A God

'' My name is… Daniel of Brennenburg ''

''

'' The lantern’s dim glow was making me mad, as I watched one of the lone survivors of this dreaded place be mangled without relent. The corner I hid behind was just barely enough to keep me out of view. The screams of anguish caused me to become more than just frightened, but instead insane. The world around me was growing blurry and distorted with every waking second. I covered my mouth, holding in the contents of my much too small stomach as I watched the monstrosity in front of me strip the man down to almost his bare bones. I shut my eyes, blocking out my surroundings and imagined a past long gone to try and calm myself. When I opened my aching eyes, I noticed that the beast had gone and taken his leave. I kept my moaning weeps to a minimum as I blew out my lantern’s light and prayed to God that I wouldn’t be found. I gingerly got to my feet and began to make my way to the large, wooden mechanism. I knew that the man was long gone, but I still felt the unbearable urge to check.

I didn’t want to be alone in this place. The idea of dead silence was much scarier than the monsters that roamed this place. As I neared the large machine, I began to see the dark, thick red blood drooling down off the torturing mechanism. I covered my mouth once more, this time holding in my cries of fear. I wanted to stop, and yet... I didn’t. I crept closer, until I could see the soul’s body; or at least what was left of it. His stomach was torn open crudely and his inflamed intestines hung loose over the edge of the table. Red bodily fluids were beginning to create a large puddle under the machine. His face was shredded into pieces of thin, red skin and dark pink muscle.

This time I couldn’t contain myself. I bent over, grasping my stomach as I poured out the last remaining bits of food I had left in it. The desolating darkness was enough to make me scared of the smallest of things, like not knowing what I was standing on, or what was above me. As I wiped the small chunks of my insides off my lips, I heard a sudden crackling sound. My breathing grew heavy, when I suddenly heard the disturbing sound once more. I turned around, but I couldn’t see past a few feet without some type of light to keep me company. I heard the sound again, and that time I could’ve sworn it was right behind me. I quickly snapped my vision back towards the poor man, still incarcerated on the machine. A few seconds passed when I suddenly heard a loud, tiresome groan that echoed throughout the massive room.

It was close... Too close. I stared at the darkness in front of me, which only stared back intently. I slowly reached out my trembling hand and shut my eyes tight, just waiting for something awful to happen. For a moment I felt nothing. I released a woeful sigh, when an abrupt surge of pain ran through my arm and slithered its way down the rest of my body. I screamed at the intensity of the stinging that came with the blood that poured out of my half eaten finger and rolled down the edge of my hand.

I threw my hand back to my torso and wrapped up my finger in my white, cotton shirt. I didn’t waste any time bringing my lantern to my mouth and gripping the handle with my teeth as I lit a match with one hand and next the lantern. As the fire lit up the area around me, the monster’s face became clearer.

Its skin was a deathly pale yellow, and was stretched back over its skull. So much so that I could make out little bits of white hiding beneath the pale brute’s lucid shell. It’s eyes bulged out of it’s head, like two marbles floating on the top of water. It’s broken, jawless mouth hung loosely open and drooled out saliva mixed with some newly added blood that came from the tip of my finger, which still hung limp over what was left of it’s lips.

I froze in my spot. The expression on my face must’ve been worse than horrified. As the eeriness of the situation sank in, my sanity began to melt in my shoes. For what felt like hours, I stood there staring at the beast. It’s face was so, dismaying and horrendous, but I found myself unable to look away for a certain period of time. Of course it was only a few seconds before my feet turned into feathers and I sprinted for my life.

The dark hallways I ran down were only accompanied by more darkness. My lantern was my only friend, it seemed. I could hear bellowing groans coming from behind me, which kicked my adrenaline into gear. My fear only grew greater as the world seemed to be collapsing around me. The walls and roof were shrinking around me, trying to crush my bones. A feeling of utter helplessness shook through my bulging veins.

