The First Malice

It all started with a man... no, at the time he was a boy, a boy who had a sharp look in his eyes, I didn't like that. I followed him endlessly, watching him as he ducked into buildings I had never seen before, as he returned covered in blood that was not red. In horror, I watched as his smile became too wide for me to be comfortable with, that his eyes had become dead and gray, his movements became vaguely disturbing to my eyes. I never learned of his name at that time, but I soon found out what he was doing, what was making him change so oddly.

I heard, from a friend of mine, before he became what he did, that there existed a number of Objects that were hidden from man, each with a property or concept attributed to it. The Objects and Holders which my friend spoke of taunted me in my dreams, spoiling my once peaceful slumber until I could take no more and found myself at a place that sheltered the mentally ill. "I desire to see the Holder of Pleasantry," the words escaped my mouth without my brain's approval. The man outside of the structure nodded slowly as he opened the door into the place that would rival my nightmares.

Inside there was naught but darkness, in a time before men knew science, I had been taught to fear the dark and what might creep in it, this fear is all that would keep me alive in this place. In my very bones I felt the danger in the darkness. With deft steps, I managed to walk around the stones that fell away to reveal a fiery pit of hellishness. I continued onward with my fear. I will spare you the gruesome details of my journey and go now to the moment that I confronted my first Holder, the Holder of Pleasantry.

This Holder appeared, to me, as a beautiful woman of my race with the same recessive traits as myself. The woman possessed skin the color of salt, hair the color of the precious yellow metal extracted from the mountains, and her eyes were the oddest shade of gray I had ever seen. She was singing so wonderfully that I could do nothing but sit down on the ground and listen to her in awe. I was wrong to do this. The stones beneath me slowly began to crumble, but I still concentrated on nothing but the woman's lovely singing. Through some miracle, perhaps Shamash favored me that day, I remained in the area with the singing woman long after all of the stones had fallen away. By this time I had begun to sing along with her, I had memorized her song even though I did not know the language in which she sang.

At some point the woman, and everything squirming around her in the dark, noticed me. I could do nothing but continue to sing. The woman looked into my eyes and showed me the greatest deceptions brought about by the most pleasant people and she showed me her language, which would be forever burned into my vocal cords. The squirming things were speaking near my ears, I could understand them and comprehend their speech. They told me things, about how I wasn't the chosen, I was merely a lucky boy born on a good day. The woman crouched near me and caressed my face, her body began to rot away as she spoke her final words to me: "You have no need for this Object, Seeker. Your voice is already as blasphemous as mine." I could think of nothing more to do than smile pleasantly at her while thinking of how much I hated her for showing me the horrible curses I was singing. She would never know the difference. After all, I'm such a pleasant person.

I left the building unscratched, Their language scarred into my throat, waiting for a chance to be used. I knew malice that I had never known before. As I walked to my home I saw him heading for the building I had just left, the gray boy with the too-wide smile and the empty eyes. I smiled for him, he would never know what hit him.

My smile is the first source of my resolution, I will lie to everyone without ever meaning to.