A/N: A 'small' Hamlet parallel story that I had to do as an assignment. Just want to know what people think of it.
His black hair was buffeted by the wind and rain as he stood by the edge of a muddied grave. Others stood there as well, but chose to protect themselves from the elements by using umbrellas. A muffled sob came from a woman with a handkerchief clenched in her fists. No noise came from any other humans, only the pat-pat of raindrops falling, and the far-off cry of a bird.
"He was good man, Xavier," said a muscular man next to him. "One of the greatest I knew," he said. "He was my brother after all." The man with black hair jerked his shoulder away as the muscular man tried to place a comforting hand upon it.
"I don't need sympathy, Uncle," Xavier growled, his pale green eyes flashing in anger. The other man shrugged and turned back to the grave. The coffin was gently being placed into the grave, while the woman who had sobbed earlier threw flowers into the open grave. Two diggers slung dirt over the coffin as people stepped up to say their final farewells.
"My dear husband, you are leaving your family in shambles… But I hope that you are in a better place and can send help to us," murmured the woman. She stepped back, allowing Xavier's uncle to step forward.
"Brother, you know I'm gonna miss ya," he said, a single tear falling down his face. "But, all good things come to an end… That's what ya told me when we were kids and I got upset when my dessert was gone…" He stifled a laugh. "I'll miss ya." Xavier finally stepped forward, a cold expression on his face.
"Goodbye, Father," he said. "You know how much I miss you; it does not have to be proven to the others here, because it only matters to you." Xavier pulled a small note out of his pocket, and fingered it gently.
"I'll keep your promise, Father," he said, pressing the note to his heart.
---
"Xavier, it's been a year since his death," a woman said with a sigh. Her long brown hair fell about her pale face, and her blue eyes searched Xavier's face for some emotion. Xavier stood silently, clothed in black as he had been since a year before, when his father's body was laid into the wet and muddy grave. "You can't let grief overcome you," she said again, popping a chocolate truffle into her mouth and chewing extravagantly. He flinched away in disgust and to avoid spit-laden bits of flying chocolate.
"Your mother is correct, Xavier," his uncle said. "You're nineteen years old and about to begin training, and you haven't shown the slightest interest in swordfighting." Xavier rolled his eyes, but his uncle continued.
"You've barely spoken to your friends and your girlfriend what's-her-name…"
"Katie," Xavier reminded sharply. "And yes, I have spoken with her recently," he lied smoothly.
"For how long?" his mother asked quietly. Xavier glared at her.
"Now, Maria, don't pressure him… At least he's spoken to someone with sense…" his uncle said calmly. Xavier growled under his breath and looked for some sort of object to throw at his uncle.
"Lucas, calm. He needs to get out of the house!" Marie said back. "He's done nothing but hang around here grieving." Xavier spotted the door from across the room, and darted towards it. Lucas stopped him by grabbing him roughly on the shoulder.
"Where are you headed, Xavier?" he asked harshly.
"To go find my friends," Xavier said smoothly. "I need to speak with them about my year-long absence." Lucas's frown turned to a smile, and he shoved Xavier kindly.
"Go on then," he laughed, and Xavier ran towards the door, slamming it behind him. He looked at the door to the outside world, one that hadn't been touched by him for a year. He took a few steps towards it, and gently turned the knob. A slight breeze ruffled his hair, and he breathed in the fresh air as he took a step out. Closing the door behind him, he ran from the house to the dirt road and down the dirt road to the house of his closest friend.
---
"Markus?" called Xavier as he banged on the door of a small house. Barking could be heard from the inside, followed by a yell of "Oh can it, you crazy mutt!" The door flung open and a large German Shepherd bowled Xavier over, covering him with furious licking. A man the same age as Xavier followed, and pulled the dog off.
"Ka, I know you haven't seen Xavier in…" Markus said, trailing off.
"A year," Xavier replied sheepishly. "You look well, Markus." Markus was a tall nineteen-year-old, with dark red hair that gently curled above his ears. His green eyes glittered in the excitement of seeing his oldest friend after an entire year of separation.
"You too, Xavier. I see you haven't ceased wearing the black outfits," Markus added in disdain. Xavier shrugged.
"I have news, Markus!" Xavier replied in excitement. "About my father's death."
"Still going on about that, eh, Xavier?" Markus replied, his face clouding. Xavier shoved a note that had become worn with the amount of folding and unfolding that it had gone trough towards Markus.
