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Description
An aging man of fourty, the remains of his hair only grey wisps and premature wrinkles forming on the corner of his eyes and mouth and steely blue orbs stared back at him in the mirror. If he stared hard enough, he could just about notice the pale hand marks tattooed to his neck but it didn’t matter. His “wife” wouldn’t be looking for hand marks or blood; rather she’d be looking for any scattered love-bites or lipstick stains. Underneath the public toilet’s mirror, the sink stained with blood whilst he rubbed his hands under the cold running tap, ridding of any tinges of crimson left on his hands.

Wiping away any residue left on his hands with paper towels and discarding them, he pulled down the sleeves of his shirt and buttoned the ends. His steel eyes examined his reflection as he straightened his back but couldn’t help the layer of fat on his stomach jut over his belt. He didn’t like how his nose was hooked like a beak or the way his ears protruded slightly but they were insignificant for now.

Fiddling with his tie, he exhaled loudly when he heard the quiet groan behind him. The feeling of his lungs expanding and resting made him feel odd. The way his muscles were wrapped around the bones of his body, how he could feel the veins pump blood to his heart and the feeling of touch was a mystery to him.

It only took him a small step towards the lying woman on the ground, due to the small amount of space. His eyes scanned over the lady’s limp body lying on the tiled floor, her back propped up against the wall. Blood ran from her abdomen, seeping through her dark dress, her hand weakly clutching it and her head hung low. Another feeble groan escaped from her lips, almost gurgling.

The man didn’t bother to crouch beside her and whisper her sweet nothings as she passed. She wouldn’t survive anyway and would only cause him problems. If his wife was to find out, it would only take longer to find what he needed. Instead, the man looked at the dying lady for the last time before leaning over and grabbing her from under the arms and began to drag her out of the public toilets. All whilst keeping a hold on his briefcase.

Thankfully, there was an alley next to the toilets that he could drag her to. The pain from the bullet wound must’ve been too unbearable for her because she became completely unconscious by the time he arrived at the abandoned dumpster, down at the bottom of the alley. Leaving her slumped on the floor, he quickly checked through her hand bag for anything.

Chewing gum, a pen, a tube of lipstick, perfume, money, a phone...

He grabbed for the phone, stared at it for a moment before throwing it against the brick wall and watching it clatter to the floor. After numerous times of stomping on it with the heel of his polished shoe, he deemed it unusable once shattered and completely useless, and then threw it carelessly into the darkness looming in the corner.

Rolling her into the dumpster was quite a feat and it didn’t help that this body had its fair share of calorie-packed burgers and litres of sugar filled drinks. Clapping his hands together to get rid of any dirt and rolling his shoulders to loosen them, he walked nonchalantly down the alley and through a route so that he was back on a main road.

He hailed for a taxi and watched as the yellow cab stopped in front of him. Entering inside it, he told the driver his destination.

The woman’s name was Clarissa and she was stunning, no doubt about it. Great sense of humour and smile too. But she was only a pawn and pawns brought him no care. In fact, nothing did.

By the time he arrived at his house, paid the driver and entered the house, his wife stood in the kitchen, arms folded with an anger contorted on her features.

“What time do you call this, Gerald?” Her nose flared and her dark hair dishevelled. The man tried to etch his face with some sort of emotion and ended up with a look of confusion. His wife – or now known as Gerald’s wife – pinned him down with her narrowed eyes. He tightened his hold on his briefcase.

“I’m sorry,” Gerald couldn’t think of anything else to say. He tried to not come across as tedious and knew it must’ve done from the expression forming on his wife’s face. “I got held up by work; Timothy had given me a load of paperwork to do just before I finished my shift.”
She still didn’t look convinced, her eyes darted at his neck (just as he had expected) and found nothing.

“I promise, it won’t happen again.” He stepped towards her, beginning to become familiar with how to portray emotions and left a soft kiss on her forehead. She didn’t move or push him away which meant that he was starting to get to her. After a few moments, she sighed and silently pushed past him in her silk gown and began to ascend up the stairs.

