A Circus of Tales || Short Story Collection

Villain (빌런)

CW: Mentions of self-harm

Short story for avadel's short story contest.
Prompt: #3

More information at the end of the story

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"We all pretend to be the heroes on the good side, but what if we're the villains on the other?"

· Villain (빌런), Stella Jang

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The rules they gave us were supposed to be simple.

Six people who had committed some of the most atrocious sins known to mankind, had been sent to the "prison". For whatever reason, I was one of them.

Our job was to confess--at any given time--what those sins are. Those who confessed would be allowed to leave alive, while the others remained in the "prison", sentenced to stay there until they died. If other people found out about our sin and told everyone else what it was, we would be executed. That was the only way we were allowed to be killed.

At first, I thought it was far from complicated. But the countless months in the "prison" quickly proved me wrong.

No one dared to utter what sin they had committed to be placed in here. There could be a variety of reasons: perhaps they knew that the sin was so morally wrong even they felt disgusted with themselves, they didn't consider what they did was a sin, they forgot what the sin was, they could be doing this for fun--the list went on. I wouldn't be surprised if one of them wouldn't confess because they preferred to live in "prison".

Despite having humongous walls that stretched maybe even farther than the skies, the rest of the complex was livable. For instance, the building we resided in was a manor and not a jail with cells or barred doors. The wardens kept us supplied with food and water, and we had ways to entertain ourselves. The only thing we lacked was social contact from people outside.

It was almost like paradise. Almost. Sometimes, the number of times people that forgot about the last part of the rules was concerning. Then again, I couldn't remember the last time someone was killed because someone found out their sin.

A scoff left my lips.

But who was I to judge?

The sound of soft tapping outside of my bedroom pushed away any thoughts that remained in my mind. It was hours past midnight, and everyone should've been asleep. The manor was quiet; yet, I was certain I was hearing something else apart from my heartbeat or the clock. I held my breath, then nodded to myself when I heard footsteps.

There was someone outside.

I grabbed my sweater from my chair, pulled it on, and walked towards the door. After twisting the knob, I stayed behind it, leaving the top of my head to take a peek outside.

A young woman with blonde hair--Blaine--stood outside of my room. Both her hands were close to her chest, and her fingers fiddled with one another. She lifted her head, her eyes slightly wide from lack of sleep. Once our gazes met, her lips curled into a full-toothed grin.

"C- Can I come in?" she whispered in a voice so low I could have mistook it for a gust of wind.

I opened the door a little and gestured her to my room. "Be my guest. I was the one who invited you, after all."