The Soul Reaver

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Wait- no that’s still darkness.

Kinda depressing. “Wow…” I said quietly to myself, “It’s rather empty here.”

‘Oh, here, let me change that for you!’ And much to my chagrin, that god-forsaken facility appeared. God I fucking hate this place... ‘Fucking prick.’

“Gah… I still hate this place, even if I slaughtered a good number of the people here. Whatever,” I turn to my right and was glad to see Johnny rising from the ground, dusting off his coat, “Let’s head this way Johnny.” I pointed down the hall, “We need to start this fucked up search somewhere.”

“Got it.” He nodded, and brought out two sword hilts. “Lead the way, Dean.”

‘Uh, you might want to try the level two holding areas, that’s where I was kept, and where I remember seeing her in my nightmare.’ Sarah’s voice echoed through the… I don’t even know what to call it, mindscape? Whatever...

“Well that certainly saves us time searching. Alright, to the stairwell.”

‘Did you happen to memorize the layout of the facility when you were there?’ Sarah asked.

‘Thankfully, yes. All we need is to find the... Ah! There it is!’ The door that led to said stairwell was… well, kicked down, apparently. Ah well. I motioned for Johnny to follow me, and we head down the stairwell. Kinda eery, with how quiet it has been... “Level two. Alright, now to find... Well maybe that ominous black spot of tendrils and fuck is a clue.” I’m not kidding, there’s this weird black ink shit on the walls and floor.

“You don’t say?” Both Johnny and I ignite our weapons. Turns out, Johnny duel wields two scimitars and whatever those things are on his wrists.

‘Try living in it for seventeen years.’ Sarah voiced/thought, ‘Fucking horrible place.’

“I’ll pass.” Johnny grimaced and sighed, “The inquisition was bad enough, I’d rather not see something like it again.”

‘Jesus how old are you?’

“Old enough.” We continued down the second floor hall, and the tendrils seemed to become thicker and thicker, almost sucking the light into them. We stopped in front of a door… this is the door to Sarah’s room, and the tendrils seemed to be alive this time, as they wriggled about. God that’s disgusting….

“Well, lets get this over with…” We both brought a leg up and kicked the door down.

“Room service!” I shouted as I looked around cautiously. I was then met with a sight most disgusting. Giblets of people and a whole bunch of ponies were strewn all over the floor, and I couldn’t even step anywhere without having a squelching noise being heard.

“This not how I thought I would spend my day…” Johnny scowled and stepped forward.

“No shit. Alright, where are ya you fuck?” I exclaim into the vast darkness of the room.

“How...” I heard deeper, raspier version of Sarah’s voice say, followed by several fast steps from the pitch-black back of the room, “how the fuck....?” The footsteps suddenly stopped, and the voice growled, “You....”

        And much to my shock, it was a Sarah that wore nothing but an apron made of skin.

        I wish I was making this up. I really, really wish I was. I kept my disgust down and sneered, “Me.”

        She began to breathe heavily, making a low growling sound, “How... how the fuck did you fucking get in here...?”

        “You would fucking like to fucking know, wouldn’t you?” I replied mockingly, “Fun little concoction from back home. Aunt Jemima's family recipe.” I love talking shit. Too much fun.

        She clenched her fists and scrambled back, “Get out of here, get the fuck out of here if you know what’s good for Sarah!”

        “Wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” I pulled out a vial of the croatoan that Louis gave me. If what he told me is right… it should reverse the effects, if only a little. Enough to put this bitch to sleep for a good long time. “I do know that you do not belong here. So you gonna go peacefully? Or do we have to get physical?”

        She muttered something to herself, rapidly looking left and right, before briefly looking back over her shoulder into the darkness.

“No... no not that....” I heard her say, “That’s too much....” She started to gnaw on her already mangled fingernails, causing blood to start leaking out of them, “Maybe....”

“You’re gonna have to speak up, we need an answer.” I shouted with an emotionless expression. For the first time in months I actually reverted back to old tendencies.

