The ImagiNation, Project Sekai || HOPE FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

Chapter 21 - When Will the Pain Truly End?

Mary the Mad wasn't in my imagination anymore. She had me pinned to the floor with her short sword held to my neck. 

"Don't--! Please don't kill me!!" I screamed as I struggled to free myself from her evil grasp.

Mary laughed at my trembling self. "Don't try to fight me, and I won't." She smirked at me. 

I timidly did as she said. I didn't fight her, and she let me go. I was gasping for air, I felt like my whole body had been crushed. "What-- d-do... you w-want?" My heart was pounding so incredibly fast.

"I'm here to tell you about Rui. He doesn't really love you. He's just pretending, and he's good at it too! He does act in those shows, doesn't he? Why wouldn't he do the same in real life?" Mary was a liar, I shouldn't have believed what she was telling me-- but I did. 

"Maybe... maybe he is lying?" I said, with a clear feeling of uncertainty in my voice. 

Mary held her sword to my chest, ready to impale me. "No, not maybe. He is lying to you." 

Tears began to fill my pretty light green eyes. How could this person be part of me? "Why...?" I curled up into a pitiful ball on the cold floor and cried. 

"He doesn't want to make you feel bad just because he thinks you're pretty. But he just has bad taste in girls. You are one of the ugliest people I've ever seen. Anybody besides him would probably leave you for a diseased rat. He is literally your only chance to have a husband and children one day." That woman wouldn't stop, she just kept stabbing me. Not with her sword, but her words. 

"You're crazy!! Go away! Daddy always tells me I'm a very pretty girl, so does Mommy!" I argued.

The dirty blonde cat woman came uncomfortably close to me. "You're the crazy one. Also, your daddy only says that you're beautiful because he's a pedophile. Your mommy only tells you you're pretty because she doesn't want to accept your unsightliness." 

I started crying. I tried to stop, but I couldn't. "No! God made me smart and nice-looking! Everyone is beautiful in his eyes!! Mommy and Daddy are good people!" I screeched, covering my eyes.

"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!" Mary sneered at me. "God is a liar, he thinks everybody is filthy and undeserving of love, and he hates you the most. Your parents would rather you were never born, and they'd probably give you away for free!" 

Her words made me feel ashamed. I wanted everything to stop, I wanted to die. "Honoka loves me, and Hara does too!! I am a good friend and sister!!!" I was trying as hard as I could to combat the things she was saying.

Mary looked furious. "Nobody loves you, alright!? NOBODY!! You're the worst friend and sister anybody could have. Just kill yourself already." 

At last, I gave up. I believed all of the lies Mary had told me, and started making up lies of my own. Everything felt grey and meaningless. There was a great hole in my chest, and every shred of hope I had inside left me. It was almost like I was already dead. "Thank you, Mary. Thank you for helping me in my plan to die." My voice was emotionless, but it expressed exactly how I felt. 

"I'm glad I could be of service." She smiled, and then was gone. 

I was surprised that somehow nobody in the house heard me screaming. I laid on my bed and sighed, I wanted to suffer just a little longer. The silence of my room was almost too much for me to bear, but I knew I didn't want to hear any noise either. 

Suddenly, Len's little hologram popped out of my phone. "Setsuko! Setsuko! I felt like something was wrong, are you oka--" He stopped whenever he saw the glass all over the floor. "What happened?" 

"Oh, nothing." I tried to force a smile for him, but I probably looked terrifying because I had lost my ability to smile and the light in my eyes was lost. 

Len's eyes started to tear up, and he left before I could see him cry. 

Back in Wonderland Sekai, everything was decaying again.  

Rin was extremely worried about Len. "Len, are you okay? What happened to Setsuko?" She had a little worried frown on her face. 

Len did not answer his twin sister. 

"Len?!" She exclaimed in concern for him. 

"I need to make her smile." He said in a scary low voice. "I love Setsuko." 

Rin looked confused. "But Rui is her boyfriend! I don't understand..." She said to him, tears in her eyes. 

"I hate Rui. Setsuko probably doesn't love him anyway, but just in case, we can take care of him... she can be with me forever and we'll smile together." Len told Rin confidently. 

"I thought you liked Rui! Weren't his inventions cool?" Rin was freaking out, she knew she had to intervene some kind of way. 

Len looked angry. "No. Don't tell anybody about this, or else." 

Those words made Rin even more terrified. "O-okay." She agreed in a shaky voice. 

Len went back to me in my room. "If you don't want to talk about what happened right now, that's okay." He reassured me. "Just-- please come to Sekai tomorrow so I know you're okay?" 

I was quiet for a moment. "Yes, I will Len." I confirmed. 

"Alright, goodnight!" He said cheerfully and then the hologram disappeared. 

I cried myself to sleep, praying to God I'd feel better tomorrow.