The girl only pretended to be unconscious as she laid face first on the pavement. Calypso simply pretended not to hear the near-muffled cries, probably telling her to get up, stand up, be strong. When all she knew was to simply pretend through life, pretend to be alive.

She was only reminded, the many times she simply stared forward as someone talked. Such a high volume of occurrences, they blurred together into the one image.

Buried in her mind. Wondering what was wrong with herself.

Calypso was pulled up regardless, now on her knees, against her will and autonomy per usual. It was then that she took in the sight of what she feared when this entire nonsensical thing was explained her. The very last place she ever wanted to be.

One particular night, where she sat outside blocks away, shrouded by the featureless night. A car riding by--a neighbor's car, with said neighbor calling for her. Not her only family, but the neighbor she told to do her dirty work for her.

Disappointed, but not surprised. She sat there. Buried in her mind. Wondering what was wrong with her.

A house that sat in solitude despite being surrounded by others, due to how spaced out the lot was. Coated in alabaster white and deep blues—but it was so white that once any grime took hold, it was impossible to clean thoroughly. The placement of the windows was always so odd, the roof rose at an awkward angle, the overall structure felt squashed and sallow.

All of these regrettable details, amplified and twisted due to the current destruction of Calypso’s soul.

The cracks had such a grip over the house, the entire structure was warped upwards, the smaller pieces trailing off into the oblivion that acted as a backdrop behind it. Giving it the appearance of a broken shack that could barely stand anymore, the odd features now overly punctuated, and the grime completely caked in.

Every thought that Calypso hid away, tried to throw away, and ultimately buried—right there in her face. Unable to deny the fact that she is, indeed, an ungrateful and horrible person. Horrible, pathetic, and sad.

“Hey hey hey,” her one-armed friend Alice verbally chided her. “That feels like quitter energy, Cally.”

Calypso simply let her head hang towards its side, aggravating the cut made around there to bleed.

“I’m afraid it is.”

There was a blurring flash, and Alice was simply before her. Calypso didn’t bother to figure out what nor cared.

“We’re literally at the home stretch--!” Alice shouted out, offended, grabbing Calypso’s shoulder as she shook her. “Home run, homeward bound—it’s literally your house--!”

“And if you were actually my friend, then you know how horrible that is,” Calypso tone was cold, sharp. But the immediate shame that radiated from her numb body felt deeper.

It was surprising how one eye could portray feelings of hurt, betrayal, and utter crush. Alice’s pupil was shaking, searching for the angle Calypso was going for, but was too devastated to focus.

“How the hell am I worth any of this?” Calypso began, fully knowing that she was summoning energies that could’ve helped her complete this quest, ultimately survive. She wanted to burn through it, all of it, once and for all.

“Because you are, you fucking asshole!” Alice cried out, just aghast at this entire display. “To me, your mom, your family in general! How is it that a literal fight for your fucking life, you take the opposite t-th-thing from it?!”

“Being reminded of how much of a nothing I am,” Calypso began to list. “Being reminded that no matter what I tried, how many times I asked, how many times I reached out towards you all—not once did you ever teach me why things are worth it.”

Alice simply shrunk as her friend continued on.

“It’s not like I don’t WANT to try: I don’t know how! It isn’t like I’m not aware of how much of a crazy person I sound like, some fucking serial killer--And when you do clue in that I’m more or less an emotional cripple—then it’s just silence! Suddenly all the proverbs and the stock Aesops disappear in an instant, and now you all want nothing to do with me! Honestly, moreover, why the fuck are we having this conversation in the first place, Alice?!”

Calypso pointed at her mauled friend, as her near-severed pinky hung off her hand.

“You understood that! I somehow managed to understand you! We understood that we were both broken in the first place! We made a pact—we came here to die, and here you are, stringing me along like everyone else!”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT HOW EVERYONE’S STEPPING DIRECTLY ON YOUR SO-CALLED WOUNDS WHEN YOU JUST STOMPED ALL OVER MINE!” Alice roared out suddenly, which caused Calypso to jump. “I AM NOT EVERYONE ELSE!”

Calypso was always afraid, whenever Alice’s rage was triggered. The signs were already there, signs that Calypso had to painstakingly learn so she could walk around them—just that she didn’t care to in this moment. First confusion, then fear, then just explosive anger born from accusation and vulnerability. It was just as self-destructive as her emptiness, only that it was offensive versus defensive and fragile.

Perfect. Now Calypso was going to finally get what she wanted, and hell, she was going to be dead anyways.

“Fine, then tell me why the change of heart—and don’t just say you seeing the light cured everything, because clearly it didn’t.”

“W-why are you putting me on trial all of a sudden?!” Alice screamed. “I died! I’m dead and I don’t want you to, you fucking jerk--!”

“So you want the little part of you to live on through me? Is that it?”

Alice sputtered, she huffed. While her eyes burned with anger the same temperate as her reddening face, they were completely wet with tears.

