King Rat (my story)

[Mokomonko]

CHAPTER 1

It hit me in the chest, sucking the breath out of my lungs and twisting my insides until they
mixed together in one disgusting red mass. I felt myself being ripped in two and when I opened
my mouth to scream blood spilled out instead. My eyes were open but I didn’t see anything but
an all encompassing light that burned my eye sockets.
There were other things; screaming, the screeching of tires, the smell of gasoline. Everything
wrapping together, crushing me. My fingers twitched, reaching, searching for my death. I felt
tears of blood drip down my cheeks and every cell in my body screamed for the end, for the
darkness to come. And then….. It did.
When I opened my eyes I was floating lightly above all the heads of the police and ambulance
that stood in a tight circle. I peeked over and saw that in the center of the circle lay the body of
a girl, obviously dead, her previously white-blond hair stained red with blood and her black eyes
wide open and empty.
Oh, wait. That was me.
I looked at the scene wryly; if I wasn’t already dead the irony of it all probably would have
killed me. I had been hit by an ambulance, this I could determine instantly by all the blood that
was smeared on the bumper, and I had died only seconds after impact.
I felt my lips twitch, it didn’t bother me at all, I didn’t feel sad, or angry, or accepting. What
was there to accept anyway? I honestly couldn’t care less.

I could feel someone staring a hole into my back and I didn’t turn around, if they had
something to say, they would say it. I felt the presence come closer until it was hovering near
my ear.
“Would you like it back?” A voice whispered and I still refused to look.

“Like what back?” I asked slowly, although I thought I already knew.

“Your life.” I finally twisted my neck to look behind me, and saw a man in a black cloak. I felt
my lips twitch despite myself.

“A black cloak? How cliché, where’s your scythe?”

“You really shouldn’t act so…” He seemed at loss for the correct adjective so I supplied it for
him.

“Nonchalant?” I supplied, smirking at him slightly.

“Oh, you’re just like they said. Hero is it?” He laughed, and his voice was course like
sandpaper, “I’ve been sent to see to your wretched soul.” He purred and I smiled at him
sweetly.

“I’ve done nothing wrong in my life that’s worthy of note, I haven’t stolen or murdered or even taken the Lord’s name in vain. So why has the Grim Reaper himself come to collect my soul?” I asked calmly and he let out another raspy chuckle.

“It’s true, you’ve done nothing wrong. But you haven’t done anything right either, in your entire pathetic little life you haven’t cared for anyone or anything, and apathy in its own way is the worst sin of all.” I raised an eyebrow at him; I couldn’t deny anything he said.

“But I haven’t some to collect your soul. You aren’t worthy of heaven, or hell for that matter.
Nobody knows what to do with you, so they gave me free reign.” I could see his smile through
the cloak and I waited patiently for him to continue.
“So, would you like to play a game?”
“Game?” I asked, raising my eyebrows, “I’m not very fond of games.” He chuckled.
“Oh this is no ordinary game; the stakes are much higher for one. If you win you get your life
back, and if you lose you go straight to hell.”
“And if I don’t play?”
“You’ll be a ghost forever.”
“What’s the game?” I asked and even though I couldn’t see his face I could tell he was
surprised.
“So you do want to live again?”
“I don’t care either way, but this game sounds interesting. I like high stakes.”
“Of course you do.” He replied, “This should be an easy game for you. There are five rounds,
and you have a month to complete each one. During this time you will borrow a body so you
can complete your task.” I was starting to get impatient.
“But what’s the game?”
“It’s simple. Manipulation.” I looked at him quizzically and he continued.
“In the first round you have to convince an honest person to become a liar. In the second
round you have to convince another honest person to become a cheater. The third round you
have to make them a thief. The fourth round you have to make a murderer out of someone.
And for the last round you have to make them commit suicide.” This game was starting to
sound interesting. Manipulation huh? I smiled.
“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Suddenly a huge sheet of paper popped up out of thin air and floated between us. I looked at
it for a moment, but there was nothing to see. It was completely blank except for a single line at
the bottom.
“Press you’re lips to the line.” He said and I obliged. I felt something being sucked out from
my chest, rising through my lips and spreading across the paper, I pulled back and my throat
burned. I looked at the paper and it wasn’t blank anymore.
Where my lips had touched a big black skull with white roses in its eye sockets appeared. The
rest of the paper was covered in writing in a language I couldn’t even begin to determine.
“It’s the language of the other realm, the realm of heaven and hell. The white rose skull is your
signature.” He said as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and I shrugged, maybe it
was.
“So, who’s my first target?” I asked he chuckled. He pulled out a photo from inside his cloak
and handed it to me. It was a picture of a girl with light brown hair, and her entire body was
completely covered in oozing sores, her face was skeletal and her eyes were swelled shut,
green puss oozed out of the hundreds of sores on her body and she lay on what looked like a
dirty bathroom floor.
“What am I supposed to do with this dead girl?” I asked, looking up from the picture blandly.
“I apologize, her name’s Leona Surochovi and she’s not dead yet. I only have pictures of how
they die; this girl is actually ten years younger than she is in the picture.” I flicked the picture
back to him, making it flutter in the air until he caught it and put it back into his cloak.
“Fine, why don’t you just give me a body and get started?”
“Sure.” He said, and I could swear I saw him smile, “Just remember, you live on Green Street,

