Thud.
The body drops onto the trunk, luckily the knot tied onto the officer’s neck was tight and secure enough to keep any excess bleeding onto the van’s flooring. Zare wasted no time stuffing the body in and driving off, the calmness of his actions was akin to someone who had been doing this for years even though his official murder record started less than 24 hours ago but at this point Zare was exhausted, the hours he stayed awake, stressing about the authorities, killing someone from the authorities, and now a cover up to his most recent murder.
Clutching the handwheel harder and letting out one long sigh, a conversation within himself sprouts.
“There won’t be a next time. Ha! how wrong”
“Shut the fuck up”
“Oh how can I? I mean it's not like your third victim was a whole ass FED!”
“I said be quiet. I’m tired”
“Are you now? You had plenty of energy earlier when it came to driving that knife in his throat and insulting the shit out of him”
“Stop borrowing my damn mouth” At this point Zare was overcome with stress and anxiety, the murder of an officer was the worst thing Zare could be dealing with right now and adding this to everything that's happened only put more of a mental burden on him.
Zare’s mind was racing. If he killed that officer in such cold blood then why the hell is he so worried right now? His lack of sleep is going to affect his thinking and it might sabotage him for anything that needs meticulous thinking that he might run into. What if he overspeeds and gets caught into another pullover? What if this was all a very bad dream he can’t get out of? That voice in his head won't shut up. Crashing and dying wouldn’t seem so bad right now. All the built up stress and the lack of rest was piling up on Zare; eventually it finally reached its limit on him and amidst the mental chaos he lost sight of the oncoming road fault and just like that his story was taking a turn for the worse.
At full speed he hits the fault.
It felt too slow as the van struck the fault. Everything seemed to freeze in place, every single item that wasn’t attached to anything just gave the perfect example of inertia as they stayed in place temporarily while everything around them moved. The van dipped low as it hit the fault, striking its bumper on the raised part of the road at full speed. Then, just like that, it spun forward as if being thrown by a child playing with a toy car.
Despite the stress piling up on Zare, he at least had the presence of mind to buckle up beforehand. Even with the seatbelts on, he still suffered numerous injuries as he was violently rocked in the van while it spun out of control onto the side of the road. The van, still in forward momentum, continued tumbling, veering off to the side of the road and into the forest then going downhill taking them deeper into the heart of the forest. It felt as if a whole city experienced an earthquake and all the magnitude of force was focused onto one point. The van eventually stopped slamming onto a tree and giving one strong wave of shock knocking Zare out.
To him the whole experience felt like minutes but in reality it only took seconds.
The van was upside down. Zare was badly injured. Either death or the authorities find him first and either way he was too mentally bogged out to care. Deep in mental darkness he slips further and further into the realm of unconsciousness embracing the peace and whatever awaited him at the end.
There were no thoughts… It was complete darkness and bliss as if he was floating in space. A cold embrace could be felt all over and any attempt to wake his mind was met with a numb feeling all over. Was this death? Was this the peace he asked for? Was this just him sleeping and he was about to wake up and everything he experienced up to this point was a lie or a very bad dream? Maybe this was what you experience after death, the feeling of darkness and the void for all eternity?
No, this wasn’t it. Zare could barely feel it, he could barely feel the strings of life tugging on him.
Slowly but surely he was beginning to feel his whole body.
It was numb, he was certain he could feel most of it, just very foggy. Like a blind person walking the same route everyday, not being able to see but being able to feel that it just felt right.
“Up”
The words echoed in his head like someone was calling him to rise.
“Up. Up. Up” Those words were overlapping each other… Zare could feel his eyelids straining and struggling to open. He could feel it, he was alive but barely and if he wants to survive he needs to open his eyes and jumpstart himself.
“Up” He wiggled his fingers a little.
“Up” He strains his entire arm.
“Up” He breathes semi deeply, taking more in and feeling the inside of his lungs expand, it hurts but…
“Up” He mentally feels his insides. His chest, intestines, and beating heart.
“Up” He strains his legs.
“Up” He strains and curls his toes.
