《A Serenade for the Innocent》


 1 Reigning Queen

    One student in my class is dead.


    I mean it figuratively, but with the way he behaves like a living corpse then you might as well take it literally. I don''t understand John. He''s not stupid, nor is he getting bullied. In fact, most of my classmates want to befriend him. He avoids people for no clear reason as if we''re transparent! He always sits in the back of the class, listening to the lectures, unmoving and mute.


    Now, I''m not a nosy person, but once you saw him you''d be curious too.


    "Good morning, Miss President." The girl says, stuttering, by the time she sees me enter this ridiculously spacious room. They call this thing an office, I call it a waste of space.


    I gaze at her, trying to conceal my annoyance. "Good morning," I smiled, pretending to be nice. I hate this bitch. "Anything new with that garbage can issue?"


    "Stephanie, there''s a problem. They informed us why they don''t want to deliver the-"


    "Spare me with that, please." I walk towards my table hiding my frustration. I am not frustrated with the issue, I am frustrated with her. "Give me something I could control. If they refused our request, then that''s too bad, but it''s out of our reach now." I scoffed as I pull my chair, I didn''t sit yet. "And how many time do I have to remind you to call me President?"


    "I''m sorry, Miss President." She mumbled while balancing her glasses. "Ah, I should tell you that the manager at the convenience store-"


    "Enough. We''re not talking about that." I interrupted as calmly as humanly possible, trying not to show my irritation in vain. "May I remind you, Miss Claire, about what I said before regarding our affairs outside the school? By something I can work with I mean associated with the committee. Let''s not talk about our part-time job while we''re here in the office."


    "I''m so sorry um... they''re all on your table. I made the usual setup. Student council related matters are on the left side. On the right are some... unrelated ones. You got another letter from that handsome suitor, Steph!" She chuckled, I didn''t.


    I glared at the girls standing in front of my table so sharp it could pierce through her thick and empty skull.


    I''m sorry, ma''am, umm¡­ Miss President." At least she got the memo.


    I took the unrelated document she was talking about, for some reason personal affairs like this still manage to land on my office. I opened one envelope among countless others on my table, what welcomed me is a handwritten letter in a paper with a vibrant yellow color. Ah, so she wasn''t lying, it is a love letter.


    Tsk. Again?


    I thought these stalker shenanigans is over? Here we go again with the same desperate garbage human beings attempting to indirectly tell me how much they want to fuck me. I don''t even want to read it! It''s already painful to look at. Haven''t I made it clear how I hate to have a relationship with boys who have dicks for brains? Who the fuck is it this time? I bet it''s that Lawrence guy again!


    I appreciate their purpose, but I don''t like them so that means no! They won''t be able to have sex with me today, and that won''t change even in my dying breath!


    "All right," I said, again with a sweet tone. It gets painful to pull off if I look at her face. "Thank you very much, you may leave now." Please get the fuck out now.


    "You should head to class, too, the bell is about to ring."


    "Bitch, bye," I muttered under my breath hoping she didn''t hear a thing.


    I sighed when she left the room. It seemed like I tossed the weight of the world off my shoulders. God, I hate her. I opened the letter she''s so excited about. I couldn''t be bothered to read the rest of it aside from the closing line which reads as follows:


    ''Sincerely yours,


    Lawrence."


    Shocking.


    You know the best thing about letters written in Oslo papers? It feels so damn good every time I rip them.


    I stand up as I tear the glitter-clad letter into pieces. I scoffed when a familiar figure of a man happened upon my attention. Staring from the huge window behind my table, I catch sight of him walking on the school grounds. The curtains have been unveiled, the lights are open, and the backdrop is set: John Smith enters the stage. He''s late again, but that''s something I''m already expecting.


    As usual, bitches whisper when he walks past them. Look at how they giggle with those blushing faces. Their squeals are so annoying! I am forced to listen to it every single day!


    Between you and me, the only distinction I and the bitches below have is where we stand. The one sitting on top of the food chain versus the ones below. It''s easy to determine the big difference between us but it''s something John cannot see. Whoever you are you will never be a part of his priority list; you may be the pope, the president, the queen, the emperor, or the prime minister but to anyone, he has nothing to say. No matter how big, no matter how influential, no matter how powerful, no matter popular, and no matter how wealthy he will be blind to it!


    No¡­


    He doesn''t care.


    "John Smith, you motherfucker, you''re doing it again," I said whispering to myself as I study his movements.


    I sit on my chair and scanned my table, that''s when I notice the thick pile of papers all lined up for me to skim. I forgot that this is the reason I remained standing up, to begin with. I scoffed as I drown myself in the thought of having the same endless work by this tomorrow once again.


    My position made me realize that a leather chair is not the most pleasant place to sit on. The sofa right in front of my table, however, calms my nerves, it''s comfortable. But few want to sit there. And there''s a good reason why. If you find yourself sitting on that soft furniture that means two things: you''re either getting your dick sucked or you''re fucked. The latter happens a lot, so I''m the one who handles it. I let the others do the former. They love sucking dicks that''s why they''re here!


    And that''s why I''ve reached what they haven''t. I don''t rely on slut''s tactics to get on top. And I have a nameplate to prove that. Let me read it for you:


    Margaux Stephanie Barnes, president!


    I can''t believe I made it here alive and unscratched. It gets me all the time. A constant reminder for me and for everybody. It''s my personal trophy and their personal Jesus. However, right next to it, only a few inches away, are papers. Consequences. Oh power, so easy to gain with a pretty face, so hard to maintain with a shitty attitude.


    See, we know one another now! We''re having an intimate relationship! Since we''re getting close now, you might ask yourself why I''m even here if I''m not willing to commit. Some always have a difficult time answering that question. They have essays and boring speeches just to present an answer. But they are not me. I only need one word to convey my perspective:


    Fame.


    It turns me on when they say my name and my face pops into their head. There is no better feeling than being the center of everything!


    Although if I am speaking publicly I would write the same long essays and recite the same boring speeches I despise. Call it the duality of me, it''s necessary to have the people''s eyes locked on me.


    Then there''s that guy. John Smith, the man who has no qualms about what other people speaks of him. I shine as I walk down the hallway; meanwhile, he casts shadows in each step he takes. He is the dullest person I''ve ever laid my eyes on. He''s a lazy bastard, yet people idolize him, some even worship him! A man with no character, no ideology to speak of, and no known belief. Is this moron supposed to be better than me? Girl... Bye! This is a problem for me. This is just too fucking much! And no one seems to understand how serious this is!


    Which will take your curiosity the most: the intellectual elite such as I, or the mysterious figure with a shady character? Some choose the former, but the latter is remaining to be triumphant. He eats all the fame for himself, and he''s not aware of it. I''m losing to a person who''s pretending to be a deaf mute! And here I am, the icon of the student body, trying to win against him? It''s making me seem pathetic! This is an uneven match yet somehow the losing side is winning!


    I mean, he is kinda handsome and I get that, but all these praise people give him makes no sense. Look at him; he goes to school with the messiest bed head I''ve ever seen! Ugh, come on! I wouldn''t even dare let others stare at me without combing a hundred times!


    Then there are his large eye bags so droopy that it''s impossible not to criticize! I take time and effort to give the treatment my body deserves as if I''m carving diamonds my skin produces bringing out my natural perfect luminance. And he''s there looking like the very avatar of darkness itself and that''s okay with him? I would rather die than to own his style!


    They praise him because of how smart he is but I can say with pride, even to you, that I am far smarter than him. I guess the guy''s rich? He attends this school without the need for a scholarship or a part-time job after all! But that reason is not enough! I may not be richer but there are handsome boys out there far wealthier than his entire clan combined! The attention given to him is off the charts and he is not qualified for it!


    Somehow John is just... He''s famous and I do not understand why! Everybody talks about him, everybody knows his name, but nobody knows anything about him. This man is a blank slate!


    A man like him is shoving me off the spotlight? If this persists, he might plan to run as the next president and he will win. Don''t ask me how I come up with such a ludicrous conclusion. Fuck if I know! But I''m not giving this position away; not to anyone, not to you, and definitely not to a guy named John fucking Smith!


    If someone threatens to overthrow the ruler of the jungle, she must learn to adapt to remain sitting on the throne. No matter how ridiculous the opponent she needs to keep sitting on that leather chair. I need to keep sitting on this leather chair.


    So I''ve devised a plan against him. I will befriend that little tabula rasa fuck. No, I am not planning to help him fix his miserable life! Who do you think I am, the president of United fucking State of America? I am doing this because he''s the new big thing on the campus! Imagine, if I became friends with the infamous unfriendly guy then I''d be, like, famous-er than him. I can already hear them calling me the hero who helped out a lonely man in need of a friend! And I''m confident this would somehow work because, you know, he''s like, famous. For some reason.


    Who could befriend him better than his classmate? If that''s the case then I am lucky we are attending the same class. We only spoke when it is necessary but I noticed he''s always gazing at me. Those eyes say he knows I exist, those eyes tell me he has something to say! Those are the eyes of a man longing for a woman''s touch. That''s good, but not under normal circumstances.


    Besides, I''m forced to get involved with every student and they''re forced to suck it up.


    He is not an exception.


    "Hi!" I said with the grace of a queen as I approach him from where he sits. Helen Mirren would''ve gagged if she saw me!


    But to no avail. He ignores me. This is perhaps the single thing about him worth applauding, John is a great equalizer. He treats everybody like shit. I bet this is how he views our teachers too. There is no social class in his own world. However, today is the day we''ll change that. I didn''t cancel all of my after-school gigs only to find out he''ll give me the silent treatment... again!


    I sat beside him. "What are you doing?"


    "Please, stop talking."


    He stands up and walks straight out of the room leaving me in my lonesome, dumbfounded.


    The nerve!


    I chase after him. The girl is the one chasing after the boy, he should be disgusted with himself! This alone could make me known for being that desperate bitch who wants to have a taste of that poor loner boy''s junk. He tries to escape, but when I pull him towards a dark corner, he knew he wouldn''t be able to run away from me anymore.


    "Are you going to listen now?" I said as I stand in front of him, his only escape route.


    "Please, please you have to let me go. If he found out, I''m with you... you''ll be in danger!"


    I was about to tell him how ridiculous he sounded when a beeping sound interrupted what is about to come out of my lips.


    John took a cell phone inside his pocket. When the light of his phone''s monitor hit the highlights of his face, his expression changed from the face of a troubled man to the face of a man gazing at his assassin. His hands shook unnaturally, it was insane. Sweat drips from his forehead, rolled on his chin until it finally dropped from his jaw. And as the first bead of his sweat drops on the ground so did his jaw, revealing an appalling expression I never would have expected a person such as John Smith could muster to summon. He explored his surroundings with his eyes, panting and gasping as he tries to look for something, or perhaps someone. But he didn''t move an inch of his body; not his head, not his hands, not his chest, not his feet. He simply moved his eyes all over in random directions.


    I am at loss as to what is happening but with the horrible state, he''s in I realized it''s not good. That message he received scared the living shit out of him. He''s fidgeting and wheezing so much that I thought he''s dying.


    His movement stopped.


    He looked at me.


    He looked at his phone.


    Then he covered his mouth with his shaking hand, his eyes still glued to the monitor of his phone, slightly reflecting the subject of his greatest horror.


    "I want you to leave, or else..." He said looking at me. Futility plastered all over his eyes, tears readying to burst, fear drowning in it.


    "What is it, John? Talk to me! The student council will help you!"


    "Just..." John paused, trying to regain his composure as he swallows his saliva. "Run far away from here, please!"


    Is he crying? I''ve been observing John Smith for a while but this is the first time I saw him shed a tear.


    It made me curious. This could be a blessing in disguise, this could be a good step. With the face mimicking that of a concerned parent to her child I took a step forward. With a shriek, John Smith took two steps backward as I can see the hair on his skin visibly rise. Perhaps he can see the face of a grinning harpy hiding beneath the mask I wear.


    "I am not who you think I am, John! You need to trust us! You need to put your trust in me. What is going on?" John, you better start talking before I''d do something we''d both regret.


    "Nothing, please, go! Get out of here!"


    At the moment, two things are in my head. What the hell is in that text message and what am I supposed to do now? I thought the wisest move is to take his phone from him. My heartbeat hasten on the thought that something could penetrate John''s stoned expression!


    And so I did. I snatched his phone from his hands.


    "Hey, what are you doing?"


    "I''m so sorry, John but this is the only way!" You better cooperate or else I''ll get you on your knees with my heels on your ball sack.


    John extended his hands towards his phone but, for some reason, he became powerless. He tried to snatch his phone back but with a soft slap from my hand his entire body got swooped away with a pirouette as if riding a tornado; his feet failing him, his breathing heavier, yet his eyes still filled with vigor. It''s as if his energy is drained into nothingness but a sense of irrational determination grants his leer a band of courage. He tried taking his phone away from me by force once again; a commendable move¡­ if only he''s shaking too much! It''s impossible for him to resist me if he''s that miserable.


    "I''m begging you, give it back!"


    "I only want to see what''s on your phone! I know you can find a way to understand!" You''re making this hard for me motherfucker!


    "Please, you shouldn''t look at it!" He charged forward once again, but I managed to grab his face with my bare right hand; my thumb accidentally entering his mouth, his sweat greasing my palm, drops of tears roll down the gaps between my fingers, and his saliva drips into my wrist. My left hand secures his gadget on top of my bust. "You''re going to be involved!"


    That''s the point. I opened John''s phone and scrolled past his lock screen.


    "You''re going to regret opening that message!" He said as I push his face away effortlessly.


    And then I saw it.


    Taking his phone is not a wise decision after all.


    Even my jaws dropped and my brows furrowed after seeing it. I understand. The hasty beating of my heart fills my body with unfathomable chill because I completely understand now. That was the first time John and I had a common understanding.


    It''s a text message. In it are three photographs. One is a blurred image of me and John when I sat beside him in the classroom earlier. I scrolled down a little bit to see another photo of us back when I chased after him on the hallway.


    "Please, give my phone back." He said, begging with a tortured soul. "You don''t want to get involved in this!"


    But I viewed more. I did not wish to go on any further but, the heavens are my witness, at that very moment it felt as if I lost control of my fingers paired with a surreal awareness that I am still the one moving. My mind knows I am moving my fingers, but it cannot comprehend what is making it move. Thus I continued to slowly scroll further into the message, and there I know only oblivion awaits. The third image. I was already expecting it yet it still made my heart skip a few beats. It was another photo of us while talking right here in this dark, cramped alley. You know what frightened me the most?


    It was a close-up shot.


    I looked around in panic. We''re the only ones here. I looked up, looked down, looked in every area, every direction, every highlight, every corner, everything the light can see, everything the human eye can perceive, and everything the universe has touched. Everywhere! There was no sound, no flashing; there''s only the two of us before these photos. Who in the world could perform such sorcery? There was no one between us, no one below us, no one above us, no one around us; there''s naught but the two of us here living to bear witness of our conversation. There''s no way anyone could''ve taken that photo. Yet there it is! As my heart pounds loud, I moved my head, my body, and my eyes in all random direction to find who''s responsible for this.


    No one, I caught sight of nobody, just the darkened walls, and the crimson sky.


    Maybe it was only a delusion. I refused to believe something like this. Why would they torment John of all people? With sweat dripping on my face, I scanned the photos again. I gasped as I accepted this awful truth.


    The photos are all real.


    I looked at him. He looked at me. I nodded and gave his phone back. He nodded in response.


    "I hope you would find a way to forgive what I did today, John." You better not release those photos and make up some weird rumors, John!


    I left without saying a word as I hear him cry alone in that dark alley. I went home. I talked to nobody. I ignored my mother''s reprimand for the first time in my life. I didn''t call the cops.


    Today it''s just me and this oh so frightening memory as I bury my face on my pillow, sobbing. That night I dreamt of nothing but darkness.

 2 Allowing Degeneracy

    The next day, I woke up like shit and I''m in the mood to do something stupid.


    As the president and a member of the student council, I have obligations to give out pamphlets. By this I mean we spread the useless junk the faculty wanted to dispense. The students would only put those in the trash making this entire thing a huge waste of time. Don''t ask me why they''re still doing this! Fuck if I know.


    I refuse to take part in anything related to handing out garbage to other people. It''s too tedious and so pointless. Having me here is a gift none of these fuck-ups deserve! Public speaking I can handle, but this, no fucking way! I always come up with dumb excuses to avoid doing this, but I made an exception today.


    "Please be aware of your trash," I say in a strong feminine tone that would make Joan Crawford gasp. "Please be aware of yourselves," I whispered under my breath.


    "Global warming is real and it deeply worries your student leaders," I exclaimed with Marilyn Monroe''s poise.


    "And so should you," I speak as if I''m Florence Nightingale even though I don''t know this shit. I''m not even sure what''s written inside these pamphlets. Is it even about global warming? Eh, I don''t care, nobody reads these anyway.


    Obviously, all of them went straight to the trash or comes crashing down the floor. I would chuckle in silence as I observe my schoolmates throw the pamphlets all over the place. Mind you that there''s a trash can literally five feet away from me. These don''t bother me though. This is the expected outcome. It''s actually pretty funny, too. None among the student council members I''m with seems to be appalled by this. In fact, knowing the pamphlets we''re handing out are not being read seems to be the norm around here. I even saw one member gasp when someone actually reads them.


    However, what''s not funny to see is the way the boys laugh and tease at each other after taking the pamphlets from me. A catcall is expected, but when they speak in secret after looking at me is something I do not wish to see.


    One boy took one of the leaflets from my hands as he discreetly tries to graze his fingertips to mine. He squirmed the lower half of his body a little bit as he pulls his hands away. I caught a glimpse of him trying to whiff behind me as subtle as he possibly could but the loud noises of air entering his nostrils blew his cover.


    "Dude, holy shit, you can literally smell a bit of the president''s perfume in this thing she''s passing around!"


    "For real? I wanna smell it too!"


    "No way, man!" He whispered but it comes off similar to a raspy shout instead. "This one is mine! If you want it so bad you should pick one on the floor."


    I can hear their laughter echo all around me as if the devil himself has come from down under to embrace me with a bit of what his home feels like. I could see the way the boys'' eyes widened as they look at me with their bloodshot eyes. And how the grease on their faces gets thicker and thicker as their sweat drips from their forehead. The way they snicker is so nauseating it feels as if their cackles are gaining life and taking a physical form into floating biles on the air. And the way they grin is just, gah, it''s making me want to off myself right here, right now! Their yellowed teeth are making their grins impossible to ignore especially when their gums show as their mouth grows wider on their faces. I can''t believe I am managing to survive while surrounded by countless of them. I secretly wish their spit won''t drop on my skin for even their saliva tries to escape their mouth, raining down out of them while they speak.


    Vile and disgusting.


    "Are you sure you''d tolerate that sort of behavior, president?"


    I looked at the person talking to me. Another student council member, this one''s not as annoying as the secretary at least.


    "Its fine, they''ll get over it."


    "That''s what you said but you have this really nasty expression in your face ever since you came here in the hallway with us."


    I chuckled. It''s probably because I''m trying to look for John among the near identical boys walking past us.


    "It''s really nothing. I can manage, I think? Besides, I''ve been neglecting this job for far too long. It''s time for your president to finally step up her league."


    "Come on, Steph. All of us on the committee knows about the letters. They''ve been harassing you haven''t they? Claire is the only one who thinks the letters are sweet because she''s stupid! But we all know what''s inside those. We can''t understand why you''re allowing them to degrade you like that but we know how to sympathize. There''s no need to force yourself." What a heartfelt thing to say, how passionate.


    "How much do you know about the letters?"


    "I''m so sorry this is none of my business but..." The concerned member tried looking away, shoulders droop, and a soft breath escapes with the reply. "Last month I took a peek on one of the letters you''ve received because well, to tell you the truth I''m curious about your private life. I idolize you so much and all. I didn''t expect that..."


    "It''s okay. I''m okay. The letters are not bothering me. They''re just a bunch of thirsty boys writing about nasty things." I smiled as I place my hand on top of the shoulder of this junior in front of me. "Thank you. Were you guys worried about me?"


    Finally, the young student council member took the courage to look straight back at my eyes, "Yes. We''ve been very concerned, president. We don''t want you having these... people following you around with such disgusting letters sent to your desk!"


    "I''m sorry, don''t take offense on this question but what''s your name again?"


    "You can call me Lex, that''s the nickname my mom calls me."


    "Right," I said, nodding my head, a smile painted all over my face. "Lex, Lex, ahhh¡­ Lex, I''ll remember that name. What year are you?"


    "This is my first year here, president, I hope you don''t mind."


    "First year? And you''re already participating in student council related matters?"


    "Yes, I just feel like I can make our campus better in my own way by lending a hand."


    My eyes dimmed and my smile fades as I hear those words.


    That made me remember the days when I was a young student council member as well. I was a freshman once too. And I was as jolly and enthusiastic as any first year. This reminded me of the day I became a part of the council. The first thing I did for the community is to pass leaflets like these. Nothing much, just to help out, I had a genuine care for our campus back then, believe it or not.


    The night of that same day someone messaged me on Twitter and tell me in full detail as to how he used the pamphlet to masturbate. He said he was thinking about me. This guy told me he wrapped it around his dick and jerked off. He even described how warm it felt in his shaft, and how amazing it felt when the edge of the pamphlet hits the head of his penis. He said it feels like I''m doing it to him because I touched the paper with my own hands.


    The next morning I can feel the men around me shoot their gazes right through my chest as I walk about the large hallway; oddly enough that same hallway felt like it''s as cramped as a dark alley. All of these disgusting, sweaty, unhygienic, smelly motherfuckers lust over my then petite and small body as if I''m a rabbit running about the jungle, trying to escape a group of anaconda.


    They are all in cahoots together. All of them uses their rough hands to stroke their small cuck dicks and scream my name while watching porn about twice to thrice a day. They project all sorts of messed up sexual fantasies unto me even though they don''t know me. In their heads, I am their slave, and my mind has always been entrapped in the cage they put me in.


    You know how I found out about this? The fucking letters. When I blocked all male students of our school from my social media the letters started to pour out. I told a few of my teachers about this. I even rang the police for as many as I can remember. I think about twelve times? And well, they didn''t take me seriously. "Jesus Christ," I''d imagine them say in the back of their head, "it''s just a few boys being boys."


    I just told myself "enough with the pamphlets. They''ll never see me hand these out again!"


    It feels like I''m getting ahead of myself while thinking about this. I''m sorry about that, I''m not supposed to get too emotional about this; I warned myself every day how doing that makes me look like a bootleg Picasso painting. Being stressed is not good for the complexion after all. When I snapped back to reality everyone is already busy tending on their responsibilities of handing out pamphlets around that no one seems to have noticed me spacing out. Why was I here again?


    Ah, yes, the plan for John Smith. Another plan. And I can''t promise you anything breathtaking but nonetheless, it''s a plan that could work; it''s a start! Its simple: I''ll give a copy of these pamphlets to John in person. I underlined eight words in it to serve as a makeshift hidden message.


    Meet. Me. Bathroom. After. Class. Tell. Me. Everything.


    It was a punch in the moon. There is no way he''ll notice it, I bet he''d crumple it and shoot it in the trash like a basketball. But a part of me hopes he''s smart enough to get it. Bored enough to read it. Dumb enough to actually do it.


    I am not the monster you think I am. John and I are not on good terms with each other but he''s facing an adversary. And I don''t believe for a second that that something is not sinister. He needs somebody now more than ever. I do not wish to be that somebody, but I''m willing to listen. Besides, by then he would classify me as a friend and that is what all of this is about. Classic me, killing two birds with one stone.


    A light gust of wind passes through me as I see a man with a large black headset and a familiar worn-out black bag pass through my peripheral vision. I took the special piece of paper I''ve explained earlier from the bottom of the pile of papers I''m carrying.


    "Take this, John Smith," I said, extending my arms forward in front of him. The other is extending towards him, paper in hand. It might seem nothing in a normal school setting but if the president of the student council herself is the one who blocked the path then there is no way anyone would be able to pass. A social blockade is far stronger than any heavy boulders.


    John Smith stared for a moment at the piece of glossy paper stuck between my fingertips. He slowly pulled it away from me, I can feel the smooth surface of the paper slide through my skin. And as the paper reaches the edge I squeezed my fingers hard enough to prevent John''s gentle pulls. It seems John understood my implications well when he diverts his gaze towards me.


    "What?" He said, confused.


    "You better read whatever is inside this darn thing, John Smith." I took a step forward. "Every single letter or figures, and absolutely no letters should be left unread. Do not skim it and don''t you dare scan it. Read it. Read the entire thing." And as if I''m not obvious enough I took two steps further towards him ensuring that there are a mere two inches of space dividing us. He instinctively pulled the upper part of his body away from me but his hands remained clinging on the pamphlet.


    "Okay." He said calmly but with a hint of nervousness that I can detect for some reason.


    "I''d be very disappointed with you if you throw this, John. Very, very disappointed." I squinted my eyes and leaned my shoulders a bit forward as I whisper, "I hope you know what will happen if you disappoint me, John."


    He gulped his saliva as he looked around us. People are already starting to take notice of our compromising position and John seems to be the first person to feel uneasy with this situation I forced himself into.


    "I understand." He whispered in a raspy tone.


    "Good." I let the paper go from the shackles of my fingers and as an extension I let John go as well. He hurriedly cowered out to his class while I continued to give papers away as if nothing happened.


    Afterschool. John left in a hurry when the bell rang. After some few necessary socializing, I ran straight to the comfort room. No one will be able to see us there. But I remember the capabilities of this stalker. And to be honest, I don''t buy what I said earlier either. A part of me is saying that this motherfucker can still see us. Perhaps he''s looking at me now.


    I am already waiting for an hour yet there''s still no sign of John. Not even a hint of his shadow, or his shadow''s shadow. I think he didn''t get the message. Well, it was worth the shot. I''ll go home now.


    "Hey." A familiar whisper made me shriek. He covered my lips in time before I could say a word.


    I looked at him. It''s John. He seemed level-headed now, and the fire in his eyes says we can talk. He put his forefinger to his lips, an obvious sign: I should shut the fuck up and stay still. I nodded. He lets go of his hands. I gasp as I let the air flow back into me.


    "He''s not here?" I asked, panting.


    "I''m not sure."


    "Am I safe?"


    "Does it matter?"


    "Yes."


    No. It doesn''t matter, I want to know. He doesn''t seem to care about whatever my answer is though. He starts searching for an item in his bag even before I said ''yes''. He took a smaller bag from within. He gestured for me to take it. I grabbed it. Then I opened it. And I took what''s inside.


    John Smith frightened the living shit out of me again.


    The first thing I saw inside are pictures of John. He is the only one in it. It''s a picture of him sleeping. I looked at the number of photos I took inside the bag. There''s so many, it''s like I''m looking at the pages of my English textbooks.


    Is this just a bunch of pictures of John sleeping in his room? That''s what I thought until I saw the twelfth photo.


    It''s a shirtless photo of John in his room.


    The photos after it are just him shirtless again. The one after it is John coming out of the bathroom, shirtless with a towel on his head.


    "Where did you find this?" I asked, shocked. I should run away now. Whatever this is, it''s not good. This is not a part of my plan. I''m getting too involved.


    "I always find those on my table every day. He leaves them there."


    "Wait. He has a way to enter your room?"


    "Looks like it." He said, diverting his gaze.


    "What do you mean ''looks like it''? Isn''t that dangerous? That''s trespassing!"


    "It bothered me. But this is happening for a long time now and I''m tired of it. I also did a lot of things to shoo him away. I am also tired of doing that."


    What did he mean ''for a long time''? Shoo him away? I don''t understand what he''s trying to say. What does he mean by ''tired of it''?


    "How long is this happening?" You don''t mean to tell me he''s able to endure this shit ''for a long time''?


    He remained quiet. So he''s giving me the silent treatment again, huh? And here I thought we finally have something going on. I looked for more photos when I heard John sigh.


    He hesitated. "Do you have questions?"


    "You can try answering the one I asked," I said with no hesitation.


    "Anything but that please."


    "Then I still have a lot," I grunted. Today is a tiring day. I can''t even pull out an Academy Award-winning performance to hide the real me. But at his point concealing my real personality is not of my concern. "How is he able to take these photos? Don''t tell me he has superpowers. Believe me, if you say that I will kick your nuts."


    John Smith took his backpack off of his shoulder to cover the lower half of his body.


    "Are you kidding me?"


    "I''m as clueless as you but how else can I explain this aside from superpowers? The only thing I knew of is that he took the photos from outside the window of my room. I don''t understand it too. That''s why I asked my dad to make my windows tinted."


    That means no more photos of him from outside the window, but I''m not even halfway through the pile of photographs he gave me. There''s more, there''s so much more!


    I turn from one photo to another with great haste. So far all the shots are taken from the window, taken from the window, taken from the window, then black, black, black, black, black. Five black photos!


    The sixth photo, however, is not black anymore. And my god, I wished it was instead. I dropped all the photos I''m holding after seeing that certain image.


    It''s a close-up photo of John in the bathroom showering.


    When all the photos dropped on the floor, I saw that there''s more of it. A photo of John naked in the bathroom, a photo of John naked on his bed, a photo of John naked on the bathtub, a photo of John naked inside of his closet crying, and a photo of John''s face with his tears all over his face.


    All of them are close-up shots taken in his room.


    He knelt and took all the scattered photos on the floor. He looked up at me with much sadness in his eyes.


    Still, after showing that saddened state of his he still smiled. But with the water in his eyes, I can see that his smile is false. "At first I thought someone was trying to sing me a song from the window. At first, I thought the snaps were kinda nice. I thought it sounded great."


    "Trying to sing you a song? I didn''t realize your stalker''s camera is a singer!" I made a sarcastic snort expressing my disbelief. "It''s just... I don''t understand! Someone is taking a picture of you and you think there''s something good about that? Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind?"


    He pauses for a moment. Since he''s kneeling as he tries to collect the scattered photos on the ground it''s impossible for me to see his face. I can''t decipher the look on his face but I can guess it''s not a pleasant one.


    "Tell me, John. Why are they doing this to you? I know someone who can help you!"


    He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "I deserve this."


    "Why?" I shouted. The stillness of our surroundings echoed my voice and it sends shivers through my body. "Did you do something, John?" I said, retaining my calmness.


    "No," The mild shaking of his voice gives me a hint that the crybaby is at it again.


    "Are you a part of any criminal associa-"


    "What, jeez, no! I''m innocent."


    "Then why? I don''t understand!"


    He chuckles. "No one understands." He laughed with tears bursting like a faucet from his eyes. "I should burn these photos."


    I stomped on the last picture on the floor John is about to take. The noise of my stilettos startled him. "Then explain it! Make me understand you!" I crunch my heel on the photo of John looking directly at the camera.


    He directs his mellow gaze up at me. I stare down at him with reddened eyes. We both stopped moving for a moment. The water in his eyes is no more. Sadness is absent from him. Conviction is what I see in the man kneeling in front of me.


    "Help!" He said, almost like a whisper.


    "I will," I said with confidence. "I promise."


    Laugh at me for even I can''t understand myself anymore. It''s not my style to risk myself for such a small reward. I should just abandon him. I''d do that if the circumstances were not as weird as this. Why am I keeping this thing up? I''m so confused. Of all the people in the world, it has to be John Smith who would make me rally up my mind like this.


    John texted me after we spoke, it was a quiet night, way too quiet for our neighborhood. Don''t ask me how he knew my number; I''m as surprised as you! What bugged me more is what he specified in his message. He told me he caught the perpetrator. And he''s standing in front of him. Attached to the message is a photograph of a bizarre-looking man. It''s so fucking ugly that it''s disgusting, inhuman even, face almost made me puke!


    In the photo, the man John believed to be his stalker is naked. He''s crouching but the way his feet blurs means it''s in motion. Compared to John''s lean body, the person in question covers himself with repulsive imperfections. Hair envelops his body, yet his small genital dangling between his feet is hairless. He''s crouching with a camera in his arms, so it''s easy to see the thick veins in his wispy limbs. He is thin but his stomach is so bloated, I thought it''s about to burst! His eyes are so deep beneath the dark circles around it I mistook it for a horrible make-up.


    Then there''s his smile, holy shit his smile.


    His saliva is dripping from his mouth, and his teeth are like the fangs of sharks! The length of his smile is from ear to ear. That''s right; his mouth starts from one ear to another turning his bald head into something like a scary Easter egg attached to a deformed human body. I can''t explain it but among everything hideous in his body, the one I noticed the most is his smile. Something about it bothered me.


    Ah, I get it now; I know why his face looks so wrong.


    He''s not smiling. The corners of his mouth are being stretched up forcing a smile to form. As if there is an invisible hook somewhere pulling his cheeks, forcing a smile. I can''t see his cheeks properly anymore because of how stretched his mouth is. His lips are chapped, his upper-lip is bleeding. And as I look into his eyes I can see, I am certain: Those eyes aren''t smiling.


    Those eyes possess no life, no light, no soul. Those eyes felt like it will pop off the screen to caress my skin. Those eyes. They look so bloated it''s inhuman. Yes, exactly. Inhuman. There''s no way those eyes are human''s.


    His body covered in hair. His genitalia completely exposed. His hands covered in veins. His mouth stretched wide. His eyes are that of dolls forcefully inserted into his eye sockets.


    I am speechless. Whatever this thing is, it''s definitely not John''s stalker. This is a monster!


    I replied to the text with a simple ''WTF'' showing my obvious disbelief to the photo. I''ll think of this as a joke.


    After seven minutes with no reply from John, I attempted to rest for the night. No good. After seeing that horrible image it''s unlikely for me to get a good night sleep. I turned from left to right but there''s no position possible that could lessen my discomfort. Or at least remove the memory of the picture from my brain.


    Then I heard my phone ring, it''s a call from John''s number. What kind of deranged shit is he going to pull out now?


    "Hello?"


    What answers me is panting, "What is it, John? It''s late, what are you calling me for?" I asked but he replied with more panting. What the fuck does he want?


    I noticed that he sounded like he''s running? "John, stop joking around or I swear I''ll... I''ll hang up." I was about to say I will bash his head if he continues doing this but that''s not cute. "John?"


    "Help!"


    The call ended with that whisper. I can already hear the beeping of my phone but I still shouted his name. I tried calling back. Nobody answered. I tried texting him. Nobody replied even after I sent about a hundred messages. I was so mad when a classmate called my number because I thought it was John. With both fear and anger in me, I threw my phone on the wall. I instantly regretted that decision when my phone stopped working after the shock. I stood up from the bed. Fidgeting with my arms on my forehead, I walked about trying to calm myself down. I shouldn''t have thrown my phone. I could''ve asked someone where John lives. There is so much bullshit in my head, I can''t find the time to relax.


    John Smith''s voice rings all over me and it feels as if on the dark corners of the room, John''s monster lurks, prowling around me. I wasn''t able to sleep that night.

 3 Emergence Illusion

    I was late for school the following day. I knew my instructor would mark me as absent anyway so I went straight to my office instead. I was expecting a quiet and lonely room but I''m welcomed with the sour faces of the members of the student council instead. In front of them is a faculty member uttering things I cannot hear from afar. They''re all clustered together like one of those shady back-alley transactors, whispering secrets among themselves, and I want in.


    "I want all of you to hear about this first before the principal formally announces it." She paused with her mouth open. She''s hesitating, or perhaps she''s trying to find a better way to articulate her sentence.


    I stared down at them as they speak among each other on the sofa, some members sitting on the floor, in front of the esteemed teacher, to properly hear what she has to say. I placed my bag on my table and quietly tiptoed towards the gathering. None seemed to acknowledge my already divine presence as I pace around at the back of the teacher. She continues to stutter the right thing to say, they continue to invalidate my ember.


    This is the first time I''ve seen these future dropouts looking so serious, what''s gotten into them? I''d expect a gigantic commotion from them,this is the first time I''ve been late since the dawn of my education. I don''t know, I think I deserve a better reception than them casually ignoring me. But whatever, it saves me from trying to make excuses for myself.


    I took my final step and idled myself in front of the gathering, towering my presence over the oblivious council members. I gazed down at every single one of them as I smile ever so gently at the back of the jittering teacher. I positioned myself in front of them with my hips on the right side, chest puffed out, and my hands firmly grasping my waist. With monstrous vigor, I tapped my left foot''s heel as I divert my gaze down letting myself heard if not seen.


    Sitting so nonchalantly yet none of them has got the decency to give me a seat at least? The sound of my heel hitting the hard, cold concrete floor of the architectural marvel that is the student council office, with all the cheap tiles and dirty beige wallpapers, vibrates all throughout the dusty corners of the darn place, probably making several spiders fall from their webs.


    The council members noticed my presence but none of them dared look up at me. Sweat piled up on their bodies and their skin turned pale but none of them seemed to mind the ever continuous tapping of my shoe as it grew louder and stronger along with the mumbling gibberish of the already forgotten faculty staff. I can already see them shake, look at each other in discomfort, utterly embarrassed that none of them took notice of their queen.


    Treason!


    "I know some of you are friends with a student named John Smith."


    The teacher''s voice took the rising tension on the room back to a bare minimum once again. Ah, yes, she was talking about something, and it damn well better be something important because I sure can fuck her license up if she''s actually just wasting my time.


    "Of course, ma''am; in fact, Ms. President is in the same class with him." Claire, my secretary whimpered, fixing her glasses. Of course, she would be the one to spill that fact, gossiping whore. Can''t she shut her mouth for a second?


    "That''s okay, miss," I patted the troubled teacher''s shoulder. She twitched her back and stared at me with eyes drowning in tears. "You don''t have to keep forcing yourself like that. Take a deep breath and calm yourself, we can be here all day."


    She took a deep breath, releasing her anxiety out of her nostrils; she managed to give a warm smile at me as she placed her soft, yet sweaty, palms on top of my hand. "I see." She gulped down her saliva. "We just heard terrible news from the police and his parents, you know, the boy I was talking about the uh, um this John Smith uh the John Smith he''s..." She took another deep breath followed by a sigh. She hesitated once again.


    "Quit with the hesitation, ma''am. Give it to us straight!" A male student council member broke the stillness of the room. I gotta admit I like this guy, bold and brash, the woman is obviously anxious but he''s not accepting any of that! It''s either his way or no ones''! I really can''t blame him; this woman is taking a long time to gather her thoughts.


    "I agree with Mr. Jason," fuck, is his name, Jason or Mason? Ah, whatever! "We''re not kids anymore, whatever it is we can take it as adults can." Just spit it out, we don''t need you here anymore!


    "To be very frank with you, children, the faculty just heard about it moments ago." Fucking hell, really? The bitch is stalling again, are you serious? "Your classmate and your dear friend he''s... He''s found dead. He was uhm... found on the road, what''s it called...? Anyway, the one near our school. Mr. John Smith is..." She teared up before she could finish her statement.


    So that''s why she''s stalling.


    The room turned silent, all of them bowed down, some even cried, others closed their eyes. Wait, this is impossible! First, why are they sad! John Smith has no friends to weep for him. If you can see me now, you''ll know I am not buying any of this. I talked to him last night! I yelled at them in disbelief, there is no way they''re serious! But it was all over the news. The teacher even attempted to call the police to explain the situation. That is when I accepted his death.


    Huh?


    I talked with him last night on the phone!


    John Smith is not alive anymore.


    But he was well when we were talking last night.


    John Smith is already being mourned.


    Is that why he begged for my help?


    John Smith is no more.


    I can''t believe this.


    John Smith is dead.


    They don''t understand why I''m overreacting like this. But with the way I am handling this situation, showing my shock on my face is their cue they should give me some space. What is going on? This is happening way too fast. What about the stalker who keeps photographing him? Is he the one responsible for all this? What about John''s family? Am I the only one who knows this? What about the picture he sent me? Is that really him? There''s no way this is a coincidence!


    What am I going to do?


    I am not even his friend, yet I''m the only who comes close enough to be his friend here. And I couldn''t save him. I still can''t believe this is not a prank.


    Why is this happening now when I am about to be his friend!


    Police found his body on the highway this morning. News said he''s in such a terrible state that the mere thought of his corpse made my four-eyed secretary weep. I searched for my phone so I can check the headlines online. Fuck, I forgot that I threw it on the wall! I walked out of the office without a word. Someone tried to stop me but I could care less about him. I went straight to the computer room with tears dropping down my eyes every step I take.


    The professor said little about it, but the internet said a lot. It sounded lazy, but it was my only chance of knowing the truth. If I''ll never understand what tormented John, at least let me know how he died! I opened a computer. I bite my fingernails. Waiting for it to load has never been this stressful.


    I took almost an hour finding it but there it is! I found a thread in 4chan that told me all I need to know about John''s death. The last thing I expected to see is an image of his body. I closed my eyes disgusted, unnerved that I can see this online. No doubt about it, the man in the image is my classmate, John Smith.


    I skim through the thread with my hands covering my lips. I was about to throw up after the first comment, but I must not stop. There''s no way I''d give up on him now. I closed my eyes and reviewed what I know. He has no more limbs when the authorities found his body. What bothered me more is how well they described the mutilation. The weapon used was a saw; I didn''t ponder more into it. But there''s no blood in the crime scene. I stopped scrolling as I felt my palm sweating.


    It was even noted that there''s a huge hole in his stomach, burning his intestines. Their theory is the victim swallowed a bomb cindering his body. No one knows about the police''s autopsy report about the hole in his stomach so no one could say for certain what happened to him. But it doesn''t end there. After that suffering, John had to go through, the perpetrator scourge. So that''s why his skin is red and violet in the image. Fuck, I remembered it again! It''s so distressing but I can''t help myself from being disgusted by it. They left him like that in the middle of nowhere.


    The bizarre part about his body, aside from the torture he went through, is his head. It was cold as if it''s frozen and it''s unharmed. Signs of **** are present in his body. I was about to throw up reading the information regarding the sexual assault done to the body so I dwelt little into it. However, I saw something I will never ever forget in my entire life. The most horrible part of this entire murder case. Do you want to hear the worst part of the story?


    John Smith is already dead when the **** happened.


    I stare blankly at the computer monitor with my mouth wide open. This is the first time I''ve seen something like this! I felt like I want to puke from reading all of these... these... disgusting information! But I can''t believe even knowing this I still can''t cry for John. I want to but I can''t.


    No. It makes me tear up, but the tears are just not flowing.


    I lay in bed and contemplated. Why am I not crying? Is this how loathsome I am? Is this the heartless bastard I''ve become? Sure, John Smith and I are not friends; we don''t even know each other. I''m just looking at him, always looking ever since we were children but here I am still not crying and I don''t know why.


    I''ve thought long and hard. When my brain realized that what I''m doing is useless I fell asleep. I woke up early which is surprising considering how late I fell asleep, wait, what time did I even slept? I don''t know anymore, I''m so confused. What if none of this is real? If this is all just a terrible dream, I could do it all over again. If I have the chance to Ctrl Z time, the first thing I''d do is leave John alone.


    Perhaps if I never talked to him, I wouldn''t be feeling this hallowed emptiness inside of me.


    I would go straight to the bathroom now I''m awake, but I''m just lying on the bed with my eyes wide open, looking at the ceiling but nothing ever comes inside my head. It seems like the white paint on my ceiling is changing colors, the dirt is crawling, swirling above like worms and snakes.


    "What are you afraid of, Margaux?" A familiar voice rang in my left ear.


    "John?" I said still looking at the swirling dirt on my ceiling.


    "Are you afraid of the monsters?"


    "No, I''m not."


    "Then what are you afraid of, Margaux?" The familiar voice continues to whisper but this time in my right ear.


    "I''m not afraid, John."


    "Are you afraid of ghosts, Margaux?"


    "I''m not afraid of ghosts, I''m not afraid of any of those. They are not real." I said still looking, unblinking, on the swirling dirt on my ceiling.


    Then the random swirling turned baleful as it moves with greater precision. The blackened dirt in my white ceiling swirls like snakes and worms to form a... face?


    Like a painter swirling a black pigment into a canvas, the dirt in my ceiling formed into something different. It turned into the face of a man with his eyes closed. The face of a man I''m familiar with. I could see the dirt forming into his messy hair and even his sunken eyeballs on his eye bags.


    "John? What are you doing in my ceiling?"


    John''s face made of black dirt in my white ceiling moved like a fast roulette coming down towards me.


    "What are you afraid of, Margaux?"


    "I''m not afraid of your monsters, John."


    "That is not an answer."


    I said nothing.


    John''s face comes closer and closer to me. "Are you delicious, Margaux?" He then licks my chin like a child licking a lollipop. John licks from my chin towards my left cheek. "What are you afraid of, Margaux?" John''s face made of dirt said.


    "I''m afraid of you."


    "Margaux." John''s face made of dirt whispers while licking my chin.


    "What?"


    "Margaux." John''s face made of dirt said.


    "What?"


    "Margaux!" John''s face made of dirt shouted.


    "What!?"


    "MARGAUX!"


    "What is it, mom?" I said looking at my mom standing in the doorway.


    "How many times do I have to call you? What do your time do you think it is? You''re already late! God, look at hideous you are! Wipe the spit off your face and eat your breakfast."


    "Okay, okay, god, you don''t have to be so loud in the morning."


    "Also, your father bought you a new phone! He said your old one was not working anymore, my goodness, you don''t know just how lucky you are to have this kind of technology! When I was your age-"


    "I get, I get it! Okay! I''m awake now! Jeez, mom!" I said as I walk past her.


    "Oh, you will not sass me when you''re living here under my roof!"


    I carried on straight to the shower room. I guess I have to wipe the spit off my face first.


    "What the hell is this?" I whispered looking at the black spot on my cheek and some on my chin. Is this... dirt? Why the hell do I have dirt on my face? Oh, what the fuck, maybe it''s just something in my pillow. Mom would clean it later, or not. She''d yell at me to do it myself later.


    I was about to open the shower when I saw my door is ajar. Didn''t I close that? I walked towards the door, leaving the shower half open. Gosh, so glad this is not a public restroom. I pulled it closed and locked the door.


    Just ignore them all.


    I opened the shower and let the water flow on my body.


    Just ignore them all.


    I closed my eyes and rinse my body with soap.


    Just ignore them all.


    "Why are you afraid of me, Margaux?"


    I screamed! Who the fuck was that? What the hell was that? Who was that? I gasped as I look around the shower, no one''s here, it''s just me. Someone whispered in my ear, I''m sure! I heard somebody and no one in the world could ever say otherwise. Or am I going mad? I looked around as I gasp. I''m finding it hard to breathe.


    "Are you okay, honey?" My mom said, knocking on the door.


    "Yeah, uh, no, I''m fine," I said, breathing in each syllable. "There''s just this, thing, unh, I tripped, it''s nothing, I''m okay!"


    My mom pondered no longer after telling me to be careful. I washed the soap off my body and left as fast as I can. My mind is stopping itself from processing, it threw me into this trance of blackness. I didn''t even use a shampoo or a conditioner, nothing. This hard pounding in my chest won''t let me. I want to disappear from that place.


    I went towards my bathroom again after wearing my uniform. Maybe someone''s inside but I''m too stumped to find him. Whoever he is, he picked the wrong fucking target because if I caught a glimpse of him I will bash him with my dad''s wooden bat!


    I pushed the door open. I didn''t even close the lights inside.


    There''s no one inside. In fact, there''s nothing weird at all. It''s just the same old bathroom. I felt like I threw a ton of weight off my chest. I sighed with relief and chuckled.


    "What am I, twelve?" I laughed.


    I''m relieved that no one is there. But I''m much more relieved that I''m able to close the lights or else my mom would erupt like Krakatoa again.


    I came late to school again. I feel heavy and bloated. And then there''s that whisper thing in the shower. Today is just not my day. I''m lucky the teacher in the first period is not attending our class. I know because I''ll be the first person they''ll inform if they won''t be coming. So no one''s mad that I''m late, they''re surprised though.


    "Are you okay Steph?" A classmate of mine asked with an obvious fake concern.


    "Yes, thank you."


    He''s still speaking but I can''t hear him anymore. As he spoke more about his life, or whatever it is he''s talking about, a slight vibration inside of my bag caught my attention. It was a text message. But this is a new phone! Who''s texting me? Is this my mom? No, this is not her number, who the hell is this then?


    I opened the text message with much hesitation. There''s a picture attached to it.


    Wait.


    This is me. This is a photo of me sitting right here in this spot!


    "What?" What the fuck is going on?


    My heart raced. I could even see my classmate standing next to me in the image. It''s not just a recent photo; it''s taken seconds before this moment. I covered my lips with my hands. The picture made my stomach turn, and it gave me this unfathomable angst. I peeked at the guy beside me. He didn''t seem to see what''s on my phone. I turned my gaze to the window. There is nothing there but the blue sky.


    My head is turning. What is going on? I can feel the ice cold sweat dripping through my body. Everything froze, except for my trembling hands. I didn''t even realize it but I''m already biting my fingernails.


    I looked outside once again. No one? No one at all! There is nobody who could take this photo. What the fuck is happening? I looked around and everybody is minding their own businesses. If someone did take this photo he''s not there anymore. Or maybe he''s hiding? Perhaps he''s hiding beneath the walls? Hah, but that''s impossible! We''re on the second floor, there''s no way he could be hanging there, right?


    Unless he does have a... No, impossible! I refuse to believe that such sorcery is the reason behind his feats! There has to be an explanation to all these! Maybe this impudent apparition-esque malevolence is actually a classmate of ours?


    But if that''s the case then who is the monster John texted me the night he died? Then my theory that this malignant entity is a part of us is already debunked. Unless John lied to me, which is not out of the question.


    I reverted my gaze back to my phone again. There are more photos in it. It scared me. I don''t want to see it but my finger continued scrolling. I want to stop, but I can''t. This is the reason John died because I did not stop. I need to stop, but I didn''t. Something inside of me shouts, and it says I shouldn''t do this anymore, but I''m still not stopping. I realize that what comes after my stolen shot are more photographs of printed words underlined by a ball pen. Is this what I think it is?


    I''ve closed my eyes as I read the words in the photos.


    Meet. Me. Bathroom. After. Class. Tell. Me. Everything.


    I know what will happen next. John showed it. And he died doing so. I would behave like a living corpse and no one would understand why. If I inform the police about these, what would they do? What did John do? What am I supposed to do? Is this what he felt when it happened to him? The sound of my heart thumping over and over again made me nauseous. It pounds my bosom, punching it until it leaves a hollowed mark in my chest, giving me these dreadful goosebumps.


    I cried. I wanted to be famous. Not like this, not like this. For the first time, I mustered the courage to cry. Everybody in the class saw me, my fake classmate comforted me.


    I cried. The face I''m making is horrible and everyone could see it.


    I cried. My whaling almost made me throw up.


    My name is Margaux Stephanie Barnes. I am the president of the student council. John Smith is my polar opposite. However, John Smith and I are the same. I am dancing in the palm of an invisible force as did he. This is a problem for me, and no one seems to understand how serious this is.


    I don''t know what I was thinking, but I threw my phone to the ground, crush it with my feet. I can feel my sweat drip as I stomp on my already broken phone. As the cold dampness chills my nerves, hot pathos desecrates my body. Glass shards are all over the floor almost bruising me. The concerned whispers of those around me halt my movements. I shake as I see eyes piercing me with their looks of prejudice. Everybody saw me. They would talk about how crazy I was. People will call out my name! Wait, isn''t this great? This means I am famous!


    Margaux Stephanie Barnes, president!


    Then I heard it. A snap, a flicker, it''s so sudden but I am certain. That flickering rings in my ear. It came from the window, I''m sure. Then the whirring is now coming from every direction. I can feel it snapping and snapping and snapping and snapping over and over and over and over again everywhere! I hear it as if a requiem, a sorrowful serenade lures my sweet sanity away from my body. It''s clicking from all around me, a spiteful symphony. The origin of the sound is reaching out to me, but I don''t know where it is. Somehow it draws me towards it and rejects me at the same time!


    I pressed my hands on my head as if I''m crushing my brains out. My eyes are wide open like it''s about to pop. I shiver in the noise of my classmate''s murmurs. The distress of the moment makes me wrinkle my nose up. My lip stretched and curled up. The sounds of the flickering snaps made my eyebrows move up and down. Fear and disgust swallow my soul as I''ve come to terms with the sorrow of futility. Then I laugh with my tongue out, I can almost taste my tears.


    Help me, please! Anyone! You! Yes, I''m talking to you! Can''t you see me? Can''t you hear my voice? Help me please I''m begging you to help me please you need to stop this I''m begging you with everything I can don''t let what happened to John happen to me too please I beg you please I beg you please I beg you please I beg you please I beg you please I beg you!


    "Nothing will happen if you keep whoring like that."


    "John? I can''t believe it! John Smith!? You''re alive?"


    "There are only three of us here now. Look around. The room is empty; isn''t it convenient how you can just remove them like that so casually? I mean, COME ON, right?"


    "You''re not John, who are you?"


    "I gotta say though, this body is just amazing! Strong, flexible, attractive; I can do a lot of great things with this body! Not to mention the memories I''ve got with it too, they''re all amazing! So entertaining!"


    "What is happening? This feels weird, who are you? What do you want? Why do you like John?"


    "But your body in the other hand, it''s better, it''s just better! It''s the best, magnificent; it''s beautiful, how are you so beautiful? It is perfect! You''re so perfect! This body is the best specimen ever! It never breaks, it never molds, I''ve never seen something quite like it before! You''re a masterpiece! I want it!"


    "Answer my question god fucking damn it! Do I look like I''m joking? Who are you? What did you do with my classmates? Why do you look exactly like John!?"


    "I assure you this will happen again. As much as I love this body there are so, so, so, so much more for me to see and to use and to just OH! Thinking about it just makes me UGH! This will happen again and believe me when I say you and your little circus party won''t stop me. Sorry!"


    "Jesus, fucking Christ, you even have John''s mole on his neck. What kind of fucked up shit are you pulling in my head right now? If you''re trying to OD me let me tell you I''m-"


    "IT DOESN''T MATTER! It all doesn''t matter! Soon this guy will expire who cares if I look like him now, I don''t fucking care about him! But you, oh lady, your body is perfect! IT''S THE PERFECT FIT FOR ME! But I''ll save you for last until I got all the fun in the world!"


    "What are you going to do to me?"


    "After this everything will be gone. This room, the chairs, the tables, the floor, the building, the terrain, the everything! And it will be just the two of us, not even that asshole right there listening to our conversation can stop us!"


    "Wait, you''re still here? What are you doing here? Are you working with him? I can''t believe you!"


    "It doesn''t matter! It will all be gone! It will be like a dream, I''ll take you to a dream, but it''s all real, it''s going to be the best dream you''ll ever have! And when you open your eyes our creation is going to be set in motion! And I assure you, Margaux Stephanie Barnes, that after this conversation no one will be bothering you! Absolutely no one will touch you, your body will remain undefiled forever in my care, and nothing could ever make that body mine other than me!"


    "What are you doing? Get back! Get away from me! Get your fucking hands off my head!"


    "And maybe we should change that name too. It''s fucking awful! I will keep watching you and when the time comes for me to claim your body I will be there."


    "STOP!"


    "The world will change to our liking! We will delete the ugly ones if it needs to be!"


    When I opened my eyes the only thing I can remember is the noise of glass cracking and the image of our walls disintegrating. Where am I?


    "Oh, baby! You''re back! You''re back!" I hear my mother cry as she embraces me, pulling my entire body towards hers as tightly as she can.


    I''ve been sleeping in this hospital for two months, apparently. Everybody says I collapsed, nobody knows what exactly was happening back then. They said it all happened too fast. All of them said the same thing: I went nuts, I screamed everywhere, I went out to the hallway, banged my head once on the bathroom walls; then, with my bloodied forehead, I went and chew a pamphlet from the garbage can, cried on a cramped dark alley, ran all over the hallways once again, and then finally collapsing in the student council office.


    I cannot remember any of this from ever happening to me. I feel so blank, so empty like I''m a pot but all the water in me went past the boiling point and evaporated somewhere in the vast blue skies. It''s all too scary to think about, but not for long. After a few weeks, I was permitted to leave the hospital and continue my already awfully late school life in my humble all-girls academy.


    I went straight to the office as usual. I was welcomed by Lex, my secretary since the first day I was elected as student council president. I heard she did all the work for me while I was gone, though I appreciate what she has done for the committee I still feel bad she''d gone through all that because I was away. She''s an extremely reliable secretary, I''m not afraid to say I am very proud for having her.


    "Miss President here are the documents you need to finish for today, I would also like to speak with you later about our recent success in bringing forth more trash bins throughout the campus."


    "Good. Thank you. Are there any unrelated things I need to go through first before I proceed to the documents?"


    "None at all, president, if there will be one for today I''ll bring it on the left side of your desk."


    "Good. Thank you, you may leave now."


    "Then I''ll be leaving you now."


    As Lex elegantly walks towards the exit a thought went through my head. "Lex?" I called out in a tone similar to that of the skies roaring thunderstorms to disturb the calm seas. "Can you say my name for me?"


    "Your name? Um¡­ Ashle-" She hesitated. "I''m sorry, Miss President but I am not permitted to do that in your office."


    I snickered while reading and writing through numerous paperwork torturing me on my first day, "Good. Also, I change my mind. You may stay here and sit anywhere you like. I''m done with the documents in a few minutes, wait for me instead. Let''s go to class together."


    Lex''s face flustered like a cherry popping beneath a spoon. "President I¡­ thank you. We still have a lot of time before class anyway."


    I did not reply. I can see Lex skimming through books as I skim through boring and poorly written proposals and business letters. I stood up quietly after rejecting the final document. I walked past Lex who is already preparing her bag to leave alongside me. We walk in silence as the girls around us smile and whisper among themselves songs of praise and envy for our unrivaled beauty.


    Until someone caught my attention.


    "Who is that girl sitting by the oak tree?"


    "Oh, her? I''m not sure too, really. She''s the transfer student, she transferred while you''re hospitalized, president. I think she''s in your class. She doesn''t really stand out much."


    I squinted my eyes and raised an eyebrow, "You don''t say."


    "To be honest, I wish I can talk to her sometimes. I think she needs counseling, the council might¡­" I think Lex continued speaking after this but I mostly filtered her words out of my brain as I analyze every bit of frame and information I can gather from her by staring at her till she drops.


    The way he behaves like a living corpse makes it feel as if she truly is an undead creature disguised among us. I don''t understand this transfer student. She doesn''t seem to be the stupid type, and she doesn''t appear to be bullied by anybody. In fact, most of the people around her seem to be trying to approach and befriend her. She avoids people for no clear reason as if we''re transparent! She sits there by the oak tree, listening to other people passing by, unmoving and mute.


    One student in my class is dead and it''s bothering me.

 4 Some Days are Not Foggy

    I always wanted to be a city girl.


    Living in the city and having a great time in an apartment across the flickering lights of the streets. Dreams like this were nice until I realized that I live in the mountains and my house is in the middle of nowhere. Don''t get me wrong, I love living here. Eating freshly picked vegetables and drinking the highest grade of dairy I''ve ever tasted in my life is the best! Everything is a countryside paradise until someone started bothering me. Every time I look down from the window of my room, I sense someone looking straight up at me. I can see them, not clearly but they are there. A dark figure, hidden behind a curtain of fog. I can''t explain why but I know they''re looking straight right through me although their face remains unseen. Here in the suburbs, it''s always foggy. One may never know what some people want or who they are or if they''re even real; needless to say, having someone looking up to you while your home resides in the middle of nowhere is a bit disconcerting.


    I never suspected anybody in my neighborhood to be the culprit, not even once! All of them are great people, they''re all friendly, and they''re all amazing needless to say. Believe me, this place is all smiles! I am confident that whoever this person is, they are not from around here. No one would have the time to be spending most of their mornings looking up at me every day without a hint of stopping. I leave my home to do some work on my relative''s farm and I come home when the darkness of the night covers the entirety of the mountains. I can only check every morning but every time I do, they are always there: the dark silhouette staring at me hiding behind the comfort of his fog. I felt awkward to ask my neighbors about this matter. Not to mention, I don''t have the same confidence as those people in the city. I mean, jeez, I want some answers but I don''t have the strength to battle the anxiety needed to unravel it. I had no idea who they are but they made me shiver. Which is oddly comforting with me, I can''t see them thoroughly after all. They do not seem to harm me anyway, maybe they are just a shy suitor! Anyway, I can only work out their silhouette. All thanks to the thick fog here.


    However, some days are not foggy.


    One day, I was rendered speechless as I look down the window, terrified, but I know a huge chunk of me is excited. The fog has lifted. The fog is nowhere to be seen. The mountains strip itself with its satin draped frame. And, alas, after all this time I can finally see the face of the person dedicated enough to be looking at me every day! I ran towards my window and stuck my head out of it, expecting that the man is there to serenade me oh so sweetly. Oh, how naive I realized I was when the fogs have lifted. I was horrified to see a decomposing corpse stuck in a log with a stake in his stomach. I remembered how mortified I was when I saw maggots crawling from inside of his eyes. I was utterly speechless when I saw that there was no more blood in his body for it''s all already smothered in the soil. It bewildered me so to see mosquitoes flying all around him. The thing that impressed me was that I was able to look at it for a solid minute before I can respond from the situation at hand. I screamed, all I can do is scream.


    I can still hear my breathing and my voice fused together as I ran towards the telephone to call the local authorities. I could still feel the adrenaline in my body when they asked me to hide under the bed. I remembered how my blood rises when I saw lights colored red and blue shone from the distance like in the movies. The hasty movement of the blood in my skin remains in my heart when I heard the siren rang from afar. Up until now, I still don''t know what to answer when they asked me how come I never noticed anything. The person has been dead for months, his corpse has been decomposing a few meters away from my home. How can I explain that I did not even remotely realize nor smell the corpse? So much uncertain in me. I know I''m supposed to feel cornered with a hint of vertigo swirling my head all over the place... But I feel nothing but a strange wave of euphoria.Is this how it feels like to live in the city? You will experience moments of your life where your sagacity gets tested every day? I wish this excitement! I wish to be in the city! Is this rush of blood what the city-folks feel?


    How I wish that every day is not foggy.

 5 Thursday, 3:34 am

    Every Thursday at 3:34 am I always hear a parade outside of my home. A parade of death, not for me, but for my sweet relationship with my bed and my dreams.


    It''s hard to explain. There is a huge number of people and they always chant their eerie song, and without fail, they will always appear every Thursday at 3:34 am. There is no rest day for them, nor a break, always in time with the schedule. They will be there. The chants they perform weekly will be sung. And the parade-goers will be in an uncanny, perfect unison and not even once will any of them miss a mark.


    The saddest thing about this is how I am not doing anything but shiver on my bed and cover my ears in fear of the sound they make.


    I don''t know why but it feels like their voices and their melody is a binding rope that entraps me within the confines of my own fear. This parade that would go on for about half a minute outside of my home and like a helpless child, I won''t be able to do anything, not even a protest or a complaint. Funny enough, this is the first time I acknowledged this to myself. This utter weakness to defy their Thursday torture.


    My room is on the first floor and my bed is next to a window. My house is beside the sidewalk so I can hear and see anyone who would walk on them as I lie down the bed. I purposely made it like this for I enjoy observing people. It gives me ideas, a new perspective, a bizarre sort of hobby. Furthermore, doing this always cures my writer''s block. Whenever I need new ideas, the window would give it to me.


    Can you see now why this is such a problem for me? It''s impossible for me not to hear the sinister chanting of their morning parade. For almost seven months, I''ve been hearing them to the point of memorizing the flow of their chant. It begins with a high pitched tone, followed by a booming sound from the men in the back, a mellow humming from the women in front, and it will all end differently each week. This week it ends with them humming the rhythm of The Prayer.


    I know what you''re thinking, why don''t I move my bed away from the window instead of complaining? That''s a good question and a reasonable advice. I do thank you, but I won''t do that. Maybe it''s just my ridiculous stubbornness but ever since I was a child, I''ve been sleeping near a window. The nostalgia I get every time I sleep next to a window, although I get the visit from the ominous parade, is enough for me to stay. Call me silly, but my decision is mine to make.


    Instead of doing something reasonable, I would cover myself with a blanket as I sleep. I say that word loosely for I never get enough sleep these days. I''d want to blame them but that would be stupid of me to leave my irrational logic of the picture.


    My blanket became my shield. They won''t see me from the outside and I won''t see them from the inside. My conundrum now is how their loud chanting wakes my precious sleep without fail. This is undoubtedly a huge hassle. I would shout at them, get mad, get angry, rampage on the streets, and cause a scene until they stop appearing if the circumstances are normal.


    But there is nothing normal in any of this. There has to be something supernatural involved in my hesitation to act! But I don''t know how to justify these claims.


    Every time I hear them coming, my body stops moving. I am paralyzed by their song. Or perhaps it''s because my fear nails me down my bed, with my eyes wide open. I feel my body trembling, my feet getting weak; as if my soul itself is being sucked by this enigma. Perhaps the thought of losing the walls dividing us is enough to pin me down.


    Come to think of it, it''s been a while since they begun. Seven months is not something to underestimate. The commitment of these people to this parade is overwhelming! But for what purpose? At first, I thought it was a ritual but I was too tired to check back then. When it happened for a second time the next week I couldn''t handle it anymore. Not because it''s annoying but because it leaves me trembling in fear. I buried my face in my pillow every time I sleep on Wednesday evenings since then.


    I grew so tired of them I cursed Thursday mornings. All because of their loud, obnoxious chanting.


    Obnoxious, I''d say. But is it really?


    Their chants are not at all creepy, it''s not even annoying. If it is a ritual then it sounds nothing like a prayer or a sutra. In fact, it kinda resembles the rhythm of a pop song. The melody of the song is upbeat but I find it disturbing tune melancholic. The vibration of their voice, the perfect sync of the singers involves, and the eerie aura it gives off every time I hear it. Its a unison of people whispering that creates a shout!


    When the sound of their chant enters my ear I can feel the hair on my nape rise. I can hear noises outside coming from their song but my room remains silent and still, not even an echo can be heard. It feels as if the sound comes only from the outside and nothing from the inside, nothing at all. Not even creaking or thudding, not even the sound of the wind or ringing of silence. My room is just filled with deafening silence!


    The window is closed, there is no ventilation inside but I can feel cold breeze touching my skin like a raspy hand of an old enemy. It feels as if the people responsible for this parade trapped the morning breeze inside of my room and it''s making me freeze to death every time they come. Every time they chant I feel like I''m in a soundproof freezer. The air will turn heavy, so heavy I can''t bear it. Every time I try to inhale it turns into a wheeze. I feel like I''m begging nature to give me air like a deranged drug addict.


    It''s so weird, I always hear them but I still can''t decipher what they''re trying to say. It''s not English, but I believe it''s a Western language, I''m not sure. The language is just so weird. It''s like a mix of German, Spanish, and maybe... Dutch? The articulation seems to change every word as if their mixing all these different languages together.


    Not to mention it sounds a little bit muffled, it''s almost impossible to understand. Their voices synchronized together to create a symphony of fear in my trembling body. Do you know the sound you hear when you''re discussing with the person from the room next to you? Or the sound you hear when you''re talking with your friend at a Halloween party and he''s wearing a Guy Faux costume?


    That''s why I always imagine them to be wearing masks of some sort. Thinking that way heightened the fear to a certain degree. It feels as if their voices crawls inside of me, drilling through my nerves, and punching my heart until it breaks my ribcage.


    One day I decided that I am tired of it. The chanting, the morning hassles; I am tired of feeling my demons right beside me. As I pull all the remaining courage that may or may not exist in my system, I decided the only way to put an end to it is to face them head-on. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and waited for them to appear. Facing my fear, I sat on my bed gazing at the window with a watch on my wrist as I wait for thirty to turn into thirty-four.


    That was the stupidest decision of my life.


    I saw it. There are at least forty people there.


    They all wear the same green clothes and they all have the same hairstyle, undercut. I was also wrong, they are not wearing masks. No, it was so much worse than a mask. Their eyes shut and they are all grinning in a menacing way while they continued chanting. Chanting that turned muffled because their face looks disfigured. I mean, their faces its... their smile, everything about it is so weird. As if something, an invisible entity is stretching their cheeks to form the vilest smile I''ve ever seen.


    It seems like an invisible hand is pulling the skin of their faces from side to side.


    Have you tried stretching your lips while singing a song? That''s how they sound like! Pair that with an ominous chant and you got yourself a recipe for a perfect harbinger of fear!


    It would have been nice if that''s the end of it.


    They pass by slowly. Very, oh so very slowly. One small, very small step at a time. Small baby steps every half a minute or so. And the direction of their gazes pointed in one direction.


    They are all looking at me.


    I''ve realized that their eyes are not closed contrary to what I believed. No, their faces are so stretched from every side that their eyes seemed shut. I''m certain because I''ve seen how they try to open their eyes in vain. They''re forcefully trying to open their eyes to get a clear image of what I look like. I can feel it in the way their head locked in my direction but their bodies remained still. It''s so extreme, some of them would probably snap their heads just to lock their eyes at me.


    It''s terrifying. Their glares are a terrifying shade of red. Their eyes... I thought its bleeding! It''s not like a stoner''s eyes. Their eyes look as if they envelop it with their own blood.


    They caught me in their spell once again. I cannot move. I sat there looking at them look at me with their distorted faces. I sat there with my jaw dropped and my mouth wide open as I see them pointing at me as they chant their song. It feels as if their judging me with their half-open eyes and the only thing I could do is sit there paralyzed as I look at their heads turn just to look at me. I''m feeling nauseous, I want to run away but I can''t.


    I''m stuck.


    I could not stand it any longer.


    By the time the parade ended I rushed out of my room. I couldn''t help myself but puke. I wasn''t even able to reach the bathroom and vomited in the living room. It was already 3:51 am when I realized that my carpet is now filled with disgusting excrement.


    An hour later I decided that its time I stop using my room on the first floor. Maybe I won''t be able to see them if I move upstairs. Heck, I bet I wouldn''t even hear them once I''m up there.


    I used the smaller room upstairs and use it as my new room. That room is supposed to be a guest room because I don''t like using it, but the trauma those people brought me is enough for me to use it anyway. That morning just snapped me off my misery. At least I still have a window here.


    It was already Monday when I finished moving my things. I asked my neighbors if their aware of this people and they all just looked at me, confused, others even laughed. They don''t believe every word I said. One of my neighbors even said she''s always awake at 3 am and never had she seen such a ludicrous thing ever happened in our neighborhood. My other neighbor even joked that maybe I''m just reading too many horror books.


    I guess it sounds like a story to scare off children. But then what did I saw that morning? Or the things I''ve been hearing for the past seven months? Or the uneasy feeling I have every time they come.


    Am I going insane?


    I contemplated that and as I do so I fell asleep.


    I woke up hearing people murmuring outside. When I opened my eyes I saw the same people in the parade with their stretched faces clamoring in my window as if their trying to barge in. They all push forward; their faces almost get flattened in my window. They laugh with intense vigor, their spit staining the glass, their teeth scratching the surface. The horrid men all pushed forward but not with their body, or their hands, or their feet. They''re pushing forward through my window using their faces.


    I look at them with fear, and not a hint of anger or happiness. The one in front of me looked me in the eyes and laughed louder as he pushed his face harder on my window. I can see their nose gets flattened until the bridges of their nose breaks. I don''t want this. I just want to be left alone, I just want to have some peaceful sleep in my own god damn fucking room! What is this? Why is this happening to me? Why me?


    "Take her. I want all her memories shredded." I heard a muffled voice say from a distance.


    I screamed as I hear my window crack.

 6 The Train Ride They Only Know

    If you open this box, the wish of your companion will come true.


    That''s what They told us. No introduction, no ransom deals, no theatricals. A simple instruction, a single sentence, an order, a holy grail. However, I hate that simple rule. After all, my wish is not my command, it''s hers.


    Do I want this deal?


    Will she open the box if I agreed to this?


    Do I have a choice?


    "Trust me, you''d want to open that box." The person in front of me said in a condescending tone.


    "Is that what you want? You get to win?"


    "I want both of us leaving this place as winners. You''ll even get what you want if you believe in me." She said, tapping her fingernails on the table.


    "You don''t even know what I want..." I paused, squinting my eyes. "... Annie." If that is even her real name.


    She snickered. I could see her smugness taking the form of an aura enveloping her. This lady is nothing but trouble. Never in my life did I imagine associating with someone as troublesome as her.


    "This is not a gamble..." She looked at me from the head downwards. "... Ila." This is a gift! I''m giving you what you want right now."


    "And what do you want, Annie?"


    "Uhh, I dunno. I can wish for a Rolex inside of a Gucci handbag to drop on your head. I get the laughs from seeing your face, you get a Gucci and a Rolex! I say fair trade!"


    "You expect me to buy that?" I snarled.


    "It''s a joke, jeez, Ila! Lighten up, there''s no use going Mommy Dearest right now. We''re trapped, so what!? Quit whining about it!"


    "We''re not supposed to treat this as a joke, Annie!"


    "Why are you so mad? Fine, I''d wish instead to get out of here. I wish you''d get to have two hot studs escort you home and you can do whatever you want with them until you''re satisfied!"


    I rolled my eyes and rest my head on my palm. "Just shut up," I whispered.


    "Damn, lady. My first week in the city and I get stuck with you? Ugh, I knew I should have asked for directions."


    I can see you''re getting confused. Don''t worry, I understand, I am at a loss too. What I remembered is as I was going home from work I felt a sudden urge to piss. I pissed on the mall''s bathroom and that''s supposed to be the end of a normal day; a typical scene after working my ass off, right? But I messed up real hard at that moment. And I''m aware of my faults.


    The story goes as usual: I saw a curious little writing while pissing, nothing serious. In fact, it''s one of those prank hookup phone numbers. ''Want to have a good time? Call this number xxxxxxxx'' or whatever it was, you get the point. Bottom line is someone vandalized a wall with a black permanent marker and an awful handwriting. But that''s not the weird part.


    That graffiti... it was extraordinary. I sensed something, a soul, the beating of a heart, beneath those letters are proof of life. The dirt-stained writings declare my name, ordering me to hit those digits up, forcing me to be its slave. Among the doodles of genitals and speeches of angst written on the walls of that decrypt toilet, this statement is the sole mark that entrapped my mind. For a moment, I was a blank mess and the words are the strings, assuming full dominion over my body.


    I dare say its sorcery.


    Then I wondered, I have a phone I seldom use for its intended purposes. A call or two won''t hurt anybody. I wasn''t manipulated by anyone when I pressed the ''dial'' button. I''m not surprised if I was though. With this mess I got myself into, I''d believe whatever you''d tell me.


    I phoned the number. It rang thrice. A metallic voice answered. One that''s similar to a software-generated human sound in a terrible YouTube video.


    "Congratulations."


    After that single word, my phone swallowed me. But it didn''t suck me in like a low-quality CG wormhole and throw me to a different dimension. No, we''re not in Power Rangers, dear. I mean, the device took the shape of a steel mouth with shark''s teeth and chomp my head till I was unconscious. I can''t recall what happened next. And to be perfectly honest, I''m not really sure if what my memories are real. I don''t know why but there''s inside me saying everything I remember feels-


    "-artificial."


    "What?"


    "No, I mean our clothes, dumb bitch. It feels so artificial, damn, in this even real cloth?"


    I scoffed. "Can you shut the fuck up, Annie? Leave me be for a while!" Vulgar, but please understand. I''ve been working nonstop for a month now. I do not want to deal with her bullshit right now. I signed up for these shenanigans, but an added stress is not what I expected.


    "For what, Ila?" She said with an emphasis on my name. "So you could decide on your wish? Well, I''m sorry, but I won''t open that box. It''s either you lift the lid or we''ll stay here. Forever is not a problem!" She leaned back to where she''s sat with her arms on her chest.


    So here''s the thing. Annie and I are complete strangers. This the beginning for us, our first conversation. I presume we''re not living in the same city or the same state. Heck, maybe we''re oceans apart! So you might ask yourselves: how the hell do we know each other''s names?


    Answer: Labels. All over our body. That''s it. Labels.


    Annie is wearing a white hat, white t-shirt, white shorts, and white Vans. Covering the entirety of her attire is a name: Annie. There are three ''Annie'' written on her white dad hat. Meanwhile, her name is all over her tee countless times in random order and position. I can''t see her shorts from here but if I glance below the table, I can take a peek at her shoes which has the name Annie marked in it. In fact, she''s even wearing this iron choker with the name in question flashing around her neck.


    The Supreme logo is the style imitated to write the names. This person in front of me is wearing nothing but Annie-labeled bootleg Supreme products. But I''m not fortunate enough to avoid this gimmick.


    I''m wearing a black sweater, black sweatpants, black rubber shoes, and black underwear¡ªI checked. My name, Ila, is embracing my body the same way it does with Annie. There''s only one variation between our clothes: the designs of our labels. My name is vertically printed continuously all over me in an organized fashion mimicking a classroom! And the design is insane! Written in white, the name ''Ila'' is on top of a checkmark! They ripped off Supreme and Nike just to show us a subtle identification of one another. But they failed on the ''subtle'' part and we got these instead.


    "We don''t even know this place, and you''re willing to stay here forever?" I said as I scan my surroundings for the seventh time, I counted.


    "I know where we are, this is a train." Whoa shit, thanks, Sherlock Holmes. "And a good one too. Nice and cozy. Look at those designs, must be high class! Haven''t you seen one of these before, Ila? I''ve seen them in real life, don''t you have a TV?" She said as she scratches her belly.


    "I know what a train is, I wasn''t alive yesterday. But this one... Well, damn its beautiful. Way too beautiful. This is my first time seeing something like this. Let alone riding it."


    I looked at the window beside me. As I peer out of our passenger car, I realized we''re in some sort of village, I assume? Outside, few houses from afar hide beneath the thick mist and leafless trees. No sign of breathing creatures, no smoke coming out of the chimneys, no train conductors, and no authorities to ask for help. Whatever this town is, it''s devoid of life aside from the two of us. Snow blankets everything rooted on the ground, from the tires of a parked vehicle to the roof of the railway platform. "But isn''t it summer?" I whispered to myself.


    "Oh, we''re in Russia." She chuckled.


    I looked at her. She looked at me. I blew a muffled laughter as we grinned at each other. "You don''t know where we are, don''t you?"


    "I have absolutely no fucking clue!" She said, laughing as she speaks.


    I laughed with her but in the core of my heart, I have had enough. Flames in my heart ablaze. I stood up screaming inside of my head as I look for a way to leave. Maybe the windows would cooperate somehow? I tried to lift them, pull downwards, or push from each side but the thing''s sealed shut. I tried to punch the son-of-a-gun, but I ended up just hurting myself. Escaping through the window is impossible. And aside from the chairs and the table, this ''train'' has no doors leading outside or a path to other coaches. There are no hidden openings we''re aware of and no concealed escape buttons we can find.


    "How the hell did we even-" My mind stands prepared to implode in a fit of fury when something interrupted me. A deafening horn sound surrounded the train. The honking is so loud it made us cover our ears out of instinct. The sheer loudness of the noise alone caused my brain to burst forth into a sound-induced supernova. For a mere three seconds, the racket cracked my skull enough to leave a high pitched ringing in my ear. Suddenly everything is in a blur, my senses...


    Stopped.


    "Are you okay?"


    "I''m fine... Maybe I''m fine. I''m alive. What the hell was that?"


    "No idea. But I think its the train horn."


    "But that sound, this was... it wasn''t like... god, that''s too exaggerated. Too loud, too much... what? Shit, won''t stop! Head hurts... So much. "


    "Try to calm yourself first. Rest your back for a while."


    "Thank you."


    After a while, I reclaimed my composure.


    Annie stood up, I suppose to help soothe my nerves when a meeting chime rang from around us. Unlike the torture of the horns earlier, the loudness of this one is a whisper in comparison. But strong enough to hear without causing a stir. The sinister chime followed by the sweet voice of a child did not make this experience reassuring.


    "The train will be leaving shortly after this announcement: arriving at ^????????&?????????????????{????????????? station. Paparating na sa ^????????&?????????????????{????????????? station." Then silence.


    The chime rang again and we could hear two people whispering to each other on the hidden speakers. Annie and I looked at each other in confusion, what the hell did They say the station was? And what gibberish are They talking about after the first announcement?


    The speakers fell into an awkward silence once again. But that silence broke immediately, the meeting chime rang thrice followed by that familiar sweet voice.


    "The train will be arriving at the next station in approximately ten minutes. Decide the winner now or you will die on that train, tee-hee!"


    Both of us gasped. None of us spoke. We continued to listen.


    "Procedures regarding the technique to be used for your death will be announced when we arrive at ^????????&?????????????????{????????????? station."


    A distorted and slower version of the meeting chime follows our sweet young announcer''s news. As it rings out, I looked around for an AI watching us. Haze and spirals fill my head as I eyed the ceiling above me with a shocked filled expression. I feel as if I am looking at a secret camera, whirring at me. Or maybe this train is a maze of secrets.


    Secrets we aren''t given time to explore.


    Ten minutes, huh?


    "That''s way too soon," Annie whispered. She stepped backward with as much shock as I do. With her entire body shaking, she sat on her bench seat opposite mine. She stared at me with bloodied eyes. "Ila, I beg of you, open the goddamn box now!"


    I looked at her. "We''re gonna die and you''ll leave with that attitude!?" I smashed the table with my hands, trembling it as a rusted wobbling sound joins our conversation. "I''ve been holding back but enough is enough! I endured your bullshit for an hour and the only thing in your head is still your wish!"


    "What do you propose we do then!? I''d wish we get to escape this shit-hole! I''d wish I''d leave this place! To escape my life! I''d wish we can both be out of whatever we''re dealing with right now and never speak again! I''d wish to leave with a bang and believe me I will! And I don''t think you have a better wish than that, Ila?"


    "I..." Yes, I do, or do I? I want to be rich, I want a better life, I want to lead a company I own, I want a world filled with excitement! But I''ll leave that in the care of one stupid box to remind me time and time again that I can never achieve my perfect life on my own. So do I have a better idea? "I don''t know."


    "Then open that box, Ila! Help me, and I''ll help you! Trust me, honey, there''s nothing in this world I''d want right now than to make you regret that decision!"


    What should I do? I ponder on myself repeatedly. I can see Annie speaking but her voice seems to be mute. In fact, everything else seems to be quiet. The train is in motion, but the sound of its engine cannot penetrate my hearing. Everything is in utter chaos but nothing seems to be entering my ears.


    What should I do? I looped the thought in my head as the familiar voice of a child breached the barriers in my ears.


    "Five minutes remaining before your death."


    What am I going to do?


    "... the box...!"


    "What?"


    "Open... box...!"


    "Ahh... Open, yes."


    "Open the box, Ila!" Annie screams as she stood up in front of me with frenzied voice. The way she grates her fingers on the table means she''s probably about to murder me right now.


    "I must..." I''m at loss at this point. All I know is that... Annie wants me to open the box. Is this the right decision?


    "1 minute remains before your death."


    The girl in front of me stopped A defeated look masked Annie''s face. The world muted, time slowed down, everything else felt to be in an unfixed motion. The universe has collided, and the cosmos has given birth to a powerful force of extreme proportions that bent the laws of physics in the most intricate way possible.


    My heartbeat is racing. I look at Annie as she slowly rests herself on her bench.


    My heartbeat feels as if it''s punching continuously out of my ribcage. I gaze at Annie as she leans back on her bench as slowly as humanly possible.


    My heartbeat feels as if it''s dancing at the speed of sound. And it broke when I look at Annie''s face. One that accepted her fate, her death, the demise of us both. She smiled with a peace I haven''t seen even from men in caskets. As she closed her eyes, a familiar chiming sound turned my sense on once again, reminding me of a decision I could make.


    "Ten."


    I held the box.


    "Nine."


    I looked at Annie.


    "Eight."


    Her smiles filled me with anguish and uncertainty.


    "Seven."


    But her eyes dropped a tear and my worries escaped me.


    "Six."


    I''ve resolved to do what must be done.


    "Five."


    I opened the box.


    And then it sprung out.


    I focused my vision on the figure that jumped out of the box. It was a jack-in-the-box. But behind it, I can see nothing but blurred crimson. Time stopped. I studied the mocking look of the jack and its annoying cartoonish face. Behind the smiling clown springing in random directions is nothing but red. And as I realize the situation, time moved once again.


    I screamed. I screamed so loud that I failed to hear the familiar noise of a chime.


    "Annie Langeveldt''s wish to leave her life with a bang has been fulfilled."


    Annie''s head exploded into million pieces. Everything around me, including myself is bathed in her blood. Blood squirts out of her neck and it splashes on to my face. Everything. Everything is red. Everything reddened by Annie''s insides. Everything. It''s all red. Red. Red. Red. Annie''s blood. Organs. Brain? Shit. Eyeball. Red. Crimson. War. Teeth. Blood. Red. Love. Valentine''s day. Red. Red. Red.


    RED!!!


    "No!" I screamed on top of my lungs. "This can''t be, no, Annie! Why! Annie, no!" I slumped back on my bench as my tears wash Annie''s blood off my face.


    "I want to go home."


    Chime.


    "Annie Langeveldt''s second wish to fulfill Ila Barne''s wish has been fulfilled. Please leave the stage."


    My bench flipped over, transporting me to a secret dark hallway below the train. I fell down expecting my bones crushed on hard concrete. Instead, two men so radiantly attractive I thought heaven''s way is downwards and my angels have arrived, caught me by their hands. They stood me up and held each of my hands as they aid me outside the stone dungeon with torches in their other hand. They lead me outside sobbing as I remembered Annie''s way of leaving with a bang.


    At the end of the tunnel is the light of my salvation and I couldn''t be delighted about it. Once stepping out I saw my front lawn.


    Then a Gucci bag fell on my head. As it hit the floor, a Rolex watch slid off from inside the handbag.


    If you open this box the wish of your companion will come true.

 7 The Trial of Earnest Lange

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I''m Doctor uh... West and we''re here with you today to show you the data we have gathered in the past few months. Now, as you may have all seen in my report about this case we are not very proud of our findings."


    The doctor faced several men from the upper-echelons of the country''s police force. All suited-up with their gazes ready to pounce at him with their judgements. But this is not what the man is scared of, he is not afraid that he will be scrutinized and be punched to hell then kicked right back on earth. He''s afraid that they might see right through him. He doesn''t want them to find out.


    "Today, of course, I uh... I want to present the uh..." he dabbed a hanky on his forehead, he doesn''t want to show the top investigators of the country that his sweat is showering his face like a waterfall.


    He took a deep breath and paused for seven seconds, scanning the faces of the people watching his every move. "My team and I want to first show you what we all know already and our interpretation of this data. It is, of course, the trial of Ion- uhh... what was it again? Earnest Lange, yes. The trial of Mr. Lange, our prime suspect, yes."


    The projector lit up showing a close-up video of a man''s testimony in a courtroom.


    ...


    Yes, your honor. I confess. I killed my wife. I am not apologizing for the crimes that I''ve made. I am not going to defend myself any further nor am I going to act innocent.


    I am the one at fault.


    I''m the one who did all this mess and though I am deeply regretful and apologetic of what I have done, it doesn''t mean that they did nothing wrong to me. That doesn''t mean their sins are forgiven. Perhaps the Almighty God could, but I can''t for I am simply just a human. Just human. And I did what I did with no remorse because I am human. You can''t understand now, and I won''t force you to try to but I am certain if I were to let you relive the life I lead with her you would''ve done the same.


    I am to be blamed for the murder of my wife and our... her friend. And they are to be blamed for giving me a motive for doing what I''ve done. We are all at fault for what had happened though for some reason I am the only one sitting here in front of you, I am the only one receiving judgment in the hot seat. Ladies and gentlemen, honorable judge, lawyers and of course, the members of the jury, hear my plea, my final scream.


    I am Earnest Lange, as you may have already known I am your usual thirty-three-year-old man living in peace with his loving... ahem, I''m sorry, with his loving wife in a quiet town here in Colorado. I met my wife, my precious beautiful wife when we I was 19. She was Marian Hall but she''s Marian Lange when she became mine, and I hers. She''s a goddess descended from heaven to save me from the emptiness of my life, or so I thought the first time we met.


    I first laid eyes on her at a bar one fateful night when I was out drinking with my friends after I get the dream job I''ve always worked hard to attain. If you''ve known me personally you would not question my hard work for getting that said job and it''s all so I could give myself and my mother the life we always wanted. She became a part of that vision later on when we got married.


    Now that I think about it... what does she want from me? I gave her everything. I gave her my all. I gave her what I could give, there was nothing left for me, what does she want from me!?


    We celebrated, of course, you know, my friends and I, as I was saying. And amidst our celebration came across Marian. Since I am drunk at that time I had the courage to talk to her. I approached her when she sat on the counter. I talked to her, I tried to praise her, I said she''s beautiful but she ignored me. I take that as a challenge.


    I asked her if I can buy her a drink, she said she can buy it herself. Well, our first meeting is not at all interesting, it''s the common thing in my time, you know? A drunk guy in a bar, approaching a beautiful girl, wanting to buy her a drink, trying to be friendly and all those wonderful things! It''s not at all rare! This kind of stuff... Romantic things made in a whim. It''s so clich¨¦.


    I hope you guys are still with me. I hope you all are still listening to my useless garbage of a story. Bear with me, bear with me, I''ll get to the point.


    With a little bit of persistence, a bit of persuasion here and there, we became friends. Lucky for me we became close and I discovered that she''s living nearby so we exchanged a lot of emails and calls, sometimes we meet up, probably about twice a week, sometimes it exceeds but it never lessens.


    Ah, forgive me, your honor, my smile is... My smile right now might offend the court but I hope you''d let me relish these few happy moments I had with her. And yes, we started dating. Eventually. I was so happy when she said that she wanted me too. I was... I loved her more than anyone could''ve imagined! You can only guess just how consumed I am with my emotions to do... you know, the murder. How angry I was, you can only imagine.


    I was so happy when I heard her say yes after gathering the courage to ask her to marry me. But for some reason when I proposed to her she was shocked, not the kind of shock where you can feel how happy she is and how excited she is for our wedding. She''s shocked but she''s not at all pleased. I can see it in her eyes, I can hear it in her trembling voice, she''s quite unwilling. Is it the pity that made her agree to my proposal, perhaps? I don''t know, really, I really don''t know if that made her say yes. It seems that we will never know.


    I was so frustrated back then. Am I not good enough? I kept reminding myself that she said yes, but at the same time the look in her eyes filled with utter disgust and ¨¹ber disappointment. I know what I feel. I understand my emotions and myself clearly. And I do believe that you all are smart enough to get what I''m saying! But that reminds me that all of you have stable marriages.


    How can you get this pain I have? The anxiety that kept bottling inside me day after day even if I managed to make her say yes. Being with her and thinking about that proposal is so suffocating. I''ve thought of a future where we''re together but for some reason at the back of my mind, something tells me she probably doesn''t wish to be in this hypothetical future in my head.


    And you know, shit like that eats you up, it will; but how can you understand that? All of you are happy... all of you. All of you.


    We pledged in front of the altar, in front of God, and his followers. I made a promise to never ever betray her trust and to always be the Earnest she loved and trusted. I made a promise never to look at any woman again. I never broke that promise, ever! I loved her unconditionally! Can''t you all understand that? That I loved her even right now that I''m facing charges because of her! I love her even if she dared to bite the forbidden apple in front of me!


    I love her.


    Call me crazy, call me stupid, call me anything you like, I don''t care anymore; come on people, look at me, I''m literally stating how much I fucked up in front of you; I couldn''t care less anymore even if I go to hell after this, I don''t care; this is not caused by the stupid power of love anymore, this is caused by the disappointment I feel for my wife; she didn''t say yes because she wants to!


    She doesn''t love me.


    I strived so hard to make her happy; I strived so hard to give her anything she wanted, from the smallest bit of chocolate to the most expensive diamond ring, but she''s still unpleased, so I worked harder, to the point where we never had the chance to talk like we used to do nor do we have the chance to show our affection to each other, but she''s still mad; she would nag at me, you know, her eyes are so filled with evil, this hatred all around her, just because she thinks we''re not spending enough time; well, what do you want me to do about it?


    And we would do this every night. I''d ask her what she wants. Quit my job? I ask her that every night, she''s never pleased, everything is never enough; what does she want from me?


    You see, ladies and gentlemen, the only thing I ever wanted is to treasure her. I want to show everyone that I made it, and she''s my trophy. She is my everything. I am completely and utterly devoted to her, and only to her, no one else. I''d respect her, I wouldn''t even dare anyone harm her. I''m willing to kill just to protect her and oh how ironic that is. See, I''m like a country, this country, I''m like America. I think I''m so great but I''m just messed up. And my wife, my wife is my national anthem. And oh, is she the most beautiful thing I ever had. Our national anthem is the best thing our country has ever had. She''s the only thing beautiful in my life, what remains of the dreams I had when I was young.


    But I get unstable sometimes, I get that. I get angry at her, I get that. I make things that make her feel unhappy, I get that. And that is probably the reason why I failed my wife.


    I get that!


    For all, I care she''s probably seeing someone else years before I caught her. I don''t care anymore. Funny how I say that I don''t care anymore when truth to be told I do care. I just feel a sting in my heart that wants to be released. I''m heartbroken and sadly, I could not be repaired. And none of you here in this room gets that. Because all of you are so happy!


    You know the story already ladies and gentlemen. You''ve already guessed it, I know you lots are smart. I know I don''t need to say it any further. It''s the same thing you''ve probably heard once in a while in every court in every state. It''s clich¨¦, very clich¨¦; you can watch this kind of story in every kind of heart melting dramas everywhere.


    Cheating is perhaps the most overrated sin I''ve ever seen, I''ve known it since I was a child because my mother and father had a divorce because of it, because of this wretched thing we call adultery!


    One night I will never forget, September 23, 2011, exactly 7:36 in the evening I went home earlier to surprise my wife. Today is her birthday, and as his ever faithful and loving husband I bought her favorite cake, I bought her a diamond necklace she always wanted me to buy for her, I bought bouquets of red roses that she always admire and wanted to smell, those are her favorite flowers, I even bought her that dress she wanted to buy every time we go to the mall. All for her birthday! Because this is just how much I love her!


    I opened the door and was shocked at what I see. It''s my wife, naked, and on top of her is a man. It was heartbreaking! I couldn''t react, my mind is blurring. I saw her cheating with a man named Martin Lange. You know the story, you''ve been here hearing about it for days, weeks! I saw her cheating with my brother.


    My own flesh and blood.


    My biological brother.


    The one person I never doubted would betray me was right in front of me, pounding his dick inside of my wife''s vagina! Pardon my words but I just can''t hold it in anymore. How cruel is that, right? I loved my brother. But he did this kind of thing knowing that I''ll be hurt!? My own brother is the one who did it! Can''t you guess how agonizing that is for me?


    I rushed to them and pulled my brother away from her. Oh, up until now I still can''t believe that there will come a time where I will say that my brother had a fling with my wife. I never would''ve guessed. I strangled his neck and punched him in the face. He was left there lying on the floor as I hear my wife screech in terror.


    I slowly walked towards him and punched him like a madman. His bones are probably not functioning well right now because I swear to God I heard it crack loud a couple of times. I hit him again, and again, and again, and again! That stupid motherfucker deserved that! You hear me? I trusted him!


    I took the lampshade nearby and bashed his face!


    WOOOHOOOO!!!


    I roared and growled like a prowling tiger! I screamed I laughed, and alas, I felt great!


    Shh!


    You all be quiet! Stop murmuring!


    STOP MURMURING, STOP, STOP, STOP! DON''T TALK!!!


    SSHHHHH!!!


    My story IS NOT YET DONE!!! Shh! NOT DONE YET!


    You know what I did next? I uh... Shh! I can''t hear what he''s saying? Can''t you see I''m having a conversation with my friend? What do you mean, can''t you see this guy right beside me! What do you mean you all can''t see him? That''s rude, stop calling my friend like that! He exists! He''s here!


    Okay, okay, okay, so what happened next is I bashed his face, right? I BASHED HIS FACE LIKE A MADMAN!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! I TRUSTED HIM, YOU KNOW? I do...


    I trusted him...


    I trusted her...


    How could they do this to me? Am I that boring? AM I!? AM I REALLY A FAILURE AS A HUSBAND!?


    So I hit him. If I could I would hit him a couple of billion times and I wouldn''t care if my arms would tear off!


    I.


    JUST.


    WANT.


    TO.


    KILL.


    THEM.


    BOTH OF THEM!!! I HATE THEM!!!


    But when I was about to hit him once more, my wife hurriedly come closer to us and protected my brother.


    She, my wife and the woman I loved, protected my brother instead of me?


    She, the person I trusted, would betray me for this cheap looking bastard?


    How clich¨¦, right? Tell me how many stories have you heard with that kind of plot, huh? Probably a bunch of them! See, up until the end, I''m nothing but a scoundrel. Tell me, everybody? I''m a loser, aren''t I? I''m a loser with an overly used story! Aren''t I? Tell me, aren''t I!?


    WHY AREN''T YOU ANSWERING ME!?!?!?


    ...You all... Are just like them... You''re all the same. You all think I''m shameful. And I am. I know that.


    My wife looked at me, crying, and demanding me to stop. She even said that the one she loved was my brother all along and he never once loved me because I was so preoccupied with my work. I wasn''t surprised; I am actually expecting her to say that. She pushed me back with her left hand and I was horrified when I saw that she''s not wearing the wedding ring I bought for her.


    She said she doesn''t need it! It''s just a simple ring! It holds no meaning! She said she doesn''t want to see me ever again! She said she''ll live with my brother, the one who actually cared for her, somewhere else, somewhere away from me. She said that she liked it better with my brother. She even added that having sex with him is way better than doing it with my small dick.


    I was hurt.


    I was very hurt! Like a spear hit me straight to the heart! It''s a menacing feeling and until now I can still feel it...


    She even dared to throw our wedding ring like a cheaply made iron accessory right for me! Cuz she said I should take it! It was a pure diamond-studded wedding ring! Do you all know how that shit cost!? That shit costs more than my yearly paycheck back then and she just threw it away like it''s nothing!


    All of this just to be with that fucking asshole! It''s laughable but damn, I can''t bring myself to laugh, I can''t even smile! I was hurt but I can''t even cry! My mind is too preoccupied to strangle both of them at the moment! And believe me, even if they''re lying lifeless in the morgue right now I still want to bash their faces!


    That''s why when I heard what Marian said my mind went blank. I couldn''t see anything anymore. I pulled my wife''s hair up and a scream of terror has enveloped our room. My brother is still lying on the floor probably unconscious. I smiled like a deranged monster and looked at my wife straight in her eyes.


    I said she''s beautiful! And that I love her!


    Then she spits in my face with a menacing glare.


    I was enraged.


    I threw her in the bed, used the blankets and tie her hands and arms with it, I even gouged her mouth, you know, just in case her whore mouth would scream for another man''s dick again.


    Cheating is overrated, I know.


    But so is murder.


    My wife tried to scream, but she can''t. I took the diamond necklace in my bag and put it on her neck. She was dazzling. I took her in front of a mirror so she could see how beautiful she is too. I smiled and smelled her hair. Mmm! I took a long and meaningful sniff of her hair. And fuck, your honor, she smelled great, her hair, it smells so good. I sniff and I sniff and sniffed the shit out of her hair so long as I gaze at her face in the mirror. I remembered how funny she looked like back then, trembling, crying, she looks so pathetic, so disgusting. I can see her face is filled with terror when it reflected in the mirror. I asked why she''s looking so afraid. I laughed because I forgot she can''t respond to me with that gouge in her mouth. ''twas a very entertaining sight!


    I pulled the chain of the necklace I forced her to wear, strangling her pretty ivory neck, and then of course, as her ever loving and faithful husband, I greeted her! For it is her birthday. I said happy birthday, my love! I kissed her cheek, looked her in the eyes and touched her body as she turned beet red from being choked. She''s trying so hard to pull the necklace back from the opposite direction but she can''t out strength me. Instead, in her vain attempt to let go, she bruised her neck with scratches until it bleeds.She even managed to get hold of one of the bouquets but what will she do with a bouquet? Smash my head to death with loving and compassion? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is probably the most wonderful time we had together since we both married each other. It was a good moment.


    What joy!


    You know, I finally felt that we had a connection; that by defiling her like this and by making me feel stupid we realized how much we respected each other; of course, I''d say we, my wife loves me, and everything we do is mutual, she''s my national anthem and sometimes you have to make fun of that ol'' thing once in a while, right; HAHAHAHAHAHA you hypocrites, I bet you all wanted to shit on our national anthem when you''re young; heck, you''ve probably done it before you went to the courtroom, then you''d feel ashamed, waaahhh poor you, giving the anthem such a trash treatment; waaahhh, now after you whine, you''d accept a different form of respect for it because you''re a fine adult and not a middle-schooler!


    That''s exactly what happened to us!


    Her eyes have gone perpendicular like one of those dead walking zombies in TV. Her saliva is already dripping out of her mouth and as far as I don''t want to admit it the sight of her being strangled to death is making me feel so hot to the point that my thing down there became rock solid! Well, she''s already naked and her pussy is asking for it in the first place, and since I''ve realized a newfound obsession as I see her struggling to fight my rage I might as well fuck her right here, right now! And thus without further ado, I unzipped my pants.


    I''ve never felt her insides for a very long time and boy do I have a doozy! The sight of her face almost half dead and her body slowly weakening is not making me feel sorry for her instead it made me want to do her more! I thrust her insides hard! Hard and rough! She couldn''t even moan, let alone to fight me. She couldn''t do anything but to indulge, what a good way to die, good for her!


    At least she gets to see my brother in hell with a smile of a whore!


    At least she died as a whore; a death befitting a whore like her.


    But our moment together was disturbed when my brother strikes me hard with a metallic object, whatever it is I''ve already forgotten, but there is something I''ll never forget though. Although, he pounced me so hard in my head, and even though I saw my blood dripping in my face I still couldn''t feel pain. I feel nothing. I hear a buzzing sound it never stopped, I can only see my brother untying my wife and planning to escape and tasted the blood in my lips and smelled the wonderful aroma of my wife''s perfume in the room.


    But I still couldn''t move. I saw my wife and my brother escape the room without any hesitation but when I''ve finally stood up, I ran towards them so fast with a bottle of wine in my hand.


    I knew by then a singular fact. Their luck has finally dried out.


    I smashed my brother''s head with the bottle I was holding. Revenge, bastard! I''m still holding a broken piece of bottle shrapnel in my hand; it was tightly gripped in my hand as if I never wanted to let it go. I looked at my wife and then looked at the bottle in hand again. My wife begged for mercy, she said she''s pregnant, I was taken aback; she said it was my child, my heart almost gave up.


    Almost.


    Until I realized that it''s been three years since we last had sex, therefore, this baby is definitely not mine, no, it was my brother''s and I''m certain; I roared and ran towards my disgusting whore of a wife, stabbed her stomach, I stabbed it multiple times, I didn''t even know how many times; the autopsy says it was three times but I believe the numbers are more than that, I just want that stupid evil infant to die while it''s not too late; I don''t want this bitch to produce another whore!


    I pulled my wife to the kitchen. By the way, I was pulling her hair. She was unconscious but I believe she''s still alive, I can hear her breathing, you know? Haaah! Haaaah! I can hear that she''s doing those sounds, she''s definitely alive! I tied her in an armchair with a rope and covered her mouth with a tape. I took a hammer, eight needles, and a knife.


    Do you want to know what happened next? Do you? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I''m sure you do!


    I hammered her hands on the sides of the armchair. Every time I hammer her palm in the chair I can hear her scream with a muffled voice. But it''s just an arm, baby, I whispered to her. I''m not even finished with the other and she''s already looking so miserable. The way she screams in horror every time I hear her bone crack as I hammer her arm to the armchair makes me want to do things to her! Things that only I, her husband, could do to her!


    I have the right!


    But this is only the beginning. As much as I love to hear her suffer I need to finish what is supposed to be done!


    I hammered her right and left hand with two needles. I hammered her feet into the ground, each foot, one needle is used. I then hammered two needles bellow her knee, I was supposed to hammer the other knee but I''m all out of needles. I was so aggravated and I was so frustrated! I was so angry!


    There''s only one thing to satisfy my frustration.


    I must kill my brother, yes that''s right, I should do that! KILL HIM, KILL HIM, KILL HIM! MAKE HIM SUFFER, RIGHT? I''M NOT TALKING TO YOU, I''M TALKING TO HIM!!! NO, I''M NOT TALKING TO MYSELF HE''S RIGHT BESIDE ME!!!


    AAAARRRGGH!!! CAN''T YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO MY FUCKING STATEMENT!?


    I took the baseball bat I used when I was a kid, my brother and I used to play baseball back then. Now is the perfect time to reminisce. I tied him in a chair in front of my wife and started hammering his head with my baseball bat. Was I happy? If only you knew how amazing it felt. I beat the crap out of my miserable brother to the point that you can''t even recognize him anymore.


    But of course, I wasn''t satisfied.


    My brother was awake the whole time. He was screaming like a bitch. He was looking at me with menacing eyes, I did not falter. I approached my bleeding wife, is she dead? Nope, not yet, she can''t die yet. She''s a strong woman!


    I let my brother knew who owns my wife. Before the two of them fell into the scorching flames of hell. I squeezed my wife''s breast tightly, so tight that it probably hurts. And then I put three of my fingers inside of her vagina and even though she''s already bleeding so much it seems like she''s even enjoying being treated like a slut before she dies. What a death, she deserved to be treated like this!


    My brother saw all of this. Now he knows that I own this bitch and he has no right to lay his filthy fingers on it because it''s my fucking property!


    I beat my brother again with a baseball bat but this time with a twist. And by twist, I mean stabbing his chest with a huge ass knife and then twisting it like a blender! His screams are of course satisfying.


    His roars sound so lame but I still felt a slight form of accomplishment every time he screams!


    What can I say? I''m already a devil; I might as well follow them, right!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOT LONG AFTER THIS, I GET TO KILL THE TWO OF THEM AGAIN IN HELL!!! WHAT JOY, INDEED!!!


    I''ll just take this out of my pocket.


    Oh, why are you all surprised? It''s just a gun! Don''t worry I won''t kill you! Ahahahahaha! See, I''m actually ending it.


    Come on now guys sing with me. Don''t worry; I won''t pull the trigger yet. Look, look, the gun is just pointed in my head! Nothing so special, right? Oh, why are you backing out? I told you, I am not going to kill you! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am ending my testimony now, can''t you see?


    I''m on the top of the world looking down on creation and the only explanation I can find!


    Why aren''t you singing with me? Not a Carpenters fan? It''s alright, we can fix that!


    See, I wouldn''t kill you all! Don''t look so scared, Mr. Judge, I''m not going to murder again! Oh, don''t be like that, police officers, as if you, pointing your gun at me, would scare me at this point! Why are you shaking jurors, I''m not even making a move yet!


    I''m just pointing the gun in my head.


    See?


    Nothing special!


    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I just can''t help but laugh. Come now, sing with me! Dance with the dead man!


    Would you sing with me too, friend?


    And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain...


    ...


    "And that''s the gist of it, ladies and gentlemen. Before we begin, does anybody have a question?"


    Everybody raise their hands.

 8 The Woman in Prison Cell 15

    Often I''m asked, have I lost my sense of pride? Some even dare ask me what made me stoop so low. They say that I''m better than that, you know? Well, it''s not like I''ve wanted to become like this or to be here. I never once said that I wanted to be like this when I grew up. Believe it or not, I actually avoided being where I was and for all I know I was a good girl. But right now I''m not. I don''t want to be here.


    Do you mind if I smoke? Oh, don''t worry about them, they wouldn''t care, those damn policemen don''t even know how to do their job. We''re just pigs in their eyes! Here, have some. Come on, don''t be shy now, boy, I''m your friend here for now. You want to have a friend, right? I know, I wanna have one. Prison can be quite cruel if you don''t have a company.


    So you don''t want to smoke because of your heartbreaking love affair? Outrageous! It''s like you''re an obedient dog!


    Nothing good comes after love. But good smoke makes all the difference! You should try this again.


    Where are we again? Oh, yeah. You asked me why I became a prostitute, right...? Well, it''s not really a complicated story. You know the usual excuses that we hookers always say. We need money, lots and lots. So, of course, I worked hard to earn some petite cash. It just so happen that this job offers an awful lot of money! But then again, this job really is dirty. Disgusting. Vile.


    But hey, I get to eat thrice a day so what the hell, right?


    Ahh, now I''m starting to remember when I was as young as you are right now! Or maybe younger? Ah, whatever! The point is I was so beautiful back then, and I know right now in my current state you won''t believe that once I won a very prestigious beauty pageant! Those were the days where I would look in the mirror and tell myself I am the most beautiful woman in the whole world! And my goodness, everybody agrees!


    I have this very silky smooth hair and every girl wants to have the same! It''s because those insecure sluts don''t have one of these! A lot of guys would sniff like hounds when they smell the scent of my favorite shampoo! And I remember how I loved it when I saw the stupid look in the girl''s faces every time they see me. Jealous bitches. I can''t help it if I''m a lot more attractive than them, right? Well, time passed, it has been cruel to me... and my hair! Look. right now I have a very dry and dull white shit on top of my head. Disgusting!


    I also remember back then everybody would die to see me smile! See, look at my smile! Isn''t it a sight to remember? A lot of people would die to see that back then and oh boy, would they be very envious if they knew you saw me smile! I''m a very serious gal back then, sweetheart. I just learned how to smile in my later years. But I''m already old, if you could''ve seen me in my adolescence then you''d be so captivated by me I''d bet you''d leave that lover of yours!


    I''m joking! No need to be so serious! I''m not trying to insult or to degrade your darling, honey-bunny! I''m just saying that I''m a better choice! Hahahahahahaha!~ I''m just kidding, pretty-boy! Life is too short, you need to enjoy every millisecond! Or else you''d see yourself dead... and filled with regret.


    Boy, do I want to go back to the darn past and swoosh all my bullshit away! Go back to the days where I still have a rocking bod!


    That''s right, my dearest! This old buffoon in front of you was once beautiful. I had this pale skin that everyone wanted to caress! A perfect sexy body that no man on Earth wouldn''t drool once they see! They would crave to taste my magnificence! And I''m telling you, boy, just the sight of me is a privilege, what more if they get to touch? Now that is what you call an honor! After all, as I said before, I am the most beautiful creature in this entire ugly planet! Perhaps I''m even the most beautiful creation that God ever created!


    I was a goddess!


    Oh, but I am not boasting, no not at all! Was I too prideful? But I am merely stating the fact! I am beautiful and you know it! Even in my age a lot of dicks would like to have a taste of my smelly pussy! God forgive their souls! Because once they get to kiss the insides they''d die after receiving sheer pleasure! Outrageous boys! They don''t think logically once their dick is inside and once they realized how hard they fucked up boom! They''ll zip their mouth and run away like a fool!


    Life is good if you''re beautiful! Everybody loves you, whilst everybody hates you too. It''s complicated. You wouldn''t understand. You''re not beautiful after all! Hahahahahaha!


    But life is hard, you know, it''s not always going to be the way you wanted it to be even if you''re beautiful. You wouldn''t have it all. We don''t get to decide what will happen to us. And life is probably an ugly bitch too because she has given me so many darn misfortunes in the past to the point that I''ve thought that she''s probably jealous of how beautiful I look. I bet she thought I was too perfect to live, too beautiful to die.


    My father lost his job and my mother, oh, my mother. I''ve always pitied my mother, especially when I saw her hanging in the ceiling, lifeless. I cried, I cried so many times.


    I stopped coming to school. We don''t have money, I don''t have a choice. No talent agency would hire the beautiful me. I may be the most beautiful woman in the whole world but I''m not at all useful. I have no academic background so no one would want to hire me. I keep asking myself, why wouldn''t they take me? I am fucking gorgeous! I was so divine! I may be a stupid, good for nothing imbecile but every time I would look in the mirror I am relieved, because although I am useless, at least I''m still beautiful. And those talent agencies cucks just lost themselves their best product!


    So... Yeah, what else? Well, let''s cut the chase now, shall we? Um... I became a prostitute when I was eighteen years old, I think? Or was I seventeen? It doesn''t matter! I really can''t remember anymore. The point is, I sell. And every single motherfucker in that filth of a place liked me. From the most arrogant kids to the poorest old geezers who just want a taste of some beautiful young meat. Oh boy, they can''t get enough of me! I tasted so good, boy, my pussy is the shit in that club back then.


    Back then.


    Of course, they''d want it. They even say my cherry tastes sweet. They''re hooked and then I''ll say I was happy that they like me. The truth is, I am disgusted, I am very disgusted. But I got used to it, you know? So don''t be so hard on yourself here, you''ll get used to it in no time, sugar!


    Yes, endure. Endure again and again. That''s how I continued to live in this vile place. That''s how I managed to live my life.


    If it hurts, just close your eyes. If it''s good, I''ll let him do it better. If they leave bruises, put some bandages on it. If it itches, scratch it till its red. If it''s dirty, wash it. If you got sick, put some makeup on. If you''re in this kind of industry, a couple of diseases every now and then is not surprising. Hopefully, I didn''t die because of STD, but I know from the very beginning that I''m already dead inside. Every stranger''s cock I taste and take kills my soul bit by bit and I''m surprised that I still have something to call a soul inside of me after all that.


    I always called death, over and over again. But the fucker never appeared.


    I tried to hang myself. But then a man suddenly stopped me from doing it. I cried in his arms. Of course, I had sex with that guy as thanks, and yes, it''s free of charge! He moaned and gasped the entire time saying how my insides feel so tight and all those bullshit. Well, the sex did felt great, though. I never saw that man ever again.


    I tried to use a gun. But I failed. Look, my head still has an awful scar. I survived a gunshot point-blank in my head and I''m not a proud survivor.


    I''ve thought of overdosing myself with pills but I remembered I''m too broke to buy those things so I scratched the idea. It was a good idea though, I''m sure nothing could''ve stopped me if I did that.


    I tried to cut my wrist, self-harm that''s what the doctors called it. The landlord of the apartment I lived in saw me lying on the floor bathing with my own blood, I didn''t die yet obviously. I survived and the hospital said that it was a miracle. It seems that miracles do happen, it just happens at certain times when you least expected them. Or at times when you just don''t want them to happen.


    I tried to kill myself by lying in the middle of the road. Waiting for someone crazy, sleepy, or drunk enough to squash me with an eight-wheeler truck''s wheel for instant death! Obviously, no sane driver squashed me. They even called me out, shouted at me, they were really mad! They keep saying I''m disturbing the traffic, I should kill myself off somewhere else, so on and so forth. No one dared to stop by, step off their expensive vehicles, and help me get up. Two hours later I gave up. I just stood up and tried to go home when I heard the loud honking noise of an eighteen-wheeler truck rushing towards me with an incredible speed. Finally... Oh, finally it''s here! I could see a blinding light in front of me that will finally take me to hell where my mom is! But when I was about to accept my death, you know, with all that my entire life flashes before me drama, the truck stopped just an inch before me. The drivers stepped off the truck and asked if I was alright or if I needed some help. I proceeded to laugh and cry at the same time after hearing that. I had a threesome with the truck drivers that night. It felt great.


    I tried to jump from a bridge but an old woman stopped me saying that I still have a lot of time left and I should live life to the fullest. The problem is, I don''t want to live anymore. Nosy bitch should''ve stuck his nose somewhere else. But you know what, she had a point. It''s nonsense to kill myself. It was expensive too, and heck, I didn''t get anything from it, not even the ending that I wanted.


    I tried plenty of things to kill myself back then. Too many to mention actually. It seems that the only one who can resist my beauty is death. But I know sooner or later, death will give up and just like any other else he, too, would succumb into temptation and have his way with me. After all, I am extremely gorgeous! Time would come and he wouldn''t be able to keep his eyes away from me.


    Too perfect to live, too beautiful to die.


    And now I''m here lying in this shithole, trying to "repent" for what I''ve done! Screw that! It just brings forth the tears I''ve longed to conceal. I just can''t do it anymore.


    Haha, makes you laugh, huh? So melodramatic, so not me! I''m not used to getting all teary-eyed because of what I did in the past. I really can''t change it anymore. I''m teary-eyed because never have I imagined that my life could become so horrible! I''ve always thought that my rose-colored days would remain just the way it was because that''s how I thought life works. As much as you''re beautiful, life will go easily to you.


    I was so wrong.


    What happened next is that I had this client, right? Oh, how lucky I was to meet him. I was twenty-two then, and he was uh... I think he was about twenty-five? I''m not really sure. But he was gorgeous! He''s tall, very handsome, has the built of a real man, and his voice! Oh! It was like he is molded by Odin himself! The way he looks at me when we first met at the bar, the way he sips his whiskey without breaking contact and the aura surrounds him that makes me want to kneel and worship him for being such an alpha man! He was really something.


    He''s one of a kind, that man was. The best client anyone could ever dream of. He knows how to talk; oh, he''s a pro at talking! He seems very possessive and dominant of me but he is so gentle as well that if he''d scratch my skin just a little bit he''d think that I might break like a fragile glass. And although I find it very, very charming of him to care for me so, I still think that I''m just another useless woman in his eyes. I mean, no one would love a prostitute like me! How could I assume things?


    He''s sweet, but what if that''s just how he treats everyone? He gives me flowers, and so what? Flowers aren''t that expensive, right? It''s just a bouquet! He tells me nice things and compliments my clothes, my hair, my looks, my makeup but what does it matter? Those are simple compliments! A man of high class and standards like him is probably giving thousands of the same compliment every day! And sure, he would tell me how much he loves me every now and then, heh. It''s awfully sweet of him but you know... I just can''t find a way for me to accept that kind of affection, but it''s very sweet of him. Oh, stop it! I''m not blushing, how old do you think I am?


    I just enjoy thinking about him though we are apart now. He brings a little bit of adventure in my life. A little bit of color, a little bit of passion, a little bit of fun! And for just a little bit, I was alive!


    His caresses are the ones I''ve longed to have for so many years. The way he does me is so hot and I just can''t get enough of his huge fucking dick! Oh. Oh, my, I''m so sorry, cutie-pie, I think I''m getting a little bit overboard here. I hope you''re not crept out by an ugly woman''s rants about her favorite client. I''m just... I really liked him, you know. Hahaha, it''s lame. I''ll always be a sore loser.


    You get my point already, lover boy, he shows me what love is, what it looks like. I, who''s already broken into pieces, was thought how to love. But I am always bothered by the wedding ring in his hands. Even if he meets me, or buy me things, or kiss me in my cheeks, or tell me that I''m the best, or if he held me in his strong hands he still wore that stupid wedding ring! And it made me feel so agitated!


    But now that I''ve remembered, when did he even kiss me on my lips? It might not seem like a big deal for you but I was hurt by it. I couldn''t cry, though, no, I''m too weak to cry. At that time I''ve already lost my sense of pride. I don''t care about anything else anymore, all I want is for him to use me the way he wants. The way I wanted to be used. My story is getting out of hand, eh? But I''m just starting, curly-puff!


    Do you mind if I light another? Thank you. By this time I wouldn''t care if this cigar would kill me. I''d be more than happy to die now than to spend the rest of my days in this... place, ugh! Uh-uh, bud! I''d rather die as graceful as I am than to rot like a ragged cloth!


    Let''s go back to the story, shall we? Some of the boys here only know half of what I said. They didn''t know what happened next. And I like you, I don''t know why but I''m drawn to you. You reminded me of my son. Can I trust you? Ahh... I know I can, I hope what you''re saying is true. Lately, I''m having a hard time to trust people. And by lately, I mean for two years.


    In a very unfortunate course of time, I made a mistake.


    I became pregnant.


    I didn''t cry because I couldn''t raise the child nor is it because he''s a burden to me. I cried because I don''t know who impregnated me. Of all the men who embraced my body in the past few months, in the past few weeks and in the past few days, I still don''t know who the father is. All I know is that someone came inside of me and I couldn''t do anything about it. And it''s common protocol in every fucking bar in every city, in every state, that a whore should not be pregnant or else job''s over, pack my bags, leave, and never return.


    I was weak, I was lost, I was useless.


    Again.


    And you know me, sweetheart, once things go rough, killing myself is the only alternative that comes into my mind. So I did, I attempted it once, the same way my mother did. But this time, I am certain no one would be able to stand in my way. So I took the noose and looked straight at the hole where my head should be in. But this time my life didn''t flash right in front of me, no. There''s only one thing that was on my mind back then. As I peered through the noose the face of my favorite client showed up at me and he says to me I shouldn''t do it. I asked him why I''m a mistake, I''m an abomination! Why must I live? And I know he''s only an illusion but he said to me,


    "I love you." And that''s all that I needed. Suddenly, my life is filled with a blinding light eating away all the darkness with me and the shadows it leaves in my heart. I said I was ready, I told myself I''m ready to live, I can finally accept death''s postponement letter!


    So I stood up, took my baby in my hands, and held my head up high. For the first time in a very long time, I was proud of myself. For such a long time I loved myself because of the smile of my son. My son gave me hope. He is the only reason why up until now I''m still alive because I don''t want him to feel the things I''ve felt before. I wanted him to have a life far better than mine. I want him to feel loved because I''ve never felt that. And I don''t want to lose the only thing giving me pride!


    I''m sorry I''m getting a little bit emotional. A whore''s tear holds no meaning. Please don''t mind it. Because up until now I still can''t believe that the man who was once my favorite client told me that he would raise my child up and give me money to support me! He is not his child but he would spend real money on him for my sake!


    And then I told myself, maybe it''s right for me to assume things now. Maybe... Just maybe...


    He loves me.


    I raised my son. With the man I loved beside me, knowing that our temporary contract as prostitute and client is finally over, he''s still carrying my baby in his hands, he still cared for me with tenderness, and that made me love him even more. That made me feel very, very special. Just by having a place in his heart made me feel like I own the world. And for the first time, I demanded him one single thing. Just one single thing and that''s it, I will not ask for more.


    Please, take your ring off.


    And he did it. Every time he meets me, there''s no ring, nothing! I can still feel that he cares for me, I could feel that even if I may be shameless right now I still have hope! A whore can assume, too. And perhaps, I assumed too much.


    Sure, we and my lover had a lot of good times together. For a very long time, our relationship persisted for over a decade! Can you believe that? We were together and he wouldn''t want anybody else to touch me, he said that I''m supposed to be loyal to him and I should forget my days of being a whore. I should only be devoted to him and nothing but him.


    And so I assumed that he loves me the same way I do with him. As I said, I assumed too much.


    He gave me a house to live in but it seems that I only exist every night. I''m like a little damsel in distress trapped by my own prince charming. All I do in that God forsaken house is to do housework like I''m nothing but a useless housewife! I can''t help it, I didn''t finish my education and to top it all my lover don''t want me to find a job! He said that he''ll give me money, but what about my personal entertainment? I never anything but to please cocks since I was a teenager!


    My beauty is not supposed to stay in a boring house with nothing but authentic furniture in it! My beauty is meant to be paraded in the outside world, to be seen by everybody in the vast universe! That is the way of a true goddess! I am not to be contained in this cramped vessel! I am better off free like the others!


    I''ve become too prideful. I didn''t realize that I was becoming ungrateful of my lover. And just like that, snap, its all gone!


    When my son reached eleven years old my lover left me. He said he doesn''t want to meet with me ever again. He said he doesn''t want anyone in his family to know about us. He said he''s fed up with our relationship. He said I can keep anything he''d ever given to me, but he will never ever be a part of my life again.


    I said I understand.


    I understand. I do understand but... It still hurts. Why did he cut me off like that and didn''t even meet with me? We were together for over a decade! But he just said all of that in a ten-second call, I wasn''t even given a goodbye. Am I really that dispensable that he could just toss me aside like an unused toy? I looked at my son, kissed him on the neck and whispered that I love him because I do! The only one who loves me now is my son! And I do love him too.


    My son is the only one I need. But for him to live I need to do something, I need a job, and there''s only one job that I know. Only one job I can do.


    And back to being a whore, I did. I don''t even want to look in the mirror anymore because I don''t want to see how hideous I look. I would even have the urges to punch something that shows my reflection because I want to keep on believing that I am still beautiful! I was once the most beautiful woman alive, now I''m just a woman used by old bastards. It hurts, it stinks, and it feels like shit! I do all this because I love my son. I loved him to the point that I forgot to love myself!


    But in a stroke of fate, oh, I don''t know why, but the one who left me suddenly called me. He was panting heavily but he sounds so happy. He said to come. I asked him where are we going. He gave me an address. I saw him outside of the house with a smile on his face. And again, for the very first time, he runs to me and kissed me on my lips. He said he wants to give me something. It''s a very beautiful necklace clad with elegant diamonds. He even gave me a chocolate cake, he said that this is a mark of his love.


    Did you hear that? A mark of his love.


    He said he loves me! I was so happy! I don''t know what to do! He asked me am I willing to be with him forever I said, yes, yes I am willing. I am very willing! He wants me to follow him in his car and we drove off somewhere! I don''t know why but he was very sweet. And he was very happy. I was happy as well.


    Suddenly we stopped near a riverbank. He opened his trunk and I was shocked! It stinks, it was bloody, inside is two bodies, dead bodies. One is decapitated and the other one was slashed in the throat. Aside from that, everything in their body seems fine.


    I screamed. I screamed so hard. I screamed as if there is no tomorrow but he covered my face. He said with a gentle smile on his face that if I don''t shut up he will kill me too! I was scared; I nodded my head and helped him dispatch the body. Well that was what he commanded me to do.


    But unfortunately, when we''re dragging the bodies towards the river we were caught by the police. I knew it, I said to myself. I knew this will happen, but I didn''t know it will happen sooner than I''ve expected. We were caught, of course. He just looked at me with sadness. He didn''t try to defend himself; he didn''t try to defend me. We just let it happen.


    Up until now I never blamed him that I''m in jail. It''s not his fault. It''s not, okay, it''s not.


    But the saddest part is that my son doesn''t even know a thing about this. He was left behind. I was happy that he''s not a part of it. But I was sad that I even though I vowed that I will never let him experience the things that I''ve experienced before I still did. I believe they said he was now in some kind of orphanage, some sort of facility where they could take care of him. But they also said the will never introduce me to him. How cruel, right? How cruel.


    Isn''t my story ugly?


    I know. Up until now, I''m still in love with him, I don''t know why.


    I miss him. I miss his touch. I miss his embrace.


    I wish this didn''t happen. I wish we could''ve been together.


    I wished it was just a dream. I still want to be with him.


    I think I''ll have another smoke. I''m sorry for being so emotional.


    Don''t worry about the guards they wouldn''t care.


    They only treat us like pigs here, remember.


    Cheers, friend. Thanks for your company.


    What''s that, you want to know his name?


    Haha. Well, I''m not really trying to hide his name. I just thought that you''re uninterested.


    His name is Earnest Lange.


    And he''s the love of my life. My national anthem.


    ...


    "That concludes uhh... Our interview with her. As you may have already guessed we disguised one of our team member to become an inmate for a week to get some info on her. But we only got this report and we think its the best we could ever get from her. As a psychiatrist, I highly recommend having her be put in a psychiatric ward instead of this prison cell."


    The men started murmuring among themselves.


    "Shall we move on?"

 9 Sex, Indolence, and Harpies

    "The last one is a testament my patient willingly gave me last year. This is also the reason why I decided to agree on conducting this research in cooperation with all the present people here along with the governor. Mrs. Goodman is my patient for three years but for the first time, she decided to open up to me on the fifth day of April. We will be showing you the sister''s uh... I mean, her... I''m sorry, excuse me for a bit." I downed the warm glass of water sitting on the table right next to me in one fast gulp. "As I was saying, we will be showing you an audio recording of what she knows now, with her consent of course."


    I signaled the man behind the laptop to play the audio file. After a few seconds, her voice rang all around the room making me sweat and shake stronger than ever.


    I hope no one would notice.


    ...


    My failure is probably due to my own indolence, doctor.


    What? You asked me earlier, right? How I started to be the housekeeper of Mr. Earnest and Mrs. Marian. They were a very sweet couple, young and happy together. The kind of family that is very refreshing to see! The two of them are quite admiring, it gives me hope.


    So when I first saw this big sign outside their house saying they are in need of a maid I did not hesitate to apply! I was living in the apartment next door so we became pretty close. Especially with Marian, poor girl, she didn''t even know her husband is having an affair. I, myself, didn''t know it too until I saw my boss, Earnest doing the act himself. And for all I know right now he''s definitely not meeting our Creator in heaven!


    When I lost my previous housekeeping job after my former boss''s business got bankrupt, the Lange family gave me something to live for. The truth is I was actually planning to end it all when I lost my job before the Langes. I was just so poor and every opportunity that comes for me to get just a bit of cash is something I''d take if I can do it reasonably. It''s going to be like that in the end anyway, so why wait for it to come instead and summon it, right?


    I was very happy working with them. There is no problem at all! Madame Marian is even willing for me to watch movies with her in the living room once Sir Earnest leave. She said that she just want someone to accompany her. Honestly speaking, I don''t want to accompany her because watching television all day is a big negligence of my work and I am really happy working with the two of them, therefore, I don''t want to lose this job. But I just can''t leave her alone and isolated in a lonely living room like that.


    So I would take my broom away. Put the rag in the kitchen. Throw the trash and watch movies with Madame. I guess I got used to doing it to the point that even if Madame is away or even if Madame is in the house I would neglect doing my job and watch a bunch of movies because seriously, she doesn''t really care. Oh, but I''m not going to call that laziness! I''m calling it abusing someone else''s kindness. I might be good at housekeeping but I''m a bad maid.


    I''m old, doctor. I''m already fifty-seven. And even though a lot of people are saying that I''m still young I know that my end is on the clock. I''m just waiting for the death''s visit. I can feel it. My grandmother would often tell me that death is like a trespassing spirit suddenly appearing in your house dressed in a black robe and it will take you with him to the other side. I say, how long am I supposed to wait for him? Another decade or another happy family to die in front of me? It''s a long wait. I hate waiting. I''m not a patient person.


    I see that you like stage plays, doctor. There''s a Broadway ticket at your table. I remembered when I was young and filled with aspirations. Do you mind if I tell you a little bit of my story, doctor? Our session is long, a little bit of chit-chat wouldn''t be that bad, right?


    Would you believe it if I say that I was once a stage actress? I was called the Stage Harpy because every critic says that I look like I am flying on the stage every time I deliver my lines. They view me once like a greek goddess. Of course, you would say you do, it''s your job to agree and listen. My biggest pride and joy is when I was chosen to play Christine, the main heroine in Phantom of the Opera. It was truly a delightful feeling when I first heard the news. I was jumping and bouncing because I am seriously happy, doctor! Very happy!


    Tell you what doc; I still remember some of my lines! And maybe my voice isn''t that bad yet. Do you want to hear it?


    Here, you will act as the Phantom and you''ll just say sing my angel of music!


    And then I will say he''s there the phantom of the opera! And then I''ll proceed to the soprano! It''s easy, right? Come on, I want you to try it with me!


    Come on say the lines!


    He''s there, the phantom of the opera!


    AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! ~


    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-


    Ah! Ahh! My voice! Ah! It made a crack! Ahh... Oh, I''m so sorry doctor I just can''t help but shed a tear. I''m an old crook and I''ve already lost my prime. Whatever happened to me right now, whatever kind of agony that will happen to me is all the results of my own idiocy!


    I''m hopeless, aren''t I doctor, don''t you dare say I''m not, because it won''t comfort me at all. I said it, doc, I have lost my prime. And it''s all because I wasn''t good enough. No, all because I''m a lazy, good for nothing, bitch! I wasted my opportunity doctor! I could be a movie star right now, with my massive mansion and a couple of million dollars in my bank account, along with my attractive husband and two cute little babies! All of those, wasted!


    Sure, they choose me as Christine but it didn''t last long before they take their decision back. I was busy partying with my friends... friends that will soon leave me. I was busy fooling around with a lot of boys and I didn''t get to attend practices, I didn''t even bother to read my lines. I thought I was something special, something good! I thought I was soaring the skies like the harpy they once called me. I thought I could be eternally beautiful and always on top of everyone like a feather on the wind.


    So I avoided my responsibility sometimes I didn''t even do anything. I wanted to party! I would often avoid activity just because I want to lie in my bed, my soft, soft bed! I just want to goof off! I would eat and do nothing. I have a lot of phone calls but I didn''t bother answering them and when I was ready to accept my responsibility as an actress a new Christine is already on set. They didn''t even notify me, or perhaps they did. I''m just too lazy to know.


    And thus began my downfall.


    Fast forward to the present and alas, I''m here! Cleaning, cooking, making tea and coffee, those are just some of the things I do now.


    But Madame Marian is very kind, she is the kindest and the sweetest woman I''ve ever seen in my entire life! She would even let me sleep in one of their guest rooms if I''m feeling a little bit tired. She said that if I rest for a while I would regain my energy and get to be more productive once I woke up. As much as I want to refuse it I can''t just say no to such a generous offer! Normally I would sleep for three hours and proceed to do my job again.


    But sometimes I''m not even tired at all! I''ll just casually go to that certain room and sleep. Because honestly speaking, if your boss is permitting you to be lazy you will be lazier. And so it became a habit that after I cleaned the house and do some of the chores I would go straight to the guest room and sleep like a log. It became worst to the point that I did not work at all and instead, I just lay down the bed and forget all of my life problems. The Lange''s bed is very comfortable, that I guarantee.


    I would wake up and it''s already night and by the time I leave the room everything has already been cleaned by the Madame and instead of feeling bad about it I actually don''t care anymore. Those are some of the things that I truly regret but I can''t do anything about them now. All I can do now is to cry for the death of Madame.


    No, I do not feel bad at all when Sir Earnest killed himself in the courtroom. He deserved a certain spot in hell. I believe Satan likes to have a company down there.


    So that''s how I usually spend my days. I would be locked in a haze in that guest room and sleep as I drift away to the realm of dreams.


    One day I''ve overslept and woke up to the sound of moans and footsteps. I quickly hid below the bed and saw Sir Earnest and a woman I''ve never seen before enter the room kissing while stripping each other''s clothes with haste. And for the entire night, I spent my precious time not cleaning but instead to hear the horrifying sound of Sir Earnest as he pounds his thing inside of that woman! I''ve spent around five hours trapped in that torture.


    Imagine, a beautiful and kind woman like Madame Marian? How can you cheat that? And he''s going around there in the court saying that he is her "ever loving and faithful husband"? My goodness, what load of baloney! I can testify that Earnest Lange is indeed a cheating demon but he is not a murderer. As much as I hate that monster he did not murder his wife and his brother.


    Let''s cut the chase, doctor. Do you want to hear what I saw in that house, right? And yes, I''m not insane, doctor. I really did saw what happened in that house and as much as I hate Sir Earnest for what she did to Madame Marian and his brother I knew that he''s not the one who killed them. It''s someone else. And even I can''t comprehend the fact that I was lucky enough to survive.


    When Sir Earnest is pounding her lover that night he forgot that he invited his brother to come to stay the night at their house for Madame Marian''s birthday. Martin, Earnest''s brother, however, came way too early and entered the house the night before Madame Marian''s birthday party, the same night that I caught Sir Earnest having an affair.


    To tell it shortly Madame Marian''s birthday is September 24 but Sir Martin went to celebrate the birthday in the night of September 23, it''s his way of staying punctual, by being way too early. But unlike Sir Earnest''s statement last week in the court, the encounter did not happen around seven-o''clock but instead, it happened before midnight. It didn''t even happen the day if Madame Marian''s birthday!


    The story goes; Sir Earnest continued to make love with his mistress for the entire night in the bed right on top of me. I was below the bed and the only thing I can see is the closed door of the guest room and the walls around it. Martin Lange opened the door and was taken aback when he saw the two of them casually doing indecent things in the guest room. But Sir Earnest did not murder him. He even tried to calm him down but Martin slapped Sir Earnest''s face and ran outside. Sir Martin was out of my vision when this happened for they were outside but I can hear the sound of a loud, powerful slap against Sir Earnest''s cheek.


    But when Sir Earnest tried to follow his terrified brother outside of the room he stopped halfway, right outside the doorway. He keeps saying with a panicked voice not to do it and that he has nothing to do with this "business" and for some reason, Sir Earnest is begging him to not to do what is supposed to happen. I couldn''t see his mistress'' feet so she''s probably still in the bed and whatever is happening right now doesn''t seem to concern her.


    What happened next are the sound of gunshots and the scream of Sir Earnest and a thudding sound, probably caused by the fallen body of Martin Lange. As you can see Sir Earnest doesn''t have the ability or the will to torture someone, let alone to kill his brother because just the mere sight of someone killing his brother in front of him sent shivers down his spine.


    The next thing I knew is the sound of the front door opening and the screaming voice of Madame Marian. She''s asking as to who the mysterious entity is while crying probably because she saw the body of Martin dying in the feet of this shady character.


    I could hear their conversation loud and clear, doctor. The shady man outside of the room walked slowly, and by slowly I mean the man walking perhaps one step every two seconds. And I can hear a lot of unidentified noises outside, some thudding noise, some metallic objects falling down the floor and the sound of Madame''s panicked gasps. All of these noises are so loud that it''s deafening.


    I could see Sir Earnest trembling on his knees, not doing anything when it''s already obvious that a man just casually shot his brother down and is now prowling to get his wife. Believe it or not, although he seems eager to run towards the man, it seems that something along with fear and cowardice is hindering him from doing so. The problem is, I don''t believe that just fear and cowardice is enough reason to make him paralyzed on the floor.


    I think that Sir Earnest is afraid of the killer. But even that is something that I am uncertain too.


    What I am certain though is that both Sir Earnest and Madame Marian are either too afraid to hurt the perpetrator, or something else is stopping them from attacking him. As if they don''t want to do it, or they''re too dumbfounded to react.


    The last thing I heard of the Madame is her cries and her screams along with her agonizing sobs and her panting sounds. That is the first time I''ve heard the Madame cry even if she had had a miserable life being with the Sir. Even the strong and willful Madame is afraid to the face of evil, it seems. Just thinking of what horrifying person made my two bosses trembling before him in fear scares me. And he hasn''t even uttered a word yet.


    I heard the Madame cried. Shes pleading, she''s crying while trying her hardest to convince the horrible criminal to spare her. She even quoted, in which even I was shocked, that she was pregnant and said that it happened when the Sir was so drunken and made a move on her one fateful night. Unfortunately, the killer did not take mercy on this fact, I even heard a silent chuckle. And I remembered it vividly, a soft voice, a mellow tone.


    I didn''t know how the Madame died, but she wasn''t shot by a gun unlike Sir Martin, I would hear it if that''s the case. The whole room is enveloped in silence after I heard the Madame gasped in pain after being murdered in her own house.


    The next thing I know is that Sir Earnest ran towards the dead bodies and started crying and screaming like a lost child. You can feel the agony in his voice, the pain resonating in his tone as she calls the name of his wife and his brother. I can see his face clearly though I cannot see him.


    And then I saw him pulling the two bodies desperately into the room and lie them beside him leaving him covered with blood and with a huge grin on his face constantly saying that he''s the one who murdered them. He had established a fact in his own mind that because of him the two of them are dead.


    Sir Earnest''s brother was shot in the stomach. And the Madame was stabbed in the heart and her stomach is also stabbed probably with one of our own kitchen knives thrice. Blood is flowing everywhere to the point that Sir Earnest was almost fully covered with fresh blood.


    He became batshit insane and proceeded to laugh hysterically while holding the two bodies still constantly saying with a joyful tone that he is indeed the one who killed them. He repeatedly said the words I killed them, I killed, them, I killed them... over and over and over again.


    He is even talking to himself like a fool! Whispering to himself just like what he did to the courtroom. It seems that he created an imaginary entity inside of his head and have casual conversations with it but the kicker is that they''re talking about as to how the Sir killed the two of them. Just like what he kept on doing back then in the courtroom when he shouted in front of everybody in it telling a very disturbing tale and goodness gracious that tale is inaccurate at best! This imaginary friend he made himself sort of gave him a scripted scenario as to what happened that night.


    He kept on saying that the Madame was a whore when it was shown in the autopsy that the Madame''s modesty hasn''t been disturbed, at least not before she died. There''s also no sign of strangling, no sign of those disgusting nails on the Madame''s arms and knees and no sign of those disgusting pieces bottle shrapnel that the sir allegedly used to kill the Madame. No, it was definitely a knife, the wound is too clean for a bottle shrapnel. I remember it clearly, I was there.


    I also remembered how he proclaimed to the world how he bashed Sir Martin''s face but the only wound in Sir Earnest brother''s body is one single gunshot in his stomach.


    Talking to himself, making an imaginary murder scene, turning his own wife a whore and making his gay brother the partner of the said adulterous crime? What utter rubbish!


    I need to take a moment of silence for a while, doctor, is that fine? I''m just... I''m not feeling well.


    ... schzzz...


    Do you know what the people call the Lange''s residence? The Colorado Murder house. I just don''t know what to do anymore, doctor... I don''t know if I can continue being a housekeeper after what happened in that place.


    And thus concludes the tale. Someone else killed the mistress and Martin, doctor. Someone I failed to see and as much as I regret it I can''t do anything about it. Whatever Sir Earnest said in that courtroom is definitely because of his own mental incapability to handle the death of his own wife and brother. He even said that he caught that two of them cheating when in fact it was the other way around!


    Speaking of cheating I never saw Sir Earnest''s lover as well. When the sir suddenly became insane the lover proceeded to dress up and then she kissed Sir Earnest''s cheeks and tell the shady character outside to go and his "job" is already done.


    And then they were gone. I didn''t hear them open the door, I didn''t hear footsteps, I didn''t hear anyone talking or walking outside, and I didn''t even hear a car leave. They just vanished in thin air. Just like the Phantom. They were gone and I never heard about them again.


    Sin, doctor, that''s how sin works, that''s how the devil punished the weak, and I am not weak. I will carry this story until I die. And when everyone around me seems to not understand what I believed in I will still carry what I believe.


    And probably I might even hold a press conference about this matter but I''m in no capability of doing such in my present self. I''d probably do that some other time when I''m already strong enough. Yeah, perhaps I''ll do that tomorrow. Will you help me, doctor? I want my story to be seen everywhere, I want to world to see my story on television, I want them all to know the real truth! I want my story to be plastered in every newspaper and told in every radio!


    I want them to see me tell the truth once and for all, doctor. I know you know what I mean.


    Oh, our session has long expired, doctor! I''m so sorry for wasting your time like this. I''ll go now, doctor. I have somewhere to go, I don''t know why but for some reason I want to be alone for a while. Oh no, I don''t need any police escort. I can protect myself.


    ...


    The room is filled with an obvious discomfort, the air all around is filled with an almost disgusting animosity. Thankfully, it''s not an animosity towards me but to this new information the police bureau got because of my "help".


    "I have included all necessary details about uhh... Mrs. Goodman in the files we have distributed earlier. So um... To summarize this thing I mean, you know, the presentation, I would like to reiterate the information we already know about the case.


    "We are all aware the crime scene itself is quite peculiar. There no blood in the scene but every witness we had pointed out on the fact that there is, indeed, a murder that occurred in the house.


    "No bodies have been found too. Not a single one, you already know this, of course. Lots of uh... headlines have appeared about it. In fact, the entire house is neat. No sign of robbery, no blood, no fingerprints at all which is highly unusual for a house since you know, people live in it and stuff, you get the point. There are a few knives in the kitchen and we can conclude that one of those kitchen knives can be the murder weapon but they seem to be unmoved, though the possibility of it being used is still a factor.


    "Lastly, all of the testimonies we got today do not seem to match with each other. In fact, they seem to be trying to contradict one another. The saddest part about this entire fiasco is that none of them seems to be reliable at all since there''s no evidence.


    "And this concludes my report, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to call on Inspector Gerald to speak about the rest of the technical information regarding the case. Thank you very much."


    I left the meeting room with hurried footsteps and took a deep, ragged breath. I am out of there. Wow, it feels more like a dungeon there more than an actual prison cell.


    Thank god nobody noticed. I pressed my skin on my face and on my arms then pinched my belly and my thigh. Shit, I knew it, my skin is already getting soft, they''re about to melt soon. I need to get the fuck out of here and get this shit out of my body.


    "You seem to be nervous back there, doctor."


    What? I turned my head behind me with great haste. There I saw a stranger, a man wearing a black coat and a violet shirt underneath, He seems about thirty, but he seems younger compared to the other moguls inside the room.


    "Well, yeah, sorry about that. I was just nervous, it''s my first time."


    Fuck. I should have researched a lot more about this old fuck''s background first before using his skin.


    "Yeah, that''s kinda weird, isn''t it? I mean, you did no presentation at all. You let someone else do it for you. But you''re never nervous in front of a crowd, you always seem to just not care at all. This confused me, doctor." The man chuckled.


    "Well, there''s always a first time for everyone!" Fuck, there''s no excuses left in me.


    "Say, doctor," The man took two steps towards me. The narrow corridor we''re both standing in feels narrower than ever. The dim orange light from above is like a hot caress on my melting skin. No, it''s as if the man is taking all the space around me for himself, surrounding me with his gigantic aura with his eyes filled with anything but absolution. I am surrounded by him yet he is not. He is standing in front of me with a friendly smile and an aloof body language. That''s all. There is no reason for me to shake and sweat this much but alas, I am. I''m terrified. I feel like this man will murder me with his mere presence alone. "Do you know who I am?"


    I have no fucking idea who this man is.


    "What uh..." I stuttered to myself as clench my fist behind my back.


    "You don''t know me, don''t you? Even though we have been working for five years, even though we work in the same team for three years, even though I have been presenting your researches for you as your proxy for four years, and even though I married your daughter six years ago and you agreed on it with all your heart and ever since then you keep calling me by my name. Except for today, today is the biggest exception. You don''t look at me in the eye, you don''t smile at me, and you never even called my name, not even once, doctor."


    "I¡­ Of course, I know your name!" I chuckled as I scratch the back of my head. However, I''m pulling my hair off my scalp as I try so hard not to show the fear I have been feeling as I look at his dubious eyes. No, I feel like those eyes are not dubious anymore. They are certain.


    "In fact, let me ask you a question, doc," he placed his hands on my shoulder and gripped it so hard it feels as if he''s trying to break my bones off. Fuck, if he keeps doing he will tear my skin off! "Do you know who you are?"


    "I''m... I''m..."


    "In fact, I find it weird that an old psychologist is the one handling an entire murder case when it''s not part of your job to act like a fucking detective, right, doc? I didn''t know you''re doing forensic now, doc. Did you quit your job already? Too many depressed inmates for your taste? You wanna swap jobs with me now, huh? Why aren''t you saying anything, doc?"


    "Well, you''re not really letting me..."


    He punched the concrete wall a few centimeters away from my face. I can feel his bones cracking as it shakes in anger next to my face.


    "Where the fuck is Doctor Eagleton?"


    I paused. My body is shaking and my gut feels like it''s about to explode.


    But not for long.


    "Ah, yes, the doctor or maybe the better term is this fucking doctor." I laughed and smirked as wide as I can while pointing at my body. "You wanna know where your daddy is, boy? Well, you''re in luck! I have all the answers!"


    I laughed and laughed as hard as I can. The man in front of me started to sweat and I can feel his body shiver all over, and his face filled with visible confusion. You can see by how he furrows his brows and the slowly widening gape on his mouth he''d realized he''s in for a world of hell.


    "W-where is he, motherfucker?"


    "On a dumpster downtown. Oh shit, I forgot, you might not recognize him, which is super fucking sad because he doesn''t have a skin now. Aww! Don''t worry though, I bet even without a face, you can still guess he is the man you''re looking for by looking at his dick."


    "W-what the fuck are you talking about?" He took two steps backward, each step he takes his hands is covering his face. "What the fuck did you do to him?"


    "I skinned him alive, boy. I skinned your daddy alive! You know, it''s not a secret in my university that the old man is fucking his son-in-law in his office every night but goddamn, I didn''t know he''s messing with such a snack! And you seem to be such a good cock sucker too because you knew right away I''m not your big daddy!" I laughed at my own words as I clap my hands, trying to reassure myself how much of a comedy gold I recited. As I flap my arms around and stomp my legs trying so hard to contain my laughter, I can feel my skin slowly melting and whisking away from my body, splashing away from me like oil and dripping on the walls. "Well, I guess there''s no point trying to hide now since you already found out about me, anyway. But you know what; this is actually the first time I knew the old bastard''s name although I''ve been listening to his lectures for months now! How about that, huh? Pat yourself in the back, you gave me another fucking useless information about your old plaything!"


    The man screamed in a panicked frenzy. He doesn''t understand what''s happening and you can see his disbelief as he fell down on the floor. He tried to get away from me by crawling his way out but there''s no stopping me now. He tried banging on the door of the conference room to let him in or at least have someone help him but it''s already too late. No one will hear him now; no one is inside those rooms. In fact, there''s no one inside this building at all, or in this world for that matter. We are all alone in this huge playground and I have him all for myself wherever he might run. But I won''t let him. He will be in this dreaded corridor and I will keep making him remember the dread I felt when he approached me in such a narrow place. I stripped all my clothes off to reveal my already melting body on him. My face, with my smirk still visibly seen, looks like its being stretched from one direction to another as I let it melt from my skull like a chocolate bar in the middle of a desert. I raise my arms towards the air and shaped my fingers like an eagle''s claw. My skin, which is halfway melted but not enough to touch the floor, sags on my arms like featherless wings. I flapped my arms and cawed violently towards the man as he cowers before me like a tiny insect praying for his mother to be eaten first so he may escape.


    The man kept banging and banging the door, screaming names I never heard before, screeching like a madman with his voice sounding more and more feminine as he shrieks repeatedly. His voice resounds on the air like a terrible soprano and his banging on the door sounded like a poorly synced drum instrumental.


    "It seems you whoring around old men made your voice louder than ever, huh? You fucking slut. You should have gunned yourself in the head before you even approached me because now it''s too late for you to make that decision." I wasn''t smirking nor was I laughing but my face melts my skin as I was cackling earlier. Now, the melted skin kept a smile over my face making it look like my face is being forcibly stretch wide to form a disgusting smile.


    "I will make you suffer more than your daddy!" I whisper as I envelop him with my melting skin. I can feel him struggle around me as the now ivory colored goo travels around his body. "You want daddy to touch you so much? Then have at it!" I can hear my voice take a surreal change as well making it sound like my words are melting as it leaves my now deformed mouth.


    The man kept on banging on the door but nothing happened, the damn thing is not reacting, no one is opening it for him. Until suddenly, the door cracked, not like how a metal or wood snaps, but the rapture sounded as if it''s made of glass and it. The crack traveled from all directions as the man continued banging the root. Until finally, the entire corridor we are in crashed as if an explosion hit a wall of glass and the damn surrounding exploded all over the place. Shrapnel of the fall fell over my melted skin but I felt no pain, in fact, the broken pieces of glass sink on my skin like a struggling man on a quicksand.


    The glassy terrain revealed in its destruction endless darkness, nothingness, and sheer loneliness. I continue to drown the man with my skin but I found a better idea that might be fun for me to pass the time as I await my new body. I pull the man from the liquid goo that is my skin and holds him with my now skinless arms.


    "I will use my equipment to change your reality. Oh, and you''re gonna be a good way to test it, huh? Fuck, I bet that would make the old shop owner happy! Since you wanna be a slut, I''m gonna make you a fucking slut magnet! You like that, you fucking bimbo bitch? Yeah, from now on your name will be John Smith, yeah that''s right, like in Pocahontas! I wanna turn you into a college student and I will monitor you all day! I''ll be sending you a picture of yourself every day to remind you of how much of a fucking ugly slut you are! I''ll keep reminding you every day I am always, always waiting for the right time to kill you and I will make sure you have no memory that this entire thing ever happened! Hah! Don''t you wanna be a student again, huh? Maybe get the attention of some horny old professors and fuck them hard till then give you an A? Yeah, you like how that sounds, bitch?" I laughed without a hint of class, just pure ecstatic laugh that of a drunk junky. "I will throw you back to our world and when my next body expires, you will be the fucking replacement!"


    The man gasped for air as he tries to whisper, "... have... mercy..."


    The skin on my face completely melts off revealing nothing but a dark layer of skin, sort of like hardened mucus with a sticking eyeball.


    "We will have so much fun together, John Smith! And I''ll be there to photograph every inch of your suffering and I''ll make sure you''ll feel alone while being surrounded by so many people. The two of us..." I smirk as wide as I can reveal my mouth filled with orange maggots. "... will have so much fun."


    "... just... a dream..." the man whispered as the glass shrapnel that fell all around suddenly went back up again like a video on a rewind. The pieces of glass returned from whence they came. And as the pieces arranged themselves, my skin too crawls back to my body as if it had a mind of its own, covering me with the ivory goo once again as it forms a shape all over my body.


    I stood up and held the near lifeless man up above me like a baby being held by his father towards the sky. My skin sags all over my body again as it tries to reform. As I raise him up, the skin on my arms sags again, forming another set of fatherless-looking wings.


    I whisper back at him as I smile gently as the ivory goo moves all over my face, reforming yet again to last another day.


    "This is not a dream,"

 10 All the Things He Said

    The worst part about drinking alone in a silent night is the sadness accompanying every drop of alcohol traveling my insides. It''s even worse if the company you''re working for filed bankruptcy.


    "Bartender," I shouted with a hiccup, "whatever poison you''re making me drink right now I want two more of it."


    "Are you sure, miss? You''ve been drinking here since before opening hours."


    "And I''ve been telling you over and over it''s fine!" I chuckled before trying to hold my barf from bursting out of my stomach. "I''m fine!"


    The bartender sighed in surrender as he looks for my order behind the counter. He judgingly stared down at me with a raised eyebrow as he put the bottle back whence he took it. I made an inaudible noise as a retort to his unacceptable actions, but he instead ignored me and continued on wiping wine glasses.


    The part of the bar I''m sitting in now turned wet by god knows what liquids but I''m betting 80% of those are human tears - my human tears. I''m certain. The bartender shrugged me off in my lonesome as I chuckle alone, repeatedly shouting for two more bottles of scotch. The dimly lit bar is bright enough to let every patron inside see how pathetic I''ve become after our company went down to the depths of conglomerate debt.


    Their murmurs are of a volume low enough for me not to hear but the collective noise of their whispers sounded as if they''re chanting some ungodly sorcery to rid me from the silence of their alcoholic sanctuary. They might as well tie me down a sepulcher and offer me as sacrifice inside their synagogues for I''m being unacceptably embarrassing with my stupid behavior since I came here about seven hours ago.


    I remembered I was so excited for today because I bought this new clothes yesterday with my paycheck. And, oh my god, they are, without a doubt, the most gorgeous dress I''ve ever seen, but it costs half of my monthly allowance. I don''t know what material it''s made of but when I tried it on it felt so right and the way it fit me felt so immaculate I can''t resist buying it. I had no money though, but I said screw it, I''ll just work harder next month!


    I think you already know what happened next. I went to work today expecting everyone to at least compliment me or notice how impossibly adorable my outfit is. Instead, I got a notice written in an 8 by 11 bond paper informing everyone we lost our jobs. There''s even a fancy little signature from the CEO herself below, probably the last signature she''ll ever use as CEO.


    I''m so sad. Today is so sad. This is so sad. And now my dress, ruined; my hair, ruined; my day, ruined; my entire career I prioritize my entire life, fucking ruined! And I don''t even know if I want to go on, I''m not sure if I can continue from here.


    Now, all that I have is three bottles of scotch and an old bartender in a quiet bar listening to my pathetic wailing, ruining everyone''s night the same way the world ruined mine. This sucks. I don''t have a family to call since my parents don''t have phones; I have no friends to talk to, and no lover to comfort me. Well, I had once, but a long time ago, I never had one again. Damn it, this is what alcohol does to you. It makes an already bad day worse by making you remember the pains you endured in the past.


    "Yo, Carl! Where''re the two bottles? Give me my scotch, man!" I shouted once again with a swirling voice I can only compare to a crackhead''s.


    Everyone took notice of my embarrassing show of wretchedness. I guess the bar''s poise and luxurious aesthetic with all the velvet wallpaper, tiled floors, and cushioned seats do not fit with how repulsive my state is in. Everything in this bar is black from the ceiling to the floor, the tables and the chair, every corner and every condiment, every carving and every design on the terrifyingly alluring wallpaper. As if the environment itself wishes to mimic the absolute sadness traveling my veins and escaping through my pores.


    Pair with the fact that Peerless Sheep - this posh bar, with all the minimalistic designs and arabesque patterned ceiling - is for members only makes this entire thing thousand times more embarrassing. I can only imagine the thoughts running through their heads; perhaps, they''re thinking how an unrefined woman like I got a membership to a place like this.


    I bet none of them would believe I was once keeping a high ranking post in my previous job. Damn, until now it still pains me every time I call it a "previous job". I''m sorry, okay? I can''t find the right mentality to look refined and lady-like right now. I can be beautiful if I so desire because I am. I kept an image of a saint-like figure with the perfect figure and a lovely face for almost a decade. I dedicate much of my life to looking beautiful and keeping it that way. Is it such a shameful thing to at least be ugly at a time where I feel like I''m the ugliest person in the world?


    As the bartender continuously ignores my protestation about my unattended order, the door behind me swung open and the absolute power it resonated rang into my ears. Hearing the way this uneventful stranger enters the bar sent a cold, sort of nauseating, feeling all over the top of my skin, down my organs. It so surreal. I don''t know why, but the way he opened the door creates an unbearable feeling in the core of my chest. It felt so personal, so familiar, and so utterly fearsome; as if they have activated my instinct as a prey with the smallest sensation of my predator prowling beneath the masque of darkness.


    He entered the bar, walking about inside; each step gaining volume towards my direction. "Carl, give me the usual." That voice, that deep and timid tone, calming and soothing, strange yet magnificent; there''s only one person in this world equipped with such a powerful weapon. I hurriedly poured what remains of the scotch in the bottle I have unto my glass, biting my lower lip hard to ease my sudden burst of anxiety.


    I know this man. I don''t know how I recognized him without seeing his face but I do. The sound of his steps, the manner of his movements, the domineering aura he exudes with his presence alone, and his commanding voice towering over my cowering body shackles my mind with a powerful grasp. This feeling is making my inner demons pour countless barrels of sweat down my forehead, making me swallow my saliva as thousands of memories jogged itself up with the countless emotions I''m feeling.


    "It''s been a while, Ashley."


    God, and I thought this day can''t get any worse than this.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "You look well, Denzel."


    He pulled the stool next to me and sat on it, pretending there''s no dirty atmosphere surrounding us. My eyes moved toward his direction but my body remained unmoved, tense like I''m covered in concrete and cement.


    Why!?


    I exclaimed to myself that single word. Why, why, why, why, why, why? Why!? What is he doing? What''s he planning? What is he trying to achieve by torturing me like this? Didn''t he tell me he was the one who got hurt more last time we met? Isn''t this situation he put himself into suffocating for the both of us?


    I observe his every movement. He calmly orders something, my head is in a blur and the only sense working in my body at the moment is the one in my eyes, my sight. I can see the way he raised his hands to call the attention of the bartender, I see the way he voiced out something with an irritatingly calm expression, and he loosened his necktie a few inches away from his collar revealing a peek of his neck until he finally noticed me scanning his every move.


    "No need to be so cautious. I''m not here to laugh at you."


    I reply with silence and a continued leering with bloodshot eyes.


    "I heard¡­ you know, about your company. I thought you''d be here, so I came here right away after work." He said looking through my eyes, making my resolve weak.


    I dropped my shoulders and looked down my glass. "You can laugh now. I can take it."


    "I''m not gonna do that." He whispered, leaning closer.


    "I know you''ve been waiting for this to happen."


    He paused for a moment. "No. But yeah, maybe if I think about it I''ve been waiting for this opportunity." My hands shook and my eyes moistened; I cannot seem to contain the beating of my heart. "Ashley, believe me, I still¡­"


    "I can''t do this with you right now." I stood up, took my wallet from my handbag, and left my bill on the table with a loud smack from my palms.


    "Wait, Ashley please," He pulled my hands, it''s forceful, but it doesn''t hurt. It''s the gentlest grip I''ve ever felt for a long time. The gentle grip only he can give, powerful yet kind. And as always I let his provocations captivate my soul. I''m so weak, especially against him.


    I tried hard to conceal my tears, my shame, my regrets, and most of all I tried to think of a response that would not hurt him; no, not again, not this time. "What?"


    "Stay at my place tonight. You look horrible, you''re not okay." His grip loosens up, giving my poor shaking wrist a breather, but there are no breaks for this maiden''s heart. "Please?" He whispered, pressing his fingers on my hands like a sweet childish massage; melting me with the heat of his love.


    I took a timid step towards him; my heels letting out a soft sound as it hits the smooth black tiles. For the first time in years, I can finally relish on the touch of this man I craved yet I set free. Our reflection on the tiles is the only witness of our sudden reunion. Or maybe not.


    I noticed all around me, people from different ages and from different companies with different lives and wealth are staring right at us as we display our embarrassing public display of uncomfortable affection, free for all to mock. I realized this man in front of me is holding the hand of a now poor and ugly old lady. I can''t take that, he should touch someone else. Someone as evil as me do not deserve these hands.


    "I''m sorry, Denzel," I pulled my hands away from him as a tear slowly drops from my eye. "I can''t do that. I can''t do that to you." I hurriedly stepped out of the bar as I sniff and wipe my tears on my sleeves.


    I can hear Denzel run towards me after a few minutes but I was already out of the building when he pulled me back to his arms. Our bodies touched and our breath synced into each other sort of like a perfectly timed symphony of the wind our lips alone produce. The smell of his immaculate masculine aroma paired with the sharpness of his gaze is strong enough to drain whatever resolve remains in my spirit.


    There''s no way I can win against someone as powerful as this man since he engraved his spell upon me when we first laid eyes on one another. And now the long-sealed curse of his undying love has reawakened and there''s nothing I can do but surrender myself completely to him.


    "Ashley," he whispered as he slowly and cautiously constricts my waist with his hands. "I know we had a rough time, but that''s all in the past now. I''m willing to leave you alone for now, but can I at least help you out? You know, as a friend."


    Hearing those words enter through my ears makes me feel like I''m standing on a meadow as my heart flutters along with the daffodils. I''m such a weak woman.


    "I told you, I can''t do that to you." I pushed him away with what little strength I have in me. I don''t know if he''s faking it to make me feel better but softly pressing my hands on his chest took him a step back from me, releasing his hands from my body. "Nothing good will ever happen if we associate like this again. You know this. God, you know this better than me."


    Outside is cold, dark, and lonely, lonelier than Denzel''s distant stares after what I said. As the darkness surrounds us, I find solace in the only light source around, the dim violet luminance of the bar''s signage. I can see a troubled man in front of me basked in the amalgamation of the purple light and the singular darkness creating an iridescence of our conflicting emotions. Meanwhile, the darkness'' cold embrace swallows me along with Denzel''s benignant shadow.


    "See you," I said as I turn my back on him.


    That''s so cool. I feel like that''s my greatest achievement for today. I saved Denzel another heartbreak from me in such a magnificent manner.


    Until I tripped.


    Hard.


    Face first.


    "Are you okay, Ashley?" Denzel said, rushing towards me in a worried tone I would have begged to hear years ago. But now it pained me more than the bruise on my knee.


    "I''m okay," I said with a scarred forehead but I bet my bleeding nostrils right now is not a convincing show of how perfectly fine I feel. "I''m just a bit dizzy. I can take care of myself." My head feels like a wreck and I can''t stand up properly.


    Denzel sighed. "I get it, okay. You want me to leave you alone that much, fine!" He said in a rather frustrated tone but still keeping his usual composed demeanor. "At least let me give you this." He took something from his pocket and placed it on my hands.


    "Is this a business card?"


    "My number is there too; see, right below my name. If you need anything, help or whatever, anything at all, don''t be afraid to call me, Ashley." He breathed heavily before giving me a defeated smile.


    I stood up, Denzel supporting me by holding my wrists and my waist tightly. I looked down, thinking of whatever to reply as I examine the pavement. "Okay. I''ll keep that in mind."


    I walked away from him, and as I slowly let myself get swallowed by the darkness of the night, I could hear Denzel shouting behind me, his voice echoing in my head.


    "Call me!"


    And with that, I walk alone; the elements of a moonless evening are the only audience in my crying spree. I weep and I weep as I walk towards the warm embrace of my home, drunk and with no hope to cling onto. I look so pathetic, I''m not even holding my tears back; I let my eyes and my nose flow liquids out on to the cold air along with my sweat. No man walks around the area this late at night so not a living soul bear witness of how stupid I look, but that doesn''t mean crying like a baby in a 35-year-old''s body is not pathetic. I want to shower and lie down and eat and rest and end this day in my apartment I probably have not enough budgets to stay in.


    Reality snapped right back at me when a man crossed from an intersection and ambled towards my direction. That''s when it truly dawned on me how unsightly I look. I wipe the dried tears off my face with my left sleeve again and use the other sleeve to wipe the sweat piling on my neck. I feel more than repulsed at myself thinking of what this stranger might think to himself seeing a mature-looking lady wiping crap out of her face like a middle-school student. Well, thankfully we finally passed each other. What a wake-up call, I need to pull myself together if I wish to get out of this mess the world has put me into.


    But the world came to a halt when the sound of the man''s footsteps stops.

 11 Running through My Head

    For some unknown reason, an ominous, dark, and unbearable feeling of dread makes the judgment of my instinct believe the stranger is looking directly at me; sending signals that makes me feel anything but calm. Odd but I kept walking anyway; maybe he stopped to look at his phone or something. Whatever his reason might be my guess must''ve been wrong because I can hear his footsteps once again¡­ and from the sound of it, he''s walking towards me.


    I looked briefly behind me. I am not reassured to say my guess is correct. That man is upon me. Though his movement is slow I have this odd feeling he would catch up soon nonetheless. It''s a bizarre phenomenon. I''m certain by the sound of the sole of his shoes hitting the cold, concrete ground that he is walking at a ridiculously slow pace. I''m certain he''s after me for some reason. I am certain although I shouldn''t be. I''m certain, damn it, I''m sure. I''m not in direct contact with him but the sound of his footsteps resonates in a five-second interval at a minimum. However, the way the sound grows louder and louder towards my direction tells only one thing. The distance between that man and I also grow nearer and nearer in an equally troubling haste. He''s walking so slow. He only takes a step every few seconds. Yet every time I look back at him he gets closer.


    I peeked behind my back.


    He''s still.


    I looked in front of me once again.


    He took a step.


    I took another peek at him.


    What''s this? He''s like, just seven steps away from me.


    I walked a bit faster.


    He took another step.


    I looked back once again.


    He''s only three steps away from me.


    I shrieked at the sight of his stillness. I do not know why but I have a feeling that... perhaps its human instinct but...


    That man is going to kill me.


    I can feel my heart punch my chest as the hair on my skin rises along the way my mind paces different sort of endings for this night if he manages to catch me. All of this ignites the fear in me burning with an immense power it feels like my inner demons are committing arson in my heart.


    The streets are dark. The lights are all off. The air is still. And there is a man following me; I can only come up with one conclusion.


    He''s going to kill me.


    I don''t know who he is or at least I think I don''t; with his gray hoodie covering a majority of his head and his upper body, there''s no certainty if I even find him familiar at all. The man seems to cover the entirety of his body. Perhaps, his hands reveal a bit of his skin but I can''t be too sure about that as well since he places them both inside the pockets of his black jeans. With clothes as plain as those with such ambiguous features, he could be anybody in this world! But whoever he is, he made a disconcerting choice for his detour.


    Panic sets in, my heart beats so fast I can feel it drill a hole through my ribcage. Thus, I hasten my pace, looking behind me as the speed of my feet matches with the beating of my heart. If I make myself faster than this I''d be running but with the speed of how I walk, you might as well call what I''m doing a badly executed jog.


    My obvious caution of the man might have alarmed him for it made whatever this man''s actions a lot more uncanny. He is walking as slowly as he did when I first laid my eyes on him but the space between us got no farther than when he has been ambling towards me. It feels as if he''s getting closer. I see him as I took a quick timid peek behind me. The movement of his feet suggested his speed did not and should now increase at all but as I move faster so did he.


    I ran. Fast. Faster than I could, faster than how fast my day has escalated.


    Yet he never left my sight. I tried running faster until my lungs beg me to take a break by giving me ragged breaths. However, my pursuer gains the same speed as well but the slow movement of his steps did not change. He doesn''t seem to give even a portion of effort in chasing after me at all. The way he was the first time I saw him is the same as he looks now; while I''m desperately trying to escape my imminent death, he''s not bothered at all, he''s not sweating, not gasping for air, he hasn''t even removed his hands from the pockets of his jeans. And even after I turned to different streets, traversed through different intersections, or crossed neighborhoods I''ve never seen before he''s still tailing me with the same supernatural capabilities he''s wonderfully pulling off.


