[Completed] 2016 Short Story Contest

Discussion in 'Novel Updates Site Discussion' started by Nom de Plume, Oct 7, 2016.

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  1. Aokiba

    Aokiba ( ・ิω・ิ)ゞ

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    Chuunibyou Cat

    written by: @Aokiba
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    I am Neko, Necro Equinox of Kaos, nya. I am the rightful ruler of this world, not a lowly thing called a cat~nya.

    Today I shall explain how I came to this realm~nya.

    One day, when spirits of earth emerged, I was summoned by a mysterious phenomenon called ¤°*Birth*°¤, yes even deities are born~nya.

    My friend is Coco, Crazy Okami Criminal Overlord, who insists he was named that by his master since he was brown~nya. Lies~nya.

    Today on October 31st, Coco and I went to explore the forest behind his house, meow. We went to the depths of the woods, nya. Where light could not reach and that was where we saw it, nya, a lost spirit. It was a small white ghost, the size of half a door. Coco said he smelt like one of his master’s friend, so we led him out of the forest to Coco’s house~nya.

    I can feel it, my blood, the blood of heroes is burning~nya. ^ ^
    ( ⓛ ω ⓛ )
    Using my secret powers I summon a third person to narrate what I do.

    “Wahaha, I'm a HERO” Neko meows.

    “Now let's go Coco, to subdue the demonic beasts haunting the roads and people's doorways.” Neko commands.

    Neko and Coco run around the road barking and meowing against the monsters.

    But then a creature sneaks from within the shadows and grabs Neko in its grip.

    When the shadow comes under the streetlight you can see blood dripping out of its eye and its guts dripping out. With large globs of sticky saliva dripping from its overgrown 4cm teeth, it screeches “Awww, so cute, I wish I had a cat.”

    Neko cries out “Who dares touch me, the Nekomancer, Equinox of Kaos”, as he tries to squirm out of the girl's grip.

    “Coco, come and assist me” Neko cried.

    “I can’t I’m captured by two succubae and a fairy.” Coco barks back.

    Finally when they struggled free and escape, they both start to dash in order to escape the clutches of evil.

    Panting and out of breath the duo collapse in front of a pond.

    After waking up, Coco made a decision and told Neko.

    “Neko let's not go out to combat injustice and monsters.”

    “Yah, our levels are too low.”

    They both decided to lay low and to not engage in battle with the supernatural.

    After coming to that decision, they were tired so they drank the water from the pond.

    Neko felt an itching feeling in his claws and an urge for blood lust.

    He told Coco “Something is wrong my claws don't feel like my own. Coco you should leave, I can't control my paws.”

    Neko's eyes start to shine; an eerie glow coats his claws.

    Swoosh, Neko’ claws slashed Coco face.

    Coco howls in pain then instinctively bit Neko’s jugular.

    Blood spews from Neko’s throat as Coco savagely rips Neko apart.

    As the light in Neko’s eyes start to dim, he whispers “avenge me my brethren”

    When Coco’s rage starts to dissipate and his polarity returns he is stricken by the terrible thing that his best friend tastes so good. But as he was enjoying his meal he suddenly choked on a Nekos ribs and died slowly while suffocating to death.

    They mutually died and now they haunt the NUF’s short story contest boards.

    This is also the origin story of why cats don't usually like dogs; they feel that if you get too close to another you will have a greater impact when betrayed.

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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2017
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  2. Clozdark

    Clozdark "Kuma chan \(≧◡≦)/ "「airhead」「nonsense speaker]

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    What Other Side Thinking?

    written by: @Clozdark
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    Day 1096

    I wander again in these lands of pure darkness. I can sense that I am standing on some kind of flat, cold ground. As is my usual daily routine, I try to touch anything near me hoping luck is on my side and that I will find something….

    “HYAAAA!” A woman's voice screams.

    “Ah, don’t be scared. I am just the same as you. Just a deceased soul wandering and waiting for next year to happen.” I say.

    “What? I am dead? How you know I am dead? And why is it so dark?“ the woman barrages me with all the usual questions.

    “Of course I know. I am a veteran deceased soul with 3 years experience here. Don’t worry about the darkness as it won’t last long, I promise.” I answer.

    “Then how long until the light turns up? You have already been waiting more than a thousand days? What about food?”

    Her voice is mixing with some sobbing. I know that it's hard when deceased souls first arrive. Right, it's just as that nice girl said. After 100 days of wandering alone in this darkness, I had already tasted that the empty loneliness of the mind wandering through nothing is worse than death. Day by day, thoughts will fill up with regret, anxiety, anger, and hatred, and, worst of all, is wanting to disappear in despair.

    “Don’t worry. It's just 100 days. There will be a nice young girl that comes to us, wearing a one piece white dress and bringing a lantern. The lantern's light color is also white. As we are just souls, and we don’t eat anything. But…” I reply while trying to grab that thing in my pocket.

    *Klatak*

    “What’s that sound?” the woman asks.

    “Ah, sorry about that. I just dropped my chocolate bar.” I answer, while grabbing my chocolate bar back.

    “Wait. We don’t eat anything, you said, but you have chocolate?” The woman feels suspicious of me.

    “Haha, this chocolate actually one of the causes of my death 3 years ago.”

    “You got diabetes?”

    “No... it's just that on a rainy night before Halloween 3 years ago, after shopping with my son for some trick or treat presents, I fell crossing a bridge and died. Pretty foolish way to die right?”

    “How can you remember how you died? I can not remembering anything?”

    “It’s natural, I guess. Out of the other people I met before you, one of them didn't remember anything about how they died, too.”

    “So not everyone remembers…”

    There’s silence between us for a while. Just like she said in the past, every deceased soul is sensitive. Ah I just remembered the first time she praised me. I had comforted another deceased soul, like me, before the time she arrived 2 years ago. Back then, I wondered if once my chocolate bar ran out I would try get a job like her.

    Tak *klinting* tak *kling* tak

    “Ah, here she comes. I guess 100 days pass quickly, right?” I said hearing this iconic sound.

    Slowly, the light from that white flame candle in the lamp approached, filling all this empty vast white land all around me, but what I see is not her. It was and old man with a tattered white loincloth that came to us.

    “Whoa I thought you were an old man by your voice, but you look like a handsome man in his 30s.” the woman behind me says.

    “Oh, hello there.” I greet her, trying to smile my best, a smile that I hadn't tried to see in the mirror for 3 years.

    “Stop chatting you foolish soul. Now did both of you already decide?” The old man behind us asks. I guess that man is looking really unfriendly.

    “Umm.. what happened to that girl that usually comes to see me every year? Ahh.. If I remember correctly, she looked really pale back then last year. Could it be she's sick?” I worry.

    “No, she just resigned from this job. If your heart is not big enough to carry on, only suffering is waiting in this job.” The old man responds.

    “I see..”

    “Now, let me finish my job. There’s many more souls waiting, so did you want to stay and have 1 day to visit your relatives as a ghost, or move on to another world?”

    “I will stay.” I reply casually.

    “Why?” the woman asks, looking unhappy about my decision.

    “I will move on when the chocolate runs out, hahaha. This daddy loves to give trick or treats to my son, so he's never sad that I already passed away,” I chuckled.

    “Ok then, but I am gonna move on. I am scared of this darkness.” The woman looks away and starts to follow the old man that's moving away from here.

    I guess I will waste my time whistling till the day before Halloween ….

    --------------------------------​

    “What a foolish man he is.” The old man suddenly talks.

    “What you mean by that?” I reply.

    “Oh? I will tell you an interesting story then, until we reach the destination place…” The old man snickers and starts clearing his throat.

    “Not so long ago, there was a young girl that took this job to guide the deceased souls to their next life. She had a cheerful personality. That’s why she always got loved by the souls. She wanted to show them that death was just a natural part of life, and make them want to go to their next life without regret. Then what do you think happened to make her regret that decision?

    "It was when the client was that man. She spent power to make that man's chocolate bar real, so he can give it to his son every year on that day before Halloween. But what do you think the son was thinking, knowing his father gave him a chocolate bar every year? Khukhukhu.

    "Now this is the best part. The son that received the chocolate bar was thinking that chocolate bar is the way that the father said he is lonely. So the son ran away to the place the father died.. but tragedy created a chain of tragedy. The son accidentally bumped into another person, and that person fell off the bridge and died. The son was scared, and ran away again back to his home. He spent all night on Halloween in fear, until he passed out from exhaustion.

    "The next morning came and the son was surprised, because there was no chocolate bar that day. So from then on he thought he was cursed…. Oops looks like we already reached the destination. Bye bye.”

    Before he finishing the story about that man's life, suddenly a hole opened below me, and I got pulled away. The last words I hear is the old man saying, “You are the third victim..."

    --------------------------------
    Amen to the one who burned by the pain

    Amen to the one who seen by the anxiety

    Amen to the one who suffocated by the soul

    Cause the world around you is fading to the end

    The world around you is fading to the end

    Amen to the one who crying for the misery

    Amen to the one whose praying for the heartbroken

    Amen to the one who guiding for the eternal rest

    Cause the world darkened as I dying

    The world darkened as I dying
    --------------------------------​

    This thing happens every night on the same day every year since my father's death. There’s a heavy aura that looks at me and starts touching my head, and starts whispering some kind of scream. I try my best to hold my breath and not open my eyes, because I know that my father is still cursed and lonely. He still haunts this world.

    You don’t believe me, do you?

    You will regret this, because the proof is here. This chocolate bar, with some blood drops on it, is always left beside me on the morning before Halloween. But forget that for now, because I’m really scared. I start to whisper it in my heart..

    “I’m sorry father… I will bring you more companions tomorrow… I promise.”

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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2017
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  3. falcon92

    falcon92 Well-Known Member

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    New Parents
    written by: @falcon92
    RRL Link
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    “Hey! Hey! Have ya ….Hic- Heard ..the road myth?”

    As Jack’s hands were on the steering wheels, a sweet voice entered his ear. Focusing his eyes on the dark road he responded, “No. I haven't.”

    “Haaaa! Hic- ye dummy.” A soft feeling touched against his body. He felt a delicate finger press slightly on his cheeks followed by small giggling sounds. “Hehehe!”

    'She is totally drunk!' Jack thought. Ellen, his friend, was sitting next to him in the car. He sighed. 'Now I have to drive all the way,' he thought as though a distressing situation had occurred. The plan had been that Jack would drive half the way, and Ellen would continue after. Unfortunately for him, the beautiful college girl had almost no tolerance to alcohol.

    Hic- Disappear… years… couple…”

    Incoherent words came out from her mouth, yet after a while Jack pieced together her tale. A couple went missing. Thirty years ago, they drove down this road and never returned.

    Naturally this wasn’t enough to create a myth, yet this story was still told. The reason behind it was simple. 60 years ago, it was also reported that a couple went missing on the same road. 90 years, 120 years, and 150 years also rumored a missing couple. Some people even say the story goes back 500 years.

    'Ridiculous,' thought Jack. Even though it was confirmed that this incident happened 30 years ago, the rest was nothing but hearsay as there was no possible way to verify the events from 90 years ago.

    “Ye know… This year marks the 30 year myth.”

    “Yeah, yeah. I am driving now, so sleep in the back.”

    Only after 30 minutes did Ellen finally closed her eyes.

    ****​

    2 hours later

    Ellen’s figure is reflected in the rear view mirror as Jack looks at her breathing softly while laying in the back seat. Her calm appearance and blonde hair caused a smile to appear on Jack's mouth, but also a sigh inside his mind. His beautiful friend rested in the back while he kept yawning on the road. "When we reach a motel, I will sleep there."

    Driving for hours, his mind and body eventually got tired. He remembered the sign that appeared 20 minutes before on the road when he thinks about getting some rest. "Motel-50 km." All he needs to do now is drive for just a few more minutes, and a comfortable room with a bed will be waiting for him.

    "Mm..." Occupied by the idea of sleep a sudden scene caught his attention. A car on the side of the road and a middle age man in front of it was waving at him. Flat tire? Broken engine? A few guesses from the sudden emergence of the man come to Jack's mind.

    As it seemed the middle age man was in a dire situation the proper action would be to stop and help him, yet Jack’s leg didn’t budge even slightly from the accelerator. 'Suspicious,' that was his impression.

    On an ordinary day Jack would have stopped to help him, but he was alone and exhausted with a sleeping beauty in the back. On top of that, it was in the middle of the night with no soul other than them. He didn’t dare think of what may happen.

    With that in mind, his car kept a steady speed on the road. Although Jack wasn’t planning to stop, his eyes couldn’t help but look to the side. "What?" The leg that was firmly on the accelerator immediately lifted and slammed on the breaks.

    Putting the car in reverse, he slowly got closer to the middle age man. Opening the door, Jack left the car and greeted the middle aged man with, “Hello.”

    “Good evening young man,” the stranger replied with a smile. “Thank goodness someone stopped.”

    “No trouble at all” Jack’s answered while averting his eyes from embarrassment, as he wasn’t planning to stop at first. His vision rested on the reasons that caused him to change his mind. A middle-age woman holding a small little girl that seemed 3 or 4 years old in her arms.

    A man, a woman, and a small child were together. There is no doubt in his mind that they were a family because of the smiling little girl. She was happily looking at him with her sparkling eyes.

    “Haha. My wife and I thank you for freeing our souls.”

    As the man said that, the woman looked at Jack and softly said “Thank you... and...” Closing her mouth, her eyes downcast as she was having difficulty speaking, but eventually murmured, “Sorry.”

    “Ah! You don’t need to apologize. It's normal to help each other. So, what is the problem?” seeing the exaggerated gratitude and apologetic faces in front of him, Jack quickly tried to change the subject.

    It was only for a moment, yet a fearful look appeared on the man's face after his wife spoke. He recovered quickly and said to Jack, “Ah! The engine broke. Do you know how to fix it?”
    Scratching his head Jack responded, “Sorry, I am completely ignorant when it comes to cars.”

    “What about the miss in the car?”

    “...” Jack turned his head to the car puzzled as he said, “She doesn’t know either." Jack turned his head to the man, "How did you know there was a girl in the car?” It was a dark night, even after looking at the car, Jack could not see Ellen clearly.

    The man jolted from the question and looked at his wife and daughter. As the same time the wife was looking at her daughter with trembling eyes. As the little girl giggled at Jack and said “Miley told 'em. Miley eyes good.”

    “Hahaha! I see, I see.” Looking at her happy appearance Jack couldn’t help but laugh.

    “Uncle, can Miley go in car?” While saying that, Miley pointed at the car behind Jack.

    Smiling softly, Jack said “sure.”

    ****​

    On the road, Jack drove for another 30 minutes until they reached the motel. However, the father thought it would be better to continue the road, since they wanted to reach the city faster. Therefore, the husband and wife volunteered to continue driving while he rested in the back with his friend and Miley.

    Jack didn’t have any objections and, for the next few hours, he was in dreamland.

    After a few hours, Jack finally opened his eyes. An orange sky could be seen, with the sunshine on the horizon. His body was stiff since he wasn’t used to sleeping in a car nor while sitting upright.

    “Daddy woke up.”

    ‘What?’ A slightly familiar childish voice reached his ears. His eyes were yet to adjust to the light, but Jack knew the owner of these words. 'Was her dad sleeping too?' Jack thought. As soon as his eyes were open wide, the figure of Miley smiling at him reflected in his eyes.

    Tilting his head and being baffled from her sparkling eyes, questioning words blurred out of his mouth. “What? Something on my face?” as he said that his hand touched his face.

    “No! Daddy!” as the little girl said that her gaze was still glued on Jack.

    "Daddy?" were her words. Confused from the way she addressed him he turned his head as he wanted to ask the parents but...

    “What?!” his mind was further bewildered. “What happened?! Where is your father?! Miss, where is your husband?!”

    Precisely, in this small car, there was only him, Ellen, Miley, and her mother. The father was nowhere to be seen. Jack immediately questioned the little girl and the mother driving the car. Yet…

    “Honey, What is wrong? Are you drunk?”

    “Daddy…”

    ...their answer baffled Jack even more.

    “Wait! What?! Honey?! Daddy?!” As he repeated these words, his hand pointed at himself and questioned, “ME?!”

    “Daddy, ok?” Miley asked with tears in her eyes while clenching her small hand on Jack's clothes.

    “Yes! Yes! You are her father, and my husband.”

    “Hey! Hey! Stop joking around?! Where is your husband?!”

    “YOU ARE MY HUSBAND! AND MILEY’S FATHER!” the woman screamed. Her body shook and her hands trembled on the steering wheel as she repeated over and over again, “You are my husband. You are Miley’s father.”

    Bewildered from her sudden shout, Jack couldn’t comprehend anything anymore. “Miss, can you please expl….”

    “Boring.”

    Before Jack could continue his words a cold and emotionless, yet familiar voice came from his side. His ears told him it was the same voice as the little girl, though it spoke only one word. Only one. But the weight it carried sent Jack’s mind into chaos. Even the mother's trembling intensified.

    Turning his head to the side, "Wha-?" his body suddenly shuddered. What appeared in front of him was the same little girl. The same hair, the same clothes, and the same height. "What is that face?! What is with those eyes?!" Her face feature did not change, her eye-color was the same black as before.

    BUT, HER SMILE WAS GONE! Her sparkling eyes turned sharp as she looked at him like he were a mere object.

    “Uncle, next time do it correctly.” Her childlike voice was gone, replaced by words were as cold and indifferent as they could be. Her hand lifted and pointed at his face and said; “YOU ARE MY DADDY.”

    Jack wanted to speak but could not.

    His mouth opened and closed a few times. Ellen was sleeping. The mother was still trembling behind the steering wheel. Miley was frowning as she looked at him with dissatisfaction. “You need a reminder.” Her left hand reached for his right hand.

    A small hand rested on his pinkie finger. Jack stayed frozen, confused as to what was happening at that moment. He was still looking at the frowning little girl as her eyes met his in return. Her dissatisfied look slowly turned into a sweet smile befitting of a child. Her mouth opened saying, “Uncle, remember this the next time.”

    Suddenly, his heart thumped. An uncomfortable feeling came from his right hand. What entered his vision was a small hand holding... his finger.

    “AHHH!!”

    As if the weak little hand was pulling a candy from a jar, Jack’s finger was being pulled off effortlessly. 'What the fuck is happening?!?!' he thought. His body and his right hand were stone but his pinkie finger was…

    …COMING OFF.

    His heart beat faster and faster. His breath became ragged and rapidly increased. His screams grew louder and louder. His eyes moved uncontrollably as they watched his finger’s …

    …skin being torn slowly.

    …followed by his muscles snapping one by one.

    ...blood dripping down his leg.

    ...finally, his small bones breaking as easy as a biscuit.

    Fear crawled to his mind. All of his body was in chaos and petrified in place. Then a giggle. A few words reached his ears.

    “Daddy. Next time do it correctly,” were the last words he had heard before his mind slipped into darkness.

    ****​

    “Ahhh!!” Jack opened his eyes wide and screamed his lungs out. Looking left and right there was the sunshine on the horizon and Ellen on her side sleeping. The little girl, Miley, seemed frightened by his scream. The mother was driving yet looking at him through the rear view mirror with trembling eyes and the father sitting next to her.

    'A dream. Hahaha.' He sighed in mind and laughed as he thought, 'That was too real. The pain, the helplessness was too realistic.'

    “Daddy, ok?”

    Jack’s body jolted from these words, looking at the concerned little girl once again. His body stiffened. "Idiot! Just a stupid nightmare!" feeling frustrated from just a couple of words from a little girl. His head shook a couple of times to make his mind.

    "Wait! Daddy!!!" This was the same word as his dream. ‘It can’t be’ his body trembled, as his eyes were altered between the little girl and her REAL father, looking and hoping for answers.

    As if to answer his plea, the father turned his head and looked at him. His eyes were watery and he spoke with a trembling voice, “It's your turn... to be... her daddy.”

    "WHAT?!?!?!" his mind screamed and his heart trembled. His mouth opened once again to speak but no voice came out.

    The father didn’t appear to want to continue talking as his eyes shifted to his daughter and he said “Free me. Please.”

    Jack could not grasp the situation anymore. He stretched his right hand to grab the father and question him further. “Hey!! Wait a minute.”

    But immediately his trembling hand was left hanging in the empty air.

    The middle age man was in front of him only a few centimeters, well within reach, yet his attention was completely switched from the man to his own hand.

    "MY FINGER!!!!" His pinkie finger was nowhere to be seen.

    “Daddy.”

    Once again the same childish voice reached his ear. His beating heart almost exploded from this simple word. His eyes shaking as his gaze shifted to the little girl.

    It was the same smiling innocent looking girl, BUT Jack could not feel anything harmless and gentle from her face.

    “Please free me!” once again the middle age man begged the girl.

    Yet the girl did not even turn her eyes to him. Her right hand simply waved in his direction and…..
    ….

    ..
    .

    The man faded away as though he never existed.

    ‘WHAT?!?!?!’ from the unbelievable scene in front of him, Jack could no longer comprehend what was happening.

    “Daddy!”

    A word that seemed like a curse from that same childish voice came once again. Jack’s body shivered completely, and his eyes didn’t dare look at the little monster anymore. His gaze shifted to the shuddering mother in front of him.

    “YOU!! WHAT IS GOING ON!?!?!” He wanted answers but didn’t wish to speak to the little devil next to him. He could only ask the woman behind the steering wheel while his hand pointed at her with fear.

    “You are... her new daddy.” The woman answered with a faint and shaking voice.

    “HEY!! TELL ME…”

    “Wrong!”

    Again the cold and emotionless voice came. The same sound, but nothing similar to a mere child. It was nothing but a sharp needle in Jack’s ear and mind.

    “Do it right next time uncle.”

    The hand that was pointed at the mother was touched by a small and a fragile looking hand.

    Jack’s body turned stiff and could not move. A feeling of deja-vu surfaced in his mind. A finger being pulled by this same small hand, but right now this hand was holding his whole arm.

    “AHHHH!!!!”

    His arm, as if it was a mere paper, was being torn apart from his body.

    “Next time uncle." were the last words Jack had heard before his eyes turned black.

    ****​

    “AHHH!!” Jack screamed as he opened his eyes. As if what an instinct, his head turn looking at his right arm with open eyes and…

    ...It was not there.

    His body froze, his heart exploded and his mind became blank.

    “Daddy. Ok?”

    The devil voice and the curse word once again reached his ear. His body shivered as his head turn around with difficulty to see the bright little girl sitting next to him. His mouth trembled as it opened and his voice barely audible when he said; “What the… hell are you?”

    *thud*

    Jack’s heart exploded after these words. It was nothing but a question. But it was the most crucial question to him. This little girl WAS NOT NORMAL.

    He would know after asking this question that it was the worst mistake of his life.

    The girl’s smile was gone. Her playful eyes turn sharp. Anger appeared on her face as she spoke, “NO FOUL LANGUAGE!”

    Jack body froze for the third time.

    He could not move a muscle as the little girl’s hands reached his mouth before opening it and taking hold of his tongue.

    Jack’s heart trembled and beat faster and stronger. His eyes turned moist and he desperately implored her with his eyes to stop. All he could feel was nothing but small fingers holding his tongue tightly and pulling it from his mouth.

    Tears came down from his eyes as he could only watch the little girl’s action.

    His vision turned dark again.

    ****​

    “?!?!?!?!?!?”

    Jack’s eyes open wide. A weird scream comes from his mouth. His eyes adjusted quickly to his surroundings and he looked at his missing arm and felt for his missing tongue. His mind goes blank.

    He only remembers a little of what happened next…

    The sensation of his body laying on the cold ground. The figure of the little girl’s hand coming closer to his eye and telling him, “Next time, behave.”

    A somewhat cold sensation transmitted from his eyelash to his brain.

    A horrible pain biting him once again.

    Everything going dark.

    ****​

    “?!?!?!?!?!”
    Jack would never be sure just how many times he woke up. The sunshine once again reflected on his face, yet Jack couldn’t enjoy it anymore.

    A Finger
    An Arm
    The Tongue
    An Eye
    A Leg
    Teeth
    An Ear
    The Nose
    A Kidney
    The Spleen

    Were all gone...

    “Daddy.”

    Jack’s sole eye looked at the cheerful little girl once again, but this time his body didn’t tremble and his heart was calm as he watched Miley giggle at his side.

    Why?
    Why was he calm?


    ..
    .

    Because there was no hope.
    Jack was nothing more than an empty body with no soul.

    He looked at the little girl and thought, 'What do you want?'

    As if she could read his mind her smile brightened and answered, “Became my daddy.”

    ‘Heheh’ Jack laughed, mocking his fate. He already tried running, but the little witch found him quickly.

    Suicide? He stopped after the fifth time.

    Whenever he lost consciousness or died, he would return to the same FUCKING place and the same FUCKING time.

    Hope. Not with this devil next to him.
    Future. There is no such thing anymore.
    Death. Even that was taken from him.

    'Fine.' This was his only option. He resigned himself to the cruel whims of this little girl.

    “Hehehe! Yay! I have a new Daddy!” the girl giggled next to him and placed her hand on Jack’s body.

    A dazzling scene happened.

    All of Jack’s missing limbs and organs returned one by one.

    It was a miracle happening to him in this moment, yet Jack wasn’t impressed or excited. He already knew that this THING next to him was not even close to something called normal.

    *Thud*

    His heart suddenly tightened. His breath became short and difficult.
    It seemed as if his soul was being pulled out of his body.
    And all of it directed into the little girl’s hand.


    ..
    .

    Soon he understood and even felt it. The girl had gotten a hold on his soul. She could easily find him, torture him, free him, or kill him.

    “Free me! Please!” A desperate voice echoed from the car. The car had long been stopped on the side of the road. The mother looked back and with a shaking voice continued to plead, “I've been your mama for 30 years. Free me please!”

    30 years? An uncomfortable feeling grew in Jack’s heart yet could not figure it out.

    Why did these 30 years sound familiar?

    Why?


    ..
    .

    The myth! a sudden realization came to Jack. His friend Ellen talked about the myth of a couple disappearing every 30 years. IT WAS TRUE! Finally, he understood that this 'father' and 'mother' were the couple that went missing three decades ago.

    Right, Ellen!! The figure of his beautiful friend came to his mind like a bolt of lightning. Turning his head, he looked to the still drunk girl that was sleeping soundly on her side.

    He had forgotten about her existence as all his focus was on the little demon all along.
    Now remembering her once again, the fear that he had thrown away climbed in his heart. ‘WHAT IS SHE GONNA DO TO HER?!?!’

    “Bye Bye!” Miley waved her small hand at the woman in front of them the mother started to fade away and disappear by the second.

