Tipping Point
Abducted
Kame led Dawn down a scenic road where there weren’t many people, in order to help calm her down. When they reached his vehicle by the side of the road, he helped her in and then drove down a few alleyways towards a beautiful, glistening lake. The sun shimmered off the water’s surface and reflected shards of light onto the grass and trees. The trees had begun to turn vibrant shades of red and gold. It was truly beautiful, like something that belonged in a painting. Certainly it was too beautiful to belong to this tainted world.
As Dawn’s eyes fell upon the splendid scene before her, a pang went through her head and she rubbed her temples and shut her eyes tightly until the small flash of pain was expelled. Breathing deeply, she opened her eyes to find Kamenashi-san parking near the lake. The place was deserted since it was a little out of the way of where most people went and this was a spot usually visited during the summer, on warm days.
As Kame removed the keys from the ignition, he turned and gave her a reassuring smile, “I actually wanted to show you something before I continued to take you home.” He walked around the car and opened her door, carefully helping her out. There were a few picnic benches underneath some of the surrounding trees and a beautiful bridge that extended over the water to the other side. Kame let Dawn see all this, before he suddenly began to walk to the bridge.
He sensed her confusion as to where they were going, but he did not stop and she didn’t say anything. She trailed him like a small, distant shadow and when he stopped directly in the center of the bridge, she, a few feet behind, did too.
Kame leaned over the edge of the bridge, his hands bracing himself against the railing. He leaned out over the water and watched the frozen, serene surface that mirrored his reflection right back at him and he smiled as he recalled a moment long ago when he’d stared at his reflection in this same, exact spot. A cold breeze bit his nose and slapped at his chiseled cheeks making them glow a dusky pink.
He almost forgot where he was as time seemed to stop for him and memories of the past assailed him, but the voice of his small companion called him back to the present.
“Kamenashi-san, what did you have to show me all the way up here?”
He turned towards Jessica and saw her rubbing her temples as though she was getting a headache. He also realized it was much colder up here in elevation than when she had been in the park with Yamapi and that she was shivering. Quickly sliding out of his coat, he walked towards her and handed it to her. She put it on gratefully and continued to wait for his reply to her question.
Kame turned from her and surveyed the beauty of the lake once more before he began the greatest act he had truly ever acted in his life. If he had been a good actor before, he was now perfect, if he had made devil’s cry because of his convincing expressions, it was now time to astonish the angels and it was all for the benefit of the one standing, uncertainly, behind him.
“You can keep that,” he said softly without looking at her, “The jacket, I mean. I won’t be needing it where I’m going.”
“I’m sorry?” Jessica asked her brow lowering in confusion.
“I just needed courage to do this, and like a coward, I couldn’t do it on my own, so I needed you here with me. I know it is too cruel and selfish of me to ask you to stand there and keep me company as I leave you behind, but I’m too tired of living.” With those words, he used his arms to propel the rest of himself up onto the railing of the bridge. He looked down into the dark waters and turned back to Jessica with a grief-stricken expression. He let a sad smile tug his lips showing the barest glimmer of white from his teeth and the tears he had been holding back suddenly burst forth and spilled over his face, coursing down and plopping from his chin onto his shirt.
“Goodbye,” he whispered and turned his back towards her facing a dark abyss that if he entered, there would be no return.
*****
Kamenashi-san leads me up onto the bridge and I follow him silently. I don’t know what he has to show me, but I figure he’ll let me know when he is ready. Being in the center of the lake with the flaming trees surrounding us, all alone would have made me feel as if I had entered a fairy-tale or some other paradise, but my head is pounding in a slow, painful throbbing rhythm to the beating of my own heart and I can’t appreciate a paradise when such pain is trying to overcome me. It is also too cold up here to be a true paradise.
I rub at my head trying to push the pain back to the unknown place it has sprouted from. But it begins to get stronger and I finally realize that waiting for Kamenahsi-san to start talking is probably not going to help me in the long run, so I end up speaking first.
“Kamenashi-san, what did you have to show me all the way up here?” I ask.
Kamenashi-san turns to me and perceiving that I am cold, promptly begins to take off his jacket and hands it to me. Grateful at his thoughtfulness, I hurriedly don it and immediately I feel the harsh cold that has washed over my skin begin to recede. When I have begun to get warm again, I glance back up at Kamenashi-san who happens to have his back to me again.
“You can keep that,” he says and I know he’s talking to me (because there’s no one else here for him to talk to), “The jacket, I mean. I won’t be needing it where I’m going.”
I frown, confused at what he’s saying. “I’m sorry?” I ask hoping he’ll clarify what he means a bit more.
“I just needed courage to do this, and like a coward, I couldn’t do it on my own, so I needed you here with me. I know it is too cruel and selfish of me to ask you to stand there and keep me company as I leave you behind, but I’m too tired of living.” he says and pain fills his words as if all the pain and sadness of the world were taking him apart piece by piece.
The confusion I have as he begins to talk, slowly forms into understanding by the end and I gape at him in horror wondering if he really is about to do what I think he is. Kamenashi-san turns to me and the look he gives me wrenches my heart in two. My pain is momentarily forgotten as I realize he is crying as he turns back to me one last time. He tells me, “Goodbye,” and turns back towards the horrible, dark waters. My mind whirls in disbelief. The beautiful paradise I thought this place was has suddenly turned into a horrible nightmare.
Kamenashi-san can’t kill himself! No matter how bad life has treated him, he’s the kind of person who always gets back up and keeps going no matter what. Without further thought, I run the few steps it takes and dive for Kamenashi-san grabbing him by his shirt, my hands clench into fists around the fabric and I use all of my body-weight, small though I am, to push against the railing and pull him away from the edge.
Kamenashi-san falls backwards and lands on top of me. Kamenashi-san stares down at me with wide, surprised eyes. It hurts when I land and his weight on top of me makes it difficult to draw a decent breath. But I don’t care, because he hasn’t jumped yet. Maybe I can explain to him why he’s being so stupid as to resort to something like that. I open my mouth, panting from the shock and fright he gave me to give him a piece of my mind when the pain comes back in a rush.
My head explodes in pain and my body in response curls up tightly in a ball. The pain rips its way through my head tearing down walls that have been built and anything I try to throw up against it to protect myself. But the pain is too strong and slices down my weak defenses. It hurts! It hurts so much. Tears stream down my face as the white-hot brand rips my mind apart and forces itself up my throat in order to be released. My throat turns raw with the screaming.
I am not even aware when Kamenashi-san grabs me up in his arms like a child and rocks me back and forth whispering words that I can’t understand because it hurts. It hurts so bad. And I slump against Kamenashi-san’s chest as darkness descends. I realize my body is making one final effort to stop the pain, by transporting me through the darkness to a place I won’t feel it anymore, and I am so glad! I am so glad!
The last thing I hear, is Kamenashi-san’s voice at my ear again, but this time I can focus a little more on what he is saying.
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