Episode 6A: Ascending or Descending

Ryan also has a chat with Samuel Finch. What will he have to do next?

Episode 6

Ascending or Descending

Part A

It was not a very comforting time between Ryan and Samuel Finch. Ryan didn’t have any time for games or gimmicks. It was just to get his job done. In fact that job had already been done. He just had to return to the underworld. Ryan’s shotgun had aimed at Samuel, while Samuel kept his hands up as a sign of maintaining his proximity. Samuel stepped back for a moment, one step, two step, three step....

“Stay right where you are! Who are you?” asked and commanded Ryan with the energy of his lungs.

“It’s okay kid.... it’s okay! I didn’t come here to fight....” said Samuel Finch calmly with a slouch.

“Shut up! You are not a hangman, what are you doing here? You must be another target!”

“Oh... a target? Ha.... I was a long time ago until they gave up and decided to cancel the search. That’s just a rumor but I am sure they still think about me. I’m nothing but a dodger right now!”

Ryan found this man as a particular being. He did not know what to do. It was rare for a target to escape and find another skirmish in the underworld. What was Samuel doing? What was his objective?

“Were you trying to sneak up on me and kick my butt?” asked Ryan

“Kick your butt?” laughed Samuel. “Wow you are a kid! You are still a child Ryan! What the hell happened to you, were you dropped as a little baby or.....”

BLAM

Ryan fired his shotgun, but he purposely missed. This had put Samuel down to his knees while he covered his face with his dirty hands. Samuel knelt down with fear as if Ryan was the king. Clearly this was a game of mercy that Samuel was in. He had second thoughts of being the loud mouth.

“D****t I’m sorry! I’m sorry I was being such a meanie to you! I can’t help it.... you see..... staying in this world has changed me forever! I can’t help it.... I can’t help talking like an annoying parrot Ryan! Can’t you see.... look around you! Is this the place you want to live in for the rest of your life? Do you like this place?” cried Samuel emotionally.

Ryan observed the foggy and chaotic atmosphere that he was in. He turned to some areas of the sky, and some areas of the city. Once he saw the eye he stepped back due to his nervousness and his fear. The sight of the eye was very overwhelming. The pupil had moved in random directions. It kept vibrating, moving, and shaking. He heard loud screams that came from the skies. The sound waves traveled from the eye to the rest of the underworld. It was in torture, and desperation!

“That eye.... what the hell is it?” asked Ryan.

“My... you just love to ask questions or point guns at people. You never do anything good for others! That’s what kids do these days! Okay....I’ll answer your question.......!”

“Well...... what is it?”

“It wants something or someone! I can’t tell you otherwise that would spoil the fun!

Ryan lost his patience and walked closer with his shotgun. His posture had tightened and straightened. Who could tease someone with a face like that? Only crazy people like Samuel would. Samuel walked back further and further.

“Hey... Hey... listen kid.... look! If you are really gonna pull that trigger, you wouldn’t know anything else easily now would you? I can tell you who else knows but they wouldn’t be willing to tell you! Ryan you see it’s a scary world out there too. You also live in a scary world because the Ascension decided to f**k s**t up!”

Samuel lost his footing and tripped. The impact didn’t stop him from talking to defend himself. He was afraid that Ryan would pull the trigger.

“I mean come on..... you know there is something wrong with the government if you got the Ascension onto it. Nobody is gonna tell you anything, and if it were someone.... it definitely wouldn’t be Carnegie or the Ascension. Because one.....that’s classified information.....two......you are just a hangman. The Ascension don’t like people who are hangmen. They are told to take them down. You’d get shot or sliced into bits. And you guys know as much as the subordinates do.”

This had caused Ryan to lower his shotgun. Ryan knew Samuel had information that was very important. This was the only reason why Samuel was alive.

“What the hell made you think talking to a hangman like me was a smart idea?” asked Ryan.

“You are different Ryan.... you are special.....!”

“Special...? Don’t play games with me you son of a b***h!”

“No.... you have to look into your heart! Do you still have it? Is it still beating?”

“What do you mean?” yelled Ryan who pumped his shotgun.

“Remember your first time hunting kid? You still had a heart! You didn’t pull the trigger! Remember who you are! Don’t let the dominant hangman get inside of you!”

“Wait.... how did you know all this and how did you know my name?” asked Ryan who stood back with a threatening pose.

