You Have Received Everything you Wanted

The tear drop fell into the dark abyss, the river’s endless flow absorbing the unique drop into its hivemind. The young girl’s chest was shaking, her breaths convulsing as her nose sniffled back the beckoning stream from her eyes. She didn’t understand why this was happening to her. Why her? Another tear falling from her cheek into the night as her legs hung over the long drop. The humid summer wind hit her as she sat under the dark night’s sky. But then… a coolness approached. Her neck felt a chill and she whipped her head around to look at the dark bridge. Her safe bridge. A typically empty bridge. That’s what felt safe. Now it feels unsafe.

“Who’s there?” Her breathy attempt at confident confrontation fell short.

A soft, male voice responds. “Just a friend.”

Her eyes widened. Panic. Run? Stay? Jump? The fall would kill her, wouldn’t it?

“Who are you?”

“A friend, darling. Of course.”

“Please leave.”

“It’s okay.”

“What do you want?”

“I heard you crying. I wanted to check on you. I wanted to help you.”

She still couldn’t see the figure in the dark.

“I am okay, please go, I want to be alone.” Her heart was tight, it hurt as it beat in her chest. It was loud.

“They hurt you O so badly didn’t they?”

Does he know? How could he? A guess? “Please leave.”

“Their kind always behaves that way, eventually. You didn’t deserve it. You know you didn’t. You are a good person, a kind person. And look how they’ve left you.”

How does he know? “What do you want?

“I told you darling, I want to help.”

“How?”

“I can make it go away. I can give you what you want.”

“You don’t know what I want.”

“I don’t have to know what you want right now. You will tell me what you want, and then I will make everything okay. It will all be so good. Everything will be okay.”

“I can’t see you.”

“I am right here.”

“Come closer.”

The young girl’s eyes searched the darkness for movement. None. Why did she ask him to come closer? But then… something… what was it. She strained her eyes and then… there it was. Red. Red eyes, and a red smile. Almost floating. Her breathing shuddered. “Who are you?!”

“It’s okay. I’m here to help.”

“I don’t think I want your help. I want you to leave.”

“You wanted me closer.”

“I made a mistake. I want to be alone. You are scaring me.”

“Oh no. We can’t have that, can we?”

“Leave.”

“The tightness in your chest. I'll show you I'm here to help, I'll make it go away. You just have to ask.”

Her chest hurt. Her heart hurt. They hurt her. Bad. “Then make it go away.” Her voice was directed and angry.

“Of course.”

She inhaled sharply. A deep, deep inhale. A fuller breath than she had experienced the whole evening. The chest pain was gone. Her chest felt cold but at the same time she felt released. The emotional pain remained, but the tightness was gone. “What did you do?”

“I helped. I told you I was here to help. Only to help. I can be even more helpful.”

The young girl's fear was abating, though she was still quite nervous and unsure about the figure. He made her feel better, but so did they until they hurt her. Maybe he would hurt her too. I should make him go away. I should leave. But it hurts. She doesn't have to keep him around. Maybe she can feel better and leave. Maybe he can help for a moment. “What can you do?”

“Anything your poor heart needs. Think of it like granting a wish. You have suffered. You didn’t deserve it. You don’t deserve the pain. They do, don’t they?”

Yes. “They hurt me.”

“I can take care of that.”

“You can hurt them?”

“I can’t, no.” The girl felt a slight twang of disappointment at that response. Though she was bothered at her own disappointment that he couldn’t harm them. “I can’t interrupt free will. That wouldn’t make me a very good person now would it. No. I can help you do it though. I can give you the tools to hurt them, however you need. And I can take your pain away. Poof! Gone. Would you like these things?”

“I want the pain gone.”

“What else would you like?”

“I do want to hurt them.”

“Very good. Wish it.”

“What?”

“You have said what it is you want, now go ahead and make your wish. Ask me for what you want. And be clear. Own your request. Be confident.”

She hesitated, feeling that this may be her last moment to turn back. She heard a small voice in the back of her mind. She could not make out what it said but she knew that the voice was warning her. It was advising her against the decision she was about to make. But she had never paid too much mind to that voice, and it had been quieted too often. It simply was no longer loud enough to make much of a difference now. She looked at the floating red eyes and smile. It was patient. Understanding. Giving her time. She looked back over the ledge. One last contemplation of jumping. She turned back to the red glow. “Okay. I wish that you would take the pain away and I wish that you would give me what I need to make them suffer.”

The eyes and smile grew brighter, the red glow illuminating the space. “Very good, darling.” 

Suddenly the young girl inhaled sharply, the air tasting like ice. She felt her blood run cold. A freeze overtaking her from the inside out, everything was cold. Her emotions suffocating under the pressure. She looked up at the red glow, scared. Her pain was gone, but she felt no joy whatsoever. The little bit that had been there before, hiding from her, but there, was now gone. No pain, no joy, no emotion. It was all gone. And then it hit…her mind flooded all at once with images and visceral thoughts. A tsunami of information, like a million thoughts and images flashing before her in seconds. Every way known to man for how to make another human experience pain and suffering was now filling her mind. It lasted for what felt like hours, her eyes rolling back into her head as her mind struggled to take in and process every grotesque image and thought. Every evil action, all of which involving her own hand and action. And then it stopped. She fell onto her back, staring up into the dark sky. Shaking, trembling, vomit on her shirt and tears running down her face. She felt nothing, but somehow pain had returned. The emotions were gone, as was promised, but something different was there. Her soul felt destroyed, ripped apart and left unrecognizable. She had seen all torture, pain and evil that man could perform, including ones yet to be performed, including things she would never forget, things she would see every time her eyes closed. She lay shaking.

“Child.” The red glow was looking down at her now. “You have received everything you wanted. And I have done well. I am happy that I was able to help you. I will be going now.” The red glow disappeared.

The young girl remained on the ground, lightly convulsing. She wondered how far down the water actually was from the bridge.

The End