"Hope" by Andrijana Ignjatovic

HOPE

The shadows seemed to flee from the man. His heels thundered against the marble floor and the few candles that illuminated the otherwise dark corridor flickered. A woman kneeled beside a candlestick to light it. When the man passed she held her breath. The man saw her eyes widen with fear. The stump of wax fell from the woman’s hand and she quickly picked it up again. She followed the man with her eyes until he walked round a corner. The man smiled and pushed open a heavy oak door. He turned and locked the door. In the large room there were place for a huge polished oak table and only two of the eight chairs were available. A fire sparkled in the hearth at the room’s short side. In the corner at the other short side was a cage with iron bars. In the iron cage two shapes were lying on the naked floor but the man hardly condescended to give them a look. He walked towards the short end of the table with determination and sat down in his chair, close to the fire. With disgust he looked down at the man and woman laying close to him.

“Welcome, Fear,” a smoothly build man with fair hair and beard said. His voice trembled lightly, although it was hard to tell if it was out of fear or badly hidden excitement. Fear looked at the man. They could not be more unlike. Fear was tall and his long black hair together with his pale white skin gave a striking impression. The black coat was of a simple cut but decorated with white embroidered roses that covered his sleeves and arms. Fear was simply put a neat person. That one could hardly say about Violence. His white, laced shirt was covered with dry blood and his fingernails were broken. Violence could have been beautiful should it not that have been for the scar next to his right eyebrow. It made him look like a predator. Fear chuckled at the thought. His brother was a predator. The thing that most people found disturbing though, were his eyes. They had a brown deep color and seemed to burn with eagerness.

“I am hardly welcome,” Fear said with a sharp voice. The other six persons looked at him. They could not choose to do otherwise.

“What is the meaning of this, Violence?”, Fear said and pointed at the bodies laying next to him on the ground. “Could you not have taken care of Affection and Friendship in a more…pleasant manner?”

Affection’s brown hair was tangled in dry blood. Her dress was tossed in a corner and she had marks after beatings and whips. A rope was wrapped around her neck and her nails were laid in a small pile next to her ear. A thin trickle of blood ran from between her legs. Friendship lay on the ground with one arm bent in a strange angle and his hair was bloody. His right hand and left foot were crushed and the torn shirt uncovered a multitude of deep cuts. Friendship’s brown trousers were pulled down to his feet and his legs bore witness to even more strikes and blows. Fear looked at Violence again.

“And could you not have taken them with violence in your own chambers?” Violence’s eyes flashed with anger. He fastened his eyes on his brother.

“It is more amusing if you have an audience,” he said and looked hastily towards one corner of the room. Fear did not say a word. He only looked at his brother. At last Violence lowered his eyes and punched his fists hard in the table with a roar. His fists bleed, he breathed heavy and with a thump he sat down in his chair. He crossed his arms with an almost sullen expression and stared hard straight ahead.

“How are our beloved humans? Are we making any progress?” Fear said in a soft voice. A man with short brown hair and green eyes rose by the table. His blue coat was made of the finest silk and silver embroiders. Around his neck he had a laced scarf and a variety of rings with different colors and stones glistened on his fingers. As an earring he had big pearl. Now he began to fiddle with it as he paced back and forth in the room. A young woman with blazing red hair and a green dress that clung to her body and revealed every curve and line said:

“ You do not have to pace back and forth like a dandy. We have already seen your beautiful trousers and your shining knee-high boots in black leather.” Arrogance turned and glared at Envy. He straightened himself and touched one of his rings, a blue and red stone.

“We are making excellent progress, Fear. All the leaders of the world are paralyzed. Their people murder, rape, plunder and kill, despite that, their leaders stubbornly deny their own participation in the war. Three of the leaders had the possibility to end the war but their own pride forced them to kneel.” Arrogance smiled. “Seven other leaders expect that everyone else should put down their weapons before they do, before they make any new moves.”  He shrugged his shoulders. “For the common man I am also a gift. People refuse to beg their governments for aid, they think they can handle everything by themselves. As if the poor creatures could manage on their own, with all that pride they harbor in their hearts. There is a shortage of water in the most northern parts of the land but people refuse to take the aid the southern region can provide.” His voice was full of scorn.

