A Serenade for the Innocent - 132 What's Written on the White Paper?

After that annoying bit that they made wherein they repeated those dreaded show titles all over again for the nth time, one of the Cabaret dancers at the back suddenly approached Lucas. Then, he pulled something from his back pocket, which turned out to be a rather sizable Swiss Army knife. The Caucasian took the Swiss knife and immediately yanked it towards the naked corpse of the fat man on the floor. I mean, Lucas swiftly fell on the floor, hitting his knees on the surface of the stage as he plunged the blade of the knife towards the body’s plump stomach.

After seeing this, Kirstel, the nurse, suddenly screeched out loud while covering her lips with her trembling hands. “W-what is happening now?” She uttered as she took a step back without taking her gaze away from the scene unfolding before her.

“This is fucked up!” Francis, the salesman, said with a distorted scowl as he bit his knuckles while looking at Lucas slicing the fat corpse’s body diagonally, which then cut the poor man’s belly, making his blood flood the stage.

Keizer, the silver man, screamed while pointing his hands towards Lucas while looking at me. When he did so, Lucas suddenly plunged his hands deep into the insides of the fat man’s corpse. Since Lucas is unknowingly pointing his mic towards the corpse’s cut, we could hear the way the dead man’s insides squelched while Lucas’ hands journeyed all around it. “IS THIS REALLY NECESSARY!?”

Well, why the hell are you asking me? I’m tied up here, not knowing what is happening. Was I supposed to answer him? I was trying my hardest to be as calm as I can throughout this dungeon shenanigans with the silver man, but you must realize why my blood is boiling so much at this very instance! I am here on bondage against my will, and this dumbass started spewing this stupid question! I feel like I’m about to reach my breaking point!

While I’m having a battle with myself in my head, Lucas suddenly exclaimed, “AHA!” He said as he pulled what seemed like a thin object covered with blood that came from the fat man’s insides. After a while, two Cabaret dancers started pulling the dead man’s body into the backstage, leaving an impressionable trail of red liquid behind. While they were doing that, Lucas began to wipe the blood off the surface of the thin object using the skirt of Timmy’s tulle dress. Once the blood was mostly rubbed off the thing that Lucas is holding, it finally dawned to us that the Caucasian host is holding a clear plastic zipper bag, which contains what seemed like a sheet of paper inside. Lucas then took the sheet of paper inside and tossed the plastic bag towards the boiling lava on the floor.

“Are you ready? You should be! You have no choice!” Lucas exclaimed as he unfolded that sheet of paper on his hands. “Let’s start Round 1!”

The lights around the stage then suddenly dimmed, producing what seemed like a dramatic effect throughout the area. The three contestants in the glass room then looked at each other with varying degrees of confusion, but they were all equally troubled by what they’re seeing.

After a while, a huge television screen started to descend from the ceiling of the stage. Meanwhile, the Cabaret dancers began to stand underneath the huge screen while it was about to descend. They then started to dance an uncharacteristic tribal-like dance, which looked as if it came from a remote mountainous province in some third world country. While they were doing that, the jester who’s hanging on a noose then began to yodel out loud in a somewhat breathy tone, which made me feel like he’s singing Lovesick Blues in the style of Ariana Grande. The descending TV screen then stopped midway in the air while the male Cabaret dancers were now kneeling on the floor while waving their bodies as if they’re trees being swept by the stormy wind.

Lucas then continued, “For our first round! Category is ‘MURDER.’” As the words echoed throughout the hall, the TV screen flashed the word ‘MURDER’ in a slightly soft pink and glittery font style. When Lucas said those words, Francis, the salesman, suddenly took a step back. Meanwhile, Kirstel, the nurse, dropped onto the floor, and Keizer, the silver man, screeched with trembling feet. I remained there on the corner, trying my hardest to calm myself. “In this round, we will be telling the various MURDERS you have all willingly committed to appeasing Veronica, the Mother of Plural Heights! Isn’t that exciting?” Lucas thundered before playfully spewing out a disturbing-sounding chuckle.

“It sure is, Sir,” Timmy said with a nod after hearing what Lucas had said. The hooker who’s standing on the ceiling then laughed out loud, but it sounded more like the wheezing of a kettle when the water inside of it had already started boiling.

