Loved You In Another Life // A Skephalo Story

Chapter 26

Badboyhalo POV

If I have to pick out one good thing about prison, one thing that wills me to go on, it would be my cellmate.

From down the hall, I can constantly hear other inmates fighting fist to fist, shouting, and beating each other within an inch of consciousness.

Fortunately for me, A6d has been an amazing friend throughout the entire time. Someone who's willing to listen and share stories of his own.

We spend hours talking and laughing quietly between ourselves, and when I can't control my tears, he's here to comfort me.

With nothing else to do, we've learned a lot about each other, both happy and sad.

He doesn't seem like someone who's genuinely bad or deserves to be locked up, either. Just someone who was caught up in this stupid system that we call the afterlife.

Even though A6d didn't have to have his memories stolen from him to do his job here, he has a lot of trouble recalling some things that happened to him in life.

One of the few things he can remember, however, is how he died.

"I have nightmares about it constantly." He whispers to me during one of our late-night talks.

There's actually no way for us to tell how late it is, seeing as there's no windows here, and the guards bring our food at random times, trying to mess with our heads.

"I know that what I did was worthy of being stripped of the privilege of being an angel, but I just wish I could have a chance to explain what happened." He lies across from me, facing the wall.

"And what did happen?" I ask, knowing I'm not intruding, because we tell each other everything.

"Vince?" His name isn't actually A6d, something I learned who knows how long ago. His real name, Vincent, is something he wanted to get rid of the moment he could, something to leave behind so he can forget how his life ended.

Taking a moment to turn towards me, A6d smiles with sad eyes.

"My dad was always abusive, not just towards me, but to my mother too. It wasn't always terrible though, just when he was drunk."

My friend's eyes glaze over as he thinks back to his life. I can tell the memories hurt him."I was 17 when he started getting really bad, starting hurting my mom too. It was something I could deal with at first, but then-"

Words catch in his throat as he struggles to continue. "It was really bad that day, worse than I'd ever seen it. My mom was trying to calm him down, but he flung her across the room in anger. She smashed her head on the counter and passed out cold, but he wouldn't stop. He started punching her and scratching her, taking broken bottles from the floor to stab her with. It was the most horrible thing I've ever seen."

Shuffling closer to A6d, I put a hand on his shoulder. "That's horrible, you don't have to finish your story if you don't want to, I can tell it's hard for you."

He shakes his head. "No, I already started."

"I was crying for a while, but only after I calmed down did I realize she wasn't breathing. He killed her, the woman he was supposed to love, he killed her."

A6d leans into me, tears soaking my torn and dirty clothes.

"I got so mad when I realized...I couldn't control it." His face looks hollow as he stares up at me. "I attacked my dad, giving it everything I had. He came at me too, and we tussled for a while, but I was never as strong as he was."

A small tear drips onto the cold floor. "I grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter, at this point only trying to defend myself, but it was too late. I ended up stabbing him in the chest, and bled out. The wounds I had left me with the same fate, my whole family and I, dead in the same day."