Naraku No Hana

Chapter 5: Into the Nothing

"Screaming on the inside, I am frail and withered/ Cover up the wounds
That I can't hide/ Walls that lie between us, The saint within the sinner/
I have lost the nerve, But it's all right/ Carry the wounded and shut your eyes,
All will be forgiven/ None will rise/Bury the fallen and lead the blind/
I will fight the loss, Dead inside."

-Breaking Benjamin "Into the Nothing"

Note: I am finally back from IMPACT and I need a little bit of time to get back into the groove I've worked myself into. If this turns out to be crap, DON'T BLAME IT SOLLELY ON ME! Enjoy.

I walked out of my house bright and early the next day to my new job in the city that wasn't too terribly far from my neighborhood. I'd been approved as a editor for NERVE publishing since I am very critical of creative works.

Anyway, the sun was shining behind the smog of the city's many industrial complexes, and it was a nice, mild day in September. I smiled to myself, if only the day could really be as good as the weather would make it seem.

When I finally made it, I sighed and sat behind my desk, typing random words on the computer to pass the steadily creeping hours.

Just as I was typing "Justin Bieber is a tool" for about the zillionth time, a lady finally entered. "Excuse me, Ms. G; I'm here to deliver my manuscript." she said.

I looked up to see that she was in her teens wearing huge glasses, pimply, with full blown braces headgear, and wearing a "Team Edward" t-shirt that was only slightly obscured from view by her long, oily, bright pink hair that was down but had two tiny, limp pigtails sticking out the sides of her head. I did my best to give her a phony smile, "Sure!" I said, gritting my teeth as I said so.

She placed the stack of paper on my desk and took a seat on one of the blue, cushioned chairs that was in my office, smiling at me in a way that stated she wasn't leaving until I had read the entire thing.

I took a look at the title and it made me practically want to throw up acid, Twilight, the story of Edward leaving stupid Bella for the fabulousness of Maria Finite. "Um, who is Maria?" I asked, trying to hold down the apple I'd eaten for breakfast.

Her face lit up behind her thick, corrective lenses, "Me, silly!" she exclaimed.

"Right," I muttered, annoyed with her already, "why would I have guessed any different?"

I went on to read it, 50,000 words of pure, vomit and dry heave worthy sappiness. What truly upset me was the way she was so unoriginal, and portrayed herself as this beautiful vampire supermodel who was "just perfect" for mister moody bloodsucker himself. If she was going to write such an abomination, then what stopped her from even doing an accurate representation of herself (note: Author is usually true to her actual appearance since she is fine with the way god made her, she only leaves out the details that none wants to know about.)?

"So," started Maria, her face appearing to be frozen in the dopey "happy" expression, "What do you think of my NaNoWriMo project?"

I sat myself upright in the chair, to make myself sound and look a little more professional, "Firstly, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, not week, and that's in November. This is September, you're two months early. Secondly, you don't have an original idea. Though I sincerely dislike this fact Stephanie Myer already wrote the Twilight saga, so you cannot legally call this work your own."

"But I'm not really stealing!" Maria whined, her eyes tearing up at my remarks.

"Yes, that brings me to third; you did not put any kind of disclaimer at the beginning saying that you are NOT in fact Mrs. (is she married? Eh, what do I care) Myer, so you can't publish it without one. Fourth, this has to be the worst piece of crap story that I've read since the REAL Twilight books came out! Fifth, this has the preexisting themes and characters as Twilight! Sixth, this is not the least bit an original idea for reasons previously stated! Seventh, you made yourself a character, but you gave a totally inaccurate description of yourself."

"How can you tell?" She asked indignantly, tears still streaming from her bloodshot eyes as her face screwed up in an unhappy expression."

"Kid, I know you're not twenty. I also can see that your skin is not in fact snow white and or blemish free. I can tell that you are not employed as a Brazilian fashion model, they're taller and darker than you are and they probably speak English with a slight Spanish accent which you don't."

