Dum set out to bury his father. With a shovel they had in the barn, he dug a hole deep enough for hours. Once he had finished his father's grave, he went to check that Eloa, his mother, was still well.
Eloa was resting on an old but very comfortable sofa, like a leaf floating on calm water. Dum relaxed, lay down on the floor next to a wall opposite the sofa, leaned his back against the wall, and closed his eyes, exhausted.
After that bitter night, Dum woke Eloa, who did not utter a word and seemed to be absent. Realizing her condition and that there was nothing left to tie them to that fateful place, Dum had to go with his mother to the city to take her to the nearest hospital. He took the only horse they had and managed to move Eloa. After riding for about fifteen minutes, they approached the hospital, where one of the guards took Dum's sword and helped him carry Eloa to one of the treatment rooms.
There, the doctors examined his mother and, among many questions, asked Dum what had happened. The naive boy, who knew almost nothing about urban civilization, told them almost everything in great detail, omitting some parts. What Dum recounted left the doctors perplexed and disgusted. They thought the boy had murdered his father and brother, making up a story that his brother had killed his father and tried to attack him. The hospital staff contacted the police, as there had apparently been cases of patricide and fratricide in rural areas near the city. The officers arrived quickly. Once they entered the room, they approached Dum's mother, but seeing her sad state, they ignored her. One of them approached the boy. He was a fairly young officer, tall and slightly dark-skinned, his face conveying a strange calmness. He had thick, well-groomed dreadlocks, his hair was a cerulean color with greenish hues, and his eyes were an intense navy blue.
"Hello, little one," he said as he crouched down to be at the same height as the child.
"H-hello," Dum replied timidly, as something told him that things were not going well.
"I need you to answer the following questions honestly, no lies, it's the only way I can help you.
"Did you kill your father?"
"No," replied little Dum emphatically.
"What about your brother?"
"He was devouring my father, and when he saw me, he looked like he was going to pounce on me like a wild animal. I had no choice."
"I see. What about your mother? Has she always been like this?"
"No, she was always normal, but after what happened last night, she hasn't said a word."
"All right, little one, thank you for telling me what happened," he said, patting Dum on the head.
The officer in charge of the case arrived with Dum's sword and more police officers.
"Young man, you are under arrest for multiple homicide..."
Dum ignored everything else; he only understood that he was going to be locked up for many years. At that moment, he learned that people are slaves to what they say and masters of what they keep silent.
After being arrested, Dum remained locked up in a small but very cozy cell, with everything necessary for a person to live with dignity. Despite being a prison, the cells were not dumps and the prisoners were not treated like garbage. After being locked up for three days, the friendly officer who had approached him at the hospital came looking for him, accompanied by two other people.
"Hey, shorty, you have visitors," said one of the guards.
Dum immediately thought of his mother. Had he spoken again? Was he back to normal? At least that's what he thought until he heard the voice of that friendly officer who had approached him at the hospital.
"Hello again, kid. I forgot to ask your name, but I was in a hurry. I owe you an apology for that. My goal was to find out if you were lying or telling the truth, and I can assure you that you weren't lying. Come on, tell me your name."
Dum remained silent.
"I understand. I see you don't want to talk, and I completely understand why, so... how about I start by introducing myself? My name is Aiden. I'm not really an officer as such. You see, I'm a member of an institution that investigates cases like yours. Answer me this: when you killed your brother, did chains sprout from the ground and swallow him up?"
Dum couldn't hide his surprise. He hadn't talked about that. He wondered how this man knew about it.
"That sounds like a yes," said Aiden, smiling. "Come on, tell me your name. Don't be rude. You already know mine."
"...U...m," he muttered. After so long without speaking, his vocal cords weren't responding well.
"Umm?"
"My name is Dum," he finally said.
"Okay, Dum, I have a lot to tell you and also to ask you. How about I get you out of this shithole and we go somewhere more welcoming?"
Dum couldn't contain his curiosity and asked questions the whole way there. After all, he was still a child.
Aiden took him to his favorite place to eat, a fast food restaurant where he felt a comforting sense of peace and tranquility. It wasn't a very big place, but it was very well organized, which made it feel more spacious than it actually was. The tables seated four people, and some of the walls had beautiful landscapes painted on them. It was the perfect place to talk. Aiden and Dum sat alone at one table while Aiden's colleagues sat at another table.
"What would you like to eat?" asked the waiter.
"Bring the little one a hamburger, please."
"And to drink?"
"Two sodas, please."
"Okay, it'll be ready in less than ten minutes."
"Thank you."
The waiter nodded and left, while Aiden began to tell Dum about the Bearers and the organization he works for.
"You see, Dum, the organization I work for is called Reicas. Its job is actually to protect the city from creatures called Bearers. The existence of these things is not public knowledge, and it's preferable that it stays that way. Some of us work as officers to recruit people who have had encounters with these creatures, which is your case.