“I’m not some evil mastermind or some shit, man! You know me, I’m fucking stupid and dumb! You really think--?!”

“Then why throw away this pitch perfect opportunity?”

Calypso’s pointing soon morphed into wild swings as her voice got deeper, rawer. The only pointed things she was performing were her tone and the swings moving along each dig she made.

“Two girls gone camping—got mauled by something due to them being stupid—one died in the ER—everything covered up—not probed further—we would’ve gotten away scott-free sans the fact that they’re monsters using us as meat suits! So what is it—what really is your grand excuse for me to go on living while they bury you?! All the shit you pulled—all that we’ve been through, can’t you see living doesn’t mean shit without you…? Don’t you get that I didn’t want to keep pretending anymore…?”

“… Because I don’t deserve it…”

Calypso’s eyes narrowed, looking up and down at her friend.

“I don’t deserve it… You do… Because I’m the one that got you killed.”

A cold chill swept across the domain, as Calypso was stunned into a hush. Became so silent, that one could precisely hear the crisp scrapping of leaves against the rocky pavement.

Alice was a mess physically and now emotionally. Tears coming from one eye, down one scrapped up cheek. Sniffling despite missing most of the nose, and gnashing her teeth that she was stretching the wound on the side of her torn mouth. She eventually found strength to continue.

“Y-yea-yeah, I do everything I can for you—an-an—and you gotta understand that this was meant to help—I wasn’t some Satanist or something, you just gotta understand… You were crushed, I didn’t have a future—I thought it was a great idea…!”

Once again, Alice was cut off by her own sobbing. As her partial face morphed from anger, regret, shame, and ultimately sadness… Calypso was just frozen. Petrified.

Alice breathed in, so she can get by in a rush, “I went to that place—that you always wanted to go to—Teresa’s Old World… Of course, went to the book section, an-and I found it… I couldn't b-buy it or st-steal it so I ripped out the good pages, but it was a book where it explained what these things are, about how the supernatural was real, all sorts of shit. It was up our alley, we love crazy shit like that… And the more I read, the more it made sense and… I had to see if it was real…!”

As this was laid out, Calypso finally moved. It was her hand creeping upwards to cover her gaping mouth.

“So I did what said about luring out these Subsumed things!” Alice’s tone rumbled into ruin as her grief turned tangible with every single word. “If I wasn’t so fucking stupid, then it would’ve gone well! We set up camp, maybe a fucking small one comes out, I bust out the pages and we take it down! Don’t go to some college and just solve creepy ass mysteries together…! But I killed you! I ended up fucking killing you, the only person I ever LOVED!”

Alice collapsed in a fit, as Calypso now covered her mouth with both hands. Flesh turned somehow paler, finally allowing herself to not only breathe but shudder out startled exhales. Eyes wide with disbelief, body tensed in realization. Face despite half-covered… Illustrating how much her mind cycled from betrayal, bargaining and devastation.

But the maimed girl rose and kept herself on her hand and knee. Looking up with her glossy eye and trembling lips as she continued on.

“Yo-you can resent me, forever if you have to… But you gotta live first. You wanna have a reason to keep going, des-despite n-not having these feelings…? News flash: you do and this entire thing proves it… It’s small, it’s whiny, and it’s wishy-washy as you… But it’s there and you can actually figure out how to tap into it… But you have to—”

Alice’s spirit was torn to shreds as Calypso screamed out in abject horror, falling onto her back as her eyes were fixed on the murder. Rendered into bits once more, just lacking blood this time.

Despite being the attacker, the monster that has plagued Calypso so much instantly collapsed. The girl noticed amidst her shocked horror, heavy steam radiated from the creature. But once it forced itself upright again, the picture was entirely clear for the girl.

It was burned to the bone, to the 4th degree as scorch marks took the place of it’s very little flesh. Now completely skeletal. Bones barely connecting and hung, making the beast more imposing, spread out, deathly. Moving forward as it creaked, only its fierce determination was the thing keeping it alive.

Whenever she looked inward, there was always a question. Pondering. Reasoning. All converging to only end up slamming against each other, causing the poor, silly girl to second guess into giving up.

Here, Calypso knew exactly why this was the point she’s lost her mind.

Her screaming was less of a fearful shout, and more of her vocalization of her mental exhaustion, anguish, and damage.

She got to her feet and rushed towards the looming threat—only to fall limp once she got close, diving under it’s legs, it too slow and can only roar out in anger.

As she raced, Calypso continued to yelp out in disturbed zeal and provoked belligerence that was long pent up. Now she didn’t care in a different fashion. Didn’t care that she was losing blood as long as she moved, didn’t care that her very vision was fading in or out. She was going to get this done, and if it ends up killing her? As long as she takes this thing with her.

Only to feel in real time, her back being craved open with a simple and well-timed swipe.

Slamming onto the ground with a thud, as she was coated with black blood, it did not matter.

Calypso dug into the ground with her available fingers and crawled her way towards the door.