Ring, ring, ring, ring…
Dum.
Devin opened his crimson eyes. Dread filled him as he stared at the white ceiling.
Dum.
His heart pounded as he turned to the ringing phone on the nightstand. "No…"
Dum.
He breathed heavily, grabbing his phone.
"Please no…" he begged, silencing the 05:30 am alarm.
Dum… His heart froze as his eyes locked on the date. Tuesday, the 2nd of June.
'No, no, no, no-'
"Nooooo!!!" Devin screamed, his mind in chaos. "No!" He threw his blanket to the ground, beating the mattress over and over.
"Noooooo!!!" He flipped the mattress, letting out a guttural roar
His voice hoarse, he fell to his knees. "No, not again…" He shuddered, drained of hope. "I can't, I can't do this anymore." Tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry Darcey, I'm so, so… sorry…" He buried his face in his arms and cried, releasing all his pain and anguish, letting the weight crash down on him.
Thump. Something fell on his bedframe. Devin perked up, his attention drawn. Before him lay his black pencil bag, cast in the ray of the Sun's dawn. It beckoned him, cooing him, calling him to action one more time. 'I still have time,' he thought, standing up and wiping away his tears.
Slowly, Devin reached out and grabbed the pencil bag. He released the zipper, revealing the cash inside. Counting it up, it totalled R9600. He zipped the money back up and turned to Darcey's peaceful figure. A sigh escaped his lips.
"Whatever it takes." Devin's cold resolve brewed over as he walked away from the room.
Thud, click. Darcey heard the door close.
'He's gone.' She realized, peeking out from under her blankets.
Creak. Stepping out of bed, she surveyed the mayhem Devin left in his wake.
His blanket and sheet were scattered across the floor. His mattress was upturned, tilting on the bedframe. Darcey was baffled at how the nightstand remained standing through it all.
'This is getting bad.' She thought, thinking back to just moments before he left…
Drifting in and out of slumber, she vaguely heard cries of pain. She plopped off her ear plugs and heard Devin apologizing, then crying.
Darcey's eyes glistened as a wave of sadness washed over her. She had never heard him cry before. Just as she was about to get up and comfort him, she heard something fall on his bedframe.
Silence took over the room before she heard him utter, "Whatever it takes." A chill ran down her spine. That was not Devin's voice, not the Dev she knew.
Creak, creak, creak…
Darcey heard steps creak down the hallway and quickly ran back to bed, curling up in her blankets.
Thud, click. Moments later, Devin walked into the room, closing the door behind him.
Darcey froze, peeking through her covers.
'What are you going to do with that!?' She shuddered.
In his hand, Devin clasped the greasy butcher knife from the kitchen, his cold resolve pushing him forward.
"I will do whatever it takes."
…
"No, such a thing doesn't exist here or anywhere else I can imagine. Those are pretty severe symptoms that require medical attention." The pharmacist behind the counter uttered, much to Devin's disappointment. Wracked with concern, she continued, "Maybe you should-"
Tsk. Devin clicked his tongue and walked away…
"There's nothing here that can help." Devin arrived at the forty-seventh pharmacy. Getting the same response, he pushed the partitions out of his way, shouting, "Useless!"
In the forty-eighth pharmacy.
"Sorry, I can't help you."
'Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…' Devin's mental state gradually deteriorated.
In the forty-ninth pharmacy.
"A magic pill like that doesn't exist…"
Devin walked blankly down the sidewalk and bumped into a heavily tattooed guy. "Hey!" The guy called out, trying to grab him. "You should watch where you're going, you-" He halted as a violet sheen flashed through his eyes. Then he walked away, leaving Devin to continue his walk down the sidewalk. The blue sky above him turned into Darcey's cold, dead skin. The clouds merged, forming Darcey's faded eyes.
"Since when did you look so cool?" The outside noise morphed into a cacophony of Darcey's last words to him. "Since when did you look so cool. Since when did you look so cool. Since when did you look so cool. Since when did you look so cool. Since when did you look so cool. Since when did you look so cool. Since when did you…"
"I can't help you."
Devin stood in front of the last pharmacist in Cape Town. The balding man looked away from Devin's piercing gaze.
"Say that again." Devin's voice dropped an octave, his eyes boring a hole through the fifty-something-year-old man.
"I-It's like I said." He stepped back. "There's no cure for something like that. Be rational and think about it." He raised his hand in defence, worried about what the young man might do.
A sigh escaped Devin's lips before he turned around and walked to the door with his bag on his back. Click. He locked the door and flipped the closed sign.
The pharmacist shuddered. "Look, if you want money, the cash is in the register! I don't want any trouble!" He stepped back until his back touched the wall. His framed brown eyes reflected Devin closing in on him.
Devin stopped just before the counter separating them. He dropped his bag with a thud and pulled out the greasy butcher knife from it.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait-" Devin yanked him by the collar, throwing off his glasses in the process, and pulled him over the counter.
The man froze, feeling the cold touch of the blade on his neck. "Fuck the money, tell me something good or I'll take your life instead." Devin threatened him, his cold voice betraying no emotion.
The pharmacist shuddered at the threat on his life and stuttered, "I-I really can't help you, please, please, please-"
"Quiet." Devin shut him up, digging the blade deeper into the man's skin, stopping only when drops of blood trickled out. Shivering uncontrollably, the pharmacist bit hard at his lip to stifle the pain and keep quiet.
Devin sighed. "You know what? I believe you." He sighed once more. "Soon, I'll lose someone dear to me, and there's nothing I can do about it." The pharmacist noticed Devin's eyes glisten. He opened his mouth to say, "I'm sorry-"
"So I'm taking it out on you." Devin cut him off. Looking back into his eyes, the pharmacist saw no human behind them. The hairs on his neck stood on end as Devin's cold dark brown eyes pierced his scalp. "I will kill you. Then I will step outside and kill anyone I get my hands on. I will not stop until I'm dead on the ground. If Darcey can't live in this world, then it's not a world worth living." Devin pulled back the butcher knife to plunge it into the old man's neck.
"Wait- wait- call- call- a phone call-"
End of Chapter 8