Dragon Ball Next Generation
Grey Saga
Part 1: the Atrocity
Chapter 3
My face was cold, I could feel that even before I opened my eyes. My face was cold, and I was very uncomfortable. I felt like I was lying on a pile of rocks, and my back was extremely sore. I opened my eyes, and stared strait up.
I saw a mere skeleton of a building before me, rising three stories off the ground. There were pieces of plywood above me, forming a sort of roof. Not wanting to get up, or even move my head, I took my hands from my chest and placed them on the ground, making snow angle movements with them. At least my right, anyway. As I moved my left arm, pain shot through it, reminding me of the day's events.
I seemed to be lying on a pile of paper, and it crunched under my hands. I sighed as I hefted myself up into a sitting position. I squinted as the morning sun shone in my eyes. I looked down, and saw that I was actually lying on a pile of crumpled up newspapers.
"Oh, I see your up." A voice said. I looked around, and saw a man standing behind me. He looked old, maybe seventy or around that. He had a wild silver-white beard that reached almost to his chest. He as going bald, the top of his head exposed. He was wearing really ragged clothing, just a plaid shirt and stained, ripped jeans that exposed his calves. No shoes, no socks, nothing else.
"Did you help me?" I asked. The old man grinned.
"Yep. We make a point around here to help others, especially ones worse off then us, but that doesn't happen much." He said.
What did he mean by worse off? Then I realized he was eyeing my clothes, and my shoulder. My clothes were still almost completely covered in blood, making it look like I had been hit by a truck or something. In fact, the only thing that wasn't bloody was the jacket Andy gave me, which was still wrapped around me. The man was eyeing the jacket as I took it off to inspect my clothes.
"Here," I said, tossing the jacket to him, "you can have this, as thanks for helping me." I said. The man took it, his face beaming.
"Well, thank you! I've never had a jacket like this before." He flipped inside out, inspecting every inch of it. "Not even one hole!" He had the widest grin on his face I had ever seen.
"No problem." I said, trying to stand up. I offered him my hand. "My name's Celic."
The man took my hand. "Well, I don't know my birth name, but the folks 'round here call me Pappy." I raised my eyebrows.
"Pappy?"
"Well, sure. What's wrong with Pappy?" The man asked.
"Uh, nothing, really. I've just never met anyone actually named Pappy before." I admitted.
"Well, I guess now you have." He reasoned. I just nodded.
"I suppose your wondering what happened to me." I said, motioning to my shoulder.
"Nope, not really." He said, shaking his head. "We don't ask questions here." I sighed in relief. I didn't really want to explain all of it. I was still trying to cope with it myself.
"Well, your welcome to stay here as long as you like." Pappy said. I decided to see what "here" actually was. We were in a half finished building. One wall was finished, the others just a pile of bricks. There was plywood above us, acting as a roof for whoever lived here. Whoever was in charge of construction had probably pulled the funding for it, just like half of the other buildings in Satan City.
Around me, there were more piles of paper, like nests. Beds, probably. I saw a few figures still sleeping, but most of the piles were empty. I walked "outside" of the building, trying to get a sense of where I was. The building was right on the edge of the city, a young forest beyond it. I realized that I was probably no more then a few blocks away from the drug house that I had escaped from earlier. That gave me an uncomfortable feeling, and I went back inside, to my new "home".
***
I didn't know how long I was going to stay there, or what I was going to do when I left. I just enjoyed the ability to stay in one place, and try to sort out events in my mind. Actually, the first few days, I didn't really think much, I just slept. Sleep was good. In sleep, I found comfort and forgiveness. I forgot what I had done, what others had to me, how much pain I was in, and how hungry I was.
I had not eaten much since the morning of the bank robbery, and that had been three days ago. At first, I just wasn't hungry, but as my stomach growled, I just couldn't bring myself to eat what Pappy gave me. It was all old, moldy, or half-eaten food. But, finally hunger won, and I ate a semi- green ham sandwich the evening of the third day I was there.
After my meal, I decided to take a walk. I had been inside the building ever since I went out the first day, and I needed some fresh air. I told Pappy that I needed to think, and walked off, alone.
I sighed deeply as I turned the corner, enjoying the fresh night air (at least, as fresh as it can be in Satan City). I had my hands in the pockets of a torn and faded pair of jeans that Pappy had given me. The clothes that I had worn when I came there were thrown into the nightly fire, at my request. I would have given anything to forget, and just move on, but I couldn't.
