I reached the center of Holdanis, which was weirdly empty for a friday afternoon. There was a fraction of people outside compared to what I was used to at this time of the day. Shaking the coincidence off, I headed for my mansion first. I was hoping to see Rache healthy and well, playing Evil A. against himself to further his already amazing skills.

Reaching my house after thoughts rushed through my head for 20 minutes, I opened the door nervously. It was unlocked... Not usual for Rache to leave it open, but he might need to cut the bushes or do another errand outside.

After I entered the house and called for Rache, I was hit with dead silence.

Weird... Is he sleeping? He is a light sleeper, so my shouting should've woken him up. I wait for a few more moments, but decide to investigate. I can't feel his aura...

After surveying the house I reach his bedroom. The door opens without a creek, and I'm hit with an unpleasant sight that turns my stomach upside down. I had expected many things, but this made me clench my teeth and strike the hallway wall with my fist, shattering it completely. A message was left behind in the bedroom.

"You know where to find me," written in blood.

I'm going to break his bones.

How dare he do something like that!? Rache wasn't even involved in this. If this ignorant shithead wasn't such a pussy, he would search ME out and confront me like a man! Of course, he never grew a pair of balls in his entire life, so how could now be any different. Did the incident shake him this much? After all I've done for him?? He should be bowing at my feet, asking for forgiveness, which he will after I'm through with him.

I hurriedly ran towards the haunted house, reaching it in less than a minute. I pushed myself to run as fast as I could, but I felt a creeping fear. I didn't know what would await me when I enter it. In a fit of rage, I break the fence and prepare to blow the house into smithereens.

My boiling wrath reached my ears, as my eyes shone red. I broke down the door with my foot, entering the dark house. The interior was the same as it was before, not even the dusty dishes being moved. There were no signs of anyone here, and no traces of anyone even coming to this house recently.

I tried to sense an aura from anywhere inside the house, which I couldn't do. This was weird. I could sense outside of the house, but had trouble feeling the interior of it. The basement was completely blocked off, having some sort of barrier obscuring it.

What might be in the basement? I decided not to look at it, surveying the rest of the house first. After the ground floor was cleared, it was time for the upper floor.

"Oliver, you better come out!!" I shout, setting foot on the creaky stairs reaching up.

I have a hunch where this nerd could be. I'm sure he's in that goddamn room I found him in the last time.

Is he doing all of this to prove a point? Did he develop phychotic tendencies after that 'trauma' of his? This was the moment where I contemplated killing Oliver. If I end his life, I can be sure something like this never happens again. Dying in this house that no one visits, will they even find him?

While I was deciding between handing him over to the authorities and ending his miserable life here, I ascended the stairs.

I take a step onto the creaking stairs , reaching the 1st floor. I walk towards the last room, not looking around for an ambush this time. The rooms themselves were the same as before, none of this wretched house changing while I was gone. With every step I took, unease set itself deeper into my psyche for some reason. I took a deep breath before taking a peek into the last room, composing myself and attempting to calm my nerves.

As a higher being, I thought nothing could shake me anymore. My mind changed once I spent a year in a different dimension. I matured in ways that some grownups never will. I was prepared for anything, but this...

Oliver wasn't in the room he was in last time. Instead of him, Rache was there, long dead already.

Sprung onto 6 chains, his skin was torn apart, spread in all directions with hooks.

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The hooks were embedded into his ribs, spreading them out like serpentine wings, with his inner organs hanging out loosely in a sickening display of gore. I've never seen something so horrifying in my life, immediately throwing up any lunch I had onto the floor. Rage turned to a mix of emotions. I was shocked, terrified, sad and furious at the same time. My breathing grew shallow and rapid, as I trembled horribly.

I wanted this to be some kind of nightmare. I refused to accept this as reality. Is this what I get for being a good friend? Does Death follow me just like it does with Evy? I had to many questions while tears rolled down my eyes and memories of my favorite butler replaying on repeat.

"Oh God..."

The thought of never seeing Rache again and never playing a game of Evil A. with him shook me down to the core. I couldn't accept my caretaker dying a horrible death, never to interact with me again.

