Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Capricious Infection ❯ Act 5: Slaughter ( Chapter 5 )

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Capricious Infection
Act 5: Slaughter
By: Melissa Norvell
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“So…you feel like it’s going to end soon…This world,” Tarvos said with a bit of an ominous tone to his voice. This girl truly held an interesting perspective on her world. The demon was beginning to think that it was the red string of fate that tied their fingers together and led them to each other.

“Everything ends eventually. Even worlds die, and I know that well. When I was born into this world, it was predicted to end within that year. Of course, it was just a false prophet. When I became older, I just always felt like I would be living in a dying world. Something told me that it would end like that. I had dreams of being the only one alive,” Rezzi voiced in a dire tone as she explained all of the suggestions that had filled her mind since birth. There was no mistaking it, the blind girl believed that the end was upon them all, and it came to her in the form of many messages. They were so profound that she could not ignore them, even if she tried. “At first, they scared me but now I just accept it. My dreams were always the same. In these dreams, I always met the grim reaper. He looked like a demon with a scythe and told me that humanity would end but somehow, I would be alive. I never knew what that meant and I still don’t.”

It was a cryptic dream, and why he did not kill her was a mystery in its own right. These were merely meetings of human and death with no end result. She did not die. He made no moves to kill her, the reaper only instructed her, or told her stories of a great apocalypse.

“Do you think that demon is the Grand High Messiah?” After all, it was a real thing. At least, that was what that Lannad girl had told them at the table. She preached highly of this variant of the grim reaper. Rezzi simply turned her head towards him and didn’t speak. Somehow, it made sense, but at the same time, she still was unsure of what or who this reaper really was.



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When lunch came around, Ayumi and Dante decided to eat in an empty classroom. The black-haired girl sat quaintly in her seat with her small lunch in front of her. Everyone was quiet. They had been that way all day, especially after that weird occurrence in Twisted Land. It should not have had that type of affect on them, but it strangely did.

“You guys are quiet,” she stated the obvious, breaking what seemed like an eternity of silence.

“I’m just thinking about what’s going to go down today,” David moved a piece of sushi around his bento box.

“You mean Twisted Land? Isn’t that game over?” Mae asked. After all, her computer would not come on even after the Messiah killed her. She was beginning to think that it crashed her hard drive.

“Today is our last session,” David educated her.

“It is? Who told you that?” Ayumi had gotten no such news from anyone.

“NexusJuncture, our server player. He called me last night and told me that today was our last session’s beginning. Supposedly, we’re going to meet Oz today,” he supposed no one else could have possibly known since it was a private conversation. At the same time, shouldn’t there have been something in the forum about it? It was a big event, right? Maybe it was just a private ordeal for them.

“We are?” Tony was shocked to even hear that there was another session. He thought for sure that everything ended last night. “Finally! We need some help fighting off that Grand High Messiah guy. I think he sent us all back to the beginning of the game.”

“I was close to meeting Oz anyway. It just kind of sucks. I made a lot of wicked cash in my session.” It was all for a purpose as well. Now David would not get to earn the Time Sword that he had been saving up for the whole game. He risked everything and put his life on the line to impress this guy, but it didn’t seem to matter now. He was broke and he had nothing to show for his efforts.

Lannad put a hand beneath her chin and propped herself up, looking out of the window at the bright blue sky. She didn’t care about this subject, nor did she want to hear about it. Part of her was tempted to just get up and leave, but that would come off badly on her part. She would simply have to endure their chatter about Twisted Land. This was a normal occurrence.

Rezzi rested her butt against the corner of the desk with one foot over another. “Does cash even matter in Twisted Land? I never had a use for it,” she had never seen any weapon’s shops or any items. Maybe she just missed them all because the icons were too blurry to obtain.

“I wanted to get the Time Sword. I needed it in order to train with Oz. I was so fucking close. I don’t even know what to tell him now,” it was a solemn promise that David had made himself, but the Messiah ruined it completely.

“Does today feel strange to you?” Lannad tried to change the subject. It was not just because they brought up sore subject matter, but ever since she woke up, she had a strange feeling in the center of her gut that only grew worse throughout the day. The feeling was so bad that it was almost like an illness.

