Darkest Desires

• Zac Kemble, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2021

Orpheus could be best described as a double-edged sword to anyone he acquainted with. His outside is cheery, enthusiastic and optimistic. He’ll instantly appeal to one’s needs for what they like in a friend, whether they enjoy the company of someone supportive or that of someone who is humorous. But as in the name ‘double edged sword’, Orpheus has a much more callous side. Never has he allowed this Janus psyche escape.

This side could be described as simply ghastly. If this personality were to slip, Orpheus’ atmosphere blackens, ironically contrasting his alter-ego. This second-face is able to read people as easily as a book, and this is why Orpheus’ black side is so iniquitous. Luckily no one knew of this side. Unluckily, it was going to overcome him, with cataclysmic results.

As you would expect, it was a normal day. With the sun high, and the students bickering, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Yet in the past few weeks, Orpheus’ ‘friends’ were starting to ostracize him out of the group. First was the ‘forgetting’ to mention game night, then it later evolved into conspiring against Orpheus to not mention the group sleepover!

Orpheus commanded his legs to march slowly towards his mates. Mentally twitching, he flickered his eyes from person to person, intentionally calculating what actions he could take to dispatch his friends. Callan was typically on his phone, a predictable action for his anti-social and clingy character. Duncan was swallowing a concoction of foods to the delight of the others to seek attention. Hendrix, as hypothesized, was letting out sounds of delight at the disgusted face Duncan was pulling, obviously enjoying himself.

Orpheus’ complex mind conducted a vicious cycle to play out. It repeated sour thoughts on the subject of his friends excluding him. His mind ruthlessly repeated these thoughts, throwing in the occasional disheartening word of ‘worthless’ or ‘unloved’ to add effect. This really left Orpheus teetering on the edge of collapse, his own mind his greatest enemy at this point. And it was at this moment that Orpheus couldn’t hold back his inexorable alter-ego.

Orpheus broke, feelings of indignation empowering his actions. Swinging his toned arm in a wide arc, Orpheus’ elbow collided with the solid back of Callan’s head, instantly forcing Callan to enter a state of torpor. With inexplicable momentum, Orpheus then smashed his side into Duncan, ridding Duncan’s lungs of any oxygen. During the brief moment of paralysation Duncan experienced, Orpheus managed to twist his arm into an agonizing lock, a small movement all that is required to break the delicate limb. Hendrix started to rise to end the ordeal, his body mass large enough to put an end to Orpheus’ fanatics. Orpheus shook his head, signaling with his eyes how easy it is to shatter Duncan’s arm, Duncan making quality leverage.

“I’m a very dangerous person to mess with,” Orpheus stated icily. In that moment Orpheus felt he was in control, that he was finally able to fulfill his darkest desires.