All right, here we get the identity of HeartBreak Kid, Paul and Brian's fate, and some more stuff that will shock you.
But don't take my word for it, read on.
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London and Kendrick's Suicide Table
Dedicated to NeroAnne, Terrahfry, Redsandman99 and Seraphalexiel
by Green Phantom Queen
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Chapter 3-London and Kendrick's Meeting
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Despite having the excitement of being on our own and off to find our hidden savior, we had realized one important thing. We were still virgins, never had girlfriends before. However, our love and determination to leave together was enough.
"Brian." said Paul, as the two stared at a giant decorated Christmas tree in the center of town. "I love you, you know that?"
"Me too." Brian added. "Even when we were back at the orphanage, I always felt as if I couldn't survive without you. Maybe we're like John and Randy...sweet as candy."
"Those two took it pretty hard when it came to their separation." Paul added. "I hope that never happens to us."
"It won't." said Brian in a reassuring tone. "Nothing shall separate me from you, and I swear to God I'll kill whoever tries to separate us."
Paul laughed a bit. "You sound like you're my overprotective knight in shining armor."
"Maybe I am; how many times have I stood up for you during the orphanage?"
"Tons. But I was always the one who helped you out with your math homework."
"Don't remind me." Brian added. "Man that Layfield is a bastard when it came to teaching us Economics; if it wasn't for the fact that it was basic math, I would've died."
"That's what these necklaces are for, right?" asked Paul, showing his necklace to Brian. It was a pendant on a chain, the pendant in a shape of a small comedy mask. Brian had the same thing, but his mask was the tragedy mask. "We bought them to show that even though we're different, we're still part of one personality."
"Aw, that's sweet." said Brian, clasping his brother's hand. "That really is..."
Everything in San Antonio made us feel anxious; it wasn't the sites, it wasn't the people and it wasn't the fact that we ran away from home. It was everything, and we enjoyed that feeling.
"We should be finding a place to stay for the night." said Paul, checking his wristwatch. "It's almost midnight."
"Well, it was a very long bus ride." said Brian. "Of course it'll be almost midnight."
As we were walking, it felt like there were worries about nothing and there's everything around it. We liked that feeling. Life, love, growing up....they all felt weird. We wanted to tackle something; we wanted to go somewhere to find it.
The two began to walk once more, children noticing their masks, people wondering if they were actors in theater, but others just ignored them. It didn't matter, the brothers just wanted to be somewhere, and someone.
We wanted to do so many things: we wanted to live, challenge, wish, forget, learn, know, ask....
The sound of ringing reached the brothers' ears. They soon saw a sidewalk Santa, ringing a bell to attract givers of money to a small red pail. Searching their pockets, they found a couple of coins inside. They then walked toward the man, dropping the coins into the bucket, hearing them 'clink' with the other coins. The two walked off, waving good bye to the Santa who gave them a big grin under his white, cotton beard.
"Thank you very much!" said Santa. "And Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!"
We wanted to see, stare, understand, hear, listen, speak and meet...But most importantly, we just wanted to be there. We wanted to stand with our own heart; we wanted to stand on our own legs.
"Look!" said Brian, pointing to a sign. "An Internet café!"
There wasn't anything else left to say as the two ran toward the building. They opened the door, letting them be soaked by the warm atmosphere and the smell of coffee. Other patrons were there, dressed in over coats and mittens, hats upon their heads, and lips sipping on cocoa and nibbling on sweet delicacies. At one side of the café was a wall full of computers, and people on them. Some typing messages, others playing online games. The two set their bags down on a lone computer, booting the internet up and typing in the URL to their site.
We had to talk to HeartBreak Kid before he left, so we logged onto hara-kiri. We knew he'd be there; he had to be there.
Once they were on the login page, Brian immediately typed in their user name. Paul then took the keyboard to write their long password. Then, the login page was replaced by a giant loading wheel. The two waited for some time, before getting onto the homepage of the red heart and bloodied katana. There was also something that interested them: on the upper left hand corner, was a red '15' and on the bottom right hand corner was a white '23'. The two ignored the numbers as they immediately went to the message board.
