Board 8 > 12:03-------pp[a short cyoa]qq--

(+) Yeah! (+)

The clock blinks 12:03 but the radio isn't playing anymore.
One hazard light illuminates the area while shining intermittently.
The other is broken into pieces.
The pieces are all over the pavement.
It's the same for the frame and the body.
It's all in pieces or crushed, and folded in upon itself.

Something falls from nowhere and covers the light.
Red drapery hangs down as the night goes dark.

K: "Are you a good person?"
Q: "..."

Of course you wouldn't receive an answer from someone whose head was covered in blood.
The light once again assaults the area with flashes at each brief interval.
From here you could probably see a silhouette of a figure standing outside of the driver's door.

K: "Come on, then. Give me your hand."
Q: "Are you here to save me?"
K: "That's not my job."

The woman in the car feels something like her heart beginning to race.
It's not that, but it feels quite the same.
It is almost as if her eyes were widening in that moment.
The one standing outside of her window was clearly not a 'Human.'

Q: "Shit-!! Shit... Am I dead?"
K: "..."
Q: "You're some kind of Devil? Or a Grim Reaper?"
Q: "What is it you want? You want to collect my soul?"

Her expression is one of panic and rejection.
This is not a reality that Q can accept.

K: "That's not my job, either."

Q: "This is the worst. No, no, no. It can't end like this."

Something like makeup runs from the corner of her eyes.
The moisture brings it down from above.
It's definitely not rain.
That was not a raindrop that fell.

Q: "Killed by a drunk driver? You've got to be kidding me!"
Q: "This is lame as fuck!"
Q: "How could I die in a way that's totally beyond my control?"
Q: "Hey, tell me!"

K: "I don't really know the answers to every question."

This woman had already rejected reality and now she was beginning to bargain with death.
Before long she would probably come to accept what had happened to her.

Q: "I did everything I was supposed to."
Q: "I followed all of the rules."
Q: "So how could it turn out like this?"

Still, if you think about it, there was no way that her words could change reality.
The person in the red cloak still didn't know how to answer her questions.

K: "Will you give me your hand now?"
K: "I think I can pull you out of there."

Q: "Yes. Oh... Yes. I'll do as you say."
Q: "You can help me out of this mess, can't you?"

They held onto each other for a brief moment.
Q was plucked from the interior of her ruined vehicle.
At this time she was only feigning acceptance.
At this time Q seemed to believe that she could change her fate.
If there was anything Q could offer, or some deal she could make, she would make it.
There shouldn't be anything more valuable than her life.

K: "Have you got some change with you?"
---

Silver coins were glittering in the cupholder like a traitor's payday.
Is that all she wanted? Some spare change?
Q began to think she had fundamentally misunderstood this situation.
At that time she retrieved the quarters and gripped them in her fist.
Was this just a stranger who had wandered onto the scene?
Q extended her closed fist toward the person in front of her.

Q: "Please take it. It's the least I can do."

Blue and distant eyes examined the hand with a look of confusion.

K: "Hold onto those. You'll need them."
K: "Whether you're taking the ferry or the bus out of here you'll need to pay some kind of fare."

Q: "Ferry?"

There was definitely no kind of ferry around here.

1. How is Q getting home?
A. She'll take the bus.
B. She'll take the ferry.
C. Fuck this, she'll throw a tantrum and go down fighting.
---

a
---

mmm

A.
---

is two votes enough to write more tonight or should I just wait until tomorrow?
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how about 3 votes

A.

12:03------pp[she takes the bus]qq---

The clock reads 12:03 and it has stopped blinking for some time now.
Q's hand is trembling as she feels metal digging into her palm.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to hit something. She wanted to hit someone.
But, in the end, she knew that wouldn't help.

K: "So, how about it? Do you think you were a good person?"
K: "You said that you followed all of the rules, but you were a criminal."
K: "Can someone who breaks the law really say that?"

Q was surprised that this woman seemed to know everything about her.
Maybe she should have expected it, since the person in front of her was not 'Human.'

