AJ POV:

So I was honestly minding my own business when, poof! I'm here. Yeah I might have been robbing a nightclub at the time but I don't think I was killed. Now I'm in chains.

It was pretty dark, music blaring, lights flashing, the usual attempts of genocide on the epileptic people. Really it's shocking how many strobe lights there were. 

Anyway, I went to the bar, with the bartender wearing glitter make-up doing lots of hand signals at me. I couldn't understand him, all I knew was he was exuberantly gesturing at a heavily moustached figure to his right and winking a lot. I appreciated the attempt truly, but we were about to pull off the heist of the century here.

I declined, imitating his mannerisms while smiling predatorily at the alcohol. What, you thought we were here to steal money? No, we were here for something much grander, much more intoxicating. We were here for the rumoured 101% spirits.

You may ask why, and to that I simply shake my head in metaphorical bemusement at you. When an athlete reaches their peak, do they simply stop and say they've accomplished all they could? No!

This was to be uttered in the same breath as the elixir of immortality, Willy Wonka's chocolate. The stuff of legends! So when my dear friend and drunken connoisseur Billy proclaimed such a miraculous beverage was available, who was I to deny such an opportunity! 

Back to the action, I noticed Billy skulking at the back of the room, giving the thumbs up sign, wobbling slightly, still drunk. Coward, none of the risk and all of the reward. Too bad for him, I'm not sharing this divine liquid with anyone!

"Say there, good fellow, how about a drink barman!" I shouted with all my heart, the allure of the bottle of divine liquid making my eyes never waver from it. 

The barman heartily laughed, looking at the bottle. I couldn't hear him completely, but reading his lips I saw him say fat chance.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Utterly infuriated, of course all part of the performance, I demanded he deliver the bottle to me. The battle of wills continued on for a while before I got bored and reached for my revolver. 

Yeah revolver, what do you mean alcohol and guns don't go well together? I collect both, and this revolver was my most trusted possession. So shut up and let me finish my story!

Anyway, one thing led to another and everyone was screaming. I had the bottle in my hands, strobe lights glittering on the glass bottle like the most precious gem.

Oh what a glorious day! I never thought my plan would actually work, oh heavens! That damn Billy, he doesn't deserve the magnificence of the divine alcohol. No, I shall get rid of him quickly. I had these devilish thoughts running through my head.

I was within arms reach of the door when a pain bloomed in my back, and stumbling I fell, bottle cradled in my arms. The sticky floor had a fruity aroma I found, lying on my side as the periphery of my vision closed in. 

Everything was cold, hot and numb at the same time. I felt people move around me as my thoughts trickled like a tap recently turned off. Then darkness came.

Thomas POV:

Suddenly a voice resounded in my head.

"Last barrier has been broken. We're counting on you Thomas!"

A wave, no tirade of information hit me. Flashes of what AJ did passed through my head as pain gently washed over me. That damn idiot.

I was such a fool, I thought. And I really was, as I was a man of many identities. Some call it multiple personality disorder, I like to call it having a family in my head.

As blood steadily leaked out of me, death looming, I had a moment of tranquillity. This was the real me, the primary me. The lunatic's name who got me killed was AJ, a complete clown, but then again he is technically still me. So I'm the clown?

My name is Thomas, and I've been hearing voices in my head all my life. I was the original, the true personality if you will. Then a demonic voice entered my consciousness and the rest is history.

Now isn't the time to talk about that though. I was still dying here after all. As I looked back on my life it occurred to me how pitifully I lived. Born to loving parents, I became an orphan for reasons I don't want to think about. I never had a stable job, always working a couple different jobs at a time. I had no friends because of how unreliable I was. I was never given a chance to be happy, to just be me.

These were Thomas's last thoughts as the darkness consumed him, strobe lights flashing and music banging around his limp body.