PARADOX PERSONALITY
Chapter 56 — Fracture of Will
Karos stood before John Stellman without blinking.
The wind had gone still. Sirens faded into the background as if distance itself was bending away from the space they shared. John noticed it first—not fear, but silence. A silence that felt deliberate.
The boy's smile was wrong.
Not cruel. Not playful.
Empty.
Then his eyes shimmered.
Thin red trails slid down his cheeks like tears that did not belong to a child.
Karos trembled.
His small frame tightened as if something inside him was pulling in opposite directions. His hands curled into fists, knuckles whitening, breath uneven.
John took a cautious step forward.
"Hey—kid. You okay?"
Karos clutched his head and cried out—not loud, but mechanically, like the sound was forced through him. His red hair began to pale strand by strand, fading into a ghostly white.
John froze.
"What… is happening to you?"
The boy collapsed to one knee, shoulders shaking. The red tears fell faster now, splashing faintly onto the concrete. For one impossible moment, John thought he saw another face reflected in Karos's eyes—older, colder, watching from somewhere far deeper.
Then—
Stillness.
Karos stood up again.
His hair darkened instantly, snapping back to its original color as if the transformation had never happened. The tears vanished. His posture straightened unnaturally, chin lifting, shoulders squared.
His eyes were no longer unfocused.
They were decisive.
Karos smiled slowly and spoke, his voice deeper than before—steady, layered, carrying a weight no child should possess.
> "I will destroy everything in this world."
The words landed without emotion. Not anger. Not excitement.
A statement.
John's instincts finally broke free. He pulled his sword in one fluid motion, stepping between the civilians and the boy, blade angled defensively rather than threateningly.
"Who are you?" John demanded.
"What are you?"
Karos tilted his head, studying the sword with mild curiosity.
Then he vanished.
Not with sound. Not with light.
He simply wasn't there.
John barely had time to react before pressure slammed into his chest. The impact drove the air from his lungs. The knife flashed once — not violent, not dramatic — precise.
John staggered.
Karos stood behind him now, close enough that John could feel the cold of his presence.
The boy pulled the blade back calmly.
"You are mine now," Karos whispered.
Then his body turned to ash-like dust, disintegrating into the air as if he had never existed.
John dropped to one knee.
His sword clattered beside him.
Police rushed forward as he collapsed fully, consciousness slipping away.
---
THE HOSPITAL
Light.
That was the first thing he noticed.
Sterile white. The soft, rhythmic sound of machines. Pain pulsed dully in his chest, but it felt distant, secondary.
John opened his eyes.
Gina sat beside him, gripping his hand tightly, her eyes red but steady. Relief washed over her face when she saw him awake.
"You scared everyone," she said quietly. "Especially me."
John swallowed and slowly sat up.
"…the boy," he murmured. "He wasn't human."
Gina nodded. "I know."
Silence followed.
Then John spoke again, slower, thoughtful.
"We need to find H.I.M."
Gina stiffened slightly. "You think this is connected to him?"
John stared at the ceiling.
"I don't know. But he's the only one who's walked this line before — power beyond control, morality torn apart."
He turned his gaze to her.
"And something tells me… he knows what's coming."
After a moment, Gina exhaled and nodded.
"Then we're going to Egypt."
---
KAROS — ELSEWHERE
Far from Liberty City, Karos stood alone beneath a fractured sky.
He stared at the knife in his hand.
John's blood stained the blade faintly.
The boy laughed — softly this time — then clutched his face again as the red tears returned, streaking down uncontrollably.
"Make it stop," he whispered — not to anyone in particular.
But the darkness inside him did not answer.
It only grew quieter.
Which somehow felt worse.
---
EAST EGYPT — A WARNING
H.I.M stood at the edge of the dunes as night descended.
The Devil stirred.
Not mocking this time.
Not commanding.
Its voice trembled.
> This presence… it is ancient.
> It does not belong to us.
H.I.M clenched his fists.
Riya slept behind him, unaware of the widening cracks forming beneath the world.
"For once," H.I.M said quietly, "you're afraid."
The Devil was silent.
And that terrified him more than any words ever could.
---
End of Chapter 56