Kim

Kim was unhappy with her life. Though she had everything a girl her age could ask for: a nice house, hot boyfriend, rich parents. She felt like it was all useless to her. She barely ever saw her parents and, when she did, they were always too stressed or busy to speak to her; instead opting to buy her things just to shut her up. When she looked in the mirror, Kim thought of herself as unattractive. She bought clothes and makeup to try to make herself look prettier in her own eyes, but it never worked to her. And even though she had many “friends” in her neighborhood and school, it still felt like people were talking about her behind her back. It made her paranoid.
When her parents revealed to her that they were moving to a more rural area, she was extremely excited. Kim hated the town she lived in. All their neighbors acted very superficial and fake. Breaking up with her boyfriend and saying goodbye to her friends brought up no sadness for her. The happiness of leaving this town once and for all was more than enough for her. Before they moved, Kim brought all of her high-end clothes and makeup to a secondhand shop and sold it all. She only kept a few things to wear on special occasions. In her new town, she didn’t have to act anymore. She could really be herself. 
- 
Several hours of driving and about a week of unpacking later, Kim was finally able to relax and enjoy her new home. It was a nice, small house; well, small by her standards. In actuality, the house was probably big enough to house a family of four or five. Of course her parents got the master bedroom, and Kim got the next biggest room. Per request, her parents turned one of the spare bedrooms into a game room. 
However, not in the mood to play games at the moment, Kim decided to go out and explore her new town. The neighbors were friendly, the air was clean, and small businesses thrived. 'An average mountain town,' Kim thought to herself with a smile. After a few minutes of looking around, she came across a nice little clothing store. Deciding to redo her wardrobe, she walked inside and browsed their selection. There were hardly any high-end brand name items, which was a refreshing sight. Only generic clothes, a few cheap accessories, and an occasional printed T-shirt. Kim looked around for a while, picking up and putting back clothes as she went. Eventually, she came across a nice hoodie that looked like it would fit perfectly. Even though it was just a plain hoodie with no prints or designs, she fell in love with it. The simplicity was a welcome new style. Thankfully, she had enough cash on hand to get it, along with practically a whole new wardrobe. Finally, after years of all those fancy things, she could have a basic, normal wardrobe. 
Surprisingly, she still had a lot of cash on hand. It would take time to adjust to such low prices, but that was fine by Kim. A new town like this was a blessing for her. After her shopping was done, she headed back home with a spring in her step. Her parents didn’t even seem to notice her walk inside. She doubted that they even noticed she left in the first place, as she headed up to her room and started putting her stuff away. Not long after she finished, her parents called her downstairs. Confused, Kim approached the sound of her parents' voices. 
“So Kimmy,” her father started once she was in front of her parents. Her parents' old nickname for her was quite a surprise to hear again. “Do you like it here so far? When we saw this place on the market, we couldn't help but think of you.” His statement took Kim by surprise. She didn’t think either of them really cared about her feelings. 
“Honey, we noticed that you didn’t seem very happy back at our old home,” her mother interjected. “We want our little girl to have a happy life. I know we're used to a more expensive lifestyle. But we can't live in the fast lane forever, right?” Kim didn't know what to say to all this. 
“You're right,” the teen finally said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “It hurt that all my friends just liked me because my parents were rich. They talked about me behind my back and I felt so lonely...” She trailed off as tears stung at her eyes. After all these years, her parents finally listened to what she had to say. For once in her life, Kim felt loved. Felt important. 
Her father smiled warmly as he embraced his daughter. “You don’t have to worry about people like that anymore. The people in this town are very nice. In fact, one of the neighbors is having a barbecue next Sunday. Would you like to go? I’m sure you’ll make some friends there.” Kim smiled and nodded in acceptance. She had never been to a neighborhood barbecue before and she looked forward to meeting new friends. Friends who didn't use her for her money. 
- 
The next day’s agenda called for more shopping and exploring. A large forest stood just outside of the town, and Kim was dying to check the place out. From what she could gather from local gossip, people didn’t like to go in there much, due to all of the legends and myths surrounding the area. However, Kim tossed the warnings she received aside. Only little kids believed in those silly ghost stories. Legends were just things made up to scare people, in her eyes. 
She approached the forest with caution. Despite not believing the legends, she still knew there could be wild animals that could potentially hurt her. Carefully, she made her way deeper into the forest. It seemed like your average forest, aside from the multitude of pine trees. Nothing seemed strange about it to Kim. After walking around for a while, she came across an old house. The structure looked abandoned and seemed to be a log cabin that may have been a summer home at one point. Curious, Kim walked up to the cabin and knocked on the door. No answer. She tried to open the door from the outside. Locked. She circled the house and tried to look inside one of the windows. It was too dark inside to see anything. Sighing in defeat and frustration, she turned to leave. The slow creaking of the door caught her attention once again. Turning around to the entrance of the house, she saw it was now opened.
“How the hell did that happen?” she asked herself. That door wouldn't budge just a minute ago. Maybe she shook it loose in her previous attempt to open it. Confusion soon gave way to curiosity and caution was thrown to the wind, as she walked inside to begin exploring. It looked just as abandoned on the inside as it did on the outside. The inside also seemed a lot creepier. The house was almost frightening to Kim. Yet she continued through the cabin and kept looking for something at least remotely interesting. 
After what seemed like forever to the bored teen, she came across a small bedroom. On the dresser was a jewelry box. Interested, Kim lifted the lid up and looked inside, where she found a simple yet beautiful blue pendant. The gem was smooth and in an oval shape with a silver chain. It was perfect, and Kim didn't give a second thought before putting it on. Now, since the place seemed abandoned, she saw no harm in taking the little trinket home with her. After exploring a bit, she left. But as she made her way home, she had an odd nagging feeling in the back of her mind. It almost seemed like a voice. 
