chapter 1

The sound of chirping birds is interrupted by a scream in the distance: “He is moving; thats why I can't get him! Grab the bastards legs!" Ulysel sighs and walks up to a bloodied corpse with countless cuts and scratches on its body hanged on a tree with a rope around its neck, and its face so disfigured that the body is unidentifiable. Uriel kneels down under the corpse and grabs both of its legs. “I shouldn't be doing all of this.” thinks Uriel, the body starts dripping blood. “Ugh, for deus’s sake, he is getting blood on me! quickly!” He shakes his right arm to get the blood droplets off. Ulysel squints one eye and raises his knife-bearing arm. “Don't worry, brother, I'm going to get his heart this time." With all his might, Uriel launches the knife towards the dead corpse, but instead of the actual blade making contact with the corpse, the knife handle hits the corpse and falls to the ground. Ulysel scoffs as he lets go of the corpse’s legs and says, “Just stick to using your sword; you are never going to learn how to use these." Uriel angrily throws the last 2 knives in his hand but he misses both of them then raises both his arms in the air and says “they are useless either ways, like why would i want to use some knife if i can just do this” he grabs massive sword out of its sheath from his back and with one swing severs the rope holding the corpse and it falls to the floor, Uriel sheaths his sword and walks away but suddenly their belt buckles start to glow and vibrate and Uriel says “we need to get back to base” the two start walking away from the corpse but the moment they turn their back they hear a weak moan from behind them, uriel and ulysel exchange confused stares and slowly turn around to see the corpse twitching its hand, ulysel utters “w.. wh.. what?” The corpse lets out another weak, agonising moan as it turns on its back. The two angels walk back towards the corpses ,and Uriel says “We have no time to mess around” we are already late lets just...…” he looks around and notices a well up ahead there look." Thee two of them drag the corpse on the floor leaving a trail of blood behind.,the corpse’s face is covered With blood and the skin on the left side of its face is barely hanging o.,once they reach the well, ulysel kneels down next to the corpse and says “TELL US WHO YOU ARE!”Thee corpse twitches its face and with a lot of effort barely manages to utter “only if you knew”Ulysell looks back at uriel and says “Fine” as he stands Backup, and Uriel drops the corpse’s shattered foot and grabs the corpses collar and lifts him up, smashing its head against the well and screams “go back where you came from!”  His saliva shooting out onto the corpses battered face, as uriel and Ulysel pick up the corpse and drop it into the well.