Cherry Wood apartment’s room number 142 and you need to get the target to lie three times
of their own free will. Good luck.”  

[Mokomonko]

CHAPTER 2



Before I knew what was happening he lifted a bony hand and slapped me hard across the
face, and I felt myself losing consciousness, everything went black and I could feel an intense
pressure on my chest.
When I opened my eyes I was staring at a pretty face, her blue eyes stared down at me, her
brows furrowed. Even though I had only seen her as a thirty year old rotting corpse, I knew it
was her, Leona.
“Are you okay?” She asked and I blinked.
“Yeah.” I said and I stood up, brushing myself off, lightly.
“Are you sure? I mean you were just walking and all of a sudden you just fainted, maybe I
should take you to the hospital?” My lips twitched slightly and I looked down at her.
“Do I know you?” I asked and she looked confused.
“Um, no but I just thought that you would like some help…” I resisted the urge to laugh at her.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that, anyway, thanks. I’m Hero,” I smiled and gave my real name, I
had no idea what this body’s name was and it would be easier to remember if I used my own.
“I’m Leona,” she smiled, “But really, I think you should go to the hospital.”
“No, I’m fine. But would you like to come back to my place for a while? If you’re not too busy
of course.”
“Sure, I’d love too.”




Leona, as I soon learned, was honest to the point of stupidity. She ate up all my lies like
candy, no matter how ridiculous, because she automatically assumed that everyone was as
honest as her. I had never really disliked anyone before, but looking at her smiling face, I
started to feel an intense disgust.
“You’re really amazing Hero! You’ve done so many great things….” She said, her eyes glowing
with sincerity, I smiled at her.
“Oh no I’m not that special; I think you’re the amazing one Leona. You always say exactly
what you mean, you’re so honest!” She blushed.
Suddenly a ringing sound could be heard and Leona’s eyes widened, she frantically dug t
through her purse and answered before it could ring a second time. I watched with amusement
as she listened to the voice on the other end, she didn’t say anything, and when she tried she
was immediately cut off. I had a feeling that I found something I could use.
“Okay,” She finally said and hung up the phone. She smiled at me apologetically.
“I’ve really gotta go, I’m so sorry,” She said, standing up. I shook my head and smiled.
“Don’t worry about it, just come over again okay?” She nodded.
“Of course, I’ll come over day after tomorrow if that’s okay with you?” I nodded.
“Bye.”
I started laughing after she had closed the door, this was way too easy. I was going to win this
round in three days, tops. I kept laughing as I grabbed a hat and stuffed my hair in it, I walked
out the door and saw her get into a cab, I got another cab and followed her.
After a while we finally came to a small house and she went in, I crept up to the window and
looked inside.


