Beheading Beatrice

Chapter nine

The world had always been a cruel place. No human was free of sin, no matter how pure they believed themselves to be. A human could bathe in holy water, pepper themselves in salt to fend off the evil demons that could feast upon their vulnerable souls, dress in a necklace strung in communion bread and pray to their god every single day and night without fail. Even though they took all of these steps and gave themselves so they could reside in the arms of the holiest of beings, humans are never without sin, because without sin, this earth would be nothing like it was. No murder, no drugs, no teen pregnancies, etcetera. All of the horrible spawns of a sinful population would cease to exist. Humanity would become as pure as their god intended it to be. Although, running around naked seems to be quite a silly thought, though, clothes to god must be unnatural and alien to his perfect race. 

Sin had become an epidemic in the humanity that God had created millions of years ago, sins spread through the people of God and created them into the very demons God feared they would become. It was a sad time, for God had to kill his beloved people, except for who was the purest of men, Moses. Moses sheltered the animals for forty days and forty nights, his large ark protecting him and his clean minority of a family as he cared for millions of animals. Though, how would they have enough food for so many animal groups? Where did they get it from? It's not as though God had sent them crates of food from the sky every day to feed them. And the stench, the stench would be so foul. What did they do with the animals excrements? Threw them out a huge window into the steadily rising flood by using shovels? Though the preachings of the Christian believers baffle me to no avail, sin is truly one of the things those boggle minded nuns got correct. For alas, a world without sin, is not a world at all. 

Clementine rubbed her knees, watching as water from a moldy leak in the ceiling dripped down, the droplets smacking her on the nose, forehead, and left eye before she had even noticed the problem above her. Now, there was a tiny puddle right in front of her bare toes, a crosshair away from her big toes toenail. The annoyance she harbored toward the leak was quite the cornucopia of bountiful hatred, since the dripping, wet sound never stopped, even when she pushed her food tray beneath it, trying in vain to catch the droplets of falling rainwater. Clementine leaned her head back, pressing it against the stone wall behind her, emerald orbs narrowed as her tray began to overspill, the rainwater wetting the ground even more than it already had without the damned tray, causing Clementines annoyance to only grow before she dumbly kicked her mattress, causing her to stub her toe. With a growl, she flopped down onto the lumpy mattress, holding her toe with pursed lips, whispered profanities leaving her lips. The elderly man from yesterday, if it even was yesterday, was leaning against his own mattress, watching Clementine with a flicker of interest in his eyes. He was amused by Clementine's temperamental state, especially when she had stubbed her toe like a fool. "Throwing a childish fit will not change a thing little girl.." he murmured, his raspy voice hoarse, his throat obviously dry. "Mind if I have that water on that tray of yours?" he croaked, tilting his head to the side slightly, his tongue moving across his chapped lips, lubricating them with his saliva. 

Clementine sighed, wordlessly passing the tray over to the man, nodding before speaking "Yeah, it might taste gross, since it is rainwater and it passed through the roof and mold.." she murmured, avoiding the man's gaze, cuddling herself on the dirty mattress, her gaze fixated on the leaking ceiling. 

"Thanks kiddo.." he gratefully spoke up, picking up the tray carefully, placing one of the plastic edges against his lips, funneling the rainwater between his lips and down his parched throat, his thin arms quivering slightly as water dribbled down from the corners of his lips, sliding down his chin and landing on his lap. 

"No problem old man, just don't die of drinking all that nasty stuff, you are old after all.." she mumbled with a shrug, chewing on her lower lip 

"I'll beat your head in with this tray if you keep calling me old or any connotation to do with it." he scoffed, holding up the tray, shaking the now empty plastic with a cocked brow 

"Well, aren't you old?" she chuckled, crossing her legs. "Good luck with that, we've got steel bars between us.." 

"I mean when I get out of here, I'll smack your pretty little face in with this very plastic." he retorted, sure of himself 

Another voice piped up from the other corner of the cell, the gruff man finally speaking after hours of silence. "Shut up the both of ya, you're never getting out, especially because you've been here with me for five years. That demented bitch will never let you out, nor will she allow her guards to let you get past them and out into the real world. Stop hoping, it's sad to watch an old man put his confidence in something that will never happen. Just know, that you can die in peace, knowing that you're going to die in here."  

The other man quieted, his gaze falling down to the stone ground. His happiness draining out of him like he was a toilet and someone had flushed him. His bony, knobby knees curled up, his smile faltering until it was gone. 

Clementine turned her gaze to the shadowed man with a laser-sharp gaze. "That is so mean!" she hissed, shaking her head in obvious disappointment toward the other man's behavior 

He scoffed "You think I care? The truth hurts princess pie, and the sooner you learn to realize that, the better it'll be for you in the future, not everything is marshmallows and rainbows, though that would be a perfect world, perfection doesn't fucking exist." he snarled, rolling his eyes with a grumble of something incoherent beneath his breath 

"I know that the world isn't marshmallows and rainbows, I'm not a sheltered child. I've seen the things this world has to offer, I'm not going to ignore all of the terrible things happening around me to feed into the fantasy that you think I believe exists. My friend is trapped with Vedalia, probably on the brink of death right now, and all I can do is sit down here and wait to hear of the news, which I probably won't even have until my own sister lets me out of her dungeon. So you, you ignorant bastard, sitting on your ass and preaching about how terrible the world is, yet I don't see your lazy ass lifting a finger to even help. Making everyone else around you as bitter and miserable as you are is not going to change a thing other than making everyone here just like you. Let someone have hopes for the future, not everyone is a puppet to their own temper, especially like you. All you do is bitch and moan, at least be proud that someone is still able to hope for something, even if it is unrealistic. At least acknowledge the fact that this man right here is able to hold onto something, keep the light for the future in mind. Even if he is old and senile and probably dying, that give's you no right to try and change his way of thinking just so you can be satisfied with your sad little existence." Clementine growled, shocking the bitter man into silence. 

The man looked up, his hope reignited in his eyes, his arms moving, raising. "Preach!" he shouted with a yellow-toothed grin  

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