The sheer thought of him having to go through a painful death like this made me whimper in agony, as I scratched my head until blood was drawn. I screamed, my voice filling the entire mansion, piercing even my own ears. At some point, I had to take an inhale, whimpering from my voice being cut off from exertion.

I heard a creek to my left, turning like a startled deer. Down the hall was Oliver, standing there with an unnatural smile. He had his eyes fixed on me, bulging out as uncannily as his smile was spread.

"I'll kill you..." is the only thing I could muster before lunging for him. In one quick motion of my hand, I severed his head from the neck. The chop went through his flesh as easily as a hot knife goes through butter, displaying my higher existence.

Time seemed to stop for a moment, as his head fell down with a thud.

Even though my power was so great, it could not bring back the dead. Rache is forever lost, being a victim of my negligence. Even if he was a lower being compared to me, I still couldn't return his soul into the world of the living. No amount of power can do that...

I noticed an oddity when Oliver's head fell down along with his body. I raised my hand to inspect it, seeing no blood on it.

To be precise, there was no blood drawn during the whole decapitation.

[A puppet?] is the first thought that appears.

A laughter sounded from Oliver's dead body. He sounded like a broken cassette player, laughing and then stopping.

"What the hell?" I jump back.

My ears perked up when I heard soft whispering behind me. As I turned around, I saw an empty hallway–infinite in length.

I turned around again, only to see the hallway extending back as far as in front.

The terrain of the house changed, and I was standing in a completely different place from the house I entered.

"Where am I? What is this?"

If this was the magic of a lower being, I would've been able to escape it. However, I felt that the magic in question is of higher power. I couldn't sense anything outside of this infinite hallway.

I ran down it at amazing speeds, trying to reach it's end. As I took one step after another, I felt a piercing pain in my leg.

"AGHH!!"

There was a knife stuck between my achilles tendon and the rest of my foot.

I've never felt such excruciating pain in my life, but as I would find out—it was only the beginning.

I couldn't run anymore, falling down to the floor in cries of pain. My foot’s aching only got worse, blood flowing freely onto the floor. I could see someone approaching me, the frame of Oliver. This time, it was the 10 year old Oliver I knew with the geeky glasses and tacky clothes.

"Who, what are you!?" I ask, confused about his identity.

"I..."

Only a single letter exited his mouth before 2 hands emerged from it, ripping his face open as the bloody spectacle ensued. This time, there was blood everywhere, as Oliver's head peeled from inside out, like an orange. It continued, his body being torn as sounds of flesh and bones ripping apart echoed throughout the hallway. Standing in the pool of blood was the man I saw near the window the first time we entered the haunted house. The homeless-looking man was smiling eerily, both eyes open fully–unblinking. For a moment, they flashed a hot pink, before returning to their dead, dark hue of brown. He had the same smile that the puppet of Oliver carried, but something was crucially different.

"What do you want?!?"

I could not speak anymore, as a sharp object protruded from the ground and ripped through my chest. The homeless man seemed to be in control of this place, since this blade appeared out of nowhere before I could even sense it. I felt my mouth get filled with blood, as my warmth spread over my clothes.

"Sleep well, child," he utters.

If only I was stronger.

The crucial difference was his aura. This guy was in the realm of defeat, I just had to have more power. He was enlightened like myself, just stronger. I could feel his strong aura and complex magic.

"I'll come back to kill you... even if I die..."

It became increasingly cold, my vision starting to blur. The blood loss was getting to me. I could no longer see clearly, and soon, I fell unconscious. I wanted to kill him so bad. I wanted Rache back so bad. I didn't really care about my own life anymore, just about my regrets. My life was filled with them.

Is this how it all ends? Was I so talented for nothing? I trained and reached an unimaginable success, for what? To be killed by some psycho which took my friend? I don't accept this, it isn't fair!

Every story should have a meaning, but mine... What is the meaning? I knew I was no invincible protagonist in a story, but will I be wasted in a place like this, with so many unanswered questions? Was there a lesson to be learned? Kill your friend if he gets suspicious, never go anywhere!? What is the meaning behind this!? Someone answer me!!

My internal cries slowly die out as Death nestles my soul in its hands. It's over...

Lights out.