"You're a curse!"
"You killed your parents and siblings, so you should die too!"
"Low-lives like you deserve to be treated like trash!"
Those words echoed relentlessly inside Finn's head as he stood at the edge of the rooftop.....the same rooftop he called home. A tiny, poorly built shack rested behind him, its rusted zinc sheets rattling violently under the heavy downpour. He was still dressed in his delivery company uniform, the thin fabric soaked and clinging to his lean frame. A cigarette rested between his fingers, though the rain had long extinguished its flame.
The night sky was pitch-black, swollen with storm clouds. Headlights from moving cars below streaked across the wet streets. Rain poured mercilessly over Finn's blonde, curly hair, the strands plastered against his face and shielding his eyes. Only his sharp nose and soft, rosy lips remained visible beneath the curtain of damp curls.
Water streamed down his cheeks, but it was impossible to tell whether it was rain… or tears.
"Maybe I truly deserve to die after all," Finn murmured under his breath, a faint, broken smirk tugging at his lips.
He flicked the useless cigarette away, watching it disappear into the darkness below. It was pointless now....just like everything else in his life.
"I have no purpose anyway," he continued bitterly, his voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the rain.
"All my classmates have graduated high school. They're in college now, chasing dreams, building futures. And here I am…" He let out a shaky laugh. "Living from hand to mouth. Working myself to exhaustion every single day, and still it's never enough."
His hands clenched tightly at his sides.
"I couldn't even afford my parents' burial materials." His voice cracked. "I'm nothing but a useless bastard."
The insult stung deeper because it was one he had repeated to himself countless times.
"Those responsible for their deaths are walking freely, smiling for cameras, shaking hands with the powerful. The world bows to them." His jaw tightened. "And me? I'm just nobody. If I try to fight them, it would be like signing my own death warrant."
Thunder rumbled violently across the sky, as though the heavens themselves were responding to his despair.
Suddenly, the worn-out button phone inside his pocket began to ring. The sound felt jarringly loud in the middle of the storm.
Finn hesitated.
He slowly pulled the phone out and stared at the cracked screen. The caller ID displayed a single name.
Orion.
His only friend. His only family.
"Oh…" Finn exhaled softly. "I should at least talk to you one last time, buddy."
A bittersweet smile crossed his lips.
"You won't get to hear from me again after tonight."
He answered the call and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Just where the hell have you been putting your phone?!" Orion's voice blasted through the speaker, loud enough that Finn had to pull the device away from his ear for a moment. "I've been calling you since this afternoon! No response! Do you know how worried I was?"
Finn waited until Orion paused to breathe before placing the phone back against his ear.
"I'm even on my way to your place right now, in this damn heavy rainfall!" Orion continued angrily. "Are you trying to kill me or what?!"
Despite everything, Finn felt warmth spread faintly through his chest.
"I'm sorry, Orion," Finn replied softly, his voice low and heavy with restrained emotion. "I had a lot of deliveries today. I barely had time to check my phone."
That part wasn't entirely a lie.
"I just got home," he added quietly. "I was about to rest, actually. You should turn back and go home too. There's no need to stress yourself because of me."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.
Then Finn swallowed hard.
"And… thank you," he continued, his voice trembling ever so slightly. "For everything you've done for me all this while. For not giving up on me. For being more than a friend… you've been like a brother. Like family."
Orion's breathing changed.
"Finn," he said, his tone shifting from anger to confusion. "Why are you talking like that?"
Finn forced a light chuckle. "Talking like what?"
Finn turned his gaze toward the edge of the rooftop. The city lights shimmered faintly through the curtain of rain.
"Anyways, did you watch the news today?" Orion asked suddenly, his voice filled with concern. "There's some kind of fever spreading rapidly. They're saying it's serious. The government advised everyone to stay indoors."
Finn remained silent.
"They're not telling us everything," Orion continued. "People are collapsing. Hospitals are overwhelmed already. You know your body is weak, Finn. You shouldn't be outside this late, especially in this weather."
"I heard you," Finn said quietly.
Another rumble of thunder cracked through the sky.
"Orion…" Finn's grip tightened around the phone. "Please. Just go home."
"I'm already halfway there!"
"Turn back," Finn insisted, his voice firmer now. "It's raining heavily. I don't want you catching a cold because of me."
"Finn...."
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Finn said quickly, cutting him off before his resolve could crumble.
Before Orion could respond, Finn ended the call.
The screen went dark.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at his reflection on the cracked surface of the phone.
Then, without hesitation, he stepped closer to the edge of the 56-storey building.
And he threw the phone into the abyss below.
It vanished instantly, swallowed by rain and darkness....just like he intended to be.
"Goodbye, world. Goodbye, Orion. Dad… Mom… Sis… I'm coming to join you. I'm sorry for disappointing you."
Finn murmured under his breath, his voice barely audible beneath the roaring storm.
He forced himself to look down despite his crippling fear of heights. His legs trembled at the mere sight of the dizzying drop below. Normally, he would have stepped back immediately, unable to withstand the vertigo that always gripped him whenever he stood near an edge.
But tonight?
It didn't matter.
Fear meant nothing to a man who had already decided to die.
