Paul- United Human Faction- Night 49
The last memories Paul kept were scars. The cuts running in every direction across his arm, the hideous discoloration of his shoulder, the burn still healing on his neck, all were remembered in vivid detail. Where his subconscious would have pushed every moment out of reach, Paul's guilt kept every second close to his heart.
No other memory compared to the scars left by the friends he had known before. His best friend, Julian, now walked the streets with neither a face nor a soul. Sharon was prepared to give her life, and the life of all those around her, in the name of an idea she had never believed in before. Thomas had retreated into the submission he had so long condemned. Karen chose to leave.He was left behind.
Paul opened the safe he kept underneath the bed in his home. Inside was an unlabeled package. The cardboard was warped by the relentless California fog, and the tape was beginning to peel off, but the he knew the contents would be safe.
Paul carefully sliced the tape on the top of the box off, and revealed a massive pile of file folders. There was a single note lying on the top of the stack, scratched out in red ink.
It read, “Take out the papers one at a time. Don’t look inside until they are all gone.”
Paul smiled. Karen had always been more theatrical than he could stand. The night he had met her, she faked an elaborate conflict to earn his attention. He ignored her for days just to prove a point, but he never lasted alone for long. Tonight, he thought, he would give in one last time.
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