Looking at the old man's corpse at my feet, I just couldn't help but grin. My grin was so wide that my rotten lips riped oppen, oozing a blackened blood over my face. My gaze wandered from the corpse back to the fair skined little puppet. Her eyes wide open in terror and surprise. A perfect expression... fear, surprise, and just a touch of despair. Beautiful. Glancing at the rest of the audience, I saw similar expressions on them, though none as delectable as Lissana's.

  I watched as they grew in panic. Maybe they were wondering... When would it be their turn perhaps?

  Honestly this is reeaaally fun.

  Like messing around with little ants. Right?

  KeKeKeKe.

  Am I really that far gone? That I can no longer view people as more than that? Did my mind fall so much, that I find myself agreeing with these words in my head? And why is it, that the tone in them is growing more similar to my own?

  I sigh loudly, catching the attention of everyone from the elder's corpse.

  Once they see my face, oozing black blood, with a manic and demonic smile, their desperation grows to unreachable levels. Some of them even faint on the spot, some whisper 'monster' under their breath, while most just stay absolutely frozen stiff.

  My gaze focuses on Lissana again, noticing her every details, details that I couldn't quite catch before. Her snow-pale skin, brown smooth hair, and deep green eyes... All of those pale before her real self, her pale skin flaking around her shoulders, her fingertips bruised and partially ripped, and her visible veins carving an alluring map on her body. A unique fleshy work of art.

  She recoils, her body trembling under the weight of my gaze, as if my eyes could peel the flesh from her bones.

  I took a step towards her, a step filled with a monstruous stride. As I did so, Lissana tried to get back, but ended up tripping, and falling on her back. I chuckled lightly. Crouching in front of her, I extended my hands towards her face. The air was stale with everyone's silence and heavy breathing. My hand approached her leisurely.

  "Please leave me alone... Please..." She sniffled weakly. That weak pathetic noise hit me like a rock. It made me pause. It made me flich.

  What am I doing?

  How could I do this?

  I looked at Lissana... I mean, I trully looked at Lissana. I saw her body trembling, tears in the corner of her eyes, recoiling from my mere presence. This image overlaped with the one from my memories. A cheerful girl that could warm my heart, make me forget my deepest sorrows, and this terrified woman.

  My slow heart thrummed furiously and with a powerfull intensity. Like it was trying to deny something, trying to take something back. But it was too much for its current deteriorated state. It ripped itself appart, spilling black blood all over my insides. The vibrations from that pulse resonated inside of me, tearing my inner organs, from my lungs all the way to my intestines. I ended up retching pieces of everything, along with black blood. I felt pain like never before, as if my hole being was torn apart, not merely physically, but my own spirit as well.

  The liquid hit the hem of my friend's dress. She looked at me in horror. As I matched her gaze, I looked at her with pleading eyes. No... It wasn't a pleading gaze, it was a begging one. I wanted to beg for her forgiveness, for everything, for the fear I had caused, for the way I let my mind twist beyond reason. Even if she was spying on me, I had no right to complain, just that she was willing to befriend me... It was enough for a lifetime of gratitude.

  Yet...

  Yet... I acted as the elder said. Like an ungratefull brat. I took the years of friendship for granted, and assumed things without even asking her.

  I'm really the worse. My insides didn't need to rot, they were rotten all along.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  I mustered whatever little air I could with my shredded lungs. "L-Liss-a-na... f-for-gi-ve... me... p-plea-se..." My voice flowed in a low rumble, almost inaudible, the sounds so far apart that they could barely be considered words.

  Her eyes flared open. Her face twisting in an expression I couldn't read. There were very few emotions I could notice in it.

  Fear.

  Sadness.

  And confusion.

  My vision was darkening by the second. The world spun, and my body hit the filthy ground, making a dull thud.

  I heard steps around me, voices flaring up, a discussion ongoing.

  My decayed tympanum only catching snippets of it.

  "...Monster..."

  "...Burn..."

  "...Kill..."

  "...Purge..."

  "...Curse..."

  "...Toss..."

  "...Swamp..."

  It continued for a while. Up to the point I felt myself being lifted, the small, consistent bumps of someone walking, and a familiar presence. And then, without ceremony, I was dumped into a small wooden cart. One used for hauling animal food... or their filth.

