I stumbled through the thicket, unaware of my surroundings. All I wanted to do was feel blood of some sort running through my fingers. I wanted to bathe in it. The very thought made me cringe yet elated at the same time. I grinned in spite of myself. What could they possibly do to me at this point anyway? They were the ones who deserved to be tortured for disobeying the chief.
Crash!
I swiveled my head toward the sound a snarled at whatever made the noise. There were a few grunts as a dark-haired boy emerged from the underbrush.
"Hey!" Maurice waved at me with that goofy grin plastered to his face. Typical. I lowered my spear somewhat and my jaw relaxed a bit. How I wanted to rip him limb from limb for scaring the crap out of me.
"What do you want?" I growled.
"I just wanted to know where you were." Maurice looked like a wounded animal at my harsh words. "I mean, it is after dark."
"Maurice," I said, "you should know by now that nighttime is my favorite time of day."
"I know." He gave me a once over, probably wondering why my spear was still half-raised in his direction. "I just want to make sure that you make it back in time for the feast."
I lowered my spear the rest of the way and heard an audible sigh from Maurice. God, he was awfully annoying, and that's putting it mildly. As we walked back to Castle Rock I stared between his shoulder blades, wondering what it would feel like if I shoved the sharpened end of my spear through his heart. I grinned at the thought. It would be so easy. The best part was that nobody would see us. Nobody would have to know.
"Roger?" Maurice glanced back in my direction. "Are you still there?"
"Yeah," I said, "why?"
"I couldn't hear you, that's all." He turned around and continued tromping through the moist grass and dead leaves.
I continued to follow him until we reached the camp. Everyone else already had their faces painted and danced around the fire. I reapplied my face paint and proceeded with the daily ritual. After we'd finished feasting I lay on my back on the cold rock of the cavern, unaware that I'd already had company.
"Hey, Roger!" A flash of a toothy grin revealed itself in the moonlight. I groaned.
"What do you want, Maurice?" I tried my best to sound as irritated as possible so that he would hopefully go away. Of course he didn't.
"I just want to hang out with my friend." He lay down next to me and placed his hands behind his head. Friend, huh? I guess I could live with that for a while. I mean, he wasn't completely annoying or anything. He just had this habit of getting on my nerves from time to time. Since I wasn't going to get him to leave anytime soon, I gave in rather quickly.
"Fine," I said, "just don't talk too much."
"Okay!"
We lay there for a while, staring at the stars. It was one of the few things that I didn't really mind doing with someone else. In fact, I almost enjoyed his company. Eventually I felt my eyelids getting heavy and drifted off into a deep sleep.
I shuffled a little bit before opening my eyes slowly. It had gotten bright by the time that I'd woken up and Maurice was nowhere to be found. I grabbed my spear and headed out of the cavern. Most of the boys were missing except for the two kids on guard duty.
"Where is everybody?" I called up to them.
"They went out," one replied.
"Where did they go?" I grew impatient.
"They went out to hunt or something." One of the boys shrugged and pointed in the general direction of the mountain. Without another word I headed toward the place where the boy had pointed to.
After I'd trekked on a mostly beaten path for a little while I couldn't spot anybody. I found it strange since I was already halfway to the mountain. Maybe they'd gone up it or something. Maybe they'd gone to confront the beast. I heard a rustle in the bushes and raised my spear defensively.
"Hey, Roger!" Maurice tumbled out of the bushes and fell on his face at my feet. He looked up at me and smiled sheepishly before standing upright. He rubbed the back of his neck before taking a swift glance at our surroundings. He seemed a little paranoid of something.
"Where is everybody?" I demanded.
"Oh, they're out hunting."
"Then why didn't you wake me up?"
"Because this particular hunt isn't suitable for you, Roger." He stared at me fearfully as I glared at him.
"What about it isn't suitable for me?" I jabbed him in the ribs with my spear. He whimpered a little.
"This hunt's more dangerous than the other ones," he explained.
"So?" I pushed the spear into farther into his chest but didn't draw blood. "It's not like this entire island isn't dangerous."
"I know, but," he trailed off. At this point I was furious.
"But what?" I gritted my teeth.
"Well, you're my friend." Maurice drooped his head slightly before continuing. "I just didn't want you to get hurt, is all."
I stared at him in disbelief. He didn't want me to get hurt because I'm his friend? I lowered my spear from his chest before turning around and walking back toward the camp. I waved for him to follow. I have to admit it was nice to have a friend to look out for me. However, I stopped once we were halfway to the camp and Maurice nearly bumped into me.
"Roger," he asked, "is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, Maurice." A malicious grin spread across my face.
"Then why did we stop? Let's head back."
"Let's just stay here for a while." I gripped my spear tightly before turning to face him, a look of pure evil reflecting off of my face.
"Roger, what's with that look on your face?" Fear began to cover his features and he looked behind him to see if there was something there. He backed away from me a bit before slipping on some mud and hitting the ground.
I took a step toward him, my spear aimed in the center of his exposed chest. I couldn't help but give in to my obsession as I raised my arm and plunged the sharp end of my spear into his heart. His eyes went wide as some blood dribbled out of his mouth. He looked completely shocked and dismayed, most likely from the thought that his friend would do this to him. I couldn't help it. I lived for the sound of pain and the sight of blood. I twisted it and relished the sound of the painful scream that emitted from my prey. The fire of life began to fade from his eyes as his head lolled backward. I yanked my spear from his chest and stared at the gaping wound that it left behind. I was somewhat shocked by what I had done to the only person who treated me like a human being but I strangely felt little regret at the same time. After staring at his dead body for a while I managed to convince myself that this entire thing was a dream, this island never existed in the first place.
A/N: I originally began writing this out of frustration and ended up killing Maurice in the end. I don't know why I've been writing about Roger a lot in the first place. Maybe it's because he's a lot of fun to write about. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed it! Please review!
P.S.: I named this piece after a song from an anime. If you decide to review I encourage you to guess the English translation of this song and the anime that it's from if you can. Thanks for reading!
