Crazy House

Chapter 31: The Truth About Christmas

Crazy House Chapter 31

As I flip towards the end of 1942 in the journal, I begin to see sketches popping up in the entries, along with intense mathematical equations and nonsensical notes in the margins. The sketches seem to be of various plants and animals, even a few human body part sketches appear in the last few months of the year. My heart stops a beat when I see a human heart sketched into the entry for December 21, 1942. Despite what Lacy said, I go back a few months to read the entry with the very first sketch, which is of an herb I don't recognize.

September 30, 1942

I received news today that my old school chum, Ralph Cohn, is dead. He got picked in the draft last March and was fighting overseas. He is third of my friends to die in the war, almost all of whom were picked in the draft. I got into another argument with mother after we heard the news. She refuses to admit that there is so much we could do to help with the war effort, that our abilities could save so many lives. If I could enlist, I would be unstoppable, not to mention I could heal my fellow soldiers. Ruby mentioned she wanted to start volunteering as a nurse, using her own abilities to help in the hospitals. But mother insists on keeping us here, coddled and locked up like children.

I think mother and some of the other Gifted families got together and somehow made sure we would never be called for the war. How else can we explain that the only boys left are the ones who are part of the Gifted families? She's even gone so far as to spell the property so that neither Ruby nor I can leave without her by our side. I'll let her think she's won though, let her believe that I've come around to her side. The minute she puts down the barrier though, I'm splitsville. During all that time while I'm waiting, I'll be getting stronger. Training my physical body and my abilities, so that I can be the perfect soldier. I found this herb in the forest today, Ruby says it's called nettle. She also says that it can help boost our energy so that it's more powerful and reacts to our thoughts much quicker. I think I'll start here.

-E

October 3, 1942

I've been consuming the nettle for a few days now and already, I can feel a significant difference in how I feel. I have never been so in touch with my energy.

-E

October 13, 1942

I realize I have not written in a while. My training has been going well though, I'm becoming stronger every day. I found this old laboratory, hidden at the back of the closet on the bottom floor. I think my grandfather used it in his days, when he experimented with the limits of our abilities. I have started using it for my own experiments. Ruby knows nothing of my true plans, she believes only that I'm trying to become stronger in my abilities to spite my mother. She has given my some more herbs to help bolster my energy and I've been consuming them every day. I keep trying to find the perfect concoction, sometimes boiling the herbs, while other times I chop them up. I've been adding my energy to the herbs, letting them curate in the raw power, so that they can become more potent. I have heard that using certain parts of animals can be very powerful when prepared the right way. I have been hesitant about it so far, but I've seen how strong I've become with just the herbs and I've become very tempted to try it.

-E

November 1, 1941

I feel different. Good different. I let the heart of a doe soak in the herbs and my liquefied energy for two weeks. Last night, under the new moon, I absorbed life from the forest around me, putting it into the heart. Then, I consumed the entire thing. My body was flooded with more power than I could produce in a month, every nerve in my body felt like it was alive. I blacked out soon after that and woke up this morning on the forest floor. Even hours later, my body was humming with the energy. Combined with the physical strength I have gained from my training (which has come along astonishingly quickly, but I believe the concoctions are responsible for that), I believe I am more powerful than any human on the planet. I know this will only last a week though and I can't help but notice that I can only gain so much more energy, when it is my own energy I'm putting into the concoctions. I must find a more permanent and powerful solution.

-E

When I flip the page to the next entry, I'm surprised to find that almost two months has passed since the last one.

December 24, 1942

I killed Roy at the Christmas party tonight. I meant only to pull him aside to take some of his energy, not enough that he would miss it, especially after a night of drinking, or that he couldn't replenish. When I was talking to him though, I kept thinking of the things he said to Ruby earlier, how he looked at her like a piece of meat. But most of all, I couldn't stop hearing the things he said to his friends when she couldn't hear, all the things he would do to her if she wasn't my girl. It made me sick. Out of nowhere, this crimson rage burned through my veins. All I could see was red hot fury and boiling hatred. When the anger disappeared and my sight returned, Roy was obliterated before me. The only intact piece of him that remained was his decapitated head lying on the ground.

I didn't want to believe what I had done, I refused to. I was so utterly in denial that I ran back to the party and told people what I had found, instead of hiding the evidence. It would have been so easy for people to believe Roy had left the party a drunken mess, and that he must have gotten lost on the way home, and that his own lack of sobriety got him killed on the way. But instead I told the world. I even held Ruby, comforted her, as she stared in horror at my vile work. Things have been going so well for us. She kissed me for the first time in public today, it felt so nice not to hide anything anymore, even if mother just about had a fit. Then I go and kill Roy and mess everything up. I didn't truly believe I had actually done it, until later tonight.

I went back to the lab after everyone had left and found a human heart on my desk. It was then I knew what I had done. The worst part was, that even though I was mostly horrified, there was a tiny part of me that was glad. I quickly realized that an intense craving was filling me and there was only one thing in the room that would stop it. I tried so hard not to give in, I wanted so badly not to, but I'm ashamed to say that my willpower only held out for about thirty seconds. Before I knew it, I had crossed the room and started gorging myself on Roy's heart. I had eaten the whole thing in less than a minute and I immediately felt all of his energy flow into me. Roy's raw heart was ten times more powerful than the doe's heart I had soaked for two weeks in the herbs and liquid energy.

I felt every particle in my body bursting with energy as they buzzed around my body. I felt on the verge of exploding and I was in immense pain at first, but the combined magic soothed it until it became bearable. After that, I only felt the intense rush of raw power and energy blasting through my body. I felt like a god in the moment, but I was also terrified.

These concoctions have turned me into something utterly unrecognizable. That rage flashed through my body without a seconds notice and I killed someone in just as much time. My body has begun to so lust after power that the moment I saw Roy's heart, everything in me screamed for me to eat it, knowing the energy it would provide me. Now, I'm something utterly inhuman.

I need to stop this. I must not allow this lust to continue for my sake, as well as Ruby's. The heart's power will not last forever, Roy's energy will fade after a few months as it will not be able to survive long outside of its home. I must put these concoctions and this lab behind me, I swear I will never consume them again. I will devote myself to Ruby, who I fear I would quickly lose if I continue down this road. Before the incident with Roy, Ruby and I had an amazing night, dancing for hours. Perhaps one of the best I've ever had...or at least, it would have been. Maybe mother was right, though not nearly in the way she ever expected. From this point on, I swear I shall never allow myself to lust after this power again. My only fear is that I won't be able to keep my promise, not matter how hard I try.

Looking over at the clock has revealed to me that it is two in the morning, which means the 24th has long been over. Good. I want that day as far behind me as possible. Merry Christmas.

-E

I know that was a short chapter, but it was originally part of chapter 30 until I finished and realized the final word count was about 4,250 (which is about 17 pages in a book). So I broke them up, admittedly a little uneven, but I did it where I thought it made the most sense. I figured ya'll wouldn't mind a short chapter if it came in a double update though ;) Anyways, thanks for reading, I really do appreciate every one of you who does. Don't forget to comment, vote and follow me for updates and I will talk to ya'll next time I upload a new chapter :D