James swallowed nervously; the sounds behind him were by no means natural to any sort of description. They made him shudder, his knees weakened as he tried to stay upright. No, he didn't want to do this. His ears buzzed as he mentally tried to block out his surroundings. Sometimes, he felt as if that was all that was keeping him alive.
Two monsters hung form the ceiling. They had no descriptive faces, they hung in huge cages that creaked with what sounded like age. They, in a perverse manner, reminded James of big babies in their swings. Despite the situation, James smiled thinly, and then he laughed. He laughed loudly, but it ended with a few tears streaming.
He took the first shot at the one nearest him. The impact caused the cage to ricochet back and forth slightly, but the monster didn't die. James aimed again, shoot it more directly, imagining his bullet ripping through the damned thing's head and spattering blood all over the cage. It would fall like red rain, he imagined little children dancing in the falling red rain. Wouldn't that be a pretty sight?
The creatures had located him; they moved stealthily toward, their cages that were attached to the ceiling could somehow maneuver themselves through the room. Sweat droplets gathered on James's forehead, he began to move backwards, never ceasing to lower his weapon. He shot the monsters once, two more times. It stalled the creature. James frowned in contempt, his usually stolid face turned in a slight frown, shot it once more. With a dying groan, the first creature's feet seemed to shrivel and the cage stopped moving.
Shotgun raised, he prepared to shoot another. First there was a smell of decay, then something wrapped itself around his throat. Momentarily stunned, he hung like a limp corpse as he was lifted. Pressure bulged from behind his eyes, his air was shortly cut off. The shotgun dropped immediately from his hand as he struggled to pull the monster off of him. The grip was tight, and his vision was rapidly failing.
Different shapes took form, colors bleeped in what he thought of as silent noise. He tried to open his mouth to gasp, but no air could be drawn in. He flailed his legs helplessly.
Ugh…need…air.
A dull thudding spread throughout his head, his mouth opened in a silent gasp and hung there like a fish. Soon, his vision went dark, the pressure seemed to explode behind his eyes. He closed them. Soon, he felt like he was falling. The feeling was a immense relief. Something hard struck his knees and palms. He opened his eyes slowly, freely drawing in air. He had fallen. There wasn't a beat missed. He reached his arm out, trying to stay low, searching for his gun. The monster stirred above him a second time. Where was his freakin' gun?
"Gah!" He wipped out his hand gun and rolled over onto his back. Holding himself up with his arm, he shot two bullets into the monster's soft, decaying flesh. The monster seem to stir in its cage, its grunt was horrible! It made James cower lower. James thought of its death grip, of how it tried to kill him. His mouth curved into an angry scowl, his eyebrows narrowed. The monster still was not dead, and he was taking no shit anymore.
Five more times until it stopped moving, he gave it one more shot for good measure.
One more and it was mad at James for killin' its buddies. There, his vision was clear again. He found his shotgun and grabbed it, pocketing his handgun. Standing up shakily, his gazed turned towards the last living monster. All the hanging corpses around him were examples of what power people possessed. He thought it was ironic. Humans could create and takeaway life. This was a sick, sick world.
The smell of gunpowder was sharp, cutting through the dense odor of decay. He found himself preferring it much more. He shotgun raised, he began to fire more rounds, each one nailing the creature mercilessly. It too was soon dead.
James lowered his gun, a triumphant look in his eye. He had won, hadn't he? These creatures wouldn't hurt him now.
Mary…I killed them for you.
He started, a slow frown coming onto his face. He staggered a few feet helplessly, a faint feeling coming into his head. There was a sudden darkness of mind.
How do you feel now James? Killing them all?
No, please, forgive me. They tried to kill me too.
Crawl back into the hole from where you came. Anyone who must corrupt others of life deserves none of their own, you scum!
He opened his mouth in response with one who wasn't there. There was a low sound; it seemed to shake his very state of mind. He felt like he himself mentally was falling asleep, his physical being was just coming along for the ride.
A siren. He realized in fatigue. That is the sound of a fire siren.
He fell unconscious.
The door led to a small, metal flight of stairs. The stairs led to a alleyway that led to the street. Every time her boots came down on a step, it made a cold, hollow sound. Whatever was out there, out in that weird fog, she was ready. It was a life or death situation. Two simple choices. From what she could figure, she could take a chance and live, maybe find happiness. Or, she might die, whether it be from the monsters or her her own hand, and find happiness anyways. It all may lead to a happy ending.
