The End of The End

"We are the serial killers," Tobaius bellowed into the night," We are the bloody hands. We are the things that go bump in the night. We are the shadows. We are a great many things, but above all, we are bringers of the End. We know the truth. We know what will come, and that is the End. We know there is nothing after the End. People deny this to their dying day. They say there is more than life and death, they say there is an afterlife. This is a fallacy, even children know this. They read fairy tales, and stories, and they know that there is nothing past the End. Once they read those two fateful words, all they see is a final blank page and nothing else. But grown men and women, who consider themselves adults, yammer on about life after death. About how God will save them! How he will give them eternity! But WE know the truth! We know that there is no God! There is no life after death! When the End comes, all there is is blackness, and peace!"

The crowd began talking, to the level of a dull roar, as Tobaius spoke. They stood in their long, black cloaks, with their faces hidden by shadow. The only light in the whole place was the candles the congregation held, causing the shadows to flicker ominously around the garden. They all stood on a stone platform, with no roof above, but pillars around it, forming a large stone circle. Around this platform grew a great many vines, flowers, and overgrown weeds. The congregation stood in a thick circle, leaving enough room in the center for Tobaius to walk, and preach. As well, in the very center of the platform, was Paul, on his knees, with a blindfold over his eyes, and a gag in his mouth.

"And now, we have another man who thinks he knows," bellowed Tobaius," They call him Paul."

Tobaius wandered around the circle as he said all this, wearing a thick black cloak like the others, but his had a crimson stripe down the center, front and back. His face was clad in a thick, brown beard, and his hair reached down to his shoulders. He pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing one dark, brown eye, and one bright blue. They said he uses the blue eye to see the End. That is why they chose him to lead the others.

Paul was wearing a black suit, with simple black slacks. He had shortish brown hair, and a short, cleanly shaven beard. He wore black, thick rimmed glasses, and a red striped tie. He was in his work clothes, for the office. Programming code, and writing forms that permitted him to program more code. He was accosted and beaten earlier that night, and he woke here, right when Tobaius was beginning his speech. Paul knew who these people were. He knew who Tobaius was. He knew they were wrong, and Tobaius talking was beginning to piss Paul off.

"Paul programs code for a computer company," Tobaius told the eager cultists," and leads a meager existence. No friends, no family. Nothing."

"MRRFFFF!" Paul mumbled, as loudly as he could, through the gag.

"Oh?" Tobaius said, stopping in front of Paul," Do you have something to say?"

Tobaius pulled a long, waving dagger from his pocket, placed the blade next to Paul's ear, and cut the cloth, as well as Paul's flesh.

"I do too have friends," Paul said, annoyed.

Tobaius smiled, and laughed loudly at this. Paul merely stared at the back of a blindfold, and bled.

"You sit here, about to experience the most important part of your existence," Tobaius screamed at Paul," and you argue the fact of whether or not you have friends?"

"Yeah," Paul said, rather bluntly," pretty much."

"You," Tobaius growled," are an idiot. And you don't even begin to understand the gift I am about to bestow upon you."

"Gift?" Paul asked.

The congregation began to whisper, and converse in utter amazement. They had never seen one of Tobaius victims question him. All they ever did was beg for mercy, and for their lives. Never did they ask a question. Tobaius stared, in equal awe.

"You question what I say?" Tobaius asked," You do not beg for your freedom?"

"I pretty well know what you're going to do," replied Paul, casually," But I don't see how killing me is a gift of any sort."

"Seeing the End is what we all live for!" Tobaius bellowed, raising his arms in excitement," We spend our entire lives existing, only to come to death. I am speeding this process up for you. You get to bypass the boring part, and see what you live for."

"But don't you argue," Paul said, with a smile growing on his face," That after death there is nothing? If you live for the End, as you put it, I'm sure you realize that you are therefore living for nothing?"

The congregation gasped. Everyone of them, simultaneously. This man, this sacrifice, is talking back Tobaius. This is unheard of. Tobaius began to grow angry.

"It is not nothing we live for," Tobaius said, "It is peace. Death is an inevitability, and therefore we must believe in it. You do believe in death, don't you Paul?"

"I also believe in gay marriage," Paul said," But I seriously doubt I'm gonna have one of those any time soon, and I also doubt I'm gonna let my life revolve around one."

"WHAT?" Tobaius screamed, throwing his arms down, and clenching his fists.

"What can I say?" Paul asked, almost bursting out in laughter," I like boobs. You've gotta admit, they are a pretty nice feature?"