    But hope has come and it cannot have any better timing than this. My apartment, I can see it right in front of me! I''m here, I''m home; the light of the building radiates and I can finally escape a seemingly endless chase with the avatar of darkness itself in its domain! My face beamed as I took one last look at the man earnestly playing tag with me. When I turned my head around to taunt him somehow, I felt every cell on my body jump and crawl before I could even judge what I''m seeing.


    The stranger''s face is a few centimeters away from my shoulders.


    For a brief second, a second alone is enough, my brain gave myself enough adrenaline to engrave a few highlights of the stranger''s face deep into the crevices of my memories. His hoodie covers and darkens a huge portion of his face, but I''m unfortunate enough to see the lower part of his face thus it is the first thing I noticed. His chapped lips looked as if the man bruised them intentionally. His deranged grin put emphasis on his decayed mouth and his teeth blackened and yellowed by ancient garbage he has thrust into his chops.


    I screamed as I lunge myself away from him, trying to dodge whatever he''s been planning with his face. I landed on the ground, back first, and crawled my way out of him while slowly trying to compose myself. The heaviness of my breathing and the swirling confusion invading my brain did not stop the continuous vigor in my blood in my attempt to stand up. And when I''m finally running with my own two feet I felt no fatigue but a sudden burst of ceaseless energy.


    I clenched my chest with my right hand, the other hiding and securing my handbag between my arms. What does he want from me? Is he a thief? Perhaps a rapist? Or is he after my blood? Why is this happening? Why now? Why can''t I have peace of mind after this undeserved torturous day!?


    "Leave me alone!" I shouted as a flurry of emotions ran right through me.


    I''m here! I''m in the apartment building! I''m safe! I''m pushed through the entrance and ran as fast as I can towards the elevator; the sound of my heels hitting the hard tiles of the apartment lobby resounded all over the empty floor. I pushed the elevator button as fast as I can, afraid to look back, afraid to see the man''s face once again, afraid of everything and anything around me.


    The elevator door opened. Oh, thank the gods in heaven, the elevator opened, I wouldn''t know what I''d do if the darn thing won''t work. I went inside and you best believe I went inside with haste faster than any living human being could pull off. I pushed myself to the wall as I await the door in front of me shut. And there, I saw him. Standing outside of the apartment building, the crazy bastard is staring right at me and for a moment, we''ve looked at each other eye to eye I can feel the essence of his soul deep into me.


    And then he pushed the door open but the elevator door has not closed yet. It seems the elevator is not closing at all. I pushed every button I can see inside in an irrational attempt to break our distance once and for all.


    And then he ran. He ran. He ran.


    He''s running towards me!


    I shouted like a lamb in the presence of the wolves'' alpha. I am a slave to this man running full speed towards me. And as he is about a few meters away from the elevator my feet gave up on me as I try so hard to push my back towards the wall, a vain attempt to escape. My entire body is shaking and I can feel my body failing me. I slowly slid myself down to the ground as I screamed and wept while uttering inaudible words at him.


    He extended his arms towards me. He reached out to me. I covered my face with my arms and I folded my feet to defend my body. I''m not even screaming anymore, my entire body has given up altogether.


    Nothing happened.


    I took my arms off my head to see the elevator door closed. I''m safe. I''m okay, it almost feels unreal but I''m unscratched. I chuckled as the tension in my body and the absolute fatigue I haven''t felt earlier suddenly floods right through me. I laughed in a coarse, tired voice as tears flow out of my eyes. I laughed as thousands of emotions clog my mind. I laughed as I feel every part and every corner of my body drenched in sweat.


    I laughed. I laughed and cried. There''s no better feeling than the relief of surviving a battle I could not have won. I curled up, dying inside yet gladdened to be alive. I lay down the cold elevator floor, bawling and laughing like a hopeless asylum patient couple with the fact that the elevator door opens in every floor makes it seem like I''m being transported from the ninth circle of hell befitting for a woman like I. Frankly, I care not if someone sees me, I''m just overwhelmed I can still see the light of day.


    As I arrive at the fifth floor, my floor, I can finally say with great ease this sad day has finally ended. I stood up, breathed heavily thrice, and walked out as soon as the elevator door swung open. My floor is here, rest is upon me, finally. And as soon as I stepped foot on the hallway every strength in me got drained and it felt as if my body only leaves me ample energy to traverse the few meters leading towards my apartment.


    My head feels like it''s about to crack, my feet is so worked up I''m not even sure if I can walk properly, my body is releasing so much heat I might as well be a hearth, and my heart is still scattered inside me like broken glass yet I can still feel it pumping punches through my chest.


    Room 503, finally home. What a long day, what a shitty day, I wish I can erase time so I can remove this day, but that won''t make sense. That thought made me want to listen to The Court of the Crimson King. Maybe tomorrow I''ll play my King Crimson vinyl collection while looking for a new job. Ugh, just thinking about it made me thousand times more exhausted.


    I unlocked my doorknob with my key card and pushed my door open as soon as the beep sounded. I threw my handbag on my bed and opened my window. I closed my eyes and let the evening breeze sweep all the stress away. I feel so shattered and yet the cold evening breeze blowing through my window gives me a surreal feeling of euphoria, calming me with a soothing touch Mother Nature alone could give.


    Well, I''ve been here for a while, might as well retire for the night. Or maybe I should just retire altogether and be a whore instead. Nah, that won''t work, the pension would be garbage and I''m too young to sell well, should''ve considered that thought when I was eighteen. I''m joking, jeez.


    I opened my eyes to see the view from my room probably one last time. I need to move soon, or find a job that can sustain my lifestyle in this apartment and-


    Wait a minute, what''s that?


    From the rooftop of a nearby building, about three-story tall, I can see a shadow of someone waving some sort of light source. Whoever this person is, they''re doing it on purpose. He''s waving them like he''s asking for help, is he stranded? The way he moves his hands from left to right with a light source, perhaps a cellphone''s flashlight, makes it feel like he''s a concertgoer but he''s alone. It seems as if he''s trying to get someone''s attention.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    Oh no.


    If that''s the case, I think he succeeded in his plan. I took a step back and covered my lips with my fingers. Is he trying to get my attention?


    As if taunting me, the lights of the building''s rooftop wherein the stranger stood shone. Every spotlight and every bit of light source in that damned rooftop seems to be pointing only to the person waving at me. This revealed clear as day who this person is, who he is. Among billions of people in the world whose name I am not aware of, he''s the one I''m most acquainted with.


    The light of the rooftop shone with harsh intensity. It illuminates the entire vicinity, eating the surrounding darkness with it. The beam coming from the stranger''s hand as he continues to wave at me felt like a dot in comparison. However, for me, it felt like a powerful aureole delivering me from eternal damnation.


    A man wearing a gray hoodie and black pants with his left hand waving at me while he stuck the other inside the pocket of his jeans. I screeched at the sight of him. Who is he? What is he doing? Why is he playing with me? Is this supposed to be a sick joke? I''m not laughing!


    The man stopped waving, placed the phone he''s waving back to his pocket, and crouched to take a something on the ground. He raised a cardboard to double his size with words written in green paint, inscribed in it are things I wish I have not read.


    BEEN A WHILE


    I''M COMING 4 U ! ! !

 12 This is not Enough

    I slid my window close so powerfully I swear the banging it produced might have woken up three of my neighbors. I sat through my window, hiding in vain. I bit my right hand''s fingernails while the other grabs it to stop me from shaking. I crept slowly towards my bed, curled myself on it, and hid beneath my blanket. I will sleep this off, I will end this day once and for all, and tomorrow I''ll look for a job, move out of this apartment, and forget about tonight once and for all!


    My soft mattress and the heat of the blanket along with the unbearable weakness I''ve been feeling since this morning has reached me, making me feel drowsy in a matter of seconds. I closed my eyes and in just the snap of a finger, I''m off to dreamland. But as fast as I had fallen asleep the same goes with how fast I''ve awoken. A soft knocking on my door forced my soul back to the physical world, my head in a limbo between asleep and awake. Not to mention, the hangover is starting to Batista bomb my skull until it breaks.


    I took my phone out of my handbag and checked the clock. God, who''s knocking at my door at 2 in the morning? I rose from my bed with a scoff, scratching my head as I took a peek at my peephole. What I saw is a man wearing an eerily familiar gray hoodie and I can''t see it but damned if his pants are black. He turned his head towards the direction of my peephole. As usual, his hoody is hiding his eyes while the shadow of it hid his nose but unfortunately, the darkness did not stretch far enough to reach his mouth. He leaned his shoulders forward enough for me to see the highlights of his bruised lips.


    He''s about to whisper something when I interrupted him with a hard "No!" I shouted ''no'' about five times before I ran back to my living and try to find something I can push towards the door, anything at all! I pulled my hair, panicking, trying to find anything I can carry or drag. I tried the closet, but it''s too heavy, the table is not enough, ah, that''s right I can push the sofa!


    If I am being honest, it took a while to make the darn thing move, I''m just too dizzy for this shit. As I persistently took the effort to move the sofa, I can hear the stranger''s knocking grew louder and louder. After a while the knocking turned into a loud banging, the loud banging turned into force so strong he might as well demolish my door.


    After a few minutes, I finally managed to push the sofa as hard as I can towards my door and used it as a makeshift barricade.


    "I don''t care who you are and I don''t want to know what you want but you will never set foot on my apartment. Ever!"


    The banging did not grow louder, but it continued and it became faster than ever. I don''t know why but I pushed the sofa harder towards the door as if to overpower his banging with whatever remains of my spirit.


    Alas, the man stopped. I stood on top of my sofa and took a peek at my peephole. He''s not there anymore, thank god! Hopefully, for the last time. I surrendered to my tiredness and let myself fall down the couch.


    Bang.


    I heard the wall to my left side emitted, perhaps because my neighbors are finally complaining from all that commotion. Damn, looks like eviction will come earlier for me.


    Bang.


    That one came from upstairs.


    Bang.


    This one came from the door.


    Bang.


    Another one from my right side.


    Bang.


    This time sound is from below my window.


    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    It''s everywhere! All around me, there''s banging everywhere! From within my walls, from the floor, from the ceiling, from the door, some banging are even coming from the wood inside my sofa! It''s everywhere, it''s making me go insane, it''s tearing my head apart! I can almost feel my ear swell up and bleed from inside of my head after a few seconds of hearing this awful banging.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG STOP PLEASE BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG WHAT DO YOU WANT BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I HAVE NO MONEY BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG LEAVE ME ALONE BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG PLEASE I HAVE NOTHING TO GIVE BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG IF I DID SOMETHING TO YOU IN THE PAST I''M SORRY BANG BANG BANG BANG PLEASE STOP THIS PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU PLEASE BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!


    "Denzel, help me, please!" I shouted to Denzel on the phone.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "What''s going on? What''re that noises, where are you?" Denzel asked in rapid succession, I could barely hear some of what he said because of the loud banging from all around me.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Please, I need you so bad, he''s coming after me, I don''t know why but he''s coming after me; he will kill me, no he will take me away, Denzel, please, you need to come here I don''t know what I''d do I need you here so bad I can''t do this anymore, I''m going crazy I-"


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "I''m already on my car, just stay calm. Do that for me, Ashley. Hide somewhere, I''ll be there. Try to stay calm, I don''t get what''s happening but I''m going now." I don''t know how but in amidst the endless sound of banging I could hear the soothing voice of a worried Denzel.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    "Okay, okay, please, come fast I don''t know what I''d do anymore, Denzel, I''m so confused, they suddenly banged out of nowhere I don''t know where they came from." Tears welled up from my eyes and my voice becomes coarse. "I''m so afraid, Denzel, I don''t know what to do anymore, help me, please!"


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "It''s okay, I''m already driving. Are you still living in your old apartment?"


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Yes,"


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Okay, are you hiding somewhere already?"


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Yes, I''m inside my closet right now."


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Good, you''re doing great, Ashley, I''m so proud of you. I can already see your apartment from afar. I''ll park somewhere near and run towards your room real fast. I''m driving like crazy so don''t worry I''ll be there soon. I promise."


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Thank you so much, Denzel." I cried I can''t contain my tears any longer. "I don''t know what I would do without you. Please don''t hang up, please talk until you get in my room." I begged as I wept, almost shouting since the banging is becoming louder than ever.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "I wasn''t planning to hang up in the first place," Denzel said in a similar shouting tone but his words felt like a cherub''s serene melody.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "Thank you, Denzel, thank you so, so much!"


    BANG BANG BANG BANG


    "No need to thank me. I''m already here inside the building." I can hear his panting as his voice ring on my ear. "Just a bit longer, I''m already there."


    BANG BANG BANG


    "Please, hurry!"


    BANG BANG


    "Ashley?"


    BANG


    "Yes?"


    Bang!


    "I love you."


    BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG


    The banging on the walls grew louder more than ever and I could physically feel the sound hurt the insides of my skull. I feel like if this continues my head will explode.


    "I love you, Ashley!" But Denzel was unfazed by this. I can hear his pant grew louder than ever but he repeats those words of confession over and over and as he does so the banging sound just kept growing and growing in volume. I can hear some of my appliances fall and break as the banging shakes the walls of my apartment.


    But Denzel did not stop proclaiming his love.


    BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY! BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG I LOVE YOU, ASHLEY!


    "I''m here outside of your apartment."


    Silence.


    The banging stopped as if the presence of Denzel alone is enough to make the spawns of Satan to stop their curse upon me. I escaped from my closet and ran straight to my door. I peeked on my peephole and I can see a panting Denzel, confusion written all over his face and sweat bathing his body. But all these don''t seem to destroy his calm demeanor.


    I pulled my sofa from my door and unlocked my door. By the time Denzel saw me he brightens up as if everything in the world is irrelevant compared to this fateful union. And I know I felt the same way. I jumped towards him and cling my arms on his neck, embracing him as tightly as I can, not planning to let go.


    I buried my face on his firm chest, my tears wetting his shirt as if it needs more of it since he''s drenched in sweat already. But I like this, I like the feeling of his body, his heat, his sweat, his heartbeat, him. I love him. I can''t believe I almost made this man leave my side again.


    "I''ll never let you off my sight ever again." He whispered as he embraces me back as tightly as he can without hurting my body.


    I look up at him, my tears fall again for the nth time in the last twenty-four hours. "Don''t you dare leave my side ever again."


    "I won''t." He smiled, his gentle whisper fills my heart with an unbelievably soft sensation I''ve never felt for a long time.


    He kissed me and I kissed him back. I pulled him towards my room, not letting his lips off mine. I pulled myself from him, Denzel''s face filled with longing, those sharp begging eyes tells me he wants more. I took his shirt off and feel the sensation of his skin.


    He may not have the most perfect body in the world but wow, this man is the hottest person I''ve ever seen. I felt his body, his black hair, the heat from the lower half of his body, and feeling of his smooth lips. Everything about him made me forget my apartment is in ruins and everything about that wall banging business.


    I touched a tattoo on his arm, one I''m well acquainted with but one I never expected to see again. Suddenly, countless memories flooded through me one where he put a tattoo of my name in his arm and up until now that same mark still lingers on his skin.


    "I thought you''d get rid of this."


    "I was planning to." He pulled me towards him, making me release a soft moan. "But I guess I never moved on from you."


    I sighed, a soft smile painted on my face. "We never changed."


    That night we drowned ourselves in pleasure.


    The warm caress of the morning woke me up, blinded by the shine of the sun, and the smell of fried eggs, bacon, and the sound of someone cooking on the kitchen revive my spirit. Isn''t this just the best way to wake up? Good day, good bed, good food, and clinging to the arms of a good man.


    Wait.


    If I''m clinging Denzel''s arm who''s cooking in the kitchen?


    I pulled the blanket off and saw my white mattress turned into red. My eyes widened and I slowly turn my head to the ''arm'' I was clinging to the entire time. Well, it''s true, I was clinging to Denzel''s arm the entire time, but where''s the rest of him? I quickly rose from my bed, trying to piece together what is happening while I was asleep.


    That''s when I saw it. Behind my bed, words too big not to notice, written in blood, the letters dripping on the walls, some are just about to dry up.


    YOU LOOK


    PRETTY


    WHEN YOU


    CRY.


    I turned my head towards the door. The sofa is still there, but the door itself is wide open. I''m stunned, in awe, thinking of what is happening, unable to move my body but my eyes got enough energy to release a torrent of tears.


    "You look really pretty right now." A voice whispered in my ears. "But this is not enough."

 13 How I Killed Bill

    In a night like this, so quiet and still,


    Reminded I am, that feeling so real.


    My hands''re shaking, sensation sureal,


    Did I made this pact, the demon''s a seal?


    The euphoria I felt in my first kill.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    -


    I remember that tale called Jack and Jill.


    Wondered I did what Jack felt when uphill,


    I knew he had plans, like mine so evil.


    What, pray tell, did this a bloodied boy feel?


    What did the boy feel when he murdered Jill?


    -


    And so I went to find answers uphill,


    In a night so heavy, the wind gives chill.


    There I came across this one boy named Bill.


    And that time I knew, what the boy, Jack, feel.


    When he found the chance to get his first kill.


    -


    I walked ever slowly towards him, Bill.


    Too busy he is chomping down his meal,


    The thumping of my heart, fills me with thrill.


    If given a balm in Gilead, a fill,


    I''d stop this plan of killing him, I will.


    -


    But I did not stop, I walked with ill will,


    To him with an unfathomable chill,


    I spoke the words as softly as a quill:


    "May I speak with you for a moment, Bill?"


    I knew the words went through him like a drill.


    -


    "What is it?" He said; stupid, stupid Bill.


    "I know you are well and you mean good will,


    "Your love for me, stronger than a steel mill,


    "But its time to stop, let''s stop this love, Bill."


    As my words drop to his ear, so''s his zeal.


    -


    I broke his heart, and I did with god''s will,


    His tears did went down this night of April.


    He asked why, he asked me how I feel,


    But as he weep, my expression is still.


    Looking down I am to the crying Bill.


    -


    Is this how Jack felt when he pushed down Jill?


    Is this why Jack also fell down the hill?


    The sadness I felt as I hear Bill squeal,


    As if both of us are falling downhill.


    And that''s the story of how I killed Bill.

 14 Killing the Unwanted

    -a homage to Philippine mythology and its vast possibilities to horrify-


    -


    -


    I have nothing else to say to the town


    Neither to the vast oceans of people


    Whom I lived with since I was but a child;


    They who scream loud of these unknown vistas


    Of times immemorial to justify


    The ritual called killing the unwanted.


    -


    They whisper in secrets among themselves


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    To recall ancient texts of prophecies


    Which tells the rise of Sitan, death keeper,


    From the vast darkness of Kasama¨¢n;


    He lurks, waits for the day of his return


    To commence in killing the unwanted.


    -


    To stop him from ever returning back


    To the realm men ruled over for eons,


    Our village pledged to protect the world from


    The arrival of Death by offering


    People, feeding their blood to the faeries,


    Thus they thought of killing the unwanted.


    -


    The weak, the old, the sick, the frail, the lame


    All will be offered each time the faeries


    Ring the bell twice to signal their hunger,


    And if the villagers deny their needs


    They will break their barrier against Sitan;


    They feed them by killing the unwanted.


    -


    Sometime in the past, my loving mother


    Conceived my baby brother, smooth and pale,


    But he is sick, his body weak, so frail


    And no medicine we know can save him


    So we are worried, oh so worried, that


    He''ll be part of killing the unwanted.


    -


    So we hid him from the village, we did,


    We cared for him in secret ever since;


    We would be out like nothing is amiss,


    But we would always refuse to attend


    Deep in the forest where robed villagers


    Offer life by killing the unwanted.


    -


    And as days turned to months, they start to doubt


    Our odd family''s constant refusal


    To be part of this foul ceremony;


    They''d question us about the existence


    Of my baby brother dear and why we


    Attend not the killing the unwanted.


    -


    My mother answered all the time, peevish


    And proclaimed thus that the baby is gone


    After a sad, untimely miscarriage;


    Saying that her sadness caused her absence


    And since then she can''t stand the sight of blood,


    She can''t stand them killing the unwanted.


    -


    The people''s questions died soon thereafter


    And our lives went swimmingly like before,


    While my brother grows stronger and stronger,


    Conquering his sickness each step he takes;


    But none will know of his life in this world


    If they are still killing the unwanted.


    -


    Then one day the faeries ring the bell twice,


    But the town hadn''t had time to prepare


    So they dragged my mother, pull her hair down;


    Elders explained the grief my mother felt


    Is naught but sign of weakness thus she was


    Subjected to killing the unwanted


    -


    I couldn''t do anything but watch men


    Steal my mother dear away from our home;


    While they feed the faeries, I feed my wrath!


    I ran with my brother and stole a horse


    And let their hooves deliver me away


    From the twisted killing the unwanted.


    -


    I lit countless matches and throw each stick


    In all huts and houses to command fire


    And have their burn ravage all that they own


    Destroying the town in my fit of rage


    Disallowing the chance we''ll be the next


    Target of them killing the unwanted.


    -


    It''s been five years since that cursed day end.


    I changed my name and my brother as well.


    I worked really hard for our survival.


    And a testament of this is our health.


    We are alive and nothing else mattered.


    Not even that killing the unwanted.


    -


    We have forgotten them thus forever


    We have never spoken it forever


    We have sealed our memories forever


    We have been without its fear forever


    We have lost what we know of forever.


    We don''t need it hopefully forever.


    -


    Soon I heard rumors among friends and peers


    About an enigma from far away,


    That a mysterious village in the east


    Suddenly turned lifeless leaving nothing:


    A burned ruin of their former glory


    Along the remains of their hidden cult.


    -


    Adding to the mystery is a noise,


    Two bells ringing frequently now and then;


    None of them knew what happened hitherto,


    Raging flame singed the narra all around


    Along with a queer structure built to seal


    A cavern deep down the once great forest.


    -


    Countless men tried venturing what''s inside,


    None of them doth returned from the abyss


    Leaving all baffled by its end''s mystiques


    And the grandeur of the unknown cavern,


    The only thing we know for sure inside


    Is a growling noise creeping from within.


    -


    That''s when everything rushes back at me,


    All of my hidden, evil memories;


    Ones I''ve denied ever since my escape,


    Vile rituals I failed telling my brother


    And thus I remembered the true reasons


    Behind the cruel killing the unwanted.


    -


    I decided I need to face my past


    To once and for all remove all my guilt;


    I left my brother to a friend and leave


    To confront the mistakes I have buried


    Deep below the crevices of my brain


    To rid us of killing the unwanted.


    -


    I traveled far and wide from the city


    To the burned remains of my former town,


    And wander in amazement as I gaze


    At what I''ve done, the fury of my pique;


    I was aback seeing once again the


    Sepulcher of killing the unwanted.


    -


    The greens are no more, the soil is barren


    All that remains is the blackened ashes


    Of my former village, land of my youth,


    Land of my despair, land of countless death,


    And there I stand to gaze at the cavern,


    That started the killing the unwanted.


    -


    I can hear the air scream, darkness around,


    The damp stone is the only entryway,


    The only entrance through eternal night


    For darkness alone is what remains there


    And the light of morning unpermitted


    To the source of killing the unwanted.


    -


    I went inside with no light and no friend,


    Shaking, I feel the end within the bounds


    The unknown growls rang forth from deep inside


    As I walk through the wet, dark corridor;


    There, I''ve finally seen the journey''s end,


    So does all of killing the unwanted.


    -


    Creeping in the darkness is Death itself,


    Stalking on the stone is the end of all;


    All''s damp and cold and cruel and evil--


    He who''s in front of me, He who rule us


    Has come from the debauched Kasama¨¢n


    With a want to killing the unwanted.


    -


    There he lays hiding, consuming, racking,


    Until darkness has dominion on all


    And everything that remains would be gone;


    He stands there, guzzling the radiant faeries,


    Their white velvet dress, tinted with their blood,


    In Sitan''s mouth: killing the unwanted.


    -


    Thus the radiant and fair-skinned diwata


    Are now nothing but livestock to Sitan


    For He who''s asleep is alive again;


    He grabbed my body with his putrid hand


    While his other hand grabs the town''s faeries


    Readying to killing the unwanted.


    -


    Sitan chewed the spent head of the faeries,


    Glitters spew out as He crushes their skulls


    Letting me see clearly how he relieved


    The century-old hunger he''s keeping:


    First us, then the world; soon his strength returns


    And he will devour all the unwanted.

 15 Sprite

    My partner today is my partner every weekend


    He would meet me outside the bar


    I would order champagne


    But he would buy me sprite


    I love sprite


    He calls me by name I call him my lover


    Sweet and gorgeous and rich and molded in perfection


    Every night he would bow down before me


    Kiss the back of my hand


    Slide his hands around my waist


    Making me moan like a girl a normal girl


    Squealing with nothing but passion


    His queen


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    His lover


    His property


    On top of my mountain he would stay


    Torturing the bed till it screams with me


    And when hes done


    The fire in his touch is gone


    Pull his length off my opening


    Leaving me alone and craving for more


    As he showers scrubbing all of me


    Out to the drain


    While his memories are dripping


    Out of my drain


    Remembering how we burned with passion


    How we will burn with passion next week


    I remain the same


    I tremble like a fragile kitten


    Until he leaves the shower


    Where he would return without another word


    Like Im a fairy


    Im a ghost


    Im a river sprite


    Handing me the usual bill


    As I see the halo shines around his finger


    I would take it


    As he push me away when I attempt to peck his cheeks


    He loves me so much


    And I know its true


    Cuz he says it so


    As his palms collide with the hills below my back


    And with the voice of thunder


    My love


    My king


    My god


    Would proclaim


    "The greatest mistake I''ve ever made was loving you."


    Thus I know he loves me too


    And as he closes the door behind him


    I would remember his face his body his everything


    So hot filled with passion


    I would thrust my fingers in


    Remembering how he picked


    The lock of my entry way


    And I remember him


    I remember him I remember him I remember him


    As tears flow down


    But not just through my eyes


    Death is always served with sprite


    A treat all has the right to take


    Something I very much anticipate


    I''m so happy


    That my lover serves me sprite every weekend

 16 The Cure for Aging

    Once a monolithic


    -------dome housed countless a flock


    -------of youths gathering forth


    -------


    To rid themselves of this


    -------pest only her alone


    -------(great mother) can relieve


    -------


    Seeking wondrous a cure


    -------so their youth eternal


    -------for angels to adore


    -------


    Today


    -------the seraph weeps


    --------------------------once more


    -------


    Thus they clog their bodies


    -------inside this damp chamber


    -------as instructed by her


    -------


    For her words are law


    -------and this audience her sheep


    -------lest they seek not the cure


    -------


    And when great mother says


    -------the cure is upon them


    -------their voices rejoices


    -------


    Today


    -------the seraph weeps


    --------------------------once more


    -------


    But these all young men are


    -------ignorant of what lies


    -------ahead for great mother


    -------


    Is not a hallowed saint


    -------and delivers no gifts


    -------from phantoms on the sky


    -------


    Nor''s the cure a vial


    -------from the fountain of youth


    -------and philosopher''s stone


    -------


    Today


    -------the seraph weeps


    ---------------------------once more


    -------


    These all splendid young men


    -------foolish, na?ve, and rich


    -------expects the cure costs gold


    -------


    For their parents away


    -------while their money astray


    -------so to demons they pay


    -------


    But the cure requires not


    -------jewels or treasures but


    -------a sip of the spirit


    Today


    -------the seraph weeps


    --------------------------once more


    -------


    And so great mother yells


    -------open fire in front


    -------of these confused young men


    -------


    Seconds passed, bullets rain


    -------piercing their velvet skin


    -------ceaseless till they perish


    -------


    Armed men envelopes them


    -------baptizing the concrete


    -------with blood and gunpowder


    -------


    Today


    -------the seraph weeps


    --------------------------once more


    -------


    Behold the great mother


    -------laughing hysterically


    -------with red wine on her hands


    -------


    Behold the armed Reapers


    -------none older than sixteen


    -------with weapons on their hands


    -------


    Behold them pathetic


    -------young men seeking the cure


    -------their life gone from their hands


    -------


    Today


    -------the seraph weeps


    --------------------------once more


    -------


    The sound of bullets fills


    -------this bloodied dome again


    -------armed youths gunning their brains


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please clickfor visiting.


    -------


    With this one gleeful screech


    -------great mother drinks her wine


    -------mouth bubbling with a smile


    -------


    And none of them remains


    -------all of them forever


    -------young, entombing their age


    -------


    Today


    -------the seraph''s weeps


    ----------------------------subsides

 17 First Envelope

    Dear mother,


    Are you well? I apologize if this is the first time I''ve ever written a letter to you, mother, for you know what sort of debauched path I have chosen for myself in order to attain my so-called "youthful liberation". I am not here to seek your forgiveness.


    I am here to inform you of my death.


    Please do not be shocked, mother. Please don''t weep for me. I do not deserve your tears, but more than anything, I wish you would not blame my choice to be who I am as your basis for why my death is imminent. I may be an outlaw, a thief, a vagrant, a rogue, or whatever it is the neighbors had plagued you to call me, but know this, I had placed your teachings in my heart and I lived my whole life with pride though I may never meet eye to eye with you or with the Almighty God in heaven due to the shame of my misdeeds for this past few years. I assure you mother, I have not killed anyone in my endeavors to become a modern-day Robin Hood I had always aspired to be. Me being a thief is not the reason why I now face the reaper.


    Though I cannot shake the fact that my death is also caused by my useless attempt to be a thief in the side of justice.


    Let me recount to you mother, as vividly as I can and as masterful as a maleducated thief like I can ever recount the days leading to my inevitable doom.


    It was a rather sunny afternoon as I remembered around August 13 in the year of our Lord 1898 when my group of hooligans received a piece of wondrous news pertaining a certain package that the vain marchioness residing just at the foot of the mountain near our small wooden cabin had received a week prior. Apparently, according to our trusted intelligencer, the marchioness in question had commissioned a rather intricate portrait of herself and will deliver the payment for her vanity trophy within a black carriage that will march towards the mountain roads following the day when we received the news, that being August 14.


    The artist who made the said painting expected a hefty price of 10 golden bars. Ten golden bars, mother, can you believe these people? Can you believe the price they are willing to give for a damned painting of themselves? It''s disgusting and utterly unbelievable how we let this slide and how we still let them trample over us like we''re lower than the cockroaches in their cellars.


    Mother, you must understand, this woman is sending a goldmine through her carriage and we are expected to let that slide? No, mother, no, indeed, for that belongs to the folks who are less-endowed compared to us, and you know this had always been the mantra I had lived with since I was but a boy. With that in mind, we needed no more explanation, we decided to raid this carriage and take the gold mines for ourselves and bring it to the people where it belongs.


    There were four of us. We were armed and ready. Focused. Determined. Steadfast. We will take that gold today, so we believe, but the day had passed and there were no black carriages in sight. That was when we started to wonder if the trusted intelligencer is a trusted man after all. Either way, we decided to camp near the woods of the mountain path, waiting for this dreaded gold to come.


    We didn''t even know if it would come in the first place. Still, we persisted; we had been doing this for a long time and this was not the first time information had a tad bit error in its details. I had to admit though, mother, this is the first time we had encountered an error in a schedule, much less from an intelligencer as capable the one who had given us the said information.


    Still, we persisted, and as each hour passed without the carriage in sight, we started to argue if staying there in the woodlands was truly worth the effort; and as each moment passed, talks of packing our bags and going back to our cabin started to circulate among the party. However, I decided to wait. And wait we did.


    But the damned carriage is still not in sight.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    We are almost done packing our bags and retreating back from whence we came when we finally heard it. Lo and behold there it goes: a black carriage, much bigger than any normal carriages we had ever seen started to hooved from afar. Pulled by four strong stallions, it didn''t take a while before it arrived from where my party had camped.


    Sure enough, it also didn''t take long before our barrage of arrows overwhelmed their speed. Before the coachman could realize it, his carriage had already come to a halt. Thus, from the shadows of the night, we appeared as his screech resounded from the stillness of the night.


    Two of the members of my troop tied the coachman while the rest of us opened the carriage to unravel the fruit of our labor. With wide grins on our faces, we opened the humongous black carriage. Within the carriage lies a contraband sealed tightly with a heavy metal lid embossed with intricate imagery of some sort of ancient ritualistic magic accompanied by an alien language none of us are smart enough to understand. The only thing we know is that inside this contraband lays our price and what we saw within is¡­


    Water.


    Just water, calmly sitting on a rectangular barrel slightly bigger than a bathtub.


    There are no 10 gold bars or anything of the like, just an undisturbed water calmly feeding our frustration as the night went on.


    Of course, everyone was mad, so was I. We lashed the anger boiling within us for days towards the coachman who''s pitifully whimpering on a nearby tree as his entire body remained tied on the log, relishing of the powerlessness of being a clueless prey.


    Where is our money? we said. Where is the gold of the people? I followed. Mother, he was so scared, and you must believe me that the soul of the man is still intact upon his body the last time I saw him. He was very well alive and kicking as he ran towards the safety of the village walls, but I did bruise him a bit while my friends wounded him a lot.


    We pried on him and we asked; we demanded and we interrogated; we screamed and we whispered; we punish and we reward yet at the end of the day, he only uttered the same response to our question.


    I don''t know, sir, he pleaded, I am merely a coachman, he cried.


    I don''t know, sir, he repeated, please, have mercy on me, I am only a coachman, he uttered on repeatedly as each strike broke his spirit.


    Alas, we gave up. He wasn''t lying; how could he? There are many of us and he''s just a lone man waiting for the solace in the wind to come. We let him go and we watched him run towards the night as we fought among one another as to what we will do from here on out. We spent the remainder of our ration for this ambush and what we got in return is just some water probably hailing from a nearby well along with the mansion of the vain marchioness. We could sell the queer metal lid accompanying the water, but aside from that, we got nothing.


    It was an utter waste of time. These days, I would ask myself if it truly is worth my time and effort to leave the solitude of our humble home within the grasslands of our home, mother, but I must continue for justice ceases not after one unfortunate expenditure. Though I had to admit, this truly scarred us enough to ruin our morale for the remainder of our short-lived days.


    We decided to take the lid with us as we''re about to return into our unsightly mossy cabin in the middle of the spruce mountain when one of us suddenly stopped moving in front of the water and just sort of staring at it, doing nothing with his mouth agape¡ªreveling on the unseen wonders lying within the useless water. We asked him as to what is the reason behind his odd behavior of gazing at the water so intently, but he only gave us one answer.


    Leader, we must take the water with us, he said. We need to take this water with us, he repeated with much fervor in his voice.


    I asked him to voice out the reasoning behind his uncharacteristic behavior when another one of us inquired me to take the water with us while another begged me on his knees that he along would carry the water if that''s all it needs to convince me to take I with us.


    I walked towards the water and stared at it for a good couple of seconds when I finally understood what they were trying to say; my goodness, I uttered; we do need to take this water with us. I said so mindlessly, mother, as I stared at the crystal clear water, directing my gaze at it with much power of will.


    One of us told me what a stupid my decision was to take the water with us; after all, what can one barrel-full of water contribute to our cause when we have an entire river running ceaselessly along with our humble cabin in the spruce mountain.


    Mother, you must believe me not to be insane, but there is a power within those water, something I cannot explain, something queer and appalling at the same time that sends a message to all the nerves in my body, commanding me to take it and, mother, I am ashamed to say this but I have become its slave faster than you can read this letter and no matter what sort of reasoning and tantrum my other member would tell me, I would still take the water with me, mother for I do not why, but I am drawn to its malevolent power.


    There is something in the water, mother, and it''s calling my name.


    And so, mother, I hope you still do not find me insane after reading through this letter and I beg of you to continue, mother. Try, mother, with all your might, to believe in what your son had to say for by the time my quilt stops moving I have already ensured my doom. I have divided this letter into three envelopes and if you wish not to continue anymore to read my nonsensical ramblings then know that I will never consider if your fault for ever thinking so, but if you can respect that truth, the final truth, within my words then open the second envelope, mother, please lest burn my letters away and clear yourself of all the sins I have put you through once and for all.


    There is something in the water, mother, and I do not feel saf

 18 Second Envelope

    Dear mother,


    If you''re reading this letter, know that I am happy you decided to bear with me and my bizarre tale relating to the causes of my demise. Again, this is not my attempt to seek absolution or to find a place in your heart to give me pity.


    At the very moment, I was writing the contents of this envelope; I have already started hearing whisper and screams of the people whom I worked with; their spirits are howling at me, saying how I should let the water consume me as well and follow them to the depths of a primordial death.


    I am sure you already know that my comrades and I had taken with us a rather curious contraband containing somewhat hypnotic gallons of water enclosed by a stone lid. The lid itself was engraved with curious images I could only describe as somewhat similar to those of the ancient Egyptian letters. However, there is something different and rather odd about them causing me to believe that they may be nothing like any known ancient letters I have seen. I do not even believe they are entirely human. They looked demonic, maniacal; I could not describe the images wholeheartedly for I simply cannot understand them at all. Sometimes I would see the images of animals, but after careful deliberation, I would scratch the thought and come up with different other interpretations pertaining to the imageries existing upon the said cursed stone lid. On the many sides of the rectangular-shaped stone lid are intricate other familiar letters that I thought were of Arabian origin for, after all, the letters had a similar way it was written; the way the letters swayed like a children''s doodle, I dare say. It looked somehow Asian-looking, but not entirely so; my knowledge of graphology and the alphabet of overseas people are very limited and to be quite frank, I am not interested in such boring topics. All I know is that the lid itself contained languages that seemed familiar to me at first glance only to realize soon that they are completely foreign to my eyes.


    All I know is that the lid itself contained a power I cannot explain, a power I dare not understand. I wish to look at the stone lid. I wanted to touch it and caress its rough textures. I have an urge to look at the letters embedded in it repeatedly. I crave to understand the secrets hidden within those cryptic images. I wanted it. I want it. I will continue wanting it.


    My co-conspirators and I walked towards our hideout near the river with grins and wide smiles painted all over our faces. The sound of our snickers permeated throughout the forest, running alongside the whispers of the mountain breeze.


    Kuh kuh kuh kuh we would laugh; hue hue hue hue, we would cackle as we carry the heavy contraband with our puny hands, but we are more than willing to do so. One could see it in the wideness of our grins. Our yellowish and darkened teeth revealed itself upon the spirits lurking within the shadows of the night like a blackened beacon illuminating the darkened spaces beneath the canopies.


    Behind us is the only man in our circle who is not convinced with the power of the water or perhaps he was just unaffected by it, but it''s all too late to know now. All I could understand is that he loathed the idea of bringing the damned contraband with us from the very beginning. I hope we had listened to him now that I have the time to reflect on it, but we are too hypnotized and too dumb to even comprehend the very simple things he was trying to convey upon our thick heads.


    He simply does not understand why we are taking the water with us, and I, too, do not understand why. Mother, I just don''t know anymore what I am doing with my life. I felt like I have no control of myself; I was so out of touch with the world. It''s as if the demons from within that cursed water had invaded my spirit. Now, I am falling towards eternal damnation.


    When we''ve finally arrived at our hideout, we were still smiling from one ear to another, talking to ourselves how wonderful it is that we had discovered the water. Unknown to us why we felt so euphoric, but we know that we cannot contain our happiness except for that one man who had always been indignant of this idea. We scorned him from the bottom of our hearts around those times. If he doesn''t understand why we are celebrating on finding the water, we, on the other hand, do not understand why he''s not jumping for joy like the rest of us. We tried to tease him, thinking he''s probably jesting with us like we always do, but no, mother, the man is serious. He does not understand, and if I''m being honest, I do not understand the reasoning behind my actions as well. All I know is I was happy and I was upset that he''s not as happy as I was. Needless to say, all of us ignored him as we looked and caressed and analyzed the stone lid covering our prized water.


    After a while of admiring the lid and its intricate motifs, one of us started complaining about how he was so drenched and that his throat had been dry for a while now. He asked one of us to get him some water while he continued to touch and admire the stone lid. Of course, none of us wanted to follow his commands for none of us is his slave. Most importantly, all of us wanted to worship the strange greatness of the stone just as much as he did. We were just too hooked and too stupid to even think of stepping a few inches away from the stone.


    We loved the stone, and we loved the water it contained even more.


    Before long, the man complained once again pertaining to the extremeness of his thirst, but none of us was still willing to stand up and take a glass for him. This resulted in a rather nasty argument that would easily turn into a brawl in a few minutes, but none of us wanted to take our fingers off the stone. Thus, instead of punching and kicking one another like we would always do, we simply screamed at each other as loud as humanly possible, creating a crescendo of curses and loud bickering booming together to form one incomprehensible symphony.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Thankfully, our argument ended quickly when our comrade whom we were so adamant to ignore earlier that night finally placed a pitcher of warm water beside the man who had ratted about his thirst nonstop. I admit that we started to warm up to the man again, but we were still clueless as to why he couldn''t join us to direct his full reverence towards the contraband too.


    He humored our request for a bit and touched the stone for a few seconds before pulling his hands off of it in just a matter of seconds. He shrieked with all the hair on his body standing still as if a spark of electricity had coursed through his body and ventured through all the nerves beneath his skin, making him take a step back. Again, we thought he was only joking, but when we saw the utter disgust written all over his face, we knew that something was not right with him. We didn''t stand up nor did we take our hands off the stone lid, but we still showed concern to our friend by asking him why he looked as if he had touched the most obnoxious thing in the whole wide world.


    To which he replied by saying that he did just touched something so utterly revolting that he couldn''t stop the repulsion from tainting his mind with the images of the devil himself. He pointed at the contraband and proclaimed that the water is an accursed work of Satan and that it is an insult to the Lord. I do admit, mother, that I found his remark as something of an over-exaggerated condemnation; he even added many other insults by calling the contraband several blasphemous names that I just couldn''t recall anymore now, but all that you need to know is that I believe him now. I am certain that the words he used to describe the accursed water by the time he had a few seconds of contact with its stone lid are true. The water is not just the work of the devil; it is the devil itself. How foolish of me to not see that then; how foolish of us to not believe the words of our friend when we could have just stopped wasting our precious time showering our adoration to the lull of the evil spirit.


    The powers lurking within the contraband engulfed my sense, but even in that state, I still found it odd how he reacted that way. I wanted to approach him and ask what''s troubling him, but, as you may have already guessed by now, mother, I decided not to pry on his troubles and marveled upon the stone lid once more. With a grin on our faces, some of us even have their drools rolling out of their mouths, the skeptical man who brandished the contraband as an accursed artifact of the devil fled far from us, but he refused to leave our hideout. Needless to say, we all stayed inside our cabin for the rest of the night; some of us on our knees touching the stone, one of us at the corner, shaking at the thought of even looking at us.


    After a while, my gang member who earlier complained about his thirst finally took the pitcher beside him, temporarily removing his hands off the stone lid. That was when he snapped his fingers as if to show that he had come up with a brilliant idea.


    It was a brilliant idea, indeed! At least at the time¡­


    He said that perhaps it would be a great idea for him to drink the revered water lying calmly within the contraband instead of some lowly alternative referring to the one in the wooden pitcher beside him. Thus, without even giving us time to think of what he had just said, he started pushing the lid off the contraband. However, he was not strong enough to remove the stone lid off the wooden container. After a while, we all started to feel excited about the prospect of seeing the water once again, but none of us thought of drinking the water beside our parched fellow. Our priorities may not be the same as him, but we all wanted the same thing: to unravel the water once more. Therefore, without another word from any of us, we started to help the man push the lid off the contraband.


    A few moments passed and the lid finally slid off of its container and fell to the ground. We gasped. There it was, the water. Without a hint of remorse, my thirsty companion soaked a cup into the surface of the water and drank from it ever so slowly with eyes wide open, not letting a single drop escape from his lips, swallowing it all till the very last drop. With one final gulp, we stared at him with awe as he told us with great excitement written all over his face how the water was perhaps the most delicious liquid that ever graced her tongue. He said it was as if it was a drop of dew straight from the spring of the gods!


    Moved by his words, another one took the cup from his hand and scooped an entire glass of water from the contraband, completely soaking his hand in the process, before drinking the entire glass in one gulp. He then exclaimed the same praises, saying that the water tastes like a mixture of honey and wine with a tinge of berries and an unknown flavor he couldn''t quite understand.


    They both kept spouting praises upon praises to revel in the greatness of the water''s taste until one of them stopped. The first one to drink the water went down on his knees with his eyes bulging out of his eye sockets as he grabbed his stomach firmly. He started to cough until blood jumped out of his mouth. The other man who drank the water started to cough slowly too as his complexion started to turn pale. He then fell on the ground as well, landing on his back, coughing and gagging. It was unlike anything we have ever seen.


    It''s as if poison had coursed through their system, but if that were the case, their mouths should start bubbling by then or their veins should start popping into a purple shade or perhaps their eyes should start darting a crimson glow. At least that''s the effect of the poisons I know. However, none of those said effects happened to them; they all just started coughing blood while they writhed to the ground as if their insides were being eaten by maggots or perhaps a certain bacterium had invaded their stomachs and now their bellies are becoming a hive to breed their offspring. I scratched that thought right away for those would take a long time to take effect. They started to suffer the agony they got themselves in seconds after they drank the water.


    I immediately went to their aid, trying my hardest to scream and ask what the problem was. None of them were in the right mindset to reply, not because of the sufferings they had to endure but because¡­ They were in a complete state of great happiness.


    They were grinning, unable to speak, but they seemed to be trying their hardest to laugh. They wanted to speak, but their pain kept them from doing so. It''s as if even in the doorstep of death, they were still adamant in praising the water.


    My comrade who was hiding from us at the corner finally opened his mouth after a long while of silence. Only after a few hours, his face already looked as if he suffered the stress of a decade. He pointed at the writhing men on the ground while screaming the words demon, devil, and Satan over and over as if his mind had finally collapsed due to his righteous faith to the Lord. However, he''s not so wrong although he''s starting to spout some insane nonsense as well.


    Perhaps, the water is the work of the devil. Perhaps it was not safe to bring it here with us all along. I started to shout an order to the others to help our ill comrades before it''s too late, but none of them were willing to help. They all just sat there, looking at the calm water, reveling in the greatness it possesses. I shouted, and I yelled, mother, but none of them wanted to help. They just remained there with eyes wide-opened, never closing it even for a brief second while directing their focus to the water. I screamed at them from the top of my lungs while the coughing and gagging noises of my two comrades weakened, but their grins were just as wide as ever.


    In a few moments, they died.


    My comrades at the water were still gazing at the water, their faces were now just a few inches away from the surface of the water as if they wanted to scrutinize it with their own eyes no matter what. I started to notice that their eyes were reddening and drops of tears were falling from their eyes, but none of them wished to stop.


    Forgive me, mother, if I have told something so grim and depressing in such a long letter. I''m sure you''re tired after reading this. If you wish not to believe me, that is fine. You may burn the letters now and forget you''ve ever known my story had ever existed. Rip the third envelope if you wish, even I too would not put up with the story of an ungrateful son like me. The story will not¡­ Get any better after this, I''m afraid. I''m sorry, mother, truly, I am. I just wish to inform you with all the honesty and all the sincerity I can give you as your son, but if you think my story is too unbelievable for you then please, burn my letters and forget about a disgrace like me.


    I will not hold it against you.


    I love you, mother.


    I am so afraid; I am so, so afraid, mother. I miss you. I miss your voice. I miss our home. I miss your cooking. Maybe you''re right, mother. Maybe my dreams are the dreams of a madman. Maybe I am a madman, but know that I always think of you, mother. I hope you are well. I hope you''re not suffering because of me. I hope you will find a place in your heart to believe in the words I am about to write to you, mother.


    There''s something in the water, mother, and I do not feel safe.

 19 Third Envelope

    Third Envelope


    Dear mother,


    Thank you for opening this letter, if you ever did, mother.


    I will not keep you any longer. I am slowly feeling my sanity deplete as the hour passes. I feel like I''m turning into a madman, a beast. I have decided to tie my body to a wooden chair far from the water, but I am can still feel its power surging through my body although I am not facing it directly. All my friends are dead; mother, I have failed you.


    However, you must know that I am not insane. I am not at all delusional nor is my mind in a state of absolute disrepair that I cannot even comprehend what is real and what is not. I am aware of who I am. I know full well how I can send this letter to you, and what it is I wish to inform you. I am writing the works of the devil and how his temptation got the best of us.


    I saw the bodies of my friends, my comrades, my fellows who stood with me to protect social liberation. I spoke with them passionately about our dreams to form a different society devoid of hunger and pain and discrimination and all sorts of evil that permeate our country. All we ever wanted was to live a better life.


    Now I stood here, bound with the grip of fear as I stare upon the grinning corpses of my friends. We were supposed to be heroes, mother; we were supposed to form a better world together. Instead, what we had is a death unsuitable for a man like them with honor and dignity.


    I was enraged. I was beyond angry. This was one feeling I have not felt ever since the magistrates and the ministers took father away from us and sent him to die in the camps. I was over with just a subpar feeling of annoyance, but this time, I was not directing it upon the authorities looming above us.


    My eyes were dead set on the water.


    I could feel it, mother; the sensation of the devil''s wrath looms within my heart and pumping a dreadful small little critters and crawlers all over my body along with my blood. I was beyond saving and not even the angels of the lord could reason me out. I stomped towards that dreadful water of hell and pointed at it as screamed from the top of my lungs!


    You will not fool me the way you did my friends!


    You will not take hold of my body!


    The power of Christ is within me!


    I''d boldly proclaim all of those with great determination as I shouted and pointed and yelled loud, loud, loud, louder than the neighs of a dying horse. However, just like my friends who loomed all over the water, nothing happened. The water did not budge. I yelled still. I growled with all the power I had as I pointed a rosary at the damned water shaking the rosary with all my might.


    I did not even realize that most of my saliva would fall towards the water and swim within the primordial evil to venture upon its hellish secrets.


    To my surprise, they told me the answer in the form of a twinkle.


    My yelling grew lighter and my words started to come to a halt. Everyone noticed how I started to regain my composure. Even one of my comrades who was scratching his head earlier on a corner of the room stopped whatever it is he was doing to gaze at my dumbfounded expression.


    I had my eyes on the most wondrous thing I had ever seen in the short span of my life. My hands shook for I have finally known the devil''s mission here with us. Shivers started to crawl and scratch my skin as my trembling strengthens. I stumbled forward, forcing my sanity back into reality. It made me realize the eyes pointed towards me. They were reddened with red veins covering the whites of their eyes like they were all branches of a blood-red tree. They looked at me with empty expressions, but I could see in their eyes a will strong enough to devour me whole¡ªI am not even sure if I am being metaphorical in saying that for I could truly feel that they would eat me anytime soon with the way they point their gazes at me.


    The fear took the better of me and it finally hit through my head, making my brain shut in a snap.


    That was when I dropped my rosary towards the water, and just like how my spit twinkled brightly, my rosary turned into a bright yellow thing, twinkling within the evil water as if the liquid itself is covering my rosary with a shiny coating as it fell ever so slowly towards the bottom of its containment. When it finally dropped to the very bottom, the former brown, wooden rosary now turned into a shiny sort of metal.


    I covered my mouth to contain my gasp as I had my realization.


    My rosary turned into gold.


    My spit turned into a tiny speck of gold dust.


    All of my friends witnessed what had happened. They saw how the devil turned my rosary into gold proving once again that the power of my faith to the lord did nothing to faze the devil. One of them quickly grabbed my rosary with his hands from the bottom of the water, sprinkling a few drops towards the faces of my other comrades who were busy gazing at the once empty water. He was laughing manically as he grabbed the golden rosary with his own hands. The others did the same too while looking and pointing at the rosary while some of them did not move, continuing to stare at the water.


    I took a step back. I realized that I stepped on something solid and hard; it even felt a bit metallic, if I do say so myself. I started to move my head to direct my gaze at what I had stepped on, praying to god that my assumption was wrong. I yelped and jumped back a few more steps back when I saw that my fears had come true.


    The arms of the corpses on the ground all turned to gold.


    I quickly looked at the people crowding around the water. I saw the hand of the man holding my rosary turning into gold. I also realized how the water lessened in quantity as if they threw a bucket of it out of the contraband though nothing of that sort truly happened for only a few drops were removed from its containment.


    This was not the end of the hellish scene which I had seen though, mother. One man had a portion of her lips turned into gold up towards his cheek. One had his neck turned to gold. Another one''s ears were shining golden. Most of them had a portion of their faces turned into gold, but none of them seemed to care at all. Some were even scratching their faces, and as they peeled their skin after clawing their faces too hard, it only revealed that a portion of their muscle had turned blood while the blood around it dripped towards their chin. None of them seemed to mind though. They only cared about gold. None of them seemed to care about the pain they might be feeling. None of them seemed to care about the reason why we are all here. They were all only concerned about one thing.


    The miracles of the water.


    The miracles?


    The water.


    The water.


    They all cared about the water.


    They loved the water.


    Do I love the water?


    I do not know but the water is surely a thing that exists.


    The water gave us gold, and it turned them all into gold.


    We all adored the water very much so and we could not even understand why.


    In fact, one of them even stood up and stepped his right foot on the water, and to no one''s surprise, it turned into gold. No one knew the reason, but everyone understood.


    That was when our comrade who was letting his fear get the best of his at the corner of the room finally stood up and approached us as he yelled.


    Stop, he said, stop, stop! You will be sacrificed to it and you will all turn into nothing! You will turn into nothing! He''d scream. Nothing! He would repeat! Stop! Stop! Stop!


    I would never forget what one of my closest comrades whispered before he grabbed our screaming comrade''s shoulder.


    If you''re so certain about that, he said, then why don''t we make you go first?


    And he pushed him.


    With one final scream, an agonizing scream that I still could not believe a man could ever create, the water swallowed his body whole, face first, until the water covered the entirety of his body with the devil''s caress.


    He wanted to take his head off the water, but it was too late before he could even raise his upper body. He was already gone. He had already turned into gold, a huge chunk of gold in the shape of a man. A man I once knew.


    I slid down on the ground as I saw my friends feast as they bathe in the water. All of them drenched themselves with it as I saw their bodies turn into nothing but a golden mess. As if a poetic statement from Satan himself, he had shown me a final look of my friends in the form of a golden statue. It made me remember the golden statue erected to show reverence in our great leader and how countless of our friends died to create it.


    Now my friends who fought to destroy that same golden statue now all turned into nothing but the same thing we all loathed. Alas, after a while, the wooden contraband keeping the water could not contain the bodies of my friends and collapsed along with the fall of the statue of my friends. I approached what remained of the contraband, and I saw the body of the first person who was immersed in the water. His name was Allen. He warned us. Now what remains of him is his golden corpse and a small puddle of water trapped around his arms, shoulders, and a portion of his face. It could very much fit a large ball in it.


    It was all rather interesting to look at.


    However, that was all the end of this tale. Mother, I''m sure you may not believe what I am saying right now. I am sure you cannot forgive me. I am sure you think of me is nothing but a crazy son of yours whom you will forever know as a disgrace. I am sure there is nothing in this world you wanted more than for me to disappear.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Know this though, mother, that I still hold a picture of you.


    Remember what I wrote earlier?


    Well, while I was writing these words, I finally calmed down and had an epiphany. I thought perhaps I am insane! Perhaps these are all but a dream!


    I also do not know how I will send you this letter. What was I thinking? All I knew is that when all of those tragedies befall us, the only thing I could ever think about was you, mother. All this time I wanted to return to you and show you how sorry I am for being stupid. Even though you did everything for my sake and even sent me to have an education that you could not even afford for yourself. I wanted to make you proud! I wanted to have you live in a better world! I wanted to give the life you never once had!


    I am a terrible, terrible son.


    But never once had I ever stopped loving you. Never. Never!


    I do not know how I will send this letter to you, mother, but I wish I could find a way right now to send it to you. I wish it would reach you.


    I wish it would reach you. That''s all I think about now as I unbound myself from the chair from which I am sitting. I am calm now, mother. I feel at ease. My heart feels content. I have not felt this great ever in my life. I feel so fulfilled. I feel as if my heart had stopped beating or perhaps, I was just so used to the life on the run that I forgot how it feels to have a heart that''s not racing like my once trembling hand.


    All I can think about right now is you.


    However, more than my love for you, I just wish this would all end. I don''t know what it is but I''m starting to see some insects prowling around my peripheral vision as I am writing these letters to you. I would feel them entering through my veins and they''re on my nose and my ears I could feel some even in my mouth and they are everywhere and I feel like the end for me has come but I can''t stop thinking about you still, mother. You are the only last glimmer of hope I have as I waste more of the remainder of my life in this hellscape I am living in.


    I''ve been vomiting for a while now as I write this letter. In fact, this letter you are reading right now is just a rewrite for I have absolutely desecrated the former one with my waste. I wish to still give you one final moment of peace as you read these words.


    Hopefully, this will not be the last time you''ll hear from me. I will try my best to send this letter unto you, mother, and know that I will do all that I can to return to your arms again.


    It''s just that I feel like I still have something more to do. I feel like I not done here yet.


    I am not done here yet. I have something more to do. I cannot explain to you what it is but know that it is something only I could do.


    You will always be on my mind, from today till the next.


    I wish you are well. I wish my sister is well with you. I wish the money I sent last month was enough. I wish I could be a better son. I have a lot of things I wish right now, but more than anything, I wish I''m there with you rather than here with death.


    I love you, mother; I love you.


    I am your loving son, forever loving you till the last of my breath,

 20 The Facts Regarding the Gold Men Case according to Detective Morrison

    My name is James Steven Morrison, and I led the case of those gold folks some young crooks found at that old shack, the one they saw at the foot of the mountain, that one. It was weird, alright, real weird case, and I''ve seen a lot of weird in the three decades I''ve been doing this job. This one is just¡­ I don''t know what to tell you. It''s just really¡­ I don''t know the right words, something? It''s something, yeah. It''s really something.


    Well, I''d be damned when I first heard what they said to us when they came running down our station around town. Shit, we even thought that they''re on drugs or drunk or fuck if I know what teenagers like them do in the mountains, but they were there and they were claiming to have seen some unbelievable shit. Be real with me, you know the facts; you''ve seen them yourself, but do you believe them? I led this investigation, mind you, and even I still can''t believe it.


    Let''s start at the beginning.


    We did what we had to do. I had two people come with me to the old damn shack those crackheads were telling us all about; heck, they never stopped talking about it until we finally saw it. Believe me; none of us stopped talking, too, when we saw it.


    Old damn house, really shitty looking, absolutely like a pile of garbage, can''t even say for sure if it''s really a house. It''s just a pile of woods mixed together to make this err¡­ thing. So now we knew the shack really exists, but what the gold people these nutjobs were tryna tell us all about? It''s got to be fake. Scary house is something I can get by, but gold people? No. No, not that one. I''d need a lot more convincing to


    Fuck. Lo-and-behold, right? There it is! Clear as the day! Gold people. Real gold in the shape of a bunch of people just like, hugging and embracing each other and all that you know, it''s something. We haven''t verified the uhhh¡­you know, the identities of all these people, but what we learned after the three years we conducted this investigation is that most of them are actual, real people that really existed and still should be alive till this very moment. They were all filed missing though, but they should still be alive.


    I can''t remember all of them uhh¡­ Roberto Dahlia, Gabriel Martins, Kevin Yang, Jordan Kissinger, and something, something Coleman, I don''t remember the rest of the others, and we haven''t even known who most of them are. Some of them had their faces covered with other people''s hands and some were buried on someone''s chest; lots of variables really, the important thing is that we do not know who they are and I''m not sure if we will ever know, but we do have some theories. We think two of them is Robert Dahlia''s best friend, Giuseppe San Sebastian and Jeffrey Brown. We''re gonna be focusing on the Giuseppe guy cuz he''s the most interesting fella in this case.


    Yeah, you know what it is, the letters. Let me tell you though, he''s much more interesting than that.


    So, uhh¡­ If you looked at his letters he wrote it like, just, very well, it''s very well-written. The problem is that this guy is a bit of a uhh¡­ You know, he writes like a poet and he even refers to people like magistrates and great leader and then uhh¡­ yeah, my favorite one is how he referred to Roberta Cleveland as a "marchioness" and yeah, there''s a lot more than that.


    I have nothing against the guy; he just has the knack for like err¡­ the theatricals and art stuff, whatever, but he''s the best lead we had in this whole case. His letters are pretty much the reason how we nabbed Mrs. Cleveland and opened up an even bigger thing, you know, uhh¡­ scandal against her. It''s all over the news, but that was because we had solved the Gold Men Case years before the Roberta thing exploded. Like, it literally exploded! You know, with all that terrorism thing that happened and how, like, she did all of that to cover her tracks. The entire New York was filled with a lot of explosions just so the people would divert their attention on ISIS or some other Muslim thing instead of her. Yeah, the woman has a lot of problems and she just added all that by being an anti-Muslim prick. Big mistake though, because it backfired hard! Then the whole impeachment happened, and we learned about all the shady deals the president did with Mrs. Cleveland. This entire shit show related back to the Gold Men Case because Giuseppe San Sebastian''s father was forcefully taken from his home after writing an article against the uhh¡­ the Cleveland family and the entire shoddy island paradise thing they''ve had in the Bahamas for almost a decade using government funding! It''s so, so insane how it took us three years to solve this entire like, damn, I just can''t believe they almost got out of it. Three fucking billion dollars. I, do you know how much three billion dollars is? All of that funding in just a year for their Bahamas trip!


    It was big. Nobody fucking believed it.


    And it all started because of Giuseppe San Sebastian.


    It''s so weird. I forget people''s names so easily, but this guy, with the weirdest name that I''ve, that everyone I knew had ever heard of was the one and the only name I cannot forget! Giuseppe, I mean, who the fuck names their child Giuseppe? It''s so weird and yet so¡­ I cannot forget about it. I cannot forget about his fucking letters and the gold and the¡­ and everything. Everything. It''s like the planets aligned in one straight row and everything in the world fell into one place in a remote mountain somewhere in Oregon and then, bam! The world started talking.


    We knew who the guy was right away because the man is actually a wanted criminal. He was once caught for substance abused, he allegedly aided in the murder of a woman in New York, he also assisted in the murder of a homeless person apparently when he was in Texas, and he was an active member of an anti-government rebel group which he confessed in one of his letters. It really did not help him in this case at all to have all of those under his record, but he didn''t really need to have a clean record anymore. The world doesn''t care what a dead man did. The man only cared about what other things they could talk about a dead man''s life.


    And off they did. They scoured around the world to find out who Giuseppe is and what his life is. He was all over the news as the man with the golden head. They were making funny images of him and they were all poking fun of his death. Poor kid died of something nobody understood and the things the world wanted to do was to know who he was or how they could make his life and death funny.


    Never the less, the man is dead, and we learned everything because of Giuseppe''s letters. The funny thing was nobody understood what those letters meant at first before my assistant at the time, the now Senator uhh¡­ Or was it Senatoress? People these days flip hard when you use the same word to talk about people''s gender and all that, but whatever. My point is that the Senator Gwendolyn Watts just did everything she could do to understand those god damn letters. To be fair, the letters itself did not do anything to spark the Roberta Cleveland scandal.


    It just pinpointed us to one thing. The water.


    Roberta Cleveland sent the water to ex-President Riley for "payment." Giuseppe San Sebastian''s gang or whatever learned about this and made the old shack in Oregon to bypass Mrs. Cleveland''s "payment" and send the money to the usual charities they have been donating most of their stolen money to. They just didn''t know that the water itself is, you know, is fucked up.


    Heck, when we had the opportunity to check the emails between the people who attended the Clevelands'' Bahamas party, we learned that all of them paid using "water." Like, literal water; they added nothing else. It''s not purified water, it''s not mineral water, it''s not uhh¡­ what''s that other one? The uhm¡­ Alkaline! It''s not alkaline water either though, but you get the point.


    One time Mrs. Cleveland even said stuff about how they should throw people at the water and that would be "good money" already. We were all shocked, really. Especially when we learned about the Giuseppe letters and the Gold Men.


    The fact still remains, Giuseppe''s letter claimed that Mrs. Cleveland sent water to pay for their uhh¡­ painting and art stuff, and it proved to be right based on the things we learned from the emails she sent to the people uhhh¡­ you know, affiliated to her. We simply investigated what was inside of his letters and we pinpointed what he meant by the few ambiguous and confusing terms he used then it all ended up pointing on one person. Rebecca Cleveland.


    That was about that, really. It''s just a bunch of really, really horrible, just downright evil fuckers running about with taxpayer''s money to have parties and for some reason, no one knew about it and none of the people involved would talk about how they managed to steal all of that money with no one noticing.


    Who did it affect? Lots of people, really. Particularly, Americans, for sure, but lots of people outside of the country too. It''s just¡­ Ugh¡­ Just a big huge mess, but it affected none of them more than the Gold Men. Yeah, I really hate calling them that. It''s like they turned into gold because of fucking magic shit no one would talk about and suddenly, they were all fairy tales and like, uhhh¡­ like they''re not even people anymore, you know? Like, none of them even existed just because they died like¡­ like that. I don''t know why I referred to it that way, I just¡­ Don''t understand.


    I remembered how it all happened. July 18; it was my birthday. We went to the shack at twilight and we saw these poor kids turned into fucking gold. That''s some shit you only get to see in like¡­ movies, you know! Movies! Television shows and all that, like, this is the kind of things my son would watch in his like, Japanese cartoon things; it''s so unbelievable.


    And you know what? You can interview other people too about this documentary shit you''re making to make people understand what this gold phenomenon thing is all about, but you just can''t. You can''t explain it; none of us can explain it. It''s something that exists uhh¡­ way, you know, way, way out of what we understand.


    All I can really say is that the evening of July 18 at that year, I saw Giuseppe''s body almost decomposing with his head sticking on the contraband around this gold guy''s arms. His whole head is just¡­ gold, like everybody else, but unlike them all, only his head is gold, and a careful reading of his letters might make you understand why that''s the case. The guy killed himself like all of them did, well, most of them, I think one of them was murdered, you know, according to the letters.


    Imagine. It''s just this one weird guy who writes like, very, very fucking weirdly is the reason the world shook for just a moment.


    This one guy with a decomposing body and a golden head. This one poor 22-year-old man who just wanted to have all these really, really grand and outright unreal dreams of changing the world, in some ways, actually changed the world. This man who had a loving mother and a respectable father died just like that. His life is not as interesting as his death and you know, that''s really the highlight of the entire Gold Men case. These are all just young rebels doing whatever they can to be the modern-day Robin Hood, running around the state until they finally got that one event that really solidified their life.


    It''s as if they were there at the right place and at the right time. It''s like it was their destiny. It''s like fate made them be there. I mean, have you ever felt that in your life? How you remembered all of the shit and all of the pain you''ve had in your life and you''ve reevaluated yourself and now you''re here and it wasn''t possible for you to be here if it wasn''t for all the things you have experienced before all these beautiful things went to you. I mean, alright, I''m sure I could have worded it out better, but you get the point. I think that''s the case for the uhh¡­ those young men, you know? I think they were in the right place and at the right time. It''s just that, for them to finally be the hero they wanted to become, they had to die for it. They had to really suffer.


    And Giuseppe is one of those unlucky sacrifices to the betterment of the world.


    The mother? Oh, you mean Giuseppe momma? Yeah. Yeah, she got the letter. She got all fucked up about it. She was crying like, bawling; it was super hard to see. She was like that for the rest of her life, I think. It''s just¡­ A very tragic effect of how greedy people can fuck the lives of a normal family. It was really sad to see. Never really an easy thing to, you know, tell parents their children are uhh¡­ you know, gone and all that. Never easy.


    She died that year, you know? That same year. Real crazy to think about. She had the three letters with her till she died. She had it in her arms until the very end. Nobody would ever dare take those letters away from her.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    It''s sweet, shit, it''s you know, mothers. They do that; it''s the best. I remember her tombstone even had the best words I''ve ever seen in my life, in my damn old life, mind you.


    "To my son,


    I believe you."


    That''s¡­ That''s beautiful.

 21 The Facts Regarding the Gold Men Case according to Doctor Philips

    My name is Thomas Philips. I will not bore you with the details. All you need to know is I am one of the doctors who handled the autopsy of the Gold Men boys.


    I''ll cut to the chase. They appeared to be gold, but that''s only the case outside of their bodies. A huge chunk of people was sort of glued together to form a statue made of gold. We soon realized that these golden statues contain blood and muscles and bones and the whole human anatomy within them. Now, one could say here that this is just another case of an art form to bastardize the life of men and this is just a work of the messed up mind of Giuseppe San Sebastian, but I wholeheartedly disagree. This is too intricate and advanced for even professional doctors like me to perform.


    We have three different cases in our hands at the time. There are the bodies that were covered entirely with gold. Again, be mindful that they are not golden people, they are people covered with gold. Their skins turned into gold. There are only a few cases of these men wherein their bodies contained a few gold particles within their bodies. There''s also the case of the two bodies that had their insides turned into gold. Their entire digestive system all turned into gold while their skin is completely untouched save for their arms.


    The last case, of course, is the infamous Giuseppe San Sebastian. He is a simple case, really. His head is gold. Simple conclusion: He dipped his head the contraband to off himself. Now, this is where the case takes a huge turn. I know it is not my jurisdiction as a doctor to make any conclusions nor is it my job to make any conclusion, but it is quite obvious at this point that he dipped his head in the water.


    To be honest, there''s really nothing much to say about this case when it comes to my part of it, but the best I could really say is that whatever it is Detective Morrison was saying is false. I heard him once say that it is their destiny or something why they all turned into gold. I think that''s an unfair analysis of the Gold Men Case. I respect Detective Morrison as a human being, but his belief made it seem like they had no choice other than to face whatever it was that was coming to them. That is very unfair to these poor people and it is very unfair to even think that he would say that they were in the right place and at the right time when they died. That is horrible and that is something one should ever say about deceased people in my humble opinion.


    These men are a bigger victim of an entire affair that was way bigger than any of us or any of them for that matter. If we looked at it subjectively, they are both a victim of the Cleveland scandal and their own will to stop whatever it is they wanted to stop. It is all muddled as to what their goal is for raiding rich people on the street and I do not condone their actions either. However, I will not come here and say that having their bodies turned into gold is something they had coming or was it something that was a part of their destiny. They are unfortunate people who had an unfortunate encounter with something they never expected to face.


    As for the gold¡­ There''s also nothing much to talk about them. They are real, authentic gold and there is no scientific way as to how I can explain why these people had a portion of their bodies turned into gold. The only lead we have is¡­ Well, San Sebastian''s fantasy story.


    My point is that this is something a human could do. This is not a big crime wherein someone carefully placed human body parts on perfectly made human statues. This is not the work of destiny or whatever it is they were trying to think about in order to make sense of what is happening in that case.


    Does it really matter at the end of the day? We cannot explain what happened to them. We don''t even know if we''ll ever be able to unravel the secrets in it. I sure was curious a few years before, but now¡­ I''m not so sure. I feel insecure about the fact that there seems to be nothing we could do to explain it. It ruined my interest in the matter. Why would I waste my time into further research of this phenomenon that one never encountered before?


    All I could hope now is that this will be the first and the last of such a thing¡­


    Imagine thinking that these sorts of phenomena have been happening since the Middle Ages and we didn''t know anything about it? Or imagine the prospect of having a future where people would use such a technology that could turn people into gold in wars.


    Either way, it''s a scary thing to think about.


    Now, if you wouldn''t mind me going back to the topic at hand, if we dig deeper into the rabbit hole, we''ll start seeing some more abnormalities in the victims'' bodies. Let me cut to the chase. They''re under the influence of a huge amount of morphine in their bodies, but that is also a phenomenal part of the entire investigation aside from them being gold.


    You see, if we follow San Sebastian''s letters and apply his convenient recollection to what happened to the case, we can probably infer that San Sebastian died just a few more hours after the other gold men. We also analyzed the two other corpses lying beside the wooden contraband, and it matches up. All of them died almost at the same time.


    The problem with this is that the insides of the gold men, you know, their system, is completely preserved. I do not understand how it happened, and believe me, I wish I could pinpoint you to an answer as to how their bodies got preserved inside their golden shells, but what I can tell you, as concise as possible, is that being contained inside the gold statues made the insides of their body look as if they all died a few hours before we unraveled their system. This is unbelievable. Take note that it took three months before we could even see the statues and another month before we could even touch them. It took another year before we were allowed to dissect what''s within those statues. It took a year for us to know for sure that there are people inside those golden statues. It seems unreal to think that the victims'' blood remains as fresh as ever by the time we conducted the autopsy on them.


    To make all that clearer for the common viewers, they died a long time ago, but the insides of their bodies looked as if they just died an hour ago. It seemed like time had stopped inside those golden statues. It''s unbelievable. Like, you can''t even preserve gold properly. To think that anything inside gold could stay fresh is, well, it''s beyond science. I''m sorry, but that is beyond me.


    There''s a silver lining on this though. That means we can examine the bodies of the victims with the mindset that they had all just died. This is why I find the letter of Giuseppe San Sebastian as, well, its fiction. It''s a drug-induced fantasy. I''m sure not a lot of people would go by me talking about this regarding a dead person, but this is only the facts we have gathered along the way.


    First, well, I''m not sure if detective Morrison already spoke about this, but we found three pounds of cocaine below their hideout. All of them are not at all well-hidden below a wooden compartment about a meter away from the wooden contraband. Second, we saw traces of morphine in a used syringe literally right beside the letter of San Sebastian. Though we cannot prove anymore if he''s under the influence of the drugs, we can prove one thing, and that''s my third point.


    There are traces of morphine in the system of the so-called golden men. Now, I cannot explain how their bodies turned that way, but I can explain the magical realism implanted within the words of San Sebastian, and that is why I am still an astute critic of the man''s words. We cannot prove if he''s using drugs but based on his recollection through his letters, it seems plausible enough for us to conclude that his fantasy is an effect of the opioids in their bodies. I mean, hallucinations and seeing insects and feeling them inside your body? That seems like an effect of hallucinogen to the mind of an otherwise unhinged man and I''m not afraid to prove that for as long as it takes.


    To be fair to San Sebastian though, he is the only lead we had in explaining the gold men phenomena, but where are the pieces of evidence supporting this matter? Where is the water he speaks of? Based on what he wrote, it seemed that he used the remainder of the water to dip his head in it. Why? Most of his actions and most of what he wrote just¡­ do not make sense.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I guess that pretty much summarized the entire case. It does not make sense. It still continues being an enigma none of us could explain.


    Facts are facts though, and the data shows that the men are under the influence of whatever drug they were putting within their bodies. They are junkies who got lucky, or well, I guess, in this case, they weren''t so lucky because they are too unhinged to understand what they stumbled themselves upon.


    I remembered having a short conversation with San Sebastian''s mother. Poor woman, I forgot her name though, but she seemed sweet and kind. She''s very polite too. Well, polite until I talked about the truth behind her son. See, I told her with all honesty all that I found out regarding the case. I was just a doctor doing my job.


    I told her straight up. He''s on drugs. None of what he said is real. Sorry. That''s just the truth.


    And haa¡­ Well, the woman flipped. It seemed that I had triggered a switch I shouldn''t have triggered. In my defense, I was in the assumption that she''s well enough to believe in the data I am showing her. She''s a determined woman, that I can say. She kept telling her that my words are lies and how her son is an honest to god Christian boy and all that which is a huge contradiction if you think about it because the boy lied to her about whatever it is he was doing while he''s under the pretense that he''s a hero. He''s a hero of junkies, that''s what he is.


    She kept lambasting me for the entirety of our conversation and how her son was possessed by the devil haha, I mean, can you imagine the amount of mental gymnastics people would come up with just to make sense of their tragedies? She kept that belief for the remainder of her life. She kept saying that the devil influenced her son and all that¡­ stuff. I spoke to other parents, too, but they weren''t as hysterical her. Most of them were reasonably mad, but they did not curse me for doing my job. This woman truly believed that her sweet little son, Giuseppe, who''s probably just as much of a junky as most of his friends, was possessed by Satan. I mean, reading his letters is enough for us to know that he''s not well. He needs therapy. He seems to believe that he''s living in this dystopia Middle Ages world, and for all I know, his words are just something he read in a book about alchemy or some other fantasy novels he might have fancied.


    They''re all fiction, but we do also have men turning into gold, so sure, I can welcome the devil in the equation too! Hahahahaha!

 22 The Facts Regarding the Gold Men Case according to Gertrude San Sebastian-Johnson

    Hello. My name is Gertrude. I am the little sister of Giuseppe San Sebastian.


    I have been well for the most part, just, like, getting by. I''m a married woman now and I''m also a mother, so of course, the stress is still over, like, off the charts stressing, I swear! But this stress of the motherhood and all that baggage that came with it is not as great as when my brother became this really, really mainstream guy because of the gold men case. I''m gonna be real with you though, I really hate that word. I find it offensive, like, the legacy of my big brother will forever be associated to this disgusting derogatory term, and as a woman and as the closest person to him after my mom, I feel like I have the responsibility to erase this term from like, the media. That''s why from the rest of this interview, I will refuse to call it, like, the gold men case. I will just call it what it is.


    Murder.


    My brother and his friends were murdered by that woman, Roberta Cleveland because she knew that my brother knows something about her dirt and she''s planning to erase him the same way he erased my dad. The murder of those men just, like, perpetuated this, you know, this thing with our society where the strong remains as the strong while us, the weak, continues being the weak because these rich people will do everything they can to keep their parties and this entire, like, webs of disgusting white privileged men who continue to control our society. It''s just that my brother is destroying the patriarchy and Rebecca Cleveland, which is a woman, mind you, continues to be a part of the patriarchy because she knows that when women bow down to men, we get to have the leftovers of what they put on their mouths and call it equal rights.


    My brother is, and will always be, my hero for standing up against Cleveland and EX-PRESIDENT Riley, but, like, the media doesn''t give a shit about his initiatives. They don''t care what his philosophy is and what he wanted to do to preserve society. They just want to be a bunch of pests and they only care about, like, the juicy scoops and the good stories. They are all willing to destroy a grieving family just to scavenge on my brother''s corpse like a bunch of fuc¡­ freaking vultures!


    I''m so sorry, I''m being heated up, it''s just, compared to where I am right now and compared to being a mother and a wife, and the stress my mother and I suffered because of the constant attack from the media just¡­ it destroyed us. Really, it did. Every day we would hear them scream outside of our house to have the same statement my mother had been telling them over and over again ever since the case started.


    My mother would first entertain them and tell them the truth. My brother was used by those rich privileged bastards up there in the White House. She''s right, too, mind you.


    I will not believe their claims that my brother was only having, like, drugs and stuff and that''s why he wrote all of those stories. Those are the last words of a dying and desperate man. Okay, I admit that my brother is not perfect, and he''s not supposed to be, but to be brazen enough to call him a junkie because of a syringe beside his letter? That is unfair, and it''s a conclusion that derives from assumption rather than like, real evidences that would point out on the fact that my brother really, you know, did those drugs thing.


    Okay, let''s try to analyze their claims against my brother and why I think they''re all just a bunch of bogus to undermine the suffering my brother had to go through.


    First, let me just get this out of the way, I believe whatever my brother wrote in that letter. I think they are real and factual recounting he had given before he succumbed to the powers of the devil, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I just hope my brother had ascended to a better place after what he had been through. I lived with him for 20 years and we have been very, very close; he''s practically the person who made me who I am right now. Then the whole disappearance happened, and he left us five notebooks containing all of his thoughts and his philosophies, and they are all just beautiful and well-made, but nobody gives a shit about all those because they only want to know if he dunnit.


    What!?


    My brother is honest, smart, kind, and sensitive; he is many things, but he''s not a miracle worker. At the very first week when the entire case just absolutely hit every home in America, the only thing they keep asking was who my brother was, who he works for, what is he affiliated with, is he a terrorist, did he kill all those people and stuffed them all in a perfectly created gold carvings of their bodies. I don''t know the science behind it, but the way people would pinpoint the blame to my brother is just so counterproductive that I still blame it for why the case is still unsolved until now.


    And then when every expert and authorities kept denying his involvement in the murders, they then discredited his letter by calling him a junkie and a druggie and a white trash and whatever it is they all have in their curse arsenal. I am just so, so tired, just absolutely tired of all these accusations pointing towards my brother.


    Have they actually read his letters? They are all well written, well-documented, and his handwriting is just as beautiful as I last remembered it. But they don''t care about that because that''s not the point. The point is that there''s a syringe beside his letter and that the others had morphine inside their bodies.


    Like, I''m not a perfect person and I''ve done some questionable thing when I was younger especially when I was in college so I know a lot about drug-addicted individuals. Believe me when I say this, they cannot and will not be able to have a mentality to create such a perfectly crafted story if it really was one; it''s much more impossible to even write all of those words coherently even if they tried their very best.


    Also, regarding my brother''s friends. Okay, so they found out that there are drugs in their bodies which might have explained their behavior on what my brother wrote in his letters. Let me ask them this then. Have they actually taken any hallucinogens in their life? I think it''s such a stretch for them to conclude that an entire group of people would stare on the contraband filled with murder water because they''re tripping. They said they saw morphine in their bodies, right? I''m not an expert or anything but based on my personal knowledge, people who are, like, tripping on morphine are usually too fucked to even think. They''ll feel, like, all sorts of things on their body and the last thing they would care about is ta contraband filled with water.


    Do you know what''s even shadier about this entire morphine-addiction narrative they kept using against my brother? It only started when EX-PRESIDENT Riley suddenly announced a nationwide effort to prevent drug use; it was basically his full-on war on drugs because apparently we never learned from Nixon.


    What''s even shadier about this entire outrageous war on drugs thing that happened in the middle of the Riley-Cleveland scandal was how they only allowed the authorities to perform autopsies on the bodies of my brother and his friends a few weeks after the announcement of the war on drugs. Like, isn''t it shady? I mean, sure, Cleveland and Riley still went on a downward spiral regardless of their efforts to clean the evidence against them. The only effect this made is that people started thinking that my brother is the kind of person who would do drugs out of nowhere and suddenly write some messed up gold stories.


    I wholeheartedly believe that those people did something the bodies of my brother and his friends, like, there''s no concrete evidence that would support this claim, but since their claims against my brother were all based on assumptions anyway, then I will do the same and assume that Cleveland did something in the bodies of those men to make them seem like they had morphine in their system.


    No one could prove it to me otherwise. No one could change my mind, no, nuh-uh.


    They are all caught up in this drama that they didn''t give a step back to think about what was really happening. There are people out there who were turned into gold, and the first thing they thought to do was to harass my mother who was already deep in her depression and anxiety.


    They would knock at our walls, at the door, at the windows. Every day we would see our faces in all news programs to the point that we just outright refused to open the TV, our phone, we cut our telephone line; we stopped leaving the house, and we pretty much closed all of our blinds.


    The worst part about all these was when someone threw a brick at our house and they, like, used this ladder to climb our house just to take a photo of my mother crying and grieving. Like, what was the point of all that? It took them a full month before their number lessened, but like, after a year, we still get the occasional visits from the press.


    The only thing I had was my mom and my mom''s best friend who were always with us the entire time. She would tell all the reporters to just fuck off our property unless she will call the police, and she did all that while helping my mom cope, helping her cook our food, and she was even there to teach me lessons when I don''t want to go to school and shit because everyone was bullying me and calling me the sister of the gold head or whatever, and it just got old really, really fast.


    I persevered though; I got to stand on my two feet after a long time, but my mom, she¡­ She didn''t make it. She spent the rest of her life reading and reading and reading my brother''s letters. Every day, I would hear her sob, I would see her eyes red and wet, I would even see her cleaning my brother''s room and talking to her clothes and her pictures. My mom went insane and depressed when the entire thing popped and she didn''t have the energy or the time to care about the reporters, but there''s one thing she kept telling me and her best friend. She''d say I believe him, I believe him, he''s my son, I believe him. She''d tell us if she can''t even believe in her son then what is her right to call herself his mother.


    I remembered when she, you know, my mom, when finally left the house for the first time. She was holding my brother''s letters, and she''s holding my brother''s favorite white Miniso shirt on one of her hands. I remembered it all so well because we tried so hard to pull her back to the house, but she''s very, very adamant about making a statement.


    She screamed at the top of her lungs. She said I believe him! I believe him! I believe him! It was all over the news. There''s even a Time magazine cover dedicated to her and it has this big font that says like, you know, I believe him. And all the reporters in the country flooded our property even more just to hear her say "I believe him" all over again.


    They would knock our door even stronger and bang the walls and every night we could not sleep because of all the sounds of the snapping of their cameras. Then we got fed up. We called the cops, it''s quieted down after that. Then we fled to my grandmamma''s place. We didn''t tell anyone about it, not even my mom''s best friend. She''s a sweet woman, just as sweet as my mom. I remembered how my mom looked older than my grandmamma when we got there.


    She was all bones, pale; her hair is turning white, her eyes were so swollen, and I remembered how I could wrap my hands around her arms. It was a dark time. The darkest we''ve ever had as a family, but never once did she blamed my brother. She said he was only caught up to the craziness of the world and how my brother did what he thought was right. At that time, I did not understand why he thought too highly of him. I was mad at my brother. I hated him. If he weren''t such a dumb man, then we wouldn''t have to suffer all of these.


    Sure enough, a few months after we moved to my grandmamma, my mom died. The last words she said was "I believe him." It was¡­ hmm¡­ I remembered what my grandmamma told me in, like, her funeral.


    "So this was what she felt when she saw her child die before her."


    ¡­


    It was a dark time for me after that. I messed around with men and women and alcohol and drugs and¡­ I was nowhere to be found. Nobody knew me. Nobody saw me.Nobody knew who I was. Nobody could find me. I was all over the place after I ran away from my grandmamma''s house. It was a disgusting and degenerate part of my life where I just wished that anyone would touch me or at least murder me so I could see my family again. All of them are gone and I¡­ At the time I thought I had no one else in my life.


    Then one time, I don''t have enough money to buy anything else and I was walking around. I was a fucking mess. Then while I was walking around town, I saw that one thing I could buy.


    It was a payphone. I don''t know why, but I went there. I don''t know who to call, but there''s a number in my mind that I want to dial, so I dialed it. I don''t know whose number it was, but it didn''t take three rings before someone said, "Hello?"


    It was a familiar voice. It was my mother''s best friend. Poor woman, really, she is. We were so unfair to her. I told her all that happened and where I was and what happened to me and she was screaming at me and crying and told me why we left her in the dark. Then she told me about how her life went upside down too. She told me it was a very messed up time of her life and she even had a divorce with her husband and that her business went bankrupt. She told me I was there for my mother and me, but we were gone when she needed us the most.


    I just cried. I dropped the phone and cried. I reevaluated my life. What was I doing? I had a lot of people who love me and people who needed my love. I was too caught up in a world I cannot understand and a tragedy none of us understood and I was only 19. I do not know anything and to be honest, I''m not sure if I can say that I, like, understand what was going on still with my life.


    I think that was really when I pulled myself back together. I returned to my grandmamma, and she welcomed me with open arms and I had rehab and all is well with my life again.


    Then I read the notebooks my brother left our home before he went missing. I read all of it. I didn''t really understand most of it and to be honest, most of what he wrote is a little too radical and too edgy for me at the time. Sometimes when I would read his takes on philosophers like Nietzsche and Baudrillard, I still scratch my head because I can''t understand. He would say that he''s living as a copy of something that doesn''t exist and how he would site the works of Sartre and Hegel. I don''t really understand most of it especially when he would talk about things like Deconstructionism and why he had to be pinned between two worlds when he could escape and form a better world. He would also, like, actively tell almost every page that Freud''s research is bogus and none of them were real and that he praises the works of anti-Oedipus literary critics. He even openly opposes communism, and he called Marx the greatest comedian of his time.


    To be honest, I only read all of what he wrote to understand him, and the only thing I understood is that I will never understand my brother at all. I will not understand his philosophies, his life, his reason for living us, and his death. His life is riddled with so much mystery that even if I devote my life to learn all of it, I still wouldn''t understand a huge fraction of who my brother is.


    Then when I turned to the last page of his notes. There''s a credit card in it. Then there''s a note attached to it.


    "For Gertrude''s studies."


    That was when I really asked myself what I was doing.


    I just, I''m sorry, I''m really not a crying person, like, it''s been a while since I last cried like this, but thinking about how I thought of my brother so poorly when I was younger when he did many things to support me and my mother while he was away, I just¡­ I realized how selfish and how unaware I am to what is happening around me. I want to speak with my mom and ask her many things, so I could finally ease up my mind, but it''s just impossible, so impossible to happen now, you know? Everything that people did to me is to support me and improve my life. I had everything going for me and then one tragedy struck us because of forces we cannot explain¡­ Then I had the audacity to cry like a little girl.


    I borrowed money from my grandmamma and I visited the home of my mother''s best friend. It was an empty lot when I got there. I asked around, and I heard that no one else knew where she is right now. I haven''t even had the opportunity to redeem myself to her, to my mother, and to my brother. So I told myself that I will do my best to redeem myself for myself and when I saw them all again soon with the Lord in heaven, I will tell them that I did not leave without a fight.


    Right now I''m just trying to live my life as peacefully as I can. Sometimes I would even dial the number of my mother''s best friend even though I know no one would answer. I guess, more than just clearing the name of my family once and for all, I agreed to this interview because I wanted to meet and reconcile with old friends. I want to reach out to them and help them the same way they helped me. More than clearing the name of my brother, I did all this to mend the crack that was left in our family after the whole gold thing happened. I just want to start again, and I want to tell my friends and family that I can do it even if I''m not perfect. I may not have the same aspirations and dreams that my brother had, and I don''t even have the grand dream of reforming society he once had but¡­ I do wish to live the normal and peaceful life they all hoped I''d have. A life they would die for.


    My mom may not be here with us right now, but, in her place, I will say¡­


    I believe him! I believe my brother! He''s not a junkie, he''s not insane, and he''s not a murderer. He''s an innocent man pit between a world he doesn''t understand. He''s a victim of forces we cannot understand and one we cannot fight. He was possessed by the devil in more ways than one. Satan entered through his body and the evils walking among us lit the fire burning in his heart until finally, the greatest evil of all, that damn water, finally visited him to claim his soul, but he''s a strong man and I''m sure hell did not get the better of his soul because a man with a soul as pure as his deserves to be in heaven where he belongs with my mom and my dad, singing together in the kingdom of the Lord.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I believe him, damn it!

 23 A Hard Descent Towards Evil

    "Working hard again today, George?" I asked my pale, middle-aged neighbor after seeing him mutter and whisper alone by himself again.


    "Oh god, I''m so sorry, Thomas, I didn''t notice you." The man tried his best to pull off his friendliest smile, but he barely succeeded since his wrinkled visage and those thick dark layers below his eyes are just making him look nothing but sad."Today is the big day again, after all."


    "Oh, that again," I sighed. I took the black garbage bag and hurl it down the large dumpster right next to George''s ''home''. "You know, your wife called me today. She was asking about you, especially today since it''s the anniversary of¡­ that."


    "Tell her I won''t leave here until I burned that place down." He whispered with a growl as his dark, empty pupils move from one direction to another. "Tell her I''ll succeed today." His face beamed with glee as he chews his muddied fingertips.


    Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I lowered my shoulder as I feel every weight in my sink after seeing the state of my friend, my best friend. I ask myself every time, every morning, and every minute that passes, thinking of him: Is this really worth it?


    "I''m always here for you, man. Say the word and I''ll take you back to your wife." I sat next to him in the rat-infested cardboard home George relishes in. It''s good, I''m still wearing my black pajamas today, or else I bet it would be tainted by black goo and god knows whatever sort of grease he has around here. "You know, your wife is still not giving up on you, George. She just can''t see you being¡­ like this. Especially not here."


    "Yeah," He said with bloodshot eyes. "Yeah."


    I patted his shoulder; I guess this is another day of him not saying anything, another day of seeing my friend lose his sanity. I''ve lost hope that I can still bring him back to the world. "You know where I am if you need me."


    "Yeah."


    I stood up as I look at George sweat and mutter things all alone in his lonesome once again. Is he getting thinner? I can almost see his bones from his skin. He''s getting paler as well. His stink is worsening every year too. That black coat he''s wearing since he first came here in this dark alley has seen better days. In fact, all of his clothes are all worn out, dirty, and it seems like rats are slowly eating all of his clothing, stripping them away from him one piece at a time.


    As I walk away from him, George, for the very first time in a long while, grabbed my hands and pulled me towards him. As he sat beside the dumpster, enveloped by the shadows of the buildings around him with his feet folded around his right hand, he gripped me with his other hand, trying to pull me towards him with the strength of a toddler.


    "I promise you, Thomas. Today, the Caravan will burn!"


    I shuddered. "I don''t know what you''re thinking, Thomas, but this Caravan you speak of¡­" I pulled my hand away from his grip. George instantly pulled his hand away too, hugging his legs tighter than ever. "¡­ Is not real! It''s all in your head. You need to let go of her, George, her death is not your fault! This Caravan you speak of is just making you more insane! I swear, George, tomorrow I''ll take you to a psychologist whether you like it or not!" I gasped to myself as I realize how I behaved just now. I''m getting too upset of a homeless man to the point of lashing out at him?


    But George doesn''t seem to mind. His frown is even more exaggerated now, revealing all the wrinkled skin on the sides of his mouth and on his forehead. His eyes are as wide as it was since the day of his daughter''s funeral. His muttering never ceases. He is not in his right mind anymore, and I threw all my frustrations at him like it''s nothing.


    "I wonder if you even have the sanity left in you to forgive me if I say ''I''m sorry''." I extended my hand on him, trying to pat his head, seeing as how pathetic he looks right now.


    However, the sudden movement of his head took me aback and frightened me enough to push my body two steps backward. His unforgiving eyes and his dauntless expression looks so determined and so darn unsettling that the fear in me felt like it grabbed me away from him, like powerful energy. I cannot explain it; all I know is when he looked me with the endless darkness in his eyes all I can feel is dread and the immediate want to escape. Looking at those hollow eyes makes me feel like I''m falling in the endless pit of darkness that he himself has spent his time falling into for years.


    "The Caravan you speak of is not real, George. It''s all in your head!" I said, looking away from him. Not because I am disgusted by him, but mostly because looking at him is reminding me of how utterly despicable and useless the entirety of my existence has been.


    "The door will appear again here tonight, Thomas. They will see me again in their parties and their banquets and their filthy rich costumes and their murder, Thomas, I swear to you, tonight they will all burn, Thomas, they will all burn because I will end it all tonight, Thomas, mark my words and when that happens you tell me the Caravan doesn''t exist and I''ll laugh at you and give you all the heads of all those circus freaks and their masques and their filthy rich costumes and today will be the final day they will ever see another beheading because I will be the one taking their heads myself, Thomas, and when that happens I will toss their heads on your bed and show you that, god damn it, the Caravan exists and it moves on and on and on and today it will appear here again and I swear to you, oh I promise to the world, today I will end it all!"


    "What are you talking about, George?"


    "The Caravan moves on, Thomas!" He laughed with his wide grin. Hearing his hysteria makes my head hurt as if his voice is like dynamites in my brain and seeing his blackened teeth make my stomach churn.


    "Please, Thomas¡­" I said, my voice trembling, my eyes gazing away from him, my hands guarding my sight against looking at him. "Please, stop smiling."


    "The Caravan moves on!"


    "Stop, George, I¡­"


    "The Caravan moves on!"


    "Please, George listens to me, it''s¡­"


    "The Caravan moves on!"


    "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"


    I gasped! What am I doing? I just lashed on him. He clearly needs help, but I lashed on him myself. What am I doing?


    George remained silent for a while. He stood up, his lips crumpled and his eyebrows are just as worst.


    "George I, look, I''m sorry, it''s not¡­"


    "The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on! The Caravan moves on!"


    He whispered over and over and over again. His facial expression never changes, his saliva dripping out of his mouth as he utters those wretched words in such an abominable fashion.


    This is no longer the man I once knew. He became someone else.


    "The Caravan is not real!"


    "THE CARAVAN MOVES ON!"


    I hear him shout those words at me as I ran away far from him back to my apartment.


    I panted and gasped, grasping my chest, or perhaps it''s better to say I''m grabbing my shirt so hard until it''s all crumpled up in order to ease my breathing. Whatever it is that happened there, it sent a powerful evil towards me making me unable to function properly let alone speak.


    When I opened the door of my apartment I couldn''t feel my skin, I could hear my heartbeat but I couldn''t feel it beat, I could see my surroundings but for some reason, it''s getting blurry every few seconds. I have lost control of my thoughts and the only thing I could remember is the way my own friend screamed his horrid proclamation of war towards this Caravan.


    The only thing that ran in my mind in how much I hated myself for not being strong enough to help him out of his descent to insanity. I can''t help but think that I am the one who made him like this. I caused this to happen, this is my fault.


    I leaned my back on my door and let myself fall onto the hard concrete floor. I managed to ease my breath and to feel myself again, I''m on earth again. I''m back, but I felt like a huge part of me remained outside of this world and never left.


    As I let my eyesight toggle back and forth from blurred to normal, I managed to notice a figure of a brown, rectangular-shaped object erected lengthwise in the middle of my living room. I tried focusing my vision and using my finger to scratch my eyelids until I finally realized what the familiar figure was. I was surprised; I felt both excitement and dread.


    There was a door standing in the middle of my living room, nothing else was there to accompany the wooden structure standing with its presence towering over anything else around it. It is nothing but a simple brown door with ornate designs of a macabre Gothic architectural fashion.


    It''s a door.


    There''s a door standing in the middle of my living room, towering over all my belongings.


    I clicked my tongue.


    "So it''s that time of the year again." I stood up and dusted my pants with my hands. I looked around while scratching the back of my head. "Now, where did I put my costume."

 24 A Preparation Before a Return

    In my apartment, I only have a bed, a sofa, a TV set, a small shelf for my books, a simple kitchen with only a stove and the other needed appliances, and a small bathroom with a shower as well as a toilet bowl. In the middle of my cozy and boring-looking gray apartment was nothing but a space.


    It was there for this reason. It was there for this door. It''s my gateway to the unknown dreamlike landscape of a rather hellish dimension that was quite literally out of this world.


    It''s a simple brown door with no engravings, no designs, and nothing special I could describe it that would make it stand out when I pin it against most other doors. It''s a wooden door accompanied with planks around¡ªexcept the space below¡ªas means of supporting it. A flat wooden door with a normal-looking steel doorknob that one would often see in cheap motels. It''s not connected anywhere; it''s not a part of my apartment either. This shabby-looking, brown, wooden door just suddenly appeared out of nowhere just like it always does around this time of the year.


    I directed my gaze off it for a few minutes to gaze at the small calendar hanging on the wall beside my shoe rack.


    "Today is Thursday so, uhh... Let''s see... No, it''s October 3 last year, so they wouldn''t do it on October 3 again, then... Ahh... Today is October 8. I was expecting it to come a little bit later, maybe next week."


    I rushed towards a small cabinet beside my small bookshelf. "Now where have I put it?" I murmured to myself as I pull all my clothes off the cabinet and throwing it a few inches behind me. "I''m sure it was here."


    Finally, after pulling almost a quarter of my clothes out of my cabinet, I saw what I was looking for. A white polo shirt and a white pair of pants, slightly wrinkled but perfectly functional still. I pulled a small compartment below my cabinet open and took the only thing inside of it. It was a dark navy blue suit with a black and white diagonal stripe pattern on its edges. I took my grease on top of my cabinet and swiped my hair with it sideways while I whistle Made in Heaven, not forgetting to move my body a little while doing it. After that, I wore a white sleeveless shirt before wearing my white polo shirt. I looked at the door with my polo shirt still unbuttoned while I pull my white trousers.


    Hrrrnnggggggghhhh...


    I don''t know why, but the lone door standing in the middle of my flat started to emit a subtle noise, so unbearably silent, but it is one that I could still properly hear. Like the growling fan of an old CPU, the door seems to be whispering something to me, beckoning me to finally swung it open once and for all to unravel what lies within its far reaches.


    "Yes, yes, I''m coming, Jesus. What''s with all the rush?"


    Haaaaauuuuuurrrnngghhh...


    The thin little spaces around the door suddenly showed a violet gleam, making it seem like the door itself is covered in a pillar of a thin, violet piece of paper. The noise it emits also grew a bit louder too, but not loud enough for my old neighbors to hear. At least the organization is still considerate enough to know that their customers value their anonymity and the quiet life I wish to uphold.


    "No need to be so angry," I said as I button my polo shirt up. "There''s no need to rush, okay? I''m going geez." I added while tucking my polo shirt inside my white trousers.


    The grumbling noise coming from the brown door slowly quieted down and the violet light gleaming from the thin crevices around it started to dim till it darkens entirely. I wore my navy blue suit while looking for a tie that would better suit my outfit. I thought using black would be too predictable for me to do, so instead, I picked something that the man of the hour might like: a red tie with a white diagonal stripe pattern. I looked at the mirror, trying to see if my look would suit the taste of my "friends" that will be coming with me once I entered through that door. Finally, after a few moments of contemplation, I realized that it would be futile to think too much about it now that I have worn the entire damn attire. I took my brown leather shoes from the shoe rack and went straight to the door in the middle of my apartment after I smoothly fit my feet within the holes of the shoes without untying the laces.


    I looked at the door with a sigh and grabbed the doorknob, feeling the enigmatic surge of absolute tremor seeping through my veins as I grabbed on that cold, metallic knob.


    I let go of it. I did not know why, but something inside me thought I must let go of that doorknob.


    "Ah..." I whispered. "Of, course, I forgot the mask." It wouldn''t be a proper masquerade if I wouldn''t wear a mask now, eh? I lazily grabbed the white plague doctor mask and wore the dusty old thing as indolently as I took it. The mask barely covers the entirety of my face, but I think it was designed that way. It spanned from my forehead down the space bellow my nose but just above my lips. The beak-like cone around the area of my nose and my mouth was deliberately sliced half; thus it looks like Zoro''s mask, but it had a beak-like design dangling forward. It also had a thin rope laced on top of the beak of my mask to give off an aesthetic that it was cut lengthwise and mended back using a lace.


    Finally, I swung the door open, hearing its creaks as I see the light peer within the door. One might expect to see the other side of my apartment once they opened the door, but what I got instead is a blinding light of an iridescent chaos. I still vaguely remembered that I thought I was tripping when I first opened this door. I still do. Oh, I still do.


    The light coming from the other side of the door is blinding; it''s almost too much for my feeble eyes to take; thus, I swiftly closed my eyes as tight as I could while raising my hand to further remove my sight off the piercing spears of light that would otherwise cause my eyes to bleed till its inevitable doom¡ªmy inevitable doom. However, even if I did so, I could still see the light piercing through the cracks in my eyes, causing me to see a maddening red hue.


    I laughed as I feel the pain in my eyes.


    "IT''S HERE! I''M FINALLY HERE AGAIN!" I yelled with my eyes closed.


    Thus, I fell on a downward spiral of a blinding typhoon of light as I hear the deafening growls of hundreds of souls touching my feeble body.


    "You''re back."


    "Welcome back."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "You''re here again."


    "Fall with us."


    "You''re back."


    "You''re back."


    "You''re back."


    I''m back.

 25 A Wonder Far Beyond Human Reach

    When I realized that the light had finally subsided, I still refused to open my eyes, for I wish not to see yet another one of those flashes of auburn rays of light that would cause my eyes to explode into a million different fractals of human flesh. Only when I heard the sound of prison cells opening had I finally opened my eyes ever so slowly to not force my eyes any further than it would take, but as soon as I saw the tiniest glimpse of my surroundings, I instantly closed my eyes once again. After hearing the noise of chains clanking and feeling a searing wave of heat piercing my body, I finally opened my eyes without the need for haste.


    Finally, the fantastic world within the grasp of my human comprehension greeted me at long last after a year of an endless wait!


    The first thing that came into my eyes is the sight of the rising sun upon the distant horizon and the enlarged moon directly above me, towering over my puny little mortal shell of a human fleshly body. I noticed right away the striking rusted chains wrapped around the enlarged lunar monstrosity on the sky and I realized that as the sun slowly rises from the distant skyline, those huge metallic chains enslaving the moon slowly dissipates while some get completely shattered, turning into a dusty particle polluting the distant galaxies.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I slowly walked the road and realized that I am walking in a rather dilapidated and melancholic-looking forest although I only see withered trunks of leafless spruce trees till the very end of what my eyes could see. It''s a scenery that I seldom see since I live in a rather urban city, devoid of the stillness of nature, but even I could feel the seeping evil lurking within these trees that scream of a forgotten time in ancient yore one could only describe as the feeling of seeing an ancient evil. I could feel nothing but a darkness that should drop me down to my knees, but I could feel nothing but calmness instead. I feel like a child being straddled to sleep by a monstrous entity within the grasp of his demoniac claws and rough hands.


    Slowly, as I stride through the dry dirt road, the sceneries of my surroundings slowly change but not because I was walking in a different area entirely, everything just simply change color, texture, shape, size, and dimension in an otherwise out-of-this-world CGI effect; the only difference is that it''s happening right in front of me in real life. I cannot explain it properly; I cannot even comprehend to myself if what I''m seeing is real. All I know is that everything I know about the three-dimensional world is slowly changing as I stride through this narrow path. The trees turn into a comical doodle; the skies become a mushy clay; the ground shakes but it''s not moving; the world turns into nothing like I have ever seen before or will again.


    However, amidst all these destructions of human comprehension happening all over me, I still walk ever so calmly like the ground was undisturbed, and the air was not putrid and foul.


    "This place is just as calming as I last saw it." I mumbled to myself as I saw the image of a tortured face appearing ever so slightly in the trunk of one tree on the horizon. "How beautiful; how divine! Everything... Everything is so beautiful!" I said to myself, almost yelling, while I raised both my arms and my head to reach out to the distant moon engraved with the face of a man puking the bodies of hundred people straight down to the ground, making them a part of the marshmallow-like soil.


    As I continued to walk through this unknown hellish landscape, I saw a man wearing a purple suit, a purple hat, a purple pair of jeans, and a purple mask playing a purple pipe with an alien-like sound that I cannot describe other than it being both ancient and futuristic sounding at the same time.


    "Ahhh... The purple piper, always the most artistic musician! I wish I could record his songs!"


    I realized that the world continuously changes until I finally arrived at my destination. Oddly enough, although the purple piper was playing on a distance, I could hear what he''s playing as if he''s standing right beside me. I stood in front of the mushy-looking hall in the middle of the forest as I looked up at the sky. It finally turned into what it really is. I see a man crying, a woman screaming, a child laughing, an old woman biting her own foot; the sky turned into a view of thousands of people mashed together to form an endless sky of distant vengeful spirits.


    I hear the distant noise of people laughing and chatting among one another along with the noise of a sword clashing upon another. It seems that the tournament before the arrival of the man of the hour had finally commenced and now I don''t have the time to enjoy their friendly joust. I walked through the hall until I saw the end in sight, I could still hear the piper playing clearly in my head although I cannot see the purple man anywhere anymore. I simply ignored it as nothing but a part of his odd artistic choices.


    Finally, I heard the sound of a man screaming in pain, possibly because of a fatal hit somewhere in his body. That was when I finally rushed towards the end of the hall.


    "Ah, shit!" I exclaimed. "The tournament is already done?" Damn it! I wanted to bet! Fuck, I wonder who they invited to fight in the ring this time. This is so frustrating, I just... Fuck! Last year, they placed two enemies in the ring, and they really went for it, brutal style, and it''s the best form of entertainment I have seen for the remainder of that year! I will not forgive myself if I miss this one!


    When I finally treaded through the darkened alley at the end of the hall wherein a gigantic court made of bluish violet ivory stones stood with countless people donning the most extravagant fashion I have ever seen for this year. It seemed that they all went all out for this masquerade for they are all wearing clothes much gracious and refined than those they wore last year, or for the last decade, for that matter.


    The first thing I did was to lean on the balcony and see for myself as to what was happening. I didn''t know what was happening, but what I saw was a woman shaking and trembling somewhere in the corner of the ring while a man was crouching in the middle with a sword piercing his abdomen. By the way the people looked at them with disgusted sneers on their faces, I bet the tournament didn''t have a satisfying end. However, it was not boorish enough for them to boo at the performers. Perhaps because the expression in the woman''s face compensated on the rather boring spectacle they showed today.


    I heaved a sigh. "Well..." I mumbled to myself as I fixed my tie. "At least, I was late in a boring fight."


    Then a siren rang throughout the court, and as the screeching noise resounded throughout the hall, the number of people leaning on the circular balcony disappeared. They don''t care about whatever happens to the participants in the friendly joust below on the ring. It all ends the same, it''s all too boring. I personally feel the same.


    The ring slowly opens like a shutter of a camera ever so slowly like an ancient stone passageway. As the siren grew louder, the scream of the woman below grew just as loud. The surrounding people started to discuss their day and what the man of the hour will do for this year''s gathering. They are all blind to the fact that a man just fell a few hundred feet below the widening opening of the ring. No, they are not really blind to it per se, they just don''t care.


    The woman desperately clings on the wall, but she doesn''t know that the wall is coated with a thick layer of oil so no matter how much he smashed through it, it will not help him escape or climb up towards the balcony which was 20 feet away from the ring.


    As soon as the opening shutter reached her, she finally was about to fall with a desperate look of despair written all over her face. I couldn''t see her properly, but even when she''s far away from me, I could still see the disgusting way her sweat covers her face or the intolerable way her face reddens with fear or the absolute barf-worthy sight of seeing her face distort like a painting of a monster begging for her life to be spared with her mouth agape wide open. Her screams were loud enough to go against the almost ear-piercing noise of the siren. When they both play out like that, it almost sounded like an out of tune duet singing the chorus of Islands in the Stream. It''s horrible! And I''m not the only one feeling this way!


    "Is it finally done?" I hear a woman whispering behind me.


    "Ugh, just please get rid of her! She''s ruining my cheesecake!" Another woman mumbled loud enough for me to hear.


    "Honestly, we really need to get rid of the sirens." A man spoke amidst the countless complaints I hear all around.


    "No! To be honest, what we need is a way to silence the participants after the fight! It''s not that hard!" Another man with a rather feminine inflection retorted.


    Then, she finally fell. About damn time for her to go. Her voice is so god damn annoying.  She screamed about eleven seconds before we heard a thudding noise which ended her loud screech. It also ended the ear rapping siren that almost made everyone''s ears bleed.


    Now that that was out of the way, everybody finally heaved a sigh of relief. We could all finally enjoy our meals and our drinks.


    Now, we can finally go to the real reason why we''re here.


    While the shutter-like ring slowly closes, the gigantic double door at the other end of the court swung open, releasing a cold strong breeze that almost blew all of our masks away. Then the choir at the very top of the tall court sang their melancholic lullaby in a language I have not heard before, but somehow it was familiar to my ears.


    "You''re late." The woman in black beside me said, "We''re all waiting for you."

 26 A Court of a Crimson Ringmaster

    All men are born unique, different if you may. They are all born in a different world, raised by different people, learned from a different group of people, and consume a different form of media; combine all of those together and one can form a different human apart from the rest of the world. However, such differences of human beings are not caused simply by the behavior which they formed through an arduous process of coping through the different needs they need to fill in their environment. Humans are different because they are born different.


    The beautiful is hailed, the creative is praised, the strong is marveled, and the authoritative is followed while the ugly is shunned, the bland is forgotten, the weak is killed, and the follower... follows. There are people out there who were born to laugh along with the tides of sneers caused by the conventional, and there are those people who causes the waves themselves. This is not an opinion, this is merely facts I learned in my decades of stay here in this court surrounded by the psychedelic touch of a distant creator that none of us could still properly explain.


    Some are born to be at the bottom of the pit...


    Some are born to step on the feeble and the small...


    And then there''s the Ringmaster.


    "Welcome, my masked guest, my wonderful companions, my longtime friends, and my most loyal subjects!" He said in such a loud and articulate voice that one might confuse him to have a microphone in hand as he theatrically moves his hip along with the hysterical swaying of his arms. The man talks in a rather corny and somewhat try-hard fashion, but all of us seems to be eating it up. "Are you rrrrrreeeady?" He said a huge emphasis on the ''r'' like a prowling tiger which is applicably accompanied by the almost chaotic way he sways all of his fingers at the same time.


    The Ringmaster wore his usual attire, but with the addition of an ornate mask donned with macabre engravings and an articulate golden arabesque design. It was a simple mask that covers only his eyes; in fact, it doesn''t even seem to have a hole for him to see and yet for some reason, I could still feel his eyes on me.


    He wears a red burlesque tailcoat with a visible black and violet stripe pattern engraved on the collar lapel down to the break line. The coat itself has this beautiful engraving of a flower on its yoke front while its stem runs down the jacket front. I could also see a black vest hidden within his unbuttoned coat that has yet another seamless gothic pattern outlining the outer design of the vest itself. He partnered that top with simple black slacks that fit him really well and a brown belt. Finally, as a little cherry on top to his entire arsenal of designer clothing, he chose to wear a tall pair of black boots that also has some designs on it, but he was too far for me to see its intricacy, and he also wore a black glove that I''m guessing is covering the entirety of his right arm while his other arm is strip bare.


    "Makes you really curious what''s hidden behind all of those fancy clothes of his, huh?" I heard a woman speak beside me with a light chuckle.


    "Gertrude!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "I didn''t know you''re here."


    She scoffed. "Thomas, come on. I''ve been talking here for the past, what? 5 minutes?"


    "Sorry," I whispered before I sipped a drink of my bourbon. "you''re just too forgettable."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    She then nudged me softly which felt like nothing to me. "I didn''t know you''re talking about you."


    "Simple doesn''t mean forgettable," I said with my eyes still glued on the Ringmaster''s Caravan. "you''re just a try-hard."


    "Please." She said while shaking her head. "When do you think he''ll finally get off his horse? I''m really hungry for more content after that thing they showed us earlier." She then covered her lips with her fingertips while sticking her finger out as if to imitate a person barfing followed with a "blegh!" with her eyes rolling up towards the ceiling of his eye socket.


    "Haven''t seen it."


    "Lucky you." She said while adjusting the bust of her black dress. "God, I just hate corsets so much; bras are just, ugh, so much better!"


    "Why did you wear them then?"


    "Well, it comes with the damn dress." She spoke in a sarcastic and annoyed tone while raising her hand on the level of her shoulders. "Idiot!"


    I wasn''t lying when I said Gertrude is a being a try-hard little piece of shit with her dress. Her long brown hair was tied loosely and perhaps, purposely messy into a psyche knot which revealed the tiny bits of baby hair crawling above her slightly moist forehead. She''s wearing a black cape with intricate designs such as the buttons around the upper part of the cape which goes down till the very end of it around the waist. The cape also has eight folds, there are also fine details and embroidery that made the cape look like a sleeveless coat which made me ask who would care to make such fine details for a cape? Within the cape is a black dress with tiny details engraved on the see-through portion of it, that falls from her neckline to the bust level of the dress, carefully hand-sewn with feminine designs such as hearts and... a more intricate looking heart? Along with amethyst and some other jades and stones I haven''t heard of or seen before, the dress tried its hardest to exemplifies the bourgeoisie fashion she was trying to nab. I could also see the outline of a tiny frill under layer beneath the bust level of the dress that creates a fake largeness on her bust. Lastly is the engraving of a rose on the bodice which was large enough to conquer the area of the peplum. Her skirt covers the entirety of her feet, and I could see that the dress was not made for her for the skirt hits the floor a bit when it probably shouldn''t.


    "Who are you trying to please by wearing this ugly dress?"


    "Excuse you, I..." Before she could finish her statement, the surrounding people gave thundering applause on the man who was busy giving a speech in front of us while we banter among one another. Gertrude quickly shot her head up and clapped as loud as everyone in the court with her shoulders low and her chest up.


    I did nothing and simply gazed at the Ringmaster while I drank the rest of my bourbon in one gulp. I then looked for the person giving out our drinks, but I couldn''t seem to find them amidst the people''s cheers and booming claps.


    The Ringmaster then leaped from on top of his horse in his usual exaggerated moves with both his feet up and landing almost like a hero from an epic narrative poem then by the time he stood on the ground, he did a little pirouette and pointed his bare hand towards his Caravan.


    "Everything you wish to buy and everything you wish to have is all within the confines of the Caravan, folks!" He then turned his head towards us slowly. "And I mean..." then he turned his whole body to face us with his hands open wide. "... Everything."


    I looked at him with much adoration in my eyes. I also noticed that everyone was doing the same. Some were even going the next mile just to get his attention. People were doing their hardest to scream at him, hurl words that would get his attention, and physically move their bodies in an otherwise sexually compromising position just so the Ringmaster would glue his eyes on them, but it was all useless. He''s unfazed by all of our efforts; I know this, so I don''t even try to get his attention. I simply lick my upper lip as I gave my eyes on him with a gaze filled with ill intent.


    "However..." The Ringmaster continued as he lowered his arms. "We need to do something first." The Ringmaster said as the spotlights coming from nowhere started to dim until it''s almost impossible to make out his face, just a silhouette of his red coat. "I want to call the attention of Thomas! Please come with me here in the ring!"


    "What?" I whispered as I glued my eyes on the Ringmaster. My hands shook so hard out of the conflicting feelings of both fear and excitement welling within me. My body shook to the point that my glass slid off from my hand, falling down the ring.


    "Yes, Thomas." The Ringmaster said while his head was facing my very direction. Like I said earlier, I cannot see his eyes, but somehow, I knew his eyes were on me. "You."


    Clang!


    My glass finally hit the ring.


    And for some reason...


    I am now right in front of the Ringmaster, only a few centimeters away from him, with his hands grabbing my jaw ever so gently.


    "We''re gonna have to do something about you."

 27 A Foreboding Feeling of Euphoria

    I couldn''t move. I couldn''t speak. I couldn''t leave the spot I''m standing in at all.


    I mean, I could totally do all of those, but... if I do that... then... that means...


    "Oh my, it seems that little Mr. Timothy here is drooling quite a bit, isn''t he?" The Ringmaster spoke in a rather sinister whisper that was loud enough for everyone to hear for some reason. "He''s even sticking his tongue out. Oops! I think he''s about to faint, ladies and gentlemen! Look at his eyes!" He then pulled me towards him and wrapped his other hand around my waist before facing me towards everyone who was looking at us. The ring then feels like a stone stage while the masked watchers all look down upon us in the upper box. "Look at it, ladies and gentlemen! His eyes are slowly moving upwards!" I could hear the laugh of all the surrounding people.


    I can move. I can speak. I can leave the spot I''m standing in.


    However...


    ... If I do all of those... then that means he would take his hands off me and push me away.


    "Ywuuu shmell shoo goood." I mumbled as much as I can with his hands still grabbing my jaw.


    He then touched his cheek on mine before whispering, "Then you better take one good whiff." I did. I inhaled as hard as I can as if my life depends on it which elicit a thundering laugh from the audience.


    "Ladies and gentlemen, we all know Thomas! He''s been with us for a long time! Longer than most of you! We can then say with great confidence that our brother, our dear friend Thomas right here is an exemplary member of our most sophisticated group of connoisseurs such as yourselves! Am I right, Thomas?"


    "Yesh, Ringmashter." I mumbled while panting as I heard his question flowing from my ear down to every nook and cranny of my body.


    "Very good answer." The Ringmaster whispered to my ear still with his face glued on my cheeks which tickled the side of my head in such a maddening fashion that I thought I was convulsing while I trembled with my eyes wide open. "We can all agree that there is no problem with Thomas as a part of our fellowship!" He then diverted his gaze at me while I feel his bloodshot eyes at me although his mask covers the entirety of the upper part of his face. "I''m just disappointed with his..." Before he finished his statement, he tightened the grip of his arm around my waist as he slides the palm of his other hand from my jaws down to my torso. "... performance."


    While the Ringmaster speaks with the same fervent enthusiasm he always has, I gaze at the people peering at us from high above the ivory balcony up ahead. I could see that although they''re looking at us with the same admiration, they''re only doing so because the Ringmaster is speaking. However, I could see with the way their eyes twitch and how their faces form a subtle scowl that they are all somehow mad. They are angry, crazy to bludgeon someone to death. That deranged wrath of theirs were all directed at me. Not because of what the Ringmaster is pointing out regarding my recent performance which had been inarguably lacking for the past few years. No, that reason is not petty enough. They''re jealous of me.


    Something I totally understand, not gonna lie.


    The boys, the girls, they all love the Ringmaster. The old and the young, the poor and the rich, all of them wants a piece of the Ringmaster''s touch. They would swallow his spit if he so desires, and they would definitely do greater, grander things other than that too. One can see it in everyone''s eyes; the way they gaze at him with eyes filled with longing and with mouths watering as their desires overflow them with an utter feeling of exquisite happiness.


    None could explain why this is happening to them, none could understand the appeal of the Ringmaster, and none could tell why he drew people''s attention towards him in a rather exaggerated sexual way. Sometimes, I even think that he has a form of erotic magnetism that pulls out the depravity of human lust. Nobody could explain the phenomenon that is the Ringmaster. Except for me. I know why we''re all a slave to our passion for the Ringmaster.


    After all, none of this is real.


    The Ringmaster chuckled while he still had his hands tenderly but tightly wrapped around my body. He then turned around which caused my body to swing along with him. This, in turn, is the reason why I am now facing his Caravan.


    The Caravan is a marvel that still makes me gasp even after my long years of being with the Ringmaster''s services, though until now, I''m also still unsure if it truly is a functional vehicle.


    The Caravan itself is a black van with obvious strips of degrading rusty portions all over its still steel shell. Well, to be more precise, it''s actually the remnant of a van sawed crosswise without the entirety of its front where the driver''s seat and the passenger seat should be. Heck, I could even see the bits of imperfections where the van was split away from its head. This caused a large hole to appear in front of the van''s remains. Filling the hole with large and thick layers of dark wood planks easily remedied the conundrum though. I could see by the way some nails were sticking out of the steel frame of the car that whoever repaired this van molded the planks into the shape of the hole, and then it was amateurishly connected using some rather long and thick nails that are now rusty and faded. They then smoothed out the planks with varnish and decorated it with many different compartments, small drawers, and a small wooden window at the very top. It also has a sculpted engraving on it of a skull sitting on a red spider lily. Below the van is its old rubber tire at the back, which was already flat to the brim along with tears and holes all over it, and a thin wooden wagon wheel in front which is connected by another makeshift plank tightly connected on the sawed van with a metallic, black hub, tightened by an iron axle.


    Since the former van which is now called the Ringmaster''s Caravan, or simply the Caravan, does not have an engine anymore, it is now impossible to drive it, let alone to have someone pull it; thus, the Ringmaster uses something instead. He utilizes his two black horses, with large white spots all over their bodies, and one dark brown draft horse to pull it whenever he travels throughout this dream-like realm he lives in.


    There is nothing particularly weird with the horses; they are normal ones that I would often see in magazines and TV shows, with their elegant mane and rough hooves with metallic horseshoes. The one I am more concerned about is the draft horse in the middle that the Ringmaster rode whenever he travels around, for his van is already filled with so much of his products and services that it is literally impossible for him to himself within comfortably. Though there is nothing wrong with riding that absolute unit of a horse, I would still often wonder if it is really safe to ride such a strong-looking animal. Its strong legs have nothing but muscle in them, and I''m not even surprised if someone would tell me that those legs have already trampled someone to death one way or another. Based on what I see, the draft horse is probably around 200 centimeters tall or so, and I''m not afraid to say that the horse has beaten me with the manliness it exudes. They braided its silky long hair around his head to mimic that of the hairstyle of the ancient Inca people, and the largeness of his body just shows that it doesn''t need the two horses around him, but here they are anyway.


    "You see, Timothy..." The Ringmaster whispered to my ear, which made me groan in every syllable and every breath he would exhume to my ear. "... I like you. I don''t want to dispatch you yet; that would be a waste of resources, don''t you agree?" He whispers to my ear while rubbing his face at the back of my neck.


    "Yes, Ringmaster." I whispered in reply to him as his soft and smooth face makes my body go into a violent spasm. It felt as if every syllable and every touch he does to me sends an electrifying shock throughout my veins that slowly makes me numb and dumb.


    "You''ve been missing out on a lot of chores lately. Look, listen, look, I''m here to tell you that I''m not gonna kill you..." The Ringmaster chuckled before licking the holes of my ears which almost crippled my feet, making me fall to the ground. Luckily, the Ringmaster has his hands around my waist. "... But you''re gonna kill someone for me."


    "I will do..." I said while panting and gasping, with my eyes rotated way upward and my tongue out which caused my mouth to water uncontrollably. "... anything... you say... Ringmaster..." I spoke with an almost maniacal chuckle.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Good, good." He whispered way close to my ear, which made his lips touch a small portion of my skin, causing my body to shake out of control. "You see, there''s someone out there who''s aware of our organization for quite some time now. People in the higher-ups want him gone. I heard you''re acquainted to him, this certain man named George."

 28 A Tempting Offer You Cannot Refuse

    "G-George?" I asked while stuttering to ensure that I heard him right.


    "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" The Ringmaster said in a quick mumble. "The homeless man living outside of your apartment complex!"


    "Wh-why?" I shook while mumbling whatever word I can produce as I try my hardest not to move my lips.


    "Well, isn''t it obvious?" The Ringmaster shrugged his shoulder with his lips perked upwards. "Because you know the guy! You''re perfect for the job!"


    I felt my head going numb, not because of the fact that I will kill a lifelong friend...


    "Do I really have to?" I asked in a rather indolent tone.


    The Ringmaster saw this and I could see his mouth moving ever so slightly as if to show his shock at the tone of my voice. "Why, yes. You have to."


    I mean, it''s not that I don''t want to...


    "Do I really have to?" I spoke in a soft whisper while I gripped the Ringmaster''s hand tightly with my bare hands.


    "Yes." The Ringmaster chuckled. The earlier shock on his lips now turned into a rather twisted grin that almost seemed like an expression filled with relief. "This is non-negotiable."


    "What did..." I said, but the electrifying sensation trickling through my veins suddenly halted my words, which made me groan in pain, sending a cloud of breath onto the Ringmaster''s face. "... what did he do?" I continued; the Ringmaster''s grew even wider, stretching his sparkling red lips to show his perfectly aligned white teeth.


    The Ringmaster''s grip on me grew even tighter, and that gesture of his had sent an even greater surge of that same electrifying sensation that always courses throughout my body every time he touches even a strand of my body hair. I pulled my head back as if I wanted to snap my neck and finally end this torturous pleasure he''s sending throughout my body, but it felt as if the same pulses the Ringmaster sends throughout my body also renders me unable to even think of offing myself. Thus, I kept my head tilted back in an unbelievably, and almost inhuman, fashion, and it would have certainly had a more tragic impact on my body if only the Ringmaster''s shoulder was not there to prevent it from getting mutilated. As such, my groans grow even louder and my body trembles even greater with my head lying on top of the Ringmaster''s head while my spit spreads throughout my face.


    All of this happened while everyone gazed at me with their envious grimaces.


    The Ringmaster really had a knack at handling his people, and he knew very well how to break me. Now my pride would shatter forever, and I do not even know if I can mend my image to everyone''s eyes after this incident. I bet they would forever label me now as a pervert who gets off to the touch of another man. However, that man is not just any other normal man. He is beyond evil; he is beyond hell itself. He is the Ringmaster, and all of them knew that we are all powerless against his touch. The more unsatisfactory side of this in my part is that this incident will forever be etched on the mind of everyone watching, and they will keep talking about this every day until I cannot stand it anymore. It would force me to build a wall all over myself to prevent the door from ever approaching me until the inevitable Takers snatch me away from the comfort of my home to turn me into that year''s sacrifice.


    Thus, if I wish to erase this disgraceful moment away from those people''s memories, I need to do something big, something crucial, something extreme, something important, and something that would keep their blood boiling.


    If I wish to survive, I need to take on the Ringmaster''s offer.


    "You don''t need to know what he did, little Tim." The Ringmaster chuckled while he caresses the skin of my neck before he continued with a whisper. "All you need to know is I want him gone."


    "Okay..." I mumbled, with my voice already hoarse, and my body already reaching its breaking point. "I accept, Ringmaster."


    The Ringmaster''s grin widened even further as he chuckled right beside my ear. "Very good choice." He said before licking my earlobes. The electricity that coursed throughout my body after he did so was great enough to make me think I''d surely die thereafter.


    The Ringmaster slowly released my body, and I could feel my strength returning throughout my muscles. He then helped me turn my body to face the audience, and I could hear some of them groan and scoff when they saw how pathetic my face looked. The Ringmaster swiftly took a handkerchief from within the pocket at the back of his jeans and gently wiped the sweat and saliva dripping all over my face. That action of his shot another wave of reactions from the audience that showed their adoration to the benevolent and caring Ringmaster.


    "Aww!" A woman whimpered from somewhere on the left side.


    "He''s wiping his face, what a sweetheart!" A man screamed from the middle.


    "Timothy definitely doesn''t deserve it! The Ringmaster is such a sweetheart!" Another man giggled from the center.


    "I wish he would do that to me too." A woman that sounded rather old spoke in a love-struck tone.


    I panted heavily as I felt a twinge of my former energy coming back to me like a radiant blessing that gradually grants me my emancipation. However, it never really fully returns the entirety of my former glory since the Ringmaster still wrapped his arms around my shoulders like a chain shackles that further enslaves me to his will.


    "Ladies and gentlemen!" The Ringmaster spoke in his usual strong, deep, and resounding voice throughout the court. "I am pleased to inform each and every one of you that no one broke our contract this year! Which meant that all of us are present in this here little masquerade gathering of ours; none of you chickened out and refused the call of your door like most of our former court members who are already down under as you might have already known!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The Ringmaster''s announcement sent a round of cheer and applause from the audience while some laughed and giggled after hearing his rather out-of-place joke at the end of his statement.


    The Ringmaster then continued his announcement with his usual joyful tone. "Which means one thing, ladies and gentlemen!" Then he slowly tightened his grip on my shoulders as his tone grew gloomier. "Since we don''t have a contract-breaker, that means..." We all then heard a drum roll that came from out of nowhere, but it resounded rather loudly throughout the court as if the drummer was simultaneously playing beside all the court members at the same time. When the drum roll started, all the people at the audience started to lean their bodies forward to show the Ringmaster that they are more than eager to listen to his qualms. "We also don''t have a sacrifice!"


    The last sentence he had spoken had sparked a wave of outburst from the audience.


    "Boo!" Someone said from one of the many audience members, but they were all too noisy for me to determine where it came from.


    "That''s bullshit!" A woman screamed from the top of her lungs somewhere in the far left.


    "What will God say about this scam?" A man shrieked from the far right.


    The commotion was not mixed at all and everyone started to express their uniform and almost identical complaints after hearing the Ringmaster''s announcement. Their expressions show nothing but disdain for what they had heard. They gritted their teeth while showing everything inside of their mouths as if they were trying to show off their gums. Their screams are so insufferable like each of them are fingernails scratching the surface of a rough chalkboard. They howl with such intense anger that their spit starts to rain from out of their mouths while they proclaim their wrath. Their faces are as red as the veins appearing around their pupils.


    For some reason, I could see their reactions clearly as if I was just standing in front of them, and I am experiencing all of their emotions all at once in one huge wave of a torturous flood of their bottled feelings.


    The Ringmaster tried to ease their sudden outburst by extending his arms with his fingers tilted and pushing it down to gesture them to settle their emotions down. He used only his right arm while his other still remained wrapped around my shoulder while my senses suddenly burst back into reality.


    "I know you are mad; I know you want more. Most of you probably want to tie me up as this year''s sacrifice." The Ringmaster said with a tone gentler than any of the ones he used throughout this entire masquerade.


    "Fuck yeah, we do!" A man from somewhere behind the audience screamed which caused a small portion of the audience members to throw more cusses and outbursts at the Ringmaster.


    The Ringmaster then calmed them down once again; this time, he placed his forefinger on his lips to tell them to shush and listen. "But the fun won''t end just because we don''t have a sacrifice; that''s why Timothy is here with me in front of you right now."


    The audience members looked at each other with blank gazes and dumbfounded expressions.


    "You won''t refuse my offer at his point now, right, little Tim?" The Ringmaster asked with the same twisted grin he always shows me.

 29 A Proclamation of Difference

    I know that smile. It means if I even dare refuse this offer of his, he can always ad-lib his way out of it and tell everyone that I will be the next sacrifice.


    I leaned my head towards the Ringmaster to let my lips touch his ear as close as I could get. "I love you so much, Ringmaster."


    The Ringmaster''s grin widened, and for some reason, I could see his eyes creating the shape of a crescent moon to show me what a good boy I am for saying those words. "Good job, little Tim."


    I couldn''t see his eyes, but I could feel what it looks like, I could see the outline of it behind his ornamented mask, and I could see his green eyes piercing through my soul as I gaze at him with my breath hitting his skin.


    "Let us begin this year''s main event!" The Ringmaster said in a mutter only I could hear. "Are you ready, ladies and gentlemen!?"


    Every man and woman from the crowd cheered, screamed, and hollered after hearing what the Ringmaster had said. Everyone had this twisted smile on their face as if they were all unwilling to even perk their lips upward even for a centimeter. Their eyes were deep and dark like it was hiding a sunken melancholy that they allowed none of them to utter. They were all yelling thoughts that indicated their glee and the playfulness of what they were feeling, but for some reason, I could detect a hint of hesitation in the tone of their voice.


    They were smiling. They were screaming with their overjoyed feelings. They were looking at us with excitement.


    However...


    None of it felt real.


    It felt as if they were serving us an artificial form of happiness that was forcefully tucked on their heads, and now they all wish to scream and agonize and cry and protest and leave and die, but none of them could do so, for they are all wired and programmed to feel happy.


    None of them are happy; I know that much.


    I, however, feel...


    Very.


    "I would like to call on Miss Gertrude to on the ring to sing our chant to welcome our lamb!"


    Very.


    "What I have in my hands right now is the keys throughout this entire city, and all the doors and gates around you are all locked just in case one might want to leave before our greatest attraction even started!"


    Very.


    "I know that you all wanted and begged for the entire year to buy the product you so desire for so long, but the Caravan is closed at the moment and the only way for it to open is if I use my key!"


    Very.


    "As you can all see, I am standing here right in front the grand gate of our dreamland where some of our pilgrims go with little Tim, and to refresh the memory of some of you, I would like to reiterate that Timmy boy right here didn''t do his schemes for this year properly, so now, he will be the leader of today''s sacrifice!"


    Very.


    "You like that, Timmy?"


    Happy!


    "Yes!" I screamed as hard as I can, and everyone in the audience started to laugh together with their mouths stretched wide open to form a smile that looks like the smile I see from the mannequins on cheap department stores.


    No, it''s not just their smiles.


    They are mannequins. They are all mannequins that have a voice, that has a unique tone, that has emotion, but I could only see whatever feeling their plastic shell was showing. They are all mannequins that stood there to showcase their nouveau rich fashion that mirrors their opulent lifestyle, or at least, it mirrors the golden wealthy life they wanted to project to the world. They are all mannequins that have a loudspeaker inside them that conveys their emotions, but they could only show whatever carvings they were given on their face as they showcase their extravagant, rich, masquerade ball realness.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I realized that Gertrude was already standing beside me, but she didn''t have the same mannequin-like smile that other people from the audience has. She was standing there with a graceful smile while she faced me, and only then did I realize that she was holding a huge mirror. With her posture and the way she looked at me mockingly with that hazel eyes of his and her shining pink lips, I knew what she intended to do by pointing the mirror at me.


    "You look so f*cking ugly right now, dude." She intoned with a chuckle.


    I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a deranged smile all over my face; it was the face of a man who felt nothing but real pleasure, real happiness, real lust, and real feelings. The smile I had on my face, though I am aware of what I am about to do, is just as real as the smile painted all over Gertrude''s face.


    "I''m so proud of you." The Ringmaster whispered ever so silently to my ear with his hands on my waist. Though everyone was screaming and cheering and jeering and fearing whatever will happen next, I could still hear him clearly as if his words were the only sound that could ever enter my ears.


    "We are so much different from them, aren''t we?" Gertrude said with the usual twinkle of gleaming joy all over her face as she leered at me and the Ringmaster; she doesn''t seem to know that the Ringmaster whispered something to me as she continued, "They are here to buy, but we are here to enjoy his spectacle."


    Without further ado, Gertrude then began singing the songs she always sings before every the start of every sacrificial ritual we perform on the stone ring of the Ringmaster. It was a language I have not heard of before, but it was that felt rather nostalgic like I have always heard it, but I just forgot about its existence. Gertrude continued to chant the slow and mellow song that almost felt like she meant to sing it to honor the dead. Though knowing what will happen next, I''m sure it was not at all a gesture to honor any blood that we will spill today.


    Suddenly, a metallic, rusty, smelly, gray door appeared in front of me without my knowledge as if it was there all along, but I never saw it until now.


    By the time I acknowledged the presence of the door before I, the sound of drums echoed throughout the atmosphere with a tempo and rhythm similar to that of the drums I would often hear when I see a marching band. Yes, it is not just similar; it is the sound of a marching percussion. The beat followed the soft rhythm of Gertrude''s chant which is oddly stimulating, for the combination of both was enough to boil my blood and to heighten the speed of my beating heart.


    The audience kept their loud and obnoxious shootings, but although they were all visibly shouting from the top of their lungs, I can only hear a distant whisper coming from them. Oddly enough, the soft and mellow chanting of Gertrude was louder than any noise that anyone could ever produce as if the presence of her voice were following our every move wherever we might go. Following her voice was the sound of the accompanying marching percussion that traveled throughout the court with the sound of the melancholic chant like a loyal mutt, wagging its tail. It felt as if Gertrude''s voice were her soul, and her soul was walking and dancing all throughout the air with her pet dog while her black dress sends poison down our hearts.


    Funny enough, I would normally escape this place, and I could now for the Ringmaster''s grip on my waist was not at all tight anymore. It was rather gentle and kind like he was cheering me on before my big moment. Standing here with him in front of countless people who came to enjoy the crimson-colored spectacle he would bring once again this year felt oddly nostalgic. It felt like d¨¦j¨¤ vu, like I''ve just been on this place before, on this time before, on this very position before, and I felt like I have seen whatever I am seeing right now before. It was the exact same copy of that moment in a time that never existed. It felt oddly nostalgic like it was a carbon copy of what I had experienced when I was naught but a boy, and the Ringmaster was there beside me to lay all his love on me. It felt like something I had experienced for a long time over and over again, but it is an experience that never happened.


    And before I knew it, the metal door before me slowly creaked open.

 30 A Show of Malevolent Powers

    "Raaaagghhh!"


    A scream enveloped the entire court, and it silenced the commotion ringing all around us like a ringing snap that signifies the arrival of the incarnation of evil.


    However, there was no need to sound the trumpets of the apocalypse, for the devil had long been here, and he''s wearing a crimson suit and a macabre mask. He''s here, and he''s craving for death.


    And I am his loyal servant.


    The metallic door swung open like a rusted gong while the creaking of it as it swiftly opened almost sounded like a brass bell that had a few cracks on the side. It was a rather bizarre noise, but it sure had a rather specific sound. The sound of the man''s scream as he ran towards us sounded even more obnoxious, for it sounded like a dying pig on a penthouse.


    "You!" The man who came from within the metallic door screamed at the top of his lungs! "You''re the one who killed my daughter! You''re the one ruined our lives!"


    He was running at a rather slow, pace but that was probably caused by his rather plum size and the huge mechanism he''s carrying which worried me more than the distorted expression he has on his face.


    The man was wearing a messy black coat that had multiple holes and scratches on it, below it was a sleeveless shirt blackened by a thick amount of dirt and grease. He was wearing a dark brown leather shoe on his left foot with its front flapping like the mouth of Pac Man, for it had been worn and used for so long that it had already been filled with all sorts of holes, folds, cracks, and tears. He was not wearing anything on his right foot, so I could clearly see the scars all over his skin, the grease on his long fingernails, and the absolute pungent smell of it although he was still a few meters away from us. This greasy old sleazebag was also wearing black jogging pants that I had never seen him wear before. It had a yellow line on its side and it definitely isn''t as dirty as most of his clothes are, but since the man himself was a living dirt magnet, I am not afraid to conclude that those jogging pants of his have got to be the dirtiest pair that had ever graced this court.


    "I will kill you! I will burn your Caravan! I will kill you all!" He screamed at the top of his lungs which sounded like a saw scraping the top of a log. His reddened eyes were bulging out of anger, his yellow and black teeth were seen for he had opened his large and thick mouth to scream. His face has all sorts of sagging wrinkles, abnormally large and reddened pimples, brownish dirt, blackened warts with small holes, fresh scars, and probably some rat bites on it too somewhere there. I couldn''t see his body well, for it is well covered with what remains of his tattered clothes, but I''m sure it''s filled with all sorts of different skin complexion that would make even the greatest dermatologist of our century surrender.


    I got all of this just by staring at him for a few seconds. Of course, I will know all of this; how can I not?


    I''ve known this man since I was young. I''ve gone to the same school as this man. I''ve played the same games as this man. I''ve loved the same woman as this man. I''ve learned who I really am with this man. I''ve learned how to live because of this man. And I also learned what it means to be dead while breathing and walking and eating and sleeping and living because of this man.


    Of course, I know this man.


    I just met his today before I even stepped foot inside of my door. I bought my white plague doctor mask with him although he wasn''t stable the entire time he was with me. He''s always been spouting about his knowledge about the existence of the Caravan for years! And I''m there, listening to him.


    I know this man.


    He''s George.


    He''s my best friend.


    I have been looking after him for so many years after the death of his child.


    The Ringmaster chuckled after seeing the bloodcurdling screams of the man along with his disgusting face. "He''s here, little Tim." The Ringmaster then tightened his grip on my waist. "Are you gonna back out now?"


    I gulped down my saliva. "Can I ask a favor, Ringmaster?"


    "I''ll see what I can do." The Ringmaster whispered with his hands caressing my waist.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I smiled at him as sweetly as I can, and for some reason, the only person I could hear is the Ringmaster. Not Gertrude''s chant, not the people''s cheers, and certainly not George''s screams. "Can you give me the dullest ax you have?" I can only hear the sound of Ringmaster''s breath, the sound of Ringmaster''s heartbeat, and the sound of Ringmaster''s voice.


    I could visibly see the corners of the Ringmaster''s lips perking up as high as it can; if it was possible for a person to smile from ear to ear, then he would definitely do it. I could imagine his eyes forming the shape of a thin crescent moon as he smiled at me with utmost joy.


    "Of course," and without further ado, he handed me an ax that was probably around 3 feet tall with rust worse than the ones on the metallic door where George came from. It looked so dull that I could feel the dusty specks on the surface of its bit.


    I looked at the Ringmaster''s mask as though I could see whatever it was hiding as I pierced my gaze on it to stare at his eyes with nothing but longingness. "Thank you," I whispered as low as I can while I held the ax with both my hands as I tried to stare at his eyes though I could only see his mask.


    "You''re very much welcome..." The Ringmaster chuckled as he raised his hand swiftly, pointing his palm towards the direction of the wrathful George. "... my little Timothy."


    I suddenly heard a loud thudding noise which also marked the end of Gertrude''s chant, but I am not sure if it was deliberate. I slowly moved my head towards the direction of the noise and saw George two to three meters away from us with his hands wide open like he was about to give both of us a bear hug. However, with the way his eye socket twitched abnormally, the way he bit his dried up lower lip, and the way the space between his eyebrow crumple into tiny different folds showed that he was definitely not about to give us a warm hug. I noticed, too, that the metal mechanism that George was carrying was already on the ground which means that the loud thudding noise I heard earlier was because George dropped whatever it is he was carrying on the ground.


    "I''m going to fucking kill you! I''m going to kill you the same way you fucking killed my daughter!" George yelled while he stood there motionless. He had the determination of a vengeful spirit on his facial expression, but his body was not moving at all.


    "Kill me?" The Ringmaster whispered. "How, pray tell, can you kill me if you''re not even moving?"


    George gasped with his eyes wide open. He then looked below him, and he finally realized, that though his feet are moving in a running motion, he was not at all moving forward. It looked as if he was using a treadmill, but instead, he was only grinding the soles of his shoes on the ground.


    "What are you doing!?" George asked in his usual anger-filled scream.


    "Please, I will explain," The Ringmaster intoned while he pulled me towards his chest, hiding my arms from George''s sight which means that this gesture of his also hid whatever it was I holding. "But you need to calm down first."


    "No, I will not fucking calm down! I''m going to fuck you up! I''m going to fucking burn you to death!" George said, still doing his running motion, but as usual, it was all in vain, for he is not moving forward at all.


    I see. This is one of the Ringmaster''s wonderful tricks that makes him a man above men. You see, he has this ability, one that I could not explain, but it is something he is demonstrating at the moment, for stupid George right here fell into it.


    An invisible force that looked like a barrier of some sort was pushing George backward; thus, he is moving his feet as if he was running towards, us but he''s only stuck in the same position. Now, normally, if the Ringmaster uses this ability of his to other people, it would blast them a few inches away from where the barrier is; sometimes it would even launch someone''s body a few meters away if the Ringmaster was feeling more assertive that way. Clearly, he''s using a weaker version of this invisible barrier-blast thing of his. However, that''s not the end of it. He''s also using the same ability to put a barrier behind George which ensures that the barrier in front of him would not blat him away even for a few centimeters. This might mean then that George is actually being sandwiched by two invisible forces, and it might hurt, but he''s probably too angry to care about his broken bones. Though I cannot explain how his feet are moving. Oh well, why am I even thinking about it? I do not even understand it fully; how could I even dream of explaining it? All I know is that, even though George is running, he''s not at all moving, and if he won''t stop doing his futile actions, then it would only cause him more harm than good.


    The Ringmaster gasped. "Burn me to death?" He then said as if he was shocked at George''s revelation.


    "Yeah, you little deaf shit! I will burn you till you''re just a little shit stain on the floor!"


    "Is that what that is?" The Ringmaster said while pointing his chin at the mechanism on the floor. "Is that what that flamethrower is for?"


    Huh. So that mechanism that George was carrying is actually a flamethrower.


    "Oh, yeah, it is!" George then laughed; he laughed as loud as it can, and his booming voice resonated throughout the court like a giant hammer striking the ground. "I''ve waited so long for this moment to happen and my arms is fucking begging me to use it!"


    The Ringmaster then scoffed; I guess, it is finally time for him to stop acting. "It''s your turn, little Tim." He whispered as he kissed my forehead. Now that I stood beside him this close with a levelheaded mind, I finally realized that he''s much taller than me.


    "Yes, Ringmaster." I whimpered at him with a soft whisper.

 31 A Playful Exchange Between Two Old Friends

    "Fuck you!" George growled as he tried to extend his hands towards us, trying his hardest to grab the Ringmaster with his blackened hands.


    "Calm down now, sir." The Ringmaster sighed but his mocking little grin still remained on his face. "There''s no need for us to be so heated! Aren''t you having fun!?"


    "Fun!? You took me here against my will, pinned me on the air, and then you''re asking me if I''m having fun?" I could hear the rasp-like sensation of his voice as he continued to howl at the Ringmaster like a struggling wolf on a hunter''s trap.


    "Well, this is the most joyous place ever! You cannot find this in your world, and I can assure you that!" George kept screaming and roaring at the Ringmaster, but he still continued to talk to him ever so calmly as if he''s dealing with a juvenile child.


    "I''ve been waiting so long for this moment..." George chuckled, but it doesn''t have a sense of joy in it. It only has a twinge of hopelessness and a huge amount of anger. "I''m going to fuck you up the same way you did to my daughter!"


    "Your daughter?" The Ringmaster asked while he wrapped me around with his entire body. "Hmm... I''ve disposed of a lot of daughters in the past; remind me, what does this daughter of yours look like?"


    "You''re a sick fuck!" George said with the same raspy growl he always had from the very beginning, but the volume of his voice is slowly lowering as time goes on. "You took her away from me! You did many things to her, and you sick fucks made me watch while you do..." George''s voice started to tremble as he stutters while presumably trying to think of a proper way to explain what was in his head.


    "Hmmm..." The Ringmaster said with a frown showing on his face although a portion of it is covered with his mask. He started whisking my hair in a light, gentle pat while I tremble with my head on his chest. "Yeah, you need to be more precise with me. That''s not enough info."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "You... You stabbed her... You... You called everyone and then... and then..." George''s voice trembled even further than before. "You murdered her! You ganged up on her! You tied her and stretched her body and then you took me away while I was out to go to work, and your fucking piece of shit kidnappers took tied me up and threw me inside of a fucking door and you made me... and you made me..."


    "Made you watch while everyone took turns to stab her body one after another?" I interrupted his incoherent mumbling while I take a whiff of the Ringmaster''s cologne while I lay my head on his sturdy and strong chest.


    "Y-yes... How..." George mumbled in bewilderment without the trace of his initial anger he always had. There''s only confusion lingering around his tone. "Are you... One of them..." He continued with the same anger he always had by the time he stepped foot on this ring.


    I then continued as I slowly turn my body around while feeling the Ringmaster''s hands all over my upper body. "And then you were there, tied on a chair, with your eyes forced to be wide open by the Ringmaster''s abilities and then..."


    "Please stop..." He whispered in a rather hopeless tone.


    I then finally faced him with a sweet, innocent smile on my face, like a little kid taking a cotton candy from her parents, as I pat the metal head of my ax while feeling a gooey sensation over it which probably meant that they put oil all over this ax before giving it to me.


    I spoke in a chuckle as I feel the smoothness of the Ringmaster''s bare hand on the palm of my hands as he wrapped me in his cold embrace. "And then everyone played a little game of tug of war while the rope is tied on all of her limbs¡ª"


    "Please, don''t..." I could see the tears welling on George''s eyes as I remind him of that one faithful day I''m sure he would never forget.


    "Yeah, I remember that." The Ringmaster whispered; our bodies then started to sway as if we were slow dancing while a Nancy Sinatra song was on. "There are four groups. Each group, one limb."


    I continued then as if I wasn''t aware that any of them was speaking, ignoring the fact that the man in front of me rudely interrupted my coherent recollection of that exciting year, but my heart melted again when I heard the Ringmaster''s voice. "... And then we pulled the rope from each side with all the happy little faces of our great friendship until her body¡ª"


    "NO!" George screamed in the same anger-filled scream he always had with him from the very beginning.


    "... Snaps into half!"


    I heard the Ringmaster chuckle behind me as I visibly see the moment George''s sanity snaps in his head like a crack of two wafers snapping into two pieces or like the way her daughter did after we pulled her body for a few minutes while hearing the beautiful requiem of her screams.


    "YOU MONSTER!""YOU''RE A SICK FUCK! HOW CAN YOU SMILE WHILE YOU THINK OF ALL THAT!? ALL OF YOU! YOU''RE ALL SICK IN THE HEAD! YOU''RE ALL FUCKING PSYCHOS! I HOPE YOU ALL FUCKING BURN IN HELL!"


    "Hey, man." I chuckled while playfully swaying the ax in front of me in a motion similar to that of the infinity symbol. "It''s good for team-building."


    I could see by the way he looked at me that he does not like the tone of my voice when I said those words, and he started to gnash his teeth as if a volcano was about to erupt on his head. "You killed her! You took her away from me and then you played with her body! You kidnapped her¡ª"


    "Kidnapped?" I chuckled as I took a step forward while the Ringmaster willingly let go of my body, but he made sure that he properly touched my waist well before his fingers finally detached itself away from the clothes above my skin. "Who said anything about kidnapping? Nobody kidnapped her."


    "Liar! You kidnapped me the same way you did to her! You and your fucking psycho friends, your fucked up games ruined my life, and you killed my daughter for fucking team building? Fuck you!"


    "Well, yes," I said while tapping my fingers on my cheek, leaving a trail of grease on my face. "We kidnapped you, that''s a fact, but your daughter came to us willingly like the good little angel that she is."


    "Stop lying to me!" George howled again, and at this point, I''m not sure anymore as to how he still has enough energy to make so much noise. "I''m going to end this shit once and for all!"


    "Ooh! ''Once and for all'', huh? Aren''t you a feisty little poet? Where did you get that from? Anime?" I laughed; the others laughed with me. The Ringmaster let out a little chuckle while Gertrude groaned from the side. "But as I said, she went here willingly. Nobody forced her."


    "Stop. Lying!" George growled once again, but this time, I can only see a pained expression of his face and none of his initial anger-filled bravado.


    "Well..." I replied in a rather playful tone similar to that of how a child talks to their parent if they''re hiding something funny behind their back. "I lured her here though."

 32 A Friendship That Will Never Ever End

    "Lured her?" George whispered in an almost incoherent mumble. That''s probably the quietest he has ever been ever since he came here in this court. Suddenly, however, that quietness of his did not last long, for he suddenly screamed once again with his usual obnoxious and curse-ridden ramblings of absolute rage. "How dare you! How fucking dare you say that! You don''t have the right to say that, you fucking piece of shit! My daughter is not the kind of person who will just follow someone like you! Fuck you! I bet you don''t even know her! I bet you''re just making shit up at the top of your head! I fucking bet you can not¡ªabsolutely can not¡ªfucking describe her right now, so don''t you fucking talk about my daughter like you know her, you fucking garbage! Don''t you ever speak like you know her!"


    "Wow. George. The F-bombs." I laughed as hard as I can, and everyone else laughed along with me. The Ringmaster didn''t laugh though, but he was smiling. He''s always smiling. "Hey, Ringmaster," I said while I cradle the ax in my head as I turned my head to face the man behind me.


    "Yes, little Tim?"


    I chuckled and mumbled incoherent blabbering before I could regain my bearings and speak well without laughing or chuckling midway. "We should have probably taken a video of this thing right here, and every time he says the word ''fuck,'' everyone watching must take a shot of tequila."


    "Fuck you!" George snarled while still trying to run towards me even though he knows very well how futile that is.


    "Oh." I turned my head to look at him again with eyes wide open as if I saw a treasure trove that pretty much solidifies my point. I then turned my head once again to the Ringmaster while pointing my thumb on George who was still trying to run after me. "See? He''s a content mine!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "That''s a fantastic idea, little Tim." The Ringmaster said with a light chuckle in his usual, well-articulated tone with the same smile he always has whenever he speaks to other people. "I''m not sure about the alcohol part though. Wouldn''t it be better if we do it like a Russian roulette? Every time he says that word, people will have to pull the trigger."


    "Not a bad idea." I nodded my head while I clenched my lips tightly in agreement to what he just said.


    The Ringmaster then shrugged while flashing a bigger smile, showcasing his perfectly aligned, pure, white teeth. "I think it''s amazing!"


    I laughed at his little show of confidence while I swing my ax around, trying my hardest to conceal the craving I have in my heart. "Always like your confidence, Ring guy."


    The Ringmaster blew a bit of air out of his nostrils, accompanied by a "humph" sound before he said, "You''re not the only one."


    Strange. This is how I usually talk with the Ringmaster, but earlier, although my memory of it was a bit foggy, I can sort of remember that I''m acting way differently from the way I always do while he was touching me. Now, this is not the first time I saw the Ringmaster touch someone, but this is definitely the first time he ever touched me. I do remember everyone acting in a rather erratic way, almost as if they''re convulsing, every time the Ringmaster gave them a little touch, but the people he did this to were always women, so I shrugged it off as just a bunch of thirsty, desperate girls who haven''t had the taste of men in the previous years. I usually talk to him the same way I talk to everybody which is similar to how we banter around earlier, but I feel like... I wasn''t myself a few minutes ago. I feel like that wasn''t me at all. I felt like a different person altogether.


    I felt like was being remote-controlled to think and act a certain way.


    "You pieces of shit! I''ll fucking kill all of you!" George howled once again in his usual sharp tone.


    "Oh," The Ringmaster snapped his finger before using that same hand to point his forefinger at George''s sweaty and greasy face. "That''s a shot."


    That little exchange of theirs took me back to reality. I need not think of all those trivial things now and just focus on the task at hand unless I want to be the next sacrifice next year.


    "Oh yeah, what were you saying again earlier? Sorry, I was just really out of it, like, really, really out of it." I chuckled as I laid the huge ax I was carrying on my shoulder. "I''m sure the Ringmaster would understand."


    "Pardon?" The Ringmaster said with the usual smile he has, but a hint of confusion was now a part of his tone.


    I coughed lightly and diverted my gaze back to George. "Forget it, you know what, George, if you want to prove so much that I lured your daughter here in her own volition, then I can always describe her to you."


    George seemed to have ignored what I had just said entirely and just focused his attention on what small word I had spoken with fear reflecting upon his eyeballs. "How... How did you know my name? Who are you? Who the fuck are you!? How did you know my name!?"


    "Well... Simple." I chuckled once again. Perhaps, I''m enjoying this little exchange between us way too much which made me so glad that I have my mask on, but I sure am feeling tired already in more ways than one. I smashed the ax down onto the floor to use it like a cane, but it was too tall so I leaned on it instead. I then pushed my entire weight on it while I had my other hand on my waist. This posture of mine thus made my body look like the hands of a clock pointing at 5:55. "We just know each other. I know about you and how you were born and raised in Texas and you stayed there until high school and then you moved out with your friend to study in New York and then you met your wife after college and then you got married in the Bahamas and then you went on to live in a flat in downtown New York with your friends and then you had a child there and your daughter, who has a long brown hair, hazel eyes that she got from her mother, thick lips that she got from you; she''s probably about as tall as me, if I remember correctly, and her skin is as pale as a cloud, so much so, that I almost did not realize she''s already dead. And you know what happened next, George? I talked to her, she greeted me, I told her to come inside of my flat, she agreed, I gave her a Bavarian doughnut, and then I took her here before the others kidnapped you; you know what, George? She''s more than happy to comply with my request, and you were being difficult so we have to force your ass up! She was laughing while I went to this place with her! She loved this court! She was a little bubble of joy. Until she died, that is."


    "Fuck you! You fucking liar! You probably researched about me and my family and my life and for what? Just to fuck me up! Just to fuck my family up and now I''m miserable because of you! Fuck you and your fucking grin, yeah, I bet you think you''re fucking better than me just because I can''t get you! I''ll kill you all! I''ll fucking kill you all! Then I''d rip your face off and when I do that, you bet your ass you''re not gonna be grinning like a little fuck boy bitch anymore! I''ll fucking rip you apart, and we''ll finally see what kind of trash subhuman you are behind your dumb mask! Why don''t you take your mask off, huh!? Face me like a man and not some fucking disgusting guy researching other people''s families!"


    "No, no, no, no, no, no, George. You''re getting all of this wrong. There''s no research needed here." I said as loudly but as calm as I could while swaying my head in all different directions. "I lured your daughter here, and she came to me willingly."


    "I don''t fucking believe you! My daughter is smart; she''s well educated! I fucking make that happen! I made sure she wouldn''t be one of those dumb bitches around her! She wouldn''t be fucking stupid enough to trust a stranger like you! Especially not a fucking... a psycho¡ªa madman¡ªa monster like you!"


    "No, believe me, George." I straightened my body and started swaying my ax on the ground which then resounded a shrill noise of metal hitting the surface of ancient stone. "She''d come to me."


    I saw a hint of confusion on his face, but for some reason, I felt like he''s already putting the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together; I feel like he could finally see the bigger picture. However, his mind is telling him otherwise, or perhaps, he just refuses to think of the possibility of it ever happening. He wanted to reject the truth badly like his life depended on it, and to be fair, his life does depend on it somehow.


    "I... Your voice..." George said, stuttering.


    "She would come to me, George." I smiled as I continued to sway my ax as it made that ear-piercing sound as it hit the concrete slab.


    "I... I know your voice."


    "She would definitely trust me."


    "Who are you?"


    I started taking my mask off slowly while I speak. "I think you already know, George."


    "No..." Tears started to well upon his eyes until it finally dropped a single droplet of a tear rolling down his cheeks before it stopped on his chin. "No, please... No, don''t take your mask off."


    "You need to know that your daughter was not kidnapped against her will," I said as I slowly revealed the top of my head to the man trembling before me.


    "Please..." The tears were rushing out of his eyes uncontrollably like a huge waterfall of melancholy, gushing waves on the surface of his skin. "Don''t do this to me..."


    I finally then showed the man before me the truth he kept wanting to deny. He would have probably been kneeling on the floor right now, for he is shaking his feet in a rather abnormal way. However, it seems that the enigmatic malevolence of the Ringmaster''s ability is not allowing him to take a rest.


    "You need to learn the truth."


    "Timothy..." George''s sobs continued to fill the court, and in every hiccup and sniff he makes, the sneers of cold condemnation coming from the audience standing from high above grew bigger and larger. "No, man... Come one, man... Don''t..."


    "You know what, George, you''re right all along."


    "Don''t do this to me, man."


    "The Caravan does moves on."

 33 A Stone Platform Used to Please Them All

    "Hey, Ringmaster?" I whispered in a rather embarrassed tone. "Can you do me a favor?"


    The Ringmaster walked towards me ever so slowly; I could clearly feel the noise his steps made the instant his sole hit the stone floor. He then chuckled as he wrapped his arms around my neck. "What does my little Timothy want?"


    I felt a sudden twinge of an electrifying sensation running through my veins as soon as his bare hand touched my skin. "I wanna do the classic." I smiled at him as I purred while I nuzzle my head on his hard and sturdy chest. I started seeing how everything around me suddenly changed colors into a purple hue. I hadn''t really managed to observe it properly earlier, but since I still have a bit of my sanity in me, I could finally conclude that everything around me had all their colors changed into purple.


    "Is that all?" The Ringmaster said with a hint of a surprised tone as I heard the intonation of his voice heightened in a way I rarely hear from him.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Yes, Ringmaster," I mumbled as I feel the sensation coming from my neck lessening.


    The Ringmaster took his bare hands off the surface of my skin and I soon felt the electricity within me leaving as if it was dissipating from out of my pores. As I felt the shackles of the tingling sensation finally leaving me in my lonesome, I also saw that the violet hue overlaying my vision was also gradually disappearing until I could finally see different colors once again.


    I didn''t want to think too much about it, but it felt like... The Ringmaster''s touch has a profound effect on my mentality. I''m not so sure though, for this is the first time he had ever touched me. It felt dirty, and it felt erotic in a rather poisonous way. For a minute, my fear of what he had done to me had blinded me from the task at hand.


    Before I could even regain my consciousness, the Ringmaster had already started to abide by my wishes.


    The classic.


    He used his supernatural ability to drop George''s head onto the stone floor. At this moment, all the life and vigor that once existed within George''s eyes had already disappeared. He started mumbling to himself which none of us could hear nor understand. Even after the Ringmaster smashed his head down, making him kneel on the ground with the lower half of his body perked upward and his head grinding on the floor, he only let out a soft groan before mumbling away once again with dead, deep, blackened eyes. The energy that he once had when he was screaming from the top of his lungs was now gone, and the sheer nothingness within his voice has replaced it.


    He looked like a mumbling dead man, willing to take his price, ready to accept whatever may come to his way. Perhaps he was thinking that all of this is naught but a dream, and soon, he would wake up in his room beside his wife after hearing the loud voice of his daughter waking him up in another lazy day.


    I looked the same as him. While the Ringmaster busied himself trying to put George into proper position on the floor, sweat started to drop from my forehead down to my cheeks.


    Is the Ringmaster hiding an ability from all of us? I have been with him and his band of misfits for years and I have never heard him having the ability to instill an emotion to whoever he touched. In fact, I had always seen him touch people before, but none of them had the same effect as when I was convulsing earlier after feeling a mysterious thunder coursing through the crevices of my feeble body.


    When I heard the thudding sound of when George''s face smashed down onto the concrete floor, like a snap, I stopped pondering on what the Ringmaster had done to me prior to this moment and returned to thinking about the mission at hand.


    A smile slowly appeared on my face when I saw George kneeling on the cold floor like a mutt waiting for its well-deserved punishment. The stone slab below George started to rise like a Jenga block being pulled away from the rest of the other blocks. It continued to lift upward with a loud grinding noise that sounded like the growl of a hungry tiger. When it stopped rising from the ground, it shook the entire ring for a few seconds, sending dust particles up into the air with a loud noise that sounded like the sound of a gunshot. I heard the people above on the balcony coughing once the dust reached them; the tiny particles covered everything around us like a thick layer of mist.


    Although a layer of dust had muddled my vision, I could still see how the stone platform where George was kneeling at started to rotate, so he could face the audience.


    When the mist has finally subsided, I could see that the Ringmaster''s invisible embrace had forced George to lift his face up while he''s still kneeling down. His Adam''s apple is grinding on the floor while he had his eyes on the spectators who are all excitedly watching as the events unfold.


    I stood beside the elevated stone platform, and before I knew it, the ground that I am standing in had started to lift up as well, bringing me on the same level as the stone platform where George is kneeling. I saw just how abnormal his pose is and asked myself if it is really possible for a person like George to raise the lower half of his body up like that with his head shoved down onto the floor. Looking at him like now, I started to realize that he looks like a right triangle.


    Unconsciously, a grin had gradually started to perk up on my lips, revealing a crooked expression that George had probably never seen before. Normally, a chain would appear on where the victim''s limbs are to prevent them from struggling further; however, seeing that George had already lost the interest to resist his inevitable fate, it seemed that the Ringmaster had deemed it unnecessary to use the chains.


    "Ladies and gentlemen," I screamed with the same amount of glee that the Ringmaster always used to present himself in front of his lovely audience. I tried to think of something to rouse their energy up before the big event, but I simply don''t have the profound experience that the Ringmaster has, nor do I have the same smoothness and power that his voice has whenever he presents himself in front of the crowd. Thus, I said the first thing that comes into my mind. "Are you ready to see more!?" I said a little clumsily. I almost bit my tongue too and the loudness of my voice is not as strong as the Ringmaster.


    However, it was enough for everyone to show me their interest. They all shouted as loud as they can, they started to stomp their feet on the ground making the whole court shake, and they all have their hands up as if they were all waiting for the rain to drop from high above. Their intricate and opulent costumes all looked different from the rowdy and downright pedestrian attitude they''re showing right now.


    It''s exactly what I wanted to see.


    With the biggest grin I''d ever shown to any person in my entire life, I pointed my ax towards the people in front of me with a wildfire raging in my eyes.


    "I''m doing this to please you all!"


    And they looked more than willing to show how pleased I''m making them feel.

 34 A Few Swings is All That It Takes

    "Why, Timothy?" George mumbled a little louder this time for me to hear. I looked at him after hearing his weakened voice as my masked audience shout and jump in unison with what I am about to do. "Why are you doing this? You''re my brother, man, and will always have your back if you just say the word. You know this. We''re always together. How come you''ve changed into something like... like what you are right now..." I could finally see a bit of a struggle in the way George squirms around like a dying tapeworm; I could even scarcely hear the sound of his bones cracking as the Ringmaster bends him even further with the unseen force that he maneuvers to keep George in place.


    "Changed?" I laughed as hard as I can, but it sounded silent compared to the enthused cheering of the crowd I see on the balcony above. Although the noise of everything all around had drowned the sound of my laugh, I am fairly sure George had felt the mockery that accompanies my every breath. "Well, I didn''t change, you know? What are you talking about, huh, pal? What are you trying to say, hmm? This is who I am. This is who I''ve always been."


    "Why?" I may not be able to see George''s face well, but I can still hear the sadness in his wails as he waggles around like a disturbed termite on a wet wooden plank. "Why are you doing this?"


    The way he wiggled his body might have disturbed the men around us, so the cheering of the crowd started to settle down. They instead now look at us with eyes filled with anticipation, and though I cannot see them clearly, I could feel their breathing grew heavier as the sound of their pants envelopes the hall, causing the temperature of the surroundings to be warmer.


    "You need help there, Timothy?" The Ringmaster beckoned at me from below the platform with his usual gentle tone and smile, but it doesn''t have the same playfulness in it. If I haven''t known the Ringmaster for a long time, I would have thought he has a twinge of anxiety with the way he spoke which is impossible for a man like him. However, I can surely tell that he is not confident that I will be able to dispose of the man in front of me successfully.


    Why? Because he wiggled a little?


    "I''m fine, Ringmaster," I replied softly without looking at his direction.


    "Are you sure?" He said while taking a few steps towards the platform. "We could release the chains if you¡ª"


    "I said I''ll be fine, Lucas!" I growled as quietly as I could in order not to alert everyone around us, interrupting the Ringmaster''s words as I diverted my gaze at him. I glared at him with reddened eyes, threatening him that if he ever stepped foot on this platform, then I will never forgive him for interrupting this wonderful moment of mine. Though I said none of those words, the way the Ringmaster took a few steps back after seeing the look on my face was enough for me to say that my message had been properly conveyed. "I''ll be fine," I said as calm as I can without a sliver of my earlier wrathful countenance.


    "I see," The Ringmaster chuckled. "I''m sorry for doubting you, little Tim."


