Good's Failure! Hope and Light Is Lost
Chapter Two
She was here. But why was she here? Why did she come here? She would have been better off living in Japan than here. Yes, it was almost the same. But Japan was much safer than this Japan. Why would she want to live on a country that just appeared out of nowhere? On no particular day or time, it just appeared. Why would she want to live here? This place may be right next to Japan, but it was no place for her. Yes, the Japanese had taken this place since nobody knew of it and claimed it. But why weren't they even the slightest bit curious as to how the country got there? Why weren't the wondering how a country could just appear out of nowhere?
So many questions ran through his head, but there was no one to answer them. Were there even answers for his questions? Why - It was practically in every question he had. Why did they keep him lock up? Why did they keep him in the dark? Why did they make him suffer? Why did they do the things that they did to him? Why did they make him do things he didn't want to do? Why did they always put him through such pain? Why did they do every thing that would make him miserable? Why did they do it to him when he was a child?
The questions had remained in his head for all these years. It almost drove him to the brink of insanity. If it wasn't for them, he would have gone insane. But weren't they the ones who had led him to the edge of insanity in the first place? What were they trying to do with him? Confused him? Make him believe things that weren't real? Teach him? Make him suffer? Why wouldn't they just tell him what they were trying to do with him? Was it necessary that he be filled with these unanswered questions? Would it help him?
He groaned in pain as he slammed himself against the wall. He grabbed his head that was filled with a pain, a pain that was unbearable to anyone else. His whole body felt like it was burning from the inside. Like someone had placed a flame within him. The heat was so intense he could have sworn that it was as hot as hell itself. He felt like he was being burn to death, but he wasn't dying. He felt the heat intensify. It wasn't long before he had fire covering every inch of him, but he wasn't burning. The pain in his head was greater than ever before. He needed to make the pain stop before he cried out. He wouldn't allow himself to do that.
He forced his way to the next room, which was his bathroom. He managed to on the shower - cold water. He stepped into his shower, letting the cold water pour down on him. But the water started to evaporate before it even let the showerhead. It wouldn't be long now if he didn't do something. He should have done this from the start, but he knew it weakened him. He didn't have a choice anymore.
He went to the cabinet above his sink. He moved quickly so he wouldn't see his reflection in the mirror. He yanked it opened because it was locked. He grabbed a small red and black bottle from inside. He popped the top open and poured out the pills that were inside. The pills were black in color, but that meant nothing. He counted five and popped them into his mouth. He forced himself to swallow the pills. He tossed the bottle aside in anger. He turned on the faucet. He cupped his hand under it and slashed the water against his face. He was still feeling pain but the fire that covered him was fading away.
"Mother," the word was but a soft whisper of a child. He stared at himself in the mirror before he collapsed onto the ground. A red mark or symbol glowed softly on his cheek as he lay silently on the ground. He looked like a mere child sleeping peacefully on the ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: 1515
"You draw too much, you know that?" Kari asked her friend, as she took a seat next to her friend on the bench in the park. It was a beautiful sunny day, so she decided to come out for a walk. TK had dumped his school bag on his bed, grabbed another bag that seemed to be already packed, and he was out the door before she could have even asked him where he was going or when he was coming home. She decided to go out for a walk after she had finished her essay that was due tomorrow. It just so happen that she had gone to the same place TK had.
TK smiled at her as he closed his sketchpad. "I enjoy drawing besides writing and playing basketball, so what?" TK asked, as he placed his sketchpad on the empty space besides him. TK leaned his head back so he could look up into the clear blue sky. He breathed in the fresh air that surrounded him. He smiled as he exhaled. "It's a beautiful day," he said to her. "Maybe I shouldn't waste my time drawing." TK picked up his sketchpad as he stood up. "Care to walk with me?" He asked, offering her a hand.
She took his hand, and he pulled her up. "Thank you." She said politely, but playfully.
They began to walk. They didn't really care where they were headed. It was a big park, but they knew it almost as well as they knew each other. They didn't become really close till after the Digital World was restored. It all started with Sora and Mimi talking about how cute they looked together at the celebration party. TK had then asked Kari out on a date. She, of course, said yes. She couldn't have possibly said no to those puppy dog eyes that he had when he asked her out. She had given him a kiss on the cheek when he brought her home, but that was only because she knew that Davis was spying on them. But she also gave him that kiss because he deserved it.