Earlier, Pappy had found the front page of the Satan Tribune, the one that had come out the day after the robbery. He showed it to me. I saw that there was an article about both the robbery, and the bust of the drug house, which was successful. Successful in that the drugs were in police custody. But the article also said that five of the pushers had been killed, along with two cops, both with families.
But the reason Pappy showed it to me was because I was also front-page news. There was my last school picture plastered onto the bottom-right corner, with text underneath saying that I was wanted to be brought into the police station for questioning. That's when I decided to take a walk.
Should I turn myself over? Should I stay hidden? What would I be charged with? Could a thirteen-year-old kid go to jail? I tried to sort out the questions, wondering what I was supposed to do. I had no idea!
I calmed down, and breathed deeply, glancing around. There were two guys a few blocks ahead of me, stumbling around the sidewalk. Drunk, most likely.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over me. I covered my mouth with my hand, and ran to a trashcan. Once there, I stood over it for a minute, waiting for my digestive system to do something. The nausea passed, and I pulled my head out of the trash. *Probably just some bad food,* I thought jokingly.
I sighed, and slumped to the ground, by back to some building. My stomach did some tumbling, but I didn't feel like throwing up again.
"Hey, you!" I turned my head to the right, and saw a man, running strait at me! *Oh shit! What if he wants to hand me over!* I jumped up and ran. The man chased after me. I saw an alley about a block ahead of me. *Maybe I can lose him.* I thought desperately. I turned into the ally, and crouched behind a dumpster. A moment later, the man came running in.
I could see his face now. He was wearing sunglasses, even though it was night. He wore a large trench coat, which covered his entire body. He was tall, and well built. His face was pretty dorky though. He had a long, sharp nose, and small ears that looked disproportionate to the rest of his head. His hair was cut close to his skull, matted down with gel.
"Where are you, I know your in here." The man said. I held my breath and began to pray that he wouldn't find me. He began to move in a circle, watching all sides. As he turned his back to me, I saw something poking out of his coat. It looked like a handle to a sword! The man turned around, and came closer to the dumpster I was hiding behind.
"What are you doing!?" I heard a feminine voice yell. The man turned around and walked further down the ally.
"What do mean what am I doing? I'm looking for that kid!" he said, apparently to a shadow deeper in the ally.
"Can't you see he's not ready?" I heard the woman's voice say. "He's been though so much, let him sort it all out before you put all this on him!" The voice seemed pretty mad. The man let out a long sigh, shrugged his shoulders, and disappeared. I mean, he really did disappear.
I sat there, my brain unable to handle what had just happened. I felt numb. Was I free? Is he hiding somewhere? I sat there, searching for some sing of movement. Suddenly, my stomach began to churn again. Unable to hold it in, I jumped in front of the dumpster, opened the lid, and stuck my head in just as my stomach's contents launched its self upwards.
When I had finished, I took my head from the dumpster, wiped off my mouth, spit, and walked out of the ally. My stomach still felt terrible, but I felt I could live with it. I decided to go back home, praying the man wouldn't find me on my way there.
As I walked, my stomach got consistently worse. By the time I had reached the building were I was staying, I was clutching my stomach, and I could barely walk. I walked over to my bed/nest and collapsed. I breathed deeply, trying to calm my stomach.
"Celic! Take a look at this!" I heard Pappy yell. It seemed like he was a million miles away. I let my head roll to the direction Pappy was. He was standing a few feet away from me, a humungous grin on his face. He was giggling like a little kid. Then I saw what was in his hand. I shot up into a sitting position, supporting myself with my good arm, my stomach momentarily forgotten. My eyes probably stuck out about five feet from their sockets.
"How the hell did you get that!?" I exclaimed. In his hand was an actual wad of cash. One novel-sized stack of green! Pappy's grin widened.
"It's all cause of you." He said, then came up and gave me a huge hug. I gasped in pain as he squeezed my left shoulder. He backed off.
"Sorry about that." He said.
"It's O.K." I said, gently rubbing my shoulder. "So anyway, how'd you get that?" I asked, pointing at his hand.
"Oh, well, you remember that coat you gave me?" I nodded.
"Well, I found some little plastic baggies in it. There was some white stuff in them. There were some kids that really wanted it. They gave me this." He motioned at the money.
