Chapter 1: Thou shall not kill thyself

A Chapter by lucci

Resurrex

Chapter 1

Thou shall not kill thyself

Somewhere in time, in a far away land called Manila, there lived a young girl name Lila

who fell in love with a boy named Al. They were the best of friends for the first two years of college, got drunk one night, kissed, and realized that they were soulmates.

For the first time, Lila saw Al beyond his dark-rimmed glasses and Al realized how Lila’s eyes were not black, but brown. Even if Al was 9 inches taller than her, they seemed to be of the same height whenever they kissed and made love. They never felt any inconvenience even if Lila’s long black hair occasionally went into Al’s mouth when they got wild in bed. And even if Lila’s arms found it hard to embrace Al’s big built, he just felt like a huge teddy bear to her.

They fell in love and they were in bliss during their senior year. But unfortunately, Al fell out of it after learning that Lila dated another guy. And because of this mistake, Lila wanted to kill herself.

“This is it. Goodbye world!”

Lila said those lines two times as she attempted to take her life, but fortunately, circumstances played a role for her not to die at the age of 19.

But who could blame her? Suicide was the fad during this time. There was at least one teenager dying every day because of love. Television was infested with romantic drama series which were shown from morning till night"may it be produced in the Philippines or in other Asian countries.

Even noontime shows got melodramatic. First, they make someone cry as he tells about his struggles in life with a dramatic background music, then they ask him to dance or sing while still in tears, then finally, they let him take his chance in a contest.

And the songs! Oh the songs! Though songs have been singing about love martyrs for so many decades, the vulnerable teens now absorb its lyrics until they burst out crying. They know they needed to be in love and they deserve to find their true destiny.

Everyone got addicted to love, thus, got addicted to death when love runs out.

As for our protagonist, her two suicide attempts went like this:

SUICIDE ATTEMPT NO.1: Murder me please

Lila was searching through Google on how she could kill herself. Like most people who wish to commit suicide, they want to do it but are usually afraid to hurt themselves. when they hold a knife against their chest or stand on the edge a rooftop to jump, there’s usually that hesitation to take the plunge.

While searching, she found this very interesting company website:

Goodbye Suicide Assistance, Inc.

We Live. You Die. Goodbye.

Services of Goodbye Suicide Assistance, Inc. included Deliberate Murder, Hypnotism Until You Get Crazy, Car Accident Which Looks Real, and The Pusher (Push you off a building with deliberate force). They also hold seminars on how to effectively slash your wrist.

Products include drugs for overdose, hanging rope, knife, and guns for rent.

Upon browsing the company’s services, she bought the Deliberate Murder service and met with her murderer.

“So how would you kill me?” Lila asked.

“We have a lot of options but I can simply stay outside your school and shoot you while walking through a dark alley. I have a silencer, to prohibit the fast response of the police and give you time to die effectively,” the murderer responded.

“But why does it cost so much?”

“Are you kidding me? This places me in risk of a life sentence! Besides, you don’t need to worry about money once you are dead.”

“You have a point there. Okay, tomorrow then. I’ll leave school late and pass through that abandoned garden in Intramuros.”

That supposedly fateful night came. The murderer was disguised as a janitor while waiting for her to come out of school.

“This is it. Goodbye world!” Lila whispered to herself.

However, they underestimated the police. One of the policemen apparently had his eyes on Lila and he made sure that she got home safe every night. He’s not so handsome but he had a nice built and a perfectly tanned body. But please don’t think that this policeman would play a significant role in this love story because he won’t. His appearance would end in this chapter.

“Lila, duck!” the policeman shouted. And because of reflex, Lila ducked and missed the bullet fired by the hired murderer.

The next scenes were like those from action flicks where the policeman eventually wins and places handcuffs on the murderer while calling his comrades.

“I hate you! You ruined my plan!” Lila screamed as she hit the policeman.

“I saved your life! Isn’t there a ‘thank you?’” the policeman responded in shock.

“I hired him to kill me! And how did you know my name? Who are you?” Lila asked.

But I would not continue writing about this conversation. Because as I said earlier, this policeman is insignificant to the story.

SUICIDE ATTEMPT No. 2: The Combo package

Lila was furious as she stormed into the secret office of Goodbye Suicide Assistance, Inc.

“I need a refund. Your employee was inefficient,” Lila screamed at the manager.

“Why do you say that ma’am?” he asked.

“Is everybody here an idiot? Can’t you see that I am still alive?”

“Well according to the terms and conditions that you signed, we do not do refunds because you are supposed to die. But you can choose another product or service that can aid you in your suicide. Because here in Goodbye Suicide Assistance Inc, we value our customers’ death,” the manager said with a smile.

“Okay, then. I’ll get a combo package this time"this Hanging Rope + The Pusher. So if I can’t get the hanging correct, someone would just storm in and push me off the building right?” Lila asked.

“Precisely! And as I see on your profile, you live on the 26^th floor of a building right? This is a perfect place for The Pusher. Just leave the door unlocked and you’re good to go,” the manager said as he flashed his big white teeth.

So Lila got the paper bag and left the office feeling happy and secured about the end of her life.

It wasn’t difficult to set up the hanging rope as the instructions were very easy.

Step 1: Stick the hook with adhesive strip on the ceiling and secure its place

Step 2: Insert the rope eyelets on the hook (choose which eyelet according to height.)

Step 3: Climb a table or chair, place your head into the rope ring, and hang yourself.

According to the booklet, the knots were the same ones that they used in hanging witches during ancient times. This must be very effective.

Lila played their song"U2’s With or Without You"on loop before she did step 3. She opened the box containing all her memories with Al and reminisced how much fun they had and how much sadness there is to life now that he is gone.

“Goodbye Al. Please don’t worry about me. Everyone dies, you know that. I just have to rush mine so you may fully understand how much I love you. After all, I don’t want to waste my life by living it without you,” Lila said as she looked at their picture.

She placed her suicide note addressed to her parents on the table which says how sorry she was. As their only child, Lila knew how depressed they could get.

So she went nearer the chair, climbed it, and gently placed her head inside the rope ring.

“This is it. Goodbye World,” she said.

And right before she jumped off the chair, the door burst open with her mom and dad in big smiles which turned to faces of horror. The birthday cake that her mother held in her hand fell on the floor as they rushed towards her.

“Lila! Lila! What are you doing to yourself?” her mother asked as they brought them down from the chair.

“I have decided to end my life mom and even if you can stop me tonight, it will happen sooner or later.”

“Is this because of that unforgiving brat? I will kill him first myself!” her father said.

“Please don’t do that dad! Al never knew this would happen and I do not want to be a bother to him. Please leave him alone!”

“Lila, my dearest daughter, please let us help you. Please don’t do this, we love you so much.” Her mother begged as they hugged and cried together on the floor.

Then the door burst open again and a man in a black ninja suit appeared on the doorway.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my daughter’s house?”

“I am The Pusher! I need to push your daughter off the building because we do not do refunds,” he said in an arrogant tone.

Lila’s dad stood up quickly to get his hands dirty on The Pusher but Lila grabbed his left foot and he fell on the floor.

“Don’t hurt him dad. I hired him to kill me. It was a combo package,” Lila said in tears.

They didn’t ask her to explain why she did that sort of thing. They just laid her in bed and stayed up all night as Lila slept.

And in the morning, Lila found a folder on her bedside. It was labeled:

Resurrex, Inc.

Case # 5

Lila Anne R. Mendez

“What is this dad?” Lila asked her dad who was sitting on her bedroom couch, watching her.

“We’re gonna bring Al back,” he responded.