Is It Worth It?

Chapter 5

It had been five months since Mirabelle died and the bank was dying. I knew it was coming and yet it still hurt. The bank is everything for me I can't imagine my life without it. I was losing too much money and not gaining enough. I was sitting in my uncomfortable chair as usual doing nothing. I started reading. Paul was still working away on his paperwork. The work never ended for him. He always did the taxes and such for the bank. After a few more hours of sitting I asked Paul if I could help with the paperwork before him. He laughed "My friend, have you ever done this before?". Looking a little embarrassed I replied "No, no I haven't, I've always left it to you". He chuckled "Yes I know, I'm not doubting you it's just that in these rough times it's very hard to keep track of things, that's all" he said. "Then seeing as there is nothing to do I shall leave" I said as I got up from my chair. "Why do I keep coming?" I thought. When I reached the door I turned to Paul "Good day, Paul", "Farewell, Raphael" he said. I exited the bank and was happy to feel welcoming warmth instead of hateful cold. But the bodies were still there, they were always there. I went to the market for food. As I arrived I saw that it was nearly abandoned. There were only four or five stalls open. I walked to the closest one and saw an old man with a coat on behind the counter. "Hello sir, can I interest you in fresh cut lamb?" he asked. He showed me the meat. It was fresh as far as I could tell. "How much?" I asked. His eyes went wide as though he wasn't expecting me to buy anything. "Two shillings a slice" he said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out two shillings and as he reached out to grab the money his sleeve raised ever so slightly. And underneath I saw the dreaded black skin that always promised death. I jerked my hand back in terror. I threw the money on the counter and took the meat and ran.  "We are all going to die" I thought. I still remember the happier times before the plague. I was on my way home when I smelled it. Burning flesh. It didn't bother me as much as it used to but it still made me gag. I came to my house and went downstairs to the cellar. I grabbed a bowl of salt and started salting the meat. I then placed it on a rack to wait until I was ready to eat it. I walked back upstairs and went to my study. I sat in an old chair behind my desk. I read for what seemed like an eternity. I finally closed the book and looked at the grandfather clock in the corner, half past six. I got up and walked out of the study and went to my bedroom. I started thinking of what a doctor told me. "18,000 people have died and the numbers are still rising" the doctor had said a month ago. With those odds it seemed like we were all doomed. I got on my knees and prayed for what seemed like a long time. I then undressed and got in bed still thinking of what the doctor had said. I awoke with the cryer and cart making their rounds. The bodies were taken to be burned undoubtedly. I got up and looked in the mirror. The stress was getting to me, instead of just one gray hair there was multiple. I went out the bedroom door and went down the stairs to the cellar. I had a great bucket of water in the center of the small room. I took a tankard and scooped some water from the bucket. I drank the water which tasted kinda sweet and decided that I would take a walk since the cart and cryer had most likely by now had loaded the bodies and cleared the streets and took now bodies to be burned. I walked out the front door and went down the stairs onto the street. I saw a woman come stumbling out of a near building. It was Aveline. She collapsed on the street. I ran to her but I stopped, for she was sick. Her hands were black and she had red bites on her neck. Saddened by this I walked away. I couldn't help her otherwise I might risk getting sick myself. I started walking until I heard her cries. "Raphael, please do something!" she cried. She started screaming in pain.  Oh how I wish she'd stop screaming. The screams made my blood run cold and my heart bust with sorrow. I turned to face her "You're sick, Aveline...I can't help you" I said with tears growing in my eyes. Hearing this made her cry louder with tears running down both sides of her eyes like waterfalls. Her screams will forever haunt me. A man in black robes with a beak mask started walking down the street. He saw Aveline on the ground crying and quickly walked to her. "Precious angel where do you live?", he asked. She raised a hand and pointed towards the house she stumbled out of not too long ago. The man picked her up and carried her into the house. I watched the house as if I was waiting for Aveline to come skipping out of the front door as if nothing changed. After a few hours passed the man in robes came out and walked to me. "She doesn't have long" he said grimly. I nodded. "I will stay with her until the inevitable comes" he said. "Thank you" I replied. I continued walking down the street to nowhere in particular. Until I came to where they were burning the bodies. The skeletons were laying in the ash. There were tons of them. Some of them were only partly burned and still had flesh on there bones. Seeing this made me increasingly upset and depressed. Then another man in black robes and a mask came and brought some straw and twigs and relit the fire with a tinderbox. It was late and the cart was probably on its way here now. I decided to leave the site and travel back home. I was close to home when I passed Aveline's house and saw the man from earlier carrying Aveline outside. He saw me and said grimly "She just died". I couldn't help but cry from the terrible news. After a while I calmed down and soon the cart came with multiple bodies already in the back. I helped the man put poor dead Aveline into the back of the cart with her eyes still open. And as the cart pulled away I could still see Aveline staring at me with cold lifeless eyes.