They Need Me
Chapter Four ~ Loss...
I do not own any part of this except my own characters, thank you! Now enjoy!
Clare laughed and flipped her hair out of her face, tossing her sandwich bag into the trash. I sat beside her and Maggy sat on the other side of me; we were talking and laughing about random stuff.
"Can you believe we graduate in just two days?" Clare said happily, looking around as if the school was already a distant memory. I rolled my eyes at her.
"Oh yeah, I can believe it. I can't wait until it's over." I mumbled, resting my chin on my forearms. Maggy grinned, saying nothing. Clare huffed and pulled on my short black hair to get my attention; I looked at her, my eyes questioning.
"But...when school's over...we won't see each other anymore." Clare looked down at the table, her eyebrow's lowered in a show of misery. I blinked and sat up, realizing she was right. We wouldn't see each other as much.
"Clare...don't worry, okay? We'll still be friends, we'll be friends for life. Things are just going to be more difficult now, this is just the beginning of our friendship. We'll be together forever. Right, Maggy?" Maggy smiled and nodded,
"Of course we will." We both turned to smile at Clare, hoping we had cheered her up. She looked up and smiled, her thanks obvious in the return of her cheerful attitude. The bell rang and we stood, hugging each other happily.
/
I sat in a chair, waiting for my name to be called so I would be handed my diploma and I would be done with this school. I saw Clare standing in line, she had already walked up the obnoxious stairs and was next in line. And then her name was called,
"Clare Victoria Eastwood." I started clapping, a grin on my face. I knew Maggy was clapping where she was sitting too. And I knew things were good, and were going to stay that way. Our future was ahead of us, and our future was clear and bright and ready to begin. I grinned and sat down when Clare received her diploma, soon I would be next.
/
"Clare..." Bile rose in my throat and I dropped my head back down, trying to control the urge to throw up. All the skin that was left on her was on her face, the skin stopped at her jawline. It had been...ripped off of her. Her brown hair was bloodied and messy and her eyes...her eyes stared at nothing. I shook my head, willing the image out of my head...but there it stayed.
"Clare...Clare..." I was going to be sick, I knew I was. But I couldn't move, I couldn't lean over and empty my guts. I certainly didn't want to throw up as I was, it would get on me...no need to add stink to the list of things wrong with this picture. Tears leaked out of my eyes; would I be next? Would they rip off my skin too? I swallowed another wave of bile, determined not to be sick.
/
I sobbed softly, the tears falling down my face only to drip on the inside of my helmet like mask. Clare was dead. I gripped the pyramid in my bloody fingers and felt my shoulders shaking, though I couldn't see them. The pain...the pain was unbearable. I begged for it to stop, I begged my brother's to make it stop...but it didn't. And it wouldn't unless I forgot again, part of me did. I wanted to forget and become what I was, to Hell with everything else! One of my brother's put a heavy hand on my shoulder, speaking to me.
'Just forget...all that pain is because of her.' I nodded, he was right...it was her fault I hurt this much. Hers alone. I heard my brother's step closer to me and I hardly blinked when yet another bolt dug into my flesh, pulling the pyramid tighter to my shoulders.
'Almost...soon you'll forget everything. And it won't hurt anymore.' I nodded again, yes...the pain would go away. I would stop hurting and be where I belong, I would be with my family.
"Don't touch her, just leave her alone!" I heard Maggy say, bringing my head up quickly. She was gripping a metal bar tightly, and she looked about ready to charge them. I put my hands up and motioned for her to stop; but I couldn't speak, I couldn't make her understand. This was what I wanted...I didn't want this pain anymore.
I opened my mouth to speak but I winced slightly. I willed myself to talk, to speak to her...that was the only way she would understand. I made an effort again but only managed a strangled whine, then a kind of gurgle. My brother's didn't move or speak, watching me as I tried to communicate. They knew how difficult it was. I gasped for air at yet another effort, the pyramid head was choking me...preventing me from talking. I squeezed my eyes shut,
"Go..." I said gruffly, feeling almost dizzy. I took a deep breath and let it out as best I could; my throat was burning and I didn't want to talk anymore.