chapter 2

1 month and 2 days prior

all that can be heard in the massive factory complex are the sounds of clanging iron and the inaudible screams of hundreds of workers each working on a different stage of iron melding, a group of sweaty workers pour molten metal into a rusted cauldron with the light from the molten metal lighting up the dimly lit working place of the workers, a factory worker wearing a blue jumpsuit walks up to a worker feeding little scraps of metal into a machine, the metal scraps are flattened between two metal rods which flatten the scraps, his fingers inching ever closer into the old noisy rusted machine, “oi magouros” says the man in the blue jumpsuit, but his voice fading in the noice of the machine, “magouros close the damn machine i wont repeat myself” he says but still magouros does not reply, the worker in the jumpsuit angrily walks over to magouros and grabs his shoulder and turns him “close the machine!” Magouros freezes still for a moment. Startled by the man, he takes off his melding mask, revealing a thin face that, although having good-looking features generally, with a sharp nose, a strong defined brow ridge, protruding cheekbones, and light hazelnut-coloured eyes, looks like it hasn't been cared for in a long time, with grey stains mixed with his sweat running down his face, ruining his complexion. Magouros looks at the worker and says, “What?” He slightly shakes his head as he says that. The worker walks backwards and says, "Your needed in the head office, come with me.” Magouros puts his melding mask on the floors and takes off the apron he is wearing to reveal his frail anorexic body. He grabs his sleeveless undershirt off the floor and hits it against his seat to get the dust off, and he follows the jumpsuit worker as he wears his undershirt. Magouros says, "Is anything the problem?” The jumpsuit worker replies, "Do you think there is?” Magouros raises an eyebrow and, after a moment of silence, says, “No, I don't.” The worker smirks and says, “You will know soon." As the two walk past hundreds of workers in a never-ending cycle of men and machines, one worker notices Magouros and says, “Have you gotten yourself in trouble?” Magouros looks over and shrugs his shoulders. “Wait, have you got any money? Im starving and lunch break is in 15 minutes,” says the same worker. Magouros reaches into his pocket and grabs a couple coins. He walks over to the worker and says, “Thats all I have. If you would stop spending all your money on coins, you wouldn't have to take all of my  money." The worker happily grabs the money and ignores what Magouros just said to him. Magouros continues on his way with the blue jumpsuit worker and turns around, saying, “Oh, by the way, Rick, you owe me 15 shillings now,” but Rick ignores him again and continues working. After walking for another 5 minutes, the two finally reach a dirty old green door with most of the green paint having worn off to show the mouldy brown wood underneath. “Wait here one second,” says the jumpsuit worker as he gulps and slowly opens the door and looks inside. He nods his head and looks back at Magouros. “Okay, you can go inside, but do not speak until spoken to understand that.” The jumpsuit man says, Magouros takes a deep breath and walks inside. The blinding light of the room causes Magouros to cover his eyes and look away until his eyes start to adapt to the bright light. “Please come and have a seat,” says a voice in the distance. Magouros sees a blurry wooden chair in the middle of the room. He rubs his eyes and slowly walks towards it and sits. With his eyes adjusting to the light, he sees a large table with five men and women in suits sitting behind it. “Please tell us who you are and how long you have been working for us.” says the black man sitting opposite Magouros behind the table as he opens a massive file and starts writing something. Magouros opens his mouth but hesitates, “Umm. My name is Magouros Samsa; I am 21 years old, and I would... He is interrupted when an old woman in her 70s to the right of the black man says, “Your worker ID." Magouros replies, “My number is 21342." The black man clicks his tongue and says, “And you have been working for us for?” Magouros starts fidgeting with his fingers and notices that he is bouncing his leg, so he grabs his leg and slides his arm down his leg to control himself. “4 years now, but in a couple of months it will be 5". The black man nods as he reads the file and says, “We appreciate your contribution to our corporation, but unfortunately, due to a new company policy, we will have to let you go on short notice." Magouros stops bopping his leg and stares at the black man. “But what am I supposed to do now? This has been my home for as long as I can remember. Where do you expect me to go now?” Magouros asks, and the old woman replies, “Please do not raise your voice at us; as just stated by my colleague, this is company policy and nothing personal." The black man joins in, “We have been forced to bid farewell to some of our most loyal workers. What happens to you from tomorrow is none of our concern. Please make your way to your cell; you will have the rest of the day to pack your things, and by the end of the day.” The black man continues his rant as Magouros sinks into his own mind, “What must I do now? I can't let them find me. How can I find work anywhere else? I can't raise suspicion; my money won't last me 2 weeks, so I can't escape. What must I do? Oh, what if...” “HEY EMPLOYEE 21342, ARE YOU STILL WITH US?” shouts the black man. Magouros snaps back to reality and starts blinking as he rubs his eyes. “Yes, sorry,” says Magouros. The black man scoffs, and he shakes his head. The old woman says, “Please exit the room and return to your cell." Magouros stands up, with his head dropped, and walks out of the room and past the jumpsuit worker, who arrogantly tells Magouros, “You got our answer?” Magouros doesn't reply and he starts stumbling and falling to the floor. Magouros forces himself up and walks to the canteen. Magouros walks up to a table in the canteen with no one else. All the while the other canteen tables are crowded with workers. Magouros reaches into his pockets and finds nothing. He hesitates for a moment and whispers "rick.” He looks around and stands up. Magouros walks around the canteen until he notices Rick, who is shouting, “Ey boys, lunch is on me today. Let's party!” He grabs a fat stack of cash from his pocket. Magouros looks at Rick with confusion and thinks to himself, “Why did he ask me for money?” Magouros walks towards Rick and says, “Hey friend, fortunately I wasn't kicked out, so I'll have my money back, please." Rick gets startled when he sees Mag and says, “Oh hi, Mag, I found this stash of money by my uhh bed. Here,  take this 5 shillings; I will repay the rest later. magouros walks to the canteen stall and gets himself chicken wrap and heads towards his cell, magouros starts eating his wrap as walks past the working site and enters the