“I can’t deal with this anymore, Paul. I came here to become famous and rich.”
“OK, Jean, but we didn’t have to come here. It’s Heaven’s Peak; people die in here; it’s hell on earth.”
“Oh, please, can’t you see all the influencers who got 10 million followers over a night or how they got rich just because, unlike some people” Jean gave Paul a pitiful look. “They were optimistic; they will take a risk instead of whining and cursing the world around them all the time.”
“Goddamn it, alright, but...”
“Hi, every buddy. I’m here, as I promised you all, at HP, aka Heaven’s Peak. And as hard as it might have been, I convinced this grumpy guy to tag along. Say hi, P.”
Paul looked at the phone and said, “Hi,” with a cold smile. “Don’t be rude. You are not an 11-year-old; say hi again.” Jean said and rolled her eyes in front of the selfie camera, showing her disappointment at her boyfriend.
“HI,” Paul said strongly and gave Jean’s viewers a hard, wide fake smile.
“Sometimes I don’t know if I’m his mama or his girl,” Jean said to her viewers.
As Jean was streaming, Paul checked the board map; he was exhausted.
Three hours on the ship to Heaven’s Peak and listening to all Jean had to say about how he should make himself more useful and be more of a man took their toll on him. Besides that, he had to search the Internet all night to make sure they knew what they should bring and all the tips and tricks about ‘how to survive on HP’ created by the survivors of this cursed state.
“OK, I’m going to check on my little grumpy baby to see if he found us a place to rest and eat because I’m hungry as fuck and I heard HP got the most amazing pancakes.” Jean rubbed her tongue around her lips and said, “YUM,” then she winked and turned off her camera.
“Honey, I think we are close to a restaurant named Granday with one D,” Paul said, smiling. He liked these little creatives with words.
“How close, exactly?” Jean asked, rushing to P and looking around as if she saw a ghost.
“About 15… Wow, what happened? Did you see something?” Paul asked
Jean was biting her nails and staring at the ground; she wasn’t listening at all.
Paul gently and slowly brought down her hand to stop her from chewing on her nails, and he hugged her.
“What is it, babe? What’s wrong?”
Jean freed herself from Paul’s arms.
“Please just don’t. Let’s go to that restaurant and eat something and find someplace to sleep.”
Paul knew something had scared her off; she was panicked, but what did she see? What has left her terrified for a few moments? Paul wondered.
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“OK, I must admit this is the first time I’m scared of a clean, normal dining place,” Paul said, expecting Jean to say something, anything.
She was unusually quiet. No meaningful look, no negging, no shaming. She was all calm, which was a terrible sign, and Paul knew her enough after two years that there was not much he could do in situations like this.
He just had to let the storm pass.
They got into the dining place, and a few others were there, which warms Paul’s heart for not being the only guy who made this stupid decision to come to such a horrifying place, but others were probably here of their own will, unlike Paul, who was here out of fear of losing Jean forever.
Jean sat at a table, staring at the forest on the other side of the clean asphalted road with no cars crossing on them, thinking about what’s the point of making a road when there was no car allowed in here except for one, of course, the sheriff’s car.
Paul put down the heavy backpack in the free space on the chair next to himself and sat in front of Jean.
“What do you want, honey?”
Jean finally broke the silence; she was starving.
“Burger and fries and a Coke Zero”
“OK, she is back,” Paul said, smiling joyfully.
“Paul, there is something I need to tell you.” Jean looked nervous and serious.
“What is it, babe?” Paul looked eager to hear.
“Hello and good evening, What can I get you?” The waitress came with none of them even noticing her—a beautiful girl with an innocent smile, blond, soft, and shiny hair, and dark green eyes. Paul’s eyes were locked on her. That waitress looked a lot like Jean, almost as if they were twins, but seemed kinder, more like what Paul always dreamed of Jean being two years ago when they first met.
“Burger and fries with Coke Zero,” Jean said, then kicked Paul’s leg with anger and looked at him enviously.
Paul snapped out of his short, sweet dream “Same for me” and smiled as the waiter smiled back at her.
“I’ll be back shortly.”
“Wanna fuck her?” Jean said her eyebrows lifted up out of anger, and she wore a mean smile.
“Wha…”
“No, you know what? Now I can say it easier thanks to that bitch waitress,” Jean continued without letting Paul say anything.
“I want to break up with you, and you know what? The only reason I dragged your sorry ass in here was for my viewers; every story needs a victim, and you were raised as one.”
