Ivan sits on a bench overlooking the river, staring down at a note in his hand. The note was from his classmate and longtime bully, Kim. When Ivan had read the contents, he couldn’t help but run away. He couldn’t be around his classmates knowing what they thought of him, what they thought he did. He couldn’t believe that Kim would spread that rumor, but he couldn’t convince himself that it wouldn’t happen.
Crumpling the note, he lets it fall to the ground as he bends forward, putting his face in his hands. Self-hate and anger tore through him, making him wish he’d never been born. He couldn’t believe the amount of things that Kim had put him through over the years, the amount of times he’d been so tempted just to end it all to get away from the man.
Digging his fingernails into his face, teardrops begin falling to the ground. Slowly at first, until Ivan starts wholly sobbing. If only he could get back at Kim. If only he could teach him what it felt like, being so small and helpless.
Reaching down to the paper at his feet, Ivan stands up to throw it into the canal in front of him. Before he does, however, he spots a black butterfly slowly flitting towards him. Mesmerized, Ivan pauses. He had never seen a black butterfly before, and there was just something so utterly transfixing about this one. Once it reaches him, it flies around him in a few tight circles, as if taking him in. Judging him.
Ivan, tears still dripping down his face, gently holds a finger out toward it, trying to get it to land on him. It was beautiful, and he couldn’t help but want to touch it. Instead of landing on his finger, however, it dives for the paper in his hand.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Ivan yelps when it seems to engulf the paper, turning it black. He tries to let go, but before he can, a dark purple haze comes over his vision.
A voice rings out from the darkness, waves of power accompanying it. “You want revenge, don’t you?” It asks. Ivan, still reeling from what just happened, could only nod. He felt compelled to answer this unknown being truthfully.
“I just want to make him understand what he’s put me through. All I want to do is make sure he can never hurt me again.” Ivan says, almost growling out the last few words. A sharp wave of power emanates from the deep purple abyss, acting almost as if the being inside it approved. It flowed over Ivan, making him shiver. It felt like infinite possibilities, if it was ever even possible to feel something like that.
The voice chuckles, saying, “I can help you get revenge, if you make enough chaos for me.” Ivan thinks that it’s a pretty strange request, but he approves nonetheless. A small part of himself wonders why he is so trusting of this strange being that is occluding his vision and speaking in his head, but that part is getting smaller by the second. “Just one more thing,” the voice adds, “try not to hurt anyone. Be threatening, destroy anything you can, but don’t hurt people.” Ivan nods.
“I can do that, sir, if I can make Kim pay.” He says, feeling another wave of approval.
“Then it shall be done.” The being says, waves of power washing over Ivan. The energy invades him, filling him with infinite possibilities, infinite timelines and beings that he could be. He feels himself grow stronger, grow angrier. He roars as the purple haze retreats, power filling him with a confidence that he never had before.
He was ready.