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been a while since the last time I posted anything^^
anyway, not going to speak to much, hope you like it. First chapter as planned :)
The smell…
The smell was the first stimulus to reach his foggy brain. A thick metallic smell that was aggressive to his nose, mixed with some other strong scents that gave him nausea. Then it was the sight. Red. Blood red, literally. The room was the theatre of a horrible scene. Because there wasn’t only blood staining the floor and the walls.
Messy organ parts were spread everywhere, brain flesh, cut off intestines, there was even a ripped heart laying right next to him, on the floor. And for the bigger elements of this monstrous scene, legs, hands, heads… It was even difficult to count the corpses, in such states. Three, four massacred people maybe. It was like waking up to a real nightmare.
Only living being in the room, trembling, with a heart still drumming, the man slowly got up, in shock. Like anyone waking up in the middle of a messy crime scene would, his first thought was for the monster who could have perpetrated such insane slaughter, and if it was coming back for him. But there was no mystery in its identity. His hands, covered in a sticky layer of half dried blood, pointed at him for only responsible. He did this… He didn’t remember doing it, but there was no doubt the monster was none other than himself.
It was crazy, and the man couldn’t help but stare at the surroundings while a thousand thoughts harassed his mind. He was the only one living here, but after this, his life was over, just the same as these dismembered guys. He knew no one would hear or understand him. He didn’t understand it himself. And what about the people he knew? Would they look at him with pity? With horror? With disgust? How would he handle this?
“We’re about to enter the building! Throw your weapons away and put your hands on your head, or we will open fire!”
One could have strange reactions in odd situations. These words made him smile. They were worthy of what he heard in series and movies. Except this time, it was reality. He was screwed, but maybe was there a hope…
The good man in him always thought he’d obey a direct order from any representative of established authority. Don’t make waves, do not disturb. Especially these days, law enforcer weren’t very patient in a climate of general revolt. He never was the kind to stupidly provoke those in power, at the risk of violent backfires. And he assumed that if the situation would happen to him, he would follow without resistance, as an honorable man wanting to solve his problems the right way.
But there, they had made a mistake. They shouldn’t have threatened to open fire. For it was a possible escape for him.
Not an escape in the traditional sense, it would obviously not involve surviving it. But it would spare him from court. It would spare him from spending the rest of his days in prison. It would spare him the judgmental stares. And it would spare his close ones from this misery. It was kind of ironical to envision death as the most profitable outcome, after fighting so long to avoid this easy way. But he got nothing else this time…
His arms were still hanging on each side of his body when fast and numerous footsteps were heard nearby the entrance. The man voluntarily didn’t obey the order that was given. He would have even kept his weapons, if he had any… there wasn’t ever a weapon here, but himself. It was hard to believe that he did such mess with his bare hands.
Any other day, he would have been put out by men younger he was, obviously unexperienced to this kind of situation, being sent to deal with a potentially erratic murderer. But seeing them so nervous was actually a relief. In their eyes, he could see the fear of not being up to the task, the fear of making a mistake, and probably the fear of dying. It wouldn’t take much to provoke the said mistake.
Well, there were times when a man had to go the least dishonorable way. He wouldn’t have thought that he would end so brutally, so drastically opposed to his lifestyle. Fate had its own sense of humor. If he ever wanted to consider himself a good man until the end, he had to do what was best for everyone else.
“I said, hands on the head! And face against the wall!” the agent shouted angrily, pointing a gun on him and soon followed in his threat by as many colleagues that could fit in the entrance.
How old was this man? Twenty five? Twenty seven at best? The mask of anger didn’t fool him a second. This young agent saw the scene, and was convinced to have a psychopath in front of him. Just like the rest of his squad. He was terrified. A poor young man putting on an attitude to hide how scared he was, to do what he was expected to do. It was to be hoped he wouldn’t have too much troubles recovering from this.
Gathering his courage, the man plunged his hand in his pocket, with a purposely sudden move. And he pointed a black shape toward the agent, throwing his loudest war cry.
There were several detonations, almost instantly. At least he would go with the funny thought that law enforcers were tricked by an acting… and a phone mistaken for a weapon. Like always, everything was in the attitude.
