deep breath and pulled with all my strength only to get showered by the only thing I wished to possess the most. Money. Money like I just robbed a bank.


    It poured on me so strong like a river that I fell on the floor with my eyes completely widened in amazement. I almost lost my breath as if I was having an asthma attack while a radiant smile enlightened my face before I screamed in joy, immediately stopping right after to avoid drawing attention. That money was countless, bills were stacked from the floor to the ceiling and I noticed that there was no trace of Tyron''s body whatsoever.


    Ahmnnhod''s words soon rang in my mind as I remembered the obligation to spend everything before the day ends or my life would end. I stood up and decided to put a big part of the money in the only suitcase I had, hid another part in the closet and the rest under my bed, prior to storming out of my apartment to fulfill my spending duty. The hot summer sun burned my face as soon as I stepped outside, walking with absolutely no idea of what I could buy to dilapidate all that money I was never used to possess. A call of nature soon resonated from the depths of my stomach and I went in a fast-food to prepare for the long day ahead.


    Fries and chicken never tasted so good before that bright day. Sean was right, I would never be begging for anything again in my life. Ideas of where I could start spending my money for the day began to flood my mind when, all of a sudden, Tyron appeared, pulled the chair facing mine and sat, smiling at me. Dressed in all dark blue clothes with golden chains around his neck, he leisurely served himself in my plate, taking and eating three fries that he delicately chewed before giving his appreciation.


    "It doesn''t stand a chance against Tyron''s fingers but, it''s kinda worth it." he said.


    "Tyron?" I asked, and he looked at me, surprised that I called him using that name.


    "You really don''t understand anything do you?"


    "Ahmnnhod."


    "Yes, that''s that. Smart up a little bit young man, take this as a piece of advice because you''ll seriously need a very good brain from now."


    "What was that in my toilet? You tricked me into killing someone."


    "Error Tim. I got you rid of a big problem and just happened to feed myself in the process."


    "Feed? What are you? And¡ªdon''t you have your own¡ª"


    "Face? Form? Gender? Kid, you not ready to see my real appearance." he said before we both stayed silent for seconds.


    "Are you¡ªthe devil?"


    "The devil? Timmy, if I was him, you would be dead in that alley last night. And do you really think the grand master has time for a lowlife loser like you? Do you even know what it takes to meet him?"


    "I don''t know I just¡ª"


    "What you doing here Timmy?"


    "I''m¡ªI was just¡ª"


    "Grabbing a bite? Don''t you have something more important to do?"


    "I was thinking about what to buy and where to start. This just crazy, it''s too much money."


    "This is your problem, Tim Dharoz. You got what you asked for remember."


    "How am I supposed to spend amounts like that every day? Will I even get the time to sleep? Or to live?"


    "Timmy, money doesn''t sleep, so why would you?"


    "What? But that''s crazy!"


    "Yeah I can give you that. It''s crazy, but it''s too late to back down Tim Dharoz. You know, those things are like mazes, it''s often easy to get in but impossible to get out. Now listen, if you try to give up, I''ll take your life. If you talk to someone about all that, I''ll take your life. If you fail to spend all that money before midnight, I''ll take your life. If you use it for any kind of charity, I''ll take your life. Do you understand what I''m saying?"


    "I understand." I said, after looking at him silently in a daze as I just felt out of my mind after what I just heard him say.


    "Oh really you understand? So what are those extra bills in that little basket? A generous tip? No charity dumbass, pay for your meal and get the change."


    "Okay. Okay, I''ll do that. I won''t fail, I will spend all the money, I promise."


    "Well, if you think that''s an easy thing to do. Have a nice day!" he said, standing up and taking the direction of the door. "Remember Timmy, money doesn''t sleep! Never at all!"


    Following that encounter with Ahmnnhod, I sped to Sean''s real estate agency with the hope he could help me out fast with the spending by selling me a dozen or more houses just to get rid of all that money. Upon arriving, I asked for Sean Kovaridis frantically but the entire staff was nonchalant about answering me and treated me like an impatient customer that had to be taken care of by the security. One of the guards eventually recognized me from my previous visits at the agency months ago and once outside, he discreetly let me in on the secret about Sean''s whereabouts.


    "Mr. Kovaridis is dead sir, and it''s been eight months now."


    Eight months from now but I could swear on my own life that I saw him yesterday. I thus understood Ahmnnhod to be the one that approached me at that moment of frustration and set a trap in which I foolishly run in like a donkey in front of a carrot. I then successfully negotiated my way back into the agency so that I could purchase whatever property they had for sale.


    I had my eyes on every clock and on every watch, barely looking at all the brochures I was showed, while just repeatedly telling the real estate agent that I was willing to buy any house available. She rejoiced to that then struck me with a missile straight to my heart when she explained to me that I had to follow several days procedures before realizing the payment, that I was not meant to make in cash anyway. Once again, the tone was turned up a notch and the raising voices attracted the security guards that threw me out of the building for good.


    An idea then came into my mind and I pulled out my phone. My cousin Derek was not in a financial good shape either after just coming out of prison. In panic and despair, I intended to make him a weird proposition, hoping that he would not reject it. I phoned Derek, met and asked him to help me spend a large amount in purchasing things for my count that we would later share, with the promise of giving him more money the next morning, knowing that if I could not donate money, I could at least donate what I bought with it. Together, we went to my apartment and I had to tell him the best lies I could craft just to explain how I earned all that money before I let him leave with a suitcase I bought for the occasion, so full of money it had to weight more than twenty kilograms.


    On my side, with two suitcases, I spent my way into the black market and bought several things at crazy prices, acting the best way I could to avoid raising suspicions. At eleven in the evening, I had bought several pickup trucks at eighty million, several SUVs at more than a hundred millions and a whole tone of jewelry at the same price. As soon as I did that, relief rang on my phone in the form of a text message from Derek, saying that he successfully fulfilled his task. I only kept a few bills for one of my car''s gas as I intended to spend all the change in another meal in the nearest fast food to my apartment. With a little smile, I drove at least a quarter hour till I saw the lit signs of the one in which I had a meal in the morning. Minutes after parking near the restaurant, somebody opened the door of my SUV and sat on the passenger seat.


    "Timmy, Timmy, Timmy." the man said, shaking his head. He was dressed in a classy all-black suit and I recognized him to be a celebrity.


    "What¡ªthe?"


    "You not going to ask for an autograph are you?"


    "Ahmnnhod."


    "Tyron was right kid. You slow and stupid as hell. At least, more than he was."


    "I''m about to end the task for today. I''ll walk to that fast food and will be done for to¡ª"


    "You not close to being done with anything stupid dumbass! Look at the backseat!"


    "What you¡ª" I interrupted myself upon seeing a lot of money in the back seat.


    "That should be enough to shut your damn stupid mouth right?"


    "What''s that? Why you doing this? We spent all the money¡ª"


    "We, Timmy, we! That''s all the problem here! Now let me spell it out for you. No¡ªhelp. Since stupidity is rampant in your family, your dumbass cousin had a change of mind and decided to keep the whole money for himself. He sent that text message to you and of course, you believed that guy that you know was dishonest! What was that deal between you guys anyway?"


