upon our land • s. kalivoda

ten

ENDING 1 CONTINUATION 1

tw: self-harm and od. if that can affect your mental or physical health, please skip this chapter. i myself have struggled with self-harm and am nearing two months clean, so if anyone needs someone to talk to, im all ears.

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ever since that night, i had been having the worst nightmares. of course, simon was always there to comfort me when i woke up, but still. i couldn't keep waking him up every hour because of a stupid nightmare. so i bought some sleeping pills.

"says to take them an hour before you go to sleep. don't take more than two at a time or results could be dangerous. sounds fun." i say while brushing my teeth. usually, i would be in third period, but we were all excused from school for a few months because of trauma or something.

seeing your best friend get put in a bread slicer will do that to you.

"don't almost die again, that won't be fun." he yells from the kitchen. "waffles are ready!"

"coming!" i yell back, spitting out my toothpaste and rinsing my toothbrush off before going to the table.

"you clean your slice yet?"

"yes, dad, i did," i reply with a piece of bacon in my mouth.

"can't believe she came after you twice." he takes a bite out of a waffle before sipping his coffee.

"sorry that i'm sexy."

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"goodnight, i'm gonna go get in the shower." i kiss simon's cheek before ruffling his hair and walking over to the bathroom. i turn on the shower to let the water heat up before stripping myself of my clothes. as i look in the mirror and see all of my scars, it just brings me back.

third-person pov

flashback starts

with a shaky breath and shaky hands, tatum slowly lifted up her sleeve to reveal a clean slate. a virgin arm. as she lifted the blade from the counter, a tear fell. a tear full of emotion, misery, and anger. tatum began dragging it across her bare skin, leaving a red line in place. she repeated the action until her arm was left red with blood and irritancy.

she dropped the blade onto the counter before falling back onto the wall, sliding down with eyes full of tears. her eyes sealed shut and her mouth bares horrid screams of emotional pain that seemed to never stop. simon rushed in although tatum didn't hear- and he looked around for her until his eye lay upon the sight.

tatum felt arms wrap around her as she fell into them sobbing while his heart broke for the girl in front of him. not much later she was hazy, tired. her crying had stopped and he started washing off the blood before kissing each one of the cuts she had made. tatum looked away in shame, embarrassment, pain.

"please, simon, stop."

flashback ends

first person pov

all of a sudden i'm brought back to reality and remind myself to get into the shower. the hot water runs down my bare skin and refreshes me in a way, leaving me clean. i wash up quickly, but still want to stay in the water. i slowly slide down the shower wall, running my fingers along my wrists.

i realize that after the incident, or whatever you would call that, i've been in a bubble of denial. one of my best friends died, and i hadn't accepted it. hell, i had practically forgotten it happened until now. these nightmares won't stop, the curse will forever live, my pain won't end. there's only one way out.

the water ran cold, saving me from my thoughts. it was quiet, but my mind ran loud.

third-person pov

tatum slipped on her new clothes before searching for her pills. she wanted it to be all over, done for. this was the only way. not much later, she found the pills, taking handfuls at a time and downing them with water. there it was. the last pill. she swallowed it with ease prior to stumbling into her room.

"i'm gonna lay down, si. i don't feel good."

"okay." she fell on the bed, gagging and coughing but working against her body to keep the pills down. tatum's vision was blurry, almost as if she were looking through a kaleidoscope. silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried not to make noise.

"i love you," she whispered.

"i love you too," he replied, kissing the top of her head.

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"no, no, no, no, no, no! you aren't dying!" simon was panicking. he had woken up minutes before with a gut feeling, and now he was running a cold shower while calling sam and deena to come over.

he dragged her lifeless body to the shower, her mouth coated with her vomit.

"you can't die, i love you. please don't die on me. tatum, please. tatum!" he pleaded, hoping the cold shower would give her some life. simon screamed in agony and pain ahead of flipping her on her back and attempting to give her air through cpr.

"no. no, tatum, no." soon after sam, deena, and josh barged in but stopped, realizing it was too late.

"simon..." sam began.

"no! she's not dead!" he interrupted. he continued to give her cpr but nonetheless, she remained a corpse. simon collapsed onto her, sobbing into her cold flesh and veins.