Unforgotten Despair

      A sinister thought flashed through his mind. Ditzy really belonged to his little sister but since she and a friend had gone on vacation to Mystery Island for the week, he was forced to look after the sickly sweet Ona. Maybe it would be a good thing if the house had burned down. With Ditzy trapped in there she wouldn't stand a chance. He chuckled to himself. No sickly Pink Ona prancing around the place hugging anything and everything, no soppy kisses on the lips, no silly drawings of perfect families. Ditzy did all of this. You see, Dryn, for that was the Zafara's name, couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand it at all.

     He arrived at his doorstep to find that all was normal. He was quite thankful really. He wouldn't have wanted his house to burn down after all. That was a pretty stupid idea to think of, just to get rid of a stupid Pink Ona. Instead he could just…

     He looked down at the bag of food in his grasp. He could starve her. Yes. That would be perfect. He turned from his doorstep and into the road. He looked both ways before shoving the bag and its contents into a nearby dustbin. His heart fluttered excitedly and he shivered. He shook his head to get rid of the drops of rain that had collected in his fur and continued to his house.

      Ditzy came charging up to him instantly and hugged his legs. She let out a tiny squeak of delight and looked up at him with an excited smile on her face and big wide eyes.

     "Sorry, but you'll have no food tonight. The shop was closed," he lied, satisfyingly.

     Ditzy dropped her head. A tear fell from her cheek and she skulked away. Dryn smiled and once again felt that excited flutter in his heart. He was enjoying this.

     He switched the oven off and turned to see Ditzy sitting in her little corner, the corner where she felt safe and snug. He picked her up by the scruff of her neck and held her up to his face as he watched her squirm in pain. He smiled continuously before opening the back door and throwing her outside in the pouring rain. She charged at the open door but Dryn closed it in her face. She fell backwards and stayed there. It was as if she had given up trying to fend for herself already. She was always a little weakling, Dryn thought. She wouldn't last a chance out there, cold, wet and hungry. Those three things combined could prove fatal for a little thing like Ditzy and in only a small space of time too.

     The next morning was still wet and damp and there was a cold wind blowing that would send a chill down your spine and set your teeth chattering non-stop.

     I wonder if she's dead yet? the sadistic Zafara thought to himself. As he approached the door and looked out, his hopes were dashed. Ditzy had found shelter under some bushes and was curled up there in a tiny ball. Her head was hidden in her paws and her chest was rising and falling rapidly. She was crying and as Dryn watched, he got happier and happier. He could feel the happiness soaring into his veins as he watched Ditzy, the poor pink Ona crying her eyes out and slowly but surely dying.

     The days that followed were near enough the same. Damp, cold and windy. And still, Ditzy was holding on to her dear life. By now it was Thursday evening, but Dryn didn't know that. His crazy, confused mind was deepening into a dark void full of evil, hatred and despair. He was sinking into the despair and sorrow and he had to make it go away. He had to. He HAD to.

     He sauntered outside almost in a trance and grabbed Ditzy by the scruff of her neck just as he did a couple of nights ago. She squirmed, but her movement had decreased rapidly. She was losing strength now and after only thirty seconds had she stopped altogether. He dropped her and she lay on the sodden ground, limp and lifeless. Was she dead? Had he killed her? As he looked down at her closed eyes and partially open mouth, that joy filled him again. He felt like he had relieved himself of something so heavy and sorrowful from his heart. He felt good. He felt alive. And he left her there on the ground not caring about anything anymore, nothing but the joyous feeling in his heart and veins.

      There was a knock at the door. Dryn didn't answer it.

      "Dryn, are you in there?" a female voice called.

     He shot up. His sister had returned. The body. What would he do with the body? He heard a shuffle outside the door and then the jangling of keys. His heart leapt and he bolted to the garden. As he looked down at Ditzy he froze. He didn't know what to do. He had killed a Petpet, a living thing. His sisters Petpet, whom she loved dearly.

     Covering Ditzy with clumps of sodden grass, carelessly trying to hide the body, Dryn ran back indoors just as his sister was entering the garden.

     "D-Don't go outside, Tina," he stammered, his eyes beginning to water and his mouth trembling. "It's rainy out there. Y-Y-You don't want to get wet."

     His sister shot him an awkward glance.

     "Dryn, what's wrong with you? I'm already wet; I don't think going out in the garden will make much difference. Please let me pass."

     Dryn spread his arms and legs across the door trying to act as a barrier but his sister, sensing that he was desperately trying to hide something from her, pushed him aside and he tumbled to the floor.

      Tina ran out into the garden and saw bits of familiar pink fur and little eyes beneath clumps of grass. Her heart felt like it had entered her mouth as she realised that Ditzy was lying underneath. She ran to her Petpet and removed the grass, throwing it frantically to one side.

     "She's dead!" Dryn cried, running out to the garden. "She's dead!"

     Tina put one paw on Ditzy's chest.

     "She's still breathing," she replied in a calm but slightly shaky voice. "We have to take her to the hospital. You can tell me what happened there."

     Dryn thought his sister would have clicked that he had done this to Ditzy but, knowing that the little Petpet was in real danger of dying, he followed Tina to the hospital.

      In the waiting room, brother and sister sat side by side as Neopets came and went, and Petpets too. There was a tense feeling in the air, one that you could cut with a knife.

     "Dryn, please tell me what happened. Please."

     And, after an awkward pause, he confessed. He confessed everything to her.

     "I tried to kill her," were his last words before he started to sob his heart out. He wept into his sisters arms but she pushed him away abruptly.

     "Don't you dare touch me," she snapped, tears welling in her eyes. "You promised me you'd change. You PROMISED."

     "I-I-I tried," he sobbed. "But I can't forget. I just can't."

     "Dryn, I know he treated you nasty, but that is in the past. You've got to forget about him."

     "I can't!" he sobbed. "I dream about him and what he did to me every single night. Locking me in that grimy cellar, starving me until I could hardly move. I can't forget it. Making someone else feel my pain makes it all better somehow. It's like the pain shifts into the other person when I inflict pain on them, and I can feel free again. I didn't mean to hurt Ditzy, I really d-didn't mean-mean to…"

     He couldn't finish his sentence for he was sobbing profusely now. Instead of pushing him away, Tina cradled her brother in her arms and rocked him back and forth comforting him.

     Just then a Uni doctor approached them. They sat up wide-eyed. Tina's heart was pumping.

     "Ditzy's going to be absolutely fine," she said, smiling. "Would you like to go and see her?"

     Relief swept over the both of them and they each smiled. Dryn could see a solitary tear welling in his sister's eye.

     "Yes, but could you leave us for a few minutes first please?" she asked politely.

     "Of course," the Uni replied and trotted away.

     Tina pulled her brother close to her and they hugged. "I'll never let you feel that way again. We'll all be here for each other, always. We'll look out for each other. As long as there's the three of us we'll be able to get through anything."

      Dryn smiled and she smiled back, and together they walked down the corridor close to each other to see a beautiful, tiny Pink Ona called Ditzy.

The End