Suffer with Me: Chapter 3 – Bond Building Through Blood

Chapter 3 – Bond Building Through Blood

Once they feel rested enough, Simona and Bernardo exit the resting room. They enter a small room with a small box connected to various contraptions. These contraptions have spinning blades, fire, ice, crushing parts, and other things that would cause a person massive pain. The box in the center contains one vial with a key in the middle of the box and the box itself is locked. Ms. Mara comes out from the hole in the ceiling.

“Long time no see, am I right?” she says, “I’m here again to explain what you’re supposed to do. You see, I thought about which challenge you should do next and I thought this would be best. I’ll be telling you what you should do for the next set of challenges.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“In this challenge of love, you must each sacrifice some of your blood, but since you take the pain of your loved one and you can’t use all of your blood, you’ll have to share the pain as married couples do.”

Looking back at the contraptions, Simona imagines the pain of putting her hand into them.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am! Since there were previous attempts at doing these challenges that dragged on until forever, the Wanting will have you wanting to get this over with faster. Good luck!”

Ms. Mara leaves as the Wanting start banging on the walls, floors, and ceiling. Bernardo and Simona are hesitant to move at first, but Bernardo urges them forward.

“Come on, Simona! We have to do this or else we’ll die. I’ll go first. Put your arm in one of the contraptions. Preferably the least painful one.”

“Mm!”

“It’s fine, I can take it. I’ll try to take as much of it as possible.”

“Mm…”

The arm of a Wanting breaks through the wall.

“Hurry!”

Simona puts her arm in one of the contraptions and pulls it out as soon as Bernardo starts reacting to it. Looking at the center vial, she only sees a little blood in it.

“Keep going! I’ll tap out when I can’t take it anymore.”

“Mm-mm!”

“It’s fine, just trust me!”

Simona hesitates a bit before putting her arm back into the contraption. Bernardo keeps himself from yelling out in pain and tries to bear it on his feet for as long as he can as blood starts coming out of their connected arm. The center vial is now filling at a rapid pace and is more than halfway before Bernardo falls to his knees. Knowing that he can’t take it anymore, Simona takes her arm out and helps Bernardo to his feet.

“I…I didn’t say stop.”

“Mm!”

“Yeah…I guess I went a little too far. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“…mm.”

“Alright…Brace yourself.”

With Simona’s help, Bernardo puts his hand in a contraption with blades. As the blades cut his arm, the vial continues to fill while Simona bears the pain. Bernardo holds onto Simona to give her support. Once he hears the lock release, he takes his arm out.

“Get the key!”

Simona quickly grabs the key, uses it on the door, and goes into the next room. This room is a glass box where Simona can see the hordes of Wanting on the other side.

“Mm!”

“What is it this time? I can hear noise all around us.”

Ms. Mara pops out again and says, “Hello again! For this challenge, you will use that strength I gave you and put it to good use. Here come two Wanting for you to beat. Either they’ll get another chance at the challenges or you’ll be granting them their release. Let’s see which couple will win.” She then disappears as two Wanting drop into the glass room with their machetes.

“Try not to move around too much. We’re stuck together, but they aren’t. Let’s focus on one at a time. I’ll follow your lead since you can see.”

“Mm!”

Before they can do anything, the Wanting leap at them. Simona moves to the side to dodge them. The Wanting’s attack has left them wide open, so Simona punches one of them while urging Bernardo forward.

“Mm!”

“Got it!”

Bernardo throws a punch at the Wanting and connects with Simona. The monster is thrown back and heavily injured. Its partner shields it and becomes more aggressive. Bernardo follows Simona’s movements as she dodges the monster’s attacks. Once the Wanting is far enough from its partner, Simona moves in and urges Bernardo forward to deliver the finishing blow. With its partner dead, the other one dies as well, which also unlocks the door.

“The other one fell too? I knew we could do it!”

“Mm!”

“Let’s keep going.”

When they go into the next room, they come across a narrow corridor.

Ms. Mara comes out and explains, “The narrow corridor before you is a simple straight path to the exit, however, you’ll be hit by the Wanting that can cut you through the holes. Most people are killed, but to avoid it, one person must take all the pain and carry the other one to the exit-”

“I’ll do it!”

“Volunteering to take the pain for your loved one even before I finish talking. This is really what true love is about!”

“Mm-mm!”

“Don’t worry about me. Just keep your faith in me and we’ll make it through it.”

“He already chooses to suffer for you, Simona. He really does love you. It’s so precious!”

“Mm…” Simona muffles with a blushed face.

“I’ll heal your wounds to give you a helping hand. Please, bear the pain and make this true love story continue!”

Bernardo and Simona are healed. Now that he’s healed, Bernardo picks up Simona and is positioned to walk down the narrow hallway. The Wanting start stabbing their machetes through the holes above in anticipation for his arrival while leaving the ones on the bottom empty.

“Mm!”

“Hold on, Simona. I won’t let you go. I promise that we’ll make it through this.”

“Mm!”

“Here we go!”

