The Interview Pt. 1

"So, how did it start, if I may ask, Mr Olimpo?" asked the interviewer, who was wearing glasses and an old-fashioned suit that was coated in brown cotton.

The interviewer attempted to fix his tie as he began the interview, as the cameraman pressed the record button. With all the lighting to show the truth behind all Klei's madness.

"It all started when he was diagnosed with Bipolar." Rey replied to the interviewer, answering his question quite nervously, feeling so much agitation and restlessness, "Since he was born, he was everything everyone loved, a happy, cheerful, kind, radiant kid. He was a good kid, he's always obedient, he was extremely religious, in fact he actually joined one of those Christian Youth Camps with his big brother, Reginald."

"He was religious?" the interviewer responded to Rey's answer with a follow-up question, leaning towards him showing his greatest interest in keeping writing down Klei's story.

"Yes, I don't know what happened to him," Rey continues, slowly showing a state of delirium, almost hysterical, "years after he's been crazy religious with all that blind faith and that sort, he even joined a church group called El Shadai when he ran away from home once because he was asking for help."

Rey goes on with Klei's true story about his past, spiralling down to act even more hysterical by every word, "He was a troubled kid, was always bullied, couldn't fight back to stand up for himself, always being belittled by everyone in his class. The more he was bullied, the more he started to develop this craziness in him that just randomly blew up out of him. He just, well, you know," he paused and tried to calm down, rethinking on what to say next, snapping back to reality, "just snapped, just like that. But, when there was that time he was running away from home because well, he was under a house arrest, which was entirely my fault, he didn't deserve it.

He went to this pastor asking for help, he even gave him food, his own temporary home for the night, and invited him to his church group where he became even more religious, then the next day, he just dropped off the religious act and started to worship Satan. When the pastor came to visit him I was shocked by this, not going to lie, he just said he worships the Devil and that he's a Satanist."

"About his bipolar disorder." Asked the interviewer, trying his best to hide the charade of sincerity. And actually was just invested in wanting to write this on the headline of the newspaper for his own profit. "How did it happen?"

Rey becomes silent for a little white, then continues, finally calmed down by the interviewer's concern, "Well, I asked the doctor if there was a cure and she said only time will tell just a few years later just to find out that the last option doctor told all of us that there's no cure at all, I asked what could have caused it, and he said that it's hereditary."

"I see." exclaimed the interviewer, now beyond just merely invested into Klei's story, rather to be obsessed in knowing what will happen next. "How old was he diagnosed? And how old was he when all this started?"

Rey sighed, then proceeded to Klei's story, slowly going mad. "He was 14, the same day he was first diagnosed. That's when it all started. But before all that happened, he told me he had this illness. I asked him 'Did you go to the doctor?' He said no, but he was crying and hugging me tight. I had no idea, but when his brother decided to help him go to the psychiatrist, that's when it hit me, he got back home, without both of them telling me they went to the psychiatrist, his brother gave me the doctor's note. I felt like… I was going to cry, you know?" Rey finally ended his story in an emotional breakdown.

"I'm sorry to hear that." says the interviewer, showing the effort to give empathy.

***

September 2012, Klei's point of view.

"Hey, fag. Are you still obsessed with your ugly Facebook girlfriend that doesn't even live in the Philippines? Weak ass!" my bullies started to act up again as I passed through the gates of St. Mary's Academy. I was utterly quiet until I thought about giving them some good sense in the kindest way possible.

"Love is not all about appearance. It's the soul of the person, their personality." I said in my defence.

"Petty excuse, you have all these looks." says the leader of the group, full of spite and envy, "Girls in this shitty school are oozing over your handsome ass, and you won't even give a damn about them! Just date someone who you can meet personally already!"

"I'm sorry, but I'm loyal to my lover." I spoke quietly, but stuttered.

They punched me down to the ground and spat on me, grabbed my bag and took all of my money, "I know you're religious, you're weak and can't fight back because you want to please your daddy Jesus!"

"Hey! I have a debt to pay! I didn't eat lunch for a month to save that up!"

"What are you going to do about it?!"

"I'm sorry… just take them."

"Yeah, that's what I fuckin' thought! Bitch!"

They gave me one more beating and I couldn't even walk to class, so I was sent to the nurse's office to fix me up a bit.

"You need some rest. I strongly suggest you must rest in bed in the boy's infirmary."

"No! I need to get to class! Please! I have so much to learn today!"

"You have a concussion and a sprained ankle, you have to rest. Please, we all know your willingness to study, which is commendable because of your goodness at heart. But give yourself a break for now, okay? You deserve it."

"Okay…"

As I can finally walk quite better to class, I went inside.

"What do you think you're doing lying around in the infirmary with your lazy ass at the nurse's office?" one of the class bullies came up to me and said this, "Just because you're smarter than everyone doesn't mean you can skip class when we study so hard to pass and you do what? Nothing, I see you always online on Facebook talking to you girlfriend with your stupid love comments and love quotes as your posts. Fuckin' idiot!"

They hooked straight at my face, but when I flinched they instantly paused and laughed at me. "I know you were weak."

Despite the fact that my obsessive love for my girlfriend who lives on the other side of the world brings me problems to my high school life which are the best years anyone in the world could have and never gain it back once they grow older, I didn't care. I wanted to stay for her, knowing that she's usually depressed. I couldn't leave her like that just because some bullies at school make fun of me for it, so I kept my promise.

