Loneliness is described as the feeling of having no one around you. No one to hear your pain. No one to listen to your tales. No one to be by your side. Now, for most this feeling is not welcomed. This feeling can only bring one to their knees as they cry for someone to be with them. Though, loneliness was welcomed to one man. This man did not see a reason to have another human being beside him. After all, this man did have his flock of sheep. Of course, the sheep do not speak, but they listen. Most importantly, they do not show any rejection to the man,
Kaelin Addams was a quiet, calm man. He did not leave the sanctuary of his home often only to buy new tools or food. He enjoyed being in his little sanctuary. He spends his days watching and tending to his friends. His friends being the sheep of course. No one came to visit him unless they wanted some cheap wool. The only person who did come to visit was his younger brother, Jett, who was currently sitting on the sofa.
"I'm just saying you can't always be here. You need to leave your house more often. You do realize people are spreading nasty rumors of you?" Jett asked. Kaelin smiled. His little brother always came to try to coax him into leaving his sanctuary more often. Kaelin did not care what others spread unless it was something of his brother. Though, that did not happen often as his little brother was quite handsome and lovely. Everyone in town adored him.
"I do not need to leave my home. After all, I have everything here. My friends are here," Kaelin said.
"Your flock of sheep is not your friend," Jett scoffed. Kaelin rolled his eyes. Of course his little brother wouldn't understand. He had many people to be with.
"This place is my paradise. There's nothing that the outside world can provide for me. Well except for food and tools," Kaelin objected. Jett was now standing in front of him. Kaelin tilted his head in confusion.
"I'm worried about you. That's all. Can you please come with me to town tomorrow? I want to spend time with my big brother," Jett pleaded. Kaelin smiled.
"Fine. We will go to town tomorrow," Kaelin promised. He turned to see his flock of sheep. Most were grazing the grass and others were merely wandering around. Kaelin spotted his favorite little lamb jumping around. The lamb had black wool unlike the others and around his neck was a yellow bandana, which Kaelin made to see her in the dark. Unlike other sheep of the flock, she was given a name. Her name was Pepper. Soon, Pepper jumped over the fence and ran to the nearby forest!
"Oh no! Wait here, I need to get Pepper!" Kaelin shouted as he bolted from his house and onto the field. Most of the sheep did not care for the distress their owner had. They were merely dissatisfied with his intrusion. Kaelin jumped the fence and was soon at the edge of the forest. He panted as he took a rest to look for Pepper. He noticed Pepper was laying on the ground. Kaelin sighed happily and walked to his little lamb. "Pepper! How many times do I have to tell you to not go into the forest?" He scolded her. Pepper didn't react. Kaelin kneeled down to pet her. While petting her, he noticed that Pepper seemed to be staring at something. Kaelin looked up to notice a little girl. The little girl had brown hair that was tied up in two braids and her dress was scarlet with white lapels. "Are you ok? What are you doing here?" Kaelin asked as he walked over. The little girl hid behind the tree. "Don't be scared. You know what? I help you go back home," Kaelin reassured her. The little girl ran to him. He carried the little girl and began to walk back to his home.
A small fog began to form as they walked outside the forest. Kaelin took a look up to the sky to notice that it must've been night time. Wait? Night time? Kaelin was sure that he was in the forest only for a few minutes. He squinted his eyes to notice that he was by the field, but that there were no other sheep. He began to worry. He looked at the little girl, who looked sad, yet smiled.
"This isn't good," the little girl whispered, but she remained smiling. Kaelin nodded. He continued to walk to the fog until something pulled on his pants. He looked down to see Pepper desperately pulling.
"What's wrong Pepper?" Kaelin asked as he bent down.
"We need to head a different direction," the girl said. Pepper soon began to run to the left. Kaelin sighed as he chased after her. He was tired of running, but he had to because he didn't want to lose Pepper. As he ran, he could hear growling from behind,
"Oh no, what is that?" Kaelin asked. There was no response as he tripped. He dropped the little girl and fell to the ground. "Ugh," he groaned as he got onto his knees. The little girl quickly grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up.
