Okaayyyy that turned out longer than I had hoped for. I only wanted to fix the grammatical errors. I have no idea what happened that it reached almost 1.8k words ;;w;; I'm not even participating in NaNoWriMo XD
photo from unsplash: Thanks to Manik Roy
@pixnum for making this photo available freely on Unsplash 🎁 https://unsplash.com/photos/deMuwiYRzKo
[WP] A homeless man living in an alleyway during a bitter winter was awakened by a man in a trench coat."Would you sell your soul for warmth?"" The homeless man accepts.Trench coat man hands him a object."Oh, I won't do that shit anymore." Trench coat men say "No this is different."
The days grow colder and colder, streets turn more empty as December came near. It was never the best of times to be out on the streets at least those that actually had a choice.Those whose life was nothing but the streets... well, they'll have to tough it out for one more season. Survival of the fittest, it was a common thing you'll hear among them simply because it was nothing but the truth.The strong get to survive another winter while the weak... will be unearthed from the snow come spring. That was all that was to it.
The world has always been unjust. That was all anybody could say. Especially, Edgar Wright. He was a middle-aged man who spent nearly half his life out on the streets. From the time his wife had first kicked him out of their house, up until now, nothing has changed.
He looked up at the darkened sky while breathing out a puff of his condensed sight.
"It's going to be another year of hell, it seems." He pulled the worn-out jacket higher to cover his neck from the cold that seemed to nip at whatever exposed skin it could.
"I should have collected more blankets" He muttered to himself as he made his way back to the alleyway he had come to reside in. It was nothing spectacular, nothing close to comfortable, but for the past 5 years, it was the only place that allowed him rest. It wasn't much but it allowed him a little privacy and some space to set up a small mattress he picked up somewhere. It was honestly better than nothing and it did allow him a guest every now and then.
For that night, however, he couldn't be bothered by a guest.It was the first snow, the bitter winter has started. To his dismay, he failed to gather enough wood nor anything that could keep him warm. The icy wind already approached. The cruel lady frost already nipping at his skin. Had it been a young maiden, he would not dare cover himself, however this one was different. Lady frost was a cruel mistress and no blanket he possessed would suffice. He was shivering, could barely feel his own fingers and toes.frostbite was getting to him much faster compared to the previous winters.But there was nothing he could do to counter the freezing cold and moving didn't seem so ideal He just fell asleep like that.
He wasn't sure how he fell asleep, nor how long he managed to sleep, but the light nudge on his side had woken him. He jolted awake when the nuches turned into painful jabs. The moment he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a man who stood before him like he had been waiting there for an eternity.
"About time you woke up, " The stranger said with a slightly irritated huff
"Who are you?" where you the prick that kicked me?!" Sleep was still heavy in his tone, yet that last painful kick to his side jolted his mind to full attention. "Are you going to kick me out of this alley? Look, man-"
"I thought you might need something to keep you warm" The stranger gestured to his thick padded jacket.
Just the sight alone had put Edgar's words to a halt and all he could do was look. The kind of look you'd get when you place warm food in front of a starving man. "I would gladly-" Edgar leaned forward, ready to grab the jacket from the stranger's hands.
"At the small price of..." A wickedly grin spread across this stranger's lips as he leaned closer to Edgar "Your soul, maybe?"
For a while, Edgar was speechless. He didn't know how he should have responded. It was a joke, right? How would anybody even take a soul? Without thinking too much of it, he just nodded
"Yeah, sure. Take my soul," His words grew somber as he barely spoke the last few words "I don't have much use for it at this age anyways"
"Oh,"Is that your final answer?" The stranger irked a brow as he spoke in a teasing tone.
"it is." Edgar nodded firmly as he brought himself to a stand.
"Then you'll need this," Again, that wicked grin was back. He handed Edgar a syringe along with the coat the stranger had just been wearing "And this."