I sprinted my way down the dark corridors, only able to see a few feet in front of me. I didn’t know where I was going, but at the time I didn’t care. My main priority was to escape the monster that wanted to ravage my innards.

The feeling of such feebleness was growing more unbearable with every second that raced by, as I felt all the crevasses of the walls enclosing around me, just to get a sense of awareness. It felt as though something was trying to incarcerate me with all it’s might, but I suppose that was fairly close to the truth.

Just as the fading light coming from the lantern began to dwindle, I slammed into a metal door in front of me. I stumbled backwards, finding myself extremely dizzy. My sense of reality was beginning to waver when I heard the screams coming from behind the door. Those horrible, awful screams of agony.

The bloodcurdling screeches hiding behind the metal door almost blocked out the thunderous wails that seemed to come from every corner of the building. The light that kept me somewhat sane soon broke through the thin line between light and dark and with the light went my sanity, along with the rest of my mind. I stood there as the screams from behind me slowly faded into nothingness and the groaning noises grew closer.

Suddenly everything went silent, except for the constant crackling noise from inside my head that was giving me a major migraine. The dark skin around the bottom of my eyelids weighed down on me heavily. All the sleep deprivation I was suffering didn’t help the situation. I stood there, trembling in fear, praying to God that I had escaped. Underneath my breath came small whimpers of trepidation, as the intolerable stillness set in.

I could barely breathe. It felt like I was enclosed in my very own torture chamber. Just as the room was about to crumble around me, I blacked out.

I awoke, once again in this living nightmare. I was drenched in some type of liquid, whether it was water or sweat, I couldn’t tell. I was face down in the puddle that lay beneath me, and when I tried to move, I felt a surge of unbearable pain run through my veins. After attempting to get up more than ten times, I finally just gave up.

I was barely able to breathe with the cringe worthy liquid kissing my lips. The only thing that held my breath from suffocation was my nose, which was growing more irritated with each second. I couldn’t make out my surroundings properly, due to the fact that the only thing in front of me was the hard, stone floor. I lay there for hours on end, just trying to capture what had happened to me. It was odd, before all the constant noise was bothering me, but suddenly silence was one of my greatest fears. Something had to be wrong, and I knew it.

All I knew about my location, was that there was a faint, blue glow shining down on me. I didn’t know what caused it, but whatever the case, it was keeping my sanity intact. The silence was piercing my eardrums, like no scream or sound ever could. A great anxiety was growing in my stomach, twisting into a knotted ball of worry. My mind was so blank, it felt as though I had lost all thought.

Then, out of nowhere, the very man I despised appeared as my savior. His bare feet blew dust into my eyes as they appeared before my face. I was straining myself just to be able to see his toes. The awful aroma he gave off was enough to make me retract in disgust. Seeing his soulless cadaver stand before me in such poor detail, it was revolting.

“So, what would be the problem today Daniel?” That voice rang through my ears like a snakes rattle. I had so much anger towards the son of a bitch, that I actually thought of forcing myself aloft the ground, just to spit in his face. Of course, I couldn’t do it, and my reasoning luckily won over my anger.

I took a deep breath, which was mixed with the liquid beneath my lips. I coughed and sputtered a few times, before I restarted the conversation with, “I’m going to fucking kill you”. After I’d said that, he’d obviously become highly annoyed. He lifted his foot back high into the air, and swung it forward, right into my eyes.

I stopped and screamed in pain. I didn’t know how such an old bastard could kick so hard, but it hurt like hell. I dug my face deep into the liquid hiding under my lips, trying to numb some of the pain. Unfortunately my nose was in the way, trying to continue my suffering. I wanted to rip the damned blemish right off my face at that moment, unlike what I felt only a couple of minutes ago.