Lucky for me, the window was open so I could see everything that was going on. I had
assumed by the way Leona was acting when she answered the phone that the person on the
other end was an abusive husband or boyfriend. I had thought her hurried actions were out of
fear, but looking in the window right now I knew that I was way off.
Inside Leona crouched over a young woman, no more than twenty, with an oxygen mask and a
IV drip attached to her arm. I saw the same expression on her face that she had when the
phone had started ringing, I had obviously mistaken the reason behind her fear.
“Are you okay Jojo? I came as fast as I could,” Leona said frantically and the woman lifted up
a shaky hand to take off the oxygen mask.
“Where were you!? How dare you leave me like that for so long!” She said, her voice was low
but it cut through the air like a knife. Leona’s face fell.
“Jojo! I’m so sorry! I was just helping this woman, she was so nice, and I talked to her for a
while! Please don’t be mad!” Leona grabbed her hand tightly, and Jojo blushed slightly.
“Hmph!” She said, tilting her head away, but her face was bright red and I thought that that
was more the reason why she turned away than real anger. This was puzzling; I couldn’t
understand why the woman was acting like that at all.
“Please Jojo!” Leona said again, bringing her forehead to rest on the woman’s hand. “You’re
my best friend; if you’re mad at me I don’t know what I’ll do!” Suddenly the hand that lay in
Leona’s tightened.
“Don’t leave me again!” Jojo said, turning her head and looking her in the eyes. That’s when it
hit me; she’s in love with her. Jojo’s in love with the innocent little Leona.
She obviously had no idea about her friend’s affections, and it looked like it would remain


that way until Jojo just came out and said it. I chuckled as I turned away from the window and
walked down the street. I could use this.

Leona came exactly when she said she would, and I smiled when I heard her knocking on
the door. I opened it and smiled back at me.
“Hi, Hero! I can’t stay long, Jojo will worry.”
“Who’s Jojo?” I asked innocently as we sat down.
“She’s my best friend; I live with her because she’s so sick, but she’s the one who’s always
worrying about me. She doesn’t like me to be out too long and yells at me if I am, it’s like she’s
afraid I’ll get hit by a car or something.” The more I listened to her talk the more I started to
dislike her.
She hears but she doesn’t listen, I thought, half-listening as she blathered on about the
kindness of her friend.
She doesn’t wonder about motives are or why they said what they did, she just assumes that
everyone means what they say the way she would’ve meant it. Just because she’s so honest she
believes that everyone else is too, and as a result she doesn’t really know anybody at all. What
a worthless person.
“You’re such a nice person Leona,” I said, “Taking care of your friend like that.” She shook her
head.
“No I’m not, I would worry about her if I didn’t, she’s not so sick that she has to stay in a
hospital but she’s not so healthy that she can live alone either. How could I possibly leave her
alone?” Suddenly she jumped and looked at her watch.


“Oh no! I stayed too long! I promised that I’d be home by two o’clock! I have to go!”
“Why don’t you just tell her that traffic was really bad so you’ll be a little late so that you can
stay longer?” She seemed shocked by this proposal.
“You mean lie to her!? I could never do that!” I shook my head.
“But you’re going to be late anyway; it’s already two thirty, this way if you tell her traffic was
bad she won’t worry about you.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment.
“W-well that makes sense I suppose. I wouldn’t want her to worry and I would like to stay
longer….” She pulled out her phone and dialed. I couldn’t believe it had been so easy, I knew
she was malleable but this was ridiculous, I barely even needed to do anything.
“Hey Jojo, I’m stuck in traffic so I’ll be kinda late okay?” She said quickly, she was a horrible
liar; it was obvious she had never done it before. But Jojo seemed to buy it because she smiled
as she hung up the phone.
“I can stay longer I guess!” She said cheerfully, and I smiled at her encouragingly. She really
was weak person; I wished she would just leave already, just looking at her ignorant face made
me want to puke.
“That’s great!”
Getting her to lie the second time was even easier than the first; all it took was a little nudge.
“Oh gosh! I forgot that today was my mom’s Birthday! I can’t believe I forgot something so
important!” she said frantically.
“Just tell her that you forgot,” I said carefully, and she shook her head.
“Oh no I could never tell her that, she’d be so hurt…. But maybe if I told her Jojo suddenly got
really sick, then she couldn’t blame me!” I had learned another thing about Leona during this time, she was a people pleaser. She was deathly afraid of anyone hating her, before she had
just gone out of her way to apologize and try not to break promises but now with me telling her
of an easier way, she didn’t have to try so hard, she just lied.
The third time I wasn’t even there. I heard about it from the Grim Reaper, apparently Jojo had
been told she was going to die in two months, so she got up the guts and told Leona that she
loved her and Leona had said that she did too.  

