Taint

Prologue - Realizations

(Thea)

My life used to be boring, normal. Routine. I fought with my older brother; got babied by everyone else. Went to school, had friends. I used to not care about things like personality, focusing solely on appearance. Then on my 15th year I went on a vacation. Ironic vacations are supposed to be relaxing, a getaway from your troubles.

(Max)

My life used to be clear and easy. Had a hot blond girlfriend i loved, had two parents i could depend on for anything, as long as i attended school they didn't mind what else i did. Then on my 18th birthday they died. Leaving me utterly alone. I had no one to depend on then. No crutch. So I did what any guy with no money or academic future would do. I joined the army.

(Both)

I wonder how I would've ended up it it'd never happened. What type of person I would've become. Would the veil have remained over my eyes for the rest of my life?

Would I have ever understood, really understood, what it meant to be used and abused? Viewed as not a living breathing being but an object, someone with no will, no soul. By the time it was over though, it had become true. No soul, just an empty vessel. All that was left was the evil. Covering my skin like a living thing. Choking me.

Would my almost infantile optimism have remained? Would I have seen the darkness in my own heart? Would I have ever discovered the fragility of the souls of all living things? Would the once lucid line between good and evil have ever blurred?

Would I have even known what true evil was? Would I have even known that it existed? That it was infectious like the disease it was?

I did find out though. I know what evil is. I know what is taint.