Zero

What will happen once you've failed in everything?

Failed in studies…

Failed in career…

Failed in being a good son to your parents…

Failed in socializing…

Failed in friendship…

Failed in love…

The answer to that is giving up and committing suicide.

But what if you failed at even that?

What if you're not brave enough to even give up?

What then?

Staring at the ceiling, Rave let out a hollow sigh.

'How long will you make me suffer?' he asked in his mind to his imaginary angel.

'Is it that much fun to watch me break? Well, tough luck, I don't think I'll ever break,' he thought while grinning like a psychopath as drops of tears spilled from his eyes and soaked his pillow wet.

'Well, I am just depressed. Nothing I haven't experienced before. I'll be alright. But… still, why is it hurting, why is it painful? I better sleep before I truly go insane.'

This is how Rave spends most of his nights; wallowing in self-pity, depression, anxiety, etc., like most boys his age.

But unlike others, Rave's life is like a hopeless war.

As long as he can remember, his life has always been like building a sandcastle near ocean waves.

When he does something productive, something unfortunate will happen in a few days and break him emotionally.

When he starts to enjoy life a little, life will give a painful reminder to let him know that he will never be happy as long as he is alive.

Other than these, every decision he makes will end up as utterly wrong as possible, like choosing a university, choosing a life partner, trusting people, etc.

Even in the face of these, he persisted, thinking many people don't have the same privileges as he does in the world.

So, he's still not considered wasting the life given to him uselessly.

The next morning, Rave left his home to attend his class.

On the way, he usually had to walk through a very silent and deserted street.

A very eerie and creepy mansion is the only thing located on that whole street; all the surrounding area is just empty ground.

Rave walked through the street looking at the empty ground which had old rusted metal fences covering it.

As he walked, pondering about this and that so he could forget about the horror film situation he was currently in, he saw the old creepy mansion.

The mansion had long lost its color due to the passage of time.

Even though the sun was shining very brightly outside, the mansion and its surroundings looked very dark.

He tried to avoid looking at the mansion every day since it gave him a very uncomfortable feeling, but he always miserably failed to avoid looking at it.

Like every day, his curiosity won over him and made him look at the mansion and its interior from the road.

He saw most of the windows were either broken or dusted too much to be seen through.

The mansion's big wooden door was shut tightly.

As his uncomfortable feeling became too much, much more than every other day, he took one last glance at the mansion to walk away, but froze.

In one of the big windows at the center of the mansion, a figure made of pure darkness and two emerald green eyes were staring at him without doing anything.

The darkness didn't have any form; it was just flowing around the eyes constantly and slowly.

Goosebumps broke out all over his body, and a very chill feeling spread through his whole body.

He used all of his willpower to turn his gaze away from that thing, whatever it was.

Then he kept walking away from the mansion while sweating and feeling something breathing down his neck.

As he was about to leave the street, something caught his attention.

In front of him, there was a cow.

Yes, a white cow blocking his path and looking at him without doing anything.

Rave looked at it and freaked out slightly.

The cow's eyes had the same emerald green color as that thing inside the mansion.

He thought for a few moments about whether to turn back home or do something else.

In the end, he rejected everything.

He simply thought everything was just an illusion and walked forward without looking at the cow's eyes.

'What's a cow going to do to me, even if it's bigger than me, staring at me creepily, and has the same eyes as that unholy horror shit? Yes, it's a good innocent cow, came to search for food,' he convinced himself and walked like the cow didn't exist.

As he was walking, the cow suddenly started running towards him.

Rave froze for a few seconds in shock and panic.

Those seconds were enough for the cow to close the distance and pierce his stomach with its horn.

It didn't stop with just piercing him; the cow picked him off the ground with its horn and carried him all the way through to the other end of the street where he entered.

Then it slammed him into the ground like a toy.

Rave felt his back touch the ground with so much force that the air in his lungs got out, plus the wound from getting pierced by the cow started to bleed and hurt so much that he nearly passed out.

When the dizziness subsided, Rave hurriedly tried to stop the bleeding with his hands and looked around.

"Ugh," he groaned and cried tears of pain.

The cow left without any trace.

Sighing in relief, he took out his mobile phone to contact emergency services and his family.

but suddenly, some sound coming from behind him got his attention.

He slowly turned around, hoping it was not the damn cow again with a crying face.

But it was something much worse than the cow.

Dogs. At least ten street dogs with horrifying appearances and the same fucking emerald eyes staring at him creepily without doing anything.

Rave's eyes lost their light, and his will to live was extinguished or rather crushed down, that even his tears stopped from the despair.

The next moment, all ten dogs started running towards him with their fangs out and green eyes glowing slightly.

Then inhuman screams and dogs barking came from the desolate street, which no one heard.