PART 2 - CHAPTER 7: Hopeless & Broken, But!

Jack Samr, a lone teenager coated in his own wrapped failure, while being a burden to society, couldn’t help but smile off all the feelings of hopelessness. Currently he was walking along a dirt trail near the edge of town, with a creepy and empty smile on his face. It was the signs of a broken man, which was evident as the aroma of disappointment leaked from his pores. He took the time to admire the environment’s beauty, staring at the dazzling trees with his cold gaze of failure, even going as far as pretending that everything was fine.

Jack started singing out of nowhere, convincing his own foolishness that nothing was wrong and that the world around him was completely normal. He started laughing like some crazed lunatic, scaring away the animals with the sounds of his own delusion.

His phone rang and he quickly frowned, answering it with the look of disgust. “Hello?” he asked very angrily. It was only Eric, who seemed worried and wanted Jack to come back home. Jack quickly presumed it was time for another mission so he quickly hung up, thinking that was the case.

He sighed, then expressed a half ass grin of lies and headed back home. But as he turned around, he spotted someone standing at the end of the trail looking rather mysterious and abnormal. Jack didn’t seem worried. Instead, he chuckled very stupidly and decided to run towards the person without any precaution.

He hummed a song filled with delusional solitude while he ran, but as he got closer to that person, something stopped him dead in his tracks. He tried to move, but was frozen in place. He couldn’t even move his mouth let alone his arms. His eyes bounced around erratically like ping pong balls trapped inside a container. Jack stopped his crazy eye movement and looked forward, getting a clearer picture of the person who stood at the end of the trail. The picture was clear now. His eyes dilated out of shock and now he knew who it was. It was that woman in the red dress he saw back at home in that one day of gray.

She had her hand up and started walking towards a frozen Jack with rose red eyes that glowed so hauntingly. The sky turned to a sunset orange when she snapped her fingers. The trees around Jack started to blossom roses instead of leaves. The air around him felt chilly and the clouds above were as gray as concrete.

She stopped and stood there, staring at Jack for a while as he continued to struggle, but her eyes were too gorgeous for him to look away.

Without saying a single word, she shed bloody tears. She looked at him like he was someone so pitifully shameful and stupid.

Jack’s eyes trembled from the pain of staying open. They were burning and felt irritated. He was getting more annoyed until she placed her hands together as if she were about to pray.

What is this? The fuck…

She wiped the trails of red and her eyes dimmed down to expose her beautiful eyes of teal blue. “Don’t lose hope, dear Jack. She still needs…” Before she could finish her sentence, the air around them became vile and sad.

Crows started landing on the red blossom trees when she saw someone behind Jack. She knew who it was and she was furious.

Lowering her hands to her sides, she knit her brows, and a fierce glint grew in those holy eyes. “What are you doing here, you horrid being of corruption?”

Jack couldn’t tell who was behind him. He even felt someone rub his back very gently, and it was starting to give him quite the scare. Someone continued rubbing his back when she exposed herself from around his shoulder, giggling very innocently.

“I should ask you the same thing. Surprised to see me?” It was the girl in the white dress, but this time she had beautifully glazed purple eyes that were filled with love and malice.

The woman in red noticed right away. “Your face! You have eyes now?” She looked back at Jack with a look of disappointment. “It must’ve been something that was partially his own involvement and doing, am I correct?”

The girl in white chuckled, finally walking out from behind Jack. “A little bit, but a couple of idiots decided to have me parted to be with my hubby, so you can say that. You’re still wondering how I’m here, by his side, huh?”

The crows that landed on the trees of beauty began cawing. Their horrid, screeching sounds started killing all the red trees. One by one the roses died, falling off the trees as they drifted onto the ground.

“You see… it wasn’t easy, but the moment he said it, he gave up!” She walked behind Jack again. This time her amethyst eyes weren’t so beautiful when they widened.

She drifted a hand across his back, then out of nowhere she stabbed her pale hand right through Jack’s chest, all the way to the front where the woman in red could witness such grotesqueness.

