REQUIEM
Hello to all, or maybe to just phantom >8D, for your conteset "Sideways Challenge" I hope this is my last submission…so many ideas, so little time… (I gots to do mah work! D:) I’ve been writing these stories like I have no school work -__-‘… and it’s finals… sigh. I was on the verge of tears with this one. The characters in here (especially my Vinnie TT^TT) are very dear to me >__< I created them a few years ago… and they’re very close to my heart (no really, they are >.>). Required line in bold :).
The songs I used are (phantom >:P) “Beauty School” by Deftones, “Shiki no Uta” by MINMI and also a little bit of “Blue” by Utada Hikaru and a line from “Meltdown” (Vocaloid).
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There was always music playing when I came in. I remember that. He owned a small shop on the 46th level of the City, in the slums. He was just a level above the “heart” of the slums. He didn’t mind. He never minded being so close to the bottom of the city. I remember that too. I’d like to remember everything, but I can’t… these memories that I want to hold onto… are… fading into the distance.
“I like you when…” I used to love the sound of his voice. He was singing … even on that day…
“…when you take off your face…”
He’s bending over a hoverboard on his work counter. The little sun that penetrates even into the deep, dark recesses of this city casts a glow on his face. I enter from the front. I don’t know if I said anything.
“You put away all your teeth…”
He stops what he’s doing and looks over at me. A bright smile appears on his face. “Hey! What’s up, you can’t even lemme know when you’re gonna drop by anymore? You jack ass!” He presses a button on his radio, and the song stops. He comes closer, and I slide back a little. I never trusted myself around him.
He never seemed to notice, though.
“Been a while since I’ve seen your ugly face around here, man. How’re you? Havin’ a blast up there, on the top levels?” His voice carried a hint of sarcasm.
“It’s okay… I guess.” I think… back in those days… or how long has it been? I don’t know. I think I used to mooch off… off… someone wealthy. I lived on the 6th level with that person. They had enough money to live on the top level, but I felt more comfortable on the 6th… or something like that.
He laughed. His dark eyes flashed. “Heh, don’t lie. Livin’ up there is better than down here, I know that.
But we’re closer to the beach down here, you know? Anyways…” He turns back to the hoverboard on the counter. He presses another button on his radio, and that same song starts again. “…you wanna go ridin’ again, just like old times?”
“And take us way underneath…” He goes on singing. “’Cause you could die if you take it alone…”
“Yeah.” I replied to his question with no hesitation. I walk a little closer to the counter. I’m watching him work, but I can’t even remember what exactly he was doing to the ‘board. I don’t even remember what color the hoverboard was. “When do you wanna go?”
“Hmm…” He doesn’t look up from his work. He combed a hand through his electric blue hair.
“Whenever you feel like growing a pair and Shinta loosens his leash. I watch you taste it… I see your face and I know I’m alive…”
“I’m gonna punch you.” It was a meaningless threat.
He laughs again. “Do it, then.”
(*)
Breathing hard… white walls and a white ceiling staring back at me…
I’m in reality once again… like my memory’s trying to block me out. But I don’t want to come back here yet. I want to stay in the past for as long as I can. If I try hard enough, I can recall his singing and go back.
Made it.
“I kinda like you when… when you make up the reel…” In this memory, it’s night. I’m facing a sky full of stars and listening to him and the sound of the ocean. I don’t remember what the sand felt like. I think the breeze is warm. We may have just got done going for a ride on our ‘boards.
“…hey. Why’re you always singing that song?” I asked, turning over onto my side to face him.
He jumps and looks at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Holy shit!! What time is it?!”
I check my watch, but I don’t recall what it looked like. “It’s midnight.”
“Damn it!!” He sits up and tugs his shirt over his head. He grabs his hoverboard and starts to get up, but I grab his wrist.
“Hey, answer my question, Vinnie.”
Oh yeah, that’s right… his name was Vinnie. Damn. I didn’t want to remember his name… for a reason. I don’t know what, but… it makes my heart pound painfully against my ribs and I can’t breathe.
Vinnie stares down at me for a few moments and jerks his wrist out of my grasp. He starts to walk away.
I jump to my feet and run after him. “Not cool, man!! Answer me!!!”
“Darling, darling, questions make me blue!” Vinnie yelled back at me. He didn’t bother to turn around, or stop walking. He breaks into run. “Darling, darling, tell me something good…”
When I catch up with him, he’s already half across the beach. I tackle him down to the ground. “Vinnie… you… you fuckin’… jerk-face… man… not cool…” I wheeze, looking down at him. He has an irritating smile on his face. I roll over onto my back and look up at the sky. My heart’s thumping in my chest. It hurts. It hurts a lot. “Tell me now.”
