An Unfortunate Night

Jack glanced at Cecil, the latter's eyes trembled with fear, lips quivered, head spiralling out of control.  They both realized they were at the end of their lives, nothing mattered anymore, it was a planned suicide.

Cecil summoned the courage to break the silence and whispered, "One last time, let's spend a night where they will bury us tomorrow".

It was a decision made by the last string of hope, the last ray of sunshine, the last resort to change their minds, or maybe an invitation to tomorrow, to their end.

Jack felt nothing, he didn't care for fear, neither was he satisfied. In an instant, life had left them behind, they had grown too old and now too tired to catch up.

Jack quietly looked over the bridge, his eyes sparkled with the singular tear that escaped out of his eye. He was extremely tired, too hurt from the bruises on his heart, even his scorched skin felt like it had found the end to its suffering with the eternal happiness of tomorrow.

The night was quiet, and the wind pierced their throats with every breath they took, ears red and set on ablaze.

It was lonely, they had been walking for hours, the horrors of yesterday, the abuse from their families, the hurt from the world, it was here to force its decision on the two kids that walked on a path of sorrow for a lifetime.

Jack hid his hands in his warm jacket, turned his head around and sighed, "Is there a point to this?"

The same question had troubled both boys to an endless hole, so much that they were blinded to the light that shone on them. They were too scared of help, too scared of asking for help, too scared to show anyone the children that had felt nothing for too long now.

Cecil raised his eyes and smiled hollowly, "There might not be a point, or perhaps there is, who are we to know".

Hearing Cecil's answer, Jack frowned slightly, rarely ever did he understand Cecil's words, he spoke too deep, too strange to his liking. Nonetheless, Cecil was the only person that had been with him from his childhood, and he had grown accustomed to him, thus there wasn't a reason to leave Cecil now. Jack sighed in defeat and gestured Cecil to show him the way, not understanding why Cecil had chosen this particular night to end their lives. Today was the first day they had met.

It was back in grade 4 when Cecil had jumped in to save Jack from a few bullies, becoming the loser that hung out with him throughout high school. For Jack, Cecil was his life and for Cecil, Jack never figured.

Cecil took Jack's hand in his and stroked his fingers. It was cold outside, hence with every touch, Jack felt chills run down his spine but he cared too little about himself.

The boys walked silently on a cold school night, hands intervened and hearts filled with agony. Jack didn't have parents to check up on their missing son, just an old aunt which he never saw. He lived in a small complex apartment, alone for his whole life.

Like Jack, Cecil was also an orphan, living in an apartment graver than a dog house, and with an uncle, worse than a human. If Cecil hadn't been present for the many years with Jack, he would have thought Cecil was born out of a tragic novel. Despite having everything horrible thrown at him, Cecil was always there, with Jack, just that he was reduced to a slump of nothingness.

It was hard for Jack to imagine Cecil's life, he was curious about what drove Cecil to this day. Rarely ever Cecil spoke about his family but Jack had seen those horrendous marks on Cecil's arms, those torturous lines on the boy's wrist spoke more than enough to satisfy Jack's curiosity.

Perhaps it was good to end this monstrosity, Jack believed they were too weak for their hearts, while their emotions, too intense.

The boys walked for an hour and finally reached the destination that had been haunting Jack's mind. Cecil looked around and finally glanced at Jack from the corner of his eye, just sharp enough to catch the fear in the latter's eyes.

Cecil said nothing and simply looked ahead at a flyer that warned off animals from the cemetery. He found the flyer weirdly funny as he compared himself to an animal that was dying to die.

Hearing Cecil's snorts, Jack shook his head. Even at times like these, Cecil felt unreal. Jack observed ahead of and noticed a few thick, whitely clothed clouds covering every tomb, similar to a sky but for the people buried inside the earth, somehow it felt like a joke.

There was no one at guard so Cecil took the initiative to climb the wall that separated the dead from them. Jack didn't understand his eagerness, and instead wanted to head back and complain. However, it was too late for any second decisions because Cecil was already sitting on top of the wall.

Jack figured that the wall wasn't too sturdy, not too tall, just enough for him to mount the top with nothing but a tiny scratch on his hand.

Jack hopped off the wall and brushed the dust from his hands as finally gathered the courage to glance around. The place in front of him was blinding, similar to one's dreams. The wet soil was thick enough to clog up his nose, but not too thick enough to rethink his decision of moving forward.

For a moment, Jack felt astounded, like he had entered a place unknown to living beings, a place so quiet and stranded, he felt scared.

Jack wandered around a bit more and eventually remembered that he had not felt Cecil's presence for some time now. He moved back and forth hurriedly, eager for a single glimpse of Cecil, but it seemed as if the boy had vanished into thin air. Chills ran down Jack's spine, suddenly he felt cold, the same hand that Cecil held, was now left stranded in the air.