Tobaius was red with rage, as the congregation stopped whispering. He thought this was a joke, he thought is was funny. He refused to appreciate the intensity of this situation. He refused to realize what he was being given.

"You are a fool," said Tobaius, calming himself," Whether or not you choose to believe what we believe, and understand the truth, you will still die. You will see the End. You will find that you are more of a fool than any man!"

"Okay, remind me again," Paul said," What happens when I die?"

You slip into darkness," Tobaius said," you simply cease to exist. There is nothing."

"If there is nothing," Paul said," than I won't witness anything when you kill me, and you're efforts will be wasted, won't they? If there is nothing, then I won't be able to see anything, and therefore you will have no proof of whether or not you were right."

"That does not matter," Tobaius said, beginning to circle Paul again," I have nothing to prove. I know I am right, and I know you are nothing but a fool. An idiot. And I do believe the time has come for you to feel the end."

The congregation began to whisper in excitement, as Tobaius stopped behind Paul, placing his blade on his neck.

"One last question," Paul said.

"What?" Tobaius growled," You actually expect me to stop, and listen to another of your inane inquiries?"

"I'm not sure what to expect of you," Paul replied," but you've got to admit, you're pretty damned curious, are you not?"

Tobaius stood in silence, his dagger's blade hovering before Paul's neck.

"Fine," Tobaius said," proceed."

"You speak," Paul said," of the End. It's the only thing that matters to you, and it's all you talk about while you are here. What I don't understand, is why do you base all of your life, and ideologies on something you have never experienced? Shouldn't you be able to prove something before you preach it?"

"There are a great many who say they believe in God," said Tobaius, grinning," and cannot prove his existence. Why should they preach, and I not?"

"Well, they probably shouldn't," Paul said," but many say they have experienced God before. You have never experienced death."

"But I can prove that death exists," Tobaius replied.

"Yet, you preach far more than just Death," Paul said," you preach that after Death, there is nothing. You can not prove that there is nothing after death, if you have never died. So, in the end, I think you should probably rethink what you're saying, until you've actually died."

"I grow tired of this," Tobaius said.

"One last thing!" Paul said," Before you kill me, please, remove my blindfold. I want to see your face. I have heard some stories about what you can see. That you can see the End yourself. If this is true, maybe you can prove to me that you can preach after all. I mean, if you don't have this gift, well, you obviously have no right. But if you do..."

Tobaius stood a moment, and smiled. He could prove to this idiot that he was right, simply by letting him see his one blue eye. As simple as that. He could prove that he had this gift, and this prove Paul wrong. He took the blade away from Paul's neck, walked until he was facing him, and ripped off his blindfold. Paul looked up at Tobaius, with his eyes still closed. Tobaius one blue eye began to glow brightly, illuminating a small area around him, proving his gift. Paul opened his eyes, and gazed at Tobaius. Paul's right I glowed the same bright blue, and illuminated the same way as Tobaius. Tobaius jaw dropped.

"Well shit," said Paul," I guess I can see about as much as you can."

"So," Tobaius said," you can see..."

"You and I both," Paul grinned," can see far more than just the End, as you put it. We can see all those, who live here still, far after the End has occurred. How does it feel?"

Tobaius stood completely still, in awe at what he was witnessing here. The congregation did the same. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. If this man spoke the truth, their lives were wasted. Could Tobaius truly see the afterlife? Was he lying?

"You," Tobaius said," just ruined my life's work."

"That loss of power," Paul said, grinning," It's a bitch, ain't it?"

Tobaius screamed in anger. He placed his blade at Paul's neck.

"I can easily see," Tobaius bellowed," your end is about to come!"

"I can say the same for you," Paul said, smiling from ear to ear.

Tobaius wound his arm back, and slashed it across Paul's neck, spraying blood through the air. Paul did nothing but smile. His blue eye faded, and he fell to the ground. A pool of blood began to form at Tobaius feet, as he breathed heavily.

"YOU BASTARD!" Screamed a member of the congregation. The entire group of cloaked figures ran to the center of the circle, and began to attack Tobaius. He fought, and he fought hard. He slashed at the necks, faces, and gullets of all of his former followers, trying to bring the End to them all. One of them took his blade, and held it high in the air. Another kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Two more stomped on his head, and the one with the blade drove it into his chest. Tobaius finally felt the end.

Paul stood, with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the arch of the on the right hand side of the gates. He made light conversation, and banter with Peter as they waited. Tobaius walked up to the both of them, with his fists clenched.

"Hello Tobaius!," Peter said, smiling widely.

"I bet this pisses you off, doesn't it?" Paul asked.

"Fuck you," Tobaius replied, bluntly.

The

End