"Hurry! Please!" She pleaded. Kaelin stood up and carried the girl once more. The growling grew closer, so Kaelin began to sprint. Everything burned, but he kept going. For a moment, he couldn't tell where Pepper was until he noticed a small yellow bandana. Pepper stood by his house! They all ran into the house and Kaelin locked the door.
"What's going on?" He asked. No response once more. Kaelin sighs as he took a look around what he thought was his house. The wood of the floor had rotten and there were even holes. The wallpaper was withering as it hung from the walls. There was a stench of something unknown. He set the little girl down. As he did so, he noticed a cloth that he recognized. It was a handkerchief that was given to him by a relative, but it was a completely different color. Instead of the pure white most handkerchief had, it was chartreuse green. He picked up the cloth and put it in his pocket.
"Can we go upstairs," the little girl asked as she pointed to the stairs. Kaelin looked up to see Pepper already going upstairs. Kaelin nodded and picked up the little girl. He walked to the stairs to notice some wood planks missing while others were rotten. He carefully stepped on each step. Suddenly, part of the stairs collapsed. Kaelin threw the girl to the top while he fell through.
As Kaelin opened his eyes, he realized how dark it was. He stood up and began to feel the wall. The wall felt as if it had never met sandpaper and was weak. Kaelin was starting to worry about receiving a splinter, but when a small ray of light came through he forgot all about the wall's unusual texture. He ran to the light to only see a mirror. Kaelin had never seen this mirror before, but it was beautiful. It had a golden-like frame that was made with swirls, like a rope. It was tall and wide. The mirror looked like it might have belonged to a museum. He looked into the mirror. He could see his dark circles and his hair was a mess. He closed his eyes to think. Once he opened his eyes, he screamed. The mirror no longer showed his reflection, but of a monster. The monster looked similar to him, but it was only black and white. The only color it had were its ruby red eyes. Its cheshire cat grin revealed its sharp teeth. Kaelin took a glance behind to see that it wasn't in the room, but in the mirror. He quickly broke parts of the wall and hurled it to the mirror. The mirror fell and its glass shard spilled onto the floor as the monster laughed. Kaelin turned and ran in another direction.
The little girl and Pepper stared down the hole. They were unsure what to do. When they heard screaming, they decided to find a way down there. Of course, they were much smaller and fragile so jumping down the hole wasn't an option. They ran upstairs and began to search for a path. Though it seemed Pepper knew everything, as she found a hidden door.
"How did you know that was there?" The little girl asked. Pepper merely gave a baa. They opened the door to see stairs that led to the unknown. The little girl and Pepper walked down the steps until the last step. They stopped and listened. They could hear someone running. Pepper began to tug the little girl's dress, but the little girl was eager to know if it was Kaelin coming back. She ripped her dress from the lamb's mouth and began to run to the footsteps. Soon a small slimmer of moonlight shines upon a figure, it was a silhouette of Kaelin! The little girl stood in front of him. "I'm so glad to have found you! We have to leave, it's dangerous here!" She shouted.
"I'm glad to have found you too," he spoke, but it sounded echoed. He leaned down. The little girl gasped as she realized that it was not Kaelin. It was his demon. She screamed as the demon took her.
Kaelin was still running in the dark. He heard the little girl scream and he began to follow to where the scream was. He ran into a hallway where a small slimmer of moonlight shined upon. There something was galloping to him. A yellow bandana was seen and then Pepper came to view. She immediately began to pull on his pants. Kaelin nodded and they ran to a staircase and climbed them up.
The little girl struggled to get away from the demon. It growled with glee as it tightened its grip onto her. The little girl was getting worried! She needed to find Kaelin! She needed to be there with him. After all, he did carry her despite his heavy loss of strength. She kicked the monster on the jaw, which gave out a shriek and momentarily released her from its grip. She began to run, but the monster was faster.
