What Do I Do Now?

Chapter 1: Bad News, Mark

Pilot chapter. The chapters get longer after this one.

Mark's POV.

"Mark," Wade spoke lowly, using a sympathetic and solemn tone, Bob and Molly standing next to him, looking sad as ever. "I have to tell you something you don't want to hear..."

"What's going on, guys? What's with all the depressed looks?" I asked them concerned.

"It's about Andrea. Have you seen any change in her behavior lately? Her mood becoming sad, angry, anything that would signify she was unhappy?" Molly asked.

"No. I haven't seen anything like that. What happened to Andrea, where is she? Is she okay? Tell me what's going on."

Bob sighed deeply and handed me a few pieces of paper and Andrea's phone, a video with her face on the screen, ready to be played, time stamp saying it was recorded today. I looked up at my friends as they stood beside me and they looked scared. I tapped the screen to play the video and Andrea herself looked unhappy. What was wrong? She brushed her brown and purple hair behind her ear and began to speak. I knew something was wrong...

"Mark? Is that you? If it is, I want you to know why you're being shown this... Um, the papers in your hands are all the drawings and sketch comedy video scripts we did together, some with Cyndago. Even the video that you never uploaded, with you wearing the blonde wig and the blue green dress. You remember what reason I told you would be the only way to let you have them..? If I wasn't there to stop you."

She let out a small laugh, remembering our childish conversation as clearly and purely as I did. Just like it was yesterday.

"But, back to the reason for this video of yours. Erm, this is it. This is all that's left of me. I'm sorry that you have to handle all of this the way I'm saying it, but, I'm not around anymore... Mark, I died today. I'm gone for good. You're going to hate me for this... I know you're thinking it. But, there were a lot of things wrong with me in my life... I know there's 'always another way to handle problems', but mine weren't able to be fixed... So I fixed it by, y'know, making sure I don't have to handle them anymore. I don't have to wake up to a nightmare. You probably wouldn't understand all of it if I told you. And that's saying a lot. Because you're very smart and understanding to people. No matter who they are or what they've been through. But I, in three years, wasn't even close to the end of the hate, dehumanizing, torture and pain I've been enduring in that time."

Andrea cleared her throat and her silvery gray eyes became teary and a light shade of pink. I didn't say anything, I didn't do anything, I just stayed quiet. Andrea sniffed and looked down, trying to conceal the pain in her expression and wiping her eyes with her hands. She looked back up and looked directly at me, like she knew where I would be, how I would stand, what part of the screen I'd be looking at.

"I want to let you know that I would rather you not see my body, it's um, it's pretty bad. There's ugly scars all over it, burns, bruises and gashes everywhere you look. I just made sure everyday that you never saw them. I loved you too much to hurt you, to make you worry about me. And I still do. You're my best friend, my rock, my BFF, the good in my life. You made me happy, but I couldn't stay around and keep your arms wrapped around me in a tight hug forever. I think that made it worse. Being all alone in my apartment, being bored and having too much time on my hands to think. I never was able to find a reason not to do this, to convince myself it wasn't worth it. But I found reasons that made it acceptable. So," she picked up a pair of scissors and a bottle of different kinds of pills. "this is it. Mark, I love you, Bapple."

My nickname. Bapple.

"I wish there was another way... You are the only reason in the entire world that I kept strong for the past three years. Otherwise, I'd have been dead a very long time ago. Bapple Mark, you my best brotherly friend in the world. Since day one, and everyday after, until the end of forever. So thank you so much for watching, and I will see you, Mark Edward Fischbach, from the holes in the floor of heaven, while you make your next video." She held her hand up and waved like I would in the ending of my videos. But she did it calmly. "Buh-bye..." she spoke sadly, the tears now drowning her face, I could hear her whimpering.

The video ended and I turned off the phone, bursting into a broken dam of tears, collapsing down to the floor. I cried loudly and my three friends hugged me, trying to calm me down. I wouldn't stop though. I couldn't handle myself, I couldn't control myself. Something from another world had taken over my body and emotions.

"NO! No, this isn't real!! Andrea's not dead! No! Not her, she's not gone! She didn't leave me!" I yelled between sobs.

"Do you want to see her, Mark?" Molly asked.

"She said no, I can't!"

"Andrea said you couldn't see her body, as in her dead body. You should probably get a move on before that goes into affect."

"What..? She, she's not dead..?"

"Well, um," Bob started. "it's a technical matter. She isn't, but she is. There's machines doing all the work for her..."

"Why the hell didn't you say anything earlier!? By the time I were to get there, Andrea would be dead! And it'd be your fucking fault because you didn't tell me this before! You just made me spend five minutes watching a video of her, saying she killed herself! Who the hell does that!?"

"Come on, Mark. Lets go see her. If anything, you could say goodbye. Eventually, we're all going to run out of money to keep those machines running, and then... you know..."

"Yeah, I know. Then she really will be dead... They'd have to turn them off... Um, I-I want to see her..."

"Alright, Mark, let's go."