May Sickness (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4

From the gathering crowd one man stood out. He wore a pin stripe suit, as did two other men on either side of him. Their suits were perfect; free of stains, wrinkles, flaws. Unlike the others, as they walked, the droplets of rain did not absorb into their clothes, or even touch them. As they moved the rain made a path for them, moving out of the way and then returning to their original positions.

The man standing in the middle was tall, with the height at about seven foot, he had broad shoulders. Through the sleeves of the suit it was obvious that his arms were large and muscular. His legs, like tree trunks, walked with heavy steps. His being, his entire person, radiated a strong, intimidating aura. His face was covered with scars; with two more prominent, one running the length of his face cutting through his left eye; and the other running through the middle of his face, perpendicular to the other.

The men at his sides were small, in comparison, but large on their own. They stood around six foot, with much smaller, thinner bodies.

It did not take Felix long to notice the three that so greatly stood out.

They looked each other in the eyes, the man opened his mouth, “Well kid, you sure did make a mess, didn’t you.” His voice was deep, rough, the world seemed to shake under it. A commanding presence engulfed Felix. That man scared Felix to his very core.

“Who… who are you?” Felix asked, his voice cracked, Rose could feel that his hands were shaking in hers, as she held them.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, but Felix could not answer, what could he say? I’m afraid.
“Who am I you ask?” the man started, “Well it would just be a waste if I were tell you.”

“But why… why would it be a waste?” Felix asked, but he already knew the answer.

“Because you, your girl, and all those people,” He pointed toward the crowd standing in front of the alley, “will all die.”

As he finished his words Felix out burst, “But why? I can understand me, but why Rose, why them?”

“It’s because they saw something you shouldn’t have shown them. There is nothing wrong with what you did, but letting others see it is.”

“But I did it to save her, they were going to…” But he stopped.

“It does not matter. Your good intentions will lead to her death, your death and the death of so many innocent people. I do not care to know the circumstances that led to it, I simply do not care.” His voice was stern, his face emotionless.

Felix dropped to his knees, “Why though? Why are you doing this?”

“Because it’s my job, it’s all of our jobs.” His arms were apart, gesturing to the crowd, that was, then, fully around them. “We are messengers of God, we do as he commands.”

“Like angels? You mean for real?” Rose asked, looking through the crowd, she did not see any wings, any halos, she only saw darkness and despair.

“No woman, we are not angels, we are messengers.” Came from the man standing to the right.

“He is right, we are no more than you, humans.” Said the one to the left.

“Then who are you?” Rose asked, disregarding the fact that Felix had asked the same question moments before.

“As our commander…” The man to the right started only to be cut off.

“Shut your damn mouths, no one has given you two permission to speak!” The one in the middle, the taller one, yelled, “Kids,” he said as he looked at Rose and Felix, “if you’re dying wish is to know who I am, then I will tell you. But pay attention, for I will not repeat myself. I am Michael of Hope, your names, however, hold no meaning to me.”

“So you’re here to kill us,” Felix laughed, “well I guess if I kill all of you, we should be okay. And if God wants us dead, screw him! I’ll kill him too!” Felix looked into Michael’s eyes. He no longer stood in fear, he was not going to let Rose die, even if it meant that he would have to die. “Rose, run!” Felix let go of Rose’s hand. With a flick of his wrist, bodies were thrown in either direction, creating a path through the crowd. Rose began to run but…

Michael’s hand rose and with his index finger extended, he pointed at Rose. What the hell is he doing? Is he telling them to stop her?He started to yell, “Rose!” but it was too late.

A beam of light, approximately half an inch in diameter shot pass Felix’s head. He could feel it hit Rose, but could not bring himself to turn around.

Tears filled his eyes.

“Well, you did say you were going to kill all of us, didn’t you? Maybe this will give you some incentive to stop saying things that are just ignorant.”

