Soul Spark

11 - Honesty And Lead

“So black and pure...”

“Its monochromaticity enchants it with liberty.”

“To be its own.”

“Purge, kill, destroy, dismantle and rampage, until the very last chain is gone.”

Jackal laid in the small abandoned apartment he found on his way. While he rested and over thought about his unique ideology, his shadows were busy getting work done. He managed to hone his shadow puppet technique to the point where he had a small autonomous army carrying out orders. They were destroying police and military vehicles before shortly disappearing.

At the same time, due to good fortune, Q managed to latch onto one of the shadows. Jackal could use “shadow step”, his skill to navigate around shadows with ease, but he really didn’t feel like doing so. Instead, he just led Q to his small apartment.

The place was on the first and only floor of an old building. It was likely abandoned once mass panic devoured the entire state. Part of it was a recording studio, equipped with a sound-proof room. The section Jackal rested in was the recording area itself, his laziness dominated his mind, stopping him from even reacting to the knock on the door.

“Jackal? You’re here?” Q said, quickly entering and sealing the door shut. He entered the studio, and went inside the room. “What the hell is this place?”

“A place to rest and think about life, Q.” Jackal replied. His eyes were glued to the ceiling. “If you want a better place, try finding one. I’ll treat you to a drink if you do so.”

“Sakuto and Oskar...those were their names. They’re here, in D.C., and they’re after you.” Q said.

“Huh? Hold on...where’d you get that information from?” Jackal asked, finally looking at Q’s face as. He sat up. “How many free meals did Sheller’s sect offer you?” he asked, his voice brimming with sarcasm.

“It was crazy.” Q began explaining. “I’m telling you, man. I was at a diner, they had nowhere to sit and they sat next to me. Talk about coincidences. And I don’t think they recognized me.”

“So you’re telling me I won’t get ambushed in the next...let’s say...two minutes?”

“No, you won’t.” Q said. “Hold on, do you think I’m a rat?!”

“Why do you think I think you’re a rat?” Jackal asked. “You know what, just...get to the point. Say what ya came here to say.”

“My point is, you gotta be careful. They’re trying to hunt you. And I heard-”

“Where’s Terry? You must’ve taken his car, right?” Jackal asked.

“Terry...” Q took a deep breath.

“What?”

“He got shot.” Q responded.

“Huh? Hold up, what happened?!”

“The police got on his ass, his tongue slipped, he mentioned your name...he started fighting with them. He made sure I escaped.” Q said.

“I see...once a criminal, always a criminal. The old man couldn’t resist grabbing an officer’s gun. He knew damn well that he could’ve lived.” Jackal said. His eyes were glued on the floor now.

“That wasn’t what happened...and...how dare you...” Q said, starting to get infuriated. “Do you know why the police approached him? They found a tracking device attached to his car. It was yours, wasn’t it?”

“Hm...”

“I’m sorry, Q.”

“I didn’t want that thought to haunt me.”

“It was yours, wasn’t it?!” Q yelled.

“And so what if it was? I needed a consistent way of knowing where the hell you are.” Jackal said. “I did that while looking out for you.”

“You could’ve just...told us that you...” Q began speaking, before taking a step back, both in anger and in confusion. “No, I know what this is. You think I’m a rat. You think I’m gonna backstab you.”

“The world is a shitty place, Q.” Jackal said.

“You’re my only friend. You’re my last gateway to being a human.”

“Please, assure me that I can trust you. Tell me that you’ll have my back. That you’re willing to die for the cause just as much as I am.”

“Uncle Terry died...just so you could call me a rat?!” Q yelled.

“Terry this, Terry that...did you forget the one thing he taught me and you back when we were kids? He told us, plain and simple, to not be trusting! It’s the one rule that keeps you safe on the streets, but apparently, it extends to everything in life.” Jackal answered. “Did you think Yuta, the guy that put down politicians as much as I did, would be a rat?” Get full chapters from noᴠelfire.net

“I can’t...fucking...believe this...” Q said. “After all of this, after...you know...me trying my hardest to be close to you, me tolerating all of the crazy shit that kept surrounding you, me fighting off literal superhuman creatures for your sake...”

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“I hate making the same mistake twice.” Jackal said.

“Jackal, answer me right now.” Q said. “Do you trust me? Are we friends?!”

Jackal kept looking at the floor. His expression was blank, even overwhelmed.

“That’s a difficult question.” Jackal finally replied.

“No way...” Q stepped back again.

“After everything that we’ve been through...you’re still unsure?!”

“No. I can’t take this anymore.”

“So many people died.”

“My own life was taken away from me, because I wanted to be your friend.”

“And this is what you reply with?”

“No...no, no, no, no...” Q’s breathing became much more erratic. “I can’t take this shit anymore.”

“You’re the one who fucking backstabbed me...I can’t take this...”

