• A balding man sat upon a cliché wooden chair, typical of what one would see in a movie bar fight. He was seated in the middle of a stone white cube with only one way in or out. The cold, grey face of the entranceway stared at him, mocking him. He did not return the gaze, however, for his eyes were blank, peering off into some alternate world. His arms were wrapped around him, his legs bound to the chair with leather snakes, constricting and never letting go. For two years, this is how it has been.

    “I am the Savior. I live to destroy, to create a better world.”

    His whole body shook as though the room were as cold as ice. In reality, it was a decent eighty degrees. An invisible fly buzzed around him, apparently seen and heard only by him, constantly landing on his face. *twitch, twitch*

    “I have seen the god of this earth. He is shrouded in darkness, his eyes glow red as the fires of the hell he was born in.”

    His voice was deep, but trembled like a child consumed by fear. Some small black object viewed him from the corner. White clad ghosts were behind it, he knew it, but he could not destroy it due to his constraints. They watched him like a hawk from behind the cursed thing. Suddenly, a look of fear flooded his face. He attempted to back away, but only succeeded in toppling over, the chair falling with him.

    “Please, no, stay away!”

    Tears began to flow from his eyes. His eyes stared to the wall in front of him, as though something was going to pounce from within it. His body rocked back and forth on the floor, his back hitting the chair each time. What is wrong with him, the ghosts asked each other.

    “Stay back! You foul creature, go away! You can’t take me!”

    To the ghosts, the room appeared empty but for the man connected to the chair. All of sudden the man went limp and his eyes took on a glazed look. His breathing remained the same. He can not be dead, can he?


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    My name is Edward R. Jameson. I am a middle-aged man with short brown hair that continues to abandon me. I have a birthmark upon my chest the shape of a cross that I have not seen on anyone else in my life. No one seems to notice me, even when I wear odd clothing, which I now do every day and have been doing for the past fifteen years. Striving for attention can cause a person to do odd things. What, other than that, is so special about me? Well, I am not like other human beings. I have been assigned a mission to cleanse this world of its sins. The god of this world, the true one only I know, has given me this task.

    Five years ago, I was strolling through the woods when I came upon an odd looking tree. It appeared normal but for the hole in its trunk. The hole glowed brightly from some light concealed inside it. Curiosity got the best of me and I ventured forth, inspecting this mysterious find. As I walked closer to the tree, I heard odd moans and faint screams emanating from the hole and possibly even the light itself. Feeling the bark of the tree, nothing else seemed odd. No weird heat or cold, no odd sensations at my touch. If the light were not there, it truly would be just another ordinary tree.

    Extending out my arm and a single finger, I touched the light and was immediately sucked inside it. I looked around and saw nothing but dark blue, with white streams flying past me. I seemed to be suspended in mid air, but at the same time felt as if I were floating on water. I only had time to take in my surroundings before I was dumped head first onto a red plush rug. After shaking my head to clear my mind, I gazed around at my new inhabitance. I was in a dark walled room, colored with some shade of black or grey that I had never seen before. Before me stood a large black and red arm chair, it’s back facing me. On the other side of the chair was a marble fireplace that was currently lit, providing the only light to the room. It seemed like it would be a comfortable place if not for the eerie feeling that filled it. I could hear short rasping breathes coming from the chair and then saw a black hand with long bony fingers that looked more like claws than anything beckon me forward. I made a futile attempt to smooth the legs of my pants as I stood up; they were wrinkled and ruined already from my stroll through the forest before. Walking to the front of the chair, I literally jumped in surprise at what I saw.

    Before me sat a black skinned creature: tall, lanky, with long arms and legs. Dark wings sprouted from its back; the skin on them was slightly translucent. Strange markings covered its body all of which were glowing silver. What astounded and scared me most, however, was the creatures face. It had an elongated snout, just like a dog would, with four long sharp teeth jutting out from its top jaw. It had no ears, from what I could see, only small horns about 5 inches long protruding from the top of its head. Its eyes were like a human’s, but the pupils were completely black. Its eyes were also always wide open and never blinking, giving him an awestruck appearance that frightened me even more.

    “Ah, another visitor. You are not a surprise, however, as I have been expecting your appearance. You are none other than Edward R. Jameson, are you not?”

