Divided heart

19. Rendy

" A Lies destroy all the trust you've built over the years."

-Sin-

"Ren?" I patted Rendy's cheek, trying to wake my friend.

"Ren... wake up Ren...! Rendy!!" I called repeatedly.

Rendy groaned softly, then opened his eyelids. He flinched when he saw my face, backing away as far as possible with wide eyes.

"Go... go... you...!" he screamed.

"Ren.. Listen, please.. listen to me!!" I tried to reach my friend, but he crawled away as if I were a contagious disease.

"You were going to kill me," he shouted. His eyes stared at the hammer lying on the floor.

"No, it wasn't me, Rendy." Sin intended to finish Rendy, not me.

"Liar! If no one had called you at that time, you would have killed me." Rendy continued to back away from me. The young man's body continued to struggle, trying to break free from the bonds on his hands and feet.

"It wasn't me, Ren, you must know it wasn't me. Rendy... This is what I feared, someone is trying to take control of my body." My voice sounded pleading as I begged Rendy to believe me a little. However, in reality, it sounded utterly nonsensical.

"If that woman hadn't come with meatballs and called you to open the door, I would be dead. How can I trust you now?" Rendy's body trembled violently each time he uttered those words.

"Let me untie you so you can believe me," I pleaded.

Rendy shook his head in fear. "You hit me like a madman, why did you do that?" His eyes sharply watched the hammer on the floor, afraid I would grab it at any moment. But his tone was mournful, the feeling of someone betrayed by their own friend. Someone close who even hurt them. If only Rendy knew. I was even cursing myself at this moment.

I took a deep breath, pulling the hammer as far away as possible. The moment my hand touched the iron object, Rendy's reaction saddened me; he shuddered in fear, turning his face away, thinking I would grab the hammer and hit him with it.

The sound of the hammer being moved away finally made Rendy look at me again. It seemed to make him believe me a little. I then stepped closer to him. "I'm Loki, not that creature, Ren. You must know your own friend. Loki, the antisocial one, Loki who only trusts you, Loki who considers you a brother." My hands were open wide, signaling that I wouldn't hurt my friend.

Rendy sobbed, now he seemed calmer, he didn't move or rebel anymore. "I... don't recognize you anymore, Loki," he whispered.

Slowly, I untied the bonds on Rendy's hands and feet. "He's not me, Ren, it wasn't me who did all this, I would never..." Rendy lunged at me, landing a blow right on my previously injured jaw. The pain momentarily paralyzed me. The young man immediately ran past me. He then quickly crawled through the narrow corridor.

"Ren, wait!" I rubbed my aching jaw, following Rendy from behind. The young man jumped down from the ceiling with a loud thud. His body hit the dining table, scattering the remaining meatballs onto the floor. The metal bowl clattered noisily.

I also climbed down and grabbed Rendy's shirt as he tried to get up. "Rendy, I beg you." I pushed Rendy's body towards the round balcony, blocking his escape with my body.

"Let me go, let me live!" Rendy screamed hysterically.

I looked around in panic, afraid someone would hear Rendy's voice. "Does he turn his head like this?" I asked, demonstrating Sin's head movement, a full rotation.

Rendy fell silent, his breath coming in gasps, but he still listened to my words.

"Ren, if you see me acting like that, you must run as far as possible, I don't want you to get hurt." I warned. At least he should know when to avoid Sin. That's all I could tell him as a precaution.

"What do you mean?" Rendy asked, confused.

"His name is Sin, he's another me. He's trying to control my body and commit crimes," I explained. Rendy's expression suddenly changed, his jaw twitched, and his eyebrows furrowed sharply.

"You're crazy!" he said angrily. "You think I'll believe your words? You think you can convince me to forgive you after what you've done? I saw it, Loki, the madness in your eyes. It's you, it's your face, it's your body, how can you say it's someone else?" Rendy quickly glanced left and right; I knew he was looking for another way out.

"Have you ever heard of DID, Ren? That's what's happening to me," I said desperately.

Rendy blinked in disbelief. His lips parted wide. "How do you know? You said you forgot everything."

"Heil gave me his memories after I arrived here. Ren... you have to help me, I beg you to believe me just this once." My hands were open wide, signaling that I wouldn't hurt him.

"What do you mean here? In this apartment?" Rendy's voice rose an octave in disbelief.

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I nodded vigorously. "This is where I lived before."

"Then..." Rendy stared at me with a growing expression of fear, his face paling. "Where are your parents?"

The young man's question was like lightning striking my brain, making me tremble for no reason.

"You... you... you killed your parents?" Rendy pointed at me with a trembling finger.

I fell silent, unable to answer that question. The pain intensified, demanding to be released. I clutched my chest. Voices began whispering loudly in my mind.

No... no... fear approached in the form of tendrils, beginning to ensnare my consciousness. I held my head, enduring the pain.

My world began to undulate again, this time not a convex lens, but an iron tube constricting the diameter of my awareness, leaving only a small window to see the outside world.

Rendy called my name repeatedly, sounding distant like a broken transmission. I hit the iron tube with all my might, calling Rendy's name, but my voice was swallowed. I saw the young man running past me. My hand reached for him, but it was too late. Rendy managed to run to the front door and disappeared from my sight.

"You killed your mother." Sin's voice echoed, choking me with tears. I heard a child crying with regret beside me. It was Heil's cry.

"Heil, we have to fight him, Heil," I cried desperately. Black liquid began filling the tube of my consciousness. "Heil, don't cry. You're not the culprit. Listen to me, you're not your mother's murderer." The black liquid swelled, filling my chest. Sin intended to drown me in a sea of wounds, Heil, trying to put us to sleep.

"Heil, you were only defending yourself. Your father was a bastard, he deserved to be hurt, and your mother…" I lost my words, what did I know about this woman?

The black liquid now reached my chin, making it difficult to speak. "Heil... none of this is your fault."

Heil's crying stopped. His voice trembled slightly as he replied. "I am the cause of Mother's death, I killed my mother."

I screamed in despair, shocked by Heil's answer. I screamed loudly and drowned myself in the ocean of wounds, Heil.