"The others are asleep." Paul whispered to his brother. "Let's hope HBK isn't."
Brian nodded his head and began to type out the first few sentences of their message.
To HeartBreak Kid:
Subject: We're here.
Message: HBK? It's HooliganZ. I finally ran away from home and came to San Antonio. I'm typing this message at an internet café right now, but I'll be staying at a cheap hotel tonight. Can we meet in person tomorrow before you leave? I'll be free all day; maybe I'll be free forever.
The two stared at the message for some time, trying to figure out what to say. Then, Paul took the keyboard and continued to type.
I've been pretending to be busy right until now; I feel naked, to tell you the truth. To find myself being suddenly without restraint makes me feel naked. It's like I'm walking around naked; I'm a bit self-conscious. Just today, I realized that I was still a virgin; maybe that's because I feel naked now.
Once they went through their spelling and grammar, Brian clicked on the 'send' button. They then re-read through the message a couple of times, before it hit them.
"We sound like any other desperate teen." said Paul in a dejected tone. "We were fools..."
The only thought that was running through our heads was 'Did we disappoint him'? We hope we didn't...
We met up online with HBK —as we affectionately called him—last summer. He was the creator of hara-kiri, and replied to every message regarding teenagers who cried and pleaded for help. It didn't matter if you were male or female; rest assured, he would listen. He was a God, a God upon all Gods that were there to hear us. He sent us messages to be strong, and to do our best...and it motivated us to truly become HooliganZ; to become that single person with two voices. But then we wondered: could Paul and Brian meet up with HeartBreak Kid in person?
Sitting at that monitor in the café made us somehow realize something obvious that we didn't take in for quite some time; we weren't HooliganZ. We were worried that he wouldn't want to waste time with two 'voices' like us. But as we were contemplating on our future plan, he replied....
HeartBreak Kid: I'll be at the San Antonio Station at 11 AM. You can find me at locker H B K. You're just in time too; Galaxion, Surge, Prototype, Viper, Capt. Charisma and Stryker are all here with me. They'd love to see you. Well, have a good night's sleep and see you in the morning.
We were ecstatic; HeartBreak Kid and the whole gang were here. We soon logged off and left the café—but not before getting some hot cocoa for the road. We asked directions for a hotel and soon found a Holiday Inn not far from where we were at. The problem then came to mine; what last names were we going to use? If we used our real last name, then they'd call dad right away.
Paul and Brian immediately explained their situation to the hotel registration. Things were going smoothly until she asked them what their names were.
"I'm Paul....London." said Paul, without any second thought. "London, as in the 'Fortress on the moon'."
"And I'm Brian Kendrick." Brian added. "It's Kendra, minus the 'a', then add 'ick'."
We just found those names interesting for some reason or another; as long as we could get some sleep and a nice hotel room, then it didn't matter if we had to change our names to Sanchez-Garcia or something on the lines of that. Either way, it was accepted and we got keys to one of their last hotel rooms: room 221.
Swiping the key card, Paul and Brian smiled at what was in front of them: a hotel room with white walls, a table with delicacies, a dresser which also had a television in it, and one regular bed. They immediately set their stuff and began dressing themselves in pajamas. Since it felt awkward to let one change in the bathroom and one outside, the two stood on opposite sides of the bed, backs facing each other, and changed there. Once they were done, they immediately made their beds and set the alarm for around 8 AM.
We had to have at least 3 hours to prepare. To be prepared emotionally, breakfast, money, looks...no, it was to be prepared emotionally. The lights were turned off, and we tucked ourselves in. Then we kissed each others' foreheads; something we used to do whenever we shared a bed together, as if to dispel any bad thoughts or nightmares that could harm us.
"Good night, Paul." said Brian. "Sleep tight."
"Don't let the bed bugs bite." Paul replied teasingly. Brian smiled as the two wrapped their arms around each other, soon letting themselves be taken into a deep slumber.
The two of us faded into the darkness, but we were ripe. We were ripe for growth, for maturity, and for the road in front of us.
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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
At the sound of the alarm clock, Paul and Brian immediately woke up, pressing their palms on the button to stop the ringing. They stared at the clock; it was 8 AM.
