‡ Promise 9: Despair ‡

-As told by Lily-

linging onto my friends, within a sea of human bones and under a crimson sky, I wonder what kind of hell we had fallen into. Jody was whimpering in unintelligible pleas; I was looking frantically around at every sign of movement; and Tommy was just holding onto us tightly, as if he were afraid he might lose us. From the corner of my eye, I saw it, a faint creeping movement. I knew something unholy would react to our intrusion. Several walking corpses skittered around us, their rotting eye-sockets transfixed on us, with no apparent emotions on their dead faces.
Jody screamed and closed her eyes shut, muttering in a chant, "I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!" Tommy gave a maddening scream, his nails digging deeper into my arm, his eyes wide with fear. And I couldn't move, or scream, or look away. I was frozen in a stare, watching the corpses circle us, maggots pouring from parts of them and rotting flesh crackling. They suddenly stood back from us, letting a dark hooded figure through, a person or something that commanded their respect and had authority.
The hooded figure stood tall, wearing a wooden mask, frozen in a frightening smile. "Keith?" I ask in a small voice, my throat dry, and my voice wavering. The figure raised a sharp dagger, ready to slay us all, and I knew that this wasn't Keith! "No!" I scream, closing my eyes, ready for the sharp knife to plunge into me. But instead, I heard a dark guttural voice yell, "Stop! They are mine!" I open my eyes to see red sharp ones peering into mine, as huge dark wings encased all three of us, pushing us quickly backwards. There was a rush of wind and the crimson sky vanished.
I lay still in the darkness, the smell of grass and dirt around me, my heart pounding a mile a minute. I can hear the sobs of Jody lying to my left and Tommy's hard breaths to my right. "Stupid." grumbles a familiar voice, "I just... I can't believe..." I sit up and face a frustrated Keith Rolmir, who is pacing back and forth in front of us. Just beyond him was the twenty feet long arch, we were right where we had started, back in the woods somehow. "What's the hell is wrong with you!?" roars Keith in my direction and then he continues to pace again, not unlike a caged and angry animal at the zoo.
Jody sits up, shaking and still sobbing a bit. Tommy gives Keith a dazed look, as if Tommy wasn't sure what his own name was anymore. "Nice!" hiss Keith, gesturing towards my friends, "Very good, Miss Lily! Look what you've done to them! Very nice!" "What?" I swallow, "I didn't-" "Yes," he hops closer to me, "You did! You did this! You couldn't let it go, could you? No! You had to invite your friends, didn't you? You had to be so nosy and-" He bit his lower lip, trying to keep the swear words inside, "Congratulations! You found my hidden world! Are you proud of yourself now, Miss Lily? How did you enjoy my kingdom, hmm?"
He hops closer still, bending low so that his face is close to mine, his words sharp. "How did you enjoy almost being killed?" he spat, "And having your friends die with you? Was that your goal? A death pact? Did I interrupt at the wrong time!?" He grabs my chin, roughly, forcing me to look into his angry eyes. "Have you had your fill!?" he shouts, "Or do you need more darkness, Miss Lily!? Do you really want to die so badly? I can help with that!" "Stop!" yells Tommy, grabbing my arm, "Don't...!" Tommy's weak pleas seem to snap Keith out of his rage. He lets go of my chin and stands up, turning his back away from us.
A long deafening silence washed over us, each second more painful with my own guilt. I didn't mean to go this far, I didn't mean to drag my friends into this, and... I didn't mean to make Keith so angry. I only wanted to know the truth, the full truth, of what Keith was and what he was up to in the woods. And now that I had a glimpse, though it's too late, I realize it's not even worth knowing. I open my mouth to apologize, but Jody's soft voice breaks the silence first. "I..." she says, in a tired voice, "I just want to go home." She sat crossed-legged in the soft grass, facing her lap, as tears silently rolled into it.
"That's a good idea." said Keith, his back still turned to us, "Go home and forget everything. And never return to this spot again. Because, next time... I won't be so forgiving. If you show up in my kingdom again, it will be the last thing that you do." And from the heaviness in his voice, I knew he meant it. This was no idle threat. Jody scrambled to her feet and ran sobbing back towards my backyard, Tommy follows quickly after her, leaving me alone with Keith.
