Would you rather live a beautiful lie or a horrifying truth? Most people would say a horrifying truth. Makes sense, why would they want to live something that's fake? They would rather be miserable than be happy with something that isn't real. They are normal, unlike a coward like me. But there was someone who was the polar opposite of me in this belief.
He was 27 yet bore the features of a 5 year old boy. His hair was short yet kind of long for a man, going all the way to his earlobes. It was a pretty shade of brown which complemented his sharp green eyes. His beauty mark on his left cheek stood out from his considerably pale skin. He wore a dark green long sleeved collar shirt under a beige vest with a black tie and black slacks. He was many things—a protector, a detective, a mystery. His name was Charles Oedipus.
"Hey Oedipus, don't you think you're spending too much time with the missing kids case."
A coworker said whilst Charles stared intensely at a missing child document. But Charles didn't look back.
"Nah, not really."
The coworker walked beside Charles and leaned on his desk.
"You could get fired. Are you really willing to do that over one case?"
Charles paused for a moment and turned his chair towards the coworker. And showed the coworker a gaze that pierced his heart.
"You're being annoying, leave me alone."
An awkward atmosphere filled the room as the two stared at each other. Charles turned his chair back and resumed his obsessive staring. The coworker grabbed onto Charles' shoulder and tried to turn him around.
"Dude serio- "
His eyes widened and his mouth trembled as his mouth let out a stutter. Charles stared at the man with annoyance, but this was different. This was the stare of someone who was ready to end it all.
Charles quickly fixed his face and handed his coworker the documents.
"Do you see any familiarities?"
The coworker scanned through the documents and raised an eyebrow.
"Uuuum, they are skinny?"
Charles grabbed a document and glided his finger towards the listed weights.
"Yea, that's right. They all show a sign of malnutrition. But there's more, the pattern is more prominent than we all think."
"Yea, but isn't that common sense? You know, since all of the kids are being impaled in the neck and hung on a tree branch. They're gonna have to be underweight in order to not break the tree branch."
"Yea, but there is clearly a pattern. They aren't randomly killing kids. Every single kid they have killed has either had pale skin, eating issues, or features that fit the beauty standard."
"Do you think it could be a rapist targeting children?"
"No, the bodies show no sign of internal bleeding or struggle, even after being hung onto the branch. It seems like they are put onto the tree before death, but show no sign of being restrained. Even considering the fact that it's hard to do that to someone unrestrained they are being hung into very tall trees. So how the hell is this possible? Why, why is this happening?"
Charles started scratching his scalp and staring at the document with unblinking eyes. The itch on his scalp became more and more intense as he scratched at his irritated skin.
"Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"
"H-help me."
His coworker tapped him and Charles suddenly stood up and walked out of the office.
"Where are you going?"
"To deal with something."
As Charles walked away the coworker grabbed onto the documents and stared at them for a moment. He walked towards the back of the building, greeting everyone with a smile. As he finally made it to the back of the building he grabbed onto a lighter. Flicking it repeatedly till the flame finally came out. As he slowly gravitated the documents to the flame, his gaze focused on the dancing flame. The merciless burning evidence of the children's existence. His cheeks cracking as his eyes bent with the showing of all his teeth. His black star pupils protruding out of his body like tears. He threw the documents down and let them burn.
""Why?" Kinda ironic coming from you."
A soft voice caressed my eardrums. The black void that substituted dreams overwhelmed my mind. The thought of me randomly slapping kids brought a smile to my unconscious face. But the smile quickly subsided after a feeling of melancholy filled my heart. Though the chains are gone, my collar showed people that I was a thing of no free will. I deserve everything for the things I've been through, but at the same time the reason I went through it is because I deserved it.
Tch, that's not important. I want to go back to slapping kids. I walked through the dreary void, only to see a girl who looked exactly like me. It was disgusting, this little girl had long white hair with scratch marks on her face. She scratched at her dirty face endlessly.
"I'm so sorry. Please father. Take me back, I deserve it. IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"
She suddenly looked up at me and grabbed at my dress.
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! GO BACK, DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!"
Her eyes cried tears of blood as she stared at me. I raised my hand and stared at her mercilessly.
Suddenly a devastating slap deformed my face. I launched up and looked up at the perpetrator. I grabbed a random axe and swung it at the girl's head. She gasped in fear but my gasp of shock was far louder, she was a negro.
I jumped back only to see my bare boobs. The color in my already pale face disappeared.
Did this woman touch me inappropriately? Are we devoted companions now? Can a woman actually love a woman? BUT SHE'S A NEGRO WHY WOULD I DATE SOMETHING BELOW ME!
I looked down and saw two cotton blankets underneath me. One was used as a bed and one was used to cover me.
Is she taking care of me? Why would she do that for someone like me? I mean I am better than her in every attribute but I didn't know negros were that observant.
I opened my mouth to speak but pure globbergoogle came out of it. Embarrassed, I continued to speak in gibberish to pretend like I was speaking another language.
She chuckled before pointing at where my clothes were located and with a smile that really exposed her beautiful skin, she spoke.
"I washed them for you."
She's kinda pretty actually…NO THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!
"WHERE AM I?!"
I stomped over to my clothes. axe still on hand…just in case.
"You're in my shack. I'm sorry if it's too small for you."
I ignored her for a moment and observed my surroundings. In all seriousness this was a pretty good shack considering the fact that she had to have built it herself. With considerably low resources and the lack of architectural knowledge. I could build a better shack but still though it's impressive.
This isn't really important, but her hair is considerably curly and her skin is still melanated but she's lighter than the rest.
"Hey, are you a half-breed?"
"Yea, my mother raised me in this shack."
I acknowledged her answer and went back to observing my surroundings. The shack was moist but had no mold, how?