[Mrs Gey]

Wow. I couldn't stop reading! I really want you to write more. I'm addicted. xd  

[Mokomonko]

CHAPTER 3


“I’m impressed. You managed to complete the first round in five days,” Grim Reaper said
casually. I had been brought back to the place where I died to talk to the Reaper, my body
wasn’t there anymore but the blood stain remained, and every once in a while I would glance at
it. I didn’t really know why, the spot just seemed to draw my eyes over and over again.
I looked away from the spot and raised an eyebrow at the Reaper’s comment.
“You gave me an easy target, I’ve never met anyone so easy to manipulate.” I replied and I
heard him chuckle behind his cloak.
“It only gets harder from here. Here’s your next target.” He handed me another photo and I
looked at it.
This time it was a guy, he looked to be in about his forties, he was overweight with greasy
black hair and lopsided glasses. He was sitting on a toilet, his pants around his knees, and his
fat, hairy hands with their black fingernails hung limply beside him. His eyes stared blankly at
the wall and I could see hundreds of maggots nesting in the corners. His lips were purple and
inflated, and in his wide gaping mouth more blow-flies flew out, no doubt their offspring were


nestled inside.
I chuckled and flicked the picture back at him. “What is it with these people and dying in
bathrooms?”
“He had a heart attack on his toilet, but that’s about twenty years from now, so he has some
time yet. His name’s Harkin Shisfa by the way.” He stuffed the picture back into the deep
recesses of his cloak and cleared his throat.
“Are you ready to play the next round? Same rules apply; you have to make him cheat three
times.”
“What’s the difference between cheating and lying though?” I asked, crossing my arms over
my chest.
“Well everyone lies my dear, but not everyone cheats. Cheating is like stealing, except it’s
easier to write off, you can cheat at a game of cards, cheat someone out of their money, but in
the end you didn’t physically take anything. Understand?” I nodded.
“Let’s go.” I felt him slap me hard across the face and then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes I was staring up at three different faces, one older woman with black
hair and deep frown lines and crow’s feet, an older man with thinning brown hair and a
permanently grim expression, and a twelve year old girl with brown pigtails.
“A-are you okay Freddy?” The woman asked. Freddy? Oh, that must be the name of the body
I’m borrowing, I guess I’m a guy this time.
“I’m fine.” I said, standing up and brushing myself off.
“You just suddenly passed out at the table!” The twelve year old said.


“Are you sure you’re okay son? Would you like to stay home from school tomorrow?” The
older man asked, there was a kind of tension in his voice, as if he expected me to hit him.
“I’ll go.” I said simply, I didn’t feel like talking anymore with these people, they seemed
constantly on edge, it was tiring. I stood up and left the table, of course I didn’t know which
room was mine but I figured it out after opening a few doors.
The room was painted blue and pictures of action movies and girls in bikinis littered the walls. I
couldn’t tell what color the carpet was because it was completely covered in clothes. There was
a mirror on the wall and I glanced at it.
Black hair, black eyes, face covered in piercings, tattoo of a dragon on the shoulder. There
were some cigarettes and a lighter in the back pocket of his jeans and I pulled one out and lit it.
It had been a long time since I had last smoked, I hadn’t had one since I died.
I looked at my new reflection and smirked, so this is the kind of person he is, this could have
some serious persuasive power.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of a horn honking outside my window.
“Hey Freddie boy! You sleepin’?” A voice yelled.
I heard what sounded like a rock hit the window and sat up, looking out. Looks like my ride’s
here, I thought and I grabbed a shirt and some jeans off the floor and slipped them on.
I quickly climbed out the window. I was on the ground floor and I figured it would be the
fastest way out, plus I didn’t particularly want to see my ‘mom’ and ‘dad’.
A blond guy on a motorcycle waved at me, he had a lip and eyebrow ring but was otherwise
without any piercings or tattoo’s from what I could tell. But his face was completely covered in


acne; every inch of skin was covered in red bumps, as though he had some kind of infectious
skin disease.
“Come on man, we’ll be late for school,” He cackled at that comment, “On second thought,
take as long as you want. I’ve got a test in three of my classes; no way I’m going today.” I took a
helmet he offered and slipped it on, hopping behind him on the motorcycle.

