After so long, I finally had the time to get this next chapter up. Hooray! Word of the wise, don't eat while reading this one. It's chock full of... stuff.
Anyway, I've been super busy doing artwork, in case anyone was wondering...
{crickets chirping}
...Thought so. Well, if anyone wants to see some of it, go to http://www.artwanted.com/animeflux
That's all for now. Pweeeze keep reviewing, k? And if anyone wants to comment on my artwork, feel free to do so, either on the site or in your review.
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Chapter 13: Nine Tenths of the Law
Through the murk and gloom of the morning fog, I was dragged through the dilapidated carnival to the place of my eminent destruction. Todd soon tired of trying to drag my limp form and resorted to tossing me over his shoulders. I didn't care. Nothing really mattered anymore. I was a manslayer. I'd been running from the past for what seemed like so long, all because I couldn't fess up to what I'd done. And now, along with everything else I'd learned, I was faced with one simple and inevitable truth: I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Perhaps Dahlia was right; maybe I should've been happy to lend my part to this whole God business. I just couldn't put stock in something so creepy. What kind of God could create all the nightmares I'd witnessed in this forsaken place? The rust, the blood... so much blood... that thought stuck in my mind.
We'd arrived at a building, one that looked just like everything else here. Grime and dirt were caked along brick walls with rusty metal doors. It didn't look special, at least, no more special than the souvenir shops I'd seen at the entrance. However, once I was tossed inside (along with James), I knew this place was different. Much more different, in fact, than any place I'd seen in the entire town.
Bodies hung from the ceiling by great hooks. They were once people, but time and decomposition had taken their toll from their soggy flesh. Flies buzzed furiously around the room, their young larvae squirming in and out of the bodies' rotting tissue. As if the sights weren't bad enough, the smell was atrocious. I thought I might die simply by breathing... in fact I just about wished for it.
James was livid by this point, having been held at gunpoint by Dahlia the entire way here. After being thrown into the room beside me, he jumped to his feet.
"What is this!" he spat. "This is no illusion; these are real people! What did you do, Dahlia!!"
"They were trials," said Dahlia, a smirk growing across her stolen face. "Trials that failed. Don't worry, you won't be in there long."
The door shut and clicked, signaling our imprisonment. Light seeped in through cracks in the ceiling, but not much.
Blood... blood everywhere. It intoxicated my senses. At first I thought I'd throw up. Its noxiousness was overwhelming.
"Don't worry, Stephanie," said James, searching the door for some way out. "They won't take us so easily. Besides, I've been in worse scrapes than this."
I was enraptured by my surroundings. I couldn't take my eyes off the dead bodies, the flesh. I could feel madness sinking its cold tendrils into my mind, and for the first time in days, I smiled. Not the smile of a normal, happy person... the smile of a condemned murderer. A beast, yes, that was the way to describe myself. After all, I deserved this place, this... personal hell. It was joy to be punished so.
So many thoughts jumped into my head at once. I could embrace this newfound personality with no problems. Who would I answer to? It was my true self anyway, I'd simply been running away from it. No more, though.
Once again I looked at the bodies. I realized they weren't rotting carcasses put here to horrify me. It was a feast prepared in my honor. I was home, right where I belonged. In earnest, I rushed forward.
"Well, never mind that idea," said James as he backed away from the door. He wiped the sweat off his brow and shook his head. "We'll just have to be ready when they come back, right?"
There was no answer... only muffled sounds.
"Stephanie? Where'd you go?"
Something was going on over in the corner of the room, but still no one spoke. James slowly walked toward the noises, squinting to see in the faltering light.
"Hey Stephanie, what are you-"
He froze in place as he finally realized where I was. Blood was dripping from my lips from each bite I took, and I relished in the taste of my world.
"What in God's name are you doing!" cried James, struggling not to vomit.
The door suddenly swung open with a bang, and Todd appeared once more alongside Dahlia. Their reaction, though, was much the same as James'.
"What the-" said Todd.
"James," said Dahlia quietly, "what has happened here?"
"You think I know!?" he screamed. "One minute she's just sitting there, and the next she's chowing down on... on..."
"Did she say anything?" she asked, tight-lipped.
"No..."
Todd started to grow nervous, and he slowly stepped backwards.
"Th-this wasn't-"
BANG!
Todd spun around with the bullet's impact and slammed against the wall, sliding to the floor. A small trickle of blood seeped from the wound, just to the right of his shoulder.
I'd seen the blast as well, and I put the juicy limb on the floor, eager to watch the violence.
Dahlia spun around as well, her gun pointed at the perpetrator; once she saw who it was, however, her gun dropped from her now quivering hands.
"Y-you're...you're..." she croaked, backing towards James.
