Image Source : http : / / bit . ly / 2rE1E0M Finn Dreyer was a shoemaker who didn 't really like shoes very much . No , he didn 't like them at all . Every day he would rise early in the morning , walk across town through the slushy snow to his master 's workshop , and spend hour after hour , day after day , year after year , making shoes . It turned out to be señoritos , rich land owners , who had killed them . They stopped by later that day , making a lot of threats , but no one could do anything . The killings continued . Every morning they found new bodies . A bit confused Pedro looked around the barn . No milk anywhere , but the goat was empty . And there couldn 't have been anyone here . Could there ? Every morning someone was found dead . The rich men from the city had said they would kill everyone who had voted against the old system . Pedro knew he was in danger . Life went on , though . They never went anywhere in the night time , but he was worried of who had stolen the milk . The revolutionaries would not steal from him , he knew that . They were occupied taking down the ones in power . This morning things seemed to be back to normal . He was going down to meet his cousin and some friends to talk about the situation . They couldn 't let people keep disappearing . He went to milk the goat before he left , and was picking up some utensils when he heard something behind him . He turned around . He was astonished . He had never really believed in the gnomes , but there it was . The same little creature he 'd seen the other day . It was real . Hey stop that ! What do you think you 're … The little gnome came running towards him . Kicked him in the leg . Why you little … Now he was getting angry . He tried to kick it , but he missed . He tried again . The little soul less gnome was too fast . It picked up a log from the floor . Hit him in the ass with it . Pedro was really pissed now . He grabbed a long stick meant to be the handle for a broom . Now you 've done it , he said , hitting for the little man . Missing . All the time . The duende , on the other hand got it quite a few punches . After a long fight he was lying on the floor , exhausted . The little man was sitting on the bench laughing . Pedro was defeated He got up , limped out of the barn . He walked down towards town . He saw a large group of people further down . They were talking , shouting . People were running up and down the slope . Pedro walked over , slowly , his whole body was hurting . There were three bodies on the ground . One of them was his cousin . If it wasn 't for the fight with the little man , Pedro would have been one of them . Pedro opened the door and went out to the barn . He had his goat inside now that winter was coming . He milked it , as he always did , and went back into the house . His father was sitting in front of the fire place , and his mother was in the kitchen . He went into the living room to his father . He was sitting reading a book . He was always reading when he wasn 't working . Pedro sat down on the old bench beside him . Lola was a peasant 's daughter , from a village nearby . She and Pedro met on a village party , she was there with her cousin . She was the most beautiful thing Pedro had ever seen . Less than a year after they got married . The next years old landlords were loosing land to the poor peasants . People were less hungry each day . It was a time of hope , but there was also violence . One day Pedro went out to the barn , as he used to . There was a full bucket of milk under the goat . It had had milked itself . Yes , all by itself . A creature was watching him from a pole in the ceiling . A little man , with pointy ears and a little green hat on his head . Pedro lifted his head . For a moment their eyes met . The little man seemed to be laughing . He turned into a bird and flew out of a hole in the wall . A boy and a girl are running through the forest . Down a slope , looking back as if someone is after them . She stumbles , he stops and runs back for her . He takes her hand , about to pull her up . Then they burst into laughter . They had been on a boat trip and disembarked on an island . They had come across a large apple grove by a house in the woods . Bountiful apples , tempting as hell . They jumped over the fence and helped themselves greedily . Then they had heard : Who 's there ? An angry voice . They had ran . Ole got Tina on her feet . They ran down to the boat and cast off . He started the engine and they set off away from the island full speed . They looked at each other and burst out laughing again . Mr Arnaldo owned a travelling show with five attractions . The bearded woman , the man with the giant foot . the monkey boy and the man with eleven fingers . They were not the interesting part . They had something new now . Something horrible . The other monsters were humans . There wasn 't really any doubt about it . But the fifth one was … different . It was humanoid , but only to some extent . There was something to it . Behind it 's eyes . In the shadows that surrounded it . They hadn 't let it out of the cage . The bearded woman was Mr Arnaldo 's wife , and she wasn 't really bearded . He let his beard grow , they cut it , and glued it to her face . The monkey boy , on the other hand , was real . Well , he wasn 't a monkey boy , of course , but he was very hairy . They had bought him from his parents a couple of years ago , they were happy to get rid of him . Shameful , they had been . So now he was travelling with them . He didn 't like the shows much , but he was OK the rest of the time . They didn 't give him food and roof for charity , either . The man with the giant foot and the other with eleven fingers was just that , a man with a giant foot and one with eleven fingers . He 'd given them a job , that 's all . They weren 't