“You think I find this amusing, Daniel?” His voice was suddenly stern and full of frustration. “I don’t have time for these games, and all I want is for my wish to come true.” I mumbled some type of cursed tongue that at the moment I can’t specifically remember. “I’d rather not take the time today Daniel to create another monstrosity of yourself.” I felt my ears begin to burn in anger, and I tried to raise my body off the ground once more, but was stopped by the still unknown extreme force, which held me down hard against the ground.

“Alexander, your wife, she’s gone and she’s never coming back;you will never see her again. I’m done being your eternal puppet that never dies. I’m tired of seeing myself in those monster’s eyes.” Not a pause was given after I said that. “Oh, but Daniel, these monsters are you,” he said, his voice now back to the usual deceitful tone. “No, those are just disgusting incarnations of myself that you have created. I’m not the monster here Alexander, you are.” For a moment everything fell silent, only to be broken by the sound of his forceful voice once more.

“Aren’t you just fooling yourself when you say that?”, he stated more than asked. “I mean, she was your wife.” I froze, suddenly feeling a bitter chill run through my body. My mind raced through thousands of different thoughts in only a second’s notice. Alice, and the blood shaded sheets. Little Elizabeth, and the crimson red rain. My mind blazed through all the memories at once, which felt like hours, but in reality only translated to a few mere seconds. My own memory was so immersive, that when Alexander’s cursed voice broke through my train of thought, I almost jumped. He let out a long and stressed sigh. “Daniel, I really wouldn’t like to do this again, so let’s just pretend this never happened. I’ll give you a chance to leave Daniel, the front door isn’t far from here.” I wasn’t about to just leave this place without ridding myself of the wretched sins I’d committed, but I had to play his little mind games first if I ever actually did want to cleanse myself.

“Fine,” I sputtered out with spit and frustration. I knew that the spite in my voice was obvious, but I would find soon enough that it didn’t matter. Alexander swiftly turned his back towards me, and began strutting back into the darkness, sending dust and small pebbles flying into my eyes. I shut my eyes tight, holding in the small gasps of pain. Tears began to flow out of my eyes, as I heard Alexander’s last footsteps fade into silence.

For once, the world seemed calm, but I knew that the moment could never last. The calming blue light above me dwindled, and I felt a cold chill run down my spine. I didn’t know if I could get up or not, but I felt the urge to, especially considering my eyes were burning intensely. I lifted one arm up into the dust filled air, letting it cut downwards about half way and placed my hand on the hard, cold stone floor. I took a slow, deep breath and ascended from the darkness.

As my feet reached the floor, I looked up into the fading light above me. I saw a crack in the ceiling, a faint glimmer coming from the massive moon resting ever so calmly in the gallant stars. How it could sit there so relaxed was a mystery to me. I stood there a while, just watching it slowly remove itself from my vision. A thick black curtain began to shroud around the room and create more of the forlorn darkness that covered the rest of the castle I stay damned in. I kept my vision on the cold sun while it left me in the despair.

The room was no longer lit with the beautiful essence of the universe, and stayed dead silent. I fell to my knees in pity for myself. Tears began to flood out my eyes without relent. I couldn’t see anything in front of me, but maybe I didn’t want to be able to. I wanted this to just end, and I wanted to forget. I wanted to die. I stayed seated, hands over my eyes, soaked in the salty water of my tears. When I moved my hands away, I saw a small child, cradled in the dim light of the bright sun. It was such an odd light, for it only covered her, and it seemed to have come from nothingness. I began to crawl on my hands and knees slowly towards the child.

