The Monster Called Pain part 1

The Monster Called Pain

    There once was a boy, he was quiet, he barely spoke. He only spoke to the teachers when he was told to and he also spoke to his close friends, friends he really trusts. He was not popular but he was known but at times his classmates ignored him, as if he was a ghost. He barely had friends in his classes so that is why he always worked alone, even when others offered to work with him. No one messed with him and he didn’t mess around with anyone. He was a smart creative boy with big plans for his future, he wouldn’t give up and he worked his way around things. He is a 18 year old boy with short black flipped hair and brown eyes with light brown skin, he was of Mexican background and he was creative but he didn’t notice much of it.

    Three years later at the first day of school in his last year he was wearing a bright blue polo shirt with black shorts that went down past his knees and black and white skating shoes. Nothing has changed, the same boring start, the same typical annoying classmates but something was different and he knew it. During 6th period he didn’t know where to sit because all the tables had at least one person. So he decided to sit at the front table where there was a girl that was in his classes over two years. She didn’t seem to mind but he thought he was being a bother to her. She had a white lotus colored skin with dyed red thick chunky hair and dark jeans along with a red and blue letter jacket over a white shirt and black converse shoes. The rest of his classmates he mostly knew but as always, they don’t talk to him.

    Later before the bell rang two other girls came and sat at the front table, the boy was worried he was going to be left out and be ignored again. One was a small Asian girl with a light yellow peach orange cream skin and glasses, she was short with braces and long straightened silky black hair with blue jeans and a long sleeve, light blue button up shirt and black flats. The other one had light chestnut brown colored skin with short silky partially blended red and black hair wearing a formal dress with heels and sunglasses on her head. The boy knew from the start that these three girls were very different from the other girls in his school. By the looks of it, the three girls were friends and they talked to one another and stopped when the teacher gave instructions.

    As all four of them started working, the three girls looked to be 1-2 years younger than the boy but they continued talking to each other and neither of them knew who the boy was, not even the girl that was in some of his classes in the past. The boy was doing his work and then suddenly he heard one of the girls talked to him.

    “Hey you, um what’s your name?” said the girl with the lotus white skin

    “Mercer.”

    “Sweet, cool name man. This is Natalyia and Ariana. I’m Brianne, nice to meet you.”

    “Hi, nice to meet you.” said Natalyia, the small Asian girl

    “Hello, good to meet you.” said Ariana, the girl with chestnut brown skin

    “Nice to meet you guys too.”

    “What grade are you in?” said Brianne

    “I’m in the 12th grade. How about you guys?”

    “We’re juniors. So what does it feel to be a senior?” said Brianne

    “Yea and nothing special, I just want to graduate to get out of this place.”

    “Cool.” said Brianne

    Then the three girls continued talking to each other and working together. The other two girls barely spoke to the boy at first, it was Brianne who would eventually talk to him the most at first. The first few weeks went by with the girls barely speaking to him and the boy doing his work while silent. They only spoke to him when they were curious about him.

    “So Mercer why did you take this class?” said Natalyia

    “I just want to learn more about the science of human nature.”

    “Yea me too, the human anatomy is very interesting to learn about.” said Natalyia

    “Yea its cool how the human anatomy works in many interesting ways.”

    “Mercer what a very cool name. How do you spell it so i can keep it as a future reference.” said Brianne

    “M-e-r-c-e-r.”

    “Ok cool.” said Brianne

    Today was a day that everyone was waiting for, it was a project that was on everyone’s minds since the beginning of the year. It was about studying the human body but in interactive activities. The teacher said to everyone to partner up and those were words that Mercer didn’t like because he likes to work alone. Unexpectedly Ariana said if he wanted to work with her because Natalyia and Brianne were already partnered up. Mercer agreed and him and his whole class worked on the project up until December to fully understand and learn the most of the human body.

    As the year progressed Mercer had other problems at home, he has some family critical family issues. His parents keep on arguing and Mercer has issues with this that lead him astray from his ways. This brought Mercer difficulty concentrating and difficulty when doing other work, especially at school. Mercer think that his parents are getting a divorce, this upset Mercer, he doesn’t want his parent separating or getting a divorce. Most of the time Mercer’s parents are barely around because of their huge amounts of work, his mother is a doctor and his father is a detective.