Except… Wasn’t it supposed to be an instant death? Or at least a nasty agonizing one?
As odd as it was, the man was surprised to feel no pain. When he looked at the agents at the entrance, they didn’t move a muscle. He could have assumed this was a surprising stoicism due to a training he underestimated, but there was something off… The canons of their guns were half hidden by clouds of smoke… static smoke. It… wasn’t supposed to do that…
Looking lower, the man searched for any traces of bullet injuries on his chest, but his eyes met with something even scarier. Like suspended in the air, five projectiles were frozen only centimeters away from his body. He could even see the little waves created by their high velocity in the air, as static as the smoke clouds.
Did everything but himself… just freeze? Was it what happened when death came? This surely was nothing like seeing his whole life in an instant, but interesting nonetheless.
“Wow, that’s amazing…” a strange, echoing voice filled the silence. It was joyful, enthusiastic, but it sounded like many voices were merged into one. When he looked up, the man saw something new. A creature, luminously white, stood between the agents and himself. It was… transparent, like a ghost, allowing him to see his executioners through. But he distinctively recognized a pair of eyes staring at him. The rest of the body seemed vaguely humanoid, but its contours were kind of vague.
“Can you imagine? It’s like having every single fraction of time accessible, like… windows. Or the chapter selection in a DVD, except I can go further than the making of.”
It was… confusing, for the least. Was it even real? Was it what people saw when they died? Like a hallucination created by the brain to better accept the transition? He heard tales of tunnels with a light in the end, but never of a being of light coming to collect the soul. Unless it was his personal grim reaper?
“Who still knows what a DVD is nowadays…” the man replied with a bit of a deadpan humor.
“You, of course.” The entity emitted what sounded like a little laughter. Its piercing eyes making him uncomfortable. “Your grandpa was well inspired to have his collection. That’s how you got this liking for iconic figures, right?”
It was indescribable. The man was used to discomfort, but in front of this ghost, this feeling was visceral even. He felt naked, metaphorically speaking. To him, it would have been less destabilizing to be actually naked. Because very few ever got interest into him, let alone know things about him… Ironically, the only thing allowing him to keep thinking straight was the growing conviction that his brain was making this all up in a representation of death. If he could explain, then he wouldn’t fear.
“Oooh… So that’s what you looked like back then… It’s really weird, you have a totally different face without the beard. You’re less… scary like this, I had forgotten.” The ghost continued, hoovering closer as to inspect his face.
Was the man scared? A little bit, if he was honest. But it mostly felt invasive. He never liked to be stared at, even less by someone bringing such judgment on his appearance. Was it supposed to be an imaginary friend, pretending to know him? Frowning, he observed the ghost without speaking a word, as the being looked lower and started counting the bullets in the air.
“This one is aiming right at your heart. This one will perforate your lung. At least, it will be quick, because this third one would have definitely gotten you in a wheelchair, with a puzzle instead of a spine.” The ghost commented as a gaseous arm pointed at the frozen bullets, like it was a simple interesting matter. “That makes up for the two that would have missed… Do you know that even in wars, there are soldiers who voluntarily miss to avoid feeling guilty?”
“No credit, I heard it in a series. Who the hell are you?” the man finally asked, exasperated by this being’s attitude. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“Well this is… something, and you’re definitely in the middle…” the ghost simply replied, looking around. Was he making fun at him? Or did he not get the expression?
“If you’re here for something in particular, it would be nice to share. I’m not really in the mood to get lectured by some… ghost or… white shadow coming out of nowhere.”
The ghost seemed to come back to the reality, turning its head to look at him with wide opened eyes. It almost looked like he said something astonishing. Was it simply a crazy being totally confused?
“I always wondered where it came from. So you’re the one who first named me…” The ghost spoke in a fascinated tone, before laughing sincerely. It was very odd, if it was a dying hallucination… “Isn’t that funny?”
“For god’s sake are you going to keep talking so cryptically or are you finally going to tell me what you want?” he sighed, out of his nerves. It wasn’t like him to lose control, but today was quite an unusual day.