“What do you mean?” Tony looked to the desk in question.

“I feel like today is different somehow, as if it’s the marking of some historic event,” the blue-haired girl noted. However, she could not put her finger on it because nothing really happened today that was important at all. It was actually pretty normal, and yet a feeling of dread still possessed her form.

What in the world was wrong with her?

“Aren’t you over exaggerating things just a little?” Rezzi questioned. That was a pretty bold statement for her to make out of nowhere like that. Surely, it could not be that bad.

“It still bothers me,” she knew her friends wouldn’t believe her. This always happened. Lannad honestly should not have been too shocked.

“Have you guys tried to start up the game?” Tony asked, averting the subject back to Twisted Land.

“No, why?” Mae questioned.

“This morning, I tried to get a jump start on it since I woke up an hour early, but it never started up. The screen was just black,” he replied. The game had never done such a thing before. Even when he died, the game would always start up. Ever since that strange warning crossed his screen, it refused to boot up like normal.

“You sure it was even running?” Dante asked sarcastically. He knew what a pea brain his friend could be at times.

Tony scratched his head, burying his hand in the side of his Mohawk, “pretty sure. I know I was half awake but the light was on and everything.”

“Maybe it was because of Oz,” David noted. If they were to meet Oz in the next session, then perhaps he was not allowing them in without all of them present, including himself. Some of the special sessions were that way, anyway.

“How the hell can that be so?” Dante didn’t get it. The game should at least come on by itself. It might not allow anyone in a session but it should still be operational.

“Think about it, bro,” David turned to his friend. “Oz said he’d show us through the game today. So, maybe it has to be when we’re all on.”

If that was right, this session was beyond bizarre.

“Does this mean we’ll meet everyone else in the game, like HauntingGallows, BerefHex, capriciouscarnage and NexusJuncture?” Rezzi questioned.

“Who is capriciouscarnage?” David questioned. He’d been in the chat room many times, but he had never met anyone under that user name. Not to mention, he had not even seen this person around.

“Yeah, I’ve never met that one. Who are they?” Mae was just as curious as the black-haired boy was.

“I’m not sure but we talk a lot. He’s on my friend’s list on my messenger. He pesters me a lot,” Rezzi spoke kindly of this mystery player. She seemed to really enjoy his company and possibly had daily contact with him.

“Looks like Rezzi has a boyfriend,” Mae commented slyly a she wriggled her eyebrows in suggestion.

“If he is, then he’s got a weird way of showing it.” It wasn’t exactly like that. They were merely friends, close friends, but friends all the same.

“Well, do you like him?” The blonde prodded.

“Even if I don’t, you’ll automatically ship us together,” the blind girl sighed a little to herself. Mae was the match maker of the group. If anyone gave her an excuse to put two people together or assume them a couple, then she most definitely did. There was not a single relationship or sex life conversation that she was excluded from.

“What’s his name?” Of course, that was coming.

“I never asked.” It wasn’t a lie; the subject had never been brought up in a conversation. Rezzi never prodded for it either. To her, it didn’t matter what his name was.

Dante grumbled from his desk as he propped his head up with his left arm. “This is stupid. Why do you care? You should be worried about that Tarvos guy.” That was the real issue, not some random anon that Rezzi knew for five million years.

“I think he’s pretty cool, kind of weird, but not bad,” that was Tony’s overall impression of him, anyway.

“How can you like him? He’s the devil,” Dante slammed his hands down as he shot up in his desk. He had never been so sick of people defending this guy in all of his life. It was criminal how much he was already getting away with, and his dumb as shit friends were not helping the situation at all. They only enabled Rezzi’s bad choice in house mates.

“What are you spazzing about? That’s a harsh assumption to even make about someone,” Tony replied. For God’s sake, he wasn’t that horrible. Dante was still insistent on blowing this story way out of proportion. When was he going to stop? Oh, wait. His friend was notoriously stubborn.

“He has fucking horns!” The raging male thought he was going to bust a lung exerting so much malice.

“Metaphorically?” David quirked an eyebrow, looking up from his bento box.