    I didn''t utter a reply to what the Ringmaster had said and just returned my gaze to George who''s still trying his hardest to jerk his body away from this situation. I sighed. "You know, George, at first I do not know why I''m like this or why I''m doing this." I raised both my hands while tightly gripping the handle of the three-feet long, dull ax. "But now I know that by doing this, I am simply accepting who I really am."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Perhaps George had seen my shadow on the ground, he wriggled his body even more ferociously before I could swing the ax down onto his neck. When I finally downed the blade down onto his body, he had managed to move a few inches away from where he once was, causing the ax to hit three inches below his nape on his back.


    I clicked my tongue and showed an unsatisfied grimace at what he did before pulling the ax off his spinal cord with all the strength I have. When I did so, blood spurted out of George''s back like a broken faucet, and it instantly dripped down the platform. This caused a wave of applause from the audiences and I could even see Veronica clapping in my peripheral vision, and I know that woman is not a person who would clap at my achievements.


    Looking at his wound, I saw that the ax had done exactly what I wanted a dull blade to do. It did not cut through his skin with a clean and even hit. It absolutely wreaked his skin as if it was a piece of paper torn forcefully by huge claws. The blow ripped it apart so much that it felt like a leopard had bitten on his skin and tear it away which left a revolting portion on his back that looked like a ripped portion of designer jeans. George''s harrowing shrieks proved just how excruciatingly painful that blow was; one could even see how painful it might have been for him by looking at the way the skin around the ripped part looked like a flaky and withered leaf.


    However, what I am seeing did not please me because I was aiming at his neck. The Ringmaster might have noticed this, so he used whatever unseen sorcery he was using to pin George down and configure it somehow to make his hold on him even tighter. When he did so, I could hear the sound of a few of George''s bones cracking. This time, the prey could do nothing anymore other than to pray. Drop the idea of moving for a few centimeters, he doesn''t even have enough strength to wiggle his body like he used to anymore.


    I raised both my hands once again, still with the ax on my tight grip. "You once asked me before a long, long time ago if there''s someone out there who was born as an evil piece of shit." I panted as I felt the sweat coursing through my costume. "Yeah, that''s exactly the words you said, an evil piece of shit. Interesting, eh? I always thought so too."


    "Sto... p..."


    After hearing George''s weak pleading, I finally swung the ax with all my might, but the ax was too heavy that it pulled the whole upper part of my body down with it which almost made me stumble off my balance. However, when the ax hit its target, I managed to find my footing. This time, my swing was on point! Directly at his nape where it should be. Now, if I used a sharp ax without an oil coating, this entire execution would have been done. Using a sharp ax would strike like a guillotine and severe George''s head off with one full strike, ending his life right there with just one final taste of pain, but since I specifically asked to use a dull ax with an oil coating, it would take a few more swings before I could decapitate his head from off his neck. This is because a sharp blade will cut; it would slide down easily and that would be the end of it. A dull knife would tear the skin off like a blunt weapon, causing it to stop halfway before sliding off completely. Paired with the oil, it would take a lot of effort before this ax would penetrate through a human neck.


    The funny thing about this is that this should have been a relatively painless execution, but since George is still letting out a painful-sounding scream, that means he still has enough life in him to feel his soul leaving his mortal flesh.


    Then it started.


    The people above us all started to mumble, quietly speaking the words, in a playful and somewhat unheard way so only a handful of the people within them could hear while some yelled it at the top of their lungs, as loud as they could get, to garner the attention of the people around them. Though they were not speaking the words in perfect harmony and they were not uttering it in the same amount of volume and loudness, those few words still escaped the small crevices between their lips.


    "The Caravan moves on."


    "... The Caravan moves on."


    "The... Caravan... moves on."


    "The Caravan moves on!"


    "THE CARAVAN MOVES ON!!!"


    I chuckled after hearing the familiar chanting of the people towering above us on the ivory balcony from high above. It''s a form of tradition that we always upheld around here in this wondrous court managed by our revered Ringmaster. It''s the same way as to how the Japanese mumble "Ittadakimasu" before eating. It''s also similar to how Christians would say "Peace be with you" around the later part of a mass. It''s a vocal tradition that we had always upheld no matter what, and one that would be a good enough reason to shun someone for not doing it.


    "The Caravan moves on." I heard the Ringmaster speak as if he was directing those words at me.


    It''s a vocal ritual. A tradition that requires one to speak one simple phrase.


    It signifies the beginning of a lamb''s sacrifice for the entertainment of men. Having the centerfold in the ring of our crimson Ringmaster means that everyone had already stripped you of your humanity. Now, you are nothing but another part of another person''s viewing experience.


    "Is this the reason why you know about this chant, George?" I chuckled as I cup my hands on my ears to make it seem like I am trying my hardest to listen at the chaotic-sounding mixture of mumbling and shouting that everyone had displayed by the time they saw me landing the first strike onto this year''s snuff fest. "There are so many things you could have remembered that time we showed you the death of your daughter and the thing that was most memorable to you is the part where everyone started mumbling stuff at your daughter''s dying corpse?"


    George kept his silence as he kept on mumbling incomprehensible words under his breath.


    "Giving me the cold shoulder, eh, best friend?" I said followed by a condescending laugh that must have irked him for I saw him twitch, perhaps unconsciously. "Now I don''t know if I am born like this, George¡ªyou know, as an evil piece of shit¡ªbut I know that I am not a good person like you. I''m not normal, George. And you just so happened to be the closest person to me."


    George now looked weaker and paler. I noticed this, so he purposely pulled the ax slower this time with a weaker force to make George feel every second that passes turn into an endless time of absolute suffering.


    "I am doing this because this is who I am George; I''m just really not okay from way up here," I said while tapping the side of my head above my ear with two fingers. "Now I''m here in a place that welcomes who I am! Everyone celebrates when I do things that I always wanted to do, and George, ever since we were young, I have always wanted to kill you and destroy your life and make you the most pathetic corpse in the world. I can''t help it! I am so, so fucking jealous! I''m so fucking jealous of everything that makes you who you are! And they gave that chance to me George; they gave it to me! You may call them evil pieces of shit, but how could I not feel that I belong?"


    I finally pulled the ax off of his head, and without further ado, I swung it down onto George, but this time, I had finally calculated the approximate strength it would need for me to swing the ax without pulling my body down with it. As I heard the thudding sound of the blade hitting the bones in George''s neck, the surrounding people started to roar in excitement while George spurted out blood from out his lips as he tried to speak in vain.


    "You are so... Normal! You''re such a plain person, and I''ve always been so angry about that because I am far from normal; I am not plain, and I am not like you! I will never be someone like you, George, and I''ve always wanted to see the day where I''d see you dead! I''ve always wanted to be you, and every day of my life, I am reminded that I am not a part of your group of normal people walking in a normal world doing normal things!"


    As I felt the adrenaline coursing through my body now that anger had finally kicked in my head, I felt like handling the three-feet long ax was like swinging a bag of feathers. I had no intention of further delaying this execution any longer, so I quickly swung the ax down onto George''s neck. However, I had underestimated just how dull this weapon was because, though weak and dying, George is still very much breathing.


    I loved seeing this more than anything! After all, George will feel more of what I have in store for him before his head would finally roll off the ground along with his thick, normal-looking blood.


    I chuckled with a demented grin on my face as I felt whatever remaining sanity in me slipping away with the soul of the man I once called a friend. "You''re a constant reminder in my life that no matter what I do, I will never belong anywhere! Now, look around you, look if you can, look as much as you can! Everyone cheers for me! I belong here! Those people are just as much of an evil piece of shit like me ever, and I have been not okay since we were young, young boys! This is a place where I could fly, man, fly like one of those eagles my mother hunted down the mountains, man! I have finally found my people, and finally, now that I am killing you and now that everyone insane, abnormal, and downright crazy is gathered in one place to look at the death of someone normal and plain and good and sane as you, a question just suddenly popped in my head, you know, just out of nowhere... What is normal anyway?"


    I then swung his head with the last remaining sliver of strength I have in my head, and with all my might, I saw George''s head detach from out of his neck like the cap of a wine bottle, going off into the air with a loud pop! And just like how whenever someone pops a wine open, everyone around the gathering had cheered and laughed among each other, for the party had begun and the real deal will not commence.


    "George, now that I see you here with people with my people, I started to realize..." I whispered at the mutilated head of my dear friend George as it rolled on the ground, leaving a crimson trace on its wake. I tried to speak as calmly as I could but a loud chuckle had started to spew out of my mouth, and no matter how hard I try to conceal it, the laughter brewing within me still slips out. "You''re not so normal after all," I said while chuckling as if I had just seen the funniest thing I had ever seen in my life.


    My laughter seeps all over the court as my audience say "The Caravan moves on" in a loop that would seemingly never end.

 35 A Conclusion to a Bloodied Gathering

    The endless wave of the cheering crowd drowned my grinning visage into an infinite surge of an absolute form of abundant glee, and although my mask is hiding a portion of my face, all could still see just how exemplary I am feeling after hearing all that they say to me.


    "You''re the best, Timothy!"


    "You showed that bastard who''s boss!"


    "He''s not gonna bother you anymore now, dude!"


    "More! I want so much more!"


    "You did well, little Tim."


    As if on cue, by the time I heard the Ringmaster''s voice ringing somewhere behind me, I heard the sound of something silently grinding, ever so quietly approaching, like an oncoming blizzard somewhere even further behind the Ringmaster. Somewhere far at the back of everyone facing the crowd, an ominous sound resounded throughout the court, but the crowd was too excited to care about it, or perhaps the very reason as to why they are this excited is precisely because of whatever may come when the origin of the sound was finally revealed.


    "Tim, get down from there! It''s dangerous!" I heard the worried voice of Veronica as she yelled at me from below the stone platform.


    "Yeah, I should probably do that," I said with a chuckle, still unable to forget the cathartic euphoria I had just felt after killing the man I once called my best friend.


    George''s body is still on the ground, but because of the Ringmaster''s ability, it''s still in that same position it once had from the very beginning, head on the ground and ass up. At this time, the amount of grease, dirt, waste, and dust all over his corpse had already spread throughout the platform, and as an almost vomit-worthy effect of what had just occurred earlier, the pale and almost shining white stone platform now darkened with both a black and a red hue, spreading all over the ground like a palette of a messy artist who had accidentally mixed two paint colors without his knowledge.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    I slowly approached the edge of the platform nearest to me, and the Ringmaster approached the same edge in long strides, and before I could even stand at my destination, the Ringmaster was already below me beside Veronica, looking up at me with nothing but awe in admiration written on whatever I could make out of the way he smiles at me. Veronica had the same smile as she slowly took his mask off, probably because she wanted to see me clearly, revealing her magnificent blue eyes, long eyelashes, and thick eyebrows. They both gazed at me admiringly as I leered down at them from up above while I could hear the sound of George''s bone-cracking and his blood gushing out of his neck.


    As I approached my destination, the stone ground which was a few feet below me had risen to create a makeshift stairway for me to descend. However, the stairway looks amateurish, and more than anything, it feels like I will trip if I ever used this to get down below me. I''m not so sure about jumping down either for, knowing how much of an athletic failure I am and the level of clumsiness I possess in this kind of physical activities, I might fall in an embarrassing way; I know better than everyone that the surrounding people would laugh once they saw how my buttocks hit the ground with a crack. I sure wouldn''t want to break the momentum I had made for myself in the eyes of my audience by tripping on the stairway or by falling the wrong way on the platform.


    Once the stairway had ascended, it seemed that the only person who''s not ready is me. When I took a feeble step forward, as if on cue, George''s blackened blood flowed on the stairs forming a liquid red carpet for me, but my only problem is that it seemed like it''s much more slippery than ever this way. I gulped my saliva down like I am downing a shot of tequila and took another awkward step downwards. Although there are only five more steps I had to traverse, the applause of everyone above us made it seem like I''m about to descend the longest fall I had ever had the misfortune of walking.


    The Ringmaster must have noticed this. He gave off a soft chuckled as he looked at me with his head tilted sideways along with his equally soft smile. He then extended his hand up towards me before speaking in a tone I had only heard when I see people talk to their pets.


    "Take my hand." With his bare hand extended towards me, my body suddenly shook after remembering what had happened to me when he last touched my body.


    However, the Ringmaster had gone out of his way to make this request, and it would be unwise to show my pomposity at this very moment to everyone around us especially to Veronica. Thus, although I was reluctant, I still took his hand and grabbed it as gently as I could with my eyes closed shut.


    To my surprise, I did not feel any bizarre sensation traveling through my veins or any such electrifying feeling I had always felt whenever he touched me earlier. It seemed like everything I had felt earlier was naught but just a delusion.


    More than anything, I felt confident knowing that the man who held the highest authority in this court at the moment is supporting me like another servant, willing to serve the person whom he chose to bestow his loyalty.


    Thus, as the greasy and darkened blood of George flowed onto the white stone stairway, I descended knowing that I am the only victor at this very moment. I held the hand of the Ringmaster without grabbing it too tightly, so I wouldn''t show enough of whatever fear I am feeling. The more I descended, the more did the blood reddened my leather shoes; usually, I would be mad at this, but at this moment, I want to have my entire body bathed on it. I want it to flow on my skin, and I wish to never part with my prized possession.


    By the time I had stepped on the ring at the same level as the Ringmaster and Veronica, the Ringmaster''s hand was still holding my hand upon the level of our shoulders. I then saw that George''s blood had created a puddle of blood below the platform which soaked my shoe even further than before. I could even slightly feel the blood seeping through my socks.


    "You might need another pair next time," Veronica remarked while pointing at my shoes with a grimace.


    "Oh, no, no, no, Veronica," I whispered with a chuckle. "I''m never going to wash these shoes ever again."


    Veronica scoffed with her eyes rolling to the roof of her head. "That''s why I said you need a new pair, idiot." She said with her fingers touching her forehead as she shook his head in disappointment.


    The Ringmaster tightened his grip on my hand which I instantly notice though I still did not feel the familiar electrifying sensation flowing throughout my body.


    "W... what?" I whispered with a whisper, trying my hardest not to show my shock at that small gesture he had done.


    Without looking at my direction, he faced the audience; I did the same. Still, without batting an eye on my direction, he replied to me in a soft whisper, "From this point on, I don''t want you to take your eyes off me."


    I smiled. Although I did not know what he meant, I do know that his words are law.


    "Yes, Ringmaster."


    And my only job is to obey.

 36 A Burning Passion for Servitude

    "Ready the mechanism!" The Ringmaster shouted as if ordering a backstage crew to abide by his every word.


    Without blinking and without taking my gaze off of the Ringmaster''s face. I heard the same noise I had heard earlier. From behind us, I could hear yet another series of grinding sound which is something similar to the sound of bowstrings being pulled up. However, the sound itself was too loud for it to come from a simple bow. It sounded like the sound of a huge machinery being operated somewhere in the looming darkness below us.


    The Ringmaster took a few steps forward, and I knew that he wanted me to do the same; I complied submissively, still with my eyes rooted on the outline of his face. We both took a few steps forward and then he made a sharp turn and another few more steps forward once again. Though my eyes are still glued on his face, I could tell that we''re now standing a few inches away in front of the platform where the fresh corpse of George is.


    The Ringmaster then bowed; I did the same. He rose his body; I did the same. He bowed once again to the left; I did the same. He rose his body again, looking longingly at the applauding people above us before bowing once again to the direction of the people on the right; I did the same. I did everything he did, but my eyes never left his face alone.


    "Release the stake!"


    When the Ringmaster said so, I heard the sound of something shooting towards our direction. It sounded so quick that I mistook it for the sound of a gust rushing towards us. My curiosity about what is happening behind us heightened even further when I heard a loud banging noise of some gigantic thing hitting the platform behind us. The way the people on the audience above at the balcony cheered, applauded and went mad at what they saw happening behind us. The Ringmaster rose his other hand while he used his bare hand to grab mine tighter which made my heart skip a beat.


    I won''t deny that I had the urge to look behind me just to see what is happening or what that sound is, but my duty right now is to never take my eyes off the Ringmaster. Though I do not understand why all I know is that I wanted to obey no matter what.


    I will follow him forever if that is what he needs.


    "Don''t look back. Just look at me." The Ringmaster whispered as he turned his body behind him. When he did so, he finally let go of my hand which felt like heaven detaching itself from the realm of the mortal men.


    "Yes, Ringmaster," I said as I still glued my gaze at him while I slowly dropped my hands.


    "I had this idea when I saw what that George guy has earlier when he first got her." The Ringmaster continued with a soft grin. "He must have thought he''s some kind of genius for having that thing. Should''ve just owned a gun, to be honest. Then again, it gave me this wonderful idea, so I guess having it is not at all useless."


    I looked at him in awe, speechless as to what he''s saying or what he''s about to do which made me want to know badly as to what he has in store for me.


    "Don''t look back now." He said as he rose his hands up into the air as if he was trying to reach for the sun. "Or else it wouldn''t be a surprise anymore."


    When he said so, I heard the sound of something rattling, almost like the sound of a huge doorway creaking open. It was accompanied by the sound of wood grinding on the surface of a cobblestone though I am unsure if that really is how it sounded, for it''s all too ambiguous to me. Not to mention, the sound of everyone cheering made my hearing a bit impaired as well. This series of sounds is followed by three banging and smashing sounds that almost sounded like a huge object being nailed down into the ground using a huge mallet.


    "It''s good that this guy is covered in grease." He mumbled as he took George''s flamethrower inside of his jacket. "Makes this entire thing easier."


    If this is the first time I saw this, I would have thought I was dreaming. After all, I am seeing a man taking a huge flamethrower from out of the pocket inside of his suit, but seeing him pulling huge things out of the pockets all over his body is not new to me anymore. Though in my limited knowledge, I know that there is a limit as to how much he could carry within his pockets, so he still had to use his Caravan to store all of his goods and products.


    He then activated the flamethrower and pointed the flames that were spewing out of it towards the object behind me. In a moment, I could smell different things burning, I could see a thick cloud of dark smoke rising above the endless ceiling of the court, I could hear the crackling of burning things behind me along with the cackling of everyone above us, and I could the burning sensation searing behind me.


    When the Ringmaster realized that there''s no more fire spewing out of the flamethrower in his hands, he threw it on the side, almost hitting Veronica if she did not dodge fast enough with a yelp. As she complained at what the Ringmaster did, he wiped his sweaty forehead with the sleeves of his coat.


    He turned his head towards me while taking his mask off. "You can look behind you now."


    Although he said that, I still had my eyes glued on the Ringmaster''s face. It''s fresh, almost as if it''s completely devoid of any imperfections. Though he''s sweating a bit right now, he still doesn''t look haggard or sticky, in fact, he still looked just as cool as when I first saw him years ago. The outline of his jawline was perfectly shown better now that he had his black mask off. His short hair fell onto his forehead almost like snow dropping from the edge of a ridged roof. His green eyes, which I had only seen a few times, had revealed itself to me for the first time in a long time. His long eyelashes flowed like the waves of a calm river in a summer afternoon while his thick eyebrows looked just as imposing and dominant as his every move.


    "You seriously looked like your sister."


    He scoffed. "Just look behind you."


    I finally complied with his demand and turned my body to see what he had done. I was curious for sure. Everyone quieted down in awe of what he had done, but I am even more concerned as to what he just set on fire.


    I did not expect it at all. My eyes opened wide in amazement and my jaws dropped in shock of what I had just seen. The Ringmaster looked at my expression as if he was longing for this reaction from me. I covered my mouth with my hand while I laid my other hand on my chest, feeling my heart beating faster due to the absolute joy rushing through my mind.


    "Did you positioned him that way just so you can shoot a stake up his ass?" I mumbled as I saw the absolute artistic masterpiece in front of me.


    The Ringmaster walked behind me with a smile. Once he had stood closest to my back, he proceeded to wrap his hands all over my body.


    "Yes."


    "That''s amazing," I said as I feel my tears welling up in my eyes.


    "Do you like it?" He asked directly beside my ear which sent a ticklish feeling on my side.


    I chuckled. "I love it, Lucas."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Good."


    He then buried his lips on my neck as I looked in shock at a huge stake standing on top of the platform. I saw just how beautiful the stake in question had pierced the body of George from his ass up to the hole where his neck was once attached to. However, the stake is too thick for George''s body; thus, it inflated his body in such an abnormal way. For some reason though, his body was hanging upside down similar to the image of the Hanged-Man tarot card which made his legs open wider than what is humanly possible, dangling on his body like the legs of dead frogs within small glass jars that I often see in med school. The image of him that I see in like the burning figure of a human kebab, cooked to perfection.


    The way the fire scattered everything else made it look like I am looking at a gigantic image of a red spider lily.

 37 A Warm Reception

    "My loveliest customers," The Ringmaster intoned with his hands still wrapped around my body while the upside-down body of George still remained burning behind us. The only difference this time is that we are both facing our audience, and none of them seemed to scowl at the sight of the Ringmaster wrapping his hands all over my body. "This marks the end of this year''s entertainment section!"


    The audience gave a different plethora of reactions. Some clapped and others cheered while some were not so keen to learn that they won''t be seeing more bloodshed as they gave some disapproving grimaces and boos.


    The Ringmaster gave a tired sigh as he observes the people''s reactions. He then wore his mask on once again before patting my head as he whispered to my ear. "Go there with Veronica for a bit, and I''ll come back to you again." He said those words while he wildly dragged his hands all over my body like wild words scurrying all over the mud. "I have to talk to you about something later after I finished dealing with the purchases."


    I nodded. "Mmhmm." I groaned in an act of utter submissiveness as I feel the hoarseness of my voice. I cleared my throat before continuing. "Okay."


    "Good." He said with a sharp nod. "Go now. She''s contacting the Janitor; maybe you can help her out a bit."


    I then slowly walked towards Veronica''s direction before I felt the Ringmaster pulling my hands, grabbing it like he owns it. "Tim." He simply said.


    "Y-yes?" I stuttered.


    "Good job earlier. You did great."


    I felt every blood in my body rushing towards my head, but I tried my hardest not to show how happy those words made me feel. "Thank you." I said, clearly beaming with joy.


    He then let go of me and pushed me towards the direction of Veronica who was currently speaking with someone on her phone.


    "Are you seriously still using one of those?" I said with a raised an eyebrow while looking at her white, ancient-looking, thick mobile phone that still had a long antenna.


    "Shh!" She said with knitted eyebrows while covering the microphone of her clearly out-of-fashion phone with her fingers. "I''m sorry that was Tim.


    "..."


    "Yeah. Uh-huh."


    "..."


    "Yeah, I know he''s still a piece of shit."


    "..."


    Is she talking about me? "Wow. Rude."


    Veronica once again directed her sharp gaze at me while listening at the person on the other side of the phone.


    "Yes. Oh, sure! We''d love to see you now."


    "..."


    "Okay, Janitor. Oh and don''t forget to wear a mask on; we''re doing a little masquerade thing right now, yeah. It''s a theme, yeah."


    "..."


    "Oh, anything will do! Any mask at all, we''re not forcing you to be too extravagant on the fine details."


    "..."


    "Of course, you can have your chauffeurs wear a mask too! I''m sure the customers would be glad to see them."


    After a few more words of farewell, Veronica finally hung up the call and tucked her gigantic phone in her breast pocket. "Oh, that guy never learns to shut up! He always talks about this and that and ugh... I''m so annoyed about having to deal with him."


    "Well, yeah." I scoffed. "It''s the job."


    "It''s the goddamn job indeed," Veronica uttered with her hands on her waist as she stares at the far off distance with a pair of dead eyes. "Anyway, great job on your kill this year! That was a really sexy performance."


    "You think so?" I replied with my hands caressing my nape.


    "Yeah," Veronica quickly responded.


    I then walked closer to her, so the noise of the Ringmaster talking to the audience wouldn''t bury what I am about to tell Veronica. "I mean, I feel like maybe I should have done more theatrical stuff--"


    "Oh leave the theater stuff to other people." She interrupted while shaking her head. "You''re really not suited to those kinds of stuff." She shrugged with an expression to show that Veronica is finished saying what she has to say.


    "Yeah, I guess, I''m really not, huh?" I chuckled.


    "You''re more of a cold-hearted kind of player, you know? You do the job without all the other BS and big stuff that gives the props team a big headache. Besides, this execution is 100% impromptu, and you pulled it off without having some dead moments. I really enjoyed that little moment you had with the sacrifice too."


    "Aw, shucks. Thanks. I guess I needed that."


    "What are you talking about? I told you, you did a great job! No one is clearly bored. Remember 2010''s execution? Ugh! Barf!"


    I was about to further chat with Veronica when the Ringmaster''s loud voice boomed even further throughout the court.


    "Now that we are all ready, it''s time to descend the ring finally?"


    Everyone shouted to show an affirmative response.


    "Is everybody ready to buy?"


    Once again, everyone responded with a shout to show that the answer is yes.


    "Then come to me."


    When the Ringmaster said that, he stretched his hand forward towards the direction of the audience above on the balcony. When he did so, two metallic stairway slithered in a downward spiral from the balcony down to the stone ring as if it was a hidden snake below the balcony. Once the spiral stairway connected both the balcony and the ring, the people above hurriedly descended towards the Ringmaster though they were not pushing each other enough to cause a commotion for other people or to create a stampede. Last time someone pushed another person while descending the spiral stairway, the Ringmaster banned her, and in the next year, he let everyone be the year''s executioner by taking turns in killing her while ensuring that she would suffer a slow death in the hands of the people she inconvenienced with a little cherry on top.


    Thinking about it made me chuckle.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "Ew. You look creepy as shit. What are you laughing at?" Veronica said when she heard me chuckle. She then pulled the upper part of her body away from me.


    "Nothing, nothing." I chuckled again. "Sorry, I was just thinking about George''s daughter."


    "Well, keep your little rape scene in your head." She scoffed as she looked at the people gradually filling the ring up while greeting the Ringmaster, forming a crowd around him. "Shit. Killing her father then fucking the child. You''re really fucked up sometimes, Tim."


    "Don''t remember her?"


    "Who?" Veronica asked with a raised eyebrow while a nonchalant expression enveloped her pretty little face.


    "You don''t have much of a sharp memory, do you, Ver?"


    "I don''t have enough place in my head to keep too much crap in store if that''s what you mean."


    Our conversation was once again interrupted when the Ringmaster''s voice boomed around us again implying that he intended to speak to everyone present at the ring. However, since he''s only facing the people in front of him, it only means that he only wants to speak about business-related matters.


    "Since the fire is still burning on the stake, we will be keeping the platform raised until the Janitor arrives, but I''m sure nobody minds."


    "It lights your handsome face up, Ringmaster." A female customer beside the Ringmaster said with a giggle which made everyone laugh while the Ringmaster merely ignored with a laugh.


    "The Caravan has been eagerly waiting for us behind this platform, and I''m sure all of you are already dying to buy the products of your choosing!" The Ringmaster said while walking towards the direction of his Caravan. The masked customers are following his every move closely, and a sense of deep eagerness is painted all over their faces though I could only see a portion of it beneath their masks.


    "Oh, hey, Timothy. Great moves, keep it up, proud of you." A woman who happened to saw me praised before walking away towards the direction of the Caravan.


    "Thank you," I replied before she left my sight.


    "Your performance is really great this year. I swear I''m not sure why they haven''t hired you yet." A man praised as well, stopping in front of me before giving a light tap on my shoulder.


    "Thanks," I replied before he left to walk hurriedly towards the Caravan.


    "They''re right, Timothy. Will you be doing the execution again next year?" An old woman said while nodding at me.


    "Thank you, and I will do again if the Ringmaster asks," I replied before the old woman slowly ambled towards the Caravan.


    "I told you, you did great. See, everyone loved the show!" Veronica replied while hitting my arm with his old mobile phone. "I''ll definitely endorse you again to the HR, so you can do a more formal execution next year."


    "I would really love that, Ver." I chuckled before seeing the image of a lone woman walking towards me in my peripheral vision. I turned my head towards her, and I realized that she''s the last woman who''s walking alone behind everyone else which I found interesting since everyone else are at least talking to someone else or a part of their own circle of friends.


    "The execution sucked so much this year Timothy, and you should feel about it." She growled before turning her head around, leaving a trail of an obnoxious smell of a powerful perfume.


    "Well, clearly not everyone liked the show." I said with a sigh.


    "Who is that bitch?" Veronica said while fanning her hands in front of her nose with a disgusted look on her face.


    "I think its... Jenny?"


    "Jenny? Ugh..." She scowled with an utter look of desperation on every move she made. "The executioner of 2010?"


    "Oh yeah, now that you mentioned it, she is 2010 executioner."


    "Wow, the audacity of that bitch." She scoffed while now fanning both of her hands in front of her nose. "Don''t listen to her. She''s dumb."


    "Well, as long as the right people liked what I did," I said as I looked at the Ringmaster who somehow still stands out among all the people crowding around him.


    "God, why is her smell not leaving?" Veronica said, clearly not listening anymore, while she fanned her hands more vigorously. "Smells so bad."

 38 A Reason Why They are Here

    The Ringmaster slid the door of his van open to reveal the products he had inside it. When he did so, everyone else gasped in awe, for he finally unveiled the real reason why they are here in the first place.


    In its core, the Organization is still a business though they also offer an entertainment portion to the members of their merchant-program before the actual buying process. It''s seriously an intricate process, and even though I have been a long-time member of the Organization, I still do not actually understand what it means to be a real part of them. All I know is that, when I was in college, the door appeared in front of me while I was suffering the lowest point of my life in my lonesome. There I was greeted by the then newly recruited Ringmaster as his first customer. He told me he can sell me things that I need at that moment and many other things I wanted to have in my life if I just agreed to be a part of their Organization as a member. In a dream-like trance of not knowing what I wanted in my life or if what I''m seeing is real, I agreed without even knowing what I agreed upon. He then gave me the product, I spoke with him for a bit, and then I left using the same door I used to enter. When I had finally understood that what I had seen is a part of a distorted reality, I realized what I had done and started to ask questions that will never be answered. However, when I bought the product that the Ringmaster gave me, for some reason, everything just became better again in my life, and I started experiencing an unprecedented boom in my academic career. I never once again found a slump in my life that day I met him. I never forgot about him, but he never appeared again.


    Not until the following year.


    That was when the Ringmaster explained to me that the membership I agreed upon is one where the door will appear in front of me every year. That was when I started to realize what I had just done.


    I had become a part of something I clearly do not understand.


    The Ringmaster introduced himself as Lucas, and for the best of my knowledge, I am the only one who knows that his name is Lucas. However, I am not sure if that is his real name. I then introduced myself, but he said that there is no need for such a thing because he already knows everything about my life which I oddly accepted as if it was something I expected from the very beginning. I remembered how surprised Lucas was too when he saw how casually I accepted that fact right away. I really think those days when we first met was the fondest moments of our lives. These days, we barely talk anymore because he has a lot of members in his care now, and all of them wish to buy something from the Caravan. Of course, he will entertain those other members rather than me who had already stopped buying products since a long time ago along with Veronica. We are both just staying here because of the rules and because we want to watch the executions. We always love just how amazing the executions would always turn out to be.


    I guess this impromptu execution we conducted this year was a way for Lucas to remind me that I am still a part of his life somehow. It''s an excuse for both of us to tell each other a message, yet both of us don''t even know what the message is.


    Perhaps, I''m overthinking all of this. After all, I do not know everything about Lucas, and he clearly showed that when he touched me earlier. I felt a sensation that I rarely feel when I touch other people''s hands. I only ever felt that electrifying touch from him, and it''s not even electrifying in a metaphorical sense, it''s literally a sensation that rushes through me like a bolt of lightning. I touched Veronica''s hands while we''re both looking at the people around the Ringmaster, but she clearly doesn''t have the same power that the Ringmaster''s touch possesses.


    Perhaps this year is really just Lucas'' way of punishing me for not doing well enough in this year''s chores. Perhaps this is his way of telling me that I could be the one dead right now, but I am only alive out of his respect for me just because I am his first customer.


    I am at fault too. It''s not like the rules are complex. They are rather easy to understand, and I always have them in my mind in everything I do in my life. Lucas presented to me the laws into five easy sections that he paraphrased himself for me to read easily.


    Section 1: Do not speak of the Organization outside of the Door. Punishment will be dealt with members who bypass this section.


    Section 2: Members are required to attend all sessions yearly even if the member will not make a purchase. Every member can only purchase one type of item every year. Punishment will be dealt with members who bypass this section.


    Section 3: The Organization will require every member to do a "chore" for the benefit of the Organization and its members every month. Members will always be required to do the said "chore" as fast as possible. Punishment will be dealt with members who bypass this section.


    Section 4: Members must be respectful to other members and towards the resource personnel that represents the Organization. Punishment will be dealt with members who bypass this section.


    Section 5: Do not ask questions. Member''s complete cooperation is required. Punishment will be dealt with members who bypass this section.


    I had seen many people get punished for not following the third rule, and I even saw many people die for refusing to do the chores. Although it''s often just mundane stuff like bringing something to a specific location, it can still be quite a bummer especially to a busy person like me. Of course, I do all of my chores, but I don''t necessarily do them as fast as I could which is something they expect me to do as stated in the rule. Perhaps I really only was intended to be punished, but they didn''t expect me to enjoy it as much as I did.


    However, I am still thankful to Lucas and the Organization. They are still helping my life as much as they can, and I''m sure they are taking good care of all their members as well. After all, they are pretty much offering their services and their products for free, and the only thing they expect us to do is to have our full cooperation once every month, a full disclosure of their services, and an unquestioning attitude. Then again, some people just cannot abide by the rule even though they get to enjoy the lavishes and the great products that the Organization offers them. Some would willingly disclose information outside of the Organization, some would willingly be absent in their session, some would start asking questions they shouldn''t be asking, and some, like me, are being tardy of their monthly chores. I have seen many people die in my life, and most of them are people who just can''t follow the damn rules.


    In fact, I have a theory that the reason why the Organization tortured George before finally killing him this year after five years is because he learned something he shouldn''t know from someone in the Organization. Now, I haven''t seen the Organization actively using the yearly sessions to get rid of people who are sniffing on their trails, but they did to George; they probably did it to someone else too.


    They probably did it all the time.


    However, I just cannot understand why one would want to compromise their membership by being stupid enough to break the damn rules. In fact, we rarely have the yearly murder spree that we often do in the court before. We usually just buy from the Ringmaster and leave, but the amount of people who have the audacity to bypass the Organization increases every damn time until I finally suggested one simple thing to Lucas.


    "Why don''t we conduct a public execution?"


    He liked the idea. He liked the idea a lot. The following year when I gave him that idea, he constructed a custom platform in the middle of the year. It rises when the execution is happening, and it descends when it''s unneeded. That year, when the Ringmaster announced the first execution, he personally mutilated the head of four people to remind everyone that being a hard-headed member of the Organization will not be tolerated.


    Year after year, the executions happens, and year after year, the method they used to kill off people gets more and more creative. Still, people are still not following the rules which are good to me because it gives me the best cathartic piece of entertainment that I can never see just by watching people killing others on the internet.


    I just don''t understand why they would go out of their way to not do the rules. Not only would they die in doing so, but they would also go out of their way to stop getting the products that the Organization offers. They have products that shape your body in any way you want; the Ringmaster ever offers to use the product to turn the customer as beautiful as they please. They have a product that allows people to turn their body into an elastic, gum-like substance that makes them enter small holes with ease or to manipulate the shape of their body like slimes. They have a product that could alter the way other people think on a large scale basis. They have a product that could manipulate the space around them. They have a product to give customers a body they desire as long as the Organization possesses that body. They even have a  product that could change a person''s gender.


    I remembered that the first product I ever bought in the organization is one that calms a person''s nerve which I needed a lot because I had serious anger issues back then. After that, I never really needed to use another one anymore. I feel clearer, and I feel like a better version of myself. I stopped fighting with my family members, and I became more cooperative with my annoying classmates. I even got more friends who actually cared about me instead of putting up with more of George''s annoying flexes just because he''s my only friend. However, I never really managed to get him out of my life until this year when Lucas gave me the opportunity to finally cut him off my life quite literally. The other years after that is just me buying all the products that the Organization could offer, but I''m not really interested in using any of them. Besides, each product has long and arduous rules that users must follow before and after usage. The one I used is actually the easiest one; it''s just a pill to swallow.


    They have these among many other products that they willingly give out for free, but still, people decide to be really picky about it or be righteous about what is right and wrong. By the time they entered this place, they should have already weighed down that argument in mind and not waste the Organization''s mind.


    "You''re really looking at that guy really fucking hard, huh?" Veronica''s voice pulled whatever remains of my consciousness back to reality.


    "Huh?" I replied nonchalantly as I turned my gaze at her.


    "I mean, you''re looking at the Ringmaster way too much right now." She said while pointing her chin at the direction of the Ringmaster.


    "Am I?" I turned my head towards the direction of the Ringmaster again. "I didn''t notice."


    She scoffed. "Yeah. I didn''t know you hold grudges."


    "What? No. What do you mean?" I said with a soft chuckle. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "I mean, you''re looking at him because you hated how he humiliated you in the right, right?"


    "What? No, no, no, no, no! You''re misunderstanding this, Ver!" I laughed. Don''t think too much about it."


    "So you aren''t looking at him so seriously because he got on your nerves?"


    "No. Of course not." I said with a soft smile with my arms crossed. "I loved every second of it."


    "Enjoyed killing your ''best friend''?" She said with a heave. "You''re really showing how fucked up you are, Tim."


    I then continued looking at the Ringmaster until our eyes met; he then smiled at me, and I remembered how he touched me and how he looked at me and how he whispered into my ear earlier.


    "Yeah. Yeah, I guess, I am."

 39 A Momentous Arrival of the Man in a Hoodless Hoodie

    "He''s here." Veronica intoned while looking at a distance somewhere behind where the Caravan stood.


    "Who?" I asked while pulling my sleeve to check my watch. It''s already getting quite late.


    "Can''t you hear it?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Now that she had mentioned it, I could hear a little of something, the subtle noise of pitter-pattering limbs hitting the surface of wet ground. It''s similar to the sound of many people punching and slapping the surface of a damp pillow rapidly.


    "Ah..." I sighed. "This is probably the first time I''ve ever stayed this long," I mumbled as I tried my hardest to hide my discomfort.


    "I noticed," Veronica said without turning his head towards me, still looking at the presumed origin of the sound. "This is probably the first time I''ll see you meeting the Janitor again."


    "Not that I mind." I rechecked my watch as I heard the sound of limbs hitting the surface of what I think is mud while whispering. "I can probably stay to watch the cleaning."


    "Yeah, but it''s kinda boring, though."


    I nodded with a shrug. "True."


    "Why are you staying so late, though? Don''t you have an appointment for your post-grad research?" Veronica said, finally turning her head towards me.


    "How did you know that?" I said with a raised eyebrow.


    "You told me last week. This is your fifth paper, right?"


    "Sixth, actually." I sighed. "Luc said he''s gonna tell me something; he asked me to stay."


    "Ah." Veronica nodded, which showed her understanding of my dilemma. "I can just tell him that you''re busy, you know? You have more pressing matters to do; he''s gonna understand."


    "I guess?" I said while scratching the back of my head. "I''ll watch the cleaning, but if he''s still not done after that, then I''ll ask you to tell him I''m already gone. Don''t want to bother him while he''s selling the goods. Hope you don''t mind."


    "Yeah, I don''t mind. It''s a bad idea to meddle with his crap while he''s doing business."


    While we''re talking, I noticed that the people around us seemed to have started hearing the distinct sound coming from afar by the way their faces light up a bit. It sounded like the sound of a giant centipede walking towards which would scare some people away, but no one seemed bothered by it. They even looked slightly elated.


    The Ringmaster did not acknowledge the presence of the sound, though. He remained busy with all the customers he''s serving outside of the van. After a few moments, the thing causing the jittering sound finally revealed itself when it entered the large door behind the Caravan and behind the ring.


    "Hi, hi." A man said without looking at anyone or without even waving his head. He just entered the ring while saying his greetings as if it was something he just has to do, but he doesn''t really want to do it. "I''m here for the cleaning." He mumbled, putting great emphasis on every syllable he uttered by prolonging the amount of time it takes for him to say every vowel.


    Everyone looked at him momentarily, but they all just diverted their gaze away from him by the time they saw him. None of them replied to him, and the Janitor wants it that way.


    The Janitor entered the way he usually does: unappealing, uncharismatic, unimportant, and almost unseen. He gives off the kind of vibe of a person who''s only here because he has to do what he got to do. However, his passion had already ceased from his life if there was even an ounce of it within him from the beginning. I understand his sentiment well regarding the fact that he only seems to be dragging himself to the routine of the corporate world. Still, this man doesn''t even put on the effort to make people think he has a sliver of care for whatever it is he''s doing. I need not ask for me to know that he hates his job more than anything the world could offer.


    He''s holding a moldy vacuum insulated tumbler without the top lid in sight as he made his way towards the platform in the middle of the ring without batting an eye on anyone around him, let alone give a word of greeting to the people looking at him in either awe or fear. He yawns, which were a small gesture telling people around him that he''s not in the mood to talk. However, if anyone dares to strike a conversation with him, all of us know that he will never shut up even after closing time; that''s why everyone just goes out of his way in fear that he might talk to them. This was not at all a gesture that we hate him; we just don''t want to talk to him enough because he will only tell people how miserable he''s feeling and how much the Janitor loathes every single day he spends doing his job. I know this for a fact because when I first met the Janitor when we first did one of the entertainment murder portions of our yearly meeting. He started talking about how much he liked the filet mignon he ate that day. Somehow the conversation turned into how much he hates his job. Then I finally realized that we''re already talking about the Bobo Doll experiment conducted by Albert Bandura until Lucas finally told him to leave me alone, which allowed me to curry away from him. Before I left the ring, I saw that the Janitor was then conversing about something I probably don''t know of with the clearly distraught and disappointed-looking Ringmaster. Now that I had thought about it now, I think he was talking about his hatred towards the fashion trend around the early 1990s, which made me wonder how the conversation turned into that direction.


    Speaking of fashion, let''s talk about his. The Janitor is wearing a dark gray hoodie, but I had noticed that he had torn the hood off of it, which I always find weird. Why doesn''t he just wear a normal jacket? I could have just asked him about it, but I know he''s just going to start talking about his life in chronological order and how this job was the fruit of his lack of a concrete dream when he was younger. Sometimes I feel like he''s wearing a light gray jacket, but since he''s too miserable to do simple laundry work, it just turned into a darker shade of gray. He''s wearing black jeans and miserable-looking rubber shoes that had seen better days with all the torn, scratches, and tears all over it. He''s also always, always wearing a black backpack with so many pockets. Apparently, he had filled his bag with all sorts of "treasure" he had found in his lifetime of being the company janitor, which then inflated his bag because of a great deal of trash he''s carrying. Other than that, there''s really nothing else to talk about his looks. Well, he has long, black hair that always makes him look like he had just gotten off the bed, and a thick layer of eye bogs bellow his large, brooding eyes. He also has a carefree smile on his face, although he only talks about his depressing life like he''s the only person in this world who had felt such emotion before.


    He''s also wearing... a mask? I say the term "wear" loosely because he is literally just holding a bond paper with two holes on it, and whenever someone is looking at him, he would place the piece of paper in front of his face with his eyes peering on the holes of the paper.


    The only highlight of the Janitor''s entire career is two things.


    One of these exciting aspects he has is his means of transportation. He is the only janitor in the entire company, so he''s always moving around the Organization''s facility, or else there would be no end to his nagging about the misery of walking. You see, the Janitor is sitting on top of two people back bending in a rather inhuman way as they walk around in that same position while carrying the weight of the Janitor on their stomach. Bear in mind that they are crawling everywhere the Janitor goes while he sat on top of them without a sign of complaint. The only difference is that they are crawling while back bending, which then made their body form the shape of an arc. The Janitor never steps out of his two little arching slaves every time, and they are all doing so without a hint of complaint. Not like they can complain, to be honest, they don''t have a mouth; nay, they don''t have a face! They don''t have hair either everywhere in their bodies, not even genitals. We also noticed that they don''t have a pair of nipples, and there is no hole in their asses. We know this because they are naked all the time. In place of everything missing in their body is just skin; there''s only skin on the chest and between their legs.


    I''m not even sure if they''re even human... They look weird. Every time they crawl around, they produce this disconcerting squishing sound like the sound of people stepping on a puddle of mud, which comes from all over their bodies. Not to mention, they don''t use their entire limbs whenever they crawl; they''re only using their fingers while most of their body remains unmoved most of the time. Thus, their hands are in the shape of a claw, and their feet look like that of a ballerina, tip-toeing for balance. They also have the habit of scratching everything their fingers touched, so they produce a scratching sound while the squishing sound was coming from all over their body echoes together like a poorly synched song.


    I heard from someone that the Janitor was once a murderer, which I highly doubt seeing just how much of a, forgive me for uttering this word, loser he looks like in real-time. Either way, rumor has it that the people he''s sitting on is all the remaining flesh of his former victims meshed together inside of one singular body to form a human-shaped meat doll. However, the Janitor had killed so many people that he had to divide his flesh dolls into two because he wanted them to have the perfect curvy shape. Apparently, the Organization helped him animate this flesh doll of his as long as he agrees to give them skin, and the Janitor complied, but the product they used to make them move and give them a new set of skin is relatively new. Because of this, we can still hear the sound of flesh inside of that makeshift human he made, making the compressed human pile of meat to give off a squirming and squishing sound every time they move. Meanwhile, they move so abnormally precisely because they used a defective product on them. It''s basically a failed beta test, which further shows just how much the Organization cares for this guy.


    How do I know about this? Well, he told Veronica everything about it last year, and she told me everything about it afterward. Frankly, I don''t believe him, but the man is notoriously honest, so you know, what can I say? Maybe he''s stating facts, and it''s big if true. He has some refined taste, not gonna lie, and the product that can make things move on command, and the product that can the surface of a hard object a skin are both real products.


    Usually, they would be naked, but right now, both of his human carrier¡ªwhich both moves in sync with each other¡ªare wearing masks. The mask in question is just a cheap plastic mask of a clown he probably got from a thrift shop outside of the ring minutes before coming here.


    It''s... Well... He did his best to be creative, at least.

 40 A Man Who Does All The Cleaning

    "Hey, Ver," I said while poking Veronica''s shoulder. "Look at the mask of the Janitor''s meat dolls."


    "Huh?" She uttered before discreetly moving his gaze towards his direction so that she wouldn''t get the Janitor''s attention. "Holy shit, do you think he did that on purpose?" She then discreetly moved his head away from him while covering the side of her face with her hands.


    The Janitor''s meat dolls are not wearing their masks on where their head should be; they''re wearing their it on their shaved scalps instead.


    "I don''t know," I responded with a chuckle. "I don''t even know how he made them wear it. The mask has no strings."


    "I think he glued it on the poor flesh shits." She said with a worried tone but with a disgusted expression.


    "How will he take those off their heads then?" I said while leaning my head on her ear so that she could hear my low whisper.


    She slowly moved his gaze away from them with an expression filled with utter disgust painted all over her face. "You clearly overestimate him if you think he''ll put up the effort of taking the masks off them. Even if he can take it off, I bet he''d find it too troublesome to do it, anyway."


    I silently observe the Janitor somewhere behind a ground of masked individuals so he wouldn''t be able to see me looking at him. I want to see what he would do, but I don''t want to take the risk of having a conversation with him.


    When he finally reached the center of the ring, the stone platform had already descended, which means that he can finally do his excellent work on the burned body of George as it laid there like an overcooked kebab on a large wooden stake.


    Finally, he''s about to do the only redeeming factor he has.


    He opened his mouth. No, it''s not like how we do it. When he opened his mouth, a hole appeared on his face the size of a six-year-old child, which made everyone see his blackened teeth, even the deep crevices of what lies within. We even saw his throat lurking beneath the darkness that rested on this gigantic mouth of his, revealing every sort of cavity and dirt sticking all over the pinkish flesh within the confines of this massive hole he called a mouth. His spit was like a thread of a spider web that connected every dirt-filled corners within. When he opened his mouth, his chin stretched until it turned almost translucent, but oddly enough, the skin on his face was sturdy enough for it to withstand having his jaw expands downwards until it reaches his waist. As a further effect, it stretched out the rest of the skin in his face, making the hole in his nose bigger; it also stretched the skin around his eyes, which made it seem like it would pop out of his anytime soon.


    Finally, with his mouth agape wide with the shape of a toilet bowl, he chomped on the body of George along with the stake that came with it. He continued munching on everything "dirty" in his sight. Afterward, he started licking the burns and blood smeared on the floor with his plastic-like tongue. Usually, he would need to get off his meat dolls to lick the ground, but just like his mouth, his mouth was way longer than the average length. Thus, he could lick the ground on top of his skinheads. With all that, there is no need for him to get off his meat doll while he eats everything around him. Well, he doesn''t like it when people call this eating; he prefers to call it cleaning.


    Soon, whatever remains of George''s burned body is no more. The stake is not there as well, and George''s blood is not smearing the floor compared to how it used to earlier. It was once red with the blood of my old friend, but now, it''s returned to just another stone floor. Perhaps the Janitor''s saliva has an added detergent because the way he cleaned the floor is flawless. The only thing that remained is the small hole in the ground where the Ringmaster stuck the stake. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    With his mouth still open wide with everything inside his mouth, he slowly crushed everything within by gradually raising his jaw, squashing George''s burnt flesh with the wooden stake, making them a single entity inside the Janitor''s large toilet-bowl-looking mouth along with a thick layer of his spit. When it was all turned into a massive pile of ground meat with a bit of a wooden chunk, he took his backpack and spat everything on his mouth inside of his bag, making it stretch even further, perhaps tearing a bit of fabric in it as a consequence. We could all see that his spit is slowly dripping from every hole that it could penetrate through. Nonetheless, the Janitor still wore it even though it could feel his spit smearing his back. Maybe that''s why he doesn''t want the hood on his hoodie; he wants to feel his spit covering everything on his back.


    Now his job is done.


    Everything is clean. Everything is flawless. Everything is eaten.


    Everything except George''s head, still with the pained and the sad expression he had before the death performance he showed us, which is quite a terrible performance considering how he doesn''t scream or shout at all in his last moments. I carried his weight throughout that execution... like I always did.


    The Janitor noticed this, and he quickly headed towards the direction of the head by kicking the head of the meat doll, who was back bending on his right side, unmoving and mute, before it felt the familiar tattered shoe on its synthetic skin. He was about to approach the severed head somewhere on the edge of the ring.


    "Stop, Janitor!" The Ringmaster exclaimed from somewhere around the Caravan. I couldn''t quite see him because of all the surrounding people, but I could feel the authority he exudes in his voice. "That head is mine. You cannot take it. That is not trash."


    Head? Does he want to keep George''s head? For what? Sometimes, the Ringmaster does things that I cannot explain, but I guess that is the charm of everyone in the Organization.


    "Head?" The Janitor spoke as he turned his head around the Ringmaster. "Oh, that made me remember about the bust of Nefertiti that they said they found somewhere in an archeological site in Egypt but did you know that the bust is not real and just another fake artifact that a lot of people used to hype Egyptology even though there''s really nothing else it could..."


    He went on and on, and by the time he opened his mouth to speak, everyone scoffed in utter disgust.


    "Ugh..." I sighed. "I think I''m gonna go."


    "Shit..." Veronica responded with a depressed tone as I heard the Janitor now explaining why Indiana Jones is a terrible archeologist. "If only I''m not doing anything for the Organization later, I would definitely leave with you."


    "... I mean, why is he not asking the people who are living inside those sites their permission first before taking and robbing the treasure inside those sites, like, come on, think about it, man, he''s supposedly a genius. Still, he''s not too much of a genius to understand the proper procedure that archeologist must take in order to scientifically and ethically conduct their whatever research on their whatever archeological sites, but none only is Indiana Jones a lucky bastard, but he''s also a grave robber that would cause the problem to his university if he keeps continuing his..."


    And he went on and on, causing a great deal of discomfort to everyone listening.

 41 A Departure From This Strange World

    The Janitor never left. He just kept talking.


    At some point, we all just filtered his voice off like how I would often do when the neighbors are playing a rather obnoxious song in a gigantic speaker, probably from a recent Metallica album.


    I gazed at my watch again, unknowingly, while tapping my feet to the ground.


    Veronica seemed to have noticed this as she readjusted the bust of her dress. "If you''re hurrying so much, just go. I''ll explain everything to Lucas later?"


    "Yeah," I then diverted my gaze to Lucas, who was now selling an anti-aging product to a middle-aged woman. The woman touched his hands, and he caressed hers back with his bare finger in a rather intimate way. I noticed that the woman did not seem to have felt anything and just smiled at Lucas with a flushed face. I glared at this entire exchange with a piercing gaze as I gritted on my teeth. "Maybe I should buy something on the Caravan first before I go. Maybe one of those calming pills."


    "What for?" Veronica said while redoing her foundation.


    I sighed. "No, never mind." I reverted my gaze to Lucas again and saw that he''s still holding the middle-aged woman''s hand. I gripped my hand tightly as the tapping of my feet grew louder. "I''m gonna leave."


    "Oh." Veronica turned her head at me while still tapping a brush on her face. "Sure, sure. I''ll tell, Luc, don''t worry. Go now, don''t let him keep you."


    After waving Veronica goodbye and rejecting her offer to have a hug, fearing that her scent might overlap with the smell sticking on my skin, I finally stepped out of the Court, walking down the darkened halls towards the exit. I was again greeted with the abstract scenery of the many departed spirits, swaying all over the clouds once I took a step out of the court. They''re all screaming, howling, crying, some are even laughing and cackling all in unison, creating the sound of the countless aghast wailings of departed souls spewing their horrid pleas of returning to the mortal realm once again or the rejection of it. The spirits on the sky swirl and formed like a blackened pasta on the sky, twisting like a mushy melted marshmallow swimming in the air. I could still see the outline of their faces while they demanded the sleeping creator to bring them back to life; they all seem like pickled cucumber, squirming inside a glass jar when their face distort their mashed soul in the sky.


    I groaned. "Since I can hear these guys already, that means the Piper already went home," I whispered while showing my discomfort on my twisted grimace. "Ugh, these dead people, I swear. Makes me so hungry."


    My gaze returned on the sun and the moon, both looming high in the sky, but this time, the moon has no more chains, and a swirling metallic object is twisting from out of a hole in the middle of the sun, forming towards the moon like a thread of metal. I looked around me to see if the Piper is still here, so he could play his melody before I could go home, but just like his song, the artist is nowhere around. The soil below and the trees around me now look like terribly drawn doodles that a six-year-old child would do as an art project, and they''re all moving in quite a distorted way as if they were all flinching glitch on an old 3D game. Some trees were even flinching so hard that I could barely figure out the shape they''re supposed to be. If this were a dream, I would have been afraid, for it would be a heavy load to carry on my life knowing that a Bethesda game had infiltrated my dreams.


    I finally ignored all of this and decided to hurriedly stroll towards my doorway a few meters away from here while casually glancing at my wristwatch now and then. Once I looked at my ticking watch too hard that when I raised my head to look at my surroundings, I have realized that everything around me had returned to a more realistic-looking style. Still, it was not quite as real as I want it to be, giving me an uncanny feeling of seeing something realistic though noticing the fakeness within the fine details on it. I now realized that I''m almost there in my doorway.


    Finally, after turning on a tree that I had engraved with the letters ''L'' and ''T'' on the trunk and moving straight ahead after seeing a tree that had the letter ''R'' engraved on it while noticing how the tree itself had a somehow phallic-looking shape, I finally saw my door. I also noticed an older-looking man standing next to my room with his body poised sharply but with a soft smile on his face.


    "Gatekeeper!" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"


    The man who was wearing a black coat, black slacks, black necktie, black leather shoes, and a white collared shirt beneath his coat chuckled after seeing me. "Good afternoon, Mr. Timothy." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I rarely see the Gatekeeper ever in the long time I''ve been a customer of the Ringmaster. All I know is that he handles all the doors, and he''s the one who has access to all the paths where the door should be in whenever it is needed or whenever the Organization asked him to do so. The bottom line is, he''s in charge of the doors appearing to the mortal realm. Other than that, I know nothing else about him. I heard rumors that he has his court somewhere farther away from here, so seeing him before I leave now is genuinely a pleasant surprise.


    "It''s rare to find you around these parts, let alone bother you to see a customer off," I said with a light chuckle.


    "Oh?" He said in wonder but still with a pleasant expression. "Didn''t the Ringmaster told you about it?"


    I asked with a raised eyebrow. "About what?"


    The Gatekeeper chuckled, before opening my door for me, gesturing me to enter within. "My deepest apologies, Please ignore this old man''s ramblings. My old age must be keeping up with me already. Mind not what I say, and I wish to see you again next time, Mr. Timothy."


    I took a step forward with a hint of confusion in my face. I realized the awkwardness of the scenario and quickly tried to say something to ease the atmosphere up before leaving. I don''t want to leave a wrong impression on anyone working in the Organization. "I see you still look just as young as when the last time I saw you, Gatekeeper!"


    He chuckled, his smile revealing different layers of wrinkles on his face, outlining both his age and the sheer happiness he feels. "It must be because you always come every October! Try coming a bit later, maybe somewhere in December, and I''m sure you''ll see that I''ll be much older than you remember."


    I raised an eyebrow again on what I had heard with my mouth slightly agape. I don''t understand this man, but he''s not a bad person. I''m not so sure, though, because this is probably the longest time I''ve spoken with the Gatekeeper. I only ever see him when the Ringmaster is unprepared and needs a doorway to call someone.


    "Well," I said before clearing my throat. "I''ll be leaving then."


    "I am excited to see you again." I heard him say after bowing.


    I then entered the door and saw that there''s nothing but sheer darkness within, not even the light outside could penetrate through the blackness looming inside my brown door. Still, I went inside without a second thought. Once I had entered, I heard my door closing, presumably because the Gatekeeper went on his way to close it for me.


    After blinking, I realized that I''m now back to my boring, normal-looking, and sad apartment room. I looked back to see that my door is not there anymore before taking my mask off and placing it on top of the nearest shelf. I moved my neck from side to side while unbuttoning my shirt. I then went inside my bathroom while scratching the space around my eye, making me close my eyes a bit. Feeling the tiredness coursing through my head, I yawned, thinking about what I will be doing in the university later. Thinking about it had already made me tired while I stood in front of my sink before opening the faucet.


    "Why did you suddenly leave?" I then looked at my mirror to see the reflection of a tall man behind me. His striking gaze thrust through my body as I saw a scowl forming on his stunning face. "I told you to wait."

 42 A Final Chapter to This Long Tale

    "Lu-Lucas?" I muttered under my breath as I gaze at his reflection on my mirror.


    "What the hell was that lame excuse you told Veronica about your stupid research?" He growled as I see his figure sticking out of the walls of my bathroom while trying to keep his balance so he wouldn''t fall. He seemed like some sort mushroom sticking out and further sprouting forth on my wall. "There''s nothing in this world far more important than me."


    "Wh-what are you doing here?" I exclaimed as I turned my body to face him. "I wasn''t lying!"


    "I don''t give a shit if you''re lying! I should be your number one priority! That is non-negotiable!" He then pulled his other hand from out of my wall, and he used to grab hold of my shoulder as he stared at me with his star-like emerald eyes. "When I said you''ll stay, your only job is to agree and stay!"


    I took a step back, but I realized that there''s no place for me to retreat, for there are only my sink and my mirror behind me, cornering me further to face what could be my Grimm Reaper.


    "I''m so sorry!" I stuttered. "I''m so sorry, Ringmaster!"


    "Don''t call me that when you''re with me!" He roared with the intensity of an angered chimera, spilling a few of his saliva on my face as he tried to articulate his words well, along with the burst of emotion in his heart. "You''re gonna listen to me, and you''re gonna listen well like a good boy, Timothy."


    "Y-yes, Lucas!" I whimpered as I feel the weight of his arm on my shoulder, making my feet weak with fear. "I''m so sorry! I''ll do better next time!"


    "I expect you to be perfect every time!" He roared once again, but this time, I could sense a twinge of restraint in his tone. He then pulled his body forward using my shoulder and my shower pole, making it shake along the way. "You''re perfect, and I expect your performance to be even better!"


    I was speechless at what he just said. I am both afraid and overjoyed; it seemed like my emotions had pulled my thoughts away from my lips, making it impossible even to articulate a single phoneme. As Lucas pulled himself forward with the strength of his arm, he groaned until I see his left foot emerging from out of the wall.


    "Agh! If only we still have a door available! Listen, Timothy! Your apartment is terrible; its garbage! I''m gonna buy a new one, and you''re gonna allocate space for two doorways from the Organization, understand?"


    I nodded non-stop at high speed. I moved my head a bit to see what was behind Lucas and how he could enter through my wall because I am not at all aware that the Organization has an item that makes people pass through walls. I then realized that Lucas is coming from a square hole, no, a small passage, like a window of some sort attached to the wall. He moved even further, entering through my cramp bathroom, using all the strength there is in his body. Since Lucas is rather bulky, perhaps because of the muscles Lucas has hidden beneath his usual uniform, both of us can''t fit inside the bathroom. Thus he had to stick his face on my mirror hard, almost as if he''s trying to bury his cheeks on it before Lucas could even pull his other foot from out of the small passage where Lucas came from so he could reprimand me.


    Finally, after gasping and panting a little bit, he grimaced at me once again. He grabbed on my nape, and forcefully pushed me out of the bathroom and threw me on the floor of my living room. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "We''re gonna have to do something about that attitude of yours, because clearly, you don''t know how to respect your superiors enough," Lucas said while pulling my hard to lead me towards the small couch near one of my small cabinets where I placed my mask on earlier.


    "I''m so sorry, Lucas! It hurts, please stop! I will do better next time, I promise!" I pleaded at him as I crawled to follow him towards the couch, trying my hardest to lessen the pain on my scalp, but I am just a little boy, a weak child compared to a strong and physically superior man like Lucas.


    "Damn right, you''re sorry." Lucas then released my hair while exclaiming with a sarcastic tone as if to further sink my body on the floor. I quickly sighed as I felt a twinge of freedom when he released his grasp on my hair, but in all actuality, there is no such thing as freedom anymore as soon as I heard his voice. "I had to contact Gatekeeper just to give me that crappy window I used to come here, and what do I get? Are you purposely trying to embarrass me, huh, boy?" He uttered while gasping as he sat on my couch before slapping my face hard with the back of his hand as I sat weakly on the cold floor. He sat on the sofa lazily with his feet open wide and his arms even wider as he placed them at the back of the couch.


    I tried to stand up before giving a reply, but then, Lucas kicked the area between my thighs, causing me to kneel back again on the floor with my hands grasping my crotch. I could suddenly feel a sudden electric feeling rushing from where Lucas kicked me, making me sink even deeper down the pain train as I feel my tears welling up on my eyes.


    "Who said you could stand up, huh? You''re still trying to humiliate me, boy?" He scowled as he unbuttoned his vest and three buttons from his collar downward before pulling it to reveal a bit of his puffed chest. "Is that what you want, huh? Is this how you want our partnership to be?"


    "No!" I tried to yell, but what only came out of my lips was a restrained whisper as I feel the pain seething through the lower half of my body. "No, Lucas, I''m so sorry, Lucas!"


    "Address me properly!"


    "Yes, sir!"


    "That''s right, boy, don''t you dare forget to respect me when we''re alone ever again!" He said before flapping his collar to fan his sweaty chest. "Come here." He ordered while looking at me straight to my soul without looking away.


    I couldn''t help but feel weak in the presence of those eyes as I diverted my gaze away from him while crawling an inch forward to get closer to him. I then kneeled in front of him again, still with my hands in between my thighs.


    I looked up at him to see what I should do again when I see his hand approaching my face before it hit my cheek as it resounded a loud bang when his hand contacted my skin. "I said, closer, boy, are you deaf?"


    I raised the upper half of my body when his slap threw my body away, making me hit the floor. I then sniffed while looking down, gazing at a drop of blood on the floor. I then crawled again towards Lucas until I''m close enough that my face was just about a few centimeters away from his crotch.


    He then placed his hands on my face, making me feel a massive surge of electricity, way stronger than anything he had given me, surge upon my skin, heating me as if my veins were the insides of an electrical cord. He forcefully grabbed my face to make me face his direction as I feel the electricity scattering from my cheeks down to my neck. I tried my best to stay awake or sane enough to understand what Lucas wants me to do and stared right into his eyes. Oddly, I fear those eyes more than the power coming from out of his hands.


    "Are you gonna disrespect me again, boy?" He asked as I see him grit his teeth with every word he says. Slowly, I feel my thoughts going blank and the only energy I have left is the ones I needed to hear Lucas, respond to what he has to say, and look at his face.


    "No, sir."


    "Are you willing to follow all of my orders now, huh?"


    "Yes, sir."


    "Who owns you?"


    "You own me, sir."


    "Say it louder, boy, I can''t hear you!"


    "You own me, sir!"


    "Tell me how you feel about me."


    "I love you, sir!"


    "You love me, but you can''t even follow a simple instruction I told you, huh?"


    "I''m so sorry, sir!"


    "Are you gonna obey everything I''ll tell you from now on?"


    "Everything you say, sir, I''m your property!"


    "Say it again, boy! Say it like you''re telling it to the world!"


    "I am master Lucas'' property, and I will obey and do everything he will tell me!"


    "Tell me how you feel about me again, boy!"


    "I love you, sir!"


    "Again!"


    "I love you, sir!"


    "You''re gonna have to do better than that, or else I''ll leave you and make you forget everything about me."


    "No, please, sir, don''t leave me, sir, I love you so much, sir, please don''t leave me, sir, I love you, sir, I love you, Master Lucas, sir, I love you, sir--"


    "Enough."


    He then took his hands off my face, and as he did so, every pain and every sizzling sensation creeping through my body. Suddenly, I felt every energy within me, disappearing in a flash, and I could finally feel the exhaustion conquering my weak and feeble body. I then felt a dizzying sensation, making my vision blurry, spiraling out of control along with my upper body as it circled in a back and forth motion. I felt every part of my body failing to respond appropriately to Lucas. My mind had been blank for a while now because of the punishment I endured from him. It seemed that my senses had surrendered completely to his will all over again. My head landed on the space between his well-defined thighs.


    Lucas then carried my limp and weak body, making me sit on top of his lap like a damp rag. I then fell on his chest with my head landing on his shoulder, making my lips touch his neck.


    "You did well." He whispered as he patted my head. "You did great, Tim."


    I tried to reply, but what I could only release a silent groan in response, trying so hard to thank him for the kindness he had given me today.


    He then patted my head, gently scratching my scalp while playing with my thick locks of hair. "I''m sorry, Tim." He then pulled my body tightly towards his physique as he remained patting my head. "Did it hurt."


    I then gulped on the remaining saliva on my mouth before answering in a coarse voice, "... I''m... sorry... Lucas."


    "Shh. It''s gonna be okay now." He whispered like a silent lullaby. "Your hair is so beautiful. Don''t let anyone pull this hair ever again unless it''s me."


    "Yes... sir..." I whispered weakly while I tried to kiss his neck. He continued patting my head while he held me tight on his arms.


    "I see that you still have all of my pictures around your house just like I told you." He said while holding a picture frame with his image inside on his hands. "You did a great job, Tim."


    "Thank... you..."


    He then patted my back, which calmed my nerves down until I could only think about the way he touches and how secure I feel in his touch. "Listen, Tim; I want you to do something."


    "I will do... anything..."


    "I heard from Veronica that you would be the lead forensic pathologist for the gold men case?"


    I nodded as a response with a soft whimper to show my agreement.


    "I want you to do something for me. It''s for the Organization. We need to stop them from knowing more about our products, or else we''ll have to kill everybody."


    I tried to reply that I will do everything he would tell me to do, but I couldn''t utter a reply. Once again, my head has started to stop thinking like a blank slate, although I could still feel and sense everything around me. As my vision blur, the last thing I could feel was the warm embrace of the man who owns me as my consciousness sinks the primordial waters of my inner universe at long last to give myself a needed rest. I don''t even care anymore about anything else. All I know is that I have served Lucas well, and now all is well.


    Everything had stopped.


    But I could still somehow hear everything around me.


    The voices echoed; his voice echoed. "Don''t worry. I''m here, and things are gonna be much faster this time. You don''t have to wait for days, weeks, and months just to get the show you''re finding. The wait is finally over for you. And you''re gonna be here with me. With us. You''ll be a part of us now, boy."


    "What are you planning to do to him now, Luc?"


    "Oh, Veronica, it''s you. Huh, I don''t know, really. I think I''ll be looking after him more; tell everyone that I won''t be able to come to the meeting. I have more pressing matters at hand."


    "Timothy is much more important than the company?"


    "Yes."


    "Isn''t he one of your failed experiments? Just throw him away--"


    "No! The love capsule experiments failed, but I will not abandon, Timothy."


    "Clearly. You''re getting sidetracked. You need to explain this properly to everyone next time, and tell everyone in the board meeting that your little failed project is important to the plan."


    "Timothy is not a failed project, Veronica! He''s just... Ugh... It just had a different result. Instead of love, the product gives absolute obedience instead. Well, at least we have a product for that thing now. Our people in the field are researching it. It''s not a failure. Just a different result."


    "Psh, yeah, yeah! The camera guy is researching it, but


    "Please do. I''ll make it up to all of you. I promise."


    "Hmph. I''m leaving. "


    "Hey, Veronica."


    "Yeah?"


    "Thank you..."


    "Why?"


    "You made Timothy work on that case, so he would important to us, right? So they wouldn''t dispose of him and throw his soul away."


    "Hmph. I don''t know what you''re talking about."

 43 Presentation

    The following scene you''re about to witness is something graphic, ladies and gentlemen.


    "What''s your name?" The man asked with a stern expression.


    It''s something I am even reluctant to show, but for the advancement of the Organization, I am willing to cause some stomachs to churn.


    "Andrea." The rope-bound girl said shakily, her eyes wide with fear.


    But you''re gonna read it anyway.


    "Aaahh!" The man intoned with a bit of hoarseness in his voice. "Andrea! What a beautiful name!"


    He says that all the time but not quite literally. Mary, Chris, Laura, Jean, Justin, Carol, Patricia, William. The man you see in front of you can still remember all these names like it all happened yesterday. However, he is a man who gets bored fast. Quite frankly, Andrea is boring him to death. The victim''s resolute refusal to bow down to the very words of this man that we are seeing in front of us right now might have caused it. It might seem stupid to me, and it might even seem silly to you, but this is what this subject wanted. A person with the perfect body that would follow everything he would say with unconditional servitude, and he will make this happen without fail. After all, his passion lies in making everyone whom he deems inferior bow down to his every word. That''s why he''s about to throw her to the trash where she belongs. They are garbage in his eyes, and when he''s about to dispose of them, he says one last thing to them.


    "Poor Andrea." He said, caressing her bleeding bruises.


    Saying this doesn''t bring that same feeling of euphoria he felt when he first laid eyes on her. It''s just his way of finding closure. Before he finally puts an end to their relationship, he never fails to say that phrase to any woman! ''Poor, you.'' he would say, replacing the word ''you'' with his victim''s name. In those moments, those last moments he would have with his fragile little victims, the man would very much wish to show the gentlest side of him. That''s because when he says these words to his victim, it''s game over for them. He would do this regardless of who they are, no matter what their background is, no matter what their gender is, and no matter what they do for a living. It would all end the same once he uttered those words.


    They are going to die. They will die.


    Just like Ms. Andrea, whom we just saw earlier, she will later be seen in a ditch somewhere outside of the small village with an abundant amount of semen inside her genitals and the hole she uses to excrete waste. Bruises. Marks. Signs of a struggle. You will see a lot of this, and if you don''t like it, ladies and gentlemen, well then, the door is open for you to leave. My team is only interested in people who want to talk about serious business.


    That man you just saw is a person who kills and rapes people.


    They all died. And if he has a knack for the murder business, then he might as well leave his day job, too, and consider doing this full-time.


    Is there any underlying meaning behind it? Perhaps, he feels an unfathomable desire on the idea of death, and he envies the girls for finally reaching the inevitable destination he so eager to reach for a long time. Perhaps, he''s just a deranged psychopath, and there is absolutely no meaning behind these. Only he knows.


    Good day, ladies and gentlemen! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I am V.


    But I am more professionally known here in the Organization as the newly recruited Field Commander. I am the woman personally in charge of the Marching Band services after I was hired privately by the Man himself. Today, I will present to you what my team and I had gathered as the perfect subject for the one who would handle the selling of our merchandise.


    That subject''s name will be undisclosed for the time being, but for the purpose of this presentation, we will call him as Subject 1 or man, depending on the situation. Let me remind all of you that we based the quality of workers we are finding in that long month on the criteria that the Man had given us before the formal formation of the Marching Band services.


    Looking at the PowerPoint presentation we had laid out, the Man had told us to seek a person who is passionate, goal-oriented, unyielding, resilient, and more than anything, he wanted us to find a person who knows how to hide a secret. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have found a perfect candidate.


    Blood is poetry, and for him, nothing could cast better stanzas than the sight of a beautiful person. He will not stop until all women shed their blood to make the world''s most celebrated poem!


    One thing we know is that this man, whoever he might be, has been doing this for quite a long time. However, he had been much more active in his act of murderous aggression and sexual tendencies towards people of his liking after the death of one of his only remaining family member, which is his sister.


    After the events that unfolded after everyone else around him had either died or left him to his lonesome, Subject 1 realized that there is no stopping him now. Men and women, young and old, all felt terrified when it first happened. It was as if a thunder strike had erupted up in the sky on a bright Sunday morning. Their fear is very much understandable; when you live in this quiet village, you too would not believe your eyes when you saw blood splattered everywhere on the pavements of their beautiful town square. After all, the last time the villagers saw death is when their elder mayor, bless his soul, finally take the Grimm Reaper''s hand to the other side.


    That was the day he first unveiled to the world the depravity of his acts. None of them are all the wiser, for no one would honestly suspect a poor young orphan living in an isolated van in the middle of the woods at the foot of the mountain where their ancestors once worshipped many of their gods.


    Ladies and gentlemen, after months of arduous field research on the other side of the door, in later slides, we will recount the many deaths Subject 1 had committed. He had committed all these crimes before his arrival in our realm for apparent reasons. Some of you might have probably already guessed how he came here without a proper membership. However, we would still tackle the causes as to how we managed to have him enter our realm later for the benefit of our newer and slower members who don''t understand the requirements before one could be a part of this realm. Don''t worry, ladies and gentlemen, we had ensured that he will not be a part of the others like him who are all up in the sky yet, for he is now in the care of my members before we decided his fate.


    All of you may have already known this. Still, after our first research we conducted here last month, the Smiling-Men Capturers of the Marching Band services captured two girls in our behavioral experiment for the unveiling of our new lines of products in our new train services. However, it seems that we still need to work on that. Thus, for the time being, we will first focus our attention on the man of the hour. I am confident in my teammates, and I am sure that you will feel pleased after stepping out of this presentation with our findings in your mind.


    Before the start of our recounting of his life a few weeks before stepping into our realm, we will first want to lay the foundations of our research. Our objective is to find a new perspective employee, seek a perfect face for our company, and to hire a man who met the standards of the Man.


    With that out of the way, let me tell you the story of Subject 1 and Mary.

 44 Mary

    In a quiet rural village on the night of October that year, they first saw Mary''s body. It was a big deal for the entire year in that poor village. It was the roots of all gossip old ladies sing while talking with each other in their small yet beautiful church. Mary is undoubtedly the kindest girl in this town. So when they found her cold body stabbed to the town''s celebrated century-old oak tree, everybody wept! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    He''s mocking them, indirectly saying: "I will desecrate every beautiful thing you know and loved in this shitty town!" To be fair to our killer friend, it is a dramatic statement if I do say so myself. She was the first victim of this lust-driven psychopath in this small town that we will leave unnamed, and ever since then, he never stopped.


    Nobody in that town really knew what happened to Mary. That''s why it''s such a fascinating case! The only thing the town folks know is that she was missing for two weeks, and when they found her body, it was as clean as ever, and her clothes were as vibrant as the gleam of all the heavenly bodies in the sky. The only dirt on her is the bloodstain from the wound on her chest.


    Her face, her body, everything was unscratched, as if nothing happened to her, as if she was not harmed, only killed. Everybody clung to the belief that the pure Mary slept peacefully in that beautiful tree and that she was always away from harm. They all talked among each other whenever they speak of her death regarding their belief that whoever killed Mary did not hurt her because, as they all repeated time and time, God is with her. They would speak never-ending tales as to how she is the very icon of purity in their village, and all are proud to say that they are the witness of this!


    But we all know that''s bullshit. A part of everyone in the village knew that Mary is a slut. She''s a whore, that''s why everybody loves her! Mary is pure, or so they say, but the way this girl opens her legs for other men is no divine secret. Everybody knows Mary is a stuck up bitch who fucks men, and she wouldn''t ask money for it. But if they do slip a few dollars in her cleavage, then it''s appreciated, but not necessarily needed.


    I mean, why would the most celebrated woman in this pleasant old town be an easy target for a serial killer? Because she wasn''t a target, there was no need to have a witch hunt for her; Subject 1 did not even stalk her to her home! She came on her own accord to him. She knocked on a murderer''s door, not knowing that this is the gateway to her demise. But she still did. Mary is not a saint; everybody knows that but she''s kind, so kind, everybody knows that too.


    On the other hand, they also know that she''s a whore. Everyone also knows that this is a massive contributor behind her untimely death. All of the people living among the peaceful community know this as a fact, but nobody has the guts to say this out loud for reasons we will discuss later, so hold on to that thought.


    Never the less, Mary played stupid games, and she got stupid prices. Our team merely wishes to convey the fact that even if she didn''t deserve it, she still had it coming.


    The man tied her to his bed, wiped her with warm water every day, fed her with meals he made himself, made love to her every day, and impregnated her every night. The man worshipped Mary''s silky skin, he longs for her ecstatic moan that gets better every day, he craves for her submissiveness, but he loathes the fact that every man in town already used her in a daily basis. Subject 1 also doesn''t like her boorish attitude of acting like a spoiled little kid. More than anything in this world, the man hates spoiled people, and the intensity of his anger towards her strengthens every day that passes.


    He despises the reality of Mary, but oh, does he love the idea of her: a saintess that will be there for him no matter who he is or no matter what he wants from her. However, he can''t always cling to an idea, he knows that, and that realization tires him. He gets bored fast, after a week, he doesn''t want Mary anymore, but the man is afraid that he won''t be able to get a chance like this again! A beautiful woman offers herself to be his slave until she dies. He wanted to cling onto this opportunity for as long as he wanted. It was a reassuring idea, but the euphoria it brought upon him only lasted for just a week.


    In the second week, he doesn''t want her anymore.


    "You''ve been my bitch for a while, but the only name I call you is ''slut.''" The man said, putting the blunt end of an object inside of Mary''s loose opening.


    "That''s fine, that''s totally fine! It makes me happy, master! Oh, fuck, it makes me happy when you call me ''bitch!''" Mary, with a blindfold on her eyes, yelled, as she raises her waist so the blunt object would go in deeper.


    "What''s your name, girl?"


    "My name is Mary, sir!" Mary gasped and moaned with a broad smile on her face.


    "Do you want to know what I''m putting inside you?"


    "Yes! I mean, no. I mean, yes, yes, yes, I want to know! I want to know what you''re using to fuck my pussy, sir!"


    The man pulled the blunt object from inside of Mary, making her moan loud from the suddenness of what he did. "It''s a knife."


    "Excuse me?"


    The man with a saddened expression pointed the knife towards Mary''s chest. "Poor Mary." And with it, he stabbed her. The sound of her heart as he breaks it apart gives the man an odd feeling of what he could only describe as bliss in its purest form. Mary screamed, but not for long. Her blood was everywhere; it made a massive mess on the man''s bed. Some of it even spilled to his face until she finally blew her final breath.


    He couldn''t see the pain in Mary''s eyes, but the loud screeching she made is enough for the man to know how painful it is for her. Her face that once had an ecstatic expression enveloping it now had nothing but sweat and saliva dripping from all directions of her distorted appearance. Unsurprisingly, till the very end, Mary''s vagina is still gushing wet.


    "Poor, poor, cum dump." He said, licking his lower lip, tasting his salty sweat.


    When the man dispatched Mary''s body towards the fabled oak tree, he was wondering deep within the crevices of his mind just how much he enjoyed the act of killing a frail creature like Mary. He felt no remorse for her, and he felt no need to protect her feeble body. He wanted to crush her, and he did so without a second thought in a heartbeat. A voice inside of him is so eager for more, and nothing is stopping him from abiding by the desire of his subconscious self. He wants so much more than just a two-week experience with a used whore. The sensation of having her may have been long gone, but it was still a feeling the man wouldn''t be able to forget for a while. He wants someone undefiled, something pure. Really pure. Someone unused, unscratched, and willing to be owned.


    So he set his eyes on kidnapping the perfect candidate. However, something, no, someone, thwarted his plans. A man. His name is Chris.

 45 Chris

    It is known that people in this small town are not very fond of the night time, not because of any particular deep-rooted tradition they held that does not coincide well with the darkness of the night. Their fear of stepping out of their home when the moon is the only light shining upon the night sky paralyzed them. It is all because of the looming darkness. The darkness that the shadows of the mountain near their homes cast. All of them are afraid, and none of them wishes to leave their homes in the nocturnal embrace of the evening.


    Except for Chris.


    He is a man of weak stature and has nothing going on for him except for his profound love for the mountains when the black dye of the evening sky was the only color looming on the lush forest. The beauty of the landscape enchants him during the night. Chris always took a leisurely stroll outside to feel the caress of nature in all his five senses. He may be a weak man with a weak constitution, but he surely is a person of a macabre taste.


    The boy had been doing this for a long time now. In his eighteen years of living in this world, he had been doing this nightly walk of his for almost a decade. Always he would have a bright smile in his face. Always he would be filled with happiness in the company of the darkness, but in the many years he had spent doing his nightly visits to the nearby mountains, this might be the one he would remember the most in the limited time he had left in this world.


    This is also the only time he would feel afraid of being in the confines of the mountain he once loved.


    For he has encountered the man that would soon put a dot on the tale of his life.


    That night, under the silver gleam of the pale moonlight, Chris saw Subject 1 dragging the lifeless body of a woman covered with blood and mud in the wet soil of the mountain. Surrounding them is the nearby trees, towering over the feeble body of Chris as he slowly moved the lantern in his hand upward to meet the eye of the man pulling the corpse of a familiar woman. As he panted deeply while feeling his sweat dripping throughout his body, Chris saw the soulless eyes of the murderer in front of him, along with the man''s expressionless face.


    At that very moment, the only thing in Chris'' mind is the acceptance that he cannot run away from this bloodied murderer with his weak body and the recognition that this night will be the night where he will drop dead with no one remembering his name. After all, his family is not fond of him, he has no friends, and he rarely leaves the house in the morning where there are people outside for him to meet. He doesn''t even know Mary, and he''s probably one of the few people who haven''t fucked her silly. The point is that the beating of his heart lessened, and his panting slowly subsided as he leaned his back on a nearby tree.


    The man in front of him dropped the feet of the woman he was dragging after seeing Chris. He knows to himself that he is not gay, but then again, the man is also unsure if he''s really straight. All the man knows is that he has a quality that he likes, and he only finds such a unique variety in a woman. He couldn''t quite articulate what is it precisely that drove him insane with the bodies of the people he likes. All he knows is that he has a subconscious switch in his mind that would snap open when it recognized those specific attributes.


    And more than anything, in the very first time in his life, Subject 1 drooled over the body of another man consciously and willingly. Looking at Chris'' thin body, small height, pale skin, and feminine features from his head down to his feet, Subject 1 knew that he has to own this person regardless of who he is and what his gender might be. There is just something within his mind that clicked after seeing this boy, and he couldn''t quite explain what that is. He wanted to make this boy his property, but he doesn''t have the time to do so. Kidnapping him would need a lot of work; he needs to tie him up, gag him, feed him while he''s struggling, oh, and let''s not even talk about the fact that Chris would definitely struggle if the man kidnapped him.


    Contrary to what Chris believes, countless thoughts are running throughout the mind of this expressionless man. Although he was just staring there at him in front of the woman he had just murdered, his mind is still a mess of choices between kidnapping this boy or murdering him right there and then.


    He''s pondering upon himself.


    Killing Chris is unnecessary. Refusing to kill Chris will mean that the people will catch him. Leaving now is not an option, for he wanted to display Mary''s body for everyone to see.


    However, the man wanted him. The man wanted him so bad that he could hear his heart punching through his ribs, begging him to release his tension and break the boy.


    Break the boy!


    And break the boy, he did. He ran towards Chris. It made the boy shriek with the victim''s eyes bulging out of its socket as he pushed his back onto the tree he was leaning on as hard as he can as if trying to bury himself onto the log. The sound of heavy steps on the dry leaves and the wet soil permeated throughout the small world between Chris and Subject 1 as the man ran towards him at full speed.


    The man then wrapped his hands around Chris'' soft, thin, and pale neck tight, gripping it as if he wanted to squash it with both his hands like a fruit in between his palms. The boy stuck his tongue out with his spit drooling out his agape mouth while his pupils were hitting the roof of his eye socket. He kicked the soil and the dry leaves around him in vain as he feels the fear seeping through his bones while he gradually realizes that he is losing the oxygen in his body. Chris scratched the strong hands around his neck, bruising the man''s skin a bit, but the boy was still not at all strong to resist him. Although Subject 1 loved the gap between his strength and the feebleness of the boy, he could not quite relish the fact that he still wouldn''t die even after a few more moments. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The man would whisper to himself the words ''why wouldn''t he die,'' and the boy''s inherent struggle to go against him till the very end is not at all a pleasing sight. The man growled as he gritted his teeth while his grip on the boy''s neck tightened even further; he then saw the boy''s head tilting a little bit as his expression grew even more demented and distorted than ever before. The man grimaced while trying to contain his anger from exploding into a booming scream that would echo throughout the mountains. He''s only happy that Chris did not scream and just accepted the inevitability of his death, but nevertheless, he''s still not dead.


    And then, as he tightened his hand even further while Chris'' head tilted in an even weirder position, it happened.


    Crack.


    As Chris'' panting subsided and his pale skin grew even whiter, the man realized that he had failed to suffocate the boy. Instead, he had broken his neck.


    That.


    That turned him on.


    I know!


    It''s fucked up!


    But there''s nothing ordinary about this report, to begin with, and frankly, you should have expected this.


    Then again, your feelings about Subject 1 is not the limelight here. We are talking about how horny the man felt when he heard the boy''s neck snap like a wafer sandwich.


    He fumed; he blushed; he couldn''t quite get over it. The man felt so overcome with the feeling he had felt at that moment while he has his arms around his weak, pale, thin neck. Oh, he found the boy''s neck so, so appealing, and even tastier than the sight of woman''s genitalia.


    Thus, after displaying Mary''s corpse on the fabled tree that the villagers held dear, Subject 1 carried the body of the dead boy in his hands, like a prince delivering his princess to his bedchamber. The man slowly and gently laid Chris'' body on his bed. Then, he slightly loosened the hardened and pained expression on the boy''s corpse to change it into the look of an innocent person''s calm expression. Subject 1 pulled Chris'' eyes shut, closed his mouth by pushing his jaws up, and then slowly pulled Chris'' cheeks to form an angelic smile on the feminine outline of the boy''s face.


    Then the man slowly climbed on top of Chris while caressing his broken neck; yes, his full attention is on the boy''s neck.


    Throughout the night, before the sun of the morning dawn rises to shower the world with its full gleam, the man licked and touched and bit the boy''s neck, not minding the smell of his corpse all over his van.


    While everyone in the village was so fixated on the sight of Mary''s corpse, he took this initiative to let Chris'' body flow on a nearby river by putting him on top of a wooden raft he had made in a hurry. Before releasing the boy''s corpse to the elements of nature, he kissed the boy''s broken neck one last time and left it drifting on the ravaging flow of the river.


    He didn''t know his name. But he loves his neck.


    "Poor boy." He mutters to himself while he felt the way his neck felt in his hands. "Poor, poor neck boy."


    And he kept thinking about the boy''s broken neck all day while he looks for the perfect person to dominate.


    That was when he met Laura.

 46 Laura

    Ahh, Laura.


    I''m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, I know the report I am giving you right now is not funny, but I just can''t stop myself from laughing. Oh, Laura! That dumb bitch was easy; she''s probably his most natural target! The word kidnap is too big of a word to describe what he did to her. There was no need for the man to paralyze her or to hurt her or to beg her. None of those are necessary to kidnap someone as stupid as Laura.


    All the man ever needed to do was to ask Laura politely with that godforsaken charming smile of his. Instantly, like a thunderbolt hitting the lower half of her body, she agreed without a second thought.


    The man combed his greasy hair with his fingers, massaging every strand he could catch gently on his fingertips, but in doing so, he made his already messy hairstyle turn even messier than ever before. "May I take you to my van?" He said while licking his lips, twice.


    Laura looked at the man. When the man asked those words to her, she was watering the plants in her front yard. "Why would I do such a thing?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Because you''re v-very beauty-ti-tiful, and I want to t-touch you-ou." The man said as he scrapes his hand on his neck while he wiped his other palm on the surface of his dirt-filled jogging pants.


    Laura looked at the man''s bulging eyes. Both of them did not move. Perhaps the thick layers of blackness underneath his eyes bothered her? The man, however, believed that an awkward atmosphere loomed around them because of his neon violet sweatshirt and floral jogging pants. He couldn''t retain locking his gaze on Laura and diverted his eyes to his worn-out, black rubber shoes.


    As I said, the man only asked. He did so most uneasily and abnormally! And what do you know!? Two weeks later, Laura was already found dead, flowing like a log in the river. Nobody talked about her much, though, when they found out about Laura, of course, the gossip spread! However, after her funeral, it was as if it never happened at all! The people talked about Mary, the village whore, again like Laura''s death did not exist after shedding a few tears for her. It was funny, so laughable that the man talked about it religiously in the online forum he frequently visited.


    Well, at least people talked about Laura for a little bit. Compared to her, nobody noticed that Chris disappeared. Heck, nobody even talked about him when his parents reported him as missing. Then again, even the boy''s parents did not feel any worries about his whereabouts because they thought he''s just somewhere out there in the wilderness or in nature''s embrace where he belongs. Well, to be fair, they''re not wrong.


    Anyway, let''s go back to the topic at hand.


    Laura was nice. She''s petite, she has pale skin, she has alluring feminine features, she''s short, and most importantly of all, she''s unused! A virgin, alas! With a thin neck that she''s not afraid to show.


    Still, she''s very dumb; she''s stupid, she didn''t even realize that the man had kept her captive because he told her that they''re already married! Laura''s intellect is nothing compared to her beauty. However, the man doesn''t want to have just a dumber version of Mary! He craved someone else... He doesn''t know what he wants, but it''s not Laura. He doesn''t know what it is about her that irked him so much. Subject 1 simply doesn''t think that Laura is the perfect person that he''s seeking. In fact, a few parts in the man''s head even debated on the thought that maybe the boy he had just recently killed would be a better company, but he would never know the truthness of this statement.


    Nevertheless, he clung to her. He goes to bed with her. He prohibits her from leaving the house, but since Laura is too dense to understand the gravity of her situation, she did so without question. He even read the bible with her, and for two months, he was confident that he was having the best time of his life with her. He genuinely treats her as his wife, and Laura did so to him. She treated him like his husband, both in the house, most notably in bed. Laura is a pure and kind-hearted saint that Subject 1 was looking for, unlike Mary! She''s not that cock-hungry whore. Laura is the woman a man thinks about when they ask themselves who their dream girl is. Such a shame. If only she knows how to answer two times two, or any question an elementary-school student could answer, for that matter.


    Hearing the quiet Laura moan loud in submission while the man used her body is a reason good enough for him to keep her. He would wrap his arms around her neck to feel the sensation of how it would pulse on his palm. Bump, bump, bump, every time he thurst his hip forward, he could feel her pulse hastening. He would want to feel the way it felt when she swallowed her saliva. The way her throat moves in a somewhat downward descent in between the man''s thumbs and forefingers made him feel alive. He relished the hotness of her pale, smooth neck more than anything she could offer him. Just the thought of his hands wrapping almost the entirety of her neck was enough to make him drool as if his mouth contained a dam of saliva dripping on his woman''s face. She would then accept his spit while he gently choked her feeble neck; sometimes, she would even open her mouth with her tongue out to swallow the man''s fluids. He would kiss her neck every time; he would even lick it if given a chance. The sheer feeling of tasting, touching, smelling, and seeing her neck would drive him insane every day until it erupts into a massive orgasm that would burst onto Laura''s pale and thin body. Every ticking second that passes without Laura''s neck around his immediate vicinity would drive the blood in his body into a never-ending race from out of his fiercely beating heart. If given the opportunity, he would nibble her nape as he wrapped his arms around her waist while she''s cooking just to remind her who owns her.


    And she would allow all of these advances like a loyal puppy, wagging her tail to receive her master''s treat.


    She''s his bitch. That''s what I''m trying to say.


    Subject 1 even bought a ring for her. He remembers how fast his heartbeat was when he saw Laura''s expression. Her face was beet red when he slid her finger through the ring for the first time. In the man''s head, those days he spent with her was a time filled with ecstasy. He even had those nights where he doesn''t want to have sex with Laura. He just wants to kiss her gently on her lips and hug her tightly as the night passes. He felt something he didn''t have for a woman like Mary. He felt something different from the happiness he felt when he heard the boy''s neck snap with a crack compared to the euphoria he experienced with Laura. He felt joy, he felt loved, and he felt special. For a man like him, only Laura possesses the truest form of innocence that only love could give.


    Then again, she''s stupid, worse than a middle school kid. I mean, come on, put yourself on the man''s shoes, you don''t want to associate yourself with someone as dumb as that. He wants to have an actual conversation with someone who has something good to say and not a perfectly-programmed android wife. She''s a 1950s man''s dream, but for him, she''s nothing but a blank slate, a nightmare!


    Whelp, can''t help it.


    Laura needs to go.


    "It''s so weird for you to ask me to go out suddenly like this, darling. What''s gotten into you?" Laura said while packing all of her clothes, the clothes the man bought for her.


    "Is it really weird for me to ask my wife to have a date with me?" The man approached Laura and hugged her tightly, kissing her neck. "Is it weird for me to ask the most beautiful woman on Earth to have a picnic with me?"


    Laura flushed. She faced the man and kissed him repeatedly, not intending to stop pecking his lips. She didn''t even realize that the man is not returning the same affection to her.


    She giggled when she saw that the man''s lip turned beet red because of her lipstick. "Of course not." She said, feeling the man''s face with her hands. "Where are we going anyway, darling? I don''t think I fancy the food in Betty''s restaurant; her food is not very romantic!"


    "We''re going near the mountain cliff. I always wanted to have a picnic there with you! I want to show you that not even the beautiful scenery of the river beneath the cliff could beat your beauty." He said while caressing her neck with both his arms.


    She went to the picnic with him that day. He was, oh, so cautious, he doesn''t want anyone to see them together, but he also doesn''t want to alarm Laura with his twitchy behavior. When they were already by themselves, sitting near the cliff alone, at last, it was as if the man threw the weight of the heavens itself on Laura''s homemade apple pie. After all, this will be the last time he''ll have a taste of her homemade food.


    They enjoyed each other''s company. They chatted along with the chirping of the distant birds. They laughed as they heard the sound of the rushing wave hitting the stones below the cliff. They told each other how they loved one another as the northern breeze hits the leaves in the forest. There was nothing around them, so their surroundings should be silent, but the rustling of the leaves along with the sharp slaps of the afternoon breeze produced a shrill noise all around them. From the way Laura''s eyes twitched and her grin slowly faded into a cautious smile, the man realized that she''s not thrilled with the looming daemons of nature''s embrace around them.


    Doubt.


    The man is feeling confused, does he want to end this beautiful thing he had with Laura? Is he that earnest about disposing of this immaculate icon of a woman? Is he willing to go back to his lonely time with himself and gave up the blissful and innocent life he had with Laura? Does he want another whore knocking on his van''s door?


    Doubt.


    Does he really want to kill Laura?


    "Baby?" the man whispered in a shudder.


    Is he really willing to end this relationship he had made with her just like in a single day?

 47 Jean

    So, uh, now we''re gonna have to talk about Jean...


    Strange. Who''s Jean again? I don''t remember her. Even Subject 1 doesn''t remember her accurately since I can''t seem to find much information about her in the man''s memory database! Who in the world is Jean? The man knows her name; the man remembers saying the words "Poor Jean" before inevitable murdering her. However, the man has no recollection of who she is.


    Oh wait; he knows now why he didn''t remember much about this woman.


    Yes. Jean is the victim that the man hated the most.


    She was that beautiful woman he kidnapped when he was drunk that night after partying on the death anniversary of Mary. I know, fucked up, right? They threw a party to commemorate a murdered woman''s death. It''s so beautifully disgusting. However, the man didn''t mind it that much. He didn''t even know that this party in the tavern at that moment was one to commemorate one of his victim''s death. He was just trying to drown the deep rush of melancholy creeping through the cracks appearing in his mind. Then again, we don''t really know why the man is feeling so blue, for, at that very moment, he had already forgotten the face of Laura! He couldn''t even remember the outline of Mary''s body that he once loved. He could still remember the sensation of Chris'' neck on his hands, but other than that, there really is no reason for him to retain his memory of the boy.


    He just danced among the crowd of people lurking about the feisty tavern and dunked bottles after bottles of whatever drink the bartender was giving him.


    The party was not the craziest one in the world. It''s filled with older people and a few young ones, so it''s most definitely not the one that high school students knew intimately to their hearts. Nevertheless, it''s still a party. Disco music is playing in a cheap speaker that barely lasted the entire night, and people of varying ages danced among one another to drown the memory of a fallen neighbor and friend with the taste of booze. A few hours later, the only music one could hear at the party is the sound of the older village people, chanting a polka. Luckily, the man knows how to sing it; he lives on the outskirts of the town long enough to see the culture of these people. They might not know much about this unsociable lad, but they do know that he''s quite a charismatic person who quickly drew the attention of everyone towards him. Thus, he sang with his victim''s family and friends happily while groping the breast of a new-found lady.


    Jean.


    They sang a merry tune with the person who killed the woman to whom they dedicate this very party. A bunch of men happily partied in her memory. I bet Mary would be immensely turned on right now, seeing all these men dancing and drinking in her name. Too bad she''s dead.


    Going back to the topic at hand, Subject 1 left the party with Jean. Their arms wrapped around each other. Nobody saw them leave; everybody was either unconscious or too drunk to care.


    When he woke up the next day, the man felt good, rejuvenated even. He felt refreshed, and to be quite honest; Jean gave him a great night, the sex was amazing. He wondered then why this is the first time he saw a beauty like Jean. Sexy and beautiful with a very gentle voice and soft skin, the man didn''t know much about the other parts of her body such as her neck, nor does he know more about her personality since he''s too drunk, but she was perfect nonetheless! However, when he came about in the morning, she wasn''t on the bed.


    He put a boxer short on and left his van. He''s still hopeful that Jean is around, that maybe he could know her better; Subject 1 is hoping that he could fuck her like a barbarian again, strangle her neck like he meant to kill her rotten and breed the woman to mark her as his property. He walked around. Still, he didn''t see anyone pass by his lonesome van on the outskirts of the village. There''s not even an animal about, and the wind is oddly still. It''s as if Jean left a spell on him and the ecstasy he felt that night will be naught but a fond memory. How disappointing.


    He was about to enter his van again when he heard an elderly woman calling out his attention.


    "Oh, I''m so sorry for being rude to you, young man!" The elderly woman said, gasping and panting with a gentle smile, the kind of smile an elderly woman gives to their grandchildren. "I wasn''t able to hear your name when we were on that anniversary party yesterday!"


    "It''s okay, ma''am. I''m not sure if I know you, too, so I guess we''re even." He laughed louder than he should have, but the elderly woman didn''t particularly mind. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Silly you! Of course, you know my name!" The elderly woman chuckled. "Don''t tell me you forgot already after that exciting thing we did last night?"


    The man raised an eyebrow with a disgusting thought running through his head though he refuses to accept it. "Excuse me?"


    "It''s me, silly! Jean!" The old woman said with a chuckle. "We were having the best moment of our lives last night, and I know how much you loved momma."


    Crack.


    The man felt as if he heard his sanity, his manhood, and his boner crack and broke both at the same time. That last word that the hag said rang in his head, and slowly, he filtered all his fond memory of the beautiful woman he held that night with the newer revelation of this elderly woman who was still speaking in front of him. The disgust he felt almost made him nauseous when he pictured both of them having sex in his bed. It made his stomach churn even further after remembering that he masturbated earlier while smelling the scent of Jean in his blanket.


    The man was angry, madder than Laura''s father, when the villagers found his daughter''s body. He was filled with an unrivaled amount of pure hatred for this ugly hag standing in front of him that the only thing he could hear is a ringing sound in his head. The ringing reverberating throughout his mind blocked everything that the woman was saying, although he could see that her lips are moving.


    Jean looked at the man like a schoolgirl and smiled like a young woman in her 20s. That was the last straw for the man. He couldn''t bear the disgust he felt for having affecting towards this creature of times immemorial standing before him. The man couldn''t keep the anger inside him, and he couldn''t believe that he loved every moment he had with this old hag!


    Subject 1 clenched his fist and bit his lower lip as if he wants it to bleed out. His eyes are covered with red veins, and to top this off, his forehead produced beads of sweat profusely. It was a strange sight for someone who was merely standing in front of a woman he barely knew. His body trembled in anger as he sees Jean, still talking nonstop even though he''s not receiving everything that she speaks of in his brain.


    Whatever mercy or sanity this man has in his head is gone. Whatever he''s about to do now is a taboo rooted deep within human culture, and the world could blame it all on Jean. The man even pointed his fingers at Jean for the lousy weather. It was such a simple conundrum, but it''s enough to drive his malevolence to transcend into a different form entirely. Maybe it got something to do with the woman''s overly revealing clothes for someone who''s probably already around the age of 60? Perhaps his blood boiled because of the ugliness of his skin, contrary to how much he loved the Jean in his fantasies! We can even guess that this anger of his came from a more emotional effect that are far too complicated for us to discuss in this panel. It''s just such a deep anger that we just... can''t understand it.


    Yeah, that''s right, I couldn''t quite understand the anger he felt for Jean. He was older, much, much older than the woman in her dreams, without a doubt; she''s also one ugly hag, and I could understand why he would hate her for her ugliness. I would also agree with him in hating old people. Truly I can get past the part where the man hates the sight of old people or the idea of fucking one.


    "Poor..." He said in a shaking voice; he doesn''t even want to say her name. Sweat drips all over his lean body. "...Jean."


    I could understand hating her came because of something as petty as her being and old ugly hag, he just hates old people. I don''t empathize with his anger, but I could understand.


    But killing her?


    That I cannot understand.


    That day, on a hot summer afternoon, the people cried and shouted all over the marketplace. The shock was all over their pretty little faces as the new talk in town is the wife of their former mayor, who died with thirty-four stab wounds all over her face to the tip of her toe. Or was it thirty-five? Eeehhh... I''m not sure, but the sight was gruesome for everyone in the quiet town, but it was beyond an artistic masterpiece in the eyes of the man. It was so grim that although they kept talking on and on about it in their neighborhood, nobody mentions the state of her body when they found her.


    Jean''s death is the first time the town witnessed this kind of grotesque tale. For fifteen hours, they let the body of Jean alone, rotting in the mountain, until the state police handled the situation. For almost a week, they did not let their children outside of their houses. Jean''s funeral didn''t even start, but everybody had already forced each other to erase the memory of her death in their minds.


    Once again, Subject 1 made history, for, in the people''s mind, nobody had suffered such a gruesome death before in this small village in the middle of the forest. Some of them are even starting to talk about leaving the town entirely. It was a valid point; why stay anyway?


    Nobody died with such a pained expression before in this village. Then again, they only gossiped among one another that Jean had a pained expression. It doesn''t actually hold any factual foundation. In reality, the hag didn''t have a face anymore when they found her. The people of this once lively and peaceful town denied the sad, pitiful, unbearable, and disgusting expression Jean had in her last moments.


    They even denied that the same murderer who killed Mary and Laura did this to her. They knew that the murderer is very picky when it comes to his victims; why would he suddenly murder an elderly woman? He may not be a saint, but they didn''t know him as a person who would bombard his victims with countless stab wounds. At least that''s what they all believed about the man because the only death that mattered to them is Mary''s, and Subject 1 presented her body to the town folks as if she was treated like a princess before her death. In fact, they didn''t speak of Laura''s name when her parents moved away to a different country. They didn''t even remember Chris'' existence.


    He was so mad, and it still maddens him till now to the point that every time he walks to the village to buy food, he gets this underlying urge to thwack the hearts of the elderly. He keeps imagining it every time in the comfort of his van as he touches himself. He would think about the mangled corpse of an elderly person, the beauty of the adults'' confusion, and the fear in the young ones'' eyes. These are what drive his libido to the point of orgasm. Sometimes, while walking in the town square, he would prematurely ejaculate while thinking of twisting an old lady''s head.


    That''s just how much he hates them. He loathes them in a way that touches his sexual urges.


    Okay, look. I don''t hate the old hag, she''s just doing her thing. You shouldn''t hate her too even though she''s a few decades too late to be such a whore. She literally did nothing wrong. Her only mistake in this entire mess is that she picked the wrong man to sleep with that night. Can you really blame her? I mean, she''s old and soggy and weak then a man suddenly flirted with her and said she''s all sorts of beautiful things about her. She was simply swayed by a man blinded by the power of alcoholic beverages.


    To be honest, this is by far the man''s weakest kill, and in my opinion, his most disappointing moment. It just didn''t clicked well for me that he would react in such an oddly aggressive way just because he got catfished. Given that he would murder Jean regardless of her age anyway, he got a bit sloppy on this one, and frankly, I''m surprised the police didn''t manage to capture him after this one.


    I guess, he''s just not good at dealing with surprises, which is an understatement to say the least. And it affected him in the most radical way that is completely unwarranted for, even for a man like him. I wouldn''t be surprised then that he''s now scurrying around to find a better woman.


    Thus, while walking down the town square to buy the usual things he would cook, he found her.


    Carol.

 48 Meeting Carol

    When he first spotted Carol, a local girl who was selling vegetables in the market, he wanted to have her right away. He wanted to own a young and smooth-looking woman like her so much after the trauma that the ugly hag left him. To him, the experience was so scarring that it remained on his mind. It made him feel like the old woman had just taken his masculinity away from him, and now he so desperately wanted to bring himself back to life. At that moment, the only thing he wanted to do this is to dump all of his frustration on the petite lady who sold him a kilo of carrots every day.


    He always noticed how beautiful Carol is. Well, she was not a supermodel, she''s most certainly not the prettiest girl he had ever seen. However, at the moment, when Carol gave him the bag of cabbages with a smile on that fateful Monday morning, he knew she is the new target. This made me think that maybe the man lowered his taste a little bit after his affair with Jean, not to mention, he had been sex-free for longer than he would usually allow. Don''t get me wrong; Carol is not ugly. She just looks so dull compared to Subject 1''s usual targets. Well, sure, Jean is one nasty old fuck, but the one we need to weigh here in the Jean in the man''s mind, not the reality of her. Carol paled in comparison to Mary and Laura on so many levels other than her beauty, but even that failed compared to someone like Chris, who had soft and effeminate traits, which made the boy seem like he''s a girl with a penis.


    Carol is just... a girl, just a woman doing her thing in this bitch of a world, an innocent lady who has an honest job. She''s the type of woman that would stand at the same level as her lover, and she''s also not the kind of person that would willingly surrender her body to anyone with a dick. Carol doesn''t have any weird hobbies, too, and she''s just the right amount of age to be strong enough to work in the busy market. She''s also not awfully effeminate too. In fact, aside from her pretty face, there''s nothing else that indicated her femininity throughout her body. She is quite muscular, after all, probably because of the many physical activities she has to go through in her day job. She''s a stark contrast compared to the man''s usual taste of petite women. Again, she''s not ugly, but compared to the rest of the man''s victims and to such a fine beauty like me, well, this innocent lady is no match.


    I guess the man is just so sexually deprived lately; he never fucked as much as he did. After all, Carol had always been in his eyes. She had always been around him every day, for he would always buy ingredients from her store. Nevertheless, he never cared much about her until now.


    Yes, not until now. However, now that the innocent lady became the man''s target, that means the man will not stop until she begged him to stop.


    It was the same day, at the same time. Carol would look at him with a bright smile, and the man would take the cabbages from her slender, pale hands with an awkward grin which Carol seemed to enjoy seeing.


    That day was awfully hotter than usual, so Carol was wearing something looser than what she would usually wear. Most of the time, her body would be covered from head to toe, but this time, she''s wearing a thin T-shirt that clearly exposes her neck. Seeing that pale, luscious neck of hers drove him insane. It was smooth, it was slender too, and it looked like it was a perfect hit on the man''s hands. Everything about her neck made him want to lick it even further, which made the man bit his lower lip, trying his hardest not to let out his drool.


    She is the one, and if not her, then he doesn''t want anyone else. He would then proceed to do various things to capture Carol. No matter what he happens, he wanted to own her.


    Thus, that Thursday night in the same week was when he truly realized the perfection of Carol. That was also the day when he waited for almost two hours so that he could corner her. He didn''t do all these just to stalk her aimlessly, no, he wanted to find the opportunity to have her all alone.


    The people of this small town never learned. They are aware that a killer is in their midst, but these people still let a young lady like Carol leave in her lonesome in the middle of the night. Perhaps because they thought that since Carol knows karate, she could defend herself on the enigma that is to come on her way. However, she won''t be able to protect herself against a person like Subject 1. She may be the strongest woman in the world, but in the end, she''s still human. As you may have already known, the most important thing we realized in the many years we have operated this Organization is that the body of human beings indeed is one fragile, soft thing.


    The man knows that there is a lingering deep feeling of absolute fear beneath the facade of calmness that Carol is showing on her pretty, pale face. She knows that there is something out there. More than anything, the innocent lady is afraid of what is to come, of the unknown, of the dark, and of death. The man knows that Carol is wary of him, but she doesn''t know it yet.


    Subject 1 knows full well that her intricate knowledge of these elaborate ways she could use to defend herself will prove useless this time.


    After all, they''re all defenses against someone who would strike her physically. The man already has all the knowledge he needed to keep her in his hands, and he wouldn''t be stupid enough to do that against a black belt.


    However, in retrospect, she won''t be able to defend herself if no one attacks her.


    Technically, the man does not intend to attack her. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Now that you had met Carol, it''s time to talk about the start of how this seemingly unimportant woman became the most critical person in the man''s progression into the unstoppable menace that he would soon become.

 49 Taking Carol

    Looking at the way his eyes dilate like that of a prowling predator, we all know that he intends to attack her.


    "Carol?" Said the man, almost like a whisper. He was hiding in the confines of the darkness of the dim street a few inches away from her. Standing at a shadowy area from an intersection a few inches away from Carol, he smiled with an intent to ruin.


    "Who''s there?" Carol said, almost like a shout. She didn''t move, but her fist is ready to strike. "It''s you, isn''t it? The killer of all those women who died. I know people like you, and I''m ready! I waited for five months to have this moment with you!"


    "Jesus Christ, Carol, no! Look, okay, calm down, it''s me!" The man then revealed himself to Carol, licking his lips as he chuckles.


    At that time, the man was wearing something formal and neater than he would usually wear. It was a white polo shirt accompanied with black slacks and a near pair of black leather shoes. The man''s hair was combed neatly, perhaps with a hair product that he never used up until this moment. He had also taken the effort of shaving off his stubble, which he rarely does for anybody. It indeed showed just how charming he is if he just put the effort to make himself look presentable, which is why I think he would be an excellent face for the Organization! His green eyes, long eyelashes, thick eyebrows, they''re all a perfect match! His perfect jawline is just a cherry on top. Along with how neatly he presented himself, he even paired it with a pinch of Caron Poivre, a perfume that genuinely accentuated his masculinity.


    "Oh, my God!" Carol replied after seeing her with a panicked look on her face. "I-I''m so, so sorry! I thought you were... Oh, God, this is so awkward, I''m so sorry!"


    The man then chuckled before slowly moving towards her without, trying his hardest not to break eye contact to look at her neck. "So, you''re waiting for me for five months, huh?"


    "What? No! I mean..." When Carol realized what was going on, her jaw dropped just like her adrenaline to fight. "Oh man, man, you scared me! You really, really scared me!" He then lowered her hands before showing the slight trembling in her hands.


    The man licked his upper lip before biting the lower as his gaze fell slowly onto her neck. "I''m sorry. Actually, I''m just about to go home from a date, but it didn''t seem to work out. I think she doesn''t like me." He chuckled while caressing his nape as he slowly inched closer towards Carol.


    "Wow. Date, huh? Someone really ditched you? She must be stupid." Carol sneered while moving a bit closer to the man as well, grazing his shoulder onto his arm as she tried to get closer to her.


    The man noticed that she had broken the distance between them deliberately, which meant that there is no need for him to do a few parts of his plan. No worries though, Carol''s enthusiasm towards him just made all of this easier.


    "What do you mean?"


    "I mean," Carol said with her face beet red. "I mean, like... Ugh, never mind. This is so awkward."


    The man chuckled while he looked at Carol''s neck while she''s not looking. "It''s okay."


    Carol was not looking at the man''s direction, so she didn''t realize that he''s looking directly at his neck. She thought that he was looking at her face all this time, which made her blush even more than usual.


    She cleared her throat and spoke to break the ice. "So what got you here in 3rd Street? This place is quite far from the town square. I assume that''s where you had your date."


    "Oh, actually, I usually use this path whenever I go home. I never thought I''d bump into you here!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Lies.


    The man memorized the path Carol took whenever she would come home and whenever she would go to the market. He also knew the alternative routes she would take, and he already knew the people that would go with her on certain days. Knowing this meant that the man also knew when she would walk all by herself. In the span of two weeks that he had spent stalking her, he had already known most of her daily routine.


    Carol sighed with a gentle smile. "Yeah, actually sometimes I would walk to different streets where there are more people around just so I could, you know, feel more secure, I guess? That''s probably why we never really bump into each other."


    "How come you still come here then?" The man already knows the answer, but he still asked anyway. "I know this area a lot. It''s dark around here. Probably because there are fewer people living around here."


    "Yeah, it''s just..." Carol trembled as she swallowed her spit.


    "Look at you," The man whispered while caressing her exposed neck. He just couldn''t help himself from doing it. "you look so tense. I''m sure it''s better if you would walk in the main street." Carol didn''t seem to mind him touching her neck, so he kept doing it, which made his heart skip plenty of beats.


    "Well, it''s all because this like a shortcut I would use so that I could reach my house a bit earlier," Carol mumbled with a dejected tone. Everything she''s saying is already information that the man is already aware of, though. "Friday is just such a tiring day for me, so I want to go home as quickly as I can, you know?"


    "Why don''t you use this street every day then?" He asked with a gentle smile though he already knows the answer.


    "Well, it''s a conscious choice I made. I''m kinda scared because of all this you-know-what going around recently." Carol said, blushing when she realized that the man''s warm hand was massaging her neck. She didn''t seem to mind it. Heck, it seemed like she likes it. "I don''t know; I''m kinda relieved you''re here. You live around here then?"


    "Um... Sort of, yeah. I take this path every day." The man said, realizing what he had been doing and slowly pulled his hands back.


    Lies.


    This is the first time he used this path to go home. He rarely goes here, especially recently, because this is the neighborhood where Jean once lived. He couldn''t even fathom to think why he''s still not nauseous after thinking of that hag''s name. Let alone walking in a neighborhood where she once lived in now. Even so, even after the many times, he had shown us how much he hated Jean, we still don''t get it.


    "Well," Carol chuckled, feeling a bit sad that the man pulled his hands away from her. "See you tomorrow!"


    "Wait, Carol!" The man shouted, reaching out her arms to her as if she''s a faraway dream, but he didn''t move. "I know this sounds weird and super suspicious, but I''ve been visiting your store a lot of times already. I don''t know how I''m supposed to say it, but I think you''re beautiful and-"


    "Do you wanna have coffee with me?" Carol interrupted with the same sugary sweet smile she always had whenever the man met him. That was the smile that captured the hearts of many men, the same smile that made a bloodied murderer smitten with obsession. "My house is just a mile away; we can walk together there.


    "R-really?" The man stuttered, he couldn''t believe how easy it took for him to get this far. He still had a lot of things in his plan he wanted to do, but now he''s almost at the final step.


    "Yeah, silly!" The innocent lady said with a chuckle. "You can say whatever you want to say there."


    "Yes." The man responded almost instantaneously. "I mean, yeah, sure! I want to, Carol! I want to, really!"


    Thus, the story of a very nervous man and a sweet innocent lady begun as they walk along a muddy country pavement. With no care about the dark world around them, Carol wrapped her hands around the man''s arm. It made the man''s heart skip a beat while thinking about the feeling of wrapping her neck tight using that same arm she''s touching. As he feels Carol''s soft skin scraping through his limb, he swallowed hard as if he had just taken a large pill.


    This is the first time for him to feel so nervous next to a lady. Perhaps, nervous is not the right word to use, though. Subject 1 is beyond excited, exhilarated, euphoric! He hoped that she didn''t notice the drug that he''s grasping tight on his fist within his pocket. After all, he doesn''t have an excuse as to why he has a sleeping pill with him.


    Carol stopped in front of a typical country home; both of them went inside, and the man swore that she was extra clingier when she served his coffee. She sat right beside him on the sofa, not even an inch apart, it was as if they''re glued together. None of them spoke, they just enjoyed the hot creamy coffee together as they feel the evening breeze in their skin.


    "So, um..." Carol said, rapidly blinking.


    "Yeah?" The man said before taking a sip of his cup.


    She took a deep breath while slowly massaging her chest. "What were you trying to say earlier?"


    "Oh, that?" The man said before placing his coffee on top of the table before him. "Well, let''s just enjoy our coffee first."


    Carol wrapped her arms around the man''s waist. That''s not the man''s style, though; he carried her to his lap, making her squeal and laugh.


    "You seem sleepy." The man whispered as he touches Carol''s neck.


    She chuckled in response. "I don''t know; maybe it''s because it''s extra busy earlier, and my mind is kinda heavy right now."


    "I see." The man whispered while licking his lips, trying his very best not to nibble her nape. "Listen, Carol; I want you to know what I always wanted to say to you from the very beginning."


    "Yeah?" At this point, the drug is already in effect. In fact, Carol should already be unconscious by now, but her fortitude is so strong that she managed to stay awake. I guess she really wanted to hear what he had to say. Pfft, I bet she wishes that she hadn''t heard about it instead.


    "I want to break you."


    "Huh?" Carol whispered, her eyes heavy and her body weak that it feels like she''ll fall on the ground if it wasn''t for the man''s hand steadying her balance with her hands on her neck.


    "I want to rape you. I want to enjoy every bit of you until I break you. By then, I know that I will never be bored of your tiny little ass and your flat chest, fuck. I''ll make your pussy so loose, and then I''ll fuck your ass next. Then I''ll fuck your skull until the only taste your cute little mouth would recognize is my cock."


    "I..." Carol is about to pass out, but the man can still feel the vigor in her tone. He knew that this innocent lady had already realized what''s going on with her. She had already placed the pieces together and realized what he''s about to do to her.


    "We''re going to have a lot of fun together, Carol. Don''t you want that, huh?" The man whispered before licking the innocent lady''s neck as her consciousness slowly descends into nothingness. "I own you now, bitch."


    "Ah. Ah..." Carol moaned. Those words are the only thing she could mutter.


    The man then pulled her hair downwards, making her head fell onto the table. "We''re gonna have a lot of fun times together, you and I." He said before spitting on her face.


    With that, Carol started seeing black.

 50 Breaking Carol

    When Carol passed out, the man couldn''t help himself but let his happiness out. With the sleeping prey helpless on the predator''s lap, it felt as if the darkness of the world laughed along with him. He very well expects that she will not be an easy target. He knew that Carol is smart, outstanding kind of lass and that she can see right through people''s bullshit. That''s a part of her job, after all, and she managed to utilize that perk of hers rather well. That''s why the ghastliness of the man''s laughter wouldn''t seem to cease anytime soon, for Carol danced through his plans easier than he expected.


    Prince charming threw all his anxiety away as he carries the light body of sleeping beauty to his castle. Thus, the bed will be very busy again soon.


    The man chained Carol''s body like a weakened circus pet caged on a metallic cube encasement. Everywhere within his mobile home were riddled with images of his dead victims plastered all over the walls. The man peered through the pictures of his young prey while he plowed the insides of Carol mercilessly with his magnum dong.


    At the first week, the man decided to take it easy and take care of Carol whilst keeping her gagged, chained, bound, and slightly sedated. Her body is stretched out using chains on each of her limbs. A position like this formed her stretched body into that of an X shape as she occupied the entirety of the man''s bed. As a way of assurance that the man meant well, he did not sleep on his bed for two days, he didn''t even touch Carol, and that meant he didn''t feed her either. For two days straight, the man did not give Carol the liberty to move, speak, leave, eat, or drink. To top it all off, The man would occasionally give Carol aphrodisiac drugs about three times a day on her arm. The man also did not allow her to wear clothes. Thus, in the entirety of her stay in his mobile home, she remained naked, shamed, and cold. In addition to all these mental strain he''s giving Carol, the man is even pushing her further into the edge. To do so, he disallowed her to use the toilet even if the poor innocent lady begged for it. Thus, the bed remained covered in... well, piss, cum, and shit. I know I am expected to dial-up my tone on these word choices, but it is paramount for me to be as straightforward as I can in describing what had happened on this van and this woman.


    You see, the objective of this man in doing this is to make Carol feel helpless and scared. Now, we can argue all day long as to why he did this to Carol, although he hadn''t done any of these straining torture to his other victims. However, I refuse to be a part of such a dialogue, for that would just be a waste of time. What I''m trying to point out here is that the man is more than willing to work with people regardless of how unsanitary they might seem. Also, the man is even willing and not at all reluctant to perform harrowing things to people if push comes to shove. Some of us do not have the same stomach as Subject 1, and to be quite honest, that indifference of his in seeing graphic sceneries of people suffering from their excrement is something lacking in the Organization at present. This means that Subject 1 is perfect, not only on the prospect of being the face of our group, but he''s also capable as a leader that can handle backdoor deals. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Back on track, the man started feeding Carol in her third day chained on the man''s bed. The poor innocent lady felt afraid, tired, humiliated, hungry, and thirsty. Among all those complaints that she had, she''s also feeling extremely horny after receiving nine shots of aphrodisiac drugs through the syringes. Soon, instead of food, Carol started begging the man to scratch the itch lurking within the deep confines of her female member. She also started to feel a bit of a peculiar craving, but not for the taste of a good meal. It seemed that the more she licked her ball gag, the more she wanted to have something bigger, something better, something longer and something sweeter to lick profusely, though, his stomach is growling so. All this time, the man ignored all of the qualms and protestations that Carol has. She would remain there begging to have her holes touched while she craved to lick something she couldn''t understand. As time passes, instead of asking for food, Carol would instead beg to have more of the man''s syringes, which he complied every time she asked. This would prove to be a bad idea for Carol because it just made the itchiness in her body to strengthen in ways she never imagined. Seeing this is also such a huge pain in the ass for the man. After all, Carol would jump around the bed and squirm like a newly caught fish while continually begging to be scratched deep inside her hole as more aphrodisiac doses were given to her as she requested.


    Again, this further proved my point that the man would be a good face for our Organization. And I mean, look at him! Remember, you guys, the customer is always right! He''s just demonstrating that! Look at him! Such an excellent work of customer service he''s showing us. Not to mention, we do sell a lot of drugs and other related paraphernalia in our shops. He''s more than knowledgeable in drug-related products than we had first thought, and the repulsive behavior of his customer does not taunt him. He remained calm throughout the process, taking notes of her behavior along the way, and giving himself a proper reflection as to what approached he would do next, but not going against her wishes.


    On the fourth day of his endeavors with Carol, the man decided to feed her a proper meal finally. Bacon, eggs, three-layer pancakes, a toast with butter on top, and two pieces of luncheon meat. A big, heavy meal, enough to feed a person who''s hungry enough to devour an entire horse.


    However, the man does not intend to give this to her easily.


    See, he has a plan. He did not really think of it thoroughly, but nonetheless, it surprisingly worked. Perhaps we can attribute this to the already fallen psyche of Carol.


    "Do you want to eat, Carol?" The man asked, while deliberately putting the breakfast plate a few inches away from her nose. This made her smell the intoxicating aroma of the food she had never seen nor tasted for quite a while. "I bet you''re hungry, huh?"


    Finally realizing how hungry she was, Carol begged while groaning and moaning with her ball gag on her mouth. Seeing this made the man chuckle, showing her his irresistible smile, which made the itch within Carol to intensify. After smelling the meal in front of her and after seeing the man''s refreshing smile, Carol finally could not take the strength of the itch she''s feeling all over her body. Thus, she thrashed about all over the bed once again. This reckless action of hers made her hit the plate in front of her with her head. Thus, the food that she''s about to eat fell on the bed.


    "Aw, shucks." The man said with a sarcastic tone as he showed an exaggerated frown. "That''s too bad! Now you don''t get to eat anymore. Bad girl. Bad, bad girl."


    Carol squirmed as if begging for the man''s forgiveness.


    "Aww! Poor girl! Do you want me to cook for you again?" The man said, still with that mocking, sarcastic tone of his.


    Carol nodded profusely with her eyes wide open as if it was about to pop out of her skull.


    "You want it so bad, girl? You want to eat?" The man said with a more monotonous tone but with a hint of excitement on his eyes.


    He then placed three of his fingertips on her flat stomach, making the poor lady twitch as if she had just received a dose of an electric shock. Seeing this had excited the man so much, more than he had previously expected. Thus, while the woman twitches and groans softly with his fingertips on her stomach, he slowly moved his hands until the tip of his fingers were caressing the smooth yet sweaty skin of Carol, further exciting the woman. When his fingers finally reached the few spaces above her pubic hair, she started to raise her upper body along with her bottoms while trying her hardest to push her head back onto the surface of the bed.


    "The man then climbed on top of Carol''s breast and knelt in front of her face. He took a pillow from below the bed and pushed it below her head, forcing her to face the outline of his hardened bulge. Okay, bear with me here, guys; I know this looks weird, but we are still conducting a company-related presentation. This is not porn. I repeat, this is not porn.


    The man then took the woman''s ball gag out of her mouth, and the first thing she did was to gasp as hard as she could before closing her mouth shut. The man then pulled his zipper down, revealing to her the great length of his member. He saw that Carol still had her lips tightened shut while the man reached out for a jar of peanut butter on top of a nearby cabinet. The man then smeared the peanut butter on the skin of his hardened genitalia, taking a few deep breaths as he spread it all over it. Okay, yeah, fine, this part is not needed in my report, but I don''t know, I wanted to add it in, okay? I get it, it looks like porn, but we had to suffer seeing this sight over and over for the past few months, and we''re just asking for some reciprocity by making you guys see it too! This is how adults do things, okay? I swear, this is going somewhere. Moving on, the man continued to smear the peanut butter all over his... uh, god, I''m starting to lose ways of describing dicks without actually saying the word, you know, dick or penis or... gah, whatever, you get the point! He spread all the peanut butter all over his dick. Okay? Not a really good thing to see, right? Are you still gonna complain that your jobs are harder than us? I don''t think so, right? Can we move on? Okay, we''re moving on now, jeez.


    "If you want to eat," The man intoned as he grabbed Carol''s chin with his peanut butter-filled hands. "Then, you have to clean my cock really well first, and then we can talk properly about the things you need."


    Look at that, ladies and gentlemen! If that is not what business-minded person sounds like, then I don''t know what is! See! I told you I was going somewhere! Take that HR! Hah! Moving on this bitch!


    Yeah anyway, Carol sucked his dick. It''s kinda big, so she had a hard time doing the thing, so she ended up choking on it a lot, yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda. I mean, you don''t want me to demonstrate how women choke on huge dicks, right? No? Okay, HR told me to be ready for a choking demo. Glad that''s unneeded. Anyway, next slide, yeah. So, when he started gobbling on the man''s dick, that was when she realized that the thing she wanted to lick is something as big as the man''s dick.


    You might be aware that this is the effect of the aphrodisiac that the man gave Carol. So yeah, yadda, yadda, yadda, lots of sex. Oh, also, the man gave Carol thirty-three syringe shots of that same aphrodisiac drug, and like, isn''t that fucking insane!? I thought she''s gonna die on the twentieth one, but she ended up begging for more instead of dying! But yeah, that''s not really important, next slide, please. Yeah, more sex, you know the drill with this guy. Blah, blah, blah, next slide please, not really important daily lives stuff. Okay, yeah, stop on this slide, this one''s pretty important. So in week two, the man decided to take Carol''s chains off, and interestingly, she didn''t escape, which I think is super stupid! But whatevz, next slide, please. Oh, and by the way, he tortured the poor innocent lady for almost three straight weeks.


    And yeah. She died.


    What? You''re expecting this to have a good ending? Come on; you''re better than that!


    Also, some of you might have noted that I said ''almost'' earlier. Yeah, that''s true, the man did torture Carol for almost three weeks. Almost because on the day when it was about to hit the third week, Carol killed herself by sucking a large tube lying around the van, killing her after she sucked on the damn thing until it crushed her heart.

 51 Ending Carol

    "Poor Carol..." The man muttered to himself as he saw the mangled corpse of the innocent lady.


    Carol, perhaps, had the most gruesome death of all the pitiful people who died in the course of this entire report. Though we can assume that the reason why the man loathed this death the most is not because of the bloody nature of it all but because he was not the one who caused it. He was not in control. It was not part of the plan. The tube went out of Carol''s chest, crushing her ribcage and along with it, her heart. She managed to do this horrendous suicidal act by using a metallic tube lying around the man''s kitchen. She then grabbed it with both her hands, so the end of the tube would stick onto the wall while the other end faced Carol''s face. Then she wrapped her lips around the tube and pushed her body forward until the thin cylindrical steel reached her throat. After a moment of hesitation, she thrust her body forward while grabbing the tube with both her hands until it breached her throat. When she did so, the tube pierced through her chest, crushing her heart. Additionally, since the tube was too long and the force she used to push her body was too strong, the tube winded up, breezing through her ribcage where it inevitably reached her stomach. The tube in question then pierced out of her stomach. Thus, a few centimeters of the tube was sticking out of her belly.


    She crawled out of the bed while the man is away, took the tube with her mouth, and pushed it straight to her throat the same way she remembers it. She sucked the tube the way Subject 1 taught her how to take a man''s member deep into her throat. Thus, the many lessons that the man gave Carol to satisfy his lustful cravings inevitably became the spark that made her think about the prospect of killing herself.


    At that time, the man felt like his spirit passed along with Carol.


    Seeing her with a large metal tube inside of her tiny mouth made him weep, but at the same time, his lower half hardened more than the metal sticking out of Carol''s stomach. The man thought that he was still having lots of fun with her. Lots and lots of happiness while breeding all of her holes. It was such a shame that she''s gone. Now, the man developed an extreme loathing when he saw tubes and the market, for it reminded him of the great time he had and could have had with Carol.


    "Carol," The man whimpered as he took the chains off her body and embraced her cold dead body. "No, Carol. Carol, baby, no, no!" The man rocked back and forth as he wrapped her hands around Carol''s cold skin.


    For the first time, the man wept over the death of a person. He didn''t cry because of the sex, the joy, or the orgasm, though it was part of the reason why his tears wouldn''t stop.


    He cries because Carol is dead. She''s gone, but he''s not done with her yet. He felt conflicted. Everything always has a milestone needed to be met, a quota, a requirement. The man knew that he still hadn''t completed the amount of fucks he could do with Carol before he got fed up with her. It''s like reading a book, but you lost your copy of it after reading chapter 40 when there are still ten more chapters left. Losing her this way felt like playing a video game when you''re about to reach the final boss, only for it to crash and never to return.


    He carried the body of Carol onto the bed, once again covering the sheets with blood. For the entire day, the man slept with the corpse of Carol in his arms. The man cried for hours, feeling the coldness of his supposed sweetheart around his body. Touching her skin as if she''s still alive, remembering her heat and her pained moans, the man sobbed as he felt that there''s no more life, no soul inside Carol''s eyes anymore.


    Remembering how her body trembles both in fear and, later, in satisfaction and ecstasy is sweet.


    When he woke up, he can still feel the wetness of the blood on his bed. Carol''s dead eyes were still staring right at him as if till the very end, she still shows her utter despise towards him. Even without a soul, Carol''s dead eyes would still send an electrifying feeling in the man''s nerves.


    As he looked at Carol''s eyes, he realized that a lifeless body is a lot more vengeful than a wandering apparition. A lifeless body is tangible, seeable; it can make you remember the days you had with it when it''s still alive. For him, that is the worst revenge someone could make, the painful memory carved on an unmoving carcass of a withered flower. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "You''re so unfair, Carol." The man whispered as he feels Carol''s skin warming up as his breath reaches her neck. "We''re supposed to have more fun than this. You''re supposed to be stronger than that. I expected a lot more from you. We could have made this work." The man exclaimed, his voice strengthening each sentence as he felt his rage rise.


    The man knelt before the lifeless remains of Carol. He pulled the pole from her body; the sight of her crushed heart broke his.


    "Poor Carol. Poor, poor, Carol, my everything, the only body I loved. The woman I mourned for, the only one, you''re the only one who deserves these tears. Carol, Carol, my sweet, sweet baby. My poor Carol, who never asked any of the sufferings I gave. Poor Carol, who only wanted to make the world a better place with the smile of an angel. Poor Carol only minded her own business, but I had to come along and ruin everything. Poor Carol only wanted to love and feel loved. What was I thinking when I ruined this image of perfection before me? What did she do to deserve being kept captive by someone like me? Oh Carol, my sweet darling Carol, if I could turn back time..."


    Funny how he''s getting these realizations now. Funny how he only realizes all the effects of his horrible actions. It''s even more laughable once you thought that he never really regretted everything he had done; he just really want some more fuck.


    The man wept and bit his lips as he stares at his ceiling. Defeated and abandoned. His voice is raspier than before, and her long fingers move about, he doesn''t even have control with himself anymore. He noticed this and balled his fingers into a fist. He clenched his teeth as he felt the sweat drip from all corners of her body.


    He wanted to scream, but when he attempted it, the only sound that erupted from out of his lips was a silent yelp, like the sound of fingers scratching the surface of a rusty metal sheet. He wanted to have the strength to pull all the evil within him into a loud burst coming out of his mouth, but, like a curse, something prevents him from doing so. His blatant attempt to let his voice out, like a protest to himself, to god, and to everything around him, made his face redden as if it''s a time bomb bound to disintegrate.


    "... if I could turn back time, I''d do the same. Because that''s what I am. A demon, a murderer."


    The man then patted Carol''s head, smelling her hair, but the only scent he could find is the stench of decomposing matter.


    "Why did I even come here and ruin this innocent people''s lives? What did these people deserve to have me?" The man roared as he slowly brushed his fingers onto Carol''s cheek.


    "Why am I crying? Is it because Carol is dead? Is it because I couldn''t have more of her now that she''s gone?" He said while still caressing his fingers on his cheek down onto his chin until his fingers reached her cold neck.


    The man''s eyes suddenly brightened, revealing a dreadful rage surging out of his gaze. "Well, I could just do it right here," he slowly gripped Carol''s neck, feeling the thickness of the metal tube still inside of her body, but he didn''t tighten his hold onto it, "I could desecrate her corpse more if that''s what I want,"


    He then released his hold of her neck, finally ridding himself of the strange sensation of holding a human skin but feeling like there was nothing but a metal tube on his hands. "What is the point if it''s just an empty shell? It''s just a dirty body; it''s not Carol anymore! What is the point?"


    The man laid both his palms on top of Carol''s chest, not to fondle her breast but to feel if there''s even a sliver of a chance for him to feel a heartbeat. A faint tear fell onto his eyes when he realized that he could only feel just another tube and a series of broken bones on her chest. What made him uneasy was the fact that her body was colder than the tube within her.


    "Why am I crying? Is it because I couldn''t have the enjoyment I had with her? Is it because Carol had the nerve, had the courage to do what I always wanted to do with myself?"


    With the wrath of a thousand souls rampaging from within the hell living underneath his human skin, the man forcefully grabbed the tube sticking out of Carol''s belly. "Till the very end of Carol, the only thing I care about is me! I deserve death, and once I die, I will surely be swimming in the lake of fire where I will find Carol, and I will rape her again until Lucifer himself restrain me! Poor Carol."


    He tried to pull the tube but to no avail. With all his might, the man grabbed the tube sticking out of Carol''s belly to pull it out of her, but it wouldn''t budge. He couldn''t take it off her. It''s like a part of her now, a tube that will remain in her body till she''s nothing but weakened bones six feet under.


    Now, Carol is lifeless, cold, stiff, and unmoved, like she had become the tube itself.


    The next day, he buried the body of Carol in the middle of the forest, far from the town, far from the river, far from the century-old oak tree, far from everyone else... including him.


    Funny how he learned his mistakes now, but deep inside him, he still wants to do more. Isn''t it such a fun little contrast? A man who blames the person he oppressed for finally leaving the shackles of his own


    The man entered a state of severe shock. Every night he feels as if he''s drowning, every day feels like he''s melting. Every time he eats, he remembers how Carol swallowed the tube she used to kill herself, and it would always make him puke his guts out. As he thinks about all the other things he could have done with Carol, he contemplated life, death, suffering, pain, and how he loved the idea of all of it, except the first one. The only comfort he had in these bleak days of his is an anonymous dashboard on the internet. Nobody cares about what he has to say there, and it''s exactly what he wanted.


    Nobody knows him. Nobody wanted him. Nobody can approach him.


    Nobody will die here because of him. Nobody needs to care.


    Nobody will have to see another ravaged corpse.


    Nobody will die here.


    Nobody...


    No body.


    Around this period, the village found prosperity as their crops doubled, and their incomes sky-rocketed. Not to mention, the kills had stopped, and it felt like all of their deepest prayers were finally answered by the savior up above the heavens.


    However, this paralyzing depression that almost crippled our soon-to-be employee is about to help him out of this pathetic phase of him. It''s like being emo, you know? You''ll gonna have to don yourself with all the sad shit you can find, and once you''re over that phase, you''ll still feel just as miserable, but at least you''re not dressed like a clown anymore.


    For a long time, he contained himself inside this shell that he designed to be his home.


    For a long time, he contained whatever murderous desires he held within, for he doesn''t know what it is he had in his heart.


    For a long time, he knew that the anger inside of him would never be quenched by escaping to the forest or leaving the city or talking to anonymous strangers online. None of that zoomer escapism will work, not even the boomer way of avoiding problems would work anymore!


    He just needs to face reality: he wanted to kill people.


    And now he wanted to do it more.


    If the villagers thought he was the devil before, then I don''t even know what he is now.


    The man is not a devil anymore. He had already gone past that. Now he''s human. Now he''s part of us.

 52 Outskir

    Okay, I know what''s in your mind at this very moment.


    ''Now what?''


    It''s a valid question! And to be honest, there came a time when we almost dropped on the prospect of acquiring Subject 1 as one of our employees, but here we are now anyway!


    To be quite frank with all of you, I may have overlooked a few minor details regarding the history of Subject 1 for us to get through the more important and exciting stuff regarding the man.


    However, we are a deadlock, and at this point in Subject 1''s life, he had also reached that particular point in which he doesn''t know where to go on and what he should do with his life. He would often contemplate the idea of killing himself entirely, which irked most of us while we were observing him. Sometimes, he would wake up in the middle of the night, not knowing what time it is and asking who he was while looking at his reflection in the mirror.


    As I contemplated on this dark moment that plagued our subject, it also dawned to me that the data we have regarding the things he had done in the future needs suffice information about his past and his relationship with his environment at large.


    And well, I have to apologize because this random backtracking that we''re doing right now is caused by my inability to control myself from wanting to present the information that I found more interesting than some other biographical data that shows the man''s life before his inevitable descent to madness.


    I thought that I could just simply tell this information as we go on along the presentation, but I ended up forgetting to add them clearly; thus, it might be quite confusing for some of you to learn about the following few details without us discussing the more significant information regarding the man of the hour.


    It''s just... You know, I want to tell the better part of the story as fast as possible, so I just... skimmed through the less important stuff.


    Well, anyway, let''s backtrack. Please, go back to slide uh... I think it''s slide #3? No? No, yeah, I think it''s maybe slide #8? Maybe? Oh, no, no, that''s not it, next. Next, again. Next.


    Oh, there it is!


    Ladies and gentlemen, I''m sure that I don''t need to reiterate that Subject 1 is a special kind of degenerate. I''m sure there''s no need for me to say that he would definitely refuse to give up on his mission to fuck and eliminate every single fuck-worthy individual in his immediate vicinity.


    However, strolling around the marketplace, he soon realized that the consequence of his actions had already created a noticeable crack in his peaceful abode. He had ruined the reputation of the town to the dirt. Thus, most of the women he was eyeing had left the town; there is nothing but sadness and death lingering all over him now! I know it was quite vain for these women to assume that they would be the next victim of a rapist cum murderer. Still, I guess their paranoia earned them their life because now, the man has no target left.


    Well...


    At least, in this part of the town.


    You see, Subject 1 is quite a picky fella, and a very clean-freak kinda guy for someone who has such a disgusting, err... well, I guess we can call it a hobby. The only dirt he permits to touch his skin is either human bodily fluids, such as sweat, blood, and sperm, or the fecal matter of the people he decided to involve himself with sexually. He also hates noise more than anything in the world. Just hearing the loud sound of a train or the honking of a car would drive him insane. He could be quite impulsive if he''s given the wrong environment. Still, it could easily be fixed by putting him in one of our quiet areas, far from our main headquarters. This just shows that when the man eyed something, he would seize it with the determination of a thousand gods! His preference to live a hygienic life would not interfere with his mission. Although the people he would kidnap often scream and moan loud, it didn''t irk him to kill them right away. He can be patient with them as long as he got his desired outcome.


    I''m sure you''re quite confused and lost as to what I''m talking about, so let me give you guys a little information about Subject 1 and his relationship with the townfolks, as well as an overall background of what the town is and how it operates.


    The man is living in a camper van in the forest a few meters away from the town. Currently, the man is working as a freelance artist in his van, so one might often see a lot of art materials inside his van once they peeked a bit of what lies in his little sanctuary in the darkened woods outside of the town. He found solace in making adult content for the furry community online, so he had been making a living making animal porn. Well, he doesn''t like doing it, but there he was anyway. It''s just the way it is for a man like him; he can''t possibly complain unless he wants to have a job that pays less but demands him to make an extra effort.


    This also reflects well upon the character of Subject 1. The man is a person driven by his passion. He wishes to make a living as an artist, and he would do it although he knew the obvious repercussions of chasing such a dream. Thus, if we could just give him an ample motive for working for us, then he would do the job properly with an unrelenting passion of a forest fire. He would do what it takes as long as we could make him understand that there''s a good reason for him to be passionate.


    Anyways, going back on track, Subject 1 had been living in this van for well about three years before he started his murderous crusade in the town, and this time, he had already achieved a close relationship with the people in this quiet suburb at the foot of a mountain.


    It is important to note that this town is usually the go-to place of older people who wanted to retire in a quiet, rural area; it also attracts the attention of younger people like Subject 1 who wishes to live in an environment that connects their spirit with the power of nature.


    Subject 1 is very much a Romantic. The man wishes not to be involved with what goes around the industrialized world and would choose to surround himself with the caress of Mother Nature. Thus, he did not waste his time when he learned that there was a vacancy in one of such rural towns near the allure of his green wonderland.


    However, he soon learned that the only home the town offers is somewhere on the other side, the other outskirt.


    This area of the town was unbelievably close to the forestry industrial zone around the other side of the mountain, so it was not just noisy, it''s also quite muddy, and the homes are far from the marketplaces. Not to mention, the house that they were offering was not adequately maintained after all the years that passed since they first built it.


    The noise, the dust, the dirt, the mud all proved to Subject 1 that he could not bear living in such an environment. This was why he decided to live in a van in the forest outskirt, the better outskirt, the quiet outskirt, the cleaner outskirt.


    And he soon realized that this part of the town housed the best-looking people he had ever see in his life. He thought for sure that he would only be meeting old people in this town, but no. There were a lot of young people too, way more than he had expected. Apparently, these are the children and grandchildren of the town''s elderly citizens who refuse to leave their parents and grandparents.


    The older people of the town would always boast about how good their kids are to them, while some of them would force their children to leave the countryside to pursue their passion. Some of them complied, and Subject 1 would often see some of his friends leave the town to go to the big city in the short time that he had spent living in his van in the forest outskirt. The ones who still insisted on living with their parents and grandparents really loved being in this town, so they had no qualms in staying. They are all kind-hearted people who are healthy both inside and outside.


    Not to mention, the people on the quiet side of the town thrived in their farming industry, particularly their potato harvest. Thus, every citizen would always prefer to add potatoes in their everyday diet, making them stronger, firmer, and far, far more attractive than the people in the urban cities.


    Thus, after three years of being patient, the man finally snapped and decided to unleash the rampaging beast he had hidden in his pants.


    Just because there are no other people whom he wanted to fuck in this side of the town, that doesn''t mean that he would stop his lifelong mission to conquer the world with his ravaging cock. There''s absolutely nothing holding him back, not even the fact that he hated the other side of the town.


    In this part of our presentation, we will be showing you more slides of him experiencing what I could only describe as the expansion of his sexual pilgrimage throughout the town.


    His initial plan was to kidnap the young librarian at the public library in the town plaza, so he went to the noisy and dirty outskirt of the town to buy the necessary tools that would aid him in once he would seize the girl and when she was already bound to his bed.


    He was reluctant at first, but he had to do it. The only sex shop near him was somewhere at the dirtiest and vilest part of the town, filled with dust, mice, and cow dung, but he had no choice but to buy the things he needed there because he can''t buy these things online. After all, he has no address, and he didn''t want to live his tracks in the town''s post office. It was such an unneeded strain that he put himself into, seriously. He didn''t need to be this careful in this town, especially considering how dumb the people of this town were. I''m sure some of you might think that I''m harsh for calling these people stupid, but come on! Even after all those murders that he committed, none of the citizens still suspected the shoddy-looking man living in the middle of nowhere literally outside of their town. Well, perhaps we can say that the reason why none of them suspected him was because of how careful he was, but still. Agh! Never mind that, let''s move on.


    At first, he hated the idea of going into this sex shop. The only thing he ever used to his victims that closely resembled sex toys is the things that he had lying around in his large van. Thus, this was the first time he ever took a step inside this sex shop. No, this is the first time he ever went to this side of the town.


    However, Subject 1 would soon realize that going in this town would be the best idea he had ever done in the three years that he had lived there.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    That. You hear that? Let me repeat that for you.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    That''s it.


    That lazy sounding greeting that welcomed Subject 1 was the thing that permanently moved his mission further into the deepest part of the abyss. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    That was the first time he ever heard the voice of Justin.


    And that was not the last time he would hear his voice.

 53 Dirty

    "Welcome, sir..."


    There, right there! Observe the way that cashier personnel greeted Subject 1 when he entered the establishment. Let''s rewind that, please. Intern, please rewind clip #6.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    Now, people wouldn''t be so irked upon hearing such a low, monotonous, somewhat lazy-sounding greeting from a cashier in every business establishment. In fact, they might even think of it as a staple, something to be expected from someone who''s manning the cashier of the capitalists. After all, who would be out there smiling in their own accord and beaming with naught but energy upon seeing a customer knowing that putting that much effort wouldn''t give them more pay?


    Definitely not Justin.


    He is just one of those run-in-the mill cashier that all of us had encountered in our lifetime. He''s one of the mediocre ones. As we all know, most of the people in the customer service industry would give mediocrity as their staple because they''re simply not paid enough for them to treat all of their customers like gods.


    However, Subject 1 is a special case, a different case.


    Never in his life had he seen a passive cashier.


    Let me explain.


    Most of his life, Subject 1 stayed at home, and he would always get whatever he wants through online delivery services. Food, necessities, clothes, everything. He never found the need to leave his room, and frankly, he didn''t need to leave his room. Outside his former house is dirty, dusty, muddy, noisy. Horrible! Disgusting! He would not wish to even lift a finger outside of his home. This was perhaps strengthened because his family nurtured this kind of behavior and tolerated it enough until it grew into a legitimate problem that plagued him until now.


    Ladies and gentlemen, for the betterment of this part of the presentation, I would like to show the simplicity of Subject 1''s fashion preferences. They were long-sleeved shirts, tracksuit, jogging pants, jeans, long socks, a face mask, different hats, and, most importantly, disposable gloves. Most of the clothes he wore are all cheap, although he came from a well-endowed, wealthy family. This was because, whenever he left the house, he would throw the clothes he wore straight to an incinerator that his parents willingly gave him upon his request.


    While we were out there in the field to observe the behavior of the man, we found out that he never took his clothes off during sex, but we didn''t really think that there was anything weird about this. Well, quite the contrary actually, some of us pointed out that they also liked having sex with their clothes on; it''s just a preference. However, after a continued study of the man''s life from his adolescence to his death, we found out that there are several bruises all over his body, all are self-inflicted. These all healed through time once he started living in the town''s forest outskirts. We concluded that such injuries came from his neurotic desire to bathe almost ten times a day to rid himself of the dirt from the outside world. Thus, most of his earlier life, he spent not just merely in his room, he spent it in his bathroom.


    For the most part, his parents weren''t against this; they sometimes show their concern, but they couldn''t resolve it because they can''t control their own child. They cannot talk to him properly, and they are both forbidden from entering his room because, according to Subject 1 himself, they might be carrying the dirt of the outside world with them.


    This further evolved because of his mother''s preference for having a quiet house. In fact, the people in their home is not allowed to shout in their house; there is a limitation on how loud their mother permits them to be. From a young age, Subject 1 had been arduously taught that noise is the companion of a dirty man. Thus, as the man''s condition grew, he just simply associated noise with dirt, and now, he resented noise because he thinks that it''s just as dirty as everything else in the outside world.


    After all, there''s no noise in his room, it''s all in the outside world.


    I''ll save you the minor details as to how his parents send his online deliveries to his room and how they clean them before giving it to him. I would also skip the other details about how he managed to make his room as noiseless as possible by tiptoeing and doing something with his walls. I think that minor details like those are not really relevant to us right now. What is relevant, however, is his life when he finally decided to leave his room.


    You see, although other people might think that he doesn''t care, it''s actually quite the contrary. He cares a whole lot about what''s happening to him, and more than anyone in this world, he wanted to fix himself. However, he didn''t want to seek therapy for reasons that are not relevant to us at present, but he still wishes to rid himself of this trap that he''s living in most of his life.


    That was when he decided to leave the house without anyone''s knowledge. He took a bit of his parent''s money, he braved through all the dirt the world could offer and arrived at this quiet town after several mental breakdowns.


    The town was twenty kilometers away from his home. Usually, if a person from his neighborhood wanted to go to this quiet village, it would take about a few hours at best for them to get there.


    It took Subject 1 four days before he could even go halfway there.


    Four days.


    Two of them are nothing but mental breakdowns.


    But he never retraced his steps.


    He never went home.


    Throughout this long journey, his parents did not look for him. Perhaps... They thought it was less problem off their shoulders. However, after a few months, they did file a report that he was missing, but they didn''t press on; they just simply allowed it to happen. They moved on with their lives.


    It was as easy as that.


    More importantly, after a month of living in his van in the forest outskirt, the man realized something. The outside world is not that dirty, there''s just a portion of the outside world that is dirty. This is not a part of that portion. This part of the town is quiet and gentle, it''s clean and beautiful. The world around his van is a different world from the city.


    It was not as clean as his room, but it was not as dirty as the city. In fact, he enjoyed the few imperfections around him. It was not as quiet as his room, but it was not as noisy as the city. Moreover, he found solace on the few bits of noises he could hear, such as the rustling of the wind and the tweeting of the birds.


    It was imperfect.


    But it was paradise.


    And boy, did he loved this paradise.


    Everyone was friendly! They would go to their farms, drive to their docks, walk to their businesses, interact with their neighbors, and live their happy lives. All of this may not be perfect, but everyone is happy.


    This is where the problem started.


    Well... ''Problem'' is a bit too... Harsh? It''s not really a problem, per se. It''s just a preference brought by Subject 1''s naivety.


    You see, the people of the town sold their own products in their own stores in the marketplace. Therefore, these people had a particular pride in what they show their customers. Not to mention, these customers of theirs are their neighbors, their relatives, or their friends. Always, without fail, they would greet their customers excitedly with the enthusiasm of a child. Their genuine smiles show their confidence in themselves and their products. They worked hard to make this, and they worked hard to sell it all on their own.


    They held their heads high always!


    As the man grew out of his extreme disgust towards dirt and noise after a few months, he also encouraged himself to mingle with other people. Thus, the first and only type of customer service that he had ever seen in his life was in this quiet town.


    If he wanted something back then, all he needed to do was to write it on a sheet of paper, slide it in the crevices under his door, ring his bell, and wait for his parents to take the paper where they would then buy or order the product for their son.


    Not this time, though. Subject 1 cut the sleeves of his shirts, revealing the bruises and marks around his arms, and he even sliced off his jogging pants until it looked like shorts. He stopped wearing socks and masks. However, for some reason, he couldn''t quite let go of his gloves yet, no, not quite yet, but he tried. He tried his hardest. However, even after many trials, the only thing he permits himself to do is to have one of his hands glove-free while he would still wear one on the other. He also stopped burning his clothes even if he used them outside of his home, and he started a habit of shouting from the top of his lungs every now and then while facing the mountains.


    It was almost liberating for Subject 1.


    He wanted to change himself, so he went to the marketplace and befriended many people. When he started doing his murder spree, he considered returning to his normal life as a shut-in, but he decided to go against it because it might attract unnecessary attention towards him.


    This is where we lead back to the very beginning.


    This is where the Justin problem starts.


    You see, the man expected nothing less but the same enthusiasm he often saw from the people in the marketplace.


    What he got is this tired, lazy passivity that he could only describe as loathsome and infuriating.


    Oh, it was more than infuriating.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    He hated this greeting so much that the many years he spent living as a disgrace in his family''s home returned to him in less than a blink of an eye.


    All of it.


    The entire history, the rest of the awful charade.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    It just irked him so much! How could anyone be so lazy and dumb and stupid and dirty and noisy and dirty and disgusting and dirty and lazy and dirty and dirty and dirty?


    So fucking dirty!


    It''s all just so dirty!


    "Welcome, sir..."


    It''s the perfect image of lousiness that he had never once encountered ever in his life! For him, enthusiasm is a 100% must in the service industry, and if anyone is not doing all that they got, then they might as well stop whatever it is they''re doing.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    In that short time that the man spent standing there while looking at the cashier personnel with widened eyes, he had already started linking this response to the dirties of the dirt and the shittiest among shit. It''s like just the mere sound of that greeting completely defeats the most disgusting place in the world. It''s like all the trashes in the world were all dump within two lazy-sounding words.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    And then it rang and rang and rang in his mind. Suddenly, it was the noisiest thing that he ever had the misfortune of encountering. Not even the noise from a train could compete with how loud that greeting sounded in his head. It felt like every human being that existed and will exist in the future shouted those two simple words at him in unison, and they never stopped. It felt like every speaker in the world was at max volume, and they were all playing those same two words repeatedly, but they were not in perfect harmony; it sounded scattered, and it felt like it was everywhere.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    He hated this so much.


    He hated it so much because, to him, it''s the accumulation of everything he ever hated.


    The greatest trash in the world and the noisiest sound ever is one simple thing, after all.


    Mediocrity.


    This just makes him so much more perfect, to be honest with you guys.


    I mean, come on! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    This already guarantees that he would work the people below him to the bone until he saw them working with nothing but the utmost perfection that he had in his head.


    After all, it''s the only thing he knows.


    There''s no right, there''s no wrong. This is it. This is all the service that he knows.


    That''s perfect for us!


    And with that out of the way, let''s talk about how he tortured Justin.

 54 Capturing Justin

    By the time the man took a step forward, Justin''s death was already inevitable.


    The man moved slow. Each tapping of his feet onto the stone floor of this dilapidated, noisy, hideous, and lousy sex shop brought nothing but chaos within the very core of the man''s psyche. Every step he takes was an unbearable part of a needed process.


    Justin was out there reading god knows and chewing something nobody cared about as he looked at the approaching man with the same level of laziness, similar to how he greeted the man earlier. He was clueless as he gazed at the bringer of his doom.


    Most of the murders that the man had committed were all initiated by his passion and his sexual desires. This is the first time the man had actively wanted to erase someone from the face of the Earth without any reason other than him hating his very existence. There is no reason for this pig to receive the full extent of this man''s thunderous rage. However, his life, his past, his future, his dreams, his plans, his relationships, his good deed, and his bad ones were all null in the mind of the man right now.


    At this very moment, there is only one thing that the man knows about Justin.


    "Welcome, sir..."


    And that''s all he would ever need to know.


    "Hey," The man swallowed all the rage within him, and it proved to be effective because Justin did not even realize that Subject 1 is already filled with thoughts about how he would proceed to kill him.


    "What do you want? We have like, limited stock here. If you want some more other stuff and whatever that''s not here in the store right now... uhh..." He spoke with a rather posh sounding Southern accent that has a touch of Valleyspeak. His voice is equally as lazy-sounding as his prior greeting; his voice was higher than most men, but it was not too high because the man could hear his voice lowering at the end of every vowel he speaks.


    The man did not want to waste his time any further. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can I come there?" The man interrupted.


    "What?" Justin said with a smile slowly forming on his face.


    "You know what I''m talking about," The man said while looking around outside of the shop through the open blinds of the window. "nobody comes here anyway. I want to fuck."


    Justin chuckled as a hint of joy crept upon his eyes. His initial smile now turned into a grin that stretched far at the edge of his cheeks. He then spat whatever he was chewing on the ground before speaking. For the record, it was a blue gum. He used his arm to support his body as he inclined onto the long, glass, rectangular shaped encasement where all of the sex toys he sells was shown using a bright fluorescent lamp. He leaned his upper body forward, putting his face closer into the man''s chest to subtly inhale his scent. He didn''t show it in his face, but the way he very hastily blinked thrice and the way his jaws shook just a little bit showed that what entered through his nostrils was an odor that he loved a lot.


    Although Justine tried his hardest to conceal the way he sniffed the alluring scent coming out of the man''s heated body, Subject 1 still noticed the way his nose moved by the time he leaned his head towards him. The man did not appreciate this at all. He wanted to conceal his anger for as long as he could to make this a systematic, less passionate, and less obvious murder, but this cashier personnel is really getting on his nerves. In fact, he wasn''t seeing a man behind the glass counter anymore. He only saw a pig. An animal wanting to have free reign from his own glass fence to gobble on his treat right away. He would also see the way the man was trying his hardest to act like he was someone hard to get, but in reality, if the man would just shove his face on his used laundry, then Subject 1 would have probably already made this pathetic excuse of a human being into what it is.


    A pig.


    Not a man.


    Definitely not even a run-on-the-mill cashier in some sex store in the outskirts of a rural town.


    He''s nothing but a stupid piggy boy, sniffing his little snack before wetting it with his spit.


    The horny little pig bit his lip as he purred in a low voice as he breathed the smell of the man''s sweat once again.


    "Well," Justin said as his eyes gawked all over the man''s body from head to toe. He very much liked what he''s seeing. "I dunno. I''m not really allowed to do that." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "I don''t care." The man finally showed Justin a glimpse of his anger as he gritted his teeth with bloodshot eyes. However, he still managed to suppress his anger in time. He had this entire thing planned out already, after all. He breathed to temporarily let his passion escape until the time is right. "Just let me in. I want you so fucking bad."


    "Mmm... Really?" Justin chuckled as he laid his head onto his palms. "And where do you suppose we should fuck, huh? Here? You do know that people can come in anytime, right?" Justin probed as he licked his upper lip.


    The man once again gritted his teeth as he clicked his teeth as silently as he could with his hands balled into a fist. Justin saw this subtle wave of anger before him, but instead of worrying, his horniness heightened instead. The thoughts that went through him increased his desire to gobble on this man''s package more than ever. He wondered that maybe Subject 1''s dominant nature caused this erratic behavior that he''s showing right now, and his submissive self wanted him now more than ever. He could only imagine the amount of rough humping he would do to his weak little waist at the glass counter; they would even probably leave a few cracks on it as he fucked the ever-living shit out of him on top of so many of these sex toys.


    Oh my! In fact, he was even imagining the probability of using all the products he was selling in the store. How euphoric it would have felt if he would use all of those onto him to punish his little boy pussy.


    As his imagination ran wild, the man suddenly ambled towards the door; Justin saw this and immediately jerked his head upward and was about to call him out so he would return in front of him when he saw Subject 1 locking the door and flipping the sign hanging on the door to show the words "Sorry, We''re Closed" to the people outside. The man then looked at Justin with an unblinking gaze as he pulled all of the blinds down to cover the glass windows of the store with all the strength he could muster while still trying to suppress his desire to just kill him there and then.


    Justin saw this and immediately understood what he was trying to implying by looking at him with such an excited gaze while trapping him within this space amid the presence of many sexually suggestive products around them.


    "What now? Is there anything else?"


    Justin chuckled. He leaned his body towards the man once more; this time, he''s much closer. He took another whiff of the man''s scent, letting it all in his nose like a boar in full heat. "How about the cameras?"


    The man rolled his eyes but still trying to show a smile on his face in his attempt to make him look approachable, but he just came off looking like a maniac instead. He wanted so hard to make this a clean kill. He didn''t want to make a mess out of this little detour of his. All the man ever wanted is to get this man''s attention, silence him somehow, lure him in a place where no one would find him later, and then he would kill him there. It was a plan that he made on a whim, and besides, the man was not the best when it comes to planning things out.


    What he excels the most is how he would implement these plans to better suit his needs at that moment and adapt according to whatever may come his way while he was doing his already questionable ideas. Most of the time, his plans are just as simple as it gets; sometimes, we would think that he paid an elementary school kid to make his abduction methods for him. Just like in the case of Carol, where his plan was to drug her somehow, it still worked because Carol already liked him to begin with, right? The man never thought about that, though; in fact, the man did not even imagine that possibility to occur while he was plotting the way he would get Carol.


    He would have something, he would do it, and then he would adapt.


    Not this time, though...


    "Shut it fucking down then!" The man intoned; the volume of his words grew louder in every syllable spoken.


    This time, he just really wants to kill this sniffing piglet before him. All he wished for at that time was to put him down into a mud somewhere and watch him dance around while squealing with his little piggy nose.


    He just really wants to kill this man.


    Justin flinched after seeing the man''s display of impatience, but instead of finally getting the clue that this man can and will turn him into a corpse one way or another, he submissively complied with his domineering command, shutting all of the cameras in the building. "I-It''s done, Sir."


    "Are you gonna let me in there now?"


    "Hmm..." Justin said, already wanting to agree but still acting coy. "No, but ye¡ª"


    That''s it.


    And then it crashed.


    Oh, boy did it crashed hard onto the glass counter, and by it, I mean his face, leaving a few cracks as Justin''s consciousness dwindles right after he let out a silent yelp.


    It felt even better whenever I watched it in the archives we have while observing Subject 1. Let me play it for you again.


    "No, but ye¡ª"


    "... but ye¡ª"


    "... ye¡ª"


    Hear that?


    "... ye¡ª"


    The way the sharpness of his voice heightened like that of a whimpering dog is just the greatest! The way his voice shoots up like a firecracker shooting up into the sky until it finally boomed, crashed onto the glass, like the blast of many fireworks bursting into the air. You know how it would scatter high above, forming a circular-shaped blast? The same thing happened to the cracks that appeared onto the glass.


    He sounded the same as those swine waiting for their turn to get butchered in the slaughterhouse. Oink, oink, oink, he would go like a dumb a little bitch, begging for the man to eat him fried. However, though the man anticipated for him to squeal for him a little bit more outside of the store, he just couldn''t stand his horned up stalling.


    Blood then drips out of his face as the man heaved slowly within the silence that prevailed throughout this godforsaken store.


    Finally, after so long, he had received his desired silence. With only the whirring sound of the fluorescent light going through his ears, the man wiped his face using his palm as he finally realized how cramped it was in this dimly lit store. He inhaled while he swiftly observed his surroundings, noticing finally that the store was not painted, and the walls are all just rough, gray concrete; the only thing brightening the surrounding was all the colorful toys all around, giving it a sort of rainbow feel. He finally exhaled the breathe he was holding within his chest when his gaze landed on the man lying on the floor. He tapped his foot while thinking about ways he could deal with this son-of-a-bitch lying on the floor as he looked at his ashen skin, slender body, and the now bloodied but still almost flawless face.


    The man panted and gasped, not because the act of bashing this pig''s face onto the glass counter was exhausting but because all of his pent up anger had finally found its way out of his heart.


    "... Should have just let me in." Subject 1 said as he forcefully carried Justin out of the other side of the counter. He then threw him on the ground while looking all around him. He took a few sex toys while looking for the thing he was trying to find. He arranged Justin''s arms to turn it into the shape of a toilet bowl on top of his torso so all the toys wouldn''t fall. When he finally found it, he threw all the many sex toys he had taken from the store''s displays onto Justin''s unconscious body before dragging it towards the thing that caught his attention.


    With all the sex toys on top of Justin, Subject 1 pulled his body using his feet towards a room that has a sign that says "Authorized Personnel Only."


    Some of you may not agree with how the man handled this situation, but I bet you don''t even have the patience to hold your anger as well as he did in this situation.


    After all, wouldn''t you want to eat your pork steak by the time it was served on your table?

 55 Subduing Justin

    Amid the bleakness, within the darkness, confined in the coldest of the shelters, the dustiest of all dungeons, and the noisiest of all hellish stronghold.


    All places in the world would turn into the ninth circle of hell without the need of sinners or heretics for the three-headed demon is naught but a mortal who had a thirst for the maniacal thrill to do the deeds of a bringer of life and the ender of souls.


    Sorry, sorry! I recently watched a video about the Divine Comedy, and I prepared this part to make this an "Ooohhh! Skehriiii!" moment! Oh, whatever! I tried, okay?


    Moving on...


    The man took the unconscious Justin inside a small room, but even this dull place would turn into the castle of Bluebeard with the presence of a person such as Subject 1.


    The man quickly swept every object on top of a table with one swing of his hands. The man then forcibly carried Justin by pulling his hair, dragging him towards the surface of the table, and kicking his body to put him into proper position. He wanted him to lay on top of this steel, rectangular table with his feet opened wide while his hands were on top of his head.


    The man then tried to find a way to restraint Justin. At this point, Subject 1 doesn''t know anymore why he''s still doing this, but he had already started it; he might as well see through it till the very end. Luckily for him, there seems to be a rope conveniently laid somewhere at the corner of the store. Well, this is not a work of his luck, for this might be one of the few times my time used our services to aid the man without his knowledge.


    Without further ado, the man took the rope, not even minding why a sex shop has such a long and high-quality rope.


    Not minding any context that lay within this rope, the man tied Justin''s feet and spread it so far apart that it spread on each side of the table. The table was quite a big one, so the man had to spread his legs so far apart for it to reach the edges. The man didn''t know how he could tie Justin''s arms too, so Subject 1 just simply used whatever remains of the rope by stretching it until it reached Justin''s hands, linking the other end of the rope onto this pig''s hands. The logic behind this is that whenever Justin moved his feet, he would just end up pulling his arms till it tears the skin on his armpits apart, and vice versa.


    The man didn''t have the time to undress Justin; well, to be fair, he didn''t really have the intention of seeing this cashier naked. To begin with, he just wanted to kill him, but something within his bowels screamed for him to use this unconscious man more for... experimentation, if I do say so myself.


    He wanted to know how to use sex toys. He never once laid his hand on one of such objects in the past, after all. Justin would be his little practice guinea pig, if that makes sense.


    After tying Justin tightly in a position that he deemed secure enough to prevent his prey from escaping, Subject 1 left the room to find more sex toys that he could use. The man looked around outside, and what first welcomed him was the wall clock. 1:15pm. He didn''t even realize that it was already that late. He remembered leaving his house quite early, but it doesn''t matter, what matters more is what toy would catch his attention more.


    He took many things, to say the least: dildos of varying sizes, a humbler, three different whips, a scented candle, a few vibrators, a urethra chastity catheter, a clamp that was apparently used to ping the nipples, a small cage-like structure that is the size of a limp penis, and a small bottle of some kind of drug.