I sat there, comprehending what he had just said. I gave him Andy's coat! It probably had drugs in it! I remembered him pulling some out just before he gave the coat to me. Now, they were in the possession of some kids!
"Pappy," I said, struggling to calm myself down enough to get the words out, "Are you sure you sold them to kids?" He nodded.
"Yep, they looked about as old as you." What! He had just sold those drugs to kids my age! And I was partly to blame!
I stood up, almost literally shaking. "Do you realize what was in those bags?" I demanded, walking up to him.
"Well, I figured they were drugs, right? I mean, that's where you came from, the drug house." He said. He thought I was going to sell them! I didn't even know they were in the coat!
Suddenly, my stomach decided to flip upside-down. The air turned sour. I felt like I was suffocating. I had to get out of there! I ran outside of the building, crouched, and began to dry-heave, there was nothing left in my stomach. I needed fresh air! I saw the young forest in front of me. Yes! Fresh air! I took off into the forest.
It was dark, darker then it had ever been in the city. The trees blocked out seemingly all light, and so I ran blindly for a minute, until my eyes adjusted. Even then, it was difficult to see. I stumbled over rocks, roots, dead branches. I never fell, never lost momentum. I ran, again.
Running from what I had done, another atrocity to add to my list. I didn't fulfill my promise to Ann, I killed her killer, I led cops to the drug house. I stumbled, began to fall, and grabbed a low branch. I hung there, diagonal to the ground as sickness again overtook me. I finished, gasping for breath. Because of me, cops were killed, Andy was killed Xavier was killed, the others in the drug house were killed, kids now had drugs in there hands. all because of me.
I began to run again, my entire being against it, but I ran anyway. I needed to sweat, to vomit, to suffer, all to rid myself of my sins. Suffering was brutal, but it was slate-wiper. I needed to atone for what I had done. My lungs seemed to shrivel, my legs burned, my stomach churned, every fiber of my being was screaming at me to stop. I couldn't stop.
Finally, my legs collapsed. I plunged headfirst to the ground, my momentum causing me to bounce, once, twice, and then skid painfully to a stop. My breath came in ragged, quick spurts. My stomach now had to be empty, but I kept on heaving, as if it was trying to expel it's self from my body. My dirty, sinful body. Yes, nothing wanted a part of me, I deserved nothing.
I was then aware of a new sensation, as I lay there on my back, staring up at the trees. My head suddenly began to spin out of control, the trees above me twirling in circles. I shut my eyes, but it didn't help. My stomach started to get worse, and now seemed to actually roll out of place. The lower half of my digestive system began to rumble, telling me that I had diarrhea. My God, was it horrible. I deserved it, I needed it.
I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, my eyes snapped open. There stood a human outline, distorted by my dizziness. It seemed to sway back and forth, as did the trees and sky above it. I moaned and shut my eyes again.
"Celic," I heard Pappy's voice. It was so distant, as if he was in sky, calling for me. "Celic, wake up, please, I'm so sorry". I opened my eyes, and saw Pappy's kind face above me. Maybe he really was calling me from the sky. I felt a cool drop of liquid on my forehead, a kind contrast to my hot and sweaty skin. I looked in his eyes and saw Pappy was crying.
I tried to speak, to tell him I was there, I was awake, but I couldn't get words out. My lungs wouldn't allow it, my throat to dry to move. I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, my world going topsy-turvy again as I moved. I closed my eyes and felt arms wrap around me. Pappy was saying something, but I couldn't here it. I was concentrating too much on not being sick again.
I felt the arms release there grip on me. I opened my eyes to see Pappy standing over me, holding his hand out to me. I sat there, studying his hand. The money was still there. His hand was bleeding, soaking the money. It had began to turn red. It was blood money.
I looked up, and saw a malicious grin on his face. It was a horrible grin, full of hate and suffering. It made his face twist into something that looked pure evil. Gone were his kind eyes, now devoid of all feeling, just two dark voids in that horrible face. He had blood money, his hands were soaked in blood.
NO! I screamed in my head. My hands were already soaked in blood, I didn't want a part of this. I had already had caused more suffering then I could atone for. NO MORE!
I slapped away his blood-covered hands, leaped up, and began to run away from that. thing. That bloody being of evil that had once been my friend, my savior. I heard Pappy shout in protest, and then the sound of his footsteps on the ground.