    Over the weeks of Mercer working with Ariana, all three talked to him about what they were supposed to do and small talk. The small talk was about relatable events that connects to their project. Several times Ariana would bring in cupcakes to sell, she says that with the money that she makes of that she saves it up. Several times Ariana would ask Mercer, Natalyia, and Brianne is they would like some but Mercer said no every time because he was on a diet. So Ariana would tell Natalyia and Brianne if they would like some.

    They would say yes and Mercer out of generosity would buy them cupcakes and sometimes he would give Ariana a bit more money than what the cupcakes cost out of generosity too. All three were grateful of Mercer for his good actions and thanked him. Sometimes Mercer would get mad at all three of those girls because he thought they wouldn’t talk to him. Every time they didn’t talk to him he thought they were using him, that they didn’t like him so in return he ignored them at times and pretended to fit in with them. This happened several times each lasting for a few days until Mercer got back to his normal self.

    Whenever this happened to Mercer, he often got mixed feelings about this issue, something deep inside would tell him that he did the right thing. But he would almost always listen to this “other side” because it was rarely wrong and it often led to making unregrettable choices. After he was done being mad at the girls he would get mad at himself for letting the best of him take over. Despite all that he would continue his normal life and during the school year he became closer with one of his friends. It was a friend that he met when he was in freshman year, he was strange at first but as they started talking more he knew more about his friend.

    At home Mercer’s other side would grow on him causing some pain and Mercer wouldn’t know why so he ignored it. The pain came of all sorts, nosebleeds, sore bruises, cuts, burns, and the feeling of something protruding out of his body. Mercer bore all the physical and emotional pain that he endured throughout the year. Depending on the problem, the pain would come in different ways, this pain will eventually change Mercer in ways that he wouldn’t imagine. This pain will grow on him and make him do things Mercer thought he wouldn’t be capable of.

    His friend’s name was Andrew and Mercer had lots in common, which was something that surprised him. Andrew was a good guy, he had his own smartness level and was well respected by his other friends. On the outside he was a jokester, playing around with others but on the inside he was calm, serious guy that sought peace. Andrew one day told Mercer that he had a crush on Brianne for a while and almost got to go out with her but he didn’t. Something happened between the two of them and Andrew’s negative thoughts led him away from Brianne.

    Mercer tells Andrew that he is with Brianne in one of his classes and Andrew tells him if he can give him any information that involves Brianne. Mercer accepts because he wants Andrew to be happy but when he tells him that she has a boyfriend, Andrew’s heart broke. He got sad and Mercer helped him overcome his problem with all the positive outcomes and that he still has a chance. Andrew decided not to give up because he still loves Brianne and he is going to try his hardest to win back Brianne. As time past by some feeling grew inside Mercer he didn’t know what it was and was confused by what it was.

    Mercer remembered how gaining the girls’ trust was difficult, he didn’t quite understand this issue. The girls were random in trust, one time they would be friendly and opened towards Mercer and at times there were closed off and away from him. Mercer didn’t get it, even though he trusts them completely they weren’t, not yet anyways. Since Mercer didn’t completely understand, he didn’t mind, he thought it was a girl thing so he let it be. As each day passed by Mercer grew closer to the girls as a friend which was a good thing for him because that means he gets to talk to them more.

    One specific time after the bell rung to announce the end of class, Ariana said “Have a nice day guys” to Natalyia, Brianne, and Mercer. Mercer quickly responded “Have a nice day Ariana” and that would eventually spark Mercer getting closer to the girls as a friend. After some time past, Ariana would eventually talk to Mercer the most, she would greet him at the beginning of class and they would turn small talk into bigger conversations with Natalyia and Brianne. Since Natalyia and Brianne would barely talk to Mercer he would often talk to them and most of the times Ariana would start conversation among the four of them. She is the connector piece that brings all four of them together and eventually they would hang out together.

    When all four of them would hang out they would do school work or hang out for fun and every time they would have a great time with one another. Mercer would always adore the smiles that were on the girls’ faces, which was something that Mercer wanted, he wanted for them to be happy all the time. That was when something sparked in Mercer, he swore to make them happy no matter what the cost. Ever since the beginning Mercer thought that the girls level of prettiness, cuteness, and beautifulness grew each passing day. The girls were adorable, who would ever want to hurt them, every of their actions was nice and friendly, even when they argue they are nice and friendly with one another and they barely got mad at eachother.

