Hi, thanks for reading!
This is the first story I've written, as well as the first story I've published.
Please read until the end, and review with your thoughts. :)
Thanks, and hope you enjoy! :)
Note: This was not based on any book, movie, anime, etc. All original content.
Preface
"The saddest thing in this world is loving someone who used to love you." I never knew what that meant. I never had that experience before. God always made me happy; I never had anything bad happen to me before.
I never suspected any harm to come into my life, brighten it up, and then just leave me, darkness swelling up in the light it has created. I never wanted to know how it felt, what it meant. But, you can never get everything you want in life. I was forced to learn that the hard way.
Chapter 1
There are no coincidences in this world.
As I continuously gazed at the clock's moving hands, I became further anxious after every click. The day I wished to last for forever, was almost over. Together, all of my friends stood stiffly by my side, patiently waiting to tightly embrace me as soon as the pain came forth. The closer the throbbing got, the more I knew how much I couldn't bear to live life without him. He meant everything to me, and I meant the world to him, and I wanted to keep it that way, no matter how far apart from each other we may be.
At least, that's what I thought.
No pain washed through my mind and heart as the man I've come to know and love left the building, and possibly my life.
He left with no single goodbye, no single hug. He didn't even bother to glance my way.
As expected, tears clashed upon my face, blurring my eyesight.
"Oh, don't cry, June!" one of my friends panicked, "He's just leaving for a few years! He'll come back soon!"
A slight chuckle escaped me when I heard my friends lecturing the girl that was trying her best to comfort me. When I heard that giggle of mine, I realized I wasn't crying out of agony. I was crying…
…But out of joy.
What is this feeling? I thought. What's going on? My loveable boyfriend just left and I'm HAPPY? This shouldn't be right! Am I not sane? Have I no heart? There must be something wrong with the way I think, feel, and react!
As soon as I thought those true yet nevertheless harsh words, I easily grasped the obvious fact, that although I was in love, I wasn't truly in love with that man. Surely, we've had our own moments, but I didn't care much about them; those memories could be easily erased. The truth was that although he himself is very handsome, I was more attracted to his wealth and fame, rather than the man he tried to prove himself to be.
The next morning at Eastwood High gradually became significantly more challenging; now that I knew the shameful truth about myself, it unexpectedly became harder to act gloomy enough to be realistic around my friends. The different ways my friends attempted to comfort me surprisingly amused me, since the fact is; they aren't very good at it. Every word they spoke of reminded me of the times I was happy and enjoying my life with him. Quite sad that I only realized now, but when I look back on our dates and gatherings, I've noticed that every time I complained about not wanting to go to a certain event, he took the liberty of bribing me, so far that I could never refuse. For someone like me, who loves filthy cash so much, it was difficult to say no, so of course I agreed to all of the nonsense he loved to do. Of course, the love for valuable possessions had to come from somewhere, or rather, someone.
In order words, my family.
They complain now; they treat me as a slave, because I destroyed their precious source of wealth. I wanted to, so badly, but in the end, I didn't protest once, since this was entirely my fault to begin with. But, you really do have to include the fact of the way my family spends the blessed fortune - as if there was no tomorrow – therefore it was inevitable that now we are left with humongous bills and debts to pay by ourselves, especially now that it's winter.
No problem. I thought to myself. With the wardrobe, make up and the makeover my ex-boyfriend gave me, I'm beautiful, so I'll just find another rich nerd.
I shook my head. Right, it's that easy. As if there were millions of them walking around casually in my neighborhood. I thought and sighed, while walking down the unpleasant road which leads towards my "lovely" home.
I opened my eyes and saw sudden a flash of black in front of me and realized it was already dark. A dark figure emerged from the shadows, and I recognized it as young man, either in his early thirties or late twenties. He moved by me, barely inches from my face and trampled over his own feet while quietly falling to the adamantine ground a foot away from me. Only in that instant did I acknowledge that he was obviously injured. His foot caught onto a dented red cola can and kicked it toward my direction, while groaning into the cold, winter air. It was clear that he was freezing in this weather.
He managed to inhale another uneven breath, but coughed it out in the next split second. I could feel how he felt; I've had those nasty coughs once, and they surely were a monstrous nuisance, but this time it was different; I could see it as well. His spit escaped in his cough as well as blood, which immediately strongly reacted to me. Even the slightest drop of blood can cause me to vomit days of food, and this guy was coughing out puddles.
He choked an extra amount of blood, and I had to hold on to something to remain stable, so I staggered - while struggling to stay conscious - and fell against the nearest wall I could find which was still about a meter away from me. Suddenly, more blood was pouring out of his body. The puddle spread faster and faster, and eventually touched the tip of my toes. Without feeling in my head or my stomach, I instinctively looked up to the horrifying stranger.
He just lay there, uncontrollably spilling his warm, thick blood all over the rough sidewalk. My urge to vomit has been replaced with concern at this point, as I inched closer and closer to the hurt man. At some point, I had inched close enough to clearly see his features; (or as clear as I can in the dark) his face was covered with purple bruises, black eyes, and scars.
"H-h… have you b-been in a f-fight?" I asked hesitantly. I sighed and rolled my eyes, "s-sorry. Stup-pid question t-to ask."