They walked, talked, smiled, laughed, shed tears of joys, and playfully scolded and hit each other. They were having so much fun that they didn't even notice that it was beginning to turn dark. It didn't really matter. Their house was only a ten, fifteen minute walk back. The park wasn't that big, and that was what scared them when they realized that it was getting dark. But how could it be?
"TK, it's too early to be getting dark." Kari said after checking what time it was.
TK nodded his head in agreement. He had also taken a look at his watch, and it was definitely too early for it to be getting dark. It didn't rain today, and he doubted that it was going to rain. Something was going on - he could feel it running through his veins. He didn't want to say anything to Kari about it though. Everything was going great. He didn't want anything to jeopardize it. But what if this was the work of an evil Digimon? He would be putting everybody's life in danger for his own selfish reason. He didn't want that... did he?
"TK, what should we do?" Kari's worried tone brought him back to reality.
TK looked at her, trying to keep the disappointed look out from his face. "I think we should go home and call Tai to tell him about this." He lied. He didn't want to lie to her but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't just tell her not to worry about it and tell her that they should continue their walk. For one thing, she probably wouldn't agree with him and would insist that they go home to call somebody. So, he must as well say it first.
"Good idea, TK." She began to walk away, but stopped when TK didn't follow her. "TK?" She said when she turned around to see him staring up at the sky. She felt worried when she saw the expression on his face. It was blank, but yet it was full of joy at the same time. It was like there was something about the dark sky that fascinated him so much. But she could see nothing but a dark sky. He stared up at the sky as though he would stare at it even if his life depended on him looking away. His eyes said that he was mesmerized by it.
She didn't know what to do. Should she stop him from staring? Or should she just let him stare? She wished TK wasn't the one that was staring, so she could ask him what to do. There was nobody around her to ask, even if they didn't now the right answer. Now that she thought about it, there was nobody in the park. Sure, it was a school day, but some kids would come to the park to study. Did they see that it was getting dark and went home? Or was it that there really was nobody in the park today? She thought back to when she had first come to the park. She couldn't remember seeing anyone when she had come. Did somebody or something do this on purpose - to get her and TK alone, and then do something terrible to them?
Kari reached into her pocket and took out her cell phone. She dialed her brother's number and put the phone to her ear. It wasn't ringing. There was something wrong with her cell phone... or maybe with everybody's cell phone. What was she going to do now? She could leave her best friend, staring up into the sky... or she could stay and try to get him to snap out of it. She then realized that she hadn't even tried.
She walked the few steps over to him. "TK?" She said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
She screamed in pain as she pulled away, her hands were now on her head. She looked at TK, nothing but fear and pain in her eyes. When she touched him... It felt like every fiber of his being was evil. She felt the evil running through him. She couldn't help him. Not with the evil that was in him now. She had to get away from him to stop the pain she felt in her head. But she couldn't just leave him. He was her best friend. She couldn't leave him, she wouldn't leave him. Leaving him, like this, was impossible for her to do.
That's it!
She forced herself towards him and pressed her lips to his. It worked before. Maybe it would work again. If it didn't work, she didn't know what would. She could remember seeing him lying helplessly on the ground a few years before today. His chest raised and fell rapidly. His eyes were shut, his face was anything but relaxed, and he had been breathing extremely hard. She remembered crying, yelling at him, telling him that she would never forgive him if he left her. She saw what had happened to him. He was covered by evil, and even though it hurt to be near him... she never left his side as he laid helplessly on the ground. She didn't know why she did it, but she had kissed him.
TK's eyes closed and then opened again. His eyes widen when he realized that Kari was kissing him... on the lips!
~*~*~*~*~*~
TUESDAY NIGHT: 2300
"I feel like I've been through hell." TK muttered, as she sat up in his bed. He really did feel like he'd been through hell. He just didn't feel that hot. But he ached all over. What in the world happened to him? There was something about the sky that caught his attention. He didn't know what it was. He just felt drawn to. Like without it, he couldn't exist in the world. He needed it, desired it, treasured it...
"You're awake." Kari's gentle voice pulled him away from his thoughts. "Your mom called," she said, as she set a tray of food on his bedside table. "She wanted to know how you were doing." Kari sat down on her bed. "She wanted to come over," her face was cheerful, but now sad. "But something came up and she said that she knew that you would be fine. She said that if you were really in trouble to call her and she would come right away."
