Chapter 8
The Lost Soul
Talim felt warm. She could feel something in the air moving around her, something unnatural. She opened her eyes and saw a light, a fire burning in the middle of the locking room. It only lasted for a few seconds, but there was smoke. It made her cough.
"Hello, young girl." A voice said.
It sounded otherworldly, like it belonged to a creature that was not from this world. Talim wasn't sure if this was real, or if it was a dream, or a hallucination from all of the poop fumes that she'd inhaled.
"Can I free you?" The voice said.
"What?" Talim said.
"Can I free you, from the duct tape?" It said again.
"Please." Talim replied.
She watched as a soft, feminine hand reached from the darkness. Its fingers turned to blades and shredded the duct tape wrapped around Talim's body. Talim tried to stand up, but was still weak from the roofies and still from being forced to stay still for so long. She tripped on the flood and landed in the pill of dung that The Ivy Fun Club left her.
"Damn." She said a small tear escaping her eyes.
"Here, let me help you up." The voice said.
Talim could see someone taking her hand. The person pulled her up, back to her feet. It was too dark to tell who it was.
"Come with me." The voice said.
"Where?" Talim said.
"I can clean you up. Come on, before this place opens and they catch you." The voice said.
Talim didn't feel like explaining why she didn't come home that night to her parents. She also didn't feel like explaining why she was completely naked and covered in human waste. She also felt as though the voice was calling her, like she'd be much happier if she followed it. It was a strange urge, almost a primal one.
"Okay. I'll go." Talim said.
A star shape formed in the darkness, made of ethereal light. Talim could feel her body trembling. She felt a little sick. In a flash of light, they were gone, gone from Earth, and into a different realm.
Talim landed in a grassy field, her insides hurting from being teleported. She fell to her knees and threw up a little.
"Easy. Easy." The voice said.
She could feel someone with very soft hands patting her on the back. Talim turned around and saw who they belonged to. It was a woman, one that looked a little bit older than her. She was dressed as a clown, but with no makeup. Her appearance startled Talim.
"Hey, don't worry. It's just me, Tira. I saw what those bullies did to you, you know. They did it to me too."
"You mean…" Talim stammered.
"Yeah, an Ivy special." Tira said.
Her friendly voice turned angry.
"They can all die, all of them."
"Tira?" Talim said.
Tira's voice turned friendly again.
"Yeah, Talim?"
"You're scary." Talim said.
"Aw. I try not to be." Tira said.
Talim looked around and saw where she was. There were peaceful hills, covered in tall grass and wildflowers. The sky was cloudy gray. It looked like it was about to rain. There was a cottage close by, one that looked out of place in modern times. It was made of logs and had a thatch roof.
"See that house?" Tira said.
Talim nodded.
"My friend lives there. He's a real good guy." Tira said.
"What's his name?" Talim asked.
Tira shrugged.
"I don't know. He never told me." She replied.
She led Talim into the cottage. No one was home. Talim saw Tira's couch, a very comfortable looking one. She wanted to lay down on it. She started to move toward it.
"Can it wait?" Tira said.
"Please, just a little?" Talim said.
Tira shook her head.
"We have to wash all the poopy off of you, silly-head. Then, you can rest."
That was when Talim remembered that she was still covered in The Ivy Fun Club's filth. She noticed Tira grabbing some soap, shampoo, and towels.
"We'll need the heavy duty stuff for this." Tira said.
Once Tira had all of her materials ready, she started to leave. She did, until Talim heard someone coming from the cellar.
"Tira?" She said.
She saw a skeleton. He smelled strange, like burnt hair. His body had no flesh, save for one eye in his skull. It was like something out of a horror movie. Tira turned to him.
"Hey, there!" She said.
The skeleton chuckled.
"Hello, Tira. Taking Talim down to the river?" He said.
"Yep. She needs a cleaning!" Tira said.
"Good. Bring her back here when you're done." He said.
Talim felt uncomfortable. First, she had never seen an animated skeleton before. Second, she wasn't sure how of why he knew her name.
"…Was that your friend?" Talim said to Tira as they walked out the door.
"Yep! He's a good guy. He taught me a lot about life. He also cooks a mean beef stew too. You should try it sometime!" Tira said.
