'When I thought of killing myself, I didn't imagine I would be doing it with half torn shoes.'
Henry looked down at his shoes. They were so worn down, a cobbler would start thinking about changing professions.
'I should have splurged on looking good today, if only I weren't so broke.'
Henry stared blank faced at the police station in front of him.
'It cost me my life savings to even get here. Thank God killing yourself is free, or I'd be fucked.'
Henry was a pathetic looking boy, no taller than 6'0", but with his posture, he'd be lucky to look 5'9". He couldn't weigh more than 100 pounds.
'For my first time in a big city, it's kind of underwhelming. The trash towns have their charm, like a nice stench of burning garbage on a summer's day.'
Henry peeked down an alleyway.
'Well, a stabbing every other block is something to be missed.'
Henry sighed and looked around,
'I've got to remember to ask how they kill me, It'd better be quick.'
After some mental motivation, Henry entered the police station.
"Oh hey, wait there. Can I help you?"
A young-looking officer walked up to Henry, almost towering over him.
'Holy shit, this guy must be 7 feet tall…'
Henry stood still thinking to himself, not realizing the officer was still standing there waiting for a response.
"Oh- I'm sorry uh I just got lost in thought, I'm a Veiled human, I'm here to uh, well…"
Henry gestured as if tying a noose around his neck and hanging himself, but the officer did not seem amused by his clever joke. The officer's face twisted into some sort of mix between sadness and
'why is this little kid here to kill himself?'
Henry was quite often perceived to be younger than he actually was.
The officer, very taken aback by the young man's request, looked around as if he was trying to find someone to help him.
'Well, if it's this uncommon, then at least going out in a special way.'
Impatiently, Henry spoke up.
"So, like, do I need to sign something or…?"
The officer jumped, startled.
"Oh—yes, sorry, uhm, one second. I just need to grab the form…"
The officer ran, practically slamming himself into another room before slamming the door behind him. Faint yelling could be heard, although, Henry wasn't sure if he was just hearing things. The room was quiet.
'So, this is the last peace and quiet I get before I die… not too ba-'
Suddenly, the policeman came crashing into the lobby, 3 officers following him. One seemed much older and wiser, wearing a trench coat that made him look like some sort of Sherlock Holmes wannabe. The older man walked up to Henry.
"So you're a Veiled. Mind verifying that for me?"
Henry perked his head up, attempting to fix his posture,
"What do you mean verify? It's true I am, my sister was Veiled, I'm Veiled."
The older man chuckled,
"Well, the laws are all about being precise. We don't want to accidentally kill an innocent person, you know."
Henry furrowed his brow at the old man.
"What do you need from me?"
The old man relaxed his shoulders.
'I bet that younger dude screamed at him just to get him out here.'
Henry scoffed towards the older man.
"So, I'll need your name."
"Henry."
"Alright, do you have a last name for me, Henry?"
"I don't have one."
The detective looked puzzled and sighed.
"Listen kid, you know wasting valuable police time can get you fined?"
The detective gave Henry a look that spoke volumes. It was as if he was screaming,
'This stupid little dumb dumb idiot face' at Henry.
A solemn look crossed Henry's face as he mumbled out,
"No, I'm an orphan."
The officers all looked at Henry with a mix of empathy and amusement. Henry was not happy in the slightest.
'And now I'm being humiliated, I didn't realize killing yourself took so much effort…'
"Alright, can you just tell me which facility you're from? I should be able to look you up."
'Fuck.'
Henry, now with a look of horror striking across his face, steps back towards the door.
"Uhm yeah… I live at Vice Harmony Center."
The older officer walks to a desk and starts to type. He looks up at Henry with confusion.
"I'm sorry, but no one named Henry is coming up. Is it spelt in a different way?"
Henry's face became flushed with red. Henry began to shake filled with embarrassment and rage and mumbled,
"Berry."
The older officer looked back at the keyboard.
"Sorry, can you repeat yourself? I can't hear you well over here."
Henry sits up tall, yelling out,
"My name is Berry!"
After his shocking display, Henry slammed himself down into a chair and buried his face in his hands.
'Fuck, okay listen, no one respects you if your name's fucking Berry. My mom must have been the biggest addict in town for that one, so leave me alone already.'
An officer standing behind the older officer lets out a short giggle quickly getting shot with a deathly stare from Henry who is now in much less of a good mood.
"Well Berry you are good to g-"
"Yeah, how does this work? Do I get put in a pod and just pass out or is there some type of back room?"
Behind Henry, a shuffling could be heard. Someone was running towards his chair. As Henry turned to face the noise, he was shot in the head.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The sharp sound of liquid dropping from somewhere above filled Henry's ears. The inside of his mouth was dry, the air thick and filled with a scent of dust and metal. Henry's eyes felt crusted over; he could only peek at his surroundings after intense straining. The room was illuminated by a single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Henry was lying in the middle of the room, a chair placed on top of him covering his head. Surrounding Henry was a pool of blood.