As I crept closer, I noticed that the blanket holding the child together in its fragile state, was one I’d seen before. Yes, it was the same blanket we wrapped her in; little Elizabeth. The pale blue color of the cotton brought back a surge of memories, each one making me feel extremely different emotions. I quickly scrambled to my feet, and ran as quickly as I could to the child. However, the faster I ran, the further the child seemed to get away. I kept going though, hoping that I could finally see Elizabeth’s child-like innocence once more. The more I ran the easier I could hear the faint crying grow louder. I kept going and going, but there was no way to save her from whatever was making her so upset.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I could feel myself getting closer. Yes, the figure was growing, and I could begin to make out some skin. The tears that raced down my face kept flowing out, but a smile was beginning to find its way onto my lips. The intense crying from her was growing louder, and at that point I was sure it was her. I need to get to her, I needed to see her again. Maybe if I got the chance, I could ask her for forgiveness. Ask her to forget about what I’d done, and ask her to give me a second chance. I knew she couldn’t talk, but her smile would be all I needed.

I was only a few feet away, and I could almost see her rosy red cheeks again. I reached my arm out long, trying to grab hold of the quilt that comforted her. I was so close, when the light that surrounded her began to fade. I yelled at myself to move quicker, I needed to make it, but the light wasn’t lasting. It was leaving both myself and my precious little angel in the desolation of darkness once more. I was so close that I caught a glimpse of her hazel eyes shining in the glimmer of the light, before it all cut to black, and I was blind once more.

I stumbled backwards, bawling out my eyes, when I suddenly found myself tripping over something that lay alive on the ground. I hit the stoney ground with a thud as I shut my eyes tight, hoping for the best. I heard a slight crackling sound coming from beneath my skull, along with the resonance of boiling blood gushing into open air. I could smell the bitter sweet, copper-like stench of the red bodily fluid flowing from the crevasses of my head. It was ironic in a cruel and dark way. It was the way my precious Elizabeth had died, dropped onto the harsh ground and forced into her early demise.

I let out a pain filled groan, and sat up straight. I opened my eyes, to see another golden, radiant light in front of me. There sat a woman, legs stretched out on the ground. The tears still remained in my eyes, blurring my vision slightly. I wiped the water from my face, and stared at the woman’s godly complexion. She was looking the other way, even after I’d tripped over her, but that glow coming from her skin was unmistakable. “A- Alice?” After I’d said that she turned to face me. She was still unbelievably beautiful in the golden light in her frail night gown.

She had the perfect face. Emerald jewels made out her eyes, and the juices of a goddess’ fruits stained her lips, which stood out compared to her shimmering blond hair, that stretched down to her shoulder blades. I smiled slightly, in happiness for once, which sent a surge of pain spiraling through the back of my head. I was so happy to see her, and she seemed like she was looking forward to seeing me. A smile was strewn across her face, a nice, joyful one.

I crawled quickly to hug her, but when I tired, I felt nothing. I fell down face first into the dirty ground. Although I couldn’t feel her warmth, and she didn’t even seem like an object, I could still feel something lifting me off the Earth. Surely enough, it was her. She had hands as warm as steel, that were only lucidly there. I gazed into her eyes, a worried expression across my face. As I got a closer look at her, I noticed a large red indentation of a handprint on her right cheek. I’d slapped her, for what reason I can’t even recall now.

I stopped and sat back down on the ground, the stilted dust rising into the thin air. All emotion left me when I finally realised that she wasn’t real. I stared down at the ground, my cold pupils quietly resting in the milky white layer that surrounded them. I didn’t feel like talking to her, not after what I’d done, even if she wasn’t real. “Daniel, you’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” I kept my vision away from her. “Yes,” I responded melancholically. “Why?” she pondered once more. I snapped my neck up, looking at her once more, a puzzled expression on my face. “What do you mean why? He killed you, and Elizabeth too! That bastard has to pay Alice.” Her smile became slightly more crude in fashion. “But Daniel, that was you. You were the one that dropped Elizabeth-” I cut her off mid sentence. “Only to save you!” My voice was beginning to tremble once more. “But who’s the one that left me Daniel? Who was it Daniel!?” I got to my feet as quickly as I could, trying to find some intimidation inside myself.