    Looking at her departing body, Jack’s heart sank in fear as the thought of Ellen being tormented like that. As if she felt his gaze the mother looked back at him and muttered, “Sorry.”

    “Hehe.” The little girl giggled as her eyes shifted from the mother to Jack.

    Although he may have already guessed her intention, Jack refused to believe the reality of him and Ellen becoming this monster's parents for 30 years.

    They could not resist, could not run, nor even die.

    This was nothing but hell.

    AND HE IS ABSOLUTELY HELPLESS.

    As if she didn’t even consider Jack's anxiety her head turned toward Ellen. “Now it's mama’s turn.”

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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  4. Pyoo

    Pyoo ☀ Summer Melody ☀

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    Miracle

    written by: @Pyoo
    RRL Link
    Poems

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    Not too far from the location of a recent hit and run, I find a charm bracelet on the ground. This is probably a normal bracelet a kid lost or something, but somehow seeing the dark spots on its leather skin feels ominous. Shrugging off my discomfort, I pick it up and put it in my pocket. It will look much better after I give it a clean or something.

    On the way home, I see an antique store that I don't remember being there before. Curious, I go inside.

    "Oh? Welcome to our store." A pretty looking and mysterious man walks out from the back, "Come and sit. It's been a while since I've had a new guest. What can I do for you?"

    "Eh, no. I just saw a new store, so I was curious."

    "New store... Did anything new happen in your life recently?"

    "Ehm, well... There's that hit and run nearby.."

    "Ah, yes. That was a tragic death."

    "And near there, I found a bracelet."

    I faintly touch the bracelet in my pocket before bringing it out for him to see. He takes out a monocle and examines the bracelets in my hands. It's a bit weird that he's moving his head closer rather than taking the bracelet from my hand to his eye level.

    "It's a newly-charmed bracelet." I must have frowned a bit in confusion at his words, as he started to explain. "There is a strong wish to survive stored in that bracelet. It should be a good bracelet to keep on your person."

    He gives me a sweet smile, but the contents of his words just make me more alert and suspicious. He sounds delusional. I give a small smile in return and thank him before scurrying to the exit.

    Upon running out, I see a speeding car heading my way from the corner from the corner of my eyes. I jump back with all my strength and narrowly evade the car.

    Holy Shit! That was so close.

    I slump where I am standing and try to calm my erratic breath. This bracelet is the real thing! I go home with a happy mind.



    Days have passed by since I have found the bracelet. I tripped on the road but managed to not hit the people in front of me, had a pot falling from the floor above miss me my by a bit, and had a sign fall toward me until someone bumped me away from it. The person who knocked into me now needs therapy for his legs, but otherwise I’ve been very lucky.

    I am walking home when I notice a creepy guy following behind me. I try to pick up my pace and shake him off, but it is no use. I turn back to face him when he suddenly pushes me into an alley. I feel a cold edge against my neck.

    “Give me your wallet.”

    “Hey, let’s calm down a bit,” I raise my hand slowly to try and not arouse him.

    “I don’t need that shit, just give me your wallet!” he presses his knife on my neck. Seeing as my attacker has no sign of letting go, I try to reach for my wallet but he reacts, “Don’t fucking move!”

    A sliver of warmth rolls down my neck. I can feel my heart beating faster as I realize that it’s my blood flowing. Panicking, I try to talk to him but my words stick in my throat. I try looking around for any alternative way out of this, and I see someone hastily carrying a bat and quickly coming closer.

    Shit. Is that his friend? I’m screwed if it’s a 2 on 1!

    I try to keep track of the person that’s coming, but the guy screaming at my face distracts me, “What the fuck are you trying to do?”

    “I… was trying to grab my wallet.”

    “Don’t lie to me, bastard! You have a gun hidden, don’t you?”

    “No, no. Really, I was really…” Fuck that guy is so close now “Uh.. I was just trying to grab my wallet...”

    “So you DID lie you fucking bastard!”

    He pulls away his knife with an enraged look and is ready to stab me when the person with the bat comes and hacks into him sideways. I also fall to my side from the force, trying to not make a sound as I see the new assailant beat my attacker some more. The mugger is trying to plead and run away, but the bat holder is too fast for him and too uncaring of his plight.

    I watch, holding my breath, as my mugger is beaten until he faints, his face bloodied. The crazed guy looks around as I try to make my presence disappear. He briefly looks toward my side of the alley and I can almost feel his erratic breath, making my neck shiver. My breathing picks up as he starts to walk closer, before getting distracted by the sounds of traffic from the next street. He runs towards the noise, swinging his bat.

    Shit, shit! I gasp for air. What a miracle. Thank the lords I found this bracelet!



    The next morning, I took my usual bus to campus. I feel good, especially after the lucky event yesterday. My friend entered from his stop. I was about to greet him when, BANG! The guy who followed on behind him suddenly shoots the bus driver. The bus is full of screams as it skews from the road and hits a nearby building. The impact causes me to fall from my seat. Several others fall as well, pinning me to the floor, unable to breathe. I can hear the shooter laughing a crazy, pained laugh of self-ridicule, and then, another loud bang.

    It's hot.

    I can't see, I can't breathe.

    Argh, my ears are killing me.

    I try to move, but the weight of people who fell on me are too heavy.
    It's hot and I can't breathe.

    When I open my eyes, I can see a white ceiling. I try to move my neck to see where I am, but the pain is too great. I'm lying down on what I think is a bed, so this should be the hospital, I guess. I see a nurse come up to me and he moves his mouth, but I can't hear anything he says. For now, I'll try to lift myself. I tell my body to push myself off the bed. Nothing happens. That's weird. I try again with the same results. The nurse tries to calm me down. I brush him off, but from the corner of my eyes, I see it. What I move is not my arm. It's simply what's left of my arm.



    After several days, the doctor and a few police come to explain the situation to me, through writing. It seems the hijacker blew a bomb, trying to bomb the building the bus ran into. However, the bus could only reach the front parts of the building, so the people inside were relatively safe.

    The people on the bus, on the other hand... It was basically a miracle one person, me, remained alive. I'm badly scarred, though, so I will need some time in the hospital. They want me to recount what happened after I'm a bit better. Before leaving, the police give me something. "Here is the only of your possessions that was saved. My daughter told me, charm bracelets are important for youngsters like you. So, I'm returning it since the police don't need it."

    Ah... A miracle, huh. Feels like I heard that before...



    I can finally talk and I call the nurse to help write what I remember of the accident, "in case I forget the details." I can also walk, with the help of a crutch since one of my legs was too badly burnt. I ask them to open the window for some fresh air. I think the nurse looks at me with some relief on his face before leaving the room. Sorry.

    I look at the bracelet I left on my bedside table and topple myself over the window ledge.

    Good. It shouldn't be able to save me now.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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  5. Sarang

    Sarang Well-Known Member

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    Clickbait
    written by: @Sarang
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    This is a true story. I remember clearly, the horror still haunting me to this day. I swear I can still see it etched into the back of my eyes and hearing the sound of my phone vibrating will make my hair stand on end... and it all started on the Novel Updates Forums.

    I was browsing the forums on my phone like any other day, when I scrolled down and clicked on "General Chat." There was a new thread and when I glanced at the title it only said, "Click bait."

    Wow they really have nothing better to do.

    I decided to ignore it and move on. Days passed and I noticed the same thread at the top of the subforum, "Click bait."

    Is that the same thread?

    My finger hovered over the title for a bit, contemplating.

    No. Probably not.. Who cares.....

    I continued on with my browsing.

    The next day at work, my phone vibrated and when I checked it was just a spam text. Sighing, I deleted the text and added the number to my blacklist. A thought slowly crept forward.

    I wonder if that thread is still there? Hmm.. mods probably deleted it by now. Been 4 days.. If anything it's probably buried under new threads.

    I tossed my phone to the side and got back to work. It didn't take long for me to see it start blinking again in my peripherals. I picked it up after a while.

    I'm only getting rid of the blinking light. It's bothering my work. I am already checking my phone, so I can take a quick glance at the forums to see if it's there. Even though it's probably not.

    I opened up chrome and the general chat forums. At the top of the list was, "Click bait." I paused for a moment, my finger hovering over the screen, my mind slowly trying to make sense of this thread. I straightened my back before slowly resuming my hunched back posture as I stared at my phone.

    What. . . Ok well maybe a mod pinned a post about click bait threads.

    I looked at the user, named "troll," and deduced the person was not a mod. I clicked on their profile and the title was the default, "New Member," and had only 15 messages. I went back and checked the thread. The numbers matched up.

    A coincidence? I am overthinking it.. Maybe the forums have been dead for several days so the list is frozen.

    "What are you doing?" I heard a voice behind me. Startled, I quickly straightened up and tossed my phone to the side. I smiled at my supervisor.

    "Sorry, just checking the weather." My supervisor smiled back and turned his head to look out the window beside me. I followed his gaze and saw rain hitting the window. It made me want to hit my head on my desk.

    "Ahh yes, you may need an umbrella on your way home." He slowly walked away.

    Oh my gosh, I am so dumb. I couldn't make a better excuse?? Ugh. This dumb thread will make me lose my job!!

    Later, I habitually unlocked my phone during the commute. Chrome was still opened where I left it. I went to close the tab, and paused.

    You know what? I will get to the bottom of this at some point. I just won't click it, because... I'm better than that!

    At the end of the night, I discovered that there would be more pages on the thread, and more comments on troll's profile. I remember staring at the link to the thread until I fell asleep.

    The thread was at the back of my mind for the next week. I checked my phone every day, feeling some need to click, but eventually fighting off of the urge. The thread was like mold slowly growing on my thoughts. It would only spread the more I tried to ignore it.

    Why should this bother me so much?? Who is this person ruining my day? If I press it, I will have fallen for their trap. If I don't press it, I will continually think about it.... I should just do it. This is ruining my forum life.

    I opened chrome while lying on my bed. My finger slowly hovered over the link to the thread "Click bait." My heart was racing and I felt as if I had run a marathon.

    "I'm not going to regret it.. for my life." I closed my eyes as I touched the screen. I wait for my heart to slow down and opened my eyes. The light from the screen blinded me momentarily, but my eyes adjusted quickly. I noticed that all posts were by the original poster, as I suspected. Then I noticed something that made me want to throw my phone. I gripped it tighter instead.

    Every post.
    Click bait
    Click bait

    Click bait

    I couldn't do that. Every page. And more like it being added every day.

    Does this guy have no life???

    I could only wonder. I tried messaging troll afterwards, only to get no reply. Mods thought I was crazy. I was at a loss. I eventually opened some of the links. I only found what I most dreaded.

    Everytime I hear my phone vibrate, see the flashing light beckoning me to check the message, I can't help but remember.

    "Click bait"

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  6. Wryvent

    Wryvent Well-Known Member

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    All Hallow's Eve Cultivation

    written by: @Wyrr
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    The air seemed to twist with a heat shimmer as Qi coalesced to the point it was visible to the naked eye. A cyclone of glistening azure energy spread out across the rooftops of the Sword Pavilion District. The movement of Qi was intense enough to shake the plain upturned bamboo eaves as it swirled down into a common cultivation courtyard provided by the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect. All of the cultivators in Azure-Amethyst City looked to the western district with bated breath. One of the most famous members of the youngest generation, core disciple Liu Tian, was attempting to reach Foundation Establishment.

    Liu Tan was the infant son of two Nascent Soul experts who perished defending Azure-Amethyst City from an attack by the Three Cloud Demonic Sect. He had finished Purification by the age of five, and had already reached the 7th layer of Qi Condensation by the age of ten. The Azure Orthodox Sword Sect had high expectations and accepted him as a core disciple of the sect as a result.

    Liu Tan's cultivation then started to drop, for reasons unknown to the general public, not stopping until it was at merely the 1st layer of Qi Condensation. Speculation ranged from Qi Deviation or poison to an ancestral curse, but it was rumored that even the famed physicians invited by the Sect Master were baffled as to the cause. As if to add insult to injury, Liu Tan's cultivation slowed significantly in the five years following his fall from grace. He recovered only to the peak of the 3rd layer of Qi Condensation.

    While this was a respectable growth for an average cultivator, it was nothing compared to his previous cultivation speed. Liu Tian dropped to an outer disciple position due to his seemingly truncated potential. He lost the resources allotted for core disciples every month along with his high qi density cultivation cave. That was how he ended up in one of the small, shabby courtyards left for outer disciples.

    Liu Tian remained focused on cultivation at that time, despite the scorn of those looking down on his low status. It paid off during the annual outer disciple competition. Liu Tian defeated the first ranked outer disciple, Chu Meng, and broke through to the 4th layer of Qi Condensation.

    Liu Tian was again a carp on it's way to becoming a dragon. He regained his previous genius level cultivation speed over the next two years, going from the low rank of the 4th layer to the peak of the 10th layer of Qi condensation. He also accomplished many other feats such as regaining his core disciple status, defeating many of his peers armed only with a bamboo blade, and achieving first rank among the younger generation of the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect.

    However, he persisted in remaining in his shabby open-air courtyard rather than reentering a proper cultivation cave. That was where he decided to attempt breaking through the bottleneck to Foundation Establishment at the tender age of 17.

    The qi vortex over the Sword Pavilion District seemed to suddenly pause in it's rotation. After that lingering instant, the qi seemed to be drawn directly downward. The ripples in the air grew stronger and the skies were dyed the deepening color of azure blue. Soon it would be thick enough to look violet.

    A qi apparation then appeared like an iceberg rising from the depths of the ocean in the form of a giant double-edged blade composed of purple crystal. It cut toward the heavens with streamers of azure qu flowing down its length, bisecting the air with a cutting sound before piercing through the clouds above.

    A common cultivator reaching Foundation Establishment would cause a barely noticeable change in the vicinity of their breakthrough as their absorption rate of qi increased to fill their foundational core sea. It would not allow others to witness a qi vortex that reached toward the sky or a qi apparition that reached for the heavens. A qi apparition was something formed only when an event of such significance occurs that the atmospheric qi in the surroundings would naturally conjure a mirage. One that appeared while a cultivator broke through a stage of cultivation happened to be very rare, generally signifying the individual's high future potential.
    ---
    Just as the buzzing of the cultivators discussing Liu Tian’s breakthrough and dominating qi apparition suffused the air, above the eastern part of the city in the Corpse Pagoda District, another qi vortex formed, this one having the appearance of a whirlpool of black qi mixed with streamers of grey mist. In contrast to the short, bamboo tiled wooden courtyards of the Sword Pavilion District, the Corpse Pagoda District was filled with tall, grey stone towers that were enshrouded in a chilly white misted qi year round.

    There was a pause, a moment of silence, before everyone excitedly started speaking. The news soon spread that Dong Xinyue, the so-called princess of the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect was attacking the bottleneck to Foundation Establishment as well.

    Azure-Amethyst City was controlled by two sects, the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect based in the western part of the city, and the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect based in the eastern part. Historically, the city was created by the brother founders of the two sects, Sect Founder Dong Taiyang, creator of the Azure Sword Art, and Sect Founder Dong Yingui, creator of the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Method. Just as Liu Tian was considered the leading disciple of the younger generation of the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect, Dong Xinyue occupied an equivalent position in the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect.

    But unlike Liu Tian, Dong Xinyue had the background of being the direct descendant of the Sect Founder Dong Yingui, and the sole granddaughter of the current Sect Head Dong Tian. Since a young age, Dong Xinyue had been spoiled, with no intention to cultivate. Until the age of 15, she had reached the 2nd layer of Qi Condensation due only to the amount of pills and cultivation treasures provided by the Sect Head. Instead of cultivating, she was well known to be lacking in intelligence, flighty, and interested only in handsome young men, surrounding herself with flatterers and sycophants to the point of others disparagingly referring to her group as the Princess and her Court. Aside from her position, her only merit was her beauty.

    Her state of affairs only changed two years ago. As she was chasing the first ranked inner disciple Kui Shenfu, well known to be the most handsome of the younger generation among the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect inner disciples, Dong Xinyue tripped and struck her head on the stone steps of the sect’s Mist Origin Library. Ending up bedridden for a week from a mere fall, her reputation could hardly be any lower.

    But miraculously, after recovering, it was as if she was completely replaced by a different person. Her limpid and watery blue eyes suddenly became sharp and as cold as a glacier. Her flighty personality became a keen intelligence and in less than half a year, everyone who had been taking advantage of her position and dull-mindedness had met quite miserable fates, her so-called Court being purged.

    In the following two years, similar to Liu Tian, she changed from a primping peacock into a phoenix, going from the 2nd layer of qi condensation to the point where she was able to attack the bottleneck to Foundation Establishment on the same day as Liu Tian. In those two years, she created countless legends in her sect, from being able to refine a Core Formation corpse while in qi condensation, to being courted by both Tiger Prince Fu Feng and Sword Saint Lao Hong’s disciple Jiu Shen, and excelling, for some reason, in assassination martial art techniques.

    Now, as everyone’s attention was focused on Dong Xinyue’s Foundation Establishment, they saw the ever-present mist that shrouded the Corpse Pagoda District start to move towards the highest tower, where Dong Xinyue was breaking through. The buildings of the Corpse Pagoda District were constantly enshrouded by chilling white mist due to them being formed from mist stone that naturally condensed qi into mist and created a preservative effect for corpses.

    As the black and white qi mixed with the mist, it created a grey fog that grew thicker and thicker, eventually enclosing the entire tower and circling towards the heavens in a pillar of grey fog. For a moment, the movement of the fog pillar halted, before bursting outwards.

    Images could be seen to be formed from fog; marching armies made of mist, hazy silhouettes of ancient beasts and indistinct figures whose gazes caused onlookers to feel the freezing chill of death merely by the slightest exchanged glance.

    Azure-Amethyst City was again awash with discussion as Dong Xinyue’s Foundation Establishment created a qi apparition just like Liu Tian did. These two leaders of the younger generation of the two primary sects of Azure-Amethyst City would surely usher in a new era of prosperity for the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect and the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect.

    None of this, however, had a single whit to do with Jin Tong.

    ***

    Jin Tong lounged back in his old, wicker chair. The reeds creaked as he settled himself, his feet propped up on a worn bamboo stool.

    In his left hand was his favorite folding hand-fan, made with cheap Three-Stem Cotton fabric, cheap Hollow Swamp Bamboo, and even cheaper Hard-Bronze Tree Sap lacquer, which was cracked to such an extent that one could barely make out the words ‘Peerless Beneath Nine Heavens.’ These domineering characters written on that fan had surprised every individual who had laid eyes on it in sharp contrast to the fan’s shabby appearance and the lackluster materials used to construct it.

    Jin Tong leisurely waved his fan, creating a mild draft towards his talisman drying rack. Arranged neatly were countless first rank single-use talismans, this batch newly made by Jin Tong. All of a standard rectangular shape to be easily held and activated with a single hand, each talisman was practically identical and pinned carefully to the bamboo drying rack. Each was made with the cheapest Common Tree wood pulp paper and Black Flower ink available, the kind one would hardly think to use to create talismans, but rather was made available in lavatories or used to teach novice calligraphy classes.

    Jin Tong was currently relaxing on the second-floor balcony of his small two-floor shop, ‘Jin Tong’s Talismans and More.’ His store was located in the unimaginatively named Middle District of Azure-Amethyst City. Just as the name implied, the Middle District was the stretch of buildings controlled by neither the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect nor the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect. It was where the minor sects, independent cultivators, unaffiliated merchants, traveling merchants, traveling cultivators, and general residents of Azure-Amethyst City not officially members of the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect or the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect, gathered.

    Jin Tong was one of countless craftsmen in the Middle District who supplied the products to the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect and the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect that they themselves could not be bothered to produce. As a sword sect, the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect had their own crafting division as well as beast rearing and spirit plant growing divisions, but their focus mainly lay in sword cultivation, thus their crafting division was focused on sword forging, while their other production divisions only generated the bare minimum required to sustain their disciples’ cultivation resources.

    The situation was the same in the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect, aside from reagents and products specialized for corpse refining and the minimum necessary resources required for their disciples’ cultivation, all other required resources were outsourced to the Middle District.

    Jin Tong, despite being only at the middle of the 4th layer of qi condensation at the age of 17, a decidedly average accomplishment for a cultivator, had some reputation for producing cheap and reliable single-use talismans.

    While other talisman crafters in the Middle District looked down on Jin Tong for specializing in the lowest level of talismans, Jin Tong didn’t care. Hmph, hmph, this big bro here is only interested in spirit stones! Supply and demand, while other talisman crafters competed with each other to craft high rank expensive talismans, he would earn spirit stones by selling single-use talismans in bulk. Low production costs, high profit margins! Rather than compete with cultivators like Talisman Master Mo Liu of the Golden Crane Talisman Sect or Thirteen Talisman Gui Bo of the Skyward Treasures Sect, Jin Tong would rather focus on pumping out cheap talismans that such esteemed masters would not deign to touch.

    Improving one’s ability to create expensive high ranked talismans with expensive materials? Jin Tong would rather focus on improving production efficiency and increasing the power-to-cost ratio for his low level talismans. Thus, Jin Tong’s store was the go-to place for those outer disciples and sectless cultivators who were generally poor and could barely afford one single-use talisman for protection.

    Jin Tong stretched out his right hand towards the small three-legged bamboo table he’d placed carefully next to his chair, positioned perfectly so he could reach it without needing to sit up. Bypassing the pot of cheap tea, Jin Tong tapped his public qi transmission broadcast talisman, a circular plate carved with a formation that allowed one to tune into various public qi transmission frequencies. A single tap changed the channel to the most popular news channel, and Jin Tong relaxed as he once again admired the amethyst blade qi apparition of Liu Tian and the mist figures of Dong Xinyue’s qi apparition.

    “Hello listeners of our splendid Azure-Amethyst City! As the autumnal peach blossoms fall, the winter blossom blooms in splendor! I hope everyone here is doing well this fine All Hallows’ Eve! Does everyone have their spirit candies prepared to capture fresh yin spirits? How about your costume to honor the great Buddha and their disciples? I, Tai Maomao, will be dressed as the Fifth Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha Kuai Gaifeng, look forward to it!”

    Jin Tong felt a thrill as he listened to the broadcast. Such a great business opportunity could not be missed! As he thought of the amount of spirit stones he would be able to earn and the amount he earned the previous year, Jin Tong had to wipe his drool with the sleeve of his plain, black robe.

    Midway between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice lay the annual All Hallows’ Eve Festival, a celebration on the eve of the 1st day of the 11th month of Winter to commemorate the Thirteen Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha who sacrificed themselves to seal the Great Yin Spirit Invasion uncountable millennia prior. While only meagre records of the event remained and few in modern memory could even pinpoint the exact date of that event, the encroachment of the Mortal Realms by the yin spirits was still passed down as one of the greatest calamities in the history of cultivators. As the sun set on the last day of the 10th month, the month of Fading Yang, the balance of seasonal yin and yang qi energy changed. That was the date midway between the start of the Last Dew Season Term and the Winter Commencement Term, and the setting of the sun on that day marked the point in which yin exceeded yang, ushering in the yin of winter. This date, where the seasonal yin-yang qi energy is in flux, allowed for the Spirit Realm to overlap the Mortal Realms. And every year, All Hallows’ Eve became one of the best opportunities of the year for those seeking the Dao of Spirits. Whether it was sealing new yin spirits, refining existing yin spirits or corpses, or even communing betwixt the Spirit and Mortal Realms, this was the day to do it.

    This year, in particular, was special, and Jin Tong was prepared. This was the once in a millennium event where the night of the full moon aligned with the All Hallows’ Eve Festival, this day had one of the strongest presence of yin qi energy in centuries. While the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect did not concern themselves too much with the All Hallows’ Eve Festival except for participating in the festivities, this was one of the most important dates for the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect, this year especially, as it would be one of the most optimal times for yin corpse and yin spirit refining.

    Every year, hollowed spirit gourds carved with formations and imbued with light were used to ward off the evil yin spirits while for those Spirit Dao practitioners interested in capturing the free-floating yin spirits, spirit candies were a necessity. It was a common tradition for spirit candies to be left out for yin spirits, which could take various illusionary forms. Aside from carved spirit gourds and spirit candies, the other major tradition was for cultivators to don the distinctive garb of the Thirteen Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha or their Eighteen Disciples in their honor.

    For women, the most popular was the leather outfit of Fifth Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha Kuai Gaifeng, a 3000-year-old female panther who had cultivated to the point of being able to take human form, her distinctive black leather garb was very eye-catching. And of course, one could not forget the popular and cute cat ear headband accessory or the cat tail attachment representing her origins.

    For men, the most popular was the outfit of Third Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha Tang Tangtang. Aside from his unfortunate name, his other defining characteristic was his blue robe and full-face wooden mask. Blue robe aside, his outfit was popular as there were no longer any records regarding how his mask was decorated so everyone carved whatever they liked. This led to there being countless Tang Tangtangs walking around in identical blue robes but completely different wooden masks.

    This year, like every year, Jin Tong was fully prepared. While he specialized in talismans, Jin Tong was quite handy when it came to other crafting methods and was decent with alchemy, after all, he was so cheap he brewed his own talisman ink and pulped and pressed his own talisman paper. A few batches of cheap spirit candy were easily prepared, and to have some variety, he added some cheap coloring as well. His spirit candies would probably only be attracting the lowest level of yin spirits, motes or wisps, but that was enough for his clientele who would want to attract just a few yin spirits for good luck.

    Aside from his spirit candies, Jin Tong also carried an assortment of warding spirit gourds, carved with standard Buddha faces, and of course made with the cheapest available gourds. He also had racks of pre-prepared costumes. Tang Tangtang blue robes (made with the cheapest cotton and cheapest blue dye) along with uncarved wooden masks so customers could carve their own designs (made with cheap wood and at the same time saving Jin Tong the trouble of carving them himself), and faux leather Kuai Gaifeng outfits with cat ear and cat tail accessories, were his most popular costumes.

    While inner disciples and disciples of clans or sect elders could afford to have personalized costumes, outer disciples had limited resources as well as crafting ability, so countless outer disciples flocked to Jin Tong’s store to purchase his mass-produced costumes.

    Jin Tong’s store actually carried costumes for each of the Thirteen Buddha as well as around half of their disciples: Eighth Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha Min Rao’s famed golden armor set (made with gold colored metal so thin someone who didn’t even cultivate could tear through it), Sixth Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha Li Ming’s plain white robe with a sun pattern design (made with cheap cotton and cheap dye), Thirteenth Yin Spirit Sealing Buddha Di Tong’s phoenix robe (made with cheap Yellowfire Rooster tail feathers) and more were available!

