Login

From man to mare

by The Psychopath

Chapter 13: Stone Plants

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

(Hydra And Samaru163 reviewed my story and made tweak and changes instead of the usual grammar fixing. This is to test how you all see the change and if you still think it's me with this chapter. Be warned, there might be...BRITISH ENGLISH! *vomits* :D Feel free to reread the original chapter)

I am Derry Wilhall; a simple guy, not too exquisite. I was also a pretty decent writer before things went south; although the measly royalties from my book sales would tell you otherwise... Heh... Guess people just aren't into interesting stuff anymore. Most of them would prefer to go online and search up cat videos to pass the time instead.

I was never the most intelligent guy at my school. More of the quiet loner that was known for "raging," as the guidance counselor called it, whenever someone annoyed me too much. There was even a case where I nearly killed someone for cutting me. Go figure that some jerk pulls a knife on me and the anger-management kid gets all the blame for starting a fight. Typical. So I had problems; Silver was my only friend, and wasn't even real I might add, and I didn't believe love was real, only another way to manipulate others. How else am I supposed to act if the world taught me about its dark side. I guess I was the alternate reality Luke Skywalker who got tempted by 'the dark side' and succumbed. Society had only let me experience loneliness and uselessness, along with violence and insults. Pretty much dumb jock 101 every hour, on the hour.

So did I care about society? Hell no. I managed to survive without anyone's help...well...I almost did. You see, I never had a good connection with my mother, and my father barely knew I existed. The only companion I ever had in my life was this stuffed animal; it was a silvery pony just a little bigger than my hand, with only a little wear showing for its age.

"Seriously, a pony. What are you, a little girl?" is what I guess you're thinking. Well maybe if you can say that to my face, I'll give you an answer... jerks. It was a present from my grandfather and he didn't know what I liked, so he decided to send me a girly toy, but with awesome style. Silver, as I called her, had been my first and only toy since. Looking back, it wasn't the most creative of names, but lay-off. I was five and at least knew how to pronounce words longer than one syllable. I took good care of her and learned how to properly clean her up. Her body was a radiant silver color, still shining after these 21 years, and her mane was of a pure, majestic white. Most normal people would've simply combed that mane so there weren't any tangles, but I took the scissors to it and gave her a badass do; well, badass by my terms. It was slightly curled on the top, bending over her right ear, but showing the entirety of the left one. That patch going over the ear kind of spiked slightly at the end.

The front legs seemed lame, the chest was too visible, but the rear legs were perfect. I even went and got her a mark sown on both flanks of her legs. It was the family crest; a silver ingot surrounded by two blue crystalline leaves, but with a small space up top and below, sewn there. I was so happy at that time but people still found me weird, even though I was just six.

My grandfather was the owner of an oil company and fabrics industry at the time. He had his time cut-out for him, but I'll never forget the days where I got to play with him when I was little. However, as the years went by, we grew more and more distant, and this distance can be summed up like this; There was a storm cloud separating the two boats we were riding. I was caught in the middle and he was outside, desperately trying to reach me. Eventually, that storm grabbed his boat and threw it against the rocks. He had died at five o'clock. on January first 2012, right after new years eve. I was devastated when we got the news, but even in death it seemed that he still had one final present to give me.

So there we were, my mother, her long brown hair surfing over that ugly ass black widow dress that she loved so much, sitting next to me as she pretended to cry. I just wanted to poke the back of my throat and vomit on her, that would've developed her taste in fashion. Her eyes were green, strangely, while mine were nearly black, just like my father's. It was something I only took pride in, only because they were the same eyes as my grandfather. On my left was the good for nothing that called me his son, sitting lazily on an oak chair covered with red cushions. We all had one, but the way he lounged made the atmosphere feel empty and soulless. He'd 'coiffed' his hair back with gel, making it look greasier than normal, along with wearing a black tuxedo with matching leather shoes. Pah! Such a waste. All that monopoly money could have gone to those who needed it.

But I digress, seeing how we were in the lawyer's office not to discuss their crimes against fashion, but my grandpa's will.
Sitting before us on his giant swivel chair was Jasper, gramp's lawyer. He was pretty old, with a receding hair line along with a gray suit and tie. From the way he even held the paper to read, you could tell he needed some reading glasses. I'd almost thought Larry King was talking to us.

"To my dear son, who has shown himself to be quite the aggressive businessman, like I was in my youth, I leave the management of the Wilhall oil industry ."

The bastard had simply nodded with a smug grin on his face. At the time I wasn't sure what my grandpa was thinking, leaving his life's work in the hands of such a slimy, cruel jerk. I had almost expected said jerk to put his pinkie to his mouth and yell, "one million dollars," in a foreboding tone. Sadly his joy was less humiliating, mostly twisting his mustache between his fingers and giving my mom a flippant look as Jasper continued.

"To my daughter-in-law, I leave you as key designer managing the Wilhall designer brand. I expect you to do great things, especially with your fabulous fashion sense." Returning my dad's look, she'd started to shed crocodile tears into her handkerchief as I rolled my eyes. It was difficult enough dealing with these two on a daily basis, but seeing them so pleased about my grandfather's death had me digging my nails into my chair. I'd almost jumped out of my chair in order to call bullshit on the whole thing, beating that lawyer until he told me how much the two of them had paid him; however, both my gramp, and his lawyer, seemed to have a similar sense of humor.