We skipped classes all together and hung out with about ten other guys and three girls on the
roof. I smoked a cigarette in silence and studied them.
The guy who had given me a ride was called Yokie, and his girlfriend was a tough looking girl
named Hooz. I vaguely wondered where they thought of such weird nicknames but didn’t care
enough to ask.
“You really shouldn’t smoke Freddie, those things ‘ll kill ya.” I was smoking my last cigarette, I
had smoked the entire pack in three hours, and apparently Yokie had taken note of it.
I smirked and blew a smoke ring into the air, “It doesn’t matter to me,” I replied.
“Ha ha, trying to sound cool!” Yokie said, slapping me on the back. I Looked at him for a
moment, then blew another smoke ring into the air, watching as it slowly dissipated into the
atmosphere. He seemed slightly unnerved by my silence and backed away slightly.
I finished my cigarette and ground it under my shoe, I stood up and looked down at Yokie, he
seemed nervous and his eyes shifted away from my gaze.
“I’m out of money,” I said simply and a big guy sitting with his girlfriend in his lap laughed.
“You act like that punk has any money! Everyone knows he spends all his extra cash on that
stupid bike of his!”


“Hey! Don’t insult my bike, do you want to die!” Yokie yelled, his pimply face contorted with
rage.
“Shut up. Both of you.” I said calmly and they both turned to scream at me, but stopped when
they saw the expression on my face.
“U-uh, we could always ‘borrow’ come money from Shisfa, he’s loaded,” The guy who had
argued with Yokie said timidly. My eyebrows shot up, how convenient.
“’Borrow’ huh?” I smiled, cracking my knuckles.
“Sounds like fun, but I’m a little sore today boys, could you take care of this one for me?” I said
and both Yokie and the guy who he had argued with stood up.
“Wait! Why do we have to do you’re dirty work when we’re not getting anything out of it!?
You’re not our leader! What makes you think you can act all high and mighty!?” Now everyone
in the group had turned their attention to our little quarrel, and it looked like they were all
against me. I chuckled.
“I’m not the leader? Then who is?” They seemed at loss after my question.
“Well we don’t really have one….” Yokie said, “But that’s because we’re all equals here!” I
crossed my arms over my chest and laughed.
“How nice, you are truly an idealistic bunch. I had assumed that delinquents like you would’ve
understood that there are only two kinds of people in the world, the dominators and the
dominated. The dominators are the ones with either and extreme amount of money, power,
brains, or all of the above. Since none of you have a sufficient amount of any of those qualities
you will forever be one of the dominated.” I concluded my speech and took a deep breath; it
was the most I had said in any of my lives at one time. I was never much of a talker.


“Y-you think you’re so much better than us!” One guy accused, pointing a finger at me and
pulling out his knife.
“Only because I am, you are worthless scum, most people are better than you.” He started
charging towards me, knife in hand, but I didn’t move, and he stopped for a moment.
Why aren’t you afraid? Is what his eyes said.
“Want me to prove my worth? Hmm, how about a test of bravery, you people value that kind
of thing don’t you?” The more I talked angrier they all seemed to get, not that I cared. I thought
for a moment, then I smiled.
“Okay, how about this. You all attack me at once, you can use any weapon you want, but I’m
not allowed to use anything. You can kill me if you want; in fact you better aim to kill me,
because I will not hesitate to kill any of you.” I said. I saw a collective shiver go through every
guy there.
“Fine. We accept you’re terms. Any weapon right?” A huge bald guy with squinty eyes said, he
nodded towards the rest of the group and almost simultaneously they pulled various weapons
out of their shoes and bags.
Most had pocket knives that they had slipped into their shoes, but a couple pulled out baseball
bats and even a crowbar from their backpacks. Everyone except Yokie pulled something out, he
stood in the corner and watched in dismay, obviously conflicted, and I ignored him. I took a
fighting stance and smiled.
“Come get me.”
And then they attacked. They attacked all at once, stabbing me from all directions, the blood
was streaming everywhere within a couple minutes, but I didn’t even scream. This was nothing