The gun was fired by a young girl, probably in her teens. She wore a white sleeveless jacket over an orange top, along with a skirt and calf-length boots. Blonde, matted hair hung in blood-soaked strands from her head. At once I recognized her from one of the visions I'd had.
"Hello, Mom," she said venomously, holding the gun steadily. "Have you missed me?"
A slight grin crept across her face, and she looked from Dahlia to James. Her eyes finally rested on me, and stayed for what felt like forever. I was entranced by her stare, and I soon smiled back at her. Her grin grew, and before anyone knew it, we both started laughing-- a harsh, cruel laughter that surprised even myself. Where had that voice come from, I wondered?
I laughed until tears streamed from my face, until finally it died out. James had a grim look on his face, contemplation evident. Dahlia looked ready to die from fright, and Todd, well... saying he was angry was an understatement.
Suddenly I found myself on my feet, though not of my own volition. What a wonder, I thought to myself, as my feet walked forward.
"Now," said the girl and myself in unison, "you shall pay for your wickedness. The will of God was never yours to dictate, Dahlia Gillespie. For your transgressions, you shall get what you deserve."
My hand shot out and grabbed Dahlia's neck from behind. She struggled and screamed, but there was no escaping my grip. I couldn't help but chuckle at her futile attempts to escape. Where had I gotten this kind of power? It was wonderful, and I wanted more.
"Alessa, you cannot do this!" cried Dahlia. "Whatever it is that you're planning, it cannot stop God's rebirth!"
"Silence!" shouted Alessa and I. "This is far beyond your petty resurrection."
We turned and scowled at Todd's quivering rage.
"And you," we hissed. "You shall be punished for disobedience."
"I did everything you asked!" he shouted. "I've done nothing but what you told me to, and you go and shoot me!"
"Jedidiah," we tsk'ed, "you were told specifically to leave James alone, yet you shot him. You were also told not to allow Claudia to fulfill her plans, yet she did... to some extent. My intervention is the only thing that has prevented a total takeover. Be glad that I did, in fact, retain control, or you'd be in the hands of Metatron right now."
As we spoke, I started to feel an unrest within me. I knew that something wasn't right, that this couldn't be as wonderful as I'd previously felt. I knew, as our sentence finished, that this wasn't me at all. This wasn't my personality. I was a puppet. Someone or something was using me, just as it was using Alessa.
The realization came too late, however, as my controller forced my grip tighter than ever on Dahlia's neck.
"And now, Gillespie," we said menacingly as we turned our attention back on Dahlia, "you die."
Anyway, I've been super busy doing artwork, in case anyone was wondering...
{crickets chirping}
...Thought so. Well, if anyone wants to see some of it, go to http://www.artwanted.com/animeflux
That's all for now. Pweeeze keep reviewing, k? And if anyone wants to comment on my artwork, feel free to do so, either on the site or in your review.
********************************
Chapter 13: Nine Tenths of the Law
Through the murk and gloom of the morning fog, I was dragged through the dilapidated carnival to the place of my eminent destruction. Todd soon tired of trying to drag my limp form and resorted to tossing me over his shoulders. I didn't care. Nothing really mattered anymore. I was a manslayer. I'd been running from the past for what seemed like so long, all because I couldn't fess up to what I'd done. And now, along with everything else I'd learned, I was faced with one simple and inevitable truth: I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Perhaps Dahlia was right; maybe I should've been happy to lend my part to this whole God business. I just couldn't put stock in something so creepy. What kind of God could create all the nightmares I'd witnessed in this forsaken place? The rust, the blood... so much blood... that thought stuck in my mind.
We'd arrived at a building, one that looked just like everything else here. Grime and dirt were caked along brick walls with rusty metal doors. It didn't look special, at least, no more special than the souvenir shops I'd seen at the entrance. However, once I was tossed inside (along with James), I knew this place was different. Much more different, in fact, than any place I'd seen in the entire town.
Bodies hung from the ceiling by great hooks. They were once people, but time and decomposition had taken their toll from their soggy flesh. Flies buzzed furiously around the room, their young larvae squirming in and out of the bodies' rotting tissue. As if the sights weren't bad enough, the smell was atrocious. I thought I might die simply by breathing... in fact I just about wished for it.
James was livid by this point, having been held at gunpoint by Dahlia the entire way here. After being thrown into the room beside me, he jumped to his feet.
"What is this!" he spat. "This is no illusion; these are real people! What did you do, Dahlia!!"
"They were trials," said Dahlia, a smirk growing across her stolen face. "Trials that failed. Don't worry, you won't be in there long."
The door shut and clicked, signaling our imprisonment. Light seeped in through cracks in the ceiling, but not much.
Blood... blood everywhere. It intoxicated my senses. At first I thought I'd throw up. Its noxiousness was overwhelming.
