Prologue
I had always thought of my life as unimportant, which in all reality and perspective, it was. Day dreams often poisoned my thoughts. I wished for something more, something extraordinary. I could have never imagined the twisted and dark life I was wishing for. My dreams of something more, were unbelievably wrong.
1. Purgatory
High school was the searing hell of modern day. This was a hell that never stopped burning no matter how charred your bones became. The flames licked at them slowly, and you had to sit there and take it. You were forced to go, forced to pay for going, and forced more than anything to socialize with your fellow classmates. The teachers often tried to hard or didn’t try at all. If they were of those that were brave enough they often got no attention from their students. Growing up in a city like mine, you didn't get to many over-achievers. You didn’t get many achievers either. South Medford High School was the school I attended. The campus was mainly inside but the light shone through in the courtyard where many students spent their lunch. Our school colors were blue and black. We are known as the panthers. I often wondered why a school should ever want a mascot. Mascots I guess are for show or school spirit, I don’t have much school spirit.
The school was getting quite old and the ground was covered in previously chewed gum, blackened on the sidewalk. The walls in the school had small holes that the janitorial service never filled. I probably wouldn’t fill them either. The student body at the school is constantly putting shit up on the walls, whether it is important or not. I sighed and remembered I had forgotten to brush my teeth this morning; I put my head down on the desk and let the cold crawl into my skin. I always preferred the cold over the warm and the desk felt oddly soothing. My eyes began to feel heavy as the lecture around me started to dim down and he gave out the assignment. The only thing that keeps me from falling into an eternal slumber away from this relentless torture was the pleasure of having my mind taken over by day dreams. Sending my mind into a dream is the only way to silence the students around me. Many of the students drive me crazy but there are also the ones that I simply enjoy being around. My friend Kris wasn’t the smartest person in the school but he definitely made up for it by being completely hilarious. I could never think of a time when he hasn’t been able to make me laugh. Too bad I didn’t have him in this boring class to keep me alive.
I read. A lot. Many of these day dreams consist of me jumping into one of my endless amount of stories from the books I've read. These books let my imagine take flight in many different ways, I often would try and make it as vivid as possible to escape the torture of class. Today it was stalking on my unsuspecting prey in the jungle, so slow and weak next to my stealth and strength. Every nerve in my body was flaring, ready to make my move. My breathing quieted-I didn’t want my prey to hear me. A shiver ran up my spine, feathering down my back. My feline body tensed and was about to leap. The fur on my back pricked up and as I bared all of my teeth, ready to make my kill, a snarl escaped from my lips. As if he knew I was about to pounce, the teacher called my name and ripped the dream from my mind just as I leaped. Lazily I called out the answer.
Luckily high school was as hard as elementary school for me-they really have lowered the standards of learning. Many of the people I am forced to be around make me literally frustrated. Idiotic people are one of my pet-peeves. I can't stand the way they interrupt my learning, if they don’t want to learn, get them the hell out of the classroom so they don’t bother us that do. A lot of the time it depended on my mood. If I was happy, I could be more tolerable. But if I was having a bad day, you were likely to get a very rude comment coming out of my mouth if you were being an idiot. Sometimes I liked being mean, it made me feel good in an odd kind of way.
I stared absently at the clock, counting down the seconds for the class to end, trying to hear the tick of the machinery inside it. Counting the ticks of the clock was mind numbing. It was a grateful escape from today’s lesson and I was glad that I did it. I must have counted up to four hundred ticks in my last class. This action in itself saved me from screaming at the next person that talked to me about something trivial like what I was doing this weekend or when was the last time I went to the movies. I really didn’t like to do much, it wasted time I could be reading or thinking alone to myself.
Pre-calculus wasn't my favorite class in the entire world and if I could say so it often drove me near the edge of insanity, a lot of the time I wanted to scream. We were dealing with roots and rational exponents today. “How exciting…” I mumbled dully. The problem was two to the square root of x is equal to x minus fifteen. The answer was twenty five. Math had little or no difficulty for me; as of the rest of high school. One of the worst things about his class room was that his walls seemed old and you could smell it in his room. The scent was similar to walking into an abandoned building after it had been used for too long. My nose wrinkled in protest when I took a deep breath in.
