APHELION | ✓

interlude | in the face of death

trigger warning: mentions of rape but nothing explicit

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DAREN HAD NEVER BEEN AFRAID OF DEATH.

There was really no point in fearing the inevitable, he always said. Death had to come for everyone someday. Spending this short life in total fear of that unknown abyss seemed like such a wasteful thing to do. Daren believed in living every day as if it was his last. He did whatever his heart desired and damn anyone who tried to get in his path.

Live every day as if it's your last on this earth.

That was Daren's motto in life. But all the twenty year old knew when Death came barging into his world that night was that he hadn't lived enough.

It had been an ... eventful day, to say the least. His naive girlfriend of two months had turned fifteen today. Ugly bitch, he internally scoffed, taking a large swig of beer as he threw his head back against the headrest of the faded red armchair.

She was a big boned creature, her physique closer to that of a young man than a teenage girl. Add to that the fact that she happened to possess the mental capacity of a five year old and you got yourself the perfect package. The kind which belonged in a trash can amongst other such garbage.

She should have been grateful, really, that Daren had even shown her any interest in the first place. Back in high school, before he had been expelled, he used to be quite popular among the girls for his good looks. You would have thought that any girl would consider herself lucky to be his girlfriend.

Not Calista.

That freaking giantess of a girl had the gal to dump him. She dumped him when really, it should have been the other way around. And all because he said he wanted to take their relationship to the next level. She had become all agitated when he suggested it, saying it wasn't legal. Saying she wanted to wait a while. Saying she wasn't ready.

Bullshit.

Annoyance crept into him. Crushing the now empty beer can in his palms, Daren flung it across the living room. It rolled over to join the four or five cans already lying there, half-hidden under the dusty tv trolley.

All Calista's excuses had been bullshit. She may have given off the impression of being brave and strong on the outside but Daren saw her for who she really was. A pathetic little girl too timid and helpless for her own good who spent her life quaking in fear of one thing or another.

She meekly took shit from everyone but when Daren, her own boyfriend, had tried to have his way with her, she resisted. He had only wanted her to grow up. He wanted to help her but she wouldn't let him. So naturally, he took things into his own hands.

If only she wasn't so stubborn but weak at the same time. If only she hadn't tried to stop him from getting what he wanted. She had given in to his wishes, of course, after some ... persuasion. But she hadn't stopped the bloody crying. She sobbed her heart out, sobbed until her eyes were red and constant hiccups wrecked through her body and afterwards, she had fled his house as if the devil himself was chasing her.

Daren leaned forward and grabbed yet another can of beer from the low living room table. All this drinking had already dulled his senses and his hands shook as he tried to open the can. After a couple of failed attempts, he managed to wrench it open. Just as he was about to lift it to his lips, a sudden crash coming from the adjoining kitchen resounded throughout the small house.