Necrophobia – Is the fear of death or the fear of dead people. Max made a special deal with me when he showed up at my door this morning. This was not a pill that he intended to use, but he feels like this would be able to wrap up the research quicker.

Before I begin, I want to address a couple of questions you guys had.

One of the comments in the previous part questioned me about how I said nothing creepy happened to me in the past, but honestly, I don’t have a great answer for that. The human mind is funny. We only perceive things the way we want to perceive things. I never felt like I had any part of the deaths that occurred, instead, I just called it a coincidence. It just makes life seem a lot more simple. In a way, I am thankful for the pills, it has opened up my eyes to so much.

Other people have brought up the fact that Max is not human. You’re right. He isn’t, but I did find out that I’m not exactly human either. Funny thing is, if someone knew what we both were before they met us, they would be far more scared meeting me than Max. I’ll get back to that later on in this post.

I don’t know what Max’s last name is. Hell, I don’t even know what his real first name is. I just know that for the first time, I have bested that piece of shit.

Max came to my house right as I was about to take my fourth pill. I know I should have been surprised he knew where I lived, but after the last couple of days, I started to believe that he just knew where I was at all times.

Max: ”You gonna let me in? Or are you going to be like your rude-ass father and let me stand in the cold?

Me: ”Come in, I didn’t think you would even have the decency to ask. Sit down anywhere you want. Would you like some tea with gold flakes or peanut butter toast with jizz from the gods?”

Max: ”No need to be hostile, and don’t insult the gods. Anyways, I didn’t come here to make small talk with a dull-headed human, I came here to give you a deal.”

Me: ”I’m not taking any more pills after this. I don’t give a fuck how much you give me.”

Max: ”No, and if you’d just shut the fuck up and listen, you would see that I am trying to help you. Instead of taking the last three pills, I will give you one pill. This pill will only last for three hours, and I will sit and observe. Do we have a deal?”

Me: ”Fuck that. You’re just trying to kill me, and stay here so you can get rid of the evidence or some shit.”

Max: ”Killing you would be doing you a service. After all, you would just be closer to your daddy if you die. No. I just want to see how you would react to this pill. I’ll even let you know what it will do to you.”

Me: ”Just tell me, no need to be secretive about it when you’re going to end up telling me anyways.”

Max: ”Necrophobia. Fear of the dead and dying. Honestly, it is the direct opposite of you, and I feel like this would be fun for me to watch.”

Max tossed the pill towards me, and I stared down at the pill. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I grabbed the other three pills and gave them to Max. He put the pills in his pocket and sat down on the couch. After taking a couple of deep breaths, I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed.

Immediately, red spots started appearing everywhere I looked, and a high pitch noise filled the air. Max calmly sat there as the noise started to get louder and louder. Soon, it was at an unbearable volume, and pain erupted inside of my head. It felt like every little noise that went into my ear tried to escape through parts of my skull. I started to cry out in agony when I could hear Max speaking to me. Even with my hands over my ears, I could hear his voice clearly.

”Poor uncle, poor poor uncle. Always thought he was human. Thought he would just go through life as a mere mortal. Haaaa. I don’t blame you. After all, your lack of intelligence proves you are truly the son of “The Unseen One” and for that, I must make sure your sanity is gone. May death come slow, but your life be a disappointment to our family. May the children of Apollo rise and the descendants of Hades remain in the underworld where they belong.”

I tried grabbing him, but I just couldn’t take my hands off of my ears. I kept trying to remind myself that the noise was just my imagination, but I couldn’t convince myself. I felt like if I took my hands off of my ears, I would die. I couldn’t die. No, I never wanted to die. I tried using anger to motivate me. I thought of my father dying because of Max, but instead of making me angry, my entire body locked up in fear. The thought of a dead body rotting away in the dirt, skin peeling off of his rotten flesh, intestines becoming a grayish sludge.

The sound was too loud. Everything I saw was completely red. It was too much. I blacked out, and I could hear Max laughing.

As I started to open my eyes, I heard a voice deeper than I have ever heard.

”The last thing you should be afraid of is death. Don’t let the fear overpower you. Make death your ally and not your enemy.”

Everything was back to normal. The sound was gone. The red spots disappeared, and Max was still sitting on the couch. He looked up at me with a small smile on his face and said, ”Well done, you only have 30 minutes left. Here. Drink some water. It should help you feel like normal again.”

I didn’t trust him anymore, and I did the one thing I should have done all along.

Max did seem confused when he saw his arm moving on its own. Yes, he did struggle when his hand went into his pocket and placed the pills on his tongue. He thrashed around when his other hand put the bottle of water to his lips. The high pitched noise and the red spots started to come back, but it was already too late. The pill was weaker now, and I could easily ignore it. Every gulp Max took of the drink, I could see the panic in his eyes grow.

I ran around the house and locked every door. It took thirty minutes for Max to become a paranoid mess, and it was the second part of the death I planned out for him. After a couple of minutes, he silently got up and went to my kitchen. He grabbed a couple of knives and ran as quickly as he could down the street. I sat on my couch and watched the news. It didn’t take long for the local news to cover a story about a guy who walked into local Taco Bell and started stabbing himself in the chest with every single knife he had. It was funny listening to one guy’s recount of the event.

”I don’t know man. The dude just came in here and screamed about how he didn’t want no woman to touch him. He walked up to a guy holding an orange and slapped that shit right out his hand and told him to not fu-, sorry, I mean mess with the devil fruit. Last thing he said was he was afraid to live in a dirty world and started to stab himself. Son’a bitch was nuts.”

Well, I don’t really have much else to say, but I do know that this may seem a little confusing to some of you guys. So I will explain.

Max was a son of Apollo, and I am a son of Hades. We aren’t gods, but we do have a fraction of the powers our parents do. Max knew how I would act in particular situations and he knew I would end up killing a couple of people I love. He wanted to break me down mentally, and he damn near succeeded. He just became careless with the little game he made for me. No, I didn’t end up getting the 43 grand, but shit, I’m just glad I didn’t go insane.

What am I going to do now? Well, I’m quitting my job for starters, and going to an organization that offered me help. I don’t know much about them, but I do know that they will be able to help me.

Yes, I see the father that passed away as my real father. He was there for me when I was growing up, and the hurt I feel from his death will forever be there. For that I will say, rest in peace, may your soul pass on to Elysium.

I just want to say one thing. The pills did help me overcome my normal cowardice self. I am not a hero by any means, nor do I have mad amounts of muscles. Courage is not found through bouts of heroism. No, it’s found through doing things you thought you would never do. Whether it be talking to a girl you always had a crush on, telling your mother to stop taking the pills that made her become a complete pile of trash, or snatching the bottle of beer out of your dad’s hands so he can see the tears that run down your face because of his struggle with alcohol. I hope you can take a lesson out of my experiences. Keep pushing forward. If you fall back, you will still be a hell of a lot further than when you started.

As always, this was Hayong, and I would like to thank all of you for your suggestions and support. It was by far the roughest experience in my life, but you helped me get through it. If I do end up with more experiences from the organization in the future, I will post about it.

Until then, goodbye.

P.S. Hey Max, hope you have fun in the underworld. I’m sure Hades has a special treat for you.