Stuck In Paradise

Bad and good things happen at midnight.

He woke up and threw himself off his bed. His breathing was rapid and his body was cold with sweat.

He felt it.

Something was watching him. Its piercing gaze stabbed into his back as he sobbed into his hands.

He can’t fucking take this anymore.

That dream was the final straw.

As much as he wished he didn’t have to burden Polly with finding his body in the morning, he just couldn’t take it anymore. The pain was too much and there was only one way to get rid of it.

He got up and began moving to his bedroom door. If he remembered correctly the gardening shears were in the living room. Polly and his grandma are asleep so he should be in the clear to enter the living room.

He opened the door and walked into the living room silently. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Perfect.

Making his way through the room he slowly began making the way to his shears.

Almost there...he was so close to freedom.

He got them. They were in his hands.

Freedom.

He began whispering his goodbyes. He felt they were necessary.

Or perhaps he was wasting time in hopes he is stopped.

“Goodbye Polly, sorry for being another mouth to feed.”

Her warm smile as she handed him a plate of food flashed in his mind. He wished to see it one more time but he didn’t deserve to.

She shouldn’t smile at him.

“Goodbye grandma, I am sorry you had to know that I did this. I am sorry for being such a bother all of these years.”

The way she calmly sat as he went on a ramble about how much he enjoyed his plants made tears begin to pool in his eyes.

He didn’t shed them.

He didn’t deserve to.

“Goodbye Aubrey, I deserved everything you did to me. Goodbye Hero, you were like a big brother to me. Goodbye Kel, thanks for helping me these past few days.”

His friends sitting down, having a picnic with Mari was fresh in his mind. He was going to see her soon.

“Goodbye...Sunny.”

He will keep their secret to the end.

He pointed the shears to his chest. He was ready. His fate has been decided the moment he decided to help Sunny.

This was the end of everyone's pain.

….

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Basil jumped at the noise coming from his grandma’s room. He heard rustling from inside and a small yell. He dropped the shears though the sound of it was covered by the beeping.

He continued hearing small cursing noises as Polly opened the door and ran out.

“Basil!? Why are you- you know what? Never mind, call 911!’

“Huh!?” Basil was in shock. This wasn’t what he was expecting at all.

His death needed to wait.

Sorry, Mari...he’ll be there soon.

Just a little longer…

~~~~~~

All he could hear at first was the sound of his ears ringing. He then heard a loud thump from somewhere and the sound of a door swinging open. Then he heard footsteps running down the stairs. The footsteps grew louder as he swore he heard someone enter the kitchen. They then left the kitchen.

Hero didn’t understand what they were doing. Why did they go into the kitchen? His head feels fuzzy. He wanted to open his eyes to see but all he felt was a heavyweight on his chest. It hurt to breathe but he did so anyway.

He had to wake up.

He had to make sure the others were okay.

His eyes opened and his mind registered that he was in the pillow fort he made with Kel and Aubrey. His body ached from tossing and turning all night and his head was pounding.

He felt the others begin to stir awake as well. He sat up and ran his hands through his head.

What the hell happened? That...That whole goddamn area was burnt into his brain. And what happened at the end…

Hero looked down at his legs to see they were perfectly fine. The only thing he felt was pins and needles from sleeping in a weird position. He took this chance to get up and run to Sunny’s room.

He swung open the door to find his bed was empty. Footsteps approached from behind him and he turned to see Kel and Aubrey. They looked inside before looking at each other, confusion on their faces.

“Where did he...shit,” Aubrey whispered as she ran back down the stairs. Hero and Kel followed closely behind as she ran into the kitchen.

Hero immediately understood why she ran in. The person he heard enter the kitchen was Sunny.

They began looking around, hoping to find something that would lead them to him.

Hero’s eyes widened as they landed on an open box. The box was filled with silverware that he remembered taking a look at yesterday.

One of the knives was missing.

“Shit! Where is he!?” Aubrey cursed.

Their panic seemed to disappear as the sound of the piano filled the room. It sounded way too real to be just in their heads.

The piano seemed to grow louder and louder. The noise was filling their ears.

Hero’s eyes widened as he realized.

The piano room.

He ran into the hallway and the piano got louder. The sound of the piano was mesmerizing. He walked into the room to see Sunny...and Mari.

She was playing the piano, the window wide open for the moon to be seen.

“You know, waltzes were always my favorite. That’s why I chose this song for our last recital.” Mari spoke, setting her hands on the piano to replay the melody.

Hero felt his breath get stuck in his throat.

“You hated it though, didn’t you? How I would lock myself away on the piano. All that practicing, playing the same song over and over,” she softly chuckled, “When you first picked up your new violin, you were so eager to play with me. But keeping up wasn’t so easy….”

Hero remembered Sunny’s excitement fondly. The way he played sounded nice, despite his slight mess-ups. He wanted to be perfect though, just like Mari was. Mari used to help him, pointing out his flaws and teaching him how to play properly. Over time though, his excitement faded and when the violin was brought up he didn’t say that much on the subject.

He wonders how he was so blind to Sunny’s dislike of the instrument. It was so obvious.

“Maybe I pushed you too hard...I’m sorry…. I just wanted it to be perfect,” She sighed, “We never did get to play in that last recital. Do you want to play with me now?”

Hero couldn’t help himself. He stepped forward and the floorboards creaked. Mari turned to face them and smiled before disappearing. The window curtains shut as well like she was never here.

Once again, she had left them alone.

Hero felt tears go down his face as she left. He had to stay strong though.

He walked towards Sunny who was slightly shaking as if he was holding back his emotions. His eyes softened on the boy as he immediately went to hug him. Kel and Aubrey were quick to join in on the hug.

The room was silent except for the slight sniffles escaping from them. Sunny didn’t cry though, yet his shaking calmed down.

They stayed like that for a while. No words were uttered as the group didn’t know what to say.

“Sunny….” Aubrey began, breaking the silence, “We need to talk.”

“I know.”