—Reaching out his hand, The Black Wraith took hold of that promising hand. His body lifted up, the creature—Aubrey Palmer, looked down with tears streaming down his face.
"Seriously man… men aren't supposed to cry. Well, I guess since your girl screamed at the sight of you… shit, I'd cry too. Ah, too soon?"
The man's warm arms wrapping around those of his best friend, Sam embraced Aubrey tightly.
"Actually, in the meantime while I was waiting for you to come here, I was thinking of a better nickname for you," Sam said softly. "Aubs. Better than Aub."
He heard a sniffle, and felt Aubrey nod his head in his chest.
"Hah, yeah. So, Sammy and Aubs, the unemployed duo who hunt monsters for a living."
Aubrey and Sam released their hold on the other, as Sam let out a tight exhale. "And also, just so we're clear, that wasn't gay, right? Obviously you loved a woman, and I spent some of my first few paychecks on premium hookers. So we'd be more 'bi' than anything, but there was no—"
"Shut up, man. But yeah, it wasn't gay."
Releasing his shadows, the pale-faced, cracked skin of a now nearly-bald Aubrey, was plainly visible once more to Sam, who did not grimace.
"Gonna take some getting used to. But y'know, bros before hoes. We cool?" Sam asked lightheartedly, and Aubrey nodded his head.
"We're cool."
Sam let out a snickering laugh. "Such is the beauty of friendship. You beat the shit out of each other, and then an hour later, go get Dairy Queen or something… if you didn't tell, that's me telling you I want Dairy Queen."
"...Sure, I want Dairy Queen too."
Aubrey wiped his wide eye, and the two walked nonchalantly to Dairy Queen.
…
"So, how does your ice cream taste?" Sam asked, taking a spoonful of his own.
"...I like it. It's cold. Wendigos like cold food."
"Yeah, I figured. I guess that's your new favorite dessert, right?"
Aubrey nodded his head, looking out the window.
Of course, he hid his face by obscuring the lower half with blackness, trying to make it seem like he wore a mask. Then, for his right eye which was surrounded by cracks, he used his longer hair to cover that side up completely. For his left eye, he just accepted it would look weird, and that was that.
"...Reminds me of highschool," Aubrey said, taking another spoonful.
"Yeah, it really does. Remember when we both went out to sneak into a movie theater?" Sam brought up, and Aubrey's eyes lit up—well, as much as they could. Or rather, internally, more accurately, since his left eye was permanently wide open.
"Yeah, and we tried to film it, but it only ended up at like, 5 minutes long because we set off the alarmed door and had to run out?"
Sam laughed, nodding his head. "Yeah, yeah. Dude, I literally had to hold back the urge to just pick you up and sprint off with my super-speed. I would've done that if the police actually got close to us."
Aubrey smiled, though it was obscured by the darkness over his mouth.
"Dang, so we weren't in any actual danger. I never ran so fast in my whole fucking life; my little legs moved as quick as they could go."
The two shared a laugh, as Aubrey felt a warm sensation in his heart.
Even if the rest of the world did not accept him, there was one person who did. In the end, wasn't that enough?
"...Though, I have to ask. Why aren't you mad at me for, y'know-ing the others?"
"Ah… well, like I said, I'm also a… what do those Tiktokers call them? A serial unaliver? I'm one of those technically. My first victim was at, like, 9 years old, I think? That was my dad. Then my next one, when I was an edgy middle-schooler, was some random lady in the neighborhood."
"...Phew, you're scarier than I am, man. Shit."
Sam looked down. "Yeah, I guess so. So, who managed to blend in better?"
"Me, obviously," Aubrey said competitively. "I actually blended in, unlike your ass. I actually got abandoned by society because you were a hot-headed brat who picked fights all day."
"Fair 'nuff, fair 'nuff. But y'know, that's the thing, man."
"What? What's the thing?"
"I believe I can be redeemed, so you can also be redeemed. I've done worse than you, so I won't judge you."
"Makes sense."
The young men finished their ice cream and left the Dairy Queen, heading out and walking around. Sam, despite getting a bunch of sugar, yawned.
"Shit, I'm tired. Well, see ya later—"
"Uh, you're gonna be pissed," Aubrey said, looking at Sam with a bashful expression.
"Oh?"
