The author narrates
The door to El Madero creaked open slowly, as if the wood recognized who was entering.
Bi was the first to cross the threshold. Her silhouette was etched against the amber light inside, and for an instant, the bar's murmur ceased.
Several heads turned.
White eyes, pupil-less, floating in faceless faces.
The souls watched her with curiosity.
But only for a second.
Because behind her, another figure appeared.
Taller.
Firmer.
More... dense.
And then all eyes shifted to him.
To Vikram.
A dark silhouette, like them.
But different.
More solid.
More recent.
More alive.
Bi entered without greeting anyone.
And as she did, she let the door close on its own behind Vikram.
The sharp thud echoed like a heartbeat.
Vikram stopped.
Not by choice.
By instinct.
The bar's interior was warm.
Too warm.
As if the air were made of human breath and old wood.
The walls were thick, hand-carved, covered in murals that seemed to move if you stared at them for too long.
Scenes of souls embracing, crying, fucking, praying.
All intertwined.
All alive.
There were round tables, occupied by shadows conversing like old friends.
Others stood, leaning against the bar, drinking impossible-colored liquids.
In a corner, a group danced without music.
Their bodies moved as if remembering a song that no longer existed.
Vikram moved forward behind Bi.
His steps were heavy.
His gait, firm.
And that was enough to make some souls move away.
Not out of respect.
Out of fear.
Because even though they were all shadows, he was bigger.
More defined.
As if he weren't yet completely corrupted.
As if he could break something.
Or someone.
Vikram didn't understand why they were looking at him like that.
He didn't know they saw him as one of their own.
And that, precisely that, made him even more terrifying.
To him, those figures weren't people.
They were demons.
Echoes of something that was no longer human.
Bi stopped in front of the bar.
She sat down casually.
As if that had always been her place.
Vikram imitated her, though with less grace.
He sat next to her, avoiding eye contact.
But when he looked up... he saw him.
Behind the bar, preparing drinks with precise movements, was an Executioner.
His silhouette was unmistakable.
Large.
Imposing.
With a presence that needed no words.
Vikram jumped.
He shifted abruptly in his chair, as if he were about to stand up.
Bi: Relax. It's just the bartender.
He said it without looking at him.
As if it were obvious.
As if there were nothing to fear.
But Vikram couldn't process it.
An Executioner.
Serving drinks.
As if it were nothing.
And yet...
There he was.
Behind the bar.
With that pyramidal mask.
And a bottle in his hand.
The Executioner looked up from the glass he was cleaning with a dark cloth.
His eyes, hidden behind the pyramidal mask, needed no expression.
Silence was enough.
He observed the newcomer.
A dark, large, tense silhouette.
A new soul. But behind that, he could see the human behind his shadow.
Then he shifted his gaze to the figure he did recognize.
Bi.
The entity that always arrived unannounced, like a burst of perfume and chaos.
Drelm: Bi... what a surprise to see you here.
His voice was deep, resonant, as if speaking from a cavern sealed with stone and time.
There was no emotion.
Only confirmation.
Bi smiled brazenly and greeted him with a wave, as if greeting an old lover who hadn't yet gotten over the breakup.
Vikram, sitting beside him, couldn't stop staring.
Seeing an Executioner speak... was like seeing a statue move.
And not just any statue.
One that could split you in two with a single hand.
It reminded him of Trip.
And that was enough to make his body tense.
Bi: Drelm, I'm so glad to see you again. Is everything alright here?
Drelm: Everything was fine... until you arrived.
He said it without raising his voice.
Without stopping the movement of his hands.
He was preparing a drink, and he did it with surgical precision.
Vikram watched him pour a blue liquid into a glass, then swirl it in the air with a single finger, making the contents swivel without spilling.
An impossible trick.
Or simply... natural for someone like him.
Bi: Ouch... but okay, whatever you say.
He didn't flinch.
His smile remained unchanged.
As if each word from Drelm were a caress disguised as a punch.
Bi noticed how Vikram continued to watch him.
Fascinated.
As if Drelm were a living sculpture.
A creature that shouldn't move... and yet he did.
And then, as if an idea had blossomed on his tongue—though he'd actually planted it days before—Bi spoke:
Bi: Drelm, I need you to fuck this human.
He pointed at Vikram with an elegant finger, as if he were choosing a dessert from a display case.
Vikram: Wait, what?!
Drelm stopped.
The cloth remained on the bar.
The glass, perfectly aligned.
And then, unhurriedly, he turned his face toward Vikram.
The human held his gaze.
Or tried to.
