Whispers in the Dark

the w orld is
sh u t t e r i ng
and
sh a ki ng
and
s h i v e r i n g
out of control.
there s a storm building. hidden. boiling and itching n crawlingg

beneath the skin

like insecrts. eating you from the inside out. flesh eaters. some humans are flesh eaters too. they eat away. wearing you out. down. crippling. until you feel like youre gon ig to hear an echo when you talk. bouncing off your ribcage into the exxpance of nothing that

only gets

"...Why did he do it?"

worse

"The Author never snapped
the leash like that on me before....
did he think I was just
going to roll over
and play dead?"

rattle

screeches and

groans

clawing cries of

timber

and nails

it's all coming apart, isn't it?

"He threatened me.
He threatened my family.
He had to know how I'd react.
It's not like I was a faceless file.
It's not like
he didn't know me.
I was brought into his office several times.
I thought, of all the Highest,
The Author would understand.
Let me do things my way.
The Other Highest
never approved of me.
My attitude.
But The Author was different.
Least I thought he was.
I didn't mean for things to go this far but...
I couldn't
let it happen.
I couldn't let him
HURT them.
You understand,
don't you...?"

pounding. slitting. blistering my skull my m ind theres flashes and twisted of images one on top of the other amonst the RED and white like the stains on Alex's sheets when I

and it went thud. then

nothing.

just dead eyes and red on white on red on...

but Jo is here. Jo understands. he has always understood me. always known what i was thinking. what i was feeling. he's always been there for me. he's my friend. my closest friend. i can

t rust

him

"Of course, I do.

But, of course,
I can't help but feel responsible

for this whole mess
in the first place.

However, what use is there to me

blaming the monster

that's truly at fault?
I suppose that's in the past now.

You forget, Sam,

that this all could have been

a product of...

careful misdirection.

The product of the Devil

whispering in your ear.

Or someone else's,

for that matter.

I have never been a gambling man,

you know that.

But a bet against the
Crimson King

having his grubby fingers

where they did not belong

is a stupid bet indeed.

You know how he is, Sam.

What he can do.

For all we know,

the entire situation

was just misinformation

built upon

a foundation

of lies."

"I... suppose
it's possible that
The Author was mislead somehow?
I don't know what to think.
Everything just seems so...
complicated lately.
So very complicated..."

"As if it wasn't
complicated enough before."

such a kind smile
such a welcome
contrast
to the blistering storm outside

"But you've never really been one

to give up, have you?

Not with Alex or Leo

and certainly not now."

"...I kknow that he...
isn't dead.
He can't be dead.
There's no possibl e way.
Valtiel claims he is...
but one can hardly trust
a snake tongue,
riight...?"

"Yes, I'd be inclined

to agree with you.

If not The Tree,

what has our Red Friend

even been killed by?

No, he's probably taking

his sweet time

dismantling all semblance

of order we used to have.

It's disgusting, isn't it?

How quickly he turns

to chaos as a solution

to a question

that nobody is asking...."

he suddenly turns to me

puzzled

"But here's

the real problem, Sam.

What if it wasn't Author

who was misled...?"

my stomach
gives a twist

"I...

...I... suppose it's possible?

I am merely
humann.

As capable of being

deceived as
an yone.

But how?

In what way?

Those Proxies had come for me.

They had

an arrest warrant for me

issued by The Author.

They tortured me.

They were trying to find out

where they were.

Alex and Leo.

I couldn't

tell them that.

I couldn't...!"

pound

and pound

and CLAWING at ny s skull

mmy EYE

ny e ye iis B BURNNING

"...then tthat...

...sna ke came...

and made everything

a million times

worse.
Just

Amber

Eyed

Snakes...

the bboth

of them..."

"It's interesting

that you use 'Snake' to

describe one,

and 'The Devil' to

describe the other.

You've got to wonder

if maybe you've got it

the wrong way around.

Think, Sam!

Why would your subconscious mind

make that association

between the two of them? "

speechless
i'm speechless
I don't know whattt
it n ever

it never made sense

i know that

i had always known that
so little of it all

actually made sense
but it split my

skull

to even ju

"What are you missing?

