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Previously on Listening For That Sweet
Tune:
'What’s your name?'
'Ben, you?'
'I don't have a name but you can call me
friend, pal, the devil, I don't care. It doesn't matter.'
'The devil?'
'Sure, why not?' I thought to myself for a
little while.
'I thought you were dead.'
'Me? Maybe I am dead. Maybe I was dead from
the start. What does death even mean anyway? It really just means the absence
of life and life just means the ability to grow and adapt. I’ve been the same
way for years so maybe I am truly dead. Maybe you are dead too. You know, this
world we live in is rather strange don’t you think? Things may be just as more
complicated as you previously thought and maybe, just maybe, everything that
you once knew was no more concrete as the thoughts in your head?' My life began
to fall apart around me as everything I knew turned into glass.
'Who are you really?' I had to at least know
one thing for an assuridy. His look at me changed a bit then shook his head as
if something was on him.
'I’ve been watching you for a long time Ben
and boy do you need some medical attention. I once lived in this mental
hospital for a decent amount of time and there was a man there who is a lot
like you. Maybe you should think about talking to him one of these days.'
'But I'm not mentally sick, all these weird
events have actually been happening.' I said.
'That’s what you think!' My friend paused and
thought to himself for a minute or so. 'He has this theory, believes in it to
the fullest actually, and from what I could understand is maybe, just maybe, we
are stuck somewhere. Like this life isn't real, like we are in a deep slumber
and we are waiting to wake up. I thought he was crazy at first but then it started
to make sense. All the darkness and the carnage. All the delirium that pulses
through our mind. In no way could this be real but then again I don't remember
anything being any other way. Ben. I haven't slept for three years. Just every
waking moment being some repetitious movement that we have rehearsed over and
over. We aren't changing so we aren't living. We really could be dead!'
Everything made sense. The things I have been
seeing, the things I do for no reason, the people around me. Just one big lie.
I began to dig at my head with frustration and I started to yell at myself.
Where am I? What's happening? Why am I here? I started to loose my grip of
reality and I may as well have started to turn like my friend, insane. My mind
started to wander and I spoke back.
'You have been watching me?' I clenched my
fists and my friend started to walk towards me.
'Yes. Yes I have. And might I add about the
things you do whenever you close your eyes. I always thought that something was
wrong with me but when I started to watch you, boy was I wrong.'
'What do you mean? What do I do?' The
man started to laugh at himself and scratched at his head while he looked to
his toes.
'You kill people Ben, for little to no
reason. You mutilate them and then you cannibalize bits and pieces of their
body's and then you bathe in their blood just to enjoy a stroll back
home.'
'I don't do that. Besides, were just in some
dream or afterlife right? No one can truly die.'
'Oh but they can Ben. As contradictory as it
sounds, you can kill people here and where they go is beyond me but there is no
turning back Ben. You get one life here as like everywhere else. You enjoy to
watch the life disappear from someone's eyes and you laugh in there face.' I
nodded no. I couldn't believe what he was saying--it couldn't be true
'I don't remember anything that could have
happened, how could I?
'Are you ever truly asleep or do you just
hand the reins to something else, someone more powerful than you. It just takes
control when you don't pay attention and it commits the most heinous of crimes.
You even killed a little girl Ben; you need to stop this before it takes
control of you. You must fight it and stay awake before you wind up dead like
everyone else.'
'So you have been the man I've been chasing?'
'What do you mean Ben? You haven't seen me
till today, have you been chasing someone?'
'Yes!' I yelled. I fell to the floor with my
hands on my head, rolling into a little ball just waiting for the world to pass
me by. The man I was talking to stood over me and his shadow cast over my eyes
and everything felt so narrow and dark. 'Have you seen that thing that has been
following me? The darkness that's shaped like a man? He's always watching and
consuming my thoughts; I can't rest with his thoughts in my head! He tells me
to do things and I refuse but he just won't leave me alone. He's chaos! He's
evil! He's-'
'The Wretched.' He interrupted me. 'You are
seeing The Wretched and its not just one thing, it's many.'
'What’s The Wretched?' I asked.
'The man who told me about The Wretched is
the same exact man that told me about this place, the place were stuck in. He
can help you, you should see him.'
'Where, where is he?' I stuttered.
'He is in a mental hospital like I said
before. A mental hospital that's on the other side of the ocean.' So I then got
up from the floor and prepared myself for another journey, do something that I
have never done before but then I remembered something, the reason I've been
searching, Serenity. I turned around to face the man again and struggled to ask
about her. What if I actually did do something to her? What if I killed her? I
could imagine her now back in my apartment lying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling,
mutilated, torn into tiny pieces waiting for the rats to feast on her lifeless
body. Why? How could I do such a thing?
'Is Serenity dead?' I asked. The man looked down to his feet again. Then
looked back up to me.
'I haven't seen or heard from her since she
entered that one villa. I didn't dare to follow you into that building. That
place isn't of good thoughts.'
'Good thoughts?' I asked. 'You are worried
about good thoughts yet you get into sadistic torture?'
I don't know what you're talking about.'
Things didn't add up, was he really unaware of what just happened or was he
just stupid?
'The fight we just had, I beat your face up
to pulp.' He looked at me blankly and smiled but it looked different this time,
no evil could be seen--he had to be telling the truth.
'I don't recall anything like that happening
Ben, are you sure that it is me you are thinking about?' I nodded no in
confusion.
'I guess I am thinking of something else.' I
thought to myself for a few minutes trying to make heads or tails of the
conversation but I reached no turning point on the coin so it landed on its
side perfectly. I couldn't make any sense of the situation and even worse, I
was left more confused but I did know one thing, I was to visit the man who
claimed to know what exactly was happening. From how it sounded he seemed to be
confident like he was here when everything started but what do I know I've only
stayed awake for a day or so.
Up next in Listening For That Sweet Tune:
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