“That song reminds me of someone real close to me.” Vinnie said slowly, sitting up again. He leans over me, and I attempt to look away from him. “Probably the only person who really knows me.”
I cleared my throat. I don’t remember if I genuinely didn’t know who Vinnie was talking about or being sarcastic. “Snow?”
Vinnie shakes his head, still smiling warmly. “You know this person. Or maybe you’re a dumb ass and you don’t.”
“Huh. What’s this person like?” I can’t even see the sky anymore. I can only see his face. Not that it matters.
“Stupid.” Vinnie said simply. “His name has the color ‘red’ in it. You might have seen him before. He’s got it made for the time being. He lives on the 6th level. I don’t think he remembers when we used to go to school on the 42nd level.”
“…must be nice. What a shame he doesn’t remember.” I think I said something like that. And he’s right. I don’t remember a damn thing…
Vinnie sighed and stood once again. He kicked at the sand for a few minutes, and then spoke. “You know who this person is.”
“Why would that song remind you of me?” I asked. I think Vinnie smiled gently and shook his head.
“Sometimes you really piss me off, y’know? You’re so dense.” He said. Then… he turned around and walked away.
If I knew what he was talking about then, I no longer remember. It’s been… a long time, I think, since I’ve been moved to this white room. I spend a long time on why he would say something like that. I … I still don’t know what the hell he was talking about.
And the next day… was THE day. It’s the day that’ll remind me of who I am and why I’m here, because I tend to forget. I’m slowly forgetting everything. The first thing I want to erase is… The first place I want to see is… the shop. And… to see it, I gotta leave this white room…
“Hey, stranger. What in hell are you doing down here again?” Vinnie said as he came up the sidewalk.
I’d been standing outside his shop early in the morning one day because I wanted to see him, but I’d forgotten what time his shop opened. You don’t get news about the slums from the top. “’Morning, Vin.”
Vinnie was smiling brightly. “You’re here early. What do you want?”
“…I…” I remember… it had been kind of cold that morning. The environment around us… it looked blue, I think. My heart wouldn’t be still and I felt like I was gonna be sick. “…shit, it’s cold. Let’s go inside.”
And… Vinnie let me in. He turned on the lights in the shop and got out his tool box and worker gloves. He sat on the counter and I sat across from him, looking down at my hands.
Ugh. I’ve always been a coward.
“So, what do you want?” Vinnie asked again. “I don’t see you early, so I suppose it’s something important. Shinta wants another board or some shit like that?”
I know he meant to say “I barely see you at all anymore.”
“…I just wanted to see you.” I said deliberately, still staring down at my lap. I was trying hard not to fidget, but I couldn’t calm down at all. I can’t remember why I was so nervous…
Vinnie’s silent for a few moments. “…well, thanks for coming down here just for me. I got to see you two times in one year now; I must be getting lucky.” His tone is sardonic. He brings out his favorite little blue box and presses a button on it. That song fills the room again. He gets to work on another hoverboard.
“I like you when… when you take off your face…” Vinnie’s singing along to the song softly. It’s pounding into my ears. “You put away all your teeth… and take us way underneath…’cause you could die if you take it alone…”
Then… a girl came in. Vinnie pretends not to see her. I don’t remember what she looked like… I think her and Vinnie knew each other because they start arguing. They’re shouting but I can’t remember what they were arguing about. It ends with her storming out, tears streaming down her face, and Vinnie attempting to return to work. His hands are shaking terribly. He’s not focused… he’s not even singing.
“Hey, Vinnie…” I think I got up and walked over to him. My heart’s hammering against my ribs, even now. My ears are full of that song… “…Vinnie…” I’m reaching out to touch him, but he quickly moves away.
“I’m fine!” Vinnie furiously wipes the tears away. He won’t look at me.
I quickly grab his arm before he runs away from me again. “…come here, come here…” I remember saying that… then placing one hand over his eyes…
And later… Vinnie was singing to me again. I wonder if he was singing another song “about” me again?
