Chapter 1: Her (pilot)
She was an angel, a true being with lovely blue hair and golden shimmering eyes. Wearing golden bracelets matching her vampire nails…no one could possibly have her. She was named…Malum. Today was a normal day for her, arriving at high-school without speaking a word. Arriving at lockers and smiling through the grand hallway as she walked away, admiring the quietness in her own head. To her, everyone was smiling, they all stared at her as she traveled through the long, dimly lit hallways. Outside her perspective, the halls were rotten, stained with mildew and mold, rotting away at the walls. The students were unstable…they didn’t look right in the mind at all. Their faces showed a sign of help and emptiness, yet Malum never dared to move away from her “happy” perspective. As she wandered the hallways, a particular human, a student, who didn’t smile. A boy, who looked groggy and dirty. He stood out in her perspective, which disturbed her being. She stopped walking and faced him with a blank stare, to show that she was upset that a bug appeared in her happy little lie… Malum stared down the annoyance till he disappeared into the crowd of smiling faces. She looked around in disbelief, how dare an inconsistent little fiend ruin her “happy” reality? Malum walked the opposite way, avoiding the bug that ruined her day.
On the opposite side of the hall, the “bug” wandered the revolting halls of the school, he avoided the school bathrooms, a lot actually; this time he got flashbacks of terrible experiences from it over and over again. The bug ran down the hallway towards the library, where he felt safe the most away from the harsh world. He walked towards the play area, intended for younger students and tried to rest on the makeshift fort. The bug tried his best not to throw up. He tended to draw on himself and fidget with his hair to calm him down, but it made it worse when the bell rang. He covered his ears, the bug was sensitive to the noise. He would have to miss class again just for this moment, just this one time.
Suddenly, a figure appeared over him, they were quite tall, taller than him. They wore bell bottoms and high boots, making them even taller. The figure kneeled down and had a delighted expression on their face. Victima looked up and was shocked to see Malum. He couldn't hear her footsteps, they must've been quiet as a mouse. Malum kept staring at him, not daring to blink. Victima couldn’t look away, It was like some type of force was drawing her to him. It disturbed Victima, he knew he couldn’t trust Malum. “Why so blue Victima…?” Malum said mockingly, “I guess I’ll just leave you alone then~”. The bug looked surprised that Malum knew his name, though he felt guilty that Malum was leaving him, Victima lied to himself that he couldn’t trust her, she was too beautiful…so alluring. “W-wait!” Victima finally spoke, Malum turned around and smiled. He looked away embarrassed, Malum smiled, “I didn’t know you like being a child” she laughed at how Victima rested on the children’s makeshift fort. Victima looked surprised that Malum spoke. He didn’t know she could talk, this must've been the first time she has ever spoken. “I was just joking” Malum said, fixing her hair, “you must know me, I’m hard to ignore~”. She laughed at her own compliment, Vicima blushed and looked away.
Suddenly, a gift appeared out of nowhere into Malum’s hands, it was small but looked rigid. It was wrapped neatly with yellow printed moth paper and its bow was sparkling gold. Victima’'s eyes sparkled like a moth that was attracted to a light. Malum placed the gift in his hands and stared him down like a predator looking at its prey before unalving it. Victima looked down surprised, how could she know that he loved the color yellow and moths? “I know everything…” Malum laughed, Victima looked uneasy, “I was joking, how would I know, just open your…gift” she said. Malum’s smile got wider, It felt a little unsettling. Victima opened his gift and to his surprise, it was an 80s gameboy. Victima jumped around happily, finally that he got what he had been asking for years. He hugged Maluma as a thank you, it’s the best thing he could do, he wasn’t good at words. “I knew you’d like it…” she said creepily, Victima didn’t let it bother him as he hugged Malum tighter. Eventually she pulled away and gave him a blank stare. Victima looked around to see if anything was wrong but when he looked back she disappeared, her footsteps weren’t heard…they were quiet as a mouse…
A note fell from the library ceiling and landed in Victima’s pale and cold hands. He turned over the note to see words written in neat cursive. It wrote: “Life is full of mistakes and prophecies, humans are an in toxin waste produced by mankind, you are worthy of redemption…-M ''. Victima felt afraid, yet he had no reason too…it was just all in his head? Victima crumbled the note and threw it into the nearby trash can and ran out the library. The school’s disgusting halls were filled with students, gossiping and fighting. They never paid attention to Victima, it was like he was a small atom that just existed in time and space. Victima wandered through the halls, trying to find Malum, but there was no luck. He looked in the classrooms and offices, but she wasn't found. The only choice that he could make ... Was the school bathrooms… He shook with fear, he couldn’t face going in there, not again… Victima turned around and ran down the halls.
