The Edge of Reality

Chapter 19: The Betrayal

Just a short, but seemingly everlasting, weeks after Mareo and I split, I was finally functioning. I was still coping with the loss of half of my friends, and the hope that the others would come back to me but I was doing alright. I'd gotten into a routine, I was making new friends, I was taking care of myself- I was surviving. I was thinking about just this as I walked to the bus stop after work one day. The Rains were just about over and the Autumn leaves starting to appear, and I was at peace with the beauty around me. As I sat on the bench to wait, something peculiar happened. Des and Tahki showed up out of nowhere and stood in front of me. I stood up in surprise.

"Oh! Hi!" I said. I couldn't remember the last time I saw them, much less saw them together.

"Tesha." Tahki said gravely. There was no joy in her face and Des looked just as stern. "I'm not here for pleasantries. I'm here to tell you that our friendship is over."

"Wait, what?" My face fell. "Why?"

"Lately I've been feeling like you don't care," she said, no emotion in her eyes. "I feel abandoned and ignored- like I'm not important to you at all anymore. It's so hurtful that I don't want us to have any sort of relationship continuing into the future."

"What are you talking about?" my breathing was coming short and fast, I thought I might hyperventilate. "You said you wanted spac-"

"I just want you to know that I don't feel bad for you," she said this as though I were expecting pity or a shoulder to cry on. "And Des feels the same way." I looked at Des, who's eyes were flitting everywhere except for me. I stared at her, wanting her to look at me with some sort of confirmation. Was this happening? When her eyes finally settled on mine, there was only bitterness in her face and I knew that it must be true. I had no idea what to say- there was no logic to what was going on. Des unclasped her hands from behind her back, revealing a long knife. I backed away, but was too confused to run.

"Why are you doing this?" my voice came out small and scared.

"Do you have any idea what you've done to the two of us?" she asked coldly. "Of course not. You don't even care." She stepped closer to me with the knife, and slowly took my arm, both of us shaking visibly. Betrayal filled her eyes and reflected what I was feeling. If we'd hurt each other, why couldn't we work it out? I had no idea what I'd done to her, no idea why she was so upset. Did she know how they had hurt me? This was not the Des I knew.

"Do it!" Tahki screeched. "She doesn't deserve to live!"

I didn't move as Des sliced through the skin of my arm. I felt my artery break and blood trickled out faster than I thought possible. I was hurt, but only for a second. Then I was angry. I pushed her away from me and grabbed the knife from her hand as her grip loosened. My fingers were around the blade and pierced through my skin; I didn't care. I flipped it around and stabbed Des, not aiming but striking through her gut with a sickening noise. She fell backwards onto the ground, but remained sitting up.

"You can't kill me," she laughed almost maniacally. My vision flashed red as I swayed towards her, my vision becoming hazy. I nearly fell on top of her as I flung the knife back into her. In and out, in and out. New gory wounds appeared and blended into one another. There was blood everywhere- covering both of us, seeping onto the sidewalk and dripping off onto the pavement of the road. I don't know why I was so angry- there was something very wrong and I must have known it subconsciously without realizing what it was. Next to us, Tahki was screaming half out of fear and half profanities towards me. I ignored her, mainly because the low buzz filling my head was drowning out everything but the front of my vision. Des stopped moving before long, and I looked up at Tahki. She looked terrified and starting backing away from me, unaware that I was too dizzy to do anything to her. She tripped backwards over the curb at the worst possible time- the bus had been very late and was going twice the speed limit when it plummeted into her; it never stopped. All that was left on the asphalt was a smear of bloody ashes, and the red slowly faded to grey as well. I felt my knees touch the pavement below me, and I looked down to see that Des was no more. As her blood turned to ash on me, I realized that most of the red liquid was dripping from my own arm. The adrenaline rush over, the pain flooded back and I cried out in both agony and frustration. The skin I could still see was turning a milky white and contrasted starkly against the crimson; this was it for me. A hospital might have been able to save me, but I didn't think about that. At this point, I wanted to die. I wanted all of this to be over, the scattered shards of what I once had in life were disappearing piece by piece. I hadn't had the glue to put it back together, and now it was too late. A sob started from deep inside of me, and wracked my entire body as I felt to the ground shaking. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see- I was panicking. I wanted to die. With the strength I had left, I fumbled for the knife and left a gash down my other arm, even deeper than the one Des had inflicted. I closed my eyes and waited for the end.