“Physically!”

‘How can he see that? I thought Tarvos said he looked like a human in the eyes of others.’ For the life of her, Rezzi could not understand why the demon’s spell did not work on Dante. This was as dangerous as it was perplexing.

“What? You’re crazy. Tarvos is clearly human,” Mae folded an arm over her uniform top and threw out a hand, as if it were a fact that even the most infantile of children could grasp.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Rezzi questioned. Honestly, this must have been getting to him.

“How can you not see them? He’s got four fucking horns and wings. His skin is white with black accents around his eyes and lips and he has long, black claws,” he attempted to explain this yet again in hopes that the tiny minds of his friends would absorb it and come to see it as truth.

“Sorta sounds like you’re describing the Grand High Messiah,” David replied. Twisted Land must have seriously warped his brain.

“Grand High Messiah?” Lannad lifted her head, zoning back into the conversation.

“Oh god, tell me you aren’t going to preach to me about that,” Dante’s face contorted in irritation as he turned around to face the direction of her desk. Anything but that. He didn’t want to hear about her bullshit legend, especially not right now.

“What did you envision Tarvos looking like?” She continued her question. It was more curiosity than anything. Maybe Dante was thinking about her Messiah. If so, perhaps it was a product of that horrible game, but maybe it could have been something else.

“I didn’t ‘envision’ it. I actually saw it. He had four horns. They were this weird burnt umber color, long and curved like a goat’s horns with two smaller ones in the middle of his head. His skin was paper white and his eyes were a weird color blue. One of his wings looked like a black dragon’s wing and the other was a black avian-type wing. He had black markings around his lips, eyes and on his joints. He also had long, pointed teeth. I’m telling you guys, it’s not a hallucination. He really is a demon,” Dante was very passionate about this description. He was never more serious or surer of anything in his life. He was also never this desperate to get his friends to see the truth behind it either. They had to know. They just had to, before something bad happened to one or all of them.

“How come we can’t see it?” David crossed his arms. He still wasn’t convinced, and it still sounded just as crazy as it did before.

“I don’t fucking know, but I’m not lying,” Desperation was laced in Dante’s voice. He hated it that his friends just blew him off and seemed to laugh at his story.

“I think you might have stayed up too late playing with us.” After all, it was a late night session. If anything was an excuse, then lack of sleep would have been the perfect one. Above all things, she would not give Tarvos away.

“Why did I even give your pea-sized brains anything to process?” Dante’s teeth gritted together as he only got more and more irritated at how repetitious this all had been. “I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, then get killed. I don’t fucking care,” he couldn’t have been more happy when the bell rung, dismissing their conversation.

Everyone but Rezzi got up and exited the room. She simply turned her head in his direction and stared down the black and white blur in deep contemplation. ‘This could be trouble. I should watch him. He’s the only person who knows Tarvos’ secret. I’m sort of glad that no one believes him, at least for now.’ Who knew what the future would prove to them? Dante made her edgy. The more he tried to prove his point, the more nervous she became.


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After the school day had ended, and all of the students were long past sight of the school. David ran down the middle of the street in pure bliss. He had waited impatiently for the day to pass and this moment finally came. It was time for him to meet Oz, and while he had not lived up to his full potential under him as a Time Guardian, he was still happy to get to see the guy. This was a rare chance and he would seize it in his hand.

“Hell yes!” The black-haired boy shouted as he grabbed a nearby pole and swung himself around it. “Today is the day we meet Oz! I’m stoked as fuck!”

“You sure you don’t actually love this guy?” Tony inquired as he arched an eyebrow. He’d never seen David this happy about anything. It was actually kind of weirding him out to see his friend this happy about some random guy on the internet.

“Don’t diss the brolove-“ David began to speak but was cut off.

“What if Oz doesn’t even like you when you meet him?” It was a possibility, anyway. The two of them never even spoke and yet David was happier than he could ever be about this. He just didn’t want his friend to be too let down by Oz if he turned out to be some douche bag.