“Up” His whole body was intact but he was still too numb. Zare knew that if he needed to wake up he needed to push through whatever dream or nightmare he was trapped in; So by mustering up all his strength he did what anyone would do if they were trapped no matter who they are or what status they held: scream. All humans share one thought at being trapped and the most universal response being to scream and struggle, be it for help or out of fear it was to scream and struggle free.
His life flashed before his eyes and every fragment of his life’s memory flashed before his closed eyes, from his very first memory of him handling an old detached faucet to his darkest memory of now drowning and diving in darkness. The feeling of life was a grasp away from Zare. He could almost feel it, then-
“Get Up.”
Zare’s eyes shot open and the very first thing he did was scream. The scream was full of life and fear followed by relief, a scream that signaled that Zare did still have humanity in him to struggle even if it was slowly dissipating away from the atrocities he committed.
He was alive.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Suddenly a huge wave of pain engulfed him running through different parts of his body but he didn’t care too much as he was alive and that he gets to live another day be it very painful.
The van was still upside down and smoke was emitting from the hood of the van, a big concern and not a good sign. Zare begins to slowly unbuckle his seat belt and open both doors and to his disappointment both were jammed shut. He checked for the other doors after, also jammed shut.
“Just my luck” He thought.
Leaning his back onto the side he begins kicking the other door hoping that it would open but the door didn’t budge at all so Zare thought of a new plan: Shooting the window open and crawling out. Looting the officer earlier was a smart move because now that he’s got a gun he could not only defend himself but also do things like shooting the window of a van to escape its jammed doors, something that doesn’t happen everyday.
He took aim and after a few seconds he pulled the trigger.
Nothing. Zare was confused, why didn't it shoot? Was the gun empty? No, the clip is clearly there. Does he not know how to use a gun and operate it? Nope, Zare does not know how to use a gun. He didn’t notice the safety was on nor did he know what it did so out of panic and confusion he did the next best thing he could do at that moment which was to throw the gun.
To his utter disappointment the gun just bounced off the window onto the space next to him. “Well that’s just unfortunate… All that struggle for nothing” Zare speaks to himself once more as he genuinely believes this might be where he dies, a flipped over van in the middle of the woods, cooked alive. He sits in silence for a few seconds in panicked thoughts and thinking of ways to ration snacks as he thinks of a way out then suddenly he hears the voice of a woman right outside.
“No no, that struggle was not for naught dear, in fact that screaming was top tier performance if I do say so myself” The woman replied in a heavy english accent then continued her dialogue.
“Say… If I were to let you out of this predicament then would you kindly explain why you have a dead officer in the van with you?” She asks like it was some casual ordeal that happens to her a lot. Zare at this point was too exhausted from the crash and only wanted where fresh air was. So without hesitation he replied back with a weak “Yes”.
The lady now walks over to the side of the van directly in front of the door where Zare’s head is at. Zare looks out the window finally seeing who would be offering him help.
The lady had an odd attire, especially since it was fall, she wore sandals with gray baggy sweatpants for her lower half and for her upper half she wore a white camisole with a burgundy colored thin robe.
“How…-” Zare tried to speak about her fashion choice in the middle of fall season until he saw her face which upon seeing it cut him off. She was beautiful in the sense that it was intimidating being in her presence. Her eyes were a deep violet with a dark splotch in the center of each eye like a beautiful rose that even if it was known to have no scent the beauty of its form was enough to attract anyone.
Then there was her hair. It was a silver gray color that looked like an angel’s wings hovering over humanity with their presence. Her hair looked like it was treated with the utmost care as if she spent hours and hours tending to it. Then finally her expression which was a smile but oddly enough however this smile felt forced as if she was putting it on just for show.
“Are you done reveling in my presence?” She asks Zare as if she had somewhere else to be at that very moment.
“Well if you wish to keep your life in a better condition than it is now then I would advise you to steer clear of… this” Suddenly Zare notices something with her that she’s been handling, a cane. This cane was thicker than most canes and had a floral indented pattern running through its entire form and the cane was made out of steel? Silver? It wasn’t made out of wood like the traditional cane, that's for sure. Zare was confused and asked. “Steer… clear?” He tilts his head in confusion which was met with an immediate reply from the woman.