Bernardo heads into the narrow pathway both with confidence and fear. He’s cut by the blades of the Wanting mercilessly as Simona tries to avoid as many as she can to lessen the pain. She doesn’t help much because of how many blades touch her. Bernardo keeps a positive mindset as he’s cut repeatedly without a chance to catch his breath as he feels a constant cutting feeling around his face and body. He knows how worried Simona is, but can’t open his mouth to say anything other than to yell in pain and to empower himself to keep going. After seven agonizing minutes of cutting, Bernardo makes it to the end of the hallway, through the door, and into the resting room where he collapses.

Now more worried than ever, Simona shakes Bernardo while listening for a heartbeat. Ms. Mara enters the room through the hole in the ceiling as he is being healed.

“He’s such a brave man. You have no idea how many men make the women carry them to the end. Sure, some of the women I picked were more muscular than them, but still.”

“Mm! Mm!”

“I know you must have strong words to say for me, but that will have to wait till the end if you can make it there.”

“Tell me, are we near the end?” Bernardo says as he regains his strength.

“Mm!”

“You’re almost there. Just a couple more challenges and your love story will be complete.”

“Where are we? Can we even make it back home from here?”

“You’re in an underground series of changing rooms controlled by the force that allowed me to find lovers like you. The next room you go to is the choice of that force. You should be able to make it back home from here. If you can beat the challenges, then you can beat anything!”

“Why did you pick us? What makes us so special?”

“Oh, it’s just something that I saw in your bond that stood out to me from the rest. You’ll have to wait till after your next challenge to find out what that something was.”

“Mm!”

“There aren’t many more important things I can tell you, so I’ll give you your extra special reward now.”

Two appendages come out from the hole Ms. Mara is in and stab themselves through the heads of Bernardo and Simona before quickly retreating back.

“What did you do to us this time?”

What did she do this time?

“Congratulations! You can now hear each other’s thoughts and communicate with one another with your minds.”

“What?”

Is she serious?

Simona, is that you?

Bernardo? It’s me. I can hear you…somehow.

“It must be amazing to talk to each other through your minds. I wish I could do the same, but enough about me. Your next challenge starts now!”

What the heck?! The walls of the room closed in on us!

It’s so tight! Can you move?

No. It looks like we’re going to stay pressed up against each other like this.

“This is so precious seeing you two like this. You must use your new ability to complete the three hidden challenges.”

“Three hidden challenges?”

“Yes. Your hint to complete them is that they have to do with true love of course. Bye-bye!”

She’s gone.

Great just great.

Well, at least we can finally talk to each other.

That’s the problem. I didn’t want to talk to you, Bernardo.

What?

Suffer with Me: Chapter 2 – Rely on Me

Chapter 2 – Rely on Me

Simona leads Bernardo into the next room. They find themselves on a small platform with small and narrow planks above a dark abyss.

“Mm…”

“What is it? Why does it feel so drafty in here?”

Knowing that they’re forced to do this if they want answers and to leave, Simona positions herself to walk on the narrow planks and touches Bernardo’s chest and shoulders to make him straighten his body.

“Should I straighten my body again?”

“Mm.”

“Okay.”

Bernardo straightens his body before Simona leads them onto the narrow planks. While walking on it, Bernardo realizes what he’s doing and tries not to tense up.

“Don’t look down.”

“Mm…”

“Just concentrate on moving forward. We can do this.”

“Mm…”

Simona watches her step while trying to be as calm as possible. The path of planks changes directions and even go down and up a couple of times for an added challenge. It all seems to be going fine until the sound of the planks breaking is heard from behind them. Simona stops and looks behind them to see nothing. That is until she sees a piece of it being broken off.

“I hear planks behind us breaking. We should probably move.”

“Mm.”

The planks start breaking more rapidly as they continue.

“Whatever is doing this is probably trying to break our concentration. Don’t let it bother you!” Bernardo says as he tries not to be bothered by it himself.

This advice works for Simona even when the boards are breaking in front of her. For her to tell Bernardo to walk over them, she lifts their arm.

“Did a board break in front of us?”

“Mm!”

“Okay.”

Simona makes sure that Bernardo makes it over the gap in the boards safely as they continue forward. They encounter this challenge with longer distances to cross until one seems too far to cross. This is when the plank falls from under them. They fall into the abyss and land in it.

“Ow. At least we didn’t fall that far.”

“Mm…”

“I know it was still scary, but at least we’re alive. Do you see anything around us?”

“Mm-mm…”

“Nothing. Can you feel anything?”

Bernardo and Simona feel the area around them, and it feels like the normal checkered floors. Bernardo can feel the edges of the floor near him and the endless abyss they almost fell into.

“At least we didn’t fall a couple feet behind us. I don’t feel anything over there.”

“Mm!” Simona muffles as she taps Bernardo’s chest with her hand.

“Heh, I guess it’s not too comforting of a thought, eh? Let’s keep moving then. There has to be a way out of here.”

“Mm…”

“I know you can’t see, but we have to-”

The sound of something moving and unhuman grumbling coming from the dark startles them.

