26

Tommy dropped the Observer onto the ground, causing some dirt to drift up. My face, why is it that it chose my face as its mask? Tommy took off his belt and tightened it around the Observer's arms, effectively making sure it couldn't attack us. Tommy looked as if he just realized something crucial.

"Shit. We need something to bind its legs with. Any ideas?" He asked. Tommy looked around, looked at Allison, and then looked at me. "Joseph, give me your suspenders." I grabbed my suspenders, took them off, and tossed them to him. Tommy put the loose end around the Observer's left foot, then tied a knot to it. It wouldn't hold it in place very well, but it would be enough. Tommy stepped back - But suddenly the Observer came to, letting out an ear-splitting shriek as it struggled to free itself. We all moved back as far as we could. It let out one final cry, and then collapsed into the dirt.

"So what are we supposed to do with it?" I asked, still not used to not knowing what was going on.

"We wait for it to wake up properly. Then..." Tommy paused, "Then I don't know what we do."

Allison spoke, "Maybe we can cook it for dinner. Kill it before it kills us, you know?"

"Uh, that's not really-" Tommy turned to me, "Can we really eat an unknown creature?" He looked back at the Observer, "No. No, we shouldn't." I could see that Tommy wasn't really convinced, but he did say, "Okay. We can eat it if it's cooked. I'm pretty sure it's okay." Our eyes were filled with a lust for food, Tommy and Allison looked as if they hadn't eaten in days, maybe weeks. The thought of cannibalizing something that looked like me, exactly like me, didn't haunt me. It didn't haunt me. Why didn't it haunt me? Why am I not feeling disgusted by the thought of eating my own flesh? My identity oozing out flavor inside my mouth, making its way to my stomach. I don't know. I was hungry, but... Eating me? No. No, that thing is not me! It's something else entirely. Something not human. Something akin to a skinwalker, or a bodysnatcher. So eating myself should be fine, right? Right? Yes, yeah, it should be fine - Afterall, everything eats something else, right? What's the difference here?

I stepped up to the Observer and checked its face, taking in its look of fear and loneliness. It had a horrible expression - My expression. Tommy and Allison both looked at me, both convinced I should try eating it. "You okay, Joseph?"

"Sure," I lied, "Let's go with it."

The Observer had a complexion that wasn't completely smooth, which was interesting. The skin was very pale and looked dehydrated. It was hard to see any fat on it at all. The cheek bones were pronounced, with large eyes behind them, and a large nose protruding from the face. It looked human, but wasn't; it was off. It wasn't human. It was inhuman.

"What if we eat it after we interrogate it?" I proposed. I figured I had more of a chance of getting it to talk if I had it ask the right questions.

Allison snapped to attention. "Joseph, no. I don't want that thing to see us. What if it can communicate with its mind? We don't know what these things can do. Let's just kill it."

Tommy shot me a look. "Joseph's right, let's interrogate it, then eat it."

Allison, "Tommy, you can't be serious. We haven't eaten in days! We might be able to handle a moderately large creature, but-"

"We can handle this one." I interrupted. "If we can figure out how it got where we think it is, maybe we can be grateful it's a protein-packed dinner."

Allison argued, "That's not very comforting."

"I'm sorry, I know this is a crazy idea."

"You're a crazy person! You're both crazy! None of you are acting like sane people!" Allison shouted. She turned her attention to the Observer, which was starting to come to. It stared at us with eyes of hunger and rage. I glared back.

"Oh good, you're awake." I said in calm voice. "What's your name?"

The Observer was confused, their eyes darting back and forth, "Where am I?"

"That doesn't matter, what's your name?" I repeated. The Observer started to struggle, attempting to free itself of the binding Tommy used to keep it in place. "Release me, now!" It pleaded.

"I want to know your name. Now." My voice more was more cold now.

"I can't-" the creature babbled.

"I know it's not a nice thing to keep repeating this, but I want to know your name anyway."

"I don't have one!" The Observer shouted.

"Why not?" I interrogated further.

"They don't give us a name. Just numbers." The Observer answered.

"Ok. What's your number then?" I pushed further.

"26. I'm Observer 26." The Observer answered. It looked sad. I couldn't help but feel bad for it. I couldn't imagine a life like the one it had had; one of hunger, loneliness, isolation, and torture.

"I'm Joseph. I'm going to be asking you some questions, ok?"

"Ok."

The Observer looked at me with pleading eyes. It didn't look afraid, but it looked…I don't know how to describe it. Its mouth and chin were trembling, and its chest was rising and falling slowly.

"Why are you here, Observer 26?" I asked.

"To kill you." 26 bluntly stated. "You aren't supposed to be alive. You died, but you're still here, and that's a technical problem. Like a glitch, almost."

"Glitch? What do you mean by a glitch?" What does 26 mean by calling me a glitch?

"The Observer Data Processing Society says you've been causing a lot of problems by just existing. Because you had died, the Observers in charge of managing the matches tried to call you back with the fog, but oddly enough you resisted, so the last two players were brought back to make it fair, which at the time they thought was the best course of action. But once they realized it was an issue, the plan was already in motion - And you won. You shouldn't have, but you did."

"So why am I alive?" I asked 26.

"No answer. That's why I was sent to kill you, so you can't be called into another match." 26 Responded.

"What would that make me, 26?" I needed to know if I was truly human, or something else, an enigma. Who or what is Joseph Cottoneye?

"I don't know. This has never happened before." 26 explained. "But yes, you're not a human, so I'm guessing you're an anomaly or something."

"Really? An anomaly?" I questioned. It didn't answer.

"We watched you during that match. You weren't human. Not even a single ounce of a human quality was in you - The only thing keeping you alive was determination. A determination to not die, to avoid the inevitable." 26 continued. I should move with the questions.

"Who are the Observers, 26?" I decided.

"They're angels." 26 answered as if he regretted saying it.

"Angels?" I questioned.

"Yes, angels. They keep the universe working as it should. Like old fashioned demigods, only not as demigods. They're as close to 'higher being' as we can get in this world. They have no relation to mortal humans." 26 tensed up.

"So they're not men or women, just something else entirely?"

"Well…" 26 was frustrated. "No, they're both."

"Both? You mean they're both male and female?" I questioned.

"That's correct. You're still male, as far as we know." 26 answered. As far as you know? What? You know what? Moving on.

"Why are there trials, 26? What purpose do these trials provide?" I dug deeper.

"It's how we feed. The suffering of humans feeds us, but not all of us get to feast at one time. They spread the feeding out." 26 answered. I glanced back at Tommy and Allison.

"Well you know what, 26?" I asked grinning.

"What?" 26 said.

"We're about to feed on your suffering too."