December 15, 2020
Snowflakes gently fell to the ground, no breeze to be felt. It was a calm winter night as the trees returned to their slumber and the ground rose, inch by inch, with snow. It was, simply, peaceful.
Edward sat, hurdled against a tree, with his arms clenched to his body. He couldn't feel his hands anymore, nor his feet for that matter. He would die out here, out in the chilling snow. It would bury him alive and would be months before his body would be discovered. Maybe this was the fate he deserved. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't a godly man. He had subjected his wife to years of neglect, had ignored Lillian, and never showed his son how to be a proper man. He failed them all but, most of all, he failed himself.
The blood on his hands froze to his skin. At one point, they were the only thing keeping him warm but, now, they were a monument to his sins. The life he had stolen.
Half buried in snow, several feet in front of him, was his face. Not his exact face, but a face that was very similar to his own, only younger. It was a face he had grown to love and yet, it could only fill him with pain now.
You had to do it Edward. You had to.
He dared not cry, less he wanted to feel an icy tear roll down his cheek.
"I'm sorry," Edward whispered. "I'm so sorry."
He couldn't help it. The tears flooded from his eyes as the breath in his lungs became more frantic. Edward pushed up off the tree, feeling his jacket tear away from the ice that had been freezing him to the ground. Snow cascaded off of him as he crawled over to the corpse.
"I'm sorry," Edward said once more as he put his head onto the corpse's stomach.
He looked into its eyes, seeing the once warming brown eyes that use to look back at him. The same eyes that once greeted him as family and was willing to go to the ends of the Earth for Edward. Now they were cold and lifeless. They would never gaze upon Edward with that warmth. They were snuffed out of their flame.
Edward cusped the corpse's head into his hands and pressed his forehead to it's. It was cold and wet. The hair was frozen with snow as Edward tried to brush his fingers through it.
"I'm sorry, Jordan," Edward cried.
He took his own brother's life. His own blood. Could God ever truly forgive him for what he has done? Did it matter anymore?
Soft steps in the snow slowly came up to Edward. It felt... warm.
A hand reached down to Edward's shoulder, comforting him and soothing him.
He lifted his head from Jordan's and looked up. A blank face looked down at him. Only, it made him happy. It comforted him, to have someone there to be there for him.
"You know what you have to do, Eddy," The faceless man said.
Edward nodded his head and returned a sad smile to the man. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a knife, the metal freezing his hand. He pressed it to Jordan's face and began the incision.
With every cut, the face looked less and less like Jordan - less like Edward's younger brother.
Why did you make me do this Jordan? Why? Why?
Edward whimpered as bit and pieces carved from the skin. The blood hadn't gone cold just yet. It brought warmth back to Edward's hands, fueling him with a need to cut faster. He couldn't cut faster though. No, they would be angry with him if he did. Jordan had to be perfect.
His mind felt fuzzy. Did he actually kill Jordan?
Yes... wait, no. No it wasn't me. It was the Faceless. They killed Jordan. They killed all those people.
Edward felt his body twitch as his memory seemingly began to fade. He felt his blade go into Jordan's heart. Surely he killed Jordan?
No, it was the Faceless. They killed him. Not me. Not me. I'm a loyal man. I'm a godly man.
I'm a loyal man.
I'm a godly man.
He looked down at his brother's eyes. Edward ended his life.
NO! It wasn't me! It was the Faceless! I saw them do it!
As with Robert, Aaron, Rebecca, and maybe even Gabriel, Edward had ended their lives. The Faceless were merely observers, watching as their newest pupil killed those who were close to him. They were using him and, soon, he would fulfill an even greater purpose.
"It wasn't me... It wasn't me..." Edward muttered over and over. "I swear."
The faceless man rubbed Edward's shoulder. "We know, Edward. We know." A long arm stretched out in front of Edward's face, holding a needle and thread.
"It wasn't me..." Edward said quietly as he grabbed the needle and thread and stuck it into the mouth. He started on the upper lip and brought it down to the lower. Then he brought back to the upper lip, followed by the lower lip once more. Then the upper, then the lower, and so on. Edward looked down into his brother's eyes - the only thing that he could even recognize from his brother's face anymore.
"I love you," Edward said to his brother one last time.
He started with the right eye. Upper, lower, upper, lower...
Next came the left eye. Upper, lower, upper, lower...
He took his knife and cut off the thread. It was done.
Edward slowly stood up, looking down at the mutilated corpse of his brother. Only, he didn't know it was his brother anymore. To Edward, it was simply a corpse that he found in the forest. The memory of his brother's demise faded from his thoughts. He blankly stared at the corpse. Whatever guilt, pain, and sadness he had once felt turned into nothing. He felt... nothing.
Two long arms from the faceless man wrapped around Edward. "I'm proud of you," It said.
Edward closed his eyes and felt a warmth on the faceless man's cold skin. Where it once felt icy and chilling turned to warmth and comfort.
"Follow me," The faceless man said.