  My mind flashed in and out of a state of consciousness. I heard angry ravenous screams, and muffled sobs. All of it inside my own mind, as two very different mindsets battled each other. Though I couldn't tell who or what had the upper hand.

  The journey was a really rough one. More than once did the cart get stuck, splashing slimy water over me.

  I guess the one carrying me isn't all to happy. Fucker must be enjoying this. Not that it is undeserved.

  Sigh...

  I made a mess out of things, didn't I?

  After a while the cart stopped in a dry patch of land. The person hauling the cart turned me over, till I could finally see them.

  Roy...

  A familiar face, with an unfamiliar expression. When he noticed my gaze he smiled a bit.

  "You really fucked up didn't you Kael?" His smile turned into a grin.

  "I-I... Guess I d-did..." I tried to speak, as bile and bits of flesh, spilled amidst my words.

  "Haha! You really did man..." His voice trailed off as he gazed at the distance. "But I must say, you made my work easier. Guess I should at least be gratefull for that."

  I looked at him with curiosity.

  Noticing my gaze, he continued to speak. "Well I never really told you, my side of things, of the day we met. Did I?"

  "As you should know... It was a little dare, 'Go and fuck over the village freak!', kid stuff you know how it goes."

  Yeah I always thought as much, it made no sens for him to approach me out of nowhere.

  "But you... you little fucker. You didn't play the part. You started fighting. Do you have any idea how pissed off I was?"

  Hah... sweet memories.

  "It was seriously annoying... till Lis got in the middle of us."

  She never liked those kind of things. She always found them 'too brutish'.

  "Then she went into a little rant. I say little, but I bet it went for at least an hour, if not more."

  Hahaha. I thought she was going to talk our ears off...

  "You know? I like this silent you a lot better. You're more agreable this way."

  Fuck off you prick!

  "Anyways..." He spoke. Interrupting my insulting thoughts about him. "During her rant, I noticed the way she looked at you. And I saw a chance..."

  Huh?

  "... a chance to get with the pretiest girl in the village."

  What the fuck is Roy talking about?

  "I just had to tag along you, and she would stick around the both of us."

  I'm reeaally not liking this Roy!

  "Fast forwards a few years, and the two of us got closer and closer. Though the way she looked at you was different... It pissed me the fuck off. But I guess she saw in you a stray puppy or whatever..."

  Eh?

  "... thankfully you were always a dumb fuck, and you didn't notice. Because of that I could approach her, and I got to bed her."

  You motherfucker! No rubbing salt on the wound!

  But really? She looked different at me?

  Nah he's jesting around.

  "I even got to have fun parading her in front of you."

  Yeah... I kind of catched those smirks on you...

  "Though the day you fainted, she started looking at you in that way again. She got all skitish and worried about you. She begged the elder for medicine, though he denied spending anything on you..."

  Glad I killed the old geezer.

  "... so she spent all her savings on a potion made by those wizards from the school."

  SHE DID WHAT? WHY DID SHE DO THAT?

  "She spent all night caring for you... Even kicked me and my parents away. I had to fucking watch her sit beside you with that worried look on her face."

  As his words came, I couldn't help but remeber everything I had done since I woke up.

  My emotions went into turmoil, my flesh darkned quicker, and I felt my muscles detach themselves from the bone.

  "Watching that infuriating scene, from the outside of my own fucking window... You have any idea how I felt? I bet you don't."

  Fuck off that I don't, I had to watch you being clingy with her you bitch!

  "So that night I decided I was going to get rid of you."

  W-What?!

  "Problem is... I think she noticed that. So she went to hang around you."

  Wait...

  "She offered herself to keep an eye on you, for any signs of changes. The elder, ever so supersticious and wary of you, took the excuse, hook and all."

  No...

  "But you... Hahaha! You dumb fuck... You pushed her away." He laughed a vile, unsettling laugh.

  "I don't really know what is wrong with you, but I don't really care. You are going to stay here, like a good dog, and you're going to be devoured by beasts."

  I could barely register his words by now.

  "Bye bye! I have a woman to comfort now. Thanks for you patronage... Imbecile."

  And just like that, I was left alone. To muse over my own thoughts and mistakes.