Summary: Ethan is a Soul doomed to spend eternity as a slave in Hell for reasons he can't remember. After centuries of torment he finally snaps and goes on the run from those who enslaved him. Can he escape and become more than a regular soul, or is he doomed to spend an eternity in The Underworld?
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The story so far: Ethan and his friend Anya are sold to a textiles factory owned by three brothers. Each brother has his own bad side, but Ethan's biggest concern is the soul Foreman who has manipulated everyone around himself to become the most powerful soul in the factory. Can Ethan win against Foreman? Or will he become a mindless machine like everyone else?
Chapter 14
Souls can work longer than mortals, so it wasn’t uncommon for us to work for days without rest. Some people prefer to treat us like we’re indestructible, but sadly our energy doesn’t last forever, and we gradually slow down until we collapse from mental exhaustion.
Resting without permission was unforgivable in that factory, and Foreman’s group would soon berate us if we accidently fell asleep.
“Wakey Wakey!” Big Guy yelled before kicking Horse Face’s chair out from underneath him.
Horse Face crashed to the floor, but he quickly pulled himself to his feet and mumbled a long stream of apologies.
“Sorry Big Guy. I’ll never do it again man. I just closed my eyes only for a second. Only a second I swear! You know that I’ll never do it again right? I respect all you guys, and I would never do anything to go against Fore-”
“Get back to work!”
“Yes Sir!" Horse Face cried before picking up his seat and working away in a frenzy.
Tomboy was no kinder, and she would often whack us off our chairs if we began to work too slowly. I had to constantly watch my back, because I never knew when one of them would suddenly lash out. Foreman on the other hand, would lethargically lean back in a chair and take breaks whenever he felt like it. Watching him nap when we couldn’t sleep, only increased my hatred towards him. I had never felt so angry and bitter towards anyone before, and my daydreams were soon taken over by visions of Foreman suffering a terrible demise. He would be ripped into a thousand pieces, even though you can't possibly separate a soul.
It was only when we became so tired that we could barely move, would they finally give us permission to sleep.
“Lights out!” Big Guy would cry before extinguishing the lamps and slamming the door behind him.
“Where do we sleep?” I wearily asked Twitchy during the first week. I always had my own room at my old master’s mansion, but I couldn’t see anywhere to sleep in the factory.
“You’re looking at it,” he said and pointed to the ground under my feet.
I thought he was joking until I looked around to see my fellow souls tiredly collapse against their looms or the floor. I was horrified at first, but after days without rest my wooden chair suddenly became an attractive pillow. It wasn’t long before I became used to sleeping amongst the dust and grime with another soul’s feet in my face.
I would sometimes chat with the other souls if my anxiety levels were too high to sleep.
“Things weren’t always like this,” Twitchy whispered when I told him that I didn’t know if I could take working there anymore. “There used to be a few mortal guys who were only half as bad. Foreman was just another soul like the rest of us, but then he somehow managed to convince the brothers that it was better to place him in charge. Now he uses all the power to control and mess with us the way that human masters do. He’ll never leave you alone until you obey him without question.”
“Why don’t you guys do anything about it? There are so many of you and only a few of them.”
“There were other guys who talked like you,” he said sadly before rolling over and curling up into a ball. “And they all failed.”
Twitchy then pretended to be asleep and refused to answer any more of my questions. Not knowing what the next few days would bring made it impossible to relax. Big Guy and Tomboy became especially harsh towards me since the day that I dared to talk back. They took the smallest opportunity to hit or berate me, and I often had to suppress my urge to cry.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the way that some spineless souls would giggle or laugh (like they were trying to work their way into Foreman’s group) made it even worse. Plenty of them were willing to sell their soul again in order to get on that bastard's good side.
I stood up and went to find Anya amongst the sleeping bodies on the floor. I carefully tiptoed around them until I found her curled up under her loom.
“Anya?” I quietly asked to see if she was awake. Souls don’t breathe, so it’s often difficult to tell.
“You should stop using that name,” she hissed back. “My name is Toilet Brush Hair now.”
“You can’t be serious,” I found it hard to believe that my strong willed friend had begun to obediently follow Foreman’s deranged thinking. “That’s a terrible name.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t be forever.”
“That doesn’t matter!” I said it more loudly than I intended and the soul beside her began to stir. I crept under her loom so that I could talk without having to raise my voice. “We should do something, about them. It might be difficult with just the two of us, but if we can convince some of the other souls to join-”
“You shouldn’t fight them Et-” she almost said my old name before she caught herself. “This isn’t our old home anymore. This is just the way that souls like us usually live. We have to take whatever they do to us and hope that the next master, or the next, will be better.”
“Like Foreman?” That guy was the opposite of struggling through his terrible fate.
“Because of someone like Foreman. Fighting him will only make things harder.”
“So you’re on his side now? Just like the rest of them?” It upset me that she just sat there and did nothing whenever they called me names.”
“Can’t you see? There is no other side. I’ve been watching them for a while now and I’ve discovered that they only bully the ones who act up or argue back. They mostly ignore the quiet ones who don’t talk. If we just copy them, then Foreman’s group should leave us alone. The only problem is that one brother,” I didn’t have to ask to know that she was referring to David. “I still haven’t worked out his next move, but I think I’ve figured out a way to protect myself from that guy.”
I sighed in defeat because I knew I wouldn’t win. Anya was the stubbornest person I knew, and I had never won an argument against her. My best bet was to think of another strategy and then try to convince her again later.
