Chương 2: Suffering

Walking down the barely 1.5 meter wide stone path, a young man kneels before a grave stone. Carved upon the grave stone--the name of his last to pass away family member.

[Here lies Emily Ranso*, 1992-2018. Died of Ligma]*

Kneeling by the gravestone is Kietn* Ranso. He is wearing a simple and wrinkled suit, in his left hand he is holding a bouquet of white roses, in his right hand is a gun. Silently looking at the gravestone he is lost in his mind, reminiscent of the past events that led to this...

•••

A freshman in high school, having just finished his final exams with a pleased face he heads home. Along the way he watches the cars pass by, thinking about what his results will be. Continuing on his way in a carefree manner he walks across the street with a little bounce in his steps.

Upon arriving at home he is greeted by the door being slightly open. Seeing it as something only a little odd*, he proceeds with little concern. Opening the door he freezes, dropping his bag in the process. Feeling unsteady he takes a few steps forward looking all around his house.

Broken glass and furniture tossed and moved about. Cabinets and cupboards pulled open, the contents thrown about on the floor.

Entering his parents room he checks for the safe under the bed. Having found it unopened, a sigh of relief slipped its way out. With tears forming at the corners of his eyes he looks in the other rooms.

Having looked through all the rooms, he stops in the living room and sits on the couch. Listlessly looking at where the TV was previously mounted on the wall, he entrusts his back to the soft cushion of the couch.

•••

3 years later, senior year of high school. The now 18-year-old young man makes his way down the walkway between the bleachers. Stepping up on the stage he receives his graduation certificate and shares a handshake with some of the school staff. With a big smile he goes back to his chair, proceeding to watch the rest of the commencement ceremony.

Having just graduated and leaving the school with his parents and sister who had come to watch. Along the way, discussion on what to do to celebrate had naturally come up in conversation. The parents, enjoying one of the joys of watching their kids grow up were distracted from the road for not even five seconds.

The impact was sudden. Coming from the left side of the car*, he saw his father crushed by the door and roof of the car caving in. He felt as if the world had slowed to an almost stand-still. Watching as pieces of glass flew around within the vehicle, his sister screaming and covering her head with her arms. His mother, who had hit her head against the window, was sitting there with her head dangling about, being swayed side to side by forces of gravity and from the impact.

Time resuming to its usual speed, the young man hugged his sister hoping to offer some form of protection against the shards of glass flying about. After the car had stopped moving he glanced up at his surroundings. Shocked by the scene entering his eyes, his breathing halted and he passed out.

•••

At the funeral he and his family were plagued with with an extreme pain throughout their chests. Tears were streaming down all three of their faces. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and in-laws surrounded them with their umbrellas shielding them from the rain*. A deathly silence choking the people in attendance.

Back at home the air was stale. Everyone kept to themselves. The brother in his room buried under his blanket, shielding himself so as to block away his disgraceful figure sobbing. The sister, face planted into her pillow had fallen asleep, her face soaked in snot and tears. The mother laying on her back with a picture of her now deceased husband resting on her chest, stared at at the ceiling. As if resolving herself she gripped a knife with both hands and thrust it into her neck twisting it in the process.

Blood spurting out of her now cut artery, spilling down the sides of her neck onto the white bed sheets. Light fading from her eyes as a gentle smile was left on her lips.

•••

The now almost completely ruined family with no money for another funeral, was forced to call upon relatives to assist with funding. With their parents dead, the siblings would have to rely on each other to make it further in society.

The sister took up a job as an accountant, being sexually harassed in the workplace on an almost regular basis. The brother took up three jobs at different places around his town to lighten his sister's burden.

This reality was not sustainable in the long run. The sister, getting tore apart at-the-seams by guilt, forced her brother to stop working and had him apply for college. Although she would suffer, she at least wanted to be able to provide a chance for her brother to get a good job. The brother, on the other hand, was feeling even more guilty due to having his sister be the only one working. Having thought on it for a few days he decided to put maximum effort into his studies.