Back to being a Hunter.

She frantically started whipping her head back and forth, then shouted, “Damn it!” She turned around and ran, going deeper into the darkness.

I turned to Johnny with a raised eyebrow, “Well, that’s a first.” He shrugged, and we both ran into the darkness after her, “Oi! Time to take your damn medicine!”

We stopped when we saw her on her knees, angrily pounding at a large metal door that had large bloodstains all over it.

“Open damn it, fucking open!” She slammed her fists into the door, causing a large shockwave to emanate from it.

‘Agh, Dean, what the fuck is she doing!?’

“Being annoying, that’s what.” I growled. “Hello Clarice.”

She stopped and looked back at me, a terrified look on her face. Screaming, she turned back to the door and, in one sweep of her hands, threw the doors open and ran inside.

“Mother fucker, come’er!” We both ran at the doorway, but were blown back from it. With a groan, I got back up, “The hell…?”

Looking inside, the floor was completely black, but the walls and ceiling were made up of a maelstrom of black and red, and a howling screech was slowly rising in volume, coming from within.

“Well that just sounds pleasant.” Johnny grumbled, “Any ideas, Dean? This isn’t looking like it’ll be easier than we thought.”

“None whatsoever, you?”

“Why do you think I asked you?”

Suddenly, I heard a loud scream from the room, and she was tossed out of it, covered in open wounds in place of her scars. Right before the doors slammed shut again, I saw a black silhouette with blazing red eyes glaring angrily at the crazy bitch.

I cleared my throat, “Howdy neighbor.” I said lowly.

“God... dammit....” She cried, writhing as the scars started to re-seal themselves. “Why,” she screamed at me, “why the fuck are you even doing this!?”

“Because this is for the better of everyone, including Sarah.” I shrugged, “I don’t see why you’re so scared.” I snarled, “You’ve caused Sarah nothing but grief, but when I come in with the intention of trying to help her, you get scared.”

“And just what do you hope to accomplish with this!?” She screamed, “She has only known you for not even a day, you have no reason to kill me!”

“Sure I do.” I tossed the syringe up and done, careful not to jab myself with the needle. “You’re a rather prominent issue that could end up hurting others around Sarah. People she cares about. And I’m not gonna have that.”

“I was born from the negative emotions, the hate and anger Sarah was fed as a child! I could feel those same emotions coming from you when you first met her! You contemplated killing her, I could feel it! Why the change, why the sudden care for her worthless existence!?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, to be honest. Yeah, at first I didn’t like her. In fact, I wanted nothing to do with her. But after hearing her story, hearing her grief, I’m not just gonna sit back and let her go down this spiral of hatred and self-loathing.” I pause, “I know that pain all too well…”

“She’s already been down that path,” she said, sounding oddly sad, “with no help from me in that regard....”

“You don’t say?” I said dryly. I shook my head, “Psychology was never my strong suit… but you have to go.” I held the syringe, staring at the jelly-like substance, “Try not to fight it, we can at least keep this peaceful.” I can at least see that she seems to… I don’t know, regret what she did. Something about her seems pitiful.

“I’m guessing someone who knew about how I was created gave you... whatever that is....” She sighed, staying still on the ground, “Tell me... did they ever mention how I was made? What caused me to happen in this...” she looked around at the now all-black void, “place?”

“My… benefactor mentioned something about Sarah’s birth.” Louis pretty much kept his lips sealed on that, wanting me to figure it out on my own. “I take it you were the product of whatever happened at that time?”

“Something like that....” She sighed again, “I wish I could say I’m sorry, but no one would believe it. I don’t even believe it....” She looked up at me, tears in her eyes, “Just kill me already.”

        I was silent for a moment, then knelt down, and patted her head, “Close your eyes… I want to at least let you have some peaceful last moments. Say anything you want to get off your chest, anything.”