My God, I was so dizzy, so weak, I couldn't keep this up. But I couldn't succumb to the evil following me, I wouldn't cause more suffering. I ran, not stopping to throw up, not stopping to catch my breath, I would never stop. I ran blindly, at times with my eyes closed, trying to cope with my spinning head.
I came to a steep hill, and began to skid/run down it. I closed my eyes as I felt I might fall, and shot my hands out in front of me. WHAM! My injured left shoulder slammed into a trunk of a tree, causing a dual effect. One, it caused me to stop my fall, allowing me to continue, and two, it caused my shoulder to seemingly burst into flames. I grabbed my shoulder instinctively, causing myself further pain.
No longer paying attention to my running, I tripped over something, and plunged headfirst down the rest of the hill. It felt like my entire body was being ripped apart at it's seems.
After an eternity of rolling and sliding, I came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. My mouth hung open, trying to scream in pain, but unable to find the ability to do so. My stomach heaved, my head twirled, by shoulder burned, by legs cramped, my entire world was pain. Then I realized that I was also cold, and wet. With my eyes still shut, I shot my good hand out and realized I had landed in water. I opened my eyes, and looked out behind me. I was laying at the edge of a wide lake.
I saw something to my right, out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head, and there was Andy! He had the same grin on his face as he did after he took all those drugs. His shirt was still stained, his blood forming a flower-like shape around his stomach. He was holding out a bag filled with white powder. He reached a bloody hand to me, offering me the bag. Without moving his mouth, I heard him say:
"Want some? This stuff's the shit man." I said nothing, unable to comprehend what I was seeing.
"You sure? Everyone's doing it." Again, his mouth made no movement. Behind him, Xavier came into existence, his entire torso covered with blood, seeping out of hundred of holes. His face held a grimace of pain and anger. He held his gun out at me.
"Do you know what you did to me, you little fucker!" He pulled the trigger, but no bullets escaped the gun. He paid no mind, and repeatedly pulled the trigger.
Still in the same position as I had landed in, I saw another thing to my left. There was one of the robbers, holding an invisible person in his arms, a gun pointed to the sky. Half of the ski mask was torn off, revealing a fist-sized hole in the side of his head.
"Come on, do something, I dare ya." I heard, and he began to pull the trigger of his gun just like Xavier. I moaned in horror. What the hell was happening.
Then I saw Pappy sliding down the hill. His evil, twisted face still there, his blood money still in his hand. He was coming closer, fast. I was finally able to scream.
I twisted around, ignoring all the pain, and began to crawl into the lake, head first, in a frenzy to get away from those things. I crawled, then swam into the cool, forgiving water. I saw no evil here. It was good, dark, calm. Below me, I saw a light, faint and gentle, rising up to meet me.
The source of the light was a human. As it came closer, I saw it was. Ann! She was swimming up to meet me, incased in some heavenly light. She was beautiful, with a gentle smile on here face, here hair flowing gently in the water. Then she stopped, her hands reaching out to me. She seemed so far away.
"Come with me" I heard. Yes, go with Ann. Why not. I loved her, I should be with her. I swam toward her, but something was holding me back. What ever it was, it was pulling me away from Ann. NO! I struggled, trying to break free, but to no avail. I was slowly being pulled back to land. But I was supposed to be with Ann! I wanted her, I needed her.
The next thing I felt was a sharp pain on my cheek, like I had been slapped. My whole body was racked in pain, my cheek didn't matter much. Then I suddenly felt my lungs and stomach heave, and my mouth was forced open as gallons of water came out. I finished, and began to cough furiously, trying to get all the water out of my lungs.
"Oh, thank God." I heard someone say. I looked up, and there was Pappy, the kind, gently Pappy I had known for three days, but seemed like a lifetime.
"I thought you were dead, you almost drowned." He said. He started to say more, but began to sob instead. What? I almost drowned? I looked around. The robber, Andy, Xavier, they were all gone. What had happened? Had I imagined it, was I hallucinating? I just lay there, to tired to move, letting Pappy cry to his hearts content.
Then I saw something in the distance. Another light, this time in the sky. Was it a plane? No, it was too big. I couldn't see it's shape against the black sky, but I saw the lights. It was coming in our direction, fast. I tried to say something to Pappy, to warn him, but I just couldn't move my limbs, I was completely exhausted. The thing came over us, and Pappy turned his head upward, seeing it, but it was too late. I then saw a bright light, then I knew nothing more.