Talim still wasn't sure if she could trust that skeleton, but he seemed to want to help her. Then again, last time someone tried to help her, it was her mother, who told her to stand up to bullies. While her advice was well-intentioned, it did nothing to stop her from ending up where she was.
Tira led Talim over the hills and toward a stream. The waters were slow, but still moving. They looked crystal clear, but there was nothing in them. No fish, no plants, nothing. Talim wasn't sure what to make of this.
"The water's great! Go on in and I'll be with you soon." Tira said.
Talim walked into the stream. The water was comfortable, a perfect temperature. Talim could feel her body getting cleaner just going in. The effect was soothing. She dipped her head underwater and felt cleaner.
Tira walked into the stream with a bottle of shampoo and some soap.
"Washy-washy!" She said.
She handed Talim the soap. Tira put some shampoo onto her hand and began scrubbing the poop out of Talim's hair. The poop flowed off of her body and disappeared into the stream, as though the river were erasing it as it fell off. It felt a little weird for Talim to be bathed by another woman, but it was just nice that someone seemed to be on her side for once. The fact that tira still wore her clown suit weirded her out, though.
"You ready?" Tira said.
Talim wasn't sure what Tira meant until she felt a washcloth go over her face.
"Ah! Get it off!" Talim said.
"Not yet! We've got to get all the poopy off of you before we're done. Okay?" Tira said.
It took a while before Talim was clean. Once she was done, Talim got out of the stream and dried off with her towel.
"Clean as a whistle! Toot, toot!" Tira said.
"Thanks, Tira. Seriously, thank you." Talim said.
"Hey, it wasn't a problem. Now let's go back home. My friend and I have been working on something really special for you!"
Talim still wasn't sure if she trusted Tira's friend, but decided to go anyway. Rather than wrap the towel around her waist, she simply tossed it aside and went naked. Talim just did not care at this point.
Once they reached Tira's house, Talim noticed that the creepy skeleton man was gone. In his place there was a present, gift wrapped with care.
"Oh! It's yours, Talim. Open it! Open it!" Tira said, giddy with excitement.
Talim noticed that it even had a tag for her. "To: Talim." The "From" section was left blank. She opened the box and saw what appeared to be a large blue handgun. There was a blade on the end of the barrel, a long one. Talim was confused.
"What is this?" She said.
"It's Soul Calibur! Go on and hold it. It feels good!" Tira said.
Talim held the gunblade in her hands. Sure enough, it did feel good. It was as if the weapon had a mind of its own, melding with hers. When she held it, she felt like she could shoot anyone at any distance. She felt like she could slice through anything. It was a good feeling.
"For me?" Talim said.
"Well… Originally, I was going to use it, but then I died." Tira said.
Talim was shocked.
"What?"
"Suicide will do that to you. Tee-hee!" Tira said.
Talim was still confused.
"Wait, you're dead?"
Tira moved in close to Talim and put her hands on Talim's shoulders.
"Talim…" Tira said.
She looked serious.
"…Send them all to Hell. Make them pay for what they did, not just to me, but to you. Justice must be served." Tira said.
"Wait, what? Tira, this isn't justice. This is lunacy! I'm not killing anyone." She said.
"No, you have to. It's a human need to feel superior to one another. There's always someone at the bottom of the social ladder and… That person was me." Tira said.
"I… I'm sorry." Talim said.
"No, it's okay. You want to know why I'm a clown now? It's because I'm nobody's fool, not anymore. I won't be Ivy's fool, her girl she can whip to feel better about herself. I won't let her shit on me, or anyone else. It's not fair and it ends with you, Talim. It can all end with you." Tira said.
What about you? Do you feel the need to feel superior to someone? What if you didn't? What if your put away all of your pride? What if you honestly stopped believing that you were superior to anyone? Could you do it? Or would you become depressed, seeing that there is no one in the world who is a worse person than you?
Do you believe that violence is the answer?
I don't think it is.
But Talim does.
"Yes, Tira. I'll do it. Thank you." Talim said.
She smiled and hugged her clown friend.
"Oh, thank you, Talim. Thank you, so much." Tira said.
Talim broke from the hug and clutched Soul Calibur in her hand. Tira cast the magic spell to send Talim back. The ground lit up in the shape of a star and she was gone.