"It's in the note he gave me before he died!" Xavier growled. "He wrote something in there that didn't make sense, but I think I figured part of it! I think he was murdered!" Markus flinched, but rolled his eyes all the same.
"By who?" Markus replied coolly.
"That's the thing, I don't know," Xavier replied, scratching Ka's head. "It says someone he knew well killed him, but…" Xavier sighed. "If you don't want to help, just tell me…"
Markus sighed and nodded begrudgingly. "I'll help you, Xavier, only because you're my best friend." Xavier grinned.
"Thanks, Markus. I knew I could count on you," he said, more lightly than he had ever spoken in a year.
---
"So… let's see this note," Markus said, pulling out two chairs from a table. Xavier sat in one while Markus took a few slices of bread, meat, and cheese and put them on a plate in the center of the table. He then sat down in the other chair, and grabbed a slice of bread and cheese, and began to chew on it.
Xavier placed the note on the table and smoothed it out. The writing was in pen, so it wouldn't fade as quickly as pencil, but the writing was still beginning to fade around the creases.
"Right there," he said, pointing to a sentence in the note at the very beginning.
"'If you're reading this, Xavier, it means I must no longer be with you. Someone I know and love has betrayed me, and they are the reason I'm gone'," Markus read aloud. "What a happy and cheerful way to start a note, huh?" Xavier shot a glare at Markus, who raised his hands in defense. "I was joking, Xavier!" Xavier sighed.
"So, I got this note about three hours after his death," Xavier said, and then looked at the note, rubbing his finger over the words as he had done so many times before.
"At the end, he wrote that I need to make a promise to myself to get rid of the one who made it so we could no longer be together, which I assume is his murderer," Xavier said. "But I have no clue who it could- Oh!" As Xavier was tracing the words, he felt that there was a difference in parts of the paper.
"Do you have a match?" Xavier asked. Markus nodded and pulled one out of a drawer, lighting it for Xavier. He hand it to him, and Xavier moved it towards the note. Markus gasped, but Xavier didn't light it on fire. Instead, he held it to the back of the note and moved it to where the paper had felt different. A thickly written word, no, a name, was revealed by the flame being close to the paper. Xavier gasped and dropped the match. Markus quickly extinguished the flame, and then stared at Xavier in disbelief.
"What is wrong with you?" he asked sharply, and then saw Xavier's face turn pale and blank. "You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"It was my mother," Xavier whispered. "She's the one that killed my father."
---
"Why would your mother kill your dad?" Markus yelled. Ka stared at his master blankly, while Xavier buried his face in his hands.
"I don't know," Xavier sobbed. "I truly thought they loved each other…" Markus sighed and began to pace.
"And then she married Lucas a few months later," Markus mused. "Think they had something going on or something like that?" Xavier shrugged.
"Who knows?" he moaned. "My mom killed my dad. That's not supposed to happen, Markus!" Markus shrugged.
"Look, maybe it was a mistake… You need to clear your head of all this murder talk. Why don't you go visit Katie? She came over yesterday wondering if you'd been around, and I'm sure she'd like to see you again," Markus said, trying to clear his mind as well. Xavier sighed.
"Er, yeah, I'll go talk to her…" Xavier mumbled, still worried. Markus smiled and gave Xavier a clap on the shoulder.
"That's the Xavier we all know and love," he said. "Don't worry 'bout this whole 'murder' deal for awhile. Go have a lovely day with your girl." Xavier sighed and walked out after petting Ka on the head, his mind racing.
"What if she didn't actually kill him?" he wondered aloud after he was out of earshot of Markus' house. "But what if she did? How can I know?" He walked aimlessly down the path, his feet leading him to where Katie lived. With each footstep, the word 'murder' flashed through his thoughts, consuming his entire mind.
"He made me promise revenge…" he mused. "Why must I kill my own mother?"
"Because she killed your father!" he argued. "Are you going to break the promise you made to your father?"
"No, but he's asking me to kill my mother! What kind of father asks his son to kill his mother?" he retorted.
"A dead one. And one who was murdered by said mother," he answered himself.
Before Xavier knew it, he had arrived at Katie's house and was preparing to knock on her door. He sighed and tried to compose himself, before putting on an almost-fake smile and knocking on the door.
"Katie?" he called. "It's me, Xavier." The door burst open and a girl came out, wrapping Xavier in a hug.
"I missed you so much!" she cried. Xavier nodded and gently patted her back awkwardly.