Chapter 3
My face was cold, I could feel that even before I opened my eyes. My face was cold, and I was very uncomfortable. I felt like I was lying on a pile of rocks, and my back was extremely sore. I opened my eyes, and stared strait up.
I saw a mere skeleton of a building before me, rising three stories off the ground. There were pieces of plywood above me, forming a sort of roof. Not wanting to get up, or even move my head, I took my hands from my chest and placed them on the ground, making snow angle movements with them. At least my right, anyway. As I moved my left arm, pain shot through it, reminding me of the day's events.
I seemed to be lying on a pile of paper, and it crunched under my hands. I sighed as I hefted myself up into a sitting position. I squinted as the morning sun shone in my eyes. I looked down, and saw that I was actually lying on a pile of crumpled up newspapers.
"Oh, I see your up." A voice said. I looked around, and saw a man standing behind me. He looked old, maybe seventy or around that. He had a wild silver-white beard that reached almost to his chest. He as going bald, the top of his head exposed. He was wearing really ragged clothing, just a plaid shirt and stained, ripped jeans that exposed his calves. No shoes, no socks, nothing else.
"Did you help me?" I asked. The old man grinned.
"Yep. We make a point around here to help others, especially ones worse off then us, but that doesn't happen much." He said.
What did he mean by worse off? Then I realized he was eyeing my clothes, and my shoulder. My clothes were still almost completely covered in blood, making it look like I had been hit by a truck or something. In fact, the only thing that wasn't bloody was the jacket Andy gave me, which was still wrapped around me. The man was eyeing the jacket as I took it off to inspect my clothes.
"Here," I said, tossing the jacket to him, "you can have this, as thanks for helping me." I said. The man took it, his face beaming.
"Well, thank you! I've never had a jacket like this before." He flipped inside out, inspecting every inch of it. "Not even one hole!" He had the widest grin on his face I had ever seen.
"No problem." I said, trying to stand up. I offered him my hand. "My name's Celic."
The man took my hand. "Well, I don't know my birth name, but the folks 'round here call me Pappy." I raised my eyebrows.
"Pappy?"
"Well, sure. What's wrong with Pappy?" The man asked.
"Uh, nothing, really. I've just never met anyone actually named Pappy before." I admitted.
"Well, I guess now you have." He reasoned. I just nodded.
"I suppose your wondering what happened to me." I said, motioning to my shoulder.
"Nope, not really." He said, shaking his head. "We don't ask questions here." I sighed in relief. I didn't really want to explain all of it. I was still trying to cope with it myself.
"Well, your welcome to stay here as long as you like." Pappy said. I decided to see what "here" actually was. We were in a half finished building. One wall was finished, the others just a pile of bricks. There was plywood above us, acting as a roof for whoever lived here. Whoever was in charge of construction had probably pulled the funding for it, just like half of the other buildings in Satan City.
Around me, there were more piles of paper, like nests. Beds, probably. I saw a few figures still sleeping, but most of the piles were empty. I walked "outside" of the building, trying to get a sense of where I was. The building was right on the edge of the city, a young forest beyond it. I realized that I was probably no more then a few blocks away from the drug house that I had escaped from earlier. That gave me an uncomfortable feeling, and I went back inside, to my new "home".
***
I didn't know how long I was going to stay there, or what I was going to do when I left. I just enjoyed the ability to stay in one place, and try to sort out events in my mind. Actually, the first few days, I didn't really think much, I just slept. Sleep was good. In sleep, I found comfort and forgiveness. I forgot what I had done, what others had to me, how much pain I was in, and how hungry I was.
I had not eaten much since the morning of the bank robbery, and that had been three days ago. At first, I just wasn't hungry, but as my stomach growled, I just couldn't bring myself to eat what Pappy gave me. It was all old, moldy, or half-eaten food. But, finally hunger won, and I ate a semi- green ham sandwich the evening of the third day I was there.
After my meal, I decided to take a walk. I had been inside the building ever since I went out the first day, and I needed some fresh air. I told Pappy that I needed to think, and walked off, alone.
I sighed deeply as I turned the corner, enjoying the fresh night air (at least, as fresh as it can be in Satan City). I had my hands in the pockets of a torn and faded pair of jeans that Pappy had given me. The clothes that I had worn when I came there were thrown into the nightly fire, at my request. I would have given anything to forget, and just move on, but I couldn't.