    "I didn''t know what to fucking do!"


    "And I told you to smart up remember! So do it as soon as possible, or you''ll die!" he yelled, then smiled at me before he continued. "Well, I forgave you since it wasn''t a voluntary donation to your cousin but, I did serve myself and I admit that his ribs were succulent. What a meal!"


    "A meal? You¡ªate Derek?"


    "Like I would hesitate. Look, I won''t hesitate if you fail just like I didn''t with Sean. That was funny you know, he forgot the last bill in his pocket and you should have seen the look on his face when I show up at midnight." he said before laughing uncontrollably.


    "You''re a monster. A demon!"


    "Oh you have no idea Timmy. And, you have around forty minutes left. Now go!"


    I stormed out of the car and sped in the fast food, asking to see the owner immediately. Unlike what I faced at the real estate agency, the employees went straight to notify him, and he appeared in a few minutes, appalled about somebody asking to see him at that time of the night. After telling him about my proposition of buying his establishment on the spot, he examined me for several seconds as I pressured him to take a decision. Unfortunately, he threatened me by saying that he would contact the police if I did not exit the building with my dirty money.


    "Get the hell outta here! And never come back here again!" I heard him yelling after me as I dashed to the door. The kind of things I became really accustomed to hearing after getting fired from several jobs.


    My last hope in mind, I just ran to the apartment of the only person left that could save my life from imminent death. Drenched in sweat, my legs and arms sore from the long run I had been submitted to all day long, I flew along the stairs and hysterically knocked at his door. He wasted at least five good minutes just to wake up and to come at the door while I was counting every single second to survive.


    "I know you here, open the damn door!"


    "What the hell you looking for at this time of the night kid?" he quietly questioned when he opened.


    "Max, I need a favor from you Max. Right now!" I said, inviting myself into his apartment.


    "What do you need Tim? What is it? I already know you won''t be able to pay for the next month. It''s not a reason to¡ª"


    "Look, I''ve got a whole lot of money right now. I''m talking millions, millions right there in my car. But I need you to sell me the building right now in the next minutes."


    "You kidding right?" he said after chuckling. His smile vanished from his face when he saw how much I was utterly serious. "Okay what shit are you on, tell me."


    "I''m not on something right now man! You the owner right? Just sell me the building I need it!"


    "Maxou? What''s going on here?"


    "Janet I thought I told you to stay inside there. And why you keep calling me that in front of strangers? Why you never listen to¡ª"


    "That''s not the fucking point right now dammit!" I yelled after seeing on my phone that only ten minutes remained.


    "Look man, there''s some paperwork before you can even buy the first brick of that building."


    "Okay. Okay fine. Sell me your old minivan man. You can do it right? You can. For the same price, I''ll give you all the millions I got right there. But we gotta do it now!"


    "Alright man, okay, so where are those mill¡ª"


    "Grab a suitcase, your largest one and the keys! Let''s go let''s hurry!"


    "Fine, fine!" he said with a mocking smile on his face, certainly thinking that I was joking.


    Running through the stairs, followed by Max with his suitcase, we arrived on the streets where my car was parked, and my heart almost shattered because of the despair I felt in front of another horrific vision. The car had vanished and was nowhere to be seen. Ignoring Max comments and yelling, I put my hands on my head and fell on my knees to wait for my death, already thinking of which part of my body Ahmnnhod would devour first. They say everybody sees their whole life flash in their head before the instant of their death, however, I felt that the only thing I would see was Ahmnnhod''s arms grabbing and dragging me to my death just like with Tyron.


    "Timmy! Timmy!" a woman dressed in all black clothes called behind us from my SUV on the other side of the street, immediately filling my eyes with a bright light of hope.


    "Hey. Hey! This my car! Come on Max! Come!" I said before I ran to her, crossing the street as I almost got hit by a truck.


    "Hey slow down kid, you tryna get killed?"


    "I''m trying to avoid getting killed! Come on!" I replied to Max as we reached the other side of the road.


    "Wow! Nice wheels Timmy! And who''s that model? Hello sweetie! How you¡ª"


    "Give me the keys and the suitcase!" I yelled.


    "Calm down! Damn!" he replied.


    Without caring about the stupid conversation Max and the lady engaged in, I put the keys of the minivan in my pocket and began loading the bills from the back seat into the suitcase. During the operation, my eyes accidentally fell on the car''s screen where I could see midnight to be in two minutes. I sped up as fast as I could, looked in every corner of the car to spot any hidden bill and would swear that I put them all in, along with the money I had in my pocket for the meal at the fast food. Several seconds before midnight, I then threw the suitcase to Max as soon as I was done and both of them looked at me, surprised by my act.


    "Dude you good?" Max questioned.


    "I did it! It''s done! Before midnight it''s done!"


    "What you talking about?" the unknown lady asked with a piercing look in her eyes, making me realize that I almost made the huge blunder of revealing my dirty secret.


    "Maxou?"


    "Janet, why do you have to follow me everywhere I go?"


    "I was worried and¡ªhello guys!"


    "By the planets of the universe!" Max shouted when he opened the suitcase. "Kid, you were not kidding about that money!"


    "Oh my!" Janet said, placing her hands over her mouth.


    "Baby, we about to leave that crappy place for good. Oh shit! Oh fuck!" Max said, trembling in joy and excitement.


    "So all that money just for our minivan? Why do you want that old carcass while¡ª"


    "That''s not the point right now Janet!" Max interrupted. "Kid, it''s been nice to do business with you. Have a good night! Janet, let''s go!" he added before pulling his wife by the arm and speeding to his apartment, while the unknown lady and I watched them leave.


    "He''s a charming guy. Dumb but quite charming." she said with a smile, passing her fingers through her blonde hair.


    "I did it Ahmnnhod. I did it. I spent every¡ª"


    "Relax, I know you did spend every iota without exception. Congratulations!" she said, still smiling.


    "Why did you move the car Ahmnnhod?"


    "Moved? I just took back what''s mine. Some punk just decided to steal the car and I had to eat him because it''s my money he almost stole. And I came back with everything right here."


    "Really?" I asked, staring at her or him or whatever that Ahmnnhod being could be. "Thanks."


    "Thanks? You think I did it for you? How naive! How dumb!" Ahmnnhod said, approaching me sensually as if she wanted to seduce me. "I did it because it''s my money. I give it to who I want, and I take it back from who I want. Besides, Max not going to have that for long, and he''ll die very soon from¡ªI don''t know, cancer, heart attack, I''ll find something."


    "What? Wait, you didn''t¡ª"


    "Thanks to you Timmy! What a day! I never ate three people in one day, that''s a new record!" Ahmnnhod said, walking backward to leave. "And remember Timmy, money doesn''t sleep! Never." she added before turning and disappearing in thin air like a ghost.


    On the verge of fainting after that crazy day, I got in my car and drove home, only thinking about getting some rest to be ready for the next spending spree. But I soon understood that Ahmnnhod words were to take literally and that money does indeed never sleeps when I opened my bedroom door only to get showered by a new and bigger river of cash. I stood up and began thinking of where I could immediately start, because the sooner I spend, the sooner I am safe, and that continued for the next two years.


