A Petal's Dismemberment

Chapter 3

About a week had passed since their escape and they both traveled across many towns and met many people who seemed surprised at the sight of two lost children traveling, they tried to take them to the police but Fiddle insisted not to go since they would be giving away their location.

Then they both came across a town that was helding a festival. Many people came out of their houses dressed up as ghosts. Many children can be seen with candies in their hand. The atmosphere there made Jack and Fiddle feel at home, the sight of children having fun and the adults taking care of the festivities. Jack and Fiddle shared a look that said 'this is where we will settle our new foundation'.

For once in their life, they both feel free and alive. The music was suddenly louder and everyone started dancing. This is the first time the boys have seen the weird gesture called dancing. Jack started to get excited at the sight of everyone having fun. He took Fiddle's arm and encouraged his friend to dance. The night ended with both of them having fun with all the people in town.

Back at the orphanage, Theresa can be seen breaking her telephone by throwing it against the wall. She is fuming at the thought of her products getting away. More importantly, how could she be outsmarted by a couple of kids that knew nothing of the outside world. She pulled out a tracking device and began her search for the missing children. She began to trace their every step in search for them, then she finally arrived at the town they're hiding in.

Jack could be seen carrying a crate full of dough, he was offered a job at a bakery to carry heavy ingredients to the storage in exchange for their meals. The owner was kind enough to give them a place to stay on the second floor. Fiddle was out exploring the outskirts of the town. He felt bad for relying on Jack to do most of the work for their survival so he thought he could surprise him with something, maybe he could find the gift in town. His eyes drifted off when he saw a bush full of Oleanders. He chuckled at the thought of giving Jack the most poisonous flower as a gift for a second when he couldn't even touch it.

But then suddenly, he felt a shiver down his spine. He could feel something looking directly at him. He doesn't feel good about this so he quickly runs back to where Jack is. When he got back, the bakery was empty, too empty to be considered normal. He was about to call out to Jack but then a pair of hands grabbed his head and pulled him backwards. He stumbled around to make some noises to signal for help. Theresa slowly stepped into the bakery and laughed hysterically.

"what made you think you could escape from me completely"

Fiddle could only hope that Jack is safe somewhere, but his thoughts were cut off by the sound of a broken glass being dropped by his friend, standing in front of him. His expression was full of anger and terrified when facing Theresa. Their dream of living together peacefully was completely shattered into pieces when Theresa stepped into the room.

"You boys must be lost, let us go home then shall we? nobody would get hurt that way"

Theresa pulled out a gun and threatened to use it. Jack and Fiddle could only look at each other in desperation. Then Fiddle thought of something that would let one of them escape from here. Fiddle's expression shifted from scared to giving Jack a sad smile. Jack took one look at Fiddle and immediately knew what he was about to do.

"Thank you...for everything" these were the last words uttered from Jack's only friend

Fiddle then stomped on Theresa's feet behind him causing her to let go of Fiddle for a second. Fiddle rushes for the gun in Theresa's hand earning some extra seconds for Jack to escape. Jack knew what Fiddle was trying to do but he couldn't leave his friend to die.

A loud bang was heard and echoed through the town. A couple of red liquid droplets began dripping on the white concrete floor. Jack saw his friend slowly fall to the floor and lose the bright spark in his eyes. Jack started to hyperventilate and fell down to his knees, he couldn't believe what he was witnessing was real.

"Look what you made me do...you just caused me to shoot the organ that was supposed to be in perfect condition..."

Theresa gasped and began to hold the gun towards Jack's head. Jack couldn't think of anything anymore. He could only recall the memories when he spent time with Fiddle. He only wished for everything to stop. Mysterious gas started to pour in the room making Theresa cough and was struggling to breathe. A clear sign of anger and sorrow could be seen from Jack's eyes. He slowly stood up facing Theresa who was struggling to stay conscious.

"Now look what you made me do...Theresa"

Poisonous gas starts to seep through Theresa's skin causing her whole body to burn and her eyes start to rot away. She is losing her vision and her other senses. The poison was stronger than any poisonous substance in the world, and Jack started to cry out streams of pure venom when dropping to the ground, the white concrete turned into black ash almost instantly.

Everyone in town starts to get affected by Jack's poison causing them to burn and quickly disintegrate into nothing but ashes. Vines started to grow around Jack when there was nothing around him anymore, even Fiddle's body couldn't be seen anymore. The poison slowly spread throughout the world leaving nothing but bushes of Oleanders that survived this plague.