“That’s an even better motivator to move. Come on, I’ll keep an ear out so we can avoid whatever is out there.”

“Mm…”

Simona and Bernardo walk into the pitch-black darkness together. Bernardo isn’t as uneased as Simona is since he’s used to seeing nothing. He can feel her shake and move erratically as the noises in the darkness make her anxious. To make her feel better, he holds her close to him with her head on his chest. She starts blushing a bit and so does he.

“Mm!” Simona quietly muffles.

“Shh. You’ve been doing most of the work. Now it’s my turn to take the lead. You can trust me to keep you safe,” Bernardo whispers.

“Mm…”

Simona sticks close to Bernardo as they make their way through the darkness. They feel confident close to one another and feel an almost familiar sense of friendship. Bernardo moves in the opposite direction of the noises he hears while making sure to watch where he’s walking. This becomes especially important when he comes near one of the sources of the noise. Simona can’t help but look at it as they near it.

One of the sources of the noise is a monster with the form of what looks to be human. Its legs and arms are split in two along with its head and chest. The head and chest are mouths with tongues coming out of it as if reaching out for something. In its arm, the monster holds a machete that is held by a long grip along the other side of its blade.

“Mm! Mm!” Simona muffles quietly while pushing on Bernardo to move away from the monster.

Hearing her quiet muffling, the monster opens its head mouth and makes a noise at them that almost sounds like a call. Bernardo immediately changes direction and walks a different way, but then he begins to hear more monsters walking to him, so he tries to compensate by changing directions accordingly with a little help from Simona, who can see the monsters when they get closer. Their teamwork allows them to reach a black wall that Simona stops Bernardo from walking into. Following the wall leads them to a red door that opens to a normal hallway. Simona and Bernardo take a breather as they feel safe.

This doesn’t last long as part of the ceiling suddenly juts out and slams itself on the floor to create a loud banging noise. The monsters from the previous room hear the noise, bolt towards the door, and start trying to break it down.

“Mm!”

“I know!”

Bernardo and Simona run down the hallway as the monsters break down the doors while some monsters start breaking into the room through the walls. The floors underneath them start breaking apart as well with the planks they crossed being under them. Parts of the wall and ceiling start to jut out to push them into the holes in the floor or slow them down. They manage to avoid everything while keeping ahead of the monsters until one manages to come down from the ceiling ahead of them. It runs at them with its cleaver ready to cut and slash.

Simona tries to avoid it and pull Bernardo along with her while he focuses on where it is in relation to him and readies himself to push through it if he needs to. The monster closes the distance between them and yells as it raises its cleaver. Bernardo rushes forward to try to protect Simona while she is ready to dodge it. What ends up happening is the monster strikes at Simona who is unable to dodge its attack, is closest to it, but isn’t hurt by the blade nor is she knocked back by it. Bernardo takes the hit instead and is cut by the blade as if it cut him and he staggers back. Meanwhile, the monster forces its blade on Simona as the cutting feeling deepens on Bernardo’s chest. He winces in pain and throws his right arm out as if the blade is on him but is confused to feel nothing there.

“What the?”

“Mm!”

Simona tries to push away the blade but notices that it’s affecting the place where Bernardo’s left hand was, so she tries to push the blade as fast as she could. Knowing that she’s struggling against the monster, Bernardo puts his feet down, figures out where the blade actually is and helps Simona push away the blade in time for the horde behind them to catch up. Bernardo pushes Simona forward along with himself with whatever strength he can muster.

“Go!”

“Mm!”

“I’ll be fine! Just run as fast as you can!”

The monsters slash at the space between them and Bernardo in a desperate attempt to get him. He can really begin to feel the pressure and struggles not to stumble and let his injuries slow him down. Both he and Simona run not only for themselves but for each other. With their combined strength they make it to the door at the end of the hallway and immediately collapse on the floor. The door shuts behind them and the monsters try to break it down. They whimper as something scares them off. Before Bernardo and Simona can wonder what scared off the monsters, Ms. Mara pops out of a hole in the ceiling with her always smiling face.

“I’m so pleased that you two managed to survive that. Bravo!” Ms. Mara says while clapping her hands.

The bodies of Simona and Bernardo are healed of all injuries. Bernardo gets up as soon as he can for answers.

“What were those things?”

“Those were the people who failed my challenges for them. I call them the Wanting. They’re all heartless, empty, and starving for something to fill their empty bodies so they can live. That’s why they’re after you. It’s can only have another chance at the challenges if they gain another human heart for them and their partner. They’re not entirely conscious of what they’re doing, so don’t hate them.”

“How does this all work? I don’t understand how you’re controlling it and how you’re behind all of it.”

“It’s from a force of love beyond your understanding. I made a good deal with him that cost me my body but gained me this wondrous underground facility to see true love flourish.”

“I got cut but nothing was cutting me. What’s with that?”