    This is my life right now if you allow me to still call it as such. I barely sleep, barely eat, barely talk and never really smile. I thought I had nothing to lose but I was wrong, I lost my soul as I became an angel of death and I can see myself that I have no light left in my eyes. A strange disease has struck me, making me urinate a smelly black substance as gray sore marks appear every day on my torso. Definitely, my whole life consists of an unfortunate succession of bad choices, a complete failure despite the riches I managed to amass after two good years of runs, spending sprees and survival.


    Ironically, everything happened exactly as I asked since I possess things that I often forget owning. As they often say, be careful what you wish for. Ahmnnhod literally said that I would be dead if I talk to anybody about all that, but here I am writing it, which is a different form of communication and that little difference keeps me safe. Even though I became a really busy person, I felt compelled to share my story and hopefully get any help possible so that I can be saved.


    Of course, if I knew that I would end up in a restless existence, I would have never gone to that alley and met with that evil supernatural being. I heard myths about monsters like Ahmnnhod without paying much attention to them, but I can assure you now that fallen ones exist. Before you judge me for what I have done, I would like to know something. Honestly, if you were in my position and if Ahmnnhod came to you, what would you have chosen to do?

 The Confessions Of Brittany

    Has it ever happened to you? Have you ever felt that something is killing you but there is nothing you can do to remove it from your life? Have you ever felt completely lost and alone at least once? Maybe. I wish I could be in that position myself so that I can understand her, feel and see the things that led to the tragedy of her life. I, her friends and family members loved her and we miss her every single second.


    My name is Clyde Hukes. Brittany Slowless was my dear friend and I miss everything of her, from her kindness to her silly sense of humor. Therefore, it only feels natural for me to make her last wish happen, and share her story wherever it is possible. In this piece of writing, I included five key entries from her diary thus allowing her to speak with her own words, although I did my best to format everything in the most formal way possible. Brittany was no writer, neither am I, so please be forgiving if you notice mistakes or stumble upon the occasional profanities. She has something of great importance to tell you, and I really beg you to pay attention.


    First Entry


    17 February 2018


    Hello World! Hello diary! Ladies and gentlemen, here comes the star of the show, the graceful, the stunning, the glamorous, Brittanyyyyyyy Slowless. Yup, that''s me! A very very very...x 7 pretty teenage girl, with magnificent blue eyes, enchanting short hair, the voice of a charming siren and a breath-taking smile. I''m sixteen years old and I live in a beautiful house with my pretty ten years old little sister Tabby, my super cute five years old baby brother Tommy, Camilla my gorgeous mom, and my father. And oh, I almost forgot our lovely puppy Mr. Walky-Walky, a name it deserved because it never stands still.


    My school is not really far from home and sometimes, I walk home with Sarah (my bestie) and Clyde, who are both childhood friends. It''s really cool to hang out with them, but I wish with all my heart to spend some time with Stefan. He''s a little bit older and is a grade above me, but he''s so cute and sexy.


    I like teen pop and rock music, fairy tales, and romantic comedy movies, and yes, chocolate and vanilla creams are the most delicious. I like walking and hanging out near the lake, it makes me feel so alive and relaxed and I don''t really know why. One more very important thing I like is my peach perfume. Yeah, I don''t mind having the smell of fruit.


    Well, I think we broke the glass already dear diary. Pretty cool for a first impression, right? Don''t worry, I''ll be back very very soon. I know people may think you''re old fashion but I love you dear diary. Until then, take care and kiss kiss kiss to you dear diary! Bye Bye!


    Second Entry


    25 February 2018


    Hello dear diary! Miss me? You know, there''s so much going on in my life. Especially with him. It happened again yesterday. I just can''t believe that he''s doing this to me every time he gets an occasion. It was late afternoon and I was alone in the kitchen, texting Clyde about the party at Jenny''s house. He then suddenly appeared at the door, with his vicious smile on his face and walked to me. I knew what he was up to and begged him not to do that again. It feels so wrong because it is very wrong, but he likes it. I can see it in his face and in his eyes, he likes to touch me. I got up when he became too close, he grabbed my arm so I can''t get away and I think even he could see my heart pounding inside my chest. A quiet ''no'' escaped from my mouth when suddenly, an angel rang the doorbell. He looked in the direction of the house''s front door with anger before releasing my arm, and he went to open it to my bestie Sarah.


    She showed up because we had to go together and meet Clyde and the others at the party. He let Sarah in and I grabbed her by the arm and sped up with her to my bedroom. I know she noticed the little tear in my eye but I didn''t give her the occasion to ask anything about it. When we arrived in my bedroom, I just told her to wait there, took my toiletry kit and went to lock myself in the bathroom.


    I never shared it with anyone. Neither my mom, nor my brothers and sisters, nor my friends know about it. This is such a shame and I''m not sure anyone can believe me if I ever told that disgusting story. I felt alone in the world because of that man, unable to find the reason why he decided to make my life a living hell. Doing those dirty and immoral things to me, Brittany, his own daughter. At least I had a backup. I took the small bottle and the little pipe out of the kit, before making one short line on the sink and I quickly sniffed it. Jenny and her friend Samantha were the first to introduce me to cocaine. It seemed really fun from the beginning and it became my main refuge when I''m hurt.


    When we were about to leave for the party, Sarah, of course, notified my father of our departure out of respect. I can still remember the look of that shameless perv when Sarah turned and walked to the door, unaware of his vicious eyes staring at her backside. Just like it wasn''t enough, when I touched the door handle, he added: "be wise young ladies, and don''t return late at home." Of course, I didn''t even reply. The worst was the admiration ladies had for him, including Sarah, who bored me all along the way with her description of how charming and sexy my father really is, until we finally arrived at the party.


    Jenny''s house is super nice. It has a lot of space and I''m really in love with the big garden in the backyard. The party was a life changer and it felt really good to be there. The drinks, the food, the music and the people you know, everything was on point. The party was lit. The only flaw was the complete indifference of Stefan. He treated me like I didn''t exist and just hang out with those other girls there. Then, of course, Clyde had to make it worse when he made an umpteenth move on me. He just popped up from behind me and put his arm around my waist and pulled out some lame line like he was a real player. I think he was super drunk and I don''t wanna belittle him or anything but he''s just a friend. He then had a crisis of his illness. It has something to do with all his muscles and he describes it like all of them burning at the same time. From the look on his face when it happens, anyone can tell the pain is really unbearable, and I really feel bad for him every time I witness it.


    Since Sarah and all the others were busy partying for real, I went to sit on a corner of the backyard with my cup of juice and watched the happy people from afar. That''s when that guy came to talk to me. He had all black clothes and wore a sweatshirt with his hood on. "Rough night huh?" he asked me, and from there we just had a normal conversation. Everyone calls him Mr. B, he told me, and that night, he didn''t only introduce himself to me, but to a new drug. He called it ''Kingdom'' and handed me five doses of the potion along with two syringes all for free. That''s when I saw his hands and how pale he really was. Mr. B had pale skin with purple eyes and he just reminded me of the vampires or other mysterious super humans we see in movies. While I was examining the luminous and purple liquid in the minuscule capsules, he told me about the weird and only way to contact him whenever I need a refuel, confident about the fact that I will need other doses. When I looked in his direction to ask him why he thought I would be hooked, he had just vanished, completely gone.