He was faced with the outside patio, planted with a wisteria tree in the center…how did he not know this existed? Victima strolled the patio, butterflies loomed over the tree, how could something like this exist in this world? He laid on the tree, crying to himself… It was a peaceful moment. Ruffles above him were heard, they weren’t shown to be aggressive. But something soon unsettled Victima, he felt a presence of being watched. But what he didn’t expect was a doll head to fall from the tree. It looked human…but what it disturbed him more…it looked like Malum… Victima picked up the head, shaking in fear…he didn’t want to lose his only…friend… He looked around for a sign that this was a prank; just to scare him. But when he looked back, the head disappeared, it was like deja vu all over again…it all started with that note, now it’s this. When he looked back, he was located in a black void. Victima freaked, he knew he wasn’t crazy, he didn’t take drugs..not even pills, why was this happening? He started hyperventilating, he didn’t have his fidgets to calm him down, this wasn’t gonna end well for him. He teared up, he didn’t want this, he didn’t ask for this, he just wanted his friend back. Victima fell to the ground and broke down, he wanted to go back to reality, no matter how cruel and ugly it was, he wanted to see Malum again… His tears made a puddle around him, the void began to shift into a dark sea, it tossed Victima over the waves and sunk him under the tide. He was losing his breath, but he tried to stay alive…for Malum. He had a reason to live all these years… he didn’t have to go home and listen to his drunk parents yelling in their garage, going on about getting rid of Victima for good… he didn’t have to go home anymore… Malum was his home. The sea continued to roughly throw Victima, but he still held together, he wasn’t going to sew himself back together again… The sea sent him to a small island… the landscape was painted with grayscale. It was sad, but it was peaceful… he felt alone… too alone.
He was washed onto the shore, the sand beneath him felt like silk, the feeling felt too good to be real… it was like finding happiness with that one lover…again… Victima heard a tune, a beautiful one. He got up and followed the sound, as he got closer he could hear the lyrics: “a long life…such a far life…a long and desolate life on the snowy hill filled with palm trees…a depressing town folk would say…” . This song felt so liminal to Victima, as he walked, the singing echoed in the void, it was like the artist was using a microphone, but no electricity was ever found. He hummed to the chilling tune, it felt so nostalgic, it made him smile. He walked over hills and dunes. It felt like the song was getting further and further away, but Victima was destined to see the singer of the beautiful melody. When he traveled over one specific sand dune, a tune played like it was the 1920s, it was jazz playing. Victima knew this melody, he ran across the sand and the song became cleaner… It was called “Heartaches by Al Bowlly” . This disturbed Victima, the setting of the grayscale landscape and this tune…it was like a horror setting. Victima didn’t stop running, it felt like he was running a marathon, no matter how hard this was, he was gonna find the beautiful singer of this song.
Passing over sand dunes and hills, he finally made it…to a beach. It had calm seas and beautiful light. He walked down the hill and walked towards the sea. As he got closer, he saw a figure, it wasn’t just any figure…it was…”Malum?” Victima said, shaking, “is that really you?”. Victima stared at the figure, it had to be her, her bell bottoms and boots… and that iconic blue sweater, how could it not be? Victima walked towards the figure “Malum, answer me, I know that it's you!” Victima yelled “answer me!” he started to tear up. The figure turned around , it was her…Malum. Victima shed more tears “Malum, help me..I don’t know where I am” . Malum smiled, she opened her arms, it looked like she wanted a hug. But something odd happened, the sun rose…it was blooming orange and started to affect the grayscale landscape. Malum started to smile more and her eyes made rivers, it made Victima more uneasy. Her eyes rolled back and the sea turned a blood red. “Hello…Victima…” Malum said, unsettling Victima, “I know why you're here…”
-End