《1984》Chpt. 57 ~Halloween Special 2019~

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It's a wonderful time to be alive, really. There's jazz, dancing, clubs, promiscuous women and corruption in the city, but most importantly, prohibition! Who cares?? Everybody sneaks booze anyway. If anything, it made the market more lucrative.

I live in New York City, the year 1924. It's a ball. Everyone's happy and living their best life. They're doing whatever the hell they want to, because the boys are back from the war to return to a booming, post-war economy! We can afford drowning ourselves in alcohol!

Personally, I own an exclusive bar stowed away in a little ally not far from Times Square. Obviously, because of the prime location and booze being in such high demand, it's doing well. I live in a fair sized apartment in a new building. It's not lavish, but not a slum.

I walk down the ally, leaving my bar early in the morning so that I may rest when it's daylight out. The date is October 31st and the weather is already cold. Therefore, in said alleyway, the homeless locals light their own fires to warm by. How pitiful it must be to be them. Their eyes just roll around to follow my stride.

My eyes lock with a little girl, thinner than a rail. She is all alone in the darkness, no where near the fire. It seems as though the others are shunning her out of the warmth. Though she's huddled on the ground, she doesn't even have a blanket. I can't even tell if she's shivering. She does have a pulse, however. I can smell it.

I look at the others who are eyeing me back in their peripheral as if I am mad. As if there is something gravely wrong with her.

I look back down at her with a neutral look. I'm not afraid of her. There isn't a thing she can do to hurt me.

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"What's your name?"

As I ask, the little girl of no more than 11 looks down at the ground before shifting her sunken eyes up at me again. "Leisel." Her voice is soft, almost a whisper, but I could clearly make out a strong, German accent. "What's your's?"

"...V."

She nods and then draws her knees further up into her chest. Anymore, and they'd be through her rib cage. It is obvious that she isn't used to this kind of thing.

"Why are you here? Don't you have a family?"

Leisel only shakes her frail head. It's understood between the two of us that they had died.

"Are you ill?"

She nods again. "They won't let me near the fire. There's no room and I'm sick..."

It's my turn to solemnly nod now.

-Kill her.-

-She's going to die anyway.-

..Indeed.

Killing her may be one of the only things Vigil and I will ever agree on. I step forward, a hand out to Leisel.

"Let us escape."

"Don't!!" squeaks a bum, "You'll get sick!"

But it's too late. She had already taken my hand and I hoist her up to her feet, dragging her away from the scene to an even darker, smaller alleyway.

It's all she can do to simply even be held in my arms. When I loosen my grip to set her down on solid ground, she flops like a rag doll. Her eyes even closed like she had already passed out.

As I look down at her.. I finally realize that... I can't do it. I know that it would perhaps be the best thing for her, but I just.. can't. I can't tell if it's because she is just too pitiful to look at, or if it's because there is no sport in it.

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-Do it.-

-Are you even a predator? What's wrong with you!?-

Vigil, however, has a different perspective. He is just bloodthirsty.

I let Leisel's unanimated, yet live body fall to the ground, closing my eyes and covering them like a mask. I need a break. I can't. I can't do this. I step into the back to let Vigil forward.

-Coward.-

We have two different reasons for doing the same thing, but I am the coward, the chicken. I can't even kill her. I was made to protect Vigil, but I can't even feed from a little girl. What does that make me?

Coward.

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