11 David Myers

"Henry?" Elaine guessed, rubbing her dry eyes, "Henry--get off, you're so heavy!" She let out a groan before pushing whatever that was on top of her. When she opened her eyes, her guess was right.

"You're awake, finally!" Her friend wrapped his arms around her small frame. "Are you okay now?"

"Duh," she slurred out, blinking slowly. When Henry didn't say anything, she closed her eyes and rubbed her head. "My head hurts."

"Did you hit it somewhere?" He leaned closer to her, examining her head, but the only thing he could see was Elaine's messy hair. Reaching out, he rubbed her head slowly. "I don't think there are any bumps, Elaine. Should I call Penny?"

Elaine let out a whimper but shakes her head, "It's okay, it only hurts sometimes."

"What happened yesterday?" He looked at her dazed expression.

"Yesterday?" She mumbled to herself in confusion. To her, it didn't feel like her rest took more than an hour.

Henry nodded silently in response. "It's whatever, you should eat! I left some cereal for you," he said with a smile, before jumping off the bed. He looked at her again when she didn't follow.

"I'm not hungry," she said, almost like she was disappointed in herself that she didn't feel hunger at all. It didn't feel normal to her, as she always wanted something to munch on.

Henry's eyes crinkled more when he let out a laugh, "Yeah, don't gobble up everything like a monster."

Elaine's lower lip started to quiver and her vision blurred from her slowly-forming tears, "I. . .I'm serious, Henry. . . I'm not hungry."

Henry's stretched lips immediately turned to a straight line. "It's not funny anymore," he stared at her for a while, "Let's go downstairs." Pressing his lips together, he hoped she wouldn't cry. He wouldn't know what to do if she did. Elaine had probably gone through a lot, that's probably why she's like this. I'm sure Penny will do something about it, he thought.

She shook her head again as she failed to hold back tears. Covering her eyes with her small hands, Henry climbed up the bed and sat close to her. "It was bad," she choked out, sobbing now, "It was really bad. . . and scary. I was so scared. I thought I wouldn't see you again."

Henry's eyes started to water as he listened.

"There was black smoke everywhere," she leaned to him and rested her head against his chest, "And. . . and I suddenly wanted to do something bad. . ."

"What was it?" Henry's voice was barely heard.

Elaine groaned as she rubbed her swollen eyes again and again. After taking the time to calm her hitched breaths, "I don't know. . .Something just appeared in my head that moment."

"What was it?" He repeated his question. When Elaine didn't answer, Henry crawled in front of her, and looked at her red, wet face. "Elaine, what was it?"

She bowed her head and one by one, tears dropped on the bed sheet. "I was on a cliff I've never seen before. . .then I jumped."

Henry's eyes widened, "Jumped?"

"Yes, I jumped. . . I even remember what everything looked like when I was falling. I think that was when I fainted, then I woke up here." She wiped her tears.

"You. . . jumped by yourself? No one pushed you?" He blinked in disbelief.

Elaine shook her head, "No, Henry. No one did. It was me who wanted to jump."

"Why would you?" His voice was shaking.

"Because. . ." she creased her brows in her own confusion, "Because I thought that it was beautiful." Her eyes landed on him.

Henry froze. A ten-year-old mind couldn't comprehend why jumping off a cliff would be considered as something beautiful. 'Beautiful,' in Henry's own definition, was art, flowers, and the different shades seen in the sky, not harming oneself. Definitely not killing oneself.

Elaine's heartbeat quickened, "What's wrong?" When she realized, she moved closer to him and leaned, "I don't think it's beautiful anymore, okay? It was only in that moment. It was really weird. . . I was so confused."

Henry gulped, and without blinking he said, "Let's just go downstairs."

Doug still had no sense of direction, and he doesn't think he will ever have. Although, he was glad that he helped the dying cherno earlier, as this helped him turn away from a strong sense of boredom.

The cherno kept asking questions, nonetheless, Doug had answered everything without hesitation, no matter how shallow it was.

"What about you, sir? What is it that you desire?" The cherno had asked once again, stroking its smooth, bulky arm. It felt good that he acquired a fresh body, like how a snake feels when shedding its skin. It was also glad that it was a male body. He had only taken male bodies ever since, but it felt a bit strange to be a foot taller than his old one.