"Me too, Katie," he replied, and then shuddered inwardly. Behind Katie was her twin brother. Apart from Kyle being more intimidating than his sister, and being a male, the two looked exactly alike. Both had the same windswept black hair, though Katie's was normally kept much longer than Kyle's; both had the same blazing hazel eyes, both were the same height, and both had the same tanned skin.
"Xavier," Kyle stated coldly, fists clenching. Xavier sighed and smiled cordially at Kyle, still hugging Katie.
"I need to talk to my sister, if you don't mind," Kyle growled. Xavier sighed and nodded, facing Katie.
"I'll come see you tomorrow," he promised, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. She nodded with a smiled and re-entered her house, Kyle slamming the door behind her. Xavier snuck under the window and when he lifted his head just slightly, he could see and hear what was going on.
"I told you, you deserve better, Katie," Kyle said sternly. Katie glared at her brother.
"And I told you," Katie replied harshly. "I love him, and he loves me." Kyle snorted in laughter.
"What makes you think that? A couple dates, kisses, et cetera?" Kyle laughed. "Please. You know I'm leaving soon, and that will leave you and Dad, and he can't protect you from him like I can." It was now Katie's turn to laugh.
"You don't need to 'protect' me from Xavier," she stated. "He's safe, and Dad has approved our relationship, which means you'll just have to deal with it."
"Just because Dad approves doesn't mean I can't. He doesn't know him like I do. Xavier's dangerous, even more so after his father's death," Kyle replied. Xavier glared at Kyle, but the other teen couldn't see him, of course.
"He has a tendency to act oddly, doing strange things. It is only a matter of time before he goes and kills someone!" Kyle yelled. Katie sighed.
"He isn't like that, and you wouldn't know because you two have been rivals since you met!" Katie retorted. Xavier gave a small smile, mostly to himself.
Kyle only glared at his sister. "Just, be careful with him while I'm gone," he answered, walking out of the room. Katie sighed and sat at the table while Xavier crawled away until it would be difficult for anyone looking through a window in that house to recognize him. He then stood up and walked back home, thinking of how to determine if his mother was truly a murderer.
---
"Xavier! How is everyone?" Maria replied cheerfully as Xavier returned. The weather had turned dismal on his way home, and he was soaking wet. Lucas handed Xavier a warm, dry towel, and Xavier muttered a quick thanks.
"Markus is doing fine, and I went to talk to Katie, but Kyle's being the same about my relationship with her," Xavier said, not delving into details. Lucas nodded.
"Men are that way about their sisters," Lucas said. "I remember my sister, she passed away bless her heart, but when she had her first boyfriend, I followed them sometimes. Eventually, she got so fed up with it that she snuck out of the house so I wouldn't know she left." Xavier nodded with a small smile.
"Perhaps I should suggest that to Katie?" he thought aloud, whispering to himself as he headed into another room.
"Maria, Lucas!" called a new, cheerful voice. Xavier poked his head out to see Kyle and Katie's father: Daniel. Xavier pulled back, sighing.
"Why, hello Daniel," Maria said brightly, and Xavier merely shuddered at her happy tone. "What brings you here?"
"I just wanted to check in on Xavier," Daniel replied. "Kyle said he's worried about him, but not in the friendly sense, I'm afraid. He fears that your son is dangerous for my daughter, Maria."
"How absurd!" Maria replied, her shock convincing. "He's a perfectly safe boy. Kyle need not worry." Silence was present for a few moments, and finally someone spoke.
"Well, I'll just be going, then," Daniel replied, and Xavier heard the door open and shut. He breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down in a chair.
"What shall I do?' he asked himself in a whisper.
---
"Xavier!" came a call. Xavier had fallen asleep in the chair thinking about the murder of his father, so when his mother's voice awoke him, he jumped up and knocked over the table. She came rushing in and looked at the overturned table. He stared at her with a distracted expression, and she returned it with a confused look.
"Do pick that up, Xavier," she stated, walking out. Xavier nodded and put the overturned table back in its proper position. He rubbed his face with his hands and looked at himself in a mirror.
"You're a wreck," he said softly, frowning. His frown, however, soon turned into a smile.
"Perhaps a strange attitude shall permit me to discover the truth of my father's murder," he whispered. He tried making his best face of depression, and then, displeased with that result, changed it to one of mild insanity. He grinned, feeling that his expression of insanity would be quite convincing. Without looking behind him, he walked out the door. He headed down the road to Katie's house, where he snuck through her window. As he entered her room, she gasped. He kept his wild expression, and did nothing but stare at her. She backed away, but he moved forward, gently grasping her hands and staring into her eyes. Without another word, he backed away, still looking at her, and crawled out of her window.
