FLESH covered LIES

The Approach of The End

I curl up, and pull my legs closer around myself under the covers, trying to think about something else. My cat looks up at me, with a "grin" on his face, reminding me so much of Sherlock. It's been 6 months, and it hasn't got any easier. 

We had been walking for at least twenty minutes now. My legs were starting to tire. I was exhausted, but this had gone on for too long. As we walked, I began hear noises. They start off quiet, like mutters in the breeze, but before long they get louder and louder, and beginning to sound as though they were just above us. The rhythm of our steps was the only thing keeping me going - it felt like home. It's like when you leave the TV on at night to remind you that you aren't alone. Even if really, you are. 

Jonathan stopped suddenly, and I was awoken from my trance. 
"What, what is it?" I squint into the dark, wondering what brought us to an abrupt halt.  
"Look." He said, and through the gloom, I saw him nod directly in front of us. I raised my phone, to use the torch and get a closer look. There was pure wall in front of us - a sandy soil. We couldn't go any further. 

"Damn it!" I said, a little too loudly, and kicked the sandy wall with pure frustration and anger running through my veins. 
"Shuuushh!" exclaimed Harissa, and made an attempt to clamp her hand over my mouth. She missed - and I pushed her hand off of me. 
"Why does it matter?! It's not like they're here anyway, this secret passage is just a hoax, isn't it?" I was rambling, and my words ran into each other, hardly making sense anymore. 
"Gerda..." Jonathan started. 
"For once in your life Jonathan, can you please shut your mouth? It's you who led us into this anyway, maybe if you weren't so obsessed with death we wouldn't be - " 

"Gerda!" He said, this time with more authority. I stopped talking. 
He had one hand on the ceiling above us. And as I looked up I saw that above us, wasn't more of the same dirt, it was wood. I watched his hand glide over the wood, and stop on top of what looked like a hatch. Another trapdoor. 
"Jesus, this place is like trapdoor heaven, am I right?" said the police officer, breaking the silence. No one laughed. 

When Jonathan pushed on the hatch, the fear began to bubble in my throat like a fizzy drink that hadn't quite settled. A warm orange glow flooded the tunnel - it was immediately evident that this was where Tyler was being kept. 

The others glanced at me, almost as though they were looking to me alone to make the decision for us to go up there. Maybe it was because he was my brother, or perhaps it was just due to my immense fury and passion that I had been feeling earlier. I didn't feel like that anymore. Now it was just fear, and anticipation. But all the same, I nodded at the others, and Jonathan took a deep breath as he placed his foot on the first rung of the short ladder. 

And it was then, that I was met with the sight of something that made my blood run colder than it had ever ran before. Mr Sed and Tyler were in a gloomy room, that looked as though it was literally carved out from the Earth. It was dimly lit by proper old fashioned torches, burning sticks of wood placed in sconces on the walls. All of it just added to the tense atmosphere. I swallowed and looked up.

Mr Sed was smiling at me. He held a knife, gleaming in his left hand. He wasn't wearing his glasses. Of course he wasn't. He had left them in the attic, for me to find. All this time he had been taunting me, waiting for me to discover his secret. I wanted to kick myself for not working it out sooner. Next to Mr Sed was Tyler, tied to a chair, bruises on his face. He had obviously put up a fight. He was unconscious, with a peaceful sleeping face plastered onto his head. A tear strolled down my cheek. I was glad Tyler wasn't awake to see it. 

"You finally made it." 
He looked proud of himself, like he had just finished the Sudoku in the newspaper. It made me sick to the stomach.
"How could y-" I started, but then realised that no words could express my emotions at that point in time. 
Mr Sed fiddled with the knife in his hands, the blade teasing me. He paced around the room, growing ever closer to Tyler, and I felt the scream beginning to rise up in my chest. Still, I said nothing. The other were quiet too. I could see the police officer reaching for his gun, but as he did so, Mr Sed spotted him, and swiftly put the knife up to Tyler's throat. I gasped a low growl or anxiety. 

