Onision Self Insert (Reaper's Creek)

Chapter 19: Golden Man

I woke up alone to the sound of birds chirping outside. I could hear the water from the creek. If I wanted to I could even hear my grandmother's breathing next door if I really tried. I could also feel the radiant glow of death lining our creek bed.

It was time to lose myself, I was losing my hunger, losing my urges, growing beyond whatever I was before, day by day. I'm not sure I even cared.

Walking out to the creek, the sun beamed down on my pale skin. I squinted only to wonder why, all I had to do was reprogram my eye's tolerance for light. And like that, it was done. I could see everything, eyes wide open. I slipped my bare feet into the water, then I slipped my feet further into the rocks, the dirt, and shortly after my knees followed, then my hips & my chest. I was fully submerged in the ground, moving freely.

Everyone else had to respect the physical world, they had to adhere to the laws of it, not upset or disturb it for risk of repercussions, but I had yet to meet a physical mass I could not pass through.

As I sank my head under the water, through the mud, with my mind I made the dirt clear, just as I had the water at the lake prior. I could see all the bodies hidden and misplaced. There were women down here, I counted 14 within a mile's radius. I would walk inside the Earth, and come across bones seemingly every hundred yards. Reaching through the dirt, liquified to my touch, I felt the bone of each person, they were all put here by the same man. Gary.

Most these women were previously working at strip clubs, paid to leave with the man, never to see their family or friends again. I rose above the dirt and water, planting my feet on the rocks in the creek bed as if I were normal for a moment.

I heard a familiar voice all out "Daniel! What are you doing!? You're soaking!" it was my Grandma, I had found myself in front of her house on my hunt for the victims of Gary.

I shook my head and as the water shot off in all directions my hair extended outward doubling in length. My hair turned from brown to golden blonde and my skin heated till the water steamed off it, leaving me dry, still holding a piece of woman's leg in my hand. My hair was so bright now and flowed to my shoulders, but why?

My grandma was speechless in seeing my transformation, I had no idea what would cause me to suddenly change like this, I simply desired to be as warm and dry as my comfort would see fit. But this changed, this physical alteration, it felt right.

As I lifted off the ground, I could see tears falling from my grandma's eyes. She was always religious and probably felt I was blessed by her god. Unfortunately for me I could not detect any gods, I could not see anything in the universe but common creatures. I was capable of so much, but I would be foolish to assume I was the most powerful being out there.

I soared through the air waiting for Gary's energy to reach out like a hand to guide me. As my legs trailed behind me, they grew, my arms began to bulge pressing against my white button up shirt, hairs pushed out of my arms and legs and distracted by this fact I let myself fall from the air.

Landing shoulder first in a Christmas Tree crop I groaned even more confused about what was happening to me. I felt no pain, I was simply lost and concert for what had taken over me. I was so used to being in control. I wanted to see my face but couldn't as I was still in my own body and had no reflection to look upon, everything else was changing. I needed a better look at myself and there was a simple solution. My soul shot out of my body without hesitation and I was immediately able to see a man with blue eyes, broad shoulders, at least six feet tall standing there, he looked like he was in his late 20's almost double my age.

I looked down at my soul, to my surprise my body mirrored the man I just jumped out of, I had changed on every level without touching a line of code. Moving back into my body I reminded myself of my agenda. I didn't want to waste time on my identity crisis while Gary was still out there.

As I searched of Gary's energy standing in the field, I still found myself humbled by fate. I was already within five hundred feet of him this field was his property. He was the person who ran the Christmas Tree farm.

Without a moment's hesitation, his throat was in my hand. I had split a line of his trees ripping them up from the roots, destroying half of his house as my body slammed through it just to hold his neck in my right hand.

I didn't want to dive into his mind, I didn't want to see what he had just seen, I just wanted to know one thing. Gary gasped for air so I released him and altered his body to have no response to gravity. He was helpless floating in his own house, as I finished coding his body to suffer from paralysis in his weightless state, I asked him "Why?" Gary was still able to move his mouth, and he used it to scream "Who are you!? What's going on!?" I screamed back "Why did you kill those women!" he yelled back "You're the devil! You're here to claim my soul!? It took you long enough you monster!"

His jaw was ripped off with my thoughts alone. As his tongue flung out and slapped against his chest I removed his arms, legs and all the bones in his torso.

His screams sounded like the countless women he tortured and killed finding peace, they sounded like justice. The world didn't need him in it, in a mere breath's time he ceased to exist as anything but ash on the floor of his half demolished house.

Gary was gone however on his walls he had pictures of all his friends, men who looked just like him, mirroring his stretched out plaid shirts and jeans far too small for his body. Looking at the photo I planted their faces in my mind and closed my eyes, there were seven men total who had collaborated with Gary. They didn't kill the women, but they knew what he did, and covered for him every chance they could. Providing burial locations, overwatch assistance and even transportation. Five of the men I simply called for them to cease to exist and in an instant I felt an absence of their presence on Earth. The last two I wanted to see personally, I wanted an answer to my question.

The first of the two men was named Raymond, he tried to meet me with a shotgun, unfortunately for him it had no effect considering the altercations I made the instant he lifted it to me in his drive way. The moment he pulled the trigger the butt of his gun exploded into pieces, shooting into Raymond's eyes. He fell screaming into the gravel rocks beneath my feet. I dove into his mind and saw Gary, I saw Raymond helping Gary load the bodies and before I could even finish that thought Raymond was gone. Burned in the rage I felt when I saw him lifting those girls one by one. Some drugged, some dead, destined to be buried and hidden from anyone who could help, with the exception of me.

"What have you done! Where did Raymond go!" an older female cried out having witnessed Raymond fall. In a glance I sent the woman the same images I just witnessed and without a single word from me the woman began screaming in agony. Only generic predictable words came from her mind "Raymond how could you! Why Raymond!" I heard her repeat this over and over as she cried in her drive way. Her sound of sorrow trailed behind me as I few towards the last person involved, Joseph.

Joseph was sitting on his porch, he was using a breathing assistance device. Joseph had let his body go since meeting Gary. Right away I knew he had been trying to eat himself to death the moment he learned of the first girl. It was clear to me Joseph would talk, so I walked up to him and asked "Why did Gary kill all those women? Why did you help him?" Joseph began crying, I could see all the things he had done to help gary get away with murder, but I could also see his face ever second he was involved. He wasn't angry, he wasn't disgusted, all he was, was sad. I spoke to Joseph "He killed your wife. He killed her before he ever made the deal with you." Joseph screamed at me "He said she was alive! He said he'd give her back!" following his words with sobbing and incoherent groans.

Most anyone could do nothing for this man, I could also choose to do nothing, but instead I sought out the soul of his wife and lured her to my side. As she stood beside me I gave Joseph the ability to see her. In the world of the dead, she was happy, she was warm & comfortable. The moment Joseph saw this his tears of pain turned to tears of joy.

In that moment I stopped his heart. As his body slumped forward, a much thinner man stood up and walked out of him. Joseph was whole again, everyone who hurt those women was now dead. Although unlike the other men, Joseph's soul remained intact. I began to fly home leaving Joseph and his wife in each others arms. In my attempts to leave I felt a strong beam pull me off course. I could see it as yellow in color and any resistance I tried to apply made me feel like a fly with it's wings stuck to take, as if getting away would force me to leave piece of myself behind. This force was stronger than any alien beam I had felt before.

For the first time since gaining my abilities, I found myself completely helpless.