Jocelyn+W.

Newspapers after newspapers, new channels after news channels, broken windows, trashed front yards, our house was surrounded by police tape. Angry mobs and savages gathered outside, lit torches, heavy guns, and knives at hand, crazed, obsessed, yelling, “Kill him! Destroy him! That demon doesn’t deserve to live!” Body stiff, I tried to block their piercing voices out. Glancing at the television, I heard them announce 2,000 more deaths; Suddenly, another jagged rock came crashing in, scattering glass everywhere. Petrified, I ran through the house, eyes searching for my little brother; I found him on the kitchen ground, playing with his plastic toy trucks. I quickly picked him up and gathered his toys; rushing, I brought him into my bedroom. I looked around desperately, then opened the closet door. I turned on the light and threw some blankets on the ground; I placed him on the blankets and gave him his toys. He looked up at me with confusion in his eyes; I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and closed the closet door. Running back to the living room, I glanced out the window, just to see that the angry crowd of people were breaking through the tape. Seconds later, I walked near the doorway, in time to greet them as they broke down the door with a cracking sound. “Where is he? I know he’s in here somewhere- where is he?!” they demanded, fire blazing in their eyes. “Leave him alone! He’s just a baby…just a baby….” I cried. A woman, calm, unlike the others, stepped away from the crowd towards me. “Honey, I know…but he’s //possessed,// far from being saved; he’s not your little brother anymore, his soul is taken over by a //creature//. Where are your parents, darling? They’re not here anymore, are they? And you know exactly why that is, he destroyed them! His own parents, taken by their own child; it’s a sin!” Tears streaming down my face, I didn’t want to hear anymore, I shook my head violently, “No! He’s still a baby. No. I’ll teach him, he’ll be good. I promise he won’t hurt anyone anymore. Please.” The lady, losing her patience now, began to raise her voice. “Child! Listen to me, we have to get rid of him, he’s a threat to us all! Save us…only you are able to kill him. Even when he wasn’t possessed he mainly listened to //you//; he liked you best and loved you the most. // He won’t harm you. // He’ll listen to you; then, we can all live in peace again.” With that, she gave me a knife and rushed the group back out, leaving me with the knife and a decision to make. Unable to process what had just happened, I walked back to my bedroom, the knife still gripped in my hand. Once in my bedroom, I looked around me, noticing how gray and broken my walls looked. I threw the knife onto the ground, where it screamed in the silence. I opened the closet door, hands trembling and ice cold, picked up my little brother, and sat him on my bed. I knelt down in front of him, his legs dangling from the bed. I looked into his eyes, searching deeply for the monster everyone claimed was there, and found nothing, bur the reflection of my eyes starting to tear up again. “Why? Why are you misbehaving? Can’t you listen to someone else for once? I know you’re not like this, but everyone else wants me to get rid of you now. Why do I always have to be the one to punish you? Why?” His only response was the puzzled look on his face, then, he wrapped his arms around my head, hugging me; I hugged him back, as tight as I could, as if I could somehow protect him forever with my arms. The pain ripping my heart apart was too much for me, I kissed him once more, then grabbed the knife lying on the ground, and forced it through my chest. I lay on the ground, drowning in my own pain, the thought of living without him. Just before my eyes put me in serenity, I had a final glimpse of him by my side; and as if he understood, I saw him pick up the bleeding knife, before darkness greeted me once more.
 * __ Greeting Darkness __**