Am I The Villain?

1. I Died and I Live

Call me morbid, but my dream in life is actually to simply die peacefully in my sleep. If you would ask me what my dream is a decade ago, I would've given you some amazing answers. A doctor, a president, an astronaut. Oh how innocent and hopeful I was. As time goes on, my dream gradually get corrupted by the harshness of reality. I toned down my dreams into being a simple office worker or another faceless drone in some government office. Before I know it the only thing I wish is to have a good enough job to feed me daily and pay the rent. Now I just want to end it all.

I blankly stared at my room's dark ceiling; decorated only by a lone light bulb, waiting for the sandman to come and put me to sleep. Lately, I've been staying up late into the witching hour just doing this. Literally nothing.

An antiquated air conditioner hangs on the room, blasting incredibly cold breezes my way accompanied with a continuous hum and the occasional rattlings. Receiving the breezes, my eyes goes dry only to be quickly moistened in a blink of an eye.

These scenes never fail to repeat themselves every night until the tardy sandman finally whisks me into the land of dreams. And naturally, I would wake up after the gloriously incandescent sun violates my eyes with its majestic rays of light shining through the curtains; reminding me I'm still alive and should get up.

... At least that's what I thought when I go to sleep that night.

What lies beyond me is an intimidatingly endless sea of darkness. The needlessly cold air from the air conditioner have turned into a lukewarm room temperature. A deafening silence have also replaced the ambient humming and rattling. Worst of all, I can't move my body.

No that's not correct. I can't move my body because I have no body.

How long have I been here? Well, it's not like it matters. This place isn't so bad. It's a bit scary, yet oddly comforting. There's no more pressure or anxiety, only the eternal emptiness; I like it. It feels like I'm floating in the vast emptiness of space. Tranquil and void.

Well, I did say I wanted to die in my sleep. Boom. wish granted, Thanks God, love ya. Just wished you could've warned me. Saying goodbyes to my family would've been nice.

Have I been floating for a week? No, I think it's longer. A month? A year? A decade? How do I measure time anyway. It's just nothing in all direction. I never believed in the afterlife. I just though when I die, I die. Game over. Nothing more. Your consciousness simply got obliterated. I did thought about an endless void after death where you retain your consciousness, but that's just a boring scenario.

I was correct. It is boring. At first it feels nice and calming, but now it's just aggravating.

"I think I don't want to sleep anymore," I thought to my self.

After what might as well be an eternity, a small pale blue cloud appears in front of me. Correction, a pale blue cloud appeared far away from me. Sorry, endless void does weird things to your depth perception, you see.

I cautiously walked closer to the cloud, or at least I think I'm walking. I have no body after all. Regardless, I'm moving and that cloud is getting closer. A nostalgic sense crept up into my mind. It's caution. I've been stuck here for God knows how long, He probably actually do know, and now a cloud just pops out of nowhere. It doesn't get more suspicious than that.

The cloud suddenly moved away quickly as I got close to it. It's movement's erratic as if it's scampering away in panic away from me. I don't know why, but seeing it run like that makes me want to catch it even more.

I managed to catch up to it with ease. As I was nearing it, I thought of extending my "arms" or whatever limbs I have toward it. A burning yet unbelievably satisfying feeling crawls up my "arms" together with the cloud as I grabbed it.

"Ah~, " I accidentally leaked out a voice of ecstasy.

Wait. I spoke? How? Do I have a mouth now?

Cutting into my line of thought, even more larger blobs of pale blue cloud appeared in the distance. They seem to be congregating in the same place.

I want to taste them.

And so I made way toward the group of clouds.

I approached the clouds from above. I guess I can move in all three dimensional direction. Some of the clouds on the outer part of the group are slightly more elevated than the others, while most of the clouds in the center are stationary. Most of the stationary clouds are huddled up together in a group of 3-5. Others, such as the elevated, moves back and forth following the same path over and over again.

I wonder what these things are? Are they alive?

Well, it doesn't matter. They taste good.

Hmm? Some of the moving clouds are running around into one another. Did they spot me and trying to warn the others?

"Oh, no you don't," I muttered as I dropped down into a group of them and gave them a great big hug.

"nnh~," I knew it. It feels good. It tastes good.

The clouds are now surrounding me while jumping back and forth from me. What is this? Some kind of dance?

Well, it doesn't matter. I swept my "arms" in a circular motion. Witnessing that scene some of the clouds are starting to flee. The stationary clouds are also now moving and gathering into a small building.

A building? That isn't right. They're just gathering into a point in space. Isn't everything here just empty space? Where'd I get the idea that they're gathering in a small building.

A sharp pain suddenly shot up from my body. Pain? I really do have a body!

Some slightly more luminescent cloud is standing in front of me. Are they different than the usual? Well, you know me. It doesn't matter, hahaha.

Am I scary to these clouds? You can't blame me. This is the most fun I've had since being trapped here. Can you imagine doing nothing, and receiving no outside stimulus for what probably is literal years and suddenly something really fun just conveniently materialize in front of your eyes? You can't help it.

After savoring the taste of the luminescent cloud, I made my way to where the clouds gather.

Some more clouds, gradually growing brighter and brighter one after another, halted my way and hurt me a bit. Watching each one of them struggle in my "arms" as they are slowly getting absorbed makes my heart race. After dealing with the endless onslaught of clouds, I finally get to the gathering place.

What appears in front of me is a beautiful scene of clouds as far as the eyes can see. Because there is nothing else my eyes can see.

"It's a feast! A feast only for me! Muahahaha."

If I'm going to be the villain for these clouds, I might as well act like a proper villain. Although I just end up acting like a cliched mustache-twirling villain who likes to monologue instead.

I liberally swept my "arms" across the room and tasted them all in one fell swoop. Like popping bubble wrapping using a bulldozer.

"Fuaahh~," I slumped on the ground feeling full and satisfied.

... I just noticed that I can move my body properly now. I tested my body by doing jumping jacks. I still can't see though, so I easily lose balance and dropped into the ground.

Ground? Ground! Oh my god, I have never been this happy touching the ground before. All these times I've just been floating in space. If I had tear ducts I would probably be crying river right now. I'm starting to get emotional.

Oh, hey look! More clouds in the distance! This is fun!