unKnown

A Broken Throne

Two teens sat in silence at the rooftop of their school, one of them, a boy with greasy, silly looking black hair, stared at the sky, bored and without much to do. He looked at his friend, the purpled haired girl was quiter than usual, and in the last couples of days had not been engaging in their conversations as much as usual. The boy nudged her shoulder, but the girl didn't respond, so he did it again, and like last time, got no reaction. So, annoyed, he started to poke the girl's cheek, What's up with her? Did she fall asleep with her eyes open, or something? The boy asked himself.

He soon found out his assumption was wrong. He felt his wrist being squeezed as his friend grabbed it, and looked at him, her menacing eyes making him shiver a little. "What the hell are you doing, John?" She asked, visibly upset.

John gulped, he hadn't seen her so mad before, she was usually lenient with his antics, what changed? "Well, I just wanted to talk, you know, like usual... Sera, are you ok? You've been acting weird lately." He said, worried about his best friend, putting a hand in her shoulder.

Sera stared at John for a few seconds, then let out a huge sigh, lowering her head in apparent defeat. "It's Remi... She disappearears for three whole months, without apparent reason, then comes back without notice, not even to Blyke or Isen, her best friends, and then refuses to tell anything to anyone, or even come out of her room at all... I would usually just leave her alone, but this is too weird. I'm even starting to think to team up with Arlo and force her to give us answers. What do you think?" Sera said, the situation was surely an uncomfortable one for Remi's friends, but it was to John too, but for something completely different.

She went away for three months, then came back completely changed... No... It can't be... Can it? "That... That sure is one hell of a situation... Do any of you guys have any idea why she would leave for such a long time? Something about her family, maybe? Family problems can be... Quite devastating, maybe it's related to that?" Said John, trying to find a reasonable reason for her abscence. Not only for Sera, but for himself as well.

"That's a possibility, but if it's that, then there's not much we could do to make her feel better... Do you think I should ask her if that's the case?" Sera asked, her normally calm expression turning increasingly worried.

John let out a small sigh, then poked Sera's cheek and gave her a kind smile. "It's the best you can do, she's your friend too, right? I know I would want to at least know what's wrong if you were being like that, so maybe it's best if you go ask her again, and by the way, don't guilt her into doing it, remember, you're her friend, not a detective solving a case, ok?" He said, poking her cheek one last time, in an effort to make her smile, even if a bit.

She smiled back at him, poking his cheek before standing up. "I guess I'll go right now, then, she's probably still in her room, classes are almost over, anyways, so I'll go check up on her. Maybe I'll drag Blyke or Isen with me if I find any of them along the way. See you in a while John, let's hang out after I'm done." She said, before waving and smiling one last time, then left the rooftop, closing the door behind her with a bang.

John nodded, keeping his smile until she left, but as soon as she was out of sight that smile quickly disappeared. John stayed there, at the rooftop, his eyes closed, trying to think in peace. Sadly, no matter how much he tried to clear his head and think about what Sera told him, one thought, one single sentence, kept interrupting him. 

You're a monster. 

The thought made him shiver. Droplets of cold sweat ran down his neck any time the thought popped up in his mind. Stop it, John, there's something more important than you right now... You're a monster... Stop. Remi went away for three months, there's just one thing I can think of that makes sense with all Sera described... You're a monster... Enough, me... What else could it be? She acts just as I did... You're a monster... Shut up... What did she even do?  Very few things could get her into "reeducation", what did she... You're a MONSTER... Shut up! I have to... I have to think... What could it be... YOU'RE A MONSTER... Stop... Just shut up... YOU'RE A MONSTER. Stop, please! YOU'RE A MONSTER! SHUT UP! YOU'RE A MONSTER! "I KNOW! SO SHUT UP!" John screamed outloud, moments later he grabbed his chest, which was throbbing with pain. The same thought kept repeating. For hours.

...

John opened his eyes. It was starting to get dark now. He could feel his hot tears stinging his face, his vision numbed by them. He cleaned the tears off with his shirt, and, too tired to do anything else other than going home, he simply stood up, closed the rooftop's door behind him, and left the now deserted school. He remembered he had promised Sera to hang out, but it was probably too late anyways, so she had either left without him or simply gone back to her dorm. John let out a deep, depressed sigh, and just kept going home.

After walking home for around twenty minutes, he arrived at his place. He went straight from the living room to his room, and simply laid in bed, not even changing his clothes from his uniform. He checked his phone, and saw there was a message from Seraphina. "Sorry, I won't be able to hang out, talk to you tomorrow, John." The message read. Normally John would ask why, but he couldn't force himself to do it at that moment.

... Why did that affect me so much?... No... I can't think about again... I guess I'll just ask Sera how it went tomorrow. Yeah, that'll clear my doubts... I can't afford to have this consume me. Not anymore...

John fell asleep there. His phone was still in his hand, and his uniform was still on. Yet he still went to sleep, the demons of his past creeping slowly but steadily into what he thought was a new life. But no new life was waiting for John, and the sooner he accepted that, the less painful the outcome would be.