The Sinner

78

My entire body freezes once my brain realizes what I just did.

Killer.

My body trembles underneath me, as I stare at the man that was lying on the ground in utter disbelief.

You're a fucking killer, Corrine.

I let the gun drop from my hands as my eyes stay on Renfield's lifeless body. I feel myself start to hyperventilate, my breath becoming uneven, tears forming in my eyes, my hands shake as I slowly start to step towards him.

"Corrine," A voice chokes out. "Corrine let him go."

"I-I just..." I stop halfway to him, my eyes refusing to leave his body. "...I-" I couldn't form the words I wanted to say, my mind felt like jello.

"Come over here," It was Rafe's voice. I remember again that he was hurt, Renfield had managed to slice the knife across his stomach before I — shot him. "Please, please just listen to me once."

I divert my gaze, and slowly start walking over to Rafe. He was on the ground, holding his stomach as I'm sure blood slowly poured out of him. I blink as I look down, slowly falling to my knees as my brain can't even comprehend what is going on.

"Rafe," I breathe out. There was way too much going on for my brain to handle.

"It's okay," He says quickly, "It's okay baby." It's not.

"What do I do?" I ask, "I can't think, I can barely move, I-I can't do anything right now."

He slowly takes off his shirt, his hands stained red as he does so. My eyes snap to the place where he was losing blood. It wasn't deep, but Renfield did get him good. Rafe motions for me to move closer, and when I do he grabs my hands to put pressure on his wound.

"I'm sorry, I-I'm not really helping," I say. I couldn't emphasize this enough that my brain could not function properly at the moment. I simply cannot fathom what I just did. "I just-"

"It's fine baby, just put pressure on the cut," He says. "I can't bleed out."

Right. Rafe needs help. You need to do something before you let him die too.

I let out a shaky breath before I push my hands down. My eyes flash up to him just as he winces a bit. He opens his eyes again a couple of seconds later, nodding to tell me I was doing the right thing.

"Rafe," I whisper again. "What do I do?" God I feel so fucking stupid.

"Nothing," He says, "There's nothing to do."

"I can't just do nothing Rafe."

"He's already dead, there's nothing else you can do Corrine." I slowly shut my eyes, taking in yet another shaky breath. It's not like I can bring him back from the dead. What I did is permanent. "I'll handle it, okay? There's nothing for you to worry about."

There is. I have to live with the guilt for the rest of my life.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," He tells me. "No one will know. It's only us here."