CH #7 - "Hero"

Run. That was all she could bring herself to do.

Her small, powerless being so deeply struggled, trying to escape from something much, much bigger than any mind could ever fathom to conceive.

Impact waves rushing through each hall at the speed of sound. Invisible, the killer forces destroyed, ripped and crippled all things they came across, arbitrarily digging way through chairs and tables, wooden and even metallic doors. There was no easing to the restless banging that dominated every corner.

It made her dizzy. Every bit of that madness made her so confused. Why was that happening? And why, out of all possibilities, it had to be after her out of all people?

No… She couldn't allow her own mind to conceive such selfish thinking. Nobody deserved that, no matter who they were. Yes. She couldn't prioritize her own sake over others'.

Always giving and never taking back, forever resigned to be a servant to all. No "no" could leave that mouth, no favor shall be left unasked. That was her way, her very life for all that long.

And, in the end, it would also be her torture and death.

Could she claim the right to call for some help? She, who always put herself in the position of someone who never needed anyone's assistance, someone always on the opposite end of the spectrum, picking people up off the ground and sheltering their broken hearts between her own arms, hurting herself for their sakes sometimes.

Advice, emotional help, and other types of support were her trademarks. All people knew her smile from somewhere or had heard of her, after all, she was loved by everyone.

Looking back now, she realized, in tearful eyes filled with the torture of that nightmare, that each of her actions, words with no intention of retribution and gestures of support for others, had perhaps been nothing but a wrong choice since the beginning.

After all, now that she needed them more than ever, where were they? None of them wanted to help her, none of the self-proclaimed "friends" acknowledged her for the past favors. There was no desire to reciprocate in their hearts.

And in that moment, running aimlessly in an unrewarded labyrinth – an endless trap of destruction and pain, of crying and suffering – she wondered if her way of seeing the world was what caused it.

Her heart knew there was no way out, even though the entrance gates were right there, so close to her reach. She saw the monsters outside, but that was not the reason for her despair.

After all, monsters stop attacking when you close the door and try to pretend they don't exist. The thing she was running from didn't do that.

... ... ...

"Why are you running, my Abigail? You don't have to, you know? There is nothing to fear! It's only your love, looking for you so we can be happy together!"

Hearing that made her go cold inside, and all blood seemed to stop circulating for a couple of seconds. Everything got a little quieter, except for his voice which turned out to be so eerily close.

Her monster chased her, not giving up looking for the sound of her footsteps. She was running in fear, pure dread of what she would be waiting for the moment she crossed an unfamiliar hallway, one that would be full of chairs blocking the way or something.

"Why is this happening to me…?! Why?!" She could only ask herself.

She was tired of running, but couldn't fight either – not against that, at least. Her legs felt like giving in a little more by each second, and the tears fought against her tiredness to see which could get the most of her breath. Of course, she wouldn't last for long.

He always knew. He always had a way to. It was almost as if she had a GPS stuck somewhere in her body. It didn't matter how much of a spatial advantage she acquired, as he always knew, precisely, where she was hiding.

"I can hear you breathing, my love…!" He taunted, as the noise of wood being reduced to mere chips reverberated across a nearby hallway. "Let me hear your voice! I think it is so beautiful."

Seriously… What is the problem with him?! They only interacted once, and he is already pursuing her like that, wishing to own her, to call her "his" by all possible and impossible means.

Because that man is anything but normal. That she is sure of. After all, which kind of normal person would make nearly an entire classroom faint with just a scream? That was it. He screamed, and almost everybody fainted in the spot, some vomiting their entire breakfast when that energy wave made consciousness fly high.

In no moment outside of that mere interaction had they met… So why?! No matter how much she racked her brain, no answer ever came! Why was he so obsessed, so crazy about capturing her?!

Unfortunately, running and thinking couldn't quite take place at the same time. She was so tired, hungry, and hurt…

Oh God… Her stomach felt like it was devouring itself. Her innards twitched and turned inside, moving in starvation, begging to receive the smallest of treats after puking so much. Her right knee and forehead bled from the times she fell out of pure despair while trying to hopelessly escape, leaving unwanted blood marks all over the place.

