Already Dead Inside

“I think you should stay home today, Mikes. You don't need to go today.” He stepped around me and headed towards the kitchen. “Yes I do Gee. I have to... speak with Mr. Moore.”

He opened the door but I put my hand on it and shut it before he had a chance to leave. I looked at him with pleading eyes. “Stay..here.” He shook his head and headed out the door. The door slammed so hard it made me jump.

I sighed and made my way over to the couch. Might as well watch some tv to pass the time. Spongebob? Eh, what the hell?

Just as the show went on commercial my phone began to ring. I looked at the caller ID and recognized Amy's number. “Hello?”

“Hey Gee!” I chuckled. “Hey Amy. What's up?”

“Not a damn thing.” We both laughed.

“I was wondering if you wanted some coffee?” I chuckled.“Hells yeah!” She laughed. “Good, cuz I'm at your door right now.” I shut my phone and jumped off the couch and ran to my door, and sure enough, Amy was standing there with coffee.

I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face. I unlocked the door and opened it to let her inside.

“It's about time.” She sat the coffee down on the counter and turned around. “You don't mind that I came over did you?” I lifted her chin and quickly pecked her lips. She blushed and looked down. “Does that answer your question?” She nodded, still looking down.

“You hungry?” She nodded again. “How 'bout I fix you something? Sandwich sound good?” She looked up and pecked me on the lips. “Does that answer your question?” She laughed as she mocked me.

I gestured to my couch. “Make yourself at home.” She sat down and began watching where I left off. I grabbed all the necessary ingredients to make a club sandwich. Now all I need is a knife. I pulled open the drawer with the knife in it, and about collapsed when I saw the empty space.

There was nothing in there. I checked in the dishwasher, nothing. I tried to think back to where I put it, when I remembered Mikey had gotten something out of the kitchen before he went to class.

“Shit!”

Amy's head snapped up. “Something wrong, Gee?” I braced myself on the counter and just shook my head. Of course she didn't believe me. She got off the couch and walked over to my side.

“Gee? What is it?” I just shook my head. She grabbed my hand and drug me to the couch. My knees gave in just as I reached the couch.

Amy brought her hands to either side of my face and forced me to look at her. “What is it?”

My eyes began to well up with tears. She brought me into a hug. “Just tell me Gee.” I sniffled, trying to contain a sob. “M-m-mikey..” She began to rub circles on my back.

“What about him?” I sniffled again. “You know that story about the kid who got murdered at Mikey's school?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“H-he did it.” Her hand stopped moving.

“He did wha'” I interrupted her. “And he killed R-ray and Fr-frankie too!.”

I couldn't control the sobs from escaping any longer. I nearly screamed at the images flashing through my mind of Ray and Frank's bodies on my kitchen floor. “Y-you have to tell someone Gee.”

I broke away from our embrace and shook my head. “No. No one but you can know.” She stood up and began to pace the floor. “Do you realize what you're saying Gee? Your brother belongs in jail. He's a murderer!”

I just sat there. “No he doesn't! Do you know what they would do to him?! He would get hurt, or worse, killed!” Tears were streaming down my face as I was screaming at her. She just shook her head and sat back down.

“Gee. Someone else has to know..” I shook my head and grabbed her hand. I looked her straight in the eyes. “Please? Don't.”

She sighed then slowly nodded. “Thank you.”

I pulled her in for a hug and squeezed as tight as I could. I kissed her lightly on the cheek before pulling away. After about another hour of me pretending to pay attention to the tv, Amy got a text message.

“Shit, I have to go.” She stood up and headed for the door. I quickly followed her. Before she left she turned gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “I promise.” I nodded then shut the door, but was stopped by Mikey's hand.

“Shit Mikes. You scared me.” He had a big grin across his face. “Sorry.” I froze when I noticed a faint stain on his black hoodie. I grabbed his arm and jerked him over to me. I pulled his hoodie up to reveal a bloodied mess underneath. He quickly smacked my hand away and pulled his hoodie back down.

“Mikey..” I was interrupted by Mikey slamming up against the door.

“What did you tell her Gee? Huh?” He had both of my arms pinned to the wall. I was going nowhere.

“N-nothing. I swear.” He laughed. “You're a horrible liar Gee.” I could do nothing but stare into his soulless eyes. He tilted his head a little and smiled. “You know, you should smile more Gee.”

He released one of my hands and reached into the pocket of his hoodie. My eyes widened as the missing kitchen knife came into view.

“N-no!” I struggled to get out of his grip but failed. “You wouldn't kill m-me.” He smiled and shook his head. “Of course not, Gee. I just want to see you smile.”

He then brought the cold steel to the edge of my lip. I couldn't control my scream as he slowly drug the knife up to my cheek bone. I felt the warm blood start to flow from my fresh wound. He brought the knife to the other corner of my mouth. He slowly started dragging again.

Before he could get too far, I smacked his hand away, hissing as the tip of the blade sliced the back of my hand. Mikey stumbled back and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Gee. I'm so..sorry.” His face contorted in sadness. I brought a shaky hand to my face. He didn't cut very deep, deep enough to make a scar though.

I pushed past Mikey and stumbled to the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror, I nearly screamed again at what I saw, a permanent red smile across my face.

I turned the faucet on and grabbed a wash cloth to clean my face off. After I finally stopped the bleeding I looked at myself once again.

The right side of my face was cut from the corner of my lips to the top of my cheek bone. The left was just cut a little from the corner of my mouth.

What am I going to do about him? I can't just turn him in. I love my brother too much to send him to his death.

I sighed and shut the light off before heading out to the sitting area. I froze at what I saw.

Mikey was sitting Indian-style on the floor, giggling. My eyes widened as he brought the now bloodied knife to his mouth and licked it clean.