living area of the factory district, floor upon floor of identical cells packed next to each other go on endlessly, magouros walks up the rusted iron stairs to the second floor, he continues walking towards his cell which has his name written onto a little worn off board next to the door, he reaches into his back pocket for the keys while holding onto the cell door but as he is looking for the keys he accidentally slightly moves the cell door which makes him jolt back onto the metal railings, magouros looks at the door with confusion and walks forward and with both his arms pushes the door aside, magouros looks around, and walks to the cell next to his which has ricks name on it and tries pushing the cell door but it is locked, he goes to the cell to the left of his and sees that it too is locked, magouros enters his cell with caution, he looks around and moves the red curtain separating the toilet to his living room, but sees no one. Magouros puts his guard down,  kneels down, opens his cupboard, and grabs a dirty old duffel bag, wiping off the dust with his hand. He opens up the bag to find some old clothes, but in particular, what Magouros is looking for is a key. He looks through all the zippers in the bag until he finds the key, walks towards the toilet, kneels down, and covers his mouth and nose with his hand. He searches for something around the toilet and moves his other hand around it. Magouros steps closer and finds the keyhole behind the toilet tank. Using the key he found in the duffel bag, he opens up the toilet tank, lifting it and placing it to the side, and grabs a sheathed machete. He shakes it to get some of the water off. He unsheathes the silver blade from its brown leather sheath, with the handle of the blade wrapped in brown leather as well. With a single ruby on the centre of the hilt, the machete doesn't look like it would belong to Magouros. Magouros smirks as he swings the blade a couple times, which makes a heavy swooshing sound, and says, “I would be lying if I said I didn't miss you.” He sheaths his machete and shoves it in his old duffel bag, grabs a flowerpot from the ground next to his bed, and empties out the soil and flower with some cash falling down. Magouros counts it and looks up and utters, “Only 225 shillings?” He walks up to the bed and lifts up his mattress, but as he looks around the wooden bed frame, he sees nothing and says, “Where is my money?” He grabs the mattress, pulls it off the bed, and crawls around the floor looking for the money that he had under his mattress. “It should be somewhere here,” he says. Magouros throws his bed frame to the side, rips down the curtain, and turns his cell upside down in search of his money. “NOOO, WHERE IS ITTTT, THATS ALL I HAVE” Magouros stands up and starts panting, “Where could it be? maybe under the here or wha.” he freezes before he can continue and stares at the cell door, he thinks for a moment, magouros says to himself “before i was called he didn’t have any money” magouros smashes his fist on the rough concrete floor presses his teeth together as he wheezes, his eyes flicking with a red glow, magouros opens the duffle bag and takes out his machete and wears the duffle bag around his neck as he runs out the cell, magouros jumps down the stairs and continues running towards the melding site, once there he walks over puddles of water made by the workers constantly splashing themselves with water, by now lunch break is over and magouros suspects rick will be where he first saw him and indeed he is, rick grabs a couple metal pipes off the floor as he walks away from magouros’s direction, but magouros stands still and drops his duffle bag and the machete on it, “hey rick!” he says, rick turns around, he is shocked to see magouros and says “are you that in need of money? Here, take your 10 shillings and leave me the hell  alone." Magouros says, “Don't act foolish; give me my money back." Ricks expression lowers the pipe on his shoulder and grabs it with both arms and says, “Look here, you weird creep. I don’t know what your talking about, but don’t threaten me or I will cave your brain in." The workers start to leave their jobs and gather around Rick and Magouros. As soon as they hear Rick, the guards around the factory rush in and grab both Rick and Magouros, and one of the guards shouts, “Stop, stop, calm down." Magouros tries pushing them off, but they grab onto his arms. As Rick is being taken by the other guards, he smirks at Magouros and shouts, “Thanks for the money, though." Hearing this, Magouros turns red with anger, being assured that it was indeed Rick who stole the money. He screams from the top of his lungs as he grabs one of the guards by the throat, pushes him away towards Rick, and punches another guard holding his right arm in the face, releasing himself. Magouros grabs the machete off the floor and unsheathes it, holding the sheath in his right hand. He runs towards Rick, who screams in fear and tries running away, pushing away the workers around him. Magouros pushes a guard who walks in front of him to the floor and runs through a mass of workers who have gathered by now. Magouros raises his machete and slashes Rick's back. The attack was a risky one because Rick was in between a couple of workers. Rick screams in pain as blood gushes from his back all over the floor, even on Magouros’s sleeveless undershirt. Seeing this, the hundreds of workers rush in to try and disarm Magouros, who raises his machete to try and fend off the other workers, but they run into him and tackle him into the ground. The mass of people start crushing each other under the weight of the men behind them, and Magouros screams as hundreds of men bury him alive. The situation is made worse by the guards, who start beating the workers with batons, forcing them to cramp up over one another, but as some of them start to flee, they accidentally click a red button on a yellow switch attached to the wall. a cauldron filled with molten iron slowly tips over next to the mass of men spilling molten iron onto the them, this makes the crowd start running around beating guards and trying to save their own lives, a pile of dead crushed men lie on the floor and beneath them magouros pushes a corpse away and gasps for air as he slowly gets himself out of the heap of bodies, the sound of burning men screaming for help echoes through the factory, with the smell of burning flesh mixing with the aroma of sweat, once freed magouros grabs his machete and limps away but a guard runs up to magouros and starts beating him with a baton, magouros drops to the floor covering his head with his arm but the guard is relentless and doesn’t stop, magouros kicks the guards ankle and drops him to the floor and tries to escape the factory ignoring the guard on the floor, magouros starts to look around constantly being bumped into by fleeing workers and notices a window 10 meters in front of him runs towards it and drops himself from the three story factory falling a dumpster