“This…” A clicking noise was heard from the cane.
“Is a…” She raises the end of it pointing it towards the window.
“Gun.” Her eyes looked as if they were glowing a purplish hue and this time she had a genuine smile. Genuine but creepy.
In a split second moment Zare ignored all the pain he was currently in and immediately pushed out of the way, the woman let out a chuckle as she continued her uncanny smile, one that looked to be of twisted joy and pleasure.
Then pulling the trigger of her makeshift weapon it shot glass of the van shattering it. Silence befell the two for a moment. Zare’s eyes were shut from the tension thinking that if he did open them he would see a gunshot wound anywhere or at least anything pertaining to injury from the thought that maybe he got shot instead, he laid there for a few seconds which was interrupted by none other than the mysterious woman with the cane gun. “It’s okay dearie, I’m not here to hurt you nor am I here to question you about why you are where you are now” Her tone was soothing and the structure she talks in makes it feel as if she carried a professional aura but still having a very casual aura too. Like a talking paradox of a person. “Here, take my hand and let me assist you out of this predicament. We don’t have a lot of time before the van explodes of course! I’m estimating about…” She trails off mid conversation. Zare finally opens his eyes to inspect the situation. He could barely see the eyes of the woman glowing a creepy purple, it was barely there but he swore her eyes glowed a little bit from the pause she took from what she said.
“5 minutes, that is just about how much time we have before this whole vicinity goes… boomy! Is that how you kids say it these days?” She asks jokingly like she didn’t just talk about a possible explosion in 5 minutes that could kill them both.
“Well what are you waiting for?” She reaches her hand out offering help to Zare and weakly too Zare reaches his hand out and takes her hand.
It felt eerily cold.
She begins to pull him out of the van and offer herself as support for him to lean on. The two quickly shuffled away making distance and after what seemed to be enough of it they viewed the van and its eventual demise. She lets Zare down to take a seat and witness the explosion that was happening sometime soon if her predictions are correct.
“So… you murdered that officer, correct?” She asks abruptly and straight to the point.
Zare froze in shock remembering then fear overtook his mind.
Was he going to the authorities for this? Can he run? Will he get shot down if he tries to make a break for it? Should he go for another kill? His thoughts swirl his head like a wild storm thrashing up and about.
“Do not fret, I have no intention of reporting you and your actions nor delivering justice on my own towards you. I am just merely curious as to what led to this is all…” She reassures him in which Zare lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh my I’m sorry for being rude, my name! You may call me Vathemelia, Vathy is the name my colleagues bestow me with since apparently they claim my name is too confusing in stressful situations” She finally introduced herself, a little late but it’s done and to Zare this eases him up knowing she wasn’t going to report him to the authorities.
“My name is Zare” He replies back thinking of a way to talk better to match her accent in order to make a better first impression.
“I killed him… because he was onto me and I didn’t want to be caught and put in jail so I went for it” He explains revealing the truth as he was too mentally tired to try and lie and for whatever reason he had a sinking feeling the dapper speaking woman could cut through his lies.
“Tell me then… Did you enjoy it?” She asks, looking at Zare suddenly being serious, dropping her expression and giving him a dead serious look. “When his life was being snuffed out, did you enjoy the kill? The face he made, the effort he put to cling onto his life, did you enjoy it at all?” She continues even further.
“Zare. The next words that come out of your mouth, the reply you'll be giving me, I will believe you wholeheartedly and take your word for it. I promise, but beware. Your answer will decide whether or not I’ll let you live or kill you. Pick your words wisely but truthfully. If not then-” Raising her cane gun suddenly she points it towards Zare’s chest ready to shoot.
“Life or death, decided by an answer from your heart. I want to know your ideology, your essence, your killing intent.” Vathemelia finishes her questioning as the judge, jury, and now the executioner.
Zare was on trial for his life and the wrong answer could very much mean death.