“I’ve been watching you.... and your friend! He taught you very well kid but he doesn’t know what I know and neither do you. Only Carnegie and the Ascension do! That friend of yours is a really nice guy, I mean you should really get to know him. Maybe you have according to what he told you or so but he isn’t really what you see. He cares about you. You better get out of here or that eye will see us. You know what happens when the eye sees you?”

Ryan had an idea what would happen if the eye had discovered him, so he moved under cover with Samuel to make sure the eye would not see him. Only chaos and dysfunction would come along with the exposure.  

“Look kid, you don’t want to play the bad guy in this game. There is a war right now between the Ascension and the Hangmen like you! Do you really want to still eat your chocolate, and kill people! Because that’s all you do every day right? I’ll give you time to think about it! Go back to your own world okay! We can talk later kid.”

It was now Sunday night back at the regular world of Acrisius. Logun and Tanya sat at the bench as they both watched the stars. They both enjoyed the view. Logun thought about the times he hung out with Tanya, and the freedom that he had. He never spent the weekend night outside the Underworld. There was a river right on front of them and it reflected the bright moon. Logun was the only one who stared at Tanya instead of the stars. Tanya just sat back to view them. Logun wasn’t sure if she was interested in him or not but Logun just slouched forward rubbing his hands together for warmth.

“Logun..... do you really believe the guy who claimed to be the leader of the Ascension? You know.... the guy with the mask on television?” asked Tanya who then made eye contact with Logun.

“I don’t know! I honestly don’t know. There are so many things that go on in this city that I don’t know.”

“Well we just have to look out more and see what happens. We can only expect a lot with silly things like that.” stated Tanya.

“Silly things huh?” laughed Logun who looked down. “That’s funny.... because if we called this silly, wouldn’t we be doing what he didn’t want us to do? He wants us to see what goes on outside of our boundaries, and what goes on in front of our eyes in which we don’t see. Calling it silly wouldn’t be so polite now would it?” Logun then looked at the empty space ahead of him while Tanya stared at him with a smile.

“Interesting!” said Tanya. “That’s an interesting point!”

“But then there are two types of people who live in this world Tanya. Ones who enjoy it and the ones who don’t.”

Tanya heard this from Logun and also found that point to be interesting.

“I heard a story a long time ago Logun.”

“A story?” asked Logun

“It’s an allegory....by Plato.”

“Plato..... who is he?” Logun was confused by the name. He had never heard of him before.

“Well the story goes like this. There was once a cave which help people deeply into one place. These people were chained and positioned to look at projections and shadow casts for their whole life. Those projections and shadows were the only things in their lives.”

Logun was intrigued by this story.

“Suddenly, one prisoner was free. He made his way out the cave but then his eyes could not adjust to the sun and light he had never seen before. Once they adjusted, he saw the reality and enlightenment he never had. He saw how the world works and the new reality of people, animals, and where the shadows came from. He came back to tell the other prisoners his fascinating stories of enlightenment, but unfortunately, they rejected his words. For the cave and shadows were their only home!”

Once Tanya had finished her story, Logun took his time to figure out what to say in response to that story. He was still nervous around Tanya but he knew he could manage. However, he took the story to heart and figured out he had been living under the cave as well. He did not know whether he was going to be enlightened or not. Tanya’s hand had slowly reached Logun’s finger that was laying down on the seat. When he felt it, Tanya looked down quickly and realized that it was there. Logun’s hand had opened quickly when they mutually knew the contact they made.

“I should go!” said Tanya.

Logun looked up to Tanya when she walked away from the bench. He was confused by the quick motions of her. Logun stood up and walked to Tanya.

“Wait...what’s going on?” asked Logun.

“Oh well it’s almost midnight...right? We should go before the curfew!” stated Tanya.

Logun looked at the clock tower behind him and saw that they were about an hour and twenty minutes away. He then thought to himself. “Wait...Tanya’s home is closer than to mine. What’s the rush for?” He didn’t know whether to be suspicious or to just let Tanya go. He didn’t have the guts to go and stalk her down like a target of Acrisius. He could only wait for the time after his work. Tomorrow was his day back as a hangman. Logun wasn’t looking forward to that day, instead he wished there was another day between him and Tanya again.

