Venta Black | Amanda Young

Last Words of a Shooting Star

You wouldn't leave till we loved in the morning,
You'd learned from movies how love ought to be.
And you'd say you loved me and look in my eyes but I know
Through mine, you were looking in yours.
And did you know the liberty bell is a replica,
Silently housed in its original walls
And while its dreams played music in the night,
Quietly,
It was told to believe.

The stars: on a hill somewhere, a distant memory.

The spring wind blew calmly atop the hill where Lynn and Amanda sat, the breeze filtering through their hair. They'd come here right after school, and had stayed until the sun set, the sky taking its starry form. Amanda's head was resting in Lynn's lap, hands intertwined. They could stay in this moment forever, a vacation from the stress of their homes, just together, saying nothing as they soaked up the twilight. Amanda kissed Lynn's knuckles, and she smiled in return. Here, in this light, everything was calm, settled, safe. They'd never been more than friends, but something fluttered in Amanda's heart whenever she was around Lynn, and right now, more than ever, she just wanted to kiss her. She was tired of looking for something she could never find, and she found it in her gentle caress, her smile, her caramel eyes.
"Lynn..?" Amanda asked quietly, bringing Lynn's hand closer to place it on her cheek and hold it in place.
"Yeah?" There was a pang of yearning in her heart, the overwhelming need to feel every inch of Lynn's warm skin until there was nothing left to touch. And at the same time, she wanted her to feel that way too. Amanda didn't respond, but simply sat up and stared into Lynn's eyes, then her gaze flickered to her parted lips. Without thinking, she pressed her lips against hers, and ran her hands along every inch of Lynn's back, her hands, her neck. Lynn simply returned the favor, and kissed her back, tasting like sweet honey. Amanda pulled away in shock of what had just happened, but it was like she was melting at the pearly gates of heaven.
"You're beautiful."
Lynn didn't stop there, and instead began to pepper kisses along Amanda's jaw down to her neck and exposed collar bone, then back to her lips. It was like fireworks were playing in the distance, even though the sky was still, unmoving. The stars stared down on them, and they fell down onto the grass, tumbling down together and holding each other close. Through the comfort, Amanda felt like she was sitting on a cloud.

The comfort was short lived though, as footsteps crunched in the grass, and Lynn fled the scene.

Lynn: Apartment: Present Day

"And in our latest segment, the jigsaw killer strikes again! Two bodies were found in separate warehouses. Victims currently haven't been identified, and speculation continues to spread around as to who's really behind these grisly murders, and if we're truly safe under the protection of the Metropolitan Police Force. The city has been thrown into a panic, and here we have previous footage from one of our reporters, Miss. Pamela Jenkins, on the scene of an ongoing investigation. Information is still rolling out, stay tuned for more updates." The pretty ginger's red lipped smile faded into a shakily filmed video of a disinterested officer, and an overbearing reporter deep into the night.
''And Detective Hoffman, how do you think this affects the police force, as multiple officers have been found dead?' The glasses-wearing bottle blonde news reporter asked a purse-lipped brunet detective, his face contorted in shades of annoyance. She shoved the microphone in his face, to which he absently swatted it away and began to speak, leaning into the camera.
"I don't know, but we'll find jigsaw. And we'll make sure he pays for what he's done to this city. For Sing, for Kerry, Eric. Everyone."
The ginger returned to the screen again.
"Strong words from Detective Mark Hoffman, who is currently the lead detective on the jigsaw case-"
The TV fizzed out as I pressed the button to turn it off, refusing to hear the words of depressing late night news. Chris was gone, I didn't expect to see him again anyway, considering the circumstances of our interactions. Just a fling, nothing less, nothing more. Lately it felt like the news was getting more depressing, and so was this world as a whole. Even I was finding myself falling in line with my patients' mental states, I was desperate and I felt incomplete. There was an empty hole in my heart that longed to be filled and I didn't know exactly what it needed. I didn't want to go back to my husband, and I don't think I could stare Corbett in the eye for a second without breaking down. I felt immense guilt but I did nothing about it, and I was left to marinate in my bad decisions. Once I had such a perfect life, I had everything I wanted and it was taken from me in the blink of an eye. Jeff couldn't bear to speak to me, his anger was profound and he always seemed on the edge of breaking something, we were broken. My family was broken, and I didn't have the courage to fix it.
Looking at the alarm clock on my bedside table, I stood up. Had to go back to the hospital, I'll shower the remnants of temporary pleasure off of my body there. It was then I turned on the TV one last time, just to check. But I was greeted with an old mugshot of a horrifyingly familiar face.
"Breaking news! Identities of the killers have been found, Civil Engineer John Kramer, a former Cancer patient of Doctor Lawrence Gordon, who was only recently found alive after being put into one of Jigsaw's games. And former jigsaw survivor, Amanda Young. Officials say to watch out for these two, as they may be armed and dangerous."
Amanda..? No. No. It couldn't be. Last time I saw her was when we were young, the only memories I had of her were flickering like an old film reel. They were fading, but my heart felt like it was being stabbed, and my skin ran cold. I stood in place in front of the CRT screen, looking at the picture. Her black mascara was running, her brown hair stringy. But this wasn't recent, no, it couldn't have been. They made a mistake, Amanda wasn't who they were looking for. It was an error, a simple case of sloppy police work, it had to have been. Had to have been a mistake. They messed up, and were targeting an innocent person. Amanda wouldn't hurt anyone, I know she wouldn't. She wasn't well, always was and yet still, this wasn't something she would do. She needed professional help to overcome her traumas and nobody had ever given it to her. I hadn't given it to her. Through all my own pains, and my own fears, I hadn't helped the one person who needed me the most. The other picture displayed next to hers was that of an old man, he was wrinkled and had a rather somber expression on his lined face, white-blonde hair scarce on his head. I can't explain it in words, but he looked malevolent. Like his soul oozed black and that the devil danced to his name. But he also looked fragile, like an ordinary person who once upon a time had dreams, now thrown away. He was also familiar, the name, the face. They all seemed like something I had seen before, but with the way I am now, I couldn't remember. Each patient comes, and goes all in a fast blur like cars speeding down the highway.
Breathing steadily, I turned the TV off again. No time to waste, I had to get to the hospital. Had to. Pulling a sweater over my bare arms, and popping an antidepressant into my mouth, I left my apartment and walked out into a deeper nightmare. I just wasn't aware of it.