Part II
The bustle of their activity made me want to puke. I couldn't control returning to continuous thoughts associated with my grief, pacing along the bathroom stalls just as I did in the car.
Someone's trying to kill you. Someone's trying to kill you.
Which one?
All of them, stupid!
No they're not! Just shut up already!
It's going to happen again, just like on the Ark.
That was a totally different scenario. The soldiers feared my power, and in order to preserve their dominance, they acted towards destruction.
They killed Maria, didn't they?
True, they did.
So, maybe it wasn't fear that motivated them. Maybe you are just a nuisance. But, then again, they could be hiding it; hiding the fact they fear my power; fearing my power to the point of savagery; savagery just like the soldiers. I've figured it out!
Hurry up then and return to the casino. They all seem to be rounded up in the same area, faces all fuzzy. I don't even recognize them anymore. And they won't stop laughing. Laugh, laugh, laugh. They're mocking me, routing such ignorance that churns my stomach.
--------
Shadow, do you enjoy the taste of miso soup?" she asks me, taking a slurp.
I copy her action. "Sure. This is food from earth, right? Weird food."
"Shadow, I'm still hungry, can you, Shadow I'm still hungry, can you make lots of friends and eat the stars."
I angle my head upon hearing footsteps. There she was again, the old crusty lady reappearing out of the blue, blaring out those rotted teeth of hers and mouth jittering up and down as if she'll vomit.
"Is it 12:36 yet?" she asks.
I shook my head, a clock emerging across the room. We used to never have clocks on the Ark.
"Not yet, but soon."
"How long is soon? Soon, soon, soon."
"Huh?"
"What'd you say?"
I ignore her comment, noting a muffled crowd buried in the shadows of the old woman. They're a mass of crazed beasts, barbaric and ready to pounce at their prey. But it's too foggy; I need to take a closer glance. Nope, I was wrong. They're just soldiers, bodies shaking while in their fighting stance.
The group charged, rampaging across the room in front of Maria and me.
"Shadow! Someone's trying to kill you!" the old lady hollers, her palms set on her cheeks for emphasis.
"I know! I know!"
The men began to talk, mere sounds of screeches and babbles coming out too scattered to be understood. One takes a gun and lodges it into my mouth. Tasting like burnt lead, my body is frozen and paralyzed by the sudden shock.
"No! Don't kill him!" a sweet voice shouts, her eyes starting to swell up in tears. Maria began to shake.
The soldier let out a wild smirk, shifting his gun out of my mouth and to my dearest friend, a simple witness to this whole fiasco.
"Good-bye love," he mutters, but I find myself mouthing his words in silence.
One press to the trigger. Bam!
Through her body, Maria's escaped life support vigorously drains her cold. All is lost.
"I'm sorry Maria!" I screamed, my voice choked up. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you!"
"Shadow, make them happy."
Guilt advances. My body languishes, curling up into a small ball as I prayed to feel secure and never wake.
--------
"Shadow, you alright, pal? You seem really pale there."
My eyes widen.
"What was with that thing out there? What you said - did you mean it?"
Yes, I did. I meant every word of it. As much as I want to deny it, my display was a burden urging to be unleashed. Otherwise, I'd be a liar. All my insecurities despise being hidden. Do you understand?
They're laughing again. My pulse begins to increase, spots of sweat evaporating off my forehead. Weren't they listening to me? Why do my eyes feel like they're burning at the sight of you? That's it!
I bolt across the round table which consisted of the card game, ruining their session and towards a blue blur. Concentrated on his neck, I grab all around and start shaking in an attempt to cause fatal injury. Breaths become scarce, wheezing out noises to indicate his choking. But I continued to strangle, eyes vivid and wild, just as the soldiers were on the Ark.
The red guy pulls me away. Everyone stared in astonishment.
"Shadow, what the hell's wrong with you?"
I don't bother to answer. My eyelids close shut, revealing the bleakest strike of blue cascading its insides, murky sensations to my brain. Swaying my eyes neon, it blinded me, stinging an overwhelming vision. Once the instance of ache arose, my eyes shot up, the whole world turned blue.
"Shadow, someone's trying to kill you!"
Get away from me! All of you! This is just a big scheme; I know what you're planning. Do not lie because it's been figured out. You're here to destroy me, just like the men on the Ark. Just like how they killed Maria.
"Shadow, what are you talking about?"
Shut up!
"Stop screaming! Why are you hysterical?"
In a blink of an eye, a rumble shook the flooring which stunned my head into a daze. All my associates vanished in the background, which has become clouded and dark due to the blue. Another blink and there she is - Maria in the flesh.
Her arms dangled limp. She walked towards me in long strides lethargic and tedious. From her forehead marked the strike of the bullet, infiltrating the brain and her blood descending down to her chest which was also hit. No longer had a spark of innocence held unto her expression, losing that child's glow and harboring a ghost-like appearance. She's as tainted as can ever be. The worst intangible substance stuck onto my mouth, a vile taste upon sighting her manifestation.
"Is that it? Is this the best you can do down here?" she echoes, her voice bellowing a static tone.
"No, no. It's not that! I'm just, ugh, I don't know."
"You don't trust anyone."
"Did I ever? Well, you saw what they did to you. Can you blame me?"
"Can you move on?"
I'm hushed and silent, thoughts scurrying for an answer.
"You're obsessed with your memories. You pick at everyone as if they have a problem, but can't you see how dysfunctional you are? You've become dependant on your sorrow, more in love with it than you know."
I'm still quiet.
"I asked you to keep a promise, one simple request you can't even do. You don't love me."
"No, no! It's not that!"
"Then what am I? A figment of pain to you? If I make you so miserable why even bother. Why even think about me all the time?"
"Because I love you!" I shout as a natural response. My shoulders tense up. "Which is why it's so hard to let go. You're the only one I've ever loved."
Maria shook her head. "You owe me. You owe so much for deceiving me."
I failed you. When did I become such a fool?
No, you're lying! You're not Maria! She wouldn't say such things! Maria is dead - you don't belong here. Just go away. Go away!
She didn't listen. Maria crept even closer, lifting up her arms to the heavens. I backed away.
A chilling breeze let out, frigid wind turning Maria's body into dust, mesmerizing the air. The whiff made a few swirls, serenading a dance of energy which frightened me for some odd reason. Charging through my chest and within me, my body starts to shiver. I lose control in this manner, actions no longer my own.
The sapphire world spins in all directions, my feet rejecting balance and falling. A loud crash commences from behind. I'm going under along with shards of glass just like the mirror, head aimed towards the ground.
Everything was in slow-motion at this point. Why do I hear buzzing all around me? Brain cells a theatrical show.
"Shadow, make lots of friends and you remind me of an old man blue, everything's so blue because I'm going to die at 12:36 but don't deny that I'm the best and I can't learn to love to promise, Shadow, and because I love you since Humans are ridiculous and I'm a figment of pain so shut up and my sorrow's say get away and hate the stars that miss me and trying to kill me...."
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Crash! Everything becomes black and silent. Words are blank.
--------
Shadow the Hedgehog died of a fatal injury due to fall.
Time of death: 12:36 A.M.
His friends weep. All is lost.