    As Jin Tong was relaxing on his balcony, the time was quickly approaching noon, and in a few more hours it would be sunset, which was when the All Hallows’ Eve Festival really kicked off. His store below was doing brisk business as his assistant Fatty Tubu was accepting spirit stones hand over fist. Jin Tong had been preparing for this day for weeks and he had more than enough festival goods on hand. Another distinguishing characteristic of Jin Tong’s shop were the various signs advertising his so-called deals festooned everywhere along with the faux cobwebs commonly put out to catch yin spirits. ‘Buy Two, Get One Free!’ ‘Buy One, Get Another for your Friend, Half-Off!’ ‘Buy A Dozen for the Price of Ten!’ When it came to selling, Jin Tong was acknowledged to be highly skilled, whether it was his pricing or advertisement techniques or even product displays.

    Jin Tong watched the various Tang Tangtangs and Kuai Gaifengs leaving excitedly from his store with warm eyes.

    “I’m going to be rich!” He casually leaned back and turned to a music channel broadcasting catchy zither and erhu music.

    ***

    Deep beneath the Corpse Pagoda District, in a damp and dimly lit room, stood Dong Fangfang, a peak 10th layer qi condensation cultivator. A fairly good looking woman, she wore a figure hugging Kuai Gaifeng outfit, complete with cat ears and tail. Before her was a crude stone table, scored with countless blade marks and encrusted with what looked to be rust. On said table was a scroll bound in a thin, tan leather.

    Dong Fangfang stroked the scroll along its length with her sharpened, blood-red painted nails. She was considered to be the second strongest disciple of the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect and was a member of the Dong branch family. Prior to Dong Xinyue’s sudden change in personality, Dong Fangfang was considered to be the first ranked disciple of the sect, but her place was usurped by Dong Xinyue after her loss in the last annual disciples’ competition.

    Just thinking about Dong Xinyue caused Dong Fangfang to breathe more heavily while her stroking motion turned into more of a clawing motion, as if she were trying to carve off someone’s face. The leather bound scroll beneath her hand shivered as if it were alive and resenting her uncouth hand movement, causing Dong Fangfang to collect herself before resuming her smooth strokes, as if petting a favored pet.

    That Dong Xinyue! While Dong Fangfang was respectful towards Dong Xinyue in public, in her heart she seethed with rage and loathing.

    Why couldn’t she just stay a useless bitch!? For her to have the nerve to usurp my position! Just because she was slightly prettier and her breasts were slightly bigger…! But now, even her cultivation was superior!

    As Dong Fangfang stroked the leather bound scroll, a twisted grin spread across her face, distorting her fairly pretty features.

    She would show all of them who deserved to be first disciple!

    Soon, it was noon on the day of All Hallows’ Eve. Dong Fangfang carefully unbound the scroll, which shivered eerily in contentment. Spreading it out on the stone table, Dong Fangfang turned towards the dozen low level outer disciples bound and gagged behind her. They flinched when they met the eyes of the woman who had captured them and had been muttering to herself for hours about Dong Xinyue’s breast size.

    Dong Fangfang waved a hand and one of the bound disciples flew towards her. In her other hand she drew a wickedly sharp blood colored knife with a hilt that looked to be bound in the same leather as the scroll.

    She started chanting.

    ***

    Azure-Amethyst City was bustling as cultivators prepared for the evening’s All Hallows’ Eve Festival. Many were already in costume. Cobweb yin spirit traps were set out. Some cultivators were carefully carving and hollowing out spirit gourds. Others were laying out spirit candies.

    In the misty streets of Corpse Pagoda District, no one noticed the few wisps of mist the color of rust, so dark red that it was nearly black that rose from the cracks between the mist stone brick roads.

    ***

    The first cultivators to notice something amiss were the outer disciples assigned to guard the Common Morgue. This was where the lowest ranked corpses were stored for corpse refinement practice. Each corpse was stored in plain, grey wooden boxes, seven feet in length, each of a standard size and neatly labeled. Corpse guarding was one of the dullest jobs and the assigned outer disciples rotated in shifts.

    Pu Mo, 2nd qi condensation layer outer disciple, only had a few more hours until sunset. He and another other disciple were the last shift before the Common Morgue was closed for the day. Normally there would be another shift of guards, but no one would have wanted to be stuck guarding the Common Morgue during the night on All Hallows’ Eve. Even the Sect Elders acknowledged the unlikelihood of anyone wanting to steal practice corpses. The Common Morgue was 3 mu wide and stored more than three-thousand corpses physically at any one time, with a space expanding formation allowing for an uncountable number of corpses to be folded in extra-dimensionally.

    While two outer disciples didn’t seem to be of any significant use, they were more for the purpose of sounding the alarm than guarding purposes. That being said, the corpses were but common non-cultivating humans with non-unique physiques and meridians so there had been no one interested in stealing from the Common Morgue for centuries. There were, in fact, no records of any break-ins since its inception. The most interesting occurrence that ever happened was an infestation of Double-Banded Corpse Grubs that burst during one unfortunate outer disciple’s shift.

    Pu Mo was already dressed in a blue robe and was patrolling while carving a wooden mask, leaving a trail of wood shavings. He’d purchased it from Jin Tong’s shop in the Middle District by a friend’s recommendation and had been pleasantly surprised by the quality. The materials were of course, cheap, but the wooden mask was well-shaped and smoothly sanded and while the robe was plain, it was evenly dyed and the stitching was regular. He wasn’t able to browse much but he definitely intended to go again to see if he could pick up a cheap talisman or two.

    As he walked through the morgue, making his way between the low stone platforms stacked high with boxes all of the same make and size, he cut a path through the ankle length mist that closed following his passing. He was looking forward to sunset when he could record the most oft-recorded phrase in the Common Morgue Guards’ Record Scroll, ‘Nothing to report.’

    As he patrolled, he suddenly heard the sound of wood shifting and creaking. He stopped carving but continued walking. The corpses were all treated for infestations, gas, and other common maladies that afflicted corpses, but it wasn’t too rare an occurrence that some ham-handed outer disciple hadn’t properly performed the ritual and a corpse shifted a bit.

    Hearing nothing more, Pu Mo was about continue carving when he heard it again. This time he stopped to listen. But he heard nothing. For some reason he couldn’t define, he started to feel more chilled than normal, exceeding the common clammy feeling that was the cost of living in Corpse Pagoda District.

    Pu Mo activated the low-level communication talisman that every guard picked up at the start of their shift. It was dog-eared, yellowed, and the ink was faded, it probably hadn’t been replaced since the first shift of outer disciples received the misfortune of being assigned to guard the Common Morgue. The talisman sometimes didn’t function properly even when both outer disciples on duty were standing right next to each other.

    Pu Mo contacted his fellow guard who’d drawn the short straw during chore assignment like he did, Pu Kui (no relation).

    “Hey, Pu Kui. Anything out of the ordinary?”

    “… …”

    A muffled answer returned from the talisman after a long pause, “Seriously?”

    Pu Mo hesitated. “I heard something. And I’ve got a bad feeling.”

    “You’re just too excited about the Festival.”

    With those words, the ink on Pu Mo’s talisman ceased glowing as Pu Kui cut the connection.

    Pu Mo kept walking, but as he heard nothing out of the ordinary, he started to slip back into his Common Morgue guarding routine, just walking and zoning out, occasionally making a few well-placed cuts on his wooden mask. That is, until he heard a hollow crash, like, say, that of a wooden lid falling and hitting the stone floor.

    Pu Mo stared in the direction the sound came from, but the ever-present mist made it difficult to see anything.

    He thumbed his communication talisman, about to contact Pu Kui again when a horrified scream pierced the silence of the Common Morgue.

    Pu Mo felt a shiver run up his spine. Was that a banshee?

    As his communication talisman activated, he heard the scream again, this one seemed to be a scream of pain, and it seemed to occur twice at the same time. Pu Mo was confused before figuring out that it was an echo from his communication talisman. Ah, so it was Pu Kui screaming…

    Pu Mo blanched as he felt something was horribly wrong. He quickly broke into a run. But he suddenly stopped. What was he supposed to do when something happened again?

    After a long moment of consideration, as Pu Kui’s screams died down and were replaced by a gristly, crunching sound, as if poor Pu Kui was being eaten, Pu Mo suddenly remembered.

    He untucked his communication talisman from his belt, the only item provided to outer disciples assigned to guard the Common Morgue. Then, he tore off the bottom half. Hopefully, the talisman still functioned and the panic signal was sent.

    Pu Mo heard a shuffling sound behind him, as if someone was dragging their feet while walking, and he spun around. Facing him, was a balding, middle aged man, dressed in a white funerary robe.

    Pu Mo was confused for a moment, who was this guy? Then he realized, the slack jaw, the glassy eyes, stiff walk, and slow movement speed… This was just like his first refined corpse! Did someone else’s mediocre handiwork escape and make its way into the Common Morgue?

    As the walking corpse shuffled its way towards him, Pu Mo was baffled, and unfortunately, let his guard down, as a poorly refined corpse was not an uncommon sight during an outer disciple corpse refining class.

    But as the walking corpse reached a certain distance to him, its glassy eyes seemed to clear up and the dilated pupil looked like it was filled with a red glow while its veins started grow pronounced. Its jaw widened as it gave a moan and lunged jerkily at Pu Mo.

    Whereupon its head met Pu Mo’s Tiger Fist Punch. Despite being a corpse refining cultivator, the Tiger Fist Art was the most widespread martial art that all cultivators, regardless of their Dao, practiced even before Qi Condensation. Even non-cultivators practiced it to stay in shape.

    The balding walking corpse slammed backwards. It was, after all, merely a poorly refined non-cultivator’s corpse. Even Pu Mo’s 2nd layer qi condensation strength could deal with it.

    Sadly, Pu Mo was not careful enough, and elated over his minor accomplishment, he did not notice that he had been backed up against a platform stacked full of wooden boxes.

    A withered pair of arms burst out from one of the boxes at Pu Mo’s head height, and the wizened head of a corpse that looked like he had been stored in the Common Morgue for centuries, followed. The arms grabbed Pu Mo by the shoulders from behind, and before he could react, the corpse’s wizened head was pulled forward, and sunk its teeth into his neck.

    Pu Mo reacted fairly quickly after feeling the searing pain of being bitten by an old man’s corpse. He didn’t notice that black mist the corpse breathed out into his wound as he jerked away. Pu Mo’s wooden Tang Tangtang mask fell to the ground.

    As he backed away from the corpse that had bitten him, which was flailing around as half of its body was still stuck in its wooden box, which was similarly stuck in the middle of a tall stack of similar boxes, Pu Mo bent down to pick up his dropped mask.

    He was suddenly hit with a wave of dizziness. Had he been able to see himself, he would have seen a black looking substance that seemed to have branched out from his wound into his body like veins. As the black branches spread out across his neck and passed by his right eye, which seemed to grow bloodshot with black capillaries and the pupil of which started to glow red, Pu Mo persisted in grabbing his Tang Tangtang mask.

    His last coherent thought was: Damnit! I was going to win the outer disciple annual Best Tang Tangtang Mask Contest for sure! That five first-rank spirit stone prize was mine!

    ***

    Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect Elder Lun Yun hummed as he wove Starlight Spider-silk into a cobweb. He was looking forward to his grand-niece’s excitement when he presented her a freshly caught, high level yin spirit.

    He was seated at a wooden desk covered in talismans. Around him was a circular room that extended up, and up, as if he was in the only room in a hollow cylindrical tower with a very high ceiling. Every wall was covered in life-plaques.

    Sect Elder Lun Yun was in charge of the Warning Tower. This was where all sect alarms and warnings were sent, and also where the life-plaques of all Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect disciples were stored. He also had a record of all sect missions. This allowed him to monitor the condition of all disciples and quickly identify what sect mission caused their untimely death.

    As he wove the cobweb trap, the lowest drawer to his right started vibrating. Sect Elder Lun Yun stared in surprise. That drawer contained the oldest of alarm talismans, he’d been stationed in the Warning Room for 80 years and he’d yet to have a need to open that drawer.

    He abandoned his work and curiously tugged open the drawer. Inside were countless talismans tucked neatly in, edgewise. One was glowing and vibrating and Sect Elder Lun Yun carefully teased it out, wary of the dated condition it was in.

    Then he stared at it blankly. For easy identification, the location of its matching talismans was neatly written on one side. ‘Common Morgue.’

    Really? Sect Elder Lun Yun stared at it curiously. He was hesitant and unsure of what to do with it. He himself, had taken shifts guarding the Common Morgue 200 years ago when he was an outer disciple. He couldn’t imagine what would warrant sending out a warning.

    As he was deciding, he heard a crack. Which was followed by another crack.

    His expression instantly changed. He waved his hand and two life-plaques flew into it. ‘Pu Kui, Outer Disciple.’ ‘Pu Mo, Outer Disciple.’

    Sect Elder Lun Yun reached towards the sect mission record talisman, a large glass orb covered in engraved formations mounted to one side of his desk. With a thought, he searched for Pu Kui and Pu Mo.

    His expression changed yet again when the results came back. ‘Pu Mo. Common Morgue, 5th shift guard. Pu Kui. Common Morgue, 5th shift guard.’

    Another wave of his hand brought a communication talisman printed on black paper to his hand.

    “Punishment Hall Head Elder Tu Nong. The two disciples assigned to guard the Common Morgue died. Yes, this isn’t a joke…”

    ***

    Inner disciple Rui Ku, peak rank 2nd layer Foundation Establishment cultivator, and head of the 14th Punishment Hall squad led four other cultivators towards the Common Morgue.

    “Captain Rui, it’s nearly the start of All Hallows’ Eve, why are we heading towards the Common Morgue?” Inner disciple Jin Ling, peak rank 1st layer Foundation Establishment cultivator, and vice-head of the 14th Punishment Hall squad, asked Rui Ku with an unpleasant look on her face.

    Rui Ku adjusted his Tang Tangtang mask, carved from a luminescent greenwood with dragon engravings, before answering his vice-captain in a Kuai Gaifeng costume.

    “Two outer disciples got themselves killed while guarding the place. We need to check it out.” He grumbled.

    “Are you serious?” Asked Chu Liu, a mid-rank 1st layer Foundation Establishment inner disciple, dressed in Buddha Min Rao’s golden armor, though the quality was such that it clanked as he walked.

    “Let’s just get it over with.” Rui Ku arrived at the Common Morgue doors, two large stone doors twice his height. He placed his hand on the doors with his Punishment Hall badge in hand, and ordered the sealing formation to unlock.

    He turned to address his squad as the doors cracked open.

    Before he could say a word, a swarm of pale arms thrust out from the opening, grabbed Rui Ku, and dragged him in before he could even activate a single defensive artifact.

    As Rui Ku’s squad paled, the doors opened enough for the interior to be visible. A huge swarm of red-eyed, black veined corpses were piled high to the Common Morgue’s ceiling.

    As the doors opened more, they burst out like an avalanche. Rui Ku’s squad was fairly well-trained, but in the end they were overwhelmed and torn limb from limb.

    The last thing Jin Ling saw as two different corpses grabbed her head by her Kuai Gaifeng cat ear headband, was a strange corpse wearing a very well-carved, but unfinished, Tang Tangtang mask.

    ***

    Jin Tong was humming as Fatty Tubu updated him via communications talisman on the earnings of the store so far. As he gave some trite encouragement, ‘Keep up the good work!’ a sonorous bell started ringing, spreading from the Corpse Pagoda District.

    Jin Tong searched his memory for the significance, was it celebrating the start of the All Hallows’ Eve Festival? No. Ah, he remembered. The same alarm sounded when that perverted Sect Elder Meng Tao’s ‘comfort’ corpse ran out of control and started gaining power by absorbing yang from random passerby.

    Jin Tong settled himself again. He expected the situation to settle itself soon enough. After all, no one wanted All Hallows’ Eve to be disturbed.

    ***

    First ranked in his sect’s youngest generation, Liu Tian’s black, bamboo blade cut through the air, neatly beheading a row of walking corpses. These corpses were dressed in plain brown burial robes and each held swords in varying states of disrepair. Liu Tian had an annoyed look on his face.

    The spirit of a dignified looking old man in a luxurious black robe floated behind his right shoulder, while the spirit of a beautiful little girl with lustrous red hair, shining ruby eyes, and garbed in a flowing red dress floated behind his left shoulder.

    Of course, no one but Liu Tian could sense their presence, as the old man Gong Sun was the artifact spirit of his bamboo blade, while the little girl Lavender was the artifact spirit of the ruby embossed ring on his right hand.

    “Hmm, these jiangshi, they are reminiscent of one of the Yin Spirit Treshigadu’s curses.” Spoke the old man.

    “Who?” Replied Liu Tian, as he beheaded another wave of walking corpses, his bamboo sword like a streak of black lightning.

    “Moron. You’re celebrating a Festival dedicated to its sealing.” Lavender looked down on Liu Tian with scorn, a not uncommon occurrence.

    Liu Tian scowled. Your sister, he had just broken through to Foundation Establishment and had wanted to go try out the taste of some spirit candies when all hell broke loose.

    He could see the dim glow of fire and smoke as cheaply built wooden courtyards burned in the distance.

    A zombie apocalypse, really?

    ***

    First ranked in her sect’s youngest generation, Dong Xinyue swept her hand forward. Five walking corpses fell, pierced through the head by iron daggers.

    “Take out their heads.” She spoke, her voice cold and monotone, as if putting down walking corpses was a daily occurrence.

    She was flanked by a wildly handsome young man with orange hair wielding two claw weapons and dressed in a fur robe, while on her other side was a coolly handsome young man with flowing raven hair holding a sheathed sword. Behind her, protecting her rear, stood a three meter tall giant fully enclosed in black plate armor wielding a greatsword twice her height.

    Tiger Prince Fu Feng quipped as he dutifully slashed his claws, causing orange qi energy to fly out, cutting apart the heads of four walking corpses, “Let’s make a bet, if you aren’t able to put down as many walking corpses as Big Metal, Sword Idiot, and I combined, you have to wear Kuai Gaifeng’s costume.”

    Sword Saint Lao Hong’s disciple Jiu Shen’s normally impassive face showed a gleam of interest even as his sheathed sword seemed to blur, following which the heads of four walking corpses just separated from their bodies. Big Metal showed no reaction, dutifully guarding Dong Xinyue’s rear.

    Dong Xinyue’s gaze was even colder than normal. Her hands blurred, two dozen walking corpses shambling fairly quickly towards her dropped, pierced through the head by her favorite iron daggers.

    Your sister, like hell I’m going to cosplay with cat ears and a tail!

    Dong Xinyue stared gloomily at the chaos around her. Screams and explosions rocked the Corpse Pagoda District as a seemingly never ending tide of walking corpses flooded the district.

    Really, a zombie apocalypse? And they’re running too…

    ***

    Jin Tong stared at the corpse shambling towards him. It was the corpse of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, mildly mangled, missing one arm and half of its head. From its dangling, half-attached jaw an expensive greenwood Tang Tangtang mask with dragon engravings was attached precariously. It limped across the bamboo tiles of his roof, heading towards his balcony.

    Jin Tong looked blankly at the walking corpse. He stood, frozen, unmoving. An observer would be thinking, how unfortunate, a low cultivation outer disciple frozen in fear.

    There was the sound of banging as Fatty Tubu initiated the emergency protocol provided by Jin Tong. A wave of formations sparkled beneath the moonlight as Jin Tong’s store sealed itself. Unfortunately, the Foundation Establishment corpse was within the formation, and growing ever closer. One leg was barely hanging on, which greatly impeded its movement speed.

    The corpse grew closer and closer, Jin Tong could make out the Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect Punishment Hall emblem sewn into the breast of its blue robe. Definitely a custom robe to match the mask. It was so close Jin Tong could make out the upper dantian pulsing and nestled in its revealed brain. It was misty white, shot through with black veins.

    As it approached Jin Tong, who was seemingly overcome and frozen with fear, its remaining arm raised to pull Jin Tong towards it.

    Jin Tong finally made a move, his right hand rising up and opening, to reveal, one of the cheap first- rank talismans that he’d plucked from his drying rack.

    If the walking corpse still had the ability, it would have sneered. Even when it was alive, such a low level talisman was useless, let alone when it was dead and enhanced with an endoskeleton and subdermal layer of spell resistant death qi.

    The talisman in Jin Tong’s hand glowed as it was primed. A flicker of his hand released it. The walking corpse of Rui Ku didn’t even react as it flew towards his head.

    A blinding flash expanded on Jin Tong’s roof. A ring of tattered blue cloth, severely burnt, fluttered to the ground. All that remained of Rui Ku, a single smoking leg, toppled, and tumbled to the edge of Jin Tong’s roof.

    Jin Tong’s eyes grew red and bloodshot. A growling sound emitted from deep within his chest. His breath grew short and labored.

    This! This! My sale! My All Hallows’ Eve Festival Sale!

    Amidst the screams and explosions, a single, soul-wrenching howl pierced the night.

    “MY SPIRIT STONES!!!!!”

    ***

    Azure-Amethyst City was in chaos. Refined corpses were as docile as they always were, the issue lay in the huge number of unrefined corpses present in the city.

    Unrefined corpses rose up in the hundred-thousands, possessing the cultivation level they had when they were alive. The Sect Elders were busy battling the various corpses buried in the Sect Ancestral Tombs as well as the corpses that rose from their own private storage.

    Whatever curse was spreading, it appeared to be able to transcend spatial boundaries. This turned the Common Morgue into an unending source of walking corpses in the Corpse Pagoda District, just like the Sword Pavilion District’s Grave of Swords was spewing out walking corpses that were even armed with the swords they were buried with.

    Many disciples were infected with the curse when corpses in their dimensional storage pouches burst out, surprising them to their deaths.

    On top of the endless flow of corpses, the most difficult component of the curse lay in its ability to reinforce the walking corpses with black, death qi, which was converted from the abundant mist qi. This death qi greatly enhanced even a non-cultivator’s corpse to the point it could withstand upper layer Qi Condensation cultivator qi attacks. Moreover, the stronger the corpse, the stronger the walking corpse, and the stronger the death qi.

    This was on top of the curse’s ease of propagation, every unattended unrefined corpse was infected, and each infected walking corpse could infect the living cultivators with a single bite.

    While the Sect Elders were stuck battling in the Sect Ancestral Tombs, the defense of the Azure-Amethyst City fell to the disciples.

    Despite the efforts of Liu Tian, who quickly spread the information that one must avoid being bitten, and Dong Xinyue, who spread the information that one must destroy their heads, the disciples were being overwhelmed.

    Esteemed personages such as Talisman Master Mo Liu or Thirteen Talisman Gui Bo attempted to trace the source of the curse, but were met with failure at every turn.

    The situation was quickly turning dire, turning what was originally supposed to be a night of festivities into a night of unending horror.

    ***

    Dong Fangfang was curled up on the stone table deep beneath the Corpse Pagoda District. The leather bound scroll had unwound like a snake and was now wrapped around her body, revealing the entire scroll to be made of leather. The scroll matched the color of Dong Fangfang’s skin, and it clung to her like a close-fitting dress, certain revealed expanses of skin showing that she was nude beneath the scroll. All that remained of her costume were the cat ears perched atop her head.

    Her long black hair was caked with blood, the nails of her hands had become black claws and the veins of her body pulsed with blackness. Had one of the husks that were all that remained of the sacrificed outer disciples been able to see, they would have observed that her breasts were noticeably larger and the structure of her face had become rather similar to Dong Xinyue’s…

    Her body shifted, the leather scroll twisting as if it were alive. Her eyes opened, revealing that the whites of her eyes had turned black with the pupils turning a glowing red. Closing her eyes, she could see through the eyes of every infected walking corpse.

    She writhed in pleasure as she watched a Sect Elder’s heart be torn out by the walking corpse of his own deceased mother. The ruby knife that seemed to be flowing with a never ending stream of blood dripping from the blade was brought to her lips. Her tongue, pink, long, and forked flickered out and ran along its edge.

    “Are you supposed to be some demonic courtesan?”

    Dong Fangfang instantly reacted, crouching up on top of the stone table, the scroll covering body flared with a red glow lighting up the formation seals, and extending from her back were two leather wings, similar to those of a bat, formed from the scroll.

    She stared with gimlet eyes at the plain cultivator before her, nondescript looks, plain short black hair, average height, average build, and nondescript black robe. The scroll fed her information. Her eyes narrowed, then she laughed.

    Her voice was sibilant, a mixture of velvet, a snake’s hiss and a cat’s purr.

    “Now, what is a mid-4th layer Qi Condensation outer disciple doing here? Did you come to offer yourself as a new sacrifice?”

    The plain cultivator stared at her with an unfathomable look. He raised his left hand, which was holding the shabbiest folding-fan she had ever laid eyes on. He paused, then transferred the fan to his right hand.

    A flick, and the fan opened. Dong Fangfang squinted. The cracked lacquer created a strange ineffable pattern. But soon enough, four words resolved themselves.

    Dong Fangfang laughed even harder than before.

    “‘Peerless Above Nine Hells’? That shabby piece of—”

    Before she could even finish, Jin Tong closed the fan with a twist of his wrist, striking it against the palm of his left hand.

    Dong Fangfang froze. The scroll covering her body seemed to go crazy, distorting in every direction, nearly revealing all of Dong Fangfang’s body, but always not quite, to Jin Tong.

    Then, Dong Fangfang turned into shimmering white dust. The cat eared headband dropped to the floor.

    The scroll rewound itself and dropped the to the table, where it continued winding itself, tighter and tighter until it was the size of the smallest finger of one’s hand, whereupon it curled up like a shrimp. The ruby knife ceased dripping blood, its shine dimming until it looked like nothing so much as a rusted piece of trash.

    Jin Tong stared at the artifacts impassively. He transferred his fan to his left hand, and with his right reached into his robe to take out a pair of metal tongs. Gingerly, he placed the items into a plain brown wooden box he laid out on the table, the scroll made of tanned human skin and the knife made of frozen blood hilted with human skin over human bone.

    His right hand withdrew a cheap looking talisman. It flashed with a blinding light when he threw it up towards the ceiling of the chamber. After the light faded, a large hole had been bored to the surface, piercing the floor the Common Morgue, even creating a hole in its ceiling. When the light faded, Jin Tong was gone.

    ***

    In the end, as the fighting intensified, the infected walking corpses suddenly ceased to walk, dropping dead once more, the red eyes and black veins fading as if they never were just as midnight arrived. At the stroke of midnight, a pillar of light pierced towards the sky from the Common Morgue, and the curse faded.