really that interesting though , the monkey boy and his bearded wife pulled in more costumers . He didn 't pay them much anyway , it 's not like they could find anything else . Ever since the two headed girl died , things had been going slow . The others simply weren 't enough two pull the business . That 's when they 'd found the creature . It was perfect . It was like a human , somehow , but there were shadows moving around it . It 's red , glowing eyes gave it 's intense stare an evil , dark and horrible depth never before seen . They were going to be famous . Now , ladies and gentlemen , it 's time for the great attraction ! You think what you seen until now is disgusting ? You think they are horrendous monsters ? Behold , a creature from the darker depths of dungeon dimensions . A demon of horrible hells . The horrible ! The Dark ! The Evil ! Rangooooorrrr ! He pulled the cloth off . Inside they saw something moving . Something dark , as if it was inside a shadow , darkness moving around though light should enter . It was moving around , as in fear . Fear of the light . Fear of the people . They could catch a glimpse of a face . A horrible , evil face . A sigh of astonishment went through the crowd . Amazing … Horrendous … . It 's a devil … They whispered , they were to shocked to shout . Then someone started applauding . Everyone soon followed . Loud shouts . Mr Arnaldo was bowing to the applause . People stopped clapping . He looked at them . At their faces . Some looked scared . Others amazed , as if they were waiting for the next great part of the show . They were not looking at him . They were looking behind him . He turned slowly around . The dark creature was no longer inside the cage . It was standing behind him . He screamed . The crowd suddenly understood this was not part of the show . Panic broke out in the crowd . People started running away , but the creature suddenly was everywhere . It started killing . People were ripped to pieces by the dark shadows moving around them outside of time . A bloodbath . The creature lifted him up . Laughing . He screamed as his body slowly dissolved into little , dark flying creeps , disappearing in the air as the flew away . Clang ! The sound reverberated throughout the hall as Faith made her way down the ladder . Her metal foot was slippery on the iron rungs . She resisted the temptation to point her toe as she descended ; she physically couldn 't and the effort caused her calf to cramp above the prosthetic . The sound was a reproach . Before , in the other life , she would have reveled in the acrobatic opportunities of the ladder , trying tricks like reaching her legs into the splits while she hung suspended from her trustworthy hands . She would have gloried in her strength and her fearlessness , entertaining herself on this long climb down . Now she had a syncopated reminder to stick to the route , no deviations . At the bottom she spotted the plinth right away . She walked to it , carriage proud in spite of the limp . She placed her hands on the indentations on the side of the pedestal … His brain didn 't work the way it should . It was … Diffuse . Strange . Like if there was some kind of fog , some kind of … death . He felt nothing . He wasn 't sure if he was even alive . He arrived between the houses . People were walking by , some saluted . Others ignored him . He didn 't understand . He didn 't care . They were things , moving , walking . Martin saw a strange man walking down the street . He jumped aside , as the other almost bumped into him . Hey , Jones ! I didn 't recognise you . Jones the gravedigger just passed by , like he didn 't even see him . He walked strangely . He must be drunk , said Martin when he was a bit down the road . So unlike him . He came to a house . It looked familiar , somehow . What was that , deep inside him ? Feelings ? Memories ? He needed to feel something . He needed to remember . Something to show him he existed , that he was alive . Something real . He entered . His shady eyesight made it hard to see . Some sound from within the house , from the next room . It was hard to tell what it was , his ears were full of noise , a background noise without meaning . Or was it his brain ? He tried to think about it , but his thoughts were slow , too slow . They didn 't make sense . Darcy came walking into the hallway . He was standing there , looking at her . She used to be his wife , but he could not really remember . She looked at him . What 's wrong , darling … ? She said . He said nothing . The expression on his face was … . Strange . Dead , somehow . Empty . Scary . What 's that you have on your head ? There were cables and metal tubes sticking out on one side . He caught her . Held her down . She tried to fight him , but he was too strong . He needed to feel something . Anything . He bit her . Bit her in the face . She screamed even harder . Started hitting him . He could feel the punches . A little bit . Not pain . Not even molest . Just the recognition of something hitting his skin . It felt good . Alive . Real . He started hitting her back . In the face . Again and again . He felt something . A strange pleasure of violence . Some of the life he vaguely remembered was still in him . She didn 't move any more . He punched her face a while longer . It wasn 't the same when she didn 't move . He started biting her head . Martin came running in the open door . He 'd heard the noise , and came to see what was happening . Darcy ! Is everything … He stopped . Her husband was lying over her . Chewing on her . He backed out . Help ! Help , someone ! The creature got up on his feet . Walked towards the noise . Out the door . Martin ran away , screaming . The other villagers came out of their houses . He looked at them . Their weapons . They were after him . They wanted to hurt him . Fear ? Maybe . Something strange deep underneath the clouds in his mind . Fear . Danger . He turned , ran . Down the slope , over the fields , into the forest . The farmers came running after him . Shouting . Dogs barking . A dog reached , him , barking around his legs . A small one . He tried to kick it , but it was difficult when he was running . Another dog , a big one , came . Bit his leg . He fell . Two others started biting his arms . Fear . Definitely fear . A farmer arrived , stabbed him with a trident . Another hit his head with a big pickaxe . Pain . He was alive . He was beyond doubt alive . Freakinstone was a scientist , and he was crazy . Good old spickedly mad , as they said in the village . After the great destruction , science was still evolving , but at a personal level , like in the old days . He had learned from his father , and he had access to a lot of old technology from the great metal disposal area close to his old castle . He 'd started out with a beetle . Insects were easier , their cells seemed to regenerate faster , and there were more cells that were expendable . The battery assured energy . He pushed the little button . It didn 't move , just lay there . He had to have done something wrong . Somewhere in his calculations there had to be some kind of failure . He picked up his papers when he saw a movement in the corner of his eye . He stopped . Stared . Did the little creep move a leg ? He had moved on to small reptiles , lizards . They moved around , but were quite clumsy and stupid . He had some control over them as well . The first mouse was a great breakthrough . He needed them fresh , so he killed them himself when the electronics were already attached . They moved around more freely , and even though he had his remote they were harder to control than the reptiles , and much harder than the insects . They had more will somehow , if such thing even existed . He needed to complete his work . He needed a human . A human for him to control . It would be very practical to have someone to do all the work around here , so he could focus a hundred percent on his science . He dug up a body from the graveyard . A child , easier to carry . Several nights light could be seen in the tower of his castle . He worked without stopping until it was ready . He turned it on . It started moving a little . Ghhehehehennnsnsnam … . A strange gurgling sound came from the recently revived child . It sounded like it was in pain . Horrible pain . It didn 't move . No eye contact . Some shaking was all the movement he could see . This was no human . It was a vegetable . He turned it off , disappointed . Ah , Freakinstone ! Said the gravedigger . Nice to see you . Could you believe someone dug up a dead body the other day ? It was the Jeff and Alice 's kid , who died from a heart failure . Some people are just crazy , aren 't they ? They … What 's up ? You look strange … What are you doing with that kn … nooo ! Aaaahhh ! ! Help me ! ! ! Ahghhh ! Freakinstone turned the gravedigger 's carriage , poured out the dirt to empty it . He got the dead body into it , and hurried up to his old castle . He had to get started fast , before the body started to rot . Hello ! He said . I eh … You had an … accident ! That 's it , an accident . Now you need to rest . No . No - no - no ! You need to stay down and rest ! The gravedigger grabbed him by the throat . Lifted him up . Lay him down on the same bench he had been lying on himself . Choked him to death . He stood there for a moment . His eyes were blurry , like if the room was full of smoke . Or was it his brain ? He didn 't know . He couldn 't think straight . He felt nothing . Knew nothing . Or at least not much . Some blurry memories , but he wasn 't sure what they was . He wasn 't even sure if he was dead or alive . The old tree was standing on a hill . The wind went through it 's leaves , the birds jumped around on it 's branches , there were insects piercing into it 's trunk . It didn 't care . It was just the way things were . It had water . Earth . Sun . It was all it ever needed . On the hill it had been standing all it 's life , as natural was . It was part of the hill , and almost as big under ground as over ground . Under ground sometimes a little creature touched it 's roots . Sometimes some worm dug into them . It didn 't care . It was all part of being a tree . Today a man came along . He was measuring it 's trunk . Looking at it . He even made a cross in it 's skin . It didn 't hurt . Things didn 't really hurt when you 're a tree . It was good being a tree . The next day the man came back . He cut the tree down . It didn 't really hurt either , but it was not good . It was not good at all . When the man pulled up the root , cut it into pieces and carried it all away , the tree 's life was over for ever . Stop the thief ! Stop the thief ! Ragon reacted fast . He lifted his spear , jumped over the wagon between him and the market stairs . In mid air he stabbed the thief in the throat . She fell dead to the ground . Ragon was a soldier . He protected law and order in the city . His job was mostly to kill people . People who murdered or raped . People who stole . People who kissed in public . Sometimes he did a mistake , but that was just the way things were , the way they had always been . No one questioned it . No one objected . Marakara came running . Thank you soldier , he said . Thank you ! He got the apples out of the dead thief 's hand . He could have bought new apples and it was uncomfortable to see the dead body on the ground , but the law was the law . Things were as they always had been . There was no other way . He never questioned it . He never objected . One day a stranger came to town . A man from rocky mountains far away . His name was Tornag . He questioned . He spoke with words put together in ways no