MURDERER

Quinn rose from the ground and tried taking deep breaths. After he had calmed down somewhat after his panic attack, he leaned on the kitchen counter and tried thinking of what to do next.

Staring at his hands he saw that there was a lot of blood on them.

He immediately limped his way over to the sink to wash his hands of the blood on them. He got to the sink and held onto the edge of it. And as he stood there, he suddenly couldn't hold the contents of his stomach in and began to vomit all the food in his belly into the sink. The sound of coughs and dry heaves echoed through the silent house, the sound only making him even more disgusted with himself.

After emptying everything in his belly, he proceeded to wash his hands as much as he could. He heard stories of how blood was especially difficult to wash from surfaces, and he couldn't help but agree with that. 10mins and one bottle of detergent later, he turned away from the sink and started making his way to his room. He needed to get out of here. He needed somewhere to hide.

On his way out he saw the knife he used to commit the.....act. It was lying on the floor beside the man. Deciding that he couldn't just leave it here, he limped over to it and picked it up from the floor before making his way out.

He got to his room and quickly packed all of his belongings into a small bag. He grabbed all the money he hid under his mat and put them in his pocket before going out of the room to make his escape.

As he got closer to the door, he noticed the book he got this afternoon on the floor of the apartment. It was glowing with a red hue and he noticed that as he got closer to it, the intensity of the light increased as well.

He limped his way as close to it as possible - the light increasing the closer he got. And as he bent down to pick it up, the light grew almost blinding in intensity.

And then.....Darkness

...

When next he opened his eyes, he was in a void of darkness. Everywhere he looked he could see no light and he simply floated there, aimlessly.

Quinn then looked at his body and found that he felt no pain from the earlier beatings anymore. His body felt brand new and completely healed. 'what is this place? Am I dead? Is this punishment for what I did?' He wondered

Then suddenly, Quinn found his legs being planted on a solid surface. Though when he looked down, he could see nothing there but darkness.

"I assure you Blessed Child" a voice spoke up from behind him, "There is no punishment for eradicating evil"

Quinn whirled around and immediately came face to face with a red ball of light. The ball shone in the darkness but did not illuminate its surroundings at all.

"What are you?" Quinn asked

"Ah, you may call me REAPER. And as for what I am...I am your guardian" The acclaimed Reaper replied.

Quinn was at a loss for words. His guardian? Why would he have a guardian?

"Yes child, I am your guardian. And I was assigned to protect you in the world you will be going to, at least until you can fulfill your destiny"

"Did you just read my mind?" Quinn asked defensively

Reaper was quick to dissuade his worries though, "Yes, I did. I find it far easier to communicate that way. I apologize if it discomforts you" Reaper replied

Quinn seemed to accept this explanation. Though he still wasn't comfortable with some entity reading his mind, he decided to focus on something else it said, "What do you mean my destiny, and where am I going?"

Reaper drew closer to Quinn. It's light growing more ominous in the dark expanse, "You are going to a new world Quinn, one where you will face trials, unlike anything you had ever seen before. You will be expected to fight battles and wars, and rest will be far from you" It paused here for a while before continuing "But should you accept this burden child, you will gain power. Power beyond your wildest dreams and imagination. Power greater than that of any man, woman, or god... Power to control, and power to destroy. So, will you accept it?'"

Quinn stood shell shocked. He was being offered something he had never even imagined before. Power to control and destroy? If he were to accept this, then maybe he could change his fate for once. He could ensure that he would never be controlled again.

But did he deserve this power? He just killed a person, murdered them in cold blood. What does that say about the sort of person he was? Was he not a murderer now?

'No. No, he deserved what happened to him. He could have been a good man, but he instead chose to simply be an abuser and a terrible human being. I did the right thing.....right?'

'And besides, what was it that Reaper said when I came here?... "It is never wrong to eradicate evil".... So I know I did the right thing' he thought

And he knew couldn't go back there. He had no one to go to now, and he would be arrested if he were ever found.

As far as he was concerned. He had nothing to lose.

So with a strong resolve and will, he gave his answer, "Yes, I accept"

"HA!!" The ball suddenly exclaimed, causing Quinn to jump a bit in fright, "Then I suggest you keep that resolve strong child. This might hurt a little"

Quinn watched as six tendril-like arms grew from the side of the ball. They reminded him of octopus arms in a way. The arms stretched towards Quinn and latched onto his head.

Quinn's eyes flew open. His mouth growing wide in a silent scream as his legs gave out from under him and he fell to the ground.

Image after image filtered through his mind, each one causing a new sense of pain to enter his body. Memories not his own and feeling he had never experienced before burned their way into his mind. His nerves felt like thousands of fire ants were walking through them, each one etching a new skill he had never learned into his body.

One particular image flew through his mind. It was of a woman. Her pointed ears and round face would have given her a visage of undeniable beauty if it weren't for the blood smeared all over her body and the cut running from the top of her left eye to her lip. He felt himself place his boot on her stomach as she lay on the floor. His black boots contrasting so much with her white skin.

She turned her head to look him in the eyes, even as he rose his sword and placed it directly over her heart. She moved her mouth and spoke words, though he heard nothing. But he could feel the anger going through his nerves when he drove the sword straight into her heart and watched as she died.

Despite the situation. He thought the final smile on her face was beautiful.

"WELCOME PLAYER QUINN XIAO...TO THE WAR OF LORDS"

Quinn blacked out again.