Ever heard the saying ‘you’re so noisy you could wake the dead’? I have a different one to that. A slightly modified one, if you will. I say, ‘you’re so quiet, you can hear them whisper.’ Because, if you’re really quiet and head to a certain spot in the forest just outside the city, I can hear the dead whispering. That’s where they give me the next victim.
Victim’s too strong a word. Probably target is better because calling someone a victim denotes a certain vulnerability or pity for them and these targets don’t deserve any of that. It can take anywhere from ten minutes to a couple of hours to hear the whispers depending on the ambience or mood but they all eventually come through. Vengeance is a strong motivator. Then, we, or should I say I, head off to fulfill their wishes and carry out the deed.
I said we because I get confused sometimes. My big brother joins me on these outings — he’s here now, in fact — but you won’t be able to see him. He was killed by a drink driver about a year and a half ago. This guy just nodded off and ploughed straight up onto the sidewalk and into Jake. He was killed instantly and said later he didn’t feel anything. Just a jolt and then a bright light. I thought I’d lost him but he sought me out and then we both found that drunk guy and settled the score.
After it was done, Jake said he’d met other people over there who wanted to get some payback too. He said, that, if I was up to it, he could put them in touch with me and we could start helping these people reclaim their pride. And, let me tell you, there’s a queue of people waiting now.
That’s why I’m here, talking to you. Your name came up so I had to go, do some searching and some digging and eventually tracked you down here. Do you have any ideas why? Anything you remember about why me and Jake might have been asked to find you? Well, it doesn’t matter yet. Thing is, sometimes it can take it a while for the Wronged, that’s my name for them, to find me. Some of those I’ve helped have been dead for years but others just days.
People tend to forget their impact on the world. Maybe that driver you cut off last month arrived at their work still angry and messed up a client meeting, got sacked and killed themselves. Perhaps that girl you teased in high school for being fat developed an eating disorder a few years later after you’d all moved on and died in hospital, malnourished and surrounded by grieving parents. Both of these have actually happened. So, think hard and try to recall.
What do I get out of all this? It’s interesting, isn’t it? Because on the face of it, there’s not a lot that can justify the danger of carrying out these requests for these Wronged. At least not here, anyway. But I have it on good authority that I’m doing work appreciated by higher folks in the other realms and, because of that, there’s a certain spiritual protection around me now. Also, they’ve given me a kind of six sense that helps me see and know things I otherwise couldn’t know. Like when you would be alone, for example.
Have you got any ideas yet about who sent me? I didn’t think so. That’s the thing about people today — everyone is angry, in a hurry and aggressive. Everyone chases money and wants to be left alone but no one thinks about the effect this has on others. People are all rage nowadays, snarling at each other from the safety of their cars and hiding behind their expensive suits and ties. Well, I’m here to even a few of the scores.
Now, stop squirming and be quiet. The knots are tight and I guarantee you’ll never break free so just stop trying. Plus, Jake says your family won’t be home for another hour and a half which leaves us plenty of time. You see, your victim had a special request that we drag this out for as long as we can. You must have really hurt them because they wanted the worst for you. Funny now, isn’t it? You still can’t think who you might have hurt enough to have this happen.
But it doesn’t matter. Now, hold still and I’ll be a bit more gentle than I was asked to be and maybe I won’t use all these things here. But I’m still not going to lie to you.
This is still going to hurt a lot.
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Lee Harrison is a 32 year old new writer who writes whenever he finds time between teaching English and being a proud new father.
Image by Charlie Smith
(Modified as per Creative Commons License)