Jack was finally able to move his mouth again, but not how he wanted. Instead, he gagged out a pool of blood. But for some reason he didn’t feel any pain. She drove that pearly white hand of hers back into his chest, then grabbed his beating heart and gently groped it.

“He became mine! Mine! Well, almost mine…” she muttered as she started breathing heavily. “You have no idea how much I wanted to be with him. Oh! We’ve grown. It’s almost like we’re ready for marriage now!” With her face flustered and the tormented giggles haunting the forest, she gently squeezed his heart and sighed softly out of enjoyment.

The woman in red got even angrier. She lifted her arms and widened them, then changed the entire environment around them. The gray clouds had turned blood red, as thunderous crackles of her anger rocked the very heavens. The girl in white finally realized it was no joking matter. She felt frightened and held onto Jack.

Lightning came through the red clouds, but for some odd reason it wasn’t striking the ground. Instead, it appeared to be striking the skies like a bunch of electrical hoses. The sky shattered like glass. Reality as they knew it fell to the ground as giant shards of glass. She stopped the falling shards by snapping her fingers. They dangled like giant crystals of uncertain hope.

The girl in white trembled with fear. She quickly healed Jack to ease her menacing actions, then apologized for getting carried away. She held onto Jack even tighter, but the woman in red pointed at Jack.

Everything paused. She gazed up at the broken vessel of space. Just when things were finally simmering down, she used some unknown force to toss Jack aside, bumping him against a tree which immediately knocked him out.

The woman in red lowered her hand and slowly walked to the girl in the white dress. Every step her violet heels took made the erratic veins of lightning go on standby, which suddenly struck near the girl and terrified her. The dead rose petals came back to life. They floated off the ground and flew to the woman in red. They twirled around her like a magnificent red tornado, but slowed down and turned into holy white petals.

Pieces of reality that were floating about finally collapsed to the ground like giant fragile glass. The woman in red finally stopped walking. The shards of reality that kept shattering around them like a razor rain of gorgeous death, stopped in mid-air.

“You’ve made his life a living hell. And to believe he was stupid enough to give himself up to the likes of you, a being who once represented unity, conclusions, and a caretaker of the very life that God created with His mighty hands…”

She opened her arms again, making the heavens rock with her mighty presence. Reality started ripping away like paper. Those shards kept shattering, everything shook tremendously, reality was on the brink of destruction. Crows started flying erratically around Jack and the girl as the last pieces of reality fell. Her pupils began to glow ghostly white, but she stopped the last bits of reality before they could hit the ground. She slowly dropped her arms to calm the chaos she’d brought forth.

“You’re not a demon, nor a spirit of purity. You’re something that only a foolish mortal would strive to have. That’s feelings of selfishness and greed!” She walked up to the girl and stood before her, paralyzing her with true fear.

“This is no longer the past. I’ll bless Jack and free him from you. That way you won’t bring the burden of your selfish burdens and cause him more suffrage.”

The woman held a palm out, but the girl began to giggle. Her innocent giggles transitioned to chuckles of fear, as she hugged herself and dropped to her knees. Suddenly, her chuckles transitioned into maniacal laughter.

She stopped and looked up into the woman’s eyes. “You, out of all beings, have the audacity to tell me these words? You! Hahaha. That’s where you’re wrong!” she said, slowly rising off her knees.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m my own entity, my own being, and you know it! But you’re no saint either. No, far from it!” The woman felt sickened and stared into her greedy eyes. She stepped away with the look of worry.

“How dare you talk to me that way!” said the woman in red as she squinted her eyes.

“Hmph, I have my own goal. But I’m not what I used to be! You’re right though, I am selfish and horrible. I still have regrets!”

Crows began cawing violently around them. Black tears drifted down her pale cheeks.

“You hardly know me. You don’t know my reasoning for being so selfish because…”

The sky started turning misty black, and the earth below them vibrated like a large earthquake.

“Because…” the girl shouted as she clenched her fists.

