I'm Trying to End This Possession

Just then, the door creaked open.

 

“Time for dinner… Ah?”

 

Natty, carrying bread, froze at the threshold. Blood was everywhere in the room. Witnessing the scene, she was petrified.

 

“Ah, ah!”

 

Late to react, she stumbled backward, but Carl quickly grabbed her by the throat. Crunch.

 

I watched as Natty’s neck snapped effortlessly like a doll’s. Her lifeless body fell like a rag.

 

“…”

 

The bread rolled out of her limp hand from the dropped plate. But the horror didn’t end there.

 

“C-Crazy!”

 

Norton, who entered next, screamed in terror. He hastily drew a gun and fired at Carl.

 

“Die, monster!”

 

Bang! But Carl was no longer there; he had vanished without a trace, leaving Norton panicking. Then, Carl, who had been hanging from the ceiling, landed silently behind Norton and snapped his neck without hesitation.

 

Thud. Norton fell without even a chance to scream.

 

“…”

 

Silence ensued, filled only with the stench of blood. Carl calmly surveyed the bodies around him.

 

“Oh dear.” He muttered to himself. “What a mistake.”

 

I covered my mouth with both hands, trembling. I couldn’t even breathe.

 

Mistake? A mistake? Killing Natan was one thing, but Natty too? Calling this a mistake? After brutally murdering three people in an instant, calling it a mistake?

 

“We have to ensure her premature death.”

 

Then what about me? What if he kills me by mistake?

 

Instinctively, I reached under my skirt for my thigh. Gun, the gun…

 

At that moment, Carl Windsor let out a deep sigh. “Dana.”

 

He slowly turned around. His face looked troubled.

 

“Did you see?”

 

“…”

 

“Of course you did. What am I even asking? But why are you reaching for your gun?”

 

I was startled. How did he know I had hidden a gun there?

 

“Give it to me.” Carl extended his hand, stained red with blood. “The gun. Hand it over quickly.”

 

Click! I pointed the gun at him.

 

Immediately, Carl grabbed the barrel with a swift motion. Even though it was happening right in front of me, my eyes couldn’t follow his movements.

 

“Dana. Such a dangerous thing doesn’t suit you.”

 

Crunch. The barrel of the gun was completely crushed in Carl’s hand, so easily like paper…

 

“Don’t stain your beautiful hands with blood.”

 

Crazy man. I muttered to myself, trembling.

 

Carl looked troubled at me and tilted his head. “But why did you aim at me? I did this to protect you.”

 

He gazed piercingly, as tenderly as ever.

 

“I know, it must be a reflex from panic. It’s a mistake only spies pretending to be allies would make. Why would you do it?”

 

Then, as if realizing something, he let out a small exclamation.  “You heard it, didn’t you?”

 

Carl sighed softly and chuckled. “I was worried when the door cracked open…”

 

“…”

 

“You heard, didn’t you?”

 

“…”

 

“Tell me. How much did you hear?”

 

Suffocated, I felt the weight of my life possibly ending at this moment.

 

“Dana, don’t misunderstand. It’s not what you think. Actually, I…”

 

Carl reached out to me with a troubled smile, using the same hand that had plucked out Natan’s eye.

 

That hand, why is it reaching for me?

 

To kill me?

 

No. No, no, no!

 

“!”

 

At that moment, a massive wave of dizziness hit me. I collapsed on the ground. Or at least, I thought I had.

 

What’s happening?

 

My vision blackened, then suddenly brightened.

 

What is it? What’s going on?

 

Gasping for breath, I blinked my eyes. My head was spinning, and my vision was blurry.

 

This sensation… No way.

 

It was familiar. I had experienced this dizziness, nausea, and feeling of living two timelines recently. And then,

 

“Participate in the ritual as an apology. Got it?”

 

“Aah, so it was about that.”

 

The conversation unfolded exactly as I had seen before.

 

I slowly took a deep breath and looked up. My vision cleared, revealing Carl and Natan in the mill. Natan was gripping Carl’s hair. He was alive, with both eyes intact and his jaw properly attached.

 

He’s alive.

 

And Carl Windsor. He hadn’t killed anyone yet, and his hands weren’t stained red.

 

I saw the land’s memory again…

 

I had glimpsed a future event about to unfold. Sure enough, the same dialogue I remembered followed.

 

“So it was about that.”

 

Natan bared his teeth in a grin and glanced at me.

 

“Isn’t that right? Both Carl and your wife.”

 

With the same lustful eyes as before.

 

“Isn’t it only fair? Good things should be shared.”

 

“Chief, you shouldn’t look at Dana with such impure eyes.”

 

“Say you’ll participate in the ritual!”

 

“How about you turn your eyes elsewhere while we talk?”

 

-What happened next?

 

Right after this, Carl’s murder spree began. That shouldn’t happen.

 

Without further thought, I stood up abruptly and grabbed Carl’s waist tightly, preventing him from committing murder. “Stop!”

 

I cried out to Natan desperately, imploringly. “I’ll go to the ritual, so please let him go!”

 

Startled, Natan’s eyes widened before he burst into laughter. “Hahahaha!” He then let go of Carl’s hair. “Good, good. That’s the spirit.”

 

Natan then patted my shoulder. “See you in a little while, foreign couple.”

 

As Natan laughed and left, Natty entered. Her head was still firmly attached to her neck. “Did you rest well? Here, have some bread. It’s freshly baked and delicious.” She placed the plate down and left with a smile.

 

Then Norton entered, giving me a sinister look. He, too, was very much alive. “See you at the ritual soon.” He winked. To Carl, he showed the middle finger in insult.

 

With that, the door of the mill closed.

 

“…”

 

I was still holding Carl’s waist tightly. An eerie silence filled the air.

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