"A syringe? Oh no, I don't do that shit. Not anymore" Edgar pushed the object back into the stranger's hand yet this man was insisting
"No, dear Edgar.This is different" The tone in this man's voice sounded so ominous all of a sudden.
It was the devil whispered in Edgar's ear. It left him frozen in place, frozen from fear, from the chills that still ran down his spine. The voice kept echoing in his head and no matter what he did, he couldn't get it out of his head. When his mind finally found its way back to reality, the man was gone.
He paced out of the alleyway and glanced left and right, hoping to catch a glimpse of this man again, yet there was no trace of him. It was like the man never even went into the alleyway to begin with. As if he just vanished from the face of the earth.
It was best he simply shrugged off the idea that somebody ever came into his territory. He just couldn't though .Not when a thick padded jacket was on his back and the syringe weighed heavy in his pocket.Yes, he was warm but the weight such a small object bore seemed to weigh him down. It nagged at the back of his mind. A deal was a deal that was what he always said but this was different.It was... strange and it had something he didn't know about.It was terrifying to even think of injecting it into his body and yet the stranger's voice kept ringing in his head. It terrified him and kept him awake for several nights proceeding the brief exchange.
Oh how words kept entering his minds. How his dreams seemed to have been invaded by the stranger's presence that even the idea of sleep seemed unappealing at that point. Days later he finally gave in to the thought and the words that constantly intruded his head.
"Use it! Use it!" The words echoed.
He grabbed the syringe, and with a deranged look, he removed its packaging and plunged the needle quickly into his right arm. He injected the fluid all in one go. The needle prick stung, yes. But it couldn't compare to the relief of finally fulfilling his side of the deal.
When the small container was emptied, he threw away the empty vessel and deflated into his mattress. It was that quick and harmless. Nothing to have been so paranoid with. He laughed at himself, thinking why he even prolonged it for that long. It almost seemed comedic to him when he thought back on the encounter as well.
For the first time in days, he finally had the good night's rest he had so yearned for. Or so he hoped.
In the middle of the night, a burning pain ran through his right arm, the place where he first injected the liquid. At first, it was just his hand, then it spread throughout his body. The pain grew much more excrutiating minutes later to the point that it drove him mad. He screamed and groaned in agony. Cold sweat dripped down his body and he couldn't stop his body from jerking so abruptly.Edgar curled and writhed. His hands gripped onto the coat so much that the fabric almost tore. The padding almost seemed useless with how little comfort it provided him.
Hours and hours passed, yet each passing minute seemed like an eternity to him. It was like nothing he had ever experienced before, and if he were to be asked to describe the sensation, it was one that felt worse than death. Death... death... the thought seemed much enticing compared to what he was enduring.
It was strange however. As soon as the first few rays of light seeped through the makeshift curtains he had built, the seering pain seemed to have subsided. Over was it all over? Was the pain really over? His head felt heavy still, yet he thought nothing much of it until he reached up to know what added the extra weight to his head. It was then that he found a large horn growing on his forehead. Had he not gone through what he just did, he probably wouldn't believe it. Yet it was there, so obvious and so real.
"The fuck is this?" He asked in panic. Before he could even process anything, another wave of pain washed over him, yet this time, a pool of red formed around his feet. When he looked at the puddle, he noticed that it was dripping from above.His face? Again, he guided his hands down to his face checking to if any more anomalies grew on him. Nothing. It was when he checked his hands that the he knew something was wrong. Nothing could be done for him anymore.
He rushed out of his territory, pleading for help. His desperation grew with each step he took. He felt weaker and weaker. By the time he was finally on the main road, his body finally gave out. Edgar collapsed to the ground as blood kept oozing out of him.
Passersby that saw the horrific scene all screamed and cried in terror as they gathered around the now lifeless body.
"I suppose he wasn't a good match either" From the Alleyway, the stranger again appeared. This time, he just watched as the crowd flocked over the "creature" that came out of the alleyway. What Edgar turned to... Even the stranger couldn't tell. He became so badly morphed and disfigured because of that trial dose he took.