“Dawn comes and we part ways once again… my dreams become distant apparitions…” He was singing softly, staring out the window in a room with pale blue walls…“…Winter passes by and I count off all the days and months again…”
I asked him if that song was sung by girls. I think he said yes. I must’ve said something weird or stupid because he laughed and told me that a great song was a great song, and it didn’t matter who sung it. Now that I think about it, that lyric might have been about me too. I never… visited him even though we were friends… and we had been for a long time. It was all my fault… because I was a coward. I used the 6th level as an excuse because… I was hiding from something. I can’t remember what.
Now, away from that place I’d been held captive for so long, I feel much better. I just want to see the shop again. Slowly, I’m making my way down the street, away from the building of white. I don’t actually see anything around me; everything just looks blurry. Not that it matters.
The shop is… still there. It’s dark, but I have a key… in these white pants. I can be sure of this because it’s the only thing I’ll never let go off. Vinnie gave it to me. I open the door and step inside, shutting the door behind me. The shop is dimly lit by the lights outside, though the light disappears about midway through. Has the shop really always been this small?
I walk up to the work counter. I can still see Vinnie sitting here at the counter by himself, working on a hoverboard. Every now and then… he’ll glance towards the door. He’ll smile at anyone who comes in, but… but…
I can still hear that song, the song he was always singing. If Vinnie ever told me the name of it, I don’t remember it.
Dust covers the counter and the floor. There’s a hoverboard on the counter… also covered in dust…there’s a wrench next to it, and the ‘board’s been cracked open. Nothing but dust… how long has it been? Vinnie?
Something on the floor catches my eye. It’s shiny. I bend down and pick it up; it’s heavy and metal.
There are two of them. They’re silver… and… names… numbers… oh… I remember now… what it these are. I fall to the floor; watching sideways as a piece of that memory plays. I know now why I’m all alone.
“…I wanna see the top… I’ve never really seen the sky before.” Vinnie had said that same day. “What’s it like? I heard it’s like this endless blue… plane or something. You know us with level 40 tags aren’t allowed on the upper levels...”
“…nothing, really. No big deal about it…”I hadn’t really heard what he’d said. I hadn’t really… paid attention to him… because I … I was always a coward…
Then… then… the next morning, I believe… Vinnie came knocking on the townhouse door. I lived in that house with someone… I can’t remember who. It was on the 6th level. He came early in the morning, when the sun was just rising.
I was the one who opened the door… because that other person wasn’t there. And Vinnie had been bleeding… a lot. He’d given me a shaky smile and would’ve fallen to the floor if I hadn’t caught him. I was yelling, asking what in bloody hell had happened and how he’d gotten up there.
“…I wanted to see you…” He said with a laugh.
I… I remember there was a tightness in my chest and a lump in my throat. I bandaged him up as best I could and laid him down on a bed… it might’ve been mine. I hurriedly called an ambulance, smearing Vinnie’s blood on the phone… even though… I knew the authorities wouldn’t treat him up here… because he only had level 40 tags. And he couldn’t use mine… I knew… this person had temporary tags somewhere…
“...I see…so that’s what the sun looks like.” Vinnie said, staring out the window. “The sky really is blue…” His voice was so soft, it scared me.
I was rummaging through the room, throwing stuff around. I just wanted to find those tags… “Damn it! Where the fuck are those stupid temp tags?!!”
“Every time… every time…you drive me wild…” Vinnie was singing that song. “…it’s a beautiful ride… wild…”
I found the tags… but by the time I found them… he was unconscious. He was breathing just barely. I called the authorities again… and… but… Vinnie…was…
Please, just last until the ambulance comes, I was thinking…
I tried to revive him. I tried.
I curl up into a ball on the floor of the shop, barely able to breathe. In my hand… these things… they were the tags. My old level 40 tag and his tag, too… stained with his blood. I tighten my grip on them until it feels like they’re going to sink into my flesh.
“I like you when… when you take off your face…”
I bang my head up against the base of the counter repeatedly, loosening the gauze that was wrapped around it. Why didn’t I keep them? What was wrong with me? I don’t know…
He’d been beaten by the patrolmen… because he only had level 40 tags… I should’ve stayed on that level. He only came to see me… if only I’d kept my tags… why didn’t I just keep them… what was I… so afraid of?
The song… fading off into the distance, lost in the sound of my bashing against the counter… and Vinnie, smiling… I want to… crack my skull open and find out why I didn’t just keep them… if I crack it open, maybe I can find out why. I just… want to see you again…
Blood trailing down my forehead. I continue to hit my head up against the metal corner of the counter. Sirens…
The laughter of a person I can’t see… is echoing through my head… that song…
Why didn’t I just keep them…
