Chapter 8: Remained

Chapter 8


And the days passed without anything getting better. And the days passed with everyone getting demoralized.

Anthony is a mutilated corpse, with the exception of rotting flesh. His once beautiful, dazzling hazels are replaced by dull, vacant holes. Deep with no exact ending; holes that bared nothing. It never seized a flash of anger or a spark of happiness, just plain oblivion. Beneath his eyes, embedded are purple circles left by his nightmares.

His cheeks, sunken, and one could make out his jaw and cheekbones. His lovely, exquisite mouth is nothing but a line across his appalling face. His pink lips are as the others, gone. It's a dull shade of white, cracked and chipped. Its permanent frown, embedded on his face forever. The pretty skin that enveloped him was gone. It was gray, translucent, as if all his blood has been drained. And the thin bruise-like veins are screaming from underneath his skin.

His once strong arms are nothing but brittle bones wrapped in parchment skin. He is beyond any description, thin. Jessica once lifted his shirt to clean him and she was crying while she's wiping his bare and fragile chest with a damp towel. His ribs were pressed against his chest that looked like a cage concealing his lungs. His back was much worst. All of his bones are marked on his skin. There was not enough flesh left to hold him.

He is a sculpture, not of a pagan god of beauty, but somehow an example of how a falling angel looks like.

And as for the rest, everyone lost weight and and hope. The house, even from the outside, screams the horror from within. The whole house looks like dump-site, no one felt like cleaning. No one felt like moving. Though sometimes, a half-zombie Jess would scrape some of the thick pile of garbage around the house. And usually, Lana would help.

Jess is the next most horrible person. She lost a lot of weight and is somehow, following Anthony's footstep to zombie-hood. Though she’s different from Anthony. She and Lana are usually the one who would cook supper, and do chores around the house. However, she is starting to be empty inside. She'd winced or twitch for reasons only visible to her eyes. A robot. That's how Frank once described her. She did all of the chores, went to school, went to work, but with little emotion.

She used to be Frank's buddy. They hung out a lot, run around like idiots, but now, there's no trace that a friendship used to exist between them. She'll leave for school while everyone is asleep. Arrive and stay in her room until it's time to cook supper, then go back to her box while Lana took care of the dishes. Sometimes, she'll wake up in the middle of the night because of Anthony's screams and just watch him.

Jason would follow Jess, in our list of “Top Miserable People.” He doesn't talk much like Jess but he is full of emotions, both Anthony and Jess lacked. He often weeps on Lana's lap the whole night until he falls asleep. It's hard for him to see his dear brother like this, as much as it kills him inside, he hopes that God would just end his suffering.

Lana, the babysitter. She has always been the fragile girl, little stuffs such as a cat on the streets would make her cry, but what's happening to Anthony is no little stuff. Unlike the first few weeks, she'd adjusted. As Jess did most of the house chores, she took care of Louise. The one, who has somehow been forgotten by everyone, even her dad.

Frank, even though impossible, is also miserable. Miserable because his best friend is miserable and because everyone is. Very simple. Once in a while, he'll try to start a conversation while they ate that will always be ended with Jess leaving. Frank helped Lana with Louise. Sometimes, they'll eat outside and people would think they're her parents. He also, never tried again to go in the room of terror.

Louise, the one should be most horrible for what happened to her parents. But she knew nothing. Lana planted lies in her innocent mind just to cover the truth that lies outside. She stayed in her room with Lana as her mom, and sometimes, Frank as the dad. Lana would always bring her wherever she goes, she feels responsible for the child who no on cared about.

And as for Ray, he stands like the father of the house. (Frank is just a father to Louise) Though there's no really need for a father. He'll help with Jess and Lana every now and then when he's not at work. But usually, the father is working. So he's usually gone.

x - - - - - - - x

So all are miserable.
But not for long, given that the happenings would change…Right?
Or, would they?
Who knows.
A better update will come your way tomorrow.
I just needed to summarize how horrible everyone's lives has been.