Earlier, Pappy had found the front page of the Satan Tribune, the one that had come out the day after the robbery. He showed it to me. I saw that there was an article about both the robbery, and the bust of the drug house, which was successful. Successful in that the drugs were in police custody. But the article also said that five of the pushers had been killed, along with two cops, both with families.
But the reason Pappy showed it to me was because I was also front-page news. There was my last school picture plastered onto the bottom-right corner, with text underneath saying that I was wanted to be brought into the police station for questioning. That's when I decided to take a walk.
Should I turn myself over? Should I stay hidden? What would I be charged with? Could a thirteen-year-old kid go to jail? I tried to sort out the questions, wondering what I was supposed to do. I had no idea!
I calmed down, and breathed deeply, glancing around. There were two guys a few blocks ahead of me, stumbling around the sidewalk. Drunk, most likely.
Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over me. I covered my mouth with my hand, and ran to a trashcan. Once there, I stood over it for a minute, waiting for my digestive system to do something. The nausea passed, and I pulled my head out of the trash. *Probably just some bad food,* I thought jokingly.
I sighed, and slumped to the ground, by back to some building. My stomach did some tumbling, but I didn't feel like throwing up again.
"Hey, you!" I turned my head to the right, and saw a man, running strait at me! *Oh shit! What if he wants to hand me over!* I jumped up and ran. The man chased after me. I saw an alley about a block ahead of me. *Maybe I can lose him.* I thought desperately. I turned into the ally, and crouched behind a dumpster. A moment later, the man came running in.
I could see his face now. He was wearing sunglasses, even though it was night. He wore a large trench coat, which covered his entire body. He was tall, and well built. His face was pretty dorky though. He had a long, sharp nose, and small ears that looked disproportionate to the rest of his head. His hair was cut close to his skull, matted down with gel.
"Where are you, I know your in here." The man said. I held my breath and began to pray that he wouldn't find me. He began to move in a circle, watching all sides. As he turned his back to me, I saw something poking out of his coat. It looked like a handle to a sword! The man turned around, and came closer to the dumpster I was hiding behind.
"What are you doing!?" I heard a feminine voice yell. The man turned around and walked further down the ally.
"What do mean what am I doing? I'm looking for that kid!" he said, apparently to a shadow deeper in the ally.
"Can't you see he's not ready?" I heard the woman's voice say. "He's been though so much, let him sort it all out before you put all this on him!" The voice seemed pretty mad. The man let out a long sigh, shrugged his shoulders, and disappeared. I mean, he really did disappear.
I sat there, my brain unable to handle what had just happened. I felt numb. Was I free? Is he hiding somewhere? I sat there, searching for some sing of movement. Suddenly, my stomach began to churn again. Unable to hold it in, I jumped in front of the dumpster, opened the lid, and stuck my head in just as my stomach's contents launched its self upwards.
When I had finished, I took my head from the dumpster, wiped off my mouth, spit, and walked out of the ally. My stomach still felt terrible, but I felt I could live with it. I decided to go back home, praying the man wouldn't find me on my way there.
As I walked, my stomach got consistently worse. By the time I had reached the building were I was staying, I was clutching my stomach, and I could barely walk. I walked over to my bed/nest and collapsed. I breathed deeply, trying to calm my stomach.
"Celic! Take a look at this!" I heard Pappy yell. It seemed like he was a million miles away. I let my head roll to the direction Pappy was. He was standing a few feet away from me, a humungous grin on his face. He was giggling like a little kid. Then I saw what was in his hand. I shot up into a sitting position, supporting myself with my good arm, my stomach momentarily forgotten. My eyes probably stuck out about five feet from their sockets.
"How the hell did you get that!?" I exclaimed. In his hand was an actual wad of cash. One novel-sized stack of green! Pappy's grin widened.
"It's all cause of you." He said, then came up and gave me a huge hug. I gasped in pain as he squeezed my left shoulder. He backed off.
"Sorry about that." He said.
"It's O.K." I said, gently rubbing my shoulder. "So anyway, how'd you get that?" I asked, pointing at his hand.
"Oh, well, you remember that coat you gave me?" I nodded.
"Well, I found some little plastic baggies in it. There was some white stuff in them. There were some kids that really wanted it. They gave me this." He motioned at the money.