    A later investigation revealed the sacrificial chamber, where one part of the Great Yin Spirit Invasion was sealed, or so were the results of the analysis done on the formations on the stone table in its center. The responsible party was identified as Dong Fangfang from the discarded Kuai Gaifeng costume, which she had spent forty third-rank spirit stones to customize. The costume was in tatters, the bodice part was especially distorted. The sacrificial outer disciples were revealed to be Dong Fangfang’s posse of sycophants and toadies.

    It was assumed that Dong Fangfang was unable to control the power of the chamber and eventually imploded.

    Liu Tian and Dong Xinyue were later honored as being the two who had contributed the most to the defense of Azure-Amethyst City.

    ***

    Jin Tong stood in the secret cellar beneath the hidden sub-sub-cellar of his store.

    An ominous metal chest was the only item there. Engraved with formations that seemed to change and brought tears to the eyes when one stared too long, the metal seemed to shift and change colors depending on what angle one viewed it, at one time black, another time white, another time again a vomit rainbow color.

    Jin Tong kicked the ineffable chest open. There was a stir as the artifact spirits awakened: assorted weapons, accessories, furniture, toys, books, every item one could name started to move. Before anything could happen though, Jin Tong tossed in the box containing the leather scroll known as Treshigadu’s Skin and the ruby knife known as Treshigadu’s Blood and Bone, and closed the chest.

    He heaved a sigh.

    Items filled with destiny were nothing but trouble! Cultivating leisurely was the key to avoiding unfortunate fate! Destiny, ptui, ptui. Cold hard spirit stones did not lie!

    Jin Tong rubbed his hands. Now that everything was settled, he hoped that festivities could resume and business at ‘Jin Tong’s Talismans and More!’ could once again pick up.

    After all, one must laugh and celebrate in the face of tragedy!

    There was a sudden ripple of qi and Jin Tong’s public broadcast talisman activated on its own.

    “In honor of the brave cultivators who sacrificed themselves in defense of our everlasting Azure-Amethyst City, the Azure Orthodox Sword Sect and Mist Origin Corpse Refining Sect would like to dedicate this All Hallows’ Eve Festival in their memory with a Festival of silent contemplation. As such we would also like to announce the premature end of this year’s festivities in their honor.”

    Jin Tong felt his knees grow weak.

    He covered his face with the sleeve of his plain black robe. And wept.

    This damnable zombie apocalypse!

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 30, 2017
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  7. SilentFyre

    SilentFyre Irregular Ghost Member

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    Midnight Call

    written by: @SilentFyre
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    Morning came and my alarm rung. It was five a.m. I remembered last night’s events as memories flooded my mind.

    “I’m surprised the boss let us use the break room for these get-togethers… Are you sure we should be doing this?”

    “Oh come on, don’t be such a scaredy-cat. It’s a just game, you know? A game! Why not have some fun?”

    “Stop scaring the new girl, Mike. So are we starting or not?”

    “Yeah, yeah, we’ll start, let’s start.”

    It was a messy conversation held by several people. As usual, we were holding our bi-weekly after-work get-together and typical as it was, Mike was using one of his ghost stories again to intimidate our newest addition to the staff.

    I took a gulp from my beer can, slowly letting the bitter aftertaste go down my throat, while waiting for the game to begin.

    “Okay, okay. Listen up! The game we’re playing this time has some eerie rumour attached to it,” Mike beamed as he started his tale, “Apparently the loser of this game will get a strange call every night.”

    The lights were turned off and he picked up his phone, using it’s flashlight to illuminate the room.

    With a subdued tone he continued, “And apparently… there have been several cases of victims reporting that they have received unusual calls every night after losing at this game. Once the clock strikes midnight your phone will ring. You won’t be able to see the caller’s ID either. People are saying how the game is cursed… Bringing doom to those who play it… and lose it.”

    The light disappeared, leaving us in a dark and dimly lit room. Mike had covered his phone’s light with his hand.

    “And yet people play it, don’t they?” Carol called out to Mike, “It doesn’t seem that people have stopped playing it because of this.”

    “Well yeah,” Mike replied, “It’s cause the winner apparently receives all of the loser’s good luck.”

    “So it’s more of a bet and exchange than anything in the end,” Carol interjected.

    Mike smiled wryly, but nodded nevertheless. Christin, the new girl, was visibly shaken by their nonchalance to a conversation that bore a dangerous undertone to it.

    “This is interesting. Why don’t we try it out to see if it actually is true?” Greg suggested as he patted the poor girl.

    “It does seem intriguing enough,” Carol agreed.

    I sighed mentally as I watched them interact. Even if they didn’t seem like it, my colleagues were definitely nuts about ghosts, rumours, mysteries and the like. I could see the anticipation glittering in most of their eyes.

    “Might as well then,” I chimed in to bring conversation to an end.

    With several nods being exchanged, we finally began. It was a simple game to play. The rules were straightforward and so was the procedure to be followed. Though it seemed easy enough to play, I must’ve had the worst luck ever, because I actually lost.

    By the time the game was over, the snickering had turned into full blown laughter.

    “Very funny. Ha. Ha. Ha…” I mumbled unhappily and drained the rest of my beer.

    “Don’t be so grumpy about it,” Carol said and hugged me lightly.

    “You can say that ‘cause you didn’t lose…” I frowned.

    “Well, look at the time! We should get going before public transport goes to a minimum,” Mike exclaimed after looking the wall’s clock, but I was sure that he was just changing the subject to avoid any awkwardness on my side.

    My eyes followed to see the time as well. Nine thirty-eight p.m. I guessed it was time to leave before the night trains started. Getting home would take too long otherwise.

    We said our goodbyes and went our ways. Greg and I had to take the same subway train before Greg had to change trains. It seemed that Carol would bring Christin home and Mike would hail a taxi because he was too lazy to take the bus instead. He said something along the lines of taking another 30 minutes before it arrived.

    I swiped the key card along the door before it opened the entrance and gave a nod to the night watch. I entered the lift and exited on the fifth floor. I turned right into the hallway until I reached my place. I slid the key in and opened the door. The sight of a clean and neat apartment greeted me. Taking care of the place was worth it. After living with my sister for so long, who was undoubtedly horrible at taking care of herself, I had learned the art of cleaning and keeping the house nice and tidy. No thanks to you, sis.

    Feeling a bit queasy and sticky with sweat, I took a shower. Once I had settled myself into my pyjamas, it was already ten forty-three p.m. My bed looked very inviting, so I lay myself down on it, deciding I should just sleep and push anything I needed to do to tomorrow. I knew it would take a while to fall asleep, so I just waited for my medicine to kick in and finally enter dreamland. However tonight, even though my eyes were closed and my breathing stable, I did not fall asleep. Insomnia would not let me sleep. The doctor said it was from stress and I did admit that I had been overworking myself as well as taking on too many taxing jobs recently. When I had finally entered a state nearing sleep – no, I’m sure I had actually fallen asleep already, but at that moment a ring woke me up.

    My phone was ringing. A bit groggy, I got up from my bed and although I did not feel like hurrying, I did not move slowly either. I grabbed my phone, pulling the charger of it before answering.

    “Hello?” I spoke.

    “…”

    “Hello? Hello?” I repeated several times.

    “…”

    “Hello, can you hear me?” I tried again but did not receive an answer.

    The phone call had not ended yet, but I was annoyed at being woken up. I glanced at the wall. It was midnight already. A prank call? With a push to the button, I ended the call. I wanted my sleep and sleep I would. While contemplating who would have done this, I remembered the game we played earlier and what Mike had said. Mike… I was sure that he was the one behind this.

    “Definitely a prank call,” I muttered in irritation.

    I would get back at him for doing something this stupid. I checked the caller ID, but it was private. With a slight annoyance still left, I headed back to bed. It took a while to fall asleep. I cursed my bad luck.

    Morning left me feeling tired. A slight headache was coming up and my eyes were puffed up from the lack of sleep. I needed to get ready for work.

    Inside the office I told Carol and the others about what happened last night. I was feeling grumpy and I did not hide it.

    “Great job on pranking me,” I said sarcastically.

    Then I turned to Mike with a glare.

    “Really, great job you jerk. It’s you, isn’t it? I hate to get woken up after I fall asleep. You know I have insomnia and yet you do this,” I hissed, stepping closer to him, fists balled.

    “Now wait up,” Carol stopped me, “You said you got called on your phone? But Mike doesn’t have you phone number. Only Sarah and me have your new phone number, since you changed your provider last month and you know we wouldn’t do things like this. Sarah wasn’t even there yesterday.”

    I halted, stunned. I thought about it and felt she was right. I was still reluctant to accept Carol’s words, but I accepted the explanation.

    “Fine, it can’t be Mike then...” I grumbled.

    I gave up with a sigh and went back to work. Everyone dispersed as well with my leaving. I saw Mike’s face in passing, but he just seemed confused instead of offended for being accused wrongly. I did not bother with him any further. I needed to focus and my lack of sleep wasn’t helping.

    Work was not going well. I tried my best to not slack off, but I wasn’t able to concentrate much and my work pile grew more and more. Frustrated at my lack of focus, I sank my head onto the desk. As I felt sleep slowly overcome me, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I immediately sat up straight and looked behind me, but no one was there. I frowned.

    Weird.

    I glanced at my colleagues but none of them appeared to be the one who tagged me, but all of them seemed to be avoiding my eyes. Another prank? My frown deepened, but I shoved my thoughts aside and turned back to my work pile.

    It was evening. Work had ended already hours ago but I had to do overtime. However, I was feeling a bit more refreshed after taking a bath and having dinner. I lay down on my bed and waited for sleep to welcome me. Time passed and without noticing, it had turned nine thirty-nine p.m. already. Sleep finally arrived for me. A dreamless night started.

    Ring.

    My eyes opened. I cursed myself for being a light sleeper.

    Ring.

    My brain registered that my phone was ringing. Still half-asleep I remembered last night again as I became fully awake. I glanced at the clock. Twelve a.m. I decided to ignore the call and went back to sleep. I knew I wouldn’t fall asleep easily again after this, but I was too concerned about getting enough sleep to really care.

    “They’ll have to give up sooner or later if I don’t answer,” I reasoned.

    I waited for the ringing to stop while trying to sleep. I waited and waited. Time passed… but it didn’t stop.

    I gritted my teeth. My mouth formed a thin line. Anger boiled inside me. There was no reason for anyone to call me at this time of night! No reason for it to ring this long either! With a rush, I got up from bed and headed for the charging phone.

    I answered the call and yelled, “Damn you! I want to sleep, you know?!”

    I ended the call. Holding back my anger, I recharged the phone and headed back to sleep.

    The next morning at work I confronted my colleagues about the prank call. I wanted it to be done and over.

    “Please stop this silly joke, okay?” I told them wearily.

    My lack of sleep was taking its toll on me. Black rings and low energy were the signs of it. I rubbed my temple in tired annoyance. My whole body felt stiff.

    “Just why are you doing this… Is it because I am always grumpy and sarcastic? Is there something I have done to offend you all before this? Just stop, ok? My insomnia isn’t helping with this either,” I pleaded.

    No anger was left from last night. I was just tired and sleepy.

    Greg answered me, “But we really aren’t the ones doing this.”

    “Yeah, we really aren’t,” Mike agreed.

    My eyes strayed to Mike. He looked somewhat unsettled about the whole conversation, but my brain didn’t quite understand why he would, nor did I feel like suspecting him anymore. I just wanted to sleep.

    “We’re innocent,” Christin summed it up.

    “Is that so,” I answered, feeling a bit empty.

    I turned around and was about to leave when I heard Carol whisper to the others, “She looks rather pale. I hope she’s alright. Maybe she should just go home to rest.”

    I turned around and told her, “I’m fine.”

    I saw her concerned look and gave her a small smile.

    “Really,” I reassured her and went back to my desk.

    My work efficiency was even worse than yesterday’s. I still wasn’t able to concentrate much and my work piled up once more. Exhausted, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I felt someone tap me on my shoulder, so I answered, “Yes?”

    I didn’t receive an answer so I checked who had tapped me, but there was no one around me. With a sigh I went back to work, decidedly ignoring the pranks for now.

    That evening I took out the battery from my phone.

    “With this no one should be able to call me,” I told myself and lay down in bed.

    The clock ticked away as sleep slowly arrived. Time passed and midnight came.

    Ring.

    I woke up. My fists balled.

    Ring.

    I slowly turned into the direction of my phone. My look of anger was being replaced by an incredulous look forming on my face. I bit my lip and clutched my blanket tight. Disbelief at the situation was just filling my mind.

    “T-this… how can this be…?” I stammered.

    I glanced at the night desk beside me. The battery still lay there. My body started to tremble as realization seeped further into my mind. My hands would not stay still. I felt a cold shiver run down my back. Iciness seemed to radiate from the phone’s direction. I felt the hair on my skin stand.

    What was up with this ghostly call? How could it ring when I took out the battery? My mind fumbled for an explanation but couldn’t find any. What should I do? I tried to think of a way to stop it from ringing. I thought of throwing the phone at the wall. Maybe if I broke it, it would stop ringing. I was about to stand up and do exactly that, but then I remembered that if I did destroyed my phone, all my contacts on it would be gone. I had not copied any to my new sim card yet. I couldn’t do that after all.

    As I struggled to find a solution, a thought came to me. There was no more ringing after I answered the calls each time. I shakily stood up. My hands were trembling, but I resolved myself to pick up my phone and get it over with.

    Mike… just what did you get me into…?

    I slowly reached for the ringing phone and pushed the call button.

    I swallowed my saliva before replying, “…Hello?”

    “…”

    Static greeted me for an answer. I nervously waited for a while as various thoughts rushed through my mind. I suddenly felt so alone in my house; the silence when no one else was here with me; the uncertainty that came without another human’s warmth; the isolation and fear that suddenly gripped my heart. I knew then that it wasn’t a prank from my friends and colleagues.

    I ended the called and headed back to bed, but sleep wouldn’t come easily. The dark familiar room felt like an estranged unescapable prison now. I closed my eyes tightly, willing myself to drive away any thoughts of the call.

    Morning came and so did my work day. I think I had at most two hours of sleep after that incident. I did not say a word to anyone else about my experience. I was too afraid. Afraid they would not take me seriously. Afraid that this could grow worse. Afraid that I might drag them into this.

    My lack of sleep was severely disrupting my work. I felt so low on energy and I kept making mistakes, one after another, that the boss finally asked me to just run simple errands in the end. I was taking the documents from the printing room to my boss when Mike stopped me.

    “What is it?” I asked him.

    He looked rather distressed.

    “Hey listen, remember the rumour I told you about the other day during the game?”

    I nodded, feeling uneasy about the topic but kept silent.

    “You know how the victims get several calls? The rumour has a second part. The last call is on the fourth day. The next day the victim’s discovered–“

    “Hey!”

    We both turned around to the sound of the call. It was our boss.

    “You were taking too long, so I came over,” he said to me and turned around to go back to his office, “I need those documents now.”

    I nodded.

    “The boss is calling me. Tell me later,” I told Mike and followed our boss.

    I did not turn around. If I had, then maybe I would’ve seen the despair on his face. I did not get to see nor speak to Mike again that day. He was out to meet some contractors.

    Back at home tiredness overcame me and as rare as it was, I immediately fell asleep. However, I woke up before it turned midnight. I did not manage to fall asleep again, so I just waited in bed. Waited for the clock to strike twelve. Waited for the call to come. Just who was it that was calling me every midnight?

    Gong.

    I jumped in fright. The old broken grandmother clock in the corner suddenly started working again and, as if timed to it, my phone rang.

    Ring~

    In tandem, they took turns to sound.

    Gong, ring~ Gong, ring~ Gong, ring~

    I stared at the phone and swallowed hard. My throat felt dry. I had a very bad feeling about tonight’s call. I finally pushed the call button.

    “Hello?” my voice slightly trembled.

    Gong.

    There was just static as an answer.

    Gong.

    “Hello? Hello~?” I tried again.

    My hands shook.

    Gong.

    “…”

    Gong.

    I moistened my lips and tried asking, hoping to receive an answer, “Who are you? Why do you keep calling me?!”

    Gong.

    My voice nearly ended in a shriek, but again it only left me with static over the phone, deprived of an answer.

    Gong.

    I pulled together the last of my courage, “Hey, listen up! Do it again and I’ll call the–”

    Gong.

    A strange voice finally spoke. It was bizarre, as if several voices were laced together, but it sounded more child-like than anything.

    I was interrupted but I had finally gotten my answer, together with the ever present static, “Time’s up.”

    Gong.

    I screamed.

    A certain guy said later on, “I can’t believe that it was true. I’m sorry for not getting to tell you… The victim was discovered dead the next day – even though I knew.”

    While laying flowers on a grave that’s new.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2017
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  8. AndrewOrion

    AndrewOrion Well-Known Member

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    Flat Tires and Plot Holes

    written by: @AndrewOrion
    Wordpress Link
    Synopsis: Two men travel down the road and overcome numerous horror movie tropes, from hitchhikers, to rain, the back roads of West Virginia, cultists, and an abandoned mine shaft. All in less than 7500 words, with coherent sentences.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    The deep purring of a 400 Horsepower V8 engine filled the winding mountain roads of West Virginia. The late afternoon sun beat down on the late October pavement, approaching the tops of the mountains. The driver of the ’67 Impala was distracted from his driving by the man in the passenger seat.

    “Okay, I agree that this is a great car, but why did you have to paint it black?” The passenger asked.

    “Really, Tate? We both agreed that we could spend our own share of the promotion bonuses however we wanted, besides this is the only car that I would feel comfortable in while driving around the country with another man.” The driver said with a smirk on his face while twirling the silver necklace around his neck, steering the car with his other hand.

    “Yes, we already agreed that the car was a good purchase, that’s why I agreed to pay for a lot of the modifications. But why black? That clearly happened after the modifications. The only part that isn’t black is the grille and the silver bow and spear on the doors and roof.” Tate spat out in exasperation.

    “But I thought you liked black?” The driver asked with a smirk on his face.

    “Just because I am black, does not mean that I like the color black, Dory. If you must know, my favorite color is blue. You know, like my shields are blue, my jacket is blue, and my lucky socks are blue.” Tate sighed as he lifted the legs on his cargo pants. “You even mocked me for the socks during the test.” He added with a humph.

    “Okay, first I thought those were the socks that you picked up in Paris, and second, why are you still wearing those socks since it’s been almost a week since the test?” Dory asked.

    “I thought we agreed not to mention Paris ever again, but since you did let me remind you. Paris happened less than a week after we became Bronze ranked hunters, and out of our four man squad, only you and I made it out of France. And yes, these socks are from Paris, I dodged having my throat ripped out because I was trying to pick up these socks in that store where we lost Jack.” Tate replied as he stared out the window with empty eyes.

    “It’s been more than three years since then. We even set one of the fastest times to advance to Silver rank in group hunting, with just the two of us. Also, as soon as the sun drops below those mountains it will have been a week since the test, so nothing is going to happen.” Dory stated as he adjusted one of the instruments on the dash board.

    “And now that you said nothing is going to happen, we both know that something is going to happen.” Tate responded as he tightened his boots while straightening up his appearance.

    “Actually stuff only happens when you say it will, so just remember to protect me since you brought this upon us.” Dory chuckled as he loosened the strap holding one of his knives in place.

    “And right on cue, the craziness begins.” Tate stated as he motioned down towards the next bend in the road. “Just the perfect thing to happen on Halloween, a hitchhiker.” He muttered while staring towards the hooded figure in the distance, cracking sounds coming from his clenched fists.

    “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think.” Dory reassured him as he tapped one of the instruments on the dash as it blinked subtly. “We have a fellow hunter in need of a pickup.” He stated as he pulled over near the hitchhiker.

    “You do know that there is a rule about no hitchhikers on Halloween, right?” Tate asked anxiously as the hitchhiker approached the passenger side window. “Oh well, damage done.” He sighed before rolling down the window. “You need a lift?” He asked with the best smile he could manage.

    As they were closer to the hooded figure they realized just how small the person was. The hitchhiker lifted the hood, revealing a young feminine face cropped by short silver hair. She nodded once then moved towards the back passenger door without waiting for a response. She threw her backpack into the back seat, then slid in after it and closed the door. She clicked her seatbelt on then stared ahead blankly.

    “What’s your name?” Tate asked her as he shifted around to see the back seat.

    “Vera.” She replied curtly.

    “Well, I’m Tate, and this horrible driver is Dory.” Tate informed her. Throughout the exchange, Vera stared ahead without her eyes moving from the back of the headrest.

    Dory and Tate glanced at each other inquisitively, and then focused back on their guest. “So where are you headed?” Dory asked with a smile.

    “Same as you.” She replied so softly it was barely audible. She pulled a necklace out from under her sweatshirt. “The Silver Hunter gathering in Maryland that starts tomorrow.” She stated.

    They both stared at her, stunned. Their eyes shifted back and forward between the silver spear on the necklace and the youthful face. “Solo Silver?” They both asked simultaneously, still staring at her youthful face.

    “Yes.” She replied softly, still staring at the headrest in front of her. “Can we please go? We will probably be late at this rate.” She stated, finally looking at Dory.

    “Relax, we won’t be late.” Dory reassured her as he put the car in drive.

    Neither Dory nor Tate heard Vera whisper. “We will be late.” Over the sound of the engine.

    The drive continued in awkward silence, even after the sun disappeared and the rain began to sprinkle down on the Impala.

    “Brake.” Vera finally broke the silence with her sudden statement, the loudest she had been since she entered the car.

    “What?” Dory asked as he quickly took his foot off of the gas and examined his surroundings, and then slammed on the brake. The car skidded on the wet pavement, almost colliding with the tree that had fallen across the road.

    “Thanks.” Dory stated as he slowly remembered to breathe again. “We really might be late at this point.” He stated as he checked on of the watches mixed in with the instruments on the dash board.

    “Everybody relax.” Tate stated proudly. “Nobody is better at getting rid of trees than Dory.” He stated with a smile. “Remember that giant spider up in Maine?” He asked while nudging Dory in the side.

    “We are not causing another forest fire.” Dory stated with a slight cringe. “But I should be able to safely clear this in less than ten minutes.” He added as he unlocked his door.

    “Why don’t we go that way?” Vera asked as she pointed to the side of the road just before the tree where a smaller road branched off.

    “No.” Tate stated flatly. “We are already off of the main roads, and I once swore a great oath to never enter the back roads of West Virginia.” He shivered slightly as he looked at the side road. “We will definitely not regret avoiding that road in any way, so we should simply clear this tree and be on our way.” He stated matter-of-factly.

    “We will definitely regret not going down that side road.” Vera raised her voice slightly as her eyes went out of focus. “Sorry, we just really need to go down that road. Don’t ask me why just think about how a sixteen year old can be a Silver ranked hunter without an impressive intuition.” She stated in her usual soft voice as she settled back into her seat.

    After a brief pause, Dory was able to speak while Tate was still stunned. “Sixteen!” He shouted. “I knew you looked young, but sixteen. How did you even become a hunter before you turned eighteen, let alone carry a gun?” He asked as he motioned towards the barrel a gun poking out of her backpack.

    “My dad is a Black ranked hunter and I am a level eight Poison Master. Not much hope for a normal childhood with either of those on a resume.” She stated bluntly. “So I vote we go down the side road, since I doubt either of you have passed the sixth rank in any combat field.” She grabbed the strap on her backpack. “Or I could walk, since I think it is really important that we go down that road.” She added with a sharp look at the two men.

    “Side road it is then.” Dory as he put the car in reverse and pointed the front at the side road.

    “Back roads! West Virginia!” Tate shouted. “We had this conversation when we left the highway.” He added adamantly.

    “I know we agreed on this, but things are different now.” Dory replied helplessly. “I have a list of numerous types of people not to tick off. Black ranks and Poison Masters both place in the top five on that list.” He stated as he put the car in drive and headed down the side road.

    “If any of us end up sacrificed to cultists or eaten by cannibals then I’m blaming it all on you Dory.” Tate stated coldly.

    “Why me?” Dory asked, startled by his friends betrayal.

    “Like you said, don’t tick off Poison Masters or Black ranks, but friends are still open targets.” Tate replied with a smile. “Let’s just make sure we don’t take a wrong turn.” He added with a slight snicker.

    They continued down the dark windy road until the rain cleared up, revealing the half-moon floating in the sky. All of them maintained a high level of vigilance as they passed through the woods. The need of a group of hunters to travel places was not often a good thing.

    The whole car shook suddenly and came to an abrupt stop.

    “Flat tire.” Dory sighed.

    “No, I paid all that extra money for run flat tires. It definitely is not flat.” Tate berated him.

    “Flat tire.” Vera confirmed with a nod. The other two looked back at her. “Ambush.” She added as she unzipped her sweatshirt and pulled a revolver out from under her shoulder.

    “Ambush it is.” The other two replied as they quickly exited the car, careful to check their footing for any problems.

    The area was empty and silent, except for the sound of water dripping after the rain, and the sound of metal contracting coming from the turned off car. “No ambush.” Tate stated as he looked around his surroundings, which were illuminated by the half-moon.

    “Wow, it’s actually an ambush.” Dory stated as he checked out the tire. “Someone or something managed to cut our run flat tire and steel rims in half.” He explained while shaking his head over the damage to his new ride.

    “Oh…” Vera started to say, and then stopped suddenly, her head cocking to the side. “Please rescue me.” She told them as she dropped her gun on the ground.

    Before either Tate or Dory could respond a massive figure leapt out of the distant trees, closed the distance, grabbed Vera, and dashed back into the forest.

    “What?” Dory exclaimed before he dashed to where Vera had been seconds before. “Well, it wasn’t cultists or cannibals.” He stated as he looked at the ground, still soft from the rain. “Looks like we hunters have ourselves a monster to hunt.” He informed Tate as he examined the massive footprint next to two small boot prints.

    “Back roads, West Virginia.” Tate sighed as he walked up next to Dory. “Well, let’s go get her back.” He stated as he faced the direction the monster had fled.

    “Just like old times.” Dory said as he pulled out one of his knives and followed behind Tate who had started walking towards the monsters path.

    “Let’s just be extra careful of what happens from now on.” Tate stated. “You know what they say, ‘Trees have ears and hills have eyes.’” He laughed to himself lightly.

    The two cautiously followed the monster’s trail further into the woods and up the mountain. They paused as they looked upon where they lost the monster’s tracks.

    “Alright she’s dead. Let’s go home.” Tate stated as he started to turn around.

    “You really want to break the bad news to her father? And besides, it’s only an abandoned mine.” Dory countered as he placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

    “No black man ever survives a trip into a monster’s layer, and besides, I see human foot prints. You know what that means?” Tate asked as he glanced around nervously. “Cultists.” He stated before Dory could say anything.

    “Please, you are a rank five Shielder. If either of us is going to die down there, it’s going to be me.” Dory reassured as they headed into the mine.

