Chapter 1

Being alive is only the beginning

“The world is nothing but a dark place, but I guess I already knew that”- Auro thought to himself as the teacher went on and on about how the planet traveled around the sun.

It was a sad hopeless day as usual, as Auro sat at his desk looking up at the bland white roof of the classroom contemplating his life choices, but then he remembered her, her scared face, her skinny body and her arm… her cut arm. He wondered to himself how different his life would be if he would’ve never met her at that spot… it was clear that she had an impact on his life… then he heard it… that deep raspy voice...

“Auro, Auro?, Auro?! Are you even paying attention to the class”- His teacher fumed.

“Um, sorry, what was it again?”- Auro asked with a tired voice as if he would’ve just woken up.

“You know what Auro, forget it, why do I even keep trying with you!”- The teacher said retorded while asking- “Does anyone else know the answer?”

“There I go again, attracting unnecessary attention to myself, as I always do”- Auro thought to himself looking up again to keep staring at the old decrepade roof, “It looks disgusting”- he thought -”Exactly like my life.”

He kept contemplating everything including her, her smile, her fragile body and the scared look in her eyes for everything, He couldn't get her out of his mind, she lurked no matter what, it made it obvious that she was an important part of his life, he felt a warm feeling in his chest as if he was getting hugged, he could recognize this feeling.

As he looked down he realized everybody started to leave, “so I guess the school day ended”- he inquired to himself while he packed his stuff into his backpack,not caring if anything got damaged in the process. He started to make his way from a place he hated to the place he despised the most… His home.

“Hey, Auro, can we talk for a minute?”- His classmate asked - “what was her name again” - he wondered to himself- “oh that's right it’s Carla” -he remembered.

“Sure what is?”- He questioned her.

“Recently you've been getting more and more distracted in class. Is something happening? If you want to, you can always talk to me, I’ll listen ”- she said in a very concerned voice - “oh, that… don’t worry, i'm fine, It's nothing honestly”- He implied as he clenched his fist to the point he could barely feel his hand

“Well then, but remember I’m always here”- she said with a smile on her face.

And yet her smile... it felt fake, even if it looked sincere it felt forced in some way, but it didn't matter. He shrugged it off and made his way home.

He walked down the winding streets looking around at the houses that surrounded the place he never wanted to be in, when he turned his head to the left and noticed her, looking out of her window, he kept walking. She looked happy to see the outside world, Auro smiled. He thought to himself, if they would've never met, their lives would’ve been completely different. Well at least one of them possibly wouldn’t be alive. He sighed and kept walking.

He opened the door- “...”

He felt like saying something but gave up without being able to say a single word

“What’s the point, they don't even care”- He thought to himself as he walked to his room

Once in his room, he threw his backpack across the room on to his bed and started to change, he took off his shirt to reveal his torso filled with knife cuts and bruises covered from waist to neck, and his upper left arm covered with self inflicted cuts, he looked down with tears running down his face.

He grabbed another shirt from his closet and put it on covering up his scars, which he regrets so much. He took of his pants off revealing even more scars covering his legs from toes to waist, tears fell on to the wooden floor just sitting there on the stone cold floor of his dark room in the furthest most corner of his house, the place he hated the most in life, the place where he is so close yet so far away from her. He finished changing and layed down on his bed.

Everything was dark it felt like he was in a world with nothing but him, floating in the middle of nowhere, then a light appeared form a far and it got closer, as it got closer he could recognize something, it was her smiling slowly floating her way towards him, her arms out as if she was going in for a hug…

The door opened and he heard a voice “So you’re home, why didn't you say so”- The voice shouted

“Why should I tell you anything, you wouldn't care anyways”- Auro replied

“Look you little brat, you should learn to respect me and your mother, you should already know the consequences”- The voice of his father replied

“Why should I respect the people who abused me and filled my body with bruises and cuts, as a brutal punishment for caring for a person that suffers more than me”- Auro criticized sitting up on his bed

“That's it, I'm tired of your shitty attitude”- He said while pulling out a pocket knife -“Take off your shirt”

Auro ignored him as he glared straight at him.

“I said take of your fucking shirt Auro, don’t ignore me, I’m your fucking father”- He proclaimed in a fit of rage

“If you were really my father, you wouldn't do this, so fuck off”- Auro answered while tears filled his eyes

“That’s it”- His father yelled as he approached the bed with the pocket knife in hand

Auro closed his eyes out of fear, clenching his fist. A sharp stinging pain spread from his chest to stomach and a horrid sound of cloth and skin getting ripped was heard. He let out a loud screech of pain, he could feel his blood seeping out onto his skin, the pain was unbearable he felt as if he could die then and there.

He was tired of the abuse, tired of the pain and tired of the suffering from his parents treating him like an object. Out of anger threw a punch towards his fathers face and landed it on his cheek, he could feel a bone crack and his fathers teeth moved towards the left. His father fell back surprised, a sheer look of anger filled his fathers face, it looked like his eyes were about to pop out.