Felix turned to see Rose lying on the ground, blood starting to pool around her head. He ran to her, only to see the extent of the damage. Her neck was split open, blood flowed in a consistent stream, but she was not dead. Felix desperately placed pressure on the wound.

Blood covered his hands.

Rose opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a gurgling sound. Her mouth started to fill with blood.

“Don’t die! Please don’t die!” His tears fell to Rose’s face. She was looking at him, her eyes yet to be glazed over. He looked into her eyes. She coughed, covering Felix’s face with specks of blood. As they looked into each others eyes, Felix said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” With solemnity he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. He looked into her eyes, they were empty, devoid of life, but her lips, her mouth, she was smiling. And again he said, “I’m sorry.”

“You should be sorry, you’re the reason she’s dead.” Michael said, but Felix ignored him and continued to look at Rose’s body. “It’s a shame though, her dying like that, I was aiming for her head, you know.”

Felix did not care for the Michael’s words, he did not care what was happening in the world, his world, the most perfect being, was gone.

He felt his surrounding, he could feel everything, the concrete and bricks of the buildings, he felt the bodies of the hooded people, he felt Michael’s body. All these things, they did not feel pleasurable, they did not warm his being, all they did was itch. They annoyed and made him itch.

He stood up and turned to Michael, they were apart by about fifty feet.

“Now kill him!” Michael yelled.

The hooded people rushed Felix, encircling him. They closed in, Felix did not move, he stayed in the same spot, by Rose’s body.

The people to his flanks, both those in the hooded cloaks and the still frozen pedestrians, flew toward the buildings behind them. An invisible force pushed them back. Some hit the concrete and brick walls, their bodies crushed by the others. They popped like balloons. Broken ribs tore through the flesh of their sides. Their abdominal walls ruptured, intestines and other organs were liquefied and fell to the ground. Skulls crushed under the force, eye popped out of their sockets, blood ran from every orifice. The outer most corpses were twisted and fell apart.

Some hit the plane glass windows of shops. The broken glass slashed through their flesh. From the windows, the bodies continued their journey to the back of the various shops. They continued until they hit any solid wall, there they would be crushed and torn apart like the others.

And some, even, hit frozen cars, being pushed until their bodies collapsed, the frames of the cars twisted around them.

Those remaining to his front and behind him were ripped apart, leaving only piles of mangled flesh and pools of blood.

Though the blood flowed through the street like a river, it bypassed Rose’s body, merely going around it.

“My God! How is he this strong?” The man to Michael’s right asked.

“It’s not hard, right now instead of using physical strength, he’s sacrificing some of his life force. It’s not too uncommon, however, when most people do it, their using minute, this kid seems to be going all out, months or even years.”

Felix started to walk toward them. The buildings on either side of him started to crumble, cars twisted and pedestrians, still frozen, were ripped apart.

“Stop it! You are involving people that would otherwise be spared!” Michael yelled, Felix was then about twenty-five feet away.

Even with the obstreperous destruction surrounding him, Felix still heard what Michael had said.

“You know, that’s the second time today that someone has asked me for something, right after denying Rose and my pleas! How does it feel?!” Felix yelled, as he continued his approach, the buildings fell behind him, and the bodies still twisted and contorted, until finally being ripped a part.

And still, the falling rubble and flesh continued to land everywhere, except for on Rose’s body.

The two men at Michael’s side ran at Felix. They were fast, but Felix was faster. In an instant their bodies lay on the ground. Their bodies were cut in two, across their mid sections. Their innards were spread across the pavement, but, even so, they were not dead. Felix walked to the man that had been at Michael’s right. He stomped on his throat, collapsing the airway and severing the spinal cord from the brain. He then walked to the other and did the same.

“What I said doesn’t sound so ignorant now, does it! Look around, you caused this, all your men are dead!” Felix yelled.