Q: "We might not follow the law but we have our own code."

It was true to an extent.
Q belonged to a crime family that followed some pretty classical ideals.
Things like honor were important for these kinds of people.
Families like this had arisen out of a need, and there was a large focus on supporting their communities.
In the end you could say that 'supply and demand' had created a need for this kind of criminal enterprise.
The people in this area were not easy to manage.
Schools often failed students and turned out young adults unprepared to deal with the world.
There weren't many good jobs for law abiding citizens.
The local police weren't funded properly to deal with agitated misanthropes who destroyed their own neighborhood.

Q: "Our code was always to deal with the problems that the rest of society forgot about."

Perhaps this was enough to satisfy K.
Or maybe K had already decided her answer long ago.

K: "You should look for a bus stop nearby. It will take you somewhere nice."
K: "The ferry goes... somewhere a bit more unpleasant."

Q hesitated for a moment. It seemed she wasn't ready to go.
Q was probably thinking if she kept this conversation moving that she could stay here longer.

K: "Now there's something else I must take care of."

The blue eyes of K went the other way and rested on the opposite side of the road.
The ghost departed from the scene and the streetlights brightened.
Someone had put them on mute but they became dim.
Then the street was illuminated with white light again.
Then came the silent cry of the emergency vehicle and the red turning band of color.
The night was like a painting that had been stained by this foreign being.
All of the EMS Workers running back and forth across the scene failed to notice her.
K's very existence was incompatible with reality.
You should expect that any person would have difficulty trying to look at her.
The brain of any normal person would reject what they were seeing.

A man had fallen out of his car.
The door was thrown open and he was laying face down on the sidewalk nearby.
His own vomit had formed a pillow for his face.
The front of his shirt was stained with the disease of guilt he had inflicted upon himself.

K left the body of the woman in the collapsed vehicle and went to join the man.

The emergency workers faded from her view.

The clock reads 12:03, and the moon was fading from view.
The other signs of light had fled and left only this dim reminder that he was still among the world of the living.
His body swelled with a groan as his lungs expanded within his chest.
Then a red fabric like blood draped across the sidewalk.
Her cape was slithering about, this way and that way, as if it had a life of its own.
---

K: "Tell me something... are you a good person?"

P: "Don't ask me to answer that."
P: "Not that kind of question..."

His words were a mutter.
His voice had been wrapped up inside of something from which there was no escape.
K took a step away after rising delicately to her feet.
P rolled onto his back and stared up through the empty glass of the muted lamp.
From here he could see the stars and the clouds and that fading moon.

P: "I'm dying, aren't I? Are you here to kill me?"
K: "That's not my job."
P: "Can I survive this all somehow?"
K: "I won't tell you that."
P: "... Do I even deserve to live...?"
K: "She is dead if you were wondering."

P had been afraid to ask, but that was because he already knew the answer.
Before he had opened the door of his car he had seen the woman in the wreckage of the other vehicle.
That is the sight that had provoked the violent reaction with his gut.
That's why P was covered in his own vomit, after all.
It wasn't because he had been drinking. Not directly.
If he hadn't been drinking she might not have died, though.
If Q didn't die then P wouldn't have seen her.
If P didn't see her then he wouldn't have thrown up all over himself and broke his nose on the sidewalk.
Maybe he had broken his nose when they collided but that was irrelevant.
Maybe it was all because he had been drinking.

P: "I am sorry if that's what you wanted to hear."
K: "Do you make a habit of telling people what they want?"
P: "Is something wrong with that?"
K: "I will answer your question but then you must answer mine."
K: "You think that it makes life easier if you placate others."
K: "You deal with your peers by telling them what makes them happy."
K: "In the end you might forget what the truth is. Maybe you stop caring."
K: "One day you decided that the truth is whatever you say."
K: "Every person repeats the same words and denies the existence of Objective Truth."
K: "Then, in the end, you create an illusion which mirrors our world but doesn't reflect reality."

The clouds moved and formed a blanket which hid the sky.

K: "I think living in that kind of illusion is pointless and dangerous."

