Star Bright

Twenty Three: Void

  "Now back to my story. Where were we? Oh yeah, Susie! That arrogant thing." Anon had his legs crossed on the table, arms behind his head.

  Beads of sweat rested on Dani's forehead. Under the table, she had a fistful of her dress. Her fear was returning at an abnormal speed and each movement Anon took kept startling her, rushing it further. The cut on her arm throbbed painfully. Blood dried on the edges.

  Behind Anon, on the floor, Ian sat, staring down. Inside the circle with him were the two bullets which had fallen out since. Though he was bullet-free, Ian still looked worse for sight. The green veins, though not as bad as before, were on display on his neck, arms, and legs.

  "In the Black Hole," Anon began, shaking his foot on the table which sprinkled dirt, "after I was sentenced there, my light began dimming almost immediately. The fingers of darkness kept snatching it away no matter how much I tried to shine. And if by chance I did manage to start getting bright, a Swallower was sent to interrupt it. Susie was the one in charge of keeping me drained and weak. She taunted me of what I did, kept draining my light with that stupid mouth of hers, and occasionally, she would mention you." Anon said, staring at Dani.

  "You see, my stay in the Hole was determined by Jerani's return. And as you know, he never did come back. Every day, every hour, every minute, and every second, I kept hoping the little rascal would return. Instead, each time Susie came back and my hope would rise, she would dash it by telling me about you.

   "Dani Chamberman is hogging him all to herself! Hey, did you know they went to a party today? She's used him to get an invite! He even resurrected her dead pet fish! Hey, guess what! Dani Chamberman believes Jerani now. Oh, they're going to have so much fun together. I think he's gonna fly her across the world in his arms. She's never gonna let him leave. Never, never, never!!" In each of the last three words, his face turned hateful and his fists clenched tighter.

   "Over time, I needed something to direct my pain and anger at. It was the only thing left after I was drained daily. Jerani wasn't an option since I was the one who pushed him. He would have come back if he hadn't met you. And so it began. The next time Susie came in to drain my energy, she caught a whiff of something new. In no time, she molded a figure with the sands of the Black Hole," on seeing Dani's confused expression, he said, "The Black Hole is a never-ending desert with sand black as night. Anyways, the person Susie had created was none other than yours truly, Dani Chamberman. Can we give her a round of applause?"

  Jean began clapping. Her face remained void, her eyes dead. Beside her on the table was the jagged glass, ready to be used.

  "That's enough now." Anon halted with his hand. He returned his stare to Dani. "Of course, Susie wasn't exactly a good artist. There were many mistakes with her designs now that I've seen the original. But she loved seeing me rip apart the clones she created. She loved seeing me frustrated when more and more clones she created marched into the desert. In my spare time when all the clones would lay dead around me, I would sit and imagine what killing the real Dani Chamberman would feel like. None of the clones would talk or scream when I tore their limbs apart; I wondered if you would scream, if you would beg for mercy. I betted your death will be the best feed I would ever take."

  "Don't you dare!" Dani screeched reaching for a fork. But Jean reached for the glass and placed it against the bleeding wound on her neck. New blood trickled out.

  Dani quickly dropped the fork and Jean copied her action. Anon giggled with child-like glee.

  "Please, we've done nothing to you..." Dani said, a sob escaping past her lips. Behind Anon, the sound made Ian quirk up.