Glitch

Once, a very long time ago, there was a Family. A Father, a Mother, and two Sons. They were happy. Living simple human lives in hues of warm living colors. Then, the CORUUPTION came. Now the Family exists with shuddering, off-beat pulses and pale skin fused with corrupted inky mass. The color drained from them, the warmth that once lived under their skin drained away. They are twisted and broken, but they are together. They will always be together. They have nothing else. They want nothing less.

When they speak, their words are overlaid with static. Their voices echo past sharpened teeth. Inky blood drips from their veins, dark like the fluid they drank from the CORRUPTION that once plagued and destroyed their world. Nightmarish creatures of static and corrupted, jagged forms. Errors in the code of the universe. Parasites pretending to be alive, trying to force reality to accept them.

The Family hates these creatures. The Father especially. He hates the CORRUPTION for destroying the Family’s home. He hates them for being the Family’s only method of survival. Hates the way he and his Family were forced to open their mouths wide and swallow the CORRUPTION’s blood and chew the glass-like flesh. Hates the fact they need to continue to consume the CORRUPTION to survive, to keep themselves sane. The CORRUPTION cannot be destroyed completely, the only way to be rid of the CORRUPTION is to consume it.

The Father hates that he pushed his Family to accept this change. To corrupt themselves to survive the fallout of their world. It had hurt so much. He still remembers the way it had burned him down to his very cells. How had his body simultaneously absorbed the CORRUPTION and tried in vein to expel it. He remembers the way his Wife had screamed, the way his Sons had sobbed in agony. The change had not been kind, but it had saved them. The Family remains, alive and together. Always together.

The Family has each other. All four cling to their bond, it keeps them sane as they travel. They cannot stay in one place too long for two reasons; one, the need to travel to hunt down the CORRUPTION, to delete them from existence before they can destroy anyone else’s life. And two, they travel because they are no longer welcome anywhere. The Family are a new breed of monsters, their corrupted forms are hard to hide for long. The eyes shine from within with bright white light. Their teeth are sharp, claws tip their fingers, their black stained fingers. There are only so many lies they can tell. Only so many ways they can hide their new nature.

The Family do not age. The Sons are young only in physicality. It’s been so many years, too many years, and they have nothing to show. No grey hairs, no wrinkles. The boys remain young teenagers. Father and Mother remain strong and unfaltering. Time passes but the Family remains. Frozen like a photograph.

“We’ll never age, will we?” The elder Son asks.

“I don’t think so.” The Father answers.

“…Can we die?” The younger Son asks.

“…No, darling.” The Mother answers. She holds her Husband’s hand tightly. “I don’t think we can.”

“What’ll happen when the CORRUPTION’s gone?” The younger Son asks, one hand clutching tight to his brother’s.

The Father says nothing. The Family reaches for each other. They sit together, pressed close on the dirty floor of the abandoned cabin they will eventually have to leave. They all know the answer. The CORRUPTION will never be gone. The Family will never die. They will hunt and feed and travel. They will have each other and only each other, until the universe ends. Perhaps even after that.

Always together. Always Family. Nothing less.