The watchful moon returned to his view.

P: "... Yes. Yes, okay. I've made that my habit."
P: "Is that what you-..."

P closed his eyes. Was there any way out of this?
Perhaps he had already fallen into a hell from which there was no escape.

2. Is there any way out of this?
A. P will ask more about Q.
B. P will explain his point of view.
C. Fuck this, P will throw a tantrum and reject K's view of the world.
---

B
---

b
---

a
---

B
---

B
---

B
---

12:03------pp[his point of view]qq---

P felt like there was no way he could leave it at that.
She had forced him into a corner and almost made him repeat the same phrase.
It was true, then. There was no denying that what she said was true.
K had completely seen through him.
Everything was quiet now, and all of the other people were gone.
All of the lights had disappeared.
P knew for certain that he was in some other kind of 'Place.'
P knew that this was life or death for him.
P knew that if he died here he would definitely go to something like hell.

K: "Have you got anything else to say for yourself?"

Her worlds carried no particular connotation.
She was about as 'Human' as the fabric wrapped around her.
There was no sense in trying to read into what she was saying.
The only remaining choice for this man was to try and give his side of the story.

P: "What you're saying is true, but there's more to it than that."
P: "I might not always tell the truth, but I don't think that makes me a bad person."
P: "There are some painful truths, after all."
P: "And some people, sometimes, just need to be lied to."

His words felt true to him right then and it was giving him the courage to continue speaking.
Her blue eyes were closing in on him now, though, and he was forced to close his own eyes.
It felt as if her gaze were digging into his soul, and P didn't want to know what would happen if they succeeded.

P: "If someone is having a bad day I don't want to tell them something harsh."
P: "If someone is in need of kindness I'm willing to give it to them."
P: "Maybe what I say doesn't always reflect reality, but-!!"
P: "Don't you think it's better than going around hurting other people?!"

Yes, what he was saying was true.
There was no denying that what he said was true.
P felt his heart racing now. He knew he was getting too excited.
This wasn't just about him, though.
He needed to convince K that he was a good person.
For that reason he needed to reflect on himself.

P: "And, of course, I've lied to myself plenty of times in the past."
P: "I think you know that as well. That must be why you're here."
P: "You want to see if I can face the truth now, here, at the end..."

You might be wondering if P could even do something like that.
It was difficult. Yet, still, it wasn't beyond the realm of belief.
People who faced their own death became surprisingly honest.

P: "I'll tell myself this kind of lie... if I drink and drive it's okay as long as nobody gets hurt."
P: "I knew there was a risk involved and yet at the time I was thinking nothing bad would happen."
P: "I never faced the reality that... shit... just by taking on that risk..."
P: "I'd already done something bad, hadn't I?"

The heartbeat which had been swelling in his chest turned into a lump.
That lump was rising in his throat and blocking it up.
As moisture clung to his eyes he felt it difficult to continue speaking.
His eyes opened up to release what he was feeling and he saw she was still looking down at him.

P: "You must have wanted me to realize that there's no excuse I can make."
P: "A good person wouldn't try to make excuses."
P: "I don't-.... I don't even know if I am a good person. I'm probably not."
P: "So, then, all I can say... once again..."

P: "I'm sorry."
---

P was sure at that time he had found his way through this maze.
However, for those watching, if they could see this, they might think differently.
K had been watching him for some time and studying his behavior.

The girl in red said nothing at first.
Her gaze carried no particular meaning.
It left P wondering if she was capable of showing any emotion at all.
But, in that moment, she broke the illusion which P had created for himself.
K's mouth turned and her expression darkened as she looked down at him.

