a_time_slip | (no subject)

"No", Julian answered, glaring at the monster, but speaking to Janie. "If it were true and all was fake, we wouldn't be here now. Think about it ... wasn't all this thing did to make us stop seeing what is wrong here?"

It might have been easier to enjoy the happiness without worrying about all the bad things, but it had felt very real to him. What he knew was real was that he didn't want it to be fake.

"And since when do we need a parasitic monster to feel happiness?" he therefore added defiantly.

Janie looked at the monster, then at Julian "I liked it, with you." She still wasn't sure that she wanted to kill the monster, because she didn't want anything with Julian to change.

"Your lives were miserable before me." The monster said, sounding a little bored. "Go back to the town, and forget all about this."

Julian returned the look, taking his attention off of the monster for a short moment. "So did I. Still do. It's up to us to keep it though, not to that thing."

The beast's words had sowed a little doubt in his mind, but he knew this was the right thing to do nevertheless. Speaking to the monster again, he shook his head.

"No. Thanks for the fun, but you're going to let us go now. And everyone else."

Janie was about to answer, and tell Julian that yes, they would work any problems out, and stay together, when the monster spoke again.

"You're going to outlive him, Janie Taylor, just like you've outlived everyone else. Your heart will break long before then."

Janie's words caught in her throat, and she went back to staring at the monster.

"If you leave here, you'll never be happy again."

"I don't want this false happiness. Let us go!"

"NO!" Shouted the monster "YOU ARE TRAPPED. FOREVER!!!"

Julian wanted to warn Janie not to listen to the monster's words, that they were nothing but lies, but it didn't seem necessary. Its spell was broken, at least for them.

When the monster shouted, Julian readjusted his aim and glared at it.

"No. It's too late. We've seen you through. We're leaving, and it's up to you whether we have to hurt you for doing this or if we don't. So?"

"You'll never hurt me!" said the monster, as the fog quickly became thicker.

"He's going to run." Janie said, before raising her weapon and firing. She didn't want all of the people on the island to be unhappy, but she also didn't want the monster feeding off of them.

"We'll see about that!"

Julian shot as well, letting the monster's voice guide his aim when seeing it became harder. He moved quickly and tried to reach for the creature, determined not to let it get away.

The fog quickly lifted, and the ruins of a town surrounded them, and the monster lay dead on the ground.

"He's gone, Julian." she said, slowly "Do you feel any different? I still like you, and I don't think we made a mistake."

Julian kept his gun aimed at the monster for a while longer as he couldn't believe that it should be over so quickly. But the beast didn't move, and he had a quick look around before turning to Janie again.

"... It doesn't feel as if anything changed", he answered, still too wary to feel relief. "Are you sure it is over?"

"I don't know." She said, walking over to the monster "Should I shoot him again?"

She was worried. The ruins seemed empty, and everything was still quiet.

"I don't think that's necessary", Julian answered quietly.

Watching the dead monster made him feel uncomfortable, but he looked thoroughly for any sign of life.
When he couldn't see anything, he focused on the ruins.

"We should have a look around this place, to make sure he hasn't got friends somewhere."

"Right, others." She stared at the monster for a long moment, then turned away. "Let's do that, before they start that fog again... I can't wait to leave this place."

Julian nodded and avoided looking at the monster again. This would give him a lot to think later, but now wasn't the time for it.

"Yes, you're right. Let's leave as soon as we're done here."

He started walking towards an empty street, listening to any sounds that might indicate someone else was here.

There was a sound coming from a building at the end of the ruined street, but otherwise, it was silent.

"You pick the next vacation."

Julian couldn't help but smile a little. "Alright. I'll pick something as boring and as little dangerous as possible."

Then, he focused on the building the sound was coming from and pointed. "Something's there. Let's have a look."

"I want to have picnics with you, under the stars." Janie said "Can you pick somewhere like that? Please?"

She looked toward the building with fear, but walked to it anyway. She moved slowly and made sure Julian was never too far from her. "They're all going to have to rebuild this world... if they stay that is. This place is in ruins."

"Definitely. You have no idea how much I'd love to do that just now", Julian answered.

He tried to focus on the task again and checked for more signs of life. When they reached the building, he stopped, making sure himself that Janie was nearby, before he opened the door. "I wonder what happened here", he said quietly. "Perhaps we'll find out."

"I don't know." Janie frowned, then walked into the building. It was very quiet, but someone or something was hiding inside.

Julian gave her a reassuring shoulder squeeze and a half-smile before he concentrated on his target. Silently, he moved into the direction where he thought he had heard a faint noise coming from.

As soon as Julian walked forward, something ran past him very quickly. Something ran by Janie too, and all that could be seen was a few dark blurs.

"What is that?" Janie asked, as more things ran by them.

Julian spun around when the first one came past him. Even though he instantly focused on the other ones, he found it hard to make out what they were.

"Don't know. Let's see."

He froze for a moment, then his hands shot forward as he tried to catch one of the moving things.

The creatures were fast, so fast that no one could catch them. Janie focused for a moment, then turned to Julian.

"I'm going to slow them down. I know you will be able to catch them. There are three, catching and killing them will end this."

She turned away once more, and the dark shapes began to slow down. Julian would be able to see that they were minature monsters, shrouded in darkness.

Julian muttered a curse and made a quick step forward to regain his balance after having caught nothing but thin air.
He glanced at Janie over his shoulder and nodded. "Alright, let's try that again."

He had only a vague idea what Janie did to slow down the shapes and how she knew that killing them would end this situation, but he trusted her. As the movement to his right became slower and the shape less blurry, he spun around, took aim and shot in one fluent motion.

The darkness left the shape, and the small monsters fell to the ground, then exploded into dust.

"You got one!" exclaimed Janie, as the remaining shapes slowed down even more. "I can keep them this slow for a few more minutes, but I can't stop them."

Julian didn't even stop to check on the monster, Janie's words were confirmation enough that he didn't have to worry about that one anymore.

He whirled around to face the next shape and shot, missed, shot again, all the time aware that the remaining one was heading for the door now, trying to escape.