“What in the hell, Jean?” Paul was embarrassed and felt betrayed. He couldn’t accept her words. ‘It’s not happening, it’s not happening’ he repeated to himself in his mind.
Jean started streaming live as Paul broke into tears right in front of her. “He was fucking the waitress with her eyes, and I won’t let a loser like him make me feel worthless. Ah, I’m not an object, and no one can treat me like a bitch. You all can say your goodbyes to P because you won’t be seeing him around me ever again,” she said the last two words with intensification.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Jean was making sure the viewers were looking at Paul crying. “Say goodbye to viewers P At least they won’t betray me and don’t treat me like an object.” Jean got up and walked to the counter. Everyone was staring at her, and she was enjoying the attention deeply.
I will take my food out, and can you please address me to the closest motel around here?
“OK,” the cashier said. “Is there a problem we can solve, ma’am?” The cashier asked
“It is. I paid 4K for myself and my ex-loser boyfriend over there, and I didn’t come here to see your waitress act like WHORES,” she said the last word loudly so the waitress could hear her.
Her food was packed and ready. “Five minutes, continue the road ahead, and you’ll see a motel, and your complaint was heard. Thanks for stopping by,” the cashier said, wishing that she would leave faster.
Jean grabbed her food pack fiercely and said, “He will pay.” He pointed at Paul with her middle finger and left the restaurant.
Paul was still in shock, and tears ran down his cheeks. The waitress offered him a few tissues to clean his face. Paul looked at her and grabbed the tissues. “Thanks,” he said calmly, and he got to the restroom to wash his face, cry easier, and somehow deal with her feelings.
His skin turned red, he cried his eyes out, kept washing his face with splashes of cold water, and slapped himself a few times.
“You lost her fucking idiot,” Paul said to himself in front of the mirror. “No one wants you; you are a worthless worm.” He always tortured himself after a fight with Jean, even if he was right.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Occupied!” Paul yelled.
“Come see me in the back, near the trash cans.”
Paul recognized the voice; it was the waitress.
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Jean was walking fast; she could see the bright light of the motel from afar. ‘I acted like a real bitch, and maybe this time it was too much’
Jean thought to himself, ‘What if he doesn’t come back? I can’t do it alone. I’m in HP for fuck’ sake; what the hell was I thinking to leave the only person who cared about me?’ She went back and forth in her mind about whether she did the right thing or not.
“You did it, Jean,” a weak, miserable voice from the other side of the road from the depths of the pine forest said.
Jean stopped; she turned pale, her mouth locked, her feet rooted to the ground, and her skin shivered. Jean knew the voice; she had heard it before, and she knew to whom it belonged.
“You killed me, Jean; you tortured me.” The voice was closer but as faint as before.
Jean started crying out of fear and guilt. She saw the man who was talking to her.
When Paul was looking at the board map early on the road, The voice belonged to Paul himself but was different; it was his corpse haunting Jean from a distance.
“You left me alone, Jean. I loved you, cared about you, and even... For a second, the voice faded away.
“I died for you.” The corpse’s mouth was under her ear, and his cold breath touched her neck and ear. She shut both her ears, screamed, and started running for her life. Her heartbeat rose, the tips of her fingers got cold as ice, and her mouth was too dry to say anything. All she could do was run and scream, hoping the floating corpse of Paul wouldn’t catch her by the neck.
“You abandoned me for what? More fame? More attention? More money? I loved you, Jean.“The faint voice was now deafening her ears, and pain and sorrow were waving in his voice.
Tears ran down her cheek and blurred Jean’s sight.
“Where are you viewers now, Jean? Is your phone dead? Is this the reason that you are listening to me now?” The corpse’s voice was in her mind, and it didn’t matter how hard and tightly she covered her ears, closed her eyes, and ran faster.
Jean didn’t know how long she had run, but when she opened her eyes, the red neon light of motels on the white advertising board shone brightly above her. Jean was out of breath, and the voice was gone; there was no sign of the corpse anymore.
Jean was safe, still in shock, but deep down, she felt a warmth growing inside her.
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The waitress smoked as she waited for Paul to join her. Paul came to her, but his eyes were still red because of his intense crying. Sadness was lurking inside him, and sorrow was choking him. He was like a lost child, looking for his mother.
“Here,” the waitress offered him her cigarette. Her pink lipstick colored the filter of the cigarette. Paul took it and paused for a few moments. It was the same color as jeans.
“I can give you another one if you like,” the waitress said with her sweet, warming smile.
