Jason dragged his body into the forest, escaping the vigilant eyes searching for him. He crawled deep enough into the forest so that the village couldn’t be seen and the village couldn’t see him in return. Jason got up and braced himself up against a tree, standing on his right foot.
“God damn it!”
Jason looked around for a fallen branch, sturdy enough to hold his weight. There were many small, fallen branches that were long enough, but not strong enough to support him. Finally, he found the branch he needed, but was dangling from a partially broken tree. The tree had scorch marks, most likely due to being struck by lightning. He hopped over and tugged on the branch. It snapped, forcing Jason to fall back on his left foot.
“AGH!” he yelled dropping to the dirt floor of the forest, clenching his ankle, “Fucking shit!”
Jason rose to his one good foot, using the stick to prop himself up. The stick was long enough to fit under his right arm, to allow him to walk. This helped his mobility greatly; otherwise he would have had to crawl amongst the rocks and sticks, he could now step over. The walk was long and disorienting. All he saw was tree after tree and kept hearing the same thing over and over again.
“Where is he? Where is he?” the voices grew louder and louder, “I hear him!”
“N-no! Leave me alone!” Jason’s pace quickened, as did the voices.
“I see you!”
“Go away!”
“I’m right behind you! HE! HE!”
“NO! You’re not real!”
“Am I? Or-” the voice whispered in his ear, “Or am I as real as you?”
“Go away!”
“You would like that wouldn’t you?”
“Yes!”
“Remember I’ll be back and also;” the voice went to his ear again, “We become evil by attempting to hide from ourselves.”
Jason dropped to his knees, speechless. He stared at the shaking, palms of his hands. His vision blurred as he passed out, collapsing on the dirt. The dark regions of his mind opened the gate to his memories, unleashing the unpleasantness of his past.
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Jason saw himself entering the doors of the precinct back in New York.
“Hello Jason.” called out a man in a police uniform.
“Dad.” Jason turned.
“Jason, you look like a mess. Are you ok?”
“Yea, just trouble sleeping.”
“You should get that check-” cut short by the transceiver on his paints.
“Calling any available officers to Thirty-second and Third, we have a possible breaking and entering. Suspect may be hostile.”
“Jason! Let’s go!”
They both ran out the entrance of the precinct.
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Jason’s consciousness came back to what seemed like reality. He was back in the forest and the farm was in sight. He pulled himself back up with the stick and continued to limp to the house. Jason dropped before reaching the tree line, once more to be tortured by his memories.
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Jason opened his eyes taking a deep breath. The firefighters, already there, knocked down the door and on that note all the cops outside the room rushed in.
“Hey Danny it’s pretty bad in here!” shouted an officer.
Jason’s dad walked into the room. Jason followed his dad passing the officers walking away from it. The room, before Jason was near the door, reeked of semen and blood. Some scene photographers were in the room taking photo evidence. The sheets were blood stained and ripped off the bed. Clothing from the dresser was sprawled all over the floor. The nightstand had bloody fingerprints on it. There was a dead body on the floor with multiple stab wounds in its lower gut. The blood seeped out staining the carpet. The corps had bruises covering its face and wrists.
There was then the body in the bed; it was the source of the stench. The body was a gruesome mess. The throat was slit, which appeared to be the initial cause of death. Half the face was cut off and the breasts were skinned; revealing the bloody muscle underneath. It forced Jason to turn away in disgust. His averting eyes took him to a partially closed window. He walked closer examining it. The grip on the bottom had blood on it.
“Guys! I think I found something” throwing open the window and jumping out of it.
“No! Jason! Were on the third floor!” yelled out his father.
Jason fell down onto some trash bags that already had a crease and some blood on them. A figure halfway down the alleyway turned to see him. The moment Jason got up, the figure turned and ran. Jason pursued the man down a split in the alleyway. The direction the murderer took was a dead end.
“Put your hands behind your head!” Jason yelled, pointing his gun at the figure.
“mmm…” the man mumbled staring at the ground.
“Hey! I said-” Jason getting cut off.
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.” The figure looked up. “And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
The man was bald and look of disgust running across his face. The soulless red and grey eyes pierced Jason, as if looking deep inside his very being. The man threw a short blade from his pocket, hitting Jason in the arm.
“Agh!” cried out Jason pulling the blade from his arm.
The eyes stared deeper, as if revealing Jason’s secrets. The man rushed forward at him, taking out two more short blades. Jason jumped back trying to avoid the blades. The assailant swung at Jason, nicking his cheek and cutting his shirt. The two’s eyes never at one moment broke contact. Jason grabbed his arm trying to apply pressure to his wound.
“How long do you think-” the man lunged forward.
Jason’s gun rang out and blood bursted from the man’s chest.
“-before y-you…c-change yourself?” the murderer said dropping to the cement.
The red and grey eyes flickered with life, for only a moment, before becoming vacant shells. The eyelids closed and a smile appeared on the man’s face, as his face collided with the man made earth.
Jason looked down at the body, starting to bleed all over the pavement of the alleyway.
“Bastard got the easy way out.”
Jason turned putting his gun in its holster. He looked back at the body and said;
“The truth is I don’t know, but I want to fix this world; even if I become a monster trying.”
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Jason opened his eyes again, seeing the farm. He pulled himself to his feet one more time and slowly worked his way to the house.
I said I would give credit where credit is due.
Quotes:
“We become evil by attempting to hide from ourselves.”
By - M. Scott Peck
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”
By - Friedrich Nietzsche