    The man looked around again. To be honest, he was just taking his time because he''s pondering as to why someone would build a sex shop in such a remote village at the foot of a mountain near the forest. Not only does it not make sense, but it also doesn''t align well with the old population of the village, so it''s also foolish. However, the business practice of this shabby store is none of his business. As he let his eyes glide from every direction all over the store, his sight locked on the glass counter, particularly the broken and bloodied area where he smashed Justin''s face.


    Beneath the circular arabesque pattern of the broken glass, he saw some kind of paper that contained a table of some sort of schedule. Curious, he gently swayed the fractured shards of glass on top of it before taking the liberty of reading what the paper contained. Subject 1 was a bit surprised to see that it is a schedule, a time table for the people working in this shop. At this time, Subject 1 still doesn''t know who his prey is, so this discovery pleased him a lot. He likes knowing the name of the people he kills; it''s some kind of fetish, I guess?


    Based on the paper he had in his possession, he found out that only two people are working in the sex shop, one named Justin and someone else named Patricia. This timetable then inexplicably made the man know that this victim''s name this time is Justin. Unless he actually uses the name Patricia. The man wanted to brush that thought off, but after browsing Twitter since the site''s inception, he knew that it''s not at all weird nowadays to find a man who wanted to call himself with a feminine-sounding name. Perhaps, the sex shop''s employer has a liberal belief when it comes to gender and sexuality; I mean, after all, we are talking about a person who owns a sex shop. The man thought that maybe such a person would not find it weird at all to see a man who identifies as a woman.


    Gah! At this point, Subject 1 is already in too deep his own thoughts about identity politics that he just checked some clues in the timetable. It is a table that indicates the schedule of both employees, after all. The man remembered that it was around 1pm already, that day was Wednesday, so... He just needs to find the name of the person working at 1pm every Wednesday, and sure enough, Justin is, indeed, the name of that person. Patricia needs to wait until 3pm before her shift. The man heaved a sigh of surrender. He thought that he probably needs to stop thinking things too complicatedly next time. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The moment he achieved a moment of enlightenment, he heard a shriek from the storage room of the sex shop; this was then followed by a shrill scream. The man didn''t even realize that he had actually confined Justin inside of the shop''s storage room and was confused for a moment until he realized how slow he was.


    He then kicked the door open, making the door smash onto the wall of the storage room, making the man who was tied on the table flinch. Subject 1 then dropped all sex toys he took from the shop onto the floor.

 56 Commanding Justin

    Justin is not a stupid person, uneducated, but smart enough to understand what''s happening. Just one glance at his surroundings, he can already tell what the man was about to do to him, especially after entering the room with so many sex toys.


    "If you scream like that again, I''m going to fucking kill you." The man said while pointing a knife at Justin''s neck. The man didn''t say much, but it pleased him to see his intimidation working. He always likes to scare his victims a bit. I remembered the man saying once that it makes his victims tighter. Whatever that means...


    Justin surrendered quickly by merely nodding his head swiftly without uttering a word. Shaking, he tried to pull his hands only to realize the futility of what he had just done, for it only stretched his feet as if he also pulling his feet along with his hands. Justin pretty much has a clear picture of what''s happening and what will happen to him if he didn''t play his cards right. Thankfully, Subject 1 didn''t saw him pulling his hands. Maybe he just didn''t care. Either way, Justin needed to find a way to get away from this situation. At this point, he was already regretting accepting this job; he knew that he should have just went back into selling porn in Onlyfans. So much for wanting a "normal" job...


    "What''s this?" The man asked while holding a urethra chastity catheter in front of Justin''s face.


    Justin knew at that moment what the man wanted from him. "I-It''s a chastity thing."


    "Chastity?" The man said, tilting his head in wonder.


    Justin tried to ease himself up by smiling. He also guessed that this might make the man relax as well, so he wouldn''t hurt him any further than he did earlier. Justin, at this point, already understood that he would get raped, the worst-case scenario is that he would die. Now, Justin didn''t particularly mind it if Subject 1 did some sexually traumatic things to him; frankly, he was even trying to make himself feel better by making himself think that he would enjoy being raped by a man as hot as Subject 1.


    But he just can''t.


    He can''t do it.


    This is all too terrible, even for a self-proclaimed slut like him. He had never once engaged himself in sex, where the top needed to smash his head on a glass counter first before doing what they sought to do in the first place. This is all too fucked up even for him. He just can''t see himself enjoying this no matter how hard he tried. Thus, as he thought of the fact that there''s a massive chance that this man might be the incarnation of his grim reaper, he started to feel a sense of hopelessness.


    He might die today.


    And he didn''t want that.


    Even if the man who would do it is totally his type.


    He started to feel tears dropping from his eyes, rolling onto the side of his forehead. Justin didn''t want his story to end this way, pathetic, miserable, and raped.


    There comes a time in his life where he only wanted to be free, to live, to have some sort of liberation; we all had that at some point in our life. However, my moment of absolute youthful severity makes his experiences into nothing but just another moment of sinful triviality. I mean, come on, remember that time I did that massacre thing? Hey, come on, that was amazing! I regret that a bit, yeah, sure, but it is still a memory that I remember quite fondly.


    In the case of Justin, he had long been accustomed in the kind of life where he would spend most of his waking moment either kneeling in front of a stranger he had never met before or just laying on his back after a single text from a man who would frequently cream him raw. Again, it''s all a matter of youthfulness, we all have that kind of moment in our lives where we wanted to be the warden of our own prisons, only to find out that we don''t even have a sliver of control as to when our cells open.


    Justin wanted to change that. He did so by being a part of the system.


    Sure, he lived his life until now as pretty much a trashy person who craved sex in every corner of the world, sniffing it until he found a dick he could suck, but what even is the point of all the efforts he exerted to move away from his past self if this would be the grand ending of his insignificant story?


    He''s already 28 years old. He''s not getting younger anymore. Time is already keeping up with him, and before he knew it, nobody wanted to fuck him anymore; he knew that, but his lifestyle is still that of an 18-year-old kid. Justin wanted to escape that life, change somehow, be a better version of himself; he tried to run away from his vices as far as he can, but when he finally found a place that would accept someone like him who had nothing to show off other than his lifelong experience as a bitch, lo and behold, it''s a sex shop. It felt like he took a leap of fate away from the life of cocktails and endless partners only for him to realize that he just returned from where he started, but this time, he''s much more scarred, insecure, and defeated.


    Not only that but on his first week in his first actual job, he was caught in the snare of a murderer... It just so happens that he really, really wanted to fuck this murderer, and the thing that he tried to escape the most from the very beginning is what drove him to where he was now in the first place. He wanted to be a person who had other things to offer other than his lust, and lust is what invited death before him. Justin felt sick of himself, and frankly, he just wanted to die. No, he''s not overreacting. Everything felt so... Pointless. Like no matter what he would do, he would still lose. He just wanted to disappear until every bit of evidence that his life existed would shatter into the endless void.


    "Please..." Justin said, gasping for breath, trying to keep up with his bounding heart. Before Justin realized it, his eyes were already gushing an endless spree of tears that he had disallowed to flow every time he needed to let all of his sadness out to fool himself into thinking that he''s a strong person. But he''s not. Justin is not the independent person that he always wanted to be. He''s not a fighter; he''s not even a bit identical to the steadfast character he made himself believe to be.


    He''s just empty.


    "Please, man, just..."


    He''s just a crying mess.


    "Just kill me."


    The man saw this, but not just his tears. He saw the expression that Justin made as he cried while thinking about ending his life for good. The man gulped down his saliva as he saw the sight of Justin trembling in fear without a trace of affection in his eyes; there''s only nothing but a profound desire to disappear from within his dark gaze. The man felt his heart skip as he saw the paleness of his skin and how sweat travels through his smooth body, especially when he saw beads of liquid traveling all over his neck. It felt all so... Appetizing. It''s all so palatable that he could very much just chow down on his mean now that the table is set.


    He didn''t know what it was that suddenly awakened the libido within him. No, Subject 1 is gay, and up to this point, the man never really had any strong opinion about fucking another man, but this... This is different from when he pretty much worshipped that kid he killed when he was disposing of Mary''s body. This is way too different. This time he just really wants to have him.


    Subject 1 doesn''t just want his neck.


    He wants to have him.


    "I''m so sorry!" Justin whispered, his hoarse voice resounded throughout the room. "I''m so sorry! It''s all my fault; I''m so, so sorry! Please... Please just... No more, I can''t anymore!" Justin''s saliva gradually escaped his pink lips as he cried with all the fervor of his self-loathing. His tears eventually covered the entirety of his face, and as he spoke, Subject 1 could see threads of spit forming between his lips. It all looked so sweet and delicious to him.


    Subject 1 wanted to just lick his lips to taste Justin''s spit. He wanted to lick his cheeks all the way to his forehead to taste the grease and tears all over his face. He wanted to let his tongue travel within his lips to know what his mouth feels like. As the man thought about this, he pulled his knife again, which made Justin flinch, but he pretty much accepted this as an inevitability. He asked for it, and his killer happily complied. It''s all so wonderful that Justin wanted to thank his captor.


    However, Subject 1 didn''t point his knife at Justin''s chest to give him what he wished for; that is all too stupid. The man ripped Justin''s shirt with his knife starting from his collar until it reached his prey''s pants, cutting it with his dull blade until it reached his feet. The man did it gently so he wouldn''t leave a bruise on Justin''s delicate body, not even a single red mark would touch appear on the surface of his meal.


    Subject 1 completely ripped Justin''s clothes apart using his bare hands until he could see his prey''s bare, naked body. It made him so...


    "... Excited." Justin looked oh so miserable, so pathetic, so absolutely deplorable, disgusting, and damned, but for some reason, the sight of such lowness made Subject 1 hornier than ever. Such helplessness and despair that Justin showed him made Subject 1 turn into a salivating mutt, thinking of nothing but ways to dump his cum in the nearest hole in his vicinity. In Subject 1''s eyes, the absolute vulnerability that Justin showed him made him view his prey as a beautiful creature that he needed to taste, gobble, and drink. Subject 1 just knew that he''s craving to taste everything that Justin could offer, and he didn''t know if he would ever get over him.


    "You make me so fucking excited."


    "Huh?" Justin could only react as his expectations were subverted. He had already ceased his tears in thinking that his death had already arrived. He closed his eyes, so the only thing he would see in his last moment is nothing but darkness, just like his life, just like his worth as a human being.


    "Justin." The man said his prey''s name as he caressed his bare chest. It was true that this was the first time for him to touch a flat chest, but the smoothness of Justin''s skin seriously made him think that he didn''t dislike this at all.


    Justin paused for a moment before replying with his jaw dropped. "What?"


    "Your name is Justin, right?" The man said as he threw his torn clothes in the corner of the storage room.


    "Yes..." Justin then gasped, thinking that he needed to address his captor properly. "Yes, sir!"


    "Good. I want you to teach me how to use these sex toys." After saying so, the man grabbed the biggest dildo he took and started slapping Justin''s neck with it.


    "... Pardon?" Justin''s trembling ceased, and his mind had gone black. He couldn''t even think properly anymore.


    "You have a beautiful body, Justin." Subject 1 said as he licks his body; a drop of his spit even dripped onto Justin''s chest, making the naked man shudder. "I want you to teach me how to use all these toys properly. We will be using you as educational material." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Pathetic, miserable, devoid of joy, begging for death...


    People like Justin, people like the ones that the man had already murdered before this one. They all share the same sentiment. These people are just a bunch of miserable cretins that couldn''t handle whatever baggage they''re carrying even after years of telling themselves that they can manage their problems...


    Such are the people who always come to us to seek our services...


    ... And such customers are precisely the kind of people that gives Subject 1 unconditional joy.

 57 Torturing Justin

    Let''s all admit it, ladies and gentlemen, we do not like our customers. At all. They all sing the same melodies, and they roar the same speech. It''s all too tiring to see miserable people flocking our doorsteps every god damn time. However, what if we can find a meticulous person with Patience, Energy, Neatness, Integrity, and Skills? What if I tell you that there is a person out there who rejoices when they saw these negative people? Would you believe me if I say that someone is out there who would happily face our sad, sad customers here in the Organization?


    That''s right, people. All of these qualities. You can see it on the screen. Subject 1 not only finds solace in the idea of meeting people with a lot of baggage, but he also has the quality that we strive to find among our leaders. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Patience, Energy, Neatness, Integrity, and Skills.


    We need a leader who has PENIS.


    It''s just a joke! It''s just a joke, okay? We like having fun here in the Organization! It''s just a joke!


    Anyway yeah, PENIS, amirite? Haha! Boy, let me tell ya what, this guy right here has a never-ending supply of those! Especially after what he did with Justin after refusing to kill him voluntarily. Now, allow this actual demonstration prove to you that Subject 1 knows well how to deal with people with some level of self-loathing with them. Not only that, but he also finds joy in meeting with them, talking with them, and interacting with them. Let''s go on and play the video clip of what happened during the, quote and quote, "torture" that the man did to Justin.


    "You have a beautiful body, Justin."


    Now hold that quote for a moment before we move on to the nitty-gritty of this part. It is a fact that Justin is hot. That is the fact that we cannot even if you''re not interested in men. He has a smooth skin, he has a toned body, his face is soft, and his ass is well... of a considerable size. Now, I''m not here to discuss how much of an eye-candy Justin is, I''m here to talk about what Subject 1 said.


    "You have a beautiful body, Justin."


    We will dwell more on that quote, but we will not do so by analyzing the man''s preference in his partner''s body. Him having a fetish or body type that he likes is beside the point. What I''m trying to get here is the fact that the man lied.


    Subject 1 absolutely does not believe that Justin has a beautiful body.


    However, he indeed wanted to have sex with him regardless of that fact.


    This is all because of an unconscious side in the man that made him wish to fuck the ever-living shit out of Justin just because the man likes the absolutely pathetic state his prey is in right now.


    "I want you to teach me how to use all these toys properly. We will be using you as educational material."


    And for the most part, Justin complied; he allowed the man to use his body happily and submissively to aide him in his educational ventures. This is a turning point in the life of Subject 1 because it awakened a deep-seethed desire within his heart that screams about how much he wanted to use sex toys.


    Whenever Subject 1 said, "Tell me how to use this." or "Tell me what this does."


    Justin would willingly comply by saying, "Yes, Sir."


    Subject 1 would leave the room to get more toys and whatnot that shop sells to use it on Justin along with a detailed explanation from the willing cashier personnel as he bathed in pleasure in the hands of the man. Quite literally.


    Subject 1 frowned while looking at a small bottle in his hands. "So you''re saying if you sniff this, then you would get hornier?"


    "Yes, Sir! Just put the hole directly beside your nostrils, and you would feel dizzier but also hornier." Justin smiled as he feels Subject 1 thrusting an 8-inch dildo in his hole. "You should try it too for the firsthand experience!" Justin continued amid a series of moans.


    "... I will do it later." The man whispered as he put the poppers on the side.


    This kind of lecture-based sex that''s happening between them would go on without them knowing that time was quickly creeping towards them.


    Subject 1 raised his eyebrow. "So, you''re telling me that you can make someone feel good by choking them?"


    "Yes, Sir!" Justin drooled as he exclaimed with excitement, getting hornier each time he said the word ''Sir,'' especially knowing that he''s willingly submitting himself to a man of his dreams. "If you choke me here right now by pressing my Adam''s apple, then you would definitely suffocate me in a way that it would hurt..."


    "Uh-huh?" The man responded after seeing that Justin drowned in pleasure so much that the cashier personnel had stopped thinking for a moment.


    Justin gasped as he tried to keep his composure while a new set of a bead-like dildo is now penetrating through his opening. "But if you choke me on the sides of my Adam''s apple by cupping your hands into the shape of a parabola, then you would only suffocate me enough to keep some of the oxygen in my body away from my brain."


    The man grunted upon hearing this. "I don''t quite get it."


    Justin saw that the man had stopped moving his hands and seemed to be radiating some kind of wrathful aura around him. This alarmed Justin but not because it might incur the man''s murderous side but because this might mean that the man would not be pleased with him anymore and stop ''using'' him. Justin delighted in the thought that Subject 1 is ''using'' his body. In fact, he even thought that Subject 1 is ''superior'' to him in more ways than one. In fact, this rope bound guy relished on reminding everyone about how much he believed in this philosophy. For Justin, he is nothing but a hole for a real man like Subject 1 to use. A real negative and pathetic mindset suited for a disgusting person like this pig named Justin.


    "Um... I''m so sorry, Sir. An inferior trash like me is not smart enough to teach a real man like you, Sir. I wish I could demonstrate it properly instead..."


    Make no mistake, Subject 1 intended to kill Justin from the very beginning. In fact, the only reason why Subject 1 is enjoying the fact that he kept him alive is because of how fucking miserable Justin sounds like every time he opens his god damn mouth, like oink, oink, fuck me, oink, oink. It''s so... Iieegh! Disgusteeeeng!


    But still, Subject 1...


    ... Intends...


    ... To kill...


    ... Justin.


    And for the most part, Justin is aware of this, but he still allowed himself to be used as an object by Subject 1 willingly and unconditionally without asking for a reward. In fact, being of use to Subject 1 is the only reward that Justin could ever ask for now that he is very much aware that he''s facing the last few pages of the book of his story. That is precisely because Justin didn''t care about his life anymore, that''s how much low he is right now; the only thing he ever wanted now is to serve the man with what little story he had left.


    However, Subject 1 still didn''t kill Justin. In fact, he should have done that from the very beginning before tying him up, but that really is the biggest enigma in this part of this story. The man has a hundred percent certainty of killing Justin if he just did it at that time, but he didn''t. He could have easily killed Justin and disposed of his body quickly while he was still unconscious, but he didn''t.


    And frankly, I don''t fucking know too. None of us understands Subject 1''s logic behind this particular choice. Fuck if I know!


    There is absolutely no reason for Justin to live.


    And yet here we are.


    "Would you be able to demonstrate it properly if I let your hands free?" Subject 1 asked as he took his trusted small knife in his pocket. I know, it''s such an absurd thing to say; it''s definitely out of character for him to do this.


    "S-sir?" Justin was just as surprised as all of us when we heard this.


    "I say I''m going to cut the rope. Would that help you teach me how to choke properly."


    "Uh... I..." Justin was confused and dumbfounded for a moment, but he suddenly thought that this is not the time for him to think. Heck, he even felt that it''s not his place to think; the man is already doing it for him. The only thing he needs to do now is to obey.


    And obey, he did.


    "Y-yes, Sir! Absolutely, Sir! I can serve you and do so much more for you if you give a useless boy like me such a great opportunity, Sir!" Justin said with the biggest smile on his face as he flushed red, thinking about all the things he could do together with his new Owner.


    Thus, the man cut the ropes and unbound Justin. Subject 1 didn''t even consider the possibility of his prey fighting back or revolting against him, and he was right for judging that way. After all, once unstrained, the first thing  Justin did was to kneel before his captor while choking himself using both his hands.


    Gleefully, he demonstrated his point and showed the man the proper way of choking which delighted Subject 1 as if he was shut from Earth to the heavens above.


    Until it happened... Subject 1 moved his head towards the direction of the door upon hearing it.


    "Justin?" A woman''s voice resounded outside of the room, and they heard the silent footsteps of someone, heading towards the middle of the store after closing the front door. "What the fuck happened here? Justin! Justin, are you here! Hello?"


    Subject 1 quickly diverted his gaze towards Justin, who was now trembling as he knelt on the floor.


    "My... My coworker..." Justin whispered as he looked at the wall clock above the door of the storage room. 3:13 pm. His shift is done.


    The man tried to think of ways he could leave this place, but he soon realized that there was nowhere for him to escape because the back door of the store is located on the other side of the counter. Such a stupid design.


    He took a deep breath as he looked at the now crying and trembling Justin. Subject 1 knows that his prey is not shaking this way because he was afraid to die or to be caught in the act; Justin is scared of ending whatever sort of relationship they had made. However, that''s not the main problem at hand now. Subject 1 pulled his own hair hard as he looked around the room, scouring for ways to deal with this development as he heard the woman''s footsteps drawing nearer towards the storage room. He had no choice but to face whoever this woman is.


    "Stay there." Subject 1 whispered as he heard the clanking sounds of keys directly outside of the door.


    And then, BAM! It opened! The door swung open, revealing a dark-skinned, African-American woman who was shocked and disgusted upon seeing Justin kneeling on the ground with all sorts of bodily fluids covering his body. She took a few steps forward as a repulsed expression covered her face.


    "What the..." Before the woman could say whatever he had in mind, it had already hit her.


    The dark-skinned woman didn''t realize that Subject 1 was prowling at the corner of the storage room right beside the door, waiting for her arrival. She would have managed to see him if she wasn''t so surprised upon seeing the horrendous state of Justin right after opening the door.


    With this, Subject 1 managed to hit the back of her head with a foldable metal chair hanging around the corner of the storage room. And for the record, this is not our doing. The shop really just has a folding chair lying around the corner for no fucking reason, fuck if I know. The point is that the man kept hitting the lady''s head until she stopped moving, but it wasn''t enough to kill her.


    And this is precisely what the man wanted to do.


    "Justin..." The man said while panting as he wiped his face with his T-shirt.


    Justin''s heart skipped a beat upon hearing what the man saying his name for the first time. He didn''t ask himself as to why the man knew who he was and just replied, "Y-yes, Sir?"


    "Is this Patricia?" The man said while pointing at the unconscious lady on the floor.


    "How..." Justin was about to ask the man how he knew about their names, but he thought that it was none of his business to pry on his Owner''s knowledge. "Yes, Sir!" He happily replied even after knowing that his coworker was lying, almost lifeless, on the ground.


    "Okay... alright... Okay. Whoo!" The man said while trying to calm himself down. "Justin, I want you to take that rope over there and tie Patricia on the table."


    "Yes, Sir!" Without a hint of hesitation, Justin obeyed his Owner''s command.


    "This woman is going to be our quiz today." Subject 1 chuckled before throwing the foldable chair from whence he took it, making Justin flinch in response. "Let''s see how much I learned, eh?"

 58 Patricia

    Patricia must have been the accumulation of everything that Subject 1 dislikes to see in a partner. It''s also a reflection of how twisted he is as a person. This worked as an enhancer to showcase how much of a twisted and fractured person the man is.


    He likes pale people, for he could not stand the sight of colored skin. He loves it when his partners are subservient and submissive, who wants nothing but to say yes and would only say no under his command. He likes them to be readily available to be used whenever he wanted a hole to dump his load on. And he viewed everyone else as people below his shoe, so he absolutely cannot stand people who dare think that they see the same view. He is ruthless, old-fashioned, bigoted, and firm. Subject 1 is the accumulation of what the modern man thinks is wrong. A mesh of all errors that a postmodern philosopher dared to reject on a daily basis. He is not a person that a reasonable company would hire. No sane person would ever look at him in the eye after what I had presented today. However, I want to remind you about something.


    We are anything but normal and sane. We are working people who ruled without law and governed without a code. We are the Organization. We are an independent fraction. The man is not at all the worst that we have seen, for we could offer so much worst. Now, when it comes to hiring people, we must also understand that the environment and the people you will be working with is a significant factor that the employer must put into perspective while they consider if they should hire you.


    We could have presented you the purest of the pure or the nobles among all the righteous souls, but what would our current employees say to the new recruit? What would this new moral employee say to the old workers? These are important questions. And you know what? None of them would get along! You won''t hire a person with nyctophobia if you are very well aware that they will be working in a dark space. We certainly would not even consider a socially awkward person to handle our customers. And in no universe will I ever present a lawful person in front of all of you knowing full well how wicked and depraved every member of our Organization is.


    We want all of us to get along, we want to create an environment where everyone could find common ground. All we need is a meticulous person who could handle leadership works and can very much interact with people and convince them to be a part of us.


    This man, ladies and gentlemen, is more than just perfect. There is no word in the English language that could describe how well he fit in the jigsaw puzzle that is the Organization.


    Funnily enough, we have saved more people from different worlds and possibilities more than the people who abide by the rules in a daily.


    And as Justin tied Patricia as tight as he could and as Subject 1 waits in anticipation for what he would do to this person without snapping them in half, the world came to a halt. Total standstill, nobody breathed, nobody moved. All had their eyes at this very moment.


    For the new prey had opened her eyes. And none of us knew what she would do.


    Unlike Justin, he is not at all ready to comply. She screamed at the top of her lungs until they could hear her throat audibly deteriorate into a raspy state so much so that her voice now sounded like nails grating a chalkboard. She struggled around until the table started shaking, making a loud sound that would definitely alarm anyone standing near the shop, something that Justin would never even dare to do in the remainder of the pathetic life that he would lead. Patricia is someone that the man would never even bat his eye on, let alone be a part of his growing sex count.


    Ignoring the fact that she is not at all his type because Subject 1''s mind is, like 1950''s America, we can see that Patricia is confident, emotionally stable, reliable, and very, very, very against sex. She doesn''t like it. At all! Nah, she hates it! She once considered doing it with women, but it still didn''t work for her. Subject 1 and Patricia just wouldn''t get along. Having said that, the man just can''t do it; he can''t even imagine looking at Patricia''s eyes as he explored her body, he can''t do it! Subject 1 doesn''t have the patience to deal with her complaints while he does whatever he wants to do. All the man ever wanted is someone who would submit to his every whim, albeit he would dispose of them once he''s bored.


    And I''m sure none of you would be surprised to hear that Subject 1 did not succeed in having sexual intercourse with Patricia. Not because he can''t; the man very much can if he just tried, but he didn''t do it for various and many, many reasons, and ignoring the fact that the man is just borderline racist, he also hates, absolutely despises people who fight back. He hates dogs that bark; he hates employees that complaints; he hates neighbors who have a lot to say; he absolutely flips out whenever he encounters people who fight back instead of just letting it happen.


    And Patricia is angry. She is beyond the point of forgiveness that not even gods and goddesses could stand on her way once she escapes the grasp of the rope which bound her. Patricia had seen what rape did to most of her friends, online and in real life. She had read many of the brave confessions that people made on the internet about their experiences with abusive men. She would not allow this nobody to do whatever he thought he could do to her. Patricia regards herself too highly to let herself to bow down to anyone just because she had been backed to the corner. She is determined to deal with this man, and she would not allow this day to end unless this man would end up rotting in a jail cell, and hopefully, somewhere in death row.


    Not only that, but Patricia had shared a strong bond with Justin in the short time that they had spent working together in this shabby shop in the middle of nowhere. She viewed this job as another one of those gigs that she would soon quit once the owners start to realize that it just wouldn''t work. Patricia seemed to have misunderstood the situation, though, for she is also mad after seeing the state of Justin. Her poor coworker is still kneeling on the ground, shaking in fear as he looked at both of them. Patricia thought that maybe this poor guy had gone through a lot and was now traumatized to no return, which we all know is nothing compared to the truth.


    Justin is shaking because he''s a little pussy ass loser who doesn''t know anything else other than to cry, shiver, and allow people to use him. He is absolutely hopeless, but he is not at all traumatized.


    He is shaking because he knows that Patricia would definitely die if she kept rousing Subject 1''s anger, and the man is definitely getting angrier the more he sees her defy all of his commands.


    Whenever Subject 1 says, "Shut up!" He expects them to do so without question. However, when she said that to Patricia, she just became more hostile and even more uncooperative. Justin is shaking because he knows what the man is capable of doing. He wanted to save Patricia, but he doesn''t want to disobey his owner. It''s a dilemma that only a person like Justin could face. And what did he do as a way to make himself useful for any of them? Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Fucking nothing.


    He just kept shivering and crying like the little pussy ass bitch that he is. Incompetent. Useless. That''s what Justin is, and this is very much a demonstration of that.


    I know what you''re thinking right now, the Organization could have smoothly gone there and aided the man by killing Patricia right there and then. We have the resources to do it, we have the tools to make it look natural, and we have all the reasons to make the higher-ups understand our impromptu decision. We do not want to lose a perfect candidate for this position, after all. It would not be a waste of resources for us to do so; I mean, I''m sure all of you can already agree that Patricia''s story is just unneeded and a huge headache. You have been paying attention to me for about a few minutes now, and so far, the only thing I''m doing is prolonging the presentation. Absolutely nothing is going on, nothing is happening. It''s a colossal waste of time! If we kill Patricia now, it will save all of us the trouble of seeing this boring chapter unfold.


    It did not reveal anything else that we don''t know about Subject 1 yet, and it doesn''t help us evaluate what other things the man could offer us because this is the first time he had encountered defiance as strong as what Patricia is giving us. Not only is this a bad information to show, but it also doesn''t make Subject 1 look good since this scenario makes it look like he''s angry at Patricia because of her skin color and not because of her strong personality. Now, that is not necessarily a problem that we cannot fix, but it''s still something that our other members might keep in their mind.


    However...


    I rejected my team''s suggestion of intervening with this confrontation. After all, we could learn something from this.


    And not by helping the man...


    But by turning that logic around.


    What would happen if a defiant victim managed to escape? How would he be able to get away from a sticky situation?


    So we helped Patricia. He sliced the rope that bound her, and as she struggled, she started to realize that the tie that kept her from doing her act of vengeance had become undone.


    And now she''s free.


    For a few seconds, all three of them remained silent with widened eyes as they look at Patricia, unbound, and equally as shocked as all of them.


    "What?"


    "H-huh...?"


    "The... Fuuuck!?"


    And then she kicked him.


    Patricia kicked Subject 1 with all the anger stored with her body, and Subject 1, still astonished upon the sudden development of this scenario, was left speechless after seeing the sheer agility of the way Patricia''s legs traveled from the ground towards his dumbfounded face. Justin''s jaws remained dropped as all of these unfolded before him, still as useless as ever as he saw his owner fell on his stomach.


    Patricia then subdued the man by pulling both his hands and placing them on his back. She used the rope that was still wrapped around her hands to tie the man''s arms, hearing the man scream as she pressed her arm further up his back. Patricia then used the weight of her feet to push the man onto the floor, making the man squirm and grunt as he felt this strong woman pin her down on the cold, concrete floor.


    Thus, the first person to have ever defeated the man emerged, and she is none other than Patricia Thompson.


    At this point, I was already starting to reevaluate my decision, and as I saw that the man could not at all escape Patricia''s arm lock, I have finally realized my terrible miscalculation. Clearly, Patricia is trained in some kind of martial arts or was knowledgeable in a self-defense program, for she had destroyed the ever-living shit out of Subject 1 in less than a minute. This is not a matter of her being the fastest person to subdue the man, no, she is the only person who ever done this in the entirety of his life. Subject 1 had never faced this kind of defeat in the hands of any of his victims.


    I was about to send two of my direct associates to get rid of Patricia as fast as possible to prevent any further repercussions.


    However...


    Once again...


    I decided against that.


    I decided... I made this decision when I saw Justin standing up as he took the metal folding chair that was just sitting around in the corner of the room and looked at Subject 1 in the eyes.


    Subject 1 didn''t blink as he gritted his teeth while looking at Justin approaching him weakly with the metallic, foldable chair on his hands. The man panted heavily on the floor as Patricia called the police. She then proceeded to report what happened at the sex shop and answer all of their questions. Patricia noticed how Justin was ambling towards them with the same chair that the man used against her earlier. She thought that maybe Justin would use that chair as a sort of ironic revenge against Subject 1 for what the man had done to Justin''s body. She pitied him as while reported the crime to the local police authorities as her gaze locked on his weak eyes.


    No...


    Not weak...


    Yes. That was when Patricia started to feel that something was off.


    Justin''s eyes did not have a sense of weakness within it...


    No, I''ve seen it myself... it''s... it''s filled with gentleness and love like her pupils had morphed into a heart shape.


    And as the man looked at Justin with all the anger in his heart, as he thinks of the many ways he would kill Justin if he could just bring back time, as he refused to blink his reddened eyes to be aware of his last day on earth, Subject 1 saw Justin spoke.


    "This is for you, Master."


    And that was the end of Patricia.


    35 strikes in the head. Once Justin stopped hitting her, he could see her skull. Justin would never have stopped if Subject 1 didn''t stop Justin from further bashing Patricia''s head. The man calmed Justin''s never-ending strikes by hugging the cashier personnel''s body as tender as Subject 1 could with his lips touching his neck... The neck of the man he owns, his property.


    When the man looked at Justin, he was panting like crazy with the broadest smile on his face. "Was I a good boy, Sir?"


    "Yes," the man said as he fixes Justin''s ruffled hair. "You did so well, Justin. I am so, so proud of you, my little Justin."


    "Aha... Ahahaha... hahaha..." Justin started laughing weakly as he starts striking the air in front of him with the foldable metal chair in his hands, seemingly thinking that he was still hitting the man who dared to defile his owner.


    The man saw this, and at this point, he was not just pleased with Justin, he was enthralled by him; this pathetic lowlife of a cashier personnel had enraptured him so much that would even dare say that Cupid''s bow had landed on his stone heart. Subject 1 wanted to calm Justin''s already erratic state, and he did so by kissing him; this is the only time Subject 1 kissed any of his victims. No, you don''t understand what I''m saying. I know that the man had used his lips to touch another person''s lips before, but this is different, I mean, this guy, Justin, is the only person that Subject 1 truly kissed with the intention of loving the taste of his lips, not because it was the conventional thing a person does during sex. When Subject 1 saw Justin''s lips, he couldn''t keep himself, and he really, really just wants to kiss him and never stop even if it meant throwing away his ability to breath. The absolute devotion that Justin showed Subject 1 charmed the man so much that he couldn''t let go once he felt his tongue moves along with Justin''s tongue.


    Justin, at this point, had reached further than the state of nirvana as he dropped the foldable metal chair on the ground. The only thing he cared about is how good his owner''s tongue felt as it played all over his mouth.


    When their lips moved away from each other, Subject 1 slowly diverted his gaze towards the real victim of today''s hunt.


    "Poor Patricia." The man said before spitting on the back of the steadfast lady''s head as he felt Justin''s warm embrace. Without further ado, Subject 1 stomped on Patricia''s phone and kissed Justin again as the man discovered a newfound addiction within the confines of this cashier personnel''s mouth.


    "I want you to listen to me, Justin." The man said as he wrapped his arms around Justin''s bare body. "The police are coming, and they will definitely catch me."


    "Oh, no..." Justin exclaimed with all the sadness in his heart.


    "Yeah, it''s bad, but we can fix it."


    "H-how...?"  Justin whispered as he grabbed onto the man''s T-shirt, willing to give everything that he has just to prevent his owner from falling into the hands'' of the authorities.


    "Can I trust you?"


    "I''ll give my life to you!" Justin replied with the smile of a broken man as he looked at Subject 1 with eyes filled with nothingness. "Yes, Sir. You can trust me."

 59 Justin Knows Nothing

    Left.


    Right.


    Gasp!


    Then mix it up.


    Swirling like a twister.


    Up.


    Down.


    Breathe!


    Then collide again.


    Twisting like two spiraling worms.


    That''s how their tongues play around as the two men kiss in the dimly lit storage room while Patricia''s blood continuously drips out of her broken skull until it finally reaches the tiny line of space underneath the room''s door. It smells like rotting flesh, it feels like darkened oppression gripping the surrounding, and it has the temperature that is similar to nothing but the tip of a snow mountain. Nevertheless, both men could only smell the alluring scent of their sweat, they can only be blinded by the warmhearted bloom that they exude, and they sweat hard as if they were in the middle of a desert at noon.


    And before Justin could notice it, he was already feeling some kind of bitter, sort of oval-shaped object playing between their raging tongues. The momentum of their passion seemed as if it would never end, but Justin noticed what Subject 1 was trying to do and instantly tried to push him away from him.


    "Don''t fight it." The man mumbled in between a few kisses on Justin''s damp lips. "Just obey." Then he shoved his tongue inside of his love-struck pet. Justin wanted to oppose whatever it is that Subject 1 was planning to do, but he was already too weak, too dumbstruck, and too lust-driven to fight the raging storm that is his new owner.


    The object swaying around the insides of his mouth, hitting his gums, and spreading a sour and bitter taste finally entered through his throat until he could feel it falling towards his stomach. After a few moments that slowly turned into a few minutes, the man eventually separated himself away from Justin''s mist lips, still sticking his tongue out, leaving only a tiny thread of saliva between their lips. Seeing that subtle line of spit forming between them like a bridge proved to be a kind of ritual that the man would crave every single moment after doing it with Justin.


    "That''s 2 minutes." The man whispered while panting and gasping, still feeling Justin''s saliva on his lips but not wanting to wipe it away from his skin. "How are you feeling?"


    "I''m..." Justin muttered as he continued to cling onto the man''s neck while playing with his hair. "... I feel like I''m gonna puke."


    "Dizzy?" The man said while pulling Justin closer towards him, leaning his forward towards his neck, and letting his heavy breathing travel through his skin.


    "Y-yesss... Sir..." Justin mumbled as he dropped his right hand from Subject 1''s shoulder while he had enough strength on the left one to grip the man''s arm weakly. "How long... how long will... will I be out, Sir?"


    "Long enough. The police would probably be here by then. When you wake up, tell the police that you know nothing." The man said as fast as he could but slow enough for Justin to understand. He would kiss Justin''s neck every now and then, which made Justin horny, but the drug made him too weak to have a boner. "You know what happened to Patricia. Rat me out, and you''re out."


    "I will never..." Justin said; this time, he had already dropped both his hands. The only thing keeping him standing was the man''s hands wrapped around his waist. He continued speaking as his upper body fell slowly away from the man as if he was some kind of withering flower, waiting to drop onto the soil and allowing his cycle to end. As Justin''s body leans backward, Subject 1 followed his neck by leaning forward, now licking his skin amid a few kisses. "I will never rat... they will... I will never... I... they will never know you''re... you..."


    "I know, Justin. I know." The man whispered while still licking Justin''s neck every now and then. "Sleep. Let your body go. Sleep."


    And sleep he did. The man slowly let Justin fall onto the floor, but it was clear that he had no intention of leaving his neck alone. He would growl and snarl while kissing and licking and sometimes biting Justin''s neck, thinking that this might be the last time he would ever taste the cashier personnel''s skin. Some even thought that his eyes were gleaming red, and his teeth were barring into that of a hound''s fang. Still, it was all nothing but an illusion. That was just how frightening Subject 1 is after he decided to throw away all of his inhibitions as if he had agreed to sign a contract with the devil himself.


    Nevertheless, after a few moments of making love with Justin''s unconscious body¡ªor perhaps it would be much better to say that he was making out with Justin''s neck instead¡ªthe man finally fled from the sex toys shop, but he ensured to take a few sex toys that had caught his attention first before making his escape.


    This was pretty much his game plan.


    Leaving a crime scene was difficult enough, but having all of the traces that indicate his prior presence in the scene to leave with him? Now, that''s a different monster altogether. There''s a lot of ways for the police to find pieces of evidence of a suspect''s trail that would all lead to the inevitable capture of Subject 1. However, we are not here to talk about that, and frankly, we are not really interested in dwelling through all that nonsense. All you need to know is that the man did not leave his fingerprints behind because he was wearing disposable gloves in both his hands. He did leave a few prints of his shoes behind. There''s also a few strands of his hair that stuck on Justin''s hands, leaving that as another trace that he was here before. We are also not sure, but he might have left a few drops of his blood on the ground as well. Thankfully, when the police arrived, Patricia''s blood had pretty much covered the entirety of the storage room. There were some traces of the man''s saliva all over Justin''s face and neck! All of these pieces of evidence would point out that he was the suspect, undeniable evidence to boot! And remember that camera footage of the man when he entered the store? Yeah! Justin only shut the cameras off when the man was already inside. Luckily, those cameras were fucking horrible! Like, it''s borderline impossible to see what''s in them! Nevertheless, it was still a shred of solid video evidence against him!


    It was completely fair for us to assume that this entire "escape" was a massive, total, absolutely fucking messy! A train-wreck! This is the kind of shit that makes everyone go like, "yep! That killer is caught, alright! No more killings!"


    And the man knew about this; he knew how stupidly rushed the entire escape was. That''s why he''s erratic, paranoid, jumpy, and his eyes were going from one place to another as he bit fingernails, which almost had no nails anymore, for he had a habit of over-cleaning his nails every day. He sprinted away from the sex toys shop as fast as he could until he reached the river. At this point, he was only walking, but he was not doing so leisurely, he still looked as if he was in a hurry. Luckily, for Subject 1, the clothes that he was wearing were all black save for his shoes, which has few white decorative lines. At a closer look, one could quickly see that there''s a lot of traces of blood all over his shoes.


    Thus, the only plan he has is to keep Justin there in the crime scene to be his quick way of cleaning his mess without doing any sort of cleaning at all.


    Now, the man can be quite stupid. He probably wasn''t even thinking about all these variables when he escaped the crime scene. He probably didn''t even know that he left a few traces of his shoe print outside of the store, for he left in a hurry.


    Nevertheless, the man must have really sold his soul to the devil because he had such fantastic luck, and he didn''t even need our help. Since the police around this small town were pretty much comprised of only old people, they were pretty slow in sending their people into the store. You have to understand, this is the first time they witnessed such a vile and gruesome case. The last murder case in this town happened decades ago, and it was not this huge! It wasn''t even helpful to them that the only living person in the crime scene did not know what happened, or at least he claimed that he didn''t.


    To be fair, Justin did not lie. He said that a man attacked him, raped him, drugged him, and killed Patricia before knocking him unconscious by forcing him to swallow another drug. Those are not lies. There were just tiny little details that were not said.


    Until the very end, even after all the threats from the entirety of the town''s police department, Justin stood his ground.


    "I know nothing."


    "I would like to call a lawyer." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "You''re forcing me to make a story that is not true!"


    "I was a victim, too!"


    "I know absolutely nothing!"


    "You can clearly see in the footage who the suspect is!"


    "Why am I still here?"


    "Find that man instead of keeping a victim here!"


    A whole day inside of the interrogation room.


    All he said is nothing.


    The police might have all the reason in the world to suspect Justin, but they don''t have a solid piece of evidence that would prove his involvement in the case other than the undeniable fact that he was, indeed, a victim.


    After 23 hours and 16 minutes, the police decided to let him go. They just can''t find a way to keep him there legally. Well, not in their limited expertise. Besides, they were also fed up with it. They clearly couldn''t get anything from Justin no matter how much they tried, and frankly, both the police and the witnesses were not pleased anymore by the fact that they haven''t slept a blink yet.


    After leaving the interrogation room, a middle-aged woman who wasn''t wearing a police uniform gave him a concealable plastic bag that contained all of his belongings, such as his phone and keys.


    Justin was tired, but he could still leave one last huzzah.


    "And what about Patricia''s things?" Justin mumbled while weakly looking at the plastic bag that he received from the sweet-looking lady.


    "I''m sorry, young man." The lady said with her hands clasped together, trying to keep a warm smile on her face. "But we can''t give it to you. It''s evidence, you see?"


    "So..." Justin, teary-eyed, slowly turned his head towards the direction of the middle-aged lady while his lips and chin shake. "I can''t even get to keep a little memorabilia from my friend?"


    The lady wanted to reply as thoughtful as she could, knowing that she was talking to a rape victim, but before he could speak, Justin was already on the floor, crying as he hugged his belongings tightly onto his chest. The woman kneeled beside him as she slowly patted the rape victim''s back. However, it was not enough to stop him from crying and yelling out the name Patricia over and over again with all the pain and suffering that he kept within his heart while the police officers imprisoned him within the cold walls of that interrogation room.


    Some other compassionate policemen went on with him and gave him a few encouraging words, some even gave him a glass of water and choccy milk, but Justin still kept crying, and it seemed that there''s no end in sight for his profound sadness. Justin clung on the middle-aged lady''s arms as he performed a monologue in the hallway about how he would never see his best friend again or how he would never forgive the man who did this to him. Some stern-looking police officer looked at him with empathetic glances as they felt the guilt rising within their chest for keeping such a fragile creature in a more compromising position in the interrogation room.


    Nevertheless, this is the first time the town has encountered something so... demonic, cruel, and heartless. The last time the town saw a murder was because some old guy''s wife cheated on him, and he stabbed that bastard who dared to cuck him. Heck, this one is so mild in comparison to this murder that the suspect himself was the one who called the cops. If anyone in the town wants to see shit like this, then they need to go to bestgore cuz they will never see something gruesome in such a wholesome town!


    Until this very moment.


    Thus, the town''s lady killer remains in the streets among the smiling faces of the citizens.


    And Justin still knows absolutely fucking nothing while a subtle smile crept onto his face filled with tears.

 60 Detectives

    "The most gruesome serial killer of the year."


    "Oregon''s Butcher strike fear in the homes of the American people."


    "Women all over the country are afraid of the Oregon Butcher."


    "The Oregon Butcher is still alive, this is why you should be afraid."


    These are all just a very few examples of the many, many, many headlines that popped out of nowhere after that sex toy shop shenanigans. Some even suggested putting a Tweet in there to show what the commons folks are saying about our guy. Eh, Twitter is irrelevant, though, so none of that shit.


    Well, I''m sure you''ve noticed something brand new.


    Oregon Butcher. Wow!


    Fancy, isn''t it? Oregon Butcher! Has a nice ring to it, makes you wanna just say it again and again. IT has a good flavor, for sure! I actually think it''s corny, though, to be honest. Very general too, I mean, it''s not like the man is killing people all over Oregon, but it does make him so much more significant by putting an entire state''s name on his shoulder. Ahh! I dunno, I just think that they can do better than that name! It''s ugly! 0 class! Very elementary! F minus at best!


    Then again, I am no Simon Cowell, and I''m not here to criticize ugly things, that''s not my job! But if there''s an opening, I already have my resume ready!


    Anyway, you''ve seen what the aftermath is! It''s a mess! Even we were at a loss at what happened! It felt like one of us blinked, and then the headlines were already posted! It was a day filled with so much confusion, even in our end!


    At this point, the law enforcement agencies of the country, as well as the leading media personnel, had started to direct their gaze on the bizarre cases happening in this small rural town in the middle of nowhere. People online are talking about it, and all lips are blabbing all over the place by linking this case to whatever agenda they have in mind. More than anything, instead of simply fixing the problem itself, most of them silently and subtly wishing that Subject 1 would continue killing more people in hopes for them to garner more support in their propaganda.


    They''re saying that this is a crime rooted in misogyny.


    Some Twitter anons with a god damn anime profile picture were going all over the place by saying that this is a hate crime directed to people of color... Although the man only killed a POC once... but that is beyond the point.


    People in random internet imageboards were both worried and rejoicing; nonetheless, they were all tackling this murder case in a lighthearted fashion by posting Doge memes about the murder spree occurring in that small town.


    Most of them were, of course, blaming the severity of the case on the negligence of the town''s authorities. They were pointing their fingers on the fact that they should have already done something about this case when it was still in its infancy.


    No matter what sort of propaganda they write or whatever kind of fear-mongering they speak of, all of these people are saying the same thing.


    "Where is the police?"


    For the most part, their question is valid, and the police are aware of that. The authorities are very much knowledgeable of the fact that they are not well-equipped, and they do not have the proper mindset to tackle something of this scale. Forget about solving a case, they don''t even have a case to solve in the years prior to the start of the murder, and then suddenly, an explosion of some sort erupted throughout the town until it spreads like a mental wildfire, burning within everyone''s sheltered psyche.


    By the time the first murder happened, they have already called for a federal agent to assist them in tackling such a sensitive case. At first, it was understandable for them to receive some kind of formal way of saying, "go deal with it yourselves." After all, this is within their jurisdiction. Although it was true that they are clueless about cases like these, they did well in handling it by following the many bits of advice that the federal authorities have given them. However, it was still quite interesting for me that the feds didn''t rush into the town right away after hearing that a violent crime had occurred there. At least, in my limited knowledge of the FBI, they would get their asses in that town right away by the time their ears heard of what Subject 1 did to Mary''s body. It was even more interesting to me that they were still not sending at least one of their agents in that town when a police officer had seen the corpse of Carol. At that time, Subject 1 already has four reported victims. Still, no feds came.


    Makes me wonder that there might be some kind of... forces working behind them that are keeping them away from this case. It''s even more curious that a serial killer who had already reportedly murdered four women did not get any media tractions.


    Hmm... Interesting, isn''t it? Makes me wonder if it''s because of y''all. Ah! But I digress! I am not here to criticize someone else''s project, now, don''t I?


    Anyways, when bodies piled up with this recent robbery that resulted in the death of another woman and a rape case on top of it, the police officers of the small town pretty much started to beg the feds to help their asses off. If they could prostrate themselves in front of the FBI office at that very moment, all of them would do it. Although in my theory, it''s not that they can''t handle it, they just don''t want to deal with it anymore. They want this to end, but they don''t want to be the ones who would do it. Then again, this is just one of my many baseless assumptions throughout this entire journey.


    With all the people circling around the town for more media buzz, the police officers wouldn''t need to beg the FBI for them to send some of their men there. However, the two people that they sent are quite... a curious duo.


    "I am detective Callahan, this is detective Barnes. You know what it is, we''re here to handle the case from now on. We would still require your assistance, and hopefully, we can write this thing off before the year ends." The tall lady said in front of several curious police officers.


    A tall white woman with a long ponytail and a short man that looked too meek to be police officer are supposed to be the ones who will catch this serial killer who had been untouchable for the entirety of his murderer career.


    The entire department looked skeptical, some are even downright scowling upon seeing them enter their office. Well, their skepticism of these two agents is not the same as mine. That''s because they''re all a bunch of old men. They aren''t quite used at the idea of seeing a female cop, let alone a female fed agent. However, my doubt of these two agents differed from groundless sexism. I was questioning why these two high school student-looking ass kids were the ones the FBI sent because of their experience.


    This is their first year. Both Special Agent Callahan and Special Agent Barnes are both newbies.


    The sexism of the police department aside, I believe that most of them are thinking the same way in regards to Special Agent Barnes. He may be a man, but this is still his first case. No matter how you twist it and no matter what you believe in, you have to admit that they are not the right people to handle such a hard case.


    And well, yeah.


    "We both hope that y''all can give us your full support."


    They really are not the right people for the job.


    The agents may sound confident, they may have a good track record, and they may bring with them a good recommendation from the higher-ups, but they are both very young, very inexperienced, and very new.


    And Special Agent Barnes knows that. Although Special Agent Callahan has both the ambition and the enthusiasm to feel confident that she could solve this case, Special Agent Barnes is not. No, he is not at all a confident person at heart, which makes one wonder why he took this job.


    Thus, in a bout of self-loathing, the unconfident Barnes went out alone without his partner to go to a quiet bar in the town plaza.


    "You don''t look so hot, detective." A man who suddenly sat beside Barnes said while he was quietly drinking his bourbon. This stranger is breathing heavily while holding a handkerchief that looked so wet that there might be two pales of sweat within those fabrics.


    Irritated, Barnes directed his gaze to the person who sullied his silence to tell him to fuck up, but he stopped that idea when he saw that the man beside him is totally his type. "Well, clearly, you''re the one who looks hot."


    Both of them laughed at each other for this sudden conversation. Still, both of these men understand that they want each other one way or another. The stranger beside Barnes was tapping his fingers on the bar, but looking at the way his other hand wouldn''t stop shaking, it''s a fair assumption to say that he''s only making all of those tapping noises to distract himself away from his nervousness. Nevertheless, Barnes didn''t really saw the fear seeping out of his body because he''s too preoccupied with this stranger''s green eyes. They''re so vivid and deep that it felt as if they were calling the very essence of his spirit.


    At this point, the stranger is already noticing that their conversation had come to a halt. No can do. He doesn''t want to give Barnes the time to think.


    "How''s the case, detective Barnes?" The stranger ignored Barnes'' compliment and leaned closer towards him.


    The man chuckled playfully and laid the side of his head on his palms. "How did you know my name?"


    "Are you kidding me?" The stranger replied playfully, with a charming smile that made Barnes bite his own lip gently. "Your face is all over the news. You''re the town''s hero! Everyone is talking about you here! How could I not know you?"


    Barnes took a sip of his drink with a chuckle. "You''re overestimating me, man, and please just call me William." He suddenly felt a bit hot, but he wasn''t sure if it was because of the alcohol or this strange man talking to him.


    "No, I''m not." The man chuckled, but one could easily detect the nervousness in his tone by the way his heavy breathing pierces through every syllable that he utters. He continued to tap his fingers on the surface of the bar. His other hand was now covering his lips. He wants to bite his fingernails, but he''s trying to stop himself from doing so as hard as he could.


    "Is that so? So you know that I''m the detective sent here to catch a criminal, and the first thing you did is to flirt with me in a secluded bar somewhere?" Barnes started tapping his fingers on the surface of the bar as well while he started rubbing his other hand on his lips to hide his smile. "Seems suspicious to me."


    The stranger stopped tapping his fingers, and as he did so, he noticed that Barnes had stopped tapping his fingers too. He slowly turned his head towards Barnes and saw that the detective''s hazel eyes were both directed at him. His gaze pierced through his head as the stranger''s eyes slowly dropped onto the detective''s neck. Realizing what he was doing, he blinked twice and looked at the FBI agent''s eyes again.


    "I... I guess it does look a bit suspicious, eh?" The stranger now couldn''t stop himself from biting one of his fingernails as he noticed that the joyful gaze of the detective beside him had now turned into something stern and severe. "I mean, I''m not here to be, you know, suspicious or anything." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The stranger then realized that the detective is extending his hands towards him. He didn''t have enough time to react. Before he could even move his body to run, the FBI agent was already wrapping his hands around his shoulder. "Is this the first time you tried hooking up with a guy?"


    "P-pardon?" The man said with a forced smile as he tried his hardest to lean his upper body backward as much as he could while the man''s arms were still around him.


    Barnes suddenly laughed after hearing this. "You''re cute, you know that?" The young FBI agent finally let go of the stranger''s shoulder to take a sip of his drink again. "Relax. I''m not here to eat you yet."


    At this point, the stranger had already reclaimed his composure and laughed along with Barnes. Nonetheless, his sweat is now visibly dripping on his forehead. "Y-yeah... Jeez, spare me some slack, man! This is the first time I''ve ever been here!" The man lied as he scratched the back of his head.


    "Oh, really? Meeting me here is not a coincidence, then?." Barnes replied as he placed his glass down.


    "Huh?" The stranger tried to act dumb as he gulped his saliva as hard as he could.


    "No. It''s nothing." Barnes realized that he might be a little hard on this man who obviously looked younger than him; he''s just trying to get laid after all. Besides, the stranger is a looker. He would hate to lose an opportunity to have some kind of fun in this desolate place. Thus, he decided to let his guard down. "You know who I am, but who are you?"


    The stranger chuckled as he snatched Barnes'' drink. The special agent looked visibly shocked as he saw this stranger suddenly drinking what remains of his glass in one gulp.


    "I''m just a dude living in a van somewhere there in the forest. Next drink''s mine. Take whatever you want."


    And that is when Subject 1 met his end.

 61 Salem, Essex County, and Oregon

    "Did I do great, sir?" Justin said while kneeling on top of Subject 1''s lap.


    "You were amazing." Subject 1 said while still kissing, licking, and biting Justin''s neck. "Everyone completely believed you."


    He was ravaging Justin''s neck for almost an hour now. Subject 1 instructed his new-found obsession never to strip in front of him; the man also prohibited the former cashier personnel to ever touch his dick ever without the man''s permission. That also comes with extra instruction that forced Justin never to show his genitalia in front of Subject 1. The man even went into several miles to make this happen by locking Justin''s dick with a small, metallic, locked cage; the man has the key to unlock the cage, but he was not sure where he had hidden it anymore. Justin doesn''t care about that, though; the only thing he wants to do is to obey. The more Justin says, "yes, Sir," the more Subject 1 felt some kind of special longing for him that he never really quite saw in any of his victims before.


    We can all remember Subject 1''s first victim clearly; her name is Mary. She is just as submissive as Justin, but for some reason, Subject 1 dislikes her. I have a theory about this, but I do not have any means to prove it; I''m not even sure if Subject 1 himself knows why he''s so infatuated with Justin so much.


    I believe that Mary simply wants to have sex with Subject 1, and for the most part, Subject 1 doesn''t always want to have sex. Meanwhile, Justin would want whatever Subject 1 wishes.


    If the man wants to be massaged, Justin will do so without question.


    If the man wants some chores done, Justin will enthusiastically do it without question.


    If the man wants his body to be licked all over, Justin will worship him without question.


    If the man wants something, Justin wants it without question.


    That is his difference with Mary, and I feel like that is what Subject 1 expects from everyone around him. Obey. No questions asked. Just let it happen.


    Justin is also delighted to obey everything Subject 1 says. He is not faking it, too; Justin''s happiness increases the more he serves his owner.


    Most of Subject 1''s instructions are comprised of mundane chores, but for almost 90% of the time, Subject 1 would force Justin to do something sexual for him. Justin would comply and obey everything the man says; never will he say no to everything the man says ever, which made Subject 1 more infatuated with Justin. Of course, sexual or not, it is still true that Subject 1 still prohibits Justin from stripping. Thus, Subject 1 is proceeds to gobble on Justin''s neck, although Justin is still wearing his long-sleeved shirt.


    "You''re mine, aren''t you?" Subject 1 stopped ravaging Justin''s neck for a while to look at him in the eyes, along with a question. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Of course, sir! I will do everything you ever say..."


    Subject 1 was not really interested in what Justin is saying. Nevertheless, he was still listening to it, and he is always happy to hear whatever comes out of Justin''s pink little lips. However, his ears had separated entirely away from the words coming out of Justin''s lips by the time he heard the voices on the television. It was a news program talking about some kind of murder case, some police involvement, some people who were unhappy about it, and something, something more about the feds.


    Subject 1 instantly stopped. His mind halted, his body stiffened, his throat clogged, his heart skipped a beat, and the only thing that worked everywhere in his body is his ears.


    "The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced this morning that they have sent two of their top agents to assist and stop the rampage of the Oregon Butcher in Essex County. The two top agents have reportedly said that they are more than excited to go to Salem and solve this case once and for all. Here''s Kirk Fischer reporting live in Salem. Kirk?"


    "Thanks, Chris. I am standing here right now with Mrs. Karen, a local cook here in Salem, who insisted that the Oregon Butcher ruined her business and made people stop participating in her annual cooking competition. Mrs. Karen, what can you say about the recent killing that happens in your neighborhood these past few months?"


    "Well, I''m scared. I''m shaking! I''m very, very afraid of everything these days! I feel like when I leave every night, someone would just WHOOSH in front of me and then stab me and then put me into whatever art exhibit something, something he has in mind that night! I am very scared, and everyone is scared!"


    "And tell us, how did the recent murder cases affect your business?"


    "Well, I usually open around early, very early in the morning. Sun''s still not up, and my business is somewhere around residential areas and, you know, houses and stuff, so I have this very, very specific people going to buy breakfast at my canteen every day, every day that is! Now, people don''t wanna go buy breakfast, and they''re just cooking their food cuz they''re scared to leave when the sun is not up yet."


    "And tell me, Mrs. Karen, how does the town of Salem feel about the Oregon Butcher?"


    "Well, I mean, the name is kinda the one that really sticks to us cuz it felt very, very wrong, but we also understand that it''s not the point! This devil is hunting our women and killing our children, and we are all scared, very, very scared of this demon! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! I pray every day that Satan would leave our town, oh Lord, and I pray every day that this anti-Christ killer would be caught already, oh Lord! And I feel like..."


    Confusing, isn''t it? Salem, Essex County, Oregon. This all doesn''t line up! Now, that''s really the main grit of this part of our presentation.  These inconsistencies divert our attention away from the fact that the media are blatantly lying about the feds'' inexperience. All of these are all so sketchy and messy. It really, really makes me feel like some of y''all were messing with us along with our investigation of Subject 1. Now I don''t hold grudges, so anyone around here who''s responsible for this shenanigan better stand the fuck up cuz this one''s a real annoying debacle! It makes iiggh! Makes me so OC, you know what I''m saying?


    But, ugh! Gah! Enough of that! Let''s go back to the point! See, we are not the only ones who are confused about this Salem, Essex County, and Oregon confusion, but looking at this clip we have for you about the conversation between Subject 1 and Justin, it seems that our little gay boys have an interesting little theory. I will also leave a bit of my commentary in it as we go along the way.


    Around this time, our cute little Oregon Butcher is already shaking in fear of his imminent capture. Subject 1 started sweating so much once he realized that he was already all over the news. The man lost confidence in himself, and he knows for a fact that this will be the end of him if those agents start taking him seriously. He starts thinking about laying low or moving away from the town or maybe committing suicide, everything under the sun! Justin noticed how much that news broke Subject 1.


    Since the man is not really interested in his little pet at that moment, Justin used this opportunity to take the remote behind Subject 1 and close the television, which is why we never really heard much about Mrs. Karen''s irrelevant statement.


    What the people think of him is not really why Subject 1 started feeling a sense of dread. It''s the fact that the authorities are now taking him seriously. Thus, as his mind descended more into the abyss of his fear, he also lost awareness of his surroundings.


    Seeing that taking his head away from the television didn''t really do much on the looming paranoia that''s seeping through Subject 1''s head, Justin kneeled on top of his owner''s lap again and started stroking his hair.


    "Oregon Butcher, huh? But we''re in Massachusetts, though?" Justin said while embracing and cradling Subject 1 in his arms like a little child.


    Subject 1 noticed what Justin was doing as he dropped his head on Justin''s shoulder; whatever Justin was doing at that moment is helping Subject 1 to calm down, which the man highly appreciated.


    Finally getting out of the tension of the media coverage about him, the man finally snapped out of it as he whispered a reply, "I think it''s because Massachusetts Butcher is not as iconic-sounding as Oregon Butcher."


    "Hmm..." Justin noticed Subject 1''s distress and subtly tried to lower his collar while massaging the man''s head. "But there''s only one Salem, right? How can they link that to Oregon?"


    "There''s actually a lot of Salems." Subject 1 placed his chin on top of Justin''s shoulder and took a whiff of Justin''s neck. "The only thing we ever need to care about at the moment is Massachusetts and Oregon. I think there''s even a Salem in Georgia, Iowa, and Florida. They''re not the same town, just the same name."


    "Is that so?" Justin pulled Subject 1 closer towards him as he wrapped his feet and arms around his body. "Why use Oregon, then? Iowa Butcher sounds good too."


    "Yeah, but Iowa doesn''t sound as mysterious as Oregon. I dunno, there''s something about Oregon that makes it have this mystical feel in it just by saying it. Well, at least I feel that way whenever I hear ''Oregon.''" Subject 1 embraced Justin back as he proceeded to kiss his neck in rapid succession.


    Justin slowly tilted his head to give Subject 1 enough room to kiss his neck. "Yeah, and I guess Massachusetts doesn''t really sound, you know, catchy." Justin subtly pulled his collar and let it hand on the edge of his shoulder. He doesn''t understand why Subject 1 likes his neck so much, but Justin had already understood that it is not his job to ask or think about it.


    "Yep. I mean, Oregon Butcher sounds more evil than Massachusetts Butcher. Salem Butcher would have worked too, so I''m not sure why they didn''t use that." Subject 1 could feel his libido rising as he proceeded to kiss and lick Justin''s neck.


    "You said there''s lotsa Salem. That must be why." Justin could feel something hard poking his bottom. Without further ado, he started grinding his ass slowly and relishes on how it got even harder every time he moves the lower half of his body.


    Subject 1 didn''t really care much about what Justin is doing. All he knows is that he likes it, and he expresses it by moaning and groaning amid his sentences. "Or... haa... maybe... maybe they just don''t want. uggh... they just don''t want people to think that... whoo... that I''m a witch or something."


    Justin chuckled. "That could be it. Hmph, they''re still wrong. They deserve to respect you more than this." Justin hastened the way he moved his ass, and he noticed how much his owner likes it.


    Subject 1 started humping his hips too as he proceeded to nibble and kiss Justin''s neck, leaving more marks on it. He listened to what Justin had to say, placed those words in his heart, and played with that idea over and over. Still, he didn''t know how to react to what Justin said. Thus, he remained silent as he pulled the collar of Justin''s shirt to the point that he almost tore it.


    Justin tightened his embrace on the man''s body as he ground his ass on Subject 1''s lap. With a loud groan, Subject 1 stopped moving his hips, and after a few moments, Justin did the same too. They both panted heavily, and after a while, they both fell on the bed. Justin was now lying on top of Subject 1''s firm body as he whispered on his ears.


    "The agents are here in Salem now, you know? We can probably do something about it."


    "What do you mean?"


    "I know you''re afraid of them. I know you''re desperate to take them away. I also know a bar where one of those two agents often visit. I can take you there." Justin said as he caresses Subject 1''s chest.


    "I''m not afraid of them."


    Justin paused for a moment after doing that, but after a while, he showed his usual gentle smile again as he kissed Subject 1''s cheek. "Of course. And you shouldn''t be. You can deal with them the same way you dealt with Patricia, but I also know that you have no clue how you could strike them. That''s okay, sir. I''m here for you; I will help you! I will do everything you need to do!"


    "What can you do for me?"


    "One of the FBI agents goes to a bar somewhere in the plaza. Guy''s name is Barnes, William Barnes. I know that bar a lot; my childhood friend''s family runs that thing. We can do something about him there. I''ll ask my friend to do whatever you want. You still have some of that drug you gave me, right? You can use that to knock him out. I''ll even let the bartender do it for you!"


    Subject 1 bit his lip as a smile formed on his face. Justin blinked twice as he smiled while looking at his owner''s green eyes. As silence enveloped the space around them, Justin felt something hardening below him again, which made his smile turn into a broad grin.


    At this point, both of them have no idea that they''re actually battling against two inexperienced agents. Meanwhile, those two young feds didn''t know that further media coverage about them had only strengthened an already raging flame.


    As their plan proceeded, our research about Subject 1 is about to end as well.


    And as our research ends... Well, that means we have to take him here somehow, and you all know what that means...


    "You''re the best, Justin."


    Justin''s chuckled with the happiest face I have ever seen in my life. "I love you so much, Sir!"


    "I know."

 62 The Die is Cas

    Everything was already in motion.


    The detectives have arrived in the town, the man has already made his moves on one of those feds, the plan was already in motion, and everything else just needs that one push of a finger for the entire town to be thrown in cinder. Metaphorically speaking, of course, though some of us were speculating as to how literal that metaphor might turn out to be.


    Which brings us to the enigma of this tale so far.


    As the man thinks of ways he would handle the situation at hand, one person stood beside him, hiding beneath his shadow like a silent apparition that would obey all the commands that the man would ever spout. Looking at the screen in front of you, we can see a photo showing that Subject 1 is formulating many ways in which he could tackle his offense against the two federal agents that are trying to get him out of his little metallic cave.


    On the corner of the photo is a slender, pale, and short man, silently preparing Subject 1''s dinner. He never speaks unless the man tells him to do so, and he only does what the man asks him to do; he is the perfect definition of a machine with a flesh. He has what Subject 1 wants the most, and he also has all that Subject 1 needs. In fact, he also has the body that Subject 1 seeks whenever he hunts for a partner. One might even think that he''s Subject 1''s manufactured toy according to his preferences: pale skin, thin body, black hair, remains silent, obeys orders, knows how to do household chores impeccably, and more than anything, he is capable of thinking like a highly educated person because he is! Though he doesn''t realize it, he is far more intelligent than he gives himself credit for. In fact, this entire plan that Subject 1 is trying to perfect came from him. Subject 1 is very much aware that the competence of his new plaything doesn''t end on its ability to rock a man in the bedroom.


    He''s the perfect 1930''s woman but without a breast and with a built-in dick.


    Yes, that''s the enigma.


    We''ve seen many victims so far. That man you see who is standing in the corner of the photo is one of many such victims, and most of the notable names that the man has scratched off from the face of the earth share the same quality that he has.


    Mary is a sex expert. Laura is a subservient and submissive lady. Carol is an intelligent lady, but not smart enough to move independently. There''s also Chris, who unintentionally unraveled the man''s obsession with necks, but Subject 1 never really involved himself sexually with the rest of Chris'' body. Jean might be an irrelevant topic from start to finish, but Subject 1''s idea of her in his drunken state is that of a petite, white woman who is way shorter than him, and those qualities are always relevant when we talk about Subject 1. Patricia is also worth our time, for it shows us exactly what type of person does Subject 1 avoid as a partner.


    If we make a checklist, we can see that Subject 1 has a somewhat predictable pattern when it comes to the people he wants to fuck.


    Having a dick is not on the list.


    Being a man is not on the list.


    Yes, Chris is a boy, but as we''ve discussed earlier, Subject 1 did not have sex with Chris; the only thing of interest when we talk about Chris is his neck--that''s it!


    However, with all that being said, Subject 1 still engaged with a man sexually, Subject 1 still treated a man the same way he would treat his female victims, and Subject 1 still keeps a man around.


    Subject 1 spared Justin''s life.


    And this is not just an enigma in the case of Subject 1! Note that Justin has all the opportunities to escape the man''s clutches. He could literally save a lot more time for the entirety of the police department if he just said the right words. In fact, he''s the first person that ever had the chance of telling the police everything that Subject 1 had done. More than anyone in this world, he was the only one given the opportunity to end Subject 1''s murder spree once and for all.


    It is a popular topic among my team that leaving Justin alive in that storage room was... well, a mistake! A decision derived from a stupid thought of trusting a stranger. If I were given the chance to handle the storage room crisis at that time, I would choose to kill Justin at that moment; no questions asked! However, clearly, we are the ones mistaken here. Justin didn''t snitch and went to Subject 1 to aide him in many ways other than sex.


    Their odd connection doesn''t end with just them merely not wanting to kill each other. Looking at the next slides, we can see more photos of them during their most mundane moments doing something well, unremarkable, but not in the context of Subject 1.


    See, this photo shows Justin hugging Subject 1 from behind while he was working.


    This photo shows Justin sitting on Subject 1''s lap while the man was conversing with a client online.


    Oh, this one photo is my favorite. It shows the two of them sleeping on the same bed together. Notice the outlines of their bodies behind the blanket. We can clearly see that Subject 1 is embracing Justin as they sleep.


    Yeah, this next photo is Subject 1 and Justin bathing together in the river. What makes this moment a point of interest is the fact that Subject 1 is the one washing Justin''s hair.


    Lastly, this one photo is them eating together, and we can clearly see that Subject 1 is wiping some kind of grease on Justin''s cheek.


    I know what you''re thinking, why am I showing such mundane gay shit? Alright, hear me out, ladies and gentlemen. I had monitored Subject 1''s life before he even started his murder career. These mundane and sweet-looking moments are weird precisely because Subject 1 never engages in this sort of thing. The man never wants people to bother him while he''s working, the man never wants to wash someone else''s hair because he thinks it''s dirty, and the man hates touching people, let alone have someone else embrace him. And you remember that photo where he''s wiping grease on Justin''s cheek? He''s not wearing his usual gloves at that time. These are all anomalies that we cannot explain in simpler terms, especially when we know what sort of person Subject 1 is.


    I just...


    I think that, uh, you know, these are all specific characteristics that Subject 1 definitely doesn''t have. In my limited knowledge, we can clearly speculate that Subject 1 is doing romantic activities with Justin, which is, again, something that Subject 1 never does! The closest he had ever done that we can even remotely call "romantic" was when he invited Laura to go to a picnic with him, and when he invited Carol for a glass of coffee. However, knowing the outcome of those events, we are all made aware that they are not activities done with romance in mind. They are all manipulative sentiments that served as a cherry on top of a bloodied cake. Never did Subject 1 perform something we could otherwise call "romantic" without reason.


    Subject 1, however, still does all of those subtle romantic quips with Justin without a murderous grand narrative in mind. He just wants to do it, and he wants to do it with him.


    Which brings us to the fact that our project, though breathtakingly impressive in a technical sense, is still very much imperfect. All of us can clearly observe our limitations based on the Justin data alone!


    We simply do not know what''s going on inside their heads.


    We have all the technology in our hands; we have all the products and inventions here with us, but none of it manages to aide us in knowing what goes around these two people''s heads during those times that they were together. The only thing we can do is to speculate and wait for what they would do next before we could come up with a reasonable conclusion. And we did. We''ve waited, and we''ve speculated but to no avail. Nothing exciting ever came out of their romantic moments. Subject 1''s relationship with Justin simply has no reasonable conclusion...


    Other than the fact that it''s just the actions of two quiet people in love.


    And I mean, ugh... I dislike that conclusion, but the "love" hypothesis is like Rome in this case, all roads lead to it.


    No other data backs that hypothesis up other than the information we had gathered the night before Subject 1 talked to detective William Barnes in the bar of Justin''s friend.


    The scene was perfectly laid up for the perfect murder in Subject 1''s career.


    Full moon.


    Windless night.


    The night is young.


    The birds are nowhere to be found.


    Subject 1 is carrying a knife in his hand, a knife that Justin himself has perfectly sharpened for an entire week, not knowing that it would be used for this very purpose.


    Outside of the van.


    Beneath the cloudless sky.


    While Justin is kneeling on the ground.


    Subject 1 is carrying a knife in his hand, a knife that Justin himself has perfectly sharpened for an entire week, now knowing that it would be used for his murder.


    Justin stayed on the ground, kneeling.


    He doesn''t want to die; nobody really wants to.


    But he still has a warm smile in his face as he held the man''s bare hands.


    Subject 1 is carrying a knife in his hand, a knife that he would use to murder Justin because the man can only accommodate 1 pet in his life. That''s always the way he does things in his life, one step at a time, one person per bed, one body per blanket. This is just how he does things. If he already sets his eye on a new target, then he would simply kill his present plaything and get on with it. Justin is no exception. That''s just the way it is. We already accepted that as a team, we are already starting to scrapping the "love" hypothesis away. This is the end for another victim, though this one had more involvement with Subject 1, he''s still a victim regardless.


    "Do it, sir. We planned this to happen, and the plan never included me. II understand. You need to be alone on this one, right? I understand. Dying for you is..." Justin gasped as he felt his owner''s hands gently caressing his cheek. "... dying for you is necessary. I understand, and I accept your decision. It''s the right decision."


    It is needless for me to say that the man is desperate. The world has its eyes on him; the town folks are looking at each other with doubts hanging around their heads. If he needs to leave an ember every step he takes to erase all the traces of his sins, then he would gladly do it. Set the world aflame for all he cares, but he knows that he will be the one to ascend from the torrent of flames. Thus, looking at this clip of the two of them together, it is clear to see that killing Justin seems to be the right idea. After all, Justin has no place in Subject 1''s life anymore once the man captured the federal agents.


    Which is why what happens next is something I always find interesting.


    "Why?" Subject 1 silently mumbled as he gripped the knife tightly.


    Let''s pause that clip for a bit. Now that part is what I find interesting the most. He asked a question. Don''t you think it''s weird? A murderer who never regarded the people he killed as humans has started asking his newest victim a question that begs a human answer.


    Oddly enough, a man like Subject 1, who had nothing and knew no one, thinks that he has a lot to lose. More than anyone living and breathing in Salem, he is probably the person who had the least reason to survive, for, contrary to his belief, he actually has nothing to lose, yet he''s the most desperate among all of them--craves it more than anything! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Killing Justin as swiftly as he could, with no further dialogues and no further questions, is the best thing that Subject 1 should do, given the fact that he really wanted to live. Ending this fickle relationship he has with Justin is the best course of action, for it removes a pest in his plan, further improving his chances.


    Now, we can go in-depth about why Justin is a bad investment for Subject 1, but we can already infer this fact this through the many times we''ve seen Justin, from the very beginning until the very end. He''s simply an unpredictable factor that only causes my team unnecessary stress! It seems that the only one who''s not worried about the many detriments that Justin can cause is Subject 1!


    Justin paused after hearing Subject 1''s question; perhaps, he, too, was surprised that he was still not dead. His smile slowly broadens as Subject 1''s gentle hands moved to his chin. He then opened his eyes, reflecting the light of the moon on his big eyes.


    "I never knew life before I met you. All my friends are better than me. My family doesn''t really like me. Everyone else just doesn''t know I exist before you came. You gave me a purpose, sir, you gave me a life." The man then started to stroke Justin''s chapped lips, feeling the roughness of his eyes, which oddly brings both of them a sort of joy that only the two of them could understand. "And I am more than happy to know that you are also the one who will take the life away from me. I am so happy!"


    And he wasn''t lying. His eyes are filled with the glisten of a euphoric gem, his broad smile shows the shine of a priceless pearl. The man sees this magnificent sight, and the only thing he could see there is nothing but a work of art.


    The man then knelt.


    He embraced Justin while still gripping the knife in his hands.


    A murder with a final hug, something he never did before, but as a team, we are already pretty much accustomed to see him do things to Justin that he had never done to his former victims. Seeing more out of character moments for the last time is not such a bad thing.


    And as he tightly felt Justin''s serene body in his arms, he swings the knife.


    And stab! Disturbing the silence all around with the sound of his knife, hitting something hard yet soft at the same time.


    All of my members weren''t looking at the scene, perhaps because they had already felt close to this Justin figure already, for, after all, he is Subject 1''s longest partner so far.


    But I didn''t. My eyes are open wide. I saw it all.


    His knife hitting the soil, as he pushed Justin onto the ground, kissing him as tenderly as he could with all the loving feeling that directly came from the heavens itself, defeating the love of all the gods and the angels. And though the world is wrapped currently around a state of lightlessness, their bodies exude a blinding flash that puts the stars to shame.


    "Stay with me, Justin, and I promise that you will never be bored." Subject 1


    Tears then swiftly burst out of Justin''s shaking eyes, showing the anxiety he has been keeping to himself since the sun had fallen. "Are you really fine with me?" Justin asked, still willing to die with his arms opening the Reaper before him. "It''s just me. I''m just me. I have nothing else. Are you... are you really okay with me?"


    "Yeah. You''ll do just fine. We''ll do this together."


    Together he said, and together they did. Hours after meeting William Barnes, Subject 1 and Justin were already carrying the detective''s unconscious body towards their van--their metallic sanctuary.


    And after wrapping the federal agent with chains, Subject 1 fucked the ever-living shit out of Justin for the very first time.


    "I love you, Master."


    "Yeah."


    The detectives have arrived in the town, the man has already made his moves on one of those feds, the plan was already in motion, and everything else just needs that one push of a finger for the entire town to be thrown in cinder. And this time, maybe it''s not so metaphorical after all.


    Everything has already set in motion.

 63 The Plan

    Enter through the backdoor.


    Meet with the bar owner.


    Give the drug to the owner.


    Make Special Agent William Callahan faint.


    Drag him into the van.


    Off his head.


    Do the same thing to the other one.


    And fly to another country with Justin.


    That''s the plan that Subject 1 had concocted with the aid of Justin. Both of them knew that this plan is... shaky and downright unremarkable, but it was a good start if they really wish to deal with this problem. Before the formulation of this downright unreliable plan, Justin had suggested that they should just flee while the feds were still not sniffing around their turf. Subject 1 respected this idea and deliberated its pros and cons before ultimately denying it and deciding to go through the plan that they had already made.


    Our team agreed with  Subject 1''s decision. After all, the man and Justin have already gone this far. There''s no other way for them to escape this hell hole without gaining some attention on the people around them who already have their eyebrow raised. Besides, no matter what they would do, the chances that the FBI would catch them is profound no matter what plan they would decide to initiate. If they would be found anyway sooner or later, they might as well send a message to the upper echelons of the FBI by killing the agents that they had sent to nab him, the so-called Oregon Butcher. It would be a fitting end to his story; heck, I''m already seeing the Netflix docu-series about it.


    However, that''s not necessarily the reason why Subject 1 denied Justin''s advice of fleeing without shedding further blood. You see, he''s a simple, simple man. He did not make any real deliberation when deciding on how they would face the FBI threat. He just really wanna fuck people up, and to be honest, even if they would flee somewhere far or in a different universe altogether, the man is so used to the absolute thrill of game-ending someone that he would definitely find a way to kill another person wherever he might go.


    His logic is simple. He just doesn''t wanna leave Salem without burning the FBI''s bridges down. He wanna fuck people up real good until he would secure a fair amount of sin to have a throne down there in hell.


    Thus, on the following night, when Subject 1 attempted to murder Justin, both of them marched on towards the bar. Justin led the way towards the bar; Subject 1 thought that it would be an obscure place but was instantly rendered speechless when he saw that it was actually the same bar that he frequently visited. Subject 1 never really went here anymore after that Jean incident. Justin had been visiting this bar by the time he heard about the rumors that one of the two detectives frequently visited this bar three to five times a week. After two weeks of visiting the bar daily, Justin had found out that Special Agent William Barnes would go to the bar almost every day around 9 to 11 pm and would leave the establishment around 2 to 4 am with no real factor or variants affecting the length of his stay or the time in which he would decide to leave.


    Barnes loves sitting on the bar area; in fact, Justin has concluded that he might have a hatred towards the other tables inside the establishment because he would rather stand somewhere while drinking his usual whiskey or bourbon and wait for one of the patrons sitting on the bar to stand up and leave. He would entertain someone who wishes to speak with him only when he was sitting on the bar.


    Justin had also found a rather interesting fact about William Barnes. He would immediately dismiss any women who would talk to him, but he would happily speak with other men¡ªparticularly some tall, slender, and strikingly handsome men¡ªfor hours. He would even leave with those men earlier; Justin had also found out that William Barnes would willingly enter these men''s places, probably to hook up with them. This fact alone was the reason why Justin suggested to Subject 1 that perhaps using the drug to a man like William Barnes, who would willingly go to anyone''s home for some casual sex, would be an overkill. Nevertheless, Subject 1 refused this suggestion, saying that he would rather use the drug no matter how cooperative William Barnes is because it''s much more interesting that way.


    And I mean... He''s not wrong! He''s gonna murder a federal agent, might as well spice it up some more. It''s much more interesting that way for the people who would watch his documentary on Netflix in the very, very near future. 2021 maybe? Well, he needs to be caught first, so maybe 2025? Ooh! Oooh, I know! Let''s do a competition on who can make the bestest title for a Netflix documentary! The winner will get a blender¡ªoh god, I want a blender.


    Anyway, they decided to see through the plan until the very end without much changes. Before the bar opens, Justin and Subject 1 had already arrived at the backdoor of the bar. Since Justin and the owner of the bar knew each other since they were young, the bar owner happily allowed them to enter and hear what they had to say.


    Thus, their first problem had already hit their way.


    The bar owner, who was cradling his young daughter in his arms at the time, was against the idea of helping two people in drugging one of his customers. Not only because of the ethical implication of it that would obviously give him some guilt-ridden nightmares, but it would also be bad for his business. Nevertheless, Justin pushed him on, saying that he doesn''t have to do it ever again for him, and it would not affect his business since the man that they''re trying to catch is, and I quote, "a salacious little bitch who would gobble any cock he sees." Which, to be fair, is true. That quote alone made me like Justin a lot, although he''s no one to talk cuz he''s just as cock-hungry as William Barnes.


    The bar owner was quick to point this out too when he chuckled after hearing what Justin had said, as we can see on this clip right here. "Damn, you really said those words in front of my baby daughter!" The bar owner scoffed jokingly. "You have a lot of nerve to be saying that about some random homo when I bet you''re far, far worse than him. Far worse!"


    Justin dropped his tense shoulder and smiled wryly after hearing what the man had said. He then placed his arms on Subject 1''s legs. "Of course. I''m better too."


    Subject 1 doesn''t like the way Justin provocatively talks to the bar owner this way, and he growled subtly at him. Justin tightened his grip on Subject 1''s legs, pleading him to endure this bit of humiliation to ensure the success of their plan. One way or another, Subject 1 finally agreed to one of Justin''s suggestion after thinking about the gravity of the project they''re trying to do.


    Justin then continued with his legs crossed. "Why don''t we talk about this matter in your room? Just the two of us. Like old times."


    "Like old times, eh?" The bar owner said while biting his lips. He then diverted his gaze to the man sitting beside Justin as he felt his daughter waking up in his arms. "What about him?"


    "Oh." Justin''s hand then started to shake, and Subject 1 could feel it on his legs. "Don''t worry, he doesn''t mind."


    Subject 1 knows by the way Justin''s voice quivered that he would hate whatever he would do to this so-called childhood friend of his. He knows that Justin hated what he just said, but he had to do it to make their plan happen. Subject 1 is not the brightest man in town, but when both Justin and the bar owner left him in his lonesome in the still-closed bar and returned with Justin looking flushed while his lips were covered with a sticky fluid, even a childish person like Subject would understand what Justin had done to make this plan work.


    And for the most part, it helped them a lot. When the bar opened, the third person to enter was Special Agent William Barnes. The only thing they would do is for one of them to strike a conversation with the federal agent and hope that he would bite their bait. However, with a seething anger still lingering within him, Subject 1 vowed to himself that someday, he would do all sorts of methods he could use to kill, dissect, ruin, and destroy this fat, short, and greasy-looking, little, bitchass, stupid motherfucker who owned this bar after extending his hand to "help" them.


    To be honest, what shocked most of my members more was the fact that Subject 1 didn''t hold resentment towards Justin. Well, not me, though. After seeing all the unusual things that Subject 1 had done with Justin, I am already expecting that he would be more worried about him rather than getting angry at him after sucking someone else''s tiny peepee. And well, what can I say? I''m into cuckoldry, sooo... Netorare is good, stop judging me, okay? The fuck? Why are you looking at me like that!? No, you''re definitely giving me that "oooh, she nasty!" kinda look! Oh no, don''t you dare act like you didn''t do it! DO NOT! You know what, fuck you, I WILL make a callout post on Twitter dot come about your bitchass! Look, it''s not like I would do the cucking, okay? I just really, really like to read about it! No, I''m not being defensive! I''m just... ugh! Let''s just... OH MY GOD! Let''s just go back to the presentation, okay? Bunch of judgmental assholes. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Soon, people entered the bar one after another, but one of them decided to talk to the gloomy-looking William Barnes. Anyway, what happened next is exactly what you have seen earlier in the clip, the man worked up the courage to talk to the federal agent who was out there to nab his ass. He was feeling unusually unconfident in front of the sharp-looking special agent with his sharp gaze that could pierce through his head. The man was not surprised if he knew that the federal agent could read minds somehow, for once Subject 1 sat beside him, he could already feel the animosity the special agent was exuding, signaling that he does not trust Subject 1. Nevertheless, he still talked to him, though, he''s sweating a lot as his entire body shakes.


    William Barnes noticed this, and the corner of his lips perked up as he saw how hard the man in front of him tries to hide his nervousness.


    "How''s the case, detective Barnes?"


    As Subject 1 made his remark, Justin looked at them from a nearby table intently, with all the vigor the one would not see in a captive slave.

 64 Special Agent Barnes

    Justin drank his coffee as he started taking notes while he watched the conversation between them. We aren''t quite sure, but it seemed as if Justin could easily hear both of them as they whispered among one another in the bar... which is... highly unlikely. However, with the way Justin accurately took note of what they were saying, unbelievable as it may seem, Justin really could hear what they were saying.


    Taking notes is not really a part of the plan. However, after looking him up a bit, we realized that he always had a knack about detective stuff and police-work. In fact, I think he''s studying a crime fighting-related degree in a university somewhere in Massachusetts. From what we can see, Justin is not taking notes to know what Special Agent Barnes is going right... He is, in fact, noting the many things that a detective shouldn''t do. Special Agent Barnes is Justin''s model in judging what a failure looks like.


    That''s harsh. Even for me. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The following conversation between Subject 1 and Special Agent Barnes were recorded in Justin''s vantage point along with some of my commentary. I must note that even with all the tech we have, we still had to heighten the capacity of our mic to hear what the two of them were saying. Which really exemplifies the fact that... Justin is a mutant whore, I guess?


    "You''re awfully nervous, aren''t you?" Barnes said after he saw Subject 1 downing a federal agent''s drink, something he truly enjoyed to see. It''s not common to see someone drinking someone else''s drink after all, let alone from a stranger who so happened to be a federal agent.


    "Wha-?" Subject 1 said as his eyes widened with the glisten of an innocent child. "How did you know?"


    "I just know. Part of the job." Barnes lied, but using his identity as a detective always worked in his favor. The fact that he used that approach to Subject 1 means that the special agent is interested. "Don''t worry. I find it adorable when you do that."


    "Do what?" Subject 1 nervously mumbled with a chuckle.


    "That. You know, trying hard to get me." Barnes whispered as he leaned closer to Subject 1.


    Subject 1''s eyes fell onto the ground after hearing what Barnes had said; he was rendered speechless, for he thought that the special agent had seen through his facade. Nevertheless, he continued to march on, thinking that maybe he''s just overthinking.


    "Hmph, so you''re reading my mind all this time, huh?" The man said, leaning forward as well, but this time, he faced the entirety of his body to William Barnes with his legs opened wide. "I don''t like that. I don''t like that at all." Subject 1 finally found a way to overcome his fear one way or another as he tapped his feet on the ground.


    The special agent noticed this as he paused to think about a response while looking at Subject 1''s hardened crotch. Not that Subject 1 is actually not hard at the time; he just placed a banana in his underwear. This is Justin''s idea, of course. Shocking.


    "You can say that." The federal agent failed to say a snappy reply, for the allure that the man was exuding halted the functionality of his brain as he felt his blood traveling to his lower half.


    "Why don''t I buy you a drink, then, Mr. Psychic?" Subject 1 said. This is the cue for the bar owner to give Barnes the drug by spiking it in his drink. After the event that transpired earlier when the bar was still close, Subject 1 was now reluctant to trust the bar owner from doing his side of the bargain. However, Subject 1 was not aware that Justin had promised the bar owner that he would come back to him for another round if he did as they had planned. Apparently, this fat guy right here is easy to persuade. "Give him what a bourbon. He always drinks that when he comes here."


    "Oh?" Barnes whispered with his head placed on his hands. "And how did you know that I frequently come here, boy?"


    Subject 1 couldn''t remember what he had said to make Barnes ask that question out of the blue, but he was not a nervous wreck anymore. A few random quirks and absurdities wouldn''t be the reason for his plan to fail.


    "I guess you''re not the only psychic around here, Mr. Detective."


    Barnes was amused after hearing Subject 1''s reply. When the bar owner placed the spiked bourbon in front of him, Barnes chugged it down in one go without much thought. He noticed that the drink smelled a bit differently, and it tastes somehow bitter but not in a conventional way. Not to mention, it has a twinge sour taste that he had never tasted before in a bourbon. Nevertheless, he didn''t want to make the atmosphere awkward with his newfound partner, so he smiled as if nothing was wrong.


    "You''re not the only one out here who can chug uhh... a drink." Barnes stammered as he wiped his wet lips. "Say, why don''t we leave this place and..."


    "And?" Subject 1 responded after seeing Special Agent Barnes hesitating to speak.


    "Ugh..." Barnes suddenly felt a ringing noise in his ears while his sight suddenly turned into that of a kaleidoscope, making the wan in front of his appear to have made multiple copies of himself. He then stood up but failed as his feet slipped, making him fall into Subject 1''s arms.


    "I didn''t know you''re a lightweight, Mr. Detective."


    Barnes'' mind is so muddled that he couldn''t think properly, but his mind could process information enough to see the broad smirk painted on Subject 1''s face.


    "Dude looks fucked. Why don''t you take him home, man?" The bar owner playfully suggested with a chuckle.


    "You heard that, Mr. Detective? You''ll be coming home with me!" Subject 1 said while lightly tapping his hands on Barnes'' cheeks with an obviously fake and sarcastic sounding childish tone.


    As Barnes'' consciousness started to dwindle, he tried to take what remains of his already failing mind to take the phone in his pocket to call his partner subtly without anyone noticing.


    However, before he could even slip his hand in his pocket, he suddenly felt the cold, thin hands of somebody behind him, gripping his arms.


    "Shall we take him home together, sir?"


    And thus, as he heard the voice of a stranger behind him while gazing at the face of yet another stranger in front of him, Special Agent William Barnes'' consciousness faded.


    When he regained his consciousness he felt that all the weight of the world had befallen towards him. Not only that but he noticed that he''s lying on a stranger''s bed. As if that wasn''t bad enough, after moving for a bit, he noticed that he was tied tightly on that said bed from top to toe. I''m not kidding. Whoever tied him up had done such a great job that even his toes were tied up.


    He noticed the naked figure of a man in front of him as he holds headphones while smiling in a... I can only describe it as triumphantly evil, like that of Lucifer, flipping the usual narrative as he stomped on Gabriel''s defeated figure.


    As Barnes'' eyes moved all around, he noticed that there were sex toys everywhere his eyes could reach, from the ceiling to the wall. Heck, there might even be some sex toy on the ground that he couldn''t see.


    "Wait for a while, okay?" The naked man said in a chuckle. "I''m still tweaking this recording."


    Surprisingly, Detective Barnes looked calm as if he didn''t find anything wrong in whatever is happing at that moment. He just thought that maybe this man just has some kind of extreme bondage fetish. Though he''s not a big fan of BDSM, Barnes is not afraid of trying it out every now and then. He just didn''t like the drug-play that he did in the bar earlier. Maybe the voice he heard behind him and the hand grabbing his arm earlier was just a part of his hallucination.


    "There you go! It''s all done!" Subject 1 exclaimed in a child-like tone, further capitalizing on the fact that he''s younger than the detective. "Let me just put this in you for a bit, okay, Mr. Psychic Detective." Subject 1 continued with that same childish tone, but the look in his face was not at all kind nor innocent.


    Barnes heaved a deep sigh, troubled about all these foreplay. He just wanted to fuck after all.


    After a few static, William Barnes finally realized that this is not at all foreplay. No, it is foreplay, but not for sex.


    "Good day. If you''re listening to this clip, know that you''re already dead. I''m going to kill you bit by bit."


    After hearing this, Detective Barnes groaned, wanting to scream, but he realized that there was a ball gag in his mouth covered by multiple layers of duct tape.


    "I will start from your feet so you can feel everything that I will do to you."


    The monotonous voice of the recording was obviously from the man before him. He recorded this just for this very moment. Barnes could do nothing but to see the naked man in front of him move about the small room that he later identified as a gigantic van used by those people that his colleagues would identify as "white trash."


    "I will explain in this recording everything that I will do to you."


    Barnes shook, his entire body started wriggling, although he wasn''t consciously controlling it. He continued to listen to the loud but silent recording as he saw the man holding a dull knife while he held a rather gigantic-looking dildo in his other hand.


    "You will die."


    Subject 1 took a step towards William Barnes. The special agent noticed that the man was wearing his ID. He doesn''t know why; I don''t understand it too. Still, one thing is true. Seeing this made Barnes shake more than ever.


    "You will please me."


    Subject 1 leaned on the bed as he slapped the pink, gigantic dildo on William Barnes bare but caged member. The way he slapped his member strengthened every slap he makes, making William Barnes squirm. He couldn''t accept how hard this entire thing is making him feel as he felt the metallic cage around his dick gripping his other head. Nevertheless, as Subject 1 slapped his testicles, he just gets even harder and the pain just gets even more unbearable.


    "You will not like it."


    Subject 1 finally stopped slapping his testicles, giving William Barnes enough time to assess the situation with a relieved sigh.


    "It''s okay."


    However, the man slowly lifted the knife in his other hand, pointing it at his caged dick. At this point, Barnes is already trying his very best to shout for him to stop, but with the way Subject 1''s eyes glistened like his sharp knife, Barnes knew that he wouldn''t stop no matter how much he cried and begged.


    "Just let it happen."


    Tears started to burst out of his eyes like that of a dam with a cracking wall.


    Subject 1 then moved his arm, signaling that he was about to stab one of Barnes'' balls if not both.


    When it happened.


    A noise.


    A rustling sound.


    A footstep.


    Not from Justin.


    No, this one is too heavy, too thick, too confident for it to be Justin''s timid and unconfident steps.


    "Good evening! This is the police. May I come in?"

 65 The Detectives Plan/s

    Observe.


    The knife is literally inches away from Special Agent Barnes'' testicles. However, before Subject 1 could even do anything relatively bloody to his victim, an external force had stopped him from moving further from his plan. In fact, the clip that you''re seeing right now is not paused at all. Subject 1 is just so overcome with all sorts of negative emotions, energies, and feelings in the world that he quite literally stopped functioning as a human being. It felt as if the voice of that person who suddenly shouted literally just outside of his van had loosened a few of the already loose screws in his head further till it drops, stunning Subject 1 until he no longer knew how to function as a person.


    Special Barnes used this opportunity to struggle further without moving his body, for he''s afraid that wriggling so much might cause him to hurt his own testicles on the knife pointed at it. The detective knew that voice; he knew it very well. Thus, he shouted, groaned, moaned, and mumbled while a huge ball gag was still on his mouth, locking his jaw from uttering a word but not enough to hinder him from asking for help. However, at that moment, Barnes was not at all seeking help. His effort to raise his voice with a gag on his mouth was his own unique way of warning whoever was outside of the van to run. Barnes knew that woman very well, and he knew that she wouldn''t be able to do anything against Subject 1 due to many, many factors rooted from her ridiculous stubbornness.


    "Sir? Sir, is everything alright in there?" The woman outside the van knocked three more times as she uttered those words.


    "Yes! Just wait!" Subject 1 tried to calmly articulate, but it came out like a protestation filled with annoyance instead.


    Barnes then screamed once more, stronger this time, and it seemed that whoever was outside of the van realized that something odd was happening inside. It could very well be a dangerous act, so the woman once again, with a stronger and deeper voice than she would typically use, shouted once more, which made Subject 1''s hair raise further with his eyes widened.


    "Is everything okay in there, sir?" The woman tried to calmly ask as she heard the muffled roaring inside of the van.


    "Yes, ma''am. Everything is okay! Stop banging my god damn DOOR!"


    Subject 1 realized what Barnes was trying to do and instantly suppressed him by covering his head with a thick pillow. The man knew that this wouldn''t be enough to knock a person down, especially an adrenaline-filled detective, so he took a syringe lying on a small table right beside the little bed and injected the drug in it through Barnes'' neck.


    And at the time, the only thing he could think of is that one familiar that he could still remember among his many victims.


    "Justin..." The man finally mumbles.


    Before we could unravel what happened next, we must first hear a message from our sponsors.


    Clockwork. One of the leading companies in the surface world under our guidance that still sells nothing but clocks! However, Clockwork sponsored us to let us appreciate the value of time even when such conception no longer applied to the likes of us. They recently opened one of their stores in our affiliated shopping mall, Plural Heights! Make sure to grab this opportunity for a 75% discount on all of Clockwork''s products! Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Now, speaking about time, maybe it''s time for us to talk more about time and things that occurred in such a fast but slow day from the perspective of the detectives.


    It was Wednesday, 10:56 pm when Justin left Subject 1 to torture William Barnes in his lonesome and to give his owner more space to do whatever he wishes to do without anyone''s scrutinizing gaze. However, there''s a more significant reason why Justin decided not to see the finale of the plan he had helped to create with Subject 1. A promise.


    At 5:16 pm, two hours before the bar opens, Subject 1 and Justin went to Justin''s friend, the owner of the bar, to ask for his aide in drugging William Barnes. However, we all know already that the bar owner was initially reluctant about this plan until Justin recommended that they should speak about this matter in confidentiality without Subject 1''s involvement. The bar owner agreed, and when they came back, both of them explained that they "spoke" about it "intimately" as "friends" and went to the conclusion that the bar owner will definitely help them however they can. Now, none of us really followed Justin when he entered inside the bar owner''s room, but I mean, come on! Even Subject 1 knows what they did without needing all sorts of tech and facial recognition bullshit. What Subject 1 didn''t know is that Justin promised the bar owner for a second round later that night.


    They both agreed to meet in a love hotel a few meters away from Justin''s friend''s bar because the bar owner''s family is currently sleeping in his room, while his cousin managed the bar for him. The bar owner demanded that Justin would come to that love hotel at 10:30 pm, but he ended up arriving around 11 pm instead. The fact that Justin was late is his form of silent message that he''s against them meeting ever again after this.


    Consequently, Justin left the love hotel an hour after the bar owner had left. By that time, it was already midnight¡ªThursday. Coincidentally, that was also when Subject 1 got this early, surprise visit.


    Now, you see, the reason why we don''t have anything to show regarding Justin''s activities with the bar owner is that I didn''t really send anyone to follow Justin. I just think that doing that was irrelevant to this presentation. However, I did ask one member of my team to follow Justin once he went to the love hotel but prohibited him from entering the establishment itself. He was only there to record when Justin came and when he left.


    However, what I did extensively researched was Special Agents Barnes and Callahan, especially Callahan. Not because we think that she''s a threat, but because we believed that her side of the story would prove to be necessary for telling the full story. Thus, I did. I sent five of my best men, along with ten new recruits to follow Callahan in the shadows or in the deep crevices around them. This was both used as a training and to keep an eye on the detectives, but our priority was still Callahan.


    They reported that at 5 am, Wednesday that Callahan spoke with Barnes about her displeasure in working with the rest of the police officer in Salem because she thought that they wouldn''t be able to fully aide both of them in solving this case. Such arrogance of hers was the reason why Barnes refused to work with Callahan that day and decided to work with the police force of Salem. Embarrassed but still very much determined to do her bidding, Callahan immediately scoured the entire town for the rest of the day to gather information from the public.


    This proved to be a tiresome work because, apparently, both detectives have no lead that would help them solve this case quickly, but they do have a plan; both detectives just can''t agree with each other and decided to split up impromptu.


    Around 7 am, Barnes had already gathered everyone in the Salem police force to give everything they knew about the case, no-holds-barred, and to voice out any opinion they may have with no reservation. Barnes allowed everyone to speak and recorded all of them systematically by categorizing each statement in different subcategories. At the same time, Callahan was busying herself inside of a fast-food restaurant, arguing with herself whether she should buy the breakfast meal or the gigantic burger. She decided to buy the burger, but to her detriment, as she ate started chowing on that humongous burger on a bench outside of the restaurant, she realized that she couldn''t eat all of it and threw the rest of it in the trash.


    Around noon, Barnes had already made a complete spreadsheet about all of the victims in the case. He also managed to collect all of the data regarding the missing people in Salem and concluded that at least two of the five missing people in the past two years were a victim of the Oregon Butcher. He also noted that a woman named Eleanor Jameson and Chris Walker might be one of the Butcher''s victims, for Barnes pointed out that both people had physical qualities that made aligned with the rest of the Butcher''s victims. The rest of the police department agreed that Eleanor might be one of such victims, but most of them were quite reluctant to believe that the Butcher might target a man. Barnes argued that it is possible since the Butcher was already recorded to have raped and assaulted a man before.


    Meanwhile, at 8 am, Callahan had been snooping around town, trying to ask literally every person she had encountered if they had seen anyone suspicious in their town. All of them said different names, and her first attempt pretty much didn''t get her anywhere. She decided to change her questions to the people around town; instead of asking suspicious people, she asked if there were anyone around whom they considered as a model citizen with an upright attitude that they liked a whole lot. Most of them spoke about the same seven people, one of those is Subject 1''s name.


    At around 1 pm, Barnes had already concluded that all of the Butcher''s victims had some sort of contact with him. Thus, this proved that the suspect had been in the town for quite a while before his murder spree. This, in turn, made it even more unlikely for Chris Walker to be a victim because he was a known eccentric who rarely speaks with anyone in town. Barnes still hold firm, however, stating that both Eleanor and Chris is still a probable victim. Barnes also noticed that the area wherein they discovered the bodies of the victims were around the northeastern district of the town. Surely enough, most of the Butcher''s victims lived around the northeastern part of town other than Justin Philips and Patricia Miller, who both remained as the most enigmatic of all victims. The special agent also revisited their most significant lead¡ªthe blurry CCTV footage of the suspect when he attacked Patricia Miller and Justin Philips. He also decided to call three police officers in Salem who had a few background knowledge about making facial composite to create a graphical representation of the suspect using that tiny lead they had. After a few hours, all three of them gave the federal agent the art that they had made. None of them looked like Subject 1 at all. Nonetheless, Barnes decided to focus on these new developments.


    At noon, Callahan had already visited all of the ten people whom the community had deemed as an outstanding member of the town other than four people who either moved out of town, was not at home when she came, or, in the case of one person in her list, had an unknown address. In fact, no one in town seems to know where that person lives. That person is Subject 1.


    Barnes had asked the police officers of Salem if any of them knew a place where a person could meet a bunch of people around the northeastern part of Salem. Most of them talked about how people around there liked going to a mall, a marketplace, and a bar, which Barnes frequently visited because of an underlying suspicion he had regarding the place by the time he first saw it. Around 2 to 3 pm, Barnes had phoned all family members of the Butcher''s victims. All of them agreed to give accounts as accurately as they can. Most of them agreed that these people liked going to the bar other than Laura, who, as her husband said, is always at home. Barnes, at this point, was already impatient and, perhaps it was due to the three cups of coffees he had already downed that day alone, asked if Laura would disappear every night whenever he''s asleep. Laura''s husband hung up the phone by the time Barnes asked that question. After smoking two cigarette sticks, he decided to assume that Laura would visit that same big and popular bar in the northeastern part of Salem every night when her husband was asleep. At this point, the only ones who rarely goes around that bar were Patricia Miller and Justin Philips, who both remained a mystery to Barnes.


    At 1 pm, Callahan spoke to three of the families of the Butcher''s victims: Carol''s parents, Laura''s husband and two children, and Jean''s children. Callahan asked if any suspicious people are snooping around these women before their unjust death. Carol''s parents said that there''s a lot of such suspicious people since they''re running a business, Laura''s husband could not name anyone at all that might pose as a threat, and Jean''s children could not possibly think of anyone suspicious around an old lady. Callahan then asked if there''s anyone who has been awfully close with these women before their death. The families spoke many names, and among all of those were three identical names; one of those is Subject 1''s name.


    Barnes had requested time and time again to have a police officer visit Justin Philips'' home. After four visits, the police officers he sent would say the same song time and time again, "Justin Philips was not at home." "We knocked several times, but no one answered." "We spoke with the landlord, and he said that he hasn''t been visiting his flat for weeks. "He''s not there." Thus, around 5 pm, Barnes revisited the report regarding Justin and concluded that he was indeed assaulted by the Butcher... But it is also a fact that he didn''t die. Besides, if Patricia and Justin were the enigmas of this case, then Justin was an even greater enigma just for the fact that this victim lived. Not because he escaped, but because he was deliberately spared by the Butcher. Barnes decided to assume that Justin was an accomplice to the crime, but the federal agent chose not to tell anyone about his inference, for he has no evidence to back it up. After all, they ignored his suggestion that Chris might be a victim. Never again, he says.


    At 3 pm, Callahan had pretty much just scoured the entirety of the town to ask anyone at all if they knew where Subject 1 was living. Of course, Callahan wasn''t going around town saying the name, "Subject 1." However, you must understand that I cannot say his name here until we agree that we wish to hire him. Anyway, none of the people that Callahan interviewed gave her any useful lead, until someone vividly said that he heard from a friend that Subject 1 was living in a large van somewhere outside of the town. However, that person was unsure because he only heard it from a friend. Callahan then went on to verify this claim by finding who made that claim in the first place. Around 4 pm, she found out that that person who claimed that Subject 1 was living in a van was Carol''s cousin, who was now managing Carol''s business. Carol''s cousin verified this claim, saying that he heard his cousin talking about that guy living in a van somewhere because of how infatuated the woman was to this guy. Carol''s cousin then apologized to Callahan for not saying that fact earlier, for he thinks that it was irrelevant and that he doesn''t know where that van was located precisely. At this point, Callahan is just asking herself how stupid the townsfolks were for not being wary of a guy literally living in a van outside of their town. She then marched on to find where that van was. Around this time, Barnes was smoking all alone in his lonesome, trying to think about solving this case and contemplating if he should call his partner, Callahan, to ask about the development of the situation in her side. However, Barnes decided not to do it instead and continued snooping around all the information he could find in the police office after snuffing the fire off his cigarette.


    At exactly 7:16 pm, Barnes decided to leave the police department and dismissing the rest of the people whom he called, saying that they should rest for now, for they will be doing the same thing again tomorrow. He then went to the bar where most of the Butcher''s victims frequently visited, not to investigate, but to unwind, just as he usually does in the past few weeks that he had been handling paperwork with Callahan. Now that they are both authorized to do whatever the hell they want in the town, his partner decided to go in her own way by throwing going around town randomly out of her distrust for the Salem police force. Barnes sat on the bar as usual while thinking about how much he loathed his partner''s arrogance but still could not go on to hate her because of how good she is in her job. He didn''t notice the two customers that were already sitting in the bar--no, it was more like he didn''t care. That was when Subject 1 sat beside Barnes. At first, the federal agent was entranced with how much he liked the man''s thick eyelashes and eyebrows, smooth lips, slender body, and green eyes--oh god, especially his green eyes. However, Barnes also noticed the haughty smile in the bar owner''s face along with how he was glaring at Barnes as if he was trying to say something, but not to Barnes. The federal agent decided that he didn''t want whatever they were planning, so he tried to go away when he saw the man sitting a few feet behind him, looking at them intently with unblinking eyes. Yes, he knew who that person was; he had been looking at that person''s face for half a day now--no, he couldn''t possibly forget.


    Thus, at 7:23 pm, Barnes decided to stay. And the rest... well, you already saw for yourself.


    Meanwhile, at the same time, with sweat covering all over her body, Special Agent Callahan was walking all over the town, trying to find that damn van without success. However, for some reason, she wasn''t feeling tired, so she decided not to go home yet. Instead, she left the town to try finding where this van was located, all alone, in a place she had never been in before. Callahan decided to call her partner around 8:48 pm, but Barnes wasn''t answering even after seven missed calls. Callahan decided to drop it instead; she had reflected on her behavior earlier, and maybe her partner was offended by the way she worded what she had said earlier regarding the Salem police force. All that Special Agent Callahan ever wanted to say is that both of them would have had a better chance of dealing with this case if they were together. No, now that she had thought about it, that kind of thinking is still flawed and stupid. That was when she decided to go home, but there''s only one problem.


    She was lost.


    With her phone''s battery at 16%, her partner not answering her calls, and her arrogance causing her not to ask for any contact details of any police officer in Salem, Special Agent Callahan who was terrible, terrible, terrible when it comes to direction had concluded that she was lost.


    With quick steps, she tried to retrace her tracks.


    9 pm. She only saw nothing but mountains and grasses and darkness.


    10 pm. Her phone battery finally dropped to 0. Seeing that she could literally not see any source of light at all, no matter where her eyes wander, Callahan''s feet fell, causing her to breakdown. The fact that she had walked throughout the town of Salem for the entire day was finally taking a toll on her. Not to mention that the last thing she had eaten was that huge burger earlier that morning; she didn''t even finish it! Now, she''s beyond famished! She felt like she would pass out anytime soon with no help in sight.


    11 pm. Callahan finally decided to move along with her flashlight while the rustling sound of wind and the deafening cries of the cicada as her sole companion. Shadows started to form all around her, but whenever she would move her gaze towards the direction of those moving entities, Callahan would see nothing but more trees and darkness. To be fair, those things were probably just one of our new recruits getting sloppy, or maybe Callahan is just losing her mind.


    And then it happened, 12:16 am, while walking all over the darkened mountainside, Callahan finally saw a ray of light. She ran towards it at full speed, finally done with walking throughout the darkness, sensing that her flashlight was finally about ready to fail her with the fact that there''s literally a serial murderer prowling the town, Callahan was already about ready to go home. Seeing that ray of light was her only solace.


    Finally, she saw the town. Finally, she''s back.


    However, the only thing that greeted her was a lone van sitting amid the embrace of nature''s tight embrace, spewing its light throughout the darkness all around.


    "Oh my god," Callahan mumbled, slowly closing her flashlight and dumping it in of her pockets. "I finally got you."

 66 Special Agent Callahan

    This then brings us back to the topic at hand.


    "Is everything okay in there, sir?"


    Special Agent Callahan is just outside of the van, the hidden sanctuary of Subject 1, only at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by an endless barrage of trees.


    "Yes, ma''am. Everything is okay! Stop banging my god damn DOOR!"


    Subject 1 then swiftly covered the body of Special Agent Barnes using three comforters and two blankets. He then closed the lamplight right on top of a table beside the bed where the agent was. Since light could easily pierce through the small crevices all over the van, making it shed a few streaks of light in the outside world, Callahan saw what Subject 1 had done and saw it as nothing but a red flag.


    Callahan then tapped all over her body to find where she had hidden that object, which he never thought she would use in the middle of the night, somewhere in a place that she could only describe as ''nowhere.'' She tapped her stomach to see if she placed it there, but she only managed to feel her ID. Callahan didn''t even know that she was still wearing it until now; heck, she didn''t even know that she had it on throughout the day. Callahan then tapped all over her waist. Finally, she felt it. Although it was too dark for her to see things correctly and her sight was locked on the door, anticipating for it to open anytime soon, she still felt its rough surface.


    With a soft sigh, Special Agent Callahan drew her gun but only pointed at onto the ground. I didn''t even know why he started doing that! For all I know, drawing her gun because of a suspicion that she had is something unethical for a police officer who doesn''t have a warrant. Nevertheless, Callahan pulled his gun, intending to use it because of a questionable spree of recklessness.


    "Sir," Callahan cried with a gasp, "I''m going to open the door!" Callahan, a newly employed federal agent who suddenly started banging on a stranger''s door without a warrant of arrest, continued with her shrill but fearful voice.


    She then pointed her gun at the doorknob as she heard the muffled voice of Subject 1 approaching her. Since she was already exhausted, hungry, and downright broken spiritually, emotionally, and physically, Callahan could not comprehend what the person on the other side of the door was saying. The only thing she had in mind was to nab this guy once and for all!


    Subject 1 then heard a loud banging on the door, which irritated him further. "Please, calm down, miss, I¡ª" Subject 1 said as he opened the door of his van, but he was promptly interrupted once he felt the person on the other side of the door hitting his body. No, to be more specific, Callahan dove down onto Subject 1''s chest, unconscious, with a bruise on the back of her head, dripping onto her nape. "What the fuck?" Subject 1 mumbled as he saw the special agent on his hand and noticed her gun on the ground.


    But that was not the only thing he noticed once he allowed his eyes to wander around the familiar darkness outside of his van.


    Gasping for air as if he had run a marathon, Justin stood there a few feet away from the door while holding a thick branch. Subject 1 also noticed that there was a streak of blood dripping on the surface of the branch. The man then looked at the pale person in front of his van, not wanting to take his sight off him.


    "Did I..." Justin said while looking at the unconscious woman that Subject 1 was holding on his chest. "Did I do the right thing?" Justin mumbled weakly with a hint of regret on his face as he slowly raised his sight to look at Subject 1''s face.


    Not wanting to take his eyes off him, Subject 1 threw Callahan''s unconscious body into the van without breaking eye contact with Justin. Subject 1 then swiftly walked towards Justin, still looking at his hazel eyes with a love-struck gaze.


    "Yes," Subject 1 said, as he held Justin''s cheeks tightly, looking at him as if he was the most treasured gem in the whole wide world. "Yes, you did the best thing you could ever do to me, Justin."


    "I''m glad..." Justin said while dropping the huge branch in his hand, touching the cold hands on his face. "I''m glad I hit her head."


    "No. I don''t mean that." Subject 1 said while shaking his head.


    "What do you mean, sir?" Justin warily whispered with knitted brows.


    "You came back." Subject 1 mumbled with a crazed grin enveloping his face; he could almost drool just by the sight of Justin''s face alone. "That''s the best thing you''ve ever done to me."


    Now, while you''re looking at Justin and Subject 1 kissing each other, with tongue and all, let''s talk about how the fuck Justin suddenly teleported behind Callahan out of fucking nowhere. Don''t worry, they''ll be kissing each other for, like, 16 minutes, so we have time.


    Right after "allegedly" sucking the bar owner''s dick for a solid hour or two, Justin hurriedly went back to Subject 1''s van, still having some of that cum stain all over his face. He didn''t want to stay there any longer, not even for a shower or a mouth wash, which is, like, super fucking disgusting, hunny, at least get a cup of Listerine! But to be fair to Justin, he was professional. He really came back when his client asked him to do so, an excellent work ethic! A good candidate for Subject 2, perhaps? Hmm?


    Anyway, that''s now why we''re here right now. Let''s make this quick since I''ve been wanting to pee for an hour now! Justin hurriedly went back to the mountains, then he heard Callahan being a huge noise queen, going around with her tiger voice like, "LET ME IN! LET ME IIIIIN!" She was all hysterical and shit! We have like, a five-minute clip of that! I''ll send it to you guys in your DMs; it''s so fucking funny! Then Justin was all like, "holy shit! That doesn''t look very cashmoney, lemme uuuhhhhh... take a random branch literally just chilling there in the dirt and some shit." which he did. Justin then SMASHED that bitch''s head raw, like, I''m talking about mad RAW! In the process, Callahan''s head hit the metallic door of Subject 1''s van, but she was still barely conscious at that time, so Justin whacked her head a second time. That was when Callahan''s consciousness finally went down to the shadow realm, like, real good! Coincidentally, Subject 1 also opened his door by the time Callahan went blank.


    Now... We may or may not helped Justin with that branch, and maybe we did help juuuuust a bit, but to be fair to us, no matter how much Justin whacked Callahan, it wouldn''t be enough to make her unconscious in a typical day. However, forget about a day, Callahan was not having a good week! She was too tired and too weak to even allow her mind to hang barely in that thin thread between consciousness and sleep. Her brain just allowed itself to let her have the sleep she deserves, which, in turn, got her in this awful, terrible state.


    That''s about that as to how Justin managed to stop Callahan from exposing Subject 1 and probably gunning him down in the process, aaaand... Well, look at that! They''re still kissing each other even after all that infodump! What a doll this two are! Yeah, let''s cut that clip now, please. Geez...


    Obviously, when Callahan woke up, she was already tied up, but not on a bed. No, she got the shittier end of the stick. When she woke up, she was already naked with a ball gag on her mouth while the entirety of her body was all tied up as tightly as humanly possible. She could even feel the rope touching her bones a bit; it was beyond excruciating. Heck, the only part of her that wasn''t rope-bound was her breast, which is not a good look, hunny, but that''s the point.


    This is Subject 1''s way to humiliate her until she broke, drop, and beg for death to come her way. Yes, the point is to have her say those magic words, call it consensual killing. Nevertheless, Subject 1 knew that he doesn''t have the patience to wait that long for her to die; he doesn''t even intend to rape both of them first. He just wants them both gone before the sun rises in the far horizon.


    "You''re finally awake." Subject 1, who was sitting in front of Callahan, said with a stern look on his face.


    Notice that Subject 1 was the only one here in front of the rope-bound Callahan. This was all because he ordered Justin to go back to his apartment for the night and return tomorrow to help him dispose of the two bodies in a deep, deep grave that they had already prepared two days prior.


    Callahan noticed what had happened to her but decided not to be discouraged and still growled at the man in front of him, further hurting her body because of how tightly bounded she was. It made her stomach churn to see Barnes on the bed behind Subject 1, lying there with chains all over her body, not knowing that he was still alive, so she concluded that he must have already been dead. That was a fact enough to break Callahan''s spirit, for she had gotten the jackpot, but she would be too dead to tell the world that she had solved the case with her bright partner. Tears started to drop from her eyes, but she was still screaming and hissing, making her tears collide with her spit on his face. This was enough to distort her once beautiful face and turn into a malevolent shadow of one it was once just a day before her capture.


    The man then took his knife on the ground along with a thin card beside it. Callahan noticed that it was her ID. Confused as to what he would do it knowing that she would still die here anyway, Callahan timidly screamed a few words at Subject 1, but none of them were intelligible for any of us to understand.


    Then again, seeing her furrowed brow, reddened eyes, shaking body, and fuming head were enough for all of us to understand that he was more than willing to be alive even after knowing that her death was just seconds away from her.


    "So you''re Callahan, huh?" Subject 1 grinned while looking at the woman''s ID card. "Celine Callahan." He said, biting his lips while fanning the ID on his face.


    The man then hurriedly stood up, ready to strike at Callahan''s exposed bosom, making her chest bleed till she dies. Callahan saw the towering figure of Subject 1 while he was holding his knife silently before she saw the man''s lips open ever so slowly as he cracked a few bones in his neck.


    "Poor Celine."


    That was when it happened, a single shot.


    It happened, a thing, a requirement for all of us to be in here.


    You know it, you can listen to the clip all you want later, but why wait when you''re about to see the most beautiful anti-climactic scene in the world?


    BANG!


    ...


    ...


    Play¡ªErm, play that clip again.


    BANG!


    Urk!


    Thud. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    With a bullet straight on his head, Subject 1 fell onto the ground, shedding his blood all over the floor.


    ...


    He''s dead.


    Celine Callahan then saw the heaving figure of the naked William Barnes on the bed where he was once bounded, the bed where she thought he laid dead. With a gun in his hand, Callahan knew that had happened; even a grade school student would understand what had just happened. Barnes then dropped the gun onto the ground before swiftly running towards Callahan to release her from her. She didn''t even try to question how he was still alive or how the chains around him suddenly ceased to exist. Callahan was just too happy to see her friend alive again.


    He''s dead.


    A bullet in his forehead like a simple dot that symbolizes the end of his story.


    And I ordered it.


    I caused it to happen.


    I''ll...


    I''ll explain. Let me just um... haa... Let me just take a pee real quick.


    Uhm... For now, let''s just let them listen to Subject 1''s final words. I feel like... They haven''t really understood the weight of that... those words.


    "Poor Celine."

 67 End of the Presentation. Thank you!

    Excuse me for taking too long there in the ladies'' room, I was uh¡­ fixing my makeup a bit and um¡­ yeah, let''s just get back into the topic at hand.


    Earlier, we discussed what happened to Subject 1 and the two feds inside of his dark and ghastly van, almost like three people deliberately eating each other up until only one of them remains one way or another. Destiny has already decided that that sole survivor should be none other than Subject 1 himself, a man of many bloodied and wretched souls looming his shoulders.


    That was how it was supposed to be.


    That was how life was meant to go on.


    Until we decided to recruit him.


    Ladies and gentlemen, I know that after the death of our friend, coworker, and brother: Rondo, having business transactions in the outside world had been challenging to handle if not impossible during rush hours. He left us too soon, and it forced us to scour throughout time and space to find the perfect person that could follow through his vision.


    And so our team had decided to give Rondo, the first face of the Organization, a moment of our time to commemorate his "passing."


    Ptuu!


    And that spit on his face is me commemorating how fucking happy I am that he''s gone! He was shit at his job, and you knew it! Good fucking riddance, I say! If he wasn''t such a horny piece of shit, always leaving the Organization to jack off to take pictures of high school students!


    DISGUSTING!


    Now, he''s not here with us. Let this be a reminder that, although we here in the Organization had said that you will be here forever, that "forever" is still very much negotiable.


    Not everything is eternal; not everything will pace through happily until time itself had run out of ammo! Fuck up, and The Man will do whatever it takes to hunt you down and put your sorry ass in the grinder along with the rest of the other fuck ups!


    Noooothing! I say, NOTHING! Not one single thing is eternal in this world.


    Not even the search for the next face of our Organization, and that is why my team is here with you at last to offer our best suggestion!


    It took five years for us to complete our mission to unravel everything that Subject1 has to offer. His life, his career as a murderer, his loves, his hates, we took everything and recorded everything and compressed all of it into all of these PowerPoint presentations, and finally, finally, FINALLY gave you the presentation you have been eager to see for years!


    Alas, it is here, and among the seven teams who were sent outside of the Organization with the special privilege from The Man, I am proud to say that we are the first group to grace you with a finished product!


    Haa¡­


    That takes us back to my explanation as to why I decided to end the man''s life once and for all.


    When Subject 1 was still killing Carol, I have received a message from The Man that he was about to end the budget he was willing to allocate in the quest to find a better person to face our customers. Believe it or not, he even personally told me via email that he, The Man himself, will do that job instead if we still have not managed to find a suitable candidate for it before the year ends!


    Wow¡­


    The year had just started then, but we were already feeling like we''re running out of time. We felt so suffocated.


    All of us wanted to end it already.


    That was why I made a conscious decision to order my team that day the following words after hearing Subject 1 utter his last words:


    "Do it. Kill him."


    ¡­


    I ordered my men to secretly creep at the few crevices around the bed where Barnes was sleeping to cut and steal the chains around Barnes. Of course, I also ordered them to wake the man and very secretly place a gun beside him as a way to "coincidentally" have him gun Subject 1 down.


    In my opinion¡­


    ¡­ It was the perfect death for Subject 1.


    Thus, after years of being nameless, I ended my group''s project but along with this end is the beginning of a new name for our long-lasting assignment: Operation Porcelain.


    I would not lie that I made that decision because we are all running out of time. I am, of course, referring to the name of the operation and my decision to kill Subject 1.


    As of this moment, I heard that three of the other groups had already killed their subjects, but none of them are still writing a finished report. Meanwhile, the others were already formulating many ways to go on with how they would kill their subjects, but last time I heard, their subjects were still alive.


    It''s already September, ladies and gentlemen.


    I had no choice. I had to give this presentation; Subject 1 has to enter our domain. I HAD to kill him!


    I had no choice.


    Unless¡­


    You all wanted to see The Man as the new face of the Organization?


    That''s also what I have in mind! None of us wants to ever see that! EVER! It took us a few months to compile all of these pieces of information into a concise and sharp presentation, and it took us a few more days to create the presentation itself. It was not an easy task; we had to go through hundreds of paper words and thousands of words, clips, and recordings to find the most relevant ones to show all of you here right now.


    Do you not want to see Subject 1 as the new face of the Organization?


    But that is such a minor issue! If it was a problem regarding his experience to please people, then he has more than a years'' worth of video clips and recordings to show off his interpersonal skills. I am sorry to say, but the other groups will not be able to finish their reports before the end of the day unless you wish to see a sloppy mess in front of you. I am giving each and every single one of you an ultimatum.


    Would you rather see our boss go down towards us and work with us to know the sort of bullshit we''re doing behind his back¡­


    ¡­ Or would you rather have Subject 1, a relatively new face that may or may not fail at his job, but, I mean, come on!? How could anyone fail as hard as Rondo!? Given proper training, anyone in the world can do his job, but Subject 1 is not just anyone in the world! He''s enthusiastic, he''s passionate, he has the balls and the guts to do what all of you had dreamed of but dared not do when all of you are still living, breathing fleshes!


    I ask all of you again, is it really hard to see Subject 1 as the new person you will be greeting whenever you enter the door?


    He is not at all! In fact, he is the best you got! I''ve seen the rest of the other groups'' project, and they are all amazing with great people as their subjects, but isn''t it already a testament of how boorish these persons might be if all of the other amazing teams have not managed to crack them down as fast as we did?


    Am I wishful in thinking that we deserve a man like Subject 1 as a new member of the Organization just for the very fact that he had shown a much more colorful career than any of you could ever show?


    If you really think that way, then you have the black folders in front of you. Simply open them up to sign Subject 1''s contract and consent that you 100% agree to have him placed as the face of our Organization.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Thank you all.


    I cannot express how thankful I am to all of you. I simply cannot believe that all of you would sign the contract oh so swiftly. Subject 1''s soul is currently being contained inside of The Container right now with the Ila, The Housekeeper. I will promptly notify him to send him over to us to tell him that he got the job and will be working for us¡­ hopefully, forever!


    You will never¡­


    Regret this¡­


    "¡­ And that is why we''re here."


    "Wait. I don''t understand. You''re¡­ You have the body of my sister, but you''re not my sister?"


    "It''s hard to explain. I will tell you everything about it in the future. First, wear this, and we can decide your first customer to show Them what you have to offer."


    "I¡­ I am so confused¡­ I am dead?"


    "Yes. Now, go on now and wear these costumes, chop-chop!"


    "Are these¡­ one of those circus clothes?"


    "Yes, because that will be what you will be called from now on."


    "What do you mean?"


    "From now on¡­ You will be called Ringmaster, just like the man before you. Sounds nice, eh?"


    "Is that the reason why I have these Hugh Jackman looking ass costumes?"


    "Yes. Now, are we done talking here?"


    "I¡­ Veronica!"


    "Call me V whenever we''re working, but sure, Veronica is a cute name. What!?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "What¡­ Where is Justin?"


    "¡­"


    "I want to see him."


    "He''s¡­ Haa¡­. We''ve taken good care of him. Don''t worry. He helped you a lot when you''re still in the surface world, and that means that he also helped us a lot. We''ve done our best to clear his name as best as we can. Barnes and Callahan will find jack shit about him no matter how much they dig. They can never suspect him as an accomplice. Don''t worry. We''ve taken good care of him."


    "I want to see him."


    "¡­"


    "Please, Veronica."


    "Oh, for fuck''s sake! Okay, alright, fine! Jeez¡­ I did spend a good few years in the surface world posing as your sister, so¡­ fuck it! We''ll have him as your first-ever customer."


    "What is this door? It¡­ It suddenly appeared out of nowhere!"


    "Don''t worry about it. I''ll explain later. Push it open, and you''ll see, Justin, but don''t leave. Let him come to you. Okay?"


    "I¡­"


    "Good. There he is, see? Crying like the little bitch that he is. I have to go now. I''ll leave you two alone. And don''t you ever dare leave through that door if you don''t want to die a second time!"


    "¡­"


    "¡­"


    "Justin¡­"


    "Haa¡­ I can''t believe it. It''s really you! IT''S REALLY YOU!"


    "It''s me."


    "I am so happy! I can''t believe this! I can even kiss you, I can hold you, I can hug you! YOU''RE REAL! I thought you were dead?"


    "Yes, I am. I am dead."


    "I don''t understand¡­"


    "Me neither, but we''re gonna be together now. I swear. Nothing will ever keep us apart anymore."


    "I''m so¡­ happy¡­"


    "Don''t cry¡­ I''m here."


    "Hey, Sir¡­"


    "Yes?"


    "I¡­ I never knew what your¡­ name is¡­"


    "Ah¡­ really?"


    "Yes. I''m so sorry, Sir."


    "No, it''s okay. Tsk, tsk. I always have to think for you, eh?"


    "Yes, sir, I am such a dumb little slut always hungry for you, sir!"


    "Well¡­ heh¡­ Before all that, put your name on this list first. They told me that it was mandatory for customers before, uhh... Well, just sign it."


    "Oh¡­ okay, Sir."


    "¡­"


    "¡­"


    "Hmm? T. J. H. Philips? J stands for Justin, right? What about the other letters?"


    "Well¡­ yes¡­ It''s my full name. It''s quite long and silly."


    "Tell me. I want to hear it."


    "Um¡­ Timothy Justinian Heidelberg Philips."


    "Ha¡­ hahahaha¡­ HAHAHAHAHA! Justinian Philips!? HAHAHAHA! That is such a cool-sounding name! It doesn''t suit you at all!"


    "Yes, Sir!"


    "Yeah, even Justin sounds too cool for a slut like you."


    "Yes, Sir, of course, Sir!"


    "Well¡­ to be fair, Timothy suits you very well¡­"


    "It¡­ My mother gave me that name, so I heard."


    "Hmph. Mother knows best, eh? I''m jealous. Well, little Timothy, how about I properly introduce myself for once? My name''s Lucas Hyde. It''s nice to meet you¡­ Little Tim¡­"


    "It''s so nice to meet you, too, Master Lucas!"


    "Hmph. Now that that''s over with, I want your help."


    "H-how may I help you, Sir?"


    "The van. I heard that they have a bigger door than that one you entered in. I want you to help me get the van here. I still have a lot of uses to it."


    "Um... Okay, Master Lucas."


    "Very good, little Tim."


    "Anything for my Master."

 68 Cashier

    "God, I''m hungry," I whispered to myself while looking at my old, horrible potato-PC while sitting on my already hardened cushion chair.


    So that''s why I''m here right now in a convenience store at 3 am while holding four packets of instant noodles. I stood in front of the cashier after placing the products I wanted to buy on the counter. I yawned visibly and started tapping my feet while scratching the back of my head and my tummy at the same time. After yawning for a second time, I started noticing that the instant noodles I wanted to buy were still left in their lonesome on top of the counter while the woman who was supposed to be the cashier was just looking at the far distance idly.


    I wanted to complain, really, I do, but the oddness of the woman operating the counter took me aback, rendering me speechless.


    She was a chubby woman, maybe around her forties, but I might be wrong since she''s already way past her fifties. She was a bit tanned like me, but unlike her visibly fake, orange-ish tan, my skin is naturally brown. I pointed that out because I was always insecure about how dark my skin was, so seeing a person deliberately wanting to have the same skin as I was both intriguing and funny to me. I can''t quite explain it adequately, though, but all I know is that it''s never fun to see people not doing their job.


    I cleared my throat to get her attention, but she remained indifferent to me as if she was deliberately trying to tell me to fuck off silently. After standing in front of her for a solid minute, I finally heard the silent sound of a radio playing somewhere on the other side of the counter. I could barely hear the sound, but somehow, I could tell that the woman in front of me was listening to it. That''s also probably the reason why she''s dozing off right now. No, that''s silly! I could barely hear the radio, so it''s definitely not because she''s so engrossed with what she''s hearing.


    "Welcome back... Heights Radio where you... the best... deals for... needs..."


    I could scantly hear a very, very quiet voice of a woman speaking in the radio program that the cashier was supposedly listening to. Another customer then entered the convenience store, who looked at the two of us with a raised eyebrow, which finally irked me.


    "Excuse me, miss." I politely mumbled with a smile, not wanting to be rude to a person who''s probably raising her family with a below minimum wage salary. Nevertheless, the woman still didn''t say anything.


    She just stared at the distance, probably looking at the concrete wall beside her. She was sitting on a plastic chair with her arms crossed. Her body was facing me, but her body was directed to her right side as she slumped her back on the chair. Looking at her carefully, I could see that there are some boogers in her eyes while a bit of her saliva was slowly creeping out of her open mouth.


    "Today''s guest... the... master of our... zation... please... for... him..." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I could hear the female anchor or DJ speaking on the radio once more, which made the woman on the other side of the counter show a light smirk. After a few more moments, the woman uttered a light and weak chuckle while her blank and darkened gaze still remained rooted on a far distance.


    "Excuse me." I started to feel angry as I see that the woman was not deaf, after all.


    The woman''s gaze was still stuck onto the concrete wall as if she was trying to deconstruct the many layers of paint used onto it.


    "Miss!" I finally lost my cool and yelled while banging my arm on the counter. "What the hell? Do you want me to pay these or not!?"


    The woman on the other side of the counter finally noticed me after hearing my loud protestation. She quickly blinked thrice, and oddly, I could see the life in her eyes returning when she finally noticed my looming presence towering over her slumping figure.


    "I''m so sorry, sir!" The woman apologized frantically while scratching the sides of her eyes.


    "God! Your services here are so fucking horrible!" I said, still fuming at the utter disrespect that I had to endure. After breathing deeply, I finally reclaimed my calmness. "Just... Please punch these in."


    "Yes, sir! I''m so sorry, the radio show I was listening to is so loud." The cashier timidly replied as she touched whatever button she had to operate. She then told me how much I had to pay for my noodles, but I can''t hear her properly because my annoyance is now turning into anger.


    "Miss, I can hear your radio here. It''s not that loud. At all! I can''t even hear it properly!" I said as calmly as I could, but I can hear my voice rising as I proceeded to speak. "And you know what, that doesn''t matter! What sort of radio program is so important for you to neglect your job anyway?"


    I tried to breathe again. I know myself well, and I''m aware that once my anger switch is on, I will definitely not shut up until someone literally shoved something in my mouth. I wanted to just pay for my purchase and apologize for my rudeness when I saw the look on the woman''s face.


    She is smiling.


    No... No, that''s not it. That''s not quite right. Yes, she is smiling; there''s not an ounce of doubt within me that could argue against that, but no... The way her mouth stretches to form a smile is so unnatural as if she was wearing some sort of device that she places in her lips to make her mouth form the shape of an arc. This revealed her yellowish teeth that are so unnaturally unaligned. I mean, it''s not that her teeth are malformed or anything like that. It''s just that her jaw moved to the right side, and she kept it that way while smiling.


    Also, her eyes. Her eyes are just as empty as it was when she was sitting idly earlier, looking at the abyss on the wall. It feels so empty, it seems so blank, and it makes me want to close her eyelids just so I couldn''t see any more of it.


    "I was listening to Plural Heights Radio, sir." The woman replied with a monotonous but slow voice as if she was some sort of machine trying to imitate the sound of a gentle person.


    I wanted to her off and get done with this charade once and for all, but after looking through the void lurking within this stranger woman''s pupils, I halted my words. I... I can only stare and watch as I stood there with awe at what I was seeing.


    The woman then started scratching her earlobes with her thumbs both at the same time, but I can observe that she''s trying not to touch the hole in her ear as she continued to speak. "In fact, sir, the radio program is being played all over the store right now. It''s so loud, see? Can''t you hear them, sir? The station is so, so loud, and I can''t do anything but to listen to it while their voice scratches my eardrum."The woman said with the same distorted smile that she had by the time she started talking about this radio show. It made me feel like she''s some kind of stroke patient, talking to me with a voice devoid of joy.


    I then took a step back once I saw her grinding the teeth on her jaw grinding his upper teeth while trying to utter what I could only describe as an attempt to chuckle. Still, it only came out sounding like the distorted sound of a broken voice recording, sounding ripple-like sounds along with a scratchy noise that I could compare to TV static.


    The woman then stopped chuckling in a snap, as if she was scheduled to do so after chuckling a few seconds. The woman also stopped grinding her teeth as she slid her jaw into the left side this time. "It''s okay, though. Because I am very thankful to hear everything they had to say to me; it uplifts my trashy soul and makes me want to be a better version of myself. That is what Plural Heights wants to do to you, sir! Plural Heights is there to help me, and it''s here to help you too. Plural Heights is your friend; they are all your friends! Plural Heights is here for your every need."


    I started to regain my calmness and maybe a bit of my lost sanity once the woman began speaking again. However, I still could not open my mouth, let alone utter a word once I started looking at the darkness that is her eyes.


    "It''s all over the store, see? Can''t you hear how loud it was? Aahhh... My ears hurt. It''s just so, so loud, sir; I feel like it will bleed soon, but it''s okay because Plural Heights has my back. You should..."


    I can''t take it anymore! The cashier was about to put my instant noodles in a plastic bag, but since she''s too busy with her monotonous monologue, she failed to do so. I just merely placed an exact payment on the counter and dashed out of the store. As I hurriedly ran towards the glass door of the convenience store, I heard the woman saying that she had received an exact amount along with the ringing sound of the cash register closing.


    I heaved slowly while after leaving that godforsaken store. Oddly enough, the quiet and dark world outside of the bright convenience store felt much more comforting and warm. I looked back to check what is happening inside the store. When I looked, I saw that the cashier is now slumping on her chair again in the same position when I first saw her. She looked just as empty as earlier as if she was programmed somehow to sit that way.


    I slowly walked out of that store, not wanting to buy from there anymore ever again. When I peered at the large glass window accidentally, I saw that the other customer who came after me was just standing there in the middle of the convenience store while looking at the ceiling with the same empty-looking eyes as the cashier. However, contrary to what the cashier is doing, this person has a distorted smile on her face like she was listening to the most entertaining piece of content she had ever heard.


    That was when I decided to dash out of that place.


    I''m never, ever going there again!


    Whatever. That''s done already. I got home safely, thank god. I started eating my noodles while watching a recording of a podcast that I always loved seeing on YouTube. Damn it. Who the hell still listens to radio anyway?


    Nevertheless, as I finally fatigued my body to fool myself enough into thinking that I was already ready to sleep, I laid on my bed, fully awake, while remembering that dreaded name.


    "Plural Heights..."


    Needless to say, I didn''t sleep well that day.

 69 Nice

    Ah...


    Ah, fuck.


    Yeah, that shit''s good.


    Oh, shiiit. That was awesome!


    Fuck, fuck. FUCK! Fuck...


    Ah, that''s good...


    Ha...


    I dropped my phone beside me as I laid on my bed, tired and disgusted by what I was just watching. Morning woods genuinely are something. It turns a person who had just barely woken up into a beat that would drop the biggest, fattest, hottest, thickest, most abso-fucking-lutely significant load. Then, it would backtrack real fucking hard by making them so exhausted that everything their senses register on their mind instantly turns into nothing but the vilest, most deprived hellspawn on Earth.


    Well, that doesn''t matter anyway. I''m done with that. I hurriedly pulled three tissue papers from the table a few centimeters away from my bed. After wiping both my hands and my stomach, I crumpled the tissue papers into a ball of a wet mess, covered with a white blob that I wished none of the people I knew would see. I then continued lying on my bed like a gingerbread man while looking at how my ceiling fan swirls endlessly to bring the forces of the air forcefully onto my sweaty looking-ass face.


    I then started to realize that my day has already begun. That means people needed to talk, and things needed to be done. Ha... I want to sleep more, and the sound coming from the ceiling fan just further hypnotizes me more, lulling my mind deep into the thought of another few hours of sleep.


    However, after thinking about the many things I would lose if I keep this up, I finally grabbed my phone oh so reluctantly to chat my boss and talk to our business partners and... ugh! Fuck. I forgot that I haven''t closed the porn I was watching yet; I haven''t even paused the damn thing. My phone was muted, so I wasn''t ready to see more of that nasty shit I just busted my nut off to directly on my face out of nowhere. I instinctively scrolled my screen hard, so my eyes would avoid seeing whatever hardcore shit I was watching, which made me remember about a Rihanna song for a bit... something, something about sticks and stones. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I shook my head, telling myself that I must put my game face on now cuz work is waiting, and this BDSM shit had to go... Well, that is until I saw that one ad that suddenly irked my interest.


    It was one of those small ads in below the video, very tiny actually; it was just this rectangular-shaped thing that no one probably paid attention to, I know I wouldn''t even know this ad existed if it wasn''t for those two striking words that lured my interest in a snap.


    "... Plural Heights..."


    I knitted my brows together and narrowed my eyes to look at that tiny little ad space at the bottom of a porn video of all places.


    "Lonely? Plural Heights will make you happy!" Followed by a sketchy-looking phone number and their email address.


    It''s... Well, I gotta admit, it sounds a whole lot like many of the other porn ads I could possibly find. One of those "Hot Singles in Your Area" kind of ad that a person who visited a porn site would already be sick of seeing. However, those ads are rather catchy; not to mention, it was also backed by a rather provocative picture or a short clip at best.


    This one? I mean, the Plural Heights ad... Mmm... Nah! It''s too dull. I mean, it does have a small image accompanying it, but it''s just a very, very indistinguishable and pixilated picture of what seems like... a building? I''m not sure what they''re trying to do with such a shitty-looking ad.


    Thus, just like any other porn ad on the planet, I disregarded it and went on with my life by tapping on the home button and opening every messaging apps I could possibly find. That also means finally facing my room, but it is much more interesting to describe it as "my studio apartment."


    I hate bright places, so I made sure that the lights are always dim, 100% of the time, 24/7 and no amount of visitors or female seduction can ever stop me from making my room as darkened as my heart after what society had done to me. People who would come to my studio apartment would often wince after entering through the doorway towards my room; it was something I always found odd. My mother would especially call this place a garbage dump because not only is it filled with all the trashes in the world--that is a very hyperbolical assessment of my impeccably immaculate room--she also denounces me for how horrid the scent permeating throughout my room was. She described it somewhat bleach-y, others would even compare it to the scent of fresh nausea. Most of the people who told this in my face are all people with a fucking vagina! Bunch of bitches, am I right? They are all so fucking nosy when, in truth, none of these things that they claim to hate is a part of their GOD DAMN BUSINESS! I mean, my sister once came to visit me for god knows what fucking reason and he told me that I shouldn''t let my mattress stay on the floor because it might get moldy after a while. I mean, what a fucking asshole! I instantly told her to just get out of my place if she will continue blabbing on about her typical female bullshit about how messy my room is. Because it''s not! This just shows that my mom along with her other femoid kind will say everything to take down a man''s power in the name of feminism! Disgusting! I don''t know what they''re all on about, my room is not that bad, and I can''t smell anything at all! Heck, they even told me that my room smelled just like how I would smell after a long day at work, which is just outrageous! If they''re trying to insult my house by using me as a benchmark, then I am not at all believing that they''re trying to put me down. Okay, sure, there''s a bit of a mess around the corners with all the dirty laundry and the leftovers from last week, but it''s definitely not the worst thing ever! I mean, remember that cashier that I''ve seen this morning when I was buying some instant ramen? Uhh fucking creepy! Not like me though, nu-uh! This town''s weirdo is way more off the hook than me! I mean, that dude sleeping in the dumpster outside of the building is just fucking disgusting! If they would compare me to that guy, then I would be offended, but I''m not like one of those liberal snowflakes on Twitter! Unlike them, I don''t get offended about anything; I am also not like any of them who gets all fucking defensive about the smallest thing! Just like my coworker Jessica. Bitch. She would tell me every time that I smell like rotten beef even though I would go on my way to respect her as the perfect lady that she is, but no! In my defense, I know what hygiene is and I know that I am not perfect in that regard, but come on! Nobody''s perfect!


    Then there''s this thing about Plural Heights... I don''t know why, but it kept clinging on me like a damn bacteria by the time I heard it in that cashier''s filthy female mouth! It''s even in my ads now, what a joke! However, the day has begun, and that means it''s time to work... not this Plural Heights crap. I admit that it affects me a lot but...


    Eh, I''ll forget about it.


    Well, for a time.


    When day turned into night, and a flock of work turns into a bunch of people saying "good work for the day," an exhausted man like me who hasn''t felt any semblance of any human touch with a romantic/sexual context for years would only go to that one place.


    "Ah! Ah! Fuck yeah! Harder! Do it more."


    I sighed.


    I blurted about a few breaths before I could force my member to harden after flopping it from one side to another, forcefully making it ready for combat once more.


    I could faintly see my reflection on the screen since the video I was seeing is quite dark: chapped lips, sunken eyes, double chin, dead pupils, and skin so dry that it''s starting to turn into powder. It was all the lady''s favorite look...


    I opened my mouth slightly to utter a lazy grunt, indicating that I am finally feeling a sense of pleasure after torturing my dick to get moving by stroking it into believing that it can spray whatever it wants if it tries hard enough. Heck, I wouldn''t mind if it sprays something red-ish, to be honest, I really just wanna get off and be done with this day.


    I moaned quietly, but well, to be more specific, I uttered something that sounded more like that ghost in The Grudge. After releasing what seems like three drops of sticky white liquid, I finally pulled my blanket and laid on my side while wiping my poor flabby hotdog on my bedsheet. I tried to find my phone, which I threw somewhere on the bed once again, but I realized that I had already forgotten where I had put it. Ah, shit. I think I''m gonna have Alzheimer''s at 50. After tapping my bed with my heads for a few moments, I finally felt the familiar heat of my phone screen. It was sitting somewhere on my waist, whoops!


    That was when I realized that I had accidentally clicked an ad while I''m trying to scramble my body all over the bed. Well, it doesn''t matter. When I looked at my phone screen, I had realized that the ad had already loaded. It was a video of a beautiful, no, GORGEOUS woman, wearing a tight, red dress with red lipstick and a brunette hair. She was talking, but I couldn''t quite hear her since the volume of my phone is at the lowest but not muted.


    I pressed on the volume button at the side of my phone, so I could hear what the woman had to say. I don''t know if it was because this lady is my type or if it was all because I''m bored, and I''m looking for something to make me feel asleep anyway, but whatever it is, I am drawn into this beautiful female looking at me through the screen. Thus, after a few seconds, I could hear her deep and powerful but sexy voice echoing throughout my darkened room.


    "... Plural Heights will help you unlock your inner desires! All you have to do is click the link below, and we will be able to start right away!"


    Was it boredom, or was it my loneliness taking control of my body? I don''t know... All I know is that, by the time that link appeared on my screen, I instantly clicked it while looking at the female''s eyes.


    Just then, while the site was loading, my telephone rang.

 70 Telephone

    Why the hell is my phone ringing at this hour? Who the hell!?


    I laid there motionlessly, stunned upon hearing the sudden burst of ringing noises coming from a few inches away from my slightly damp mattress on the floor. Sensing that the caller wouldn''t give up anytime soon after a few rings, I slowly placed my phone on the bed and very carefully crawled towards my telephone that was awkwardly sitting there in the corner of the room. Amid the many plastic wrappers and fallen breadcrumbs all over the floor, I saw my black and slightly greasy telephone vibrating as the loud ringing of the phone strengthened. I very briskly moved all the trash around the phone, revealing a once-white floor that is now stained into a darkened state.


    I cleared my throat once or twice and gulped a few of my saliva before ultimately answering the call once and for all.


    With a silent puff, I placed the phone on my ear to hear what the other side had to say. I remained silent, sitting still without even giving the caller even a tiny bit to present my presence. I blinked twice nervously with my eyebrows knitted tightly as I overheard a few faint noises from the other side of the call. It sounded like a few people are talking in the background, but I could hardly hear what they were saying; it''s all too quiet, although they all seem to be making a whole lot of noise out there. It felt like they were arguing, or maybe they were reprimanding someone. The call stayed that way for a while, leaving me hanging there along with my confusion. I could hear a faint murmur of a woman backed by two men, and judging from how muffled their voices are, I concluded that they must have been placed somewhere a few feet away from the phone, not that it was needless to say anyway.


    I was about to drop the phone when finally, a voice rang on the phone, sending a wave of vibrations from my head down to the entirety of my body.


    "H-hello..." A familiar-sounding voice rang into my ears, making me realize that I should probably end this call once and for all, but a wave of curiosity grabbed onto my body like a few puppet strings, making me do what I would otherwise think as something silly.


    I responded, "Hey." I tried to act cool, but my heart is racing so fast that I could barely make out the rate in which in beats every second. I decided to have a deep breath, which relatively helped in retaining my calmness, but it did not really fix the uneasiness in my head.


    "H-Hey there, man!" The person on the other side of the call stuttered as he mumbled a few words with a shaking voice. "It''s me! Do you remember me?"


    "Sorry?" I replied, trying to show an ounce of dominance by making my voice deeper than usual. "Who''s this?"


    "This is Mike. Remember? Mike Spencer. We''re friends in high school; our house is so close when we were young, remember?" The man swiftly replied without stuttering for once while his voice now seemed a whole lot friendlier than what he sounded like earlier.


    "Holy shit, yeah, Mike! How long has it been? Seven years?" I replied as a smile crept up on my face.


    "Eight, actually." He responded with a chuckle. "Eight and two months. We haven''t really had any conversation after graduation, so..."


    "Yeah, yeah, but I do remember you, man. What''s up?" I loosened myself a bit and let my guard down to him as I leaned my back on the wall while sitting on a whole lot of mess on the floor.


    "Yeah, sorry if this is so sudden. Can we... I mean..." He then laughed as I heard a bit of that same nervousness in his voice once more. "You know... How are you? How''s your life?"


    I laughed awkwardly, shrugging after hearing this unusual small talk coming from this high school friend who suddenly called me in the dead of the night. "I''m good. Work, work, work. You know the drill." I chuckled. "How about you, man? I heard you went missing and shit, what''s up with that?"


    "That not true!" Mike shouted after a gasp before puffing a few more heavy breathing. "Missing!? I''m not missing! Not missing!"


    "I get it, I get it, man, chill! We''re pals here, no stress, take a deep breath." I tried to ease him up by playing it cool, but I was seriously considering to hung up on him for a second time now. "Take a deep breath. I''m just kidding, jeez."


    "Yeah... Yeah, I''m sorry, I..." He said with a sigh. "Look, man. I called because I''ve been... I''ve been very lonely lately, you know? I watched this cool video earlier, I dunno, I think on Facebook or something. Look, the point is that the video said that too much working fucks you up good, you know? Kills you real bad after a while too."


    "I hear ya. I totally get your point, man. That''s why I take a few breaks every now and then. Just walk around and escape from all these bullshit." I replied, thinking about what sort of gay shit this dude is trying to point out after this. I can already guess that he''s just easing his way up, so he could modestly invite me for lunch or some shit like that. Not that I mind, as long as it''s not for one of those pyramid scheme shit.


    "So yeah, my point is that I''ve been drowning in my work, and then there are these social media things, and you know, I feel just... God... So exhausted. I feel so, so fucking tired, you know? It''s all that time. I don''t even know what''s date already." I tried to reply by uttering a few grunts of agreement amid his rapid-fire rant until he finally couldn''t take it anymore.


    "Look, man! I''m available this Sunday, but this Sunday only. If you wanna meet, that''s cool. If you wanna talk, even better! We can catch up all we want, that''s all good. No need to beat around the bush, eh?"


    "Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! Sorry, sorry, old habits, you know?" He then chuckled the same way he did in my memory.


    "You haven''t changed, Mike." I chuckled while scratching the back of my head, thinking about whether I did the right thing or not. "So, what now? We can meet, but I''d refuse if you''re in a different state right now!"


    "Oh, don''t worry, I''m in LA too." He replied nonchalantly like that of a lost child.


    "Oh?" I replied with my eyebrow raised. "How''d you know I''m in LA?"


    "I..." He said, stuttering once more with that hint of fear that I could audibly feel as his breathing shook. "I just..."


    "Chill, man!" I chuckled again to ease the rising tension once more. "Don''t have to be so nervous, I''m just messing with ya, you know me!"


    "Oh!" He then laughed as I felt his fear gradually disappearing. I could even feel his nervousness leaving his mind by the way his laughter slowly softened. "Then, maybe we can meet at the 7-11 downtown near that abandoned mall."


    "Say whaaat?" I uttered in a ridiculous, high-pitched tone. As I said those words, even I am unaware as to why exactly I did it, but I continued with that same voice anyway even after knowing how cringe it was. "Abandoned mall downtown? I didn''t know there''s something like that."


    "Oh yeah, it''s really big too; it''s not really THAT abandoned, you know what I''m saying? There are still some open stores here and there. People just call it that because nobody goes there anymore."


    "So where exactly is this spooky abandoned mall anyway?" I said, again, in a cringey sounding silly voice as if I am talking to a child.


    Fortunately, Mike didn''t really mind how condescending I sounded like. "Just book some Uber. I''ll pay for your ride. The place is quite wonky, and it really hard to go there. That''s why not a lot of people visit the mall anymore, but that also means extra privacy, which works a lot for me."


    I do like privacy. I remembered that that was how I met Mike. I saw him eating alone in an open bathroom stall, and we just kinda clicked right away cuz I found his weirdness as something hilarious. I see that he hasn''t changed; that''s good to hear, at least. Lots of shit are changing in society these days; it''s good to see that there''s still something that I can recognize.


    "Aight, that''s cool," I said while clasping the phone in between my head and my shoulder. I then took my phone in the mattress to set that date in my calendar; I don''t want to forget such a rare appointment with a friend after all. "So, what''s the name of this mall again?" I mumbled after pushing the power button at the side of my phone. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    When I looked at my phone screen, what greeted me was a white screen that says: ''Congratulations! Your membership is complete!'' It was written in a small, black Times New Roman font on the right side of the screen. I clicked my tongue and pressed the home button as I heard Mike''s voice on the other side of the phone once more.


    "Oh." He exclaimed. "It''s called Plural Heights."

 72 Twitter

    "W-what do you mean, Mike?" I uttered with my gaze piercing through Mike''s rattled expression.


    "Hey," Mike mumbled as he tightly grabs his pants with his head hanging low. "maybe we should go home?"


    I just looked at him in silence with my eyes narrowed while curling my fingers into a firm fist. I then rolled my eyes and let out a silent sigh as I slowly stepped towards him. I saw him visibly flinching every time I stepped towards him, but he never really ran away or took a step back to avoid whatever I was supposed to do to him. Perhaps in his mind, I looked more like an oncoming onslaught rather than a friend. I then stopped in front of him with my head pointed up as opposed to my eyes, which were pointed directly down at him.


    "I-I mean," Mike mumbled as he squirms with his eyes on my feet. "you must be very busy. Besides, we won''t be seeing anything in that mall anyway. Maybe we should just go, yeah?" He said as I saw his jaw shaking while he steals a few peeks at me every now and then, but he would eventually drop his eyes back into the floor.


    I then extended both my hands towards him, which made Mike gasp, looking almost as if he was about to run away. Contrary to what he had in mind, however, I wrapped my arms gently around his body into an embrace, making him flinch and, inevitably, his tense body started to soften until it trembles like that of a vibrating engine.


    "Whenever you''re ready to talk about it," I said in a whisper, being extra cautious not to let others other than Mike hear what I am saying. "you can always come to me. Just call me again whenever you want." I tried my very best to say it in the lowest voice I could possibly muster but not too low that Mike wouldn''t be able to hear it. I don''t know why I did it, really. There''s no one around us, not a single soul in the immediate vicinity. Still, I felt so wary that there are hundreds of eyes gazing at us, monitoring our every move, and deliberating among one another as to what they would do to me. I felt so surrounded in a haven of silence where no other soul remains other than the two of us.


    Mike didn''t move; he didn''t even utter a single response. He just stood there, shaking with nothing but shock painted on his face. I didn''t expect him to embrace me back, but the way his hands didn''t even move a single centimeter kind of made my heart twinge a bit. Oh well, maybe he''s just not a hugger.


    I then said a few words to bid farewell to him and imploring him to call or chat me again when he gets home. He just nodded in response, but this time, a soft smile hung on his face, and he was not reluctant to look at me in the eye anymore. He then chuckled and took his wallet from his back pocket to compensate me for using Uber to meet him. I tried to refuse his kind offer, but he insisted that I should take it and that it would definitely make him feel better if I did. Reluctantly, I took the money and walked past him while reminding him to contact me again.


    After a few steps, I decided to look behind me to see what Mike is doing. I was greeted by his warm smile again; he was looking directly at me while he stood there, not moving his feet to leave. Perhaps Mike was surprised that I looked back at him because his smile changed into that of a pleasantly shocked expression. Nevertheless, Mike flashed another smile as he waved at me before shouting that he''ll watch me leave, which is something that he often does in the past.


    I flashed him a smile too, although I felt a bit awkward while doing it, I don''t want to make him feel bad by just avoiding him, so I waved back at him. I then noticed that a few people are standing a few meters behind Mike: on his left side was the two chubby men I encountered earlier outside of the 7-11, and on his right hand is an elderly woman who''s grabbing the arms of a tall priest. All of them, including Mike, are looking directly at me, but my friend is the only one showing a pleasant expression on his face. I quickly turned my head, so I would not see more of the disdainful look on their faces.


    "What are you doing?" Mike shouted in a timid tone. "Go, go! Go now!" He seemed frantic, he''s frantically begging me to leave.


    I hastened my pace and walked away from them as fast as I can. I decided to ride a cab nearby to end this day and feel the comfort of my room again. I kept thinking about that bizarre little experience that I had just gone through, so I opened my phone to pass the time, thinking that maybe some shitty memes will keep my head out of what the fuck just happened earlier.


    When I finally opened my phone, a thought flashed by my head, which made me click my browser app to do a quick search.


    ''Plural''


    Google then started giving predictive search terms that go along with what I had just typed, such as ''plural of treat'' and ''plural sight.'' However, when I added the word ''Heights,'' the search engine did not give any related search terms, just blank. I then hit search and, unsurprisingly, what greeted me is a few websites about the Plural Heights mall, some articles about it, and a few more sites that are talking about a few completely unrelated topics or the fact that the dying chain of shopping malls is posting their lame advertisements in numerous porn sites. I decided to close the app and sighed after realizing what I''m doing. This is a waste of time. I then tapped on the Twitter logo on my home screen and started scrolling through hundreds of unfunny posts and stale memes that made me mildly entertained.


    That was when a curious thought flashed through my head.


    I tapped on the Twitter search tab and types the words ''Plural Heights'' in hopes that maybe other people have encountered the same creepy shit that I had gone through earlier.


    After waiting for a few seconds, the loading screen finally unraveled two tweets that are... not what I expected.


    Both came from two Twitter users that have no profile picture, but their posts pretty much contain the same enigmatic vibe.


    The first tweet was posted by a user called "@asdf1254," and it says:


    "plural heights


    L4, R6


    no limit"


    The second follows the same pattern with some minor changes. It was posted by a user called "@starwarsfan121212," and their tweet says:


    "plural heights


    L2, R9


    limit 7"


    Both tweets were relatively new ones since it says that they had only posted them literally a few seconds ago. I tapped on the post of the user called "@starwarsfan121212" and saw that it has one like. I tapped to see who liked it, but I was only greeted by a notice that the tweet had been deleted. I pressed the back button to see if the other post is still there, but unfortunately, it was also removed. I refreshed my Twitter feed over and over again, but no such tweet greeted me again. Instead, what I saw was a notice that said, "No results for "Plural Heights" The term you entered..."


    However, after several attempts to search and research the term "Plural Heights," at last, I was greeted by yet another cryptic tweet that had the same formula as the two other posts I saw earlier. It was posted by  Twitter user "@AsIfIHaveTwiter," and the post pretty much has everything that I expected.


    "plural heights


    L4, R9


    no limit"


    Without even correctly thinking about it, a rush of adrenaline swimming through my veins made my body swiftly tap the like button and waited for whatever that may come but not expecting anything significant that would just by doing it.


    "Sir, we''re already here." I hear the soft voice of the cab driver, which pulled my senses back to reality once more. I closed my phone and shoved it in my pocket before paying the driver. I swiftly left the cab, went up to my floor, entered my room, and jumped into my bed, not thinking about anything else that would soon follow me.


    That was when I felt a sudden vibration coming from my pocket. I pulled my phone to see what it was, and my eyes widened when I saw that the Twitter user who posted that Tweet I liked earlier had just contacted me!


    I clicked on it and saw the three letters that he had sent me.


    "asl" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

 73 Omegle

    I don''t know what to say; I''m really at a loss here. I looked at my phone with awe as I put both my thumbs hanging above the screen, wanting to say something, but also thinking about the many possibilities this conversation would turn into. All of such possibilities are naught but, well, negative, really. I tried to play it cool by not answering his chat and saying whatever that would first come into my mind instead.


    "Hello there."


    Hey, it ain''t much, but it really took a long time for me to think about that crap. A part of me wants him to reply, "General Kenobi," but that''s all wishful thinking.


    "asl" The person on the other side of the chat sent once more, not wanting to budge unless I give him what he wants.


    "im not really sure if im comfortable giving all that to a stranger." I sent along with a smug-looking emoji to make him speak up more words other than just "asl."


    "You''re not a member?" He briefly replied. I am at a loss once more. What does he mean by "member"? I''m not really sure if I''m diving into something safe just by reading that reply alone.


    "Well?" The Twitter user chatted after a few moments of me not uttering anything. Perhaps he saw that I am reading his chats but deliberately avoiding it. In my defense, he''s not really giving me enough time to think, and I can see that he''s probably not accustomed to confused people like me. That means there are people out there who would reply swiftly amid all these confusion and are all calling themselves a "member" of this wacky code-loving group.


    "Timewaster"


    That is the last time I heard anything from that Twitter account. I mean that literally because he blocked me seconds after sending me that word. I went around and searched "Plural Heights" again on Twitter and saw that no such tweet or anything remotely similar to it is popping up anymore. Heck, earlier, when I searched for those two words, I was only greeted by either those cryptic posts or a blank search result. This time, however, the Twitter search result is showing me many other tweets that have both the words "Plural" and "Heights" in it, but none of them are really about the mall or whatever membership-only shit they''re posting.


    After almost an hour of painstakingly searching and researching the term "Plural Heights" over and over in hopes that I would see more of those tweets, I finally gave up. I threw my phone on the side and opened my PC instead, to play some games or watch some videos or whatever. This is usually what I would do in my day-offs anyway, meeting a friend or leaving my house at all during these times are rarer than the occurrence of a red moon.


    After three hours of pointless "leisure" time, I finally got bored of whatever the fuck I''m doing and just stared at my ceiling for a good two minutes before admitting to myself that the Twitter user is right for calling me a "timewaster."


    I sighed while thinking about what I should do for the entirety of the day since, seeing that there are light penetrating through the small space around my window, it''s still very much early in the afternoon. I haven''t done anything that I would consider as "fun" yet.


    "Maybe I should do that again today..."


    I like meeting people. Okay, don''t get me wrong, I hate going outside, but I still like talking to people. It makes me learn a lot about life and discover the many--you know what, I''m just fooling myself at this point. I want to meet hot girls online, talk to them momentarily, maybe call them for a quick wank, and stop speaking to them once they start talking about their feelings and their stupid life complaints. I hate dealing with all those people, but I do love seeing hot strangers.


    And that''s why, with a resigning sigh, I typed "omegle.com" and entered a chat room without tags. I would usually use some kind of stupid tags to narrow down my choices, but since I have a lot of time right now, I decided to take it slow for now.


    The first thing that greeted me is a bot, which disconnected after sending me their programmed messages.


    Then, there''s this person who sent "M," which immediately made me tap the escape button twice with the swift of a thousand furious breeze.


    Then the next one didn''t speak at all, no matter how much greeting messages I sent, so I just said, "fuck it" and went on the next chat.


    It''s pretty much the same stale shit for about a hundred of these people, something I already expected, but it still very much disappoints me regardless. I was about to refresh the page to add some tags if this new guy I''m chatting is one of those stale chats again.


    "plural heights?"


    Huh...?


    The Stranger I''m talking with right now just blurted two words that I never expected to see again for today; heck, I didn''t expect to see it in this site at all! Just what... Is this Plural Heights, really?


    I was about to ask about this Plural Heights thing when the Stranger suddenly disconnected.


    I was frantic. I wanted to see that person again, and since he sent that chat with a question mark, that means he''s finding a fellow "member" in Omegle.


    IN OMEGLE!


    I can''t believe it!


    I refreshed my feed and went through one chat after another to see if someone else is looking for Plural Heights member like that Stranger I encountered earlier. It took a while, but...


    I didn''t find him...


    I was in that chat room for so long that the sun was already setting when I was done. It made me feel like shit. Nevertheless, a seething competitiveness and a growing curiosity finally took the better of me. This Plural Heights thing started when I was jacking off that one time to some weird BDSM shit, and now, I''m here seeing it all the random places on the internet? As if it''s not random enough to see an ad for a mall below a porn video!


    Besides, I have nothing else to do anyway!


    That was when an idea popped in my head, why don''t I just put "Plural Heights" as a tag to see other people who want to meet with their fellow "members"?


    That I did. At first, the system told me that no other people had the same tag that I''m using, which made me think that maybe I''m the only one using it, but I did not give up. I disconnected tag-less chats over and over, hoping for some miracle that someone would be dumb enough to use the tag to find a fellow member.


    And then...


    "You''re now chatting with a random stranger.


    "You both like Plural Heights.


    "Stranger: Good day, brother! (or sister, do forgive me if I got it wrong!) Greetings and may the glory of the Mother shine through you!"


    Holy shit!


    I found one! This is so fucking freaky! I didn''t know what to say, so I just sent a nonchalant "Hey" and hoped to god that the Stranger wouldn''t disconnect on me.


    "Stranger: Ah! Forgive me for my impudence, but are you perhaps not a member of our fellowship?


    I wiped the sweat trickling through my forehead with my collar after reading through the Stranger''s reply. I heaved a deep sigh with my eyes closed as I deliberated to myself if I am doing the right thing or not.


    But, well...


    What''s the worst that could happen?


    "yeah hope you won''t disconnect tho just wanna learn about plural heights" It didn''t take me a long time to think about this reply, but it did require a whole lot of coaxing within me to muster the courage to send it.


    "Stranger: That is wonderful, brother! I''m guessing you''re a ''brother''?"


    "ya im a dude"


    "Stranger: Excellent! Do not be afraid! Plural Heights is not Illuminati (we receive a lot of feedback calling us that). We are a group of people who wishes to attain a higher sense of spiritual enlightenment through various community exercises with our members and our amazing mentors who want nothing but the best from all of us!"


    I frowned after reading that vague reply, but oddly enough, I can understand what he''s trying to say. "that sounds cool"


    "Stranger: It is beyond ''cool,'' brother! It is godly, almost heavenly! It has been a long time since I denounced my belief in a higher power, and Plural Heights opened my eyes to the truth that there is no one true god, and we can all attain true godhood by unlocking our spiritual potential!"


    "word i also dont believe in god"


    "Stranger: The church is evil, brother. It only wants nothing but to use you and steal your money! Religion is all but a sham, and the Mother told me all about it in our one-on-one session where she told me all about the true villains in the world and the real owners of our great USA! That was the day when I started telling myself that I will devote myself to what the Mother envisioned the world to be: a utopia where humans like you and me can live with no reservation and without the need of the material."


    There are all starting to be so fucking exciting. I mean, don''t get me wrong, it''s whacky as shit, but I can''t stop smiling while the Stranger sends all these goofy ass paragraphs! It''s so funny. It makes me want to see what he has more to say ironically.


    "i heard it jhas membership tho smh smh"


    "Stranger: I see that you have done your research. Don''t worry, brother! You can always come and watch our sessions every weekend to understand our cause more on an intimate level! When you''re already willing to be a part of our growing community of spiritually strong and morally upright fellowship, then you can talk to one of our members. They will send you to the Mother to make you an official member of our cause!"


