A Demon's Tale

Prologue

I'm going to tell you a story,  a story of something far beyond this world,  something you could never imagine,  about a place not even dreams  can reach, about a different dimension,  a place you could call... the 'dark world'. I am no longer human,  but my soul has lived on to tell this tale. To understand, you must know my story...

It all began the day I lost my friend, the day my friend drowned...

It was a warm summer day during the middle of summer break. We were out with a couple of friends at a lake just on the outskirts of town. Everyone was having a good time playing and cooling off in the lukewarm water. Colin was in the water with some other kids throwing a ball around. The ball then ended up pretty far out, when he swam out into the lake to retrieve it. When suddenly, it was as if he was pulled under the surface... 

At the time, no one understood what was  happening. It took a while before anyone reacted as they were all trying to figure out why he wouldn't come back up to the surface. Everybody stood frozen. Until we soon realized, something was horribly wrong.

I jumped into the water in a desperate  attempt of saving him. Saving my closest friend, my best friend in the whole world. Someone who I spent every single day with. Someone who truly knew me as well as I knew myself. The only real friend I had ever had. Someone who I could not afford to lose. 

I dove down, kicking and fluttering, but the lake was too deep and the water was too dark. I couldn't save him, and it was all too late... Colin never returned to the surface, and just like that, in the blink of a second, my whole world was turned upside down.

I had kept on going back down after him long after it was too late. I was in a state of denial. I couldn't see clearly. I couldn't feel my surroundings. I couldn't hear any sound. I had swum until I had fainted. Eventually, the rescuers had to pull 'me' up from the lake. If not for them, I would have drowned as well. I just could not believe what had happened. I could not 'understand' what had happened. But the strangest thing of all was, -the divers couldn't even find the body...

Colin had completely vanished. I was so lost and confused. My mind was not able to accept the fact that Colin was gone. I blamed myself for everything, -for having failed to save him. I kept trying to reason with myself, asking questions over and over, trying to bargain with the world. I told myself I would give up anything, -do anything to get him back. All I wanted was  to get another chance. But in the end, no matter how many questions I'd ask or how many tears I shed, I knew, there was nothing in this world that could change what had happened. Not in this reality.

The days went on, and I struggled... It was against all my senses, to just let go and move on. It just wasn't right. Nothing made sense. How could someone just disappear without a trace? As if they had never even existed... It was impossible...

Throughout my life, I had been struggling. Going through sorrows and hardships, coming from a broken home, never having many friends, questioning my place in this world, wondering whether I was ever really wanted anywhere, or whether I'd be better off, gone. All up until I had met Colin and everything changed. He had been my first real friend. The only one that had truly been there for me when I needed it the most. The only one that had ever truly cared about my existence. And now, I was all alone, all over again.

It was at the funeral that I realized; I could never cry out my sorrow. I could never lay my head to rest in failed attempts of imagining he was in a better place. I never believed in heaven, but I was proven wrong about hell...

There was something so strange about that funeral. I knew I was supposed to walk up to the little photo of Colin and put my flowers on top of the others, but I couldn't do it... I was seated on that church bench. I knew there was no god that could change what had happened, no spirit that would 'guide him home'. Colin's body wasn't even there, they never found it. I never got to say a last goodbye. I never got to see his face just one last time. I could barely even see his face in the photograph since my eyes were blurred with tears.