•••

Two years went by with the siblings struggling to get by in day to day life. Things were starting to get better though. The sister had gotten a promotion and the brother had made it through his first two years of college with a GPA of 3.6 and 3.7 at the end of both years respectively.

With everything seemingly getting better, the brother and sister decided to celebrate. Their celebration was simple, seeing as the brother wasn't at the legal age to be drinking alcohol, he made due with drinking a few cans of pop. The sister on the other hand, had drank a six pack of beer to release pent up stress and work related frustration.

Watching his sister in a drunken stupor, the brother had a smile on his face. His sister on the other hand was mumbling about her coworkers occasional grope and fondle of her ass during work. Her brother having heard this was livid and made it a point to report this to the police the next day.

In the morning of the next day, the siblings arrived at the college and the brother exited the car as he waved to his sister. Walking around the campus in the slow morning he thought of his plans for the future...

The sister, having parked her car in the parking garage next to the office building she worked at, began to walk to the elevator. A man called out to her from behind. Turning around she saw three of her coworkers walking toward her. All three having one thing in common, each of them had sexually harassed her at least twice in the past.

Sensing the odd feeling coming off of them she reached for her phone. One of the men seeing her actions ran up and grabbed her wrist in a swift and forceful manner. The other two walked over in a leisurely way as she struggled to try and release the man's hold on her arm.

"What are you doing?!" (Emily)

"Nothing much, we're just here to enjoy ourselves." (Douche bag #1)

The other two laughed at his words as their eyes roamed around her body. As a feeling of fear took over her she screamed. Before any noise could escape however, the third man punched her in the stomach, causing her to choke and cough up spit and bile.

The second man, having retrieved her phone smashed it into the ground and released his grip on her arm. As she curled up on the ground clutching her stomach the men began tearing her clothing off and forced a gag into her mouth. Being unable to do anything to stop the situation tears streamed down her face*.

Three men having forced themselves upon her, she had no means to fight back and could only hope for it to end fast. After half an hour of torture, the men erased all evidence*. Exhausted she lay on her back, bruises scattered across various places on her body she wept silently while in pain. After gaining a little more strength she reached for her phone, attempting to turn it on. The screen lit up and she had a small moment of relief. She first called the police and shakily explained the situation. What she dreaded the most was calling her brother...

Not even two hours after his sister dropped him off at school he received a call from her. With a confused expression he left his lecture and answered the phone.

"What's up?" (Kietn)

Hearing some sniffling and a couple of hiccups he became worried in an instant.

"Is everything all right?! Answer me!" (Kietn)

"I'm sorry *hiccup* I'm sorry..." (Emily)

"Please, please just tell me what happened!" (Kietn)

After a few moments of silence he was met with an unfamiliar voice.

"Hello, this is officer Rodriguez. Would you please tell me your relationship with the owner of this device." (Rodriguez)

"Ex-excuse me officer, but could you please tell me what has happened to my sister!" (Kietn)*

"Yes. It would appear that a rape has taken place." (Rodriguez)

•••

During the following week, Kietn made sure to spend as much time with his sister as possible hoping to offer some semblance of comfort. Through the whole week following the incident going back and forth from court, Kietn noticed his sister seemed out of it, almost as if she had lost herself.

After a month in court the men were found not guilty. Although the 'allegation' had pretty much ruined their chances of getting a half decent job, his sister was distraught. Having not had justice for his sister, Kietn was furious.

The siblings however, had no way to get revenge. Returning home, Kietn and his sister were too depressed to do anything so they both sat on the couch staring at the ceiling.

"Emily, you should quit your job. I'll make-do with my associates degree and find a good enough job to keep us going. I don't want you to suffer anymore." (Kietn)

"Mmn." (Emily)

Looking to his left and gazing into his sisters eyes he tried his best to show her his determination. His sister rested her head on his shoulder tears falling in the process. In this touching moment neither of them moved and they both silently fell asleep.

•••

A year went by and the siblings were quite 'well off.' The brother's efforts were not in vain. He had gotten himself a job at a rising company as the ceo's assistant. While he did not really enjoy the job of an assistant, he was fine as long as he received enough money.