The cawing grew louder, so loud that it would rupture a normal human’s eardrums. The sky clapped mighty sounds of her roaring anger, as purple lightning struck everywhere, destroying the last pieces of reality they were in.

“He promised me he would devote himself and show me what the feeling of love truly is!” The girl in white tilted her head and laughed, with a hint of sadness. She even shed real tears to cleanse the black trails.

The woman in red felt a bit remorseful for some odd reason, but she quickly overcame those feelings and got serious again. Just when she was about to respond, the girl suddenly stopped laughing, dropped on all fours and started to cough violently. She moaned horrifically from the unknown pain that tore at her insides.

She dropped to the ground and coughed out blood. She gagged horribly and made blood fly everywhere, then she let out a bloodcurdling scream. Out of desperation, she tried crawling towards Jack, who was still unconscious, and tried to grab his hand. The woman in red continued to watch her suffer, almost as if she were enjoying such a sight.

The girl in white tried her hardest to reach for the guy who she claimed as her eternal lover, but she faded away into black dust and disappeared out of sight.

The woman in red shook her head, seeming like she knew what was happening. She snapped her fingers, returning everything around them back to the way it was. She walked up to Jack, looking disappointed, and slowly shed a single bloody tear. That single tear glistened and was holy, so she let it drip off her cheek and onto the tip of her index finger, then rubbed it against Jack’s cheek.

She looked down. “You still have a promise to fulfill. Don’t break it or else. You are truly a hopeless fool, just like you used to be.”

She disappeared and everything went back to the way it was. The animals returned to the forest, the trees were green once again, and the songs of nature filled the air.

Jack finally woke up shortly afterwards. He rubbed his cheek and noticed the stained blood placed upon it. He stood up and looked around, admiring the beauty.

He grinned calmly, then shook his head out of confusion. “Hmph. It was only a dream. I must’ve fallen asleep.” He walked back on the trail and away from the scene, acting like nothing had happened.

Jack arrived home, feeling empty as usual. Eric was on the couch and he got up, desperately trying to get Jack’s attention again. However, Jack ignored him and tried to go to his room, but Eric walked in front of Jack, blocking him like a giant boulder of shredded muscle. Jack tried pushing him aside, but that didn’t work.

Jack sighed. “What do you want?”

Eric’s brows furrowed. “Jack, have you truly given up on everything?”

Jack didn’t respond. He looked away instead, which irritated Eric. He grabbed Jack’s shoulders and wiggled him, forcing him to talk. Jack continued with his childish act by trying to shove Eric aside. Eric had enough. Out of his own anger towards Jack, he punched him in the face. The punch was so hard that it sent him flying backwards and landing face first on the wooden floor.

Eric’s shadow towered over Jack, who saw sparkles and stars. Eric looked down at him, then took a huge deep breath.

“Snap out of it, you sad fuck!” Eric yelled. He reached down and grabbed the collar of Jack’s jacket. “Why? Why?! Why are you acting like this, man? Don’t you care about your sister?”

Eric held back his tears, grit his teeth, and tightened his grasp on Jack’s collar even more.

“Shut up…” Jack responded in a cold tone.

“She’s been gone for almost a month! A month! I swear yo, if you don’t get your shit together I’ll fucking kill you.”

Eric pulled a knife out and set it on Jack’s neck.

“Then fucking do it. Do it if it’ll please you.”

“I’m not playing, Jack!” He drove the knife into his skin, managing to slice a small cut on his neck. “You worthless scum.”

Jack finally looked into Eric’s eyes and was surprised to see him shedding tears, but even seeing someone like him shed such agony was still not enough for him to respond. As Eric was on the verge to finally cut Jack’s neck, one of his men came inside and told Eric there was trouble at one of the trap houses. Eric quickly wiped his face with a sleeve.

He looked at Jack one last time and let him go. The back of Jack’s head bounced off the floor as Eric finally left with the guy and drove off. Jack grabbed his head and lay there, basking at his own failures as he stared at the ceiling. He finally snapped and laughed, then he closed his eyes and thought about how much of a sorry piece of crap he’d become.