    I tried probing for more since he keeps blabbing about their group. I thought that this will be some kind of creepy secret society, but it''s actually just a bunch of nerds roleplaying. "who''s this mother btw?"


    "Stranger: Mother is the Truth. Mother is the Way. Mother is the Door. Mother is Hope itself. BLESSED BE OUR MOTHER TILL THE VERY END OF OUR DAYS! BLESSED BE HER WHO GIVES US OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE! Brother, if you wish to know more about us, I can tell you more about it in one of our sessions held tomorrow, if it''s not too much of a bother to you, of course."


    I chuckled. Well, I won''t do anything tomorrow anyway. Why not? "sure. when and where?"


    "Stranger: May I know where you live, brother? Since you heard about us, that probably means that you''ve seen our ads somehow! Then I can guess you''re American living in the United States of America, yes?"


    "ya LA"


    "Stranger: Wonderful! I am from Iowa, but I will travel there to meet you and give you the proper welcoming gift that Man, such as yourself, deserve! I will be in LA around noon tomorrow. Please meet me inside our Plural Heights branch in LA. You won''t miss it since there''s only one such place in your state!"


    "nice so just go there and ill see you?"


    "Stranger: Hmm... I am not allowed to give my contact details as of this moment since we just met under such an unusual circumstance, Omegle and all, but we can meet somewhere in Level 4, go to the right side of the escalator, and you will instantly see Room 3. It''s a clock store, but tell the clerk that you''re meeting with Jimmy, and they will definitely give you the accommodation that you deserve, brother!"


    I smiled as I continued to chat more with this Stranger, who called himself Jimmy to know how I could recognize him. Whelp, I guess I have another appointment tomorrow. Heh. I don''t really wanna meet with him, but I guess since he looks like he''s practically begging for it, then why the hell not?


    "Stranger: I''m looking forward to seeing you, brother. Glory be to the Mother!"


    That was the last thing I heard from Jimmy before he disconnected.  Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

 74 Advertisemen

    ...


    I scrolled through my homepage and stopped momentarily to gaze at something, which made me smile a bit.


    "Hehehe dumb dog."


    I then continued scrolling with the same blank expression that I had earlier.


    ...


    "Pfft."


    ...


    I continued scrolling, finding something that would probably shed some bit of light in my dark room even for just three seconds.


    Oh?


    What the fuck?


    After a few minutes of scrolling through my Instagram feed to find some busty female ass, some animal vids, anime edits, and stale stolen memes, I came across a rather curious little thing.


    "Plural Heights Welcomes You! Click the link below to learn more."


    I decided to ignore it and continued to scroll through my feed, but after a few images, I was once again greeted with an ad posted by an account named plural.heights. It''s an image of the mall, but the only difference is that there''s a gif of an anime character in front of the mall. Let me make this clearer for you. They put a gif of an anime character and plastered it on top of the image of the Plural Heights building and called it an ad!


    It even has an equally stupid caption! "I bet you wouldn''t last for two minutes! Click the link below."


    What.


    In.


    The.


    Flying.


    Fuck!?


    Even in IG?


    Unlike their pathetic little attempt to advertise their dead looking-ass mall in a stupid porn site, this clumsily-made ad that they posted in their Instagram account is, well, it has a photo, I guess? Wait, you know what, that Plural Heights thing has an Instagram account? Okay, I''m not surprised that a mall has this kind of account, but we''re talking about THAT mall, THAT Plural Heights! I have not seen what it is like in the inside, but outside, seeing it from a few meters away, I can confidently say that holy shit, this place has got to be a recreation of the Kowloon Walled City!


    Their Instagram post shows the same building that I had seen earlier when I hung out with Mike earlier today, but no, I refuse to believe that this is the same building! What I can see in their obviously paid advertisement in my boring Instagram feed is an icon of utter perfection along with brightly lit walls and a radiant, brand-new look. When I saw Plural Heights earlier, what I noticed is a blackened state of hot garbage, messy as shit, so dirty that I am confident to say that it has a lot of prostitutes around it and some homeless people living inside. Not to mention, there are nothing around it aside from a few houses, some other local stores, and a 7-11, all which are erected a few meters away from the mall itself.


    I just...


    Ha...


    Why am I so passionate and angry about a mall, anyway? The capitalists will not change their ways because I thought poorly about them in one cold, dreary night in the dead of a spring evening.


    I just wanted to pass the time so bad, all because I cannot sleep for some fucking reason. I felt so tired, drained, and unaccomplished throughout the fleeting hours that I am awake. Now that I wish to fix that once and for all, my phone suddenly grabbed my attention by showing me exactly what I don''t want to see.


    I threw my phone aside and heard it drop somewhere hard, but I am too lazy to see if it finally broke into a million pieces. I sat in front of my PC once more and decided to scroll through Facebook. My mind was already starting to shut down entirely along with the almost hypnotic way in which Facebook would scroll past so many other stale memes when, somewhere in my peripheral vision, a small add suddenly popped in my newsfeed while I was scrolling through my feed almost lifelessly.


    It''s the picture of a woman in a red dress, wearing thin makeup and thick, red lipstick. She was pointing her hands towards a building behind her, which is, you guessed it, fucking Plural Heights! I can''t believe it. As if a confirmation to further heighten my annoyance, the account that posted that picture is called "Plural Heights" along with the caption: "Cozy, nice, and fresh! All that you need in just a quick visit! Plural Heights. You and me, together as a community. Click the link below the learn more."


    What am I supposed to click!? Both the IG post and the FB post does not show a link along with them! What was I supposed to click!? What was I supposed to visit? Why is this stupid mall here in my newsfeed just to remind me of this silly, cock-softening, mind-breaking, and ass tightening appointment that I had made with a stranger in Omegle of all places! I have not even seen my own mother for months, and here I am, meeting with strangers and long lost friends in just two days! I don''t know why I was so happy about it earlier, but as the clock ticks forward, I get more and more anxious. I cannot just ignore because the poor guy is probably leaving now from Iowa to stay in LA tomorrow just to meet my stupid ass for this bullshit Plural Heights cocksuckery!


    I''m so tired. I should probably lay down again.


    I crawled towards my mattress and grabbed my phone a few inches away from it. I then allowed my body to drop onto the pillows as I tapped on the YouTube icon on my home screen.


    Right out of the bat, what welcomed me in my recommendations is an old commercial for a mall that opened in the ''80s. It''s precisely the first video that the YouTube algorithm had recommended me.


    "Oh my fucking god..." I said as I pinched the space between my eyes. It''s an old commercial from when Plural Heights had just recently opened. How am I not supposed to know that it is that same greasy mall when they''re literally using the same image they used in their Instagram ad!


    However...


    Well...


    I do like old commercials.


    They have a certain charm to it; one could almost feel the past valor and the former glory of America before all of this SJW bullshit ruined our country to the ground.


    I, well, to be frank... I wanted to watch it. Well, why not? The damn thing had already occupied my day by the time I had woken up, what would another one of this bullshit do to me? I tapped on the video, thinking about what the worst could possibly happen since it''s only just a 2-minute ad anyway. While the vide was loading, I instantly headed towards the comment section to see what everyone was saying about it. There''s a whole lot of people joking about a particular part of the video. Still, most of them are just jesting at the fact that the YouTube algorithm had recommended them an old video that was uploaded 13 years ago. Fuck, can you believe it? I didn''t even know the existence of the internet 13 years ago. As I had that in my mind, the video finally started.


    Right out of the bat, I can already feel the 80''s vibe in it just by seeing the choppy quality of the video itself, something that I always liked seeing for some reason, although I have no nostalgia for the ''80s. The commercial itself started with a parodied version of a funky Whitney Houston song along with swift footage of random people dancing outside of the mall. The entirety of the video has this ugly looking magenta and purplish overlay that makes it blurry but shiny at the same time. It''s such an odd choice.


    "I wanna dance in Plural Heights! I wanna buy what''s hit in Plural Heights!" It pretty much just looped that part over and over along with a poorly-made recreation of the song''s instrumental. The singers of the song¡ªI can faintly hear that there''s about three of them¡ªsuddenly started adlibbing in unison. At the same time, the camera awkwardly did a transition that looks like it came from Windows Movie Maker way before the software was ever invented.


    After that, oh so slow and sloppy transition, the viewers were greeted with a bunch of kids running towards someone. All of the children looked genuinely happy with the brightest smile I could ever see from a child. They were all giggling, screaming in excitement, or screaming the word "Mother!" repeatedly. When the camera started panning up to show their destination, it revealed a woman who was wearing a red dress, a light makes up, and thick red lipstick.


    Wait a minute...


    She is that...


    What?


    "Plural Heights!" The woman said while carrying a small girl in her hands.


    "Where all dreams come true!" All of the children said all together along with the woman in red before cheering as loudly as they can with all their eyes directed towards the camera.


    It then cut to a close-up show of the lady in red, smiling haughtily with a certain enigmatic charm that made the entirety of my body to step back aside from my dick. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Together, in our community, we are all one big family!" They all sang in the rhythm of that same Whitney Houston song that they ripped off earlier. The only difference is that they prolonged the last "ly" while the volume of the ad lowers.


    The commercial then faded into black.


    I...


    Huh.


    "I should probably go to sleep."


    And that I did, but the thought that the mall had used the same model to promote themselves since the 80''s kept me awake for a few more hours.

 75 Groto

    I went out of the rented Uber vehicle ever so slowly while taking my glasses off with a sigh. The car then sped away while my gaze remained at the godforsaken mall in front of me. Seeing that there are no people everywhere¡ªI realized that the 7-11 nearby is just as soulless as the surrounding businesses¡ªI could already guess that whatever lies inside of this grease-filled hell hole is naught but a dessert with modern-day overlays.


    I slowly hung my sunglasses on the collar of my tight v-neck tee and walked towards the mall, uncertain where the main entrance is and equally doubtful that the person I''m supposed to meet actually came to visit. It doesn''t matter anyway. If this Jimmy guy would stand me up, then I am adamant about saying that I will ignore every subsequent Plural Heights related shenanigans that would fall in my wake. I gave this thing a try because I have nothing else to do today anyway but also because I am just so gosh darn curious about everything remotely related to this stupid mall thing.


    I have to admit, I am excited, but I am also not expecting anything. Then again, I was not thrilled enough to prepare a lot of things just to meet a random stranger online in a shoddy-looking establishment. I was only wearing a simple-looking tee and pants, while I only have my wallet, phone, and keys with me inside of my pocket, no bags. With a soft grunt, I decided to get this shit done and went straight into the Sector Carina looking-ass building.


    After about a few moments of walking all around the wasteland surrounding the mall, I finally found a very conveniently placed sign hanging on a lamppost that has a big red arrow in it, pointing at the right side, with one simple-to-understand word accompanying it: "ENTRANCE." Straightforward enough, so I just went straight to where the sign was pointing at and finally saw the main entrance hidden behind three huge cargo trucks. I found it odd, but I also didn''t think too much about it until one cargo truck opened, and a skinny man went out of it, walking towards the exit like it was just another Sunday morning in his miserable life. I peered through the slightly opened cargo truck and instantly stepped back when I heard several people whispering inside of the darkness lurking within. Nah, fuck that, I''ve seen enough horror films to know that if someone opened a weird-looking ass shit like this, then they will be the first ones to die in the opening sequence of the movie.


    I hurriedly walked towards the mall''s entrance, and oddly enough, the many sounds of people murmuring inside of that cargo truck became louder and louder every time I stepped away from it. The ensuing chaos only ceased once I opened the mall''s glass door and took my first step inside of the mall. I didn''t dare look back behind me because I am afraid that some weird shit would come crawling out of that cargo truck, so I decided to mind my own business and frantically looked all over the darkened halls of the mall to find an escalator.


    Jimmy told me while we were chatting that he wouldn''t be able to exchange any of his contact details with me, but he''s willing to relay everything that he can while we were chatting on Omegle, so I would be able to locate him quickly when we actually met each other in the mall. He told me to head towards the fourth floor and head towards the right side of the first escalator nearest the main entrance to find Room 3, which is apparently, a store that specializes in selling clocks. Then, he told me to wait inside a special room inside the story to wait for him. It seems kind of complicated, but I''m used to seeing such vague directions like this because of my job, so I didn''t really mind it.


    Jimmy also added that he would be wearing a black polo shirt, a pair of navy-blue pants, and a couple of black shoes. Easy enough, but I never thought that it would actually be hard. It took me a while to find the main entrance, but now that I am actually inside the mall, I realized that this would not be a comfortable journey because I. CANNOT. FIND. AN. ESCALATOR!


    You know how malls would have escalators everywhere, and you can see a fuckton more of its kind everywhere by the time you walked inside of a mall? Well, not this place apparently. God, I''m not surprised it''s going bankrupt.


    Okay. No point dilly-dallying. I walked right into the entrance, and when I was about a few meters away from the glass door, I realized that the mall had no guards stationed in the entryway, which is... odd, but I guess those guards never really pose a threat to criminals. Still, it made me feel a bit unsafe, especially since there''s literally no one around me as far as my eyes could see. Huh. I wonder where that guy who came from the back of the truck earlier went? Nah, I should probably stop thinking about that damn truck thing. Yieghk! It''s giving me the creeps!


    The fact that some of the lights were flickering while some were not at all operational, making the entire place look like a dimly-lit dungeon is not at all helping to ease my growing paranoia. The stores around are either close or lifeless, not a single life is present inside of their stores, but seeing that their lights were open and they have products on display, that means that they''re still in their business hours one way or another.


    Some small pieces in my heart are telling me to run the fuck away from this place because everything that''s happening here so far is terrible news. However, a bigger part of me remained interested in the lifeless world inside of this darkened building. Every time I see a broken light bulb, a graffiti on the wall, a dust-filled booth on the hall, a store without people inside, and a small hole in the ceiling, my interest would simply jump to the high heavens.


    Thus, I walked forward with nothing but a laughable sense of conviction as I saw a passageway going to the right side of the hall. I turned towards it and saw the escalator at last! However, it was the first thing that caught my eyes.


    There''s a huge, bullet-shaped groto right in the middle of the hall. Every shop around it is open, every wall around it is squeaky clean, the floor in which it stood is as bright as the morning sun, and lights were beaming more than the lights from a pale moonlight above a cloudless sky. More than anything, there are actually people around the groto. Not just one or two people walking around aimlessly like me, but there''s a whole crowd of people gathering in front of it silently as they gazed up at it with awe-struck expressions.


    The groto itself is not that magnificent. It''s made out of smooth concrete, painted to turn into a cerulean color; it stood directly at the center of the hall, a few meters away from the escalator¡ªwhich is not working by the way. The most curious part about the groto is that it was empty. Commonly, when one saw a groto, it is usually accompanied by a religious icon inside. At the same time, the groto itself is just serving as some kind of roof to keep whatever religious shenanigans in it from whatever harm nature can bring. Not this one, though. No, this one is just like the stores around the main entrance of the mall, open that are supposed to be inside is nowhere to be seen.


    I then decided to oh so quietly walk past the many people gathering in front of the groto. As I did so, I noticed that all of them are wearing the same clothes, which bothered me a bit, but such practice is common when it comes to religious people. It just didn''t make sense for me to see any group at all gathering in a mall like this. I also noticed that there''s this odd-looking expression that all the people in front of the groto has. They all had this weird-looking smile on their faces, one that I cannot clearly describe, but nonetheless, the look on their faces was still so unbearably odd that it''s almost fascinating. Their eyes were all narrowed¡ªyes, all of them¡ªtheir eyes were squinching as if they''re one of those people who forgot their glasses, so they had to squinch as narrow as they possibly can to see what lies before them. Accompanied by the weird thing they''re doing in their eyes, they also have this very unnatural smile, wherein their mouths are open ever so slightly while the corners of their lips are quirked upward to form a slight grin. As if that''s not whacky enough, all of them¡ªyes, all of them, no exceptions¡ªare also chuckling silently under their breath as if some subpar comedian is doing a standup gig in the groto, but the jokes are just mildly funny, but not too corny as well.


    Suddenly, someone mumbled, "The Mother''s message is here!" This made everyone facing the groto to murmur among each other while the others continued to chuckle under their breath like it was none of their business.


    Another one then mumbled in a low voice, "Hihihi! She''s coming; she''s coming! Mother is home!"


    I heard one more person¡ªbased on their voice, this person must be a bit older than the rest¡ªspeaking in a much louder voice, "Glory be to the Mother! Long may she reign!"


    I gazed at the groto and saw that it was just as empty as it was earlier, so I can''t really relate. Needless to say, the people still chanted their praises at it with their narrowed eyes as if they had seen the second coming of Christ. Oh well. Weird ass motherfuckers.


    I was about to get past them and silently head towards the escalator when someone noticed me and pointed at me ever so dramatically with an anger-filled expression before shouting, "AHA!!!"


    I jumped back upon hearing that and looked back at the people in front of the groto. That was when I realized that they''re all swiftly moving towards me, not running, but still fast enough to make me fear for my life. I instantly ran towards the escalator as fast as I can, regretting my decision not to run away when I still had a choice.


    They weren''t running in particular; they were just walking really, really fast, which is super weird because it made them look like a bunch of mechanical toys, walking so stiffly like their screws were almost about to fall off with just a few twitches. I could hear the sound of the soles of their shoes squeak as they awkwardly try to outrun me by not running at all; this further proves that the floor around the groto truly is the most immaculate part of the entire mall.


    I glanced behind me slightly to look at what they were doing as I ran as fast as I can, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my chest. Contrary to how these people looked like earlier, their eyes were open wide like they''re about to pop their eye sockets open just to have their eyes explode and probably aide them from running after me somehow.


    "HE''S A NON-MEMBER!" The female bitch who''s leading the people running towards me pointed at me as she shouted with a wretched-looking grin plastered all over her acne-filled face. "NON-MEMBER! THERE''S A NON-MEMBER AMONG US!"


    They looked like prowling sharks with canine teeth, ready to bite me hard if they could ever catch me alive. All of the people behind my trail started pointing at me while the sound coming out of their shoes began to ring throughout the silent halls like multiple bugs buzzing towards a blooming flower. I know that I''m one hot shit, but I don''t want all of my pollens sucked yet!


    "NON-MEMBER!" One of them shouted.


    This was followed by another one of them yelling with a coarse tone, "NON-MEMBERS ARE NOT ALLOWED! MALL IS NOT NON-MEMBERS! NON-MEMBER!"


    I almost tripped, but I kept it together. Luckily, I managed to get to the escalator on time and let me tell you, running on a broken escalator is hell itself. Yes, I feel like hell is just a bunch of people trying to run away by climbing a broken escalator. I noticed that the people who were following me had stopped at the bottom of the escalator. I knew this because I kept on looking at them with a shock-filled expression on the floor above them.


    They were all pointing their fingers at me while they all shout in unison, "NON-MEMBER! NON-MEMBER! NON-MEMBER!" over and over with nothing but contempt painted all over their faces.


    I then noticed the clothes they were wearing. Black polo shirt, navy-blue pants, black shoes. Fuck. How am I supposed to find Jimmy now? Wait a minute, is Jimmy actually one of them? I became frantic even more as I remembered the last thing Jimmy told me before I disconnected the chat with him on Omegle.


    "Stranger: There''s only one escalator in the mall. You won''t miss it, brother! GLORY BE TO THE MOTHER!"


    "Fuck..." I mumbled to myself as I looked at the sign on top of the escalator.  Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    It merely has a letter and number in it, "L2."


    I sighed to myself as I stared at it while I heard the endless cries of the people below me.


    "NON MEMBER!"


    "BEGONE, NON-MEMBER!"


    "NON-MEMBER!"


    "YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE, NON-MEMBER!"


    "NON-MEMBER!"


    "NON-MEMBER!"


    "NON-MEMBER!"

 76 Shop

    Now what? After escaping the angry mob downstairs, I could only feel my fatigue rising indefinitely within me, and it''s not even noon yet. I always found it odd that they stopped running after me once I reached the second floor, though. Oh well, fuck, this just shows that one really shouldn''t come early in a meeting with a stranger.


    I climbed the damn broken escalators, which I wouldn''t mind much since shit like this happens a lot of times in perfectly functioning malls, but this damn garbage heap has no air-conditioning, so now I''m sweating so damn hard that I swear I can feel some waterfalls gushing out of my armpits. Okay, maybe I can feel a bit of coldness every now and then, but as I said, it''s just a bit, and I''m not kidding! It feels like someone is just blowing air at my face, and they just shrugged it off as air-conditioning. Crazy! This place is crazy; these people are crazy; I''m crazy! Why am I still staying here after all that bullshit on the first floor?


    Although I am now climbing the last escalator towards the fourth floor, I can still barely hear the loud cries of the people downstairs all because this damn place is so devoid of what a normal human being might otherwise define as joy. It''s crazy in here! A part of me is thinking of just sitting on a floor around the escalator and wait for the people downstairs to go away so that I can leave as well. However, I have gone this far, and I''m already headed towards the fourth floor, so there''s really no reason for me to go out now like a fucking pussy.


    Haa... Again, now what?


    I''ve already taken my first step on the fourth floor, and to make sure that I am in the right place, I looked at a familiar sign hanging above the escalator to check if I am in the right place. Yep. The sign says, "L4," Level 4. I''m in the right place, alright, but I''m not sure if I find it ecstatic to know that I have arrived at my destination, knowing what happened downstairs! What if I run to one of those groto fetishists once I started walking around, and he starts calling for his whacky-looking ass friends to subdue me and shit. Man, I''ve played Resident Evil, okay? I know how crazy it is when you encounter fucked up people in an equally fucked up place. I also know that I''m a fucking dumbass for agreeing to do a meet up with a stranger that I have only met in a shady random chat website, but here I am anyway! I know I''m being dumb right now, but when you start living a monotonous life filled with the same bullshit time spent on the same bullshit things, you begin to see stupid shit as an opportunity to find a semblance of light amid your shadowed life.


    "Right. So I have to look for Room 3 now." I said as I looked around me. I didn''t see much in my surroundings, though. Just more endless barren wasteland echoing the fall of modern capitalism and... a movie poster? I guess this mall has a cinema? That''s actually the most surprising thing I have ever seen so far today. Yes, much more extraordinary than those low tier mobs on the first floor. Eh. I already watched that movie anyway, and it''s fucking shit! Everyone died in the end, and the main character got stabbed. It''s all bullshit. I guess I should have expected that a shitty mall is showing a shitty movie in their cinema.


    I can still remember that Jimmy told me in our chat that I have to meet him in Room 3. Apparently, it''s a store on the fourth floor of the mall that''s always open for business without fail. Jimmy told me that he will be meeting me "inside of the store. I am not quite sure what he meant by that, but I assumed that I will just have to wait somewhere around the store while he was still not around. Jimmy also told me that he knew everyone in Room 3, so if I would just say Jimmy''s name, then they would not be too aggressive with me.


    Now that I think about it, that line doesn''t sound nice, isn''t it?


    Oh, it doesn''t matter. I''m already here. Besides, today has been a weird experience so far, but it is a nice breath of fresh air away from the usual mundane situation during all of my previous day-offs.


    Thus, with a still reluctant but otherwise clear thought, I walked into my destination, looking for any opens stores around the right side of the escalator. Looking above the entryway of the stores around me, I finally realized that there are actually some small signs above it. The one I''m looking at right now says, "R8." The sign itself is just tiny; in fact, I wouldn''t even call it a "sign" because it feels more like a small sticker plastered above the stores in a hurry.


    Seeing all these stickers actually heightens the sense of dread surrounding me inside of this dilapidated establishment. Compared to the state of the first floor, this floor is not THAT rundown. Still, with all the broken light bulbs still hanging on the ceiling, a few tiles cracked or downright broken, and a few walls hurriedly painted, perhaps to hide some sort of graffiti around the wall. I remembered how the first floor is literally covered with dust all-around along with numerous spray-painted vandalism all over the walls; I could say that the fourth floor is at least... cozy, I guess? At least, this one doesn''t have a few holes in the ceiling, well, I haven''t seen one yet, at least, so kudos to whoever is maintaining this floor.


    I then looked around some more to see if there are some people¡ªI mean, sane people¡ªaround me, but the only thing I could find are more covered graffiti. Upon closer look, I realized that those were not just painted prematurely. I walked towards one of those hastily painted parts of the wall and realized that they actually plastered a newspaper on the concrete before painting it, which is a very odd decision. The paint job itself is not that impressive, too, since I can still see what''s written in the newspaper. Curious, I glanced at it and laughed when I managed to read the headline, it''s a news story about three men who got stabbed in Kansas apparently.


    As I started laughing at the silliness of how they covered the graffiti on their walls, I started walking while carefully gazing at the stickers above the stores. A lot of them are closed, but there''s actually a surprising amount of stores that are open around here. I nodded in disbelief that there are actually some companies who would be willing to do business in this place still because I know I wouldn''t. Yet, just like in this first floor, the stores may be open, but no people are on the counters, so I couldn''t say if this mall is not just erected here to attract thieves.


    Hmm... That''s R5. It''s a clothes store. I wanted to go in, but I''ll probably just do it later if Jimmy is still not around.


    R6 is not open, but as I walked forward, I saw that R4 is not accessible as well, so one doesn''t need to have a Ph.D. to guess that business in Plural Heights is flourishing! Hah!


    "... best..."


    Huh? I then heard a bit of a muffled voice coming from somewhere inside of R6. It''s faint, but behind the metal roll-up aluminum door. I knitted my eyebrows as I placed my head on the metal door to hear if I really heard something or if I''m starting to go insane.


    "Mother knows best." I heard coming from behind the shutters as I very silently stuck my head further into the metal door. "Mother knows best." The voice of a man inside sounds like he was sobbing as he repeatedly said those words without stopping.


    "Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best."


    This was accompanied by a very faint voice of someone far from the entryway whispering something as well. As I allowed my head to be rooted in that roll-up door further, I realized that the voice of that other person was gradually growing louder.


    "... it.. Do... o i..." I still can''t hear it properly, but soon, as if the person who''s saying it was walking towards my direction, the voice started to get so loud that I could swear, without a hint of a doubt, that this person is standing right beside me if it weren''t for this metal shutters between us.


    "Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it."


    I then felt the roll-up metal door move slightly, indicating that someone had moved it from the other side of the shop, which promptly made me step away from it with my eyes open wide in awe.


    "Don''t." I overheard someone whisper behind me, which instantly made me yelp so hard that I could hear my girly-sounding voice ringing throughout the empty hall. I then looked at the man who said those words to me and realized that it was an older man who had eyes so dead that I could swear I saw an identical one somewhere in the market while I was buying fish.


    He then placed his hands on my shoulder and placed his forefinger on his lips, signaling me to be quiet. He then walked past me as if nothing had happened at all. I also noticed that the voice inside of R6 had stopped.


    "Isn''t that..." I said as I looked at the man''s back while he walked away from me. "... the guy who stepped out of the cargo truck earlier?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I decided not to think about it further, for I know that it would only fry my head knowing how fucking dumb I am. Thus, I continued walking with a muddled mind, still thinking about that guy who''s saying, "Do it." After a few more steps with those thoughts in mind, I finally found myself standing in front of R3 and looked at the name of the store.


    "Clockwork, huh?"


    What I see in front of me is a brightly lit clock store, which is a stark contrast compared to the dimness of the hall outside of it. I took a step inside and saw whatever products they have on sale. They''re... Well, what can I say? They''re clocks! It''s a clock store. What other explanation do I have to give? There are some glass counters everywhere, and there are clocks inside. The walls are pure white, while the floor and the ceiling are black. As I said, the lights are very bright, which is enough to daze and dazzle me. I then saw a small pamphlet on top of a glass counter, which is the only other colorful thing around us since every clock around here pretty much has a dull color. I looked at it and saw that the shop is offering a massive discount to people who are enlisted as a member of the Plural Heights Joint Community Team. I don''t know what the fuck that is, but I know damn well that I won''t be a part of that group just to buy some dumb wristwatch in an E-List company.


    "Hmm..." I walked around more after seeing that there''s no one in the store at all. I was kind of thinking that someone would welcome me since Jimmy told me that he has a friend in here. I guess it was just wishful thinking in my part since it''s all too stupid for me to assume some fanfare in this lifeless mall.


    I was about to take my phone out of my pocket when I realized something on the floor. No, not really something, it was more of a stain. A thick layer of dye that must have been spilled around here recently since it''s still not adequately brushed off yet. I''m guessing that the stain came from something like a juice, or maybe, I dunno, some thick liquid that had been spewed all over the place, and the people who''re working here couldn''t be bothered with it, so they just mopped it half-assed.


    "God... That''s nasty." I said as I looked at the soles of my shoes while clicking my tongue.


    As I started gazing at my shoes, seeing if the stain on the floor has dirtied it, I saw something unusual clumsily hidden underneath the glass counter.


    "Is that..." I said as I pressed my forehead together. "Is that a knife?"


    "What are you doing here, you fucking non-member?" I heard a cry behind me, which shocked me so much that I could feel the hair around my body standing up.


    I turned my head to look at who just called me and saw a tiny and thin female who was so mad that I could see the veins around her face popping up the same way the areas around her pupils turn blood red. She was gnashing her teeth so much that I could only imagine how painful it must feel to tighten your mouth that way. As a little cherry on top, the obviously irritated lady''s eyebrows were frowning so damn hard that I almost thought that she was deliberately trying to form some ugly wrinkles on the area between her eyes to make her even uglier than what she would otherwise look like if she wasn''t being such a stupid psycho.


    However, what really made my heart pound faster than a boxer''s punch is when I saw what she was pointing at me.


    "Whoa, whoa!" I sais as I pushed my hands forward, gesturing her that I mean no harm. "Put the knife down, miss." I started sweating hard, not only because there''s no semblance of air-conditioning all over the shop but because¡ªcome on, do I have to spell everything out for you? THE WOMAN HAS A KNIFE!


    "I will not!" She cried like a prowling mutt that hadn''t taken some rabies shot¡ªcrazy fucking bitch. "The Mother instructed me to kill all non-members like you once you enter this place! My sisters have already dealt with a lot of non-members like you, and I WILL NOT BE THE FIRST ONE TO FAIL!"


    "Shit." I took two steps backward. "Okay. I get it. I get it. I''ll leave, okay? No need to be criminals here."


    "DON''T YOU DARE RUNAWAY FROM ME, NON-MEMBER!" She then slashed the space in front of me, which instantly made me lean my upper body back as I groaned under my breath.


    "Bitch!" I then took a few more steps backward, now accompanied by a thousand fury I kept hidden within me. "I''m going to call the cops! I don''t care who you are!" I said as I took out my phone from out of my pocket.


    However, the woman remained unfazed. She was just as mad as earlier, if not madder. He then started shouting as hard as she can, which sounded a lot like a broken car machine. It rang throughout the quiet shop and echoed all over the hall, making it so much louder than it would typically be. Since she''s a fucking female, her voice felt, even more, crisper in my ears, so much so that it could almost make my ears bleed.


    I then saw her lunging towards me. I stopped retreating when I felt the glass counter hitting my back. I then ducked, but this crazy bitch saw right through me since she also knelt while she''s readying her body to thrust her weapon forward to deal with me once and for all.


    "Guh!"


    Thus, the last thing I saw was the lady''s anger-filled expression as I felt a stinging pain seething through my stomach.


    "Fuck..." I mumbled as I felt my consciousness slowly running out. As I fell on to the floor, the last thing I saw was a red liquid flowing into the black tile. Ahh... So that''s why there''s that sticky stain on the floor...


    "I will not be the last one to fail." I heard the lady mumble under her breath. "I will not... Last..."


    And then... it''s all... just...


    Black...


    ...

 77 Shush

    I am sitting down, or am I? I am not quite sure, I cannot feel my body, but I can feel it exists. I cannot seem to move my body, but I can understand through some limited part of my consciousness that I am moving ever so endlessly in motions that I never thought I could ever create. I feel like I''m water and air and solid. I am liquefied but hard but spectral. I can see the darkness within me, but I could never comprehend what it truly means, all I know for sure is that I am in a superposition of both being inside of the darkness and being outside of it at the same time. I feel like I am sitting in front of a huge monitor, watching darkness unfold before my very eyes, but at the same time, I can feel my body connecting and interacting with the void itself lurking within the world that exists in the screen.


    I can feel through my body, but my soul is detached from me, and now it''s watching my flesh fly through an endless space. I can see my surroundings through my eyes, but my soul also has its own eyes, and it''s sending both signals into my brain, which inevitably makes my mind comprehend two different things happening at the same time. I can hear something like a bubble popping all around me like someone was boiling a massive chunk of water from somewhere, but I cannot see anything that resembles that. Don''t get me wrong, I can see things, I know I can see things, but my surrounding is just so empty, just as how I felt nothing all over my body, although I can sense it deep inside me that my senses are still working impeccably so.


    I was shivering like the coldness of the surrounding was trying to kill me, but I don''t feel pain. Nonetheless, the cold was ever so dreary that I could almost swear like I am the very peak of Mount Everest while I''m bathing on the water from Antarctica. My body shook, though, I don''t know how I know if I was really shaking. I could almost feel the way my body shivers, but from my perspective, it felt as if my brains were just telling me things that my body is sensing. It almost felt like I am so detached from myself, but I can''t help the flow of my senses regardless of where I truly am and what is truly happening to me.


    Amid the expanding darkness circulating both my detached body and soul, a vision came before me like that of a foreboding warning of a catastrophic threat. As I observe that my body is still shivering, I saw the image of two animal eyes gazing at me from a far off distance. He was standing from far away, but I can feel like his eyes are just a few centimeters away from me. I cannot see what he is, I cannot comprehend what his form is, and I cannot explain what his body looks like. However, his eyes were so big, so enormous, so gigantically massive that I could almost swear, I was seeing a real-life rendition of what an anime eyes would look like. However, it was unlike any eyes that I could remember from any animated movie, series, or web show in the minimal span of my lifetime. Wait? Why did I say that? Am I dead? Is this what hell looks like? Pretty comfy, if you ask me, but kind nothing as well. Then, is the one staring at me actually the devil himself? Is he Lucifer? Satan, perhaps, since he already rebranded himself after all that betrayal gig? I cannot explain, nor can I understand, but I guess, if this truly is hell, then I am not surprised that the feeble capacity of my mortal understanding could not comprehend what it truly is.


    Suddenly, as if being pointed by an imaginary spotlight coming from a nonexistent plane of existence, I slowly saw the outline of whatever body encloses the eyes in front of me. That was when I saw a stag from afar, gazing at me with his blackened eyes, alluring me towards whatever lies inside it as if he was the very envoy of darkness itself.


    I saw an animal. It has fur and all, but it was unlike any animal that I have ever seen. It''s a stag, as I have said earlier, but it''s black fur differed so much from any other mammal I have encountered throughout my minuscule waking moments while I was still alive. It took me a while to realize it, but the stag was actually walking like a human, standing with two feet while his other two limps are moving like how average human arms would. The stage then moved towards me¡ªvery human-like, mind you¡ªfurther showcasing the darkness surrounding him, from his eyes to his fur. I realized that the stag was wearing a maroon suit with a white jacket beneath it, paired by maroon pants and brown leather shoes embroidered by many archaic designs. The stag''s coat and his pants are decorated with a striped pattern while his necktie is adorned by an arabesque pattern that I would frequently see from old gothic interior walls. His antlers were massive, so massive that I could swear both of them were just the same height as I, though it''s not saying much since I''m a manlet. However, what fascinated me more in the never-ending amount of thin branches growing all over the stag''s antler, further making him look more like a furred man with an antler''s head, carrying a leafless tree on his head.


    However, as the stag came towards me, the branches decorating his horns all fall out in rapid succession the more he got near me, but there were so many of them that no matter how much of them fell, more of it would still remain. The ancient-like texture of his antlers showcased that the stag was not a youngling, looking for a companion for his teenage adventure. No. As the many parts of the stag''s antler fell, it turned into a rug below him, which artistically formed into a circle. When I lowered my head¡ªor at least, I think I do¡ª to see what was happening around the stag''s feet, I noticed that the humanoid animal has decided to retreat away from me slowly and return from whence it came. When I raised my head once again¡ªI''m not even sure if I really did lift my head, all I know is that my vision went up¡ªI saw that there''s more of his kind queuing up to enter a black door from a distance. I do not know what is inside of the door, but I can confidently guess that it contained more darkness. The humanoid stag gestured me to follow him, which I happily complied to do.


    As I moved towards him¡ªI am not sure if I walked towards him or if I floated¡ªI realized that the other humanoid stags who lined themselves up to enter this mystic door, standing from a far off distance, are also wearing different suits with varying designs. I found it all, oh, so adorable, but the way their hallowed eyes gazed at me made me realize that I may or may not be interacting with a bunch of demons; thus, I decided to shut my mouth and lines up with them. It seems that I''m the last person in line since no one else was coming to stand behind me. The first antler who greeted me in this void-like plane was standing right in front of me, but he was not really interacting with me at all, save from that one time he gestured me to line up with him.


    As we got closer and closer towards the door, I started to hear the many sounds of a girl crying in agony, coming from the other side of the door. It didn''t stop, no matter how many stags entered the room. The female who''s screaming inside of that room with varying degrees of agony based on how her voice sounded as she kept on screaming seemed to be in the receiving end of this world''s cruelty. Meanwhile, I am one of the many people who must incur such punishment towards her, befalling the wrath of many godless thoughts living within the emotional world in my brain. I didn''t feel anything at all, although I know that whatever may lay inside is actually an apotheosis of suffering based out of everything that humankind has envisioned what hell would look like. Still, I felt nothing, or more like, I have no idea how to feel anything. It felt as if I had lost what it means to feel anything at all. I cannot understand what it means to move my body nor what it means to feel fear and excitement. All I know for sure is that the very concept of "feeling" had already been removed from the many machinations moving through my head.


    When the stag finally took his first step into the room inside of the door standing before us, he turned around to gaze at me while using his head to point at whatever is inside and order me to follow him both at the same time. I entered the room and heard the screams of the woman very visibly, and it felt so raw that I could almost touch whatever I''m hearing. It felt so bizarre because I do not know how I''m doing it, but auditory functions are keeping my brain from recognizing what this woman sounds like. It is one that has always been inside of my head ever since I was young, and it was a voice that I would still often hear in my waking moments. The stag who''s wearing a maroon jacket did something to the woman, but I didn''t see it since his tall stature and gigantic build hindered me from peeking at whatever it is that he is performing to the woman.


    My vision then traveled in a 360-degree motion, which made me scan the whole room swiftly, making me understand that all of the stags who had come before me were all standing around us with stiff bodies as if they''re all nothing but a result of taxidermy. Then, my vision finally stopped scanning my surroundings, and it was once again directed at the stag who''s standing before me. He was now looking at me with both his hands extended towards me, and both his palms are open as if he''s asking me to hold them. I didn''t do whatever it is that he''s trying to make me do wordlessly as I walked past him to see whoever is the woman who shall endure the meteoric assault that I will perform.


    What I saw is a woman bounded on an X-shaped platform. I do not know what it is, but I can see her face, and I can understand that she has a body, but I can only see her face, nothing but her face. IT was filled with bruises, blood, and wounds. Although the woman''s face is covered with nothing but an endless array of different-colored injuries, I could still recognize her face.


    It was my mother''s face.


    "hUuuUuUuuURrrRRrrRrTt HeeEeEeeeEErRrrrRRr." I heard the stag whisper in my right ear as he had his two limps on both of my shoulders. My vision then fell onto my hands, or well, at least that''s where my hands should be, but that was not what I should be observing at the moment. Instead, what I saw in my hands was all the weapons ever created in human history. My vision then raised up, making me look at my mother''s face again as I felt my right hand readying itself to strike.


    "Hah!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I panted, I gasped, and I heaved. What was that? I could sweat all around me as my body shivers in fear.


    That was when I realized the outline of a person sitting a few feet away from me.


    "You''re finally awake."

 78 Stranger

    "You''re finally awake." The man who''s sitting a few feet away from me uttered ever so silently as he showed a gentle smile. "Oh, do forgive me. I am the man you''re supposed to be meeting today, Jimmy."


    At this point, I was still really fucking hell-bent after that thing I had just seen earlier. What the fuck was that? What a sick ass fucking dream. Just thinking about it again is enough to make me want to fucking piss myself. I started breathing deeply with my eyes closed as I clenched my knees with my hands shaking. I started wiping my sweat with my sleeves as I directed my gaze to the man gazing at me with gentle eyes.


    "Oh, please use the towel on the table there beside you," Jimmy said as he used his arms to point at my left side.


    I swiftly moved my gaze at where he was pointing at and took the towel instinctively, wiping my face and my neck roughly. Somehow, this made me relax a bit as my body''s hold on reality started to make me forget the dream I just had.


    Jimmy then crossed his feet as I saw his lay his head on his knuckles. "There''s more towels there if you think you''ve already wet that one enough."


    "Nah, it''s quite alright. Thanks." I mumbled as I folded the towel that I had just used and placed from where I took it. That was when I realized that there was a glass of water sitting there beside three other white towels. I extended my hand to grab it since I''m so god damn thirsty, but I realized that it might have made me look a bit rude. Thus, I looked at Jimmy first with a pair of pleading eyes, asking his wordlessly if I can drink the water on the glass. "Oh, yes, yes. I''ve prepared that for you. Do take the glass, please." Jimmy quietly said with the gentlest smile I have ever seen from a man.


    After gulping the water on the glass in only a few seconds, I wiped my lips with the towel that I had just used as I sat straight, looking at Jimmy straight in the eyes with a polite smile, mimicking his gentle disposition. "Thank you," I mumbled quietly as I leaned my body forward.


    "No. It''s only proper for me to be doing this," Jimmy said with a chuckle. He then straightened his body as well before leaning his body forward with his piercing gaze pointed at me. "How are you feeling?" Jimmy whispered. Although he''s sitting a few feet away from me, I could still hear him well enough because of how silent our surrounding was.


    "I''m quite alright. Thank you." I said while scratching the back of my neck.


    That was when I managed to look around my surroundings to analyze this curious room where we are in carefully. The walls are maroon with an intricate arabesque pattern that subtly forms a small spade. I also noticed that the floor of the entire room is covered with a thick, soft carpet, enough to make my bare feet feel as if it was being embraced by the sweet hugs of small cherubs. The carpet itself has an elegant embroidered design that looked like it was inspired by medieval Persian art, so I took the liberty of guessing that the fabric they used must have been wool, silk, or linen. It also piqued my interest to see thin poles in each corner of the room, which stretched towards the ceiling, forming four fan-shaped vaults above us that had this marvelous kaleidoscopic motif, creating a feeling like I am sitting inside of an old European church. I was sitting on a very comfortable and soft sofa bed, which made me sleepy again just by sitting on it for a few seconds.


    The man before me who called himself Jimmy was sitting on an equally comfy-looking chair made out of metal and foam. It''s designed similarly as ethereal as its surroundings, making me feel like I''m the only out of place character in this macabre, almost picturesque room. After all, Jimmy is wearing an exquisite maroon suit with a checkered pattern, which is complemented by his pants that had the same color and design. His jacket is open, revealing a black polo underneath his coat wherein the first three buttons undone and tucked in his pants. Oddly enough, something in my head is expecting him to be wearing a tie, but he wasn''t, which made me feel disappointed for some odd reason. Pairing his relaxed but smart look is a rectangular-shaped glasses that stood out from his ordinary-looking, smooth, pale skin and black hair.


    Looking at how sleek he looks like and the artistic vibe exuded by my surroundings was enough for me to be confused if I''m actually awake, and this was not just another layer of my dream.


    "Uhm... Excuse me, Jimmy." I mumbled awkwardly as I looked at the man''s sharp gaze.


    "Yes?" Jimmy swiftly replied without a hint of alarm.


    "Where are we?" I did the same, not minding anymore if my manners are deemed unsatisfactory to his taste.


    "We''re inside of a room somewhere at the back of the Clockwork shop that I told you about while we were chatting in Omegle last night, have you forgotten?" Jimmy spoke in a smooth tone as he smiles broadly, making his eyes squint slightly.


    "Wait for real?" I said as a stupid grin crept into my face.


    "Of course! You can see it for yourself in the door behind you." Jimmy said as he hung his head high up while he''s pointing his arms towards me, but after thinking about it carefully, I realized that he must have been aiming at somewhere on my back.


    I then looked behind me by turning the entirety of my body to where Jimmy is pointing behind me. Then, I saw the black tiles and white walls of the Clockwork shop along with the wristwatches in the glass counters. Finally, I saw a familiar sight, and this was enough to make me realize that this insanely designed room is actually inside of Plural Heights! THAT Plural Heights! I could hardly imagine that that same garbage-tier mall is hiding something as beautiful as this!


    "Oh, so you mean I have to go inside of a room somewhere deep in the shop and not just wait at the shop itself." I chuckled while still looking at the shop just outside. "I thought you were asking me to just wait somewhere in the store!"


    "Ah, of course, I wouldn''t possibly allow such an important guest to stay in a shabby clock store!" Jimmy jested, and based on how happy his tone is, I can confidently guess that he''s smiling. I was still looking at the shop, trying to see the contrast between this room and everything else outside, so I couldn''t really see what Jimmy looks like.


    Hah! It''s almost laughably disgusting how terrible the rest of the Plural Heights mall is compared to this grandiose mall! I mean, this room is spectacular; I couldn''t possibly put it into words. Heck, just thinking about the people on the first floor is enough to send shivers down my spine! Also, what the hell is up with those weird noises inside of that one room beside the clock shop? Oh, speaking of that clock shop! I just remembered that weird-ass girl who¡ª


    Who...


    Wait...


    Wait, wait, wait, wait... Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I feel like I''m forgetting something...


    Something really, really fucking important!


    I then started tapping my stomach to see if there''s some kind of wound, bleeding, injury, or anything like that in my body because I could almost swear that...


    That I...


    "What''s the matter?"


    I jumped up. I could hear Jimmy''s silent voice ringing a few inches behind me, which is almost enough to make me curse out loud.


    "I..." I said as I slowly turned my body, which made me see Jimmy kneeling in front of me like I''m some sort of monarch of some kind. "What happened to that girl in the¡ª"


    Before I could finish my statement, a loud, shrill cry echoed throughout our room, making both Jimmy and I look up in shock.


    "I''M SO SORRY, SISTER! I WON''T DO IT EVER AGAIN, PLEASE STOP! FORGIVE ME, SISTER, PLEASE! STOP!"

 80 Lady

    "You must be that man in everyone''s lips right now."


    I heard the serene voice of a woman coming from behind me. Instinctively, I pulled my feet away from Jimmy and turned my head towards the origin of the sound. There, I saw a woman who was wearing a familiar red dress along with a thick layer of makeup. No way... It''s that model that the Plural Heights mall chain has been using since the ''80s. Wait a minute... If that commercial came from the ''80s, then this woman is...


    "I see that you''ve met Jimmy. That''s good to hear. At least I don''t need to do any further introductions." The lady said as she walked towards the chair where Jimmy was sitting on earlier.


    I then finally got a better look at her now that I have finally seen her up close. I was so awe-struck and shocked about the fact that I''m seeing her in the flesh after encountering her in hundreds of damned advertisements online. The lady in the red dress has long black hair that she permitted to flow into her shoulders, dripping into her back. Her skin looked so smooth, but oddly enough, from a careful observation based on my position, I could loosely guess that Jimmy has a softer and smoother skin than this lady. Weird and definitely something I have to remember since this Jimmy guy is a real fucking foot freak. Great masseur, still a foot freak.


    Going back on topic, there''s really nothing much I can say about the lady in the red dress, she''s a woman. She has a pair of breasts, probably have some real vagina, and she has enough female characteristics for me to categorize her as such. She looks quite tall, too, and from what I can gather based on the limited time I have spent looking at her, she must be taller than me. Her bust is not that bit, but it''s not at all flat either. Her waist is slender with that beautiful curvature that could tempt even the gods! Her dress drips towards her ankles, so I can see a bit of her smooth legs.


    "What are you looking at, boy?" The lady in red said as she slowly crossed her feet, showing a bit more of her god-like charm through the most mundane movements. I could even barely hear Jimmy muttering to himself silently that goes something like, ''I couldn''t be compared no matter how much I copy her.''


    "I... nothing, um..."


    "Did Jimmy gave you enough accommodation while I wasn''t around?" The lady in red interrupted as she opened a folder that she had been holding for a while now. I didn''t even notice she had something in her hands until now because I was so preoccupied at shooting glances throughout her body. She is the very embodiment of all goddesses of love that I have ever read in my entire shit-for-brains life.


    "Uh-huh." I could only utter as much while I gawk at her magnificence. I started to realize that I''m sweating again, although the room is appropriately air-conditioned, unlike the hellscape outside in the actual mall.


    "Great. Everything is set then. I heard that some... hmm... inconvenient accident happened earlier when you first came here. It really bummed me out because I know that these people are my responsibilities. None of us expected that you would visit us earlier than we had planned, so my ladies had..."


    At this point, I already stopped listening to what she was talking about, all I know is that I feel like my stay here in this room has been heavenly so far. It would have been better if Jimmy is a young petite girl instead, but he''s such a chill guy and a really accommodating host, so I just brushed off the earlier creepy foot thing. I mean, I also enjoyed it, so it''s a win for both of us, I guess?


    God, she is so beautiful. I always envisioned a woman like her welcoming me into my apartment after another tiring day at work. She would be wearing nothing but an apron, and she would smile at me lovingly with all the passion a woman can bring to a man. I would kill to see this lady in the red dress listen to me complain about my stupid coworkers while I ate the meal that she had prepared for me. I just can''t imagine the many possibilities of¡ª


    "Sir?" I heard the Jimmy utter reluctantly as I felt her hands fondling my feet. "Are you okay?"


    "Wha-? Yeah, sorry! I was just dozing off."


    "I think he still has a bit of the side effects, Mother," Jimmy said before slowly standing up and walked towards the lady in red. He then started to whisper directly into her ear while the lady kept nodding as a frown appeared on her face. My goodness, even her angry expression is filled with so much feminine aura that I couldn''t stop my dick from being so fucking hard that it can pretty much destroy the concrete walls of this mall singlehandedly with one forceful thrust.


    "Give her 50 more lashings. I''ll do the rest later." The lady in red instructed, but her eyes are still rooted towards me.


    "Shall I inform them personally, Mother?" Jimmy replied with a newfound timidity that I haven''t seen from him earlier.


    "No need. Just text Sister Joan. You will stay here with me, James."


    Jimmy then smiled broadly as he slightly bowed towards her. "Yes, Mother."


    "Now, boy. I hope you didn''t mind us talking so brashly about business in front of you." The lady in red said with a smile that could launch seven wars at sea.


    "No, no. I-I understand..." I tried to reply, but I ended up biting my tongue midway.


    "Don''t be so nervous. It''s just me!" The lady in red said with a chuckle as she slowly waved her hand around her. "Oh, where are my manners! My name is Veronica, but you can call me V for short. However, my associates in Plural Heights, along with my direct subordinates and the members of my spiritual healing group, call me Mother, but since you are still not a part of our growing community, you may call me however you like!"


    "How generous of you, Mother," Jimmy responded after hearing the lady in red''s words. However, she just ignored him as she continued to look at me.


    "T-then, I guess, Veronica is fine." I meekly replied, followed by a soft chuckle.


    "Excellent!" Veronica then clapped twice, and right there and then, Jimmy kneeled down beside her without question or any further reservations. "James, do take your coat off and head towards our visitor right there. Make sure you give him enough massage to make him comfortable. We will be here for a while, after all."


    "Yes, Mother," Jimmy replied before crawling towards me, but his line of sight is directed only at my bare feet. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Don''t be scared. James is not a pervert. He''s just a very enthusiastic member of my group." She then chuckled as I allowed Jimmy to touch my feet once more. "This just further shows that my program affects people in a way that it awakened the greatness in them."


    I was about to reply at what she had just said when suddenly, I felt a moist, soft, sponge-like texture traveling throughout my soles, accompanying it is a continuous streak of warm air hitting my feet. When I looked back to check at what was happening down there, I realized that Jimmy has taken the liberty to lick and sniff my feet while still moving his fingers on my soles in a circular motion.


    "What the fuck!?" I shouted as I kicked Jimmy''s face twice, making him bite his tongue accidentally. "What the fuck do you think you''re doing, bitch! You''re disgusting!" I said as I instinctively stood up while looking at Jimmy trembling on the floor with blood dripping all over his mouth.


    "Sit down." I heard Veronica utter in a soft but commanding tone.


    "What? Didn''t you see what this¡ª"


    "I said, sit down, boy!"


    As if I was grabbed by three muscular men coming from underneath the sofa, I suddenly dropped onto the soft furniture ass first as I gazed weakly but still adoringly at the woman who''s sitting a few feet away from me.


    "James, continue what you were doing to our guest," Veronica commanded with a blank expression plastered on her face.


    "Yes... Mother..." Jimmy weakly whispered with a sob as he slowly started licking my feet once again with his bleeding tongue.


    "Now, whatever James is doing to you right now is necessary for your comfort, do you understand?" Veronica said as she clenched her fist and slowly laid her head onto her knuckles.


    "I-I... but..."


    "You enjoy James'' massage, don''t you?"


    "Yes, ma''am." I blurted instinctively as if the primal part of me has told me that this lady has the capacity to mutilate my limbs just through her words alone.


    "You enjoy James'' tongue all over your feet, then, correct?"


    "I... What, I..." I said as I slowly felt my surroundings collapsing like everything around me is just glass, and the more I tried to resist her voice, the more the glass around me cracks. No, I am speaking metaphorically, but I am not quite sure if I''m exaggerating or not. The arabesque walls, the gothic ceilings, and the Persian carpet all suddenly turned into a glass that is about to shatter once I rejected Veronica''s words.


    "Boy, I will not repeat myself," Veronica said with a stomp, further making my surroundings crack like my very reality is made out of nothing but thin glass. "you enjoy the way James worship your feet."


    "I... N... Why, I..." I started muttering again, trying to tell her that I have not felt pleasure from the way Jimmy paints his saliva all over my sole, but the more I rejected her, the more I could feel my brain frying up like it was being kindled by a small ember that turned into a wildfire.


    "You enjoy the way James worship your feet." Veronica started gritting her teeth as I could see my surroundings turn into mirrors that reflected us endlessly. There I saw myself sweating and crying as my spit drip out of my mouth while a darn figure hands behind me, standing there motionlessly while doing a T-pose.


    "I enjoy..." As I gazed at the way my body turned so pale that I could swear I am turning into a literal white paper sheet, I started nodding my head as I could visibly see the way Jimmy licks and sniffs my feet on the mirror.


    "That''s right. Allow yourself to accept the truth. You enjoy the way James worship your feet." Veronica''s tone started to get a bit gentler, which made the crack all around me to disappear as swiftly as they had appeared.


    "I enjoy the way Jimmy worship your feet," I uttered as I started chuckling into my lonesome while I saw a broad smile forming on my face. I didn''t know what was so funny, but all I could understand is that I love the feeling surging inside me. It felt like a sense of joy is invading the many nerves throughout my body until it finally conquered my brain.


    I started laughing maniacally while Jimmy began rubbing my feet on his face, sniffing and licking it at the same time before thoroughly sucking on one of my big toe like his life depended on it. As he did so, the joy running throughout my body starts to strengthen until I could physically feel it spewing out of my mouth. Nonetheless, Jimmy still kept on devouring my feet as he moaned, groaned, and growled while he''s doing it, creating a puddle of spit all over my feet, which he would then spread all over his face by putting my soles on his cheeks.


    The dark entity behind me then started embracing my body very warmly and tightly as it scooped the globs of joy spilling out of my mouth and shoving it all back inside me once more as it started to kiss and caress my chest oh so gently and warmly with all the affection that a man could ever ask for from a loving female partner.


    As the dark entity shoved a fistful of happy green slime inside of my mouth over and over again, I could feel those same blobs escaping through the hole in my lower body. This made me shake, and as I kept on laughing and laughing as happiness flooded my mouth.


    "Very good!" Veronica then sat down, and everything around us suddenly turned into what it truly was. The dark entity disappeared, the room turned into its standard form again, the globs are nowhere to be found, but Jimmy still kept licking my feet. "Now, onto the matter at hand."

 81 Program

    "Now, onto the matter at hand." The lady in red said with the most vehemently frightening voice I could have ever heard from a woman who''s donning a happy face.


    My mind is hazy, so hazy that I could hardly remember my name, so absolutely fucking messy that I could almost swear that an invisible, eternal flare is enveloping my surroundings. It''s disgusting; it feels wonderfully repulsive as if a human made


    Disgusting, but I want more.


    "I''m going to be explaining the program of my spiritual group as well as the way we perform things around here in Plural Heights Premium." I could hear Miss One Letter Woman''s voice, but I am not quite sure if she''s actually speaking. I mean, her mouth is not moving at all. It felt as if she''s... fucking my brains out. "I will be giving you all that you need to know about our help group to make yourself a better person."


    Eh?


    A peculiar object suddenly caught my eye out of nowhere. No, it''s not like it was something particularly appealing to me or anything like that, it''s just that... It wasn''t there earlier. I am quite sure about it, and I know that my eyesight is sharp enough for me not to miss something as striking as that. Behind the lady in red, there, hanging on the wall, looking down at us as if he''s the lord of this very room we''re sitting on, is the preserved head of a stag. It''s just chilling there, vibing like it was none of our business for him to stay there, along with its gigantic antlers and pitch dark eyes. Judging by how alive it felt as I gazed at it, I realized that the taxidermy work on that damn guy must have been absolutely exquisite, proving that it must have been a highly valuable and expensive piece.


    I mean, come on, I''m a middle-class virgin, living in the shittiest part of LA inside of a rundown apartment. I am pretty confident of my greed that I could definitely spot something as expensive-looking as that decapitated stag head there on the wall.


    Gah! That''s not the point, though, so I have to talk about the elephant in the room.


    And my god, what a beautiful elephant that is.


    The woman who called herself Veronica, V, and Mother is now staring at me without moving her lips one bit, but I could still hear her voice as if she was...


    Invading my mind.


    That''s right.


    What?


    I am inside of you.


    What the fuck?


    Don''t you want to talk to me? I came here just for you, you know? Jimmy even begged me for it. That''s why he''s such a good boy right now. You can still feel him, right?


    Yeah, I guess I can still feel his tongue going bonkers all over my feet. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Bonkers? Who the hell still uses words like that? Oh, mister, you are a fascinating guy. I, myself, like an old-fashioned guy like you. Someone who knows how to follow tradition very well.


    W-what? I don''t understand.


    You will soon understand because I know everything about you now that I have stepped inside of your mind.


    This is ridiculous. I''m looking at you right now, right at this very instance. You''re standing there, looking all smug and sexy in that metal chair while you look at me with those... those eyes of yours.


    I bet you just want to gouge them all out of their sockets so bad, don''t you?


    What? I... I guess I do... I guess...


    I know, and it''s okay, that''s just who you are. A man such as yourself wouldn''t wish to see a woman looking at you defiantly like she''s above you. You ARE a man, after all.


    Yes... I guess you''re right. You are looking at me like you''re some kind of hotshot, but you''re just like any of those bitches, I know. You just have the same pussy and the same raunchy mouth, and everything that comes out of your lips should only be nothing but... but... praises... hehehe... you know, for me... because I... I...


    Because you deserve it, dearest visitor.


    Yes, you''re right. I''m a man, so I deserve to be respected by a female like you. You should know your place! Haha... Ahahaha... Ha... HAHAHAHA! You''re right... You''re right! But, I... I''m not, I... How did you know all about this?


    It''s all because of my program, big boy. Just like what I did to you, I made you understand who you really are, and I unlocked a dormant side of you that you would never have claimed if you kept living the same life you''ve had inside of your 1-room apartment.


    I... You even know that much?


    I know everything about you, boy. Everything. I am here to protect you and to guide you into the right places, so you could walk into the right path. I will be here with you if you so desire to be a part of my growing community, so you could reform yourself into something better. All I ever wanted in my weekly program is to make you the better version of yourself. Nothing more.


    How... How would something like that be possible?


    Simple. Everything that I will happen in all of our weekly meetings will feel just like what I did to you. I will make you realize who you are and tend to your spirit until it manifests itself emotionally and create a stronger person with great physicality. All of us have souls, and yours are just as empty and shackled as everyone else who is not a part of us. All you need to do is become a member of my Plural Heights Premium, and I can show you so much more of yourself that you would never be able to understand on your own.


    I see. What a... What a wonderful world this is... What a... How generous you are! How utterly amazing of you to do this for us! Please... Please, Veronica, I need to know more!


    Easy, easy, my boy. It''s quite simple to be a member of ours. You just need to do two things first, and then, I will give you the privilege of hearing the exclusive Plural Heights Premium orientation myself. Countless people would beg and pay for the rest of their lives just to see me, let alone hear an explanation from me in private just like this. You are lucky, boy. That''s why you have to be very thankful for Jimmy right here, not only because of the foot massage but because he manages to persuade me in talking to you.


    How... How very generous of you, Veronica. I will never forget this favor that you have given me today. Never, ever! You made me the happiest man alive just by allowing me to be in the same room as you. Tell me what I should do to be a member of your group, please, Veronica, tell me, for I need to know!


    Like I said, two things. One is that you need to fill-up all the forms that I will give you later and sign all the ways that Jimmy will provide you with next week on your first visit.


    I see... That is... easy enough. How... How about the second one?


    Denounce your current god.


    Huh? W-what?


    You heard me well, boy, I know that my words managed to go through your mind. I can sense that it is now a part of your thoughts and your memories. You heard me well, and I will not repeat myself. Religion is nothing but a cowardly attempt of millions of con-men in the world to control your head and drown you in to your weakest state until you are nothing but a blind familiar of a nonexistent entity.


    I see...


    I do not care which one of them you affiliate yourself with: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, whatever! I will not allow their poison to seep through your head and further push you harder to be the weaker version of yourself. I am here to help you get away from their lies, their illusions, and their mental torture. I am here to make you better; thus, I work endlessly and spend sleepless nights to come up with ways that would aid you in unlocking your inner-strength.


    Of... course... I understand it all now...


    I do not wish to hear more of how much you love the deity you are worshipping. This program that I am offering you will help you more than the many prayers you have taken, wasting your time in nothing but fraudulent words of greedy old pests who''s only here to sip you dry. In Plural Heights Premium, you will realize that the only thing you need in your life is the words that I will instill upon you and not the garbage that you get from your secular authorities who is only there to take your money. I will cradle you to sleep if I must because that''s what mothers do. If I have to wipe your tears off and sing you to sleep, then I will do it because I want you to succeed and be a great person! All you have to do is become mine, a part of my family. Do you want to be my son, boy?


    Yes, Veronica. I will be yours! Yours alone! I am an atheist anyway, so you have no problem with me throwing all that nonsense aside from now on!


    Then call me Mother.


    Yes, Mother! Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth, Mother!


    Very good, my son, my adorable boy! Will you tell Mother when you are available to visit me again every week?


    You mean, my day-offs, Mother? Well, I''m available every weekend, but it might change anytime soon in the future. I''m sorry, Mother...


    That''s okay, baby boy, Mother is not mad. You only need to visit me two times a week, after all, and then you can play outside however you want before you revisit me.


    Is that so, Mother? You are always very, very kind, Mother. I wish I can hug you and bury my body into yours right now.


    Don''t worry, son, after this, you will have all of the opportunity to hug me once you''ve become a member. Well then... I guess I have to explain to you what exactly our family does every week in Plural Heights.

 82 Schedule

    Well then... I guess I have to explain to you what exactly our family does every week in Plural Heights.


    Your voice is, oh, so soothing, Mother. You make me feel as if I''m being swooned just by listening as it courses through my veins. Oh... What a beautiful¡ª


    Are you not interested in hearing about the program anymore, boy?


    I-I am, Mother, truly, I am! P-please, continue!


    Very well. I shall reiterate to you the many things we do while we spend our time here in¡ª


    God, what a beautiful body.


    Excuse me?


    I want to shoot all of my seeds inside of your fucking baby-makers so fucking bad until you stop begging me to dump three litters more of dick milk inside of your hole.


    My son, we are talking about our schedule here! Focus.


    Look at that filthy mouth of yours, smiling at me smugly like the ungrateful little bitch that you are. I bet you think you''re better than me just because you have all these good shit all around you, huh?


    Focus, boy, focus, listen only to my voice, and look up at the stag above my head.


    I would ruin your mouth so fucking hard till you choke and puke out of your smug mouth pussy. Look at you crossing your legs like that as if you''re not gonna spread them anyway to any man who would ask. You''re just like any female out there, but you''re drowned into thinking that having all of this "career" shit makes you better than a man.


    I see. I knew that this mind hack thing would stop working soon, but I never thought that it would fail that fast on you.


    Finally acknowledging your alpha now, huh, girl? Why are you looking at me like that, huh? What''s up with that pointed look? A female like you should already know that I''m far superior to you, physically and mentally. That''s why we managed to invent everything you''re using right now. What? Can''t speak anymore, huh? I don''t know what you did to me, but I don''t really appreciate you hacking through my brain like that¡ª


    "Snap out of it!" I felt her palms hitting my face hard like a ball just hit me on my cheeks.


    HAH!


    Wha... What happened? What happened to me? I remembered talking to Veronica, but I... I can''t remember much of it. It felt all so surreal. Was she really talking inside of my head?


    "I did a minor miscalculation earlier," Veronica said with a scornful but somehow melancholic look on her face. However, from my viewpoint now that I''m looking up at her while she stood before me, I could only conclude that her gaze contained nothing but disgust. "While I was doing my best to release the strength lying within your subconsciousness, I managed to tap on a... I guess we can call it a major flaw in your mental structure."


    "Huh? I''m sorry, miss V, but I really can''t remember much of what we were doing earlier, I think I must have dozed off." I said in rapid-fire succession as I saw Veronica explain whatever is happening as I saw a crease forming further and further between her eyebrows. "I didn''t sleep much last night, so I... well, I did manage to sleep a bit earlier when I got here, but well... Huh." I then started mumbling beneath my breath. "Why am I sleeping earlier again?"


    As I had those thoughts running through my head, Veronica heaved a shallow sigh as she sat beside me on the sofa with her legs tightly closed. "It must have been because I didn''t know you much, but if you attend more and more of our weekly meetings, then we will be able to support you better as time goes on." She then slightly moved her hips to pull her body away from me a bit, which hurt me somehow strangely. "If you''re still interested, then we can continue talking about the schedule that I explained earlier."


    "Oh, yeah... The schedule, shucks, yeah, I remember now. Sorry, we should really get on with it now; I don''t want to waste your time anymore."


    Veronica then slowly breathed a sigh of relief as she searched through the many files inside of her folder. As she did so, the room was once again covered in silence, well, save for one thing.


    "Slurp, slurp, shuuck, bleghbleghblegh!" The sound of Jimmy licking and massaging my feet rang throughout the ghastly silence surrounding us. God, he''s such a fucking homo freak; I can''t believe I was supposed to be meeting this weird fuck today, so thank god, Veronica came along with him. Look at him, happily licking my soles clean as if he owns it. Fucking ugly ass motherfucker really thinks he can mess with my feet just because he can. I want to be polite, so I''m letting him do whatever he damn please, but I''m really on the verge of beating the shit out of him the more I see him happily sucking my toes with a sex-craved aura seeping out of his dead eyes. Fucking disgusting! I want to go home already, if not for this female sitting beside me. Shit. I really wish that I hadn''t come. This is so fucking uncomfortable.


    Perhaps my disgust manifested itself in my facial expression because when Veronica looked at me, she instantly cleared her throat and called out Jimmy''s name before saying, "Why don''t you wait for me outside of the mall, for now, James? I''ll give you your next orders later."


    With his own spit still painting the area around his face, Jimmy released my feet from his gentle grasp before standing up with a relaxed grin on his face. Fucking bastard must have loved spending about an hour of his time down there since he looked like he just acquired nirvana or some shit.


    "Yes, Mother," Jimmy mumbled with a bow before leaving the room.


    "Now then, perhaps our conversation earlier didn''t work because you weren''t feeling relaxed by the fact that Jimmy is the one doing the massage. Maybe next time, I can arrange for someone better." Veronica uttered, still with a sharp look on her face devoid of joy, but at least, her voice sounded calmer now.


    "Oh, please, don''t bother anymore. I really am okay with just talking like this." I said as I subtly tried the wipe the spit on my feet on the carpet.


    "Well, then. I''ll start with our agenda on day 1." Veronica looked down on the papers she took from her envelope. "Oh, and you know that you can use the towels there on that table next to you, right? You''re ruining the carpet."


    I stopped trying to take the saliva off my feet momentarily. I then squirmed in embarrassment, feeling my face getting hotter as I took the towel that I had used earlier. I then started wiping my feet thoroughly while Veronica began to speak.


    "During the first day¡ªso in your case, that''s during every Saturday¡ªwe will be having our community enrichment episodes where we focus on integrating you inside of the Plural Heights family through various exercises," Veronica uttered with the same domineering tone she always had. Still, she refused to look at me unlike earlier. "we call this day our weekly spiritual healing session."


    I nodded my head as I wiped my feet, not really listening anymore since I just want to get out of here as fast as I can.


    "Our day starts at 10 am, where we will have several breathing exercises and stretching activities to relax our mind and body both at the same time," Veronica said while gently moving her hands and fingers around her bosom to simulate what it looks like the act of breathing. "Because we in Plural Heights believe that our spirit will be able to accept a sip of the world''s earthly energy and grant us the ability to store a higher sense of power inside of us to unlock our inner strength through meditation and to have a calm mind."


    I then saw a smile creep through Veronica''s face subtly, which she then instantly pulled out before taking the paper she was reading back into her folder.


    "The rest of the day, we will only be spending in having you understand yourselves and your peers inside of the greater community here in the Plural Heights family. There, we will cleanse the poison that the people who control the world feeds you every day through the media, art, and, of course, religion."


    After hearing this, I suddenly looked up at Veronica, intrigued a bit by what she had just said.


    "I''m sure you''re curious about what I mean when I said ''people who control the world.'' Well, worry not because we will be discussing so much more about this topic in full detail once you attended your first day here at Plural Heights. All you need to know is that we will be there to remove and debunk everything that your religion and the media you''re consuming had said to you in order to poison your head." She said as she leaned her body towards me, making me jump after taking a bit of whiff of her sweet perfume. God, she smells so good; I could almost swear that her scent was like that of a crushed cherry, which inevitably made me want to eat her whole.


    "I... I see..." I mumbled as I diverted my gaze away from her scrutinizing eyes.


    "Tell me, boy, are you born in a Christian family?" Veronica uttered, still gazing at me, although I am no longer looking at him with my entire body trembling in fear.


    "Yes. My mother''s family is a devout Christian household." I replied as honestly as I could. However, I realized that I must have been too honest and blurted something more than what she had asked. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "There goes the problem, see? You may call yourself an atheist, but I''m sure that there''s still a bit of a religious poison sleeping within your heart right now. We don''t want to wake that up and turn you into another one of their sheep in the church. Our job here in Plural Heights is to cleanse that completely until there''s nothing left to taint your soul." Veronica said before grabbing my shoulders tightly, making me squirm in heat. "Do you understand?"


    "Yes." I could only mumble as I slowly looked at her eyes only to take it away because of the sheer terror her gaze exudes.


    "Good." She then moved her body away from me as she slowly tapped on my legs thrice with a smile. I gritted my teeth with my mouth closed tightly when I felt her hands on me. "Next is our order of business during the second day, so that''s Sunday for you."


    Veronica continued to explain the schedule to me without a hint of stopping as if she had already concluded that I would most definitely attend these two-day sessions that she''s talking about. Sure, I may be interested, but the way her tone releases a sense of certainty made me feel like she''s not only giving me two choices here: "Yes, I will attend." or "No, I will not fail to attend your session."


    "I have to admit that you might feel a bit odd about what we usually do during the second day, which is definitely normal for newcomers. However, I want to reassure you that we will not do anything that you will hate during these procedures. All of the things that you will see, feel, hear, smell, and taste will all be consensual and safe for your body and your partner''s."


    "Wait, wait, wait," I said with a dumbfounded chuckle. "These all sound so weird to me. What exactly are we talking about here."


    "Don''t worry about it. We wouldn''t be doing anything weird unless you''re into it." Veronica continued without a change in her expression.


    "I still don''t understand. Are we still talking about your group?" I said almost stuttering after hearing this sudden development.


    "I am serious, boy. We value your time here with us, and we won''t do anything that would do you hard or displeasure. We also checked thoroughly every week before each session if one of them have some kind of disease." Veronica said while carefully taking the folder on the table beside her again. She then showed me numerous documents, which showed detailed information of a few people along with their pictures. Jimmy was one of them.


    "I don''t get it, really." I said as I looked at all of the documents, gazing at the part that says ''Disease,'' and the document said that they were all negative. I then looked up at Veronica again as I mumbled. "Can you please elaborate?"


    "I''m talking about sex, boy," Veronica mumbled as she placed her folder on a table beside her. She then placed her hands on her lap, moved her body to face my direction, and smiled gently like that of a mother seeing her grown son. "You will be having sex with one of my top affiliates."

 83 Indecision

    What time is it anyway? When I took out my phone, I realized that it was already 5:46 pm. Damn, so that''s why it''s so dark already. I finally pushed the door of the mall open, seeing none of the people who had chased me earlier, nor the three cargo trucks that are parked in front of the mall earlier.


    "What the fuck was that...?"


    I started thinking about what Veronica had told me earlier inside of that dreary room, hidden within the deep confines of Plural Heights. It all sounded all too surreal like a sick joke, punching my gut till I break, although it claimed that once the bruises on my stomach healed, I would finally have a good time.


    Veronica''s voice still rang all over my brain like a siren going off to signal an on-coming attack. She was straightforward and precise when she told me that her spiritual refuge offers a sanctuary for lost people like me who have been beaten down by the prominent people who''re running my life in the shadows. She told me that, by releasing all of my pent up frustrations through a cathartic method, I would finally be able to find solidarity in my own individual fortitude. She also kept spouting vague terms, and if I''m being honest, even up until now, I still do not know what a spiritual strengthening really means. Is that one of those shounen manga power-up kind of training?


    Well... There''s also THAT.


    Veronica very enthusiastically informed that she had ten people who directly follows her instruction in the entirety of the Plural Heights Premium group pantheon. She calls these people the "Plural Heights icons" who served as some kind of big siblings figure in the group, and the members should strive to become like them because, apparently, all of these ten people have already attained a higher form of consciousness beyond any normal human beings could ever muster on their own. This level of spiritual awakening is only possible because of the Plural Heights Spiritual Strengthening program. She told me that I could be just like them if I strived to become better.


    As a cherry on top, Veronica told me that I am obliged to fuck any of the people in her ten "icons" every Sunday to further unlock my untapped potential. Veronica believed that sex is the only thing that could create a "spiritually strong person" and that I would be able to learn more about this in her book, which she would happily give to all of her members.


    The bottom line is that they''re great at their job, they give free sex every week, and I can choose among ten beautiful people each week, all of them are my choice. Who would ever want to refuse something? No man would say no to that kind of offer. Although Veronica told me that she will not personally be a part of the sex, she will still be there with us in the room to monitor our spiritual progress, and damn, I am fucking down at doing whatever if it means I get to see that beautiful woman again... There''s just something about her that... Jesus, I''m going insane because of this thing.


    I am not entirely against, and anyone who knows me will definitely know that I am not against any sex of some sort, but...


    "Hey, man, need a lift?" I heard the familiar voice of a man behind me.


    I rolled my eyes without looking back at who it was as I mumbled a reply, "No, Jimmy, thanks."


    "Come on, man! It''s a free ride, I promise no weird shit!" Jimmy joyfully told me, but I''m still adamant in not giving him the attention he wants.


    Thus, I kept walking away from the mall without uttering a word. I took my phone from out of my pocket and started browsing some shit. I didn''t bring my headphones today, and now I know that that is my first major mistake today.


    "I won''t charge you or anything, literally or figuratively," Jimmy uttered with a chuckle. "What say you? I even have snacks here if you want."


    That was when I finally couldn''t take it anymore and turned my head before saying, "I told you, no, Jimmy, I¡ª" However, before I could finish what I was about to say, I saw the car that he was driving.


    It''s a red Ferrari SF90 Stradale. I know exactly what that is, what it looks like, and whatever shit it can do on the road by heart because this has always been my dream car. Ever since this big boy first came out, the first thing I thought to myself is that I need to save the fuck out of my salary to get that shit, and I don''t care if I starve for years because of it! All I care about is that I want it then, I want it now, and I will continue wanting it. I''ve always wanted to ride it someday, and now here''s foot freak Jimmy just being a creep as usual while driving my dream car.


    I am visibly hurt, but I can''t even express it! I wanted to go in, I wanted to know what it feels like to drive that fucking thing, and I want to know everything about it from how my ass would sink on the car seat, how the engine would whir when it moves, and how comfortable the steering wheel would feel in my hands. My god, I will be willing to offer my life if it means I can get to feel it''s insides even for just a minute.


    However, if that means I would have to ride it along with this fucking toe sucker, then I''d rather just walk from to my house.


    "You''re not actually thinking about walking, right? Come on, it will be fun, and I promise that I will really not do any weird shit." He said playfully with his usual gentle tone. "Promise, cross my heart. Here''s let''s do the pinky promise thing." Jimmy uttered while extending his pinky fingers towards me.


    "No, thanks." I sighed as I continued walking again.


    I then heard Jimmy stop the car, which I thought was an indication that he''s finally giving up, but when I heard him leaving the car soon after, I felt a jolt in my body, making me look back at him in fear. When I turned around, I saw that Jimmy was donning a troubled expression on his face as he rummaged through the pocket within his coat. Jimmy then took out a thick envelope, which he then promptly handed to me as he bowed as deeply as he could.


    "This envelope has 100,000 dollars in it," Jimmy uttered, his hands still extended towards my direction with the money envelope on his hands while he continued to bow before me. "Please, sir, allow me to drive you home, and in exchange, you can have all of the money inside."


    "What? Are you crazy? Dude, just leave me alone!" I cried as I took a step back.


    "I''m afraid I can''t do that, sir," Jimmy said with such great sadness that I could swear he sounded as if he''s sobbing, but I can''t be sure since he''s bowing before ma and all that. "This is a personal instruction from Mother that I absolutely cannot refuse no matter what! Please take my money if that''s what it would take for you to accept my offer, sir."


    Fuck. Now I''m starting to feel bad. I sighed, thinking about the worst that could happen. At best, I''ll get 100 grand, and at worst, Jimmy will knock me up to lick my feet for hours again. It ain''t so bad, plus I get to be inside of my dream car. I shook my head as I slapped his hands while walking past him.


    "Fine, I''ll come. I don''t need your money, take it away." I said as I pulled the car door open, which made Jimmy so happy that I could almost see him literally beaming with joy. "But, no weird shit, Jimmy, or I swear, I will fuck you up. I''m not afraid to kill a man."


    "Of course, sir." He said as he hurriedly wiped his hands with the sleeves of his jacket. He then hurriedly walked towards the front seat while putting the money back to the pocket in his coat. "No weird foot shit or anything like that ever, ever, ever. I promise!"


    I merely grunted a sigh as I sat beside Jimmy. Can''t help it since this car can only accommodate two people, so I tried to move away from his as far as I can. We then drove away, which was relatively peaceful, not gonna lie. Jimmy didn''t say anything, and he didn''t do anything. He just drove the car, kept his head on the road and only smiled. That''s all he did. He didn''t even speed up the vehicle to its maximum capacity; he just drove at a relatively safe speed and did so smoothly as if he had been doing this driving thing for the entirety of his life.


    "Nice ride you got here, huh?" I mumbled under my breath, but since we''re the only ones here, Jimmy managed to hear me quite clearly.


    "Thank you, sir." He said with his signature gentle tone. "This is the wonders that we can all have once we remove the poison in our hearts."


    "Bet," I said indolently before yawning. "So, what? Veronica forced you to drive me home or something."


    "Force..." Jimmy echoed with a timid chuckle. "No one forced me to do anything, but Mother did gently asked me to escort you home. Still, I am doing this on my own volition because I am an independent man devoid of societal toxic."


    I exhaled a swift breathe to mock what he had just said. "Sounds more like she''s abusing you, to be honest. Look at what she had done to you earlier."


    Then the car stopped.


    It literally just stopped in the middle road without a hint of warning from Jimmy. With a frown, I looked at him and realized that the man was gripping the steering wheel tightly with a horrified look on his face as he had his head hanging low. His mouth is agape as if he''s sucking an invincible dildo in the air. He then started shaking as he struggled to say whatever he''s about to say.


    "Th-the Mother is not abusing me, sir. She''s not... She''s not ab-abusing.. abusing me, sir. I am doing this on my own volition, through my own thoughts as an independent man, for I have unlocked the full potential of my spirit thanks to the continued and never-ending guidance of the Mother, sir." He said as his body shakes as if he''s a mobile device vibrating because of a call. He then started to mumble underneath his breath with a grungy tone, trying his very hardest to make his words escape through his throat. "At this very moment, the Mother is observing us, observing me along with my coworkers. She''s not using her abilities in my head; I am doing this on my own because I am a man capable of thinking! She''s not using her abilities to me, all of this is my choice because... because..."


    "Dude, I get it, I get it! Quit making a scene; we''re in the middle of the road." I cried as I heard many people sounding their horns at us, endlessly enveloping everything behind us with uncontrollable beeps. "Calm down, Jesus Christ, man. Chill, breathe. Do you want me to drive for you?"


    Jimmy then gasped as he started driving again with his eyes wide open, unwilling to blink even for once. "No, sir, I''m afraid that is my duty."


    I clicked my tongue. "Take it easy, man. I can always do the driving for you if you''re not feeling well."


    I sighed as we continued to drive along the road with the same silence that I have enjoyed earlier. I really shouldn''t have broken the ice with this guy; he''s so much better when he''s not opening that damn mouth of his.


    Before long, we finally managed to arrive in the parking lot of my apartment building, which is odd because he could have just dropped me off somewhere around the block, but I don''t even want to ask him unless he starts going bonkers again. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Alright, we''re here, sir," Jimmy said as he unfastened his seatbelt before opening the car door. Huh? What''s he doing?


    I opened the door on my side too, stepped out of the vehicle, and gazed at the gentle smile on Jimmy''s face with a frown. "Uhh... Okay, dude. This is where we''re supposed to part ways now."


    Jimmy chuckled as he leaned forward towards the insides of his car, took something inside, and threw something on the car seat before closing the car entirely. That would have been the end of it if Jimmy is already inside of the car, readying himself to get the fuck out of this building.


    He then skillfully threw something towards me, which I awkwardly caught with both my hands. By then, Jimmy had already started walking away from me, uttering some kind of farewell message, but I was too preoccupied to look at what I have in my hands.


    It''s two keys with the Ferrari logo in it. I shouted towards Jimmy as he swiftly walked away from me, "What the fuck is the meaning of this, Jimmy?"


    He didn''t turn around as he replied while he faced his back towards me, "The car us yours, sir."


    "Wh-what, I... No, I can''t take this, this is yours! Hey, Jimmy, wait for me, you sick son of a bitch!"


    I was about to run towards him when my phone suddenly rang loud throughout the parking lot. Since it was an indoor space, it echoed throughout my surroundings. However, I was now more preoccupied with the ringtone that I had just heard. I only used this loud ringtone when a certain someone is calling me, shit.


    "Hello, boss, good afternoon!" I said with the most joyful, kiss-ass tone I could ever mutter. I then looked at Jimmy and noticed that he was looking back at me slightly with an uncharacteristically grim expression. When he noticed that I was looking, he donned his usual smile again, waved towards me, and walked away just like that. I extended my arms towards him and took a step forward, trying to run towards him, but my attention was taken by the voice of my boss on the other side of the call. I then smiled, agreed, and tried to make him laugh throughout the phone call until he finally hung up after a few minutes. What he told me isn''t relevant, but what is important now is this thing that Jimmy just casually gave me.


    I gazed at the car keys in my hands as I looked back at the red Ferrari behind me. I really didn''t want to take this away from Jimmy of all people, but I know deep inside of me that I am happy my boss called me at the right time because it gave me a good reason to stop myself from refusing Jimmy''s offer.


    I was fucking excited! I couldn''t even contain my joy while I was looking at that shining car in front of me. I don''t want to drive this damn thing to work, but just looking at it here is enough to make me tear up with joy. I decided to open the door with the keys that Jimmy had given me, and I was more than thrilled and surprised to see that Jimmy wasn''t joking. I managed to open the door, which means I can really have this car for myself!


    I was about to go inside the car when I saw a familiar, brown, thick envelope on the car seat.


    "No fucking way..."


    I hurriedly took it and checked what''s in it.


    "Holy shit..."


    It''s the 100 grand that Jimmy just told me earlier.


    "Holy fucking shit..." I mumbled to myself, throwing the money back from where I had taken it, making the money inside slip out and scattering all over the place. I then pressed both my hands on my temples as a smile crept onto my face. "I can''t fucking believe this; I must be dreaming again!"


    I wasn''t dreaming.


    This is real.


    I needed a long time to process that a complete stranger whom I only know through a nickname that he had given me just granted me my dream car and a lump sum amount of cash in just a day. Well, there''s also that foot massage thing, but fuck that. FUCK THAT! This is way too different!


    "FUCK!" I screamed as loud as I can, making me hear my words echo throughout the parking lot.


    Thus, as I now laid on my bed, a satisfied grin crept onto my face. I know that I shouldn''t have accepted everything that Jimmy had given me today, and I know that I would definitely refuse if given a chance. Still, there''s no fucking way I will chase him back in Iowa or whatever just so I could return whatever he had given me, nuh-uh! I am not that naive.


    Hah...


    Wait, how did he know where I lived?


    I''m pretty sure I didn''t give him any directions. I also never told any of them, not even Veronica, where I lived. I am also fairly positive that Jimmy wasn''t using some kind of GPS app or something, but even with that, he still needs to know the name of my apartment complex.


    Ah, fuck it! The guy gave me money and a car. I''m sure it doesn''t matter!


    I still accepted it in the end.

 84 Quiet!

    I''m back again in the mall, back again in Plural Heights. Same scenery. Different style. I feel like I''ve seen this place before, but the surrounding feels so unfamiliar somehow like it had been the first time I had set foot in it.


    I was inside of the Clockwork store once again, and it felt like nothing was amiss until I''ve realized that, oh yeah, this angry woman is right in front of me. The deep wrinkles creasing between her thick eyebrows made her broad forehead even larger somehow. Her mouth is separated very unnaturally so like she was about to bite two Big Macs at the same time; it''s really weird, not gonna lie. The way her mouth is open so exaggeratedly made her cheeks stretch so damn hard that I could almost see it break off like a sheet of paper. Her eyes are burning with so much passion, and I''m sure that it''s not at all sexual unless she''s actually into hate fucks. Can''t blame her, though.


    The way her body poses made it evident that he''s running towards with as she gripped a really huge knife--like the ones that butchers use--with both her hands, readying herself to lunge towards me with one thing in mind: pierce only once but make it lethal enough to kill me nonetheless. If it wasn''t shaped like the knife I used at home, I would have mistaken her weapon as a cleaver.


    I also realized that I''m falling. Well, I''m currently not moving for some reason, but based on the position of my body, I can see that I''m about to fall into the floor ass first.


    Ah, I see. Time has stopped right at the very moment before this lady could run towards me and inevitably murder me. Somehow, it feels like I have seen same exact scenario before somewhere in the past. I must have been confusing a movie scene and made it subconsciously merge with my experience back in Plural Heights. Nevertheless, this woman is really, really angry, like, I''m sure I''ve already emphasized her anger enough when I explained the way her expression looks like, but somehow, I could see and feel a thick aura seeping out of her body, making me convinced even more that she''s definitely gonna murder me without second thoughts, 0 hesitations. Maybe it''s not her first time.


    All I know for sure is that the only thing I can move is my eyes. My lips are open a bit, my arms are spread out, and my right foot is hanging in the air. No other indication shows that I''m doing anything other than falling onto the floor, and since I don''t have my guard up, the lady could definitely thrust my body with the greatest of ease.


    While our bodies are stopped in motion like two figurines facing each other, I could faintly hear the muffled sound of the final 2 minutes of ''Hey, Jude'' playing somewhere in the background.


    Snap!


    Then time moved once again.


    I managed to prevent myself from tripping and stand up, leading to reclaim my balance. However, the woman must have seen through what had happened because she swiftly knelt down and meticulously moved her body upward, stabbing me with her knife and making sure that the entire length of the blade went through my guts.


    I felt nothing, but I could somehow feel my body heating up as I felt the blood flow out of my stomach. Perhaps it was because I have never been stabbed, so I could not really simulate what it would otherwise feel.


    The woman then pulled the knife out of my stomach, making me fall into the ground. I tried to get up as I looked at her, wanting to plead something, but no words came out of my mouth. As I looked at her raising her arm to inflict her second and final strike, I finally couldn''t take it anymore and just allowed myself to fall on the floor. The first thing that greeted me when I laid my head on the side was the decaying corpse of a young stag while its antlers fall slowly into the ground. I heaved a deep sigh as I gazed at the flies scurrying around the animal''s carcass.


    The woman cried almost desperately as if I was the one stabbing her. I could sense that she was about to let her blade sink into my skull somehow, making me close my eyes to accept the inevitability of my doom. However, I heard someone grabbing the woman''s clothes, making her stop screaming. I then opened my eyes and moved my head towards the direction of the female employee who had just attacked me weakly.


    Behind her was a man, gripping her arms tightly while the lady began to shake like a little kid who was caught by her teacher doing something naughty red-handed. The man was wearing a striped maroon coat, a white jacket underneath, and a pair of brown shoes. I looked up to see who it was, but instead of a human''s face, what greeted my slowly fading vision instead was the head of a stag.


    The man who has a stag''s head whispered to the trembling lady with an apparent annoyance seeping through his voice, "What have you done to my client!?" I noticed then that the stag-headed man''s voice was so deep that it almost sounded like it was edited through some kind of editing software.


    The woman then frantically tried to explain herself, but before she could do so, the voice of a woman behind me had stopped her from opening her mouth. The sight of this person who''s approaching her made her shake even more.


    "What happened here?" A familiar voice of the lady uttered in a commanding tone.


    "Mother," The stag-headed man replied timidly while still grabbing the lady employee''s hands tight. "she attacked the person I wanted you to meet today."


    The lady employee then started falling into the ground, but since the stag-headed man had her arms in his hands, she didn''t drop onto the floor altogether.


    "Where is her direct supervisor?" The familiar-sounding woman said as I heard her walk towards me. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "I already contacted her when I got into the store, Mother. She told me that she was taking a break in front of the groto, so she wasn''t able to explain the situation." The stag-headed man said with a sigh. "I''m sorry, Mother. This lady had already stabbed the client before when I got here."


    The woman behind me sighed as her footsteps stopped right above my head. "Didn''t you already informed them that we will be having guests today?"


    "I did, Mother, but our friend came here earlier than we had anticipated, so they probably didn''t know how to handle it properly." The stag-headed man replied with his unusually deep voice.


    "Tell her supervisor to give that lady a thousand hard lashing." I then noticed that the lady behind me raised my shirt, probably to look at my wound. "Shit. It''s really deep. He will definitely not survive this. Jimmy, go be a doll and contact the Gatekeeper and tell him to transport Lucas here ASAP. I need one of his products to fix this wound."


    "Wouldn''t that be inappropriate for the Ringmaster, Mother?"


    "Just make the damn call. I''ll deal with the troublesome stuff later." The woman then stopped checking my wound as she breathed a long sigh. "We might have to compensate this man too somehow and probably do something about his memories. That''s the least we can do to repay him for what happened here. Fuck, this is a mess. I''ll handle all of the needed procedures, so prepare the inner room, Jimmy."


    "Yes, Mother."


    The lady then moved beside me and looked at me with a gentle smile as she caressed my face. "Hey, hey. How are you feeling?"


    I wanted to reply that I wasn''t really feeling anything, but I only managed to utter a bunch of random and awkward grunts.


    "That''s okay." The familiar-looking woman said with a chuckle as I saw her wrinkled face, short hair, and dreary eyes. "Why don''t you wake up, hmm? Wake up. Wake up, I said, wake up. You''re gonna be late! Wake up! Wake up!"


    "WAKE UP, YOU SHIT HEAD! DON''T YOU HAVE WORK TODAY?"


    I gasped and opened my mouth at the same time when I heard that cry ring throughout my surroundings. Fuck, so it''s a dream, huh? I''m not surprised, but somehow, I''m still disappointed.


    I then looked at the woman who was shouting at me to wake up. What came into my sight is the woman that I saw at the end of my dream. "What are you doing here, mom?"


    "Am I not allowed to check on my son anymore?" My mom said as she plugged the vacuum into an extension. "Well, get up now! Why are you still lying down? It''s 10am already!"

 85 Mother

    "Every time I come to yer room, it''s always a mess, I tell ya, a mess!" My mom nagged as she takes random pieces of unwashed clothing all over my room. "What have I ever done to ya to make ya this lazy about cleaning yer surroundings!? Look, there''s a piece of chip on yer mattress! Ye''re not even covering it with a bed sheet for crying out loud! When are ye even buying a proper bed anyway? Do ye want to grow a fungi farm underneath this damn thing? Oh! The damn thing smells like damp shit! I''ll buy ye a new mattress next week, so go make yerself a favor and buy a bed frame, will ya!? Sheesh! I''m telling ya, it''s not that expensive."


    I just came out of the bathroom after hurriedly showering, or at least that''s what I would like to call it, but in reality, I just smudged a bit of soap all over my exposed skin and clumsily spread a bit of shampoo all over my head before swiftly washing it all off with cold water. I''m not quite sure if the usage of ''all'' is really accurate here since I literally can still feel a bit of soap around my armpits.


    "I get, I get it," I said while before clicking my tongue as I quickly dried my body with a moist towel. I still feel a bit of a wet spot around the corners of my body, but I couldn''t be bothered to wipe them all of now. "I''ll get one tomorrow." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "That''s exactly what ya told last week, too, for crying out loud! Stop lying to yer mother for once and go help yerself!" My mother continued to nag before turning her head towards my direction. She then dropped all of the used laundries that she''s holding inside of a plastic basket before briskly walking towards me. She then smacked the back of my head with her palm before pulling my towel away from my hands. "Look at this shit ye''re using to wipe yer body with! Look, it looks like a yellow shit! When I bought this for ya last week, it had a lovely mustard color, and now look at it, huh? Look at it! It looks like a diarrhea towel! How dense are ya for still using this damn shit to wipe your body! Ya haven''t even wiped yer body properly yet! Yer back is still all too wet! Ay-ay-ay! What did I tell ya about keeping yer back dry? This is why ya always cough, cough, cough, cough every now and then!" My mother then swiftly wiped my back with the same towel that she shitted on just now. Although her words are harsh while quickly rubbing my back, she still did so with a unique sense of gentleness.


    I then took the towel from her forcefully without looking at her in the eye as I clicked my tongue once again, making my mother take a step back in shock. "I get it," I mumbled underneath my breath as I wiped my body further.


    My mother sighed as she took other clothes all over the floor. "Do ya still have some clothes to wear?" She said while checking the clothes stacked inside of her plastic basket, probably finding clothes that are relatively cleaner than the rest.


    "I still have a few, mom," I whispered slowly as a frown appeared on my forehead while shaking my head. Why can''t this woman just shut up for once? She was already talking nonstop by the time she stepped into my room.


    "Good. I''ll buy you more clothes you can wear in your work later. Do you also need some more casual clothes?" My mother said with a sigh as she gradually lowered her voice.


    I don''t go out much anyway, so why would I need more shit hanging around the damn place? I wanted to say that out loud, but I''m sure it would just stir her up more. Instead, I simply mumbled "Nah."


    "Okay. I''ll take these clothes to the laundry downstairs. You should do it sometimes too." She said as she opened the door gently while carrying the plastic basket containing the laundry with both her hands.


    "Hey, mom," I mumbled as I buttoned my white long-sleeve polo.


    My mother jumped after hearing this as she looked at me with an expression filled with awe. "Yes?" She mumbled timidly with eyes wide open.


    "Are you still with that guy?"


    "Oh..." She said like a sigh as she looked down on the floor before hesitating to continue her words. "Didn''t really work out again."


    "So, you broke up with him?" I said as a subtle smile crept upon my face while I struggle to wear my slacks.


    "Well, what else would ''not working out'' even mean but that!?" My mother replied with her usual loud voice, making me squirm as I tried to contain my temper. "We''re done, that''s it. We won''t see each other again."


    "Did he hit you too?" I said without hesitation as a grim expression enveloped my face.


    My mother obviously didn''t expect this question as a look of shock went all over her face. "Of course, he didn''t. He''s a decent man, one of the rarest kind out there. He wouldn''t do something like that. Ya know that I''d never allow a punk to mess me up like that ever again!"


    "I see." I looked at her but quickly moved my gaze away from her after a few seconds. She''s wearing a short-sleeve shirt, and there are no marks around her body or anything. Usually, she would try hiding her wounds with a jacket and a pair of jogging pants, but I''d always know that she''s hiding those bruises from me just by looking at her face. She''s probably telling the truth.


    "Now, quit dawdling and make yerself presentable already!" She then looked at her wristwatch. "Ya can still make it on time if ya leave in five minutes. I''ll text ya later when I get home after going to church."


    "Church? You didn''t go yesterday?" I mumbled as I wore a black coat on top of my white polo.


    "Some stuff had to be taken care of, so I missed it, dios mio. The Lord will probably hate me for this, so I''ll go attend a mass tonight and speak with Father Martin in the confessionals." She then took a step outside, but she quickly turned her head as if she had forgotten something. "Would you like to come with me later?"


    "No."


    I heard her grunt after hearing my reply. She then left my apartment and left my door open. I almost screamed in anger after seeing this and promptly closed the door shut before doing more things such as fixing my hair and readying my business smile in front of the mirror.


    Now that I''m looking at myself, it really does feel clear that I looked a whole lot like my mother. It felt like she didn''t even allow my father to give a few of his looks on my face. However, thinking about the fact that I had a near-identical face as that woman really irked me the wrong way. It is still a fact that I would never be able to escape in my entire life. Our hazel eyes, our thick eyebrows, our brown skin, our brown lips, our black, bushy hair, and our big nose all looked the same that if it weren''t for my mother''s wrinkles, one would have probably thought that we are twins.


    I really hated that. Why do I have to be the photocopied version of a weak person like her? Even until now, it''s hard for me to take any compliments about my face because it would only make me think that they''re complimenting my mother, and that disgusts me to no end. Well, it''s not like people really compliments me these days anyway, so that''s a good thing, and I hope it would stay that way forever.


    I then went outside, locked the door, and burst towards the elevator. Unfortunately, the damn thing is still on the first floor, and my floor is on the fifth. Why do these kinds of things always happen when I''m already running late? After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I finally boarded the empty elevator booth and hurriedly ran towards the entrance as soon as it hit the first floor. I then hailed as a cab, and luckily this time, there isn''t any major traffic on the road, which is highly improbable here in LA, especially on a Monday morning.


    I barely made it in time to the office, so that saved me the usual nagging from my boomer ass boss. However, he still grimaced at me right after seeing my sweaty face without uttering a word as if he was disappointed that he couldn''t get the chance to release his pent up anger towards me today. Tough luck to him and his sorry ass because I know he still has a grudge after that time I confronted him last week for how little he does at work. I''m sure he would like to see me dead now after knowing that I escalated it to HR. Fuck you, old man, and fuck everyone out here too for putting up with him for a chance to get promoted.


    I then went straight to my messy table after greeting my two coworkers, who sat beside me in the workforce. They then greeted me back with a nod since they were both talking to someone on the phone, probably trying their best to sell the shit out company produces to some lousy business in the Bronx. I then looked at my emails by the time I sat on my hard and dusty office chair. It''s the usual sales report, complaints, suggestions, spams, and some scams too, you know the drill.


    However, what struck me the most is that one unique email that I had just received ten minutes prior. I looked around me to check if someone is looking at my monitor before clicking on it to read what it has to say.


    It came from an email address called veronica@pluralheights.com. The subject is "A Detailed Look at This Week''s Membership Seminar¡ªSaturday and Sunday."


    I then read what it had to say and scoffed at it by the time I had seen the first few sentences alone.


    "Did you know that your family is the first and the most significant hindrance you have in your life? This week''s agenda is focused on overcoming your connection with your family and destroying the bonds you have created with them to remove their shackles on your heart thoroughly. Learn more this week, along with a very special guest speaker, Lucas..."


    I didn''t read further after that. I didn''t know why I was so mad at what Veronica had just sent me. My anger wasn''t even rooted in the fact that she contacted me out of nowhere, although she didn''t ask for my email. After all, this is my business email, so it''s posted out there in public. However, something about this family thing really irked me in the wrong way. I didn''t know why I''d be this mad, especially since I''m not at all against what they had just said. All I know is that I got so angry after seeing it; thus, I closed it before I''d wreck another fit of havoc all over this cramped office.


    I then felt my phone vibrate on my phone, which brought my senses back to reality as if it was telling me that I should get to work mode again. I looked at my phone, fully expecting it to be a message from a client, but I sighed instead after seeing that it was just a text from my mom.


    "dont forget the bed frame i told you"


    I was annoyed, but somehow, I couldn''t help but chuckle. I then decided to call her, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that she took my call only after one ring.


    "What is it? Did you get fired?" My mother instantly replied without even uttering any greetings.


    I sighed as I rolled my eyes. "No, mom. I was on time today. Say, are you still going to the church later?"


    "Of course, why?" She said, obviously sounding very confused.


    "Can I come with you?"


    Silence prevailed over the other side of the call before I could hear a gentle-sounding chuckle from my mother. "Of course, you can, silly! I''ll wait for you later outside of your building."


    "Okay. I''ll see you later, then, mom."

 86 Stagnation

    "Well, this is not so bad," I said as I felt the comfort of my new mattress. I liked it a lot, and it helps a lot that it doesn''t make any loud noises when I move around, unlike one of those string bed thingie. I guess mom really knows her shit. Well, she is the one person I know who probably knows a lot about beds since she''s... Agh! Whatever, whatever. I should probably just sleep.


    Well... I said that, but fuck, I can''t sleep a wink! Not AT ALL! I have been thinking about sleeping the entire day, and I was even particularly more sleepy when I went to the church with my mom, which made me so angry at me before we went to buy the mattress and the bed frame. However, now that I have finally gotten the shit I need and the comfort that I longed for, I found myself seeing myself unable to sleep.


    "Fuck... This sucks..." I mumbled under my breath with a sigh.


    Then, I heard a familiar beep from beside me. I took my phone on my side and realized that I was right, someone sent me a message in Messenger. Well, I''m not really that sleepy now anyway, so what''s the worst that could happen? I tapped on the notification that I had just received and realized that it came from my friend, Mike.


    "Ayo you still awak man?" He chatted before sending another message, "*awake"


    "ya whats up?" I replied back with an indolent yet full-energized gaze.


    "You know when youll be available?"


    "ya sat and sun"


    "Oh just your dayoffs?"


    "ya why?"


    "I kinda wanna hang out for a while but its cool if youre busy and stuff"


    Hmm... He''s probably feeling all lonely again. This guy always has a very fickle mind, so I''m not surprised if he''s being all sadboy on me all of a sudden. I don''t really mind hanging out with him since he''s a really chill guy, and I always like being around quiet people. Well, I can''t see the reason why I shouldn''t entertain his offer.


    Thus, with a chuckle, I replied with a lazy and sudden invitation, "wanna hang now? i''m not really sleepy. u down?"


    It took him a while to respond, but after a few moments, I finally saw that he was typing before sending a short reply, "Really? I dont mind doing it now sure"


    "cool. i know this new bar somewhere in this really hidden area and you can cry there all you want lmaaoo"


    We arranged to meet at a 7-11 near the bar that I was talking about. Luckily, Mike is pretty well-versed when it comes to direction, so he already knew how to get there without me telling him about those mundane direction thingies. Besides, if he ever gets lost, he can just use Google Maps. I promptly dressed, feeling a little bit excited but also wanting to get so absolutely fucking drunk that I would end up not hearing whatever Mike wants to say.


    After about an hour, we managed to meet each other in front of that 7-11 I had just talked about. We immediately went to the bar with my arms on top of Mike''s shoulder. We laughed a lot while we were joking around on our way to the bar, but I could still a faint sadness within Mike''s eyes. However, since I can see him trying to deflect all of my questions about his well-being clumsily with more jokes, I realized that he didn''t really want to talk about it and just wants my company. I don''t really mind; we all have our own battles, and I am aware that most of us want to face those fights by ourselves. Nonetheless, It is common to see people wanting a friend''s presence amid such tribulations.


    I didn''t want to pry any further, so I made it my goal to cheer Mike up a bit if it would mean that our stay in the bar would be worthwhile for both of us. After a while, our conversation went a bit on the melancholic side once we started drinking up. It was really a good idea to have Mike in this new bar. It has a posh atmosphere, the other patrons are quiet, and the ambiance is chill enough for poor fucks like us to enjoy but not too cheap-looking that it would be downright trashy. The walls are black, but the lights are bright enough not to make people too negative. Nonetheless, the drinks are enough to make any secretive man turn into a blubbering mess.


    That''s true for both of us¡ªMike and I.


    We started talking about or work. Mike told me that his boss is a stupid, fat, lazy fuckface who only wants to use people and take all of the good shit from it, but when he fucks up, he''s the only one who has to face such mistake. I understand his point wholeheartedly because I have the same situation at work.


    Mike chuckled in an attempt to alleviate the atmosphere away from our shitty mood. "Oh, I''m sure you''re doing well at work, man. I mean, it''s you! I can still clearly remember how great and popular you are in high school! Everyone just really likes you back then."


    "Nah," I said with a pained grunt. "Fuckers around at work hate me. The boss hates me too. I don''t get along well with anyone out there."


    "Wha¡ªI can''t believe it," Mike said with a stutter as he blinked twice in bafflement.


    "Well, that''s the reality of adulthood, Mike. The popular losers in high school get to be useless losers at work while the dull losers in the class get to be the lifeless losers who have all the promotions and the praises from the fat old people up at the top. But, at the end of the day, we''re all still losers." I said as I downed an entire glass of gin. "It''s all about knowing how to kiss someone''s ass. Popular kids in high school like myself never learned how to kiss people''s ass because we''re used to feeling other people''s lips on our buttocks just to get some clout going. Bosses don''t like it when an underling gets all defiant like me, especially because I''m frank about how much I fucking hate useless people. Once I see my boss getting all stupid at work, I''d tell him straight up, and everyone else around me would glare at me for being honest because that gets them one more step towards promotion."


    "That''s... I guess that''s true..." Mike said with a sigh as he tried to pat my back. I really appreciated that gesture; thus, I returned his kindness with a warm smile.


    "I don''t want to live that life. I was used to being the guy who gets all the good-shit in life. That''s why I never get all the actual good-shit in the workforce. If you don''t know how to kiss ass at a young age, you''ll never be able to rise up when you''re younger." I chuckled as I leaned my head back. "No one likes an asshole, but no one likes real people more, especially if you''re in the corporate world. You need to lie because that''s the best way to get connections, associates, and promotions. But I don''t like that. My dad raised me to be better than that." I chuckled before uttering a sigh. "I guess the reason why I am living in such a stupid and boring life now is precisely because my father gave me the right lessons in life."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Mike then called the bartender to give us more of the same drinks that we had before replying to what I had just said, "I''m not sure, Mike. I, too, am one of those people you call "dull losers in the class," but I am getting the same bullshit that you do."


    "Well, do you kiss your boss'' ass?" I replied, smugly, with a playful grin.


    Mike chuckled. "Of course, I do! I''m sad right now because I already tasted so many assholes in my mouth, but I''m still below the corporate ladder."


    "Well, that''s probably because you''re easy to control," I said as I took a sip of the drink before me. "I''m also in the shit pile at work because of the total opposite, though. Those capitalists would rather have you at the bottom because they have more use for you down there, but if you''re like me who they could never control, then you could bet your ass that they would never allow me to rise up into the upper-echelons. A stubborn man like me and a timid man like you has no place in the machine."


    "Well, now you''re just being edgy." Mike joked with a tug of his elbow, hitting my arm.


    "Well, can''t help it, man! I''m a Linkin Park fan!" I loudly proclaimed with a fit of laughter. I then sighed and went back to my melancholic state. "Have you ever been afraid of something, Mike, like, not just the normal kind of fear. I''m talking about really, really fucking scared!"


    "Hmm? I''m not quite sure, you mean phobias?"


    "Yeah, I guess you can say that, phobias, yeah." I took another sip of my drink as I laid my head on my knuckles. "You see, I think I have one of those phobias when it comes to stags."


    "That''s a really odd thing to be afraid of, man."


    "I know, I know it is, but it gets really complicated than that." I chuckled as I finally feel the alcohol hitting my head. "You see, one of those stags killed my father when I was a kid."


    "Shit, I..." I saw Mike''s face turn ashen, and I raised my head in front of his face to prevent him from apologizing.


    "It''s okay, dude. I''ve already had my fair share of tears from it, and I''m already over it now. That was a long time ago." I took another sip of my drink, and Mike followed suit. "But the damn stags still haunts my dreams even up until now."


    Mike remained silent as he turned the entirety of his focus on my face. I looked down at my reflection on the din as I smiled with saddened eyes.


    "Care to hear a story, Mike? It''s not that long." I said as I looked at Mike''s pleading eyes.


    "I''m all ears, man."


    I took a deep breath and exhaled it all with a chuckle. "I was ten at that time, I think? I went hunting my dad, and it was a relatively safe place, according to my dad, and yeah, I totally believed him. We went there with some rifles, and we just wanted to go around and hunt some rabbits and shit when we saw this fawn eating grass below an oak big, big tree. My father pointed at it, and he asked me to shoot the damn thing, and I did. Oh, I did, hard. I shot the baby deer twice, and I felt great! My dad felt the same, and he cheered me up for it, and we laughed a bit, and we walked towards the dead baby deer, and he told me that he was proud of me for what I had done. It was all good, and it was a day filled with laughter until I saw that pale and fearful look on my father''s face. You see, he saw the fawn''s father beside me, and I''m not sure about it now, but I''m fairly certain that the father deer was very, very mad at what we had done to his baby. My father, knowing how much of an ever-loving hero he is, pushed me away forcefully before the raging stag could ram my weak little body with his speeding antler. I managed to live because of what my father did. Unfortunately, that act of heroism didn''t stop the stag from running towards the killers of his baby. And the thing that should have happened to me, well, it happened to my dad instead. The stag rammed its horns into my dad''s dying body and continued to run forward until it hits another big tree, trapping my dad in between a log and an angry stag."


    I downed the gin in my glass and called the bartender again for another round. I then saw Mike''s saddened eyes at me, which made me feel at ease for some reason, but I still found it insulting somehow. Silence enveloped our surroundings as I heaved a deep sigh.


    "But, my father is still alive at that time." I heaved another sigh, drank the entire glass of gin in one gulp, and asked the bartender again to fill it up. "You see, my father told me one last instruction before he died. He said, ''shoot it, boy!'' he kept repeating it even though there''s literally a fistful of blood spewing out of his mouth. He said, ''shoot it, boy, shoot it!'' I aimed my rifle at the stag''s body while my dad, bless his soul, grabbed the animal''s antlers, so it wouldn''t be able to target me next. He kept saying, ''shoot it, boy, aim at the head! Shoot this damn thing''s head!" I then paused with a sigh.


    "What did you do?" Mike said, feeling the silence between us with his gentle, timid voice.


    "I shot the damn thing, of course. It took three shots in the head before it stopped moving, but I still shot that damn thing dead! That didn''t do much for my father, though, because the stag''s antlers had already penetrated through the tree; my father couldn''t escape the stag''s hold anymore. Getting out of it would probably only rip his body to pieces. He then looked at me with his dying eyes with this huge grin on his face before he said, ''I''m proud of you, son, always!'' He was really energetic for a dying man, really, but it didn''t change the fact that there''s this large horn sticking all over his body, giving him so many holes to the point that the blood underneath his feet formed a thick puddle of a red flood."


    Mike then placed his hand on my shoulder, which almost made me cry, but I only looked away from him, so he wouldn''t see the tears building up in my eyes. However, as I continued to speak, I realized that my shaking voice couldn''t contain my tearful eyes.


    "Shit happened after that. My mom cried hard, but I''m fairly certain that she''s somehow relieved about the entire thing because she knows that her marriage with my father is already going south. But, I mean, come on, my mom is not heartless; she might want to end her relationship with my father soon if not later, but she didn''t want it to end like that! My mother never blamed me for what happened, and she never once said anything bad about my father, but... Haa... The death really hit both of us; it hit my mother harder. Quite literally, actually. Two years after my father''s death, my mother remarried a timid and gentle-looking guy who had it all going on. Shortly after their marriage, the guy started hitting my mom and me out of fucking nowhere. When the guy hit me, it was the last straw for her and immediately filed for divorce. That guy is history now, but it didn''t mean that he was the last. My mother would often jump from one relationship after another. The guy she would have a relationship with would always, always look like a gentle and passive sort of people, but once my mother and I approached them, they would suddenly show their horns and lunge at us hard till we break. But, we never broke, Mike; my mother and I never fell because of those sons of bitches! See, those men are like stags with human bodies. They look like they''re the kindest people on earth at one glance from a distance, but once you start approaching them, you''ll realize that they can actually kill you faster than any lion."


    "Is auntie doing well now?" Mike said as she gently rubbed my shoulders some more.


    "Yeah, she''s doing alright. She''s still having some new boyfriends every now and then, but agh... That''s her life, as long as she doesn''t get hurt, I''m not against it." I then looked at Mike with the brightest of all smiles. "However, sometimes, when I look at the mirror, I''m starting to feel like my head is also transforming into the head of a stag."


    "What do you mean?"


    "Nah, it''s nothing. Maybe it''s just me getting fed up with how fucking monotonous my life had become." I then nodded at Mike with a relieved look, as if I had just dumped an eternity of baggage out of my already cracking heart. "And I''m sure whatever your problem is right now, it would just be another story you can tell while drinking like this."


    Mike then slowly took his hands away from my shoulders as he looked up at the ceiling with his glass in both of his hands. "Thanks for telling me that story, man. I really appreciated it." He said before sipping his drink.


    I chuckled as I felt my head getting hot, and my vision getting all fuzzy. "You''re my friend, man. I trust you enough for that."


    "Hey, man, since you told me all about that, I guess it''s only fair to tell a bit of my story too," Mike said as a bitter smile started to form on his grim face.


    "You don''t have to force it if you''re not ready," I said, this time, I''m the one who''s comforting him with my hands on his shoulders.


    "Nah, it'' okay," Mike said as he played with the liquid inside of his drink. "I think someone''s out there to kill me."

 87 Career

    Sleep.


    Calls.


    Speak.


    Laugh.


    SMILE!


    Laugh.


    Speak.


    Calls.


    Sleep.


    It''s a stagnant life that will start the same way and end without any changes. There is absolutely no joy to it for the ordinary people, but it is one that I enjoy very much more than anyone might have otherwise believed if they look at me at first glance.


    I am working as a salesman in an old company that is still relatively small even after being in service for three decades. I know that that should be a visible red flag for me to leave this place, but I was a recently graduated man with 0 experience at literally everything. I don''t have a college degree, and I have no connections to lift me somehow in the corporate world. After seven months, I will finally be in this company for five years already, and that is when I''m planning to file my resignation and leave this place for good once I''ve had ample experience to find a bigger and better life outside of this shit hole.


    Until then, I have to endure my life with my shitty salary, my shitty coworkers, my shitty boss, and my shitty job.


    Well, I say that my job is shit, but I actually love what I am doing. It is a career I wish to have forever because I enjoy whatever I''m doing here. The environment is shit for sure since the people here are equally as lifeless as the ones who are controlling them from above the corporate ladder, but the job itself is something that I believe is made for me.


    I like talking to people; I feel triumphant when I see people buying my products after giving my pitch, I love doing presentations a whole lot, and I enjoy the company of people who will listen to me speak. I feel like I was made in this world solely for me to talk about the language of sales and sell everything that I can to everyone who would notice.


    The only problem is not being a salesman; it''s the company where I am working at that gives all the issues for me and cause me a whole lot of stress in every waking moment of my life. It''s a company that focuses on creating school supplies, particularly pens and everything plastic related. At a core, the company is just a bunch of people selling plastic to students and teachers. It''s a fucking drag; there''s no room for me to pitch an improvement and no place for me to speak my mind to make our products better because, I mean, come on! Think of a ball pen! They''re plastics that contains an ink you use to write some shit; there is no other innovation in that field, that''s just the way it is! It was a ball pen now, and it will always be a ball pen in the future. I would then go to department stores, bookstores, and other local businesses to sell those stupid ball pens, and I... Haa... Who listens to the ball pen seller?


    So all I ever do every day is to write a report about the god damn ball pen and how many people sell then and then talk to the same people about the damn ball pen and say, "Hey, you wanna buy ball pen again?" and they''ll be like, "sure! Ball pens are cool!"


    It''s the same god damn fucking stupid loop that will never change, never improve, and never be fun! As a man in his twenties, I feel like I''m wasting a huge chunk of my early adulthood being here. Still, after going through many companies and seeing countless people telling me the same songs about my lack of experience, I found myself sitting in this lousy office, selling ball pens instead.


    To be fair, I''m very good at my job. VERY. VERY GOOD! No one can ever tell me in my face that I am doing a shitty job, not even the people around me who hates my guts, none of them have a say on my work ethic, and I can continuously show yearly, monthly, and weekly reports that my performance never fails. However, I still am here in the lowest part of the company, doing the same old ball pen routine without many changes.


    And I hate it¡ªI hate it so much. I hate being the ball pen guy. I hate being the butt of everyone''s jokes. Sometimes I would ask myself what I did wrong and call on to god to tell me what I am supposed to do, but nothing ever comes to mind, and no one ever speaks from the high heavens.


    I am just supposed to endure to be the ball pen guy some more to be a member of a better company and suffer whatever bullshit that one has to offer next.


    I hated it. I hated that life.


    Which is why it''s such an ecstatic moment in my life brightened a whole lot when I saw that email in my phone coming from my phone.


    "Thank you for your service with us here in PaperWorks Co., Ltd.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Today, the company found itself in a dire moment in its proud 33 years of service as it faces bankruptcy. We regret to inform you that we will be laying off our branches in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and..."


    I don''t know whatever else the email contains. The only thing I know is that I one thing else to do. I barged into my office without showering, still in my pajamas, and with my bed head still unfixed. I saw my coworkers glaring at me for one last time as they slowly took their stuff from out of their tables with dejected expressions.


    I was the only one with an ecstatic look on my face. Okay, I have to admit that I am quite saddened that this didn''t happen a bit later when I''ve already managed to garner a five-year experience, but still, the fact that this shitty company is finally going down the drains is such a surreal thing to me that I still pinch myself to reassure myself that I am not dreaming.


    I took all of the shit in my table inside of two huge garbage bags and went straight to my fat and old boss. It was the best time to do that one thing I had always wanted.


    Well, it took two hours, but I managed to scream at him freely with all the profanities I could ever say, knowing that I will never see that fucking fat fuck ever again. It was an absolutely blissful experience, and I am so happy that he retaliated enough to prolong our fight for two hours. I kinda wanted him to punch me too due to his frustrations so that I could sue his stupid ass. He didn''t do that, though, which is a shame.


    I then went around to find a better job right the next day with a massive grin on my face. Telling my mother all about the bankruptcy wouldn''t be needed because I know that my life is finally starting now! I will finally be able to show everything that I can do to the world.


    At least, that''s how I envisioned it.


    After a week of going through one company after another, I almost broke like a brittle glass after seeing that no company would ever hire me. I never thought it would ever be possible, but after seeing that I was affiliated to PaperWorks, the employers would refuse me right away without even an ounce of gentleness or glee. They would just plead or scream for me to leave and never come back. One employer was kind enough to inform me that it was because of a financial fraud that led to the destruction of my previous company, and now, no business firm would even accommodate any of the company''s former employees. Perhaps, I was hasty when I said that the person who told this to me is kind because after informing me all these, he pretty much called the security guards to drag me out of the office, ensuring that I would never, ever lay my finger on any of the company''s properties.


    I couldn''t understand it myself. I looked it up, and, indeed, PaperWorks was now facing some huge shit because of some fucked up stuff they did for the past decade, but I am at awe as to why every employer would look at me with disgust or contempt right after seeing my affiliations with PaperWorks. I tried going to another smaller company while hiding my experience with my previous employers, but somehow, they would still know that I once worked there and kick me off their building right after.


    It felt like I have some kind of curse or something. Luckily, Jimmy gave me that 100 grand, which is why I''m still eating these days properly, but no amount of cash is big enough to last forever, especially not a hundred thousand dollars.


    Thus, when I returned to my room after yet another failed attempt to find a job, I dropped all the things in my hands with an awe-struck look on my face. Somehow, as the documents I was carrying fell onto the floor, I didn''t feel like my body''s heaviness lessened at all¡ªquite the contrary. As I saw the documents scattered all over the floor, my body almost fell so hard that I could faintly feel like the strength of the earth''s gravity had strengthened somehow. I tried my hardest to smile all day to beg for any position they would give, but it only made my cheeks hurt. I bowed so many times this week that I could feel my spine straining so hard that I wouldn''t be surprised if I''m already a hunchback tomorrow. I wanted to cry, but I have my eyes open for so long today that it couldn''t produce any liquid anymore. I touched my wall as my legs slowly surrender from fatigue, making my knees touch a few documents on the floor, forcing me to see the name PaperWorks forever engraved in my life and corporate record. I shook, but I don''t know why. Was it sadness or anger? Why am I sad? Why should I be angry? I am so tired that I couldn''t see well. My stomach was so empty because I didn''t stop even for a little bit to get some snacks. I couldn''t even utter a word anymore because my throat is so dry after speaking strange nothings for an entire week. I wish to scrub the grease and dust off my skin in the shower, but I''m not sure if I even have the energy to lift my hands to do that.


    Wait. This is happening way too fast.


    What the fuck?

 88 Grief

    I gasped. I panted hard as I heard the loud knocking noise coming from the door of my apartment room. That was when I found out that it was already morning, and I have been sleeping with the same clothes I used when I hunted for some jobs yesterday¡ªnot to mention, my face is buried deep into my pillows, and I am still wearing my shoes, so it stained my bedsheet.


    Judging by the constant headache I am feeling, I concluded that it must have been super fucking early, making my head almost crack due to a lack of sleep. As the pounding on my door continued, I clicked my tongue while tapping the side of my pillows to find my phone.


    "Fuck, where is it?"


    Whoever is outside of my house must have really wanted to see because they kept going at it till I finally lost it.


    "FUCK! JUST WAIT, WILL YA!?" I shouted while still trying to scour my bed to look at my phone.


    "Open the door, it''s me, your aunt Gela!" A timid but loud voice resounded from outside of my apartment room.


    "The fuck?" I mumbled to myself as I felt the back of my head aching as if it was hit by a baseball bat. Finally, I found my phone and opened it up to see that it was already 4pm. What the fuck? I''ve been asleep for 12 hours, and I''m still tired as shit? What the fuck kind of scam is this? I also noticed that I have like, a fuck ton of missed calls from many unknown numbers, which is... weird? However, I played it off that maybe an employer tried to contact me, so I made myself an internal reminder that I have to redial these numbers.


    Fuck. I need to get up!


    I clicked my tongue and yelled at aunt Gela to say that I''m coming while fixing the shit scattered all over the floor as much as I can.


    "It''s okay. I won''t stay for long. I just came here to tell you something very, very important." Aunt Gela muttered like a whisper on the other side of the door. "Please, please, you need to open this door. Please, open the door." She said, almost like she''s begging for her life.


    I then threw all of the scattered laundries I picked up into the bed and swiftly opened the door. I was so alarmed at the way my aunt''s voice shakes like she''s about to have a mental breakdown, and knowing how cheerful this lady is, I''m sure that whatever she has in mind must have been of utmost importance. I pulled the door open and met the crying aunt Gela outside of my room as I gazed at her reddened eyes. From what I can gather, she must have been crying for the entire night, and she''s still bawling her eyes out up until now. I awkwardly tried to reach out to aunt Gela''s shoulders, but I decided to take my hands back swiftly, for I felt scared that touching her could worsen her mood.


    "W-what''s going on, aunt Gela?" I took a step forward, looking down at aunt Gela''s thin and small figure as she cried on my doorsteps.


    Her wrinkled face entered my field of vision as she looked up with a breathe as if she was trying her hardest to make herself feel stronger. She clasped her hands together


    around her chest and looked at me with eyes that reflect her hesitation to speak.


    "Are you okay, aunt Gela?" I started to panic. This was the first time I''ve seen this lady after three years, but she was still a significant part of my childhood; she practically raised me until high school. It doesn''t feel good to see her crying in front of my apartment room, not even for a little bit.


    Aunt Gela heaved a pained sigh as she looked down slowly, further proving that she had already lost her composure. However, she hadn''t given up yet. "I... I came here to tell you something about your mother."


    "My mother? What happened to my mother, aunt Gela?" I couldn''t take the anxiety building up in my chest anymore; it''s all too strong for me to contain. I accidentally raised my voice, making aunt Gela jolt, and when I saw that, I instantly placed both my hands around my lips with a subtle gasp. "I''m sorry, I''m... Is her new boyfriend hitting her again?"


    Aunt Gela shook her head. If not that, then what other worst thing could have happened to my mother, which would cause aunt Gela to come here from Santa Fe?


    "I want you to come with me." Aunt Gela said with her usual timid tone. "No need to change or shower. Just lock your door and come to me."


    I then hurriedly tried to fix my head as I closed the door, following my aunt''s instructions. "Where exactly are we going, aunt Gela?"


    At this point, aunt Gela is already walking towards the elevator, and she halted her steps after hearing me say those words. She then turned to look back at me. "We''re going to the hospital."


    And that we did with nothing but shadows following our every step.


    We took a cab towards the hospital that aunt Gela spoke of without uttering another word as I sat restlessly at the back of the cab. Meanwhile, my aunt just looked outside of the window with an occasional tear falling out of her eyes.


    "I heard you weren''t very close to your mother." Aunt Gela said with shaking voice as she gradually turned her head towards me. "Is that true?" She said with an unwavering burst of sadness spewing out of her eyes.


    I didn''t know what to say. My mouth is wide open as I noticed the dark circles around Aunt Gela''s eyes. I then shifted my head downwards to ignore her the darkness lurking within her reddened eyes. "Y-yes. We''re not very close."


    " I see." Aunt Gela exhaled with a nod as she leaned her head on the cab''s glass window. "I will not tell you how to lead your life or what to think, but I..." She then bit her lip while I was just wordlessly looking at her with a dumbfounded gaze. "... I hope you''ll forgive your mother. She didn''t want any of these. My only wish is that you wouldn''t blame her for the life she wished to lead."


    I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not replying to anything that she had just said. I sighed as I hung my head low while the cab continued to drive through the almost lifeless road towards the hospital.


    When we finally got to our destination, aunt Gela stopped me from paying the cab and insisted on doing it herself. We then went straight to talk to the counter at the entrance of the establishment; I am still restless and scared because of this unknown thing that aunt Gela is still not telling me. Did someone hit my mother again? Was it an accident at her work? Was she terribly sick? I was juggling so many things inside of my head that I could almost taste the fear spewing out of my lips.


    Aunt Gel then told the person on the counter that she''s the sister of Theresa Simmons, my mother, before asking if both of us could come and see her. After typing something in the computer in front of her, the person accommodating us at the counter froze and looked at us with a grim expression on her face. She then tried her best to act calm before telling us to go to a particular room downstairs. That person didn''t say much, but the look on their face strengthened the fear in me, making me sweat as my heart pound faster than an autumn breeze.


    We then entered a room, and there, I finally saw an answer to my burning questions, turning my insides into a never-ending sea of flames.


    "Oh..." I muttered underneath my breath as I saw a body covered with a white blanket, laying down on a metal bed. "Oh... oh no, no, no..." I breathed as I took a step forward while looking at two men on each side of the metal bed, one is a doctor, and another one is a police officer.


    "Is this her son?" The police officer uttered in an exhausted yet robust tone.


    "Yes." Aunt Gela said before gentle grabbing my shaking arm, making me look at her with a look of disbelief.


    "No..." I could finally connect the dots as to what had happened as my body trembled uncontrollably, and aunt Gela''s tears flowed once more. "Oh god... please tell me I''m thinking the wrong answer..." I whispered so low that I could almost feel my voice stuck in my throat. Perhaps none of them heard what I just said because none of them spoke a word.


    The room was cold¡ªtoo cold like nothing nature could ever muster. The dim lights on top of the body in front of me let out a strange whirring noise, which makes me feel like there''s a colony of bees scurrying inside of my ears. The three older people around me all decided not to speak after seeing my already breaking psyche, making me feel even colder as if it was not freezing enough in this oppressive room. The stone floor felt so lifeless that I could almost swear that it was a concrete that came out of the Reaper''s hands. The walls felt like they were too far away, but they''re just a few feet away from me. Everything else around the body in the middle of the room felt like it was shrouded by some kind of grim darkness, making it seem like the only solace I have is that one thing I do not want to see.


    "No... no, this is not real, right? This is just... There must be a mistake here, doctor, right?" I pleaded with my eyes filled with so much agony that I would literally spill all of my blood now just to turn this thing into a dream. "I mean... That can''t be my mother, right? This just... no... no, oh god... no, please tell me this is just some kind of test or something, please, oh, no, no, no... no...!"


    I took two steps back, allowing the elements of shadows to eat me up, so I can finally move to the next part of the dream, but no amount of supernatural entities could turn this thing into something fictional.


    "It was a robber, son." The policeman finally uttered after probably finding some sort of strength within him. "We suspect that it must be one of your mother''s former lover, but we don''t have proof yet. The perp blasts his head off with a gun, so we''re still trying to do some autopsy, so we can determine his identity."


    "What? What do you mean, Mr. policeman?" I said with a desperate chuckle, trying to conceal the rising anger within me after hearing what he had just said. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAID, MAN!? COME ON, GUYS, COME ON! No... come on, please... this joke is not funny anymore... COME ON! TELL ME THE FUCKING TRUTH! I DON''T NEED MORE OF THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW! FESS UP!" I pulled my hands away from Aunt Gela, making her squirm in shock. "Was it you, aunty? Is this your idea? This is fucked up, people. FUCKED UP!"


    I gazed at the policeman once more as I gritted my teeth with my spit rolling towards my chin. I screamed as clenched my fist, shaking it hard because I couldn''t throw some shit and break it onto the floor.


    "I''m sorry, son."


    That broke me. That line is enough to fucking tear me to so many tiny little pieces like a sheet of wet paper, waiting to be dry only to find out that I could never be fixed even if that happened.


    "We did what we can do." The doctor finally uttered after a few minutes of silence. "But she''s already gone when we took her in."


    I finally couldn''t take it anymore. I didn''t even have enough energy in me to be angry; my feet shook so hard that I could no longer use it to support myself. My knees fell onto the cold concrete floor with my eyes wide open as I tried my hardest to breathe appropriately. No. I can''t breathe; nothing is coming out. What is happening to me? I can''t think properly; what is this? I started scratching the floor, making my fingers bleed a bit as I tried to chew the air in my mouth.


    Aunt Gela finally realized that I''m purposely trying to hurt myself, so she swiftly ran towards me, grabbing both my hands tightly as she embraced me in her shaking body. She doesn''t have her usual sweet smell, so she probably also came here without showering.


    "Why is this the first time I''ve heard this? Why did no one inform me last night?" I mumbled as I tried to get angry, but I could only muster a weak string of exhalation, accompanied by a few words.


    Luckily, aunt Gela heard it. "The police tried contacting you last night. You weren''t answering, so we thought that maybe you changed your number. I had to take care of some paper works and talk to the police officers last night till morning, so I could only inform you about... the situation personally in the afternoon. I..." I then heard aunt Gela try to conceal her sobbing as she continued with a shaking voice. "I''m so, so sorry, little bunny." That was the silly nickname she gave to me when I was young, but she gradually stopped calling me that as I grew older. I cried after remembering the memories I had with my aunt and cried even further when I realized that my mother is always a part of those memories, whether good or bad.


    "Hey... Doc..." I said with my usual businessman smile, but the snot coming out of my nose and my continuous sobbing would probably enough to stop anyone from believing my happy facade. "Look, I have a hundred thousand dollars. I''ve saved it up while I was still working, so please, please, please! I beg of you please, cure my mother! She''s sick... She''s so sick... She''s probably just sick, so she''s not breathing anymore, but maybe... you know, ahaha... maybe my savings can fix that, you know? Hey, aunt Gela, it''s true, right? No need to cry anymore! Look, I''ll even sell my kidney, no, MY ENTIRE BODY! JUST PLEASE! Doc... DOC PLEASE! Save my mother, please... no... It can''t be like this, no..."


    The doctor looked at me with a panic-stricken expression as he readjusted his glasses. "There''s nothing we can do. I''m sorry."


    My face finally turned grim. I''m not gritting my teeth anymore, I''m no longer shaking, and I''ve finally stopped shedding some tears. I stood up weakly like a mannequin who''s being controlled by a ventriloquist. Aunt Gela supported me, which I am very thankful for because I would have definitely fallen if it wasn''t for her.


    "So she''s dead..." I said with a blank expression along with a darkened pair of eyes. "My mother... dead..."


    Nobody replied vocally, but with the way the policeman lowered his hat, the way the doctor took his glasses of with a sigh, and the way my aunt tightened her hold onto my arm, I knew already that the answer is ''yes.''Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "I can''t accept that..." I said with a forced smile once more as I pulled my hair, trying my hardest to snap my scalp off of my skull. "I can''t..."


    "It''s gonna be okay, sweetheart. Aunty will be here for as long as you need." The timid voice coming from my side said as the owner of the voice patted my back.


    I looked at the body. The light shining on it, the cold caressing it, the blanket covering it, the darkness swallowing it, and the sadness corrupting it.


    "... see... I need to see..."


    "What?" My aunt said with shock.


    I then darted towards the metal body, and swiftly grabbed the blanket, jerking it away from the body on the metal bed. Since the blanket covered my line of sight, I didn''t manage to see my mother right away, but slowly, as if the time had started to freeze away inside of this Antarctic-like room, the blanket gradually fell from my sight, revealing a naked corpse filled with bruises all over.


    "No... This is not real."


    It was true. She really is there.


    "This is not my mother."


    It was my mother, laying down lifelessly with her pale body on a metal, gray table.


    "She''s not dead..."


    She''s dead. This is my mother...


    But well...


    I''m not sure anymore...


    "This is not my mother."


    I mumbled weakly to myself as a look of disgust crept into my face. The policeman rushed into my direction to prevent me from looking further, the doctor covered his mouth to conceal his shock, and my aunty promptly looked away to stop herself from seeing what had happened to her sister.


    This all happened too slow¡ªway too slow like time would never catch up to me if I so desire.


    My mother... is dead with a few sharp slices all over her now bloodless and soulless dead flesh formerly embodied by a nagging woman''s spirit.


    It is my mother... or at least I know she is, but I''m still uncertain, but I know this is her; I can feel this is her. That''s my mother...


    That''s my mother, although her head is filled with so many bruises, wounds, and a massive chunk of her face is sliced off, making it almost impossible to identify if that is really her, but I am reasonably sure without an ounce of a doubt that this woman is my mother.


    I couldn''t imagine anymore what she looked like while she was still alive because I could only see a chopped off face like the ones I would often see in a butcher''s counter.


    Nonetheless, she is my mother.


    And she is dead.

 90 Acceptance

    There was no fanfare when Mike died; nobody even remotely batted an eye about it. When I screamed and shouted outside of his room for anyone to help me, I saw no people there, not even anyone remotely curious about what I was crying about; I was desperate. I ended up calling 911 on my own, telling them what happened to my dear friend and that I found his mangling corpse hanging on the ceiling.


    After a few minutes, the police officers arrived along with an ambulance, and they went along their jobs to transport Mike''s body into the morgue. After some more interviews and interrogations in the police station, a detective told me that I should go home before giving me the apparent news, Mike is already dead, the police do not need me anymore because they already have all that they needed. He tapped my back gently before telling me to go home and rest. I knew that he meant it well because when I looked at my reflection in a mirror inside of the questioning room, I realized that my face looked just as dead as Mike when I saw her corpse hanging on his ceiling. The officers are kind enough to give me a lift home, which I wanted to refuse, but the detective insisted that I should take his offer. I didn''t argue anymore and allowed more of my tears to flow during the silent drive home in the police car.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    After three days, I visited the hospital and found out that Mike has no immediate contacts other than me¡ªno family, no other friends, and no other people who would care for his death. Apparently, he was already dead three days before I found his ghastly corpse amid the cold darkness of his room. The doctor even stressed that Mike should be thankful to me for so many reasons because if I didn''t visit him at that time, he would have probably remained there until the only thing we could find is his skeleton dancing around his lonely room or someone would complain about the murky smell coming from his place. However, I couldn''t even thank myself enough for that at all because I came way too late, three days too late. If only I came earlier, maybe things might have ended well for Mike. Perhaps it would have been better.


    Oddly enough, when I went to the hospital, the doctors have informed me that someone had paid for his hospital bill. At the time, I was too tired and broken to think about the person responsible for paying Mike''s hospital bills along with his funeral. I just thought that maybe he has some kind of insurance or something. Nonetheless, I hated it; I was already counting all the money I have left and spend it on Mike''s hospital bills and give him the best funeral service the world has ever seen, but I couldn''t even do such a small thing for him. I felt like I was about to throw up every time I think about this. I am disgusted of myself, for I couldn''t even help him even after his life had flown to the other side.


    I then posted Mike''s obituary and everywhere I could to notify his family about his passing. In that obituary, I posted Mike''s picture that we took when we last met each other in a bar along with another of his image when he was still in high school that I accidentally found in his Facebook albums while reminiscing the days when he was alive. I also wrote my contact information and where I planned to hold Mike''s funeral there in hopes that one of his family members would notice it. I tried to do it so well; I posted it everywhere and did everything that I could to let everyone know that such a wonderful life once existed in this world, and now is the best time for them to let their love to him known.


    After another three days, the first day of the funeral finally commenced, and not even a single soul excluding me attended. I was beyond broken without a doubt, for I felt like the entirety of my body had stopped functioning well. I didn''t felt like this when my mother died¡ªthis sort of loneliness and utter sadness coming from a pit forming deeply inside of my chest; I have never felt such absolute form of isolation as I looked around the empty room where Mike''s dead body was supposed to be mourned.


    Finally, in the stillness of the growing death around me, I finally managed to have time to process everything that happened to me. I cried¡ªI wept more than I had ever done so in the entirety of my life. I knelt in front of Mike''s casket after looking at his peaceful and beautiful face, thinking about how such a troubled soul managed to leave such a calm shell. My gurgling voice echoed throughout the empty room as my gaze wandered around the chairs that contained no life in it as a though finally struck my mind.


    There is no other life in here other than me: no other living people, no other soul to witness my sadness for my friend¡ªmy friend who returned to me just as suddenly as when he died. It felt like I do not deserve the grief I am feeling as my tears kept flowing and flowing out of my eyes while I pounded both my arms on the floor.


    You see, I could not even feel angry for Mike because of what he had done to himself. I didn''t have enough reasons in me, nor do I have enough people to stir some kind of triggering effect that would blast my wrath away into the stratosphere. I could only feel regret that I was not there for him in his final hours; I didn''t even see how he struggled while the rope tore through the skin around his neck nor have I seen the pure melancholy in his face while he was preparing to do the thing that he had done.


    The funeral only lasted for two days. When Mike''s body was lowered 6 feet under, I was still the only one crying for him. As I went home after seeing Mike''s name engraved on a stone tomb, I was the only one who was crying for him. The days went by, and no people contacted me to know more about Mike or to ask what Mike''s life was before he eventually killed himself.


    There are no press people who went towards me and ask about his woeful life and how it all led to his death. The police dropped the case the day it was put forward to their offices because, well, what else could they possibly answer when all of the conclusions are already inside of his room? No family members were there around his casket to grieve and talk about his wondrous life like a bunch of hypocrites who never really knew who he was until he inevitably died.


    Mike''s death just feels all too... unnecessary to the grander scheme of life now that I have seen the entirety of it. Nobody would care about the death of someone when there are hundreds of more similar cases as him happening all over the globe. There is no juicy narrative surrounding Mike''s suicide or any story behind it at all that would catch people''s attention. There are no amount of foul plays in it that would pique the interest of the world to make them ask more questions about it.


    In this world, I am the only one who thinks that Mike''s life and death are not dull. I am only one who cares; thus, I''m the only one who has to bear all the tears for it. Who could I even confide these feelings with when the only person I could talk to about it is the sole reason why I am feeling this way in the first place? If no one remembers him, who will? I made it a constant reminder to myself that I should engrave Mike''s memory within me for as long as I die and honor his life the way he deserves.


    I went out, and when I finally saw the bustling life of the surroundings, I finally let my shoulders droop down as my tears stopped streaming out of my eyes.


    My mother is dead.


    My best friend is dead.


    My career is dead.


    I finally dare to accept that because unlike any of those things, I am not yet dead.


    When I went back home with an ashen look on my face, what welcomed me inside of my room was not the ones I would usually come to see, but it was still something familiar, very familiar to me.


    When I opened my door, I saw Mike''s room instead.


    Somehow the darkness of the surroundings and the coldness of the atmosphere made me remember what had occurred a week ago. Thus, with a shudder, an image of my mother''s dead body appeared right in front of my very eyes as I stood there, motionlessly, in the middle of Mike''s entryway. The image of my mother laying on top of the metal bed started to feel so real that I could somehow feel it''s decaying scent protruding my nose. Somehow, I felt only a ghastly void forming in my insides when I saw my mother''s upper body slowly rising with the white blanket still sticking on his body. Suddenly, her face started bleeding, showing a crimson silhouette of her fucked up looking face. However, it still didn''t unfazed my numbing body as if I was just another corpse looking at another one of my kind. I walked past that ghastly image as if it was just a hologram that I could pass through with the greatest of ease. The image of my mother grunted an indistinguishable and hoarse noise coming from her mouth as I walked away from him with blackened eyes and an agape mouth.


    Finally, when I saw my bed, I realized that it was surrounded by the same things that I could remember coming from Mike''s room¡ªI have no air conditioning. Still, I could feel it penetrating my skin while everything inside of my apartment turned into the image of Mike''s final sanctuary. The only thing that remained the same was my new bed frame and my new mattress. On top of my bed, there was Mike''s corpse hanging on the ceiling with a rope tightly locked around his neck. It was dangling from side to side like a pendulum on crack as blood dripped from his toes, staining my mattress with a wet, crimson hue that slowly enveloped the entirety of my bedsheet.


    Nevertheless, I walked towards my bed with the same grimness seething through my blank expression with no care about the world at large.


    I laid on my bed as I felt my aching head finally getting the rest it wanted for the very first time while my drowsiness conquered my thoughts. I blinked my tired eyes while looking at Mike''s swaying body on top of my, feeling his blood drop on my navel every few seconds.


    Then, from god knows what sort of stupid mind tricks my brain is doing to me, Mike''s hanging corpse moved ever so slightly, forcing my already paralyzed body to gaze at his lifeless and sorrowful expression. However, after a while, that tortured expression of his distorted ever so slightly to turn into that of his usual smile¡ªgentle and kind, like all pain in the world does not exist, like all the pain in me is slowly crawling away from my beating heart.


    And then...


    I thought I was over it, but...


    When I saw Mike looking like that, I...


    I cried once again as I felt my body falling into a primordial state of sleep as I gazed at Mike''s smiling face.


    ''Knock, knock.''


    "Hey, you there? It''s me, Jimmy!"

 91 Offer

    I poured a cup of tea into the cup sitting at the table in front of Jimmy. I placed the kettle on top of a tablecloth and sipped a cup for myself that I already prepared beforehand.


    "Sorry for the mess," I said as I tried to wipe my tears-stained face and fixing my frazzled hair. "It''s always like this."


    "It''s fine," Jimmy said with a chuckle as he sipped the tea I just offered him. He then moaned underneath his breath after gulping the drink and taking two more sips thereafter. "This is really good."


    "Yeah? I never really tried it myself. I just opened it, see?" I then showed him the previously untouched wrapper of the tea before taking another sip. I smiled nonchalantly while my saddened eyes gazed at my ceiling as I continued to speak. "My aunt gave it to me when she came here for a visit. I agree. It''s really good."


    Jimmy looked at me as he blew on the surface of his tea before taking another sip. The way he looked at me contained some semblance of pity in it, but it didn''t feel like he''s looking down on me just like everyone else whom I had come to speak with recently.


    Jimmy then gently placed his cup on the table once more before saying, "You must be wondering why I came here."


    My eyes then slowly fell upon Jimmy''s familiar gentle smile. "I sure do wonder, Jimmy, I do," I placed my cup down as well as I tapped my fingers on the table. "but I don''t really mind the suddenness," I said with what I can only describe as the first genuine smile I have given for the past few days.


    Jimmy then looked at me intently but not because of one of his weird, quirky kinks. He was gazing at me directly, and I could feel that there''s something he wanted to tell me, but he didn''t really know if this was the right time to say it.


    "I''m fine, Jimmy." I chuckled while gently scratching my nape. "Don''t look at me like I''m some kind of dumb kid¡ªjust reel me in."


    "Well, okay..." Jimmy said timidly with a pained smile. "I won''t beat around the bush anymore then. I came here to give you an offer."


    "What offer?" I said with a raised eyebrow.


    "A job offer."


    That three words alone made me see Jimmy in such a delightful light, far different from how I previously viewed him. Well, I think it probably has something to do with the circumstances of our meeting before, but well, Jimmy is really not a bad guy, albeit he has some questionable things he likes to do sexually. I mean, he just gave me a car and a hundred grand without asking for other compensation or gratitude. Jimmy also looks fresh like an enthusiastic younger brother who would always beam a smile at you in your darkest days. Nonetheless, one could still see a few wrinkles on his face, signaling that he''s probably nearing his thirties like me.


    When I first met him, I remembered that he was wearing some kind of posh, semi-elegant suit, which further elevated an elitist vibe coming from him. Not to mention, I first met him in an equally obnoxious-looking nouveau riche establishment. It didn''t help that my first impression of him was a foot freak lackey of yet another luxurious-looking person. No, it was not at all a good look for Jimmy, but he still remained as just another run-in-the-mill and a harmless guy who just so happens to have a weird job description.


    Now that he visited me with a loose white shirt, a brown jogging pants, and an old pair of rubber shoes, his status as just another dude living in the block finally sunk into me, although I am relatively sure that he''s not living around LA. Nevertheless, his casual look right now made him seem so much more approachable, almost making me forget about the weird things he had done to me in the room. Almost.


    And to be fair, in the eyes of someone who''s desperately looking for a job, seeing a person visit to offer any kind of position, no matter what it is, are three-folds of blessings that I could only ask from some kind of supernatural deities coming from high above.


    Yes. In my eyes right now, Jimmy is akin to a god.


    "What job?" I said with an indolent look on my face, but in truth, I was beyond excited.


    "I want to have a sales representative for my manufacturing company," Jimmy replied without even batting an eyelid. He then took another sip of his tea and smiled like an excited kid before continuing, "The job is not easy, you see? That''s why the people I hired for the job often come and go. Recently, something... well, happened to the person who once held the position I''m offering to you right now, and he''s, well, I guess I can say he kinda quitted?" He spoke with somewhat ambiguous words, but I was already sold when he told me that he''s planning to make me a manufacturer''s representative.


    "I... Wow. Would you like to see my resume?" I said with an apparent excitement already rising towards my face,


    Jimmy then raised his hands and made me face his palm as he shook his head with a smile. "No need. I came here knowing what your qualifications are. All I''m asking, really, is if you''re interested or not." Jimmy then slid a cheque right in front of my eyes, and I could swear that my eyes turned into the shape of a dollar sign with my mouth agape as I looked at the sheer amount of money in front of me. "That will be your monthly salary."


    I then quickly grabbed the cheque to see if what I''m seeing is real or now. It is very, very real; the money is just as real too. Obviously, I agreed to Jimmy''s offer right away without even a second thought because, to be honest, even if this transaction might sound shoddy or scam-ish, at this point in my life, I really just need to have whatever job I can find in a position that I would enjoy. This offer, this position, and this salary are more than anything I could have ever asked for, making me forget that I had just seen my best friend''s casket going six feet under just a few hours earlier.


    Jimmy then delightfully shook my hand before telling me just how stressing my job truly is. Apparently, I was supposed to handle a new team that had just been formed a month ago in Jimmy''s company. The only problem is that all of the seven people that he will be placed under my wings are all 100% new to the life of sales, and I mean, no experience whatsoever. My job then was to supervise, orient, teach, and harness them into becoming a capable employee while still doing other sales-related jobs myself. In short, I have to babysit seven newbies while handling some other tasks on the side.


    It sounded hellish.


    But I accepted it anyway.


    I then spoke a bit more with Jimmy before he told me that he has to go home soon to prepare for a gathering that he must attend in a few hours. I saw that it was already ten in the evening, so I''m not sure what kind of gathering he still needed to do, but I''m not here to break an employer''s bubble. I then happily escorted him out of the building before he looked at me with a brochure in his hands.


    "I heard what happened. I... Believe me, I was trying my hardest not to do this, but think of this as my way of extending more kindness to you."


    I then took the brochure in his hands and saw that it had information about a forum that Plural Heights is doing tomorrow.


    "The people who will go there are just like you; they also had some people who... left them way too early. They came because they have a story they wanted to tell, and there are people out there who would listen and understand what they have in mind."Jimmy said with a slightly nervous tone.


    "Are you... asking me to attend this?"


    "Yes, I would very much appreciate it if you would attend this forum." He then sighed while looking down at his feet. "Look, I''m sure you have some kind of bad perception at what Plural Heights is right now, and I''m not forcing you to attend this forum or anything, but I know that the people who went here came out with a delighted look on their faces, renewed! They were like different people altogether! I... If I may be blunt, but you look horrible right now. Very."


    I chuckled, but deep down, I know that his point is coming through my mind right now. "I guess I am."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Jimmy then placed his hand on my shoulders; oddly enough, I didn''t feel dirty about what he had just done contrary to my many wild expectations. "It''s okay if you don''t want to do it, but I would really appreciate it if you would at least see if this place can help you, you know, cope with all that had happened with your mother."


    "How did you know all about this?" I asked with a shaking tone as I felt my tears welling up in my eyes.


    "I saw you being interviewed in the news a few days ago," Jimmy said with a chuckled as he tightly placed the brochure on my shaking palms. "Please go. I''m not asking as a future boss, but as a person who knows how it feels to have loved ones go unexpectedly."


    "Jimmy," I whispered underneath my breath. "Did you visit me with this offer because you pitied me after seeing me on the news."


    "No." Jimmy said outright as he pulled his hands away from my shoulder. "It was just a coincidence that such a tragedy happened, but I was already offering this job to many other people before I went to you. I do admit that the tragedy is a part of why I approached you, and, in all honesty, the TV broadcast made me realize that you''re desperate enough to accept such a torturous job like this."


    "How did you know that I''m jobless?" I said with the same weak tone that I had used to everyone who had spoken to me recently.


    "I..." Jimmy said with a stutter. "I didn''t know. I just came here as a gamble because I thought you might want to accept my offer. You did! So I know that my gamble worked!" Jimmy said with a laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "You''re not backing out of the offer, right?" This time, Jimmy was no longer smiling nor is he laughing.


    "You''re so weird, Jimmy." I said with a chuckle. "You flew all the way here when you could have just emailed me?"


    "Call it a businessman''s languid professionalism. " Jimmy then stepped towards me again and slightly bent his knees to look directly at my drooped head. "You''re not backing away from the job, right?" This time, Jimmy doesn''t look as approachable as he was earlier; I dare say, he actually looks a tad bit scary, although he still has that fresh feeling coming out of his relaxed face.


    "There''s no way I could deny an offer as great as that." I said with a smile while looking at the brochure he had just given me. "I just thought you''re treating me like a kid just like all of those people who visited me all of a sudden when my mother died. At least you treat me with some kind of respect, and I respect that."


    Jimmy then told me how pleased he was of my answer while tapping both my shoulders thrice. We then exchanged a few more other As I stood there on the lobby while looking all lost and confused once again, I stared at Jimmy''s back while he pushed the glass door open. He then beckoned a cab as my gaze fell into the brochure on my hands.


    Plural Heights'' Grief Healing Forum


    "Yeah..." I said with a nodded. "Yeah, okay... Okay, okay, yeah. I think I''ll go." I said as I wiped the few drops of liquid rolling on my cheeks.

 93 Infatuation

    "Well, I guess we can conclude today''s session with that," Jimmy said with a lighthearted tone while lightly clapping as if he wanted to celebrate somehow, but he, too, doesn''t know why.


    The rest of the members gathered around in front of a local restaurant a few meters away from the cemetery we just visited earlier. I can still feel my head and my eyes throbbing even though I had already stopped crying a few minutes ago. They all listened to me attentively and told me the best and proper things a person should say to a grieving man like me, especially Nicole and Jimmy. I''m not gonna lie, I had a great time with them; they really do know how to handle cases like me while being empathic and not condescending. They know when to crack jokes and when to just hug it all out to ease the sadness just for a little bit.


    I''m not afraid to say that I needed this sort of community, and I guess this is what I was looking for when I went to Jimmy''s place that other day. At least this day made me forget about my mother even for just a tiny bit.


    We ate some pasta after our graveyard escapades, which sounds super fucking weird, but I actually enjoyed it, so whatever, right? Nicole also requested to have us walk to our destination instead of going there via a cab, which, I have to admit, is a genius decision because it made our lunch a lot more satisfying.


    Nonetheless, the group is not a magical place that could erase bad vibes with just a few words, and they''re not really trying to paint their forum in that sort of light. Thus, while we were eating, they could still feel the shitty depressing feel oozing out of my body, which really bummed me out because I don''t want to ruin their day because of my stupid sad facade, but they handled my mood really well and still made me feel like I belong to their circle even if I am not in my best place.


    It''s really such a fantastic feeling.


    "So, what do you think? Do you wanna be a part of us?" Nicole whispered to me while we''re both looking at Jimmy and his forum members from a distance.


    "I really wouldn''t mind," I said with a chuckle while looking at Nicole''s face as it shone a pearl-like brilliance.


    Nicole then nodded at me as a tear suddenly well up in her eyes with nothing but delight plastered all over her beautiful countenance. "Good. That''s great. I am very happy for you." Nicole then smiled at me while still nodding as I noticed her suddenly opening her arms wide, conveying her desire to give me a hug.


    I chuckled before swallowing my saliva when I saw that. I then timidly approached Nicole as I slowly and modestly wrapped my arms around her petite body. In return, she tightened her grasp around my fuming chest as she purred subtly with her head lying on my firm chest. It made me more than just flustered because I was really, really nervous that she would notice how much my heartbeat rises once my arms contacted with her soft, sublime skin.


    As my heart continued to pound within my already melting body, Nicole tightened her hold around my body again, which made me feel the luscious curves of her chest touching my stomach, giving me a short glimpse of the highlights of her linen bra. I gulped even further with many thoughts rushes throughout my head, making me fumble my speech like I''m some kind of stuttering fool. My sweat then slowly dripped from my scalp down towards my neck, rolling so fast that I could swear there must be some kind of pond lying on top of my head, and the water within it started spilling out of control because I suddenly began to shake as if a growing seismic flow started to rush all over me due to my restless heart.


    I didn''t know what to do, but I''m not stupid enough not to enjoy this moment. Thus, as I slowly closed my faltering eyelids, I also tightened my grip around Nicole''s tender body, making me feel like I am wrapping my hands around a fairy that accidentally entered my reach and giving me nothing but an unfathomable feeling of belongingness that no woman on earth had ever given me before, not even my mother. As I slowly moved my arms around her back, I shuddered ever so slightly as I felt the blood rush all over the places where I didn''t want them to go, making both my heads flush into a laughably red hue.


    This...


    This feels very nice.


    Suddenly, I heard the sound of the other forum members snickering among each other, throwing random mockeries at us and teasing our sweet little moment. I didn''t want to embarrass Nicole because of this small bit of kindness that she had just given me, so I swiftly tried to pull my body away from her. However, instead of escaping the shackles that are Nicole''s hands, I realized that the blonde lady before me started to tighten her grip around my body even further, making my ribs hurt for a little bit.


    "Oh, come on, you guys!" Nicole said with a chuckle as she responded to her fellow member''s teasing. "We''re just friends! Stop assuming stuff!" Nicole said playfully with her tongue sticking out; I couldn''t quite see her face because her hair is hiding her side profile, so I''m not quite sure how adorable she looks like right now.


    I then chuckled at them, trying to reply back to the people who are teasing us too when I suddenly saw Nicole''s head moving up towards me to shoot her gaze at my troubled expression.


    "We are... friends, right?" Nicole said to me with the broadest smile that I had ever seen from her so far while her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her eye sockets because she''s pretty much opening her eyes so outspread that I could swear she must be thinking of letting her eyes fly off towards my dumbfounded face.


    "Of-of course, we are!" I said with a nervous chuckle as I observed the red veins around her pupils gradually accumulating all over her unblinking eyes.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Her grasp around my body loosened a little bit more, but she''s still hugging me nonetheless. I also noticed that her smile had also returned to its usual bright and reassuring beam.


    "Hey, Nicole, can I talk to our friend here for a bit?" Jimmy said to us as he approached us while fixing his collar.


    "Of course, Brother James!" Nicole then gradually let go of my body, but I could feel a bit of reluctance coming from her smiling face as if this interference was not something that she expected. She then walked away from us and joined her fellow forum members.


    Jimmy then slowly raised his hands before grabbing my right shoulder, tapping it lightly. "Why don''t I drive you back home? I know that this sounds like a weird request coming from me now, but I just feel obligated to do it since I''m the one who persuaded you to come." There''s no animosity coming from Jimmy''s expression as he spoke those words with a pleading smile. "We can even talk about your membership to us here in our forum if you''re interested." He continued with a twinge of enigma seeping out of the corners of his gentle smile as if he''s begging me to have a drive with him.


    I looked at him with an eyebrow raised as my head slowly turned towards Nicole. The blonde lady noticed that I was gazing at her, so she slowly waved her hands at me subtly while the rest of the forum members were too busy conversing about something with one another. I then noticed that Nicole''s face flushed a bit before she turned her head away from me.


    I chuckled after seeing such an adorable sight before facing Jimmy again. "I''m sorry, Jimmy. I think I''ll pass today." I then moved my gaze back at Nicole again with an infatuated grin. "I have something going on later."


    "I see." Jimmy then looked at me with a piercing gaze, and for once, I saw him looking at me without a smile. "So, that''s your decision."


    "What?" I looked at him, confused, for I haven''t heard what he had just uttered.


    "No, no, nothing!" He then swiftly took his arms away from me as he tried to do his usual smile, but it doesn''t quite look the same. He then started to rummage something from inside of his coat. "Here, why don''t you take this?" He said while handing me two movie tickets.


    "What''s this?" I said with doubt, but I still took the tickets anyway.


    "Use it and take her with you," Jimmy said with a sigh as she tapped my shoulder twice once more. He then approached the other forum members and told them that he will be taking his leave. He nodded at me as a way to bid his farewell as he walked away from us.


    I then approached Nicole to tell her about the movie tickets. Of course, I didn''t say that it came from Jimmy.


    "Oh my god!" Nicole uttered with an excited giggle. "I''ve always wanted to watch this movie!"


    I bit my lower lip in excitement after seeing how excited my offer made her. As she swiftly took a ticket away from me, I started imagining to myself the many ways I would tear her clothes out of her thin and weak female body.

 94 Visi

    When I went out of the cinema with Nicole, I checked my phone to see that Jimmy had messaged me. He was asking me if I would be attending another of his forum''s session tomorrow, or perhaps, the proper word to use is ''clarifying.'' I didn''t even give it a second thought and just told him that I will be attending without another word.


    I then ate dinner with Nicole, and she clung to my arms throughout the day while she was squirming her body around my skin, making me feel her robust and plump breast. I swear, I could feel myself slowly ascending to the high heavens just because of what she was doing.


    I then pleaded her to accompany her to her home, for it would really relieve me to see her enter her home safely. However, she refused my order, which I found odd, but I still pushed through what I wanted with a gentle smile. I was expecting that she would start agreeing more to my request, but what I got instead was dog-like howling from her, accompanied by a demon-like expression that I could have never expected from such a nice woman like Nicole.


    "WHY ARE YOU FORCING YOURSELF SO BAD TO GO TO MY HOUSE, HUUUH!? I SAID NO, THE ANSWER WILL ALWAYS BE NO!"


    She then covered her lips with both her hands while trembling slightly as I saw tears welling up in her eyes. Nicole started to apologize frantically as if she had just made a grave mistake as a woman, and now she feels like she has no face to show the world anymore. I reassured her that it was okay and that she did not really do anything wrong at all. I also added that that wouldn''t be enough to faze me away from her since I know that Nicole is also as troubled as me. We both lost someone, and we both know what it feels like to hold that sort of fire within our hearts in our lonesome. I just told myself that she must be fighting other battles that I would never be able to understand.


    When she heard me utter those words, Nicole smiled right away, and after walking somewhere near her house, we started to spit up, and then I just... went back home. I wanted to follow her, so I could find out where she''s living, but that would just be outright creepy and downright stupid of me to do. I respect her enough to understand that she needs her space.


    So...


    I...


    Must have...


    Perhaps...


    ...


    I dunno what I''m thinking anymore, really. I guess maybe I''m just tired. I went towards my apartment room right away after that little moment I had with Nicole. At that time, it was already dark outside, the starless sky was signaling the coming of what seemed like an endless downpour. I hurried my steps since I have no umbrella with me, and before long, I was already climbing the stairs towards my floor. I felt like using the elevator now after walking for so long would just ruin my momentum somehow... Well, I mean, I guess it was already ruined since I watched a movie with Nicole, but ehehe... Let''s just consider that as another form of exercise since my heart wouldn''t stop beating as I watched the film with her head on my shoulder.


    When I finally got up to my floor, I realized a somewhat out of place figure standing in the middle of the hallway. It was a lady in black with long and untied black hair running on her back like some kind of waterfall that had escaped from the confines of the void. She was wearing a black leather jacket with some elegant gold metal chains around the shoulder area, shining so brilliantly that I could have sworn it was commissioned by the gods to make the other mortals know that she was their favorite. Beneath her luxurious-looking leather jacket is a black turtleneck that tightly highlighted her body, showcasing the roundness of her bosom, She paired this with a long, black skirt that stopped a few inches below her knees. Still, I noticed that the material used in her skirt was a tad bit translucent, making me see a peek of her delightfully pale and thick legs as well as her black velvet boots that stretched upward towards the area above her knees. From a distance, I could also vaguely see that she''s wearing a pair of sunglasses.


    Since she''s standing at the very edge of the floor, I know which room exactly she''s facing right now. I gulped as I walked towards her, and as I came towards her, I observed that she''s not at all a stranger¡ªI know this lady; I know her more than I had wanted to. She must have noticed that I was walking towards her because she slowly turned her body to my direction, revealing her heart-shaped sunglasses.


    "What are you doing here, Veronica?" I uttered as I stood in front of her with my arms crossed.


    She just looked at me through her sunglasses while chewing what seemed like bubblegum.


    "Visiting." She said with her usual robust and unusually deep voice with her arms around her waist. "Aren''t you going in?"


    "Do I have to let you in?" I said while looking at her closed lips as she slowly chewed the bubblegum playing inside of her mouth. That was when I noticed the black lipstick around her lips.


    "Depends on you." I then saw her slowly gulp the bubblegum inside of her mouth as she revealed a cheeky grin. "It''s your room." She said while jerking her head towards my door.


    I then shook my head as I swiftly opened my room. I let it open, signaling Veronica that I am allowing her to enter. I then opened my window, allowing the evening breeze to come through and freeze the damp air of my room.


    "Not as messy as I hear. Not bad." I heard Veronica saying behind me as she closed the door shut.


    "Did you lock it?" I said as I tried to see if there''s anything I can offer in my cupboard.


    "Of course," Veronica uttered as if it was the obvious thing to do. "I am no barbarian."


    I looked at her with a condescendingly pointed gaze. I purposely didn''t open the lights, hoping that it might be enough for her to trip since I know that she wouldn''t be taking those boots off.


    While I had those thoughts in mind, I saw the tea that Aunt Gela gave me, so I heated up some water and served the tea to Veronica. I saw that she had already taken the liberty to sit on a chair near my bed with her hands resting on the table. That was when I noticed that her nails have also been painted black.


    "We only have tea. Don''t like it, don''t drink it." I said while putting the teacups on the table in a rather rude way, making some of the tea spills on the table.


    Veronica saw this with a dumbfounded look on her face before chuckling. She then took the tea and sipped it, leaving a black kiss mark on the area where her lips had just touched. "How did you know that I like tea?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "I don''t." I then sat on a much shittier chair in front of her and sipped the tea. It''s still just as good as I remembered before gazing at Veronica''s countenance, which was now taking her glasses off. "You look awfully black."


    Veronica then looked at me with a scrutinizing gaze. "That sounds awfully racist." She said, still with a slight smile plastered on her face, but I could a hint of animosity on her gaze.


    I scoffed as I looked away from her. "I don''t care." I then took another sip of my tea, which gave me more courage somehow. "So how can I help you, Veronica?"


    "I came here to welcome you to my family," Veronica said as she placed her right hand on her chest. "The Plural Heights family."


    "Well, you already did what you wanna do. You can get out of here once you finish that cup." I said before yawning loudly, not caring about her presence at all.


    "What''s the rush, my new son?" Veronica uttered with a broad grin on her face as if she was saying those words to mock me. She then looked at the area beside the bed, and because of a square-shaped dust mark around that area, one could quickly determine that something must have been removed from that place, although it was already sitting at that spot for a long time. "So, I see that you removed your air-conditioner."


    "What?" I said with a raised eyebrow, not knowing what she''s talking about.


    "That." She said while pointing at the square-shaped dust mark on the floor. "That must have been where your air-conditioner once stood."


    "Not working anymore, so I junked it," I said, still not wanting her to see that I can be lured by her psycho mumbo-jumbo again.


    "I see." She said while nodding with a smile that seemed to have indicated that she knows everything, and I mean, everything. "Do you know why I am so adamant at recruiting you to my humble group of soul-enthusiasts, my dear son?"


    I scoffed after hearing her say that incest-sounding kink bullshit again. Nonetheless, I didn''t want to prolong this conversation anymore, so I just a word as a response, "Why?"


    "Because I need men like you. Strong-willed men. The kind of people that wouldn''t bow in the presence of authority, no matter how high that hurdle might be. I need a person who could manage to break through any sort of powers that would wish to muddle their head with brain damage." She then stopped to give herself some time to cross her legs, pointing the tip of her left boot at me. "I came here because I know that you are one such person."


    Eh?


    Weird ass bitch.


    "So you need broken people? Losers? What? You go all over the country to recruit misfits?" I said with such an unrefined tone that one could only perceive as pure mockery.


    However, this didn''t faze Veronica.


    She shook her head with the usual cheeky smile that she always has. "Leaders." She utters, reverberating throughout the atmosphere as the thunder suddenly roared down from the murky skies. "What I need are leaders like you."


    And as I gazed at Veronica''s bright expression with her hands extended towards me, the rain suddenly fell, filling the air with an unbearable coldness that filled me with nothing but sheer terror. Nonetheless, the dark lady in front of me is, ironically, the only thing that shines amid my darkened room.

 95 Treasured

    Plural Heights 28: TreasuredFind authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "What I''m trying to is that," Veronica continued as she slowly leaned her body towards me, "I want you."


    I chuckled, trying my hardest to conceal my already ghastly and muddle expression, "What? Like, dating?"


    "You know damn well I''m not here to ask you for something as small as that." Veronica continued with an unbothered expression, filled with conviction, unmoving and unfazed. "I came here for something bigger--something more substantial than the world we''re living in, a reality where all of us can enjoy a soulful life. I can give that to you if you just accept the love my family can bring you." She uttered as a distorted smile crept upon her face; perhaps, it was her way to reassure me, but all I am feeling as I gazed at her empty eyes is a hollowed fear that I could not quite understand. It feels like something inside of me has been stolen by the time Veronica had entered my room, and I think more than lonelier than ever.