"I wouldn't want her to ditch her work for me anyway," TK said. "I'm fine. There's no reason why she should come over and check on me." TK tried to stand up, but the strength in his legs gave out and he fell back onto his bed with a bounce. "Good thing beds are made with springs in them." TK said, slightly bouncing up and down on his bed. TK frowned when he saw Kari's down face. "What's wrong?"
"I was afraid that I might lose you." Kari said softly with her head lowered. The kiss had worked, but he had passed out a few seconds after that. She managed to get him out of the park, and that was when she realized that her cell phone was working. Her brother was calling her to ask her where she was. She told him where she was and what had happened. He came right away and helped carry TK back to the house. He had been asleep for a few hours now. After the first three hours, she thought that he would never wake up at all. But her brother gave her the hope that TK would have given her.
"You'll never lose me." TK said, as he managed to move over to her bed. He wrapped his arms around her. She turned her face into his shoulder and began to cry. "Why are you always trying to drown me every time I pass out and wake up again?" He asked jokingly. He didn't really remember much about that day, but he did know that he made a joke when he woke up. He awoke to find Kari crying against his chest. He asked her why she was trying to drown him. She had slapped him for making such a joke when he was at the brink of death.
"Why do you always make me worry half to death and make a joke?" She asked angrily, but still crying.
"The point is that I'm still alive." TK said, pushing her away so he could look at her. "I make jokes so the mood won't be so down. Even though their lame and stupid," he admitted. "they bring the mood up and everybody seems to have a higher spirit. Nobody likes to hang around glum people. As long as I'm alive," he stated. "I'll always make my stupid, lame jokes to cheer the mood up."
Kari raised her hand and slapped him. "I hate you!" She screamed into his shoulder as she cried more.
"I was wondering when you were going to slap me and say that you hated me." TK said, rubbing his cheek while his other hand comforted her. She had done the same thing a few years ago. He just didn't get women. He wondered whether anybody did. They say that they hated you and here they are, crying on your shoulder. Hadn't he already explained to her why he made stupid, lame jokes? Kari was Kari, he guessed.
"Why do you always do this to me?" Kari asked through sobs.
"This has only been the second time, and this time I wasn't out that long." TK said after taking a look at the digital clock on his desk. "The last time I did this to you, I was out for three days. But this time I was only out for a few hours." TK pushed her away so he could look at her. He wiped her tears away. "Don't cry. I hate to see you cry. It breaks my heart to see you cry. Could you please stop crying? For me?"
Kari smiled at the way he said 'for me'. "I hate you." Kari said, the smile still on her face.
"Does that mean you won't stop crying?" TK asked, crestfallen. "Why?" TK began to pretend to cry. "Don't you love me anymore?" TK asked, tugging on her sleeve. "Why don't you love me anymore? Tell me what I did wrong? I don't want you to not love me. I liked the way things were between us. Where are you breaking my heart when I just regained consciousness?" It was very obvious that he was just pretending to be heart broken. He wasn't really a very good actor when it came to this kind of acting.
"You make me so angry, you know that?" Kari crossed her arms over her chest and slightly turned away from him, but making sure he saw her pouting before she turned away from him.
"Was it something I said?"
"No."
"Was it something I did?"
"No."
"Was it something I didn't do?"
"Maybe."
TK rubbed his chin as he tried to think of what he didn't do. He already had been on the brink of death, he had almost made her worry to death, he had made his stupid, lame joke, he had said the whole 'you don't love me anymore' routine that he had been working on... what in the world did he not do? What in the world did he not do to make Kari angry? He knew it was somewhere in his brain, he just didn't know where. Could he have done it when he was on the brink of death before? He just couldn't think of anything that would fix this situation.
~*~*~*~*~*~
WEDNESDAY MORNING
Kari paced the floor outside the door. TK had been in that room for quite some time now. How long did it take to get information? He had been in that room for about an hour. She knew this was a bad idea from the start. Why didn't she just force him to stay home today? She should have. He had been through quite a bit the day before yesterday. She had gone through quite a bit herself, but she was fine. He shouldn't have come to school today because of what happened. He should have been in bed resting.
"I can't take this anymore," Kari reached for the doorknob.
She jerked back when it opened and TK came out. "Kari, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked, taking a hold of her arm and pulling to a corner so they wouldn't be heard by the passing students. "I know that you wanted to spend time alone with me..." he started to rub the back of his neck. "but I kind of invited someone to tag along with us to the café." He said. "I hope you don't mind that I did that."