“It was Alexander, no point in lying to yourself Alice!” At that point, she began to gain balance on her toes, growing taller than I. “No Daniel, you did this to me, you did!” Her skin began to peel away from her body, revealing pale layers of black muscle. I took in a large gulp and began pushing myself backwards, away from the light. “Alice, this isn’t you.” She followed me closely into the darkness, where I couldn’t see her. “Alice, I didn’t kill you,” I screamed helplessly without a sense of where she was. Suddenly, out of nowhere I heard her voice whisper in my ears, “You know the truth Daniel, you know it was you.” I cranked my head in multiple directions trying to find her, with no avail.

I stumbled backwards more, when I found myself stuck in something rather squishy. When I stepped on it, some type of juices flowed out, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I tried kicking my way out, which did absolutely nothing. The large crackling noises inside my head started to come back once more, this time louder than ever. I covered my ears and shut my eyes tight, hoping that this damned nightmare would end soon. “Don’t leave me,” I heard ring in my ears. I opened my eyes, for some reason looking for Alice again. “Ali-” I was abruptly stopped before I could finish. I found myself aloft the ground, being held tight by the neck by something. I gazed into the never ending darkness in front of me as I gasped for air. I saw two eyes, both glowing red in the pitch black of the room. “You have stained my flesh all over this castle Daniel, now it’s time you pay for what you have done!” I put my hand up into the air, looking for hers, but it was almost as if nothing was there. Between my swift gasps for air, I reminded myself and her, “You’re not real, you can’t hurt me.” I heard a devilish laugh come from in front of me. “You couldn’t be more wrong.” I rebuttled against her last statement with, “No, you’re wrong! Leave me be!”

I clamped my eyes tight, waiting for it all to end. Luckily enough, it had. I was suddenly alone in the empty room once more, curled up in a little ball as the sun’s light began to enter through the crack in the ceiling. I let out a large sigh of relief as the sounds in my head subsided. I slowly got to my feet, my entire body still trembling. I turned around, to find large puddles of blood and flesh plaguing the area. My eyes widened. I’d lost my sense of reality even more so at that moment. I slowly found my way out of that place and ran like mad when I left.

That’s when I decided to take the potion. I needed to forget, otherwise my guilt would be chasing me forever, and I couldn’t have that if I wanted to rid myself of all my sins. I won’t be including this in my letter, for obvious reasons, but I’m leaving it hidden here in the castle. I feel like if it’s here, then there will always be a part of me that will remember Elizabeth and Alice, the way they were, and what they became because of me. Because although I must forget, I must also remember that I had a part in the brutal murder of my wife, and the killing of my daughter. So with that, I’ll say my last goodbyes to them.

19th of August, 1839

 I wish I could ask you how much you remember. I don't know if there will be anything left after I consume this drink. Don't be afraid Daniel. I can't tell you why, but know this. I choose to forget. Try to find comfort and strength in that fact. There is a purpose. You are my final effort to put things right. God willing, the name Alexander of Brennenburg still invokes bitter anger in you. If not, this will sound horrible. Go to the Inner Sanctum, find Alexander and kill him. His body is old and weak, and yours, young and strong. He will be no match for you. One last thing, a shadow is following you. It's a living nightmare, breaking down reality. I have tried everything and there is no way to fight back. You need to escape it as long as you can. Redeem us both Daniel. Descend into the darkness where Alexander waits and murder him.

 Your former self, Daniel

Author's Note
This is a full recreation of my first pasta entitled "A God," which was met with favorable reviews and a Marca/Metascore of 8.0/10. So, my goal is to get a better Marca/Metascore than 8.0/10 this time around. This is one of the pastas I had the most fun writing when I was new to the wiki, and I enjoyed rewriting it immensely.

Overall, I still stuck with the same base idea as the older version, but I think it's okay because I threw in a few more twists to it.

I hope you enjoyed, and remember to leave a comment telling me what you think!

Check out some awesome pastas on this wiki like:

Arethius

Or one of mine like:

The Mind of a Madman