“Blasphemy! He will be wooed by my swag. I’m so epic it kills,” the black-haired teen flipped the backwards, red baseball cap he wore and straightened his shades to pronounce his level of cool. There was no way that Oz could pass him up or deny his epic factor in any way, shape or form. Surely, he would see him and by presence alone know that he was a force to be reckoned with.

“Hey, David, do you think that Tarvos is really a demon?” Tony had to wonder about this whole demon business. He couldn’t help but ask a friend’s personal opinion.

David nearly laughed at him for giving it much thought. “Hell no. Dante just needs some sleep. He’s starting to act like this game is real.”

“Isn’t the Grand High Messiah part of Lannad’s actual religion, though?” The dark-skinned boy pressed. It had some truth to it, right? It was a real thing, right? People actually believed in this demented god. That alone was concerning.

“And guess what? She won’t even play Twisted Land because it ‘mocks’ her religion. Why are people so hard up on this?” Honestly, was it that controversial?

“I don’t know. I’m starting to feel weird about it.” Not him too.

“I’m telling you,” David got in front of him, walking backwards as he held out his hand and leveled him with a stern look. “You guys are thinking too much into this fantasy shit, man.”

“From the guy who worships Oz.”

“Don’t insinuate that I’m a hypocrite-“ A beep interrupted his sentence. “Hold on,” David grabbed the phone from his pants pocket and flipped it open. The contents of the message crushed his whole mood, turning his smile into a dim frown. “Man, way to kill a guy’s dreams.”

“What does it say?”

No can do bro, school.
You won’t be going.
What?
It will begin then.
What will? I don’t understand your ‘it will begin’ bullshit.
In due time. Farewell.

“What the fuck is going on?” David’s irritation intoned as he gripped the phone, glaring daggers into the screen.

“Was that Oz?” Tony inquired.

“If I knew Oz’s number, I’d be calling the shit out of it. That was NexusJuncture.” The black-haired male could only wish to possess such a sign of closeness to someone like Oz. It would be his ultimate dream to possess such a piece of information.

“He knows Oz?”

“He’s Oz’s right hand master hacker. Oz even talks about him in his personal blog.” David would know, he only subscribed to its every post. He was the number one fan, in dedication and loyalty. There was no other’s word’s he’d listen to and take to heart on certain matters. When he was not playing Twisted Land, he was catching up on the personal life and time of Oz Castor.

“He must be special. I bet they’re friends in real life,” Tony deduced. They had to be if NexusJuncture was his right hand man. That was usually how those types of things worked. At least, that’s what he thought anyway.

“Who knows?” Even with his extensive knowledge it was still an uncommon factor in the equation. Hopefully, they would learn their answers tomorrow. At least, he hoped there would be no further setbacks.



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Rezzi woke up, sitting up in bed as she gazed at the blurry numbers on the clock. She squinted, trying to see them at least semi-clearly but to no avail. Something felt off about the time. It was like her biological clock was trying to tell her something. She turned her gaze to the window. It was light outside and the rays of the sun beat down on her form. ‘Did I sleep in?’ The girl wondered to herself as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Walking past it, she went into the living room where Tarvos stayed and peered inside, squinting to see his form but he was gone.

That was just odd. She grabbed her phone off of her nightstand when she got back into her room and called David.

The boy slept soundly, his shades laid on the ground nearby along with his phone, which started blasting the Twisted Land theme. Opening his blue eyes, he sat up in bed and instinctively pulled on his shades. Picking up the phone, he flipped it open. “Yo, this is David.”

“You’re home too?” Rezzi inquired.

“Fuck. Don’t tell me,” David glanced at the clock and cursed under his breath, “that bastard.”

“I wonder why. You don’t think it’s just a weird coincidence, do you?” His blind friend asked, baffled by what happened.

“I bet you Dante and Tony are still sleeping.” If NexusJuncture was right, then he had successfully kept them all from attending school. Was this really worth it, to make some sort of extremist point that the game carried over into real life? What was he thinking, and even more importantly, how did he manage to do that?

“Maybe…Hold on. I have another call,” Rezzi squinted as the name Lannad flashed on her phone screen. She heard David tell her okay as she switched over.

