Em noticed something: the pistol was not aiming at herself. Instead, it was turned towards One. Despite this, Em kept nearing. One brought the tip of the pistol to her head and pulled the trigger. The gun shot echoed, and the bullet flew straight. As the bullet hit the wall, One's body had already disappeared.
The dust that had fallen to the ground was the only thing Em paid attention to. Seeing the glow in it, Em ran and jumped into the pile of dust, eating it as fast as possible.
"The taste of justice and revenge," Em chuckled, "is freeing my passion for living!"
Those words sounded nonsensical to her ear, however, she enjoyed the moment.
She was sitting in the dust with her legs crossed. There was a smirk on her face.
By now, she had caused two casualties.
"No, I caused three," Em murmured, "including that person."
Em would have wept, but the tears wouldn't come out. She knew this. Also, she noticed a controversy between her mind and body. The sadder she felt on the inside, the happier her body became.
Her monster body stabbed Em's mind with the craving for more dust, sharper than the previous ones.
Em decided to suppress this hunger, not by willpower, but by feeding the fire with gasoline. Briefly, she would keep killing with a carefree attitude.
The location of the second person of the murderers emerged. Em remembered that her location was at the garden at the back of the temple.
"I have to try the moderation thing before this chaos gets habitual and becomes an eating disorder," she said as she walked to the nearest wall.
The wall was too cold as she pushed her palms against it. She wished to be in the garden, and suddenly, found herself at the center of it.
It was a beautiful garden, with flowers shining under the moonlight. The red and blue flowers scented appealingly.
A well appealed to Em. It was made of wood and stone, an ordinary well used to pull out water with a bucket.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Em ran to it, put her hands on its mouth, leaned forward over it, and looked into the depth of it, hearing the gurgle of the running water underground.
“Where are you?” Em instinctively shouted at Two, then turned around to see her, but there was no one in sight.
Hastiness started to rise. Em no longer managed to stay patient. Arrogance grew within her.
“You killed that person,” Em said as loud as she could, pretending Two was listening. “Please, don’t make this harder than it is, and just come out.”
She waited for Two to show up, but no one came.
“If you come here, I will make your death quick.” Em waited for a response. “If you don’t, I will make it slow.”
Why she felt anger, rage, and fun at the same time, she didn’t know, but she didn’t care anymore.
“I will play with you as long as you keep me waiting.” Em sat on the verge of the well. “I must confess, this will sadden me. I mean it.”
Em impatiently waited for a response to her jabs. She knew by her instinct that Two was hiding there. She would just have to wait. She would just have to count some numbers until the moment. And when Two would show up, Em would do terrible things to her as long as time allowed.
Em had counted approximately seventeen minutes when Two came out of a tall bush and walked near her.
To Em, Two seemed more guilty than afraid.
Em jumped off the well and landed in front of Two.
“I want to know your name because you show guilt,” she said.
Two started to cry, weeping aloud, covering her face with her hands. Em felt sorry for her. After the emotional burst, Two raised her head.
“My name is Lila, and I am literally sorry for what I allowed to be done that night,” she said.
Em seemed to be listening, so Lila wanted to confess her wrongdoings for forgiveness. She apologized many times and continued to speak. She fell to her knees, facing Em, and tried to look into her cyan eyes despite the feat.
“I shouldn’t have done so. I will never forgive myself. She was just a random innocent person. But we read too many wrong books about witches, too much. We literally read ourselves stupid. We theorized from our findings in those fictional books that she was a descendant of a witch. Too much reading without thinking blurs the mind. Oh, I will never read so vigorously if I can make it alive this night.”
Lila waited for approval from Em, but Em just crossed her arms. Still, Em looked to be listening, so Lila wanted to go on.
“I confess my guilt. I touched her body not because I wanted to, but because I believed it was to be done. Later, I burned all of my books. Now I see clearer than ever since. They inserted the idea of false judgment into our minds. We had become prejudiced. The words shaped my perspective of reality. The person was innocent. We had been filling our minds with garbage commentaries on the holy texts. We interpreted them for our sinful thoughts. I hope I can reverse time and save that person. But now you came here to take her revenge for her.”
Em laughed. This sudden crack of laughter annoyed Lila. She laughed for a short time, then wiped away the tears of joy.
“Tears come,” Em said, smiling. “I don’t care about that person. Don’t take me seriously. I am not the vengeance for your sin. Next to what I will do to you, your acts are worthy of heaven. It's just a coincidence. There will be consequences. Let’s finish this talk. Please, bend over by the well.”
Lila’s eyes were open wide. She wanted to run away and escape.
“Your confession is up to God, if she cares,” Em said. “Or, if she exists. I don’t care anymore. Now, bend over by that well. It will take seventeen minutes.”
Lila stepped back. “I refuse.”
“What is your gender?” Em asked.
Lila feared answering the question, because she could see where this would lead. On the inside, she prayed to God for help.
“Please,” Lila said, “I have a family to look after.”
Em walked around Lila, touching her skin, then stopped in front of her. By her touch she learned that Lila was male.
“You will not die,” Em said. “Only your pride will die.”