"Go home, Miss Lily." he said, still not facing me. "But, I-" I began, trying to apologize. "GO HOME!" he roars, not moving an inch. I swallow hard and pulled myself to my feet. I gave one last look toward the back of his blond spiky hair and then ran off towards the yard. I didn't know he could be so threatening and so angry. As far as I knew, Keith Rolmir was arrogant and full of crap. He didn't seem dangerous, in the least, just odd and not human. But tonight, I realized different, he could've easily killed all three of us with his bare hands! And no one would ever find us. We would just be missing teens, a town mystery, never solved.
And Keith Rolmir wanted badly to do just that, to kill us all.
As I reach my backyard, I realized that Jody was sitting on my back step, shivering with fear. Tommy had an arm around her, trying to calm her down. This seemed to be too much for her and my guilt grew even more. "I-I..." she squeaks, as I approach, "I told you we shouldn't. I... But, you both wouldn't listen to me. I told you we would get in trouble." "I know." says Tommy, still half in a daze, "I'm sorry, Jody. You were right, we should have listen." "I'm sorry." I said, looking towards the ground.
She shudders, "I've got to get home. It's getting late and I've got to get home." She stood, removing her car keys from her pocket. "Wait," said Tommy, snapping fully out of the daze, "Maybe you shouldn't drive. You're all shook up." "Back off!" she yells, looking at us both, as if we were strangers to her now, "I'm going home now! Leave me alone! You've gotten me into enough trouble!" "Jody..." I said, worry washing over me now. She shrug, as if shaking off our existence and walked along the house, heading for the front street.
"I really screwed up," I sigh, "Haven't I?" "No," frown Tommy, "Don't blame yourself! This was my plan, remember? If Jody didn't want to tag along, she didn't have to. And I didn't have to continue either. None of us knew what kind of secret Rolmir was hiding. So, it's no one's fault. It's all been a bad nightmare. I think we should forget about it and get some sleep. Let's go on with our lives and just forget, okay?" I didn't answer. I'm not sure if I can forget... I don't know if I really want to.
The next morning, Jody's mother calls early, as I was getting dressed for school. Apparently, Jody wasn't feeling well and was not going to attend school today. Her mother called knowing that Jody was the one who gave me a ride to school. "Are you going to be able to get to school?" she ask, concerned. "Yes," I replied, "I can ask my folks. Thanks." So my dad dropped me off at school on his way to work. It felt weird, not having classes with Jody and not having anyone to talk to. And I also realized that Tommy didn't show up in school, either. My guilt weighed more, as the day went on.
No one talked to me, everyone avoided me, like they always did. I ate lunch alone. I welcomed my suffering loneliness as punishment for what I had dragged Tommy and Jody into, last night. But my guilt wouldn't accept this punishment as a fair trade. I had wished I was harassed too, by hateful students like Tommy's jock friends, just to ease the guilt I felt. But it seemed like no one had the guts to say or do anything to my face. I had thought about visiting Jody's house, after school, but quickly realized the problems with that. One, I had no idea where she lived. We've only stopped by my house, every afternoon.
So, I decided to call both Jody and Tommy, after I had gotten home. Jody's mother was happy that a friend was calling to see how her daughter was doing. She traveled with the phone towards Jody's room, having bubbly small talk, until she reached her. There was an urgent whisper in the background and a somber Mrs. Dodson replied, "I'm sorry, Lily... Jody's, um, asleep. Call back later?" "Sure." I said, knowing full well she wasn't asleep, "Thanks again." Jody didn't want to talk with me. And I didn't blame her.
I tried calling Tommy, but there was no answer on his phone, only his voice mail picked up. I didn't bother leaving a message. He probably didn't want to speak to me either. The loneliness and guilt seem to smother me. I felt this dark cloud hanging over me and my shoulders felt heavy. I sat through dinner, quiet and mournful, answering my parents in one word answers. I slowly got ready for bed, my limbs feeling too heavy to move at my usual pace. By the time I got to my room, I felt utterly depressed.
I noticed a small yellowish glare reflecting from the backyard. I looked out to see Keith, sitting at the white table in his yard, sipping a drink. I know he's angry at me... but I'm so lonely. Maybe... I put on my slippers and head for my attic's door.