Episode 1B: Life of a Hangman

Logun has boarded a train like has always but experiences several circumstances. What lies behind hangmen and the chocolate?

Episode 1

Life of a Hangman

Part B

It was dark outside, very dark indeed. But who really cared about what the outside looked like? It was about curfew time for all those subordinates for a few hours. But it’s not about to be curfew for the hangmen like Logun, right?

He arrived at Carnegie’s office shortly after he had decapitated Andrew Walker. The bag was then placed harshly on front of Carnegie’s desk which made him so happy.

“Congratulations little boy!” Carnegie praised to Logun.

As a matter of fact, Logun did not like it that Carnegie still called him a little boy. He is at his early twenties but to Carnegie, Logun is still a child. In fact Carnegie never aged at all. His appearances was well maintained.

“Would you like a treat? Maybe chocolate or money?” asked Carnegie Spree.

“All of those are quite meaningless these days!” responded Logun so bitterly.

“Maybe for you, but not the rest of our fellow hangmen. You see little boy, the truth is, we are all children. We don’t ever grow up. We just have fun”

He then began to enhance his tone by singing. His hands here up as he stood on top of his own desk.

“Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun....ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

Logun turned to the door once he grew tired of Carnegie’s actions. He opened the door and once he laid one foot beyond the door, Carnegie then said.

“Wait little boy, you forgot to take your lovely cash! You poor little thing can’t survive without taking some cash.”

But Logun then responded.

“My shift is over right? You could leave it for me to pick it up later or Crimson can take it if he wants.”

That mysterious tone was so bitter but yet so unknown to Carnegie Spree. The door slammed shut hastily and at that moment, Logun was gone. Where did he go? What was he doing? These were the thoughts of Carnegie’s.

In twenty minutes, Logun arrived at the terminal station that connected through Acrisius so vastly. He walked slowly to the train right when it was losing momentum at its stop. But wait, was he looking at the train? No he wasn’t but he did know it was there. He was focusing on a girl instead.

She was tall, intelligent, focused, but yet beautiful. She wore a collared shirt underneath that purple patterned vest. On front of her eyes were bright glasses that caught the luminance of the light. She boarded the train with the other subordinates and Logun at the terminal. Once the doors have closed and the train began to gain motion, she stared at the LED screen that revealed Dick Bobber himself reporting another news. Of course everybody around her would be excited right? Come on, it’s Dick Bobber, everybody knows he tells the truth. Here is what he had to say.

“Good evening citizens of Acrisius, we bring some good news to this city. The suspect as known as Andrew Walker was found decapitated by a hangman. Congratulations, we have taken care of that son of a b***h.”

Logun decided to ignore the news unlike the citizens who sat and stared at the television. However the woman was not staring at Dick Bobber’s face on television. Apparently she was not listening to the news at all in the first place. Logun found that to be odd, but not dangerous. Instead he saw that slender body of her’s and the smooth brunette hair that flowed behind her head and her back. He then saw her face that was very pretty. He always saw that she was about his age. She was staring into blank space while Dick Bobber was rambling on the news.

“He seemed to have possessed a book called the bible. He was charged for that and was then punished by a hangman. That man had a gun in his jacket, and he attempted to shoot the hangman. Luckily the hangman dodged the bullet quickly and then decapitated Walker within a second. Within a second can you believe that? We have such great order here who do god’s work.”

Logun turned to the woman who was staring at him to look away from Dick Bobber. She was stunned that Logun caught her attention but then she looked away. He observed the reaction of the woman, but he couldn’t have made any conclusions whether she was nervous, shy, or hiding something. Was she hiding something? Maybe it was just her nervousness. Why was she not looking at Dick Bobber or listening to him?

While the train went on and on, Logun began to take a nap. Just a quick nap, nothing long or big. He was eventually caught up in his own dream. He did hear a couple of sentences that Dick Bobber was rambling about but then he may as well speak gibberish.

