Love Like Cyanide
Don't Deny What's Been Done
I was on a veranda again. In the distance, I could see the sun setting, setting the horizon on fire with vibrant reds, oranges, and pinks. The scene looked like a painting of Derrik's. I breathed in deeply - expecting the crisp taste of oak and the cool wind - then choked because the air burned like acid and smelled of sulfur.
I doubled over, wheezing and gasping. Spots dotted my vision, but looking at the ground I could see feet. Not just my own pair of feet, but another facing me. I angled my head up and caught sight of a girl.
It was that girl. I recognized her immediately. The ink black hair, chalky white skin, blank yet fearful expression. But then I looked closer at her. The right side of her face was completely scraped off. I could see her tongue and teeth in her mouth, and the bit of the jaw bone that was left.
She opened her mouth and a snake came slithering out like it was her tongue. "I tooold yooou," the python hissed. Without premonition it sprung forward towards my face.
I screamed and fell backwards, pulling the girl with me and her serpent tongue tried eating my face off. I felt a cool pressure in my left hand. I wrapped my fingers around it gingerly and realized what it was.
A gun.
I gripped it tightly and aimed for the snake. My hand was shaking so bad I could hardly hold it. Count to three, I told myself, and on three exhale and pull the trigger.
One... The snake forced my lips open. Two... It wrestled with my own tongue and started making its way down my esophagus. The girl's eyes were pitch black; they glared into my soul. Three... I pulled the trigger.
The girl shrieked and flew backwards. I sat up and coughed violently. When I could breath again I stood up and hesitantly approached the girl who was on her back completely immobile. I stood above her, but it wasn't the girl anymore. It was Derrik. He had a bullet hole in the center of his forehead where I had shot him.
I killed him.
My eyes flew open with a start. I felt myself in someone's grasp. Mark was holding me against him on the couch, rocking me back and forth. I heard him mumbling, "It's all right, it's going to be all right."
"Mark," I said, my voice a bit husky.
He stopped immediately and backed up to look at me. "Are you okay?" he asked with deep worry in his voice.
"I'm...fine." I placed a hand to my head, trying to douse the pounding in it.
"It looked as if you were having some sort of seizure," he explained, putting a hand on my thigh. "You were shaking and foaming at the mouth. I-I didn't know what was happening. I thought I was going to lose you." His voice broke on the last part.
"Mark, I have something to tell you."
"What is it, Cy?"
I took a deep breath and let it out, preparing to tell him the story. "I came here because, well, I ran away."
He nodded. "I gathered as much."
"But you don't know why. I...Derrik came home after being with his friends. He was...drunk. H-He attacked me." I swallowed. "I didn't know what to do. I was panicking. So I shot him with a gun I found."
Mark gasped and I looked up at him. "I didn't kill him. Before I left I called 911."
"Cyanide..."
"Come on," I said, getting up and walking towards the door.
"Where are we going?" he asked, fleeting to my side.
"To the hospital," I answered.
I doubled over, wheezing and gasping. Spots dotted my vision, but looking at the ground I could see feet. Not just my own pair of feet, but another facing me. I angled my head up and caught sight of a girl.
It was that girl. I recognized her immediately. The ink black hair, chalky white skin, blank yet fearful expression. But then I looked closer at her. The right side of her face was completely scraped off. I could see her tongue and teeth in her mouth, and the bit of the jaw bone that was left.
She opened her mouth and a snake came slithering out like it was her tongue. "I tooold yooou," the python hissed. Without premonition it sprung forward towards my face.
I screamed and fell backwards, pulling the girl with me and her serpent tongue tried eating my face off. I felt a cool pressure in my left hand. I wrapped my fingers around it gingerly and realized what it was.
A gun.
I gripped it tightly and aimed for the snake. My hand was shaking so bad I could hardly hold it. Count to three, I told myself, and on three exhale and pull the trigger.
One... The snake forced my lips open. Two... It wrestled with my own tongue and started making its way down my esophagus. The girl's eyes were pitch black; they glared into my soul. Three... I pulled the trigger.
The girl shrieked and flew backwards. I sat up and coughed violently. When I could breath again I stood up and hesitantly approached the girl who was on her back completely immobile. I stood above her, but it wasn't the girl anymore. It was Derrik. He had a bullet hole in the center of his forehead where I had shot him.
I killed him.
My eyes flew open with a start. I felt myself in someone's grasp. Mark was holding me against him on the couch, rocking me back and forth. I heard him mumbling, "It's all right, it's going to be all right."
"Mark," I said, my voice a bit husky.
He stopped immediately and backed up to look at me. "Are you okay?" he asked with deep worry in his voice.
"I'm...fine." I placed a hand to my head, trying to douse the pounding in it.
"It looked as if you were having some sort of seizure," he explained, putting a hand on my thigh. "You were shaking and foaming at the mouth. I-I didn't know what was happening. I thought I was going to lose you." His voice broke on the last part.
"Mark, I have something to tell you."
"What is it, Cy?"
I took a deep breath and let it out, preparing to tell him the story. "I came here because, well, I ran away."
He nodded. "I gathered as much."
"But you don't know why. I...Derrik came home after being with his friends. He was...drunk. H-He attacked me." I swallowed. "I didn't know what to do. I was panicking. So I shot him with a gun I found."
Mark gasped and I looked up at him. "I didn't kill him. Before I left I called 911."
"Cyanide..."
"Come on," I said, getting up and walking towards the door.
"Where are we going?" he asked, fleeting to my side.
"To the hospital," I answered.
♠ ♠ ♠
Yay for three day weekend. And yay for posting this chapter finally.Comment, eh?