At the Brink of Insanity

Chapter 11: World of misery

"I understand. I'll be there as soon as I'm finished here." Said Dante on the phone. Iris decided to notify him about her encounter with the man of sin, knowing Dante would start thinking about some solution, just as they all were.

It was already 5 p.m. His lab tests took some time and by the look of it, the situation got worse. He knew he didn't have much time left. If Devil doesn't take his life, his disease will.

He found himself walking forward, without a certain destination. His legs were taking him wherever they wanted to, his body working on autopilot. The boy constantly questioned himself 'Where am I going?' without getting an answer.  

What the young man didn't know was that he was walking straight to the Riverside cemetery, to his mother's grave. Camille Cranell, 31st January 1971 - 11th March 2008, it said on the stone. 'If I had known I were to come here, I'd bought a bouquet.' , he thought. The boy sat on the grass in front of the gravestone, contemplating whether he should keep the thoughts inside him, or voice them out loud as always.

"A lot of crazy things have happened, Mum. And... I don't know what to do." The boy whispered into the thin air, a lone tear sliding down his face. "I don't want my friends to die."

He looked towards the black, melodramatic sky, droplets of rain hitting his skin. To him, the sky seemed endless, but there was nothing to see.The boy closed his eyes, hoping the rain would wash away his current worry. He sat there, in front of his mother's grave, just like he used to every day since she passed away. He didn't care about the time, he didn't care if he'd be soaked to skin. There was something at that graveyard, which in that moment, gave him inner peace. 

"Say, Mom, what would you do? What would you tell me?" A small smile appeared on his face. "I'm certain you'd tell me to never give up." The boy remembered his good times with his mother. When she was teaching him to cook, when she helped him get ready for school plays, when she cheered him on when he played the violin, when she read him bedtime stories, when they laughed... The one memory that will stay with the young man forever, was most certainly his mother's smile and laugh.

Those great memories, along with momentary happiness, brought the tears of sorrow. The boy wondered if one could go without the other. In his case, the answer was no.

"I miss you, Mum!" He cried into the abyss, his hands covering his face.

"Remember when you told me everything would be fine? Well, it's not! My friends are dying and I don't know what to do! I don't have the slightest idea! I feel like an idiot! And everyone, everyone expects me to come up with something! And I don't know what! I'm just a human! A pitiful human! How am I supposed to stop the Devil? Didn't you say you went in the Hollow High too? If you were here, you could tell me what really happened!" 

Dante let everything out of his system. The things he had to say were endless, but for now, he felt satisfied. He got up and stood in front of his mother's grave for the next five minutes, looking at her name written on the tombstone, rain, which intensified, soaking his jacket. He wasn't thinking anything specifically, he was only staring at Camille's grave. 

'This city is so melodramatic.'  Young man thought to himself.

"I'll be back again, Mom. If not here, then maybe up there." He pointed at the sky, smiling to the gravestone, as if he was smiling to his mother. Turning around, he stopped in his tracks. 

"I thought that surname Cranell was familiar. Actually, there are a lot of names I recognize in that class of yours, Mr. Class president."

****

'I'm going to die.'  The young lady repeated the same thing over and over again in her head, but was unable to say it out loud. Annie Reiss, unlike many people, knew when she was going to die, but she just couldn't cope with the fact she wouldn't be here anymore. She was only seventeen; she had a bright future ahead of her, yet she wasn't destined to live more than those seventeen years.

She cried so much in her room to the point she didn't have any more tears to shed. She told her parent everything. She told them she was about to die. At first they thought she was delusional, but they knew their child. She would never make such jokes, she was too serious for such things. Seeing how she cried, seeing the despair in her eyes, they understood what she told them was true. 

Despair. That's what Lucifer brought them. That's what they brought on themselves alone, once they were placed in the 'D' class. Despair and sorrow. Those were Devil's constant companions. And he enjoyed their sorrow. He enjoyed their suffering. They were just pieces in his game, and the thought of other future generations placed in the same class made her sick. 

She couldn't understand it. Was it so exciting to torture kids like this? What exactly did he gain from all of this? Probably nothing spectacular. Only entertainment. 

Annie wanted to leave the house, to take a walk to the park, but she was too afraid. She didn't know if she'd die today or tomorrow. Not that it made much difference. 

Since she decided not to leave the house, she figured she'd call Natalia on her cell phone. She was aware of Natalia's feelings for her, and the girl felt the same way towards her, but was too afraid to make a move. She knew her friends wouldn't mind nor judge her, she wouldn't really care even if they did, since she loved Natalia. She was more afraid of her parents' reaction, considering how conservative they were. They were Catholics and strongly against homosexuality, especially her father. Her mother would probably accept her decision with time, but her father would sooner get rid of her, than accept her the way she were.

On the third ring, Natalia answered. 

"Hey Natalia, it's me." She started nervously, not really knowing how to approach the topic she wanted to discuss. Annie was usually the calm, calculative girl, able to speak her mind without hesitation, but apparently, love was a whole new world for her.

"I love you too, Annie." Said Natalia from the other side. There was a minute silence between them. But not the awkward kind of silence. It was that type of silence when two people know they feel the same, but also know their love was doomed from the start. Annie knew Natalia understands her perfectly. That's why she started crying, making the other girl cry as well. 

The worries of women know no boundaries. They are endless! There are so many things which they carry on their backs, everything in order to make things right, to keep balance. Love, school, grades, University, children, family! They withstand everything and still stand tall and proud even if they lose! 

Annie hung up, unable to listen to Natalia's cries. She didn't know who's heart was breaking more. Wiping her tears with her fingers, a new resolve built up within her. She doesn't want to die, not yet! Not when she finally decided to live her life the way she wants to. She wants to give in to that new flame of love burning inside her, and no Devil will stand in her way! 

*****

Hello guys! :)

It's been a while, but I've managed to publish a new chapter! Yay! I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. Do you have some favourite part of the chapter? Let me know! :D

Have a nice day/night,

Hugh