And her fingers… Oh, she couldn't even get started on how much they hurt, given her right hand was stomped by someone desperate amid the chaos.

She wanted to cry so much right now. Her mind was already used to the idea nobody would come, but it didn't feel any more comfortable. It still dared to scream for help. It still wished for someone to show up and end it all.

Yet another hallway showed up, and for once, her vision got bright as that flash struck it.

She couldn't tell if the place was special because of that person or if it was the opposite, as right there, in the middle of that hall, she saw beauty as bright as the sun.

Maybe she was dying already, her consciousness failing and creating things out of nowhere? It could be that, but Abigail Halsey decided to bet on the possibility that the angel could help.

***

The sound of quickening footsteps had taken over her hearing for some time now, and as that same restless noise grew closer, she just ignored it. Whoever that person was, they weren't the only one in that same situation.

The only solution the girl of incomparable beauty saw was to flee. She couldn't fight the things downstairs, let alone felt the slightest desire to get involved with the fire problem in the library.

She didn't care. That school and all the people in it could burn to dust if in her hands were placed the right to decide. It wasn't like she owed them a favor – quite the opposite.

But still… Seeing that made her think a little.

... ... ...

She was walking calmly when that sudden grasp took hold of her body as if it had the slightest right to defile it. Looking back, she allowed her eyes to fill with that sight that posed so… Pathetically.

"Please... Please... Help me... Help me..."

That made her stop breathing for a few moments. To look at that being so inferior, fallen and broken like an old toy... That was so...

"Please… I beg you… Please..."

The tears, the trembling of her flesh, the aches… It all reminded her of something; of memories that were better left in the past, but that, in some way, always haunted her, this being a proof of that.

She didn't want to see it anymore. That scene was in the past, no longer part of her life. That mass of flesh with a conscience had never done her any good, so why should she do anything about it?

She wouldn't. In a swift movement, the shape that shone like the sun turned on its back, no longer looking at what fell close to it, trying to protect itself in its light.

She didn't and wouldn't help. Both mind and reason did not allow it, given she, for so long, was also in the same spot that the beaten girl was right now. And guess what? No one showed up to rescue her.

It didn't matter how much her eyes pleaded, begging for mercy. People refused to look, to acknowledge she was there and that she was human too, thus deserving help and support. No one fought for her when she needed them to, and nobody took her between their arms when she was hurting.

Then why repay differently? People will reap what they sow, and that's a natural law that must never change. There was no reason to help.

… Then… Why did her heart start questioning that decision?

That girl? She didn't deserve it. She didn't even know her! Then why help? Why assist a person through hardship when they hold no impact in her life?!

It made no sense. It was illogical. It had no reason to be done.

Then why was her right hand of beautiful fingers moving towards her head, patting and comforting it, almost as if apologizing for not doing more?!

***

The touch of being of light brought unimaginable comfort. It was as if the pure, caring heat of the sun was bathing her entirely from head to toe, making all the pain that rushed like serpents under her skin to simply stop and disappear.

In the moment of that brief touch, Abigail felt full, and it was amazing. It reminded, even for a while, of a time when life was better and the town wasn't gray; a time when people didn't die for petty reasons, when crime was low and the world wasn't deep in chaos.

It made her think of the time when 'she' was between them, too.

… … …

But that living sun then parted ways, taking steps away, leaving her once more in the dark of a gloomy sky, gray as the tasteless stillness that ruled over Elderlog for several years. It was but a gap between the thick clouds that would soon be covered – a broken hope for a sunny day.

And she was once again by herself. Her body no longer ached, but the spirit was left to weep, like the heavy downpour of that fateful night – the night when 'she' left her life; the night when that nightmare started.

"Ah, there you are! You really ran a lot, my love, but that's no good. We must be together!"

In no time he was there, once more in her line of sight. Abigail's whole body briefly convulsed after seeing those eyes she couldn't describe.

It was deranged, crazy to the point of no comparison. That man had a different look from anyone she's ever met – a stare that caused the lustful gazes from the boys in the halls to fade into childlike innocence when compared.