    Once home, after locking my door to keep my sick dad out of my room, I sat on my bed and injected myself for the first time with kingdom. "You''ll live the fairy-tales you like so much when you take it." I remembered him telling me. The effects didn''t take one minute to manifest. I felt all my muscles weaken and things began to change in my bedroom. The ceiling, the walls, and everything in the room except for my bed disintegrated, and I found myself in a magnificent garden, covered with many flowers of several colors illuminated by a beautiful sunset. There were birds flying in circle right above my head and I was surprised to be wearing a dress worthy of a princess. I got out of bed and started walking in a random direction, all smiles in this fairy-tale of mine. It was exactly like I imagined it, except for one detail that popped out of nowhere.


    That man or whomever he is just rose from the ground and stood still at a good distance from me, staring at me without moving, despite me waving at him. He wore a black cloak and had something glinting on his head that was probably a crown. Just like that, my heart started pounding really hard, I began to sweat and I felt nothing good coming from him, anyway, the ones who wear black in fairy-tales are usually villains. When I decided to walk in his direction to take a closer look at him, the whole landscape quickly disintegrated and I fell on the ground which then turned into my bed. I was back in my room, lied on my bed like I didn''t move from there, and I was so tired that I couldn''t move and just slept in the same position.


    It was a beautiful experience even though it didn''t end well. But I hope that next time I''ll have a chance to go further into the fairy-tale and fully enjoy that wonderful escape from my dark reality. So that''s it, dear diary! I have to go with mom now and buy some groceries. Let''s hope she''ll buy me some cream. Until then, take care. I love you dear diary. See you soon!


    Third Entry


    18 March 2018


    Dear diary. I don''t know if I can find the right words today. The only thing I can say for sure is that it hurts. It hurts so much. Before yesterday, while I was asleep, he succeeded to unlock my door. I don''t know how he did that but, by the time I felt his hands and woke up, it was already too late. There are no words to describe the atrocious things he did to me that night, and it still hurts so much. My own father raped me. I''m sorry for wetting your pages right now dear diary, but I just can''t retain my tears. Why it had to be me? Why it had to be my father? Why I just can''t have a normal dad and a normal life? And on top of that, the sweet getaway Mr. B offered to me that allowed me to escape that nightmare turned out to be another real hell. Thank you for being there dear diary, writing like this help me feel better a little bit.


    Whenever I felt extremely down on my mood, I injected myself with a dose of kingdom. Each time I do that, my room just disintegrates except for the thing I''m sitting on, and I find myself in a different adventure. You already know that the first time I was in a beautiful garden, right? Well, the second time I was near a chocolate lake, but I didn''t get enough time to just jump into it. The third time I was in a golden palace, and I think it was my palace because I had a golden crown on my head and I wore a golden dress. The fourth time I was with my family in a big and fancy house. We were all smiling and laughing, sitting around a big table with all sort of appetizing food on it. We were a happy family from what I saw and felt, you know, a normal happy family. The fifth time I was at Jenny''s party. The backyard was different, bigger and prettier. There were many white garlands and multicolored lights above our heads, everyone was happy and they seemed to be there celebrating our marriage maybe? Because at one point, everyone just left me in the middle of the backyard and Stefan walked from the crowd to me. He was cuter and more handsome that I can even imagine, and he was dressed in white clothes just like me, getting closer with his marvelous smile. Something then just happened and ruined everything like always.


    The strange man in black I saw the first time always had to show up and ruin everything at some point. Each time, he was getting closer and closer and closer, just like the last time I took some kingdom. Stefan approached me and just stopped a few steps away from me like he couldn''t move forward anymore. His smile disappeared and he stared at me like he hated me, and then suddenly transformed into the man in black. I could clearly see the horror he was. His black cloak is old and torn up, the thing on his head is indeed a golden crown but it''s broken and embedded in his head. The man or the demon maybe, is a smelly and partly decayed corpse, a zombie. His left arm is skeletal and his right arm still has some rotten flesh on it. Through a tear on his cloak, I could see his ribs and an organ, maybe a lung, moving inside. From his forehead to his nose, he has really pale skin with all white eyes, but from his nostrils to his chin, there''s no flesh left. Because of his appearance and the crown on his head, I named him the Fallen King.


    Now I don''t have any dose left and I think it''s better like that. Drugs are bad anyway, I''m leaving all those stuff behind for good and I''ll try to focus on the positive from now on to keep me up. I''m getting more and more tired every day because of the side effects of that drug and sometimes I can''t even go to school. I just hope Jenny and Samantha will try leaving drugs too. I never told them nor anyone else about kingdom or Mr. B out of selfishness, with the thought that the drug was gold, that Mr. B had only a few of it, so I had to stay one of the few customers in line for it. It''s better like that anyway, I don''t want them to see the Fallen King. It has been one week since the last dose, but I still feel his presence, and sometimes I think I really see him. In a corner, far in the horizon, when I close my eyes, he seems to be everywhere. Right now, I hear some strange noises coming from downstairs. It''s surely in the basement.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    This house is sometimes a living nightmare, I''m scared dear diary, and I don''t wanna go look it up myself. You know, my father can be right behind my door, and I already barred it. Even a commando can''t get in right now. It''s late, and I think we should just sleep dear diary. Until next time, stay safe. I love you with all my heart. See you soon! Kiss kiss kiss!


    Fourth Entry


    24 March 2018


    Dammit! Dammit dear diary! Why I didn''t see this coming sooner? What a lowlife bitch! I thought she was my friend. Why she didn''t just say things from the beginning instead of snatching him from me? She knew my feelings about Stefan but she went for it anyway. We just had a fight yesterday, but there she is, posting pictures of them together in social media for everyone to see. I''m seeing it right now dear diary, it''s right there in front of my eyes! They''re obviously dating!!! Fuck! I''m so mad right now! I''ll never forgive Sarah, she''s not my friend anymore!


    I saw them in the park yesterday. They were kissing!!! I went to her house later and she was there chilling with Clyde like nothing happened. If he wasn''t there, I think I would have ripped her apart and ended up in prison. In her own living room, I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her on the floor before Clyde intervened and saved that scum. Fortunately, only her younger brother was there at the time. Sarah and I yelled at each other before Clyde took me outside to cool me down a little. He found the right words to take my anger away and decided to accompany me to my home. On the way, of course, he had to mess up everything and attempted another move on me. Dear diary, I''m not saying that Clyde is not somebody worth dating. He''s my friend, he knows me very well to the bone and he''s cute too. Maybe I just can''t stand any guy advances because it reminds me of my sickening and gross father trying to have his way with me whenever he can. After I told Clyde to leave me alone, I went in the opposite direction and didn''t care about him asking me where I was going. I had to find Mr. B.