"Who said I wanted to spend time alone with you? I suggested that we should go to the café after school to study since you didn't want to come home so early." Kari reminded, corrected.
"That's besides my point."
"Who did you invite?"
TK walked back to the door and knocked on it. The door opened and a boy who looked no older than twelve stepped out of the room. He had short, spiky blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and short orange colored pants. He had a bandana tied around his neck that hid the string of his necklace. On his necklace was a silver angel that looked like she was defending something.
"Kari, this is R.J. R.J., this is my girlfriend, Kari." He made the proper introductions.
"This is the info guy?" Kari whispered to TK.
TK nudged her, telling her to be quiet. "It's okay," R.J. said. "I'm used to being only known as 'the info guy'." It was obvious that he was trying not to sound sad. Sadness, loneliness, and hurt were the only things written in his beautiful blue eyes.
"I'm sorry, R.J," Kari apologized. "I didn't mean it that way. I just expected you to be--." She was cut of by TK nudging her shoulder. She was obviously about to say something that would offend him, or would make him sad all over again. She wasn't angry at TK for cutting her off if that was why he had interrupted her sentence. She didn't want to hurt R.J.'s feelings, again.
"I told you that it was okay," R.J. said, lowering his head so they wouldn't see the tears forming in his eyes. "I know people make fun of me because I'm sixteen and I look like a twelve year old and I sound like one too. Nobody can ever seem to remember that my name is R.J., but that's okay with me. 'The info guy' is okay with me. My dad doesn't even remember my name at times. So it really doesn't matter." He lifted his head, a smile on his face.
TK and Kari gave each other and R.J. a small smile. "Well, you gave me the information I needed," TK said. "So, now I have to pay you. How about a huge glass cup of chocolate milkshake as payment for the information you just gave me a few moments ago?" TK asked as though he were asking a little boy.
R.J. lifted an eyebrow at him. "I think you're forgetting how old I am." R.J. said.
"Sorry," TK said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Are you really sixteen?" Kari asked, looking at him suspiciously. He sure didn't look like he was sixteen. He didn't act like he was sixteen. And he sure didn't sound like he was sixteen. His voice sounded like he was just a preteen. The why he talked was also like he was just a preteen. She had her doubts about him. He must have been lying. He was probably one of those young geniuses and he didn't want to tell or let anybody know that. He probably knew that some of the other kids would pick on him if they knew about it.
"You want to see my identification?" R.J. asked, already searching his pockets for his wallet that held his ID in it.
"No, I think I'll trust you instead."
R.J. stopped searching and nodded his head at her. "How come I've never seen you before? Don't you need information about something? I know that I've never seen you because you're in none of my classes, but I'm sure you need and want some information of some sort."
"I get my information elsewhere." She hoped that what she said didn't offend him in any way. "Not that I think that you give out lousy information. It's just that I like to stick with people I know." She didn't want him to think any other way. She was partly lying to him. She thought he was just one of those kids who thought that they knew everything. But she also rather stick to people she knew for information.
"You're lying, aren't you?"
"What makes you say that?" Kari asked, looking away so he wouldn't see the guilty look on her face. How in the world did he know that she was lying? It was as though he had read her mind. Could it possibly be that this kid could read people's mind? And that was how he knew most things?
"You're not a very good liar. You're known for being kind to people." R.J. said, putting his hands behind his head. "I don't mean to rush, but we should go. Motomiya is going to tag along if we don't head for the café now." Before they could have questioned him about it, he had begun to walk away from them.
They turned their heads in the opposite direction he was walking. Their jaws dropped when they saw Davis walking towards them. How in the world could he have known that Davis was headed their way? He had just turned the corner. R.J. couldn't have heard Davis walking towards them, and he couldn't have possibly seen Davis walking towards them. R.J. sure had some secrets that they would like to know of.
"R.J., wait up!" TK called out as he and Kari raced to catch up with him.
They caught up with him since he wasn't running. "How well do you think you did on your essay?" R.J. asked Kari.
"No good." Kari said, glaring at TK.
"That's not what Mrs. Shannon thinks. She was bored, so she decided to read your essay since it was on the top of all the rest. She found it really good," R.J. winked at Kari. "Interesting topic you picked. I wonder where you got all those ideas from." R.J. said, looking at TK and then back at her.
Kari blushed.
To Be Continued