    “I still think that this is a bad idea.” Tate said, not bothering to lower his voice as they headed down a slight slope.

    “Do you want me to provide light?” Dory asked after Tate nearly slipped on a piece of loose stone.

    “Maybe if there wasn’t a light around the next bend.” Tate replied as he rolled his shoulders and raised his hands in a loose fighting stance.

    As the duo rounded the corner they came upon a group of five men who were all facing a door at the other end of a small cavern from where Tate and Dory appeared from.

    “And we even went through all of the trouble to not keep our voices down.” Tate raised his voice even louder, approaching a shout.

    The five men spun around, finally aware of the intruders. “Oh look, Tate. I found your cultists.” Dory exclaimed as he motioned towards the runic tattoos on each of the men’s foreheads.

    “Let’s just wrap this up quickly so we can grab the girl and get out of here as quickly as possible.” Tate sighed as he threw some loose practice punches. “I’m sure her father would love to clean up the rest of this place, because I want to have as little to do with this as possible.”

    “We’ll see what happens.” Dory replied as he pulled out another knife, holding one in each hand.

    Less than a minute later the two were opening the door at the far end of the small cavern. “You know, unawakened humans are way easier to deal with than even the lowest level of monster.” Tate sighed as he forced the door open.

    “Let’s just hope there are no zombies behind this door.” Tate stated as he continued to force the metal door open.

    “You and I both know that there are no zombies here, since the east coast is still relatively intact. Do you really want the surrounding states to end up like Paris? And weren’t you the one who said not to mention Paris, why did you even bring up zombies?” Dory berated.

    “You were the one who said that whatever I said would happen, so I just had to break my winning streak after the cultists appeared.” Tate shrugged as he forced the door the rest of the way open.

    On the other side of the door, the two were confronted by an eight foot tall anthropomorphic rabbit with horns on its head. “Well, that explains the massive footprints.” Tate stated as he held his hands up, causing an opaque blue shield to extend in front of himself. “And no zombies.” He added with a smug grin.

    Dory ignored his friend’s comment. “I never hunted a Jackalope before. Should I use fire or ice?” Dory asked as he sheathed his knives and held up both of his hands, causing two spears tom materialize above them, one orange and one a pale blue.

    “I vote ice because I value my oxygen supply in an enclosed space.” Tate sighed as he placed his head in his hand.

    “I guess it is time that I improved my ice, since I am still a level four ice Elemental, unlike my level five fire abilities.” Dory stated calmly as he dismissed the orange spear.

    The fight ended as soon as it began. One lower intermediate monster was nothing before a pair of silver ranked hunters, especially when they used their awakened abilities. “I guess I should ask this guy some questions before we move on.” Dory stated as he pulled a cowering cultist out of the corner he was hiding in. “What exactly is going on here?” He asked as he held a small flame lance in front of the cultist’s eyes.

    “The General will rise again!” The cultist shouted in a mixture of horror and glee, an insane glint evident in his eyes.

    “Oh, this is just great, now we get a fallen general to deal with.” Tate stated as he pulled out a phone and started pressing buttons on it.

    “You know we won’t get a signal in a mine.” Dory commented as he turned his attention back to the cultist.

    “That’s why I am using the priority one alert that can work from the bottom of the Marianas Trench.” Tate retorted as he continued working on his phone.

    “Where is the girl?” He asked as he held the flame closer to the cultist.

    “A virgin’s soul is necessary to restore the General.” The cultist cackled. “And the best time to harvest such a soul is on All Hallows Eve.” He shrieked.

    “Where is the general?” Dory asked, a concern evident in his tone.

    “He will come once the Lieutenant has the correct soul.” The cultist continued as he began frothing at the mouth. “Gross.” Dory jerked the cultist unconscious and wiped of the spittle that had made it past his flame. “You can cancel the priority one alert, the general isn’t here.” He told Tate who was still pounding buttons on his phone in a panicked manner.

    “We can’t even deal with a lieutenant, so why would I cancel the alert?” Tate asked with an incredulous look on his face. “We are hunters, not assassins, and silver ranked at that. We can’t deal with ranked members of the fallen forces.” Tate added as he put his phone away. “And now we have to go in any way since help won’t be here for an hour.” He sighed.

    “Then let’s just grab Vera and run. We can only hope that we won’t bump into the lieutenant or any of his awakened followers.” Dory decided as he faced the next door.

    “If the lieutenant is behind that door, you know we are going to die right?” Tate asked as he conjured his shield once again and prepared to open the door.

    “We won’t die.” Dory reassured. “Didn’t Vera tell us that we would be late for the gathering? That implies that we are going to make it.” He added.

    “And what would a brat like her know?” Tate asked as he kicked the door open and charged through.

    “Zombie!” Tate shouted as he jumped back in fright.

    “What?” Dory exclaimed as he took in what was happening in the room.

    A bloody Vera was using a well-dressed man’s scarf to wipe the blood off of her face, giving the appearance of having bitten into his bloody throat.

    “Oh, hey guys. Thanks for the diversion.” She stated with a bloody smile. “I managed to get the drop on these guys when you started fighting with the Jackalope. I just got hit by the arterial spray when the lieutenant turned around after I slit his throat.” She stated as she motioned towards the well-dressed men and three other people who appeared to be his followers.

    “You guys made good time. I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” She told them as she pulled one of her knives out of the heart of one of the other men. She used that man’s jacket to wipe the blood off of the knife.

    “Wait, what?” The two men did not know what to say. “How did this happen?” Dory managed to ask while motioning at the corpses.

    “Oh, right. I’m not just a hunter.” Vera explained as she pulled out another necklace. This one was a golden dagger.

    “Gold?” Dory was shocked.

    “Assassin?” Tate had a glint in his eyes. “See I told you we should have gone for that assassin training when we had that chance.” He stated matter-of-factly.

    “Yes, being a Poison Master and not having any an offensive abilities makes it easier for me to be an assassin than a hunter.” Vera stated. “I would also recommend assassin training, since it would be useful if you ever had to deal with a high class monster or a ranked enemy in the future.” She added as she motioned towards the dead lieutenant on the ground.

    “Oh, and one more thing.” Vera added. “Do you think one, or both of you could help patch up my back a little before we continue on the meeting in Maryland?” She asked as she turned around, revealing a bloody gash. “One of the other three was pretty handy with a sword, and didn’t care about dying.” She explained as one of her knees buckled, causing her to sink to a kneeling posture.

    “It’s honestly not to serious, I just need to rest for a little. We really don’t want to miss this meeting, my parents should be there.” Vera stated. “They are expecting me.” She added as they approached the car.

    “Let me replace the tire, real quick.” Dory offered as Tate helped Vera lie down in the back seat.

    “What does your mom do anyway?” Tate asked. “Since you said your dad was a Black rank hunter, how high does your mom rank?” He wondered.

    “She’s not a hunter.” Vera stated. “She is a Black rank assassin and a level ten Poison Master.” She informed. “She said that everything should be okay as long as we make it there by noon. She is also going to be scouting for new students.” She added with a smirk.

    Both Tate and Dory paled as they quickly finished up their preparations. Dory drove them back to the main road. The moon hid behind the clouds and a hint of red appeared on the distant horizon.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​
    Author's Note: I have been an anonymous follower of novels since Legendary Moonlight Sculptor on Japtem and Coiling Dragon and Stellar Transformations on SPCnet. After helping out with some google docs novel editing and posting a few chapters of my own on Royal Road, life caught up with me. I have been writing for several years and finally settled down a little and wanted to get involved with the community a little.

    Rating and Reviews
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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2017
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  9. Soraizumi

    Soraizumi Well-Known Member

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    The Monster That Always Comes Back

    written by: @Soraizumi
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    I can hear it, creeping and wandering the halls. It should be far away, somewhere in this cold old maze of a house. Why is it that I can hear it so clearly like it is right beside me? I can feel it’s breath down my neck, strong puffs of air that seem like they can knock me of balance and send me to the floor without the strength to resist. But it’s breath also feels so cold and weak bringing back nostalgia with it.

    Do I know it?

    No there is no way. How could I be acquainted with something that feels so heavy, dark, and scary?

    Thud, Thud, Thud…


    Did it just get closer? Or is it still far away?

    Step, Step, Step…




    Thud, Thud, Thud…

    It’s footsteps sound so loud as if it is a giant that weighs a ton, but it can also sound so light as if it has no weight and has no mass. Sometimes I can’t hear it at all until it goes back to the heavy movement. It reminds me of an old record player that is damaged and just makes wired noises over and over again.

    How was it damaged again? Did it happen in my childhood?

    Rattle!!!

    The door knob is being turned aggressively.

    “Shit.”

    Thank god it is locked.

    Click

    !!! Did it have the Key? Dammit I need to get out of here!

    I ran to the other side of the room where a door was and quickly went through it, making sure to close and lock the door behind me. I ran down the long dark hallway.

    How did it get there so fast? What happen to it’s pattern!? I thought it moves heavily, softly and then quietly! Since when did it start moving without me knowing?

    “Since when was it something you can track and know as if it is the back of your hand! Hehe, you don’t even know what it is! Haha idiot Nick!”

    Great now the voice in my head is back.

    “I thought the doctor got rid of you!”

    "Befu…Keke snicker."

    “WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!”

    God that laughter is so annoying.

    "bahhahha. I am what doctors try to get rid of, and I would have been gone too. HeHe.”

    “Then why aren’t you gone yet!”

    “HA…that’s because there is a way for me to come back.”

    “What do you mean by that?”

    Tap, Tap, Tap.

    Dammit! It’s getting closer! And wait! It’s foot steps, they seem to have become more solid but still light. In contrast my legs feel so heavy! I haven’t even run that far yet!

    “Hehe, pathetic.”

    “You Shut up Christian!”

    Tap, Tap, Tap.

    Did it just speed up?

    I dashed in to a room that was strangely opened. None of the rooms I have gone by have been open before.

    Tap, Tap, Tap.

    Too late to think about it now!

    Slam!!

    I slammed the door shut and locked it. Wait, can’t it open locked doors?

    Tap, Tap, Tap.

    ….

    I guess not this one.

    “Haa…”

    Finally, I can calm down now. I guess it’s a good time to see what room I am in now.

    “This room…”

    This is my moms room. I haven’t been in here since…. well a long time ago. The room looks the exact same as I remember. There is a large canopy bed in the middle of the wall on my left. The room is big too. Well the whole house is big considering it is a mansion.

    My siblings and I would always come here to be with our mom. She never left her room. She said she felt safe there so we always came to her. She was kind and so gentle with her long blonde hair and calm but deep blue eyes.

    Father would visit sometimes, but was mostly away with work. He was what most would consider a workaholic. I can never understand why he would work so much even though in the past he would say he wished to be home all the time. Father also said she had a virus and not to visit her because we will catch it, but I can’t really remember how she died. My head would hurt and I would forget what I was doing before I could remember.

    Dammit let’s try to recall what happened. I remember going into her room. It was bright in the room thanks to the big glass doors that were opened and the curtains being drawn to the side. She was lying on the bed facing away from the door. She might have been facing the glass doors but I can’t remember.

    Pain.

    I called out to her but got no answer.

    Pain, pain.

    That’s when I went to the side she was facing. There was pool of red all over the flour. That pool of red was that blood?

    PAIN!!!!!!

    skrreeechhhhhhhhh

    Bang!

    “WAAaaa!” I need to get out of here. But how? There is only one door and something is breaking it down to get in through there!

    Crash!

    The door is smashed open and it is standing right there.

    The monster was horrifying, like nothing you could ever imagine. It had large fangs and sharp claws. Its body was made up entirely out of thick fog, or smoke, and it was huge. The most horrifying thing though were it's eyes. There is a saying that the eyes are the windows of a person's soul. I hope it’s not true for monsters too, because all I can see in those eyes is hatred, anger and hunger. Its eyes look so hungry as if it was starved for a long time and it wants to devour me.

    “Ha ha,” I let out a dry laugh as if I found something funny. The only thing that I, with my dark humor, would find funny in this situation would be that even if it eats me it will not be satisfied. No sir. The feeling it gives of is the kind where even if it eats the whole world, it's hunger will not lessen. It will just grow like a starving wolf.

    Growl.

    It's appearance! It Changed! Now it really looks like a wolf! A Wolf surrounded by fog, smoke, and lots of shadows.

    Step…

    Wait, this is no time to be spacing out! Its getting closer!

    Pounce! Crash!

    I was slammed in to the wall.

    Thud! Break!

    Something seems to have fallen-

    Bite! Crack!

    “GAaaaaaaaaa!” It hurts, it hurts so much! My shoulder! The pain! I feel like I am going to pass out, but if I do I will be devoured! I need to get it off.

    I reached out with my left hand and felt around, hoping to find something to use as a weapon.

    There is a piece of a wooden frame of a painting. The area where it broke of off from the rest seems sharp. Great I can use this!

    Grab, Swing, Stab.

    skrreeechhhhhhhhh

    Push, Dash.


    I run through the door and back into the hallway. The monster seems to not be chasing me right now. Well, I did stab it in the eye. I need to forget about that! Right now, I need to find a place to hide after I stop the bleeding from my shoulder. Otherwise, I will leave a trail behind.

    “Ha… ha,”

    I go into one of the rooms from the hall way. Now all the rooms are open. I rip some of my clothing off and wrap it around my wound to stop the bleeding. It seems my shoulder is fractured since I can’t move my right arm at all.

    Step, Step, Step.

    Shit, I knew it would start chasing me. At least I had enough time to stop the bleeding on my shoulder.

    I dash trough the doors on the other side of the room and down yet another hallway. I need a place to hide!

    There!

    I run and go inside a closet I spot.

    “Ha…Ha…Ha”

    Step, Step.

    Its close! I cover my mouth to not let the monster hear my breathing….

    Step, Step.

    Wait, since the monster is a wolf can’t it just smell me.

    STEP, STEP.

    Shit! Oh, no oh no no nononono! Please no!

    Step, Step, Step.

    It seems like it did not smell anything.

    It seems to have gone away. Time to get out of here. I slowly push the door to the closet open, and close it just as slowly and quietly. I think it went down the hall way to the right. Okay~ that means I am going left.

    Bang!

    “Ow…”

    I seem to have walked into a wall…hold on! Since when was there a wall right here! Wasn’t the hallway much longer?

    Step

    Oh, no. it heard me. I need to get away! But, why are my legs shaking, and why are there tears gathering in my eyes?!

    Step, Step.

    No, NO! Its coming closer!

    Step ,Step, Step.

    “NO!”

    I start slowly sliding down the walls and as I do I can see it down the hallway. Our eyes meet and it seaems like laughter flashed through those eyes. I look away, too frightened. Why is it laughing? I look back. It has not moved, but its eyes changed. They changed back into the look of hunger it first had. Then it moved.

    Step, Step, STEPSTEPSTEPSTEPSTEPSTEP!

    At first it was slow, but suddenly in started sprinting down the hallway. My eyes widened at the realisation that it was getting closer alarmingly fast. My doom was coming that much closer.

    CRUNCH!

    This time it bite my left shoulder, and tore my arm off.

    CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH!

    This time I stop struggling knowing that it will be futile due to the fact that I no longer have an arm to fight back with. It has me pinned down to the ground so I can’t even use my legs. So, I do the only thing I can do. I watch. I watch as it rips of my limbs and rips up my body. I see my insides being devoured and ripped apart. As I watch I notice something.

    “Why...do…you look…like…me?” As I slowly fade out of consciousness, the monster stops devouring me and looks up. I can finally see its face clearly. It is me. My last thought, before I fade and lose all sensation from my body is:

    Why?

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    “That idiot. In the end, he never understood what was going on."

    “You did a good job devouring Nick Henry, your host. Now I can absorb you and become stronger."

    A figure slowly reaches out and touches a mass of what appears to be shadows. A strange thing happens then. The mass stars to wrap around the figure before disappearing.

    “Not bad, Nick. You did not disappoint. Now which one of your family members should I infect next? There is a good opportunity and I quite like this family."

    The figure looks into a room filled with some people crying. They are surrounding a bed with a pale body lying on top. There are cuts all over the wrist area. The body is cold. Most likely the person has been dead for a while. There are no other wounds on the body. Seems like the person was only harming their wrists.

    That person was Nick Henry.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 31, 2017
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  10. happy

    happy [happily dead] [heartless] [contracted to Tony]

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    Canned Oshiruku Soup
    written by: @happy
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    Every afternoon on the way home from class, I buy a can of Sweet Azuki Bean Soup (“Oshiruku”) from the vending machine at the University train station. A hot can of steamy yumminess plops down the dispenser for just 120 yen. I have it in my hands warming my fingers like thick winter mittens or a mug of hot coffee within seconds.

    I look forward to this moment every day. No matter how good or bad today’s events have been so far, that first taste of the soft azuki beans on my lips is my daily ritual. The warmth fills my chest with a toasty feeling of security, helping me forget all my worries. It’s always the perfect amount of sweetness -- not jarring or excessive like a soda can of high-fructose corn syrup, but demure and pale like tea laced with the slightest hint of honey.

    Sugar in moderation is always best.

    Like always, I sit down on the bench on platform eleven and wait for my train to arrive. It always comes at 4:14 PM on the dot, so there’s always at least fifteen minutes for me to enjoy my can of Oshiruku. There’s plenty of time.

    A few months ago, I started noticing an old man who sits at the bench two seats away from mine. He always comes at the same time, sits at the same place, and wears the same outfit. I am not sure when he leaves, because my train always arrives before his. Normally I wouldn't mind it so much, but I started paying attention to him because his fashion sense seemed peculiar.

    The man always wears the same blazer. He also has a white button-down dress shirt with the top button left undone, the same striped dress pants, and the same pungently colored yellow polka-dotted tie that is never fully tightened. It looks rather haphazard to be honest, a little bit like a high school delinquent, but given that he was in his eighties and most likely a former salary man it was rather strange.

    The oddest thing is how he wears a different hat every day.

    I’ve lost count of how many days I’ve seen him there, at least a hundred, yet I swear he was wearing a new hat every time I see him. That old man is always sporting something different, from berets to bowlers to baseball caps to fedoras to coonskin caps. It's impossible not to notice.

    Now I was raised in a rather strict family, and my mother always said not to stare at strangers. As you might imagine, I mind my own business like any ordinary person with headphones in their ears living in a big city where everyone is scurrying on with their own lives. I just sip my can of sweet azuki bean soup and pretend to not notice him while fiddling with my mobile phone. I don’t think I have ever said a word to him.

    It just so happens that today, I accidentally doze off while reading a web novel on my phone.

    I’m a light sleeper thankfully. I jolt awake when I feel the ground rumble from the train pulling into the station. However, my things are still scattered all over the place and I don’t have time to put my textbooks away. Frantically, I try to collect my belongings, but I knock over my can of red bean soup in the process.

    No! Not my precious, warm, Oshiruku Soup……!

    I react instantly and attempt to rescue the tipped can. I move fast, but it still spills. The weight of the liquid still sloshing around in the now-sticky can tells me that I have lost more than two-thirds.

    Ugh. Well, that ruins my mood.

    At that moment, I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn around. It is the old man, and he is holding a white handkerchief with a concerned look on his face. He gestures at the thick fluid that has dyed my hands red like a tomato and, without thinking too much, I accept his generosity before quickly wiping my fingers on it.

    The pallid white cloth is quickly smeared with my fingerprints.

    The train has already pulled into the station and it will leave without me if I don’t hurry up. I am at wits end since all my textbooks and notes are spattered with red. If I stuff everything into my bag and run to catch my train, I am quite positive it will leave stains. However, if I spend time trying to salvage my books, I’ll have to give up on catching my ride. It's such a dilemma.

    “You should take your time.” A deep and reserved voice speaks, slightly chilling in its quality. Somehow it reminds me of the bare Cypress tree standing Sentinel in my apartment’s yard on a late autumn night, the time of the year when sheer cold and loneliness rules.

    “?”

    Frankly, I am just surprised to hear him speak, let alone offer a suggestion for my problems.

    “You won’t be able to board the train anyways Miss,” the raspy voice explained. “You don’t have a ticket.”

    “I’m sorry but what do you mean? Earlier I bought--”

    I reach with my hands into my coat pocket, only to find it empty, apart from a pen. Deeply perplexed, I stand up and patted around the rest of my pockets. This is very strange. I always put my ticket in my right coat pocket. Could I have lost it somewhere? But I am rarely ever that careless.

    The whistle of the train blows, making me wince from the high pitch of the sound. That is the signal for any last calls, and the lights on the automated doors flash with neon colors as they slide shut. It is too late.

    The old man braces himself as he leans over to pick up the handkerchief that is soiled with crimson, coughing slightly as he straightens himself. He holds the piece of cotton gingerly, as if not to dirty himself, and somehow conjures up several packets of disposable napkins and wet-wipes.

    With slow, strained movements, he passes them to me.

    “Use these.”

    I accepted them wordlessly, but it is really so strange.

    “You should really try avoiding dirtying yourself. You’ll never get a ticket at this rate.”

    “But I had a ticket a moment ago. I might have lost it somehow, but I definitely had one. I bought one just before coming here. Maybe I dropped it in the bathroom. I think I’ll go back to check, but I really don’t understand--”

    “Miss, you never have a ticket.”

    The old man interrupted me.

    “You’re dead. You’re in Purgatory. Time is frozen for us. You must find your ticket in order to move on, to go to Heaven.”

    ★ ★ ★​

    Purgatory is a strange place.

    In Christian theology, it is the place that lies between Heaven and Earth. The recently deceased who are neither too good nor too evil are sent to Purgatory, an intermediate realm where dead people have their sins purged and purified before entering Heaven.

    I was never a religious person, but I know from my University studies in Classical Literature that Purgatory is supposed to be a hot and fiery place where sins can be burned away. In Dante’s Inferno, it is written that there are seven terraces of Purgatory in addition to two levels of Ante-Purgatory. At each level, believers must undergo suffering and punishment for the seven deadly sins growing spiritually. They must discover virtues before they are allowed to ascend to Heaven.

    It is said to be a frightful, painful place.

    Oddly, my version of Purgatory is not like this. If anything, it is empty. Familiar. Cold. The best way to describe it might be like a never-ending dream that I cannot leave. I never imagined while I was alive that the University train station behind Yatagarasu street would be the setting for my afterlife tribulations.

    ★ ★ ★​

    “Miss, have you ever experienced deja-vu?” The old man asks me, months later.

    My hot can of Oshiruku tumbles down the vending machine dispenser as I push the blinking red button. Today, he is wearing a safari hat. I bend down to collect my precious can of azuki bean soup.

    “Isn’t every day here sort of like deja-vu?” I remark with perfunctory disinterest.

    This was perhaps my hundredth time having this exact conversation topic with the old man. Apparently, my perception of time in this world is a twenty-minute loop from the moment I gain consciousness in the University train station. Time resets itself the minute after my train departs the station.

    That dry raspy laughter of his cackles in the background.

    “You’ve gotten quite good at this! When you just got here, it took you at least a couple months before you remembered you were actually dead in the first place. This ‘God’ person must be a cruel fellow, eh? The way that he wipes our memories between each time loop, expecting us to be different somehow.”

    With a click, I tear off the tab on the can and take my first sip of this sanguine fluid.

    “It’s a little bit like dreaming,” I muse. “When you’re dreaming, you can’t tell whether this world is real or fiction. You don’t realize you’re in a dream, and you don’t remember any of your previous dreams. With enough experience, you can start to recognize you’ve had this exact same dream many times before. It’s eventually possible to learn lucid dreaming too.”

    “Well done, my girl! If it took you any longer to realize this, you would have been my slowest disciple yet!” The old man claps enthusiastically from behind me. It sounds genuinely heartfelt, but he is definitely mocking me. I had come to learn that he was quite an agitating, annoying, and perverse old man.

    “I’m sorry, but I have no intention to be stuck here for a hundred years like you.” I snap back.

    I can already visualize that skeleton-like grin on wrinkly face without even looking at him. “Hehe. Well, have you made any progress on figuring out how to get that golden ticket? Hehehe. Hehe. Hehehahahehe.”

    I roll my eyes and sigh.

    Of course not.

    ★ ★ ★​

    Loop number 15,532.

    Loop number 19,246.

    Loop number 27,379.

    And so it continued, and continued, and continued. There’s a certain limit to the number of times a human being can repeat the same identical twenty minutes of time in the same room and place without beginning to question their own sanity. At a certain point, I started seeing things that aren’t really here. I think I see shadows, where there are none. I hear voices when I am alone. With every passing day, I feel like my imagination keeps embellishing more and more details.

    For instance, the progression of the old man is especially disturbing. In the beginning, I distinctly remember him to be quite charming, polite, even a little handsome for an aged fellow. However, the shadows under his eyelids seem longer. His jawbone and cheeks have become more angular and pronounced as time passes. I start to feel evil glares coming from him, but he is back to normal whenever I look back.

    At first, I doubted myself. I realize now they are hallucinations. I know this because the things I see have become so fantastic, I know they can’t possibly be real. There are times he has six arms instead of two, or three eyes and extra ears. I even asked him about it once, but he looked at me incredulously like I had gone mad. So apparently my sanity is slowly slipping away from me…

    At least, the rational part of my brain tells me this.

    ★ ★ ★​

    “Happy Halloween,” the old man croaks at me one day while I am sitting on the bench.

    “Halloween?” I respond. My eyes are likely blank, listless, and robotic.

    “Yes, Halloween. Did you know that in the Catholic tradition the festival of Halloween, also known as All Hallow’s Eve, is the beginning of a three-day observance known as Allhallowtide?”

    “You mean the holiday with pumpkins and candy and costumes?”

    “Yes, that one.”

    “Oh, okay...? Happy Halloween to you too?”

    Halloween isn’t a particularly popular holiday in Japan, so I am a little confused at the old man bringing it up.

    “The third day of Allhallowtide is All Souls' Day which, historically speaking, is the day which the living pray for their recently deceased relatives. It was once common to ring church bells and parade through the streets while sharing soul-cakes in hope of easing the suffering the dead must experience in the suspended state of Purgatory. They say this is where the tradition of trick-or-treating came from.”

    “I didn’t know you were such a history geek...”

    The old man smiles without seeming to hear my comment.

    “In other words, cheers to the holiday held in our honor~!”

    He tips his hat at me, but I personally am not that impressed. I always thought Halloween was a rather silly and shallow holiday. It is just the product of capitalism and commercialization. A festival for companies that get to sell lots of candy to young children that only gives them cavities.

    It isn’t like anyone in the modern day would actually be praying for the deceased on Halloween, so it has nothing to do with me. However, there is a shining and mischievous glint in that old man of skin and bones.

