Euthanasia

Chapter Twelve- Paroxysm Part One

Paroxysm (Pair-ex-sysm;ˈperəkˌsizəm): A sudden attack or violent outburst of emotion or activity; a fit, attack, or sudden increase or reoccurrence.

"You can keep a secret, can you not?" My words slithered from my drunk tongue like a snake from hiding. My green cloak covered my face; I made sure of that, just in case anyone would somehow recognize me. My quick trip into a small, nearby village on the way to Iaspis somehow turned promptly into another manic episode.

The man nodded in obedience as I held my knife to him. I smiled at him and pushed him harder into the wall of the dimly lit alley behind a simply exquisite bar. Even I could smell the liquor that dripped off my lips and melted into my words. I laughed at the fear pooling in the man's eyes. He was holding his breath, making sure he didn't make any wrong moves.

"Don't worry, you can say it. I know you only speak the truth." I waited for him as he released his breath and agreed hurriedly. "Yes, yes, of course, I can." His words were fast like he wanted the conversation to be over as quickly as possible. I only smile at his unease. I held the blade of the knife at his side, gently pressing the tip of the knife into his skin. I could see his face drain of color as I slid the blade deeper into his skin, creating a puncture that bubbled with blood.

I laughed because I knew that I wouldn't remember this later. I urged the knife into the man's stomach, knowing that none of this would matter later. Soon the blade was covered by blood as it gushed from the wound, the man too afraid to do anything.

"Okay, I'll tell you my secret; this is one I know you'll keep." The man nodded in understanding, but little did he know, he understood nothing. I pulled him close, pushing my lips to his ear, making sure he could hear every twisted word.

"I am going to set this village on fire, then I'm going to slaughter everyone. After that's all done, I am going to the continent's largest empire, and I am going to detonate that too. Once my plan falls into place, and everything's said and done, a king will be dead, and you will be too insignificant to matter." I shoved the man away again as he looked up at me with fear-filled eyes.

I slid the knife from his bloody torso, allowing the blood to flow freely from the wound. He held his side in pain and fell on his knees to the ground. Smiling, I brought up a booted foot and kicked him to the ground. I tossed my knife from my hands, and it landed with a clatter on the dirty ground. I unsheathed my sword from its place at my hip.

"No, no, no, you can't do this." The man pleaded for his life, but the pleads meant nothing. I already made my decision when the man told me he could keep a secret. It was my job to make sure he stayed true to his words. I pulled the hood from my head, fully revealing my face to the man. His eyes widened with recognition. Before he could cry out, I shushed him by placing the weapon between his eyes as he lay on the ground. Then I drove the blade down, hearing the satisfying crack of his skull as it shattered and crumbled under my strength.

I could tell it went all the way through, silencing him forever. The blood loss was more significant than I thought it would be. The hole the blade left was a gaping faucet for the thick warm liquid to gush from. I placed my foot upon the dead man's chest and used both my hands to pry the sword from his head. His unblinking eyes looked up to the night sky as they became replete and filled with his blood.

"I knew you could keep my secret," I whispered to the dead man in front of me. Now that the man kept his word, it was my turn to keep mine. As the night changed to a coppery new morning, smoke billowed into the clouds, and flames licked the sky with greedy hunger.

I woke with a bottle of liquor in one hand, in the middle of the fields, away from the village in which I destroyed with my insanity. I didn't know what I had done, the events leading up to the tragedy, but seeing the damage in the distance, I knew it was my doing. Especially when my bloodied sword was placed on the ground a few steps away from me, my knife nowhere in sight.