    Drugs can make you do the craziest things. If I wasn''t hooked on kingdom, I would have never been there in that unfinished and abandoned house in the evening. According to his instructions that I all carefully respected, I had to draw a symbol on the floor, to put what he gave to me last time we met right on the symbol which had to resemble a crown, turn around and wait. I screamed and jumped when I heard his ''hey'' behind me, only seconds after I turned around. There he was, hood on with the same black clothes from last time, his pale skin and his unusual purple eyes weakly glowing in the dark, handing me three doses and three syringes all for free once again, and looking at me with a little suspicious smile on his face. We talked and I told him about the Fallen King, but he just reminded me that every drug has its side effects and that if I was there, it meant I didn''t really care about them. He was kinda right. When my phone rang in my pocket, I lost sight of him to get my phone out and answer the call. He was again mysteriously gone when I looked where he stood.


    Since it was my mom calling, I assumed that she was worried about me being outside at that time of the evening. She''s always worried and asks me many times if I''m okay and tells me that she loves me so much and I really like that. I love her very much too. So, once at home, I looked for her to let her know that I was back and perfectly fine. There was nobody downstairs and I couldn''t allow myself to go to my parents'' bedroom and see my father. While I was going to my bedroom, I called her on her phone and I heard it ring in the bathroom. I knocked at the door and called after her but she only answered when I really insisted. There was some pain in her voice. She seemed to be crying and she just ordered me to go to my bedroom. It was really unusual and it deeply hurt me to feel my lovely mom hurt.


    After I solidly barred my door, my bed welcomed me just like you do every time dear diary. I sat, and prepared my dose of kingdom and injected the poisonous yet enchanting potion in my veins once more. Everything except my bed disintegrated around me and I found myself on a beautiful and desert beach. I left my bed and went to sit on a deckchair I saw, under an umbrella, and there was a big pot of chocolate cream at the leg of the chair. My mom came from behind me and sat on the other deckchair next to mine with a glass of lemonade in her hand. I never knew she could be that sexy in a bikini and it really pleased me to see that it suited me too. We started a little girls talk and shared laughs for at least ten minutes. The effects of kingdom never lasted that long before. At one point, she put her hand on my forearm and told me how much she loved me. I just smiled, but she started to squeeze my forearm and it really hurt me. My mother then turned into the Fallen King and I could see his skeletal hand on my forearm. I never screamed so loud in my life, my largely open eyes full of fear released a stream of tears in no time while I struggled to break free from his grip. Fortunately, the landscape then fell apart and I was back in my room, tired and unable to move on my bed.


    When I woke up the next morning, I saw a burn on my forearm at the exact place he touched me and the mark has the shape of his skeletal hand. The Fallen King had just touched me for the first time. I kept it a secret from everyone and I hope that I''ll get rid of kingdom for good very soon. I don''t wanna die you know, but I really wish my life wasn''t such a hell. I really need help right now. Thank you for being there for me dear diary. I love you. Until then, take care. Kiss kiss kiss and see you soon!


    Fifth Entry


    31 March 2018


    Hey diary! You okay? I don''t look pretty right now huh? Fortunately, I didn''t have the idea of doing a video diary, because it would look like I''m making a horror movie with me in the lead role. My head, my back, my arms, almost everything on my body is sore right now and I have burns and bruises almost everywhere. I just coughed some blood before visiting you dear diary. Guess I''m really done for huh? It''s evening now and I didn''t even get out of the room yet. Everything''s so messed up in my life and in this house. What a hell!


    Today''s the worst day of my life. And of course, it''s the worst because it started with that perv, again. He tricked me into opening the door very early in the morning, saying he wanted my help for something that had to do with Tommy. I opened, he forced himself in and it started again. The brutality, the fondling, the touching, and I don''t know what inspired him to say that but he told me he likes my peach perfume. That ruined everything about my favorite fragrance and I just deeply hate it right now. He could have succeeded again if mom didn''t show up. She''s really the best. And her line when she saw that monster on top of me was really the best: "get off my daughter you sick freak!!!" It sounded like a cool line out of a movie, and if I was her at that moment, I wouldn''t have said something that cool.


    But when he left me and stood up, he pulled my mom in my bedroom and began to punch her while calling her all sort of names I refuse to even write. A savage aggression right in front of my eyes while I shouted in terror, telling him to stop. Despite the fatigue, I then jumped on him but he pushed me away so hard that I went to bang my ribs against my desk. My mom desperately defended herself, screaming, scratching and slapping him, but the only thing that saved us from that monster is the arrival of our two angels. All the noises must have woke them up and attracted them to the room. Tabby was behind Tommy and she had her hands on his shoulders. Tommy had his toy in one hand and was rubbing his eyes with the other. Both in their pajamas, they looked at that monster, surely not even understanding a thing about what was going on. When he saw them looking at him, he just stood up and left without a word.


    With a head sign, I told Tabby to get Tommy out of there and they went to his bedroom. I locked the door and went to hug my mom, and we cried for a moment before we began talking about what just happened. While we talked, she made a movement to take something off her eye and I could spot a stain on her skin under her T-shirt. She wanted me not to care about it but I insisted and discovered the unthinkable. My mom was covered with burns and bruises. Last time in the bathroom she was probably crying over it. I wasn''t the only one to hide something in this house, my father was abusing my mom too. We talked about it and I really insisted on finding a way to get out of that living hell before the abuse extends to Tabby and Tommy. I was so happy to finally tell my story to someone of trust. Unfortunately, she insisted that we keep the nightmare a secret, filled with the hope that he''ll change and we''ll be a normal, united and happy family again.


    I was crushed. She wanted to keep us in that hell and I understood by her words and saw in her eyes that she was aware of everything from the beginning. She knew it all but she kept silence and let me suffer, she let both of us suffer. I couldn''t even look at her after that, it was unbelievable. I opened the door and told her to leave. She looked at me with sadness in her eyes before passing the door then continued her painful walk to the bathroom.


    After she left, I fell on my knees and cried a lot. For some minutes, I thought about running away but where could I go? I''m not strong like the other teens who do that, and unfortunately, many of them end up in bad places, worst places I absolutely don''t want to know. My tears would have filled my whole room if Clyde didn''t call me on my phone. He proposed me to hang out at some of my favorite places just to distress and relax. It was a good idea but I had reached a point where there was only one thing that could cool me down.


    In less than one minute, I felt the luminous and purple substance meandering in my veins. That time, since I was standing, everything disintegrated except the floor and I found myself on a concert stage, dressed like a rock star and I was holding a super cool guitar. The crowd was so lit and chanting my name. All of a sudden, the pop-rock music started and I found myself perfectly playing the guitar and singing even though I never did that once in my life. At the end of the performance, the crowd was on fire and started to chant my name again. It was a magical moment. I then ran and jumped on the fans who lifted me up. I felt like staying there forever, it felt so good to be there.


    All of sudden, someone pulled me down and started to punch me on the floor just like what I saw with my mom. It was the Fallen King. Nobody moved when he assaulted me, the whole crowd just became silent and watched me get punched. I was alone against my assailant. He then lifted me up by my neck and threw me against a wall. I still feel the terror I experienced when I was still in the air. After the collision with the wall, I hadn''t even landed on a floor or something when he began to kick me all the way down to the ground. He spat on me several times and his saliva burned me like lava. I think I was crying and screaming but I couldn''t feel my tears nor hear my own screams. My heart was about to burst out of my chest since it was pounding so hard. The aggression lasted an eternity and didn''t stop until the landscape just shattered, and I was back in my room, on the floor, unable to move.