“Oh, of course, of course!” the ghost replied, rising his arms like a defensive gesture. “Sorry, it’s still recent to me and my mind is still a bit unstable. Big deals big laughs, right? You’ll teach me that, one day. It’s a complicated topic. So let’s be factual. You, a certain death, milliseconds to live, how do you feel about this?”
“I think it’s obvious that I chose it…” he replied coldly. If anything, he at least hoped to die fast and the way he chose. Not under the improvised comments of a comical illusion.
“Yes, but the inputs have changed. You chose it because you saw no other option, am I right? How about now? I’m sure you don’t really want to die. It sucks to die. You can’t do anything anymore when you’re dead. Please tell me that it’s not really what you want because it would be quite disappointing coming from you…”
“I don’t see what changed…”
“Seriously, do you need more obvious clues?” the ghost laughed like it was even a funny joke, showing the frozen scene like it was a theatre to him. “Me! I’m the big change! You get an almighty being on your side, you can screw with all the rules, and you don’t even see any options there? You got me used to better than that…”
“Stop pretending you know me. It’s annoying.”
“But I do know you. Took me a while, but I came to understand you. You’re the one who don’t know me. Yet. But that will come in time. For now, I’ll just give you the big picture. I take you away. Far, far away where you won’t have to face these… consequences.” The ghost pointed at the bullets with his gaseous arms. “You were ready to die, good! To them, it will be like you’re dead. But you get to live a little more. What do you say? Live to fight another day, warrior?”
If life taught him one thing, it was that if it sounded too good to be true, it most certainly was. Why would a mysterious entity choose to come and save him from a certain fate? A fate he deserved, what’s more? Even he would have admitted this was a merciful end after what he had done! However… strangely, living to fight another day was exactly the thought that crossed his mind when the bullets were fired… That motto he used to repeat every time life hit hard, like a mantra.
The man suspected more and more this scene to be a product of his subconscious, an illusionary dream. Or maybe something to trick him. Besides, how could he live with the guilt of having run away? Leaving his mess behind, with the traumatisms he’d cause?
But then… what did he have to lose? Dead, he wouldn’t be useful either. Alive, there was a chance to return and fix things up. If they could be. Most of all, it gave him a hope to grasp on. Worst case scenario, it was an actual illusion and he’d be fooled. Big deal. One percent chance was better than zero.
Nonetheless, he had to be clear on one point, real ghost or not.
“Sounds like you’re trying to use me… Negotiating my life, heh? So let me tell you something.” The man gathered his thoughts with a deep breath. “I’m going to accept, because death will always be my last resort. But I will not fight for you. I will not be your soldier. And I will return here as soon as I can. If you intend to manipulate me, I promise you’ll have a hard time trying.”
The ghost stared at him, silent for a few seconds. To the man, it was confirmation he had seen right into his game. Whatever it was, if it believed he would sing miracle to this unexpected ‘help’, then it would find nothing else but disappointment. He wasn’t a fool.
“I had forgotten how stubborn you can be…” the ghost chuckled. “This fire in your eyes, this energy… No one should control such pure will, only watch and admire it as it blazes through existence. Be sure you’re the only one I will never try to manipulate or stop. I don’t expect you to fight for me. You’ll choose who to fight for. I’m just offering you to live, the rest isn’t up to me.”
“Then what do you have to gain in such deal?” the man asked with suspicion. It didn’t make sense. At all!
“I get to see a fascinating show. Something… historical, you might say… Because in the end, you and me, we always both wanted the same. That’s why I’ll never have to control you.”
The man tried to back off when the being began to rise a vaporous arm in his direction. He could almost distinguish a hand coming at his face in that luminous and blurry shape!
“Hey, what are you doing?!” he tried to protest.
“Making the decision for you, my friend. Making you the gift of not having to choose. You will live, and you’ll be great. While for this time you’ll be dead and forgotten.”
He tried to get away. He tried to protest. But the vaporous hand came closer and closer, filling his vision with an intense light. And then, it all became dark, with last words echoing in his head.
