Chapter 1: Descent into Madness
The trip to the mall was surprisingly without incident. I didn’t know if it was fate or just happenstance but it seemed that few monsters spawned on the streets and alleyways I was taking and the few that did were busy trying to break into the nearest buildings. Whatever was the case I ended up making it to the mall in good time and unscathed but the problem was what to do now that I had arrived.
The mall was had three floors with the first being the general clothing shops, the second holding the more specialized stores and the third being electronics and the food court. The hunting store I was going to was on the second floor which had no direct entrance which made getting in and out a trickier proposition than I’d have preferred. I could either enter through one of the entrances on the first floor or the sky bridge from the parking lot to the third floor. Both had their advantages and disadvantages.
The first floor had a large number of entrances/exits so there were multiple options for quick escapes if those became necessary. The problem was all the entrances had zero cover and the genius who designed the mall had made the doors reflective rather than transparent so I wouldn’t know what was on the other side until I opened the door. On the other hand the third floor only had one entrance but the skywalk had no door on either side enabling me to see straight into the mall before I entered it. The parking lot also had ample cover for me to use if I needed to hide.
Either way was less than optimal however I decided to enter from the third floor as the even if it would be the last desperate option I could use the emergency exits to escape. Still this absolutely a last resort as the alarm would attract the attention of anything nearby. Settled on my course of action I head towards the parking lot. Fortunately the street was empty but the occasional screams from the nearby shops and restaurants were grating on my nerves.
The parking lot surprisingly held a large number of cars, though once I thought about it I figured people most have been using the spots when they went to the nearby restaurants for a New Year’s dinner. Still it worked to my advantage as, for whatever reason, the few goblins inside stuck to the middle of the road and left the spaces in between the cars unchecked. I made it to the stairs unseen and was thankful for the lack of goblins wandering them as it enabled me to make it to the third floor unmolested.
The walkway was empty of anything, human or otherwise, and I had a clear view into the mall which, due to it being New Year’s, had its lights turned off leaving only the sunlight from the large skylight in the middle to light up the surroundings. I didn’t see anything or anyone moving so I figured it safe enough to make my way cautiously across.
Over in the parking lot I hadn’t been able to notice but as soon as I got into the mall proper I was finally able to make out a faint sound, like that of lots of flesh smacking into each other. I couldn’t see the source of the sound so I cautiously made my way down the hallway. The mall had four “arms” that connected into a circle in the middle which was a hole that went straight down to the first floor. There wasn’t a solid wall separating the middle ring from the hole so it was possible to look over it and see the bottom floor of the mall. I wish I hadn’t decided to look over the side once I got there as it left my sanity hanging by a bare thread.
The bottom floor was full of goblins, I assume they had broken through a door somewhere to get inside, but that wasn’t the problem what they were doing was. The monsters were apparently using the mall as a large base or town or whatever the monsters called such things and had thus brought everything they had with them. This included their weapons, random bits of trash, food and their captives.
Some remote corner in the far recesses of my mind vaguely noted the lack of any female goblins or male captives as I saw the horror unfold before my eyes. I may be an empty person but I did still have emotions they were just harder to get reactions from, but if there was one thing guaranteed to get a strong reaction of me was seeing children been brutalized. That was what I saw below me, a couple hundred women of any and all ages being raped repeatedly by an even large number of goblins. That wasn’t even the worst part as once the goblins got bored they seemed to kill their victims and consume their body, while moving on to their next victim, as I got the distinct pleasure of witnessing as soon as I peeked over the edge.
My first reaction was to blindly jump over the edge, using the bodies below to break my fall, and go on a killing spree until I died myself. I was just about to do just that and had half my body on the wall poised to vault myself over it when the thought hit me. What about my family? That thought froze me on the spot.
They were in danger too and would likely share a similar fate if caught, I might not be sure if my feelings for them were genuine or not but they were there and I needed something to grasp on to keep my mind stable. However I couldn’t just ignore what was happening, what was left of the innocent boy my parents had raised wouldn’t, couldn’t allow it. My mind was breaking down from the conflicting impulses. I couldn’t do both and choosing either option would break what was left of me so I did the only thing I could do I let my dark side completely take over.
It’s a bit cliché to call it that but I didn’t have a better name for it and it fit it well enough. While my usual self would kill without hesitation to help someone else my other side would do it just for the sadistic pleasure it would get from the act. I don’t remember exactly when I became aware of this situation all I knew was that it’s been a constant companion for a long time. Whenever my will wavered or my darker emotions spiked urges/whispers that spawned from it would appear, tempting me to kill. I hadn’t ever listened as I knew I wouldn’t live long if I ever did agree, the world just didn’t work that way.