He decided to walk towards a bridge. There were no other citizens, nor there were any reasons for business to be open. The lights were still on but the stores and restaurants were closed at this time . Logun took the time by himself until suddenly.....blood began to drip from the wall ahead of him. This blood didn’t drip from top to bottom, it dripped the other way around. The blood was no longer merged with the wall. Crimson came out of the wall, but he was sweaty, and unable to keep still. His face was more gauntly than last time. The skull was almost visible to Logun, and the exposed tissue was visible.

“Didn’t have your chocolate in time Crimson?” asked Logun. “You don’t look so fresh!”

“I’ve only finished it just a few minutes ago.” replied Crimson who slowly regained his skin and his flesh. “What have you been doing lately?”

“Nothing much..... how is Ryan doing?”

“Ryan has killed an Ascension member Logun! You would be so proud!”

Logun’s facial expression slightly smiled in the fact that Ryan improved very well. However he still maintained his external emotions.

“He killed an Ascension member.... that’s not surprising! I taught him how to defend himself from others.” said Logun.

“But he is gifted as someone who knows how to fight rather than to use his half wits. He may be a difficult being but he has great potential.... even for the night shifts! That is what I have placed him in for tomorrow! You need to show him how to do his night shifts when you get back!”

“Wait a minute? Tomorrow! He’s gonna lose his mind! All he’s gonna do is focus on how to get out of the violent morphing city and get crushed in that mouth! You can’t place him there!” said Logun whose emotions were negatively lifted by his new assignment.” Logun had yelled with the energy of his lungs. His care for Ryan had dominated him very well.

“Ryan wants this too! He was excited when I gave him the night shifts! You should have been there.”

“I can’t let the underworld chew him up into pieces! I know he’s a good hangman but when the hell did putting him through the underworld during night became such a great idea Crimson! Come on you are the second in command for god’s sake!”

“That was an order for me! The boss said so!”

“Okay, so the boss knows Ryan like I have?” asked Logun in a sarcastic manner.

“Logun... did you forget that the boss’s power is to see things we cannot see. He has done a lot for the greater good for us! He’s a greater being than any of us. We cannot see the souls of the dead, we cannot see the true nature of others, only the boss... Carnegie Spree can.”

Logun had paused for a moment once what Crimson had said stunned him. He looked away and held his head. After those few seconds, he looked up at Crimson.

“Oh yeah.... well I’ll tell you something that happened this weekend. I saw a man named Andrew Walker! He was a target who I shot and stabbed a couple of times. Enough to end his life! If you kept track of who the media publically displays, then the target was confirmed dead. He decided to visit me recently. The way I could tell it was really him was his zombified bleeding eyes and his severed head that turned around. He wasn’t even touching the surface at all either! So that’s what I have seen. Tell me Crimson, have you seen any odd things that occur in the middle of Acrisius? I’ll tell the boss that when I get back to the tower.”

Logun’s mind was overwhelmed by the fact that Ryan would have to be taken to the underworld during night and the fact that he saw Andrew Walker and the dodger Samuel Finch! He didn’t know what was happening. Logun hastily walked away to avoid Crimson for the night.

“Yes.... now I have to tell you, Acrisius runs in a circle Logun!” said Crimson who wanted to catch Logun while he was about to disappear.

Logun was confused by this statement right before he stopped walking. He did not know what Crimson meant. He took the time to himself to analyze what he said but he asked. “What do you mean?”

“All the subordinates just live their life in a circle. Wake up, do their job, then sleep!” answered Crimson in a calm manner.

“So that’s the circle? To do those three things?”

“Exactly..... but the point is that there is not much change in the circle. Nobody has a disruption of this elliptical pattern. However, we hangmen also live in this circle. But then there are exceptions to the elliptical pattern everybody lives in.”

“Yeah, because that’s why we are here! To kill anyone who is the result of the disruption!” stated Logun who immediately turned to Crimson.

Crimson then laughed in a matter of comedy. He was slightly impressed by the way Logun replied to Crimson’s statement.

“Yes.... that is true... but Logun! Is there a disruption in the pattern you live in?” asked Crimson politely.

Logun then chuckled a bit and said. “Yeah but you healed me from that disruption!”

“Tell me Logun, was it exciting?” asked Crimson who adjusted his glasses. “It must have been dynamic for somebody like you who is custom to the old and same things!”

“Not really, I just wanted to get the hell out of the hospital. I never really needed help before, so it was a different experience. But what about you. You didn’t seem too well when you just came right now! I thought you were really gonna die Crimson even though that wouldn’t be the case.”