"Like, I still don't think I can really blend in with society, after I, y'know, killed all the people surrounding me. So I can't just go home. And you might also have to, like, go into hiding with me…"
Sam looked at Aubrey, having not considered that part of reality.
"...Oh. Right. Well, fuck it. Guess we're having a sleepover, then. It'll be like when we were kids."
Aubrey nodded his head, and the two went back to Sam's apartment. Sam obviously slept on his bed, leaving the WendigoWalker (who did not need sleep) to "sleep" on the floor.
"Well, g'night," Sam said quietly, pulling the blanket over his chest.
"Goodnight."
And thus, Sam went to sleep.
…
The Black Wraith stood over the sleeping man. Looming over him, his silhouette visible in the moonlight.
It gave the appearance of a humanoid, with one eye wide open, cracked skin and a bald head, all the patches of hair removed.
In the pale blue moonlight, it undoubtedly stood. Hovering over the man, unaware of his situation.
Their relationship, by all means, was repaired. They had fun together, had forgiven each other for any slights against them, and had truly become as inseparable as they were, even back in highschool.
By all means, The Black Wraith did not have an ounce of hatred for Sam in his heart.
—But The Black Wraith never killed out of hatred.
It was Fear. Fear, the root of his actions, with Wrath being the execution.
Fear and Wrath are close acquaintances.
Raising a hatchet into the air, The Black Wraith looked down at the man who he had never been able to beat. And, without warning, whilst he was asleep, he delivered the blade of his weapon through the back of his neck, instantly waking him up.
But with the back of his neck—his spine—broken, he couldn't move. Paralyzed, unable to move, his Speed was worthless. He slowed down time, but that only dragged out the pain longer, turning the last seconds of his life into minutes of pain.
With no choice, he resumed time as normal.
"A-aa—"
"Shhh."
The Black Wraith put his hand over the hero's mouth, hushing him.
"I love you, Sam. I really had a great time with you tonight. It meant so much to me."
"Mmff-mmffh…"
Life was, fading. Fading, disappearing into the void. His life. It was, going—
Going, to end. Ending, the end of life, everything he'd ever known, coming to a halt in an instant. Happening, the fate, it was,
—Happening.
"I promise you," whispered The Black Wraith, leaning in to make sure his words would not be silenced. "I love you. But only depending on one person, who can easily leave at any moment? That's too terrifying to put into words. Not in the time you have left, anyways."
Keeping his hand over the hushed mouth, The Black Wraith spoke thus. His words were as sweet as honey, putting his all into making them digestible and lovely before the man who was sure to die.
It happened slowly. But still, it happened.
—The hero who tried to fix the monster, his life was snuffed out from the world.
…
I was entirely alone, within this world.
Forever, eternally, I was cut off from society. From human beings, from life as I desired, I was severed. No matter what I tried to do, no matter what kind of actions I performed, I would never be considered a human being again.
A star, within the night sky. A star appeared before me, calling out to me, telling me to follow it. That even in this pitch-black void of space, this star would singularly be my light.
…How frightening.
To trust even just one person with my hopes and self, is frightening. So frightening that I cannot bear it.
To place my everything into that one person, as the singular source of my connection; how can I trust that? No matter who that person is, I cannot trust it. Because, eventually, that connection will be used to hurt me.
To spare myself that pain, I killed him. I crushed the bright star within my palm, and I would not allow it to escape.I was sorry. So sorry. I wept bitterly for the person I had hurt, for the pain I had caused them.But even though I cried, I did not regret it. I did not feel guilty.
Because in the end, I did what I had to, to spare myself of the pain which I feared intensely so. No matter how it ended, one day, that person was going to leave me. And as such, I had to end it before the pain caused by their departure hurt me even more.
I learned my lesson the first time. Even if that person does not want to leave, life—no, Fate, will take them away from me. Fate will always take away everything from me; the punishment for my crimes.
Even now, I hate being alone. I killed the star which was my salvation, leaving me stranded.
I spend my days ceaselessly afraid. Terrified of the human beings surrounding me. Those that see me and gasp in horror only serve to drive the knife in deeper, showing me clearly how utterly disconnected from humanity—how utterly alone—I truly am.
—So, then, I wonder.
——If anyone knew the truth about me.
———Would they assume my story was a tragedy?
…Hah. No, of course not.
————This is what I deserve, after all.
—————All this is, is simply the punishment of Aubrey Palmer.