"How could you forget?" I scolded myself internally, when I realized that I had left my anxiety-busting tablets behind. Those pills were almost my lifeline and without them, anxiety attack loomed, making hatred invade each and every fiber of my being, fueling my thirst for vengeance.

     As the saying goes "Every cloud has a silver lining", so, despite the trauma I had suffered made me emotionally fragile and mentally ill, each flashback I had only stoked the flames of revenge coursing through my veins, igniting a fiery determination that made me stronger and more resolute in seeking justice for Tabby's death.

     "We have arrived," the driver announced, bringing the car to an abrupt stop.

     As I stepped out, the sun's rays washed over my face, while Dante and Lander burst out of the car alongside me.

     A a group of girls from grade eleven, a year below us, approached Lander and Dante and began to flirt shamelessly with them. By then, I shied against any kind of unnecessary interactions, keeping to myself and shunning socialization, so, I trudged off towards my classroom.

    "Are you really Dante and Lander's brother?" a voice called out from behind.

     I turned to face that girl before continuing my solitary march.

     "You're so different from them... much better looking, but your madness gives you a weird facet."
     "Ok," I said tersely.

     Some people simply don't deserve your time or attention, they tend spew ugly things, judging without knowing, with the intent of hurting others, but I, Lucas Darwell, wasn't an easy prey at all. I sidestepped her words and pressed on, my brothers came along with me.

     "Good morning, sir," we chimed in unison.
     "Sit down!" he commanded.

     Our head teacher was in the room, we found him talking to our classmates, it seemed that he was giving them some information. I hurried to my seat, letting out a sigh of relief as I settled down and retrieved my book. I then removed a couple of napkins that helped me to stifle my runny nose.

     "Lucas, besides trying to harm us two week ago, do you now want to share your cold with us as well? Move your desk further away, you're too close," Harry Colman chided as he approached where I was.

     "It looks like three meters away from the class is not enough for you, you always come up with something new," he added.

     I started to take my table backwards and when I was five meters away from the nearest colleague, he ordered me to stop and sit down. His towering figure, stern face, and athletic build made me feel small in his presence. But despite all this, I refused to let his harsh words ever penetrate or wound me.

     Harry returned to the front of the class and continued speaking. I barely heard a word from him, and all my complains were simply ignored by him. I decided not to pay him any mind and grumble inwardly, and that eventually drifted me off to sleep.

******

     That man began to approach me and the world faded into darkness.

     When I woke up after sometime, I wished I hadn't. I longed to have departed this world with Allegra. A profound, inexplicable emptiness consumed me, and my mind grappled with denial, unwilling to accept the grim reality. I was indifferent to the weight of the chains that bound me, indifferent to the biting cold; all I yearned for was to join Allegra in death, or for her to miraculously return, or for this nightmare to be nothing but a cruel illusion.

     Sounds reached my ears, but they held no significance. Had I not been bound, I might have chosen to end my own life, seeing no escape from the desolate path paved with Allegra's spilled blood.

      I cared for nothing; I wished to leave everything behind. At that point in my life, I had no one who cared for me. At school, I was friendless, and those I encountered were mere acquaintances, not true companions. At home, I dwelled with my aunt Teresa and her husband, both of whom saw me as a hindrance. My aunt's sole concern was her own interests—money. She waited impatiently for me to turn seventeen so my father would assume responsibility for me. Her husband, a man I can only describe as a psychopath, exploited me unduly, burdening me with household chores and toil, all because he was funding my education, while my aunt, driven by her own selfish desires, focused solely on her financial gain.

     "End me," I cried out, my voice shattered. "End me... End me... End me."

     "Kill m-me, please," I muttered as I fell, my fists pounding the ground.

     The clinking of the chains almost took away my eardrum at the time, but yet, I remained indifferent.

     A blinding light pierced through the high, barred window of the dungeon where I was shackled, revealing the ghastly sight of a red-haired girl, lifeless and discarded like refuse, merely three meters away.

