The View Frøm The Shadøws

1- Getting A New Name

As I looked down upon the girl's body, I couldn't tell which emotion was more prominent: remorse or euphoria.

I felt remorse because at one point I had been like the Protector, and now that I have taken her soul, her Protector will become as hopeless and as lost as me.

I felt euphoria because I had succeeded yet again and only need one more soul until I get promoted to a demon and no longer have to do work like this. It can get tiresome, the same thing over and over, day after day. They beg, they fight, they plead, but I always win.

I was shaken from my thoughts by the girl's Protector trying to hit me, but his fist simply went through my head. He couldn't hurt me, because now he was just like me. With the girl's soul collected, there was nothing left for me to do here so I left.

There is a corner in hell where the others like me reside. The Protector's call us Agmas or something weird like that, but we call ourselves Collectors since our only job now is to collect the souls of the living and miserable.

There's nothing here, it's all black with other shadows like me wondering around awaiting our chance to find a new person or to play with the person we were currently "helping" as we like to convince them.

We all looked like shadows and smoke, our eyes were the only things the differentiated us. I was the most powerful one here now, and I took great pride in that.

The only other Collector who got this close to becoming a demon during my existence as a Collector had yellow eyes and insisted on being called The Emperor. He was an asshole. He was taken down by a Protector and their human a few years ago, and honestly good riddance.

I don't have a name. I mean I did at one point before I became a Collector, but I don't remember it. I don't really remember anything before this. Nothing good anyways. All that remains of my previous life are feelings of desperation, unrequited love, and absolute soul crushing, gut wrenching failure.

I don't remember the feeling of love that everyone assumes fixes everything. I don't remember feeling joy with friends or family if I had any. Today held the only positive emotion I have felt since I turned into this monster, and that feeling was slowly fading in the darkness of this place.

As I glided through the vast empty expanse, the other Collectors moved out of my way, sensing how much more powerful I was than them. I wonder though, if on the inside they felt just as empty as I do? Am I abnormal for my kind or are we all supposed to feel this way? Is it supposed to be what motivates us to keep collecting souls?

Because that's what it does for me. If I can't be happy, why should others be allowed to? I didn't ask to become a Protector (I don't think). I didn't ask to fail at it. I didn't ask to become the embodiment of the word miserable.

I wanted the best out of life and it was taken from me. Why should I have to watch everyone else enjoy life and get the benefits of it? Why was I being punished like this? It's not fair! I shouldn't have to feel so alone all the time, but no matter how many other Collectors I've created, none of them has filled the void that has become my heart. I just haven't found the right one yet I suppose. I'll just have to try one more time though, and then I'll be promoted and never have to visit earth in this form again.

Feeling a strong tug in my mind, I paused. I knew that feeling well. It's time for me to meet my new plaything- I mean person. I felt myself dissipate and reform on earth, invisible to human eyes at the moment. I saw a small man sitting on a park bench, his posture slouched and his head hanging low.

Perfect.

I went over to him and placed a hand on the back of his head. Instantly, every single negative memory that belongs to this human, who I now know as Tyler, came flooding into my mind.

I grinned; he was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better last soul to take.

For each new human, the form Collectors shift into when they're not shadows is different if we're powerful enough to shift. You have to collect at least ten souls I think to get to that point.

Anyways, before this I looked like a hell hound whenever I would shift. But now, I looked almost exactly like Tyler. I looked at myself in the reflection of the building windows behind the bench where Tyler sat. The only differences between Tyler and I were my eyes were red, and my neck and hands still looked to be made out of shadows. I had a red hat on my head covering all my hair and was dressed entirely in black.

This was very good news for me. Our forms reflect the worst fears of the person we are trying to collect, so that fact that I look like Tyler means his worst fear is himself. This is very, very, very good for me.

I followed Tyler home that evening. He still lived with his mom, but when we reached the house she was still at work despite it being seven in the evening. Isolation: also very good for me.

He went up to his room and sat on his bed, letting out a long drawn out sigh. This was when I decided to first "introduce" myself to Tyler.

When he looked over into the mirror, I made sure that I replaced his reflection. His eyes grew wide and he stood up to walk over to the mirror; I copied his movements exactly shifting my size to match the distances. When he stood right in front of the mirror I smirked and spoke to him, surprised at the extremely deep tone of my voice, but I kind of liked it.

"I see you're finally starting to see yourself for who you really are," I said. He shook his head and took a step back in fear.

"Oh yes, you are Tyler. We are the same, I'm just the part of you that you try to hide and repress, but you need me. I'm the part of you that keeps you from fucking up so much in front of other people. You need me more than you realize."

"No, you're not me...this is...this is crazy...I'm going crazy..." He anxiously ran a hand through his hair and his breaths became shaky.

"No you're not; you're just finally listening to your own thoughts. Look at me, I look just like you. I am you, Tyler."

"I don't know who you are, we just look similar that's all."

"Well, who am I then? How do I know your name? How do I know that you killed your siblings in a car crash? How do I know that you're the main reason your parents got divorced? If I'm not you, who am I?"

"You're...you're...Blurryface. I don't know who you are."

"That just means you don't know who you are Tyler, but ok. You may call me Blurryface is that makes your self-denial easier."

And for the first time since I became a Collector, I had a name.