The teacher called on me again, I wasn’t prepared this time and quickly searched through what I had heard a couple minutes ago, my answer was correct. How lucky of me to be called on. I don’t know why Mr. Tanner always decided to call on me. He knew I never needed to take his class; they just assigned it to me at the beginning of the year to make sure I had six classes. He should call on me less. I let a sigh escape my lips and stared back at the clock. I wanted to know why he did it, probably to make the lesson proceed considering everyone else was too stupid to pay attention. The bell finally rang releasing me from my prison, one more class to go.
I finally had something to look forward to, my girlfriend. She was everything and more for me. The want to see her at this exact moment was more powerful than any other feeling I had felt today. The gentle touch of her cold hands, her blue eyes, and her smile, I fantasized about them as I walked down the hall. She knocked me off my feet when she smiled. I couldn't even be mad at her for my life. Seeing her dazzling teeth form into that smile was too much. I often had a half smile when I was trying to be angry or upset because being around her was like being around something that you never could get used to. I loved every minute of my time with her. So beautiful and majestic, she often was stared at by the other students. I don’t think I'll ever get over that. I walked down the hallway lazily, pushing other students out of my way. I wasn’t very big myself but I had enough muscle not to be overthrown. I saw her walking towards me the smile on her face that made my body jitter uncontrollably. The hallway filled with hundreds of other students disappeared. There was only her.
She glided gracefully through the crowd towards me, not even stumbling when she was hit by some Goth kid. I thought about talking to him personally, telling him that hitting someone so beautiful was a crime but quickly subjected it. You don’t want to mess with kids like that, they obviously have something wrong with them, and you don’t want to make things worse than they already are. I turned my thoughts back to the goddess moving her way toward me.
Her hair brushed her shoulders and it bounced up and down as she strolled toward me, using no effort at all. I have never asked her if she was in ballet when she was younger, I would have to ask. Asking that question would come later, not now. All I wanted to do right now was press my lips against hers. That was absolutely all I wanted to do. It seemed like it took forever for her to reach me but it must have only been a couple of seconds. She jumped into my arms and I lifted her up, smelling her hair. It had a very tropical scent, something like a basket of fruit. Strawberries or raspberries, I couldn't decide, the scent was calming. Suddenly her lips were on mine, sending an electrical current shocking its way through my body.
It was one of those unbelievable feelings that only she could give me. She pulled away but I tried not to let her, I pushed myself closer to her, trying to get my lips back onto hers to give back that electricity that surged through my body.
"Do I have to remind you we are at school Ociel?" She asked me, penetrating my eyes with hers. Her eyes are possibly the most mesmerizing objects I had ever gazed upon. The color that swirled through them was a light tropical ocean blue. The edges were darker, hinting at something dangerous but still kept that calm blue color. Around her pupils there was a slightly gold color, exactly the same color as sand at a surreal beach. The kind of sand you only see in pictures or drawings. The blue in her eyes wanted to consume the gold tint but it was thwarted when it only washed back to place, exactly like the sand at the ocean. Her eyes were marvelous. The only thing that diverted my gaze from them is the carefree giggle she let escape from her lips. She must have caught me staring and I started to feel embarrassed from staring.
"Do I have to remind you that I don’t care?" I retorted as I pulled her towards me with all my strength. I felt the soothing relief of her breath seeping its way through onto lips and into my mouth. It had a mint smell but I don’t remember her having any gum, I would have asked for some if she did. The scent was mouth watering. I would have fallen if I wasn’t holding onto her. She probably noticed but ignored it. She must have gotten used to it by now, holding up my barely conscious body up. I pressed my lips ferociously determined not to let her go.
She was very fragile and I often had to restrain myself when we got into "play fights" every now and then. It became a habit. I lifted myself up only to be attacked again. She kissed my neck softly, letting her soft lips burn my skin. When will it stop? I could not possibly take any more of this tempting torture. Managing to keep myself from fainting, I lifted myself up. I wouldn’t be able to keep myself from falling if she did it again.
"Are you alright?" She had a smug look on her face; I knew that she intended to cause my reaction. I grinned at her and nodded, trying not to show how awed I was. She could tell I wasn't doing a very good job and giggled again. My knees felt weak.