He swallowed.
He felt the air grow thicker.
Drelm straightened up.
He crossed the counter with slow, heavy steps.
Each one sounded like a distant drum.
Vikram began to breathe faster.
Not out of desire.
Out of instinct.
The Executioner stopped in front of him.
He looked down at him.
He said nothing.
He just watched him.
As if measuring him.
As if weighing him.
And then... he stepped back.
He growled.
A low, guttural sound.
Not of fury.
Of annoyance.
Bi noticed.
And smiled even wider.
Drelm: So, human... huh?
Bi nodded, amused.
Silence settled between the three of them.
Drelm crossed his arms.
His posture was that of someone who had already made up his mind.
But he wasn't in a hurry to say it.
The bar continued to breathe around him.
The shadows drank.
Laughter floated in the air.
But in that corner... Destiny held its breath.
In a deep voice, without looking at him, he had finally made his decision.
Drelm: No.
The silence that followed was louder than any shout.
Bi blinked, surprised by the speed of the response.
Vikram stood still, unsure whether to feel relieved or humiliated.
Lower, drier.
Drelm: I'm not interested. I don't want to. And I hate being asked that.
He placed the glass on the bar with a dull thud.
Not loud.
Just final.
The silence stretched on.
Drelm remained with his arms crossed, motionless, like a statue judging from its pedestal of wood and smoke.
Bi kept smiling.
He wasn't expecting a yes.
He just wanted to see how far he could push.
Drelm: Get out of here if you're not going to order anything to drink. I don't want to waste my time with humans.
His voice was deeper this time.
He didn't raise his voice.
But the wooden bar seemed to creak under his presence.
Vikram exhaled without realizing it.
He took a deep breath.
He felt his chest deflate.
And for the first time in days, he smiled.
A small smile.
A relieved smile.
He looked away, avoiding the tension between them.
And then he saw them.
The other souls.
Dark.
With white eyes that floated in the gloom.
Some were sitting, some were standing, some were dancing without music.
They were talking, laughing, touching each other.
But all of them... were looking at him out of the corner of their eyes.
Vikram felt a chill. He didn't know if they were watching him with desire, fear... or hunger.
Meanwhile, Bi settled back in his seat as if nothing was amiss.
He rested an elbow on the bar, turned his face toward Drelm, and spoke in a mocking tone:
Bi: Oh, Drelm... always so warm. Is this how you treat all your customers?
Drelm: Only those who don't know when to be quiet.
Bi let out a soft laugh.
Not a mocking one.
A satisfied one.
Bi: So you did miss me.
Drelm didn't reply.
He simply returned to his post behind the bar.
He took an unlabeled bottle, poured a dark liquid into a lowball glass, and placed it in front of her without looking at her.
Drelm: Here. And don't speak to me... unless it's to order another.
Bi raised the glass gracefully.
She smelled it.
She smiled.
Bi: You know I love it when you get like this.
Drelm didn't answer.
But the slight clench of his jaw, barely visible beneath the mask, was enough for Bi to know he had won.
Again.
Vikram breathed a sigh of relief.
As if that word—Drelm's dry, definitive "no"—had given him back something he thought he'd lost: the certainty that, at least for now, it wouldn't have to be broken again.
But the calm didn't last long.
A new soul walked through the bar. Desperate.
Her steps were quick, erratic.
She looked at each table as if searching for a hidden exit in the shadows.
As if her time was running out.
And then she saw him.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Vikram. She looked at him intently.
As if she recognized him.
Or as if she had been looking for him since before she arrived.
Vikram felt that gaze pierce his back.
He turned slowly.
And there it was.
A figure like him.
A dark silhouette. A little small.
But with a different energy.
More anxious.
More... desperate.
The silhouette approached with quick, almost clumsy steps.
It stopped a meter away.
Vikram tensed instantly.
His body responded before his mind.
But his soul spoke first.
Soul: Calm down, calm down... I'm like you. Just like everyone here.
Vikram raised an eyebrow, confused.
He turned to look at Bi, who was watching him with a crooked smile while drinking something dark and thick.
He didn't say anything.
I was just enjoying it.
Vikram gulped.
He looked back at the stranger.
Alma: My name is Ryder.
Vikram nodded slowly, frowning.
She looked him over from head to toe.
I didn't know if he was a demon, a broken soul... or something worse.
But he felt that Bi enjoyed his discomfort.
And that forced him to stand firm.
Ryder: You're new, right?
Are you already close to fulfilling your judgment?
If so... I might be able to help you.
That way I get out faster, just like you.