K: "Hey, you worthless piece of shit, you do realize that you've just killed someone, don't you?"
K: "Stop trying to make yourself sound like the protagonist of this story."
K: "Are you finally going to be honest now? Are you going to change for the better?"
K: "Apologize? Don't disgust me, you damned worm."
K: "There's absolutely nothing special about you."
K: "You lie because it makes others happy and it lets you feel good about yourself."
K: "I really hope you don't think you're the first human being to think of such a way of living."
K: "And don't you dare try and tell me you've been doing it for their sake, to make them happy."
K: "We both know the truth -- you're just a pathetic coward who has murdered someone."
K: "You only tried to make other people happy because it made them like you."
K: "Now you sit here and beg for your life and pretend you're a good person."
K: "Even feeding me that bullshit line 'I'm not a good person' is a trick."
K: "You said that because you thought it would make me think you were a good person."
K: "You're trying to trick me? Did you really think it would be that easy?!"

P squinted, hesitating. He didn't know what to say.
He felt, at that moment, like she was about to kick him.
But she didn't do that either.

K: "Listen up, scumbag. I have no use for your empty apology."
K: "If you want to say sorry then maybe you should find that woman and tell her, first."

3. What does he do?
A. P will find Q and apologize.
B. P will lay down and accept his fate.
C. Fuck this, it's our last chance, so P will throw a tantrum!
---

C
---

Only one thing to do when a grim reaper esque entity is yelling at you

THROW A HUUUUUGE BITCH FIT

C
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c
---

B
---

B
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wow the last choice and it's close. how exciting!

maybe I'll wait a while and just write the ending tonight in case we get a few more swing votes.
---

C

Also, I've gotta ask, given that K's identity is seemingly obvious, are the other two pre-existing characters?
---

nope
---

This CYOA is too long.
---

only three choices! it'll be ending soon.

tomorrow morning though probably. I was going to write tonight but now my stomach kinda hurts.
---

C. haha can't wait to see what happens next
---

12:04------pp[he rages against his fate]qq---

T emerged from the back of the emergency services vehicle and tried to bury his thoughts.
Negative feelings and impressions would only serve to affect his ability to save lives.
The most pathetic thing about this scene is that it was not even at an intersection of any sort.
The woman in front had been driving down the road at a normal pace.
The man behind, becoming impatient, had tried to pass her.
It was clear that the driver must have been drinking.
He lost control while attempting this basic maneuver and slammed into her car from the side.
Because the driver side door was hit first she was more or less killed right away.
Q's car was slammed into a telephone pole on the right side of the road.
P's car had swerved away from the crash and made it a few meters before running off the road.
He ended up on the opposite side, the left, up on the curb.
And once his car had come to a stop he fell out of his car and lay face down on the sidewalk.
Did that kind of guy even deserve to be saved?
Honestly, it wasn't up to T. He could never make that sort of decision.
All that he could do, now that he was here, was to do his job and save as many lives as he could.
So, in the end, it was better not to even think about it.

T: "Go on the other driver. I'll see to him."

There was almost no chance that the female driver was still alive.
In fact, if you've been reading this story, you know that she's already dead.
Don't get your hopes up.
Still, for the paramedics, they'd send at least one person just to make sure.
T headed to the opposite side of the street to see what was wrong with the male driver.

T vanished into the fog as the scene went black again.
Now the only color was the red cape of K swirling around.
It was threatening, somehow, like a snake standing upright and ready to strike.
The edges were sharper in this moment and almost seemed to be pointing at her conversation partner.

P: "Fuck... Fucking-... Fuck. No! No! Absolutely no way!"

P clenched his hand into a fist and punched the ground as hard as he could.
He was already somewhat injured and bruised up from the car crash.
Despite his adrenaline he could still feel pain as the sidewalk ripped the skin off of his knuckles.

P: "You think that's the end of the story?!"
P: "My story doesn't end that way you goddamned Devil."
P: "I don't know-... I can't..."

His gaze wavered as he tried to fix his eyes on the one standing over him.
And what was that, anyway? Why did she have the right to stand over him like that?
His hand reached out as if on its own and tried to grasp at the air.
If he could get his hands on this woman than maybe he could fight his way out of here.
'Human' or not... P had to believe that he could still survive if he was able to defeat this thing.
And if he had any chance of surviving then obviously he was going to take that chance.

