Broken Soul

“I can’t believe I did this,” Evan said, looking down at Katie’s body with fear. He couldn’t come to terms with the horrible act that he had done. Actually he could barely remember committing it.

“What the hell does that mean?!” she shouted, in a frantic state. Her heart was pounding faster than it ever had before in all of her life. She had no idea of what to do now. “Clearly, you did! You killed this poor girl! What the hell were you thinking?!”

“I don’t remember doing this, Dannie, honestly I don’t,” Evan told her, his eyes full of worry now instead of evil.

Both of them froze when the sound of the front door opening and footsteps running inside invaded the bus. Evan had no time to hide anything now. His band mates hurried inside and saw Katie lying on the floor. Their faces turned to shock.

Bryan pointed at Katie’s corpse and asked, “Was she the one we heard screaming?!”

“What the fuck? Did you kill her?!” Caden exclaimed as he stared at the dead body on the floor just feet away from where he was standing.

“I didn’t mean to,” he told them.

“That doesn’t exactly justify this,” Bryan remarked. It was clear he was fearful for himself and the rest of the band.

“Get rid of her, Evan!” Dannie ordered nervously. “Before someone else sees her!”

Evan had no idea of what to do with her. He just stared at her and tried to think of how to dispose of her body.

“Yeah, someone might come looking for her,” Caden declared, his terrified eyes still glued onto Katie.

Dannie glanced at Caden and said, “Go lock the front door before someone else comes in.” He didn’t argue and did so.

“Dannie, I don’t think that’s going to do anything,” Bryan said. “I think it’s time for him to take that corpse and leave.”

“What?!” Dannie exclaimed in outrage. “You mean leave the band? You can’t do that!”

“Well what do you want us to do?” he asked her. “He killed a fan!”

“He didn’t mean to!” she defended. “He just doesn’t know how to control himself anymore, we have to help him, we can’t just turn our backs on him!”

“What do you think will happen when he can’t control himself around us anymore?” he asked as everybody kept watching quietly. “He might kill us next!”

“He wouldn’t do that!” Dannie told him. Even though she was scared to death she knew Evan would never hurt them. She trusted him with all of her heart.

“How do you know that?” Bryan asked her. He didn’t even care that Evan was still there, watching and listening to every single word.

“Because he’s our friend!” she reminded him.

Bryan pointed at Evan and said, “That is not our friend anymore! He is a monster.”

“No he’s not!” she argued.

Bryan did not feel like debating with her all night long. But he just wanted the murderous vampire off of the bus before something else happened. He looked at Evan once again and said, “Get out and take the dead body with you. We’re leaving without you.”

Dannie became hysterical again. “No! You can’t do that! We can’t abandon him, not like this!” She looked over at Evan and saw that he was going to lift Katie’s body and leave like Bryan had ordered him to. Her heart was racing and tears were forming in her eyes. She felt like a part of her was dying. She felt more afraid of losing him than being killed by him because she knew it wouldn’t happen. “Bryan, please…” she begged desperately as a sole tear ran down her cheek. He wasn’t listening though. This decision was made.

Dannie couldn’t believe that she was the only one who wanted Evan to stay. She single-handedly stood up for him while Caden did nothing. All of them were afraid and just wanted him gone out of fear. It was a hard decision for them but they knew they had to protect their lives as well as their fans’. They just didn’t trust him anymore. Once again, Dannie was outraged. “Come on, guys!” she exclaimed. “We promised to help him!”

Evan had wrapped Katie in a blanket and he was on his way out with her in his arms. He didn’t even try to argue with them. Of course he didn’t want to leave but he knew it would be safer for them and everyone if he did. He felt guilty about what he did and refused to drag them into it and make them pay for his mistake.

Dannie continued protesting. “No, Evan, don’t leave!” He heard her and stopped to look back at her.

“He has to,” Bryan declared.

“No, he doesn’t!” she disagreed. “We can’t just throw him out on the street! What if something happens to him?”

