The Hanged Man

Chapter 1: Alphonse - Tribulation

"How did it come to this?"

I asked myself that question repeatedly as I strengthened my grip around her neck while erotic music played in the background. The sounds of her gasping for breath, along with that terrified expression she had, drove me crazy. Why was she not dead yet? Could a human really survive this long without breathing? She tried to resist me, slashing me with her long nails while trying to push me away. The more she hurt me, the stronger I forced my hands. If it was a moment ago, I would have never thought that this frail girl could even do anything physical and certainly not injuring me. Was this what they called hysterical strength when one was faced to a life and death situation?

Tears poured out of my eyes as I gathered all my remaining strength. Though in my mind, I was begging her. "PLEASE DIE! PLEASE!". It was then that my own adrenaline started to kick in. In a split of a second, I snapped her neck. The cracking of bones was much louder than I expected, considering how deep it was concealed inside our bodies. I only saw this kind of scene in movies but only assumed it was just acting. So, we humans really died when our neck snapped. I have always thought it was anticlimactic for action movies to have some major characters die in such a way. But now, my whole point of view has changed. It really was not as easy as it looked.

Standing up straight as I released my grip on the poor girl's neck, I breathed heavily as I turned my sight on the result of my actions. What have I done? She was such a sweet girl. And here I was, standing in front of her naked corpse. What have I become? I tried to remain calm but couldn't. My hands were shaking, despite this was my second time. I wanted to think it was because I was still human that I was able to feel guilty for her death. Else, how could I retain my sanity?

I looked at the mess we caused. The pink blanket was thrown off from the bed. The bed lamp was broken from our struggle with the glass pieces scattered all over the floor. A giant mirror covered the ceiling, allowing me to see everything in the room just by looking at it. I never really understood why they put it there in the first place. Maybe the effect of more visual clues gave the interaction a better perspective. I supposed that some people got turned on by this kind of things. Then again, it was not like I was well informed on this particular kind of subject. It was a bit of a surprise to see such a room destined for intimacy and the act of procreating could turn into a murder scene. And just moments ago, both the killer and the victim were on their way to divulge themselves in that same act.

I never intended for this to happen. It was not supposed to end like this. But it did anyway. All because she said it. It was not my fault that she came to me by her own volition. It was not my fault that she was related to him. Could this really be my fate? Was I supposed to suck it up and die like a dog? Why did shitty things just keep happening to me? It was all because of the accident. It was all because of him. Everything started that fateful day one month ago.

* * *

My name was Alphonse Graves, your average salesman employee. Though I was now the manager of a whole branch, I was still low in the chain, but not as much as those nerdy guys. The title sounded like I was some sort of big shot but in the end, it was just another fancy title for a company slave. My job was practically the same, if not with even more things to take care of while the difference in salaries did not really justify it. A guy like me, you could find everywhere wandering the streets, knowing not what exactly they were doing. Even though I was already halfway of my life. Waking up in early morning, taking the metal long box to go to work, only to spend the entire day inside another suffocating box. Every day was the same as the day before. It was like a perpetual loop that just kept repeating itself over and over again. I felt stuck and lost, unable to move on.