You let me do what you lack... and I give you what I have left.
Vikram blinked.
I didn't fully understand.
Was that possible?
Vikram: Is that possible?
He turned to see Bi.
She raised her shoulders, as if to say "who knows," but her smile didn't budge an inch.
Drelm, who was preparing another drink for a customer who drank as if he wanted to forget his own existence, spoke without looking.
Drelm: Each soul has a task, a trial or a punishment that must be fulfilled to leave Silent Hill.
And you, Vikram... since you are new, I am going to explain it to you in a way that your brain can understand.
Vikram frowned.
He felt insulted.
But he didn't say anything.
Drelm (in a deep voice, without pause): Souls can help each other.
Whatever the task.
Physics. Emotional.
Some are impossible to accomplish without help.
Vikram looked at him, surprised.
Not for the information.
But because of the way he said it.
As if it weren't theory.
As if he had seen it many times.
Drelm: If they do well, they both go up.
They move forward.
They earn points.
And if they're lucky... they come out with their souls intact.
Drelm placed the glass in front of the customer, who didn't even look at him.
Then he crossed his arms.
Drelm: But if one fails... He drags the other with him.
And there is no reset.
There is no redemption.
Just fall.
Ryder listened in silence.
I already knew that information.
But the tension in Vikram was new.
And that kept him interested.
Ryder (in a lower, more direct voice): So tell me... What did you get?
Is it something physical?
Something emotional?
Pain? Sex? Blood?
Vikram did not respond.
Everything was going too fast.
Too intense.
Too real.
And deep down, he felt that Bi wouldn't help him.
Not yet.
Because he was enjoying every second of her discomfort.
Vikram remained silent.
The air in the bar seemed thicker than normal.
Ryder was staring at him insistently, tapping his foot nervously, as if every second without a response was a direct threat to his time, his opportunity, his escape.
The foot tapped the ground with an irregular rhythm.
Tac. Tac. Tac. TacTac. Tac.
Vikram looked down.
His hands were closed on his legs.
Knuckles tense.
The chest, tight.
Sigh.
Not for relief.
But because of resignation.
Vikram: I have to sleep with twenty Executioners. -he said, low tone, without looking at anyone
Ryder's foot stopped.
As if the ground had swallowed the momentum.
Silence.
Ryder looked him up and down.
Slow.
As if he was trying to process what he had just heard.
As if I couldn't believe that this man - big, firm, with that presence - was capable of saying something like that.
Or worse yet... to do it.
His face twisted.
Not by surprise.
Disgusting.
Ryder: I don't want to be fucked... Stupid soul - murmuring as he walked away.
Vikram heard it.
Every word.
Every syllable.
The body responded before the mind.
He stood up suddenly, his eyes burning with rage.
But before he could take a step, a hand stopped him.
Bi.
Effortless.
Just with a gesture.
As if he knew exactly when to intervene.
Bi: It's not worth it -without looking at it.
Vikram stood still.
His heart was beating hard.
Not out of fear.
For humiliation.
Ryder was lost in the shadows of the bar.
Nobody stopped him.
Nobody missed him.
Drelm said nothing.
But the slight, barely perceptible turn of his head made it clear that he had heard everything.
And that didn't surprise him.
Bi drank again.
Calmly.
As if nothing had happened.
Bi: Welcome to Silent Hill, Vikram. Everyone here has something to hide... And something to lose - with a crooked smile.
Vikram stood there, his fists clenched. Rage surged through his chest like a hot wave. Not because of what Ryder had said, but because of what it meant: that even here, in this place of the damned, contempt still existed.
"I didn't ask for this," Vikram muttered, not looking at anyone. "But I'm going to do it. With or without help."
Bi watched him out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't smiling this time. He was just looking at him, as if weighing the weight of those words, as if searching for cracks in his resolve.
From behind the bar, Drelm uttered a sentence without emotion, without even turning around.
"It's not the judgment that breaks you. It's what you discover about yourself while you're serving it."
Vikram looked at him, frowning. But Drelm was already pouring another drink, as if he hadn't said anything, as if his sentence were part of the place's decor.
Bi took another sip. This time, he did smile. Slowly. Accomplice.
Bi: Now you're starting to understand.
___________________________________
.░▒▓█ Episode Completed █▓▒░.
Humans, like Vikram, look like the image that appears at the beginning of the chapter. But Vikram is physically larger. That depends on each soul and its body.
[The image is only available on Wattpad.]
Bye Bye! See you later! Bye!
🍌[-☘️-]; Eating bananas is good for your health.