Mr Sed raised an eyebrow as the officer withdrew his hand, so as not to encourage Mr Sed to do anything to Tyler. He didn't move the knife away from Tyler though, instead keeping it gently pressed against his neck. I wanted so badly to hurt him - to hit him so hard that I would see the shock in his eyes, but of course, I didn't.

"Now. Onto the main event." Mr Sed said. I tried not to look confused. Oh god, he wasn't going to kill Tyler was he.
"Harissa is it? Would you like to come up here? It's time to put Gerda's emotions to the test."
It was only then that I realised I was still holding Harissa's hand. She looked at me and Jonathan with wide eyes, filled with dread. She took a deep breath, and tried to let go, but I gripped her hand harder. 
"Why? What do you need from her?"
"Oh dear dear Gerda... Still have that sharp inquisitive mind I've always "loved"." Mr Sed was mocking me. "Well now, it's just IRRITATING." his sudden outburst made me take a step back. He spat on the floor, and then I could see madness in his eyes. He was actually crazy.

"Gerda." I heard Harissa mutter quietly beside me. "Maybe I should just do what he wants me to." 
After a few seconds, I nodded, and finally let go on her hand, now clammy with sweat. 
She took shaky steps to the head of the room where Mr Sed still had his knife dangerously close to Tyler. He seemed to examine Harissa, almost sussing her out. 
"Let's get on with it shall we?" He said suddenly, and finally took the knife away, and slipped it into his belt. He stood in between the two of them, Harissa wide eyed and fearful, and Tyler still in a deep sleep. 
"It's time to choose Gerda."
I said nothing at first. I didn't know what he meant. I felt as though I was going mad, I had to repeat his words in my head multiple times before I could comprehend them, and even then I wasn't sure what he was suggesting. 
"Your little "adorable" brother, or your secret love interest."

By then, the tears were streaming down my cheeks like rivers. I ignored them, trying to form a functioning sentence. 
"What, do you, mean?" I managed to croak out. 
"Oh Gerda, for a smart girl like you, it shouldn't be too difficult." he smiles. "Choose the one you want me to kill..."
My whole body froze up. I tried to pretend it wasn't real, like I had been since this had started, but Mr Sed's words hit me like a brick that stuck to me and weighed me down. 
"Please, no... you can't." I was sobbing. Jonathan narrowed his eyes. 
"What kind of sick joke is this?" he demanded, but Mr Sed just laughed. The police officer had gone white, but he was still sane. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at Mr Sed. 
"Stop this right now, or a will fi-" 
"Ah ah ah!" chuckled Mr Sed, and he drew his knife again, this time holding it close to Harissa's face. 
"DON'T shoot officer. If he sees you start squeezing the trigger, he'll cut her." 
Mr Sed laughed again, this time deeper. It sounded like he was getting impatient. 
"Now, you're getting it. And remember, if you don't choose, they BOTH die."

Jonathan was shaking his head furiously. He began to make low moaning sounds, clutching his head and whimpering. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew I didn't have much time left. 

I glanced over at Tyler face, innocent and oblivious at he slept, and then towards Harissa. She hadn't spoken a word since she had first moved over there, but was shaking repeatedly. 
"Choose, Gerda, I'm getting restless, and so is my knife here."
But still, I made no choice. I just stood there staring. 

Until Mr Sed prompted me further: "Hello?! Earth to Gerda?!" he said, louder this time, and swung the knife crazily close to Tyler this time. It caught on his sleeve, which ripped slightly under the pressure. 
I choked, and before I had even thought about my next words, I croaked:
"Haris-"
I stopped myself, but of course, by that time it was too late. 
"Harissa it is." chuckled Mr Sed, and it was Harissa's facial expression in that moment - pure fear and a haunting sense of betrayal - that has stayed with me all these years, as I watched Mr Sed let the knife take its fatal path in the direction of Jonathan's sister.