Pay the Price

Chapter 20- Stressed

Christopher sat at the edge of a pond, skipping rocks. The decision of the Zandailias' were to be made two days from then. Christopher left the decision to them, not wanting to even kill them. But he had to. If they didn't decide by then, he'd flip a coin to decide. He couldn't decide on his own. It was too serious of a decision.

He found that deciding with a coin might be easier, but having to follow through with the actions would be much more difficult to do. Each day that approached, Christopher felt horribly anxious, and would feel so sick that he couldn't eat a single morsel. He was starving himself again to the point his older cousin, Lillian, threatened to force feed him.

After the threat, Christopher would lock himself in his bedroom, not coming out until two hours after any given meal was over. He couldn't stop looking at himself in the mirror, disgusted by his pultruding ribs and hip bones. His joints looked pointy and sharp, his skin hugging his bones very tightly.

When he sat at the pond, he looked into the water, staring at his reflection. He despised his appearance. His jaw was so prominent it could cut paper, his cheekbones stuck out so much that he thought he could accidentally hurt someone with a small bump. Not just that, his eyes appeared slightly sunken in, and he hated himself. The large band-aid over his left eye made him look like a pirate, and he hated it. He looked like a skeleton.

"Feeling stressed out?" Connor asked as he and Myrah walked along the edge of the pond until they got to him. When they did, they took a seat on either side of him, waiting for his answer. With a sigh, Christopher picked up a flat stone, skipping it along the water, counting every time it bounced.

"Yes. I don't have the courage to do it, but I have to. I don't have a choice." Christopher nodded, his head beginning to throb. "On our thirteenth birthday, I had gone on a rampage after Mason was murdered. I tore flesh off of Marcus' arm, which I didn't exactly remember until it was explained to me to the next day. And when I saw the chunk of human arm beside me." He revealed to them quietly. "That was the worst thing I've ever done."

The familiar feeling of his siblings hands resting to his back somewhat distracted him from the throbbing in his head. He didn't feel the need to shove their hands off of him as he felt much less intimidated by them. He was beginning to trust them more, but he didn't completely trust them yet.

"We have absolutely no clue about how you actually feel in this situation, but we do know that it is going to be hard for you. However, you have a lot of willpower, and a lot of people wouldn't have the strength that you do. It has only been two weeks since you've come home, so of course it's going to be hard. No matter what happens, the both of us will be right there when you have to do what you need to. You won't be by yourself, we promise." Myrah spoke, pulling Christopher's casted leg over in her direction, getting him to stretch the limb.

Connor pulled Christopher to rest on his shoulder, putting his arm around Christopher's shoulders. Then he gave Christopher another pebble to skip along the pond, so he did. Christopher also noticed that his brother had snuck into his room and took his bear out to bring to Christopher.

"I'm mostly concerned about how I'm going to make them ingest the poison without needing to take drastic measures. I saw Mason die, but I didn't exactly see how they made him drink it. I also wouldn't put it past Maria to spit it out into my eye to send me fully blind." Christopher said, smiling slightly as he beat his record in rock skipping.

"Force them to open their mouth, pour the poison in, cover their mouth with one hand, and pinch their nose closed so they have no choice but to drink the poison. They wouldn't be able to breathe or spit out the poison. When they drink it, let go of their face, and sit back." Connor suggested, handing his brother another rock. "What exactly does the poison do?"

"Think of it as if swallowing lava. It burns from the inside out. It would literally dissolve the mucus lining that protects the stomach from burning in its own acid. First, it burns the mouth; melts the teeth to nothing, splits the tongue in half, and burns through the flesh of the cheeks until there is nothing but a gaping hole. Then, it runs down the throat. It destroys the pharynx, which is what transports air to the trachea and food to the oesophagus. It burns the oesophagus, the stomach, and almost makes the entire digestive tract explode. It quickly absorbs into the liver and kidneys, sending them into complete failure. The last thing to burn is the trachea, and if you're unlucky enough to still be alive by that point, you slowly choke to death. The only thing that remains untouched by the poison is the eyes and brain. Actually, somehow, the poison preserves those. The poison burns from the inside out. The skin turns grey and peels off like a face mask." Christopher explained to them, and his siblings were horrified. Especially as he spoke so casually. "Depending on how much is ingested depends on how quick their death is, and whether ashes fall off of them. If they're lucky to ingest a lot, then they die fast. If they aren't, then they're in intense pain the entire time, roughly three minutes. They may hallucinate." He continued, hugging his knees. "Mason wasn't lucky."

Despite the horror in his siblings expressions by the explanation, Christopher still felt better about being able to speak about it. It felt as if a weight were taken from his shoulders, and he could breathe. He hadn't been able to speak much of his feelings, but he felt as if it wouldn't hurt to start opening up. Like it would help him feel better.

Even if he weren't speaking of his feelings per say, but rather speaking in detail about how a poison kills someone, he still felt better.

"Wow. Okay then." Myrah said. "That's terrifying. I assume you're going to make them ingest a large amount?" She asked, and Christopher nodded. "How do you have so much mercy for people who destroyed you? It's actually completely admirable." She was very impressed.

Christopher shrugged, smiling slightly as Connor kissed his forehead and gave him his bear. When he tried sitting up properly, Connor trapped him in a very tight embrace, wriggling slightly. Myrah laughed, watching as Connor profusely kissed Christopher's cheek, like one does to make a child laugh.

"Get off of me." Christopher almost yelled out between laughter. Instead of letting him go, Connor hoisted Christopher in a standing position, holding him up until his crutches were back in his hands. Then they all quickly dusted grass off of themselves before going back towards the front door of their home to go inside.

They walked in silence, and it was a silence that Christopher enjoyed. It was a safe silence. However, the silence was overcome with concerned talking when the triplets entered the Aetos mansion, and their family stood around. Immediately, the three knew it was something very serious.

"Chris, Maria almost got to your room. Thank goodness you were outside when she did." Elizabeth said, scaring Christopher. "However, we got her back downstairs, and she's handcuffed to a support beam. Marcus has been on his best behaviour, and I'm not too concerned about him." She continued, putting her hand to his shoulder.

For a few minutes, Christopher pondered the situation. He took a deep breath, beginning to think more rationally than what a startled mind could do.

"Well, I think we should keep the room double locked unless food and water is being taken down to give to them. There is two days left until what is to be done is done, so it shouldn't be too difficult. I will ensure my door and windows are locked at night." He spoke, his voice having an undertone of demand.

"Of course. If you think that it best, then that is what will happen." Elizabeth approved, so Bryson did up the second hatch on the door.

"Don't you think that's inhumane? It seems monstrous to do that." Allison pointed out, almost disgusted by her cousins decision. She also didn't understand why he had the final say.

"I may be a monster," Christopher said as he looked at Allison with a blank stare, "but that family is demonic. If you think what I am deciding in this situation is inhumane, then what they did to me for ten and a half years is animalistic. They deserve it. They are worse than what I will ever be."