Doug thought for a moment. It was a different question compared to the others that the cherno had asked. Finally, he answered, "I only wish to be satisfied."

"How?"

"By forgetting how tedious my job is."

"I see," it replied.

Doug stopped in his tracks and turned around to take a look at the cherno. He carefully examined it. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin, and built body, even more built than his'. He had found the body on the side of the road, with cuts and bruises all over it. Before the cherno acquired the body, Doug placed his cold hand on the lifeless human, and with a blink of his eye, all of its damages disappeared. After patiently waiting, the cherno slowly took over its body, and Doug watched it rose from the ground. To Doug, it didn't seem like an empty frame controlled by an evil entity, not even the slightest bit. There was no dreadful odor anymore as well, maybe it would only start to smell when it would decompose, he had thought.

"What is it, sir?"

"Call me Doug. That's my name from now on."

"Sir Doug?"

Doug blinked, "No, just Doug."

"Why such a plain name?" Its blue eyes wandered around, a little habit it took in from spending a while with Doug.

Doug shrugged, "I don't intend to draw too much attention. . .Anyway," he paused, then narrowed his eyes at it, "Would you like to have a name?"

The cherno only stared at him.

"I assume you've never thought about it?"

It shook its head in response.

"Well, if you're going to be with me, you'll need a name," he took a step towards it. "What name would you prefer?"

It smiled at him, "Any name that you think would fit me. If I was human, and I was born like this, what name do you think would be written on my paper?"

"John. Johnny," Doug suggested, "But it would be better if you'd choose. I chose my own."

"Oh, but I'm not like you--" it paused, "--Doug. I like to follow orders."

"I thought you had your own mind."

"Yes, a mind that can construct thoughts and opinions, but I've never thought about anything for myself. Only this yearn to keep on existing. Nothing else matters beyond that," he floated towards Doug, "Why should a name matter?"

"Because it's something you would label yourself. Being called a cherno doesn't differentiate you from others. You'll have no originality," Doug answered, with his hands clasped behind his back.

"I don't mind." It shrugged.

He sighed slowly, "I do, because you truly are different from the rest. I haven't met a cherno like you. Also, I'm going to have to meet humans. They would fear you if you would call yourself a cherno, as all chernos are seen wicked here."

"But. . .I don't mind being wicked," it replied, looking down.

Doug clenched his jaw when he understood why this cherno was unwanted. He sighed, loudly this time, when he realized he could not talk to it with a subtle manner, "You shall be called Johnny from now on, and you are not to levitate by all means, unless I said so, understood?"

'Johnny' immediately straightened his back and placed his feet on the ground, "Yes, sir." His head twitched when he corrected himself, "--Doug."

Doug took another step forward, now inches away from the cherno, and he stared into its blue eyes intently, "If I do not address you as Johnny, I'll be addressing you as your pronoun, which is a 'he,' and you should know that I'm referring to you, as I'll be answering questions for you, you hear?" He spoke quickly with no pauses between his words.

Johnny nodded a few times, "Yes, I hear it." Doug's eyes continued to pierce through his', the soft grey overpowering the striking blue.

"And you must follow. You are to serve me, in return from giving you a second chance in existing. I may see you as a friend but I assume you know that I will not be taking any risks of humans finding out I'm with a cherno. . . as well as what my identity is, you hear?" Johnny licked his lips and calmed his breaths when Doug stepped back. His fear started to wash over him again, he couldn't even answer. "And if you dare betray me, well, we'd both go back to where we belong. Me, going back to my job, and you, going back to that rotten corpse," Doug added, not looking away from him. He gave a faint smile when Johnny didn't move, "I'm sure you'll comply. You don't have to fear me. I won't do you any harm."

"I won't disappoint you, Doug," Johnny finally answered, moving its feet to feel the unfamiliar sensation of the flat ground.

Paige had been crying for a few minutes now, unable to contain her breakdown when she knew that Doug had left last night. "I didn't even say goodbye!" She cried out to Penny, who was still trying to comfort her, but her patience was growing weary.

"I'm sure he'll come back," but definitely not because of you, Penny added in her mind.