“That is enough,” Fear said. Envy rose and smoothed her dress so carefully over her bosom that nobody could help but to stare at her. She took out a comb from a pocket and started to comb her red fiery hair. She glanced at Fear’s dark hair and stopped combing her own. Her eyes radiated with anger.

“As if you have done everything by yourself”, she said with disdain and looked at Arrogance. He ignored her and seemed to take much more interest in the ring of blue stone on his right hand. Envy’s eyes narrowed but she looked at Fear and remained silent. She looked down on her own dress, which was made of silk. She looked again at Fear. His coat had embroiders. She wanted embroiders!

“Besides, I have always thought that lace looks foolish on men.” Arrogance rose and tightened his fists.

“Foolish…” he hissed. Fear slammed his hand on the table. “Enough! Envy, you can begin any time soon.” Arrogance closed his mouth and sat down. Envy had become pale and she looked ready to vomit.

“I also have good news”, she said calmly and tried to compose herself. She looked again at Fear. His hair shone like black silk and his features was divinely beautiful. The thoughts made her angry again.

“The plundering is escalating. Men who foredoom called each other friend are now enemies. People kill for a cup, potato, a bag or something else equally trivial.” Her eyes shone. “Best friends kill each other over men, and men flee to the enemy for promises of something better.” A hard laughter escaped her lips. “The other day I saw a girl stab the knife in a boy because he had a much more nicer bucket then she did.”

Fear thoughtfully placed his fingers under his chin.

“What does your sister have to say?” Envy seated herself again and a slender woman with black curly hair stood up.

“I and my sister have always worked together. As you all know people are constantly engaged in having more. Due to the fact that they worship everything they can consume, my work has been so much easier.” She clasped her hands together and smiled towards her sister. “Man will do anything to get more. I have given them the need. It is I who have harvested all the forests, polluted the oceans, killed all living animals and drained the lakes of fish. It is I who kidnap children and turn them to slaves. I have created riots by forcing people to work like dogs. I make man ignore mother Earth’s cry for help, all of this because man always want more.”

Violence stood up.

“You?!”, he spat. “Ha! I have mutilated, murdered and raped. I have tortured, tormented and threatened for eons! What have you accomplished? You are hardly capable of doing half the things I have done.” Greed looked serenely at Violence.

“To leave all in blood and destruction, that even a child is capable of.” Violence’s eyes blazed and he run his fingers through his fair hair. Moments later he had thrown himself across the table and his hands were around Greed’s throat.

“I will torture you for centuries, you slut!” Greed kicked and clawed but the pressure on her throat kept increasing. Fear rose from the table and calmly walked over to Violence and Greed’s side. He put his arm on Violence.

“That is enough, brother.” Violence let go and his face turned pale. His whole body began to tremble and he bit the inside of his cheek to prevent his teeth from rattling so hard. Greed touched her sore throat and her chest went up and down as she frantically tried to force fresh air down her lungs. Fear walked back to his chair and seated himself.

“Now, if we can control ourselves. It would be ironic if we killed each other, do you not think?” Nobody said anything.

“Betrayal, be kind and proceed. Try to restrain yourself.” A man in a gray coat and trousers rose.

“I have succeeded beyond my own expectations. Thanks to Greed, Envy and Arrogance the people were highly susceptible for my words. Mankind’s heart is soaked with fear. Due to Trust’s death a month ago people betray the promises that could have saved them. People look down on the ones they love and betray the ones they care about for anything they think might save them. None dares to trust anymore and betrayal has become as natural as breathing.  Chaos is growing in the world.”

