Running From Hell

Chapter 4

Again that annoying pressure right on my temple. My eyelid is pulled open and burning light greets me. I squint, then glare at Echo. She pokes my temple again, and sticks her tongue out.

 I roll my eyes and get up to a sitting position. “Stub..what happened to your face?” She questions. My hand flies to my face and I feel dry blood that must have leaked out in my sleep.

“Um..” I stutter. “I fell on a rock.” I mumble. Echo laughs. “You fell on a rock and scraped your face all the way down it?” She wonders. “Just drop it.” I snap. Echo’s smile drops, and she tosses a pebble against the wall. “Fine.” She huffs.

Silence fills the space between us. “Look…I’m sorry. I’m just- worried.” I say quietly.

Echo looks up at me. “About Liam?” She asks. I nod slowly. Part of me wonders if he never made it back from the in-between. My brain flashes back to his clouded eyes- the clearness that had filled and overtaken his blue irises.

Thinking about Liam, I remember the wafers tucked behind my ear- I’d stolen them from my house before we’d gone down to the beach.

I smile at the memory. It seems like it had been so long ago- years, even.

“What?” Echo says flatly.

“Nothing…just thinking about my friends.” I tell her. “Do you have friends back home?” I ask. Dumb question- I guess everyone has friends. “Relatives?” I rephrase. Echo sighs quietly. “I lived on the streets. It was every man for himself. There was one, though…” She trails off.

“Who?” I ask, trying not to sound pushy.

“Her name was Sandra. I’d met her at school when we were young…. We dropped out at around the same time and one day when I was stealing she came. I tackled her and pulled off the mask and saw her…we were friends from then on.” She says, her mouth pulling up in a smile at the corners.

“What did you say her name was?” I choke.

“Sandra. Why?” She asks curiously.

“No reason.” I say nonchalantly, but my heart has risen to my throat. If Echo found out….she would hate me.

I pull the wafers from behind my ear and offer the pack to Echo. Her eyes widen and she takes it in her hands hesitantly, like she doesn’t believe it’s real. “Strawberry!” She squeaks, her eyes lighting up. A small chuckle escapes my lips.

Who would have thought? Laughing in hell. This whole thing is crazy, really. I’ve been so disconnected from the real threat that I feel like I’m taking an almost-vacation from life.

“So…what did you do bad enough to get you here?” Echo asks suddenly, munching on a wafer.

Bile rises in my throat.

I can’t tell her…I can’t. Can I? She’d hate me forever, and she’s the only friend I have. Making friends in hell. Shouldn’t I be suffering or something?

“I killed someone.” I blurt.

The bag of wafers slips out of Echo’s fingers and drops to the ground. One of the wafers bounces onto the ground and crumbles. “What?” Echo squeaks.

“Well…it was an accident.” I say quickly. “Well…not entirely. I..I didn’t mean to kill her.” I stutter. I want to sock myself, I’ve already said too much already. Echo takes another bite of wafer, and chews slowly. I sigh. She never asks who I killed.

“I killed someone too.” Echo says slowly. I look up at her, and she tosses a pebble against the wall.

“Who?” I ask, trying to distract myself from my thoughts. It’s probably nosy, given that I wasn’t willing to tell her that I killed her friend; but I ask anyways.