Short Stories

Grief

The cold feeling of death creeps around me as I wait for it,  for the final sound I'll ever hear.  But when nothing happens, I open my eyes with uncertainty. There she is, staring down at me with wild eyes. Eyes that are enjoying and drinking in every moment of my pain.

She must sense my confusion because she leans closer, gripping the collar of my shirt tightly as she hisses in my ear. "Don't look so relieved. I haven't spared you."

Those words send a shiver down my spine.

Fuck it.

"Yeah? Well you haven't done anything monumental, either." I retort, unsure of where that burst of bravery came from.

"From the way your talking, I just might do something." She lets go of my shirt, allowing me to drop back to my knees. "Stay in line before you figure out how far I'm willing to go."

Despite my mind screaming for me to run, I just nod solemnly, hanging my head in defeat.

"Y'know Laika, I thought there was something special about you. The way you were so quick to figure everything out amazed me. Yet here you are, having lost a game to someone you always considered beneath you. How does the pain feel? Are you enjoying it? Because I sure as hell am." She lets out a quiet laugh, beginning to circle me slowly.

I can feel the hair on my neck prickle uneasily as I try to keep her in my line of sight always, tracking her movements.

"Tamsyn..."

"Don't call me that." She snaps. "You don't deserve to call me by name. Or by anything."

I flinch at her tone, dropping my head so I can continue staring at the ground. Anything is better then looking at the person who I'm sure is going to murder me.

"Now I'll ask you one more time. Why?"

"Because I was scared! And if I knew it was you then I wouldn't have left you there!" My voice is desperate, tears sting the corners of my eyes.

Don't cry in front of her.

"It doesn't matter whether it was me or not! You still made the choice to abandon a person. A living, breathing, thinking, innocent person who never deserved what happened to her."

"And you're making the choice to kill a person now! Hell, you've killed more than one and you're somehow not the villain in this story?!"

Tamsyn stalks closer and there's a sharp stinging sensation on my cheek as I process what just happened.

She slapped me.

"This is because of you!" She shrieks, gesturing to the half of her face that's completely ruined. "I have to live with the consequences of your mistakes!"

I can't help but look away from her, cringing at the sight of the horrible thing I caused.

"Don't you dare look away! This is the mess of a person you made me into! You've run from it for years so it's time to finally face the truth, Laika!" Tamsyn grabs my chin tightly, her sharp nails beginning to draw blood as she forces me to look at her.

"And now I'm going to ensure justice by doing the same to you." Tamsyn snarls and my hands start to shake, my eyes wide with terror at the realization of the power she has over me.

And the last thing I feel is the sharp sting of a knife being dug into my eye.

An eye for an eye.