Jack's heart pounded in his ears, he was too afraid to call out for Cecil and wanted to run away. The more he looked forward, the more he wanted to turn back. 

It was clear to Jack himself that he was a coward, from the moment Cecil stood up for him till now, Jack had only wanted to run away, to flee from the world. 

Jack’s head was clouded with the quietness that surrounded him, the thick air that encompassed his legs, Jack had to decide now, to run or look for Cecil. 

Finally, after pondering the options in his head, Jack summoned up the courage to quietly whisper Cecil’s name though there was no reply. Indeed, he was stuck in a hole himself but to be stuck with the dead was far worse. Jack shook his head violently and ran backward. He didn’t care about anything in the world right now, he just wanted to escape, to be away from death. 

The cemented wall wasn’t too much of a hurdle for Jack but the run back home was. He shut off all his thoughts and forced himself to stay locked inside his house for several days. Perhaps he felt guilty to face Cecil, or maybe he had lost all hope in himself. He was a coward and now he even had proof, he left his best friend in a cemetery, too afraid to move forward, he left Cecil in that haunted place and fled. 

But of course, Jack couldn’t stay hidden forever so he decided to attend school, three full days after the graveyard incident, and he could only hope that Cecil wasn’t too mad at him for leaving. 

Much to his surprise, Cecil wasn’t at school and to entertain his guilt further, Jack spent the entire day inquiring about Cecil's whereabouts however, no one knew where the boy had been. The only information Jack found was that Cecil hadn't shown up to school for three days either.

Suddenly, Jack felt nauseous. What could have happened to Cecil? 

After school ended, Jack planned to walk to Cecil’s house and just on his way, he was stopped by the same cemetery that he had left Cecil in.

Jack felt his head ache, a fear sprouted at the back of his mind and without any further thoughts, he walked towards the gate of the cemetery. Just as he placed his hands on the wooden door, an old man called from his side. 

“Oi kid, is there someone you want to see?”, an old and weak voice stopped Jack in his tracks and forced him to look around. There wasn’t anything remarkable about the gatekeeper of the cemetery, just that he was too old to be working. 

“Sir, I came here to look for my friend, I fear he might be trapped inside”. 

The old man snorted when he heard Jack’s answer and replied, “If he had been trapped inside, I’d know, now let me help you inside, what’s the name?”. 

“Cecil, good sir”, Jack courteously answered. 

The old man glanced towards Jack and smiled in satisfaction. 

“Cecil...hm… what’s his last name?”

“Cecil Silverstone”

The old man glanced towards Jack and frowned, he wasn’t sure what he thought was true, so he invited Jack inside the cemetery. 

Jack was a bit hesitant but with light and the sun scorching down on Earth, he felt at ease and followed the old man. 

They walked for about 10 minutes, the deeper they went, the thicker the air became, Jack was forced to cover his nose. Just as he was about to inquire about this place, the old man halted and gestured Jack to come forward. 

Jack was confused but followed the old man’s instructions, he looked ahead and saw a tomb, an ambience that he felt was familiar yet strange. 

Jack didn’t understand the old man’s intentions so he asked politely, “Sir what is this?”.

The old man wasted no time and pointed towards the name at the tomb. Jack squinted his eyes and finally understood why the old man had brought him here. 

The tomb was named Cecil Silverstone. Jack’s head was muffled with regret and denial.   

The old man sighed and broke the silence first. “This lad was buried here yesterday, a heart attack they say. It's very unfortunate, and at such a young age too, poor boy".

Hearing the old man's words, Jack shook his head and denied the death of his dear friend. “There is no way, this can’t be Cecil, he was just with me three days ago, it might be someone with the same name, it’s not my Cecil”. 

The old man sighed quietly and responded, “Oh boy, you two must have been great friends, forgive my memory but I recall that this lad had an uncle who came here to bury him yesterday, maybe you should check with him”. 

The old man patted Jack’s shoulder while a tear escaped his hollowed eyes. The world took away yet another life from someone, yet another lost soul roams to find a friend now. 

Jack felt guilty, he felt awful, his heat tore apart in agony, quickly he realized that his last string of hope was gone. Jack had nothing left and life had already parted ways with him. He was utterly alone in this darkened world now. 

Jack stumbled as he walked back in his footsteps, every step he took weighed his heart down, every trail was filled with guilt, sorrow and grief. 

Jack regretted his entire life at this moment, from the day he met Cecil, to three days ago when he left Cecil alone. It was all his fault, if not for him Cecil wouldn’t have suffered as much, at the very least Cecil would still be alive. He had killed Cecil. 

Jack’s head was clouded with grief, his lost mind and failed to hear the muffled noises that came from behind him. The cries got louder, but Jack didn't have the strength to hear more, his ears were bleeding with sorrow.

The stifled cries soon vanished, the last hope of life faded. Jack had indeed buried Cecil himself.