His laughter of wicked failure echoed throughout the house and grew louder. Jack finally stopped and the ambiance of silence succumbed to the home.

What’s the point in saving her? Even if I could, what good would that do when she no longer cares for me? I’d rather grow into such a long depression that’ll eventually give me enough courage to take my own life.

Jack clutched his chest in sorrow. The moment Jack opened his eyes again, he was outside. He blinked a couple of times to see if he wasn’t dreaming again, and to his surprise he wasn’t. Jack sat up and gazed at the never-ending grass fields that were riddled with endless miles of flowers. He laughed out loud again like some lunatic, until he heard an angelic voice calling out his name. He ceased his delusional laughter and looked over his shoulder. It was the girl with the blonde hair and hazel eyes he’d encountered twice in his life, though this time she was wearing a beautiful sundress.

She stood behind the sun and bathed in its light, looking like some holy spirit that resembled an angel. She was surprised to see him, so she dropped the basket of flowers and seemed embarrassed. Jack got up and slapped himself a couple of times, which scared her a bit.

He finally relaxed himself and slowly walked towards the girl. She made a funny sound and started running away from him. Jack felt something strike his heart. He shook his head and reached out, shouting at her to wait, then he ran after her. He had no idea that she was quietly enjoying herself, but she didn’t express that.

She hid behind the tree and stayed quiet. Jack caught his breath and looked around. He grinned and jumped from around the corner of the tree, surprising the girl. She playfully shrieked and tried to run away again, but Jack grabbed her hand. The moment he did that, a burning sensation erupted throughout his hand.

She noticed and felt a bit hurt, but she assumed it was something else instead of her, so she pulled out a cross pendant from inside her pocket. She placed it against the tree and put her hand on his chest and closed her eyes. Jack was confused, not knowing what she was about to do. He even felt a bit embarrassed and nervous from her warm touch.

Suddenly, she started to glow a light so pure and mesmerizing that it left Jack amazed, yet it scared him a little. Her glorious glow finally faded out and left Jack stunned and surprised. He slowly raised a finger and pointed at her.

She was a bit confused about why he was doing such a thing. It felt a little insulting because of the amount of shaking his finger was doing.

“Y-You just glowed! What the hell was that? You’re Lily, right?”

She tilted her head looking confused, but immediately turned red and covered her face. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t supposed to do that!” She sighed and looked into Jack’s dead fish eyes. “But Jack, you seem so sad. What’s wrong?”

Jack quickly frowned, ignoring her question. “What is this place? Where am I?”

She sighed and panned her attention to the field of flowers. “Well, I can’t fully say. That’s something I can’t expose, but what I can say is that our minds are connected.”

“Connected?” Jack asked with an annoyed look on his face. “What kind of mumbo jumbo bullshit is that? I thought those times we met were just dreams that felt real?”

She frowned, seeming annoyed as well. “Language. It’s not polite to talk like that. It’s rather rude.”

Jack sighed. “Whatever! Just answer my question. Where am I?”

She looked at him with an empty expression. “Not until you answer mine.”

Jack didn’t have time to play games with her. Out of his own irrational anger, he slammed his fist against the tree. “Listen! Answer my question or I’ll…”

Jack noticed her eyes were quivering. He felt bad that he’d yelled at her. He was so used to retaliating with such a tone that he forgot he was speaking to her and got carried away.

She slowly backed away. Her eyes turned bloodshot and she seemed close to exploding out of anger.

“You’ll what? Huh? What would you do if I didn’t?” She lowered her head and hid her eyes that leaked of emotional solitude.

“You and everyone else like to hurt me,” she said quietly.

Jack saw tears drip off her face and truly regretted his actions. It was awkward for him seeing her whimper slightly, but he decided to man up and ease the tension between them.

“I-I’m sorry… Lily. It’s just that I’ve been through a lot.” Jack slowly leaned against the tree.

His eyes narrowed. He clenched his fists and drifted to the ground. He sat down with one knee up then rested his arm on it.