As he walked back home, he could hear her scream of horror down the road.
---
"Lucas! Maria! We need to talk!" Daniel's voice hollered as the door slammed shut. Xavier was hidden in a different room, having never abandoned his expression. He pressed his ear to a door as he heard the hurried footsteps of his mother and step-father.
"What 's wrong, Daniel?" Lucas asked.
"Xavier! He snuck into Katie's room, and scared her half to death!" Daniel yelled. "He's gone insane!"
"Now, I doubt that's what happened…" Lucas said calmly.
"He did seem out-of-sorts," Maria said. "Especially when he woke up after sleeping in that chair."
"I think Kyle restricting him from seeing Katie has caused this insanity," Daniel suggested. In the adjacent room, Xavier muttered a brief and quiet 'Yes!'
"Well, we could always put the two together… And see how he reacts. That could determine if she really is the reason for all this odd behavior lately," Lucas added.
"Tomorrow, then?" Maria said eagerly.
"Yes," replied Daniel. I'll bring her over here, under the assumption that you two have invited me to lunch." With that, Daniel left the house, and Xavier glanced at the window. The sky was darkening, and tomorrow would prove to be eventful.
---
"Hello, Maria? Lucas?" called a voice as well as a knock on the door. Xavier had been waiting in his usual spot, a room adjacent to the entrance hallway. He heard his mother and step-father open the door, and Daniel and Katie entered. Xavier moved from that room to a different hallway, where he began to pace and mutter gibberish to himself. Katie soon entered; no doubt it had been Daniel who persuaded his daughter to enter that specific hallway, and the adults were probably spying on the couple from behind a door or such.
"Xavier?" Katie said calmly. Her eyes were puffy and red around the edges from the expulsion of many tears.
"What is it?" Xavier said harshly, glaring at her. She stared at him in disbelief and handed him a small box. Inside was a necklace he had given her near the start of their relationship.
"Why are you being so cruel as to return this to me?" he asked sternly. Katie brushed back tears as she forced the box into his hands.
"I cannot continue like this, Xavier," she said, letting out a sniffle. Xavier scowled and refused to let a tear fall from his eyes.
"You're breaking up with me?" yelled Xavier. He searched around the room, and then pinched himself to make sure this wasn't a nightmare. Katie nodded and walked out of the room crying.
Xavier heard a gasp, and turned to see his mother.
"You were spying on us?" he accused with a yell. Maria froze, and reached for her journal, which had been lying on the table. A slip of paper fell out as she ran from the hallway. Xavier picked up the paper and began to read it.
Guilt is a terrible emotion to feel. It consumes your mind, like a parasite. My guilt stems from the death of my husband and my marriage to my true love, his brother Lucas. Lucas is a different person than my former husband: he is gentle and kind, but seems rough on the outside. If only I had married him in the first place…
Lucas knows of how his brother died. He is trying to console my son, Xavier, but it won't work, I'm sure of it.
My former husband knew Lucas and I were together behind his back. He knew I was going to kill him…
But I killed him anyway. But I think Xavier knows he didn't die in a normal way….
~Maria.
Xavier crumpled up the paper in a fury and stuffed it in his pocket. He glanced around and stomped off. He spotted Lucas, who stopped him.
"Maria wishes to speak with you in her room, Xavier," Lucas said calmly. Xavier wrenched his arm out of Lucas' grasp and pounded up the stairs, unaware that Daniel was following him. He opened his mother's door, and left it open. He ignored the rustle of curtains, and glared at his mother.
"I know you killed him," he spat, grabbing a vase from a table.
"No!" Daniel yelled, racing out from his hiding place. In surprise, Xavier whirled around and brought the vase crashing down on Daniel's head with such force that it killed him instantly. Xavier stared at the broken, bloody shards of vase on the ground and in his hand. Maria stared at him in disbelief, and Xavier raced from the room.
---
"I'm going to kill him!" yelled Kyle, bursting into the house. It had been several hours since the death of his father, and he had just found out as he was beginning to leave. Xavier heard the anger in the teen's voice, and hid in a different room. Lucas had gone to tell Kyle and Katie the bad news, but hadn't returned yet.
"Now, now, Kyle," Maria said, with no inkling that Xavier was listening to their conversation. "Wouldn't it be better to kill him later?" Xavier clenched his fists. First his mother had killed his father, and now she was plotting to kill him?