“I’m sorry, you’re right,” I said even though I despised saying those words. “I’ll talk to you again next time.”
“Wait up,” she grabbed my wrist to stop me from leaving. “Please promise that you won’t do anything stupid.”
“I’ll try,” I said and she hesitantly let go.
I crept back to my spot, and after hours of thinking over her words, I eventually fell into a deep slumber.
* * *
At first I thought the screaming that awoke me was Big Guy telling us to get back to work. He would yell and then kick us if we took too long pulling ourselves together, but the voices were too high pitched and fearful to be Foreman or his friends.
I opened my eyes to see the souls around me crying and fleeing into the corners. Some shoved themselves behind shelves, or dived under their looms and grabbed onto the legs like their lives depended on it.
I stood there stunned with no idea what they were running from, until I caught sight of Master Frederick in the center of the room. His face was bright red like he’d drunk far too much, and his shirt lay discarded on the ground like he’d ripped it off in rage.
I already mentioned that Frederick became a monster when he drank too much, but his personality would also flip when he was just mad. To him we were all objects that he could use to vent his frustration, and I was about to find out for the very first time.
“I own you! I own you all!” He bellowed throughout the room. He grabbed onto one girl who was still sleeping on the floor, and pulled on her arm with all his strength like he was trying to rip it from its socket. She screamed in horror and struggled to get away, but it was too much stress on her limbs and her body became transparent. Luckily she slipped from his grip and dashed into a corner where several of her friends were waiting.
He growled in rage and punched one boy in the face. His fist went straight through the kid's head (which must have been a disappointment) because he then shoved the boy to the ground and began to stomp on him like crushing an insect.
"I can do whatever I want! And none of you fuckers can stop me goddamn it!"
He gripped onto another soul (who didn’t bother to run) and flung them half way across the room and into a brick wall. Their ghostly body slumped to the floor, and they just sat there blankly like they lost the will to fight back years ago.
He continued his rampage throughout the factory. Flinging us here and there like we were rag dolls. Souls went flying in all directions and I couldn’t believe that he was the same friendly master who came down to greet us days earlier. He smashed several looms as well, but by morning he would forget everything and deny that it happened.
Laughter echoed throughout the room, and I looked up to see Foreman and his group watching in amusement from a balcony on the second floor. I could see Tomboy, Big Guy, Spots, as well as several other souls who managed to get on Foreman’s good side. It was so long ago that I forgot their names and faces, but I remember wishing that I was safely up there beside them instead of trapped in Fredrick's morbid play pen.
“I wonder who’s gonna get the window this time,” laughed Tomboy as she leaned dangerously far over the railing to get a better view.
“My bet is on Fat Chick,” said Big Guy.
“Nah, looks like she already dived under that pile of cloth,” said Spots. “Flat Face on the other hand looks like he’s got nowhere to run.”
“Hey, hey,” said Tomboy. “Wouldn't it be funny to see Bug Eyes go flying?”
“You and Bug Eyes,” said Foreman. “That guy used to be fun until you crushed his spirit."
I looked more closely to see him smiling in amusement as he watched Frederick rip us apart. It only further proved to me that he was a despicable waste of existence.
"Looks like Toilet Brush may be today’s lucky contender!" Cried Spots and he excitedly pointed to somewhere across the room.
"Anya," I said and tore my gaze away from them to see Fredrick encroaching on my friend.
There was no longer any room left in the corners, so she had pressed herself against the far wall, but it meant that she had nowhere left to run. Frederick blocked any escape route, and she was certain to become his next victim unless somebody saved her.
“Anya!” I cried and launched myself at Frederick in an attempt to knock him down. He stumbled for a moment, but of course my body was too weak to do anything, and he only momentarily lost his balance.
I raised my fists and began to pound them against his large chest, but I didn’t know how to fight back then so my assault was a joke.
"Look at that!" Laughed Tomboy from above. "Girly Boy’s trying to play hero."
"Too bad that he doesn’t realise that it’s fucking impossible," said Foreman.
And as soon as I heard those words Fredrick grabbed my arm and flung me far across the room. I watched the world fly past until I crashed into a group of souls who were huddled behind a pile of cloth.
“Anya!” I cried and quickly jumped to my feet, but the souls around me grabbed onto my limbs and held me down.
I could still hear Fredrick’s roars of anger, but my view was blocked by their ghostly bodies.
“What are you doing?” I said to the souls as I desperately struggled against them. “I have to go help her!”
“Don’t do it!” One guy hissed into my ear.
“He’s a master,” said another.
“A master’s will is absolute.”
“We can’t go against the master.”
“Terrible things will happen.”
“It’s best to stay here and hope he doesn’t come.”
“Yes, you should stay here with us.”
I pulled and I shoved, but as soon as I pried one dead man’s fingers from my body another hand soon took its place.
I was stuck there with no way out as I listened to Anya scream.
Next Chapter: Ethan stands up to Foreman…...but will he survive?
Chapter 15------->
Thanks for reading this chapter. Sometimes I wonder if the things Ethan is going through are too much or too sad, but he does live in Hell, and I’m trying to create a world where cruel people are given slaves which they can treat the way they want. Ethan’s life is going to continue to get harder from here, but you do have to remember that eventually things do get easier for him, for a little while anyway.
I also got my first four star review on Amazon for my other story "Khan and the Kingdom without Gods." Please check it out if you get the chance.