We didn't dream, but when we woke up, it was if we were transported into the dream realm. Being active, just being alive, just being awake...we were happy.
"You hungry?" asked Paul. Brian shook his head.
"I feel like I'll throw up rather than stomach solid food." Brian replied."And besides, toast doesn't agree with me at 8 AM in the morning."
We eventually decided on eating a banana nut muffin from the hotel's breakfast. We split it half and drank some milk with it. After that, we took separate showers and then got dressed. Once we put those masks on, we were no longer Paul and Brian; we were HooliganZ.
Paul's outfit consisted of a white vest and pants with black stripes streaming down both, which trailed down onto a pair of black boots. On the back of his vest was the face of a jester and his face was covered by his Comedy mask. Brian's outfit was in complete opposite of his brother's—black with white stripes but with the same jester face on the back of his vest and his Tragedy mask over his face. They stared at each other in the bathroom mirror, making sure that everything was set. Once they checked, they placed their coats on once more, pulling the dangling threads hanging on their sleeves.
We ran away from home, and threw away that thread that connected to our past. Checking out of the hotel, we dragged our luggage all the way to the meeting place: San Antonio Amtrak Station. It took us some time, due to us unable to read maps, but we eventually made it.
Walking through the doors, Paul and Brian found potential passengers sitting on benches. Kids coloring and doodling or playing with toys, women chatting on cell phones, or pre-teens playing with their game consoles. The hustle and bustle of people preparing for trips, or just meeting up with friends and family who traveled on the trains, it was just filled with noise.
As we were wrapped up in the excitement on meeting up with our hero, we stopped in our tracks. We had no idea what he meant by 'H B K', and we had only a few minutes before we had to go meet up with him.
The two picked up the pace, looking left and right trying to get a glimpse of HeartBreak Kid. HeartBreak Kid never posted a picture of what he looked like, nor did he described what he looked like—although his profile stated he was a male. The tension started to sink into the two after they had asked someone about 'H B K', that they were never going to find their savior.
After aimlessly wandering for about three minutes, we figured out what it meant: H B K was like a combination for a locker: 8 2 11. We immediately went to the lockers, going through the mini-labyrinth in an attempt to find the center of the maze and find HeartBreak Kid. I didn't like it for a minute; even though we know where he was, we didn't know which locker he was at. We were just about to give up hope when...
One of the locker doors closed; Paul and Brian turned to see a man staring at them. He was pretty handsome, long brown hair in a ponytail with a cream coat, white blouse and black chaps. He also had a cream colored cowboy hat on top of his head and his twinkling blue eyes and smile would make any girl swoon for him. What was interesting about him was the silver cross around his neck: it was inverted with a diamond on the top, a ruby in the middle, and a black opal on the bottom.
Paul and Brian stared in shock; this was the man they were searching for?
"HeartBreak Kid?" Brian gasped out. HeartBreak Kid let out a grin.
"So, which one of you is HooliganZ?" asked the man, his voice in a deep tenor. "And call me Shawn, Shawn Michaels."
This man was HeartBreak Kid? We could believe it! He was a married man, handsome and with children also from the looks of it! Damn it, he really did a good job in hiding his identity from everyone on hara-kiri.
"We're both HooliganZ." said Paul in reply to Shawn's question. "I'm Paul, and this is my brother Brian."
"Nice to meet you." said Shawn, extending his hand out to both of them. Paul and Brian grasped their hands into his, giving Shawn an introducing handshake.
"You too." Brian and Paul replied simultaneously. Despite the awkwardness in the whole situation, the two boys felt safe...safer than they had ever felt.
"Now come on, you two." said Shawn. "We're having lunch at my house. And with you guys, that's about...fourteen people feasting."
"So it's true that Surge, Galaxion, Viper and the others are here?" asked Brian. Shawn nodded his head.
"Yep, but don't take my word on it." Shawn replied. "Just see it for yourself."
December 2007. We wrote this on hara-kiri. Are you listening to this, Ash?
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The car was a cream colored van, suitable for seven. Paul and Brian were sitting in the middle, their luggage in the trunk among a pile of groceries as the feeling of silence crept inside their stomachs. Even with the light breakfast, there were butterflies in their stomach, waiting for the perfect chance to escape.
