text: There I was standing, in a pool of blood. Not my blood, not a loved one’s spinal fluid, not an enemy's tears. Rather an old friend’s blood. The dark red, thick, and vital substance spilling out of her back like a waterfall. Didn’t know I could see one’s life escaping someone’s body in such a clear and precise way, I always thought I’d have to see the soul leave, the eyes close, or the smile fade. But that doesn’t appear to be the case, all I had to see to know they were gone, was the blood spilling out of their lifeless body. I texted back saying the job was done, and later saw the money deposited. *Why’d I have to kill my closest friend for money?* I’d say to myself. But quickly replied with: *Eh, you’ll find friends easily, but money like this? Not in a lifetime.* This didn’t seem right, my gut told me so. But could one say this was for the greater good? Could her life possibly be worth this much money? I didn’t like this thought, but the possibility of it being true was still there nonetheless. I drove home, only thinking of her. The closest friend I’ve ever had. She was the only thing keeping me going in my life. She’d comfort me when I needed it, she’d smile when I did, she’d cry when I did. She has done so much for me and so much with me. But unfortunately I cannot go back. The only thing I can enjoy now is the outstanding price that she was labeled with. I needed to call someone to talk about this, but I had no one. *Friends come and go, but now you’re set for life.* This thought kept reassuring me everytime she came to mind, but I kept fighting it. I sat in my bed, only processing what had just happened. *Why would anyone want her dead? She was the sweetest thing.* Tears began to build up, smearing the light entering my eyes, and finally spilled out like the blood of my dead friend. I can almost feel as if the same blood leaving her body was leaving my eyes. I stayed in bed for the entire next day, until I finally got up at around midnight. I walked to a sink in my bathroom and washed my face. After wiping, I stared into my mirror. Something was off, it wasn’t my red face covered in tears, not the dread that was showing, it wasn’t even a visual thing. It was my thoughts. They began to change, no longer were my thoughts my own. Everything I was thinking before wasn’t entering my mind, it was something else. *You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.* I was sitting in bed after I washed my face, dividing my attention on my old friend and what I just heard in my head. My thoughts were racing at a million miles an hour, and I couldn’t keep up. *I just need to go for a walk to clear my head.* I walked out of my apartment and strolled onto the streets. I kept walking until I came up to a bench in an empty park. I sat down on the cold metal chair staring into the darkness of the tree covered landscape to take a break. After staring and thinking for around an hour, I finally got sick of looking at the same place and got up to go home. But as soon as I stood up I spotted an illuminated shape in the distance, colored yellow. I couldn’t make out the shape exactly. But eventually the shape started nearing, getting closer. As it neared I made out that it appeared to be a pair of eyes. I didn’t know whether or not to run. *Could it be a wild animal?* I however, stood there staring at the shape out of meer curiosity. At this point the thoughts from earlier began to repeat in my head, this time a little louder. *You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.* It was quiet at first, but it started getting louder as the mysterious pair of eyes neared. I started to notice a general body shape, it was skinny and skeleton like. *You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.* I heard it now, I could hear the loud footsteps. But I couldn’t even run, I was so paralyzed with fear that running didn’t appear to be an option now. *You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.* As it got behind tree directly in front of me it got out; the light from the nearby streat illuminated it. It wasn’t like anything I could’ve imagined it to be. It was a monster. A humanoid skeleton double my height, it had the skull of a goat, blood covered the head, the arms ran all the way to the ground, the toes and fingers were a foot long each, branches ran out of its neck, vines covered the body, and the yellow eyes were unbelievably bright. Now that my curiosity was satisfied enough I tried to run. I only ran for a few seconds. The footsteps neared faster than I could’ve expected. It grabbed me by the head and pulled me up to head level. The long fingers cradled my head with an unbelievably strong grip. Looking at the ground the monster said, “*You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.”* I yelled out, “I don’t understand, what are you?!” “Look into my eyes and you will see” Its head turned to face me but I closed my eyes; I didn’t want to look into its eyes, but the grip got stronger the longer I waited. It started hurting now. I finally opened my eyelids, and stared into its eyes. I didn’t see eyes anymore, I saw Hell. I saw the pure embodiment of suffering and pain, I saw blood spilling instead of tears out of countless weeping souls, I heard dreadful screaming and crying, I saw no hope or happiness, I heard no laughter or joy. As I looked away the monster told me, “This world is running out of room for pathetic souls likewise to yourself. Balance must be restored to this world, and justice must be reigned on those who plague this world with darkness.” The creature’s other hand grabbed me by the torso, with the other on my head. It pulled on both sides. My neck seared with pain until my vision clouded with darkness. I woke up in my bed. My heart pounding, my neck hurting, and my vision blurry. *What a horrible dream. I can’t stay in bed after something like that.* I got up to just process what I just dreamed of. I sat in front of my mirror again, too afraid to look at it again. But I finally built up the nerves to look into it. As soon as I saw myself my thought repeated. *You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.