He was young, isolated, trapped, and unfortunate. He found himself inside of a closet, covered in scars, exposed flesh wounds, and bruises. He heard screaming, lots and lots of screaming. It sounded like an argument over an issue. He looked like that dirty little boy from the streets. Then the door opened.

Creak.

The door opened so quickly letting the light take over his body. Finally he was out, but wait, there was a giant adult chubby hand that clutched onto Logun’s hair. The hand grappled onto him and threw him onto the ground. That hand was from a father who held a belt in his hand. The mother that stood behind him held a rolling pin covered in blood. She wore her apron to cover that hulking body of her’s.

“Have you learned your god damn lesson yet you f*****g ameature?” questioned the father who whipped his belt on the air.

Logun stared at the broken vase with his blurry eyes. He took his time to wipe the blood and sweat off of his eyes but suddenly, he was uppercutted by the rolling pin that the mother held.

“Your father asked you a question.” screamed the mother with all of her vocal strength. It was loud, coarse, and very unpleasant. She may as well be scratching glass with her fingernails.

“He’s not my father, and you aren’t my mother either.” said Logun with his small voice.

Once the father grappled him, he began to.......

Logun woke up from his small nap. Wasn’t much of a dream that he would want to stay in. There was a jump kick that triggered Logun to wake up so quickly as he saw the woman stare at him again. They both then looked away. Once their mutual reactions finally reset them to being reserved beings, he sat back leaning on that hard and uncomfortable seat of his to think to himself.

“Really Logun? Really? Why did you have to dream about that again? Same dreams these days. Will you stop dreaming about that damn family? They weren’t your real parents, they were foster parents, put it together you idiot.”

That right eye of his began to twitch suddenly. It’s frequency grew quicker.

“You can’t even take a f*****g nap and you can’t stop staring at her. Well you are a hangman, right? So people should be afraid of you anyway. Yeah, maybe they should be. Yeah that’s right! I am Logun, one of the best hangmen of Acrisius. I leave no target to be a dodger. Well at least there aren’t many dodgers, the ones who escape the hangmen. Well what can I say about those dodgers, they are in Limbo.”

Logun stopped thinking to himself when the train stopped moving by then. The woman then got out of her seat, for it was her stop. She stepped right out to the stop the train had made. Of course Logun could not resist to stare at the girl leaving. She made no eye contact with Logun at all. He then continued to think to himself.

“But there is something about her that makes me feel....different. Not necessarily on the city, but....just different. Why?”

THUMP!

Suddenly, Logun heard a loud collision behind the window of the seat Logun sat at. The collision also came with a loud but muffled scream. The noise did cause him to jump and pull out his pistol that pointed directly at the window along with his other hand that held a knife underneath the pistol. It was clear enough to realize he was ready for combat in a flash.

What? What was that face? It was.....someone.....or something that wore a fedora, broken sunglasses with only one lense, and a mouth with many scars across his cheeks. It was a blur to Logun but it had disappeared from the window within a second. However there was a bloody handprint that was left. He opened the window, leaned outside of it, and pointed his pistols at every direction he could. When he processed that the mysterious figure was no longer there at his side, he closed the window and then figured out that there was no bloody handprint on the window, or was there? What the hell was going on?

“God damn dodgers!” said Logun with frustration. “Can’t find his own way back to this world. Well then, guess I have to leave it to the underworld.”

Meanwhile, Carnegie Spree sat back devouring more chocolate like a little boy he mentally was. Geez, that guy never grew up, but he still is the leader of Acrisius for god knows how long. He sat straight up after that last bite of his and then said out loud.  

“Oh that poor little boy. Always so alone, why is he so different these days? I can’t cheer him up. Not even chocolate. Not even any of our fellow hangmen could even do so.”

Crimson’s blood dripped from the ceiling then onto the ground. His blood then united back together forming him. Wait, Crimson didn’t age either? His face was still so young. But you can’t expect something like that to age right? He came in with a grin on his face.