Gerald stared at her emotionlessly and knew that he could possibly roll his eyes but it was a waste of time. He wasn’t here to make relationships or live a human life.

Walking up the stairs, Gerald stared around at the hallway and saw the slightly open door to his bedroom. He watched his wife run her hand through her hair with stress before slipping out of her gown and lying in her bed.

“I’m just going to put my papers away, honey.” Gerald told her through the gap in the door but she rolled onto her side and ignored him. This time, Gerald rolled his eyes for the satisfaction.

Just get the job done, he had to remind himself.

Swiftly, he quietly opened and closed doors with one hand until he found it. The study. This would be the only most likely place it could be. Entering it, he silently closed the door and flickered on the lights. The study consisted of a desk with drawers and a leather chair. A pin board above on the wall, pictures of Gerald and his wife pinned to it. A bookcase full of leathery books resided on the side wall. Gerald ran his fingers against the spines of the books before moving towards the desk. A Moroccan rug decorated most of the floor’s surface and brought a contrasting feel to the room so it didn’t look all that gloomy. Laying his suitcase on the top of the desk, his eyes speculated the almost clean desk before he began to look through all the drawers, rummaging through them as inaudibly as he could.

Files after files, bank statements, insurance, letters, random pieces of paper clips and everything except what he was looking for. Impatiently, he stepped to the side, hoping he could find it perhaps behind the desk. He had to be quick, his wife would only become more of a nuisance and he couldn’t reside in Gerald for much longer. There were dark secrets in this mind, hidden in the very corners. He could pick through them if he wanted and find out where he had hidden it, but every time he tried, he was faced with a wall and blocked away from the thought like it was an infinite defensive wall.

Gerald kept trying to grab it but anything linked or concerning the thought kept pointing him with a blank mind and a hammering headache. He groaned, grabbing his head with tight hands to try and diminish the feeling but it only echoed even more.

It was when he moved his step slightly more to the left when he heard the creak of the floorboard. His ears perked upwards and he felt energy surge through his body. Pushing weight on his left leg again, the floorboard creaked. Without another second passing, Gerald was on his hands and knees, pulling up the rug with excited hands. Immediately, his light blue eyes gazed at the slightly odd-placed floorboard like it was a gift sent from above.

Exhilarated and ignited all at once – these human feelings overwhelming him – Gerald pulled the floor board up and found a medium sized wooden box. Clutching it, he brought it up and set it beside him. The ceiling light illuminated it in a way that the wooden box looked nothing more, really, than just a wooden box.

Gerald knew better, however. Bringing the wooden box up onto the desk, he rushed to open his briefcase. Sat in the middle of the briefcase was the ore of an ancient and extinct rock. Cautiously, he pinched the ore – only the size of his thumb – and placed it in the complimentary shape engraved on the top of the wooden box.

Anxiously, Gerald waited and began to doubt himself when all he heard for silence. Was he meant to utter a special word or light candles or draw a satanic pattern on the floor? He gritted his teeth with frustration, standing there for what felt like hours, smacking at the wooden box to open.

Then he tried the all-obvious and lifted the hinged wooden lid. It opened. Gerald almost thudded his head with a brick for that but he had no chance. His eyes were glued and mesmerised by the golden beauty sitting on the cushioned lining inside.

The golden beauty was more of a compass but held significance that more of a thousand diamonds or a hall full of gold. Intricate details engraved the surface of the golden compass and as he carefully held it in the base of his palm, the few pounds of weight in his hand made his shiver with joy.

He had found it. He had finally found it. And the Desired Ones would reward him with a beautiful being to own, a praiseworthy title and all the wishes he could desire for and more. Gerald couldn’t contain his anticipation and felt no need to hide what was soon to come. The thunderous sound of his footsteps rushing down the stairs woke his wife as she soon pulled herself out of bed with wariness.