That guy – Jacob Egan, if she recalled correctly – had a desire so much deeper than pure lust, and the worst of all was that she couldn't even point to a reason that could justify it, even if poorly.

It must be the retribution, for she lied with acts and sweet words, smiles and baseless reassurance. Abigail Halsey was nothing but a liar.

No. It would be correct to state the girl herself was the very lie, not only the one who spread them. The image everyone held so dearly of Abigail was a façade to hide the pains faced in the past, but that still comes to haunt her dreams every night.

Even after several years, she still wakes up in the dark after seeing her face in a dream that started beautifully, but that soon would grow pale and scarier – darker, yet darker.

The mangled, twisted and broken body of that person always spoke since that very night, and refused to stop telling that, no matter how much people she helps or how kind she looks, the fact it was all deceit – that what happened was her fault – would never change.

It was meant to be comforting, and for some time it truly was, but not for long. Now, It felt both disgusting and sad.

Time to face the consequences of her insufficiency, and there they were, lurking as a hunting wolf.

Jacob gripped the side of the corner of the hallway, watching the girl who seemed to have lost any desire to continue resisting. Perhaps she had finally given herself to his love, recognizing that trying to escape it was like running in circles?

Perfect. Even from a distance, he could already feel a little satisfied – an unsatisfactory satisfaction, so to speak. He craved more, and that would make a point of getting.

Taking his steps towards her, he gradually appreciated how perfect that work of art he loved and wanted so much was. Abigail was built like a gift, something meant for him in its utter perfection.

"Abigail... My Abigail...!"

Jacob felt like his heart was going to explode...! Emotion was burning like the damn library, blazing inside with that desire that only intensified with each step that was taken. A crazy smile from that sick love stretched across his face, cutting from side to side.

Grabbing his own chest in a gesture that seemed desperate, he let all his teeth see the outside of his mouth in a ghoulish smile brought on by the feeling of getting where he wanted most, of having what he always dreamed of.

"I've always… I've always been looking at you…! All this time, since you first set foot in this school... My eyes have always been on you...!"

With each step, he surrendered more to his own madness, being consumed from the inside out, revealing even more of the monster that lived and crawled inside.

"I've always loved you… I can't justify this thing on my chest any other way…! This heat, this energy... All this can only be love, can't it? And I searched for so long, looked for and continued hunting for more of that energy to keep myself alive...! Abigail, the moment I separate from you... The moment our eyes can no longer see each other and I can no more be bathed in your splendor... This will be the day of my death...! "

His eyes glowed that weird shade of blue. Abigail remembered that before that, those eyes so sick were brown and sleazy. That glow made the place once again be taken by one of those waves of pure force, cracking and shattering window panes into a million pieces, making the lockers that were right next to her move.

"I don't understand…I can't understand…! I just feel... I can only feel what burns me inside when I look at you...! This desire to grab you and tie you up in my basement and keep you like a perfect doll that I can forever look at and delight in! I want to catch the scent of your morning breath, get a chance to sniff your sweaty and dirty used clothes… I love everything about you... Your strawberry scent, the color of your hair, your eyes that make me lose track of the fact that I have a flesh body that is so limited...! You make all the pain disappear, and cause the very sun to appear in my life...! You are like the very blood that runs in my veins and that's why I need you! This glass can tear my flesh, and this wood can break my bones, but as long as I have you, that determination won't fade... 'As long as you exist and you're not mine, I feel like I'll never die! I will always come back, motivated by the desire to see you again, even if I have to dig my way out of a grave!' – That's what I can believe in with you being in my life!"

It was the speech of a sick lunatic, someone with clear problems in the deepest regions of his head, but even if that was it, Abigail and her broken spirit somehow managed to make themselves believe that clear exaggeration.

Punches and blows, stabs and shots... If that man got this far, it's because nothing would stop him – not until he had her.

"And that same determination was what gave me this gift… This power! All this time, I've struggled to be heard... And you never listened to me...! You never paid attention to my voice!"

That wasn't true... It was a lie and she knew it. Jacob never tried to reach her as he claimed to have always done, and she never heard his voice as he had never tried before!