    Within Mercer another feeling grew inside him, he didn’t know what it was until he asked his friend Andrew about it. Andrew told him that he was in love, Mercer denied every time Andrew said that be he knew inside Andrew was right. As each day past by Mercer’s feelings grew, he also noted which girl he came to like. Every time he was close to Ariana, Mercer’s feelings for her grew, it was a surprise to Mercer. Mercer decided to play it cool and not tell Ariana about his feeling for her, not just yet anyway.

    Mercer kept his feelings for Ariana hidden from her and the other two girls, he didn’t know when he was going to tell Ariana. Therefore Mercer was extremely nice to Ariana, although he tried to hide it because he didn’t want Ariana finding out that he likes her just yet. Good thing for Mercer was that Ariana didn’t suspect a thing for now and he kept being extremely nice to the girls. For a while now here was a thought that was stuck on Mercer’s mind, he was waiting for the right moment to tell them and finally asked them.

    “Do you guys consider me as a friend?”

    “Of course.” said Brianne

    “Yea, I mean why else would we be talking to you.” said Ariana

    “Yes, you’re a cool guy Mercer.” said Natalyia

    That made Mercer very happy, he felt that he could get closer to them as a friend and do all sorts of fun things together. Mercer swore to protect them, he only sought their happiness, as long as they are happy he is happy. He also did all the nice things he could possibly do to not ever see them not happy. Often the girls wondered why Mercer did all these nice things and they all asked him one day and he responded;

    “You guys are my friends and you guys are nice to me, its only fair that I show you my kindness as a friend.”

    “Mercer” said the girls.

    “No need to thank me, just doing my job.”

    During the middle of April, Mercer decide to ask Ariana something, he was very nervous but he did it anyway. Since he likes Ariana he decided to ask her to prom, if she said yes, to Mercer it would be kind of like a date. Mercer went to search for Ariana in the morning after breakfast at school, he was too slow and Ariana was too fast for Mercer to catch up to her. She already disappeared before Mercer turned the corner, so Mercer decided to try again tomorrow. This time Mercer sent Ariana a message to meet him at her locker, she accepted and the next day Mercer went to look for Ariana at her locker.

    “So Ariana, prom is coming up and i was wondering if you are still going?”

    “Umm I don’t know, I might.”

    “Alright, okay. If you are going, would you like to go with me?”

    “Oh, sorry, I already have someone. I’m sorry, I really am.” said Ariana in a happy friendly way

    “Its okay, don’t worry about it. It’s fine really.”

    After this incident Mercer went to class and told his friend Andrew about it, Mercer felt upset but he wasn’t mad at Ariana. He got a bit sad but he overcame this problem by talking about it and listening to music. When Mercer went to 6th period he engaged in small talk with the girls, he felt a bit down but other than that he was fine. Mercer even talked to Ariana but he also did his work, he felt that Ariana was look at him at times out of the corner of his eye. After class Mercer was even more upset, he thought that Ariana made him sad or that she thought that he was made at her. This was all wrong, Mercer hasn’t ever been mad at any of the girls but time quickly solved this problem and Ariana and him became to the friends that they used to be.

    One can not stay happy forever and at times the girls weren’t in a good mood, Mercer didn’t know why but he tried to cheer them up. One time he saw Ariana in an unhappy mood, she seemed mad and upset about something, he tried to help her but he thought it would be better if he let her be. Natalyia and Brianne tried to cheer her up but they couldn’t so they left her alone. This bothered Mercer he couldn’t stand see the girls in an unhappy mood because this made Mercer feel down and upset. This issue brought Mercer to make it a goal for himself to see the girls happy with a smile on their faces, but this wasn’t always possible.

    There were times when the girls didn’t talk to him and Mercer thought he did something wrong, so he sat by himself doing his work. Mercer felt confused and a bit mad but he let the problem resolve itself and after time passed all four of them were talking again. At times all four of them would be talking happily but at times there would be times where the girls avoided Mercer it was strange for him. These types of problems made pain grow on Mercer but as days past by the pain got more severe. Then one day Mercer showed up with different scars, bruises, scratches, at first no one noticed much of it but it did became a problem afterwards.