Gerald rushed his way to the back door leading to their yard. His attempts at keeping his breathing levelled was futile; Gerald’s body was simply out of shape but soon he’d no longer have to worry about it. He was going to be praised and admired. He would be known for years, decades...for generations to come.

“Gerald, what on earth are you doing?!” His wife was screaming now when Gerald leapt into the centre of the back garden, the compass held tight in his hand. Nothing could stop him now. The time was coming.

“GERALD!” The wife shouted again and a neighbouring dog began to bark from the racket. “Get back here right now!”
He was only a hair width away from turning around and yelling back in the wretched woman’s face that she was thick as a brick and that she was moments away from a revolution. Gerald held it together; however, these impulses, habits and the impatience were all still Gerald’s.

The sky above held gloom and there were dark smudges of obscurity painted it too. The world knows what’s coming. He got down to one knee and ignored his infuriating wife’s pathetic attempts at pulling at his shoulder. Squeezing the compass with his fingers, the tiny latch on the side clicked and the lid opened.

“What the bloody hell is that, Gerald?” she shrieked, the dog still yet barking. Gerald now had to ignore two irritating dogs now. Neighbours’ lights began to turn on; some peeked through their curtains to see what all the commotion was about. Gerald could care less about his wife bringing attention; the more people to watch this moment in time, the better. “Are you mad? It’s midnight, now come back in.”

Gerald shook her hold of his shoulder and took a pen knife out of the inside of his jacket and laid the compass gently on the floor. He became emotionless and numb, he knew he had only minutes left before this body would become completely useless. His left hand became bloody for the quick incision he made and the wife screamed with disbelief. Squeezing his left hand over the compass, blood dripped into the cogs of the compass.

It only took an instant before the cogs began to whirr. Gerald blew out relief before getting back onto his feet. His torso began to become numb as did his toes. Pulled backwards, Gerald shoved his wife away from him as she screamed bloody murder at him. A neighbour had begun screaming out of his window, telling them to shut up before he’d ring the police.

Gerald almost chuckled to himself. The police? What could they possibly do now? He watched with admiration as the compass began to shake and tremble, the inside whirring faster and faster around. Without warning, bright light emitted from the inside. From what source? Who knows? The bright light caused both Gerald and his wife to stumble backwards. The dog barked even louder and other dogs began to join. Neighbours began to shout and threaten, some probably began to pray.

Gerald’s fingers were now becoming numb and as he glimpsed at them, he watched as they blackened. His wife was screaming, crying, stepping further and further away from the compass until she was inside. By this point she had stopped screaming at Gerald. A pulse emitted from the bright light and Gerald watched through his fingers. Gusts of wind spurred along the bright white light and around it.

The white light travelled further and further upwards towards the sky. Gerald’s heart was slowing down and this body was soon going to die. The blackness had already crept onto his neck. Soon, he’d lose his breath; lose his touch and senses, including sight. And then Gerald would be dead and the host would move on.

It wouldn’t have to seek for a useless being. The Desirable Ones would reward him. Yes, they would.

Finally, the bright light finally reached the dark sky and there was a loud crackle, like a million stars had just been born. The intense and brilliant white light beamed straight through the sky and beyond. Police sirens, fire engines, screams and cries travelled around Gerald’s head.

The compass was now jumping an inch or so from the ground due to the immense power. A fiery hole in the sky began to swell, becoming increasingly bigger. Gerald by this point was completely numb but still standing. Gerald’s wife was still shrieking behind him, crying and sobbing with complete shock.

Gerald looked over his shoulder and fixed his eyes upon his so called wife, feeling the body begin to lose everything. A smirk stretched onto the thin lips of Gerald, the blackness now spreading past his jaw line and ears, before his once electric eyes and whites of his eyes were completely dominated by a terrifying, demonising pure black.

The bright blinding white light exploded. Tainted screams and cries of horror, dogs whimpering from sensing danger, civilization, Gerald’s wife, Gerald himself, all became nothing more as the Desired Ones came.