“Very good, Betrayal.” Everyone turned to face the last man who was supposed to speak. He was tied up to his chair with thick ropes. His long brown hair was dirty and his attempts to free himself had made his nails bloody.

“Release me!” he shouted. Then he began to sob. “You will all pay for this! You will pay.” Fear sighed, buttoned his coat and rose. He approached the tied-up man and slapped him hard.

“That is enough, Insanity. Do you even remember any of your progress?” Insanity looked at Fear and spat at him. Fear punched him in the stomach. Of all his brothers and sisters Insanity was the only one he could not control. He had never been able to control him.

“I am the greatest. I killed Affection, chopped her to tiny, tiny pieces. I wanted to kill her again, but you said no! No! These cursed voices! Do you not see who is leading you?!“ The others watched him in silence.

“You are following him!” Insanity screamed and violently trashed his head back and forth. “You are all insane. Why am I the only sane person here?” Insanity collapsed in his chair and bit his own shoulder. “Why have you tied me down? I want to be free!” He screamed. Fear turned his back to Insanity, swiped away the saliva from his coat and crossed his hands behind his back.

“ I doubt that we will get anything more useful from him for a while”, Fear said dryly. ”I trust that he has done what he is supposed to do.”

Fear walked up to the hearth and watched as the fire burned. In the corner a small boy hanged shackled by his wrists. His feet dangled above the floor.

“And how are we feeling today, Insight?” The boy slowly raised his head and looked into Fear’s eyes. He was quiet. The right corner of his mouth was bloody and his right eye was swollen. Next to Insight on the floor Care was laying. His hands and feet were bound and chained and a rag was pressed inside his mouth. Traces of now dried tears where present on his dirty face. Care was among the ones who had fought hardest, not for his own sake, but for the sake of his siblings. He had indeed been difficult. Fear had forced Care to look as Violence took care of Friendship and Affection. After that Care was docile as a lamb. Fear kneeled and wiped away a tear from Care’s eyes. Care cringed and then moved away from Fear, so much as the chains allowed. Fear smiled and let the small rebellion pass. He could despite that little act, feel the fear oozing out of every single poor of Care’s body. It made him sigh with pleasure.

Fear continued to walk alongside the wall until the iron-cage was in front of him. A beautiful man held a girl in his lap and rocked her back and forth. Now and then he kissed her on the check and told her that everything was going to be alright. The girl in his lap squeezed his hand. As Fear approached the man looked up. His brown eyes shone of defiance and a certainty. Fear’s jaws tightened. He had not been able to crush Happiness spirit. Insanity, Envy and Violence had tried for three months, but still Happiness was alive, and with him the cursed girl Love. Each time they were left tormented and wounded close to death’s brink, and each time their wounds closed and they appeared to be fine again. The girl scared him. The thought made him grimace. None should be able to scare him. The girl tried to get close to him, poison him with her words. He had thought that Friendship´s and Affection’s death should have affected them in some way, and sure, Bliss had been inconsolable for hours. At last Love had whispered something in his ear and now he sat there and smiled at Fear. It was not a smirk, only a smile of pure happiness. Sometimes Fear wondered if Insanity had not affected Bliss after all, the man must be completely mad to sit there and smile. That, or maybe he was just plain foolish.

“Do you not want to join us, Fear?” Bliss said in a low-voiced tone. “I understand what you are doing. Love and I know. We can help you.” Fear run his fingers through his hair and thoughtfully looked at Love. Most of the time these two spoke in riddles. Violence had risen to stand by his brother’s side.

“Give her to me,” he said in a hard voice. “I shall crush her, this time I will succeed.” He reached through the bars and griped the girl’s arm. She whimpered. Bliss was immediately there and hugged her. Fear took a step back. He could feel the bliss and hateful love threatening to touch his very essence.

“I will kill the damned girl!” Violence hissed. “Give me another chance, brother.” He had taken out a knife and held it in a firm grip. Fear glanced at the knife.