    At times during school, Mercer had random nosebleeds, his teachers would try to send him to the clinic but Mercer would go to the bathroom and clean himself up. Also at times Mercer body ached and it was hard for him to do some simple things like lifting. Also when the girls came to lightly touch him when talking to him or to greet him, Mercer would yelp out in pain. The girls thought he was kidding around but he wasn’t, as time passed by the girls had their conclusion of why Marius is like how he currently is. The girls thought that he has gotten into some trouble or that his parents would beat him.

    Mercer wouldn’t tell them why but he kept telling them that they are wrong and everything is fine. The girls didn’t believe him, they thought that he was making all this up because he was hiding something. There were times where Mercer had to wear clothes that covered his injuries and the girls often wondered about it. Mercer would say

    “I’m just cold and I like wearing these types of clothes. I think that they are cool.”

    “Well alright. You can come to up if you have problems, you can talk to us.” said Ariana

    “You guys, thank you. I appreciate it, really.”

    The girls knew something was wrong with Mercer because each day he became more distant and he wouldn’t talk to them. Each day the girls worried more about their new dear friend but Mercer would respond “I’m fine really, nothing to worry about.” There was times where Mercer didn’t go to school the girls wondered why and got worried about their friend. Then one day the girls went to his house to help him with his problem and why he was absent for several days at school. Mercer was about to eat when he heard the doorbell ring and when he opened the door, immediately all three of the girls barged into Mercer’s house and Mercer was confused but he let them in and closed the door behind them.

    “Mercer, we need to talk.” said Brianne

    “Look, you are a cool guy and we got worried about you.” said Ariana

    “We want you to tell us what is happening to you. Also about your injuries.” said Natalyia

    “Well I don’t know much about it myself.”

    “You liar.” said Natalyia in a loud demanding way

    “I don’t blame you for not believing me. Do as you must but it won’t change this.”

    “Why don’t you trust us? We are here to help.” said Ariana

    “It’s not that, I really do trust you guys completely, it’s just…”

    Angrily the girls took hold of Mercer and rolled up his sleeves from his dark black sweater.

    “Wait, girls what are you guys doing.”

    “Hold still and we won’t use force.” said Natalyia

What they found shocked them, Mercer too was shocked, he didn’t know what was happening.

    “W-what?” said Brianne

    “Huh, already healed?” said Ariana

    “It would make sense since you’ve had minor injuries.” said Natalyia

    “Y-yeah, of course.” said Mercer as he remembered the severely damaged parts of his body that he has hidden

    When Mercer saw his arms he was in awe and in his mind he was saying; “The girls are right, this isn’t normal.” There was silence for a few minutes and Ariana broke the silence by saying; “Well at least you are fine now like you said you would be.”

    “See told you, I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”

    “Sorry for being overprotective.” said Brianne

    “Please forgive us.” said Ariana

    “Don’t worry about it girls, it’s fine really.”

    “No, you don’t understand. We thought differently of you and must think that we were invading your personal space.” said Natalyia

    “No, not at all girls, really you guys don’t have to do this. You don’t have to repay me.”

    “No, we need to…” said Ariana

    “I forgive you all, I know you were worrying about me. That’s what friends are for right?”

    The girls then went to hug Mercer and Mercer was holding the pain from his aching body.

    “Well now, I think we should get going.” said Brianne

    “Remember you can come to us about anything.” said Ariana

    “Don’t forget to come to school tomorrow.” said Natalyia

    “I won’t and thank you girls I really appreciate all that you have done to me today.”

    After Mercer showed the girls out and closed the door he immediately went to the bathroom to check on himself. Mercer was astonished, his huge hidden scars were almost living like, slightly moving and kind of breathing. He clearly saw “something” trying to grow out from the back of his shoulders, Mercer then had a headache as he heard a loud high pitched piercing noise. He also was bleeding from unnoticeable bleeding open wounds and Mercer collapsed to the floor. When he woke up it was past midnight and he had a sharp pain all over his body, and tried not to move because it would only hurt more.