“I’m sorry, but he can’t stay here with us,” he told her. “Do you know how bad it’s going to look when they start to investigate that girl’s disappearance? People saw her at our show! And what if he kills more fans? It would be over if we got caught. He has to go.”

“Oh, and it won’t look suspicious when they notice that he’s gone after she disappeared?” she pointed out. “They’ll be after him!”

“Well, what would you rather do?” he said impatiently. “Go to jail, hide away for the rest of our lives, go on without him, or wind up dead? Because those seem to be our only options now.”

Dannie didn’t even have to think about it. “Hide away with him,” she admitted. “I’d rather die than abandon one of my friends like this. He still needs us.”

“Sorry, Dannie,” Bryan apologized. “We can’t. We have to keep working.”

“Well who’s going to take his place on the tour?” she asked. “We can’t find anyone on such short notice! He has to stay!”

“We’ll manage,” was all he replied with.

While Dannie tried reasoning with Bryan, Evan decided to just leave like they wanted him to. She noticed he was about to exit the bus and shouted, “No, Evan, wait!” He was already outside, hurrying away into the darkness. The other guys tried stopping her but she went after him. She was greeted by pouring, cold rain that had just begun falling from the black night sky. Her eyes squinted as sharp, icy rain droplets fell into them. She searched for him and spotted him at the edge of the parking lot. Dannie ran as fast as she could over the slick concrete and shouted, “Evan, wait! Don’t go!”

When he heard her, he looked back and saw how drenched and upset she was. He couldn’t just walk away without at least talking to her. Quickly, he hid Katie behind some bushes and then approached Dannie. Tears fell with the rain down her cheeks as she shivered from the cold. “Please don’t leave,” she begged, hoping maybe something could be worked out. “I don’t want you to go…”

“I have to,” he said sadly. “Bryan’s right. I can’t let you guys take the fall for something that I did. I already messed up enough.”

“Fine, if you’re leaving, then I’m going with you,” she insisted.

“No,” he opposed.

“Why not?” she asked. “All of this is my fault! None of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for me!”

“That doesn’t matter anymore,” he told her.

“Yes it does,” she said as she tried to stop crying. “I don’t want to leave without you…You’re one of my best friends… I love you…”

He stood there and gazed at her silently for a moment while what was left of his heart started tearing to pieces inside of him. He took a few steps forward and wrapped his arms around her. She embraced his hug and rested her head on him while she sobbed softly. “I love you, too, you know that,” he said gently before leaning his cheek against her forehead. She closed her eyes as she dreaded the moment he would depart. “That’s why I have to leave you. I can’t let anything else happen to you. ”

“I’m not afraid,” she confessed. “I know you would never hurt me.”

“As long as I could control myself, I wouldn’t,” he assured her. “But there’s this…evil or something inside me and I don’t want to be around you if it takes over me again.”

“Where are you going to go?” she asked him curiously.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.”

“I can’t promise that,” she said, still holding onto him tightly in her arms.

“I should get going now,” he told her, even though he didn’t want to. Departing hurt him as much as it hurt her. He felt alive when he was in her presence; he didn’t know why. Whenever he was near her, he didn’t feel so hostile or vulnerable. And now that he had to leave, he wasn’t sure what would happen or what he would become.

Dannie didn’t want to let him go but she knew she had no choice. She pulled him closer one last time and said, “Promise me you’ll come back. Promise…”

Evan wasn’t sure if he could keep it, but he replied, “I promise.” When she let go, he turned to leave but was stopped when she held onto his hand, forcing him to face her once again. They both shared a sad, heartfelt gaze as the rain crashed down all around them. For a minute, it seemed like they were the only two people in the world. Neither of them even thought about anything else at the moment. She was terrified and worried she would never see him again. And he was scared that something would happen to her and he wouldn’t be able to protect her. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her more brokenhearted than she was as he slipped his hand away from hers and walked off into the rain. She watched as he disappeared out of her sight.