“Now, again, the game’s mechanics is that we will tell information about each contestant, and all of them will collectively have one point to give to other contestants with them,” Lucas said, trying his hardest to make the atmosphere in the room even more tense than ever by stalling for some time. “Our category for the first round is ‘MURDER.’ We will start with Miss Kirstel, the nurse!”

“No… Oh, god, no, please…” The nurse uttered weakly, begging the people from afar to stop through a whisper in vain. While she was shaking like the meek girl that she is, the TV screen suddenly flashed an image of the corpse of a thin man, sitting on a hospital bed. The dead man’s mouth is bubbling profusely while his eyes are reddened and lifeless. While the grotesque photo flashed on the screen, the people on the ceiling started to play a jazzy tune, and the Cabaret dancer began to bang their heads in unison like metal fans in a mosh pit, the jester who’s hanging on the noose at the ceiling pointed at the screen while laughing uncontrollably with bloodshot eyes. “H-how… How did you get that photo!?” The nurse asked with tearful eyes while looking at the TV screen.

With everyone still doing whatever it is that they want on the stage, Lucas continued, “Miss Kirstel once killed one of her patients by suffocating them using poisonous gas that Veronica, the Plural Height’s Mother, herself had instructed her to do. This very valiant nurse happily obliged the Mother’s instructions and killed a stranger, who so happens to be the father of three young children. With help from Plural Heights’ extensive reach, the nurse managed to get out of that predicament without any repercussions to her career as a professional nurse.”

“Ooh! What a sick little bitch! This is why people are afraid of going to the hospital these days.” Timmy gave out his very useless commentary after hearing what Lucas had said. “That’s right, Miss Kirstel! You are a piece of shit human being, and you deserve to die! YOU DESERVE IT!”

“N-no… please, I HAVE CHANGED! I’M BETTER NOW!” The nurse proclaimed with her hands on her chest.

“We don’t give a shit, bitch! My Timmy is right! Oh, this is why I love you so much, Timmy!” Lucas said with eyes filled with longing as he gazed at Timmy. The male host wearing a tulle dress then approached the other host to kiss him when Lucas suddenly pushed him away lightly. “Don’t touch me. Alright, next contestant!”

When Lucas uttered those words, the TV screen flashed a disgusting photo of a woman with multiple stab wounds on her body. She’s lying on a wooden floor in a dimly lit room. Meanwhile, the person who captured this image must have been a sick psycho prick because they purposely took the photo from the woman’s open legs, showing the gushing semen out of her hole. The woman’s agony is perfectly being plastered on her face: a distorted frown, stiff agape mouth, and a scrunched up nose.

“That’s…” Francis uttered weakly upon seeing the ghastly image on the screen. He then stopped talking altogether as his lips began to shake wildly. As the salesman was lost in his own disbelief, the people on the ceiling started looking at the monitor screen like they’ve seen a ghost, making sure that their shock is plastered all over their pale expressions. However, it seems like the disgusting state of the mangled corpse is not the reason for their awe-struck faces. In fact, the hippie guitarist started to open up his zipper and began to jack his penis so intensely as if this was the first time he had seen a woman’s vagina in a very long time. The hooker then started to squat and pushed her finger up her hole for a few seconds, then, as if nothing had happened, she used the same finger to scoop some booger out of her nose.

Mister Francis willingly sold his wife to prostitution, watching her get fucked mercilessly by three greasy fat old men, who were supposed to be CEOs of huge American conglomerates. Our charming salesman even deliberately encouraged the men to impregnate her wife every time the old men went to their house. This went on for a week until Mister Francis’ wife attacked the three men who have been assaulting her continuously for $20 an hour. In turn, the three men stopped affiliating themselves to Plural Heights. Veronica hated this news so much that she ordered Mister Francis to murder his wife. Obviously, our little boar here obliged, and mercilessly killed his wife without second-guessing!”

“Yikes! Did you know, Sir, the marriage rate in America has been declining so much as the years go by, and we can all blame men like Francis here for that!” Timmy gave out one of his commentaries again in response to what Lucas had said. “YOU’RE A PIECE OF SHIT, AND YOU DON’T DESERVE YOUR WIFE!”

“I WAS MANIPULATED! I didn’t want all of those; I hated doing all of that, and I wish I could turn back time to get my lovely wife again and leave Plural Heights while I still have a chance!” The salesman said as real tears started to pour out of his face, smearing his scowl with such profound wetness.

