After my painful and inhuman death—something no one would expect even if they were a video game addict—everything didn't go blank. Instead, it dissolved into black like the end of a bad fifties movie.
Now I'm not saying there was anything special about me, but people often say that right before your final breath you relive your life while your brain accepts its fate and shuts off.
I wouldn't know whether that's true or false. I just experienced my own death—which again I still say was painful and inhuman—and I wouldn't take the word of people who have never died but claim to know what truly happens.
In my case that didn't happen. Maybe it depends on how someone dies. I don't remember getting the privilege of reliving my life, regretting things I should have done differently. What would be the point anyway? I was already dead.
Right before I succumbed, while taking my raspy final breaths, I didn't see any white light. Everything was void black—devoid of light or life. Instead I heard an annoying low pitch sound. I couldn't tell where it came from, but it felt like a warning telling me to accept my death and not fight it.
Shortly after my last breath, it stopped.
Since I didn't have much in my life, I didn't see the need to keep fighting anyway.
I was alone. I didn't have friends. The only people I ever spent time with were the henchmen and bodyguards of the Capaldi family—and they weren't exactly great conversationalists. They either played cards or reminisced about their first killing.
And don't get me started on having a girlfriend. As embarrassing as it is, I'll just say it: the last time I had sex was when I was seventeen.
Now I'm thirty-two.
You get the gist.
I've never been a pet person either. Looking back, that was probably a good thing. Some days while driving Paul—or especially Junior—I ended up in car chases with gunfire that made action movies look fake. I was never even sure if I'd make it home in one piece.
Like I said before, I'm not an expert when it comes to being dead. But I don't think I was supposed to feel like this afterward.
Actually, I don't think I was supposed to feel anything at all.
I was supposed to be at peace and wait to see where I would end up.
So why was I feeling pain?
And more importantly, how was that even possible?
That thought itself was strange, because I wasn't supposed to be awake or aware of anything.
Yet I was.
Have you ever felt the wind even though you couldn't see it? That's what it felt like.
I swear I could feel my body moving on its own.
It was dodging.
The strange part was that I wasn't controlling it, yet my body slipped side to side as attacks passed right by my shoulders.
It felt like I was in some kind of trance. My mind and body weren't in sync, but I could still sense where every attack came from and where it was going.
Maybe I was moving through some kind of pathway. I couldn't tell if I was going forward or backward, but something kept flying toward me like asteroids in space.
That seemed like the best explanation.
Suddenly the movements stopped.
Maybe I was finally safe.
I must have relaxed my guard, which turned out to be a huge mistake.
Something rushed toward me at full force.
Before I could react, a powerful blow slammed into my gut.
It lifted me off the ground, and another hit smashed into my face.
Instead of flying forward, I was thrown backward.
I crashed hard into something solid—probably concrete—and it felt like my back broke.
At that moment it felt like waking from sleep paralysis.
I gasped and collapsed, something falling on top of me.
I was out for a split second before I pushed myself up. My breathing came in sharp, involuntary gasps.
My mind was still scrambled. Everything around me moved strangely, either spinning or blurred.
I heard heavy footsteps approaching.
From the sound of them, they were boots—and whoever was wearing them was huge.
"You really think you can be ready before the first semester even begins?" a croaky voice said. "Sorry to tell you, punk, but you're in no shape to survive this school."
My mind was still a mess. Thinking clearly wasn't possible.
"Get up, boy."
A giant hand grabbed the back of my neck and lifted me into the air.
My vision was tinted saffron, as if my eyesight had rusted.
Then I heard a rhonchi breathing sound—like snoring.
I couldn't tell where it came from, but it smelled musty, like suffocating mold.
No one ever told me dying would be this torturous. No wonder rich people chase immortality.
Have you ever wondered if it's possible to die twice?
Because that's exactly how it felt.
That breath was so hot it was a miracle my face didn't melt.
Not that I was in a better position. I was right in this person's face, unable to move while he held my neck.
The only thing I could think to do—stupid as it was—was hold my breath and hope he let me go.
But he didn't.
Instead he leaned closer and started sniffing me like a dog catching a scent.
I didn't know what was worse—the breath or the mucus-like skin brushing against my face.
"Ah, the school asked me to test your aptitude," he croaked. "But with the aura you give off, I could just eat you and say you were too weak to handle mine."
"Wait a second… this guy is serious? He actually wants to eat me?"
My mind slowly started piecing things together.
At first I thought he was joking. Maybe this was just a nightmare.
But I was wrong.
A horrible croaking sound echoed around us. I hadn't even looked at my surroundings.
Then a deathly smell poured out of him—like a corpse that hadn't fully decomposed after being eaten.
"Man, why does your breath smell this bad? Yikes!" I blurted out.
Even with my blurry vision, I could see his mouth opening wide.
And I wasn't stupid—I could tell it was big enough to swallow me.
Inside was worse.
His hard palate looked torn. Dead green worms wriggled along it. His soft palate was covered in swollen lumps ready to burst. Holes pierced his tonsils with something leaking out of them—which explained the smell. And his uvula…
I had never seen anything like it.
I was going to need therapy for the rest of my life.
I don't know if the smell caused hallucinations, but it felt like two more hands grabbed me and twisted my body.
Bones cracked.
Then he shoved me into his mouth.
I didn't even react until he swallowed me whole.
Suddenly I was wrapped inside a bubble, trying to understand what was happening.
"What kind of nightmare is this? Why am I not waking up?"
The bubble squeezed around me.
His mouth closed, sealing me away from the light.
Adrenaline finally kicked in.
"I have to get out now!"
The moment I thought that, it felt like my brain cells snapped together.
I gasped like I had been underwater for too long.
My eyes flared butter yellow.
"AAGH!!!"
I screamed so hard it felt like my lungs were exploding.
The same yellow light burst from my eyes and mouth, burning through the creature's insides.
Within seconds it exploded.
BOOM!
Flesh and gore scattered everywhere as I stood there, covered in his insides and acidic goo that burned my skin.
I had no idea what just happened.
I just stood there breathing rapidly.
Then a faint female voice spoke.
[Congratulations, you have defeated the Savage Ogre.]
[Your results will be displayed after 24hrs.]
I was so shocked I couldn't even react properly.
My body went numb.
I dropped to my knees.
Then collapsed.
And lost consciousness.