She laughed bitterly, trying to remember the last time she had even read something with a happy ending.
"I'm ready," She murmured to herself. "I really am…"
She could lie to herself.
There was no happiness here for her.
It was much easier to die than to live.
She wiped away a cold tear with her finger. She was too scared to die. She was too scared of any pain. "I just want happiness," She prayed, wondering if any g-d could hear her here. "Please, I just want a chance, just one." Deep inside, she knew that everyone deserved a second chance.
"I'm not just a slut." She muttered to herself. "Even miracles could happen here. I know that g-d can be forgiving. I know that people could be forgiving. Even the worse of people deserve second chances, right?"
Her pep talk seemed to do her good. She stopped tearing and began walking, began walking for real. She saw a monster, she killed it. Easy as that. She walked closer to examine the body, the dead corpse. It was one of hose monsters that looked had a pair of legs at both end, like two mannequin ends. Its blood made a stream, just like a person would have. The woman shivered in the cold air.
Where had everyone gone?
She walked forward more, her gun poised, making her feel like a secret agent gone to investigate a screwed up town. She smiled grimly at the thought. She began to walk some more. Whenever she saw the silhouette of a creature in the fog, she purposely walked away further. She needed more bullets if it was going to come down to this; she needed a lot more bullets.
The town was so strange. Not like how you would expect a ghost town to look. Ghost towns emptied slowly, didn't they? They showed signs of emptiness even before anyone left. It was like they all just…vanished, suddenly. Yet, at the same time, the town had the atmosphere it had been like this for a while.
The woman looked around a little sadly. A town, she thought, wasn't something you could just drop and abandon. A town had a sort of life to. It had a certain personality. People didn't live in towns simply because there house-or job-was there. It mattered if you liked the place. If you liked he sort of…charm it emitted.
She had come across a gate. It was big, built nicely.
A nice gate, she thought. Probably a nice house behind it.
With people?
Her interest peaked, she opened the nice gate. It slid forward easily on carefully oiled hinges. The sound was, for some reason, pleasant.
Two monsters were behind the gate. The day, though foggy and cloudy, gave off enough light to reveal her. They charged at her, kicking their spare legs fiercely. The woman cringed, wondering what they did with the dead once they killed them. Although they were demented, horrifying, and entirely demonic, she couldn't help but be reminded of the people that were gone. They looked scary, but there was, oddly enough, something about them that seemed human. Maybe she was just high.
Maria hurried away from them, quickly shutting the door of the house behind her and inwardly cringing. She could not bring herself to kill them.
The door remained shut. The monsters had not learned how to open doors apparently. Then again, they had no hands.
"Nice joint," She murmured, gazing around the huge foyer. There ceilings were high, two balconies stretched on either side. It was nice, but not overly fancy. Owned by someone who was rich, but modest. A round table was in the middle. The woman moved closer. A pit formed in her stomach. She swallowed, arriving at the table and looked pitifully at the very dead funeral wreath that rested on it. A card lay next to the rotting flowers.
Sorry for your lost.
The woman nearly scoffed at that. Sorry wasn't going to bring them back.
She turned her gaze away, not bearing to look at it more. Death scared her and made her unbearably sad. She wondered who had died. Was there anyone here? She walked over to the large double doors and walked through, walking in to a comfortable looking living room. It was large, nicely furnished. A fireplace rested on the far side, a slate of metal over the opening that read do not use. Oddly enough, bullets sat on the coffee table. She took them. It wasn't stealing, not exactly.
She walked through the door to her right and found a stairwell that led upstairs. She walked into a square opening with various doors to choose. She took a moment to consider.
Eeny, meeny, minny…
The first was either locked or its lock was broken. She went over to the west one, with not very high hopes. She was getting, strangely enough, bored. Her hand wrapped arund the brass handle, she turned it easily, delighted to find it opening. Just as it opened a crack, something with great force shut it. She jumped slightly, then grasped the handle again. It was now locked.
It can't be a monster; they aren't smart enough to do this.
If it wasn't a monster…"Ah," She said, jostling the knob some more. "Is someone there?" She rapped softly on the hard wood. "Open up." There was no answer. "Hello?" She tried knocking again, this time with more fervor.
"Stop it." A man commanded from behind the heavy door. The young woman felt her insides soar with relief and something close to happiness. Thank g-d, she wasn't alone. "You're disturbing me." He said flatly. It was definitely a man, his voice sounded worn, sad. But he wasn't a monster.
