Little Malice:

Simone’s Notes:

Psychopaths lack any true sense of guilt or remorse for harm they may have caused to others. Instead, they rationalize their behavior, blame someone else, or deny it outright. This is seen by psychologists as part of a lack of moral reasoning, an inability to evaluate situations in a moral framework, and an inability to develop emotional bonds with other people. Some evolutionary psychologists theorize that guilt and shame helped maintain beneficial relationships, such as reciprocal altruism. If a person feels guilty when he harms another, or even fails to reciprocate kindness, he is more likely not to harm others or become too selfish. In this way, he reduces the chances of retaliation by members of his tribe, and thereby increases his survival prospects, and those of the tribe or group. As with any other emotion, guilt can be manipulated to control or influence others. As a highly social animal living in large groups that are relatively stable, we need ways to deal with conflicts and events in which we inadvertently or purposefully harm others. If someone causes harm to another, and then feels guilt and demonstrates regret and sorrow, the person harmed is likely to forgive. Thus, guilt makes it possible to forgive, and helps hold the social group together.

V:

Wasteland. Alex looked all around him. Dust as far as the eye could see. At least he wasn’t in that box anymore. Now, the lamb was standing up right. Alex observed his surroundings. This seemed to be some sort of a town. Ghost town to be exact. All he could hear now was his insides and the wind. Alex walked along the dust-filled path. He had never seen a place so dead before in his life. The lamb began to think that he was all alone in this place. The sun beat down on him. He felt like he was going to be sick from the heat. Alex had to force himself to keep going.

The poor lamb had to stagger into a run-down salon. He pushed open the door and nearly fell inside. Alex found himself lying face down on the floor. His body was too weak to move at all. He had to push himself forward. It felt like all of those times that the slaves forced him to humiliate himself by crawling over to them for more sexual torture. Alex felt like vomiting due to the nausea-inducing heat.

He finally made it over to the bar and tried with all of his efforts to pull himself up into a black, creaky stool. Alex tried to look over the edge of the bar. Looked so dark from where he sat. The sounds of his organs really wreaked havoc on his senses.

“Hello?” was all that he could manage out of his mouth. “Is anybody here?” Silence was all that greeted him. If could laugh to himself, he would. Of course, no one was here. It was just him. Him in this endless maze of… well… whatever. Just why was he here exactly? When could he go home? Would he go home—ever?

She opened her eyes all looked around with a smile on her face.

“Hiiiiii-ya!” she cheered. Envy rolled his eyes at her. He looked over at Manami.

“Are you sure we need such a nimrod?” he asked her. The Fallen Princess nodded at him.

“Yes,” she replied. “She’ll be perfect to keep all of our toys preoccupied until we sacrifice the lamb for the kingdom.”

“Yes, but does she have to be so stupid?” the homunculus asked.

“Awww,” Manami cooed. “She’s not stupid, she’s only a baby. She will develop fully as the humans’ guilt and misery grows.” Envy grumbled to himself.

“You better be right on this one!” he hissed. Manami gave him a cute little smile before turning to her little “sister.”

“Your name is Malice,” she told the creature. The creature blinked at her blankly.

“Mal-ice…” she said, trying it out with her own tongue. Manami gave her a cold smile.

“Very good, little sister,” she said.

“Sis-ter…” Malice mumbled.

“Yes,” the Fallen Princess said. “I have a game I want to play with you.” Malice’s eyes lit up in delight.

“A game?!?” she cheered.

“Yes,” Manami said.

“Ooo! What kind of game?” The Fallen Princess smirked at her. She took off her black and jade earring and threw it at the creature. Her curvy, feminine body broke down and scattered away. Envy and Manami watched as Malice vanished into thin air. Now, the fun begins.

VI:

Bleakness. Alex found himself back with the grey waves again. This time, he was standing upright. Floating, even. He looked all around him. Nothing in sight just like the beginning. The lamb was damn well certain that he was alive because he could still hear the organs in his body going to town with keeping him that way. They just kept freaking him out. “Why can’t I stop hearing inside of my body?” he thought. However, another sound broke his thoughts. A little girl’s laughter caught his ear. Alex quickly looked up, startled. Was somebody else here at long last?

“Hello?” Alex asked aloud. “Can anybody hear me?” He looked forward as he heard the laughter in front of him again. A little girl stood floating before him. She looked like a mini version of a typical Gothic Lolita with her black stuffed bear in her arms. Alex looked at her, confused. He blinked a couple of times to see if he wasn’t going crazy. The image didn’t change. Alex stared on at her a few seconds more.

“Are you real?” he asked. The girl giggled at him.

“Of course I am, silly!” she cheered.

“Okay… Who are you?” Alex asked.

“Who are you?”

“Alex Shepherd.” The girl giggled again.

“Funny name.” Alex looked at her in confusion. “Okay…” he thought.

“Where are we?” the lamb asked. The little girl giggled at him again.

“In your head, silly!” she announced. Alex blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“We’re inside your mind!”

“My mind?” The girl giggled.

“Yeah!”

“Okay… So how do I get out of here?”

“Why?”

“I want to go home.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?” The girl swung her ponytails around, wildly.

“Why leave when you can stay here forever and forever?”

“I have a family and people that care about me back at home.”

“So?”

“How do I get out of here?” She only laughed at him.

“You can’t, silly!” Alex looked at her with eyes of despair. This was a joke, right? Right? She only looked at him with a cold smile on her face.

The guilt slowly rose up to surface through the night. Malice’s game only began.

VII:

Pumps. Alex looked around again. He found himself lying on his back once again. The floor felt cold and hard underneath him. The lamb looked all around him. Pitch black everywhere. He looked above his head and noticed… pipes. Many pipes. Cold and steel like the very floor he was lying on. Alex tried to get up, but found that his body felt rather heavy. He shut his eyes in bitter humor. He didn’t hear his insides anymore. But, he did hear something else. Alex shut his eyes tightly. “Is that water?” he thought. The lamb quickly opened his eyes. The water was coming from ahead. There was water in the pipes. Alex slowly began to work out where he was now. “I’m in the basement,” he thought. “I’m in the basement of the apartment.”

However, he quickly noticed something else. “Oh god!” Alex thought. “What is that smell? Oh… gas fumes…” Alarm went off in his hand. “Gas fumes!!!” he thought. Alex tried to look around for the source. He listened closely for the leak. The boy began to fear the worst. “Are they trying to kill me in my mind?” he thought. “No! I don’t want to die! Please let me live! I’ll be good! I promise!” Suddenly, Alex began to feel really sleepy. He tried his best to fight to keep himself awake, but it all slowly dropped to black…

VIII:

Panic. Alex was jerked awake in an unstable atmosphere of blood red and black. He didn’t understand why he was so scared. There was nothing here, right? The lamb tried to think things through, but his head was too mixed up to focus at all. His felt his body shaking all over. No matter how hard he tried to control it, the fear and quakes refused to die away. The lamb could only shut his eyes. But the sounds inside his body made things even worse. All he could do was hope and pray that this would all end quickly for him. Suddenly, it all just stopped…

Outside, Malice’s game had only just begun.