While we were in the car, we were having butterflies. It was sickening. And as we were there, we thought about you, and how we that you were worried about us. We got in the van, and traveled all the way to Shawn's house not far from the station, and it was huge.
Parking the car in the garage, Brian and Paul stepped out, gasping in shock and awe. It was a house that was around 1,500 acres—it was a rough estimate—which was a beautiful shade of red. White lilies were planted in the front yard, the grass was mowed and neat...it was beautiful.
"Welcome to my humble abode." said Shawn, getting out of the car. "Pretty neat, huh?"
"Daddy's here! Daddy's here!" cried a voice. Paul and Brian soon saw two young kids—a boy and a girl—running toward them. The two soon wrapped their arms around Shawn's legs, big smiles on their faces. Shawn also smiled, leaning forward and hugging his son and daughter.
"Did you two behave while I was gone?" asked Shawn. The boy and girl nodded their heads. "Good." He then stood up and moved out of the way, so Paul and Brian could see them clearly: the boy was around 7 with short brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tea with a soccer ball on it. The girl was around 3 had her hair in brown ringlets and was dressed in a red and white lace dress and dress shoes.
"Paul, Brian, meet my children." said Shawn. "Meet Cameron Kade and Cheyenne Michelle. Say hello, you two."
"Hi." said the two kids, looking at Brian and Paul with interest. There was some silence, the only thing heard was the sound of birds chirping and cars driving from behind to their respective garages.
"What?" asked Paul. "Is there something on our faces?"
"...why are you wearing those masks?" asked Cameron, pointing to the mask on Paul's face.
It took us a long time before it hit in; after what we had done, we had completely forgotten to remove our masks. That was kind of embarrassing.
"Whoops." said Paul, lifting his mask and moving it to the right side of his head. Brian did the same with his, moving his mask to the left. "Guess in all this excitement we forgot."
"Do you play games?" asked Cheyenne. "We can play 'Go Fish' if you like. Or maybe you can read me some stories!"
"Now, now you two." said Shawn. "Paul and Brian just got here, so let them put their clothes away and meet up with some of the other guests."
"Okay!" said both Cameron and Cheyenne, kissing their father on the cheek. They then ran off to the house, giggling and talking to themselves.
It was peaceful; HeartBreak Kid took time for all of the teenagers on hara-kiri, despite having a life and family for his own. It was amazing, and I hope you were here to see this.
Paul and Brian pulled their luggage out of the trunk and soon entered the house, seeing white, black and red couches on a creamy white rug—why those colors, they didn't know—amongst an oak wood floor. Sitting in the living room were six teenage boys, all of them watching a match with the San Antonio Spurs on. There were two boys sitting on each couch, all with their eyes glued to the game.
"Damn it!" said one of the boys—one with long blonde hair wearing a white blouse and black pants on the black couch. He even had a necklace with a silver cross on his chest and black sunglasses covering his eyes. "Kurt Thomas, get your butt in the game!"
"Dude," said another blonde haired boy, one with long blonde hair but also had a black ski cap, giant white sunglasses, a black shirt and pants. "It's just a game, don't get yourself so worked up about it."
"Guess you missed the memo, Jay." said a third boy. His hair was a mixture of gold, purple and green with green sparkling eyes to match. He was also wearing a black tee and black armbands with holes upon his arms. Draping his waist was a pair of black jeans with a white towel on the belt loop; he also had black tiger stripes on his cheeks.
"Galaxion?!" Paul and Brian screeched simultaneously. The six boys turned away from the basketball game and saw Paul and Brian. There was some more silence, then Galaxion stood up.
"Oh, hi HooliganZ!" said Galaxion, waving at them. "How nice to see both of you at last."
"Wait a minute, Jeff." said a black haired boy, inching closer to Galaxion. From what they could see, he had a white button long sleeved shirt and black pants, and had a white bandanna wrapped around his head. "HooliganZ is TWO people?"