one had ever heard . Arguments no one could deny . Reason . People listened , started questioning themselves . Soon they objected . It got quite boring after a while , hanging around all these mirrors , waiting for someone to call . This afterlife business wasn 't all it was cracked up to be , that was for sure . She sometimes wondered if death - the other side , Elysium , beyond the veil , heaven , hell , purgatory , the underworld , whatever - was like this for everyone . But that couldn 't be - after all , in all these years she 'd spent running from mirror to mirror whenever she was summoned , she 'd never run into anyone else . The first time she heard her name , she 'd thought it was him , the last voice she 'd ever heard . She went running , hoping that it was , so that she could have her revenge . It wasn 't him , though - it was some total strangers , people she didn 't know and had never seen before . I stood there , waiting for his move . Trying to look as defenceless as I could , so he would underestimate me when he decided to kill me . One of us was going to die tonight . It wasn 't going to be me . No answer . He was just looking at me , as if he wanted it . Maybe that was it . Maybe he wanted me to put him out of his misery . It bothered me . Not much punishment in that . I preferred the ones who begged for mercy . At least I was going to make it painful . I needed to get out of there . The cops could be there any moment . Some neighbour might have heard the noise , though it probably was quite usual in this neighbourhood . This would be hard to explain . I turned around , took one last look at the macabre symbol on the wall . The face of the little girl was smiling as well . There was a strange glow from it . I got out of there fast . Running down the road I felt different . Like I had changed somehow . I still had the same urge for justice , the same urge for avenging anything wrong in this world . I still felt like the good guy of justice I always had considered myself , but I saw things differently now . I stood in the middle of the room , watching the horrible symbol in front of me . A little girl had been cut to pieces , hung up on the wall in a sinister figure . What was it ? Some satanic summoning ? A sect of some kind ? I hadn 't seen this symbol before either . Her head was in the centre , her legs and arms made a circle . Her hands and feet were placed outside the circle , making a square . There had been two other murderers following a similar pattern . First a young man . Second a woman . Now a child . Sick . I wanted to throw up , but I couldn 't leave DNA on the scene of the crime . The cops would think it was me . It wasn 't the first time I had mixed myself up in a crime investigation . The laws were not strict enough . They deserved to suffer and die . I did the sacrifice of being the executer . The torturer . The first murder I read about in the newspaper . The second I had gotten there before the police . I have my ways . That 's when I had understood the gravity of the situation . The woman had been spread out on the floor in many pieces . Her fingers had been laid out in some ancient letter . I had been studying it for days , trying to find out what it meant , where it came … without luck . This was worse . The face of the little girl seemed tor have died in horrendous pain and fear . The painstaking cutting of the pieces was … I shivered . This was even worse than I had expected . I got the little bottle out of my pocket , opened it with shaking fingers . I needed to calm down . The whiskey poured down my throat . It felt good , but it wasn 't enough . Someone had called me at home . It had been a strange phone call . They told me to go here . Why did they want me here ? How did they know I was looking for them ? Who were these sick bastards ? A man was standing there . He was about forty years old . He had a white medic coat covered in blood . Literally , I knew it was white only by a small part of the collar . In his right hand he held a knife . The big kind , to cut meat . That wasn 't the scary part . There was a great carpet dwelling above the world . Inside it . Around it . It was conscious , yet not intelligent . Awake , but it did not think . One , a spectre of selves , everywhere and nowhere . No one knew how it worked , not even itself . It was pure observation . It knew , but did not calculate . It felt , but did not care . It was existence . Reality . Nothing more . Nothing less . The old man sat by the window , looking out on the valley he 'd lived in all his life . He knew everything about that valley . Every little rock , every old tree stump . He loved it . The valley was the best place on Earth for him . He walked out on the porch . Watching the little lake . He knew the little lake . He the kinds of fish swimming in it . He knew how to catch them . He knew how which berries there was in the forest on the other side , which mushrooms he could eat and which ones he could not . He sat down on his old stool , as he had done so many times before . He knew a lot . He knew how the flowers bloomed at springtime . How the hills exploded in colours in autumn . He knew how it felt to love and he knew the pain of hate . He knew the arouse of glory , the deep sorrow of loss . He knew . He knew a lot . He was old now . Very old . He knew life was coming to it 's end , and he wasn 't sad about it . He 'd lived . He 'd had a rich life , with sorrows and laughs . He wouldn 't have been without any of them . Even the painful ones . Today he was looking out on the field in front of his house . Something dark was hanging over the grass . Over the trees . And he knew . He knew his time had come , he 'd lived for a long time now . And he knew there was nothing to fear . As death came , he closed his eyes and accepted . Time had come .