“If your loved one is hurt, you get hurt instead where they are hurt. If your hand gets cut, her hand gets cut. If she stubs her toe, your toe feels the pain. If you walk into a wall, she takes the pain for you such is the way of true love. If you truly love someone, you’ll suffer with them and even suffer for them, which is one of the main lessons I’m trying to convey.”

“Why are you so open about giving us answers?”

“Because I don’t want all of these big questions to bother you because you’re supposed to be thinking only about your loved one. I just want to see a love story play out before me and not a tragedy. I’m itching to see if you’ll beat the next challenges, and there’s only so much I can tell you that’s left, so please ask away!”

“How do Simona and I know each other?”

“You two have been through a lot together. Your bond is something so precious that the most valuable diamond in the world can’t compare to it. That’s all I’ll tell you for now, but before I go, here is something to help you out.”

Two appendages come out and stab themselves through Bernardo’s and Simona’s head then quickly retreat.

“You should now be able physically stronger now so you each have the strength of at least one of those Wanting now. Goodbye and good luck!”

Ms. Mara disappears and let’s Bernardo and Simona rest in the room. Simona reflects on her recent experiences and is unsure if they’ll make it through if it keeps getting harder. Sensing her worry, Bernardo takes her hand and holds it.

“We’re going to make it, Simona.”

“Mm…”

“I know it’s difficult, but you heard what Mara said. We’ve been through a lot together in life. I believe that as long as we trust each other and do what we did before then we can make it.”

“Mm…”

“Think about it. Ms. Mara wants us to succeed. She isn’t going to make the challenges impossible to complete. Besides, we’re a good team. With our combined strength, there’s nothing we can’t beat. Okay?”

“Mm.”

“That’s what I want to hear.”

New cover!

If you haven't seen it yet, then check out this story with an updated cover by Joannnnethius on Twitter. It's a dark romance story with a new spin on zombies that focuses on its effects on people who are attracted to one another.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/920735

Suffer with Me: Chapter 1 – Connected for Love

Chapter 1 – Connected for Love

The muffled noise of a woman wakes up a man from his sleep.

“Huh? What is it? Where am I?” he says as he sits up from the solid black and red checkered floor, “I feel so light-headed.”

He keeps hearing the sound of a muffled woman making noise while pulling at his left arm. The man tries to open his eyes but is unable to. He tries to use his right hand to touch his eyes and feels stitches on them.

“What the hell?! Why are there stitches covering my eyes? What’s going on?”

The woman is trying to say words, but her she can’t.

“Stop pulling at me. Where’s my hand?! Why are our arms attached by stitching? Is there something on your mouth that’s stopping you from talking? Let me see if I can remove it.”

The woman knows she can’t tell him anything, so she lets him touch her mouth to show him that her mouth is stitched shut.

“Your mouth is stitched shut like my eyes. What about…” He moves his hands to her eyes to find that her eyes aren’t stitched shut. “You can see and can’t talk while I can talk but not see?”

“Mm.”

“I wonder how we got here, but I guess we’ll have to wait a while to find that answer. How are we going to talk effectively? Oh. How about you say mm for yes and mm-mm for no? Is that okay?”

“Mm.”

“Good. Are there any cameras around us?”

“Mm-mm.”

“Anyone around us?”

“Mm-mm.”

“Is this just an empty room?”

“Mm.”

“Okay, so we’re not being monitored. My name is Bernardo. Write your name with your finger on my or I guess our arm, so I know what your name is…Your name is Simona?”

“Mm.”

“It’s a pretty name.”

Simona blushes a bit at the compliment.

“So, let’s find a way out, Simona. Lead us to the door and I’ll do my best to follow.”

Bernardo stands up with Simona as she leads him out of the room. On the way out of the room, Bernardo walks into a wall.

“Mm!”

Despite Bernardo hitting the wall, Simona is the one who feels the pain, which confuses her. Bernardo, on the other hand, is unaware of this.

“Oops. Move our arm in the direction you want me to move next time.”

“Mm.”

Simona and Bernardo walk into a somewhat cramped hallway with parts of the wall and ceiling jutting out in weird places.

“I don’t know if this is accurate, but it feels like this hallway is here to help us get used to walking with each other because of how much we’re moving around.”

“Mm.”

They make it through the room and enter a rooming of saw blades on the wall. The wall juts out just like the previous room and unlike the previous room, this room has blood on the ground and on the blades.

“Do I hear saw blades?”

“Mm!”

“Well, just be careful leading us through this.

“Mm…”

“We can do this. I trust you.”

Strengthened by Bernardo’s support, Simona carefully makes her way through the spinning blades while making sure none of them touch Bernardo. After going further into the room, a solid wall comes down and blocks the way they came in. A wall of saw blades then begins to close in on them from behind.

“What was that? Are there blades behind us now?”

“Mm!”

“Try not to panic. Just keep going.”

“Mm…”

Simona hurries while making sure that Bernardo is safe. It gets more difficult as the paths become narrower and narrower the further they go. The path becomes so narrow that Simona accidentally touches a blade.

“Ow! Did I touch a blade?”

“Mm-mm!”

“I’m fine. I’ll be careful next time.”

