Quietly

Quietly I stepped into her room and quietly I closed the door. She was fast asleep in the night, trusting the world.

What a fool!

She had a gun and a security system and a thousand mental guards - but none of that made her safe from the enemy within.

What a fool!

She needs to be educated to what reality is. She lives in a false paradise, an illusion of her own making. This ignorance can't go on forever. She has to be made aware. Everyone has to become aware.

The end has come. Her lies must die. She must see the light and be forever enlightened.

My lies must die too.

I put my hands around her neck.

Soon she'll know! Wake up! Wake up!

She awakens. Her eyes grow wide with fear and confusion. Ha! Ha! She wonders how this can be happening. She thought she had it all figured out.

You were blind to your own evil!

I'm too strong. She tries to rip my hands away but I have too much of a head start. Despair begins to flood her eyes.

Yes! Yes! Welcome to my nightmare! Feel it! Know it! Live it!

But she can't fully know until she sees death. It's the only way. The light is fading. She's running out of oxygen. Weaker are her death throes. All fighting is futile. Only in that one final moment does she understand.

If only I could live in that moment forever!

At work I quietly sit down at my desk, steaming cup of coffee next to me speaking of normalcy.

I hate this place! I hate acting like I'm not dying, that everything is fine.

No one notices a thing. Well, hardly notices. "You look refreshed this morning. Have an extra good night's sleep?"

"It was killer," the Office Strangler quietly replies. I get a thumbs up as I silently start my daily drowning.

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Two thousand miles away another man is dreaming of whom he can kill. Not just one, but as many as possible. He too must bring his nightmare to light, the endless agony of the lie.

I have the power to kill!

Those around him worship his evil power, thinking that makes them safe. When news of the Office Strangler comes to light they readily pounce as moral avengers, earning praise from their future victims.

Not everybody counts - thank God!

He has the power to kill and uses it, cutting off aid to a wrecked island in desperate need. He hears the reports and rejoices while strangling a nightly pillow: people forced to drink poisoned water, watching their children die before their eyes, trapped in a nightmare they cannot escape.

If only I could be there to see it with my own eyes!

The Oval Office Strangler eats his morning pop tart in glee watching future victims on TV defend his evil deeds, bringing aid and comfort to the killer, collecting souls on a daily basis, rejoicing as they  shipwreck their lives like his.

Quietly spreads the plague of death. Occasional voices express outrage and alarm but they are quietly dismissed as deranged lunatics by the deranged lunatics. Each day the angel of death quietly grips hearts and minds with silence as its sword. A scared populace knows where this leads but think it's best to keep quiet lest they be accused of treason to the demon.

An entire planet screaming in silence, believing there is no other way.