© Israel Centeno

The Ebonist of Shadows

Friedrich Altenburg walked through the bustling streets of Berlin, his dark coat concealing a hidden dagger and a cold determination burning in his chest. As he weaved through the crowds, he couldn’t help but feel like a puppet being controlled by unseen hands.

But Friedrich was no ordinary citizen – he was a trained assassin loyal to the secretive agendas of the Reich. His past deeds had been shrouded in secrecy, erased from history to protect the carefully crafted alliance between Hitler and Stalin.

But now, as he delved deeper into this web of lies and deceit, Friedrich began questioning his loyalty.

As beliefs and doubts clashed within his mind, Friedrich couldn’t help but wonder if he was genuinely fighting for a just cause or blindly following orders. And then, fate intervened with an unexpected turn of events that could potentially shatter everything he thought he knew.

Immersed in the dark world of Stephen King’s twisted novel, Stillborn Author from a future not yet runt, Friedrich was consumed by a strange sense of kinship with the characters and their crooked paths. In this secret circle of Nibelungos knights, he possessed the forbidden knowledge of King’s works, as if the author himself had written his own personal struggle within the pages. Each word felt like a dagger piercing Friedrich’s soul, dredging up memories and fears he could not escape.

Friedrich’s fingers twitched with manic energy as he gripped the pen, his eyes blazing with determination. The blank page before him taunted him, daring him to take control and shape his own destiny. In the dimly lit room, shadows danced on the walls like twisted specters, mirroring the chaos within Friedrich’s mind. With each pen stroke, he carved out a path for himself, forsaking the predestined future that had always loomed over him. A sinister smile spread across his face as he plotted and schemed, determined to make a name for himself in the unknown author’s narrative. Friedrich reveled in his newfound power and agency as the night wore on, manipulating events and planting seeds of doubt to secure his place in the story. He didn’t care if he became a hero or a villain – all that mattered was that he was finally in control of his own fate, no longer a mere puppet in someone else’s grand design.

Amidst the chaos, Friedrich’s mind surged with a newfound sense of exhilaration. This reality teemed with boundless potential – an opportunity to break free from his predetermined fate and grasp control of his own destiny. With cunning maneuvers and ruthless strategies, he embarked on a quest to capture King’s attention and seize a prominent role in this unfolding drama. As darkness descended, Friedrich grinned savagely, savoring the taste of raw power on his tongue. No longer a mere cog in someone else’s machinations, he was now a mastermind – manipulating events and sowing seeds of doubt for King to stumble upon. Only time would reveal if Friedrich would be hailed as a hero or condemned as a villain in this realm, but one thing was sure – he refused to fade into oblivion without unleashing all of his might.

Shadow

The man stood at the city’s edge, eyes scanning the streets for his next victim. He was a master of disguise, hiding his true self behind a façade of a skilled cabinetmaker and devoted father in Nazi Germany. But beneath the mask, he was a ruthless murderer driven by inner demons and a twisted ideology.

As he walked through the city’s asylum, his senses were heightened, searching for an innocent woman to claim as his own. His heart raced excitedly as he chose his next target and planned their demise.

Little did he know, he had caught the attention of an unknown author named Stephen King, who was weaving him into a novel set in 2025. But before he could carry out his deadly plan, fate intervened.

His wife had taken a lover, and together, they plotted to escape his clutches. As he desperately searched for them, he realized everything was falling into place just as King had written it.

Driven by King’s words on the page, he turned to the novel for clues to find his wife and daughters. But in a final act of desperation and devotion to the Reich, he unknowingly became part of another plot orchestrated by the KGB to stop Hitler from opening a front in the East.

As explosions rocked the city and chaos reigned, the man carried out one last mission before sacrificing himself in a heroic act. It was all part of King’s twisted game, and in the end, the author’s will prevailed over his own twisted mind.