"What's the point? He doesn't remember me-he doesn't know me anymore!" Her voice filled the room.

Penny stopped rubbing Paige's back, "Quiet down, you big baby," she groaned in annoyance, "And I've already told you before, he's different. He's not David Miller anymore."

"David Myers, get it right," Paige snapped, pulling away strands of hair stuck on her oily face.

Penny rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Paige," she stood up.

"W-Where are you going?" Paige asked, looking up to Penny through her swollen eyelids. "Please stay, please."

Penny rested her hands on her wide hips and gave a snarl, "Look, I'm willing to listen to you, okay? Just not your crying and whining. You're better than that!"

Paige sniffed, "Okay, okay, fine."

"Finally," Penny scoffed, sitting down with a loud thump and tapped her foot impatiently, "I'm all ears."

"You see. . . back in high school, I've never liked anyone as much as I liked David-"

"Ugh, for goodness sake, you keep saying that to every boyfriend you've had!"

Paige pointed her slim finger towards Penny instantly, "Shush! Just hear me out. I may seem like 'that' type of cheerleader girl, but I'm not, okay? I've known David all my life. We were childhood friends, and I never thought about developing feelings for him. . . but when he stood in front of my door with flowers, a song, and a smile when my father had passed, everything changed. No one was willing to comfort or even listen to me during those dark times, not even my closest friends, and not even my own mother. She acted like my father didn't even exist," her eyes started to water again, "But anyway, I was just so desperate to feel warmth, to find light in this. . .this dark, dark world that took my father away from me for no apparent reason. He was the only one who understood me, the only one who really cared about me, and who took the time to know me, not just my interests or dislikes, but who I really was."

Penny moved her chair closer to Paige and placed a hand on her thigh when her breaths started to be unstable again.

"David was one of a kind. He didn't make me his girlfriend because he only wanted to 'do it,' he didn't see me as that typical bitchy cheerleader when everyone thought that I was. He saw past all those, and he saw the real me. He was the only man I've truly loved, and he loved me the same," her wet lips slowly formed into a trembling smile.

"Why did you break up?"

Paige sighed, "He had to move away with his family. They wanted him to go to this certain university, I forgot what the name was-but whatever it was, it was only for the privilege. Of course, I couldn't follow him, no matter how much I wanted to. We didn't break up instantly, we tried to keep the connection, and it was fine in the beginning, as we missed each other more and more. . .but we both grew tired of it. Whenever we would plan to see each other, something just keeps on coming up, mostly on his side. . .and. . .well, eventually, we broke up." She had stopped crying, and was staring at the floor instead.

Penny's heart ached for Paige. She felt guilty about believing every rumor the school had in store for her, and started to hate Paige because of it. She didn't think about what Paige was going through that time, and if she had known, she would have listened to her, day and night. "I've heard rumors that you cheated on him-"

Tears gushed down when she flicked her head towards Penny, "What! I would never! Was it because I already had another boyfriend after him?" When Penny nodded, she added, "They've had it all wrong!" She pointed at herself and defended herself as if she was in an argument, "I have loved David so much. We were together for four years-why would anyone think that I'd cheat on him? Damn bastards," she muttered and wiped her tears, "I needed distractions, or else I would still be thinking about him 24/7. I couldn't move on without a new guy in my life. . .I just had to, Penny. . .or else I'd be stuck in my rabbit hole forever."

"It's okay, I understand now," Penny assured her quietly, "But. . . do you see David in this 'Doug'?"

"Unfortunately, not," she inhaled slowly, "But that's the thing, I don't care. . . He's still David in my head. I don't care whatever he is, a demon, an angel, a cherno-I don't! If he would be different from the David I knew, so be it-I'll get to know him!" She coughed, "When I saw him in that abandoned supermarket--I couldn't believe my eyes. . ."

Penny's eyebrows furrowed and dark lips curved downwards as she said, "What's gotten into you? I thought you've already accepted the fact that he really isn't the David you knew. You stopped drooling over him after a while."

Paige's body started to tremble again, and she couldn't see anything past her tears. When she blinked, she looked at Penny with half-opened eyes and when she felt the sob in her throat climbing up, she buried her face in her hands and forced her weak voice to be heard, "Because I can't stand to lose him again. . .I just can't."