"Don't worry, Stephanie," said James, searching the door for some way out. "They won't take us so easily. Besides, I've been in worse scrapes than this."
I was enraptured by my surroundings. I couldn't take my eyes off the dead bodies, the flesh. I could feel madness sinking its cold tendrils into my mind, and for the first time in days, I smiled. Not the smile of a normal, happy person... the smile of a condemned murderer. A beast, yes, that was the way to describe myself. After all, I deserved this place, this... personal hell. It was joy to be punished so.
So many thoughts jumped into my head at once. I could embrace this newfound personality with no problems. Who would I answer to? It was my true self anyway, I'd simply been running away from it. No more, though.
Once again I looked at the bodies. I realized they weren't rotting carcasses put here to horrify me. It was a feast prepared in my honor. I was home, right where I belonged. In earnest, I rushed forward.
"Well, never mind that idea," said James as he backed away from the door. He wiped the sweat off his brow and shook his head. "We'll just have to be ready when they come back, right?"
There was no answer... only muffled sounds.
"Stephanie? Where'd you go?"
Something was going on over in the corner of the room, but still no one spoke. James slowly walked toward the noises, squinting to see in the faltering light.
"Hey Stephanie, what are you-"
He froze in place as he finally realized where I was. Blood was dripping from my lips from each bite I took, and I relished in the taste of my world.
"What in God's name are you doing!" cried James, struggling not to vomit.
The door suddenly swung open with a bang, and Todd appeared once more alongside Dahlia. Their reaction, though, was much the same as James'.
"What the-" said Todd.
"James," said Dahlia quietly, "what has happened here?"
"You think I know!?" he screamed. "One minute she's just sitting there, and the next she's chowing down on... on..."
"Did she say anything?" she asked, tight-lipped.
"No..."
Todd started to grow nervous, and he slowly stepped backwards.
"Th-this wasn't-"
BANG!
Todd spun around with the bullet's impact and slammed against the wall, sliding to the floor. A small trickle of blood seeped from the wound, just to the right of his shoulder.
I'd seen the blast as well, and I put the juicy limb on the floor, eager to watch the violence.
Dahlia spun around as well, her gun pointed at the perpetrator; once she saw who it was, however, her gun dropped from her now quivering hands.
"Y-you're...you're..." she croaked, backing towards James.
The gun was fired by a young girl, probably in her teens. She wore a white sleeveless jacket over an orange top, along with a skirt and calf-length boots. Blonde, matted hair hung in blood-soaked strands from her head. At once I recognized her from one of the visions I'd had.
"Hello, Mom," she said venomously, holding the gun steadily. "Have you missed me?"
A slight grin crept across her face, and she looked from Dahlia to James. Her eyes finally rested on me, and stayed for what felt like forever. I was entranced by her stare, and I soon smiled back at her. Her grin grew, and before anyone knew it, we both started laughing-- a harsh, cruel laughter that surprised even myself. Where had that voice come from, I wondered?
I laughed until tears streamed from my face, until finally it died out. James had a grim look on his face, contemplation evident. Dahlia looked ready to die from fright, and Todd, well... saying he was angry was an understatement.
Suddenly I found myself on my feet, though not of my own volition. What a wonder, I thought to myself, as my feet walked forward.
"Now," said the girl and myself in unison, "you shall pay for your wickedness. The will of God was never yours to dictate, Dahlia Gillespie. For your transgressions, you shall get what you deserve."
My hand shot out and grabbed Dahlia's neck from behind. She struggled and screamed, but there was no escaping my grip. I couldn't help but chuckle at her futile attempts to escape. Where had I gotten this kind of power? It was wonderful, and I wanted more.
"Alessa, you cannot do this!" cried Dahlia. "Whatever it is that you're planning, it cannot stop God's rebirth!"
"Silence!" shouted Alessa and I. "This is far beyond your petty resurrection."
We turned and scowled at Todd's quivering rage.
"And you," we hissed. "You shall be punished for disobedience."
"I did everything you asked!" he shouted. "I've done nothing but what you told me to, and you go and shoot me!"
"Jedidiah," we tsk'ed, "you were told specifically to leave James alone, yet you shot him. You were also told not to allow Claudia to fulfill her plans, yet she did... to some extent. My intervention is the only thing that has prevented a total takeover. Be glad that I did, in fact, retain control, or you'd be in the hands of Metatron right now."
As we spoke, I started to feel an unrest within me. I knew that something wasn't right, that this couldn't be as wonderful as I'd previously felt. I knew, as our sentence finished, that this wasn't me at all. This wasn't my personality. I was a puppet. Someone or something was using me, just as it was using Alessa.
The realization came too late, however, as my controller forced my grip tighter than ever on Dahlia's neck.
"And now, Gillespie," we said menacingly as we turned our attention back on Dahlia, "you die."