    So here I am dear diary. That''s how I got my burns and bruises. My body hurts and I disgust myself for something: I want more. Kingdom is killing me, the Fallen King is killing me, but I''m addicted to the bliss that precedes each attack. I''m sorry but I just can''t stop. I need to feel okay. There''s still one dose left in my possession, but I don''t feel like next time I''ll survive the Fallen King. My parents are arguing right now, and I just can''t take it anymore. Everything is wrong so I need more kingdom. I need to feel okay. Sorry for wetting your pages again dear diary. I just can''t stop crying, my whole body hurt now and I can barely write. If I''m no more, I know someone will find you dear diary. The police, my mom, Tabby, or that monster even if I don''t wish him to find you. If you find the diary and you''re not my father, please give it to Clyde so he can share my story and keep it, so I can be remembered forever. This is my last wish, you know, in case I don''t make it to tomorrow.


    Dear diary, this is maybe the last time I visit you. Even if something happens or not, know that I love you. Kiss kiss kiss! I love each and every one of you: dear diary, Tabby, Tommy, Mom, Clyde, Jenny, Samantha, Stefan and even you Sarah. I love you. I''m gonna take the last dose of kingdom I have because I don''t know what else to do. I''m all alone. I''m lost.


    ***


    I''m lost. Those were the last written words of my dear friend. The next morning Brittany''s father found her dead on the floor in her bedroom. According to the investigators, she had been beaten to death. Nothing was broken inside so there was no trace of struggle, but she was mysteriously covered with multiple burns and bruises. Fortunately, the police later found the diary and discovered many clues that helped investigators shine the light on some of the circumstances behind Brittany''s death.


    Her father was arrested and charged for all the crimes he committed. Camilla her mother, could not bear her part of responsibility in Brittany''s death and attempted suicide just two days after her daughter''s demise. She is currently hospitalized. Tabby and Tommy went to live in a neighboring town with their aunt Sally. Sarah broke up with Stefan, she did so maybe out of guilt. Jenny and Samantha went to rehab and put drugs behind them.


    Evidently, and despite the skeletal hand mark on Brittany''s forearm, the police did not consider the hypothesis that a supernatural entity only visible after the consumption of a certain drug was responsible for her death. Moreover, investigators did not find a shred of single evidence on the existence of kingdom. No capsule, no syringe, not even a trace of the drug in her system after the autopsy, absolutely nothing. However, I chose to believe my dear friend no matter what. She could not have made it up, not something that led to her death. The police launched a massive search for that dealer only known as Mr. B.


    With the help of some close friends and good people, the hotline number ''*3712'' has been established so that anyone can signal or report any kind of abuse or drug activity, especially if the drug involved is called kingdom. We named the initiative ''United Against Drugs & Abuse'' with pride and zeal. We are surprised about the number of calls we receive every day and the number of victims that have been freed from their hellish situations since the launch of the initiative.


    Brittany''s aunt and I plan to launch the ''Brittany Slowless Foundation'' soon, to give hope and offer solace to every victim of abuse or addiction that is still scarred by such experiences. I know life can be hard and unfair, but drugs or silence are not solutions to the kind of problems that Brittany faced, and that many still struggle with to this day. There is still hope in humanity and we are here to do everything possible to help you. Above all, know that you are not alone. Be strong, talk to somebody today.


    Not long ago, somebody contacted me, saying that he personally knew Brittany and that he wanted to have a conversation with me about her. I really hope he has some information that did not make it into Brittany''s diary, like the real name of Mr. B or a clear lead on where he can be found. He also said that he has the same health condition as mine, and is in possession of an elixir capable of relieving me just like it did for him. His name is Byron Belpton and we should meet next week.


    I, Clyde Hukes, sincerely thank you for your time and consideration of Brittany''s message. Take care and please be safe.


    ~In loving memory of Brittany Slowless and all the Beautiful Souls we lost and miss so much~

 Gain

    I remember it all. Every single detail with great precision. The day my life changed for the worse five years ago. I remember everything from my awakening to the moment I sat in the back of that car with my hands behind my back. And for you to fully understand everything, it would be suitable if I explain what occurred from the beginning.


    That day started the way I planned it. Early in the morning, while some people were peacefully sleeping or getting ready for work, I found myself in the middle of my yearly battle, warring against other contenders and swearing not to lose. Around thirty minutes had already elapsed when my legs began to get sore. Running through the shelves and bumping into others'' carts several times, I felt drops of sweat covering my whole body as my lungs were on the verge of explosion.


    "Just give it up freak!" one of the competitors yelled at me as we were wrestling to get the last coffee machine from the Ardanozzi brand. The commando training type I inflicted to myself during the past weeks just to be ready for that day could not be allowed to go to waste, so in the frenzy of the moment, I punched the gentleman right in the nose under the astounded looks of the lady with him and of other customers. He released his grip on the cardboard box and I only heard him fall behind me, because I already turned and put the coffee machine in my cart before speeding up towards the electronic shelf.


    The Shop Cheap hypermarket was the biggest in the town at that time, and I believe it still is. I have participated in countless Black Friday rushes there, but that year, at that specific date, there was a special prize to be won for the customer with the most articles purchased. For some reason, after all the efforts and considering what I was going through in my life, I felt compelled to win it. That was the first edition, and I had to win.


    "And the special prize goes to..."


    I heard the manager about to announce the name of the winner after the counts. Teeth and hands clenched, my eyes riveted on him, I was ready to make a scene in case my number was not the one picked. It had to be me since my cart was the fullest; at least, it was what I thought.


    "...the number thirty-eight, Mr. Ronald Kasilinic!"


    A light of pure bliss filled my eyes. I trembled in joy as if it was the best day and the most marvelous moment of my life. Advancing towards the manager in the middle of disdained customers disappointed by their defeat, my heart shivered at each step I made with my eyes on the prize; a large cardboard box with the Shop Cheap hypermarket logo on it, along with a strange symbol and the inscription ''Special SurpriZe.'' The symbol was composed of a cube with a question mark in the middle of its front face, and the cube was inside a circle that had five triangles emerging from its outline. One of the cashiers handed me the reward then we took a picture together with the manager. Even though it was in a large cardboard box, it did not weigh a lot and I just hoped it not to be some stupid gift like a large bucket or a set of useless plastic cooking tools.


    "What''s inside?" I could not prevent myself from asking.


    "Come on Mr. Kasilinic. It''s a surprise. You''ll definitely find out once you open it in the comfort of your home. But I can assure you that you won''t be disappointed." the manager answered.


