Behind The Mask

Chapter 5

Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter, I am on vacation and don't have too much time to write, but I wanted to get something up, so here it is. By the way, I would like to thank everyone for fourty reads. I hope you enjoy.

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The dark, grim building stood, staring down at me with its evil eyes. I could almost see my reflection in the shiny, dark outfits of all those slowly walking around me. The garments covered up some of the people's faces, so all I could manage to think about is how any of them could be a killer, waiting for their chance to strike. Someone put their hand on my shoulder from behind causing me to jump, turn around, and smack them across the face. I could see a light red mark forming across the beautiful, familiar face.

I recognized the face as John's mom and issued an apology only to be hushed and told it wasn't my fault.  She slightly rubbed the side of her face before starting to talk,  "You know, even though it's a funeral, you can still walk around and have conversations." I snickered at her obvious attempt at humor before standing up and looking around for my mom's brother. He was always very nice to me when I was young, but he moved to Canada a couple of years ago so we couldn't really stay in touch with him. After about ten minutes I gave up and decided he probably had other things to do.

I caught a glance at my moms open casket and decided to walk to her one last time. The only words I could manage though all my sobs were, "I'll miss you." I slowly walked away, dragging my prosthetic leg across the hard, gritty concrete. The soles of my shoes had been rubbed into almost nothing. Eventually, I walked into a separate room from the large central gathering area so I could have some time to myself. The room was a dark grey color and absorbed all the light leaking in from the single window.

My conflicting emotions continued to drown me and keep me from figuring out my true intentions. "Are you doing okay?" John walked into the room and gave me a concerning look. I casually leaned back on my hands and tried to bring my shirt sleeves down to cover my wrist by rubbing them on the concrete. Thankfully, John didn't seem to notice my action because of how dark the room was. I was scared of what I was going to do with that knife when this funeral was finally over.

 "Aaron?" He said it louder this time so he could fully  gain my attention.

 "Sorry, I was just thinking about my mom," I lied and a hint of annoyance worked its way into my response even though I hadn't intended for it to.

 "She was a lovely lady. It might help get things off your mind if you talk to some people who knew her. Come on, join the gathering. You can't lock yourself away forever." But the truth was, all I really wanted to do was to lock my self away. Away from all my problems and issues, where I can truly be my own me. But for now I had to remain here and act like there was nothing that was wrong with me. 

So, I walked outside with a half smile on my face, so I didn't look deprived from all happiness, even though I truely was. I greeted a few people and after a handful of teary eyed apologies from others, me and John's family finally left. I always thought that in movies people overreacted about the emotions at a funeral, but now I knew, it was like saying goodbye forever to someone you cared about your whole life. 

It was a silent car ride back and no one tried to start any conversation as we drove away from our past and into our future. I ran to my room and locked the door behind me so I could do my deeds alone. I could hear John's dad calling for me to stop, but I didn't need to be cheered up now. I grabbed the knife from my bottom drawer and brought it to my wrist. A surge of relief shot though me as I released a breath and dug the knife in my skin. 

I searched for the rope that I had stolen from its previous spot at my old house. It lay behind my dresser and I reached for it with shaky hands. I hung it on my roof and looped it around my neck while standing on a fabric chair. I could hear loud banging on my thick, wood door, but in my final moments, I tried to block out all sounds and truely receive all the pleasure from being released from this torturous, unfair world. 

Then, I leaped and pushed the chair out from underneath me. My eyes went black and a sense of freedom came over me, finally I was doing what I was always meant to do.