“And so what if I caused this, it means nothing to me. I have lost nothing. But you, you have lost the one you cared for, and you have insured that you will not see her again in the afterlife. You have damned your soul to Hell by killing so many innocent people. But of course I could be wrong, you might see her in Hell, she did look like a dirty whore.” His words facetious, he said them with a smile, but with that Felix was blinded be rage.

The ground beneath him buckled and gave way, the buildings on either side of him collapsed on themselves. With each step the ground compressed even further. How dare he say that, he’s fucking dead! Felix thought as he continued to walk toward Michael. His body started to feel heavy, he did not know why, and he did not care.

Michael, however, could see what was occurring. Felix’s skin was hardening, cracking and then falling off. He crossed his arms, “Well it looks like this is about over.”

It was at that moment that Felix noticed what was happening, but he did not care, he was then in front of Michael.

Felix’s fist flew toward Michael's face, Michael made no attempt to evade. It hit square. The asphalt behind Michael exploded from the force, but he stood there as if untouched.

“What?” Felix asked in confusion. I hit him as hard as I could!

Michael smiled, he grabbed Felix by the hair and slammed Felix’s face against his knee. Felix’s left cheek shattered, lumps of flesh, fat and muscle fell to the ground.

“Do you really think you can hurt me? You might have killed those fools and the rest of my pawns, but do you really think you’re a match for me? Yes, you are quite strong, and maybe with a millennium of training you might be a match for me. If you would have just let me kill you and that whore of yours, you might…” Felix grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the ground.

“You shut your God damn mouth! You can insult me, you can spit in my face, but you will never mention Rose! And you fucking will never speak about her like that!” Tears ran from his eyes and down a bloody mass that was once his cheek. “You could have left her alone, I would happily had given my life for hers!” He fell to his knees, as Michael stood up.

“Do you really think that getting my suit dirty and messing up my hair would hurt my feelings?” He looked down at Felix. “You, kid, are pathetic.” Michael kicked at Felix’s head.

Felix raised his hand and caught Michael’s leg. He held it like a vice.

With a swift blow, Felix punched Michael in the stomach, his fist plunging deeper and deeper, sending Michael flying. His body skipped across the asphalt, like a stone across a lake. Stopping when it hit a frozen car, the passengers and driver were crushed as the car’s body crumpled and closed around them. Michael opened his eyes to see Felix walking toward him, he held his side. From the punch, many of his ribs were broken. He looked at Felix, his body now deteriorating at a much higher rate. The hand that had just punch Michael was just a bloody nub.

“You came here… you came here to do what? To kill an innocent girl that did nothing but get covered in the blood of her assailants? To take the life of a boy that did nothing but save the one he loved? Rose and I, we were thrown into this world with nothing! We were all each other had, and you killed her! Hell, you didn’t even give her the decency of a painless death!” Felix raised his left hand, the only one remaining. Particles of dust, blood and other trace material circulated in his palm. “Though you have caused me so much pain, you will die a painless death.” A sphere formed in his hand and shot toward Michael.

Michael stood up, “That’s what you think!” He reached out, catching the sphere in his hand, he squeezed and destroyed it, causing a small explosion. “You sacrifice your life just to break a few of my ribs.” Michael, with great speed, rushed at Felix, standing in front of him. They stood facing each other. Felix’s skin continued to harden, crack and fall off, his hair fell out; the clothes he wore, fell to pieces and his arms broke off, hitting the ground and shattering. Michael placed his hand on Felix’s head. “You must feel so weak, so helpless, so insignificant. And you are! You are weak, you are helpless and you are insignificant!”

Is this all I can do? Is this all I am. I’m sorry Rose.Felix regretted so much. He regretted not telling his father how much he loved and cherished the lessons he taught him and the time they spent together. He regretted not telling his mother how much he loved her the day she committed suicide. He regretted not seeing her off. He regretted being weak, but, most of all, he regretted not being able to save Rose.

“I love you Rose.”

Michael pushed down, destroying Felix’s body, crushing it and turning it to dust.

Shadows engulfed Michael and he was gone.