Edward did as he was told, not looking back to his brother's corpse. He looked down to the ground, following the thin footprints left in the snow. He had begun to wonder how his brother was. How was Jordan and Dana doing? They were so excited and finally ready to have a child. What would they name the kid? Edward couldn't wait to meet their child. He wanted to call up his brother right now and just talk. Talk about life as kids. Talk about all the fun things they would do with their parents.
He reached for his pocket and felt nothing.
"What the hell? Where's my phone?" He said.
Looking back up, he saw nothing. Nothing but a dark forest that was barely illuminated by moonlight shining on the snow.
"Hello?" Edward whispered. He began breathing heavily. Was he lost? Where the hell was he?
"Hello!" He yelled once more.
Nothing. He looked back down to his feet to see where he had come from.
There were no footprints.
"What... what the fuck?" Edward said. He was lost. Lost in the cold forest with no way of finding his way back. He really could use a beer.
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He wandered through the endless sea of trees for what felt like hours. In truth, it was merely fifteen minutes. The stinging feeling he had all around his body distorted his concept of time. He just wanted to be out of the cold. He wanted to be in front of a fireplace, curled up in a blanket with a beer in hand.
No, Edward. You don't need a drink. Hot chocolate. You want hot chocolate.
The need for a taste, a mere sip of alcohol was all he could think of. He promised that he would never drink again. Did he drink again? Was that why he was out in the forest?
He trudged through the snow, his body aching and his legs ready to give out. Death was all he could think of now. All he wanted was to feel some kind of warmth and from what he had heard, there would be warmth before death. What he wouldn't give for a hot shower.
A whistle from the wind caught his attention. Barely visible through the snow was a large rock formation. Edward could hear wind passing through it. Perhaps there was a cave.
With all the will he could muster in his body, he pushed forward. He was exhausted - just wanted to sleep.
Why was he out in the forest? He couldn't remember.
The whistling grew louder the closer he came. It was so close, yet so far away. His eyes began to feel heavy, his shoulders began to slump, and his legs began to shake.
Just a little bit further. Just a little bit further.
He wouldn't go any further. His body collapsed into the snow, his face submerged into its icy touch. A blanket would be so nice.
His eyes shut as he thought back to Isaac's fourth Christmas. Edward couldn't think of a day that he was happier. The smell of a cinnamon candle filled their noses while they all huddled around the tree, wrapped in blankets. Sarah insisted they wore matching pajamas, much to Edward's disapproval. But, thinking back to it, he was glad he did. They made Isaac start with the smaller presents and open them slowly. Of course, their four year old son was impatient because of it but it truly allowed them to see the reaction on his face when he got a new toy. They sipped on their hot chocolate as the sun slowly brightened their morning. It wasn't extraordinary by any Christmas standards but, for Edward, it was truly one of his happier moments.
Then he thought back to when he was a child. He was with Jordan, his mom, and his dad. They were at one of his cousin's weddings, to which Edward didn't really care for. What stood out about that day was how he watched his mom and dad dance in each other's arms. They had been fighting for the entire week but, that night, they entangled into one another and smiled as the slowly danced to the music. Edward felt happy at that moment - to see his parent's being happy. He always dreamed of doing that with his wife one day and just being there with one another. Happy.
But now, his parents were gone. He was lost in a forest, unable to move one more inch. The cold wrapped around him, ready to swallow him whole. He would never see Sarah again. He would never see Isaac, his brother, his sister in law, their future child, or...
Tears swelled in Edward's eyes.
He would never see Lillian again. Edward wished he would have treated her better, to give her the love that she needed from her father. An innocent little girl who wanted nothing more than to love her father. Could God ever forgive Edward?
Barely able to open one eye, he looked to the cave again. A black silhouette of a man stood in front of it, looking down at Edward. He remained unmoving, only watching. It must have been God.
He's come for me.
Edward closed his eyes one more time, ready to accept his fate. His body went numb and his mind went black. He was ready to die.
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A faint sound of humming seeped itself into whatever dream he was having. It almost sounded angelic. Edward's eyes slowly cracked from the ice that was forcing his eyes shut to see a thin man sitting on a log across a fire. The man was slowly turning a stick, with a skewered rabbit, above the fire. Edward brought his hands to his eyes to wipe away the melting snow. Upon looking at his hands, Edward noticed that they has begun to look more purple and blue.
"Am I dead?" Edward asked.
The man stayed quiet, intently watching his rabbit.
Edward pushed his hands to the ground to sit up. He could feel the stinging throughout his hand, forcing a small grunt out of him.
"Where are we?" Edward asked as he looked around a dark cave.
The man looked over to Edward, revealing a dark brown right eye and a swollen white left eye. His hair was scruffy and white, with brown tips. Where there wasn't a white beard and mustache, scarring and wrinkles took the rest.
"If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't be here," The man said with a coarse, raspy voice.
Edward looked into the fire, seeing the flames cackle. He didn't know if he was dead or not. Was this a test by God? Nothing was making sense anymore.
"Why am I here?"
The old man let out a small snort before looking back to his fire. Apparently, he wasn't very big on making conversation.
"Can you at least tell me who you are?"
"It doesn't matter anymore," The man replied.