If...

when they tortured you,

were they really looking

for something

so simple?"

hammering

beating

BURNING

my mind

to even...

why had The Author singled me out?

why had he issued a warrent

instead of just...

asking me to come in?

why had it all

spooked him so much?

why had it been put

on such top priority

when t here were so much

bigger

things

to wworry about?
i t nnever mad e sen

"...You can't trust anyone, Sam

You can't trust me.
You can't trust Redlight.

And you sure as Hell

can't trust yourself.

What are you doing?

being satisfied

in a bed of lies?

This isn't like you!"

theres a

suddden

FLASH

a glimpse

a shadow

an impression

of somethi ng

that felt

true

"The Author...
said...
that he
couldn't
help me...?"

it diidn't

add

"...help me
with
what...?
It doesn't make any
SENSE!"

the t orture had been

exxperimen tal

buy whyy?

why bother go to that

lengt?h

why isolatem e

from the other prsioners?

why take

so m many precautions?

why had there been sso

MANY

involved?

too mmuch

to many

m any

questions

"I can't think!

I can't THINK
pastt
this damn headache!"

im ppacing again

back

and

forth

and

forth

and

back

stirring dust

on the

splitting

Cafe

floor

"it just wwon't STOP!

What couldn't The Author
help me with?

Why is so much focused on me?

First Red,

then The Author,

now Valtiel...

or Valtiels, rather...

why?
WHY?!

Things don't get
this complicated.

Not THIS complicated!

I'm NOTHING!

I'm a Servant!

A damn high school teacher

for the love of God..."

"I know it's hard."

he sound
so much mor e
distant now

as if he was

so far away

"But you're running out of time, Sam.

You've made a terrible mistake...

in assuming
that your memories

could be trusted.

I wouldn't feel too badly about it.

You're human,

and that's all you can be.

To expect yourself

to have questioned

your recollections sooner

is a waste of time.
But that doesn't mean
you can keep pretending
you aren't nnoticing the
cra
cks."

he swallows

seemingly finding it
hard to continue

even as i

slowly come to a halt from my

p a c i n ggg

myy gaunt lett

l e aning against a

support

my head pulsing with each

word I hheard

"Just iggnore
the headache for a s econd.

Doesn't this all seem too...
convenient?

The minute you'd want

revenge on The Devil,

a new Snake shows up...

for what?

I'm going
to be frank here,
Sam,

please forgive me,

but you're nothing special.

You're right:

you shouldn't have attracted

any attention whatsoever."

he grimaces,

holding his own head,

fingers gripping tight enough

to turn their tips

pure white.

"So what

could have
possibly happened

that would suddenly

make you

a person of interest...?"

a siic knesss

ch u rni n g

inside

                  a Fear
     b   e    n    e   athe
      the P   A    I     N

What ccan i
t trust

if not my own
mindd?

m y own
memmories?

when did things
start

to stop

making sense?

"...Redlight disappeared.

He disappeared and...

there was suddenly this

tornado
that replaced him..."

i feel

so weak

i want to sit down

i nee d to si

"DDid...

Au
thor think...

I knew wh where he wwas?

What he was...

ddoing?"

"EExcell
ent."

he panted
just the same as mme
a mirror
of the pain
and
exhuastion
       i felt gnawing away
inside

"What would that
have to do with

'helping you',

however?

Author is a straightforward man.

He wouldn't say

anything he didn't-"

he's cut off

by another
s
t
a
b
of pain
shooting
splitting
burning

through his skull,

a silent whimper

on the edge of his breath.

                                                 I sta
gg
   er
   grabbing hold
of the b
e
a
m
   to support me
as i fight against
   the sudden    S
P
I
   K
   E
   B O L T I N G
through
   my
skull
   out
my
EYE
everything
   spinning
                   sway
                           ingg
          barely
                                          standing

stomach

"arre yyoou... aallright?

My ffriiend...?

WWinston...?"

"-mean."

he finally finishes

straining.

"I'm fine.

Everything's going t
o be
okay

as long as we
keep
going.

eeven a ssuming

Author's comment
meant nothing.

why wouldn't Leo
have been used

to control you before this?

The information

was not that hard to find.

Children lleave
paper trails,

no matter what.

Someone who knew what to look for

could have found the signs."

he's shaking

badly

just

like me

"Unless

they hit a dead
end, Sam.

Unless there was nothing

more
to
look
for."

I shook my head.

Slightly
at first

then a touch more firm.

Or is 'desperate' a better word?