Paul snapped out of Jean’s memories, took a few hits of the smoke, and gave it back to the waitress. Paul noticed her name on the name tag, Anna.
“Thanks,” he said.
“Why do you care about me?” Paul continued.
“Is it weird that someone wants to help someone else?” The waitress said so and smiled.
“I thought HP was the devil’s land; it seems like it is not that different out there,” she laughed lowly.
“I mean, I’m happy that you cared for me... Sorry, it’s been a while since... It was embarrassing for him to talk more about how miserable he felt when he was with Jean.
“Since someone treated you with respect and cared for you,” Anna finished his sentence.
“Exactly,” Paul said, staring at Anna.
“So, do you like to work here?” He asked.
“Born and raised here,” Anna said as she smoked.
“So are you a demon of some kind?” Paul asked. He would have been horrified if he heard her say ‘Yes’ but that was before Jean broke up with him, and all that emotional roller coaster left him exhausted so much that even meeting a demon wouldn’t be that big of a deal.
Anna nodded lightly. “Does it scare you, Paul?”
“Do you want to kill me, Anna?” He asked, remembering that he never told her his name.
“No, what I want is far more different.” She got close to Paul and threw the cigarette filter away. “I want to make love with you, right here, right now.” Anna grabbed Paul and kissed him passionately.
Paul didn’t resist, enjoyed her sweet kiss, and slowly wrapped his arms around her. They were heated and passionate, and Paul felt he was wanted after a long time.
‘Anna was exactly like Jean, but better, what more did he want?’ Paul thought as he opened his belt, and Anna unzipped his pants. He turned Anna around and fucked her like a real demon. He felt a fire consuming his soul and body, and Anna moaned lowly so others wouldn’t hear them.
Paul was on top of the world, and if there was a hell beneath his feet, he wouldn’t care. Even if he fell deep down in that hell, he embraced it, adored it, and wanted to be one with it.
After they made love, or at least what Paul felt like, He wondered if all the things that happened were real.
“You know everyone comes here hoping that they can make it through the week and get back home with fame and money. I never wanted to be here, and now I just fucked a demon and want to stay in HP forever,” Paul said, smiling. They were both sweaty, and their skins blushed red and looked relieved.
Anna laughed and lit another cigarette. “You are a lucky soul,” she said.
“I mean, can I stay here with you? If you want me, of course.” Paul said, wishing deeply that Anna would say yes.
Anna smiled kindly. “You can, and I want you, and you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I’m a demon, and one of our perks is that we can see who is innocent and who is not, who is a victim, and who is a killer.”
“And which one am I?” Paul asked, looking happy and hyped.
“Well, to answer that, you must bring Jean to me.” Anna looked serious. “Everything here has a price, and Paul, if you truly want me and want to stay here with me, the price must be paid; it’s the law.”
Paul already heard rumors that HP is like a lawful hell, but no survivor could explain them. It was different for each part, but one thing was sure: when you saw the blinking blue and red light from afar, you better not have broken any law or had one hell of a reason for what you did wrong.
“If I bring Jean, what will you do to her?” Paul asked with worry.
“I will kill her and pay the price for you to be with me. You can kill her yourself, but that would be a heavy burden for you, and I would not want that for someone like you, Paul.” Anna said it looked like it was regular coffee talk.
“It’s alright if you don’t want it, Paul. I enjoyed your company and hope you can survive it here. I’m a demon; we’re supposed to have no feelings, right?” Anna smiled, but a hint of hopelessness weighed heavy in her voice, and a glim of sadness was on the corners of her beautiful face. She wanted Paul but seemed powerless to achieve any love.
“I’ll go find her, but I can’t promise any more than that you want me to sacrifice the girl I loved for two years for you, whom I just met,” he said.
“The question you should ask yourself is, Does the past with her matter more than a future with me whom you just met?’’ Anna said, and with slow steps, she started going back to the restaurant. “I’ll put coffee and some cookies for you; come grab them before you leave.”
Paul felt disgusted for even thinking of sacrificing Jean, and he was afraid of the possibility that he might do that for Anna.
Paul thought deeply and with details about what happened between them in the last two years. P was always honest about his weakness and his feelings for Jean, but she just kept being meaner to him.
‘she could’ve dumped him before she brought him here, a deadly place infested with demons of all kinds, but Jean was too selfish to even do that’
“Hell, maybe I really want to make Jean suffer for what she has done to me,” he whispered to himself.