“You’ll become a legend, a myth... Adam Grimbelt…”
anyway, not going to speak to much, hope you like it. First chapter as planned :)
The smell…
The smell was the first stimulus to reach his foggy brain. A thick metallic smell that was aggressive to his nose, mixed with some other strong scents that gave him nausea. Then it was the sight. Red. Blood red, literally. The room was the theatre of a horrible scene. Because there wasn’t only blood staining the floor and the walls.
Messy organ parts were spread everywhere, brain flesh, cut off intestines, there was even a ripped heart laying right next to him, on the floor. And for the bigger elements of this monstrous scene, legs, hands, heads… It was even difficult to count the corpses, in such states. Three, four massacred people maybe. It was like waking up to a real nightmare.
Only living being in the room, trembling, with a heart still drumming, the man slowly got up, in shock. Like anyone waking up in the middle of a messy crime scene would, his first thought was for the monster who could have perpetrated such insane slaughter, and if it was coming back for him. But there was no mystery in its identity. His hands, covered in a sticky layer of half dried blood, pointed at him for only responsible. He did this… He didn’t remember doing it, but there was no doubt the monster was none other than himself.
It was crazy, and the man couldn’t help but stare at the surroundings while a thousand thoughts harassed his mind. He was the only one living here, but after this, his life was over, just the same as these dismembered guys. He knew no one would hear or understand him. He didn’t understand it himself. And what about the people he knew? Would they look at him with pity? With horror? With disgust? How would he handle this?
“We’re about to enter the building! Throw your weapons away and put your hands on your head, or we will open fire!”
One could have strange reactions in odd situations. These words made him smile. They were worthy of what he heard in series and movies. Except this time, it was reality. He was screwed, but maybe was there a hope…
The good man in him always thought he’d obey a direct order from any representative of established authority. Don’t make waves, do not disturb. Especially these days, law enforcer weren’t very patient in a climate of general revolt. He never was the kind to stupidly provoke those in power, at the risk of violent backfires. And he assumed that if the situation would happen to him, he would follow without resistance, as an honorable man wanting to solve his problems the right way.
But there, they had made a mistake. They shouldn’t have threatened to open fire. For it was a possible escape for him.
Not an escape in the traditional sense, it would obviously not involve surviving it. But it would spare him from court. It would spare him from spending the rest of his days in prison. It would spare him the judgmental stares. And it would spare his close ones from this misery. It was kind of ironical to envision death as the most profitable outcome, after fighting so long to avoid this easy way. But he got nothing else this time…
His arms were still hanging on each side of his body when fast and numerous footsteps were heard nearby the entrance. The man voluntarily didn’t obey the order that was given. He would have even kept his weapons, if he had any… there wasn’t ever a weapon here, but himself. It was hard to believe that he did such mess with his bare hands.
Any other day, he would have been put out by men younger he was, obviously unexperienced to this kind of situation, being sent to deal with a potentially erratic murderer. But seeing them so nervous was actually a relief. In their eyes, he could see the fear of not being up to the task, the fear of making a mistake, and probably the fear of dying. It wouldn’t take much to provoke the said mistake.
Well, there were times when a man had to go the least dishonorable way. He wouldn’t have thought that he would end so brutally, so drastically opposed to his lifestyle. Fate had its own sense of humor. If he ever wanted to consider himself a good man until the end, he had to do what was best for everyone else.
“I said, hands on the head! And face against the wall!” the agent shouted angrily, pointing a gun on him and soon followed in his threat by as many colleagues that could fit in the entrance.
How old was this man? Twenty five? Twenty seven at best? The mask of anger didn’t fool him a second. This young agent saw the scene, and was convinced to have a psychopath in front of him. Just like the rest of his squad. He was terrified. A poor young man putting on an attitude to hide how scared he was, to do what he was expected to do. It was to be hoped he wouldn’t have too much troubles recovering from this.
Gathering his courage, the man plunged his hand in his pocket, with a purposely sudden move. And he pointed a black shape toward the agent, throwing his loudest war cry.
There were several detonations, almost instantly. At least he would go with the funny thought that law enforcers were tricked by an acting… and a phone mistaken for a weapon. Like always, everything was in the attitude.