Kaelin was now confused. He had climbed the stairs to only see that he is still at the bottom of the staircase. Pepper had disappeared, so he no longer had help. He decided to take a different route as he had tried at least eleven times to climb the stairs. He headed back to the hole from above, the one he fell through. Using the fallen pieces of wood, he was able to make a climbable pile. Though, he was still too short. He took a breath and jumped. He was able to barely get a good grip and used his remaining strength to get out of the hole. There, Pepper was waiting for him. Kaelin sighed as he got onto his feet. He felt fatigue, but he had to find the little girl. He climbed the stairs, finally reaching the first floor. He took a look around to see a shadow. He closely got close to it. That was when Kaelin wished he didn't fuck up. That demon was back! It was clutching the little girl's head. He screamed and the demon looked at him with the same damn smile!
"Let her go!" He shouted. The demon merely laughed. Kaelin didn't know what to do. He was out of strength, even if he wasn't he wasn't very strong. Time kept ticking and with each tick, Kaelin was losing hope. He finally gave in to his despair and fell onto his knees as the demon laughed maniacally. He crushed the little girl's skull. Kaelin watched as the blood flowed onto her beautiful dress. The demon threw her seemingly lifeless body to him.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you Kaelin," she whimpered. She held his hand and Kaelin had to watch the light leave from her bright eyes. Soon, she was dead. Kaelin cried as he held her body close to him. How could he allow a little girl to die?! How dare he still be alive! Kaelin kept crying and began to scream at the demon, who only began to walk closer. Once it got close enough, it began to choke him.
"This is your fault. All your fault. Nothing is good because of you. Everything is perfect when you're out of the equation. What's the point of you?" It growled gleefully. Kaelin stopped struggling. The demon was right. He had failed to save a little girl. He has failed to become someone with more worth. He was only a hermit sheep farmer that no one could care for. He had already accepted that fact in his mind, but now his heart was beginning to accept the words of this demon. "You couldn't even protect that menace." Kaelin was still crying. "No one in society wants you! No one wants you! No one wants you!" It began to chant. Kaelin could feel himself becoming limp. Then, Pepper headbutted the demon as well as Kaelin. It was as if she was telling him to not give up. He stood onto his two feet. He looked at Pepper.
"You're right. I can't give in. I won't listen to your tauntings!" Kaelin shouted. The demon then shrieked as it transformed into a more disfigured form. It still retained Kaelin's appearance, but it now had fangs, its pupils were sharp like a cats' eyes, and the hair curls that looked like a ram horn actually became horns. Kaelin picked the little girl's body and ran after Pepper, who had already begun to retreat. They bolted out of the house and into the forest once more. The dark, foggy scenery made it impossible to navigate therefore they were basically blind of their surroundings. They slowed down and just walked.
Kaelin could see an outline of a building. Pepper seemed to know this building as she ran to it. Kaelin had run out of stamina to run after her, so he is still walking. Once he was close enough, he could see the building was a house. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it. He finds the door and opens it. The house was in worse shape than his home. There seemed to be only one way to go in this house and it was up the stairs. Kaelin climbed the stairs and it seemed to be a dead end. There were no other doors and one window. Kaelin groaned. As he turned away from the window, he jumped. The demon was there. It was growling as it got closer to Kaelin.
"You hopeless bitch. Why are you even trying to get away? Can't accept the truth. That little girl is now merely a corpse," it growled as it grabbed the little girl's lifeless body. The demon continues to rip limbs off the body. "See, just a corpse. You're so pathetic. Just die." The demon lunged at him. "Everything around you is pathetic. Trash. Nothing around you is worth living for." The demon bit his shoulder and Kaelin cried out in pain. The demon was right. Kaelin knew that in the world he lived in, no one would die for him. He was always willing to do things for others, but no one would do the same. Why did he try so hard to let people like him? After all, he had his sheep. He didn't need anyone else. Dying didn't sound so bad. Perhaps, it was the best. He opened the window. There was a cliff and it was really high up. He sat on the ledge on the window. "Do it. It's so simple. Solve your problems now."
