Life of a Demon Slayer

Chapter 4: Lily Alborne - part 2

‼️WARNING!!!! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS TALK/DEPICTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING: TALK OF SUICIDE, ANXIETY, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STRONG LANGUAGE THAT SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND TRIGGERING OR OFFENSIVE. VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED‼️

Suddenly there was a rustling in the tree that I'd abused.

My hands flew up as a tall figure dropped from its branches.

"Ah—hold! It is me!" The figures hands flew up in surrender.

My stance relaxed as I recognized the man with magenta eyes.

"What were you doing in that tree, Shizu?" I asked, taking a deep breath to calm my racing heart.

"Same thing as you—that is, until you threw a rock at my head."

"Oh, did I hit you?"

"On the contrary," Shizu grinned crookedly," it passed right through me. Wasn't any less of a scare though."

Shizu tossed the rock at himself. As if to prove his point, the pebble clattered on the ground behind him.

"Objects without spiritual energy don't hurt me," he explained to my quizzical look.

". . . Anyway, did you see where Mark went?" I asked," I've got a fist that belongs in xis ass."

"I see talks didn't go over well," Shizu chuckled." While I didn't see where xe went, I have a sneaking suspicion I know where xe might be."

"Oh?" My eyebrows rose.

I followed close behind as Shizu made his way over to the side of the school that had all of the sports fields.

Why would xe be here? I wondered as the two of us approached the far end of the track field.

Shizu led me over to a small building at the end of the field—well, I say building, but it could hardly be considered anything more than a busted up shed it was so small. Strangely, though, the faint sound of music sounded from its walls.

I sat down on the steps with Shizu and we listened to the gentle guitar wafting from inside.

"You know, xe's been out every night since the accident," Shizu spoke up after a moment." Hunting rogue spirits, I mean."

I glanced over to see a strange expression on his face—something a mix between sadness and reminiscence.

"Oh?"

"Xe's been hunting every night despite xis injuries. I've tried to convince xim to stop but xe seems determined not to give ximself any time to heal—emotionally, or physically. One of these days xe's gonna work ximself to death and I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

Suddenly, something clicked.

"That's why you wanted me to apprentice with xim? To take away some of the burden?"

Shizu nodded solemnly." I'm afraid that was the ulterior motive to my suggestion, yes, but I believe it will be in your best interest as well."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but Mark doesn't want me as an apprentice. Xe made that very clear earlier." The thought made me shudder.

Shizu looked as though he wanted to say something else, but he was interrupted by the sound of door opening behind us.

Suddenly we found ourselves face to face with Mark.

Well, this is awkward.

"Mark, I—"

Mark ignored Shizu, and instead, turned to me.

"You know you shouldn't skip class."

I could feel my cheeks suddenly grow hot as I answered.

"Well you're one to talk! You ran off first!"

"That's different—"

"No! It really isn't!" I yelled, suddenly loosing the final sliver of my temper.

I stood to my full height, towering slightly over Mark.

"Stop with the bullshit already, Mark. You know what you're doing isn't healthy. Hell—from what I saw earlier—I'm surprised you haven't keeled over yet!"

"Well what do you know?" Mark shot back, avoiding my eyes as he turned away.

I grabbed the door and slammed it shut, effectively pinning xim between it and me.

"Now you listen to me and you listen well Markus Dragons. You don't get to go around deciding what people do or do not know. You stand around all day preaching about how hard it is for you because your 'a survivor' but guess what? You're not the only one who's got it bad!" The words were spilling from my mouth faster than I could stop them, but at this point I didn't really care.

"Lily, I—"

"Shut the fuck up! I'm not done!"

It was too late now; my truth was pouring out.

"I don't deny that what you went through was hard, but everybody goes through hard things. Some fates are worse than death. Hell—Shizu is dead, and from what I've seen, you treat him like shit! Well you know what? Sometimes I wish I was dead!"

I could feel hot tears streaming down my face but there was nothing I could do to stop them. I couldn't even stop the words that were coming out of my mouth.

"You can't even begin to imagine how it feels to live in a body defiled against your will—I don't wish you did either—because I know. Because I survived that, but most days I wish I didn't."

With those final words, my anger suddenly dried up and the strength in my limbs gave out. I suddenly found myself encased in the arms of the men around me as I drowned in my tears.

For once, the arms of men actually felt comforting.

Authors note:
Sorry this was a bit of a heavier chapter. I know that a lot of people suffer from the things discussed in this story—suicide is no joke and I urge you to reach out to friends, family, or people you trust if you feel any of those urges. There are many good resources out there as well!
National suicide prevention helpline: 800-273-8255

P.s. the next few parts should hopefully be lighter in content :)