    I could only nod my head; all sound seemed to have escaped me.

    “Ah, but of course you are. If you had said you weren’t, I would have known you were lying for I can see your soul etched into your eyes. Your soul tells me everything about you, from your most basic information to your deepest secrets. Don’t worry, I won’t tell your wife you have been cheating on her for the past year. Even I, a god, have needs and often grow tired of my mates.” The creature’s voice was slightly higher than an adolescent child’s, but extremely raspy as well.

    I was in shock. I had never told a soul, nor never would, that I was cheating on my wife. Even the girl I was cheating with didn’t know I had a wife. Furthermore, how could he tell my wife anything if he had no means of getting to her or communicating with her?

    “Do not make assumptions about that which you do not understand. Yes I can read your thoughts, its all in your eyes. I can communicate with any human in your world just as easy as thinking. All I have to do is simply send a thought out and implant it into the person’s head and they will believe it as truth. A god is a great being, Edward, and you should not anger me, for I am the one and only true god of your world and I can destroy your life just as easily as I created it.”

    I could barely move a muscle. All I did was stare dumbly at the creature, the god, in shock and awe with every word it spoke. “Who….who are you?” Wow, nice going there Edward, great way to give a good impression.

    “Oh, forgive me, where are my manners. Please sit.” It conjured up the same kind of chair that he was sat in with a simple flick of its hand. I obediently sat down. “My name is Yasuo. As I have already told you, I am the god of your world and not only your own world, but the entire universe. I was born from the fires of a place you humans like to call 'Hell'. Truthfully, it is not such a bad place. Souls live there in peace and do not suffer like you are often told they do. Enough about me though, let me explain why you are meant to be here.

    You are a unique human, whether you know it or not. You alone have been chosen to rid the world of its sins and create a better future for it. I will give you 5 years from this day to complete your task. If you do not succeed, I will come to you and take your soul, leaving your body to sit as an empty shell and rot. Your soul will remain for me for eternity, should that be the case. Do you understand?”

    Thoughts flew through my head. Why me? Why am I so special? He had already told me he could read my mind, so I asked all the questions through thought, instead of my cowardly speech. What must I do? How can I accomplish this task?

    “You were chosen for reasons upon which you could not understand, so I will not bother trying to explain them to you. Let’s just say that you have a certain mark upon you to distinguish you from the rest.” My birthmark, it’s the sign that I was to be picked. “You are correct. Now onto explaining your task. I am imbuing you with powers to kill anyone with but a single thought. Simply have the persons face in your mind and your thoughts will do the rest. You are to return to your world and rid it of everyone who you deem to be evil. There are many of them and they need to be extinguished. In short, I want you to kill everyone who is not good. Beware, however, that if you abuse this power to, say, kill someone who happens to spite you, I will revoke the power and take your soul immediately. Now go, and help cleanse your forsaken world.”

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    I awoke upon my bed at home with a splitting headache. Was that all a dream? The light from streetlamps shone through my window so apparently it was the evening. The TV that was sitting across the room was on with the 6 ‘o clock news tuned in. I watched as the anchorman talked about the headlining story for the night.

    The murderer who has been on the run for several months has finally been caught. A 25 year old Caucasian man, whose name has not been released, has been arrested for the murder of 5 women and 4 men, all within the past 5 months.

    A picture of the man appeared on the television screen.

    Recent evidence has brought up the possibility of an accomplice, but the man refuses to talk and the evidence found is not conclusive enough to pinpoint any one person. More on this story at 10…

    I guess now is a good time to find out if that was a dream or if it was real, I thought. I took a mental picture of the man and thought of him dying of a stroke. As soon as the thought flashed through my mind, the news went to a breaking story and showed that the man who had been arrested had died of a stroke just moments before. My face lit up at this for I now knew it had not been just a dream. I really had the power to kill people at will, plus there was no way I could be caught. I went to sleep for the night; ideas of whom to kill and how to do it went through my head before I fell into dreamland.


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    It was 3 years later that I ran into my first, and only, snag involving my power. I had killed a few hundred criminals up to this point and no suspicion had been put on me, or anyone else for that matter. The authorities were completely stumped as to how the criminals were dying so quickly and all I could do was smile as I watched the news play a video of another victim die every single night. It was a sadistic pleasure, but I was ridding this world of evil.

