Gonna have to say weirdest thing I have ever written…
Enjoy!
It was torture. Utter torture. Jerome Clarke was in hell. In pain.
And it wasn't because of the fact he hadn't eaten in days, or the fact the deep scars on his back never healed because they were constantly rubbing against the rock wall which he was chained to. It wasn't because his arms ached, or his throat was so dry he had probably lost his voice forever. It wasn't the fact that he'd been sat in the darkness, or the fact he could only just remember what the sun looked like. It wasn't because there was duck tape over his mouth so he couldn't make a sound.
It was because, only two metres away, Mara was sat, one leg chained to the wall, crying. She didn't know he was there, and he wouldn't have known she was, if not for the one flickering light that hadn't gone out. He was stuck in the corner of the room, in the darkness, on the damp ground, and she was stuck in the light. For days he had been trying to get her to realise he was there. Mara, his angel. But he couldn't make a sound, and he had to settle for watching her.
She had her knees pulled up to her chest, burying her face in them. And for days, the real reason Jerome Clarke was in torture, was because he had been forced to see her cry, nonstop, for days. She didn't have duck tape over her mouth, and the tears and the sobs and the croaks were loud and echoed around the room. That was why, the blond haired prankster, wished for death.
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It was only two days later, that Mara ceased crying. She wiped away her tears, and took a deep breath. "Hello?" she called out into the darkness, she peered around, but she could see nothing. "Anyone else in here?" Jerome wished to call out, wished to scream and announce his undying love for her. But he couldn't do a thing. Mara listened hard. Clearing her throat. "I…I only want to talk," she managed. "Anyone there?"
And that was when Jerome realised. He would have to do this. One of his legs had been broken, shattered, bleeding. But most of it had healed, of course, he was still in excruciating pain. He would have to move it. He breathed in deeply through his nose, raising his leg, the pain shooting through him so much that tears pricked at his eyes. And then he dropped his leg down. Mara's head shot up at the sound. "Who's there?" she asked. She crawled forward, to the edge of her light, and further still, the chain around her leg quite long. Jerome saw her come towards him, and prayed she saw him.
But Mara couldn't see a thing, and she wondered if it was just mice she had seen. She reached one hand out, and it came into contact with someone hard. Jerome tried to scream, but no sound came out, the first human contact in what seemed like forever. Mara gripped his ankle, the one from his good foot luckily, and pulled him forward, when she heard the clink of chains. "Oh you poor thing," she whispered "You're chained up," she moved to sit beside him, and the body warmth she was emitting was amazing.
Line Break
14 hours she had been sat by Jerome, not knowing who he was. But just listening to the sound of someone's breathing was enough for her, it reminded her that she was alive. "I wonder why you don't speak," she whispered, and Jerome wanted to throttle her. "Unless…you can't speak," she reached around, feeling his shoulders, and up his neck. It sent thrills down Jerome, and Mara gasped. "You're a guy!" she exclaimed, pulling gently at the end of his hair "Who are you?" and then she seemed to realise he still couldn't speak. She trailed her finger tips down his cheek, and ripped off the tape.
"Jesus Christ Jaffray!" Jerome complained instantly and Mara's scream filled the room.
"Jerome?!" she exclaimed loudly "Oh my god! Jerome!" and she engulfed him into the tightest hug possible "OH god Jerome!" without even thinking about it, she held his face between her hands and kissed him hard, forcing their lips together. His response was fast and enthusiastic, from days with no human contact to kissing the girl of his dreams. And Jerome remembered exactly why he wanted to stay alive.
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Mara didn't know how on earth they were staying alive. It had been months, with no food, and no water. And she wondered vaguely if this was the curse that Senkhara had intended for them. To be forced to stay alive, with no hope. For they were not thinning or weakening.
"I want to see you," Mara whispered. Jerome held her hand tightly as they sat in the dark. His eyes flickered over to the spotlight. "Please."
"Mara," he stopped her begging "It's not because I don't want you to see me, it's because I can't."
"The chains," Mara whispered, it came to her "Slap me," she whispered. Jerome blinked once
"What?"
"Slap me." She ordered, pulling his hand as far as they could come from the wall "Please, Jerome do it," Jerome did, well, in reality, he held his hand in shock and Mara moved her face to meet it. As soon as she did, the links broke. And Jerome was free. They both crawled over into the light, and Mara's heart melted. He was beautiful, still as beautiful as she remembered, her memory had done him no justice.
Line Break
"Rather ironic isn't it," Jerome mused in the darkness. "I would do anything to spend eternity with you, and now I have it, it's hell,"
"Jerome," Mara rested her head on his shoulder "Don't say hell,"
"Oh right. Because this is heaven." Jerome looked at the door, and sighed, it was jammed. "Mara…would you go back? To not come looking for me? So you never got trapped here?"
"No I don't regret it," she said matter of factly "I would have done it anyway, no matter what, I would have gone looking for you."
Line Break
"Jerome! Mara!" came a voice. Both of them looked up, having heard their names being said by someone else weird to their ears. A man, who looked about 46 years old walked up to the teenagers. And his voice lowered to a state of awe "Jerome…Mara…"
They both peered at the old man, when Mara realised "Fabian?!"
Line Break
It was a new world they were entering now, where the sun was bright, but the sky was filled with fog. Where the views took their breath away, but the water level was too high. Where the wind whipped their hair back, but the poverty brought tears to their eyes. Fabian poured them some tea.
"How did you survive?" he asked in interest.
"Is this your house?" Mara asked "We've been locked in your attic for years-"
"And I have been trying to unlock the code to get in there for years!" Fabian exclaimed "After Nina was taken into the afterlife, I thought you two might hold the key!"
"Where's Alfie?" Jerome asked, swallowing. Bracing himself for the worst.
"Alfie and Amber were sent back in time. He died at the age of 97, quite a happy old man," he handed Jerome a newspaper, a very old newspaper, that a tall young man standing in front of a shop, with a beautiful blonde Amber by his side. Fabian's voice carried on fondly "He was the inventor of the very first joke shop, called it Lewis and Clarke."
Jerome laughed, shaking his head "I wanted my name first," he growled jokingly. "And what happened to the others?"
Fabian became awkward suddenly "Let's just say we were the luckiest,"
"What about Mick?" Mara asked quietly, and Jerome looked down at his feet.
Fabian smiled, relieved "Now that's a happy story, he is the new, Usain Bolt, still alive, living in Australia. But…he's lost his memory, can't remember any of us. Sorry, Mara."
Line Break
They had been in the real world, all but a week. Living in Fabian's house. When they decided to go back. They preferred the darkness, and the safety of the curse. They went back into the attic, and locked themselves in.
Line Break
"Please!" Fabian screamed, hollering at the door of his attic "Please!" he was crying, tears streaming down his face "I can't lose you too! I've got nothing! Nothing to live for! Please!"
Jerome and Mara sat inside, and didn't hear a word. Holding hands, eyes closed, to spend the rest of their lives together.
Forever.
Wow….that was cough cough…interesting. I'm hoping for a review?
x