    After some minutes, the familiar smell of cigarettes inside my car welcomed me back. The vehicle was loaded with the fruits of my striving while my heart was filled with feelings of pride and accomplishment. My paranoia about losing my prizes led me to take a lot of bypasses on my way to home with the objective of avoiding potential carjackers. What an idea that was really. Along the road, while witnessing the vehicles'' rush and hearing the multiple cars'' horns of the busy working class, a hellish heat tortured me to the point I had to open all the front windows and remove my T-shirt. I convinced myself that it came from the hood of my old car and prayed for it not to break down during the ride. Since I was driving, I was constantly looking at the rear-view mirror and seeing the cardboard box of the special surprise in the back seat, but at one moment, I suddenly glimpsed two dirty pale arms quickly tear through the box and make a reach for me on the driver seat. Immediately taking a look at the back seat and losing control of my car in that moment of dread, the loud sound of a truck''s horn made me remember being on the road and look in front of me. As I stomped on the brake pedal and successfully stopped my vehicle''s motion, a large truck sped just centimeters away from my car''s headlights. I froze, eyes wide open at the sight of the enormous mechanical monster that could have taken my life seconds ago. Following the passage of the truck, I looked again at the box, breathing heavily but saw nothing unusual.


    "What the hell? Some people gotta go to work dammit!" a man yelled while repetitively honking from the car right behind me before I decided to shake it off my mind and continue driving.


    Fortunately, I arrived without further issues at Rainlight Villas, a derelict building in which I rented an apartment on the third floor. The place was quite reminiscent of the tragedy of my life but nobody could remind me of all the pain better than Melina Yiasheen. Evil landlords ruling crappy buildings can be a clich¨¦ overused in stories and movies, but I can assure you that they really exist. The place stank of dead rats and cat litter, so I hurried through the stairs despite all the bags and the large cardboard box I carried. Unfortunately for me, right in front of my door, Melina was seated on a chair she had brought, leisurely smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper. Her three equally mean cats rested at her feet, two of them licking their paws and the other one meowing. I stopped my run at the sight of her as she responded by calmly throwing the cigarette away before addressing me a question:


    "You heard the news?"


    "Oh uh, hi Melina. How you doing to¡ª"


    "Did you hear the news Mr. Kasilinic?" she interrupted, still calm with her eyes on the newspaper.


    "I guess you''re talking about the five million dollars you just won at the lottery this morning?" I said with a big smile, trying to joke and ease the situation.


    "The news, Mr. Kasilinic, is about a guy called Ronald, who haven''t paid a single iota of the five months he still owes me. Ooooh yeah that''s the news around here." she said, folding the newspaper before standing up.


    "Wow! That''s a really awful guy you''re talking about here Melina." I replied as I put all the bags and the cardboard box on the floor.


    At that instant, the three cats went crazy; they bolted in random directions, terrified and meowing as if they suddenly saw the scariest thing in their lives.


    "Charlett? Harriett? Din¡ªcome back here, where you going?" she called then asked visibly worried, but her three cats ignored her and disappeared from our sight.


    "Poor things. Living with that old witch? I don''t blame them." I whispered, but I believe she unfortunately heard what I said.


    "That''s quite the jackpot you got here." she said turning to me with her most evil look on her face. "Looks like this year Black Friday has been quite rosy for somebody." she added, approaching. "What do we have here? All this would do for two months of rent don''t you think?"


    "No¡ªway! Look Melina, I will pay you when I''m ready okay? I''m really close just give me more time and Ronn Kazy will be back!"


    "For crying out loud Ronald! It''s been five years now. It''s time to get a job Ron, you''re a grown man, you can''t be living off money games and Black Fridays. Yeah you had it. You had a contract, you made it, you were the big star, then she came into your life, ruined it and got away with all the money. Wake up man Gracie''s gone. Gone with all the money and all that Ronn Kazy show is far behind now. Now what? Back to reality you loser! And as you can see, it''s painful you freak! Pay me my money right now Ronald, or you''re not stepping into that apartment today..."


    Standing right there in the corridor, we went on and on till we were on the verge of fighting. The tenants of the neighboring apartments came out and attempted to calm us down. I recall burning with the desire of punching her right in the nose, and that was what could have happened if she was not a woman. She succeeded in taking some of my precious and hard-earned prizes with her after the heated argument.


    "And one more thing dumb ass, it''s not Melina, it''s Ms. Yiasheen you hear me?" she yelled while I hurried into my apartment.


    I sighed upon closing the door before taking a look at the glass picture frame. "Honey I''m home." I whispered with my eyes still on it. Her smile remained unaltered. A diamond smile in a moment of pure happiness captured with my own camera years ago at the park. Forgetting Gracie was out of question, not for the wrong reasons though. She left me broke and broken, I admit, but I still love her with all my soul.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Drained from the Black Friday rush and the umpteenth argument with Melina, I just put the rest of my prizes on the kitchen''s table, next to the many unlucky lottery tickets and the numerous letters from debt collectors. Upon bearing all the weight, the already sensitive table bitten by the termites for years just collapsed with a thrashing noise.


    "Don''t you dare break anything in there you moron!" Melina yelled from behind the door.


    "Go home!" I yelled back at her.


    The purchased articles in the bags were scattered on the floor and I could spot one of the cans of corn I bought in a corner. A hungry man, I simply picked it up and opened it. A rotting odor emerged from the can and rapidly mixed up with the dust odor of my apartment. I released the can when I saw something moving inside it and at the moment of impact with the floor, huge maggots were ejected from the container. Paralyzed and perplexed, I watched them crawl on the floor for seconds. This could not be happening, I thought, so I opened all the other cans only to see that they were infested too. Angry with the hypermarket and overwhelmed by everything I was going through, I cleaned up all that mess as quickly as I could and it soon joined some casino coins in the trash can.


    The solemn unpacking of the special surprise could not be spoiled by the already stressful day, so I decided to leave it for the evening after a moment of relaxation with the help of the only thing able to ease me. Therefore, I checked the door lock several times, hoping that it will keep the potential burglars out, and thirty minutes later, I found myself lying on my bed with my nose full of that white powder. Eyes on the ceiling, my head felt like spinning, and the false sensation of ease and clarity it gives overwhelmed me. Everything illogically appeared so simple to me; all I had to do was winning a lot of money again whatever the way, then all the torment would end and the frustration would go away. "I''ll pull through...I''ll pull through..." I kept on saying to myself until I passed out.


    ***


    The noise of something or someone slamming the bathroom door woke me up. It seemed to be late in the evening; everything was dark in the bedroom and I understood being knocked out for a long time. I also noticed that the unusual and unbearable heat from earlier in my car was back. After I gathered myself, I made a reach for the iron golf club under my bed, resolute to defeat the intruder I thought broke into my apartment. There was no way to lose what I strove for because of some thief, so with my weapon in hand, I stormed through the door.


    "You better get out of here you piece of shit!" I yelled in the dark corridor. I pressed the switch but the bulb did not light up, even after nervously insisting. I then tried the same in my bedroom without success. Searching for my forsaken flashlight in my cupboard, I fortunately found it after a few minutes. Once out of the bedroom again, the hair on my head and arms rose as cold chills traveled through my spine. Under the lighting of my flashlight, random objects from boots to toilet papers were scattered all over the floor, and that reinforced my thought that somebody broke in my domicile. At the end of the corridor lied the cardboard box of the special surprise, on its side, wide open and empty. I soon noticed bloody handprints and footprints on the ceiling before following them from that end of the corridor to the other end where they stopped on the bathroom door.