“I’m such a mess, such a disgraceful mess…” He opened his hand and stared at his scarred palm that had taken the lives of others. “I’m a pathetic excuse of life. I’m nothing but some damned hopeless fool.” He closed his hand again with all his hidden rage to the point his fingernails penetrated his skin and leaked out his boiled blood.

Lily heard everything he said about himself and couldn’t believe what she heard. It made her feel less lonely. She rubbed her eyes and walked beside him, deciding to sit next to him.

“Well, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?” She started reaching out to grab his shoulder, but forced herself not to do such a thing.

Jack sighed. The feelings he’d stowed away were finally getting to him. He stayed quiet for a second to think about her question and decided it was time to relieve all his regretful feelings of stupidity. He took a deep breath and looked at Lily. Jack couldn’t help but feel mesmerized.

Her eyes shone like golden glazed caramels, with edges of green full of purity that were too much to stare into. He turned red and forced himself to talk face to face with her, even if her beauty was overwhelming.

“Okay, I’ll tell you,” he said and took another deep breath. “We didn’t finish our last conversation, did we?”

She grinned slightly. The adorable, shy half grin shined a glimpse of light into his devastated soul.

“No, we didn’t,” she said, finally giving herself the courage to place a hand on his shoulder, which made her heart race. “So tell me, what’s wrong?”

Jack explained the entire situation to her. The men in white, Angela’s kidnapping, and Randolph’s suicide. He even told her that he couldn’t even bring himself to cry anymore, no matter how much he wanted to. He would always go back to laugh about it, like some sick twisted maniac. Jack wondered if he was so emotionally broken that he may never shed a single tear again.

Lily felt horrible for Jack. After hearing everything he’d said reminded her about her situation in life, but it wasn’t about her. It was about Jack and his problems.

“So Jack, what are you gonna do?”

Jack gazed up at the sky, still feeling the emptiness that ravaged inside him. “I-I’ve given up already. I just can’t go no more!”

Without thinking, she grabbed his hand and surprised him. “No you haven’t, Jack.”

Jack felt her warmth as her hand grasped his. Her words pierced through his heart as his eyes glistened with a bit of hope. “How do you know that? How can you be so sure when we’ve never met in person?”

He stood up quickly and shook his head. “I’m just a failure. A hopeless asshole who’s caused nothing but pain to those around him.”

Lily, who was still sitting, looked up at Jack. The sun peeked around the corner of his face, glistening tears that were ready to burst out of his eyes from his own shame and burdens.

She stood up and grabbed his hand again, then interlaced her fingers with his. “Because, I just do. Deep down inside, I know you want to save her, protect her, and most of all, Jack…” She leaned against his arm, making Jack feel fuzzy inside and relieving the burdens off his shoulders. “…from the small meetings we’ve had, it made me realize you’re not a bad person.”

Jack slowly looked at Lily, his eyes almost bloodshot from holding back tears. His mouth dropped out of shock from her saying such a thing. For once, hearing someone like her say something so nice about a disgraceful person like Jack, made his heart skip a few beats. He couldn’t take it anymore and finally smiled out of relief. He wanted to truly cry tears of joy, but he still couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He rubbed his eyes and surprised Lily by grabbing both her hands, then looked into her beautiful eyes. “You really are something. You know that, but thank you from the bottom of my heart, Lily. Thank you.”

Lily felt her heart skip a few beats as well. She was on the verge of collapsing due to experiencing so many mixed emotions, but she kept herself from doing anything embarrassing in front of him.

She still didn’t smile, but that grin of hers grew a little more. “Don’t mention it, but if someone like me is to retrieve such praise, I don’t think I deserve such treatment.” She looked away for a second, hiding her sadness inside her.

“I-I never really got to say this, but Lily you’re absolutely beautiful!” he said with a huge smile on his face.

She looked back at him. Her eyes glistened as she blushed. Her grin finally transformed into a smile so relaxing and bright that it made Jack’s soul disperse his demons. With their clothes and hair fluttering, both smiling with flustered faces, they had never felt so happy in such a long time. She gently let go of his rough hands and closed her eyes, so she could bask in the moment and print it into her memories.