Bernardo still doesn’t understand how pain works in this new place, so Simona concentrates on keeping herself safe so that nothing happens to her. They then have to go down an even narrow path that they have to move their bodies sideways to go through. Simona tries to get Bernardo to move his body sideways by touching his chest and shoulder.

“What? Do you want me to move sideways?”

“Mm!”

“Alright.”

They move into the narrow path just in time as the wall of blades closes in on them. Broken pieces of metal start flying everywhere as the wall of blades cut through the blades on the walls.

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Mm!”

The door ahead of them opens by itself as they get closer to it. Once they make it through it, a wall closes off the door and protects them from the blades.

“Whew! That was a close one. Huh. I don’t feel a wound on my hand. That’s strange. I guess you could say that about this entire situation, eh?”

“Mm.”

Simona looks at their connected arm to see that there isn’t a wound where she touched the blade. She tries not to think too much about their situation and looks around the room to see what they’re dealing with now. The next room is a sort of maze with holes in the way. Simona looks through the holes to see the exit on the other side of the room, but she is startled by something that passes through the maze.

“Mm!”

“Is something wrong?”

Simona puts her finger on Bernado’s mouth, and he shakes his head, so she knows he understands to stay quiet. She keeps him close to her as she makes her way through the maze.

Hearing something in the maze, Bernardo whispers, “Is someone walking this way? Are there other people here?”

Simona hears something, but can’t make it out, and trusts Bernardo as she hides in a corner of the maze. Sure enough, something passes by them. Catching on that whatever in the maze is dangerous, Bernardo keeps an ear out for noises.

“It’s gone now. I don’t hear anything else.”

Taking the opportunity, Simona moves through the maze and hiding when Bernardo hears something. This way of advancing gets them through the maze and into the next room.

“Okay, we made it. Nice teamwork.” Bernardo holds out his hand and Simona claps it. “What’s next?”

“Mm-mm.”

“Nothing? There’s nothing in this room?”

“Mm-mm.”

“Is there something dangerous in the room?”

“Mm-mm.”

“That’s good, I guess. Let’s take a breather then.”

This “rest” room is filled with red couches and pink rugs that make it seem like a comfortable place to be in. Unlike the other rooms, the walls are red, and the ceiling is pink and black. Simona sits down with Bernardo on the couch and relaxes as there is no exit to the room other than the way they came in. A hole then forms on the ceiling and a woman in a creepy mask and black and white hair creeps out of it.

“Mm!”

“What is it?”

“Hello, there you two!” the woman says with cheerfulness, “I’m so glad that you made it here.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Ms. Mara. I’m the one who brought you two love birds here.”

“Why?”

“To foster true love of course! True love is found in the greatest of challenges and suffering. I want to see true love bloom! During my life, I was unable to find true love, so I’ve made it my mission to have others do what I couldn’t.”

“Why are we like tied together like this?”

“To challenge you to trust each other. There are three challenges that test your combined ability to help you grow together with a reward at the end.”

“Why are there three challenges and what are our rewards?”

“There are three challenges not because it’s an optimal number because there are three words in ‘I love you!’, so every time you complete the three challenges you say to your partner, ‘I love you’. Your rewards are answers from me and a new ability to help you along the way such as this!”

Two appendages come from the hole Ms. Mara is in and pierces through Bernado’s and Simona’s head then quickly retreat into the hole.

“What-what did you do to us?”

“Nothing major. All I did was allow you to react to each other’s movements better. You can eventually get the ability to hear each other’s thoughts later. How exciting is that?”

“How can we escape?”

“Just keep going and you’ll find out! You might not know it yet, but you two lovebirds have a past, and you will find that as out as well.”

“We know each other?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to find that out later. Goodbye!”

Ms. Mara disappears back into the hole in the ceiling. The room shifts so that the door they came in is replaced with a different one.

“She barely explained that much. How did she kidnap us and put us together? Why us? How is she controlling everything? Who were those dangerous people in the other room?”

“Mm.”

“Come on, Simona. There’s no use sitting around here anymore. Let’s find some answers.”

“Mm…”

“Don’t worry about what’s going on. We made it through the first challenges, and we can make it through the rest. I’ll trust you and help you in whatever way I can if you do the same. Deal?”

Bernardo holds out his hand and after some thought, Simona shakes it.

“Mm.”

“We’re in business then. Nothing can stop us now.”

“Mm!”

Here Come the Owls: Part 2 – The Price of a Life

Part 2 – The Price of a Life

I take a seat at the table of a fancy restaurant in the city. Both myself and the woman sitting across from me are well-dressed to match up with the upper-class setting. This woman contacted me anonymously and told me about working together in some secret organization to take down the Owls.

She leans forward and tells me, “I’m so glad that we're meeting. We can work together to beat our common foe.”

I smile and put my lips on the tea we are served. She smiles back and I already know what’s going on. Without showing that I know, I calmly put down the cup of tea and get up from the table.

“Thank you, miss, but…” I walk to her then slam her face into the table and her cup of tea, “I don’t work with the enemy.”