compared to my death, this wasn’t painful at all really. I somehow managed to land quite a few
good punches to the stomach of a couple guys; they fell to their knees and threw up a little.
While I was busy taking out a huge guy with what had to be a kitchen knife, the guy with the
crowbar smacked me hard across the face and I spit out three teeth and smiled at him. I looked
him in the eyes and they asked me ‘what kind of demon are you!?’
I pulled the crowbar out of his grasp and threw it away, taking his face in my hands and
smashing it against the wall until his face was covered in blood. I watched him collapse to the
ground and spit on him, then turned around just in time to avoid a baseball bat to the head, I
kicked him in the groin, the brought his face to my knee repeatedly. And so, one by one, they all
fell down.
Most of them were unconscious, but the few who weren’t stared up at me with fearful eyes. It
wasn’t because I had won, because I hadn’t really, I had been stabbed at least twelve times and
lost a few teeth, my nose was most definitely broken and I could barely see anything because of
all the blood in my eyes. In fact, I was worse off than most of them, but I was laughing.
I wasn’t scared, and fearless people are the scariest people in the world, if you can show that
you’re fearless, no one will ever cross you.


No one had figured out that I was the cause of the massacre on the roof, but they strongly
suspected me, due to the severe wounds that suddenly appeared, so while I was in the hospital
getting stitches they decided to suspend me for a week ‘just in case’. I chose not to object, it
didn’t really matter to me anyway. It wasn’t as if I would need the entire month to finish this


round of the game.
The air was heavy and thick like syrup, nobody talked and if they did, they did it in a whisper,
occasionally glancing at me to make sure it was alright for them to continue their conversation.
“I still need money.” I said suddenly.
They jumped at the first words I had said all day, and one of the guys nodded and stood up.
“L-let’s go guys, Shisfa should be around here somewhere.” I stood up and followed until we
reached the front of the school. It was early morning before school started so it was relatively
easy to find him; apparently he hung out in the same place every day.
It was a secluded, closed off alley-like place between the cafeteria and the main school
building. He looked up when a large shadow fell over the comic book he was reading; his face
was the same as in the picture. Just as fat, just as ugly, minus the maggots and blow flies.
“W-what d-do you guys w-want?” He stuttered out as if he didn’t already know. One of the
guys looked at me and I nodded.
I watched in silence as Shisfa screamed in pain and my subordinate, I think his name was
Jimmy, took all his anger and frustration out on him. Everyone watched next to me, I could see
the cold sweat running down their faces, they were frozen in place. I smirked and enjoyed the
show, the fear was eating them alive, it would be only a matter of time before they burst on me
instead.
Even when Shisfa’s screams dies away and his body went limp Jimmy didn’t stop, he kept
hitting him continuously like a man possessed.
I watched with mild interest, he must really be frustrated with his new position, I chuckled.
But not upset enough to confront me, instead choosing to take it out on someone who wasn’t a


threat. How simple minded people are.
“That’s enough.” I said eventually and he immediately stopped, breathing hard.
“How much is in his wallet?” I said calmly and he checked.
“Six hundred dollars,” I raised my eyebrows.
“That could buy a lot of cigarettes.” I said and no one said anything. I looked at Shisfa lying on
the floor, then at my subordinates.
“Go by as many cigarettes as you can with six hundred dollars, all of you.” Yokie’s eyes
widened.
“S-six hundred dollars worth of cigarettes!?” I looked at him calmly.
“Yeah,” I said and he gulped.
“Um, boss, can’t we, uh, get a share of that?” I smirked.
“No. Now go by me some cigarettes.” I replied and after a moment’s hesitation they all
scurried off, leaving me with the bloody unconscious Shisfa.
Ten minutes later Shifsa was still unconscious and they came back with one hundred and thirty
packs of cigarettes in plastic grocery bags.
“Good job. Now leave, I’m getting sick of looking at your faces.” I said, opening a pack. They
left without a word, probably relived that they wouldn’t have to hang around anymore.
I lit up the cigarette and breathed in gratefully. About two cigarettes later Shifsa woke up with
a groan.
“Oh God it hurts,” He whispered, clutching his stomach, tears streaming out of his eyes.
“About time you woke up,” I said casually and he gaped at me, eyes wide with fear.
“W-why are you h-here?” He stuttered out and I chuckled.