“But worse Logun....worse! Yes you are right! It’s not the case, but then I would get a fate worse than death which is what the boss told me. There are many things that the boss tell us. The subordinates we pass by everyday, they never know that we might be the ones that take their lives if they commit a sin. We never know them well! All what we are given is their name, their crime, and location of the area they were pulled in for the Underworld.”

“Crimson.... you said we live in a circle right? It always hurts in someway if your circle becomes disrupted. But I’ll just say don’t give up on your chocolate unless if you want to see what it’s like to bend that circle of your’s. I’ve had my moment while my circle was interrupted. Why don’t you see what happens with you?”  

“Don’t destroy your circle Logun! You are still the one who cannot afford that! A heart attack has its own story.... but you need to maintain yours when you come back!” said Crimson with a smile who then walked at the opposite direction of Logun.

Both Logun and Crimson had parted ways. Crimson then brushed the beard he had with his finger. He began to have some thoughts about Logun. He felt that he knew Logun more than Logun knew himself.

“Hhhmmmm, Logun doesn’t know that I can push his buttons a bit. He’s capable of care and compassion than what he shows!” said Crimson to himself. He then laughed and continued. “He can’t disrupt his circle, but I’m sure the boss doesn’t want us to do that. Besides, the boss tells us not to do many things but kill and have fun. However the circle may become so boring. I don’t even know what I was like before I lived in my circle. I don’t even know my age. Well then, there is only so much to ask but the answers may never be given to us directly! Suppose Logun is right, it will have to happen starting with my withdrawal symptoms of the chocolate, but I can’t start that now....can I?”

Reviews

[Shep]

a man of few words says this was an excelent. Chapter. Again the detail is amazing. I this writing. A lot more than your script writing. . So very awesome.

[Xerclipse]

Thanks shep but I'm doin my homework :P Im glad you say that I improved. I need to read your stuff but my art college gave me so much to do D: I wont even know what free time feels like anymore!

[Shep]

Welcome too college life. Been there done that.

[Writer #00]

"...you have to look into your heart! Do you still have it? Is it still beating?”-->I love this line : )

It was now Sunday night back at the regular world of Acrisius.-->back in the regular world?

He didn’t have the guts to go and stalk her down like a target of Acrisius. -->Aww, Logun's so strange...but Tanya IS one of his targets, isn't she? A target of Logun's heart, haha! : )

I know he’s a good hangman but when the hell did putting him through the underworld during night became such a great idea Crimson!-->became should be become

This was quite a philosophical chapter you wrote there, Xerclipse, from Samuel's trying to remind Ryan of the great change he underwent due to his hangman training (from a compassionate wimpy boy to a hardened, ruthless killing machine) to Logun and Tanya's discussion (adding Plato, in--nice!) about the nature of what is real based on one's environment and upbringing and ending with Logun and Crimson's discussion about the repetitive monotony of life as a redundant circle (nice metaphor, by the way). Having these conversations is a great way to raise more questions and answer others, moving the plot along and possibly foreshadowing. I'm now beginning to wonder what would happen if a hangman broke his circle through sin...would they be sent to hunt themselves? Or would someone else?

Good job making me feel pity for Samuel Finch (he creeped me out the first few times you introduced him), always trapped in the horrible underworld. Poor Sammy : ( Now I'm worried Tanya's going to be heard questioning the laws of Acrisius and Logun's going to be assigned to killing her since you mentioned that most of the targets the hangman know nothing more than their basic information and therefore have no form of regret when they kill them. The subordinates are made to be mere human shells, without real meaning, so that they can be easily dehumanized if needed?

Well done, I'll wait for chapter 6B!

[Xerclipse]

I'll fix those errors sometime. Basically the regular world is really just the dimension you and I walk in. But the underworld is just the parallel dimension.

Thanks ;) I did try to foreshadow the many things that will come by using "philosophical" conversations. The plot did need to be raised otherwise.... me the author and you the reader would be going through Ghost Runner in a circle. The first volume was just a way for you to feel the circle that Logun and Crimson had been talking about. Don't worry Writer #00 you have alot to expect. You will see what happens when the circle gets broken! Get ready for the ride to increase its speed.

[Writer #00]

I'll strap in and keep a paper bag next to me!

[Xerclipse]

but dont be too sensitive like Harri or you will puke in that paper bag!

[Writer #00]

Haha, yeah... I think I can handle it : )