We walked through the hallway, she more effortlessly than I. I was ecstatic. Our next class was P.E. and we had it together. This is the only single reason I ever come to school, to see her, and her smile. I had known Laila for more than seven years; I remember meeting her in elementary school. She was more cute than beautiful then. Trying to remember so long ago was difficult but I could not have forgotten her face. Her eyes were a solid blue; there was no dark edge or gold tint flowing through them. My brain began to ponder through fantasies of why they changed but it quickly threw my theory away into an imaginary waste basket. Thinking of such trivial things while I had a mirror image of a super model next to me was near impossible. She would probably beat a super model in a beauty competition just because of her smile.
We walked outside through the courtyard to the gym, passing various students without a glimpse toward them. We were intently focused on one another. The air outside was warm and inviting; I inhaled and the air tasted clean. I remembered it had rained last night and the scent was quite refreshing. It’s funny that such things could make a person happy, but they did.
Her teeth are shiny and milky white; her skin is pale and smooth; comparing her skin to mine is comparing silk with gravel. She was tall, almost as tall as I was standing at 5'11". She must have noticed me staring and smiled at me. It lit her face up and the sun reflected off her eyes. No one like me should ever deserve such beauty. Not someone that thinks impure thoughts, or thinks of something selfish. She was pure; I felt dirty. I must not have been keeping my face settled; she looked at me distressed, worry creasing the skin above her eyes. I stared away from her at towards the mountains, hoping that she wouldn’t press me for information.
"It's nothing you have to worry about." I said hoping to make her smile again but her frown only grew more prominent.
"Ociel is there something you want to ask me." She said, her voice like the most beautiful melody, drifting its way into my ears. It was a very beautiful sound. I began comparing her traits next to mine and my sorrow only advanced. We walked in silence the rest of the way and my thoughts became more depressing. She had excellent timing; she must have known what I was thinking.
She kissed me, softly, and my frown was washed from my face for a split second but it was enough to make her a little more courageous. We reached the gym doors before she stopped me.
"Whatever it is, you shouldn't worry yourself so much." She said, her deep blue eyes smiling. It made me feel awkwardly blissful. Sighing in defeat-no one could stay mad at her for long- I smiled back. There was no possible way for anyone to resist such an attractive face.
"I just can't see why anyone like me could deserve someone so..." I stuttered, trying to think of the right word.
"Perfect". I finished biting my lip. She bent towards me and whispered ever so softly so that not a single soul but us could hear. Her breath was warm on my ear and it made me dizzy. My face was getting extremely hot, I must have been blushing because she sighed in relief then giggled at me.
"You got what you deserved, as did I. We were meant for each other, it's as simple as that". She lightly bit my ear, my heart stammered, trying to obtain its rhythm again to no avail. I looked around, when did we get inside? I couldn’t remember walking through the doors. My heart continued to pound blindly against my chest in every direction even as she pulled away and led us to our teacher to get attended for. Something was off with what she said. I stored that for future reference but was to out of it right now to think about it clearly enough. Our P.E. teacher Mr. Kent called out both of our names, one after another.
Mr. Kent was also the football teacher at our school and he was a very athletic type person. You couldn’t just lay around in his class; he would make you run a mile outside on the track. I remember having to run a mile after I forgot my shorts for class. It wasn’t difficult but the weather outside was scorching. My eyes had to be run under water because of the sweat from my forehead had gotten into them, it burned. Being the gentleman I am, I walked her to the door outside of her locker room.
"Go dress down, I'll be waiting for you." She said. As I was walking towards my locker room I heard her yell across the room. "You look sexy in your P.E. uniform!” Everyone stared, which was only to be expected.
I laughed as I walked in the locker room to the scent of deodorant and body odor. I was a very athletic person and I thrived on competition. I felt slightly dizzy today, but decided that it must have been Laila and started turning the dial on my locker. 32-3-22 was my combination, how ironic they give the person that can actually count past three at the school only two numbers. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible was going to happen today. I hoped my premonition was wrong. I was in to good of a mood for it to be ruined. I slipped into my P.E. clothes and stepped outside into the gym. It was extremely humid and warm; it made me uncomfortable as I grabbed a racket. I watched as my girlfriend strode across the gym, the smile on her face that lifted me off my feet.
