He wouldn't have been here. He wouldn't have been in this place, alone, with no one to help him in mind or even people to mourne his disappearance. He wouldn't have been here… if he had been a little less greedy.

Greedy for what? Had he ever done something for his own benefit? Had he ever desired something to himself?

"So I will follow them," the boy muttered, his eyelids dark and burnt, they stung whenever he creased. The monitor beside him declared his fear as he observed the monster approaching, with every step the monster took a chill ran through the boy as the sound of pure crackling bones attacked his ears.

The boy wished to cry, but for some reason, tears wouldn't come out, normally, just like any other day in his life. Tears were the hardest to appear, that was why he was always called heartless and cold.

The boy took a deep breath, his beats slowed on the monitor, and his half-opened eyes stared at the monster… who stopped beside his bed.

The boy creased his lips into a nervous smile.

"Make it quick."

The boy closed his eyes. Gulped his saliva and waited, for seconds, until the base of the sickle tapped the floor again, "open your eyes, Davish."

Davish was his name, the one his mother chose, the name caused the debate between his parents, his father wanted him to be called David, while his mother preferred Davish…

Davish opened his eyes, the monster was still there, his sickle standing on the floor and he had yet to snatch his soul.

"You are a rare breed. Even though it's minor, there is a demon's blood in you. The algorithm of fate would never accept that. Bad things will keep haunting you. Your family won't be the end. You should have died Davish. But I'm only responsible for the death of humans. Irregular cases like yours, aren't mine."

Davish looked pale for a second…

"I had a dream," said Davish. "Someone told me that I was never a human, he gave me a test, I thought I had done the most human thing to do. But then, he told me that I failed. And I would never be a human."

The monster listened, his hollow eyes expressing deep focus and mourne as if he lost them as a price for his own job, which took the lives of others.

"Davish, the cold, heartless Davish. When your father died, you happily told your family to be glad. Your father will no longer care about debt after all. You viewed everything non-humanly. Your father was just the only case you voiced out loud… for sure, you would fail human tests."

Davish didn't widen his eyes, he got used to the monster. This monster wasn't the first he had met, but it was the first he had seen up close and talked with. He had been through a series of irregularities before, like getting his room's door knocked when he was sure everyone was asleep or hearing the sound of the central air conditioner beeping at midnight as if someone other than his family was really unhappy with the temperature.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

But he had never spoken to monsters like now.

"W- what should I do?"

"The algorithm will kick you to your place. Your powers are slowly waking. You now can connect with us, the other creatures of God. Things will never appear to be the same. I had to warn you now because you look painfully ignorant. And you no longer have a reason to stay here."

The boy said nothing. He looked at the white blanket, his arms stretched dead on his sides, their palms facing the ceiling helplessly. His eyes creased in pain as he finally understood that he was lost…

"I see," he said and the monster gave him his back as he approached the window. He slid it open and a breeze came in. Davish looked at the window, the dark sky appeared engraved with silver stars, it was clear, full of purple dust and beautiful.

The winter was on the doors, his favorite season.

The monster stood on the window and before he flew away, he said, "Davish, you should leave this place before you cause troubles to its people. The doctor looked kind, if he dies tonight, it’s your fault."

Davish stared at the monster floating away on his sickle, and he slowly turned to look at his blanket, both of his eyes empty, with no thoughts passing through them. He wished if this room was less clean so he could follow the dust particles and spent his time.

If he was the same person two or three weeks ago he wouldn't believe anything the monster had said. But now, it was too different.

He tried to move his legs. They stung and burnt, but not so much for him to whine. He gently pulled the blanket. And left his bed.

He wore no clothes but was wrapped with enough gauze to cover all of his body. The only exposed parts of him were his eyes and some parts of his lips.

He looked around the room and found a small closet hanging on a wall, he opened it and found patient clothes. Light green, wide, light, and comfortable.

He slowly wore them, as every move he performed stung his body. Inside the closet hanged a small mirror, the v-neck collar didn't show what used to be his fit wide chest, but a wrapped chest that he knew it was peeled and deformed.

He spent a minute gazing at himself, the gauze wrapped even his scalp, which for sure had no hair.

He had literally lost the figure he used to feel very satisfied with.

He started to walk, his right knee cracked on every step, and was a little slower than the other. He didn't mind the pain he experienced with every step. He had to go out. This was a state hospital. What would appear behind the door would show how much his government cared about their health.

He rotated the knob and got out. The lamps hanging where the ceiling and walls met blinked as most of them were already broken. The corridor was filled with tossed tissues and the cans overflowed with empty bottles as if it hadn't been cleaned for a month.

The corridor's paint was somehow worn out.

He supported himself by touching the wall as he walked. The corridor was empty, it was past midnight and most of the doctors were in the emergency section. He slowly walked as he stared at the end of the corridor where it branched into two passages that formed a 'T'.

Davish didn't know, that he was no longer the same person he used to be…

Davish took a few steps, and the lamps hanging on the corners by the end of the corridor blink twice, and in the third time, a dark, slender, long leg appeared from one of the passages.

Its toes sharp and long as if they were needles…

Davish widened his eyes as he looked around… to find out that the closest door was so far away from him.