“There was always something about Logun that made him so different from the other hangmen.” stated Crimson as he toyed around with his knives that came right out of his hands.

SPLOCH, went Crimson’s own flesh which served as inner sleeves for the knives. But that had to involve cutting through his flesh of course.

“Oh boy, you agree! I has to hear your thoughts?” asked Carnegie Spree when he just tilted his own head sideways and of course that smile never left his face. Crimson then stated.

“Logun, is the only one who could never get out of his own past. I mean look at him, compare him to the other hangmen. They all seem to live in bliss once they got a custom to a city like this.”

“But he hasn’t eaten the chocolate since that first day he came here. You know the chocolate is suppose to make you stronger, and happier.”

“He said he would rather deal with the strength he had than to continue to fatten himself up.”

Carnegie then laughed with a leap from the carpet he sat on. Boy oh boy he was laughing hard.

“Oh yeah, I remember that. The little boy should have had some more chocolate, but oh well, at least he doesn’t have to worry about them withdrawl symptoms. I remember you when you went through them. Oh boy oh boy, it wasn’t pretty. Plus, your consumption is three times the dosage my friend.“

Carnegie then snapped his own fingers and then abracadabra!!! There came a chocolate bar. No, two, three, four......wait.....twelve. Seven Chocolate bars? Was Crimson’s requirement for these chocolates really that big?

“Don’t worry Crimson my boy, you can be happy forever. Willy Wonka is on your side. He no want you to be sad. You is happy, always happy!” laughed Carnegie.

Crimson then placed his right hand on Carnegie’s hands which held six chocolate bars out of twelve.

SPLAT!

The hand collapsed into bloody bits.  Where were the fingers? Where was the hand? Wait, there was blood that painted the bars and Carnegie’s hand. The blood never dripped onto the carpet, but it only dissolved each chocolate bar individually. The blood began to get sucked back into that stump.

“Tasty!” said Crimson when he closed his eyes.

Knock Knock!

Crimson’s enjoyment of those chocolate bars was interrupted by the sound of that door.

“Oh my, I love the knock knock game. Whose there?” asked Carnegie Spree with curiosity.

“It’s Ryan!” responded the knocker.

“Ryan who?”

“Ryan Gillard! It’s me boss, you gotta let me in!” said Ryan who kept on jerking on the door.

Crimson then snapped his fingers. Blood droplets shot out of his hand then onto the door knob. The door opened so quickly, there came a boy, about seventeen years old, with short blonde hair, a leather jacket and tight jeans. But his face was so sweaty and his emotions became irrational. There was blood dripping from his forehead.

“We got a problem!” shouted Ryan.

“What is this problem my friend?” asked Crimson.

“It’s the new station, they need back up!”

“You silly boy what is going on?” asked Carnegie Spree like a little boy.

“We are dealing with other people that are familiar with the underworld. They know how to fight as well.” responded Ryan so hastily.

“Hmmm, doesn’t sound so good. Crimson, you go tell Logun to come with you to the new station. Ryan since you are new here I want you to sit down and talk to me like a good boy.” commanded Carnegie Spree with not pressure or a loud voice but with a calm and cheesy accent that he always had and was using.

To Be Continued

Author's Note

Well that's the end of episode 1. I will post Episode 2 in a while but patience is the key to posting great chapters and a great book overall. So any thoughts?

Reviews

[RainDancer1997]

I really like this chapter. I hope there's some romance ahead. I'm a sucker for it:)! excited!!

[Shep]

Excellent chapter. I told you i will be back. Trying to type this before my movie starts. Seeing oblivion. Will read more.

[Xerclipse]

cool :) and thanks for being back. whats the movie?

[Shep]

Oblivion

[Xerclipse]

oh the one out in theaters now? How was it?

[Shep]

Fantastic, something i know you will like to see.

[Writer #00]

He is at his early twenties but to Carnegie, he is still a child.-->He is IN his early twenties, but to Carnegie he is still a child.