    It was a Tuesday evening when I ran into an old enemy from grade school. His name was Michael and I recognized him, even after all these years. We ran into each other in the local coffee shop, Louie’s. It was an inconspicuous little place located on Fredericks street, the same street that my house was on. On the inside, however, the place was lavishly decorated and the coffee was outstanding. We exchanged friendly conversation, but there was that underlying feeling of hatred that still showed in our voices. We separated after about twenty minutes of talking and I realized then that I could finally get back at him for all the pain he had caused me. I had a mental picture of him in my head and I was going to kill him. Revenge truly is sweet.

    “Edward! Remember my warning! I have the ability to not only take your power from you but also your soul.”

    Yasuo! His was a voice I had not heard in a few years, but the sound was still fresh in my mind. In my vengeful state, I had completely forgotten what he had said to me that night. I must keep my anger under control, so as to protect my soul from a less than enviable future. I cleared my mind and took a few deep breaths, continuing on my way home.

    When I had arrived home, I sat on my bed and thought about what I was doing. I had killed so many men, with my only justification being that I was ridding this world of sin and corruption. But was I really doing the right thing? Was killing people the only way to save the world and make it better? So many thoughts all at once, it was hard to make sense of them all. All of a sudden, Yasuo appeared beside my bed. I jumped in surprise, hitting my head on the wall.

    “Yasuo, what are you doing here? Couldn’t you have contacted me through thought?”

    “I could have, Edward, but talking in person lets a person’s words sink in better. I have heard your thoughts and regrets. You are doing the right thing, Edward, and this is the only way it can be done.”

    “There has to be another way. I’ve become drunk with power, but now I’m coming to realize that this is wrong. Death should not be the only solution to this problem.”

    “These criminals have contributed to the sinful world you live in, they deserve to die. Now keep killing them, or I will take your soul from you as punishment for disobeying me!”

    At that, Yasuo disappeared, leaving me to my thoughts. I couldn’t do this anymore. I was not only killing the criminals, but myself in the process. I continued to reflect on this revelation for the rest of the night. By morning, I realized I was becoming insane with guilt and confusion. My thoughts became twisted, my ideas and words, unintelligible. I got in my car, drove to the psychiatric ward, and admitted myself in. I was taking a precaution, because the more I pondered on what I should do, the worse I got. This was the end of me; I knew that much for sure.

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    2 years later, here I am sitting in this disgusting cube. Who are these ghosts that flit in and out of my room? They watch me, I know they do. That little device up in the corner reveals my every movement to them. Those sick bastards and their tools of torture. Why can’t they just leave me alone? All I have is my own self. They constrained my arms, leaving me to hug myself for as long as I am here. It’s a good feeling, though, giving myself a hug. It shows that I am loved by someone, myself, who ever that is.

    “I am the Savior. I live to destroy, to create a better world.”

    This is true; I have come to that conclusion. I have been put on this earth to make it better. Go away fly, don’t bother me, you are an annoyance. I jerk my head to shoo it away, its legs crawling on my face bugs me. Whenever I shoo it away and the ghosts are in here with me, they give me concerned looks, as thought I were crazy. I am not crazy, I am the Savior and I have been given a gift. Why is it so cold? It’s making me shiver.

    “I have seen the god of this earth. He is shrouded in darkness, his eyes glow red as the fires of the hell he was born in.”

    Oh, Yasuo. I thought he was my friend. He has become demented and evil. Must I kill him too?

    “No, you will not kill me. You have failed in your mission, Edward. I gave you 5 years and multiple chances. Now I must come for you. Prepare to live an empty life forever.”

    Yasuo! No, it can’t be! Is he really coming for me? He is! He is there, coming through the wall! He can’t take me or my soul! I try to back away, but the ghosts have bound me to this cursed piece of wood. All I manage to do is fall over onto my side.

    “Please, no, stay away!”

    Tears start to flow from my eyes. They are tears of fear, fear of what will happen to me. This can’t be happening, he is coming closer now!

    “Stay back! You foul creature, go away! You can’t take me!”

    Yasuo reaches out his hand, his palm touches my chest. I feel a sucking force coming from his hand. Then…nothing. I feel nothing. I am nothing. Forever more.