I decided to examine him carefully, since for some reason this experience intrigued me. I took casual notes of the obvious wounds, and concluded that if I took his shirt off, I wouldn't be accused of a pervert. I was just trying my best to help him, after all. I cautiously took off his velvet, white dress shirt, trying not to move him, and I gasped at the sight.
Dark scars and stabs covered the majority of space throughout his body, but on the back was the deepest wound I've ever seen – including on T.V. It went about a foot in length and looked deep. Remembering the disgusting information we were forced to learn in health, I identified his nervous system had been cut, and half of his spine showed itself slightly, like a baby turtle sticking his head out of the water, inside the bleeding gash, on the right. It is guaranteed that this must have been the source of the river of blood.
Then, I noticed one crucial piece of information I've forgotten to become aware of, to comprehend.
He wasn't moving.
His heart wasn't beating.
He wasn't breathing.
He was dead.
Shock flashed across my face as I caught up with reality.
I was out, in the dark.
I was alone, with a man I didn't know.
I was inches away from his face.
I was out, alone, in the dark, inches away from a dead man's face.
I screamed.
My lungs felt as if they were going to burst. The volume my voice barely managed to reach was honestly the loudest thing I've ever heard.
"HELP, SOMEONE, PLEASE! COME HELP ME!" I screeched, but I knew too well that it was too late for anyone to hear, nevertheless help.
Meanwhile, my phone rang in my purse. The sudden loud sound that covered the still and silence scared the daylights out of me as I jumped and screamed, as a reflex. It was my mother. My mother was calling me, while I was beside a dead man. Great timing. Sure, she had no idea what I was doing, but she doesn't have to treat me like a baby! I thought. I rolled my eyes as I hung up on her, and turned off my phone. I mean, gosh! I'm already 16. I could live alone if I wanted to. Okay, maybe not, because of all the bills and stuff but, I'm still considered as an ad--
I stood there, in the stillness, staring at my cell phone.
I felt like I was having an epiphany.
I felt like I could see a light bulb flash on inside my head as I called 911 as fast as I possibly could.
"Hello, 911, what's your problem?"
"I need an ambulance, now!" I shrieked.
"Please tell me the details of your location, and the current situation."
"I'm right by Emeline Road! I… I don't know what happened… He was coughing out puddles blood by the time I got here!" I cried.
"Do not panic. An ambulance will be there shortly. Meanwhile, do not change your location."
"OH GOD!" a familiar voice anxiously screamed, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED, JUNE?!"
I recognized the voice immediately.
"Kelsi..?" I breathed. I turned around, and to my surprise, my best friend was standing a meter away from me.
"Kelsi…" I cried. I was so relieved that someone I knew and loved came to me; I smiled and looked into her empty, green eyes. They were wide with alarm as she looked at me, then to the dead man, and back to me. Her brown hair blown in the sudden wind and worry completely took over her face. Only then, in Kelsi's eyes, had I noticed how dangerous and wrong this scenario must have looked to an innocent stranger.
But, I'm not a killer. I didn't kill this man! I would never murder anyone, even if they did the worse of crimes! I'm not a horrible person! I got presents for everyone during Christmas, even to the people I didn't like, and to the ones who I didn't get a present from! When I got an A+ on my exam, I didn't go ahead and brag! Of course, that would just me into nerd of the week, but either way, I've been falsely accused! I'm not Death!
Death…
I turned my back to face the bloody dead man once again, and fright shot through me. It felt like I finally opened my eyes as to what really has happened. Instantly, the picture of the dead man was stuck in my memory, never to be erased again. I moved back and back, the dead man never leaving my sight. Instincts; I was never scared of anything, ever in my life. Death hardly terrified me as well, since I believe I've committed enough sins to be punished for. But, seeing this... a corpse of an innocent passerby lying drenched in a pool of blood on the sidewalk... It taught me how cruel and merciless life can be. It can torture you so badly, and so often that you'd be begging for them to kill you already, but they would simply smirk and refuse. It horrified me so much, I couldn't think. Cold chills ran up and down my back. With wide eyes of terror and cold tears running down my cheeks, I dashed into Kelsi's arms.
I hit something hard, but I chose to ignore it; I thought it was just the blood rushing through my head. I searched around frantically, looking for the comfort of my best friend's arms. In the end, it was the arms that found me. Warm and gentle, they wrapped around me like a blanket that just came out of the laundry dryer. I was so happy at that moment, so content, that I felt like everything in this world would be fine. That countries would make up, and peace would be the motto of the world. But, of course that's impossible.
I winced slightly at the unexpected sudden siren that came from a nearby ambulance.
I forced my eyes to remain closed, but I could still hear everything that was going on. Kelsi struggled to keep me steady, but I easily lost all my strength in my weak body. The only thing I knew how to do in that instant was to cry.
Nevertheless, that didn't stop other people from moving me, which I think they did. I could feel like I was being moved, though I wasn't the one doing it; when I realized it, I was immediately lying down in a dark room, Kelsi still by my side.
It was true that I continously heard the call of the ambulance, but I highly doubted that I was still on Mingay avenue.
But it doesn't matter..., I thought, and kept sobbing on top of Kelsi, It doesn't matter where I am...