Author's note: Hey, here's the next thingie to the thingie.
Zac: Thanks for the suggestion, but I've really been trained (and I personally like) going into detail.
Unknown: Uh-huh. Though I don't know if there are two "c"s there because I got too lazy to find out.
Melina: The first time I ever got that reaction. Thanks.
Frenchy: No problem, babe. Okay, so how many times have I called you babe?
Tek: Thanks.
GandalftheGray: "…Clenches the feet of fools…"
Chapter 3: "Existence Beyond Perception"
Mark looked outside the window, past a small pot with fake soil and a heart shaped flower protruding henceforth, and into the still, blue sky. He was leaning on his study table, which was propped exactly beside the window, such that Mark could cartwheel out of the room and right into the yard. A few paces away from the window, still on the same blue tinted wall, was his cabinet where he kept his clothes, while stuck on the wall in front of where Mark sat, was attached an upper hand cabinet, where he kept the trinkets that he found interesting to collect through the years. Opposite that wall were his bed, plain, blue and yellow.
"…Why won't you tell them?" he thought, turning his head as to rub his cheek on the sleeve of his loose, yellow shirt, faded as usual. "If…I tell Heart's parents, how would she react? Would she get angry? Would they think it's my fault that their daughter has this…disease?" He pushed himself away from his softwood study table and moved over to the door.
If one would take a look through the frame of the entry, you wouldn't see posters of bands and school banners, you'd see the interior design sketches of Heart that were given to him. She loved to draw, from the simplest things to those that are beyond complex. Mark always smiled when he laid his eyes on those pictures, some on bond paper, while others were torn off notebook pages.
"Every person has a role in this world. Is it…my role to let them know… even if Heart would hate me in the process? Maybe…okay, I must be overreacting. This…God wouldn't do this, not to someone like her." Mark let out a loud groan and fell back on the side of his bed, sure to still face the window.
Heart stayed awake all evening, and still hadn't found the comfort of rest that early morning. She was afraid to go to sleep. "What if it would come for me then?" she thought as she shifted her weight. The idea of closing her eyes to sleep, and then never, ever waking up, frightened her beyond imagination. She never did admit that her biggest fear then was dying. It was the same for everyone who always had so much to live for.
The same sentiments and complaints, tears and lament to the unseen who could do nothing but listen. Heart thought that it was utterly laughable, to be the child of parents whom survived the stale breath of death for thousands of times, yet she herself could not bear to face a single brush with one. It made her shrink, to think that she could never live up to her name because she knowingly embraced the legacy that it held.
"Mom and dad deserve someone more than me…" she thought both bitterly and sadly. "Why did it have to be them? Why does everyone around me have to be so perfect, while I'm…like this?" she thought, asking no one in particular. It was a debilitating feeling, unworthiness. It made her question why she came into this world. Was she there to prove nothing but torment the people who stood by her? "…Is somebody up there? Is somebody listening? Out there, past those clouds…is somebody laughing at my miserable existence right now?"
"Books are outdated, Chris." Jill greeted as she entered the room. It was a rectangular lounge, with the door in the corner. There were two armchairs and a sofa that were plain, black leather surrounding a rectangular, glass coffee table that had black posts lifting up the glass cover from a body that could be doubled as a small cabinet. No a carpet covered the polished floorboards, while a bust of an old, bald man sat against a wall opposite the partition adjacent to the door. Behind the couch was hung a painting of a valley, with green and blue being the dominant colors. Glass made up most of the wall where the couch faced, pouring in both a view and a healthy dose of sunlight.
"Only to the brainless my dear, charming wife." Chris responded as he kept his eyes glued on the thick, paperback of The Phantom of the Opera as he sat on the couch. He wore a fitted, gray lounge shirt and black pants.
"You should thank God that it's too early for me too kick your ass." Replied Jill, who wore a white bathrobe.
"Already did, the second you didn't jump up and kick me through the wall."
"So pious."
"Had to talk to someone crammed up in that hellhole, remember?"
"Oh yeah, the whole tram incident."
"Damn zombie dogs."
"No better way to say it."
"You know, I never noticed how….there only seemed to be Doberman zombies in Raccoon city, no Chihuahuas, no Japanese Shiatsus…"
"Hmm…you're right."
"And that my sister and that cop fellow got into the city even when it was boarded up like hell…"
"Uh-huh?"
"Or the…"
"You should really get back to that book now."
"Hehe." Chris loudly teased her, as she sat on the arm of the couch.
"Is Heart still in her room?"
"Last I checked."
"Which was?"
"About ten minutes ago."
"She's usually such an early riser."
"She jogged for a few hours, she'd probably be asleep until ten."
"…I'll check up on her. You fix breakfast."
Jill pushed back her hair as she walked with fast strides to her daughter's room on the second floor of the house. It was amazing how hard it was to raise a child compared to escaping a city plagued by the undead. "Heart?" she called just as she got to the second floor. "Yeah?" heart asked as she opened her door to meet her mother in the hall. "What have you been doing in there all morning?" Jill questioned as she peered into her daughter's room. "I'm not doing drugs, I'm not keeping a guy in my closet, and no, I'm not pregnant." Heart replied, rolling her eyes. The girl still wore a white, shirt bra and panties of the same color.