Some people in the restaurant look at me, while others take quick glances.

“Good job, kid. You saw right through that one. The tea was most likely poisoned,” I hear J say in my earpiece.

“I’m used to it their tricks by now,” I say as I exit the restaurant, “This game is getting stale.”

“Stale, but profitable. That outfit isn’t cheap, and neither are the hotels we stay in nor the phone you have. Good phones without tracking devices are hard to come by.”

“The expensive stuff was your idea. I was fine living plainly.”

“Okay, hermit. You need this expensive stuff for protection. Your outfit has a layer in it that can protect you from bullets and the hotels we go to are safe zones where the Owls can’t set up any triggers for you.”

“Right.”

“I think you meant to say thank you.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

It’s been a while since this whole game started. It feels like it’s been a year, but I think it’s really been a month or so. I’m such an expert at recognizing triggers and Owls that I’m not as afraid as I once was. J helps me out a lot and is one of the reasons why I haven’t lost all hope because I at least have him keeping me company even though he really doesn’t care if I die or not. I’ve been going from town to town, city to city across the country as I try to avoid making myself an easy target for the Owls. It was exhausting at first, but like everything else, I’m used to it now. The only good thing about it is that I get to travel and not worry about bills or working.

“I don’t think you want to head in that direction, kid. There’s a trigger ahead of you,” J says.

“When isn’t there?”

“True, but this one is a little hard to see. It’s a small piece of blue gum on the floor.”

“Got it.”

It isn’t surprising that the Owls would make something that a trigger. I’ve seen lots of people activate them unknowingly. Not sure if any of them survived though. Ah, I see the piece of gum now. It’s in the middle of the floor, so all I have to do is stick to the side to avoid it and-hey! There’s a baby crawling to it! I’m too slow to try to stop her from touching it.

“Damn it,” I hear J saying in my ear, “Well, at least you didn’t add anything to your bounty.”

“I’m not going to let this baby get killed for money!”

“What are you going to do? Take the kid from her parents to protect her?”

“Yes.”

Before her parents get to her, I quickly run to her pick her up and run away.

“What the hell are you doing, kid?! You can’t just interfere with another bounty like this.”

“Why not?”

“You’re not the Owl’s target and not allowing them a good shot at their target.”

“Good.”

“According to the rules, I’ll have to stop being your help because you aren’t making it easy for my fellow Owl.”

“That’s fine.”

“More Owls are coming for the big combined cash prize that’s on your heads!”

“Leave if you aren’t willing to protect this innocent child.”

I hear the noise cut out in my earpiece. Dang it. I knew J would do this, but I hoped he wouldn’t, not to help me, but to show that there might’ve been something good in him. I don’t know where the Owl who left this trigger is at. He or she could be anywhere. I’m trying to use as much of the city crowd as cover as I can, which sounds bad, but I know Owls don’t take big risks.

Speaking about the crowd, it seems to be getting really crowded as I get deeper into the city. I know that I grew up in the suburbs and that I don’t spend much time in the city, but this is getting ridiculous. Right now, I’m stuck in a crowd at a crosswalk. This is good cover, but I really don’t know if any Owls will make a move. One of the people in the crowd looks up at me. There’s nothing around me of interest, so he’s definitely looking at me. He’s probably someone I have to avoid. The light finally turns green and I walk with the crowd through it. Wait, a lot more people are looking at me. Me walking into the green light might’ve been a trigger. I also stepped in a crack in the road and stepped on a colored line. Dang it, I’m activating all the triggers. That’s three Owls after me.

Three Owls usually mean death as J told me once. I’ll find a way to beat them all. I have to. The sewers seem like a good place to lose the Owls. They don’t really have a time limit to kill us in since it’s a day, but if we can escape the city via the sewers, we might have a chance of living. I enter the sewers via a manhole in the alleyway and enters a mazelike series of tunnels. It’s dark and smelly back here and the baby doesn’t like it. She’s been calm for the most part, but now she’s really getting nervous and starts to cry.

“Shhh. Calm down,” I saw as I caress her head.

Covering her nose a bit helps her to calm down-ah! Someone almost landed on, but they missed so that allows me to push them into the running sewer water. Come on, that’s one down! Two more to go! When I go further into the sewers, I find a series of tripwires. I carefully go through them and manage to go through without touching them. In the distance appears to be an exit. Yes, we’re almost there! Ah! Someone shot me from behind. I’m fine, but I need to keep going. Turning around to see who shot me, I see that it’s…J.

“Give up the kid, kid,” J says as he points a gun at the baby.

“Not a chance.”

“I’m giving you another chance to take the easy way out. I’m sure you put two and two together and figured out that I was the one who made the trigger that piece of gum on the floor. I’ve been placing triggers and claiming bounties while I was traveling with you.”

“I don’t believe that you killed other people while you were with me.”

“I can’t believe that you didn’t notice the dead bodies you walked past. Of course I was going to do a little side work while helping you. I wasn’t just quiet for long periods of time just because I trusted you to take care of yourself. I’ll say it one last time. Give her up.”