"And finally, to my favorite and only. Thank god. Grandson..." My parents had gone stiff at that, but he calmed them with a quick wave of his hand and a cheesy excuse, Bitch and Greasy quickly settled back into their sham sadness, sneaking some smug looks in my direction, probably thinking that I would inherit a car or something insignificant compared to their inheritance. Apparently they hadn't noticed him flash me a quick thumbs up.

"... Derry Wilhall. I'm sorry I could not reach you after all these years. My heart ached knowing that you were all alone and being picked on at school. I hope you can understand why I left your insufferable parents with important roles in your new empire but I'm sure you'll put them to good use as the new boss of Wilhall International Inc..." I was just as surprised to hear the lawyer, but the look of utter, idiotic, disbelief on my parents' faces best expressed. Their stunned silence also made it easier them to hear how everything granmp's owned was to be put under my name.

I understand they say revenge is like ice cream, but I'd just been handed a lifetime supply of chocolate mint chip, while giving my two 'favorite' people in the world all the frozen yogurt. And not the tasty kind, more like the disturbing tapioca flavor.

To avoid the boring details, the rest of the day was spent in pure bliss. Not only did I get to give my parents the ultimate 'fuck you', security also dragged them out of the building when they started to harass me and gramp's lawyer. The next few weeks flew by as I tried to build a reputation as the proper heir of Wilhall inc. There were interviews, conspiracy theories; probably due to two disgruntled employees; and even meetings with the other influential members of Wilhall Inc. Those were mainly to save face but I soon returned to my familiar solitude, leaving my home only when an important meeting took place.

During that period of peace, I had a small cottage built on the mountain bordering my inherited property, close to the village nestled in the valley. My cabin looked like it was made from Lincoln logs. Tree trunks that were sawed on a small portion of the end, just to stack them atop each other. It had a bathroom, a small living room, a kitchen, and my bedroom. Of course, I built it to be self-sufficient with its own internet connection, environmentally friendly turbines and solar panels, and a big-ass backyard that I wouldn't need to mow. I also jerry-rigged a security system to keep the locals out of my territory. It would be a 'shocking' experience for them... What can I say? I like small buildings and dislike human contact, but only on my terms.

Living by myself, it seemed excessive to move into grandpa's mansion, so a builder was hired to convert it, and the remainder of the inherited property, into a hospital with a low-rent housing community for long-term patients and their families. Along with investing an additional billion for start-up costs, I even got a lab built on-site for common antibiotic production. That was a little idea of my own, hopefully making prescriptions more accessible. It wasn't until after the construction was finished, and the grand opening celebrated, that I delved into my new lifestyle.

To pass the time, I would go to the nearby village at the foot of the forest and get some mountaineering (Is that even a word?) gear to explore the surrounding wilderness, collecting the occasional rock I would find while observing the fauna and flora. Besides nearly falling to my death that one time, this soon became part of my daily routine. A little money donation here, a little travelling through the forest over there, and that pretty much summed up my new life... or what the majority of people knew of.

Besides trying to forget my past in an eccentric lifestyle, there was another reason gramps had left me his mansion, instead of making Jasper setup the necessary preparations. He had left me with a request to find an artifact that dotted the area's history

Being known as new money was aggravating, especially with all the solicitors looking for a hand-out and the thieves hoping to steal the supposed millions I kept in my cottage. Well the jokes on them, my money was still being managed by my grandfather's accountant.

Annoyingly (Or luckily, if you're a complete idiot), it was thanks to my self-made alarm system, for what I thought was another 'guest', that I was wandering the mountain in the wee hours of the morning. Admittedly, I'd had difficulty pulling myself from bed to go see who was stomping around my property, but I was nothing if not stubborn. Having managed to raise the dead, figuratively speaking, I had donned my coat and nestled Silver in the front pocket before heading out the door.

Fog still clung to the ground as I started my round, walking beside the electrically charged wire that formed my security system. It took only a few minutes before the source of my rude awakening came into view, although it wasn't what I had expected. Jutting out of the ground, tangled in part of my security system, there was a blue crystal. Such beauty! It seemed to glow with an inner light as I stepped closer with my arm outstretched. Note to others, don't try to touch strange crystals bare handed, especially ones covered in electrical lines. I almost missed the spark before feeling the electricity run down my arm. The fog turned a rainbow color as my body tensed, a side effect of getting shocked I had thought To my surprise, and horror, this 'side effect' started raising me into the air and pulled my hand from the crystal. Slowly, the surrounding area started to turn white as my backpack and jacket seemed to phase through me.

I was certain that I had died and that I was going to the after-life, but even though everything had turned white that blue crystal was still there. Reaching out instinctively, I reached for the only source of comfort I had. Even as I wrapped my fingers around Silver, the jacket dissolved as I held her close to me. At least the memento of my grandfather would stay etched into my soul and mind. The white light grew brighter and brighter until there was nothing left in sight; I couldn't even feel my body in the blinding light
But I could feel Silver, and that was all that mattered.

Next Chapter: The lone hermit (obsolete) Estimated time remaining: 10 Minutes
Return to Story Description

Login

Facebook
Login with
Facebook:
FiMFetch