“Huh? What’s up with you?” Jackal asked. “This was all-”

“I can’t fucking take this anymore!” Q yelled, drawing his gun and aiming it at Jackal. He instantly pulled the trigger, the first bullet piercing Jackal in the middle of his chest. The soulful, who was caught off guard, had no way to defend himself.

Jackal tried to muster something up with his shadows, but Q fired again. The second bullet hit him in the left arm, the third one missed, and the fourth one penetrated his head.

“I can’t stand you anymore, you selfish fucking piece of shit!” Q yelled, firing more and more bullets into Jackal’s already lifeless body. “All the fucking shit I went through, Terry dying, and you don’t even want to consider me your friend? You fucking psychopathic lunatic! You robbed me of a normal fucking life, just because I had to babysit your sorry ass in case you decided to murder people! You’re not a victim of the circumstances, you’re just like this because you’re angry that no one wants to be friends with a miserable, ungrateful, heartless, delusional and selfish piece of fucking shit like you!”

The bullets kept on raining. The dark brown floor of the studio was colored dark red. Jackal’s face, the main target for Q’s onslaught of gunfire, was almost unrecognizable. The magazine finally ran out of ammo. The gun made a distinct clicking sound a few times, before Q finally broke his aim.

“Burn in hell...”

“...”

“Holy shit...”

He stepped back, dropping the gun in the process. His arms were shaking, his breath was erratic. His heart was beating faster than it has ever beaten before. Sweat was slowly rolling down his neck. There was blood on the floor, a part of the walls, and even his own clothes. Jackal fell down and sat on the floor.

“I actually did it...”

He held his hands by his face. Seeing Jackal’s mutilated corpse was something he thought he’d never experience. All of these efforts, his time and attention, even his trust...laying on the ground, covered in blood.

The shock started to wear off. Q grabbed the gun again and slowly stood up.

“All of this garbage about selfishness...” He said, sheathing his firearm. “About time I chose to be selfish myself.”

“Shit...what now?”

“I’ll need to contact the police. As fast as I can.”

“Or should I find Sakuto and Oskar again? If I talk to them about this, maybe they’ll tell me the best course of action...”

“Oh fuck...”

“I actually did it...He’s not gonna haunt me anymore...”

“I’m free now.”

He heard a dark growling sound.

Q, confused, turned around. The bloodied body began to disintegrate and dissipate into a pool of shadows. The small pool was almost absorbed by the room, the corners gaining a distinct black outline.

“Hold on...no...no no no no no...what the fuck is this?!”

Q rushed to the door, but it was already blocked off. A thick layer of shadows began surrounding the room until it was completely black. Only a small opening was there, allowing Q to see the outside of the recording room.

There, from a pool of shadows, Jackal emerged. His wounds were no more, and his shadows surrounded his body.

“So I was right.” Jackal said, staring at Q with his hands in his pockets. “Trust does not exist.” He turned around, slowly walking away.

“How the hell are you alive?!” Q said, banging on the glass. But soon, even that part was covered. He was trapped in a room he couldn’t physically break out of.

“You can’t read presences, so you couldn’t sense that all my soul prowess was reinforcing my body. It wouldn’t matter if you shot me. But I let you take the shots anyway. I covered myself with my shadows and created blood trails wherever you fired.”

“It looks like you finally spilled everything that was on your heart this whole time.”

“What you call my delusions would have shaped a pretty nice world for us.” Jackal said. “I guess you just have a different mindscape.”

“What a shame.”

“I really thought we were friends.”

Q felt something drop on the shadow-covered floor. Another droplet fell on his head, making him look at the ceiling anxiously. More and more droplets of shadowy liquid started hitting the floor, eventually resembling a rainstorm. The shadowy liquid started rising, covering Q’s ankles.

Q banged on the shadow-reinforced glass. The sounds could be heard outside, but no one, especially not Jackal, no matter how much it hurt him, wasn’t going to help him out. The liquid enveloped Q’s legs, now Q was forced to keep himself floating. As the level rose, he realized that soon, his head would reach the ceiling.

He tried to yell something. He wanted to apologize, to atone, to try and talk, but Jackal plugged his own ears shut. He wasn’t willing to listen. The banging continued, as the only thing that wasn’t being drowned inside the liquid was Q’s own head. His eyes were full of fear and despair, as he tried to keep himself afloat. The last time he swam was at a pool party, he and Jackal were only 12. And soon, his head was covered completely. The banging slowed down and sounded weaker. Eventually, the noise completely faded away.

Jackal remained there, having difficulty acting or even organizing his thoughts. He was proven right, but at a great cost. A slow and lonesome tear escaped his ruthless and regretless gaze.

“A delusional and selfish piece of shit, huh?”

He chuckled to himself.

He left the building. With a flick of his hand, the shadowy mass exploded, dismantling the building into pieces. If that site was looked at carefully enough, small areas with blood could be found. Jackal looked up into the sky. The sun felt awfully cold, he wanted to hide it away and keep the shadow for himself. He felt like with a little more darkness, his soul would reach its brightest shine.