"So, are you telling me that my brother was a monster? And that you're some kind of undercover agent for a cult? That sounds a bit illegal."
"Undercover agent, cult? No, we actually have connections with the police high command. They know about the Bearers, so in exchange for us having legislation, we provide protection to the families of those bigwigs." As for your brother Yam, yes, he is a Bearer, but from what you told me, his case is very strange. When these beings kill, they always show their true form, which is usually very grotesque.
Dum thought about it for a moment. "Wait, you said he is. Is he alive?"
"Not exactly. I'll tell you what I know. Apparently, these creatures were once human, but for some reason, the resentment and hatred they harbor causes them to turn into these monsters. Some kill humans for pleasure, others do it to feed on fear, but we have confirmed that they can survive by eating like humans, which is terrifying. However, the most terrifying aspect of them is undoubtedly that they can come back to life stronger than before. We recently discovered that we can eliminate them forever with a certain type of weapon. We were able to verify this when we managed to kill several of them with one of these weapons, and after they died, something strange happened to their corpses: they began to dematerialize while emitting a very cold vapor. For now, these weapons do not have a name, and there are only two of them, which are in the possession of the strongest members of the organization.
"I see, so there's a chance Yam could come back."
"Don't worry, he was very weak. If he comes back, it won't be a big problem." But there was a certain uneasiness in his mind.
"I guess you're right. Tell me, who are these powerful members?"
"Actually, I only know one of them, but you'll have the opportunity to meet both of them very soon."
"Really?" Dum replied enthusiastically.
"Of course, you can be sure of that."
"But what about my mother?"
"Here is your order," interrupted the waiter, as he gently and delicately placed the food on the table.
"Thank you very much!" Aiden and Dum said at the same time.
"She'll be safe. You won't have to worry about her care or the medicine she needs, but for that, you must be part of the organization. So, I'm going to ask you formally. Would you like to work with me?"
Dum didn't hesitate for a second. It was the best decision. He would have a new goal and could protect his mother. "Of course!"
Aiden drank his soda, while little Dum enjoyed the first hamburger he had ever tasted:
"IT'S DELICIOUS!"
On the other hand, after being swallowed by the ground, Yam felt like he was falling from a great height. He didn't know how long the fall lasted. The world around him ceased to exist, turning into a vortex of shadows and agonizing whispers. There was no wind, no light, just an unfathomable abyss that swallowed him without resistance. And then, he hit something. His body crashed into the surface of something solid, although it didn't feel like stone or earth. It was as if the ground molded itself around him, absorbing some of the impact without alleviating the pain. He felt a great pain that he couldn't contain. He tried to move, but his body would not respond. He was in the Pit, a place where Bearers who did not die at the hands of another Bearer went, created by an entity called Engel for a sinister purpose.
"A new toy has arrived..." A faceless voice echoed in the darkness. The darkness dissipated enough to reveal his surroundings. He was not alone. The Pit was not just an abyss. It was a living prison, a realm shaped by the corpses of countless beings who were once human and others who never were. The earth itself pulsed with the rancor of the fallen, emitting a reddish glow in some cracks. The sky did not exist, only a dome of liquid shadows that slowly slid, dripping fragments of despair in the form of amorphous figures that writhed as they fell. The air was permeated with an unbearable stench. But the worst were the screams. Thousands, perhaps millions of voices, all screaming at once, but not in sync. Some murmured prayers to forgotten gods, others cursed with infinite rage, and a few laughed with contagious madness. Here, hatred did not dissipate. It accumulated, hatred and despair feeding and strengthening the Bearers.
Yam crawled to his knees. His arms trembled. His memories were blurred. He couldn't remember how long he had been there. There was no sun or moon, so time became a non-existent concept. The shadows moved of their own accord. Sometimes, when he dozed off from sheer exhaustion, he would wake up surrounded by distorted faces with oversized mouths and empty eyes. They fed on his fear, eagerly absorbing every fragment of his sanity. But they weren't the worst. The real predators of the Pit were those Bearers who were no longer there, those who were so strong that they were expelled from the Pit, and following them were the Griefs. Creatures with a single purpose, to make everything they caught suffer, they were true masters of pain, born in that place, growing within its structure, merging with it, absorbing its essence and molding themselves at will. They were shapeless entities, with bodies that unfolded as if flesh were clay and limbs that stretched at impossible angles. One of these terrifying beings found Yam. "A newcomer...?" Its voice was an echo of a thousand tongues. "I see you still cannot walk. How much can you endure before you break?"
