"This is the first day of my last days."
The bass flared and Mike was already mopping the floor with his matted hair. He anticipated the next line and sang it with particular passion:
"I'm the one without a soul, I'm the one with this big fucking hole!"
The wave of sheer noise engulfed him. Chaos absorbed him. And he allowed himself to be swept away to an otherworldly place.
A small, inaudible voice cried, but Mike felt above it all—unreachable. Sweet release.
He strummed his imaginary guitar and convulsed wildly on his knees, envisioning fire engulfing the floor. Demons' shadows danced across his walls.
A frantic thumping beyond his door tamed the wild chorus with rhythm.
"No new tale to tell twenty-six years on my way to hell!!"
His door burst open beyond the blaring sound.
This time, Mike wasn't scared.
The music ceased so suddenly—silence struck his ears so strangely—Mike wondered if he ever heard silence before.
"What the fuck is your problem!?"
"Problem?" Mike looked around casually as the sheer figure towered over him. "I see no problem. Just going to hell, like you told me."
"Oh yeah? Smartass?" A fierce blow came across his head expectantly.
Mike shrugged it off.
"You know not to play your Goddamn music in my house!"
Mike couldn't help but laugh at the irony.
"You think this is funny? You little shit?"
Another blow was delivered, hard enough to make Mike stumble. Pain electrified his head. It only made him laugh even more, and he didn't understand why.
The next hit landed the final conclusion to his hysterics. The punch nailed him so hard in the jaw that his head felt heavy—or maybe that was from how hard his head hit the cold metal when he fell.
The deranged ape moved around the room in a storm of destruction. Ripping posters and flinging anything it could get its hands upon.
Mike had never seen him go this far. All he could do was shield his head from the force that ravaged his room.
He heard the familiar sound of the air-lock vault slamming.
"NO!!"
The monster mercilessly pulled the lever, and Mike scrambled to the thick glass to see his stereo jetisoned into outerspace.
"Best behave, or I'll have half a mind to send you on out there too, boy!" those poisionous words shrieked.
Mike fought back his tears, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. But by the time the door slamed shut and he was alone, he couldn't contain his emotions any longer.
"Fuck you!!" He yelled with tears in his eyes and two middle fingers shaking at nothing.
He kicked his dresser hard and threw himself on the floor. As he smeared his tears with his arm, his eyes fell on the sole surviving relic: a Spencer's Oath track with it's otherwordly cover. It burned its name into his mind:
Liberation.
His next thoughts fed his burning desire. His wish—it gave him release.