I sat there, comprehending what he had just said. I gave him Andy's coat! It probably had drugs in it! I remembered him pulling some out just before he gave the coat to me. Now, they were in the possession of some kids!
"Pappy," I said, struggling to calm myself down enough to get the words out, "Are you sure you sold them to kids?" He nodded.
"Yep, they looked about as old as you." What! He had just sold those drugs to kids my age! And I was partly to blame!
I stood up, almost literally shaking. "Do you realize what was in those bags?" I demanded, walking up to him.
"Well, I figured they were drugs, right? I mean, that's where you came from, the drug house." He said. He thought I was going to sell them! I didn't even know they were in the coat!
Suddenly, my stomach decided to flip upside-down. The air turned sour. I felt like I was suffocating. I had to get out of there! I ran outside of the building, crouched, and began to dry-heave, there was nothing left in my stomach. I needed fresh air! I saw the young forest in front of me. Yes! Fresh air! I took off into the forest.
It was dark, darker then it had ever been in the city. The trees blocked out seemingly all light, and so I ran blindly for a minute, until my eyes adjusted. Even then, it was difficult to see. I stumbled over rocks, roots, dead branches. I never fell, never lost momentum. I ran, again.
Running from what I had done, another atrocity to add to my list. I didn't fulfill my promise to Ann, I killed her killer, I led cops to the drug house. I stumbled, began to fall, and grabbed a low branch. I hung there, diagonal to the ground as sickness again overtook me. I finished, gasping for breath. Because of me, cops were killed, Andy was killed Xavier was killed, the others in the drug house were killed, kids now had drugs in there hands. all because of me.
I began to run again, my entire being against it, but I ran anyway. I needed to sweat, to vomit, to suffer, all to rid myself of my sins. Suffering was brutal, but it was slate-wiper. I needed to atone for what I had done. My lungs seemed to shrivel, my legs burned, my stomach churned, every fiber of my being was screaming at me to stop. I couldn't stop.
Finally, my legs collapsed. I plunged headfirst to the ground, my momentum causing me to bounce, once, twice, and then skid painfully to a stop. My breath came in ragged, quick spurts. My stomach now had to be empty, but I kept on heaving, as if it was trying to expel it's self from my body. My dirty, sinful body. Yes, nothing wanted a part of me, I deserved nothing.
I was then aware of a new sensation, as I lay there on my back, staring up at the trees. My head suddenly began to spin out of control, the trees above me twirling in circles. I shut my eyes, but it didn't help. My stomach started to get worse, and now seemed to actually roll out of place. The lower half of my digestive system began to rumble, telling me that I had diarrhea. My God, was it horrible. I deserved it, I needed it.
I felt a hand grasp my shoulder, my eyes snapped open. There stood a human outline, distorted by my dizziness. It seemed to sway back and forth, as did the trees and sky above it. I moaned and shut my eyes again.
"Celic," I heard Pappy's voice. It was so distant, as if he was in sky, calling for me. "Celic, wake up, please, I'm so sorry". I opened my eyes, and saw Pappy's kind face above me. Maybe he really was calling me from the sky. I felt a cool drop of liquid on my forehead, a kind contrast to my hot and sweaty skin. I looked in his eyes and saw Pappy was crying.
I tried to speak, to tell him I was there, I was awake, but I couldn't get words out. My lungs wouldn't allow it, my throat to dry to move. I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, my world going topsy-turvy again as I moved. I closed my eyes and felt arms wrap around me. Pappy was saying something, but I couldn't here it. I was concentrating too much on not being sick again.
I felt the arms release there grip on me. I opened my eyes to see Pappy standing over me, holding his hand out to me. I sat there, studying his hand. The money was still there. His hand was bleeding, soaking the money. It had began to turn red. It was blood money.
I looked up, and saw a malicious grin on his face. It was a horrible grin, full of hate and suffering. It made his face twist into something that looked pure evil. Gone were his kind eyes, now devoid of all feeling, just two dark voids in that horrible face. He had blood money, his hands were soaked in blood.
NO! I screamed in my head. My hands were already soaked in blood, I didn't want a part of this. I had already had caused more suffering then I could atone for. NO MORE!
I slapped away his blood-covered hands, leaped up, and began to run away from that. thing. That bloody being of evil that had once been my friend, my savior. I heard Pappy shout in protest, and then the sound of his footsteps on the ground.
