Monsters Within

Chapter 13

When I wake up it is late in the night. I don't realize where I am at first. And then I notice the familiar room. I am at Cole's house.

And when I look at the doorway I see him.

"Hey Kay, are you alright? What happened? Did-" he starts but stops and looks sad.

"I'm fine, nothing, but why do you look sad?"

"It's just, you said Gale while you slept, a lot."

"We just had a fight, and I feel bad because it was all my fault." I say.

"Oh..." says Cole as he looks at the ground. "I guess I should go then..."

"Wait, sit with me please, I don't want to be alone right now." I plead.

"Okay, if that's what you want." He says, he is scared, he doesn't know what to expect. But, he sits next to me, being careful not to touch me. I lean and put my head on his shoulder, and hug his arm. So, he cautiously moves closer to me, and I stay using him for support.

I'm happy to have Cole back, but I'm worried about Gale. Here I am, with Cole, and I'm thinking of Gale, I should try to find him, but it's nice to lay with Cole, like before, so I stay.

*************************************

I left Cole's house saying I needed to get home, before I got in trouble. But I wasn't going home. I am going to find Gale. Our conversation yesterday left me shaky, and I'm afraid of what Gale might do.

I have no idea where to find him so I start running frantically around hoping to spot him. Eventually I see him leaning against a tree in the woods behind the park. It took a while to find him, but I am thrilled to see he is okay. Until I see what is in his hand.

A small sharp knife glints in the light, threatening to cause the pain it was there for.

"Gale?" I whisper. And I start to sprint to him, just as the knife starts to make a cut vertically down his arm. That's not cutting, that's killing.

I reach him just as Gale meets the depth he was going for. The cut isn't big when I stop him, about two inches long. But, a cut like this can bleed a lot, so I immediately take off my sweatshirt and tie a tight knot with my sleeve above the cut to stop the blood flow. I use the rest of the sweatshirt to put pressure on his wrist.

He obviously hasn't slept, and it looks like he's a bit drunk. Probably stole it from his house.

"Why are you here?" He asks slurred and harshly. "You don't even care. So why don't you just let me die."

"Because I care, a lot, and I won't let you die, it's my turn to protect you." I say worriedly.

I grab my phone and dial 911, I tell the person who answers where we are and what happened. All the while Gale speaks nonsense. When I return my attention to him he is speaking again.

"You don't care, and you can't protect me from myself. Just leave me here to finish dying, it won't matter to you." But he won't even look at me.

"I can protect you, I will find a way."

"Oh yeah? Why even try?"

I bend and kiss him, then keeping my face near his, speak.

"Because I love you too, I just needed time to figure it out." At that he finally looks up, and then the medics come.

They shoo me away as they check him out. It's not too bad but they decide to bring him to the hospital, I, of course, insist I come too, and after a bit, they allow it. So, I get in and ride sitting next to him the whole time, watching over him. Sometimes it's nice to feel needed.