“Don’t worry kid, I won’t hurt you.” He didn’t seem to believe me.
“Please, stop torturing me. I’ve done nothing wrong! Why do you people always come after
me!?” He cried, covering his face with his hands. I took a long drag and looked at him.
“Who do you hate kid? Who do you hate more than anyone?” He looked at me and didn’t say
anything, so I continued on, “Do you hate us? For taking your money and beating you to a pulp?
Or do you hate yourself for being nothing, less than scum, nothing but a useless parasite living
off the success of your rich parents, having no talents of your own?”
Despite his obvious fear, he had enough guts to take offense at my words. “I-I do too have
skills! My IQ’s over one fifty six!”
“So?” I said, blowing a smoke ring in his face, “What good are book smarts? You just let
people walk all over you, comforting yourself with words like ‘they may be stronger but I’m ten
times smarter than them, so it doesn’t matter’. If you don’t have the guts to fight back using
what you have you’re not really worth much at all.”
“What are you talking about!?” He yelled and I chuckled.
“How much do you hate your life kiddo?” He looked away and said nothing. I leaned down so I
could look him in the eyes; I smiled at the pained expression on his face and took one last drag,
and ground the cigarette butt under my shoe.
“I’ve got a solution.”


“Do you want all the money that’s been stolen from you?” I asked.
I had brought him home with me, his house was bigger but his mother had a nasty habit of


peeking into his room occasionally to check on him, he said she’d probably do it even more
often if he brought a friend over. That would definitely not be a problem at ‘my’ house.
The whole family was terrified of me, not counting the sister, who had a kind of reverence that
substituted fear.
“Um, yes.” He said nervously trying to answer my question without looking me in the face. I
smirked and pulled a cigarette out of my pocket and lit it. He coughed when the smoke reached
his lips but didn’t complain, and I continued to speak, leaving the cigarette in the side of my
mouth making my speech slightly muffled.
“I have an idea, why don’t we do a M.L.M scam?” I said, he looked up at me.
“W-what is that?” I took a deep puff of smoke and let it out, holding the cigarette between my
middle and pointer fingers.
“Multi-Level-Marketing. Basically it’s a scam where people at the top, meaning you and me,
hire people to sell our ‘product’ and sign other people on. But in order to join ‘the company’
they have to pay a ‘small’ entrance fee.” He seemed confused.
“Wait, how would this be getting my money back? And what’s the ‘product’ anyway?” I
chuckled.
“Now this is where we get creative, there is no product. We tell all the people that sign on that
in order to be able to sell the ‘product’ they must first sign on a hundred other marketers.
Those marketers pay the small entrance fee and we give the person who signed them on a
small percentage of the money.”
“How do we keep them from trying to leave?”
“They sign a contract stating that if they wish to leave they have to give back all the money we


paid them, with interest.”
“What if they actually sign a hundred customers?”
“By that time they probably want out anyway and we tell them their ‘debts’ to the company is
covered and they can go. Simple, and flawless, as long as the contract is written correctly.”
Shifsa didn’t say anything for a moment, and then, still looking down at his thumbs said, “I-is
this right? I mean, fooling these people like this…”
“They took money from you right? Now you’re only taking it back.” He still didn’t seem
convinced.
“Yeah but…” He trailed off and looked away, I gave him a speculative glance. He was more
tenderhearted than I had anticipated; usually people like this were popular no matter how ugly
they were.
“Why don’t you have friend’s Shifsa?” I asked bluntly, taking a long drag and leaning against
the wall. He looked away, blushing slightly.
“I-I don’t know.” He replied quickly.
“I think you do.” I replied, not looking away from his sweaty face.
“No, I really…” He made the mistake of looking me in the eyes. He looked down for a moment,
and then replied in a quiet voice.
“I used to have friends, at first. A long time ago, but after a while, hanging out with me
became dangerous. People we’re always beating me up, taking my money, and even if I didn’t
have money they still did it. I asked them why one time, and one of the guys who always stood
in the back and watched replied, ‘seeing a rich boy like you covered in dirt an’ blood, it feels
good. Better than anything else I can think of.’ And I thought I understood, and I accepted their