“I'm done with you”- He yelled as he change his stance and the position of the knife in his hand

He ran towards Auro as if he were to stab him. Auro accepted his fate, he closed his eyes and relaxed his body. He was ready to leave this world, as he opened his eyes to see the last sight before he would die he heard something…

“Stop it already, you took it way too far”- A female voice yelled -“Please I beg you, you already cut him isn’t that enough for today”.

He fully opened his eyes and cleared the tears of his face, there he saw his mothers hands holding his fathers hand, with the knife firmly grasped.

“You don’t understand, this little brat hit me across the face”- His father replied.

“It's ok, don't worry, go put ice on your face, I'll handle the rest”- She replied in a calm voice.

His father walked away, closing the pocket knife and shoving it into his pocket. His mother turned to face him.

“How could you?”- She asked in an angry tone -“Why did you make your father go this far, you really are the worst son someone could have”- She stated.

In a foul swoop she slapped him across the face and left the room, the sound of her feet hitting the hard floor echoing in his ears.

He held his hands up to his chest, attempting to put pressure on his injuries to stop the bleeding, a sharp stinging pain ran across his torso, he could almost feel it in his spine, even so he was used to it. This wasn’t anything new, for him it felt like pain was more common than receiving a compliment from anyone. He attempted to get up but the pain made him fall back onto his bed.

He kept pushing to get back up. He was already used to getting horribly abused by his parents so he had already bought the stuff to treat his injuries, he kept them in the drawer of his nightstand, It’s so close yet so far away…

The pain felt as if it was getting ten times worse by the minute, he took a look at his hands, they were covered in a deep red crimson color, from his fingertips to the bottom of his palms, a shear look a fear consumed his face as he saw the blood drip from them. He could firmly recognize this feeling, it made him remember that moment and that place that never left his mind.

He finally stood up with a weak and shitty balance. He walked towards his nightstand and opened his drawer, blood dripped onto the floor, his shirt covered in blood, it disgusted him. He pulled out the Isopropyl alcohol, some cotton and the bandage. The pain was unbearable, he could feel the sharp sting as the alcohol submerged cotton grazed his skin absorbing some of the blood seeping out of his wounds. As he finished, he unraveled the bandage and started wrapping it around his torso over the wound.

As he finished wrapping the now blood consumed bandage around his torso he looked up to his roof thinking about how much he wanted to run away from home, but then he remembered her and her gentle smile on the day he met her. He stood up and walked to his closet, he pulled out a new shirt and threw the ripped one into it. He didn't care after all it really wasn't his, to them it was theirs, nothing he had was his, they were selfish people, some of the worst.

From what he could understand what he had done that day and continued doing to this point was wrong in their eyes, and yet he couldn't understand why. Why out of the three of them he was the only one to sympathize with her, from what he knew they also understood the situation she was living in… the horrible way she lived in that horrible house of hers.

He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop, he opened a word document and started writing…

“This world is pitiful,but I guess I already knew that, nobody truly understands how much others can go through in a lifetime without needing to be in physical pain”... He wrote. He continued writing until dusk fall. He then heard a knock at his door…

*Knock**Knock*

“Yeah what is it?”- Auro replied.

“There's a guy at the door claiming he’s your classmate, what should I tell him?”- His mother asked.

“Tell him that I don't want to see anyone at the moment and to go home”- Auro stated coldly.

“Well then”- His mother remarked as she walked away from his door.

Auro never really cared about school or anything related to it, he hated everyone else, they never were able to understand his problems, in his eyes everyone in this world where assholes, “most people turned their backs to her, and then when that happens they act concerned but, then they forget it”- he thought to himself as he laid down on his bed and a sharp pulsing pain covered his chest.

It felt as if everything around him slowly disappeared around him, as if he was entering another plane of existence where only he existed and nothing else. Then, the nothingness became a crimson red color that started surrounding him as blood like luiqid started to drip from above him, he looked below him, a sea of blood flowing around him is all he saw. He then felt a stabbing pain going through torso, he then looked at where the pain was coming from. Blood was seeping out his chest and flowing down into the sea of blood below him…

Then he heard a constant tapping noise…

*Tap*Tap*Tap*

He stood up, he was sweating from head to toe, he touched his chest and felt a stinging pain. He was awake, he was having a nightmare. He felt a shiver go down his spine as he turned around and heard the taping again.

*Tap*Tap*Tap*

He could recognize this sound... It was his window. He slowly approached his window and pushed aside his curtains…

A smile filled his face as he stared out the window, it was her, she was outside his window waiting for him…

He opened the window…

“What took you so long?”- A faint voice asked, it was her voice.

“I was waiting for you”- She stated

“A...A..Aam...aile… Aamaile is that really you?”- Auro asked in a shaky voice

She smiled…

“Yeah it’s me”- she said smiling

“Why…? Why are you here?”- Auro asked surprised, overtaken with joy.

“I told you already, I was waiting for you”- Aamiale said -“Exactly like that day, don't you remember, at that spot we said we would never forget”

“Oh...”