What she heard was horrifying. There were screams and sounds of pain in the background. Several crashes were heard before a small, whisper of a voice infiltrated her senses. “I think you should come to school really quick.”

“You’re at school? What’s wrong?” At first the blind girl had thought it to be a loud horror movie. It was more than alarming that this was actually at school. She knew there was something wrong…something horribly, terribly wrong.

“Everyone is dead,” the blue-haired girl’s voice quivered with emotion as she hid underneath the teacher’s desk, curled into a little ball. She tried to keep back the sniffles and tears but her emotional state would not allow it. Afraid to get caught and killed herself, Lannad forced her emotions down and choked back a sob.

“What? Are you alright?” Rezzi’s voice was urgent. She may have been alive now, but how long would it be until she fell victim to whatever killer raged through the school? She had to help her friend.

“I’m fine….for now. I think the killer left bit I’m hiding just to be sure. As far as I know, everyone else is dead,” Lannad confirmed her biggest fear.

“How did this happen?” The blind girl inquired. She needed to know what was up with the situation. Maybe she could sneak into the school and rescue her friend if the police weren’t already on the scene. Rezzi also wanted to know if the killer was still lurking around. If Lannad had to hide from them, then going in literally blind would only make her another plot of burial land in the cemetery.


“I don’t know. Some psychotic person came and just slaughtered everyone. They’re all dead,” she truly didn’t know much, considering she was only in the midst of the commotion. There was word going around that someone was killing students and faculty alike. Following her instinct, Lannad hid underneath a desk. All around her, the sounds of blood curdling screams, tearing flesh and gargles were heard as the murderer continued his path of slaughter. Blood pooled under the desk, soaking her white Lolita dress but still, she refused to move. Getting a little blood on her designer attire wasn’t nearly as upsetting as dyeing.

“Are you sure?” She was there. Surely the girl knew something beyond that little piece of information.

“I haven’t looked for anyone yet. I don’t want to come out,” for good reasons. Lannad had seen a little of the carnage before she darted under the desk. It was enough to make her sick, and the smell of decay and blood was nauseating. She wanted to get out of there. God only knew of how fast she wanted to run, but the fear of being found was far greater.

“Did you see what he looked like?” Rezzi was trying to prod her for information. If the killer was anywhere around, she wanted to make sure that she avoided him at all costs. Well, assuming the convicted in question was male.

“No. I don’t know if it’s someone from school or not. Whoever it was, they had a sharp weapon. Everyone is sliced up or cut in some way,” Lannad stuck her head out from her hold in the desk. All around her, the room was painted in a brilliant red, organs and severed pieces of humans lay haphazardly around her. Several bodies were mangled beyond recognition, some sliced in multiple pieces and others simply had large, deep, fatal gashes across them.

“Do you think it’s safe to come and find you?” That was the most important question of them all. She didn’t want to risk her life if there was a slim chance that she would even make it to her friend.

“Everything is quiet here. I’m guessing that he left. I’m just…really freaked out. I don’t want to die,” her voice increased in emotional projection. It now sounded as if the girl on the other end was crying.

“Stay where you are. I’ll come down and I can call you back when I get to the school,” Rezzi instructed. Lannad had to stay safe until she got there and try to last as long as she could. The blind girl could only hope that the killer was already gone. If not, then there would be no way that she could even get close to that school.

Lannad obliged and told her to please hurry before hanging up the phone and staying beneath the desk, Rezzi clicked back over to the other line where David waited for her.

“David?”

“Yeah?”

&# 8220;We have to hurry and get to school.” What happened at the school, he wondered.

“Why?” It was an odd request, anyway.

“Everyone has been killed.”

This was all too familiar and even so, he was still just as shocked. David had not expected it, even with his edge on the events of the game. “What?” Someone pinch him, and tell him that he was dreaming. Either that or tell him he had been spending too much time immersed in Twisted Land and this was all simply a grandeur hallucination.

“That was Lannad.”

No…

This was real.

“Holy fuck! Is she okay?” The dark-headed boy threw himself out of bed and got dressed. He didn’t even both putting his uniform on. It wouldn’t make any difference if he did or not. There was obviously no school today.