    “You know Miss, you should be more festive on Halloween! Besides, I have treats! Want some?”

    I shake my head, my eyes still empty. “I don’t really eat candy.”

    The Old Man is insistent. “You should take them even if you aren’t going to eat them. They only come once a year, and the ones I have here are special. They might give you some big hints about how you might get on that train. You’re in a slump, so I think it’s exactly what you need.”

    Without waiting for my response, he gives an underhanded toss. A couple of small objects wrapped in foil and plastic wrap glint in the air as they reflect light. At the end of their arc trajectory, they land squarely in my lap where I reflexively catch them. There are six neatly packaged candies, one of each of the following colors: Orange, Black, Red, Purple, White, and Green.

    I look up at the old man and ask, “Aren’t you supposed to ask me ‘Trick or Treat’ beforehand?”

    He shrugs. “When you ring the doorbell, they’re always going to give you candy anyways.”

    I bring my gaze back to the candies and examine each, one by one. Honestly, I wasn’t really planning on having any candy in the first place, but how could it hurt? The old man claims that they help and he was right that I am stumped. I feel like I have tried a billion different things, and nothing seems to have gotten me anywhere.

    If I were to pick one to try… Maybe the red one. It reminds me of my sweet azuki bean soup that I like so much.

    I close my eyes slowly, take a deep breath, and unravel the wrapper. The core is almost lucent and semi-transparent like a shiny crystal sphere. I take one glance and pop it in my mouth, expecting to feel the hard candy in my cheeks. However, I am shocked when it seemingly dissolves and evaporates on my tongue.

    I barely have time to register anything before the taste of concentrated high-fructose syrup comes crashing through like thunder. It is candy-apple flavored. The sweetness must have been a million times more intense than any candy I had ever had. It is comparable to eating a mouthful of wasabi, but far worse.

    I gag and cough reflexively as the old man looks on wordlessly.

    It was so sweet, it was basically spicy. It burned my throat and set it on fire.

    Still in my coughing fit, I reached for my can of oshriku and took a massive gulp, hoping to wash all of that terrible aftertaste down.

    But to my horror, the sweet azuki beans betray me. Immediately, I feel my face turn purple, and I can almost feel my stomach churning. My favorite drink tastes acrid in my mouth -- metallic and sour, like vinegar with a tinge of iron. It is disgusting. I bolt for the trash can and reel over the side, absolutely desperate to get it out of my system. I vomit several times until there is absolutely nothing left to vomit, and even then I continue coughing for a while, completely out of breath.

    There is a tap on my left shoulder, and a white handkerchief is handed to me. I graciously accepted it and wipe my mouth before turning around. I lift the can of Oshiruku that I had hastily gulped down and read the label.

    Expiration date: 2012-10-31

    Several years ago. Ugh. Disgusting. No wonder it tastes terrible. The old man gives several comforting pats on my back.

    “Now… now…”

    Suddenly I feel a knot in my throat, and I can’t breath. Something is stuck there. I bring my hands to my throat and my coughing fit starts again. I bend over and violently wheeze.

    “Oh dear… it’s coming.” The skeleton man mutters as he uses the palm of his hand to pat against my back, forcefully trying to get me to spit it out.

    After a few strong blows, the trapped object springs out, and the old man captures it in his hand with perfect coordination. It is a piece of shiny golden paper, crumpled up into a ball. My vision is still somewhat blurry when he places the crumpled up piece of gold paper in my hands. His expression is rather triumphant and jubilant, but frankly I am just really tired. Exhausted, seriously.

    “Miss, you did it! There’s your golden ticket out of here! Congratulations!”

    “Um… I don’t understand...”

    However, there is no time for me to catch my breath. Just on cue, the station platform starts rumbling, and the approaching train blared its horn. Exactly 4:14 PM on the dot.

    That is my train.

    “Hurry on, Miss! You don’t want to miss it! Also, if you don’t mind, I’ll take that can of rotten juice off your hands, too.”

    I nodded wordlessly without protest and turn over that spoiled can of sweet azuki bean soup. I don’t understand what was going on, but I feel too nauseous to think clearly.

    ★ ★ ★​

    As I to to board my train out of Purgatory, I give one last glance at the strange Old Man who had accompanied me throughout this ordeal. I think back to the past several months that felt like eternity, and realize that if it weren’t for him, I probably would have been stuck on platform eleven forever. It occurs to me that I really should thank him for all of his help. On the steps, I have a sudden strange thought and I turn back to yell something towards the man. However, my timing is terrible and the screeching whistle of the departing train masks my words.

    There is no way he could have heard me. The Old Man only tips his hat and smiles wordlessly.

    I climb aboard. My train starts to pick up speed and depart. In no time, he is out of sight.

    ★ ★ ★​

    As I slump down into my assigned seat on the train, I mull over my thoughts that are weighing heavily on my chest. The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I feel. The more uncomfortable I feel, the more sullen my mood gets.

    Eventually the epiphany hits me and my heart sinks. I start to feel sick to my stomach once I realize the terrible mistake I have made.

    It was a terrible, terrible, mistake.

    I have been so dumb. I was deceived, and this train is bound for Hell. I even know what my ticket to Heaven should have actually been. If only I hadn’t been such a fool. It is too late to make these kinds of important realizations! I feel a headache rising, and I shut my eyes tightly as I leaned back against the headrest. My head hurts from thinking, and I don’t even want to start considering what is left of my fate.

    My head pounding and my forehead feverish, I open my eyes and look at five remaining candies in my hand. My vision is foggy and beads of cold sweat run down my back.

    Ah... since I am going to Hell already, what harm can be done if I just go all the way?

    I open my mouth wide and swallow the remaining ones whole.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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  11. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    Untitled

    written by: @Bananana
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    John Smith stirred in his sleep one dark and cold October morning, slowly tossing and turning. He tried to pull his blankets up to keep the cold from him.

    As he was still drowsy from sleep, he slowly realised that it was way too cold. All he said as he slowly got up and started getting ready for his work day was, "Bloody boiler." He had been looking for a better one since this one acted up quite frequently.

    "Can't buy a fix'er upper without a few problems," he said, as his breath fogged up.

    John was never a morning person, and he was forgetting something. Something important. It had been annoying him since yesterday afternoon, and it was driving him mad. He was assaulted by the noise of his phone alarm while he was slowly getting dressed.

    Startled, he made a move for it as it fell off the nightstand. It didn't make any more noise.

    "FUCK!"

    He grabbed what once was his phone from the floor and grumbled a bit more, "Sonofabitch. Now I also need to get to the store to have this looked at."

    He felt his day couldn't get any worse. Cold and grumpy, he went downstairs to start his morning ritual. Putting his thoughts aside as he thought of all the detours he had to make after his crappy dayjob.

    Firing up his old radio, he went to his bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

    "And that was The Rumjacks with An Irish Pub Song. Now, the weather with Brad Flint."

    "Thank you, Tim. Today, we'll be having a bit of a gloomy day with fog covering most of the country, spots of rain in the north, and a chilly 5 degrees Celsius outside. Be careful on the roads today as....."

    John always tuned out after the weather, he never really cared much for the misery in the world that always seemed to follow.

    John was shivering as he finished washing his face, and he felt like it kept getting colder and colder. With his teeth clattering a little, he started thinking about what he forgot, to keep his mind off the cold. That little something that has been bugging him since yesterday.

    He still couldn't remember, and it was still annoying him.

    "Fuck it. If I remember it then I'll remember it," he said to himself, to keep his thoughts from wandering.

    As he made himself a sandwich, he looked towards his cupboard, and started opening it. Tears started to stream down his face. His expression twisted into one of unimaginable sorrow and anguish. As he grabbed what he had forgotten out of the cupboard, he fell to his knees. He held on to it like a dying man would a piece of driftwood.

    "I knew I was forgetting something," he muttered between sobs.

    His tears fell into an empty can which usually held his coffee...... The horror..... THE HORROR.

    As he made himself a sandwich, he looked towards his cupboard, and started opening it. Tears started to stream down his face. His expression twisted into one of unimaginable sorrow and anguish. As he grabbed what he had forgotten out of the cupboard, he fell to his knees. He held on to it like a dying man would a piece of driftwood.

    "I knew I was forgetting something," he muttered between sobs.

    His tears fell down onto what was once his own head. The bleached skull seemed to stare back at him with empty sockets.

    The cold seemed to creep ever closer and fog overtook the room, creeping in on him. He heard it once again coming from the mist. The inhumane laughter, or was it giggles? The voices seemed to be so many. It was hard to know what it was, but John knew as he heard IT say:

    "YoU faiLEd AGin JhOoOooooOn, beTTeR LucK ToMmORRow..."

    As the mist encroached closer and closer, John curled into a ball and begged.

    "Please, please, PLEASE! Let me go, it's been so long. LET ME GO!"

    IT didn't care as it said, "Now NOw JoHn, ThaTS NOt whAt WE Agreed oN." IT cackled with delight, and John could only sob as the cold took him completely.

    "I can't do this again," was all he was able to mutter before he was gone, and the house empty once more.

    ........

    ........

    ........

    John Smith stirred in his sleep one dark and cold October morning, slowly tossing and turning, trying to pull his blankets up to keep the cold from him.

    ......

    ...

    .

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  12. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    Ghost Hunting 101

    written by: @BlaBla013
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    John and Daniel, that’s what they were called. A long lived friendship since childhood. They did everything together and had the same interests. One of the things they absolutely agreed on was the existence of ghosts.

    There were some who would believe ghosts to be a legend, but was it truly?

    …….​

    In a room that was not very large were 2 people. John sat in front of the computer not trying to hide his happiness with a big smile on his face. Daniel, his close and best friend, was laying not very far from him on the bed holding a controller.

    "We've finally got a job! This is our chance to prove ourselves!" John called to Daniel while yelling in an enthusiastic tone. He and Daniel were a pair of "Ghostbusters." They were not very known, just to themselves actually. Until now.

    John, noticing that Daniel was not paying attention at all to his words, walked up to the console and pressed the off button with a swift move.

    "What, but why?! I was just about to finally beat this boss!" Daniel brought the headset down from his head and cried to John with an almost tearing face.

    "That’s not important!" John said. "We have finally got a request! That’s our chance to shine"

    "You talking about what I think you are?" Daniel asked, forgetting about his previous sorrow immediately.

    "Yes! And it's not even very far from here, about an hour ride. We should get the equipment ready, the pay is high too!"

    They started move, both excitedly picking their equipment to be ready for first ghost vanishing mission which, unbeknownst to them, will change their "lives" forever.

    ……………..​

    John and Daniel both were the same age, 21. They met at school where Daniel, a 4 year old blonde haired kid at the time, was throwing up after eating a certain "healthy" sandwich that was served by the place. There was no need to exaggerate. It tasted like "shit." John, a black haired kid a little taller than Daniel, walked toward him.

    "They suck, right?" John talked while thrusting a towel toward Daniel. After Daniel cleaned himself a little, without even giving him time to thank him, John pulled something out of his pocket and said, "Take this energy snack. It tastes better and has sugar in it! I think you won't need to eat anything more of those "things" for now."

    Daniel, like a puppy looking at a ball, took the snack. "Thank you! my name is Daniel, what is your name?"

    John smiled and said, "John. My name is John."

    Since that exact moment, a friendship that would hold until death was created.

    …………………………….​

    "Is it the right place? Cause it looks a bit-"

    John in the driver seat answered to Daniel with a big excited smile on his face. "Abandoned, spooky, scary... Haunted maybe?" Daniel in comparison had a wondering kind of expression, wondering if it was truly a good idea to come here.

    It was night time, the perfect time to hunt some ghosts. They both saw an old looking wooden house with peeling red paint from the windows of the car. It had 2 floors and an attic judging by the windows. The house was alone, only surrounded by lines of dark grass and bushes that seemed to reached miles. On the top of house was a chicken compass that was slowly being moved by the wind.

    It was unknown to the pair why someone would want to live in this kind of place, or even be interested in it. But a requests is a request, and money is money after all.

    They stopped the car at the sides of the road, and got out. Shortly after walking they both reached the entry of the creepy house and after 3 knocks and a short wait, the door was opened.

    In front of them stood an old man with black hair pushed back elegantly on his head. Aside from the hair he had long thick sideburns with a beard that connected them both.

    They were stupefied and surprised by the man. Meanwhile, the man himself examined them from head to toe, his eyes roving all over their bodies, as he finally said, "You are the two which came for her, right?" His voice was low, and he talked very slow.

    John, recovering a bit, pushed himself forward and with a hand to his chest said, " Yes! We are the ghostbusters and we can make any ghost that is currently haunting your house vanish. You were the one who called us right?"

    The old man seemed to be annoyed by the boy's way of speech, or something in his words. He said, "Yes. Would you like to … "start" the thing you are supposed to do?"

    John gave a quick look to Daniel, surprised by how swift things were going. He then looked back at the old man and said, "Ha. Actually, our special ghost haunting equipment is in the car. We will go get it right away!"

    "Very well" The old man answered. "We will be waiting"

    With another quick look to each other, John and Daniel walked back to the car. As they left the old man's sight, John was the first to talk.

    "That’s the start! Today, this house. Tomorrow, the world!"

    "For god sake!" Daniel responded, "He said 'we' John! 'We!'"

    "So what?" John said, "Maybe there are more people inside the house. Maybe he just made a joke knowing we came here to fix his ghost. I can imagine how he is sitting there. Laughing to himself and thinking how we, you, must look."

    Daniel sighed, "I know I know, but come on, doesn't he look like AT LEAST one serial killer we saw in some movie. This whole ghost busting thing started as a joke!"

    "Come on, don’t chicken out now!" John said and pushed, " Where do you expect a ghost to be? The white house with a picket fence? What will it be if not a creepy house!"

    "Fine, let's just hurry and finish this." Daniel answered. They both then finally reached the car.

    They both looked like different people after retrieving the equipment out of the back of the car. On each of their backs lay a machine that looked very much like a vacuum cleaner. It had strange keys and compasses. It was a Plasmic Vacuum Cleaner! It was a machine supposed to suck in a ghost, trapping it inside before then destroying it.

    Aside for the PVC, as they liked to call it, they each held a strange controller like device. It was actually the Plasma Waves Finder! Or PWF as they too liked to call it.

    Actually, the equipment was something they had found on eBay. Surprisingly, ghost busting equipment was sold with bids and John made an offer of 1$ as a joke. He totally did not expect the delivery guy to show up at his apartment 3 weeks later.

    Reaching the entry of the house they again knocked, 3 times just as before. After a long time of waiting no answer was heard.

    "Did the man from before fall asleep?" Daniel asked, not really expecting an actual answer.

    John, not answering Daniel reached for the door handle. Just as he thought, it was open.

    "Now it's open and the old man is nowhere to be seen. Are you serious?" Daniel said, looking toward John.

    "Quite! we can't stop now! What will you tell to your children, grandkids?" hearing this, Daniel rolled his eyes up as he followed John into the house.

    …….​

    The house was dark on the inside. The only light there was came from various candles spread throughout the place. It looked like a house which was just packed and ready to be sold or moved. Everything from the table to the pictures hanging on the wall were covered. The old man probably wanted to sell the place, but couldn’t on account of the ghost. Or at least that what they both assumed.

    "There!" John looked at a certain wall, aiming his PVC. "No, there!" he aimed again, this time at another place. He finally noticed Daniel, holding himself from laughing, making sounds like throwing small rocks around the house.

    "Do you think this is a joke!?" John glared at Daniel, obviously angry.

    "No, but I just couldn’t, ha-ha, with the serious look you had. Fine fine, I will stop."

    "Get serious here! If there is truly a ghost here, we might die. My PWF is going crazy. There truly seems to be a ghost here!"

    They quickly found themselves going up towards the strengthening plasmic waves, shepherded like some cattle by the PWF. The second floor looked very much like the first. Everything was packaged in the same way as the main level. However, in this floor the number of pictures on the walls seemed to go from the 4-5 downstairs, to more than twenty scattered across the wall. Some small, some large, but all protected with the same type of cloth covering them. Aside from that, even the candles lighting the place were the same.

    The PWF seemed to go even more crazy than before, making electric like sounds the loudest as it could.

    "It's here." John said with a serious look. This time there was no reaction from Daniel. He had the same look as John. They both were ready for the ghost that was about to appear, but would she?

    ……….​

    It was night time, and the streets were full of little monsters. These "little monsters" were actually children. It was Halloween, the creepiest and most beloved holiday of kids around the country.

    At this time every year, kids would go from house to house dressed as little monsters of horrors, which included fat girls going as harlequins. But let's do not stay on this matter for long, because our story is talking about two special kids.

    Far away from most of the normal kids were walking two kids looking for the most special "Treat or trick" of their life with a small addition of some adventure. They were John and Daniel.

    Out of the city they lived at, was an old house which inside of lived an old man. No kids would go near the house, for the old man himself was said to be a ghost.

    "Come on bro! we will be a legend, you brought the camera right?" John said. He was walking and from time from time he would look back towards Daniel.

    Daniel, who was wearing a bag on his back, took out the camera and showed it to John.

    "Yes, But we have to not break it or else my brother would kill me!"

    "Yes yes, your brother does not need to worry!" John said. He then continued, "And when we become a legend, he will ask to leave the camera with us forever, not talking about the signatures."

    "Right…" Daniel quietly said.

    After they reached the house, what happened became a small story in their town. As they came back from the house, with the camera totally broken and not one piece of candy. No one believed them about what happened, but since then, they both knew ghosts existed.

    …….​

    "It's here"

    The atmosphere around was stressful, John and Daniel were slowly breathing, giving their entire focus to their surroundings. One of the candles around the place suddenly extinguished, as if a ghost appeared and put it out. Then another one, and another, and another...

    "There!" Daniel yelled to John, as the readings from the PWF were higher on his left. John heard him and started his PVC.

    "Phoooooooaaaaaa"

    The PVC started working, and the sucking sounds were heard as the candles continued extinguishing by themselves. The dimly room turned dark.

    Noticing the Device didn’t catch the ghost, John turned it off.

    Both Daniel and John gazes fixed upon one point, the only left candle that was still lit in the room.

    "Hehehehee"

    As a cold, tingling laugh was heard, the final candle was finally extinguished.

    "Shit." John quietly said as he cleaned a drop of sweat from his head.

    "What do we do?" Daniel asked.

    "We can do this, just stay calm and we will get out of here. A legend, don’t forget." John answered.

    "Paff!"

    A cracking sound was heard as something went flying through the place.

    "HAAAAAAAAAA"

    John yelled in pain as something hit him. Unknown to him, a chair just flown at him from the other side of the floor.

    "Are you ok??" Daniel asked in panic. The PVC was aimed toward John, but he did not care anymore about the ghost or anything else.

    "Yes, I... ha. We can do this." John said as he was still recovering from the blow, which was lucky not too hard.

    …….​

    It was the night after Halloween, as both John and Daniel came first. They were both running. They just came out of the "haunted house" and were running towards Daniel's place, as it was the closest.

    Daniel seemed to be holding a broken camera.

    "I'm telling you! The ghost did it!"

    Both Daniel and John were sitting in Daniel's living room. His mom and brother were standing in front of them pointing at the now broken camera.

    "What a bullshit story!" Daniel's brother said.

    "Language Ben! Language!" Daniel's Mother said, "But this is indeed a bad lie. Why did you have to make him lie, after breaking his camera John?"

    "He didn’t-"

    "Quiet!" Daniel tried to protest, only to be shushed by his mom.

    "That’s it! I will not allow you to see him anymore Daniel." She said looking at Daniel. She then changed her gaze to John." I will have to ask you to quietly leave. I will later contact your mother."

    "Bu-" John gave up as he looked at Daniel. From his face, he understood words would no longer help.

    He then stood up and left, and was punished later by his own mother.

    ……..​

    "To our left!"

    Both John and Daniel moved. Barely dodging another object that was thrown at them from near the floor. After John caught his breath, they found themselves in the dark. Both then faced the same direction, so they could warn each other from the sound. They cursed themselves in their hearts for not bringing flashlights, but couldn’t do anything about it now.

    "To our rights!"

    "HAAA"

    Daniel dodged the chair, but sadly John didn’t. He moved in time, but the object itself made an impossible turn as it was flying.

    "So much pain…" John was breathing heavily, he tried to muffle the sound of his pain, but Daniel heard it clearly.

    "Clap clap"

    Just then, 2 claps were sounded, and with them, all of the candles in the room lit up with lights that were not usual for candles. Or at least for the small candles they were seeing.

    "Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap"

    "Very good! Very nice."

    Both John and Daniel were looking at the same old man, which had greeted them earlier at the front door. He suddenly appeared, clapping while looking at the pair.

    "I am sorry I have to cut this short, very short if taking the usual route, but tonight the lady is… well… very hungry."

    John and Daniel, still shocked at what was happening, didn’t not utter a word.

    The old man sighed and muttered, "They always react like this. Some even blackout... When you blackout you are not tasty, or at least that is what she said." He then looked up, as if searching for something.

    "Milady, you may come out!" A small smile formed upon his face he continued, "They are ready."

    Suddenly, just as the old man did, appeared a silhouette of a woman out of nowhere. The woman herself looked very beautiful. She had soft brown hair, going down to her back like a wave. Her eyes were as green as emerald, and she wore a clean white robe.

    The woman nodded toward the old man, and he seem to nod in acceptance. She then snapped her fingers, and with her snap all of the covers around the room fell.

    At that moment, Daniel and John started to barely understand what was happening.

    The pictures, almost all of them, were showing random people. Some looked like nobles from older times, some were soldiers, and some just normal people. But they all had one thing in common, they had a terrified expression on their face, as if the picture was caught in their last moments.

    The special part of the room was a very big picture standing in the middle of the big wall. The picture, featuring a beautiful woman, that looked just like the ghost that stood in front of them. And behind her, an old man, bowing with his face looking at the ground. This old man was the very same as the one standing at the side.

    "Poooooooaaaaaaaa"

    John tried to start his PVC, as he aimed it at the woman ghost. But her? She just laughed. The same tingling cold laugh as before. The woman was not very far from them and seemed to be walking slow, step by step, towards them.

    The PVC was obviously not working. John then started to look around the room, while Daniel was still shocked behind.

    "I'M SORRY!" Just then John started to run, surprising everyone in this room including himself.

    But he didn’t run toward the stairs, but toward Daniel. He then pushed him through a window that was just behind Daniel. John tried to jump too, but noticing his actions the ghost hastened her pace and pulled back John with a invisible force within a second.

    A sound of breaking glass was heard, as Daniel was pushed out of the second floor.

    "Haa" Daniel picked himself, lucky for him he was dropped on the tall grass which softened his landing.

    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah"

    A second after he landed a scream in a voice he could clearly recognize was heard, it was John.

    "John!"

    Daniel quickly rushed to the entryway of the house, not caring about what had just happen and what might happen to him, but the door would not open.

    He then went to the car and took out his phone and called 911, the police.

    …………………………..​

    Soon after the police arrived and Daniel told them John was still inside. The police forced their way into the house and asked Daniel to explain what happened, and when.

    When Daniel reached the second floor he had a terrified expression as he said, "That’s him! That’s him!"

    He didn’t point to a body, or a living person, but towards a picture.

    He saw a picture of John on the wall, the very John he just visited the house with a few hours before, but something was different. The pictures of others showed the people with a terrified expression, but not Johns.

    John was there, standing in open arms, with a look of, "Bring it on!"

    As Daniel saw it, he laughed quietly as tears started to roll his eyes. For some reason the place became government property soon after and Daniel was asked to forget everything that happened by some man in a black suit. He was paid a nice sum of money, but that’s all.

    ………………………………​

    "John. My name is John." He said. "So, are you coming to play or what?"

    "I'm coming!" Daniel said as he followed John, running to the playground of the Kindergarten. Every day from then on John brought Daniel a snack and Daniel would play with him and be always with him, such as friendship was.

    The kinds of friendships which would not end until Death.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  13. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    A Trickster's Chant

    written by: @Fierbras
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    There is a clearing of sorts to the southeast of town. The place is not too far from the road and not too deep into the surrounding woods. Still, you will never see it if you are just driving by. It is a special place, to the few of us who know of it. The locals call it the “Forest’s theatre” because of how the tall grass always seems to grow in a near perfect circle. Some say the earth was just not suitable for the tall grass, but to the child me it was magic.

    It was here that my friends and I held our yearly tradition. A game. In the month of October, on the hallowed day, we would come by after a few rounds of trick-or-treating to use our rewards as incentive for our game. In that particular year we had pulled quite the number.

    Three boys dressed in colored masks and gallant wear, not too far from that of a shakespearean noble, trotted along the road under a near orange sun. They moved with confidence, knowing well the distance from their modest town yto their chosen out-of-the-way destination. Bags on their back and bags in hand.

    “Oi, Angelos! Hurry up! Our mums’ll have a fit if we don’t get home before midnight,” said the leading child with a scarlet mask.

    “I know the time Leon. We are just on schedule,” Angelos in the orange mask replied.

    “I know that you know! When we get there, we can finally drop these heavy things.”

    “Leon, you just passed it. It’s right here.” said the kid in the green mask.

    “Artur, you could have told me earlier!” yelled Leon from quite a few paces ahead.

    They pushed through the tall grass, not really caring if they dirtied their costumes. After some time, they came across the clearing with a boy in a blue mask already sitting beside a pile of candy on a towel.

    “Hey Tornike. You're quite early and loaded with candy,” said Angelos.

    “I’d rather say that you all were late,” said Tornike.

    “Couldn't be helped. Leon got lost.”

    “Hey I heard that but weren’t you the one who suggested we make this year extra special?”

    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

    “Yes, you do. You brought extra candles and really shaped your jack-o-lantern.”

    “Quiet you.”

    “Come on, let’s start already," interrupted Artur.

    Each took out jack-o-lanterns from the larger bags on their backs in turn. Leon’s, with a fierce expression, was first. Angelos’ pumpkin, with it's plain expression and curved cuts, combined to make a very complex design. Artur's was next. It's expression could be described simply as a bass clef fallen to the left. Finally, Tornike placed his, the mouth a short and elongated “H” with two dots for eyes.

    Next, they placed their candy on towels before taking turns lighting candles to place inside each pumpkin. They chatted until the sun was truly orange and darkness covered more than half of the clearing. The pumpkins glowed in the shadow.

    “Angelos, you really outdid yourself this time,” said Tornike.

    “I just felt that a normal lantern would be so boring. Speaking of which, Leon, a scary lantern is not great if we are the only ones who get to see it,” said Angelos.

    “You guys just do not understand my creative vision! Just look at them,” exclaimed Leon.

    “Huh?”