"You haven't eaten yet." Jill responded after she was sure that everything was normal in the room from her view.
"That's okay, I have sluggishly low metabolism anyway."
"Not an excuse, sweetie."
"…Mom?"
"Yeah?"
"…You know I love you right?" Heart asked, catching Jill off guard. It was the first time that she had ever heard her daughter speak that way. Her expression was serious, giving Jill a sense of urgency to a yet unseen situation.
"…Heart…? Of course I do." Jill replied, holding her daughter's cheek. Heart nodded silently, her eyes on the floor. "Is…something wrong?" Jill asked her, with a thousand other questions now beginning to flood her mind. "No…nothing, I just had a bad dream, that's all." Heart replied after a moment of silence, feeling uncomfortable with the situation.
"Do you…"
"No." Heart immediately cut her mother; of course she didn't want to share what it was. The girl always was closer in emotion to her father. That was probably because Jill and Chris were entirely different people, with Jill being the personification of restriction, while Chris was the complete opposite. He was loose, carefree, almost childish, making him the one Heart would talk to in case there was an emergency. At that time, Heart didn't really know what it was that took over her, to hint to her mother that all was not well.
"Mom, I have to go, I'm meeting Mark in the park at noon, and it's already…well, noonish."
"…Do you need a ride?"
"I can drive." Heart replied, forcing a smile. Without waiting for an answer, the girl went back into her room, closing the door as abruptly as ending the conversation. Jill could only stand outside and wonder what it was that had just happened. Now it was her turn to doubt the folds of reality.
Stoneville Park bustled with life, both organic and inorganic, testament to the flow and falter of technology. Glass partitions projected message boards, advertisements and maps of every size and color were scattered around the busy plaza. Unlike most other days, the sun had already come out of its shy cornucopia, giving the area a golden tint onto it. From above, one would see the park in its entirety as a sweeping shot of grandeur, clearly unlike the Stoneville of old. The main portion of the park looked like a dominantly white cross, surrounded by tall trees. Surrounding this cross and criss-crossing through the sea of greenery were tiny streams of cemented paths and clearings, making it look all too much like a city with trees as skyscrapers and buildings.
Heart sat on a bench facing a clear blue river. She could see a young couple leaning over the railing, holding hands and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ear. An elderly man was sitting on a bench beside where Heart was, and he was looking down on a sketchpad, working on the landscape of the area. It was an exact copy, substituting the bright colors for those of coal and gray. Trees shaded the benches, while the very same ancient structures, shaded the other end of the river, which was already a portion of grasslands. The railings and the floor were a mixture of Old English and futuristic architecture, with the former feature being more dominant in those smaller areas of the park.
The sound of the water rushing to its unending course, the birds singing as if it were dawn, and the smell of nature, it was always enough to calm the young girl. She felt that she was in control, she had to, or else she'd most probably have long lost her mind. Heart wore a long, green jacket that reached the back of her ankles. Beneath it was a red tank top, and a pair of black denim pants. A green beret was nestled comfortably atop her laid down hair, and a pink scarf was hung around her neck.
"Heart." Greeted the familiar voice that soothed her soul.
"Mark." She replied, lifting up her cheek a bit so that her boyfriend could give her a soft kiss. He sat down beside her, letting out a loud sigh as he did.
"Anything wrong?" Heart asked.
"No…just tired."
"…" She turned to look at him, staring into the water like he was in some trance. That was always the way he looked when he was tired beyond comprehension. He wore a white NAUTICA jacket, with a yellow shirt and a pair of denim shorts that reached past his knees, underneath.
"Heart?"
"Yeah?"
"You look beautiful." He softly reminded her, giving her a smile that took over her Heart. "…Thank you." She replied, giggling like a schoolgirl, as if she never got used to the fact that she truly was a sight to behold.
"Want to…get something to eat?" Mark asked her.
"…Yeah…but, can't we…sit here for awhile…?"
"Okay."
"…"
"What's bothering you?"
"Other than the popping sensation under my sternum?" Heart replied in a sarcastic tone.
"…Sorry…that was a stupid question."
"…No, God, I'm sorry, I'm just…"
"…"
"Mark?"
"…Yeah?"
"I…really have this feeling…that, that this thing inside me…won't go away."
"Don't say that."
"But I really think..."
"Well, I don't!" Mark snapped, quite possibly for the first time in his life.
"…"
"Heart…we should just tell them, they aren't going to kill you for it."
"No…this is my problem, I'm solving this myself."
"You're not the only one being affected by this Heart…"
"…Just promise me, Mark…"
"…What is it?"
"You'll be beside me in the end."
"…Of course…and that…that won't be coming for a very long time."
Author's note: How odd. Well, if it won't bother you too much, tell me what you guys think. I hope you enjoyed and now, I'm going off to the national museum to classify dead plants.