The Man Who Doesn't Exist. Chapter II

As Julien sat on his table, enjoying every bite of his meal of boiled potatoes, greens and... well, HUMAN, he looked at the place where the guy was tied up and alive an hour ago.

It fascinated him how a living person, a human being, who was breathing and talking and hearing and thinking, just like every other human an hour ago was on his plate now. He was merely reduced to food.

That's just how life is. In the end, does it all justify? All the work that you put into maintaining a facade about how your life is in front of people, all the amount of thought you put into trivial matters... Does it all make sense in the end? This man right here, people are gonna search for him for a month or two. And what happens after that? They move on. People have a really really small attention span. If they're not benefited from something, they move on. After some time, everyone's gonna end up like this guy. Well, not on my plate but... Forgotten. People will forget about this guy. People will forget about Mr. Finn, his wife, me, everyone. But if that's what's going to happen to all of us, what was the ultimate purpose of this life? Was it to just wake up, go to work, eat, enjoy, sleep and repeat? Am I playing this game of life correctly? And if yes, am I winning?

As Julien snapped out of his thought train, he noticed something on one of his cupboard's lower drawer. He walked up to it and pulled a piece of paper which was sticking out. He yanked at it and then pulled it out of the drawer. It was a full size A-4 size paper.

Oh, this paper. Well, Mission Accomplished!

That paper contained the details of a cop who was investigating an old case about Julien since a month or two. 

You couldn't catch me even if you spent your whole lifetime!

The cop's name was Brandon. There was also a picture of him on the paper. He somehow reminded Julien of a person he knew.

Man, the guy looked good in the picture but he certainly didn't taste as good.

He put the sheet aside and looked at the drawer. Opening it, the contents reminded him of something that he wished never happened. But deep inside, somewhere in a corner of his heart, he was glad that what had happened, had happened. That was what gave him a new life, a new place, a new identity. He couldn't help but drift into the thoughts of where it all started.

I was only fifteen then. The night was chilly and lonely. That was how most of my nights were on those days. All locked up, with no one to talk to, and with pain all over the body. I didn't quite get the concept of a prison before that but I imagined prison to be better. I was scared, very scared and I wanted to get out, but I didn't know how.

Everyday, Mom and Dad, used to come into my room and beat me up. Sometimes, they'd starve me for a day or two. Dad liked hitting me with a metal rod that he had and Mom, well she had her own methods. But, they weren't my real parents. I was adopted by them. People at school would sometimes notice my bruises but I used to tell them that I tripped and fell on the ground. My foster parents used to abuse me because they wanted to take their frustration out on something and I get that. I take mine out by killing.

I had some really good memories of my real parents. My Mom would always make me my favorite Blueberry shake whenever I was sad. My Dad always gave me piggyback rides whenever I wanted. The three of us would go out for a movie every weekend and go get Ice-cream after that. I was very happy. Until one day, when it all changed. It was a weekend. The night was stormy but we went out anyway. When we were returning back from a movie, my Dad had trouble seeing through the windshield. The road was dark and rain was pouring down like I never before. Right when my Dad was about to make a right turn, he saw a flicker of lights coming from the opposite side, which seemed to draw nearer as every second passed by. And suddenly, the lights that he had seen, came charging swiftly towards us. It was a truck speeding from the opposite direction. Terrified, dad hit the brakes and turned the steering all the way to the right. That should've done it but there was a pool of water right there on the ground and when my dad turned the car, the tires couldn't hold up and the whole car toppled. In the middle of the road, my whole family lay there, dead. The next few days were a blur, I had been told that my parents were dead and that I'd be going home with new parents. I had no idea what I was in for at that time.

The beatings and stuff used to happen everyday. But on one day, on a Saturday night, I heard loud noises coming down from the living room.

'Well, I'm sure they will take you back. They can't just fire you.'

'No, they wouldn't!', My foster Dad shouted.

'So, what are we going to do now?'

'I don't know! Am I supposed to know every goddamn thing?'

'You're not supposed to but you have to. And don't you dare try to vent your anger out on me, got it?'

After about 15 minutes, I heard footsteps. Fast. Loud. Climbing up the staircase. Closing in on my room.

When the footsteps stopped, I heard a different sound. The sound of my door's lock clicking. Slowly, the door opened and to this day, I clearly remember the sight that I saw. He stood there, looking more furious than ever. He stood, holding the dreaded rod in his hand and stared at me. And within a second, as if he was possessed by a mad demon, he charged towards me. I did what anybody would have done. I ran. I ran downstairs. I could hear him telling me to stop but I only heard the sound of my feet thumping on the ground as I ran.

I ran towards the kitchen and hid behind the cabinet. He came inside, tapping the rod on the table slowly as he walked towards the cabinet.

'Come out Julien... Daddy's not gonna hurt you...'

I didn't know what to do. As I was sitting there, hidden, contemplating my options, he popped out suddenly in front of me, laughing. His laugh was really loud. Like a maniac who had just been set free.

'You shouldn't have run boy...'

As he swung the rod down low, trying to hit my face, I did something that I'm very proud of. In one swift move, I grabbed a knife that was lying over the counter and rose from my sitting position, stabbing him right in his chest where his heart was supposed to be, that is, if he had one. Everything and everyone froze at that moment. Time. Me. His wife. His heart.

His wife started screaming on top of her lungs as she ran towards his lifeless body. He was bleeding really bad. But what she seemed to have forgotten was that I was standing near his body too. And without thinking twice, I thrust my blade right into her skull. The whole house just fell silent. I was all alone again. It was just like the usual, except that now, there were two dead bodies in the house.

I did some quick thinking and wiped my prints off the knife and dropped it near the bodies. I went towards the front door, and stepped outside. The door had an auto-lock system so it locked itself on me. I took a shovel from the garage and broke the door's lock from the outside to make it look like someone had broken in deliberately. I went in, and up to my room and messed up my room. Then I took all the cash that they had and then with a backpack hung over my back, I went up to their bodies, picked up the knife again as there was one more thing I had to do. Raising the knife high I...--

Julien came to his senses and knelt down. He felt tired. He was really lost in his thoughts about his past. He put his hand into the drawer and took out...two skulls. One had a crack in it. He stared at both the skulls for a while and then placed it back where it was.

There was a knock on his door.

As Julien opened his door, he saw Mr. Finn.

Him again?

'Mr. Finn? Why? What happened?'

'No, no. It's nothing. I was leaving to visit my bro and thought I'd ask you about the pie. So, how was it? Bad or really bad?' Mr. Finn asked, smiling.

'It was really really good. Thank Mrs. Finn for me, will you?'

'Sure. And hey, I just realized, your school's on the way too! Want me to drop you?'

'Oh, sure. Let me just change into my work clothes real quick!'

'Alright, hurry up Michael!'

As Julien heard him call that name, he stopped on his tracks, smiled, and went on to change his clothes.