These were thoughts of Carnegie's-->As it is now, the sentence reads these are the thoughts of Carnegie's thoughts. You can change that to mean these are Carnegie's thoughts by editing the sentence to: These were the thoughts of Carnegie--or--These were the thoughts of Carnegie's mind/head/brain/you get the point...

ameature-->amature.

Okay, that's it for the corrections.

My thoughts:

Dick Bobber's News Report was interesting. He claims to be Heaven's messenger, yet talks of the Bible as if it is a foreign, mysterious, horrible book (I noticed you had Bobber speak of the Bible with lowercased letters, nice touch--it emphasixed the irony). Right after this, he says he does god's work. This is a great observation of some religious hypocrites...even governments like America's who claim to be "One nation Under God" yet wage wars and kill people with impersonable drones, dehumanizing life-taking.

Logun's dream which I assume are memories is so sad! It was a nice touch having him refer to his Mom and dad as "the mother and the father" it shows that he does not want to associate himself with them.

I see the romance beginning~ *o*.

That Dodger REALLY creeps me out--I shouldn't have read this so late at night. EEK!!

Carnegie is so childish, yet at the same time I feel like he's an intelligent, manipulative ringleader who knows WAY more than the rest of the underworlders. The chocolate-addicted Crimson (I think I can relate...though I'm fine going without chocolate...I just love it).

Great chapter; the plot's really building and I can't wait for the next installment...I hope Logun's A-Okay!

[Xerclipse]

Dick Bobber's Report: Oh....well that was an error with the capital Bible but that error could be useful. thanks for pointing that out. I do live in America but that's every country. No matter where you go, they have some skeletons in the closet and we have to accept that. Yet they justify everything they say. I believe in god but i did not mean to do that error. I just wanted to show how religion can be abused. Besides Dick Bobber is like Prothero the newscaster from V for Vendetta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flBpsyFbEOs

or most similarly to Bob Barbas from DMC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKdFkIA402c

Logun's dream: Wait until you learn more about him.

Dodger: Lol I guess we could call a dodger the ghosts of the city but they really haven't died, they just managed to still survive from a hangman but are stuck in the underworld. I would be freaked out as well if a dodger just collided behind me.

Carnegie: Yes indeed but the challenge was to not make him stupid. Im glad you thought of him as more intelligent because that's what I've tried to make him.

Thank you for Reading Writer#00. Wait until you learn more about Logun, Crimson, and Carnegie.
If that writer's block is still bothering you, you can ask me for any ideas in a message.

[Writer #00]

Those news reports were disturbing...especially Prothero's. I can see that Dick Bobber is greatly influenced by Bob Barbaras (is that why his last name is Bobber?), now that I know whom you refer to.

Yep, sometimes errors can be useful. I know that most countries are like that (and thanks for explaining the whole skeleton in the closet idiom--I'd never understood it before) to some extent, I was just using the US as an example because it's big and somewhat in denial of its imperialism. I have nothing against America as a country. You definitely showed how religion can be abused.

I shall wait until I learn more about him.

I wasn't sure whether or not the dodger was alive or dead because it seemed to have supernatural powers of some sort. They are a nice character concept...a bit tragic sense a good amount of them are probably innocent.

You have succeeded with Carnegie.

The writer's block isn't the problem anymore, I just have to wait until I have more time to type. Thanks for offering, though.

Also: I know what the narration reminds me of...at some parts! It's like those worksheets for elementary schoolers that have sentences like "But where is the cat? Oh, that's right he's on the porch!"...except yours are more like a perversion of this type of narration with things along the lines of "But what is that face? Oh, that's right it's a dodger with scarred cheeks!"

[Xerclipse]

next chapter has been posted. Both the intro and the first part but not the second part of the chapter.

The narration took me a while to figure out how I would write my story but now why not make it like elementary schoolers?

[Writer #00]

Sounds nice. I shall read it shortly.