     It was a harrowing sight to behold her slain so callously. The girl with whom I had shared the best year of my life. I couldn't bring myself to accept it.

     "A-allegra!"  I bellowed, struggling to free myself from the chains that held me captive, despite my feeble efforts.

     "A-allegra... Allegra!!..." I continued to cry out, hoping against hope that one of those wretched men would allow me to approach her, if only for a fleeting moment. Yet my endeavors were in vain, and all they earned me was a sudden fall from exhaustion and overwhelming despair.

    "Release the chains... let me see her..." I roared with every ounce of strength left in me, futilely grappling against the restraints.

     "Allegra," I wept, "I have always loved you, and I always will, even if life denied us that chance. My beloved Tabby, I will love you eternally."

******

     I woke up with tears streaming down my face, my heart heavy with the weight of what-ifs. What if we hadn't gone that night? What if we'd stayed at her house and she'd still be here with me, or at least alive? I grabbed a napkin and honked my nose, generating an echo that rumbled all over the deserted room like a thunderclap. It was time for recess, so, everyone had quickly fled away.

     I was ravenous, so I made my way to the canteen. On the journey, I caught up with Dante.

     "Hey, are you alright, bro? Prof Harry was totally out of line with you. Don't let it get to you, bro," he said.
     "I'm used to it. Don't mind," I replied.

     "Did you catch the date for the final exam?" Dante inquired.
     "No idea. They've already set a date?" I replied, my demeanor cool and collected.
     "Yeah, that's what Mr. Harry said in class... and he even gave us some tips for acing it," he added.

     "Dude, come check this out," one of his buddies called from across the cafeteria.
     "I'm coming, Caleb," Dante shouted. "I'll let you know about everything later at home, bro." With that, he joined his clique of brainy friends.

     I couldn't see myself being ready for the final exam of the semester, the one that determined whether you were university-bound or stuck in high school. I didn't particularly want to go to university, but I did want to leave high school. My academic performance suffered from lack of focus, and I always scraped by with average grades or outright failures. The only subject I excelled in was computer science, but even there, Professor Harry always found a way to dock my grade. I just wasn't prepared.

     As I made my way to the canteen, I made a mistake I made one out of every three days. I instinctively ordered some hot dogs. When I saw them, I realized my blunder. They were Allegra's favorite, and in my preoccupied state, I had bought them, thinking of her.

     I considered tossing them, knowing they weren't vegetarian food, but then some classmates appeared, the type who'd eat anything from anywhere without a second thought. I passed the hot dogs to them, and they didn't hesitate to accept, despite many avoiding me, thinking I was half-crazed and schizophrenic.

     I ordered a vegetable kebab and hurried back to the classroom with minutes to spare. I couldn't shake the disappointment of the previous night when I found nothing on Allegra's phone except a couple of apps, music, and photos, along with the cryptic code language between her and her virtual friend. It infuriated me; it was utterly unhelpful.

     At the time, I considered heading to the library to complete the information of the Lethal Heptagon I'd stumbled upon on that page. It wasn't too far from my location after all, and with no classes for a while, I decided to make the most of my time. I grabbed my bag and set off and after some minutes I eventually arrived at the sprawling library of Wellington High School.

     "Damn, where do I even start?" I mused, feeling overwhelmed by the vast expanse of the place. I began to wander around, looking at the towering oak shelves that reached almost thirty meters high, housing a multitude of book categories. The fact of storing classified research in the place was very clever decisión since there was no hint of its presence. I fumbled through a few books without any clear direction and promptly began sneezing on account of the dust and cobwebs that filled the place.

     I reached for my phone to message Marc for guidance, but the ringing of the bells signaled it was time to return to class. One wasn't expected to be in the library during class hours, except under permission. I hurried back, only to find the room filled with rowdy classmates, creating a chaotic atmosphere with bits of paper flying through the air. They seemed more crazy than they accused me of being.