“Let her go Violence. You know there is no use.” Violence let go of Love’s arm. His jaws were tense and his eyes flashed. Violence was furious. He charged up to Care and kicked him hard in the stomach. Agile he turned around, clenched his fist and punched Insight. The boy shrieked and started to cry.

“It is enough Violence!” Violence turned around.  Blood had spattered on his fair beard and his teeth were bared in rage.

“What do you want from me, Fear? This is in my nature!” He turned and kicked Care again. Care bend over and groaned.

“Do you want to kill Care and Insight before we can crush Bliss and Love?” Violence scratched his beard. “No,” he said with a bitter voice.

Arrogance raised his voice. “Have you all forgotten about Hope? Nobody has interrogated her in a long time.” He turned and looked in a corner where a little girl sat. Her white hair was down to her waist. She locked up when Arrogance spoke her name. Her eyes were blue and deep, filled with patience. Envy rose and headed towards the fire.

“I do not think she is a threat.” Arrogance laughed.

“Do not start again Envy. Everyone in this room knows why you hate Hope. She may not be as beautiful as Fear but her beauty is far greater than yours.” Envy turned to face Arrogance. “You are wrong!”

“Envy.” She turned to face Fear. Her cheeks were red of anger. She went back to the table, pulled out a chair and seated herself. It was no use to quarrel with Fear. Her brother always won.

Violence had a new target in mind and headed towards Hope. He turned to his oldest brother. “Let me try. Greed, Betrayal, even Insanity has been allowed to try. Why can I not be allowed to do so also?” He hated to beg Fear for permission, but after all, his brother was the highest of them. Hope looked at Violence. There was no trace of fear in her. Fear shook his head.

“I gave you Affection and Friendship. You loose…control of yourself after a while, dear brother.”

“I do not!” Violence hissed.

“Let us get back to our agenda, I will deal with Hope later,“ Fear said sharply. “She is only sex years of age, and is unlikely to pose a threat. It is Love and Bliss we should concentrate on.” The men and women gathered again around the table. Soon Hope, Care, Insight and the others were forgotten. Instead they discussed how to further subdue mankind. Fear relaxed and let his thoughts on Love and Bliss go. Sooner or later they would die, and victory would finally be his. He smiled at the thought.

Hope sat in her corner and watched the figures go about around the table. Violence had looked at her angrily in the beginning but now he was so busy that he ignored her. She smiled. Sooner or later they all managed to ignore her. She was only a girl of six years, someone unworthy of attention. This was not the first time they had their meetings. She was used to them. In the corner Care sat on the floor and breathed heavily.  The gag made it harder for him. She crawled on all four until she was by his side. A tiny hand caressed his head and he opened his eyes. She could see that he smiled because his eyes sparkled. She touched his badly wounded wrists and brought him relief. Her white hair fell over him like a curtain and she kissed him.

“It is soon time, Care. Still hope lives in mankind’s heart. Fear has not been able to kill it, nor me.”

Hope could still remember the day Fear had entered her domain, like a wonderful demon, and captured her, for what felt like ages ago. Shortly thereafter Love and Bliss had been caught, all because of Fear. He was indeed powerful. Hope realized that Fear was afraid of Love, even if the others were blind. She crawled up to Insight and touched his leg.

“Poor you,” she whispered. “The world still needs you, brother.”  The boy moved and grimaced. With a coarse voice he whispered: “Thank you.”

Hope got to her feet and walked around the table. Fear was holding one of his speeches that were supposed to…inspire his siblings. Hope looked at Bliss and Love and gave them an encouraging smile.

