Chapter 99 – I am the Enemy

"That there is a God. It's quite a paradoxical privilege to have. Knowledge is painful, to be honest." George pauses, his eyes reflecting a dark crimson, almost as if it were a trick of the light. 

"I hesitate to give it to you. But I have no choice, anyways. It will be over soon."

"George, you aren't making any sense. What's going on? What is this place?" 

I move to get up from my seat, but a strange force holds me down. I look down, and in horror see a thick rope strapped around my waist. I whip my face back up to him, and he is smiling sadly at me, his hands still raised.

"Even now, I'm struggling on how to tell my story. I suppose I don't have to tell it. I could leave you here. Or push you over the ledge." He steps closer, sticking out his foot. "It would be so easy. But I can't. There isn't a point. Fate says it won't be so."

I begin to breathe heavily, my heartbeat accelerating. I rock within the chair, testing the rope to see how strong it could possibly be.

"Shifters are more than the werewolves have made them out to be. In fact, every single one of them is a soul, both the corrupted and the pure lumped all together in this waiting room for their final destination. 

And me, I get to be their leader. I am the caregiver of the waiting room, protecting both the peace and the Shifters from escaping their cage."

My eyes widen as his face starts to shift along with the scenes around him. His arms immediately fly to his cheeks, as if trying to hold himself together. "Just a minute longer... I can wait... don't want... to..." He whispers to himself.

"Show me who you are," I say, my hands working at the rope. It is too strong, however, and I know that it would be pointless to keep trying. But most of all, I am concerned about George's evident pain. It grips me, and I can't take it any longer. "Let it go."

There is no response as George clutches at his head, struggling once again. "Show... just... let it..." His hands move to cover his eyes and an almost lightning-like flash appears in the room, causing me to blink several times and look at the ground. When I finally look up, I nearly jump with my chair into the abyss.

"George? What happened to your eyes?"

Instead of his green eyes, he now possesses a pair of ruby red eyes, glowing with the same demonic intensity that I am so familiar with. 

The rest of him is the same George I am used to, but that one feature frightens me beyond anything else. Shivers run up and down my spine as he almost takes a step forward, then backs away at my expression.

"I guess there's no going back anymore. I can't be George, just as you can't be Elena." George pauses. "I will finally take on my role. Elena, I am the enemy. I am what the prophecy calls the wolf with the red eyes. I have been given a mission by God, and I intend to finish it, while at the same time doomed to certain failure as it is written."

I only stare at him, my teeth chattering involuntarily as the cold sweeps in like the snow upon the backgrounds of the sphere, each crystalized piece of water fluttering to its death in the gray valleys.

"When the true God created this world, he made me as well. He made hundreds of servants, built this large castle, and gave me companions to counsel me as I led this kingdom. At first, there were no troubles. 

Our land flourished, nutrients rich with emotions dripping from the treetops and Souls practically frolicking among the green plains. Everyone could use feelings of joy and happiness as proper sustenance. No one had to leave or wanted to leave.'

'But he did not leave me in charge of this world without conditions. He gave me a piece of paper, detailing what was to happen when the first Shifter crossed over into the foreign worlds that lay past our borders, that I was not allowed to open until the time came. 

A long time passed, a time that could only be described as peaceful and blissfully temporary; when I was living a life that was as stagnant as the reigning clouds over our terrain.'

'But after a while many more souls were entering our world and there were not enough nutrients growing to support the population. Some would fight each other for a single piece of fruit, while others would intimidate Shifters into relinquishing their hard-earned nutrients. 

This went on for a while, and soon a brash, rebellious Shifter decided to take matters into its own hands. It left, sneaking through the gates into Oblivion, and I thought we would never see that particular Shifter again. Well, I was wrong.'

'It appeared again, at the edges of the gates, holding some strange sphere-like objects. When other Shifters came to look, he released the spheres, all of which released a wealth of feelings that invigorated the Shifters that surrounded it. 

They were introduced to many emotions that were not available within our realm, such as jealousy, greed, and anger. The reason why Shifters need emotions is to make them feel somewhat alive while they wait; allowing them to retain some of what their soul originally consisted of. 

However, these... ugly emotions ignited a fire within their own souls, an fiercely burning passion that far exceeded the satisfaction one would get from a single grain of Happiness.'

'Since fire is contagious, the news spread quickly about the Shifter's new mysterious energy source. I knew about it already, having this room to survey the kingdom as a whole at any time I would like. 

Not worrying about anything, I just let it go. I never seriously thought that the Shifter would even make it much longer when fed with such impure emotions, much less incite an entire rebellion against me. 

Of course, I severely underestimated its influence, as it led thousands, against my orders to stay away, into Oblivion under the pretence of finding a land with wealth in feelings beyond measure.'

'Scared by the events that had taken place, I practically ripped over the letter that contained the true God's message. Within it, I found the prophecy, a description of the real world, a silver ring, and some more instructions. 

I was to travel between worlds to monitor the Shifters, as their taste for humanity could not be quenched, and watch for the appearance of werewolves, who were an apparent threat to the Shifter society. 

I was very disturbed by the information, but was secretly excited to leave and see something beyond what I have seen in my very strange crystal ball. When I finally took the first steps out of my kingdom, leaving the council members behind to watch over everything, my world was completely and drastically shifted before my eyes. 

There was spontaneity. There was a rich aroma of adventure and excitement. With my silver ring, I could easily become one of the humans, mingling among them in ways I thought could never be possible. The ring allowed me to take on a solid form, any solid form, and I used it often. 

I experimented, time and time again, with different animals and different types of people, learning the customs of the world until I knew them better than I did my own. And even as I was enthralled, the other Shifters were satiated to an even greater extent. 

Everything they ever could want in a dinner menu was available, and soon their appetite grew even larger.'

'It was hard to return to my kingdom. When I did, I went straight to my huge crystal ball to see the Earth and study more about it. I became obsessed, and for hours on end scoured the ends of the Earth for any sort of new curiosity that would strike. 

But at the same time, I did so with a heavy amount of guilt. Because I knew about the prophecy. I knew about Fate's wishes. And when the framework is laid out, all you can do is built upon it and look down from above, wishing and hoping for the impossible.'

'I knew, yet I just watched, watched the world, watched the Shifters grow fat with sadness and love and pain and fear. Many more went to join the others, lured by the sweet promises Earth offered. 

As this went on, I noticed that the Shifters down on Earth had changed. They were growing savage, unsatisfied with the taste of a certain feeling but wanted it all. Those who stayed in our realm began to be more satisfied with their portions than the ones who left, staying full for longer periods of time. 

Shifters on Earth would not just take pieces of the emotion within a particular human anymore, but completely take over both the emotion and the person's identity, swallowing it all with one big bite and then wreaking havoc among the other humans that surrounded them due to the Shifters not being able to control such a sophisticated body. 

I would continually go back and forth between worlds, trying to convince many of them to return. No one did.'

'But then the werewolves started to pop up everywhere. Finally catching on to the cause of all the new destruction, they took it upon themselves to liberate human kind from the monsters, being able to smell their recently devoured emotions quite easily.