"Why...Why else wouln't you publish it?" She asked in a squeaky tone that reminded me of my old pet mouse "Desperoux" after the book character.

"Because it is lastly a FAN FICTION!" I yelled, "IF YOU WANT TO WRITE THIS SORT OF CRAP PUT ON WWW. FAN FICTION. NET ! IT ISN'T WORTH PUBLISHING AS A BOOK, WHY NOT KEEP IT TO YOUR LITTLE OLD SELF, OR IF YOU REALLY, AND I MEAN REALLY, WISH TO THRUST YOUR PIECE OF TRASH INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S FACES, GET A FRICKIN' ACCOUNT AND PUT IT ONLINE SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN FLAME IT FOR ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Maria continued to cry silently and nodded her head rapidly, "Then get your butt out of my office this second, am I understood?"

She nodded again as she shot out of my office, crying and wailing as she sprinted out of the building. I sighed and got up to go get a glass of water, yelling had really hurt my throat more than I would have liked. I walked calmly down the halls ignoring the shrieks of Maria as she headed out of the building.

When I finally made it to the break room, I grabbed one of those dumb-looking paper cones and filled it to its brim with cold water. I gulped it down greedily, feeling its frigidness heal my stressed vocal cords. After about five more cone-fuls of water, I headed back to my office, feeling a little more accomplished and almost the slightest bit happy. That is, until I bumped into someone.

She dropped all of the belongings she'd been clutching in her skinny arms, and was pushed forward, "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?" She screeched, I now saw that she was about my age with purple hair that was styled into two pigtails that were at the back of her head. She was pale with bright green eyes and wore a coat which was light magenta, a backpack, black pants and boots. "Sorry!" I said hastily with the slightest hint of anger, "Whatever," she replied grumpily, "just help me pick up my stuff."

I got on the ground and saw that she was carrying obviously home-made paintings. One of a dark, moonlit forest, another of the city from a very high place, and the last one was of a crazy looking man in a straightjacket in the "Happy Room". "These are exquisite." I said breathless.

"What?" She said skeptically, "You actually like my paintings?"

"Yea!" I said excitedly, "you're a great artist!"

She actually smiled this time, "Thanks," she said, "my name is Devi, Devi D."

"I'm Jenny G." I said, extending my hand, "I'm pleased to meet you!"

"Hey, I'll see you around; I gotta get these to my publisher." She said, walking away and waving slightly.

I'd possibly just made a new friend, it seemed.

Nny's POV

"So, yea, I get these odd feelings when I'm around that girl. I don't know what it is about her that makes me go all crazy. She's really nice, sweet, and genuine. I can't see anything really fake about her, I mean, she's not hesitant to tell people things, but I'm talking about how she doesn't put on a mask for me or others. She is always being herself and no one other than herself. I dunno, that sounded kind of stupid to me, but I think that's an accurate representation of how I'm feeling. But, really, whenever I think about her, I get butterflies in my stomach, my judgment gets all cloudy, and I can't seem to get a grip on my reality. I don't know what I should do. Wait, now I know! I'll call her about the get together, and I'll tell her tonight at the right moment! Whew, it feels good to let it all out. You're a great consoler." I said to the man that I had strapped into one of my torture devices. "C-can I go please?" He asked fearfully.

"Why certainly, my bestest friend!" I said, releasing him as I said, "Oh, and I think this goes without saying but, don't tell anyone or try to find me again, or I wouln't be so lenient."

He nodded, and sprinted out of my house. I breathed in deeply before pulling out my phone and calling Jenny.

"Hi, Jenny." I said happily, "So, where do you want to meet? The mall? 7:30 good? Ok, I'll see you tonight!"

I hung up, and screamed "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" as loud as humanly possible. I had a date, and I felt like things were finally looking up.

And there you have it! Sorry it took me so long, I haven't been very inspired lately, but it's done and long to make up for my absence. Anyway, please review and maybe add to your favorites list, it really helps me out a lot. HERE COMES A BRO-FIST! BYEEEEEEE BAM!