“Shut the fuck up, wife killer; none of us give a shit! My Timmy is right! You’re fucked in the head, and Plural Heights had nothing to do with it! It’s all you!” Lucas said as he pulled Timmy towards his direction while patting his co-host’s head.

The TV screen then showed the burnt body of some stranger. It was so blackened that I can’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. The corpse’s hands are outstretched, its fingers poised like a hawk’s claw, and its feet are positioned in such an awkward way that it made me feel like this person has been kicking the air before he got incinerated. It seemed that the photo was taken at what looked like a metal warehouse in god-knows-where, but all I know for sure is that it’s a well-lit place.

“Oh my god!” The silver said before covering his lips with both his hands. While he was doing that stupid charade, the lion who’s caged in the middle of the stage had finally let out its final weakened roar and fell into the metallic floor of its cage. That same floor then swung open slowly and was about to drop the lion deep into the darkness the lies underneath. However, when the animal was about to fall, it suddenly bit the metallic railing of the cage, not wanting to let go like its life depended on it. The twins then tased the lion’s face at the same time, not stopping the electricity coursing out of it until the animal’s fangs let go. When the lion finally fell towards the pit underneath, T. S. Elliot, who’s standing on the ceiling, suddenly started screaming, “ASLAN, NOOOOOO!” over and over again with his hands extended towards the direction of the lion, which then broke his mind so damn hard. T. S. Elliot looked so miserable that he was about more than willing to jump off the ceiling; however, somehow, it seemed like he can’t take his feet off where he’s standing on. Thus, he just cried like a telenovela character, and the hooker then started to lick the liquid that’s dripping down on his forehead.

“Now, for our last Stromlet! Mister Keizer was instructed by Veronica to sabotage one of his friend’s dangerous acrobatic routines in their circus act. The gist of the crime is that Mister Keizer spread oil all over his friend’s costume before he did a number involving him juggling three lit torches. Needless to say, Mister Keizer’s talented juggler friend died after being burned to death. The gossip here is that Veronica actually instructed someone to dispose of all fire extinguishers in the establishment, so they had to take water from a nearby bathroom, but by then, the juggler is already dead. I gotta say, what an unprepared bunch!”

“You said it, Sir! But we should all remember that this wouldn’t even be possible if it weren’t for the stupid and nasty decision that the silver man did to his friend! This is why people would often hop from one job to another because of stupid and jealous and downright psycho coworkers like you!” Timmy shouted with a fiery scowl as he pointed at the silver man with an angry tone.

“I…” The silver man uttered with trembling lips as he buried his face deep into his palms. “I have no excuses, I… I’m a piece of shit… I… that was all my fault, I…”

“NOBODY CARES, PUSSY!” Lucas exclaimed back at him after hearing Keizer shake and cower in the glass hall. “Now, Stromlets. You have three minutes to deliberate between one another as to who will get your point!”

The nurse then stomped her feet while leaning her upper body forward towards the silver man. “IT’S HIM! HE SHOULD GET IT!” Kirstel, the nurse, pointed at Keizer, the silver man, with reddened eyes. “HE EVEN ADMITTED IT HIMSELF! HE MURDERED HIS FRIEND KNOWINGLY! YOU’RE A SICK FUCK!” The nurse howled in a high pitched tone while shouting at the silver man like a wild hound snarling at an intruder.

“That’s right! I’m giving my point to this circus freak too! He deserves to get it!” Francis, the salesman said as he cleared his throat after seeing the nurse’s performance.

“B-but… I…” The silver man weakly uttered in a whisper as he looked at the way the other two looked at him with varying levels of madness.

“What say you, Keizer? Which among your ‘friends’ do you give your point to?” Lucas said, chuckling a bit as he gave emphasis on the word ‘friend’ with a playful tone.

“I… I guess I… I’ll…” The silver man’s breathing started to get deeper as sweat began to travel all over his perplexed face. “…I’ll give it to Francis…” The silver man then breathed out weakly after uttering those words with a heavy heart.

Timmy then exclaimed as he suddenly started dancing like an old drunkard on the stage. “OOOOH! There he goes, ladies and gentlemen! He did it again! Our pal Keizer here really is an expert when it comes to fucking his friends up and betraying them!”

Oh, no…

This is not going well.