- 
Friday before the barbecue, Kim decided to go on one last shopping trip to have a nice outfit to wear. Nice meaning a t-shirt that had some actual print on it. Ever since going into the forest, however, Kim has been wearing her pendant nearly all the time. And that's when they started. The whispers. At first they only came in her dreams, waking her up every now and then. But now she was beginning to hear them constantly, tormenting her with horrible and confusing thoughts. 
"Cleanse them."
"They're tainted by hatred and greed."
"All of them hate you."
"You can purify the world."
It frightened her greatly at first. But as time passed, she started to think about what they said to her. She thought of what they could possibly mean and noticed that since getting the necklace, things have started reverting back to the way they were before she moved. Her parents talked less. People whispered and glanced at her before smirking and laughing to themselves. Day by day, Kim became more paranoid and angry at them all. 
She wanted those monsters dead and gone forever, to keep them from hurting anyone else ever again. Maybe then the world would be a better place.
- 
"Kim," a voice called out. "It's time to wake up." 
The teen rolled around in her bed to face her mother, who looked like she was going to a semi-casual business party. 
"Come on, Kim. Get up and get dressed so we can get to the barbecue." Her words seemed cold and stern, and as fast as she arrived, her mother was gone. Her heels clicked as she walked down the wooden steps of their home. Kim sat up in her bed, stretching and yawning. It was finally Sunday, the day she had been waiting for. Awake and excited now, she got out of her bed and put on the outfit she picked out: a dark green V-neck, her favorite blue hoodie, a pair of jeans, her sneakers, and her pendant. She admired herself in the full length mirror of her room. It was basic, but it looked damn good. 
But nothing, not even this day, could subside the voices. Louder than ever now, they kept pushing their demands on her, telling her to purify and cleanse the corrupted world she lived in. She still wasn't clear on what they wanted from her, and they confused her more and more with each passing hour. Yet as much as she didn't want to admit it, deep down in her gut, she agreed with them on some level.
For now, though, she ignored it as best she could, as she descended the stairs to meet with her parents. To her surprise, she was not greeted by two smiling, loving guardians like she saw when they first moved to this town. Her mother and father were arguing again - something they had been doing ever since they had moved. They tried to hide it from Kim, but she knew the truth. Moving to this town and leaving their old life behind was her fault, and her mother didn't like it at all. All she wanted was the glamour of being a wealthy socialite; being on the arm of a rich and successful man, while being able to have all the men she wanted on the side that no one could know of. Even though she put on a loving facade, Kim knew her mother resented her ever since the day she was born. She probably never wanted children in the first place. She doubted the man she called "dad" was even her biological father. 
The moment Kim's "father" saw her, he stopped arguing with his wife and put on a fake smile to try to hide what had been going on. Seeing her daughter, her mother followed suit. It's ridiculous, Kim thought to herself, that they think they can hide what was happening from me. But it seemed that all adults were like that. Thinking that they could hide anything from a child by just acting like nothing happened. 
"Are you ready to go, dear?" her "father" asked her. His false happiness was still plastered all over his face. Trying and failing to mimic his fake smile, Kim gave a nod to him. How she was related to either of these lying scum bags she would never know. Nor would she know why her so called "father" would be so kind to her if there was a chance that she wasn't even really related to him. 
- 
Within a half hour, the three of them were at the barbecue. It seemed like half the town was there, parents and kids alike. Though Kim was much older, she preferred to hang around with the younger children. Most, if not all of them, were so innocent and happy. None of them had a care in the world, and they didn't pass judgment like the teenagers and adults that occupied this town. The children made her feel happy and secure. 
But despite the company of the kids, she could hear the people all around her; gossiping, talking about others behind their backs, rumors spreading, insults being thrown left and right that couldn't be heard. All of it made Kim sick to her stomach. She couldn't understand what made these people so cruel and heartless toward each other. It made her so angry how tainted and impure they- 
It finally dawned on her. All the voices she had been hearing since the day she got that necklace. Everything made sense to her now. These people who are so cruel and heartless to each other, yet acted so warm and kind face-to-face. All of them were tainting the youth around them; influencing and pushing them to grow up to be just like their parents. The pendant was trying to tell her that she needed to dispose of these impurities. To execute those unfit to live in this world. "But how could I do that without being caught?" Kim asked herself. And suddenly, all the voices went silent for a moment. Then, they all spoke in unison. 
"We can give you the power to kill without fear of capture."
Like being controlled by the voices inside her, she looked over to the man grilling the food. Kim focused her mind on the blade, envisioning what she wished to happen. Then, the grill master plunged his knife into a woman's back without warning. She screamed in pain and terror at what was happening to her, and a look of shock washed over the man's face. Kim couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her thoughts seemed to become reality in an instant. The voices interrupted her thoughts once more. 
"Our power will let you control people and objects."
"You can kill as you please and you will never be caught."
"We ask but one thing of you."
"Be our vessel and purify this rotten world."
Slowly, a grin spread across her face. After all this time, she finally had the power to punish the swine of this world; those with ice in their veins and malice in their hearts. Kim would be their judge, jury, and executioner. Her eyes remained locked on the grill master as she let her mind run wild. Under her control, he acted out every physically possible kill she could think to make him do. The place became a bloodbath within minutes; each lifeless body dropping until all that were left were the kind, pure children, Kim, and the man she had under her control. To finish the job, she had him slit his own throat with his Chef's knife. As he bled to death, Kim led the children away from the gruesome sight as she feigned fear and slight panic. But on the inside, she was more proud than she had ever been in her life. She had done what she wanted to do for the longest time, and she knew that she would be able to do it again and again. No one could stop her now. 
With this power, she would be the goddess of the new world.
Category:Mental Illness
Category:Items/Objects