    "I don''t understand. What exactly do you want to do? What are you? What is all this?" I was starting to feel outraged, but my anger wouldn''t quite explode out of my already widened eyes. It feels as if my wrath remained in my head, contained in my nerves like a massive set of chains shackled it.


    "All you need to do to know everything¡ªto know the truth away from the lies of the media and the church and the government¡ªis to follow my lead," She then extended her hands towards me like she was asking me to take a leisurely stroll with her in the park. "and all answers you''re looking for will come running at you!"


    "Everything..." I said as I gazed at her pale hands, white as the brightest light in the universe.


    "Yes. Everything! The world, the universe, your purpose, your capabilities, everything is just an arm''s reach! Why are you here?" Her voice then started to deepen even more like she was trying her very hardest to sound like a bouncer in a bar. "Why did they leave? Why should you keep going? The only thing you need to do now is to confide yourself to me. Trust me, everything else after that will follow. Now, tell me, what is the question that you wish for me to answer?"


    "I just..." I said as my hands twitched, trying my very hardest to heave a deep breath. "... I just want to know why I was the one who''s spared when a kind person like Mike, or, heck, even my mom is not such a horrible person, but why am I the one who''s chosen to live through this fucked up world, you know?"


    "I understand," Veronica responded as she gently placed her hand on my arms. "I know what it feels like to be in pain. We''ve all been there; I understand, really, I do. I know how dark it is that side, but I promise you, no amount of darkness is everlasting. All you need to do is find the light inside of you and discover a better world outside of your comfort zone that could offer the brilliance that you deserve."


    I then moved my arms slowly before tightly wrapping my hands on her smooth, delicate limbs, feeling the warmth coming from her body as the cold gradually conquers my room.


    "I still don''t understand..." I uttered under my breath.


    "I will make you understand it all soon once you follow me. Everything else that you need will follow once you stepped inside of the Plural Heights family." She then started sniffing, indicating that the sadness she must have been trying to conceal has begun to get the best of her. However, no tears dropped out of her pretty big eyes. "If you really think that your life is dark and scary right now, then please, I want you to use me as the light that will get you out of this hell that the world has thrown you in; let me in--allow me to care for you and give you a fulfilling life. Only then will you finally see that you are truly blessed."


    "Blessed?" I said weakly as I shivered in the cold.


    "Yes. You''re blessed, for you are my son, my child, my little blue sapling. To me and to the rest of your brothers and sisters in Plural Heights, you shone much, much more than any gold and jewelry in the whole wide world." Her voice then started to get hoarse as I felt her hands getting warmer and warmer. "But... Right now, you''re filled with so much darkness, and your insides are tainted with a great deal of shadow that is resulted by the amount of poison and toxic you have received from the horrible people who caused your misfortune."


    "You mean... Someone caused all of these sufferings?" I said like a lost child, finally realizing the right way to lead me back home.


    "Absolutely, child. Absolutely! The government told you that your life is better if you have a good home. The church told you that your life is better if you have a wonderful wife. The media told you that your life would turn upside down once you become rich." She then started to grit her teeth as a wave of seeping anger, so malevolent and so grotesque, starts to spew out of her heart that it made her hands hotter than a steaming metal. "They are the reasons why you''re lonely and sad and alone, but you don''t have to be¡ªbecause we, your family and friends in Plural Heights, are here. We will do all we can to save you from the venom spreading throughout your body because of the monsters that attacked your life and threatened the sanctity of your peace. We are here to suck the darkness out of your life and make the world know that no amount of dirt can ruin the brilliance of a jewel like you."


    While Veronica spoke those words to me, I started feeling some kind of rough texture hitting the back of my head. I turned around to see that it was a frozen foot of a man, hanging from my ceiling. The man then started to blurt out an intelligible grunt as he opened his hollowed eyes to gaze at my ashen countenance. The corpse whose body is hanging on my ceiling is so foreign to me like this is the first time I have ever seen this person in my entire life. However, I know for a fact that the ghost of the ones I have lost started to haunt my mind once again.


    "Son," Veronica whispered to me, which took me back to reality. I then turned my head to look at Veronica, so she wouldn''t think I''m being weird, but I didn''t see her in front of me. Instead, I lowered my head, and there she was, kneeling in front of me as she slowly stroked my face. For once in a very long time, I feel like a boy again. I do not even know anymore if I have ever known what it felt like to be a child, but when I look at Veronica''s captivatingly beautiful green eyes, I finally understood the joy of being loved by a parent. It made me remember that time... when my father taught me how to shoot a gun with a deer''s antler rooted inside of his stomach. "I will protect you from yourself, and I will be your shield away from all the monsters around us. I promise you that if you become a part of my family, no amount of harm shall ever come your way."


    "Why?" I said with such a lifeless tone that I might as well be treated as a dead man speaking. "Why would you do all of this for a person like me?" I said as my body trembled in the utter sadness that I am feeling while I could still feel the roughness of the corpse behind me as it hit the back of my head.


    "Because in my family," Veronica uttered while still stroking my cheek. However, her voice remained muffled, for the only thing I could hear is the sound of my hair hitting a corpse''s skin. "you are treasured."


    Everything around me feels like it was going through all kinds of hellish doom...


    Suddenly, I heard a thud coming from behind me, almost making me feel like someone had just broken my wooden floor. Then, I listened to the same gibberish that the corpse behind me was uttering earlier. Still, the only difference is that the corpse is now saying that unintelligible nonsense right into my ear. The corpse suddenly started yanking, pulling, and grabbing my body away from Veronica, which almost made me fell from my chair if it wasn''t for the fact that she''s grabbing my hands. A part of me wanted to let the body take me away from Veronica once and for all, so I could use my own hands to push it away from me...


    "In Plural Heights, even if you think so lowly of yourself, you are still treasured."


    ... But when I heard Veronica said those words...


    ... For some reason, the corpse behind me had stopped pulling me away. Before I knew it, the ghastly apparition of a broken tomorrow had utterly ceased to exist from my back as I saw Veronica kneeling behind me.


    She then stroked my cheek once more before placing my head on her shoulders. "It''s going to be okay, son."


    Before I knew it, I was already embracing her, staining her leather jacket with my tears. For once, I was taught what it feels like to have a mother.

 96 Family

    I went out of my cab and stared blankly at the colossal hunk of mess standing before me as I heard the vehicle slowly speed away into the road.


    Alas, after the talk I had with Veronica and after convincing myself that there is absolutely no reason for me to refuse her offer. Thus, here I am now standing outside of the mall that I had thought I would never visit again--Plural Heights, dilapidated, grease-filled, and empty. I hurriedly went towards the entrance of the mall, but my steps halted when I had seen the 7-11 standing right in front of the mall. I then felt a lump swelling up my throat when I saw the bench where I first saw Mike after a very long time. I remembered how he disappeared one day, came back into my life just as suddenly, and instantly left without even an ounce of goodbye.


    It felt like he entered and left my life all for the reason that I would never be able to understand ever in my life. Death truly is such a delightful little concept that could make a person realize how small he was in comparison to how vast the world is; I am just as insignificant as Mike at the end of the day no matter what I would do now and tomorrow.


    So fuck it!


    When Veronica invited me to come to a Plural Heights seminar in this stupid mall, I didn''t even know why I hesitated to come. What else do I have to lose; why else am I overthinking the many decisions I will do in my life when I will just end up as another decaying body inside of coffin six feet under anyway?


    And so I stood in front of the mall. Veronica gave me a piece of paper last night, and she told me that if I ever wanted to go to Plural Heights, I have to show that piece of paper to everyone I will meet in that mall, so they would know that I am a part of their tribe. However, I was still scared¡ªscared that maybe what happened last time will reoccur. Yet, oddly enough, the seething loneliness within me activated some kind of nihilistic thoughts within my head, and it gave me a new-found strength that I would never be able to find anywhere if I hadn''t accepted the futility of life. I''m going to die someday anyway, and if I ought to die in the hands of those groto freaks, then I might as well accept is nothing but my fate!


    I held the piece of paper gently as I walked towards the entrance. There I noticed that the three cargo trucks I saw back then were still standing there a few feet away from the mall''s main entrance. However, this time, all of them are locked, making it impossible for me to see what that strange thing I had seen from within these giant husks of metal before.


    I then pushed the mall''s glass door open and was once again baffled by the absence of security personnel inside of the mall, not even anyone who''s just sleeping there while wearing a security guard''s uniform. I already expected this empty scenery since I had been here once, but I was still just as disappointed.


    Amid my recollection of how much I hated this small, I started walking towards my destination nonetheless. Last night, when Veronica visited, she has instructed me to find the groto is the first floor of the mall, which kinda made me think that maybe there''s more in the other levels, but I was too broken at the time to speak let alone ask a question.


    After walking with a still-beating heart with fear grasping my body tightly, I started to move my feet towards that stone groto oddly standing in the middle of a fucking mall''s hallway. Since I only went here once, I am quite uncertain where it was. At this time, I was already thinking that I might get lost for a bit if I don''t remember where I had accidentally seen that groto, However, when I suddenly heard the sound of a bunch of people whispering among one another loudly in unison, I knew then that the direction where those voices were coming from is where I''m supposed to be.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I then saw a bunch of people gathering around a stone groto in the middle of the mall''s hallway¡ªprecisely the same way I remembered how it was, but the only difference is that these people are wearing a different uniform this time: white polo shirt, denim jeans, black shoes.


    "H-hey!" I said lightly, trying to get their attention with the piece of paper that Veronica had given me last night in my hands. "H-hey, y''all!"


    One after another, the people standing around the groto suddenly turned their bodies towards my trembling self while mumbling to the people around them.  All of their brows were furrowed unnaturally like they were deliberately trying their hardest to make themselves appear uglier than what they might typically look like. They''re gnashing their teeth like a carnivorous predator, ready to hunt for the next blood they would stock into their empty stomachs. The way they breathe made me know there and then that they must be trying their very hardest not to lunge at me with all the weight of their bodies.


    One of them who''s standing closest to me suddenly uttered with the mocking voice of a furious psychopath, "He''s a non-member! HE''S A NON-MEMBER!"


    The rest of the other people also started shouting and riling themselves up as they all pointed at me with aggression and malice that I thought I would only be able to see in hell. They were already walking towards me with their vindictive gazes as I tried my hardest to find a source of bravery in me to speak.


    "Veronica sent me!" Those three words are the only things I could utter as loudly as I could, for the beating of my heart prevents me from further saying anything more. As I said so, I extended my hand towards them while showing the piece of paper that I''m holding tightly. Oddly enough, the paper doesn''t seem like it''s crumpling at all, weird.


    Nonetheless, the angry mob that''s about to tear my body under different manners of torturous death finally stopped their angry shouting and menacing approaching with a look of shock plastered on their faces.


    "It''s a recommendation." One of them said with their mouth agape as if they had seen the unthinkable.


    "... from Mother." Another one of them uttered after the other one as if to finish his compatriot''s sentence. Just like everyone else, he looked so comically disturbed that his spit is already drooling out of his dropped mouth.


    Their faces then suddenly started beaming with such warm and joyful smiles spreading out of their now fresh-looking faces devoid of their previous antagonistic attitude. They all started approaching me kindly with polite words and greetings that I could only hear from the best people in the world. Most of them even asked me for a hug while some started tapping my shoulders or shaking my hand. They all now looked like angels coming from high above, and the only thing missing from them now are halos and pairs of wings.


    "You must have been highly favored by Mother!" A middle-aged woman uttered with a tear rolling on her cheeks.


    "All of us wanted to have a better spirit, but your soul must be made out of gemstones and gold." A girl said with a twinkle in her eyes while standing before me, trying her hardest to get my attention.


    "You are an amazing person. I''m sure you would love your stay here!" A man that''s probably around my age uttered with her hands crossed.


    "Young people these days truly are splendid. Just looking at you is enough for me to know that I can never compete!" An elderly man uttered while massaging his back.


    "Come, come, Mother is about to arrive! We''re here to witness the time she gets here!" A plump lady uttered with her hands around my waist as she pulled me towards the groto.


    I now stood a few inches away from the bullet-shaped stone platform erected in the middle of the mall''s hallway. Now that I have seen it from up close, I could see the below it is made of the same stone used in the groto itself while the tiles of the mall surround it. None of the people around me seem to be standing on the concrete where the groto stood; they''re all standing on the tiled ground. I then chuckled awkwardly amid all the sudden attention I''m getting.


    "Is it really okay for me to have this kind of attention?" I said jokingly with a half-smile, but I know deep down inside of me that this is how I truly feel.


    "Of course!" The plump lady who escorted me towards the groto replied with such profound confidence that it made me feel like what I had just asked was stupid. "We are all a family here, after all! And everyone in this family will get the love they deserve!"


    "That''s right!" Another plump man said on my left side with his first raised up into the air. "But you have the Mother''s recommendation! That means you''re much more of a family member than the rest of us here in the family!"


    "Brother, you are definitely right!" A teenage girl uttered with a playful chuckle, making the plump man grin while nodding with his eyes closed. "You are a part of the family, but all of us here who are children of the Mother must treat you with high regard because you''re more family than a normal family!"


    "Family is family, but you''re a more family kinda guy, so we''re more than willing to treat you as a higher family!" Another girl who''s standing farther away from me at the back of the gathering uttered and the rest of the people around me started nodding as if it was common knowledge for them to speak such meaningless compliments.


    I was about to ask them what their words meant and maybe have them speak to me a bit normally when suddenly, the plump lady--the person who escorted me towards the groto--who''s standing behind me, screamed with delight as a huge grin started to creep up on her wrinkled face.


    "The Mother''s message is here!"


    I then looked up at the groto after seeing that plump lady pointing at it. The rest of the people around me started to either exclaim with excited voices or weep a few tears of joy.


    But amid all that, I was just left wondering why there are gradually glowing words emerging from within the empty space inside of the stone groto.


    "MOTHER HAS ARRIVED!" it says, glowing haughtily while the rest of the people around me cheered, jumped in anticipation, or hugged each other with delight.

 97 Children

    Everyone around me started chuckling and mumbling to themselves a bunch of incomprehensible gibberish, but I can vaguely hear the words ''mother,'' children,'' and ''arrived'' among their varied utterances.


    I noticed that each and every single living human being around me has this disturbingly happy looks on their faces as if they''re a bunch of drugged-up hippies going to a free Pink Floyd live concert. They''re donning a wide grin on their wrinkled up and ashen faces along with unblinking pairs of eyes that only directed towards the direction before them. They seem zombie-like as they moved with their heads hunched forward, making their backs turn into an unusual arc shape. They didn''t even look at me¡ªno, they weren''t looking at anyone else in the whole wide world other than what seemed like their destination.


    The hall rummaged along with the many sounds of footsteps as the Plural Heights members ambled towards the broken escalator. Almost magically, the escalator that wasn''t working just a few seconds ago started to function once more when someone finally stepped onto it.


    The almost lifeless, weirdly unblinking, and perpetually smiling members of the Plural Heights group continued to traverse up every escalator from every floor until they reached the sixth and final level of the mall. Throughout their journey, I remained behind them with furrowed eyebrows and a pained grimace on my face. The group then finally started walking towards the entrance of the mall''s only working cinema so cordially and orderly that one could consider them as a group of humans acting like working ants, traveling back to their hill.


    The entire cinema looks precisely like what every mall theater would look like: bland, cheap-looking, and unimpressive with posters plastered outside everywhere, a few attendants here and there, and a sign above the open door that says, ''Mother Has Arrived.'' I thought it was some kind of movie title at first, but when I saw that the poster of whatever they''re showing in the cinema contains the face of Veronica, I know then and there that this will be some talk or a seminar. Obviously, Veronica will be in the center stage.


    Since I was the last one in the long line of people who are going into this lone mall cinema, I was also the last one to notice that Jimmy was inside of the cinema, beside the door, telling people to go inside accordingly and sit on every available seat. He would then repeatedly tell everyone not to let any seats unused and not to reserve a space for latecomers. When I finally entered through his line of sight, Jimmy''s eyes brightened with an unbelievable glow as he escorted me to my specially designated chair at the very front beside him. Jimmy told me that the seats are reserved for him and his forum members; thus, since I was also now a part of his community, he had told me to sit with them.


    When I arrived, I saw the familiar faces of all the members in Jimmy''s forum¡ªof course, the lovely Nicole will also be sitting there with her lovely and radiant smile that would melt all the hardened hearts of all ice-cold gentlemen. When I looked down at them, Nicole moved her head towards our direction and tapped the empty seat right beside her. Jimmy then slowly pushed me towards her, and Nicole pulled my hand towards her direction, making me stumble a bit and almost forcing me to sit beside her. Jimmy then sat on my right side as I looked at Nicole in bafflement who''s smiling with an awe-struck look on my left hand.


    After a while, I noticed that I was starting to get lost in Nicole''s flawless and pale face as my gaze suddenly drifted towards her pink and luscious lips that would make any man drool in a matter of seconds. My immediate trance halted when my surroundings suddenly erupted with the loud cheering and applause originating from all the enthusiastic members sitting behind me. Most of them were even standing up, jumping around, crying uncontrollably, or kneeling with their fingers tightly intertwined together. Still, all of them had their eyes on the real star standing at the very center of the stage.


    And at the very instance, nothing else in this room mattered other than her, the Mother, Veronica.


    "How are you, my children?"


    Screams!


    Yells!


    Cries!


    Bellowing and overwhelming response that almost made me thought that I accidentally attended a One Direction fan meet.


    Every single living person in this room started to clap and scream like their very living being depends on having the best reaction among all their fellow members. This, undoubtedly, made Veronica feel more than just pleased¡ªshe looked quite ecstatic, almost moved by their unbelievable response. Still, it was also apparent from how calmly she seems right now that she had done this thing many, many times before.


    "I want you to all repeat after me, ''I am strong!''"


    Everyone around me, including Jimmy and Nicole, repeated what Veronica had just said.


    "I am free!"


    Again, all of the people, young or old, repeated those words like it was the only sustenance their body ever needs.


    "I am me!"


    At this point, I already got the memo, and I didn''t really want to feel like I''m some kind of odd one out, so I started to repeat those words underneath my breath with a pathetically confused expression painted all over my troubled face.


    "Okay, this one''s long. Are you ready?" Veronica uttered with a bit more enthusiasm than earlier as she leaned her body forward with an expectant gaze. After saying those words, she extended her hands towards her audience to point the microphone at us.


    "Yes, Mother!" Everyone around me said in varying degrees of excitement.


    "Yeah... I guess?" I said with an awkward chuckle as I started playing with my hands while my eyes wandered aimlessly all around me.


    "Very good, children, very, very good! A plus! Now, I want you to say, ''I denounce my current god. I reject the media. I shun the government!'' Now say it with me!"


    Veronica then uttered those three sentences once more, but this time, the members of the audience spoke those same sentences along with Veronica.


    "I denounce my current god. I reject the media. I shun the government!" They all cried out as Veronica''s voice rang throughout the loud and huge speakers all around.


    "Now, say those words again the way I told you last month!" Veronica said before directing the microphone towards the audience again.


    "Faraqha, sharvhaza, dheze!"


    "That''s right! Faraqha, I denounce my current god; sharvhaza, I reject the media; dheze, I shun the government!" Veronica said as if she was a teacher who''s glad that her students did their homework. "Now, say it again in chorus!"


    "Faraqha, sharvhaza, dheze!" The audience repeated with a greater form of enthusiasm while either clapping or stomping their feet, excited or angry.


    "Religion is a mess, and it''s a poison! Say it with me, ''poison''!"


    They all complied willingly with a sense of anger in their tones, making the theater shake for a bit with their loud stomping and echoed screeching.


    "You''re a great crowd, Los Angeles!" Mother said with a beautiful grin plastered all over their faces, followed by a wonderfully sounding chuckle that further exemplifies her deep but still feminine-sounding voice.


    Suddenly, as I had my eyes rooted on Veronica, admiring her hourglass shape beneath her familiar red dress. I felt a hand coiling around my arms like a seething snake, ready to take a bite. It was from Nicole. For some reason, she''s suddenly acting all cute to me with her head on my shoulder. Not that I mind, but it was still making my heart beat so loud that I don''t know what to do. I wanted to jump up, but it might turn Nicole off and have her take her head and hands away from me! Oh my god, she smells so good; I can faintly whiff the subtle citrus scent of her perfume, making me want to eat her up literally, just gobbling her body like a glutton freak. God, being a female is so fucking easy, man. She just needs to nuzzle my arms and rub her tiny little soft face on my skin, and my dick is already going so fucking hard that I could have probably sworn that there must be some kind of hidden bomb planted on my pants, ready to explode if this woman keeps hitting my deadly triggers like this. Nicole kept on rubbing my arms gently while her other hands were sitting quietly on my legs, making me feel her hot and moist hands.


    At that moment, Veronica is still saying some kind of radical bullshit that''s making everyone lose their shit. Still, as I moved my head back because of the pleasure that I''m receiving from this beautiful woman, I started to lose all of my hearing senses and prioritized all of my attention to this white woman who''s making me spill so much precum that it''s almost making me insane. I tilted my head back even further with my eyes started to redden and my drool suddenly spewing out of my eyes, when suddenly, a blinding light poured all over me, almost making me blind. I winced with my hands covering my face when I realized that a spotlight was pointed directly into my horned up face. At this point, Nicole is still grabbing my arms, but she''s no longer trying to make me bust a nut by moving her hands all over my skin.


    "I already said his name, and I''m sure all of you know who he is. Let''s not waste time anymore and welcome our newest member. My children, I want you to show him how wonderful it is to be a part of the Plural Heights family!"


    Everyone around my immediate vicinity started to ruffle my head, pat my shoulders, and approach me for the sole purpose of exciting me. It''s working, but holy shit, this is too much!


    "Why don''t you get up here, son?" Veronica said while pointing at me, gesturing me to get up on stage with her. "Why don''t you escort him up here, Brother James!" Veronica thundered without using her microphone as she beckoned Jimmy to stand up.


    Jimmy happily complied to her request with an excited look on his face. He then pulled my body up and made me walk towards the stage using the stairs on the far side. Jimmy wrapped his hands around my shoulders as he whispered in my ear many words to encourage me and excite me. However, none managed to get through my head because of all the noise coming from all random directions. They were all screaming, screeching, crying, roaring, growling, gnashing, clashing! Everything else that one could use to describe an unruly crowd of people who''s way too excited for a nobody like me just because a powerful lady like Veronica uttered my name for a little bit.


    When Jimmy and I went into the stage, Jimmy started waving at the crowd with a nonchalant gaze as he tried his very best to rile them all up by pointing his hands at me. Veronica noticed this and immediately went at the very front of the stage with her hands tightly grasping her microphone.


    "Give it up for Brother James, my children! Come on!" Veronica roared as I saw the sweat gradually dripping onto her forehead while I could see that her red dress was finally getting stained by the sweat welling up on her chest. She didn''t give two shits about the welling moisture tainting her delicate skin, though. When the crowd suddenly started calling Jimmy''s name with all the enthusiastic praises in the world, Veronica began to feel rejuvenated again like she just became three years younger. "That''s right! That''s right, yeah! The best of the best out there¡ªhighest quality you could ever find in the Organization, ladies and gentlemen!" Veronica said while pointing at Jimmy, still not minding the sweat accumulating on her face, as she talked about Jimmy like he''s some kind of high-grade product.


    Jimmy didn''t mind this at all. In fact, it excited him further as he tightened his grip around my shoulder, still trying his best to direct all of the attention of the crowd towards me. Still, everyone else, especially the ladies, were all calling his name with their hands extended forward as if it would make them magically touch Jimmy in the air.


    Now that I am here in front of the stage, I have finally understood the scale in which Veronica operates. Everyone looks so happy, but they also looked like they''re some kind of wild animals inside of a correctional facility. If it weren''t for the innate human decency lingering within them, they would have already rushed forward to lunge at all three of us just to leave their bite mark at our skin. Their voices boomed, which is why there''s a lot of speakers all around us. If they removed even one of those, I''m sure it would be quite hard for any of us to hear what Veronica is saying. The hard spotlights pointed at the stage is so blinding that it literally started irritating my eyes while the heat coming from such harsh lights were enough to melt my skin. Thus, I am very well aware now as to why Veronica is sweating so much, although she wasn''t even standing here for half an hour. Due to her enthusiasm and the number of movements she''s doing in this huge stage, it''s no surprise that it would make anyone sweat bucket. Besides, Veronica is wearing what seems like a 6 inches heels as she walked all over the stage to capture more enthusiasm from all over the cinema.


    It was absolutely breath-taking.


    So this is the world that Veronica leads.


    This is what made such an amazing woman; this is what she strives all of us to become.


    The absolute reawakening of the primordial strength originating from our soul, that''s what she calls it. I finally understood it now that I''m standing here before all the excited people who are all excited to live their lives to the fullest.


    Veronica then gestured me to come towards her using her fingers. Jimmy then pushed me lightly towards her before uttering, "you can do this. I believe in you!"


    I then awkwardly stumbled towards Veronica, which elicited a few laughs from the people on the audience. Looking at Veronica''s grim expression after seeing such feedback from her children, she started to look at all of them with a contemptuous look on her face. And for once, everyone in the cinema shushed as if their consciousness suddenly dwindled. There are no big screens that show Veronica''s face all over the cinema, but somehow, every living creature, young or old, in this hall, even those who were sitting at the back, saw the sudden anger creeping into Veronica''s face.


    After a moment of silence, Veronica finally spoke once again, "Is that how you treat your brother?"


    Silence ensued throughout the cinema as I saw dome ladies in the audience starting to tear up with regretful looks all over their faces.


    "Is this how Plural Heights helped you throughout this many times that you spent being with us, being in this loving and caring family?" Veronica whispered with a vindictive tone that is oddly filled with loving care that lingered in every syllable she spoke. She said those heartfelt words while moving her hands all around her to tell her point that she''s calling out all people who had just laughed at me.


    "I-It''s okay, Veronica. It didn''t really offend me." I tried to say with a pained smile as I chuckled with my eyes on the ground.


    "Did you hear that? Did your insensitive ears hear what this man had just said? He said that he''s willing to be your little punching bag. No! That''s not okay! In this house, we do not laugh at small people like my child right here! NO! I will not stand up for that behavior!" Veronica said, still looking at the audience while breathing heavily, trying to conceal the seething anger rushing through her veins. "This man right here had seen death! This gentleman right here who''s standing right in front of me had just seen her mother and her friend die in the same month, this month." She then placed her hand on my shoulder, tightly wrapping her hands around me, making me feel the trembling of her hands. "The person you''re looking at right now has seen enough tragedy, and I am here to extend my hand at him just like how I did to all of you; what have you done in return? You laughed at him." She paused as she gritted her teeth with her lips clasped tightly. "YOU LAUGHED AT HIM! Each and every single one of you laughed at a grieving man. You laughed at a person for being clumsy--well, of course, he will be clumsy, his life flipped right before his very eyes! How can you not understand that?" Veronica uttered every single word she had just spoken with so much heartfelt conviction, but none of us here even considered for a little bit that her harsh tones exude a violent intent. "I am disappointed by your behavior." She said while shaking her head as the love flowing through her voice finally touched the hearts of her children.


    And the room was once again rooted in the deafening silence that felt like it would last for an eternity.


    "Apologize," Veronica said, but this time, instead of anger, she''s shaking because she''s trying her hardest not to cry. "All of you. Now."


    All the people in the audience started to look at me with pleading eyes, sorrowful voices, and regretful woes. They''re all speaking different words, but all of them pointed at one thing: they all wish to apologize to me--it doesn''t matter if they laughed or not. They still apologized.


    "Do you forgive them, my son?" She said before placing the microphone a few centimeters away from my lips.


    I stared at the people of the audience who were all looking at me with tear-filled faces. Meanwhile, Veronica leaned her body towards me, placing her head a few inches away from my face with unblinking eyes, making me hear and feel her heavy breathing.


    "Yes," I simply uttered timidly.


    Veronica then turned her body towards her audience while nodding nonstop with an impressed look on her face. The people in the audience suddenly started clapping without their usual roars. They were all merely clapping at me with the intent to celebrate the moment I had forgiven them. When Veronica heard this, she started to mumble into the microphone, "That''s right. That''s right. That''s real bravery in action right there. Only real strong people know how to forgive. That''s right."


    Everyone''s clapping became even louder, with a few people screaming, "whoo!"


    "Let me ask you, child," Veronica said with her eyes directly moving towards me. "do you still have the strength to forgive all of these people who have wronged you even knowing all of those tragedies that happened to you."


    I didn''t really understand what the tragedy she spoke of has to do with me forgiving them, but I just replied to get it over with, "of course."


    "Then, can you agree that your strength remained even after the death of those people you loved?"


    "Yes."


    "There you go, ladies and gentlemen," Veronica said with the conviction of a real leader. "the man himself uttered the truth! Even without love, strength can still thrive to strong people! This just shows that since you laughed at him, you''re still weak, and your soul is still incapable of being awakened to its maximum state! Children, this is because you''re still allowing the monsters around you to poison your mind! Your family, your friends, your media, your religion, your government, all of them are toxic things that you kept biting no matter how much I plead of you never to do it again! If I can beg every single one of you right now to abandon all of those things once and for all, I will do it in a heartbeat right now! RIGHT NOW!" Veronica then sighed with a sullen look creeping to her face as her shoulders slowly drooped. "But we don''t have enough time, so let me just say these things to you, ladies and gentlemen! Abandon the toxicity of your home. Avoid the poison that your friends are spewing you! They are all liars who''re manipulating you because you can offer your life to them as slaves to the social norms! Your brother right here who''s standing in front of you at this very moment is proof that you don''t need your friends and your family to be strong! We won''t ask anything of you; we''re not even asking you to pay us, remember?"


    The audience members then started to clap with expressions that only showed how much they trust everything that Veronica had said as absolute truth.


    "We are your family." She then moved her left hand all around her. "Plural Heights in your friend. We can give you everything that your family and friends SHOULD give you without asking anything in return, but your absolute commitment to our cause! Do you agree, my child?" Veronica said before placing her microphone in front of me.


    "Yes..." I uttered timidly with a weak voice while looking at the velvet floor of the stage.


    "Louder." She said to the microphone subtly while looking at me with dilated and unblinking eyes.


    "Yes," I said with much more conviction as I closed my eyes with my head hanging low.


    "I said, louder, damn it!" Veronica said with a stomp, making her heels echo a thud throughout the hall.


    "Yes!" I shouted with eyes all over the audience who''s looking at me with eyes filled with anticipation. I then took the microphone from Veronica and raised my fist high into the air. "Yes, I agree! I agree!" I shouted into the microphone; it garnered so much support from the crowd that everyone started to lose their mind once again.


    I started to look at this exquisite scenery that I have made with an excited look on my face as I tried to calm my swiftly beating chest.


    "Very good, my boy," Veronica said to me, not to the microphone. "why don''t you go backstage for a while? I have something for you there." She then pushed me into the backstage, and as I walked out of the stage, I heard everyone screaming my name repeatedly like I am some kind of enormous movie star.


    Jimmy then walked towards me and told me where I was supposed to go, but he didn''t come with me. He said that he has to see through this event until the very end. What I saw then in the backstage is a hallway that leads to a red double door.


    "Faraqha, sharvhaza, dheze!" I heard the audience screaming as I looked at the dimly lit corridor with a gulp.


    I walked through this metal corridor, feeling the cold touching my bare skin as my foot hit the metal floor, making me hear the appalling sound the soles of my shoes hitting the metal floor. I noticed that the floor, the walls, and the ceiling are all made out of stainless steel, making the surrounding look like it''s a long and wide vault.


    "Faraqha, sharvhaza, dheze!" I heard the audience once yelling once more, so loud that I could feel their voices making the entire corridor shake.


    When I finally arrived in front of the double door, I swung it open immediately because I already want to get out of the damp air in this corridor.


    What welcomed me inside is a room, obviously.


    A bedroom.


    In the middle of the room stood Nicole wearing only a translucent dress.


    "You''re here." She says with a sweet voice. She then slowly took her dress off, revealing her voluptuous breast, her bushy flower, and her untainted white skin. "I want you."


    Needless to say, after all the excitement I felt earlier, I fucked her.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I fucked the living shit out of her.

 98 Seed

    "Hey," Nicole mumbled as she laid naked on top of me.


    "Yeah?" I said with a satisfied grin on my face as I panted loudly after what I considered to be a worthwhile exercise that I haven''t done for a long time.


    "Let''s get married," Nicole replied with a soft giggle as I felt her licking the sweat on my chest. I want to be your wife."


    "What? I..." I said with a confused look on my eyes as I felt Nicole continue to mess with my hardened nipples.


    "I want to have your babies. When I first met you, I already know that I wish to dedicate my life to being your subservient little girl in the house." Nicole continued as she slowly gets up, straddling my lap, which was enough to have all my blood return into my lower half. "I want to be the mother of your many, many children. Please, baby, you already fucked me; I know you liked me! You just have to say yes, yes, yes, please. Say, yes!" Nicole uttered as she dropped her petite body, letting her lady cave swallow the entirety of my manhood. She kept speaking those words of affection as all of the blood in my head started to leave my head and travel down into the area that Nicole had conquered.


    "I''m not... Ahhh! I''m not sure if... oh god, that''s so good..." I tried to utter a few words of protestation, but every time I did so, Nicole would tighten the grip of her insides all over the shaft of my member, which is enough to make her squeal and make me lose all sense to blabber a five-word sentence.


    Mary''s claws dropped onto the bed, as her spit starts to fall onto my face, slowly dripping into my skin like the web of a black widow ready to eat her prey up for dinner. Her hands clawed around my face as if she was about to grab me whole and crush my skull but still continue to make love to my already decapitated corpse. Her sweat starts to intermingle with mine as a sticky texture starts to swallow both of us whole like we''re entangled into a toxic goo that will soon melt us both whole.


    "Marry me! Marry me! Marry me!" Nicole kept repeating and repeating with increasing intensity coming from her tone as she also quickened the pace in which she rode my body. At that very moment, I had realized that her role in this world was indeed to become mine, my woman.


    Her face was filled with utter ecstasy as she rode my lap. She would raise her body slowly, making her wet flesh caress the shaft of my manhood until it reached the tip and swiftly dropping her ass onto my waist, taking the entirety of my length balls deep. Every she would do this, her lips would turn into an o-shape that would make her reddened face flush even more! Her sweat covers her entire face like it''s a dripping hot caramel that would soon thaw her skull.


    And that ticked the switch in my head that I was trying my hardest to suppress.


    I remembered how my mom would tell me that I am a son of a god. As a member of a Christian brotherhood who vowed to serve the lord, body and soul, I must dedicate myself to treat my body like a temple and only sacrifice the sanctity of my sex life to the right person after marriage. Those were everything my mother told me, and it was all legitimized by the pastor in our local parish. They all said that a man must only embrace a woman when he had already vowed to the lord that he should stay with her forever.


    But Veronica also told me to denounce every poison those little insects in the church kept telling me, and what better time to do that but now?


    I dropped Nicole''s body onto the bed and pinned her down further into the sheets with gritting hands. "You wanna be my bitch that bad, huh?" I said as I pulled her hair, making Nicole moan even further like a horned up little pig. "Begging for my dick like a fucking whore. Nah, not ''like,''" I continued to drill the entirety of my strength into her hole as the anger in me rises into an almost unbelievable level, turning my body into an unbelievable red color. "you are a whore, Nicole! My whore! MINE!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Yes, yes! I want you! I need you, sir, I want to be yours! I want to be your wife, sir, make me your wife. I want to serve you and give you many children and fix your home forever and ever and ever!" Nicole uttered as she started to move her hips rhythmically as I continued to plow through her tight little baby-makers.


    "Fine!" I screamed, spilling a few of my spit out of my trembling lips. "If you wanna be my little bitch that bad, then fine! I''ll fuck you all day, and you''ll never, ever, ever be able to say ''no'' to me ever again! You want to be my wife that bad, huh? Then yeah! I accept, bitch; I''ll be your owner!" I suddenly felt a rising tightness coursing around my scrotum, making my legs shake as I allowed my hidden inhibitions to conquer my body.


    "Thank you very much, siiiir!" She mumbled as I felt my semen course through her insides.


    I then allowed my body to drop onto the bed beside Nicole as our fatigue took the better of us. That was when I finally realized what I have done; I looked at Nicole, and she looked back at me with a relaxed smile as she started to mumble with her hands on her stomach.


    "You''ll be a father soon."


    I gulped my spit into the back of my throat as my jaws slowly dropped. Fuck. I just impregnated a woman I had met yesterday. This is fucking nuts!


    Shit.


    SHIT!


    I raised my head with my head laying on my hands, trying my very best to find the most logical solution to this shit show that I had just thrown into my already shitty life. FUCK! I just met this lady yesterday. FUCKING YESTERDAY, ME!? SHIT! My heart didn''t have the time to relax because after pounding nonstop earlier for fucking the shit out of this female Plural Heights member that I had just impregnated just now, I am now thinking about the many hundreds of ways this day could end. I haven''t even started my job in Jimmy''s company yet, and I''m already here trapping myself in a marriage with a stranger. I don''t know her; I don''t know her address, I don''t know her favorite color, I don''t know her favorite music, I don''t know what food she likes, heck, I don''t even know her surname!


    And I...


    I...


    "It''s okay, baby," Nicole uttered as she slowly hugged me from behind. She slowly laid her head on my shoulder as her trembling arms wrapped around my shoulders. "I always wanted to start again after the death of my children, and I..." She then sighed as she lightly tapped her lips on my cheeks. "If you want,


    can get an abortion."


    "What?" I turned my head towards her direction after hearing that bombshell that she had just thrown at me. "No, no, no, no! Fuck! What are you saying?" I said while the idea of killing my child that''s still forming around Nicole''s belly started to make my body tremble out of control. I began to lose my breath after all these thoughts suddenly poured through my head. "What are you saying, Nicole? What the fuck are you trying to tell me?" I said as I gently held her cheeks with both my trembling hands, but my voice roared with all the seeping anger welling within me. I am so fucking confused, so, so fucking confused. What is she trying to say? Why is she saying that? "We''re not getting that abortion... Nicole, we are not going to abort our child."


    Nicole gasped. "Then..." Her face started to beam as she looked at me as tears begin to dampen her pretty big eyes. I began to fix her ruffled hair as her tears finally allowed themselves to jump out of the confines of her eyes.


    "I''m marrying you, Nicole," I said with a smile, but something deep inside me was trying to pull those words away from my lips. Alas, they went out, and that last bastion of rationality in me finally gave up. "I''m gonna be your husband, Nicole," I said that but it almost pained me like hundreds of prickling needles inside of me, but I still uttered those words like I''m puking hundreds of sharp glass shards.


    Nicole then embraces me from behind with her head still on my shoulder. I continued to sit on the soft king-size bed that is conveniently placed in a shady room in the backstage of the Plural Heights mall cinema. I then remembered that Veronica said she had something for me in this room. Was this it? Was this the gift that she told me to take? All of those realizations build within me. I start to feel like I''m losing myself and the colors of my life. Thus, as this dimly lit room surround us with a sharp fluorescent light, I could feel my body slowly losing any semblance of hues or saturation as Nicole remained embracing me with her soft body.


    No, scratch that.


    I don''t even know if it''s really soft.


    I can''t feel it.


    I can''t feel her. I can''t feel anything.


    "You''re going to be a father," Nicole said, as her voice enraptured my blank mind. "we should tell Jimmy about this before you do your oath-taking for Plural Heights membership."


    "... yeah..." I simple mumbled, but I don''t even know at this point what I was doing.


    I just impregnated a woman I barely know, plunged my seed deep into her womb... I...


    I...


    Who am I?

 99 Membership

    "I''m sure Brother James will help us if we explain our situation properly," Nicole spoke with the same gentle tone that she had. Still, seeing how she politely addresses Jimmy now, I am relatively sure that she had finally understood the reason why I suddenly feel blue.


    "... yes..." I said with a clumsy chuckle, but my shadowy and downcast gaze shows how much I hated every single second I waste being in this room with Nicole.


    "Did you regret it?" Nicole said now with the same melancholic touch around his melodious tone. She said so while still playfully caressing the surface of my sweaty chest. I could feel the thumping of her heart beneath her pair of soft breasts, for she''s still laying the entirety of her petite body on top of my arched back.


    "Of course, I do," I said with a hint of anger on my tone, which was enough to make Nicole jump back away from me with a fidget. "I regret it because I know exactly how incapable I am as a person! I don''t even have a proper home to raise that child in, what are you expecting me to say?" My hands waved from all over the place, but Nicole just quietly listened to my every word silently with her hands gently stroking my shoulders. "This would just turn horribly, I say, HORRIBLY! Put that child in my fucked up apartment room with a father like me who has no money or anything to make a child''s life better and, there you have it, we got a messed up baby who will grow up being unhappy, and it''s all because we both decided that it''s okay to plow all that cum inside your womb on the second day we met! So, yes, Nicole, I regret it!" I then swiftly stood up with both my hands squeezing my temples as hard as I could in hopes that it would burst like a lemon.


    Nicole then stood up too with the same level of regret painted all over her face as she wrapped her arms around my chest. I then took her hands while tears start to flow out of my eyes, oh god, I cannot stand crying again and again like it''s all okay to just simply tear up all the time until it turned into my personality! I hate this, and I detested myself even more for showing this side of me to the mother of my soon-to-be child. I was thinking like a beast, like a bug in need of a mate that would carry my genes, who will also scream the same amount of pain I had sung when I was a boy. He would grow old, hating me as I did with my mother, and he would live a life inside a darkened room with nothing but himself as a way to comfort him in yet another tearful evening. I cannot subject another person to that sort of sadness. No parent is alive out there to wish that their child would live the same tragedy they had to put up with in life.


    My legs shook, and I simply allowed myself to fall on my knees because I have seen this sort of thing happening before already, and I''m reasonably sure that it will all just end up in me bawling while I''m pathetically calling out for help while I''m groveling on the floor. I held Nicole''s hand tightly because I know that I had just befallen her a terrible decision that she will regret with me for the rest of our lives, and it will be the leading cause of our child''s depression. I just ruined the life of a woman I barely know and the life of a person who''s not even born yet. How could I even face Mike in heaven with stains like this around my hands? How could I explain this to my mother in hell when she asked me why I became just like her?


    How could I tell my dad that I lived an unfulfilled life, and he sacrificed himself for nothing?


    Nicole then started kissing my cheeks as she tightened her hold around my chest. I could feel her bare chest wriggling around my back as she wrapped my faltering body with her unyielding warmth.


    "Why don''t we consult Brother James about our problems first?" Nicole uttered as she tried her very best to smile at me in her vain attempt to cheer me up¡ªdidn''t really work, but it was enough for me to know that she hasn''t given up yet.


    I smiled as I moved my head towards her pretty little face. I then caressed her white skin, which made Nicole smile even further, allowing me to lay all of my affection at her with her eyes closed. "What difference would it make if we come crawling into Jimmy''s office now with heavy news like this?"


    "Brother James is a good person, a great man. He will not allow any member of Plural Heights to live a life filled with, you know, regret¡ªthat''s what he would always tell us in all of our weekly meetings." Nicole spoke with certainty as she tried to pull every bit of memory she has that we could use to help our lives. "If that won''t work, then the Mother is still here in LA! She can help us; I know she can¡ªshe will! She won''t allow anyone in Plural Heights to have a soul tainted with unhappiness!"


    "... maybe you''re right, Nicole." I said as I let both our foreheads touch with both our pairs of eyes rooted at each other.


    "Besides, you will be having your membership oath-taking after this anyway!" Nicole explained further with her eyes started to show their usual brilliance once more. "This is the perfect way more than ever to forward your membership to Brother James and maybe subtly inform him of our problems!"


    Thus, we did. With a nod, I helped Nicole wear a few clean clothes prepared for her beforehand inside of a drawer near the bed where we made our little miracle. It was a bit of a curious thing to me as to why there''s a lot of clothes prepare for both of us that fit both of us perfectly, but I just regarded it as more of Veronica''s kindness at full-throttle.


    When we left the room, we have found out that Veronica''s little seminar thingy had already ended and the entire cinema is now a dark and desolate wasteland if not for the lone janitor who''s cleaning the whole hall without any other assistant of some kind in sight to help him out. I decided to be the bigger man and approached him to help him clean the damn huge place up. When I approached him, I found out that he was the same person I met when I first went here in this mall, the guy who came out of the cargo trucks out of fucking nowhere. Nonetheless, after a few short greetings, I extended my help towards him. Still, he promptly refused before telling me that Jimmy had informed him that he would be waiting at the room behind the Clockwork store again if I am ready to forward my membership. I insisted once more if he wanted some help, but the janitor simply refused even more adamantly with a playful smile while saying that he enjoyed his job and wouldn''t give it to anyone else. Before Nicole and I left the cinema, I heard the sound of someone munching and literally devouring what sounded like plastics and foils behind us, but when I checked what is happening out there, I noticed that it was too dark for me to see anything. Thus, when Nicole asked me what''s wrong, I simply told her that I was just giving the cinema one last look before leaving.


    After that, we immediately went into Clockwork with no problem whatsoever save from some other members of Plural Heights who still haven''t gone home yet. They all greeted both of us fondly, but they weren''t too chummy to the point of awkwardness. When we finally entered Clockwork, I saw that the shop has a customer looking around the clocks on display. Looking at her white polo shirt and denim pants, I knew already then that he was a Plural Heights member.


    Odd, to say the least.


    Nicole and I looked at each other with equal confusion because, although we are both Plural Heights members, we know that it is still quite weird for literally anyone to buy anything in this establishment. Nonetheless, we didn''t want to alarm the customer with our judgmental gazes, so we simply greeted him warmly before heading into the room.


    I thought that was the end of that before the weirdo suddenly called us with a simple, "Hey!" and continued speaking casually as if we were his close friends. "Aren''t you that guy''s replacement?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Excuse me?" I said with a vividly distressed expression as I tried to hide my frustrations at him.


    "I mean, you know, that guy working at that whatchamacallit company! I know his name is Mike or something?" Hearing the way he slurred his words along with his horrible laughter, Nicole and I both already knew that the man didn''t know what he''s talking about, but when he said Mike''s name, I knew then that I wouldn''t be able to contain my anger.


    However, before I could even voice out my thoughts, Nicole had already done so for me. "Sir, I don''t know what you''re on about, but I''m fairly sure you are not allowed to say that!" Nicole uttered those strange words politely, but one could still hear the anger in her voice that she willingly let out for me. "Come on, let''s go; we''re wasting our time on that asshole," Nicole uttered with a grimace.


    "What''s the hurry? It''s not like old buddy Jim-Jam will leave just because you''re a bit laaaate!" The drunk stranger then proceeded to laugh as he grabbed my arms tightly, making me wince in disgust after feeling his hot and sweaty palms.


    "Is there a problem here, dear customers?" A woman wearing a black plaid tux hurriedly went to our direction with her eyes shooting daggers at the drunk man. She then wrapped her around the drunkard''s shoulders while showing both Nicole and me a pleasant and business-like smile. "Is this man bothering the two of you."


    When the woman suddenly appeared, the drunk stranger hurriedly took his hands away from me with a frightened groan. The woman, who looked somewhat familiar, then tightened her hold around the man''s shoulders. She''s quite a tall lady, so she immediately towered over the now shrinking man she held tightly.


    "No," I spoke while wiping my arms with a few tissue papers that Nicole had given me earlier. "he didn''t really bother us. Thanks." I turned around and head towards the weird room hidden behind this shop when the shop attendant suddenly bowed with a grim look on her face.


    "I''m sorry, sir." The tux-wearing shop attendant spoke slowly with a stern voice.


    "No, it''s okay. He''s not really doing anything wrong." I said with a clumsy chuckle as I slowly pulled Nicole towards me by her waist so that she wouldn''t be jealous. "I should be thanking you."


    "No, I wasn''t apologizing for this, sir. I''m... because last time we..." I could see that the shop attendant is having a hard time articulating her words, so I simply sighed at her with a smile.


    "Have we met before, miss?" I spoke with a lazy smile plastered around my face.


    When the shop attendant heard this, she twitched before slowly raising her head. "Yes. Yes, we have." She spoke with a regretful gaze looming around her tired-looking eyes.


    "Then whatever you have done to me back then, it''s probably not important since I''ve already forgotten about it."


    The shop attendant then gave me a shocked look on her face as a reply before bowing once again with the drunkard still wrapped around her arms.


    I then immediately went into the room where I first met Jimmy in the flesh: the weird-looking ass red room that has a very posh aesthetic¡ªexcessive, but still posh nonetheless.


    "Oh?" Jimmy said as he raised his head to greet us. A table is now sitting in the middle of the room; Jimmy placed all the many documents he''s reading there. "Are you ready to file for membership already?"


    I chuckled with a nod. "Is this a bad time?"


    Jimmy simply stood up while shaking his head, his arms making the same motion. "No, no, no. Not at all," he then gestured us to sit on the sofa in front of his table, "come, sit."


    We promptly sat on the sofa as Jimmy instructed with Nicole still wrapped around my hands.


    "What can I do for you two today? I mean, aside from the membership, of course. We already prepared it earlier, so we just need to do the oath-taking." Jimmy spoke before sitting down after seeing that we have both placed ourselves on the sofa comfortably.


    "Jimmy, we¡ª" Before I could finish my statement, Nicole had already interrupted me as she suddenly stood up with a roaring voice.


    "Please, help us, Brother James! I am pregnant," she then pointed at me, "he''s the father. We don''t know what we would do."


    Jimmy then looked at Nicole with a surprised look before showing a forced smile, "Oh! Is that so, congratulations, congratulations!" Jimmy uttered with a few lighthearted claps as he looked at me with a defeated gaze.


    Don''t look at me like that. I know exactly how stupid my decisions are. "She''s right. We''re expecting a child soon."


    Jimmy then sighed while shaking his head lightly as she scoured around her table to find something that he didn''t expect to use today. When he looked back at us, he gave both of us two laminated brochures that contained a lot of child-friendly imageries and pictures of various families.


    "That brochure shows the support that Plural Heights will give to our members with children. Of course, all of the perks there are completely optional, and the two of you can simply refuse any of them with just a simple phone call." Jimmy said when he saw that we had both took the brochures already.


    "Can you give us a crash course of this whole program?" I said as I lazily laid the brochure on my lap, not wanting to read it further.


    "Well, it''s simple, really. We will give your child the opportunity to have free education from elementary to college but only in our affiliated Plural Heights academic institutions. You can see there in the brochure that we have Yale University as one of our affiliates, so if your child ever wished to study there, then no need to give her the burden of student loans anymore. However, if none of our affiliated universities piqued your interest, then I can at least guarantee that our affiliated elementary and high school academic institutions are all boasting a huge amount of achievements, not only for their students but for their faculty as well." Jimmy went on about it without a moment''s halt as if he had been reciting this same song repeatedly for the entirety of his life here in Plural Heights.


    "This is amazing!" Nicole exclaimed while tugging my shirt! She then pointed at one of the schools listed as a Plural Heights affiliate with a beaming smile painted all over her face. "Look, this is my dream school!"


    "We can easily enroll your child there with ease if you so desire," Jimmy said with the same gentle smile he always liked to show.


    "But what is the catch, Jimmy?" I said with a shaken expression while gazing at the laminated brochure.


    "Hmm..." Jimmy said while scratching his chin. "Well, obviously, the only children who can enjoy these perks are the sons and daughters of Plural Heights members. We will also be expecting them to be our members once they turned 18. That means their parents must be a member of Plural Heights as long as they''re studying under the Plural Heights education program, and it will go on further in case your child wishes to use that same services if they wanted to have a graduate degree."


    "This is almost too good to be true, Jimmy," I said with a stupid grin on my face, but I know deep inside me, I would willingly be a part of this group forever if it means my child will have a colorful education.


    "Well, sure, it is, but the catch here is that you need to be a part of Plural Heights'' weekly meetings and seminars. Don''t worry about it affecting your job too. After all, I will be your boss next week, so being absent because of a Plural Heights-related reason will not be a reason for you to lose your job." Jimmy continued with an excited grin on his smooth face.


    "Is that true? You will be working under Jimmy?" Nicole said as her lips formed an O shape, showing how dumbfounded she was of this revelation.


    "Y-yeah..." I said as I chuckled while scratching the back of my neck.


    "Oh my god, baby!" Nicole then wrapped her arms around my neck while kissing my cheeks repeatedly.


    "Yeah. The program is a really great one¡ªI won''t lie about that; even I am surprised about it." Jimmy then cleared his throat as if he had just realized something he shouldn''t have done. "A-anyway! The only thing you have to worry about now is the hospital bills of the pregnancy and other important stuff like food, shelter, clothes, and all that jazz. Well, to be fair, you also don''t have to worry too much about that too because once your child started her first day in elementary school, we will be giving her a monthly allowance until she turned 20. The rest is, well, it''s up to you two, so there''s still no reason for you guys to be lazy or anything like that."


    "Wow, Jimmy... I¡ªyou really saved our asses with this one, man..." I said as I felt a tear about to drop from out of my eyes.


    "That''s not me, man. That''s all this." Jimmy said while waving around the room. "You should be thanking Plural Heights for that program. They''re paying for it."


    "Oh..." I then said with a slight fear suddenly welling up in my throat. "So about the membership, Jimmy, uhm..."


    "Membership is free." Jimmy nonchalantly replied before I could finish my words as he laid his head on his hands.


    "What? For real?" I replied as I swiftly leaned my body forward with my eyes wide open.


    "Psh. Yeah!" Jimmy then laughed heartily after looking at my face. "Everyone who heard that news all looked the same. Eyes popped, jaws dropped, screaming all over the place¡ªit never gets old!" Jimmy then extended his hand towards me, expecting a handshake. "So? What do you say? Wanna be a part of the family?"


    I grabbed his arms like a bitch and shook it as if my life depended on it!


    "YES!"


    I would be dumb if I said no.

 100 Oath

    "Shall we proceed with the oath-taking then?" Jimmy spoke out while looking at our refreshed faces.


    "What is this¡­''oath-taking'' you two have been talking about anyway?" I said with a stupid grin on my face in embarrassment to show my utter ignorance.


    "Hmm¡­Well, it''s really just a formality ceremony. If you want, we don''t even need to do it, and we would just say that you have done the oath-taking here." Jimmy said with an equally stupid chuckle. "It''s not like people will get mad at you for doing something that everybody hasn''t even remembered anymore."


    I then raised one of my eyebrows with a silly grin. "Is it that unimpressive that all members just decided to boycott it out of their heads?" I then laughed heartily, but my happy tone gradually faded when I saw the shocked faces painted all over Nicole and Jimmy''s faces. "Hey¡­ You guys, you do realize that I''m just joking, right?" I then shrugged with a chuckle to lighten up the mood further. "You guys look so stupid right now, stop it."


    "Oh," Jimmy said with a chuckle; Nicole did the same after hearing what I had just said. I then sighed after seeing their now relieved faces, still not understanding why they had panicked. Jimmy then continued, "Well, I guess we''re just both not very good at jokes." Jimmy said while clutching his hands tightly with a bead of sweat rushing from his scalp.


    "I can tell." I then stood up with both my hands on my waist. "So, when are we gonna do this oath-taking thing? If everyone did it, I might as well do it for fairness'' sake!"


    "I see." Jimmy chuckled while holding a book on his left hand, extending it towards me while his right hand is raised to the level of his head. "This book is the Plural Heights manifesto that the Mother has granted to all of us for free. Before we begin, please place your left hand on top of the Mother''s manifesto and raise your right hand straight."


    I carefully followed Jimmy''s instructions, and somehow, I could faintly feel a strange power resonating from within this thick book like it''s giving my soul further power just like what Veronica would repeatedly say. I could faintly hear her voice as I placed my hand on the book as if my soul is screaming the words she would often tell.


    "Now, repeat after me, I, please say your name," Jimmy spoke with that familiar gentle tone.


    I did what he had instructed and uttered my name with much conviction as an unforeseen aura creeps from the veins on my palm into the rest of my body like one of that chi or chakra shit that eastern philosophers would speak of religiously.


    "¡­ do solemnly swear to devout my life in servitude to the Plural Heights family."


    I happily repeated what Jimmy had said as I felt Nicole''s hands traveling all over my chest from the back.


    "I intend to uphold the Plural Heights'' mission, vision, and values in the best of my abilities under the loving eyes of my Mother."


    I felt my body being filled with much vigor as I continued to repeat every single syllable that Jimmy utters. For some reason, I haven''t made any mistakes yet, although I was expecting not to be able to follow through Jimmy''s pace.


    "I would willingly commit myself to the Plural Heights'' reasonable orders and chores according to my Mother''s very wishes to further improve my spiritual vehement."


    This time, what Jimmy said was longer than what I would have necessarily expected from this sort of ''repeat after me'' kind of activities, which made me almost think that I would most definitely fail to utter every word of it. However, when I finally opened my mouth to speak the words which he wishes me to say, I found myself managing to repeat everything that he had just without fail like it has been long programmed in my head before this very moment.


    "Lastly, I will henceforth call the woman named Veronica as Mother with or without her knowledge."


    Oddly enough, what I actually almost failed to repeat are these words, for I almost stuttered while saying them. Needless to say, I still manage to pull myself together and utter them without much hesitation.


    "¡­ or so help me Mother." Jimmy finally spoke with a proud heave.


    "¡­ or so help me Mother." I repeated almost chuckling after realizing how silly this entire thing had been so far.


    All three of us just laughed it off once I uttered those final words. Nicole was still hugging me on my back, making me squirm beneath my breath as I gradually started feeling her boobs bounce in all random directions around my back. I heaved a relaxed sigh with an equally calm and stupid look on my face before I saw Jimmy handing the book he was holding earlier. He then told me that it was mine now, and I am to read at least a chapter of it every week for further social points among the Plural Heights. However, Jimmy further reiterated that I am not obligated to read the book if it was not to my liking.


    He then handed me a one-page contract on a long Oslo paper. Jimmy said that it''s just another way to establish my membership in the Plural Heights formally. He also encouraged me to read the entire thing, but he also reminded me that everything that''s written there is something that I already know. I just shrugged lazily after hearing him say that and simply signed everything that I have to sign in the contract and handed it to Jimmy equally as nonchalantly. If I already know everything written there, then I''m fairly certain that I don''t need to read all of it. It''s like one of those Terms and Services thingies!


    After doing so, Jimmy placed my contract on a brown envelope on the side and gave me a piece of paper. "That contains your first chore as an official member."


    "Errand?" I said with a confused look on my face with a dumb-founded chuckle.


    "Oh? You don''t know what errands are, baby?" Nicole replied with her usual gentle tone. "Well, it''s no big deal, really. It''s pretty much our only way to pay for our membership to the group. It''s just a bunch of mundane stuff, so you don''t need to think too much about it."


    "Ahh¡­ Well, I don''t mind doing it for the group since they will be taking care of our child in the future for us." I said while caressing Nicole''s stomach. When she saw me doing this, Nicole touched my hands and moved them along with me.


    We then bid farewell Jimmy with a polite bow. When we finally left the Clockwork shop, I read my ''first errand'' and saw that it was just asking me to do volunteer work in a nearby Plural Heights nursing home. Oh, so there''s even an affiliated nursing home for this place. I don''t mind helping out there at all. It says in the piece of paper that I have to help out for at least three days before this month ends. I don''t mind that at all.


    Before we could even leave the mall itself, I saw the familiar figure of the drunkard who had bothered both of us earlier in Clockwork. Right now, he''s just gazing blankly at the ceiling of the mall with a pair of dead eyes. I stared at him with a grimace as I pulled Nicole away from him. However, the man didn''t even notice us. He was just looking above him with a stupidly blank expression while uttering something, but his voice is too low that I could barely hear him say anything.


    "¡­ mother knows best¡­" I heard him whispering those familiar words repeatedly before I could leave the mall with Nicole. I quickly looked back at him as I felt my heart skip a beat.


    "What''s the matter?" Nicole worriedly whispered while looking up at my face with a weak frown on her face.


    "No, nothing, I guess I''m just seeing things," I said with a reassuring smile as I headed out of the mall with my arms wrapped around Nicole''s waist.


    I then walked away from the mall with a newfound respect to this grease-filled building as my eyes gradually reflect the satisfaction I was feeling in my chest.


    ***


    "He didn''t read the contract, huh?" Jimmy uttered while looking at the piece of paper on his hand. His eyes started to shake as he gazed at the signature at the bottom of the paper.


    He then read the contract carefully as he had always done every year for the past few years¡­


    THIS AGREEMENT made on the day ## day of ### in the year two thousand and ###.


    BY AND BETWEEN: Veronica #### of Plural Heights Co. Ltd.


    Hereinafter called the "Mother"


    AND


    ###### ######


    Hereinafter called the "Member"


    WITNESSETH: that the Mother and Member undertake and agree as follows:


    Article A THE MEMBERSHIP


    The Member shall:


    (a)    Call the leader of the Plural Heights Premium Group as "Mother" unconditionally with or without the Mother''s consent, agreement, order, or presence.


    (b)   May optionally call other Plural Heights Premium Group Members as "Brother" or "Sister" depending on the fellow Members'' preference.


    (c)    Perform all monthly chores dutifully and unconditionally without the need for a reminder from the Mother or other fellow Plural Heights Premium Group members.


    (d)   Obey anything and everything that the Mother would say no matter how insignificant or important that order might be to the Member. (The nature of the said order will vary depending on Mother''s wishes at the time the order was implemented. The Mother''s order may vary from removing other people the Member may personally know out of their lives or forbidding them to utter a word, name, or figures.)


    Article B FAILURE OF COMPLIANCE


    If the Member failed to comply with Article A, the Mother would be obligated to:Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    (a)    Remove the Member from Plural Heights Premium Group temporarily or permanently depending on the gravity of the Member''s failure.


    (b)   Kill the Member.


    SIGNATURES AND DATE


    IN WITNESS WHEREOF the Mother has caused this membership to be executed by its duly authorized officers, and the Member has set his hand as of the date first above written.


    SIGNED by:


    James Rodgers


    Vice President of Plural Heights Premium Group


    ###### ######


    Membe

 101 Years

    That kick-started the mundane life that I have ahead of me, really.


    Once I started dedicating myself to other things happening in my life, I''m beginning to forget the many tragedies I had to endure in the past. When I started to work under Jimmy, the stress of it all started to become a reality. Before I knew it, my life had been spent talking to associates, forming a family, and being a good member of the community rather than thinking about some depressing stuff. It''s not at all a better life, but it sure is a happier one. Work has been hell, but for the first time in a very long time, I can finally see myself drinking with coworkers with a genuine smile on my face. For once, I found myself hanging out with my boss, not because I forced myself to do it for the betterment of my career''s future. Not to mention, the pay Jimmy is giving me is enough to make me feel like the sleepless nights are worth it.


    I really am grateful for Plural Heights because of the many things that they had given me, and for the future that they made possible because of their help. More than anything, I was happy for having the love of my life. Well, I am not really quite sure as to what I feel about her¡ªis it love, or is it just me forcing myself to make my relationship work with the woman I accidentally impregnated? Nonetheless, if you go home to see a clean room, a great meal, and a beautiful woman there to greet you, then no amount of confusion could ever falter a man into believing that he''s at least living in a life that he loves. If not the woman itself, then the world she gave me is great enough for me to realize that I am finally ready to devote myself to her. Besides, the way he worked hard for me every day is enough for me to realize that she is more than willing to submit herself to me if it means that she could worship me for just an hour. It is what a man like me deserves to see in a woman: quiet, subservient, beautiful, and obedient.


    Of course, I never really forgot my duty in Plural Heights even though my life has finally started to shine its brilliance for once. Veronica is right when she said that Jimmy would willingly allow me to leave the work if the group ever needs me. Sometimes, the chores that Plural Heights demands me to do can be quite demanding, such as going to different shelters all over the world and feed the homeless. Sometimes, the chores can be very mundane, like ensuring the member''s safety during a weekly event¡ªwhen those chores come, I always say that it''s one of those good days! However, as time goes on, the chores would start to be on the demanding side more often, which I do not really mind at all because I am doing it all for the betterment of the group, but it can really affect my performance at work. I am just happy that I share a company with a bunch of understanding folks who understands my needs because they''re all members of Plural Heights like me. I also cannot stop thanking my wife for always being understanding when I come home late and always leave her alone in my dark and lonely apartment room.


    Thus, I decided to be a better man to inspire the people I''m handling and to give my wife a better place to stay.


    I have to be better for the child that had just arrived in the world today when my wife finally gave me the best thing that had been given life in the world.


    I have to be better to prove to the world that the house I had just bought today with the help of Veronica is something that I deserve to have, albeit I sometimes think that it is a bit too much for a man like me to have.


    I have to be better, so when Jimmy promoted me today, I can tell him that he made the right decision to give me more opportunities to further my career.


    I have to be better...


    Better...


    I...


    In my quest to be a better man, I lost track of time and realized that three years have passed by before my very eyes without my knowledge.


    I managed to save enough money to buy my wife a large house in a great neighborhood in a residential area in LA, but the cost is that I worked extra harder in my job, so my body got thinner, and I feel like I aged ten years more than my current age. I was finally able to land in a position higher than the one where I started, but it just meant less time for me to meet my wife and my kid while they wait for me anxiously at home. For so long, I could now call myself the father of a beautiful child that I am more than proud of for being very bright although she''s still a baby. Still, the catch is that I couldn''t even play with her for so long because I would always need to bury my head in my work, which sometimes makes me feel like maybe my life would turn into a real-life rendition of Cat''s in the Cradle if my relationship with my daughter stays this way.


    However, even after all that, I am thankful.


    I am thankful to Jimmy for giving me a career opportunity that I am proud of to the point where I could finally show off myself to other people just because of how fucking great my job is. There''s nothing more I can say to my wife other than my undying gratitude for always being there for me, always being patient to me, always staying there by my side whenever I need her, always giving the effort of exercising to make herself look good every day for me to admire day and night, and always being the best parent for my child. In essence, I could never ask for more from her. I am thankful to Veronica for supporting my decisions economically or personally without reservations and without needing payment as long as I fulfill my role in Plural Heights. The Mother gave me my life, gave my child a future, and gave me my career.


    My life is not perfect, but it is one that I will never ever forget, and my heart will always be filled with gratitude for those who have placed me here.


    I couldn''t ask for more.


    Thus, when the Mother personally called me in her office in New York to have a personal meeting with her regarding my excellent performance in Plural Heights, there''s nothing else I said other than an essay-length reply that shows my enthusiasm to go.


    "I am doing great, Mother, all because of you!" I said with a lazy chuckle, trying my hardest to appear nonchalant when I wanted to explode for so long now that I had seen Mother''s voice again for so long. Nicole must have seen the look of my face, for she went straight to me while rubbing my shoulder as she quietly listened to my voice. "My chores have been doing well, Mother. Remember last month when I went back to the PH nursing home? A lot of people there really appreciated the efforts I did as a volunteer. Oh? You''ve heard of it? Oh man, Mother, should I really say it? I''m getting so embarrassed now. Okay, well, if you insist." I giggled along with Nicole as I placed the phone near her ear so we could listen to Mother together. I then pulled her waist closer, which made Nicole blush. "Remember that old man Jensen? Yes, that guy, he poops a lot, right? Well, the people there don''t really know what to do with him since they don''t want to get dirty, but I''ve lived in an environment like that, so I really pulled it off well like a champ! Oh, yes, yes, I see that you''ve heard about Mr. Cruz, yes, I''m sure his soul is on the other side now. Oh, don''t worry about it, Mother, I took care of the incineration process since he doesn''t have any living family members anymore. Yes, you have nothing to worry about, Mother. I saw through the entire process. I was even the one who threw him to the incinerator. I think it''s just fair for me to do that to him since he had been very good to me.


    Mother really loved hearing replies like that from her devout children, and she sent me a short response that tells me my next instructions before the meeting in a way that makes me feel happy because I can see her glee through her concise sentence.


    "Wait for my tweet."


    I immediately showed it to my wife Nicole, and she started jumping in joy with me as we both looked at her reply as if we had been granted a divine artifact that will transcend our soul into nirvana.


    "Wait for my tweet."


    To be fair, now that I''m rereading it with Nicole, I can finally see that perhaps it was not hyperbole that her short but beautiful reply truly is a work of divine entity. I mean, who else could make something as beautiful as this with just such simple and short words? Perhaps this is really a sign that the Mother is finally ready to strengthen my soul and show my very eyes what lies ahead of this mortal realm. When I reiterated these thoughts to Nicole, the only thing she told me is a few words of agreement and how much she''s proud of me of finally getting the Mother''s attention again after three years.


    I consider myself a long-time member of Plural Heights now, so I know what Mother meant when she said that message to me. I quickly hopped into my office and visited Mother''s Twitter account right away. By the time I saw her empty Twitter profile¡ªso empty in fact that it doesn''t even have a profile picture and the account itself is not following anybody, but she had almost 200k followers¡ªI started to refresh her feed over and over again in hopes to see her tweet that contains her beautiful instructions. I was there in front of my PC with my back hunched into an arc while my middle finger tapped the refresh button every three seconds, sometimes even just a second, to see if her message arrived. After precisely one hour, thirteen minutes, and seventeen seconds of refreshing her account vehemently, I finally saw Mother''s tweet, her grand instructions to me.


    "plural heights


    L4, R9


    only member 15436"


    That''s it! That''s the tweet! It meant Mother wanted me to go to the nearest Plural Heights branch around me, go to level 4, find room 9, and wait for further instructions. The tweet also specifies that the only one the Mother expects to see is the member that owns the membership ID 15436. THAT''S MY MEMBERSHIP ID! I can''t believe she remembers it; she truly is the very icon of perfection itself!


    Such format in our tweets is how members like me usually call other members for help in our chores if we ever need one or if a Plural Heights director like Mother and Jimmy has special announcements to specific members of the group like in my case.


    I quickly liked the tweet by the time I saw it, and before I knew it, the tweet was already removed, signaling that the Mother had acknowledged that I had understood what she meant. By the time I saw that the Mother''s Twitter account is empty again, I quickly wore proper clothes, take all the essential things I need¡ªkeys, wallet, phone¡ªinside of my bag, kissed my beautiful Nicole in the lips and my cute little daughter Carla in her forehead, and bid them both goodbye for the Mother is expecting my very presence right at this very moment. I hurriedly hailed a cab once I found one. By the time I arrived at the only Plural Heights mall in Los Angeles that now became my second home, I started running towards the groto to see if the Mother had finally arrived.


    I ran there like my life depends on it like a million predator has been chasing after me. When I got there, my entire body is already covered with so much sweat, I was out of breath, and my face is beet red, but a beaming smile still rested on my face with nothing but excitement accompanying it. I looked up at the groto, expecting great news from it, but I found nothing written on it.


    I frowned with one of my eyebrows sticking upward. This is strange. This is the only way for members like me to know if the Mother had finally arrived on the premises, and it''s also the only way for me to know if the Mother would cancel the schedule. Since there''s still nothing coming out of it, I just sat on the dusty tiled floor of the mall''s hallway without taking my eyes off the groto. I just stared at it with a bored look on my face, but my eyes stayed at that stone groto, admiring its very beauty for it is one of the many creations that the Mother herself had given to us here in the LA branch of Plural Heights. I started to chuckle to myself as I realized that this is the only thing that has Mother''s essence in it. In fact, this is probably the only thing in this establish at the moment that I could safely call as Mother''s mark, Mother''s body, and Mother''s blessing¡ªin a way, this very groto that I am staring at right now is Mother herself.


    With that thought in mind, I started to utter Mother''s tweet in my head slowly as I gradually crawled towards the groto. "Plural Heights. L4, R9. Only member 15436." I kept repeating those things as quietly as I could, so others would only think that I''m merely uttering wordless gibberish, for none of them deserves to know her instructions other than me, 15436.


    When I finally arrived at the foot of the groto, I started licking the ground in which it stood on and repeatedly uttered the words that Jimmy told me whenever I wish to feel Mother''s presence without her physical form.


    "Mother knows best," I said with a wide grin on my face as I started licking the ground nonstop, tasting it''s sweet concrete taste and imagining that Mother had once stood on this very floor when she was creating this groto with her very own hands. It sent shivers down my spine, making me wish to utter those blessed words once more to remind myself that Mother lives in me. " Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best. Mother knows best."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I would have licked for all eternity if I didn''t hear the groto''s whirring sound, signaling that the groto is finally ready to give me the message it contains. My heart pumped faster compared to when I was running earlier as I felt my lips contorting into a wide, wide, wide smile¡ªthe corners of my lips almost reaching my ears, and my jaws dropped, revealing the darkness that lurked from within my mouth. I stood up and fixed myself up as I read the groto''s message with a giggle.


    "Mother has arrived."


    I quickly ran towards room nine on the fourth floor of the mall. On my way there, I saw the janitor holding a dirty mop and a bottle of bleach. I was so happy today that I struck a conversation with him, something that I rarely do. "Where ya heading to, old man janitor?"


    With his usual stern expression, the janitor merely looked at me while pointing the bleach in his hand using his jaw. "Will clean the groto on the first floor."


    "That''s great, janitor!" I said with a hearty laugh as I ran upward. I then shouted at him with an excited yelp, "I will be meeting the Mother! FUCK YEAAAH!"


    I quickened my step as I ascended from one floor to another, and finally, I stood right in front of room nine on the fourth floor. It was a closed store, but the metal folding door of it is partially open, so it means that someone else has entered this place and that they''re expecting me to come.


    When I squeezed myself into that tiny space, not wanting to move it even for a little bit because that might be how Mother intended it to look like, I finally saw what lies inside of the abandoned store. Inside is a dimly lit room with eleven people inside. In the middle of the room is Mother with a tabletop lamp sitting on her lap as she sat ever so graciously in a luxuriously modern-looking black velvet chair. Mother then beckoned me to approach her with her fingers. That was when I saw the faces of the ten people lining up behind her, five men and five women. They were all standing straight like a group of trained soldiers. Among them stood Jimmy with his usual gentle tone. He looked at me with a wink, and I lightly bowed at him in response.


    "Do you know who these people are?" Mother uttered as she moved the lamplight gently above her to illuminate the faces of the people standing behind her.


    "I believe they are your vice presidents, Mother," I said with a timid look on my face as I tried my hardest to find the confidence in me to reply with such a powerful-looking audience.


    "Correct!" Mother screamed, almost making me jump up as she pointed the lamp at my face. "They are my stars¡ªthe people who have seen what lies beyond the mortal realm. These people are the ones with souls strong enough to do every bit of chores that the Plural Heights demands of them because their souls are strong enough to take it! I call them my icons!" Mother then chuckled as she slowly placed the lamp back into her lamp. "But you can call them your goal!"


    "I am very grateful to have met all of you," I said with eyes filled with vigor while looking at all of them. I smiled at all of them, wanting to approach them all to shake their hands, but I could not do so, for I do not have the courage to step at the three feet radius around the Mother. I then simply waved my head awkwardly, but Jimmy was the only one who waved back at me; heck, he''s the only one who''s smiling at me. They all looked like brutes, ready to maul everyone who would disrespect the Mother.


    "You see, there are people out there who stood above the rest of the other people in the world. Talented people, beautiful people, rich people, and so on and so forth, these people have a one-of-a-kind soul that only they possess, thus making them stand at the very top of humanity''s food chain. For you see, if our species are already on top, I''m pretty sure that we would already start seeing the cr¨¨me of the crop, the leaders among the leaders, the top among all the number 1s! These people I speak of, my son, are the people you are looking at right now, these fine people behind me and me. And I want you to be a part of us, my child!" Veronica said as she dropped the lap onto the floor. The sound of the lamp hitting the ground echoed throughout the darkened room. She then stepped on the lamp, breaking its bulb once and for all before standing up. Now that the place is finally covered in utter darkness, Mother continued to speak. "But I am not sure if you''re man enough to handle what it means to become an icon."


    Suddenly, the sounds of many matches lighting up echoed all over the room, and when I finally realized what was happening, I saw that all ten members of Mother''s icons are each holding a candlestick, lighting up the room further and making me know that this room looked like a copy of the one behind the Clockwork shop. Still, the walls are all torn up or scratched by the gigantic claws of what I could only describe as a beast that does not exist in nature.


    "Are you ready to do your first chore, son?" Mother spoke further as she took a piece of paper between her massive pair of breasts.


    "Yes, Mother!" I hurriedly uttered with an excited look on my face. "I am more than ready to make you even prouder of me!"


    "Good!" She then walked towards me, which was enough to make my heart go crazy in excitement and fear, for this is the first time I will be seeing the Mother again as close as this for three years. Usually, I would only be able to have the opportunity of seeing her from afar. When she''s finally standing before me, she swiftly grabbed my hand and placed the piece of paper on my palm. I closed my hands right away when I felt it touching my skin, which made it hard for the Mother to pull her hands away because I wouldn''t let it go. Needless to say, she still managed to take her hands away with a cocky smile that tells me I need more spiritual training if I wanted to beat her in a battle of strength. "Go on now, read it."


    I quickly opened the now crumpled paper in my hands and was shocked at the words I saw written on it. "Err... Mother, I think you made a mistake on my chore?"


    "Oh?" She said with her forefinger touching her cheek. "Is there a typo in it? Let me see." She slowly moved to my side to read what the paper wishes me to do, making me whiff the sweet raspberry smell of her perfume. It was enough to make me squirm and pull my soul away from my fleshly body, but it quickly returned inside of me when I heard Mother speak again. "There''s nothing wrong with this, my child."


    "What!? But this is..." I said as my hands started to shake, creasing the paper even further.


    Mother''s eyes then sharpened as she placed her hand on my shoulder. "It''s exactly what we want you to do."


    I then looked at the paper again to reread the simple instruction listed on it. Wait a minute; I''m so confused, why is something as horrible as this written in a chore that Mother herself had personally given me? This is... I am so lost; I feel like I cannot breathe somehow. Is this a dream? I hope this is all just a stupid nightmare. I wanted to pinch myself, but I can''t move my entire body; I can''t even find a way to move my fingers just a little bit, so my eyes just kept staring at the dreaded words written on the piece of paper that Mother had given me. I could feel the Mother''s presence exuding out of my side as I stuttered as my thought whirled out of control. I couldn''t do it¡ªwhat else can I do?


    I read the paper again in hopes that my eyes are just playing tricks on me, but the words remained the same.


    "Kill your wife."

 102 Iconoclas

    "What is the meaning of this, Mother?" I said with a grim smile as I felt the shadows of my shock engulf the corners of my face. "Is this some kind of joke?" I said as a forced smile crept upon my gravely trembling lips.


    "Why, of course, it''s not, my son!" Mother said before uttering a hearty laugh. The people standing behind her also chuckled along with her; Jimmy did the same as if he thought what I just said was something that warrants such a mocking gesture. "Why would I even joke about something like that?"


    "You..." I said as my trembling hand rose while pointing at Mother with helpless lump forming around my throat, making it hard for me to utter the questions in which I wish to scream out of my system. "You want me to kill my wife?"


    "As much as it pained me to say this, but... Yes!" Mother said with a condescending chuckle as she shrugged while looking at the people standing behind her. They all then laughed once more; the breath coming out of their mouth almost extinguished the flames on the candles they''re holding. "She has been a poison creeping behind you all the time, and it''s really making your Mother very upset with her. I''m sure you would find a place in your heart to understand that what I am doing right now is for your own good." Mother continued to speak amid the many laughing people around her as the fire they''re carrying dances around in different directions, forming different shadowy shapes around the room. "Once you''re done, just call Brother Jimmy and tell him that you''ve been a good boy for mommy."


    I dropped my hand with a sigh before looking at the unchanging words written on the piece of paper that Mother had just handed me earlier. "What if I refuse?"


    "Are you refusing to do a chore, son¡ªa chore that I specifically tailored for you?" Mother then looked at me with eyes wide open and lips clutched tightly. "I have placed all of my love into it and thought about the many things it could better your should. Is this really what you want? Going against your Mother''s pure intentions?"


    "Yes, Mother. I..." I started to feel a sort of liberating sadness spewing out of my gut when I finally managed to say the words I tried my hardest to form in my now blank head. However, when I saw that sharp gaze that Mother had just given me when I heard my words of refusal, I started to lose the ability to speak again.


    Mother then looked at the floor with a downcast gaze. However, when I was about to feel the sadness spewing out of her melancholic expression, I saw Mother''s lips gradually contorting into a smile until she inevitably roared a high-pitched laugh that echoed throughout the room with her arms overstretched, revealing the smoothness of her long arms. Her voice bounced through all the different corners of the room, but none of her companions laughed with her¡ªthey were just looking at me with grim expressions and widened eyes. Even Jimmy isn''t smiling.


    Mother then stomped her feet, making me hear the ringing sound of her heels. It made me shudder from the top of my scalp to the very last skin of my toes, making me jump off involuntarily with a yelp.


    "Do you have no idea how much I''ve done for you?" She then started to walk around from side to side like she''s reciting some kind of Shakespearian monologue before continuing. "Can you even imagine how much effort I have done to make your life better with your bitch of a wife and your annoying little mistake? Can you? CAN YOU?" Her voice roared like the sound of countless papers being ripped at the same time. I almost felt sorry for her throat because the veins around her neck were bulging so hard that it made me scared of it being ripped apart into tiny little pieces. A girl standing beside Mother tried to approach her, but Mother stopped the worried girl from doing so by placing her palm in front of the girl''s face¡ªMother didn''t even look at the girl, but the understanding icon member understood enough and remained standing still. Mother then turned her head towards me, showing me her deeply sunken emerald eyes. "No. No, you can''t. I bet you can''t even IMAGINE how much I''ve sweated and how much I''ve exhausted myself for you. YOU CAN''T! You know why? Because your soul is blind, my son! You let this little thing you''ve made with your wife turn you away from your REAL family! Can''t you see what she''s doing to you? She''s even etched deep inside of your soul now, son! She''s telling you to go against your Mother, against your brothers and sisters!" Mother then slowly chuckled as a disgusted grimace crept upon her face. "She is a parasite! A LEECH! She had sucked the blood out of you and Plural Heights for far too long!"


    "You are mistaken, Mother! She hasn''t forgotten her loyalty to you! She has done her best to do all of her chores to the best of her abilities!" I said as I fell on my knees, pleading with all that I have as tears started to flow out my eyes. "Just like her, I will do everything for you, Mother, you know that I will... But this? I... I can''t do this, Mother. Please, anything but this!"


    "Why?" Mother uttered as she hurriedly walked towards me. She then knelt in front of me, making my heart sink even lower as she very gently stroked my face with her soft and velvet-like skin. "Mother is really confused right now. How could you forget your love for me just because another woman had already come into your way?"


    I then sniffed as a hot liquid start to crawl out of my reddened nose. "Because I love her, Mother. I will be nothing without her. I am nothing without her. Please, I beg of you, please¡ªthis will be the first, and the last time I will be asking for this favor, Mother! Change the chore." My voice then slowly trembled as Mother slowly pulled her hands away from me with a sullen expression painted all over her face. "Please." I whispered as I pulled all the strength left in me from my gut and utter in defiance, which rang around my head stronger than a shout.


    Mother then stood up and slowly walked into her chair like a wobbling drunkard. She then sighed by the time her body fell onto her seat.


    "Somebody give my son here a chair, please." She weakly uttered as I saw a single tear dropping out of her left eyes with her head lying softly onto her tightened fist. She then slowly shook her head as she wiped her face with her palms before a pained expression crawled through her beautiful face.


    Without further ado, Jimmy and two other men placed their candlesticks onto the floor and went towards me with hurried steps. Jimmy then took a chair somewhere from an unlit part of the room while the two other men gently pulled me up into my feet. Jimmy then scurried behind me as he pushed the chair he''s holding forward. The two men who''re lifting my body upward then dropped me onto the soft linen chair before they both left and headed towards their position behind the Mother. Jimmy was the only one who stayed behind me, but he also left shortly after whispering softly into my ears with his hands on my shoulders.


    "Do the right thing." He said vaguely, which made me gulp my saliva downward forcefully. When all of Mother''s icons were not in their previous position, standing behind her, she slowly opened her lips again while her emerald eyes pierced through my now blob-like countenance.


    "Do you know what happens to bad children who say no to momma, my son?" She uttered weakly with a pair of dead eyes looking towards me. Her tone made her look so pained and worried because of the words coming out of her mouth.


    "They..." I said with a trembling voice as I tried my hardest to speak as politely as I can. "They will be removed from Plural Heights, Mother."


    "And?" She said, expecting me to say more, but her words just confused me more than anything she had said today.


    "Uhm..." I said before clearing my throat after hearing my raspy voice. "I believe that''s it, Mother."


    Mother then slowly heaved a weak sigh at me as she clapped her hands twice. As she did so, two women from behind her placed their candlesticks on the ground. They then took something behind her and walked towards Mother. A lady with long hair put a metallic basket a few inches in front of the Mother. Meanwhile, another lady with a pixie haircut gave the Mother three long and thick brown envelopes, and I could only imagine the number of documents placed inside of them.


    When the two ladies returned to their previous positions, Mother then slowly moved her hands to brush her head upwards with her fingers. She then crossed her legs while pulling the documents away from the first brown envelope.


    "Are you saying that you would rather quit the group rather removing the cause of why your soul remains tainted, my dear son?" She said while reading the documents on her hands.


    I inhaled a deep breath before replying deeply to her. "Yes, Mother. I would like to quit Plural Heights now if it means my wife will survive."


    "Even if it means that I will be stripping all that I have given away from you?" She replied with a raised eyebrow.


    I then closed my eyes tightly as I tilted my head back. "Yes, Mother," I said weakly like a defeated soldier. It was the only thing I could tell.


    "I see." She threw the documents she''s carrying into the metal basket before uttering a few words, "That''s your Plural Heights membership documents. Without all of that, your daughter will have 0 chances of getting free education from us anymore, no matter how much you begged. That also contains the membership of your wife and your daughter. Without all of that, your daughter''s ''future'' will not be as stable as you thought it would be since she will no longer be able to enjoy Plural Height''s free education program. Do you still want to quit even after knowing all of that?"


    "Yes, Mother," I said as I slowly feel all of my spirit spewing down away from me, spilling loudly into the ground and drowning me into endless primordial water, making it hard for me to breathe. However, I snapped out of the bright illusions that are invading my psyche as I continued to speak. "I''m working in a very stable job right now, and I feel like I can support my family well with the money that I''m receiving from my salary."


    "I see." She said as she quickly took the documents inside of the second brown envelope she''s carrying. She then quickly read through it as she allowed the brown envelope to fall from her lap onto the ground. "Do you know who owns your company, child?" She said without looking at me, her attention is rooted solely in that document she''s holding.


    I then looked up at Jimmy, and she looked at me with a pair of sad but tearless eyes. "I believe that Brother Jimmy owns the company I''m working in right now


    "That''s a good guess, my son..." She said with a gentle smile like that of a goddess that came from heaven itself. However, after a few seconds, it turned into the face of a wretched beast, ready to devour its food. "Wrong! WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. WROOOONG!" Mother uttered with eyes filled with a fit of eruptive anger that made me feel like her eyes contain two of the strongest volcanoes in the universe. "WRONG! Jimmy is just the vice president of that company! WRONG!" She then threw the document she''s holding into the metal tray, making it shake and wobble around similar to how my brain shuddered after hearing what she had just said. "I am the owner of that company¡ªME! I gave you that job as a gift that I took from the deepest crevices of my now grieving heart. I am sure you already know this, but Plural Heights is ME! Plural Heights is YOUR MOTHER! Everything I personally gave you is something that Plural Heights handed to you graciously with its generous hands. ME! And if I told Jimmy that you''re out of this job that you''re clinging ever so tightly right now, then he will do so without question because I am his Mother¡ªI am your Mother! Just like any Mother, I want you to flap your wings high into endless possibilities above the clouds, but if it means that you will rot forever with that awful wrench of a wife that you have, then I would rather clip your wings and cage you here in my nest forever!"


    "I... I''m sorry, I..." I then looked at Mother and Jimmy alternately with my jaws dropped. "I don''t understand..." Those are the only words I could utter with a sigh.


    "You don''t have to understand." Mother then pulled the document from the third envelope and threw it into the metal basket with the greatest of ease, but the darn thing was already so full that some papers in it had fallen off into the ground. "All you have to do is obey, just like a good boy. You''re a good boy, my son, a very, very good boy." She then placed her hands above her breasts tightly, with eyes filled with tears. "You don''t have to do the wrong thing now, my son. I know you are better than this. I know because I am your Mother! I know you well enough to know that you will KILL YOUR WIFE because it''s the right thing to do."


    I then looked at the documents that Mother had placed onto the basket. Since she didn''t even waste her time looking at it, whatever that it must have been nothing important. I thought that way with a composed look on my face until I realized that they were all bank statements along with many, many other documents from my bank account. I then looked at my Mother once more, ever so gracious as always amid her love-filled anger. I could faintly see her halos appearing above her head, and it''s enough for me to know that she meant every word she spoke of to me.


    She loves me, and I love her, but I can''t do what she''s asking me to do! I just can''t! Not even a saintess like her can change my mind now.


    That was when my gaze feels upon the documents in the basket once more.


    "What is this, Mother?" I said as I tried to stand up but suddenly realized that, since Mother ordered me to sit, I have no right to stand up anymore unless she told me to do so.


    "Your money. All of it." She lazily said while swinging her right feet freely to and fro into the air. "You know that your Mother had never really been a big fan of currency. It''s just another poison corrupting our society¡ªcorrupting you like worms infesting your brain. I can''t stand it!" She then took a lighter from a pocket in her skirt and threw it into the metal basket, unlit. "This is very hard for me to do, my son, but you should treat that as my final scolding to you¡ªmy way of showing what will happen to all of those pieces of paper if you still wish to be adamant in your refusal to leave Plural Heights. I am not heartless, my son, I understand how you feel, for even I was once bitten by those snakes and placed a poison called love into my heart, so I am giving you another chance. Do you still want to leave Plural Heights?"


    I


    "I see that you''re still unsure about your decision. I understand, my child, I really do. That''s why I have to do this for you." She then clapped three times, which seemed like a signal for all ten of her icons to leave the room. When they all did so one after another, walking past me without even giving me the slightest of their attention, including Jimmy, the room was finally engulfed in alluring darkness that further caused my insides to be thrown into a deep-seethed turmoil. Mother than clapped once, which signaled something from behind her to shone brightly at me.


    I covered my eyes with the back of my hands before I slowly got used to the sudden blinding light that flashed right through me. What I saw then when I dropped my hands into my lap was a gigantic television placed on the wall a few feet away from the Mother. I hadn''t seen it earlier, for the light coming from the candles and the shadows cast by the icons covered the humongous flat-screen television into nothing but shrouding darkness.


    When Mother clapped four times, the blank screen turned into many surveillance screens that displayed whatever is happening inside of my home at that moment. After counting all of them, I realized that there are twelve different places around my familiar house showing right in front of me on the huge TV screen.


    "Remember when we bought your house, my child?" Mother said while twirling a portion of her long hair playfully.


    "Yes, Mother... I... I remember it all clear as day." I said, still stuttering after realizing that someone must have placed these hidden cameras all over my home without my knowledge, and now, Mother is showing it to me, more her magical ways of putting her stubborn members in line.


    "We had a great time, didn''t we?" She said as she breathed a deep sigh with her eyes closed, reminiscing the days we spent looking for the best home for my family. "You also remember that you personally agreed with your own consent that I can be a co-owner of the house, correct?" Mother said, now looking at me while leaning her body towards me with a playful smile.


    When I finally realized what she''s trying to tell me, I  stood up swiftly with widened eyes and mouth agape widely, trying my hardest to say something, anything to beg her not to do anything to my home.


    "Ah-ah!" She said while extending her hands towards me with her forefinger perking upward. "Sit down, my son. Mother is not done talking yet."


    After seeing Mother''s clearly threatening gaze towards me, I slowly moved my ass down into the soft chair while looking at the live video of my wife playing with my daughter in the living room.


    "That''s right. Good boy." She said as she gazed at me with a relaxed smile. "Now, just like you, I am also the owner of this house. Not only that, but it is one of the many, many things I have very graciously given to you throughout the years you have spent receiving my love as a part of my one big family. Now, you would have to forgive Mother because of what I had done, but you need to realize that I did it for you and no else but you. That''s how much I love you, my son. Remember that!" She then sighed as if she was about to reveal a great bombshell she didn''t wish to utter but was forced to speak because of my stubbornness. "I took the liberty of placing "things" around OUR house, just like how you put all that furniture and decorations all over the place."


    "Things..." I said, now realizing what Mother is trying to say as I rested my head on my left palm. "So, you''ve placed all of these cameras everywhere then?" I spoke with an exhausted tone, not even wanting to be polite to Mother anymore.


    Mother must have sensed this preposterous change in my tone as she knitted her eyebrows tightly, but she didn''t really voice out her displeasure away. "Yes, things, just like the cameras, some of them aren''t even flashing on the screen right now..." She said while gesturing her hand towards the large TV behind her. "... and many, many bombs."


    "Wh-"


    Before I could even utter anything, the surveillance screens showing on the TV started to change one after another. It looks like footages from cameras placed at the dusty corners throughout my house, and they''re all pointed at many countless pieces of dynamites.


    "That''s right, bombs¡ªdynamite, to be more precise. I love them! They''re a classic! I''m sure you know what those are since I had shown it to you once when we went to the Bahamas!" She then smiled brightly, which showed more of her holiness so much that I could swear I saw a pair of white and shining wings appearing behind her. "2000 of them are scattered all over your house right now. Look, camera 1 is on top of your pipes, camera 2 to 4 is underneath your house, and look, camera 8 is around your roof, on top of your attic. There''s even some underneath your basement, but... I guess they''re not really showing in the feed right now. Oh well. You get the point!" Mother uttered with a lazy gaze.


    I then shook my head, not believing the things in front of my very eyes right now as tears finally started to gush out of my eyes.


    "And if I just clapped my hands five times right now..." Veronica said as she raised both of her hands slowly into the air, "your house will go ''kaboom''¡ªgone, like your love for your Mother! And in a way, that means you would still fulfill your chores, though it was done indirectly! See? This is how much your Mother loves you¡ªI have even given you a Plan B, and I''m sure you would realize that I have done the right thing when you remember this conversation of ours five years from now! And after all that, I will burn these papers and your house, and only then will you be able to leave this place and my family unharmed forever like a beautiful butterfly among the many pretty flowers in the wild." She then gently creased her lips to turn into a crescent shape as she chuckled slowly, making her eyes squint like two dark moons.


    I then shook my head as my final wordless defiance against her, and she didn''t like that. She didn''t like that at all, for her face contorted into a wicked grimace so ugly that I never thought she could ever pull off.


    "My son," She said with a sigh. It seemed like her anger flew out of her system, along with the breath she had released. "I want you to prove that your love for your Mother transcends the love you have for this small family you created and all these material things that I can give more to you in the future... She''s taking you away from me; you know that I would really hate myself if I take your daughter away from this world if it means getting rid of her once and for all..." She then clasped her hands together, pleading me with the remaining goodness in her heart, begging me to kill my wife already and stop this charade already. "I don''t want to clap five times. Don''t let Mother do it, my son."


    "You''re cruel..." I whispered as I laid my weakened body onto the sofa.


    "What''s that?" Mother said as she leaned her body forward. "I can''t quite hear you, my son."


    "You''re sick, Veronica! YOU''RE SICK!" I said as I stood up while pointing my finger at her, imagining that I could shoot bullets through my fingers to blast her head off. "You''re a sick little bitch!


    "Sit down."


    "NO! NO MORE! I will not follow you anymore! I''m done! Burn everything away, but just try to touch my family, and I will do all that I can to see your body rotting down there beneath me." I then walked towards her while looking at her now fuming expression. I continued pointing my fingers at her as I stomped towards her while she clenched the frames of her chair. "And know this, Veronica! When I know very well that your pretty little body is already rotting six feet under my feet, I will piss on your gravestone and pay some random homeless shithead to shit on your grave!"


    Veronica then screeched at me as she slammed her head onto my forehead. As if she was some kind of superhuman with a tremendous amount of strength, she pushed my head forcefully, making me take a few steps backward until my body fell into the soft chair that they had forced me to sit on.


    "You have insulted your Mother for far too long, child!" Veronica howled like a maddened wolf, ready to prowl at me with her bared fangs. I then saw her green eyes


    Before I could even have time to react, a hot and seething feeling suddenly burst out of my belly.


    I''m bleeding.


    Holy shit, no, oh my fucking... shit, oh fuck, it hurts. It hurts so fucking bad! Fuck, no, no, no, make it stop! My stomach is bleeding, and it wouldn''t stop. I tried to cover my wound with both my hands, but something inside of me is invading my thoughts, making it impossible for me to move any muscle in my body. My face persisted, exhibiting the same shock-filled expression on my face, and I had no way of moving them, for something inside of me had stopped me from doing whatever I please.


    Shit... Shit, shit, shit, it hurts! Make it stop, I beg of you! Stop! I don''t know what to do anymore. It hurts so fucking much; it hurts so bad, so, so fucking bad. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this! No more, please, Mother, no more! I''m so sorry, I''m so, so fucking sorry!


    "It seemed that I managed to remove some of your memories away from your mind but allow me to give it back to you, my son. You know that I have no right to keep anything from you, so now that you''re big enough to take it, who am I to deny it to you?"


    Suddenly, an array of light flashed past my very eyes like different kaleidoscopic brilliance, shining throughout my mind like millions of fractals. Amid those many moving pieces of what seemed like movie-reels is one singular moment that had been purposely embedded into my head. No, that''s not quite right. It had always been in my head, but something just sort of pulled it out from my consciousness like a fishhook taking its price.


    Then... It happened.


    In less than a second, a memory that I had long forgotten suddenly streamed into my consciousness like it''s trying it''s very hardest to squeeze itself in there somehow back into its former place in my mind.


    I have been...


    The girl in...Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I was...


    I remembered getting stabbed by a girl that I had met for the first time in the Clockwork shop when I first visited Plural Heights.


    Somehow, that wound healed without leaving any marks or scratches.


    But now, Mother had given it back to me.


    "I gave you back your life," Mother squealed with a searing flame of anger from within her. "And I can take it back whenever I want!" Since she''s standing so close to me, I could feel some of her spit hitting my face.


    No, no, no, no, no, no! No more, Mother! Please! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!!! I BEG OF YOU!


    ...


    I will do the chore.


    ...


    Darkness.


    "Very well."


    And when I saw the light again, I was already standing in front of my house. I went straight into my door without knocking, and there I saw Nicole, dressed well and while putting her leather shoes on. She smiled when she met me and embraced me tightly with her welcoming touch.


    I didn''t return any of her embraces as my hands drooped on my side.


    She smiled at me and asked me how it went with the Mother.


    I said nothing.


    She told me to come to talk to her about it in the living room.


    I did.


    We walked towards there as I saw a worried look on her face, asking me if something happened to me.


    I replied by showing her a blank expression.


    She sat on the sofa beside me in the living room.


    I gave her the piece of paper that Mother had given me.


    She looked at it with a shocked look, but after a while, a wave of different emotions flashed through her beautiful face as she nodded finally with an understanding gaze.


    I looked down into the floor when she suddenly stood up and took something from the kitchen.


    She then kneeled into the ground with a knife in her hands.


    I finally showed some sort of emotions into my face when I heard her say, "Do it."


    She then placed the knife into my hands with her head tilted backward and arms folded on her behind, revealing her neck and her chest.


    I then waited for Jimmy to answer my call as I felt her body fall into my lap along with the feeling of her blood wetting my jeans¡ªmultiple stab wounds all over her neck down to her bosom.


    *click*


    "It''s done."

 103 Toxic

    Jimmy promptly went into my house when he heard my call. When he arrived at my house, he found me sitting on the sofa with a dead look on my face as if I had just seen the many horrors of hell itself unfold before my very eyes. To be fair, that line of reasoning is not that far off. After all, my wife''s corpse is currently hanging on my left leg for so long that I could somehow feel the skin on my leg merging with her dead ones until it would immediately eat up my body and pull my soul along with her into the very depths of the underworld.


    When Jimmy arrived, he had the mall''s old janitor along with him. I looked at both of them and knew then and there that the man whom Jimmy came with is here to do his job¡ªcleaning. I stood up, feeling my wife''s body slide off my leg until it dropped onto the floor with a loud thud. Luckily, it was not loud enough to wake my young daughter, who''s sleeping soundly upstairs, not knowing that she had just lost the finest woman she could have ever met.


    "We should get going," Jimmy told me as he very gently pulled my hand towards his side. He then turned to look at the janitor and pointed at the bloody mess in front of him. "Please,"


    The janitor, who''s wearing a green hoody, merely nodded as he walked towards my wife''s body. I wanted to approach my wife and feel her body one last time, even if the only thing my hands would touch is her now cold and defunct self. However, when I was about to do so, Jimmy pulled me harder to his side and wrapped his hand around my shoulders.


    "Let''s go," He said at me as he forced me to walk with him outside of the house. Although my body is facing away from my wife, my head was still unconsciously turning towards her, making me see how the janitor checked the corpse of my wife with abject curiosity. When Jimmy found me doing so, he quickened his steps, and before I knew it, we were already on my front lawn. "What''s done is done."


    He''s right; it''s done¡ªthe darn thing is over. What else can I do? I just let my head droop slowly as my sunken gaze fell into the floor. Fuck, I can''t even cry; I feel so lost that I don''t even know if there''s still an ounce of emotions left in my heart.


    Jimmy then opened the door of a van parked right in front of our house. He beckoned me to sit beside the driver''s seat, which something I complied with without question. Jimmy sighed when he saw my pathetic state but didn''t say anything about it further. He just quickly fastened my seatbelt with a dejected and sunken expression, closed the door, and promptly went into the driver seat. Without further ado, he drove the van, leaving the janitor alone in my house with my three-year-old daughter, and I didn''t even say a word of protestation against it.


    Time went on ever so slowly because neither Jimmy and I spoke a word to each other throughout the trip so far until we finally hit our first red light. Jimmy lightly tapped on the breaks and stopped the car from moving with a downcast gaze directed to the road ahead.


    He then finally decided to break the ice, "We will be going to Mother''s office in New York. I''m sure they''re still preparing things there in the Court, but we will arrive on time."


    "I see." That was the only thing I could say.


    "Yeah." Jimmy promptly replied before hitting the gas again when he saw the green light turning up.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    It was a long, long road trip, and none of us wishes to utter a single word to each after that one short exchange. I wanted to ask so much, but I''m sure that Jimmy is not really allowed to say anything. I''m pretty sure that the Mother can use something against him in the event of a betrayal plot. There''s nothing both of us can do, really, other than to go to this fucking welcoming party that both of us didn''t want to attend.


    Sometimes, Jimmy would mumble some song lyrics or hum a few melodies, but I''m not sure as to what songs those were, so I looked outside the window with an empty gaze as I looked around the barren scenery around the dark road.


    I felt sad, bored, and hurt all over my body as I hear Jimmy sing those random songs that I had never heard of before in succession until he uttered that one melody that I do know.


    He hummed it perfectly. Fast, then turning slowly, and then just repeating it over and over again till the chorus hits. I chuckled after hearing that and hummed the melody along with him. Yeah, I know this song. It''s that one Britney Spears song, Toxic.


    Jimmy must have noticed the smile on my face as I hummed the song with him, so he looked at me with a relaxed gaze slightly before turning his eyes into the road ahead again.


    "I never thought you''d be a Britney fan." Jimmy bantered mockingly at me, but his voice is so sunken and low, showing that he can still read my current depressed mood.


    "Yeah. It''s an alright song." I chuckled as I placed my hand on my palms. "My wife really liked it a lot."


    Jimmy looked at me with eyes wide open and mouth agape after hearing what I had just said. HE then shook his head with a sigh, thinking that he must have dug his own grave just because of his innocent gesture. I appreciated the way he''s handling this because it reminds me that I really am not okay. Jimmy then hurriedly took his phone away from his pocket and slowed his driving down slightly while looking at the apps on his phone. After a few seconds of searching, he finally tapped on the Spotify icon and looked at me somewhat while still driving slowly on the side of the road.


    "Wanna listen to it?" He said playfully with his usual gentle smile.


    "To what?" I replied with a raspy voice without looking at him.


    "Toxic." He said like a whisper, which is enough for me to look at him with an awe-struck expression.


    I then smiled with a light chuckle as I looked at him with shaking eyes. "Yes. That would be great, Jimmy."


    Our once quiet surrounding was now covered with the upbeat tone of the music playing out of Jimmy''s phone. Along this party-like atmosphere exuding out of the music itself, the sound of my shaking voice as I sang the song along with Britney Spears echoed all over the van.


    My tears then flowed uncontrollably as I placed my head on my palms while singing along with the song.

 104 Party

    "You feeling okay, now?" Jimmy said as he parked the van in a hotel''s parking lot.


    "Yeah... Yeah, I, uh..." I said while wiping my eyes with a tissue paper. "I''m fine now."


    "I see..." Jimmy''s eyes look as if he wanted to suggest not going to Mother''s office now that he saw me cry for hours and hours while listening to an old pop song throughout our little road trip. However, he merely sighed as he unfastened his seatbelt--he must be following the Mother''s orders right about now. "Let''s go. It''s about to start."


    "Yeah..." I also unfastened my seatbelt and opened the door of the van timidly after seeing Jimmy do so.


    We then walked towards an elevator, Jimmy pushed the button going to the thirteenth floor, and when the elevator door opened, I thought we would be welcomed with many different doors and a long hallway. Instead, the entirety of the thirteenth floor is just an empty hall with no other doors, no windows, no furniture, and no decorations.


    No, wait, I retract the words I had said earlier. There IS another door in the hall. However, it was just standing in the middle of the entire colossal thing awkwardly. Let me say that again, it''s literally just a door, a black wooden door, standing at the very center of the entirety of the thirteenth floor, and there''s absolutely nothing else along with it.


    I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Jimmy with an awkward chuckle. "Are you sure this is the right place, Jimmy?"


    "Huh? Oh. Yeah. You''ll get used to it." He then walked towards the lonely door sitting in the middle of the hall as he turned around to meet my gaze when his hands gripped around the doorknob. "Come on now. Everyone is expecting us."


    I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking that Jimmy has finally lost his mind after all the bullshit that Mother had told him to do, but I still complied with his instructions nonetheless. I''m sure the Mother has her eyes around this hall, and I can''t afford to fuck up now. When I finally stood beside Jimmy with a nervous gaze, he smiled at me gently as if to reassure me that everything will be fine, and slowly, he opened the door.


    I thought I would see just another glimpse of the empty hall once Jimmy opened the door, but what greeted me was something entirely different. What lies inside of the door was a different world entirely, a different dimension, a different setting, a different hall, different everything! There''s a lot of people wearing a ball gown and intricate masks as they spoke with each other loudly with glasses of varying alcohol in their hands. I looked around the door and saw that nothing was amiss with it, and it''s definitely just standing there in the middle of the thirteenth floor, and there are absolutely no other things going on on the other side of it too. However, curiously enough, there it is. A different hall made out of dark concrete is inside of the door, and everyone else is partying the same way the people in historical Hollywood movies would do.


    "Surprised?" Jimmy said with his gentle tone.


    "I must be going crazy..." I said, still not wanting to accept what is happening to me with my mouth wide open.


    "I thought the same way when I first saw it, too," Jimmy said before pushing me gently towards the door along with him. "Now, let''s go. We need to meet the Mother."


    I merely nodded at what he had just said and walked into the door, half hoping that I would bump my head into some kind of wall and realize that it was all just a prank, but no, nothing like that happened at all. It felt like I was transported into another world literally; the entire place felt like it was so foreign to what I consider as my own "time."


    The entire hall is massive, the walls are made out of dark kind of material I haven''t really seen before, the ceiling is so high up that I could barely see it from where I stood, and there''s a massive hole in the middle of the entire court surrounded by what seemed like intricately designed and thick metal railings. Beside the pit, reclining there with a glass of champagne, Mother stood while watching whatever is happening underneath us. It seems that there''s some kind of attraction going on below, and it appears that that might have been the very reason why there''s a hole here in the first place.


    Jimmy and I walked towards the Mother timidly. I noticed that, although there''s a lot of people all over the hall, everyone stood five feet away from the Mother, minding their own business far away from her as if she was some kind of parasite that no man must ever approach. Nonetheless, the two of us approached the unapproachable, and with soft coughing sound, Jimmy took the Mother''s attention. When Mother turned her bored and sullen expression towards us, her face lit up like a newly bought light bulb and tapped my shoulders while telling Jimmy to leave both of us alone. Jimmy happily complied before bowing to me with a melancholic gaze as his way to bid farewell. I simply waved my hands towards him while looking at how he slowly stepped away from us with his back facing our direction.


    The Mother placed her hands around my waist and beckoned what seemed like a waiter to give me a glass of their finest champagne. After only a few seconds, the waiter returned and handed me a goblet filled with what seemed like the best poison they have in store.


    Mother then reclined on the railings again with a radiant smile on her face. "I am proud of you, my son." She said as a twinkle fell out of her eyes before sipping her drink.


    I dropped my head as I downed the champagne in my glass. "Thank you, Mother."


    Mother then gestured me to come closer towards the hole and stand beside her to watch whatever is happening down there. "This is the world that only people who have a strong soul can enter. This is what we''re trying to build inside of all the members in Plural Heights. You, my son, are one of the lucky ones who managed to abide by my law without the need of my power to make them transcend into a higher form standing, not just in wealth but in spirit."


    I then approached the hole as Mother had instructed and saw two bloody people down there with what seemed like sharp weapons on their hands. "This... is what we''re striving to achieve, Mother?"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Mother then chuckled while tapping my back lightly. "Well, of course, we''re not trying to be like them!" She said while pointing her glass to the two weeping people standing on top of what seemed like a huge stadium. "I''m talking about this!" Mother then moved her arms around her. "THIS is all the people in the world who have achieved everything! They are the sole men you can ever find that has the ability to surpass the level of a normal humans soul! This is the club of the people who strived to do the best they can to be the best in the whole wide world¡ªthe cr¨¨me of the crop! Do you understand, my son? You are a part of that now; I made you a part of all of us!" She said with a triumphant look on her face.


    I was about to reply something when suddenly, a loud shriek came from below us. Mother and I promptly moved our heads to see what was happening, but seeing as how much Mother is smiling and how much my expression contorted with fear, I knew then that our reasons for looking downward were different.


    The man in the stadium pierced his abdomen with his weapon while the woman with him weakly ran towards the edge of the stadium. Everyone around me started to cuss, boo, and grunt loudly after seeing what had just happened down there. Mother also felt the same as a wave of disappointment flashed through her face. I felt like I was the only one who''s not feeling somewhat disappointed because of what had just happened.


    Someone just killed themselves right there! What the fuck are these people doing? We should help them!


    "This is why I hate it when we have couples as sacrifices." Mother said as she threw her glass onto the stadium, creating a loud ruckus all around as the rest of the people with us started doing the same. "It only looks great in paper, but the truth is someone will sacrifice himself for the survival of the other." Mother then pushed her forefinger into my chest with her hands on her waist. "This is why YOU are not like any of those mistakes below us, my son! YOU are much better--perfection itself! That''s why you''re here, and they are there--all because you know that sacrificing yourself for the betterment of others will do you no good, no good at all! I mean, look at them!"


    Mother pointed at the stadium below, which made me move my head towards it. Suddenly, a loud siren rang all over the place like some kind of emergency had happened, making me feel jumpy because of utter panic. However, none of the people standing around us did anything. They were all just watching whatever is happening below with either disappointment or excitement.


    "We are better than them." Mother said with a snicker. "You are better than them."


    The floor of the stadium below suddenly opened like a camera shutter ever so slowly, making the man in the middle fall into whatever lies within the darkness far underneath. The woman who survived screamed at the top of her lungs as she tried to climb up the wall, but she would only fall multiple times before she could even move upward. Nothing will save her now.


    Mother then laughed heartily after seeing the woman scream in terror at what was happening before her. Mother then slapped her forehead loudly as she pointed at the woman with her other hand. She wanted to say something, perhaps to mock the lady below us, but no words managed to come out of her red lips because she''s laughing way too much.


    The rest of the people around us then laughed with her, pointing their fingers towards the woman who was about to fall into certain death like it was just another Tuesday sitcom for them.


    Wait...


    That''s it.


    Maybe...


    Maybe this is just a joke? I mean, perhaps it''s actually really, really funny? I don''t know... I think I''m just not getting the joke.


    I then slowly laughed along with them and pointed at the girl, trying to force myself into being happy because of whatever is happening to her. Fuck. I can''t. I just can''t laugh at it. I am still trying my best to laugh at her, I am forcing myself to do it, but I can''t. I just can''t be happy about all of this.


    But I have to!


    I have to get the joke!


    I murdered my wife to have this!


    I have to get the joke!


    But I...


    I just can''t.


    Thus, when the woman was finally swallowed by the darkness of whatever lies below, I finally stopped forcing myself to laugh as I dropped my hands into my side. I just don''t get it.


    Someone then started to talk around us. "Oh my, is that Justin?"


    Another lady answered the one who said those words first, "You''re right, it is Justin!"


    Apparently, this is enough to stop Mother from laughing; whoever this Justin person is, he had managed to take Mother''s attention away from the ''joke'' below us.


    "Shit, it is him!" Mother


    I tried to look around, but I just can''t find a reason for me to enjoy this party anymore now that I have seen what happened below. I do not know these people too. Why are they wearing all these weird clothes? Why are they wearing masquerade masks in this day and age? What the fuck is happening here?


    Amid my frustrations, I saw Jimmy sitting on a wooden chair in a corner while facing the black wall before him with a massive glass of wine in his hands. I then pulled another wooden chair in the corner and sat beside Jimmy, facing both our backs away from whatever is happening in the party.


    "How is it?" Jimmy asked with his usual gentle smile. I merely shook my head as a reply. Somehow, Jimmy must have understood what I meant as he looked up at the wall in front of us, pointing at it with his chin. "This is fun, eh?" Jimmy said, while looking at the black wall.


    I then heard some screaming below us, people applauding, and lots of commotions that made me feel like they''re all having fun. However, I merely looked up at the wall with Jimmy as I sipped my glass while pinching my chin.


    "This has got to be the best damn thing I''ve seen here so far."


    Jimmy and I both let out a relaxed chuckle as we looked at the empty black wall in front of us while everyone else focused their attention on whatever is happening at the stadium.

 105 Home

    Two hours.


    That''s how long I stared at the dark walls of this humongous hall with Jimmy. I heard from the person who''s talking loudly below the pit that this place is called The Caravan¡ªJimmy happily confirmed this with his usual smile. We didn''t really speak much, and we didn''t even saw anything happening at all, just the outstretched blackness standing before us, and only then have I ever felt that time truly marches forward quickly. The two hours I spent looking at the walls before me with Jimmy as people screamed in both agony and excitement rushes behind us. We continued our drink, not caring about whatever is burning behind us¡ªour eyes just want to marvel the emptiness that we''re seeing.


    I still don''t get the joke.


    "You''ll get used to it," Jimmy said with a saddened tone, although there''s a refreshing smile on his face as the breeze brushes through his face from the open window.


    I turned my head towards him as I realized that he might have said that line countless times now, but it still manages to make sense every darn time he utters it calmly. I then decided to roll my side of the car window as well and allowed the wind to slap through my thick skin in hopes that it will wash my sins away from me.


    "Hey, Jimmy..." I said as I slowly closed my eyes while my face is directed on the open window. "Did I do the right thing?"


    Jimmy didn''t answer for a while as he just focuses his attention on the empty road ahead. However, after a few minutes, he finally opened his lips with its corners perking high up. "I don''t know, but this is your life now."


    Two days.


    That''s how long it took for Jimmy to drive me back from New York to my home in LA. I didn''t even realize how long the drive took when we first had it the other way around, but I guess my mind is just that much calmer now. I still don''t know why we didn''t just take a flight from here, but I think it''s just another Plural Heights thing. I slept through the entire thing, and when I woke up, we''re still not there, but I could at least understand that we''re not in some random barren wilderness anymore.


    When I woke up, I saw Jimmy eating an egg sandwich while playing some loud pop song that I have heard somewhere in the past.


    "How long have I been asleep?" I said while looking at the bright sun before us.


    "Long enough," Jimmy said while munching on his egg sandwich with a blank expression. "I wasn''t really counting." He looked like he''s not really enjoying his meal.


    "Do you want me to drive for you? You must be exhausted now." I said with a panicked and worried look.


    Jimmy merely chuckled after hearing what I had just said. He then threw something covered in aluminum foil at me. I caught it awkwardly, scared that it might shoot out of the open window.


    "Don''t worry about me. I don''t really need to sleep." Jimmy said while still blankly munching and gulping the sandwich in his hands.


    I opened whatever Jimmy had given me and saw the same sandwich inside. I looked at him with a confused gaze after seeing that Jimmy looks like he''s still not at all tired after all that driving he''s been doing for almost a week now. I haven''t even seen him close his eyes for more than three seconds. I just shook my head with a sigh after seeing this as I took my first bite of the sandwich that Jimmy gave me.


    It has got to be the best god damn sandwich I have ever eaten in my whole damn life.


    "It''s good, eh?" Jimmy uttered with a chuckle. I then noticed that he had already finished eating his sandwich as he placed its foil inside of a paper bag. "It''s my favorite."


    "It doesn''t look like you were really enjoying it, though," I said as I took another huge bite on the sandwich.


    "Is that so?" He said with a light chuckle before sighing lightly. "I guess that''s just the way it is when you''re dead."


    I didn''t understand why he called himself ''dead.'' Maybe Jimmy just has a knack for being an overdramatic little bitch, but for some reason, I kind of understood what he meant with those words. In the future, would I soon start eating my favorite food and stop knowing what they taste like? Would it feel like I''m just chewing some kind of mushy water? I wonder if there would ever be a time in my life when I would just start swallowing food for the sake of eating and not because I enjoy them.


    Yeah... I guess I get what Jimmy is trying to say. I then reclined my head on the open window to feel the breeze coming through my face once more as I sighed deeply, trying to smell, feel, taste, see, and hear the very sound of life around me.


    Before I knew it, Jimmy is already pulling up in front of my house. I don''t know how it happened, but somehow, time just felt like it jumped from one place to another, or is it just because I am now finally losing touch of the world around me? I find that thought scary, but it is one that I can accept as something that can and will happen to me from now on.


    I opened the door and stepped out of the van awkwardly, finally feeling my legs move again after a long time of sitting down at the party and in the car.


    "Hey," Jimmy said behind me as I stood in front of my doorway. "can I get a drink from your house? My throat is parched."


    "Oh, sure, yeah," I said as I weakly thrust my key into the hole on my doorknob. I then clumsily pushed the door open twice because it didn''t budge when I did it the first time. "Come on in."


    I was still expecting to see my wife''s corpse in the living room somehow, and the thought of it really churned my stomach, but it was also something that I am quite excited to see, too, for some fucking reason.  I pointed my finger towards the kitchen wordlessly at Jimmy as I silently walked towards the area where I stabbed Nicole''s chest and neck repeatedly until she dropped into my thighs.


    However, instead of seeing the usual furniture spread all over my living room, I instead saw an empty room with no colors, wallpapers, or decorations. In the very middle of the room stood a metal bed, and on top of that metal bed is the figure of a woman''s body covered with a white blanket from head to toe. I didn''t blink even once, wanting to see whatever will happen in this scenario playing through my eyes. I could barely remember when something like this first happened to me, but here it is again in all its glory. The corpse lying on the metal bed then slowly raised its upper body. However, unlike what usually happens, the corpse didn''t bleed, and the blanket simply flowed down the corpse''s body, revealing the face and the naked body of a familiar face.


    In front of me lies Veronica as her mouth opens wordlessly. I couldn''t understand what she''s trying to say, but I couldn''t take my eyes off of her as my body froze into the concrete floor.


    What I saw is the body of my Mother on top of the metal bed.


    "Hey." I heard someone say behind me as I felt a light tapping on my shoulder. "You okay?"


    "What? Oh..." I said as I turned around to see Jimmy. I was sweating real hard, and my body was so uneasy that it jumps around after hearing every noise coming from all around. "Yeah... I..." MY eyes then wandered all over the surroundings to see that my living room now looked the same again¡ªthe same furniture, the same colors, the same wallpapers, the same decorations. I then looked up somehow, and I don''t know why I did that, but I am panicking, trying to find something sticking awkwardly in the corners of the ceiling. I am trying to look for something subconsciously, but I don''t know what that is.


    "Your child is staying in Jean''s house," Jimmy said, uttering the name of our mutual friend at work.


    "Huh?" I said with widened eyes as I directed my gaze at Jimmy.


    Jimmy then sighed heavily while shaking his head. "I was expecting you to ask about your daughter once we reach your house."


    "I... Wow..." I said as I placed my fingers on my temples, trying to massage my now aching head. "You''re right. You''re so right. Shit... What am I doing?"


    Jimmy sighed again when he saw me sweating uncontrollably once more in front of him. "Well, I''ve taken the liberty of drinking from the water in your fridge. I hope you don''t mind."


    "Huh? Oh!" I then raised my head to look at him, trying to force a smile out towards him. "Yeah, totally! Thanks for giving me a ride, Jimmy, I uh..."


    Jimmy then waved his hand as his way of saying that he would now be on his way before turning his body away from me.


    "Hey, Jimmy..." I said, with my head dropped low, but my gaze still rooted at the corners of the living room. "Can I stay at your place today?"


    When Jimmy heard this, he stopped moving as I visibly see him look troubled somehow. "You know that I''m just renting a hotel room here, right?"


    "I... yes! Hotel, yes! Look, I will pay half of your rent or whatever, just, please..." I pleaded, almost dropping on my knees as my eyes wandered into the floor where Nicole''s bloodied body once laid. "Please don''t leave me alone yet."


    Jimmy then looked back at me with his usual gentle tone as he placed his hands on his pockets. "Why?"


    Why? I... Because...


    "I don''t want to sleep here tonight..."


    I don''t want Mother to look at me as I sleep in her house. That''s my only wish. I want the cameras to stop pointing at me.


    "What makes you think there are no cameras in my room?" Jimmy said as if he had read my thoughts.


    "I..." I said while shaking my head as I felt a void swallowing the last sense of joy in my heart. "You''re right. I''m sorry, Jimmy. Good night."


    I was about to walk away from him to call our mutual friend''s house and ask her about my daughter when Jimmy called out my name.


    "Come with me."


    "Where?"


    "We''re going for another drive."


    I promptly agreed to him, and after what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived at what looks like a... forest? Jimmy then unfastened his seatbelt and wordlessly left the car. I did the same and hurriedly walked towards Jimmy as he opened the back of his van. There I saw four thick mattresses, eight thick and white pillows, some blankets, and a few body towels.


    "Get yours. I won''t carry them for you." Jimmy said with some sense of coldness in his tone, but I could still see the usual smile on his face.


    "What... exactly are we doing here, Jimmy?" I said as I hurriedly pulled a mattress from the inside of the van.


    "We will be sleeping here tonight?" Jimmy said as he clasped two pillows between his arms.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Are you serious?" I then looked at our surroundings. The forest is quiet, almost too quiet as if no other life could thrive within it. The trees loomed and towered us like cursed giants that will swallow us all whole without a sense or mercy.


    "Yes." Jimmy then closed the van''s door when he saw that we have both taken our shares. "We''ll be okay around here. It''s peaceful¡ªit''s the quietness we deserve, don''t you think so?" He then walked towards the darkened area of the forest where the trees and bushes thrive. "If you want to have some privacy, then this is your best bet."


    I then looked at Jimmy''s back as he walked towards the forest. He looked back at me with a sluggish look on his sharp eyes.


    It didn''t long before I started walking beside Jimmy while carrying the mattresses, blankets, and pillows. Jimmy then placed his mattress on an open field surrounded by the many children of nature. I did the same as I felt the darkness finally creeping all over my body. It''s so damn dark all over us that I couldn''t even see if we''re being surrounded by trees or giant humans with bushy hair. Nevertheless, Jimmy just simply laid on his mattress and tucked his body underneath the blanket wordlessly, laying there soundlessly. I did the same, and when I finally felt my body on the mattress, I finally realized why Jimmy took me here.


    There are no surveillance cameras. The darkness surrounds us so much that no camera could possibly see whatever we''re doing here clearly just in case the Mother placed some cameras all over the trees. Everywhere my eyes go, I could only see nothing but darkness clasping its lightless grasp around my body that nothing changes even whether my eyes are closed or not. I am also pretty sure that Mother wouldn''t just put random night vision cameras in random places all over this huge-ass forests.


    I then moved my body to a more comfortable position, and when I did so, I was greeted by the sight of a stag looking down at me with its towering antlers like he was a king looking at two sleeping travelers at his realm. He just stood there with no sign of moving as if he found some sort of enjoyment in looking at two grown-ass humans sleeping in the middle of the forest just like his other stag friends.


    I was expecting to be petrified by my fear of this evil animal, but I didn''t feel anything when I saw it looking down at me from afar. The surrounding is just so dark and uneasy that no amount of stag could ever get past through my fear threshold. It felt as if the nothingness of the forest invalidated my very own humanity¡ªthe past, the tragedies, the deaths, the fears almost felt... unimportant, unnecessary.


    I then remembered the two couples who fell on the darkness beneath the floor of that ghastly stadium in the middle of The Caravan. They all just... fell there... and plummeted into the darkness where no one else could see them.


    I laughed. I laughed so god damn hard that I could have almost sworn it woke up all the life around me. My laughter echoed so damn loudly in my surroundings that the stag who was gazing at me in the distance ran away from me as fast as his thin feet could.


    Jimmy then looked at me with a horrified look¡ªI must have woken him up the same way the birds fluttering above us started panicking into the air with their wings flapping loudly.


    "Why the hell are you suddenly laughing so god damn loud?" Jimmy uncharacteristically spoke in an anger-filled tone.


    "No, no, no, I''m sorry!" I said in between my laughter. "It''s just that..." I laughed some more as I raised my upper body upwards. "I finally got it."


    "Got what?" Jimmy said as he also slowly raised his body while scratching his closed eyelids.


    "The joke!" I continued to laugh as the darkness around me finally didn''t seem like such an aggressive thing anymore¡ªit was more like a sanctuary now where I can laugh as hard as I can without Mother knowing anything about it. "I finally got the joke!"


    I continued to laugh as loud as I can as my voice echoed all over the stillness of the universe as if the only thing that mattered at that time was me and my hearty laughter.

 106 Trinitarian Formula

    "In the name of the father..."


    I have something to tell you.


    "And the son..."


    It''s a secret between us, no one else can know.


    "And the holy spirit."


    Are you ready?


    "Amen."


    I killed my wife.


    I kept having these thoughts throughout the day while I was faced with the few people who regularly visit the church. To be fair, I don''t know for sure if my wife is dead yet, but what I do know is that I had planned out the entire thing before morning even came. By the time I started the usual liturgy, I was already thinking about the possibility that my plan may not work and fire back against me without my very knowledge. In fact, while I was reading today''s epistle in front of the clueless worshippers in front of me, I kept sweating and shaking so much that I almost dropped the bible from which I am reading the letters of Saint Paul that I must recite for that day before my regular sermons. The demons inside me swirled so much that I kept on grabbing the golden cross laced around my neck to disallow Satan himself from further sipping my spirit because of the sins I had done.


    I planned to kill my wife, that enough is a fact.


    And throughout the day, I expected that she might burst into the church, yelling about how her husband, the priest before them, who''s enveloped with a gold and purple, had tried to take her soul to Jesus Christ himself. However, nothing of that sort ever happened. The hymns were sung, the epistles were read, the sermons were given, the rituals were done, the hem was touched, and the prayers were given, but nothing ever came barging towards that door. In fact, it was all too surreal that the people around me started asking me what happened to my wife, for she had never once failed to attend a single liturgy in her life as a child of God.


    Which is why right now, as I wore my black cassock and felt my ash-colored necklace, I started to feel giddy, excited--my, I am even feeling just a tad bit joyous that perhaps my plan had worked! She is gone, and the secret I hold within my heart shall forever be sealed there within me and with her once she''s placed six feet under.


    Everyone had already left the church, and I am the sole person who still remained there as I continued to kneel before the cross, muttering endless prayers that first comes into my head endlessly, thinking that maybe I can stay this way forever. I then placed both my hands on the ornate carpet on the floor before standing up straight, sticking my forefinger, middle finger, and thumb of my right hand together. Following that, I raised my hand up and touched my forehead using those three fingers, then into my stomach, then into my right shoulder, and finally, into my left. I then kneeled on the ground again, touching the red carpet on the floor while mumbling a silent prayer to Mary, mother of God.


    ... You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?


    That is a portion of the epistle I recited earlier, and up until now, I was still thinking about it as if it forcefully embedded itself into my head by the time the words thrust into the crevices of my shaken mind.


    I have to leave this place.


    I must check what had become of my master plan to silence my beating heart this very instance, lest I shall sleep on the carpets of this impeccable church that we had created for the glory of the Lord. Must I really sleep with such a troubled mind in this holiest of all holy places while gazing at the paintings of my One True God plastered on the walls, though? Am I strong enough to stare at the face of the woman who had given birth to Christ while knowing very well that I have done the unthinkable again?


    Of course, I can!


    But I can''t possibly sleep well at night if I wouldn''t be able to know if that woman finally hit the bucket!


    Thus, I decided to go home. How else can I repent for myself if it is I whom the people seek to gain atonement for their sins? Yes, I shall go home and face the reality of what had happened.


    I walked from the church towards my home that was placed a few meters away, merely a five-minute walk if I hastened my step.


    My sweat started dripping uncontrollably as the people in my neighborhood greeted me one after another. ''Perhaps your cassock is making you sweat so much, father,'' a woman said with perplexity as she looked at my pale face; ''perhaps you should mind your own business, lady,'' I said within my head in response to her words, but in reality, I had said nothing to her.


    Once I had arrived at my doorsteps, I heaved a heavy sigh while opening my door ever so gently while gently calling out the name of my wife, "Barbara?"


    No answer. Good sign.


    I heard the sound of water gushing out of the shower. Not a good sign.


    I then saw a carton of milk placed on the brown wooden table in the kitchen. Did she not drink it after all? This is a bad sign. I know that the first thing Barbara would do in the morning is to take a huge gulp of her favorite fresh milk right after leaving the bedroom. That''s why I placed what seemed like 70 tablets of the most potent sleeping pill I could find from somewhere far, far away.


    "Barbara?" I silently called her name as I took the carton of milk on the table, thinking that maybe I should give it to her to finish the deed once and for all. "Are you still showering?"


    No answer. Typical. She had stopped talking to me by the time she found out about my family business. I know that it was not necessarily something that could ruin marriages and careers, but when the said business involves murder and illegal drugs, then we''re talking about something different in its entirety.


    I then silently ambled towards the open door of the shower room, pushing it ever so gently while my hands shake so much that I almost dropped the carton. I slowly closed my eyes, expecting Barbara to throw something at me--something she had been doing for the past few weeks now once she realized what I had been doing.


    However, even after thirty seconds have passed with my eyes tightly shut, no words or objects flew and smacked through my head. I gradually opened my eyes and what I saw instead is my wife, on the tiled floor, water still running out of the shower, with thick bubbles coming out of her mouth.


    I sighed silently with a sunken expression as I threw the milk carton behind me, hitting the wall hard before it reached the floor with a thud. I then approached my wife and allowed myself to be wet by the showers a bit before closing it entirely. I heaved another bated breath before kneeling on the floor and touching the floor with both my hands.


    After doing so, I stood up straight and placed my fingers on my forehead, "In the name of the father..."


    Then my stomach, "And the son..."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Then into my right shoulder, "And the holy...


    Before finally placing it into my left, "spirit."


    Then I screamed as loud as I can with all the agony that I could possibly pull away from my gut.

 108 Antonova Family Mansion

    hinI stepped out of the cab after what seemed like a journey that lasted for more than an eternity. I didn''t tell anyone that I would be coming here to the family mansion today, so my sudden arrival might be a little surprising for some of them. I then sighed while thinking about everyone living in that mansion right now.


    Well, I just have to face this decision now that I am here. It''s only for a week anyway. If things went just as I planned, I would be able to erase all sorts of suspicions against me regarding my wife''s death and come back to church with renewed respect from my peers. Now, this is not at all, implying that there are people out there who suspect me after the death of my wife¡ªno, quite the contrary. In fact, everyone immediately dismisses any sort of suspicion that foul play must have been involved in my wife''s apparent suicide when they saw me weeping alone in my home where my wife''s body was found. The police officers and my parishioners saw me bawling in tears while wearing my cassock and praying to every saint I could ever list on the top of my head.


    It all went according to my plan, and that time, I didn''t even need to use chili peppers anymore! It was just some real, genuine tears, and I have to thank those Ghibli movies for that.


    Nevertheless, countless interrogations and questioning followed until they all finally gave up on me when the people on my church started to rally against the police officers in my defense. I will forever be thankful to them because they have honestly saved my ass big time back then. After all, wow, I seriously have no more tricks up my sleeves around those times. Anyway, the police decided to leave me alone. After a convincing performance in the middle of a liturgy (I cried in front of my church mates while reading that day''s epistles. It was great, very great), the people themselves were the ones who finally urged me to take a break.


    And hey, who am I but another broken man in need of a break? Thus, after giving me a free airplane ticket from New York to LA, the people circled me and gave me a heartfelt prayer with their hands on top of my head. Uh... I can''t remember what their prayers contain anymore, though, because I was thinking about how I can explain all of these to my mother, but it''s all good. I saw some of them crying so they must have said something nice, I guess?


    Anyway, the plane ride home lasted for about six hours, and it took another 2 hours to reach our mansion from the airport. When I finally arrived, I once again felt at awe after seeing just how empty this place is compared to the modern wilderness that is the rest of Los Angeles City. Everywhere outside of the mansion is filled with nothing... err... well, yes. That''s it. It''s filled with nothing, barren, almost like a wasteland. That''s because my family bought this entire chunk of land but only decided to build that one mansion there in the middle of it, nothing else.


    The mansion itself is, well, grand, I can tell that to you at the very least with words, but the design of it is impossible to be conveyed through simple linguistic methodologies alone. As a mortal man like me gaze at it with all its splendor and might, I could only imagine that this house might be what the house of God ought to look like in his kingdom above the very skies I gaze upon every waking moment of my life. It is simply too beautiful for me to comprehend. The house itself is painted with white from roof to the ground. There is a grand stairway leading to the main door. From the outside, one can see the many windows all over the three-story mansion wherein the grandest of them all stood at the very center where an enormous bullet-shaped window is placed with the silhouette of a woman''s figure plastered in red glass. That window signifies the matriarch of the family, my mother, Lyudmila Antonova, but your dad can just call her Ila. Obviously, for me and the rest of the family, we call her just mom¡ªshe doesn''t like it when her children get too formal with her but not too familiar that we would forget her status as our life-giver.


    The mansion had no gardens, no lawns, no backyard, no whatever other shenanigans all around, not even a single grass, bush, or tree saplings, nada! However, it does have its fair share of greenery at the very top of it¡ªthe rooftop to be more precise. Oh, the roof is home to the grandest work of nature you could ever find on Earth! There stood a beautiful greenhouse of flowers and greener pastures that I can expound on and explain further, but I, frankly, am just too uninterested that I simply do not at all wish to talk about it¡ªjust know that it''s gorgeous, okay? There''s nothing more to it other than that.


    I looked at the cab driver as it bolted through a lonely road, the one singular roadway that connects this lonesome mansion to the rest of the world. I have lived in this mansion for the better years of my childhood: this is where I was born; this is where I grew up. Nonetheless, whenever I look around to see the vast emptiness all over it and the misplaced vibe of the white mansion amid it, I still could not believe to the best of my honesty that I am still standing in Los Angeles.


    I then walked towards the front door, stepping into the stairway with a dumbfounded look on my face as I smiled with a confused gaze running around the surroundings. Suddenly, the front door open and a little boy who''s wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon character design on it stood right above me at the very top of the long entryway.


    "Who are you?" The boy said as a smile swept past his face, but he didn''t move an inch from where he stood. He just remained there with his hands glued tight on his sides.


    "KYLE!" The familiar voice of a woman rang from inside the mansion. It sounded so grungy and so raspy that I almost thought it was the sound of a rusted metal door opening. The owner of the voice then swiftly came out of the house as she banged the door open while stomping. The first thing she did when she stepped out is to drop every strength of her palm down onto the little boy''s right cheek. I stood there with a stunned look on my face. I was about to approach her when she bit her lower lip so damn hard that I almost thought she deliberately did so to gush blood out of her mouth and use it as a sacrificial tool to summon a demon and command it to eat the little boy whole in one huge devilish bite. Her hand then bounces back from downward, hit the boy''s other cheek, and slap the ever-living soul out of him until I could visibly see his face contort unusually like that of a medieval painting of a cat.


    The boy then cried so loudly, and I could almost see the remaining patience running out of the woman''s eyes when red veins suddenly pop out of it in rapid succession. She then pulled the boy''s hair so damn hard that the already crying child burst into an even more terrible outburst, which sounded just as horrible as the woman''s shrill shouts. I then slowly stomped my feet on the white marble stairway as I approached the woman with a relaxed face while feeling an indescribable anger rush through me while listening to the boy''s sniffling and screaming and further yelling and nonstop thrashing.


    When the woman finally noticed my presence, she looked right down at me as I paved through the ashen stairway. Almost miraculously, I saw her reddened face turned into its usual pale color; her veined eyes returned into its normal drowsy state; her gritting mouth relaxed, which made it easier for me to see her familiar thick lips; and her trembling body drooped like it was ice that melted and turned into gas in just a matter of seconds.


    She then groaned before releasing the boy''s hair but not forgetting to smack his head first. I rolled my eyes as I looked at her condescending eyes while I tried my very hardest to feel happy to see her.


    "Hey," The woman said with a relaxed tone, but oddly enough, I could still feel a twinge of anger within it. It was not the same kind of anger she used to the still crying boy, but it was a sort of rage that felt like it existed for so long that it just turned into something she expected to feel. Like doing a mundane task: you know you have to do it, you know you will do it, but you just can''t get used to it.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I felt the same way, being angry about this woman felt so mundane after such a long time that the thought of being mad at her alone is enough to stop my anger from spewing out of my leaking brain. Nonetheless, a huge part of me still wishes that I could have slapped the darkness out of this woman''s life out of her ugly cocky face. She and her little pest-like mistake continue to surprise me as to how and why such creatures deserve to live in this perfect world that the Lord has created¡ªtruly mindboggling.


    "Mmm." I groaned as a reply with a nod. I then looked at the boy with contemptuous eyes while still listening to his loud crying¡ªoh, Lord Jesus, son of God, the very bastion of hope and peace on Earth Himself, oh, PLEASE give me enough strength not to slice off this boy''s tongue off or else, I swear to the very name of my family, I will slap him with all the might of all the waves in the seven seas combined so that he could feel your wrath once and for all, Lord. I looked at the boy while squinching my eyes as it continued to cry without an end in sight, along with his demonic sounding roars of sadness. "Your son looks healthy," I said before closing my eyes so that I could stop at least one of my senses from receiving more of the boy. However, its grating voice remained as if it was trying to shred my ears from inside out.


    "Yeah," The woman replied before pulling the boy''s hair again and dragging it towards the door leading into the insides of the mansion. As she opened the door, she started screaming again with her familiar blood-curdling voice, which is not at all a great thing to hear while listening to the boy''s supersonic mouth. "MOM! MOM ARE YOU LISTENING!? MOOOOOOOM! ANATOLY''S HOME!"


    "What!?" The voice of an old woman rang from within the mansion."


    "A. NA. TO. LY. IS. HEEEEERE!" The woman replied with an annoyed grunt.


    "I heard you the first time, you ungrateful tramp, I heard ya! I''m asking if you''re serious or just trying another more of your plans to kill me once and for all!" The old woman''s voice rang from inside of the mansion and slowly got nearer and nearer into the doorway.


    "If I wanted to kill you, I would HAVE ALREADY DONE IT LAST MONTH!" The woman''s voice gradually raised as she replied to the old woman.


    "Oh, every day, Susan, every day, you give me more reason why I SHOULD HAVE SWALLOWED YOU WHOLE!" The old woman replied as I finally heard her voice clearly from outside of the mansion.


    "I never asked you to take whoever that man''s cum is inside of your pussy, bitch! YOU KNOW THAT! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS! THIS LIFE! I DIDN''T ASK FOR THIS! YOU SHOULD HAVE ABORTED ME!"


    The old woman was about to refute once more when our eyes finally met, and her devilishly angry expression turned into a sweet smile that I could only describe as the perfect brilliance that not even the angels could mimic.


    "My son!" She said weakly as she shakily moved towards me. "My good, good boy!"

 109 Uncharitable, Uncaring, and Unkind

    "Now, now, my son, let''s come in, come in now. Oooh! You should have called us that you''re coming home today, so we could have given you a welcoming party, you know, a grand one! I would have even cooked your favorite fruit salad, and oh! I would even put pears and blueberries in it! Isn''t that wonderful, baby?" My mother, Ila, articulated very finely with a bright smile as she caressed my face gently.


    "Yes. That would have been great, mom, but you see, I have a reason for coming here unannounced." I said with a slightly downcast gaze.


    "Nobody gives a shit," Susan spoke with gritting teeth as she covered the little boy''s mouth with her hand. Regardless of her actions, we could still hear the muffled yelling of the boy out of her tightly clasped palm. She then groaned with a visibly annoyed look plastered on her face as she pulled the boy''s hands upward, dragging it into the mansion while the boy continues to kick and jump around all over the place.


    When Susan finally entered the house, my mother sighed with contempt before looking back at me again with an excited smile. "Ignore your sister, Toly! She doesn''t know what she''s saying! Look, I really, really care about WHATEVER reason you may have for not contacting us first¡ªall of us here in your family do! Now, now, shall we come inside?" Mom said with her hand on my back while gesturing her other hand onto the doorway.


    We both then entered the house, and what welcomed us is the old and massive painting of the family, sitting right in front of the main entrance of the mansion. There are a few comfortable-looking sofas around the portrait of the family along with three, small, circular-shaped coffee table. The little boy, Kyle, was holding on the edge of one of those tables with Susan shoving his head onto the wooden surface of the table while her other hand whipped her bottom with the metal buckle of a heavy belt.


    I noticed that there''s something inside of the boy''s mouth, and upon careful inspection, I realized that Susan must have shoved the boy''s sock inside of its mouth since it was tiptoeing on the floor barefooted. Oddly enough, the boy keeps its legs straight, although it was shaking uncontrollably each time Susan hits its buttocks with the buckle of the belt.


    "How many times do I have to tell this to you, huh?" Susan articulated each word while continuously whipping her belt onto the boy like it was something that she was already accustomed to doing. Now that I can finally look at the boy Kyle closely, I could finally see a few faint bruises, marks, and scratches all over its rough skin. Perhaps, whipping his bottoms is only one of Susan''s kinder punishments. This must have been why the boy is willingly letting her do it. My, I dare say, Kyle almost looked like he was thankful that he''s only getting the belt. "You need to do what mommy tells you, or else you will be in danger out there! Why can''t you understand that?"


    "Yes, mommy. I''m so sorry, mommy!" I could faintly hear Kyle say so almost robotically, even with the sock inside of its mouth.


    "Then, be better! BE BETTER!" Susan said as she smacked the belt bucket onto the boy''s behind, but this time, it was so severe that I could faintly see Kyle''s feet almost giving up before he straightened it again.


    "Why is she even whipping the kid?" I asked in a whisper to my mother, who seemed to be texting someone on her flip phone.


    "Oh, that?" She said before taking her eyeglasses that are hooked on the collar of her orange dress. "Susan said that his kid was grounded after seeing him ripping a picture of her mom in their photo album." My mom then chuckled as she continued to fiddle with her flip phone once again. "The little devil escaped his room and then, well, that''s what he gets for being disobedient," mom then raised her head and looked at Susan, who''s still whipping her child''s behind. "JUST LIKE HER MOTHER!" My mom yelled while looking at Susan with contemptuous eyes.


    "Hmm," I said as I placed my luggage on one of the coffee tables in the lounge while looking at Susan and her child. "At least she''s taking good care of him."


    "Yes, that I can be proud of, at least." My mom whispered as her voice gradually disappears before dialing someone in her phone contacts. "Hello? Yes. No, no! You misunderstand me!" She said while waving her hands into the air. "I don''t care about your husband! I will not loan you any money! It''s a bad practice, and I am sure that you will only keep getting more and more and more debt till you''re so far in debt that you''ll ask me more money just to pay me!" She then placed her phone on her other ear. She then realized that I was listening to their calls, so she smiled at me before speaking once again. "Look, I''ll have to call you back, okay? No, I won''t change my mind. Yeah, whatever! I don''t care! Never call me again then. You''re just wasting my god damn time!" I could hear my mom''s voice raise with anger, reminding me again that she''s not at all young anymore with the way her voice cracks every now and then. My mom was about to end the call, but she placed it on her ear again and said, "And I''m sorry about your husband''s leukemia. I really am." Without another word, my mother ended the call once and for all with an annoyed groan. "How very inconsiderate."


    "Who was that?" I asked with a chuckle as the clasping sound of Susan''s belt hitting her son''s behind rang throughout the lounge.


    "You remember your cousin Betty? Oh, Betty, Betty, Betty! Very fine lass, she is! Very great, amazing family too¡ªI met them at the ball party at Christmas¡ªcute kids and amazing husband! Perfect! It''s too bad you didn''t meet them, all too bad, really! Oh, but she called me today and said that she needs money for her husband''s hospitalization, and I..." My mom then raised both of her hands with a loud groan, which rang well along with Kyle''s continued agonizing cries. "What do I have to do with that?" She continued, asking with a dumbfounded look on her wrinkled but still beautiful face.


    "Nothing," I said while shaking my head with a smile.


    "Precisely!" She said while pointing her finger at my eyes and putting her phone into the pocket of her black slacks. "My goodness! She never once called us when she married that rich doctor guy, and now, she has the gull to come crawling back? Oh, no, no, no! She''s dead to me, I say! Dead! DEAD!"


    "Well, his husband has got nothing to do with us anyway." I shrugged with a chuckle. It''s true. When cousin Betty let go of the Antonova family name to marry that man, she pretty much gave us the middle finger and bolted off with her life far away from us.


    "Bah! None at all!" My mom said with a wave of her hands while looking at my baggage. "I''ll go call the boys and tell them to put your things in your room!" My mom chuckled with an excited gaze on her face while Kyle''s screams grew louder in the background. My mom was about to leave the lounge when she suddenly turned her body towards me again. "Oh, oh, oh! And don''t worry! Your room is very clean! Very, very clean¡ªI ask them to clean it every day, yes! No dust, no dirt, no grime, my baby boy, indeed! You don''t have to worry about that, okay, baby?"


    "Of course, mom," I said with a nod as I saw my mother slowly move towards the mansion''s long hallway to find her two boy servants. It really is such a surprise that she still has this enough energy after all this time.


    I then looked at the family portrait, gigantic as always. I marveled at its size and at its fantastic artistic details with awe while the musically sorrowful cries of a child rang all over my ears. I then contemplated upon the faces of the people on the portrait.


    We were all wearing a black suit with a white undershirt along with black pants and black shoes. There I was sitting on my mother''s lap. Since this was painted around 20 years ago, that means I''m still about 8 or 9 years old when this was painted. It''s almost surreal, really. My mom was wearing the same clothes as all of us, but the only difference is that she''s wearing a beautiful silver tiara with a sharp point in the center, clad with multiple colorful gemstones. On her side stood my then 12 years old older sister, Susan, with her bored and annoyed expression, showing how much she hated being in that painting. It was a stark contrast from my almost angelic smile because it was what my mother had told me to do. Never once had I regretted my decision to follow that order every time I look at this painting.


    Behind us stood two attractive men wearing the same costume as the rest of the people in the portrait. The guy on the left smiles devilishly like he knew exactly what is going on inside of your hear while the one on the right can freeze you with their stern gaze. They were both holding a baby on their hands. In fact, the only reason why these men were in the painting in the first place was all because they must include those twins in there somehow. However, my mom refuses to carry them. Thus, she just allowed her two handsome servants to do the job for her.


    "So you have returned, young master." A voice resounded behind me as I gazed at the marvelous masterpiece before me.


    "Oh, Christopher! I told you to stop calling me ''young master'' already! I''m almost thirty, dude!" I said with a chuckle after looking at the grinning and fresh-looking young man standing by my side. "Where is Alejandro?"


    "He''s with your cousins outside of the mansion, young master," Christopher replied almost mockingly with his condescendingly striking smile.


    "One more of that, and I will terminate you," I said mockingly, but both of us know that half of the meaning I imply in my joke holds true.


    "Forgive my impudence then, Mister Anatoly," Christopher replied with a bow. "Oh, but maybe I should start calling you Father Anatoly now? Ooh! Maybe you want to be a bit on the kinky side and let me start calling you Daddy Anatoly."


    I laughed heartily after hearing whatever silly suggestions that came upon Christopher''s sharp mind. "Well, that''s a good start," I said while moving my gaze back into the painting again. "But let''s not make your final suggestion a reality, unless we now have ways to turn you into a woman, then if that''s the case, I am all up for it!"


    "I''m afraid the Organization is still researching that possibility, but you will be the first one I''ll call when that opportunity arises."


    The manservant chuckled with his usual mischievous grin that could make anyone faint upon their first contact. However, not only am I used to seeing this man, but I am also aware of his fake his entire gig is. No, I don''t mean he''s plastic¡ªnot at all, far from it! What I''m saying is that nothing about him is real, not his smile and definitely not his perfectly toned body behind his tight suit¡ªmy mom insists that her servants should wear suits as a uniform. None of them really complaints about it, though.


    I then gazed at the old painting once more and stared at the two servants behind us who are holding the two babies on their arms. I then looked again at the young man before me as he gently fixes my luggage for me while still listening to the weakening cries of Susan''s son.


    "You two never really age, huh?" I said with a stern gaze while looking at the man take my luggage.


    "I''m afraid that function does not exist yet when we were made." The young servant said as he stood still with my luggage on his hands.


    "So I heard." I nodded while carefully looking at the painting once more¡ªparticularly the image of me, my mom, and my sister. Christopher, on the other hand, patiently stood beside me while carrying my luggage.


    The three of us became older, but none of us really grew. We were all the same people as we were when this portrait was created.


    An uncharitable mother, an uncaring son, and an unkind daughter.


    An uncharitable matriarch, an uncaring priest, and an unkind mother.


    Three different words and three different people, but all one and the same in the eyes of the Lord and a dictionary. Uncharitable, uncaring, and unkind¡ªdestined to exist in three different contexts but will end up in the same wavelength regardless of where they go and irrespective of what path they take.


    "Is my cousins playing that whipping game again outside?" I asked Christopher while still looking at the portrait.


    "Indeed, they are, Mister Anatoly."


    "Good." I then walked past Christopher and headed straight into the back entrance of the mansion. "You can go on ahead and put those things in my room. I''ll play with my cousins for a little bit. Go on."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Yes, sir."


    Before I could open the back door, I was already hearing the sound of two identical-sounding people chuckling in unison while the sound of something hitting a hard surface echoes through my ears. When I finally came outside, the laughing men stopped what they were doing and looked at me with awe instead.


    "Anatoly Bro!" A fat young man said while tightly holding a whip on his left hand.


    "Cousin Toly!" Another fat young man who looked the same as the other guy said with a whip on his right hand.


    "Welcome back, young master Anatoly." A young man wearing the servants'' uniform said with a bow to me with a stern look on his face.


    "What are you two doing?"I said while walking towards the two identical fat men outside of the mansion.


    "You see, you see, Alejandro gave us a new guy! New guuuuy!" The one who''s holding his whip on his left hand said.


    "Is that so, George. We must be thanking Alejandro then!"


    "Yes, yes! This guy is great, Brother Toly! He doesn''t cry at all! Not at all! No matter how much we whip him, no tears!"


    "Is that so, Jeffrey? Can I give it a try?"


    "Of course, of course!" The two fat men said in unison as they excitedly gazed at me. They didn''t even ask about why I came here or why I haven''t been around for almost three years now. They just kept on talking about themselves and their new little toy repeatedly like the rest of the world is just another irrelevant schmuck to them.


    "We have a spare whip right here, young master." The servant named Alejandro said while extending his hand to give what seemed like a thick and black whip at me.


    "Thanks," I said while ignoring Alejandro completely.


    "Why you could even uh... yeet the whip and um... I believe people of your age call it ''dab'' on that silly man right there on yonder if you so desire, young master!" Alejandro said with his usual monotonous voice and stern gaze.


    "Was that supposed to be a joke?" I asked without waiting for his reply as I scoffed while walking away from him.


    I don''t really like this one, so I''m not really talking to him much. He doesn''t know how to crack jokes, unlike Christopher, and he''s always unnecessarily stern and strict for the sake of acting like a professional. Psh. Yeah, sure, he''s a professional, alright! A professional clown. However, in his case, he''s a clown who couldn''t even entertain his patrons properly! He would insist on keeping his upright attitude to do his work in its utmost perfection, but he does try to humor people with varying results, all of which would make anyone cringe. His little serious charade didn''t really work in his favor. After all, Christopher is far better than him in doing any of his jobs. Nevertheless, he does his job well, so I allow him to be around me however he wants.


    Now then, time to see what they''re playing then. I moved my head towards a man whose limbs were tied tightly on an X-shaped wooden cross. The man in question was naked, but his head was covered with a black bag. Many different bruises cover his exposed body from top to bottom, making him look like a pale cake with red velvet filling. I then readied myself a few feet away from him while the twins cheered me on from behind.


    I then struck him hard once.


    The man moved and squirm, but he never screamed nor cry.


    I struck him one more time.


    The man''s chest moved upward, but no voice came out of him.


    I decided to take another step back while tightening my grip around the whip''s handle. I struck the man with all the strength I could muster from my dominant hand, but it only mustered a soft muffled groan from him. This was enough to please the twins, though. Apparently, no amount of voice came out of the man''s mouth by the time they first started yesterday.


    While we were about to wrap up the entire whipping game, Susan suddenly barged out of the mansion and walked right towards us with her usual uninterested and tired gaze. She then looked at me and how much I''m sweating all over from my forehead to my neck. She then looked at the whip in my hands while slowly moving my gaze towards the man who''s tied up at the x-shaped cross.


    She then groaned while shaking her head. "Give me that." She uttered while forcefully taking the whip out of my hands.


    Without even batting an eye or wasting any more time, Susan started whipping the man in rapid succession without stopping to breathe or relax her arm. After a while, the man began to squirm and fly into pain uncontrollably while we could hear the gritting of his teeth with his tightened jaw. Each strike that Susan inflicted upon the poor man''s body would leave him severely trembling with huge gashes and sharp bruises that would bleed without stopping. Every time the tip of the whip hits him, it would create a noticeable slash, and every time the body of the whip hits its target, it would create a large lump of internal bleeding. Susan''s strikes had gradually gotten so unbearably painful for the man on the cross that the naked man would start to shriek and tremble before the whip could even hit him.


    Susan then took a step backward and whipped the man right into her ballsack with ease, making the man scream so god damn hard in such a high pitched voice that I almost mistook him for a girl. The sound the whip makes every time it hits the man''s skin would echo all over the stillness enveloping the mansion that one could feel the severity of Susan''s strikes through hearing alone. Like a soprano in a classical opera masterpiece, the man continued to let out a deafening roar of agony as his balls wiggle every time the whip hit it. Susan then struck the man''s testicles three more times before stopping without even heaving or showing any sign of tiredness. Every hit would cause the naked stranger to howl like banshees on the final layer of hell.


    I shrugged upon this sight with an approving look while the twins looked at Susan with sparkling eyes.


    The man kept screaming even after Susan was done with him while his body flays like a fish on land.


    Susan then dropped the whip onto the floor while the continued screaming of the man echoed all over the empty fields around the mansion.


    "Mom''s calling us." And just like that, Susan returned into the mansion as if nothing had happened.

 110 Mom on a Mission

    "I will need your help on this one." Mom said as she threw a folder on top of Susan''s lap.


    I just sat there motionlessly with my hands on clasped together, acting as if I''m reenacting a prayer. Meanwhile, Susan took a few documents out of the folder that mom had given her as a frown started to form upon her stupid wrinkled face.


    "The fuck is this?" Susan said while glancing at mom after looking at the document in her hands for just a few seconds.


    "New mission. I might need someone to work as my eyes." Mom then slowly sat on the sofa right in front of us before taking a sip of a steaming hot tea on the coffee table. "I hope you''re not forgetting that mom is getting older and her eyes are not as sharp as it once was when you were still running a snot on your¡ª"


    "Jesus fucking Christ, mom, I get it!" Susan replied with a shout as he dropped the document on the coffee table sloppily, making the paper on it fall onto the ground.


    "Do not take the Lord''s name in vain, Susan," I whispered with a solemn tone as I slowly took the document that fell onto the floor.


    "Oh, shut the fuck up with your god bullshit!" Susan said while scratching her hair slowly, making her pixie cut hair a bit ruffled messy¡ªmessier than earlier, which I thought was something impossible. "You saw the other side. You know there ain''t no fucking god there."


    "... there is no God there." I whispered as a reply while lazily reading the document that was supposed to be evaluated by Susan.


    "What?" Susan replied with her head placed on her palms.


    "You used double negatives, Susan," I said as I peek at her annoyed face for about two seconds before looking at the document again. "You should say, ''there is no God'' instead of ''there ain''t no God.''" I spoke with a raised eyebrow while looking at a picture of a stranger, a man, on the upper right side of the document.


    "Get a load of this son of a bitch trying to tell me what''s right or wrong when he''s out here still calling himself a priest after what he did to that poor sucker outside." Susan scoffed with a condescending grin while gazing at the emptiness that lay outside of the window.


    Mom, who was quietly listening to our bickering the entire time, suddenly opened her lips with a nasty anger-filled expression plastered all over her ashen face. "Did you just call me a bitch?"


    "I..." Seemingly realizing what she had just said, Susan stuttered, while looking at me as if she was asking for my help in vain. "Of course not, mom! Come on!" She chuckled with a nervous tone as her voice wavered in fear of mom''s continually contorting eyebrows and tightening jaw. "It''s just an expression to¡ª"


    "Calling your mom a bitch is just an expression to you, child!?"


    "I¡ªno, that''s not what I''m trying to say, I¡ª" Susan''s loud voice turned into a weakening whisper until we could vaguely hear her voice. Her body then trembled as she sank into the sofa that she''s sitting in the same way she would always do when we were still kids.


    Fed up with this preposterous disrespect that Susan kept on babbling away, mom immediately threw the scalding tea on her teacup straight into Susan''s bosom. Susan, who didn''t see this development coming, immediately screeched with all the force that she could muster out of her throat. It is still a mystery to me as to how she still manages to speak clearly these days when she''s screaming and yelling almost every waking moment of her life since we were both kids.


    "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Susan screamed with her hands outstretched, shaking around her head. She then swiftly took her dress off, revealing an undershirt below it that''s not wet with hot tea that''s still visibly fuming smoke. "WHAT IF THAT SHIT BURNED MY BOOBS!?"


    "Small price for your unforgivable disrespect." Mom then handed her teacup to Christopher, who''s quietly standing beside her. "Get me a new one."


    Christopher quietly did what he was told with a slight nod and his signature devilish smile.


    "THAT''S IT!?" Susan then threw her wet dress onto mom''s lap while she growled with some of her spit drooping out of her mouth. "YOU ALMOST BURNED YOUR DAUGHTER, AND YOU JUST THINK THAT''S OKAY!?"


    I sighed while looking at them, doing the same charade all over again as if I was not there to witness it myself. My gaze then moved towards the old family portrait on the lounge once again with an indolent gaze as I tried to find ways to be a significant part of the usual mission shenanigans. That was when I noticed a few grime and brown varnish plastered at random patches all over the painting.


    Hmm... Maybe we need some restoration efforts to clean this piece up now. After all, it had been sitting there for 20 years now.


    As I observed it clearly while the two ladies bicker without an end in sight, I saw that a massive patch of brown varnish was starting to form around Susan''s lips in the painting.


    "ALL OF MY LIFE I ALWAYS WISH THAT YOU WOULD KILL ME INSTEAD OF LETTING ME GET INTO ONE OF THIS STUPID FUCKING MISSIONS AGAIN!" Susan screamed with all forms of anger and agony, mixing to form what sounded like an audio representation of Beksi¨½ski''s paintings. "CAN''T YOU SEE!? YOU''RE THE REASON WHY MY SON STILL THINKS LIKE A THREE-YEAR-OLD WHEN HE''S ALREADY SEVEN! YOU''RE MAKING HIM RETARDED JUST LIKE YOUR STUPID PRIEST SON!"


    I shook my head after hearing the last few sentences of Susan''s statement as I decided to take my attention back to the painting again. This time, once again, I noticed a few more brown varnishes all over our faces, particularly around mom''s ears.


    "I don''t care what you think of me, but you have no right, ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT, to talk to your mother like that WHEN I ALMOST DIED TRYING TO TAKE YOU OUT OF MY BELLY! I have NEVER asked you to be grateful to me, but this? HAVE I NO RIGHT TO EXPECT BETTER FROM YOU!?" Mom tried to scream every now and then, but her weakened state and her failing old voice don''t permit her to raise her voice continuously.


    While looking at my face on the painting, I realized that there''s a few of that same browning varnish accumulating around my eyes. I laughed while looking at it as I slowly looked at the document in my hand.


    Mother then crossed her legs with her fingers clasped together as it laid lazily on her lap. She then looked at Susan with a blank expression on her wrinkled face as if waiting for her daughter to apologize the way she always wanted her to do. However, as their patience starts to dwindle, they both decided not to say any further words to each other.


    Since both of them decided to let their feelings of pride take the better of them, I decided to end the unbearable silence permeating the lounge by clearing my throat. Mom looked at me immediately with a relaxed smile on her face while Susan kept on fanning her undershirt to ease the heat around her bosom.


    "What is it, my son?" Mom said with the purest of all joy brimming in her gleeful smile.


    "What will be my role in this mission, mom?" I said with my usual solemn while still tightly holding the document in my hands.


    "Well, you will be staffing the house with Christopher and Alejandro while we''re away, of course!" Mom said with a chuckle as if she wasn''t even anticipating for this question to come. "I could not possibly ask my son, who had just gotten home moments ago to go on this mission with me."


    I knew it.


    It has always been like this, but this time, at least she has a better excuse.


    "What if I..." I said, hesitating to speak while looking at mom''s confused smile. "I want to take Susan''s place."


    After hearing this, Susan finally looked at me with an obviously happy look on her face. The only thing she had to do now is to nod uncontrollably with an excited giggle to mimic what she would always do when I bring this up when we were still kids.


    "I''m sure my dear sister won''t oppose such a proposal since it would technically give her a day off," I said with a chuckle without looking at Susan''s grateful gaze.


    Mom''s smile quickly faded out of her face after hearing what I had said. "No. You will stay here and wait for our arrival. We will be having a party tonight, and then you will stay here for as long as you like." She then stood up with her eyes closed as a sigh came out of her lips. "That is final."


    She was about to leave the lounge when I stood up as well and said, "Then I will leave now."


    "What?" Mom said as she turned her head towards me.


    "I will be leaving now. There is no reason for me to be here. My luggage is still in my room, and you said I could stay as long as I like. Then, I say, I''ll just be here for less than a day." I looked at Susan, then to my mom, with a smile before excusing myself.


    "WAIT!" Mom yelled before gasping, realizing that her voice must have sounded harsher than she had thought. "Wait, my son. She said with a sigh as she slowly approached me. "Would you be staying longer if I take you on this mission with me?"


    "Sure."


    "It would take longer than a week." She said as if it would be enough to make me falter. Classic mom, always the worst when it comes to bargaining and trading.


    "I don''t care," I said as if telling her that it could take an eternity if she so desires, and I would still agree to do it.


    Silence prevailed all over us once again. Susan just remained seated there as if anticipating that she would finally stop being mom''s lackey for one of her missions for once in her miserable scream-filled life.


    "Okay." Mom said with a sigh as she nodded weakly with her eyes closed. "You can come. Susan, you will be standby here in the house with the boys. I will be taking the twins with me too. Alejandro, why don''t you fix up our friend on the cross for me and tell him that his reason for being here had finally arrived."


    Susan then slowly stood up and tapped me on my shoulder with a nod. A smile then crept upon her face, which made me wince and lean my body away from her, crushing her hands off my shoulders. She saw this, but instead of screaming the way she usually does, she just chuckled at me and went out of the lounge while shouting the name of her son loudly.


    Alejandro then quietly came back to the lounge with a trembling man beside him. He was wearing a green polo shirt and a blue pair of pants. Mother then calmly assessed his body by grabbing his face, tapping his body, and looking at him from top to bottom.


    "I''m not sure I''ve met this man before," I said with a confused smile while mom walked in circles around the stranger before me.


    "Oh, I''m sure you do. Haven''t you played whips with the twins outside?" My mom said while pinching the man''s waist.


    "You mean, this guy is the man on the cross?" I said with a delightfully surprised expression.


    "Indeed, he is." She said while looking at the man''s eyes. "Had this man been crying lately? Give him some glasses to hide his swollen eyes. We don''t want our target to be suspicious." Mom said to Alejandro in rapid succession while examining the man''s eyes. The stranger didn''t look like he minded these, though. He looked as if it was something that was usually done to him on a typical Tuesday afternoon.


    "My goodness, where''s his bruises then?" I asked with a frown as I looked at the perfectly healthy-looking stranger in front of me.


    "I''ve ordered one of those ointments that the Ringmaster was selling recently in the Organization. I managed to nab a lot of them because of my status, so I just used it to this boy as a test run." Mom replied while pointing at some areas of the stranger''s body to both of his bodyguards. "I asked these two boys to take care of our friend right here while we''re talking about the mission earlier. Knowing Susan, I knew that the talk would take a while, so Christopher had enough time to take care of this guy." Mom then looked at me with a mocking smile. "As you can see, Susan stalled enough time because of her endless whining for these two to do their jobs well."


    "I''m afraid I haven''t managed to heal all of her wounds, though, Madame Ila," Christopher whispered with a disappointed expression.


    "Oh? I''m not seeing anything wrong with him, though." Mom said while looking all over the man''s body again to check for bruises.


    "It''s because..." Christopher hesitated before continuing with a smile. "... it''s in his testicles, Madame."


    "Oh." Mom then gently tapped on the stranger''s crotch, making him wince with a gasp. "Well, as long as it won''t be seen. It''s not like this guy uses that part of him anyway."


    I cleared my throat after seeing this exchange with an awkward smile. "Looks like the Organization is doing well with their medicinal products." I then quickly thought of something different as a way to end this topic once and for all. "So... Who exactly is the client this time?" I intervened mom''s work with a question, which she didn''t seem to mind much.


    Mom then looked at the man from three feet away with a nod. "Veronica." She simply replied.


    "Veronica?" I said with a raised eyebrow, confused upon hearing that unfamiliar name. "Is she a part of the family?"


    "No. She owns the mall." Mom said while taking the pair of thick glasses that Christopher gave her. My, I didn''t even realize that he had already appeared. It''s like they have no presence at all, almost like they''re invisible unless needed.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "The mall?" Going on topic, I finally asked again with a confused chuckle. "I''m afraid I am not aware of what this mall you speak of is, mom."


    "Oh, never heard of Veronica before, son?" Mom said, but this time she''s looking at me with eyes filled with doubt.


    "Not at all, nope," I said with a blank face while looking at mom''s dubious expression.


    "Long hair, wears pompous clothes, spoiled brat¡ªdoes that weird mind thing?" She started to enumerate many characteristics that this Veronica person might have had while putting the glasses on the stranger''s eyes. "No?" She said after seeing my still confused expression.


    "Doesn''t ring a bell."


    "Calls her V sometimes too, still no? Her official title is Field Commander." She said, this time, her focus is all on me.


    "Ohh! You mean, the girl who did the train!" I said, finally remembering that I indeed knew of a woman named Veronica before from a long time ago.


    "That''s right. She''s the one who does the recruiting these days. Veronica very graciously asked for our support in this new person that she''s eyeing because of something in their blood or whatnot." Mom then looked at the stranger in the lounge again, who had bruises that miraculously healed in just a matter of a few minutes even after all the lashing he received from Susan. "That''s why we will need this guy according to the data she sent us."


    "And this guy is?" I said while also looking at the man standing before us.


    "Well, it doesn''t really matter, but..." Mom chuckled while looking at the document on the coffee table. "Says here that his name is Mike. Just Mike."