torture as much as I could, started bringing more money, because I felt sorry for them. But then
they started hurting my friends, making me watch as they blindfolded them and hit them with
baseball bats.” He looked up for a moment.
“They couldn’t stay anymore, they slowly stopped talking to me, I apologized over and over.
But I could never ask them to stay by me.”
I snorted and stomped out another cigarette in the blue carpet, I was slowly working my way
through all the packs, I figured that by the end of the week they would be gone.
“You’re disgusting you know that? You’re friends didn’t stop being friends with you because of
the beatings, but because all you could say was ‘I’m sorry’ and cower in a corner. Nobody wants
a friend who will cop out at the slightest whiff of danger. And you, feeling sorry for the bullies?
Why? Because they don’t have money like you? Is that what you thought? No, they hate you
because you sit on top of your throne and smile down on all the ‘commoners’ and pity them.
They love to see you squirming on the ground, to realize that you are no better than any of
them, but you never seem to learn your lesson so they never stop..” I grabbed him by his fat
chin and pulled him closer.
“Let me tell you a secret, you may sit on a throne but you live in a sewer just like the rest of
them. You’re just a big fat rat, and you can’t even tell.”
His eyes widened and he looked angry, his fat face red and sweaty. As he opened his mouth I
smiled at him, stopping him in his tracks.
“Now, you goin’ to do this? Get them back, because pity has no use in the real world.” He
hesitated for a moment, then looked up at me and gulped.
“Yes.”



“What do ya want rich boy? Time is money.” A bald guy with a permanent grimace was
lounging against a wall near the school, looking more than a little bored. Shifsa said that he was
the guy who had always stood back and watched when he was being beaten up, the brains of
the operation so to speak.
Apparently in the last couple years he had gotten heavily into the drug industry, doing and
dealing and was always low on cash. He usually hung out on this side of the school discreetly
advertising his goods.
Looking at him you could tell he was on something, his eyes were slightly bloodshot and
glazed over. He looked twitchy, even when standing still everything seemed to be moving.
“I-I heard you were short on money lately,” Shifsa said carefully, and I watched silently, I had
told him that he had to do it, and I would only step in if he absolutely needed it.
“You offerin’?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No, but I have a sure fire way for you to make money.”He was starting to pick up his stride;
the sweat that glistened on his forehead seemed to dry and cool quality grew stronger in his
voice. Natural born salesman I guess. What weird thing to be natural at.
“What?”
“Well it’s like this….” He carefully explained the M.L.M. avoiding the part about not having a
product and the fact that it leaves you in more debt than you started with. The target was
starting to look interested but then Shifsa talked about the fee.
“Wait, what do you mean a ‘fee’ what the hell? Why should I pay YOU to help me make money?” Shifsa seemed to panic for a moment, then all at once his expression smoothed out.


“Don’t worry, you’ll get it back. It’s just that we have to make sure you actually do your job
and don’t just say you will and run off. This is just another way of showing your commitment,
my dad’s really into that. When he started the company he would get all kinds of people saying
they were interested but then not doing anything. It was really disappointing, so he made this
collateral system, you won’t get your money back until you appoint five people but by then you
won’t want to stop you’ll be making so much money.”
Shifsa was more persuasive then I ever could have imagined, the druggie completely bought it.
The part about his father had a realism to it that made it seem more legit and probably helped
seal it for him.
After that it was no problem at all to convince him to sign the contract, he didn’t even try to
read it and I wasn’t needed. I was amazed by how easily everything was going, I barely had to
do anything.
Just a little push, a little nudge, and you could lead any human off the edge and into
corruption. Like herding sheep, they never see what’s coming and don’t even notice when they
get there.
What little respect and faith I had in humanity was slowly fading, I could feel something
building inside me. It expanded inside, growing bigger and blacker every day, breaking
constrictions on my mind of what I used to believe.

After that he convinced two more people to join the project with no problems and I was gone
within two days. It was disappointing really; I had expected more of a challenge. But in the end,
people like easy solutions and if you can give them one, they’re pretty much willing to overlook


their moral values. People are disgusting.