The Scourges

"Living will be harder for you than dying, and what could you possibly have to say who will be judged credible? We had brought a girl here with the intention of slaughtering her, but we became the ones who became her toys? Faced with an unidentifiable ma.s.s of flesh and picking up the three pieces of the beheaded man, do you honestly think that despite your parents" fortune, someone would come and worry a shy little girl like me?"

...no one believed him. Shivering at the slightest noise. He knelt to the corner of a wall and covered his head with his hands at the first sign of alert. Looked at by everyone as if he were a monster unworthy of being called a human being. Subjected to the blows of those he had fun mistreating when his mental health was not so fragile and being spat at by the rough women of his small town, he began to stay locked up at home.

To fight the fear that was eating away at him and the depression that was only getting worse, Jamal resorted to what he called, (self-stimulation through emptiness.) Subjected to the torture of that mocking voice that kept whispering inside him, he clenched his teeth when the blades of his cutter penetrated deep into his veins.

He quenched his thirst with bleach and spread his wings from the highest bridge nearby, but he never hurt himself badly. In the words of his family doctor, Jamal must have had an angel protecting him.

The self-stimulation through emptiness he had initiated himself, ended six months after his first suicide attempt. Bathed in a world of darkness until the day before, when Jamal awoke that morning, his spirits had never been also serene.

His perfectly functioning body showed no signs of the many, many lacerations he had inflicted on himself, and now he had a purpose. To go to a western city, get married and become a teacher appreciated by his students.

When three months later he entered the John F. Kennedy"s boarding hall, if he knew he was running away, he didn"t know why.

When three years later he married a woman without really feeling for her, he knew he was just following a random program of living created during one night.

When six years after leaving home, he was appointed Professor at Jefferson High School in Salem, Oregon, he felt a great emptiness taking hold of him because, once his program was over, there was nothing who could motivate his life.

"What"s the matter with this professor?"

"I don"t know. I have no idea. Usually, apart from the times he looks at my thighs, I"d say he"s pretty much normal. Oh, I forgot! Hi, I"m Vivian. You can sit next to me, if you like."

"Hi, Anna! The tall blond, who doesn"t look nice is my sister, Reina. Maybe your Professer saw a ghost? Whoa, so pretty, I love your blouse. Can I touch it?"

Yet, this whim to come out west to teach turned out to be the one and only good thing he did in his life. He failed to develop any real feelings for his wife, however, she managed to give him two beautiful children that he"s proud of. Salem is not New York and Jamal won"t say otherwise, but he loves the more restful life he can lead. As for his job as a teacher, it is his pa.s.sion, the only place where he really feels like he can be himself. Invaded by a feeling of a certain accomplishment which, if it is not perfect or total, is enough to make him happy, Mr. Samson, who is no longer the young Jamal, returns to his senses and raises his eyes to the source of this voice so familiar and yet so distant.

It"s very hard to imagine that this innocent looking young girl who seems to be having such a good time with Vivian is this mocking reaper, who led Troy to amputate his own legs.

His friend, who without making a single complaint, later sliced off hiself left arm, took his time cutting off his own tongue and to plunge his fingers into his own eye sockets to extract his eyeb.a.l.l.s. Without his body emitting the slightest shudder, he managed to maintain a sitting position that allowed him to continue his mutilations on a body who was no longer one.

In spite of his maturity and the fact that he is convinced that this night in h.e.l.l is far behind him, in front of the one that has just brought back a violent, deeply buried past, Mr. Samson is struggling to regain total control of his heart. The fact that he is able to stand upright after so much black information has been returned to him is even a little surprising. What does it matter, now that she is here, although this time he might run away, he won"t. On the contrary, he will bravely confront her during his French lessons.

"A little calm, please. Vivian, do you think you"re in a cafe?"

"No sir, but I was a little thirsty."

"It doesn"t matter if you"re hungry or thirsty, we"re at school. Closed parenthesis! Vivian, put that soda bottle and those plastic cups back in your bag. Oh my G.o.d, Vivian, do I have to tell you everything or what? When you wear a skirt that short, don"t lean back to put your things in your purse, bend your knees."

"You see, Anna! This teacher is always looking at my thighs."

As always, Vivian forgets she"s in cla.s.s. Her words, which almost sound like yelling, provoke the girls to boo and the boys to applause. As embarra.s.sing as it is, this almost daily situation helps Mr. Samson relax and better able to deal with such lovely nightmares. Unintentionally aided by the miss disaster of the cla.s.s, he grabs his handouts.

(Knock), (Knock), (Knock), (Knock) When someone knocks on the door again, he, who thought he was relaxed, at least enough to face his past, drops the pile of handouts on the floor and takes two steps back. This time, however, he does not have to allow the person to enter for the door to open on a woman of about forty years old.