But it was no use... This was a man broken inside, like a distorted clockwork mechanism. He would continue to believe in the inventions of his head, using them as that harmful fuel.

"Louder… I needed to speak so much louder…! And that's when this... That's when this gift appeared...!"

He boosted his own voice several times, making an auditory boom far louder than any megaphone to run loose. That caused enormous pain to the girl's ears. She couldn't even bring herself to cover them, as the world started to spin.

"And it's with this voice... It's with this new voice that I'll tell you how much I love you, as many times as necessary...! Until you learn that you love me too!"

Having said all he ever wished to, Jacob swiftly started pacing towards her. Fearful and traumatized, Abigail tried to avoid him, crawling desperately, in a last kick of survival instinct.

… And while she didn't realize it, Jacob's ears didn't lie – something was wrong, and it was heading straight in his direction.

An explosion of freezing took the hallway, its fog spreading like a cloud. Before she could even remotely make sense of what happened, it was already done.

"GAAAAAAAAAH! IT FUCKING HURTS! WHY DOES IT HURT SO MUCH?!"

Jacob's scream of pure pain reached her ears, causing Abigail to stop and finally observe the region where nothing could be seen, and as the thick fog faded into transparency, she could fully see the agonizing form of her tormentor.

"SHIT…! I WAS SO CLOSE I WAS SO CLOSE IWASSOCLOSE! AAAAAAAAAAH!"

His yelling was demonic and unlike anything her mind could ever imagine. Jacob was prostrated, staring at his own hand in pure shock, all while screaming like a wounded beast.

A closer look then revealed what he stared at – it was his right hand, which now lacked the middle and ring fingers.

A fountain of blood oozed from the pale white skin, mixing in the color of his jacket. Far down that same hall, the destroyed red cylinder rested, still letting out its remnants of its pale white content from an enormous hole, the rest of the structure being apparently covered in what seemed to be an already-melting layer of frost.

She didn't want to look any further, for fear of finding his torn fingers somewhere in the room.

"This pain… THIS FUCKING PAIN…! Why… WHY, YOU…!"

Jacob's gaze was directed to the stairs located to Abigail's left, which he had a privileged view of being closer.

"Someone has to put a lid in that drum mouth of yours. That's why."

"You… Oh, YOU…! WHY?! WHY DID YOU RUIN IT?! WHY?! WHY?! WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY?!"

Jacob rose once more, looking crazier than ever – his crooked smile was now hellish, aiming the killer glare of a monster towards that person that still had to reveal their face. His head started to twitch, accompanying the pulsating blood that flowed free.

"I was so close… I was so close… I WAS SO FUCKING CLOSE…! THEN YOU HAD TO COME… YOU HAD TO COME AND RUIN IT ALL…!"

He then screamed, possibly causing the entire school to hear that uncomfortably high-pitched sound that closely resembled that made by a microphone with an incorrectly connected cable. Preemptively aware, Abigail shut her ears with all force.

That godforsaken noise lasted for long five seconds, and could have been potentially deafening if it persisted for longer. At the end of that, it didn't take long for that person to reveal themselves.

"Now I see how useful these little things are. Totally capable of blocking fresh little screams… It makes them no more than mild nuisances."

His low voice had already given away that person was a guy, but Abigail still wanted to see and confirm with her very eyes – she had to make sure it wasn't her mind playing a mean trick.

Now that guy was a new face... No, he certainly wasn't, and she just hadn't given it enough attention until that moment. It's easy to ignore a random person with whom she hasn't actively interacted with on a day-to-day basis.

Still, knowing him or not, Abigail had to warn about Jacob's apparently supernatural ability to scream. However, it was in the act of extending a hand that the girl noticed she had no energy or condition to even speak.

Even after that good surprise, tears still escaped in volume from her eyes and each muscle shook in pure shock. Her throat refused to obey and so did arms and legs.

"I will kill you…I. Will. Kill. You…"

"Excuse me? I can't hear you… Oh, of course…!"

That guy touched his ear, removing from inside what seemed to be a piece of a common white eraser, of the type one can fit in a pencil. Holding it up, he briefly allowed for Jacob to see the object, quickly putting it right back.