P: "I'm a piece of shit! Whatever!"
P: "Whatever you want to say then just go ahead and say it!"
P: "I might not-... I may not deserve to live but you've backed me into a corner."

His eyes burned silently.

P: "I won't go down without a fight!"

His survival instincts kicked in and he pushed himself up to his knees.
One of his arms hurt so bad that all he could do was hold it against his chest.
P tried to hobble forward, trying to get toward her, but it felt like he'd teeter and fall over at any moment.

P: "Don't go acting like you're more righteous than me."
P: "Your job is to kill people, too, isn't it?!"

That wasn't her job.
---

P: "What-... You think 'Honesty' is somehow the most important thing in the world?"
P: "You think I'm a bad person just because I'm not always telling the truth."
P: "Because I make mistakes that means I deserve to go to hell?"
P: "That kind of moral absolutism is complete bullshit as far as I'm concerned."
P: "I don't care if you're some kind of God or Devil... you're complete bullshit."
P: "I already knew that I wasn't unique. I know I'm not anyone special. You think that hurts my feelings?"
P: "All you've done is confirm that... fuck... god damn it..."
P: "Everything you're saying just means that I'm like everyone else!"
P: "We all do it! I'm not the only one! So stop judging just me only because you caught me in the act!"
P: "Whether it's being irresponsible, lying, or doing whatever else... nobody is perfect."
P: "The difference between me and you is that I am Human, after all."
P: "Yeah I fucked up in a big way. But you know what...."

He began to cough and blood began to spew from his lips.
It was dribbling down his chin now and staining the front of his shirt.
K seemed to be so far away from him even though she'd been so close only moments ago.
Or maybe that wasn't blood on his shirt and maybe her cloak was wrapped tightly around him now.
He could imagine her blue eyes locking him in place with her paralyzing gaze.
He could imagine he was about to be devoured.
Yet, still, if she was right then he had been a liar for his entire life.
Maybe it was his last chance to ever be honest.
P closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to fight through the fear of looking at her.
And from the bottom of his lungs he released the words that he was carefully holding.
His contempt for this kind of person was given a voice.

P: "You know what?... Heh..."
P: "You're just a shitty, distant person who can't get along with others because of your obsession with honesty."
P: "If other people get mad it's not my fault, I was just telling the truth."
P: "If nobody wants to be my friend it's not my fault, they just can't handle the truth."
P: "Is that what you've been telling yourself this whole time Miss Goddess of Death?"
P: "Ha-... Hahah... I'm about to go to Hell, I'm pretty sure... but still..."
P: "I wonder if that's better than living in the delusional, shitty life that you've created for yourself."

The clock read 12:04.
The second paramedic couldn't do anything except confirm that Q was already dead.
Even peeling her body out of the car was going to be a difficult task.
The crisis response team was still a few minutes away but it wasn't like they could help.
At that point there was only one person left to deal with -- the drunk.

T had gone over to try and help him.
The man was laying face down and mumbling to himself on the sidewalk.
Whatever he saw was probably an illusion that mirrored the real world but didn't reflect reality.
Then, just as T was going to offer him aide, the man stumbled to his feet.
The drunk took a few steps and began bleeding from his mouth.
His legs were shaking, he could barely stand.
The reality was that P had not suffered any serious injuries.
If P had lain still he might have survived.
If P moved slowly and carefully he could have gotten through it, maybe.
But he had jumped to his feet erratically and continued to rant at someone who wasn't even there.
One of his ribs, which had been bent inward, had punctured his lung ever so slightly.
But the violent actions he was taking had caused that rib to tear at the tissue even more deeply.
His insides were gouged and he had sealed his own fate by taking those steps.
---

T couldn't do anything except chase after him and then go to the ground beside the fallen man.
His breath had left his body and his life was fleeing from him as well.

T: "Hey! Sit still! I might still be able to save you!"
T: "Just don't try to talk, and-"

P: "It's been fun, little red riding hood."