"Whew," She said, relief flooding her words. "Thank g-d. I finally found someone." She waited a minute, waited to see if whoever they were they would open the door now that they knew she was human. "Can you open the door?"
"No." He stated with finality.
"But why?" She asked, puzzled.
The man seemed to sigh. He definitely sounded tired. "Is it really necessary for me to answer all your tedious questions?"
Snob, she thought. "Yes."
"Oh," The man said with faint sarcasm. "I didn't know that. I just want to be alone. Other people just irritate me."
The woman pressed her palm against the door, she forced the exhausted sob down her throat and dug her red nails lightly against the door. "I just want to see another human face." She explained, not bothering trying to hide the desperation in her voice. "Do you know what's happening in this town?" She asked when he didn't respond. "There's no one here, just monsters."
"Yes, I know." He said. "But so what?" He said as if he didn't care. "It has nothing to do with me. No one here means there's nothing here to disturb me." He sounded like he wanted it that way.
"You want to be alone in this insane asylum?" She asked him incredulously. She couldn't believe. All she wanted was to find someone to stick out with her. How could anyone want to be alone here?
There was a slight silence. The man seemed to digest this. "But how can you say that it is the town that's insane?" He asked her slowly, his voice nearly emotionless. "Maybe it is we who are insane." His theory made so much sense, much more than she wanted it to be. He knew it made sense too. The woman thought she saw, perhaps he thought himself insane. Is that why he locked himself away? "Both of us," He said in a careless tone. "Hopelessly insane."
The woman shivered, he sounded so dark. They both saw the monsters. Could two insane people see the same things.
Or is one of us just a hallucination? She wondered, looking strangely at the door.
"Are you satisfied?" He asked her, his shaper voice cutting into her thoughts. "Will you leave me alone now?"
"What's your name?" She suddenly blurted out, feeling he at least owed her that.
He paused again, then sighed. "Ernest."
"Hemmingway?" She smirked.
"Baldwin."
"Ernest, I'll be back." She promised, placing her hand on the door once more. He didn't answer. She wished she he would. She shivered again, taking her hand away. There was something about Ernest, like a strong aura. Not of just sadness, but of complete, utter hopelessness. Like he had given up on everything.
"I'm not like that." She murmured to herself. "I still have something to go for."
She walked away, heading back down the stairs feeling sad though she didn't know why. Just as she was halfway down, bang! Something loud sounded throughout the house. It made her jump; her thoughts flew to Ernest just sitting up there, sad, hopeless, dark.
My g-d, he blew his brains out!
Those were her first thoughts until she realized it hadn't come from above. What was it? She flew down the stairs, the sound of footsteps that weren't her own urging her on. The door opened before her, hitting the wall. Her gaze stared bewildered into the room. At first glance, nothing was wrong. She spotted a slate of blown metal on the floor and realized it had been the one covering the fireplace. She picked it up, bewildered, wondering what had done it.
On her knees, she glimpsed up the fireplace, trying to see what was the deal. It was very dark, she had trouble seeing. Something seemed to cover the pipe at the top. The only thing that seemed odd were the metal rungs that stuck out of the brick wall. She reached out and grabbed a hold of one of them. One rested directly above that one, and another.
A latter! She realized.
Getting even further down on her knees, she eased her way into he fireplace and stood. It was a good thing she wasn't claustrophobic. She grabbed the rung as farthest as she could and mounted the first rung, hauling herself.
Why is there a latter here?
She slowly climbed upward, not sure when it would end. Eventually, she was in complete darkness. If she wasn't careful, she could fall. She would probably get stuck. Her head grazed a wooden ceiling. She put one hand on it, balancing her other, and pushed it upward. It opened. Eager to get into a lighter area, she scurried out of the dark, small area. It looked like a small garden; it was actually pretty cute, like a small park. Trees grew on either side; there was a stone pathway around bushes. The woman smiled at the serene feeling.
She walked along the stone pathway, coming to a patio of sorts at an opening. A gray stone sat atop. She came closer, climbing the patio, finding writing on the grave.
"Along with you died joy.
All that remains is despair and a
Future of meaningless tomorrows."
"But I will never give up.
One, to see your
Beautiful smile again.
One, to beg
The blessing of the g-ds.
I wait for that day."
"When the boards cover all
All sadness too will be covered.
But until my dreams
Return to reality.
I will have to swallow
All the pain."
James groaned, his eyes opening slowly. He sat up, rubbing his back and gazing around at is surroundings in amazement. He was no longer in the room, the monsters were gone.