 111 Pray Me Up, Before You Go-Go

    I knelt silently on the floor while muttering a few prayers that I could easily remember at the top of my head while looking up at the cross that I had bought with me. I placed it on a table beside my bed and solemnly clasped my fingers in hopes that my message to God would be heard once again, just like how all of our prayers would. I started falling on my knees, not even minding that I was still wearing the same black cassock I had on since I stepped on the airplane ride from Ney York to Los Angeles. This is a sign of my complete devotion to my faith¡ªunwavering and unfaltering, not answering to the call of temptations that will somehow urge me to stop my faith.


    One might find it bemusing to see that I am kneeling in front of a slightly different-looking cross than one might have otherwise expected. The Orthodox Christian cross looks just like the usual Christian church that one might see out there in the wild but with two varying differences: there''s a short straight line at the very top, and another line perked diagonally up the left side. Well... I would like to go in-depth about the many meanings behind such additions to our cross, but just know that it is one where my piety falls unquestioningly.


    "Well, well, well, look at Mr. Priest here, devoting more of his time to his little circus freaks." Susan''s annoying grating voice scratches from behind me like a giant drill digging a hole on a hunk of hardened concrete. "Getting a bit nervous on your first mission, boy?"


    "What do you want, Susan?" I said, still with my eyes crossed while trying to continue my prayer in my mind.


    "Nothing." She said, still standing at the doorway of my room. "Look, you''ve stopped visiting for, what? Three years?" She then


    "If you want to annoy me, then you''ve already succeeded." I sighed lightly under my breath after hearing that she wouldn''t let go off me. "If you don''t have any other business with me, then please leave me alone."


    Instead of just merely leaving me in my lonesome, Susan decided to enter my room and sat on my bed. Unsurprisingly, she kept on talking like that one little nosy neighbor that one simply wouldn''t be able to remove, no matter how much one decides to keep them off your life politely.


    "You know, I don''t get you, Anatoly," Susan spoke in a quieter volume than usual. However, her high pitched voice still pierced right through my ears like barb wires going through my right ear and leaving on the other. "you''ve seen the other side and the place where all the souls go, but you''re still keen on being pious on your faith. I''m sure I don''t have to mention how much life you''ve prematurely removed from this world." Susan then chuckled mockingly inside of my room that she barged in uninvited. "Isn''t that illegal in your holy literature? What''s that word again... Uhh... It really says a lot about you, to be honest... errr..." She then snapped her finger as if to explicitly inform me that she had successfully processed her eureka moment. "Ah! Hypocrite, that''s the word! You''re a hypocrite, Anatoly." Susan uttered her final sentence with a scornful, grating tone.


    "I don''t want to fight, Susan," I said while reciting the prayer to Saint Michael at the top of my head, which is enough for me to disregard whatever it is that Susan is saying.


    "WE''RE NOT FIGHTING, THOUGH, AREN''T WE!?" Susan screamed with a hearty laugh, which managed to make me forget the words to the prayer in my head. "I just want to ask while you''re still doing all these charades even if you know that it''s useless."


    I then gradually opened my eyes as anger slowly rises from within the pit in my stomach. "Because I find joy in offering my life to a being much bigger than any of us, Susan."


    "Oh, quit the crap, Anatoly. You''re not fooling any of us with that shitty half baked answer." Susan spoke less loudly but still with the same high pitched and cursed tone. It truly makes me wonder if this is what the sound of a demoniac choir from the very depths of hell sounds like, or perhaps this is the sound souls make when they fall from grace. "Come on. I''m bored, and you''re here doing nothing! Look, we haven''t seen each other for a long time, so humor me for a bit!"


    "You know, I can say the same thing about you and your son, right?" I whispered, not even wanting to pray anymore, for I wouldn''t wish to taint my message to the Lord with my negative emotions. "You know that taking care of your little vermin mistake brings you no joy, no value, no monetary gain, and no sense of self-gratification. The only reason why you''re still wasting your time on him is because you already endured so much pain when you conceived him, and now you think that it would be more of a waste to get rid of him after all that trouble."


    "You better stop now, Anatoly," Susan said as he stomped her feet on the wooden floor, making it creak so damn loud that I almost thought it would break. Because of Susan''s untoward reaction, the ceiling shook lightly, causing all the dust on it to fall onto the ground. "we''re talking about the two of us here; there''s no reason to involve my child in¡ª"


    "Oh, but there is a reason, Susan. We most definitely have to involve your son here, absolutely!" I interrupted with a loud voice. "I could also say the same thing to you for defiling the name of the one true God that I very much value in my life! You have no reason to involve MY connection to MY religion in this unneeded conversation you forced me to comply with, but please, go off and continue calling me a hypocrite if that''s what would keep you awake at night."


    "At least, I can see my son, unlike this garbage little connection to your imaginary friend!" Susan said with a condescending chuckle while looking down at me as I knelt on the floor below my cross. "At least my son is real!"


    "Oh, and is the many great emotions I feel for my God fake then?" I said with a fit of apparent anger echoing out of my pointed tone. "My devotion to the Lord is not what keeps me moral, for a moral person is far from who I am! My love for my God is not rooted in my desire to go to heaven, for you have said yourself that I know it doesn''t exist. I simply implore my piety upon this imaginary friend you speak of because it is one of the very few things that''s still keeping me from abandoning this world once and for all! IT brings me joy, and once it stops doing so, I will cut it off my life the same way I stopped treating you like a sister because you have given me nothing BUT DISAPPOINTMENT!DISAPPOINTMENT, I SAY! YOU DISGUST ME, SUSAN! WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW MUCH HATRED I FEEL FOR YOU JUST FOR THE VERY FACT THAT YOU''RE STILL ALIVE AND YOU GET TO STAY BEING ALIVE IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE! The very anger you feel for your son could not even compare to the absolute desire I have every single day to cut off your head and place it beside me on the bed like a rotting little teddy bear!"


    "I... wow..." Susan said with a weak voice.


    "Hmph," I grunted with a lighthearted smile as I gently stood up from the floor and turning my head towards Susan. "well, engaging though all this familial talk may be, perhaps we should move on now." I then slightly narrowed my eyes as my smile slowly faded away. "Or maybe I should say, I SHOULD get a move on, unless, of course, you wish to take your previous place in this mission, which I will wholeheartedly return to you."


    I then looked at Susan straight in her eyes as her visible anger flashes through her piercing gaze as her eyes gradually drown in her tears. She then swiftly stepped out of my room but turned around quickly once she reached my doorway.


    "One thing, Anatoly..." She growled with a shaking voice. "You said one thing wrong." She then sniffed as she slowly turned her head away from me. "Keeping my son alive does give me happiness."


    She then loudly stormed into her room next door and started waking her son Kyle up before doing God knows what ungodly punishments she has stored in their room. It boggles me so that she''s still sleeping with her son in the same place. Maybe she really does love her son; however, such thought perishes in my mind when I started hearing Susan''s pterodactyl-sounding screeches.


    "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT YOU SHOULD CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES FIRST BEFORE GOING TO BED!?"


    No, her love is not directed to her son¡ªit''s a love for something else. I chuckled with that thought in mind. I then fell on my knees again as the harmonious sound of Susan''s sadistic punishments calmed my raging thoughts and placed me in a solemn state of mind once again, making it easier for me to send my love towards my Lord.


    "Hey, Cousin Toly! Aunt Ila says we have to go now!" George''s voice echoed in my room.


    "Whatcha doin'', Toly bro?" Jeffrey''s voice intertwined with Kyle''s crying from the next room.


    "Praying," I answered with an uninterested voice.


    "Is it fun?" George replied with confusion.


    "Very," I replied with a chuckle as I proceeded to pray in my head.


    "Oh. Good for you, then, Toly bro." Jeffrey cheered with a chuckle.


    "I will be down there in a few minutes," I whispered in response.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "'' Kay!" They spoke in unison.


    "Oh, and, boys,"


    "Yes, Cousin Toly?" George replied with confusion.


    "Yes, Toly bro?" Jeffrey replied with a happy-sounding question.


    "Do we still have some concretes around?"


    "I think so?" George pondered quietly.


    "Dunno," Jeffrey answered honestly.


    "I see," I said, still engrossed in my prayer. "If we have one, I want you to take an entire bag with us in the van and three gallons of water with it... and maybe a pale, too, just in case."


    "'' Kay!" They replied in unison once again.


    Finally, in my dimly lit room filled with nothing but a bed, a table, and my cross, I was once again left alone amid my concentrated prayers as the melodious sound of Susan''s voice and Kyle''s tortured cries intertwined in the air like a perfectly synchronized operetta.

 112 The Fowls of the Air, The Beasts of the Field

    "The fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground."


    It is a passage from Ezekiel 38:20. Such is how I felt when I saw the rundown mess that is the Plural Heights mall. This is where we were supposed to take this Mike person and have him meet his friend.


    "Do you think this will work, Father Anatoly?" The timid voice of a man rang beside me as I looked at the things inside of the van: a bag of cement, three huge containers filled with water, and a small metal pale.


    "What do you mean, Mike?" I said to the timid man who''s fidgeting before me.


    Mike clenched the collar of his polo shirt as he sighed. "I just feel like... Someone like me who doesn''t even deserve to live should be in a mission like this... There''s absolutely no reason for me to be alive, but..."


    "No reason to be alive? Child, I..." I then turned my head and gazed at him with a troubled expression. I didn''t know what to say to him as I gently closed the door of the van. From a distance, I saw countless crows cawing and flying on top of the Plural Heights mall at the far off distance. I then smiled as I tapped Mike''s shoulder. "Look at those birds, Mike." I then moved his body to make him gaze at the energetic murder of crows. "Were they not put here in this world by the same God who made you?"


    "I..." Mike said with a stutter. "Of course, they are. The same God made them."


    "Do you believe in God, Mike?" I said as I looked at him with my arms around his shoulder.


    "I think so." He said with the same weak tone.


    "Do you really think God will find joy in seeing one of his perfect creation think of himself as nothing less than a masterpiece?" I then waved my hands and pointed it towards the flying crows above the mall. "Look at them, Mike. They all do all that they can to survive in this cruel world." I then dropped my hands as I tightened my grip around Mike. "I am sure you''ve seen a lot of cruel things if you''re my mother''s employee, and I''m sure it must have broken your spirit, but always believe that God will be there for you no matter what, Mike, no matter what. If those birds whom a lot of people consider as naught but pests and bad omen deserves to live, why can''t you? A wonderful person like you deserves to keep such a beautiful soul, Mike." I then released him from the tight grip of my hands as I smiled at him with a nod. "Always remember that."


    Mike then sighed with an assured smile. "Thanks, Father Anatoly."


    I then walked towards my mom as I yelled, "Talk to me if you feel like that again, okay?"


    "Sure!" Mike said with a determined smile as he sat on a bench outside of the 7-11.


    I then leaned on a wall beside my mom, who''s sitting on a foldable chair she took somewhere in the kitchen. Her black wide brim hat flowed along with the wind as I spoke, "So how did you find that guy, anyway, mom?"


    "Eh. Don''t remember anymore." Mom scoffed as she wore her sunglasses on with a bored expression. "Must have been another nutjob thinking of changing their lives for the better... or something similar to that." She said as she placed her hand on her lap while patiently observing her employee.


    "So, what exactly is his role in this thing?" I whispered as I squat beside mom. If someone found a priest wearing his black cassock squatting on a dirty corner beside a rundown mall with an old woman, they would probably think that some cosplay event is happening somewhere.


    "Veronica asked for out help kindly because she found out that one of my employees is a friend of one of her targets." She then pointed at Mike with his chin. "That''s the employee." She then sighed with a puzzled look on her face as she continued, "I would have been reluctant to give him to Veronica if she was an excellent employee."


    "I assume he isn''t, then?" I said with a chuckle while I tapped on my knees.


    "Why do you think I allow the twins to whip him?" She said with a grunt as she slowly rearranged her hat neatly on her smooth-flowing ashen hair. "Of course, he''s a terrible employee. I''m happy Veronica is taking him away."


    I nodded with a shrug before asking, "But what''s the catch?"


    "The catch? Well..." She then clicked her tongue while tapping her feet twice. "If Veronica thinks his help is no longer needed, then we will be the one responsible for ''dealing'' with him if you know what I mean."


    "Sounds tough." I then yawned after replying.


    "Indeed, which is why he needs to do a great job here." She then leaned her body forward to look at a car pulling up in front of the 7-11. She then stood up when she saw who came out of the vehicle. "Oh. Looks like the target is here."


    When the target left the vehicle, he quickly went to Mike''s side right away with a bright grin. He then sat on the bench with him and started talking about God-knows-what.


    "What are they talking about?" I said with a whisper while looking at the two of them converse.


    "I don''t know, son." Mom said as she put a walkie-talkie on her mouth. "But we need to find out." She then pushed a button and started speaking on the receiver. "George, it''s your turn."


    When mom said this, I saw George came out of the 7-11 and quickly scanned the surroundings to find Mike and the target. After a few seconds, he locked eyes on Mike and slowly walked towards them. He put his white baseball cap on as he sat beside the target.


    "Good. Just stay there and listen to what they''re talking about. Wait for further instructions."


    We then looked at the response of Mike and the target. From afar, I could easily guess that Mike had a sudden shift in his behavior when he saw George. He looked like he was panicking as he started spouting something to the target. Since the target was facing his back on us, we can''t quite see his reactions.


    "Don''t you think he''s fidgeting a little too much, mom?" I asked while tapping her soldiers with my forefinger.


    "That''s the point." Mom then pushed a button on the walkie-talkie again and said, "Okay, George. Tell me what they''re talking about there."


    From a distance, I saw George standing up slowly as he walked into the store again. After a while, we heard his voice in the walkie-talkie. "Mike is proceeding as planned."


    "Good." Mom said to the receiver with a nod. "Go there with Jeffrey now. Corner the target from each side. Don''t let the target get away and keep reminding Mike that he needs to take him into the mall. One of Veronica''s affiliates is already inside, and we can''t fuck this up for us. Understand?"


    "Yes, auntie." George''s determined voice echoed out of the walkie-talkie.


    "Good. Now go back there, hurry." Mom said as she slowly pulled her sunglasses and peeked out of it with a half-wide grin.


    However, when George and Jeffrey left the store and immediately went towards the direction of Mike and the target, both of them stood up from the table, and the target was particularly on alert as he hurriedly went into the middle of the road with Mike. He took his bag quickly before Jeffrey could even sit on his right side.


    "He''s a smart one, alright." Mom said with a click of his tongue as her grin swiftly disappeared. She then talked into the walkie-talkie again. "George, Jeffrey, both of you stay there outside of the store. Don''t move."


    "Understood." I heard George''s voice in the walkie-talkie while my mom swiftly stood at the edge of the sidewalk with a stern expression. I then walked towards her. As I finally beside her, she grabbed my arm gently; I expected her to be nervous since the operation might fail, but she looks calmer than I expected.


    "Are you okay, mom?" I asked while we observed how Mike and the target talked to each other in the middle of the road.


    "Sure. We''re not the one in the wrong here. Mike did exactly as he was told, but the target this time is just too cunning." She then sighed while taking her sunglasses off, revealing a tired-looking gaze that showed how much she wishes to go home and drink tea instead of doing this. "This is Veronica''s problem now. She would probably take Mike away from us, which is good."


    "But wasn''t Mike supposed to take the target into the mall?" I said as I looked at the target leaving.


    "That is, indeed, the plan."


    I then slowly narrowed my eyes as a smile started to creep up on my face. "Then, we can safely say that Mike failed us, right?"


    Mom then looked at me with a chuckle. "Well, she didn''t fail in Veronica''s eyes. That''s the only thing important to me."


    "I see." I then tried my best to conceal my laughter as I saw the target turning around. Thus, the target saw all of our faces before he left ultimately. "He saw us."


    "Indeed, he did." Mom said as she laid her head on my shoulder.


    "Then, it''s perfectly fine for me to perform some... disciplinary procedures, right?" I said as the shadow on my face started to heighten while I looked at Mike, who was still standing in the middle of the road.


    "Mom then looked at me with a yawn as she slowly walked towards the van. "Do whatever you want."


    "Sure," I said as I felt different forms of darkness running in my head all at once as I beckoned the twins to approach me. Meanwhile, Mike was still standing in the middle of the road like the damn moron that he is.


    "What is it, Toly bro?" Jeffrey uttered with a confused look on his face as I put some cement and water on the pale that I had asked them to bring for me.


    "Do you guys want to play a game!?" I said excitedly towards the twins as I looked at the unmixed combination of water and concrete dust on the pale.


    "Sure!" They both said in unison as their fat tummies flapped like unkempt wings as they ran towards me like featherless chickens.


    "Okay!" I said with the same excited tone on my voice as I dragged the enormous blue bucket inside of the van, which contained the rest of the unused water. "I want you guys to mix that cement and water on that metal pale for me, will ya!? The person who mixes the fastest will get to buy as much as they want in that 7-11 store! Do you like that!"


    "We sure do!" They both said while kneeling in front of the pale on the ground.


    "Then start mixing, my dear cousins!" I then looked at the two of them with excitement, but both of them didn''t move. "Go on now! Mix, mix, mix!" I said like a clown for a child''s birthday party.


    "Well, don''t we need a small shovel to do that, Cousin Toly?" George said with her forefinger on his chubby cheeks. Jeffrey stood beside him, nodding with the same amount of confusion on their faces.


    "Oh... err... really? I mean, OF COURSE, I KNOW THAT!" I then laughed heartily with my hands on my stomach. "Silly! For this game, you need to use uhh... YOUR HANDS! That''s right! Mix, mix, mix with your hands, my cousins!"


    "I see! Then I won''t lose!" George said as he dropped his hands onto the pale.


    "Ahh! Cheater! Me too!" Jeffrey said with a panicked expression before plunging his hands deep into the pale too.


    Without further ado, they started burying their arms inside of the cement with joy, flailing their arms inside of the pale for me until it turned into a mushy mixture that doesn''t look quite as I expected.


    "Hmm... It''s not really mixing up well, eh?" I said to while gazing at the boys with a worried look on my face.


    "Of course, it wouldn''t Cousin Toly!" George assured with a wide grin on his face while still mixing the cement on the pale. "You also need sand and gravel if you want to mix this damn thing!"


    "Err... Well, this is embarrassing." I said with a chuckle as I scratched the back of my head. "Here I thought I could finally see someone with cement face... You know what, boys! Why don''t you wash your hands on that bucket there, and I will go there with Mike, so we can judge who''s the winner, eh?"


    "SURE!" They said as they stood up with excited faces, whisking cement all over the ground.


    Well, that didn''t go as I had planned it to be, but whatever. This is just for show anyway! I was planning on making cement somehow and then pouring it on top of Mike, so I could finally see what statues look like if you use real people as a literal base of it, but oh well... WHATEVER! Well, now that I had thought about it, maybe it wouldn''t work too because there''s not enough cement here...? ARGH! WHATEVER!


    I then took the metal pale and walked towards Mike. I then dropped the pale in front of him with a wide grin on my face.


    "Oh... I... Hey, Father Anatoly, I''m sorry if it didn''t go as planned, but I..."


    "Kneel." I uttered with a commanding tone while a gentle and broad smile remained on my face.


    "What... do you mean?" Mike said, while looking at the pale on the ground.


    "You want to confess your sins, right?" I then pointed to the ground with the same gentle and broad smile on my face. "Go on then, Mike. Kneel."


    "I... I see..." He then slowly fell onto his knees with his fingers clasped together while his arms shook. He looked straight onto the cement inside of the pale as he started talking again while being on his knees. "Forgive me, father, for I have..." Mike uttered as he gradually raised his head to look up at me, but his voice stopped when he saw my left leg raised straight into the air above his head. "Wha--BLEGHRK!"


    Before he could realize what would happen to him, my feet had already dropped onto his head, plunging his face deep into the cement.


    "APOLOGIZE!" I screamed as I grounded my soles onto Mike''s head tightly.


    Mike then started speaking muffled words with his face in the pale as he began to flail his hands and feet around. "GRAMHGH SWORGHY! GRAMHGH SWORGHY! GRAMHGH SWORGHY!" Mike struggled to say with his face deep into the mixture of water and cement inside of the metal petal.


    "STOP STRUGGLING NOW, BOY, OR ELSE GOOOOD WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOUR STUPID ASS, I TELL YA!" I yelled again as I continued to drop the entire weight of my body onto my feet. Luckily, this place is almost deserted, so there are no bystanders that would stop me from doing this necessary correcting measure on my mom''s employee... which is all according to my plan, by the way. Definitely!


    Mike then stopped moving, but he remained speaking muffled breathes while I buried my face on the pale. His chest started to heave up and down quickly, making me laugh at the thought that he''s somehow breathing whatever mistake is inside of that pale. The initial plan is that I will bury his face on the cement till it hardens and pull his skin out of it and somehow heal him with whatever death-defying mechanisms they have out there in the Organization. Alas, what I have instead is this... cement juice thingie. Oh, whatever. WHATEVER! I don''t care anyway; this can be fun too.


    "Good!" I said as I loosened the strength around my feet, but I still kept the contact of my soles on Mike''s head. "Smack your right hand on the ground if you''re sorry!


    He complied without any further qualms.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Smack your right hand on the ground twice if you won''t do it again!"


    He did so again without causing more trouble for me.


    "Good, boy, good! Now do that again with both of your hands this time if you don''t want the cement to harden on your face."


    He complied like a good little boy immediately; he did so well that he started smacking the ground so much that his arms palms started to redden like it was about to bleed.


    I then pulled my legs away from Mike''s head. When I did so, Mike lifted his face, showing a few improperly mixed cement on his falling on his skin.


    "Ew." I said as I looked at him with a squirm. "Go wash your face there in the bucket near the van, will ya?"


    When I said so, Mike immediately staggered towards the huge blue plastic bucket outside of the van and willingly plunged his whole head deep into it.


    "What are you doing, Mike! You shouldn''t put your face there if you want to judge us!" Jeffrey said with a laugh.


    Mike was then about to raise his head from the bucket when George pushed it deep in there again. "Op, op, op!" He then began shaking Mike''s head furiously into the water. "You should wash your face properly, Mike! Maybe you missed some spot, eh?"


    "HEY, GUYS!" I then yelled at the two of them from afar as I looked at Mike''s glasses inside of the pale along with cement. "Can you believe it? Mike said, you''re both winners! Go there now and buy whatever you want! My treat!" I said with a fake excited voice while pointing at the 7-11.


    "Yay!" They both then cheerfully ran towards the 7-11, leaving Mike on his lonesome for once. The poor guy then pulled his head out of the water before his body shook so hard that he fell onto the floor, crying.


    "Aww!" I said as I quickly approached him with my hands open wide. "Come here."


    Mike almost flinched and moved his body away from me, but he''s too exhausted to do so. I then laid his head on my chest as I patted his back gently, feeling him shake uncontrollably in my arms.


    "Shh... It''s gonna be okay now. Shh..." I said as I gently cradled Mike''s body on my gentle touch.


    As I did so, I realized that a few crows started to circle above us, cawing loudly, making their presence known as some of their feathers fell onto my head like darkened confetti from the sky. I then looked at my cousins inside the convenience store as I cradled Mike''s trembling body in my arms.


    That''s right.


    The fowls of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence.

 113 The Family Accepts New Guests

    When we came home from our semi-successful mission, the first thing that mom asked me to do is to have dinner. Luckily, her two super-servants seems to know every necessary element in the world, so they both happily complied with the family matriarch''s request and quickly headed to the kitchen. While we were waiting in the living room, watching TV as the food gets cooked, we could hear Susan still punishing her son for doing God-knows-what this time. Oh well. The kid is a growing boy, and he needs proper guidance from a loving mother. He''ll be just fine. We asked Mike if he wanted to join us for dinner as he shook violently in the corner of the room. Unsurprisingly, Mike refuses our generous offer, for he said that, and I quote, "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID FAMILY!" end quote." Harsh, I know, but it''s his loss too. Christopher and Alejandro make the second-best dinner meals in the whole wide world; of course, the person who owns the first price is my wonderful mother--no contest in that. I think he only said those words because he knows that his contract with mom ends today. She doesn''t seem all that bothered by it, though, so we just watched TV peacefully as he cried like a cold furless cat at the corner, hissing at anyone who would even look at him.


    Thus, Mike went to rest in the guest room prepared for him after taking about three hours in the shower. Meanwhile, Alejandro prepares the dining table while Christopher escorted Susan and her ugly little son towards the dining table. When we went there, the twins were already seated on the long, rectangular, wooden table decorated with beautiful white silk on top. Placed over the silk covers of the table are many of my favorite food that my mother herself requested the servants to cook. My mouth watered as I saw plates beautifully decorated with a steaming medium-rare steak. I squealed with a swiftly beating heart when I saw a huge bowl filled with an abundant amount of fruit salad. I sat right away on my place at the dining table when I saw three glass pitchers filled with different juices--orange, pineapple, and apple, respectively--that I loved most in the world. I allowed the aroma of the fragrant soup made from an original family-made broth that my mother had created in her youth to embrace my nose gently. I sighed lovingly with my hands clasped tightly as I looked at a massive serving of steamed broccoli beside my steak. Lastly, I sliced on my favorite smoked salmon placed on top of a homemade burger with a sweet and sour onion sauce before chewing them softly, allowing it to melt in my mouth.


    Bliss--this is what it feels like to be at home. My mom then chuckled as he rested on the dining table. My sister Susan then sat in front of me beside her son. The twins were already seated on my right side. Meanwhile, the servants just stood on each side of my mother while we ate our food quietly. My mother showed a proud nod while looking at me as I squirm in excitement every time I chew my meal.


    Meanwhile, Susan alternated on eating her meal and feeding her son while the twins just kept on consuming whatever they can put on their mouths without a hint of stopping. The dining table remained quiet until Kyle dropped something metallic on the floor; when I looked down, I saw that it was the boy''s fork. Susan grunted an annoyed sigh as she grabbed her son''s jaw tightly.


    "Why won''t you eat your broccolis again?" She asked with a fuming pair of reddened eyes.


    "I don''t like the taste, mommy..." Kyle said with tearful eyes as it diverted its eyes away from its mommy''s shaking pupils.


    "Ugh!" I scoffed, stopping myself from devouring the soft steak while looking at Susan''s thing. "What a stupid thing to say!" I uttered as I send daggers towards the boy with my sharp gaze.


    "I''m sorry, everybody. I will properly scold him later." Susan said as she smiles while waving her hands around her chest.


    "You better!" Mom said while taking a sip of the soup with a disappointed glare.


    Alejandro then quietly moved between Kyle and Susan to pick up the fork on the floor with his usual poker face. However, as he bent down to take it, Susan swiftly grabbed his muscular hands with gritting teeth.


    "No! Let the boy do it!" Susan said with a raised voice, making me see just how hard she''s trying not to scream out loud.


    The dumbfounded servant simply nodded as he raised his upper body. Seeing this, Susan released her grip on the servant''s arms before looking at the boy again that was ignoring her while slowly chewing its food. Since Alejandro''s sleeves were pulled up to his elbow, Susan managed to leave a red arm print on his tanned skin.


    When Alejandro finally left their side, Susan spoke, "Take your fork on the floor."


    The kid decided to continue ignoring its mommy as it kept on eating its mean like nothing was happening. Seeing this, Susan chuckled with a pair of eyes that were ready to pop out at any moment before brushing her long brown hair upward, revealing her broad forehead.


    "Christopher, take my son to the dungeon," Susan said while chuckling before drinking the apple juice in her glass.


    "I beg your pardon?" Christopher asked as his already paled skin turned even paler.


    "Wha--?" Kyle finally looked up at his mother with a pair of worried eyes as his hands started to tremble.


    "Oh boy," I said as I observed this little drama before me with broccoli in my mouth.


    "I said," Susan uttered with a voice that sounded like a bomb, ready to detonate, "Take my son to the dungeon--take him as deep as it can!"Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Take him to the hound room." My mom said while gently placing her hands on Susan''s arms.


    Susan then snapped her fingers before pointing at Christopher again. "Yes. Take the boy to the hound room."


    Christopher then pulled his long hair back as he slowly walked towards Kyle. This amount of stress must have been why all of Alejandro''s hair had all become gray now. Christopher then wordlessly carried Kyle upward by placing his arms on his armpits.


    "NO! NO MAMA! MOMMY, NO, NO, NO, MOM, MAMA! I''M SORRY MOMMY! I''LL EAT MY BROCCOLI, MOMMY, PLEASE NO!" The boy screamed, kicking all over the air as Christopher carried him downstairs. Meanwhile, Susan just proceeded to eat, not even looking at her screaming son, wordlessly eating her stress away.


    "Can you believe that thing?" I said as I started laughing away while imagining the boy''s agonizing wails. "noooo mommmyyy! I is soorryyy!" I laughed even further while mocking the way the boy sounded as he was forcefully dragged away into the cobblestone rooms downstairs.


    "Careful now, Anatoly!" Susan grunted as she pointed her spoon at me. "That''s still my son!"


    "Ironic of you to say that after taking it to a place that''s literally called DUNGEON!" I said as I leaned my body towards her with a nod. "Ever thought of that when you ordered the servant to put it to the DUNGEON!?"


    "Jesus fucking Christ, Anatoly, are you still calling my son an ''it''!?" Susan said with a violent scowl after mashing her hands on the dining table, making the plates shake. In doing so, her spoon fell onto the ground along with three other forks, one is mine, and the others are from the twins.


    "How many times do I have to tell you, never to use the Lord God''s name in vain?"


    "And how many times do I have to fucking tell you," She then stood up, slammed the table again, and screamed with all her might as she roared right into my face. "NEVER TO CALL MY SON AN ''IT''!"


    I then


    Susan was about to lose herself again to the madness creeping within her soul when we heard the doorbell ring twice.


    "I''ll get it," Alejandro whispered with a bow as he stepped towards the lounge.


    "No need." My mother said as she stood up while wiping her mouth with a white cloth on her lap. "Why don''t you be a dear, Alejandro, and take Mike downstairs instead? I think his escort is finally here." She then looked at me with a relaxed smile. "Come with me, my son." As she said so, I stood up right away and stood beside her as she placed her hand on Susan''s shoulder. "As for you, my daughter." Mom then nodded with a stern expression. "You did the right thing. Stay here for now and calm yourself, will ya?"


    Susan then heaved a sigh as he sat back to her chair again. "Yes, mom."


    Mom then nodded with a smile as she walked towards the main entrance of the mansion with her hands wrapped around my arms. Meanwhile, Susan continued eating peacefully with the twins who were still chowing their meals without an end in sight.


    Mom then opened the door and what greeted us are two men, both of them are unfamiliar to me. One of them was wearing a posh-looking navy-blue tuxedo and slacks while the other is wearing all-black--no designs, just black tee and black jeans.


    "Good afternoon, Lady Antonova." The bright-looking man wearing a tuxedo said as she shook mom''s hands.


    "It has been a while, ma''am." The pale and thin man wearing all-black said with a genuinely happy smile.


    "My, what a treat this is I am seeing before me!" Mom said playfully with her hands on her bosom. "Timmy and Jimmy!" Mom then looked at the man wearing all-black. "Lucas'' little fucktoy," She then diverted her gaze to the man wearing a tuxedo. "and Veronica''s foot freak." She then


    The man who apparently is named Jimmy, the one wearing the tuxedo, just looked at mom with an uncomfortable gaze while clearing his throat. Meanwhile, the man named Timmy, the one wearing all-black, merely chuckled upon hearing what she said.


    "This must be your son that we heard so much about!" Timmy said as he extended his arms towards me. "Hi, I''m Timothy Philips, but everyone calls me Timmy around here."


    When I was about to shake his hand, mom pushed Timmy''s hand away with a sarcastic smile. "That''s off-limits, dear."


    "Oh, but I won''t do anything bad to him!" Timmy said with a sunken expression as he pulled his arms away from me.


    "I know, but I don''t care." Mom then looked at Jimmy with a sigh before clicking her tongue. "Just get to the point, will ya?"


    "Well, as you may have already known, we''re here to take the product," Jimmy said as he fixes the collar of his tuxedo. I could see from his sweat that what he''s wearing must be making him so uncomfortable.


    "My servant is already taking it from upstairs," Mom''s eyes then narrowed as she tightened her grip around my arms. "but I''m sure you want something else. After all, your owners will not send their most trusted confidants here unless you came to do something important." Her eyes then fell down as she finally noticed the four large body bags on the floor. I had also just realized that they had something with them. I was too engrossed in meeting these new business partners of ours.


    "Well," Jimmy continued as he cleared his throat. "Mother heard about your unsuccessful mission earlier."


    "Unsuccessful?" Mom then laughed lightly as her grip around my arms tightened even further. "If you''re just here to insult my obviously perfected methods, then I would like to ask you two to leave instead."


    "No, err..." Timmy chimed in as he placed both his hands around my mom''s other hand. "What my partner here is trying to say is that uhm... Veronica wishes to ask more favors from the kindness of your heart because, as we all know, uhm..." He stuttered as he started to feel the animosity coming, not just from my mom, but from me as well. "Since the agreed upon the contract you and Veronica signed together last week is not met based on our expectations, we were sent here to, uh... fulfill that through something that you will find..." He paused as he tried to find the perfect words to say without losing eye contact with my mom. "... amusing."


    "And what, pray tell, might this amusement be?" Mom said with a knowing look as he gazed at the body bags on the floor with a newfound joy.


    Timmy then opened the body bags slightly, revealing the faces of four unconscious people inside of the body bags. Jimmy then wordlessly pointed at them as a joyful grin crept upon my mom''s face.


    "So, what exactly do you wish for us to do?" Mom said as he loosened her grip around my arms slightly while looking at the unconscious faces before her.


    "What you do best, Lady Antonova," Timmy replied with his arms clasped tightly. "These people are some of the people who crossed Veronica gravely in the past few months. If I may be frank, these people betrayed her group that is famously called Plural Heights these days. We have kept them stored in her affiliated malls, but I am sure you can understand that containers can often..." Timmy paused with a defeated sigh. "... max out."


    "And you wish for me to take these prisoners in my care knowing exactly what may or may not happen to them during those times?" Mom said while licking her upper lip.


    "Exactly, Lady Antonova! Smart as ever, I see! Your age didn''t fail you at all! The train ride must have really served you well!" Timmy enthusiastically replied while rubbing her hands swiftly.


    Mom then chuckled while staring at the bodies on the floor some more. "Quit the flattery, will ya? My memory remained sharp as ever even before I was kept in that train and saw that girl''s head explode in front of my very eyes." She then looked at me with a pondering look before replying, "Well, tell Veronica this," She then moved her head to face Timmy''s worried expression. "The family accepts new guests."


    Timmy and Jimmy then both sighed in relief at the same time before closing the body bags again entirely.


    "So, where exactly do you wish for me to contain these lovely boys and gal?" She said while looking at both Timmy and Jimmy simultaneously. "As you may have already known, I have two prisoners. Which is it then? The mansion or the dungeon."


    Both of the men before us looked at each other with a chuckle. "The dungeon, of course!" They said in unison."


    "Great answer." Mom said with a nod.


    After a while, Alejandro finally went down with Mike. Before Mike finally left the mansion entirely, he glared at me with gritting teeth as he spat on the floor with phlegm and all. The two men then forcefully dragged him away from us, leaving only the four body bags as they drove away in a posh-looking black vehicle.


    "Well," Mom said as she took her hands away from my arm. She then stretched her back and wiggled her arms. "Time to work!"

 114 Tales in the Hound Room

    "Well, are you sure you''re okay there, son?" My mother said as she quickly dragged the body bag containing one of our new prisoners quickly like she was merely pulling her luggage after a flight.


    "I-I''m fine, mom!" I said as I felt the sweat running through my forehead.


    Fuck, well, I never thought human bodies would be this heavy. I''ve gotta be honest here--I''ve never actually carried anyone before! I was used to be the one being taken since I was the youngest. I also didn''t bring my two cousins since they look absolutely fucking disgusting when they were toddlers with snot and puke all over their faces.


    "Must have been why their parents left," I uttered to myself as I heaved a deep sigh.


    "Hmm? You were saying anything, son?" Mom said as she turned around to look at me with a hardened expression. It seemed that I really was speaking my thoughts aloud this time because even Christopher and Alejandro, who''s carrying the other corpses, also looked at me with confusion.


    "Oh," I exclaimed with a chuckled. "No, it''s nothing! I was just reminiscing about the time when the twins were young.


    "Ah," Mom then nodded as she nodded slowly as well while looking at the cobblestone and moist ceiling of the dungeon. "Yeah, time does fly past, eh? They''re so old now."


    "And fatter!" I then grunted loudly as I pulled the body bag forcefully after seeing it get stuck on a hollow area on the wet and rough floor of the first hallway of the dungeon. "I can''t believe this guy is still sleeping after that!"


    "Oh, well, that''s Lucas for ya! He has everything in the world! He won''t be called Ringmaster if he doesn''t have amazing tricks up his sleeve!" Mom uttered with a condescending chuckle, which made me feel like she doesn''t really believe what she''s saying. "You can even use that guy as a punching bag all you want, and he still wouldn''t wake up!"


    "How so?" I asked as I walk beside Christopher who''s just smiling there like a god damn mannequin, not even shedding a hint of tiredness on his tone.


    "Well, because he used one of the Organization''s products that he himself formulated." Mom said as she moved her body on a sharp turn on the right side of this damp and dark dungeon hallway. "Apparently, once you made someone swallow this huge, huge green pill, they will sleep for two days like a dead guy! Remember Romeo and Juliet? Just like that, but it''s real! No pulse, no breathes, nada! You''re dead for two days, and you will wake up when the medicine says you''ll wake up!"


    When I turned into the corner where mom went into, I saw that it was a very, very dark--just absolutely dark--room! I can''t even see anything so much that I could even faintly see the light dying when they touch the chamber.


    "Where are we, mom?" I said as I heard the faint sound of a match getting lit up beside me. When I looked at my right side, I saw that it was Christopher, lighting up a torch on his left hand. I don''t even know where he got that thing, but there it was on his hands anyway like it just appeared out of nowhere!


    He then extended his hands to flash it on my mom''s face, making the rest of his body disappear underneath the shadows and permitting only his hands to be seen.


    "We''re here to see if your idiot nephew is finally dead or not." Mom said as she dropped the bodybag that she''s carrying with a loud thud.


    When she did so, the sudden roars, barks, and snarls of what sounded like an army of feral dogs erupted from beneath the sheer darkness that lay further away at the deepest part of the room.


    "And we''re also here to give yourself a bit of break, sheesh!" She then went towards me with a handkerchief that she took from her breast pocket. Like an automatic machine, Christopher moved his hands as well when my mom walked towards me. "Look at you! Your head is like a faucet! Are you a faucet boy? Huh? Are you an ocean man? Do you want me to take you by the hand and lead you to the land that you understand?"


    Huh?


    "What?" I said with a puzzled look on my mom.


    My mom then grunted as she forcefully wiped my face with her soft handkerchief. "Nothing! It was just an old song mom likes, okay?"


    "I don''t get it," I said with a raised eyebrow as I let my mom continue wiping my neck as well.


    "Well, I know something else who doesn''t get it." Mom then moved her eyes to the left as if she knew that someone is standing there even if she was just talking to pitch darkness. "Alejandro, is my grandson dead yet?"


    "No, ma''am," Alejandro said as I heard the sound of someone sniffing from afar along with the many growls of mutts near the origin of it.


    "Good grief, wow." Mom scoffed as she moved away from me nearer where the dogs gather. "He really is his mom''s son, I give him that!"


    Christopher''s hand moved along with mom as she walked towards the deeper part of the darkened room. Because of that, it made me see the metal rails on the walls beside the damp and mossy cobblestone material used in this dungeon.


    "Why is it so god damn wet in here?" I asked with a scoff as I finally smell the faint stench of piss around me. I then moved towards my mom as I watched how the chained mutts around her feet stepped away as she walked towards the end of the room. I then laid my shoulder on the wall as I gazed upon the thick metal chains and equally thicker titanium collars around the gigantic and muscular hounds around us. They all looked so angry, hungry, and murderous, ready to kill anyone around them. However, none of them seems to be willing to attack any of us, although they''re all hostile to whatever is sniffing at the end of this long rectangular room.


    "Son, there''s literally a dungeon beneath our house. Where do you think our sewer is?" Mom said as she stopped in front of something at the end of the room with her hands on her waist. She then sighed as she looked down at the crying boy before her that was trying its hardest to contain its tears. Perhaps, it was its way to keep the dogs from barking at him further.


    "Oh, ew!" I exclaimed as I tried to rip the fabric on my cassock that touched the moist wall of the dungeon lightly.


    "Hi, Kyle." Mom said as she towered over her grandson, ignoring how I kept on jumping all around the place with a disgusted look on my face.


    "... grandma... I scared..." Kyle said with a clearly swollen pair of eyes.


    "Heh." Mom said with a chuckle as a huge grin crept upon her face. "Alejandro, be a dear and put the dogs back to their cages.


    "Yes, ma''am." With that, I heard Alejandro step towards the wall as his footsteps loudly echoed in the room with the silent growling of the mutts. Based on the creaking sound of metal that resounded from somewhere near, I could faintly guess that Alejandro pulled a metal lever down on the wall.


    When he did so, I heard the rushing noise of what seemed like metal hitting a metal pipe somewhere beneath the stone walls of the dungeon. After a few seconds, the sound of chains clanking on the ground reverberated throughout the room, making weird rusted noises as it hit the wet stone floor. Out of nowhere, the dogs beneath me started to get pulled roughly into the open cages on the wall. With the mutt''s whining noise, the cage swiftly dropped onto the floor with a loud bang.


    "Do you know why you''re here, Kyle?" Mom said as she remained towering over the boy, shedding her shadow all over it.


    "...because I didn''t eat my broccoli..." It said while playing with its fingers as its frown deepen.


    "That''s right! Very good!" Mom then knelt down with a gentle smile as she caressed Kyle''s cheeks slowly. "Do you like uncle Anatoly, child?"


    "y-yesss..." It uttered lightly as it continued to sniff louder now that it knows the threat is gone.


    "You saw him eating his broccolis like a good boy, right?" Mom said she lightly pinches on the boy''s cheeks with a childish tone.


    "... y-yess, gramma..." The boy uttered as a light smile crept upon his face while slurring the word ''grandma.''


    "Do you know why?" Mom asked, asking about why I like broccoli... which is absolutely weird, mind you.


    "Because it''s what good boys do!" Kyle said with a louder and happier voice than usual, which is... Wow, it was the most disgusting thing I''ve ever seen this week yet.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "That''s right! Because he''s a good boy!" Mom said with a lighthearted chuckle. "Did you know that he also hated broccoli when he was a kid too?"


    I then scoffed after seeing this little moment they''re having. "Mom, really?"


    "i-is that truuuue!?" Kyle exclaimed with a twinkle in her eyes.


    "Yes, but he got over it because he''s a good boy! He started eating broccolis once he turned six years old! He was younger than you when he started liking broccoli; can you believe it!?" Mom said, while pinching the boy''s cheeks lightly.


    "That''s amaaaazing!" The boy exclaimed with newfound happiness while looking at my mom''s friendly gaze!


    "That''s right! Because he''s a good boy!" Mom said as she patted the boy''s head with the same amount of silly glee on her voice. However, that happiness she exuded was short-lived since her face turned stiff and cold right away. "But, you''re not."


    She then stood up and walked away from Kyle wordlessly, making the torchlight from Christopher''s hand to disappear on the surface of the now worried boy. Without the need for further orders, Alejandro reopened the cages of the caged dogs again by pushing the level on the wall up. After the usual grinding noise of chains hitting the metal pipe, the dogs started to growl louder as their cages began to rise slowly.


    "NOOOO!"


    The usual shrill voice of Kyle echoed throughout the dark room, sending the dogs towards him again as they all barked and rushed towards him with no end in sight. Since their leashes were not long enough, they could not at all be close enough to bite the boy. Thus, they just circled around him with their snarls and fangs that packed God-knows-what sort of potent rabies dosage. Christopher then pushed the burning torch on the stone wall with a hiss, and when he left the hound room towards the dimly lit hallway, I saw that the torch was nowhere to be seen again.


    As I heard the sound of the trapped little thing in the hound room, mom quickly pulled the body bags again. The two servant boys followed suit, and I was the one who got the memo last, so with a panicked gaze, I dragged the body bag that I was ought to carry again as I ran towards my mom. She was now walking a bit faster than earlier, so I can''t seem to keep up with her pace.


    "Oh, and Anatoly, dear." Mom said as she suddenly turned to face me, making me almost trip after seeing her. "I actually have a favor I need to ask you since you''re so adamant in aiding me with my job."


    "Sure, why not, mom? Let''s hear it." I said as I placed the body bag on the wet stone floor again while hearing the endless echoing barks and screams coming from the hound room.


    "It''s not a hard job, but there''s one condition I have to tell you first before you do it." Mom said as he raised his forefinger upward. "You can''t die."

 115 Meet the Dungeon Crawlers

    A woman slowly raised her body as she slowly adjusted her sight upon the dimly lit place. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, she finally realized the full extent of her situation when she beheld her position. The perfectly square-shaped room made the girl''s breathing more cumbersome. She heard water droplets ringing from outside when she realized that all of the room''s four sides leads to a darkened hallway. The flickering orange bulb above her sends tremors throughout her spine. Seeing the mossy cobblestone walls that showed the ancientness of the surroundings made her feel like she must have finally descended to hell.


    Meanwhile, the moist ground she''s laying on, which pride itself upon its roughness, almost made her skin bleed. All of these are what welcomed the shivering body of the poor nurse. One could quickly tell that she is one just by seeing the dirt-filled nurse uniform she was wearing.


    "Ah, you''re finally awake." A voice echoing from the hallway behind her almost made her scream her soul out of her body.


    Tears then started to well up in her eyes before she replied, "Where are we?"


    The man who''s walking towards the girl from the hallway behind her finally revealed himself. He was a muscular policeman who''s not afraid to show off the bulging muscles ripping his tanned skin. "Miss, usually, people ask someone''s identity first before asking where they are." He was carrying an empty yellow body bag on his shoulder as he replied to the girl''s pleading tone. The policeman then dusted the pads of his police uniform as he towered over the nurse who''s still lying on the floor.


    "You''re here with me, that means I know enough about you to know that you''re either just like me or worst!" The nurse


    The police officer then showed a worried and sorrowful look after seeing the woman''s suspicious gaze. He then knelt and showed her a dazzlingly, gentle smile. "I''ve heard about this place before from one of my pals." He then outstretched his arms wide as a way of highlighting the ghastliness of their doom. "This is the Antonova Family''s Dungeon¡ªI don''t even need a sign for me to know that. If rumors are to be trusted, we''ll either die here of starvation or through something else much, much more gruesome. Either way, we won''t live to see another day."


    "That''s..." The nurse said as a tear swiftly fell out of her right eye. "That''s horrible! HORRIBLE! What even is the point of being imprisoned then!? Veronica should have just executed us!" The nurse''s woeful voice rang all over the area, sending tremors throughout the room.


    "No, no, no, Miss, don''t cry!" The police officer said as he leaned his body forward with a puzzled expression with his brown knitted upward.


    "That''s because what all of us did is probably something so fucking disgusting and vile that the whore of Plural Heights wouldn''t even wanna BAT AN EYELID to watch us die!" A slurring voice roughly roared out of the darkened hallways on the right side of the nurse, making her shake even more. The police officer then turned his head to face the man who suddenly interjected with such a rude tone. "Veronica just wants to be done with us, and she doesn''t even wanna watch us while we go!!!" The man then revealed himself from out of the shadows with his arms crossed as a demeaning sneer contorted his wrinkled face. What they saw was the image of a fat gentleman with bulging stomach making the button of his suit pop to the point that it almost looked like it would come off the fabric. Just like the policeman, the fat old bastard was also carrying an empty yellow body bag.


    "Sounds like we got ourselves an expert." The policeman joked, but his stern expression did not at all show a hint of joy. He then stood up and extended his arm towards the nurse before lifting her up gently away from the wet floor. "You got a name?" The tanned police officer said as he directed his gaze on the suited bastard again.


    "Just your usual run-of-the-mill salesman. Nothing special!" The burly salesman said as a way to show his down-to-earth attitude, but based on how he lifted his head up with a cocky smile while fixing the collar or his suit, the police officer and the nurse knew that his words mean anything but humility. "You should take that bag with you, lady!" The salesman articulated well as she pointed at the yellow body bag beside the nurse''s feet using his thick lips. "It has everything you''ll need to survive at least a day in this hell." The man articulated each word as slowly as he can, as if telling the other two that he alone can stand being in this place for more than a day.


    The tanned policeman then clicked his tongue and was about to approach the fat old salesman when the shrill sound of a man screaming stopped him from moving. The high-pitched yell of a man echoed from the left side of the nurse''s room, which continuously rang as it hurriedly approached their direction. All of them then showed varying reactions to whatever they had just heard. The policeman shielded the nurse''s body immediately with her arms as he looked at the darkened hallway, waiting for the screaming man to arrive. The nurse then promptly grabbed the police officer''s sturdy arms as he trembled with fear rushing out of her sunken gaze. The salesman immediately took two steps back with a silent shriek as he shielded his fat body with his arms while sweat started to trickle down her forehead.


    When the screaming man finally arrived, what they saw was a man wearing nothing but silver¡ªnay, he''s so silver that even his face is painted with silver and his hair is dyed into a silver hue. He was wearing a shiny silver tuxedo with a silver collared shirt underneath, silver slacks, silver gloves, and silver boots. Everything that is silver on his body, which means literally everything about him, is covered in sparkling glitter. He was carrying his yellow body bag on his right hand while his other hand holds a sparkly silver top hat.


    "The hell?" The police officer scowled as he slowly relaxed his stiffened body. He then quickly dropped his arms away from the nurse as he approached the silver man. "Are you okay?"


    "Yes... Yes, I..." The silver man panted and gasped heavily as he leaned his body forward while his arms left arm rested on his knees. He then wore his top hat as sweat rushes from all over his body while smiling as best as he could. The short and petite young man continued to release perspiration all over his body. However, whatever is making his skin silver isn''t coming off, so that must have meant that he''s wearing some kind of silver paint to make the entirety of his very being become a silver mess. He then showed a dumbfounded gaze at the confused stares of the people around him slowly as he looked at himself while stretching his hands forward like a fool. "Oh! HAHAHA! Don''t mind this, everyone¡ªI''m a circus performer, you see! I''m sure you''ve seen one of those weird people in the streets before who acts like a statue but would suddenly move if you put money on a box in front of him!" The silver man blabbered without even stopping to take a breath.


    "YOU SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF ME!" The burly old man said while stomping his feet on the ground as his thick eyebrows knitted together with a quiver.


    "Now, now, let''s not get too violent!" The police officer, who was about to act violently earlier, calmly said while looking at the man. He then smiled at the nurse before tapping the silver man''s shoulder. "Are you really okay? You were screaming quite loudly out there!"


    "Oh, yeah... I''m really fine!" The short silver man chuckled with a pained smile as he scratched his silver nape. "I just uh... I just saw a skull in my room..." He weakly reiterated while pointing his gaze into the wet cobblestone floor.


    "S-skull?" The policeman moved his body away immediately after hearing this with a frightened look on his now pale face.


    "Are you okay?" The nurse quickly approached him without even caring about what the silver man has just said and the implications behind it. "Things like that can leave a mental strain on people." She then looked at the rest of the men around her with a determined ember in his pupils. "We should all stay together, no matter what! That way, we can minimize the amount of trauma we might get. I am not a doctor, unfortunately, but if we all stay together, I can at least see what I can do once you received some kind of injury! We can also¡ª" The nurse carefully explained as she conveyed her points accurately while firmly establishing eye contact with all the men around her.


    "SHE''S RIGHT!" The tanned policeman screamed, interrupting the nurse with a scowl. He then moved in front of the nurse with his arms crossed, covering her small body away from the other men''s gaze. "I SAY WE SHOULD ALL BAND TOGETHER! WHO''S WITH ME?"


    "ME!" The silver man


    "Didn''t you just repeated what she had... Ugh! You know what, whatever! I''ll do whatever you guys decide." The burly salesman said as his face dropped onto his palm.


    "IT''S SETTLED THEN!" The policeman continued to scream while the nurse quietly fidgets behind him. "WE NEED TO¡ª"


    "... help..." The sound of someone whispering in agony at the final dark hallway made the people realize the gravity of the situation they''re in as they all stayed in the dimly lit room, screaming about unity and all that awe-aspiring foolery.


    "What is that...?" The silver man quietly asked as he trembled in fear before he approached the side of the tanned police officer.


    "Let''s check it out." The salesman uttered with a groan as he walked towards the direction of the whisper without second-guessing. "Y''all wanted to stay together, right? We can''t leave that guy if you''re so adamant about that staying-together shit." He said while waving his hands in the air beside his head as the darkness of the hallways swallowed him whole.


    The nurse who suddenly turned stiff as a rock suddenly slapped her cheeks as another fiery expression crept upon her face. "He''s right!" She said before following the salesman without looking back.


    "Err... of course, let''s go get him!" The tanned policeman quickly followed them with swift footsteps, making him lead the party in no time as they all walked straight into the long, dark hallways. They then saw a flickering light in the distance as another groan echoes throughout the surroundings.


    "Help... meee..." The same agonizing whisper sends a shiver down their spines as they all hurriedly came to find where that voice is coming from.


    The first to arrive in the room is the tanned policeman who stopped on his tracks immediately when he saw the origin of the voice. It was a bloodied priest with his arms tied onto the ceiling as he spoke a bunch of indescribable and weakened words with a hefty amount of bruises and wounds all over his face.


    "Are you okay!?" The nurse immediately ran towards the priest as she raised her hands to loosen the rope tied around his arms.


    No. I am definitely not okay, lady! I specifically asked Christopher and Alejandro to beat me up till I turned to look like a homeless guy in Detroit just so I can make this performance a lot more convincing. So yes, nurse-lady, I am NOT okay!" I... am... fine... please just... I need water..."


    "Of course!" The nurse immediately took his yellow body bag and opened it to see if there''s anything in there she can give me. Obviously, there is. She then made me drink the water in the large plastic bottle inside of her yellow body bag without even thinking about what she would do now that she doesn''t have any water in her bag anymore.


    "He has no body bag..." The salesman said as he rushed towards me with a frightened gaze. He then quickly and forcefully pulled the rope tied around my hands while the nurse carefully let the water wet my now dry lips with a gentle yet worried expression.


    The police officer then gasped as he realized what he''s happening, for he was there the whole time, solid stiff, while his arms are wrapped tightly around his body bag. "Get out!" He then pushed the fat salesman away with a loud groan as he swiftly untied the ropes tied on my wrist immediately. "Are you okay?" The police officer said as he gently moved my body down, making me lay on the rough and moist cobblestone ground.


    "Here. Lay your body on this." The nurse swiftly moved beside me as she placed the body bag beneath my bloodied body. She then promptly checked on my body while periodically making me drink from her water bottle. "He has a few broken bones on his feet; we need to¡ª"


    The tanned police officer then moved towards the nurse and gently shoved her away so that he could be the one sitting beside me. "Please, miss, just stay there in the corner. I''ll take care of our priest friend here, and stay on the corner with the other men."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Sir," The nurse said as she placed her palm in front of the police officer''s face before continuing, "I know what I am doing. Please, allow me to do my job, so we can all help our patient." She then hurriedly took her water bottle on the floor and handed it to the policeman. "Why don''t you help me instead and make father properly hydrated? Make him sip slowly every two seconds, okay?" Placing the water bottle on the dumbfounded police officer''s hands, she continued to look after me with a scrutinizing gaze as she rummaged throughout her body bag. "We don''t have  bandages!" When she said so, she very effortlessly ripped the fabric at the end of her long white skirt and wrapped it around my now exposed and bloodied torso. "You will be okay, father, we will take care of you."


    The fat salesman then immediately hurried towards me with a small yellow bottle. "I have some Betadine in my bag. I have some minor first-aid knowledge, so can I treat his other wounds with this?" The salesman said with a stern expression as he showed the Betadine and a white handkerchief towards the nurse.


    "That would be great, sir." The nurse promptly replied, while still ripping the fabric on her blouse this time.


    "You''ll be okay, father. We''ll find whoever did this to you later, okay?" The tanned policeman said with a sigh as he looked at the nurse and the salesman while making me take a sip of the water in the bottle.


    Meanwhile, the silver man sat on the far end corner of the dimly lit room with trembling feet as he looked at the happening around me.


    "Thank... you..."


    Oh, I will be okay, alright.


    I''m not so sure about all of you, though.

 116 A Pale Hope To Beat the Dungeon

    "Are you sure you''re okay?" The policeman asked me as I continued to heave breathlessly. I then nodded while I still continued to feel the pain all over my body.


    "We must move soon," I said without even addressing the policeman''s question. "The crawlers will be coming if we stay a few more minutes in this place."


    "What do you mean?" The silver man frantically asked as he finally decided to approach me for the first time. "You''re just scaring us, aren''t you?" The silver man accused with a troubled scowl as he pointed his forefinger at the space between my eyes.


    "My son, I am a servant of God. The last thing I want to do now is to lie." I then directed my gaze to the silver man''s shaking and tearful eyes. "I''m sure, just like me, you want to leave this place in one piece."


    "Well, as much as I want to believe you, the fact that you''re here with us means you''re affiliated to Plural Heights." The salesman uttered from a few feet away from me as he stood with his arms crossed.


    "I understand your worries," I said, trying to ease the growing tension all around while waving my hands in front of me. "But the fact that I am here means that, one way or another, I destroyed the shackles that Veronica had placed around my body for the greater good!" I then raised my voice to make the people around me believe the lie I''m currently telling them. However, when I did that, the pain in my body suddenly punched through my gut with an unbearable sting, making me wince on the floor again.


    "Please don''t ask the priest more question if you''re just planning to rile him up! Besides, he has a point! We have to leave this place anyway." The nurse said as she approached me again, making me see clearly how much skin she''s showing now that she willingly tattered her clothes. "I heard you talked about this... ''crawlers''? Would you mind telling us more about it, father?"


    I then looked around me as I continued to lay down on a dry corner in the dimly lit room. The light in this place is particularly shaky, so it kept flickering with the whirring sound of a failing light bulb. To be fair, this part of the dungeon is, perhaps, the safest place there is here right now, and I am fairly certain that all of these people here would be begging me to go back here again once they saw what lies ahead. The vigilant face on the policeman as he knelt beside me would soon crumble away into pieces. The courageous front that the nurse is showing would most likely shatter like broken glass. The sternness of the salesman''s face would fly away into the shadows. Well, I don''t even know now what would happen to the silver man, but I''m sure he would kill himself first before anything else in this dungeon.


    However, the point of the matter is that I have to give them a sense of hope that they would leave this place no matter what, and they have to do it fast. It''s much, much more fun for all of those non-involved individuals to enjoy the show. They even placed cameras all over the dungeon that even I don''t know of just for this very special moment. That''s why mom did a little bit of extra tweaking for these four people. Call it a better way to entertain those who remained sitting in the living room upstairs.


    She added what she called ''Crawlers'' in the dungeon.


    "The crawlers are... well, something that will kill us right away once it saw us." Well, that''s a fact. Another fact about them is that their name sounds absolutely stupid, no matter how much I try to repeat it in my head. It''s Susan''s idea. "I don''t know what they are, and believe me, I have no words to explain WHAT they are, but I have seen them a lot of times already in the longest time that I had stayed here in this place." I then looked up at the ceiling of the dungeon with a pained expression as I tried to pretend like I''m about to cry. Like always, I''m bad at crying. "Usually, they would come and haunt you down if you stayed in one area for more than 30 minutes. However, a few hours ago, two Crawlers appeared in front of me and dragged me to put me in this room that we''re standing in right now. The rest is..." I then waved my hands while looking at the people around me. "... you already know."


    "Is that the reason why you look so beaten up?" The nurse said as she shook her head with pity.


    I then nodded wordlessly before I chuckled as I placed my hand on my shoulders. "You are a good person, lady. I am glad you are one of the people who''ve seen me before I die."


    "Wait, wait, wait..." The silver man said as he pushed his way towards me by shoving the nurse aside. "Are you saying you''ve been here for a long time already!?"


    "I say about four days," I said with a nod while closing my eyes. I don''t know if you need to know this, but I''m obviously lying. I''ve been here for four HOURS, but the one I said sounded more dramatic! "I''ve exhausted all of my recourses, and now, I am a dead man waiting to be eaten. However, there''s still hope for all four of you."


    "What do you mean?" The police officer said with his arms around the nurse after catching her falling body midair. He then scowled at the silver man, which made that cowardly shining person shriek.


    "What I''m saying is that I can take you almost at the end of the journey. Before this journey ends, we must sacrifice someone to stay here while the rest can go free. However, at that point, my companions have all... been taken by our Lord Jesus Christ to God in heaven. That was why I stayed there while praying to the Lord God with my knees on the ground to allow those who came with me the salvation they deserve so they may enter God''s pearly gates. Only a minute in my prayer, two of the Crawlers jumped in front of me with their monstrous gnarls while stomping their six legs on the ground, making the room shake. However, what they did instead is to just grad me to where I had started." I then placed my hand on my chest as I looked at their now grim faces. "But do not fret! Because of the people who came with me, I knew exactly how to beat this dungeon now! Grim as it may sound, but we have to face the fact that the death of the three people with me gave me the insight I have right now to survive this place! And when the time comes that we have to leave someone in this dungeon, I am more than willing to take that role."


    "You''re gonna sacrifice yourself?" The policeman said with a raised eyebrow as he leaned his body back away from me.


    "Such is a sacrifice I am willing to take." I nodded with a peaceful smile on my bloodied face. "I''ve completed my prayer to the people I came with as I laid on the floor, and I do not want to utter the same prayers to you people. Allow me to take this peace."


    "I..." The silver man said as he bit his silver lip. "I''m sorry... for misjudging you."


    "And I forgive you, my son," I said as I placed my hand on the silver man''s shoulder.


    "Well, what are we waiting for then?" The salesman said as he placed his hand on his shoulders. "Let''s go."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    After he uttered those words, the noise of the gurgling shrieks of what sounded like gigantic insects hissed above the room''s ceiling. Making all of the people around me alert as their spirits jumped back into flight mode. We then heard the tapping sound of multiple legs crawling all over the square room as the same bloodcurdling noise continued to reverberate all over us.


    "Krrr-GRAAAGGHH!" The Crawlers screamed as if telling us to hurry and leave this place immediately.


    "Follow me!" I said as I stood up while limping my feet to rush towards a metal door on the right side of the room. The door itself looked rusted and ancient with all sorts of bents and scratches all over the place. Thus, it was not a surprise for any of us that it creaked so loudly with such an unsavory noise that it almost made me want to throw up. "This door leads to the nest area."


    I then hurriedly stepped out of the room but halted right away when I felt the forceful pull of someone behind me.


    It was the policeman who pulled me as he showed his dazzling smile at me before he speaks. "I appreciate the hurry, but I really can''t accept receiving help from someone I don''t know. Look, my name is--"


    "Stop!" I hurriedly placed my hands around the policeman''s mouth with an alarmed frown on my face. "Don''t!"


    "What''s the matter?" The salesman said as he walked towards the two of us.


    "We shouldn''t tell each other our names. Believe me, it will not help us later when we know our names! Please, please, please, bear with me!" I then pulled my hands away from the policeman who now looked like he''s finally calm. "We can use call signs instead. I''m the priest," I said while putting a hand on my chest. "you''re the policeman," I said as I pointed two fingers at the muscled man before me. "he''s the salesman," I said while looking at the fat man beside me, "she''s the nurse," I said while pointing at the timid lady behind the policeman, "and you... you can be silver man." I spoke with a chuckle while looking at the silver man.


    I don''t want them to know that my name is Antonova since I''m reasonably sure they''ve heard of my family at least somewhere in their group. I also don''t want to use fake names since I might forget it later. I''m sure this lie would work best for me and for the rest of us.


    "Well, you sound awfully energetic, father." The salesman sneered as he continued to go on to the next area.


    "I have no choice, sir." I chuckled as I proceeded to walk along this dirty and dark hallway with no end in sight.

 117 The Pale Envoy of Hope and His White Rosary

    "Before we go..." I said as I gripped the object I have inside of the pocket of my cassock. "... I want one of you to have this treasured property of mine before the inevitable sacrifice I will soon make at the end of this dungeon."


    The four people in front of me then looked at me when my voice echoed slowly through this dam cobblestone hallway. The echoing sound of the water droplets hitting the floor had invaded the silence that ensued once I spoke those words. I then gulped the saliva into my throat as I slowly unveiled what I had kept hidden inside of my pocket.


    "W-what is that?" The silver man said as he pointed his fingers at the shining beads running through my pale hands.


    "A rosary?" The policeman uttered slowly as he looked at the Orthodox Christian cross at the end of the beads.


    "It''s beautiful!" The nurse exclaimed while looking at the brilliantly white color of the object as I wrapped it around my equally pale wrist.


    The salesman just stared at it with disbelief as he placed his forefinger on his chin. "That''s a real-ass diamond!"


    "Indeed, it is," I said as I extended my hands to make them see the powerful gleam of the rosary''s endlessly twinkling surface.


    "... damn...!" The salesman weakly whispered as he bit his clenched finger.


    Although the hallway we''re standing in right now is very dark, the dazzling gleam of the rosary still overflowed like it was extending its arms towards the four people looking at it. Amid the cruel shadow of the hallway, only the shining diamond wrapped on my arms exudes its blinding brilliance, showing the awed expression of the people around me. "I want you all to take this rosary from me before I die." I then extended my arms further towards them, imploring these strangers to take such a valued possession away from me.


    "Well, I will definitely love to bank all the cash I can get in that bad boy!" The salesman said jokingly as he laughed heartily, but it''s clear to see that he has no intention of taking the diamond rosary away from me.


    The silver man seemed to have liked the joke a bit as he let out a silent chuckle, making the salesman laugh even louder.


    However, the policeman didn''t like the way the salesman''s joke sounded as he stomped his feet with his arms on his waist. "What an awful thing to say for a rich man like you to say when I bet you''re already drowning on so much fucking cash, but you still want more? I say we should divide the money we''ll get in this rosary equally to all the people here!" The anger filled tone of the policeman echoed in the darkness as he showed his wrath in the scowl on his face.


    "It was a joke, you dipshit!" The fat salesman said as he lightly pushed the jacked policeman''s chest. The salesman''s strength was so insignificant that it didn''t make the policeman flinch. "I was trying to erase the tension in the damn room, and now, look, you''ve ruined it again, idiot! Is there even a brain inside of that muscled head of yours?"


    The policeman then gritted his teeth as he approached the salesman with a growl. "What the fuck did you just said to¡ª"


    "ENOUGH!" The nurse screamed as she moved between the two irrational men with a disgusted look on her face. "Stop all of this money talk NOW! Please? None of us owns that rosary, and you all know that! What is this talk about money, anyway? Are your heads so high up your ass that the only thing you can think about is money when that rosary is much more important than that!? I say we should return the rosary to the priest''s church once we leave this place!"


    The salesman then rolled his eyes with a scowl before sneering at the fiery gaze on the nurse''s face. "You''re not fooling everyone with that pretentious self-righteous bullshit you''re spouting, lady! Beat it! Stop being a hypocrite!"


    "WATCH YOUR DAMN MOTH, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" The policeman roared as he gripped the collar of the salesman''s suit before pushing him into the dam and rough wall of the dungeon. This made the salesman wince as he looked up at the tanned policeman with a wave of newfound anger. "You know, I''ve been thinking of doing this to you from the very beginning, and I think we should just go on with it, huh?"


    The salesman then chuckled as a devilish grin appeared on his wrinkled face. "Oh? Mr. Lady Savior finally showed his true colors, it seems!"


    "Guys, please, this is not the right time to fight! What if those Crawler things come here and¡ª"


    "SHUT UP, YOU''RE ANNOYING!" The salesman roared as he pushed the policeman''s hands off his collars. He then dusted his clothes with his palms as he showed a more fed-up expression on his round face. "You haven''t helped ANYONE in this room from the very beginning, so you should just SHUT THE FUCK UP AND BE QUIET! You have no right to talk!"


    "What the fuck is wrong with you, man!?" The policeman said as he pulled the silver man away from the salesman.  "We''re all in this damn thing together, okay? We should all treat each other with respect!" said the policeman, who was just badmouthing the salesman literally a few seconds ago. He then spoke those words as if nothing happened at all.


    "N-no, he''s totally right. I''ve been useless throughout this whole dungeon thing, and¡ª"


    The nurse then tapped the silver man''s shoulders, making him stop talking with a soft shriek. "You shouldn''t think of yourself that way! We''re all scared here, and we all feel like shit, and you''re the only one brave enough to show that to all of us." She then scowled at the salesman and the police officer, wordlessly telling them how messy this situation had become because of the two of them.


    The salesman then showed a dissatisfied grunt as he turned his head away from the nurse with a wave of his hand.


    "What did I do?" The policeman said as he shrugged with a puzzled look on his face while his jaws dropped.


    "Okay, okay, guys, I think this whole rosary thing has blown out of proportions, and I''m sorry for ruining the mood like that," I said, finally ending this whole complicated charade like a domino effect that started from what I had just mentioned earlier.


    "It''s okay, father, you didn''t do anything wrong!" The nurse said as she slowly approached me while pushing my extended hands towards my chest.


    "Well, regardless of what will happen, we will have to end this dungeon soon then I will sacrifice myself at the very last door, so either way, I''ll still give this rosary to all of you as a last testament to show that I lived my life well in this world," I said as a downcast expression had filled my pale face as I looked down in agony. Wasn''t I great at this acting gig? I''ve been doing this ''benevolent priest'' character of mine for so long now, so I am perfectly well trained to face these people without making them suspicious.


    "Come on, father. I''m sure sacrificing yourself is not necessary. Look, we might even find a way to get out of this place without anyone dying! By then, I''m fairly sure that NONE OF US WILL TAKE YOUR ROSARY AND EXCHANGE IT FOR CASH!" The nurse uttered the last part of her statement with a louder volume as she slowly moved her face towards the salesman and the policeman.


    I then heaved a deep sigh while nodding my head as I looked at the nurse with a weak and defeated smile. "It has to be done." I then nodded once more as I placed my diamond rosary back to my pocket. "One person here has to do it, and I decided that this person shall be me."


    I was weeping like a man who had just lost a family member recently but deep inside me, I was laughing so, so hard while I saw these people dance around my palm, making my plans move into motion smoothly!


    Wait a minute...


    I did just lose one of my family members! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, my poor wife, I wish Satan is using her well in the deepest circle of hell! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 118 The Masterful Plan of the Pale

    Everything is going so well that I almost feel like I''m cheating, for real. The harmony of it all made it seem like I was just mind-controlling to do precisely what I want and just go on with it till the dungeon ride is done. Really, the plan is simple: I want these three messy characters¡ªthe policeman, the salesman, and the nurse¡ªto kill each other hopefully soon once we leave this overly disgusting and 100% dark hallway. That''s just it, really, since explaining more of what I have in mind will only ruin the fun of the dungeon for you! However, I am confident that I can pull this off somehow and will leave this place knowing that I did not even do or said anything to make these three people kill themselves just because I showed them a diamond rosary. It would be phenomenal!


    I know what you''re thinking, \"Anatoly, what are you gonna do to that weird looking-ass silver guy? Are you just gonna ignore he exists?\" Well, first of all, I wish I can, oh boy, I sincerely hope I CAN! However, he has an important role to make in this whole plan, and that can only work as long as he remains alive! Okay, look, remember that time when I said that the last part of the dungeon needs someone to stay inside so everyone else can leave? That part is true¡ªno lies detected there, nuh-uh! Now, remember when I also said earlier that I am willing to make myself the sacrifice so these four babies can go home? Not true. First, they die, then the silver man lives, then he willingly tells me that he should be the sacrifice, and then I will be the only person who would leave.


    I think it''s a fantastic plan, to be honest. However, when I told my mom about it, she went berserk mode on me and started saying, \"THAT''S A SHIT PLAN! COME UP WITH ANOTHER ONE! YADDA-YADDA-YADDA! COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!\" Then again, when she told me all of those things, the only thing she did is to pressure me into thinking more in-depth and seriously about this dungeon thing instead of offering a better plan! Besides, I''m not gonna die in this dungeon, anyway! I''ve been thrown here so many times while I was growing up, and there''s no way I can''t leave this time with that same plan.


    Yes, I''ve been using that plan every time I was thrown here.


    Yes, my mom will always nag at how bad that plan was.


    No, Susan doesn''t care.


    Yes, I get out with no wounds every damn time.


    What is the big deal then?


    To make this plan to fruition, I have to be closer to the silver man as much as I can. From what I have observed, he seems to be a very timid and cowardly person. Therefore, I need to reinforce this notion by making me a messianic figure to him that will always be his ally and will always be there to save him. I''ve already established this plan earlier by telling all of them explicitly that I am adamant in protecting them. The only thing I have to do now is to be closer to the silver man.


    \"Hey, what''s wrong?\" I said as I wrapped my hands around the silver man''s shoulders. \"You''ve been down ever since we came here,\" I said with a downcast gaze at him while patting his back gently to ease whatever pain he''s feeling in his heart at that moment. I don''t particularly like doing this; I hate it at church, and I most definitely hate doing it here now in this UGLY place! However, this is the best I got in making sure that I can get out, so... Just give me some slack, okay?


    \"Oh...\" The silver man said as he dropped his head. The other three who are walking ahead of us don''t seem to care much about what we''re talking about since they continued to walk forward wordlessly. \"I''m sorry, father. I''m being a letdown again, aren''t I?\"


    \"Who said you were ever a letdown, my friend?\" I said as a gentle chuckle arose from my lips. \"Look, why don''t you tell me what''s ailing you, and we can fix it together!?\"


    \"There''s a lot in my mind right now, father.\" The silver man said with a defeated chuckle. \"I don''t even know where to start. Well, of course, there''s this dungeon; that''s already one of my many worries, to begin with, and I would probably keep thinking about it till we finally leave here.\"


    \"Don''t worry, my friend; everything here may seem scary, but they''re all still a part of God''s work; thus, still making them a part of God''s work. The only thing you need to do now is to believe Him, and everything else will soon follow.\" I then placed my hand on my chest as I continued with a dazzling smile, \"Look, aren''t I here, sent by the Lord God himself to deliver you out of this hell?\"


    \"Then...\" The silver man said as he moved his head towards me. \"What about the other people who came before us, the ones with you? Weren''t they a part of god''s plan too?\"


    \"Eh?\" What?


    Wait.


    Ah, drat!


    This is bad, yeah, I remember now. The excuse I gave for being here is that I was here with some other people before, and then they all died, and I''m the only one who remains!


    I felt as if the world had suddenly gone slow motion. I need to find a way to get out of this mess. Perhaps, this man is like one of those atheist pricks like Susan, who refuses to accept the merry word of the Lord in their hearts; oh, bless them, dear God, for they don''t know what they are doing!


    To hell with it! I''ll just say something convincing enough but not too revealing of what I am trying to do! \"Well, the Lord''s plan, really, is¡ª\"


    I was about to speak out some random garbage excuse like, \"They''re with the Lord now!\" or something like, \"Life is a part of a great story, and they''ve already fulfilled their part!\" Okay, I know they''re all terrible, but that''s not the problem now.


    Somebody suddenly screamed. It''s a loud, shrill scream that came from the farthest, deepest part of the darkened hallway. It sounded like the voice of an old man; I then heard the sound of countless hurried footsteps moving towards us, which sent all of us into fight or flight mode.


    The person who screamed and ran towards us then went straight towards us and heaved quickly when he finally saw us. He then went down to his knees with his head deeply rooted on the hard cobblestone floor of the dungeon. This entire thing felt like it already happened before¡ªlike some d¨¦j¨¤ vu moment, and I feel like the silver man agrees with me with the way his face contorted into a puzzled scowl.


    \"PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU!\" The bloodied man said as his head was rooted on the ground. \"PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! I WILL DO ANYTHING!\"


    I could see from his dirty and tattered clothes that he had been here for far longer than I could ever guess. His dark and grease-filled skin made it clear that he hadn''t showered for what seemed like an eternity. The blood covering his ravaged clothes and greasy skin looked fresh, but a careful look at him made me see that he doesn''t have any wounds, so the blood is not his. His long and ragged hair is so fizzy that it made me think he was a victim of some kind of electrocution experiment. His raspy voice made me almost believe that I''m not hearing the words of a human being but a debauched alien pretending to be like us instead. All of that mixed with his pungent smell that could make any sane person throw up was enough to make me rue the day that I was ever permitted to use my nose.


    \"What the¡ª\" The policeman said as he took a step back.


    \"A-are you okay?\" The nurse asked in perplexity, but she dared not go towards him.


    \"Ugh! You''re disgusting!\" The salesman said as he waved his hand before him.


    The silver man merely shrieked at the sight of this mess.


    Meanwhile, I looked at the bloodied man with a puzzled expression as I tried to see if I could find any hidden cameras around here. I don''t know why I did it even though I know it would all be for nothing, but maybe it''s because I''m desperate for someone to help me answer a straightforward question.


    \"PLEASE, PLEASE, TAKE ME WITH YOU! I CANNOT STAND THIS HERE ANY LONGER, AND I''M SO TIRED OF BEING ALONE IN THIS PLACE! PLEASE! I AM BEGGING YOU! I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!\" The bloodied stranger continued to plead with us as he continued to shove the top of his head onto the cobblestone floor.


    Haha...


    Hahahaha!


    This is not good...


    HAHAHAHAHA!


    WHO THE HELL IS THIS!?

 119 A Sudden Bloodied Gues

    \"Please, please, please, kind friends, please take me with you!\" The ragged-looking and bloodied stranger who''s kowtowing before them suddenly said with what sounded like a faint and hoarse whisper. \"Please, I beg of you! I''ve been stuck in this place for three years! This is the first time¡ªTHE FIRST TIME I''VE SEEN ANY OTHER HUMAN OTHER THAN ME!\" The bloodied stranger said, making sure that he screamed the last few words he had just uttered.


    The others around me reacted with varying expressions, but none of them uttered any word in response as if what they had just heard earlier had sent them to a wordless trance.


    I''m not sure if the legitimacy of what this man had just said has some validity in it, but I am relatively sure that the dungeon had still been operational for quite a while before I stopped visiting the family mansion three years ago. If that much is true, then it is safe for me to say that this man here has been trapped in this place for three years. I found it hard to believe that whatever is saying held some sort of truth to it. Then again, looking at his long wire-like hair, overgrown beard, and skin filled with reddened rashes, I can faintly say that there''s at least a bit of authenticity in his words even if it may turn out to be nothing but a hyperbolical sentence. After all, the dungeon is a 100-hectare maze that even I have not thoroughly scoured yet. It''s fair to say that the family just sort of forgot about his existence and left him out of our radar until this very moment when he suddenly CAME OUT NOWHERE TO RUIN MY BEAUTIFUL FUCKING PLAN!


    \"... th-that''s almost hard to believe...\" The nurse said as her paralyzed body trembled uncontrollably¡ªshe looked like she wanted to approach the bloodied stranger somehow to help him, but the man''s disgusting state must have pulled her away from her. Thus, her mind must be in a battle to think about what course of action she should do to help him without touching him.


    \"If that''s true, then how come you never saw the priest and his fellas when they came here before us.\" The policeman said as he pulled the nurse away from the kneeling stranger. His body was facing away from me, but he still pointed his thumb right at me with a scowl.


    \"That''s a valid question unless one of these guys is lying...\" The salesman said as he averted his gaze towards me with a stern expression. This almost drained all the water in my body, for his eyes immediately made me sweat. The salesman then looked down at the bloodied stranger on the ground as he continued, \"... I''m fairly sure that I know exactly who the liar is if that was the case.\" He said with a sneer, which made me visibly sigh in relief. It was fortunate that the hallways were dark, so they couldn''t see the way my face loosened after hearing those words.


    However, it might be dark, but it''s not dark enough for us not to look at the dirty uncle who''s begging us on the ground with a trembling body. I bet he''s freezing with those clothes on since this place is very damp and chilly. Not like it''s my problem, but that could be a good reason why he''s shaking, not because he''s afraid of us.


    \"Why don''t you explain what happened to you then, father?\" The silver man said as he stood beside me with a scrutinizing gaze¡ªone that I had never seen him use before. \"How come this man hasn''t seen your group before?\"


    I then cleared my throat as I turned my head towards the silver man with a gentle smile, devoid of any fear whatsoever. \"Perhaps it''s because we didn''t have time to meet each other? My group went into a different direction to go to the second room, so maybe if we had just walked towards the right path, then maybe we could have also met this gentleman right here and brought him along with us.\"


    After saying so, I then looked around me once again discreetly by moving my head slightly from every corner of the dungeon. I need to find one of those cameras right about now because this mission might be far more complicated than I had thought. However, no matter how I tried, I just can''t seem to find anything at all, not even a hint of a shiny object hanging from above. I''m already starting to feel like maybe there are no cameras, after all.


    \"The priest tells the truth! I am not lying!\" The bloodied stranger dropped his head deeper onto the floor again like he intends to use his head to dig a hole into the ground. \"I have been living here for so long and have been walking about this hell for more than I could have ever imagined¡ªmonths, years, decades? I DON''T KNOW ANYMORE! I have been cooped up here for so long that I can''t even count the days anymore! Years and years and years and days and days and days AND DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS WENT BY¡ªTHEY ALL WENT BY, BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. NOBODY CAME TO SAVE ME! I should have been dead, but why was I not permitted the sweet release, oh God!?\"


    \"Well, I still find it hard to believe. I mean, the owners of this dungeon placed us and the priest''s pals inside of this here dungeon themselves. Unless they used some kind of mechanism to, let''s say, teleport us here in this place, then you should have at least seen those people come to place us here deep in this dark shithole.\" The salesman articulated in a controlled manner as if he''s trying to force the bloodied stranger to say that he''s lying somehow.


    \"I did! I really did see them place you, people, here, but they came here through a different and special route. From afar, I observed that they were dragging you all towards this place through a hidden door somewhere around here. The hidden door slides open like how Moses divides the Red Sea and drags you all towards each different room in the first area of the dungeon!\"


    \"... area?\" The salesman whispered beneath his breath, but he decided to ponder his thoughts on his lonesome.


    \"So, why didn''t you do anything to approach these people then?\" The policeman said with his arms crossed while tapping his feet vigorously onto the cobblestone floor of the dungeon. \"If you can see them, why didn''t you approach them?\"


    \"I CAN''T! I''M SO, SO, SORRY, BUT I CAN''T! They were walking with... with this... MONSTERS! THEY WERE WITH MONSTERS!\" The bearded stranger said as his body trembled even further. He then raised his head immediately, showing us his wart-filled cheeks, reddened eyeballs, and swelled up rashes growing out of his deranged countenance. \"THEY WERE WITH HUGE, HUGE, HUGE INSECTS! TWO INSECTS! The insects came with two people; I''m sorry, but I can''t quite the faces of the people clearly; I am so, so sorry! The huge monsters have this... these huge claw-like feet¡ªthey have so many feet that my muddled head couldn''t count well just how many they were, but I am sure about what they look like! They looked like spiders with hundreds if not thousands of thin feet, and behind them is a gigantic tail that looked like that of a scorpion''s! How could I... I''M SO SORRY, BUT I CAN''T! I CAN''T, FOR THE LOVE OF MY LIFE, I CAN''T APPROACH THEM WITH THOSE MONSTERS HANGING AROUND EVERYWHERE THEY GO! I''M SO SORRY!\"


    \"He''s right...\" I finally said with a sigh. I can at least identify that he''s telling the truth after he explained the Crawlers'' body perfectly. The man knows his stuff, and I can at least acknowledge that verbally. \"Those are the Crawlers...\"


    \"Oh, fuck me, are you serious?\" The policeman said as he moved his hair back with a sigh.


    \"... Can we really... can we really escape what THAT is!?\" The silver said as he swiftly started biting on his silver fingernails.


    \"We can if we get the fuck out of here right now!\" The salesman said in a slightly louder voice while looking at the bloodied bearded man with his hands shaped into a trembling fist.


    \"But what do we do with him?\" The nurse continued to tremble again with her hands on her bosom as she looked at the bearded man with eyes filled with pity but not wanting to approach him.


    All five of us then looked at the trembling bearded man before us in unison. Seemingly seeing this, the bloodied stranger placed the top of his head down onto the ground again wordlessly. The silver man looked at him with a fearful frown as he continued to bite his fingernails. Contrary to that, the policeman looked relaxed as he now placed his hands on his waist. The nurse leaned her body forward to look at the wounds around the bloodied stranger''s body but immediately moved her body away after smelling his stench. The salesman just stood at his spot without moving as his wrinkled face showed a stern expression.


    ... and I''m right here already planning the many ways I can get rid of him.


    \"PLEASE!\" The bloodied stranger finally spoke with a scream. \"I''M DESPERATE AND I DON''T KNOW WHAT TO DO! I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO LEAVE HERE SO FFFFFUCKING BAD!\"

 120 Vote for The Fate of the Red Stranger

    \"Would you mind telling us how you observed the two people who took us in here?\" The salesman said as he looked down onto the bloodied stranger on the ground.


    \"This first area of the dungeon is dark, sir, so if someone crawls around a few meters away from them, they''ll just think they''re rats.\"


    \"... there he goes again with the areas...\" The salesman quietly mumbled to himself while touching his chin. It seems that he didn''t mind the bloodied stranger''s half-assed explanation as he nodded. \"I think it''s okay if we take him with us. It would be great to have another expert on the dungeon with us. I''m sure father would agree with me.\" The salesman said, while looking at me with a nonchalant gaze.


    Seriously? He wants to take this thing with us!? Does this fat man know what my plans are and is now doing his best to jeopardize that?


    Ugh...


    I need to calm down... With my anger slowly boiling away within me, I quickly showed him a smile without explicitly saying a word of agreement or disagreement with what he had just said. It''s best to remain quiet in this one.


    \"I''m against it!\" The policeman then pointed at the bloodied stranger on the floor with a disagreeing scowl. \"This one is suspicious¡ªwaaay too suspicious! He''s probably some kind of spy sent by the ones who threw us here to confuse us!\"


    \"I agree, I agree!\" The silver man utters as he moved behind the policeman, seemingly hiding his body away from the bloodied stranger''s gaze. he then peeked from the policeman''s shoulders as he continued speaking, \"It''s impossible to survive this damn shithole for a day with the ration they gave us, and this man is claiming that he''s been here for years!?\" He then extended his arms and pointed at the bearded man on the floor. \"I SAY HE''S LYING! LOOK AT THE BLOOD AROUND HIS BODY! HE''S A MURDERER; HE''S GOT TO BE A MURDERER!\"


    \"I-I can explain the blood, sir! I have only managed to survive this hell by eating the raw flesh of the rats around this place! I know it sounds disgusting, but after a long, long time of staying here, I have learned to be accustomed to its taste, even enjoying it to some extent! That''s why there''s a lot of blood around me because I have no way of washing the rat''s blood away from me, so I just lived with it! Please believe me!\" The others started groaning one after another while the bloodied stranger explained his method of survival in this damp maze below my family''s mansion. \"As for the water, well, you only have to look around you! There''s water all around us! I survived thirst throughout this whole ordeal just by licking the leaking water on the walls!\"


    Oh, for the love of...


    I covered my mouth tightly to prevent myself from puking whatever shit I have inside of my stomach. Luckily, the rest of the people around us are too busy being disgusted at what they had just heard that they didn''t notice me trying my hardest to swallow the puke that had just escaped my throat. With a hot and stinging feeling in my throat, I began to look at the bloodied stranger again with newfound disgust. None of the people around me reacted as grotesquely as I did because they didn''t know where those trickling liquid on the wall was coming from, ugh! ABSOLUTELY REPULSIVE! Does that mean this man had been tasting the family'' shit for years now!?


    \"You two should be ashamed of yourselves!\" The nurse articulated as she finally found the courage to approach the bloodied man, but not enough strength to touch him. \"Spy? Murderer? Look at him! He''s beyond malnourished! Treating an old man like him with such disrespect is beyond ridiculous, even for you all! Besides, we all agreed that no man should be left behind, so I see no reason why we should leave this man alone here now!\"


    I can go on tangents about how much I hated the idea of bringing this man along with us, especially since he would be the very bane of my plan''s existence! I have to get rid of him, and luckily for me, I just might be able to do it in the next area... ekekekeke...


    \"We''re wasting time arguing more about this.\" The salesman said with a groan as he moved towards the right side of the bloodied stranger beside the nurse. \"Those who want this man to stay, come here on the right; those against it, go to the left.\"


    Without further ado, the policeman and the silver man walked towards the bloodied stranger''s left side, but both of them refused to approach him. Thus, they all stood a few feet away from him on his left side. Then, all four of them looked at me as I still had both my hands on my lips, trying my hardest to refrain my puke from coming out of my mouth. From the look on their faces, they seem to be pleading with me to make a decision right away wordlessly.


    A huge part of me wants to leave this disgusting thing in this place, but...


    I have two reasons as to why I am more inclined to believe that we should take him with us. Okay, I''m sure you''re fed up with how I suddenly changed my decision, out of nowhere, but hear me out, eh? Come on! Give a man some slack!


    Firstly, agreeing to take the man with us would solidify my benevolent priest persona, thus making it even easier to infiltrate through these four people. After all, if I showed them that my heart is in the place of the good, it would be easier for them to let their guards down for me.


    Secondly, well...


    I just think killing him in the next room would be so much better! Just imagining the amount of fun I would get is enough to make my blood trickle from all of my nerves hurriedly. The rush I felt in my insides is so unbearably euphoric that I could almost feel my sense tickling the lower half of my body!


    Thus, with a smile on my face, I approached the bearded man and knelt before him. \"Raise your head, child.\"


    The stranger then slowly complied with what I had just said and slowly raised his body to look at me with an awe-struck expression.


    I then extended my hands towards him, and, as much as I hated the prospect of doing this, I wrapped my hands around the bloodied man''s body and gently tapped his stiffened back. I could then feel the stickiness of the blood around him permeating my cassock as the foul stench coming out of him immediately infiltrated my nose by the time I held him. Suddenly, I could feel the puke I had just swallowed return in my mouth. I then laid it there as much as I could while trying my hardest not to taste the bile around my tongue. As the liquid crap swims around my mouth, I decided to show a gentle smile at the bloodied stranger before moving beside the salesman and the nurse on his right side wordlessly. Well, it''s not like I could say much with this amount of awfulness in me.


    The bloodied stranger then jumped with joy when he finally understood that we''re taking him with us. The policeman sighed in defeat as he realized what had happened. Meanwhile, the silver man began to nibble on his silver fingers again while still hiding behind the policeman. On the other hand, the salesman nodded with a smile. Then, the nurse looked at me with a vibrant smile that showed how much she appreciated what I had done. However, it seems that she''s slowly moving away from me, probably because I had just hugged the now celebrating bearded man.


    As they slowly moved towards the next area with varying expressions on their faces, I stayed behind them before spitting the puke in my mouth with a weakened heave. I then wiped my lips on the back of my hands while trying my best to get myself together and follow on their lead.


    I then remembered what mom told me before she left my side earlier.


    \"Remember, son, some areas in the dungeon have some lights like in the case of the second area. If you want us to close the lights, just raise a fist in the air!\"


    With the voice of my mom in mind as she spoke those words to me earlier while Christopher and Alejandro beat the life out of me, I nodded as I immediately understood what I had to do.


    I then raised my fist up in the air quickly, but with a small difference: I pointed with my other hand towards the bloodied stranger, signaling my family that they should close the lights before he could finish the challenge awaiting us in the second area.


    Ah... That''s right! Mom, please close the lights before this disgusting thing could escape the ninth pendulum!

 121 What Lies Beyond the Crimson Door

    \"We''re here,\" I said as I looked at the rusted red door at the end of the murky and dark stone hallway.


    \"I-is that the exit?\" The silver man asked with a nervous grin plastered on his stupid, stupid face.


    \"Unfortunately not, my dear friend, silver,\" I said to the silver man with a gentle smile while tapping his back. However, if given a chance, I would have wanted to smack the ever living holy blessing out of his empty head with one full smack! OH LORD, GIVE ME PATIENCE NOT TO END THIS MAN RIGHT HERE AND NOW!


    \"I see...\" The silver man said with a dejected tone. Wait, did he seriously think that this is the end? How dumb can this man truly be!?


    \"So what do we have to do now, father?\" The nurse said as he stood beside me while looking at the rusted door. However, I could see with the way she purposely moved away a few inches from me that she''s still disgusted with the fact that I just hugged the bloodied stranger earlier.


    \"We need flesh!\" The bloodied man said as he pointed his grease-filled finger at the rusted red door. \"Wait for me, friends, I will hunt rats for all of us!\"


    \"There''s no need for that!\" The policeman groaned as he pinched the area between his eyes. \"... right?\" He said with a dubious look while looking at me.


    Sincerely, I would have wished that the bloodied stranger would leave and ''hunt rates'' for us, so we can get rid of him, but here we are now! Ugh...


    \"Well, yes, we don''t, in fact, need to hunt rats, my friend!\" I said to the bloodied stranger with a profound deepness in my smile. I wish they could not see the way my veins pulsate out of my forehead for trying my hardest to contain my anger. \"I believe there''s a plastic container inside of your yellow body bags that contains raw, meat, correct?\" I said while gently pointing my hand towards the nurse''s body bag.


    They then swiftly moved and opened their body bags to see what lies inside of it, and the four of them gasped with joy after seeing that there is, indeed, a substantial plastic container inside of their bags. When they opened the tight lid of the plastic box, they saw that there''s a chunk of raw pig''s meat in it, sending a foul smell all over us, which indicated that the pig must have been slaughtered in a rather uncompromising state. Perhaps it was ill before it died, but it was butchered anyway.


    \"What are we supposed to do with this, father?\" The salesman said while looking at the meat in his plastic container with a noticeable scowl on his face. He then pinched his nose tightly, trying his hardest not to whiff any of its heavy odor.


    \"Do any of you have any ways to slice a small portion of one of your raw meats?\" I said while moving my head around us with a nonchalant smile.


    The policeman then instinctively moved his hands on his bulging pocket and was about to take something from out of his slacks when he suddenly stopped himself from doing so. Wordlessly, he stepped away from us with a knowing gaze.


    Hmm... Whatever was that supposed to mean? Oh well, I hope he doesn''t know that I saw whatever it is that he did there.


    \"Well?\" I said once more while retaining my usual smile as I ignored the way the policeman allowed himself to be left out of the limelight for once. \"We really need to have something to cut the meat to pieces before we could move on.\"


    They then all looked at me with raised eyebrows, perhaps wordlessly thinking that there must be something wrong with me for asking a piece of meat just to open a door. Meanwhile, the policeman was still dazed in the corner while looking at his bulging pocket. I decided to ignore their prying eyes and just went on with the damn thing since I am so not good at explaining things. Let''s just show these people what we got, and we will get a move on from this stupid rock area already.


    The silver man was about to utter something when, suddenly, the bloodied stranger swiftly moved to take his contained away from his hands. The bearded man then immediately took the meat from out of the container and nibbled on it tightly with his blackened and yellowed teeth. While shaking his head, he used his teeth to take a small chunk of the raw meat using his obviously weak teeth.


    \"H-hey! What the fuck are you doing!\" The silver man said as he pointed at the bloodied stranger. However, the man still nibbled on the meat, trying his hardest to rip a chunk of it out using his gritting teeth.


    \"No! Allow him to do what he must!\" I said as I placed my hands on the silver man''s chest, halting him from stopping the man with whatever he''s doing.


    Then, after gnawing the raw meat with his cavity-filled teeth, the man finally managed to take a piece out of the still bloodied animal flesh and hurriedly went on all fours. Our eyes met whatever he was doing, and when we looked down, we saw that the man was pointing his mouth at a small hole located somewhere at the lower portion of the rusted red door. The bloodied stranger then spat the raw pig''s meat in his mouth right into the hole with perfect precision.


    \"Observe!\" I exclaimed to the other people as I heard the red door hiss with a mechanical sound. After a few beeps coming out of the red door, it suddenly slid open, revealing whatever lies on the other side. I then explained, \"The doors of this dungeon have to be opened using some kind of flesh; it doesn''t matter what kind¡ªwe just need to use some kind of flesh. As we get deeper and deeper into the dungeon, the doors will get even more demanding as well and will start asking us to offer larger quantities of meat. As long as you hold onto those flesh of meat, we will surely be able to survive this place until the last door!\"


    I tried my hardest to explain; however, the four people with me started to look at the next area outside of the red door with awe-filled expressions. Their mouths then formed the letter O as they gasped in disbelief at what they''re seeing.


    \"Are we really... in the same place?\" The nurse said while cautiously moving his gaze from all over the new area. She even whiffed the air around her to sense if she actually sees a portal to a different dimension. Perhaps she has determined the actuality of this change, for she suddenly showed a distorted smile that was accompanied by her eyebrows tightly knitted together.


    What lies before us is a large hall made out of nothing but metal. The floor is made out of shiny stainless steel, while the ceiling looked precisely the same other than the fact that it has a few notable scratches on it. We also noticed that the walls are nothing but colossal metal poles lined perfectly on the side of the large rectangular hall. It is noticeable that there seem to be vast spaces between each pole. We could also see that there''s some kind of room on the other side of the poles.


    Since the spaces around the pole are large enough, it is evident that a person can fit himself on it to get inside of the room on the other side of the poles. Looking intently, one can obviously infer that there''s light coming out of the room on the other side of the poles, so this turned the place into a well-lit hall, making it a stark contrast from the absolute darkness of the hallways behind us.


    I then looked up at the ceiling with a smile filled with intent.


    \"Well then, my friends,\" I said with my arms outstretched as I directed my body towards the awed people behind me. \"Welcome to the second area!\"


    \"S-second area?\" I heard one of them say, but I am feeling my oats so much right now that I can''t seem to see the people around me.


    \"Yes! Second area!\" I said before moving my hand in a 180-degree motion above my head as if trying to draw some kind of halo in my head. I, too, am not sure why I did it, but all I know for sure is that I loved doing it somehow; it elevates the excitement within me! \"This dungeon is divided into different sectors that do not at all look exactly the same as the other ones! The ones you''re seeing behind you is the dark and stone-y first area while the one before you is the shimmering metallic second area!\" I then tried my hardest to contain the excitement I''m feeling by inhaling a deep breath as I moved my head around me to gaze at the dumbfounded expressions. \"Beware, my dear friends, oh, beware, indeed! Not all areas are as forgiving as the one you just experienced!\"


    I showed a melancholic frown at them with almost a teary eye, but deep inside, I... ahaha... I just contain it anymore, I... hahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!

 122 Red Dingly-Dangly Pendulum Thingies

    \"Heh. Well, this doesn''t look so bad! Look, the exit is literally right there!\" He said as he pointed at the other side of the hall, a metallic corridor that is just as well-lit as the rest of what we''re seeing. From closer inspection, we can see that rows of fluorescent light are litting the exit to this area. \"Come on. Let''s make a run to it!\" He said as he stretched his feet, making him look like he''s about to run a marathon.


    Oh, why yes! Be my guest and do it, Mr. Policeman; why the hell not, eh? It would be a great way to cut our numbers down.


    However, while I was savoring the exhilarating thought of seeing this stupid policeman get what he deserves with his cocky attitude, the bloodied stranger suddenly wrapped his hands around the policeman''s waist and pulled him away from the metal area. The policeman was about to dash right through it when the bearded man suddenly did this to him, which made him exponentially more annoyed than ever.


    \"What the fuck are you doing!?\" The policeman said as he suddenly punched the bloodied stranger''s arms! \"GET THE FUCK OFF ME, FREAK! YOU''RE DISGUSTING!\" The policeman then suddenly reached out to his bulging pocket but decided against it after gritting his teeth for a few seconds.


    \"YOU WILL DIE IF YOU GO THERE BLINDLY, MR. POLICE!\" The bloodied stranger shouted with his usual hoarse voice while tightly pulling the policeman away from the metal room. He had his eyes tightly closed while the policeman punched his arms continuously, not even minding the excruciating pain this might have caused.


    The policeman tightened his fist further, making his broad biceps to bulge out of his uniform''s sleeves. \"WHAT''S THE BIG IDEA ANYWAY!?\" The man then pointed his left hand into the invitingly bright metal area as he continuously jabbed the bloodied stranger''s hands with his right hand. \"THERE''S NOTHING IN THERE!\"


    While the entire thing was happening, the nurse was at the policeman to stop hurting the bloodied stranger further, but not really doing anything to stop him from doing so. She''s kinda just... letting it happen while screaming against the thing that is still currently happening before her. She''s a weird one. As the endless mix of sounds coming from the three of them rang throughout the corridor, the silver man just stood there with his stupid silver face as he started to nibble swiftly on his silver nails again. At this point, even I am getting tired of calling out just how silver he is.


    Meanwhile, the salesman, who remained relatively quiet throughout this entire debacle, quietly sighed as he stepped into the door. I thought that he would use the chaos around him as a way to be the first person to walk through the metallic hall, which brought me an inexplicable amount of joy. However, he started to take his black jacket off. When I realized what he was doing, I sighed as I rolled my eyes.


    Just as I expected, while the four other people around him are doing whatever hellish scene it is that they''re trying to recreate, the salesman suddenly hurled his jacket forward into the air.


    \"Wh¡ª\" The nurse whispered weakly, finally stopping her high pitched screaming as she watched the jacket fall into the floor. It seemed that she''s clueless as to what the salesman was doing.


    Meanwhile, the policeman is still swiftly jabbing at the bloodied stranger''s arms with all the fury in his heart. To be honest, the real wonder here is how the bloodied stranger manages to endure all of the policeman''s strikes with that malnourished body of his.


    Finally, after a few moments of anticipation, the salesman''s jacket fell onto the floor with a soft sound, but the ringing noise that came thereafter was a stark contrast from it.


    VREAAAAARRROOOOWWWW!


    Wh... what the hell is that stupid sound? That sounded better when I last came here? That sounds like a pig getting heavily molested or something.


    VREEEEEEEGGGHHKKKK!


    Oh, these noises are just annoying now!


    Those awful sounds reverberating around us are loud siren-like sounds that echo throughout the metal hall around us. I know it was supposed to terrify us, but with the way it sounded like a loud and much more annoying version of the noise that a cat thunders when it''s throwing a tantrum... I just can''t take it seriously! I then held my hands tightly as a light laugh managed to escape my mouth, which I managed to hide well since the rest of the people around us were not particularly looking at me.


    Except for one guy...


    The bloodied stranger looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows as his resentful gaze seemed to have judged me for even laughing a tiny bit at that ridiculous sound! I mean... IT DOES SOUND RIDICULOUS, THOUGH! Why does he have to be such an ass about it?


    It continued to echo all around us like a banshee running throughout our heads! The sound was so loud that it interrupted the policeman from further hitting the bloodied stranger since he instinctively used his hands to cover his ears. Meanwhile, the bearded man still wrapped his grease-filled hands around the policeman''s waist, seemingly not minding the loud noise. The salesman just looked at the hall with a scowl while the nurse fell into the floor with her eyes closed tightly. For all I know, the silver man must have already died because of the fear brewing within him, which I do not wish to happen. After all, he is still my gateway ticket out of here. Thus, I went there beside the silver man to embrace his trembling body. He didn''t really respond to it whatsoever and just allowed his body to shake in my arms.


    Due to the thundering noise all over us, none of the people around me realized that the ceiling started opening from the middle like an old elevator door. When the metal ceiling finally revealed the darkness lurking above it, the siren stopped. However, the sound that came afterward is just as excruciating as the one that precedes it.


    Chains started to ring throughout the hall, giving off the sparking sound of metal clinking and hitting one another. Meanwhile, giant anchor-shaped metallic slabs began to descend from above swiftly. Below the anchor-like metal slabs are what looked like a wide arc-shaped blade that could definitely cut anyone with the greatest of ease. I also noticed that, as the metal slabs started to reveal its whole length, that its red color is greatly more accentuated around the blades, and the color of anchor-shaped slabs itself fades into black the farther it is from its arc-shaped edge.


    \"THAT''S THE REASON WHY YOU SHOULDN''T JUST MAKE A RUN FOR IT!\" The bloodied stranger roared while still pulling the now dazed policeman away from the metallic hall.


    \"W-what... WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE!?\" The policeman said as he finally stopped hitting the bloodied stranger with bloodshot eyes! He then pushed the bloodied stranger''s hands out of his waist. This time, the stranger was much more willing to comply with the policeman''s strikes and released his greasy hands out of the policeman''s waist. Now, his blue uniform has this distinct black and red mark around his lower half. Perhaps the bloodied stranger released the policeman this time, so the damn guy who kept punching him would just die already! I can''t blame him.


    \"They''re... they''re huge... are we supposed to dodge THAT!?\" The salesman said as he started to tighten his humongous belly by pushing it deep within him with his hands. The man then gritted his teeth as he moved his gaze around to see if there''s a way to get out while the metal slabs have not fully descended yet. Perhaps, he thinks that he could bolt right out of there if he were a bit younger. If so, I would have even encouraged him to dash forward so that I could weed out our numbers already!


    \"LOOK AT THOSE BLADES! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! AAGGHHH...! WE''RE GONNA DIE!\" The silver man shrieked while holding the damp wall beside him with his trembling silver hands. He then covered his face with his arms as he squirmed after seeing the swiftly descending metal slabs from above. I then noticed that a portion of his hands has started to reveal his pale skin. It must have been because of the wetness on the floor.


    \"There''s got to be a way to escape that thing, right!?\" The nurse said as she immediately walked towards me. She then started tapping my shoulders as she spoke while pointing at the now open ceiling. Perhaps what she fears more is the darkness that lies within the ceiling more than the ones getting out of it. Her determined face earlier had started to melt away as a helpless expression crept upon her once vibrant face.


    I have to admit, those things fall right away usually when I last came here, so I''m a bit surprised that it didn''t fell right away when the salesman threw his jacket onto the floor. Perhaps we need to have some maintenance tests around here someday.


    After about two seconds, the anchor-shaped metal slabs started to fall quickly from above like someone had dropped all of them in unison. However, midway into the air, it suddenly halted its fall and began swinging from one side to another after it suddenly stopped dropping from above the ground. Instead of slowing down, the swinging motion of the anchor-shaped metal slabs just increased until it reached the wide spaces between the metal poles at the side of the hall. The direction that each of the nine metal slabs takes varies from each other that all of them looked like individual pendulums with lives of their own and different decisions they would make.


    One could easily see that the pendulums would move slowly in its first swing to the right before partially hiding in the wall on the other side of the poles before swinging one swift strike to their left. The way it moved was so rapid that one could easily miss it if they blink. Looking below the continually swinging pendulums, one could see that there''s only about 2 feet or less of space left underneath the nine pendulums.


    A wave of wickedness then started to emerge from within my heart as I failed to keep the edges of my lips from perking upward.


    Crawl, maggots, crawl for your lives!

 123 Now, Theres Something Red on the Floor

    \"Now, now, friends, there''s no need to panic about those huge things swinging by your heads! It will be fine! You will be fine... as long as you follow my instructions correctly.\" I said as I tried to wave my hands around my chest to ease their growing paranoia. \"It will be easy to go through this area since the floor is smooth. All of us just need to lay on the floor and push ourselves up with our feet like worms. Of course, we should do it carefully, so the pendulums wouldn''t hit our heads. It would be better if we do this with our backs on the ground, so we could see if the pendulum is about to hit our heads. If we crawl with our backs facing those swinging things, we might make some mistakes and have our heads cut off instead.\"


    \"The priest speaks facts, friends!\" The bloodied stranger said as he hunched his back forward while approaching my side. I then placed my hands around his shoulders and thanked the Lord God in heaven for making my cassock long-sleeves because I would rather mutilate my arms instead of having my skin touch whatever bacteria is on him. However, I tried my very best not to touch his skin with my bare hands; no way will I get whatever skin disease he has on me! He then continued his words, \"Since there''s a lot of us, we can''t possibly move ourselves from this door to the corridor on the other side. After all, this corridor presented to us in the second area is too narrow. The best way to go around with this is to crawl on the floor one at a time, waiting for each other''s turn. With this, we can ensure that everyone gets their turn to be on the other side one at a time.\" He then breathed heavily as he stretched his hunching back to straighten it. \"This is not a competition, friends, so we must do this right.\"


    I wanted to click my tongue as I tried my hardest not to distort the smile on my face into a terrible scowl. Nevertheless, as much as I hated the way this bloodied man had taken the spotlight away from my stunning smile, I am quite pleased that he did so, for it meant that I had to speak lesser than I did earlier. After all, I am still injured myself. As much as I would like to pretend that I don''t mind the bruises around me, it felt like Satan himself is poking my skin with a toothpick straight out of the flames down below in hell itself!


    I then looked around me and saw the varying expressions of the people around me. The salesman stared at the sides of the pendulums as if trying to calculate if he could leap through it if he tried. I''m sure that among all of us, he''s the one most unwilling to do the crawling route. I knew it for a fact after seeing the way he lowered his plump stomach by pushing his stomach into his insides while keeping himself from breathing. Meanwhile, the policeman looked at us with his hands on his waist, appraising what we just said with a frown. The nurse had her gaze down onto the shiny metal floor, indicating her uncertainty about this whole crawling business with a pair of shaking eyes. The silver man, on the other hand, is... Do I really have to explain it further? I''m sure that all of us here already know that he''s just out there shaking in fear one way or another anyway!


    At the end of the day, all of them are uncertain about what we had just said as they showed their unwillingness to follow our instructions. They were all pretty much wordlessly telling us that they don''t trust this method.


    Haa... I want to get out of this area already. The only reason why I got excited about it is that I might finally see someone die, but if my message to my family didn''t come across well, maybe I still won''t be able to see some blood spilled soon.


    Let''s just get this over with then!


    \"Alright!\" I exclaimed as I clapped my hands with an obviously fake excitement in my tone. \"I''ll go first, so you''ll know that doing this method is perfectly safe! Besides, if we stay in this area a tad bit longer than this, the Crawlers might come right towards us!\" I then walked towards the first pendulum a few feet away from the doorway of the second area. When I turned my head away from my companions, they all looked uncertain about what I''m about to do, but none of them really stopped me from going.


    Just like I had said, I laid on my beck, I pushed myself forward by squirming on the floor like a silly little worm and looked up as the pendulum swung mere inches away from my very eyes. However, I wasn''t scared. I could physically feel the way the pendulum swings above me since they move a bit too swiftly that it would literally send slashes of air on my skin. Fortunately, nothing happened just as I expected, and I managed to get out of the nine pendulums unscratched! At best, I just felt the pendulum tickling my skin a bit because of, uhh... physics?


    Stunning!


    \"See?\" I screamed as I stood on the other side of the area. I then cupped my hands around my lips as I continued, \"You can do it too! It''s perfectly safe as long as you know what you''re doing!\"


    Probably inspired by my bravery, the silver man stood up from his dumbfounded gaze while sitting on the damp floor, \"I''M NEXT! LET ME OUT OF HERE!\" I saw him moving around like a fool on the floor as he left a few glitters on his track. Safely, he managed to get on the other side of the area, brimming with joy. As he yelled out loud about how he managed to get on the other side of the room, he suddenly embraced me with his warm and excited body. I then noticed that some of the silver paint on his back had been removed, showing a bit of his brown hair.


    The policeman then went right after the silver man wordlessly before clicking his tongue. From the look on his face, it seemed that he had rather come on the other side of the room instead to make him look like some kind of leader figure for the group. He managed to crawl out of danger, but when he stood up on the other side of the hall, he averted his eyes from us while gritting his teeth with displeasure.


    \"I would love to go next.\" The nurse timidly said with her two hands balled into two fists around her bosom. The salesman and the stranger indulged her wishes and made her crawl to safety. Just as all of us had expected, nothing happened! She managed to breathe clearly with a relaxed sigh as she crawled to her safety on the other side.


    \"Friend, I think it would best for me to come next. I mean... having a shady man at the end of the line might cause some commotion on our friends there on the other side.\" The bloodied stranger loudly said to the salesman, so I could hear what he had spoken clearly amid the loud swinging and creaking of the pendulums. \"People tend to shake when they''re crossing this darn thing, and that''s really how this place gets them, you know? The more you shake, the more you tend to move your body upward, it seems. I would like to reassure you that there''s nothing to be afraid of since I can see you being a bit too bothered by this crawling business for a while now.\" The bloodied stranger was then about to extend his arms to place it on the salesman''s white long-sleeves shirt, but he suddenly pulled his hand away instinctively, not wanting to dirty the salesman''s clothes.


    Oh, Jesus, please tell me this is a dream! This can''t happen! He has to go last, or else the lights closing plan will be useless! I bit my knuckles while observing the two men on the other side until I saw the salesman puff a chuckle.


    Seemingly seeing the way the bloodied stranger pulled himself away from him, the salesman shook his head while looking at the bloodied stranger. He then said, \"If you think I''ll be scared because of you, then you''re wrong, 100%. If you''re saying that I''m scared because of you, then you''re wrong.\" He then slapped his stomach with a hearty laugh, \"Look at this thing! Everyone will be afraid to crawl below that thing with this kinda stomach! I mind the pendulums more than you, pal, so don''t be too hard on yourself.\"


    The salesman then approached the pendulums before the bloodied stranger! YES! YES, THANK YOU JESUS, YOU''RE MY REAL BROTHER; OH, THIS IS JUST GREAT, AMAZING! HALLELUJAH! The salesman then suddenly jumped around while stretching his head from side to side while profusely trying to breathe in and out loudly. The salesman then laid his head on the floor before inhaling his stomach until it descended down into a less burly state. The salesman then pushed his stomach further down with his hands as he crawled into the other side, hurriedly, with a reddened face. The bloodied stranger then stood there on the other side of the room with awe as he saw the unexpected kindness of the burly salesman.


    When he saw that the salesman was about to reach the ninth pendulum, he then laid on the floor as I started hearing him sniff before he screamed, \"THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I''VE BEEN UNIRONICALLY HAPPY TO BE IN THIS GOSH DARN STUPID PLACE! WHOO! GOD IS REAL, FRIENDS! GOD IS REAL, AND HE''S WITH US! THANK YOU, PRIEST! THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR MAKING ME BE WITH ALL OF YOU! I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY EVER IN MY LIFE!\"


    The man then proceeded to crawl into the other side of the area as tears started to flow out of his eyes, making the grease on his face spill onto the perfectly glistening floor. If the silver man left a trail of glitters, this man left blackened blood, bile, and grease, painting the gray floor into a black mess!


    He then passed through the first pendulum. I bit on my knuckles as I waited for some kind of response from my family. Nothing came.


    He passed through the second pendulum. The bloodied stranger merely laughed as he went on. Meanwhile, the people around me cheered him on loudly other than the policeman.


    He passed through the third pendulum. I bit my knuckles even harder as I tried to find another plan to get rid of the man in the next area without anyone noticing.


    He passed through the fourth pendulum. Suddenly, weird noises started coming from above, like countless feet moving about in the darkness. This prompted the stranger to move quickly.


    Thus, in no time, he passed through the fifth and the sixth pendulum with ease. I then looked all around the well-lit room, trying my hardest to see if there''s some visible camera around us this time. Still, even with all the light around us, I can''t find anything resembling a camera!


    As the loud creeping noises echoed from the darkness lurking above the endless shade on the ceiling, the bloodied stranger finally reached the seventh and the eighth pendulums. I then gritted my teeth as I saw that my family seemed to be not giving me any response. I then walked closer to the ninth pendulum to welcome the bloodied stranger with my usual fake smile, but I really didn''t want to stay in this place any longer. Not because of the Crawlers but because my plan will soon be in shambles! I stood beside the silver man who seems to be happily egging on the bloodied stranger near the ninth pendulum.


    However, when the stranger finally peeked his head out of the eighth pendulum, the light on the two sides of the room slowly flickered.


    Oh...


    And it flickered again as his head approached the ninth pendulum.


    Yes...


    Then, after two more large fluctuations, the lights closed!


    YES!


    I then extended my feet forward and felt that the bloodied stranger''s head was still right there.


    PERFECT!


    The people around me started screaming in panic after the suddenness of the lights going out. Thus, when I stepped my foot firmly onto the bloodied stranger''s forehead, his pleas of help went unanswered. After all, everyone else is just as panicked as he is, wondering if the Crawlers will finally come to eat them whole.


    PERFECT!


    Swiftly, with the same foot I used to trample on the bloodied stranger''s head, I kicked the living holiness out of him on the back of his head, making his face raise into the swiftly swinging pendulum above him, making him utter nothing but an indistinguishable noise, which sounded a little bit like this, \"BLEEEUURGGHH!\"


    PERFECT!


    After a few seconds, the lights started to flicker once more as I swiftly kicked the damn fool''s head once more, but this time, my strike was far stronger than the first one to make sure that he''s dead when the lights went on again. The pendulum now slowly passed through his face with the sound of metal ripping through skin and bones, sending the loud noises of lifeless ripping throughout the area.


    PERFECT!


    Then, I don''t know why, but the heel of my other feet moved in a circular motion on the slippery floor. Thus, I suddenly lost my balance. Uh, oh...


    Not perfect...


    I then shrieked as I felt my body falling onto the floor. The demon take this slippery floor! If I hadn''t moved swiftly, I would have had my legs cut off with the bloodied stranger. I may survive it, but not only would I lose a foot, but the people around me would also know that I was the one who offed this disgusting thing!


    NOT PERFECT!


    Since the pendulum was still grinding on the bloodied stranger''s head, my feet hadn''t reached its unsharpened blade as it elevated in the air. Thus, with quick thinking, I managed to push my body away from the pendulum, by shoving someone else forward, making me flung backward. Whoever I pushed is the person nearest to me, and he shrieked loudly as I heard the loud thud of something hitting a metal surface. Then, what followed that is the squishing noise of something seemingly stepping on a slime-like thing on the floor.


    When the lights opened, I noticed that I was on the floor, a few inches away from the blade of the pendulum.


    I didn''t really see much other than the sight of a bald head sticking out of the dark ceiling above me. The bald head hovering above then moved back into the eternal darkness behind it with an appraising look. I then moved my head around as I felt the injuries in my body ache. I couldn''t really see anything, but I do know one thing... Now, there''s something red on the floor.

 124 Goodbye, Reddened Metal Road

    I heard the sound of someone groaning as the thudding sound of stomping on what seemed like mud resounded on the still darkened room. When I regained my senses, the room was already lit up once more with the lights on the side.


    I looked around me and saw that something odd is happening. The nurse looked at the direction of the pendulums while covering her lips with her hands tightly as her eyes started to be flooded with tears. Beside her, the policeman held her shoulders tightly as he scowled at whatever was happening around the pendulums. Meanwhile, on my other side, the salesman started to whisper at me, but I can''t really hear what he''s saying because of the loud ringing in my head. I then stood up gently with the help of the salesman, and only then did I see what exactly happened.


    Okay. The good news is that the bloodied stranger is dead. Yes, cool, great, amazing! The bad news is that, by the looks of things, it seems like the people are blaming it on the silver man. After all, the silver man is stepping his right silver foot on the mangled head of the bloodied stranger. So that was where that mushy sound came from, huh? I reckon that the loud metallic thud I heard earlier was the sound of the silver man stumbling forward and hitting his face onto the pendulum. I know this for a fact because there''s that distinct silver paint and glitters around the surface of the ninth anchor-shaped metal slab. At the moment, the pendulums have stopped swinging from side to side, so the silver man didn''t necessarily get hurt.


    The person who did get hurt is the bloodied stranger, and oh boy, did he get hurt; it looked glorious! It seemed that the pendulum hit the stranger''s open mouth because there''s a tooth plastered around its blade. His mangle skin looked like a paintbrush as it kept spreading red liquid on the now still pendulums. His outstretched eyes show nothing but white while his forehead creases into many flaps and folds. Meanwhile, his furrowed brows made it look like he''s feeling both the feeling of sadness and anger before his inevitable death. Since the pendulum has cut from his left cheek straight into his other one, his jaw dropped onto his chest, revealing his yellowed tongue and blackened teeth. The pendulum had cut his cheeks in a pretty nasty way, so the lower part of his mouth now looked like it''s hanging for its dear life on the edge of his skull. His blood flowed from his face down until it covered the entirety of his face and trickled into the metal floor. It seemed that there''s a blackened footstep on the man''s severed jaw, which might be the reason why the silver man''s shoe now had a bit of red on it.


    Well, I''m sure everyone knows now why the pendulums are only exceptionally red around its blade. I can still remember when it was white... aahhh! Memories!


    The silver man then shrieked and moved far away from the corpse of the bloodied stranger, crawling as far as he can away from the now dead stranger with a tearful pair of eyes. Like some kind of curse, the stranger''s blood flowed towards where the silver man headed as if chasing him till the very end of the dungeon. The silver man then stood up and hid behind the policeman like he always did.


    \"W-what happened!? Th-the lights went off, and...\" The silver man said while trembling coldly with his hands gripping the policeman''s shaking arms.


    \"GET THE FUCK OFF ME, FREAK!\" The policeman thundered as he pulled his hands away from the silver man.


    \"Wh-what? I...\" The silver man whispered with trembling eyes as he slowly stumbled away from the policeman.


    \"Obviously, what happened here is not an accident.\" The salesman uttered as he sighed with his eyes eyeing the blood on the floor. \"Everyone heard what happened, at least. Someone struck the dirty guy, whether deliberately or not, and now he''s dead.\"


    \"B-but... I didn''t do it, I...\" Tears then started to flow out of the silver man''s eyes, finally ruining some of the silver paint on his face for once. \"I DIDN''T DO IT!\"


    \"I...\" The nurse said as he covered her body with her trembling hands. \"Maybe it''s true that you didn''t do it, and it was just an accident.\" The nurse said, making the silver man smile wide with thankfulness. However, before he could speak, the nurse continued what she was saying, \"But that just proves how careless you are. We all know that you''re not the bravest person in the group, but... your carelessness killed a man.\"


    \"NO! NO, PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME!\" The silver man desperately pleaded as the blood trickled towards his silver shoes. \"I didn''t do it! I didn''t do anything! Someone pushed my body, and then I stepped on something, and I... PLEASE, GUYS, COME ON! WHY ARE YOU STARING AT ME LIKE THAT? I''M SAYING THE TRUTH HERE!\"


    \"WE DON''T GIVE A SHIT, FREAK!\" The policeman said as he pointed his finger into the silver man''s face. \"FOR ALL I KNOW, YOU''RE A MURDERER! ACCIDENT OR NOT, THAT MAN STILL DIED BECAUSE OF YOU!\"


    \"I... no...\" The silver man shuddered as his feet shook uncontrollably.


    \"We can''t deny what the policeman said.\" The salesman sighed while pinching the area between his eyes. \"Someone did die here...\"


    \"P-please... guys...\" The silver man tried to show a gentle smile to ease the people throwing dagger-like stares at him, but it only turned into a distorted grin instead.


    \"It''s okay; we all understand, and it happened already, so just tell us the truth, and... maybe... haa... maybe we can forgive you.\" The nurse whispered those words slowly, but it seemed like even she was not buying what she had just said.


    \"I really didn''t do iiiit...\" The silver man finally couldn''t take it anymore and fell onto the floor as his tears intensified, sending an unprecedented amount of agony throughout the now silent area. However, the others already saw the silver man cry and fall into the ground countless times. They''ve already grown to detest the way his voice would crack as he cried because he has been doing that from the very beginning he showed himself to us... and we''re not even out of the second area yet!


    This is bad. This is very, very bad for me. The fact that these three finally found one thing they could all agree on is already a bad thing. That means if the opportunity arises, they would definitely kill the silver man first before fighting each other to death, just like how it would usually occur. Back then, people would move on from the second area without overthinking about it later, but now, they''ve all found a way to remember it for all the wrong reasons. It''s not at all good for the silver man, and that''s just as horrible for me. If the silver man dies first, then there''s no one else here I can successfully turn into my gullible little scapegoat for the last door!


    This is just... insane now! How could I lose control of these damn people already when we''re still in the second area? I have to fix this. FAST!


    \"Let''s just move on,\" I said as I wrapped my hands around the silver man''s shoulders. I then tried my best to lift him from the ground as the people around us looked at me with a face filled with disbelief. It seems that they can''t accept the fact that a priest is helping a man that''s being bullied. Stunning!


    The policeman then approached me with his hands on his waist. \"With all due respect, father, but that man is...\"


    \"I know DAMN WELL WHAT HAPPENED!\" I uttered as my voice suddenly turned into a shout midway, and even I didn''t expect that I would get into a scream-filled agony like that. I then closed my eyes as I tried to find the will in me to stay calm again while the silver man continued to weep like a damn idiot! \"Let''s just move on, okay? Everyone is uncertain, but we can''t do anything about it now. The man is dead, an accident happened, and there''s no murderer among us. Now, can we move on, or are we waiting for the giant insects to eat us?\" I said with a stern expression as my sharp eyes pierced through their grim expressions. \"If you want, you can take the corpse with you, but we need to move on; don''t we all agree on that one?\"


    The three people then paused before me as they grunted a few unintelligible grumbles. Meanwhile, the silver man is STILL crying! DAMN IT TO HELL, WHY IS THIS MAN STILL CRYING!?


    \"The priest is right. We have to move.\" The salesman said as he wiped his sweaty face with his palms. \"Anyone wanna take the man?\" He said while pointing his thumbs on the corpse on the floor. \"Do it now, and let''s leave.\" He then walked towards the open and well-lit corridor a few feet away from us.


    The nurse then wordlessly followed the salesman as she looked at the silver man with a pair of worried eyes.


    \"You''re lucky we got an angel with us, freak!\" The policeman whispered as he leaned his body onto the silver man''s crying face. Wait, was he talking about me? Me, angel? This sounds like a good day to sing that new pop song about that one movie remake. The policeman then looked at me with a worried but proud gaze before tapping my shoulder gently. \"Be careful around this man, father; you''re a good man. We would hate to see you go.\" He then moved away and walked through the corridor.


    It seemed that none of them took the greasy man on the floor.


    I then carried the silver man with me as we followed them. \"Thank you...\" He said in between sobs repeatedly.


    I then looked at him as we stopped our tracks behind the other people. \"Look at me, silver man,\" I said as I knelt slightly before him. He''s a rather small man, so I have to make myself appear lower, so I could look at him eye-to-eye without him needing to look up at me. \"Tell me the truth. Did you do it.\"


    The silver man then sobbed as he spoke some words that I could not possibly understand. I''m only doing this to remove suspicions from me, but it''s starting to get on my nerves.


    \"ENOUGH CRYING!\" I whispered, but the intensity of my anger is so high that my voice rang throughout the quiet metal corridor leading to the third area. The others then looked back at me, but I paid them no mind. \"No more crying, okay? No more!\" I then placed my hand on his shoulder to block his view of the other people walking ahead of us. I then gripped his jaw gently and moved his head to make him face me. \"Now, look into my eyes. Imagine that you''re not looking into the eyes of a man nor a servant of God. Imagine that you''re looking to the eyes of God himself and tell me the truth. Say a lie now, silver man, I tell you, God himself will come here to take you!\" I said as I saw him try his hardest to restrain his tears while looking at my bloodshot eyes. \"Did you do it?\"


    He then shook his head as he slowly replied, \"Father, you know I--\"


    \"YES OR NO!\" I shouted this time, but the others didn''t look at us anymore. They just continued walking.


    I then saw a newfound determination in the small silver man as he had spoken the word, \"No.\"


    I then


    The silver man then tightened his embrace in my body as he shook but still tried his hardest not to cry, \"Thank you, father.\"


    I got you now.


    Now, I just have to prevent the others from killing him.

 125 Slowly Turning Black

    \"Your feet seem a bit dirty, father.\" The policeman uttered as I stepped beside him when I hurriedly walked towards the other three with the silver man wrapped around my hands.


    \"My feet?\" I said before turning my head down to gaze below me. Well, I am a bit dirty now since I have literally hugged that disgusting guy earlier, and frankly, I just wanna go home and have a cold shower! After a more in-depth look at my feet and even my legs, I saw that there''s nothing particularly wrong about it. \"What do you mean? I think my feet look clean enough?\" I said jokingly before chuckling for a bit.


    \"Oh, I mean your shoes!\" He said with a twisted smile after seeing my fake gentle smile.


    Now that I looked at my shoes, I realized that there is, indeed, a bit of black and slightly reddened spot on it around the soles. \"Oh, you''re right! Maybe it''s because of the blood that... you know what happened earlier.\" I aid with a downcast gaze, still wondering where this conversation with the policeman is supposed to lead.


    Currently, we''re walking towards the third area. The corridor we''re walking in is just as metallic as the second area. Similar to how the end corridor of the first area is as rocky as the whole area itself. Unsurprisingly, our surroundings are well lit because of a long line of fluorescent light above us, making it easier to escape. It is a stark contrast from the first part of the dungeon where someone could jump from out of nowhere because of how absolutely blind we were in there. As you might have already known, someone did leap before us, which frightened me a bit, not gonna lie. However, the damn problem is already dealt with, and another challenge has finally started to rise.


    The salesman and the nurse wordlessly looked at us as they continued to walk before us in the corridor. Their attention had been taken once they heard what the policeman had said, which made me feel like they must have orchestrated this whole damn thing. I have no proof, though, but I can see it in the way their eyes would shoot daggers at the silver man and me.


    \"Ahh... I get what you''re saying, father. Yeah, the blood must indeed have gotten on your shoes.\" The policeman said with a nod as he smiled at me from ear to ear almost literally. \"But, you see, father, I''m just curious why the mark in the soles of your shoes have a bit of that... dark color, you know what I mean? Like, it''s grease or something.\" He said while looking at my light-brown colored leather shoes. True, there is a bit of grease on it that looked as if it was placed there using a rough and old paintbrush.


    Ahh...


    I get where this conversation is going.


    I then chuckled as I looked at my light-brown shoes again with a scrutinizing gaze. The grease on it sends a trickle of hatred within me, which I had to contain in me as fast as I could, or else I''ll explode with anger.


    \"Ahh... Oh, yeah, there is a bit of grease in there, huh?\" I whispered nonchalantly with a smile as I continued to walk with my companions in the well-lit metallic corridor. \"I think it has always been there? Maybe it''s because of the rats in the first area? I believe that there''s a lot of those in there. This is the first time I finally saw my shoes again, so I never realized that there''s a bit of mark in there.\" I then looked at the policeman with a wide grin before continuing, \"Why did you ask?\"


    At this point, the salesman had already turned his face away from us, no longer interested in what else I wanted to say. Meanwhile, the nurse was still looking at me, but there doesn''t seem to be any hint of animosity left in her eyes; that''s at least what I think.


    \"Ohh... Well, I''m just curious as to why there''s also a bit of grease on your footprints since the first area is, you know,\" He then laughed jokingly but his eyes definitely did not show a splinter of laughter. \"wet.\"


    I then looked behind me and saw that I am indeed leaving a bit of black trail as I walked hurriedly with my companions. I also noticed that there''s only one footstep on the floor that has that kind of black color; well, in fact, it''s the only set of footprints on the ground. After doing so, I also finally realized that our surroundings are slowly turning from a bright silver color into a darker shade of gray.


    \"Hmm... Indeed it is. So what about it?\" I said, still indifferent to the policeman''s probing questions.


    \"Oh, nothing, nothing! I was just a bit curious, father!\" The policeman said as he slowly walked ahead of us while his smile gradually turned into a stiff poker face.


    I then chuckled after seeing this. \"You seem to be overthinking something, Mr. Policeman,\" I said as I felt the silver man shiver beside me. It seems that even he had finally understood what the policeman wanted from me.


    The policeman merely ignored what I had said while the nurse finally took her eyes off me. All of us continued to walk in the metal corridor quietly, not even talking about the changes happening around us. It seems that the once gray surroundings have now turned into a lighter shade of black. Looking at the distance, we saw that the door to the third area is just a few steps away from us, and it''s practically waving at us to put some kind of meat on it.


    But... Haa... First, I have to deal with these suspicions getting thrown at me. I don''t want them thinking that I am actually a terrible person or even have a bit of power in me to cause harm. I must regain my status as a harmless sacrifice to them while still protecting this liability that is the silver man. It seems that maybe I have to find a way to make these people fight each other until they inevitably kill each other. Hmm... Perhaps, I can instill some kind of suspicion in them? I can probably do it.


    The silver man then stopped walking, but the others just continued without even giving us a sidelong glance.


    \"I''m sorry, father.\" The silver man said as he tried his hardest not to shed the water welling upon his eyes.


    \"Why are you apologizing?\" Oh my... ugh... This man is crying again! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? People, this is what happens if you don''t hit your child! They turn into beta-male cry babies! FUCK!


    \"They''re only suspecting you because you''re helping me!\" The silver man said a bit too loudly, which he may or may not done knowingly to make the others hear his beta-male whining.


    Well, I have to admit that I appreciate what he has done here, even if he doesn''t realize how important it is for me. Somehow, I could feel the animosity from the people before me fading just because of what silver man had accidentally uttered too loudly.


    Ha! Well, there you go! That pretty much covers a bit of their suspicion at me.


    I then realized that our surroundings were now steadily turning into pitch black, but the corridor is still relatively well-lit even in front of the door leading to the third room. The three people then slowly took the smelly raw meat in their yellow body bags. The policeman then knelt and placed his raw meat on the floor. Afterward, he used the zipper of his body bag as a makeshift knife to cut a small portion of his raw meat. However, it seems that even a muscular man like him is struggling with it as I saw that his sweat seems to trickle profusely from his forehead while he very skillfully used his zipper like a saw.


    \"You seem awfully good with that, Mr. Policeman,\" I said with a playful chuckle as I knelt beside him with a curious glint on my eyes. \"Are you good with knives, hmm, Mr. Policeman?\"


    The policeman flinched slightly with his eyes widened as he stopped cutting a small portion of his meat. Nevertheless, he decided to ignore what I had just said and continued whatever it is that he''s doing.


    \"Hmm... Not a talker, huh?\" I then stood up as I moved my gaze to the salesman and the nurse who''s standing a few feet away from the policeman. Meanwhile, the silver man hid behind me with a downcast expression. It seems that none of them wants to talk after what had just happened earlier. Well... I can''t really blame them, ekekeke! However, there''s a bit of dead air here while we wait for the policeman to finish whatever it is that he is doing. Thus, I spoke again, \"You know what, I wanted to ask something earlier, but I thought it would be a bit awkward if I do it, you know... with our friend on the floor like that.\"


    \"The nurse then looked at me with a weak smile. \"What is it, father?\"


    \"Well, remember how I fell earlier on the floor? It was really nasty, right? I just wanna ask who pushed me.\" I then looked at the two people before me with a gentle smile. It seems that none of them was willing to talk, so I added, \"Oh, don''t worry! I''m not angry about it at all! I was just... I found it a bit curious that I fell on the ground, and, at the same time, the silver man stumbled forward. Maybe someone pushed the two of us to make way for...\" I then


    Finally, my words took their attention since the salesman spoke, \"Care to describe what it felt, father? I mean, the one who pushed you; you must have felt his arms around your chest if you fell that hard into the floor.\"


    \"Hmm...\" I then


    \"True. You are pretty tall, father.\" The salesman said with a nod as he now looked at me with a gaze filled with interest.


    \"You know, I''m just saying...\" I then moved my gaze down onto the policeman, who''s kneeling on the floor while still cutting a portion of his raw meat. \"If someone could really push me hard like that, it would be a pretty big man.\"


    The salesman finally realized where my words were heading as he looked at me with a bright look as if he had just realized something.


    I then chuckled, \"But I''m sure, I''m just overthinking it! Right, Mr. Policeman?\"


    \"Ha?\" The policeman uttered as he looked at me with his sweaty face. He then continued whatever it is that he''s doing as he said, \"Yeah, I guess you are.\"


    Mmm... This is what you get...


    \"Yeah...\" I whispered.


    Mmm! Cross me again. I dare you!

 126 A Prayer Amid the Darkness and Bleakness

    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the policeman managed to cut a portion of his meat and stuck it towards the now bigger hole at the lower side of the black door standing before us. You know what, I still don''t get why he used his zipper as a knife. It''s so stupid; I just can''t help laughing at him while he does it.


    Nevertheless, the door opened, and we finally saw what lies within the third area. So far, there''s no sudden guy who jumped out of nowhere to surprise us, and there''s also no relevant deaths happening to my team. This time, we ought to change that somehow.


    When the policeman gently pushed the black door of the third area opens slightly, we first whiffed a pungent smell coming from inside of the room. It smelled like a mixture of feces, bile, rotten flesh, and decomposing fruits spewing out of the seemingly dark room. The salesman quickly coughed while frowning as he pushed the door open some more. The nurse then gasped loudly while pinching her nose as tightly as she could after seeing the state of the next area. The silver man moved his head around as he tightly clutched his hand on my cassock to properly look at how rundown the place was.


    The third area is a dimly-lit small room made out of nothing but wood planks. There''s a small bulb on the low ceiling, spewing weak orange light all around the moldy room. One could see that the water continually dripped on the wooden surroundings that it has now turned into black along with white molds on the corners. Since the floor is placed in an awfully messy way, we can see a few thin spaces between the planks. From within the holes on the floor, we can see what looked like an endless pit leading to somewhere beneath that I can only presume is hell itself. Some water droplets then fell on the only table in the center of the room, which is also wooden. It looked as if the orange light bulb above was only placed there to highlight whatever is above the table. There, we can clearly see what seemed like rotten steaks placed on dusty plates, a basket filled with blackened fruit, and a pitcher filled with what looked like a dark-green liquid. The table itself is so large, but there are still so many different meals on it, but they''re all so terribly-looking now that I couldn''t possibly see what they were. It seems like there seems to be a banquet that was held here from a long, long time ago, but no one ate anything, and they all just left here to rot and decompose. Countless flies are running all over the table, flying around to take a bit of taste of the ghastly meal before us. Below the table lies what looked like three layers of rectangular-shaped carpet that had now turned black and mossy.


    \"Ugh... fuck... it smells like shit in here!\" The policeman said as he slowly went inside the room with a frown. The floor then creaked, but he didn''t seem to mind it much while looking around the cramped space around him.


    \"I''m sure you know exactly what the smells like.\" The salesman said with a lighthearted chuckle, but the policeman didn''t seem to hear it because he didn''t lash out like a damn psycho again.


    \"It looks like there''s a party here.\" The nurse said with a disgusted look on her face. She then went inside the room but quickly took a step back and moved towards the metal corridor again just after a few seconds of staying inside. \"I feel like that floor would kill me if I stay a few more seconds in there!\"


    \"Have you been here before, father?\" The silver man said as he walked beside me while clutching on my arm. We then both went inside the room easily together as I walked towards the table with ease.


    \"Yes, indeed, I''ve been here with my friends, but when we came here, nothing really happened, so I guess, if we move very, very lightly, we wouldn''t be able to destroy this room into pieces,\" I said as I caressed my finger on the surface of the table before lifting it to see a large amount of dust hugging my skin. \"Come inside, Miss Nurse. As long as you don''t bounce around all over the place, nothing will happen to you here. Hmm... Well... It does smell awful here, so that might turn you off a bit.\" I said with a gentle smile as I extended my hands towards the nurse.


    She then gripped my hand tightly as she took a few more steps forward until she''s already inside. \"Well, it is still pretty rundown.\"


    \"Friends,\" I said as I moved my gaze towards the people around me. \"Since this is a relatively safe room, albeit smelly, I still would like to use this quiet time we have together to pray for our fallen friend who left us too early in this world. What do you say?\"


    \"Well, I say that the man has lived through so much suffering already that he pretty much deserves the peace he got in those giant metal blades.\" The salesman uttered while placing the lower half of his place beneath the collar of his shirt, which made his voice sound muffled. \"Why not? As long as you wouldn''t pray for an hour.\"


    \"I agree. As much as I hate the smell of this place, it doesn''t look as awful as the other ones. I also think we should pray for the soul of our dearly departed friend.\" The nurses said as she nodded her head gently while looking at me. Hmph. For all I know, she only agrees to it, so she could rid her soul of the guilt she feels for leaving that disgusting man''s body rotting in there. Oh well, shortly after this, my mom will call the Janitor to clean our mess anyway.


    \"Heck, why not?\" The policeman said as he slowly dipped his bottom towards the floor; he then continued while sitting on the damp floor of the wooden area. \"It could be a great way to rest before we head towards the next bullshit this place will hurl at us. Go on! Do what you must, priest.\" He uttered with a dismissive tone as he waved his hand at me like I''m some kind of dog that he has to shoo away.


    The silver man remained silent, probably so he wouldn''t be associated any further with the bloodied stranger who died earlier. Nevertheless, when I looked down at him to look at his face, I saw that he gave a nod of approval to what I suggested.


    \"Well then...\" I then slowly bent my body downwards to tap on the floor lightly before doing a sign of the cross; of course, it is needless to say that I did the one we use in Orthodox Christianity. I then clasped my hands firmly as I closed my eyes while raising my head into the ceiling. Well, I said that I will be praying, but in truth, I wish to send a distress message to my mother. \"Dear Lord in heaven who''s listening to Your children right now,\" I said, which sounded a bit weird, but I had to make my mother know that these words are directed towards her. \"We hope that You will safely let Your child who left our world earlier to have a space in your kingdom in heaven.\" Mom, please come and take that body away from here now, so we can see if he''s really telling the truth that he had been hiding here for years or if he''s just a spy from our competitors. \"More than anything, Lord, we thank You for giving us the chance to live another day, Lord, so we hope that our journey moving forward will not be filled with uncertainties anymore, Lord.\" Mom, I swear, if I see another thing that will ruin my plan, I will have a harsh conversation with you as to how I will forever sever ties with the family once I escape this place. \"Lord...\" I said, finally going towards the main point of my ''prayer.'' \"We hope that you can finally send in all of your blessings towards us.\" Send them in, mom. Do it. \"Amen.\"


    And slowly, as I opened my eyes, I felt as if time had slowed into a halt as we saw the table in the center of the room up into the ceiling, breaking the bulb into pieces. Since the door leading to the second door is still open, the light spewing out of the corridor made us see something that resembled a sharp knife had started to tore through the thick layers of carpet. Then, four pale hands began to emerge from the crack and tore the rug further into pieces. We saw the four hands ascend from beneath the carpet, unraveling the pitch black, hairy and wrinkly arm where the pale hands are connected.


    After a while, more arms started to emerge from the crack as we heard a gurgling sound coming from underneath the wooden floor of the area. It sounded like water being gurgled on your throat, but the sound of hissing also accompanied it, which creates a sort of symphony of feral sounds that echoed further from the other side of the floor.


    Accompanying these animalistic growls, we could also hear countless tapping all over the floor of what seemed like the sound of countless nails tapping on the surface of the wood.


    The policeman wanted to stand up, but his feet wobbled like it forgot how to be a solid matter. Thus, he fell even harder on the floor, and it almost broke the plank underneath him. He then shrieked and crawled as far away as possible from the arms waving all over underneath the torn carpet as a wave of regret and fear crept upon his sweaty and distorted scowl.


    The silver man then gripped my hand even tighter after seeing the state that the policeman is currently in while shaking beside me. As the hands pounded hard on the wooden floor while scratching the surface of the ground lightly with its blackened nails, the man beside me spurted out a high-pitched shriek, which did not at all ring well along with the grating noises beneath our feet. The silver man gasped as hard as he can as try his hardest to remain standing without shedding a tear.


    The salesman was the one who''s the farthest away from us as he looked as the randomly fidgeting hands spewing out of the torn carpet like a trembling bouquet of flowers. The burly gentleman then tried his hardest to stay as far as he could from the hands, but at best, he could only move a few inches away from it as he retreated into a corner of the room. His wrinkled face looked like it''s melting as the grease on it fall into his chin as a waterfall-like gush of sweat drip down from his forehead,


    The nurse then screamed by the time the hands started grabbing the planks on the floor. It seemed like the creature underneath us was pushing itself up like it''s carrying the weight of four men. In a panic, the nurse, who''s standing closest to the door leading to the metallic corridor, suddenly dashed towards it in an effort to escape. However, the door itself closed with a loud bang before she could reach it, enveloping the room in endless darkness.


    And just like that, my companions were further reminded that...


    There is no such thing as a safe haven in this damned place.

 127 The Black Insect and His Human Hands

    \"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?\" I heard the voice of the policeman on my left side, ringing somewhere around the floor. Meanwhile, I could hear an unfamiliar sound of someone around the center of the room uttering some gibberish words while breathing heavily.


    \"W-what the hell is that sound!? Father, what is happening!?\" The silver man thundered with a voice filled with panic as the ticking sound of countless fingers tapping on the surface of wood envelopes the small room. The unknown voice at the center of the place then suddenly started letting out words that sounded like someone trying to push their throat out of their insides, like someone trying to pulsate their throat forcefully.


    \"The door is not opening! I can''t see anything! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP UUUUUUS!\" The nurse shouted with a voice filled with utter helplessness as she continuously banged the door. As she did so, the voice in the middle of the room then suddenly started uttering gurgling noises while the sound of huge amounts of water dropping on the floor echoed into the whole area. Suddenly, an unbearable stench filled the area like a mixture of the smell of a dead mouse and diarrhea feces.


    \"AAHHH! I''M GONNA DIE! NOOO! NO! I''M ALREADY DEAD! THIS IS HELL! WE''RE ALL IN HELL! YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE WELL IN YOUR LIFE WHILE YOU''RE STILL ALIVE, YOU PIECES OF SHIT; WE''RE IN HELL!\" The salesman screamed with a loud and high-pitched yell, which rang right through my ears as if I''m hearing the sound of a wok being smashed repeatedly with a metal bat. While the salesman was screaming his agony away until his voice could reach the high heavens, I heard the sound of someone slurping and licking some kind of liquid substance at the center of the room.


    \"MaStErRrRrrrRR aNaToLy...\" A monstrous sound of someone then rang at the center of the room, calling out my name. He sounded a whole lot like an old person whispering his final breaths in his deathbed. \"wE CamE tOoOoO pLaNt... tHeEeEeE AAAHHHHHH sEeeEeEeeEEd!\" The unknown voice said while gasping and screaming in between his sentences.


    Suddenly, brilliant red light illuminated throughout the area, originating from the middle of the room. Then, we finally saw for once who exactly was the person talking at the center of this God-forsaken place. However, I am quite uncertain if it''s really okay for me to say that this is a... ''person.''


    The creature before us had the body of a centipede, wriggling around like an anaconda on the floor. However, the other half of his body is hidden on the other side of the torn carpet. It looked as if he''s a jack-o-lantern bobbing up and down out of his shell. From a closer glance, one could definitely see that the legs of the centipede-like creature resemble that of a giant spider''s legs, but the only difference is that at the end of each leg, we can definitely see that those are human hands. That''s right! A creature with the body of a centipede and attached to it are countless spider-like arms with human-like hands. Then, expecting some kind of alien-like head, what I saw instead is the gigantic circular head of a human being. He was smiling wryly with his mouth literally stretched from ear to ear like it was surgically cut open while the wound was plastered with some kind of synthetic but life-like lips. The creatures'' eyes are nothing but white, so I could see the thin red veins pulsating on his eyeballs while it was surrounded by layers of blackness that looked similar to eye bags but not really. Finally, the creature''s hair was shaped tightly into a stiff cone-shape. Instead of a sharp end, his cone-shaped hair continued to flow thinly into a soft arc that looked like the withered stem of a flower. However, instead of beautiful petals, what we saw instead at the end of his hair was an egg-shaped rock. The light spewing all over the room seems to be coming from that egg-shaped rock. Fortunately, the light is only strong enough to reveal the creature''s head but not bright enough to illuminate the entirety of the area itself. Thus, none of them could see the utter excitement plastered all over my face as I finally saw a familiar face in this dungeon.


    \"iS hE ThE rEcEiVeEeEEEEeEerRRrrrRRR oF ThE SeEeEeEd?\" The centipede-like monster said, pertaining to the silver man who''s clutching my arms tightly.


    I then moved a step back away from him while covering the silver man with both of my hands. The trembling boy then burrowed his face on my chest as I softly shook my head while looking at the centipede-like monster.


    \"UnDeRsToOoOOoooooOoooD!\" The centipede-like creature said as he faced away from me. He then jingled his head around to illuminate the faces of the other people around me. He looked at the nurse who''s still banging the metal door loudly and said, \"tOoOOoooOOo tHiIIiIIInNNn.\" The human-headed centipede then turned his head around and moved his head towards the sweating salesman as his body shook like he''s convulsing. \"tOOOooooooOOOOO pRedIcAtABOOOLLLLL!\" With a creaking noise accompanied by the clattering sounds of fingers tapping on the surface of wood, the centipede-spider hybrid finally moved his head to face the policeman. The wide lips of the monster then crept upward at the sides of his face as he nodded vigorously, making the light source shake, thus making the surrounding turn into something like a tacky nightclub. \"jUUuuuUUUUUUuUuuSt rIghT!\"


    The policeman, with the crotch area of his pants noticeably wet, then shrieked while pulling himself away from the monster. However, he''s already leaning himself hard onto the wall. There''s no escape. He''s the chosen one. \"YIIEEEGHHH! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY FROM MEEEEE!\"


    The centipede-like monster then burped loudly with a sharp voice resonating from out of his throat. He then moved quickly towards the shrieking policeman with bloated cheeks. Without another word, the human-headed centipede shaped his wide lips and turned it into a small O shape. With his eyes knitted sharply, the centipede-spider used four of his human-like hands to force the policeman''s mouth to open while he tried his hardest to use four of his other hands to ensure that the policeman''s head wouldn''t move. Wordlessly, the monster suddenly started spitting green bile out of his mouth swiftly into the policeman''s open mouth. Since there''s too much of the green liquid coming out of the monster''s lips, some of it spilled out of his mouth and scattered throughout his face. The bile then started bubbling on his bowl-like mouth as the policeman tried his hardest to resist the tremendous strength of his monster captor. The monster then forcefully closed the policeman''s mouth with his two other hands as he laughed loudly, which sounded more like the cries of countless pigs getting slaughtered.


    Suddenly, the policeman''s eyes started to go from all around the place like it was trying his hardest to look at a fly hovering about his head. His arms then turned shook violently while his arms are closed tightly, thus making the policeman resemble a convulsing dog with he''s weakly shaking around like a lifeless extension to his shivering arms. His back then shook uncontrollably, which forced him to hunch upward, making him look like a hunchback lying down while facing the ceiling. His feet started to kick around the air like he''s practicing his biking skills in the air.


    \"mY mISsSssSSsSioN isSssSSSs doNEEEE MaSsSSsTeerrrrrrRRRrRr.\" The centipede-like monster said while suddenly hissing while trying his hardest to cough up a loud chuckle. Why is he suddenly doing that stupid snake impersonation? That was never his thing. Ah, whatever. He continued, \"yOuuuuUUuU mAy aLL pAssSssS tOwaRDsssSssSs tHeEEe NeXXXt ArEaaAA-uhhhhhhhh!\" The centipede-spider hybrid uttered those words while the rest of my companions looked at the still convulsing policeman on the floor.


    \"LET''S GET OUT OF HERE THIS IS OUR CHANCE!\" I said as I ran towards the policeman. The silver man who was still clutching on my chest tightly finally awakened to the reality of the situation as he gasped upon seeing the worsening state of the man on the floor.


    \"yOuuuuUUuU mAy aLL pAssSssS tOwaRDsssSssSs tHeEEe NeXXXt ArEaaAA-uhhhhhhhh!\"


    I then wrapped my hands around the policeman''s shoulders, trying my hardest to carry him while he shook vigorously beside me. \"HELP ME OUT HERE, MR. SALESMAN! HURRY. HURRY. HURRY!!!\" I then looked at the dumbfounded face of the salesman as he tried his hardest to explain whatever was happening before him logically. \"LET''S GOOOOOOOO!\" I said as loud as I can to the salesman until he blinked thrice swiftly, which indicated that he had finally awakened to reality. He then wrapped the other hand of the policeman on his shoulder, carrying his convulsing body while still also shaking with fear.


    \"yOuuuuUUuU mAy aLL pAssSssS tOwaRDsssSssSs tHeEEe NeXXXt ArEaaAA-uhhhhhhhh!\"


    \"Nurse...\" I lightly called out the name of the nurse who was now banging her head on the door to no avail. \"NURSE!\" However, she was still banging her head on the metal door until the sound of her forehead, hitting the metal surface of the door rang throughout the room. \"SILVERMAN! CARRY THE NURSE! PULL HER AS HARD AS YOU CAN! DRAG HER ON THE FLOOR IF YOU HAVE TO!\"


    \"yOuuuuUUuU mAy aLL pAssSssS tOwaRDsssSssSs tHeEEe NeXXXt ArEaaAA-uhhhhhhhh!\"


    The silver man quickly complied with what I had just said and dragged the nurse''s almost broken body, making us see the massive wound on her forehead that''s continually worsening, thus covering her pale head with blood. I can''t see the yellow body bags of my companions around me, so the centipede-like creature must have taken it just like we planned.


    \"yOuuuuUUuU mAy aLL pAssSssS tOwaRDsssSssSs tHeEEe NeXXXt ArEaaAA-uhhhhhhhh!\"


    \"LET''S GO! LET''S GO! LET''S GO!\" We then swiftly ran towards the now open door leading towards the next area.


    \"THAT''S FIVE CONSIDERATIONSSSSSSSS AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!\" The monster behind us in the wooden area yelled in a high pitch tone like an out of tune opera singer. \"DINNER TIIIIIIIME!\"


    The swift and long body of the centipede-spider hybrid then quickly flowed towards us as he approached us while moving in a spiral motion throughout the wooden corridor leading towards the next room. With a tired and slowly beating heart, I forcefully banged the door leading to the next area until we could not see the monster anymore.

 128 The Pale Glass

    The growling noises continued outside of the door, but the centipede-like monster did not try to open the closed door of the hall. Is it locked, perhaps? Oh, I don''t give a crap about it anyway. It''s not like he''s going to kill me. What I saw then is a vast black room. And I mean it, the damn room is HUGE! I could see that thousands of people could fit inside of this damn place. The walls are pitch black, but the room is well-lit enough for us to see out faces clearly but not as bright as the second area.


    \"Hey, are you okay?\" The salesman uttered, which took me back to reality. I then moved my head towards the direction of his voice and saw that he''s currently kicking the still convulsing body of the policeman. It was only a few seconds since we''ve entered the fourth area of the dungeon, but the policeman is already on the floor going all stupid. I think the salesman actually dropped him once we got inside. \"Do we still have some bandages?\" The salesman continued as he looked around us.


    \"We don''t have any...\" The silver man said as he wiped the blood on the nurse''s forehead.


    \"How is she?\" The salesman asked with a sigh, not even thinking about the policeman anymore. Well, if my knowledge about the ''seed'' that has been planted to him is accurate, then they wouldn''t be able to ignore this man for far too long.


    \"Not good. She''s still breathing, but she lost consciousness earlier, and she still hasn''t woken up.\" The silver man continued as he took his necktie off with a sigh. He then wrapped his tie around the nurse''s forehead. \"This is the least we can do for her.\" He then looked up at me while he continued to kneel beside the nurse. \"I''m sure you''re the one who agrees the most about this, father.\"


    Ah... Indeed, she''s the one who ''saved'' me while I was dying away in the first area. In fact, I really might actually if it weren''t for her swiftness. I might actually have to be thankful for her. However, at the end of the day, she''s still just another entertainment segment in this bitch of a reality segment we call Antonova Family''s Dungeon. I knelt down as I mumbled a few genuine prayers for her while touching the wound on her forehead. This is how I usually pray; not the blown-out SOS message I shouted earlier.


    \"I don''t know if any of you believes in prayers, but...\" I sighed while looking at the pale face of the nurse. \"I''m a priest, not a doctor or a nurse like her. This is the best I can do for her that I actually know best.\" I then continued to kneel beside her as I solemnly clasped my arms tightly while mumbling a few prayers for her beneath my breath. My sincerest prayers that the Lord would save her from the demons plaguing her head right now is the compensation I can swiftly give for the care she had given me earlier.


    \"Hey, priest,\" The salesman said gently with her usual rude tone, but I can at least see a bit of genuineness in her mood at the moment. \"do you know what the hell that damn monster was earlier?\"


    I then opened my eyes gently with a sigh before doing the sign of the cross. \"Yeah,\" I said with a weak sigh while patting the nurse''s head gently. \"I already told you all what they are actually. They''re the Crawlers.\"


    \"Fucking hell...\" The salesman said with a sigh as he walked around the hall slowly while swiftly brushing his head back. \"What the fuck is this place, man? Can you seriously tell me that that shit is real? Hey! HEY! LISTEN TO ME, YOU TWO! Can you both honestly tell me that we had just seen something real back there in that stupid wooden room?\"


    \"You saw it yourself, Mr. Salesman.\" I sighed with a defeated look on my face, trying my hardest to end this talk soon with something cute and fun-sounding. The part where I have to explain about the Crawlers when the dungeon participants finally saw them is the part of the ride that I hate the most. \"You saw him, you heard him, you smelt him, you could have even tasted him if you tried, and I''m sure the policeman knew very much what it felt like to be touched by him. He''s real, the realest you could have ever found. Heck, he''s even realer than God himself now that we''ve actually seen him.\" I then scoffed as I looked up at the ceiling above us. What I saw are four white light bulbs placed at each corner of this enormous square room. \"Is this conversation even necessary? Whether he''s real or not is the least of our problems. We have to keep moving forward, we have to take these two with us, and we have moved on. Look around you. This place is empty. That means some messed up hell will happen again sooner if not later. If you want to know about him so much, why don''t you open that damn door and see for yourself.\" I said while eyeing the white door of this empty room.


    The salesman then scoffed, unable to refute what I had just said as his eyes landed on the sleeping man on the other side of the room. \"Why can''t we just leave this piece of shit behind?\" The salesman said as he gently kicked on the now unconscious policeman''s head.


    \"We can''t do that.\" The silver man said gently as he looked at the nurse who''s sleeping beside him. \"We agreed with the nurse that we will leave no one alive.\"


    \"YEAH, BUT WE JUST LEFT THAT MAN''S CORPSE ON THAT OTHER ROOM!\" The salesman said as he pointed his hand towards the door that we used to enter this new area. \"You know, the one with the pendulum or whatever that shit is! And don''t you fucking dare say that it''s okay because he''s dead! This policeman is already dead!\"


    \"He''s still alive.\" The silver man said as he tried to move the nurse''s body gently to make her sleep comfortably.


    \"He''s already going to die; shit, what do I know? HE''S PROBABLY DEAD ALREADY! What else is there to think about here? He had done nothing to us other than to talk, talk, talk, there''s nothing but bullshit leaving this son of a bitch''s mouth! There is absolutely no reason for us to take him with us.\" The salesman said in rapid-fire motion without even stopping to breathe. He answered all of those words while continuously kicking the policeman with varying intensity.


    \"With that logic, then we''ll leave you too.\" The silver man uttered with eyes filled with determination as he looked at the salesman.


    \"What the fuck did you just said to me, you little shit?\" The salesman said as he swiftly approached the silver man with knitted eyebrows while pointing his forefinger towards the silver man''s forehead.


    \"I said what I had to say.\" The silver man said as he pushed his forehead forward to make his skin touch the salesman''s finger. \"You did nothing but complain, complain, complain throughout this whole shit. If we leave the policeman behind with that same logic in mind, then both of us should stay here while the priest and the nurse should move on till they reach the exit. Don''t you think so?\"


    The salesman then gritted his teeth while looking at the silver man with eyes filled with anger. He then moved forward and was about to strike the silver man''s face with his fist. The silver man didn''t budge and just allowed the salesman to do whatever he wanted. Meanwhile, I just looked at the two of them while trying my hardest to conceal my laughter.


    \"IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE SOMEONE IN THIS DUNGEON SO BAD, THEN BOY, DO WE HAVE THE BEST OFFER FOR Y''ALL!\" The distant voice of someone yelling outside of the room boomed all over our surroundings. It sounded like the voice of a young man talking to a microphone.


    Suddenly, from a few meters away from us, we saw four walls outside of this room move up to reveal what lies on the other side of it. Only then did we realize that we''re actually inside a hall wherein the walls are made out of nothing but glass. I thought for so long that--actually no, I already know about it, but I bet the rest of them don''t. At first, everyone would think that we''re inside of some sort of enormous square room. In actuality, the place is just small enough to fit eight people at best, and the wall we''re actually seeing all this time is located far, far away from us.


    \"Wh-what the fuck is it this time?\" The salesman said with a weary voice as sweat started to fall out of his face again.


    \"NO NEED TO FIGHT FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE! WE WILL GIVE IT TO YA!~\" The booming and deep voice of the man who''s loudly reverberating from outside of our glass room continued to speak with his proud tone. It was filled with so much power that one could definitely tell that the speaker has been doing this game-show-like gig for so long. \"This is it. This is your big decision-maker! Play a game with us and win stunning prizes! The walls around us outside of our room continued to lift up until we could faintly see the harsh lighting coming from the other side. The man then chuckled on the mic as we heard the murmuring voices of countless people from the other side of the metal curtain. \"La question c''est voulez-vous!\"

 129 Maelstrom or the Talk Show Featuring A White Man, of course

    Finally, after a few moments, the black metal curtain lifted, revealing an array of countless different colors that created this chromatic chaos outside of our glass hall. A piano player is playing some kind of ragtime version of what seemed like a familiar pop song. The only thing odd about it is the fact that he''s only wearing a pair of orange cellophane shorts, which is like, ew... but other than that, he''s hanging on the ceiling upside down just like we have all expected! With him standing upside down on the ceiling are three trumpet players, seven violinists, two bass players, a hooker who just laughs the whole time, a hippie junkie who plays guitar poorly, and T. S. Elliot who''s wearing a tight cat fursuit. They were all doing their part well while laughing heartily, dancing uncontrollably, and playing their instruments that produce a completely out of sync tune. It''s fun!


    Three young Caucasian girls are wearing a tight blue latex suit as they jump around all over the top of what seemed like a Broadway stage somewhere a few meters away from the left side of our hall. Their clothes are beautiful, and the way they all jump around and do all of these somersaults in midair is cute, so nothing really to talk about that? They also have their faces cut off, which reveals the veins, muscles, and tissues of their faces, which is something we''ve already planned before we agreed to do this corny circus bit.


    There''s this guy who''s wearing what looked like a rainbow-colored Jester costume as he juggles baseball pins with a broad smile while his neck is wrapped around a noose tied somewhere on the stage. We couldn''t really see what''s happening on the ceiling because of the tacky pink curtains placed around the top of the stage, but it''s okay since that''s probably where they keep their eight-year-old unpaid laborers who handle the lights. I can also see a lion at the center of the stage being electrocuted sparingly by two familiar fat twins. Both of the twins are wearing some kind of red and blue silk clown suit with ruffles around the arms, which hide the taser that they''re holding.


    Somewhere behind the stage, some shirtless men are dancing some kind of Cabaret performance while simultaneously throwing obviously dead girls into the air. The shirtless men wear different colored skinny jeans, which reveals the male dancers'' crotch in full view. Thus, we can see that their members are locked using some kind of metallic cage shaped into a small penis. They all have hooks on the edge of their lips, which are connected to another hook on the other corner of their mouths, forcing them to give out a hearty smile or else their faces would hurt, badly!


    At the wall behind the stage itself is a large LED signage that is probably as big as two fat men. Words are written in huge letters that say, \"MAELSTROM\" is plastered on it, shaped like a rainbow, and is also colored like one. At the bottom corner of that massive word shows a much smaller LED sign that says, \"With Luc and Tim.\" Finally, after a metallic clinking followed by the hissing of white smoke, two obviously Caucasian people appeared from underneath the stage while waving their hands all over the air. They were both looking and sending countless flying kisses on the other side of the hall, but when I looked at that area, I could only see numerous circular-shaped glass glistening along with the light.


    \"AMERICA, WE''RE BACK AGAIN! GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING, GOOOOOOD MORNING UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING ELSE IN BETWEEN! I AM JOHN LUCAS PETER CULE HALLIDAY!\" The Caucasian man who''s wearing a white suit said as he shouted on the mic he''s holding. \"BUT YOU CAN CALL ME... ANYTIME! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA! I''M JUST JOKING! I''M THE CHARMING RESIDENT NEIGHBOR WHO WILL ALWAYS HIT ON YOUR WIFE, LUCAS!\"


    \"And I''m the wasted hooker you met at a dark alley in the back of a nightclub that STILL plays Gangnam Style to this day, Justinian Timothy Philips.\" The other Caucasian man who''s wearing a black tulle dress and an awkwardly placed wig said as he stood beside Lucas, who''s tightly holding his waist. \"But your dad calls me, Timmy!\"


    \"AND THIS IS...\" The man named Lucas said while looking at Timmy, who obviously looked awkward and unprepared for this show. \"MAELSTROOOOOM!\"


    \"Malstrom... yeah... ahaha\" The man named Timmy, who''s awkwardly trying to pull his dress up with a face that shows how much he hated this entire show, exclaimed a few seconds after Lucas.


    Lucas then slapped Timmy''s face with the back of her hand before stomping his feet. \"FUCK! WE ALREADY PRACTICED THIS, TIMMY! DO YOU REALLY WANT ME TO DO THIS SHIT WHILE MY DICK IS DEEP IN YOUR THROAT.\"


    \"No, Sir.\" Timmy timidly replied with a smile as he caressed his reddened cheek.


    \"BECAUSE I CAN!\" Lucas said while pointing his finger at Timmy''s lips.


    \"I understand, Sir,\" Timmy replied with a smile and a nod while hanging his head low.


    \"LET''S DO IT AGAIN...\" Lucas said with a fake smile as he looked at us while showing his perfectly white teeth. However, when our eyes met, he stomped his feet, which broke the wooden floor of the stage before throwing his microphone on the ground. \"FUCK!\" We heard him shout loud and clear without the aid of the mic.


    The commotion they caused made the people in the ceiling stop their music as they looked at the two hosts with outstretched eyes. The gymnast girls also stopped what they were doing. This, in turn, distracted them from their routine, and obviously, they all fell as the sound of their bones cracking echoing throughout the place. Suddenly, three more girls descended from the ceiling and replaced the previous and now dead gymnast girls. The man named Timmy then massaged Lucas'' back while whispering something to him. Timmy then took Lucas'' microphone and smiled at him while continuing to pat his back. Meanwhile, Lucas forcefully took his microphone from Timmy''s hands with an exaggerated scowl as he continued to stomp his feet on the floor. Then, after a few seconds, Lucas fixed his white jacket while Timmy pulled his dress up since it''s already hanging so low that we could pretty much see his nipples from afar.


    After a while, the two hosts looked at us and shouted in unison, \"MAELSTROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!\"


    Then, like nothing ever happened, the people in the ceiling continued whatever it is that they''re doing. The shirtless men continued to perform what looked like a fancy tango number with their lovely corpses, and the Jester juggler is already dead! The lion is already puking blood, and one of the new gymnast girls fell onto the floor again, making another kid on the ceiling descend and do her routine.


    \"...what the fuck is happening?\" The salesman asked with a dumbfounded expression as he looked at the two hosts who are still yelling, \"... OOOOOOOOOOOOOO...\"


    \"H-how should I know?\" The silver man said as he stood up with a blank stare at the chaos happening before us. While he was talking, the lion in the cage finally died. When the animal stopped breathing, the bottom of the cage automatically swung open, making the lion fall below the stage before another skinny lion was lifted from underneath the floor and took the place of the previous and now dead lion. \"This is fucking horrible to watch!  Is this a part of the torture? ''Cause I feel very tortured right now!\"


    \"... OOOOOOOOOOO...\" The two hosts continued their charades, and we can already hear that they''re already losing their breaths.


    The loudness of the surroundings finally awakened the nurse as she said, \"...where am I?\"


    \"Oh, thank god, you''re awake, nurse! Are you okay?\" The silver man said as he approached the nurse who''s still lying on the ground.


    The nurse then opened her eyes wide as she screamed as loud as she could after seeing the face of the silver man, \"AAAAAAAAAAH!\"


    \"... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...\"


    \"P-please, calm down, nurse! Everything''s okay now; you''re fine!\" The silver man continued when the nurse stopped screaming. At the moment, the nurse is already trembling as she looks at the glass floor with a crazed expression.


    \"...so this is not a dream... the centipede was not a dream...\" The nurse said as she pulled her hair as hard as she could with her hands.


    The silver man couldn''t say anything to her and just knelt there beside her as the nurse cradled herself to pull her mind back to a saner place.


    \"...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!\" While the nurse was still in a state of panic, the two hosts finally stopped their long introduction thing while extending their arms forward and shaking their hands vigorously.