Then one day, she cheated on me, with multiple boys in her own school. I was heartbroken by this. I didn't know how to approach her. Her other boyfriends were talking crap about me in my private messages on Facebook. I knew about this, but I asked her kindly not to cheat on me. This relationship lasted for a year starting in 2011, and I regretted it. I had the funniest make up as a clown at school for the rest of my days there. Because everyone knows.

***

"So, that's what happened?" asked the interviewer.

"Yes, that's what I saw in his Facebook messages when I went to check." says Rey, "I didn't mean to intrude on his privacy. Sometimes a parent has to do what he has to do for the sake of his son's safety."

"I understand. I did that too to my daughter." the interviewer tries to relate with Rey, "Moving on."

***

29th July 2013

It's my birthday, so I saved up lots of money to give everyone expensive brownies! I did so, but the problem is, someone stole my money. It was just gone. I gave away the cupcakes, and I didn't even spare some for myself at my class despite them hating me. I just wanted to do this to make them like me again, like on the first day in class.

Now, I have another debt to pay.

"Hey, Klei." John called out, my best friend, who happens to always belittle me for my relationship with my ex, but the thing is, he stopped that now since I broke up with her, but I was single ever since, "Where's the money you owe me?"

"I was ganged on. They jumped on me and stole my money that I was about to pay you. I'm so sorry, John! Look! I can- " before I could even finish, he just punched me, "You owe me twice that money now!" and just left.

I just laid down there looking up without moving, speaking, blinking, but barely breathing, "What am I doing with my life?" I started to laugh. This feeling of laughter isn't something I can explain to myself at all. It was the laugh of hysteria. It was an emotion of stress mixed with this maddening mindset where I just… snapped. And started to feel like I'm not myself anymore.

December 2013

I started getting into more fights but I was the one who usually initiates, I've been shoplifting, stealing items and money, committing felony, jumping over fences to skip most of the school days of my entire school year, purposely damaging private property, always manipulating, lying, and cheating on everyone I meet and know, even the people I used to care about and those who care about me, I just kept on doing my thing where I started to enjoy it more and more, but I've got bored eventually, I wanted more adrenaline, the need for speed! So, I started drinking heavily, doing drugs, and smoking cigarettes often, even doing all of those inside school, even during class hours. I just ask to go to the bathroom, start to smoke a blunt at the backstage of the auditorium, and start to get higher and higher. I've been awfully failing at class, and started to collect many deadly weapons especially butterfly knives or in the Philippines where it originated called the "balisong" where I just do random knife tricks where it looks almost impossible to do in front of my old bullies where they get all shocked by my skills and nowadays they are starting to respect me. Back then, no one liked me or noticed me as if I'm just a ghost. I was starting to lose my mind back then, but now people are starting to notice. I thought I didn't exist, but I do…!

People now respect me, people love me, and EVERYONE FUCKING LOVES MATRYOSHKA!!!

I started cutting myself often because of my inner sadness that I don't understand. I have all the women, the respect, the adoration, the worship, the love, the admiration, everything I wanted! Money, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, hell, I can even get a gun if I want to have one, but I was that one edgy kid that always loved knives. Nothing but knives. I've always had the thirst for blood, the homicidal tendencies that are so intense it felt extreme that I always have the urge to kill everyone I see, mass murders and genocide baloney all around! When I'm with everyone else in society, I'm more active, more talkative, more hyperactive, and more sociable, where I never shut up and people love me for it. But when I'm alone, I can't shake the feeling as if I've never had actual friends even if I had thousands and millions of everyone I can have as friends, to manipulate, to use, and to force them to do things I want in my own special way. The thing is, I feel this… loneliness. The more I notice this loneliness, the more I start to feel more depressed, and the more I feel lonely in everyone else's company. As if they were never my friends to begin with, I was different from everyone else, I was without fear, not even death, I wanted fun and adrenaline, but in society, it feels like walking inside to a funhouse mirror where I see myself differently based on everyone else's opinions and I never found my true self again, that's… where I lost myself.

That's when I went to the school bathroom, stared myself at the mirror just to see myself to not actually see myself, instead I saw a different person in my own reflection, it was not who I really was anymore, it was a man with characteristics I don't have, my hair, my face, my facial expressions, I was so different from the way I see myself in the mirror, I was no longer that sweet childish, smart yet misunderstood "Klei" my loved ones once knew who I was as a kid, I noticed that I've been hiding my pain this whole time and I was just masquerading my true nature, I was that good kid, I was that goodie-two-shoes, I was that one kid who wears glasses, carry textbooks through hallways and always at the top of the class outsmarting everyone and winning at contests… where did that all go? I was just a people-pleaser beyond the co-point of no return… I can never gain my true self back again anymore… so. I got so furious that I punched my own distorted image of the mirror where it shattered onto the sink and saw my blood dripping down onto the shards of glass where I took out one shard and started to cut myself deeply and bathed my mouth on my own blood where I started to taste my own blood that felt so much adrenaline, drinking more and more blood made me feel high as if I was on heroin, where I just passed out there, and then… woke up at the hospital without memory. I was chuckling loudly at that laugh of hysteria again, just like the first time I snapped. My entire arm was bandaged, and I lost a lot of blood that day…

***