My God, I was so dizzy, so weak, I couldn't keep this up. But I couldn't succumb to the evil following me, I wouldn't cause more suffering. I ran, not stopping to throw up, not stopping to catch my breath, I would never stop. I ran blindly, at times with my eyes closed, trying to cope with my spinning head.
I came to a steep hill, and began to skid/run down it. I closed my eyes as I felt I might fall, and shot my hands out in front of me. WHAM! My injured left shoulder slammed into a trunk of a tree, causing a dual effect. One, it caused me to stop my fall, allowing me to continue, and two, it caused my shoulder to seemingly burst into flames. I grabbed my shoulder instinctively, causing myself further pain.
No longer paying attention to my running, I tripped over something, and plunged headfirst down the rest of the hill. It felt like my entire body was being ripped apart at it's seems.
After an eternity of rolling and sliding, I came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. My mouth hung open, trying to scream in pain, but unable to find the ability to do so. My stomach heaved, my head twirled, by shoulder burned, by legs cramped, my entire world was pain. Then I realized that I was also cold, and wet. With my eyes still shut, I shot my good hand out and realized I had landed in water. I opened my eyes, and looked out behind me. I was laying at the edge of a wide lake.
I saw something to my right, out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head, and there was Andy! He had the same grin on his face as he did after he took all those drugs. His shirt was still stained, his blood forming a flower-like shape around his stomach. He was holding out a bag filled with white powder. He reached a bloody hand to me, offering me the bag. Without moving his mouth, I heard him say:
"Want some? This stuff's the shit man." I said nothing, unable to comprehend what I was seeing.
"You sure? Everyone's doing it." Again, his mouth made no movement. Behind him, Xavier came into existence, his entire torso covered with blood, seeping out of hundred of holes. His face held a grimace of pain and anger. He held his gun out at me.
"Do you know what you did to me, you little fucker!" He pulled the trigger, but no bullets escaped the gun. He paid no mind, and repeatedly pulled the trigger.
Still in the same position as I had landed in, I saw another thing to my left. There was one of the robbers, holding an invisible person in his arms, a gun pointed to the sky. Half of the ski mask was torn off, revealing a fist-sized hole in the side of his head.
"Come on, do something, I dare ya." I heard, and he began to pull the trigger of his gun just like Xavier. I moaned in horror. What the hell was happening.
Then I saw Pappy sliding down the hill. His evil, twisted face still there, his blood money still in his hand. He was coming closer, fast. I was finally able to scream.
I twisted around, ignoring all the pain, and began to crawl into the lake, head first, in a frenzy to get away from those things. I crawled, then swam into the cool, forgiving water. I saw no evil here. It was good, dark, calm. Below me, I saw a light, faint and gentle, rising up to meet me.
The source of the light was a human. As it came closer, I saw it was. Ann! She was swimming up to meet me, incased in some heavenly light. She was beautiful, with a gentle smile on here face, here hair flowing gently in the water. Then she stopped, her hands reaching out to me. She seemed so far away.
"Come with me" I heard. Yes, go with Ann. Why not. I loved her, I should be with her. I swam toward her, but something was holding me back. What ever it was, it was pulling me away from Ann. NO! I struggled, trying to break free, but to no avail. I was slowly being pulled back to land. But I was supposed to be with Ann! I wanted her, I needed her.
The next thing I felt was a sharp pain on my cheek, like I had been slapped. My whole body was racked in pain, my cheek didn't matter much. Then I suddenly felt my lungs and stomach heave, and my mouth was forced open as gallons of water came out. I finished, and began to cough furiously, trying to get all the water out of my lungs.
"Oh, thank God." I heard someone say. I looked up, and there was Pappy, the kind, gently Pappy I had known for three days, but seemed like a lifetime.
"I thought you were dead, you almost drowned." He said. He started to say more, but began to sob instead. What? I almost drowned? I looked around. The robber, Andy, Xavier, they were all gone. What had happened? Had I imagined it, was I hallucinating? I just lay there, to tired to move, letting Pappy cry to his hearts content.
Then I saw something in the distance. Another light, this time in the sky. Was it a plane? No, it was too big. I couldn't see it's shape against the black sky, but I saw the lights. It was coming in our direction, fast. I tried to say something to Pappy, to warn him, but I just couldn't move my limbs, I was completely exhausted. The thing came over us, and Pappy turned his head upward, seeing it, but it was too late. I then saw a bright light, then I knew nothing more.