Chapter 1: In The Hands of God

Disclaimer/Trigger Warning: This series will contain acts of violence and abuse as well as indications of suicide. If you are triggered by any of these subjects, please turn away from this series now.

"*It seems as if only moments ago I was in school, watching all of my classmates laugh and dance in our classes year end party. Yet here I am, awake on this uncomfortable bed at three AM"

Jared sighed as he swiped his fingers on the screen of his phone*.

Jared Toren, a 16 year old teen in Highschool. He had an average height, around 5'6. He was skinny with green eyes and rugged black hair that reached down to the top of his shoulders. Life has been pretty rough with him. Since he was a child, his parents paid him no attention. They were "Too busy" to show even the slightest care or acknowledgement towards him. No matter how hard he worked, how high his grades were. Nothing seemed to turn their heads towards him. By the time he reached Highschool, he had given up on trying to reach out to them and gave up on almost everything.

Because he was so focused on trying to catch their attention, his social skills suffered greatly. He was awkward when talking with others and couldn't hold a conversation for more than a minute. Everyone called him a loner, an outcast, a weirdo. To everyone, he was the weird creepy kid who looked like sleep was a myth. Whenever he would try to help people, they all would back away from him as if he were trying to hurt them, despite his good intentions.

*Jared set his phone aside, closing his eyes slowly as he yawned.

"Hopefully, things will change..."

Just as Jared began to fall asleep, far off, in a void empty and dark. A woman with a slender figure could be seen sitting on her throne. She smiled as she peered at an orb in her hand, which gave her a view of Jared as he slept*.

"I'm not done with you yet my sweet... Your life, and my pleasure, is just about to begin"

*Jared rubbed his eyes as he sluggishly got up from bed. He reached over for his phone and checked the time. The clock on his phone read one in the afternoon. Jared paused for a bit before scrambling to his feet and heading to his closet. He had plans to visit his local hobby store as they had an event happening for a game he played on his phone a lot. After getting dressed, Jared ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Faster than he ever ran before, he dashed down to the kitchen, without a word to his parents, he grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and rushed out the door.

While running towards the store, Jared was constantly checking his phone for updates on the event, keeping check of the time as well. Without noticing, he ended up crashing into a girl from his school.

As Jared rubbed his arm. He picked up his phone and noticed the girl on the ground*

"I'm so s-sorry! Please forgive me" *Jared stuttered as he bowed his head. He reached out his hand as to help her up.

With terrified eyes, the girl slapped his hand away and got up on her own*.

"Watch where you're going you freak!"

As she ran away, Jared stood there, watching her with the same dull expression that his face makes, the only expression his face knows how to make.

Finally, after 3 more minutes of walking, Jared arrived at the shop. As he walked inside, he noticed how packed the shop was. There were so many people standing around, talking and laughing. What was usually a quiet place, became as loud as the school cafeteria just because of an event.

Despite not liking crowds, Jared was determined to stay. This game was the only thing that mattered to him in life. At the age of 13, he had been diagnosed with depression. He was put on anti-depressants but for the past few weeks he has refused to take them. The game had given him all he had ever wanted in life. Praise and recognition. To feel special and important.

Whenever he completed a mission and the game congratulated him, he felt like someone had finally cared about him, that his presence was finally needed by someone. 15 minutes of his time gave him something that he could never get with the 16 years of his life that he spent, trying to please his parents. This game, was the only thing that could make him happy.

*As Jared made his way through the crowd, trying his best to say "excuse me" or "passing through", he was pushed around and shoved. People telling him to watch it and to keep his hands to himself.

Jared sighed as he turned around, seems he would have to stay content being in the back. As he walked back to where he originally was, a voice called out to him*.

"Is that Jared Eye Bags? Out of his house during summer break?"

Jared stopped in his tracks, his eyes glued to the ground.

"Hey, I'm talking to you Eye Bags, didn't your parents tell you to look people in the eye when they speak to you? Or maybe you don't have any, that's why they never attended your parent teacher conferences"

*Jared gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He wanted to lash out at them but what would he say? It's not like he knew anything about them. He had nothing to insult anyone, simply because he knew nothing at all.

The group of friends around the other guy all laughed as they pointed at Jared*.

"Look at him, I bet he's still asleep and probably couldn't hear you, go wake him up"

One of the kids approached Jared from the back and pushed him to the ground.

