The Body Back Home

"Lubbock, where are we going?", he was silently dragging me through the town.

I hadn't asked him anything, nor had he said anything about the Doctor or Serena or anything that happened back there. For now, it seemed fine if we were just silently heading somewhere, perhaps thinking the same sort of things, a camaraderie finally formed between us. How short-lived it would be, if such a thing did exist that is, I knew very well.

"Home, where else?"

"Hold on, we should get Mills and-"

"Just shut up and keep following."

I wasn't really following him though. He grabbed my arm and walked on without saying anything.

"Wait a bit, something's weird", I fruitlessly tried to stop him.

"What is?"

"Where's everyone? The town's empty."

"Haven't you had enough of these townspeople for one day? I want to just get home already. Without any interruption! So hurry up a bit!"

I was certainly perplexed but I remained quite and hurried along. Soon, we were back to the brothers' place. Still, Lubbock hadn't let go of my arm. He flung the door open and waltzed in without restraint. He headed straight towards the back rooms where we were staying.

"Hey, hey, what is it now? Stop already."

"Shut up, Seraph", he said before we stopped in front of Miss Traveler's room, "There's something I wanted to show you."

"Huh?"

He pointed towards the door. He wanted me to open it but I stood confused. I didn't want to intrude upon her just like that. Lubbock, on the other hand, had little tact. He opened the door himself and signaled me to come in. Her room, like my own, was quite spacious. I would have looked around more keenly were it not for the immediate horror that lay on her red stained sheets.

My eyes were wide open in disbelief, my legs trembled and my voice died away. I took a step forward, carefully moving so as not to buckle. I approached her disheveled bed where she lay lifeless, her head tilted to her side and eyes vacant of all light. Blood trailed down the side of her mouth and soaked into her white pillow. Her half open eyes stared into the unknown without really seeing, golden strands of her hair smeared crimson spread wildly across her countenance. Her left arm hung off the bed, the other clutched the sheets, though only the wrinkles made by her clutch remained now.

I felt a hot fever running down my spine. My eyes burned and I felt dizzy looking at her like this. I tried to find my breath but it burned my throat and I wasn't sure I could keep my thoughts steady anymore.

"This is why I went looking for you, to tell you she was dead", Lubbock said as casually as ever.

I turned around to look at his face. My eyes were glaring at him bloodshot and in no way was I capable of concealing my blood lust just then. Later, when I thought back on it, I was surprised that instead of sorrow, it was the feeling of revenge that first manifested in me. I must have changed quite a bit to begin thinking like that.

As for Lubbock, it was quite obvious to me what had happened.

"What did you do?"

I really meant to ask why.

"What's that mean?"

"Don't mess with me, Lubbock."

"Why are you giving me that look?"

"You bastard! Why did you kill her?!", I grabbed him by his collar, completely losing it.

"What are you saying? She must have died on her own, I just found her like this."

Of course, it was a blatant lie. He wasn't even trying to sound convincing.

"Don't you bullshit me, you bastard!", before I knew it, I was pounding him in a wall.

Lubbock was smaller than me. He was quite frail too, like a girl. It was easy for me to just pick him off his feet and manhandle him around like that. He didn't put up any resistance either. Truth is, he didn't need to. After about an eternity of thrashing him around like a ragdoll, I was able to come to my senses. There had been quite a bit of damage to the property. Yet, when I looked at Lubbock, he hadn't shed a drop of blood, nor did he have anything more than scrapes and cuts. It was unsettling, his brain should have been spilling out by now.

Now that I was sitting down, the sense of loss finally kicked in. Although I hadn't known her more than a week now, in truth, I really liked her. There was so much that I didn't know about her and there were many things I still hadn't asked. I recovered my breath, thinking back on the past couple of days. Unlike Serena, she couldn't be salvaged. And even Serena couldn't be perfectly recovered. Doctor said it was only a matter of days before that girl would stop functioning.

"We should have left", I felt a strong sense of regret.

I had wanted to leave back then too, but I should have persisted against Lubbock's decision. I should have left here. If only we hadn't come around, these people's lives wouldn't have turned upside down like that. And to think, it were all the people that were so kind to us, I felt ashamed.

Lubbock approached me and grabbed my arm again. I looked up at his face.

"If you want to leave, then come with me."

Just like that, he dragged me out of the small town of Shamballa, toward the distant mounds surrounding it.