The woman observes the unorthodox position of the Teacher for a few moments, but having no time to lose, she decides to report his neglected att.i.tude to the Princ.i.p.al without causing a scandal in the cla.s.sroom.

"Miss Reina and Anna Alister, your parents did not fill in the necessary information for your enrolment correctly. Please, follow me to the High School administration. Mr. Samson, the formalities should take more than thirty minutes. I am therefore afraid to deprive you of these two students for the entirety of your cla.s.s this morning. Well, since you"re both ready, let"s not waste any more time."

(Slam) Perhaps the departure of these two girls is for the best, thinks Mr Samson as he bends over to pick up his handouts from the floor.

…

03h50pm - main building 2nd floor - chemistry laboratory n°1

"No, not here. What am I saying? Here or elsewhere, that"s not the point, it"s just not right to do this."

"Hmm, you think?"

"No, I"m sure. Haaa! Stop, it"s dripping down my skirt. Take your hand away or I"ll warn you, I"ll get angry."

"Which hand? This one or that one? From what I can tell by your bodily reactions, you don"t want me to take my right hand away from where it is. Ok, I obey, and, I"ll put my left hand here."

"No, don"t take it off! No, I say no, then it"s no. You"re a monster, I told you not to take it off."

"Don"t cry, my beautiful one. Without that annoying piece of tissue, it"s much easier to get to that little area you like so much I tickle."

"Haaa! Haa! You seemed nice when I saw you, but you"re actually a real b.i.t.c.h."

"What a nasty little mouth! A girl should never utter such words. No way, I will not allow such vulgarities pervert you, so I have to make it so you can"t no longer say it. Grrrr, you"re so cute, I"m salivating in advance."

"No, no, back your head back or else, mumumumu..."

Without any emotion on her face, Reina watches this scene she"s probably seen a thousand times before. This pretty medium sized blond girl, whose big b.r.e.a.s.t.s probably over-ma.s.saged by her sister are slightly red and her lips must have sucked her nipples so much that her extremities are horribly swollen. Her first name must be Gilian or Vivian, maybe. This kind of thing is of little importance to her but, Reina, can"t miss the spectacle of a short skirt pulled up on s.e.xy thighs, exposing a v.a.g.i.n.a soaked in nectar with which her sister seems to be having a good time. Considering that the lecherous girl has made sufficient use of her free time, she comes to position herself very close to the two girls who are kissing pa.s.sionately.

"Sorry to disturb such a moment of complicity between girls. Anna, we are leaving."

Forced to part her lips from the one she"s decided to be her new girlfriend, Anna nonetheless continues pinching Vivian"s c.l.i.toris. "But I"m not done playing with Vivian yet."

"We"re leaving, I said."

"As always, you"re boring. If I say yes, You"ll agree to take a detour?"

…

05h20pm - Salem - a house near Forest River Park

Billy is trying so hard to learn how to ride a bike, but at five years old, his sense of balance is not yet exceptional. His house is nearby. In fact, he rides on the sidewalk right in front of it, and if he ever thought of trying to explore the world, his mom or dad would join him in ten seconds. It"s not very funny, but as his father always says, "The Samsons are exemplary citizens who learn to obey orders at an early age." According to his mother, "Here, this is not an army barracks." Stuck between two radically different ways of thinking and not understanding what his parents are saying anyway, Billy concentrates on riding his bike until, not understanding why, his front wheel locks up.

Unable to put his feet on the ground quickly enough, Billy first falls on the handlebars of his bike, before finding himself face down on the ground. Luckily, he was riding very slowly, but even though he hasn"t really in pain, curiously enough, he still feels a pain in his right arm. Convinced that he is seriously injured, his tears instantly rise to his eyes.

"Mom, I hurt my arm very badly."

Usually, his parents would have already come to console him. At worst, a neighbor would have come out to see what was happening, but strangely enough, not only is Billy frightened when the noise of the city doesn"t reach his ears, but but especially when he sees no one comes to his aid.

No longer having any desire to cry for attract attention, Billy forgets his imaginary pain. In a hurry to get home, he gets up quickly, but when he turns around, a teenage girl comes out of nowhere, puts her hand over his mouth and lifts him off the ground.

"Poor little thing! Come, into my arms. You"ll see, your big sister will take good care of your big wound. Your big sister and your dad are friends for a long time before you came into this world. You know..."

"Anna, do you think that getting us in trouble to satisfy your s.a.d.i.s.tic side is smart?"

"I have no intention of hurting that cute mini Jamal. No, but his disappearance, no matter how brief, will shatter this sweet little life my friend"s made, and for that alone, I don"t care how much trouble I can cause us."