Description
An aging man of fourty, the remains of his hair only grey wisps and premature wrinkles forming on the corner of his eyes and mouth and steely blue orbs stared back at him in the mirror. If he stared hard enough, he could just about notice the pale hand marks tattooed to his neck but it didn’t matter. His “wife” wouldn’t be looking for hand marks or blood; rather she’d be looking for any scattered love-bites or lipstick stains. Underneath the public toilet’s mirror, the sink stained with blood whilst he rubbed his hands under the cold running tap, ridding of any tinges of crimson left on his hands.

Wiping away any residue left on his hands with paper towels and discarding them, he pulled down the sleeves of his shirt and buttoned the ends. His steel eyes examined his reflection as he straightened his back but couldn’t help the layer of fat on his stomach jut over his belt. He didn’t like how his nose was hooked like a beak or the way his ears protruded slightly but they were insignificant for now.

Fiddling with his tie, he exhaled loudly when he heard the quiet groan behind him. The feeling of his lungs expanding and resting made him feel odd. The way his muscles were wrapped around the bones of his body, how he could feel the veins pump blood to his heart and the feeling of touch was a mystery to him.

It only took him a small step towards the lying woman on the ground, due to the small amount of space. His eyes scanned over the lady’s limp body lying on the tiled floor, her back propped up against the wall. Blood ran from her abdomen, seeping through her dark dress, her hand weakly clutching it and her head hung low. Another feeble groan escaped from her lips, almost gurgling.

The man didn’t bother to crouch beside her and whisper her sweet nothings as she passed. She wouldn’t survive anyway and would only cause him problems. If his wife was to find out, it would only take longer to find what he needed. Instead, the man looked at the dying lady for the last time before leaning over and grabbing her from under the arms and began to drag her out of the public toilets. All whilst keeping a hold on his briefcase.

Thankfully, there was an alley next to the toilets that he could drag her to. The pain from the bullet wound must’ve been too unbearable for her because she became completely unconscious by the time he arrived at the abandoned dumpster, down at the bottom of the alley. Leaving her slumped on the floor, he quickly checked through her hand bag for anything.

Chewing gum, a pen, a tube of lipstick, perfume, money, a phone...

He grabbed for the phone, stared at it for a moment before throwing it against the brick wall and watching it clatter to the floor. After numerous times of stomping on it with the heel of his polished shoe, he deemed it unusable once shattered and completely useless, and then threw it carelessly into the darkness looming in the corner.

Rolling her into the dumpster was quite a feat and it didn’t help that this body had its fair share of calorie-packed burgers and litres of sugar filled drinks. Clapping his hands together to get rid of any dirt and rolling his shoulders to loosen them, he walked nonchalantly down the alley and through a route so that he was back on a main road.

He hailed for a taxi and watched as the yellow cab stopped in front of him. Entering inside it, he told the driver his destination.

The woman’s name was Clarissa and she was stunning, no doubt about it. Great sense of humour and smile too. But she was only a pawn and pawns brought him no care. In fact, nothing did.

By the time he arrived at his house, paid the driver and entered the house, his wife stood in the kitchen, arms folded with an anger contorted on her features.

“What time do you call this, Gerald?” Her nose flared and her dark hair dishevelled. The man tried to etch his face with some sort of emotion and ended up with a look of confusion. His wife – or now known as Gerald’s wife – pinned him down with her narrowed eyes. He tightened his hold on his briefcase.

“I’m sorry,” Gerald couldn’t think of anything else to say. He tried to not come across as tedious and knew it must’ve done from the expression forming on his wife’s face. “I got held up by work; Timothy had given me a load of paperwork to do just before I finished my shift.”
She still didn’t look convinced, her eyes darted at his neck (just as he had expected) and found nothing.

“I promise, it won’t happen again.” He stepped towards her, beginning to become familiar with how to portray emotions and left a soft kiss on her forehead. She didn’t move or push him away which meant that he was starting to get to her. After a few moments, she sighed and silently pushed past him in her silk gown and began to ascend up the stairs.

