EVIL SYSTEM

Ben drove through the darkness. He could no longer drive with the same calm he had at the beginning of the journey.

Just as Dante had done when entering the forest, Ben began looking in every direction, alert for anything that might appear.

In this state of concentration, he remembered something he had overlooked.

He hadn't received a single evil point for killing that vile creature.

"Jie jie jie."

Almost as if it could hear his thoughts, the same peculiar laugh of the creature echoed from all directions.

In the darkness of the forest, Ben felt like he was being watched.

Maybe it was his imagination, but every time he turned his head, he felt like he saw those black eyes full of malice.

"Jie jie jie jie."

The laughter echoed through the forest, accompanied by what sounded like screams and moans of pain.

Ben began to sweat, even as the temperature seemed to drop to the point where he could see white vapor with every breath.

Bedsi's headlights began to flicker, and between the flickers, Ben could make out dark, sinister shadows watching him.

His heart was racing, and his mouth went dry. Unwilling to stay a minute longer on that sinister path, he floored the accelerator.

Even as the road had potholes and Bedsi shook and bounced.

"Come on, Bedsi! You can do it, Bedsi!"

This situation lasted about 10 minutes, though it felt like an eternity.

When Ben saw the highway in the distance, he accelerated without a care. Bedsi shot out of the dirt path and onto the road.

A transport truck passed by shortly after, missing them by mere centimeters.

The deafening sound of the truck's horn echoed in the distance, but Ben didn't care.

He got out of Bedsi and realized everything was normal again. There was no supernatural cold, no more screams or laughter.

Grabbing the axe from the seat, Ben headed toward the forest. In the darkness, he could see a shadow smiling and waving at him.

A shiver ran through Ben's entire being. Gritting his teeth, he began chopping down one of the trees at the edge of the road.

The figure in the distance watched him mockingly.

Ben chopped down about five trees and arranged them as an obstacle on the path.

This way, no one would take this shortcut again.

Ben looked up, and the entity was still there.

He turned around and walked back to Bedsi.

"Jie jie jie, this won't stop me." A mocking laugh came from behind him. "If it only takes a few trees to stop me, then we wouldn't be so feared."

Ben turned to look at it.

"Attack me." Ben spread his arms and dropped the axe.

Silence fell between them as they stared into each other's eyes.

"It seems you can't do anything to me." Ben smiled. "That means you need a body to cause me real harm."

The shadow remained silent.

"And it can't be just any body, or you'd have already taken Dante's or mine." Ben slung the axe over his shoulder. "Humans fear the unknown by instinct."

"When that unknown becomes known..." Ben smiled at the shadow. "Then it's no longer scary."

"Jie jie jie jie jie." The shadow approached Ben, allowing him to see the entity more clearly.

It was two meters tall, made of what looked like black tar and writhing worms trying to escape.

Its arms were so long they dragged on the ground, leaving claw marks in the dirt.

It had no eyes, nose, or ears. The only feature on its face was a mouth so large it took up the entire lower half.

"You think you know something about me?" The creature laughed with its monstrous teeth. "You know nothing."

"Jie jie jie jie." The creature laughed with obvious amusement. "In fact, I know more about you than you know about me."

Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Benjamin Clay, 16 years old, son of James and Mary." Ben frowned. "You have five sisters, and now you're traveling the roads of Venzia with someone as broken as you, hoping to return home."

Ben smiled.

"Now you're smiling because you think I'm wrong, but in reality, you're the one who's mistaken." The abomination continued mockingly. "But do you really have a place to call home?"

Ben frowned in annoyance.

"What's it to you?"

"It matters a lot." The creature spread its arms exaggeratedly. "I have a special weakness for pitiful creatures like you."

Ben tightened his grip on the axe.

"You are, were, and will always be a pitiful being." The creature mocked. "Your parents and family don't love you. You have no one you can call a friend. You're alone in the world, and that's how you'll die."

Ben clenched the axe and wanted to retort, but the creature didn't let him.

"You'll die alone. No one will miss you or mourn your passing..." The creature began to laugh sharply. "Jie jie jie jie, just like you did in your past life!"

The axe in Ben's hand fell to the ground, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes." The abomination smiled and whispered. "I know exactly who you are and who you used to be, Antony Cruz."

The abomination watched as Ben stood frozen, completely in shock.

"And I don't just know your past and present..." The creature leaned closer to Ben. "I also know your future."

"You'll die, just like everyone else." The creature looked at Ben with delight. "You'll die in a horrible way, and your name will be a stain. No one will remember or love you."

"No matter how many lives and opportunities you're given, you'll always be and remain a failure who achieves nothing great in life. You'll die full of regrets and remorse, never having truly lived, even after two lives."

Ben furrowed his brows, bent down, and picked up the axe.

"So what?" he replied coldly.

The creature stopped in its tracks, and its smile twisted.

"I don't care about anything you said." Ben turned around. "If no one loves me, so be it. If I die alone, it's because I chose to."

"I was surprised you knew so much about me, but that only made me discover one more thing about your abilities." Ben tossed the axe into the minivan and got in. "Your words won't be able to affect me."

"That's what you say." The creature looked at him, this time without a smile. "But it's very different from what you feel. If you become one of my followers, I'll give you everything you desire in the world."

Ben started Bedsi and stopped paying attention to its words.

"We'll meet again in the future, Ben." The creature watched as the car drove into the distance. "That will be the day you die."

+++

Ben drove the minivan distractedly. Though he didn't like to show it, the abomination's words had affected him.

But not in the way the creature thought.

Ben gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his fingers left marks on it.

Rage was consuming him, and he wanted to prove to that monster, who thought it knew everything, that it was wrong.

He wanted to make it eat its words and, especially, wanted to drive an axe into its head to see if it would keep laughing.

No one laughed and mocked him like that and lived to tell the tale.

"We'll meet again." He muttered. "And that will be the day of your death."

+++++

"Argggg!" Dante grabbed his head and tried to sit up. "Why does my head hurt so much?"

Ben looked at him and felt a pang of guilt. He averted his gaze, not wanting to meet Dante's eyes.

"I don't know." He lied. "I'm still wondering how you can sleep so much."

"Huh? Where am I? Wasn't I in my bed?" Dante panicked.

Ben pointed ahead to a large sign welcoming them.

[Welcome to Ruffbull City]

Dante's eyes widened in disbelief.

"How are we in Ruffbull City? What happened to the family? How did you fix Bedsi?"

Ben already had an idea of what to say, so he began spinning his lies.

He started by saying they had tried to wake Dante, but he was sleeping like a rock. So Ben and the family's father worked on fixing Bedsi while he slept.

Even when they finished repairing Bedsi, Dante didn't wake up, so they decided to carry him unconscious to the car and take him while he slept.

"And that's what happened." Ben finished as they entered the streets of Ruffbull City.

Dante looked at him suspiciously.

"And my headache?"

"I don't know." Ben shook his head and smiled. "Maybe it's from sleeping so much."

Dante grabbed his head, still in disbelief.

"Ruffbull City!!" Dante shouted excitedly.

Dante startled himself with his sudden outburst.

Dante grabbed Ben's shirt and grinned excitedly. "I know someone in Ruffbull City."

"Well, not exactly someone." Dante scratched his head. "I know someone who knows someone who's cousins with a guy who studied at a university in Ruffbull City."

Ben raised an eyebrow.

"He taught me his fraternity's greeting."Dante was thrilled. "He said that in their fraternity, they're obligated to help each other out. If you know their greeting, they'll give you lodging, food, and help you in any way they can."

Ben nodded. It wasn't unusual for fraternity brothers to help each other.

"Let's go there."