"Come on, wake up Eye Bags!" *they teased as they laughed at him on the floor.

Another one of the kids picked up Jared's phone and opened it as he reached out for it*.

"P-please, give me my phone back please!" *he stammered.

The group laughed at him as they opened his phone*.

"And here I thought Eye Bags does nothing at home. He plays Saber Saga as well!" one of them said.

"Yeah but look at how low leveled he is, and his items are so trash. He doesn't even have an SR item yet!" *one of them said while laughing.

Once more, Jared could only look down at the floor. At a loss for words, his mouth hung open, as if to shout, to scream, to yell in anger. But nothing came out.

The boy holding Jared's phone approached him, looking down upon Jared as he loomed over him*.

"My girlfriend told me that last week, you approached her with one of your creepy looks and scared her" he smirked.

"S-she was crying, I was just trying to-" The boy cut Jared off with a kick to his face before grabbing his hair.

"It's time you learned your place Eye Bags" *The boy dragged Jared out of the shop, the rest of the group followed behind, taking pictures and videos of him.

Outside of the shop, the boy kicked Jared in the face again. Jared grunted as he covered his face with his hand twitching from fright*.

The boy sneered "No one cares about you Eye Bags. No one wants you around them, especially when all you do is look at them with that disgusting face" once more he kicked at Jared.

"Trying to help my girlfriend? What help could you ever be to anyone! You're clueless as hell, no one would ever seek help from the likes of you" The boy kicked Jared's stomach.

"And just like everyone else, this game, doesn't even need you, nor will it ever care about you. Just stay alone away from everyone like you always do" *he spat as he threw Jared's phone onto the ground, breaking it.

With that, the boys left him and walked back into the shop. Still on the ground, twitching, he moved his hands away to see the broken phone on the pavement. Tears filled his eyes as he scooped them up. Slowly, Jared stood up, and began to walk home.

Maniac laughter filled the void as the woman on the throne slammed her fists uncontrollably onto the arm rests of the throne*.

"Oh my precious toy!" she howled

"You're going to please me so well, your new life shall begin!"

*Before heading home, Jared stopped by the park near his house. For a few hours, he sat there motionless, staring at the sky as it changed its colors from a bright blue to a warm yet uninviting orange.

As he stood at the doorway to his home. He reached for the doorknob and opened it. As he twisted the knob and pushed the door open. He saw out of the corner of his eye, his dad, glaring at him from the foot of the stairs*.

His father yelled as he approached Jared "I have been calling you for hours now! You leave this house without saying where you are going and then you just refuse to answer my phone calls"

Before Jared could speak, his dad smacked him across the face, causing him to fall to the floor.

"Look at how dirty you are, you're so clumsy you probably tripped over nothing!" *Jared's broken phone fell out of his pocket.

His dad noticed the phone fall out of Jared's pocket*.

"You broke your phone? You're irresponsible and clumsy. Coming home late because you broke the phone that I paid for with MY money" his dad turned around and walked away.

"Get out of my sight, you're an eyesore"

Jared picked up the pieces of the phone that fell put of his pocket and with trembling steps, made his way up the stairs.

*After changing out of his clothes, Jared stood infront of the drawer next to his bed. He pulled open the first drawer and reached in to look for something.

When he had found what he was looking for, he pulled out a pre-made noose. Something he had made before he found the game he loved, Saber Saga.

"Maybe I'm not meant to feel love while I live. But I know for sure, that they'll care, no, someone will care, when I'm no longer breathing in this world"

The more he thought, the more he couldn't resist the tears in his eyes. He looked around his room as he stood on his stool, tying the rope around one of the blades of the ceiling fan. He saw the pill bottles on his nightstand, no photoframes of anyone anywhere. No posters, or anything that represented a happy or joyful memory. It was like a hospital room, except it was just his own room, void of anything, lacking character and representation.

All these years he spent wasting his time to the point where he lost his opportunity to even have what could be considered a childhood.

As he tightened the noose around his neck, he looked around his room once more before kicking the stool. Gasping for air, he squirmed around clawing at the rope around his neck, kicking the air as his vision started to blur. His movement began to still quickly as his hands dropped down to his sides. His eyes began to close as he thought of nothing, he had no final thoughts, for he didn't think he was worth anything to think of anything and anyone.

The woman licked her lips as she stood up from her throne. She backed off into the shadows, leaving only her orb to be seen in the void*.

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