Except… Wasn’t it supposed to be an instant death? Or at least a nasty agonizing one?
As odd as it was, the man was surprised to feel no pain. When he looked at the agents at the entrance, they didn’t move a muscle. He could have assumed this was a surprising stoicism due to a training he underestimated, but there was something off… The canons of their guns were half hidden by clouds of smoke… static smoke. It… wasn’t supposed to do that…
Looking lower, the man searched for any traces of bullet injuries on his chest, but his eyes met with something even scarier. Like suspended in the air, five projectiles were frozen only centimeters away from his body. He could even see the little waves created by their high velocity in the air, as static as the smoke clouds.
Did everything but himself… just freeze? Was it what happened when death came? This surely was nothing like seeing his whole life in an instant, but interesting nonetheless.
“Wow, that’s amazing…” a strange, echoing voice filled the silence. It was joyful, enthusiastic, but it sounded like many voices were merged into one. When he looked up, the man saw something new. A creature, luminously white, stood between the agents and himself. It was… transparent, like a ghost, allowing him to see his executioners through. But he distinctively recognized a pair of eyes staring at him. The rest of the body seemed vaguely humanoid, but its contours were kind of vague.
“Can you imagine? It’s like having every single fraction of time accessible, like… windows. Or the chapter selection in a DVD, except I can go further than the making of.”
It was… confusing, for the least. Was it even real? Was it what people saw when they died? Like a hallucination created by the brain to better accept the transition? He heard tales of tunnels with a light in the end, but never of a being of light coming to collect the soul. Unless it was his personal grim reaper?
“Who still knows what a DVD is nowadays…” the man replied with a bit of a deadpan humor.
“You, of course.” The entity emitted what sounded like a little laughter. Its piercing eyes making him uncomfortable. “Your grandpa was well inspired to have his collection. That’s how you got this liking for iconic figures, right?”
It was indescribable. The man was used to discomfort, but in front of this ghost, this feeling was visceral even. He felt naked, metaphorically speaking. To him, it would have been less destabilizing to be actually naked. Because very few ever got interest into him, let alone know things about him… Ironically, the only thing allowing him to keep thinking straight was the growing conviction that his brain was making this all up in a representation of death. If he could explain, then he wouldn’t fear.
“Oooh… So that’s what you looked like back then… It’s really weird, you have a totally different face without the beard. You’re less… scary like this, I had forgotten.” The ghost continued, hoovering closer as to inspect his face.
Was the man scared? A little bit, if he was honest. But it mostly felt invasive. He never liked to be stared at, even less by someone bringing such judgment on his appearance. Was it supposed to be an imaginary friend, pretending to know him? Frowning, he observed the ghost without speaking a word, as the being looked lower and started counting the bullets in the air.
“This one is aiming right at your heart. This one will perforate your lung. At least, it will be quick, because this third one would have definitely gotten you in a wheelchair, with a puzzle instead of a spine.” The ghost commented as a gaseous arm pointed at the frozen bullets, like it was a simple interesting matter. “That makes up for the two that would have missed… Do you know that even in wars, there are soldiers who voluntarily miss to avoid feeling guilty?”
“No credit, I heard it in a series. Who the hell are you?” the man finally asked, exasperated by this being’s attitude. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“Well this is… something, and you’re definitely in the middle…” the ghost simply replied, looking around. Was he making fun at him? Or did he not get the expression?
“If you’re here for something in particular, it would be nice to share. I’m not really in the mood to get lectured by some… ghost or… white shadow coming out of nowhere.”
The ghost seemed to come back to the reality, turning its head to look at him with wide opened eyes. It almost looked like he said something astonishing. Was it simply a crazy being totally confused?
“I always wondered where it came from. So you’re the one who first named me…” The ghost spoke in a fascinated tone, before laughing sincerely. It was very odd, if it was a dying hallucination… “Isn’t that funny?”
“For god’s sake are you going to keep talking so cryptically or are you finally going to tell me what you want?” he sighed, out of his nerves. It wasn’t like him to lose control, but today was quite an unusual day.
