Four Painful Years

>Ask him as calmly as you can if he knows what the hell went down here.

>Softly say "what the fuck."

JULIE: "W-What is this? What's going on?"

NEIGHBOR: "Hard to explain, really."
NEIGHBOR: "Would take too long. All you need to know 'zat today was the day."
NEIGHBOR: "Today was the day he'd-a tried to kill you."

JULIE: "W-What the fuck..."
JULIE: "What the fuck are you talking about!? He's just my pharmacist! Why would he want to kill me?"

NEIGHBOR: "Wanted what you got."

JULIE: "I don't 'got' anything! Not anything worth... killing me over..."
JULIE: "It was you then... You killed him? 'Cause you knew he was going to kill me?"
JULIE: "Should I be grateful?"

NEIGHBOR: "Hahaha... Probably not."
NEIGHBOR: "Just a formality."

He closes the door behind him.

NEIGHBOR: "I called dibs loooong before he got here..."

>Look for alarm button under the counter. Give it a good, hard press.

You back away instinctively. Bitter tears gush down your cheeks as your mind and heart race. You dare not take your eyes off of him.

The lights in the pharmacy dim momentarily, casting a brief shadow over the interior. When your eyes re-adjust, you notice something in your neighbor's hand. A lead pipe, long as your arm and nearly as thick. You could swear he wasn't holding it a moment ago... that his hands were empty.

He takes his time. His steps are slow and heavy. The pipe just barely clears the ground as it hangs from his fingers.

JULIE: "Why?"
JULIE: "Why me? I never did anything to you..."

NEIGHBOR: "I know, child, I know... You never did nothin' to nobody."
NEIGHBOR: "But you've got somethin' I want. Somethin' a lot of people want."
NEIGHBOR: "Sorry it had to be like this."

JULIE: "What is it? What is it you want? Whatever it is you can just have it!"

You round the corner of the counter, putting as much distance between you and your deranged neighbor as possible. You can't believe your horrible luck. It wasn't enough for the universe to make you suffer. It had to revoke your right to a painless euthanasia. Icing on the cake.

Your finger brushes against something hidden beneath the counter top. Is that what you think it is?

NEIGHBOR: "M'afraid it don't work that way."
NEIGHBOR: "You don't need to know the details. Alls you need to do now is let me do my job."

You sniffle.

JULIE: "... Fine."
JULIE: "But I'm gonna make it SO hard for you."

You activate the silent alarm beneath the counter and dive to the floor. Now, even if the bastard does kill you, the police will have a head start. He begins to chuckle like a lunatic as he walks toward the end of the counter. Apparently he can't be bothered to run or jump.

NEIGHBOR: "Girl, what are you tryna prove with this shit."

Go for the gun.

PUNCH HIM

You pop up from behind the counter holding the handgun. It's been something like six years since you've been to a firing range, but you still remember a thing or two. Thanks Dad. You aim squarely at your neighbor's chest, with no real intent to pull the trigger.

JULIE: "Drop the pipe. W-We're gonna sit here and wait for the police."

NEIGHBOR: "Hah! I forgot he had that thing..."
NEIGHBOR: "Don’t go pissin’ me off, now."

He hefts his weapon and takes a step closer.

JULIE: "I said drop the pipe!”

Your intimidation tactic isn’t working. He brings the pipe behind his head…

Your hands react on their own. You pull the trigger twice. Each shot fires with a resounding crack and blows a sizeable hole in your aggressor's jacket. His eyes widen as he staggers backward, his murderous advance halted.

You… You just shot someone.

NEIGHBOR: "..."
NEIGHBOR: "I was tryna be nice."

Horror consumes you. He’s still standing.

NEIGHBOR: "I was gonna put you asleep so you wouldn’t have to feel the bad bits."
NEIGHBOR: "Now? Now you gonna feel every inch of it."

He raises the pipe once again, and you fire another round of shots, this time at his head. While the first shot goes off without a hitch, the rest come up empty clicks. You’re out of ammunition, but at least you got him in the…

Your legs give way as the blade of an oversized machete flies overhead, splattering the wall behind you with fresh blood… Thankfully, not yours. Somehow, he’s still alive, and he has a machete now. Maybe you missed? He was right in front of you!

NEIGHBOR: "Work eighteen hours and-a whaddya get..."
NEIGHBOR: "Another day older n’ deeper in debt ..."

The scraping of his machete against the ground and his awful mumbling are almost too much to bear. He rounds the counter and stares you down, as if daring you to stand up. You take that dare. Covered in blood from the floor and high on adrenaline, you steel yourself for history’s most pathetic last stand.

You can see now that you did indeed hit your mark. A crimson trail flows down your attacker’s face from a pinhole between his eyes. You suppose that’s evidence enough that you were fated to die here… Not among friends in a hospital bed. Just… abruptly in some storefront. When you get to Heaven, you swear you’re gonna kick God in the nuts. You crack your knuckles, wipe away your tears, and spit. You’re done with all of this.

JULIE: "Bring it, shitboy.”

You rush each other. He only needs to take a few steps for his machete to reach you. But his movements are sluggish. You can get one hit in if you try. One spiteful, angry punch. With literally everything to lose, you fly forth beneath the shadow of your assailant’s massive blade, reel back, and let loose…

SpoilerShow

Space bends around you. Your skin is awash with static. Your hair stands on end. A vortex of wind surrounds you, hot and wild with a vicious power. The tip of your wayward fist flashes a brilliant red, and a great weight swirls around your wrist, as if a singularity is forming within. The sheer force carries you forward, rocketing you into the unknown…

All of this happens in a fraction of a second. You don’t even notice.

Bottles, shards of glass, anything that isn’t nailed down is carried away in an instant by the shockwave you generated, most of all your neighbor. You stand there blinking for a few seconds, your brain failing to register. A hole has appeared in the furthest wall with a slumped, groaning figure buried inside it. The machete is stuck nearly handle-deep in the ceiling. Drawn by a sour smell, the kind of smell stones make when you break them open, you examine your fingers. The stone on your mood ring has been completely annihilated. Only a smoking pit of crushed glass remains.

You don’t understand, and you have such a headache, but… now’s your chance!

What do you do?

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Achievement Unlocked: "Hello, Neighbor" - Beheld your neighbor's true intentions. (150In)