“She said that she was. She doesn’t know who did it and she’s afraid to come out of her hiding spot.” That was super serious. Something was definitely wrong, and he couldn’t help but think of the words of NexusJuncture: the game was to be carried to real life. It was like some sort of curse. He couldn’t tell if it was a freak phenomenon or if the game had some sort of sinister powers but he didn’t like either theory.

He ran to the door and jostled the handle. It came open and he darted outside but stopped dead in his tracks. “We’ve got to get down there! Wait…is the killer gone?” There was no way in heaven or hell that he was going down there with some axe murderer on the loose.

“She believes so,” that was all Rezzi could tell him on the matter.

“I’m on my way,” David hung up the phone as he made his way to the school.

When he arrived, Tony, Ringo, Mae, Rezzi, Dante and Tarvos were standing outside of a partially demolished school building. Several of the walls were taken out, revealing the horror inside of the many classrooms. Blood and ichor ran down the walls and the stench of death held fast to the scene. It was horrible, more gruesome than even the most grotesque and macabre of grimdark horror films.

Lannad walked up to the group, looking as if she had been a victim of the massacre. Her form was splattered in blood and the back half of her dress was a brilliant red from where the blood seeped under the desk she had hid under.

Tony ran up to her. “Are you okay?”

At his words, tears streamed down the girl’s face. She could no longer hold in the trauma or pain from her experience. “Everyone is…” She trailed in hiccupped sobs.

“What? Are you the only survivor?” David asked. Placing his hands on her shoulders. Did that mean that no one else lived? What about Ayumi? Where was she?

“That’s what the men investigating said. When I walked out, I saw Ayumi. She was laying there, dead,” Lannad wept as the black arms of Dante’s sweater wrapped around her. She clung to his form, weeping into his chest loudly.

“This is getting weird. It’s just like the game now,” Dante made note of the similarities. He wasn’t one to believe in déjà vu shit, but this was definitely taking the cake for strange and oddly coincidental.

“I told you, this shit is crazy. This better be a weird coincidence,” Tony remarked. It was funny at all.

What was about to happen next would throw his mind into further bewilderment. All around them, the background warped into bright swirls of psychedelic colors. Everyone glanced around but Tarvos and Rezzi, who simply stood there in confusion at what was happening around them. It was like some odd episode of the Twilight Zone or something.

“What the hell is going on?” David questioned as he turned around, his head turning in all directions to see if he could see anything within the color storm.

“The colors are different here,” Rezzi noted. “Did something change?”

“Everything is crazy weird. It’s totally psychedelic, man,” Tony tried to describe it to his blind friend the best he could.

“What’s that?” Mae pointed at a strange warp in the colors as something phased through. Everyone’s eyes were drawn to that very spot as they watched the form bleed through.

It looked like a tall, slim form. It was dressed casually in a black t-shirt with a clock-face drawn in mustard yellow in the center of the chest, bright blue jeans and red and white sneakers. The figure had the same color skin as the other demon, only his accents were a light grey and not as pronounced. His lips were black, ears pointed and on either side of his head he had two lightning bolt shaped horns that were the same color as those that Tarvos possessed. His features were pointy and he wore glasses with strange lenses. The lens on his right side was normal, pitch black and oval shaped while the other was the same mustard yellow that the clock face on his shirt was and of the same oval shape. His hair was spiky and parted to the left, with long, bushy bangs and side burns that flattered his facial structure. Unlike Tarvos, who had a mouth full of nightmarish teeth, his were smaller with tri-fangs and smaller, triangular shaped teeth surrounding them. He levitated above what was supposed to be the ground before them.

“What the hell?” David was the first to voice his confusion. This guy was plain as day before him, and definitely anything but human.

“Is that guy an alien?” Tony asked. Seriously, he couldn’t take his eyes off of him.

“You could call me that,” the same, familiar voice that David once heard rung in his ears.

‘That voice…’


Mae pointed to him dramatically as a look of defiance crossed her features. “Who are you? Are you responsible for this?”

“My name is Oz Castor, and I am the one who will guide you through your final session of Twisted Land.”





…To Be Continued