Status: Critique greatly appreciated, nitpickers welcome! Don't be a silent reader!
The Key Chased the Blade
Hunted
I tore past all the gravestones until I couldn't see anyone anymore. There were a couple trees lining the outside of the cemetery and I collapsed at the roots of one. I cried there. It was only tearless sobbing.
My brother was dead.
I lost him.
This was real. This was all too real. The banshee had predicted his death and I still didn't save him. I couldn't have. In the back of my mind I had doubt of the freaking washing woman but now there was no doubt left. It was real. John was not coming back. He was going to be put into the ground in his casket with the bruises around his neck that the stupid mortician people covered up and no one knew who killed him. No one was taking this seriously. No one knew what was going on.
I needed to find the murderer.
I tried to stand up, but my limbs wouldn't support me. My arms and legs shook so bad I couldn't get farther than my hands and knees. Cold sweat beaded at my forehead. A scream formed in my throat, but I let that scream tear out because I just didn't care anymore. I screamed until my voice gave out on me.
"That's right. Just let it out," someone said.
I snapped my head up. It wasn't Simon. It wasn't even Alex. I was startled to see that it was Rhode. I hadn't realized she was here. "What-" I started.
The big girl crouched down next to me and gave me a sad smile. She was wearing a dress. It was something I'd never seen her in before or ever thought she would wear. "I said let it out. That's what I've been wanting to do for a while."
"Rhode, God-" I slumped over onto my butt. My voice felt hoarse from the scream and I was speechless. "Are you okay?"
Rhode plopped down next to me and cackled. "Okay? I'm surprisingly okay. I'm not good, but I'm not exactly bad either. Are you okay, Noah?"
"I've had better days," I said.
"We all have."
We sat there in silence and I realized how quiet it really was in a graveyard.
"I don't know what to say," I said. "I really just don't know what to say."
"That's alright. Some feelings come out through actions. Like screaming, for example." Rhode shifted and tucked her knees against her chest. Her long dress lifted a little and I saw her black combat boots underneath. I guessed even in a fancy dress she'd still have her sense of style. "I kind of wanted to ask you something."
"I don't want to say anything about John," I said. His name felt dry in my mouth.
"That's fine," Rhode said. She let out a deep sigh. "I was just wondering... If you'd know what to do if you know you're being hunted."
My brother was dead.
I lost him.
This was real. This was all too real. The banshee had predicted his death and I still didn't save him. I couldn't have. In the back of my mind I had doubt of the freaking washing woman but now there was no doubt left. It was real. John was not coming back. He was going to be put into the ground in his casket with the bruises around his neck that the stupid mortician people covered up and no one knew who killed him. No one was taking this seriously. No one knew what was going on.
I needed to find the murderer.
I tried to stand up, but my limbs wouldn't support me. My arms and legs shook so bad I couldn't get farther than my hands and knees. Cold sweat beaded at my forehead. A scream formed in my throat, but I let that scream tear out because I just didn't care anymore. I screamed until my voice gave out on me.
"That's right. Just let it out," someone said.
I snapped my head up. It wasn't Simon. It wasn't even Alex. I was startled to see that it was Rhode. I hadn't realized she was here. "What-" I started.
The big girl crouched down next to me and gave me a sad smile. She was wearing a dress. It was something I'd never seen her in before or ever thought she would wear. "I said let it out. That's what I've been wanting to do for a while."
"Rhode, God-" I slumped over onto my butt. My voice felt hoarse from the scream and I was speechless. "Are you okay?"
Rhode plopped down next to me and cackled. "Okay? I'm surprisingly okay. I'm not good, but I'm not exactly bad either. Are you okay, Noah?"
"I've had better days," I said.
"We all have."
We sat there in silence and I realized how quiet it really was in a graveyard.
"I don't know what to say," I said. "I really just don't know what to say."
"That's alright. Some feelings come out through actions. Like screaming, for example." Rhode shifted and tucked her knees against her chest. Her long dress lifted a little and I saw her black combat boots underneath. I guessed even in a fancy dress she'd still have her sense of style. "I kind of wanted to ask you something."
"I don't want to say anything about John," I said. His name felt dry in my mouth.
"That's fine," Rhode said. She let out a deep sigh. "I was just wondering... If you'd know what to do if you know you're being hunted."
♠ ♠ ♠
I don't know if you've ever had someone die, but it's... a strange experience. Depending on who died and what they meant to you.My father died when I was a freshman and the first thing I thought was that it must've been some kind of conspiracy. He was in prison and they told us he died of a heart attack. He was forty-four. Until we received his ashes in a little black box I finally decided to believe it. That he died, I mean. I still don't really believe the heart attack scenario, but I really don't know what else to think. People's parents don't die. That only happens in books and movies, you know?