Now however, the world was different and there would be no consequences in becoming a sadistic killer. In fact that was what probably would enable me to survive now as my current self couldn’t remain sane in the face of such hard choices. My other side however, could gaze down at the scene before me with dispassionate eyes and easily leave them to their fates without ever looking back. It wouldn’t take pleasure from their fate; he was a killer not a rapist. He liked inflicting physical harm not destroying a helpless victim’s heart and mind.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
It was a…curious sensation, like waking up from a dream. One moment my mind was breaking and my heart tearing itself apart, the next just a cold emptiness was felt throughout my body. There was knowledge of my other side but it felt fake, like scenes from a movie I had watched implanted into my mind instead of real memories. I no longer held emotional reactions; all I had was a purpose. I’m uncertain if it was left over from my other side or if it was a true part of me. All I knew was that I would do anything to survive and insure the survival of the few people I still “cared” for.
Thinking of the few people in my life that mattered to me brought a strange feeling to my chest, a faint warmness. It made me uncomfortable so I stopped those thoughts and focused on accomplishing my original goal for entering this place, getting some weapons.
The second floor was much like the third in that the hallways were devoid of life. Coming up to the hunting store I slowed down as I noticed that there was shattered glass on the ground in front of it. Seeing this I quickly took out the knife I had looted from the goblin corpse while also quietly placing my backpack on the ground. I silently rolled my shoulders a few times to shake out the tension I had accumulated from lugging the heavy pack around.
Once ready I slunk towards the window of the shop, which had the glass paneling smashed out, and peaked into the room. I could make out the figure of two goblins busy looting knives from the, currently shattered, display cases. They had their backs turned towards me so I was in the ideal position to sneak up and kill them.
Making it over the glass was a pain but I managed to do it without drawing their attention to me and I quickly snuck up on the pair. The one holding their spoils was closer to me than the one gathering more of the knives. He didn’t even notice me until I drew my looted knife across his throat; he made a startled gurgle before collapsing onto the ground. Unfortunately the pleasurable feeling I received from the kill made me momentarily freeze from the unexpected high like state I entered.
This cost me as the sound of the knives clattering to the floor drew the attention of the remaining goblin that upon seeing me immediately stabbed towards me with the knife he was currently holding. Luckily for me the height difference and the rushed attack resulted in my merely getting a gash across my side which snapped me out of my trance. Reacting purely on instinct I plunged the knife in my hand into the offending creature’s eye and enter its brain, killing it instantly.
Surprisingly the pain didn’t really bother me; in fact I received a little thrill from it. Putting my hand to the wound and bringing it back up left it covered in a light coating of blood. Nonlife threatening but would be annoying to leave unattended. I went back into the hall to get my medical supplies to cover the wound when I noticed my hand still covered in blood.
I had a brief impulse to lick my hand clean which I decided to follow. The taste was strange but good at the same time but left my throat sticky so I decided to just wipe the rest off on my pants. It took me all of two minutes to find the gauze and bandages and apply them to my wound. I sprayed it with disinfectant first as I wasn’t going to take the chance of getting ill from some strange goblin disease that could kill me.
Once finished I quickly grabbed what I wanted from the shop. Unfortunately it didn’t sell any guns, probably since it was located in a mall, but I was able to get two good combat knives, a largish machete and a compound bow. It was a bit awkward having a machete slapping against my thigh and position the quiver so that I could still reach the arrows while wearing my backpack was a pain but I eventually managed. Task complete I went back where I came from and left the mall.
The gash on my side throbbed a bit if I ran so I kept my pace slow and restricted myself to fast walking. Now properly armed, or as armed as I could readily be, I decided heading in the directions of my parent’s home. They lived on the opposite side of LA me so it was quite a long ways away, almost fifty miles, but I was compelled to go. I didn’t consider getting more supplies as a priority as I had a few days’ worth in my pack and anymore would slow me down. Guns also weren’t a priority as I had yet to see any goblins with a ranged weapon let alone a firearm, plus they were usually hard to find and I was a better shot with a bow than a gun (they also made more noise).
So unless an easy opportunity presents itself I was going to go straight to my parent’s home. There was an odd feeling, like acid boiling in my stomach, when I thought about their likely fate. The feeling was even worse when I thought about my younger sister who still lived with them as she was still in high school. I push the thoughts aside as the feeling was uncomfortable but still increased my pace slightly.
I was in good shape but the trip was hard, extremely so, and by the time I made it I was physically and mentally drained. It took ten hours to make it to their general neighborhood, I was grateful for my good memory as walking so far is a lot different from driving the same distance. During this time I got into no less than ten different fights with goblins, two of which I ended up having to run and hide from. By the time I made it too their house the fifty pounds I was carrying felt like the weight of the world on my back.
I would have given myself a quick break to recuperate by the bad feeling I had when I thought about my family was still present even when I tried to not think about them. It had even grown stronger as time passed during my trip. So as soon as I saw their house I picked up my pace, much to my bodies protest, and barged through the door idly noting the fact that it was ajar.
The front door to my parent’s house opens up into our living room; it had been our tradition to watch our favorite movies in there while we waited for the New Year. It seems like even without my presence my family had continued the tradition. Seeing the mangled bodies of my family being played with by a group of four goblins caused something in me to snap. The last coherent thought I had before my rage consumed me and the goblins literally exploded was that it turned out I really did love my family.