    "I''m coming for you freak!" I threatened, even though already nervous and trembling.


    As soon as I said that, the intruder began speaking in the bathroom:


    "What¡ªwhat¡ªinside¡ªI¡ªguess¡ªtalking¡ªfive¡ªwon¡ªlottery..." the intruder was saying, probably talking to himself.


    "Hey! Stop¡ªstop playing man! I''m¡ªI''m gonna mess you up!"


    "...poor¡ªthing¡ªblame¡ªwill¡ªpay¡ªhoney¡ªhome..."


    My heart sank into my stomach when I realized that I was hearing my voice saying those things. An intruder in my bathroom was perfectly imitating my voice and repeating some of the words I said earlier during the day.


    "...coming¡ªfor¡ªfreak¡ªstop¡ªman¡ªmess..."


    Close to the door, my hand shaking because of the unnerving experience, I advanced my fingers slowly and was about to touch the door handle when he burst into a wave of violent anger with my most intimidating voice:


    "You better get out of here you piece of shit!" he threatened me using my own words again.


    Eyes riveted on the door, I jumped back and stood still. Everything stopped and a disturbing silence followed. I took a deep breath then swallowed my saliva before taking bravery in both hands. With a war scream, I stormed through the door, ready to destroy whoever was in the bathroom with my iron golf club. There was nobody as only silence was my companion in the small room. Slowly looking around, my eyes then caught something horrible in the mirror; a pale face with black rugged hair and a pair of green glowing eyes full of anger, looked in the mirror too from behind me and right over my shoulder. I immediately turned and swung the golf club but there was nobody. I looked again in the mirror and clearly saw the entity bare its dirty sharp teeth. Some of the maggots crawling on its face fell off, then I heard it make an eerie growling sound.


    Fear gave me wings as I flew along the corridor. In my run, my foot hit something on the floor and I fell on the mess, losing my grip on the flashlight in the process. It rolled until it met one of my boot and stopped. The light then revealed another terrifying view that nothing will ever erase from my memory; the enormous maggots crawled on the corpse and some even emerged from the skin. The body was covered with deep scratches and blood, testifying of the brutality with which Melina had been murdered. Her empty and lifeless eyes on me, she seemed telling me to leave, to stand up and run without looking back. I do not know how to accurately explain that but it was definitely what I thought.


    I stood up, picked up the flashlight and dashed to the door with the hopes of just kicking it open and escaping from the nightmare. After jumping over Melina''s body and the pool of blood, I saw two bloody footprints appear right in front of the door and I stopped my run; by the way they were positioned, I realized that the entity directly faced me and stood as the obstacle between me and my escape. Even though it was invisible to my eyes, I sensed it, felt it, and knew it was right there in front of me. At some point, I could hear its heavy breath too, almost in phase with mine. Its breath just grew heavier and soon evolved into a growling, like the one of an enraged big dog building up its anger before its destructive and deadly attack. Just like it was not enough to kill me with fear, I soon glimpsed the glowing green eyes of the tormentor mirrored on the glass picture frame next to the entrance door. The thing stood there, certainly staring in my direction.


    Frozen by the disturbing occurrence, I felt my blood congeal in my veins. My heavy breath evolved into a nervous groaning until what I feared the most happened. The thing attacked. Four traces progressively appeared below the picture frame as it clawed the wall in its momentum. I made few steps backward, trembling and only hearing its growl as well as its heavy and powerful strides getting closer to me. The assailant clawed me on the right cheekbone. I did not even have the time to scream in pain since the thing seized my neck and threw me on the trash can near the window. I lost the golf club during my fall and once on the ground, I still felt the glacial sensation on my neck, resulting from the contact with the monster. Terrified, I smashed the window with my bare hand, hurting myself on the spot, and stormed through the opening. Engaged in the run of my life, I tore down the fire escape staircase, my feet slipping through the cracks in the rusty stairs several times.


    Once I reached the firm ground, I kept on fleeing on the desert street without looking back. In less than a minute, a police car coming from nowhere almost run me over. I had my trunk on the car hood with my large open eyes on the two appalled officers inside. They quickly stepped out of the vehicle to help me. It looked like somebody called the cops, something I maybe should have done myself instead of taking the matter in my own hands. All this because I was afraid to lose some special surprise I did not know was cursed.


    "Some¡ªsomething¡ªsomeone, it''s in my¡ªit''s in my apartment, it¡ªit¡ªtried to kill me¡ªhurry¡ªit killed her¡ª" I tried to explain but of course, all the ramble could not make sense to the officers.


    No invisible force or monster attacked them when they entered the premises, in which they almost found everything. They found all the mess on the floor, Melina''s body, all the blood, the enormous maggots, the scratches below the picture frame, the smashed window, the burnt fuses, the drugs in my bedroom, the bloody handprints and footprints as well as the large cardboard box¡ªit was closed and sealed, carefully placed in the middle of the kitchen, as if nobody ever touched it. Although I insisted about seeing it wide open and empty during my interrogation and in my deposition, they assured me it was intact since they had to open it themselves to discover the prize inside, and they even showed me a picture of it; a strange and horrible small statue which face resembled the one of the entity I saw in the mirror of my bathroom. That single fact contributed to render my version of the story unbelievable, and for the investigators things became clear; I consumed drugs and lost my mind to the point of murdering my landlord. A version of the story supported by the fact that my neighbors witnessed me and Melina get into a fierce argument about my unpaid rent. The landlord, as well as the witnesses also heard noises in my apartment that night, which prompted her to come and knock at my door. According to my closest neighbor Kelly, I did not answer, so Melina went to fetch something and came back with duplicate keys of my apartment. She came inside and talked with me for a moment¡ªa fact I have no memory of and always denied¡ªbut she never came out.


    To this day, after five good years, I am still in custody and there is just no way myself or anybody else can prove whether I am guilty or not. I made the news once more of course since the fallen star Ronn Kazy was then arrested for a murder case. The media frenzy became more intense when Gracie committed suicide shortly after being sent to a mental hospital. Unlike most people, I understood why all that happened; Gracie and I were the only ones to blame for our tragedies. In the prison''s library, I found several books about demonology and discovered the identity of the tormentor hidden inside the special surprise''s cardboard box. An evil spirit called Xhorxh¨¨s. It feeds on the souls of the greedy people¡ªsince it can smell greed, then trap them in a miserable existence for eternity.


    I wanted this testimony to be shared everywhere possible, so after writing it, I sent it to my cousin who took care of the rest. Right after defeating my addiction to money games that followed me in prison, I also overcame my drug addiction and firmly believe that everything I went through in that apartment was not due to the effects of the narcotics. I do not know if the hypermarket has a part of responsibility in what happened to me, or if Xhorxh¨¨s, like it is written in the books, just smelled my greed, found me and emerged from something I valued¡ªin my case the ''Special SurpriZe.'' It is up to you to believe me or not, but after you read this, you will not be able to say you were never warned. Please be safe, distance yourself from greed and therefore from that demon. Do not grow addicted to gain in any way, or else, he will come for you.