    Timmy then pointed his lips towards the microphone with the still awkward and uncertain look around his face. He then spoke with a monotonous voice, \"Today''s category is Executioner Eleganza Extravaganza REALNESS!\"


    \"America, the lady of the Caravan is CORRECT!\" Lucas continued after Timmy''s words. The Caucasian man wearing a black Tulle dress then rooted his eyes towards the man who''s wearing the white suit with unblinking eyes and an exaggeratedly broad grin. \"Tonight, in the glass hall, we are summoned by our Stromlets to decide who among them should come with us into the other side!\"


    \"That''s right, Master Lucas! One of these Stromlets before you will get to be the next Caravan fan of the year, and it will be absolutely GORJAAAASSS!\" Timmy said as he tried his hardest to appear as excited as he could, but he just looked much more uninterested with his job. As time goes by, the man''s face increasingly starts to look like he''s about to walk away from the stage.


    \"Stromlets, ready your breeze, tuck in your torpedoes, and may the best loser, DIE!\" Lucas said, followed by the sudden laughter of everyone on the stage. The corpses of the girls with no faces on the floor suddenly rose just to laugh heartily with their blood-less face, the Jester is still dead, the twins tased the lion at the same time while dying of laughter, and everyone else in the ceiling stopped themselves from playing their instruments. Meanwhile, the hooker licked the face of T. S. Elliot''s face continuously as the esteemed poet stood there without uttering a singly laughter with his face covered in his own drool.

 130 Tell The White People That Your Friends Are Sh*

    \"You know what I really, really love the most, Timmy, my love?\" The man named Lucas said as he stuck himself closer towards the man who''s wearing the Tulle dress. Meanwhile, it seems like they''re already raising the third lion for the next batch of tasing at the back.


    \"Ooooh! Other than killing bitches, Sir?\" The man named Timmy said as he snuggled tightly to the man wearing a white suit. Silence then took over the stage while all of the people around them just stared at each in disbelief. Meanwhile, the jester continued hanging his head on the noose with his tongue out of his lips. Timmy then cleared his throat, and the drummer who had been sleeping the entire time had suddenly woken up while shaking his head and played that very familiar ''ba-dum-tss~'' tune thingie. Afterward, the hooker who had been licking furry T. S. Elliot suddenly gave out a loud and obviously forced peal of laughter that sounded more like the agonizing scream of a kitten getting mutilated.


    \"Friends betraying each other!\" Lucas said before gazing at all of the people who are looking earnestly at him in the glass hall. When he did so, we saw the three gymnast girls fall on the ground at the same time, resounding such a loud thud. One of them even hit one of the male Cabaret dancers behind. When the now dead gymnast girls fell on the Cabaret dancer''s face, the male performer suddenly screamed in pure ecstasy as I realized that he had suddenly started peeing on the stage.


    \"Mmm! I always love your style, Master Lucas!\" Timmy said as he moved his head to look at us with such a stupid smile on his face. He was smiling while opening his mouth so damn wide that he started to look like a cuckold who had just received a Nintendo Switch from his wife''s boyfriend.


    \"THAT''S WHY TODAY WE WILL BE PLAYIIIIING...! Lucas yelled on the mic again, which produced this awful high pitched noise on the loudspeakers somewhere around the dark corner.


    Then, Timmy and Lucas suddenly positioned themselves in what seemed like the posture of two people who would be dancing a waltz routine before they both sang in unison. \"TEEEELL THE WHITE PEOPLE~\" The way they sang that lyric sounded a whole lot like the recurring violin part in Britney Spears'' Toxic. \"TELL THE WHITE PEOPLE~\" They repeated in the same melody, but this time they weren''t in sync. It seems like the band who''s hanging upside down on the ceiling doesn''t want to play their instruments, though. They were just looking blankly at an empty space around them with their mouths open wide. Meanwhile, the hooker, who''s wearing a very tacky and short polyester skirt, then started wiping his vagina on T. S. Elliot''s fursuit. \"TEEEELL THE WHITE PEOPLE~\" The two people continued to sing on that same melody while they began to waltz at the front of the stage. It seems like they weren''t particularly well-practiced though because they''re both looking at their feet awkwardly, and their failure is further exemplified when Lucas stomped on Timmy''s bare feet. \"OW! FUCK!\" Timmy screamed loud before hissing loudly, but he didn''t stop dancing. Meanwhile, the jester suddenly opened his reddened eyes and just sang Pink Floyd''s The Great Gig in the Sky perfectly with a fantastic soprano-like voice that one could only find in Broadway. Lucas then suddenly stopped dancing with his hands outstretched while Timmy followed his lead and began to pose with his upper body leaned forward while his hands are on his waist. \"THAT YOUR FRIENDS ARE SHIT!\" They both suddenly just screamed those words without even uttering them with a melody as they panted heavily with sweat-filled faces. The band on the ceiling then started to play a piece of happy and upbeat music while T. S. Elliot accompanied them by reciting Rhapsody on a Windy Night with his eyes crossed in the middle and his tongue out. The jester is dead again.


    \"So what''s today''s game supposed to be, Master Lucas?\" Timmy said on the microphone while still being in that same pose. Out of nowhere, a naked fat man suddenly walked from backstage and started eating beans with a lapel placed on his neck. He then walked towards the two Caucasian hosts and stood a few inches behind them while we could hear the loud sound of him eating beans.


    \"Today''s game is all about friendship, Timmy!\" Lucas said without breaking a character even when the old, ugly, fat, naked man suddenly wiped bean juice on his face. \"Today, our wonderful and beautiful and talented and cute and... uh... and talented Stromlets will tell our friends who''re watching at home what all of them had done so far in our very exciting dungeon moment!\" As Lucas said those words, the LED signage at the back suddenly fell directly into one of the male Cabaret dancer''s faces, obviously killing him and spilling his blood all over the wooden floor. This, in turn, made the lion on the center of stage roar weakly while the twins continuously tase it.


    \"That''s right, dear viewers! And today, we have three survivors left to play our game!\" Timmy said with a somehow genuine-looking smile while the fat naked man behind him suddenly started doing a Whip Nae Nae dance thing with bean juices all over his hands.


    \"No, there''s...\" The man named Lucas said while looking awkwardly at us with a defeated chuckle. \"There''s four.\" He said, forgetting that he''s still talking to the mic.


    Timmy then looked at him with a sad expression, unmoving and mute for precisely 17 seconds before he started uttering again, \"The guy on the floor is alive?\"


    \"Yeah. He got seeded.\" Lucas replied with an awkward chuckle as he looked at his partner with eyes filled with fury. Meanwhile, the pianist at the ceiling started cracking uncooked eggs and spreading it on his hairy chest. It then started dripping into his head until it all dropped slightly on Lucas'' unfazed expression.


    \"THERE''S FOUR SURVIVORS!\" Timmy replied with a laugh while looking at the people in the glass hall. When he said so, the hippie guitarist suddenly started playing the intro to Sweet Child of Mine perfectly over and over again while the two hosts looked in front of them with blank expressions.


    \"THAT''S RIGHT!\" Lucas screamed out of nowhere, which made the guitarist stop playing and just started whiffing some kind of cigarette instead. Is that what those Antichrist children call mahrihwanaah? Lucas then continued, \"Today, our Stromlets will pick which one of their ''friends'' should DIE right here right now! Every round, we would give information about their friends, and each Stromlet will provide a point to their fellow competitors! The first person that will get TEN, TEN, TEN, TEEEEEEEEEEEN POINTS will DIIIIIIIIIE!\"


    \"YEEEEEEEESSSSS!\" The fat and bald man who''s standing behind Lucas suddenly screamed, making his flabby stomach vibrate. However, none of the hosts still acknowledged his existence.


    \"That''s right, Master Lucas!\" Timmy replied as he started to pull his dress up with a groan. \"Our contestant for today is the beautiful and charming, NUUUUUUURSE! The cunning and stern, SALESMAAAAAAAAAN! The jumpy and outgoing, SILVER MAAAAAAAN, and last but definitely not the least, the person who exists, PRIEEESSST! Since the policeman is currently out of service right now, he won''t be a part of today''s contest...\"


    The fat and ugly old man then suddenly pulled Timmy''s hands and yelled on the mic, \"WHAAKKKWHAKK WEEEEEWWWW!\" Nonetheless, the hosts still ignored him, and they just continued with the program. Meanwhile, the cabaret dancers suddenly started kicking each other''s ball sack as they all positioned themselves in a big circle.


    Hmph. Well, this part is relatively easy. I''ll just put all of my points into the salesman until he''s out of the game. Then, I''ll continue to protect the silver man''s background somehow, even if I found out that he''s literally the reincarnated soul of Adolf Hitler! I will defend this damn silver man until he started to be dumb enough and say that he would die for me!


    \"Now, I''ll have to ask our Stromlets; have you all decided who will be the sacrifice for the Seventh Area!?\" Lucas said while tap-dancing the beat of Clean Bandit''s Rather Be while he''s flapping his hands like chicken wings.


    I then suddenly screamed and raised my hands to proclaim, \"ME! I AM THE SACRIFICE!\"


    \"IT''S THE PRIEST!\" Timmy and Lucas screamed in unison, making the band above them suddenly play a joyful song that sounded a whole lot like a mixture of ragtime and pop-jazz. The hooker then suddenly started screaming at the top of her lungs while the music played, and T. S. Elliot peed her pants so hard that it reached his chin in no time.


    \"AMENOOOOO, DORIMEEEEEE!\" The jester sang in a beautiful and deep voice out of nowhere while still hanging on the noose.


    \"SKAPBADIBIDIBADADADAPDAPDABOBOBOBO DAMDIDIBOOOBOO! I''M A SCATMAN!\" The bald fat old man suddenly started singing while flapping his genitals all over the place.


    \"Great choice, as always, from our wonderful Stromlets!\" Timmy said with a sneer as his eyes suddenly turned into the shape of a crescent moon. \"However, ladies and gentlemen, who''re watching this show in our Livestream at www dot maelstrom dot com, we would like to tell you all that we''re officially changing the rules of today''s Maelstroooooooooom! Come on in, MAELSTROM HOT MOMMAS!\"


    Then, two ladies started to walk into the glass hall from the door we had just entered earlier. They had with them what seemed like a long trolley with three leather belts strapped on it.


    \"TIE THE PRIEST UP!\" Lucas ordered in a booming voice.


    \"WHAT!?\" I said as I stepped as far away from the two skinny ladies as I can. However, when I tried to get out, the ladies who were wearing some kind of revealing pairs of bikini that only hid their nipples and vaginas from public view started to screech like banshees straight out of hell itself. Their fingers then started to get longer while their nails became sharper than a knife. Their faces suddenly gradually transformed into what seemed like the heads of dogs as their teeth began to turn into sharp fangs. \"OKAY, OKAY, OKAY! I''LL COME WITH YOU. I''LL COME WITH YOU!\" The two ladies then returned to their beautiful natural state while smiling beautifully at me. They then pulled me towards the trolley-thing they''re holding and strapped the leather belts all around my stiffened body. The two ladies, who looked way stronger than they looked like, started to put a green metal face mask on the lower half of my face, making it hard for me to open my mouth. From the looks of it, it almost made me look a whole lot like Hannibal Lecter, but worst and definitely not as charming.


    \"Ladies, you know the drill! If the priest spears, bite his dick off! When his dick is already gone, you can go free for all!\" Lucas said with a broad smile before he somersaulted twice. He then continued while panting and holding his head tightly, \"If you don''t bite his dick off, you know what will happen to the small bombs in your head!\"


    Then, out of nowhere, the chorus of the song Bang Bang sang by those three pop singers that I can''t even remember anymore blasted so damn loud on the speakers around us, which made the people in the glass hall wince with their hands on their ears. However, the people on the stage didn''t look fazed by it.


    Fuck. Now, this got even harder than I expected.

 131 Hear Ye, Hear Ye, HEAR YE! Three Prizes for a Pale Stromle

    I am so damn tempted to speak right now. I don''t know. I find the prospect of not having a penis an... interesting idea, to say the least. Not a lot of people can say that they have their thing cut off of them. Then again, I guess not having that kind of thing is not really something worthy of a boast, but it''s not like I would use it anyway since I''ll never be able to wed and bed another person ever again.


    \"Now, LET''S PLAAAAAYYYY MAELSTROOOOOOOOOM!\" Lucas said with an excited voice, which is very odd to me because... I mean, why does he have to repeat it all over again? Why do game show hosts do that? We know the title of the game show, just get on with it! Meanwhile, the lion at the center of the stage has started to bleed out at the side, making the fat twins chuckle with joy solely because the animal is not dead yet.


    \"Today''s category is TELL THE WHITE PEOPLE THAT YOUR FRIENDS ARE SHIT!\" Timmy said, which is again, I find absolutely damn annoying! WHY ARE YOU GUYS REPEATING THINGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN AAAAAAHHH! I''M GOING INSANE! QUIT REPEATING IT! QUIT IT! I was freaking out so much that I started to wince uncontrollably while being tied up hard on the human-sized trolley. I tried my hardest to clench my mouth as tightly as I possibly could with my hands firmly clenched into a fist. My eyes then started to move into the roof of my eye sockets as I tried to bash the back of my head on the metal plate behind me. THEY''RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE! THEY''RE DEFINITELY DOING REPEATING THESE SHIT OVER AND OVER AGAIN ON PURPOSE!


    \"A-are you okay, father?\" The silver man said when he saw me wildly convulsing on the side. His tearful eyes showed a genuine look of worry that is further exemplified by the way he furrowed his eyebrows.


    \"IDIOT! Don''t talk to the priest! Do you want him to fucking die!?\" The salesman uttered as he pulled the silver man away from me.


    \"We will get you out of there, father, but we just...\" The nurse then looked at the skinny model who''s wearing a pink slingshot bikini while standing on my left side. When their eyes met, the beautiful model suddenly scowled at her with a growl as she bared her fangs at the trembling nurse. This, in turn, made the nurse step back with a distorted expression. \"...we just need a bit of time, okay? Bare with us!\"


    Lucas then chuckled as he spoke on his microphone while more uncooked eggs started to drop on his cheeks. \"Just like I''ve explained earlier, in this game, we will be telling a fact about each of the contestants and the three wonderful people who''re still conscious in the glass hall right now will decide who among the people that they''re with should get the point! Each contestant can only give one point each round, and the first person who will get 10 points will get...


    The two Caucasian hosts then stretched their limbs wide open while looking in front of them with a wide smile. They both then shouted in unison, \"MAELSTROOOOOOOOOOM!\"


    \"HEEAAAYEEEAAAHHHH YEEEAAAH HEEAAAYEEAAAH!\" The fat and naked old man suddenly screamed from the top of his lungs in the rhythm of Pat Metheny''s Last Train Home, but it was sung in the genre called \"pain and suffering,\" otherwise known as noisecore.


    \"Our Stromlet that will get MAELSTROM in today''s contest will receive a whopping SICK, BRUTAL, UGLY, AND DEFINITELY NOT PAINLESS DEATH!\" Timmy said while pulling his tulle dress up to cover his now peeking nipple. Meanwhile, a Cabaret dancer at the back started to sit down quietly on the floor while eating three boiled eggs at the same time. \"Today''s WHOPPING punishment is courtesy of the Antonova Family Foundation. They gave us this beautiful set and the amazing people that we''re all HAPPY to be with.\" Timmy said with eyes filled with so much anger paired with a broad grin as he tightly gritted his teeth.


    \"Why don''t we show our contestants what they will be getting if they became our MAELSTROM GRAND WINNER for today? MONITOR TEAM! OPEN WALL A!\" When Lucas said so, the wall at the left side of the stage suddenly swung open like it was pulled up forcefully from above. When it did so, it revealed what looked like three fat, old, and naked old men who''re strapped and tied at a trolley similar to the one I''m in. \"THIS GRAND PRIZE FEATURES THREE LICENSED SEX OFFENDER LACED WITH A DRUG THAT WILL MAKE THEIR SEX DRIVE OFF THE CHARTS FOR THREE MONETHS; THAT''S RIGHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT--THREE MONTHS! THEY WILL FUCK YOU EVEN IF YOU''RE DEAD! Now, MONITOR TEAM! OPEN WALL B!\"


    When Lucas uttered those words, the wall at the right side of the stage swung open just as swiftly as the first one. What lies inside is what seemed like a glass room filled with a cloud of thick green smoke. This time, the one who spoke is Timmy. \"REMEMBER AUSCHWITZ!? YOU SHOULD BE! ''CAUSE IT''S GONNA BE JUST LIKE THAT! THAT ROOM YOU''RE SEEING IS FILLED WITH A SMOKE THAT WILL KILL YOU EVER SO SOFTLY FOR THREE DAYS! YOU WILL BE THERE, THERE WILL BE NO WAY OUT, AND YOU WILL KEEP BEGGING US EVERY SECOND TO JUST BLAST YOUR HEAD OFF INSTEAD! IT''S SO FUCKING CRUEL THAT I BET EVEN HITLER WOULD HESITATE FIRST BEFORE HE AGREES TO USE IT! Well then, now that that''s done, MONITOR TEAM! OPEN THE FLOOR!\"


    The floor opened when Timmy uttered those words. However, this time, it unveiled what lies inside of it ever so slowly, but we already know right away what we see even before the darkened floor could reveal the entirety of what it contains. It seems like it''s a circular container filled with nothing but scorching lava sitting somewhere about a hundred feet away from the floor that''s still slowly opening up. \"LAST BUT DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY NOT THE LEAST IS THE LAVA FLOOR! THERE''S LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE SPECIAL ABOUT IT! IT''S A FLOOR, AND IT''S MADE OUT OF LAVA BECAUSE SOMETIMES, WE ALL JUST NEED A GOOD ALL SOAKIN''! NO TRICKS, NO SPECIAL QUIPS! YOU FALL, YOU MELT, YOU DIE; THAT''S IT!\"


    \"Once our very, very lucky Stromlets get to choose who will receive our MAELSTROM GRAND PRIZE, they will also be the ones who will get to choose which among our cute prizes the grand winner will get! YOU GET TO PICK WHAT DISH TO SERVE, AND YOU WILL ALSO GET TO PICK HOW TO COOK ''EM! EVERYBODY WINS IN MAELSTROOOOOOOOM!\" Timmy uttered those words in unison as I heard the countless screams of the three old men, the hissing of the glass room, and the boiling noise at the floor.


    \"TIME FOR US TO MEET OUR COMPETITORS!\" Lucas


    \"From Buford, Wyoming! The hero nurse of her small town, and a proud doctorate degree holder from Harvard, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME, THE NURSE, KRISTEL WILSON!\" Lucas uttered while looking at the nurse with a face filled with excitement. Suddenly, midway his sentence, A Cabaret dancer at the back started laughing while squatting with his head leaned back.


    \"W-wait... what!? Wait a minute. THIS IS ILLEGAL!\" The nurse uttered as she took a step back while hiding herself beneath her clenched fist.


    \"FROM BROOKLYN NEW YORK, THE PERSON DUBBED AS THE BOAR OF WALL STREET FOR BEING FUCKING FAT AND DISGUSTING, THE SALESMAN, FRANCIS MOORE!\" Timmy shouted way too loudly while pushing his microphone so damn hard into his lips that he might as well eat it.


    \"WHO ARE YOU CALLING FAT AND DISGUSTING, HUH, YOU FUCKING HOMO FREAK!?!?\" The salesman loudly uttered as he dashed towards the glass wall of the hall, banging on it aloud as if he intended to break them.


    \"LASTLY, IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO HUGH JACKMAN''S CHARACTER IF HE BECAME A FAILED CIRCUS FREAK, LOOK NO FURTHER, FOR WE HAVE HERE WITH US THE DUMB P. T. BARNUM OF GIBTOWN IN GIBSONTON, FLORIDA! GIVE IT UP FOOOOOOOOOR, THE SILVER MAN, KEIZER PHILIP ANCJAJAS!\" Lucas uttered while chuckling midway as if he''s laughing so hard at himself for coming up for whatever he had just said.


    \"Eh... EH!? Father, what is happening!? Why are they asking us about our names!?\" The silver man weakly uttered as he walked towards me slowly with a pleading tone. However, he was quickly shooed away by the aggressive skinny models around me. \"YIEEGHHH!\"


    \"But before we start our show, let''s talk about today''s second sponsor!\" Timmy said while taking a piece of yellow pad somewhere from within the skirt of his dress. Out of nowhere, while Timmy was trying to find a better way to read whatever is written on the piece of paper he had just taken from his crotch, the fat old man who had been standing behind them bare naked the entire time suddenly pulled out a small pistol from his ass cheeks. Without even channeling a look of alarm or worry, the bald fat man started blasting the side of his head thrice until he fell onto the wooden floor of the stage, spilling an endless amount of blood everywhere. \"Oh, noooo! He''s dead!\" Timmy continued while finally acknowledging the man who had been ruining their show for a while now. He then looked at us with an exaggerated frown. \"Don''t you just hate it when that friend of yours whom you seldom talk to suddenly DIED!? Or how that person whom you always saw but always fail to see is just suddenly DEAD!? It''s saaaaad! That''s why today''s sponsor is The American Suicide Prevention Facility!\" After saying those words, the band at the ceiling started playing a jazzy, upbeat tune while the Cabaret players at the back suddenly flocked the dead fat man while taking selfies with his corpse. \"NOW THAT THAT''S DONE! LET''S FINALLY PLAAAAYYY, MAELSTROOOOOOOOOM! TELL THE WHITE PEOPLE THAT YOUR FRIENDS ARE SHIT!\"


    STOP IT! STOP REPEATING THINGS OVER AND OVER AAAAAAAAHHH! I CANNOT STAND THESE PEOPLE!

 132 Whats Written on the White Paper?

    After that annoying bit that they made wherein they repeated those dreaded show titles all over again for the nth time, one of the Cabaret dancers at the back suddenly approached Lucas. Then, he pulled something from his back pocket, which turned out to be a rather sizable Swiss Army knife. The Caucasian took the Swiss knife and immediately yanked it towards the naked corpse of the fat man on the floor. I mean, Lucas swiftly fell on the floor, hitting his knees on the surface of the stage as he plunged the blade of the knife towards the body''s plump stomach.


    After seeing this, Kirstel, the nurse, suddenly screeched out loud while covering her lips with her trembling hands. \"W-what is happening now?\" She uttered as she took a step back without taking her gaze away from the scene unfolding before her.


    \"This is fucked up!\" Francis, the salesman, said with a distorted scowl as he bit his knuckles while looking at Lucas slicing the fat corpse''s body diagonally, which then cut the poor man''s belly, making his blood flood the stage.


    Keizer, the silver man, screamed while pointing his hands towards Lucas while looking at me. When he did so, Lucas suddenly plunged his hands deep into the insides of the fat man''s corpse. Since Lucas is unknowingly pointing his mic towards the corpse''s cut, we could hear the way the dead man''s insides squelched while Lucas'' hands journeyed all around it. \"IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY!?\"


    Well, why the hell are you asking me? I''m tied up here, not knowing what is happening. Was I supposed to answer him? I was trying my hardest to be as calm as I can throughout this dungeon shenanigans with the silver man, but you must realize why my blood is boiling so much at this very instance! I am here on bondage against my will, and this dumbass started spewing this stupid question! I feel like I''m about to reach my breaking point!


    While I''m having a battle with myself in my head, Lucas suddenly exclaimed, \"AHA!\" He said as he pulled what seemed like a thin object covered with blood that came from the fat man''s insides. After a while, two Cabaret dancers started pulling the dead man''s body into the backstage, leaving an impressionable trail of red liquid behind. While they were doing that, Lucas began to wipe the blood off the surface of the thin object using the skirt of Timmy''s tulle dress. Once the blood was mostly rubbed off the thing that Lucas is holding, it finally dawned to us that the Caucasian host is holding a clear plastic zipper bag, which contains what seemed like a sheet of paper inside. Lucas then took the sheet of paper inside and tossed the plastic bag towards the boiling lava on the floor.


    \"Are you ready? You should be! You have no choice!\" Lucas exclaimed as he unfolded that sheet of paper on his hands. \"Let''s start Round 1!\"


    The lights around the stage then suddenly dimmed, producing what seemed like a dramatic effect throughout the area. The three contestants in the glass room then looked at each other with varying degrees of confusion, but they were all equally troubled by what they''re seeing.


    After a while, a huge television screen started to descend from the ceiling of the stage. Meanwhile, the Cabaret dancers began to stand underneath the huge screen while it was about to descend. They then started to dance an uncharacteristic tribal-like dance, which looked as if it came from a remote mountainous province in some third world country. While they were doing that, the jester who''s hanging on a noose then began to yodel out loud in a somewhat breathy tone, which made me feel like he''s singing Lovesick Blues in the style of Ariana Grande. The descending TV screen then stopped midway in the air while the male Cabaret dancers were now kneeling on the floor while waving their bodies as if they''re trees being swept by the stormy wind.


    Lucas then continued, \"For our first round! Category is ''MURDER.''\" As the words echoed throughout the hall, the TV screen flashed the word ''MURDER'' in a slightly soft pink and glittery font style. When Lucas said those words, Francis, the salesman, suddenly took a step back. Meanwhile, Kirstel, the nurse, dropped onto the floor, and Keizer, the silver man, screeched with trembling feet. I remained there on the corner, trying my hardest to calm myself. \"In this round, we will be telling the various MURDERS you have all willingly committed to appeasing Veronica, the Mother of Plural Heights! Isn''t that exciting?\" Lucas thundered before playfully spewing out a disturbing-sounding chuckle.


    \"It sure is, Sir,\" Timmy said with a nod after hearing what Lucas had said. The hooker who''s standing on the ceiling then laughed out loud, but it sounded more like the wheezing of a kettle when the water inside of it had already started boiling.


    \"Now, again, the game''s mechanics is that we will tell information about each contestant, and all of them will collectively have one point to give to other contestants with them,\" Lucas said, trying his hardest to make the atmosphere in the room even more tense than ever by stalling for some time. \"Our category for the first round is ''MURDER.'' We will start with Miss Kirstel, the nurse!\"


    \"No... Oh, god, no, please...\" The nurse uttered weakly, begging the people from afar to stop through a whisper in vain. While she was shaking like the meek girl that she is, the TV screen suddenly flashed an image of the corpse of a thin man, sitting on a hospital bed. The dead man''s mouth is bubbling profusely while his eyes are reddened and lifeless. While the grotesque photo flashed on the screen, the people on the ceiling started to play a jazzy tune, and the Cabaret dancer began to bang their heads in unison like metal fans in a mosh pit, the jester who''s hanging on the noose at the ceiling pointed at the screen while laughing uncontrollably with bloodshot eyes. \"H-how... How did you get that photo!?\" The nurse asked with tearful eyes while looking at the TV screen.


    With everyone still doing whatever it is that they want on the stage, Lucas continued, \"Miss Kirstel once killed one of her patients by suffocating them using poisonous gas that Veronica, the Plural Height''s Mother, herself had instructed her to do. This very valiant nurse happily obliged the Mother''s instructions and killed a stranger, who so happens to be the father of three young children. With help from Plural Heights'' extensive reach, the nurse managed to get out of that predicament without any repercussions to her career as a professional nurse.\"


    \"Ooh! What a sick little bitch! This is why people are afraid of going to the hospital these days.\" Timmy gave out his very useless commentary after hearing what Lucas had said. \"That''s right, Miss Kirstel! You are a piece of shit human being, and you deserve to die! YOU DESERVE IT!\"


    \"N-no... please, I HAVE CHANGED! I''M BETTER NOW!\" The nurse proclaimed with her hands on her chest.


    \"We don''t give a shit, bitch! My Timmy is right! Oh, this is why I love you so much, Timmy!\" Lucas said with eyes filled with longing as he gazed at Timmy. The male host wearing a tulle dress then approached the other host to kiss him when Lucas suddenly pushed him away lightly. \"Don''t touch me. Alright, next contestant!\"


    When Lucas uttered those words, the TV screen flashed a disgusting photo of a woman with multiple stab wounds on her body. She''s lying on a wooden floor in a dimly lit room. Meanwhile, the person who captured this image must have been a sick psycho prick because they purposely took the photo from the woman''s open legs, showing the gushing semen out of her hole. The woman''s agony is perfectly being plastered on her face: a distorted frown, stiff agape mouth, and a scrunched up nose.


    \"That''s...\" Francis uttered weakly upon seeing the ghastly image on the screen. He then stopped talking altogether as his lips began to shake wildly. As the salesman was lost in his own disbelief, the people on the ceiling started looking at the monitor screen like they''ve seen a ghost, making sure that their shock is plastered all over their pale expressions. However, it seems like the disgusting state of the mangled corpse is not the reason for their awe-struck faces. In fact, the hippie guitarist started to open up his zipper and began to jack his penis so intensely as if this was the first time he had seen a woman''s vagina in a very long time. The hooker then started to squat and pushed her finger up her hole for a few seconds, then, as if nothing had happened, she used the same finger to scoop some booger out of her nose.


    Mister Francis willingly sold his wife to prostitution, watching her get fucked mercilessly by three greasy fat old men, who were supposed to be CEOs of huge American conglomerates. Our charming salesman even deliberately encouraged the men to impregnate her wife every time the old men went to their house. This went on for a week until Mister Francis'' wife attacked the three men who have been assaulting her continuously for $20 an hour. In turn, the three men stopped affiliating themselves to Plural Heights. Veronica hated this news so much that she ordered Mister Francis to murder his wife. Obviously, our little boar here obliged, and mercilessly killed his wife without second-guessing!\"


    \"Yikes! Did you know, Sir, the marriage rate in America has been declining so much as the years go by, and we can all blame men like Francis here for that!\" Timmy gave out one of his commentaries again in response to what Lucas had said. \"YOU''RE A PIECE OF SHIT, AND YOU DON''T DESERVE YOUR WIFE!\"


    \"I WAS MANIPULATED! I didn''t want all of those; I hated doing all of that, and I wish I could turn back time to get my lovely wife again and leave Plural Heights while I still have a chance!\" The salesman said as real tears started to pour out of his face, smearing his scowl with such profound wetness.


    \"Shut the fuck up, wife killer; none of us give a shit! My Timmy is right! You''re fucked in the head, and Plural Heights had nothing to do with it! It''s all you!\" Lucas said as he pulled Timmy towards his direction while patting his co-host''s head.


    The TV screen then showed the burnt body of some stranger. It was so blackened that I can''t even tell if it was a man or a woman. The corpse''s hands are outstretched, its fingers poised like a hawk''s claw, and its feet are positioned in such an awkward way that it made me feel like this person has been kicking the air before he got incinerated. It seemed that the photo was taken at what looked like a metal warehouse in god-knows-where, but all I know for sure is that it''s a well-lit place.


    \"Oh my god!\" The silver said before covering his lips with both his hands. While he was doing that stupid charade, the lion who''s caged in the middle of the stage had finally let out its final weakened roar and fell into the metallic floor of its cage. That same floor then swung open slowly and was about to drop the lion deep into the darkness the lies underneath. However, when the animal was about to fall, it suddenly bit the metallic railing of the cage, not wanting to let go like its life depended on it. The twins then tased the lion''s face at the same time, not stopping the electricity coursing out of it until the animal''s fangs let go. When the lion finally fell towards the pit underneath, T. S. Elliot, who''s standing on the ceiling, suddenly started screaming, \"ASLAN, NOOOOOO!\" over and over again with his hands extended towards the direction of the lion, which then broke his mind so damn hard. T. S. Elliot looked so miserable that he was about more than willing to jump off the ceiling; however, somehow, it seemed like he can''t take his feet off where he''s standing on. Thus, he just cried like a telenovela character, and the hooker then started to lick the liquid that''s dripping down on his forehead.


    \"Now, for our last Stromlet! Mister Keizer was instructed by Veronica to sabotage one of his friend''s dangerous acrobatic routines in their circus act. The gist of the crime is that Mister Keizer spread oil all over his friend''s costume before he did a number involving him juggling three lit torches. Needless to say, Mister Keizer''s talented juggler friend died after being burned to death. The gossip here is that Veronica actually instructed someone to dispose of all fire extinguishers in the establishment, so they had to take water from a nearby bathroom, but by then, the juggler is already dead. I gotta say, what an unprepared bunch!\"


    \"You said it, Sir! But we should all remember that this wouldn''t even be possible if it weren''t for the stupid and nasty decision that the silver man did to his friend! This is why people would often hop from one job to another because of stupid and jealous and downright psycho coworkers like you!\" Timmy shouted with a fiery scowl as he pointed at the silver man with an angry tone.


    \"I...\" The silver man uttered with trembling lips as he buried his face deep into his palms. \"I have no excuses, I... I''m a piece of shit... I... that was all my fault, I...\"


    \"NOBODY CARES, PUSSY!\" Lucas exclaimed back at him after hearing Keizer shake and cower in the glass hall. \"Now, Stromlets. You have three minutes to deliberate between one another as to who will get your point!\"


    The nurse then stomped her feet while leaning her upper body forward towards the silver man. \"IT''S HIM! HE SHOULD GET IT!\" Kirstel, the nurse, pointed at Keizer, the silver man, with reddened eyes. \"HE EVEN ADMITTED IT HIMSELF! HE MURDERED HIS FRIEND KNOWINGLY! YOU''RE A SICK FUCK!\" The nurse howled in a high pitched tone while shouting at the silver man like a wild hound snarling at an intruder.


    \"That''s right! I''m giving my point to this circus freak too! He deserves to get it!\" Francis, the salesman said as he cleared his throat after seeing the nurse''s performance.


    \"B-but... I...\" The silver man weakly uttered in a whisper as he looked at the way the other two looked at him with varying levels of madness.


    \"What say you, Keizer? Which among your ''friends'' do you give your point to?\" Lucas said, chuckling a bit as he gave emphasis on the word ''friend'' with a playful tone.


    \"I... I guess I... I''ll...\" The silver man''s breathing started to get deeper as sweat began to travel all over his perplexed face. \"...I''ll give it to Francis...\" The silver man then breathed out weakly after uttering those words with a heavy heart.


    Timmy then exclaimed as he suddenly started dancing like an old drunkard on the stage. \"OOOOH! There he goes, ladies and gentlemen! He did it again! Our pal Keizer here really is an expert when it comes to fucking his friends up and betraying them!\"


    Oh, no...


    This is not going well.

 133 Different Category, Same Damn Stupid White Paper

    \"Now, let''s look at the scoreboard, shall we?\" Lucas said as he looked behind to see the current scores of the people in the glass hall. There, a table with the contestants'' names and a number accompanying them is flashing brightly towards us. \"Ooooh! Keizer with 2 points! He''s currently leading in the game, and I bet he''s more than excited to die. I suggest shitting your pants while facing the camera! It worked like a charm last time! Meanwhile, the salesman has one point, which is not bad at all!\" Lucas then tightened his lips and shrugged while looking blankly into the floor.


    \"Yeah. It''s easy to mend that amount of points difference if you say something bad about Martin Luther King Jr.\" Timmy uttered with an affirming smile as he nodded upon seeing the scores on the screen.


    \"Yeah, or you can say Hitler did nothing wrong, and everyone will definitely smack points right into your sick Nazi ass till you''re out there falling on the boiler downstairs,\" Lucas said while smacking the back of his hands on his palms while chuckling in between his sentence.


    \"But if they don''t want to do it,\" Timmy uttered before raising his forehead with a shrug, \"then we can just do it for them easily.\"


    \"AND THAT''S WHY WE''RE NOW GOING TO ROUND 2!\" Lucas exclaimed, which then prompted the television behind him to change into a screen that shows a pink and glittery font that says, ''RESIGNING.''


    Meanwhile, I saw a few people wearing black inside walking on the ceiling carefully to reach the people who''re standing upside down there. It seems like they''re pushing a wardrobe towards T. S. Elliot. The esteemed American poet who''s now wearing a tight catsuit then opened the wardrobe and saw the rotting corpse of a lion inside along with a rectangular-shaped witch hat. Seeing this, the hooker gasped and took the black witch hat and danced around the ceiling with her legs wide open.


    \"This round, we''re talking about resigning! That''s right! We will know more about why our Stromlets left Plural Heights, and why Veronica is so adamant in turning them into minced meat!\" Timmy exclaimed when he realized that Lucas had been distracted by whatever is happening on the ceiling. While Timmy was speaking, the violinist above suddenly started playing an out of tune Baroque composition, which made it hard for Timmy to continue speaking because he continuously gets interrupted by the sudden high-pitched melody of the violin.


    Lucas then shook his head after seeing that the hooker started French kissing the back of her hand while gently caressing the witch hat. He then smiled at us and continued speaking, \"Now, let''s read at the information of our, uhh... guests, err, I mean, our contestants! Let''s start with the nurse again because she has the lowest score!\"


    Suddenly, a midget lady with neon blue long hair jumped out of the backstage. \"YES! YES! THANK YOU! YES! WOMAN EMPOWERMENT!\" After screaming those words out loud, the midget suddenly runs back to the backstage like a fleeing ninja.


    \"Right, Miss Kirstel ended her affiliation with Plural Heights because Veronica ordered her to kill her own mother using a special chemical acid that Plural Heights had recently created to clean the mold in their corpse dumpster. Miss Kirstel openly opposed Veronica and stormed off the Plural Heights'' Mother before she got kidnapped on her way to her job in the local hospital three days later.\" Lucas uttered before taking a slice of cantaloupe from inside of her undershirt''s breast pocket, chewing on it loudly until cantaloupe juices started to spew out of his mouth.


    \"Well, we stan a loving daughter!\" Timmy said with a shrug while pointing his hands towards the nurse. Everyone in the stage then suddenly started clapping profusely with blank expressions and not uttering a single word. What''s even more baffling about it is that they''re all clapping in unison in perfect coordination and harmony, which made it sound like there''s just a colossal arm clapping instead of countless people doing it. I could even hear some applause coming from backstage, which is also in sync with everyone present on stage.


    \"Th-thank you?\" The nurse uttered with a disgusted look on her face as she raised an eyebrow while looking at the applauding people.


    \"Okay. Stop. It''s getting annoying.\" Lucas said, which instantly shushed everyone on the stage before the jester suddenly opened his face and suddenly started singing the chorus of Donna Burke''s Sins of the Father in falsetto. While the jester hanging on the noose continued to sing, Lucas also went on with his words. \"Next up is Mister Francis, the salesman! The reason why he quitted Plural Heights last month is because Veronica suddenly started ordering him to rape his sister before her wedding! Mister Francis got so mad that he started beating everyone inside of Veronica''s office! AND THAT''S WHY JIMMY IS PUNISHED TO BE A FOOT FETISHIST FOR A MONTH BECAUSE HE DIDN''T MANAGE TO WIN AGAINST A FAT OLD FUCK LIKE MISTER FRANCIS!\"


    \"W-what the hell? Who''s Jimmy?\" Francis, the salesman, said with furrowed eyebrows as he looked at Lucas in confusion.


    \"Woooowww! THE MORE YOU KNOW!\" Timmy uttered while pulling his tulle dress down; afterward, he started massaging his nipples while looking at Lucas'' shoes. \"God, hearing the R-word makes me soooo, soooo horny!\" He then began to bite his lips while moaning exaggeratedly in a high-pitched voice like a female porn star. Out of nowhere, a female model, who''s wearing a see-through bikini, came out of the backstage while flashing a forced smile. The girl was also carrying a huge placard that she''s raising high into the air. The words, ''Dolce and Gabbana'' are written on the placard using what seemed like a pentel pen that''s almost out of ink. The female model slowly moved to the other side of the stage and returned towards the backstage.


    \"YOU''RE FUCKING DISGUSTING, JUSTIN! TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF YOUR NIPPLE!\" Lucas said in a loud screechy voice while he stomped his feet on the ground like a child throwing a tantrum.


    \"YES, SIR!\" Timmy said right away as he pulled his dress back up with a frightened expression.


    \"NOW, START PUNCHING YOUR BALLS AND YOUR TINY DICKLET AND DON''T YOU FUCKING DARE STOP UNTIL I TOLD YOU SO!\" Lucas said with a now reddened face, which is a result of his fuming so much out of anger. \"FUCK! GOING BACK ON TOPIC! FUCK! YOU''RE JUST DISGUSTING, JUSTIN! FUCK!\" Lucas then breathed out and started showing a forced smile at us, although we can see by the way his mouth shakes that he''s not at all having fun anymore. \"Now, Mister Keizer left Plural Heights because he''s a piece of shit who doesn''t want to fucking kill his grandmother for the sake of his stupid fucking freak show circus cult bullshit! YOU''RE A PIECE OF SHIT! YOUR GRANDMOTHER WOULD HAVE DIED, LIKE, I DON''T KNOW? NEXT YEAR!? WHO CARES ABOUT HER!? SHE''S AN OLD FUCK! IF YOU HAD KILLED HER, WE COULD HAVE SAVED TOYS R US! YOU''RE A FUCKING SELFISH BITCH, KEIZER!\" Clearly, the whole drama he had with Timmy earlier took a toll on Lucas'' psyche, and he just started hurling insults right towards the silver man like his life depended on it.


    The silver man didn''t even know what he would say as the barrage of insults kept coming towards him, and he knew that there''s nothing he could do to stop it.


    \"Aren''t you going to say something to stop him!?\" The nurse said while looking at the silver man as she pointed her right hand towards Lucas. \"He''s treating you like shit!\"


    \"Fuck it!\" The salesman said as he started wagging his hands into the air. \"I''m giving this silver freak my point again for this round! Clearly, he doesn''t want to live anymore anyway!\"


    \"W-wait... That''s not true! I want to live!\" The silver man uttered in a more determined expression this time, but he stuttered after biting his tongue midway his sentence.


    \"Then you''re not proving that to any of us! You''re clearly deserving to die more than us anyway, so just be a fucking doll and die here now, so we can get out of this stupid freak show area already!\" The nurse said while pointing her finger right towards the silver man as she started ruffling her hair with her other hand. \"YOU''RE NOT CREEPED OUT BECAUSE YOU''VE ALREADY SEEN SO MUCH CIRCUS SHIT, BUT THIS IS TOO FUCKING MUCH FOR ME, AND I JUST WANT TO LEAVE AND GO HOME!\"


    \"WELL, YOU''RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS TO GO HOME, BITCH!\" Finally done with all the insult getting thrown right at him, Keizer, the silver man, finally snapped as he leaned towards Kirstel, the nurse. His face looked so done with all of this charade. Now, he looked like he''s about to punch the nurse at any moment.


    \"HEY, CUTOUT YOU TWO! STOP IT! THIS IS NOT HELPING!\" Francis, the salesman, screamed as he stood beside the silver man and the nurse.


    Thus, the whole hall is enveloped with the sound of Lucas hurling cusses right towards everyone his eyes could land on while still roaring directly towards the microphone. Meanwhile, in the glass hall, the nurse continued her high-pitched yelling directed to the silver man while the silver man himself is already rushing towards her, wanting to punch her to death while throwing loud, unintelligible yells towards the nurse. If it weren''t for the salesman, who''s screaming to make both of them stop fighting while shielding the nurse with her large body, the silver man would have already beaten up the nurse to death. While this symphony of chaos occurs all over the place, Timmy is at the edge of the stage, punching his balls while moaning loudly with his tongue out.


    \"EEeEeEeEeEENNNNNOoOoOOoUuUuUgH!\" A loud growling voice resounded in the air accompanied by the loud sound of countless limbs moving about the darkened areas on the walls.


    Right at that moment, everything in the surrounding shushed.

 134 Lets Just Get Out of Here!

    Francis looked above the ceiling with his eyes fixed on the still darkness above the glass hall.


    \"What the fuck just happened?\" He uttered weakly as his hands shook with his eyes widened.


    \"Urgh... Help... Help...\" Kirstel whispered weakly with her hands extended towards Francis. Her bloodied face continued to bleed profusely as her tears mingled with her blood.


    In a snap, Francis regained her hold onto reality and swiftly moved towards Kirstel. \"You''re okay now... you''re okay now...\"


    Kirstel then tightly gripped Francis''s massive arms as her lips shook uncontrollably while her sobs increased. While this sad sight before me continued, the lights all around the glass hall dimmed until the stage a few meters away from us was slowly swallowed within the endless darkness. I noticed that the two Caucasian hosts in the once well-lit stage are now gone. Gradually, the darkness returned all around us, and finally, I could see once more that we are, indeed, inside of a dungeon beneath my family mansion.


    Ever felt like you''re currently standing in such a dark and humiliating place that things just feel a whole lot like... A Linkin Park song? You know that one piano part in their song Numb that goes something like, \"ting, ning, ning, ning... ning... ning...\" Yeah, that''s pretty much the mood of this whole place. The policeman is on the ground, sleeping like a baby, shards of glass are all over the place, the nurse is obviously beaten so severely that I could feel it hurting me as well, and the salesman just... he''s just there. See? It feels and looks like a Linkin Park song! Earlier, I was feeling more like I''m in the Lady Marmalade music video, but now I feel like I''m reliving the early 2000s emo rock scene.


    \"AAAAAHHhhhhh!\" I heard the slowly descending scream of the silver man from afar. It seems like he still hasn''t plunged deep into his death. However, after a while, I saw the lava below us slowly getting covered with a dark metal floor, which felt a whole lot like a shutter door.


    Shit. Now, I have to plan something out real fast.


    Haa... Fuck. The policeman had been seeded, so there''s absolutely no way I can fool him into being my key slave. The salesman... might work? I saw him doing everything that the nurse told him since earlier, but I think that''s just him simping on her. Well, there''s also the nurse... from what I can see, she seems like a rather strong-willed woman, but I''m not quite sure if she would step in to save me after what she had gone through.


    What else...


    I have no idea. This is so damn frustrating. Maybe this would be the first time I would ask my mother to help me get out of this place, which is fine since my mom would not disown me for it... Still, seeing the charade that happened just now, I''m reasonably sure that the entirety of the Organization has their eyes on me. I just cannot imagine the humiliation that I would suffer along with my family. Susan would probably treat me the same way I treat her son.


    Fuck... Everything happened so fast that I can''t seem to keep up well. Now, things are suddenly all back to slow motion while my senses have been heightened to a further extent that I could feel each bead of sweat trickling on my body.


    I looked around me and saw that the skinny models who''re guarding me have already left, but I''m still here tied tightly on the trolley with a mask on my face. What the heck is up with that? Ugh... Darn it all; when have I suddenly started swearing? Have I lost contact with my mind so much that I''m now using words the Lord would not have permitted me to use?


    \"Help!\" I screamed in a muffled voice as I shook my body round in hopes that the restraints around me would stop hugging my body tightly already. \"PLEASE, HELP!\"


    Francis then looked at me in worry; it seemed like he had just now realized that I''m still alive. He then looked at the clearly beaten up and bruised badly. I could see from his shaking lips that he doesn''t know who among the two of us should he tend to first.


    While the man was deliberating with his own head, the policeman suddenly swung his eyelids open with his eyebrows outstretched. There doesn''t seem like any differences within him other than the clearly green veins around his pupils, which made me look like he''s some kind of human-plant or something. In fact, I could even see some green veins popping up on his forehead and his neck. He then raised his upper body like a machine and sharply moved his head to gaze at the nurse. The policeman then crawled towards the nurse like a prowling tiger as I could see his smiling lips and twinkling eyes all turn into a crescent shape. He then licked his upper lip while the salesman wasn''t looking at him before pulling the nurse''s arms gently.


    \"I''ll take care of her.\" The policeman said as he looked at the salesman with a perfectly crescent-shaped grin, showcasing his finely white teeth. \"Why don''t you help father out of that thing, won''t you, please?\" He said ever so politely as he gently stroked the nurse''s exposed arm.


    \"S-sure, man...\" The salesman then slowly pulled his body away from the still shaking nurse. The lady nurse then swiftly moved her body to embrace the policeman tightly like her life depended on it. Without further ado, the bruised woman wept uncontrollably as she smothered her face onto the policeman''s firm chest. Seeing this, the salesman slowly frowned but immediately stopped whatever he was thinking with a sigh.


    Oho?


    What kind of reaction is that?


    It''s... interesting.


    Francis then walked towards me with a downcast gaze, but he slowly then smiled as he swiftly took the restraints constricting my body. I then clumsily pretended like I was saddened of what I had just gone through and delighted after finally being let go.


    I slowly wrapped my body around his sweaty and fat body while tapping his back. \"You are my hero, Francis. Thank you so much.\" I said gently before pulling my hands away from me. \"I''m sure the nurse was so happy that you''re still here with us,\" When I said this, a bright smile slowly crept upon the salesman''s face, which solidifies my theory. I then followed this with a saddened tone, \"but it''s too bad that I still cannot save all of us from harm.\"


    \"I-it''s okay, father...\" He said gently as he gently moved me towards the still crying nurse and the still smiling policeman. \"You''ve done well enough. I''m sure our numbers wouldn''t decrease after this! We will even find a way to get out of here without the need for sacrificing everyone.\"


    No one else dying, huh?


    I then looked at the policeman who''s still giving off a distorted smile while looking at me intently with his crescent-shaped eyes. He then nodded at me slightly, which I reciprocated by slightly moving the tip of my lips.


    Hmph. I doubt that!


    The policeman then slowly raised the nurse while whispering, \"Do you want me to do anything else for you, m''lady?\"


    The nurse then sniffed thrice while still tightly embracing the policeman''s muscled body. \"Let''s just get the hell out of here... please!\"


    \"O-of course!\" The salesman replied instead as he moved towards the nurse while trying his hardest to act kind. This bastard has been cold and rude the entire time, but here he is now all chummy in the sight of a pussy. What a damn sick bastard. \"We will get you out of here, Miss Kirstel.\" Francis then stammered and flushed upon saying the nurse''s name before continuing, \"You have a beautiful name, by the way.\"


    The nurse merely ignored him entirely and just continued to bury her face onto the policeman''s chest.


    I then looked at the door that''s standing a few feet away from us. \"We don''t have any meat anymore. What should we do? We can''t possibly open that door now.\" I then swiftly diverted my gaze towards the policeman as dark shadows slowly surrounded my piercing glare. \"Someone has to do something.\"


    An O shape then appeared on the policeman''s lips before he replied with a chuckle. \"Of course!\" He then moved towards the door ahead of us with the same distorted smile while the nurse continued to embrace him tightly. Swiftly, the policeman took a blade form inside of his pocket that he had been hiding for a long time now and suddenly thrust it on his upper right arm with the same smile.


    The nurse then screamed and took a step back away from the policeman with her hands, covering her lips. Without even flinching or removing his smile, the policeman swiftly used his blade to cut a chunk of flesh from his arm, ripping his uniform in the process.


    \"Y-you have a knife!?\" The salesman asked, which is a very valid question. I have noticed that knife for a while now, and if it weren''t for the seed embedded in the policeman''s gut, who knows when he would tell us the existence of that concealed blade and what he would do with it when he did so.


    \"THAT''S NOT THE RIGHT TIME TO BE ASKING THAT! HE''S CUTTING HIS FLESH OFF! AAAHHH!\" The nurse continued to scream in this annoying high-pitched tone, which sounded, so... gosh... it''s so horrible because of the highness of its pitch!


    The policeman then chuckled. \"It''s okay.\" He uttered before he chunks the flesh he had extracted from his arm towards a rather big hole on the lower side of the door. The door then opened slightly, and the policeman waved his hands towards the now open corridor with the same distorted smile. \"Shall we?\"

 134 Just Chunk His Body Down There, Mr. Whitebug

    \"What exactly are you trying to say?\" Lucas said while the rest of the people on-stage suddenly started to look at the creature above us. However, when I did look at where they''re looking, all I could see was emptiness and blank.


    \"yOu WeRe GiVeN TwEnTy MiNuTeS ScReEeEeENTiMe!\" The gurgling voice of something said in the darkness around us along with the sound of countless feet tapping the surface of what sounded like a metal wall. \"yOuR bULLsHiT iS ANNNOOOOYYYIIIIIIING! YoU sPeNt EiGhTeEeeEEEEEeEN mInUtEs DoInG fUuUuUuUuCkING NOTHIIIIIIIIIING! NoW, tHe MaTriArCh iS mAd, aNd ShE wAnTs YoU oUt oF hErHoUsSSsSSsSSE!\"


    \"That...\" Timmy said with a moan as he kept on punching his testicles hard, increasing in intensity as time goes on. \"That''s UGH... unfair... hhaaaa!\"


    \"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUU HAVE NO RIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT TO QUESTION USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!\" The origin of the voice then finally showed its head towards us, and what we saw is the massive head of a man. It''s utterly round with plump cheeks and red nose, which was turned even more rounder because the monster has no hair. The rest of the beast''s body is hidden underneath the covers of the darkness, but we could see a veiny neck that''s so awfully thin that I literally thought the head is spiked on a beige-colored stick. From afar, I can see that something seems to be pulling the man''s neck back to its body, making him look like an inflated balloon with its end pulled back.


    \"Okay, okay! We get it, jeez!\" Lucas said as he pulled Timmy''s hand, making him stop punching his testicles hard. \"We''re just following the programme here! Y''all told us that contestants should take as much time as they need, and we should make it as grant as possible, but you won''t even give us time to do both?\" Lucas said with a pronounced frown, which accentuated his large green eyes more.


    Timmy then heaved and moaned slowly as he felt Lucas'' hands around his arms. He then spoke with a stupid euphoric and reddened face. \"I... ehehee... I wuvvzzz iiiit...\" Timmy said as if he''s intoxicated after what he had just done to himself.


    \"tHaT! SeEEe ThAt!? ThAt''SsSSsSsSsSsSsSsssSSSsS pReCiSeLy WhY yoUr ShOoOOOOOoOOooWwWWw iSSsssssSsssS a FlOOOOOOOOp! YoU dOOooooOo StUpId ShIIIIiIiiIiiII LikE tHaT!\" The head uttered with a wave of apparent anger on his tone. He clearly doesn''t like the audacity of these two people before him.


    \"Fine.\" Lucas said with a sigh. \"GET OUT OF HERE! ALL OF YOU! ALL OF YOU LEAVE! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STAGE!\" Lucas said as he flayed his hands all over the place while looking at the people around him. One after another, the people on the stage left: the Cabaret dancers pulled their corpse dancers as they went to the backstage, the twins went on different entrances towards the backstage while tasing the air, the rope where the jester is hanging suddenly lifted to raise the jester''s corpse, and the band on the ceiling started to get lifted up into somewhere above the roof. What remains is the mangled corpse of the acrobatic dancers who were one dominating the air of the stage.


    Wait a minute, yeah, that''s right! What happened to those girls?


    I then saw a pile of corpses of girls all over the stage and realized that all of the acrobatic girls must have died, and they don''t have any other extras, so they just removed the acrobat section away in a low-key fashion. The only thing left in the stage is Lucas and Timmy, but even Timmy started to walk towards the backstage with tearful eyes as he began to sniff uncontrollably.


    \"NOT YOU, TIMMY! YOU STAY HERE!\" Lucas said as he pulled Timmy''s hair to make him stand beside him.


    Meanwhile, Timmy, who''s being dragged by the hair, suddenly showed a genuinely happy face, not minding the obviously oppressive way Lucas is treating him. \"THANK YOU SO MUCH, MASTER!\" Timmy said willingly as he blushed while Lucas wrapped his hands around his waist.


    \"Alright! Fuck it! First to get five points wins!\" Lucas said with a hurried tone as he looked at the wristwatch hidden underneath his sleeve. \"The silver man already has 4 points, so y''all are fucking stupid! Why are you letting him be on the lead! We literally did all the work for you, and all of you just watched it! USELESS CONTESTANTS! YOU''RE ALL USELESS, USELESS, USELEEEESS!\"


    \"MUDAfakarz!\" Timmy said as he waved his hands, which made him look like a gang member asking for a fight.


    \"Aight. Next category is--\"


    \"JUST FUCKING KILL HIM, OH MY GOD!\" Kirstel suddenly shouted while pointing both her hands at Keizer, with her knees bent down slightly. \"HE GOT FOUR POINTS ANYWAY! JUST FUCKING TAKE HIM OUT!\" She said while her head is looking straight towards Lucas.


    \"YOU, BIIIIIIIIIIITCH!\" Keizer screamed as he lunged forward towards Kirstel. However, before he could reach the nurse, Francis moved in front of her to shield her from harm.


    \"STOP! STOP IT! STOP THIS NOW!\" Francis said while trying to stop Keizer from flaying his hands all over the place. The absolute anger written all over the silver man''s face is so pronounced that his eyes turned red almost entirely, along with his deepening frown. \"STOP! WHY WON''T YOU FUCKING STOOOOOOOP!?\" The salesman screamed right through the Keizer''s face, making his saliva hit the silver man''s silver face.


    Keizer then hissed as loud as he could like a cat who got bitten by a pig. He then started scratching the salesman''s face with his long silver nails. Oddly enough, it seems that the silver man''s nails are sharp enough to leave a considerable amount of deep wound all over the fat salesman''s face. \"SHUT THE FUUUUUUCK UUUUUUUUUUUP! ALL OF YOU DESERVES TO DIE MORE THAN ME! YES, I KILLED MY FRIEND, BUT HE''S A PIECE OF SHIT SON OF A BITCH WHO DESERVES TO DIIIIIIEEE AAAAAAAAAAHHHH! JUST LIKE YOOOOOOOUUUU!\" The silver mad said while he now started to bang his head hastily onto Francis'' bloated chest like he''s some kind of ox or something. \"YOU KILLED YOUR WIIIIIIIFE! SHE KILLED HER PATIENT! NONE OF THEM DESERVES TO DIE, BUT MY FRIEND DOES! HE''S A SICK FUCK WHO STEALS ALL THE TIME AND SHITS ON THE BACKSTAGE! HE PISSES ON MY SHOES BECAUSE HE KNOWS I CAN''T MOVE, AND FUCKED MY GIRLFRIEND WHILE HE MADE ME WAAAAAAAAAAATCH! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!  FUUUUUUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! YOU DESERVE TO DIE TOOOOOOO!\"


    \"Holy shit...\" Lucas whispered on the microphone as he looked at the glass hall with an awe-filled expression. \"Something is happening... SOMETHING IS HAPPENING! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!\" The Caucasian host roared with his hands outstretched. \"FUCK YEAH! ALRIGHT! NEXT ROUND''S CATEGORY IS FIIIIIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!\"


    \"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!\" Timmy followed suit while stomping his feet to give a bit more momentum to the noise they''re uttering.


    \"FiGhT! FiGhT! FiGhT! FiGhT! FiGhT!!!\" The monster peering from above said as we heard hundreds of metal clanking noises above us. I think this monster is flailing his hands excitedly upon seeing the fight unfolding before him. However, his face remained ever so serious with a stern frown on his pale face. Ugh! I really hate this one so much.


    After a while, the salesman finally gave up his futile attempt to calm the silver man and just stepped on the side, not anymore stopping him from himself. When he did so, Keizer, the silver man, instantly flung forward in a leap with his hands extended forward towards Kirstel, the nurse. They both then fell on the floor with Keizer on top of Kirstel with his hands tightly coiling her neck. Keizer then sat on Kirstel''s stomach as he screamed in a bloodcurdling screech like a bird with a sore throat. He did so with his arms flexing, and his head tilted backward with his unblinking eyes wide open. Without further ado, Keizer began to punch the ever-living shit out of Kirstel''s stupid face like there''s no tomorrow. PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH! His beat down literally never stopped, and Francis just stood there in awe upon seeing this worrying sight.


    \"I AM WORKING HUMAAAAAAAAAN!\" The silver man said as his sweat began to erase the remaining silver paint on his face, revealing his fair skin, reddened face, and his burnt left cheek. \"I TRIED TO SAVE YOU! I''M TIRED OF SAVING YOU! I TRIED TO SAVE YOU! I''M TIRED OF SAVING YOU! I TIRED OF SAVE YOU! I''M TRIED OF SAVING YOU!\" He then stopped beating Kirstel''s face and raised his body to let out a loud howl. \"AWOOOOOOOOO! I''M A WOOOLF AWOOOOOOOOOO!\"


    Kirstel then spoke with his face filled with reddened wounds, swollen skin, and bleeding bruises. \"... point...\" She whispered weakly while struggling to raise her arms to point her finger towards the howling silver man. \"I... give... point...\" She weakly uttered as blood started to trickle down from out of his mouth.


    \"AAAAAAAAAAND WE GOT A WINNEEEEEEEERRRRRR!\" Lucas screamed out loud without even speaking into the microphone anymore. Nevertheless, we still heard his gleeful voice. \"KEIZER IS OUR WINNER! NOW, STROMLETS! TELL YOUR FRIENDLY CAUCASIAN BUG ABOVE YOU WHAT PUNISHMENT YOU WANT TO GIVE YOUR FELLOW STROMLET! WOULD YOU LIKE THE--\"


    \"JUST CHUNK HIS BODY DOWN THERE, MISTER WHITEBUG!\" Francis uttered, rudely interrupting the show''s host.


    After screaming in a bubbly voice similar to the sound that our throats make when we wash our mouths after brushing our teeth, the monster head above the glass hall started to descend into the glass hall. His thin neck looked a lot more link stretched plastic now more than ever as he swiftly moved his head towards the surface of the glass hall. His frowning face then hit the glass ceiling of the room, using his face to break the glass swiftly. Sharp shards then stuck on the round face of the monster, making him bleed profusely as the glass started to fall in unison into the glass floor of the hall. The nurse then covered her face with her hands, shielding herself from the shards raining from above.


    Meanwhile, since Keizer is howling like crazy with his head tilted back and his eyes wide open, some shard pierced through his open eyes. However, he never stopped howling like a damn mad man even when glass shards enter his mouth and pierce through his throat. Thus, Keizer now sounded more like someone trying to ask for help while being choked.


    The beast''s mouth then opened wide before he took the entirety of Keizer''s erect body deep into his throat. The head then swiftly pulled back to the shadows.


    \"PTUU!\" With the sound of someone spitting something, we saw the figure of Keizer spiraling down into the boiling lava below us.


    ...


    Haa...


    There goes my escape plan.

 135 Lets Just Get Out of Here!

    Francis looked above the ceiling with his eyes fixed on the still darkness above the glass hall.


    \"What the fuck just happened?\" He uttered weakly as his hands shook with his eyes widened.


    \"Urgh... Help... Help...\" Kirstel whispered weakly with her hands extended towards Francis. Her bloodied face continued to bleed profusely as her tears mingled with her blood.


    In a snap, Francis regained her hold onto reality and swiftly moved towards Kirstel. \"You''re okay now... you''re okay now...\"


    Kirstel then tightly gripped Francis''s massive arms as her lips shook uncontrollably while her sobs increased. While this sad sight before me continued, the lights all around the glass hall dimmed until the stage a few meters away from us was slowly swallowed within the endless darkness. I noticed that the two Caucasian hosts in the once well-lit stage are now gone. Gradually, the darkness returned all around us, and finally, I could see once more that we are, indeed, inside of a dungeon beneath my family mansion.


    Ever felt like you''re currently standing in such a dark and humiliating place that things just feel a whole lot like... A Linkin Park song? You know that one piano part in their song Numb that goes something like, \"ting, ning, ning, ning... ning... ning...\" Yeah, that''s pretty much the mood of this whole place. The policeman is on the ground, sleeping like a baby, shards of glass are all over the place, the nurse is obviously beaten so severely that I could feel it hurting me as well, and the salesman just... he''s just there. See? It feels and looks like a Linkin Park song! Earlier, I was feeling more like I''m in the Lady Marmalade music video, but now I feel like I''m reliving the early 2000s emo rock scene.


    \"AAAAAHHhhhhh!\" I heard the slowly descending scream of the silver man from afar. It seems like he still hasn''t plunged deep into his death. However, after a while, I saw the lava below us slowly getting covered with a dark metal floor, which felt a whole lot like a shutter door.


    Shit. Now, I have to plan something out real fast.


    Haa... Fuck. The policeman had been seeded, so there''s absolutely no way I can fool him into being my key slave. The salesman... might work? I saw him doing everything that the nurse told him since earlier, but I think that''s just him simping on her. Well, there''s also the nurse... from what I can see, she seems like a rather strong-willed woman, but I''m not quite sure if she would step in to save me after what she had gone through.


    What else...


    I have no idea. This is so damn frustrating. Maybe this would be the first time I would ask my mother to help me get out of this place, which is fine since my mom would not disown me for it... Still, seeing the charade that happened just now, I''m reasonably sure that the entirety of the Organization has their eyes on me. I just cannot imagine the humiliation that I would suffer along with my family. Susan would probably treat me the same way I treat her son.


    Fuck... Everything happened so fast that I can''t seem to keep up well. Now, things are suddenly all back to slow motion while my senses have been heightened to a further extent that I could feel each bead of sweat trickling on my body.


    I looked around me and saw that the skinny models who''re guarding me have already left, but I''m still here tied tightly on the trolley with a mask on my face. What the heck is up with that? Ugh... Darn it all; when have I suddenly started swearing? Have I lost contact with my mind so much that I''m now using words the Lord would not have permitted me to use?


    \"Help!\" I screamed in a muffled voice as I shook my body round in hopes that the restraints around me would stop hugging my body tightly already. \"PLEASE, HELP!\"


    Francis then looked at me in worry; it seemed like he had just now realized that I''m still alive. He then looked at the clearly beaten up and bruised badly. I could see from his shaking lips that he doesn''t know who among the two of us should he tend to first.


    While the man was deliberating with his own head, the policeman suddenly swung his eyelids open with his eyebrows outstretched. There doesn''t seem like any differences within him other than the clearly green veins around his pupils, which made me look like he''s some kind of human-plant or something. In fact, I could even see some green veins popping up on his forehead and his neck. He then raised his upper body like a machine and sharply moved his head to gaze at the nurse. The policeman then crawled towards the nurse like a prowling tiger as I could see his smiling lips and twinkling eyes all turn into a crescent shape. He then licked his upper lip while the salesman wasn''t looking at him before pulling the nurse''s arms gently.


    \"I''ll take care of her.\" The policeman said as he looked at the salesman with a perfectly crescent-shaped grin, showcasing his finely white teeth. \"Why don''t you help father out of that thing, won''t you, please?\" He said ever so politely as he gently stroked the nurse''s exposed arm.


    \"S-sure, man...\" The salesman then slowly pulled his body away from the still shaking nurse. The lady nurse then swiftly moved her body to embrace the policeman tightly like her life depended on it. Without further ado, the bruised woman wept uncontrollably as she smothered her face onto the policeman''s firm chest. Seeing this, the salesman slowly frowned but immediately stopped whatever he was thinking with a sigh.


    Oho?


    What kind of reaction is that?


    It''s... interesting.


    Francis then walked towards me with a downcast gaze, but he slowly then smiled as he swiftly took the restraints constricting my body. I then clumsily pretended like I was saddened of what I had just gone through and delighted after finally being let go.


    I slowly wrapped my body around his sweaty and fat body while tapping his back. \"You are my hero, Francis. Thank you so much.\" I said gently before pulling my hands away from me. \"I''m sure the nurse was so happy that you''re still here with us,\" When I said this, a bright smile slowly crept upon the salesman''s face, which solidifies my theory. I then followed this with a saddened tone, \"but it''s too bad that I still cannot save all of us from harm.\"


    \"I-it''s okay, father...\" He said gently as he gently moved me towards the still crying nurse and the still smiling policeman. \"You''ve done well enough. I''m sure our numbers wouldn''t decrease after this! We will even find a way to get out of here without the need for sacrificing everyone.\"


    No one else dying, huh?


    I then looked at the policeman who''s still giving off a distorted smile while looking at me intently with his crescent-shaped eyes. He then nodded at me slightly, which I reciprocated by slightly moving the tip of my lips.


    Hmph. I doubt that!


    The policeman then slowly raised the nurse while whispering, \"Do you want me to do anything else for you, m''lady?\"


    The nurse then sniffed thrice while still tightly embracing the policeman''s muscled body. \"Let''s just get the hell out of here... please!\"


    \"O-of course!\" The salesman replied instead as he moved towards the nurse while trying his hardest to act kind. This bastard has been cold and rude the entire time, but here he is now all chummy in the sight of a pussy. What a damn sick bastard. \"We will get you out of here, Miss Kirstel.\" Francis then stammered and flushed upon saying the nurse''s name before continuing, \"You have a beautiful name, by the way.\"


    The nurse merely ignored him entirely and just continued to bury her face onto the policeman''s chest.


    I then looked at the door that''s standing a few feet away from us. \"We don''t have any meat anymore. What should we do? We can''t possibly open that door now.\" I then swiftly diverted my gaze towards the policeman as dark shadows slowly surrounded my piercing glare. \"Someone has to do something.\"


    An O shape then appeared on the policeman''s lips before he replied with a chuckle. \"Of course!\" He then moved towards the door ahead of us with the same distorted smile while the nurse continued to embrace him tightly. Swiftly, the policeman took a blade form inside of his pocket that he had been hiding for a long time now and suddenly thrust it on his upper right arm with the same smile.


    The nurse then screamed and took a step back away from the policeman with her hands, covering her lips. Without even flinching or removing his smile, the policeman swiftly used his blade to cut a chunk of flesh from his arm, ripping his uniform in the process.


    \"Y-you have a knife!?\" The salesman asked, which is a very valid question. I have noticed that knife for a while now, and if it weren''t for the seed embedded in the policeman''s gut, who knows when he would tell us the existence of that concealed blade and what he would do with it when he did so.


    \"THAT''S NOT THE RIGHT TIME TO BE ASKING THAT! HE''S CUTTING HIS FLESH OFF! AAAHHH!\" The nurse continued to scream in this annoying high-pitched tone, which sounded, so... gosh... it''s so horrible because of the highness of its pitch!


    The policeman then chuckled. \"It''s okay.\" He uttered before he chunks the flesh he had extracted from his arm towards a rather big hole on the lower side of the door. The door then opened slightly, and the policeman waved his hands towards the now open corridor with the same distorted smile. \"Shall we?\"

 136 INVIGORATED!!! OPEN THE DOOR!

    We walked ever so quietly in the glass corridor that will lead us to the next area. No one really spoke, but I think it''s more about none of us want to be a part of this damn bullshit that had just happened earlier. Like, we all just wish to end the conversation about the whole shenanigans there and how these two fucks, Francis and Kirstel, singlehandedly caused the death of my main bitch Keizer.


    Damn!


    I never thought swearing would be this great! I feel like I have ascended into a realm higher than the heavens itself now that I''m uttering these taboo words in my head. Never have I ever wished to speak these cursed words such as fuck, bitch, and shit because I know my mom would cap my ass so fucking hard that I would start asking to be on the other side already. However, now that I''ve tasted the forbidden apple, even though I know I have no right to say them, I still cannot stop myself. It''s way too fucking fun!


    \"I FEEL SO INVIGORATED!\"


    YES! ME TOO!


    Wait, what?


    \"Who said that?\" I uttered as I looked back behind the people walking behind me. I am still fucking mad when these sons of bitches decided that they would kill my fucking main bitch like that, and now I have to force myself into analyzing deeper! I have not thought as hard as this after my wife''s death, and for someone as busy as me, that time is already a fucking long time ago even if it''s just, like, a week or something. Man, I don''t give a shit! I am so fucking tired, and I''m so absolutely fucking stressed if these whole shenanigans that every sort of hellfire is just now currently running all over my head.


    \"I did!\" The policeman replied with the same stupid smile that he always had. Seeing him look like that is just adding more unneeded tension in me, and I''m not fucking living for it!


    \"...why?\" I, too, didn''t know why I said that word like that or why I asked it with such a heightened form of condescension.


    \"I just did!\" The policeman merely answered with a chuckle. Since we both didn''t participate in that stupid fucking game show in the last area, I still don''t know what this son of a bitch''s name is, and that makes me somehow more wary of him. \"I just want to say it! Is there any reason for me to say anything; do I really need to ask for your permission?\"


    Silence took over all of us as I stopped my steps while directing my gaze at him. Outside, I am showing an expression of absolute nothingness, but insides, I am already ripping this piece of shit subhuman''s face in a meat grinder.


    \"No, absolutely not,\" I replied calmly with a sarcastic smile as I continued to walk forward in the glass corridor.


    Out of nowhere, while we''re walking towards the door that''s standing just a few meters away from us, a few muffled noises suddenly resounded from all around us. No, that''s not quite right; it''s more like the fucking disgusting growls of many feral beasts on the other side of the next area''s white door. It sounded so absolutely fucking inhuman like the sound of countless people bathing in the endless fiery sea of suffering in hell. It''s almost an impossibility to explain the sound well because it feels all too scattered and varied but also uniform in some unknown way. All I could say for sure is that those noises are the distinct unbearable cries of many people booming all at once. They sounded like they''re inside of that room as they all let out the suffering they''re feeling all with all their heart. Anything more other than that fact is an utter mystery to me.


    \"HOW LOOOOOONG!!! HOW LONG MUST WE STAY HERE!?\" One of the voices that sounded like it came from an old man resounded among the endless other similar-sounding voices.


    \"WHY DID YOU PUT US HERE!? WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS!?\" Another voice from among the countless unbearable wailings resounded to me particularly well because it sounded a whole lot like the voice of a girl.


    \"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUUUUUTTTTT!\" The deep and hoarse voice then soon followed while the other noises continued to cry, weep, and beg.


    We then slowly approached the door leading to the next area, and I reached out to it warily with trembling hands. Even I know whatever the fuck is happening here. I then gripped the door handle at the center of the door tightly before I heard the echoing sound of what sounded like sirens suddenly ringing all over the insides of the other side of the door.


    Afterward, a voice then resounded from what seemed like an old and scratchy-sounding speaker that must have been inside of the room. \"A little bit more... wait a little bit more...\" The voice is filled with so much static and noise feedback that I couldn''t quite determine if the voice was that of a man or a woman. However, what I do know for sure is that it sounded so monotonous and robotic that it''s definitely computer-generated speech.


    \"NO MOOOOOORE!\" The voice that sounded like someone with a sore throat said, which was then followed by them coughing loudly like a person on their deathbed.


    \"WE CAN''T WAIT ANYMORE! PLEASE! JUST KILL US! WE WOULD RATHER DIE INSTEAD!\"


    \"WHY DON''T YOU KILLLL MEEEEE!?\"


    \"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUUUUUTTTTT!\"


    \"OOH-WA-AH-AH-AH!\"


    \"Wh-what the fuck is going on out there, father?\" The salesman asked me as he moved beside me. He then tapped my back, seemingly saying that he doesn''t blame me for hesitating to open the door.


    \"I... I''m sorry...\" I uttered weakly as I swallowed my saliva with trembling eyes. \"I, too, do not know what lies behind this door...\" I said as sparsely as I could while still tightly gripping on the door handle.


    \"It sounded like...\" Kirstel whispered with a wavering voice. \"It''s like, there are people in there.\" Well, no shit, bitch! Thank you for your insightful commentary. FUCK! I wish I can sew her lips tightly, so she would just stop being such a fucking annoying little cunt.


    Oooh! Wow! That was the first time I ever uttered the C-word! I feel so dirty and so devilishly tainted, but somehow, I don''t seem to feel like I did something wrong at all! Something is definitely going on with me!


    \"Why don''t you open the door, father? Let''s take a look!\" The policeman excitedly uttered as he stuttered to flutter around like a high school girl who''s just not expecting to see the face of her crush.


    \"Well...\" I said before slowly tapping my forehead with the sleeves of my cassock. \"Why not? Let''s do this!\"


    Then, I opened the door.


    What welcomed us is a bunch of people crammed inside of a large room with smooth gray stone walls. Every single person in the area all looked like the bloodied stranger we met in the first area. They all have frizzy hair, greasy skin, bloodied bodies, blackened teeth, crazed eyes, and hunched backs. There''s a lot of bones of small animals on the floor along with hardened red and yellow liquid; I could even find a bit of white and brown stain all over the walls. I could tell that those stains are piss, cum, and shit just by the amalgamation of the different stench intertwining like many strings in the air. These strings of agonizing smell then penetrated our noses and pierced my holes so damn fucking horribly that I could safely say that I felt molested by the smell of this area alone. A few scratches are embedded all over the stone room, and some are even on the ceiling. Right after opening the door, all these disgusting fuck faces all looked at us with varying degrees of gasps and fright. However, that shocked expression of theirs quickly faded once they directed their eyes onto us. The bloodied strangers before us are now locking their reddened and watery eyes at us as they squatted on the floor like they''re all about to take a shit. Some were even biting their nails while some were scratching their blackened faces.


    \"PEOPLEEEEEESSSSSS!\"


    \"THEY''RE HERE! OUR PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED!\"


    \"SHE HAS GIVEN US THE THING WHICH WE SOUGHT!\"


    \"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUUUUUTTTTT!\"


    \"FINALLY, THE ARRIVAL OF OUR MESSIAH!\"


    They all slowly stood up when they saw us as smiles started to crept past their faces.


    And they ran towards us! They all did so while laughing out loud, with their hands outstretched towards us.


    However, my instinct kicked in, and I quickly smashed the door close, making a loud banging noise all over the room. I then used my body to stop the door from opening when I noticed that the door couldn''t be locked from our side.


    \"TAKE US NOW SAVIOR!\"


    \"WE WANT TO GO UP ALREADY!\"


    \"WE KNOW YOU''RE THERE, ANTONOVA!\"


    Fuck. FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!!!WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?

 137 Aight, F*ck It! Cooking Show Time!

    Holy shit...


    They know my name?


    This is fucking insane!


    I have to calm down; I have to calm myself... Fuck! I can''t! My hands are shaking while I clenched the door handle as firmly as I can. This is not working at all! There''s just supposed to be two pieces of white towels in this room, and then someone will fall down or some shit! It was supposed to be a super fucking easy area, but why the fuck is there like... a hundred rat people inside there!? THIS IS FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE!


    Out of nowhere, I heard the sound of metal whirring inside of the room with a few metallic beeping. This was then accompanied by the agonizing screams, grunts, wailings of the many rat people inside of the room. Nevertheless, the sound continued as we all heard what sounded like bones cracking, people screaming, and... a person clapping?


    \"Alright, alright! That''s about done!\" I heard the sound of someone speaking on the other side of the door. Based on what I''m hearing, the origin of this voice is not a part of the rat people. How could he be? He doesn''t sound like he''s dying to get a shower! \"Now, people outside of the hall, our fair dungeoncrawlers! You may come inside, and no harm shall come in your way!\" Now that I''ve heard more of the person''s voice, I am now much more inclined to believe that I know this person. His voice sounded like the familiar gentle voice that I have heard since I was young.


    I then gently opened the door and peeked at it to see if there''s really no more danger lurking inside of the room. To my surprise--and I say these words in a highly positive light--the rat people who were once inside of the room are no longer present there. Then again, I can still hear the familiar moans and groans of those rat people. However, unlike earlier, they''re no longer screaming like their lives depended on it. I also noticed that the shit stain and bloodied piss on the ground are still there. Then again, since there are no more people squatting on the ground, I can now finally see just how fucking repulsive it is down there. I can even see some still fresh shit plastered all over the floor, so that means these people have just eaten something and shat on the floor right away without even thinking about human decency. I also noticed that the once sizable square room is now smaller and narrower. It''s now turned into a rectangular room that has the same width as the corridor we''re currently still in right now, which now makes it look like the place is just a dirtier extension to this corridor we''re standing on. The walls around also looked clean, which made me realize that maybe they''re newly placed there? Wait a minute... Based on the sound I hear right now... are the rat people inside of those recently set walls? A part of me doesn''t want to believe it, but maybe they''re all pushed on each side of the room forcefully using this newly placed wall, which explains the metallic noises and beeping earlier.


    What also took my attention the most is the man standing in the middle of the room. The man is wearing the usual tuxedo uniform that I expected for him to wear while still giving off that warm smile. He''s always laidback and nonchalant, but he''s just as serious about his work as everyone else.


    \"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.\" The servant of the Antonova family uttered as if he had just seen me for the first time. \"My name is Christopher, and I am your chef for today.\" He said as I finally noticed that he''s standing between two tables with a small stove and a myriad of kitchen equipment, ranging from a knife, a spatula, a wok, a cauldron, a pan, and a few other more that I''m too much of a man to understand. Cooking had and will always be a woman''s job, so I never really took the time to learn how to make any dish at all. However, Christopher is a special case, so he can cook even if his body is that of a man.


    \"Christopher...\" I said as I looked at him with awe. Finally, a familiar face. I then changed my relaxed and loose expression swiftly once I realized that I''m becoming too much of a fucking reckless bitch. I have to take this place seriously, or else these people will know who I am. I can''t stop this shit now; I already started this! If I fail here now, then how can I possibly call myself an Antonova? I then cleared my throat as I continued, \"What are you doing here?\" I then pointed at the tables beside him with my chin, \"And what''s with all that.\"


    \"Why don''t you all come towards me, come closer! I won''t bite you or anything!\" Heh. Cheeky bitch. I then walked closer towards him, which then prompted the others to follow suit. \"Now, I am to believe that you, the priest, are today''s seventh seal sacrifice, correct?\" He said with a bow as he placed his right hand on his back.


    \"That''s right,\" I said a bit nervously while listening to the weakened agonizing moans of the rat people trapped around us. It seemed that the others already got the hint because they all started to look at the walls with apparent distraught painted on their stupid sweaty faces. Well, all of them, excluding the police who''s still grinning away like a creepy little bitch.


    \"I see.\" Then, Christopher raised his body quickly and pulled something placed on his back pocket. He then pointed his hand at me while holding the object that he had just taken from his pocket. Wait a minute is that... \"Then, excuse me.\" He said as he clicked the trigger of his stun gun, zapping me from my stomach until I started to convulse uncontrollably. When the electricity coursing out of my veins finally stopped, I instantly fell onto the floor, making me feel a wet and smelly object hit my face.


    The vision then started to get clouded. I opened my eyes and what I saw were a few people shouting and screaming. My sight darkened once more, and when I started seeing things again, I am now seeing my companions eagerly listening to whatever it is that Christopher is saying. It sounded all too muffled to me, but I could still hear it clearly. The nurse is standing beside the policeman who''s intently listening to whatever it is that Christopher is explaining. Meanwhile, the salesman knelt beside me, not really listening to the conversation anymore, and is just checking if I''m still doing okay.


    Amid all that, I heard Christopher''s obscure words coming into my head.


    \"We will be doing a cooking contest! One of you must volunteer, and I mean it. Compliance is required, and there must only be one volunteer. If you don''t comply, all of you will stay here with these disgusting people in this room until the next batch of dungeoncrawlers arrives. If you comply, then the volunteer must make a meat dish using the ingredients and equipment we prepared for you at the table. Whoever wins will die, but whatever happens, you will get to move on to the next area. The judge of the contest will be...\"


    However, before I could listen more, my visions got clouded again until finally, I saw nothing else but black.


    ...


    darkness.


    ...


    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


    When I woke up, I was already sitting behind the people who are both preparing themselves to cook a dish on their respective tables.


    \"It looks like our judge is up!\" The policeman said as he wore an apron that''s placed on the table for him.


    \"Indeed, he is.\" Christopher chuckled without looking at me, probably too embarrassed with the mistake he had made.


    So I am to be the judge... haa...


    I then noticed that my hands are strapped on the chair I''m sitting on. Wait, my waist and my feet are also tied tightly on the chair; I also feel some kind of bowl-like thing hanging on my head.


    \"Wh... what is happening to me? What did you do to me? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, CHRISTOPHER!?\" I screamed out loud, finally breaking the benevolent character I have kept wearing for the entirety of this dungeon game. I could still feel a damp sensation on my cheeks, making me smell the stench coming from it.


    \"Hmm? Oh, don''t worry! It''s not plugged in!\" Christopher replied as he finally looked at me with a wave of his hand.


    \"...what?\"


    \"You''re sitting on my master''s favorite silla electrica, but don''t worry about it! Like I said, it''s not open!\"


    What... ha... hahaha... I''m sitting on... an electric chair?


    I WANTED TO SCREAM!


    LET ME OUT! GET ME OUT OF HERE! GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF THI FUCKING THING!


    But I can''t! FUCK! Not yet!


    The people around me didn''t seem to have understood that I broke character earlier, so I''m still off the hook. I need to remain calm.


    \"Hey, so Christopher...\" I heard the policeman say as he looked at the things under his table. There, I saw a myriad of vegetables placed neatly for the user''s convenience. \"We''re making meat, right?\"


    \"Indeed, we are!\"


    \"Then...\" The policeman said with a confused tone but still with the same excited grin on his face. \"Where''s the meat?\" Wait, indeed! He''s right! There''s no meat under the table at all! It''s only filled with fruits, veggies, spices, and all that jazz.


    \"What are you talking about?\" Christopher chuckled as he sharpened his blade. \"We have a lot of meat!\" He said while pointing both his hands towards the newly placed walls on each side of the room.


    Then, as I heard the many groans and muffled moans of the people trapped inside of those walls, I saw what seemed like perfectly camouflaged doors in each center of the room.


    Holy shit!


    I get it now!


    This is gonna be so fucking fun!

 138 Use Whoever You Want!

    \"You can use whoever you want!\" Christopher said with a chuckle as he pointed his hands towards the secret passage on the center of the walls. \"The livestock on the left is mine since I''m on the left table. That means the right one is yours, of course.\" Christopher continued as he continued to sharpen his knives.


    \"Wh-what are you talking about!?\" Francis then balled his fist as he cried those words out towards the still smiling Christopher. \"Are you asking us to fucking murder one of the people here?\"


    \"Oh, don''t worry about it! They''ve already forgotten who they are or why they''re here! In fact, they''ve been so dirtied by all the shit all over their bodies that they pretty much can''t recognize each other anymore!\" Christopher then laughed heartily, followed by the muffled chuckle of the policeman. Meanwhile, the people trapped on the walls of the room continued to wail even louder upon hearing what Christopher had just said. \"So, just pick anything, okay?\" Christopher said while looking at the policeman with a sharp gaze.


    \"Sure. I just hope I''ll get someone who''s not that feisty!\" The policeman replied as he readies the veggies that he will use on his dish.


    \"You...\" Francis said while pointing at the policeman. His eyes started to shake as his gaze alternated between the two cooks. \"You two are insane!\" The salesman then shook his head while trying his hardest to contain the disgust seeping from within him as his voice started to tremble. \"YOU DISGUST ME!\"


    Kirstel simply looked at Francis with a panicked voice. \"W-we don''t really have a choice, Francis! We have to do this!\"


    Francis then slowly moved his gaze towards Kirstel, who''s now gently wrapping her hands on his fat hands. \"Are you siding with these sick fucks just because you wanna ride on that policeman''s dick!?\"


    \"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?\" The nurse then pulled her hands away from the salesman as a scowl crept upon her face. \"I''m just telling the truth! Would you rather stay here forever, huh? HUH!? It''s not like this is the first time we''ve killed someone!\"


    \"I... I''m just...\" Francis uttered while shadows of regret began to cover his sweaty face. \"I''m just saying that maybe the policeman is unwilling to kill someone, you know?\" The salesman quickly changed his narrative and pointed his excuse towards the nonchalant-looking policeman.


    \"I don''t mind.\" The policeman responded to the salesman''s words without even batting an eyelid.


    \"Wh-what?\" The salesman said as I saw his despair slowly contorting the wrinkles on his face, further turning his now stressed face into something far more twisted than ever. \"What are you saying, man?\"


    \"I''m saying, I don''t mind killing for the challenge. So, can we move on already?\" The policeman then shrugged with tightened lips and tilted his head.


    \"I agree. We''ve wasted enough time.\" Christopher said as he placed his now perfectly sharpened knives on his wooden and circular chopping board.


    \"Just let them do it, Francis,\" Kirstel said as she reluctantly placed her hands on Francis''s trembling shoulders.


    \"I just can''t believe we would willingly kill someone again just like what we did to Keizer.\" He said with a sigh as tears started to well upon his eyes.


    \"But we didn''t kill him, Francis.\" The nurse consoled while gently massaging the salesman''s shoulder.


    \"YES, WE DID!\" He screamed louder than he expected. He then gasped upon sensing the sudden outburst of his voice. \"Yes, we did... We killed him. You can fool yourself all you want that we didn''t kill him, but we did! That''s our decision, and that fucking monster just served as our weapon! We fucking killed that man, Kirstel! And now we''re doing it again! Are you seriously asking me to say that I''m magically okay with murder when I''m here exactly because I''m fucking fed up with all the killing in that stupid fucking cult!? Heck, even when I willingly murdered my wife, I still fucking felt REMORE! Unlike you and these fucking psychos!\" Francis burst, making me see the very instance his mind broke. He started to bury his face deep into his sweaty palms while his back started to shake uncontrollably.


    \"It''s necessary, Francis...\" Kirstel replied with a sigh.


    \"THEY''RE GOING TO COOK THEM, KIRSTEL! How is that necessary!?\" He said as his distorted expression showed a mixture of both anger and disgust, which further accentuated just how fed up Francis is with this whole dungeon fiasco. He does not at all wish to see another corpse in the body count that he will put in his resume to hell. He then started to sob as I saw his spit drooping from out of his mouth as he repeated, \"... how is that necessary...?\"


    \"It''s fiiiine!\" The policeman said with a chuckle as he began to move on his station by chopping a few veggies. I can''t quite see it, though, because his body is covering the view to his station. He then chuckled as he suddenly stopped his swift chopping motion with his hands outstretched to his side. \"The reason why you''re still feeling whatever it is that you''re feeling at the moment is that you still retain your humanity.\"


    \"You''re still human, you know?\" Francis said with a defeated sigh and a lifeless gaze.


    \"Not anymore, I''m not! I''ve changed, you see? I FEEL INVIGORATED! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER NOW!\" The policeman then cackled, which sounded like his voice is an endless string of barb wires that continuously scratches the back of his throat. \"Ever since that monster puked in my mouth and forced me to swallow his seed, I started to understand everything in the universe! It gave me all the wisdom I need to become a better person! It turned me into a transcended being that doesn''t need puny human imperfections like feelings and emotions! I do not at all need whatever it is that you''re giving me right now! I turned into something greater than a man... like a God! I am God! I saw it all, and now I don''t need anything else this world could ever offer! I am the past, the present, and the future all at the same time, and now... murder is nothing but just another information to my brain, and I absolutely feel nothing from it! Why must I feel remorse for what I''m about to do when I am already way above that? I am better, and I am worse! That''s really all there is to it!\"


    \"Well said,\" Christopher said as he started to boil something on his cauldron. I don''t even know where he got the water to do that. \"I''m sure our judge is waiting so intently for what we''re about to cook.\" Christopher gave off a subdued laugh as he covered his lips with his hands.


    \"You''re right.\" The policeman uttered back with the same muffled laughter.


    Just then, both Christopher and the policeman moved towards the secret passage on the wall.


    \"Do I have to take the whole body?\" The policeman said as he opened the door that contains the rat people that once crowded this room. When he did so, I saw what seemed like a mess of flesh, blood, and bones forced to be crammed in the walls. It appeared that some of the people are still breathing and can speak, but it''s clear that they would soon die anyway now that they''ve all been turned into a mushy mixture of different people and things.


    Christopher then looked back at the policeman with a relaxed smile. \"Nah. You can just slice off the meat you''ll need.\"


    \"Cool.\" After saying so, the policeman then pierced his knife towards a dangling thigh inside of him and slashed the blade downward, butchering the ''meat'' before him like it''s nobody''s business.


    Whoever owned that thigh then let out a loud gurgling cry that didn''t last long. Only a few whispers can be heard on the wall before the sound ceased altogether. The policeman then placed a patch of muscle that he had cut-off from the rat person''s leg and began cleaning it with the faucet at the bottom of the table. Ah, so that''s where they got their water.


    The policeman then rushed towards the still open secret passage on the wall and started scooping some innards and a kidney from the pile of flesh inside of the wall. Some of flesh and blood inside of the makeshift container on the other side of the wall then started to fall out of the open passageway, almost flooding the whole area with mushy flesh. Seeing this, the salesman took a step back before shrieking, almost puking at the sight of innards falling out of the wall.


    The policeman then returned to his station while Christopher was still expertly choosing which meat to use.


    \"You must be so excited right now, eh, father?\" The policeman said as he washed all the blood, shit, and dirt away from the piece of meat he had taken.


    \"Hmm? Why should I be?\" Well, I am excited, but was I smiling too damn broadly that this sick fuck saw me doing it?\"


    \"Oh, well, because you''re the judge, of course!\" The policeman said with a playful chuckle. \"You must be so happy to receive your first meal in a while, eh?\"


    ...


    Huh?


    I AM GOING TO EAT THEIR HANNIBAL LECTER SHIT!?

 139 Slugfest Mini Challenge In the Middle of the Cooking Show

    The four contestants before continued to cook around, not caring about anything else that''s happening in the world as they left the bodies spewing out of the secret passage on the shining white walls. They proceeded to chop, stir, beat, and whatever else they were doing on the white table before them. I''m not at all a cook, and I have never once cooked anything in my life, so I have absolutely no fucking idea what these two are doing.


    All I know for sure is that the nurse and the salesman are all looking around them as countless still living people started to climb out of the open passage on the wall like slime creatures. Their bones and blood and innards are all mashed together into an incohesive mess that almost looked like a postmodern art project critiquing the sliminess of reality or some similar pretentious modern bullshit. I could see one of those slimy-looking men crawl towards Kirstel and Francis like they cling to the remaining hope they have to remain living in this world. Their bloodied and mangled bodies are mixed with the shit on the floor, the grease on their bodies, and the piss scattered about. Meanwhile, their bones stick out of their crushed muscles, making them all look like slimy uncooked chicken wings.


    \"Greeaagghhh... hrraaghh...\" one of the crawling men said as he extended his arms towards the salesman and the nurse.


    \"Get the fuck away from me!\" The salesman said as he pushed the nurse behind him to hide her away from this crawling monstrosity.


    \"Heel... eeelllpp...\" One of the crawling men uttered in a weak and raspy voice, which made me feel like something was clawing right inside of the slimy man''s throat.


    \"STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY FROM MEEEE!\" The nurse said in his excruciating high-pitched voice as he smashes her hands on the sweaty back of the salesman.


    More and more men started to crawl out of the wall, leaving trails of black and red all over the floor as they all reached out towards the trembling nurse and salesman. These fucked up people that came out of the wall had faces that are barely recognizable and bodies that are so mushy and mangled up that it can''t even be considered human-like anymore. They all looked like slimes that had come out of their shells only for us to find out that they''re covered in this sticky red and black bile.


    While still in the middle of cooking, Christopher saw this, seemingly troubled that the panicked faces of Kirstel and Francis are disturbing his peaceful moment while cooking with the policeman. He then gently threw a sharp knife towards the direction of the salesman and the nurse with a playful smile.


    \"Just use that to kill them if you like!\" Christopher said as he continued cooking his meal again, not anymore disturbed by the wailings and groaning all around him.


    \"Are you insane!? You want me to kill them!?\" The salesman said as he walked back into the corner of the room with the nurse hiding behind him. \"YOU''RE A FUCKING PSYCHO! THE TWO OF YOU ARE PSYCHOS! YOU''RE INSANE!\"


    \"Oh, grow up, man!\" The policeman said while doing something with his pan. I can''t quite see it, but it looks like he''s doing some kind of saucy dish? \"Those people are already dead! They will die once we leave this place! What''s the worst that could happen!? Just fucking use your knife and end their suffering already! I bet that''s what they want you to do anyway! So help yourself, please! Kill them! They''re already dead!\" The policeman then pointed his hand towards the knife on the floor. \"Kill them!\" He repeated with a tone that both sounded condescending and impatient.


    Francis wanted to say something as a rebuttal to what the policeman had just said. However, before he could utter a single syllable, the nurse had already run towards the knife. She then let out a harrowing scream, which sounded a whole lot like a pig being slaughtered mixed with the sound that an old car engine makes. Kirstel then knelt on the floor while pointing the sharp knife towards the almost brainless slug creatures on the floor. The damn dying men are still approaching her, probably because they can''t hear or see everything around them anymore.


    \"C-calm down, Kirstel!\" Francis said as he rushed towards the trembling Kirstel, who''s still trembling on the floor with a knife on her hands, pointed at the approaching slugs. \"This is not like you! Don''t do what that bastard is telling your head! We''ve already gone past that; we''re better now! We don''t blindly follow people''s orders anymore! That''s not how we are now after we left that cult! We''re better now, Kirstel! Don''t waste that!\"


    \"We''re better...\" The nurse slowly whispered as she listened to what the salesman had just said. However, her tight grip around the hilt of the knife never loosened as she continued to point the damn thing towards the crawling slug men on the ground.


    Francis then wrapped his sweaty hands around the trembling shoulders of Kirstel. \"Yes...\" He gently whispered with a relaxed smile as he pulled the nurse towards his wet chest. \"Yes, we''re better now...\" He reiterated with a smile as tears started to well upon his face.


    After hearing this, the nurse suddenly gritted her teeth loudly, making me hear the sound of it gnashing together as if it''s being ground into a pulp. Kirstel then screamed loudly as she very meekly slashed the knife she''s holding towards the puddle of sweat in between Francis'' manboobs. Luckily, the salesman managed to see through this and avoid the nurse''s strike before it reaches his skin. However, it was still enough to leave a visible tear around the upper left side of his clothes. The nurse, in a maddened frenzy, slashed her weapon around like she''s desperately trying to scar the air surrounding her. She then screeched like a trapped banshee while moving her head about in the same rapid motion of her arms, making her hair cover the entirety of her face that''s already wet with sweat.


    Suddenly, a slug man had finally managed to approach her, but before it could even touch the nurse''s bare thighs, Kirstel had already plunged her knife deep into the slimy man''s head, killing him effortlessly.


    \"THAT''S EXACTLY WHY WE''RE FUCKING HERE, YOU FUCKING FAT FUCK!\" The nurse said while looking at the salesman with unequivocal condemnation written all over her disgusted scowl. Her reddened eyes then continued to show a flaming fury as she pulled the knife out of the slug man''s head with the greatest of ease. \"I AM SUFFERING IN THIS GARBAGE HEAP WITH A FUCKING UGLY FUCK LIKE YOU, AND EVERYONE ELSE JUST EXPECTS ME TO TAKE IT! I''M DONE! I''M FUCKING DONE; I''M FUCKING OVER IT--NO MORE! IF THE PRICE OF BEING BETTER IS TO BE IN THIS SHITTY FUCKING PLACE, THEN I WISH I DIDN''T LEAVE PLURAL HEIGHTS INSTEAD AND JUST STAYED ON MY MANSION WITH MY HUSBAND AND MY TWO LOVELY KIDS AND MY AMAZING CAREER AND... AND... and...\"


    \"I-it''s okay, Kirstel... breathe...\" The salesman uttered weakly as he waved his hands towards the nurse with a panicked and saddened expression. He doesn''t seem to mind how the nurse had almost murdered him earlier.


    However, the nurse doesn''t give a shit about him anymore and just started going berserk all over the place. She crawled from one play to another, stabbing all around her and digging her knife into the slug men''s heads like she''s playing whack-a-mole. Blood, sweat, tears, piss, shit, and bile then splattered all over her white uniform as she continued to stab, stab, stab, stab, FUCKING STAB everything around her that would lock contact with her eyes. I was even already starting to feel partly scared that she might see me and start running like she''s in a marathon towards my bound body just so she could kill me too.


    \"Look at her go!\" The policeman uttered as she continued to go about his business on the table, cooking away while the nurse went on her merry way to murder everyone and everything in the immediate vicinity. He then laughed out loud while in the middle of cooking as he stared at the way the nurse screeched while plunging her knife onto the slug men''s heads.


    Christopher remained quiet while listening to the policeman''s hearty laugh. It seemed that he would rather focus on his dish than to get on the policeman''s comedy trip. Meanwhile, I just sat there, completely fucking bored while waiting for these two people to unbound me and move on to the next area already. I''m already getting bored. Why am I even placed here? How fucking unfair! How come those two people get to stay there and kill to their heart content!


    The policeman then threw his knife towards the salesman, sending a loud metallic clanking sound all over the room. \"Go on now, pal! Get on with the party too!\"


    However, the salesman just decided to walk back while shaking his head as he glared at the knife on the floor. After a while, the nurse noticed the second weapon sitting there and took it without a second thought as she continued to hack and stab every head around her, dead or alive, using both her hands.

 140 Taste Tes

    While the contestants prepared, the nurse continued to stab the corpses all around her without an ounce of remorse. She very viciously thrust the point of her knives into the slime things around her with a blank expression along with an equally void gaze spewing out of her dead eyes. On the other hand, the salesman just sat there on the corner with his head hanging low, and his arms resting on his knees. The whole thing is so god damn pathetic that I kinda wished that I''m right there with them, chilling and vibing, but instead, I have to endure being in this electric chair bounded the entirety of my body.


    Oh well. The only thing that matters now is the fact that the contestants of the cooking show are both starting to plate the meals they have oh so graciously prepared for this stupid bet.


    Oh yeah, I remembered that there''s going to be a judge. I wonder if it''s going to be the other Crawler. I looked around me and saw no separate entryway for anyone to get into other than the two doors at the end of this narrow room and the two secret passages on the wall. As I am contemplating the judging issue, I saw that Christopher finished preparing his dish first as I noticed that the policeman is still very nonchalantly making the dish boiling in his black cauldron.


    "That smells nice," Christopher said as he looked at the side of the policeman. It seemed like the dish he had prepared for this competition was already adequately laid out on a pure white glass plate.


    "Thanks." The policeman said delightfully with a relaxed smile before uttering a chuckle. "Yours look great too. You must be a pro." He added as he scooped his dish using a ladle and placed it on a white porcelain bowl. He then looked at Christopher with his hands on his waist as he spoke with a nod. "I''m ready."


    "Great!" Christopher said as he clapped his hands twice, which made the nurse and the salesman flinch. The two people then looked all around them with a clear look of confusion on their faces. The nurse then dropped her knives as her hands suddenly began to shake profusely. Meanwhile, the salesman merely looked around him with his hands tightly clenched as if he''s preventing himself from puking.


    Hmm? Is this the part where the judge comes out of nowhere or something?


    However, no such thing happened. Instead, the two contestants raised their dishes and slowly turned their heads to face me with their still smoking hot meals on their hands. I then saw distorted smiles on their faces, which is enough to send tremors of fear all over my bounded body.


    "Wh-what''s up?" I said with a chuckle as I moved my body as far away from them as possible, but I just can''t do that since the electric chair is glued on tightly on the floor. What the fuck!? How the fuck did this thing even got here? I could swear that it''s not here earlier!


    Suddenly, small square-shaped holes appeared on my sides. After a while, a loud hissing noise resounded with the deafening sound of a metallic beeping below the floor. While the chaotic noisecore music reverberated around me, I then saw two, white, thin coffee tables with circular surfaces ascended from the hole that appeared beside me. The porcelain coffee tables came out of the darkness lurking below us effortlessly, and from the looks of it, these things have been placed there for a very long time because there''s dust, spider webs, and cockroach eggs all around it.


    Once the whole table fiasco was over, the two contestants swiftly came towards the porcelain tables around me and placed their dishes on it without even cleaning the damn thing.


    Err...


    Wait a minute...


    What is happening here?


    Why are they looking at me with that stupid fucking smiles on their faces like they''re about to rape a virgin high school girl or something? What the fuck is going on here!?


    "Wh-what''s going on, guys?" I said as I chuckled nervously while looking at the two dishes around me. They all look great, but holy fucking shit! After knowing that the damn thing is made out of those slug people, the sight of these seemingly harmless dishes makes me wanna puke instead.


    The smile on Christopher''s face then changed into that of a blank expression before he started to roar out, "OKAY, IT''S TIME FOR DINNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"


    His scream echoed all over the room that it seemed like it had woken up one of the slug people on the ground. Contrary to my expectations, the nurse didn''t kill the slimy man like what she had been doing in her little beast mode moment, which is a huge disappointment. She then shrieked after seeing the knives on her hands and dropped them instantly like she''s utterly grossed out by the sight of it alone. Instead of doing another murder spree, she ran towards the salesman instead with a high pitched scream upon finally realizing the amount of death around her. No, really, she had just not realized that shit. Dumb bitch.


    "What is the meaning of this?" I asked the two people standing around me with visible confusion as I saw them taking a moldy and dusty spoon that''s hiding beneath the white coffee table.


    "Didn''t you hear what the gentleman said, father?" The policeman said with his usual crescent-shaped smirk, which sounded more like he''s trying his hardest to stop himself from mocking me further than this. "It''s time for dinner! YOUR dinner!" He said as he pointed his spoon at me before plunging it deep into his stew.


    "That''s right..." Christopher said as he squinted his dim eyes as I could see him visibly trying his hardest to keep his laughter within him. "... father."


    "... are you saying I''m the judge?" I asked Christopher, who''s standing before me with a perfectly straight posture.


    "That''s about right."


    "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING!?" I roared, which caught Christopher by surprise like he had just seen the ghost of his ancestors. "YOUR GARBAGE MEAL CAME FROM THOSE DISGUSTING THING ON THE FLOOR! I WILL NEVER AGREE ON CONSUMING THAT SHIT WHILE I''M STILL BREATHING IN THIS HERE PLANET THAT THE WORLD HAD CREATED!"


    Christopher is clearly shocked upon seeing me losing my cool and cursing like that since he began to blink uncontrollably with a wave of perplexity covering his dumbfounded expression. He does not even wish to look at me anymore. Wordlessly, he cleared his throat and just continued to look at me with his mouth agape.


    "Hey, hey, hey, father! Keep it chill, man! You''ve always been the chill one here; what''s with all these rackets?" The policeman said with a mockingly gentle tone like he''s talking to a girl in the club or something.


    "I would retain my calmness, sure, if you decided to eat that garbage you''ve cooked for yourself," I said as I looked back at Christopher with an apparent look of condemnation written all over my face. I only have one message to him: I will make him die and pull his soul back to the earth again just so I can kill him again before doing that same shit over and over again until we''re both sick of it. I then looked back at the policeman with a clearly indignant expression. "If you won''t do that, then no thank you."


    "You don''t get to dictate the rules, father!" The policeman said as he raised his spoon from his bowl to reveal a piece of sliced meat swimming on a brown sauce. "You know what this dish has in it other than those fucked up shit on the ground right now? It''s simple really: olive oil, carrots, diced onion, and of course, looooooove!" The policeman said as he looked at the mold sitting on the arc of his spoon while more brown sauce dripped out of it, falling towards the bowl before him. "The rules are simple. The sacrifice will get to be the judge, and that''s it! NOW OPEN UP, FATHER!"


    The policeman then grabbed my chin and pulled it to force my mouth to open as wide as it possibly can. The policeman then plunged his spoon deep into my mouth until it reached my throat.


    "Is it good? IT''S GOOD ISN''T IT!? YOU LIKE IT, RIGHT?" The policeman then laughed heartily as he moved his spoon in and out of my mouth like he''s using it to brush my teeth. After that, he pulled the spoon out of my mouth and dropped it onto his bowl, letting it sink deep into the sauce until I couldn''t see it anymore. "It''s your turn now, man." The policeman said while looking at Christopher with his hands on his chest.


    "Erm... uh..." Christopher said as he saw how I forcefully gulped down the meat that the policeman had stuck in my throat. He then looked at the steak on his plate with a pang of both regret and worry.


    "What''s the matter, man?" The policeman said with a disgusted scowl. "If you can''t do it..." He said as he walked briskly towards Christopher''s side. The muscled policeman then pushed my family''s loyal servant and took the steak on the plate with his bare hands. "THEN I''LL DO IT MYSELF!" The policeman then grabbed my face and smashed the steak into my face, not even putting it inside of my face. He''s literally just shoving it on my face. Is he expecting my pores to eat it?


    Christopher then sighed while looking at this pathetic sight. He then tapped the policeman''s shoulder. "Clearly, the priest doesn''t want to eat my dish even when he very willingly ate yours." When he did so, the servant took a minigun on his back pocket, which made the policeman panic for a bit, so he took his hands off me and stepped away from Christopher. "You won!" Christopher then pointed the barrel of the minigun on his temples and pulled the trigger just like that.


    The policeman just looked at Christopher fall into the ground with his gaze rooted at the hole on the side of his opponent''s head. Meanwhile, I heard the nurse scream when the loud sound of the gun resounded throughout the air.


    "Haha..." The policeman then threw Christopher''s steak on the hole on his head. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He continued on with his hands outstretched while his upper body was leaning back.

 141 A Star is Born?

    The enormous black minigun that came out of Christopher''s back pocket and he used ever so quickly to blast his brains off dropped into the floor once Christopher himself fell into the ground. The room was then filled with a deafening silence that none of us had anticipated. First of all, how could a massive weapon like that emerge out of that bastard''s tight pocket! It makes 0 fucking sense! Is this another one of those stupid tricks and shit that came out of Lucas'' dumb ass van on the other side?


    Okay, okay... I need to calm down... Christopher is going to be okay, so that''s nothing to him. That real problem here is how these people would react.


    For the first time in a while, the policeman showed a crack on his impregnable smirk. A wave of shock, anger, and a twinge of fear crept upon the muscled man''s tan face as he took a few steps back away from Christopher''s mangle body. Smoke continued to come out of one of the minigun''s many barrels. The shocked policeman then shook his head vigorously before rushing towards the minigun on the floor. He didn''t even check if Christopher is okay. Well, why would he? The guy is clearly dead; there''s literally no other bigger interpretations to this¡ªhe''s just dead, dropped on the floor like the fucking loser that he is.


    The policeman then lifted the minigun into his table. From the looks of it, the tanned muscled man had a hard time carrying the damn thing; it has got to be heavy... I mean, the damn thing is absolutely fucking enormous! Nevertheless, Christopher just pulled it out of his back pocket with his right hand just so he could have a dramatic exit out of this shithole. Fucking show-off as always...


    "This damn thing has no other bullets in it..." The policeman said with a defeated grunt as he places his arms around his waist with a defeated sigh. "Looks like the guy just blasted his head off and left us with a useless weapon. Well, I mean, we can probably still use this to bash somebody''s head, not gonna lie." He added with a groan but instantly chuckled right away as if he had just realized that whatever he had just said is funny... at least, to him.


    "There''s a corpse on the floor!" The salesman said as he swiftly walked towards the nonchalant policeman. He just stepped on the slug men on the floor as if they weren''t corpses... I guess this guy just thinks that it''s okay to be sad about your death as long as your body is intact and you''re neatly dressed. He then showed a disturbed scowl on his face as he pointed at Christopher''s lifeless body. "The least of our problems now is the gun!"


    "Absolutely not!" The nurse said as she slowly walked towards the direction of the policeman. She then clung onto the policeman''s chest with a sigh. "That man planned to kill one of us; who cares if he killed himself? I say, good riddance! He signed up for that himself! But he left us a weapon like this that we can use if we saw one of those monsters again!"


    "I agree!" The policeman gently said with a slow nod that makes me wonder if he really understood what they were talking about. Instead, the policeman just allowed his hands to travel around the nurse''s body until it reached her ass. The muscled man then gripped on the meek lady''s left ass cheeks as if he owns it. Meanwhile, the lady herself didn''t seem to mind it and just flinched lightly when the deed was done.


    "WE DON''T EVEN HAVE BULLETS FOR IT!" The salesman further antagonized as he pointed both of her hands towards the minigun on the white table before him. "HOW ARE WE GONNA FIRE THIS SHIT IF WE DON''T EVEN HAVE WAYS TO SHOOT IT! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE THIS?"


    The policeman then sighed as he scratched the back of his head with a shrug. "That''s why I said we will use it as a blunt weapon, you deaf, dumb fuck." The policeman said with a click of his tongue. "And to answer your question, yes. Yes, I know how to fucking use this shit. Now, stop being such a fucking bitch and help us, won''t you?"


    "Uhh..." I said, finally wanting this damn thing to end already. I let out a defeated sigh as I remained seated on the electric chair with steak sauce dripping on my face. "A little bit of help would be nice."


    "Oh my god!" The nurse exclaimed as she slowly moved towards me. She then started taking the restraints off my body. Haa... About damn time. I thought I''m gonna get cramps if I stayed like this for another minute. "I''m so sorry, father! We didn''t mean to forget you." Was it because I''m quiet all this time? Damn. Maybe I should start showing my presence every now and then too. Oh well. Who could blame me? I''ve been forced to be on different sorts of restraints for two areas now. I wasn''t even able to give my vote to the nurse earlier in that game show thing. Now they''re gonna forget about me after hoarding those murder spree all for themselves?


    Rude.


    I ain''t got any complaints yet, though.


    "It''s quite alright," I said as I slowly stood up from the electric chair for the first time in a long while with a soft grunt. I felt like I''ve been there since forever. "So why hasn''t any of you congratulated the policeman yet for his exemplary work earlier?" I said with the fakest laugh plastered all over my sauce riddled face. I then started wiping my face on my cassock after realizing this.


    It seems that everyone gave varying reactions upon hearing my somewhat complimentary tone.


    "Uhh... Thanks, I guess?" The policeman is clearly distraught after hearing it. He raised his eyebrow while looking at me like I''m some kind of psycho weirdo. Can''t blame him. He kinda did force a spoon deep into my mouth, which is... rape-y, not gonna lie.


    "Why the fuck are you saying that after what he had done to you, father?" Meanwhile, the salesman just looked at me with both shock and disgust as if he hadn''t expected me to side on the policeman. I also can''t blame him. After all, if I had a bit of control over this damn dungeon, I would have already chopped the policeman into different million pieces and turned him into a meal ala Sweeney Todd.


    "The priest is right! We should be celebrating right now!" The nurse said with a stupidly naive smile on her face. It seemed that she''s the only one delighted upon hearing what I had just said.


    "Well, I get the frustrations around. I''ve been frustrated about the whole thing myself." I said with my hands on my chest while looking at the people around me before uttering a soft chuckle. "But we have to understand that the policeman had risked his life to get us all out of here. This man knew that he alone would die if he participates in this whole damn thing, but he still did it regardless. That sort of bravery warrants a few words of gratitude from me." I said as a matter of fact, even if I don''t believe what had just left my mouth.


    "I... I guess..." The salesman said as he let his head drop with a sigh.


    "That''s right! We should all be happy that we''re all here!" I then looked down at Christopher''s corpse with a look of condemnation. "The deed is done, and the die is cast." I then looked back at the people around me with the same fake ass smile I always flaunt around throughout this whole dungeon thing. "See? The policeman is sorta like that Barbara Streisand movie uh... where she married this guy, and she became an award-winning person... What was it called again?"


    "A Star is Born?" The nurse asked as she checked my body for injuries. Huh. Oh yeah. She IS a nurse. She should know some of these, but this is actually the first time I''ve seen her do these physical check things since the first area.


    I then snapped my fingers while looking at the policeman. "Precisely! You are a star, Mister Policeman! You should be proud!"


    After hearing this, the policeman gradually let out a soft chuckle that turned into a hoarse and hearty laugh. "YOU''RE RIGHT, FATHER!" He said as he forcefully pulled the nurse towards him and started groping her chest. "I AM A STAR! I SHOULD BE CELEBRATED! I DID ALL THESE FOR ALL OF YOU UNGRATEFUL FUCKS AND THE LEAST YOU CAN DO IS TO SERVE ME!"


    "You son of a bitch, stop that!" The salesman thundered, but, like, he didn''t really do anything to stop him. Well, someone''s scared.


    "Now, now," I said while waving my hands towards the haughty salesman. "We need to not have another argument in this place. How about we just move on and leave this place together, eh? What say y''all?"


    Everyone then reluctantly agreed to me other than the policeman who laughed ever so loudly while wholeheartedly agreeing to what I had just said.


    I then opened the door sitting behind the electric chair and saw two white towels hanging on each side of the corridor.

 142 Stop It Right There!

    The corridor we''re walking on right now is... quite weird, to say the least. I mean, it''s not THE weirdest thing in the dungeon, absolutely not. It''s just that the walls are made of bricks, but the ceiling and the floor is metal, which is filled with so much rust that I almost thought that it would disintegrate once I stepped on it. The clanking sound of our steps echoed throughout the corridor as I walked beside Francis. I''m not quite sure, but I have no idea what is happening with the nurse and the policeman behind us, and at this point, I''m too lazy to look.


    The minigun that I''m dragging with both my hands then let out a loud screeching noise all over the room as it hit the floor. It sounded, oh, so unbearable, but I have to be the one to carry this.


    "You need help with that, father?" The salesman said as he looked at me with a genuinely concerned expression.


    "Nah. I''m good!" I said with a smile as I faked a tired expression. It would be troublesome if I made these people realize that I''m actually strong enough to lift this damn minigun thing with both my hands easily. Also, I absolutely do not want these shady ass people to carry this heavy weapon if I can help it! I will be the one to carry it, and I will never let any of these fuck ups have their skin make contact with the surface of this stupid minigun. "I''ll be fine. Bless you, Francis."


    The salesman then decided to ignore me wordlessly upon hearing this and just graciously bowed down with a somewhat annoyed expression. Well, to be fair, he always gives off that angry vibe every goddamn time.


    I then heard the two people behind us giggle as they whisper all sorts of random ramblings beneath their breath among each one another. I noticed that this is enough to ruin the salesman''s mood as his steps gradually turn into stomps that made me so nervous. What if he dents the floor or something? Who knows what would happen on a rusted floor?


    "Hey, stop that..." I heard the nurse say amid a few nervous chuckles, which made me raise an eyebrow slightly.


    I then moved my gaze towards the salesman and saw that he, too, felt kind of icky upon hearing the nurse''s silent protestation. However, I think he hates it more because of the notion that the policeman gets to flirt with her... and not him.


    "Come on, it''s gonna be fine..." I sensed the policeman mutter quietly amid silent smooch noises and loud panting sounds. I then heard a few loud continuous footsteps behind us, which sorta sounded like there''s some kind of struggle happening at this very moment between the two of them.


    The salesman is now looking very haughty and angry as he gritted his teeth tightly. He then hid both of his trembling hands in his pockets as he continued to ignore the ramblings of the people behind us. I could see the vibration coursing throughout his body, and it''s not because he''s scared or anything; he''s more like an active volcano on the verge of an explosion in about a few minutes or so.


    "No... they''re looking at us. We should wait..." The nurse''s chuckle now disappeared as she began to sound a whole lot more worried and afraid rather than her usual playfulness earlier. Her giggles ceased; it''s replaced with a few groans that seemed like a foreboding of a tragedy to come.


    "Just shut up, bitch! You''re the one clinging onto me so much earlier, and now you''re here being like a prude suddenly? What the fuck is wrong with you?" I heard the policeman''s angered utterance behind us, which prompted me to stop walking. I then looked behind me to see that the two people quarreling there at my back have now stopped moving altogether.


    The policeman wraps the entirety of his arm around Kirstel''s waist, pulling her further towards his chest. Meanwhile, the nurse is pulling her upper body far away from the policeman''s torso with a look of absolute disgust and fear. On the other hand, the policeman is giving a very broad smile that spans all over the lower half of his face while an angered frown conquers the area around his eyes. The muscled police officer is using his other hand to grip Kirstel''s left arms, which makes the lady shake profusely.


    "N-no... th-that''s not it! I just don''t want to do all these with you here with all these people with us!" The nurse retorted with a soft tone that''s filled with so much patience. She then used her other hand to massage the policeman''s biceps gently as she began to let out a pained smile.


    "Just fucking take what a man gives you, bitch!" The policeman roared as he slapped the nurse''s hands, making her stop massaging his biceps. She then groaned loudly with a pained hiss as she took a step back away from the policeman. "I have to remind you that I AM THE REASON WHY WE''RE ALIVE! You should be thankful to me!"


    In a shocking turn of events, the policeman suddenly pushed Kirstel on the floor ever so forcefully, which is unnecessary since he could just push her lightly, and the now weakened nurse would still stumble on the floor just the same. Thus, because of the policeman''s aggressive treatment, the nurse''s body almost flew towards the brick wall with a pained groan. She then started to massage her back with eyes that are about to tear up with both fear and worry.


    "C-calm down, policeman. No need to be so violent, please?" The nurse implored upon the policeman gently with a soothing voice. She then tried to go towards him, but after seeing the distorted scowl on the policeman''s face, Kirstel decided not to approach him and just go as far away from him as she possibly could.


    "You don''t have the right to tell me what to do, female!" The policeman snarled like a provoked wolf with his fangs bare as he gave full emphasis on the word ''female'' as if he''s trying to dehumanize Kirstel as much as he could. I feel like he''s working so hard to assert his dominance that his prey just started rushing away from him.


    Kirstel then hurriedly walked towards our direction. "There''s no need to be so brash, policeman! We''re all grown adults here; this is unnecessary!" The nurse uttered as she stepped away from the policeman with eyes filled with welling tears. She then stood between the salesman and me.


    The policeman then extended his hand towards the nurse, which made the lady shriek out loud as she tried to move as far away from his reach in vain. The policeman then managed to grab the nurse''s collar before the tearful lady could escape further. With a hoarse chuckle, the policeman then pulled the nurse away from us and pulled her towards him closer than ever. The muscled man then started to face his back on us as he constricts the nurse''s body using both his hands.


    I couldn''t see much because the policeman decided to hide his disgusting act away from us; perhaps, this is his way to appease the nurse''s worries? However, she''s not at all pleased with it. As the policeman licked and kissed all over the nurse''s neck and face, Kirstel began to cry out in agony with a voice filled with utter disgust. She was about to ask for help when the policeman suddenly stopped her voice by pushing his tongue forcefully towards the insides of Kirstel''s mouth.


    "You son of a bitch, stop this right now!" The salesman thundered with his usual snarky and arrogant tone. His trembling hands then began to move all over his pockets.


    However, the policeman just peered at the salesman upon hearing that warning and smirked beneath the covers of his shoulders, mocking him with every step it takes. It seems that the policeman just decided to ignore the salesman''s seemingly futile attempt to stop him as he started to assault and molest the still struggling nurse. Kirstel tried her hardest to wriggle away from the policeman''s tight hold by hitting his body and pushing herself away from the policeman''s arms. However, it seems like this just makes the policeman tighten his grips around her body, making it even more impossible for Kirstel to escape.


    Kirstel then started to stomp on the policeman''s feet countless times, but the policeman just continued to assault her further as if he''s not even feeling the pain of it all.


    It''s almost a spectacle to see! I have never seen such an ugly and angry scowl on the nurse''s face directed towards the policeman for, like, the entirety of this whole dungeon shenanigans! Kirstel then began to smash her knees onto the policeman''s crotch, but oddly enough, the muscled man still didn''t seem fazed by it and just continued on groping and massaging and kissing and licking the poor nurse''s body. At this point, the nurse is already giving off a vibe of full and utter pain; it''s not one that is caused by a physical injury but more dynamic and for more complex than anything I have ever seen from a person before. The way her mouth stretches widely as she screams in terror, the movement of her body that resembled that of a wriggling worm, and the way she flails her limbs all over the place like she''s swimming on air is a picturesque scene that I never thought I would ever see in this dilapidated hell hole.


    "I SAID, STOP IT!" The salesman roared with the fury of a thousand storms as he ran towards the direction of the man molesting the only lady in our group.


    The policeman then decided to ignore him further, thinking that maybe the salesman wouldn''t be able to do anything to him. However, contrary to what this stupid bird brain believes, the salesman has a trick up his sleeves. From out of the pocket of his slacks, he pulled out a small knife that Christopher used earlier. I''m guessing he had taken it from the servant''s table and didn''t tell us about his plans with it, which is super fucking shady, but it worked in his favor, so...


    Who''s the clown here, right?


    Francis then thrust the knife towards the policeman with a roar. The now sweaty salesman kept stabbing and stabbing and stabbing the policeman''s back all over the place. He let out a blood-curdling shout, which sounded a whole lot like him being tortured and torturing someone at the same time--it''s filled with pain and anger and excitement all mixed together to form an awful, awful mess.


    Blood then started to spurt out of the policeman''s body, and oddly enough, what came out of his back are a few squirts of green bile-like liquid that has the texture of cum and evaporated milk. It slowly crawls out of the man''s wounds while also squirting from the holes every now and then, which resembled that of a water gun being fired off from the policeman''s back.


    Finally, the fucking pervert in the blue uniform stopped his unstoppable sexual onslaught and screamed out loud as I saw him fall into the floor. I then moved forward and pulled the nurse away from the policeman and hid her behind me as I carried the minigun with both my arms. I faked a pained expression, so it would seem like I''m having a hard time carrying this thing, but it''s actually not that bad. However, I can''t let these motherfuckers know that.


    The salesman then stopped stabbing the policeman''s back as he took a step back with green blood all over his body. He''s still tightly gripping the knife on his hand as he panted heavily with pupils dilated so widely that I found it almost disgusting.


    "Alright, alright," I said with a sigh towards the bloodied man who''s screaming loudly on the floor. "Stop it right there!"

 143 Call Me Mother

    Wheezings, loud and heavy that I could almost feel it coursing through my veins. It''s almost disgusting how much breathing I could hear all around me; it''s very terrifying, but also oddly sexual that I am now on the verge of puking. I know I sound like I''m rambling nonsense, but believe me, it makes sense to me.


    "I''m sorry, policeman, but I will treat what the salesman did as something that I expected, really. You''re being a total asshole for the entire time, and I think it''s our job to lecture you about what''s right or wrong." I then pointed the barrels of the minigun at the policeman, which is enough to empower me, although the guns are not at all loaded with any bullets whatsoever. "Now, stand up and take the lead. I don''t want to have you walking behind me ever again."


    The policeman then raised his head with a groan, but oddly enough, it doesn''t feel like he''s reacting like what a normal human being should. I mean, typically, a person would already be dead after receiving what seems like five stab wounds or something. I''m not sure, really, probably a lot more, but the point is that other men would probably be dead by now and won''t even be able to walk freely.


    But this man has been seeded.


    That means he''s special, far more durable, way better than the standard human model. In fact, I am reasonably sure that he''s unlike any being that exists outside of this dungeon. The policeman just looked at me with nonchalant eyes, seemingly understanding why I am very wary of him. However, he looked at the salesman with a scowl filled with utter condemnation that I could visibly feel the negative energy welling up into his eyes and forming into red veins around his pupils. The policeman then bumped his shoulder onto the salesman as he slowly walked towards the door at the other end of the corridor.


    "Great job, Mister Policeman," I said as I walked behind him, following his slow pace as I pointed the minigun at him. "May God be with you, my son," I added just a little bit of flair to show him further that I am not his enemy. Ha! Oh well! I''ll let him believe whatever he wants.


    The nurse then walked towards the salesman as she spoke to him with a gentle tone. "Are you okay?" She asked with her hands tightly, gripping Francis'' shoulders. They''re both walking beside me, so I can also monitor them closely. I don''t ever want to take my eyes off these sons of bitches ever again.


    The salesman then let out a defeated sigh as he used his palm to wipe the green blood plastered on his face. "Yeah, I''m quite alright. Thank you for your worries." She said as he waved his hand around to rim off the green blood tightly sticking on his skin.


    "You did really well earlier, you know that? You''re like my hero." The nurse said with a chuckle as she now started to massage the salesman''s tense shoulders. "You did me real solid out there! I could have been raped without you. You''re so strong and so reliable, unlike me." The nurse further added with eyes filled with extremely uncomfortable longing.


    Is she horny? She''s turned on after seeing all that shit all over this fat fuck? What the fuck is wrong with this chick?


    "Yeah, don''t worry about it." The salesman whispered reassuringly as I saw the corners of his lips perk up into a gentle smile. "As long as I''m here with you, I promise that no harm will ever come your way." The salesman said as he straightened his posture with a proud look plastered all over his face.


    The nurse then looked at the salesman with a playful smile. "So would you die for me?"


    The salesman then flinched upon hearing this, but he instantly regained his composure to respond quickly with a panicked tone. "Y-yeah! Absolutely! I personally believe that men have an obligation to save women from harm!" The salesman said with a puffed chest as he snickered and grinned with newfound pride. "That''s why I can''t forgive what the policeman had done to you earlier." God, he''s so fucking pathetic. It''s so clear as day that he''s desperately trying to get between this lady''s pants.


    The nurse then smiled playfully again with an apparent excitement creeping all over her face. She then smiled at me, which made her look like a conniving little bitch with some shady deals to offer. As that bright expression continued to be plastered all over her face, she muttered underneath her breath, "I''ll keep that in mind."


    The policeman then suddenly halted his steps before he turned his head to look back at me with a bored look on his face. "We''re here, father. What now?"


    "Huh?" I responded with a dumbfounded expression. I then moved my body to look at what''s standing in front of the tanned muscled man looking at me. Ohh! We''re already at the end of the corridor. That means we have to unlock the next door.


    Hmm...


    The door this time is rather ominous. Its color is blue, and it''s made of some kind of weird material that I have never seen before, but the brightly translucent quality of it makes me think that maybe it''s made out of gemstone--a door made out of blue gems. Around the lower part of the blue gemstone is a perfectly cut black square hole that looks about the same size as my head.


    "What an amazing door..." The nurse said, seemingly realizing the appearance of the door just now as well.


    "You''re right! I wonder if we can keep this. We would be instantly rich if we could just carve out just a part of this damn thing." The salesman excitedly uttered with a gasp.


    Meanwhile, the policeman just looked at me with a pair of drowsy eyes.


    "Quit it. We only have thirty minutes, remember? Who knows how long it would take to carve that." I then looked around me while still dragging the minigun lazily onto the ground. "So who has the goods?" I asked while scanning my group who were all gazing at me with varying emotions conveyed through their eyes: the salesman seemed worried, the police were bored, and the nurse is... happy?


    "Me, me, me! Oh, I have the goods!" The nurse excitedly uttered. Huh. Now that she had said that, I realized that she is indeed carrying a towel containing some kind of bloodied object. Obviously, the red liquid oozing out of the cloth wrapped to look like a bag is dripping at the bottom of it. I can''t believe I am just now realizing this when the nurse is flaying her hands all over the place earlier. Ah, whatever. What happened in the past is irrelevant now.


    "Well then, just throw all of it towards the square hole right there," I said while pointing at the bottom part of the gemstone door using my chin. "Come here for a second, Mister Policeman," I said as I gently pulled the policeman''s arms towards me. Like a sleepy little puppy, the tanned muscled man just complied with what I wanted him to do, and he moved towards me sheepishly. "Go on then," I said to the nurse as I took the policeman far away from the door. "Take the goods inside of the hole."


    The nurse then placed the towel on the floor and undid the knot around the now reddened sheet, revealing a mushy and greasy flesh that resembled the skin of the slug people in the previous area. The nurse then very quickly lifted the meat from the floor; this really reveals that she''s a nurse since she didn''t seem to mind having a human being''s flesh on her palms. Nevertheless, wouldn''t it shake sane people if they hold a portion of a corpse''s muscle? Oh well. How the hell should I know? I''m not a scientist. The nurse then threw the human meat towards the square hole. When she did so, the crystal door slowly slid towards the side, revealing the sixth area.


    All of us entered the room with visible caution written all over our faces. We then stood in the middle of the room, which gave me enough time to assess the current situation. This area is definitely different from how it looked like three years ago.


    However, before I could even scan the next room, something instantly took my attention. I could see a huge TV screen plastered on the wall on our right side. With a loud static noise, the TV screen then showed the appearance of a familiar face, a person that all of the people present in this room at the moment definitely knew. They all looked visibly distraught upon seeing our mutual friend on the large screen inside of the room.


    "Hello there, my ungrateful children!" The lady''s voice on the TV screen then resounded throughout the air, jumping from one wall into another. "I see that there''s a few of you who survived. Congratulations!"


    "No... I''m already done with this, no..." The policeman uttered weakly with a clear sign of fear creeping on every syllable that comes out of his lips.


    The lady on the screen then fixed her lengthy hair, revealing her captivating beauty some more. "I guess it''s time for us to step up our game so that all of you will be punished before you return your soul to me."


    "...you fucking bitch..." The salesman snarled underneath his breath as he looked at the TV screen on our right side with eyes filled with loathing.


    "In case all of you have already forgotten..." The lady on the TV screen then showed a playful smile before letting out a silent giggle.


    "I can''t believe it..." The nurse said with trembling hands. If it weren''t for the fresh blood on her hands, she would have already covered her lips with her fingers. "Veronica..."


    "Call me mother."

 144 Youre Looking Very We

    "What''s with all the shock? Don''t tell me you didn''t expect this!?" The image of Veronica on the huge TV screen on the wall flickered ever so slightly every now and then as her serene voice boomed throughout our surroundings. "Psh! You''re a bunch of silly kids!"


    I then took a step back; I''m sure my mom informed her about her plans, so there''s no need for me to take her attention way too much.


    "Why can''t you just accept that people move on, Veronica!?" The salesman screamed out loud with his fingers shaped like a falcon''s talon, trembling profusely. "We''re done with you, and that''s final! We don''t want your bullshit anymore!"


    "Nah. That won''t do." Veronica uttered as her beautiful face beamed a mesmerizing smile while the TV screen itself would glitch every now and then. "You don''t have the right to move on from me. All you gotta do is obey. That''s all." The lady on the TV uttered lazily, not even wanting to have a serious conversation with the people harboring hatred against her.


    "You''re a bitch, Veronica! The only thing you know for real is that you''re a god, but you''re not! You will never be a god, and soon, everyone in your fucked up megachurch will see just how much of a manipulative piece of shit you are and realize that you''re just a whore with a god complex!" The nurse let out her hoarse voice to reiterate the anger spewing out of the void in her chest--a void that Plural Heights had created within her.


    "Girl, please! You allowed three men to use you in my office last year! I even have videos and recordings of it everywhere! Stop lumping me with your kind; I have receipts!" Veronica''s voice suddenly raised, which is an unexpected sight since she had managed to keep a level head for a while now. Maybe she just hates being called a whore, you know?


    "ENOUGH! I CAN''T STAND THIS ANYMORE!" The policeman then gritted his teeth as he shouted out loud with his muscles bulging from within his tight uniform. He then rushed towards the TV screen with his hands balled into a fist, ready to strike the TV screen.


    "I won''t do that if I were you." Veronica chuckled upon seeing the muscled man rush towards her colossal face on the wall.


    Nevertheless, even with that warning given to him, the policeman kept on running with his arms both raised, ready to strike the TV screen till it shattered into million glass shards. When his fist finally landed on Veronica''s nose, the policeman suddenly let out a chilling cry. He raised his hands in the air while gripping his wrist tightly. There, I saw that the skin around his knuckles had begun to melt into a pinkish liquid substance. The policeman continued to scream as his whole hand began to turn into a reddened bile-like thing, leaving only his bones intact, dangling around like a Christmas decor.


    "Told ya," Veronica said before she laughed out loud so damn hard that it almost made my ear bleed. However, the way she uttered her fit of laughter has this sort of quality in it that just feels so... fake. It felt a whole lot like she''s forcing herself to do this entire broadcast in general.


    The policeman continued to scream as smoke started to exhume out of his already melted hands. "AHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME!?"


    "None of your business. Now, let''s get on with the order of business, shall we?" The woman on the TV screen uttered ever so joyfully with the voice that I could only describe as angelic.


    Suddenly, water started sprinkling from all around us. That was when I finally had time to assess the situation at hand, realizing exactly where we are and what the surrounding looks like. The floor, the walls, and the ceiling are all plastered with a shining white square porcelain tile. I know very well that the room is well-lit since I can see everything so clearly, but because of the sudden sprinkles of water getting bombarded right at my face, I couldn''t quite figure out exactly where the light source is, could be from above us for all I care.  I also noticed that everything around me is white other than the TV screen while the room itself is huge enough to contain about a hundred people.


    I then realized that there are holes all over the walls, the ceiling, and the floor--holes small enough not to be able to see at first glance but big enough to make water squirt out of it in the form of rivulets being spewed out from every direction of my body like a laser made out of water. It made me remember about that time when my mom forcefully showered me when I was just a boy. I remember getting seven bruises after that session. It was fun.


    What''s not fun is what happened to our bodies when the water hit our skin. Rashes then started to appear from my skin that then sent a few stinging sensation all over my body. The red rashes went every skin of my body as if it''s trying to scald me alive! However, I knew that the water is not a strong acid because it didn''t burn our clothes nor did it melt out hair. It''s just irritates our skin, making us all want to scratch every nook and cranny of our bodies.


    "Ugh. Look at the dirt all around you! All of you look awful, awful, awful!" Veronica uttered amid the sound of countless water hitting from all around us. Then, she started cackling away with that same fakeness plastered all around it while all of us began to scream and shout because of the suddenness of this unneeded shower. "Yuck! You all have so much dirt on your body! What have you been doing out there? You''re like pigs; you disgust me! Look at all those shit all over you? It''s like there are mountains and islands on your skin!" She began to laugh out loud again, making her voice boom throughout the white walls of this cursed place.


    "STOP! STOOOOP!" I heard someone among us say, and from the sound of it, it must have come from Francis. "No more! NO MORE, PLEASE! THIS IS FAR TOO MUCH!"


    "Hmph! You''re looking very wet." Veronica scoffed. "Why are you giving up already? You can do it!


    "I''M SO SORRY, MOTHER! PLEASE! WE WON''T BETRAY YOU EVER AGAIN! WE WILL DO EVERYTHING YOU ASK!" The voice of a woman echoed amid the sound of water sprinkling the floor. From the looks of it, those words definitely came from the nurse, which is rich for her to say.


    Meanwhile, the policeman just continued to scream away in pain and agony from afar; from the sound of it, it seems like he''s still standing near the TV screen. Part of me wishes that the sudden downpour coming from all around us would make him slip, so his face would hit the surface of the TV screen and fucking flatten his stupid face already. Let''s see if he would still smirk after that.


    "Too late!" Veronica uttered as her once joyful voice now turned into a stern tone, filled with utter condemnation with all the hatred that she must have tried her hardest to conceal within her. "You''ve all had your chances; I was patient with all of you! Wasn''t I the perfect mother to all of you, but how did you repay me, huh? Answer me! How!? YOU PAID ME WITH NOTHING! YOU''RE ALL JOKES! YOU''RE ALL A BUNCH OF FUCKING UNGRATEFUL CHILDREN, AND YOU DON''T DESERVE ANYTHING THAT YOU''VE EVER RECEIVED IN MY FAMILY! I kissed you, I shook your hands, I talked to you; we were once a family, and you ruined that!" Tears then started to spew out of Veronica''s eyes, well, at least based on what I can hear from the tone of her voice and how her mood started to turn a bit wavy. I''m sure she''s just faking it; she''s good at it. "Now, I don''t even know who to trust anymore; all because of you STUPID UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SHITE!" A loud banging voice then resounded throughout the air like something had just fallen on the floor. "I HATE YOUUUUUUUU!" The shrill cry of Veronica enveloped the wet chaos all around us, making me jump up in fright upon hearing her demonic and banshee-like yell. She''s really, really good at this.


    Gradually, the water coming out of the small holes all around us tapered off like the wilting stem of a flower, the rivulets thinning until they disappeared into nothingness. This whole incident drenched all of us as we all shivered once the cold embrace of the water ceased. Then, I could hear what seemed like loud whirring noises accompanied by mechanical sounding banging and all sorts of sounds that one could only hear in a construction site, creating what seemed like a crescendo of loud industrial booming.


    "Grovel like the bastards that you all are! None of you came from within me; thus, allow me to show you how cruel and unfaltering the waters of my womb are!" Veronica whispered from the other side of the screen, but it was loud enough for the sound of it to scour every nook and cranny of this tiled room.


    Before any of us could even react, the floor of the room suddenly swung open like a massive double door. We all shrieked, especially me; I let out a high pitched wailing, which made me sound a lot like a woman falling into the depths of hell. I came into this fucking hell hole because I was 100% confident that I would be able to navigate this place with the greatest of ease.


    What the hell is happening then? Why the fuck am I falling? This is not a part of the program!


    After a few seconds, I felt a stinging pain all on my back, signaling that I must have hit the surface of something, but it''s not solid--I felt as if I had just hit still waters.


    And, indeed, I did. I felt myself falling farther down into what seemed like an endless ocean-like abyss as I saw my companions getting dragged down further into the darkness down below us with slimy maroon tentacles wrapped around their torsos.

 145 Its Cool, They Just Wanna Talk

    I soon realized that the tentacles dragging the people around me weren''t doing the same to me. In fact, there''s not even anything dragging me down towards whatever the fuck sort of deadly bullshit exists at the bottom of this deep body of water. Realizing this, I soon swam up towards the surface, and there I realized that we''re inside of a vast swimming pool underneath the now fully-opened, double-door-like floor of the sixth area. Around the pool, I could only see only nothing but darkness on all sides--the same can be said to that bottomless pit below my feet. The only thing I can tell for sure is that there''s a well-lit room above me; the rest is nothing but the call of the void. I then desperately swam towards the side and realized that the pool itself is inside of what seemed like a tall, massive, and square-shaped glass structure. Once I reached the side of the pool, I soon realized that the transparent material used to contain the water around me is quite thick, so I held onto it like my life depended on it.


    As I floated at the surface of this large swimming that seemed to have the same square meter as the room above, I then noticed that something seems to be descending at the side, coming from the well-lit room that is nonchalantly hovering over the pool. There, as I panted with my body thoroughly soaked with water, I realized that the thing slowly going down at the side is the same stupidly colossal TV screen on the wall of the tiled area.


    "WHOOOOOO!" I heard the familiar voice of a woman scream out loud; I can now finally see a sense of genuineness in this woman''s face for the first time since I''ve last seen his broadcast earlier in the room above. "WHAT''S UP, ANATOLY, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!?" Veronica roared as she asked me with a silly and almost comical look on her face. She then took her tongue out of her mouth as she laughed maniacally like the green witch in The Wizard of Oz. Finally, I could see the real Veronica that I knew since I was a child. "What''s up, baby?" Veronica then smooched the air with her anger-filled gaze still directed at me. "Did you miss me, you punk ass motherfucker!?" She laughed out loud as she looked at me with eyes filled with a mocking tone as I clung with all my might on the high glass railing at the side of the pool.


    "You old-ass bitch," I chuckled as I looked at her, finally revealing my real face again, which felt so freeing in a very odd kind of way. I believe this is the first time I ever cursed before her, not that she would ever care about such a small detail like that. "I can''t believe you''re still in business after 70 years."


    "Oh, Anatoly, you know how it goes here in the Association! These shitbag fuckfaces can shove their bullshit down my throat every time they fucking like in every decade and in every generation, but as I did time and time and time and time a-fucking-gain, I will crawl out of the afterlife and greet these boot-licking sons of bitches with a smile on my beautiful fucking perfect face outside of the Gatekeeper''s doors. Motherfuckers. I''ve died thirteen times, BUT I''M STILL HERE BREATHING." Veronica then showed a twisted grin, which showcases her perfectly lined up, shimmering white teeth that is a stark contrast from her crazed and outstretched eyes. "GET FUCKED!"


    It is true that nothing can ever faze this Nelly Furtado-looking-ass capitalist pig, but hey, who am I to judge her, seriously?


    "How have you been, Veronica?" I then paused as I assessed the entirety of her face on the enormous TV screen. "You look a bit fat."


    "Bitch, shut up! I''ve been eating lots of pancakes lately." She then started pinching her cheeks. Is she trying to prove a point or something? I only know she''s gaining weight.


    "So, what''s all this pool thing? What the hell is up with those tentacles that grabbed the others into the bottom of the pool?" I asked, not beating around the bush and being as specific as I can. "Are the Japanese porno you''ve been consuming finally getting into your aesthetic choices?"


    "Psh! Nah!" Veronica replied while waving her hands swiftly. "This is your mom''s project, actually. Well, it''s not like I ever had a say in what could happen in your own damn house anyway."


    "Ah, really?" I asked with both shock and wonder. "I never heard of this project before."


    "Uhhh... Maybe it''s because you''ve been gone for like, three years, and we heard no news about you whatsoever?" Veronica replied with a faux confusion plastered all over her face. "Glad you killed that whore, by the way! Never liked her."


    "So I''ve heard." I said as I shook my head with a defeated sigh. "Hey, but wait, you haven''t answered my question yet. What''s up with this pool? What''s this supposed to do here?"


    "Oh, I dunno. Your mother''s head is filled with so much coo-coo shit that I honestly could not keep up sometimes, and that''s saying a lot." She then chuckled slowly as she placed a bit of her long black hair behind her ears. "I heard there''s something at the bottom of that thing that will awaken some kind of untapped side in the people who go in it. Dunno what''s in there, though."


    "Huh." I said, un-amused. "Sounds a whole lot like what the seeding in the fourth area does to a person. Sounds kind of redundant, to be honest."


    "Oh yeah, that''s the first time I saw that seeding thing! I was watching it on the TV monitors upstairs, but even I thought it was fucking disgusting!"


    I then chuckled upon hearing her response. "Yeah, it''s awful."


    "So what does it do, anyway? I seriously thought that everyone talking about is just joking, but no, a huge centipede thing is actually puking shit inside of a person! Ugh!" Veronica then started fanning her face with her hands. "Gross, gross, gross! I''m imagining it again, oh god! So disgusting!"


    "Oh, shut up, won''t you? It''s not like you haven''t seen worse." I said as I rolled my eyes with a mocking groan.


    "Not ever skinning a dead hooker''s pussy can beat the disgusting level of that seeding shit!" Veronica then shook her head with an expression that shows how done she is with this whole conversation as she pushed her fingers on her temples. "Just tell me the tea, Anatoly. Why is that thing even necessary? What does it do?"


    "Necessary? Hmm... Not really, but it''s a good precaution." I said as I frowned my eyebrows in thought as I felt the water around me finally prickling the rashes on my skin. "We''re basically planting baby parasites inside of someone''s body. The whole colony of pests inside of the host''s body will force a person to act on their survival urges, so they would do everything that they possibly could just to stay alive. I think, after a few hours, the whole pests inside of the seeded person will mature enough that they wouldn''t need the body anymore, so they would just kill their home and go on with their lives. Basically, we would plant the whole damn thing inside of the person who would most likely win the whole dungeon thing. Once the parasite''s host leaves this wild place, those damn pests would probably have enough time to mature, so yeah, the host would die right after defeating the dungeon, and we would get the revenue for it! All the win for us!"


    "Ooooh! That''s fucked up, yeah. So, you sell the parasites?" Veronica asked, which almost made me feel like she''s disinterested in the whole thing, but it''s just the two of us here. What am I supposed to do? Float here until the entire job is done?


    I''ll just prolong this conversation as much as I can. "Yeah. One parasite costs millions; I think the last one we sold is around $37 million or something like that?"


    Suddenly, Veronica''s eyes widened with shock as her jaw dropped. "Thirty... ARE YOU FOR REAL?"


    "Yeah, some rich guy in Singapore bought three of them for god-knows-what-reason, but hey, we only sell the goods and the customers get to enjoy it even if we don''t know what they do with it." I scoffed before a silent chuckle breathed out of my lips. "I think my mom knows what they do with, though, but she never really told any of us. It''s not like she would die anyway and let any of us inherit her whole gig. So, whatever."


    "Damn. Now I know how you guys can be this fucking disgustingly rich." Veronica said with a twinge of jealousy in it, but I can also feel a bit of wonder amid her downcast tone.


    "Yeah. One human filled with those parasites alone is enough for one human lifetime, and we already did this for, like, twenty-five people. We''re so fucking rich that it''s disgusting." I said with a bit of apparent pride in my tone. Hey, flexing once in a while is not a bad thing at all, especially in my case. I have been modest for far too long. I deserve this moment.


    "So how can you even get one of these seed things?" Veronica further inquired. Ah, so that''s her point. Sneaky little bitch wants to end our parasite monopoly. Oh well, she''s always been like this to anyone; can''t say I''m surprised.


    "I dunno." I lied. Of course, I know how to get one. "Why don''t you ask my mom? Believe me, she never says ANYTHING!" I further clarified to solidify my excuse.


    Veronica was about to reply when suddenly, a loud roar erupted at the deepest part of the pool.


    "Oh, looks like time''s up, Anatoly. Hey, don''t be a stranger, man! Visit us some other time too!" Veronica said as her face lifted towards the room above the pool.


    "S...ure?"

 146 Toss It All Up Here and There, so We Could End This Thing Already

    The gurgling noise coming from the bottom of the glass pool began to intensify even further. While that''s happening, the TV screen with Veronica''s face on it slowly began to move upwards. Bubbles then began to appear all around me, which all came from something lying beneath the darkness below my constantly paddling feet. Ah, fuck. My legs hurt so fucking badly already. When will this hell be over?


    "I''ll see you again later once you return to the mansion, okay, Anatoly?" Veronica said while her TV screen slowly lifts into the room above us. I noticed that her broadcast is gradually becoming more blurry, while the static feedback all around increases at an unprecedented rate. "Oh, and don''t kill all of them, okay? I wanna have some fun later too!" The lady on the screen uttered in a high-pitched voice as she slowly waved her hands at me with a mocking smile.


    "Hey, hey, HEY! WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING HERE, VERONICA!?" I screamed at her as I realized that the bubbles forming all around me are increasing in number as if the pool is being heated up into its boiling rate. However, that might not be the case since the water is still absolutely fucking cold as shit!


    "Oh, quit being a pussy, Anatoly!" Veronica scoffed, but I can''t quite see her face clearly since I can only see the movement of her lips while the rest of his face is already halfway through the room. "Look, I just came here to say hi to you. This whole thing is definitely not something we planned. I also came here a bit earlier since I was supposed to meet your mother later, but oh well! Who would not want to see the missing son of Ila Antonova again?" At this point, The TV screen is already raised entirely into the white-tiled room above this still bubbling glass pool. "I''ll talk to you again!" Veronica''s now muffled voice rang throughout the area above me, which then echoed into this pool underneath the open floor.


    I scoffed. Whelp. I know I won''t die because of this, but still. Who wouldn''t be worried when--


    EH!?


    Suddenly, a thick and slimy tentacle wrapped around my torso. I can feel the suction around the fishy limb suck the ever-living shit out of my skin so goddamn hard that I could almost feel it ripping my skin a bit, and now I''m not sure anymore if I''m still a fan of receiving hickeys. The thing around me gripped my chest so hard that I could even feel the tightness of it on my skin even if I''m wearing my thick, black cassock. No matter how hard I flail my body all around, the tentacle would still insist on tightly constricting my body as if it wishes to break all of my ribs. I started to scream loudly, but I stopped doing that as well because the chloroform-filled water of the pool kept going inside of my open mouth.


    "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?" I screamed out loud as I tried to punch and slap the tentacle around me, but after a few moments, I realized that my efforts are all in vain. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING HERE!? VERONICA!? VERONICA, YOU BITCH, ANSWER MEEEE! MOOOOOOOM! VERONICA IS TRYING TO FUCK ME LIKE A JAPANESE SCHOOL GIRL!" I screamed out loud before shrieking loudly when I realized that the tentacle had started to move again.


    The rampant bubbling of the water all around me is still going on as fiercely as it did earlier, so I cannot quite see what is happening below me, but I can''t quite see that the tentacle came from the looming darkness at the very bottom of the pool. Thus, I cannot quite see where the tentacle is coming from. I don''t even know if this is really a tentacle! For all I care, this could be the limb of a squid!


    I then noticed that the tentacle was gently moving me about the pool as its grip on my body further intensified.


    Then, I noticed that the whole tentacle itself is rising towards the open room above with me at the very tip of it, which makes the entire thing look like I''m a speck of dirt at the very top of a Pocky biscuit. The tentacle then successfully lifted me towards the white-tiled room upstairs ever so gently like I''m a twig that would break if handled without caution. Once it did so, I realized that it''s slowly moving me towards a wall of the room. Then, using some kind of sticking substances around it, the tentacle very, very, VERRRRRY gently held me onto the wall of the white-tiled room, which made me feel like I''m a spider being taped on a hard surface by a person with arachnophobia.


    I then felt my feet tangle like a rope flowing onto the wind. Fuck, I feel so weak already. This is the first time I''ve ever been in a pool for a very long time, and I feel like I won''t be doing something like that ever again because of what had just happened below. I then sighed loudly, accompanied by an irritated groan as I looked at the TV screen plastered on a wall in the room. I then saw that there''s nothing in there but gray static feedback that went on wordlessly, which I very much am thankful for. After all, I hated nothing more than the sound of grating static.


    It reminds me of shitty days when my mother would lock me in my room while I''m bound tightly on a wooden chair for three days with my TV open. She said that it''s her way of giving me pity while punishing me since I am her favorite child. However, that just means I would have to wake up in the middle of the morning around two to three in the morning after hearing the unbearable sound of static on the television. It''s beyond fucking unbearable.


    While I''m reminiscing about the days when my mother is still recreating me into the proper man that I am today, I then heard the sound of water being splashed deliberately at the pool below me. I then saw that it''s a few more tentacles tightly gripping the chests of my companions, just as it did to me earlier.


    However, the only difference this time is the fact that the tentacles were not at all gentle to my companions. First, the fishy limb smashed the policeman onto the wall in front of me, and it must have hurt a whole lot because it formed a noticeable crack on the wall. Nevertheless, the policeman still remained snoring away in his own dreamland. When the tentacle finally pulled away from the still sleeping tanned muscled man, I saw that he''s also stuck on the wall with what seemed like a yellow-green looking ass substance that appeared a whole lot like phlegm. I looked down at me and saw that that same substance is also embracing my torso, slowly dripping on my cassock like margarine. I scoffed with my eyes closed. It''s great that it doesn''t smell; I can at least have that to signify myself. It''s even better to know, too, that I am not wearing my favorite clothes. I should have used one of the servants'' shoes, though.


    The tentacles below me then hurled my two other companions, Francis and Kirstel, towards the other wall facing the room''s TV screen. Also, I really meant it when I said: "hurl." The fucking tentacle yeeted those two like it''s Kobe throwing a three-pointer. It''s fucking glorious. Once the fat guy and our only female member gets plastered on the wall forcefully by the now sulking tentacles, the floor underneath our feet gradually closed up again like a double-door similar to how it opened earlier.


    After a loud thud that then signifies the full closure of the floor of the sixth area, the tiny holes all over the room suddenly started spewing out thin strands of water again, which pushed our bodies out of the wall. Obviously, I don''t know why I didn''t expect this, but the goddamn water coming out of the tiny holes all around the area stung like a bitch again, sending bloodcurdling patches of reddening rashes all over my pale skin. It''s itchy, it''s painful, and it feels dry, which is so fucking weird considering how absolutely wet I am right now. Fuck! I feel like I had just kicked a beehive or something.


    As the water hit my skin, I noticed that the yellow-green sticky substance on my chest had all come off me and are now floating leisurely on the flooding floor. It seems that the same applies to my companions, who are all still sleeping soundly on the floor. Perhaps this irritating liquid is the only thing that can take the phlegm-like substance off our bodies? Oh, who am I kidding? I bet I can rid myself off of that sticky shit using a good ol'' tap water or something. My mother just wants to see every person in the dungeon suffer. Fucking psycho bitch. I love her so much.


    While I wondered upon those thoughts, my companions then awakened almost at the same time while the water rose around us.

 147 Fall! LIKE THE ART? SUPPORT THE AUTHOR!

    (Hello there! This is a message from the author of this novel, A Serenade for the Innocent! I''m sure you know me as Blaire Hawthorne! Hello there! I would just like to inform you that I will be going in an indefinite hiatus and is officially closing A Serenade for the Innocent until further notice. I have made this decision because of the rampant piracy that has been happening on the site lately, and the whole thing just discouraged me a lot to write more great horror stories for you! You know where to find me if you wanna talk! If you also wanna support me somewhere else, I''m also in Tapas as V. Blaire Hawthorne. I will post Legendary Hero''s Brother there, but Serenade will always be here in Webnovel! If you are reading this outside of Webnovel, I''m sorry to say, but you are not reading it on the right site... Why don''t you check the story out on Webnovel.com if you liked it? Thanks for your time and have a nice day!)


    The people around me coughed out loud while the water continued to spray all around us. They didn''t seem to mind the worsening red rash that''s continuously building upon their skins. They continued to groan and let out loud barks that make it feel like there''s something huge that''s about to escape their throats.


    And there is!


    Suddenly, the three people around me who had been thrown by the tentacles living on the pool below started to spit out small maggots that began to swim on the continuously rising flood on the floor. My companions started to grip their necks tightly or pound their chest with both their hands while many if not an endless amount of small maggots began to fall out of their mouths. Some of the small little creatures are even accompanied by what seemed like green slimy substances as they swam on the floor. However, after a few seconds, these same maggots would curl into a ball, signaling that their very short life had finally come to an end. I didn''t mind it, though. They were fucking disgusting!


    Nonetheless, even after a few minutes have passed, the three people whom I''m accompanying in this dungeon crawling thing still haven''t stopped puking out clumps of maggots straight out of their wide-open mouths. Meanwhile, I''m already starting to get fed up with having these irritating water continue to splash all over my body.


    Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, all three of them stopped puking out those maggots in perfect harmony as if they have planned it to happen. After this, the three people around me all gave out varying reactions. First, the nurse, Kirstel, fell on the floor, face first, making the water around her to splash horribly from every direction. As Kirsetel does that dramatic fall onto the ground, the salesman fell on his knees onto the floor with his head leaning backward, making him face the write ceiling of the area with a pair of outstretched eyes and mouth wide agape. Meanwhile, the policeman walked towards a nearby wall and leaned on it but immediately fell on his ass right away when the water current coming out of the small holes on the wall pushed him away from the wall.


    I just watched this scene unfold before my very eyes with raised eyebrows. "What the fuck?" I loudly uttered with my arms outstretched as I looked at the people around me with a face that shows how I am feeling right now upon seeing this ridiculous scene. Yeah, this is definitely the most absurd shit I have ever laid my eyes upon for a very long time now!


    While this is happening, the white noise coming from the TV that still shows nothing else but a gray static is the only thing that envelopes our surroundings aside from the already unbearable noise of the water current all around us.


    Slowly, the water all around us stopped spewing out of the small holes on the tiled white walls of the room we''re all inside of at the moment. I also noticed that the flood forming around the floor is slowly being drained, going somewhere, probably on the pool below us, which I found a bit weird because the water on the pool didn''t give me that stingy feeling that this piece of shit rash juice coming out of the walls. What the fuck is my mom thinking of making these stupid random fucking new shit all over the dungeon anyway?


    "Hey, what is happening?" I called out to the three people who are still looking like they have just seen Satan himself down there at the bottom of the pool. And to be honest, I would believe that they did see the devil and his army of motherfuckers down there on the darkness lurking below the pool. After all, I had just seen them spew out a large number of maggots, clumps of them even!


    However, instead of receiving a reply, I just got... silence. More and more stillness that does not at all feels calming resounded throughout the area as my companions began to gasp and pant other than the salesman who is still looking at the ceiling with his knees on the floor with eyes wide open. He looks like a person who had just been broken into submission by the forces of evil while his mind has been turned into miso soup or something because he''s just drooling nonstop with his eyes gazing at nothingness. Meanwhile, the policeman started to crawl towards the almost naked nurse who''s still laying on the floor. He looked like a prowling tiger with his ass wriggling like a tail while his tongue moved about outside of his mouth, licking his teeth while he''s at it too.


    The nurse then finally noticed this and I saw that she''s now opening her legs, inviting the prowling predatory policeman and provoking him to act even rasher than before. The policeman then quite literally prowled towards the nurse with his fangs bared as he had just seen his prey surrendering to his will. To be fair, the nurse really is surrendering to him.


    At this point, the salesman had now started to drop his head to look at the policeman who''s now laying on top of the nurse. While the policeman continued to lap and lick all over the nurse''s pale white skin, the fat and still greasy salesman then slowly and steadily pulled the zipper of his black slacks and unbuttoned it ever so slowly as well. Francis, the salesman, then plunged his hands deep inside of his pants and started stroking his dick without pulling it out of his underwear. I can see that his underwear is blue-green, but that''s about it. I''m so thankful that I can''t see his fucking dick at the very least. Nevertheless, with a drunken expression on his face, the salesman started vigorously jerking his dick off while his saliva spewed out of his mouth. He continued to look at how the policeman is now groping every nook and cranny of the nurse''s body.


    Yeah, that''s about that. The policeman is just there kissing and making love to the nurse. He then swiftly pulled his pants off and kicked it off away from his, revealing his white brief that looks like what old people would wear with their adult diapers. The nurse then wrapped her legs around the policeman''s waist while the policeman himself continued to undress, pulling his briefs off, revealing his hairy ass and his already hardened horse-hung cock. The nurse is not undressing, though, and she''s still just clinging onto the policeman as tightly as she could, feeling him worship every bit of her exposed skin.


    With her legs wrapped tightly around the policeman''s waist, the nurse then screamed at the still masturbating salesman. "Toss your knife at me!" Her hoarse voice reverberated throughout the room as she now locked the policeman with her hands. It seems that the policeman didn''t realize what is happening around him, though; no, it seems more like he refuses to acknowledge everything that is not the nurse. It feels more like his life depended on worshipping the nurse, so he decided to ignore and stop listening to whatever is occurring all around him.


    Which is ironic, considering what happened next.


    After hearing what the nurse said, the salesman tapped all around his body swiftly, and when he seemed to have found what he''s looking for, which is tucked on his back, he pulled it out and threw it immediately towards the nurse. I actually found it fascinating how the salesman didn''t lose that knife when he fell with the nurse and the policeman at the depths of the pool underneath this white-tiled room''s floor.


    When the salesman threw the knife on the nurse''s direction, the policeman is still unaware of what''s happening. Then, the nurse grabbed the knife that flung beside her head and scowled at the policeman.


    "You fucking piece of shit!" She said, which sounded a lot like a growl. "FALL!"

 148 MURDER! MURDER! MURDER! LIKE THE ART? SUPPORT THE AUTHOR

    (Hello there! This is a message from the author of this novel, A Serenade for the Innocent! I''m sure you know me as Blaire Hawthorne! I would just wish to repeat my announcement last chapter and say that I will be going in an indefinite hiatus and is officially closing A Serenade for the Innocent until further notice. I have made this decision because of the rampant piracy that has been happening in the site lately, and the whole thing just discouraged me a lot to write more great horror stories for you. You know where to find me if you wanna talk! If you also wanna support me somewhere else, I''m also in Tapas as V. Blaire Hawthorne. I will post Legendary Hero''s Brother there, but Serenade will always be here in Webnovel! If you are reading this outside of Webnovel, I''m sorry to say, but you are not reading it in the right site... Thus, you''re pirating. Why don''t you check the story out in Webnovel.com if you liked it? Thanks for your time and have a nice day!)


    I watched intently as the scene unfold before my very eyes. The nurse, or otherwise known by the name Kirstel, grabbed the knife that flew towards her head, gripping the handle tightly as she gritted her teeth. Meanwhile, the policeman, whose name still remains unknown to this very moment to me, continued to assault the nurse through various means by digging a few smooches on her smooth skin. On the other hand, the salesman just continued to watch the moment unfold before his very eyes while still beating his dick profusely without even thinking about stopping.


    The nurse then chuckled with a distorted scowl on her face with her limbs still tightly clinging all over the policeman''s body.


    "You fucking piece of shit!" The nurse screamed out loud with a distorted grin as she pointed the knife towards the policeman''s head. "FALL!" Her loud snarl echoed throughout the room as the loud white noise coming from the huge TV screen that served as a wall of the room.


    Without further ado, the nurse swung her arms and thrust the knife towards the policeman''s head, making the poor fucker stop whatever he''s doing. No, he stopped moving all together, but his lips are still on the nurse''s skin, buried on the female dungeon crawler''s neck. Blood started to spew all over the place, painting the white tiled room into a crimson hue along with what seemed like a green liquid that''s also coming out of the wound on the man''s head. The policeman started to fling his arms around and even tried to grab the nurse''s arms, but his body instantly gave and he just began to dangle around powerlessly as his blood continuously flowed out of his head. The policeman then started to look like a stroke victim as his body convulsed with the knife pierced through his skull.


    After doing this, Kirstel struggled to pull the knife out of the policeman''s head but managed to do so right away anyway after a few tries. The tanned muscled man then fell onto the floor, plodding with his mouth wide open and his pupils moved up to the roof of his eyes. Blood then began to turn the white uniform of the nurse into a pinkish hue as the policeman continued to lay above her almost lifelessly. The lady nurse then kicked and pushed the policeman off her body as she continued to stab, thrust, and dig her knife through the now unmoving policeman on the floor. The policeman screamed loudly upon having that pierce through his brain.


    After what seemed like a few thousand strikes, the nurse finally stopped burying her knife towards the policeman''s head. Instead, she now started to kick the lifeless body of the policeman. She began to stomp on the policeman''s nuts while the head of the policeman himself began to continuously release an unfathomable amount of blood and a green, slime-like thing that are also being spewed out of the countless varying holes that are now all over the policeman''s mangled head.


    I could see a bit of his bones sticking out of the holes on his head, and it seemed like the knife that the nurse used to finally put a fucking end on this motherfucker son of a bitch rapist is rather sharp because the wounds on the policeman''s head looks clean without a trace of it being shredded like in the case of using a dull knife. The blood spewing out of the policeman''s head then stretched outward to become what seemed like a fan shaped circular halo around the policeman.


    It seems that this is the end for the policeman.


    From what I know about my mother''s favorite parasites that she planted inside of the policeman''s body, those parasite would crawl all over the host''s body but would settle inside of the host''s brain until they inevitably eat enough nutrients to the point that they wouldn''t even need to have a host in the first place. Thus, all of the parasite in the policeman''s body is inside of his head. Now that the nurse had pretty much turned the policeman''s brain into mincemeat in just a matter of a few seconds, I''m sure the parasites in the policeman''s body have also died along with him because they haven''t had enough time to devour all of the nutrients inside of the policeman''s body. That must have explained the green goo or bile or puke, whatever that shit is, that''s coming out of the almost countless stab wounds all over the policeman''s head. I''m not even sure anymore if I''m looking at his face or at the back of his head. If it wasn''t for the policeman''s tight and huge ass, I wouldn''t even notice that he''s laying on the ground with his face on the floor.


    The nurse is still gripping on the knife as tightly as she could as she used the collar of her white uniform to wipe the blood that had accumulated on her face. Kirstel then began to pant loudly with a few tight and hoarse gasps along the way as she looked down onto the policeman who lay lifeless on the floor. After a while, she used her other hand to brush her long hair back while looking at me and the salesman alternatively with a weakened and almost drowsy pair of glistening eyes.


    "What?" The nurse said with a shrug as she looked at the shocked face on the salesman. Perhaps she wasn''t talking to me because I look relatively calm. To be honest, that should have been a bigger red flag for her. "Is this the first time you saw a fierce woman, piggy?" Yes, she''s most definitely talking about the salesman. She then stretched her hands wide as she allowed the blood to drip all over her exposed skin.


    "No, no, of course not, Kirstel!" The salesman uttered with a timid and nervous voice, almost stuttering while he''s at it. "I''m just very, very amazed to see your amazing and beautiful self destroy that bigot till he dies."


    "Kneel." The nurse said while pointing her fingers on the floor as she looked down on the salesman who still has his hands inside of his pants.


    "H-huh?" The salesman replied like a fucking idiot as she looked at the nurse with awe.


    "I said kneel, swine!" The nurse roared before stomping her feet on the ground as she pointed the knife on her hands onto the salesman who''s still looking at her with awe. "I want you to kiss my feet and worship me, pig, or I''ll fuck you up! I mean that, you fucking son of a bitch!"


    "O-of course, Kirstel!" Upon hearing the nurse''s roar, the salesman immediately went on hiis knees and began to crawl towards the nurse. He then started to lick, kiss, and pretty much make love to the nurse''s bare feet. It seems that the nurse had lost her shoes along the way while she''s out there at the bottom of the pool. Huh. And I find that super fucking weird, but oh well! "Thank you very much for allowing me this great opportunity to worship your beautiful feet, Kirstel."


    "Shut the fuck up, pig." Kirstel said while looking down at the swine beneath her feet. "And don''t you fucking dare call me by my name again, or I''ll fucking kill you, understand? Call me Goddess from now on."


    "Yes, Goddess."


    "What are you?"


    "I''m a pig, Goddess."


    "Whose pig are you?"


    "Yours, Goddess."


    "Good. You''ll be a great inclusion to my plan. Hmm... I''m sure you don''t know the plan yet, but that doesn''t matter. You''ll see more of that if we get out of here and fucking murder, Veronica." While the nurse is saying those words, she slowly diverted her gaze at me, making me see the glint of fury coming out of her eyes.


    "OHHHH!? SO YOU WANT TO MURDER ME!?" A loud and familiar voice reverberated throughout the room as this grotesque scene unfolded before me. "You''re quite a bold little bitch, aren''t you Kirstel, huh?"


    The nurse then looked back behind her to see that the face she scorned the most have started to reappear on the TV screen.


    "You coward." Kirstel enunciated with a soft growl as she pointed her knife towards the woman on the TV screen. "I''LL FUCKING KILL YOU, VERONICA! YOU WILL NOT ANYMORE SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY! MURDER! MURDER! MURDER! THAT''S WHAT I''D DO TO YOU UNTIL YOU CAN''T GO BACK ANYMORE!"