Is this how people feel when they talk to me?
This would normally be Edward's dream. To sit in front of a fire and listen to nothing but its flames cackle. No talking, no singing, nothing. Just listening to the fire. However, this time he had no interest in the silence. He wanted to go home.
"This has to be a dream," Edward muttered.
The old man let out a chuckle. "I said the same thing to myself and yet, here I am."
Edward leaned forward, trying to catch as much warmth from the fire as he could. "You're not real. None of this is."
"I never claimed to be real, son. But this..." The old man gestured around them. "This is real. And you are here."
The pain in Edward's body suggested the old man was telling the truth. The warmth of the fire felt too real to be a dream. If his hands didn't pain Edward so much, he might be tempted to pinch himself. Yet, it still felt wrong.
"If you're not real, how did you save me? I was about to die in the snow and all of the sudden, I'm in this cave. I sure didn't go hunting for rabbit or start this fire myself."
The old man smiled at him. "Now you're getting it son."
"Getting what? What are you talking about?"
"You are here. How did you get here, though? Can't you remember, Edward?"
Edward backed away from the man, seeing his ugly, rotten smile. He began laughing, piercing Edward's ears.
"How do you know me? Who are you?" Edward stood up and began running into the darkness. The man's laugh rang in his ears with every step he took. There was no light, only darkness. Edward couldn't run back to the fire because it wasn't there.
"What is going on?" He said with panicked breathing.
The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, along with several other voices he didn't recognize. They clouded his mind as they laughed manically.
Make it stop, make it stop.
Like that, it stopped. Edward blinked and saw himself above a corpse without a face. Its eyes and mouth were sewn shut, the hair was shaved, and its nose and ears were carved off. A rope was wrapped around its neck with Edward firmly grasping onto it.
"Follow me," A voice said behind him
Edward turned around to see a large seven foot tall man, with no face, turned towards him. It began walking in the opposite direction of Edward. He tugged on the rope and felt the corpse drag along next to him. He would not look back to the body. Instead he kept his eyes looking down at the thin footprints while the corpse trailed behind him.
A faint vibration rang against his leg. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Edward, honey. I need you to come get me," His wife's voice said.
"Baby, what's wrong?"
The phone went silent for several seconds.
"My water just broke up. Our baby is coming"
Edward felt a jolt of excitement run through his body. "I'm on my way, baby. I'll be there soon!" he hung up the phone and reached into his coat pocket for keys. Only, they weren't there. The phone in his hand was gone. He looked up and saw a dark snowy forest with not a footprint to be seen. Edward looked behind him and saw nothing. Only darkness.
"Where am I?" Edward muttered. He began shaking, feeling a chill run across his body. The silence filled him with dread.
"I didn't mean it Edward, I haven't talked to him in months," He heard Sarah's voice say.
"You fucking lying whore! She's not even my child." The sound of his own voice echoed. Edward turned around to see two white apparitions off in a darker spot in the forest.
"How could you do this? I have nothing but love you and do everything I can for this family!" His own apparition said.
"Edward, please. I'm so sorry, I never wanted this to happen," Sarah's voice cried.
"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to fucking kill him, Sarah! Then you and your fucking kid can get the hell out of my house!"
Edward walked towards the apparition but never could seem to get closer. He reached out, desperately trying to touch them but never being able to reach.
"Edward, no. Please," She cried.
Both Edward and Sarah's apparition looked to Edward. Their faces turning from hatred to something more sinister.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Another voice from behind Edward said. He turned around to see his brother's apparition. "You're going to drink yourself to death. When is enough, enough?"
"What is going on?" Edward whispered to himself.
"You're never going to learn, Ed. One day your drinking is going to get you killed. Then your children are going to grow up without a father. Is that what you want for them, Ed? Is it?" Jordan yelled at Edward.
"No," Edward whispered. He watched as his brother's apparition faded. "No, please. Come back."
Then he looked down. There was his brother, dead at his feet. Edward lurched back and screamed.
"Jordan! No!"
Laughter erupted around him. Faceless men stood around him in a circle, laughing without mouths.
"You killed him! You fucking killed him you monsters!"
They all laughed at him. Faint footsteps came up from behind Edward and grabbed onto his shoulder. Its touch was icy and evil.
"No, Edward. You killed him," It said.
He looked down to his hand and saw a knife with warm blood covering it.
"No," Edward whispered. "I couldn't have. No."
Edward blinked and a tear rolled down his cheek. There was no longer a knife in his hand, but a rope. He was pulling a corpse - his brother's corpse. He tried to let go of the rope but couldn't. The old man's laughter from the cave filled his ears.
And once again, he awoke. The fire burned colder than before, while the old man sat on the log aside from him. He slowly rotated a stick above the fire. Edward rubbed his eyes and gazed into the fire. A chunk of meat was on the old man's stick.
"Looks good," Edward said.
The old man smiled at him and pointed at Edward. Edward looked down at his leg and saw that a part of it was carved. Horrified, Edward looked to the old man. He began laughing manically as Edward struggled to stand up. For Edward, the nightmare was only beginning.
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