The creature glided rather than walked, its body leaving a trail that looked like a cluster of viscous shadows. Before Yam could react, a claw dug into his abdomen. The pain was absolute. It wasn't just physical; it was torment that tore at his mind, forcing him to relive every moment of suffering, every failure, all at once. The pain was so intense that he screamed with all his might. But in the Pit, screams only fed the hunters. The Griefs didn't kill. They enjoyed torturing the newcomers. They crushed hope, twisted perception, made every trapped soul an extension of the Pit. Yam was no exception. He was chained for an immeasurable amount of time. His body was torn apart and rebuilt over and over again. Sometimes he would wake up with new wounds without remembering how he got them. Other times, his own skin would tremble as if trying to escape him. The Pit was reshaping him.
Most of the prisoners were no better than the hunters. Among the damned, the only law was that of supremacy. Yam saw the weakest devoured by the strongest. Here, the Bearers absorbed others, not only their hatred, but their very essence. The Pit rewarded predators. Yam had to learn quickly. He was patient, waiting for the hunter who tormented him. After a fleeting moment, there he was again in front of Yam, as if he had called him with his thoughts.
"I must congratulate you, you have not disappointed me. You are a very resilient toy," said the Grief as he pierced Yam with one of his limbs.
Yam didn't flinch, he didn't seem to feel pain, he was letting himself be carried away by his hatred, by his instinct. Suddenly, he bit into the limb of that entity, tearing off a large chunk, which he swallowed with a look of satisfaction that would terrify anyone. His face was emaciated, his body was skin and bones, and his hair was long, which intensified the fear he emanated.
The Grief let out a loud laugh.
Yam also began to laugh. "Ha ha ha..." For a moment, he let himself be carried away by madness and continued laughing for a long time, until he stopped abruptly.
The Grief felt a great chill, a feeling he thought he had lost was reborn in him... it was fear. The silence that had fallen was not normal; there is never silence in the Pit. Suddenly, Yam looked at him, and the look he gave him made the Grief hesitate for the first time, perhaps because there was nothing in it.
As if it were a screamer or jumpscare straight out of a nightmare, Yam lunged at Grief, breaking the bonds that held him prisoner. The entity defended itself by tearing and piercing Yam multiple times, but Yam no longer cared about the pain; it only excited him more. He began devouring it very quickly like a hungry animal, but after a while he calmed down, slowly devouring his victim's body. Yam was enjoying it, digging his hands into the creature in ways that made it writhe and scream. The creature's hatred turned to fear, and as Yam devoured it, the Grief felt more pain.
When he finished devouring it completely and came to his senses, Yam's body shuddered. Not because it was the first life he had taken, but because he felt something different. Something new. The hatred and fear of his victim slid into him like liquid fire, strengthening him. He understood the true purpose of the Pit. It was a forge. Bearers who were strong enough could escape. Those with pure hatred or who devoured others to feed on their hatred.
Every day, Yam hunted.
Every day, he ate more.
Every day, his humanity died a little more. Until, one day. He didn't know how. Perhaps he had killed enough, perhaps he had lost so much of himself that the Pit had nothing left to mold. He just felt a tug inside. A tear in reality, and when he blinked, he was no longer in the Pit.
The sky was dark, but no longer liquid. The lights of the city shone in the distance. He was back, but something inside him had changed. Yam spent three long years in that nightmarish place and immediately left. His face was filled with satisfaction as he enjoyed the fresh, clean air while observing the city for the first time, but that moment of appreciation was interrupted by the voices of some girls passing by on the street:
"Hey you! Are you retarded or are you a fucking exhibitionist?"
"Calm down, Emma, can't you see he seems confused?"
"Emma sighed, "Well, tell him he's naked in the middle of the street."
"Hey, kid, if you haven't noticed, you're naked in the middle of the street."
Yam simply wasn't paying attention. When he looked down, he realized he was naked, but he still didn't feel ashamed.
"You're right, I'm sorry. It's my first time here. Do you know where I can get some clothes?"
"See, Vega, this guy is retarded. Just look at him, even his hair is a mess."
"Emma... You can tell the poor guy isn't from the city and something bad has happened to him, maybe he's been mugged."
"And what makes you think he won't mug us?"
"I have an idea."
Vega ran off to a store a little less than a block away.
"Hey, Vega, where the hell are you going? Are you leaving me alone with this pervert?"
"I'm not a pervert!" Yam shouted, a little upset at the accusation. Yam knew the meaning of that word thanks to one of her mother's books. Meanwhile, Vega entered the store and noticed that it was a rather unusual shop, but he still picked up some items that he thought might fit the naked boy. He soon returned from the store, running with a white T-shirt, sandals, and jeans.
"Here. This is the only thing that might fit you."
"Thank you so much, I don't know how to thank you."
"It's always a pleasure to help, and don't thank me so much. After all, they only sell girls' clothes there. Bye..."
The girls left laughing, unable to believe what they had seen. They couldn't wait to tell the story to their other friends.
Yam didn't understand anything at that moment. It was after walking for fifteen minutes that he understood everything...
"Wait a second, am I wearing women's clothes?"