* It shocked me deeply at first, but I was reassured with *Damn, that dream was a little too immersive. I need something to take my mind off all this.* I went back to my bed, and turned on my tv. The news was on. I sat there watching for a while trying to take my mind off that dream. A story came up talking about a woman the same age as my friend being murdered. My heart sank with fear and disbelief *This can’t be true, this has to be a coincidence.* They identified the victim, and it was my friend. *No, no, this can’t be my doing.* I checked my bank account via my phone and found the exact money sitting in my account. I sat there for a long time, bewildered. *I can’t believe it, I really murdered her. This can’t be happening, she really is gone. But what was that so-called dream last night? It couldn’t have been real, there’s no way.* I sat there with tears in my eyes and my thoughts racing until I drifted off to sleep. The air in the room got cold, I woke up and looked to the window to my right and saw that it was open. I didn’t remember leaving it open, but I got up to close it. As I started to get out of bed I saw the same creature on the ceiling. It was in a spider-like position staring at me. In its eyes I saw the same horrible things as before. It jumped down on top of me and grabbed my neck again and twisted until darkness came again. I woke up again. *This inception stuff is getting on my nerves, I have to get to sleep. I will figure out all of this tomorrow but I need rest.* I could barely sleep, but I eventually drifted off. I started dreaming, but the only thing I could dream about was the dark place I was presented by the monster. I felt as if I was there. But the longer I dreamed of it, the more clear the thought of my murdered friend got. Numerous weeping souls were next to a red river. I now couldn’t stop thinking of her, and began to cry along with the rest of the others. The river in front of me began to darken along with the blood tears leaving my eyes and entering the water. I woke up again, I quickly looked around and saw nothing. It was morning at long last. I got up out of bed, I remember being clearly awake last night, and I knew my friend was gone forever. It was all my fault as well. And for what? Some stupid cash? She isn’t worth any amount that could’ve been put on her. If only I was aware of that before I killed her. I got dressed and walked to my door to leave the room for a while, I needed to slow down my thoughts on more time. I walked along the same path as last night. When I got to the bench, I walked back home. I couldn’t bear to look at the bench. I was still traumatized from last night. I walked back home. I was back at my room. I got in my bed to do my daily crying over the whole event. When I finished, I got out of my bed. When I got out of my bed, I saw the monster right in front of me. *No, no, no, it’s real? This can’t be real, let this be another dream please.* It tried to grab me, but I ran out of the door in a heartbeat. I got out and ran through the city. I found a building and ran inside, I didn’t even care where I was, I needed to get away from this thing. I found a bathroom and locked myself inside it. I stood there for a long time. I sat there for an hour, whimpering. Eventually she came to mind again, guilt filled my body, the fear of death was no longer prevalent. But then suddenly an arm busted straight through the wall. It was the monster’s arm. Its arm grabbed me by the neck. It pulled me into the wall and then everything got black. I awoke again. My eyes were filled with tears, I wiped my eyes and looked around. It was the same bathroom. Except there were no holes in the wall where the hand should’ve been, only my tears all over the floor. I got up, and got out of the stall. Someone right outside the stall. He asked me if I was okay, I replied that I didn’t know. I walked away from him and outside of the room. I was in a small restaurant. I got out of the building and took the route to where I think my apartment was. *This is all my fault, I killed the only person who ever understood me. I can’t keep living with this injustice. I need to fix this.* When I got home, I reached into my gun safe grabbing a revolver, searing with rage. I went into the garage, got inside my car and drove. I knew exactly where my client lived. He is the one who paid me to kill her. After driving for only a few minutes, I got to a house. The door was locked, but there was another way in, through the windows. I grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at a window, it broke and I entered the house. A startled and familiar man ran down the stairs and found me there. Without hesitating for a second I shot him in the chest. His body fell to the floor, I walked up to him and shot him repeatedly while chanting, “You will pay for your crimes, you will pay for your betrayal, you will pay for your doings, your blood will color the rivers of hell to a deeper shade of red, your skeleton will be crucified on the ceiling of the underground, and your soul will be eternally damned to endure the suffering of your selfish deeds.” The gun finally ran out of bullets, so I punched his corpse until my hands bled. I finally stopped and cried on the floor. I couldn’t keep living with what I did, I needed to do something to make this right, killing the client was only part of what I needed to do. I ran into his kitchen and found a knife. As I stared at the knife I cried more, sobbing continuously for the longest 20 minutes of my life. She could never get out of my mind. *I have to do this, it’s the only way to make things right.* She never left my mind in the duration of that time, until I finally lifted the blade. I got it into position, the blade of the knife shining in the light. I waited a bit comprehending what I was about to do. But I had to do it. I swung the knife towards me and stabbed myself in the stomach. The pain was immense, but eventually faded along with my senses.