     The hours dragged on, but finally, it was one o'clock, time to leave. I exited the building and our driver awaited. I didn't have the chance to return to the library.

     I hopped in the car with my siblings and requested to be taken to the psychologist, as I had a session scheduled that day. He took me there and dropped me off before departing with the others.

     I hurried inside the establishment, hurriedly explaining myself to the receptionist before heading to the psychology section, I was late. The corridor stretched out with compartments on one side and large windows on the other, flooding the space with light. Rows of chairs accommodated the numerous individuals in the area.

     "For heaven's sake," I muttered as I witnessed others in distress. They weren't as bad as I was on my first session eight months prior, but I felt their pain. A woman laid on the floor, crying out for her daughter, while a man attempted to assist her. Ignoring the commotion, I dodged them and pressed on, just to see that at one window, a young woman between seventeen and twenty, restrained by two staff girls who frantically struggled to keep her from plunging into the abyss, was attempting to throw herself.

     For some reason, I sensed that they were all grappling with the same torment that had plagued me—the agony imposed by the clandestine cult. As I pressed on, I saw the anguish etched in the eyes of those who suffered at the hands of that sect. It dawned on me that there were likely more souls like them scattered throughout Wellington and the ruins of Claudial. It's heartbreaking.

     After navigating through that sea of suffering, I finally reached the door. I knocked, and after the psychologist's curt "come in," I entered, only to have a man seize my hand and start hurling accusations at me.

     "You know who did it, you know them, you know the sect that took my wife and son," he exclaimed. At first, I thought in employing one of the techniques I'd learned at the karate academy in Claudial, during my time with my aunt. However, the resemblance of his case to mine compelled me to simply grip his hand firmly and break free from his feeble grasp.

     I stepped into my psychologist's office.

     "You're late," he chided.
     "It's not my fault that the health center is twenty minutes from the WHS," I retorted.

     "I've repeatedly urged you to seek permission from the school administration. Your mental well-being is more crucial than attending that—"

     "Indoctrination center, I already know," I interjected.

     "Very well, let's begin. Just like you, there are many others who require my services," he said.

     My psychologist was the only person I'd dared confide in, the one to whom I'd divulged my most intimate secrets and provided a detailed account of everything that had transpired to me in the past. Thanks to him, I was already experiencing a significant improvement in my overall well-being.

     I vividly recall those initial days after the incident. When my father came to take me to his house, I couldn't bring myself to eat, speak, or even move. I had zero appetite, shed weight rapidly, was plagued by suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and could only drink water under duress.

     I was quite literally withering away. I was dying.

     Yet, with the aid of my psychologist, I began to see a glimmer of hope and reclaimed my health.

     The session that day was focused on the essentials. "Lucas, how are you doing? Are the intrusive thoughts persisting? Have you made an effort to confide in a friend or find a constructive outlet for your time?" In short, the essentials.

     As I left, he recommended that I try opening up to one of my brothers, or both, to seek their support. He also urged me to call a certain Hector Strone outside his office. After leaving, I called Hector, and he promptly answered. He looked like the man I had encountered the day before.

     "Y-you, you are," I stammered.

     "I'm the one from yesterday, yes," he confirmed, rising from his seat.

     The man appeared to be even more healthier and composed than I was. He didn't seem agitated or troubled at all; it was peculiar.

     "You don't seem to be suffering psychologically," I remarked, surveying the scene.

     The man with piercing blue eyes remained silent, his gaze fixed on me. I felt a pang of unease and immediately averted my eyes.

     "Well, the psychologist requested your presence." I said.

     "Yes," he replied, turning away and taking a few steps toward the door before pausing. "Don't you remember me? Arthur Darwell."

Author's Note

Hey guys, how's it going? Hope this chapter reached your heart and you loved it. If so... don't forget to leave your comments and vote. I'll really appreciate it.

⚜️Quick Query⚜️

Which secondary character (s) do you want to hear more of? Thomas, Raven, Harry, Dante, Marc or Lander.