"Of course they were, Matt." said Jeff—or as he was known on hara-kiri, "Galaxion". "I mean it was obvious by the way they spoke. They spoke Iin paragraphs, and each paragraph had a different personality...as if they were going back and forth. Of course, a bipolar person wouldn't talk like that, so it was obvious that two people had to be HooliganZ!"
"You owe me five bucks, John." said the person on the black couch. Paul and Brian soon got on tiptoe and found John and Randy exchanging money. Their jaws dropped.
"Wait, you two are here?!" Paul exclaimed. Randy and John looked up, both of them grinning to see their former classmates.
"Well of course we're here." said John. "I'm Prototype and Randy's Viper; we both moved to Houston two years ago, and just got to San Antonio three days ago. Never expected that the fun loving jester HooliganZ were you two."
"I'm Adam." said the boy next to Jay. "But I'm known as Stryker online. And the guy next to you is Christian, my brother—aka Capt. Charisma."
"We're twins." said Jay. "Although I'm the more sociable one of the two. So...what was with the sharing of one user name?"
"We only had one computer in our room." Brian replied. He then turned to Matt. "So, that leaves you as Surge."
"Galaxion's brother." Matt ended. "Well...we're the only ones out of...what, 30 people, who could make it to San Antonio. Tough break."
"They're gonna miss out on a lot." said Jeff. "I heard that Shawn will make us complete members of the Kliq."
Rewind, make us complete members? Didn't Matt—I mean, Surge—say he was already a member of the Kliq?
"I thought you guys were already members of the Kliq." said Paul. "That was what your brother told us, Jeff."
"Ah, it was a lie." said Matt. "I just said that to make people afraid. Besides, the Kliq is an awesome place. My friends though, they became members of the Kliq a couple of years ago and got jobs working under the leader her. Imagine my thought to find that HeartBreak Kid being the leader of the Kliq."
"That's enough, Surge...don't need to go in the history of my brain child." The eight turned to see Shawn walking toward them, but he wasn't alone. To his left was a man about 6' 2", wearing a black cowboy hat that covered his brown hair, a black trench coat, black gloves, black pants with a demonic face on each leg, and black boots. His blue eyes were sparked with a cold wave of electricity, making the eight shudder in fear. It became worse when he ran his thumb over his neck, as if to say "You are about to die", all the while his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
The figure on Shawn's right was a different story. He shared the same long, brown hair like the man on Shawn's right, but he was wearing a red bodysuit with black jagged triangles on the left shoulder. His right hand was covered by a glove, and an evil red mask with black jagged triangles on the upper right corner. His eyes—one grey and one blue—stared at the eight with some sort of maniacal glee.
"You're the only ones, huh?" asked Shawn. The eight teenagers nodded their heads. "Well, can't be too surprised, but others shall come...eventually. I like to introduce you to my friends Kane, and Undertaker."
"Who?" asked Jay, cocking his head to the side.
"Undertaker," said Shawn, pointing to the black cloaked man on his left. "Also known on hara-kiri as 'Phenom'. Kane--" He pointed to the man on his right. "Known as 'Doomsday' on hara-kiri."
When he revealed those names, it hit us like a ton of bricks. Phenom and Doomsday were names of the moderators of the site; if HeartBreak Kid couldn't read your messages, these were the two to talk to. They told us their stories about how HeartBreak Kid saved them, and their advice was about becoming someone else. It was cold, and chilling...but eventually, the messages to us were numb and it penetrated through our bodies like a sheet of ice.
"I applaud to the fact that you decided to come and meet me." Shawn continued. "However, you can no longer be who you are; in this world, those who fall into their own roles that they had adapted to, what they have been given, and how they were dictated by family...then they rot. I learned this the hard way, and taught myself to be reborn. Here you all are, each and every one of you came here because you had pain and suffering that no one could relate to. I can relate to your pain, and if you join me, then there will be no more pain. There will be no more insults and that question—that question that has been bugging you this whole time—shall be answered. Are you connected to yourselves?"
The boys didn't say anything. Shawn just stared at them before giving them a gentle smile.
"Don't worry, it'll come to you all soon enough." He answered back. "But first, how about lunch?"
December 2007. Are you reading this Ash? This is the last message you'll find from your beloved brothers; from this point on, they no longer exist on the face of this Earth.