"No, I'm not leaving without you. Come on, Ginny. We...we have to go find Clare. She's probably looking for us." I looked up at her, how could I tell her? How could I make her understand? That one word had been so difficult, how could I possibly tell her that Clare was dead? I shook my head, backing away from her a little. I winced as a memory shot through my head; Clare's laughing face at one of my jokes, simple and pure and...gone.
"GO!" I rasped at her loudly, flinging my arm in a form of dismissal. Maggy jumped at my sudden volume, probably hearing the strain in my throat. The people behind her started to look behind them, they had to go find others and help them...and they probably didn't want to be found by some type of monster. They pat Maggy on the shoulder but she paid them no attention, letting them leave her behind. I stared at her, couldn't she get it through her head?
"You said we'd be together forever. The three of us..." I scowled at her, my head starting to ache again. Why didn't she just leave? Couldn't she understand that I wasn't me anymore? I was something dark...and different. I was a Pyramid Head. I had to make her understand; I opened my mouth, summoning all of my strength to speak.
"What did they do to you, Ginny? What's...happened to you?" She asked, fear was apparent on her features now and she looked as if she didn't want to hear my answer. She had lowered her bar and was trembling, she was crying.
"Clare's...dead. I...I'm...gone." I grumbled out, my voice warped and muffled sounding. It echoed back to me in my mask and I wondered if I looked as scary as I sounded. I couldn't help but blink back tears, but I didn't know what I was crying for anymore. Was I crying for Clare...or for my own pain? My gaze shot to Maggy when she took a step towards me, then another. She looked sad and confused, unable to believe what I had said.
"No, she can't be dead. You're lying..." She whispered, hoping against hope that I wasn't telling the truth. I didn't tell her otherwise. I turned to my brothers, looking at each of them before speaking to them in our way. They should go deeper in the school and wait for me, I would find them again. But this had to be dealt with.
They hesitated but left as I wished, the scrape of metal sounding down the hall until the dark swallowed them. I turned back, ready to scowl at Maggy. Light suddenly cascaded around me and I winced, covering my eyes with my hands as I ducked to the ground. Wait...I was touching my face. My hands traveled across my dirty face as I felt it, already it felt so alien to me. I pulled my hands back and looked at them, they were bloodied and dirty...but unscarred.
"Ginny." I looked up quickly, my heart thudding in my chest. It couldn't be...but there she was. She was standing a few feet in front of me, smiling at me as if she she had never been hurt and mangled. Her brown hair was clean and brushed, curled slightly and pulled away from her face. She wore a white dress; which matched the white room we were now in. I stared at her, hearing her laughter echo out as she watched me.
"Clare...h-how-...?" My voice was still rough, not my own, but it didn't hurt as much to talk. I didn't understand, she was dead. Dead. I had seen her body, I saw her! I knew I was shaking my head, but I didn't feel it. Clare just smiled at me, folding her arms behind her back in a stance she often took when she was alive.
"You...you're not real! You're not!" Anger rose up within me, she was nothing but an illusion! A trick to cause me more pain! I slowly stood up, finding my limbs shaky and unstable. The pain in my neck was unbearable, but of course it was...everything hurt when Clare or Maggy were near me. Everything always hurt.
"Listen to me..." She said, bringing my attention back to her. She walked a little closer and I flinched away, stumbling back. Her very being was sheltered in light and good, just looking at her made me want to cringe. I was opposite of her, I was something dark and different. I wasn't the same anymore...but was that my fault? It hurt more when I looked at her, I just wanted to forget. My pain would go away if she and Maggy just disappeared.
"You're losing, Ginny." I scowled at her, standing straighter.
"Losing what?" I rasped, what did she know anyway? I winced and coughed, staggering back onto the white floor. My body arched and jolted as I choked up blood, coughing and spitting it out in front of me. My body twitched and my head cocked to the side, blood still dripping from my mouth. Pain racked my chest, this had to stop.
"Yourself."
Thank you for reading everyone! Hope you enjoyed yet another cliff hanger in the story that I call my own! Please review and continue reading! Thanks!
~BP