On the other hand his sister wasn't doing so well. She had developed a form of PTSD and was afraid of being touched by anyone. With the exception of her brother, she felt 'dirty' or 'tainted' whenever someone made contact with her skin. Every time this had happened she would have a panic attack or she would end up washing herself so vigorously that she would end up scratching herself and bleeding while scrubbing her body with an absurd amount of soap.

With his sister on the verge of insanity, Kietn could only wrap his arms around her and wait until she fell asleep or was calm enough to relax, even if only slightly.

One day during one of his sister's panic attacks, as he was about to embrace her, she abruptly became shockingly calm. Thinking that his sister had a breakthrough, he thought nothing much of the odd occurrence. Instead he was quite happy to see that she had resolved herself in some way.*

Entering her room, Emily began making everything neat and orderly. She folded all of her clothes so that they would fit in the dresser as efficiently as possible. She sorted her clothes in her closet by color. She fixed her bed making it look like one that would be on display at a store. And finally she sat down at her desk with a pen and a piece of paper.

Meanwhile, Kietn was watching this off to the side. Seemingly elated with this development he walked away to sort through some paperwork.

After pouring her feelings onto the page, tears falling in the process, she folded it neatly and put it in an envelope. Addressing it to her brother on the back of the envelope she went and taped it to the outside of her door. Walking back into her room she did one last check around to make sure everything was presentable. Laying down in bed--wrapped in blankets--she reached for the prescription she had received to help with the depression. Swallowing almost every single pill in the little bottle she rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes.

Having finished making a meal for two, Kietn went up to his sister's room to deliver her portion of the meal. Once at her door he set down the tray holding her food and grabbed the envelope off of the door and opened it. Reading through the first few lines he dropped the note and swung the door open.

Looking at his sister's bed he was breaking down, color draining from his face as his heart took a dive. Laying soundlessly halfway under the blanket was his now deceased sister. Freezing in place he looked tearfully at his sister's face. She had not-yet-dry streams of tears on her face, coupled with a gentle smile not too different from his mom's when she had committed suicide. Dropping to his knees, his head hanging low he screamed. The feeling of his throat tearing as he felt despair at an all new level he passed out.

•••

{Back to present day}

The 21-year-old man kneeling in front of his sister's grave shed his last tears. Laying the flowers down in front of the gravestone he let loose a light-hearted smile.

"I will be joining you soon..." (Kietn)

Raising the gun up to his head he laughed at the past six years. He had lost his whole family in only six years. Thinking of all of his 'friends' who had tried to console him as one-by-one his family died, he laughed at their easy lives.

"Just fucking disappear." (Kietn)

With that final sentence he pulled the trigger...

*Ding* [Hidden Quest: succumb to your worst fear. Completed, distributing rewards.]

*Ding* [Received Abyss System.]

*Ding* [Received Mental Fortification Potion x1.]

*Ding* [Received Achievement: Eternal Suffering. Distributing Achievement Rewards.]

*Ding* [Received Infinite Rebirth function of Abyss System.]

"..." (Kietn)

Consumed by confusion Kietn didn't know what to say. Looking around he was in a simple white-walled room. He was sitting on a simple white chair in front of a simple white desk. Trying to understand his situation he was lost in thought, however, his thoughts were interrupted midway.

*Ding* [Current circumstance: Dead. Currently in the Rebirth Waiting Room. Abyss System is searching for a world suitable for host.]

"Eh, w-what?" (Kietn)

Not quite completely comprehending the current situation Kietn was lost.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

*pronounced as ran-so

*trying to ease the tension that will build up later

*pronounced as key tin

*typical carefree mc

*mc is in the left side back seat of the car

*cliches are always needed

*if you think I have a rape fetish, that is not the case so please stop

*special white fluid

*apologies in advance if emotion isn't conveyed very well throughout the story

*keep in mind that he is just a regular guy (to an extent) and he has had next to no experiences with serious forms of depression that lead to actually committing suicide