The Phantom of Liberty

Quinn was falling. She had no reason to, she just did it. They was no joy in it; no hate, she just did what she thought was right at the time. Looking back on it, she could have avoided the whole ordeal and not had to plunge herself into the pit. The pit had drawn her in from the first time she saw it, now it had its long awaited prize.

In a village near the riverbank there was and always has been the pit. It is said that anyone who looks into the pit is doomed to be consumed by it. The villagers had tried everything they could to keep people from going near it, but there is still the fear that the pit will corrupt them.

Quinn, who was fifteen, was a member of this very village and a very prominent baker. The town loved her food and she made a decent income.

One day, Quinn lost all feelings, she kept a blank look on her face and ignored all who talked to her. All of the villagers figured she was in mourning, but they couldn’t guess who.

When she was home, she sat on a stool and stared at nothing; when she was in public, she made no expression. She was too deep in though, too deep in agony. She had seen the forbidden pit, she had gazed into that endless black void.

She had seen it, now it owned her.

She now only listened to the Pit, all her thoughts were the Pit’s and all its thoughts were hers. She and the Pit were on in the same. The Pit told her what to do, what to say. She and the Pit were best friends and worst enemies.

Every day, Quinn brought herself one step closer to plunging into the Pit itself. To give herself to the Pit. She now loved her new life and new ways of thinking, she loved the knowledge that poured over her; and in her own mind, she was God.

“As a god,” the Pit said to her. ” You must be uncaring; unfeeling. Once you can kill a man without feeling remorse, you can then become God of this wretched village. That is my gift to you.”

She listened to the Pit at all times, it was her soul; but after it told her to kill, the only thing it would say to her was: “Do it!.”

She needed to find someone, she needed to find a victim, and that evening she went out and searched for a man that would appease the Pit. She found a few beggars on the street and asked the Pit if they were enough.

“These will not do!” The Pit told her. ” The man you need to kill is the man that you love most. You know who I’m talking about!”

This almost made Quinn lose all hope in the Pit, the thought of it had almost driven her to tears. The Pit was her key to immortality and power, but what would she do with it if she had no one to love? She had to think a very long time about it, and the Pit tried its best to bring her on the path to suffering; that was how it stayed powerful, how it kept living.

The next day, a man named Joseph went into Quinn’s bakery. He and Quinn had known each other since they were born, they grew up together. Now, Quinn would have to take his life. It was her only way to the prize she had longed for, the only thing that mattered to her.

As Joseph browsed, Quinn hid a knife behind her back, ready for the kill. When Joseph approached she had it still hidden.

“Hello Quinn,” he said with a smile on his face. “I know this is sudden, and you may not say yes,” Joseph hesitated, thinking of the words he wanted to say. In this moment, Quinn had a firm grasp on the knife.

“Will you marry me?” He blurted out.

At that moment, Quinn dropped the knife and started to cry. Joseph embraced her and they stood in each other’s arms, crying.

“What are you doing!?” The Pit yelled in her mind. “Kill him! If you do not fulfill this deed, you will never reach divinity, you will forever stay mortal!”
“I can’t,” she replied in her mind. “That is not what I want any more, I realize now that all I’ve ever wanted is Joseph, and you will no longer tell me what to do!”
“Fine then,” the Pit told her. “I’ll do it myself!”

Quinn blacked out. She only heard one thing, the final words of the man she once loved, “I love you,” he said.

She found herself in a dungeon, the smell of rotting flesh and feces filled the air.

“Glad you’re awake,” the Pit said menacingly. “You’ve been out for quite some time.”
“Shut up!” Quinn said out loud. “You’ve caused me nothing but pain! You killed the man I love and now I’m going to die here!”
“Oh, now, you can escape. All you need to do is pledge your loyalty to me.”
“I won’t! I’d rather die here!”
“How would you like it if I took your body over again? Think of all the misery I could cause you!”
“Do it then, if you even can.”
“How about I make you a deal? You obey me, and I bring your beloved Joseph back to life, doesn’t that sound fair?”
“You can really do that?”
“All that and more, you just need to do a few things for me first.”
“Like what?”
“A few more… mercy killings, after you’re out of here, of course”
“If you get me out of here, I’ll be sure to.”
“Haha, you sound like you think I can’t do it. I can, trust me.”
“As if I have a choice…”
“Walk to that wall over there, I stashed a key there when I had control of you.”

Quinn walked over the brick; as the Pit said, there was a key inside of it. She walked to the door and unlocked it.

“Good girl, I hid a knife for you too. it right over there,” she found the knife and kept it in her hand.
“Now you make your escape,” the Pit said.

The air outside was sweet. There was no one around, there was no one to be found.

“Where is everyone?” Quinn asked.
“They’re all with me, waiting for you,” the Pit answered.
“Waiting for me to do what?”
“Are you really that dense? You know what I want you to do!”

Quinn was again filled with grief… she knew she cause the village to be destroyed, and it was all that accursed Pit’s fault. At that moment, she thought of a way to destroy it; or at least keep it from possessing anyone again. “I know what you’re thinking Quinn! But I must tell you, you cannot kill me!”

She said nothing in response. She thought nothing, all she did was run to the pit.  People were lined up, ready for the slaughter. People ready and willing to die for the sake of the Pit.

“I have placed a thought in their minds, the thought: ‘I want to die.’ They have no more free will; no more thoughts. Free them now!” The Pit demanded. “Kill them and become God! Become the god of nothing!”
“What kind of God if that!?” Quinn said sadly.
“A miserable one! Now do what I say or join them!”
“No, I shall not!”
“Then I’ll do it for you!”

Quinn started to lose control, she started to pass out. The Pit was trying to control her again, but this time, she better understood how to combat it. She fought. She fought to retain her will, her sanity.

As she fought, she noticed the Pit started to get weaker and weaker, soon it would no longer be able to keep control. She could see the Pit itself shrinking in front of her, and at that moment, she knew what she had to do.  She had to throw herself into the pit, it was the village’s only chance.

She jumped.

Quinn was falling. She had no reason to, she just did it. They was no joy in it; no hate, she just did what she thought was right at the time. Looking back on it, she could have avoided the whole ordeal and not had to plunge herself into the pit. The pit had drawn her in from the first time she saw it, now it had its long awaited prize.

As she fell, she realized something: there was nothing in the pit. There was nothing to control her. There was nothing. She felt nothing. Nothing.

Nothing.