“Oh, of course, of course!” the ghost replied, rising his arms like a defensive gesture. “Sorry, it’s still recent to me and my mind is still a bit unstable. Big deals big laughs, right? You’ll teach me that, one day. It’s a complicated topic. So let’s be factual. You, a certain death, milliseconds to live, how do you feel about this?”
“I think it’s obvious that I chose it…” he replied coldly. If anything, he at least hoped to die fast and the way he chose. Not under the improvised comments of a comical illusion.
“Yes, but the inputs have changed. You chose it because you saw no other option, am I right? How about now? I’m sure you don’t really want to die. It sucks to die. You can’t do anything anymore when you’re dead. Please tell me that it’s not really what you want because it would be quite disappointing coming from you…”
“I don’t see what changed…”
“Seriously, do you need more obvious clues?” the ghost laughed like it was even a funny joke, showing the frozen scene like it was a theatre to him. “Me! I’m the big change! You get an almighty being on your side, you can screw with all the rules, and you don’t even see any options there? You got me used to better than that…”
“Stop pretending you know me. It’s annoying.”
“But I do know you. Took me a while, but I came to understand you. You’re the one who don’t know me. Yet. But that will come in time. For now, I’ll just give you the big picture. I take you away. Far, far away where you won’t have to face these… consequences.” The ghost pointed at the bullets with his gaseous arms. “You were ready to die, good! To them, it will be like you’re dead. But you get to live a little more. What do you say? Live to fight another day, warrior?”
If life taught him one thing, it was that if it sounded too good to be true, it most certainly was. Why would a mysterious entity choose to come and save him from a certain fate? A fate he deserved, what’s more? Even he would have admitted this was a merciful end after what he had done! However… strangely, living to fight another day was exactly the thought that crossed his mind when the bullets were fired… That motto he used to repeat every time life hit hard, like a mantra.
The man suspected more and more this scene to be a product of his subconscious, an illusionary dream. Or maybe something to trick him. Besides, how could he live with the guilt of having run away? Leaving his mess behind, with the traumatisms he’d cause?
But then… what did he have to lose? Dead, he wouldn’t be useful either. Alive, there was a chance to return and fix things up. If they could be. Most of all, it gave him a hope to grasp on. Worst case scenario, it was an actual illusion and he’d be fooled. Big deal. One percent chance was better than zero.
Nonetheless, he had to be clear on one point, real ghost or not.
“Sounds like you’re trying to use me… Negotiating my life, heh? So let me tell you something.” The man gathered his thoughts with a deep breath. “I’m going to accept, because death will always be my last resort. But I will not fight for you. I will not be your soldier. And I will return here as soon as I can. If you intend to manipulate me, I promise you’ll have a hard time trying.”
The ghost stared at him, silent for a few seconds. To the man, it was confirmation he had seen right into his game. Whatever it was, if it believed he would sing miracle to this unexpected ‘help’, then it would find nothing else but disappointment. He wasn’t a fool.
“I had forgotten how stubborn you can be…” the ghost chuckled. “This fire in your eyes, this energy… No one should control such pure will, only watch and admire it as it blazes through existence. Be sure you’re the only one I will never try to manipulate or stop. I don’t expect you to fight for me. You’ll choose who to fight for. I’m just offering you to live, the rest isn’t up to me.”
“Then what do you have to gain in such deal?” the man asked with suspicion. It didn’t make sense. At all!
“I get to see a fascinating show. Something… historical, you might say… Because in the end, you and me, we always both wanted the same. That’s why I’ll never have to control you.”
The man tried to back off when the being began to rise a vaporous arm in his direction. He could almost distinguish a hand coming at his face in that luminous and blurry shape!
“Hey, what are you doing?!” he tried to protest.
“Making the decision for you, my friend. Making you the gift of not having to choose. You will live, and you’ll be great. While for this time you’ll be dead and forgotten.”
He tried to get away. He tried to protest. But the vaporous hand came closer and closer, filling his vision with an intense light. And then, it all became dark, with last words echoing in his head.
“You’ll become a legend, a myth... Adam Grimbelt…”
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
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File Size 21.2 kB
Listed in Folders
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