"You sure have quite the throat, but that's not what I want to hear. You know, they say the mind speaks when the mouth shuts up… Or something along these lines."

Abigail could finally have a full view of that guy. Stepping out of the staircase, he carried another of the cylinders normally used to extinguish flames. His left arm had significant burn marks, the unzipped black coat missing part of the sleeve, revealing a heavily stained white undershirt, covered in what had the aspect of concrete.

"Ashes." She quickly thought. "He is covered in ashes."

That person had been in the library fire, and risked his safety ever further by being there. From his dangerously sarcastic way of addressing the situation, the purple-haired girl could tell his presence was fruit of no accident.

Yes. He wanted to be there, and furthermore, was aware of the risk of it.

In a way, he looked like a Knight… No – like a Hero. That cylinder was his sword, and his determination and carefree attitude, the shield. A warrior clad in the armor of bravery, ready to make his justice fall upon evil.

"… And the words of your mind are the ones I want to hear. You will spit it out, like it or not. I need no more than a single touch."

Jacob was mad, and wasting no time, readied another scream, uncaring of whatever the one who disturbed the fulfillment of his life dream spoke of. "Enraged" meant a severe understatement of the blue-eyed guy's mood.

That guy also reacted to that, quickly taking from a pocket what seemed to be a pencil or pen in Abigail's perception, and then, it happened.

A shiver went through each cell of her body in the instant his eyes shone like amethysts reflecting the light. He had that same shine.

Same as Jacob, that guy wasn't ordinary.

The pen accurately struck a ceiling light, causing micro fragments of glass to scatter all around Jacob. Fearing for his precious eyesight, the Egan guy covered his eyes, protecting from the various sharp pieces.

The unknown guy lost no time – with skill and precision that seemed almost mechanical in nature, he picked the red cylinder like it didn't weigh at all, using its base as a sort of hammer in order to attack Jacob.

A human couldn't move like that… It was too precise and flawless! In her eyes, it looked like each of his movements was calculated beforehand by a computer. Each step counted towards advantage and not even a millisecond being lost. Before even realizing, her fear was being slowly replaced by pure awe.

"Ghk---!" Jacob winced greatly at being pummeled right in the mouth by solid metal.

He fell to the floor spilling teeth, the other guy giving no chances. Whoever was that dark-skinned boy, it was for sure he didn't want Jacob to have a single chance at attacking. That was provided as he prepared a massive bashing attack by taking advantage of previous momentum, aiming for his chest.

… … …

"[GAAAAAAAAH!]"

A yell from Jacob, and he was forced to stop, jumping back to escape being in close proximity to the shock wave.

"ENOUGH!" Jacob jumped up, seemingly ignoring the pain of lacking two pairs of front teeth. "DIE!"

Rather than sound, the yell that came after was made of pure power, being more similar to an earthquake in nature. Light bulbs flickered, the remnants of windows broke even further, and the entire structure seemed to shake as if gaining a life of its own for a couple seconds.

"You… You…"

The other guy, who used a wall as support, could only watch as even more anger seeped through Jacob's bleeding mouth.

His eyes were now bloodshot, and his cream-colored skin acquired a new red color. Veins were evidenced, pulsating in a wicked rhythm.

It was as if the man had become a bomb about to go off.

"Oh, don't look at me like that... Why the stress? You know strokes are dangerous, right?" He dared joke with the situation.

"SHUT UP!"

Once again, the same event repeated in a lessened intensity. Jacob was dead set on killing that way too carefree of an enemy.

"I'LL MAKE BLOOD PULP OUT OF YOU! THEN I'LL DRINK IT ALL USING YOUR SKULL!"

"That would be unsanitary as hell, actually. Sorry to make it rain on your parade." He readied the red cylinder once more. "Now come on. I can't extract your memories if you die, so I have to knock you out before all that stress ends up getting you for good."

A maddened laugh was the ring that marked the start of that otherworldly battle about to unfold. Having that sight, Abigail grimaced, preaching so that the Hero could win.

Was that too much to ask for?