Let Us Out

Chapter eight

*Major suicide TW*

Phoenix's POV:

Blood. So much blood. It's the first thing I see, and it's everywhere. The second thing I see is her body. Jane's body. She's lying down on her bed, covered in blood. The third thing I see is the knife. The one she killed Desmond with is embedded in her chest, right where her heart should be. Suicide and self-harm doesn't bother me. If it does, then I wouldn't have 27 scars on my left wrist and 23 on my right. The fourth and final thing I see is the blood-stained suicide note on the bed. I walk over to the note, and pick it up. I read the paragraph she wrote.

Dear Sita and Phoenix, 

I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have gone around pointing the finger at Desmond, I shouldn't have killed him, and I shouldn't have almost killed Phoenix in the aftermath. I've been suicidal for a while now, this was just the perfect opportunity to act on it. Being in an extremely transphobic family of religious fanatics is very taxing on the mind and body. Even if I didn't kill myself, I can't go back home. I have nothing for me out there. I would have ended it all at some point. There wouldn't be anything you could do to prevent that. This is just how things are supposed to be. When you do make it out of this hellhole and the cops find my body, make sure that on the news and on my grave I'm not misgendered or dead named. I give you both full permission to sock my dad in the jaw. Take care of Sita for me, Phoenix. Promise me that. I love you, Sita, and I know you two can make it out of here. See you on the other side!

-Jane

Sita eventually calms down enough after a few hours for her sobs to turn into small hiccups. She gets up -having fallen to her knees upon seeing her best friend's body- and walks out of the room. I quickly fold the note and shove it in my pocket and follow her to prevent any rash decisions from being made. While following her, I check the time. It's almost 6:30. 5 1/2 hours left before who knows what. Sita stopped walking, but I didn't know, and I crash into her.

"What the f-" I say, but she cuts me off.

"Shut up!" She whisper yells.

I shut up immediately. It becomes quite obvious that she is trying to listen for something. I strain my ears, trying to listen as well. All of a sudden, I hear an electronic chirp-like sound coming from downstairs.

"You hear that too?" I whisper.

"Yeah." She answers softly. "I heard what sounded like footsteps above us. I think there's an attic here. That's what I was trying to hear."

"Fuck that." I say without skipping a beat. "Attics and me don't mix. Why don't we go check out what's going on downstairs?"

"You go." She says. "I'll go upstairs by myself."

"Nope." I say. "We're the final two. As soon as we either split up or get naked, one or both of us dies."

Sita rolls her eyes at my words. "I'll go downstairs with you, but after that we're going up."

I groan at her compromise. "Fine. Only because I don't want you to die, too."

Wow! I'm surprised you're still reading this. Chapter nine will be the final chapter, excluding the epilogue. Thank you so much for reading, and see you in the next chapter!