I kick J in the nuts as he walks over to stand over me then kick him in the face. Since he won’t stay down long, I quickly take the gun from his hand and run towards the exit.

“Kid! You’re not going to make it out there. You’ve activated more triggers than you think and the bounty on your head will attract more Owls than you can handle. Give the kid and you can get off easy or join the Owls.”

“I may be an idiot for sticking to virtue, but I’m going to keep fighting against the Owls. It doesn’t matter if it’s useless. I’m going to die one day, so I’d rather die doing what’s right than living to survive. I’ll see you later, J.”

With determination, I climb up the ladder to face my fate. No matter how bitter it may be, at least I know it’s the right decision to make.

The End

Here Come the Owls: Part 1 – Sudden Change in Life

Part 1 – Sudden Change in Life

One day after coming back from my parents and I taking care of my nonna, we find the writing, “We know where you live. We know your habits. The Owls were here” with the drawing of an owl all in red on the wall of our house. We searched the house to see if anything was stolen or broken. Nothing was touched in any way as far as we could tell. We called the police and they couldn’t find any point of entry, so they just assumed the “Owls” who did this were pulling a prank and wanted to scare us. Well, they succeeded.

It’s been a week after and similar writing is on the wall now, but this time the writing says, “We’re here. We’re coming for you. Your lives are over. Here come the Owls” with a drawing of an attacking owl in red. My parents scramble to secure the house and call the police while I go downstairs to check it. Is that a person laying down on the couch? What the? I almost slipped on a double-barreled shotgun that was on the steps. There was a person on the couch! He’s up and his running towards me. I pick up the double-barrel shotgun and try to fire it, but it’s empty, so I use it as a weapon and hit the man over the head again and again. He’s trying to take the shotgun away from me, but I don’t allow him as I kick him down the stairs and keep beating him. All this commotion attracts my parents to the scene.

“Hey, stop! Stop!” the man says as he takes what looks to be a detonator out of his pocket. I stop beating him with the shotgun and my parents and I back off from him as the man gets up from the floor. “Hey, mom, dad, leave the house for now or I’ll blow us all up. Kid, you stay here with me.”

“Don’t you-”

“Now!”

My dad tries to do something, but my mom holds him back. They then leave us alone staring at each other.

“You got a sharp reaction kid. I was hoping that you would slip on the shotgun, so I could’ve killed you and your family easily.”

“Why? Why do you want to kill us?!”

“No real reason. You each just happen to get a bounty of a hundred thousand dollars on your heads.”

“Why?!”

“Like I said. No real reason.”

“So, what happens now?”

“You’ll never get rid of the bounties on your head. You’ll have to run away from people like me for the rest of your life.”

“This can’t be happening…”

“Oh it is, kid, and you better be ready for it because there’s another Owl like me out of you and your parents close by. Thankfully for you, I can help you now.”

“Why?”

“I’m not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. It’s part of my contract and the rules we play by. You beat me at my game, so you have my help. I’ll explain more. When you stepped on the shotgun, I was allowed to kill you and your family according to the conditions I set. The authorities wouldn’t be able to do anything if they were here and your deaths would’ve been forgotten about, but when you beat me down until I gave up, you enlisted me in your service. You can only have one Owl like me, so don’t be thinking that you can get rid of me and trade up as if you could get anyone better than me.”

“What are you going to do for me?”

“I’m going to give you hints about the Owl coming after you and when to watch out. Take this earpiece, so we can stay in touch. If you beat the next Owl, I get paid for us so we can pay for clothes, food, shelter, whatever we need.”

“Can you give me anything to beat the next Owl?”

“Besides, hints, nothing yet. That has to come from what I get with the money you get from beating them.”

“Them?!”

“That’s right. This game keeps on going as long as you have a bounty on your head and there are Owls to claim it and there are too many to count.”

“How do I get rid of my bounty?”

“I’ll tell you later. The next Owl is already on the move. Get to the front door.”

I hurry to the front door and let them in. They hurry back to find that the man is gone.

“Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He was just there!”

My mom and dad start checking the house while I look outside for the next Owl.

I hear in my earpiece, “I already disappeared, kid. I’m like a shadow.”

“Where’s the Owl?”

“She’s out there. You have to find out for yourself.”

Is that…a crowd of turkeys coming this way?

“Do you see the turkeys?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s the trigger. Walking near that group will allow her to kill you without consequence. You should know that it’s set for both your parents and you, so if you go out by yourself, then you can take away their bounties, but you’ll have a three hundred thousand dollar bounty on your head, which will give her a better reason to off you quicker.”

Without thinking about it, I walk to the group of turkeys while looking around for the Owl, but don’t see anything, so I quickly head back inside to be hidden.

“You’re a stupid, but good kid. I’ll give you that.”

Hmm. Since the other guy was close by in a place where he could see me step on the trigger, then the other Owl should be close by. Maybe the bush across the street?

“Thanks, I guess. I think I know where she might be.”

