Part I - Part II

I’ve cracked it.

Well, John helped me. I’m not exactly a prolific reader, and the Veilbreaking book was melting my brain. My new compadre made more sense of it than me. He really digs this occult shit.

I guess I’ve mainly talked about how I came back to life, rather than why. Yes, I think we all know that Billy Riley wanted to clear his name by proving that he never killed me. I guess he never counted on becoming a soulless, flesh-eating demon in the process.

But there was more to it than that.

John wanted to delve deeper into Billy’s motives, so we did some online research on our town’s history. Turns out Billy spent a chunk of time in prison for vehicular manslaughter, swerving a premeditated murder charge — the slippery sicko. He was released after serving a twenty-year sentence.

“Look at this,” John said, pointing at his computer monitor. “It’s a post on the town’s private Facebook page — don’t ask why I’m sad enough to follow that.”

“Is Facebook the webbed-page with five-second music videos?” I asked.

“There’s… Just stop trying to understand the internet,” John said. “New evidence came to light in 2020, and Billy Riley was convicted of murder, not manslaughter. Your friends and family sought justice for you, by the looks of it. But Billy Riley’s been missing since the call for his arrest.”

I sighed. “So, he resurrected me to remain a free man.”

John nodded. “With regards to how he achieved that… I read the Veilbreaking book from front to back. Here’s what I’ve deduced: Billy Riley made a deal with an unearthly entity called Det, which brought you back from the dead. But Billy had to fulfil his side of the bargain — Det requires people’s souls.”

“Jesus,” I shuddered. “We probably should’ve discussed this after I’d finished my lunch. What did you say you did to the grub? Hair-fried it?”

John laughed. “I used an air fryer. Welcome to 2023. I’m sorry we don’t have the hoverboards from Back to the Future II.”

I gasped. “Wait… They made a second Back to the Future? Dude, I loved the first film. I… Billy robbed me of a full life.”

“We’re getting sidetracked,” John said.

I nodded. “Sorry… Nerves make me talk a lot. What’s the plan?”

John paused, before frowning. “You described Billy as physically hollow, and that worries me... I read about those who serve Det for too long. Lifeless husks who can only consume flesh, not souls. Ron, I think Billy’s too far gone.”

My friend paused, and I trembled at the prospect of my doomed soul.

“There’s only one way we could possibly save you, and it’s a long shot. We need to sever Billy’s connection to Det,” John said. “Then we pray that the unholy thing returns your soul to the realm beyond the veil.”

“Shit,” I whispered. “You’re a good dude, John. Thank you for helping me.”

“Thank me when this is over,” He said.

My friend drove us to the local park, armed with nothing but the Veilbreaking book and good intentions. A store-bought pig’s liver festered on the backseat.

“The book said that should weaken him,” John explained. “Only in a dulled state can his powers be returned to Det.”

We waited at a picnic table and watched the park slowly empty. A stillness in the air weighed heavily on my shoulders. As the sun set, silence consumed us. Billy was watching. I could feel terrible black eyes drilling into my skull.

“He’s here,” I gasped.

A horrifying creak confirmed my instinct, as two abnormal, abominable hands appeared from the darkness, clutching the bench on which I sat. Beneath the wooden table, beady black eyes inexplicably glistened garishly. John and I jumped up, shrieking in animalistic terror.

The woodwork of the table splintered and snapped, revealing the deformed shadow that used to be Billy. He was taller than before. He, or it, turned to John, who was clutching the pig’s liver, and lunged. I screeched as my friend sacrificed his arms to Billy’s predatory teeth.

John produced an inhuman, agonising sound, but Billy quickly recoiled, realising that he had ingested something sinister. Free of the entity’s carnivorous canines, John collapsed onto the picnic table, clutching the stumps that used to sport hands.

“He’s been weakened, Ron!” John woozily cried.

Lips twitching in horror, I called out. “I bring you the Veilbreaker, Det! Please, save my soul.”

Before our eyes, we watched Billy convulse, mouth agape, as the blackness within his eyes seemed to escape. His body shrank and crumpled, reducing him to a foetal ball in the grass. Writhing on the floor was no more than a man — the blackness hadn’t left his heart, of course, but he was human. Just a devious, dastardly dickhead.

Billy shivered on the grass. “What… What have you done?”

“It’s over,” John said. “Come the second hour, Det will save Ron’s soul.”

Billy lay on the grass, snivelling ceaselessly, but he posed no threat. He was too diminished in his human form — he just trembled and sobbed in the darkness, curling into a tight ball. We left him there and wandered over to what remained of the picnic table, sitting down and embracing one another tearily. It was all over.

That brings us to the current moment. I’m typing this final post and preparing to return to the place I left — a place far behind this mortal world. I’m not scared of dying. It’s how things should be. I was never supposed to come back here. I never wanted to be a freaking zombie, dude.

It’s been a tubular ride, my futuristic readers, but I hope and pray that I’m finally getting out of here. Back to the world beyond the veil. John’s going to take Billy to the police station when I’m gone. I’ll ask him to finish my story. I wish he’d been around back in my day. I think he totally would’ve loved the ‘80s.

I’m not gonna miss 2023, but I’ll admit that it wasn’t all bad. Air fryers are rad.

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