Gerald stared at her emotionlessly and knew that he could possibly roll his eyes but it was a waste of time. He wasn’t here to make relationships or live a human life.

Walking up the stairs, Gerald stared around at the hallway and saw the slightly open door to his bedroom. He watched his wife run her hand through her hair with stress before slipping out of her gown and lying in her bed.

“I’m just going to put my papers away, honey.” Gerald told her through the gap in the door but she rolled onto her side and ignored him. This time, Gerald rolled his eyes for the satisfaction.

Just get the job done, he had to remind himself.

Swiftly, he quietly opened and closed doors with one hand until he found it. The study. This would be the only most likely place it could be. Entering it, he silently closed the door and flickered on the lights. The study consisted of a desk with drawers and a leather chair. A pin board above on the wall, pictures of Gerald and his wife pinned to it. A bookcase full of leathery books resided on the side wall. Gerald ran his fingers against the spines of the books before moving towards the desk. A Moroccan rug decorated most of the floor’s surface and brought a contrasting feel to the room so it didn’t look all that gloomy. Laying his suitcase on the top of the desk, his eyes speculated the almost clean desk before he began to look through all the drawers, rummaging through them as inaudibly as he could.

Files after files, bank statements, insurance, letters, random pieces of paper clips and everything except what he was looking for. Impatiently, he stepped to the side, hoping he could find it perhaps behind the desk. He had to be quick, his wife would only become more of a nuisance and he couldn’t reside in Gerald for much longer. There were dark secrets in this mind, hidden in the very corners. He could pick through them if he wanted and find out where he had hidden it, but every time he tried, he was faced with a wall and blocked away from the thought like it was an infinite defensive wall.

Gerald kept trying to grab it but anything linked or concerning the thought kept pointing him with a blank mind and a hammering headache. He groaned, grabbing his head with tight hands to try and diminish the feeling but it only echoed even more.

It was when he moved his step slightly more to the left when he heard the creak of the floorboard. His ears perked upwards and he felt energy surge through his body. Pushing weight on his left leg again, the floorboard creaked. Without another second passing, Gerald was on his hands and knees, pulling up the rug with excited hands. Immediately, his light blue eyes gazed at the slightly odd-placed floorboard like it was a gift sent from above.

Exhilarated and ignited all at once – these human feelings overwhelming him – Gerald pulled the floor board up and found a medium sized wooden box. Clutching it, he brought it up and set it beside him. The ceiling light illuminated it in a way that the wooden box looked nothing more, really, than just a wooden box.

Gerald knew better, however. Bringing the wooden box up onto the desk, he rushed to open his briefcase. Sat in the middle of the briefcase was the ore of an ancient and extinct rock. Cautiously, he pinched the ore – only the size of his thumb – and placed it in the complimentary shape engraved on the top of the wooden box.

Anxiously, Gerald waited and began to doubt himself when all he heard for silence. Was he meant to utter a special word or light candles or draw a satanic pattern on the floor? He gritted his teeth with frustration, standing there for what felt like hours, smacking at the wooden box to open.

Then he tried the all-obvious and lifted the hinged wooden lid. It opened. Gerald almost thudded his head with a brick for that but he had no chance. His eyes were glued and mesmerised by the golden beauty sitting on the cushioned lining inside.

The golden beauty was more of a compass but held significance that more of a thousand diamonds or a hall full of gold. Intricate details engraved the surface of the golden compass and as he carefully held it in the base of his palm, the few pounds of weight in his hand made his shiver with joy.

He had found it. He had finally found it. And the Desired Ones would reward him with a beautiful being to own, a praiseworthy title and all the wishes he could desire for and more. Gerald couldn’t contain his anticipation and felt no need to hide what was soon to come. The thunderous sound of his footsteps rushing down the stairs woke his wife as she soon pulled herself out of bed with wariness.

