Out of Ink | A Short Story

Truth

11:13 PM May 31, 2016...

Ethan comes bursting from the trees, darkness boiling in his gaze. His arm is just a blur as he pulls the oblivious Alex away from me and strikes him square in the nose.

That is how it starts, both of them pummeling each other, both of them fighting over something much bigger than me. Ethan's body is lined with aggression, and Alex spits out blood in fury.

I am just standing there, paralyzed.

Witnessing such violence makes me naturally shrink back like some cowardly idiot.

Something red is leaking from Ethan's nose. Something purple surrounds his left eye, and then it registers. "No," I scream. "No! Stop, Alex! You're hurting him!" I am crying out nonsensically as I attempt to separate the two, my muscles straining and burning.

But I am just me, weakened by the throes of life. I cannot pull them apart. Ethan shrugs me off stubbornly. Adrenaline makes me stupid, so I dive in an attempt to disconnect them by force. I end up being punched to the ground by Alex as he tries to aim towards Ethan.

Ethan stops, and stares at me, lying on the bridge, shivering. Anger sparks in his gaze and he rounds on Alex.

"You hurt her," he seethed, and I know that this is the last straw. I get up, but my feet slip on the damp wood and I fall again. I'm winded and clench my teeth to keep from groaning, telling myself to get back up when all I want to do is stay down.

There's a loud sound and a grunt. I whip my head up, startled.

They are not fighting anymore.

There is Ethan. He is flying backwards. I blink again. Thin air.

There is just me and Alex. But then I see him. 

And he is going down, down, down, splashing into the running river many feet below. 

I am scrambling to the edge of the bridge, my arms reaching out and below, as if I could somehow stop Ethan's descent. "No," I whisper.

Suddenly, a blade is at my neck. I can feel his breath rustling my hair. Alex's body is a hard slab of heat behind me. "Now it's your turn," he hisses in my ear.

The next few moments go all too fast. I bring my foot down on his, relishing his howl of pain as I twist around. My hands snatch around his knife. My mind on overdrive, my veins rushing with static.

And only when blood is coating my hands, only when his body slumps to the ground, do I realize what I did. Something akin to terror roars in my ears.

The knife clatters next to his body and I look over at the river.

I stare into the liquified darkness, waiting for him to come back up. He knows how to swim. I wait, and I wait. It seems like forever. Inky, fluid darkness.

Nothing.

I can't breathe. Where did the air go? I can't see, my vision blurring and shifting. 

No. No.  No. I stand up. Run to the end of the bridge. Rocks snap at my feet as I clamber down. The water is so cold on my bare skin as I wade in. Icy daggers stab through my heart. They pierce my mind. Finally, I can speak.

Ethan, I am yelling. I am screaming and sobbing. Ethan. Where are you? Come back. Come back. Where are you?

The water is getting deeper and deeper; no sign of him. I can't tell if there's any blood in the water, and I stop and look up. There's Alex's body. Limp and dead. I can see his pale, lifeless face. I killed him.

A life for a life. 

I open my mouth like I'm about to start shrieking. Everything is numb inside of me — too numb. The water feels so cold, and, suddenly, I just want to lie down and sink. Sink forever, like how my stomach is hollowing out. I continue to stare.

Ethan. I am searching for you, but you are nowhere.

Ethan, I love you. I love you, and you can't leave me now. Not when I need you.

His name is the only thing that I know. My heart has stopped and my mind is gone. I am not insane. I am not crazy. I am nothing. I am just liquid and despair and ice.

The river is like a deep abyss stretching before me. Maybe if I fall in, I won't ever come back out. Maybe if I fall in, I'll be with him

No more bruises, no more empty days, no more shattered bottles. The thought is so inviting. So inviting, in fact, that I might —

just —

take it.