    Leon pointed right where the pumpkins were lined up. Leon’s was to the far left facing Angelos’ followed by Artur’s and Tornike. The last three pumpkins were placed facing Leon’s.

    “Oh, I get it. Leon’s pumpkin is scaring Angelos' and mine, while Tornike’s is just stoic as he is,” said Artur.

    “Right! See, Artur gets it.”

    “Angelos, your design looks like your pumpkin is sweating with fear from this angle.”

    “Huh? Oh, hehe, I see it now, but Tornike you need to react more.”

    “Yah Tornike,” echo the other two.

    “I’m not the pumpkin guys. We’re just eating a piece of candy,” replied Tornike, who was probably blushing on the inside.

    At this time, Tornike clapped his hands. “I guess I’ll start the game. I hope you remember the rules. A game towards the day’s end. In a place that harbored four fools. Right above the shadow’s bend.”

    “Leon forgot.” said Artur.

    “Traitor!”

    “Well, it is kinda simple. We take turns adding onto the previous person’s phrase. If you can rhyme it, you eat a piece of candy. After your turn, you toss a candy towards the pumpkins. You are knocked out of the game once your candle goes out. Last player remaining gets the remaining candy of the others.

    “Fine. It's my turn then.” Leon says. "They began a simple song. Right above the shadow’s bend. A tale that was not so wrong. One rushing for an end.

    “Funny.” Angelos says, "Another parried his friend’s attempt. Him not stopping his look of contempt. They tossed sweets, a simple offering. To the shadows, a fool’s proffering.”

    “My turn,” Artur said. "After some time, they began in earnest. The winds filled with rhyme. One spoke with confidence, the sternest. One replied on time.”

    It is like this they played their annual game,” continues Tornike. "No one to say their names or give acclaim. There, right above the shadow’s bend. Surrounded by the ones they called friend.”

    Eventually, one of them came upon a stone relief. It spoke words of terror, the fool stared in disbelief. Friends following this trend. Right by the shadow’s bend.”

    On that day, it'd make them dread. On that day, they should have fled. One took a breath of grim resolve. His friends he did not want to involve.”

    Another of similar mind. Raised his fair lantern to blind. Lighting that which stalked in shadow. It's shape right above the bend and willow.”

    They all looked to friend and flame. To fend off the evil that came. None of which chose to leave the others. They chose to die there, by their brothers.”

    By lantern light, they continued to ward. By lantern light, life could not afford. The light that seemed to keep it at bay. Simply began to die, as one’s flames may.”

    It was then one saw some relief. A boon of sorts, shaped in cloverleaf. The others moved to buy some time. They showered the creature with light and rhyme.”

    As friends did fall, not one remained. Right beyond the shadow’s bend. A cost his friends did spend. A heart filled with pain.”

    Four souls was the cost for shadow’s bane. Four souls spent and none would remain. The shadow forever trapped by the highest price. Will meet the worth of our sacrifice.”

    “When dawn chose to show it's face. The town did search for that place. There they found no sign of clash. There they found just one pile of ash.”

    I tell this simple story to any kid who tries to stay in the forest’s theatre, hinting to what people will find the day after. They run, tossing candy my way, as I tell them to leave and never return. Later some may think it a simple trick while others might try to thank me, but by then it will be over. Placing my candy on a towel, I chose to sit down. The wind starts to pick up, swaying the ever tall grass. That is when I hear that which I have been waiting for.

    “Oi, Angelos! Hurry up! Our mums’ll have a fit if we don’t get home before midnight.”

    “I know the time Leon. We are just on schedule.”

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  14. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    Fear Itself

    written by: @HELLiCOPter
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    "Grandpa?"

    "Yes?"

    "Tell me story."

    "Which one?"

    "The one about real people."

    "Again? You know it is very scary."

    "I am four. I won't be afraid Grandpa."

    "Okay. You said it Chez. Let me start."

    "Grandpa!?"

    "Yes, my dear?"

    "Stop calling me like this. I am too old for this."

    "Cheeez, you are only four my child." The old man kisses the girl on the cheek.

    "Stop Grandpa."


    From your perspective you may think that this is a normal family, but it is not. It is family of monsters that are very similar to us, except they are afraid of people.

    "Mom? Mom?"

    "I am busy. Cant you see?"

    "What is it?"

    "It is a shrine of father my dear."

    "Shrine?"

    It is the shrine of our father. The father of all monsters, Fear itself. He was one of the first born from people's nightmares, but he was afraid of people. Their humanity scared him at the same time it attracted him. That's why he wanted to create something like it. His answer was Monsters. Fear became the god of monsters. If the monster's god was afraid of humans, of course they would be afraid too.

    "Our cute silly father..."

    "Why he is silly? Mom?"

    ~You will know yourself soon...~

    "Mom you said something?"

    "No, no..."


    ~Laura's mother POV~
    My child... Even now I know you will become someone who rises higher than me. I am the Daughter of Darkness, Lilit. I was always afraid of hurting or betraying someone. That is why I have the power to hide and fade away. The power to make them forget. Soon I was afraid of being alone, and father's own fear gave me you Laura. From the time you were an infant, I knew that something amiss and odd about you. You have no fear I guess? Ehhhh. I don't know my child, but don't be afraid.

    "Mother will protect you."

    "Mom? Is everything alright? You seem gloomy."

    "No, nothing. Just come here." Lilit hugs Laura. "Let's go."

    "Yesssss..! I am 5 now mom."

    When a child reaches 5 years old there is to be a ceremony of eternal fear. Now the time for Laura has come. This ceremony is a life changing event for children, because power means everything in the community of monsters.

    They approach the shrine. "Now go and say to the protector that you have come for a taste of fear. He will understand."

    "As you say mom."

    When Laura went inside, she saw a very old library. Yes, it was an actual library filled with books of fear.

    "Look at you child... You've come to taste?"

    "Yes Lord Protector."

    "No need for Lord. Just 'Protector' is fine."

    "I can't Lord Protector. My mother would punish me if I do not call you Lord."

    "You very obedient child. Do as you wish. Go in!"

    "Yes lord protector."

    ~Lord protectors POV~
    Such an interesting child. She is not afraid of me. At last, something interesting. I am tired of children that are afraid of me. Their choice of book will be limited if they afraid, but this girl is not afraid. This will be interesting.

    "What you see here is the Crying Shrine of..."

    "Father of Fear, right Lord Protector?"

    "Lilit taught you well."

    "You know my mother?"

    "Kind of. I remember the day that she came. She was afraid unlike you, but you have her eyes."

    Suddenly Laura felt the hands of mother on her shoulders and her voice.

    "Don't touch my daughter. You old bag."

    "Old bag? Yes, you are right. I am old and this life is so boring. Let's dance. I want to see the power of the Daughter of Darkness. But first... Young lady watch, listen, learn, and of course stand aside while the adults speak."

    "Mother?!"

    "Don't be afraid, my child."

    Laura hugged Lilit. "Don't die."

    "Of course I won't."

    Lilit and protector stood and watched each other.

    "Schlafend."

    "Lilit.You even remember my name. I am touched."

    "Enough talking."

    "Why do young ones have such a bad temper these days? Can you tell me?"

    ~Embrace the Darkness...~

    "Lilit?"

    Lilit disappeared into smoke, which dispersed.

    "Interesting ability, but you can't hide all the time. So let me start... WHAT?"

    "Can you move, Uncle Schlafend?"

    "What is this power Lilit? ANSWER ME!!!"

    ~Embrace the Shadow...~

    "WHAT IS IT? Lilit? STOP IT!!!! I surrender!" Schlafend felt a chill on his shoulders. He knew someone was behind him and was approaching closer and closer. "LILIT ENOUGH!!!"

    Lilit went closer and closer. Protector felt he would have a bad aftermath if she continued.

    "Mom enough! You've won. Please don't hurt grandpa Schlaf." It was voice of Laura. For a second Protector can move, at least partly. What he sees when he turns, he doesn't like. Schlafend finds Lilit, but her eyes are like a void.

    ~Embrace...~

    "MOTHER!!!!! NO!!!! CALM DOWN!!! I AM AFRAID!!!!"

    "Laura..."

    "Mom."


    ~Later in the palace of FEAR~
    "Lilit Tune. Such adorable child of mine. She was among the first of the monsters. She was born from human's fear of darkness, but in time she began to change. Even I, her own father, don't know what she has became or where she found this child. My stupid daughter, where are you..?"

    "Your highness."

    "Speak."

    "Sir Schlafend committed suicide two days ago."

    "And? He is always doing this when he gets bored. Get lost!!!"

    "Your highness. B-b-bb-bb-b-b-but hhhhh-hhe ...."

    "OH MY. Just say it."

    "He didn't come back to life."

    "........WHAT? Bring his book of fear."

    "Y-y-y-yy-yyeeees..."

    "NOW!!!"

    When FEAR took the book, he began to choke. "Has anyone seen it?"

    "No. NO!!!!"

    "Call the Generals."

    "Which ones?"

    "ALL OF THEM! Go."

    "Your Highness. Why have you called us?"

    "Take this book. What you see?"

    "It's empty Father Fear."

    "What would you say if I told you this was Schlafend's book of fear?"

    "WHAT!?"

    This statement shocked all generals.

    "Your highness, you say THIS? But how?"

    "MY MY?! REMEMBER THE FIRST WORDS WHICH I SAY TO ALL OF MY CHILDREN."

    "Be afraid of humans. HUMANS? THIS CAN BE DONE BY HUMAN?! BUT HOW?"

    "Even I don't know."

    There was a deep silence across the military hall. No one tried to speak. They all waited for word from Father Fear.


    ~In the outskirts of Deep Hollow~
    Deep Hollow is the forest near the town of Agony where Sclafend died. In the embrace of trees there was a small house. Deep Hollow was not a dangerous area, but actually living there would be a nightmare. In the house stands Lilit.

    "My cute little father. You are never said to us that people can't be brought here. You taught us be afraid of them, but I was curious why. Laura, my child, you don't even know your own power. When I first brought you here, you were a suckling. I watched you grow up in this monster world. A human in a monster world! If only Father Fear could see this. This child, no my cute daughter Laura. She has become a half-monster. I gave her everything: my milk, food, shelter, and knowledge. And now you know her power is fascinating. Father, you know we must not be afraid of them. We must run from them and we must lean on them."

    "Mom?"

    "Yes. I am coming. I am done."

    "My cute child, let's see what you have written in my book of fear."

    This child and mother are later known as the Bane of all monsters. Lilit the Dark Prophecy and Laura the First. Laura will go into human world to spread the name of the first witch. She will teach many girls how to work with magic principles and then let them go. Lilit will go from a monster to becoming a demon, the protector of all witches. Some of the little girls will became bad and some of them kind, but they all will be called by the word witch.

    This word will bring fear, but it will also be a magic word. They all came from Laura. She was First.

    "Grandpa, but how did she become a witch?"

    "Lets tell you another time."

    "But Grandpa!"

    "No Granny will be very angry."

    "Ohhhh... okay."

    "Sleep well."

    "Grandpa, is it true? Is Laura still alive?"

    "I don't know. Sleep."


    ~In the kitchen~
    "You better stop mimicking this form mom. She thinks you are my husband."

    "Laura. A child must have a father and mother, or at least a granny and grandpa..."

    "Then why did you raise me alone?"

    "I was silly and young."

    "You were 500 years old, and that was young?"

    "Yes."

    "Mom. Don't tell her the whole story at least."

    "I will try."

    "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!"


    But let's go back to present...Humans can control fear. That's why father is afraid of them, but control doesn't mean death. Laura overwrote my book and made me strong. Poor Schlafend became our test subject, and also our benefactor. Laura read his books and even copied some of them. Now I just have to wait. I want to see Father's face in total despair.

    You and I will get to see what the human child can become. How monstrous will she be? You guess father, I won't. I will just watch and enjoy the show from her side. Sometimes push, sometimes help.

    You even don't know that the killer of Schlafend slept soundly in her bed after she ate some porridge.


    /Commentary/
    Well my plot it really changed a lot .But I think that is very amusing to see how almighty GOD FEAR afraid of little 5 year old girl.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  15. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    In Other News

    written by: @Ixcez
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    A stinging pain ran through Arthur's legs. How long had he been running? How long would he have to run to get out of this nightmare? Nothing had prepared him for this day. Jake had told him that this would happen! That it was only a matter of when. But how? HOW could anyone be ready for when the world would be filled with those… those things!?

    Crack!

    Forgetting to look where he was running, Arthur had rammed into a wooden fence barely reaching his waist. It had broken under his weight and the fall had pushed the air out of him which was followed by a pitiful groan.

    A light switched on from inside the house whose fence he had wrecked.

    “It’s one of those damn sensor lights! It will bring more of them, I better hurry.”

    In his panic Arthur rushed for the house wheezing and greedily inhaling back the air he had lost. The house was white which made it easy to make out in the dark. Focusing too much on the easy to see house was one of the reasons he didn't notice the fence. He had made too many such mistakes around that time and nearly lost his life because of it.

    Sounds could be heard from inside of the house, and hesitation filled Arthur.

    “No no no how can they be everywhere? I’ve already killed so many of them.”

    A twisting pain and a grumble came from his stomach. Arthur never really wanted to come here. He wanted to stay in the last house he had found, but food did not magically appear in the fridge and he didn’t dare go anywhere else but the outskirts of town to forage from the houses empty of any people.

    He was in luck this time. The kitchen door was unlocked and, with a soft clicking sound, he tried to enter the house as stealthily as possible. He had become better at it lat…SQUEAK! A cute squeak from a rubber toy filled the kitchen. It felt like his heart would pop out of his chest and Arthur stood there like a statue, listening for any movement.

    It was quiet…and he could hear no movement in the house. After a few seconds of hesitation Arthur decided that it would probably be best to grab as much food as he could and then leave before anything bad happened. Moving over to the fridge he noticed that is was so polished that he could even see his own reflection in it.

    He looked like a wreck. Grime and blood stained his clothes all over. His face had been handsome before all of this with his ashen blond hair, but now that face was filled with cuts and bruises like his body. He had even lost patches of hair from past struggles during the last few weeks.

    Shaking his head he opened the fridge gently. Not a sound could be heard as it opened. Thank god it was filled to the brim and he noticed on the milk box that it had even been newly bought. Could there be others survivors here like me? Grabbing the milk Arthur slowly closed the fridge door and brought the milk to his mouth…

    THERE! He could see in the fridges reflection that there was someone behind him. Turning around he was greeted by a ghastly sight. It was small girl dragging a plush toy with her left hand. Her face was distorted by the fact that something seemed to have torn off her lips, exposing broken teeth of a brown yellowish colour. Her right eye seemed to have been stabbed by some sharp object and a slit had opened up vertically from which white pus was dripping down her cheek. Her skin had taken on an almost bluish shade of white.

    It lifted its right arm towards Arthur and uttered some unintelligible sounds. Arthur knew that he could not hesitate and leaped towards it while grabbing a hammer he was carrying on his belt.

    A loud but soft thud filled the house, and it had looked at Arthur before collapsing onto the floor. Why did they have to look so human, especially just as they died? He could hear movement from another room on his left. Two more of those things ran towards him while making roaring sounds. Luckily this house was far away from the rest, and would hopefully not attract more of them.

    It was a man and a woman barely wearing anything. How do people turn into these things so suddenly, was the only thing Arthur could think before they were upon him. The man jumped for him, but Arthur had learned the hard way that most would rush and jump towards him when they saw him, especially when he had just killed another of their kind. He stepped to the side and it missed him by a hair. Arthur greeted it with a hammer blow to the back of its skull.

    Quickly looking at the female, he could see that she had been frozen for the moment, her face contorted. Even with half her face missing she seemed so sad, why? Taking advantage of the fact that it was only looking at him and seemed to hesitate, he slammed the hammer forcefully into her face, which made it stagger and fall backwards. Jumping on top he swung the hammer down onto her again and again until it had stopped twitching.

    Taking a hand across his face, he swept the gore away and decided that perhaps it would be best to stay here for the night. It was late and he hadn’t slept for almost three days. He would just have to risk it and hope that nothing more would happen tonight. Standing up he looked at his work and could only feel pity.

    If only there was some way to help them, or at least a way where he wouldn’t have to kill them. Maybe in the future there would be a cure. Perhaps Jake who would always wear white while visiting and seemed to know an awful lot about them could come up with something. Still right now he would have to…damn! Looking outside Arthur could see another one of them from a house in the distance shambling towards this house. It’s guts are hanging out from a wound right above it’s pelvis. Why was all of this happening to him..?



    “US accuses Russia of hacking election. Some even say that it’s not a new cold war. It’s not even a deep chill. It’s an outright conflict. Interested? Well find out tomorrow when we air our special broadcast with Russian experts coming in for an interview!”

    “In other news, reports came in that an insane asylum had its security system fail following the power grid being torn down after Hurricane Matthew hit South Carolina. A few of its inmates have been reported missing followed by brutal murders happening in the towns close to it. Could this be a coincidence or are they connected? After this short break you will know this and more!”

    “Martha! Turn the damn telly off it’s almost 2 am in the morning!”

    “Alright alright. You don’t have to be yelling so loudly.” With a click Martha turned the TV off and looked out the window. Strange...why was the light on at the Thompson's house at this time? There seemed to be someone moving in their backyard. Her eye's were not what they used to be and it was a bit fuzzy but there was movement, she was sure!

    “Tom! The lights on at the Thompson's house! And there seems to be some person running around in their backyard!”

    “What? It’s probably nothing. Most likely just a racoon or something!”

    “What if they got a breaking and entering? Tom you have to go check!”

    “Can’t you just let me sleep woman!” A stare was all the response Tom was given but he knew he would get no rest until he had gone and checked it out…

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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  16. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    The Pumpkin

    written by: @Kickuck
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    When Halloween comes, it is a custom in my village for the adults to wait outside in their garden for the children who are trick or treating. I just became an adult this year, so it is my first time. Because of that, I only want to give candies to the children who do tricks.

    There are children who sing a creepy song together, others who make a big balloon with gummy, and even a group who successfully tricked me and stole most of my candies. I am laughing hard every time they try to trick me, as it reminds me of when I was a kid who always failed at tricking the adults. Especially the kids who stole my candies. They climbed into my backyard and stealthily stole my candies while their friend distracted my attention. Even so, all of the children always come together and never alone.

    It happens because of a myth in my village since a long time ago. It is said that a kid who travels alone and meets The Pumpkin will become The Pumpkin’s slave and unable to come home 'til The Pumpkin is full of candies.

    The most frightening part about this myth is The Pumpkin will empty at the end of the day and the kid must search for candy from scratch. The kid can only visit each house once. If all houses are visited by them and The Pumpkin still is not full, the kid will became the next The Pumpkin allowing the previous to go to the after life. The Pumpkin and it’s slave will appear every Halloween and the adults must give all their candy to the slave so they can fill The Pumpkin full and hopefully go home.

    It is said this happens because of a kid who always brought his pumpkin as a bag to hold his candy. Other kids got jealous of him since he always got the most candy, so they stole it. The kid never got to eat any of the candy he got from trick or treating. When he became an adult he supposedly cursed all village’s children and one became The Pumpkin.

    I never believed this farce. After all, that simply isn't possible. All of the kids in my village are good friends and always go together to search for candies.

    As the night becomes darker, there is a kid who comes alone with only a lit up pumpkin bag as a light source. If I am not guessing wrong, that kid should be the spoiled boy who came from the capital city to visit his grandpa. As it is already near midnight, I give all my candies to him and go inside my home.

    The next day there are missing person flyers spread throughout my village. It seems that the missing person is actually that spoiled city kid. I don’t tell others about the kid with the lit up pumpkin bag, but I hope that kid can get home fast.

    I feel sorry for him, but that myth still had a continuation. If an adult who is visited by The Pumpkin and it’s slave tell the others anything about the experience, their own child will became The Pumpkin’s slave next.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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  17. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    What They Don't See

    written by: @KingOfMangonia
    *1st Place*
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    Deep in the night time,
    Nobody knows.
    In the shadows,
    Where nobody goes.

    The desolate alleyway,
    The bright turbid streets.
    The contrast is vast,
    Don't you go too deep.

    The night men watch,
    The cat burglars prowl.
    All goes well,
    In Holiday town.

    A day for each one,
    Be it big or small.
    Thus you must,
    Go to the mall.

    Residents above know
    Not of below,
    But it is known,
    Blood does flow.

    Under the ground,
    Deep in the abyss,
    Witches and wizards,
    Can't be missed.

    Dwarves and Elves,
    Fairies and more.
    Creatures of which,
    You've never seen before.

    Witches and Wizards,
    Each cast their spells,
    To summon The One,
    The Pumpkin King.

    Trick or Treat,
    Is the way it goes.
    Whether it’s a trick,
    Nobody knows.

    Treats so sweet,
    Your mouth will water,
    But what if its just to,
    Feed you up like fodder?

    Fatten you up!
    Make you all round,
    So that we may,
    Hunt you all down.

    Run while you can,
    Through the midnight streets,
    Before you find yourself,
    Being tricked into a treat.

    Through the woods,
    The children cry,
    For Mommy or Daddy,
    Before they die.

    In the stairways,
    Hidden in the woods,
    The guardsmen stand,
    As they should.

    Waiting for a delivery
    Of next year's treats,
    The catchers are ready,
    Full of deceit.

    The grinders grind,
    The blenders cut,
    The pounders pound,
    And the crushers crush.

    The screams of children,
    Resound through the night.
    Not even one of them,
    Can escape this fright.

    Drain the blood,
    Crush the flesh,
    Cut the organs,
    While they're fresh.

    Color them true,
    Make them sweet,
    So they won't know,
    What's underneath.

    Wrap the candy,
    Colorful and bright,
    So they may shine,
    Under the light.

    Go to the houses,
    Deliver the treats,
    So that we monsters,
    May once again eat.

    Once a year,
    It's not very long,
    We find new children,
    That get along.

    Evil we find,
    Sprouting in minds.
    Nurture we must,
    So it will grow in time.

    Children of anger,
    Children of wrath.
    Let them know,
    The deep dark path.

    Show them the way,
    Be their guide,
    So that they will come,
    To our side.

    Feeding your mind,
    Devouring your fear,
    So that you may think,
    Oh so clear.

    Tick Tock,
    Goes the clock.
    Time passes,
    While we stalk.

    Tick Tock,
    Goes the clock.
    No whispers to be heard,
    No one talks.

    Tick Tock.
    Tick Tock.
    We wait in the night,
    Waiting for the clock.

    When the hour strikes 10,
    We will meet again.
    When the hand strike 12,
    You'll find yourself in Hell.

    A wondrous place,
    Full of laughter and glee.
    A den of gamblers,
    So party with me.

    You'll find yourself lost,
    In pleasure and lust.
    You will, very quickly,
    Come to adjust.

    A mind of booze,
    A heart of sin.
    It is one loss for them,
    And, to us, our win.

    Another corrupted,
    Another dead.
    Come join us,
    You'll be fed.

    Blood and Guts,
    Intestines and more.
    Eat up sweetie,
    You'll beg for more.

    Down here,
    We're all one family,
    Come and join us,
    Release your sanity.

    The mind of the corrupt,
    The mind of the gone,
    The mind that's been lost,
    For oh so long.

    We greet you our friend,
    our enemy, our pal.
    Join us as we carve,
    In this night time locale.

    Our enemies above,
    They know not of below.
    One each year,
    We must go.

    Bring back food,
    Bring back wine.
    The blood of our enemies,
    The finest kind.

    Only one type,
    Only one end.
    That is the suffering,
    Of their friends.

    May you look under your bed,
    And into the closet.
    For it has to be said,
    We will be waiting!

    Once upon a time,
    Once upon a year.
    Once upon the world,
    One upon... you Dear.

    Happy Halloween!

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 17, 2017
  18. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    Good Night

    written by: @lightnovelcafe
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    Jimmy pulled his sheets just a little bit closer. He didn’t want any part of them to reach over the side of his bed frame in fear of the baddie who could grab it and pull him under the bed if he wasn’t careful.

    He told his mom about the baddie. He told his dad about the baddie. But they wouldn’t listen. He knew what they were thinking from the sidelong glances they made to each other. They didn’t believe him. "Overactive imagination," they said.

    But he knew.

    He knew the baddie was after him. Jimmy could hear rustling in the darker areas of his room every now and then. The baddie wouldn’t get him just yet. Jimmy knew this was it's favorite part. It liked the thrill of scaring little Jimmy. Every silent cackle. Every scratch it made along the walls of Jimmy’s room is like a treat to the baddie as it hid in the darkness.

    The door to Jimmy’s closet creaked open, but it was a slow creak. Intentionally slow. Jimmy hurriedly pulled the blanket over his head now as he yelled for his mom and dad. No one came. The only sound that followed were muffled footsteps that ended with a click each and every time.

    One.

    Two.

    Three.

    And then the footsteps stopped. An even darker shadow was now cast over Jimmy. The dark became frighteningly more so and Jimmy’s heart almost felt like it would pound right out of his chest. The baddie was standing over him. He could smell it. He could hear the ragged breathing. Jimmy closed his eyes tight. Little Jimmy. Just 10 years old.

    It was a hunched and wrinkly thing. Ugly. So ugly.



    Time was irrelevant. It lived on for all eternity – cursed to walk the shadows without the reprieve of sleep or rest. So it hated. It hated everyone and everything with a burning red fire. It clenched its long dirty claws into tight balls of fists at the thought. Children were the worst of all. So innocent with their whole lives ahead of them. It wanted to rip every child into pieces with its powerful jaws and sharp teeth, but no. It had its limits. And it had to be careful not to get caught. Even it's visits to children’s rooms every night was something it was doing in secret.

    So it roamed the nights and shadows, making noises and taking a special joy in instilling fear into those it envied.

    Little Jimmy. That was what the boy’s parents called him. Little Jimmy believed and it loved how much the boy feared it. So night after night, the thing ventured to Jimmy’s room by way of the shadows and did all it could to scare the child to death. Only when the boy was all but paralyzed with fear could the thing finally steal away the boy. To toy with it until there was nothing left.

    The thing slid out from the boy’s closet and took one step after the other until it was right in front of the lump that was Little Jimmy. It could almost see the lump shivering. So close. It was so close. It smiled an awful smile that stretched its leathery skin over its mouthful of impossibly sharp teeth.



    The corner of his blanket began to lift ever so slightly. The baddie was here. Jimmy screamed an ear piercing scream as he began to cry for someone to save him, but it was too late. With that final scream, he had given the baddie the power it needed to steal him away.



