Malice Angel:

Simone’s Notes:

Traditional Japanese society, Korean society and Ancient Greek society are sometimes said to be "shame-based" rather than "guilt-based", in that the social consequences of "getting caught" are seen as more important than the individual feelings or experiences of the agent. This may lead to more of a focus on etiquette than on ethics as understood in Western civilization. This has led some in Western civilizations to question why the word ethos was adapted from Ancient Greek with such vast differences in cultural norms. Christianity and Islam inherit most notions of guilt from Judaism, Persian and Roman ideas, mostly as interpreted through Augustine, who adapted Plato's ideas to Christianity. The Latin word for guilt is culpa, a word sometimes seen in law literature, for instance in mea culpa meaning "my fault". Guilt, from O.E. gylt "crime, sin, fault, fine," of unknown origin, though some suspect a connection to O.E. gieldan "to pay for, debt," but O.E.D. editors find this "inadmissible phonologically". The mistaken use for "sense of guilt" is first recorded 1690. "Guilt by association" is first recorded in 1941. "Guilty" is from O.E. gyltig, from gylt. Guilt is a main theme in John Steinbeck's East of Eden, Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "The Black Cat", and many other works of literature. It is a major theme in many works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and is an almost universal concern of novelists who explore inner life and secrets.

Stacy Oldman came to Central to work on the case. The reception to her appearance was a mixed one. Some of the guys welcomed her with open arms. Some of the women didn’t trust her. Syd and Ella had their strong suspicion about her. They were first voiced on Ella’s way to visit Alex in the hospital. Syd made the call.

“Hello?” his bird asked.

“Ella,” Syd replied.

“What’s on your mind?”

“The military has a new lt. looking into the case.”

“Okay. What about him?”

“Her.”

“Okay, what about her?”

“Something’s off about her.”

“You noticed that too?”

“She doesn’t seem human.”

“Like something is missing from her?”

“Yeah!”

There was a pause on the phone.

“So what do you think?”

“Could be a doll of the Fallen Ones?”

“But what would be the purpose?”

“Meaning exactly?”

Ella shrugged to herself. “Why send a doll in the middle of all of this mess?”

“A diversion?”

“Nah. That’s just too easy. They’ve doing something to the people here. I seen too much of it.”

“I think I know what you are talking about.”

Another pause over the phone. Ella drew in another breath.

“So what do you suggest we do?”

“I’ll watch this Oldman lt. and you try to get Alex out of that coma prison they have him in.”

“Gotcha!”

They both hung up the phone. Ella pushed herself to walk all the way to the hospital. Alex lied in his bed, waiting.

XXXIII:

Sand. Alex didn’t even bother trying to find out where he was. All he knew was that he was lying in a place filled with sand. He didn’t even try to get up. Probably couldn’t anyway. He could hear Ella’s voice on the outside again. “I wish I could talk to her,” the lamb thought in misery. Light white waves of light flashed over his face. Alex suddenly felt a pounding in the back of his brain. He shut his eyes to block out the mental noise.

“What now?” Alex thought. The pounding seemed to stay in one place for a long time. Yet, it wasn’t a painful thumping. It was as if someone was lightly thumping him in the arm. He waited for the thumping to grow and get more painful. Isn’t that how it worked? They wanted him to suffer here after all. Suffer here forever. Alex lied in waiting. The pounding kept its low pace. The lamb tried to reason rather pointlessly what was going on. “What are they doing now?” he thought. Alex could still hear Ella’s voice outside his head.

Then, there it was again. Alex began to hear sounds inside of his body along with the pounding in his head. He couldn’t be sure if he was hearing himself chuckling out loud or in his mind. Did it really matter? They had him trapped in this unpredictable and confusing hell they built in his mind.

“They don’t seem to be giving up, do they?” he thought. The beating of his heart sailed up to his ears. Alex didn’t react at all. The shock had died away thirty-two levels ago. Heck, he even expected this to happen. “Can’t they do any worse than this?” the lamb thought in a snarky way. “It’s all so boring to me.”

Then, the sand opened its huge mouth and began swallowing the boy. He didn’t show any emotion on his face. No panic or fear. Just nothing as he disappeared deep into the sand all around him.

XXXIV:

Night. Alex found himself back in that meadow he was in earlier. The warm feelings began to form and spread inside of his soul.

“Mmm,” he thought as he shut his eyes. He began to see his mother’s gentle face again. The boy could almost hear her voice; feel her touch upon his burning cheeks and pounding throat. He could’ve sworn that she was even singing him to sleep.

“Mother…” he thought. But, then something bitter crossed his mind. “No,” Alex thought. “This doesn’t feel right. This doesn’t feel right at all.” Suddenly, the warmth died into an icy pit forming in his stomach. Lifeless automail touched his cheeks and throat now. Alex swallowed hard as he tried to force himself to keep calm.

“Oh dear, not this again!” he thought. The smell meat being left to dry in the sun filled his nose. He thought that he was going to die from the stench. His insides churned away in his body. Alex shut his eyes and took in deep breaths.

“Get me out of here,” he mumbled. “I think I’m going to be sick. Get me out of here. Get me out here.” The heavy curtain of black invaded everything. The angel of malice revealed her cruelly beautiful to him in his mind.

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