"The Cosplayer"
By GMHY
The grass felt good, but it was very spiky, sticking into her shirt like tiny swords. When she lay in grass, she always felt slightly unclean, like being on the ground contaminated her. She felt exposed. That was a foolish feeling, stemming from encounters with her sister years before. Whenever she would lay on the ground, her sister would pretend to fall and catch herself right above her at the last moment.
Every time she would cringe. And her sister would laugh, her eyes closed and free.
She felt the urge to wash her hands.
The sun was beating on her pale face like a temperamental child. The shade had wandered off.
She opened her eyes and sat up. It was a park with trees and children playing soccer. The grass was green and slightly yellow, drying out in the sun. It was unnatural. The grass would never grow alone in the desert climate, but the people were rich and spoiled with water, wasting it on such niceties as dying grass.
But she was just being belligerent, as usual. There was actually no reason to be so negative. The water came from far away, from more temperate zones. There was plenty of water to waste.
She squinted into the sun, wishing she lived somewhere where there were more clouds in the sky. Where it rained more than twice a year.
When she saw him, her eyes grew large and disbelieving.
"There's no way."
The man was standing fifty feet away with his profile to her. He was dressed in black with white armor pieces strapped to his shoulders. His hair was unnaturally white; she had never seen haired dyed such a realistic white.
Immediately, she felt pleased, the immature child in her ecstatic at the prospect of being 'in the know.'
She knew who he was supposed to be.
She smiled. "Hey! Great cosplay!"
He didn't answer. He didn't even turn, engaged in watching the children play.
She stood up, blood rushing to her legs and head. Her grin was excited.
When she was a social distance away from him, she tried again. "Hey, guy. Your costume is awesome. You look just like him."
A moment passed. He wasn't answering. Maybe he didn't hear her.
She stepped forward to get a view of his face. To see if it would match up with the perfect vision in her mind. Her smile was stretched across her face like a small child's.
The children played soccer obliviously. They were young, innocent and filled with laughter. They seemed far away, kicking a ball through the dying grass. The heat seemed to push down on them, muffling their laughter and warping it.
His face was just as she felt it would be; aristocratic, cruel and unfeeling. His eyes were fixed on the children, green and bright above high cheekbones.
It was perfect.
He looked just like him.
His voice came then, as she saw his face for the first and last time. He never looked away from the children.
"Those such as these. I will create their future. Death becomes them."
It was almost a whisper, sibilant, calm.
Such a strange statement.
"Wow, you really are a nut, aren't you? You're even playing the part."
She couldn't look away. The heat pressed down on the crown of her head.
"They will pay for their crimes against this Planet." His eyes were fixated, insanely focused. "Their souls and life energy will return to the Planet and all life...will begin anew."
There was something in the man's manner, something strange. She looked at his intent face, then stepped back in horror. She saw something there that couldn't be expressed, the summation of fears, the product of hate and insanity. Something that couldn't be acted out or practiced.
Something that was naturally ingrained in him.
It was perfect.
He looked just like him.
Then he was walking, through the field towards the children. His sword was in his hand. Terror gripped her; she couldn't move. Unreality and vertigo seized her and she fell to the ground. He was on the first child, slicing the boy open methodically, unrelenting. Another fell.
Another.
She watched the blood. So bright that she couldn't bear it; the crimson ribbons torn from small bodies. She crouched there in the grass and vomited.
She could hear it. The wet liquid sounds pressed down on her ears.
Fearfully, she looked up. Her hands braced her shaky form against the ground; the sun was too bright.
He was done with the deed. It was nothing like she'd ever seen. More overwhelming than her entire existence.
The children were sprawled, dead, broken. Blood covered the field, soaked it. Soaked their bright uniforms. She never knew there could be so much blood inside a human being. Inside such small human beings.
She gagged again and staggered to her feet. She shook.
She couldn't look away.
He looked just like him.
He stood perfectly still. The edges of his clothes were covered in their blood. His sword was dripping with it. It was in his hair. She could see it clearly from where she stood.
Blackish red against white.
He turned slowly, looked at her.
Shock ran through her and she staggered backward, the breath rushed out of her.
He did not move, staring at her for long moments. Then, he turned again and strode down the field, to the sidewalk. Down the street, blood dripping from his weapon, coat, hair...
The sun was in her eyes, burning her; the heat was oppressive. The grass was sharp and cruel.
She couldn't move. Couldn't look away. She cringed with that old, exposed feeling.
The sprinklers came on, showering the bloodstained field and spattering the dead children's faces with water.
She felt the urge to wash her hands.
FIN
Author's Note: (Cosplay costume play, people dressing up as anime characters and things). This one-shot is kind of complicated. It has a theme (fear and death) as well as motifs (the grass, heat, etc.). Which is cool, because I only spent like an hour on it. There's a bunch of foreshadowing, too. Try to find it all! (J/K) I was trying to use a few things I'd learned about repetition and the use of grammar rules. Every grammar rule I broke was purposeful and was meant to help in the spacing and speed of reading. I hope it's good quality. I'm looking for a beta reader, if anyone is interested.