    The thing was finally done. Little Jimmy was a shell of the happy boy he used to be. It had stolen Jimmy away, back into the timeless place that was its wretched home so long ago. How much time had passed? It didn’t know and didn’t care, but now it was time to return the broken child where he belonged. Broken toys no longer served a purpose, but the thing knew it needed to be careful or it would be caught.

    Time was its eternal friend. And in that, the thing was able to do the impossible. The thing rewound time until Jimmy was but an infant.

    Now back in the real world where he belonged, Jimmy was returned. Time had been rewound, but the damage remained.

    Jimmy’s mother walked to the crib where her beautiful newborn son lay. It only took her a second to realize something was wrong. His usual clear and bright eyes were dull. She picked him but his head lolled back in lifeless fashion. She let out a scream.



    Jimmy’s mother and father sat with their hands clenched together in the office. After what seemed an eternity, the doctor walked in. His face was blank. Jimmy’s mother jumped up from her seat and ran to the doctor. She needed to know. What was wrong with her little baby boy!

    Little Jimmy. Poor little Jimmy. He would never be okay again.

    The thing was so bored. Who else could it steal away this time?

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  19. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    LOST CHILDREN OF HALLOWEEN
    written by: @SovereignSamiul
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    Halloween scares me.

    My friends always laugh and make fun of me when they hear this, but I can’t help it. It really scares me. It’s not like I’ve always been scared of it. There was once a time when I enjoyed it too. I had a lot of fun at that time of year.

    Originally, I didn’t believe the existence called ghosts, and boasted of having way more courage than others. I believed everything could be defined by logic and reason, and the possibility of the existence called ghosts were illogical.

    But something happened one Halloween that changed everything. Something terrifying happened and it left a deep scar in my mind that won’t fade no matter how hard I try to forget.

    That year, due my dad's work, we had to move to a new place when Halloween was just around the corner. It was pretty far away from town and had a lot of greenery. I am the only child of my family. I felt really lonely separating from my old friends and moving to a new place where everything and everyone was unfamiliar.

    After we moved into our new house, we greeted our neigbours. The people there were really friendly and made us feel welcome. I met a lot of kids similar to my age. We really hit it off and very quickly made some friends.

    As Halloween approached, I started to get excited.

    I loved Halloween and loved the pranks. All the dares excited me a lot. When I told my plans to my new friends, they didn’t seem as excited about it though.

    I laughed thinking they were just scared.

    “What are you all? Chicken?”

    Hearing this one of them got angry and said, “You won’t be laughing like this if you heard what happened here one Halloween.”

    Hearing this I became curious and asked, “What happened?”

    He looked at the others faces for as bit a he slowly said, “We are not supposed to mention this, but I’ll tell you. There was once a mass murder not far away from here. Lot’s of children died and the murderer committed suicide along with them, but sometimes they can be seen around that area.”

    Naturally I didn’t believe them and said, “That’s probably something the grownups made up to scare you lot. Come on guys lets have fun this Halloween!” Seeing that they were unconvinced I continued with a loud voice, “Okay then. I’ll prove to you all that the story isn’t real at all and was made up to keep you all in control.”

    Looking around at their faces a bit I declared, “I will stay around the area the children are seen and stay there alone for one hour. Yes, one whole hour! I’ll prove it to you all that the rumors are all made up.”

    Listening to me they glanced each other.

    “You have a deathwish don’t you?”

    “No one goes there, 'specially if its Halloween!!!”

    “You'll die ya’know!!!”

    I ignored them as I proudly stated, “There are no such things as ghosts. Their existence is illogical and I’ll prove it to you all!” I laughed, “and once I prove it we can enjoy the spirit of Halloween!!!”

    One of the timid ones said, “I don’t know man…..everyone believes it and I don’t think they are joking.”

    “Yah…don’t do this man.”

    Now that I think about it I should’ve listened to them, but I was too proud to do so. “You bunch of chickens don’t need to do anything. All you need to do is just point the way and wait for me to return.”

    Seeing that it was near impossible for them to convince me, they reluctantly nodded. Afterall, they wanted to have fun too. We all decided we would meet in the evening and went home.




    We all gathered at one place and on the way someone still tried to convince me, “It's not too late dude. You really don’t have to do this.” The others nodded at his words.

    With an arrogant laugh I teased. “All you chickens have to do is to wait …What? You all are afraid to do even that much???”

    Maybe they finally got a little fed up. They didn’t try to stop me anymore. I looked around and as we neared the area the number of houses decreased as trees and shrubs began to appear.

    This place was quite far from where people lived and close to the forest. It was quite foggy and a broken down house could be seen from afar, which very much resembled a haunted house from a horror movie. It was no wonder people feared that place so much. It was quite spooky.

    But it wasn’t enough to make me scared. I felt excited instead. The fog and the trees were the perfect elements for people to mistake as ghosts as their already agitated minds played tricks on them. I thought I understood how all those stories came to be.

    I looked at the others who were already a little stiff and smirked proudly. “You kids wait here as I, the real man here, show you there are no such things as ghosts,” I said as I started to walk towards the run down house.




    As I reached the house my friends were finally out of sight. I looked at the house with curiosity. A run down house with broken doors and windows, broken roof, surrounded by overgrown weeds and shrubs.

    It was a dark and gloomy atmosphere. I had a torch with me so all the darkness wasn’t that much of a problem for me. The problem was that it was too foggy. I wondered where all the fog was coming from and the cold too.

    As I approached the house, the fog and the coldness seemed to get stronger. 'Is it because of the forest nearby?' I thought as the annoying fog became thicker and thicker. It was strange. I couldn’t even see what was ahead of me because of the fog. I couldn’t see where I was going either. It was only then that I felt a little doubt and wondered if coming here was right or wrong.

    After walking for who knows how long, the fog suddenly started to clear away and I found myself in a unfamiliar room. I started to sweat even in this cold and looked around. It was a simple room with nothing but a bed, until I discovered a figure in one corner of the room leaning towards the table as if immersed in something.

    “Hello,” I spoke. There was no response, like he couldn’t hear me at all.

    “Hello,” I said again as I slowly walked to the man. He was whispering something in a unrecognizable voice. As I walked closer to the man, I could finally see what he looked like.

    It was a middle aged man with neat clothing. You couldn’t tell him apart if he were in a crowd except for in his front was a basket of candies. He was doing something with those candies as whispered something I couldn’t understand. He didn’t even notice that someone was behind him.

    “Hey!” I yelled as I reached to touch him. To my horror my hand went through his body. I panicked as I desperately tried to grab him as I yelled loudly. All my efforts were in vain.

    I tried to stay as calm as possible and judged the situation with logic.

    'I’m having a dream! Yes, I’m having a dream where I’m playing the part of the observer. If it is like that then it explains everything.'

    I desperately tried to make myself believe that I was having a dream and it would be all over once this dream ends. All I needed to do now is not panic and calmly face whatever is going to happen next.

    While I was busy calming myself, there were sounds of the doorbell ringing. The man hurriedly left with the basket of candies.

    With nothing else to do, I followed him.

    The man went to the door and hurriedly opened it, revealing a group of children in Halloween costumes outside. They greeted the man with excited expressions and the man handed them the candies from the basket he was holding.

    “Kids… Eat some with me before you go!” said the man as he unwrapped one of the candies and put it in his mouth. The children happily started to unwrap the candies and put them in their mouth too.

    Watching this I was reminded of a similar incident. The incident my friends told me about. As soon as I realized this I yelled, “STOOPPPPPP!!”

    I knew it was a dream but I couldn’t stop myself. I was too late and their happy expressions turned into ones of extreme pain as they groaned and screamed, white foam kept coming out of their mouths. They fell to the ground and their bodies soon turned motionless, without life.

    The man stared expressionlessly at the dying children, his face had slowly turned white and white foam was coming out of his mouth as well. At this moment, he slowly turned around and his dark red bloodshot eyes looked straight at me.

    “SEEN ENOUGH?” he whispered.

    As soon as his gaze met mine I could feel a cold child run up my spine and every hair on my body stood straight. He slowly reached out his hand started to move towards me, “EAT,” he said.

    As soon as I saw him walking towards me, my instincts screamed to run as fast as I can and go as far away as possible. When I tried my feet wouldn’t move. I looked at the slowly approaching man, I looked at the door which was my only way out, but I despaired when I saw those children who were lying down lifelessly had now stood up. Their faces were pale white, their eyes blood red.

    I wanted to run but my feet wouldn’t move. I wanted to scream, but nothing would come of my mouth. I felt helpless waiting for my demise.

    “SAM!!!!!!!!!!!!” then I heard someone calling me. Soon after the sound of footsteps and the light of torches followed. I looked around as I found myself standing in the run down house. I felt life returning to my body as I lost consciousness.




    When I woke up, a familiar roof came into my sight followed by an intense headache and pain all over my body. I was out for nearly 3 days after my dad and the others had found me unconscious in that cursed house. I had to suffer a lot before my health recovered.

    After they heard my experience, I had to hear quite a few rough words. My body recovered but my mind never did. That incident became a trauma for me. I couldn’t enjoy Halloween like before anymore.

    Later, I heard more about that murder incident.

    Many years ago that man, the murderer, lost his two children and his wife in a traffic accident when they were returning from school. The pain and suffering of losing everything, of becoming alone, caused the man to become mentally imbalanced.

    On Halloween, he mixed strong poison with candies and ate them with all the kids who went to get candies from him and they died togather. Even now they are seen wondering in that area on that day. It seems there is a name for them too.

    'The lost children of Halloween.'

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  20. Nom de Plume

    Nom de Plume [Shio’s Disciple] [True Villain] [Equip: Gunblade] Novel Updates Staff

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    Obsession

    written by: @ShuiLin
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

    “Wake up child, for you do not belong here...”

    RIIIIING~

    Even as the alarm clock makes a racket, the accursed morning light shimmers from the window and lands on my face. I squint my eyes into a glare, in hopes of having the sun miraculously hide away.

    I know that those are simply childish fantasies, so after closing my eyes for a moment, I sigh and unwillingly rise from the comfort of my bed.

    ‘Another dull day… I wish night would quickly come…’ Is the only thought running through my mind.

    Changing my clothes, taking a bath, walking through an exaggeratedly large corridor, eating exaggeratedly exquisite food, studying things that I have already known, sleeping. These are the days that I go through. As for friends, families, and entertainment? I simply scoff at those words.

    There are no such things as friends in my dictionary. The only thing I know of are people who benefits one another.

    Family? My parents simply gave me life that I never asked for. My sibling is just another person I had closer ties with, no different than a simple stranger that lives with me.

    As for entertainment, I have never felt anything that truly entertains me… except for… ‘that’… so I hope that night shall quickly descend.

    ***​

    I can see how excited people are for the upcoming Halloween event while I walk through the wide path of this lively city. The kids who are walking around while showing off their costume to others seem especially excited.

    But for me, as a person who has devoted myself to my job, I only take a slight glimpse before turning back towards the place where I belong. The deep abyss of darkness filled with unwanted truths.

    Why do I still do this kind of job even though it does not bring me happiness? I ask this question to myself often, but I have not found a single answer which satisfies me.

    Is it for a sense of accomplishment? I do not think this job is accomplishing. To enact justice? Justice is simply something based on perspective, and my views are not in line with this job. To satisfy curiosity? My job has never made my curious of anything.

    Even if I cannot find the answer, I can sense a deep craving inside my soul. A deep hunger that can only be sated by this job.

    To this day, I still continue this job. Currently I am staring at a mansion of white that should give off a feeling of purity. For me, it is instead giving off a sense of foreboding which sends shivers down my spine.

    ***​

    Walking through the roads during midnight is something that children and elderlies would usually refrain from doing at this day and age, but tonight is different. It is the night of the final day of the 10th month of the year.

    I can see children walking from one house to the next with excitement written all over their faces, while some parents and elders watch over them from far away. Those cute, innocent faces would certainly make many people happy. I am also happy seeing their faces, but I think that their faces would certainly look much better with a hint of… red…

    Ah, how can I let my thoughts wonder there? I will have to put on my best smile for this important day.

    Suddenly, as I am about to go on my way, I see a man. He has one of those stiff faces one would have when they wish to not be approached.

    I do not believe in fate, as I am a person who has relied on logic for most of his life, but ‘this meeting’ might have changed me. I think that seeing him here is certainly fate. So I greet him with the best smile I could put on.

    “Ah, my dear sir. May I know what you are currently looking at?”

    He impatiently replies without even turning his head. “Kids these days… Can't you just follow where my eyes are pointing to with your own?"

    Surprisingly, I do not feel any rage or anger boiling inside me from his reply. On the contrary, my smile widens as I turned my head to follow where his sight is leading. “Ah, the residence of young master Ruhtra. It is certainly quite a sight to behold.”

    The man does not seem to truly agree with my words. “A sight to behold… To others it may be so, but to me… the residence itself is fearsome. What kind of person could cause their own residence to give off this kind of feeling?”

    'Fate certainly did not disappoint me,' I think as I pat the back of the man.

    “Sir, you are an interesting person. I believe fate has brought us together, so I would like to request for your company on this beautiful night.” After I say these words, the man turns toward me and looks deep into my eyes, as if trying to discern my intentions. I do not look away. Instead, I also look deeply into his eyes, as if trying to show my sincerity and to understand more about him.

    As seconds and minutes pass by, the man finally sighs and says, “Fine then, but since you are the one inviting me, you will have to accommodate for everything.”

    Hearing his reply, I smirk before crossing over to the mansion with the man. “There is no need to worry, I am a person who is experienced in receiving guests.”

    As I lead him into the mansion, I still do not see any change in his expression. It's as if being suddenly brought into the mansion you were just gossiping about the moment before is not surprising at all. Truly an interesting person.

    ***​

    I do not know why this young man has lead me into this, or to be exact, his mansion. He said that I am an interesting person, but is that the only reason? I believe not, but whatever reason he has, I have this feeling that he does not wish to place harm upon me.

    Even if I try to raise my vigilance, I cannot shake off a feeling of safety, as if nothing in this place would wish to hurt me.

    As the young man guides me around his mansion, I do not see any sign of life inside the building, giving it a haunting feeling. I still do not feel fear, that is for sure, but what I am currently having is a new feeling of wanting to see more. To see what secrets are hidden inside this building.

    And so, for the first time since entering, I ask him a question. “May I ask, do you live alone here?”

    "Ah, you could say that, but I also have another here. I cannot possibly clean this wide mansion on my own, can I?” Hearing his playful but logical answer, I nodded to show my understanding.

    As we proceed through the corridor, I notice a large painting depicting a family consisting of four. A charming woman seems to be the mother. A man with a strict face depicts someone who must be the head of the family. A pair of a boy and girl with similar features can only give one notion in my mind, siblings.

    “Excuse my impudence once more, but is that your family?”

    Following my gaze, the young man turns towards the portrait. His smile widens slightly, now containing a hint of chilliness in it, which would make people shudder just by looking. He manages to suppress it after a moment, before answering my question.

    “Yes, they certainly are, but they do not live here anymore.”

    Hearing his reply, my curiosity piqued. ‘Where do they live now?’ or ‘Are they still alive?’ are the questions I would have normally asked at a moment like this. However, I have this feeling that if I ask, even if I would certainly receive the answer, it would be the last question I would ask in this life time. I close my eyes and bury these words in the depths of my heart before following his footsteps that echo throughout the empty corridor.

    As we walk deeper into the mansion, I can feel the darkness thickening. It is not the darkness of the sight that I speak of, it is the suffocating darkness of the atmosphere. Oddly, I still do not feel any fear. On the contrary, I can feel an excitement in the depths of my heart, as if this darkness is the thing I have been looking for all this time. This darkness is the meaning of my life.

    ***​

    As I guide the man around the mansion, he continuously asks me various questions. Some of his questions reminded me of memories, good and bad. Fortunately, the man knows when to stop, so I did not have to do anything that I might later regret. Finding a person such as him is quite hard.

    Inside the garden, I show him the beautiful roses I planted. They are certainly beautiful, their beautiful red color is the thing I love the most. There is still another flower which I love more than these roses, and I lead the man to them.

    “What kind of flower are they?” Hearing his question, I smile.

    “Red Spider Lilies.” As if these words are a trigger, the man before me started to shake as his eyes suddenly widened. Before he could utter a sound, his eyes blurred as he lost consciousness. His body did not fall, staying upright as if he is simply closing his eyes as he stood.

    'Let us go. Follow me to the room.’ As if reading my thoughts, the body shadows behind me as I lead it into one out of the many rooms inside the mansion.

    When I open the door, a gust of cold wind blows, bringing a deep scent of death and corpses together with it. To me, this scent is not repulsive. It makes me feel invigorated instead, as if a few years of my life have been returned.

    I did not come to simply enjoy the atmosphere so I proceed further into the room, where the stench of death is the thickest. This room could be said as my second favorite room inside this mansion, right before my bedroom.

    Decorated with Red, rED, rEd, ReD, and more RED!!

    "Ah, how beautiful! If only I could decorate my room like this as well." Just the idea of it brings a wide smile to my face.

    ‘Well, now is not the time for home improvement.’ With that thought, I compose myself and motion the man, or to be exact, the body of the man to enter the room.

    There is redness on the walls, ceiling, and flooring. This room is also decorated with beautiful lines of red meat which hang all over the walls like a party decoration. Faces, skins, bones, innards can be seen hanging everywhere like a beautiful work of art. Ah, even blood can be seen dripping from the ceiling, making the redness of the floor even more beautiful.

    An altar can be seen at the other side of the room, surrounded by a circle of fire torches, the only source of light.

    Various cold, dead bodies can be seen surrounding the altar. Both young to old, male and female. Some of the bodies have lost one or two eyeballs. Others have lost one or two ears. Some instead have their nose or tongue removed. At least one has a hole where the heart is supposed to be. Many are skinned, partially or fully. A few even have a hollow opening empty of their intestines. Some are fortunate enough to still have them only pulled out and not removed, but those are left all over the floor around the body.

    All of the bodies here have lost at least one thing. 'With them losing something, they look even more beautiful. Even more so with blood splattered all over their bodies. Ah, how beautiful…'

    I have not been able to make myself into such art, even as I have wished to, for I have not finished my responsibilities. I believe that today that might change with the help of this man. I can finally finish my task and make myself be just as beautiful.

    I cannot help but get excited at the thought and my breathing slowly roughens until a cold wind starts to blow directly across my face. I regain my composure.

    “I beg your forgiveness, for myself is quite excited to finish his responsibilities.” I say as I bow most courteously towards the altar.

    As if forgiving me, the cold wind stops and I heave a sigh of relief. With this reminder, I dare not to tarry anymore. I step towards the altar and lift the body of the man on top of it as graceful and lightly as possible.

    I smile and pull out a knife out of my pocket once he is arranged perfectly. The knife shines with a beautiful and eerie red light, as if seeking blood as sacrifice from the man before me.

    I insert my knife deeply above the stomach, as I know I am meant to. The skin is gracefully peeled away as a few drops of blood splatter on my face and hand. I do not mind it and simply lick the blood near my lips, tasting the sweetness of his blood.

    I finish peeling off the skin from his torso and I can finally see the man’s red and bloody intestines, dimly illuminated by the torches around the altar. The average person might say that the intestines of every person are almost exactly the same, but innards and intestines of each human has a different kind of beauty to me.

    As I look at the man’s intestines, I cannot help but smile at how much more charming they are compared to those I have taken from others. Time is tight, so I cannot continue to appreciate the beauty of it. I sever the coils from the body and move them where the other intestines rest peacefully.

    Drip, Drip

    The sound of blood falling resounds in the black room, giving me a sense of tranquility. I focus back on my job as I continue to disassemble the body. Eyes, ears, nose, skin, heart. All I slowly dissect one by one and store in their respective places. With that complete, I stand before the altar and raise both of my arm up high, as if to welcome the coming of a higher being.

    I suddenly felt a piercing glare right behind me before I could continue the ritual, so I quickly turned.

    BANG!

    What I saw caused me one last grin. 'Ah, how unpredictable, fate sure is cruel, for me to fail at the final moments.'

    The sound of a piercing gunshot, the scent of gunpowder, and the silhouette of a man are the last things I get to remember as my consciousness drifts away.

    ***​

    As night descends, I stand here, near the gates of the supposedly famous mansion of young master Ruhtra. I am unsure myself why I am standing here waiting for something that might never come. It is just that if I do not follow this gut feeling, I am sure I will have regrets for the rest of my life.

    I shake myself out of my thoughts and once again focus on the gates of the mansion just in time to see a gentleman following a younger man into the mansion. I am not sure why, but an uncomfortable feeling wells up inside me when they cross the threshold. I climb the gate and enter as well, once they are well out of sight.

    On the other side, I am confronted with a wide space that must be the front courtyard of this mansion. I am surprised by a lack of pumpkins. Whether a person has pumpkins is not a matter others would mind. Nevertheless, the creeping feeling I have seems to grow when I saw the emptiness of this courtyard.

    Unfortunately, the matter doesn't end with missing Halloween decorations. Out of nowhere, a gust of cold wind blows, causing cold sweat to run down my back. I step back and scan my surroundings. My effort seems to be of no use. There is nothing but a wide field of grass. I step forward with no other choice. Going back now is not an option.

    I can see multiple wide corridors inside the mansion, leading to who knows where. I can somehow sense one corridor that is different than the others. It seems… darker.

    I think I have heard a saying, 'What you seek can be found inside the most dangerous place.' With this reasoning, I continue through the darkest corridor.

    As I walk down this hall, I notice many paintings along the walls. They seem quite normal at first, but as I walk deeper the pictures slowly turn grotesque. Once I reach the end of the corridor, the last picture I see is no longer grotesque. In fact, this picture seems to be carefully made.

    A picture of a family of four.

    This carefully made picture gives me a feeling much worse than the other grotesque pictures. I do not know the reason it gives me such feelings. Nevertheless, I chose to ignore this picture. It is not the reason why I entered this mansion.

    So, I go on my way. At some point, I notice there are no candles or other man-made source of lighting inside this mansion. The only thing I can find giving light to this dark and eerie mansion is the moonlight shimmering from the large windows. Admittedly, the beauty of the moon is well exhibited in this manner.

    I notice something out of the corner of my eye as I am admiring the moon. The pair who entered the mansion before me are in a garden. As I look closer, the body of the man shakes for a moment before once again returning to normal. I cannot get rid of a horrible premonition, that the ‘man’ that stood there is not the same one as before.

    Before I could take a second look, the young man walks away, followed by the ‘man’ who is now surrounded by a faint gray mist. I am still unexpectedly calm seeing this, as if such a thing is not surprising at all.

    I notice they are entering the mansion through a door connected to the corridor I am currently in, so I hide within the shadows in hopes of not being noticed. I can hear the pair of footsteps as they cause an echo in the empty corridor.

    My heart is racing with each resounding footstep, not in fear, but rather in excitement, like the heart of a child when playing hide and seek. Unlike a normal hide and seek, if I am found I might be punished or even killed. Even so, my heart races excitedly.

    As time seems to slowly pass, I realize that the young man has already gone away. My racing heart calms down and I step out of the place I was hiding. I follow through the path they took.

    Creak~

    Suddenly, the sound of door opening resounds. I move faster in search of the source, just in time to see one of the doors along the corridor closing. I slowly and quietly creep closer to the door, afraid of alerting anyone or anything of my presence. Reaching the front of the room, I open the door leading inside carefully.

    Creak

    When the sound of the door enters my ears, my heart skips a beat. In my distress, I survey the room, in hopes that nothing noticed my presence.

    But what I see inside the room causes my heart to tremble.

    Body parts could be seen nailed and hanged everywhere. Some are placed on the floor randomly while others are arranged like decoration along the wall.

    None of them are dripping blood, showing that they have been hung there for a long time. There are also hearts and skins nailed along the wall in place of art.

    As I continue to survey the room, something on the far side catches my attention. An altar is surrounded by a circle of fire torches and mutilated bodies. However, my eyes are attracted not to them, but towards the person standing right in front of the altar.

    With a knife in hand, he is removing body parts one after another. No matter how disgusted I am, I cannot help but be entranced by his elegant hand movements.

    It is not until he finishes dissecting the man’s body and raises both of his hands that my mind finally snapps back. In a fluster, I take out my gun out of its holster and shoot right at his stomach.

    BANG!

    The young man turning his head with a devilish grin plastered on his face as I stare. Seeing his grin, I take a step back. His body falls down at the same time as I retreat, regardless of my feelings.

    It takes me a while to get back to my senses. The first thing I focus on is a bloody gaping hole about the size of a pinkie on the young man’s stomach.

    I do not give up on hope and walk towards him. Once I am right next to his body, I raised his hand and felt his pulse. His pulse is faint, almost non-existent, but nevertheless, it is still a pulse. I take out the rope that I brought with me and tie his arms and legs before lightly slapping his face to wake him up.

    It takes a while, but he opens his eyes.

    “Tell me, what have you been doing here?” I ask him with the flattest tone I can produce. At first, I think he will refuse to answer me, but when his eyes meet mine, his eyes widen he seems to realize something.

    He then closes his eyes and chuckles. “Ah, no wonder, no wonder you could enter this mansion. Fate sure likes to play with mortals like us.”

    Confused, I ask him. “What are you talking about?”

    “You will find out one day, there is no need for me to tell you. We are both people with obsessions. Obsessions that can even bring forth fear to gods and devils.”

    “Answer my first question.” I demand with a deep voice. I am starting to feel uncomfortable with the way he speaks.

    "Ah, yes. 'What have I been doing here?' As you can see, I have been killing and dissecting people here. I have been preparing all this to start a ritual. In the end, I didn't account for someone like you, a person with a heart as obsessive as mine.”

    “What is this obsession you speak of?” He opens his eyes and stares at me weirdly as if I just asked a stupidly obvious question.

    But after a moment, his face changed, as if he has been enlightened.

    “Ah, haha, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No wonder. Certainly not a wonder at all! So you are one of those who has no guide. A newcomer in this game that fate has created. Then let us think of it as fate for you to have met me and I shall be the one to guide you.”

    As he says these words with his devil-like voice, the world around me fills with darkness. The lights disappear and are replaced by a deep abyss.

    “Wake up child, for you do not belong here… gain obsession, fulfill it, and you may return here.”

    These are the last words I heard before my consciousness fully drowns in darkness.

    ***​

    The next day, the mansion of famous young master Rutra was devoured by flames. Nobody knew the reason for the fire. The police only said that the fire was caused by an accident that they could not disclose. Many doubted it was that simple, but they could not do anything about that.

    The police prohibited entry into the mansion and refused to disclose if there were any survivors or even what remained of the mansion.

    On the same day, a letter could be found on the desk of the head officer, announcing the resignation of another detective. In another place, a person entered a new world.

    A world filled with obsession.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

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    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
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