LEAH
My throat is so sore I cannot speak.
I spent my entire night just seeing Katie McCabe's face, over and over again, and then coupled with Mapi's. They haunt me like ghosts from a past I tried so hard to forget everything about - in vain. I would see the streets of Saint Ives, the shore I spent so much time in, seated on the sand, just staring at the sun going down for the day. Sometimes alone, sometimes with Mapi, or my friends, or my brother.
Those were good times.
I couldn't exactly say when it all went to shit - when innocence left space for eternal doubt, for earthquakes and tornados ravaging my brain - or maybe I could. I knew exactly, as I see over and over and over and over again Mapi's inanimate body inside my mind, and her wide brown eyes staring into eternal void. My heart and body ache, as I feel my let starting to tremble, and when my hand gets weak, I let the glass I was holding fall on the ground and cut myself with a piece of it.
"Shit" I hiss, watching as the blood appears and the pain intensifies.
You deserve it, fucking cunt, I tell myself, my eyes not blinking anymore.
This bubble of utter silence is over as soon as someone touches my shoulder. I jump a little, as Lia stares at me in shock, as she immediately puts my hand under cold water.
To explain the context, I am currently standing in the middle of my forensics class (an option class I took because I enjoy biology so much) with every pair of eyes set on me, staring at me weirdly, with a mixture of confusion and judgment.
After a few seconds, some other students start collecting the broken glass from the ground, while the teacher advances toward Lia and I, visibly scared that I might be having some kind of seizure or something.
"Miss Williamson, are you feeling alright?"
My throat still too tight to say anything, I just remain silent, as Lia steps up for me and says:
"You know the new student that came from Sao Paulo ? McCabe? Well she and Leah were born in the same small town and I think she's in a state of shock, given what happened to her this morning..."
The teacher nods his head, comprehensive, before ordering:
"There is no good enough reason for miss Williamson to remain here if she is mourning her friend: go home, young lady, and get some rest."
"May I accompany her back to her apartment?" Lia politely asks, visibly troubled.
"Of course, Miss Wälti" he says, before going on with his presentation in front of the whole class.
The insistant looks from other students were heavy until Lia and I got out of the classroom. I wouldn't talk all the way to my apartment, onto the subway and during our walks, and when we open my apartments door, Lia immediately goes and opens the curtains, as I settle on the couch. My apartment was quite small - a 20m2 at most, with small kitchen and bathroom, as well as a tiny balcony big enough for only two chairs and a small round table. But it was my safe place nonetheless.
As I stare into the void, completely lost in my thoughts, Lia sits down next to me, visibly worried, and for cause:
"Leah, talk to me..." she whispers, as her hand finds my forearm.
But I don't respond: instead, I see Katie's face, just as I imagine it to be when the police found her dead at her apartment.
Without thinking clearly, I just whisper in return:
"This is all my fault..."
Frowning, Lia shakes her head, confused.
"What?"
YOU ARE READING
THE VELVET KILLERS
FanfictionThree former friends run into each other in London as they were each trying to escape the same secret that broke them apart four years ago...