"You're right. I will," Kaelin said monotonous as he readied himself. At that moment, all of his life flashed before his very eyes. All of the abuse, bullying, and horror he had lived through only reminded him that what he was about to do was for the better good.
"Society is messed up. It's too much for your poor little soul," the demon taunted. Then something pulled Kaelin into the house. It was Pepper!
"Pepper, let go," Kaelin demanded. Pepper only responded by continuing to pull on his pants. Kaelin continued to try to get Pepper to release him. The chartreuse handkerchief soon fell out of his pocket. He picked it up and began to cry. He remembered how he found this with the little girl, who was in pieces because he was too weak and stupid to save her. Pepper got up close and Kaelin held his little lamb.
The demon soon pulled Pepper away from him and looked like he was ready to tear her leg. Kaelin couldn't watch another of his friends die. He used all the strength he had left and charged at the demon.
"Let her go!" Kaelin screamed as he held onto the demon's arm. The demon swung its arm, but Kaelin only bit down on its arm.
"What are you doing?! You were doing so well before this thing ruined it!"
"That's Pepper, she's my best friend," Kaelin shouted and bit the demon's arm once more. Kaelin knew that at this moment he could at least save Pepper.
Pepper got out of the demon's grip and now the fight was between Kaelin and the demon. The demon swung the arm that Kaelin was biting on, to the wall. Kaelin did not budge. He began to claw at the arm and kick wherever his feet would land on. The fight began to drag on until Pepper headbutted the demon and the two of them landed by the window. Kaelin released his bite as he knew the demon would most likely throw him off. Kaelin pushed the demon onto the window and used his fear of losing Pepper to give him the strength to push the demon off the window's ledge down to the cliff. Kaelin sat down and realized what he just did. He murdered someone. Whether it was a demon or not, it was still murder. The handkerchief that was forgotten once more was now pure white with splotches of chartreuse green. His eyes stung. His body was sore. His heart was beating too rapid to feel any comfort. He was burning. Kaelin closed his eyes and passed out.
His eyes opened and above him were beautiful kowhai flowers. Its elegant bright yellow petal to its dark green vine was perfect. He could see the flowers were dancing to the wind that breezed by. Kaelin sighed as he continued to watch the flower and he felt a wooly animal beside him. It was Pepper! He hugged Pepper. Pepper woke up and did not seem to care that she was being held tightly. Kaelin stood up.
"Let's go home," he whispered as he walked away from the beautiful scenery.
As he got closer to home, he noticed that the sheep were all there merely grazing the grass. There seemed to be no shock of his reappearance. Kaelin placed Pepper down and reminded her to not run off again. Kaelin turned to see his house and noticed there were three people in there. One of them being his brother. He walked to the door and entered. They all turned and were shocked. Jett was the first to speak.
"What the fuck happened to you?!" Jett shouted as he hugged him.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about?" Kaelin asked.
One of the other two people there, who turned out to be the police, stood up. "Sir, you've been missing for a week." Kaelin laughed.
"It's alright now. I'm here," Kaelin said. They looked at each other. Soon they all gazed at the wound on the right side of his cheek.
"Where did you get that?" Jett asked. Kaelin smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll patch it up myself. Anyways, want to head to town?" Kaelin asked. Jett's worried expression soon beamed into one of excitement.
After getting a quick check up with the police, the two brothers entered town. Jett still tried to get Kaelin to tell him why he was gone for so long, but Kaelin changed the topic quickly. In reality, Kaelin could barely remember. Though he did see a young lady with dark brown hair tied into a braid and she wore a scarlet red dress with white lapel. Her white hat covered her face, but Kaelin could guess how it looked like. He turned to his brother and smiled. They continued on their stroll around town.