“Sarah... I’m sorry. All this time, I blamed you for creating me, I took out my anger on you, wanted to kill you....” She paused, and when she spoke again her voice was weak, “I was no one’s fault. I was a mistake. Nothing more. I shouldn’t have done to you what I did, but... I had so much anger and hate making my being, and you were the only outlet. You won’t forgive me, I know you won’t but,” She drew a shaky breath, “I’m sorry, I truly am....”

I did something that, while I don’t know if it was the right thing to do or not, but I gave her a light hug, “I’m sure she’ll forgive you. Now, just rest.” I put the syringe in a major vein at her neck, and pushed the plunger down. “Requiescat in pace.”

I watched her close her eyes, and I gently put her down. With a sigh, I turn to Johnny with a tired expression, “I’m getting really tired of this job…”

Johnny nodded in understanding as our bodies began to fade, “I’ll buy you a drink later. Lets just get out of here.” And with that, we began to fly at ungodly speeds upwards, and we ended up rushing out of Sarah’s head. Our souls jumped back into our bodies, and we woke up on the floor.

With a gasp for air, I quickly rose from the ground and panted, “Holy… fuck… I hate doing that!”

Johnny was a lot more collected than I was, “Well. That was educational…” He got on his feet and helped me up, “Hopefully we don’t have to do that ever again.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” I looked at Sarah, “There... it’s done.”

        She stared ahead blankly before saying, “Yeah... Yeah, it i-” Where the fuck did she go. What the fuck huh. Vladimir. what the shit?

We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes, waiting for Sarah to reappear. I don’t know what we expected, and I was just hoping that I didn’t do that shit only to fuck up in the end. “And she just up and disappeared. Great, now what?” May as well break the silence….

“Well, we could always just say we cocked up and she died.” Johnny shrugged. The hell man? I smacked him in the back of his head.

“The hell Johnny?” I sighed. He’s always been like this….

“You could just turn around, that’d probably be easier.” HOLYFUCKWHAT!?

“AHHH!” I may, or may not have jumped into Johnny’s arms like Scooby-Doo.

SHUT UP DON’T JUDGE ME.

Sarah had appeared right behind us, laughing her ass off. “Jesus fucking Christ, I wasn’t expecting that from you two!”

I could feel myself giving off a glow, even Johnny was.“Shut the hell up!” I exclaimed, still giving off that damnable glow.

She finally calmed down and leaned against the wall, “Oh God, that was too funny. I think Death put that portal there just for that.” DEATH YOU SON OF A BITCH!

“DEATH YOU FUCKING TROLL!” I shouted at the ceiling, feeling nothing but rage. I paused, when I realized that there… was another… Sarah standing next to her. I pulled out my sword hilt, “Sarah... who is she?” I said as I narrowed my eyes.

I just got rid of one twin, don’t tell me there’s another…

She waved her hands in defense and stood in front of the stranger/lookalike. “Woah woah, hold on. Dean, this is my twin sister Mary. Mary, this is Dean. Please try not to kill her before I can explain.”

I was rather shocked at that. When the fuck and how the fuck did that happen and why is it only coming up now!? I shook my head, and smiled,“Why not? Alright Johnny, you can dissolve the Knives hovering over their heads.”

“Alright, just making sure.” Jesus christ I forgot he has a hair trigger when it comes to reflexes… Johnny had already put these weird glowing purple knives above them in case they pull anything.

Sarah stared at Johnny blankly “Fucking paranoid...” I shook my head, “Anyway, the short version is that she died at birth, part of her soul stayed with me, that turned into my split personality, which kept her stuck in purgatory, and now that the personality is gone, she could come back, as a Wraith I think. If you want, I can go into detail later.”

Lolnope. I’m not even going to begin to try and understand how that works, I’m just gonna roll with it. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll take your word for it.” I smiled widely, and held out a hand to who I assumed is Mary, “Name’s Dean Marcelo. Nice to meet ya’!”

She stared at my hand for a moment before shaking it, “N-nice to meet you as well...”And she almost sounds like the hunger.

Fun.