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

chapter 3

The sun glares brightly, and he feels his skin being roasted alive. Magouros looks down at his forearms and sees that his skin has turned a light pink colour from its original light brown. The wetness that runs down his arms irritates his skin, and when he tries whipping it off, he feels as if his skin is being peeled off with every motion. He turns back, looking at the factory, which is merely a spec in the distant. Seeing anything over 50 metres is hard, let alone the factory miles away due to the dust and gusts of sand being thrown into the air. To his left is the vast expanse of nothingness. Magouros reaches for the fence to his right, separating the grand city from the barren desert, but the fence sizzles his hand as he tries to touch it. His fingers start smoking where he touched the fence. Magouros looks down and whips the sweat off his neck and forehead. He continues walking until an ominous voice whispers to him, “What is it exactly that you plan to do? ”Magouros stops. He does look around, initially confused, but after he seems to realise the voice, like he expected the voice to speak, “Why can't you just let me live with the little I have? Have you not destroyed my life enough? ”Magouros says, the voice replies. “Don't blame me for your misfortunes; you chose to live this life; anything that has fallen upon you was a result of your doing.” Magouros continues walking. “I would rather choose this life than one where you are under you,” he says. The voice chuckles and responds, “Why do you think that you don't abide by my rules? Might it be because you spent your years rotting away, distant from everyone else? Just because you don't see the world around you doesn't mean you are apart from it. Even now, you are too stubborn to see the reality of the situation, but it doesn't matter now.