He inhaled deeply, rainwater mixing with his shallow breaths. He was prepared to jump. He just wanted to see the world one last time....to take one final look at the city that had given him nothing but pain.
However, just as he leaned forward slightly, he heard a loud scream from behind him and just as he turned to look,a figure ran passed him and just like that fell down the rooftop sending waves of shock and utter disbelief down Finn's spine.
What the heck?! Finn thought inwardly as he allowed his leg to move closer to the roof edge to see if it was actually a human that just fell down the rooftop or he was just hallucinating but then he couldn't see clearly.
Oh yeah. I'm just hallucinating! Finn thought inwardly as he swallowed hard and just then something soon caught his attention.
The cars that had been moving smoothly moments ago were suddenly swerving violently.
One slammed into another.
Then another.
Headlights clashed. Metal screeched. Sparks flew. The sound of impact echoed faintly even from fifty-six stories above.
Finn frowned.
"Huh? Accidents?" he muttered in confusion and fear in his tone. "Or are they all drunk?"
His brows furrowed as more vehicles collided, some spinning out of control while others rammed into sidewalks and storefronts.
"Why the hell are not one, but several cars hitting each other?" he muttered under his breath with a dry scoff. "Yeah, it's Friday night… but shouldn't people drink responsibly?"
For a moment, he considered ignoring it.
It wasn't his problem anymore.
He was about to leave this world, after all.
Still…
His fingers twitched.
One bad thing....no, perhaps he should call it a curse about himself was that he was too nosy. He always had been. Curiosity had ruined him countless times.
It didn't help him in high school either.
He had been bullied relentlessly. Mocked. Beaten. Humiliated.
By everyone.
Even those he had once tried to help.
His curiosity had once exposed something about a wealthy classmate, and when that rich brat found out that Finn's father was merely his personal driver, everything changed overnight. The harassment escalated. His father was treated like garbage at work. His family suffered because of his inability to mind his own business.
His jaw tightened at the memory.
"Curiosity really is a curse," he muttered bitterly.
But then again…
"Well… it wouldn't hurt to be nosy one last time," Finn whispered with a heavy sigh.
From his pocket, he pulled out the small monocular goggles he always carried...cheap, slightly scratched, but useful for seeing long distances during deliveries.
He raised it to his eyes and focused on the chaos below.
At first, he thought the rain was distorting his vision.
But no.
The cars weren't just crashing randomly.
People were running wildly through the streets.
Covered in blood.
Their clothes were torn and drenched in red. Some staggered unnaturally. Others moved in sudden, jerky motions. Even from this height, Finn could see something horrifyingly wrong.
Their eyes…
Their eyes looked sunken, as if they were being sucked back into their sockets. Dark veins bulged visibly along their faces and necks, crawling beneath pale, sickly skin. Their mouths hung open, revealing razor-sharp teeth stained with fresh blood.
Finn's heart skipped violently.
"Huh…?" His breath hitched. "What the actual hell is going on?"
He lowered the goggles slightly, then raised them again, hoping he had imagined it.
But the scene only grew worse.
Some of those… things were attacking others.
Biting.
Tearing.
Feeding.
"Is this some kind of Halloween prank?" he scoffed nervously, though his voice trembled. "What's wrong with these people?"
Then...
His body froze.
His gaze landed on a familiar car pulling to a stop near his building.
The driver's door opened.
Orion stepped out.
"What the....?!" Finn's eyes widened. "I told that idiot not to come!"
Anger flared through him, sharp and immediate.
"You stubborn bastard… you're really going to see my corpse tonight, huh?"
But before he could even curse further, something else happened.
Two of those blood-covered figures lunged at Orion from behind.
They tackled him violently to the ground.
Finn's breath caught in his throat.
"Huh? What the hell is going on?!" he whispered, panic creeping into his voice.
He adjusted the goggles, focusing harder.
The two creatures were biting Orion.
No....ripping into him.
When they finally pulled away and staggered off toward another screaming victim, Orion remained on the ground.
Blood pooled beneath him.
His hands clutched at his neck desperately.
His body convulsed violently, trembling as though electricity surged through his veins.
"No… no, no, no…" Finn whispered hoarsely.
What?!
His mind screamed internally, but no sound came out.
Without thinking, he spun around, ready to climb off the low rooftop ledge. There were no iron railings....just stacked concrete blocks forming a weak barrier.
"I have to get down there," he muttered frantically. "I have to...."
His foot slipped.
The rain had made the concrete dangerously slick.
Time slowed.
His body tilted backward and just like that, he was falling.
From fifty-six stories high.
"Fuck!" Finn gasped as the wind roared past his ears. "That's it?! Just like that?!"
Panic exploded in his chest.
Moments ago, he had wanted to die, welcomed it but now....
"Wait!" he screamed inwardly. "I just need one minute!"
The city lights spun wildly around him as he plummeted.
"Just one minute to check on Orion!"
Tears mixed with rain as the ground rushed closer.
"Please! Can the universe listen to me for once?!" he begged silently. "I just want to see if he's okay! Just one minute!"
The world blurred.
The screams below grew louder.
Then....
THUD!!!!