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A loud bang rang through the air as he ran for his life, tears streaming down his face. Dead dead dead dead. He didn’t know it would turn out so bad, he just wanted to help. How could he have known, the blood was on his hands. If he hadn’t investigated she would still be alive. He wanted to be the hero, but he was the villain. He didn’t even dare look back, he didn’t want to know if he had gotten away or not. His gasping breaths were unrhythmic as he sprinted away from the men with the guns. He couldn’t tell anyone, he would be blamed. They would hate him. Dad would do it,“take a step outta line boy and you’re dead. You’re nuttin but a burden, know your place.” His words echoed in the boy's head. He collapsed in exhaustion, his throat dry from the breathing in the cold fall air. The scent of pumpkin pies and pastries from the bakery he had stopped near filled his nose. Maybe they would take pity, pity on the kid with leaves in his hair and his face red with scratches. He looked up towards the starry night sky, and calmed his erratic breaths. He jogged towards the shop, using up the rest of his energy, and knocked on the door.
When the man dragged him out, the boy realized he was wrong. He had still had hope that there were good people here. That was gone. Now he knew. There was a reason the girl had been killed. Those men with the guns were just like his father, just like the baker. Just like them all. None of them cared. They didn’t even notice the pain they caused for others. Whenever they seemed like they cared, it was fake. It was all useless, to be here. It is simply a cycle of pain. As he had memorized in some stupid church service, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” God, he doesn’t even know. Does he even truly believe this stuff anymore? Those services were filled with people who were pretend, they said they followed and believed. But really they are all just the same. Masks were worn there, of the horror they truly were. That girl had done nothing wrong. She was only 7 yet she was killed by a bullet to the head. Because of him. There is no reason to stay, to keep trying. If he were to head home now, his dad would know. This is when he comes home from the bar, he keeps track. Always awake when he comes, he has to make sure he doesn’t hurt Mom in a blind rage. The alcohol does it. Well that's what the boy tries to think, but truly he never cared about either of them. He still does it when he’s sober. Well he never makes it that way for long. The money doesn’t either. The paycheck is decent, but it gets lost when the gambles fail.
The forest was thick with the humid air of the south. Though the moon was bright, the canopy of leaves let only speckles of the light through. Not enough to see where you were going. He picked a direction and just started walking, desperate to get away. His mind started to wander away as the peaceful rustling of leaves, some of them drifting down from the branch onto the ground. If you had asked him how he was feeling, he couldn’t describe it. It was a mix of sadness, but lightness. A feeling that he was free from the burdens of life. The tears that had been falling furiously earlier were now an occasional drop, drifting down his face. Lost to the boy as he was focused elsewhere. His mind was lost in thought about his mother, the only woman who cared about him. Well.. that was until she started blaming him. Apparently before he was born his father was a well kept man, that was lost when he was born. The bills for the insurance and child care chipped away at their bank account and sanity. Then it was gone. No savings were there, living paycheck to paycheck. Though there was still an ounce of love left in her, it didn’t give her the urge to stop him from beating me. I was their kid. A kid that was not loved. They didn’t care, not anymore. He couldn’t blame them, but he wished they had just left him, then maybe he would have a chance. But that would look bad. His dad would lose his reputation, lose his job, lose his life. And that would stop the paychecks. Without the paychecks he couldn’t gamble, couldn’t drink. No distractions from the problems of life.
He didn’t mean to, but as he was walking, he started humming a song. A song he distantly remembered from when he was a child, the happiest time. “You are my sunshine; you’re dead boy; My only sunshine; stupid; You make me happy; she’s dead; When skies are gray; you’re the reason; You’ll never know dear; why why why; How much I love you; they don’t care; Please don’t take; paycheck to paycheck; My sunshine; stupid boy; Away….
The shot rang through the forest, sending frightened birds darting away from the sudden noise. The boy collapsed to the ground, blood leaked from the puncture in his head. He hadn’t heard the men with the guns tracking him, they didn’t want him to tell what happened. As they buried his body, the boy’s soul hovered above them. He floated besides the girl, both of them pledging to make hell for the men. They could've had a life. But that was taken from them. Now these men would pay for what they did.
The two grayish souls stared at the first house, their first vengeful victim. He did not expect it, that was the best part. He would not realize it was them until the end. But he knows, deep down he knows. He knows what he did, and what he took away from them. But he would suffer, they would make sure he did. Just like he helped make them suffer. He will not survive the day.
The day started normal for him, nothing out of the ordinary. Drove his kids to school, they don’t know. He could kill them at any moment, they would not expect it. Although the souls suspected that he cared for them, it was strange to see a man with such hatred and resentment for them care for another. They started with a broken picture, one of him and his wife. He thought nothing of it “just the cat got on the shelf” that cat did nothing. They tried many things, pulling all the sheets off the bed when no one was home, opening all the windows and clawing the curtains and blinds, they even tried stuff when they were home, slamming doors and cabinets, turning the tv to static. They didn’t care, thought it was just accidents, nothing out of the ordinary. Then the girl got violent, she wanted to show them the pain she experienced, she had been held for days. She was r@ped, tortured, she had a life ahead of her. And they took it away. After a bit of convincing, the boy joined too. Scratching them, the children’s feet broke in unnatural ways. The parents awoke with scratch marks on their necks and chests, The souls were getting violent, they wanted to Avenge their lost lives and they could do that by killing them. It didn’t take long for them to get bored, the girl figured something out. They could possess living beings. The boy got an idea, to make this man’s life worse. They agreed on what they would do, and the girl possessed the mother. As the woman's soul was kicked out of her body, she screamed and begged when she realized what they were trying to do. Nothing stopped them, souls cannot touch each other.
There was a loud crack as the woman’s neck snapped. Soon the girl's soul left the body, and the woman’s soul faded away, she didn’t have a reason to stay. She knew that soon enough her family would be dead too. It wasn’t long before the twins were gone too, all it took was an “accidental” fall from the third floor and their backs were broken, an eternal look of horror in their gaping eyes and mouth. When the man woke up, he was confused when his wife wasn't next to him, it only took walking outside the room to see his wife. The image burned into his eyes. He fell to his knees and sobbed, she was gone. He went to tell his kids what happened before they saw themselves. But when he got to their rooms, they weren’t there all it took was one look at the billowing curtains, and he knew. Hoping he was wrong, he walked towards the window. When he saw it, he collapsed to the floor. “Why why why why why why” he didn’t understand. It was then that his neck was slit by an invisible force, he gasped as it started dripping crimson blood. He wanted to move, he needed to move. But he couldn't, the souls were holding him down, desperate to see his final breaths as he had caused them so much pain. After hours of him bleeding out, he took his final breaths and his soul left his body. He stared at them, knowing why it was done. He knew why, and he knew where he was going.
It only took a few more days for them to be done. A few more deaths were caused in the wrath of the souls, but they were done. No more fates would be met because of these men. No more bullets fired, no more pain, no more suffering because of them. The girl knew she had done what she needed, so after a last one sided goodbye to her now widowed mother, her soul was allowed to leave. Her peace of mind had been met and she had no reason to stay here anymore. But the boy had one last thing to do. His father. He had caused so much pain to him and his mother. It was his time to leave. He had no place here. Neither do any other of the fake people in this town.
The boy was satisfied. His fathers soul was dragged down, down, down, to the place he needed to be, deserved to be. And his mother, though confused and scared from his sudden collapse, understood. He was a bad man. He did not deserve her or his son. She let go, as her soul left from the moment of her final breath, she embraced her son. And they, finally able to understand each other, went to the place they longed to be.