The Last Evergreen

CHAPTER 2

My blood pulsed with whispers of uncanny adrenaline. I was in the comfort of an empty white room—bare from any sign of hazard. Yet, my instinct signaled me about the impending danger. I fisted my skirt with desperation, as if this piece of clothing would shield me from the upcoming jeopardy.

With an exhausted sigh, I leaned my stiff back against the icy wall, while my arms hovered around my shaking knees. Sitting inside the detention room, where I first thought that silence was heaven, when in fact, it became a bitch right now, felt like time had moved slower.

“Valentine, baby, I summon your freaking abs to invade my paranoid mind. Damn, I need distraction...” I whispered.

Even my X-rated imaginations would not save me from the unidentifiable cause of my paranoia right now. Feeling defeated, I closed my eyes, trying to visualize scenes in the book. The eerie silence was deafening. I wanted to hold something, preferably a book or a pen and piece of paper. Idling would only make me fidget more.

I stayed in the room, oblivious to how long I sat on the cold floor. No matter how I tried to be calm, I could still feel the raging storm, only this time, for whatever reason I couldn’t fathom, I was certain that the devastating storm had already arrived.

The sound of the door being opened snapped me from my reverie. Mr. Cander entered with a grim expression.

“You’re dismissed, Evergreen.”

“Finally!” I sighed in relief.

I stormed out of the white room. The hallways were almost empty, and the flickering of light bulbs only added to my anxiety. I gathered my belongings and ran as far as my lungs could sustain. It was already dark when I stepped out of the school building. The nearby lamp posts were my only guarantee that I could reach the street outside the school campus without breaking my knees.

Hugging the books, I looked up at the dark sky. The night seemed gloomier than usual. Even the stars looked dull. The wind whispered terror and vengeance. A bad omen for something more disastrous.

I took a deep breath, trying to regain some control of my body. My hands were cold and shaking, while my breathing became raspy. This was fucking insane!

Then, out of the blue, I felt a potent force assaulting me. The impact almost knocked my breath away. I lost my grip on the books when I felt the searing pain in my right palm. A hiss escaped from my mouth as I clutched my palm desperately. I tasted my own tears when the burning sensation intensified.

I lost sight of my surroundings. Different images replaced it, shifting like a movie at a fast-forward pace. My eyes bulged with horror at what I’m seeing. I tasted the metallic taste of my blood when I bit my already shaking lower lip.

I’ve witnessed the cruelty of humanity. I was aware of the evilness lurking around the world, yet it did not prepare me for the gruesome and devastating scenes the pain brought me. It felt inhuman, like no matter how corrupt the people, no one would be this kind of heartless.

There were deaths everywhere. It seemed endless. I saw fear in someone’s eyes in a microscopic version. The emotions were there... Screaming and begging. The tears in her pale cheeks held too much grief, broken dreams, and longing for a future she couldn’t have anymore. Like how fast a switch was on, was also how fast the light of life left her eyes. Seeing her—whoever she was, would surely haunt me forever.

The images didn’t stop in her death. I’ve witnessed helplessly when a father lost his entire family; when a little boy was left in mountains of corpse, when an entire town became victims of genocide, when a mother sacrificed her life for her daughter who end up dying as well, and the most painful of all, the scene that broke my heart the most was the man who was laughing in the center of all deaths. He was there, bathing in euphoria from the horror he had caused.