Friendship and Affection where laying in a mess on the floor. She had cried when Violence had dragged the bodies in to the room. She crawled to Friendship. He still breathed, although barely. She put her hand on his chest, which still moved faintly. She crawled back to her corner. The only one who made her uneasy was Violence. He knew a part of her secret, but still the whole truth was not obvious to him. That was going to help her. Besides, Fear ruled with an iron fist, and Violence did not dare touch her as long as he was around. Friendship was now an empty shell. She could feel his essence inside her. Love had also died and was with her. Hope locked at the cage and saw Bliss rock Love’s limp body. He calmly locked at her. He understood. Soon it was time.

The room had been emptied and Hope was alone with the others. She leaned her forehead against her knees and breathed deeply. Despite Fear and all his sibling´s efforts they had not been able to control her. During the night Insight had passed away. Bliss was curled up against Love’s back and he had his arms protective around her. Hope knew that he was not breathing anymore. It was only Hope and Care left. Hope had intended several times to cut loose Care’s chains but she knew that he would not come far without her. And she had still been too weak at the time. Care lifted his head and glanced at the heave oak door. He waited for somebody to enter. And someone did enter.

The oak door opened and Violence entered. He locked the door and glimpsed at the cage. He smiled contently when he realized that they were dead. He still wore his bloody shirt but his hair and beard were clean. His heels echoed against the floor when he slowly approached Care but it was towards Hope he was talking.

“My brothers and sisters think it is hopeless.” His teeth flashed, and he laughed at his own joke.

“But still we have not get ridden of you.” He pointed at Hope. “You are a tough damned piece of meat, despite being so young.” Violence stood over Care and his eyes burned with excitement.

“I hate when Fear keeps my nature leashed.” He kicked and Care’s stomach received his foot. He breathed out hard through his nose. Violence left him and kneeled beside Hope. He held her chin in his hand.

“Do not worry. You are far more beautiful than Envy.” He tightened his fist and punched her in the stomach. Hope groaned and coughed violently. Violence got up and stretched his neck. He paced back and forth in the room, silent for a while.

“ Do you know Hope, how easy it is to crack a man? It is so easy to spread fear into a man’s heart. As soon as fear grows in their hearts and souls they embrace me. I have beaten and tormented countless people.” He stopped.

“In a weird sense, it is no fun anymore. Man surrenders to violence to quickly, they embrace me all to fast. Perhaps that has something to do with me killing the infant Mercy. That was all too easy. What has happened to man? In the old days they fought like animals. I love the struggle, the anxiety, the rawness!” He smiled at her.

“That is why I am going to make you suffer until you beg for death. I will kill all your siblings.” Violence advanced to Care and grabbed him by the hair. A knife appeared in his right hand. The edge of the knife caressed Care’s throat. Care breathed heavily.

“Are you afraid, Care?” Violence whispered. “Does my brother evoke fear in you?” He turned his face towards Hope.

“What about you, my love?” His eyes flashed. Hope thought that his eyes could have been beautiful, if they were not so filled up with hate.

“Are you afraid of me?” Hope looked into Violence’s eyes.

“No,” she said. Violence’s face was twisted by rage and the knife pierced through Care’s throat.

Hope closed her eyes. Warmth engulfed her.  She could feel a presence. All her beloved siblings were there within her. Strongest was Love and Bliss, but Peace, Friendship, Affection, Mercy and the last among her brothers, Care were also there. She smiled and opened her eyes. Violence kneeled beside her and looked her in the face. His eyes were ablaze with wrath. Hope looked at his beard. One hair-strand was white. It looked funny. Hope took Violence’s head in her hands and whispered to him:

“You should have killed me first. I may be the youngest, but now I am the strongest. Thank you.” Violence suddenly looked uncertain and confused.

Time stood still.

Before Violence’s burning eyes Hope vanished.

Hope was born again into the world and took her place in every heart and soul to save humanity from Fear’s hold. Through her man gained hope again. Hope gave birth to Love, Care, Friendship, Insight and all other emotions that were siblings to Hope. And slowly but with certainty Fear, Violence, Arrogance, Greed, Betrayal and Insanity diminished until only a memory of a memory of them lived in man.