The Lethal Heptagon

CHAPTER VI

     "How could you forget?" I scolded myself internally, when I realized that I had left my anxiety-busting tablets behind. Those pills were almost my lifeline and without them, anxiety attack loomed, making hatred invade each and every fiber of my being, fueling my thirst for vengeance.

     As the saying goes "Every cloud has a silver lining", so, despite the trauma I had suffered made me emotionally fragile and mentally ill, each flashback I had only stoked the flames of revenge coursing through my veins, igniting a fiery determination that made me stronger and more resolute in seeking justice for Tabby's death.

     "We have arrived," the driver announced, bringing the car to an abrupt stop.

     As I stepped out, the sun's rays washed over my face, while Dante and Lander burst out of the car alongside me.

     A a group of girls from grade eleven, a year below us, approached Lander and Dante and began to flirt shamelessly with them. By then, I shied against any kind of unnecessary interactions, keeping to myself and shunning socialization, so, I trudged off towards my classroom.

    "Are you really Dante and Lander's brother?" a voice called out from behind.

     I turned to face that girl before continuing my solitary march.

     "You're so different from them... much better looking, but your madness gives you a weird facet."
     "Ok," I said tersely.

     Some people simply don't deserve your time or attention, they tend spew ugly things, judging without knowing, with the intent of hurting others, but I, Lucas Darwell, wasn't an easy prey at all. I sidestepped her words and pressed on, my brothers came along with me.

     "Good morning, sir," we chimed in unison.
     "Sit down!" he commanded.

     Our head teacher was in the room, we found him talking to our classmates, it seemed that he was giving them some information. I hurried to my seat, letting out a sigh of relief as I settled down and retrieved my book. I then removed a couple of napkins that helped me to stifle my runny nose.

     "Lucas, besides trying to harm us two week ago, do you now want to share your cold with us as well? Move your desk further away, you're too close," Harry Colman chided as he approached where I was.

     "It looks like three meters away from the class is not enough for you, you always come up with something new," he added.

     I started to take my table backwards and when I was five meters away from the nearest colleague, he ordered me to stop and sit down. His towering figure, stern face, and athletic build made me feel small in his presence. But despite all this, I refused to let his harsh words ever penetrate or wound me.

     Harry returned to the front of the class and continued speaking. I barely heard a word from him, and all my complains were simply ignored by him. I decided not to pay him any mind and grumble inwardly, and that eventually drifted me off to sleep.

******

     That man began to approach me and the world faded into darkness.

     When I woke up after sometime, I wished I hadn't. I longed to have departed this world with Allegra. A profound, inexplicable emptiness consumed me, and my mind grappled with denial, unwilling to accept the grim reality. I was indifferent to the weight of the chains that bound me, indifferent to the biting cold; all I yearned for was to join Allegra in death, or for her to miraculously return, or for this nightmare to be nothing but a cruel illusion.

     Sounds reached my ears, but they held no significance. Had I not been bound, I might have chosen to end my own life, seeing no escape from the desolate path paved with Allegra's spilled blood.