Gerald rushed his way to the back door leading to their yard. His attempts at keeping his breathing levelled was futile; Gerald’s body was simply out of shape but soon he’d no longer have to worry about it. He was going to be praised and admired. He would be known for years, decades...for generations to come.

“Gerald, what on earth are you doing?!” His wife was screaming now when Gerald leapt into the centre of the back garden, the compass held tight in his hand. Nothing could stop him now. The time was coming.

“GERALD!” The wife shouted again and a neighbouring dog began to bark from the racket. “Get back here right now!”
He was only a hair width away from turning around and yelling back in the wretched woman’s face that she was thick as a brick and that she was moments away from a revolution. Gerald held it together; however, these impulses, habits and the impatience were all still Gerald’s.

The sky above held gloom and there were dark smudges of obscurity painted it too. The world knows what’s coming. He got down to one knee and ignored his infuriating wife’s pathetic attempts at pulling at his shoulder. Squeezing the compass with his fingers, the tiny latch on the side clicked and the lid opened.

“What the bloody hell is that, Gerald?” she shrieked, the dog still yet barking. Gerald now had to ignore two irritating dogs now. Neighbours’ lights began to turn on; some peeked through their curtains to see what all the commotion was about. Gerald could care less about his wife bringing attention; the more people to watch this moment in time, the better. “Are you mad? It’s midnight, now come back in.”

Gerald shook her hold of his shoulder and took a pen knife out of the inside of his jacket and laid the compass gently on the floor. He became emotionless and numb, he knew he had only minutes left before this body would become completely useless. His left hand became bloody for the quick incision he made and the wife screamed with disbelief. Squeezing his left hand over the compass, blood dripped into the cogs of the compass.

It only took an instant before the cogs began to whirr. Gerald blew out relief before getting back onto his feet. His torso began to become numb as did his toes. Pulled backwards, Gerald shoved his wife away from him as she screamed bloody murder at him. A neighbour had begun screaming out of his window, telling them to shut up before he’d ring the police.

Gerald almost chuckled to himself. The police? What could they possibly do now? He watched with admiration as the compass began to shake and tremble, the inside whirring faster and faster around. Without warning, bright light emitted from the inside. From what source? Who knows? The bright light caused both Gerald and his wife to stumble backwards. The dog barked even louder and other dogs began to join. Neighbours began to shout and threaten, some probably began to pray.

Gerald’s fingers were now becoming numb and as he glimpsed at them, he watched as they blackened. His wife was screaming, crying, stepping further and further away from the compass until she was inside. By this point she had stopped screaming at Gerald. A pulse emitted from the bright light and Gerald watched through his fingers. Gusts of wind spurred along the bright white light and around it.

The white light travelled further and further upwards towards the sky. Gerald’s heart was slowing down and this body was soon going to die. The blackness had already crept onto his neck. Soon, he’d lose his breath; lose his touch and senses, including sight. And then Gerald would be dead and the host would move on.

It wouldn’t have to seek for a useless being. The Desirable Ones would reward him. Yes, they would.

Finally, the bright light finally reached the dark sky and there was a loud crackle, like a million stars had just been born. The intense and brilliant white light beamed straight through the sky and beyond. Police sirens, fire engines, screams and cries travelled around Gerald’s head.

The compass was now jumping an inch or so from the ground due to the immense power. A fiery hole in the sky began to swell, becoming increasingly bigger. Gerald by this point was completely numb but still standing. Gerald’s wife was still shrieking behind him, crying and sobbing with complete shock.

Gerald looked over his shoulder and fixed his eyes upon his so called wife, feeling the body begin to lose everything. A smirk stretched onto the thin lips of Gerald, the blackness now spreading past his jaw line and ears, before his once electric eyes and whites of his eyes were completely dominated by a terrifying, demonising pure black.

The bright blinding white light exploded. Tainted screams and cries of horror, dogs whimpering from sensing danger, civilization, Gerald’s wife, Gerald himself, all became nothing more as the Desired Ones came.