"When?" Kyle asked in anticipation. Xavier began to sweat, and his hands shook.
"Tonight. We will be having a mourning dinner, and slip some poison into his cup. Will that be satisfying for you?" Maria suggested. The two were silent for a moment, and then Kyle spoke.
"Good. And if that doesn't work, I will take one of the knives and finish him off the old-fashioned way." Xavier cursed under his breath, and sighed. The door to the house opened again, and Xavier recognized the footsteps of his step-father.
"She's dead. After I told her… that Daniel was killed…" Lucas began to cry, something uncommon for him to do. "She jumped off the room… She killed herself." Lucas left the room sobbing. Kyle growled.
"It's his fault that my sister is dead. He's going to die… Tonight."
---
"We are gathered here tonight to mourn the deaths of Daniel and Katie, two wonderful people, who leave Kyle to fend for himself in this world," said Maria as she served drinks to those at the table: Lucas, Kyle, Xavier, and herself. Xavier noticed she picked his out specifically, and hesitated to drink from it. Kyle, Lucas, and Maria raised their glasses, and all looked at Xavier. He too, raised his glass.
"To Katie, the girl I loved and adored," he said, raising his glass higher. He moved to drink, but fake-coughed, 'accidentally' tipping and jerking his glass forward. He saw drops land in Kyle's drink, but was unaware that other droplets landed in all the other cups. The rest of the drink spilled across the table. Xavier sighed and glanced at his mother.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"That's quite alright," she said. "We will just toast without you." Xavier nodded and sat back in his seat, glancing at Kyle. The other three all took sips of their drinks, and then looked at the drink-soaked table.
"Luckily it didn't make it onto any of the food," Lucas said. "Good planning on your part Maria, by not bringing out the food until after the toast." Maria nodded and got up to get the food, coming back quickly. The food was pasta with tomato sauce: a simple dinner for the mourners. Without hesitation, Xavier scooped pasta and sauce onto his plate. He took a bite, and soon began to devour the pasta, not noticing that Maria and Kyle decided against sauce.
The meal continued, with Lucas and Xavier more focused on food than speaking, and Maria and Kyle barely touching their pasta.
---
After the meal, the four moved to a separate room, with soft chairs and a couch. Xavier noticed a glint of metal in Kyle's pocket and chose to sit opposite him. Maria and Lucas sat together on the couch, and the four sat in silence for some time.
Not a word was spoken, until Lucas began to cough violently. The other three looked over to him.
"Are you alright?" They asked in unison.
"No," Lucas said, coughing still. Maria looked at him worriedly, while Xavier glared at her.
"He's poisoned," Xavier said. "You and Kyle did this. You first put in my drink, and then, just in case I never drank, you put it in the sauce. Kyle, you have a knife, and you were planning on killing me if the poison didn't work. Overkill, wouldn't you say?" Xavier laughed softly at his pun, and then he too began coughing. Maria and Kyle followed.
"Then how are we poisoned?" Kyle sputtered between coughs.
"Drops must have gotten from my drink into yours," replied Xavier, trying to hold in the coughs. Lucas soon fainted, and Maria screamed. She felt for a pulse, but he was dead. She gasped for breath, and Xavier looked over at Kyle. He rushed to the teen, and stole the knife from his pocket, jabbing it into Kyle's shoulder. He hollered in pain as Maria collapsed.
"This is your fault, Xavier," Kyle spat, the knife still in his shoulder. He coughed and pulled the knife out, stabbing Xavier with it next.
"Why do you bother, Kyle? We're both dying anyway," Xavier said between coughs. Kyle growled.
"No. You took away both my father and sister from me, and now I'm dying because of you!" Xavier coughed, and shrugged.
"I'm sorry, Kyle," he said, falling to his knees not because he was begging, but because he had gone weak. Kyle followed, and glared at Xavier.
"No." was his final word, as he fell to the ground in death. Xavier struggled to stay alive, but it was in vain, and he fell to the floor dead, the knife still in his arm.
A knock sounded on the door. And another. After the third knock, Markus entered the house. He walked until he reached the room where four dead bodies lay. A tear fell from his right eye and he sighed.
"Yet who is at fault?" he asked himself before walking over to the body of Xavier, kneeling by his deceased best friend.
---
NOTE: This story has no particular time period, which is why it is vague in parts. It also has no set location.
Even as the author, I am unsure of the drink that was served at the mourning dinner, due to the above two sentences.