    That night he couldn’t sleep his body was still in pain and he had horrible thoughts about what he saw in his body previously before. Mercer had made a promise to the girls to go to school so he did but he was very tired, more than usual. Fortunately Mercer’s scars and signs of pain didn’t show up anymore and he could  wear what he wanted.

    “You’re finally here.” said Natalyia

    “Yea, of course. I had no choice, I didn’t want to mess around with you girls.” said Mercer in a jokingly way.

    “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” said Ariana

    “I couldn’t sleep much last night and i'm very tired.”

    “Dang, that sucks. How so?” said Brianne

    “I just had many thoughts racing in my head.”

    “About what? If you don’t mind telling us.” said Natalyia

    “You know, normal stuff like school and family issues.”

    “Oh, okay. Prom is coming up, so what are your plans for prom.” said Ariana

    “Prom? Well I haven’t thought much of it. I don’t know if i’m going yet. When is it?”

    “Early May I think.” said Ariana

    “So are you going Ariana, to prom?”

    “Yea.” said Ariana

    “Alright. How about you Natalyia and you Brianne?”

    “Nope.” said Natalyia

    “Umm, I don’t know yet.” said Brianne

    “Alright, have a good day girls.”

    “Bye.” said Brianne

    “See ya.” said Natalyia

    “You too Mercer.” said Ariana

    Ever since the girls asked Mercer about prom, Mercer has been thinking of it,

    “Anyways all three of us are hanging out after school and we were wondering if you would like to join us.” said Ariana

    “Of course, I would like to spend some time with you three. I’m pretty sure my parents won’t mind.”

    “Alright then, see you after school. We’ll be waiting for you at the school entrance.” said Natalyia

    “Alright cool.”

    Right after school all four of them got together to go to Natalyia’s house on foot, her house wasn’t very far. As they were walking together, all four were talking and laughing as any normal group of friends would do. Mercer noticed something, his pain level decreased and he felt better than ever. He his pain injuries were unnoticeable and felt that he could take on whatever came in his way. Mercer also had a feeling that something was wrong, it was bothering him and he had to stop for a moment before continuing.

    “What’s wrong Mercer?” said Ariana

    “I feel that someone or some people are following us.”

    “What? You’re just being silly come on, we’re almost there just a few more minutes.” said Natalyia

    All four of them were stopped when two hispanic guys and a white guy came and approached the teens. Guy number one was wearing a beanie with a dark grey pullover sweater and denim pants with black working boots. Guy number two had combed black hair was wearing a white shirt under a leather jacket with black pants and biker boots. Guy number three was bald with two gold necklaces and he wore a white shirt with white pants and white shoes. All three of the guys looked in their late twenties and Mercer had no idea what they wanted.

    “Do you girls know these guys?”

    “No we haven’t ever seen them before.” said Brianne

    “Look what we have here.” said the first guy

    “Three pretty girls and an ugly dude.” said the second guy

    “Look we don’t want trouble, we’ll just get going. Come on girls.”

    “I don’t think so.” said the third guy

    “Look, I know what you want. You want money right? Well here, just leave the girls alone.”

    All the guys burst out laughing, at that instant Mercer knew that the three guys didn’t want money. They wanted something else but he didn’t know what, he just hoped nothing happened to the girls.

    “You really are an imbecile aren’t you?” said the first guy

    “Do you think money will make us leave you alone?” said the second guy

    “Whatever you want leave the girls out of it, they have nothing to do with it.”

    “Mercer, do you know these guys?” said Brianne

    “No I don’t know them, I just don’t want you girls to get hurt.”

    “Mercer.” said the girls in a friendly shocked tone

    “Aww, ain’t that cute, SIKE! Move over NOW!” said the third guy along with some curse words

    “I said to Leave Them Out. Do whatever you want with me.”

    “Damn You!” said the third guy

    “Girls RUN!! NOW!!”

    The third guy then instantly knocked Mercer to the ground

    “We can’t you fool! We can help.” said Ariana

    “We’ll help you.” said Natalyia

    “Keep going, don’t turn back. You’ll just get hurt.” said Mercer with a slight smile and a tear

    Then the three guys came to beat on Mercer violently to shut him up

    “Mercer. no, No, NO!” said Ariana

    “Come on guys. We have no choice.” said Brianne