"No, they...

they wouldn't
have known.

They couldn't have known.

I didn't give my name.

Not my real one.

'Freeman' is a lie.

My favorite
actor.
Nothing more.

Leo...

was protected.

I kept him safe.

That was always

top priority.

Always.

He stayed safe.
He..."

a sickening feeling

stirred in my stomach.

this i wrong.

this is

wrong...

"...he was my little boy.

he was so young...

why...
would they

have even looked?

You said it yourself.

I'm nothing special.

I wasn't even

trained.

I'm not..."

"... Sam.

Why did you use past tense?"

"I...

I didn't.

I'm sorry, that

was... an aaccident

I mmeant...

i meanntt...

it...

it was...

an accident....

a....

....no...

no, it's not possible.

it's not!
I held him!

I HELD HIM!

I was WITH him!

He remembered me,
Winston
He said he'd missed me!
He wanted to come home!
He...!

He...

my bboy...

mmy..."

it huurts

it all hu

rts so mu cch

"....Wiins
tton.....?

whattss
hhappennig
t to
m ee...?

"Leo's dead."

voice like a quiet breeze

in the stagnant air

of the cafe.

No, it's a bar, isn't it...?

"Two years ago,
he ran out into the road

and was mowed down

by someone minding

their own business.

Nobody was at fault.

His foster parents

were inconsolable.

Fate dealt him a cruel hand.

Declared dead at the scene.

Just another dead deer

at the side of the road.

A statistic.

A tragedy.

That's what's going on, Sam.

You're living a LIE!"

"...nno.

N-NO!

youre wwrog!

Leo...

Leeo w-was pplay ing

i ssaw him

i i saw mmy
booy

i...

he....

he rran
t o me"

sha kki n g

evve rythiing

jjust...

i could f eel the bblood

from my nails

grripping my

f r o m

F - L - E - S - H

its wrong

its lies

its not REAL

GETITOUTOFME

"GGodd

nno

I
hhad
hiim.

I...

...sstop it...

...stop it.

S T O P I T !!!"

"...Let me tell you a story, Sam.

A Proxy goes
to their only friend

on a dark and stormy night.

The Proxy's friend says that its important.

That the Proxy has been acting...

strange.

Tell me..."

his voice sounds
so
strange

but

familiar...?

"What did your friend show you that night?

What could have possibly
been so important?"

a shudder passed

t h r o u g h me

r at tlin g me

ra tt ling like the roof

the walls

the floor

the world

pulling

from its base

coming
l

falling apart, don't you mean?

"....hiis...

dde ath

c-certificate...

his....

oh God

God

pplease noo

mm y
boy

he wwas j ust aa
BOY...!!

myy
bboy

mmy

bbaby boy..."

"You had been acting like he was alive."

that voice keeps twisting. so unlike him.

pacing around me.

circling me

constricting around

unforgiving eyes

never leaving me

ever

"So your friend confronted you. Showed you the evidence.
Said you were delusional.

Explained that The Author had never sent you into any suicide mission

as punishment, but rather because you were the only one that could even come close to handling the job. That your allegiance towards the Red Devil had... changed you. That he was twisting everything around on you and turning his 'Jester' into a real life Fool. And when your friend finally finished

talking... when he placed a hand on your shoulder

and quietly stated that he would help you through this,

help you get your life back...."

i felt the floorboards hit my knees

the palms of my hands

everything coming up at me in a rush of movement that

flooded over my mind. plunging me into ice and

heat and tearing storms of blood and screams and restraints on my wrists and ankles and chest as i begged the Author to kill me. i didn't want to go back i didn't want to get swallowed by the RED. it choked me until i couldn't breath couldn't think couldn't SEE what was right before my eyes until there were circles of bruises with eyes that never closed. only stared. only stared up at me as my fingers closed tighter around that throat. that throat that pulse that LIFE that is...

was...

my best friend...

and i did'nt stop

until it did

"...I killed him."

all lies

all been nothing

but

lies

everything

RED

s p ll in t e r i ng in tto

s moth ering

overr

infect

inF ESTii ng

evretihng

EVVERYTHING

jusst REDD

                             RED

                      RED

    RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

RED

no

RED

NO

            NO GETOUTT

                              GGET OUT

GETOUTOFMYHEAD!!!!

Whispers in the Dark

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

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