She's good at cleaning…I like that.
The girl sat awkwardly and reached to grab a bowl of soup.
"Hey my name is Al-"
I put my arm out to stop her from speaking.
"I don't want to know your name."
I slowly put on my tie and glared at her. She reached out for another bowl of soup and tried to hand it to me.
Is she trying to watch me eat?!
"Tch, I would never eat your disgusting food. You wish someone like me would eat in front of you."
She flinched and covered her face. I sat down and stared at her shiver with fear.
"Why are you scared?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"I'm sorry my soup was so disgusting. You seemed hungry so I just thought you needed food."
I couldn't help but just stare at this half-breed. Because why would she insult me like that? I'm the most beautiful woman in the world. How dare she imply that I look sickly.
"No, I'm okay. Wait…WHERE'S MY HARP!"
I raised my hand and the woman flinched back and yelled with genuine fear.
"STOP IT'S OVER THERE!"
I lowered my hand and stood stiffly with a straight face.
"Oh, thank you."
I skipped over to my harp and hugged it. I turned my head at incredible speed and glared at the half-breed.
"Did you touch it?"
She nodded her head yes. I sighed, looking like I'm gonna have to clean it. I stared at my thoughtless harp, my vision beginning to blur as the look of focus turned into a look of dissociation.
"Hey half-breed, do you want to be my first slave?"
She stared at me with widened eyes.
"No, sorry."
I still stared at my harp as I paused for a moment.
"I'll treat you well. You'll be my only one. This shack isn't an optimal way of living. You'll die, never truly being happy with life. Alone, nobody will mourn your death. Some might even celebrate it. But not with me, you'll be happy. You'll get everything you desire. Just…be by my side. This is for you. People like you need connections."
"No, sorry."
"But you…you deserve it."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologize, it makes it seem like you're rubbing it in my face."
I sat back down and stared at my harp. My gaze got more and more intense as my grip tightened on it each second. She stared at me, waiting for a response to her rejection. I couldn't help but feel uneasy even though I was used to it. Why? Why wouldn't she want to live a better life? Is it me? Do I need to be better? No, no it's her fault.
The sound of a crow screaming rang through my ears. I placed my harp gently on the ground and as soon as the half-breed smiled at me, I grabbed her by the throat. I wrapped both of my hands around her throat and stared her in the eyes. The fire still burns bright, bright enough for me to see her red cheeks.
Stare into my soul, read my thoughts. I can't apologize for something that comes so naturally to me. It isn't my fault, she's making me do this.
I pressed my lips against her ear, as my eye stared inches away from hers.
"Are you scared?"
She scratched at my arms, wailing around the place. Trying to escape her fate.
"Why are you afraid? Aren't you suffering? Why do you value your life if there's nothing good in it? Why don't you die?"
She struggled and struggled, this doesn't amuse me. Why are you making me do this? You like it, you want it. You want a reason to live. You don't know what's best for you.
"Do you love me?"
"Yes."
"What do you want?"
"To be with you."
The shack went silent for a moment, the sound of wood burning made the situation eerie. Like I was forcing her to do something she didn't want to do. She wanted to do it, she just didn't know it. She loves me, who wouldn't love me.
"I love you too. Your name will be Claire. Claire, you're my slave. My one and only."
I grabbed my harp gently and pulled Claire's arm with all my might. With my teeth gleaming with joy, I made a declaration for the future.
"Come on, let's go to town! I'll show you a life that you couldn't even dream of! RYAHA!"
Now that I think about that dream that I once had. A boy who looks exactly like me always haunts my dreams. Every second I think about myself I see him. He feels so familiar, so reachable. Yet every time I acknowledge him he attacks me. I don't know who this boy is, but he's someone I could never forget. Every time he attacks I hear those words. Every. Single. Time.
"I hate you."
My heart burns…suddenly a boy crashed into me. The boy flipped around the dirty mud and crashed into a tree trump. The boy quickly crawled back up and ran towards me. He grabbed both of my arms and looked around my body.
"Are you okay?!"
I opened my eyes only to see the sky twirling like a whirlpool.
"YOU'RE IN DANGER GET UP!"
He grabbed onto me and tried to pull me away from Claire. But I didn't let go, I couldn't. I couldn't abandon her.
"LET GO OF HER! WE HAVE TO GO!"
"I CAN'T LEAVE HER!"
"SHE'S NOT THE TARGET IF WE LEAVE HER SHE WON'T BE IN DANGER!"
He's lying, I know he's lying! She'll be in danger too. I can't let go of her. I'm not being selfish, I'm just not gullible enough to believe this stranger.
"LET GO OF HER NO-"
The sky pulled us in. My lungs felt like the air was being ripped out of it.
I'm dying, I'm gonna die.
My bones felt like they were being twisted in every possible way they could be twisted all at once. My screams of agony went back into my eardrums and caused my brain to vibrate. Everything felt wrong, my brain, my heart, my bones, my lungs…my lungs…everything began to become darker. The boy stood in all of the chaos and pointed at me.
"This is all your fault."
Then everything went black. Suddenly we crashed into the ground. Everything was blurry, my stomach felt like it was turned upside down. Every bone in my body ached with a sharp pain. Did I die? No, I wouldn't be feeling this much pain if I was dead.
"Ryooooooo, ouch."
Wait, where's Claire? I picked up my head and looked around to see my black harp broken. I let out a yell that caused the birds to all fly out of the trees. I crawled over to it and hugged onto the pieces.
"I swear I'll fix you, even if it's the last thing I do. I'm sorry for not protecting you."
I heard a soft groan in the distance and stood up to see Claire laid on the ground. She stood up slowly and gave me a soft smile. She raised her hand and began to wave and all of my worries quickly disappeared till her blood splattered on my face.