“Go for it then. The longer you wait, the more aggressive Owls typically get.”

I head to the back of my house and go through the backyards of the other houses until I’m on the other side of the street. Going near the bush that’s across the street, I find someone with a sniper rifle peering out of the bush, so I take the empty shotgun that I still have and hit her over the head with it.

“Hahaha! Good job kid!” I hear in my earpiece.

“How did you know that I got her? Did you know where she was?”

“I kind of already know her, so I had an idea of where to find her. You’re lucky cars were passing by in the streets otherwise she would’ve got you. If she shot anyone else, then she would’ve been disqualified from taking the bounty and have to pay the clean-up costs.”

“What now? Are there more Owls coming?”

“Not now, but they will soon. I’ll be close by and tell you when someone does.”

I get back home in time for my parents to not notice I was gone. They tell me that they couldn’t reach the police for some mysterious reason. For now, we’ll hold out in our house and tell our families what happened. Later in the day, after being unable to get any help from the authorities or anyone else, three electricians, who were already scheduled to come over, arrive. The last guy who enters the house looks strange. He has green hair and his skin looks like it’s been through more a few cramped crawlspaces. He seems to be happier to be here than the other two with his eyes trained on me in particular.

 Is this guy another Owl? I haven’t heard anything from the guy who’s supposed to be assisting me. After shaking the hands of the first two electricians, I go around to shake the strange man’s hand and his smile starts to widen. He’s one of them! Before he can do anything, I punch him in the throat then knee him in the gut. He’s taken the hits better than I thought and is fighting back against me.

“Help! Help me!” I call out to my parents and the other electricians who restrain the Owl for me.

Once we’re separated, I go outside for some fresh air.

“Good job, kid. You didn’t even need my help with that one,” I hear a voice in my earpiece say.

“Where were you?”

“I was sitting and watching. That guy was after you and your family. Since you were the only one who shook his hand then attacked him, you took the bounty of your family again. Your total bounty is five hundred thousand dollars. That’s quite a sum that will definitely attract more owls to you.”

“What should I do?”

“Since you’re so keen on putting the attention on yourself, then you should run away from home. The Owls will try to take advantage of your kindness and make you increase your bounty by taking your parents, which leads to more dangerous and aggressive Owls coming after you like the one you just encountered.”

“…is that really how it’s going to be?”

“That’s how it always happens. I’ve done it before, so the same is going to happen to you.”

“Okay…fine. I’m going to run away, but where should I go?”

“Run away to the pizzeria not too far from here. I’ll be waiting around the side. Get rid of your phone and whatever kinds of cards in your wallet that connect you to your original name. You’re going to be dead or at least missing, so to speak.”

“Okay.”

I do what he says and go to the pizzeria. It’s started to rain. I wanted to go to say goodbye to my family before leaving them, but I’m afraid that another Owl might be close, so I quickly run away before they see me. I’m sorry mom and dad.

“Hey, kid. Don’t start crying. It’s not going to help you,” the man says as he’s next to me.

“Shut up.”

“I know you must be feeling pissed at the world, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Your life has just radically changed and the only thing you can do is adapt to it.”

“I don’t want to hear it. I know what’s going on.”

“Hey, I’ve been through this before. Besides letting someone else activate your trigger like how you activated the trigger for your parents’ bounties, you can also become an Owl to get rid of your bounty.”

“I’m not going to do that. I refuse to kill random people for money.”

“Then you’re just going to be playing their game for the rest of your life day in and day out.”

“I’d rather do that than become a soulless killer.”

“Ouch. That kind of hurt, kid, though it really doesn’t bother me. I get paid either way.”

“Of course it doesn’t bother you. All you care about is money.”

“Yup. I’m not going to deny it.”

“Can you tell me why the Owls put large bounties on the heads of random people, at least?”

“We don’t put the bounties on people. The people behind the scenes do if you could call them people. They’re more demon than human and that should mean a lot coming from me.”

“But why do they do it?”

“I don’t know. Your guess is better than mine. I just take orders. I’m no different than a soldier of my country.”

“Some soldier you are killing civilians.”

“Hey, to my credit, I do kill a few politicians, businessmen and women, and criminals when I can. Those have the higher bounties.”

“Who are the Owls anyway? Mercenaries or soldiers?”

“We’re all kinds of people. Mercenaries, soldiers, secret service, police, and people who played in this game. We just want a good paycheck.”

“I can’t believe I have to rely on you.”

“It’s not so bad. Since I have to help you, do you want to grab a bite to eat before I help you create your new identity?”

“I guess so. What’s your name anyway?”

“I can’t tell you that, so just call me J for now.”

“Okay, Mr. Jackas-”

“Be nice to me and I’ll be nice to you.”

“Sure, whatever.”

“Aw come on, cheer up! You’ve left whatever boring life you were living and are now living a more adventurous and profitable life!”

“Let’s just eat already.”

“Fine with me. I’m starving!”

This is really the end of my normal life and the start of an endless struggle. I can’t believe it. I can only hope that things might get better as time goes on.