“That’s the first… that anyone’s ever said something so nice about me besides my new family… and Him.” She opened her eyes again and stared into the endless fields of flowers. “I should be the one thanking you.”

Jack continued smiling. He also stared off into the fields of endless flowers and noticed how they started to act strange. A strong calm wind blew off their petals and hurtled a huge wave of them towards them, which surprised Jack. The wave of petals twirled around the tree, trapping them inside a beautiful flowery tornado of yellow and white. Jack freaked out a bit, but she calmed him down, telling him not to worry. She started to step backwards towards the edge of the glorious tornado. To Jack’s surprise, she began fading into what seemed to be gold sparkles.

With her hands interlaced behind her back, she sighed. “Well, my time is up it seems.”

Jack tried getting closer to her, but she winked at him, which made him stop. “Wait! Where are you going?”

She giggled and waved at Jack, who seemed super confused. “Don’t worry. Whoever’s behind our meetings must be behind this!”

Jack lowered his hand and grinned. “Will I ever see you again?”

She placed her hands over her chest and bowed. “I hope we do. Until then Jack, please take care and save your sister.”

Jack chuckled. “If we ever do meet again, you better answer my question. Don’t think I’ve forgotten!”

She hovered her hand over her mouth and giggled at Jack. “Okay, I promise. Oh by the way, say hello to Anna for me.”

Jack’s eyes widened with shock upon hearing that. He tried reaching his hand out towards her but she soon faded away and turned into a beautiful golden sparkle of dust. Everything faded around Jack, like a huge cloud of foggy explosions of gold and white smoke. His mind went black as he floated in the misty cloud of holy purity, with his eyes closed and having the most gentle smile on his face.

He opened his eyes again and noticed he was suddenly in Angela’s room. Jack looked around and everything seemed the same since the last time he was in this room.

He sighed out of relief, realizing he was back in reality. Things just keep getting more complex the older I get, don’t they? Just what does this world hide?

Jack drew a deep breath and walked to her figurine collection that she cherished so much. He picked the one she said resembled his current personality and examined it. The figurine wore a black and orange tracksuit, spikey black hair, with eyes that one would presume scary, and had a dumb pose which expressed victory.

“So she thinks I’m you. And from what she’d told me about you, you’re nothing but a joke. But as much as I hate to admit it, we do both cherish the same goal and that’s to protect the ones we love.”

His grin turned upside down as he clenched the figure with anger. No… I’m not like you, and I won’t ever be like you, because unlike you… I haven’t given up to the point I’d actually let the people I love get killed!

Jack placed the figurine down and rushed to his room, picked up his phone and dialed it to call Eric.

Eric had finished a drug deal with his boys. His phone rang. He reached into his pocket and saw that Jack was calling him. “What you—”

“Yo Eric! Get all the crew together. It’s time we fucking do this. I’m getting my sister back!”

Eric hopped in the car and was about to leave. Hearing Jack’s voice made him feel astounded.

He slammed his hand against the steering wheel, making it honk continuously. “It’s about time you stopped being a pussy, boy!”

Eric hung up on Jack and started making phone calls. I don’t know what made him open those dumbass cold eyes of his, but it worked! Whoever made you stop being a pussy Jack, hopefully I can thank them. Shit, I’ll even buy them whatever they want!

Jack loaded his handgun and placed it in his holster, then took out a shotgun that he took for himself from a drug deal a long time ago hidden away in his closet. He loaded it as well. As he was preparing and loading his holstered gun inside his jacket when loading extra mags in his pockets, he noticed the picture in his pocket.

He took it out and smiled. “I’m getting you back, baby sis. No matter what it takes. Even if it means an end to my miserable life.”

He finished his preparations and put it away so he could be ready for the day he can finally rescue Angela and free her from Dr. Cato’s hands. He lay on his bed and smiled, thinking about the moment he’d just had with the mysterious girl named Lily.