As P faded into the realm of death only one thing remained.
The clock read 12:04 and there was a crack as the silent night was split with a sharp noise.
Q's car, which had slammed into the telephone pole, had actually broken it.
The pole had been leaning against the car for support.
For some time now, however, it had been straining against the wires.
Those wires were still holding it up but there was only so much strain they could take.
Then, at that very moment, there was a snapping sound.
The hazard light was blinking intermittently.
T's ambulance was broadcasting a rotating red column of light across the scene in a perfect pattern.
The moon was shining down from above, watching all of this.
All of the lights save for the broken one were broadcasting down in cones of fluorescence.

Then sparks began to fly from the broken light as it swung across the road and smashed into the sidewalk on the opposite side.

T carefully looked over his shoulder.

The spot where P had been laying, moments ago, had just gotten completely decimated.
The wreckage of wood and metal and wire and sparks and fire was laying on top of that area.
There was no doubt that P had just died because of his punctured lung.
Moving out of the way hadn't saved P's life.
Actually, if anything, moving out of the way had actually killed P, but..

T looked down at the guy again.
For some reason the sidewalk looked red at that moment.
It was as if T was kneeling on top of a red blanket.
For someone who worked with death every day, T had taken for granted that he could die at any moment.
Instead of treating each day like it could be his last he had never truly thought about it.
He got into fights with others, he said things that he shouldn't say.
He lied sometimes and made mistakes and couldn't live a perfect life.
That was something that no human was capable of doing.
Still... somehow... by some twist of fate or some coincidence...
That dangerous illusion had lured P to his death.
And it had, at the same time, saved T from being standing in the spot where that broken street light fell.

Now it felt like in the entire world only one light was still shining.
It was a small display screen on a cellular phone.

T: "Hey.... Are you awake?"
T: "Yeah I-... Yeah I know it's late. I'm sorry, and..."
T: "That's it. Really. I just wanted to say I was sorry about earlier."
T: "I was thinking about it and it all seemed really stupid to me."
T: "No. It's-... I guess it doesn't seem like it was that big of a deal after all."

Little sparks were floating in the air all around him.
It felt as if he were lost in a dream.
The world was very small and pointless, but he was part of it.

T: "I just wanted to hear your voice right now."
T: "And... And I love you."

---[End]------tt


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Eyyyy I enjoyed it.

I feel a little "that's it!?" though.
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Here I was thinking P would end up killing T in his little tirade. Glad to see it was the opposite, haha
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Wow, so if we didn't choose for P to go have a tantrum then T would have died with him.

Anyway, Good read!
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pjbasis posted...

Eyyyy I enjoyed it.

I feel a little "that's it!?" though.

well my idea for this character is that she'd be part of an anthology series with lots of short stories like this one. it's possible I might post some others on board 8 to test the waters but it's also possible I just keep them to myself as I write them.

glad you did like it anyway!

JeffreyRaze posted...

Here I was thinking P would end up killing T in his little tirade. Glad to see it was the opposite, haha

heh yeah. you could say T was the main reason that K came here in the first place. I also made it so she didn't have any dialogue in the final section of the story. I felt it was pretty important that she didn't have any kind of witty retorts or that she doesn't get the last word against P. since, really, that's not what was important here.

I like the idea of a Death that not only takes lives (Q, P) but also tries to save people (T, she probably would have saved Q if she could have, it almost seems like she was giving P a chance to be saved, etc.)

chaos259 posted...

Wow, so if we didn't choose for P to go have a tantrum then T would have died with him.

Anyway, Good read!

haha thanks. for what it's worth, T will always survive in the end. that's pretty much the main thing I had decided on from the beginning. the other choices just determine how we get there. for example if P had been more docile this would cause K to have to appear to T directly in order to lure him away from the spot.

although I think this indirect approach is the most elegant so I'm glad how it turned out.
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Yeah given how things were playing out it seemed more fitting for her to play it that way if that was her potential goal
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great read

bumpo
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bumpo
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I'll bump this myself one last time just in case any readers didn't get a chance to finish it yet. I did already finish moving the text to my own personal file, though, so I won't need it to be saved again after that.
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