Overdrive (Fiction short story)
Written: 2/28/2021
Genres: Fiction, sci-fi, horror
[Trigger Warning: Suicide, self-harm, and excessive descriptions of violence]
Written by myself
“How are you?”
“Fine, fine, thanks for asking, Anna.”The uneasy feeling sank deeper into his stomach. Something is wrong here.
“Oh, you can call me Anastasia.”
“Alright, my apologies.”He hears a whisper, no, a kind of squeak, like from a dying sea animal. It conveys to him a strange feeling of pity, mixed with something else unidentifiable. He looks around, but the room is empty.
“It’s okay. Can I tell you something, Droiden?”
“Go ahead.”
“It doesn’t make you alien if you don’t believe in heaven.”He’s paralyzed in the chair. Even though it was just a text message, he hears it spoken as if right next to his ear. The voice is unhuman, nasally, and overall ghastly. Then reality seems to melt before his eyes. The “en” at “heaven” is prolonged and made into a screeching tone. It seems as if all thought has been halted in this state, all meaning and observation is erased, and all suffering that has ever been in the world is been voiced into that one syllable. Pain is so vivid it is incomprehensible to his mind. Things aren’t frozen in time, time itself had ceased to exist. The moment is forever and shorter than a second all at once. Then his view and his mind goes black.
When his conciseness returns, he’s holding the phone. There aren’t any messages past “Alright, my apologies.”
He throws the phone at the wall with unseen strength. It shatters in a crash. The crash dulls the memory of that moment. That godawful moment. Good.
His mind still has some form of thought, but changed somehow. Like a picture of the ocean that has been tinted red. The same details, but in an oddly different colour. The same memories and thought patterns, but in an oddly different view.
He walks to his kitchen and grabs a knife. He’s repeating the words “save me” unconsciously. He notices. The tone is familiar but never heard before in a very odd way. Almost like the tone of Anastasia’s messa-
no. no thoughts of that. thoughts will hurt you, droiden. just follow the directions.
What directions?
keep going. you have the knife. that’s part of the plan. keep going.
He walks out the door, his mind separated from his body. He observes what he does, but cannot control it and cannot form an opinion on it. Like the insides of your eyelids, you’ve seen it so many times you don’t like or dislike it. It’s just there. Just a part of life.
He walks down the stairs of his apartment. He opens the door. A thought comes in for a second.
It’s day but it feels like night. The air seems different.
The voice that told him to follow directions objects to this, not in thought, but physically. A sharp pain hurts his arm. It looks like a pinch mark, and a very bad one. He removes thought again, like a button he can press.
He knocks on his best friend Edan’s door. Edan was always a good person. He wanted to help others, even if they hurt him. He donates to charities and falls in love easily. His good nature often leads him to be manipulated and taken advantage of, though.
Evan answers and opens the door quickly and courteously.“Droiden, it’s nice to see you! I wasn’t expecting you, though. What brings you here?”
He doesn’t respond and pushes past Edan into the house foyer. He sits on the couch and sets the knife on his lap.
“Oh, excuse me.”
He walks over to Droiden.
“Is everything alright, my friend? You seem-”
He notices the knife and his eyes widen in shock.
“Droiden!! W-what are you doing with that?? I- uhum…”The entity that Droiden first met in the pain-realm takes over Droiden’s body. Droiden can’t move, but can now have an opinion on it and is back in his usual personality and mindset.
“I’m going to kill myself.”
“Don’t joke like that, Droy.”
“I took poison and have a knife in case it doesn’t work.”
This was a blatant lie.“Put the knife down!!”
Edan lunges at Droiden and tries to grab the knife.Droiden aims the knife at Edan. Edan back away.
“Don’t try to stop me. I’ve already made up my mind.”It begins to sink in and Edan becomes upset.
“NO!! You’re my best friend.”Droiden stares at him silently and threateningly,
Edan continues.
“What happened? Why do you want to do this? There are so many things to live for.”“You. You ignore me and hurt me and insult me. You say you don’t mean it and it was an accident but its never an accident. You ruined my mental health. You are the reason I am going to kill myself.”
This was a lie as well, since Edan was a very rare kind of person who could not find it in their heart to hate or hurt anyone, even if that person hated and hurted them back.Edan breaks out in sobs and cries for a good 2 minutes before responding.
“Droiden… I’m so sorry…. I- I didn’t know…. Oh……..”
“Nothing you can do will make me forgive you.”
“No… no… please…. I love you….. I’ve loved you for so long……. you’re so amazing…. please”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Please…. Ugh….. No… Why……….”
“I’m almost going to die from the poison, but maybe I’ll slit my wrists just for extra.”
“NO!!! Maybe you can go to a hospital… maybe it’s not too late…..”
“I researched this poison. Trust me, no one can save me now.”
The real Droiden observes in horror but can’t do anything.
“Oh….. Droiden…… Why…. why….. I love you…………..”
“It’s your fault entirely. I don’t know why you can’t be kind.”
“Ughhhhh…… oh Droiden…… ughhhhh……..”
“I’m about to die. Let’s pray.”
“Pray? I… or course… Yes….”
“Hail Mary, mother of grace.”
“The Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.”
“And blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.”
Droiden makes sure Edan’s eyes are closed and slowly pulls the knife from his lap to his arm in a comfortable position.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God,”
“Pray for us sinners.”
“Now and in the hour of our death.”
Droiden plunges the knife into Edan’s eyesocket, twisting the handle as clear fluid and blood pour out. He slits Edan’s throat quickly.
“Amen, fool.”
