Scream

Hanzo Duvall

Seeing Reyna was like seeing my mistakes. She was a reminder that I could've potentially prevented her mother's death. Now, she's sliced apart in the bed next to me. The doctors gave her some stitches but said she'd need a couple of days to recover. She'll be fine, but I don't know what I'd do with myself if she wasn't. 

 Reyna's been stitched up and her face is bruised, but it's better than being dead. I have to get over myself. I haven't talked to anyone since the Solaris Hospital blackout. I keep thinking if I had been in the elevator, Mrs. Copulas would've lived. If I had made it upstairs, Della would've lived. But as far as I know, the killer subsided after the killings. Now, Reyna is right next to me with stab wounds. I should be facing my friends rather than hiding from them. 

 Looking over, I expect to see a sleeping Rey. Instead, I see a black-cloaked figure. Sitting up, I ask, "Who are -?" before being choked. 

 The figure, wearing a white mask, brings me up by the neck and slams me against the bed, thumbs pressing down on my windpipe and trachea; cutting off my circulation. Wheezing for air, I look to Reyna. "Rey," I croak, unable to speak. The soft beeping of the heart monitor is overpowering compared to my own volume. My arm, numb, searches for the emergency button. It's on the nightstand. Just out of reach.

 Straining, my vision starts to darken. 

 Come on, I think to myself. Almost there.

The killer hardens their already-cast-iron grip on me and I feel my heart rate pick up in a  panic before slowly stopping. Forget the emergency button, I'll never reach it. Let's get this guy off of me. 

 With my strength...do I even have any? I can't feel anything. My body is numb but I can move it. My hand reaches for the face of the killer...grabs the mask...slides it off. 

By now, I can hardly see anything. I'm fading out of existence.

But I'd recognize those eyes anywhere...

The eyes of a killer.

"Why?" I manage.

They smile and those estranged eyes squint.

"Oh, Hanzo," he whispers, voices a snake-like hiss. "The mighty protector, all about the rules...don't you know that rules exist to be broken? Now, I'm going to break you. As for why?" He laughs like a jackal, an amused ferocity in those amber eyes. "You're just so damn boring. You'd never make it this far in a movie."

With one final added strength, Enzo grapples my neck, a determined ExpressionEngine on his face. 

 My vision clouds in darkness and my head turn; my body too tired to support looking up. Or do I just not want to watch the satisfaction on the face of death? 

I watch Reyna, trying to tell her through some sort of wordless communication about what's happening.

I hope it worked.

Because now...

I can't see. I can't breathe. I can't move.

Now...

A warm light begins to engulf me, the sound of my parents who died in a fatal car crash when I was 6 years old reaching my ears. They cheer for me to come to them. To let them see my beautiful face. Gladly, I step into the light and let them. 

 I'm dead.