They Know The End

"Rust"

August 12, 2021
12:11 am

On the night before my End Day, I was getting beaten up in an alley. . .again. It was always at the same time, the same place, the same actions, and the same punches. They were like ghosts that haunted me. I had memorized their style and held my own for the first few seconds, but it didn't take long before I was curled on the ground.

When the kicking stopped, one of them grabbed my shirt and dragged me, forcing me out of my fetal position. Saliva and blood dripped from my face. My ears roared with the tiring adrenaline, loud but unnoticed. My entire body screamed in protest as they propped me against the wall.

I looked at their faces, trying to find out who they were. But the moon always had their back; its glare shielded their features from me.

"You thought you could get away from walking into our turf, Rust?" I caught a glint of sneering in his face. It was barely obvious, but it was there.

He leaned down and picked up a plastic bag. He pulled out a box, revealing a glass bottle.

"This yours?" He feigned sympathy. Then he dropped the medicine to the ground, shattering it into a million pieces. I covered myself from the shards, but one of them nicked my skin, forcing more blood to escape.

"Those were. . .for my mother you fuckers," I seethed. Before I could lunge at him, someone punched me down. A sickening crack. I almost wanted to puke.

"Oh? But surely your mother taught you not to steal from anyone, right?" he mocked. "You've used up your last chance, Rust. Time for you to--"

Without warning, I picked up the biggest shard I can reach and stabbed it on his foot. His scream pierced through the darkness. I took the opportunity to scramble to my feet, only for one of his goons to grab me by the foot. I fell to the ground, cracking my nose. I kicked him away before standing up once again and making a mad dash through the alleys.

My home was a maze of houses by a river. Throughout my life, I've familiarized every nook and cranny of our literal tight-knit community. I was confident that I could lose them in time.

Adrenaline drowned out the pain again, as I slid through a slit between two houses. The bamboo made creaks against my step, and amidst this silence, it was an immediate disadvantage.

I ran and ran. It was the only thing I knew.

While running, a patch of wood gave way, almost making me fall to the trash pile below this section of the house. I took out my left foot stuck there and continued running. . .

. . .where I bumped to him again.

The moonlight revealed his bloodshot eyes. "You fucked up now, Rust."

He threw a fist, but I dodged. I threw a punch to his side, forcing him to stagger to the side. I fled from him.

I saw the end of the town. I jumped into the water below. The putrid smell of tainted water barely registered as I waded to the mound. At the other side of it was a road, a telltale sign of civilization higher than mine.

I can already hear the occasional zooming of vehicles.

I ran to the mound and clawed at the dirt. I didn't hear their screams behind me, but I didn't want to risk it. I needed to get away. I kept running.

I almost fell because of holding on to loose dirt. Then, I managed to grab a buried chunk of asphalt and haul my limping body up the pile.

I scrambled on rhe road and waved. "Taxi! Taxi!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I looked warily at the dark blob of houses. No sign of them.

Before I could wonder, a taxi stopped beside him and honked. I snapped back to reality and entered the taxi.

The first thing that hit me was the breeze of the aircon. It made me shudder. I settled on the seat.

The driver took one look at me. Then he looked away and the taxi started moving. "Asa man ka dong? Hospital?" Where are you going to go? The hospital?

"Drive. . ." I mumbled. The pain was too overwhelming. I forced myself awake, because I felt something under my seat. It was too smooth to be leather.

With my trembling bloody hand, I took it and held it up. "Pwede sa i-on ang lights, kuya?" Can you turn on the lights?

He turned on the light, its healthy yellow beam revealing a black envelope on his hand. It's thick.

"Gibilin ba ni?" Was this left here?

"No." the driver replied. "Wala man na diha ganina." It wasn't there earlier.

Then what is this? I thought. I inspected the envelope. It wasn't dedicated to anyone in particular, which made me even more curious to open it.

I felt the flap of the envelope and peeled it open. Inside was a letter on white paper, directly contrasting the sleek black.

I pulled it out and the first thing I saw was my name. Russell Magbanua.

My heart skipped a beat. How did it know my name? Was this. . .meant for me? But I didn't drop this. This wasn't on me.

"Unsa man na?" the driver asked. What was that?

I opened the paper and saw that it was a letter.

The header simply read Death-Cast.

My eyebrow furrowed. I continued reading the letter.

Russell,

We at Death-Cast regret to inform you that sometime in the next twenty-four hours (highlighted in gold) you'll be meeting an untimely death. And while there isn't anything we can do to suspend that, you still have a chance to--

I put down the letter. The world came crashing down at me at once and my heart was holding its own weight.

This was it.

I wanted to feel something. But when you're bloody and your bones broke in three other places, all you would feel is pain.

"I'm going to die," I mumbled.

Then I promptly collapsed.