Well, time to break the awkward tension. “And this is Johnny. Don’t let his harshness fool ya, he’s a big softie on the inside, especially for kids.” And then Johnny smacked me over the head with his fist

“Shut up you moron...” Johnny sighed, but glowed a light purple.

Mary looked at me confused, “I... Don’t see why him being a softie for kids matters. Technically I’m twenty one, so...”

“He’s actually about five thousand years old, so we’re kind of kids compared to him!” I got beat over the head again.

“Why do you have to explain my damn business!?” Johnny exclaimed. I couldn’t help but laugh even harder.

“Um, you look... Good? For your age?” Mary offered.

Oh son of a bitch this hurts… I heard Johnny sigh, “Thanks I guess. Being possessed by an old god gives you some benefits.”

Sarah finally chimed in, “Alright, so, can we just leave now? I kind of want to spend my, sorry our birthday doing something that isn’t mentally fucking me in all directions.”

“Giggity.” Fuck. I forgot that was an instant reaction...“Damn it...”

“O... kay then, what should we do? We probably got a few hours of daylight left.”

I paused when an idea came to me, “Follow me you two.” I told them and began to walk back up the stairs. I asked Pinkie to do this earlier, I hope she delivered...

“Where are we going?” I heard Sarah from behind me.

I turned to look at them with a grin as I continued walking, “A little surprise for the both of you. Well, it was meant for Sarah, but the thing is pretty damn large, so...” Yes! She did deliver! On the table in the dining room was a large cake made of chocolate. FUCKING CHOCOLATE. “Figured the first birthday outside of the facility could be a little traditional so I got you a chocolate cake.” I cut her off before she could say anything, “And no Sarah, it’s not laced with all kinds of fuck. You can enjoy it without worrying.” I laughed, “Besides, it wouldn’t affect you now that you’re a wraith.”

“You know,” she said, “Jeriah told me the same thing one time... I won’t go into how that turned out. But I think I’ll trust you on this.”

Godfucking dammit I hate being compared to that fuck, “I would snap at you for comparing me to that piece of shit... but it’s both of your birthdays. So I’ll let it slide...”

“Well excuse me for comparing things people say to the only person who ever really spoke to me...” She rolled her eyes at me. Two can play at that game!

I did the same, “Eat the damn cake. I spent at least fifty bits on it.”

“God, fine, I’ll eat the fucking cake. Jesus Christ, you have to complain about every other damn thing I say?”

“NAGNAGNAGNAGNAGNAG-OOOF!” Oh god my gut….

“Enough already...” Johnny growled as he got a big knife and cut the cake into pieces and handed both Mary and Sarah a piece, “Here, you get the bigger pieces.”

“You’re so cruel Johnny...” I groaned in pain as I grabbed the counter and tried to pull myself up.

“And you’re an immature twit.” Johnny said, not missing a beat as he cut another piece for himself.

I finally got to my feet, and sighed as I held my stomach. I opened a drawer, and pulled out some forks for us, “Here you go.” I got one for everybody, and grabbed a chair to sit down in.

As I ate, I saw Sarah poke at the cake for a moment before “Ah what the hell?” She took a bite and smiled, “Not bad. Much better than seventy-kinds-of-drug surprise.”

My only response was a grunt of annoyance as I ate my cake. The cake is too delicious for me to be angry.

Johnny laughed, not really saying anything.

We ate in silence for a moment, before Sarah broke it, “You know guys, I just noticed something...”

Oh joy, morals. “Oh god... moral of the day.”

She shook her head, “Not that. I just realized that Mary is completely naked, and no one has said a thing about it. Strange.”

Oh shit. Oh shit., “WELL I’LL BE RIGHT BACK JUST NEED TO GET A FUCKING COAT AND SHIT!” I shouted as I glowed my color and I saw Johnny leave the room.

“NEVERMIND, DEATH SENT SOME!” I froze when Sarah shouted that. I began to twitch violently, feeling rage, anger, and every other synonym that comes with it.

“DEATH YOU FUCKING TROOOOOOLLLL!!!!”