Holding Everything

Chapter 8: The Untold Truth

I guess it makes sense now that I think about it, when I first arrived she mentioned that if I was around any other crowd then I'd be chased by Runners, so that must've been her way of saying she's one of the good ones. "Keep my ass in line? Does that mean you're gonna like, babysit me or something."

"Hah! In your dreams, it just means that if you don't get your target first, then I will. So you either save your target or I kill em, simple as that."

"Wait why are you killing people?"

"We Runners are hunters, it's really simple, when you see the black flame turn red, that means the race is on and it's now fair game, the target is nearing its completed phase so if you don't hurry your ass up and save em' I just simply take em' out. Once the next target actually becomes a target, they-"

"I'll explain that, Mo." Gloria hesitates before continuing, "Mo is correct in a sense, the Runners are considered hunters because they hunt and kill, that's their duty as Runners, the 'Victims of the Path' as we call it, become possessed with the Black Path, which makes them turn suicidal, as Handlers you simply stop them from succeeding, as Mo said if you take too long the Runners job is to end their life before they can commit the Black Path's End, which is basically the black flames success in killing their victim. The main goal is basically stop the Black Flame from successfully over taking its victim in any way we have to."

"So that's why the flame turns Red and then to White and then disappears, it's like saying the Runner succeeded in killing the victim, which prevented the evil black flame from succeeding. So what happens if the evil black flame succeeds in killing its victim?" I ask.

Gloria inhales slowly and exhales deeply, hesitating before giving me her answer, "We don't know for sure, but we are absolutely certain that if enough victims die at the hand of the Black Flame, something evil will be reborn from the many lives lost at its power. But in order to keep peace, we divided our worlds into Sectors and selected Given Handlers to partner with the Natural Handlers, along with Runners and other things to help keep everything cleansed and 'blessed'. But with the things that have happened this time, it's hard to know if things will be okay, 3 Given Handlers to 1 Natural Handler has never been heard of," she trails off, showing an expression of worry. "That is the reason I am telling you so much in the first place, normally I explain your duties, and answer a few simple questions then have you go fulfill your job, but considering the circumstances, you should know a little more than what is normally permitted."

"This is so contradictory, you're saying we have to keep the black path from successfully killing its target, but it doesn't matter how, it's like it's not even about saving these people it's just saving yourselves from dealing with some doom guy." I say irritably, Mo cuts in aggressively.

"It is about saving the people, but after a while you realize that, not everyone can be saved, when there's war, you always have casualties. I may put your damn victims in danger, but the "Black Path' would do so much worse if they succeed in engulfing their soul in their wickedness, so just look at it as, 'if they end up dying, at least their soul is intact' or whatever. Our goal is like Gloria said, 'stop the Black Flame from overtaking its victim in any way we have to', if you don't hurry up and save em' then I just gotta kill em', simple." She grunts irritably, crossing her arms as if to complain I'm whining too much, but I wouldn't expect her to understand.

Gloria glances down at Mo's words, the atmosphere suddenly turns gloomy and tense, I sigh and look over at my friends, their bodies seemingly dead and still.

"So they're deciding whether they wanna stick with me or not? How will I know what they choose?" I ask, breaking the tension and changing the subject rather quickly.