Keep A Promise or Die

Chapter 4

I

Ivy woke up in the morning and felt her arm sting. Her thoughts rushed back to the day before, a mix of bitter-sweet feelings. But she was happy; she finally had the precious moment with her mum she was unconsciously wishing for nearly eight years. But the glimmer of joy only lasted for a fraction of a second. Yesterday was one of the most fast-paced days of her life. She finally felt like she was alive.

Ivy wanted to get to school early today. She hurried to the bathroom, and washed then quickly wore her black uniform. She picked up her bag and her books were already in it. There was even an amateur stitch were her mum had fixed the ripped bag. She ran downstairs into the large dining room. Her breakfast was eaten quickly, and for the first time, fully finished. Mrs Venom shook her head in mock disbelief. If she had known a tiny bit of motherly love could help her daughter so much, she would have confronted the child ages ago.

As Ivy walked out the high gates of her home, a bright redness among the green garden beds caught her attention. She walked back, and moved the leaves back, and there the first blooming rose of the season. Ivy never took such stuff into consideration. But today she hesitated. Then before she could change her mind, she clipped the blood-red flower and put it in her chest pocket, so the head stuck out. It's a nice difference, she thought, smiling.

Before Ivy even entered the school, she could see Meg and her gang. She started to turn back, not wanting to meet her, but kept on walking, and fought to remain empty faced. But Chirp was amongst them, and by the look on his face, it was easy to say he battling to stay calm. She was relieved to see him, though. Just then, Meg turned her face, and she looked at Ivy, who looked straight back. They both felt hate for the other, for completely different reasons, danger and annoyance. But Meg, deep inside felt a twinge of fear.

Ivy was inclined to walk right past the group, dragging Chirp with her, but she stood her ground, ready for whatever would happen next. This wasn't any ordinary school fight, because of the darker weight of life and death, both on scales, ready to tilt and drop on one side. Meg moved first. She walked closer to Ivy, inspecting the black-clad girl up and down, her eyes drifting to a stop on the dark rose. She touched it lightly, and asked, almost to herself, “Who's it from?”

 Ivy felt the anger bubble in her, the tips of her ears burning. But she took a step back, and said, simply, “I picked it myself; if you have any problem with me, spit it out”. Meg’s face contorted in fury. “Really, why where you with Chirp yesterday, all of a sudden?” A hundred heads turned to look at Meg, all drinking in the news. Not only was her mouth big, it was loud too.

Time stopped. Then slowly, it resumed. Meg dropped to the ground, her face turning a shade of purple. Her eyes bulged, and she scratched her neck and chest. Chirp gasped, having somewhat an idea to what was happening. He looked across at Ivy, whose stance as usual, expressionless, except her eyes and set of mouth told she was pained, guilty, but also, darkly satisfied. Then it was over, Meg didn't twitch, her eyes dull. All was quiet, until a piercing scream shattered the silence.

Sally, one of Meg's gang crawled over to the life-less body, and shook it. “Meg” she called. Again, she called, but no reply. Chirp blinked, and then told Sally to get a move on and call a teacher. He looked at Ivy once more, who looked right back, and after a few seconds, a shiny glint came to her eyes, and water welled in them. She turned and fled before Chirp could stop her.

Chirp didn't stop her, she deserves isolation. He thought of himself in the same state as Meg, and bit down hard on his tongue. He wasn't going to let it loose. Soon he was surrounded by teachers and students, then paramedics. But what’s the use, he said to himself bitterly, she’s already gone, not that I care.

Ivy had a sick feeling in her stomach; her head was spinning from the long run.  She had cried, for some odd reason, and found it quite comforting, but still, she couldn’t that Meg, had just died and Chirp had promised to her too. All because of me, I bought this upon myself, she thought. Her fist bunched up, and she punched the brick wall she was leaning on in frustration. She relaxed a bit, feeling some of the anger ebb away. It felt excellent, and she ignored the pain. Her knuckles scraped against the bricks, but she only concentrated on the ‘thud’, and was soon hitting away in a rhythm, taking out her wrath on the wall.

An hour had passed, and classes were cancelled for the day, and students were doing self-study. Chirp had started to feel guilty, and went to search for Ivy. He reasoned that it wasn’t her fault that Meg had such a big mouth. As he turned around to walk across the back of the building, nearly giving up his search, he saw a small figure with long black hair moving in an awkward fashion. As he walked closer, he saw that it was Ivy, for some undistinguished reason, pummelling the brick building viciously. “What the hell?” he yelled, as he ran towards her, swiftly grabbing Ivy's wrists. She struggled to get free and Chirp was surprised that such a small person could wield this brute strength. “Enough!” he shouted, feeling his arm muscles straining. With one last rebellious tug, she stopped, her arms softening.

“Next time, I advice on punching your pillow” said Chirp, examining the many grazes on her knuckles.

Ivy felt very uncomfortable as she and Chirp walked back to their classroom. She kept on sucking her cuts, but her mind was toggling around other thoughts. Did Chirp now about the real reason behind Meg's death? What would he think of me if he found out? She didn't want to dwell on the possibilities. At the very same moment, Chirp was thinking along the same lines. Did Ivy know that he knew exactly why Meg had died, such a tragic, uncanny death? Was there a way to undo this strange phenomenon? If so, how? He knew that he was missing something, a vital piece of information, but his brain was too tired, as he had a lack of sleep studying for a History test that was supposed to be today, and cloudy from the day’s events. Chirp shook his head, trying to clear it. He wanted to scream in anxiety. He wasn't ready to die yet. He was missing a vital piece of info, just didn't know what it was...

Chirp decided he'd stay close to Ivy, in case she'd do something insane again. She didn't seem to mind, but soon, Chirp saw the curious glances of his classmates. Unfortunately, many people had had heard Meg's when she stated Ivy's visit, and now, like a wildfire, the whole school was whispering about Meg's 'last words'. It was like all other rumours, having many versions, and like 'Chinese Whispers', changed as told from people to people. Chirp sighed, and tried to walk like Ivy, who didn't even care about the stares, head high, eyes focused in front, not looking at anyone.