The Spiralling

Chapter 26: Two girls, a closure

After that he went on to show me videos of Mindy's therapy sessions that had been going on for the past 3 weeks. For the first few days she was utterly vicious, rivalling anything I've seen on the comic strip even. It was what the doctor promised to show me after I've decided to cooperate completely- I had to know how she was doing, I had the right to know considering that I was her appointed guardian. It was that same stomach-twirling feeling again, the same feeling of repulsion and attraction that I feel when I was given access to information on Mindy.

The only thing shown to me was the fact that Mindy wasn't doing very well, and may very well never recover from what the doctor refers to as a 'parasite that has been festering in her for years'. For the first few days, she was always screaming about killing me, killing the psychiatrist and killing everyone else as she was struggling against her restraints and hurting herself over and over again. Not that she changed much for the next few weeks of footage.

She became calm after the first week, but she was still denying her real identity and existence- she was still Demoness. The other two weeks were spent talking to this shadow of Mindy's- and a cycle of violence and calm was established. One minute she would be dead calm and the next, she would erupt in a frenzy of hatred and crazy ranting. It wasn't very encouraging.

I wasn't given alot of opportunity to help. The most I was allowed to do was to answer questions, fill out a questionnaire and answer even more questions. It was as if they were purposely trying to put an anxiety disorder in me to gain another patient and more medical bills, I was that badly in need of sleeping pills. It didn't help that the doctor told me he wasn't sure what was best for Mindy.

Three months on... And Mindy wasn't even close to being out yet, she wasn't even close to being considered safe at all. Dr. Paul had tried most of his approaches... From Psychoanalysis to hypnosis and even one of those group session things, out of many other therapies I have no idea about. Nothing worked, and she had to be pulled away from the group session before any other patients, including herself, were killed.

I couldn't recognise her anymore in the latest video, it was hard to believe three months had passed, the way Mindy had changed. She became pale and yellowish, her hair dishevelled and covering most of her face which I had forgotten for the most part how it used to look and scars running across her skin everywhere. I cried when I saw a clear video of how she looked. She was so thin and frail by that time.

The best prognosis they could give me was that Mindy could be released after a year of intensive treatment, with limited recovery and much collateral damage to her mental stability that she would only at most be a shadow of her former, glorious self. Mindy became my concern, my only real obsession as my life on the streets as Kick-Ass faded away and my school grades began to drop. I don't really even talk to my dad anymore. I'm not exactly in a talking mood with my friends either, and Marcus was still confined to the hospital- He was one person I couldn't bring myself to visit.

If it even mattered at all, the city has since recovered unlike us, her heroes. The streets were a few hundred times safer, with no other supervillains in sight anymore, and people became unafraid to walk the night roads again. The police took up the flag where I left it. It was as if my adventure had never happened and those involved had never existed. It was a happiness I was glad the city could have once again, but I hated it all the same.

But don't feel sad for me. I may have suffered but it was nothing if you look at my Godsister. I could even say I may have won something from this mess on a grand scale, but Mindy... I can't even hope that she would even pull through her inner demons alive...

Somewhere else...

The sky was blue with continents of white cotton wool drifting by. It was a sunny day, a very cheerful one- something that was a luxury after what had transpired months ago. Months may have separated now from the blood that was shed then, but the effects were still fresh on the old man's mind.

Grandmaster Aldan was strolling lightly through a flat, well-mown field. In a distance were children playing, and the sound of their happiness carried through to him. It managed to put a smile on his weathered face- the happiness of children did indeed have an infectious quality.

The children were flanked by a large multi-storied school-like complex. Appearance-wise, it was of an old design consisting of steel and concrete complemented by wood and stone, but it served only to widen Aldan's smile even more.

Watching over the children was a tall, lean man in his forties, dressed in black with a bible clutched in his hand, which was hanging limply beside his hip. He was a Catholic priest, and one of the caretakers of the building. Approaching him, Aldan stuck out a gentle hand as a form of courtesy. The priest took it.

"A fine day to you sir, Grandmaster Aldan." The priest greeted the brawny old man as he shook his strong hand, "I am glad you could find the time to be here- God be on your side, every possible factor is in your favour today!"

"My good friend, I am at a loss of words- I can't wait!" Aldan, breaking his tradition regarding the way with words and mannerism, exclaimed, truly excited for the first time in the decade. Several children stopped playing, and looked to Grandmaster Aldan as though he was about to adopt them all.

"Words may need not be involved- Go, and receive your blessing!" The priest, with a wide, beaming smile, said to his friend and gave him a gentle push, a gesture for him that fits his speech. Aldan went ahead, and paced through the crowd of children slowly, his eyes scanning the entire field as the entire crowd stopped what they were doing to watch.

At first, the old man could not find what he was looking for, and panic sets in. 'What if there has been but a mistake to be realised here?' The thought entered his mind as he fought to keep his iron calm from breaking. There was a Chinese boy in one corner, a Russian in another, a group of New Yorkers at several places... 'Where is she?' His mind was conspiring to fail him, to make him break down before a whole company of young souls.

He was wading through a sea of children, searching through what was becoming a stormy sea, until he saw a light in the distance. In a group estranged from the rest sat a pale girl on the ground- she has a wooden sword in one arm, and a wooden buckler in another. Her peers wield similar instruments. A lady was with them, someone in leather, and someone carrying a much larger weapon- a wooden claymore.

He started after them; sure that he had found what he seek. The budding swordsmen began turning to look at him, the pale girl the last to do so, and when she did, the smile that Aldan had started with returned to him, directed at the pale-skinned girl. The smile, for another time, was reciprocated in agreement, this time in a way... That would last for eternity.

"Nevaeh!"

The End